Today is the start of my new job

Today marks the start of my first day in my new work. I am so excited and nervous right now!

Reason being? I am going to report to airport and fly off for work instead of reporting to the usual office. Exciting right? Yah, I was only started packing a few hours ago. Wahahahaha! I will be only back on Thursday.

The whole of last week I was arranging with the admin on helping me to get the air tickets which was only confirmed last Friday. Really thanks for her help in assisting to get the air tickets.

So now I am going to get ready to report to work already! Wish me luck!

A "stressed out" Polarbear

MayDay Concert: Down to Earth

After a year and they are back! This time bigger and better! It was just awesome! Wahahaha! Finally they decided to hold it at Singapore Indoor Stadium instead of the pathetic Expo Hall. It was a good choice as the location was much better. Stage, sound, seating, everything was much better!

This time round, they added something new. They had added a runway along the 2 sides and a bridge that moved up and down. This way, they can get closer to the fans (well those who paid top price only!), they really get so closed that all the fans are touching them all over! Hee...

The format of this year show was more or less same as last year but they did changed the songs. At the start of the concert, all 5 of them came down from a space ship looked alike platform! The concert started off strong and everyone was on their feet the moment the 5 of them appeared on stage! I was quite surprised to see an old lady (at least 60 yrs old and above) seating behind me! I was even more surprised when she stood up in some point of the concert for a short while. Erhh... maybe we were blocking her view lah. Wahahahaha!

The high point of the concert when they started running around the runway and the bridge started to lower! There they were right in front of us cos the bridge was right in front of us! Wahahahaha! Glad that they did spent some time on the bridge. They only used the bridge 2 times. Well, I must say, they should use it more often! Hee....

This time there was not really an encore portion, or was there one? They did not really end with a big bang as I expected. This was quite weak as compared to the last concert! However, my friends and I did enjoyed ourselves very much! Hee....

So they say they will take some time off after this concert to write songs and be back in 2009. 2009? Hmm... That is like next year! If they really come back next year, this means they come back every year for concert since 2007! OMG! They better have a new album in between before they come back again! Not to mention that they are earning big bucks as well!

A "rocked out" Polarbear

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

"Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay marks the triumphant return of these two hilarious, slacker anti-heroes. The movie stars John Cho (Star Trek, American Pie) as Harold and Kal Penn (The Namesake, House, Van Wilder) as Kumar, two stoners who can’t seem to get a break. Their last adventure found them traveling across country to find a White Castle hamburger in order to satisfy a weed-induced case of “the munchies”. This time, the boys get themselves in trouble trying to sneak a bong onboard a flight to Amsterdam. Now, being suspected of terrorism, they are forced to run from the law and try to find a way to prove their innocence. What follows an irreverent and epic journey of deep thoughts, deeper inhaling and a wild trip around the world that is as “un-PC” as it gets."

The first movie is about them going across the state looking for burgers but instead got into a lot of troubles. Now for the second movie, instead of burgers, they are going to Amsterdam to look for Harold dream girl. This time, they got into serious trouble and got suspected to being terrorist. This caused them to be captured and put into Guantanamo Bay. They escaped from it and got to a bottomless party, got all the way to the south of US. All these while trying to get help from a ex classmate. This movie is funny at times but lame for most of the parts, some of it even unbelievable! Overall I give this movie 2 stars out of 5. Only go for it, if you looking for a lame, funny at parts, brainless movie.

A "lucky I used a free ticket for this movie" Polarbear

My first session of RT

Sigh... The bad thing about failing my IPPT is to do RT session.

There are 2 phases of the RT. The first phase will be 2 sessions a week and the second phase will be 3 sessions a week.

Today is the first session of the RT. It is more of a orientation day. I think the real training will start from the second session onwards.

Well hope this will help me in passing my IPPT! I really hope so.

A "got to run again" Polarbear

My last day at work.

Today was my last day at work, manged to do clearance within an hour. So before lunch, I am all ready to leave. Everything went on quite smoothly on the last day. Hee... After saying goodbyes, that was it!

Yesterday, me and a few close colleagues went for a farewell dinner. Crabs @ Mellben! Wow stuff ourselves silly with crabs. Today, they treated me to dim sum at Peach Garden. Hee... Thks for the treat! We shall keep in contact ok!

Now looking forward to a short leave before I start on my new work. There was an email from my new boss asking me to start early if possible. Hee.... Great!

A "looking forward" Polarbear

We Will Rock You!

"We Will Rock You, the musical by Queen and Ben Elton, UK’s most successful comic writer, is an electrifying show that’s guaranteed to blow your mind and is set to rock Singapore from 28 March 2008 at the Esplanade Theatre.

Now in its 6th year on London’s West End, where it continues to play to packed houses, We Will Rock You has captivated 6 million theatre-goers around the world from London to Las Vegas, Toronto to Tokyo and beyond.

We Will Rock You is an enormous multi-million dollar musical featuring stunning costumes, sets and lighting. The talented international cast includes New Zealand’s pop princess Annie Crummer as the Killer Queen and “Rock Star INXS” finalist Miguel Ayesa, who reprises his West End success, in the starring role of Galileo.

We Will Rock You is not a Queen tribute but a “rock musical’ featuring 26 of Queen’s legendary hits including “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Are The Champions”, “Killer Queen”, “Another One Bites The Dust” and “This Crazy Little Thing Called Love”.

We Will Rock You delivers a show that reflects the scale and spectacle that marked Queen’s live performances and earned the band its pinnacle position in rock history."

On impulse, decided to go and catch this musical. Bought Cat 2 ($120) quite decent seats and to see that the weekday was not crowded at all! Before I watch this musical, all I knew was it was based on the Queen's song, which really I dunno much less, only know most of them are ROCK n ROLL! (From Sistic)

The Story

"The time is the future, in a place that was once called Earth. Globalisation is complete!

Everywhere, the kids watch the same movies, wear the same fashions and think the same thoughts.

It's a safe, happy, Ga Ga world. Unless you're a rebel. Unless you want to Rock. On Planet Mall all musical instruments are banned. The Company Computers generate the tunes and everybody downloads them. It is an age of Boy Bands and of Girl Bands. Of Boy and Girl Bands. Of Girl Bands with a couple of boys in them that look like girls anyway. Nothing is left to chance, hits are scheduled years in advance.

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality
But Resistance is growing. Underneath the gleaming cities, down in the lower depths live the Bohemians. Rebels who believe that there was once a Golden Age when the kids formed their own bands and wrote their own songs. They call that time, The Rhapsody.

Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see
Legend persists that somewhere on Planet Mall instruments still exist. Somewhere, the mighty axe of a great and hairy guitar god lies buried deep in rock. The Bohemians need a hero to find this axe and draw it from stone.

Is the one who calls himself Galileo that man?

He’s just a poor boy. From a poor family
But the Ga Ga Cops are also looking for Galileo and if they get him first they will surely drag him before the Killer Queen and consign him to oblivion across the Seven Seas of Rye.

Who is Galileo? Where is the Hairy One's lost axe?

Where is the place of living rock?

Anywhere the wind blows." (From Lunch Box Productions)

The musical totally rocks! I loved it! It was also one of the few times that I saw everyone giving standing ovation. The plot was pretty simple but the songs were all awesome! They also made a lot of references to the current rock / pop culture! Even Dick Lee was not spared. Wahahahaha! I am glad that I did not give it a miss. Go and watch it before they disappears! I am so going to get the soundtrack!

One thing I like about watching weekday was there was no crowd. We even sat at Cat 1 seats after interval, so we got "upgraded". I wondered, next time we bought Cat 3 tickets and see if we got upgraded as well. As it seems that Circle 2 and 3 are not opened, so what happened to those ticket holders? Hmm....

Ok now everyone "We will ... We will ... ROCK YOU!"

A "ROCK n ROLL" Polarbear

A Choir Experience

All thks to LLT and her student, I experienced my first Choir experience @ Victoria Hall. It was a school performance and to let the choir group to have some exposure to perform in front of an audience as well.

Let talk about the performance first. For me, it was a great effort from the students of cos there are things that I can be picky about but overall I enjoyed the performance. The only thing is I dunno what they are singing half the time. The ending finale was, I think, inspired by High School Musical, a whole string of Disney's songs. It was pretty entertaining.

The conductor themselves are pretty entertaining as well. They looked so animated when they are waving their hands!

Next I wanna to talk about the audience. Well since it was a school performance. Most of them are students, or alumni, it does sounds like I am attending a pop concert with all the screams going around me when the concert was about to start. Even when the choir was singing on stage, they also chatted loudly, creating disturbance during the performance. They ought to be taught a lesson on RESPECT!

The next thing I want to touch on is, WHAT ARE THE FASHION SENSE OF THE YOUNG KIDS NOW? They are all trying to dress in order to look older or mature but 80% ended looking like fashion disaster. I think the "Devil" in Prada will murder them the moment she laid her eyes on they. It is so funny to see what they are wearing, especially guys wearing over sized clothes or jackets. I also nearly fainted when I saw them. Of cos, there are kids that are dressed nicely and presentable as well.

I will make sure next time my kid will not make the same mistake! Wahahaha!

A "what are they thinking" Polarbear

Teeth

Both of us thought that this movie would be an interesting movie so decided to watch it.

The movie is about "a high school student Dawn works hard at suppressing her budding sexuality by being the local chastity group's most active participant. Her task is made even more difficult by her bad boy stepbrother Brad's increasingly provocative behavior at home. A stranger to her own body, innocent Dawn discovers she has a toothed vagina when she becomes the object of violence. As she struggles to comprehend her anatomical uniqueness, Dawn experiences both the pitfalls and the power of being a living example of the vagina dentata myth."

Knowing the plot before watching the movie, thought that it would be an interesting movie. However, it focus on the girl's activities on the chastity group fort he first half of the movie and when she discovered about her specialty, there was no explanation on how did it happened. Somehow the director decided to focus on her going around to bite "things" off from the bad guys when they were taking advantage of her. In the end, from the sweet young innocent girl, she uses it to her advantage and taking revenge on those bad guys. Overall, I give this movie 2 star out of 5. Jz find the movie a bit OTT.

A "disappointed" Polarbear

Cannot believe this actually happened!

This morning, got a shocked when my manager told me that HR is asking if I would consider to cut short of my one month notice and leave the company earlier.

My first thought was WHY?

In the end, the answer was so that the company can cut down on the cost and refrain from paying an employee who will be doing nothing until my last day. I "volunteered" to leave early then. For the record, they wanted me to leave like tomorrow, and I pushed it back to next Friday instead.

Based on the contract that I signed with my company was to give ONE MONTH'S NOTICE which I did and now they want me to leave earlier. I still got 4 days of leave which I intend to encash at first, and was approved in the first place. Now it will be used instead.

Well it could be a blessing in disguise but I just dun like the way my company is handling this issue.

If HR is not the one making decisions, I wonder who is the one then? Well I am going to have a good talk with the HR manager during my exit interview. To say that my company is a BIG ESTABLISHED company in Singapore some more and got to resort to this to save cost. OMG!

A "very annoyed" Polarbear

A trip to the Dentist!

When I was in primary school, I dun like to see a student taking a white card walking into class room. Cos it means someone in the class will be summoned to the dentist! At that time everyone hope that their names will not be called. One of my classmates even burst into tears when her name is being called. Wahahaha!

So when my mum and LLT asked me to go and visit the dentist, I jz chose to ignore it. Then the stress of going started to come in and I decided to jz go and do it for all. An appointment was made with LLT's dentist since her clinic is near my office as well. The days leading to the appointment were very anxious anticipation. Well, the truth is I last visit a dentist was like 2 years ago. I knew my teeth are in very bad state as well.

So on the fateful day (today), we headed toward Apex Dental Surgery after work. The clinic is a small but well equipped one with friendly assistant and dentist as well. I heard that they had been very interested to meet me for the longest time. Wahahaha. It was really very funny and for me embarrassed. It jz felt like meet the parents session. So first in LLT, which only took her like only 20 mins then came my turn!

When I went into the room, I saw nothing but the dentist chair only, but the dentist, Dr Tan, is kind enough to see that I am nervous and made some small talk with me before starting the procedure. After verifying some of my allergies, she began to start work on my teeth. The drill like tool was placed in my mouth and the sound of the drill started to flood into my ears. While she was gently cleaning my teeth, I was like looking somewhere else trying to distract myself, at the same time reminding to open my mouth wide so that the drill will not go crazy in my mouth.

Dr Tan is really professional and gentle, telling me that it will have to take some time for her to clear the dirt in between the teeth and some level of pain might be experienced. In between, she will still engaged me in some small talk, while she is cleaning away. At times, she will stop and ask me rinse my mouth to clear away all the dirt.

After about 40 mins of work and I mean hard work, she is finally done. I am done. Not without her, telling me about my wisdom tooth and my 5 holes that needs fillings as well. The cost of cleaning of teeth $70. Finally the "nightmare" is over and I left the clinic with clean teeth again! Think I will be back soon for the fillings and a 6 monthly check up.

A "clean teeth with a bright smile" Polarbear

A dancing bear!

The weekend was super tiring for this Polarbear.

It started off on Friday where he went gym and did Body Pump and Step. It has been a very long time since he did Step, but managed to do the whole routine without any major problems. Wahahahaha! Time to do more Step classes!

Saturday, woke up early to catch one of the Singapore Film Festival movies, Lucky 7 @ National Museum. This experimental film has 7 directors in it, where each of them shot 10 -12 mins of the film, after having watched the last min of work by the last director. The only catch is they have to use the same main actor. Well to me, this movie started off pretty well, but then lost focus in between as each different director tried to tackle different issues but not giving any thoughts to the storyline. Good effort for them.

After which, went to gym to do the last "mixed track" before the launch of the new Body Combat 35 on Sunday. Went home after that cos going clubbing at night! Yeah!

Met up with Claudia, Rayner, Jonathan, Christine and Doris at UE Square, En Japanese Dining Bar, for dinner. (Look out for the review). Yebber people is my new group of Makan kakis. Every meal with them is fun with endless topics as well. The only bad thing is before one dinner is over, we started planning like the next 3 dinners already. Wahahahaha.

Next is the event hat we had been talking for long but yet to be carried out, in the end only 4 people went clubbing! To me, Dbl O is a place where only NS men and girls hang out. Reason being the drinks there are dirt cheap @ $12 per jug! However I think I am wrong, there are a lot of youths (aged 35 and below) there as well. Wahahaha. They still have the bar and the disco area separated, which is good, as when tired can jz walked to the "quiet" area for a while.

In the end, in the castle of Dbl O, there lived a dancing queen, king and prince. Go guess who is the king and queen. What I can say is, I am the prince ok! Wahahahaha! It was retro night but sort of started off a bit late. However, we had fun for nearly 3 hours on the dance floor before we called it a day! Totally crazy!

Slept at 4 plus am but woke up at 8am to go for the launch of Body Combat 35. Well have to say the tracks are not bad but I think will take sometime to get used to it. Do like the Hairspray track though. The conditioning track is also a killer as well. Well good or not good, still going to do it for the next 2 weeks before they mixed the tracks again.

After which, rushed to St Regis. YES! The 6-star hotel for dim sum @ Yan Ting. Thks to someone's recommendation. Even before we pay the cab driver, the doors of the cab were already open by the zealous doorman. Once inside, we were awed by the 1930s European decoration. Even the lift is carpeted with a bench inside some more. Wow! More about the lunch in the review. Hee....

I ended my weekend activities there and went home and rest for the night. Totally shagged out!

A "very shagged out" Polarbear

Sex Is Zero 2

All thks to Movie Exclusive, I won a pair of preview tickets to watch the show.

The movie takes from off from the first show. 2 students had been dating for 3 years but did not have sex. To the guy, he is always considered a loser as it seems like he is the only one in the school not having sex with his girlfriend. However, there is a reason to why his girlfriend refused to have sex with him. However, in between, the girl's mother came in and stopped the relationship and encouraged the girl to go out with another guy. Well by now you should know how the story ends. Hee....

At first I thought this is going to be one of the lame comedies. I was so wrong. It turned out to be one of the funniest yet touching movie that I have not seen for a very long time. No wonder, it attracted so many people to go and watched the show when it was released in Korea. The both leads are good, however it was the supporting cast that stole the show from them. They were the ones that provided the laughs for the movie. Thinking about it now does makes me feeling happy again. Overall, I gave this movie 4.5 stars out of 5. Go and watch the show with a open heart and you will be rewarded with tons and tons of laughter.

A "loved funny movie" Polarbear

Time for a MAJOR Change.

These few days had been a few "torturing" days for Polarbear. So much so that I had a lasting headache ever!

It started of from one thing to another and before I know it, I was offered a job. Yes a job offer on hand. The job was a challenging yet, to me, it is an interesting, sort of a dream job to me. Of course not to mention the big pay package as well. Hee...

In the end, I decided and tendered my resignation letter yesterday. Well decided to throw it one day earlier so that other people will not think that it is an April Fool's joke.

Anyway, my big boss called me up a few minutes ago, had a short discussion and after listening to me, he encouraged me to take up the job offer as well. It is comforting for him to tell me that I am welcomed back anytime I want to.

So I am serving my notice until end of the month. Should be starting my new job in May.

This will be a Major change in my life yet again and hope that it will be a good change as well! Hee....

Pls note that this is not a April Fool's Joke. Wahahahaha!

A "very excited" Polarbear