some silly days

some silly days<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/lestor/Cut-Out1.jpg" Border="1" Width="200" Height="150"> out of order. neek46935第七天neek答應太太的離婚要求﹐已經差不多一個星期了。 我的心情﹐卻從當時的平靜﹐漸漸變得很不穩定。 當她提出要求時﹐我的答覆是迅速而且乾脆的。憋在心理許久的納悶感覺﹐好像隨著自己灑脫的回應飄散。 但是﹐不知怎的﹐一股難以言喻的不捨卻在這時油然而生。 昨天﹐她搬走了。之前我們曾經詳談﹐有了把其中一隻狗交給我撫養的共識。我覺得這是讓家里至少還有一點生氣的安排 - 我已經習慣回到家﹐在門口呼喚小狗們的名字﹐也習慣了一打開門就看到它們高興的樣子。 然而﹐當我看到小狗分離時的不捨和難過﹐我開始懷疑自己是不是有做錯了決定。 小狗整晚都沒有吃東西﹐也沒有喝水。今天為它準備了牛奶﹐它也喝得不起勁。它是知道媽媽不會再回來了﹐和它一起玩了一年的小狗伴侶也不會再回來了。 原來﹐小狗比人類更珍惜感情。 昨晚﹐我又睡不著了。足球看到凌晨四點﹐再看一些無厘頭的台灣綜藝節目﹐到了五點半才上床。可是沒到七點﹐我又醒了。醒來時看到身邊的人不在﹐心中又是一陣抽噎。這本來是一個值得高興的週末 - 曼聯與切爾西相繼落敗﹐如果今晚利物浦可以擊敗維拉﹐便可以把積分差距拉到僅僅一分﹐利物浦奪冠的希望必可重燃。 可是我就是沒心情﹐反而想快點星期一﹐快點工作來麻醉自己。我甚至到醫生那兒拿了點安眠藥﹐算是讓自己有睡著的信心。 兩天前朋友鼓勵我﹐說時間可以撫平一切的傷口。但是﹐撫平傷口的時間是很難過的。我只希望事情過去之後﹐我可以再回復以往的朝氣。 也許﹐到了那時﹐我也可以讓我的人生重新出發。 22-03-2009 12:10:4401-01-1970 07:30:0022-03-2009 12:10:44No entry found.Atomic Island Administrator08-09-2010 20:08:0208-09-2010 20:08:0208-09-2010 20:08:02第七天neek答應太太的離婚要求﹐已經差不多一個星期了。 我的心情﹐卻從當時的平靜﹐漸漸變得很不穩定。 當她提出要求時﹐我的答覆是迅速而且乾脆的。憋在心理許久的納悶感覺﹐好像隨著自己灑脫的回應飄散。 但是﹐不知怎的﹐一股難以言喻的不捨卻在這時油然而生。 昨天﹐她搬走了。之前我們曾經詳談﹐有了把其中一隻狗交給我撫養的共識。我覺得這是讓家里至少還有一點生氣的安排 - 我已經習慣回到家﹐在門口呼喚小狗們的名字﹐也習慣了一打開門就看到它們高興的樣子。 然而﹐當我看到小狗分離時的不捨和難過﹐我開始懷疑自己是不是有做錯了決定。 小狗整晚都沒有吃東西﹐也沒有喝水。今天為它準備了牛奶﹐它也喝得不起勁。它是知道媽媽不會再回來了﹐和它一起玩了一年的小狗伴侶也不會再回來了。 原來﹐小狗比人類更珍惜感情。 昨晚﹐我又睡不著了。足球看到凌晨四點﹐再看一些無厘頭的台灣綜藝節目﹐到了五點半才上床。可是沒到七點﹐我又醒了。醒來時看到身邊的人不在﹐心中又是一陣抽噎。這本來是一個值得高興的週末 - 曼聯與切爾西相繼落敗﹐如果今晚利物浦可以擊敗維拉﹐便可以把積分差距拉到僅僅一分﹐利物浦奪冠的希望必可重燃。 可是我就是沒心情﹐反而想快點星期一﹐快點工作來麻醉自己。我甚至到醫生那兒拿了點安眠藥﹐算是讓自己有睡著的信心。 兩天前朋友鼓勵我﹐說時間可以撫平一切的傷口。但是﹐撫平傷口的時間是很難過的。我只希望事情過去之後﹐我可以再回復以往的朝氣。 也許﹐到了那時﹐我也可以讓我的人生重新出發。 22-03-2009 12:10:4401-01-1970 07:30:0022-03-2009 12:10:44結束neek所有的路﹐終歸有走到盡頭的一天。 伊玲和我的婚姻﹐終於也要結束了。 分離的場面是很平靜的。兩個很久沒有交談的人﹐難得在一起談了很久。彼此卻都知道這可能是最後一次的長談了。 十四年。 我很不捨得﹐雖然很久以前我就已經知道這也許是我們唯一的出路。我知道我們已經不再快樂了。我也很想挽回﹐可是我連挽回的勇氣也沒有。 所以﹐當她向我提出離婚時﹐我只能接受。 決定了以後﹐有一種如釋重負的感覺。然而﹐雖然覺得解脫了﹐內心還是掙扎着。昨晚徹夜難眠﹐一直回想著過去的點點滴滴﹐想著想著眼眶卻已經濕了。 今天很早醒﹐看著熟睡的她﹐和她身邊的兩隻小狗﹐心中澎湃依然。狗狗仿彿知道我難過﹐走到我身邊躺著陪我。我輕撫著它們的時候﹐再也忍不住﹐抱著它們痛哭。 我現在才知道﹐原來我不是一個堅強的人。我失去了我太太﹐心愛的寵物﹐更要面對房子可能要變賣的問題。這條新的﹐充滿荊棘的路﹐我應該怎麼走下去﹖ 17-03-2009 10:35:1617-03-2009 10:39:3217-03-2009 10:35:16Four MoviesneekI watched lots of movies recently, and I'd like to take this opportunity to share my views on them. 21st Feb: K-20 (怪人二十面相.伝) This is the movie adaptation of Edogawa Rampo's popular detective novel. His novels are inspired greatly by western influences, and the Kaito Nihu Menso character is greatly modelled after Maurice LeBlanc's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars%C3%A8ne_Lupin" target="LUPIN">Arsene Lupin</a>. This movie is very liberal in its adapation, choosing to create its own story using the franchise, which turns out to be a rather good movie. Unfortunately, fans of Akechi Kogoro (明智小五郎) will be frustrated that the highly popular detective is portrayed as the bad guy in this movie. It's a bit like saying that Sherlock Holmes is a murderer, and it's a point that I cannot accept. The show is also well commended for its parkour sequences, which shows some breath-taking stunts involving the notion of moving from point A to point B in a straight line (i.e., the fastest route). It reminds me of myself when playing sandbox video games like GTA and Saints Row, so I could relate to the idea very well. I'd also like to say that Matsu Takako is as pretty as ever. I find that some Japanese actresses age really well, and she's definitely a stunner even at 32. All in all, this is a light-hearted adventure comedy that has some detective and romance elements thrown in. It's a good movie to spend that lazy afternoon with. 24th Feb: The Pink Pather 2 I must admit that I enjoyed the first movie, and was secretly anticipating this one. I find Steve Martin's antics in this series really commendable. Maybe it's the over-the-top French accent, or the fact that some of these jokes are really funny even when recycled, I find myself enjoying this one as well. In fact, one of my colleagues laughed so badly that she actually had to wipe her tears away (laughed until cried), and I left the cineplex with a really sore jaw. I'd recommend this just because it relieves stress. 27th Feb: Suspect X 容疑者Xの献身 The serious detective movie, based on Keigo Higahino's (東野圭吾) "Galileo" series. The novel is a series of three books, which tell of how Manabu Yukawa (湯川學), a professor who's an expert in physics, uses his scientific knowledge to solve seemingly inprobable crimes. The novels made me feel that I was reading a science textbook, so I didn't particularly enjoy them. But the third of the series, 容疑者Xの献身, which this movie is based on, saw a very different approach. It focused very much on the affairs of the heart, and how love could make a logical person commit an illogical act... like murder. I like this novel, so I'd say it's a great one to adapt into a movie. Prior to this movie, the Galileo series has already been adapted in a TV series. I kinda enjoyed the TV series, because it uses visuals to explain those scientific explanations that I found to be very boring to read in the novels. The TV series is also light-hearted, which makes it easy-to-watch even though it also happens to have many dead people. This movie, however, is very different from the TV series. In fact, the only light-hearted part is found in the opening scenes, when Yukawa explained the unexplainable notion known as love. I can't explain the beauty of this movie without spoiling the ending, so I'll just leave it at that. I can, however, say that the movie follows the major events of the novel very well. There are some things that were omitted, but none of them are serious enough to make you not understand the story. Be prepare to leave the cinema with a heavy heart though, because as you witness the brilliant duel of the minds between Yukawa and his childhood friend, a master mathematician, you can't help but feel sorry for the villain. All in all, this movie is a must-buy-to-watch-it-again-on-DVD for me. 7th March: Watchmen This is a very, very different superhero movie. It's unlike every other movie you've watched in this genre. It's extremely violent, and touches on certain issues that make you feel that superheroes are basically human-beings who have their own struggles. The ending, which shows a brutal murder on one of the guys who've been investigating a murder of a fellow ex-colleague, is one that would trigger the thought of whether you'd do it if you're in the murderer's shoes. In this scene, the guy who died believes in his own conviction that he must expose the truth regarding a massacre. The guy who killed him did it because he feels that exposing the truth will destroy the peace treaty between two high power nations who were on the verge of war before the massacre. The tension involved is unbelievable, and I can understand why some people simply couldn't enjoy this movie at all. It's too "serious" and it gives you a headache at the end of the day, making you think so much about world issues when all you wanted was just Spider-Man 3. Not a show that you'd want as popcorn enjoyment, but nonetheless compelling and thought-provoking. Fin. 10-03-2009 17:25:1810-03-2009 17:27:2910-03-2009 17:25:18Parental GuidanceneekA few weeks ago, I had dinner at Central. This Japanese pasta shop is rather packed, so my friend and I ended up sharing the table with a group of four distinctively middle-aged ladies.The dinner was great. I just love how Japanese recipe could make pizza so good. While enjoying my food, I couldn't help but notice that the aunties beside me were talking very loudly. It appeared to me that they could be having some sort of class gathering, and, as common practice when aunties group together after many years of not meeting, they do the single-most boring thing in the world - they talk excitedly about their kids.It started ok. My kid is so cute, he was doing this, that day she was doing that, then hor that day he was at where where where, and then she was what what what. You know, the usual, uninteresting, utterly drab conversation that uninteresting and drab people have about their kids. I tried not to listen, but it was sort of becoming a competition of whose kid was cuter, so they were all talking so loudly that people could hear them from the Singapore River.Soon, the topic went to GTA IV, a violent video game about gangsters that's legally available in Singapore after the MDA introduced official video games ratings in April 2008. Now, GTA IV puts you in the shoes of a reluctant gangster. You do missions for gangs, kill innocent people off the street (usually collateral damage), steal their cars, pay for sex, drink drive, and basically do everything that the Bible tells you not to do. It's for this reason that the game is slapped with a M-18 label, just like, you know, movies and rated DVDs that are available in Golden Village, Cathay, Eng Wah and most DVD shops. So, what issue could our group of mothers have against GTA IV, clearly a game targeted at adults? "You know, video gaming is bad for kids. That day my boy was playing GTA IV and he was stealing cars, knocking innocent people down with the car and killing people with guns. How could they make such a game!""Yeah! This is bad influence for the kids! They won't know how to differentiate what's game and what's real! The government shouldn't allow this kind of games to be sold off shelves!""Yeah! That day my boy's cousin downloaded this game for my boy onto his PSP, it allows him to drive a taxi and the objective is to knock as many people down as possible!"To be honest, I was flabbergasted. Here, we have a group of clearly righteous (but clueless) adults complaining about video games that have less than moral contents, which are not intended for kids, but are being played by their kids. This sounds nonsensical to me, because as far as I understand, helping the child distinguish what is right and what is wrong is part of the responsibilities of a parent. Nevertheless, I'll explain my point with the help of the bolded statements above. "How could they make such a game?" The label on GTA IV clearly says "M-18". It means that it's for matured audiences of 18 years and above only. My friends and I, who are all above 18 (I'm very, very far ahead of 18, by the way), have played this game, and we don't go around stealing cars, knocking people down and killing people with guns. It's because we're from the legally approved age group, and the government believes that we're matured enough to know the difference between reality and fantasy. Most of us would like to steal our boss' car, knock him down and shoot him in the balls, but we'd never do it because we know it's against the law and we'd die as a result of being caught.Which is why, I'd like to know: would you buy this game for you five-year-old kid?"The government shouldn't allow this kind of games to be sold off shelves!" As with above, the government is not allowing this kind of games to be sold off shelves? to kids. However, if you're a parent, and you buy it off the shelf for your kid in his/ her absence, the game shops and the government cannot stop you. You're responsible for the development of your children. If you're unsure of a game's contents, <a href="http://www.google.com/" target="GOOGLE">google</a>/ <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/" target="WIKIPEDIA">wiki</a> it before you buy it. You've the responsibility to go that extra mile to ensure that you buy something that is suitable for your children."That day my boy's cousin downloaded this game for my boy onto his PSP!" This is the thing that pissed me off the most. You know, the PSP, which is a kinda passé item (last I measured, the dust on my PSP is reaching 2cm) from years ago that has became the in-thing among bengs/ lians, kids and anyone who takes a bus/ MRT. I've no problem with that. My problem with the PSP is that it has replaced the PS2 has the evil machine for piracy. As a parent, what kind of morals are you imparting to your kids when you modify a game console/ handheld for them, so that they can download games illegally? You're teaching them not to respect intellectual property (and that means stealing, by the way) even before they reach Primary One. How much 好公民 must they study to wash their minds off a parent who taught them that stealing is ok? You don't allow you kids to copy their homework from friends/ cousins/ "The InternetTM", but you allow them to copy the hard work of gaming developers onto their PSPs without paying. Parenthood is so bloody contradicting!To be honest, I was very tempted to give these ladies some pointers in "Choosing the Right Video Game for your Child: 101", and my friend could sense the anger rising in me. But I've matured a lot over the years, and making a scene in a nice restaurant while having dinner doesn't sound like a bright idea. We left soon after, which confirms that GTA IV did not turn me into a nutcase. But this thing keeps popping back in my mind these few days. Personally, I'm not a parent, and I may not understand the pressures of juggling between work and family. As it is, my marriage is on the rocks and I don't know how to even approach it. Nevertheless, if you do indeed want to have a child, you ought to be ready enough to teach the kid the right things. It's very convenient to use money to buy things for the child to make up for the lost time that you failed in spending with them because you've been working. It's sad but you could turn this into modern parenting technique to bridge the gap a little. You can, in the example of a gaming console, play the games together with them over the weekends, and in the process teach them useful things like problem-solving, decision-making and cause-and-effect. Gaming developers and the government cannot teach them on your behalf, so don't go shifting the blame when things didn't go too well.This ends my rant for today. I realized that this is my first post in 13 months. Don't worry about me though, because I'm usually stuck on Xbox Live or Facebook doing the usual. I just thought that I should pay a visit here, and that I should write something to keep this thing (slightly) alive. Cheers.27-02-2009 17:55:1627-02-2009 19:32:0727-02-2009 17:55:16BackneekIt turned out that my trip to Macau was one of the worst experiences ever. I went down with food poisoning, which graduated to intestinal infection and a high fever, and had to spent a night in the hospital as a result. Hardly the sort of thing you'd associated with a "holiday". Regardless, I still took the turbojet to Hong Kong despite my sufferings. I mean, I was already there, I might as well make the most out of it. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to find any vintage Transformers though. The toy scene in Hong Kong is no longer the same as compared to, say, six years ago. My happiest time there consisted of two incidents. Firstly, a dim sum high tea that the four of us (Kiat, Wee How and Wendi) had at Grand Central II. I remember that the first time I went to Hong Kong, I stayed at Grand Central Hotel. Seems that the place has been upgraded to have a new mall. The meal cost us a grand total of HKD152.00, which is about SGD28.00. Yes, a dim sum meal that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. $7 per head! What more do you want! Secondly, I spent almost an entire day in a comic rental cafe. This is because, as with what I've read on online forums regarding to this shop, they actually do have a complete collection of vintage 李小龍 comics! In fact, it stocked issue #1 to current (that is, 1,500+ issues of comics...). I've always maintain that the 李小龍 comic from issue 270+ to 500 are the best I've ever read in terms of storyline, and I've been trying to find them for the last 10 years just so as to relive my childhood joy of reading this title. Due to time constraints, I started from issue 276 and finished at about 340. I had to go because it was already 11:00pm and I had a ferry to catch. It was quite sad that I couldn't continue on, but at least I managed to complete some of the classic arcs like 父子相殘 and 中指嶺風雲. I'm a happy man! <img height="256" src="http://www.dannyfish.idv.tw/history/lee/lee-201-300/images/lee-c300.jpg" border="1" /> <img height="256" src="http://www.dannyfish.idv.tw/history/lee/lee-301-400/images/lee-c326.jpg" border="1" /> I'm now trying to contact this shop to check whether if they're willing to sell the whole lot to me. I know it's a long shot, but I must own them. 03-02-2008 15:54:4001-01-1970 07:30:0003-02-2008 15:54:40GoingneekIt has been a busy 2008 for me so far. Had a "off-site team-building" exercise with my colleagues (note: also known as "cheap golf sessions for the bosses") at Sebana Cove last Friday, which was a bit of a farce IMO. It did, however, gave me the opportunity to sow some seeds of discord between my ex and current bosses. Fun. Just a day before the above exercise, I was informed about a training session in KL for this week, which I was supposed to attend. Typical of the company's usual cock-up in administration, the invitation was sent only six days before the event. But that's not the end. I was initially told that I could take a plane there, and that the company would make flight arrangements. On Monday, HR somehow "remembered" a memo saying that all flights for executives have been suspended until further notice. Meaning, I must take a coach there... and I must make my own arrangements to book the tickets! It so happened that I simply didn't have the time to book the tickets, since I also had a job interview to attend. Thankfully, the colleague whom I was to attend the training with did everything for me. I rewarded her with some good food at Jalan Alor, but that was later. Anyway, we were also entitled transport and food allowances for a total of $240. Not the best, but still not too bad. However, the money came in the form of a cheque like, one day before our departure. Needless to say, the cheque didn't get cleared in time. So, I had to withdraw additional (own) money just to pay for the coach and my expenses in KL first. Now, I'm going to Macau and Hong Kong right? I've already changed most of my money into HKD, so this crap really punched a big hole in my bank account. But wait! It's still not over. The Malaysian counterparts booked an "award-winning" business hotel for us. And to be honest, it was really pretty good. Thing is, the hotel is situated in the middle of a place called "NOWHERE". It's surrounded by office buildings and a few golf courses. The main road outside the hotel is an entrance and exit for the highway. I can't even buy a packet of potato chips at night. The only good thing about the place is that it's a five-minute drive to the training centre... but we all know it's not only about the training, right? Right. We're supposed to pay for the hotel charges first, and claim the expenses when we return. And the damn bill came out to almost RM800.00, per head! Yeah, the company wanted us to pay close to $350+$240 (because the cheque didn't clear in time, yes?) on our own for some stupid training in some rural area of Selangor, when all they could do was to simply cut the red tape and give us the money in cash. And, considering how expensive the hotel was, the company could simply have book a budget airline for us, so that we could save one night of accomodation. (escago, if you're wondering why I want to leave my job, this is really just the tip of the ice berg.) Regardless, I'm not going to think too much about this anymore. Macau is but a few hours away - yes, I just came back from KL today, and I'm flying off in eight hours - I need to catch some sleep. Ciao.19-01-2008 21:45:5101-01-1970 07:30:0019-01-2008 21:45:51The Last SaturdayneekAfter 10 years at my company, they've finally decided that people deserve to rest on weekends. With effect from 1st January, we'll officially convert to a 5-day work week, thereby making my shift tomorrow as the final Saturday that I've to drag my ass to the office. It's obviously a good news, because it equates to more gaming hours. As it is, I'm on my third day of sleeping only two hours. Co-op on Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom has taken much sleep from me. I've now a Level 120 Kendal!28-12-2007 22:39:1201-01-1970 07:30:0028-12-2007 22:39:12ActionneekWow, two months since I last blogged. Don't worry, I'm still alive. Just busy with the usual gaming and some little distraction called facebook (the detective game is extremely addictive there). I thought it'd be good to do a little summary of things I've done over the past months, so here goes: 1. Games I've played - CSI: Hard Evidence, Eternal Sonata, Winning Eleven 2008, Assassin's Creed, Avatar the Last Airbender: The Burning Earth, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. 2. Books I read - Anti-Gravity Clown (Japanese detective novel), The Last Juror. 3. G1 Transformers I bought - Computron, Sky Garry, Black, Shockwave, Double Spy, Whirl. 4. Guides I wrote - Spider-man: Friend or Foe Boss FAQ, Assassin's Creed Achievement Guide. 5. Stuff I sold on eBay and Yahoo - Assassin's Creed Exclusive Hoodie, M.A.S.K. Gator, M.A.S.K. Alex Sector/ Buddie Hawks, Transformers Cybertronian Brothers, Camper Hola! Barcelona boots, Marshal Bravestarr, Xbox 360 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, some game guides. So you see, I've been really busy. I became sort of a celebrity with Assassin's Creed Achievement Guide, since it was such a popular game. So many friend's request on Xbox Live that I've to reject most of them. I made a fortune with the hoodie too, since it was a free gift for Singapore's copy (really). I also went to the post office so many times to ship items that I befriended the girl there. Thanks Lidiyia, sorry if I wasn't there for your birthday party! With the Christmas seasons in the air, I also spent some time shopping for presents today. I hope I can finish wrapping them all today. Maybe I'll do so right now. 22-12-2007 19:27:5201-01-1970 07:30:0022-12-2007 19:27:52Tiger and DoggieneekMy recent experience of not being able to book a ticket to Hong Kong hasn't stopped me from trying my luck. After some deliberation, I finally found the alternative route that I was talking about, ie., to fly to Macau, and then take the turbojet to Hong Kong. It happens that Tiger Airways are having one of those 50% off promotions again. This makes the round trip tickets extremely affordable. Coupled by an attractive hotel package offered by Jetabout, and I can finally confirm that the trip is ON. In fact, if the situation permits, I may even be having a small class gathering in HK itself. It'd be so cool if the lot of us can meet up in a foreign country "for shopping and lunch/ coffee/ dinner/ supper". I mean, we can't even find time to do this in Singapore! Let's hope it comes to fruition. Meanwhile, life at home has became a mess due to the inclusion of a second dog. Father-in-law's medical condition means that he can no longer look after Ace. I think it's more of an excuse than anything. But, well. We couldn't bear to see Ace die at the hands of SPCA (they do put dogs to death, you know), so we decided to take over the responsibility, even though it means inconvenience to us. I just hope that I can get used to having two monsters at home permanently.26-10-2007 23:10:2101-01-1970 07:30:0026-10-2007 23:10:21鸟人neekToday's post quite literally feature a "bird man". I was browsing gaming magazines at Kinokuniya just now, and I came across a sleeper hit: <img height="500" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/lestor/harvey_birdman.jpg" border="1" /> Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law! The game is about a lawyer defending his client, and the action spreads across investigation and court phases. The screenshots show 80s US cartoon style graphics (think G1 Transformers, MASK, Centurions, etc.), with options like "Talk", "Present", "Press" and "Examine". Sounds familiar? No wonder they're calling it the "Phoenix Wright for the PSP"! Not surprisingly, the developer for the game is also none other than Phoenix Wright's Capcom. It'll also be available for the PS2 (I can hear Alvin cheering in the background) and the Wii. What? No Xbox 360? I'd love to get 1,000 gamerscore for a game featuring Birdman, damn it! The game is scheduled for Q1 2008. I know where my money is going then. Finally! A game that I'm looking forward to playing on the PSP!25-10-2007 23:14:1301-01-1970 07:30:0025-10-2007 23:14:13