Distractions are... 

This page is dedicated to all the distractions I have in life, and I look forward to finding even more. Feel free to browse the on-line media library for anything you might like to borrow. Of course I only expect my friends to come in here. I will also feature MYSELF on this page so you can see if I'm getting married, divorced, a dog, or a car!! Haha! 

After going through all my interest, that's pretty much all, folks! So far, nothing really exciting has happened in this life of mine. No alien encounters (Ah Lian encounters then have, lah!), no near death experiences (except for some cab drivers who really drive me to my grave) and no sordid tales to tell. Will update you if something BIG does happen... 

More about me...

Name: Hui Bin / KillerChick / Cyb0r9 Pen9uin
In case you don't know me or you've just stumbled here, this is what people on Earth call me. My real name in the language of aliens is too complicated to be processed by Earth-made computers. Seriously.

First Earthday: 2nd February 1975
Oh why do you care, asking a lady about her age anyway! 1975 is a good year, I'll have you know. Until 2nd February of course. Earthling dates are just arbitrary anyway!

Residence on Earth: Singapore

I'm still trying to get used to the gravity here, therefore I stumble about quite a lot. Do forgive me. How come this planet doesn't have gravity control?

You can reach me via email.

Read on if you are interested in my history...

A Distracted Childhood

I was left at home alone quite a lot when I was young, so I have developed an ability to really enjoy playing by myself. According to my mum, other adults are often full of praise as I am such a "quiet and well-behaved kid" (kids in the 70s are "well-behaved" if they tend to leave adults alone, I for one am a champion in this cause cos, well, I can't be bothered with adults). I often become engrossed in playing, reading or watching TV (can you blame me for still being so dependent on my distractions up till today?) Having an elder sister does have its advantages, although I'm not sure if it outweighs the disadvantages. For one, I have a ready access of reading materials and playthings. It is here that I can fully develop my imagination, as it is, and became, the thing that keeps me company and keeps me sane.

Play

Before I discovered computer games, I played mainly with manufactured toys (Lego, Playmobils and lots of "Made in China" pasar malam playsets...no fond memories of kampong toys since I was a city kid and wasn't permitted to play with my neighbours...I was pretty much locked up at home all the time). I was never much for fixed themes that Lego or Playmobils come up with - for me, the cowboys wield medieval swords, a handicapped character (thanks to my sis' medical operation on him that went wrong and made the character unable to stand) was the King since all he can do is sit down (but he does extremely well in the Water Olympics in the Platform Diving category since he falls so gracefully), and Red Indians ride on plastic Made-in-China elephants...Having a huge cast of characters really help in the re-enactment of some of my favourite books, movies and TV shows, or even impromptu scripts about war, disasters and whatever I can think of.

Doodles

Doodling was another of my favourite hobbies. I was very fond of coming up with my own stories, so I often doodle in leftover ruled accounts books (somehow I seem to have a few of those lying around the house) and ball-point pens (my favourite medium). My love for pens got me into trouble in Primary One since we were only allowed to write in pencils which I detest...in those days the school workbooks use such inferior paper that it is almost impossible to write properly on it with cheap pencils. I never developed my drawing skills - I simply use stick characters merely as props to move my story along. Sometimes I will just draw a huge double page spread of these stick characters (whom I fondly call Little People) raiding a larder full of food (I like to draw food) or fighting an epic war or having a picnic. I have a bad habit of adding too much detail (which is also a problem in my writing as well) so these epic drawings can take hours to accomplish. The Little People characters have no faces, but their body language says it all, as well as things like exclamation marks and question marks. My poor drawing skills were certified in Secondary 2 when I was one of the rare people who failed Still-life Drawing, although I did very well in abstract graphics and geometric patterns - I got 89 for a piece using only black and white that plays on geometry and perspective, my highest score in art ever.

Reading and Writing

I love reading since I remember that I could...it started with Ladybirds, then Enid Blyton whose works I really adore. She has such amazing imagination and great writing style especially for kids! I learnt all about living in UK from her...that their supper was our dinner, that they have a larder, that they use pennies and pounds instead of dollars and cents, that treacle is sweet and liquorice is spicy, all things that can only be imagined by a child in Singapore. Thanks to Enid Blyton, I loved to write since Primary school and won praises from my English teachers for my compositions. Until Primary Five, that is. I had an English teacher who was, although full of praise for my Grammar and Vocabulary, found the content of my compositions too macabre and pessimistic and hence gave me a bad grade as well as a public reprimand in front of the class. My classmates, who were probably sick of hearing good things about me, were probably pleased that I met with my ruin at the hands of an English teacher. That was when I lost faith in the educational system, and found that if you follow the conventions, you will not be singled out. So much for a nurturing environment for creativity.

My contact with fantasy and sci-fi came with the brilliant roleplaying game book series, Fighting Fantasy by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone...I loved them so much I even went to get their autographs when they came to Singapore once, and I still have those books which I have tempered the violence and gore with cute girly stickers like Little Twin Stars, Garfield and Snoopy. I also loved the adventure-packed Choose Your Own Adventure series and bought a lot of those too.

Technology

Computers were love at first sight for me...my first contact was at one of my mum's friend's place. Her kids had an Apple computer which could run ancient games like Karateka. I was instantly hooked and relentlessly begged my mum for one. I was so eager to be in contact with computers that I took BASIC classes (remember? IF, THEN, GOTO etc) and had a nice teacher who gave us copies of computer games like Space Invaders, Alley Cat and Tapper. It's probably thanks to him that I had early access to games. I finally got one in Primary Six as a reward for my good grades, a Sherry PC/XT which then became my constant companion. With it, I could go online to BBS (this was before the time of the Internet), download things and even play online text-based games. I guess, as the cliche goes, the rest is history...

Music

My family often recount this story about me, of which I do not seem to have the slightest recollection. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I was very fond of listening to the radio, especially in the car, and I will kick up a fuss if the music stopped in the middle of my favourite song. I was supposedly extremely fond of this Chinese song called "Deng3 Dai4" (Waiting) (and don't ask me how it goes or who sang it, I really don't have the foggiest idea now), and there was once I screamed til my face turned blue at the carpark and I kept screaming "I WANNA HEAR DENG DAI!! I WANNA HEAR DENG DAI!!" which scared a few drivers and pedestrains. Hmm...and I did say I was normally a very quiet kid? Anyway my dad had to leave the engine running sometimes even after he has parked the car just so that I can finish listening to the song. Really...what a pain I was then...I only act like that now if someone cut me off in the middle of a Faye Wong song!! My later musical favourites include ABBA, which really helped me with my pronounciation of foreign words like Voulez-vous and Chiquitita, and the Carpenters where I learnt that Americans pronounce things strangly (not "baby" but "bay-beh"). Adolescence meant more pop music, heavy metal and rock, thanks to the very hip (at least then it was) 98.7 FM.

TV Shows

Like most kids, I was very fond of cartoons, muppets and educational programmes. Sesame Street, Electric Company, The Muppet Show and cartoons like Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse & Friends were my favourite. These helped in my grasp of English as well, especially spelling and pronounciation. I do think that TV is a valuable educational tool, as it was my babysitter for most of my afternoons.