my fave band. the old lineup: Tuomas (keyboards), Emppu (guitars), Tarja (vocals), Marco (bass), Jukka (drums)

Will says Tuomas looks like a pirate, Emppu a vampire and Marco a Viking. how apt. i think Jukka looks like a pirate too. Tarja..hmm possibly a dark goddess.

Tarja left. the new vocalist Anette.

Tarja will always be the queen. Anette's no soprano but she does a decent job. most important thing is the band is still the same. Tuomas is a friggin' amazing musical genius. the music fills me with a sense of wonder, awe and excitement. no other band comes close.

mr rainbowman, sometimes when i listen to nightwish, i think of you. we're no longer as close or even in touch, but i will be eternally grateful that you introduced me to nightwish.

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on a more personal, less cheery note. i'm tired and upset. i duno how anybody could in one sentence, completely disregard every bit of effort i tried to put in. i have tried, i swear. could it be just a simple case of different modus operandi? or a sign of a much deeper, more fundamental difference that may just be insurmountable? i don't want to think anymore.

yay we're the inter-ministry champions! it's fun to play in a real team with friends. winning is a nice bonus. we had to play MHA again in another closely contested game. overcame a 5-point deficit late in the final quarter to win by 5 points. 31-26.

qiuping forgot to bring her shoes so being the same size, i shared mine with her. afterall she's one of the main players. so my shoes played most of the match haha. i played half of the 3rd quarter after she insisted i take my shoes back but cmon i'm a team player. anything for the team. that's why i play the sport in the 1st place. so i shoved them back at her and that was a darned good thing coz she was pivotal in the final surge that finally overcame the opponents. and so we're the champions :) we recorded the game on video, though it was only on an unzoomable digicam. it'd still be nice to watch it over again and laugh at the funny bits.

so that rounds off my first moe-player experience. more good stuff in future i hope :)

i oughta jot this down somewhere. the bbq was great. excellent company, yummy food and ice cold beer. ahhh the beer. let's see if i remember all that we bought. hoegaarden, heineken, anchor, leo, chang, tsingtao. did we get singha too? jeez i'd wanted to take a photo before we got started on them but as usual clean forgot about it. i think we discovered the perfect way to enjoy beer. 1 bottle at a time, pass it around, every gulp ice-cold. mmm mmmmm...

at the mahjong game after, i enjoyed some truly incredible beginner's luck. with the others making allowances for the newbie, i ended up with most of the chips ahaha. not likely to repeat the feat but it was hell lot more fun than i'd expected.

the power metal boys have been in touch they still wana jam HELL YEAH! i better clean up my act and get serious about practising once the exams are over. nightwish nightwish nightwish all hail power metal!

i think i use delaying tactics as a coping mechanism. it's just something that makes me more at ease. i need time to get around to the idea of something but once the mind is made up, i still will jump right in with both feet. i just need to get past myself and clear any lingering doubt.

perhaps in this fast-food generation, i'm still stuck in thinking-too-much mode. but that's who i am.

tuesday we spent an idyllic day at sentosa. doing nothing much except chilling out by the beach. it was a great idea to go r&r before the exam fever sets in. isn't simplicity wonderful :)

yesterday i played my 1st bball match as an moe player. nubbad. got some ok playing time, 2-of-2 shooting, had some good defensive plays. we won 62-32! against our sister team. scoreline's deceptive, they were a good team which was just having an off-day. im sure that if we meet again in the finals it'd be a much tougher fight.

do i know how to feed off the confidence from a great start? i certainly hope so.

free jerseys and goodie bags make me happy haha.

i wish number 11 was playing alongside us. it really feels kinda weird to be wearing this number. i'l never measure up. hey mbe next year, when the knee's better :)

deepavali today. bbq in abit, yay! yesterday we came close to having a tiff, i think. but im sure we're cool. i should learn to be more patient and you, more tactful. sigh. see you in abit.

yesterday i ran ~21km as part of training. never attempted such a distance before, was quite an experience! at around 15km i began to feel the lactic acid in the quadriceps. and at the end of the 2h 15mins it was mainly the quads that felt the effects of the long run. i was actually feeling pretty good. a nutritious dinner with ice cream as dessert, lots of deep heat rubbed in, elevation. and i feel ready for the balling sesson later!

the NB real run results are out. i placed 22/505. ironic that the not-so-good timing gave me a much better placing. but this was a much lower profile run than the great eastern one i guess. anyway that's over and done with. marathon's in 4 weeks. we look ahead.

meantime, im enjoying the romance. honeymoon period is sweeeet. :)