In Continuum.

I don't actually have a picture on my birthday. How pathetic is that?

The youngest picture you can find of yourself in digital form:

I believe this is the oldest picture that I have in digital format. I didn't find this picture in my iMac though, but an old account on Photobucket that I managed to find. That is my class, 1S24, taking random pictures of ourselves in LT1 of SRJC. It was during our first three months in JC life, skipping classes and having a whole lot of fun. We didn't know what was coming at us after the first three months, and we actually thought JC life would be a whole lot of fun. But you know how it is, they don't call it the "honeymoon" period for nothing. Anyway, that is me in my Maris Stella uniform, if you can spot me at all. I have no idea where half of these people are right now, but I do remember all the fun we had skipping classes to go to Burger King at Heartland Mall, or that other time when we were caught playing cards in the Aquarium. Good times.

A picture of you in one of your favourite outfits:

For those that know me, you'd probably notice me in this outfit a lot. You know, black long-sleeved shirt with jeans, that is the look that I go by for the most part. I apologize for not being able to find a better picture than the one that I have above, I don't think I kept the original copy with me, the unedited version of it that is. Anyway, this picture was taken during my first semester in UB, a little performance on the guitar that I did for a project. It turned out really well, and I'm glad that my group got the highest score amongst all the other groups. At any rate, some may think that I was trying for the Steve Jobs look - I wasn't. But I only recently noticed the similarities between my wardrobe and his, which is why this is also my official presentation outfit, if a more formal one is not required. It is simple, casual, and the most important part is that I feel comfortable in it.

A picture of you making a goofy face at the camera:

Another blast from the past. For the record, though, I kinda thing that I have a goofy face whenever I am in front of the camera. At any rate, I am not only goofy in this picture, I also have no hair. Yes, I remember taking this picture when the Guitar Club went for an outing at Sentosa a couple of years ago, and I was still without my hair for the most part because of the army. I think we were on our way out of Sentosa at this point, and I was still trying desperately to get used to the whole bald look of mine. Anyway, I kind of like this picture for the goofiness of it all, and it is probably one of the more decent bald pictures that I have of myself anyway. Yeah, laugh away, but know that all boys went through this phase in his life. And I think I look rather decent without my hair, if I do say so myself.

A picture you might have edited to make yourself look more attractive:

I actually don't have a picture that I edited. I have long accepted myself to look this way, and I am rather comfortable with that for the most part. At least I don't need to go through extreme Photoshop processes to make myself look stunning, because I know I will never be anywhere close. The body part that I love most of myself is my brain anyway, and I will get back to you with a picture once I decide to donate it.

This picture was taken last night at Neptina's place. We were just hanging out with Avaric, her Macbook, when we were attacked by her pet snake. Incidentally, his name is also Will, and it had a problem with me sharing the name with me. So we had a big struggle, and Photobooth managed to capture this picture halfway through the attack. As you can see, Will the Snake was having the upper hand at this point, even though it really doesn't have any hands to speak of. Neptina was obviously shocked, and she tried to rescue me in the pictures that followed, and we eventually wrestled Will the Snake to the ground and killed it. There is also a picture whereby we rolled the carcass of Will the Snake up to make him look like a snail, and I placed it on her head for being such a tough warrior queen. I am glad we survived to tell the tale to everyone. It was very scary.

A picture of you being ridiculous:

There are no words to describe this picture, because there are none. It was during one of our Movie Monsters Club meeting at Corinna's, and it just so happened that the bean bag was right next to the restroom at that time. So Ahmad and I thought that we should take a picture that made absolutely no sense at all, and here it is for the world to see. We were pretending to be enthusiastic about seeing a pink toilet bowl, and it's funny how the concept of the picture came about right out of the blues. I just thought, we should take something totally ridiculous, and here you have it. I have a lot of ridiculous pictures though, in fact I think all my class photos are ridiculous. But thankfully, they are not in digital format, so sucks to be you.

A picture of you showing off a new haircut/colour:

I believe this picture was taken on the first day that I went to school with this haircut. I took this picture during a lecture I believe, really because I wanted to tend to my hair without going to the bathroom. I didn't have a mirror or any reflective surface with me, so I had to take a few shots on my cellphone to see how it was. Well, it turned out OK, and I carried on with the lecture afterwards. OK fine, I did a few adjustments to the colors and manipulated the picture with my cellphone a bit. But this is the first picture I took with this haircut that I've got. A lot shorter than what I have now, and it is amazing what a twelve dollar haircut can do for you indeed.

A picture of a time in your life that's over, but you wish it wasn't:

This picture was taken at a time when social politics wasn't something any of us considered to be possible. At this time, it was possible for you to pick a random combination of people and they'd be able to hang out without a problem. This picture was taken during a paintball game that we had, and that was the time when we were shooting little rubber bullets at each other, not because we hated each other but because we just wanted to have fun. And it was fun, for as long as it lasted, until the inevitable had to set in. It doesn't just concern me, but many relationships have changed since then, many people started disliking each other for various reasons. You can't hold such events now without thinking about who to invite, and then thinking twice about that list you just came up with. You just can't, because times are not nearly as simple as they were back then. It was genuinely fun back then, and I don't suppose we are going to get that anymore. But for the good memories, thank you.

A picture of a time in your life that's over, and you couldn't be more thankful that it is:

Another giant apology to everybody featured in this picture, because of how long it has been since then. I believe this picture was taken in 2004, Valentine's Day. The school decided that it'd be fun to hold the Cross Country event at Sentosa, but it turned out to be a total disaster for the most part. This is a period of time that I am glad to be over because, well, I just didn't fit into the whole Junior College lifestyle. I never felt like I quite fit into the culture, the system, and it was a period of time when I was at my lowest. I probably never thought much about myself, thinking of myself as being dumber than everybody else. It's true, because my grades were disappointing for the most part, and I was having a hard time convincing myself that I was worthy of something more. Guitar Club was the saving grace, but there is little about Junior College that I want to remember at all. The two years spent there is now a blank, and I don't even remember the results I received for my A levels. It is as if somebody deleted that part of my life... oh wait, I think that person was myself. I didn't like that part of my life at all, but maybe I just didn't like myself very much.

A picture of you when you were anything but happy:

The truth is, even when I don't look that way, I am always happy when my picture is being taken, in some forms of happiness anyway. Even when I am having a gloomy face, I am probably exhilarated deep inside. It is hard for that side to come through for the most part, even more difficult for it to be caught on camera. So, nothing in this category for me.

A picture of you that you had no idea was being taken:

Jeannie knew that her picture was being taken, but I sure as hell didn't know. It was after a class presentation I believe, and the lot of us hung out at the King Albert's Park McDonald's for breakfast or something like that. Joel had his camera and he was snapping pictures away while Sean and I debated about, well, something. As you can see in this picture, I seem to be describing something which I no longer remember. Perhaps I was talking about how great I am at juggling (I am not), or cow testicles. It really could have been the juggling of cow testicles too, I have no idea. All I remember is that I was having a heated debate with Sean, and that was what I did, without knowing that my picture was being taken at all.

A picture of you when you were a different person than you are now:

What more can I say about my Junior College days. This picture was taken on the same day as the Cross Country picture I posted earlier. Innocence, naive, and stupid. Those are the three words that I'd probably use to describe myself back then, and even I'd slap myself around a bit if I do get to meet that guy. I was depressed, but pretended that I wasn't. I was unhappier back then, and I am just glad that things got better and better after it all ended. Somebody told me that Junior College would be the best time of my entire education life. Apparently that somebody lied.

A picture of you with someone you love:

This is probably the easiest picture to choose from all the others that I have already posted. Her name just slipped naturally into my head when I read the topic of the picture above. The only problem that I ran into was to pick a fitting picture out of the hundreds and hundreds of pictures that we have already taken. Speaking of which, this is the eighth month that we have known each other, eight months of endless talking with one another. Yes, we have been talking for eight months straight, without a single day of break in between. Even when we were countries apart, I am glad that we were still able to drop a message in each others' phones to ask about each others' day. I still think about the first day we met love, how it could have turned out very differently from what we have right now. I could have continued with my boring Sudoku game, and you could have freaked out at the stranger talking to you and ran away. You didn't, and we rocked our heads to our favorite songs hours later. Thanks for such a beautiful human being in my life for the past eight months. I love you, beautiful stranger.

A picture of how you’d like the world to see you:

Joel is a wizard with a camera. He took this picture of me without me knowing it either, and I always tell people that this is my hero shot. He took it while we were on a trip to Krabi, Thailand. We were on a long-tail boat traveling to an offshore island when he took this picture, and I had the taste of the ocean in my mouth at that time. Nonetheless, if I were to pick a picture for people to use during my funeral, this'd probably be it. I like the picture, not only because of the fact that I was having a great time, but because the significant other loves me in it. I suppose that's got to mean something, right? I suppose this picture would probably tell the world that I was this happy-go-lucky guy who'd jump at any adventures, and someone who loves even the littlest things in life. Even that small bottle of water meant so much to me at that time, seeing how I was terribly dehydrated by the end of the trip.

A picture of a time when everything was changing:

They say that whoever that you turn into within the span of two years in the army, that person is going to be the same person you take away for the rest of your life - it's true. The army changed me in every way possible, and I began to appreciate the littlest things in life. I remember how all the girls looked beautiful after my two week entrapment in the army, and how all food outside of camp tasted like heaven. The army taught me patience, contentment, gratitude, and discipline. It taught me to never take the good things in life, because it doesn't last for very long. All the time that you spend with yourself on weekends, they will be gone once they call you back to camp on Sunday nights. I started to appreciate the friends that stuck around more, I started to appreciate my family more, and I started to learn an aspect of myself that I never knew. I learned to never quit so easily, and I also picked up reading as a major hobby back then. It was also the time when I started writing again, because I had so much time in camp to think about things in life, the things that have come to pass and such. It was a time of changing, a time right out of Junior College when I first received my big tight slap.

A picture that makes your heart hurt:

I deleted those a long time ago. Or rather, the computer crashed on me. So, thanks PC.

A picture that makes your heart smile:

Last December, my aunt drove by a park in Taiwan and told us that that was the park she brought my sister and I to when we were a kid. I remember the giant concrete tortoise that used to be there, and how we'd climb up to the top of the shell as kids. We begged for her to pull the car over, and my sister ran out of the car and into the car like crazy little children all over again. Everything looked the same in the park, save for the graffiti that must have gathered over the years. This picture was taken by my sister as I climbed the side of the great tortoise's leg to the top of its shell, reminding myself of the childhood that I spent in Taiwan. I am smiling as I am typing this part of the entry, knowing that all is not lost in the sands of time - all is not lost. What a great day that was, to get back into the car with your past and future connected. It felt like everything came into a full circle somehow, and it felt good - it really did.

A picture of one of the best nights of your life:

What else can I say about the night when I got to watch Coldplay in concert for the second time? I swear, when somebody tells you that Coldplay puts on the best concert, you better believe it. This picture was taken after the concert, and the three of us ran to the small stage in the crowd where the band played a mini acoustic set halfway through the concert. That's Krystle, Neptina and myself, being completely overwhelmed by the greatness of the concert as you can see in our faces. In fact, right after this picture was taken, Neptina jumped off the stage and grabbed a black towel that Chris Martin used and stuffed it into my bag. I still have the towel by the way, which made that crazy night at the concert even more awesome. Like I said in the concert review, I didn't think anybody would top the concert that I went to for Broken Social Scene. However, Coldplay's concert in Singapore, hands down, beat all the concerts that I have ever been to. It was the best concert ever, and even more beautiful because I got to spend all of it with the person that I love. Just ask Kevin Seah if he agrees, and he'd agree whole-heartedly. It was one of the best nights ever, and anybody at the stadium can testify to that.