Oh Yeah Oh Yeah Oh Yeah...

Mr. Robotic slept at 1 am and was not expecting to be up till 11 am. Yet at 8.45 am, he was awaken by music beaming about happiness and cheering by zealous people all in the spirit of promoting the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

So the music goes like this...
"Cmon lift me up (it's a brand new day)

Open up a lil happiness today

So I can be someone new

Cmon and lift me up (to a better way)

Open up a smile on another face

So I can (feel something new)..."

Mr. Robotic definitely like this feel good music better than the Oh Yeah to the power of 3 song. Sorry JJ, you can do better than this.

Wake up sleepy neighbourhood! YOG is in town!

People gathering to see what the party is about...

It's the torch bearer carrying the YOG flame! Go go torch bearer...

The contrast back to quiet town is amusing...

The efforts to promote YOG worked as Mr. Robotic got out of bed to bring you the above photos and it transformed the usual tranquil and forgotten neighbourhood into a party area. However, playing a song that asks one to open up a bottle of Coca Cola and a team of blue flag bearers carrying the Samsung name, Mr. Robotic wonders if the YOG spirit is overshadowed by the advertising of its sponsors. Hmm...

Create your own fantasy world...

Mr. Uncle once commented "What's so nice or enjoyable about playing (computer) games? Will you get anything from moving around that piece of furniture in the virtual game?"

He finds it hard to believe why his girlfriend is spending some much of her time trying to decorate her virtual restaurant in the online game - Restaurant City, as the time could be spent on doing something more meaningful. Well, somehow, Mr. Robotic agrees with Mr. Uncle on the point that gaming is indeed a time exhaustive activity. Mr. Robotic remembered his vacation days where instead of getting a vacation job, he dwindled his days playing online games. If he had been wiser to choose the earlier, he would have gotten his first pot of gold (figure of speech, not referring to virtual gold) by now.

Of course, the worst form of being too engrossed into the virtual reality world is when it starts to ruin your actual life. The news about the Korean youth who killed his mother because she tried to disrupt him from his gaming is disheartening. After watching the movie Inception, one can't help but to ponder if the critics of violent game graphics are actually correct that subconsciously, one might be implanted with the violence notion even though one logically deduce that they are able to differentiate reality from virtual reality. Hmm...

To be fair, gaming does offer its own fantasy world that is very alluring. "Escapism" perhaps for most? How else would one be able to experience running a restaurant, a hotel, a farm, an empire and a pirate ship (these happens to be the Facebook games) in one's lifetime? Even if one can afford to have a real restaurant, it would be crazy to tear down the decorations and replace them with a 80s vibe, a contemporary chic etc. In the virtual world, one can be adventurous and creative without the baggage of reality. What's the worst that can happen? Restart or stop playing? In real life, most sadly can't afford that luxury...

Mr. Annoying Orange whom likes to model himself after the annoying laughter and lines of the YouTube videos - Annoying Orange, is an avid gamer himself. A few of the games which Mr. Robotic was addicted to was due to his introduction. Interestingly, Mr. Annoying Orange has a new hobby lately which is to create his own role-playing games better known as RPG. This involves creating his own maps, story lines, characters. Mr. Robotic also tried out parts of it. It is seriously tedious work even though the graphics are basic and ancient. After a few hours, Mr. Robotic only managed to come up with a map and two characters. It is worth it though when Mr. Annoying Orange programmed it to work and Mr. Robotic sees the characters moving around in his map. Kudos to all game designers for all their hard work!

Mr. Annoying Orange seems very focused on this project. Hopefully it would all materialise in due time so that Mr. Robotic can let his readers play it for free... haha...

Fried Rice that doesn't look fried...

Fried Rice
Learned of this recipe from Mdm. Agaration.

Ingredients (serves 3 and based on agaration):
- 3 cups of cooked but cooled white rice
- 2 eggs
- A bit of soy sauce
- Half of canned luncheon meat cut into small pieces
- Pinch of salt
- 1 onion cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon of Olive oil

Directions:
1) Beat the eggs and add the soy sauce.
2) Heat the oil and fry the eggs over high heat.
3) Throw in onion pieces followed by luncheon meat.
4) Throw in the white rice and salt and stir away.

Experience:

The good thing about fried rice is that one can prepare it using the common ingredients that one can find in the house. In fact, the origins of fried rice is about using leftover bits and pieces of ingredients. So Mr. Robotic's version looked like a fake version of fried rice or rather white rice mixed with luncheon meat and eggs but it tasted better than its looks. Haha. Till the next attempt!

Stylish house...

Whenever Mr. Robotic is at a bookstore, he will take the opportunity to flip through the home interior design books for Mr. Robotic likes to admire the different design concepts and pictures (or daydreams) how his future house will be like.

Therefore, when Mr. Robotic was invited for a house visit to Mr. Bummy's recently renovated place, Mr. Robotic was most eager to find out the kind of design concept which Mr. Bummy had chosen.

It was apparent from the very point that Mr. Robotic stepped into the house that the design concept was "Minimalist". The big plus on a minimalist design is how it makes the house looks clean and uncluttered thereby making the place more spacious than it is. It is definitely a style which Mr. Robotic likes as it is easier to maintain without all the hidden nooks that comes with the other designs. The little downside however would be the "stripped down" effect makes the place a little less homely and cosy so the choice of colours are important.

The following points are what Mr. Robotic adores about Mr. Bummy's house in no particular order:

1) See through to the kitchen from the living room concept. Mr. Bummy had the separation wall knocked down in favor of transparent glass doors and the kitchen was flushed to the same level of the living room. It created a much roomier feel to the place.

2) The bedrooms were cleverly hidden behind the feature wall and Mr. Bummy enjoys deceiving his guests that he has no bedrooms.

3) Optimal use of designer lights to decorate the room which is an important part of the minimalist design.

4) Choice of the induction stoves instead of the traditional gas stoves. While it runs on electricity and is expensive for frequent cooks, it just look so neat, sleek and easy to clean.

5) 4 pieces of full length mirrors for the wardrobe doors. What better way to check one's attire before going out to party? Mr. Robotic would be contented with just 2 pieces. Haha...

6) A shoe cupboard which is at the right height for one to sit on while wearing their shoes. The dual functionality is good. Mr. Robotic wants something similar for his future house and will include a cushion seat to add to the cosiness.

7) Designing sink and tap which one finds in the hotels. Adds a modern touch but a bit too costly for Mr. Robotic.

Besides the renovation which totally transformed the place (Mr. Bummy showed Mr. Robotic pictures of how run down the place was when he first bought it), Mr. Robotic also likes the location of the flat which is at a quiet corner by itself without any one walking by it and there are no nearby tall buildings to obstruct one's view which are key factors to select a house.

All in all, Mr. Robotic is inspired by the visit because it helps to reinforce the mental image of his own dream house and motivates he to work harder for it (saving up for the house and $45k for the renovation).

So what will your dream house be like?

Fun packed weekend... on a car...

Mr. Robotic knows that it is quite impossible to own a car in his life time due to the high costs involved with maintaining the car that will surely slow down his plans for retirement. And it does not help that his dream car is the mini cooper. With that in mind, Mr. Robotic is in no rush to to get a driving licence or rather he may not attempt at all.

Having said that, Mr Robotic is really thankful for his friends who drives, especially Ms. Sexy. This is because without friends like her, Mr. Robotic would have missed out exploring and appreciating the less travelled parts of Singapore. For instance, Mr. Robotic had a fun packed weekend which would not have be as convenient without her assistance...

Friday Night:
Mr. Robotic was invited to a chalet at Downtown East organised by Ms. Organiser. No chalet is complete without a BBQ and Mr. Robotic was glad that Ms. Organiser did the BBQ because Mr. Robotic got to enjoy quite a delightful spread.

It could be the first time that Mr. Robotic had stingray at a BBQ event and was the stingray with sambal sauce amazing!! Kudos to Ms. Organiser and her friends for spending the afternoon to marinate the stingray and all the other food preparations. If Mr. Robotic didn't remember wrongly, the brand used for the stingrays was Sin Long Sambal sauce. It was the right level of spiciness. The time taken to grill the stingrays was also perfect as the stingrays came out tender and juicy. The standards of the stingray really put a lot of the hawkers out there to shame.

Friday Midnight:
The group went off to catch the movie "Inception" at Tampines. It was a long show but the concept, storyline and matrix like effects of the movie was interesting enough to keep Mr. Robotic awake throughout the whole movie. In particular, Mr. Robotic was in awe over the zero gravity fighting scenes and enjoyed the witty banter between the various characters. The only downside was the "draw your own conclusion" ending which left people leaving the cinema in suspense.

Mr. Trust Me was so into the movie that he went in and out of slumber in the duration of the movie in order to better understand the movie's concept of dreams within a dream... Brilliant ain't he?

Wee Hours of Saturday:
After the movie, the trio had an early breakfast at a McDonalds' in Mr. Robotic's neighbourhood. Though the place is near to Mr. Robotic's house, he had never been to it at such hours. Hence, it counted as a whole new experience for him. If Mr. Robotic ever needs a place to chit chat with his friends in the wee hours, that would be it because there were barely any customers at Mr. Robotic's visit.

Saturday Night:
Mr. Trust Me always like to challenge Mr. Robotic to be spontaneous in going out by giving him short notice to prepare (half an hour to one hour). Luckily, Mr. Robotic was well trained on his working days to get ready quickly so that he could sleep on his comfy bed till as much as possible.

The trio went to IKEA Tampines to shop around which surprisingly was still pretty crowded near its closing hours. Mr. Robotic always like to admire the different concepts for the showrooms at IKEA and wishes his house would one day be as stylish.

Saturday Midnight:
The trio settled for supper at Changi Village and no the trio did not have the famous Nasi Lemak which had a long queue at their visit. Instead, Mr. Trust Me had cravings for Chili Crab (yeah many would have concluded that Mr. Trust Me was pregnant with all his food cravings). After circling the areas for halal food, the trio settled on a stall tucked quietly at one corner and ordered the Spicy Chili Crab, BBQ Squid and Steamed Gong Gong (shell snail like thingy).

The verdict of the food?

Mr. Trust Me raved about the goodness of the crab (which Mr. Robotic agreed given the pricing) throughout the meal and mentally bookmarked the place for future repeated visits. The BBQ Squid was normal fare. The Steamed Gong Gong was a bit disappointing though as it tasted bland and rubbery even when Mr. Robotic had lowered his expectations for the shell snail like thingy.

Overall, though Mr. Robotic was tired from all the late nights and need to recharge by snoozing all the way till 1 to 2pm in the afternoon, he welcomed the change in routine for his weekend. It's been a while since Mr. Robotic felt "happening" compared to his usual stay home YouTube junkie weekends.

:)