Good Morning and Happy New Year to all of my Chinese readers out there.Xin1 Nian2 Kuai1 Le1, Gong1 Xi2 Fa1 Cai2, Wan4 Shi4 Ru2 Yi4! (There you have my first and last attempt at writing Chinese in my blog)

Yes, it’s the Chinese Lunar New Year, and today we’re going visiting. The whole kick out of this is that it’s pure heaven for us kids (Actually, in my extended family’s eyes, I’m a kid until I get married, so I’m happy). Free food, free drinks, free entertainment (in the form of good-looking female cousins, or simply a television (yeah, I’m easily entertained)) and best of all, MONEY! There’s nothing like a good collection of Hong Baos to boost my flagging income of $280 a month.

Now a little on my “dark side” (be happy, the people who know me personally will probably NOT get to read this, so you’re a privileged bunch) I’ve got a little incestuous streak in me. Immediate family members are out of the question, of course, but not my cousins. You see, my extended family is rather blessed with bonuses in the looks department. If they don’t already look good, they know how to make themselves look good. It’s a win-win situation for me.

Okay…. so I’m desperate… sue me!

Well, it isn’t the ‘tomorrow’ of the last post I made, but it’ll do. Does a girl’s taste in music matter when choosing a girlfriend? And my answer is ‘Yes’. Now I know from my GP classes back in JC that I’m not supposed to take a stand on a matter so early in the exposition, but I can’t help feeling strongly about this issue. Disclaimer: Everything I say from now on is purely opinion, and not necessarily true, even though I may believe it is. Therefore, no offence meant to anyone who might read my blog.

Now I believe that music determines both character and attitude towards other people and life as a whole. Having said that, naturally I would like a girl who enjoyed the same music I did, because it implies that on a certain level at least, we connect. If she likes rock and grunge music like I do, that means she’s a person who might have a lot on her mind, or it may imply a person who chooses a violent catharsis. (Note: This might not necessarily be a bad thing) Hell, even if she likes heavy metal, then we’ve got something in common, but I wouldn’t bring her home to Mum…

On the other extreme, girls who pine for boybands and create shrines and ‘worship’ them just need to ‘wake up their F-ing idea*. No way am I EVER going to feel the same way about these people. Sure, I may like the Corrs, and lust after Kylie Minogue, but you don’t see me kissing pictures of Caroline Corr, or creating websites to the evergreen sexpot that is Kylie. No way. I’ve got better things to do than that. So all you lovers of N*sync and F4, take heart. You’ve all simply turned me way off. Go find some other shallow guy who believes all the soppy love songs these buggers sing.

Heh… maybe I should really fall in love… maybe then I’ll understand the sh*t those boyband lyricists write… but until then… It’s My Vitriol for me!

Darnnit… damn ICQ. Apparently my last blog timed out. So everything I’ve written has gone. Which may or may not be a good thing depending.on what happens later. Nevermind, I’ll just have to get down to writing it all again.

A big shout out to bender, who has become the first person to admit to me that my blogs are worth reading! Woohoo! From all of us here at Catholic War Machine (i.e. Me, myself and I), thank you, thank you very much!

I said damn ICQ, right? yeah, thanks to one special person, my original blog is lost to the Ultimate Eraser… Well this special person was worth it anyway. She is my Da Jie (a name I gave to her because she’s about 10 days older than me, but also because she’s like…short. Yep, shortest girl in my JC class, and there wasn’t a day when I wouldn’t remind her of that fact). For those that don’t understand, ‘Da Jie’ means ‘big (or elder) sister’ in Mandarin. Think of Robin Hood’s right-hand man Little John, and you can understand the irony.

Anyway, coming back to this special ’sister’ of mine…she’s the kind of girl I would love to know, but hate to marry… mainly becos you can’t imagine her getting married at all. What with her grrl-power attitude and ‘I can probably kick your ass, boy’ mentality… you can’t even conceptualise cohabition with her. Urk. But ironically, and this is even more ironic than the ‘Da Jie’ crack… I think all girls should be more like her…OKAY… all women. Darn this feminist mentality of mine…

Getting to the point…. my Da Jie is a chilli padi. Again for those who don’t understand the Asian terminology I use, this refers to a spunky ‘firecracker’ in a small frame. Yesh, again with the ’small’ wisecracks… I really can’t help it… I’ve been making ’small’ remarks, wisecracks and insults since I noticed I had above-average height. It’s my pride and my ego. So sue me.

BTW, did you hear the one about the Japanese lawyer who specialised in slander cases? His name was Sosumi.

But enough wisecracks for the day. Why would my Da Jie never get married? In my opinion, it’s because she’s too much guy in that head of hers…I mean, sure, who wouldn’t want a girl who could fit into a group of guys like a can of sardines? This girl probably knew more about acting the man than us guys could ever hope to understand about women. And the best part was, she was still as feminine as they come… Wow. And that’s why I think she’ll never find a guy who’s willing to accept all that. Da Jie, if you EVER read this, I give you full permission to march me to a tree and order me to profess my undying love to it.

You know the MINDEF forums I was talking about yesterday? Today there was one rather interesting issue…Does a girl’s music tastes decide her ‘potential’ as a girlfriend? Think about it… I’ll give you my take on it tomorrow.

It’s good to be back blogging…Sunday I discovered Blogger.com, Monday my brother was using the computer. Tuesday I went Counterstriking. So today, Wednesday is the second time I get to blog! Yay yay yay.

Trust me when I say that I lead a boring life. I would tell of all that happened over the past three days, but the only thing worth mentioning is that I have found the perfect thing to splurge my office time on. Forums. Yep, you heard right. Apparently there’ve been some MINDEF (that’s short for Ministry of Defence, for you non-Singaporeans) Intranet hosted forums, with threads discussing everything under the sun, from Microsoft to Coco Lee, from Marvel Comics (a thread I started, by the way) to “What’s the first thing you look at when you see a guy/girl?”. Unfortunately, all views are restricted to a clerk-heavy user population, as that’s the only vocation where we have time to read through all the posts and threads. Thus, opinions are usually one-sided, as clerks tend to be ‘A’-Level students or Polytechnic grads who waste away 2.5 years before continuing their lives.

That being said, sometimes uniformity can be a good thing. It’s nice to know there are other 19 year olds out there, who may have also come from ACJC and ACS(I). Having more than one thing in common is sometimes hard to find among people you meet in the camp, so it’s nice to know people out there.

Well, it’s back to the mundane for me… that usually means playing Championship Manager 3 98/99 till my parents holler at me to stop using the computer.

BTW, if you know me, send me a mail at peterlin@cheerful.com. It’ll be nice to know if someone’s reading my blogs.

This is a new blog. That’s mainly because it’s a new idea. I didn’t want to continue the last blog because it would be too much of a mindset shift for me to handle. Yes, I am a rather intellectually-challenged little boy. Don’t mind me.

Perhaps I should talk about the title of this blogspot. I’m sure you’ve had questions. I’ve been trying to imagine all the questions people might ask me when they read this (Note: I am not being optimistic about the people who may actually read this. Apart from being intellectually-challenged, I am also rather pessimistic. Don’t mind me.).

But to set the record straight. Yes, I am Catholic. No, I am not a War Machine. Even though I might be doing my 2 and a half years of National Service right now (that’s what conscription is called in Singapore for those not in the know), I’m hardly combat-fit. You see, I’m myopic. People are surprised when I tell them that it’s a thousand degrees for each eye, and not a thousand degrees for both. I’m surprised they don’t believe me. For me, myopia’s been part and parcel of my existence for as long as I can remember (Well, I do remember a year or so before my first pair of spectacles, but not much longer before that. I was only 6 then, after all.). So anyway, back to what I was saying. I can’t go into war, because they’re afraid I’ll be a liability if I lose my glasses. And don’t even start me on contact lenses or goggles.

But yes, I do rather enjoy war. One of the many things I dream of becoming is a defense technology scientist/engineer. When you’re a big fan of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man, it’s no surprise that you want to become like Tony Stark, and build a suit of armour that can turn the tide of battle. Don’t laugh now, but one day, I plan to ride in my own armour, or at least build one. My own War Machine. But for the record, I may enjoy war, and love war films such as Black Hawk Down and Sahara (the James Belushi one), but I would never, ever wish it on any country or person.

Hello and welcome to my first blog. Well, not exactly my first blog, since the two paragraphs I wrote earlier got somehow mysteriously erased when I pressed my browser’s back button by mistake. A pathetic mistake on hindsight, but a mistake nonetheless. Anyway, I shall now attempt to recreate the two paragraphs word for word, and if they turn out slightly different, I’ll just hope it’s for the better.

Success! I have decided to save my blog everytime I write a paragraph just in case anything happens to it. Don’t you hate it everytime you do something, and then the Ultimate Eraser comes along and convieniently deletes everything you do without a second thought? I’m taking no chances this time, and like it or not… whatever I write is here to stay. So there, Mr. Ultimate Eraser… go bug someone else.

Unfortunately, I find that all this does is record my blog at the time I post the first paragraph, thus giving the impression that I’m able to type out the whole blog in the space of less than a minute which is totally impossible. Then again, I realise there’s no way anyone will know when I actually finish typing the last paragraph, and even if they did, no one would really care, would they? So I shall just leave this paragraph here to illustrate how slow my brain works, and remind me to think first before typing next time.

Anyway, getting back to the original two paragraphs I wrote in the original blog (bet you thought I’d forget all about it, huh? *nyah nyah*) Erm. Ignore that please. Coming back to the point at hand, which is why I’m blogging in the first place. It’s because of three women, namely Li-lin, Andrea De Cruz and Tessa Wong. Go check out today’s Sunday Plus! article featuring the Channel 5 actresses speaking about their crossover to star in the Channel 8 drama serial The Reunion. I’m a rather big fan of both of them (Li-lin more than Andrea), but then again, which warm-blooded male isn’t? Anyway, not the point now, maybe for a future blog. The point is that the reporter who interviewed them happens to be Tessa Wong.

Hmmm… been trying to change my time settings as I realise it’s currently in the wrong timezone, putting the date of this blog as Saturday the 2nd, when I’m talking about a Sunday newspaper. Just for the record, it is Sunday today, and I’m not crazy. Just so you know.

Back to Tessa Wong. Now I know a Tessa. Cute girl, and no, I’m not saying she’s “ugly but adorable” (what mean, insensitive beast would come up with such a derogatory term for a commonly used word like ‘cute’?). Anyway, the Tessa I know is an amazingly insightful person, with a wonderful sense of humour. Whether she remembers me or not, I don’t really care, because it’s been a while since I’ve talked to her, let alone seen her face-to-face.

Anyway, so I do a Yahoo! Search on Tessa Wong (Does this make me a stalker? Perhaps.). And I get 4 web pages, 3 of which mean nothing to me. But the fourth, ah! It’s the blogs written by the Tessa I know. Check it out at wessatong.blogspot.com And there, there is how my foray in blog-writing begins.

Hmmm…. well the two paragraphs are hardly what I remember writing earlier, but I guess they’ll work for now.