The one with the long Chinese New Year break

Happy Chinese New Year to all. Also a very long break for most of my fellow countrymen. A long weekend which began on Thursday. Well the entourage didn't make arrangements to go somewhere but still manage to hang.
Started with a bang on Thursday. Where the entourage came and rocked Red Box Plus Pavilion. The first time we rocked there as a group. However most of us got the timing off. We took the lunch package as it was reasonably priced but guess some people partied too hard the night before. Still we manage to rock the joint. Overall we loved the place, mainly to the cordless mics and sound system. With the cordless mic, there wasn't any tangled wires and spilled drinks. As for me, I really went loose.
Had lunch at Friday's which had poor service. Food was ridiculously slow. Then we headed off to Starbucks Uptown (the new one next to HSBC) for coffee. We just chilled as well as deciding our next move. Decided to catch a movie. We were torn between Rambo and The Eye. In the end Jessica Alba won (which to me was a no-brainer, but don't know why some prefer to watch Rambo).
The rest of the break was just hanging out with the entourage. And I manage to kill some time reading at MPH One Utama and Borders The Curve. Was reading a book about the Star Wars Extended Universe. Didn't read about the Jedis, just went straight to the Siths. Read up on their history and why there is only two, the master and the apprentice. The chapter went on until Darth Vader. Didn't explain what happen after Episode 6, but you can look that up on the internet.
Also the drawback of this long weekend, I really pissed away a lot of money. On food, Starbucking as well as reading material. Don't really want to know the damage in dollars and cents.
And tomorrow is Monday. Crap.

The one where I still have no creative title

Well actually this post is about two things. But putting both on the title would be too obvious. Have to start thinking of some new titles.
First of all, I was watching the Barrack Obama speech after he won in Iowa. Not sure what was going on but the focus of attention is his speech. Very powerful and well delivered. I'm not going into detail of his speech, but I want to highlight one line he used. He said 'its not about me, its about you'. Something I believe he picked up from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. His speech was not talking about himself, he was making the audience feel important. And he pulled it off sincerely, which a lot of people are not able to do.
Second part is a lot of my office mates noticed that I've gain a certain amount of mass and the fact I look larger than advertised. Not a good thing and for a guy who plays futsal a lot this shouldn't happen. But it is my own doing, I have been eating a lot these days. So guess now have to find way to rectify it. Now that can be my 2008 resolution, to lose weight.
Now to start a workout regime.

The one with 3 days in one post

So an eventful first half to the week. And no I did not go to the Nadal-Gasquest game. Speaking of which if the names don't end with an 'ova' then I'm not interested in going.
Well on Monday I joined my office colleagues for a round of badminton. I have not played for almost a year so my game was expected to be off. But to my surprise I played at a reasonable level and still have court awareness except at times I know in my mind I can make / get that shot. Also there was a basketball court nearby so I shot some hoops for a bit. Well at least my mechanics were still there, just wrist management needed work. Nice to see so rainbow-high-arcing shots go through the hoop. My office colleagues plan to make it a weekly event so probably I have a chance to work on my game. Find that level of semi-Jordan-esque.
Tuesday was futsal as usual. Sadly as of late the numbers for the Tuesday group has been disappointing. I have to call up most of my Saturday group friends to join. Even an hour before game time I still can't confirm whether the game is on. But this group has been playing together for the past 5 years, but I have to understand that family commitments and work is a factor. Also not forgetting injuries and surgeries. Due to 'age' some people don't heal as Wolverine-like as before. Even myself have been playing hurt after pulling a hamstring last Friday. But due to unconvincing numbers I have to make an appearance. Knowing me, I still haven't learn to pace myself and still insist of playing at a high-sexy-football level. But I decided to rest for Wednesday and Friday sessions, but will return for Saturday's kick-off.
Earlier today, I had to report to our disaster-recovery-site for our annual training. Had a rough morning as a lot of calls directed to me as well as certain clients who just want to make things difficult. If only I mastered the art of force-choking via the telephone. To me it was more of a disaster there than a real-life disaster.
Had a small discussion with my boss towards end of day since everything that needs to be done has been done. More like filling in the time before leaving. My boss has been trying to make me embrace 'The Game' and use it in daily life. He even asked me to ask one of the girls from the site out for drinks (part of my KPI he says). Well I didn't do it as I know that the girl he suggested is already seeing someone. However he did advise one thing, when asking a girl out get rid of that ridiculous grin of yours. Try to act serious and cool. So now I think I should learn to stop grinning that ridiculous grin of mine, which maybe could be why girls don't take me seriously.
So how do I stop grinning that grin I do?

The one with Hairspray

Finally managed to catch the movie Hairspray. It's kinda been on my 'to-watch' list for some time. And may I say it was totally worth it. One of those song and dance feel good movies.
Anyways, as I was watching the movie, my legs felt the need to just get up and dance. But I manage to resist as I don't want to create a scene in public. And then it hit me on how to out-do ourselves in our (hopefully) next karaoke session. Just break out into 60s dance moves. Not sure how that will turn out, but the idea is to just break out and dance and maybe carry a can of hairspray to get the hair right.
Also bought a book. Needed something to read. Mr Jones' Rules For The Modern Man by Dylan Jones, editor for GQ UK edition. So far an interesting read.
Well I'm on leave tomorrow and futsal Tuesday resumes as usual. Can't wait to grace the field and bring sexy-futsal-back.

The one with another karaoke session

A long day today. As my break nears its end, I realized I had lots to do (and tax returns was not one of them, settled that last week). More in the lines of shopping for particular items.
Well purchased new office wear in shirts, socks and belt. Had no luck with ties though, since couldn't find a particular design I like. Also bought some new reading material, a novel titled This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes. I figured I needed something to read on the train once I rejoin the workforce.
Later that night I join Hafizah, Rafiq, Lenny and KA for karaoke. Yes, my second performance in three days. Talk about an encore. Even the staff at Red Box Sogo still recognized me (I should get loyalty discounts or privileges). Pretty much a last minute gig, as no one had any idea what to do. Manage to get reservations despite the fact it was the eve of a public holiday.
This time the session I let the others take over as I couldn't think of what song to sing. The playlist of this group varies from the 4Fs and 2Shahs playlist as their song selection is from 80s. Most of them I have not heard before but still provide backup vocals without missing a beat. Suddenly I felt karaoke is like futsal, the more groups you join the more exposure you get. The only similarity, everyone jumps around and dance. Hafizah had much of the dance space to herself though while the others manage with the limited area. Lenny and myself even jumped on the couch and Lenny was suppose to be the sick one. Hope all the jumping and dancing did him some good.
As I left the Red Box staff asked if I be returning anytime soon. Told them I need to rest my voice but who knows, anyone up for vocal exercises?