No. I really, really hate new years.

I vividly remember writing about hating the new year, exactly one year ago. I can still remember what I wrote because I am feeling exactly the same thing right now.

Digging into my archive confirms that memory serves me right.

I can remember everything I wrote one year ago as if I had only written it yesterday.

As far as I’m concerned, I just only counted down to 2008, like, yesterday. Yet, now, 2009 is already hot on my heels.

Eek.

Feeling kind of stressed today. I have 2350 e-mails sitting in my inbox waiting to be filed or replied. Not to mention a crazy number of blog comments, Facebook messages and other whathaveyous.

I have this irrational conviction that if I don’t clear them completely by the time the clock strikes midnight, I will turn into a ridiculous purple mutant with pizza-shaped warts that will spray noxious pink fumes at enemies.

For some reason, I feel like burying myself inside my pink comforter and never come out. I have this thought that if I stay in there long enough, maybe I will miraculously cease to exist in this dimension, at the very same moment I magically materialise in a happy dimension where warty purple mutants are attractive and sexy.

Not saying I’m unhappy nor even that I have a thing for purple mutants. I’m just stressed and it’s all the new year’s fault.

Of course, I will be partying (with my friends). But that will be because parties are fun and not because I’m celebrating anything.

Although I must admit that I’ve had a great year worthy of celebrating, I don’t find it right to celebrate the end of a great year and the start of an uncertain year.

What, exactly, are people celebrating?

But because I live on earth and not on purplemutantland, I continue to go through the motions like everyone else and scream “HAPPY NEW YEAR” into people’s ears because people seem to enjoy that.

So…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And may 2009 surprise you with expensive cherries.

I almost didn’t go for the Nuffnang Christmas party because I didn’t have time to get a costume.

The party was co-sponsored by vPOST and we had to go as characters or things beginning with the letters V, P, O, S or T.

Me and my friends were assigned the letter T.

Just a few hours before the party, Minou, myself and Unker Kell went costume hunting.

The Goonfather had class till 6 pm, so he was going to join us at the party. He said he’d go as a Tourist, so all he had to do was wear a big shirt. Which is what he usually wears, anyway.

Duh.

So we decided to get him a prop camera. After getting our costumes at a costume shop, we went to Popular bookshop to get some supplies, then went home.

Unker Kell made this while I was getting dressed.

LOL.

I decided to go as a Tooth Fairy, and Minou made this for me while Unker Kell was making the camera and I was getting dressed.

LOL.

It’s a cardboard tooth which I tied to one of my necklaces.

Minou chose to be a Tiger because, she says, “I’ve always wanted to have a tail.”

Eh?

I had to sit sideways in the car; my wings were in the way.

Unker Kell couldn’t find any suitable costumes, so he went home to dig out an outfit he had worn for another costume party. Haha.

He’s a Thug!

We ended up being two hours late for the party.

We didn’t do much there except take photos which, I feel, is the whole point of a costume party.

Here’s my photo with a famous old man.

His hands are pretty young, though.

Haha. The old man is Kenny Sia.

My friend, Timo, who went as Mr Paranoid:

He won one of the top three prizes for best costume.

The Goonfather came really late, almost missing the party, almost wasting Unker Kell’s effort of making him the camera.

I tried to make full use of it in his absence.

He did come, finally, like half an hour before the party ended.

But he got into the role of nerdy tourist very quickly.

Okay, I’ve run out of words, so here are just more photos.

Say cheese! =)

We were asked to write about our most momentous day of 2008 for this week’s Star Blog.

My immediate thought was, “That’s the party I just had which I just blogged about.”

I tried to think of something else. But nothing really came close. Truly, my most cherished memories are those when I’m gaming. Haha. Especially gaming with friends.

So the party is what I wrote for Star Blog, although I tried to write it differently, plus I threw in a new video.

Please click here to read it!

Gamer Girl Friday is still celebrating Christmas and the coming New Year, so today’s column will not follow the same format.

Today, I will recount my crazy 24-hour Christmas gaming party with Club Morte!

(Although it wasn’t just pure gaming. There was also food and presents and other random mischief.)

It started at 5 pm on Christmas eve at Morte’s and Wang Wang’s place. We gathered to discuss how we could turn their house upside down with our festive merry-making.

I had made a Christmas tree with mahjong paper and crayons the day before. (Bad idea with the crayons. My right arm ached the next day from the frantic crayoning of a tree which is as tall as me.)

I seem to have a lost my full-body photos of the tree before we started sticking decorations on it. =(

But never mind. It was funny watching everyone’s reactions when they saw the tree. I had told them I was bringing a Christmas tree and they never expected it was going to be a paper crayon tree.

Haha.

After sticking the tree on the wall, we drove to Cold Storage to pick up our Christmas dinner and buy groceries (eggnog ingredients, candy for my tree, and more wine).

When we got back home, everyone set about to their duties.

Minou and Unker Kell — Eggnog chefs.

Sheylara and Wang Wang — X’mas tree stylists.

The Goonfather — Turkey molester.

Morte — Photographer / Scotch tape dispenser / General nuisance.

Kerrendor — Eye Power Ocifer.

By the time everything was ready and we settled down to dinner, it was way past 8 pm.

Our candy Christmas tree:

So beautiful in the dark!

Eggnog done:

Dinner ready:

While we were setting up the table and getting into our seats ready for dinner, Morte turned on the TV and started customising his avatar for PlayStation Home.

That’s why our group name is called Club Morte.

It’s nice having dinner wearing funny hats. Although the guys complained that it was warm.

After dinner, we played Lips. Everyone loved the game! We played it longer than I expected.

So, I’ve got tons of funny videos of our gameplay, but here are two for now.

Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs

By the way, the guitars aren’t part of the game. The Goonfather and Kerrendor just love their guitars too much.

Take On Me by A-Ha

We had dessert closer to midnight because our dinner was too filling.

I love log cake!

While we played Lips and ate cake, Minou made placards for Elyxia.

Ely works in Hong Kong so we rarely get to see her, and she was supposed to return on midnight of Christmas Day. We had planned to pick her up at the airport, go back to open presents, play some games, and then go home to sleep by maybe 6 am.

But a few hours before midnight, her flight was announced to be delayed by six hours!!!

So we just stuck around and continued gaming while waiting for her.

We played Lips and Rock Band 2 for more than seven hours.

By the end of it, we were a little tired but excited about welcoming Ely home. Drove off to the airport at 5:30 am, wearing our Santa hats.

We’ve picked Ely up at the airport tons of times but we decided to make it special this time because it’s Christmas.

We stood around like that for more than half an hour, attracting many stares and smiles.

When Ely finally walked out through the sliding glass doors, we gave her big grins and then started singing the opening sequence of Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria.

(That’s a song in Rock Band, which we believe Ely knows because she had bought Rock Band in Hong Kong.)

I think she was quite embarrassed because we made her stand there and hear us perform for about 15 seconds while the airport crowd stared at us.

Our group with full strength again!! Awwww.

The guys had actually planned on going home after this since we had already been partying for 12 hours.

But we still had unopened presents.

So we went for breakfast at a coffee shop and then returned to Morte’s and Wang Wang’s apartment.

It was like a mysterious force was guiding us.

When we arrived at the apartment after breakfast, Ely laughed at our Christmas tree, then someone turned on Rock Band 2 and we started playing despite our exhaustion.

It was about 9 am then.

After a few hours, when the guitarists’ fingers were cramped and the drummers’ thighs were breaking, we decided it was time to open presents.

That took a good hour or so because there were so many presents!! We each took turns to unwrap them and gawk in happiness together.

I got a pink Xbox 360 controller and battery pack!! HAPPINESS!!!

The Goonfather got a banana. LOL.

My presents!

Everyone and their presents!

By the time we were done, it was about 12 pm.

We had partied for 19 hours.

Someone decided at this time to play LittleBigPlanet because Ely received a copy as her present and she hasn’t played it before.

It was at this point that people started napping while it wasn’t their turn to play.

After an hour or so, I threw in the towel. I said, “I can’t play anymore. I’m falling asleep.”

So we abandoned LBP and broke out Rock Band 2. Again.

While they played, I took a 20 minute nap.

Waking up slightly refreshed, I took a shower and then joined the game.

It was crazy!

After a while, Kerrendor and Minou had to go home because they had to open the door for their brother or something like that. My memory is fuzzy.

We played all the way till 3 pm.

We had to stop and take a break after completing Battery (by Metallica) in hard mode.

Ely started attacking the leftover turkey, carving out all the meat from the bones.

Morte and I felt hungry when we saw her doing that, so we went and sat around the turkey and ate whatever Ely carved.

After a half-an-hour turkey break, we were ready to continue with our 8-song rock set list.

We would probably have carried on all the way.

But the Goonfather and I had another Christmas party to attend, and Ely and Unker Kell had a family Christmas dinner, so we had to leave.

It was 5 pm when we called it a wrap. Exactly 24 hours from when we first started.

Wow, even if I have to say so myself.

Gamer Girl Friday wishes you a wonderful end to 2008 and a glorious start to 2009!

(Sorry, I will announce contest winners next week. GGF is too busy gaming and partying to round up the year this week!)

I received an SMS from a friend today.

He wanted to know why the phrase “kick butt” is always used in association with me in media interviews.

I told him I didn’t know.

But I guess this is what comes from having a reputation as a gamer girl. People like to picture you sitting in LAN shops, peering intently at the screen, fragging the sh*t out of your male friends and crying “PWNZORZZZZZZ!” every time you score a kill.

I wish lah.

I may be a hardcore gamer (when I have time to be) but I’m a carebear at heart. I feel bad when I kill people and I feel bad when people kill me.

Still, I can’t deny there is a certain satisfaction when you reduce someone to a pile bloody mess. I would love to have the time to work on living up to my kick-butt reputation.

Who wants to be target practice for me? =D