My SMM 2011 Experience

i've had a few people asking me about my SMM experience, and i guess i should just do a blog post so that i can refer them here rather than telling them individually.
on the whole, it was a pretty good trip, for the team. our group for the competition had Nirvana.cn, Neolution (runner up at ESTC 2011 Winter), and a local malaysian team who qualified (sorry but i can't remember the team name right now).
we secured sponsors for our air tickets up to KL and back, and for our hotel room for 3 nights.
we also picked up jinny from MiTH-TRY to be our last for the event, which was really fortunate because our last, Von, was hospitalised two and a half hours before we left for the airport.
we lost all the games as expected, but i do believe we made a decent showing of ourselves, despite having just lost our commander and drafter, huayan.
lots to improve on, especially for me, and i think that smm is a good new start for everything for us. if we manage to keep up the momentum.
glad to meet up with quite a few people -
the banleong malaysia guys who i haven't seen since i changed department;
tobi and moritz whom i havent seen since... forever;
MiTH-Trust and idealz whom i spent 1 week with at WDC;
and... everyone who came up to me/us for photos, autographs... =)

the games weren't comparable to those which i watched at WDC. i can't help but compare SMM with WDC, because WDC was the last LAN tourney i attended prior to SMM. both events have kok up marshalls, computer problems... which i guess is standard in the gaming world... but WDC had better games, and nicer play.

we hardly had time to relax because we spent most of our time waiting, waiting for opponents to appear, waiting for instructions, waiting for coms to be fixed, waiting for the connection to be restored...
just... waiting.
the only bit of amusement we had was on thursday after we reported, and before the opening ceremony, when we watched you are the apple of my eye.

i think that people in the position of power shouldn't abuse their position.
and that even if they wanted to, they should choose who they abuse. carefully.
the worst experience i had was with Underminer, whom i previously held a decent amount of regard for - not that i agreed with the things he did, or the way he went about doing things, but at least i understood that he had a passion for the gaming scene - perhaps part of it was for personal achievement, but regardless, i believe he played a part in growing the malaysian gaming scene.
my team was against neolution i think, and eliza just saved up enough for a dagger on her es and was walking back to the fountain to buy it for our final engage. the opponent pushed in 2 sides and we more or less just wanted to finish in style.
so she trots back to the fountain and her entire screen goes black the instant she clicks on the dagger in the shop.
we know we've lost the game, but we pause anyway and wait for instructions as to what to do next. whilst waiting, we ff-ed and gged, and no one can find a marshall to tell us what to do.
it seems that there are either 10 marshalls behind us or none at all, and one can never be found when you need one. i learnt later that underminer asked one of the media standing behind us where our marshall was. wudd... why would someone from the media know.
so after waiting for a while and trying to find out what to do, (do we sign off? where's the paper to sign off on? do we resume and let them down throne? do we wait at our seats for the next match? if yes, who is coming to fix eliza's com?) i get a little irate and start asking a random marshall what's going on. he doesn't know anything, and underminer, presumably overhearing us, trots over, tells us that "SHIT HAPPENS, SO PACK UP AND GET OUT NOW!"
granted the staff are under a lot of stress because of the pc and network problems, but hi, it's not our fault that things aren't going well for you all, and we at least expect some instructions on what to do. delivered politely, preferably.
i'm not a rebellious teen, i'm close to 30 and i've seen many events and competitions. i can deal with reason, and i expect to be treated properly. you don't have to give me preferential treatment, just be decent.
perhaps i shouldn't have bankai-ed him infront of all the players and marshalls, i have a reputation for doing that when i'm riled, but it was one of the final straws after
1. not being told any details about when to report
2. not having access to any of the rules for the competition
3. waiting 7 hours for our first match to start

we never got an apology, btw.

anyhow, SMM is over, and i guess that's the last of the DotA competitions that we'll get to attend.
it was, in general, as i said, a good experience for my team, but a bad event.

moment worth remembering : 7 pcs blue screening on the main stage in the middle of a casted game
phrase worth remembering : "SHIT HAPPENS, SO PACK UP AND GET OUT NOW!"

i've spent the past 2 days recovering from the lack of sleep over the weekend (and indeed over the last 3 months), and i'm not sure if i've fully recovered, but i'm feeling good from my 4 hour nap right now.
it seems that no matter how much i sleep though, i'm still quite incoherent.

SO, to make up for my bad writing, here are some good photos.

my ipad provides endless hours of fun at every event we go to!

photo bombing is fun!

fun with polaroids! jinny and I.

at the Changi Terminal 2 airport toilet! lol... full length mirrors ftw!

breakfast at Macs!

eliza and i watching stage match!

aloy and i watching stage match!

drafting ! photo credits : ah weii!

someon who asked to take a photo with us!

tobi and i infront of the Razer booth. credits to joinDOTA.com

stage match vs nirvana.cn. no idea what i'm yelling at! but sitting in the middle means i have to put my legs up, cos the table legs are in the way. photo credits to joinDOTA.com

concentration 110% ! stage match vs Nirvana.cn. photo credits joinDOTA.com

from gosugamers.net best of SMM day 2 photo album. =D

WDC 2011

hi world!
in case you've been wondering why i've been MIA for the longest time, it's cos i've been doing some secret training for upcoming competitions.
i'm not sure if they secret training worked, or if it was effective... but oh well, the time has come for it all to be put to the test.
i'm off to china, wuhan for WDC from the 8th to the 14th november, playing as last for MiTH-TRY, the female team from Thailand.
wish us luck!

and if i die before i get back, i love you all!

it's all in Thai, but well, let the pictures do the talking:
http://mithesports.com/?p=4012
http://www.online-station.net/league/e-sports/600
http://esport.compgamer.com/?p=3545
http://www.thaiesports.com/news.php?id=489

wdc post that's outdated:
http://wdc.stnts.com/webindex/News/show/?id=46

the difference is...

i'm a competitive gamer, not a gamer.
i say this, because there are huge distinctions between a normal gamer, and a competitive gamer.

the main distinction is that a competitive gamer spends inordinate amounts of time on one game.
its not possible to be better through natural skill alone, which is why competitive gamers need to spend a lot of time trying to make the difference in skill between themselves and their competitors greater.

honestly, if i were a guy, i'd probably have given up competitive gaming a while back, because i'm nowhere compared to the top gamers, and i know my place, capabilities and schedule. but luckily for me, i'm female, and there's more of a fighting chance for me within my gender group.

gamers on the other hand, don't have to stop trying to level up, or kill that next boss, or better their lap timing, simply because they're mostly doing it for personal satisfaction and bragging rights. there's never a REASON for them to quit, or retire, because its just something they enjoy!

the focus and motivations, whilst there in great quantities, are pretty different.

***
anyhow, take a look at this article about why gamers make good body builders.
its makes some kind of sense, strangely!
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/14/health/video-gamers-bodybuilders-fitocracy/index.html

ARRRHGH!

LF : web design / photoshop courses!
any good, recognised certifications and schools to recommend?
part time studying!
oh well, i don’t really expect any replies on this, but i guess there’s no harm asking.
in the meantime, i’ll do some searching on my own.
i do also want to take jlpt, but i figure that i’d need to go do lots of revision first and do a refresher course.
other than that, i still have my powerboat certification to take, a flea market this sat, and a part time job intro to attend.
WTB more time!!!

Fund Raising - Extra-Life's 24hr Gaming Marathon : Gaming for a Good Cause

You thought that games were all bad, and gamers were all sloppy, aimless d00ds.
You thought wrong, my friend.

We’re inspired, and on a Mission. A Mission started by Sarcastic Gamers in 2008 in honour of Victoria Enmon (aka Tori) – a young girl who despite her sickness, went on to inspire many with her spirit, determination and love.

Initially, Sarcastic Gamers donated games and other gifts to keep her spirits up whilst she battled 3 rounds of the disease. After she lost her battle, Sarcastic Gamers set up Extra-life, a 24hour video game marathon to raise funds for the Texas Children’s Hospital (which is a part of the Children’s Miracle Network), in honor of her.

Over $300,000 was raised in the first 2 years of Extra-Life which has since partnered with the Children’s Miracle Network which allows donors to pick which hospital from the network that they’d like their funds to go to.

I will be participating with Razer to raise funds for Rady Children’s Hospital, and we’re all so hyped about it, not because we’re excited about having an excuse to play games, but because this is one of the rare times that we can do what we love whilst using it as a means to help sick children and support their families. All too often, gamers are viewed as being self-absorbed in their fantasy world, and this is the second aim of Extra-Life – to show that we do have hearts, and we will rally to worthy causes.

How this works :
I will attempt to play games for 24 hours straight, and I’m looking for a MINIMUM of 4 kinds souls to sponsor me $1 EACH for every hour that I play.
But I’m sure we can all do better for that, after all, it IS for charity, so I've set myself a target of $500.
(Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and all donors will receive an IRS compliant tax receipt.)

Sincerely,
PMS|furryfish*

Support me HERE 
See my Extra-Life page HERE
Read more about Victoria Enmon here:
http://therecordlive.com/article/OrangeCountyNews/OrangeCountyNews/VictoriaEnmondiesfromLeukemia/31738

power struggles

Most of the time, it’s better to take the carrot approach, as opposed to the stick approach, even if you’re in the position to use the stick.

Recently, some people in my life have been insisting on certain things, and most of the time, I comply, not because I can’t say no, but because I’m trying to be gracious.

I wonder though, if people realise they are getting their way, not because they are right, or because I am weak, but because I’m being nice.

Speaking about being nice, I know that sometimes I’m a little short in my replies, especially to queries I get online – facebook pm, facebook wall, msn.

I do try to reply in as much detail as I can, most of the time, but it DOES get a little tiring to have to reply the same question a few times, and to reply questions which could very well have been answered by google.com.

I try, but I fail, especially when I’ve had a bad day, a busy day… which is almost every day.

Oh, and it does annoy me a little when people drop me another message a few hours after their first to say that they are still waiting for a reply. -.-

So, forgive me. I know it sucks to receive curt replies, or no reply at all, which I why I still strive to leave a few words to most of what I receive.

Try to think for me too ok!

I’m considering storing up all the queries I get, and just replying them once or twice a week. Idea?

***

Anyhow, we (we being eliza, huayan and myself) are on digital life today. Will post a pic of the article when I have it!

being a... woman

it's really difficult being a woman.
if you look too good, people will be too afraid to approach you.
if you look bad, you'll be insulted even if you don't purposely draw attention to yourself.
you have to look pretty without trying too hard, and you have to do it tastefully enough so that you don't seem like a slut.

as i get older, i realise that it's harder and harder to maintain yourself. (or maybe its because as you get older, you're exposed to more and more treatments, and more people, and you have the spending power...)
hair takes up a few hundred bucks a year, and if you wanna be extra pampered, you've gotta spend on manicures, pedicures, facials, massages... waxing if that's your preference.

but i guess it's fun, in a way. at least when you DO look good, you're admired and it IS easier to get your way, with both guys and females.
and you are more or less entitled to spend time and money on yourself. entitled, if not expected.
a guy spending time and money on beautifying himself would just be called gay - because metro is not widely accepted here.
i mean... can you imagine what the beautician would say if a guy walked in and asked for eyelash perming?!

oh well. but being female... it's fun i guess.
but if given a chance, i might want to try out being a guy for a day.
it seems pretty fun to be able to pee out of a hose.
hahaha...

***
and i'm too lazy to caps the right letters, as usual.

Of female divisions and sideshows

i've been asked about what i think about competing in a competition divided by gender.
i have to admit that competing in an all-female division sounds pretty good to me.
before you judge me, here's why -

the dota market is saturated right now with highly skilled players
i echo the sentiments of chawy and hyhy when they spoke about considering switching to LoL as their main game. the top players have already marked out their territory, and the rest will just not be able to reach that standard and skill level. the game has been around for so long now, that the top players know who they are, and they've banded together to form unbeatable teams.
Playing against a normal guys team is fine, when we meet those, we normally beat them and progress. its playing against a serious competitive guys team which we have problems with.
because of the time and money involved, non serious teams will take part on an adhoc basis, and only the guys who are seriously competitive will actually take part regularly.
can i add that the standard of DOTA here in singapore is high. its very high.
and trust me, after first round out-ing and second round-outing most of the competitions for the past few years, its actually sounds very tantalising to compete against other female teams whose standards aren't as high as a competitive guys team.

there are only so many girls around
YES, we've been around as 5 for a while, but more out of neccesity than by choice. not that i don't love the girls, i do. but if you take a look around, how many other female dota competitive gamers are there, and how many of them located near enough to us here in Singapore?
Let's take a look at the number of female gamers who have entered and left the competitive scene in Singapore. i daresay that 4/5ths of them have left the competitive scene and are playing casually, if at all, now.

so why stick together?
then again, you might ask why we choose to play as an all girls team, instead of playing in mixed teams?
simple, most of the guys we've started out playing in mixed teams with have gone mia, switched to other games, because dota's been out for so long that they've lost interest in it. Yes, we used to compete in mixed teams, and depending on the line up, the performance varied - from reaching 1st/2nd place to first round out.
as 5 girls, there's a better bond, and it lasts longer.
guys are all cool with trashtalking and back smacking each other, but when it comes down to sticking together as 5, there are lots of ego problems, power struggles...
not that we don't have that now, but i guess as females, we're already used to putting up with that sh1t from the guys around us.

and yes, i know about how people view female divisions - its like watching soccer in slow motion, its like watching 2 awkward people face off each other, its just a b00bs and t1ts fest.
yeah ok. how you want to view it, is up to you.
but i'm pretty sure that no guy team out there has worked as hard as my team has on marketing, publicity, and picking ourselves up when we get pwned in training and competition. and we've done this ON OUR OWN.
also,
what other guy team out there has survived years of getting pwned and still tries?

if you want to comment on our make up, and how we bother to dress a little nicer, then tell your girlfriend to just wear your boxers and t-shirt when you're going for a movie date with her. every date with her, for that matter.
oh, and make sure you don't style your hair and put on contacts instead of spectacles either.

incomplete

i started out writing this post because my mind was boiling with all the information, post-scythe interviews.
i'm not sure what exactly i wanted to achieve out of writing, other than it helps me put my thoughts in order, and is somewhat therapeutic to me.
so, since i expended the effort to write a whole wall of text, i figured i might as well post it, even if there is no aim to it other than self fulfilment.

***

USD$150,000. Granted, the exchange rate now isn't that great, but it still amounts to roughly SGD$180,000.
That's the amount of money that a Singapore DOTA 2 team won at the recent Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.
Anyone would be overjoyed with that amount, but not Scythe.SG.
Walking into the interviews today, they didn't look like gamers who just bagged the 3rd prize in high profile, international tournament. They look like a solemn, even downcast, group of 5 who were jet lagged.
When pressed for their feelings on taking 3rd place, they morosely replied that they were upset at not being able to advance any further in the competition.
Said Daryl Koh,"Na'vi deserved to win, it was obvious that they outclassed the rest of the teams at the competition, but we drafted wrong against EHOME, and after the first loss against them, we simply lost the momentum." [the semi-finals were conducted in best of 3, with the winner proceeding to the finals]
"Na'vi bootcamped for a month or so before the competition, they were the most familiar with all the heroes and hero combinations. We knew we couldn't beat them, but we shouldn't have lost the games against EHOME,"continued Lim Hanyong, shaking his head.
DOTA 2 is a game which is played in teams of 5. Each team has to destroy the opponent strong hold first to win the game. In all, there are about 30 heroes - many DotA Allstars heroes have not been added in as of yet - and each match starts off with the captains banning and picking heroes. Often, the hero combination determines the outcome of the game.
As Toh Wai Hong elaborates,"the skill level of the players, and the teamwork are all about the same, so many times, the hero combination is the remaining factor which play a great part in determing success or failure."
Daryl chips in,"for example, if one team picks 5 heroes which can take lots of damage, and the opponent picks 5 heroes which have very low hit points, the team with the 5 tougher heroes will win."
Its a highly strategic game, and the hero picking and banning process takes up to 10minutes to complete. Teams often have heated discussions while they try to guess what the opponent has in store.
So obviously, each competition, and indeed, each game, sorely tests a team's ability to withstand pressure and disagreements.

Asked if they faced any roadblocks on their journey to 3rd place, most of the team cited taking official leave from school and national service as big problems.
As Daryl laments,"I had a hard time taking leave from my national service - I work in shifts, so I had to find replacements for all the shifts that I couldn't be there for. Also, I have more or less used up all my leave for this competition, so even though I most definitely will win the WCG nationals (for StarCraft II), I won't be able to represent Singapore in the WCG Grand Finals in Korea anyway."

And this is a problem echoed by competitive gamers who are stigmatised in a society where the media mostly portrays gamers as addicted and needing help, and gaming as a vice.

As Dawn Yang from PMS Asterisk (an all female competitive team) says,"Gamers are an easy target, because every mother knows one, and she doesn't understand them."

I liken gaming to being on the phone. Almost everyone nowadays can immediately understand that "I'm in a call right now" means that they're communicating with another person, who isn't exactly tangible, and that they should be accorded with privacy.
"I'm in a game right now" just doesn't have the same ring (no pun intended) to it, and few non-gamers understand that being in a game, doesn't mean you can just pause it as and when you like when you're in a 25-man raid in World of Warcraft, or a 5v5 Counterstrike 1.6 training. They see it as entertainment, sort of like watching a dvd on television, where missing a few minutes of the show won't really disrupt the story line for you.

Please Step UP.

there's been great furor and uproar in the Singapore community, and i have to say that it can be attributed to Phirkan and PMS Asterisk.
and of course, the golden team Scythe.sg.
i think the amount of feedback has been stunning, and the support shows that there is a community out there who feels so strongly about this.
which takes me to my next concern.
someone, some organisation, something. needs to step up, and lead all this energy.
without a guiding hand, the energy will either fizzle out, or explode into chaos.
there might be lots of different viewpoints, but in the end, we just want to succeed in what we love doing, and we want everyone to understand why we do it.
this is where i end off with, "this is just my 2cents worth", but i feel that what i've said is worth much more than that.
hurhur.

i know everything is in lower case, i'm typing in blogger, and it doesnt have auto caps. and i want to type it all out quickly, in case i forget anything.

another quick note, people who keep telling us/me to "stop trying to ask the government to do something and do it yourself" simply don't get it, cos we ARE doing it ourselves, whilst waiting for the right opportunities to petition for support publicly.
^^*

eSports in Singapore

http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/aeriel-phirkhan/dear-govt-we-just-need-1-chance-to-shine-gamers-do-read-/10150276363362441

Read that link for the background story.

We Singaporean gamers are crying for some support, any support.
Gamers nowadays are not the useless, sloppy, addicted bums that we've been depicted as.
Many of us hold degrees, are active in physical sports and we're driven, focussed, and are still carrying hopes that we'll be recognised one day.

It makes me so sad that our top performing teams have to empty out their own pockets just to pay for accomodation and air tickets to competitions that they have qualified for. Many of them are currently students and cannot afford all these costs, some have been under managers who ran off with the funds, and still more are suffering because sponsors do not make good on their committments.

Even if you don't want to pay for our tickets, letting us take leave from school, exams, national service would all help so much. so. very. much.
Our top players couldn't even attend The International dota2 competition because they were not excused from school. Those who attended and are serving national service, are also unable to take any more leave for future competitions this year.
What's the point of having fibre optics and the best PCs that money can currently buy, all the education which teaches you how to use the latest technology, when all our hardwork goes to waste when we aren't able to attend the competitions we have qualified for.
We are born and raised here. We carry the Singapore flag, but the country doesn't support us.

We gamers are eking out a future for ourselves. It has been such a long and difficult path, changing misconceptions, pushing for support, and all the while focussing on improving our game.
And we're not giving up, because we're making a difference on the world stage.

We want to have a future here in Singapore.

Government, will you hear us?

the monumental week in the history of eSports

This week, with today as the midpoint, is probably one of the most eventful, ever, in eSports.
with Gamescom going on in Germany, and e-stars in Seoul, we viewers are spoilt for choice.

IEM has one of the best streams going on - especially if you have a HD pass like I do (thanks to Julian Ho)
http://tv.esl.eu/de/login/validate#/de/esltv_stream/ 
for more information on how to watch the IEM LoL stream, check out Counter Logi Gaming's post :
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=227522397294441&id=159879557373311

DOTA2's stream isn't very consistent, and the match times change frequently too, but we're all following it because of the sheer awesomeness of the prize pool (1.6Million USD) and cos its release has been so mega hyped.
http://dota2.com/tournaments/international/

estars Seoul is probably the least high profile of them all, but it features international teams competing in cs 1.6.
http://www.own3d.tv/live/17482/e-Stars_Seoul_2011 

Add these extra event streams on to the usual GOM Tv (Code S is still ongoing!), own3d.tv, justin.tv, livestream casts/streams/VODs of your favourite personalities and gamers, and you've got yourself a full program from the time you wake to the time you sleep.


***

thought of the day : teaching british colleague how to swear in hokkien is very fun.

silence

ok, so i know i've been really silent for quite a while.
and i guess i'm gonna give the same old excuse that i was busy and uninspired.

quite a few interesting things have happened in this past month or so that i've been mia -
one of them being that i've gotten myself a nice computer.
its the first time in years that i have a desktop, my alienware has been serving me faithfully since 2008, and before that i was on my toshiba through university.

the specs are *almost* to die for - i just wished i had an ssd and another 560 TI gfx card.

here's a peep. =x

with this new com, comes loads of possibilities... like streaming games. especially when i'm on fibre optics 200mbps plan!

and this is actually an interesting concept to me - livestreaming.

i should have seen that this was the way to go, a natural progression in the social media lifecycle i guess.

and its quite motivating to play with people watching - because you know that people are watching, you can't slip up, you have to perform.

i might actually think about casting, in some way.

hmm... october... mineski... lol. (all preliminary plans, but *hint hint*)

DOTA2 is going to make its debut, and i can't say i agree with all the marketing that valve has done so far. but after talking to a certain person, i've come to see why they do what they do.

but it doesnt mean i'm not angry about certain things, and not disappointed about other things.

in the end, its their money to spend however they want, to whomever they feel is deserving.

and we've been running a week long photoshoot release of our shoot pictures, i think i've been anticipating each release more than our readers have been. i've been holding back the urge to just splash everything out and let everyone see it.

but its finally come to an end, with me as the last individual pic.

(note: last INDIVIDUAL pic... which means.... we have something interesting coming up. interesting to me/us, at least!)

you can take a look at it here .

Obedient Wives, my Ass

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/06/outrage-at-obedient-wives-club-singapore?INTCMP=SRCH
It’s been a while since I’ve felt so annoyed reading an article, but somehow the article at the link above really pissed me off.
To be as fair as I can, I do believe that its GREAT for a wife to submit to their husbands, but there's a caveat : the husband has to treat their wife properly, with respect and consider her needs - emotional, physical etc.
Blockquotes are from the article, point form (denoted by "-") are my thoughts.

***

it intends to curb various social problems, including prostitution and gambling, by showing Muslim wives how to "be submissive and keep their spouses happy in the bedroom". This, in turn, would lead to more harmonious marriages and societies

- So, does this mean that social problems like prostitution and gambling are caused by women who don’t want to have sex whenever their husbands do? Is it not, at least, a little unfair to pin the blame on this?
- If it is really true, then why not start a club teaching husbands to control their impulses, instead of one telling women to be good in bed?

"In Islam, if the husband wants sex and the wife is not in the mood, she has to give in to him," the Singapore club's co-founder Darlan Zaini said recently. "If not, the angels will curse her. This is not good for the family."

- Taking out the religion, I’m just focusing on the first part.
- Why is it that the husband has to get his way? Is there to be NO mutual compromise?
- How can the husband find any pleasure in having his way with an unwilling wife? Yes, it may not be apparent on a physical level, since they are taught to behave like whores, but how can it not be detected on an emotional level in someone you’re (supposed to be) close to? In some societies, this could be tantamount to rape.

by becoming a "good whore … to your husband" and serving him "better than a first-class prostitute", women could help "curb social ills like prostitution, domestic violence, human trafficking and abandoned babies" – all of which she attributed to unfulfilled sexual needs

- Once again, the unwilling wife is to blame? Like I said, teach the men to control their sexual needs! Or if you’re so insistent that women are to blame, why not crack down hard on the commercial prostitutes, and those who visit them?

Even the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore denounced the club's views as myopic, and said in a statement: "Happiness in a marriage goes beyond receiving sexual fulfilment from one's wife."

- Oh yeah… now we’re talking sense.

Defending the OWC's controversial stance, Fauziah Ariffin, the Malaysian chapter's national director, said: "When we said that husbands should treat their wives like first-class prostitutes, we were not putting wives on the same level with prostitutes."
"We are talking about first-class elite types, not street hooker types … Ordinary prostitutes can only provide good sex, but not love and affection, which only a wife can provide," she told the Malay Mail.

- Oh OKAY. So you're not putting wives on the same level as just any prostitute, you're putting wives on the same level as a high class PROSTITUTE. Well done.
- In what way is a FIRST CLASS ELITE prostitute SO DIFFERENT from a prostitute? They get better gifts and payment? So if the wife is a GOOD FIRST CLASS ELITE PROSTITUTE, does that mean she gets the equivalent PAYMENT from her CUSTOMER?
- If a woman learns to just fulfill her husband’s desire, she’ll soon use her body as a tool – to keep away impending disaster, to get what she wants etc, and not because of love and mutual respect.
- How can a woman respect herself if she’s taught to emulate a prostitute. And how can she respect her husband who has no self control. I’m sure that won’t create a whole new generation of angsty, emotionally dissatisfied women, and I’m sure that won’t create more social problems. Well, social problems are all due to women screwing up (or should I say “not wanting to screw”), anyway, right… so I guess there’s nothing new there then~

"Divorce – and other social ills – won't stop just because the wife is good in bed," she said. "Research shows that divorce in Malaysia is primarily due to economic factors, not because a wife hasn't been 'obedient' to her husband."

- I thank you, Robia Kosai, for making your stand, and doing your research. I hope nothing makes you back down from it. You’ll have my vote, if I ever become a Malaysian citizen.

As for the tenuous future of the OWC in Singapore, the club may very well have to open under a different moniker. "OWC is too controversial," Zaini was quoted as saying. "We can use a simpler name like 'Happy Family' or something."

- Zaini, I do hope that you know it’s not the name that turns us off. It’s your organisation’s aims that do. It turns us off so bad we’ll be celibate for the rest of our lives.

***

Ya ok, fine. I accept that men have different needs from women.
Here's my solution 1 and solution 2 for you.
If both are unaffordable, I'm sure either your left or right hand would do a great job, just add some lube.
tsk.

Prawning - the kind which involves live shellfish.

When I say “prawning”, I’m referring to the activity which (mostly Asians) people do at man-made ponds whereby they use a rod and hook to catch prawns.

I’m definitely not referring to this activity.

Anyhow, I realize that it’s a very popular activity over here, even with kids and females.

Ponds are normally so crowded with people that everyone is sitting chair to chair along the edges, with no room to swing their arms and rods, and only clears up around 6am or so. Even on weekdays.

A good prawner can catch up to 120 prawns over 3 hours. Just for comparison, I normally end the day with 40 on 2 rods.

So it got me thinking.

Why is prawning so popular?
                  Instant gratification

a.       Prawns bite very quickly. There’s none of the waiting time normally associated with fishing. Excitement levels are well maintained even when the prawn is caught because these prawns have large pincers which give the angler an itchy sort of nip when their fingers are in range. 

Removal from the suffering of the object

a.       Bait is normally chicken heart, or cut up shellfish. Therefore, its already dead. Some anglers do use their own live bait, but it’s the kind of bait which can’t actually scream when its poked.

b.      Prawns don’t make noise when they are out of the water, and they don’t bleed when hooked. This creates the illusion that it is not suffering – or at least, the signs are not that evident. 
Packaging and marketing

a.       It’s not a very dirty activity, most of the muck is quickly settled with a small supply of wet tissue

b.       Bbq pits where people can immediately cook their catch give people a mental justification that it’s ok to do this to the prawns because, I might be hurting them, but it’s for sustenance, and not just for my entertainment.

[PHOTOBLOG] Punggol Promenade

As part of my new healthy living regime, I will get outdoors more and be up earlier in the mornings.
Heh.
Have no idea how long my resolve will last, but it sucks to keep getting sick.
Anyhow, early mornings provide nice photo opportunities...
Presenting my latest haunt:



Punggol longkang is now a dam, and fishing, swimming etc in it, is now prohibited.
There's a red bridge leading to Lorong Halus (ie, the other side of the river) for those with lots of stamina.



The broadwalk, carefully landscaped, with wooden planks for the jogging path.



A small bridge over a smaller inlet.
I like the plants here. These cattails (?) appear to be of a reddish variety, which matches the bridge prettily.


Ripples, from the many fish which flip around excitedly as they kiss the surface.



Sun kissed boy. Looking very sinewy...



Cattails of a greener variety, against a checkered morning sky.



Water-side plants.



There's a nice chill out place near Punggol Plaza - there's popeye's, a Jap restaurant, a cafe, some seafood restaurants...
There's also a pool hall, and a 24hr prawning/fishing/crabbing pond(s). The prawning ponds are opened by hai bin as well - the quality of the catch is not bad, as good, maybe better than their Bishan branch.

CREATIVE!

I have decided that I will obtain a Wacom Intuos4 Medium and become more creative.
lol.
Nope, this isn't one of those split second decision things... I've always wanted to be proficient in Adobe.
Time to get software to complement it!

***
I don't want to give the kittens back... =(
Been looking after them for the past 2 nights and they are easy to manage - when they have their cat litter.
And they are so sweet.
<3

ofc, you're gonna be treated to my fabulous photography once I get the kitty pics uploaded.

[PHOTOBLOG] Marina Barrage

A relatively unknown sweet spot on this island, Marina Barrage attracts many, for different reasons.



Car Park B is where you will be redirected to when the main car park outside Marina Barrage is full.
Overgrown n and teeming with bird life.



Birds, bird enthusiasts, bird photographers.









A little Peaceful Dove strutting around the parking lot.



Marina Bay Sands as seen from Marina South.



From the inside of the Barrage.



The highest point of the arch.



With an owl nestling at the highest point of the arch.



The Singapore Flyer, through a sculpture.

And random other scenery shots:








A Tesla Roadster, uses less electricity than a desktop, takes just one hour to charge up, and runs for a few hundred km.



Sunset! :)



And a parting shot.

[PHOTOBLOG] Daryl's Cats!

Paid Daryl and his 2 kittens a visit. Although I'm not extremely fond of very young kittens, I have to say it was a pretty good photography session.
Hyperactive small animals are very difficult to photograph. But I think I managed to get a few decent shots, in between switching devices - my lx3 and an iPhone.




Evening started with a sunset and dinner.




Owner of the meows.



Then we started on the meows...













This is the photo taken by the iPhone in the previous picture.

















Meows are much easier to photograph when they are sleeping...







Goodnight!