Desmond and Red Cliff I.

I'm not a big fan of Mandarin films, but I watched Red Cliff with some of the guys last night. And the amazing thing was... I really, really, enjoyed the movie.

My father loves such Mandarin films, and now (for this particular one, at least) I understand why.

(I can't believe I can't wait to watch the second one!)

Desmond and The Continued Wind.

It's been incredibly windy today too!! I'm so happy! It really reminds me of the weather in Sydney, and even though we don't have the same clear blue skies, I love the shade of grey our skies carry!

-You make me happy, oh skies of grey.

Desmond and the Still of the Night.

The colour of the sky the past few nights has been exceptionally brilliant. I love seeing this shade in the sky at night. (Of course this picture from my window does it no justice.)

It's also incredibly windy tonight and that makes me feel incredibly good inside.

-Superior shot of night life, or no-life if you must.

There's something about the stillness and silence of night that captivates me.
Howling wind rushing through the still and silent night.

Desmond & Missing the Fun of Holidays.

I'd love for the holidays to come quick. Not that school has been bad. (How much can go wrong in the first week?) It's just that, new environments are hard to adjust to, what with new routines and new people. Silence is golden.

Desmond and The Empty Train Station.

I miss blogging and photosurfing for happy Ireland/Christmas stuff.

I miss having time to write the things I want to.

Desmond and The Heartbreaker, the Ex-Holidays.

What did you have to break my heart and end?

-I miss you already, holidays.

Desmond and The Little Notebook of NYR: 09'.

And so 2009 begins. (Or has begun, if you must.)

The start of the year always means resolutions that one gives up by the third week of January. But in case you last longer than 21 days, here's a breakdown of what that means.

After the first month of the year? You're not bad.
After the first month and a half of the year? You're good.
After the second month of the year? Expect Santa to bring you presents come December 09'.

After March? Chances are you meant, "Eat smaller meals in 09" as opposed to the "Eat meals in 09" you thought it was. Re-check your "Little Notebook of New Year Resolutions: 09".

After April? Check your watch, because you've probably dreamt the whole thing up. Then check your calender. It's probably still January.

So knowing resolutions hardly stick (for me), here's some of mine for this year.
1. Go bungee jumping by 3rd Jan 09'.
2. Have dinner on the 2nd Jan 09'.
3. End this entry soon.

- Which way now?

(Whadduyaknow! I've managed to fulfil my No. 3 already!)

Desmond and Damien the Irish Rice.

I did not know Damien Rice is Irish!
They really have some knack for music eh, these Irish lads and lassies.

Desmond and the Fun that was December O8'.

It's been an incredibly fun December, blogging-wise. I've blogged so much there should be a law against it. But its been loads of fun. Photosurfing and Christmas Whining makes for Happy Blogging.

It's highly possible the next time I blog this much would only be a few months later. Still, it couldn't hurt to try.
They say all good things come to an end. I disagree. I guess I prefer to have it as such: "Things end." Not all. But some do. Some good. Some bad. (Some) Things end.

Thank you December 08', Flickr, Yahoo!Uk&Ireland, Christmas, and Blogger. And especially Ireland. You've made this December highly enjoyable.

Till the next time we meet together again (except you of course, December 08').

Desmond & The Pun-driven Entries to Come.

This blogger seems to be driven by nice pictures of Irish stuff.

-What drives you?

In case you're wondering... Yes, I made a "drive" pun just so I could post this pretty picture of some random Irish van. With Christmas come and gone, (and only returning in a year's time!!!), take this pun as a first of many, many, more to come.

(Come on. I've got to find some way to link the photos to my entries right.)

Anyways, I got my results, and thank God for helping me. Lord knows I needed the help.

I find myself less concerned with grades now. Honestly, I do believe that effort counts a whole lot more than the end result. If you've put in the effort, then the result should not matter as much as the journey. Unfortunately, that's not always how it works. Of course you have to first put in the effort.

On the sixth day of Christmas my....

Desmond and The Runny Lights.

Zippetty.
Zoppetty.

Zoop.

Desmond and The Plea.

No, please, no!! Don't end.

Desmond and Post-Tracking.

Because I have been waiting ages for Today.

-Do you hear what I hear?

Desmond and Some Good Ol' Santa Tracking.

ARGH!!!!
It's Christmas! Santa Claus has come to town! If he existed that is.

Oh CHRISTMAS IS HERE! I love you Christmas!! You're finally here!

The first thing I saw on Yahoo!UK&Ireland was this! Track Santa by Satelite! Now it doesn't make a lot of sense, because Santa isn't real, but it really adds to the mood!! I love Christmas!! And UK Ireland!!

Definitely better than Yahoo!Sg which is still harping on our football loss, and our malfunctioning Flyer. For St Nick's sake, it's Christmas. There's cause for more happiness than gloom over things passed. Just for this moment, forget the sorrow, and bring on the Merry!

I am so happy.

Really.

Just this moment in time. The in-between of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Okay, 'till later folks! I think I might want to track me some Santa!
MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
-So many out there who need Your love. Your gift of love.

Desmond and Still Yahoo!Uk&Ireland.

You've got to give it to the Singaporean Yahooligans. They may be slow to the festive spirit, but one day to Christmas and their Christmas logo is up and running. And nice.

I'm still sticking to UK&Ireland though.

Plus, it's just Christmas animations. How wrong can those go?

I woke up in the middle of the night, and realised it was pouring outside. I sat up and peered out of the window, smiled to myself with great satisfaction, then popped under the covers and went back to sleep, happy. It's still drizzling a little now. I guess this is the closest thing to snow we'd ever get. And it's good enough for me.

It's Christmas eve. Christmas is tomorrow. This year will soon come to a close.

Desmond & The Christmassy Candle with A Church View.

2 more days!
(One must wonder if Yahoo!Sg even knows it's just 2 days to Christmas. That said, one mustn't wonder anymore why my homepage is Yahoo!UK&Ireland.)

Like I've said before, there's no Christmas Tree at home this year. I've slowly gotten over that. But in a bid to "make my own cheer", I decided to light up candles at home tonight. I had a stick lit in my room as I was photosurfing just now. A lone candle casting an orange glow about me, shadows flitting around my bedroom walls...

After I blew mine out, I lit my sister's one for a brief moment to take photos. It's like looking at stained glass in a church.

Candles are just more practical in cold countries, and country homes. Practicality aside though... it did feel a little more like Christmas. Just with complementary humidity, heat and sweaty palms/feet. But as if that's going to stop people's fascinations with fire.

-Someday, I'd love to wake up to see this from my own bedroom window.

Desmond and My Empty Space of Unexpected Happiness.

OH MY WORD.

In the midst of my happy blogging and Ghost Whisperering, I hadn't realised today is the 20th!! Reiterates my point that there is a lack of Christmas Spirit!! ARGHhhhhhh.

How bleak the season must be to not have realised that Christmas is just a mere 5 days away!

I blame it on the lack of a Christmas tree at home. Yes, I blame you, Empty Space In The Corner Where My Christmas Tree Usually Is! With the baby and toddler, and the many many many baby cots/apparatus/gadgets filling up my house, there can't be a Christmas tree. Because children choking on Christmas tree hangings are the last thing you want on Christmas eve.

I've been loving December so much, one can hardly understand. I've blogged more than I have in years, and writing out of my own desire puts me in an incredibly happy mood. And with it being the Season for Giving, I've had a reason to blog and photosurf alot for Christmas-related stuff.

Guess I've caught some form of Festive Joy, in spite of all my gripes. HEEE! or you know, HOHOHO!

Like I've been saying, you make your own cheer, so here's some, for myself at least!

(Incidentally, if you're wondering, Yahoo!sg still has no Christmas Animations, 5 days to Christmas. 5 days!!)

-O'Connell Street Christmas Tree, Dublin.
The tree's made entirely of L.E.D lights which is energy efficient, and 'green'! The silhouette of the real tree against the L.E.D tree is just brilliant, I think.

Desmond and Jack's Competition.

"Better Jack of many trades, than Humpty Dumpty... Because all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

Desmond and the Spelling of 'Christmas'.

LOOK!! LOOK!

(If I could somehow take the Christmas baubles and fit them into both my 'lOOks', I would!)

Since my Irish obsession started a few years ago (thank you Ronan Keating & The Corrs), my homepage has been Yahoo!Uk&Ireland. Yes, all part of recreating an experience with a click of a mouse.

A few days ago, after feeling a little underwhelmed by the festive spirit on our sunny island, I noticed the Christmas animations on my Yahoo!Uk&Ireland homepage. The Yahoo! logo had snow flakes falling all over it, and then the 'OO's turned into shiny Christmas baubles that glimmered a couple of times before holly drooped down over the 'Y'. I grinned happily, the fanboy in me re-awakened (especially after a few weeks of crappy Heroes).

Then I did a quick check with Yahoo!Sg and found that the fanboy-awakening animations were not universal on the Yahoo! pages. i.e yahoo!sg got no nice x'mas animation, lah.

I checked again just a while ago, and there still isn't anything remotely Christmas-sy.

But to be fair, Christmas is probably a bigger thing in the West.

Anyways, we make our own cheer, right? I'll decide about the future Christmas-es when they come... but for this year, I'm glad to be home in S'pore. Even if there's no snow, Christmas trees, lights, or candy canes... Christmas is still coming.

(Don't you just hate it when people spell 'Christmas' as 'X'mas'? It irritates the crap out of me. Just something for you to think about. Happy X'mas guys!)

Desmond & Sandiego Grey.

Look! It's Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego! Anyone remembers this ridiculous show? I do, but I can't remember what it was about. Although, I do remember that once the show was over, it meant I had to get ready for school in the afternoon. So its ending always left me with this terrible feeling inside.

Theme song is so catchy though. It's the kinda song you have a love-hate relationship with. You hate it but it stays inside your head the entire day! Strange that it stays (inside your head), because Carmen Sandiego always escaped -- They never ever caught her.

I wondered for the longest time, if she was good or bad. I mean, to a kid, the title character is usually the good guy! Just imagine how messed up children all over the earth would be if cartoon shows were named after its villains instead.

-Hey, hurry kids! "Mojo Jojo" is starting soon!
-Dad, Shaymus doesn't want me to watch "The Joker"!
-You are grounded young man. No... NO. You may not watch "Decepticons." I do not care that Shia LaBeouf is in it. Now go to your room!

She's the villain, in case you were wondering where this was all leading to. Not like she seemed very nefarious anyway. Then again, what do I know? I can't remember the show!
It's the only thing I know.

Desmond and the Venn Diagram Labels.

Move over Ugly Betty, Ghost Whisperer is in town.

Well to be fair, I would have continued Ugly Betty had there been more episodes to continue. As it is, I've watched everything and I had to start on a new show (read: Ghost Whisperer).

I used to watch Ghost Whisperer sporadically. But since I really enjoyed the drama in Ugly Betty, and my supernaturally-inclined shows, Supernatural and Heroes, were on hiatus and crap/crack, respectively... I had to find something in the middle of that Venn diagram.

Enter Melinda Gordon, who can see earthbound spirits and helps them cross over. Freak freak! Shutup. I don't know why I like these paranormal shows either, okay? It's hard enough to be... OH. You meant Melinda was a freak.

Yea. Talking to ghosts does put one in that particular category of highschool social circles, doesn't it?

Excuse me while I console her.
"There, there. I totally understand Melinda. There, there... Who cares? You still got married to a wonderful husband right? Who doesn't think you're a freak... Yes... Yes... Okay, you're okay... "

Desmond and the Cheer ManufaCheerer.

Christmas Joy, Schmistmas Smoy... the Christmas cheer is hardly here.

I was out grocery shopping with my parents last night. Christmas songs were playing in the supermart, and the cashiers and workers were wearing their Christmas hats. Candy canes and rows and rows of Ferraro Rocher. Christmas deals and turkey and ham and what have you.

Sure seemed like Christmas.

Yes, just 'Christmas'.
No 'Merry'.

Everything seemed a little forced. Oh, except the smiles. No forced Christmas smiles from anyone. In fact, no Christmas smiles at all from anyone.

I know, I know, if there ain't no cheer, you make your own. But you can't blame a man for not wanting to, amidst all the gloom. (Actually you can, but Said Man has this to say to you: Make your own darn cheer then.)

-because this year's lead-up to Christmas seems gloomy like that. still pretty though.

Desmond and The Wet Road Un-Nap.

It rained heavily on Sunday night, and it lasted through the whole of yesterday. I slept early on Sunday night... probably earlier than my brother, which was a little strange since he was the one who was leaving at 6 the next morning for camp.

I woke up in the middle of the night and the pouring rain, and wondered, "Why am I sleeping on my parents bed? ... Oh right, because I just wanted a nap at 10PM. And if I slept in my parents room, they'd wake me up at 11 so they could sleep."

Obviously I was wrong, but it was a great sleep. I love that it rains when I'm sleeping, even if I don't know it's raining. And I love waking up and realising that it's stormy outside, and then going right back to sleep. Oh what the heck. I love that it rains even when I'm not sleeping.

So when I finally woke up, I was pleased to hear the pitter patter of the rain, splitter splatter outside. One of the best sounds ever. Drippetty Drop.

And it lasted the entire day, which had me staring out at the wet roads at night. I love wet roads. (I know it's dangerous for drivers, but I don't mean I love wet roads because it increases the probability of a vehicle with two or four wheels skidding off the intended direction it is travelling towards, and disrupting it's course of motion and trajectory or whatever crazy physics theory).

I simply mean I love wet roads. Because they reflect the lights of the street lamps, the head and tail lights of cars passing, (which also creates the crisp sound of tyres over puddles of water) and the lights of the (many, MANY) buildings we have here (UGH!).

Still, wet roads are so nice to look at, especially at night.

Note to self: Nobody normal naps at 10pm.

Desmond and Me Irish Discoverehh!

I swear I've stopped my 5-day Irish Craze, during which I searched for all pics Irish.

Yet somehow, I still find myself drawn to things which I realise, only later, are Irish.

Take the song playing now for instance. It's by a band called The Script, which I find out after some good ol' wiki-ing, is an Irish band! SEE! Irish bands are awesome. My personal favourites are Ronan Keating and The Corrs, but look at Westlife and U2! (Yes yes, Ronan Keating isn't a band, but whatever.)

I had intended not to blog about The Script, and have another "Irish entry" in a row. But I changed my mind after hearing what my dad said this morning.

Dad (as we're walking back from breakfast): "Oh dear. I've forgot me newspaper."

I grinned to myself. AHHHHH. "Me". Classic Irish talk.

Just in case you're wondering, my Dad is a very British-y man at heart. He uses British lingo, and I guess it's because of his upbringing. So he frequently uses English exclamations in the house, ever since I was young. He's so funny.

Really made me smile today. (:

(I know I've been Irish-ing a lot recently, but I can't stop thinking about exchange program over there. And to be quite frank, Ireland is rather brilliant. Bloody brilliant as the British and Dad might put it.)

Desmond and The Snow Poll-Troll.

Here in our sunny country, one is constantly reminded of our status as a "sunny island, set in [some] sea". Granted, we do have our rainy seasons, and that... that I love.

(Cue the voices of approximately 4.5m people boo-ing me. You know what that would sound like? 4.5m people boo-ing me in unison? THUNDER. And boy do I love the rain and thunder. Bring it on, baby.)

Still, I've always wanted to have a white christmas.

NO. Some soap bubbles along the roads in town does not count as white christmas.

When I saw today's poll topic on my homepage (Yahoo!UK: "Are you hoping for snow this Christmas?"), I clicked 'YES' immediately, forgetting for a second that I don't live there. But I do want the snow!

Pictures of Dublin's O'Connell Street LED Christmas Tree this year. Apparently it's environmentally-friendly, and is "a symbol of hope in these challenging economic times". OH KAY. It's erm... interesting. But pretty cool actually. Guess we don't need those hard-to-unroll christmas tree lights this year.

Ah. Christmas.
Falalalalalalalalaaa.

Desmond and Some Ringing Sleighbells.

December 1st! Ah, the festive period. My favorite time of the year... what with the presents (I got early christmas gifts from my dad this year! an ixus! and shoes!), and the holiday specials on TV, the festive cheer, the christmas tree, the snow, the happy christmas songs!

Okay, except there's no christmas tree this year. And the only snow I've seen is in pictures on the web.

Plus, it doesn't really feel like christmas yet.

But I'm willing to give it awhile. I certainly hope the christmas cheer and excitement quickly finds me, it's already December 1st!

"Sleighbells ring, are you list'ning..."
Or, you know, whatever.