It's the 9th lunar month!

And Singaporean Taoists would make their pilgrimage to the Tua Pekong Temple at Kusu Island to pray for prosperity, luck and fertility. Being a kaypoh Buddhist, I decided to make a trip there too!

Take bus service 402 from Marina Bay MRT Station to the new Marina South Pier. Clifford Pier is history.

It costs $12 for a return ticket. I thought Penguin rides are supposed to be FREE?
The Tua Pekong Temple which houses 2 resident pythons and many turtles. Apparently people throw coins into the cages and ponds to hit them to get good luck? Fred will be so pissed!

The wishing well outside the temple. HUAT AH!

On top of a knoll sits a Malay shrine (Kramat Kusu) which houses some Chinese gods as well. Notice the colourful writings on the yellow rocks behind the altar?

All four digits! I didn't feel hitting the turtles and aiming at the wishing well were enough and so I scribbled 4 digits too.

And the trip ended sitting by the sea and wondering how to spend the money should I really strike 4D.

I settled for the easiest option: to fill in lyrics to an available tune. Here Dunman High, for you. It's to the tune of 亲亲, don't be shy to sing along!

那四年上课都在集思楼
老师偶尔罗唆
的大学之道
铁钮扣给的承诺

德明堂篆写的诚信勇忠
长大开始懂了
吾德兮高崇 是吗?

木麻黄回忆心醉
格致馆实验又出了丑
正心园绕了又绕不怕寂寞
邱老师他教育我

亲亲的德明 我唯一的德明
是你让了我
更自信 充满憧憬

家一样暖的德明
我的交心知己
回首半世纪 一生情
我的幸运 百分之百是你

宁静被学警在周末划破
苦中作乐也好受
熊熊的营火
回忆它装满了我

那碗加了油条的猪肉粥
烫伤了我舌头
两毛的豆奶 止痛

My first album of hers.

Should the album disappoint there is always the consolation that I bought it for her duet with Chen Qizhen. Yes Chen Qizhen! But it didn't; with the strong production cast of Jay, Mayday, Tanya, Qizhen and Sandee it had better not. A friendly collection of songs that are somewhat predictable; but no one's complaining. Not everyone can accept a different kettle of Fish.

I told myself my next entry must be one paying tribute to Dunman High in conjunction with its birthday and I shan't blog further until that entry comes out. But inspiration unfortunately doesn't come like the haze and I decided that ambitious production can wait. Having a decent entry like this makes more sense, doesn't it?

Pleasant surprises.

First I received an email from SPH asking if I were still interested in their scholarship, and to which I gave a positive reply. Just try and see how first. I'm headed to FASS anyway and it's either teacher or journalist or beggar upon graduation.

Next. Remember the notebooks I shamelessly sold you guys for my Youth For Causes project? My group has been shortlisted for the Best Team Awards of our category! We're supposed to give a presentation this Saturday and I would have to give the NUS Early Matriculation Talk a miss.

And just yesterday, I sought refuge before Ajahn Brahm and got my Pali name from him. He's the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth and is a spiritual patron of Buddhist Fellowship. He named me Kassapa, after one of the principal disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha! *Beams* He probably saw some spiritual potential in me with his psychic powers heh.

I've got these autographed too.

It's already fully booked.

So I save $70! A pity I have to miss out on such a significant event.

Still, there are other ways to join in Dunman High's 50th anniversary celebrations! Look at what I've got at home.

A pair of DHS dolls! Yup my sister and I are both proud graduates of Dunman. They are priced at $38 a pair and $20 for one.

I wasn't too impressed with the dolls at first. People will just accuse us of copying TKGS. But at least they're better than Raffles and Nanyang B-E-A-R-S. Haha.

Some warped ones out there may be dying to know what's under the skirt of the female doll. Fine I shall just show it. Lo and behold!

Haha. Never expected such surprises to come from them. Back to the main point, other memorabilia on sale includes DIY paper model kit, DHS anniversary package and DHS magnet. Direct purchases can be made at the general office in Dunman.

More information is available here.

He remains unscathed by the chicken pox epidemic.

Will he remain this lucky? Stay tuned.

Read more about him on NS Portal - the featured NSF of the month.

Have you watched the MV of Fish Leong's latest single "Kiss Kiss"?

She plays a college student in it. No big deal, you may say.

But first let's look at the cover of one of her earlier albums.

!!!I would have freaked out if she were to play a college student falling in love looking like this.

See, she was still ugly then and had to have long hair to conceal whatever imperfections. Her smile is checked because her teeth were crooked. And why did she steal something from my grandma's wardrobe! Horrendous imaging!

Now look at her in that MV. It's magic to see her looking younger and better with every album release. Other female singers start off their careers in school uniforms and gradually realise they look awkwardly old in them. Fish Leong dons hers only on her 9th album, which gets released tomorrow.

Hereby wishing her great sales for the new album! May she not sell better than Yanzi though.

I can't get enough of her these days.

I saw the $55.95 tag on that 60-song album and all impulsive vibes evaporated. To make up for it I dug out all her albums and played them in sequence. And rediscovered I actually have her autograph on 5 of the albums! Notice the 2 types of signatures. The shorter ones were obtained at her autograph sessions and the longer ones were personally sent to her by my ex-classmate who happens to know her. What luck! A pity it stopped at the 5th album; I am seriously overaged for another autograph session.

2/3 of Yanzi's songs are here.

And so is 1/3 of my life story. Memories from year 2000 onwards can be played back with her songs, with almost every album release coinciding with a significant occasion in life. From her "Kite" which marked the beginning of NCO life to "To Be Continued" which signified the start of JC days to "A Perfect Day" which was released when I officially started my RP duties - listening to her songs gives me visual flashbacks of the ups and downs I had in the last 7 years. I never knew idol worship could provide such a dimension. Thank you Yanzi! And you seem to have really bared your soul for "Rainy Day".