part 12

Not again.

I couldn't help but feel a strong sense of deja vu as vision came swimming back. For the second time in recent memory I'd gone unconscious. A very annoying habit that I swore wouldn't have to continue. This time, though, I found myself at the business end of a high caliber firearm. The kind that took your hand off, and that's if you were holding the gun. As I shook the cobwebs from my brain, I noticed whose hand was holding the gun.

She laughed. Sent a shiver up my spine, and not in a good way. If I could find a way to describe the feeling I got from that laugh, it'd have been something like a rattlesnake's death rattle.

"Welcome back."

"Woulda preferred to stay asleep if you don't mind."

"I think we can accede to that request."

I saw her finger tighten around the trigger. Crying out, I dove behind a counter and cursed as I landed badly, twisting my ankle.

"Don't."

I stiffened as I heard the voice. It was... Rancini?

"Yuh pull the tregguh and the cops'll be onnis place like i'wuhs nuthin'."

"Yes, sir."

This development was too much. Nothing made sense anymore. At first, I'd suspected Bouchard had dropped in from out of town, working for some rich consortium. Then I find out she'd worked for Rancini before, but skipped town when they fell out. Now this servant-boss thing had my mind in boy scout knots. I needed, no, HAD to get to the bottom of this. That is, if I lived.

"You can come out now, Mr. Garrett. Hands up. Mr. Rancini wants you alive."

Putting my hands behind my head, I'd have to comply if I wanted to learn anything. Standing up slowly, I met the steely, gaze of Bouchard, followed by the blank, yet menacing, glare of Rancini. Rancini spoke first.

"Garrett."

"Rancini."

"Glad you could make it."

"Yeah, I- wha?"

"Shocked, aren't you? Things aren't always what they seem, wouldn't you agree?"

"I've... had occasion to find that out for myself. Anyway, what the hell is going on?"

Rancini laughed. Now that he wasn't what he'd seemed, he was a lot scarier. Of course, a stunted old man wasn't too scary to begin with. Now that he was standing, well... I'd forgotten what a big man he was.

"A miracle of science. You remember when I became half-paralyzed, don't you? Turns out I'm all better now. Had the finest surgeons in the country flown in to fix me."

"But... when? And why continue to put up a sham?"

"My.... empire was beginning to crumble. Small timers like Louie Two Fingers, the Russian mob, moving in on MY territory. This city is MINE! I built it from the ground up, and I'll be damned before I let others take it from me! They all thought I was weak, my... disability hampering my ruthlessness. No more! I gotta take back what's rightfully mine, and crush anyone who tries to defy my law! Yes, their complacency'll be their undoing. They'll never know, like bugs on your shoe, until the moment they die - until it's too late."

Rancini had quite thoroughly snapped. It was like he was speaking out of cliche, like all big villains gripped in-the-throes-of-madness do.

"But why involve me?"

Rancini glared at me, as if angry that I'd interrupted his lengthy ranting. Then his features softened, and he grinned.

"Theo Garrett, best and only detective in Lost Haven. Gets where no man can. Where no man has gone before! I needed you, and I have my daughter to thank for that." Then, almost maniacally, he smiled. "You're the example I'm going to make to the rest of them."

He raised his gun. Everything happened in a blur of motion. Rancini's finger tightened around the trigger, but before it could fully depress it, Bouchard spun, and aimed her own gun at his head.

A gunshot.

When the figurative smoke cleared I found her standing over Rancini's body. What was left of Rancini's head was staining the carpeted floor. A pool of blood slowly spread out, and was slowly absorbed.

"Is.. is it true? What he said?"

"About me being his daughter? Yes. I mean, no. I mean... a long time ago. I might have meant something to him once."

"What happened?"

She smiled, sadly.

"You weren't paying attention, were you? Him and his stupid empire. At first I'd thought that once he had control of the city he'd ease up, treat me like I was actually family. But it never happened." She looked almost wistful as she continued. "So I left. Naturally, he wanted to control everything in his life and didn't allow me to go. I... I-"

Faintly in the background, sirens began to scream. "I... I understand. Cassandra. I... you'd best be leaving. Flee. Get out of the country, don't come back."

"No, you don't! With Ranci- my father dead, the power vacuum will be too large to fill! The city will erupt with in-fighting, and-"

The sirens sounded like they were about ten blocks away now. We'd have to get out of there quick.

"Cassandra! This isn't the time for reflection! Move!"

She snapped back to attention, surprised. Whatever she was thinking on the inside, she managed to hide for the moment. She fled for the fire escape. I watched her shrink out of view, then made my own way down. I ducked into an alley, just as the police came around the corner. It was over.

Epilogue

I stood on my balcony, savouring the metropolitan air. The television set droned in the background.

"-nd with crimelord Rancini's death, the city of Lost Haven has become a warzone. Today, eleven people were ki-"

It was the same news about Lost Haven since I'd left. That was about 2 months ago to the day. Screw them.

I sat back on my deckchair and rummaged around in my cooler for a beer. As it opened with a pop and a fizzle, some foam surged up and spilt over. Didn't matter, the cleaning lady'll handle that.

The sun rose over a beautiful skyline. I took a swig, and toasted the morning.

The End.

part 11

The elevator doors slid soundlessly open. The air here felt different, like stepping out of a steambath. Felt... cleaner. Unconsciously, I caressed the holster at the side of my leg, not knowing what to expect. Stepping out of the elevator, I wasn't surprised at seeing Bouchard standing there waiting for me. She reminded me of a Porsche - sleek, sexy and ultimately hazardous to your health, if you didn't know what you were doing.

"Why Mr. Garrett, what brings you here?"

"Social visit. Wanted ta see if you were staying here while you were in the Haven."

I couldn't let her know I was onto her scam. No telling what details I could miss out on if her guard was up. It was chilling how innocent she looked, but was capable of more malevolence than she let on.

"How very nice, Mr. Garrett. Would you care for a drink?"

"Bourbon, if you got it. No ice."

"Sounds very strong, Mr. Garrett. You sure about that?

"Just oiling the machine, Cass."

She disappeared behind the bar of the penthouse suite. Never realised how much opulence and extravagance this suite had. I made a mental note to sneak in more often, just to forget the stark contrast to the city. I sat down at the table. Carved out of mahogany, with a shimmering sheen to it. I let out a low whistle as I marvelled at the place.

Bouchard reappeared, carrying two glasses and a familiar, welcome sight - A big bottle of the good stuff. This was the kind of thing I treated myself to when I had cash. This stuff was the out-of-town stuff - It'd been a long time since I'd even seen a bottle of it, let alone buy one.

"You've got good taste." I said, managing to take my eyes off the bottle.

"Good taste? It's the only taste I know!" She laughed and set a glass in front of me. Through it, I noticed how warped and distorted everything seemed through it. It made me think about how easily manipulated anyone could be, given the right circumstance and material to do it with. I wasn't an exception at any rate. Bent over backwards like a Slinky for cash. It was downright embarassing, is what it was.

She poured some bourbon into first my glass, then hers. Clinking our glasses together, I gulped down my shot of bourbon and poured another. Bouchard sipped at hers delicately.

"So, Mr. Garrett, how is the case going?"

"It's... fine. Got a lead I'm working on right now."

"I'd love to hear about it, M-"

"Theo, please."

"Haha, Theo it is then. Enjoying your drink?"

I was beginning to feel drowsy. Her words were getting drowned out, began to boom. Soon, all I saw was black.

part 10

I don't know what I expected when I opened the suitcase. Maybe for the money to be gone, replaced with stacks of blank paper. Maybe torn-up, specks of decomposed paper that used to be money. So when 2 and a half million dead presidents stare back up at you, you can't do much but smile. The money was still here.

I had to find Bouchard. The when was now, the why for revenge. Where was the tricky one. Where to start? I looked back at the card she'd given me. Staring at it as if for some divine inspiration. Damn it. Well, if I wasn't the stupid one. She'd have to stay at the Hotel. It was the only place someone like her'd consider decent. The only problem I should conceivably have was finding her room. It was a small enough place that even trial and error wasn't a bad way to go.

Some time later I stood outside the Hotel. It wasn't that I was lazy or didn't bother to find the name. It really was called "The Hotel". Leave it to Lost Haven residents for the creative names. An ugly mass of neon letters composed the Hotel's name. Of course, several letters were shorted out, leaving a blinking sign that said "heel" instead. Appropriate, in a way. On the wall around the corner some hoodlums had made their ugly mark the only way they could. Graffiti wasn't uncommon in these parts. Some time ago the mayor announced a campaign to clean up all the graffiti, but it reappeared as soon as it was gone. Uglier, louder, messier. The door groaned in protest, almost as if protesting actually having to work properly. If anything, the Hotel was nicer on the inside. Then again, considering what it had to start with, that wasn't really saying much at all. Somehow ugliness had a way of attracting itself. The receptionist was snoring away in some corner, leaving the guest book in the open, but more importantly, unwatched. I was right on both counts. Bouchard WAS here.

Penthouse suite. Somehow I considered that ironic. If it was a confrontation I was after, at least it'd be done with nothing to hide. Surrounded by open air. Nothing to hide.

Stepping in the lift felt like putting my head on the gullotine block. Whatever happened would be at least one of two things: Life changing, and irreversible. Outside, the wind howled with a fury I'd never seen. Nothing was stopping me, though. One way or another this was going to end.

part 9

My head whirled, making the headache even worse. As the gorilla in my cranium grew to King Kong proportions, I got the rest of the sordid story from Rancini. Bouchard was working for Rancini a year back. She quit under uncertain circumstances, but not before putting a bullet into Rancini's spine, freezing his body in the delightful, twisted way it is. Bouchard disappeared until recently, when she reappeared in Rancini's trophy room and liberated the Esprit. Bouchard finds me having breakfast the day after. My headache reached levels hitherto and untracked by Man.

Back in my office, I pondered. Who was Bouchard working for? Why did she turn on Rancini? And the million dollar question, Mr. Philbin, was why she offered me money to track down something she already had? The only logical thing for someone to do was to try to get something for as little as possible. Even... something for nothing. Was all I was for was a simple distraction? Maybe she wanted to get me distracted so I focused all my attention on tracking the artifact, and none on the client. Classic. Maybe even hire me before Rancini did. All I knew was the chessboard pieces were scattered again. Pawns to queens, and crippled kings, whereas I was, and still remained, a pawn.

A shrill ring shattered my reverie. It was Phelps.

"Got summin' for ya Theo."

"Can't hurt to hear it I guess."

"Huh?"

"Just shoot."

"Oh, uh, right. This Cassandra Bouquet-"

"Bouchard."

"Whatever. She usedta work for the Rancini mob."

"I know, and?"

"Doncha get pissy with me Garrett. I hang up now and you're hung out to dry."

He had a point. I'd come to the stage where I let my anger at being used be shown for all to see. I needed to regain composure, or the case would just fall apart.

"I-I'm sorry Morgan. Go on."

"Right. Anyway she disappeared 'bout a year back, think she skipped town or summin, weird shit like that. Anyway, get this: she was some kinda researcher or a scientist."

"What's so special about that?"

"Ah, 'ccording to this she was about ta develop summin' new. Instantly-degradable plastics, it says here."

"That... that makes a whole lotta sense Morgan. Thanks."

"Actually if you ask me it don't, really. I mean, plastic's wunna those things that ain't s'posed to break down or summin' like that right? Right?"

I let the dialtone answer his question. I had to check. I ran over to the suitcase Bouchard had left the other day, tucked into the corner of the room. I hid it with the luggage, thinking it'd be more camouflaged that way. With trembling hands, I slowly slid the tumblers into place. With my hands shaking as they were, it took me the better part of a minute to get all three into the right combination. The case sprung open, and I damn near had a heart attack.

(sorry for the late entry. was really busy last night.)

part 8
I was creeping around the outside of Rancini's house when the world went black. At first I thought the moon had denied me its last shred of light, or that I was creeping further and further into darkness. Me opening my eyes told me I was wrong on at least the first count.

Rancini's ugly mug loomed in, and I wished I was knocked out again.

"Wha' ya doon ou'side m' house, Garrett? Yuh wan' yuh shuh die or somethin'?"

My head throbbed. Had a headache the size of a gorilla, and the monkey wanted out. The stench emanating from Rancini's mottled lips and teeth wasn't making it much better.

"Aaaah, god.. whaddya hit me with?"

"Whaddit mattuh?"

"Nothin', nothin', just curious. I gotta golf club sized lump on my head from what it feels like."

"Whatevuh makes yuh feel bettuh, Garrett... But yuh wunn be feeling bettuh anytime soon if yuh dunn tell me wha' ya' doon on muh lawn."

"Would you believe I was lookin' for somethin'?"

"Iss nadda first time, Garrett."

"Might not be the last time too."

"Wha' ya lookin' fuh now?"

"Espirit de Renard... heard of it?"

Rancini flinched, and I knew I hit a nerve. They called Rancini the unfeeling man, not only because of his ruthlessness in doing... business, but also because he literally couldn't feel. The entire left side of his body was stiff like me waking up with a hangover, and that contributed to his unique articulatory traits. Not to say his tennis game was a pushover, at the very least.

"Iss guhn, Garrett. Guht stolen."

Now there was news I didn't want to hear. I felt like I finally had things in my grasp, only for things to slip away again. And again. Somehow I felt life was a twisted mirror of myself, distorting and shifting once I thought I had things under control.

"Any idea who took it?"

Any weakness in Rancini's demeanour vanished. His features hardened, even more than I thought possible.

"B'shard."

part 7

I decided I needed to make a house call. I stood outside the gates to Rancini’s house, I was on the outside, looking in. I despised Rancini and what he stood for. His beautiful life acquired through ugly means, his house built on the backs of broken men. Usually I stayed out of his way, and he out of mine. Though maybe he thought me nothing to get worried about at all. I figured that even if Rancini didn’t have the Espirit, he’d know where I could find it. And who I’d have to get it from. I wasn’t in the business of museum robbery. Figured something with that kind of reputation would go to someone’s head, just another trophy locked up and admired in someone’s cabinet. And then a new trophy is acquired, and the other one is forgotten. I’d seen it all before.

I vaulted over the wall, landing behind some bushes. The grass rustled beneath my feet, whispering silent warnings to those who would care to listen. The clouds shrouded my movement, denying all but the most persevering the faintest sliver of light. I had to make my way to the house silently, and lemme be the first to tell you that’s not an easy thing to do.

You need to start walking on your heel, then slowly roll your foot from the back to the front, on the ball of your feet Anyone who’s seen this being done or has done it before can tell you: You look like a damn fool doing it.

With regards to human companionship, I was pretty much as good as alone. A lifetime of solitude and preference for the bottle pretty much helped in that regard. As much as the loneliness hurt, I had my own companion by proxy. I called her Ender.

She was my trusty revolver. I removed her from her leather bed and held her hand delicately yet firmly. I called her Ender for a reason. As much as I ached for the companionship, I never fired her. Every time you pull that trigger, every time you end someone’s life, a piece of you dies too. Every bullet fired ebbs away at your soul, until there’s nothing left but animated flesh.

I held her tightly as I inched my way to Rancini’s.

Author's note: decided to update the story every Monday. Don't bother checking daily for updates.

part 6

The person on the other line was Morgan Phelps, big kahuna of cops in Lost Haven. He used to be my partner when I was on the force, and he used to look up to me. Now it's my turn to look up to him, and all I get are nosebleeds whenever I try.

"Hey, Phelps."

"Theo. What'dya want?"

"Guy can't call to catch up wit' their old partner?"

"Get to da point, Theo. I'm busy."

"Right, right, fine. Need a favour from you. It's really urgent."

"I'm busy here. Hurry the hell up."

"Need to find out more about this dame who gave me a case today."

"What kinda case? Briefcase?"

"No, a job. Listen, you got anything on a Cassandra Bouchard?"

"Sounds classy. Like French or something."

"Yeah, I figured. When can I get this?"

"Soon as it's done, Theo. Bye."

The phone slammed down on the receiver, leaving in its wake a series of monotone. Outside, the rain had stopped. Down on the street, the people slowly resumed their routine, like ants from a hill. Never stopping to pause for breath or a refresher. Above, the sun shone, just like it did everyday. And in my office, as always, I was clueless. I pulled open the grime-streaked window for a breather and winced a little. Sunlight hurts the eyes of those not used to it. If nothing else, I needed a breath of fresh air. Down on the street, Rancini's boys were roughing up the cornershop owner, while the other ants continued on, following the path of the other ants before them.

You know how everything seems clearer after it rains? The rain washes away all the smog and the dust, and for a while it seems like a new day.

Rancini, the local crime magnate. He was a hard man, and that same policy oozed through in his boys. The family never did anything the soft way. Among other things, Alberto Rancini was a liar, a cheat, and a lousy husband. For all his influence, he never did realise his wife was sleeping with about twenty guys around town.

More importantly, though, he collected antiques.

Rancini was the key.

part 5

“You’re kidding, right?” The look on his face told me he wasn’t. Jimmy was a lot of things. Most of them would get him beaten up by less tolerant folks. But you could always tell when he was dead serious. Ah hell, I hate puns. His eyes and lips set in a grim stare.

“Theo, where’d you come across something like this? Normally this kinda thing is way over your head.”

”It’s part o’ the job. And hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. Really. I needed that. Now you gonna tell me about this thing or what?”

“Oh, oh, right. The Esprit de Renard used to be the property of Hunter Renard, the guy was some kinda high-profile thief or somesuch. Some kinda lucky charm I think. Then I don’t know how it goes but ‘parrently the amulet’s cursed, bad things been happenin’ to those who got hold of it. You ask me this Hunter fella don’t want nobody touchin’ his old lucky charm.”

Now, I wasn’t really one for this Mother Goose crap. Fairy tales were for kids and people who didn’t know they were kids. You ask me, most of this ghost, or curse hoodoo was made up by people who wanted their fifteen minutes of semi-obscurity. Say what you want, but to me real mysteries are why people can’t stay married, why no one cares about the everyman’s suffering. Tell me why that happens and I’ll probably die happy. Then again, probably not. But at least it answers questions.

I thanked Jimmy for his help. He responded by slamming the door in my face. Can’t fault the man for hospitality. Above, it started to rain. Raindrops splattered to the surface like dreams shattering when you wake up. It was bitingly cold. Elsewhere, a young couple ran for shelter as the rain came pelting down. A hobo cowered under his flimsy cardboard shelter as what was left of his protection crumbled around him. I turned up the collar of my coat and walked back in the rain.

Somehow the rain managed to mirror what I thought inside. I was being paid millions to recover somebody’s trinket. Not that it was very hard to find – you gotta know the right people first. But it was the reputation that bothered me. Jimmy’d told me about all the guys who’d gotten their hands on the Esprit de Renard. One died, his car swerved into a tree. Another fell out of an open window. Yet another drowned. The last one went insane. Some track record. Who was Bouchard to the Esprit and why did she want it?

It was still raining as I got back to the office. I shook the rainwater off my coat and tossed it on the chair.

I made a phone call.

part 4

The bell above the door tinkled as I trudged my way inside Jimmy Hannigan's shop. Figures the coin landed the way I was hoping it wouldn't. But that's me. Jimmy Hannigan was a friend of mine, or what passed as friends nowadays. Still, he was one of the only people in this town who I didn't feel instant animosity towards. Jimmy ran a business, though maybe not quite the business that most people'd be accustomed to.

He glanced up at me from above his newspaper.

"Get outta my shop."

"Come on, Jimmy. Can't a guy drop by to see a friend?"

"Some friend. What'd I tell you about coming back here after what you pulled with my wife?"

"I told ya, Jimmy, she came onto me! What's a guy gotta do?"

"Her? Come onta you? HAW!"

Jimmy didn't have the greatest tact in the world, but he had a heart of gold. At least, I like to think he did, it just made his personality a lot easier to stomach.

"C'mon Jim, I really need your help this time."

"You always 'really need' my help everytime, Theo. What's it this time? You need money? Booze? What?"

"I got lost things that need finding Jim, you're my man for these kinda things."

"Oh, you finally got a job, didja? What'choo gotta do? Find a lost puppy? Petshop's down the road, Theo!"

Jimmy burst out laughing, though I felt like making him burst in another kinda way. The kind that involved lead plugs and leaking bodies. But he was a friend, dammit. An important one. And I wasn't in the habit of plugging friends. Not even moronic ones. Regardless, I reached into my coat. Jimmy flinched a little. He was a good man, fought in the Great War. But thing about wars is it makes you jittery like a cat on cocaine. He'd had his fair share of being plugged once or twice, though not enough to kill him. I'm still convinced the lead did something to his brain, you don't go through something like that and survive with all your marbles.

I pulled out a stack of paper and tossed them onto the table. Jimmy visually relaxed, then took a long hard look at the papers as if sizing it up for prey.

"What's this?"

"With luck, a big fat paycheque."

He took up a stack of the papers and furrowed his brow as he concentrated. Finally, after what seemed like forever he glanced back up at me.

"You know what this is?"

"Was hoping you'd tell me."

"The Esprit de Renard, you fool. You know what it is?"

"Ah... nope."

"It's DEATH!"

To be continued

part 3

I sat back in my chair in disbelief. The chair groaned, and inwardly so did I. To hell with the chair, I thought to myself. I could buy hundreds of goddamned chairs. I could live somewhere else with this kinda payout. Somewhere nice. And I didn’t even have to lift a finger, I coulda just taken the money and run off somewhere. But I was thinkin’.

Seems the dame had some expectations, for me to find the things she wanted. Now, I figured that if she had the cash to throw around like that, she had ways to make sure I played ball. Seemed less and less like she’d just come into the money to me. I could run away with the money. But something told me that if I did I wouldn’t live to spend it all. Didn’t help that I had something which most of this city didn’t have, an odd reversal of the norm. I had morals, I had standards. Kinda explained my current situation. But I’d rather die poor without guilt than rich and scummy. Which was why I was an idiot.

I looked over the broad’s name card. Cassandra Bouchard. Didn’t recognize the name. Could be an alias. I flipped the card over and over idly in my hand while my mind wandered. I’d need to grill my sources on this one. Normally I hated calling in favours but I figured since I got presidents behind me, I had more power than I usually did. I sighed, and pulled the stack of paper out from the envelope again.

I started to look over it again, just like I had the last four times. I stopped. Already knew what the gig was about, and all the pieces on the chessboard – why was it bothering me that I didn’t know who the players were? I couldn’t stand unanswered questions.

Who were ‘they’?

I stood up from my chair and shuffled over to the window. Streaked with grime and caked with dust, it’d seen its fair share of hell. I couldn’t bear to clean that window. Would’ve felt too much like painting this shitty city up in makeup and giving it high heels. I didn’t like living in Lost Haven and I didn’t make a secret of it. Which was why I was tempted to take up the job – 5 million would let me live comfortably in somewhere nice and classy. Like Manhattan.

Like a kid’s mother, though, I wasn’t comfortable with things that I didn’t know where they came from. Call me paranoid. But I had a habit of looking in the mouths of gift horses. I sighed, again. Did it really have to come down to this? I made a choice the only way I knew how.

I flipped a coin.

To be continued

part 2
In walked trouble, brunette as usual. She walked – or rather, glided into the room. The kind of broad that made you sit up and then some, but that’s not saying much, especially for me. Wasn’t that I didn’t want to. Despite all that she was the innocent, rich kind, the type whose shit smells like roses. Black dress. Funeral, or one of those classy broads. Red leather purse. Gaudy enough to tell me that she just came into money. No classy dame would wanna be seen with that thing, I knew. Suitcase… Holiday? I could tell this would be a good day.

“I was in the area and I saw your sign. Are you a detective?”

“You don’t look the type to just drop by, missy. And the door coulda told you just fine.”

“Haha! They said you were a witty one.”

”Who’re they?”

She ignored my question and went straight for the crux of the matter – no one ever had a sense of humour anymore. Makes me wonder why I bother.

“I need you to find something for me. I’m told you’re good at that sort of thing?”

“Yeah? That the same ‘they’ you were talking about?” Before she got the chance to offer the witty rebuttal they all seemed to like giving, I continued.

“Look. I’m a busy man here… I ain’t got time ta look for whatever it is you lost. Call lost and found or something, yeah?”

“Busy enough to doze off in your chair? Look, Mr. Garrett, I’m very willing to make this worth your while.”

Maybe the realisation that she’d caught me napping stung me. Maybe it was the ‘worth your while’ comment. Or something else. All I knew was that she was right, I had nothing better to do, so it was down to playing findsman. I HATE playing findsman. But then again, I also hated eating leftover Chinese. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Wasn’t the only thing.

“How much?”

“How fast can you finish the job?”

“Depends on my motivation.”

The suitcase sprang open, and I decided maybe findsman wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“I am prepared to offer you 5 million dollars, Mr. Garrett. Half now, half upon completion. The details of the job are included inside the case. Have a good day, Mr. Garrett, and I hope to hear from you soon.”

Just like that, the chick was gone. Reminds me of my last relationship. Make that only relationship. Details.

Details. I dug through the suitcase and found a manila folder tucked underneath a wad of bills. An array of photos and text greeted me as I opened it up, looked pretty open and shut to me. So why get me to do the dirty work? Looked pretty foolproof, but then again fools had a rep for defying expectations. Then I got to the gist of it.

To be continued

part 1

The sun rose with practiced bravado.

That made two of us. I staggered off the couch and towards the liquor cabinet for some breakfast. My head throbbed like I'd gone ten rounds with Tyson, or maybe ten shots of cheap tequila. Looking over at the clock I realised that I'd been asleep the whole of yesterday. Not like I'd missed anything important though, life had a way of going on without me. I downed the most important meal of the day, grimacing at the rancid, cheap, vodka burning its way down my gullet. I looked back at myself, empty, distorted, and fragile. Mostly empty, though. Story of my life.

I tossed the bottle in the trash and sat down in my chair. The ceiling fan spun lazily around, doing nothing more than blowing hot air back down at me. In case I hadn't been blowing my trumpet enough, my name was Theo, Theo Garrett, private eye. That is, I would be one if I could get a case. Right now the only case I was interested in was one filled with my friend, JD.

The door rang, springing a spark of false hope that the sign on the door wouldn't be a lie after all.

To be Continued

Heh. Been way too lazy to update.

Found some awesomely trippy sites over the past couple weeks.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/

^_^

And http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/saishin-e.html will make your brain hurt, or your eyes melt. One of those.

www.addictinggames.com for all your boredom curing needs.

You are a noble warrior.
You belive there is no true evil, and that everyone
can turn onto the good side. You spare your
enemies when they admit defeat. You fight with
a passion. You save those in need, and put
their saftey first. You use a long sword, and a
shield.


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Fight with honor, fight for justice!

... And stuff.

HW's guide to surviving SIP:

1. Skive at every possible opportunity.

Skiving is of course the best way to cure stress, fatigue, and pesky notions of working hard. Pick a spot somewhere secluded while you don't have any duties assigned. If possible move a couch there so as to ensure ease of skiving and maximise skive potential. Have a stash of snacks and food there in case you're snowed in and have to survive for 3 days before help arrives.

2. Get to know your co-workers.

Getting to know your co-workers is yet another vital step. Familiarising yourself with them is the best way to go, in case you're forced to skin one of them to survive in arctic temperatures. A big man is better for this than a small woman, though you can fashion weapons out of her bones to fend off predators. Also, getting to know them helps in finding people who sympathize with your plight and are willing to swear allegiance to you.

3. See the outside world as often as you can.

Seeing birds and the sun is far better than seeing dust mites and that flickering fluorescent light over your head that just won't stay lit. Also, getting fresh air just means that you breathe less of the hallucinogens that they pump through the central air-conditioning system. Beat the system!

4. Cherish your off days and free time.

Every hour that you spend free is one less hour for them to twist your mind and turn you into a finely tuned killing and filing machine. Also, free time away from the office is a chance to plan your escape and break free without their video monitors spotting you and sounding the alarms.

5. Remember the law of inverses.

The more you enjoy your time, the faster your SIP will seem to pass, and the greater chance that they'll hire you again, sending you back to square one. Of course, when you do go back to school you'll just wish you were at work again, where you 'didn't have to do no dang projects and homework'.

Remember, either way, you can't win!

King Crimson - Walking on air

Close your eyes and look at me
I'll be standing by your side
In between the deep blue sea
And the sheltering sky
If we find no words to say
To the rhythm of the waves
Then we'll both surrender there
Walking on air

And the worries of the day lie down

Under cover of the fading clouds
The secrets of the night
Come alive in your eyes
You don't have to hurry
You don't have to try
Cause you don't have a care
You're walking on air

Haven't really been doing much that warrants a blog entry. So we'll sing instead!

Another 10 reasons why I love you:

1. You're wonderfully kind and caring.

2. We're too similar.

3. You love animals

4. You go out of your way to treat me like a king

5. You've shown me many new experiences, opened me up to newer possibilities

6. You love food =p

7. You don't mind when I call you

8. You make me feel loved and important

9. You always surprise me day to day

10. I just do.

I feel pretty tired. Pretty much settled into work, is that what's brought on the fatigue? Resigned self to spending another.... *checks donut of misery* 139.97 days to go on SIP. Missed CCN day today because of a last minute job, too. Gragh! At least I get to spend next Tuesday with kitten... I hope. Must check the schedule when I get to work tomorrow. Speaking of which, I have the dubious distinction of having to work this weekend, while everyone else is enjoying the off day. Sigh. Must not let that get me down! I guess off days are off days in the end though.

Been feeling lethargic lately. Probably the early mornings, I'd say... Ah well. It's National Day tomorrow. What does that mean? To me it's just another day. I've pretty much lost track of normal week times, now it's either "working day" or "not working day". Heh.

Upside is that I've been seeing kitten everyday so far this week ^_^ Thanks love, I don't know how I'd have made it through without ya! You bring this joy to my life that nothing else can quite live up to. Also, I've been a shrink to a couple of friends - who turn away feeling lots better and praise me later for it =p
The doctor is in!

Odadjian is a Giant Dragon that carries a Flamethrower, and has an Extra Head, a Massively Swollen Skull and a Metal Jaw. Strength: 9 Agility: 8 Intelligence: 15 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat Odadjian, enter your name and choose an attack: fights Odadjian using Strength Agility Intelligence

Long time no update. Anyway, yesterday was easily the best day I had! Yesterday was me and kitten's 3 month anniversary, and it was the Sum 41 concert which I didn't have to pay a cent to go to. Gwahahhaa.

Anyway, left the house earlyish to go to Raffles City SC to buy the flower bouquet. They only had 2 purple tulips left so I picked a nice pink one to go along with it. Then over to Chocolate Box to buy some choccies and write a note to go along with it. By the time it was about 1.20 so I had to rush a little if I was to drop it at the front desk, which was my original intention. But when I went over there, she was just coming back from lunch with Pam and so I was kinda caught =p she called me just as I reached Raffles Place, I was trying to keep it a secret from her but kinda failing. Made her worry a little as I didn't sound myself, which was true since I was really trying to keep my surprise. As it turned out I walked out from the MRT and she and Pam were right behind. Sigh.

She was surprised, to say the least, and walked me downstairs to the MRT to wait for my train with me. We chatted a bit and then I was off to work >_<

At work, nothing special. Bummed around waiting for something to happen. Then finally at about 7 or so Arti (Mulchand) was done and we went over to Fort Canning for the concert. It didn't really start until about 7.50, when Pug Jelly or whatever they are came on stage to open for Sum 41. Too bad they were terrible. Haha, now I know why John doesn't like them at all. Saddest part was when the drummer threw his sticks into the crowd and the crowd threw them right back. And one of them was talking to the audience on the mic, and they cut it to stop him talking. Funniest thing ever!

About 30 minutes after that Sum 41 finally appeared to much cheering. Concert wasn't too bad, was pretty fun. My first big concert anyway ^_^ I left at about 9.35, half an hour before the concert ended, to go meet Kitten at Dhoby Ghaut MRT. Hee, turned out she received 2 tins of Mrs Field's cookies as thanks for covering an event at Junction 8. Added to the flowers and the chocolates she got from me today, that's one big load to carry. We walked over to PS since she hadn't eaten yet, and the only place that seemed opened was Macs. So there wasn't much of a choice in the matter. Tian came down later to join us to eat, crazy Tian as usual. Met her earlier during the concert, too, complaining she was too sticky and sweaty from headbanging in the mosh pit too much. Haha. Tian left earlier than we did, though, so we just finished off our food then went on back. Kitten insisted on sending me back, so we took the train up to Yio Chu Kang to take the 70. We got down near my stop, and I walked her to the 88 bus stop to take her bus. Kitten gave me a tin of Mrs Fields to take back, and we waited for her bus to come by. Sent her off then it was back home for me. Bummed around a bit and then finally crashed for the night.

Well today was like day 3 of my SIP. I'm slowly getting into the groove of things. Generally most of the people at STTV are quite whacky, and funny to be around. Generally easy going bunch. That didn't stop me and John from likening SPH to a prison that we willingly revisited daily. We devised a system for it:

On monday, it would be known as Auschwitz, cause it was the beginning of a work week. Tuesday, the Gulag. Wednesday it'd be known as East Germany. Thursday, we still hadn't decided what to call it. Friday was Cuba because it was the last day in the week. It's funny that way. Oh yeah, we work from 2 to 10 from monday to friday for the first 2 weeks at least. Gerry (Geraldine)'s our supervisor for the most part, she's quite enthusiastic and bubbly for a person stuck without a social life. She's also the director for the news. She's awfully good. Arnold and Michelle are your quintessential newscasters, they seem kind of unapproachable but they're actually quite friendly. Arnold's from SJI, hail hail. Ah.... Vanessa and Gerard are both Director's assistants. They've more or less been tagging along with each other since Uni. To ESPN, then here. Like each other's shadow, haha. Don and Jennifer are the editors, they're somewhat older but they're still quite energetic and enthusiastic.

Ah well. That's just the gist of it. Basically me and John help out with the production of the news every night at 9.30. We help gather stats, stock info, and collate everything for viewing later. We also help to create the scripts and etc, and hand them out to the newscasters. It's a little hard to describe but as it goes along I'm sure we'll understand it more.

I'll continue this later then, just thought I'd write on what we had to do so you people would have an idea =p

Gah. Work today wasn't bad, but wasn't that great either. I guess I'm just adjusting from holiday mood to work mood, I'll grow accustomed sooner or later. Woke up at about 6.45, gave kitten a wake-up call (silly baby was lazing in bed for about half an hour when I called). Then got ready for work, left the house by about 7.45-7.50 to meet John at Braddell at like 8.30.

Walked into the toilet at Braddell to find John there, so bonus. Went to the building, expecting doom and gloom, not sunshiney happiness. Went to the front desk, got directed to the guardhouse. Saw Liling. Went to the guardhouse, got directed to the security desk. Got our work passes. Went upstairs, got there by 8.45, then waited for like 20 minutes while a couple of other people got attended to (including Liling) before we did.

Finally, got brought to sign our contracts. Standard company stuff. I think, not that I’ve worked for many large companies before. Heh. Make that *any* large companies before. Learned about our induction programme, got brought to the teaching facility to learn how to use the marvellous software. We started with ENDV, which is what we use to get our feeds from the wire services from Associated Press. Then moved on to Coyote3, which looks bloody archaic and ancient. I can’t believe the whole company is using that. >_<

Broke for lunch, so we went to the cafeteria. Not as big a selection as I thought there’d be, but then again there are always various coffeeshops in and around the immediate vicinity. So no worries there. Bummed around the lobby till about 1.50, then went upstairs to learn more about the library. They’ve got an extensive magazine section, I guess I’ll check through it on my downtime. Learnt a little about LotusNotes, and the reference sections. Nothing too out of the ordinary, or exciting. Then.. went to the art/photos section and met Mel, the cartoonist. Funny guy, friendly too. But he’s not that great of an artist. XP

Breezed through that, then went to back to the teaching fac to learn LotusNotes properly. Nothing too exciting or noteworthy there either, but then we got to leave by 5! Whoo! Just hope I get to leave at that time tomorrow too.

John said he was going to go meet Kris in town, as his “only tether to sanity”. John’s funny in that antiestablishment way. He more or less inspired me to do what I did next, I took a train down to Raffles Place to wait for Kitten, having tried to coordinate with Pam as to what time they were finishing. At about 6.10, she finally appeared, and I got up to get behind a pillar. Then surprised her when she came by. =)

She walked to the train station with Pam and their new friend, Jasmine, then said bye as they got on the train. I then got on the train with her and hugged her all the way to Pasir Ris. Gawd I missed that girl. *sigh*

When we got to Pasir Ris, went to Old Chang Kee to buy some fritters and the like. Bought a can of vanilla coke, sat down, talked a little, ate, then I had to go home since mum was nagging. =p If all goes well I can meet her tomorrow too… Hopefully.

Protector


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Oh dear.... 2 weeks now.

I start SIP tmw. I can't help but feel apprehension, and dismay - there are so many things to go! Places to meet! People to do! You get the idea. I sincerely hope that the people at SPH are nice people, but hey, I'll be working with John at least. He's always fun to work with. Kitten also starts hers tmw, I hope they treat her well too - that's a quality employee they've hired! So far most of those who've started SIP already are still alive... and well... the time should pass somewhat fast, shouldn't it?

I'm just going to miss waking up late, and going out with kitten so often... at least for the next 6 months. Hope all those who're starting their SIP tomorrow go to good places, with good people, and they won't collapse under an immense workload. For those who've already begun, hope that their 'so far, so good' feeling continues. I'm filled with hope (if you haven't noticed) for this SIP, but not knowing what to expect and having the feeling of 'no more fun blargh sob weep' is kinda doing me in. =/

I'm so nervous...

Before you file a missing person's report, don't worry, I'm still here. Just been too lazy to update. But here's my regular, obligatory fortnightly update:

Saturday, 21st June: Woke up early in order to go to school. Had the SIP briefing and all. Woke up at 7, so I gave the kitten a morning wake up call. But silly kitten went right back to sleep. =p I left the house at about 810 or so, mum dropped me at the bus stop so I could skip one bus. Looked at my watch, saw it was 820. Remembered I had to take my temperature. And had to be there by 845 in order to do so, so I decided "to hell with it" and took a cab instead. As I was walking into the school compound, saw Liling in front. Went over to the Business temperature taking station, saw Eddie still standing there for some indeterminate reason. Me and Liling went through absolutely fine (33.4 is NOT fine, however. I'm freaked out.), but Eddie was stuck there since his temperature was higher. (35. Wow.) Went over to the LT, saw Ms. Chuah and Mrs Nah sitting outside with some forms that I assumed was attendance or somesuch, but was told it was for thermometers.

I hate thermometers, they make me retch sometimes. And I hate the feeling. Saw Joel, Jim, Kuibao, etc. How they could all get there so early in the morning was beyond me. So yeah, we all sat around, waiting for something to happen. Saw Bert, Darryl, Brendan actually looking cheerful for once. Bert. Bah.

As people filed into the LT, people asked where Maddy was. On the bus, silly kitten! But she only came in about 5 minutes late, which wasn't too bad. Nothing had really started or anything yet so no harm done. At first moved from behind the Boo Boo gang, then to the frontish row with Gi, Nat and Kenneth. SIP talk was kinda boring. Nothing interesting.

Later on went to meet Selvan for more in-depth brief on my posting, Straits Times TV if you don’t know by now. I’m now a camera jockey! Hooray! So basically me and John will tag along with the camera crew shooting newsy stuff, I’m kinda expecting minimum wage but that’s okay with me. Work 3 days, then next day off, which makes it kinda hard to coordinate days together with Kitten but I guess we’ll find a way around it.

Kitten’s happy that she doesn’t have to do Pagemaker, so naturally I’m happy for her too! She’ll be doing something she loves to do too. =)

After all was said and done, we went down to Kenny Rogers for lunch with Serene, Mitzi, and Edna who joined us later. Wasn’t too surprised to see Jenny and Guen there already waiting for us. Had the quarter chicken, while Kitten had the wings meal. Think I should have gone for that one too. Sigh. Next time, next time.

Siwei joined us later, and we were all talking and laughing and chatting like we were still schooling. Sigh. Poor Kitten had a bad tummy ache too… She wasn’t feeling very comfortable with her stomach giving her such trouble… I hate the feeling of being helpless when someone you care about is in pain, or hurting and you can’t do anything to help them. I tried what I could though…

So after eating, Kitten and me bade farewell to the rest, then we went shopping for food for Starlight Cinema later on. Just bought some seaweed chicken and some prawn balls that weren’t so nice, and some miscellaneous cookies and snacks. After that, went over to her place to begin cooking! Of course, we weren’t going to cook so early so we slacked around the house quite a bit. I got some insight as to how Kitten lived her life at least. =)

Sometime around 4 or so we decided to start cooking, so we got a wok, some oil, and we proceeded with the frying. I taught myself how to do so back in Primary 3 or so, so it was like second nature for me. Heee. Kitten was scared of the spluttering oil, and with good reason – a little of it spluttered out onto my arm, and since I totally didn’t expect it, I jumped. Bleah. Anyway, after the frying was done, sat down with Kitten at the kitchen table to drain the oil out of them. Had to squeeze the chicken and other things in order to get it all out. Kitten knows what I mean =p

Her mum came in after that, saw my handiwork and seemed really impressed. Hope I didn’t put Kitten in a spot though, about the cooking and all.

So anyway, we finished it all by about 5ish. Then we proceeded to rush like mad to get ready, and then left her place at about 5.30 or so. Bought some Hokkien Mee for ‘dinner food’, some water, then took a cab to Fort Canning.

We thought it wouldn’t be so bad, reaching there at 6.30 or so. But when we got there… it was really quite crowded. Even more so than our expectations, there were easily a few hundred people swarming around the back. No matter. Thanks to some tips offered to me by a friend, we sat near the front. Adrian and Huishi came by soon after, and we all lounged on Adrian’s rather impressive groundsheet. Ate our dinner, got comfortable, and lay back waiting for the day’s festivities to begin.

They kicked things off with some simple Q&A, and thanks to planning I was the first one there to get a Sasha’s bear for the kitten. The look on her face when I gave it to her was just fantastic. Seeing her smile, ecstatic, and gush over it was more than enough for me – hope you love it darling. =)

The movie started soon after. Kitten watched enraptured, her being the super big colossal LOTR fan that she is (it was like her 5th time watching) and me sitting there watching it for the 2nd time. I swear kitten is freaky, she almost memorized the script and spouted them at the same time as the characters did. But she’s still lovable anyway. =p

At the intermission, we all trudged off to the toilet. And there was one seriously looong queue waiting for us when we got there. Luckily, it moved pretty fast so there were no embarrassing accidents. Haha. We rushed back for The Two Towers, more enrapturedness, and I kept fading in and out of consciousness. Yes, I’m weak. Haha. Oh, and Adrian and Huishi left soon after it started (must have wanted to avoid the crowds). The Battle of Helm’s Deep is TOO cool. So we left about 5 minutes before the movie ended, since that was mostly kinda boring stuff. Many others had the same sentiment, and there was a steady stream of people leaving.

We caught a cab back to her place, and it was about 2.45. Showered, brushed teeth, et al. I slept in her brother’s studio so none of you people get ideas. =p It was quite comfy, and Kitten really DOES take at least half an hour to bathe. Haha. Silly her. So yeah, when all was said and done, I went to bed (mattress) at about 4 or so.

Woke up the next morning to see Kitten sitting down, looking at me sleep. The first time ever I got surprised by her. Just you wait! Her brother was still sleeping, mum went to Sunday School, and her dad was getting ready to go for service. Morning ritual – brush teeth, facial wash, change, and we were out of her house by about 1 or so, to go for lunch.

Walked over to White Sands where we decided to add on to the perfect 2 days, and ate at Swensen’s. Ice Cream and decent food – Way to top off the weekend. Hee. Slept on the bus home, dreaming of kitten…

Tuesday. 25th:

Woke up to my mum telling me the maid was gone. Ran away. So yeah, somewhat annoying. Fixed myself breakfast, then went out with my mum for lunch at Delifrance. On the way she stopped over by the maid agency, and totally let the maid (who’d fled there) have it. Scolded her for like half an hour, 45 minutes or so. I wouldn’t have any of it so I slinked off to roast in the car.

After that, went to buy my phone! At last! A phone which doesn’t cut out on me talking! Mum paid for it, of course, and I’m quite content. Doesn’t take a lot to satiate me in any case. Hee. The shop people were really nice, too. That’s right, if you want to buy an M1 phone, go to the shop in Hougang Green. Veeery nice people, great service.

After that, came home. More uneventfulness. Same as my life ever was, until Kitten came into the picture =)

Well, I’m all blogged out for what seems to be my weekly/fortnightly entry. Catch you all next week. Or something. Bye!

Which Buffy the Vampire Slayer character are you most like?
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Well, I guess it could be true...


What Finding Nemo Character are You?
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http://www.oakraven.com/oakraven/php_tour/viking_test.php

You are 70% Viking!

There is some viking blood pumping through your veins. We will allow you to fight alongside us since you make the rest of us look good. We might even give you an axe to defend yourself with.

You are also 25% likely to be a berserker. We suggest you pursue this career choice if you like the smell stinky bear hide, enjoy chomping on poisonous muchrooms and have a good life insurance policy.

This should be fun. =p

I have not updated this page in an eternity. Me being that lazy. Lazy lazy!

Results of some test I did online, give it a go.
http://www.outofservice.com/music-personality-test/results/?complex=41&edgy=87&fun=19&energetic=75

Anyway, here's what I've been doing these past few days:
Saturday, 7th:
Went out to Zouk with da kitten, Guen, Tian, her cousin Debra, and some of their assorted friends. I met so many people from SJI there, people like Lorenzo, Shannon, Deng, and others not from SJI like Seb and Jem. Ran into Danny too, who happened to be there. It was some JC party so it was really pretty crowded. We eventually left the place at about 3 plus, then walked over to the Shell station to buy a much needed drink. Following that, we had some really good Bak Kut Teh (I could drink the soup all day), then went home by myself in a cab while Kitten, Jason, Guen, and Jason's cuz Demond piled into another cab.

Thanks to Tian who mentioned that 'funny things happen after 4', I went back looking over my shoulder to look out for freaky things that happened. And it did happen, as I turned off the lights to go upstairs and sleep, as soon as I turned my back and went up the stairs, the lights went back on again. I fled upstairs, only to be grabbed by curiousity and came back downstairs. That's when I discovered it was the maid. It was already about 5 a.m. so I showered, crawled into bed and slept.

Monday, 9th:
Went out shopping! Met Jim and Shen at Orchard MRT, whereupon we travelled all over town to buy clothes (mostly for myself though.) We began at Far East, where I bought myself a nice shirt, and Jim offered plenty of advice (I should go shopping with him more often, I should). Then we went over to Topman, bought myself a belt, Shen bought something to give to his friend who was returning from Australia, and Jim gave more advice. Went down to Flash N Splash to buy myself a new Tshirt, then over to Swensen's to take a quick break of nummy ice cream. Called the girls and asked if they wanted to join us for ice cream, but they declined. Sadly. Shen had to go off with the cake he'd just bought, over to his returning friend's place in Hougang. Siwei then joined us (even though he was supposed to about 3 hours previous), then went to Paragon to look at clothes. Got frightened off by the prices, then went to more affordable places at Annex. I bought myself a sling bag (<_< >_>), which I've more or less always wanted to get. Declared myself done shopping for the day, then went back to Topshop to meet the girls (Kitten, Guen, Mitzi, Gi), and decide where we were going for dinner. Nat and Kenneth joined us later, and after we found that the Taka food court was severely crowded, decided to settle for KFC instead. After that, sent kitten back home. Laughed at Guen's antics about ex boyfriends. Missed kitten again. Sigh.

Wednesday, 11th (today)

Went down to school earlier than I'm used to nowadays, at 10 for the sub comm meeting. Only about 9 people went, so I was left wondering why I bothered, but ah well. It ended at about 1, so since I was meeting the kitten later for our Seoul Garden Challenge I asked her to come down earlier since I was originally meeting her at 2. She came at about 2, anyway, (your hair still looked good to me darling ) so then we went upstairs to SG. I hadn't eaten the whole day so I was really looking forward to it. We began with soup, then the meats. Kitten tried a new prawn dish recipe (heh) while I stir fried some onions, chives, and garlic chicken together. Eventually, though, we decided to heck with the competition and just ate to our heart's content.

Decided to catch Bruce Almighty with her after that, so we went to buy tix. Queue was freakishly long (yeah, I know it's hols) and then proceeded to catch the movie. It was pretty good in the beginning, standard Jim Carrey fare, but his presence begins to die down in the later parts. Morgan Freeman's still one good actor though. After the movie ended, sent her back to Pasir Ris. We saw this pretty black cat we named Spooky (kitten thought Spooky was pregnant but didn't notice Spooky was neutered, haha) then after spending some time together left for home to eat a very late dinner, and faced the music for coming back late. Sigh.

And now here I am, updating the blog after more than a week of nothing.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles!

Yesterday was fun fun fun under the sun!

Woke up kinda earlyish (for me, around 9.30). Messaged the kitten good morning as I always do, then I bummed about the house a bit until Bryan came over, to pick up some of my brother’s books for his Battletech campaign. He stayed till about 11, then I left the house at about 12 or so, with a bag of my mum’s potato fritters in hand, for Tiong Bahru, to meet Maddy, Mitzi, Ling and Jim.

Got there slightly late at ten past 1 and noticed kitten and Mitzi eating Old Chang Kee. Kitten was eating some deep fried squid thing (blech, tentacles), and Mitz was eating some Sotong balls. I thought that we were going to leave immediately for Sentosa (I was impatient to go tanning. Hee.) but then was told that we were waiting for Heinz, Jason and Kenneth to come down. They came about 10-20 minutes later, and then had lunch. Following that, it was off on the bus to Sentosa! We reached there soon after, and then I helped Maddy, Mitz and Ling buy their tix. Boarded the Blue Line bus for Siloso, on our way to meet Adrian, Huishi, John, Kris, Lynn, Lili, Liling, and all. I went to the toilet to change into my trunks, while me kitten applied some sunblock (or was it suntan?) lotion on herself. After I came back from the toilet, we waded in the water for a while (really, really nice refreshing and cold change from the hot sands), splashed around a lot, swam a little and stuff like that.

Then, we all decided to walk (or wade) to the nearby lagoon where the last time we were there, Kenneth and Jim had their ‘roll down the sandy slope’ competition. Jim won that one, incidentally. Some of us swam to the opposite shore to suntan, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to get the kitten to swim over. She stayed with Lynn while I swam over with Jim, Jason, Heinz, Ling, Mitz, Adrian, Huishi, and Kenneth. We all applied liberal amounts of the oil, with guru Adrian instructing most of us of the more strategic places to apply it. Haha. Then, we lay down in the sand, like beached whales getting roasted, with Jim keeping time. “Okay, turn!” *everyone turns over* This happened every 10 minutes, for about half an hour. Haha. Oh, Jessica, Heinz’s friend came over to our side with her Dark Tan SPF 0 (Which I didn’t even knew existed). Oh well, I shrugged. Back to tanning.

Saw with Blurry Vision™ that the girls were over on the other side, in a circle, but I’m not too sure what they were doing over there. Gossip and other things I’m guessing. =p

Eventually, got tired of lying in the sand and went into the sea to wash off. Started playing Frisbee with Jim and Jason, pointless but still fun. We kept setting new conditions (Catch with left hand! Go back further! Etc) until we got tired of it. It was fun with Kenneth heckling Jim whenever he caught the Frisbee. Play by play commentary! Kenneth is funny. So then, we decided to swim back over to the other side to dry off and eat some food (Jim and the others played mahjong. Hardcore they are) and my mum’s potato fritters disappeared in a flash. Kitten noticed I was bleeding a little from a cut I mysteriously obtained, and cleaned up my wound for me. Its little things like that that really show how much a person cares for someone. Hee. I love you too darling.

That was at about… 4.30 or so. I went off to a nearby pavilion with the Kitten, and was enjoying her company when we saw a peacock coming closer and closer to the pavilion. We were watching it bemused as some girls were staring at it from behind. Haha. It came ever closer to us, like about a meter away, before it ran off since the girls behind it came closer. We thought it was looking for the peahens, which it eventually did. To our delight (and the girls’ delight too apparently) the peacock began to spread out its tail feathers. It shook it’s booty a little to attract the peahens, but none came over to it. The girls were happily taking photos of it, but when they tried to pose with it, it kept running away. Hahaha. Serves them right. Jason was watching this spectacle with us as kitten teased him about having the tail feathers too. =p

Walked back to the tables where everyone was, as kitten went to bathe. I watched the guys play, and I learned a little about Mahjong. (Still not gonna be joining any games soon, though) until about 6. The girls (including kitten) had gone off to the toilets to shower, and change, so we waited for them. Then, me, John and Heinz went over to the showers while I got some shampoo and body soap from Mitzi (Which I forgot to return. Sorry!) and walked over to the showers. They were really crowded, so John suggested that we go over to the one at Palawan beach which was like a km away. But it was worth it though, seeing as how empty and clean (much cleaner) than the one at Siloso was.

It was funny to hear John, who hadn’t brought any footwear along, complaining about his aching feet as we trudged our way over to the mystical, fabled clean toilets of Sentosa. Made our way there eventually, and then spent a good 10 minutes or so scrubbing ourselves nice and clean. I finished first, John next and naturally Heinz (in bronze goddess mode, DAMN that’s a deep tan) came out last. Haha. Me and John borrowed Heinz’s facial wash, and came out of it having our faces smooth like a sandpapered baby’s bottom.

Made our way back (it was about 7 or so, I think), with John complaining along the way again. Haha. Saw Jim, Adrian and Kenneth come out of the dirty showers, so yeah. Our investment more or less paid off. Everyone was all nice and clean, so we all decided to leave for the mainland. John and Kris, lost in their own little world, walked off the wrong way. Silly people. Haha. Boarded the bus, and we went off to Tiong Bahru. We all eventually decided to go over to Raffles City Shopping Centre so it was easier for Mitzi to go home that way.

After some walking around, we all decided (me, grudgingly) to eat at Subway. Kitten doesn’t like bread so she went to the Soup Spoon with Mitzi to buy some Boston clam chowder (Chunky!), and Mitzi bought some tangy wedges thing. I mentioned that I wanted to eat some onion rings, so kitten went off to buy them for me. I then sneaked, ninja style (okay, not really) to the florist to see if I could get any purple tulips, since kitten said those were her favourite. Lucky day, I did manage to get it (could only afford to buy one stalk, though. Sigh) so I waited back at the table for kitten to come back with the onion rings.

Surprised her with the flower, and totally loved seeing her reaction to it. I guess I just love seeing her happy. ^_^

We all finished off our food, with kitten sneaking bites of my sandwich filling (not the bread though. Hee). Was getting kinda late so me, kitten, Mitz, Lynn, and Pam went to the MRT while we bid the rest goodbye. Pam took the North route train, so it was down to just the four of us. We got down at Bedok MRT to send Mitz on the way home, to make sure she was okay. In the bus (I forgot where it was, though), kitten was telling me about how when I saw her over in the afternoon, on opposite sides of the road, Ling told her that she’d never seen me smile so much. And I guess that’s true, she makes me happier than I have ever been before in my life. And seeing her happy, well, that’s just like having everything I’ve ever wanted before 10 times over. It’s a fantastic, warm, fuzzy feeling inside when we’re both happy.

She was also telling me how about everyone thought I was a really nice guy. She was talking to Kristine while we were all in the shower, too. Being nice for me, it’s just natural on my part. Why be an asshole, that just takes more effort. I’d rather put a smile on someone’s face than leave them scowling. I do have some bad moments sometimes but it’s never out of a malicious intent of mine. I’m just happy to be alive, and to be surrounded by people I love, especially my most darling kitten Maddy. Love you lots.

Spent some time with kitten at our spot near the MRT station, then I had to leave. I wish I didn’t have to, but if I didn’t my mother would freak. So I made my way home eventually, read up my stuff online and then crawled into bed, where I fell fast asleep.

This is actually my third time blogging all this (danged circuit breaker), haha. Good thing I finally did it.

Oh well. See all of y’all around! Take care peeps.

I feel like flying. The last few days have been nothing but wonderful.

Monday: Went with kitten to go pick up some stuff from Danny. Met her at TM at about 3, after which we went over to Lycos Asia to pick the stuff up. The AIA building is cool. The lifts are funky, but you have to wait a damn long time. >_<

Dan looked a little stressed, but hey. That’s Dan, doesn’t seem to be able to live without some kinda pressure. =P After we left, went over to kitten’s house to drop stuff off, and I gave her a little stuffed puppy dog. She named it Jack. Hehe. She also gave me one of a pair of stuffed kitties so I’d have something of hers to sleep with (she’s got my jacket). ^_^

Passed each other some comics, then we went back to TM for dinner. Had a quick meal of Long John Silver’s, then went for some ice cream at Swensen’s nearer her place. Sat down, fed each other ice cream (like we always do =P). I’m still marvelling over how we can say the same things at the same time, without really thinking of it. Heh. At about 11p.m. I reluctantly parted company and made my way home. Last bus home again. ^^

Tuesday was my mother’s birthday (as well as Sean’s). For lunch I went to Merchant Court Hotel, Ellenborough Market Café with Mother, grandparents and uncle/aunt. Oof. The food there is excellent. Great spread. AND it’s buffet. Had about 2 massive helpings, then I gave up and sat there with contented belly. Later on, went for a disastrous haircut. *whimper* I’m still a bit traumatised by the whole thing. In the evening we went to the airport to pick up Dad, and also have dinner. Ate at Swensen’s. And had more ice cream.

I’m getting fat. =/

Wednesday, it was my 1 month-anniversary with kitten. I got her some chocolate and a little stuffed kitty that I’ve had for a few years. But what I got her pales in comparison to what she got me. I’m still very blown away by what she did for me… so fantastic was it. All I have to say is thanks so much kitten. I absolutely love what you did.

Then, we wandered around looking for a place to eat lunch. At first we wanted to eat at Seoul Garden, but when we got to Plaza Singapura we discovered… it was gone. Not only that but PS had had a massive makeover. Most of the things we remembered were gone =(

So anyway, we went to go eat at Café Cartel. The staff were friendly, and we both agreed the food was excellent. Their pasta is really quite good. After that, we went to Fort Canning to walk walk and admire the scenery. There was a wedding going on somewhere nearby the pavilion we were at, and we decided to check out Fort Canning Green, seeing as how that’s where the LOTR movie will be. It’s really quite nice =)

We were being eaten up by mosquitoes, so we went off to get a nice cool, refreshing, curiosity rewarding Vanilla Coke at Park Mall. Kitten bought a cute fridge magnet that had (you guessed it) a really cute kitten on it. We sat down at this strange place that charged about 1.80 per glass of soft drink (gag) then we took a bus to the Orchard MRT area. Dropped by Indy’s shop to say hi, chatted a bit, then we went to Wheelock for dinner.

Walked past Big O to see if we could see Belda (but she wasn’t there), then we took about 5-10 minutes walking around, trying to find Nooch. Eventually, we found it. Hidden in a nice little hard to spot secret passage thing. Haha. The ambience there is really cool, though. The bowls of ramen are freaking gigantic too. Too bad drink glasses are puny. Ate our fill, then I went to send her back home. Hee. Reluctantly left her company again, and caught the last bus home again. Haha.

Sigh…. I miss her.

Dos Vidanya (I finally found the correct spelling.)

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me

And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
Love to be
In the arms of all I'm keeping here with me

Anna's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees

Now how I remember you
How I would push my fingers through
Your mouth to make those muscles move
That made your voice so smooth and sweet
And now we keep where we don't know
All secrets sleep in winter clothes
With one you loved so long ago
Now he don't even know his name

What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
And when we meet on a cloud
I'll be laughing out loud
I'll be laughing with everyone I see
Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all

Haven't blogged in nearly a week! Hence this is blog lite:

19th May:

Went to school for the pre-SL workshop. Played some games and gave feedback, and that was about it. Then went down to TM to catch Matrix Reloaded, awesome movie. But just as Danny said, don't go with expectations, you'll enjoy it so much more that way. I slept at 2 a.m. that night just trying to figure out what actually happened in the movie even though I had to wake up early the next day. =P

20th May:

I woke up at the unearthly hour of 7 (gah) to go for the SL workshop. It wasn't really much, being in the logistics committee, we just did what we were supposed to and then played games in the Log Room. Ended around 7 or so, then went home.

21st May:

More of the same as the previous day, just that we ended a LOT later. (10 p.m.) Had a nice lengthy discussion with Maddy about some issues about other people (dang I hope my bill doesn't come up to too much) and then collapsed into bed.

23rd May:

After a day of rest, I went to meet Maddy, Ed and Mitz for dinner. I got to TM at about 5 or so, then found out Maddy and Mitz were already there from about an hour before. =P So we went to Macs, had some fries in curry sauce, and waited for Ed to show up. We walked around aimlessly for a bit until we decided to actually go for an early dinner at the food court at about 6.30. We talked crap as usual, some things about monkey shirts, and nothing in particular. Heh. We stayed until about 9 (amazing innit) and then we decided to leave for home. I sent Maddy home as usual, and we fed a kitty we found. We're calling her Muffy. She's such a pretty kitty. Stayed with kitten until about 11, then really had to rush or I wouldn't catch the last bus. Luckily, I did. Got home, chatted some more with the kitten, on the phone and on IRC, then finally crawled into bed at 3.40.

I don't see myself doing a lot today, so yeah. More of the same slacking and thinking of my beautiful kitten.

Until I blog again!

Niobe.
Simple and Practical.You enjoy life experiences.


Who you are in the Matrix.
brought to you by Quizilla

Past 2 days was quite fun. Yesterday was Priya's 21st birthday celebration, and almost the whole gang went down to celebrate! Parents dropped me off at the place (place called Bangles and Anklets in Little India), and coincidentally ran into Maddy, Gi, Fiona, Heinz, Yongjie, Jim, Kenneth and Zul right outside. Went inside, saw more peeps we knew, like Adrian and Huishi, Lynn, Melissa, Lay Peng, Farah, and later on Vani, KB and Ali would join us. We had a very spicy dinner. So hot I didn't feel like going for seconds. Most people were feeling it too, so after that very quick dinner most of us were sitting around talking crap. Since the deejay that Priya had hired was pretty boring after all, we just chilled out and listened to music.

Then, they began the programme for the day. Most of it was the embarassing party games and stuff to entertain, some of which I don't have to mention. =P But anyway, suffice it to say that everyone had a rip-roaringly good time. From the quiz time to the impersonations and all, and of course the wonderful company of my darling kitten, I had a really good time. At about 11 they announced that it was dance time! But most of us were still kinda stoned, so our butts remained rooted to the seats. Soon afterwards we worked up some (dutch) courage and started dancing. Only 2 songs had finished when the deejay began playing.... INDIAN MUSIC! So about all of Priya's Indian friends were really grooving to the music, while the rest of us were trying to figure out how to dance to it. But we managed anyway =P

They closed at 12, and the princess Gi wanted to walk around, and find some place to mingle and chat for the rest of the night. But since most people were kinda tired, we walked to the bus stop instead. All the way at around the City Hall area, so we walked and walked and walked in the stuffy night air, sweating profusely, pausing occasionally for air con breaks. =P

In the end, Kitten shared a cab with Fiona, Tuesday and Lynn, while Kenneth, Yongjie, Heinz and Jim took the NR 7. Leaving me and Gi to take the NR 6. Since I didn't have to take a cab and waste more cash, sleepy and tired old me didn't mind a bit. Along the way we talked and chatted about some stuff, then I noticed I was near my house. Since the bus didn't stop AT my house, I walked about 20 minutes before I finally reached home, turned on my computer, checked my online stuff, and then collapsed into bed.

18th May

Woke up at 9 to go to school to meet Jeff, and some other Log Comm people to buy stuff for the SL workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday. That wasn't really too hard, and at about 1 I left to go meet Kitten for lunch at TM. Had some nice Swensen's ice cream, then we went walkies for a bit. Following that accompanied her to her pony supplier, marvelled at her knowledge of various ponies (you're amazing darling) then since it was about 5, we parted company reluctantly. Wish I could be with her 24/7.

And yes love, I know you'll be watching me from under my bed so I don't have to worry =P Love you.

Good night all.

Mmm.. been kitteny goodness these couple of days. Yesterday was Vesak Day, so I had to wake up earlyish to go to the temple and all. Dragged myself out of bed at about 9.30, while brother remained snoozing in bed. After a shower and change, he was still sleeping. Sigh. He ate my hashbrown too. Grrr.

So we went to the temple to pray (ours is in Bedok) to find that it was crowded as usual, and inhaled quite the bit of incense before we left shortly thereafter. The parents dropped me and my brother off at Tanah Merah MRT to go down to town, while they picked up Ah Kong and Ah Por at their place. Me and Bro reached Goodwood Park a good 15 minutes before they did, and it was already 1230. Sigh. Lunch only started at about 1, when the cousins finally arrived.

J-ren (he's the one whom most of you met at my birthday party) is the best one, he's cute in a mischeivous kind of way. Watches a bit too much TV though, he speaks with a redneck accent now. For some odd reason. U-wen is the terror. He's already 10 and he hasn't learned an ounce of social grace. The peking duck for example... grargh. He'd never tried it before, so the waitress gave him a piece of the skin to try. He liked it so much he took another 3 pieces without the wrapping or extras, and just took and took as if he'd cooked it. I think a couple of people at the table went without because he'd taken the skin. Inconsiderate. It went like that for about another hour of so.

Anyway, left at about 2 heaving a huge sigh of relief. Mum dropped Dad and Bro off at Sim Lim Square, and then we drove over to Tiong Bahru where I was supposed to meet kitten and buy food for the everyone else at Sentosa. Met up with her at about 3.10, and then bought some snacks (must remember kitten loves Campfire Marshmallows) and got on the bus soon after. Eventually got there at about 4, we took the monorail and shared it with some strangers. Reached the Palawan stop at about 4.30, walked in one direction for about 10 minutes before we realised we were going the wrong way, and then promptly did an about turn and walked towards Siloso (turns out we were at the wrong beach). Sadly, by the time we got there it was already 5 so we couldn't tan (sun was more of a sweating sun than a burning one) so we just waded around in the water for a while.

Eventually it was just me and kitten in there so we just floated about, getting knocked about by the waves and stuff. Hee. Fun. We got out, all pruny and everything somewhere around 6ish, and then went to go change. Man the queue was horrendously long. I think I got out of there at like 7 or so. Walked with Heinz to the showers, then walked back to the 'campsite' since the rest of the guys were going to shower. And they needed someone to watch over their stuff, so yeah. I waited for them for about 45 minutes, and in the meantime stoned on a stone and thought of her. Then we all left at about 8.30 to go eat dinner. We walked all the way from the visitor departure centre to the world trade centre to discover the shops were closed (it already was reaching 9ish) so we took a bus down to town, Lucky plaza and had Macs for dinner. Yum. Or something. Then took a cab home together with Nat, dropped her off, and then reached home tired but satisfied.

16th May

Woke up this morning to a message from kitten. Got up, lazed around a bit, then played PS2 all the way till 4. Then I changed and left the house to meet Maddy, Serene, Bao, Eddie, Mitzi, Jim and later on Siwei to go have coffee, sit around, talk crap and just hang out. Heh. I think the people at Coffee Bean (Centum Sa) must have been wondering what they put in our coffee to make us act so weird. From Jim the Fernleaf Avenger, to Jim the Cheese Man. To talking about disgusting secondary school teachers. To really bad hot chocolate. It's like 2 weeks never passed, and I've never seen this group so happy. We were laughing and talking and just basically overflowing with life! It was wonderful. =)

After that, we were left with Serene, Siwei, Bao, kitten and me. We went (actually it was just me and kitten who ate, the rest watched) for dinner at the Century Square foodcourt, and talked and chatted a little more. After that, it was about 8.45 so I went to send kitten home. When we got down, we saw a cat who meowed quite a lot (and really noisily too). We walked to the provision (mamak!) shop nearby, since kitten wanted to get some sweets, and we bought a can of cat food for the hungry kitty. We watched it eat for a while before I went upstairs to her place, since I needed to wash my hands and use the toilet.

Her parents happened to be home too, so I meekly introduced myself to her mum and dad (they're really nice people), took a look at where my kitten slept every night (messy room!), looked around the house, saw her bro's studio (sigh) then she walked me to the MRT nearby. Along the way we saw this beautiful kitty, had wonderful brown, black and white patches on its body. Spent some time playing with it, then continued to the MRT. I missed the train, so enraptured was I by her presence. =P

Eventually got back at about 11.30. And here I am.

Doing more quizzes that kitten posted. Heh. This is becoming one endless vicious cycle!


You are Ian.


Which 'Nightmares & Fairytales' character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Not that I know who this is of course. =P Lend me the comic love?


You're Satan! You're a nice, but overworked guy
who's doomed to oversee the world's stupid
people. Sucks to be you. A plus: you can
shapeshift!


What Johnny the Homicidal Maniac character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

<_<
>_>


Roman Dirge


What character from Lenore are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Yay!


Tygra. I mean, who else can make themseves
invisible with a whip, then quote quantum
mathmatics?


Which Thundercats character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Quantum maths? I have trouble remembering what I did 5 minutes ago.


You are...drumroll please...Jonothan Starsmore aka
Chamber, everyone's (well, mine) favorite
Generation X kid and as of lately X men! Born
and reared in London, he is cursed by his
frightening apperance-he has no lower jaw or
chest-the result of the first manifestation of
his mutant ability, when telekinetic energy
literally exploded out of his chest. So
naturally the boy is depressed and withdrawn,
but also a sensative and hopeless romantic.
Jono used to be a musician and heartthrob, so
keep that in mind as well.


What Marvel Comics Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Aww.... obscure but cool character anyway. And look! Heartthrob!

All answered with 100% pure honesty!


You have a dominant kiss- you take charge and make
sure your partner can feel it! Done artfully,
it can be very satisfactory if he/she is into
you playing the dominant role MEORW!


What kind of kiss are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Erm, really? Wow...


I am an overly happy A.D.D kitten


Which cute or possibly strange kitten are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hee. Freaky kitten.


cuddle and a kiss on the forehead - you like to be
close to your special someone and feel warm,
comfortable, and needed


What Sign of Affection Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

=)


You are CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIE! You're extremely
sweet. You love to have fun with close friends
and just hang out. You also like to help people
when you can. You tend to follow the "in
crowd" at times and can be quite catious
of people/things you dont know.


Which Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I love Ben and Jerry's. ^_^


Sally.....your a messed up raggedy anne


Which Nightmare Before Christmas Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hmmm. I should be Jack Skellington instead. Oh well.

And bonus quizzes!


You Can Talk to Animals!


What's Your Magic Power?
brought to you by Quizilla

Cool. =P


You're the smirk,a frown-smile hybrid that's a
little bit cocky and usually associated with
evil or arrogant,but attractive people.You
probably just don't give a damn,but it's
everyone else's fault if you don't because
you're too awesome to have any real faults.


What Kind of Smile are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Again, er.. really? Although I change an answer and I get this:


You're the loving smile,the one that is entirely
devoted to others,especially that one
person.You really can't get them out of your
head,but then,you don't really want to.


What Kind of Smile are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

So yeah.


Your Heart is Red


What Color is Your Heart?
brought to you by Quizilla

*Me looks at kitten* =)


Pink:
You see the world in bright pink. The world is a
happy, happy place! You love all people and
things!! Life is great! You're just like a
happy child. Spread the cheer.

*this quiz was made by
href="http://www.saradover.com">Sara


What color do you see the world in?
brought to you by Quizilla

I know Darryl D would love that.

Which X2 Character Are You?

I'd have liked Colossus. =/


Which Member of the Endless Are You?

Hee.... sorry darling. I know you'd have wanted her =P


See what Care Bear you are.

Did this one for fun =p

Many dream and never wake,
Another one whose love forsake
Doubly certain true love never find
Doubly certain happiness was lost.
Yesteryear is but a dream

It must be realised, throughout one's life
Lucidity or reality, they must be distinguished
Only you could cast this spell upon me.
Virtual worlds, they are but dreams.
Except that this I know, is no dream.

Yes, it's true, true love I've found.
Over head and heels, you have me bound
Unaware, blissfully, of the spell you weave.

Heh. took me a while to write that one. It's not too good unfortunately.... but I did put extra effort in there to convey an underlying message.

Woke up pretty early today to go to school to work out, unfortunately while getting ready I found out that the gym, track, and reservoir were closed. So what to do? I went to school anyway. Just to see her. =)
I hung around for various people's shifts, mainly cause I was bored. Heh. Huishi and Siwei, Eddie and KB, Mitzi and Edna. Eventually, we left at about 3 to go to town to pick up Priya's present. We being Eddie, Me, KB, Adrian, and Maddy, Mitzi, Edna and Huishi. We almost bought her a dildo as a joke, but then decided not to. After all, what if her parents found it? I doubt they'd ask to borrow it, so we got her some massage lotion that was billed as 'erotic'. "Warm when you apply it, hot when you blow!" So, happy with our somewhat less R(A) present, we went to go eat while KB and Edna went home.

After that, went browsing around various toy shops, kitten bought herself another pony, and generally we had a good time hanging out. I swear, it's such a relief to do so without the spectre of deadlines hanging over our heads. Kinda like a portable reaper. Polunin, I swear you stole a little of my soul. BLOOD AND TEARS, MAN! But hey, it's over, it's done, and now it's the (current) year ones' turn to go through shit! YAY!

So having pretty much nothing else to do, we head on over to @omix to just drop in and say hi to Indy and Co., and then we headed off to the MRT (me and kitten at least. The rest more or less headed in different directions from there). Waited for her train first, then reluctantly parted company and went home. It was a pretty long and tiring day, but I enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless. =)