Drudgery

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet yeah

No change, I can't change I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mind
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,no,no,no,no,no(fading away)

Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mind
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
I can't change I can't change it

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
Trying to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet yeah

You know I can't change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next I
can't change my mind No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mind no, no, no, no, no,
I can't change

Can't change my body,no, no, no
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down I
'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
That you've ever been down
That you've ever been down

Bittersweet symphony--The Verve

Week two into my first job and I'm still turning left everytime I walk out from the office, only to crash into the wall with EXIT pointing gleefully to the right. Bleah. And I just cant remember bringing my card with me everytime I go to the toilet, only to end up standing stupidly outside the doors waiting for someone to open from the inside. Gah. So embarrassing. I hope no one notices man.

I'm turning into a bigger geek than ever. DOTA is always on my mind nowadays, and I'm actually planning to buy World Of Warcraft next. Blizzard should be so happy to hear this. Pwnnnning!!!! Anyone who plays DOTA too please tell me how to Deny effectively. Apparently I just cant bear or dont know how to kill my own weaken units before the enemy does. Argh. And I cant wait for a one on one with Chee! (Though he will most probably destroyed my throne in minutes...lolx)

My mother had thought that things will get better after I started work but I think it got worse man. Haha. Somehow I'm always energetic enough to play a few rounds before forcing myself to sleep. Maybe it's all the weird lines my characters will say to me now and then. Zeus, for one, loves saying "You are kinda slow for a human being arent you?" everytime I click on him while Syllabear, the beastmaster, likes to say " I'm awake...I'm awake" Haha. Alright. I'm sounding like some crazy DOTA addict with no life. Which is probably true...XD

Bangs and Pops

Started the year with a bang, literally. The fireworks display at the esplanade bay was great, well worth the long hours of waiting, the extremely illogical and inefficient organisation, the crazy and massive crowd, and the surreal moments my friends and I experienced.

There's something about watching a fireworks display to usher in the new year that makes the whole experience so beautiful and memorable. It has always been an age old tradition among many cultures to set off fireworks or fire crackers as the new year arrives, an act to symbol the start of a new beginning and the end of all the unpleasant incidents, hardships and sufferings of the previous year. Indeed, that was what I felt as I watched the night sky exploded into dazzling patterns of red,blue, yellow,green and gold, each one different from the other. There were the slow reacting ones that lingered and floated in the sky like some ghostly apparitions, the bursts of sparks in zizag formations that flew across the line which separated the sea and the sky, the golden "showers" kind that fell like rain drops and my favourite of all, the fantastic "multipliers", which kept spliting into individual fireworks after the first explosion.

It felt as if the fireworks were there as a reflection of the expectations, hopes and dreams for the new year from the eager watchers below, a celebration of the big and small achievements made by each individual standing in the crowd during the year, reminding us of how far we have come, how much we have gained, and the anticipation of better things to come.

Luck too, played quite a part in making this experience with my friends such a wonderful one. We had arrived there at around 9.45pm, only to find the path to the esplanade barricaded by the guards who directed us to the closed off expressways. So we were standing there, thinking of ways to get ourselves into the esplanade, with me getting increasingly irritated when suddenly someone found the emergency door in front of us unlocked! We wasted no time rushing in, knowing that it would be closed soon. Sure enough, just as we got in, the guard came and locked the door. No one really knew whether someone had picked the lock of the door or it was unlocked all the while, but we all felt that it was really a marvellous stroke of luck, because without it we would not get such a great view as we did later.

Then there was the sudden drizzle that came at around 10pm. The place was in chaos then, with everyone running for shelter and leaving their positions. Well, we had our umbrellas and ponchos so it alright. Went around looking for a place with a clear view, and somehow miraclously, we found a fairly large space at the front. (maybe it's because everyone squeezed at the back where there was more shelter?) The rain stopped a few moments later and the crowd swelled again, like the water from the drains. More entertainment arrived while we were waiting, with a filming crew from the tourism board waving their cameras around a cheering block of people, and the interviews. There were also a bunch of really entertaining people who started doing the countdown before the actual minute, and all the random slogans.

It was only after the fireworks display that the ugly side of things began. I was very angry at the way the organisers handled the crowd problem. For example, important routes leading to the MRT stations were blocked by guards and barricades. That really did not make any sense because of the inevitable situation that followed--- everyone trying to squeeze through the few available exits. What was worse was that not only many routes were closed, there were also many really silly decisions made by the organisers such as putting a divide in the middle of the paths and only allowing the crowds to move through one side. It was so silly that it was unbelieveable. They also did not allowed people to go back in after they were out of the esplanade, despite already narrowing the crowd outflow. There was a lady who had wanted to go back in because she lost her child (if my friend heard correctly), but she was refused entry by the guard who just rang up for reinforcement when the lady became more insistent. It was just so stupid man.

My friends and I, together with the rest of the crowd, were thus forced to walk a big detour before we could get to the station. The crowd was so massive that some were forced to walk on the roads instead, which still had some cars. The resulting scenario, as comically pointed out by a friend of mine, was exactly the same as the scene from the movie, The War Of The World, where people walked miserably in one direction surronding the cars which were forced to stop. In fact, we were half expecting someone to knock on a car window shouting "Get out of the car!"

Thinking back, maybe it's the spirit of the occasion, the high energy level soaring every second by the pulsating crowd as the hour arrives, or it could be the presence of my friends, the exhilaration and thrill we felt at making such an imprompto decision to watch the display in the first place, I came away from the esplanade with feelings of joy and bliss that radiated from the fireworks into my soul.

It was a truly fun and memorable way to welcome the new year!