The City Never Sleeps

Completed my 2 weeks of RP course and will go for another round in Dec. Now being a RP, i told Felix that my chances of weekend being burned out will be higher.

At least in some way or whatsoever.

And to kill the weekend, i withdraw cash using my newly replaced ATM card (thanks to the stupid ATM machine in Plaza Sing where the bloody machine retained my card and claimed that the machine is faulty after i inserted my card.) and spend the money on 2 R21 films, mooncakes, junkies and magazines.

2 hours after saying goodbye to Elias on the EW line, i am back on the EW line to Outram Park. Yes, the usual visit to Yangtze Cineplex again. (Remembered SSG Terry said to us that Talk Cock Sing Song Pub is 100-200m awy from Yangtze.) But this time round, i am going for Brian De Palma's 1984 classic erotic thriller, Body Double, before his new thriller, The Black Dahlia, opens in theatres 3 weeks later.

Eh, Yangtze printed out their own lobby cards instead of getting the poster from Columbia Pictures. In fact, i am amazed to see the opening logo of Columbia Pictures used in 1984. And obviously, Yangtze is playing Body Double in DVD format (where you can read the English subtitles below the screen.)

Here, we have Jake (Craig Wessen), an actor who was struggling with B-Vampire horror and earning a living barely enough for himself. When he found his girlfriend is having sex with another man, he left the house and he needed a shelter of his own immediately. He met Sam (Gregg Henry), a man who kindly helped him by letting him stay in his very own apartment on top of the mountain. Sam introduces Jake to a blonde living opposite where Sam lives, who has the habit of exposing herself at the window every night.

Jake was obssessed with the woman who exposed herself at the window, and he spies at her every night without fail. One day, he happened to bumped on her on the road, where a mysterious Red Indian man follows her. Jake follows her and when he explains to her his purpose of following her, the man snatched her handbag away, and Jake chases after him. When he chased after him in the tunnel, he showed his childhood phobia on claustrophobia, which makes him unable to move on. She came shortly, and introduces herself as Gloria.

Things goes awfully wrong when Jake caught the Red Indian man breaks into Gloria's house and he went to her rescue. However, Gloria was killed before Jake could saved him. When reporting to the police for the murder, the detective handling the case loves to nail peeping Toms. To prevent himself from getting into deeper shit, Jake has to handled the case before anyone else gets him. And he began his investigation with a late night adult TV programme, featuring famous porn actress Holly (Melanie Griffin).

What does Holly got to do with the murder?? The woman who exposed herself loves to dance in front of the window, and it so happens that Holly was dancing the same steps as the woman...

Rather long and draggy, but at least it is a good try. De Palma has laid his foundation of erotic thriller with Body Double, which ends up making a fantastic Femme Fatale in 2002, with Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijin Stamos sexed each other up.

And today, i started a new Brazilian journey in Lower City (Cidade Baixa) at the Cathay. Hongwei (Elias's buddy in their unit) asked me if Lower City is a good show, cos he will be going for the show with his loved ones.

And i did not regret recommending him the show, for Cidade Baixa has won itself a Prix de la Jeunesse (Award for the Youth) to director Sergio Machado for his excellence direction, on the tales of a menage a trois in the slums of Brazil. And with the crew and actress Alice Braga, both with the background of making the award winning drama, City of God, this is a must watch.

Deco and Naldino, are 2 bestfriends who earns a living by driving a small boat for transporting goods and gambling, ferrys Karrnia, a nightclub stripper, to Salvador for her work, since they are maing their way to Salvador as well. The trio have sex in the boat, which leads to the start of the ending of their friendship.

Both of them fall in love with Karrina, and they would do anything to get Karrina. Deco and Karrina engaged in sexual activities behind Naldino's back, while Naldino robbed and commit crimes to earn more money, so that he could bring Karrina to a better place. Karrina, on the other hand, sold her body to many men to earn her own living, hoping that she would not depend on them to start a new life. But when she gets pregnant, Deco and Naldino fall out with each other...

Cidade Baixa is a love in the darker side of the city, filled with tonnes of steamy sex, nudity, test of friendship, love for one another, and sacrifices. They sacrifice what they have to, so that they could ensure that their partner will be happy.

But sad to say, no. The movie ends with Deco and Naldino walloping each other up, and Karrina was there to help them clean their wounds. She cried as she was washing the towel that wipes off the blood on their face...

Not many people would like to go for Cidade Baixa, considering the fact that Jackie Chan's Rob-B-Hood officially opens today. While Jackie boy (or Uncle Jackie) takes a new family like approach to the audience, i still prefer something that suits my foreign/independent palate. And of course, no doubt that Cidade Baixa is rated R21, some of my RP course mates might think that i am going for porn (considering that Cidade Baixa contains tonnes of steamy action and loads of nudity.)

At least this is not porn. In fact, Body Double should not be considered as porn, since we only see Melanie Griffin prancing around in her birthday suit at the windows, where i don't see much f***ing in Body Double.

Go see yourself and believe your eyes. You will never go wrong.

18th Sept, Mon.

Posted to Mowbray Camp in Yew Tee for Regimental Police training. (yeah, my vocation is RP, in short for Regimental Police.) And to my surprise, Elias is my classmate for the training. Woo...Classmates again.

19th Sept, Tue.

SSG Terry, our instructor for RP training, gave me a new nickname of 'slang', for he was wondering where did my English with mixture of American/Aussie/British English comes from. Nevertheless, i get to know HongWei, the buddy of Elias, and Randy, a commando corporal, who is now a RP for his unit.

20th Sept, Wed.

Find that time passs too fast, that i do not wish the RP training comes to an end in less than 2 weeks time.

21st Sept, Thurs.

Someone called me from the water cooler point when i was filling up my bottle. It turns out to be Jon, a very close friend of Don. Was amazed that he is now a MP (and happened to met Yingxiang while chatting with Jon.) and that explains why Don did not get to see Jon for a long period during the NDP rehearsal. Was delighted to see him, and i am thinking of meeting up with them for a meal in the near future.

22nd Sept, Fri.

Catch Miami Vice at The Grand Cathay tonight. Not bad, but could be better. Gong Li was exceptionally beautiful, though Elias prefers Zhang Ziyi. He told me :'Sam, Gong Li is old liao...' =X

23rd Sept, Sat.

Bought a Nokia 6030 from a moblie phone shop in Pearls Centre at $190, and was thinking of going for Lucky Number Slevin at Yangtze after getting the phone. However, that darn Yangtze decided to replace 3.30pm show with a Philippino porn....wtf.

24th Sept, Sun.

Sis decided to return her whole series of Sex and the City. So went to Sim Lim Sq to get balnk DVD R to burn the whole 6 season. And in the end, Season 1 Disc 1 + Season 5 Disc 1 cannot be duplicated, cos Season 1 is facing with some technical problem, while Season 5 claims that it is a copyright protected disc. My god and wahahaha...

25th Sept, Mon.

An unexpected rainpour hits Yew Tee around 6.55am, and ended up runnig to the camp under the heavy rain. Drenched and feeling cold, i had some sort of hard time staying in the Indoor Range, for i am feeling cold. And i do not know why that i am feeling sleepy for the whole day...

Now playing:
In the Air Tonight - Nonpoint
One of these Mornings - Moby
Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
Black Cherry - Goldfrapp

I was bruised and battered and I couldn't tell
what I feltI was unrecognizable to myself
Saw my reflection in a window
I didn't knowmy own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me
wasting away
On the streets of Philadelphia

I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Just as black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia

Ain't no angel gonna greet me
It's just you and I my friend
And my clothes don't fit me no more
I walked a thousand miles
just to slip this skin

The night has fallen,
I'm lyin' awakeI can feel myself fading away
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss
or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of Philadelphia

By the time i wrote this vocation, i am opening my arms to the new vocation that is posted to me.

From tomorrow, i will be posted to Mowbray camp to be trained as a Regimental Police. RP, in short, is those guards that will be guarding the camp at the entrance. Yeah, an RP. And while most of my friends make it to OCS, i will be the one standing at the frontline to maintain the security of the camp.

And i am not alone. Elias is an RP. And there is a chance that we will become work colleagues, after days of classmates in TP. I Wonder: has fate brought us together back again ?? Haha.

On the other hand, Chong, Felix, Soe, Raj, Teck Soon, Sam,(perhaps Linus, Khai, Ying Jie,) Clement and Jeremy...all make their way to OCS. And that puzzles me...cos only Kenny, ZhiJun and Ke Jang goes SISPEC. Yingxiang, John and i are on the way to Mowbray camp as MP/RP. How come so little make it to SISPEC??

Recalling the days in BMT, it's like everyone acting in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...

Looking towards to the future in being an RP, no more outfield (yay!) and no more SOC (!!), but being an MP means i am acting in some arthouse flicks directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski or Mohsen Makhmalbaf (the Iran director who directed Sex and Philosophy, Khandahar and Gabbeh. Those freaking hard to understand movies from Iran.)...

In short, it means being an RP can be pretty boring, especially one beings an RP for the next 1 year 9mths.

I do not know. Mabey i am just as boring as Tony Takitani. Boring job for a boring person. :P

Human beings are a weird creature i would say. And sometimes friendship seems to be a weird little thing that makes and breaks a circle, or even friendship between 2 people.

Known a friend who told me that his friend around him controls him for the benefit of this friend of mine. They do their best to help him, but eventually it hurts him. He feel hurt, and his confidence level has fallen drastically. He told me he could not catch up with them, meeting his peer's standard. And he feels that he could no longer blend into their circle.

That is pretty unhealthy to his social network, his social support, and eventually, his personal life. My advice to him was to ask himself what does he wants to achieve at the end of the day, and what he can do to help himself.

On the other hand, i just feel that losing touch with old friend(s) for too long means the friend of yours (he/she) will slowly remove you from your friends list, not on the phone, not on the email
account, but from their brain

.
Just like how Jim Carrey wants to have Kate Winslet deleted from his memory.

Was checking phone numbers from some friends in my mobile phone list on the validity of their number. And this is an extract from my bestfriend.

Me: (Dialling the number, but receive no response.)

10mins later...

J: Hello?
Me: Hi. Is this J?
J: Yes, may i know who is this?
Me: I'm...
J: Oh yeah i remember. David right?
Me: Yeah. Just calling some of my friends to check if their numbers are still working.
J: Yeah yeah, my number is still working.
Me: Umm...(hesitating with a pause) so how are you?
J: Fine, but busy right now. Chat with you some other time.
Me: OK. Shall not disturb you now.
J: Bye.
Me: Bye.

Feel that i have a part in it too, since i did not remain contact with him for 2 months.

Is it really true that the world is turning round and round too fast, that old friends will become 'eh, i just met him/her once in the party/reunion/classes and i do not know him/her too well.'?

Mabey we should just give ourselves a break. Stop, take a rest and just dial the number that you are previously familiar with.

World Trade Centre, taken in the 70's. I remembered i saw the two towers in Saturday Night Fever, where John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney were sharing their thoughts in a park, with the two towers behind them.

Today 5 years ago, a plane crashed onto the two towers in NYC. Plane exploded, towers collapsed like a stack of dominos piling high up to the sky. Thousands killed, millions cried.

And shocked the whole world with a surprise that no one had ever expected.

World Trade Centre survived from the Feb 1993 carpark explosion, that somehow gives the people a warning on terrorism. Never did they realised that WTC will only lived for another 8 years.

World Trade Centre before the crash.

Let's remain silent for a minute and pray for the souls lost in the catastrophe, and to their loved ones who stands strongly and survived in this disaster.

I feel that the 2 weeks breaks with a measel $350 recruit's pay means the $350 will fly off from your hand in an instant.

Expenditure for the past 3 days:

V For Vendetta Deluxe Edition DVD : $31.92 from Borders
L'auberge Espagnole DVD + Dido: Life for Rent : $28.95 from HMV
Chocolate custard bun X 2 from Sun Moulin Bakery : $2.80
Espresso Macchiato + +Medium Mocha+ Large low fat latte from McCafe : $10.10
Strawberry sherbet shaved ice from Ice House : $5
6 Pies for Pier's Pie : $11
2 Macau milk tea from Macau Cafe, S'pore Expo : $3.60

And that does not include transportation and dinner. You do the math.

At least, i feel that i am as good as Xavier, the leading character in L'auberge Espagnole aka Spanish Apartment. Had been dying to watch that since Year 1 in TP, because of Audrey Tautou. Sad to say, it was rated RA then.

L'auberge Espagnole is not the type of your feel good French film where it is freaking arty farty. But it is not that easy to understand too. The movie is a mess, but a seam of neatness in the mess.

Xavier is a economics student in his uni years (where it seems to be far far away from me. At least 2 years later... :( ) who dreams of becoming an author in future. He took up an exchange programme to widen his horizons, leaving his beloved mother and girlfriend, Martine, behind France.

Spain was the country he had chosen. There, he met a French couple, Jean Michel, a brain surgeon, and Anne-Sophie, Jean Michel's wife. Jean Michel helps him, but Xavier falls in love with Anne Sophie. When Xavier founds himself an apartment, he starts a life of love, friendship, and partying. To be exact, he rents a room from an apartment where a group of European students lived together.

Wendy is a cute girl from England. Alessandro is a hot chick from Italy. Soledad is another cute girl from Spain. Lars and Tobias is a pair of punk+cute guy from Germany. After Xavier joins in the big family, they take in Isabelle from Belgium.

They attend lessons from the same school and wanted Catalan to be used as the main language for their lessons instead of Spanish, since majority understands Catalan but only some understands Spanish. Their request was rejected.

Anne-Sophie falls in love with Xavier, while Martine wants a break-up.

Isabelle is a lesbo who teaches Xavier love making techniques. Wendy's brother, William, pops by, and makes a nuisance out of himself.

All these and more leads Xavier to a mess of his life, thus developing hallucinatons.

After his exchange programme comes to an end, he say goodbye to his mini-european family and flew back to France, working in finance industry. But in the end, he decided to pursue a career of his interest: author.

And that's where Les Poupees Russes begins.

Back in Singapore, Pegasus Coy Platoon 3 Section 2 is a double of L'auberge Espagnole. Except that i will call it The Tekong Resort, with Singaporeans, M'sian's, IndoChinese, Hongkongers, Indian and Myanmarnese living together under the same roof.

Copied and paste this test on your 3 fav... from Paul's blog, since i've time to spare.

3 Favourite Local Food
1. Vegetarian bee hoon
2. Yong Tau Fu
3. Prawn mee from Bedok Central

3 Favourite beverage
Plain water is a must, since it helps to cleanse ya body. Soliders needs min 10L of H20 to keep their body healthy.
1. Soy milk
2. Coffee (and i mean kopi-c, latte, espresso, mocha...)
3. Hot chocolate

3 Fav. items on McD
sorry, but i quitted McD for years. So this is invalid.

3 Fav. colours
1. Red
2. Black
3. White

3 Dreamjobs
1. HR Exec
2. News reporter, reporting serious news, not gossips.
3. Magazine columnist???

3 Animals i liked the most
1. doggy! (reminds me of doggie playing in my bed, and Pepper. Sad to say, Tash has to say goodbye to Pepper, since Pepper's master has moved to somewhere else.)
2. rabbit (reminds me of Miffy, the rabbit with a cross resembling its mouth.)
3. bear (teddy bears...)

3 Places i must visit in my life
1. Paris (land of romance)
2. New York (live like Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City...)
3. HK (shop and eat till wallet and stomach goes burst...)

3 Wishes in my life
1. Owns a good job with high pay, so that i can 1)Lived in a apartment by myself. 2) Drives a car 3) Owns a fat wallet.
2. Find a person who loves me, and a nice person to have sex with.
3. Lived happily for the rest of my life.

At last, i am no longer living as a life of a recruit. I am now officially a private!!

Had my passing out parade on Tues, and it did not end up a teary farewell, though in the end i have to say goodbye to all the sirs and sgts.

And not forgetting all of my friends in P Coy Platoon 3, especially Section 2.

To all out there, all the best to you guys. May luck be with you at all times.

:0)

This weekend is short, considering the booking out timing is is at 2.30pm on Sat. Rehearsals for POP on Tues and settling some admin issues has taken away a lot of time. Yeah, a lot indeed.

Sat

Unwind myself in Chinatown and Orchard. Was supposed to visit Yangtze cineplex for the 5.30pm show of Alexandra, a old Philippino erotica that first opens in Yangtze since i was in Sec 3. It was rated R(A) 6 years ago, and 6 years later, it was still rated R(A). Reach the home late and missed my direct bus service to Chinatown, thus i missed the show as well.

The bus came at 5.16pm and i was still in Bedok Reservoir. When the bus reaches the back of Keong Saik hotel at 5.40pm, i told myself it was pointless to go for the show, since i've missed the first 15min of the show. Dropped off the bus and saw the opened windows of Keong Saik Hotel. Tash was on my mind again. Can't imagined that i looked for him there for the past 2 weekends.

Walked across the road and Pearls Centre, here i come. As usual, i walked up to Yangtze to have a look at the lobby cards of Alexander. This time round, it reminds me of an old friend whom i've not seen for close to 2 years: Roslan. I left the theatre and headed straight down to the CD shop below, and gotten myself Damien Rice's O + B-Sides.

Took bus service 143 to Orchard Road and immediately i head myself straight up to Books Kinokuniya. Immerse myself in the book of sea and wished that i could just stay there and never do i need to come out again. However, my hunger pangs pulls me out of the book of sea and had dinner. After dinner, sink myself into the sea of music and DVDs at HMV. Old habit dies hard.

Had a cup of Mocha at Starbucks Orchard Plaza before going back home. Was amazed that at 9pm, which was supposed to be the peak hours for Starbucks, this is a different story for Starbucks Orchard Plaza. No crowds, no long queues, empty seats easily available in the cafe itself. Enjoyed serenity with my Zen Neeon and while flipping through magazines, i had k.d.Lang and Lisa Stansfield entertained me with a cup of Mocha on the table. Went home to sleep after that.

Sun

Was wondering what to catch at Princess: The Devil Wears Prada or Frostbite? I choose the Swedish horror over Meryl Streep in the end. Wanted to watch both, but was indecisive. Thus, i watch Frostbite, since i can catch some sleep in the morning.

It's not very often that you get to watch a European film in neighbourhood theatres, since European cultures are not really that appealing to the heartlanders, compared to weepy Korean soap drama and puzzling Japanese horror. Rather than making myself heading down to The Cathay to seat thru the 95mins for the Swedish horror, i choose the theatre that is closer to home instead. (Am too lazy to walk to other places.)

Frostbite begins with WW2, where a few German soldiers found a hut with vampires living in it. A German soldier was bitten by the vampire and the vampire was killed, but he kept mum to his mates about being bitten by a vampire. About 6 decades later, a physician named Annika and her daughter Saga moved to a new area and stars a new life. Annika works in a hospital and befriends Bernard, a famous surgeon. Saga makes new friends in her school, and was invited to a party. Never did they realised that Bernard was the German soldier who was bitten by the vampire, and survived for 6 decades. When Sebastien, a young doctor, stoles and accidentally swallows a red pill that belongs to Bernard, he began to experience physical change on his body, where he turns into a vampire slowly. Annika was accidentally bitten and knows about the truth about Bernard. All hell breaks loose when Sebastien stoles the box of red blood pills for research, and Saga's good friend, Vega, mistaken the box of pills as party drugs and mixed the pills into the drink for the guest. If that's not all, dawn begins 30 days later, since it was snowing heavily in Sweden...

Don't want to think too much about this film. Just want to unwind myself for the weekend. No fucking obligations to follow, just want to have a good rest.