No, not Homesick.  I'm home, sick.

The heavens probably heard my fervent prayer that I wanted to take a weekday off from work.  You see, I saw that there's House of the Dead 4 in Timezone last weekend, then I wished that I can get a weekday off from work in order to play.  I wanted so bad to play that time but there were all these teenage guys packing the place. 

So paiseh.  You see, I sucked at HOTD 2.  It took me and my friend endless swipes in hopes of prolonging our 'lives'.  Now HOTD 4 comes with some extra features and commands, like "Shake It Off!" (shake off the enemy clinging to u), etc.  Then u have to literally shake your gun in order to get loose. 

So cool right?  Or not?  Haha..

There's more, you get judged according to your accuracy etc at the end of each stage.  And likewise, when you 'die', there's a map snaking through all the places you managed to pass through unscathed.

There was this 1 guy who played by himself, and he was pretty good.  Coz for HOTD, normally you should play in pairs, or else all these zombies will get to kill you faster.  But that guy actually came quite far.  He could aim, shoot and reload so darn fast. 

Anyway going back to being home, sick.

I already started to feel a bit warm (My body's natural instinct to get sick after seeing HOTD 4?  Hahaha) last Sunday.  Then Monday night I started getting the sniffles.  Then by the time I knocked off from work I was seriously nursing a bad cold.  I spent Monday night sprawled on the living room couch, dead to world and thus missing Grey's Anatomy at 11pm.  I woke up at 12 midnight.  Just when the show wrapped up.  Damn.  I managed to catch a bit of Desperate Housewives in between drifting from consciousness at around 10 something though.

Woke up on Tuesday seriously feeling sick.  But I had to drag myself to work coz I left earlier the night before, thinking I'll just finish the stuff the next day.  And the doctor is near the office anyway, so I also need to pop in there in order to get an MC (Medical Certificate).  Hay, while on the train, I was thinking, how many times did the elders lecture us not to keep putting off the day's work?  Procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate.  Man, I'm so good at that.  But the company policy also states that we have to see that particular doctor in order to take a sick leave.  Hello, W-E-L-F-A-R-E, anyone???

Anyways, as soon as I was on my way home (I left the office at 10am+ already ok??), I felt amazingly better!  Hahaha.. So I was entertaining the thought of playing HOTD 4 at the mall.  But then I felt guilty, I was supposed to be sick and lying in bed, not up and about bringing down zombies through a shooting fest.  It was just so morally wrong.  I then proceeded to silently curse my oh-so-good upbringing. 

So since HOTD was out of the way, I decided to do a little grocery shopping.  I planned to cook chicken soup (Well, I am supposedly sick..) for dinner.  So sad, here I am sick, and I even have to cook my own get-well-soup.  Apparently my MC gives me a free ticket for self-pity indulgence.

I also bought 2 big Lays packs.  Not exactly food for the sick, but they were on Buy 2 for some amount promo.  Then tried some pop-in-the-oven chicken pie, which turned out to be mighty disappointing.  I also bought grapes; I tend to eat fruits when I want to feel healthy, haha. 

Anyway, since HOTD aside, I had time on my hands.  Thus, my relationship with the boob tube was very much cultivated today.  After sleeping for 2 or 3 hours, I got up to prepare chicken soup, then here's what i did, or more accurately, watched:

• 1600   The Tofus (Cartoon)
• 1630   Lizzie McGuire
• 1700   Gilmore Girls
• 1800   Oprah
• 1900   My 18-Year Old Bride (Korean Dramedy)
• 2000   Truly Yours (Local Drama)
• 2100   The Undicslosed (Local Drama)

Quite productive, eh?

I forced myself to wake up earlier, although I was still very sleepy coz I wanted to catch Lizzie McGuire.  I soo missed watching that show ever since I came here.  We don't subscribe to cable and the only way I can catch this show is if I watch it on weekday afternoons.  A very shallow show for some, but hey I really like it.  I didn't intend to catch The Tofus, but somehow I remembered the time for Lizzie wrongly, so no harm in catching a few cartoon flicks.

It's a good thing the Gilmore Girls rerun was an episode I missed.  GG has always been one of my favorite series.  I want to buy all the seasons on dvd; especially when I'm standing in front of all the nicely boxed tv series section in HMV.  But doing this will not only leave my soul happily satisfied, but sadly, also leave a huge gaping hole in my pockets.

The Oprah rerun was about beautifying oneself and your home.  I'm thinking of buying the Home Rules book she's recommending.  I'd love to go around decorating the house, but then again, what I want is always accompanied by the kaching! and procratinating problems.  Oh a lesson I learned from Oprah, if you will just spend 15mins prettifying yourself (i.e., putting on makeup), it does wonders to your inner self.  Hmm, maybe I should consider discarding my usual sleep-is-more-important justifying excuse and go beyond the usual concealer (a must for me) and foundation?

The Korean show has been going on for several weeks already.  But since the hardworking me isn't usually home yet by that time, so I've missed the first few funny eps.  Truly Yours also showcases this Taiwanese actor, Qiu Ze, who is one of my major crushes.  He looks like this super cute Japanese actor who starred in this Jap Drama called Strawberry Shortcake.  I dunno what his name is but he looks like him a lot!!!  I remember the intro song is some song by ABBA (the SOS song i think), but at this time the title escapes my rapidly degenerating brain.  I remember the guy's character in the show is called Jun Dou (direct translation: Genuine Bean???) in Mandarin, so afterwards i started calling my bro Jun Dou also, a variation from Ger-do.  Hahaha..  I should really start searching for that Jap actor's name soon.

Oh well, that about sums it all up.  How productive my Sick Leave is!  I should start having more of these to feed my soul. 

In exchange for skipping HOTD 4, I did all these in return.  Which brings to mind, I don't even know when they had HOTD 3??  How long have I stopped going to arcades?  But this'll change.  I'll plan my next trip with my bro strategically.  Days when the people are lesser and the risk of embarrassment more manageable.  I'll play HOTD 4 like there's no tomorrow and also try out Initial D, which btw, I've been eyeing for several months.  I seriously suspect there's a conspiracy with this machine.  Somehow I just avert my eyes for a nanosecond then there's already a new player seated in the racing game seat.  Damn!

Somehow after seeing HOTD 4, I suddenly remembered how we used to hang out in G4 before, then Timezone was a must, whether we're waiting for the movie to start or after the movie has finished.  The Timezone there will always be opened so long as someone is playing.  The staff is so nice.  Then there are so many games.  Of course back then Daytona was still hugely popular, with around 7 or 8 game machines side by side.  Then there's the Dance Dance Revolution (which if you're the shy type you can try the one 'hidden' in some corner inside), the HOTD 2 (these still came in the semi-enclosed red thingy with a bench inside, so our screams could be a bit muffled), the skateboarding game, 2 other kinds of racing games, the basketball shooting thing, punching thing, etc etc... 

Of course the presence of Starbucks beside it was another source of joy for me.  Haha, in between losing out in Daytona to making a fool of myself while trying out the drum drum machine (I used to harbour wistful wishes to play the drums), I can sit back with my friends and enjoy my ultimate high - Rhumba Frappe. 

Oh but I just remembered, I did win 1 game when 1 of our guy friends challenged me in Daytona, seeing that I loved it so much and practiced endlessly.  Of course after I won they dismissed it as luck and conveniently forgot about it.  The nerve, hahaha....

I really miss those days.  Somehow it only took one House of the Dead 4 game machine to bring back all these memories.  Discovering one's favorite show's reruns on tv are also really wonderful.

I guess I am also homesick after all.