Jus Me Myself & I

I'm a sore loser

2011-11-28T18:11:00.004+08:00

I hate losing.

Dunno why the sudden urge to blog about this now, but yea.

Looking back at my life so far, i dare say that even though i may not be the best in everything i do, I always strive to be one of the best. It applies to everything.

Since primary school, I had a niche for trying to learn from the best. If classmate A was gifted in math and science, I would make sure that I learn as much as I can from him/her so that i'll be on par with him/her. At the same time, I'll make sure at least ONE of my other subjects (Chinese, English) was better than him/her. I'm not sure whether it was due to my upbringing or it was genetically inbuilt in me, but this 'competitiveness' propelled me through the rest of my academic years, be it high school, junior college or even uni. I never truly believed that there was one guy who was smarter and than me in EVERYTHING.

This drive to win and be among the best extended to other areas as well. Games, dance, running, basketball, and even work. I was never content with ever being placed behind somebody in anything.

My love for sports, especially basketball, stems from the satisfaction of winning a close game. My close friends would know this. I derive no joy from winning a one-sided game, but i do get pissed if I lose even if the odds are clearly against me. And even though I may not show much emotion after I lose a game, deep down I'm fuming and swearing to myself that I'll win the next game.

Same goes for running. My parents often question me why I signed up for so many 10, 21, 42km runs. Besides seeing it as a great opportunity to test my physical and mental limits, I see it as a chance to outdo myself, to win my established beliefs in my body limits. I constantly set new target timings for myself. The sense of satisfaction and achievement derived from completing such runs are highly addictive and could never be comprehended by those who have yet to try.

In work, however, my way of thinking have changed. And here is where I start to bitch about work. In my first year, I strived hard. I took on loads of work and gave my all for every presentation, discussion, meeting, exercise planning, basically everything that I was involved in. However, when ranking came, I felt that I was not given what I thought I deserved.

Not giving up, I tried again for the 2nd year, putting myself under tremendous stress by taking up multiple taskings. The result turned out to be the same. Now I believe humans are all rational creatures. If hard work and good efforts are not being recognized and rewarded, the only rational choice is to stop trying so hard.

I was the only one from my workplace who passed the tough ROA course in the first sitting.
I have attended 3 courses with external agency A. In fact, I'm the only one in my workplace who have completed all 3 courses, with flying colours. Yet my request to be posted to agency A for my next tour have become.. as they term it, 'no sound no picture'. What's worse? there have been 2 trips to France and 2 trips to Sweden, and I'm being denied of both of them.

I've also been ousted from the lastest trip to SA, even though people from agency A specifically asked me to go.

So what's my rational choice of action now? simple.

I will perform to whatever level you have graded me. And for the one that the management has tried to groom, good luck to u all when he leaves the organisation next year.

Yes, I'm a sore loser, but who isnt?

Its been awhile..

2011-10-25T12:01:00.003+08:00

Its been so long since I last logged in to this blog, that I've almost forgotten what my password was.

seriously.

Not to say that I no longer have things to say. I do still feel the urge to blog about certain things from time to time, but when the time comes and I finally sit down in front of the computer, I've lost the impetus to start typing about anything anymore. Until today.

I've suddenly realised I've hit the wall. No of course not literally. What I mean is I feel like I've become so settled in my daily routine that I seem to have lost the drive and urge to try something new. Something is lacking, and the problem is I don't know what it is.

Work is alright. And by alright I mean manageable. I'm thankful for having lesser commitments this year (and hence less stress) but besides that nothing has changed. For all the shit that I did for last year, I do still feel like I'm not being ranked for what I deserve. In a certain sense I've lost faith in the ranking process, not just for myself, but for my guys too. people are no longer ranked according to how much they've done, but rather how much 'exposure' they have (ie how much the higher-ups know you).

I recently attended a course on core values. And although I do admit that initially it seemed to me like a course to 'brainwash' us again, I was glad to be quickly proven wrong. The course serve as a timely reminder, at least for myself. I was deeply moved by the facilitator, not because he was a great presenter, but rather because of his sincerity. This was a man who has served in the military all his life, and who truly believes in upholding the core values. It was he who reminded me of why we needed the SAF, back in the days where peace cannot be taken for granted. It was he who reminded me that we are in the military, a profession that requires us to kill if we have to. Many who join the military in recent years forget that it is not just a 'job' or a 'career'. People seldom look past the monetary incentives (salary, bonuses) when they sign on, and these people who signed on for superficial gains would, ultimately, leave the organization. Simply because they see it as 'just another job'.

Outside of work, life is also pretty much the same. I still play bball almost every sunday with WL. Bball has played a great part in my life, and although our bball kakis have dwindled down to ust the 2 of us, I'm just glad to be still able to play every week.

Netball wise, the team manager is trying to hold the team together. Truth is there seems to be no loyalty to the team. A few better players who were initially playing for us have 'jumped ship' to a better rival team, players not turning up for training or even matches. Its disheartening, and I salute the team manager for trying to keep things going despite all these. For me, I still see it as an opportunity to exercise and learn a new sport, or perhaps its just the thrill of the adrenaline rush when we play competitively.

I've stopped dancing for almost a year now, and I'm hoping to pick it up again. yet at the same time I'm torn between my interest in dance and my other commitments. More likely than not, it seems like I'll have to sacrifice dance for now.

yup just a quick sum up of whats been happening. signing off =)

Angst

2011-01-08T13:05:00.002+08:00

This is gonna be an angsty post, as the title suggests..

probably in the near future as i look back on this I'll be smiling/laughing at myself, wondering why I was so pissed stressed, but for now I just need to ventilate, so here goes:

"Dear Dy Chairman,

Fuck you.

Yeah, seriously. Fuck you.

I really wonder how you managed to survive for so long in office without having to do anything. Oh wait, maybe that is exactly why you survived for so long.

you maintain that you should be 'overseeing' everything, which basically means you don't get your hands dirty in DOING anything. But can you please at least KNOW what's going on and not waste everyone's time?

Why e hell would we need a Organising chairman who's already OVERSEEING everything, and then another Dy Chairman who also sits back and oversee things again? Oh, I know! cos you can conveniently push all the shit jobs to some poor soul known as the SECRETARY, which happens to be me. just my luck eh?

Liase with conveners? Secretary.
Liase with SAFSA and SAA? Secretary.
Liase with Police and Prisions? Secretary.
Do Publicity posters? Secretary.
Write Admin Instructions? Secretary.
Plan Commications net? Secretary.
Come up with Events list? Secretary.
Come up with Manpower requirements? Secretary.
Master Cue table? Secretary.
Anything else that does not seem to belong to anybody? Secretary.

yeah. nevermind that I'm just one person. Anyway your job is just to throw out all kinds of instructions and expect ppl to follow-up so that if things go well you can claim the glory and say 'yea I told them to do tt' and if things go awry you can say 'I told them before they need to do tt'. Smart! and what do you need to do? you attend posh dinners at hotels with SAA and their sponsors, and you have the fucking cheek to ask me to register your name for the dinner. Oh and I almost forgot despite going for the dinner and supposedly building relationships with the sponsors for our event, you have conveniently tai-ji-ed the responsibility of sponsorship to someone else!

Why am I working my ass of and stressing myself so hard for? At the end of the day if everything goes well, the most I get is a 'thank you'. I don't get a big fat cheque to cash into my bank account, nor do I get a promotion. Its just another sai-kang that needs to be done and guess wat? since I had the dubious honor of experiencing it this year, i should make use of my experience and do it again next year!!

Fuck you.

I take this entry as an opportunity to promise myself. That I will endure for this time round. but when it comes to annual feedback in April, I'm gonna request to see CO for an interview. I'm gonna tell him to either change off the DyChairman, or take me out as the secretary.

I've had enough."

2010

2011-01-04T21:02:00.002+08:00

Looking back, I really have to say that time really flies once we become 'working adults'.

So fast that it didn't even feel like 2010 had ended just like tt, or perhaps the fact is I've been too busy to notice the passage of time. So as I'm writing this I'm trying my very best to recall what's been happening for the past year.

I remembered starting the year off with a week's trip to taiwan with my secondary school buddies. Was a really enjoyable trip and was glad all of us got to know each other better in the process! and although i've already been to taiwan twice now, I can't seem to get enough of it. Feels like going on another trip to taiwan this year =)

Chinese New Year came on Valentine's Day so I managed to somehow escape the feeling of emptiness of having to stay at home during V day.

That was followed by my brother's wedding in April. Wasn't really involved in the wedding preparations actually (except for being the co-emcee). Had the dubious honor of being a 'brother' for the first time haha..

In May there's the trip to Bali with another group of my secondary school frens. was a nice experience overall but still think that Bali has been overly commercialised and has lost its rustic charm. Sad to say it hasn't lost any of its tourists though. Also went to KL with my family cos my brother need to hold a wedding dinner there as well. enjoyed the 2 short getaways =)

In October my baby nephew came into the world. With a new cute and cuddly addition to the family I had hoped that he would ease the omni-present tension that always seem to surround my parents. Budden again with every solution comes another problem, and now my nephew has become the spark that ignites their arguments.

Work has not been good. In fact, I came to realise that the only enjoyable part about work nowadays is where i can be away from my office attending courses. Kana super many big big arrows the past year. Live firing exercise, writing article for magazine, march in SAF Day parade, being secretary for a committee headed by useless chairmen, and not forgetting my netball commitments.

I also realise that I'm no longer looking forward to go to work. Just early last year I was still tellign my friends that I enjoy my work. But now, I really have got no motivation whatsoever. Is it because I've lost interest in my work? I think not. Its probably due to the fact that I've got tonnes of shit being shoved onto me, and yet I'm being denied of reward trips after I clear up the mess. great.

alright enough of random babblings. shall dedicate a post to bitch about work soon, when I can find time and energy to do so.

Busy

2010-12-08T13:05:00.002+08:00

Dear Blog,

I know its been quite a while since i published anything here.. my apologies for that..

its not that i do not have anything to blog about anymore, but rather there's been too many things happening that its hard to even sit down and spend half an hour penning down my thoughts here.

Work has taken its toll on me. Just last week I spent 2 days out in the field in some ulu place in tuas south for training under BOTH rain and shine. nearly fell sick then. this week I spent another 2 days going for my range shoot. At least the effort paid off and I achieved marksman for the first time! $200 into my wallet! =) Next week I'll have to spend at least another 2 days out in the field at tuas south again... really need to take a break during the christmas week.

It doesnt help that I've got a live firing exercise to prepare for, or that my secondary appointment as a secretary of the organising committee of track and field is any less taxing. Worse, I'm working under incompetent bosses who simply throw everything to me while they sit back, sip their coffees and keep prompting me for updates. If there's anything I've learnt from this secondary appointment, its this:

Never be a secretary for any organising committee, especially when the chairman/ dychairman are people who are simply postmen who delegate work but never really get their hands dirty in doing anything at all. As a result, ANYTHING that doesnt fall under any sub-committee becomes the job of the secretary, who is just a one-man army. you get the point.

and perhaps because of all the endless demands placed on me, I guess my mindset has sort of changed. In the past, I would have taken up all these demands and did every single one of them to the best of my abilities. Now, however, I realise that it has come to a stage where I'm unable to accomplish EVERYTHING to the standard I'd have preferred. So instead of doing everything, i'll just focus on the ones with higher priorities and heck the rest.

Apart from work, I'm trying to achieve balance to spend time for my gf, my family, my friends, and myself. Its not easy, but i'm doing what I can.

After all, I have only one pair of hands, one brain, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

2010-07-14T12:13:00.002+08:00

A thought suddenly struck me while i was having brunch in front of the tv just now..

The simplest of joys in life are those that cannot be bought.

On my journey to work everyday, I cannot help but observe the faces of the people crammed in the MRT together with me. Packed like sardines in a can, no one was smiling. everywhere i looked it was the same dull, expressionless face that was crying out for more sleep, less work, and more money.

MORE money.

So many people that i know of are slogging their asses off in office everyday, drawing salaries that can more than provide them with a comfortable life, and yet having so little time to be able to spend it.

for myself, money is the means to an end. Ultimately, the money that is earned is used to do something that hopefully makes us happy. buying of bags/shoes/clothes/accessories, eating good food, going overseas for holidays.

But yet, there are simpler joys in life.

spending time with your family..

appreciating the warmth of home-cooked food..

staying up late not having to worry abt waking up for work tml..

waking up late without the alarm clock ringing in your ears..

listening to your favourite music..

catching the sunrise/ sunset..

or even just being able to hold hands with the person you love.

All these basic joys don't require us to be financially well off, and yet these basic joys are too often taken for granted.

Treasure what you have my friends, for money is just a mean to an end =)

Letter

2010-05-26T19:26:00.003+08:00

I dunno what exactly triggered me to blog this.. perhaps it was e conversation with dad on the way home today? in any case I've been wanting to speak to you about these thoughts for quite some time le just couldn't really bring it up to you face to face. so here's hoping that you'll chance across this entry, brother =)

I remembered after my O levels there was once you spoke to me, asking me whether i wanted to go JC or Poly to continue my education, and I chose JC because i had wanted to go to uni and do engineering, and JC was the faster path. u asked a question then that threw me off balance.

'why engineering?'

I wanted so much to say tt it was my interest, that engineering was what i wanted to do all along.. but then again i knew tt was a lie. I chose engineering because i happen to do well in engineering-related subjects such as physics and math. because I guessed that an engineering degree would probably guarantee me a stable job and a decent pay after i graduate. towards the later part of my life i justified that it was because of my career with the airforce as an engineer, which required me to pursue an engineering degree.truth is, i never really liked engineering, i just happened to do well in it.

U told me then. of your dreams and aspirations. of how you could never tolerate a 9-5 job doing the same thing over and over everyday. of how you wanna venture out and really do something you like. I was so envious of you. that you could have such ambitions despite the fact that we are in a country that thrives on elitism. where a uni degree is almost a must-have to apply for a job with decent pay. I was so envious that you were not affected by all these intangible red tapes. deep down, i actually wished that you could prove me wrong, that one does not need such qualifications to survive in the real world. I believed with the drive you have, eventually you will succeed in your own way =)

years flew past. and what happened? you kept claiming that you are still young, that there are still opportunities outside, that you still wish to venture.

Hello? knock knock? wake up already. Young? you are turning 30 in 8 months' time, and you are still drawing a salary of a fresh poly graduate. young?? you are married with a wife and soon a kid to feed. our parents are gonna be 60 in another couple of years. Mum's not working, Dad's business is going downhill and even if its not, how long do you want him to continue working? Both of them have no CPF and sis-in-law's chances of getting her PR status is getting slimmer by the day. HELLO?? Am I the only one who is worried about these issues?

you said you hate having to work in an office environment. you think the working world is full of hypocrites. you think your bosses are incompetent fools and are not understanding. you find your job boring with no satisfaction whatsoever. you think you work your ass off and is only paid peanuts. well guess wat? Everyone feels the same way too!

welcome to the real world bro. to quote your advice when i broke up with my ex, 'time to wake up and smell the shit'. stop complaining and DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER!

you think your pay is shit? then go upgrade yourself and make yourself deserve better. dun keep complaining that you have no money to study (or the fact that you dun like studying). low pay = no money = cannot afford to upgrade = low pay. its a neverending cycle dude. do something to jump out of it. save up, take up another job, anything besides complaining. you think i'm doing my dream job now? you think there aren't times where i feel overworked and underpaid? you think my bosses are perfectly accomodating people?

Before you can speak of your dreams and aspirations, you need to bow down to the cold hard reality and feed the stomach first. its as simple as that.

hearing from dad that you are actually considering to venture cross the border just pisses me off. really. have you spared a thought for mum and dad before you considered that option? stop thinking about urself alr. you have a problem? solve it. don't just run away from it cos its more convenient. that was not the brother i knew from so long ago.

Quotes

2010-04-17T14:06:00.002+08:00

"Engineers make life for others simpler, by making their own lives difficult"

"Scientists dream of new inventions; Engineers turn them into reality"

"The true importance of engineers is only realised when things go wrong"

唉

2010-03-30T11:59:00.002+08:00

一对夫妻在一起久了，难免会对彼此产生一些陈见。而这些陈见，会让这对夫妻为了一些鸡毛蒜皮的小事开骂。

我的父母亲就是这么一对夫妻。

经过那么多年的争执，争吵后，双方都笃定对方‘就是那样的人，改不了了’。而每次他们争吵过后，最难做人的却是我和哥哥两个。冷战期间，我们得试着了解整件事的来龙去脉。

但，公说公有理，婆说婆有理。

听了父亲的‘版本’，会同情父亲。但听了母亲的‘版本’，又会觉得母亲才是受害者。

唉。

难得自己的大儿子快结婚了，为什么还要整天为了一丁点小事大动干戈？两个人都在一起那么久了，为什么总要翻一些旧帐来挖苦对方？难得家里办喜事，为什么就不能开开心心一起把精力放在婚礼的筹备上？

Demoralised

2010-03-26T20:17:00.003+08:00

Today was supposed to be a good day, even a happy day.

Why? Because I get to know about my performance bonus!

I mean, to get a bonus is definitely a satisfying thought, and the money would be much appreciated now that my bro is getting married and e family is running short financially.

Sadly, the thing about performance bonuses is that the bonuses are tied to.. well... performance.

Don't get me wrong. I was really optimistic about what I was gonna get. Bases on my conscience, I've been putting in loads of effort for the past year, especially with the overseas exercise preparations, rushing presentation slides, and doing countless reports, and covering my boss when he's not around.

Hence by my own judgement, I reckon I have quite a good standing amongst my peers.

Alas, that is not the case.

My colleague, who's from the same batch as me, got an entire additional month of bonus more than me.

An entire MONTH.

Of cos, my colleague may probably deserve it. Perhaps like me, he's thinking that he's been through loads of shit and put in alot of effort as well. But seriously, one month of difference?

We've compared our achievements for the past year before, and seriously we both thought I would be getting more than him.

So that leaves us with one possible explanation. Ranking was done last Jul/Aug, where we were still relatively new guys, so PROBABLY the bosses ranked us based on our tertiary results. He got first class honours. I got 2nd lower.

Not that I can accept that as a reason. He's alr been compensated in his monthly pay (which is $500 more than me btw), shouldn't bonuses be strictly based on effort and performance?

To rub salt into the wound, my boss is going to overseas for a conference soon, although even the system manager himself think I'm the more deserving one who should go. Great. I was the one who picked up all the shit for that particular system, and now my boss enjoys the overseas trip.

Just great.

First a low bonus, now a trip denied.

My theory is simple: pay me peanuts, and you get monkey's work

Good luck to you boss.

Thoughts thoughts thoughts

2010-02-27T16:47:00.002+08:00

Was talking to one of my frens recently regarding Vday and she was telling me how she envied one of her colleagues. You see, her colleague's boyfriend gave her a matching set of Chanel necklace and earrings for Vday!

Judging from her tone and expression, it made the colleague sound like the luckiest and most loved person on earth. Hence I presume that such a gift (which of cos must have cost a bomb) 'shows' that the boyfriend loves her colleague alot?

Is it really the case?

Don't get me wrong. Of cos I know that if a guy is willing to spend ALOT of money on a girl, it shows to a certain extent how important the girl is to him. But for me, I always believed that the best gifts cannot be bought, nor placed with a price tag.

Perhaps I'm a hopeless romantic, or perhaps my thinking is too conservative. But I really think that a well thought-out, handmade present that took tonnes of effort is the best present for the one you love, because no amount of money can justify the amount of time and effort you put in to show your love =) Sadly though it seems that such acts are slowly disappearing in our materialistic world, where people use being 'busy' as an excuse too frequently, too loosely.

***********

On another note CNY has been more or less the same as previous years, except for the constant asking of 'when are you gonna get a girlfriend' kinda questions which I totally expected.

Just to clarify, I'm not remaining single because I'm still thinking abt my last relationship. I believe that I have moved on. There's too many factors involved here that all add up to why I am still single.

First and foremost, I do not want to be in a relationship SIMPLY for the sake of being in a relationship. I don't see the need for me to want something simply because I do not HAVE it and other ppl do.

Second, I do not know if I can commit to a serious relationship with my life now. Perhaps I've gotten used to being single, and it'll take some effort to make time for my other half if I really do get attached. Of cos it may seem to be an excuse, but well thats what I feel.

Third, I believe I've changed my mindset in handling relationships with girls, which may not be a good thing. There are alot more things I tend to think of now before I really take the plunge. and hence as the wiser ppl say, 'the more you think, the less you do'.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, it is hard to meet new friends of the opposite gender in my line of work!! =P

So well I'm taking things slow for now. I still e kinda guy who believes in fate. If it happens, it happens. If not, no loss to me anyway =)

TAIWAN TRIP!!!

2010-01-13T20:56:00.003+08:00

Started off 2010 with a great taiwan trip!!! was so glad that we finally managed to go on an overseas trip again after so many years (since hawaii i guess). on hindsight it was really a vv fun trip! sufferng from withdrawal symptoms now so thought I'll pen down the trip summary while the memory is still fresh! (no photos here, too many to upload liao!)

Day #1

Reached Changi Airport Terminal 3 at about 10am. Still vividly rmember my excitement cos its the first time I'm gonna take an SQ flight (also the first time in T3). Plane took off punctually at 1220pm.

Reached Taoyuan Airport at ard 5pm, and the sky was already dark. temperature was about 15 degrees. we proceeded to take a bus down to taipei railway station, where we ran into some problems trying to find our accommodation.

After throwing our bags in our room, we took e subway to Hua Si Jie Night Market, which was famous for.. er.. snake meat. had our first taste of taiwan sausages, lu rou fan, snake soup, smelly tofu etc. Feeling unsatisfied we continued to Ximen Ding, which was the fashion district of Taipei. There we had more goodies such as oyster mee sua, bbq squid and cong zhua bing!! Headed back to our hostel at around 1130pm.

Day #2

Woke up early and headed to Beitou for my first hot spring experience!!! found the place after a short walk from the station. Entrance fee was super cheap but too bad we weren't allowed to take photos. had great fun cooking ourselves in the steaming water hahahaha..

left the place at about 1pm and headed to Danshui for food!!! there we began purchasing foodstuffs to bring back home (all the while stopping every now and then for food). From wat I can remember we tried smelly tofu, tie dan, taiwanese nougats, fried squid, ice cream, butter crabs, pork cutlet with cheese, more taiwanese sausages, fried durians and even had a mini challenge to drink the extra bitter ku cha!! really very bitter.. lol classic expressions on everyone's faces sia...

after eating continuously for 6 hours, we headed to Shilin Night Market!! As expected, we continued in our task of trying to eat everything taiwan has to offer hahaha.. we had mang guo bing, steak, more lu rou fan, lu wei, baked potato, chicken cutlet, chilli dumplings, bbq mushrooms and chicken's behind, guan cai ban, and many more!! by the time we realised it we had eaten for a full 10 hours!!! unable to eat anymore, we headed back to our hostel.

Day #3

had breakfast at tapei railway station and boarded the train bound for taichung! reached our corner backpackers' hostel at ard 4 pm and started our trip around taichung after receiving some brief getaround-instructions from the owner of the hostel. To our dismay, many of the places recommended to us were closed on mondays, resulting in us eating alot of 闭门羹... however we still managed to have some 豆花and really delicious mini cheesecakes!

took a taxi to the largest night market in taiwan -- feng jia night market. it was really huge!! got myself a new pair of shoes (which turned out to be my most exp purchase in tiwan =p). went around eating and shopping throught out the night until 1 am..

Day #4

WL and JR went to the arts park early in e morning while e rest of us chose to be lazy and continue sleeping ahhahah.. went to a breakfast shop nearby to have our breakfast of sanwiches, burgers and 蛋卷. nice!

checked out of the hostel and proceeded to the train station to meet up with JR and WL for e journey to our next destination.. hua lian! it was a gruelling 6-hr ride and we were kinda tired by the time we reached. luckily the 民宿that we stayed in was really nice and cosy. after dropping our luggages in the room we proceeded on our hunt for dinner. first stop was a place selling cheap and delicious 小笼包and水饺! only NTD 5 and 3 respectively each omg! but we were carefull to leave some room for other delicacies along the way.. next up was pork ribs noodles, followed by goose meat. i personally felt that both were not exceptionally delicious despite being recommended.

went on to see a folkdance by the aboriginals (missed the firt 30 mins of it). guess everyone ws feeling abit tired from all the travelling so we just decide to chill out at a coffee house while waiting for the 民宿's boss to fetch us back. din manage to sleep well thanks to WL's and JY's incessant snoring =.=

Day #5

had breakfast at 民宿 and went to tour taroko gorge!! had great funadmiring the scenic views and taking random photos hahahha.. feels great to just stare at the pacific ocean and standing in the strong winds. refreshing. WL even got his shoes wet hahahah =p had beef noodles and pork knuckle noodles for lunch, befor continuiing our tour to various other scenic places

JR an WL decided to stay for another dayin hua lianwhile the rest of us decided to take the train back to taipei that night. J went to meet her fren while me and JY went to explore the area near our hostel for dinner. ended the day with a McCafe latte hahhaa =p

Day #6

Brought J and JY to ximen ding to search for 饭团! was actually kinda surprised that i still remember my way to the breakfast shop after so long. felt really nostalgic! felt great to be eating piping hot 饭团 in the cold weather! walked about ximen ding for awhile b4 proceeding to wufenpu for some serious shopping!

had fun lookig and trying out the clothes.. was kinda shoscked ate the rate J was buying hahahha.. we only managed to cover half of the place after one whole afternoon. hungry, we went to the nearby 胡须张卤肉贩 for dinner! turned out to be the nicest 卤肉贩 i've had in taiwan!! highly recommended to everyone who wishes to go taiwan for a gourmet tour haha.. and best thing is its not pricey.

went back to ximen ding to meet up with WL and JR in e evening. did some last min shopping for souveniors befor going back to our hostel for our final night of rest...

Day #7

got breakfast from a nearby breakfast shop before taking a taxi to taoyuan airport again for our flight back to singapore.

well, that concludes my taiwan trip for 2010. really hope to go back again in summer and visit other places such as gao xiongand ken ding! not forgetting to visit luxy and other clubs in taiwan =p (promise guarantee plus chop i will go the next time rarrhhh!!)

2010...

2010-01-09T14:11:00.003+08:00

I know its already the 11th day of 2010, but somehow I'm not feeling like it. I mean, 2009 just came and passed in a flash. So many things happened in the past year, yet somehow there wasn't really anything of specific significance.

Jan-Feb

Chinese New Year was pretty much the same as previous years, except last yr i had to endure my relatives' probing me about my ex-gf. For the first time in a long long time (except 2004 where it was spent in tekong), Valentine's Day was not spent with her, but with a friend chilling at some bar.

The news came just as I was about to stay in at OCS, and hit me real badly. But well, watever doesn't kill you makes you stronger I guess.

March

Commissioning. A once in a lifetime event. An event i've waited for more than 4 years. All the effort put in, all the training, it was all worth it. It was the first time I saw a double rainbow. Awesome.

April-June

Began working for real. Heavier responsibilities to bear, infinite things to learn, tough decisions to make, and a live-firing exercise to plan for. Work was busy, but kept me blissfully occupied. Went to KL with my family for a short getaway.

July

Took part in my first Army Half Marathon. Though it was only a 10km run, it was the first time I ever signed up for such an event, and the sense of accomplishment is addictive indeed.

August

Took up dancing at O-school again after a year long break. Re-discovered my interest for street dance and also helped to keep my saturday afternoons busy. Not to mention I had a great instructor! Totally lovin it =)

Sept-Oct

Joined SAFSA netball on impulse, despite my previous stereotypical thoughts on netball being a gals' sport. I was quickly proven wrong, and gradually began finding the sport both challenging and enjoyable. Guess we should all approach things with an open mind =)

Began going clubbing again after my virgin experience..... 3 years ago?? I've got to admit, I kinda enjoy it actually =p

Nov

Went for my first ever overseas exercise in Aussieland. If I remember correctly it was also the first time I've gone overseas for so long (18 days) Very enriching experience and really learnt alot from my boss.

Dec

Joined my first Standard Charteered Marathon. Surprised myself when I crossed the 42.195km mark (given the fact that the furthest I trained for b4 this was a mere 10km). Despite the following few days of muscle cramps, the experience was totally worth it. Even till now I still beam with pride just looking at the finisher medal.

Got a well-deserved long holiday during Christmas period, happily planning for my Taiwan trip with my sec school choir buddies! was so glad we finally managed to really organise a trip overseas despite all our conflicting schedules. Definitely one of the most memorable trips in a long time to come.

.
.
.

Yup that pretty much sums up the whole of 2009. Will update on the Taiwan trip and DT's concert in the next entry!

New Beginning

2009-12-26T21:45:00.001+08:00

I don’t know why, but I suddenly had the impetus to read through my blog again, after having stopped for close to a year. Neither did I expect myself to feel like blogging again. Perhaps I tend to become more emotional during Christmas.

I remember when I was younger; I ALWAYS looked forward to Christmas. On hindsight, it was probably due to a number of factors. School holidays, no homework, chalets, Hawaii, Busan, presents, and Christmas cards are just some of the link-words when I think of Christmas. But slowly, so very slowly, Christmas became nothing more than just another holiday in the calendar year. Perhaps it’s part of growing up that you tend to lose hold of the little little things you used to treasure in life. It’s a sad thought, but it is also a reality.

And speaking of Christmas cards, it suddenly struck me that for the first time in 12 years, I had no intention of writing any Christmas card to anyone. Why this is so, I can’t really explain. Perhaps I am just sick and tired of sending out so many cards every Christmas and only receiving a few in return. Or perhaps I am just lazy. Truth is, everyone is so inter-connected by technology nowadays that precious few still bother to painstakingly write their well-wishes on Christmas cards. Why not simply post a ‘MERRY X’MAS!’ on facebook? For me, writing Christmas cards is a tedious process, because I don’t write for the sake of writing. Every card written is a personal message to the recipient. It gets disheartening whenever I receive Christmas mass smses that are just forwarded to me from some unknown source. Where’s the sincerity? Seriously, if you do not have the time to put in the extra effort to make your well wishes personal, I would rather you save on that sms.

Alright, enough crapping about the festive season.

Looking back at the past year, so much has changed, and yet, nothing seems to be particularly different. I’m still working, albeit at a higher level of responsibility. And I have nothing much to complain about life, having a good boss and a rather enriching lifestyle. Dance classes, netball trainings, and meet-ups with friends helped to keep my schedule happily packed. I feel like I’ve become more open to new things, willing to accept new responsibilities and challenge myself. Hope this attitude carries on =)

Emotionally its been an uphill march. The ultimate blow came just before my commissioning -- just like it came before my convocation (sometimes I really wonder if she gets a kick out of tormenting me just before the most important events in my life). The few months that followed has been nothing short of hell, and step by painful step I crawled out of the emotional vortex that engulfed me. Even now the very mention of her name strikes a chord within, and with it comes a rush of mixed feelings that I cannot fathom. Suffice to say that I am coping well enough to be able to talk about her without really feeling awkward when asked by friends.

Yupz that’s all for now. Just had the urge to blog. Guess ultimately I still need somewhere for me to pen my thoughts down =)

2008-11-16T01:17:00.004+08:00

Updates updates!

Nothing really much to write about i guess.. Attended my cousin's wedding lunch last Sunday at the Orchard Hotel. Realised that I'm really not close to my dad's side of relatives. I've got so many nephews and aunts whose names I cant remember haha. Happy for my cousin nonetheless =)

Work this week has been pretty fucked up. Been tasked to complete a project with necessary information denied. wtf. Just wanna get it over with. Not to mention there's still an exam on tues. argh.

Dance class this week's fun! Our original instructor finally returned to class and made it much more lively and enjoyable. Pity only 3 more lessons to go. it's really been an enjoyable experience for me, something I've always wanted to learn but kept pushing back due to lack of company haha.

alrite tt's all for now. Pardon the straight-to-the-point way of writing cos its 0130 now and i'm damn tired =P

简单的幸福

2008-11-07T20:15:00.002+08:00

“爸，妈。”
“回来啦？吃饱了吗？”

每次放工回到家，总会听到这么一句话。
一句再简单不过的问候，不知怎么的，听起来却十分的窝心。

跟着父母亲到路边的一家咖啡店一起吃晚餐。

还记得较小的时候，最讨厌到路边吃潮州粥。
父亲却最爱吃。
没冷气，地方看起来又不卫生，吃的又是些没什么特色的小菜。
但渐渐的，发现偶尔吃吃潮州粥其实也挺好的。

炒茄子，苦瓜，菜脯蛋，炖白菜，猪脚，豆干，豆腐皮，再加上一碗肉骨茶。
既不是什么山珍海味，亦不是什么餐馆的五星级料理。
却让我吃得津津有味。
从小就和父亲没有什么话说。
长大了，话题就更少了。
但难得和父母亲一起坐下来吃顿饭，却让我有许多感触。
没说什么，但我真的感到很开心。

这也许就是所谓金钱也买不到的，
一种简单的幸福。

good week

2008-10-18T21:25:00.006+08:00

Its been a good week~

Monday

Prepared for case study presentation in the morning and presented in the afternoon. Think everyone did pretty well but was rather pissed when the assessor sort of passed some sarcastic remarks. Basically he said that we did not consult him for more information for our presentation, but in the first place it was him who said he would not give us any technical information with regards to the case study (then ask him for F**K). On top of that I really felt everyone put in alot of effort for the presentation, staying back well after office hours just to discuss.

Tuesday

Last day of base attachment. Spent the whole day preparing for another presentation due on Wednesday afternoon. Left the base at record time of 1930! Proceeded to Lot1 with some of the guys and had dinner at Ajisen. reached home ard 2200.

Wednesday

Had presentation in the afternoon. After that played an enjoyable session of basketball den went to have dinner at the mess. Was supposed to be night's out but guess everyone was too lazy to book out hahaha.

Thursday

Presentation AGAIN. Was only given the topic in the morning and had to come up with the presentation in the afternoon. Still, everyone met the expectations and did well. Went to mess to watch the 9pm show on channel 8 haha.

Friday

Had lessons in the morning. In the afternoon we were supposed to have a run at pasir ris park but the event was cancelled due to poor weather. so everyone just stayed in the class and studied for the upcoming exam on monday. Went to PS after booking out to meet Terence for dinner and some catching-up. Watched Max Payne at GV.

Found the movie to be quite disappointing. Firstly, its way too short (definitely less than 100 mins) to do justice to the game. 2ndly, the story doesn't really go according to what I remembered from playing the game. Would reccomend anyone who wishes to know the story better to try the game out. It rawks =)

Saturday

Slacked at home half of the day and met with ZS, KW and some other frens for our first dance class at Oschool lol. Was quite an enjoyable experience and I'm definitely looking forward to the next session! =D

K thats all for now. Meeting the DHS gang tml for dinner at Bugis. Yeah!

I'm still alive..

2008-09-12T20:08:00.002+08:00

Just completed the 3rd week of my course. Had 2 exams so far and managed to do quite well for both of them haha. Not the top of the class of course, but i'm content =) Noticed my fitness level is steadily climbing thanks to the physical training sessions and sports everyday hahaha, so i guess there's really nothing to complain about. Life is good! =D

As i mentioned before, i still sense this lingering social perception against "signing on" with the military. Perhaps much of the public stereotype the military as civil servants as a whole. Good pay, secure career, countless benefits, subsidies etc. But the truth remains that it is Singaporeans ourselves who have to do the job. You can hire foreign talent to run a company, or even give them citizenship to earn honors for the country. But when it boils down to times of tension, who can you really count on to defend the country?? I dare say that even some of the Singaporeans would flee the country at the very first sign of trouble.

My point is, ultimately, Singapore has to be defended by Singaporeans themselves. So why all the not-so-positive views about joining the SAF?

Then again, I admit that I didn't take up the LSA at first with the thought of "protecting our nation". But I'm glad that I'm slowing starting to appreciate it. =)

KL Trip

2008-08-12T21:58:00.007+08:00

Finally went for my very first KL trip last Thursday! Boarded the 1130 bus at Corpthorne Orchid Hotel and endured a 5 hour bus ride to KL. Too many pics so I just upload a few here hahaha =X

DAY 01

Reached our hotel in Sunway at around 1730 thanks to Uncle Ah Cai and his family (finally got a ride in a Volvo XC90!!) Checked in and joined his family for dinner at a steamboat buffet restaurant nearby. Only RM18 pax! Pity forgot to take any pictures of the place, but they served really yummy honey glazed chicken wings! Really the best bbq honey wings i've had. Of cos there's dazling selections of other seafoods, meats and veggies.

After that that we went to the nearby Sunway Pyramid shopping Centre to shop for some toiletries and drinks. Managed to get myself a grey jacket for RM45. Quite worth it i think hehe =p

our hotel

DAY 02

Got up early in the morning for breakfast at a malay eatery near our hotel, then went to have some traditional Ipoh white coffee. The coffee tastes a tad different from wat we have here. very fragrant with a tinge of saltiness. nice!

Old Town White Coffee is very popular in KL

the famous Ipoh White Coffee

After breakfast we headed to this National Park in KL for some.. erm.. sight-seeing (though there really isn't very much to see). Turned out to be a disappointing waste of precious time in my opinion. Only thing worth mentioning was perhaps the "4-season garden" which is basically an indoor garden that displays the vegetation of the 4 seasons during their respective times of the year.

part of the park

bus ride through the park

4-season garden

Went to Jalan Petaling for some quick shopping and lunch. Once again a pity we had to rush about. It's quite a good place for shopping cos of the variety of stuff available and the fact that prices are bargainable. Rushed back to hotel for a quick bath after that and drove 2 hours to attend my bro's gf's dad's bday dinner. Dinner included *ahem* claypot braised sea cucumber, braised Pork Knuckles, steamed fish, la-la, cereal prawns, and salted-egg crabs!! BBurppzz~

Jalan Pertaling

claypot lao shu fen

pastries

my bro's gf's family
my mum and aunts tucking into the sumptous dinner

After dinner I took over as the driver to take us back to the hotel cos my bro's gf was too tired to drive anymore hahaha.. bad my first taste of driving in a Kelisa as well as in KL. Quite scary cos the roads had alot of pot-holes, plus not very well-lit, plus the notorious msia drivers haha. But nonetheless a memorable experience. Oh managed to get another polo T and T-shirt on the way back to hotel =X

Day 03

Woke up for breakfast and left for the "French" Village at Bukit Tinggi (halfway up Genting) at 1030. Reached our destination after a full 2-hour drive (omg). the french village turned out to be a huge disappointment. It was basically a 100m street with buildings fashioned similar to those in france. That's all. Nothing else was "French" abt it lol. the Japanese village failed to impress as well.

Left the area at around 1400 and drove to the Batu Caves. My mum was the only one who wanted to ascend to the top so I had to accompany her (272 steps) so just brought the camera along for some shots. It was more like a place of worship for the Indians, though it surprised me that there were many Japanese tourists around the area haha..

"French" village

UBER big millipede sighted on our way to Japanese Garden

Japanese Garden

huge scupture at the Batu Caves
teh-tarik at the foot of Batu caves

Dinner was initially thought to be at Uncle Ah Cai's place. When we reached, his wife treated us to several durians that she hand-picked herself (really very nice!), then followed by half a roast duck, some roast pork, a pot of braised duck wings, and donuts. And the best thing is, he told us all those wre just appetizers!! He wanted to bring us to try this steamed fish head but we decided that we were too full to eat anymore and so had to turn him down politely hahaha. Went back to Sunway Pyramid to do some last-min shopping and had supper before going back to our hotel.

supper place

DAY 04

Ailing's (my bro's gf) brother brought us to eat breakfast at this dim-sum place. All the din-sums were really fresh. Pretty amazed how we managed to finish so much food!

last-min candid shot

Dim-sum!

Ailing's bro and his fiancee
Ailing's family

Overall it has been an enjoyable experience and I would definitely want to visit KL again. Beyond the reckless drivers and unsafe dark alleys there's this touch of innocence in the people there. Its hard to explain, but the people are warm and accomodating in their own ways.

Signing off! =)

风筝

2008-08-05T22:43:00.002+08:00

曾经在哪读过，有一名作家用“风筝”来比喻爱情。

爱情起步的时候，就好比想让风筝飞起来一样。没有人天生就会谈恋爱；没有人天生就会放风筝。经过不断的尝试与努力后，终于好不容易让风筝飞了起来。

爱情刚开始时，是最令人兴奋的时候，却也是最脆弱的时候。
若没有细心呵护，风筝很快就会坠回原点。

慢慢的，风筝越攀越高，俩人的爱情日渐稳定。偶尔可能刮来一阵强风，但只要处理得妥当，风筝还是会高高的飞着。

但有些时候，要让风筝一直高高的飞着，是件很累人的事。
拉得太紧，风筝线会被扯断；
放得太松，刮风时又会东歪西倒。

最后，放风筝的人累了，腻了。
手，松开了。
放手后赫然觉得可惜，想回头抓回风筝线。

但风筝，早已飞走了。

A story

2008-07-31T20:09:00.003+08:00

Was pleasantly surprised that My Paper (我报) has some meaningful articles every now and then.

Just wanna share one such article (or rather, story) that I came across yesterday.

-----------------------------

A professor went to his philosophy class one day carrying a huge glass jar and 3 containers, and placed the jar on the table so that every student could see. He then opened the first container containing golf balls and filled the jar with the balls to the brim. He then asked the class if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

Smiling, the professor opened the 2nd container containing pebbles and proceeded to use them to fill up the gaps in between the golf balls. He then asked the class if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor then opened the 3rd container that contained sand, and further filled the gaps in between the pebbles in the jar. He then asked the class if the jar was full. The students laughed.

The professor then went on to say, " This glass jar represents your life. The golf balls are like the important things in life, such as your family, loved ones, health, and your passions. The pebbles represent your job, house, car and other material wants. The sand represents all other minute things in life."

"You should spend more time looking after the golf balls first, for they make your life full even without the pebbles and sand. But if you fill in the pebbles and sand first, you won't have space for the golf balls anymore."

-----------------------------------

Amidst the hectic schedule we follow everyday, be it working or studying, what should our priorities be? How often have we used the excuse of "busy" to turn someone else down? How many people have compromised on family, loved ones and health in the pursuit of wealth?

Take care of the golf balls first.
The rest are just sand.

Just some thoughts.

Saturday

2008-07-27T15:57:00.004+08:00

Was actually so looking forward to yesterday, cos me, HH and WL (and janice and WJ) were supposed to go eat the 1-for-1 high tea at Hotel Rendezvous (promotion ends July). End up reach there there's no place for us liao so had to be on waiting list.. and the manager told us if we had no reservations then chances of us getting a table are very slim.

Disappointed, we decided to go to The Cathay to eat Billy Bombers instead at 4pm. Glad that WJ was able to join us after all due to a last-minute cancellation of his meeting. Ended up spending much more than expected (bill came up to about $25-$30 pax) though we din manage to eat the high tea ARGGGH. =(

Went in search of a pool place after that. Janice finally arrived and joined us at Supercue at Parklane at 515pm though originally we said to meet 245pm at PS (she called at 330pm to say she just woke up. wats new hahaha). Played a couple of games and left the place cos HH said the place too crowded and "no feel". So ended up took WJ's car to clarke quay and played at a much better place.

At about 830pm we went to the Central to eat dinner. Had really nice japanese food at Waraku. Thanks to WJ for the treat! felt abit paiseh though cos supposedly is to celebrate his bday but end up having him treat us.

Overall it was still an enjoyable day, despite not being able to eat the high tea..janice coming late and not joining us for dinner..and going home instead of going to chill after dinner.. Still glad to meet up with Janice and WJ to know that they're doing well. =)

Shag

2008-07-22T21:43:00.002+08:00

Went for my very first overnight cycling with Rayner, Weichern, Eeyang and Chunwei last Friday. Was supposed to meet at east coast mac at 8 pm but end up rayner, eeyang and chunwei are all late so it was around 10 plus when we finally set off from the east coast food centre.

Was initially quite worried cos it started drizzling just when we began our journey, but thankfully the drizzle maintained light as we made our way through ECP and towards changi village, passing the seemingly endless stretch of park connector beside changi airport.

Reached Changi Village at around 2330 and proceeded to have supper consisting of nasi lemak, bbq stingray, hokkien mee and 红茶龙眼(its a very nice dessert! try it!). Set off again at around 1230 despite the persistent drizzle (and sore butts) and began the 2nd part of the journey. Passed through Pasir Ris (Downtown East really changed alot omg!!), then tampines, then bedok reservoir. The overhead bridges along the way posed a challenge against our trembling legs as we struggled to cycle across them.

Towards the end of the trip when we were nearing weichern's place at kembangan, the triathelete weichern purposely took us on a de-tour which had a tormentous stretch of uphill ride!!! my thighs nearly cramped but i was proud to finish the entire stretch hahaha. Reached weichern's place at 0300 and had a game of mahjong, where wc lost $20 to rayner lol.

Set off back to ECP at 0700 for mac breakfast and to return the bikes. Was really a torture to cycle back with our sore butts, aching thighs and hands (from gripping the handles the whole night). Took cab and reached home at around 0930. concuss.

Overall it was a very enjoyable (and of cos shag) experience. wouldn't mind trying it again sometime soon! =)

Yujia's Bday

2008-07-20T13:06:00.006+08:00

Went to 爱情海 last Saturday after my commencement to for 08 outing to celebrate Yujia's birthday. The place was quite ulu and it took us quite some time to find it cos none of us had been there before.

Overall the place was quite cosy, and each person has to pay a cover charge of 14++ (for weekends) that includes one free drink. Good thing is that you can just order a drink and sit through the whole night and listen to the performers (the audience can submit their requests of songs and the performers will decide which songs they wish to perform).

However, one song tends to take up 15 minutes. 5 minutes for the actual singing of the song, and 10 minutes where the performers chatted with the audience (or amongst themselves), taking the time to rest their vocals. Moreover, towards the end when the more dua pai singers performed, they ignored the audience's requests most of the time and just sang the songs of their choice (which was when we decided to leave hahaha). Not a bad choice of place to just sit down and chill =)

After that went to 85 market at Bedok for dinner/supper of grilled chicken wings, barbequed seafood, fried oyster and bak chor mee to conclude the outing. Was great meeting up with the 08 gang again, especially since everyone's so busy. Good to be able to finally see bingde despite his seemingly packed schedule.

Photos!

the performers: 仙艳，冠华，志诚

Drink and fries

Cuihua, Rayner, and me

Yujia and Wendy

Bingde the big boss

I realise i use the "twist" sign alot hahaha
But so does everyone! =p Bday girl

Rayner the organiser

News

2008-07-19T16:49:00.007+08:00

Waiting for a dinner appointment with jiayang later so thought i'll do a little blogging instead of admiring the pouring rain outside lol.

An update of things that has been happening recently:

1) Malaysian Politics

You can't miss it. It's on the news EVERYDAY. As quoted from TODAY's news comment,

"A mongolian model is blown to bits with explosives. Allegations are made of an illicit affair, of bribery in a defence deal, of a dinner in paris. A PI points his finger at DPM who strongly denies any involvement. The detective then retracts his statement and disappears. An opposition politician releases grainy videotapes of a top laywer purportedly trying to fix judicial appointments. Charges of sodomy against the politician. Masked policemen arrest him."

That, in essence, is malaysian politics today.

Instead of focusing on the more important macro issues such as helping the people with the escalating living costs and petrol prices, the mud-slinging from both sides simply refuses to stop. My sympathies for the people.

2) Transport

Yes, ERP is gonna be known more "affectionately" as "Every Road Pay" very soon. Could never really agree with the policy in the first place, though it does seem to reduce road congestion and increase travelling speeds in the CBD. The idea seemed simple. Traffic jam? Make the drivers pay money to deter them from using the road. As a result more cars are being diverted to other roads, causing traffic jams there. And as a result of that more ERP gantries are set up along these roads as well. Perhaps soon I'll see a gantry just outside of my place soon, since the road always jams in the mornings.

Added to which, petrol prices are at an all-time high. So people champion the CNG as the answer to the search for cheaper fuel. As a result? CNG tanks are in short supply and prices shoot up faster than petrol (though up to now its still more affordable cos of the better mileage). Basics of demand and supply.

So amidst all these rising prices, what should the consumer do!? Take public transport! At least that's what the government's been advocating all these years.

And then increase public transport fares.

3) Movies

Personally, I don't see what's the hype around Red Cliff. Sure, its directed by John Woo, one of the most acclaimed directors in Asia. Sure, its cast consists of some of the biggest stars in Asia. Sure, the movie consists of 2 parts that makes up a total of 5 hours. Sure, the movie is produced from an overwhelming budget of $80 million (or was it 800).

But, so? In my opinion its just publicity to get more people to watch it. For me, having read the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, I'm not planning to watch.

More interested in catching the Dark Knight after all the hoo-hah surrounding the Joker's outstanding performance. Shall see whether it's another publicity trick =p

Hellboy 2 was not bad though.

4) Sports

Ronaldo. Too much talk. Too much money. I like Man Utd, though I'm not an avid fan. And I say, just let Ronaldo go, get the money, and get some more good players. What's the point of having a player that has no heart to play for you anymore and who's incurred the wrath of the fans? Sure, he's a great player. But that's all there is.

Commencement

2008-07-14T20:21:00.004+08:00

12 July 2008.

After 4 long years, I'm finally a graduate from NUS!!!

The ceremony was basically the same as previous years, with some videos being shown, some speeches given by the dean before the graduants go on stage one by one to receive their degrees (actually its just a symbolic empty casing).

On a sidenote, I'm glad I finally got to know the person who sat behind me during exams all these 4 years! Kinda funny since its the last day we're gonna be in NUS, but then again, its better late than never hahaha.

Anyway here's the photos! Din manage to take alot cos the place was bloody crowded =/

My Bro
My "graduate" dad hahaha=pMy mum
Family shot
erm.. trying for artistic shot =pCandid shot
Hansen and me.

Jeff, Me and Jiahui

Yimin, my Primary school classmate!

Fellow AEOs!

A sense if achievement. A sense of pride. An unfulfilled promise. And another chapter of my life closes, accompanied by the start of a new chapter. =)

Singapore 2010

2008-06-23T21:09:00.002+08:00

Was reading my bro's blog and can't resist blogging my 2 cents worth on the issue of "Singapore 2010".

Was reading a section of TODAY this morning that happened to talk about Singapore in the upcoming Olympics. I quote:

"The jinking runs of soccer's lesser lights in the ongoing Euro 2009 tournament -- toppling some of the continent's best footballing nations on the way -- offer hope that Singapore, too, can dream big in the global sporting cauldron."

My first thought? Keep dreaming.

I would suppose that the writer was encouraged by the fact that Russia trumped Holland 3-1 in the quarter-finals to advance to play against Spain in the semis.

I had to keep reminding myself that its okay to aim for the moon, so that even if you fall short, you will land on the stars. Also, I knew the writer wasn't referring to our soccer team but the entire Team Singapore as a whole. But first, back to our soccer team.

Like my brother, I remembered myself sniggering at the prospect of our Lions reaching the World Cup in 2010. It just seemed impossible. And yet, with our soccer team probably at its peak then (Fandi and Abbas Saad were still around then i think), I couldn't help but hold a glimmer of hope in my heart.

Coupled with the fact that the government was so bold to make such a goal, it had to be credible! After all, my typical Singaporean sense tells me that whatever the government has planned to achieve, it will achieve. (Well, doesn't include the Courtesy Campaign, or the Speak Mandarin Campaign)

Anyway, so I really believed we could do it. That was until the Ubeks made a laughing stock out of us in our own beloved Kallang Stadium. Ouch.

Lets face it. We could have jolly well bought an entire "foreign talent" team, give them citizenship and call them the Lions. Our standard is simply not there. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against importing foreign talents. Like Mr Teo,Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministries of Transport and Community Development, Youth and Sports (wat a mouthful) put it, it's about bringing more vibrancy into our sports scene, bringing more competition.

Oh man. Gimme a break.

We are not like the footballing countries, where soccer is the love of their life, where players are payed millions, held in esteem and have special trainers and equipment catering to their every need. There's lots of Singaporeans that love soccer, but just not the S-league. For me, I would only watch S-league if I had placed my money on bets (which I won't).

Singapore 2010 indeed. How about 2100? Could happen if we get the best foreign imports, duncha know?

Finally..

2008-05-30T23:54:00.003+08:00

30 May 2008.

Today is the day NUS releases the results to its students. The moment of truth to my 4 years of toil.

Coincidentally I left my handphone at home today as I left for work. Hence I had the chance of coming back home to collect my phone as well as check my results. I remembered I kept praying all the way home from camp.

As i switched on my modem and laptop, I couldn't help mentally preparing myself for the worst case scenario. For those who don't know yet, my CAP lies on the boundary of 2 classes of honors, and this final sem's results would determine the kind of honors i get for my 4 years in NUS. My mind ran me trough a brief recap of my "cui" results in NUS.

Year 1 sem 1: CAP 2.97

(Yes, when you can get below 3 for your first semester you know you're screwed)

Year 1 sem 2: CAP 2.95

(Record low for my 4 years in NUS. Can't believe I can still drop in CAP after such a "cui" sem 1)

Year 2 sem 1: CAP 3.13

(Finally managed to pull up abit, thanks to econs. However I got my 3rd D+ in 3 consecutive semesters)

Year 2 sem 2: CAP 3.03

(The worst sem in my 4 years. Was really devastated after seeing the results slip)

Hence I ended my 2nd year in NUS with a pathetic CAP of 3.03. Its not even a third class honors. I knew that I need an average SAP of at least 4.0 for my remaining 2 years in order to pull it up to 3.5. It seemed impossible then.

Then I took my first special sem, with the aid of some really pro teamates, I began Year 3 with CAP 3.11.

Year 3 sem 1: CAP 3.22

(Broke into the realm of 3rd class honors, but still not getting what I should be)

Year 3 sem 2: CAP 3.37

(With sheer effort and help from another pro project mate, this was my best sem in NUS with SAP 4.2. Finally seeing some hope)

Took my 2nd special sem and put in maximum effort. started Year 4 with CAP 3.42.

Year 4 sem 1: CAP 3.45

(Really disappointed with myself for not breaking the 3.5 mark in this sem. After all I only had 2 mods and 1 FYP)

And so that was the summary of my previous semesters. In order for me to get to the 2nd lower class, the ideal situation would be:

EC3333 A

EE4001 B (FYP)

EE4509 B+

I kept picturing these 3 grades in my mind as i slowly entered my user id and password at the examinations directory...

Finally.. I made it.

A tribute to the King of Pop

2008-05-16T22:50:00.004+08:00

Michael Jackson. MJ. King of Pop.

Sure, he underwent countless plastic surgery and looks like a freak now.

Sure, he's been convicted as a child molester.

But I think no one can deny the fact that he's one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

His unique songs and catchy tunes topped the charts all over the world everytime he had a new album. Who can forget songs like "Billy Jean", "Bad", "Smooth Criminal", "Beat it", "Thriller" and of cos "Heal the world" and many more. But most importantly, its his dance moves that made him phenomenal.

I don't think anyone can fully copy all his moves, even till today. Everywhere he went he was worshipped almost as a god. And as i watched the video, I'm reminded of why I liked him so much.

See for yourselves.

Hail the King of Pop.

back to work!

2008-05-03T01:17:00.003+08:00

Today, for the first time in 4 years, I put on my no.3 uniform again. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I can’t help but feel… weird. The pale blue uniform.. the 3 white bars on the epaulettes.. the silver buckled belt embossed with the RSAF logo.. the dark blue pants.. Everything seemed the same, yet I know everything’s different from 4 years ago.

What responsibilities await me? What behavior is expected of me? What do I need to do? What do I need to know? Dozens of questions bombarded my mind as I tried to put some last-minute shine on my black leather shoes. Throughout my journey to my designated posting at Chompang, I can’t but notice curious glances in my direction every now and then lol, even the 7-11 aunty seemed extra courteous hahaha. Then again, perhaps I’m just thinking too much =p.

Was pleasantly surprised to find the base to be very much smaller than a conventional airbase, probably due to the absence of runways and hangars (which means no need to buy car! Niakahaha) Also, its just located in the midst of a residential area instead of some ulu place. The people there seemed nice and friendly enough also lol. Was really glad to be posted here.

Many thanks to Jefferson again for showing me around the place and explaining the rank/pay structure to me. Really thanks a lot =D

Look forward to report to work on Monday!

What's next?

2008-04-30T22:09:00.000+08:00

Just finished my final exam in NUS. Strangely I feel no sense of jubilation, nor exhilaration. Just a dull feeling of numbness haha.. 4 years flew by just like that, and suddenly all the mugging, complains about FYP etc don’t seem so important at all.

EC3333 Financial Economics. The exam was relatively easy, with 30 MCQs and 2 short answer questions. The MCQs were straightforward enough, and anyone who put in the effort to memorize the basic formulae shouldn’t have any problems with them. For one of the short answers, the answers to the later parts of the questions depended on the earlier parts, and after some discussion with bingde after the exam, I think I got the front part of the answer wrong, which means the rest of the answers would all be wrong if there’s no “error-carried-forward”. Sian. The fact that everyone probably scored near full marks for the CA portion of the module made it worse. It means that such minute errors can often lead to the difference in grades.

EE4509 Silicon Microsystems. The module comprises of 60% CA, which once again I believe majority of the class scored near full marks (with the ATs and ANs sharing answers amongst each other for every assignment). I myself scored 36 out of the 45% revealed to us, which I consider to be not a bad achievement considering I did the assignments myself. The exam was open-book, with only 2 questions. As with any other engine module, I just threw in the methods and calculations hoping that the final answer would turn out correct.

And so ends my life in NUS. Coming Monday I’ll be reporting back to the RSAF as a working adult. OMG working adult!!

A chapter closes. A chapter begins.

Meet-up

2008-04-23T13:50:00.001+08:00

Met up with jiayang yesterday to go starbucks at orchard and mug. I remembered the last time I actually saw him was about a year ago, when we met around the same period of time to study for MNO1001 together. Yet despite the one year that we’ve not met up, I’m glad he was the exact same person I’ve come to know since sec 1.

We actually spent more time talking rather than studying hahaha. Plus we went to watch 3 Kingdoms after dinner. =P It’s quite a nice show, provided you’re not really picky about how close it follows the actual history.

Besides the catching up of how he’s been doing since the last time I met him, we talked about almost everything (which of cos included the gf topic and got me emo for awhile again hahaha), and we both reached a consensus that the Dunman High days were the happiest days of our studying lives so far. It was a period where I actually looked forward to going to school everyday.

Learning seemed so easy then, putting in minimal effort and still getting the desired grades. Sleeping during Ms Yee’s 3-period English lessons, going around classes to borrow the OHP, exchanging homework to copy every morning etc. Not to forget playing bball in the afternoon everyday without fail, rain or shine, or having our class relocated to the table-tennis room due to the construction of the hostel (and hence seizing every opportunity to play table-tennis, even with wooden planks) Then there’s the “eating competition” during recess where the slowest to finish had to clear all the plates. CCAs were fun, and chalets were always looked forward to. Of course, there’s so many other memorable incidents that it’s impossible to list them all out.

Ah, the good old days. =)

DAVID TAO CONCERT!!

2008-04-20T21:36:00.001+08:00

I’ve been looking forward to the concert for several reasons. First of all, it marks the end of assignments, tests, FYP, and the start of the reading week. Secondly, after spending $171 on the tickets for the premium seats, I was having high expectations, even if it’s David Tao.

Met up with Bingde, Rayner, Chunwei and his friend at KLP for dinner before proceeding to the indoor stadium for the much anticipated David Tao concert. Was actually struck by a sense of familiarity as I remembered attending his concert 2 years ago for the first time. Same place, same timing, with almost the same people, and the same sense of anticipation.

The décor on the stage was simple, unlike the “tropical rainforest” theme 2 years back. Not that I really care, I’m here for the music rather than the aesthetics. As people are still making their way in, we had to wait for quite awhile before the concert finally began. And boy, what a show!

First song up was one of my all-time favorites, the “yes no song” from his first album. Was pleasantly surprised by the arrangement he made to the music. This was followed by the concert “must-have”s like 飞机场的1030，鬼，讨厌红楼梦，黑色柳丁 and many more! Compared to the concert 2 years ago, I would think that David was on tip-top condition yesterday, effortlessly flaunting his range and vocal techniques. Totally mesmerizing.

I particularly loved how he re-arranged 忘不了，月亮代表谁的心. It’s amazing how the entire feel of the song can be changed depending on how he sang it. One moment he was having us rocking with him with songs like “鬼” and “小镇姑娘”, and the very next moment you can almost feel the sadness when he belted out songs like “天天” and “爱我还是他”. It was literally a roller-coaster ride of emotions.

Best songs of the night had to be 爱我还是他 and 太美丽. They were so perfect you almost had to remind yourself that he’s singing them live! The dance medley also had almost everyone in the stadium up on their feet and dancing to the beat.

Despite taking out quite a number of songs from his routine such as 流沙 and 二十二, and the lack of newer songs like 无缘, 自导自演的悲剧 and 不爱 (which we were really wishing to hear) I enjoyed every minute of his performance. Perhaps my vocab is too limited, but I feel words can’t really bring out the power of his voice, the atmosphere, nor how we felt. It was that good. Seriously.

If I really wanted to be picky, the only flaw would be perhaps the dancers, who added no value to the show besides allowing David to rest. =P

I was reminded of why I liked David Tao and his music in the first place. He’s not exactly handsome, there’s no fancy costumes, and there’s no spectacular visual effects. Yet the raw power of his music and voice really captures the heart. Absolutely fantastic.

It was worth every cent of the ticket. =D

Pep talk for myself

2008-04-10T21:36:00.000+08:00

A realization hit me today. Looking at my previous blog posts, I noticed that most were inclined towards complaining about life, about school, about things that’s not gonna change even if I keep complaining about them.

It’s actually all about the mindset.

When you are assigned a task, you can choose to either complete it with a positive attitude and take pride in your end product, or you can choose to complain about how troublesome it is and end have producing work that you know is not up to your own standards. It’s all in the mind. If you really look forward to doing something and accomplishing it, you don’t find it a chore and at the same time you can probably do a good job.

Perhaps all these years of studying has rendered me numb when accepting new things. Learning and studies, as corny as it may sound, should be about the discovery of new knowledge. When a lecturer says something in lecture, we should be going “wow I didn’t noe that!” instead of “omgwtf is he talking about... boring~~” I’ve kinda lost the drive to learn, and although I know its abit late for me to finally realize this today, I’m glad I still managed to do so before the exams.

So to everyone out there, regardless of whether you understand what I’m blabbering about, stay positive and work hard! =)

busy

2008-04-02T21:57:00.004+08:00

I’ve kinda lost track of time these 2 weeks, being buried under FYP. Going to the lab almost every day, it resembles a feeling of déjà vu. The same timing, same bus, same people, same circuit. It’s almost like a recurring nightmare.

I’m really glad that I started work on my thesis early, cos the past few days had been really hectic. Torn between the need to finish new experiments and completing my thesis in time, I had little time for other things. Many thanks to HH for allowing me to stay over in his hall on Monday! =) I realized the worst part of writing a report is never the content itself. It’s always about the language, format, labeling, referencing, contents page, statistics etc. Looking back, it’s the first time I had to write such a long report with so many technical terms, and what’s worst is that my supervisor and examiner are not people I can anyhow smoke. I really need to know how to explain every single statement that is in the thesis, and of cos much more.

Went to see my supervisor today to let him check my draft thesis and there are certain parts that had to be changed. Well, he may not be that good as a supervisor, but I know he’s trying to help me be better prepared for my presentation to the examiner. After all, its probably gonna be the last time he asks me to do anything haha, and probably the last time I’ll be seeing him as well. So yup, just need to quickly make some changes and then submit it in 2 days’ time. After that can take a small breather before the final showdown with my examiner hahaha.

Anyway.. now should be the crunch period in NUS, with all the assignments due, continual assessments, projects etc. With the exams starting in less than 4 weeks, there’s little time to think of fun. Everyone 加油加油! =)

F.Y.P

2008-03-28T22:21:00.001+08:00

I’m dedicating this entire entry to my FYP. And I’m not going to care that no one’s probably going to understand what I’m saying, I’ve had enough of the shit.

Ok where should I start? All the way from the beginning I guess. When I first bade for my FYP, I thought that it would be a process of learning how it is like to work in the engineering field, under the guidance of my supervisor. I thought it would be kind of fun doing a bit of research and hands-on work and familiarizing myself with new concepts. I thought it would be a fruitful experience working with professionals in the engineering field, ranging from masters degree holders to PHD holders.

I thought wrong.

First of all, how “fun” your FYP is depends a lot on your supervisor/professor. Note that these professors indulge in their own research and have practically no time for you. In fact, taking FYP students is just part of their job requirements which entitles them to the research funds provided by the university. Hence they just set you a final destination and you pretty much have to figure out how to get there.

For my case, my FYP didn’t really start until November last year. From August till then we were just assigned background readings to get to know more on what our projects are about. As a result I had very little things to present to my examiner for CA2 (which was in late November). Well I did try to explain that we were only doing readings for the first 3 months, but I doubt my examiner understands my plight.

And hence I decided that all the way to my CA4 I’m definitely going to produce some results to “impress” my examiner. Majority of my friends know that I made frequent trips back to NUS during the December holidays just to try out the experiments. There was not much help I could get from the people in the lab, but luckily I was sort of paired with another FYP student to work on the same thing so we managed to figure something out.

That brings me to my supervisor. Basically he’s a very theoretical person. In his opinion if something works in theory, then it MUST work in practice! It’s amazing how everything seemed so simple to him. Every time we faced problems and discussed with him, he would come up with his “theoretical solutions”. To exaggerate a little, imagine asking him a question on how to send a man to the moon. His response would probably be “oh just build him a rocket and fly him there! I’m not an expert in this field but since someone has done it before surely it can be done! It must be simple!”

Yeah right.

OF COURSE it can be done, but have it ever crossed your mind that we are only FYP students!? Even you, the PROFESSOR, have no knowledge about the things that you are suggesting to us and you expect us to be able to accomplish it?? For my case we were supposed to do some imaging using LabVIEW software (and yes my prof has NO KNOWLEDGE about LabVIEW, he even said its something similar to C language). With no one to turn to (no one else in the lab knows anything about LabVIEW as well), we struggled to finally get a very rough program out. Then, by a stroke of pure luck, a LabvIEW expert was attached to our prof for a week (no its not specifically to help us) and we managed to get him to solve the majority of our programming problems.

So finally we’re seeing a bit of light, but no matter how we tried we could not manage to get the results desired. The prof, being who he is, kept suggesting new ways to test out the system, and being the students, we can only diligently follow his suggestions no matter how impossible it seemed.

I dunno about the other Departments, but in electrical engineering there’s always plenty of room for errors. Whenever you construct a circuit on the breadboard, there’s dozens of connections. Imagine having several of these circuits, there’ll be hundreds of connections. All it takes is for ONE connection to be wrong or loose and the whole system cannot function. In worse cases, you get a short circuit and burn a chip, and have to painstakingly test the chips ONE BY ONE to find out which one burnt. Even if all parts are working fine, there’s such a thing called “noise”, which are stray signals in the surroundings and breadboard that would render your measurements inaccurate.

We tried running the same setup for weeks, and every single time there’s something that went wrong. Loose connections, short circuits, chip burnt, wrong connections, PMT not working, Scan coils burnt, etc. You name it, we have it. And that’s not the worst.

Last week we tried using my prof’s new suggestion to achieve the desired results, under the supervision and aid of this lab engineer. To our delight we FINALLY managed to get some positive results, though not the exact ones we anticipated. Initially we had some doubts to the images we captured, but the lab engineer ensured us that it was an image and the result is looking positive. Screw him.

Turns out that the results, after unanimous agreements from other personnel in the lab, was just NOISE. Seriously I was fucking pissed off. I mean, we are only students, and we look onto the more experienced and more knowledgeable for confirmation of results. And the bloody lab engineer had the cheek to try to justify to us a wrong result!? WAT THE FUCK. The more I think of it the more pissed I am, cos basically we came to realize that this lab engineer is just simply trying to patronize us! Just plain lazy to help us continue striving for the desired results! KNN.

So the cycle repeats itself again. Today we tested another new suggestion (after the failure of the previous one) and the PMT does not seem to be functioning properly. And even this PHD student, someone who’s been using the PMT to carry out experiments for the past few years, could not identify this problem. It seemed the most basic usage of the PMT and yet no one would tell us why its not working properly. Added to which the scan coils burnt again due to some malfunctioning of the breadboard circuit.

That was the breaking point.

With 7 days left to the submission of our theses, there was nothing much we can really do anymore. Both of us gave up the idea of trying to rectify the circuitry course we knew there were simply too many factors that could go wrong. So we went to see our prof again.

And this time he suggested using DC stepper motors to simulate the results. First of all, to use a stepper motor we need a stepper motor board, which is like a chip PROGRAMMED to control the motors (of cos we can make out a working one from scratch in less than 7 days! Wow!). In case you’re wondering, such motors are used in the manufacturing of PRINTERS. Hello, do I look like I’m from EPSON engineering department?? Secondly, it has now become a MECHANICAL engineering project. Eh prof, please wake up, there’s NO WAY 2 FYP students are gonna come up with such a professional system and get it to work in 7 days. Oh, and I almost forgot that YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO MAKE THE SYSTEM AS WELL.

FYP = Final Year Project?

FYP = Fuck You Prof.

I've had enough of this shit. Get it over with already.

update

2008-03-23T16:58:00.001+08:00

It’s the end of March. 2 more assignments, 1 thesis, 2 presentations, 1 project, 2 exams, and then I’m out of university life. Probably gonna start work once my exams finish, then take paid leave for a week perhaps haha (due to reliable sources that it’ll be better for my year-end bonus and promotion =p)

Anyway there hasn’t been a great deal to update about recently. Feel like going to the movies, or ktv, or bball, but think everyone will be very busy till the end of exams. As for myself, I’m forcing myself to work on my FYP thesis everyday (well, almost), trying to finish it a week in advance so I can have time to edit it and add in all the appendices and references. Thank goodness I’m at the final chapter already. =)

With 清明节 approaching, I went to pay respects to my paternal grandparents today. Happened to be talking about mas (the JI terrorist leader) with my aunt, who’s working at ST Logistics, and how the whole issue is getting ridiculous. Basically we agree that he’s no longer in Singapore, and all the searching are just wasting our resources (in an attempt by the “higher authorities” to show that they are doing something). Its controversial enough that he was able to slip away (yes all the speculations about an insider’s job) Since my aunt’s in charge of logistics, she shared with us some of the ridiculous items requested by the searching parties involved. An example of such requests include sunglasses with special coating so that rainwater can slide off the lens easily (who the hell wears sunglasses when it’s RAINING???)

And while we were on the subject, we also spoke of how the “new generation” of army has degraded. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with having new facilities, better food or better equipment. But seriously I cannot stand the sight of recruits pulling their duffel bags on wheels (make them look like air stewardesses really). I always thought carrying the “ali-baba” bag was another form of training. I mean, sure, my army life is nothing compared to those in my father’s days. They had crazy Israeli officers, ate uncooked rice, had to scrub toilets using toothbrushes, and had pathetic allowance. We get to eat catered food, have proper cleaning equipment, beds and had our punishments limited to 20 push-ups (usually anw). But seriously, with the cut in duration to 2 years, higher pay, and better equipment, surely “training” is not something that should be compromised? 50m rundown for SOC? Wheeled duffel bags? C’mon, what’ll be next? Forbidding push-ups as punishments? Shorten the route marches? No more outfield? I cant wait to see.

2008-03-09T22:01:00.003+08:00

Less than 2 months before the semester ends. Less than 2 months before I graduate from NUS. To do a timeline, the next 2 months or so would be like this:

15 March:

Jefferson's commissioning parade. Can scarcely believe that it's been almost 1 year since he's graduated haha. Soon it'll be my turn.

4 April:

Submission of draft FYP thesis and technical paper.

14-18 April:

FYP final presentation. EE4509 project presentation. After this week should be a heavy load off my back =)

19 April:

Study week. David Tao's concert in Singapore. Just in time for a little relaxation =p.

28 April:

EE4509 exam.

30 April:

EC3333 exam. Last examination for me in NUS.

14 May:

Report back to RSAF for work. =.=

Seems like a busy 2 months to go.... CHIONG AH~~~~

Mid Term Break Ends...

2008-03-02T22:24:00.000+08:00

Today’s the last day of the mid-term break. I’m quite glad to say that despite seemingly having slept and played a lot of my time away, I still managed to accomplish the targets set by myself before the break began.

Celebrated Rayner’s bday in advance yesterday. Many thanks to Lihui for taking time to prepare the food. Despite the relatively low turnout and simple fare it was enjoyable. Played mahjong and won $8 hehe.

Just read my fren’s blog.. realized that friends also play very important roles in a couple’s relationship. If your friends say stuff like they cant click with your bf/gf or point out areas of ur bf/gf that they dun like, then the relationship would inevitably be strained. Of course, it can be argued that what’s most important is how the couple think of each other. Sadly, things aren’t that simple. When your friends say something negative about your bf/gf, you feel as though your forced to take sides, and it can be very pressurizing. SO if you are really concerned about your friends who are in a relationship, please for goodness sake DON’T speak negatively about their bfs/gfs. I mean sure you reserve the right to dislike their bfs/gfs. But at least reserve such comments to yourself, and wish your friend all the best in the relationship. That’s the least a friend can do.

Rant

2008-02-29T13:02:00.001+08:00

Class outings. A time for you and your old classmates to gather and keep in touch with each other. It’s something that should be looked forward to, or is it? Seems like organising such outings nowadays can be a real chore, something dreaded rather than anticipated. Why has it become like this?

It’s disheartening enough that you try to organize one week in advance and not everyone can make it, but it’s understandable, since some may already have other commitments. The organizer then tries to accommodate everyone by carefully deciding on a time that the majority can attend. After that comes the shitty part.

Everyone has different preferences, no doubt. And of course they should know that what the organizer has planned may not be exactly what they like to do. But please for ****’s sake try to put yourself in the shoes of the poor organizer. For example, here’s how the process for my upcoming class outing went:

Organizer first asks everyone the dates that they are free, so as to choose the day that can accommodate the majority.

Then, it is decided that we catch a movie and have dinner together at Cathay.

Then, change of plans. Watch movie at PS instead cos of discounts in tickets.

Change of plans again. Changed the date from Friday to Saturday cos bday boy cant make it (note that the main aim of the outing is to celebrate someone’s bday).

Change of plans again. Apparently some ppl dunwan to watch movie so change to roller blading and dinner at ECP.

Change of plans again. Apparently now some ppl dunwan to roller blade and hence changed to potluck dinner at organizer’s home.

Can you imagine how many smses were sent throughout the whole process? If I’m the organizer I’ll be damn pissed seriously, cos there’s always this problem with my class outing. There’ll always be people objecting to some activities. Then again these people, after objecting, dunwan to provide any constructive suggestions on what to do. Even if there’re new suggestions, there’s bound to be new objections. End up they’ll say “anything” then give the this-outing-is-so-boring face.

I mean, seriously, you all dunwan this dunwan that then end up complaining that the outing is boring? It’s you yourself that makes the outing boring no?

And please note that since the main aim is to celebrate someone’s bday, shouldn’t we just follow the bday person’s decision on what to do? (which is the initial idea of a movie and dinner at Cathay).

Sigh. Please learn to be more considerate and undersanding.

Old and Lazy

2008-02-26T20:54:00.002+08:00

I'm getting old. My body keeps reminding me every now and then hahaha.. nowadays just missing one night of sleep (due to mahjong or watever) will make me concuss the following day, and wake up breathing fire. A couple of hours of competitive bball and my whole body aches from shoulders to back to thighs to calves to ankles. Today I went back to NUS for FYP at 8am after just 4 hours of sleep, and already now I feel like a walking zombie. Not to mention tml I have to go at 830 again. Sigh.

And if that's not bad enough, I think I'm getting lazier as well =P. Gone were the days where I'll whip out my lecture notes and read once I board 151. Gone were the days where I strive to complete homework the minute they're announced. Gone were the days where I could take 6 modules, give 2 tuition, go paktor with btin and still meet up with my other friends. Now I take 3 mods (including FYP), do not give tuition anymore, have no btin to paktor with, and my friends are all getting busy with their own stuff so we don't meet up as often as we used to. Yet I do not feel I have loads of extra time on my hands. Weird huh?

Think I'm just giving myself excuses to be lazy =X. GAMBATE!

Issues

2008-02-20T20:36:00.002+08:00

Nothing much to blog about for the past few days, though of cos there's been alot of stuff going on. Like a typical singaporean, I know little bits and pieces of everything, but not well enough to be able to write anything constructive about them. Some random thoughts include:

1. Edison Chen scandal

Well guess there's nothing much I can say which most people dunno. Basically someone managed to hack into his computer, discovered, and subsequently leaked out these clips/photos that edison took while he was doing you-know-what with the other hk female stars. Completely destroyed the public images of the people involved (Cecilia, Ah jiao, Bobo chan etc)

2. Budget 2008

Again I don't know much details about the budget, except that apparently the economy has done well again last year and this year everyone would be getting a couple of hundred bucks again. Thanks to frens like Bingde who help me summarise the budget in a few short sentences lol. The focus is placed on education and making singapore more competitive etc. Yet everytime I read the reports on how much a needy person can get its always taken with a pinch of salt. Usually the media would report the MAXIMUM benefits for those living in the WORST case scenario, meaning the average person of cos would not be eligible for so much aid. Personally I feel that the middle-low income group is kinda neglected as always.

3. US Recession

According to what I've heard the effects are expected to hit Singapore by 2010. Our dear MM Lee is confident that we will not be hit too badly with China's and India's economy on the rise. I certainly hope so.

4. Work

Yes work as in going back to RSAF. They've already started sending me letters of notification on the dates to report back, the rough training schedule etc. Talk about being effective eh? Kinda scary to think that I'm actually gonna start work soon, since I never really worked before (tuition and odd jobs don't count). Hope it'll be a good experience bah.

5. Studies

Kinda losing the "fighting spirit" already. Definitely not as hardworking as I should, but I'm trying to up the tempo by keep telling myself that its my final sem. hope it works soon =X

Many other stuff, but too random to put into words heh. Back to mugging =.=

This sux

2008-01-23T21:05:00.000+08:00

Ok I hereby declare that my lappie's keyboard has gone completely bonkers. It seems jammed or something, and whenever I try to press a key the dreaded "toot" sound will sound off (you know, the beep you hear when your com hangs and you try to press ctrl-alt-del).

So yup I'm using my desktop at home to blog now. Well to look at the optimistic side everything else on the laptop is fine. Given the fact that the laptop is 3.5 years old now, I'll consider myself lucky that it's just the keyboard that's malfunctioning. But then again without the keyboard, I cant basically do anything at all, and that includes msn chatting, surfing the web, work, and of cos DOTA. lol.

The immediate solution would of cos be to send my lappy for repairs, but that's also the sucky part. You see, my lappy's warranty is up. When I bought it I did not extend the warranty to 3 years, and even if I had, it would still have expired by now. So it seems that NUS IT-coop will no longer be responsible for any hardware changes that I request. Instead, I probably have to bring my lappy to the Toshiba Data Dynamics Centre at Kallang. I read on Toshiba's forum that the after-sales-service is rather sucky. For example, it's gonna cos $100 just for diagnosis. In other words I'll have to pay $100 just for them to LOOK at my lappy and see what's the problem. After that additional costs will depend on how much the installation of a new keyboard cost. Plus I doubt the service will be speedy. Kaoz.

Looks like its gonna be a hole in my pocket before CNY comes. =(

Tired

2008-01-21T13:10:00.001+08:00

It’s the beginning of the 2nd week of school.

Didn’t manage to get my Financial Economics after all, hence I chose to take Macroeconomics 2 instead. Just this morning I had my first Macro 2 lecture (I missed the first lecture last week), and learnt that it was quite different from the Macro I learnt from ST 3 semesters ago. Nonetheless It’s still mathematically based, and hopefully I can really do well in it this time round.

Weekend has been… well… tiring. Basketball on Friday evening was already quite taxing on the body, but another session on Saturday morning really took its toll. Till now I’m still aching all over. Like HH said, what happened to the days where we played everyday under the 1pm sun? haha… then on Saturday evening went to sing ktv at teoheng with WL, HH and Cherylene from 6-10pm. Shag, but that’s not all. Sunday had spring cleaning at religion centre. My arms were on the verge of cramping from cleaning the sliding glass doors =.=

And now? Blogging at YIH while trying to get some rest before my FYP meeting at 4pm.

1 word.

Tired.

School start lo ~~

2008-01-14T12:18:00.000+08:00

Today's supposedly the first day of school for NUS. But taking only 2 modules this semester (again), my lesson only starts on Thursday. =P

Anyway I met up with my primary school classmates last thursday for the first time in 11 years. 11 years!!

To be perfectly honest I was actually feeling abit apprehensive going to meet them up, not knowing what to say when I really see them. There's a couple of them I've not seen since we graduated from primary school, and its a funny feeling seeing everyone grown up (the clash between what you remember and what you actually see). Glad to see that besides some changes in looks, they're still the people I remember from 11 years ago, and I was surprised there's still a strong sense of familiarity even though I've not met up with them for so long.

dinner

on the way home

I've been outbidded for my econs module again, as expected. Strange thing is I think that econs modules are more popular with non-FASS students, probably due to the modules being mathematically-based. So anyway the moment I knew I was outbidded I started to email the lecturer, the econs department, as well as my home faculty for an appeal, now I can only wait for their replies.

Speaking of which I feel I should really thank Jefferson. You see, I used to be a stick-by-the-rules student. If in the past I knew I was outbidded for a module, I would just start looking for other modules to take. The thought of emailing all the people mentioned earlier would never have occured to me. It was through Jefferson that I learnt how to come up with fake reasons and excuses to make it sound as though it's absolutely necessary for me to have that particular module haha.. Many things in NUS could be suited to you as long as you ask (kaopeh) persistently enough.

On a similar note, i'm going to meet up my prof later with regards to the grade that I need for my FYP. Wish me luck.

AY 07/08 Semester 2. Final dash to the finish line.

Random

2008-01-07T16:10:00.000+08:00

Hasn't been much for me to blog about recently. I mean, of cos I heard of the news that MC king passed away and such, but honestly it didn't affect me very much. May he rest in peace.

Well HH's back from Cambodia, and cherylene's back too (Weiliat: yes la!). Btin's coming back in one month's time. Of cos I'm happy that she's coming back, but i cant help but be reminded that she'll only be back for 10 days. After which i won't be seeing her for another 3 or 4 months again at least. Argh heck, one step at a time.

So anyway played bball on Saturday. Really enjoyed it. Apart from the fact that HH's back in our ranks, it felt good to be really playing competitively, to feel the adrenaline rush in you. Shiok. After that went over to Rayner's place in the evening for mahjong session. Won $2 after 2 rounds haha.

Yesterday went for steamboat dinner with chaiwei, jiren, hh and weiliat. As usual it was great to meet up with old frens despite not being able to see each other very often.

Well a rather random post i realised. heck.

Wanna go JB again... or bball... or ktv...

2008

2008-01-02T21:07:00.000+08:00

Happy new year to everyone!

Well, the past few days have been fun. Went to Zic's birthday barbeque on Saturday with the marist gang. It's a different experience hanging out with them I must say. First and foremost, instead of the usual standing-by-the-pit-and-make-yourself-smokey-and-sweaty type of bbq, they put the food in a aluminium tray, season it, and leave it to cook at the pit. The food is nice sia... kudos to Zol and whoever else helped wahaha (by the time I went there the food is ready to eat liao =P). Second, its nice crapping around even though we dun really see each other very much during term time. Had a great time amusing ourselves looking at Zic and the archi people pushing each other into the pool. =D After that went to Justin's place to play lan till the next morning.

Two days later, we're back at Justin's place for New Year countdown again. Deja vu overnight lan party again (with the absence of Quek and the addition of Vodka =X).

It's nice not having to do FYP and just relax, even if its just for one week.

But then again, the coming of 2008 marks my last semester of university. My last chance to achieve what I had hoped to achieve last semester. Round 0 of bidding starts today.

Here we go again.

JB trip 2

2007-12-29T00:03:00.001+08:00

Went to JB yesterday with rayner, bingde, weichern, chunwei, siuchun and kunlei. Had lunch at the food junction in city plaza den bingde and kunlei were like urging the rest of us to try this particular dessert called RED RUBY. Apparently they felt that it had a rather unique taste haha.. but I found it quite normal leh, just chestnut coated in red jelly or something. Nothing special really.

After that went to Neway to sing ktv from 1-4 pm and shopped around abit for clothes. Think Malaysia having some sort of sale now then almost everything was on discounts of 40-50%. Bought 2 t-shirts and a collared tee for $40 sing, and mind you they aren’t imitations.

That was followed by a short tea break at Secret Recipe. Well, it’s quite the same as here in terms of things sold and everything EXCEPT the prices are in ringgit wahaha.. one big slice of cake costs RM5 (which is about S$2.20). After that we took taxi to JUSCO and settled our dinner at pizza hut (also for half the price you find here), before making a dash for the last bus home.

Enjoyable experience overall, just that maybe had too little time to shop. Next time go can catch a movie there also (10RM for a ticket) =P.

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Anyway guess yesterday was a mix of emotions for everyone. None of the people I know really flunked this semester, though majority of them seem to have performed below expectations.

As for me, there’s really nothing much I can do about my results anyway. Thinking of going to my fyp prof and telling him the situation see what happens.

What will be, will be.

Sigh...

2007-12-26T12:34:00.000+08:00

Just received my results for this sem.

I knew this semester was crucial.

I knew I had to do well.

haiz.

Why does nothing seem to go well this semester?

I need a miracle.

Christmas

2007-12-25T23:13:00.000+08:00

12月25日。

今天是圣诞节。

但今年的圣诞节，似乎没什么意义。

看着街上亮丽的灯饰，处处都充满着圣诞的气息。看着街上一对对的情侣，看着天上悬挂着的满月，心里不禁有股酸溜溜的感觉。

她也在看着同样的满月吗？

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.

Hahaha zai act cheem! No la I’m not emo (ok maybe I am a little bit) just hope that everyone’s having a great Christmas today!

As for me, I spent my Christmas eve yesterday with Weiliat and Jiangyuan at the new KLP. Apparently a lot of people know about the place already. There’s quite a number of people ice-skating and at the arcade there yesterday. We even had to be on the waiting list for bowling.

So while waiting for the bowling alley manager to call us, we decided to play…. PARA PARA! hahaha… me and weiliat even managed to get jiangyuan to join in the fun!

weiliat's robotic dance moves =X

jiangyuan having fun

Bowling was not bad, considering I got a new personal best of 174 wahaha (weiliat: hao lian!)

er.. we're not gays if that wat ur thinking

After that jiangyuan pangseh-ed us and went home for dinner, sp me and weiliat went to eat fried hokkien mee at geylang. After that went to drink soya bean milk den went home at 9pm. Yes. 9pm. While everyone else is leaving home to go countdown somewhere I was GOING home hahaha. Sad.

Yeaps and that’s how I spent my Christmas eve. =)

My Examiner is Chee Hong

2007-12-18T21:10:00.000+08:00

Yes. I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but that’s his name.

Yesterday I had my FYP CA2 presentation to him. Having the presentation in his office was intimidating enough, added to which he kept frowning throughout the 20 minute presentation, you can imagine how I felt then. However, as professionally as I could, I finished the presentation. Then came the missiles to shoot me down.

First, he complained (yes not commented, but complained) that my presentation was too brief, when it was he himself who asked for a 20-slide-20-minute presentation. Then he started shooting me down in areas which I felt was aimed at me supervisor (prof K) rather than me. Throughout the whole process he did not ask me any questions that tested my concepts, but rather complained that the experiments I did seemed like a waste of time. Hello, ALL the experiments were done upon the request of MY SUPERVISOR, NOT ME.

And then I learnt the truth.

This examiner (prof P) is the founder of an engineering company (I later learnt that my own supervisor has his own company too. Rich @$#!). Apparently it seems like he and my supervisor are rivals in some sense. Worse, we once approached his company wanting to purchase some instruments, but later decided against it as it does not suit our requirements.

How unlucky is that? To get this Prof P as my examiner and Prof K as my supervisor. F**k.

And today I made a wasted trip to NUS again (wats new). I had hoped to finally be able to get started on a experiment today, when everything is finally ready to be tested. I reached the lab only to realize that the power supply is not there. I mean, it was ALWAYS there in the lab (who would wanna steal sth lidat?) but today, someone borrowed it. WTH. Talk about being unlucky huh? Someone up there must be laughing.

ANYWAY. Went to watch 投名状 with rayner bingde and weiwei yesterday at century square. Wanted to catch the 7pm slot at TM but ended up the seats were sold out so we went for the 845pm slot at CS instead. Not a bad show I’ll say, albeit abit draggy (127 mins) here’s how the story went.

李连杰stars as a general who was pang seh-ed by another ally and has his whole army wiped out at the start of the show. He managed to survive by feigning death, and was rescued by this woman (刘德华’s wife) who ran away from her tribe. Both fell in love with each other. When he woke up in the morning, she was gone.

李连杰 was then brought to刘德华’s band of bandits by 金成武 (acting as Andy’s brother). The trio then took an oath of brotherhood and brought their men to become soldiers of the imperial court, where they can get paid and would no longer be bullied by soldiers. The story goes on as the trio begins conquering cities against all odds blah blah blah…

Ok shall not type the wholes story out here. Eventually cracks appeared in their relationship and all 3 ends up dead.

To me, besides all the bloody and gory battle scenes (a soldier blown into pieces by a cannon) there seems to be a deeper lesson to be learnt. All 3 brothers seemed to have done the right thing, yet all ended up dead as a result of the scheme of 3 wily old men.

李连杰 demonstrated utilitarianism. After the battle of Suzhou, he ordered the deaths of 4000 survivors of the city because there was not enough food to go around, and they had to carry on conquering Nanjing to make the lives of 1 million others better. To him, a small sacrifice is necessary for the greater good.

刘德华 was the typical good guy, but was assassinated by Jet Li eventually under the imperial court’s orders.

金成武 plays the obedient brother who agrees to everything Jet Li says, and yet at the same time is also fiercely loyal towards Andy Lau. He avenged Andy Lau by killing Jet Li, and turns himself in to be sentenced to death by the imperial court, so as to honor their oath.

Worth watching =)

我和伟烈有个约会

2007-12-15T11:48:00.001+08:00

I had a one-day date with weiliat yesterday. =p

He came over top my place and we played bball in the morning. Played 1-on-1 race to 7 and won 7-1 hahaha.. weiliat dun be disheartened k? I had homeground advantage lol. After that went to kovan to eat teochew porridge. Then we proceeded to NUS where I went to do my FYP and weiliat went to settle some stuff in his hall.

Think my Prof is starting to get a little unhappy with me cos I didn’t finish the experiment he assigned me to do. Well to be perfectly honest I admit that I’ve been dragging it, but it’s only because I didn’t know how to go about doing! I mean, all he does is to tell me what kind of results he wants, but does not provide me with the means to do it. Feels like doing lab without a lab manual. Then after consulting the other PHD students and people in the lab, then I realized that it is not actually possible to do the experiment since the apparatus required doesn’t even exist in the first place! Then after I reported the complexity of the experiment to him then he realized it’s not really feasible, but gets abit upset all the same.

Well, my fault lor.

Anw after that met weiliat again and went to clementi for dinner, followed by pool at clementi. Played race to 5 and won 5-2 wahahaha… then he was like complaining that he was spending the whole day entertaining me. Play bball also lose… then accompany come school… then now pool also lose…. Lol =X

In any case, really enjoyed myself, though its just 2 lonely guys spending the day together hahaha.. oh no, sounds gay =X brothers forever.

Busy!

2007-12-12T17:37:00.001+08:00

Been wanting to blog for quite some time but simply cant find the time or energy to do so till now. Even as I’m wrinting this blog entry I’m on my way to NUS. For FYP, wat else?
But more on that later, first a recap of what’s been happening the past few days.

Thursday.
Went to teoheng ktv with weiliat huihuang rayner and bingde. Come to think of it it’s the first time my friends from 2 different cliques sang ktv together. Had a lot of fun with bingde’s kaopeh-ness and huihuang’s “think of me”. I have to admit life’s never boring when you have friends like huihuang and bingde hahaha.. GREAT. After that went to meet up with the lan gang to a dimsum shop near Mustafa area.

Friday – Saturday.
Do FYP report. Full stop.

Sunday.
Celebrated Rongxian’s bday at Marina Square. Had lunch at Imperial treasures and was served by this.. erm.. aunty by the name of Susan. I mean no offence, she’s efficient in her service la.. but like bingde said, her demeanor suggests that she’s better suited to working at kopitiam =X Went to bowl after that and Wendy had the highest score of 104 hahaha (though its la sup =p) cos when she throws the ball moves too slowly for the system to detect and she gets a second try wahaha. But it was bingde who won the day with his typical-bingde-style-guailaness near the end of the game. Absolutely hilarious.
Lihui and Cuihua had to leave early and the rest of us proceeded to teo heng (again) to sing ktv from 7-9. Bingde left to join his artsclub friends and the remaining of us had dinner at 五星鸡饭.

Monday.
Went all the way back to NUS to submit my FYP report to the examiner and pass some stuff to a fellow FYP student. After that traveled all the way back to kallang again to meet huihuang and weiliat at KLP (Kallang Leisure Park). Nostalgia flooded me as I walked along the once-familiar path to my secondary school hangout place. Memories of ice-skating, bowling, playing arcade, eating at BK etc. KLP really changed a lot. Looks pretty much like a shopping mall now. Went to the arcade to relive some of the old days by playing para-para lol. Really treasure th moments of us doing something silly and laughing our asses off at each other. =) that was followed by bowling at the new bowling alley. The lane is goog and the balls are all new. Scored 153, 133 and 140 compared to the 102 when I played on Sunday haha. But my advice is to go play on a weekday morning, cos its cheaper ($2 per game). Dinner was at old airport road, another favourite hangout during my high school days. The Fuzhou Fishball noodles are still delicious as ever =D.

Tuesday (yesterday)
Went to visit my grandma at simei then back to rayner’s house to watch Singapore vs Thailand. Must say that Singapore has still quite a way to go, and seriously I’m skeptical about them qualifying for the World Cup 2010 (don’t misunderstand me, I still support the Singapore Team, but the way they play is rather disheartening). Bingde and Chunwei came after that and we had a game of mahjong while waiting for Chunwei’s Liverpool game at 3am. I won $8 yes lar =p.
Rayner drove us out for supper (teochew porridge). Chunwei watched his soccer match while the rest of us dota-ed 3 consecutive games (3 wins haha) all the way till 615am. Went home for a couple of hours of sleep and here I am, dragging myself on my way to NUS again.

So well, the past few days have been eventful and enjoyable, but everytime I go out to have fun with my friends there’s always this nagging feeling of “something” that needs to be done. And yes, that “something” is the dreaded FYP. Yet at the same time really cant bring myself to dive in and concentrate on FYP. In the 10 days that followed the end of my exams I was practically doing my FYP CA2 report EVERYDAY. In fact, I was so sick and tired and mentally drained from working on the report that I decided to conclude it though I could have added more stuff inside. That shows how sick I am of it.

On top of that, I got other miscellaneous stuff that I need to do. Writing Xmas cards, Going to AMK to configure my PSP, buy external hard disc going Simei to visit my grandma (who recently injured her knee during a fall and had to be hospitalized) etc. All these makes me reluctant to spend a 1.5 hour trip to NUS and 1.5 hours back just to do some petty experiments. The trip to and fro school really drains me and usually takes up my whole day.

My friends are probably getting sick of me complaining about FYP every time I meet them, but I’m definitely not exaggerating how sucky it is. Unlike previous semesters where I can forget about everything after the exams and really enjoy my holidays, FYP requires me to put in continuous effort even during the holidays. Its not gonna be concluded till next year’s late April. And I cant afford to slack either, since my fate lies with my Prof.

To quote from bingde’s blog, “Every high score you get is accompanied by the hope that the mean is pathetic, and every low score u get is followed by the prayer that the whole cohort chui” How true. In Primary school 91 marks is an A*. In Secondary School 75 is an A1. But in NUS? Even if you manage to score 80/100 for a test, you will not be guaranteed an A. On top of that, you don’t get back your final exam papers, which makes up the largest percentage of your grade usually. Hence whether you do well or not depends on the person marking your script, and you’ll never know if he or she made a mistake in marking your exam scripts. Like I said, grades are more dependent on the lecturer rather than the module (just compare Proddar of Micro1 to ST of Micro2). Studies at this stage is no longer fun, no longer the naïve “pursue of knowledge”. Its all about the grades, about doing better than others. 13 weeks every semester for you to prove where you stand, and usually one mistake is all it takes for you to flunk. No second chance.

Alright. Enough about academics. I can only hope that Santa will give me the grades I hoped for on the 27th. Meanwhile, I’ll just try to enjoy myself whenever I can.

投名状? Anyone? =p

Scary

2007-12-08T01:15:00.000+08:00

Today was bad scare day.

I was thinking of getting an external hard disk to back up my lappy’s stuff, after seeing my friends’ laptops (Bingde’s and Zo’s) laptop’s chui. After all, all my pictures, music and academic stuff are in my laptop. That includes my FYP stuff.

Then today, as I was returning home from school after a meet-up with my supervisor, I thought that I might as well do some work on the 1–hour plus bus ride home. Hence I took out my lappy, and started typing my report.

Then it happened.

The screen suddenly turned blue, with the words “windows has encountered a fatal error” and “starting to dump physical memory…” printed in white.

Oh my goodness. Siao liao!!

That was my first thought as I stared in disbelief at the screen. Natural instinct took over as I held on to the power button till the laptop switched off. I didn’t dare to switch it on again.

So throughout the whole trip home I was praying hard that when I reach home my lappy would be working fine again, and what would I do if the worst-case-scenario came true: my lappy’s chui.

When I reached home, I pressed the “on” button and held my breath as I prepared for the worst.

Imagine my relief when the familiar windows loading screen appeared. My lappy’s fine, for now.

I’m gonna get an external the very first thing tomorrow.

Hang in there, dear laptop!!

Update

2007-12-05T18:29:00.000+08:00

I always love this time of the year. The temperature dropping, strong gusts of wind, beginning to have the “Christmas” feel. I always preferred Christmas to CNY, despite there being no ang pows for Christmas. I even remember when I was younger me and my bro used to draw our own “dream-houses” which resembled something like a log cabin in the midst of heavy snow, with a big warm fire blazing at the fireplace.

But now that I think back on all the times of Christmas I’ve had, I realize why I look forward to Christmas.

First of all, its in the December holidays, where after a long year of studying and exams, I finally get to have a break from academics. And secondly, I used to have at least one chalet gathering every December. Be it with my Sec 2 class, my JC class or with HH they all, it’s a time of getting to know your friends better. Last but not least, my 2 most memorable overseas trip were also during the December holidays – going to Hawaii in Sec 3, and Busan in JC1.

Sometimes I really wish to relive these moments. =)

Anyway not much’s been happening in the past few days.

Went for my relative’s (someone I’ve not seen for so long I dun even remember how he looked like) wedding dinner on Monday, which was held at a PA clubhouse. The food was good, except perhaps the dessert (almond cream) ugh…

Yesterday went to play pool with HH, JY and John. It was more of accompanying them bah actually haha since I dun really play pool. Definitely not as much as HH anyway =X

Going out again tml, teoheng ktv! =)

Up next… FYP

2007-11-29T12:16:00.000+08:00

Finished my exams for this semester yesterday. I realized one of the worst feelings you can have after you walk out from the exam hall is the feeling of “I could have done better”. No matter how much you practiced or how much you revised, if during the crucial 2 hours of exams you suddenly could not remember which method to use, then its all useless.

Suffice to say that I felt that I could have done better for both my papers.

So now I just need to pray for the rest of the cohort to chui. =X

Up next, I have my CA2 presentation for my FYP scheduled on 17th Dec, and I need to submit my report at least one week before that.

Gotta start work liao zzzz…

Ps. To whoever’s interested, I’m recently hooked on this game: The Elder Scrolls IV: OBLIVION. Try it! Its addictive! =)

MUG Mug mug....

2007-11-21T01:00:00.000+08:00

Hmmm.. the fact that I'm still blogging during the reading week does not mean I've finished my preparations for exams. Truth is, I feel that I’m ill-prepared, when actually there’s not really much I can do either. I’ve gone through the notes at least 3 times, gone through the tutorials at least twice. Hell, I’ve even looked at the past year papers (though I didn’t attempt them cos there’s no answers provided). What more can I do?

Studies aside, today it hit me again (sort of like a reminder) that I’m in the final year of my studies. Final year, cos I seriously don’t think I’ll be continuing my studies after honors. To be honest, I’m sick of it. Kindergarten, primary, secondary, college, university. How many years has that been? Close to 2 decades?

Which also means that I’ll be stepping into the working world real soon. RSAF. Ever since I signed on with the air force, I’ve seen more frowns than smiles whenever I told people that I’m a regular with the RSAF. A typical conversation would be something like:

Xxx: “Ay? How come you didn’t complete NS?”

Me: “Cos I signed on with the air force.”

Xxx: “Oh… *trying to hide a frown* sign on as what?”

Me: “Air Engineering Officer”

Xxx: “I see.. *changes topic*”

And that’s only an example of a milder case. Actually, I don’t really understand why so many people have a mentality that signing-on is like “omgwtf why did you do something so stupid!?”

For me, I didn’t really give much thought when I signed the contract. Back then I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after graduating from university, I only knew what I don’t want. I don’t want my parents to fret about my university tuition fees. I don’t want to graduate at 25 years old and be in debt to some bank where I borrowed money from to pay for my tuition fees.

I mean, I don’t come from a wealthy family. My dad is the sole bread-winner, and he’s not earning very much, nor does he have a stable income given that he’s a self-employed contractor. Worse, he doesn’t have CPF. Kudos to him for being able to provide the family with a comfortable life.

Why RSAF? I knew that my grades, though good, were not good enough for scholarships offered by other institutes like A*, DSTA, PSC etc. I kinda just took the opportunity when it came. With the award from signing-on, I don’t have to worry about my tuition fees, I don’t have to complete my NS before studying, I don’t have to keep asking my dad for allowance, and I don’t have to worry about not finding a job upon graduation. All that for and effectively 2 year bond is worthwhile, or at least to me it is.

With the trend of increased benefits for civil servants going strong, seems to me like a good decision I made =P

A post on MLM

2007-11-09T23:07:00.000+08:00

Well, dunno why the sudden impetus in wanting to blog about this topic. Think it’s been at the back of my mind somewhere just din think of blogging about it till now.

Guess everyone’s heard of multi-level-marketing by now. So, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear about MLM? Money? Cars? Health products? Uplines? Downlines? I personally happened to have an experience with regards to MLM. Here’s how the story went.

*******

A friend of mine(lets call him W) was (and still is) working for this MLM company in Clarke quay. I of course did not know of this fact then. I din even really know anything about MLM prior to this, save for a vague memory that my bro was involved in MLM before for a short duration.

So anyway me and W were pretty close friends then and met up often to lunch and play bball occasionally. Then one day he told me that he had a friend who recently opened a café in Clarke quay and asked if I’m free to go and patronize the shop. Sensing nothing amiss, I agreed and went to Clarke quay to meet him. First surprise when I saw him in office-wear (long sleeve shirt with dress pants), cos I didn’t know he had a job then. I din ask much then and we proceeded to this café owned by his friend. Second surprise came when I realized it was not really a “café” per say, but rather a very small eatery that sells economic bee hoon and nasi lemak (which I later learnt served as a cheap meeting place-cum lunch area for the MLM people).

So after sitting down and having dinner there, W told me another friend (colleague) will be joining us. After a short talk to this seemingly nice colleague he suggested W bring me up to his working place and take a look around. And there’s where it all started. Lots of people started coming to talk to me, introducing me to their product, telling me how important health is, how great the company (and the boss) is by, how my pay as a regular won’t be enough to see my life through comfortably), how great it would be to own a BMW at the age of 20, showing me newspaper cuttings, as well as the many professionals who endorsed their product etc etc. For those who went to MLM companies before, you’ll know what I’m talking about. As for those who hadn’t, no harm going to listen, but try not to bring your wallets along hahaha.

So after a night of “brain-washing” (I went there at 7-plus, I left at 1 am), I was part of the company. The next few days I went down to the company often, driven by this beautifully-woven dream to own a BMW and to be financially-secured at the age of 20. Then slowly, bit by tiny bit, many untold truths behind the company came to me.

First of all, I learnt that from what the consumers pay by buying the product, only one-third goes to the cost of the product. One third goes to the company itself, and one third is distributed amongst the “distributors”, that is, the MLM people. Meaning the product actually maybe only costs $1000 and you’re selling it at $3000. Hereon comes the moral issue.

You are selling these products to your RELATIVES. These are family, people whom you’ve seen for your whole life. People who watched you grow up. The uplines tell you its worth it, that the product will dramatically improve your relative’s health, convincing you that if you really care for them, you should encourage them to use the product. But the fact is I don’t even know if the products really work. So what if its endorsed by professionals? So what if it has a warranty of 10 years? To be perfectly cynical, I’m not even sure if the company would still be around in 10 years’ time, for MLM companies are infamous for being short-lived. And even if the product is as miraculous as foretold, it costs a bomb, and I know my relatives are paying for the commissions for my uplines rather than for the product itself.

Then I also learnt that there are tested-and-proven methods to make appointments to ask your friends down to the company, or to make appointments with your relatives to sell them the product. These are methods that have proven to be the most effective and guarantee the highest rate of success. Methods that I would definitely not wish to consider using on my relatives or friends. Methods that I find too shocking to even mention here.

And then it struck me. W used the exact same method on me! The realization slapped me across the face. I left the company shortly after.

*******

Till today W is still striving for his car, in a company where like-minded youths are united in the belief of a comfortable life in exchange for a couple of years of hard work. I only hope what he’s gained would be at least of equal value of the friends he lost.

Please do not misunderstand, for I am not condemning all MLM companies. Granted, there’s MLM companies of reputable backgrounds, whose products have really helped countless people, who do not have “methods” to close deals. The basic principle is the same, it is a network of uplines and downlines, and the company gives you a bonus for every quota met. Those that succeed are seen as gods, driving around in Porsches, Mercs, BMWs and taking home fat paychecks every week. But do remember that there are countless others who are stuck in these companies, unable to move up the ladder, and stuck too deep to withdraw from it all. And it’s these people who are contributing to the pockets of the top-flyers.

MLM activists lament that the society in Singapore views them in a negative light, when they’re being embraced in Europe and the US. But most of the time, its due to these “methods” that people abhor them. Just some food for thought =)

Bored

2007-10-21T14:12:00.000+08:00

Its been another uneventful week, with nothing really significant to make me feel like blogging about haha..

Perhaps the only highlight was getting back the ST midterm paper on my friday econs tutorial. Of cos, i had wished for a high score. But after Monday's lecture where ST herself showed us the mean of the cohort, I had to lower my expectations. After all, having to add 15 marks for moderation such that the mean is 50/100 says alot about the difficulty of the paper. For me, the result i got was not wat i had in mind ideally, but i was content nonetheless =)

Was eating at Mac yesterday after playing bball with my bro. Being the "exam period" now, the restaurant was packed with teens busy preparing for their O's and A's. My bro commented that there's actually not much pt in studying so hard, you just need to tap into a profitable market.

what he said makes sense of cos. But instead of saying that we've been "brain-washed" by the education system, i prefer to think of it as wat is necessary for survival in this society. Lets face it, in Singapore you need qualifications.

More often than not, successful entrepreneurs are people who take great risks. And in my opinion this happens for 2 reasons.

1) The person is well-qualified enough to fall back on his qualifications and get on with a comfortable life even if he fails in his venture as an entrepreneur.

2) The person is unable to do well enough under the education system required by the society and is hence left with no choice but to take such risks.

For the majority that are stuck in the middle, there's simply not enough motivation to spark off a business venture. Not with the high admin costs, rental fees, and labour wages.

Hence I feel that we strive to do well because it gives us a better chance of having a better life. Bread on the table comes first. Butter on the bread can come later.

Just thoughts =)

It's been 10 full years..

2007-09-28T17:34:00.000+08:00

since i left my primary school (Holy Innocent's Primary). Much as I wish to hold on to memories of my primary school days, I have to say that I honestly do not recall much of my primary school life.

Two nights ago i received a request on msn. it was my primary school friend. and after the usual "how's life" talk, she sent me a pic of one of the outing she had with my other pri-school mates. I almost could not believe how much everyone had changed. Everyon looked so different, yet there was this warm tinge of familiarity as i gazed at their faces. Slowly, the memories came.

I remember the first day of school, when i vomited immediately after alighting from school life due to motion sickness from the school-bus ride. I remember having to sing hymns and say prayers every morning/evening. I remember the names of the teachers who taught me, and how i always looked forward to PE lessons haha.. I remember my favorite teacher Ms Kweh in primary 2, as well as the time when i was appointed prefect in primary 3, and eventually how I "resigned" as a prefect just to play bball during recess hahaha.. and of cos, i remember my friends =)

After graduating from primary school, we lost contact with each other. A handful of us went to DHS, but the relationship slowly cooled of to "hi-bye" friends. As the years went by, I happened to bump into a couple of my pri-school mates by sheer coincidence. from choir, BMT, sit-test and finally in NUS.

Its a funny feeling to realise that 10 years had gone by just like that. So much has changed, but so much still the same.

I'm looking forward to a primary school outing =)

A Post on NS

2007-09-25T15:18:00.000+08:00

Was watching 康熙来了earlier this morning and there's these 4 artistes who were invited on the show to share their NS experiences in taiwan. was sort of irritated by the episode though cos they also happened to invite 8 female models to listen to the guys' stories and apparently they found it extremely boring.

That leads me to think, are girls the least bit interested in guys' NS experiences?

I mean, having only served 6 months of NS, I'm probably not really in a position to say much abt wat my fellow peers have gone through in their 2~2.5 years of national service. But i'm sure each and everyone who's gone through NS will have his own story and experience that he is proud of. After all, NS is a totally new stage of life for many of the guys (except those who were in NCC before =))

Usually when guys talk abt NS, we compare with each other about how "siong" our training is, sort of like a mini-competition to see who's e most garang soldier.

And why? because the shit that we've gone through gives us pride.

Be it achieving gold in your ippt, or completing your SOC in 9mins flat, or having your 24km route-march in the rain, or starve for 5 days in Brunei during jungle-survival, or climbing over peaks and peaks of hills in ROC, all these tasks gives us a sense of achievement.

perhaps some girls will think "everyone has to go through wat.. wats e big deal?"

its true. but each soldier's experience is unique and special to him, and if you cant understand the things he has achieved, then at least do not look down on these achievements =)

Its okay if you find guys talking abt NS boring, because i assume u do not understand having not gone through it youself. But try to understand that its a whole new experience for the guy and he's jus trying to share with you what he's been going through.

majority of the models in e episode pointed out that they would be more interested in stories revolving around "accidents" rather than "training" and "tekan-ing".

to this i say : fuck u.

would u still think this way if the person who happened to die in the accident is your boyfren?

jus some thots =)

Holidays!

2007-09-24T13:18:00.000+08:00

its the mid term break, but to be perfectly honest i've never really stepped out of the holiday mood in e first place heh. i noe if i carry on slacking like this i'm gonna regret it when the results are released at e end of the semester, but i jus cant seem to snap out of this lack-lustre mood..

Academics has never been a real problem to me. i remember the times when i was younger, my mum would buy stacks and stacks of assessment books for me to do. And where my bro was scolded and caned for being too playful, i was given the same medicine for not completing my assessment books.

On hindsight, i should be grateful to these books, for i believe they did help to lighten the burden of my academics. But at the same time i realised that there's something more that helped me.

my peers.

Looking back, i reaised that at every stage of my life, there's always someone that i work towards. In secondary school i had a close fren who excelled in maths and science, and making him my benchmark, i would slowly work towards the same level as he is.

Same thing happened when i was in tjc. Rayner excelled in math, while bingde taught me econs and physics, both of whom happened to be my best frens in jc. Coincidence? perhaps.

However, due to my signing-on with the RSAF, i disrupted for studies 2 years earlier than these frens who were supposedly in e same cohort as me. The result? i flunked in my first 2 years of university. With no friend ard me to set as a target, i was lost; yet at the same time i sort of learnt to be independent, to really develop my own studying methods instead of simply following others.

It finally worked the last sem, lets hope it'll work again this sem =)

suddenly have this craving to go back to taiwan haha.. wanted to go bintan during this hols, but abit worried abt the earthquakes in indonesia. siannnn

Thoughts

2007-09-19T16:29:00.000+08:00

its been quite awhile since i blogged about something a little deeper than my daily mundane life. not saying that it's a bad thing though.. cos it probably means i'm happy with my life heh =X

so it happened that during my free day i happened to ponder on this topic : BGR aka boy-girl-relationship.

something that almost everyone has to go through, something that can be so simple, and yet at e same time something that can be unbelievably complex.

what does a guy look for in a girl? a pretty face? great figure? intelligence? independence? sense of humour? character? i remembered a fren telling me that (in terms of math) each guy has his own unique function f(x) that consists a unique combination of all e factors (and maybe more) i've just mentioned. and when a guy finally finds a girl that fits into the equation, he falls for her. and if the guy also happens to fit comfortably into the girl's equation, they become a couple. sounds simple enough?

not really.

too many times i've seen cases of hopes going down the drain for many reasons.

1.Religion

no offence watsoever, but this is by far e most ridiculous "barrier" in my opinion. religions that forbid their followers' partners to be of other religions? someone enlighten me pls.

2."Sister"

haha some ppl say this is e worst state to be in.. to be classified as 姐妹 by the girl u like. meaning she has no special feelings for u, and yet u have to bear e pain of seeing her very often.

3.Attached

e guy falls too deep in love before realising the girl is attached. pain.

yup. so wats my whole point in this entry? i dunno also haha.. like i said its jus some thoughts i have..

to all my frens out there. i wish u happiness =)

Time flies

2007-09-15T23:40:00.000+08:00

dun really have anything or real importance nor significance to blog about actually haha but jus abit of update on the past week.

time really seems to fly this semester.. its already coming to the mid-term break already and it still feels like i haven really been studying alot yet haha.. once again it may be due to the sudden lack of modules and the seemingly extra time that i have compared to the other semesters.

For EE4305, i understand the concepts taught so far, but doubt i will be able to work out the calculations manually without having to refer to the notes. yet to go through the tutorials also..

For EC3101, the lecturer serene tan (same one as my macro1) has once again proven to be the most demanding econs lecturer i've had till now. its only during her lectures that i really feel econs is not as easy as it seems =.= understanding the concepts is simple enough, its the math that i'm worried about..

For my FYP, i'm still pretty much at the trial and error part, since my prof dun hav any constructive advice for me besides asking me to go to the library to find references on my own. Good thing is i'm not alone (well not really) in this project as there's 2 other students working on the same area, but yet herein lies the dilema. since we're working under the same professor and on the same area, we should be considered a team, and a team shud help each member out; yet at the same time being FYP students and under NUS's grading system, it also makes us rivals. and one FYP student(lets call him T) jus recently reminded me of this sad truth:

Durin yesterday's fyp meeting our porf decided to give us a "surprise" CA1 which caught me and the other fyp student (lets call him Y) unawares. Apparently T alr knew abt this "surprise" on thursday and did not bother to inform us. great. i may have lost some points on the 10% CA1, but T has lost a great deal of trust from me and Y.

lastly, a photo of last sunday's concert-cum-gathering of the dhs gang:

Update..

2007-09-10T20:40:00.002+08:00

Had my weekend burnt haha.. was supposed to go east coast park to kayak on saturday.. but so happened that the kayak-rental shop closed down liao.. then we walked from VJC all e way to the sea sports club past bedok jetty.. and still din manage to kayak =.= end up we took bus all e way back to parkway to play pool hahaha.. think now need certification (at least one star) to rent kayak at places like pasir ris also.. sian..

den on sunday we met again and went to bedok reservoir to kayak this time heh.. but we were only allowed to kayak in a small area (in the alr not-so-big reservoir) and it actually kills abit of the fun. still very much prefer to kayak at sea =/

at nite went to watch (or rather listen) to zijing and jing jing's acapella concert.. saw several familiar faces such as zuze, shuhui, kane kane, zhiying etc.. everyone changed quite abit from when i last saw them.. but there was this little touch of famliarity nonetheless.. kinda filled me with nostalgia when i remembered e times back in secondary school and jc where the whole choir sang and worked hard together for syf and concerts.. like i said before, its a good feeling to be part of a larger identity =)

as for school.. my fyp (or rather my prof) is really giving me a headache.. he kept changing the topic that i'm supposed to work on.. and now i'm supposed to work on sth that even he himself is not sure of. i mean, there's no one i can ask, no readings he can recommend me at all.. the other 2 fyp students' tasks seem so much easier lor.. zzz.. think i'm gonna arrange a meeting with him soon and ask him for sth simpler cos i dun really think its fair to me.. argh

Gatherings

2007-09-01T22:32:00.000+08:00

went to bugis to celebrate weiliat's bday today.. had dinner at the 辣妹子重庆老火锅王 haha eat till damn shiok..

for me, such gatherings are always fun and much looked forward to.. because it's a time to catch up with old pals, find out how everyone's doing and reminisc the "good old days" haha.. laughing with each other, laughing at each other.. its a great feeling.

ironically midway through the meal i received an sms from an old fren.. and it brought a tiny tinge of sadness within me.

we used to be such close frens.

the days where we played bball after school everyday, rain or shine.

the days where we went to kallang leisure park for ice-skating, bowling and arcade.

even after we left secondary school, we still met up often to celebrate the gang's bday.

and not forgetting the occasional chalets, no matter how boring they seemed.

so wat happened? u might ask.

it was u, who failed to turn up for the occasional gatherings to celebrate bdays. not even for a couple of hours.

it was u, who kept giving the same excuses. seminars. meetings. busy etc.

it was u, who always had to leave early to return to office even during e rare times when u did come.

worse still, we gave u 2 weeks advance notice.

worse still, we gave u plenty of chances. but the same shit keeps happening.

so well, u might blame us.

for not replying ur msges.

for not asking u out anymore.

for being cold towards u.

u took us for granted. we had enuff of it.

let this be a lesson learnt. dun ever take ur frens for granted =)

Rainy Day

2007-08-30T17:05:00.000+08:00

Jus came home from school haha.. weather now is like damn cold la... den dunno wats e problem with sbs bus uncles.. outside raining so heavily and they still on the air-con at FULL BLAST. 151 also lidat. 62 also lidat. wa kao..den got passenger go ask him to tune down the aircon he replied "是这样的，不可以关小的".. yeah rite, i'm sure =.=

anw watched 881 yesterday with hh, yuankai and jiexiang haha.. hmm sad to say i was actually abit disappointed la.. cos i had really high expectations of the show after all e high ratings given by e critics as well as ppl who have alr watched it.. i mean, its a good movie, but not great i wud say.. there's certain parts i found to be really quite lame.. too lame to be funny haha..

however i do give credit to the story, as well as the hidden meanings the show tried to portray.. also liked e ending with a twist where Qi Yuwu was looking at the fotos of Mindee =)

after the movie i had dinner at House of Sundanese food.. and here's my verdict of the restaurant: dun go. its nothing special really. food is not really nice either (think engine canteen's indonesian stall also nicer) and its expensive. never gonna go there ever again lol.

k thats all for now.

加油！

JB Trip

2007-08-26T20:08:00.000+08:00

Yay! went to JB with HH, Weiliat and cherylene yesterday.. come to think of it its my first trip to JB though almost all my good frens have gone there b4 haha.. was kinda excited to experience e difference over there haha.. here's how e day went..

were supposed to meet at causeway pt at 1400 hrs but think everyone was late haha end up by e time we board e bus it was already close to 1430 hrs. the bus was damn cramped though.. probably due to it being a saturday and lots of m'sians were making their way back home..

then i had my first no-so-gd experience. cos we had to fill up this white arrival card when we're at e customs but happened that the customs area had no such cards! so we had to brave e jammed roads to get to the embarkation centre, get the cards, and make our way back across e busy roads to e customs area( which is of cos kinda dumb if u ask me ). this, coupled with the fact that there were only like 4 counters and tt e place was not air-conditioned, kinda dampened my spirits a little. but stil i noe that different countries have different working methods so shall not complain haha..

at 1600hrs we finally finally reached our destination - city square. basically looks like a typical shopping mall we have over here. we proceeded directly to finding the renowned Neway karaoke hehe.. e rate was cheap, considering its a weekend - RM22 (abt 10 sing) pax for singing 1300-1900. since we arrived only at 1600 we jus took e package. was pleasantly surprised with the spacious room and highly-updated list of songs haha.. yeap so if i had to make a fair comment, it definitely wins our local ktv (kbox etc) in terms of rates and environment =)

at 1900 we headed to 大马花园 for dinner. waited quite abit for a teksi though (probably again due to the fact that its a weekend). hahaha and yes we're glad we din follow hh's suggestion to walk there cos its really quite far from city square haha.. anw we had a great meal consisting of lalas.. cereal prawns..sotong-kia.. sambal sotong.. sambal stingray.. butter crayfish.. veggies and fried oyster haha.. all e food for less than RM40 pax! cheap sia... and nice! =D

after that went to holiday plaza look for some dvds (pirated ah duh) lol the shops there got the um-um compartments sia.. one of e shops even had security cameras situated all over e plaza in case e police come to raid lol.. end up din buy anything tho lol but well yea its an experience..

finally we have the quote of the day by huihuang as we waited at kranji for the train home.. cos he was wearing this shirt with a BIG hand print on it den weiliat go put his hand on hh's shirt.. here's wat he said

"can you feel my heart? (holding weiliat's hand at his chest).. must be cant rite? 因为我的心在你这边 (puts his hand on weiliat's chest)"

wahahahahhaahahaha luff till i wanna peng san.. hh rmw LOL

Photos!

2007-08-20T22:11:00.000+08:00

Monday never fails to give me a "zzz" feeling haha.. especially wheni noticed how similar microecons 2 is to macroecons 1.. think its e style of e lecturer (think 80% of the class din noe wat she was saying today). hope wun get another B+ for this heh..

anw went to queenstown to shop for some clothes with bingde today.. bought a tshirt and a pair of jeans. bingde got alot more stuff tho haha. think we belong to the same category of guys bah when it comes to shopping.. as in "see it, like it, buy it" jus like that haha.. den after that on my way home on NEL was totally disgusted by this incident.

a young mum carrying her 1-2 yr old boy (plus i think she's expecting another one) entered the crowded train at Chinatown station. being the peak hour there were no seats available, but being the "gracious society" we are i thought some kind-hearted soul wud give up his/her seat to this poor young lady. my gaze turned almost immediately to 2 guys (teens) sitting near the door, half-expecting them to stand up and offer their seats. never happened. apparently they were busy doing some stuff on their laptops to realise there's this poor-lady-who-needs-the-seat-more-than-them standing right next to them near the doorway! so the journey continued, with the mum carefully trying to prevent knocking into other passengers as well as shielding her baby from any possible danger whenever the train jerked. they alighted at Serangoon station, with no one offering them seats throughout.

when i alighted at Kovan, i glanced at the screens of the guys' laptops. they were playing games =.= so much for becoming a "gracious society" eh?

anw here'e e oweek pics (though i dun think alot of ppl read my blog lol). din manage to detect hh's thumbdrive so jus upload wat i have first haha..

lol thats all for now.. dunno how to add comments under photo =X and somehow my font changed to times new roman argh!

i miss ur smile.

First Week

2007-08-17T23:50:00.000+08:00

well.. seems like first week of school's ended just like that.

unfortunately i'm still in e state of trying to get focused on my work.. especially my fyp.. had a meeting with e prof again today and realised that alot seems to need to be done.. but temporarily my job is to go read up on the background info of e project itself.. sux. cant help wondering if i really did take 4 mods this sem instead of 2 how i wud be coping sia.. not that i'm really doing much at e moment. seems to have lost e motivation to mug.. argh..

will upload e pics of oweek once i get them from hh. =)

First Day of Final Year

2007-08-13T19:52:00.000+08:00

today's e first day of my final year in uni. somehow it felt weird to sit in LT8 and listen to my econs lecture (not that its damn boring or anything, jus not in e mood for academics).

perhaps its cos i'm still in e oweek mood.

perhaps its cos i'm in my final year.

perhaps its cos i met my fyp prof in e morning.

perhaps its cos she's graduated and no longer in school with me =)

perhaps its cos my suck-cock-buddy (not literally duh) jeff has also graduated.

perhaps... i dunno. its jus a different feeling. speaking of fyp, i had my first meeting with my prof this morning. he seems nice enough haha though when he discussed stuff with another p.h.d holder i totally cannot understand wat they talking abt. in short, i noe next to zilt wat i'm supposed to do for fyp. so he jus gave me some sources and asked me to read up this week. =.= guess i need to buck up le haha.. see how bah.. one step at a time =) luckily this sem i only got 2 other modules haha so can afford to spend more time on fyp =P

that brings me to my thought of the day (tah-dah).

i realise that its possible to do well in sth u dun really like, or have no strong interest in. for example, many students do well in math though they dun really like it.

however, it is quite impossible to suck at sth u love to do.

think abt it =)

Just Thoughts...

2007-08-11T23:14:00.000+08:00

Yeah!

oweek has finally ended with the rag day today at padang..was really impressed by the efforts put in by all e faculties and halls jus to parade their masterpiece on this day. Like i said its been a really great and memorable experience for me. glad to have had a chance to be part of orientation during the final year of my uni life=) will upload pics once i get them!

Anw i jus finished reading this manga online. was kinda touched by the story haha (quite rare for a manga to have this effect on me since usually e manga i read revolves ard violence =X). in summary its abt a story of a couple that is told in the guy's perspective. happens that the guy liked the girl since high school but never got a chance to confess his love to the girl. when he finally did manage to do so, it turns out that the girl had feelings for him all this while too. however due to the nature of the girl's work( modelling ) their relationship had to be kept in the shadows. Slowly the distance between them increased, and finally the guy initiated a breakup so that the girl can continue with her career as a model. the guy den met with an accident (typical) and his mind went back in time to when they were still in high school. he was in part happy becos this meant tt he wud be able to correct the wrong things he had done b4. but eventually he realised that it was becos of these "wrong" things that brought him and the girl together.

ahem. guess u all at a loss of wth i'm talking abt haha.. but wat i wan to say really is this:

the past is past, no matter how colourful and glorious it seemed then.

the future is unknown to us, a mystery waiting to be unfold.

wat we have is the present, which has been moulded by the past, and which will shape our future.

so dun cling on to wat's past, because it will make u miss out on the present, and regret in the future.

cherish wat u have everyday =)

cliched. but true =)

Sun Sand Sea

2007-08-09T12:39:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the fourth day of oweek, at Sentosa. only blogged abt it today cos was really too shagged to do anything when i reached home last nite haha.. think other faculties of NUS were there also but at different parts of the beaches.. it's funny how i always believed getting wet and dirty during orientation always help to bond a group together, and it always turns out to be true. for me, orientation is a time to let loose of urself, and do seemingly crazy things that u normally wud never have done( such as taking off ur swimming trunks underwater and wear them over ur shorts lol )

well kudos to the organisers for their ability to come up with creative games at such tight budget. had plenty of fun watching the freshies cheer their hearts out, as well as being so enthusiatic to want to earn more points for their own og that they are willing to do almost anything (tho i wud hav prefered if the freshies took e initiative to lead cheers themselves haha) not forgetting the many dunkings, taupok-ing and burying in e sand haha..

then there was the house games, where the 4 different houses use waterbombs to attack each other's "hostages" while the rest frantically tried to protect them. in my opinion it was basically jus Monster house (my house) versus Machine house haha.. the other 2 houses somehow seemed excluded from the battle with their hostages relatively unscathed.

at night we went to vivo city for dinner at asian kitchen.. den went to somewhere for a little bit more of interaction with the freshies. realised that its really quite a small world.. 4 of the freshies in my group were from tjc, 2 of them were from dhs where 1 is actually my choir junior!! haha i mean of cos its no big deal that u run into ppl who's from the same school as u, but i think it helps to provide a sense of familiarity, and of cos new topics to crap abt haha..

so well that marks the end of the 4th day of oweek. must say that its really been an enjoyable experience so far haha.. last but not least, HAPPY BDAY SINGAPORE! =D

Flag Day

2007-08-07T22:24:00.000+08:00

its been 3 years since my last flag day. i remembered vividly the flag days while i was in secondary school. me and my choir mates wud go bedok interchange and flag for a couple of hours, den proceed to a fast food restaurant for lunch, before either deciding on a location for a game of bball or going to the arcade to play knights of valor =X

today, i am reminded once again why i dislike flag days. yes. i dun hate flag days, i just dun like them. i mean, it may seem a meaningful thing to do, being a volunteer and going ard with a tin can collecting funds for the needly. but there are more than several points that i can use to convince myself that i totally find it a waste of time:

I did not volunteer to participate in flag day (at least during my secondary school and jc days). i had to do it to fulfill some requirement that our education system came up with.
i find that using tin cans to collect coins for fund-raising is totally absurd.
the mystical tin can somehow grants u an aura of protection that keeps ppl at least 2metres away from u.
ppl who do donate usually do so to buy a "passport" so that other flaggers will leave them alone, and not because they really wish to donate.
>90% of ppl who donate do not care abt where they donate to. i could have put there "xiong's foundation for his own pocket money" and these ppl wud not have known.
i hate sounding like a broken tape recorder that keeps saying "excuse me wud u like to make a donation?"
hate being seemingly transparent (again thanx to the power of the tin can)
dun like the sight of flaggers competing with each other when its supposed to be for e greater good
long hours of standing and walking = painful feet
i usually never heard of the communities that i am supposedly helping

yeaps. thats 10 reasons easily for me disliking flag day. of cos u all need not agree with me totally, but i'm sure some points strike a chord in u too =)

oh and not forgetting the examples of excuses given by prospective donors i've seen in all these years of flag days.

pretending to catch a bus/ dash across a pedestrian crossing/ rushing for time
"talking" on the phone( funny how many ppl's phones ring as they come near me and my tin can)
"i've no spare change" ( notes will also do thank you =) )
totall ignorance

i mean, either u donate freely, or u jus tell me a straight NO in my face. at least have the basic courtesy to look at me when i am asking u for a donation lar.. i mean, sure i'm not an avid donor myself, but at least smile back at the poor soul who's using precious time of his life to raise money for some charity organisation. dun give lame excuses. pls.