如火如荼

Red like fire, white like tea flower...


That wasn't a good translation, but it's more or less that meaning when directly translated... Things are getting hotter everyday, especially the 3 things that keeps revolving around my mind these few days: work, school and singing...

As usual, the urban Foundry website seems like its almost complete; then again, its not even half-done yet.. This has the lowest priority amongst the 3 not entirely because I hate doing it, but because there is no hurry in doing it... True it may be that Junan keeps rushing me to finish up what she had given me, but so what if I finish that? I'll have to wait for the next batch to arive before I can continue this project; no point rushing for such bits and pieces... The delay on the project is caused by the client side rather than me; on that right, I could ask them for compenstation on the delay... They on the other hand have the cheek to remind me that the project should had been finished by December and it is the end of Feburary now, obviously trying to put the blame on me... Argh!!!

It is nearing the start of the month again - time to hand in assignments... The date due for Assignment 3 is 6^th of March for SIM, I certainly hope I'll be able to finish it by then... Haven't handed in any assignment through SIM this year yet... My heart may pound faster everytime I think of the assignment, but something else requires a greater attention...

Only 7 days left to the performance at Suntec and I haven't prepared my song yet!!! Yesterday's singing club practice was for us to perform the songs we had prepared to seek approval from our instructor... When it was my turn to sing 你牽走我的心, she asked if I'm singing an Aaron Kwok song... I haven't had the chance to step on stage and she already passed me and asked for the next person... This both gives me confidence as well as making me feel uneasy... She said she had heard me sing before and was pretty sure I'm able to sing any Aaron Kwok's song... The truth is, I can't really sing well even if it's Aaron's song, those that had been to ktv with me would know...

After most of us had already sung, she said everyone's song was too slow and we need some fast ones... Then she turned to me and say, "The song you are singing is also slow right? Why not you change to a fast song so that everything wouldn't be so monotonous." Why me?!? "Because it would be easier for you to change a song at this point of time since you can sing any of Aaron Kwok's song." ... Haiz... "你太看得起我了" were the exact words I replied her...

That is why until now I'm still undecided with what song I'm gonna sing, but I wouldn't do anything that requires some dancing (unless its Para Para Sakura)... The first song she suggested was 爭氣, I wouldn't mind singing this song since it is one of the few fast ones that don't require much movement on stage... However, I couldn't find any decent karaoke version on the net, so this song is out unless I want to steal from PartyWorld... The next song was 愛定你; this song requires some grooving and I can't really bring out the essence of the song, so this is out as well... We finally settled on a somewhat upbeat song, 等我回來, but it isn't final yet... There's still time to change since I "can sing any of Aaron Kwok's song"... Any suggestions?

楓平浪靜

Calm continueth not long without a storm...


"The calm before the storm" was first seen in print as the above quote in 1576... What has this got to do with anything? None... I just wanted to say how relaxed I am now, you'll never know how nice the feeling is when filling in the details of the assignment cover page until you are doing it yourself... I slept for 3 hours last night, quite alot considering I had 9 hours to finish 2 assignments... Had a bad experience while printing out the assignment; took the bus to school from my home twice in less than 30 mins apart... It's time like this I wished I have a car...

Just when I thought I could relax, someone called me to ask me the progress on their website... Damn... What a good timing... Oh well, it's not that difficult to do anyway...

情人節

Valentine's Day is a cruel, evil holiday which exists solely to pour lemon juice on the paper-cut hearts of the unattached...


I hate today... No, it is not because today is Valentine's Day... I don't always hate this day; it is just that today is special because tomorrow is the last day I can hand in my Assignment 2... I've started to hate the 3^rd and 15^th of very month, the first being the due date for SIM and the latter the due date for UOL... As of now, I've only finished 2 of the 4 assignments... I have until tomorrow morning to submit it which is 9 hours later... 2 assignments in 9 hours? I'm gonna break all records if I manage to pull this off... Damn... I gotta stop doing this or I'll die before I can start my Assignment 4...

Nothing much these days, haven't been going for lectures for the past two days... The Career Fair in Suntec is on 3^rd of March... Hmm... Another 3^rd... This I don't know if I'm gonna hate it or not; if the schedule remains unchanged, I'll be performing 你牽走我的心 then... Hopefully I can improve much more by then... Think I'll start jogging again next Monday... Oh... I'm free to go out again after tomorrow, sorry for the rejections for the past week...

普通朋友

Should I smile because we're friends, or cry because that's all we'll ever be?


No, this is not a post about me falling out of love, nor is it some whining about how I don't have a date on Valentine's day... This is about the song by David Tao which I have been preparing for a while already... Did a recording this afternoon and manage to come out with something that I'm satisfied to upload... Now that I've listened it again, I'm have second thoughts on doing that... I'm not gonna describe how bad it sounds, or this post would be longer than the previous one... So I've decided not to make this recording public, but those who know where I usually upload my works shouldn't have any problems getting it... This is take one and there will be a second take or more until I can proudly publicize it...

My arms and legs are aching from yesterday's workout, seems like I'm not as fit as I thought I am anymore... I wonder if I have that kind of determination to wake up early in the morning to jog like I did last year... Nah... Most probably not... Come on people, ask me out to do some sports or something...

塞翁失馬, 焉知非福

A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise....


I've been quite unlucky since the start of this lunar new year... In the small hours of the third day of the year, my computer just froze suddenly while I was playing Dota halfway... Damn.. And I was on a winning streak... The worst part was not that, I restarted my computer and to my horror all I see was garbage!!! Square boxes, misplaced letters and unidentifiable symbols replaced what was supposed to be normal boot up messages...

Other than the above mentioned incident, a few other irritating things happened throughout these days as well... It might had just been a coincidence, but why does all these have to happen when I'm about to hand in (due date for SIM is today) my assignments? Though I might not be able to hand it in even if my computer wasn't dead, still there IS a chance right? Nah... I can only blame it on my laziness for not completing my assignments in time... If I had really wanted to do it, I could have done it on any of the computers ( 3 PCs and 3 + 1 laptops; LAN party is on every Saturday and eve of public holidays when my brother-in-law comes over) I have...

Went over to Sim Lim Square with my graphics card today, was quite worried as I had already thrown my receipt away even though it is still under warranty... I explained my plight to the shopkeeper I bought it from and he recommended me to go to the distributor to try my luck; something I seem to be lacking these days... It's a good thing the distributor was just upstairs; I hurried over to accept my fate... The staff took a look at my card and proceeded to test it, he then he replaced it with another one at zero cost!!! I was elated man, everything was over in less than 10 mins and so here I am typing on my computer... You'll never know how great it is to see my computer start up again; I hope none of you have to experience this...

The first half of this entry was hand-written in McDonald's this afternoon, so what was I doing there? I was waiting for time to pass... Was supposed to have a MTV Dance workshop this evening, so I just stayed in that area to wait... Before that I went over to Junan's office to collect some materials and she asked me why I joined so many kinds of activities, want to show off my talents is it? My reply was simple, to learn... No matter how talented you are, you still have to learn it from somewhere right? I'm not saying that I'm talented in all those activities I take part in, but I'll never know if I don't try right?


View of the dance studio before we started...


2^nd view of the studio; I'm in this shot...

The above are views of the studio before we started, I only have these 2 pictures as I can't be taking any while I'm dancing right? The first part was hip hop and the second was jazz... For a person who totally can't dance, jumping straight into it wasn't easy... I'm glad the rest of them from the singing club weren't any good either... To quote one of them, "Some people are talented in dancing, some are just talented in singing..." Haha... It was quite funny, since the gang of us were like clowns during the hip hop session... The rest of the people in that room are from the dance club, with a selected few who weren't but joined because they like dancing... It was thus quite obvious that we can't dance for nuts... The jazz session wasn't that bad since the instructor went through it little step by litte step and the moves weren't too difficult in general... Most of us could get it, so it was better to see everyone moving in unison... almost... In conclusion, dancing is really fun and I'm really tempted to join... However, I just don't have that much time to join so many activities...

Now that my machine is up again, I can start doing my assignments... Deducting weekends, I have 6 more days to complete them... Should be enough since the previous one was finished in 4 days... Mock exams starts next month, so many things I'll like to do, but not enough time to do all of them... Then again, it shouldn't be a problem if I'm not that lazy... But if I'm not that lazy, I'm not me anymore... What to do?!?

利己主義

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed...


I'm not good, because I haven't been doing my assignments (I sense another episode of assignment 1 coming)... However, I was still rewarded... Was lazing around practicing some song when Chris, designer of Memoir, called me... She said Memoir has been put on hold indefinately, but need me to help on something else... Another client of hers wants to change their host, and needs to migrate everything over to the new server... She asked me something about DNS, nameservers and other technical stuff that I've never dealt with before... In the end it's just a simple downloading of the old website and upload to the new one... For that I was paid $50, how nice...

Just got a sms, this Sunday's show is cancelled... Seems like my dream won't be fulfilled so soon after all...

My layout has been reverted back to the old one, for now that is the only one that works without any problems... I'll be thinking up new designs whenever I have the time, so no more drawings until I'm done with this...

改變

Only the wisest and the stupidest of men never change...


Just did the new symbol in school and decided to use it for the background... This is a shape seen in a manga magazine when I was in a Japanese restaurant with Ben and Weida last Saturday... I thought it was quite cool, so I took a picture of it... With my original layout, the picture looks very wierd, so I had to change the layout as well... Expanded the width of the entries so that you won't have to scroll too much...

Did all of this while waiting for our performance's video to finish rendering... Not sure on how to use Adobe Premiere yet, so I'm still playing around with it...

Still no idea what other songs I'm gonna choose, the only one that is decided is 你牽走我的心...

Just realized this layout does not work on 1024 x 768 screen (and it looks so nice on my screen...), haiz... back to the drawing board... Talking about drawing board, I wish I had one, then I wouldn't sprain my neck while drawing...

Edit: Changed the layout to look nicer on 1024 x 768 then my resolution... :( What to do, 80% of my audience uses that resolution... Gonna try to make it look nice on both places...

Edit2: Damn!!! My brother crashed my computer when the video almost finished rendering!!! Now I'll have to start all over again...

建設性

An important trait of the great ones is constructive laziness, they know that you get an A not for effort but for results...


On a weekday without worries about the next assignment, I could have been playing games or going out, but I did not... Instead, I started work on some other things I had to do... First up was the clan flag for my clan in NewAge, it is just a simple flag, but it is the doing part that is an achievement for me...

Next was the website for urban Foundry, I managed to update several products and made some changes to the logic of the site... The boss keeps expecting me to produce some updates, but he doesn't give me enough materials to update... Damn irritating, hope to get this over and done with soon...

Now's the time for some relaxation, was installing another game while typing this... When I'm sick of that, I'll continue on the video clips of our previous performance...

搞定

A man is not finished when he's defeated; he's finished when he quits...


Finally finished my assignment 1, printed and handed over to my friend so that he will courier it together with his... Since my momentum is still there, I better start on my assignment 2 which is due 3^rd of next month... Seems like this year's Friday the 13^th isn't that bad, or maybe I shouldn't speak too early... Who knows later he might call me and tell me he dropped everything into the water...

Now that I'm not rushing for anything, I'll be free to go anywhere; those that tried to get me out last few days can try again now... A few months ago, I said I wanted to do a rerecording of the song: 你牽走我的心 (You took my heart away), I've kept pushing this off as there is no motivation for me to do it... Now I think I've found the reason to do it... Esprimere has an upcoming performance on March and we were told to each prepare 3 solo songs: a fast one, a slow one and one that has a different style from what we would normally sing... I'll be choosing 你牽走我的心 for the slow one and the fast one would most probably be 著迷... So what should I choose for the one that has a different style from what I usually sing, any suggestions?

Almost forgot one important thing, I'll be performing at Indochine on the 22^nd of this month... I've always been wondering when I'll be able to perform at that kind of place, never thought it would be so soon... Not sure what kind of music we'll be playing though, seems like it's not something we've played before... Will update again when I know more details... I've been kept out of the loop of things happening in the band, is this a good or a bad thing? Maybe this is a good time for me to step down, pass my post over to another person and just be an ordinary member?

りりむキッス

Lilim Kiss


My first work of the new year, a character from the Lilim Kiss manga, Lilim herself... Lilim is actually a demon that sucks the energy of young men in their dreams... In return, she gives them a dream to die for... This explains the wings and the "costume" (she was wearing a bit more throughout the manga)...


Lilim - Lilim Kiss

This is one of the drawings that I spent the most time shading... Previously, the shading is only to indicate different colours, like the one I use at the top of the side bar... Actually that one was shaded using photoshop, but it's just an example... Those kind of shading do not require much skill, as I just need to apply a uniform coat of carbon throughout each area... For this drawing, I had to think which parts are higher, thus attracting more light, and which parts are hidden from light... After which, the most difficult part of it all is to make the character 3-dimensional... It is not easy to try and illustrate convexities, expecially those (ahem...) curvatures... I couldn't say I did a good job out of it, as the arms look very messy... Maybe it's because I wasn't concentrating on them when I was shading...

You all must be wondering why I drew this picture... Well, it just looks picture perfect when I saw it, don't you think so? That is the only reason why I drew this, not because of some wierd interests... The parts I like most are those spokes in the background, and the underwear (it's not what you think, it's the ornament that makes it special)...

The characters I draw in the future will never wear anything lesser than this, unless it's artistically censored... Maybe I shouldn't even consider that... Oh well, I've already got my next drawing in mind... This time, the challenge would be to bring out the feelings of the character...

新年

A fresh start...


It's a new year now, having to write 06 for the year needs some time for adjustment... In these recent years, I've started to dread every new year... Maybe it's because my exam period is always around this time, or maybe it's because I'm getting older... I'm not afraid of what age will do to my appearance, but rather the responsibilities that comes with age... I do not look like my age, neither do I act my age, I do not wish to grow up for I am unable to see any glimpse of light in my future... Days pass by with apprehension, the number this year would be 24 and it had just been a few months since I turned 23...

Why is Mr. Optimistic so pessimistic today? That's because my assignments are supposed to be in yesterday, and here I am not a single word written... Even the sky seems darker these days, why does it rain so much?

Everything will be fine after I hand in my assignments... Sorry Ben, this is the reason I'm unable to tell you when I can go to Sim Lim Square with you... Anyway, I don't really remember much about past technologies... If you have to ask me, I'll have to search through Hardware Zone, so why don't you read though the articles and we'll discuss it to refresh my memory...

That's it for now, I'll have to send the assignments direct to London by courier before 15^th... The good part is there'll be 3 other people sharing the costs... Hmm... I shouldn't be happy over such things...

新背景

Change of background...


Two entries in a day, that's something new... Got back home and had time to do it, so I changed the background to my animation... In a previous entry, I mentioned that I do not want to use a gif as background, but if I don't mention it no one will notice... Haha... That's not much difference either way, not on a fast connection at least... Oh well...

This New Year's eve, we're going to the beach party at Sentosa... Anyone wanna join us? Admission is free if you go with me... ;)

I'm serious...

苦惱之節日

Unhappy Holidays...


It is always during this part of the year where it gets worrying for students like me: our assignments are due next week... Normally, everyone would had finished most of the assignments by now, so as to enjoy their holidays... They would had started on it last month, or at least the start of this month... As for me, I haven't even installed the programs yet, let alone start on them... Now there is less than 1 week to finish them, sounds familiar? I sense several sleepless nights coming... or maybe not...

Last week, I went ktv with Weida, he said my singing has improved and I no longer sound like Aaron Kwok... That also means I've lost what made me special... Still I'm quite happy, since it I've been trying hard to lose that... So what if I sound very boring now, it is from now on where I can start to build my own style...

Yesterday, I joined SIM's singing club, Esprimere... As a tradition, the new guy has to sing a song for everyone... Once I started singing, everyone said I sounded like Aaron Kwok, including the instructor... She asked if I had been listening to Aaron's songs since young... Sadly, yes... Back to square one then... :(

As for the media I may be putting up, there's no time now, I need to get to school... Maybe in my next post?

鋼彈

"Is war the birth of battles, or is it the human soul?"-Lacus, GSDestiny


Ever since the previous time I drew Arbalest, I've taken a liking for drawing robots... The other day I saw this great model of a Gundam and decided I should draw it... Like I promised, this entry will come with some new media:


ZGMF-X56S/α Force Impulse Gundam : Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

The above is an animated gif, the link is to the completed drawing... Though I say completed, I've been wondering whether to add in colours... What do you think?

Now that I've finished this drawing, I realized I don't really like drawing robots... Arbalest was easy to draw and so was this Gundam, maybe that is why I don't find any satisfaction in drawing them...The lines are defined and so dead, I don't see any life in my own drawing (thus explains the animation :Þ ) ... Guess I should just stick to drawing manga...

The performance yesterday was not bad, there was quite some audience... The lighting wasn't the best, so I doubt the video would produce anything visible... Don't know why but the camera yesterday was a low quality one, unable to capture anything at night... Too bad then, but I'm pretty sure the sound would come out alright...

Hmm... The next entry might come with new media as well, until next time...

終於

Killing the creator was a traditional method of patent protection...


After my previous post, I had to do a few more drafts for urban Foundry... Until now, they are still not satisfied... I've however recieved most of the materials for the website, very soon, they won't be selling only beds... Though I hate it alot, I'm still doing it because I intend to learn the process of doing such things, something I would not do on my own...

There's another performance this Saturday, a new concept we've just thought up... I hate to say it, but my band is getting more interesting... Now that there is a new band leader, my work load had reduced alot, I'm losing my resolve to quit the band... Oh well, guess I still have to stay until my good friends see me perform... There would be a camera for this Saturday's performance, so I'll most probably post a clip after that... I might be performing on Christmas and/or New Year's Eve, it's not confirmed but most probably would be a public performance...

That's it for now, the next entry would most probably be accompanied by some new media...

問題

Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again...


There is this problem that I have been searching around for a solution ever since I first had this idea of a flash background... How do you set flash as a background? I know I have to set wmode to be transparent, but I'm not sure how to place it such that it resides behind these words... Of course, I can cheat and export it as a gif, that easily solves my problem... However, that is not how I want it to be done... Anyone reading this and knows the answer please email me... Any friends reading these and not know the answer please ask someone who might know... Any help is much appreciated, I'll remember you... No, not only when I'm in trouble again...

草稿

God created men first because you always need a rough draft before the final masterpiece!


It's been 5 days since the last time I blogged, half the time of my previous one... Hope I can consistently blog at least once every week...

Ok, about this draft thing, I think I'm finally done with the draft for urban Foundry's website... They seem quite happy with, that's one thing off my back... Now I just need to build the actual website and I won't ever want to see them again...

Next, is another draft, the animation for this background... I've finished with it but haven't uploaded it yet as my file hosting is down for upgrading... Should be able to see it by next week... The graphics are not really perfect, as it was drawn with flash... I'm going to replace it with my own drawings one of these days... If I'm fast enough, I may be able to finish it before the file hosting is up... Then you won't have the chance to see my draft, it's straight up Version 1...

Going to school now, maybe I should ask my classmate to draw that part since he is so good at it...

終於

Hard work often pays off in the future, but laziness always pays off now...


10 days since the last post... I had wanted to post one last Monday (21/11), or even after the Saturday (19/11) performance... Oh well, it happened again...

The performance on Saturday was quite uneventful; there wasn't much crowd... There were around 30 people, which is the usual at that place... However, it was good preparation for the next performance on Thursday (24/11)... The Thursday performance was for a private function, so the crowd was guaranteed... It was uneventful as well, except for the fact that we needed to drag the performance longer... That isn't much of problem IF I was informed first... Our performance is a string of different types of music, and the focus is on me during the Chinese section... I gave it my all at the start and almost couldn't make it to the intended end, imagine how I felt when I realized that the end wasn't coming... My arms were all stiff and I couldn't hit as fast as my original speed, it was very obvious that the tempo was dropping but my hands can't move any faster no matter how hard I try... How relieved I was when the end was finally signalled, what happened after that was, well, uneventful...

Still doing the draft for Junan's company's website, this is the 3^rd draft already... Why can't her boss just tell me everything at one shot? I can most probably finish in the morning tomorrow, this I would not procrastinate, at least that is what I hope...

I am very happy today when someone message me in friendster telling me she actually read my blog, and I thought no one actually reads my profile... If you're reading this, say "Hi" to my friends over there -->

I have a wierd message in my friendster, someone sent me a "JJC GradNite'05 invitation to Alumni members"... Wierd...

一拖再拖

Procrastination is like masturbation... At first it feels good, but in the end you're only screwing yourself...


I've been procrastinating lots of things, some things I doubt I'll ever get it done (e.g. the background animation for this page)... Today, I finally cleared something off my mind, I finished the draft of Junan's company's website... At first I wasn't able to do it due to the difficulty involved, but having pushed it off, I did not want to pick it up anymore... Today there is no lesson, so I finally decided to get it started, it took me the whole day to finish it... Now the next item on my list is my assignments, due on the first working day of next year... I wonder when I'll start on that one...

I'll be performing at the Arts Fest in Bukit Panjang this Saturday, too bad my good friends aren't back yet... I've been thinking whether to quit this band, this few weeks had been so busy that I've strengthened my resolve to quit... I'll most probably disappear after I recieve my payment for next week's performance, but if there is a public performance in December I might stay until then... Have to let my good friends watch me perform at least once; I started performing after they left Singapore, so not nice to stop before they come back right?

Something to whet your appetite, it's not the kind of music my band plays though... The new addition is the best amongst all my works, can't help but feel proud of myself... That's all for this entry, let's see how long I'm gonna procrastinate before I write the next one...

精神支柱

Spiritual support...


This is a continuation of the previous post... It's been so long already, I think it's time I commended on that great buddy of mine... First some history about us, we were both part of an insane force... Our training consists of being tortured, torturing ourselves and torturing ourselves while we torture our juniors... The actual events are classified, so I'll not dabble into it... As if that was not enough, I have to suffer the pressures from above and from below... Being a Team Leader, pressure from above is understandable, but pressure from below? The men and the Team Leaders are of the same rank and usually the same age, so I had little or no control over them... I have to act a nice guy, and sweet talk them for them to do anything... It was a good thing I had such a great Team 2IC...

For the first half of the time spent there, he helped me alot... He shared my burden, and taught me how to handle the men... From him, I learnt simple communication skills that I seem to lack for the past 18 years... I was better at controlling my temper as well... If he wasn't there, I would probably have had several nervous breakdowns... After we turned operational, the stress level decreased and I was able to take a step back to look at things... I realized how much I had learnt from Jonathan, but how little I had done for him, in fact, I think I sucked him dry... He was only able to lead under my shadow; I had turned him into my puppet... He dares not make any decisions himself, maybe it was out of respect for me, or maybe I craved for power and never let him make those decisions...

I feel bad about this while I looked back at those days... I could sense my growth from the first day I entered the force to the day I left... As for Jonathan, I feel that he is more mature at the start then at the end, maybe it's because of the ORD mood... An excerpt from the testimonial he wrote for me: "... you've been a superb team leader, you have taught me lots of things, and i will have to thank you for that..." I wonder how much of that is true, but I really hope he meant it...

Life would never be the same if I had chosen someone else as the Team 2IC that day... Now that he is in UK, I wish him all the best... His birthday is coming soon as well, don't really remember exactly when... When he is back, I'll like to introduce this great buddy to everyone I know...