Today I was really LUCKY. Or I just missed the boat, if you want to see it that way, but I think it all worked out in the end!

Went out with the 3I people for Wz's birthday. Part of our plans was to go to the Toys and Comic Convention at Suntec. It was JAM-PACKED. We went down one particularly horrible passageway, and were just wondering why it was so bad when... we saw the sign FREE COMICS. And all you had to do to get a comic was fill up a survey!

We jumped right into the queue and I handed everyone a survey to sign. The girl then handed us the comic books. I was pretty surprised to find that they were giving out Transformers comics, and old Dreamwave comics to boot! The artwork on them is really good. Most of us got Vol 4 of the G1 series. I was quite happy with that, until... WZ GOT THE 6TH ISSUE, WITH SKYFIRE AND SUNSTORM ON THE COVER.

I boggled. A lot, because I couldn't believe my eyes. Besides, I wasn't quite sure that it was the volume that I liked. So I asked to look at it. AND IT WAS.

I doubled back at the earliest opportunity to see if I could get the same copy as Wz, only to find that they had finished distributing. So I went back and made sad faces, until Zhiyong (who had got Wz's copy) agreed to let me have the copy. I felt so bad after that! But once I saw my Skyfire pics, I felt a little bit justified.

Then Shaohui gave me his free comic. I FELT EVEN WORSE.

Still, the advertising was pretty good. Now I feel like buying comics from the bookstore, G&B Comics (you can see their website here: http://www.xanga.com/GnBComic) It surprised me that they are at Bras Basah, since I go there quite a bit but don't remember seeing them. (Address is: Blk 231 Bain Street #03-47Bras Basah Complex Singapore 180231 Tel: (65) 6837 2280)

All the walking tired us out so we went to Starbucks to chill and mooch off their free seats (by not ordering anything). We got another surprise when we reached Starbucks: the Guard of Honour contingent was just outside, preparing for the National Day rehearsal! Got to see them up close, even closer than actually being at NDP.

The good stuff didn't just stop there. I decided to be lazy and take the bus home. While I was aimlessly looking out for the bus, I saw the helicopter fly past with the Singapore flag! It wasn't the only aerial display that I saw. As I neared the old National Stadium, I actually saw the fighter jet display FROM THE BUS. The stunts were really good. In the first round, two jets would fly towards each other, do a loop and then actually cross each other's paths! The second round started off quite normally with four fighter jets flying in formation. Then, two of the jets split off and the pairs did a loop. At the end of the loop ALL FOUR JETS CROSS EACH OTHER'S PATHS HEAD ON. It was amazing to watch.

Now I really wish that I balloted for NDP tickets. But I completely blanked on the timeslot for the balloting, and missed it. Oh well, there's always TV.