Life...

Politics and Starship Troopers

2011-04-30T08:59:00.002+08:00

Here's some food for thought while we're having our GE 2011.

Science fiction and politics - I think 1984 straight away. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to find another gem a few days back. I was browsing through my collection of ebooks, and decided to read Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, whom I've admired ever since I read Stranger in a Strange Land. Yet, I didn't think of it as Sci-Fi at that time, having watched the movie.

To my amazement, it was totally unlike the movie. The movie, while enjoyable, was clearly an action flick. One that I watched once, enjoyed it, and never looked back. Yet the novel was clearly something different. The base premise of the story, the same, yet true to its Sci-Fi classification, it's main bulk was exploratory, examining moral, philosophical values and necessity of militarism, war, capital punishment, politics and franchise (the power to vote).

While extreme in its exploration, the novel does provide a lot of food for thought, bringing analogies like juvenile delinquency and war efforts in Heinlein's prose.

All in all, a great book to read for any avid science fiction fan, or anyone who wants his world, mind and thoughts challenged.

Competition vs Collaboration

2011-04-22T13:04:00.003+08:00

Everyone knows that competition is a great thing. Spurs us on to greater heights, push ourselves beyond our limits, etc etc etc.

Collaboration's good too, everyone's heard of the famous win-win situation where "1+1" is more than just 2.

Yet, why do I find myself having problems with these 2 concepts. Are they as simple as they seem on the surface? When should we compete, and when should we collaborate? Are the two mutually exclusive?

A few days back, went for my company's "team-building experience" at Focus Adventure in Sentosa. The theme was, of course, team building, but the main point they were trying to drive home was "collaboration". Here's how:

The huge group of 100+ of us were split into 10+ teams, to play something like a "treasure hunt cum amazing race" sorta game. We were told there were 3 aims for all teams, to get the greatest amount of points possible, to have fun, and to be safe. Needless to say, off we were rushing off like busy little bees, collecting our answers, playing the mini games and overall having a great time.

However, when debriefing came about, it was no surprise that the "winners" of the game were teams who had "shared" information with each other - or 'cheated' in the traditional sense. Yet, no where in the rules stated that no such "sharing" was disallowed. In truth, the debrief covered that in a company, we are all split into smaller departments, project teams etc. Cooperation and collaboration BETWEEN the teams and departments, and not just within the teams itself, would be the key to bring the company to success.

Back at home, I thought about this for quite a while. At first thought, it seemed so unclear when we should collaborate. It's amazing how easily we fall into a competitive mode, ready to prove ourselves and outdo others. Then i remembered to few years back while I was still in SMU - and my friends and I joined this board game competition together. "Cashflow 101 Board Game" as I recall. That competition brought up exactly the same points in my mind - that within a small team it was much better to collaborate in order for the whole team to be the overall winner. Yet many of us were caught up in the competition, and thus made huge losses. Then, I remembered that it came as a surprise to me that the 1st to 3rd prize all went to people from the same table.

Its been quite a while since I had such a moment of introspection. This I see is what's lacking in me sometimes, the skill to discern when to be competitive, and when to be collaborative. All our lives we've been training HOW to compete, and HOW to collaborate. But when to do so, it isn't always so clear.

Yay!

2008-09-02T15:19:00.001+08:00

Wow!

2008-04-30T20:40:00.002+08:00

Wow indeed! It's been a long time! Heh... So many things have happened... a whole semester and more. Lots of weirdness in life... no matter in the world, or personally. Sigh... seems like the whole world is falling apart now eh.

Dunno what sparked me to write this... maybe its the weird occurances today... juz felt so bored at home. Suddenly a friend msged me and told me he has a new online business.. lol... an online sex toys shop! Geez... never expected that... gave me a shock... kinda surprised too, that such a business can work in prudish Singapore. But we'll see. Anyways, putting the link as a favour to him. DO NOT CLICK if you are offended by such stuff! Haha...

Evening, got asked by another friend to advertise another online shopping venture. haha... lucky its more clean this time :P Clothings for girls! So... if u're interested, check it out here at http://pout-couture.livejournal.com ok!

Lol.. this turned out to be some weird advertising post... not my original intention i suppose. Then again, there's so many things to write. And too much time has passed for me to gather all my thoughts together. Hopefully, with the start of the summer, will be able to start writing more again! =)

Til next time!

Thanks!

2008-03-10T01:04:00.010+08:00

Thank you all :)
As they say, a picture > a thousand words ... so ...

Attempted theft!

I get it back! :D

Back home :) Btw that's 3 years worth of presents shown there... so Thanks again!

I've never been much of a birthday person. Heck, getting older, slower and closer to death is not something i usually like to think about :P But wells, good to know that there are friends out there :)
Guess people are contrary at heart... full of contradictions. Sigh... I'm just so confused!

Anyways, here's something to watch!

2008-03-02T01:56:00.002+08:00

Wow... it's been a long time! Heh, so many things have happened, both personally and in the world itself. Whether it's good or bad, it's hard to say; certainly it's way too early to know for sure. But whatever it is, there certainly has been a great change. Of course, I've got tons of things to write again, but I'll just summarize my thoughts :D

Prisoner Escape - Now this is scary. Very indeed. Lol.. so much for our vaunted security and top notch police force. And what's the point about apologizing and when the deed's already done. Find the guy! Ugh.. looks like a TV serial gone wrong to me if you ask me. Scary thought though, just thinking back to the time I watched Prison Break - and there we were all cheering the prisoners on to break out. Is this some correlation? Strange how fact and fiction are so linked, and yet our perceptions and emotions change so quickly, so drastically. Weird :P

Recession - Scary (yet again). Especially with the rising prices, and well, my severe lack of income. Also, if the trend continues, it's gonna happen when graduation comes... which is pretty soon come to think about it. How time flies... Ah well, will think about it when THAT hurdle comes. Ugh..

Had a few other things which I'm too tired/lazy to write now. Will keep updating soon, hopefully. Anyway here's some funny stuff I found on my friends' msn nicks. Heh, looks like we've got some creative and weird ppl around ;)

Army Friends

Edison Chen's apology is more sincere than Wong Kan Seng...

Lol! Reality check one :P

Moral Behind L Change the World: Always fly first class

Heh, inside joke somewhat, but if you've watched the show, think about what it means :P If you haven't, go watch it.

What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'UCK' that means a lot of heat and excitement?" "Fire Truck".

Old joke, but amusing! And stop acting innocent.

Lucky is the man who wins the first love of a women but luckier is the women who wins the last love of a man

Reality Check 2. Ouch.

Using contraception is like wearing a raincoat in the shower

Ameet is just weird.

Other friends

SuPeRcAlIfRaGiLiStIcAsPiAlIdOcIoUs

Blast from the past!

To reach the rainbow, we've to brace the rain

Hmmm.. reality check 3!

SMU Students

Lol.. alot of depressed nicks I shall not copy down.

Conclusion: SMU Students are depressed. My army friends are weird. All other friends... seem... normal :P Heh! Okay... maybe I'm weird too for putting this up, but wells, you gotta take your kicks whenever you can!

Anyways, good night!

Wow!

2008-01-30T21:46:00.000+08:00

Unbelievable! :D
Some unexpectedly good snippet of news while browsing http://www.lfgcomic.com/ :D

- Sam Raimi is producing a syndicated series based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Called Wizard's First Rule, the first season is comprised of 22 episodes and is going into production this may. While this may excite Goodkind fans, let me remind you that Raimi is also responsible for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. If Wizard's First Rule follows them in theme and camp, I will join the rest of you in the mass weeping.

Can't wait!

P.S if you haven't read Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, you should!

if only... lol!

2008-01-20T08:13:00.000+08:00

its the truth i say!

Ugh...

2008-01-19T23:12:00.000+08:00

Watched a movie today.

It was bad!

Rendered me nearly speechless (hence the short post).

My recommendation is... never watch Cloverfield. Don't even download it. Not worth the bandwidth meh~

Bleah... I still have the headache, and a bigger heartache from that $8.50 wasted.

And to George, when u read this: "U even dare abandon us to go to have some BEN AND JERRYs and SAVE THIS $8.50 AH! U owe us a Ben and Jerrys Treat AH!"

Happy New Year!

2008-01-09T23:55:00.000+08:00

A new year... a new beginning...

It sure has been a long time since I posted. Considered getting a new blog, as many of my friends did, but I'm just too lazy to do so. So I'll just carry on. Hopefully.

It's been a strange time. The days seem so long... and yet time passes so quickly. All the various outings... various strange situations I've found myself in... the weird thoughts that I've thought about. So many things I've learnt about myself, and about the people around me... There's really just too much to write about, and yet I find it so hard to pen anything down anymore. Still, hopefully this is a fresh beginning where I can regain the ability to pen my thoughts down once again.

So many friends have left... Fai, Mf, Alvin, Khel ... will miss all of you (even if it's a little too late to say so :P ) So many things have changed. Perhaps I'm just being selfish... sometimes I just wish time could reverse itself. Or that I could have Hiro's power! "Yatta!" Lol... dreams eh.

Anyways, here's to everyone I know and love... may this year be a great year for all of ya. Certainly I'm hoping it's a new beginning. Big step I'm taking, to face everything anew again! Hopefully all goes well!

So... let me plagarise... hopefully 守得了云开见明月! (hope that is the correct way to use AH George)

LOL! Pro Chinese Desu.

2007-11-25T12:31:00.000+08:00

Now usually, i'd just link the site, but since its a blog that ppl dun wan me to link, here it is. Freaking hilarious! About kids making chinese sentences (造句), and the teachers comments! Hahaha... enjoy... =)

1.题目: 原来

小朋友写: 原来他是我爸爸。

老师评语: 妈妈关切一下

3.题目: ..一边...........一边............ ..

小朋友写: 他一边脱衣服 ,一边穿裤子.

老师评语: 他到底要脱还是要穿啊~~

9.题目: 其中

小朋友写: 我的其中一只左脚受伤了。

老师评语: 你是蜈蚣？~~

10.题目: 一... 就....

小朋友写: 一只娃娃就要一百块。

老师评语: 老师笑到不行..

11.題目: 你看

小朋友写: 你看什么看! 没看过啊

12. 照样造句

例题: 你 (唱歌) 我(跳舞)

小朋友写: 你(好吗 ) 我(很好)

老师评语: 你在写英文翻译吗??

13.照样造句

例题: 别人都夸我( )，其实我( )

小朋友写: 别人都夸我( 很帅 )，其实我( 是戴面具的)。

老师评语: 什么面具这么好用???

14.题目: 好... 又好..

小朋友写: 妈妈的腿,好细又好粗...

老师评语: 那到底是细还是粗？

15.题目: 陆陆续续

小朋友写: 下班了，爸爸陆陆续续的回来。

老师评语: 你到底有几个爸爸呀?

20.题目: 皮开肉绽

小朋友写: 停电的夜晚，到处很黑，我吓得皮开肉绽!

老师评语: 看到这句... 老师佩服你。

21.题目: 欣欣向荣-比喻生长美好的样子。

小朋友写: 我的弟弟长得欣欣向荣。

老师评语: 孩子，你弟弟是植物人吗...

还有一个更瞎的…

小朋友写: 欣欣向荣荣告白。

老师评语: 连续剧不要看太多~~

22. 题目: 谢谢....因为......

小朋友写: 我要谢谢妈妈,因为她每天都帮我写作业......

老师评语: 原来你的作业是妈妈写的!!!!!!!

23.题目: 难过

小朋友写: 我家门前有条水沟很难过。

老师评语: 老师更难过......

26. 题目: 天才

小朋友写: 我３天才洗一次澡。

老师评语: 要每天洗才干净~~

27.題目: 一… 便…

小朋友写: 我一走出门，对面就是便利商店。

还有一個更瞎的…

小朋友写: 哥哥一吃完饭，就大便。

老师评语: 造句不要乱造...

31.題目: 又.....又.....

小朋友寫: 我的妈妈又矮又高又瘦又肥。

老师评语:你妈妈......是怪物吗?

32 果然

上课小朋友说：昨天我吃了水果，然后又喝了凉水

老师：这是词组，不能分开造句。

小朋友又说：老师，我还没说完呢，果然晚上我拉肚子了！

老师：…………

33 瓜分

小朋友：大傻瓜分不清是非

老师：小傻瓜也分不清

34 好吃

小朋友：好吃个屁

老师：………

35 况且

小朋友：一辆火车经过，况且况且况且况且．．．．．

老师：……………

zzz

2007-11-23T02:58:00.001+08:00

gods..
i'm fuckin demoralised right now.. have never felt so terrible in my life.
sigh... i really really hope that i missed lookin at the file. pls be there when i wake up tmr!

Mommy... it's over!

2007-11-23T00:46:00.000+08:00

Yes! FYP Final Presentation is over! Didn't fuck up at least =) Felt pretty good about it!
Despite all the trials and tribulations, we're finally through! =)

Although we had some arguments and disagreements throughout, we still made it through in one piece! wanna thank all u guys for this great sem ;)

Haha!

Love u all! Muacks! :D

Untitled

2007-11-18T01:19:00.000+08:00

I open my eyes
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light
I can't remember how
I can't remember why
I'm lyin' here tonight
And I can't stand the pain
And I can't make it go away
No I can't stand the pain

Chorus:
How could this happen to me?
I've made my mistakes
got nowhere to run
the night goes on
as I'm fadin' away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?

Everybody's screamin'
I try to make a sound but no one hears me
I'm slippin' off the edge
I'm hangin' by a thread
I wanna start this over again

So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered
And I can't explain what happened
And I can't erase the things that I've done
No I can't

How could this happen to me?
I've made my mistakes
got nowhere to run
the night goes on
As I'm fadin' away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?

I've made my mistakes
got nowhere to run
the night goes on
as I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?

The words resound in me indeed. Somehow, seems depressing how the way works, how things flow from start to finish. Coincidence? Or fate... things that miraculously fall into (or out of) place.

Had a good chat with the bros last night. Set me thinking though... what exactly is it am I looking for in life! Sigh...

Wow.

2007-11-10T12:33:00.002+08:00

Absolute OMFGly Wow.
Words cannot bring it justice.
'Nuff said!

Wow.

2007-11-10T12:33:00.001+08:00

Random snippets of thoughts.

2007-11-05T04:11:00.000+08:00

It's 4am.

I'm freaking tired, but there's so much more to study, look through, and prepare, for the vast myriads of things that are gonna happen in the next few hours or so (for almost the whole week basically).

Still, wanna take a break, jot down some random thoughts that have been plaguing my mind.

Random Thought 1:
Fact a. I was in school on Sat & Sun till way past midnight.
Fact b. The school was CROWDED on Sat & Sun, till almost way past midnight.
Fact c. Not only were the rooms fully booked/occupied, so were the CORRIDORS!
Fact d. IT WAS A WEEKEND!!!!
Fact e. I wasn't really surprised.

Conclusion a. Welcome to SMU.

Random Thought 2:
People are selfish. Donch know why this thought keeps resounding in my mind. Despite all the attempts to re-examine this, it keeps resonating true somehow. Ugh... why!

Random Thought 3:
The Lemon Theory!
When life gives you lemons ....

A child tries it, winces and carries on
A whiner sobs and whines that he has a lemon
An adult eats it, shrugs, and continues eating it for the rest of his sorry life.
An entrepreneur makes lemonade and sells it
An optimist thinks that the next one is gonna be sweet!
A CEO gets other people to make him some lemonade with it
A skilled office worker blames someone else for it

I had a long list just now ... this is all I can remember :P

Random 4:
It's amazing the amount of random crap you can come up with when you're tired and attempting to study! Lol!

Unexpected

2007-11-03T01:13:00.000+08:00

Bout of contemplation for me today.

First, some minor updates:

It hadn't been a good day, with tempers frayed and all. Crunch time's here, and its gonna be a hellish 2-3 wks. But we'll get through it! Ganbatte all of us! Haha.

One of projects have some major 头绪. Still lots to go, but really great to see it online finally!

And about that contemplation: how ppl are selfish and all.. and i'm no exception.
Made a "wrong" message today, just an hr or so ago. Not that it's a bad thing, or that it's the first time it happened. On the contrary, it was probably a good thing. Some inane chitchat & thoughts away from work is great after all, superb stress reliever:D Thanks gal =)

And more importantly, that chat made me think of something important. A self revelation of sorts I suppose. Of how selfish I'd become. Why that message had been "wrong", when it was equally relevant to the person. And its not that I don't care anymore, or don't care at all. Expressing it is another thing, and with all the things juggling today, perhaps that's what's being neglected. Perhaps that's the reason for the distancing feeling I'm getting these days. Mayhaps its time for a change!

So, gal, if you're reading this, that message was not sent wrongly! :D Wahaha... And to all my family and friends out there, here's the message to you all, a message not said often enough. I love ya all! And thanks for being there!!

*end emotional scene*

Some humour for closure =) take a look at this snippet from the NuklearPower web comic *check out the link at the side*

I love irony!

Hellgate!

2007-11-01T08:40:00.000+08:00

It's finally out! After this long wait, can finally get to see whether it's all that it's vaunted to be! Of course, that's if I can get through this sem alive first! Somehow I have a bad feeling about the AA quiz this week... heh... oh wells lucky it's just 5 %.

Next week is gonna be hell. Wish me luck!

On a side note, I just realised SMU is chock full of creativity. And the best place to find out? The humble TOILET! Gee it's full of weird adverts & posters!!!

An attempt at being provocative??

Hmmm... aim well and shoot? Lol... wonder if they put this in the girls toilet also. Prof Poo and Prof Loo to the rescue!!!!

The Winner. We're in UNIVERSITY! Apparently such a "different" one that we have to be taught how to wash our hands! Woot!

Lol... the wierdness in this world indeed. Forgive the low resolution, I didn't wanna stay in there long and get caught taking pictures in the toilet :P The men's toilet no less... heh

On a sidenote, check out Blurt's new homepage. Saw some really interesting adverts in the concourse =P will take pics next time, but for now check it out! (actually i think the adverts are more interesting than their home page haha) Another weird thing to note... it's almost so easy to spot usage of CMS now. Wow, experience ftw eh =) A summer well spent I guess!

新老婆

2007-10-30T03:22:00.000+08:00

Almost forgot to introduce my 新老婆 =) Isn't she a beauty!

*shows my concentration level right*

The Return of the... King?

2007-10-30T02:30:00.000+08:00

I'm back! Hopefully for good? It's been long dismal months since I've last written. So many things have happened... some good, some bad. It's been a stressful semester thus far, and I fear that I've somehow lost my zest for life. Certainly, the motivation to write has been lost. No longer do I find the urge to pick up the pen (not literally) & note down my thoughts... or actually put something into action. This strange apathy (all right.. not so strange since I've always been apathetic, but never to this extent!) is slowly killing me.. to the extent that I haven't been sleeping well for weeks. Sigh... seems like every night I keep waking up every hour or so. Interrupted sleep for the lose - now included.

Well, 'nuff whining. AA Quiz is in less than 12 hours time, and I still feel terribly unprepared despite reading through it... somehow comprehension still eludes me. Starting to hate the subject a little... seems like much guesswork and fluff to me, despite the seeming structure of it.

Right... I did continue whining a little eh. Anyways, the main points of the post - 1.Religion and 2. Choice ... Why these 2 topics? Kinda had an epiphany of sorts during Life Science class today... heh... while listening to the pro crapping of our Prof :P

Religion: Yes, we've debated this so much, and will continue debating this until the cows come home, and we'll never reach a conclusion. But as we were sitting around in the class, as I listened to Mingfei and Marcus talk about life after death etc ... These thoughts came to my mind... Marcus... while I can see your your point about everybody being selfish, even the so-called saints, and in fact agree with it to a certain extent. Still, its a choice people make to do good or not. It's just easy to put everything down to human nature and say that "hey, we're supposed to be selfish!" and stuff... but at least they've made the choice of doing the good. No matter the reason, I'd say it's lofty enough. Yes I've always been an atheist, yet I've always respected religion for themselves, and respected people who have the faith to keep to it. My only pet peeve is when people get carried away with it, and think that it's the only thing that matters over all others, or when they try to impress their own views upon you. That to me, is the greatest sin of all, and not the act of "Not following the tenets of ".

Aight.. I'm beginning to babble again, so I'll get on to the next point. Choice.

Today, during the life science class, I was rather shocked? (maybe that's a little too harsh a word, but I can't think of a better one for now) to hear the prof's life style and what he recommends. His disciplined life includes sleeping at 10, waking at 5, no alcohol, no kissing (because of bacteria in the mouth??), no smoking, no drugs, no red bull, no nothing! OMG! It may be good, I certainly agree with the no alcohol, no smoking no drugs blah blah... but this discipline seems more like overdoing it. His explanation: Better safe than sorry, and it's his knowledge of life science and what things can do that causes that. Perhaps, ignorance is bliss? I disagree. We all know risks in life. We all TAKE risks in life. For example, to not kiss just because of the off-chance of herpes is pushing it, in my opinion. I'd not want to live my life in fear, with the stress of second guessing everything and anything, just to be SAFE. I want to enjoy my life, I want to make my choices, to have a balance between fun and safety. After all, what's the point in living to a hundred if you're gonna be bored, bitter and ... funless? Perhaps I'm just biased. He seems pretty happy to me, despite his austere lifetyle. Whatever it is, forgive me if I do not just follow in your footsteps and 'play safe' ;)

Well.. I've ranted enough. Back to reading through the slides again b4 hopping to bed again. Hopefully this time I can stay asleep... ugh!

Before I leave, posting this 2 interesting pics I saw.

This is an interesting banner which had been outside the church near SMU. I'm not sure what's the name of the church, but they certainly have advertising down to an art form! I've seen several interesting "adverts" by them, but this one... is full of win! Heh

Now this picture is taken in the toilet:P Lol, this few days there's been a massive campaign against using plastic bags, with posters pasted all over school, even in the guys toilet (no idea about the girls toilet) where every 马桶 has one pasted where one can see it while doing his business. Which is a good thing. Just found this pic pretty amusing =)

How much higher can it go?!

2007-08-01T11:12:00.000+08:00

Bus fares rose...
Cab fares rose...
Then, there was the GST rise...

I bring to you all yet more recent news :
ERP rates at Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel to go up

Today:
Tougher service standards for bus companies --> with a service level agreement to go... Check out today's newspapers.
Yet.. Is this good news? Or the preemption of a rise in fares again. We shall see, though I believe in the latter.. however sad that might be

Wonderful, this world we live in!

Simpsons and Facebook

2007-07-28T14:06:00.000+08:00

Just watched Simpsons the movie yesterday. Absolutely hilarious. A must watch! The jokes were superb, sticking to the usual Simpsons theme of poking fun at ongoing happenings, political figures... well everyone basically! Yes, including you and me! :P Watch it and you'll know what I mean. Tried to put in some "family values" as well I guess, heh, probably cos it's a movie. Grin... lots of random crap that was so damn funny I was kept laughing for most of the show. Spider pig indeed. I've got to find that song! :P Anyways, it's probably the first time I've stayed through the whole credits of a movie!

Ravings aside, I created a new account on facebook, just for the hell of it. Pretty interesting concept I must say, and very well designed. Particularly like the way they use ajax - guess I really should learn it like soon... although I've been saying that for months now. Bleah. I guess we all really are shaped by our environment and our experiences... nowadays I do find myself looking at things and trying to figure out how I could do it... or what I've learnt & if I could apply that. Strange isn't it. Lol..

On a side note, I want to buy a Macbook. Or a Macbook Pro. Ahhh... not enough vitamin M as usual. But the desire is there. And growing.

Tata for now!

Evolution FTW

2007-07-09T13:36:00.000+08:00

Just read an article at http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070622-000002.xml about how so many things in our life are controlled by our reproductive systems. Heh.. really interesting & amusing read, and if you think about it, it could be much more truer than we think :)

It's Been...

2007-06-20T10:22:00.000+08:00

A long time!

Phew... In a way, I kinda missed writing. A lot. Yet, somehow the first allure of writing on a blog is gone. Perhaps as Khel wrote on his blog, it just isn't the same anymore. Not just airing of thoughts, or thinking out loud, or wanting to share things with others. Somehow, it's become too... shallow. What happened to the deep thought, discussion I'd been hoping for. Not gone for good, hopefully... but we'll see.

Anyway, a quick update. Been real busy with work (internship), camp and whatnot. But it's been a good experience, however busy.

Been working on a project at work... a product more like. Called Egxact Revision Management, it is a joomla extension / component that has versioning capabilities (think SVN). Well, I'm kinda proud of this version control component, although it's fairly simple and rudimentary, it does have rather capable functionalities, if not the most efficient of code. But then I'm new to this, and I certainly hope I'll improve on it soon :)

Well, enough gushing about that. Til next I suppose, however long that might take!

Lalala

2007-04-02T14:22:00.001+08:00

Finally got a new phone! Sony Ericsson K800i... the phone I've wanted to months since I saw Nicky Cuz have it. Been living with that sucky phone for a long time, and I guess I can survive without the extra functionalities, and the pathetic messaging capabilities. But the last straw is when a sucky phone spoils, and keeps shutting itself down for no reason. Anyways, good to have a new phone, seems great so far, but only time will tell =) Don't have a good experience with new phones lately though, heh.

Anyways, the above picture is taken with this new phone. Not that it can depict the roxxor megapixel of this phone or anything. Just wanna show how weird ppl can be when they are bored... lol. Took this picture in a GSR on Sunday. Geez, bet it was some bored guy who was sick of studying. Grin. The things people do.

I would say I agree with it, to a certain extent, but I don't wanna get beaten up! Haha...

Ouch. Vista ftw?

2007-04-01T17:25:00.000+08:00

Lol, that surely inspires one to use Vista eh. Heh, not that I'd say XP is "comfortable", but one does get used to things.

Suppose that's what it's trying to depict. That no matter how bad anything is, we will always get used to in somehow, after some time. Maybe 5 years down the road, Vista will be the "comfortable seat", and there'll be a new Vista2 or something which will be the new fangled torture chair.

Personally, I'd want to try out Vista. Maybe after a few more months/years. After all, whatever you may say about Microsoft, it does improve. I bet alot of Vista's functionalities and looks might mirror the Mac OS, but who cares. I like the Mac OS. I'd prefer the mirroring! Lol, not that anyone will have a choice soon, considering how all the new computers are being packaged with Vista. More power to Microsoft again! We'll have to see how the war between Microsoft and Google turns out, seems to be an interesting fight!

On a side note, I seem to have alienated most of my friends. Maybe not exactly, just a feeling I get. Reminds me of a quote from a movie I watched; the exact quote I can't remember, but it goes something like this "Never know how it happened, no sign of anything. We seemed fine, until all of a sudden there was this gulf between us ". Indeed so, no idea how this gulf appeared, what I did or perhaps, didn't do. Depressing, yes. Distracting, definitely. No idea what to do, or anything. Not the best time to feel this, considering it's exam time soon. Perhaps that's why I love immersing myself in fantasy worlds. Sigh. Feeling useless and pathetic, as much as I tell myself to WAKE UP, as if life is one dreary sad movie.

Ok, that's degenerating into whining. Better stop :P

Wish this 2 weeks will be over soon. Looking forward to meet up with the bros once all this is done. Gotta sit down and chat eh, heh. Debating ftw!

Search Wars!

2007-03-21T11:24:00.001+08:00

Been a long time since I blogged. So many things have happened, yet I haven't had the energy or time to write anything down, besides some scribbled thoughts. Haven't even begun to sort out my own thoughts internally, to let them flow into prose. Sigh, just so many things happening at one shot, emotions can be a drag at times. Well, just wish that this semester will be over soon. Which it probably will, considering the insane amounts of deadlines upcoming.

Anyway, some interesting news:

Microsoft on Friday began offering large businesses rewards if they have employees scout the Internet with the software giant's Live Search service.

In a move intended to wrest users from rival search engines such as market-dominating Google, Microsoft will give business customers service or training credits based on how much employees use Live Search.

"We are conducting a trial program through which Microsoft is providing service or training credits to a select number of enterprise customers based on the number of Web search queries conducted by their employees via Live Search," the Redmond, Washington, company said in a written statement.

"As search evolves into more of a productivity tool, and revenue sharing becomes more commonplace across the industry, we are engaging in mutually beneficial partnerships such as this and our recently announced a deal with Lenovo to more easily enable customers to choose Live Search."

Microsoft announced a deal this month to pre-install software that makes Live.com the default page in computers made by the China-based Lenovo.

Google has a deal with US computer maker Dell to preload its search engine tool bar on that company's machines.

Microsoft would not disclose how the credits are calculated, saying it depended on the number of personal computers enrolled in the program and the amount of Live Search use.
- http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070317/1/47c6f.html

Both are intruding into each other's 'territory' ... wonder who's come out champs in this fight ;)
Was about to write something else, more, but Marcus and Meiqi's spying dissuaded me lalala!

Weird news

2007-03-02T03:33:00.000+08:00

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070301/1/46zqd.html

Just read a piece of news that kinda shocked me. Read the above link for more info, but here's an excerpt from the news.

An Australian state has banned the popular internet film-sharing website YouTube from school computers in a bid to clamp down on cyber-bullying.

The move follows public outrage after a group of schoolboys filmed themselves sexually abusing and degrading a teenage girl and uploaded the video onto YouTube.

The horrific film showed a group of 12 youths surrounding the 17-year-old girl, who has a mild mental disability, bullying her to perform sex acts, urinating on her and setting her hair alight.

Now, the shocking thing is not the act itself, although that in itself is terribly disgusting, and I'm in no way condoning such acts. But the strange thing is the state's reaction. By banning YouTube to "clamp down" on cyber bullying, that's tantamount to saying that having a place to post their video has actually caused the act of bullying itself! Doesn't ANYONE find that strange? That's like one of the most obvious case of the "slippery slope" fallacy I've ever seen in my life. Geez. Fallacy aside, does anyone really think that not having an avenue to post things will prevent such things from happening again? That it's the best solution for the matter. That's not even taking into consideration that YouTube is ONE out of many many video sites on the net, just that its one of the more popular. Gods, there are tons more sites akin to YouTube around. So, we're gonna put a blanket ban on those sites as well? Why stop there? Ban all file sharing sites... hell, ban the internet because it can give one the avenue to see such sites, or other objectionable material that could give cause to such actions. Why not ban video cameras as well! Certainly without the video cameras, the youths would never think of filming such things.

Perhaps even governments should think before they act.

Some things have to be said.

2007-02-24T19:43:00.000+08:00

Had a load of things to write about. But this blew me off man. Will write very very soon.

Epiphany

2007-02-07T01:24:00.000+08:00

Just received news that a friend of mine passed away recently. Bolt from the blue indeed. Felt like I was poleaxed when I heard about it when my friend told me about it.

Strange isn't it... I wasn't even particularly close to him, and it's been nearly 10 years since I last saw him. But, found myself remembering past times, remembering the fact that he's barely into his twenties... like me, like all my other friends. And what's scarier is that feeling of helplessness that comes over you when someone you know or care about gets into something bad. And there's been more than I've ever thought possible in this few weeks.

Gods... it's terrible. Unbelievable almost. Guess we all feel immortal, all of us, we all know we're gonna die some day, but when? We never believe it'll happen to us. At least I never did. Eye-opener eh. Yaolong got into a car crash last week as well.. didn't seem like much to me then, just relieved he wasn't hurt. Now the implications hit me... all the what ifs, and what nots... Guess anything can happen, anytime. Carpe Diem. Live for the day. More than just a quote - guess I'd better live my life that way - enjoy it, never know what's gonna happen anytime. Heh.. easy to say that eh... hope I can actually pull it off.

Sad news aside, I still got lots of backlog of writing I've wanted to blog about. Yet reading my notes (yes i do take notes when i want to write something but haven't got the time - not that it helped this time), I think some have become irrelevant - or so backdated that I don't even feel like writing it anymore. Not that my feelings have changed - or the issues changed. Just feel weird writing about it. Guess that's more food for thought eh...

Anyways, here's a cool quote I found, that amused me rather - with the aptness of it all:

“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” -unknown author

Some Dilbert comics to cheer myself up ;)
Bleh.. every found yourself being ignored/unwanted? Is that being overly sensitive or what? Sigh... don't know... and maybe don't wanna know either. Ugh

Laziness

2007-02-03T03:20:00.000+08:00

Bleah... Been wanting to write SO many things for so long. But never got down to doing so thus far.
Will do it tomorrow as soon as I get back!

Haven't been able to keep to my diet & exercise plan fully... esp. the diet part. Argh.. sucks to be me *whine* ... at least still keeping up with the exercise portion. Ganbatte!

More updates tomorrow!

Some interesting comics from Dilbert (interestingly pertaining to what we learn in school, and our feelings about it!) :

Acclimatization

2007-01-11T01:15:00.000+08:00

Apparently I didn't publish my previous post... hate it when that happens. Someone up there must have decided I've been writing too much lately:P

Not gonna rewrite the whole darn thing again.. basically was whining about the insane cab fares that result from my lack of acclimatization of unearthly school morning hours! Dang, my blood boils even now when I think about it. So much for the benefits of a city campus eh.

Anyways, just feeling a lil down from some experience.. am too sensitive I guess. Just feel quite sad when I feel so left out things, like I'm not worthy at all. Sigh. As George says, we're all attention seekers la.. just the extent of it. Argh... dunno what I'm feeling now also... time to go back and MUG MUG MUG! FA!! A+!

Mmmm

2007-01-07T17:36:00.000+08:00

Grin, how ironically true

And this is depressingly true as well -.-

Really admire these comic artists, really wish I could draw as well as they could. Sigh, but I got 自知之明！Haha...

Ack... should have been studying instead of reading web comics! :P

New Year's Resolution (Belated!)

2007-01-07T16:43:00.000+08:00

Well, it's time for the annual New Year's Resolution! Have you made yours yet? Well, here's mine, if a little late..

Made it simple this year.

1. Lose Weight
2. Do better in school
3. Renew friendships
4. Family ties

To make things more realistic, no more fucking around with resolutions. This time it's gonna work. And here's the game plan:

1. Halve (at least) amount of time spent playing. (I know it's impossible for me to stop playing:P)
2. Gym at least 4 times a week
3. Walk back and up stairs on way home. (so far so good)
4. Eat regularly, but no snacks!
5. Sleep more - according to some friends, lack of sleep = fat
6. Listen in class and PARTICIPATE (i don't know how, but i'll have to do this by hook or by crook)
7. Start chatting with those I haven't done so in years/months whatevernot.
8. Stay home more!

Right, so there's the goal, and the game plan in sight. Started on some, planned out the schedule for others. We'll see how this goes in a month or so!

Resolutions aside, just found something I don't like in myself today (yesterday now).

What happens when someone you dislike a lot turns out to be a good friend of your good friend. What would you do?

Sigh. I don't know myself. But I was kinda surprised at the mixture of emotions I felt - that I can't even fathom what I was feeling actually. Jealousy? Anger? Or just a sense of protectiveness that made me wanna thwap my friend on the head for befriending that person?
But, then again, I can't make the decisions on who my friend likes or dislikes. Selfish eh.. -.- But I can't control how I feel - only the actions I take. Ah wells.. take things as they come i suppose.

Read George's blog for the first time last night as well. Bugger. He even dare hide his blog from me for so long! Hmph :) If you're reading this, George, you better acknowledge me for the joke you stole from my blog and post on your own. Don't just say steal from A FRIEND! Didn't NUS teach you to ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SOURCES!?! Haha.. Oh yah! And how dare you call me the person sitting on the right lol, I have a name okay! =P

Went to visit 二姑姑 with whole family today. Yesterday was her amputation. Well, she seemed quite okay, cheerful even, but perhaps that was just a front. Sigh. Felt terrible when I looked at her leg stump (or how do you call that?), couldn't help feeling a shiver run down my spine. Well, turns out that all the rest of the extended family choose today to visit her as well, turned into an impromptu family gathering - cheer indeed. Hope that let her feel better =)

Aight... enough rubbish spouting. Feels weird - how I feel more and more distanced from anything, or everything. Argh. Back to studying.

New things!

2006-12-29T05:51:00.000+08:00

Phew... almost didn't sleep last night... Or this morning. Bleah...

Blogger has given in to Google, and joined it's ranks. For the fresh new upstart, it's certainly slowly taking over the job of the established fellow who's overrunning the world. Well, for better or worse, change is here, and it's time for more experimentation!

It's new tools seem interesting... hope it doesn't screw up the page! Onward to more testing (if my eyes don't shut down on me!)

Drained

2006-12-29T02:51:00.000+08:00

Feeling really drained of life now. Arguments, unplanned and unwanted, always barge into my life so easily, no matter how much I dislike it. Why is my temper as such, and pride so stiff-necked that I won't apologize or admit - no matter my inner thoughts. How does one reconcile all his feelings.

Dilemma.

Lots of things happening now. Live for the moment, Carpe Diem. That's all I can do now.

Back

2006-12-28T10:34:00.000+08:00

Back from Hongkong!

Really enjoyed myself there, but I'm glad to be back as well. Will update with travelogue/pics another time :)

School's reopening very soon, sigh... oh wells, will worry about that when the time comes. Gotta enjoy the last of this short holiday.

2-姑姑 will need to have an amputation of her leg. Our worst fears have come true - the operation wasn't successful after all. Sigh... it sounds terrible even to me, let alone to her... Feel so terrible. Hope everything goes well.

Goodbye Bangkok, Hello Hongkong!

2006-12-20T00:10:00.000+08:00

Whoopy! Tomorrow I'll be flying off to Hongkong! Wow... unbelievable... 2 trips in a single month. After years of not travelling on holidays. This time, will be going with George, Hui and Ben. Looking forward to it! Made a boo boo though, thought it was Friday instead of tomorrow. Phew. Damn heng I found out in time... I can just imagine it, calling them on Thursday asking for details, and learning that they're already in Hongkong without me! Haha. Maybe there is a god somewhere after all :D Still, that means I've had to cancel commitments made for today, Wednesday and Thursday. Ah wells, gotta give and take sometimes. A pity though. I can just envision all you guys having fun baking etc :) Really touched that you all came down to city hall, thanks a lot! Oh ya.. u all must sharpen your skills and bake for me when I get back k!

All in all, it's been a very satisfactory day. Accomplished quite a bit of stuff today - more than I'd anticipated. Updated stuff that I've meant to update for a long time (I can just hear that inner voice go "Finally!" in an exasperated tone!), got my school connection back, and software installed. Played around with several software. Amazing how easy things are, how satisfying it is to learn things by yourself. Got down to playing with msn live space - and uploaded my bangkok trip pictures (well, some of them; there's too many for me to upload all :P) there. Click here to have a look! It's great how many resources there are on the net for things, I marvel at the creativity of people at times.

In other news, it's been raining non stop for almost 2 days straight. Geez... while it does make for a good sleep, it's kinda cold (never thought I'd say this in Singapore) and dreary, especially when you're trying to travel. Pfft.

Rather sad that I didn't get to meet up with sec sch buddies this holidays. Well, guess I'll have to try for the time between where I get back from Hongkong and school reopens! Planning... planning...

Also, I'm rather worried about my aunt who's been hospitalized. Haven't been to see her yet. She's had an op which has like 20% chance. Praying real hard that she gets better. Sounds really scary to me. Sigh. Due to my own stupidity I won't be able to see her, but wells, all I can say is "Best wishes 姑姑, may you get well soon!"

Bleah

2006-12-18T14:24:00.000+08:00

So much for my great plan to come home earlier and spend the day at home.

Overslept waaay too much *omg i'm losing my enduarance!* Now i'm back at home for a short while before I go to school for a meeting.

Strange isn't it, how the things I love and enjoy doing can still become like a chore. Not to say that I stop loving them anymore.. they're still fun and good.. but the repetitiveness grates on me. Weird. Guess humans are never satisfied. Greedy creatures, that's what we all are! *Wink Alvin*

Better take a quick nap before it's time for work. All the days of hard play... time for some WORK! Kinda miss it even (just a little) :D

Random Thoughts

2006-12-18T02:34:00.000+08:00

At Marcus' place now, with a bunch of friends, enjoying the gamecube. It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun. Feel terribly guilty though. My sis just pointed out how little time I've been spending at home, and it's so very true. And I feel so terrible about it, yet it's a short holiday and so many friends to meet up with. Yet, I'd better 反省反省 as well, get my priorities right. Had a chat with Alvin before this, and I do feel much better after chatting with him. Gotta examine and reflect with myself more I guess.

Watched Charlotte's Web yesterday with Mingfei, Joyce and Alfred, a freshie we got to know from handball yesterday. It was good. Real good - literary classic indeed. I still remember when I was a kid and reading the book. It was so touching - remember crying when Charlotte died. Heh... of course I didn't this time.. somehow the movie didn't touch me as much as the book used to. Perhaps I'm too jaded. Still, I enjoyed the movie lots. The rat - genius man - dunno if many caught the many play of words/phrases he did, intricate and enjoyable indeed. Julia Robert's voicing of Charlotte was also perfect. Even the overcute, naive Wilbur didn't irritate me as much as I thought he would :P Guess I'm recouping my tolerance level atefr all! Haha.

Just realised yet another difference between guys n gals. Shopping - it's like a pasttime to the gals, and just a means to an ends to guys. Heh. When we were in Bangkok, it was us guys who couldn't take it after a whole day of shopping, while the girls were still raring to go. Phew.. Still remember Caren, feeling sick, yet managing to still run around shopping. Unbelivable. That didn't even stop when we went back to Singapore. Sheesh.. a 50% Mango sale, and they were deep inside. Justin, Marcus, Ben and I were like joking to ourselves that we felt like people watching a zoo exhibit:P Even today when I accompanied Mingfei and Joyce to shop before venturing forth to the east, and they went to Miss Sixty. Holy shit. 400 bucks for a piece of clothing. Jesus i was really shocked... lol. Once again, difference in values I suppose :P

Lol.. hearing a lot of screaming from the rest playing the gamecube atm. Competitiveness for the win! Guess it's enough rambling for the night!!

I'm Back!

2006-12-07T14:16:00.000+08:00

It has certainly been a busy week. What with exams ending, worrying about results, going out, attempting to, fixing my laptop and preparing for trips. Anyways, now that the semester is over, my long hiatus of non-posting should be over as well. So here I am with my first real post in a long long time!

Strange isn't it. During the school semester, I couldn't breathe due to the workload. Now that it's holidays, it's the 'playload' that is unbelievably heavy! :P As Calvin (& Hobbes) once said, "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want to do". How true is that! How sad is that.. One month of holidays, and I can foresee it being packed to the brim. Which isn't a bad thing, considering how much fun I'll be having:) Still.. where's that slack-time I promised myself? Ah wells, one cannot have EVERYTHING.

Some updates:

Exams & Results :

The exams were easier than I expected... but of course that doesn't mean anything when you factor in the bell curve. Gotta wait and see I guess..
CAT results are out... disappointing.. was hoping it'll be an A ... Sigh .. guess it's not meant to be.

My sis' piano concert:

Turned out better than I expected, considering the amount of practice I put in. Was really nervous when playing, as I'd foreseen, but I guess the presentations in school did help. Managed to play through the piece without panicking, and running around screaming. Heh... Envisioned that SOMEHOW. I guess practice DOES make perfect. Though I'm far from it for now, I'll get there some day;) Met quite a few people - my sis' friend's friends. Interesting people, and real friendly, too bad we didn't get to talk much.. Anyways, the concert was quite good. My only gripe was that I didn't get to hear the rest of the players/singers, besides what I could strain to hear from outside the door.

Laptop:

My laptop went 'poof', or at least the video card. Brought it to CIT, and only succeeded in nearly bursting a blood vessel. Geez.. for a so called helpdesk, they surely don't do much. In the end, they're just there to provide the software. Wat the hell.. why don't they just give us the bloody installer discs when we buy the laptop then?? In the end, just waste my time. Luckily Mingfei accompanied me there to 'pei' me.. if not maybe someone will be nursing a black eye right at this moment. Sigh. On one hand it's working already, on the other hand, I still have to go back there to install MS Office and connect to the school network. Argh.

Outings:

A few KTV outings. Loads of fun, really missed singing (croaking?) in KTV. Heard Alvin sing for the first time... a natural I must say:) Unexpected totally:P Wahahahah... Jokes aside... yeah his singing was really good.. should join talentime or something!

Had a goodbye 'party' with Yaolong & Marcus. Bro, will miss you. Wish I could go with ya man.. Las Vegas!! Oh man.. I'm so jealous!! Hahaha.. Have fun! =)

Next day, had loads of fun with Joyce, Justin, Marcus, Mingfei, Alvin, Ben, YR, Mq, Steven and Dickson (Did I miss anyone out?! My memory is going .. lol) Went to Brewerks with them, didn't drink as I'd already drank the day before (I still hate beer btw... even if I have to drink it cos SOME ppl force me!) Boy am I glad I didn't drink .. I know myself - I can't drink for nuts - and seeing some of the rest of them drunk ;) was kinda amusing. Alvin - jian as usual - was grinning away when he saw so many of them drunk.. EVIL! And then we all went over to Justin's place, except for Alvin who abandoned us AS USUAL! Next time must drag him along! I left early for the night, but most of them stayed... for TWO NIGHTS!!! OMG... don't you guys need to sleep? Or go home? Sheesh:P

Anyways... will be flying off to Bangkok tomorrow, really looking forward to it :)

Fear

2006-12-03T11:29:00.000+08:00

In a few hours time.. it'll be my virgin attempt at playing in front of so many people. Urk... feeling the butterflies now. What have I gotten myself into...

Ah wells, will be an experience! Wish me luck!

P.S. EXAMS ARE OVER!!! WOot!

Random Thoughts..

2006-10-19T02:12:00.000+08:00

My head's a mess these days. So many thoughts skittering all over the place. I've been having some reflective time these few weeks - and thought of so many things. If only I'd written them down or something, organised them. Ah wells..

Feeling like my friends are all distancing themselves away slowly and steadily. Gut feeling? Instinct? I don't know.. sigh.. it's a terrible feeling. But even worse is the nagging suspicion, the fear I'm right, the guilt that I'm thinking about such things, and ... a feeling that I haven't done enough. I don't know anymore. Wash, rinse and repeat. I guess the little things really get to people.

Got back two tests this week. Will be getting back another tomorrow, and taking another as well. Sigh. The last 2 were much better than I'd expected. Unbelievable. Perhaps there's a god somewhere out there. I know I've worked harder than I ever had in my near 20 years of study. I'm no altruist... if I actually get my lazy ass down to work for something.. I'd surely hope I get SOMETHING in return. Nothing big, but .. something. But the aftermath of the test never left me with any shred of confidence. Guess it's a relief I did okay. Marred badly by the fact that some friends didn't do so well, despite their hard work. Sigh.. probably much harder work than I did too. Those workaholics... Sigh.. and it must be a terrible blow. And it hurts me to see that happen to. Guess that hasn't happened much for me.. as I'm usually the one at the other end. Sigh. It's not easy being at either en.

Gotta garner courage to pop the question. Sigh. Wish me luck.. I hope.

In other news, lost my phone. Depressing. Guess that just strengthens the bad impression my parents have of me yet again. Sigh... yet another relationship deteriorating and I don't know how to fix it again. Gods. I hate my wimpy self.

An afterthought?

2006-10-12T11:20:00.000+08:00

Curse my overactive imagination..

if only that it's so often proven right..

but only in the cases of the 'bad things'..

Murphy's Law? Or ... ?

George... why did you ever have that discussion with me about the lies.. damn.. come to think of it, maybe i prefer to live in the dark.. ignorance is bliss and all.. argh.

Feeling terrible.. like an afterthought... Ever felt like that? Like no one cared?

On a happier note,
check out the traffic light bros! =)

Ouch!

2006-10-05T04:14:00.000+08:00

Strikes a little too close to home ...

Hurt..

2006-10-05T03:47:00.000+08:00

Woah.. been waay too long since I last wrote.

It's been a long, tiring semester..

The stress is getting to everyone, depression setting in, tempers snapping. Sad, but true.

Sometimes its just so hard to reign in one's temper. To keep it bottled inside. To restrain yourself from saying something you regret in a fit of anger.

Lies & deception. Truth & illusion. Sometimes everything all seems like a facade to me now.. everything and everyone's unclear.. Seriously don't know what to believe, what to do now. Perhaps what George said is right. Better off knowing the truth at the start, knowing someone lied to you; than the sad alternative of being kept in the dark. No matter how much it hurts.

Also wanna take this opportunity to apologise to any feet I've stepped on in this course of work - I make no excuses. It's been a draining semester - and we all want to do well. We all want to do our best - and it's only because I feel strongly about something that I argue about it. Still, been doing some self-reflection, and I should be more open to ideas. Will try my best to do so in this environment!

Enough of jumbled thoughts and ramblings... mid-way through hellweek. PMSB presentation here I come!

Major Gripe #1: Weekend Tests on Sat AND Sun which TOTALLY ruins the weekends. Le sigh!

RAWR!

2006-09-11T09:22:00.000+08:00

RAWR!!!

A new tagline, and a cause of much lameness... People should be issued crutches sometimes...

In other news, made a bad mistake yet again. Sigh.. as Xiaowei once said, ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME. So very true. And yet, no matter how often I tell yourself that, or how many times I promise myself that I'll learn from that past mistake, carelessness strikes and it happens yet again.

Sigh

Insignificance..

2006-09-06T00:53:00.000+08:00

Sometimes just feel so insignificant, all efforts put in to waste...

Do I try too hard?

I have feelings too as well.. not a tool..

Maybe its me being oversensitive. perhaps the recent events have warped me. I don't know.. and maybe I'm too tired to care already..

A facade of cheerfulness? Why bother..

Heck.. dont even know why I keep blog. Perhaps some way to vent my feelings. But can't even write out what I wanna write. Whining doesn't even help anymore. Pathetic. Insignificant..

Thank you!

2006-08-31T01:18:00.000+08:00

Was feeling down the past 2 days (see previous post).. talked to a few close friends and feel much better already! Thanks a lot for being there ya all =)

Promised MQ dat I'll stop complaining.. or at least try to! Haha.. Omgz.. my fav pasttime! Aww... Will do my best !!!

In other breaking news...........

COULD THIS HAVE BEEN THE REASON ALL THIS WHILE??!!!!!

Omgz.. someone out there has been LOSING too much weight! *Grinz*

Interesting

2006-08-29T13:31:00.000+08:00

During TWC break, went to pick n bite ..

Saw this sign that amused me ..

The irony of it ...

Trust and hurt..

2006-08-29T09:25:00.000+08:00

Sometimes something happens... someone does something that hurts you so deeply.

Is it wrong to place too much trust in someone? When betrayal hurts so bad..

But I don't wanna live a life fearing betrayal.. not trusting anyone.. Sigh, just when I thought I can open up. Disillusionment perhaps? I don't know anymore..

A fresh beginning

2006-08-22T00:16:00.000+08:00

First day, of the first week, of my second year in school.

Yes, it's already been one year since I entered university... how time flies really. The hols were long, yet seemed so short. I guess that's what they mean about relativity and all, damn Einstein.

Anyways, fun's over. Time to get my ass back to working mode. Heh.. after all, all work and no play is pretty exhausting as well :P

First day in school was pretty okay... but rather eventful! Woke up late (argh) and rushed to meet Ben and Meiqi at Bishan. Just made it in time.. but was a close thing. Learnt that my handphone does not work when it's on low batt... it stays on, but can't message or call... dunno what's the point then.. geez. Luckily, I brought my charger to school, else I'll be uncontactable for the whole day! Kinda makes me wonder when I've gotten so dependent on my handphone... wonder if I can live without it for a week.. or two. *Shudder* Guess that's the price of the digital age.. this dependency upon technology that we can't live without. For good or for worse, we don't have much of a choice now.

I digress. First lesson was financial accounting, which seemed interesting yet could prove difficult later on. Bidding the course together with Mingfei, Xiwen and Alvin, so hope we can get it. We formed our group already, met with a freshmen girl named Sharolyn.. unique name I must say =) Anyways, it's kind of a good situation for me, since I can meet new people, yet get to be together with my friends as well. Sometimes I don't know if I'm too dependent on friends.. I mean, I should go out and meet more people, instead of sticking with the same few friends. Same old argument with myself again I guess.. but that's probably the way for most.. to fear the unknown and stick to the familiar.

Second lesson was CAT... which frankly I found terribly boring. Hope that was just because it's an introduction lesson, and that subsequent lessons will prove more interesting. Yeah.. the optimist in me speaks... The project here looks like it's gonna be tough.. down to even having to source our own real life questions to do .. Oh well, at least gonna be working with Ben and Hui for the first time (KAD/Strategica aside). Should be fun I guess =)

Had to handle Vivace posters after classes... made me terribly disgusted with the school. So much for upgrading to better printers. It's the bloody first day of school, and 2 printers were out of order.. with so many jams and all. Absolutely pathetic. And don't get me started on the amount of red tape needed to get ANYTHING done. Sigh... so much for being different -.-

School aside. Mom's bdae is on Sunday! Yay.. should plan some nice activity; feel quite guilty having not spent much time at home for past few weeks. Any ideas? =)

Next post will be some recap, if I actually get down to it! :P

Last few days...

2006-08-16T18:16:00.000+08:00

Last few days til school reopens.

Kinda sad, yet happy about it.

Been going out so much lately - and had so much fun - , that my even my family has started commenting about it. Still, wanna enjoy as much as possible before school reopens.

Will blog more when I have more energy!

Off to camp!

2006-08-03T22:46:00.000+08:00

Just finished packing for camp tomorrow... it's not the first camp i'm going to, but its the first i'll be facilitator for. Which is why I'm kinda nervous/excited now. Heh..

Anyways, its been a very packed and busy two days for me.

Yesterday was a day of fun. Met up with the Strategica exco at Buona Vista (ungodly place for me... can't wait til the Circle Line comes up... have to travel one WHOLE ROUND to get to a place that's not THAT far..), and discussed some stuff. We must be getting better at this.. or maybe it was the time limit pushing us :P We did end much quicker than previous meetings!

After that, we went to Settler's Cafe to enjoy some board games again. After the past few meetings at Mind's, I was frankly getting a little .. bored of the place. So, it's a refreshing change. Tried several new games, some fun, some not so.. but the 2 most memorable things that happened has got to be 1. Ben's face when he thought he was about to win in Dragon Delta, but realised that Jinghao had accidently (yes, accidently!) blocked his win! 2. Puerto Rico , one of the best board games I've played so far, with little luck required and mostly strategic thinking. Impressive indeed.. wonder how long the game creators spent thinking about that impeccably balanced game =)

Anyways, been thinking a little about it. Realised I never played much board games when I was young.. besides the occasional monopoly or mad magazine.. I only played the original Risk once! Yet, now that I'm 20+, in university, I find myself playing tons more than I was young! LOL.. 返老还童 perhaps? Heh.. I like to think that even as the body grows old.. aches and all.. the mind can still stay young! Young at heart is the way to go! I don't wanna be old.. throughout!

After Settlers, went to watch a play with George, Ameet and a friend of theirs. Female friend. Hmm.. they seem to pay her a lot of attention ;) Grin.. But I digress..

The play, Homesick, is, I quote the emcee "the first play of the first night of the first Singapore Theatre Festival!" Impressive introduction, and I was certainly not disappointed. It's described as a dark comedy, and indeed its an apt description. Very Singaporean, yes, but with amazing play on words that kept me much amused. They poked fun at current issues, the government, and many other things that Singaporeans do think about.. or at least I do. The humour wasn't just it.. the second half was rather thought provoking.. touching on familial issues, and interpersonal relationships. Indeed, underlying the humour, and the exaggeration is a theme that's close to everyone's hearts, of the misunderstandings we have towards one another. The imperfect exchange of information. I certainly enjoyed myself a lot watching the play.. worth the 38 bucks despite my current dire financial straits.

Well.. on to today.

Had the second meeting with the Mind's boss, Alvin, together with Yaocong again. Certainly much more promising, and he did impress me a little with the quick way his mind works to bring things to his advantage. Got quite a bit this time, not the hard cash we hoped for, but that's kinda hard for a new club like us to get I suppose. A little in a dilemma, I'd love to accept this offer of course, but I also want to work with Settler's. Still, position-wise, perhaps it'll be better to accept this offer. Gotta wait and see i guess. Also met Adrian at Minds while at the meeting.. remembered then that he loves board games too.. gotta try and get him to join =) If you ever read this Adrian, do join! Heh heh..

After the meeting, met Yuanru, Ben and Vivienne .. the original plan being to catch a movie before meeting up with orientation exco for a last min briefing. Guess that's the problem with being charitable.. and letting the international students join.. So many logistic problems! Anyways, it was kinda too late for a movie due to the timings, so we just sat around at the Kaya Toast shop and chatted for a while. Was feeling quite full then, so I passed on the food.. which I kinda regretted later..

We met up with Xiaowei and Xiwen, and went over for the meeting. Turns out I got 2 more new freshmen! Ah wells.. I'm sure it'll all work out in the end! 2 free shirts given .. looks okay to me.. after all it IS free ;) After the meeting.. it was already 8+.. and we were supposed to go for dinner.. but they all decided to go home! (hence the regret just now) Thus.. I had to assuage my hunger on a puny Old Chang Kee curry puff (I love the things.. not for their taste but for the memory it brings me of the time I was out with my dad last time.. heh.. fun stuff!) before heading home!

My tale is done. Heh.. Hope the camp turns out great! Looking forward to tomorrow!

Oh yes, and Happy Birthday Yuanru. Happy 21st in 20 mins time! You're an adult now! *Grin*

LIFE IS SO BORING!

2006-08-01T18:29:00.000+08:00

Sinfest (2006-07-16)

Wow... how true is that man. How often have we whined about how bored we are... how life sucks cos of that! Yes! You too! Admit it! I know I do...

In truth, sometimes boring is good.. Its up to us to find our purpose... Guess that's why we're all here.

In other news, bout of depression is almost over. Not over as much as ... in the healing process. Life is full of ups and downs I suppose.. and I do have myself to blame for it. Oh wells.. Thanks to all of you who asked, even if I was evasive. It really made me feel much better to know someone out there cared. Sorry I just didn't want to talk about it.. But you really made the difference. Thank you.

Lame joke of the week! : Yeah.. missed it for the last few posts due to depression.. its back now!

A traveling salesman was driving down a country road when a rabbit ran in front of his car and he hit it. The proverbial farmer was sitting on the fence watching. The salesman gets out of his car and opens the trunk. He then removes an aerosol can and sprays the contents on the dead rabbit. The next thing you know the rabbit gets up and hops about 20 ft. down the road, turns and waves to the salesman, goes another 20 ft. and waves to the salesman. The salesman looks at the farmer and says "he'll be okay now." The salesman gets into his car and leaves. The farmer wondering what's going on walks over to the ditch where the salesman threw the can, picks it up and read the label which said FOR HARE RESTORATION AND PERMANENT WAVE.

Depression

2006-07-28T00:38:00.000+08:00

Strange how one can be in such a good mood, and moments later.. depression.

Hope, anticipation? All demolished in one fell swoop.

Perhaps I'm just not used to expressing my feelings. Sometimes I hate myself for that as well.. but..

Feeling really terrible.. why didn't I act earlier? Or was it pointless in the first place. Once again, fate? Or not.. I really don't know anymore.

Strategica!

2006-07-26T18:59:00.000+08:00

Started up on a new webby for Strategica here... Much easier to edit to look more like a webpage now ;)

SMU students, please support! Join now! It'll be fun :)

Exhaustion

2006-07-25T02:27:00.000+08:00

Phew... feeling totally exhausted now! Been sleeping very little these few days.. and having lots to do hasn't helped either! Celebrated Andrew's Birthday yesterday night! Since a picture tells a thousand words.. I'll let the pics below tell the story!

Anyways.. today was an exhausting day.. again! Met early in the morning with Strategica exco to discuss club direction etc.. Made quite a good progress I suppose. Vivace's coming up real quick.. sigh.. Both looking forward to it, and dreading it somehow.. heh. Weird. After that, we went to Minds Cafe to play! Played I'm the Boss again... somehow love those backstabbing games. Played another game as well.. but not really memorable cos I didn't really enjoy it I guess. Haha..

Just finished calling my freshmen for SIS Camp! Although one didn't answer the phone.. the rest seemed ok with meeting up this thurs. Looking forward to it!

Anyways, the pictures.

The cake!

Us. Pathetic amount I know.. Sigh..

The 'evenly' cut cake. Of cos the HUGE slice goes to the birthday boy!

Yuanru cutting cake!! OMG rare sight! Haha

Lame joke of the post!
Why was the Tomato blushing? Because he saw the salad dressing.

Stunned

2006-07-24T17:57:00.000+08:00

Is the very word that describes how I felt for most part of the day!

Ben, Hui and I were supposed to meet at Minds Cafe today, not to play; but for a meeting with the boss to talk about partnership with our club Strategica! I was nervous, yet hopeful. After all, this is the first time I'm dealing with sponsorships etc, and likely a good/useful experience for the future.
Alas, it was not to be. I made a phone call to reconfirm the time with the boss, having set the meeting a few days ago. Then the shocker: He could not make it today! From what I infer, he's probably overseas or so.. so it's postponed to Friday! Lesson learnt. Always confirm the day before. Sigh... Noob me -.- In defence, I can only say I never expected he would cancel last minute! Oh wells, we live and learn.

So that was the first stunner.. critical strike.. pwned! I was left hanging there on my way to Bishan, and frankly quite at a loss.. I quickly called Hui and Ben to cancel. Lucky Hui was at Bishan on his way to Minds.. so he got off to meet me! We then went to Mac to play.. 决一胜负！

Then, at about 1 or so, the second stunner appeared from out of the blue. This was really one-of-a kind experience.. something I'd never have expected. I got a call from my old AS prof, Mark Nowacki.. about Strategica! Small world? Unbelivable indeed. Anyways.. turns out he had somehow heard of us! Settler's Cafe organises the Singapore Board Games Championship (See poster) and they plan to promote this in SMU. Certainly of great interest to our club, especially since that gives us the opportunity to work closely with them.

So it turns out, they wanted to set up a booth on Wed (since the qualifying rounds of the competition is on this Sat). But that gives us only 1 day ++ to get things worked out.

Ouch indeed.

Especially with the amount of administrative red tape we need to get through to handle it.

Still, we've called whoever we need to call, emailed whoever we need to email, and done the necessary preps. All that's left is prayer to god that all goes well =) We can but hope.

It's certainly gonna be a terribly busy week up ahead, what with Strategica business, meetings, as well as SIS Orientation Camp. Still, looking forward to it, and working hard for them too. Lots of responsibilities ahead, certainly more than I've been used to dealing with. I suppose it's great exposure too. I'm kinda glad I didn't continue working though.. despite the dire straits of finances THAT led me to.. I don't think I'd be able to deal with SO many things at once.. A step ahead at a time eh!

Ah wells, enough talking.. better get ready to go off. Gonna celebrate Andrew's birthday soon. Surprise as it's supposed to be? Though with the amount of 'surprise' parties we've been holding lately... I kinda doubt any surprise is left. I don't even want to think what the latest slate of bdae parties are going to do to my poor wallet.. Thank god it's at Bishan ...

Lame joke of the post
Not so easy to get so many lame jokes:P Here's an interesting video instead!

Ouch!

2006-07-21T19:26:00.000+08:00

Hosted on Zooomr

Grin, rings a little close to home there.. Ouch!
Garfield for the win! *Grin*

Lame Joke for the Post: SMU Students! Can u spot the fallacy!!??
Theorem. A cat has nine tails.
Proof. No cat has eight tails. Since one cat has one more
tail than no cat, it must have nine tails.

It's been too long!

2006-07-20T13:26:00.000+08:00

It's been too long since I last went to school! Yesterday was certainly a day of mishaps for me. I was going to school to help Mingfei hand in a form (requesting to take 6 subjects this semester.. some people are just too smart -.- ).

On the train, I was just delighting myself on being able to get a seat.. Not knowing that would be the start of my troubles! Alas, I fell asleep, and awoke at Marina Bay! Sigh... When I finally reached city hall, and was walking towards school, there was a sudden sharp pain in my foot. OMG, I cannot envision such a strange sight it must have been for others, probably hilarious even. Some guy walking towards the traffic light developing a limp, half reaching out to his sandals and stopping, before limping as best as he can to cross the road before the light turns red! Sigh.. I limped my way to the nearest support I could find, to realise that a sharp twig had poked its way through the sole of my shoe, and was sticking out. So that was the cause of the sharp pain! Come on.. what are the odds of that happening. Dozens of commuters, a wide stretch of road, a twig lying in stand-up position? How odd. Fate? Or coincidence?

Anyways, I got rid of the twig and continued my 'journey'. When I reached the admin building, I just naturally strolled into the lift.. Only to realise I forgot to bring my school card! Tada.. now I was stuck in an amazingly embarassing situation. I exited the lift and walked towards the counter, preparing to sign in for a temp pass.. thank god I spotted a few people walking towards the lift, and ninja-ed a ride up ;)

The ride up let me learn something I've not thought about much, despite the supposed multi-culture Singapore possesses. My 3 'saviors' were international students, and they were chatting to each other in rapid-fire . Logically, I knew they weren't talking about me or anything, yet it's human nature I guess, to look upon something unknown with fear. Something in my heart was nagging at me that they were laughing at me, somehow. Or maybe its just my insecure personality? Anyways.. now I recall how terrible it is to not understand a conversation. Kinda reminds me of what happened during my great grandma's wake. My grandma and other relatives were all conversing in Teochew.. I've never learnt how to speak/listen to any dialect, and I've always regretted that deficiency. But never as much as that day, when I was mostly in the dark of what was happening (seeing as all the instructions were all passed down in Teochew). It wasn't just the sensation of being left out, or that of mere puzzlement over what's going on, but it certainly didn't feel good at all. I digress. Anyways the point I was trying to bring out was: It's not nice to talk in a language others do not understand when they are around. And I'm certainly guilty of that myself at times. It's just so easy to slip into a comfortable mode of speaking without noticing who's around, listening. Still, from now on I resolve to make the effort to take note and make sure!

That's all for my exploits that day, but it was certainly enough to make me late for the meeting with Hui, Ameet and Brad. Sorry guys ;)

As a sidenote, at the meeting, Hui and I managed to polish out a draft of the sponsorship letter for Mind's Cafe. We cheated a little, but considering its our first time, I think we did a fair job. Time to polish up the letter and send it to Ben for some editing ;) It DOES feel good to accomplish something!

*Update - From now on, everytime I post, I'll have a lame joke for you guys, (a-la Hui)*

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and tells the loan officer that she's going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.
The loan officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Rolls-Royce, which is parked in front of the bank. She has the title and everything checks out, so the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.

As the blonde leaves with the money, the bank's president and officers enjoy a good laugh at someone using a $250,000 Rolls as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee moves the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it.

Two weeks later the blonde returns and repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

As he hands the keys back to the blonde, the loan officer says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and the transaction has worked out very nicely. But we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked your records and found that you are a multimillionaire. Why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The blonde replies, "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Goodbye

2006-07-15T20:08:00.000+08:00

The past 2 nights and today I spent at the wake/funeral of my great grandma have really taught me a few lessons..

It's never easy to say goodbye.

I've never been super close to my great grandma, living apart and only seeing her once a year during Chinese New Year hasn't given me much chance to get to know her that well. Still, today as I watched the coffin being wheeled into the incinerator, and hearing the sobs of my elder relatives, I inadvertently found myself almost crying.

Funerals are not for the deceased, but for the living. It gives us the opportunity to say our last goodbyes, to face the fact that our loved one has passed on. It certainly got me thinking what would happen, what would I do if someone really close to me passed away. How would I react? How would I feel? We never like to envision such things, and the thought so alien that I almost find it impossible to think about. But I guess it's something we have to face sometime in our lives, sooner or later; but preferably later..

Addiction...

2006-06-20T21:27:00.000+08:00

It's been more than a week since I last blogged... yet again.

Finding myself with more and more things to write, jotting them down aside as I think of them; and I think these 'notes' have piled up to quite a sum; if I can just find where I left them.

Yet, haven't the time nor inclination to pick up the pen, figuratively speaking, and start blogging those thoughts down.

WoW - World of Warcraft. Unbelivably addictive for me now, probably the prime reason why I've stopped.

But I'll be back.

So many things have happened this past week, discussions and thoughts that I wanna flesh out. It's time to start again, and to find time in spite of this new addiction to do so.

Half down!

2006-06-09T21:50:00.000+08:00

5 days of ICT over, that's half of it:)

So far so good, it's been easier than I expected. Still, next week's outfield will be the true test I guess.

Last night was stay-in, my first night in the camp itself. Heh, still, had a nights out, and went out with Xiaowei, Weiwei and Xiwen for dinner at Suntec NYDC, then drinks at Pacific Coffee! Was my first time at Pacific Coffee.. the place wasn't too bad, but as usual for cafes like those, the drinks were ex! Heh.. Anways, thanks gals for accompanying me til 10+ heh.. Have a pic here, only one with Xiaowei, sadly, cos the other 2 were camera shy!:(

Today had to be the slackest day of ICT yet.. Woke up at 740, rushed down to work. Got it done quick, and went to canteen. Then back to bunk to sleep til 1, woke for lunch, and back to bunk to read.. til 330 before falling asleep.. until fallout time! Woah.. I've had more sleep these past 3 days than the last 2 weeks I guess... Heh

Wells, one week to go! Better start looking for job again! ;)

Carrot Juice is murder?!!?

2006-06-06T20:45:00.000+08:00

Was reading Sinfest when the comic strip above caught my eye! Totally reminded me of Arrogant Worm's Carrot Juice is murder! (See below for lyrics). Some food for thought *pun intended* for vegetarians perhaps:P

On a sidenote, I LOVE arrogant worms... the sheer cheek and humour injected in their songs. Wonderful. Not superb singing or anything, but nice enough, and their catchy melodies and interesting lyrics always put a smile on my face;) Do try ém!!

Arrogant Worms - Carrot Juice is Murder

Listen up, brothers and sisters
Come hear my desperate tale
I speak of our friends of nature
Trapped in the dirt like a jail

Vegetables live in oppression
Served on our tables each night
This killing of veggies is madness
I say we take up the fight

Salads are only for murderers
Cole slaw's a fascist regime
Don't think that they don't have feelings
Just 'cause a radish can't scream

I've heard the screams of the vegetables, scream scream scream
Watching their skins being peeled, having their insides revealed
Grated and steamed with no mercy, burning off calories
How do you think that feels, bet it hurts really bad
Carrot juice constitutes murder, and that's a real crime
Greenhouses prisons for slaves, let my vegetables grow
It's time to stop all this gardening, it's dirty as hell
Let's call a spade a spade, it's a spade it's a spade it's a spade

I saw a man eating celery
So I beat him black and blue
If he ever touches a sprout again
I'll bite him clean in two

I'm a political prisoner
Trapped in a windowless cage
'Cause I stopped the slaughter of turnips
By killing five men in a rage

I told the judge when he sentenced me
"This is my finest hour
I'll kill those farmers again
Just to save one more cauliflower"

How low as people do we dare to stoop
Making young broccolis bleed in the soup
Untie your beans, uncage your tomatoes
Set potted plants free, don't mash that potato, ah

I've heard the screams of the vegetables scream scream scream
Watching their skins being peeled fates in the stir fry are sealed
Grated and steamed with no mercy you fat gourmet scum
How do you think that feels leave them out in the fields
Carrot juice constitutes murder V8's genocide
Greenhouses prisons for slaves yes your compost's a grave
It's time to stop all this gardening take up macramé
Let's call a spade a spade it's a spade it's a spade it's a spade

1 week!

2006-06-05T21:30:00.001+08:00

More than a week since I last blogged!

As time goes by, I find myself getting lazier and lazier.. it's getting hard to sit down and actually start writing... but when I finally do so, I've go so much to write that I don't know where to start..

人算不如天算
This saying is really true man... Planned to stop work on Saturday, have a day of rest before ICT. Yet, on Thursday, received call from my boss telling me that it would be my last day of work.. and well, considering it was my off day... I was suddenly out of work! Disconcerting, to say the least, to be out of work all of a sudden. Still, made the most out of it, had a good rest on Fri, went out with Brad, Ameet, George and Mah on Sat, and met up with Xiwen for lunch on Sunday (and finally got back my hdd! Yay!)

Anyways, Monday came too soon.. and off I was to the first ICT of my life. Posted to 285 SA, new unit, new camp yet again. Sigh.. worst thing was, when I reached there, everyone was chatting away happily with each other.. and I was feelin all left out. Guess that's the way it is, to be posted from a totally different unit to one where everyone knows each other, and worked with each other before. Luckily, met up with another Ammo Base personnel, who was looking as lost as me. Heh. Also, met up with someone totally unexpected, someone from a part of my history I almost forgot, and had very little contact with; yet we somehow remembered each other. Which is a good thing, since I didn't know anyone else around. Anyways, the first day was just for the advance party, and there was little to do. After completing work, we basically just slacked around/slept! Around 6, we booked out. Hopefully that's something that can happen everyday... but the chances are rather slim I guess. Still, one can but hope.

Fate

All this got me thinking about something Khel and I talked about last time. Fate. Karma. Or coincidence even. Whatever you want to call it. Do you believe in some higher power controlling the events that happen? In my opinion, there IS such a thing as fate. And yet, there is also free will, and choices. How so? Perhaps all the roads of fate have been built, and the choices we can make is which road down to walk. For example, I had the roads in front of me, to not go university, to go NUS, or to go SMU. I choose the road myself, what happens after basically is up to fate.. A little unclear perhaps, I haven't fully articulated the thought out myself. What do you think?

Touched

2006-05-29T00:15:00.000+08:00

Chatted with some new friends today..

Only known them for a few days, and despite different backgrounds and age, they prove to be good friends indeed.

Just joked about a picture board... and she really made one for me.

Really touched.

Friends Forever, indeed.

Clean and Green?!

2006-05-28T23:44:00.000+08:00

I finally remembered why I've always avoided public toilets like the plague; at most going in to do some 'small business'. Still, when a man's gotta go, a man's gotta go. When big business calls, there's no choice but the head for the public toilet.

So much for clean and green Singapore. Maybe we should win the oscars instead for our wonderful act... the sheer facade we've put up of being 'clean and green', while at heart, our people are selfish bastards at heart who probably couldn't care less about being clean or green, unless of course, it entailed a fine. Clean-and-green's probably only due to the countless cleaners employed to clean up after the mess of the general public.

For the past 3 times I've went to the public toilets... i've found the toilet bowls surrounded with SHIT! Geez.. WTF man... these guys don't know how to AIM? I mean.. how hard is it to sit down , STILL, and do your business man. Need to wriggle your ass while you do your business? Mayhaps a change in career is what you need... Sheesh. And its not just the cubicle I choose.. it was TWO cubicles.. Thank god there were 3 cubicles and the 3rd one was miraculously clean (relatively). For Gods Sake.. some of it was even on the floor.. I mean like.. are they non-toilet-trained dogs???

Holy crap, seriously.. what's the world going to when people can't even shit properly any longer?

Pissed (no pun intended)

Edited: Had some thoughts after thinking about this incident for some time...

Friends

2006-05-24T01:55:00.000+08:00

On reflection, I feel really blessed to be able to find friends wherever I go nowadays...

I've never been a person who makes friends easily. I can count on one hand the number of people I know from primary school - and only one before that - that I still keep in touch with. Even the secondary school friends I know are mostly mere acquaintances, hi-bye friends whom I don't speak to. With the exception of a few buddies, that once again I can count on one hand:P The same story again for JC, army even.

Which is why I feel quite happy to get to know so many friends in SMU, and more recently, from my workplace now. And while I'd like to pride myself that its some great change in character or increase in charisma attributing to that change, reality must kick in. Heh..

I'd just like to say a big thank you to all of you close friends out there who've been there for me. Here's to the future ahead! 请多多指教！

Escapades (Part 2)

2006-05-23T22:05:00.000+08:00

Suddenly realised its been so long since my last post AH... almost a week already, and I haven't even finished my 'tale'.. Guess alot of things have happened since.. got hooked up on WoW thanks to Marcus and Yaolong (damn you guys:P)... Also have people asking me to join NUS orientation camps.. and other people bragging about their overseas trips... grrrr ..

Anyways, before I rattle on aimlessly, let me complete my 'tale' of Escapades (Part 2):P

I believe it's last Thurs (18th). Ah... yes, Vivace!

Went down with Ben and Hui to Vivace meeting, representing Strategicá. Well, only me and Hui actually, since Ben is part of Vivace. And I must tell you, having someone in the insides of Vivace is very very useful hahaha... especially a finance director! :) Of course, with our impeccable honesty and *ahem* integrity.. we won't do anything erm... against the rules or something.. but its always good to know more inside info. Yeah yeah... accept the facts of life.. insider trading does and will occur, if that's an apt analogy ;)

Anyways, we bidded for our spot in Vivace, but thanks to our dear unlucky president, we got a lousy spot. I think he should wash his hands more often ah.. dunno what he doing also.. FIRST to pick ah, n of all the places... Sigh.. We should hire George-the-luckyass to totally do the picking for us! Heh.. After the bidding, we talked to Kenneth again, then realised we had an enormous red-tape in front of us obstructing our club's creation. I won't mention names or anything ah.. but something's inefficiency is delaying us a lot ... sigh. We also discussed our Vivace plans etc.. coming up with a few ideas, but nothing fully concrete yet. A lot more to do I guess (and no progress so far, oops)!

After that, Ben went back to meet his Vivace committee, and Hui and I went to AMK to meet George. Yes, due to my great planning and maneuvering, got them to meet at Ang Mo Kio.. wahhaha.. all fall into my plan.. sadly I think they read this blog too so next time they will slap me when I meet them.. but dun worry I will find some way to escape.. after all got a long time b4 some people fly back from hk.. bloody hell.. enjoy life lor..

I digress. We had a great time there.. until Meiqi called, and I went to meet her at AMK station, and we went city hall to meet YR & Ben.. Poor YR, she got the totally opposite situation as me at work.. Too many customers, while I suffer from lack of them... we were chattin about how she should give me 1/4 of her customers.. to create a nice win-win situation for the both of us;) Sigh.. We wish. We went over to school to find Viv and Andrew.. but apparently they got caught up in some weird situation, where all their bags were locked up in a GSR and our cards weren't able to open it. Geez, took a long time before the bags were finally rescued by a complaining security guard (dunno why he complain also.. not like he got things to do lor... if my experience is anything to go by, he should be thanking us for relieving his boredom ah). We then went to eat pizza hut (except Andrew who abandoned us to go floorball) .. i think the 5 of us stuffed ourselves until wanna puke.. making us swear off pizza for the next few months or so. Grin.

After that, we went to watch Da Vinci Code. Sigh. That was a disappointment. I've been looking forward to that show for almost a whole freakin year... and it was a terrible letdown, for me at least. Perhaps it was an overhigh expectation on my part, but I found it lacking in many ways. The over mystification of some things, the destroying of the mystery in others, where they spelt out everything too clearly. All that was, in my opinion, detrimental to the proper enjoyment of the film. Perhaps it was the book that spoilt it for me, as I've heard those who haven't read the book enjoyed the movie. That could be ascribed to the power of narrative, while film is limited in the aspect of time, coverage and what to detail and what not to...

Well, 'nuff said. Let me not stop anyone from watching it. Still a good film, and I think Tom Hanks did a fair job here! Watch it yourself, and do tell what you think about it!

That's it for "Escapades". Thank you for watching:P

Escapades (Part 1)

2006-05-19T03:11:00.000+08:00

What a busy two days!

After a week or more of planning, finally sprang a birthday surprise for Xiwen yesterday(though her birthday was actually on Tuesday)! Buuuut, first things first.. some thoughts b4 i go into the details of the surprise ;)

Work - was absolutely terrible yesterday. First, my backache decided to revisit me. Gods. Try standing for 7 hours straight with a backache.. I almost died there and then... and gods.. the weird positions I had to twist myself in attempt to stretch the muscles. Sigh.... Damned... Really old liaoz ... Even had to go toilet a few times just to sit down... Argh... Feel terrible. Second of all, had a really boring day. And I must say... of all the things, boredom is the thing I cannot stand the most. There were almost no customers today.. and the whole row was on off... geez.. that means no one to serve, nothing to do, nobody to talk to.. except the occasional security guard.. Time was really crawling then... Well, at least talked to another of the salesgirl... who's usually too far away from me haha.. Anyways, she's rather friendly... and talking to her made realise that everyone has got their own problems.. She's finished her O's, but didn't score very well, at least not well enough to get into the courses of choice. So, she's working now.. Sigh, felt so lucky then to be in university... and I think of all the complaints and whining I've been doing.. makes me feel so damn guilty. Sigh...

That episode also made me highly aware of another problem of my own - shyness. Or rather, more aware of how serious my problem is, since I've already known I've had it for a long time. Sigh.. I really find it damn hard to approach people I don't know already; though I don't have such problems with friends, or people who make overtures first. It's real strange, and try as I may, I can never seem to make much progress in changing this weird character flaw of mine... How? Help anyone??

I digress. Almost slipped back into whine mode again, oops. Anyways, finally to the birthday celebration (that Alvin's probably waiting to hear about eh! Sorry that you couldn't make it man, hope u had a great time in camp:P hahahaha!)!

Left work an hour early and met up with Marcus to take cab to the Clark Quay Mind's Cafe as planned.. (Yuanru & Vivienne abandoned us and went themselves earlier! Sad!) Finally reached there, and almost everyone else was there already (besides Justin, Weiwei and the birthday girl herself). After playing a game called "Fish eat Fish" for some time, they arrived! (Sadly our near-perfect surprise was slightly ruined - despite fast thinking on Weiwei's part - by an unsuspecting waitress who received them by saying "Oh, the birthday celebration's on top! Grin.) Still, thought it was a great success!

We had great fun playing games. First we played Munchkins again, this time with Andrew doing DMing instead. It was a slightly let down for me; I guess the game just doesn't suit so many people, since it just gets waaay too slow. Still, I enjoyed myself, despite the lack of fast and furious backstabbing:) After a game, we played another card game - some farm animal game which tested our memories, reflexes and well, acting skills ;) Outright hilarious. I must admit I really suck terribly at such games! Darnit!:P Probably the butt of many of the jokes, grin! Basically, we had to pick animals to be, and remember all the other's animals, and the sounds and actions that went along. Cards were divided equally amongst all - and the object of the game was to lose all your cards. Everyone would take turns showing a card, and if 2 cards matched, you had to make the other person's animal sound and action before he did yours - and your pile would be given to him! Not a very good explanation perhaps, you'd have to play the game to get it, and enjoy it. Needless to say, we had a great time playing, heh! After the games, we had a phototaking session - thanks to joyce for the cameras - must get the pics from her soon, and maybe I'll post some nicer ones here;)

The food there, however, was kind of a letdown. The main course was just okay only.. but the ice-cream brownie was ohhh soooo goooddd.. and terribly sinful of course:( There was a chunky monkey Ben & Jerry Birthday Cake as well, which was ROCK HARD and a terror to cut!! Guess everyone enjoyed it too, though I didn't eat any since I was already totally bloated!

We finally left Mind's Cafe at almost 11.. wanted to take cab home, but couldnt manage to flag down any. We ended up walking all the way back to city hall MRT station! Geez... But, hope you had a great surprise, and a great birthday, Xiwen;) Enjoy your presents eh!

Anyways, stayed up that night to watch the Champions League Arsenel vs Barcelona match. Usually don't watch soccer, but this was a match I didn't wanna miss! Was a damn exiting match man.. Arsenal early game losing player yet maintaining a strong lead all the way til 80th min. Ah wells, lucky I'm not an Arsenal fan. Still, also talked to mingfei! Haha been a long time since last
chatted, probably been having a great holiday back home:) Nice talkin to u girl:) Hehe..

Anyways, on to today! Gak.. Actually... think I've been writing/stoning/playing etc for too long.. too tired to continue. Since it's already 'tomorrow' instead of 'today' anymore:P Time to sleep, til tomorrow!

Shagged...

2006-05-14T21:30:00.000+08:00

Cannot believe how tiring work actually is. Considering that I'm not doing much.. neither thinking nor physical work. Yet, the sheer drain of energy is considerable! Feelin so tired everyday after I reach home.. and not being able to sleep well for the past few days has not helped at all...

Sigh.. can hardly wait til Wed/Thurs.. got events coming up which will hopefully take my mind off this tiredness..

Then again, ICT is coming soon as well.. argh... wonder how it'll all turn out! Ah wells.. no use worrying so much now! Better enjoy whatever and however I can while I can;)

Wizard of ID, tells it like it is!

2006-05-14T21:27:00.000+08:00

The Truth of the World Today!

Work!

2006-05-12T01:05:00.000+08:00

Woot.. first day of work. First time I'm working part time too.. so kinda lost at first. Lucky Yuanru was around to 'show me the ropes' ;) Too bad she'll be posted to city hall after today, but oh wells, cant possibly have 2 staff in the space...

Haha.. work was tiring of course, but rather satisfying to think i'm finally earning my own cash! Can't wait! Hahaha..

Conversely, the loss of freedom, needless to say, was rather unsettling. No more going out at will (also means less spending haha) ... even worse, having trouble even making it to some outings. Ah wells.. things will work out I guess.

All in all, feelin a little better.. After that bout of severe angst the past few days. Sigh.. weirdness!

Arguments

2006-05-08T02:06:00.000+08:00

Ever bore witness to an argument between two people whom you're close to?

It's never a good experience.. especially when you can see both sides of the matter to be true, to a certain extent. I've never been good as a mediator... been there, done that, and not a good experience if truth be told. So what should I have done in such circumstances? Sigh.. sometimes wonder why things are so difficult.. suppose that's the way life is..

In other news, elections are over, and PAP got a clean sweep of GRCs again, and only 2 single seat constituents won by oppositions. Still, I suppose they got a good scare, with Aljunied's WP almost grabbing it.. first GRC nearly to be won by an opposition party. Respect.

Another scare would probably be PM Lee's own AMK GRC... with 30% to the opposition.. must be quite shocking, since he IS the PM after all! Still, after this, they probably won't be able to sit on their laurals, but have to continue workin hard; which is a good thing:)

One thing I must say, dirty as their politics can be, but that's the way politics are supposed to be eh.. Gotta admire the skill they pull it off with... and how they've maintained a good showing! Well, the future's ahead, and no point thinking too far off now.

A week of JSP course ahead.. been a long time since I woke up early to go to school and study -.- Heh, hope I can still manage to wake up on time... So, good night!

Congratulations & Good luck!

2006-05-03T02:04:00.000+08:00

Hey all you peeps out there who had your last exam today, Congrats! And those poor dudes having their last exams tomorrow, Good Luck!!:P

Just to suan you all... had a great time today.. grin...

Went out with Ben, Yuanru, Meiqi and Caren to the board games shop again, tried a new board game which was kinda like Survivor-meets-ZombieFest haha.. Really fun! Rented Munchkins to play too... really wanted to play it for so long! Oh yeah.. gotta rave about that shop again man... the rental is so cheap, and the staff there are friendly and knowledgable about the games :) Great! Although its at a rather 'ulu' place, can see that quite a lot of people frequent it =)

Anyways, we lost track of time at the shop, and were terribly late for the dinner outing. Really really sorry about that... feel damn guilty too, especially since I was the one who planned the timing and all.. :( Ack.. no excuses for me too.. just lost track of time.. My bad, my bad. Reached Bugis at almost 7... where the rest were waiting for us. Haha.. 14 people! Omg! Sooo much more than I expected from the few I called.. expanded to such a huge group! :) Guess that just shows I'm not meant to be a planner. Can never remember everyone.. despite my best efforts.. realy sorry to whoever I missed out again! Geez.. Word of mouth is best for me I guess hahaha...

We walked around (in a huge circle:P) and finally settled down at this eating house, which seemed really popular, evident from the number of people eating there. Xiwen, being our 'tour guide' this time, ordered huge amounts of food for us.. haha. The food was great, and the best part was.. it's so cheap! Less than 8 bucks per person... woot!! *Must remember to get picts from Vivienne*

Anyways, after eating, we all went over to Viv's house! Yes.. even those reluctant were dragged along heh heh... We reached her house at almost 10pm.. yeah.. so late! But we started to play Munchkins... sigh... which fared worse than I ever expected. Guess I'm not a good teacher at all.. couldn't really explain the game well enough. Sigh.. In the end, we switched to Mr Bean... a team charades like board game, which was great fun! Still.. wished we could have played Munchkins.. ah wells... there's always other chances!

Aight.. time for bed. Long-awaited KTV tomorrow!! *Lalala*

Miscommunication

2006-05-02T13:32:00.000+08:00

Thought this was really funny...
But how true is it really?

How often do we have preconceptions about others... making our own assumptions.

As a friend said to me once...
"ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME"

How very true...

Perhaps we should all learn to listen more... before jumping to conclusions ;)

The Hostel

2006-04-28T02:06:00.000+08:00

Went out with Ben, Meiqi and Yuanru today... been quite a long time since we all went out. Was rather last minute... so SORRY for all those who I never ask! ArrRR! Hahaha.. planning is tough work! :(

Met up at city hall, and went to Suntec for Ben and Jerry ice-cream! Really sinful, but OMG so delicious! Makes up for missing the free scoop of B&J ice-cream on Wednesday... or so I keep persuading myself -.- Decided to watch The Hostel.. sounded like a good movie (horror)... had the impression it was a korean/japanese horror show.. or so we thought! More about that later...

Anyway, the movie was at 6, and we had time to kill... so we just walked around aimlessly. Something interesting caught our eye.. you know those shops with lots of machines to win soft toys... manipulating their 'claws' and attempting to pick up the soft toys. Yeah... well, there was this persistent guy who was trying to win a Pooh-Bear toy for his girlfriend.. and that was kind of weirdly drawing and fascinating, judging by the small crowd that gathered to watch. There were so many close shaves.. and even us spectators felt pity everytime the bear lifted into the air.. but dropped at the last moment:( But! Gotta admire that guy's persistence man... after lots of tries, he finally got it! =) And it was more of a fluke of luck than actual aiming, since Pooh wasn't actually lifted up.. but rather tipped into the chute:) Oh wells, good things come to those who deserve it I guess... we even gave a little cheer when it happened:)

After that, went to Toys'R'Us to walk around... some fascinating toys around indeed.. Reminded me of how much I want to play munchkins again *hint hint*. After that, we sat around talking until the movie finally started...

About the movie... sigh... it was really a horror to watch. And no, I did not mean that in a good way. The Hostel has gotta be one of the worst "horror" shows I've ever watched.. if you can even consider it horror. Lots of gore and gruesome scenes... but absolutely no scare, no tension, no fear, no plot, no storyline. In fact, I can't think of anything really good about it.. unless you're someone who enjoys watching torture perhaps. Bah! Seriously a waste of my time and money. For god's sake.. the first quarter of the show was totally crap... minor bit of character development... lots of sex/flesh.. Almost no storyline to speak of... Geez... I mean, I'm a guy and of course we enjoy watching such stuff... and I know sex sells. But hey! Putting that kinda stuff in a movie for no reason whatsoever, with no help to the storyline, plot etc etc... Useless I'd say. Even had the girls ask us if this was really a horror show after 20 minutes into the film.. Haiz...
Anyways... if anyone wants to watch it.. please please think again! Ugh.

On the other hand, after the show, we walked around (aimlessly again:P) in circles, before finally deciding on TCC to chill out and chat. However, when we got there, the place was full, so we ended up at the next door Gelaré for drinks:) Talked a lot til 11+ before heading home:) Was an enjoyable day after all, despite the lousy movie!

P.S. Just sent resumé to 2 part time job applications! Praying hard to get something!!

Feel

2006-04-26T23:12:00.000+08:00

Lighthouse Family - (I wish I knew how it would Feel to be) Free Lyrics

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
I wish I could say all the things that I should say
Say 'em loud say 'em clear
For the whole wide world to hear

I wish I could share
All the love that's in my heart
Remove all the bars that keep us apart
And I wish you could know how it is to be me
Then you'd see and agree that every man should be free

I wish I could be like a bird in the sky
How sweet it would be if I found I could fly
Well I'd soar to the sun and look down at the sea
And I'd sing cos I know how it feels to be free

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
And I wish I could say all the things that I wanna say
Say 'em loud say 'em clear
For the whole wide world to hear
Say 'em loud say 'em clear
For the whole wide world to hear
Say 'em loud say 'em clear
For the whole wide world to hear

One love one blood
One life you've got to do what you should
One life with each other
Sisters, brothers

One love but we're not the same
We got to carry each other Carry each other
One One One One One...

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I knew how it would feel to be free

Been hearing this song over and over for the last few days... Somehow resounds deep within me. Guess all of us want to be free - free of all the many constraints we have in life. To be free to do whatever we want to do, say whatever we want to say, love whoever we want. Sadly.. we've gotta face the facts of life... we can never be totally free of constraints. Still, I wish I could be freer.. free to speak as I can.. not hiding behind the veneer of self-confidence .. when the truth is the exact opposite... Haizz

Sigh...

2006-04-26T17:56:00.000+08:00

Just woke up from an afternoon nap, and my whole body is aching. Just a fun day of enjoyable sports... tennis, table tennis, swimming... it was fun while it lasted. Now, my legs, back and arms are killing me. That is a terribly bad sign I guess... Reminds me of this joke I once heard..

"I'm in shape! ....

Round is a shape!"

Gods... that's not even remotely funny... Feels damn terrible ... What happened to the daily gym regime I was so determined to carry on... and did so for weeks. A small little flu, a 'short break' ... and then exams etc... So many excuses I found for myself.

No more. Must start all over again. Time to whip myself back in shape!

Past week or so, have been having a terrible back ache (which wasn't helped at all by yesterday's workout)... Feels like a strained lower back-to-leg muscle, whatever that's called. Af first, thought it'll get better on its own.. but its constantly there, nagging away at me. Especially if I sit or lie for long! Sigh... sign number two my body is screaming out to me... guess I better heed the call. Will probably have to see a doctor if this continues =(

In other somewhat happier news, just heard my cousin will be having kids! Yeah! Twins if I'm not wrong too... yeah another pair of babies for me to play with! Wahahaha! Yet... even then... this reminds me of something sad again... Why am I always the last to know of things going on in the family... Sigh... I know it's my own fault. After all I don't communicate much with the rest of my relatives... and I don't know why as well. Makes me feel there's something sadly lacking with my character... Why? Why? Why am I always so uncommunicative...

Kids... Couples... must be nice having a soul mate, or your 'other half' ... A little cliché, yes, but I do believe in that. Not that I have any experience in that, even after 22 years (OMG, its been 22 years!!!), I've never even had a girlfriend. Sigh.. how depressing.

Gods, I better stop writing now... spiralling lower and lower into depression... Free fallin without a parachute

Housekeeping!

2006-04-26T02:09:00.000+08:00

Finally did some blog housekeeping:)
Removed that dead flooble link that's been clogging up space for sooo long (Bleah.. not gonna sign up for it any longer... that's the second time it died on me... heh)!
Signed up for google Adsense... hmm no idea how it really works yet.. gotta experiment further.. but peeps!! If you're reading this, PLEASE help me! Haha, click on it!! Thanks!!!! *Muacks*

Good Luck!

2006-04-26T01:56:00.000+08:00

Kept forgetting to write this...
Good luck to all you peeps in NUS & NTU who're having your exams this week or next! Remember, last stretch for this sem before the long summer break, so Ganbatte!!! Waiting to go out with you guys for celebration eh;)

In other news... didn't manage to make it to the E.Y.E exco meeting today.. guess I'm not gonna run for any exco posts after all. Still, holding out hope for Strategicá .. though it's almost 2 months since we tried setting up the club... and still the limited response! Getting really disappointed with the SA.. oh wells, but there's still hope yet! Gotta keep up the optimism eh.. Gonna be really fun if we can really pull through the starting period! Looking forward to it...

Decadent Lifestyle...

2006-04-22T03:52:00.000+08:00

Wow... its been a long week of decadent lifestyle.. Going out.. spending money... eat.. sleep.. play.. eat.. sleep .. read.. play.. My my my.. Hadn't even had the time nor energy to blog! Anyways... here's the summary of the week.. have to write it longer as promised, to let Alvin read eh... Since you're so bored in camp:P Hahahaha!!

Went to Liang Court with Xiwen on Monday.. it's been a really long time since I last went there. Anyways, went to Kinokuniya to collect my Shonen Jump. then had some really nice jap food at a restaurant there called tampopo... yeah i know it sounds weird, but its good! The fresh sashimi looked really tempting, but we didnt have any in the end. Too bad I was still having a little cough (which has lasted for almost 1 month!), so I couldn't eat the jap curry that I've been longing for!

Anyways, after that, we went back to school to charge batteries (the original purpose)! Haha.. yes I know.. going back to school on holidays.. a little wrongish:P But can't be helped I guess. Later we met up with Shili to conduct our Operation P.. Grin, and I must say it was quite a success!

Wednesday was a mass of events.. Was awoken early in the morning by my aunt's call regarding a part time job offer. I was to go down to AIA tower to have a job interview! It's my first interview, or rather, first job interview if you count the SMU interview, so I was rather nervous. Still, it wasn't too bad, maybe because my aunt was one of the interviewers. Sadly, due to my upcoming ICT (in camp training) in June, I wasn't given the job. Depressing, yes, but understandable.. sadly!

After the interview, went over to Brewerks at Clarke Quay. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words... so my 'essay' is right below ;)

The beer!

The special Brewerks burger! Omg! SOOO HUGE! SOO Tempting!
"Dont tell your cardiologist... " What an apt description

The Brewerks burger which I ate! Sigh..

Us enjoying our burgers!

The girls pretending they drank everything!

The four musketeers?!

Vivienne showing off her jaw!

The true drinker!

Xiaowei n I

Xiaowei showing Shili the ropes!

Yuanru - the pro!

Xiwen - acting pro!

oooooh... something suspicious going on here?

After brewerks - went back to school to attend the SISS talk.. but we were too early! So that's us rotting away in the lounge...

Rotting Scene 1

Rotting Scene 2

Rotting Scene 3

After we finally managed to rot for 2 hours, and went for the SISS talk... which was... ahem... kinda boring:P Anyways, we left early, and some of us (Myself, Ben, Andrew, Eric, Yuanru, Shili, Vivienne and Xiwen) went to Mind's cafe to play board games. Too bad Munchkins wasn't available (I totally miss that game!!), but we played I'm the boss and Pyramids, which was really fun as well! All the backstabbing, frontstabbing, alliances and whatnot:P

Friday, went out again.. This time to bring Vivienne to try her long awaited 田鸡粥! Well, only me and Xiwen brought Vivienne and her friend this time... although Ben and Weiwei were supposed to come along as well, but they 抛弃 us! Sadly, didn't manage to take any photos of the delicious 田鸡粥, suffice to say we ate every last drop!

The thing i remember most clearly that day, however, was the insanely hot weather. It was so hot that after eating the 田鸡粥, we had to seek refuge in a department store, seeking out the air-conditioned spots:P I swear, one aunty was staring at us weirdly.. must be wondering what these crazy young people are doing! Haha..

After that, went over to Borders at orchard! Oh yeah man! It's been SOOOO long since I've settled down to read a new novel. Bought several books with the Borders gift card I've been keeping for quite some time, including Tuesday with Morrie and Freakonomics.

On Sunday, we went out again... to eat 田鸡粥 AGAIN!!! I swear, the girl's addicted! Heh.. This time was myself, Shili, Vivienne, Ben and Marcus. After that, we went over to Lucky Chinatown's Kbox to sing. I must say, the soundproofing at that KBox is nearly non-existant! Could totally hear the neighbouring room's screeches! Haha! Anyways, Joyce and Justin joined us after a short while... and OMG! Justin and Shili's duet... unbelievably good! Hahah.. Should sign them up for Singapore Idol or something!!!! Needless to say, we had a superb time singing our hearts out (or screeching our hearts out). One thing I must defend myself -- its not my fault that the songs I sing have weird MTVs!! Hahaha.. its such a pity the english songs in KTVs do not have the original MTVs.. ah wells.. I'm sure there's some reason behind that! Still, this particular Kbox was quite good... letting us sing over-time for almost 1 whole hour, since there was no one else who wanted to take the room.. quite unlike Party World which automatically cut off the singing when the time's up! Haha... still, a weird thing was that the toilets are all locked! Have to get the keys from the counter to go to the counter -.-

After singing our fill, we went over to Geylang to eat the famous beef horfun! Walked a lonngg way before reaching the famous beef hor fun.. I must say I was a little disappointed. The horfun was quite good.. but imo, nothing special! And for 5 bucks, not really worth it. Once again a case of having a name or brand doing the selling instead of the goods i guess. After eating, we walked around Geylang as Vivienne was curious to see.. ahem! Geez, guess she's a little too curious for her own good. I leave you all to your own vivid imaginations ;)

Sigh... its just so easy to while life away aimlessly... one week of the holidays has passed just like that.. so quickly. Still haven't found a job yet. I'd better find one asap.

All right... I've been writing this for almost 4 hours.. thanks to long intervals of TV! Guess it's time to sleep now!

Quiz

2006-04-18T03:39:00.000+08:00

As Expected! Try it, what about you! :)

After you die...
Heaven

After death, you will exist in heaven. Everything and everyone you love will constantly surround you for all of eternity. You lucky scoundrel.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Life's a Bitch

2006-04-18T03:29:00.000+08:00

Ever felt that life was being a bitch to you? I surely do, and not rarely. Yet, there are always times when something happens that reconfirms your faith in life again, and all seems good again =)

I think that pretty much sums up how I feel about it! Yeah..

Anyways, if you like that, check out Sinfest!

Sidenote: Bleah.. just realised my flooble chatterbox just expired again.. Pfft.. to remove or to register again.. probably the latter -.- Gah, what an immense waste of time.

Mummmyyy!! It's over!!! Part 2!

2006-04-14T11:15:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! Seems it was just not long ago I wrote the last entry on 'Mummmy it's over!' last semester! Heh! Yes!!! Just had my last paper (DM) yesterday! I cannot begin to describe the sense of relief that came over me when we finally handed it the paper. It wasn't as tough I expected, and I'll probably do better than I deserve, considering the amount of study I put in; but not as good as I'll hope. Ah wells, story of my life again. Anyways, I digress, everyone was like totally celebrating, whoops and joy and all..

Can't seem to keep myself from rambling on and on... but I don't wanna go on too much about the exam etc. Still, I haven't had any sleep yet, after that marathon of fun yesterday!

After the exams, went to Sommerset area to a new (to me at least) board games shop at (I forgot the name, but I remember how to get there!), and it totally rocks! Cheap rentals, and lots of games available for sale too! Gotta remember this place for Strategicá as well as for my own gaming rental! Heh! Also found out that Andrew also loves munchkins! Yeah, wat a pwnage game! Gotta get together to play it some day -.-

Anyways, had a full time planned out ahead; went to Cine for a nice meal, then si Xiwen n Weiwei paoqi us!! Hmphz! We went to Kbox for karaoke as planned, but alas none of us remembered the sad fact that it was public holiday eve (yeah, stressed students on the day of exams don't remember much except exam materials and enjoying themselves later -.- details don't matter much).. and the price was WAAAY too exorbidant.. We made our way down to Party World instead, where the price was saner. The song selections were also much better than Kbox. My only gripe, the terrible cigarette-smoke smell that filled the whole place.. and clung onto our clothes!!! I left the place feeling like a smoked salmon.. and later on when we reached Justin's house, we were all clamouring for the bath to rid ourselves of that stench.

I digressed yet again right? Yeah.. we went over to Justin's place overnight after the KTV session.. but yeah, more about that later. We were suuper high singing.. think I sang myself hoarse.. Andrew was the most high la! OMG our rendition of Sex Bomb, Staying Alive and other oldies... hehheh. Man of the Match! WE SHALL GO KTV AGAIN SOME TIME! WAHAHAH! Too bad Shili couldn't come (Good luck for your BP exam on Sat k!!!! Our prayers are with you! Sorry we start enjoying first hehehe) Soo wanted to hear her duet with Justin! Next time I guess! Xiaowei also didn't come for the KTV session... so sad.. and I thought Justin said she'll definitely be coming :( Haizzz...

All right, enough about the KTV.. suffice to say we all had a great time! When we went Justin's house, we had a great time too, playing mahjong, bridge, hearts, Daidee(or however you spell it, aka Big 2) overnight, which is why I haven't had any sleep yet! Had a nice chat with Weiwen too, haven't been very close to him, as I haven't had much opportunity (yes, I'm not a very outspoken person, which is why I don't often make new good friends), but I think we had a great time chatting yesterday; at least I did. Amazing experiences he's had.. lead me to thinking alot about the supernatural and all... and our army experience (of all things:P) Oh yes... and Justin's DVD collection! Woot.. must raid it some day! Wahahaha

So now, I'm back home after a bath.. waiting to go out again. Yeah, not gonna sleep cos I know if I do so, I probably won't wake up til late late late at night! Yep, going to Marcus' house later, and then sending Mingfei off at the airport in the evening.. Leaving so soon after the exams, kinda sad, but well she HAS been separated from home for a long time! Will miss her though (and her lion's roar!) Haha..

All right.. that's enough half-addled rambling for one day. Hope that I can decipher my own writing next time when I'm reading this -.-

Oh yes.. got so caught up in the reminiscing that I totally forgot about to write about the thing that's been bugging me for so long! But I don't have anymore energy to write today.. So that's two things I have on my list-to-write now:
1. Dreams (etcetc)
2. Supernatural!

The story of my life... -_-

2006-04-11T20:10:00.000+08:00

OMG The story of my life!

Death by AS?

2006-04-11T20:06:00.000+08:00

AS was not as bad as I expected... but not as good as I hoped. Felt much worse after stats than after the AS paper.. but that only means 2 things..
1. The AS paper was ok
or
2. I did terribly terribly badly for stats.

And the thing is, I have a sinking feeling that its the latter choice..
Sigh...
Oh woe is me!

Anyways, juz 2 more days!!! Will write a long entry about the thing that's been bugging me after the exams!

On the bright side, got lots of events lined up straight after the exam! Yay, looking forward to them now :)

Ooops

2006-04-11T01:26:00.000+08:00

Sigh.. Yeah I know.. I should have been studying AS..

Couldn't resist though.. got too caught up reading the comics. Heh

This one kinda rang a bell -.-
Sigh... Funny as it is, its kinda sad too, considering my situation now.. Argh

Death by Stats

2006-04-10T23:36:00.000+08:00

Sigh... just got killed by stats today...

AS is tomorrow.. another brain-killer.. at least I'll be more prepared than for stats..

Ah wells.. Good luck everyone! 3 more days to freedom!

Phew!

2006-04-03T03:08:00.000+08:00

Amazing how time flies when you're so terribly busy! Heh, wanted to blog about that dream problem of mine for a long time (before I forget again), but just hadn't had the time to do so! Next time perhaps. Once again, OO presentation in a few hours time... The final one! Yes!

Extremely happy today... Computer people came over today, and to my great delight, I'm able to extract data from my crashed computer before reformatting! Yes! All 90 GBs of anime i thought lost to me... IT LIVES AGAIN!! YAY!! Words cannot describe how happy I feel!! Lalalalalalalla!!! Of course, didn't manage to reformat the computer yet, after all 90 gb isn't easy to back up. But! Soon!

All right, short break over, back to completing the project.

P.S. Looking out for a new phone... what's good now!? Any recommendations?

Paradigm Shift

2006-03-28T00:56:00.000+08:00

A full day of AS, OO, DM til 7, followed by a BGS mini-party in the lounge, thanks to Prof Raj, and the efforts of the organising committee! Kudos to them for the wonderful party on short notice! Had quite a great time, playing games, food and drinks, while Adrian and Stanley showed magic tricks to us again! Haha, as they all say, we 每天被骗! Bunch of us then sat around singing while Justin played the guitar! Fun! Gives me the resolve (once again) to learn the guitar! -.-

We left the party early to continue working on DM & OO, yes, such a sad life indeed:P Well, DM presentation due in a few hours time, and the report on Friday. OO, on Monday. Gonna be hell week again, but after this stretch, I'm home free!! Yay!

Anyways, the main thing today was, had a good chat with Andrew on the way home. Realised a very pertinent fact, a generalization that most IS students prescribe to. Like rabid dogs biting meat, we tend to seize a problem and once we get our 'fangs' on it, we refuse to let go till its dead! A rather morbid analogy, yes, but very apt in my opinion! And how true is it... had so many examples of people debugging programs waaay late at night, until the jump of joy (metaphorically speaking, on msn) brought about the time to sleep! And yes, immediately after reaching home, it happened again! *Grin* At least we managed to solve it! Phew.. amazing how the errors are always so simple in nature.. Guess that's life.. we tend to take care of the intricate, tough details, while the small, simple details often get missed in our obsession and pursuit of the completion of the main function. Perhaps what we all need is a paradigm shift, a change in thinking, a breath of fresh air in our stale minds. Easy to speak of perhaps, but certainly hard to pull off. Well, one can but hope.

Speaking of dreams also brought to mind yet another long-forgotten problem of mine... but it's 2+ am, and there's a DM presentation in 8 hours time. Had better sleep now!

Vacuous thoughts

2006-03-27T11:04:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since I was impressed by a movie. Watched V for Vendetta twice in 2 days. Fri - because of the free tickets from the opening of Cathay, and Sat - meeting up with old army buddies. It was really good, with so many hidden meanings while discussing philosophies of life and freedom. Good usage of symbolism, and subtle poking of fun at present-day issues. Several times during the show, there were occassions when I feared cliché(ness) would rear its head and destroy the movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. The art-form was great, the music from jazz to the orchestra accompanying the explosions was perfectly apt and well chosen. All in all, was a great movie, and I highly recommend it to any of you who haven't watched it!

P.S Never knew there were so many words with V! The starting oratory by V, brilliant!

I'm back!

2006-03-25T04:57:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time... I'm back, hopefully!

On a sidenote, here's what I've always been wishing I could do in presentations! Woot!

Hard work... finally?

2006-03-15T02:43:00.000+08:00

My body's aching ALL over.

Amazing what a daily workout can do! Thanks Wilson for being our 'trainer' today, think I could really feel the difference:) Really tired out myself I guess, crashed out the whole evening, but that ache is telling me that at least I did something. Finally getting started on my New Year's Resolution, which seems sooo far away though it's but 3 months. Guess a lot has happened since then, for good or for bad. Just gotta take it as it comes, and hopefully a few months down the road I'll be able to look back here and say, "This is where it all started!"

Ganbatté Né!!!

Thank you!

2006-03-11T18:53:00.000+08:00

Been on a terrible low recently, despite any seeming cheerfulness on my part. It all seemed terrible etc etc... Yesterday started out no different, came to school disgustingly early on my supposed free day (as usual) to rush complete the OO project. Finished it in time, uploading it at 1158 (due at noon), before reading the email saying the deadline's postponed to 6pm -.- Wells, at least that's out of the way now, and though phase 3 for both projects are looming, at least that's some breathing space. Went gym for a good workout, read up a little on php, and did some DM phase 3 (the easy portion).

We planned to go to the IT fair, or so I thought. To my surprise (and it was REALLY a huge surprise!), it turned out to be a surprise birthday erm dinner for me and Ben! Heh. I must say, that must have been some logistical nightmare to keep it secret from us both, considering the numbers. Thanks loads to all ya babes and bros *sorry for plagarising, ben*, wuv you all !! It really made my day, and cheered me up inconsiderably, although I didnt manage to get to go to the IT fair :P Thanks especially to Meiqi and Cuiling for getting the cake, sorry for not finishing it! Was feeling terribly full!

On a sidenote, just read Fai's latest blog post.. angsty as usual I see. One thing I can say, your post really struck deep into my heart, bro. I know the feeling, feel the same way alot, and its so darned friggin true. We need to chill out some time again ok, too bad you can't make it later today.

Aight, gotta run. Gonna hang out at Khel's place with the guys, and visit the IT fair tomorrow. And yes, that AS assignment and presentation IS nagging away at the back of my mind, but hell, I'm in too good a mood, and that's rare enough for me not to wanna spoil it with thoughts of work. Last min work for tmr again I guess!

Happy? Birthday

2006-03-10T00:47:00.001+08:00

This has gotta be one of the ... nah... THE most depressing birthdays I've ever had in my whole damned life. Hell, I'm starting to totally hate the guts out of OOAD. Freakin' phase 2... every bloody thing is worth so little but takes so much time! I'm no perfectionist or anything.. but still! I pride myself on at least getting the things done... but is it even worth it? Spending so much time, and the results aren't even showing.. Irritated? Angry? Depressed? Yeah.. dont even know exactly what I'm feeling anymore.. godamnit! Trying so hard to put up a cheerful front.. and yeah there are the great times.. but ... Haiz.

I really wonder whether I've made the right choice in coming to SMU. Or JC for that matter. Strange how the education system has totally fucked me up. How it's so darned easy to go through all the years of education just slacking my way through .. with probably no affect on my final grade.. or at least a rather minimal one in my opinion. There's something seriously wrong with that.. with no prep we get, being thrown into the ocean like that without a lifeline.

Feel more and more like I'm drowning. Class participation? Pfft. I'm not a freakin' public person. Yes, talking 1v1 is fine... or in a small group maybe... but put me in front of a audience and I blank out. I know.. practice makes perfect blah blah... but I don't see it happening. Breaking out in cold sweat and stumbling over words despite all those rehearsals for BGS presentation.. my probably non-existant class participation marks? Sigh. I quote (rephrased): "AS? No class participation marks what.. why bother speaking out in AS class?" End quote. Practical? Certainly. But it certainly pisses me off.. especially when I have to labour so hard just to attempt to speak out in class. I must really thank those friends around me who have encouraged me to speak out. Thank you. It surely helps some, and I need all the help I can get, if I'm gonna even survive this 4 years.

Guess I'm starting to babble... not even really coherent to me when I read what I've written. Ah wellsssss back to OO.. maybe i should name it Uh Oh instead..

Destressing Day

2006-03-04T00:16:00.000+08:00

Damn irritated now, sometimes things just happen that you have no choice or control over, and you feel like railing, screaming and generally punching something, even if you know it won't help matters. Very very sian.. esp. since it was generally a good day up until... Well, guess I should talk about the happier things...

Managed to complete at least some work, OO phase 2 looks promising, then went for DM talk, which ended earlier than expected, luckily. Went for movie after that, come to think of it, it's been a REALLY long time since I last watched a movie. Went with Ben, Marcus, Yuanru and Meiqi to watch Big Momma 2 at Suntec, basically because of Ben's longing for a Ben and Jerry icecream (pun unintended). Rushed some food... I had the misfortune of choosing a disgustingly bland noodle, that I could barely stomach. I shall digress here again to whine: Eng Wah booking system really sucks!! Geez, it irritates me even more after taking DM, cos their database system really sucks! Bleah... too fast a finger while booking + no self seat choice = bad combination. Had 4 seats together and 1 seat apart. Bah! Thank god there was an empty seat beside the 4. Geez.

The movie was quite good, especially as a destresser. The plot was kinda old, in a nutshell, a good cop getting out of the field to be with family, getting into trouble, hearing about mentor getting killed, going under cover, lies, crossdressing, sexual innuendos and situations, and a bunch of other comedy scenes. The last scene with him giving a 'moral' teaching was kinda cheesy, and overall might have been better if they didn't try to combine so many things (or come to think of it, maybe it was trying to parody), but overall the humour and comedy was superb. Great for relaxation!

After movie, Marcus left for home, and the rest of us trooped off to Ben and Jerry's for some long-awaited ice cream. Alas, fate just wasn't on our side, the place was crowded, and the queue so long that we decided to give up, and visit Gelare (is that the right spelling??) . Wasn't a really good idea though, since yr and mq didn't really enjoy the ice-cream heh.. lucky i didn't order anything:) Coincidence of coincidence, Xiaowei and her friend popped in to have Gelare too! Amazing eh...

Anyways, after some I-Screams, we decided to share cab back, though we somewhat regretted not taking the train. Waited quite some time for cab at a long queue, inching forward, until we gave up and called. Even then, there were 'no available cabs' for the booking, until at least 10 min later we got one. Finally... home! Well, guess it's time to get some sleep! Táta!

Guilt!

2006-03-03T02:35:00.000+08:00

Oh my.. just spent 2 hours reading online stories! Well, more like re-reading, though it's been a long time! Gee, never realised how interesting and addictive those old RPG stories are! Go have a look... Green Dragon Inn, also at the side-bar links:)

Sigh.. back to BGS research! Laws laws laws... bleahz