A Day In The Life Of An Oblivious Ape.: July 2009

To further reiterate said addiction (see previous entry), I just became...

....A MEMBER AT CALIFORNIA FITNESS! 0_0

It all started with this call I got one Sunday morning, from one of the sales reps teling me I had been referred for a two-week free trial at the Orchard branch. I figured, what the heck, it's free anyway, why not give it a go.

So I scheduled for an appointment early in the afternoon on Sunday, and somehow, through plenty of coercion and really effective persuasion, I got me that membership.

I'm still in shock.

I guess I'm really only trying this out for the first couple of months, though I'm aware there'a an early termination fee; the membership commitment's 12 months, you see. With a personal trainer in tow, I'm sure I'll be able to exercise more efficiently once I do decide to terminate early.

Okay, I sound badass already. ZE POWAA OF CALEEFORRNIAA FEETNESSS. MUAHAHAHA.

Also, it's much closer to the workplace. We'll see how that endeavour goes in the coming months.

Went to catch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the evening with mum.

I was pleasantly surprised with this instalment, having been disappointed with the Goblet of Fire (WHERE WAS THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP???) and giving up on the series thereafter.

This time, I went in unprepared for what was to come. Newbie mode, activate.

Having had prior knowledge of the plot and characters from previous books, it wasn't hard to get whatever was on screen (that, and a whole lot of wiki-ing). The darker tone kinda made it more enjoyable; screw family-friendly, WE WANT TO SEE SOME WIZARD BLOOD SHED!

In short, the movie was awesome. Can't wait for the continuation with the Deathly Hallows in 2010 and 2011.

Well, I'm off to finish up some backlogged work, which is weird, considering I have 3 days leave starting today. Heh.

Gosh, I'm tired.

So very tired.

3 more weeks people.

By the way, CAN THE FELLA WHO REFERRED ME PLEASE OWN UP?

The curiosity's killing me lol.

A word of caution, my fellow readers.

The Oblivious Ape has officially...become a gym addict.

Yes, yes he has.

AND THAT'S AN ADDICTION I AM NOT WILLING TO GO COLD TURKEY FOR.

So there.

Watch out for the new and improved me in a little more than two months.

In the meantime, please keep those McSpicys away from me.

Please.

I so do love McSpicys.

Yeeeeaaap.

Abso-tively, posi-lutely brilliant. Go ahead, give that play button a click.

Once again, Pasir Ris leaves me in awe.

This week shall officially go down in Oblivious Ape history as THE most tiring week EVER.

Tiring.

But fun.

Well, mostly fun.

That got a little tiring.

Still...fun.

3 days of Bloco rehearsals in 1 week! That's gotta be a record.

Well, I just wanna put it out there that yesterday's NDP rehearsal cum NE Show was THE BEST EVER. Towards the end, that is. The rest of the day felt just dog tired. Bloco Singapura had their very own video shoot in the afternoon (under the blazing hot sun, I might add) but it was cool, 'cos we were wearing shades.

...

Eh? Eh? See what I did there?

Aww, pfft.

So we ran through the whole parade schedule a.k.a Chapter 1, 5 and the finale. Costumes were hot as hell to keep on, as usual.

The FINALE.

Oh, the finale.

The finale was when all hell broke loose from the advent of the first raindrop. Well, hell was when we had to carry the drums back to the holding area from the stage (Why the hell we brought them out there for the finale in the first place, I shall never come to comprehend.) After which, we proceeded to FUCKING PARTY IN THE RAIN!

Trust me, once you've spent 12 hours in a non-breathable suit of nylon and foam, the rain will seem like a freakin' GODSEND. Urgh. I think I totally channelled Michael Jackson that day, arms outstretched, looking to the sky, almost shouting "HO!!!"...

...almost.

We were dancing, chanting "Brazil...Lalalalalalala.." like a bunch of hardcore partying Brazilians; without a care in the world; of how wet our costumes were getting or if our bags were getting soaked over at the holding area. Nope, not a care in the world. Just a bunch of teenagers living in an autocratic society with so much repressed energy that just exploded with the help of a few gray (or grey?) skies. Me wants more moments like those. XD

Of course, post-celebrations were kind of a bitch. Bloco got separated into two; one heading back to the G6 entrance while the other half got stuck backstage after being redirected by some officials. I was in the latter. -_-

Nevertheless, the rain died down soon after, and we got to cleaning up the instruments and belongings. Something short of chaos, I think it was all worth it in the end.

AND IT'S NOT EVEN THE ACTUAL DAY YET!

*groan*

I can't believe I'm saying this either, but something about it being the end of the week just gets to you sometimes. This time, I just can't help but freakin' wonder: when or where in the hell did all of that just...go wrong?

I guess I'll never have the answer to that either.

OMG Retail Therapy ISN'T A MYTH!

WAHAHAHAHAHA.

Though, I must, say, I gotta work on them bargaining skills. I'm practically fodder for these retailers. =S

OMG IT'S BEEN HELL OF A WEEK.

Curse thee, AYG...

Urgh.

Yeanyways, what with the pretty packed week and all, I managed to sneak in some me-time to go catch Beats and Breaks 2 at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre last Saturday. Managed to grab Imran to come along as well. (Ohh, Beats and Breaks tau nak pegi, NDP prac tak tau nak datang...) LOL.

The show was brilliant. EFFING BRILLIANT. There is a total abstract difference between listening to a hip-hop track, and actually experiencing one being performed live right in front of your eyes. I mean, the lyrics, the message, the words; they just come alive, given more meaning through the expressions and emotions and passion exuded by the MCs and rappers themselves. Well, I know this rings true for the live performances of other genres as well, but there's just something about the spreading of social messages through hip-hop that makes everything seem so...justifiable. And please, people; gangsta rap isn't included in this whole praise-giving paragraph.

Two MCs who were the highlight of the night's set for me: Figure of Speech (this Chinese/Japanese dude?) and Apocalypse Dawn (I'm assuming he's Malay). Didn't manage to catch which collective they were from, nor could I find any identifying pictures on the web. But damn, they WERE what hip-hop was all about! Every song was preceded by a few minutes of introductory beat poetry, with issues ranging from the condemning of Islamic extremists and their misinterpretation of the religion, to the so-called 'environmentally conscious' efforts of multi-national corporations. Their sound reminded me heavily of The Roots, with heavy emphasis on lyrical expression, leaving a melodic backtrack to accentuate the message and soothe the soul at the same time

It's a freakin' art, I tell you.

So yeah, pretty crazy set that was. The dudes probably finished their NDP rehearsal by the time the show was over, so Imran and I went over to where they were lepak-ing just to say hi. Sorry I couldn't stay long! Work, work, work on Sunday. Pfft.

Went to the gym after work finished early the next day. Found out along the way that RDP had a busking session that day as well. What luck huh? Nevertheless, discipline is a much more firm master, so went straight on down to the gym instead of catching their set.

On another note, I get to clock in at 4 this afternoon! Yay for me.

Okbye.