FoC! Free of Charge! (I hope...)

It's finally here! After a year of mind-boggling planning and laborious effort, the most awaited event of the year is finally here. FOC! *dances around* It's gonna start in... 40 minutes time. I'm excited, but very tired as well. Though I am generally a slacker, I am feeling the sores and aches already. And the ever-present sore throat is back in full force. Hopefully, the freshies will appreciate our effort. And fellow FOC-GLs/programmers out there, just do it!

Back in Hall

I'm finally back in hall after a semester's break. It's nice seeing everybody again and regaining my 24/7 net access, but after a year of staying in hall, I've decided that I still prefer my home. Even though daily commute from home to school is horrendous, nothing compares to the feeling of my own mattress. Ok... The TV is one big temptation too. And I realized how true the phrase "Distance makes the heart grows fonder" is.
Anyway, back in hall means a busy, busy life. Pre-camp is right on top of the list. Of course, it is not as hectic as freshman orientation camp last year, but it is a 'pre' camp. I expect less hours of sleep and a good throat for imitating A-Do for the coming days.
I just had the traditional 'hunted house' experience earlier in the night. This year, the ghosts has twisted themselves out of Sentosa and made me explore places of NTU that I never knew existed. I thought the Fright Night was not bad, considering that many props were still not in place, but a senior of mine felt that it was not as good as last year's. Indeed, last year's walk was held in a spooky deserted house. It IS scary even without deliberate decorations. So, you can't really compare the two. What I am more interested in, are the terrified (hopefully) looks on the freshies' faces. Bwahaha.

Aug 14 2003 - A proof of my useless brain

I was mourning over my loss of my nick on IRC, when I realized that there is a difference between '-' and '_' there. Meaning: A name with a hyphen and an underscore is different.
I decided to try out this logic with blogger.com. And lord and behold, I actually applied for an account here on August 14, 2003! *faints* I'd completely forgotten about it. Ha, I probably was cursing myself when I re-applied for an account, thinking 'Who's the idiot who took my nick?!'

OtakuON: Cosfest 2005

I didn't really expect so many people at Cosfest 2005. I have been to cosplay events before, but maybe because they were J-rock-centered and there are relatively fewer fans, and so the crowd is not as much.
However, I was rather amused by everything I saw on Sunday. The Bokuto no Ryu cosplayer was probably the funniest person that day. His moves, his facial expressions and his poses were just freaking hilarious! Bwahaha! Well done man. But you seriously reminded me of Elvis Presley trying to be funny.
Best cosplayer of the day: Predator. People followed him no matter where he went, and I was one of them. Wonderfully realistic, complete with sound and attitude. I love the way he terrorized people.
The Deathnote group was kinda cute too. I have to admit, I wasn't too supportive of them at first, but their skit was really funny. L whining when Wakari called to say there was no more cheesecakes, and then Raito beckoning L to join him in the Dark Side. Oh man... *rolls on floor laughing* Lame humour, very Singaporean.
Too bad I was only there after 3pm and missed out many of the performances. The winning group from Battle Royale the movie supposedly put up a people-killing fic, true to the movie.
Damn, after the event, I really have an urge to cosplay... Need to start going on a mad hunt for possible characters now.
Below are some selected photos of the event. Go to my Flickr account for those that I have uploaded. I have more, but I don't want to burst my account, so you will need to email me for them. Oh yes, cosplayers who don't want your photos to be posted, leave a message too.

117th IOC In Singapore

I know, I know, the IOC has been over since Saturday. But poor me was not able to have net access till today.
I have to say that I wasn't too shocked that London won, since they are the hot favourite as well, but I pity Paris. Their presentation was the best to me. Comprehensive and entertaining. New York only focused on the emotional part, while Moscow obviously couldn't do much about the evaluation. Madrid... I was nearly asleep during their presentation... Paris and London are the clear front-runners, but my bet was on Paris. I was even thinking that I probably should start learning French for a 2012 trip there. But too bad.
I took a trip down to Raffles City on Tuesday, one day before the presentation, to see what merchandise I can buy. Well, and also partly to see if I can catch a glimpse of Beckham. Anyway, this is the result:

Not bad huh, this flimsy piece of paper cost me $8.90. However, I am still pissed at the people stamping the logos over the left portion of the letter.

Redefine Beauty

Beauty needs to be redefined. And we Asian women can do play a part.
I was at the launch of Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty" this morning, which basically is a presentation of their survey results on the views of Asian women on beauty and a dialogue between several professionals. There was a plastic surgeon Dr. Goh, a NTU lecturer from the SCI, Selena Tan the actor, Tisa Ng from SCWO etc and of course, members of the media. It was a very enlightening session, I must say, and congratulate Dove for launching this campaign which put the attention back on Asian normal women.
Though I feel that Dove could have chosen more plain looking people for their ads, I am totally behind the campaign.
Indeed, the definition of beauty needs a new face in this modern society. It is no longer about big eyes, sharp noses, small lips, big breasts, slender waists and fair skin. An old woman with wrinkles can be as beautiful as the young blond model in a magazine. Tisa Ng is a beautiful woman even though she is old. And that's because she is confident in herself and brings laughter to the room. We need to be more confident of ourselves and such self-belief is a form of beauty in itself.
In fact, I think confidence is the most important aspect of all. You may not think that you are beautiful but you need to be happy about your looks. Normality can a form of beauty as well. I don't think I am beautiful, but I am happy about myself. I don't feel the need to chalk my face, spend precious money on facials and sacrifice my favourite Hersheys chocolate to slim myself down to a stick. Just be happy and healthy and beauty will come your way.
Check out the campaign website and be part of this long-overdued project. And humans of the male species, you should check it out too. (The site may not be ready yet.)

Deep Impact (not the movie)

In celebration of USA's national day, NASA's spacecraft Deep Impact has successfully launched its impactor at the comet Tempel 1 yesterday at 2.07pm (Singapore time). The mission is to collect rock and particle samples from the imapct and hopefully figure out the evolution of space. BOOYA! I love destruction.
Check out NASA's website for more information. There was a live video of the impactor release but too bad. I missed it.

Go with the mouse: Autism test

Try out this autism spectrum quotient test by baron-cohen. It tests the possibility of an adult being autistic. You are warned that it is a long test, with 50 questions, so make sure you have time to spare.
Anyway, I got a 16, which is considered average. Haha, I was actually expecting a higher score since I don't really like to be around people. I prefer cooping in my room, surfing the net, talking to people online... Wait a minute, does that mean I like to interact with people? Hmmm... I guess there are actually multi-personalities inside of me. I like spending time with friends, but I also need my alone time. And thanks to the Internet, it is actually possible to combine these two. Talking to friends through MSN, while having the luxury of being physically alone. Thank you, Mr. Internet, whom I can't remember the name.

Go with the mouse: Toy Story

OMG, this is f**king hilarious! I found it on tomorrow.sg. Very amusing toy story that is completely pointless, but will surely make your mouth twitch. Especially if you know which anime/game the toys come from. Evil Pikachu and Kero... Oh man...

Federer the Unbeatable

The Swiss has done it again. Roger Federer has beaten Andy Roddick to be the Wimbleton male champion three times in a row. Simply amazing.
Honestly speaking, I only started liking tennis after watching the anime, Prince of Tennis. Before that, I was like "Huh? Tennis? The racket so heavy, how to play? Somemore the ball so hard, later kenna hit by it how?" But after watching some matches and learning the rules, I am truly impressed by the professionals.
Tennis is a beautiful game. The way the players dance around the court, executing unbelievable shots and comebacks. There was a shot by Federer last night that really wowed me. His body was twisted as he flew through the air to return a shot and finally gained the point; it looked even better in slow motion.
However, the most important of all, tennis is a game of endurance. Rally after rally, sets to games to matches, one match can go on to two hours. Or like the womens' finals, a record-breaking 2 hours 45 minutes.
Many times, I wonder if I can last that long in a match. A 15min basketball match is already horrendously long to me when I am on the court, let along two hours. It's not only physical, but mental power. I salute.
The victory is sweetest if you fought hard for it. Congrats to Venus Williams also for taking home the aptly named "Venus Rosewater Dish" though I was seriously amused when she hopped around like an idiot after she won.