Oh! Three’s a crowd…

“You know, I still think that the first one was better.”

Typical conversation starter, right after a trilogy is complete don’t you think? Why is it that comparisons are always made between the first and the last? Why does the second installment always seem non-existent? And are first parts better than sequels all the time?

Think! Bourne, Ocean’s 11 to 13, Ice Age, Spiderman, The Godfather and heck, even Lord of the Rings (where the Return of the King ran away with 11 Oscars! YES, ELEVEN!) And still, people tell me that they thought that the Fellowship of the Ring still edged it. Don’t misunderstand though. I am not implying that the number of Oscars won is relative to how good a movie is. I am just confuzzled over why first installments usually reclaim the plaudits, even after reaching the end.

Well, foundations are all laid in the first part – mostly introductory material, who’s who, the plot, pretty much the vertebrae of any decent story is all in the first chapter. What about the second installment then? Build-ups from the first, main characters remain, storyline isn’t close to anything conclusive – more often than not, it serves as the crescendo, before peaking at the last scene or two and suddenly, the credits appear… Conclusions? Most questions are answered in this final episode, the anticipation is usually at an all-time high prior to focusing our eyes on the screen (here’s a tip: if you have yet to watch a sequel to a particular movie, and a friend of yours has, you would probably hit him/her if he/she daresay a word about what happens next, or if you have annoying friends, you would close your ears and scream… Reactions like these can gauge the anticipation.)

So, why do beginnings and endings get the most attention? And why do beginnings always seem to have the extra edge when we compare them to the rest for that matter? Aren’t parts in the middle important as well? I’m inclined to think that our conclusions regarding trilogies are purely psychological and even delusional at that. Introductions and endings are what we look for all the time that we do, unfortunately miss out on the juicy parts in between. Nonetheless, these are just assumptions – I still am pretty much in the dark trying to comprehend why trilogies are constantly graded in such a manner; first, third and second. Gosh, maybe it’s just me who’s obsessive about such details but it would be brilliant if you could share your view!

By the way, has anyone watched Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen yet? The third (and possibly final) installment is planned for release within the next three years or so. And I’m hoping that for once, a Pyrrhic victory concludes a trilogy! Fingers crossed for tear-jerking drama and unpredictability! Goodnight world!

Tinted Glasses

Once again, apologies for the long wait… I have been busy somewhat – not extremely busy, but busy enough which justifies the lack of updates (or maybe I just don’t like to admit laziness on my part). Either way, work has been pretty decent so far. Though it’s not something that I look forward to every day and besides feeling like a total loser every morning when I wake up to prepare for it, I still think that it’s manageable and at times, even enjoyable. Lol. Guess having ridiculously low expectations (or no expectations at all) helped quite a bit!

Anyways, I don’t quite know what else to update about so yeah, have a blessed week and take care! (:

Distance and Desperation

This moment of time a week ago, I was drowning in self-pity – work would officially begin the following morning, and convocation would be less than 24 hours away. I just couldn’t seem to put everything into perspective, and besides, the future (the next three years) didn’t excite me at all. It was just awfully selfish and pessimistic to be honest. I totally ignored the fact that I am rather fortunate – A job pretty much guaranteed for 36-months (at least), a decent place to stay, enough to eat, and a loving family despite being a good 500 miles away…

So, Monday it was and the journey began… along with my struggle to accept reality: being posted to an “alien” department was no consolation – my expectations were shot down and they didn’t just fall to the ground, they buried themselves. “God surely has a purpose there for me!”, I thought to myself but still, I wasn’t willing to believe that. I wanted some form of justification, I was rationalizing. It’s ironic that my previous post was about being patient and trusting Him in everything and here I am forgetting all of that in just a few days. It’s ironic how I managed to pose an argument weeks ago on how we can never define God by logic and here I am, trying to make sense of His ways.

Either way, convocation was next and I wasn’t the happiest graduate – I barely clapped, I completely ignored the pledge, I wore smiles for photograph sessions… To make matters worse, my family would be leaving for home and I would be stuck behind in misery. Everything just felt out of place. What remained of the week wasn’t much better though – It was still head versus heart, fantasy versus reality… I so wanted to see that the glass was half full but I couldn’t.

Fast-forwarding to Sunday, it was a lifesaver, literally… A slap in the face. Since the whole episode began, I earnestly sought for direction and reassurance, but my Sunday experience was just phenomenal! The speaker read from Isaiah 40: 28-31…

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;

31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Deep down inside, I knew that God wanted to get His message across and I began trembling almost immediately as tears began streaming down my face… I was having a “high-low” moment – High from my discovery and my answered prayer, low from not being able to trust Him as my Creator.

Anyway, that’s all for now. It has been another lengthy one and besides boring you, I hope it encourages you as well! I do have a fair bit more to share but I feel that this isn’t the best time. So til then, have a brilliant week alright! Over and out. (;

In Security…

Dearest blog,

I’m awfully, awfully sorry to have neglected you for the past few weeks or so. I know that it hasn’t been the busiest time but so much has been happening in recent weeks that I do get a little confused whenever I plan to share how things are with you. But still, I hope that this would suffice… (:

Okay, where do I begin… Oh! You know, I made a trip back to Singapore about two weeks back to get my employment pass done and to move to a new place (Yes, again). I touched down at about six p.m. and I had pre-arranged to move some stuff over at about nine. Anyway, things weren’t going well, not at all. In fact, I was on the verge of going mental. Firstly, I received a couple of smses that weren’t the least encouraging. Apparently, we were shortchanged of over a thousand bucks despite being told otherwise.

Secondly, while I was rushing to get all my packing done within two hours, I realized that I lost my only set of house keys! Frantically, I began turning my unpacked stuff upside down, and unpacking my packed stuff inside out, all to no avail. I was distraught. It wasn’t just a set of keys. It meant not being able to leave the place for as long as I remained locked in, it meant not being able to move to the new place. Well, to cut the long story short, I managed to get them back – I had left them in the keyhole on the way in. Yeah, laugh all you want but these kinda things do happen I guess… It’s just rather unfortunate that it had to happen on an extremely busy day. But then again, things like these wouldn’t happen if I had time to spare would it? Either way, I guess that experience taught me alot. Nothing about house keys and absent-mindedness though. I figured that patience and trust were the real deals here. You see, it’s in times like these where we usually try to be in control over everything, it’s in times like these where we are focused on the problem, not the solution (or even potential solutions)… But it’s in times like these as well, where we begin to ask God for peace and for divine intervention. After that, patience and trust is pretty much all up to us isn’t it?

Oh! Talking about trust, you know, something rather absurd happened just recently… Well, I’m pretty sure that you do know about that swine flu “pandemic” don’t you?  And I’m certain that you are aware that my graduation ceremony is going to be held this coming Monday as well, right? Anyway, two days ago, I received news that the ceremony would be postponed until further notice. I shan’t get into the reasons behind that major decision – I believe that it’s partially sensible and partially stupid, though I figure that you have already found the link between sick, cute pigs and the why they’ve decided to do away with such events for the time being. Well, it was a series of unfortunate events, really. We had plans to go down from the weekend, we had hotel rooms booked, et cetera… Nonetheless, in the past 12 hours or so, it has all been overturned. Thank goodness that the organizers have finally come to their senses!

Okay. I really should stop here. It’s been a long one and I bet you have more interesting things to do. I’ll write again soon alright! Take care and love much! (:

Amongst Other Things…

Updates from a place called home:

Employment commences in a month, Graduation coincidentally falls on the same day – May 11th to be exact. I haven’t poured much thought into it so watch this space. I shall keep all ye faithful posted once I’ve spent enough time dwelling on it.

I’ve been home for a couple of weeks now with nothing much on the agenda besides the odd book, some films and a fair bit of traveling around the country, especially in the week(s) to come.

Oh, the Chelsea game was really disappointing – a rather dismal, below-par performance leaving us with the uphill task of needing to score at least three goals at the Bridge. Oh well, can we do it? Why yes, we can! (Note: I am honestly optimistic about it). Lol! (;

Anyway, y’all have a good Easter! Over and out.

Kill Switch

Earth Hour 2009 happens to be a week away; 28 March, 8.30 p.m. to be exact. Last year, I managed to play a teeny part in preventing (or more realistically, prolonging) global warming with a candle light dinner in the middle of Fortitude Valley. Next week, I expect myself to be sitting in darkness, blogging perhaps?

On a side note, here are my two cents worth after reading a random YouTube comment on ‘how sad it is that the video above has only over 300,000 views’ and apparently, it is a reflection of how much people care. It’s a wonder how these people think! Caring is relative to YouTube hits? To be honest, Earth Hour would be of little use if nobody keeps it up for the remaining 364 days of the year.

Don’t get me wrong – I strongly believe that the head-fake of Earth Hour is to raise awareness by reminding society that a future with global warming would be calamitous to say the least, and that its’ yardstick of success wouldn’t be based on how many people turn off their lights (the aim for 2009: one billion people) but rather the number of people that would continue with their energy-saving efforts.

Have a good one people! And do remember to Vote Earth! Gosh, the humanitarian in me is finally emerging! Woohoo! :D

The Exorcism of The Red Devils

At. Long. Last. The league double over our hated rivals, the gloating rights til the next fixture, and the immense joy at the expense of their humiliation. Pride comes before a fall? Indeed…

Sure Man. United still remains at the top of the Premier League table. And yes, there’s that four point gap as well but let’s not focus on that for the moment. Instead, let us bask in their hanging heads and shattered egos before allowing reality to bite again. Either way, whatever happens come May, we will never ever forget today. Walk On! :D

Et Cetera

The past week has been the highlight of my break so far – three weeks and counting…

I went for my Pre-Employment Medical Checkup last Thursday and as it turns out, I’m not as healthy as I expect myself to be – a urine test detected traces of blood cells in my pee, so I’ll need to go back for a repeat checkup sometime next week. Also, my right eye didn’t do very well in reading the Snellen chart, which is another bother. Hopefully, my cells will straighten themselves out by the next test.

Sectional Retreat was next. After Entelechy (an East District event), the few of us headed down to the Retreats’ venue for the night. The next morning, each cellgroup was briefed on the main agenda for the Retreat which was a well-organized Persevering Race – all three groups were made to visit four different locations along the North-East Line, completing as many tasks as possible within the given timeframe. After four to five gruelling hours in the 30 degree heat, our group ran a good few hundred metres before being informed that unfortunately, we were the last group to arrive. It wasn’t much of a concern really, the whole purpose of the race was to persevere and I thought that every single one of us managed to exhibit some form of perseverance. Oh and it turned out that we won the race (winners are determined by the number of points earned), which was a pleasant surprise in the end. (:

The last three days were spent in Batam (an Indonesian island south-east of Singapore). Given the fact that our reservations fell during the non-peak period, we were blessed with suites instead of the normal rooms. We managed to engage ourselves in somewhat unfamiliar activities. All in all, sunburns aside, it was a trip worth making – I am too lazy to include the details of the trip at the moment so if you really can’t wait, feel free to indulge yourselves in the specifics here!

Oh and Elaine! Lol! I am obliged to mention about beating battering Real Madrid on Tuesday night! Totally kick-ass performance! Let’s hope for another at Old Trafford Toilet as well! Wouldn’t miss it for the world! Haha.

Alright. Til the next update (hopefully, with pictures). Take care people! Peace out. (:

Aesthetics.

Came across this video. Credits to upendy, the cartoonist. Enjoy and God bless! (:

Frosty Indecision(s)

I stumbled upon familiar literature – Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, which in a way, epiphanizes this update…

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

In recent days, the greater part of my thought processes have been revolving around my future – for the record, I am at times, excited at what the future holds but it would be safer to say that for the most part, I am bothered.

Frost’s poem just about illustrates my indecision: I could be staring down both roads at present, weighing the costs and rewards of both options… Should I go left? It certainly looks more promising than the right one. But wait, what if this journey is an exception? What if this time, the destination is more important than the journey instead? What if… Oh wait! There’s a third road! It doesn’t seem as appealing as the other two but who’s to say? Ah! The torment!

It irks me when mind games wreak havoc and as a result, millions of brain cells are deprived of their needs to function normally. But then again, it hasn’t ruined my break. Yet…

Have an awesome week y’all! (: