AKB48 27th Singles General Election & Weird Antics Observed

I went to the AKB48 Cafe for the live-feed of the results of the AKB48's general election today. I have to admit that I was a bit surprised by some of the results.  I wasn't expecting that most of the Under Girls would come majorly from SKE48. I also didn't expect Mayuyu to beat Yukirrin for the 2nd place.  The biggest surprise for me was that Matsubara Natsumi was the only Team A member who is not in the top 64 .  How can those fans who voted do this to her!!!!  I can foresee that it's damn super low morale for her, being the only one left out.  Hope she won't feel too low because of this. Though I'm a bigger fan of Takamina, I'll always support you too, Natsumi!!! (^o^)

I noticed today that being alone has its perks too. One of them was that it allowed me to observe the people around me.  I had observed some weird antics today in the cafe.

Guy hitting his friend with an empty plastic bottle
The first time this guy (let call him BH) did that was when he and his friend (FB)  were queueing up to enter the cafe.  I was behind this pair so I witnessed the whole scene. Being a typical Singaporean, they had arrived earlier to queue for seats.  Apparently, FB had tah-bao some food to eat while waiting in the queue.  (Note: The doors to the cafe was shut prior to 5pm to allow the staff inside  to prepare for this event.) So apparently when the doors was re-opened and the queue started moving, FB still have some of this tah-bao food with him.  Given that the cafe has a no outside food policy, FB made clear his intention of paying for the event then proceed to dispose of the tah-bao food in the waste bin outside of the cafe.  Seems to me like an ideal solution.  However BH on hearing that, started hitting FB with his empty mineral bottle even though they were in front of the cashier and there's a long line of people behind them.  Damn mature man this DH! After "satisfying his anger", DH then suggested to FB that FB should pay, then dispose of his food outside while he, DH, helped them both to secure their seats.  (Erm.....wasn't that FB's intention in the first place???)

The next few times DH "vented his anger" was sporadically during the 3 hours live-feed.  I noticed it as I was sitting in the next table to theirs and their table was in my line of sight for the big screen. I wasn't able to hear what triggered his "violent act" though. Kind of pity FB by now. 

The last time was at the end of the live-feed, the event organiser had pick 4 random winners via lucky draw and FB's name was drawn.  Instead of congratulating his friend, DH started hitting FB in plain sight of everyone in the cafe with his "favoured weapon". (Damn mature, DH. Damn mature, DH.) The ironic was, right after FB, the next person who was drawn was DH. (sigh....such breed of fans really bring down the honours of the true fans man.)

Guy next to me wiping his I-Phone feverishly
I went to this event alone and I was near the front of the queue so I was able to pick a rather good fengshui spot in the cafe. Later a group of 8 people joined my table.  I then noticed that one of this  guy who was sitting next to me kept wiping his I-Phone. From where I was seated I can see that the screen and casing of his I-Phone was already mirror-shine.  So I really don't understand what he was intending to achieve by "scrubbing" the phone feverishly.  Hoping to "scrub" the phone till it becomes wafer-thin?  I really don't get it.

People who are ignorant of AKB48 attending an AKB48 event.
Something that didn't sat well with me today was that there were some people that were ignorant of AKB were attending this event. At least that was the impression they gave me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against them. It just that if they were really ignorant, they shouldn't attend this event as the seats have to be reserved prior to today.  And while waiting outside for the doors to open, I saw some fans who was turned away as the seats were already fully reserved.  I just thought that these "ignorants' seats" could be put to better use, but, hey, it's just me venting my thoughts.

My 1st AKB Live Singapore Concert

Just came back from the AKB Live Singapore concert at *Scape Warehouse. Must say it has been a good experience attending this concert. At the end of the concert, I thought I have died and had ascended into heaven. I got to shake hands with 15 pretty AKB girls. Wah! Really worth the money, man! LOL!

Anyway, I've learnt that attending this concert without bringing any light sticks, is a damn stupid idea lor. The audiences were raising their arms and waving their light sticks in tune with the music and I looked damn stupid trying to imitate them with my "golden" finger. Not the same effect lor. Plus next time, I really got to buy the tickets earlier. Bought the tickets at the last moments, so can only go in as the last batch. Got only the back few rows to sit, thought was still not too bad, but seriously regretted when the concert starts. Why? Because the seats are all on flat ground but none of the audiences sat down when the concert started. So even though I stood throughout the concert, my view was perpetually obstructed by 2 Goliaths "sitting" 2 rows in front of me. Having to try to look beyond the sea of arms and light sticks was already a chore, that 2 "dickheads" were so tall that even without them raising their arms, they were already "censoring" most of my views. Wah lau eh! Throughout the concert, other audiences were moving their body in tune with the music, I was moving mine to prevent them from appearing in my line of sight. Really have no idea why that 2 "dickheads" want to take a seat, they could easily stand at the back and still see the concert without problems. But all these problems were thrown out of the concert hall at the end of the concert lor. To know why, refer to the 1st para of my this posting. 8-)

My 1st Time at *SCAPE

I had a free day today. No tuition to teach as the pupil is holidaying in China. So I decided to go visit *SCAPE, as I want to go see how the very "hyped" AKB48 store looks like. Reached the place around 12+pm. The store is rather small. It sold many kinds of memorabilia of the AKB48 members. T-shirts, towel, posters, you named it they sell it, but strangely the store never sell any of the AKB48's CDs. I was dying to ask why but I didn't got the chance to do so. There were 4 sales personnel in the store. 3 were manning the only cashier machine and the remaining 1 was a part-timer who was busy handling sales and personal enquiries from the customers and making sales pitches. I knew she was a part-timer because I overheard her telling that to a "hitter". I want to asked her about the CDs but the "hitter" just keeping "hoarding" her. Plus, there will be a live show by SDN48 later at 8pm, so there was a group of Japanese fans gathered in the store too. Keeping in mind that it has been 5 years since I last pronounced any Japanese words, so my pronunciation aren't really accurate, so I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of them by asking about the CDs' title which are in Japanese. So I did the next best thing, I went home and ordered the CD online. LOL

My 1st Poem

Feel very poetic tonight. This is my first-time attempt in poetry writing. So be kind, critics.

Door knob door knob it will turned,
the undesirable person have returned.

Palm upwards he will stretched,
unpleasant words he will spat.

"Fifty dollars!" he demand,
"Fuel for my car," he command.

"Don't have fifty," I report,
"Then give me twenty!" he retort.

Twenty my wallet really don't have,
Pour out nineteen is all he get.

Poor me as he walk away,
he will returned when the knob turn again.

Graduate Loh!!!!!!

Today, I had my convocation in SIM. I'm now a full-fledged Bachelor of Business.



Other than that time when I went to collect and test-fit my gown, today is the first time I wore the gown for close to 5 hours. Damn hot leh. Thinking twice about getting a Masters degree liao. After today, I can never understand how some people (especially that blue thingy) will want to go for Masters. The heat that gathered in your gown when you stepped out into the open is not worth it wan lor. Don't think I can tahan wearing that gown again. LOL.


Even though today is my convocation ceremony, I found that there were still many things that I can learn today. Firstly, I learnt that the next time I asked my parents to turn their mobile to silent mode, I got to make sure they hang the mobiles around their neck or put them at places that they can feel the vibrations when they have incoming calls. After the ceremony, my parents complained that they could not take any photos of me during the ceremony because they were sitting at the wrong end of the hall. Not my fault ok. When I entered the hall at 1.15pm and I found my seat which was at the extreme left of the hall, I did try calling them several time to inform them that when they entered the hall they should sit near the extreme left of the hall. This was because, during the conferment ceremony, all the graduands will form 1 line on the extreme right and extreme left of the hall . During the ceremony, two names were called each time. The first name was for the recipient stepping up from the left and the second name was for the recipient stepping up from the right. Then when our names are called, each of us from each side would step onto the stage, at the same time, to receive our degree. The left will received their degree from the chancellor, while the right would receive their degree from the vice-chancellor. As fate has it, my parents totally "ignored my calls" and went to sit on the extreme right of the hall so they had no idea I was a "left-winger". So when my name was called they focused all their attention on the right side of the hall lor. They then realised that that guy in their camera's screen looks "strangely unfamiliar" lor. It was at that moment that they realised I was coming up from the left. When they switched to the left, I had already long-gone by then.


Second thing I learnt was that, prior to asking them to switch their mobiles to 'silent', I should have arrange a meet-up point with my parents to meet-up after the ceremony. Today after the ceremony, I felt like I was one of the child survivor of the 2006's Tsunami lor. I had to go around the whole SIM looking at all the faces to find them lor. Plus I forgot to remind them to 'un-silent' their mobile once they set out of the hall, so my frantic calls were all unanswered lor. It was really a sight lor. A 30+ guy walking aimlessly like a tsunami orphan searching for his lost parents. The only thing missing today were the child's tears and his frantic pleading for his parents. Kanasai lor. When I finaly managed to get hold of my dad, as per his usual habit, he gave me a super vague direction of his location. Basically, he told me he was in the centre in the food area i.e. tea reception area. Erm........he was not helpful at all lor. There were about 525 graduands during my ceremony today. All of them, plus their parents, siblings, children, grandparents, relatives and loved-ones were clustered in and around the tea reception area. By telling me he was in the centre of the reception area, he was been "damn helpful" lor. He was seriously expecting a four-eyes to be able to spot him among the 1000+ people. Erm......four eyes leh....... With that crowd, I don't even think a healthy 2-eyes can do it lor. He called, 20 minutes later, and told me they were now next to the POSB ATM. When I finally found them, I realised his definition of 'next' is like saying Singapore is next to Siberia. Wah lau eh! They were nowhere remotely near to the POSB ATM lor. Really shake head leh, kenna him. 8-)

I'll be putting up more of my convocation photos on my Facebook. So those "concerned" readers may want to check them out there.

Message from Long-Lost Friend

Yesterday, I was surprised to receive a private message, in my facebook, from a long-lost poly friend. Glad to know she still remembers me. LOL! In the message, she mentioned she read excerpts of my blog. Quite touched to know there's still people reading my blog lor. I've always thought my blog no business wan lor. Anyway, I was very tempted to ask her how come she didn't read everything, just read excerpts lor. But hor, I learnt from my poly days there's some questions that I can asks and there're some questions that's better left unanswered lor. LOL. Regardless of what, I'm very touched to know she still remember me lor (for bad or good, I don't know lah). It's good to be remembered.

An Idiotic Tuition Co-ordinator

Today, I was in the midst of giving tuition when I received a call from a lady who I assumed was from a tuition agency. My conversation with her left me feeling extremely infuriated. Below is the full verbatim of what we conversed.



(Ring....Ring....Ring)

Me: "Hello."


Lady: "Nicholas, are you still teaching tuition?"


Me: (Who the hell is this person? You didn't even introduce yourself. But since you know my name, I must have talk to you before.) "Yes, I'm still teaching tuition."


Lady: "P5 Laguna Park, you think you're free?"


Me: (What the hell are you talking about? What P5 Laguna Park? You mean you have an assignment for a P5 kid living in Laguna Park, and am I free to take it up is it? Didn't even tell me the preferred timings, duration and subject(s) to teach.) "Uh huh, P5 Laguna Park."


Lady: "Yes P5 Laguna Park, you think you can?"


Me: (What do you mean I can? You didn't tell any details yet, how do I know if I can. Duh leh! This lady.) "I'm not sure. Just to inform you, I'll be going for my reservist in 2 weeks time."


Lady: (Sounding surprised) " You're going for reservist in 2 weeks time?!!"


Me: (What's so surprising?) "Yes, I'm going for my reservist in 2 weeks time."


Lady: "You're an ex-teacher, right?"


Me: "Yes, I am an ex-teacher."


Lady: "You're an ex-teacher with?"


Me: "I'm an ex-teacher with MOE."


Lady: "So you're NIE-trained?"


Me: (Duh! Of course I'm NIE-trained! If not how can I call myself an ex-MOE teacher!) "Yes, I'm NIE-trained."


Lady: "And you teach in MOE after your NIE?"


Me: (Isn't that obvious! You idiot!) "Yes, I taught in MOE after my NIE."


Lady: "So you're an ex-MOE teacher."


Me: (Sigh......Am I talking to an idiot with the brain capacity of a bacterium. Hurray for finding out I'm an ex-MOE Teacher.) "Yes, I'm an ex-MOE teacher."

Lady: "You're the one from St Pats, right?"

Me: (Excuse me, how do I know how many Nicholas you know? Beside that, the main point is WHO ARE YOU!!!!!!!!) "Erm....Yes, I'm from St Pats."

Lady: "Aeeeee.....You got C6 for your O' level English and Science. It's that like almost fail. NIE accept you meh?"

Me: (Yo idiot! Except for aspiring Mother Tongue Teachers, NIE don't accept people with O' level cert, ok? Minimum must also be Poly diploma or A' level cert. And C6 is 50-54, it's not exactly fail, ok?) "Yes I didn't do well, I went to ITE before going to Poly. I didn't apply NIE using my O' level cert, I used my Poly diploma."

Lady: "But you didn't go in Poly straight after your O' levels, right?"

Me: (Getting annoyed with this idiot.) "Yes I didn't go in straight. I went to ITE, then serve my N.S., before I went to Poly."

Lady: "You went to ITE?"

Me: "Yes, ITE."

Lady: " What ITE?"


Me: (Oh great! This idiot don't even know what's an ITE. From which secluded cave in Singapore was she born from. I'm not going to enlighten this idiot about the founding and history of ITE, ok.) "ITE Clementi."


Lady: "Yaa.....What ITE?"


Me: (Yo idiot! Didn't I just tell you? Weren't you listening?) "ITE Clementi, I went to ITE Clementi before serving my NS. Then after my NS, I went to Poly. After Poly, I went into NIE."

Lady: "Which poly you go to?"

Me: "Ngee Ann Poly. I went ITE, serve NS, then I went Ngee Ann Poly."

Lady: "But you said you went ITE!"

Me: (Super annoyed now.) "Yes, I went to ITE, then go Poly, then enter NIE."

Lady: "But you said you go ITE! How can you enter NIE?"

Me: (Yo! Single brain-cell bacterium! Are you trying to be stereotyping?) "Why can't I? I went to Poly before I enter NIE."

Lady: "And you said you went to SIM."

Me: "Ya, after resigning from MOE, I went to SIM."

Lady: "So you didn't go to NIE with your SIM degree."

Me: (Wow! This bacterium's time-space reasoning skill is really at single cellular level!) "Isn't it obvious? I went to ITE, then Poly, then NIE. After I resigned, I went SIM."

Lady: "Oh! I can't recommend you to the parent. I don't think you have the certs. I don't want you to go there, then the parents ask for your certs. You can't produce them. Then we will get in trouble. Can't talk to you anymore. Got to go."

Me: (Is this bacterium trying to insinuate that I'm a con artist? K** N** N***!!!!! Insulted me and want to go off!) "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY??!! ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY I DON'T HAVE THE QUALIFICATIONS AND IS TRYING TO CON THE PARENTS!"

Lady: "You were very shifty when I ask you about your details. You can't provide me with the details. Plus there are many years in between."

Me: (Shifty? Me? I've been very honest so far. It's you that doesn't seems to understand human language.) "What do you mean? I went to ITE for 2 years, NS 2 years, Poly 3 years, then NIE 2 years. After NIE, I serve in MOE for 4 years, then I resigned and went to SIM for 2 years."

Lady: "Can't talk to you anymore. Got to go....."

(Line went dead)


F******g angry with this caller. She is really a single brain-cell bacterium, man! You people tell me how not to be angry.

I get very pissed off when people talk bad about ITE or hold stereotypical view about ITE graduates. I mean I'm never ashamed I went to ITE. In fact ITE is the starting point that made me what I am today. It's ITE that change my life and made me realise that I'm a late-bloomer. I just took the longer route in my academic pursuits. There's no reason to fault me for doing so. Just because I don't go around advertising that I'm an ITE graduate, it means that I'm being dishonest. I don't see the point to reveal that fact unless it's necessary and very few situations necessitate me to do that.

Just because I went to ITE so I can't enter NIE and become a teacher, is so narrow-minded on her part. The minimum education qualification for anyone applying to be a primary school teacher is A' Level or Poly diploma. The applicant must also pass a language proficiency test (if he/she got less than B3 for O' level English) and pass an interview by a panel of MOE interviewers. On top of that, the applicant will be send to a school to teach as an untrained teacher and during his/her stint there, he/she must get a recommendation by that school's principal before he can be accepted into NIE.

So her statement that I don't have the qualifications really irks me. I went for the English proficiency test, passed it. It consisted of 2 parts, each part was held at 2 different locations on the same day. Prior to that, I went for the MOE interview, got the shock of my life when I entered the room as there were 4 interviewers, must have passed it because they send me to a school the following month after the interview. Managed to get the required recommendation from that school's principal a few months into my "tour of duty". Then I entered NIE. So which part have I been making up? If she's ignorant, she should do more research before make such accusations. In fact come to think of it, during our conversation other than the time I was super annoyed, my speech was still quite grammatical correct even though it's not perfect. On the other hand, her speech was ........... you can make your own judgement but for someone who droned on my C6s for my O' level, her English can't be higher than mine. In fact, her brain power can't be higher than anyone of the ESN kids I taught before. Irony isn't it?