I hate my new place.

The shower doesn’t shower, it dribbles. I don’t know if it’s because of the new shower head or the new piping or whatever, but it literally dribbles.

When you turn the knob to jet mode, it dribbles out one weak stream about 1 cm in diameter. When you turn the knob to shower mode, you get a light drizzle, under which you’d not even bother to use an umbrella if you get that kind of drizzle outdoors.

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE THAT?!

It’s even weaker than the basin faucet, which is a gentle stream of running water. If I could shower in the basin, I would. In fact, I’m now considering bathing with a cup and pail like the ancients. That would certainly be easier. Except, with the current weakass faucets, it will take me 20 minutes to fill a pail. And I probably need about five big pails of water to bathe.

It now takes me 10 minutes to wash shampoo from my hair. And I haven’t even started on the conditioning yet. Rinsing out conditioner takes 15 minutes.

I’m spending 30 freaking minutes showering now when it used to only take me 10 minutes!!

I’m going to cut my hair short again. And if anyone dares to come up and tell me that they prefer me with long hair, I’ll punch them in the face.

And here I am, trying to save time by not eating and not sleeping so that I have more time to work, but this stupid shower just negates all the sacrifice that I’m making!!

Which brings me to the next point!!!

I feel like I got conned into taking this project and I am now working my bones off for a tiny fraction of what I’m worth, pay-wise. I can’t quit now because I have more than 20 freelance writers depending on me to publish the paper so they can see their works in print and get paid.

Plus I have to finish what I started.

But I’m neglecting all my other projects, my health, my relationships, everything, for this one stupid project, for a measly project fee which I can easily earn by shooting one TV commercial in one afternoon.

I was told that IF the paper does well, I will be paid what I’m worth for future issues. Do I look like a charity organisation?? I’m not even a partner with a profit-sharing or commission scheme, so how is it MY problem whether the thing does well or not?!

And the Goonfather was supposed to take me out to dinner tonight and I told him that I haven’t eaten anything all day so I’d like dinner to be earlier if possible but it’s 8 pm now and he HASN’T CALLED or returned my SMS!!!

Am I expected to sit here and work/starve myself to death??!

The worst thing is that I can’t blame anyone for the shower thing because, I don’t know, who the hell are we supposed to blame for lousy showers?? I NEED SOMEONE TO BLAME FOR THE SHOWER!!!

I’M REALLY ANGRY SO NOBODY STEP ON MY TOES TODAY!!!!

Lucky for you today ends in approximately four hours.

I have been so tired for the past two weeks that I totally didn’t have the strength to take photographs at the Ogilvy social event (The Open Room) last night.

To be honest, I have been totally obsessed with my gaming publication project, working on it and thinking about it 24/7. I have to. I was given an impossible deadline for the first two issues.

So, when I arrived at The Ogilvy Centre at 5 pm, all I could think of was, “Where’s the food?”

I hadn’t had a single bite to eat all day, so busy was I.

In fact, it’s right now 8ish pm and I’m having a chocolate bar for dinner. I’m really upset, because I bought two party packs of Delphi Top chocolate bars and it’s not really nice. I would have bought Time Out or Twix or Picnic but can you believe Watson’s didn’t have those??

Anyway, Top was the nearest thing so I bought it. And then, at the counter, the auntie told me that I can get two packs for, like, very cheap. So I bought two whole packs.

Now I’m stuck with 20 chocolate bars I don’t really like. It’s not awful, it just doesn’t have the woohoo that Cadbury chocolate bars have.

Why the hell am I talking about chocolate bars?

So, I attended The Open Room last evening, all stoned because I hadn’t eaten anything and I hadn’t slept the night before.

But I think I managed to pull through and even engage myself in a few passably intelligent conversations.

I chatted with Suzanna from Yahoo!, Shi from Nokia, Brian from Ogilvy and The Goonfather from Sheylara.com.

Yes, I took the Goonfather with me. I thought it was a good idea to expose him to the kind of circle I’m hanging out in.

Of course, I also chatted with friends like Daryl, nadnut, DK, Nic, Farinelli, Sabrina, Jean, but that’s nothing remarkable. We always chat.

What a chatty night. Now I feel like I dreamt it all because I was in such a daze.

I totally forgot to take photos until halfway through the event. When Tania of Ogilvy was giving a speech, I saw some bloggers take out their cameras. Then I remembered that I owned a camera. And that a camera was used to take photographs. And that photographs are sometimes useful things to use in blogposts. And that I was a blogger who needs to make daily blogposts.

Interesting. Ah.

I continued listening to Tania’s sexy-chirpy voice and tried to pretend that I wasn’t a blogger and that I didn’t have a camera.

That worked pretty well.

Tania finished her speech. Then Mr John Bell, who is a big shot Ogilvy man, gave a speech. Then I headed for the food, totally forgetting about my camera and my blog.

But all is not lost!!

I have ONE PHOTO!!

WOOOOOH!

This was taken just before I left the party. A last-ditch attempt to salvage the situation.

With me are pretty nadnut and pretty Jean. Aww.

Of course, there is a greater significance to The Open Room than just photographs and pretty people, but I’m not in the mood to write GP essays.

In fact, I am never in the mood to write GP essays. So you’ll just have to live with that.

Daryl has all the intelligent stuff, times two, so go and read his blog and leave me to my chocolate bar now, thanks.

One down. 19 to go.

This won’t be a very detailed review because we only played the game for 15 minutes because the Goonfather forgot to charge his controller.

But 15 minutes and I am already in love with Grand Theft Auto IV! Notwithstanding the fact that it’s all CG, you’ll feel like you’re watching a Hollywood action movie when the game starts.

First, there’s a background story explaining your maiden trip to Liberty City, USA. You’re met by your slimeball cousin who hands you the keys to his car because he’s roaring drunk and wants you to take him home. Once you get behind the wheel, the gameplay starts.

While you’re learning how to handle a car with your controller, your loud, brash cousin talks your ears off with a drunken monologue in his heavily Italian-accented English.

That’s really cool, I think. The cutscenes and the gameplay blend with each other so smoothly that, sometimes, you feel like you’re still watching a cutscene even as you’re controlling Niko Bellic.

I love the game’s AI, but I guess that’s the charm of the GTA series. Residents in Liberty City react to everything you do as people would in real life, no matter what you do. When the Goonfather started ramming an ambulance’s rear repeatedly, the driver freaked and jumped out of his vehicle, leaving it to crash into a wall.

The graphics is amazing, a far cry from earlier GTA titles. Everything is so detailed, even down to the blood spurts when you run over someone.

I’m fine with killing, normally. (In games lah!) I must have killed over ten million mobs (including human ones) over the course of my gaming career. But the graphics and AI in GTA4 are so realistic that I paled visibly when the Goonfather decided that running over people with his car multiple times was fun.

I was so traumatised on behalf of the Goonfather’s victims.

But the game is still cool and the culture of killing video game characters is something one can quickly adapt to, so it’s not like that’s gonna stop me from playing.

GTA4 is one of those games you could be satisfied with just watching and not playing because it’s like watching a movie. Or maybe that’s just me. Or maybe that’s just the Goonfather. Watching him play any game is like watching a comedy.

The Goonfather is such a fanboy that he pre-ordered the GTA4 Collector’s Edition for the PS3, even though I told him that I’d be getting a review copy for the Xbox 360.

He told me both versions are different. The PS3 version has been said to have marginally better graphics and framerate, while the Xbox 360 version has over 20 hours of downloadable content which the PS3 does not have.

It’s very clear cut to me which the winner is, but you can never talk sense into fanboys.

But all that is moot because I don’t have time to play the damn game!!!

I’ll bet by the time I actually get to play it, GTA5 will be out already.

*sigh*

A word of advice to those planning to move house soon. Do not attempt to do it without sleeping the night before. (That means no last minute panic and packing.)

I can’t claim that I totally didn’t sleep. I slept 30 minutes from 5:30 am to 6 am on Saturday. That’s definitely not good.

My friends (who helped out with the moving) can all attest to the fact that I looked and acted like a zombie all day. I had to operate on auto pilot: Walk where I was needed, carry what needed carrying, clean what needed cleaning, unpack what needed unpacking, like a mindless robot.

Even taking out my camera to snap a photo was done on auto pilot, which explains why I hardly took any photos. This is one of the few:

Kerrendor plays at being Guitar Rambo with all our guitars. We have a Guitar Hero III guitar, a Rock Band guitar and, of course, my faithful old classical guitar.

We actually have another. The Goonfather has an electric guitar from his teenage rock star wannabe days. But we didn’t bring it to our new place because he wants to sell it. Any buyers? It’s really old in terms of age but new in terms of usage.

Our TV didn’t arrive until after 4 pm, after which the Goonfather set it up temporarily in the living room so our friends could play Rock Band while we busied ourselves unpacking.

The TV and speakers had to be placed on the floor with cables running all over the place. Feels grungy.

I didn’t get to play. I was too busy making my room liveable asap so I could have a nice, comfortable place to have a warm shower and sleep, hopefully some time within this century.

I didn’t have a chance at all to touch Grand Theft Auto IV. Sorry, GTA fans.

Well, we did get a few minutes to try it out this morning so I cammed it. Except my audio cable is now in the car and I can’t edit videos without sound, so my GTA4 review will have to wait a while longer.

But first impression is pretty damn awesome and I can’t wait to play it for real.

By the way, the Goonfather is a goondu.

We were back at our old place today to pack more stuff. I was trying very hard not to collapse from exhaustion when I suddenly heard an exclamation.

“HEY! I FOUND MONEY!!”

Turned out he’d found an old red packet which still had money inside. There was a $50 bill and a $20 bill. That is so archaic!! It’s not the new plastic limited edition $20 note. It’s the old old design paper note from god knows which millennium.

“Hmm…,” he said. “This is the exact same ang pow I found when we moved house two years ago.”

What a nut.

While we were packing two years ago to move house (seems like we move quite a lot), he had found this red packet and was so excited about finding extra money that he proceeded to pack it in together with all the rest of his junk. During the unpacking process, he dumped everything wholesale into drawers and closets.

You can probably tell what happened next. He clean forgot all about the red packet for the whole two years we lived in that house.

I bet this is going to happen again. And again. (This won’t be the last time we’re moving house.)

Because he was making such a commotion, his mother came into our room to investigate. She saw the red packet and said, “Didn’t I give this to you when you went to the USA to study?”

That was donkey years ago lor!!!!! Hahahaha.

Damn goondu lah. Always complaining about being broke but at the same time leaving money lying around in the middle of old documents and junk.

Anyway, a shout out to all my friends of Club Morte (sometimes also known as Hammer Morte). Thanks for all the help!

Oh, gosh. No rest for the wicked. More stuff to upack, loads of editing work to do because I didn’t get a chance to work on them this whole weekend.

Whoever said weekends were for rest?

1. I’m v v v v v v tired and stressed!!!
2. After I finished packing for the night (for moving house), I went to shower… and realised that I had packed and sealed ALL my clothes. I have no clothes to wear now.
3. I’m moving in four hours’ time and am not done packing. But will leave the dribs and drabs for next week since we’ll still have this house until then.
4. The new Nuffnang poll thing is pretty cool, isn’t it? I’m surprised that I have 70% babe readers to 30% dude readers. I always thought it was equal, based on the comments I get. Either that or you dudes are all lazy.
5. I’m sorry I haven’t been replying comments. At last count, I have 110 comments unreplied. It takes me an average of one minute to reply each comment. I don’t have 110 minutes to spare. :(
6. I will make the Goonfather play Grand Theft Auto IV later and put it on YouTube for all you kan cheong spiders. Provided the new TV and home entertainment system works as planned.
7. I have removed myself from the Top Commenter’s list. Haha. Sorry, that was a glitch.
8. The Goonfather earlier shared with us all his past hilarious experiences with telemarketers. Will release the stories here as a series. Watch out for them!
9. Statistics show that people prefer reading in point form. Will you still read my blog every day if I started blogging only in point form?
10. I love baby lizards.