magma topics (at this moment. roughly.)

hi blog. i haven't written anything in here for a while so i guess i'll just start and end at random.

***

i've noticed the recent anton casey fiasco shot some keyboard warriors to fame because of the politically-charged monkey shit they've been throwing at each other. well good for you, hope y'all got all the digital brownie points you've ever desired. maybe they'll be worth a bitcoin or something in the future.

***

another piece of crap worth mentioning here, this k-pop contestant who's not proud to be singaporean. it seems everyone has something to say about everyone else, too.

k-pop contestant: i'm not proud to be singaporean.

critic: what! how dare you?! what's wrong with this country! i'm trying to be reasonable here by not ripping your head off you bitch so you take what you said back!

critic's critic: hey back off! she's entitled to her own opinions! i'm being reasonable here too because i'm not calling you names so you back the fuck off or THOU SHALT INCUR THE WRATH OF ALL MY FACEBOOK FRIENDS WHO AREN'T AFRAID TO BANG ON THEIR KEYBOARDS! I AM HOLIER THAN THOU!!!

critic's friend: now we're playing facebook friends? i have fifty million friends so leave critic alone! i'm being reasonable here because i haven't called you names yet, but i will because i'm not above some keyboard banging myself! and if you really piss me off I'LL STALK YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE AND MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL! I AM MIGHTIER THAN THOU!!!

so, are you actually going to get physical an break one another's neck or something? because this non-name-calling-and-actually-thinking-that-makes-you-the-better-keyboard-fucktard shit is getting real old. if no one's benefitting off this exchange let's all call it a day and have an early night, eh?

***

someone told me this country is becoming a drama mama because of the riot, katana-totting mrt rider, kidnapping and other happenings. now, that i love.

random thought

i had a sudden thought.

i miss the old movies where actors did their own stunts instead of shows of nowadays where directors create explosive and bombastic scenes using computers.

that's it.

yay i'm sounding like an old fart now.

yay i posted an entry.

nightshoot@sg

i never understood why people have to put '@' in the shit they write. guess it makes them feel special.

so we went for another shoot of the Silvia. because it's probably the one going, damn it. i contacted an importer in australia to see if they wanted it and they said they'd love to but can't for legal reasons. well i'm happy because at least they replied.

i never give my pictures names but i'll christen this one "chinky and her laptop"

the only way to make all my facebook uploads come from my phone is to put the pictures on this blog, save the pictures onto my phone, and then do a mobile upload. tedious eh.

and i've put the watermark back into my pictures. for fun.

it's never a good idea

to have two cars that need work at any one time. all the satisfaction you enjoy after one mod/upgrade/replacement is instantly diluted by the other car.

the Silvia never gives me any problems except for the high maintenance costs, but given that it's my dream car and a turbo one at that it's actually very bearable. the bmw was a pig when i bought it but it runs really great now.

so maybe i'll tweak the title.

it's never a good idea to have two engines that have a host of aftermarket options at the same time.

i've put both cars on the market for sale in the hope that someone will take one off my hands and let me concentrate on the other. initial market reactions were good, with lots of enquiries on both cars. however the enquiries have trickled to a stop. i'll let the Silvia ad expire because that's the one i really want to keep, and i'll just keep letting the bmw's ad run till it gets sold.

goodbye bm. thanks for the fun times.

yeah that was a little premature. i'll wave it goodbye when it's actually sold.

***

there's a nardi steering wheel i've been pining for for the last few years. i decided to show chinky a pic of it for her opinion...

me: i have a dilemma. i like this steering wheel a lot, but if i put it in the Silvia i'll have to remove the airbag. what do you think?

chinky: do. not. remove. the. airbag. why did you ask me such a stupid question?

hopes dashed.

***

at great world, i parked next to a low ventilation shaft...

me: you might want to watch your head getting out.

chinky: me?! don't worry. don't know what the hell you're talking about.

me: LOLLL

***

back in feb i was driving on a minor road when i saw a brick lying in the middle of the road. it was over 5cm tall and i lost colour at once because of the low-ass nissan i was in. there was no way to switch lanes so i braced myself for a loud clunk and a broken bumper, or worse, some leaking fluids. surprise surprise, the car sailed over the brick without contact. then i remembered the mechanic had dialed the height up a little when i changed my coilovers the last time.

me: phwoarrrrrrrrrr!!! heng ah!!! did you see that?!?!

chinky: LOLLL!!!

***

we just finished watching the avengers on dvd...

chinky: what's that guy's name?

me: dunno, think it's apocalypse.

chinky: apple grapes?

me: poker face

***

i made an overseas notification on the ns website on a ferry going out to open sea, in my final seconds of connectivity. win.

***

chinky asked me to play a few rounds of fun run.

we found law and yan already in the game.

on a saturday night.

***

i'm saving so many car photos on my iphone that when i see a picture i like in a magazine i automatically touch that picture for one second. fml.

epiphany

i just realised something.

i have a Nissan Silvia S15 for the fun drives and a BMW 5 series for the comfort drives, and all i'm interested in right now is Fun Run.

oh apple, how you've ruined my life.

smart blog

oh my god, blogspot finally did something right and made itself phone friendly.

i'm typing this post on my phone.

of course, i've changed phones twice since i last bitched about its incapabilities, so it might not be blogspot after all.

男朋友, 女朋友

the damnedest thing about being a boyfriend is when you reach home with your girlfriend and you both need the loo you stand there and watch while she happily screams "me first!!" and slams the door in your face. and you can still hear her giggling inside.

but you know what? it's the best thing in the world too.

(:

snippets

been a while eh? i haven't got a lot of stuff so i'll just publish the blog-worthy things i've jotted down. yes, i have this list in case i come up blank and stare at a blank screen.

***

有一夜...

me: 为什么这些 toyota vios 每次在晚上都跑这么快?

chinky: 因为它们白天没机会.

me: 哈哈哈!!!

***

one morning i made a coffee and brought it to the nearby park to sip. a little fruit fly buzzed near while i was admiring the flowers. while i was sipping my coffee i saw the fruit fly stroll around the rim of my mug. and then i stopped sipping and watched as the cute little thing slipped on the inside wall and fell into my coffee, and die from the steaming beverage.

***

chinky had a confession...

one rainy day i parked my car right outside my house. she opened her door too wide and chipped the paint on the fence. i noticed it a couple of weeks later and asked if she remembered doing it and she said "no" with a poker face.

she confessed to me more than 6 months later.

chinky had a confession...

***

one day i drove the mini. after the ground-hugging, planted, firm and grippy ride the silvia gives me, the mini feels like a tall, soft, bouncy, turn-and-you-flip minivan.

yep. comfy.

***

one night at my place...

me: hmm maybe i should remove this key chain from my car key.

chinky: hmm yeah, the whole set looks very heavy.

me: yeah.

chinky: actually the heaviest thing in this set is the key.

me: hmm you're right.

chinky: what's it for?

me: SPEECHLESS...

***

one day we took the mini...

chinky: you know the mini smells really good?

me: hmm yeah.

chinky: no car in the world has this scent! i love it!

me: (:

chinky: the silvia has no scent. just noise.

me: ...

***

one night on the expressway...

chinky (pointing): that.. that... that's got to be the ugliest taillights i've ever seen!

me: lower your finger darling, that's a bentley.

chinky: LOLOL!!! you serious?!?!

just then it braked and entire top length of the windscreen lit up with leds.

me: OHMYGODDD!!! that's gotta be the ugliest taillights i've ever seen!

chinky: LOL!!

me: but then it's really quite blinding. it really works, i'll give it that.

chinky: that's because it's blindingly ugly!

me: LOL!!!

***

you know your car is fast when you can't determine if the person you've overtaken actually sped up. or tried to.

been a while eh?

some funny shit that happened while i was inactive in the blogosphere.

***

me and chinky on old cars

me: i'm gonna get a seriously old school merc and drive it around like a boss.

chinky: ya you should! i like the chrome!

me: you like chrome? you can try to polish it.

chinky: i'll leave this kind of manly tasks to you.

me: LOL!

***

me and chinky on the starbucks guy

chinky: he's an indian right?

me: ya.

chinky: you know what they're called?

me: punjabi.

chinky (rolleye lol): barista la!

me: LOLOL!! but technically i'm not wrong either.

***

the australian trip came and went. just like that. wasn't as spectacular as i'd hoped it'd be.

I haven't been updating like i should have. again. with all the work charging up my ass and barreling down my shoulders right now it's nearly impossible to get any typing done. no time to blog. no time to sleep. no time to zhng the car. no time for any.

fucking.

thing.

and blogspot's changed its format again. i'm getting too old for this shit.

i'll think about updating this blog again.

or maybe i'll just shut this racket down once and for all.

crimson

it's been a while since i last went for a zen shoot. guess what i shot.

someone knocked into me and cracked the diffuser. i don't want to talk about it.

i quite like this spoiler. personal preference, really.

i left the tripod at home because it was a spur-of-the-moment-shoot. everything was handheld so they didn't turn out as well as i'd hoped. and small preview screens don't show blurs, damn them.

maybe next week i'll shoot the bmw with chinky.

if the workshop lets me have it back.

unwilling safari

i told chinky i blogged yesterday.

she: about what? must be cars.

me: you see lor.

we spent five minutes waiting for her phone to load the page. my phone was near our feet so it was too far away. and my lappie was over the mountain on my table. finally i said i was going to get the lappie and the phone speed-loaded. she saw the first few words.

she: you blogged about me? (:

me: (:

then she tapped the entry to see the rest of it and it slowed down again.

she: eh, say you're gonna bring the laptop over again.

me: you say la.

she: i'm gonna bring the laptop over.

re-gen

the last couple of days i've been going straight to chinky's place after work. she fell sick and i wanted to try to make her feel better.

last night we did swatches of nail polish.

tonight we went through her sticker collection.

therapy comes in all forms.

work = no life balance

a monthly cycle is too much trouble. from now on i'll make this blog a bi-monthly affair. bi-monthly because of its ambiguous definition.

i started working on a full-time basis at the end of january and february just disappeared in a flash. at this rate my july vacation will be here in no time at all. yes, any time now.

but right now most of my time is consumed by work-related issues too many to list, so i'll just skip it.

.

okay, so nothing happened in feb.

***

apart from my car(s). that definition's ambiguous too, because the bmw is semi-permanently in the workshop undergoing repairs/upgrades so i see it once a month. the Silvia, then. i'm accumulating the items i bought online so i can put it in the shop for one major operation instead of a dozen flu shots. but don't hold your breath because after these mods it'll still look exactly the same. apart for one additional ding on the bonnet, because the office carpark's dominated by mango trees and i found out mangoes are quite heavy. i fucking hate them now.

and these mods will slow down and eventually cease because my bank account's already in its death throes.

after the turbo upgrade, maybe.

and the engine.

probably the driveline too.

hmm...

maybe it won't stop.

***

i'm spending less time with chinky now because of work too. it's totally upheaved my life. but it's just a temporary thing because once the major housekeeping in the office is over i won't have to spend saturdays at work.

***

yesterday:

father saw me at the office and looked rather pleased.

he: see? if you're willing to burn a couple of weekends for work it'll be cleared in no time!
me: i've been coming here every saturday since i started work and i'm still not seeing the clearing.
he:

if you're willing to burn a couple of months for work it'll be cleared in no time!

me: ...

crossing bridges

hello 2012. or goodbye world, according to the mayans.

i realise i've not been updating as much as i would've liked but then things have just been happening one after another without much in the way of breathers.

---

i left the 5-series with a bmw guru and forgot about it for two months, and he's just started working on it because he's even busier than me. when it comes back to me it'll have a new air conditioning system and a restored engine and be in a different colour. and then it'll be sold.

---

because i've just gotten another car, and this one's here to stay. i've dreamed about it for so long and now, nearly two months after getting it, i still can't believe it's really here. it's my dream car, the Nissan Silvia. it's flaming red and comes with modifications worth thousands.

some of which i've replaced with factory parts because i was stopped by an lta officer who literally jumped on his bike to give chase when i drove past. i'll not go into details with the fun times i had with the compliance inspectors since that day, suffice it to say that it cost thousands to put right. but just try stopping me now, comrade constables.

i've been doing a lot of window shopping looking for modifications for the Silvia, and the internet's my best friend now. alas, it's a downward spiral because there's tons to do to this engine; one can easily go broke. or end up selling a kidney. the most important aspect of these mods is that they have to look factory on top of doing their jobs, but i'll keep this car mostly stock because i don't want to live on just bread and water.

one thing i've learned about modifying this engine: one step at a time.
one thing i've learned about modifying in this heathen, frigid, doctrinaire state: do it smart.

---

i'll be starting work soon. nothing much to say about that really.

---

i've just sold the Triumph. like i said i'll be working soon and don't fancy bread and water. i went back to the bike shop to retrieve my identification card and spotted it sitting there on display with all the other bikes for sale. felt a pang in my chest and stopped to touch it a last time. i'll miss it.

goodbye freedom, in more ways than one.

oh well, shit happens. end of the world is nigh, anyway.

---

here i go again, making this blog a despairing one.

well, my blog.

all in the head

two nights ago i studied through the night for yesterday's exam. at 3.25am i was left with two topics. i know the exact time because here's what happened...

• i looked at my remaining topics.
• i checked out the clock.
• in my head i went "wahahaa!! so much time!"
• i laughed out loud imagining my own thought.
• and then i laughed louder because anyone who saw me then would've thought i'd lost my mind.

---

caught off a forum:

you need to practice so jesus is your braking point. for example, when your passenger says "OH JESUS" and you still make the corner you are good.

the reason

***

chinky just shared the following excerpt with me. i typed it out because i'm not a tech person and it's too troublesome to fucking jack the phone to the lappie just to extract the picture. and i like the keyboard.

---

Her Diary:

Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing.' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, and that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behaviour, I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.

His Diary:

Motorcycle won't start... can't figure out why.

---

LOL!!! so if anyone's wondering why i haven't been updating the blog as religiously as in the past, i'll just blame the male gene; we ain't built to talk, that's the woman's job.

***

as mentioned in the last post i've just gotten a new car. well i got it sometime in the middle of the year and it's not exactly a new car. it's a bmw e34 that's about half the age of the morris and comes complete with its own set of little problems, including electrical ones. oh yes, the dawn of electrics in the automobile.

i chose it because of the low market value and ballistic tuning potential. and it'll still be below the fuzz radar even if i max tune it. and the bonnet opens backwards. ain't it cool?

i'm ironing out the electrical problems one by one now and i've bolted on some new items as well, such as proper chassis bits and new wheels, with some major power items further down the list. as of now the family's branded me as an idiot who buys old cars to fix, not to drive, and that's a good thing because if that's any indication of market perception i'll never run out of undervalued ego busters. why's that? because when i'm done with this mother, it'll stab the eyes out of my mom's audi. the 333bhp 3-litre supercharged v6 audi s4, people, in case you're thinking it's one of the lower spec a4s. and to address any safety concerns this baby's made of real steel, motherfucker.

and unlike the morris it's got safety belts. and a much higher cruising speed, which is.. actually i haven't found out yet because that's one of the electrical problems; the speedometer doesn't work.

***

in other news, my neighbour just told me recently that he loves my collection of cars, first the morris and now this old school bmw. the only reason i can see him praising them is because both the merc and the audi suffer overrepresentation on this street alone, not to mention the whole new-thing-let's-join-the-queue economy, which does nothing for their perceived values.

perceived value. that's the only reason i got the bmw at a fraction of the audi's price. and it's going to destroy it. so thanks, you blind retards.

really, are you people really that mindless, to only see things the way you're told to see them? to be unable to form conclusions and make decisions? good god, i'm in zombieland.

the joys of motoring

i haven't been posting photos because most of the photos i'm taking now are work-related, hence confidential company property. in compensation i'll write about some of the joys i've experienced in my terms of car ownership.

---

joy 1: morris beats the light

me and chinky were in the morris with this car dangerously close behind us (well any distance shorter than 20m is dangerous when you're in a 40-year-old rust bucket with seasonal brakes). the light just ahead had switched to amber, and because there wasn't enough stopping distance, i floored it. that's relative actually; flooring the morris produces a velocity change equivalent to tapping my mom's audi. we made the light; the car behind didn't. i pumped both fists in the air and we both cheered the little morris while still pulling gently away from the middle of the junction. and we're both quite sure the driver behind witnessed our joyous celebration.

---

joy 2: airport run

me and chinky went to the airport for a drink in the morris. we had parked and were already inside the terminal when i realised i'd left my wallet at home. we beat a hasty retreat and hopped back into the car, only to discover the cashcard only had cents in it. with no way to top it up we screeched (that, too, is relative) to the carpark exit. when the barrier went up and showed that we were within the grace period, we clapped and cheered mightily.

---

joy 3: firing back

i haven't mentioned this but i've gotten another car. it's now in the midst of restoration so naturally there're some issues to sort out, but in the meantime it's back-fired on a few occasions, which is a bad thing. the first was on an expressway in lousy traffic, on the right lane. the second was in an open-air carpark, where i sent a few people scuttling from the nearby coffeeshop. since i'm lousy with descriptions i sent the car to the workshop and asked them to drive it themselves so they'd know the exact problem and go about solving it. when i went down the next day and heard that it'd successfully back-fired again while they were testing it i was indescribably overjoyed.

---

we laughed at our own reactions to all three situations.

chinky: omg you have such special cars!

me: lol! yeah i know!

chinky: and we're always getting happy at the funniest things about them!

me: lol!

---

i went through some of my last photo posts and realised i miss shooting for the fun of it. maybe i'll go on a shoot this weekend with chinky, exams be damned.

realignments

i didn't write anything last month so i'll make up for it with at least two this month.

i took the bike out for a night shoot some time ago and experienced the true reason i bought it last year. it was a combination of the quiet night and the empty roads that summoned this feeling.

it's not the engine, the handling, or the exhaust. those are what a bike needs. but what the Triumph is, what it really means to me, is freedom.

which is why i'll regret seeing it go in the very near future.

it's a great bike but i can't keep it around if all it does is make me feel alive once in a blue moon, while the rest of the time it just brings me stress and danger. it's diminishing returns. one of the many things i don't agree with in this country is the way people drive here. and i'm not going to keep late nights just so i can avoid these people of monstrous ineptitude.

i won't rant about the Triumph's abilities and what it's done for me; for those who don't understand it can't be explained, and for those who do there's no need to.

all you retarded motorists out there, go eat some shit.

red

today i went out with chinky on the bike. on the way back some retard in an alfa whipped a plastic cup into my way and my tyre ate it up. this was right after he'd zipped between the traffic like he was an f1 racer, and if it'd been something bigger or heavier it might've killed us.

twice after that i raped the bitch; once at the light immediately after the cup incident, and once when we both turned onto the expressway (it's really easy to humiliate people with the Triumph, or any class two bike for that matter). however both times chinky pulled me back from completely destroying the bitch because she thought it was highly dangerous. she thinks she did the right thing, and i reluctantly concede.

still, next time i see you, alfa, i will shaft you again.

barrrp

some days back i was stopped by an lta officer for having an exhaust system that's too loud.

i'd just left school and was gliding down the slope to the kap traffic light between the cars when i passed by the officer. he turned to look at me as i went past. after i made the u-turn and saw him following me in the rear view mirror with his lights on, i immediately went through the list of illegal parts i had. oh hang on, i haven't done anything illegal to the bike, so what the fuck...? and then i remembered my helmet. shit.

he came up next to me and beeped his horn. i turned over and saw a white helmet with sunglasses smiling and giving me a nod. so we stopped at the nearest bus stop. i turned off my ignition, put down the side stand, and was about to get off when he appeared by my side.

him: good morning, sir.

me: morning officer.

him: can i see the papers for your exhaust pipes?

me: ... err, officer, they're original.

him: har! original ah! wah this bike good ar!

me: (: thank you sir.

him: okay, thank you sir.

and he walked away.

i waited till he rode off and before going on my way. two junctions later i realised i'd forgotten to restrap my helmet and stopped at the next bus stop to do that, lest i got stopped again like a twat.