All of our life, we are told important how friends are. Shows, books, life stories and nuggets of wisdom all seem to tell us that no matter how different we are from others, we can always find true friends who will accept us for who we are and with our true friends, no matter how tough life gets, friends will always pull us through. It's a common theme shared across stories of fiction and non-fiction alike. It would seem that as long as you have friends, no problem in life is too big to handle and you'll survive as long as you have the support from your friends.

Not only that, science itself seems to suggest that people with more friends tend to do better in life. Be it in general life outcome and even progress after being diagnosed with an illness, people who had social support tend to do better than those who do not. If we are socially excluded even for a while, our body quickly responds in a negative way. We humans are made to be social creatures and without social contact in our life, we just tend to fare a lot worse than those who have a better social network.

Which brings me to the next question. What happens then if a person is so broken in a way that it's impossible for that person to have a friend? Would it be easier to just give up on life then, since it is almost impossible to thrive without social support? I mean what happens if you find out that you just can't seem to make any true friends despite how hard you try? Do you press on until you eventually find one or do you accept the fact that you're probably not going to find a true friend anyway and try to live life as independently as you can, no matter what the consequences are?

I've come to question the concept of friends a lot for the past few months. It would seem that the definition of friendship to many is where a relationship where you can benefit both in a tangible (opportunities, cash, car rides) and intangible manner (emotional support, rant pillar). To be someone's friend, you must first have something to offer, something that will benefit the other party in any way possible. After all, not many wants a friendship where one has to constantly give and receive nothing in return, which means that when you have nothing to give, you'll often find that not many would be eager to be your friend. Which is why people of a higher status, wealth and fame always have an easier time finding friends than those who are not.

It's funny how life made it so important for us to have friends but yet at the same time made it so difficult to find a true friendship. Maybe it's just me but I find it funny that even after 4 years here, I still have trouble finding someone whom I can really trust, and who trust me back in the same way. But by saying that though, I am also guilty of expecting an equal amount of return when investing in friendships. Perhaps I am expecting too much, or perhaps my personality is so different in a way that it prevents me from ever having a true friend (like those who have personality disorders, for example) but I guess after what's happened over the past few months, I guess it's a high time to once again throw in the towel and just don't care.

After all, I did tried once to step out and to just mix around but it would seem that while some can just form friendships easily, some have a more awkward time doing it and in some cases, even having an all out meltdown in public. Sometimes, things are just not meant to be. I give up. I work better with my computer anyway.

I miss my buddies back at my hometown.

I have always thought that in order to live life to the fullest, one must experience as many things as possible. So in my 4 short years here in Singapore, I've tried out as many things as I can, with short stints in dance, leadership, event organization, media, voluntary work, blogging and so much more, while juggling my studies at the same time.

While having a diverse range of experiences is good, the job interviews that I've had for the past few days thought me that in order to succeed in your working life, it's not having a wide range of experiences that matters but rather specializing in one and only one field. You can suck at everything else but as long as you have a particular skull that you're extremely good at or if you're an expert in one field, it's more than enough to succeed because after all in the job scene, your job function only centralizes around one main responsibility and your pay is in direct proportion to your level of skill in a particular field.

and here's mr jack

So kids, while it's fun to have a wide range of experience, be sure to be damn good at one particular skill. Or you'll be like me when attending job interviews: "You are good, but just not competent enough". And repeat that for all the interviews I go to.

Haiz.

It's always fun to see The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson act in movies. He has this certain aura on him that you cannot seem to ignore whenever he's on screen. To be honest, ever since he made his debut as the Scorpion King in movies, I have always enjoyed seeing him on screen, be it in a tough role such as Luke Hobbs in Fast and Furious 5 or a not so tough role as the tooth fairy, he brings out a unique side to a movie that makes it enjoyable to watch.  

Come 22nd May 2013, not only will you be able to see The Rock in action once again in another Jules Verne inspired voyage, you will also be able to journey with him in the adventure, complete with all the sights, sounds and effects, in the new 4D Magix Movie ride just recently launched in Sentosa. In addition to that, the new movie would also feature an all star Hollywood cast together with Dwayne Johnson. We have Michael Caine (Alfred from Nolan's Batman trilogy), Vanessa Hudgens (from High School Musical) and Josh Hutcherson (from The Hunger Games) all starring together with the Rock. Where else can you find a movie with such a star studded cast?

Of course, with it being a 4D experience, you would also be able to experience the thrills and excitement of the adventure itself, such as the heart pounding moments when they are chased by monsters or when their helicopter are caught in the storm. The ride comes with the full range of experience such as having bubbles floating in the theatre, wind blowing in your face and not to mention a nasty surprise to your back.

I had the privilege of being one of the first few to experience the ride and I must say I pretty enjoyed seeing all the star studded cast trying to survive together on a forgotten island. And the narration by Michael Caine is just heavenly. Not to forget seeing Vanessa Hudgens too :p

before we can see dwayne johnson though, we had to queue up in the jungle of safety briefing

the extreme log ride where you learn to be a log literally. photo courtesy of Sentosa Island, Singapore

shooting the bad guys as part of your duty in the desperados. photo courtesy of Sentosa Island, Singapore

me chilling with my newfound friends from himalazon, i think. and the girl awkwardly trying to avoid the camera behind me

the try to get the ping pong ball out from the box hanging around your waist challenge

In their continuous effort to improve their line of products and to cater to a more diverse range of customers, Logitech has recently announced the release of 8 new products in their Logitech G series lineup, a range of products ranging from mice, keyboards and headsets specially tailored to the most hardcore of computer users, the gamer population.

Thanks to the folks at Logitech, I had the opportunity to attend the media launch event for all the 8 new products today at the Garena stadium at Bugis+, which is an incredible honour considering the fact that most of the people who attended the event with me were either professional gamers or writers for established publications. Kinda feel out of place, to be honest.

the setup of the event today, photo credits to SPRG and Logitech Singapore (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sprg_photos/)

A total of 8 new products were released today, 4 gaming mice, 2 gaming keyboards and 2 headsets, and our group was one of the first few who were given the chance to witness the launch of the new products. The new gaming mice includes the model G100s, G400s, G500s and the G700s, while the keyboard models are G510s and G19s, and last but not least the G230 and G430 are the new gaming headset models to be released together in this lineup.

There's a lot of new features in this new line of products, for example in the gaming mice itself features such as hydrophobic coating and a delta zero sensor technology are added to ensure that the mouse performs to the standard required by gamers during serious gameplay, one that is not affected by sweaty palms and delivers high speed response rate and accuracy needed to make the winning move. From the entry G100s mouse all the way to the more serious G700s mouse, there's just one that is suitable for your gaming needs, be it casual gaming or professional gaming. The prices itself are tailored to what you're looking for to, ranging from an affordable SGD 35 all the way to SGD 135.

i particularly like the g400s though, for reasons you'll know later. photo credits to SPRG and Logitech Singapore (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sprg_photos/)

The two keyboards itself also feature a lot of nifty functions, such as having an additional LCD display to help give you the extra information to help give you the extra advantage in game (this is the first time I'm seeing an extra LCD display on a keyboard) and it also comes with up to 18 programmable extra keys on the left on the keyboard for those who needs to have macro functions in game. With so many functions available on just one keyboard, I'm sure serious gamers would love it for its ability to do almost anything. Of course, the keyboards also come with adjustable colours just for your taste.

the g19s for the most hardcore of players. photo credits to SPRG and Logitech Singapore (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sprg_photos/)

Last but not least, the gaming headsets which features surround sound system, an ultra lightweight design for long hour gaming purposes, noise cancelling mic and even removable cloth earcups that you can wash for hygiene purposes. The gaming headsets designed in such a way to allow you the most accurate sound detection in game (such as which direction the footsteps are coming from) and to allow seamless communication between you and your team members during a team game.

le gaming headset. photo credits to SPRG and Logitech Singapore (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sprg_photos/)

What I've said about the functions are but a rough overview of all of the features of the products themselves to give you a general idea of what the product aims to achieve. Perhaps the best benefit of all the features available is that all of the products themselves come with a 3 year warranty. And yes, that means that no matter what you buy, if there's a defect that you find in the product or any problems that you face, you have a 3 years warranty to look after your gaming gear, which is quite a long period if you ask me, because even I don't use a particular equipment for more than 3 years.

And of course, if you want more info on the features of the products itself, you can always go to Logitechs website (http://gaming.logitech.com/en-sg) to check out more on each product and to compare them with each other. In addition to that, you'll also be able to see what are the latest products and also their price range. With all the available information. it's quite convenient for you to look through when you're deciding.

And now as promised, why I like the new G400S mouse in particular. Well, because I won one you see.

yep, a brand new gaming mouse for me

I think lady luck was with me today, because when we were split into a team for the friendly League of Legends competition during the event with the mouse as the prize for the winning team, I had three tournament players in my team. So all I had to do was to stand behind and let me teammates do their job. And that's the story behind how I won the easiest prize so far in my blogging career.

team precision, we were called. photo credits to SPRG and Logitech Singapore (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sprg_photos/)

We also had the opportunity to try out the gaming devices during our match, but because it was only a five minute match and due to the fact I was nervous the whole time as I have never played League of Legends before, I didn't really get a good feel to accurately judge the gaming devices that I was using, except that they felt different, except for the headset though.

When it comes to headset, because I'm wearing glasses, normal headsets (the ones you wear over your ears) would cause a slight discomfort on my head as they pressed down on my ears, my glasses and my head together. With the headset that we were using though, the pressure was not really apparent and I could play without really noticing that I was in fact wearing a headset. Which was quite amazing considering I always had problems finding a suitable headset that doesn't conflict with my glasses.

Other than that, I'll be looking forward to testing my new G400S mouse with some serious FPS shooting in the next couple of days and perhaps post a review about it. That is, if I manage to move all my stuff by then as I'm in the midst of room shifting. But other than that, it was a great event by Logitech and hopefully there will be more coming up! Stay tuned!

Be extra careful the next time you're using water from a pipe for more than 5 minutes because you might just end up with a seizure and break into an aerobic dance routine. Or at least that's what the Public Utilities Board (PUB) is trying to tell us though their latest water conservation campaign video, Water Wally Shower Dance Music Video (embedded below).

In what seems to be a genuine effort to come up with an entertaining video to appeal to the young, it seems that somehow the producers behind the video did not actually consult the young before embarking on this video. The end results seem more like an aerobic dance instructional video rather than a music video, with lines actually asking to to move your limbs ("To the legs! Ah... feel the legs" 2:35) and having the actors/actresses in the clip perform dance moves that you would normally see in a kindergarten concert.

I'm thinking that perhaps they simplified the dance moves to accommodate the different people who are starring in the video but to be honest, I'm think that there are many more other ways to include everyone rather than downright dumbing down the entire music video which makes it almost to painful to watch.

One cannot help but wonder who's brilliant idea was it to give the go ahead to the video, but judging from the negative comments that have already started to pour in, heads will definitely roll.

One thing's for sure though, like all the videos that are so bad until it makes you laugh previously, think Rebecca Black and Steven Lim, this video is definitely going viral. My news feed in Facebook is starting to be filled with people sharing this video and the number is definitely going to rise. But looking at how the video is from a government agency though, I would predict that they will take down the video soon enough to not generate any more embarrassment so you might want to download it or watch it soon before it gets taken down. And despite how bad it is, I can't help but laugh after watching this.