Me, Myself and I..

Back

2011-10-30T16:59:00.002+08:00

Hi blog. I realised that I have been neglecting you for a couple of months already. You used to be an avenue where I poured out my feelings, whether they are good or bad. But I have been rather busy to do that. I'm sorry.

I have completed almost 3 months of my FYP now. And my progress has so far been very low. To me, this is a sign of impending failure. To say that I am stressed would be an understatement. And if I look as if it's all well, means that the facade I've built is doing its job well.

Nothing is going my way right now.

Not even things unrelated to my fyp.

Maybe continuing my honours year was a mistake. Maybe all the the things I do is a mistake. Maybe everything is a mistake.

Now I know why people tend to stay away from me. I am full of flaws.

To think that I used the word "putrid" on someone before. Well, I realised now that I should be the putrid one here.

Failures, one after another. I'm stressed, weak and scared.

I just feel like ending it. All.

Updates

2011-08-19T23:24:00.006+08:00

Hello blog! It's been a while since I've updated you! I'm sorry, but I've just been very busy ever since the school started. ^_^

It's been two weeks since I've started my lab work and so far, I feel that nothing much has been achieved. Many failures with very little success. And the sucky part is when you are successful for a certain batch and feel delighted about it but when you tried to redo it using the same set of methods, you fail again. Back to square one. It's like you're feeling on top of the world one moment and then to the feeling of despair the next moment. I have this kind of experience before during my poly's fyp where I did lots of experiments, with many failures of course, just to get the correct formulation. But still, this lost and dejected feeling has affected me quite a fair bit. So much so that while I was traveling on the train to PL earlier, I didn't noticed a friend of mine till he came over. And he said he saw me quite a while ago but didn't come over then cos I was looking outside the door panel looking emo.

Synthesis. A thing from my past which has come back to haunt me again. Perhaps I should have known better. Perhaps I should have chosen a different project. Perhaps I should have just graduated and thus do not need to deal with any of this. If only there's an undo button in life. But well, I've made my decision and I should stand by it. I shall endure and do my best till the end of this project. Whatever the outcome, at least I've tried. Synthesis - you may think it's as easy as combining A + B to get C. But you'll never know how hard it is until you experience it yourself.

It's the weekend now. God, I love weekends ever since the start of year 4. Weekends are the best! Cos weekends are the only days of the week I get to rest, of some sort. Yeah, I still had to write up my logbook and think of other ways for my synthesis. Don't mention about my thesis.. I've yet to even create a file for it. And yeah, there are still read-ups I've yet to do for my modules. It's only the introductory part for my modules but at this rate, I'll definitely lag behind in my comprehension of what's being taught if I don't revise regularly. Taking two modules besides fyp is already kinda busy for me. To all those taking 4 modules, I really salute them. Total respect.

I went to Paya Lebar (Geylang) earlier to buy my baju kurung for raya. I went there after 7 cos I only got to leave my lab then. It was a short stay at the area cos I only went there to buy the clothes and I already decided where to buy it from. But it was definitely enough to emo-nised me. Walking at Geylang Serai in ramadhan to buy stuffs alone is damn emo. I've done this before but during the last few occasions, I went in the afternoon where there's not much people. Today I went in the evening and somehow felt so lonely seeing others with the company of at least another person with them. Luckily, I only went there for a while. Can't imagine walking along to all the bazaars in the area. Hearing raya music being played was awesome though! ^_^ In a flash, only 1.5 weeks left to raya. And this will be my last time receiving green packets! Awwww. Haha!

All right, that's it for this update. I'm tired after an energy-draining week. I shall have a good night sleep soon. Take care and have a great weekend!

8th & 7th

2011-07-30T23:52:00.002+08:00

30th July have come and passed again. This time around though, I don't feel as emotional as the previous years. Is that a good thing? I guess so. Anyway, I'm officially a 7 year-old driver today! Woohoo, how time flies!

It has been a freaking boring day today though. Feels so bored, yet lazy to do stuffs. With the holidays inching towards the end, I think it's time where I should start to get into school mood by doing my readings etc. Being a lazy person I always am, I hope I would have the motivation to do that. lol.

Went to visit my dentist yesterday. Did scaling and polishing for my teeth. The dentist told me, however, that a certain part of my filling got chipped off. And she suggested me to do re-filling or even better, Root Canal Treatment! Argh! Where the hell am I going to find the $$ to do such stuff? I think I'll put it off for a while. Hopefully, my tooth can endure for a long long time, or at least until I started working next year. lol. I shall cut down on sweet stuffs from now on! haha.

I'll have soccer with the usuals later on today. It'll be the last one for me before my fasting month starts on Monday. I shall try to run more during the games tmr! lol.

Have a good Sunday!

The team above all

2011-07-27T13:49:00.009+08:00

Woweeeee!

Yesterday was Team Alpha's chalet! Yes, at Aloha Loyang again! lol. My usual kakis that I always go with aren't free or not in Sg; so I had to go there by myself. Saw Fauzan though, while waiting for the shuttle service. haha. As usual, reach there, eat eat eat and talk talk talk. haha. Oh, this time, there were the cooks from Zingrill who were there to cook the food for us! Yes, that means no need to sweat while barbequing the food! lol. The food were nice! And there was ice-creammmmmm! Yeah, free-flow! I lost count on how many scoops I had last night! Shiokness! haha..

Anyway, a lot of people turned up yesterday, surprisingly! The family is expanding! But I don't know most of them, cos they are what we call, the new birds. lol. But it was great to hear all the jokes that I haven't heard for a while and the teasings by the senior men and familiar faces. Yes, the hair-teasing on me went all night. Nvm, used to it already. lol. Walked to Pasir Ris station to catch the second-last train home. Reached home at about half past midnight.

I really miss being in the team. Working with them, playing a fool with them. That being said, we are always in this big family of Alpha, whether we are currently in or have left the team. As we always say, once an Alphian, always an Alphian! Team Alpha rocks! See you all at the next chalet!

Went for my 7th/8th session of my IPT today. A couple more to go and I had to book my IPPT already. How time flies! Am I ready for the test? Of course not! haha. Nevertheless, we'll see how it goes. It'll most likely be either on sept or oct though cos next week/month is the fasting month! woohooo!

Anyway, watching female trainees in their walkout attire earlier brought back memories to me.. both good and bad. Oh well, it's nice to reminisce the good old days I had at that place once in a while.

Honours orientation week starts next week. Again, how time flies!

Life is short and unpredictable. So, be happy! =)

2011-07-23T12:38:00.010+08:00

Hello weekend! You are here again! haha. What a week it has been!

Went back to HQ on wednesday to de-kit. Met up with my ex-teammates. Caught up with them for a while before me an JR departed. Another chalet will be held this coming Tuesday. Can't wait for that.

Yesterday, I had the most awesome evening/night! After years of postponing the meeting, me, WT and ZT finally met! First meeting after about half a decade!!! wooohooo!

Met up with ZT at the mrt and then walked over to Vegan Burg to meet WT. We decided to dine at this place and boy, I don't think any of us regretted! The food is awesome! I ordered the char-grilled satay, while the two of them ate the smoky bbq. The patties tasted like the real stuffs! The seaweed fries tasted great too! The ambience is nice too. Great for catching up with friends, especially those whom you haven't seen for quite a while. For the drinks, should have ordered green tea though! It's more worth it, as someone can testify with her 34235886284681624 refills! hahaa

Anyway, WT was excited (or should I say, hyper excited? lol) when she saw us! haha. Some things never change! ;-) We spent the 3 hours there catching up and talked about other things, such as unpredictability of life and the fact that we should always try to be happy. Okay, I must admit that the two of them did most of the talking. lol. But I enjoyed listening to them and they have definitely given me some sort of motivation in my life.

Near the end, we took pictures, in all kinds of cameras, from digicam to polaroids to iphones. lol. Thank you to the staff and stranger who helped us to take our photos! haha. We left the place at about 1030pm, which is near the closing time. Waved goodbyes to WT, WHO LIVES SO NEAR THAT SHE COULD WALK HOME, while me and ZT took the train back home. Haha.

It had been a fun-filled, exciting evening. After 5 years, the meeting has finally happened and I'm glad for that. Despite my quiet and emo appearance, believe me, I'm actually filled with excitement inside me! haha. I had a great time doing all the catching up. Nice to hear your motivational stories. They've definitely make me more positive in my thinking and less emo! haha. Yes, I'll try to be more happy with less worries from now onwards! =) Thank you for your advices for my future work too! I'll keep those in mind when sourcing for jobs next year, although I'll be graduating with a degree but not with 6 YEARS EXPERIENCE! Boooo!! haha.. And thank you WT for your polaroids! I'll treasure the pics just like how I treasure our moments last night! :)

Seeing all your smiles and laughter have fulfilled something inside me that I've been craving for quite some time. It's something that had been missing inside of me all this while. To the both of you, thank you. Hope to see you again in the near future. And by that, I don't mean 5 years! haha. See you guys again soon! =)

In life, we would inevitably meet new people every now and then. Some would go after some time, while some would stay. And there are those that you will keep and treasure for life. Thank you WT and ZT for the 8 years of friendship! You are two great people that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

A pic taken from a pic from the digicam. haha.

WT! WT! WT! WT! WT! lol

Hello Kitty design! Cute! lol

Nice center pic! Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil! Love it! haha

Old but new

2011-07-19T22:43:00.005+08:00

Tomorrow will be the official conclusion to my 2nd cycle of reservist. How time flies. Yesterday was my last shift with the WW team. As always, I'm a little emotional about it.

It has been a wonderful experience. I've learnt alot of things and get to experience things I never had before. Thank you for teaching me all those stuffs and thanks for all the treats. My apology for any mistakes I've made. Thank you for your warm hospitality. See you around!

If given a chance, I would definitely like to go back to the team for the next cycle, provided that the same people would be there. I joined the team for their ACR and only reached home close to 3am.

Missed sending and fetching my niece to/from school as I only woke up close to noon. lol. Had IPT too earlier in the evening. My legs are dead tired.

Went to the IPT today with my new shoes!

New Balance! "Achieve" - Yes, hope I can achieve by passing my IPPT. lol

One thing I like about this shoes is that the front portion is wide! Good for long-legged people like me! haha. So far, it feels comfortable for my feet. Hope it'll last long! lol.

I'm broke!

Mixed feelings

2011-07-09T15:13:00.006+08:00

Happy Saturday.

Today is my 2nd off. Since I've no plans today, I shall spend it by resting before my morning shift tomorrow.

Yesterday was the commencement ceremony for some of my friends. Went down to UCC after my night shift. Felt a bit tired since I didn't have sleep and went there straight after my night shift. Met up with a couple of frens before the graduands came out of the hall. Took some pics here and there. Didn't take any food or drink though. Such a waste. Went to Clementi Mall to have our lunch and then went home to have my much needed rest.

It's my second time attending the NUS commencement, after Sam and YT's ceremony two years back. Yesterday's was similarly crowded just like in 2009. Despite myself being tall, I couldn't find much familiar faces around. Either the make-up or the mortar boards had tricked me.

Seeing many happy faces in our cohort, I felt happy for them too. Yet, I felt quite sad that for most of them, they were my batch mates (read: strangers), and will now forever be only such. It feels as though for the past 3 years, I didn't make full use of the opportunity to interact. Yes, there are other reasons too such as the attitude of others and their perception towards me. And then, there are also those who used to be closer to me, has now drifted apart for reasons that are only known to them. We have now become almost nothing but strangers. If there is any regret for my NUS life though, it would be that I should have made a greater effort to know more people in the batch. For most of them, it is now a little too late...

Nevertheless, let me congratulate the graduands of the ceremony yesterday. Good luck and all the best for your future pursuits.

2nd cycle

2011-07-04T18:00:00.000+08:00

Today is the start of my 2nd cycle for reservist. Went to report in the morning as usual, had briefing, get deployment etc. Met with my old alpha team-mates later on! Always nice to see and catch up with them. Of course, I do miss their company! Being with them helped to chase the emo-ness away, even if only temporarily. Few weeks from now, there will be another chalet to mark several people leaving the team. Hopefully, I'll get to see more familiar faces then. Anyway, I went home straight after the chat.

My reservist place this time would quite near to where I lived. That's fortunate. And I managed to change my shift too, where I was initially scheduled to work on Friday. Now I'm able to attend the commencement ceremony, even if with panda eyes.

Few days ago, I was hit by some bad news. Today, after several emails being sent out, I finally receive a reply from one of them. The person explained what has been done so far and promised to get back to me regarding the outcome. I know chances are slim, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that by some miracle, I'll get what I desired. If all else fail, I guess I have no choice but to proceed with plan B.

I'm tired now and shall take my nap. Till next time, have a good day.

Cinta kita

2011-06-11T21:27:00.003+08:00

My teeth are turning yellow! Argh! Time to reduce my tea intake!

I want my Colgate teeth back!!!

I've bought the first two items on my to-buy list. Shall shop for the clothes in the coming weeks.

Jalan kita masih panjang

Ku ingin kau selalu disini

Shooting cleared!

2011-06-09T21:54:00.005+08:00

HAPPY HAPPY THURSDAY!

WHY? COZ I PASSED MY CLASSIFICATION SHOOT! hehe.. I'M ECSTATIC!

Strangely enough, I went from a failure two weeks ago to a FIRST CLASS today! woohooo! I feel so great that I've cleared it for this FY. Thanks to scandal for her well wishes! =) Next up, will be IPPT! haha..

Going to the range always brings me back happy memories. Whenever I am there, I'll never fail to remember the time where I was caught red-handed talking to a female trainee, and of course, the explanation and punishment that resulted. Somehow, I'm glad that she defended me in front of the instructor. lol. If not, things could have gotten worse! lol. Yeah, a simple innocent chat that resulted in shock, disbelief and moments of comedy there. haha.

Went to the PC Show @ Suntec. Went to the Canon and Nikon booths to look for my digital cameras. Looked at portable external hard drive too. But looking at the price and thinking that I won't probably utilise it fully, I bought a flash drive instead! wahahaha! Went to Funan later to survey the prices of the camera that I wanted to buy. The shops here offer less freebies but it's definitely cheaper than the PC Show. So, I'll probably be buying from one of the shops here tomorrow. Hope can get more discounts! lol

Okay, I'm tired especially with all the walking earlier. Shall have an early night tonight! haha. Till next time, goodbye!

To buy

2011-06-06T19:52:00.003+08:00

Things to buy in the next two months:

1) Camera (PC show 2011!!)
2) Davidoff eau de toilette
3) A pair of shoes
4) A pair of pants
5) A s/s shirt

So many things to buy and yet I don't have the $$!! Haiya, like that how to buy!! Argh!

Writing a CV can be such a bitch!

X-Men: First Class

2011-06-03T12:28:00.004+08:00

It's Friday! I would have said TGIF if I'm not having my holidays now! haha.

Went to catch X-Men: First Class yesterday with the scandal and wow, it was an awesome movie! Full of action and special effects! One of the best prequels I have ever seen! X-Men: First Class is definitely first class! And definitely better than On Stranger Tides. haha! Wootz, I realised I've watched 3 movies in these two weeks already! Nice way to kill the boredom! lol.

First time went to AMK hub yesterday. Yes, I know, mountain turtle here. Realised the place is not as big as I thought it is. lol. And not much food that I can eat also. Booooo!! Went to Fish & Co again though. Twice in three days! haha.

Overall, I definitely had fun yesterday! Thanks for the company scandal! haha.

Okay, 1st June has passed and that means I have made my decision regarding my studies. Let's hope that I won't regret this.

My hair is long now. I think it's time for a hair-cut! Maybe I'll visit the barber tmr. Botak head, here I come! lol.

I'm still waiting for my recall order for my remedial shoot (hopefully there is). I don't wanna be stuck doing office hours during my 2 weeks reservist! Argh!

Okay, that's it for now. Have a good weekend ahead!

31st May

2011-05-31T23:03:00.004+08:00

It's the last day of May! Time flies!

Results are out. All I can say is I'm thankful for the results I had. It was the best results of my NUS life. It's strange that most people say that your cap will generally decline as you proceed in your studies. For me, it has been a mixture of ups and downs. Results dropped after the first sem for a few sems, and later went back up again since the last two sems. But I think my current sap will be the highest I could go. Unless some miracles happen in the future. Oh, that reminds me. I have to decide on whether to continue for honours or not by tmr. I'm more or less decided already unless something happened tmr which makes me changed my mind! Hope not! haha..

Went to meet up with WZ and Al at Jurong Point earlier today. Me and WZ catched Insidious first. Wow, what a nice movie it was! It has been a while since I last watched a horror film and boy, what a great movie it was! Yes, I 'jumped' at the first scary part. haha! It was quite a refreshing film, something about astral projection. Damn nice! One of the best horror movies in a while! hahaa.. You should catch it if you haven't!

Met up with Al after that for dinner at Fish n Co. First time going there, ever since it went halal. I had a seafood platter. To me, I'd still prefer MFM. lol. Oh, I had passion fruit juice for my drink! Not bad leh, scandal! hahaa.. Anyway, we spend the 2 hours or so talking about fyp stuffs. Yes, that much to talk about! lol. Learnt about the stress that I might go through and other things that I ought to expect. Great talking to Al and appreciate all the advice given by him. And best of all, thanks to him for treating us for that dinner! He's the best la! haha.

That's it for now. I'm tired.

Happy Tuesday and have a lovely midweek! I shall continue to slack at home. haha =)

BBQ

2011-05-29T15:13:00.004+08:00

Firstly, I want to say that I'm disappointed that Man Utd lost the Champions League Final to Barcelona! We were so close to winning our 4th European title! But I gotta admit that we lost to a better team, and arguably the current best team in the world. Nvm, like a lady said last night, "Next year!" haha..

Yesterday was BBQ day with my sec school/soccer buddies. For the 2nd time in a row, it was being held at YL's house @ Yew Tee. Reached there at 4pm but no one has reached yet! Wah lao! lol. Eight minutes later then they arrived. Set up the fire etc and got ourselves ready to cook. As usual, I'm one of the chief cooks and took care mainly of the satay. Like what one of them said, "Satay all these have to be done by "insert your race" one. If not, it won't be nice." Racist!!!! hahaha.. Yeah, so we had otah, potato, prawns, squid, stingray, dory fish, meatballs, chicken chops, nuggets, satay, prawns, hash browns etc. Nice right? haha. And the highlight of the night, has got to be the forfeit game, as usual. Haha. I managed to avoid forfeit the last time. But yesterday, I tio-ed the last one! Others got a plate.. I got a whole tray! Luckily they are only hash browns and dory fish! Phew! haha. That being said, I can't wait for the next BBQ! I know the rest would disagree with me though cos they said every BBQ outing would shorten our life by a bit. LOL. But I say, let's enjoy the food while we can! haha.

Finished the BBQ at about 11. I went to XZ's house to change and freshen up before driving the benz over to The Chamber @ Robertson Walk to catch the football match. First time being there and boy, what a fantastic atmosphere it got there! Got good seats right in front of the big projection screen courtesy of XZ's friends. Too bad Man Utd lost. If not, the cheers at the final whistle would have probably rocked the place, seeing how many more Utd's fans they had there than Barcelona's. Yeah, I got taunted by XZ (Barcelona fan) beside me each time they scored a goal! Arrgghhhh! Frustrating, yet fun atmosphere! haha.. Reached home at about 5.30. Thanks to XZ for the lift! lol. Slept through the morning and woke up at 1 plus. haha!

Today is the 29th and that means tomorrow will be the 30th! Omg, how time flies! It'll be slightly more than 15 hours or so before I receive my semestral results by sms! Time to think and make a decision! Arrgghhhhh

All right, that's it for now. All the best to those getting their results tomorrow. Meanwhile, have a good Sunday! =)

The tray for games and forfeit

Smiling despite the forfeit. lol.

Pretending

2011-05-26T18:10:00.003+08:00

Each time I finished my classification test shoot, for the third financial year in a row, I left the shooting range with a cut finger, a bruised ego and a disappointed feeling. Yes, today, I failed my shooting yet again. Bravo Fandi.

FML.

will we ever say the words we’re feeling
reach down underneath and tear down all the walls
will we ever have a happy ending
or will we forever only be pretending

Get it right

2011-05-19T15:08:00.006+08:00

Happy Thursday!

In the second week of my holidays now, and guess what, I'm still slacking! hahaha. Results will be known slightly more than a week from now. Honestly though, I'm still undecided on whether I should be taking up honours or not. Shucks. I better start to think thoroughly from now on, cos there isn't much time to consider once the exam results are out.

Went to the gym yesterday after a long absence. Nice to be working out in a cold environment, especially when the weather outside was scorching hot. Surprisingly, I didn't ache as much as I thought I would. Probably because I didn't work out that much due to the limited time I had. lol. But yeah, I ought to bring my lazy bum to the gym more often during this holidays, and of course, try to start running. haha.

Courtesy of the advertisements on the train platform that I came across every other morning when I send the kid to school, I now have a list of movies I want to watch over the next couple of months! haha. These include Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2, X-Men: First Class and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I know I'd probably don't have the opportunity to catch all of them. But nvm, I'll try to watch whatever I can. Oh, and for the rest of the year, there are movies such as Final Destination 5, Johnny English Reborn, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas etc. Wow, what a good movie year this is! haha..

I'm currently reading Robert Ludlum's The Cassandra Compact. I'm slightly more than halfway through reading this thriller and so far it's a nice read. The novel helps me to pass the time too! haha. I have to say, I miss reading. And I'm glad the holidays is here now, giving me the opportunity to get back on this hobby of mine.

I think I have more to update. But at the point of typing, I've forgotten what I wanted to write. Oh well. I'll update again if I remember. Till then, have a good day!

Oh my best intentions keep making a mess of things
I just want to fix it somehow
But how many times will it take
Oh how many times will it take
To get it right
To get it right

Holidays!

2011-05-14T15:23:00.005+08:00

Oh yes, I'm about to complete the first week of the school holidays! And what can I say, it has been quite a blast so far!

Well, sure, I had the boring and slacking moments every now and then. But I had my euphoric moments too! I've done a lot of firsts this week! Woohooo!

With all those accomplishments, I still have not started on my bulking up which I had planned to do. Kinda lazy lah. haha. Oh well, maybe I'll start next week. lol.

The previous Thursday was my parents' 43rd wedding anniversary! And that's pretty long I feel! lol. I thank god that their love for each other are still strong after more than four decades and am grateful for the love given to me and sister all these years too. I can't wait to be in the workforce and repay them in whatever way I can.

I have been catching Undercover Boss this week. I got to know about the show from one of my friends who posted about it on facebook during the premiere on Channel 5 actually. lol. After I reading on Wiki, I decided to watch it and so far, I have not been disappointed. It's actually a pretty good show. The fact that bosses of big corporations working undercover doing low-skilled jobs is refreshing for a reality show. And the part in each episode where the real identity of the bosses are revealed to those employees they have worked with, are always full of emotions and the reactions are epic! haha. I'm looking forward to watching the other episodes!

Oh, I've also been watching the first three parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, I did not have a chance to watch those movies when they were on cinemas. So, I'm a bit slow there. lol. Anyway, I find the first and the sequels good. But I guess the first one had to be the best one among them. Can't wait to catch the 4th installment that will start showing next week. Hopefully, it is on par, or even better, than the first. And it's great to know that more storyline will be dedicated to Jack Sparrow, oops, I mean Captain Jack Sparrow this time around! Woohooo!

Okay, that's it for this short update. I don't know what else to blog about actually. haha. Have a good weekend!

I am happy each and every time we meet. Take care during your trip. And I hope the plan could go on as planned when you are back! :)

Polling Day

2011-05-07T17:45:00.005+08:00

Today is D-day. It's the day where 2 million Singaporeans go to the polling centres to exercise their rights to vote.

I went to my designated polling centre at about 2 plus in the afternoon. By address, the polling centre is just in front of my house. But of course, since I'm staying at my Sis house, I had to take the MRT and then the feeder bus to reach the place. Ironically, the place I'm currently staying (Sembawang) is not under Sembawang GRC. Some strange boundary drawings they have there. Anyway, the whole process was a breeze for me. There's not even a queue for me. Seeing photos of queues my FB friends had to go through, I'm glad that I came at the right time. Or probably there's not much residents in that area of mine. lol. I entered through the small gate at the school. Walked another 50-100 metres into the school compound before reaching the polling booths. Took the ballot paper, went to the booth, made my cross and place it into the box. My first ever vote and it lasted only about 5 minutes. I don't even have to queue/wait at all except for the 10 seconds I took to cast my vote at the booth. This whole process reminds me of Survivor though. "Once the votes are read, the decision are final." LOL

Went to the bank on Thursday to make some withdrawal. Even though I had to spend about 30 minutes in the queue, I still do not regret that I don't have an ATM card. Yes, having one will give me convenience. But for me, convenience is also a double edge sword. Once you're too used to this convenience, you may become a spendthrift and end up losing track of what's left in your account. I am fortunate that this very principle has been instilled in me since I was young. And I'm not shy to say that it has also enabled me to save, mostly by my own effort, a good amount in case of a rainy day. Yes, the day will eventually come where I have to apply for the card. But the time is not now. That being said, I realised that I have been spending quite a fair bit the past couple of months. Oh no, it's time to control my expenses! Time to start on some good money management exercises! haha. Oh oh, I saw my favourite bank teller that day. She still looks the same. Too bad she doesn't serve me! What a waste! haha.

Anyway, these two nights will be crucial and exciting nights. Tonight is of course the results of the elections. Whoever, or whichever party, wins, kindly fulfill your campaign promises and deliver them. Make Singapore a better place than it is already now. Tomorrow is the crucial game between Man Utd and Chelsea. If Man Utd win this game, then the league title is effectively Man Utd's with two games to go. If they lose, then the champions will probably only be decided at the last day of the campaign. Fingers crossed that Man Utd will win this game. Glory, glory Man Utd!

I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night..

End of Year 3

2011-05-04T21:32:00.003+08:00

Yes, today is officially the end of my Year 3 in the uni.

Had my organic paper in the evening. As expected, i couldn't finish the paper. I'm always amazed at how people can finish and still have spare time when they do tests/exam for this module when I don't even have the time to even complete it! The paper wasn't hard though. I'll just hope for the best come 30th May.

Yes, the end of my examinations means the start of my holidays. Finally, no more notes to read, no more brain cells to be extensively used and no more stress. But I always have this sian feeling at the start of holidays. Just like what ZY told me earlier, sian because now that there's no school, nothing to study, it feels like there's nothing to do, and hence the predicted boredom and trying to figure out what things to do during this free time.

For me, the transition this time around will be a little more difficult. After spending almost every day with the scandal, I now have to re-adjust back to my pre-reading-week life. I have always know that this day would eventually come but now that it has arrived, I'm beginning to feel emo about it. I guess when you were made happy for the past couple of weeks and suddenly there's an abrupt stop, such feelings are to be expected. Yes, I am always happy each and every time we met. She made my studying sessions fun and I appreciate every little things she did for me. It's only a day and I'm beginning to have withdrawal symptoms. For instance,

1) Each time I came back from the toilet, I always thought that I would come back to a seat where she's there. Of course, I came back in disappointment each time.
2) I fell asleep while studying and had dreamt that someone poked/tickled me and I "jumped" as I woke up. Yes, apparently no one was anywhere near me at that time.
3) After reading my notes (looking down at the table) for quite some time, I looked back up thinking that she was there in front of me. All I saw was an empty chair.

Yes, all these happened today. How fast I could re-adjust back my life, I'm not sure. The only certainty is that I definitely will miss the great times we spent together.

Okay, that's it for this short update. To those having the holidays like me, have fun and spent your time wisely. This would probably be the last long break of your life. I should start meeting up with my old friends too.

Happy holidays!

Yesterday was probably the best day of our study dates. Thank you for the warmth that you've given me. Thank you for everything. :)

UHC

2011-04-29T18:21:00.008+08:00

Hello readers!

How have you been? Good I hope. Well, I have been sick for the last couple of weeks. From a sore throat, to a cough and then blocked nose and fever. The climax I guess happened on Wednesday night when I was continuously coughing that it took me a couple of hours after lying down on bed before I could finally go to sleep. It was then that I decided that I need some help (read: doctor's help) for my sickness. So, went to the UHC on Thursday morning to pay the doc a visit. It's my first time there and yeah, I could at least say that I had used the facility at least once in my NUS life. haha. Yeah, so the doc said that there were a lot of phlegm/mucus at the throat area, or specifically the insert-the-medical-term-here-which-I-could-not-remember. lol. So, he prescribed me with 6 different types of medicine and the good thing is that I only need to pay for one of them, which is the Lozenges! haha. Anyway, I'm feeling better now. Thank god. And I would like to thank the scandal for nagging and taking care of me, directly and indirectly, whenever we meet. I appreciate each and every little thing that you did. Thank you so much! =)

Received a call from my ns unit asking me to acknowledge my deployment for you-know-what. So, I went to the marsiling house to retrieve my stuffs. But then I realised that the letter had not been sent to either of my letter-boxes. Called them up today and was informed that I wasn't deployed after all. Phew. Even though it would have been quite an exciting even to be part of, it's also directly after my last paper. I ought to be enjoying instead of doing some duty! haha. So, yeah, my reservist will be according to schedule, which is a couple of months later.

Watching the royal wedding now. Nice! So many commoners outside by the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal couple! Luckily the weather is fine. Congrats to the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their matrimony!

My last paper will be on this Wednesday. Haven't really been studying since my previous paper on Monday though, partly because of my sickness... although I suspect, the long duration between the two papers have got some effect on me slacking the time away. lol. Okay, I shall try to buck up and start concentrating for what may be my last paper in my NUS life! All the best for those still having exams! =)

Tmr got study date yet again. Can't wait. Have a good weekend everyone!

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTVWXYZ. Yup, I missed U! =P

Aren't these cute? hehe.. Thanks! ;-)

7 days a week

2011-04-25T00:31:00.003+08:00

One paper down, two more to go! Yup, had my TM paper on Saturday. All I can say is that the paper sucks! haha. Spent the first half an hour reading the qns, flipping the pages. So, I practically did nothing and wasted that precious amount of time. The fact that I was down with cough/sore throat didn't help either. Can't think properly, poor memory and concentration. But nvm, it's over now. When shit happens, step over it and move on. Believe in bell curve! haha. Tmr's my geog paper. I feel unprepared but I guess I'll just try my best for it. Wish me luck!

Yes, with today's meet, I've managed to meet/see scandal for seven consecutive days! Yes, seven days a week! Even better than during school term! lol. Fabulous company as usual. And throughout this past week, I've learnt a lot of things.. especially some useful general knowledge like ducks can fly! hahaha.. I can never say this enough but I truly appreciate each and every time we meet. :)

Okay, I think I better head to sleep now. My sore throat has turned to cough and it's getting worse now. It was torturous earlier while taking the train, having to try to minimize my cough. Please let me be well again soon.

Have a good week ahead!

The things we do when we're bored =)

Snow lady

2011-04-18T21:41:00.008+08:00

Monday blues... not! haha

Went to study with the scandal, or should I say, Snow Lady! haha.. Yup, yet another name for her! lol.. Managed to cover 4/5 of my summary for TM. That's quite an achievement. If I was at home, I think I could only managed 1/2 at most. haha. I had fun too! Who says studying cannot be fun? lol. Played some sort of 'games' during breaks. It was all in the name of fun. No hard feelings yeah?! :) And as always, I enjoyed the company! ;-)

It's reading week now. First paper will be on this Saturday. And the last one will be on the 4th of May! After that, it's celebration time! Bittersweet feeling for me though ^_^

Okay, that's it for this short update. I'm feeling tired and I'm having sore throat too. Hopefully it will cure soon instead of turning into a cough. Can't afford to be sick at this critical period of time. Wish me well!

Have a good week ahead!

Treasuring each and every moment as it comes :)

Last day of school

2011-04-16T00:44:00.004+08:00

Yup! Today was the last day of school in NUS. Attended my last lecture. Went to the LT for the last time. What an emotional day. Three years (almost) of uni life has passed, just like that. There were ups and downs throughout this period. Personally, I have many regrets during these three years. But I know one has to look forward. If we continue to lament about the past, we can never progress in life. Nonetheless, I'll still miss everyone there, even if we have never interacted before.

Went to NTU alumni house after the last organic lesson for ktv session. It took about 1 hour at a coffeeshop at Holland drive before deciding on whether to watch movie or sing. LOL. So, in the end after much discussion and spinning of coin, the alumni house was the destination. I personally sang quite a bit.. english songs of course, except for all time karaoke favourite Hao xin fen shou.. haha! Sang Need you now alone. EMO!! lol.. We left after 3 hours of singing. Took the bus and head off to Orchard for dinner. Omg, far right? haha.. Chit-chatted awhile after the meal, then walk a short stretch of Orchard Rd and then headed back home. For today, the term talk-cock-sing-song (TCSS) would have been apt. haha.

Anyway, back to the topic of graduation, I guess the best song to describe this is always Vitamin C's Graduation (Friends Forever). I listened to this song when graduating from my sec school and later from poly. For my poly graduation, I had a chance to make a video about the graduation ceremony. Made it for memory's sake for everyone in the class. Unfortunately, this time around, no such video will, or can, be made. Anyway, I kinda miss the class when I watched this video again. When I made that video, we had just graduated with a diploma. And now, five years later, we'll be graduating again.. this time, with a degree. How time flies.

Unpredictable

2011-04-12T18:50:00.005+08:00

Omg! Organic test was difficult!! And of course, there's not enough time to finish the paper! So inhumane! Don't know how many marks I've left out. No, I'm not going to count even though I have the qn paper with me. But knowing that you're unable to complete the paper was already depressing enough! argh!! Final exam and the great bell curve is all I have now. lol. Nevertheless, now that all tests/assignments are over, I can take a little break before going full gear for the exams! Wooohooo!! :)

Went to the uni hall after the test to have a look at the honours project posters this year. We went at around closing time, so probably that's why there weren't many people there. Didn't exactly read every poster; just browsed through the titles only. haha. But the good thing is, just nice they were serving the afternoon tea. So, there's food for me to eat! For someone who didn't eat lunch, that's a good thing! haha. Free food ftw! lol. I left school alone after that cos the rest had to prepare for their project presentation tmr. haha. Good luck!

On Sunday night, my family received a bad news. One of my uncles had passed away in Malaysia. Though Ive forgotten how he looks like cos the last time we saw each other was probably when i was a child, it was a sad news to hear. May your soul rest in peace. My dad's over at Penang now and thankfully he had reached there in time to see his younger brother on Monday morning before the burial. Life is unpredictable. As sad as it sounds, you'll never know when your time is up. That's why we should always cherish what we have now, count our blessings. Which brings me to my next point..

Was feeling a little emo after the test earlier. But someone was there to cheer me up! Thank you dear scandal for you-know-what. You've never failed to cheer me up when I'm feeling down and excites me even when I'm not. I am truly touched. You are indeed a great friend. I'm thankful to know you and have you around. Again, thank you for lifting up spirits. All the best for your test tomorrow! :)

So Cute!

2011-04-11T20:14:00.004+08:00

TGIM! Yes, I love Mondays! Erm, no, actually only for today! haha..

Went to school in the morning to hand up my LAST lab report of my NUS life. Yes! Good riddance! haha.. Went to library to study for my organic test and had a study date with dearest scandal! wooohoooo!! hahaha... Wah, it seems like every time something about me is being pointed out. The other time was about me blushing. Today it's about my nose flaring up! Oh dear! ^_^ What's next? hahaa.. Oh, she had a surprise for me today! Cookiessssssss! haha. And nope, this time around it's not because of any mistakes made or what. So sweet of her! :)

Going back time, I took the bus to HarbourFront, then the took the NE line, then the circle line and finally to my stop via the NS line. Wooootz, first time i got a seat on a public transport during peak hours! haha... Nice! But of course, the best thing has got to be the company that I had. =)

Anyway, I'm 3/4 done with my revision now. Hopefully I can finish up tonight instead of accidentally falling asleep. lol. Wish me luck for my test tmr!

Happy Monday!

Coookieesssss!! They shall accompany me during my revision tonight! Thank you! :)

Sweetness!

2011-04-10T00:54:00.006+08:00

Woohoo! Lab days are OVER!!!!!!!!! Finally! Had my pract exam today. Overall it was all right. Can't answer a couple of questions, but nvm, the freedom from having to spend 2-7 hour labs is more important! haha. Oh, that also means that one module is down for me... and 3 more to go! Jia you!!

Got my Growth and Share letter today. Well, I know it has been sent sometime ago but I only managed to retrieved it from the other home today. All I can say is.. yes, can't wait for 1st of May! Ka-ching!! hahaa

Today, the scandal made me feel high again! Ahhhhh... And yes, I'm still phosphorescing now. Still can't go back to my ground state! hahaha.. Yes, I admit I have a soft spot for sweet people. hehe. Anyway, thanks for sharing and exciting me to my excited state. Those pics I saw today were lovely, as always! ;)

Have a lovely Sunday!

The time I got caught red-handed last wednesday. haha!

Study date

2011-04-06T19:02:00.010+08:00

Yup, had a study date with the scandal today! Nice company she is, as always! :)

Managed to cover most of what I had intended to for my lab exam.. although I did not managed to revise anything on organic as I had planned to. Darn, overestimated myself again! haha. This SATURDAY is my lab exam and the following Tuesday will be my organic test. After that, full concentration on the final exams! wooohooo! Good luck to me and everyone who is taking them!

I think I posted in this blog before. I do blush easily even though my skin is not fair. lol. And today, yet another person witnessed it! Ahhhhh... To the person, pls don't use it as a weapon k! You do know why I blushed earlier. Cos of the person in front of me!! haha :P

Anyway, thank you to scandal for accompanying me to the MRT! I'm grateful and touched! :-) Next time must try the JE route k! haha.. If you still emo about that thing, try to get over it as soon as possible ya. You will do better for the major one. You definitely will. Meanwhile, jia you!

Yet another scandalous Wednesday! :)

True colours -Glee

Vitamin C

2011-04-03T21:34:00.005+08:00

It's 4th of April today. It's Ms Christine So's birthday! Wooohooo! Yes, she's born a day after me! Well, not exactly a day since we were born on different years but still... okay, I shall stop here cos I felt old just by typing that and I think you get what I mean already. lol.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINE!

Thanks for being a great great friend! And at this moment, I would like to say thank you again for that video msg for my birthday! It certainly moved me to tears. I am truly touched! That has to be one of the best present I have ever received in 25 years of my life! And I just realised that it was the sweet good twin in the videos! Great! hehe. THANK YOU SO MUCH! =)

April 3 is here again

2011-04-03T16:48:00.003+08:00

Today is April 3. Today is my birthday! haha..

As of today, I'm a quarter of century old already! Darn, I feel old! lol

I've been stuck at home all day, trying to study for my viva tmr. But nothing seems to go inside my head. Oh great! Oh Dr. P, please be kind to me tomorrow. Please accede to this birthday wish of mine! haha

On this supposedly great day, I can't help but to feel a little emo. To all those that I've done wrong, even if I don't know the reason, I'm sorry. To all those that I've run away from in past proposed meetings, I will try to meet you. To all those that I'm supposed to meet in the near future, I can't wait for that. I'm human; thus, I know I've made mistakes for the past 25 years of my life, knowingly or unintentionally. Again, I would like to apologise to anyone whom I've hurt, bothered, irritated etc. At this start of the next quarter of century, I've learnt my lesson and I will change.

At this moment, I would also like to say that I should count my blessings. To my family, I'm very grateful and thankful to all of them for being supportive of me throughout this years. Thank you to my friends, old and new, for accepting me for who I am. And not forgetting the good/evil twins, scandal and vit c for listening to my lame jokes, emo rant and always try to cheer me up when I'm down! It is with the presence of all these people that made my life worthwhile to live! =)

Thank you to everyone for their birthday wishes! Appreciate them all!

Happy Sunday peeps!

April Fool's Day

2011-04-01T22:45:00.007+08:00

Happy April Fool's Day!

Did you get fooled by anyone? Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), I did not. lol. Good twin came again today. Her presence always makes me happy. Thank you. :)

Went to Cineleisure after lesson with the clique. After deliberating for so long, we decided to watch Sanctum. Well, actually the coin did the decision since we can't come to any consensus. haha. Before the movie, went to the food court at the basement to have our dinner. I had Ayam Bakar Solo, which is kinda like Ayam Penyet's sister but with grilled chicken instead. And that also means there's sambal belacan served with it. And boy, was it hot!! It's hotter than the one at The Frontier! Yes, actually I can't really take spicy stuff. Well, I like to eat them, but it seems my body, or specifically my head, cannot take the spiciness. Even though it's air-conditioned, you could see water flowing down. Yeah, gross I know. That's why even though I always visit the same Indonesian Panggang, I will avoid eating any set that has the spicy sambal belacan in it. haha.

Anyway, I know CC would disagree with me, but I feel that the show was not bad. Sure, the story line was kinda lacking, but there were emotional moments here and there. And I like these kind of scenes which touch our hearts. lol. And the show brings about an interesting situation - the moral side of murder. It kinda reminded me about Michael Sandel's lecture which I caught on youtube last year. Would you kill one person to save the lives of 4 or 5 others? Or do nothing, knowing that you all will die. This moral dilemma is made even harder when it involves family members, as was displayed in this movie. As Michael Sandel's always ask his students, "What's the right thing to do?" Anyway, I think I'll give the movie 3/5 stars.

Monday is the viva test, and next saturday is the practical exam. And contrary to what I say in the previous post, I don't think I can complete my lab report by tonight. Shucks, time to buck up! Less slacking! haha..

Have a good weekend!

It seems every point of my life, wherever I go, similar shit always happen to me. Now, I can't help but feel my life is fucked up.

Strangers, we have become...

Take a bow

2011-03-30T22:49:00.001+08:00

You put on quite a show
Really had me going
Now it's time to go
Curtain's finally closing
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it's over now
Go on and take a bow

Leaving on a jet plane

2011-03-30T20:05:00.005+08:00

Today was a fruitful day of studying/revision in school. Managed to do abit of my geog lab assignment, did all the tutorials that I have and started on my preparation for viva. I shall complete my assignment today, try to complete my lab report by tomorrow or friday so that I'll have time to prepare for viva/pract exam on the weekends! Hopefully. lol.

Today while in school, I bumped into my TA for last sem's lab.. not once, but twice! Both occasions were at the same location! So coincidental! And he's the one who actually waved to me first. haha. It's always nice to see your TA still recognizes you after some time not seeing them. I think I did blogged before about this physics TA who also still recognizes me even though it was more than 2 years since he last taught me. Friendly people ftw! lol

Felt a little depressed last night. Slept only at half past two. Luckily though, there is Glee to make me feel better. Yes, I watched the pilot episode last night and boy, I think it's a good show! It makes me feel young again! hahaha! Before this, I only heard their covers on the radio, but after last night, I think it's a show worth following. lol. I think I'll become a gleek soon! haha..

My body don't feel good today. Please don't let it fall sick. I think I'm lacking Vitamin C. :(

Matthew Morrison's cover of Leaving on a Jet Plane

Happy Tuesday!

2011-03-29T20:54:00.005+08:00

Hello folks!

Just got back not long ago. Did the organic online quiz in school. It was pretty tough lah! Did worse than the first quiz. Studying doesn't seem to make much difference. Or is it that I didn't study well? haha. Nvm, lets hope there are others who don't do well too. lol *evil* Anyway, straight after the lecture ended, three paramedics came into the LT. Apparently, someone from the class had fallen ill. And she was sent to the hospital. Not sure what has happened, but I hope her sickness is not that serious.

When I was a kid, I told my parents that when I grow up, I will buy my mum a house and my dad a car. Looking at the prices then, I thought I would have sufficient money to provide them those gifts. But now, after growing up, I think this is almost impossible. Property and COE prices are constantly increasing. Heck, the price of everything is rising rapidly. Today's news state that there will be 6.1% increase in electricity tariff from April 1 onwards. And no, it's not an april fool's joke. Inflation is scary. I don't even know if I can afford a car in the near future. From a financial talk I attended last year, I learnt about the burden of owning a cars, especially since they are depreciating assets. But then again, I probably need it in the future for convenience. Oh well, flying cars (a la Back to the Future) soon? hahaa

Talking about money, I went to update the passbook yesterday and found out that my tail is gone! Arggghhh! Damn, I must try to start saving again soon! Can't wait for reservist, my current source of income! haha.. Had a small celebration at home on Sunday for my niece's birthday. She's 5 years old now. Time flies. She's growing up well and is a multilingual now - in English, Malay, Mandarin and Arabic. Amazing. I'm proud of her.

Oh yes, today good twin came to class! It was a surprise since I didn't expect her! But it was a sweet and pleasant surprise nonetheless. Thank you for that! ;)

A sweet sweet day!

I don't know what happened (again), but they are gone. All of them. Sheesh. But today has been a good day apart from this, so I shall not emo.

What are words

2011-03-25T20:02:00.006+08:00

Week 10 has ended! The time has passed like a choo choo train! lol

Every week passed means a week nearer to exams. Shucks!

I thought only a certain lecturer has difficulty pronouncing certain words. Today, I found out there's another lecturer that says the words the exact same way. Funny lah cos they sound so wrong.. so so wrong. lol.

One of the reasons why I'm sometimes hesitant to smile at strangers, even if they are in the same cohort as me, is that I don't want them to feel weird. I know they will feel such cos today I was at the receiving end of a smile and I did feel weird. ^_^

Sometimes, when I see someone I know in the LT or on the bench around school alone, I have the urge to ~~disturb~~ talk to them. But I know some people need their private space, so I would often hold myself back. Being too friendly isn't that good too. I know and I've learnt from recent experiences. People may mistake your intentions even though you mean well. Ah well, I've learned to accept that not everyone can accept the same level of friendliness displayed to them. As they say, each person is unique. Some will appreciate it, some will think you have other intentions. Relationships, no matter of what kind, can be a thorny issue. No matter what, we would have encountered them in the past and will encounter them in the future. I guess the best way is to learn from past mistakes and not repeat them again. As long as you don't repeat them, no one can fault you. As long as you are true to yourself, no one should condemn you. Live and learn :)

Came across this song while listening to 987fm few days ago. Realised today that it was sang by one of the American Idols hopeful (Chris Medina) that have apparently been eliminated (did not make it to the final 24). I saw his first audition and his story about continuing to care and staying by his fiance's side even after she suffered brain damage from a near-fatal car accident, and it was very touching. You should catch the video on youtube if you haven't. My utmost respect goes out to him. Anyway, this is a song written for her by him, titled What are words".

Every single promise I keep. Cuz what kind of guy would I be if I was to leave when you need me most. I'm forever keeping my angel close.

Fearless

2011-03-23T21:03:00.006+08:00

What a Wednesday!

Went out in the morning to The Franklin at Science Park to collect my so-called prize from BrightSparks. Wasn't sure whether the prize was for real or not, so went there to check it out. And surprise, surprise, after waiting, the lady presented me this...
Haha! So it was genuine after all! Wow, first time ever "winning" such contest. Thank you BrightSparks! And this proves that helping others can very rewarding! Not that I was looking to win this when I was replying in the forum though. lol

After that, went to meet up with the uni clique at YIH and had lunch there. Well, they had their lunch, I just sat there and look at them. haha! Later, we went back to Science for the FYP/Honours talk. It was refreshing to hear the ang mo prof talked again to us, after more than two years. Kinda missed his voice, jokes, and of course, the "information-overload-so-we-have-to-stop-here" early ending of lectures. haha! The talk was okay, partly because I already knew most of the contents. There's one thing that worries me slightly though. No, it's not the prospect of failures when we do our projects. I've already experience constant failures whilst doing my FYP project in poly before finally succeeding. What I find kinda troublesome is the process of project allocation. Finding a project, looking for the supervisors, talking to them can be a real hassle, especially when the period is during my reservist cycle! Not to mention, after finding and searching, you still might get rejected by them! Argh! Nvm, start to worry when the time comes. haha!

After the talk, had a study session with good twin. It was quite a fruitful one considering the short amount of time. Midway during the session though, my stomach made growling sounds! Oops, sorry about that! haha. It seems my tummy has a very low tolerence on absence of food! lol. Anyway, good luck and all the best for her test tmr! Jia You!

Later, went to Suntec to find a present for my niece's upcoming birthday. Thank god for Toys"R"Us! Although sometimes with the huge variety of toys, it can give you a headache. haha! Today, the store put on Taylor Swift's songs on repeat. Last year, it was Miley Cyrus'! Oh man... ^_^

That's it for this update. Have a happy midweek!

I’m standing there, on a balcony of summer air.. We keep quiet, because we’re dead if they knew..

In Pain

2011-03-21T16:47:00.002+08:00

Other than diarrhea, I'm still having the conditions as stated in the previous post. On top of that, I've lost my appetite and concentration. It's torturous cos my neck hurts no matter which direction I turn to. This is bad.

Oh god, please ride me of this pain asap.

Going to have a rest/nap now. Bye.

Neck ache

2011-03-20T19:13:00.004+08:00

Had soccer session with the usuals around noon at FICO. And now I'm having Neck ache + Dizziness + Nausea + Diarrhea.

I know I got the neck sprain while trying to take a shot earlier, forcing my head to move in an awkward direction. Now I have to turn my upper body together with my head to look at different directions. lol. Darn, I hope this condition has nothing to do with the other three. And I hope it's not some kind of whiplash injury. Shucks, that would be horrible. The diarrhea has got to be from the tabasco source earlier. It has got to be! ^_^

Tomorrow is the start of the 10th week of the academic calendar. One more month to exams! Eeeks! Oh, I like my botak head now. It's so airy! wahahaha

Accept others first before you expect others to accept you.

Battle of Los Angeles

2011-03-19T02:14:00.003+08:00

Today was a good day!

Good twin came to lecture today! Woohoo! Always feels great to see her! haha.. TM lecture was entertaining, while Organic lecture was rushing, as usual. lol. After that, had my late lunch before being a lamp-post for two persons' study date. I actually just sat there and stared at my notes/tutorials. haha. CC and WZ waited for us to go home together. But went home we didn't.

Similar as last week's impromptu plan, we went out again after that! haha.. Took a bus to Vivo to catch a movie there. Watched World Invasion: Battle of Los Angeles. Wow, it was a pretty good movie! Heck, I would say better and worth the money more than I am number four. There were continuous action scenes from start to finish. There were several touching moments too which made several people teared. I'd give the movie 4 out of 5 popcorns!

After the movie, we had our late (again) dinner at BK at about 10 plus. lol. Later, had our emo walk halfway towards Sentosa and back. Wah, the new bridge/walkway leading to sentosa is quite nice! Got a gigantic paper crane somemore! haha. Must explore the bridge fully the next time. lol. Took the train and reached home at a quarter past midnight.

Now, I'm tired and I need to sleep. Haha. Have a good weekend!

My life seems to be filling with unanswered questions...

Helpful

2011-03-16T20:13:00.010+08:00

Ah, what a peaceful yet lonely Wednesday. The family had went to J.B. for shopping since morning. They called me about an hour ago and they're still at my sis' house there! Ahh, I'm hungry lah! haha.. Oh, speaking about the house, I think I haven't been there since 6 or 7 years ago! Omg! I'm not saying I haven't touch J.B. soil for that long amount of time. Just that, when I go there, either there's no time to visit the place or I went across with my friends. This is in stark contrast when I was in pri/sec school where going there was like at least a monthly affair. Hmm..

Anyway, I was entering the BrightSparks forum earlier today, when suddenly a Private Msg window popped up. See below (or click the picture to have better view).

I was momentarily stunned! Is this for real? haha.. Cos I never heard of such contest before, and obviously when I replied to the forumers' questions, this was definitely not on my mind. Heck, I didn't even visit the forum on a regular basis! So, to "win' the most helpful user contest is like WOW! haha.. Although I've always known that I'm such a helpful person.. wahahahaha! Yeah right! Anyway, I replied to the person and he/she replied back to me saying I need to go down to their office at Science Park on weekdays to collect it. Should I go? Should I trust them? What if they kidnap me? ^_^

I am happy if you are..

6th sense

2011-03-15T20:17:00.004+08:00

Yes! It's celebration time! I can finally have a rest after 3 weeks of consecutive tests! The test today was all right. Probably made a couple mistakes here and there but overall it was manageable. Considering that it's worth 30% of the module's total, I am thankful for that.

Sunday's event was a success. Yes, I helped out as a "waiter". It was quite a tiring job especially during the peak hours, where the bride and groom were present. And since my cousin is a teacher teaching at a nearby school, there were lots of her students who came for the reception. Yes, all the ah bengs and ah lians included. lol. Towards the end, after cutting the cake, my cousin made quite a touching speech, where she wept a little while expressing her gratitude towards her parents. =( I wish her all the best in her new life and wish her a blissful marriage!

I think I have to stop being a 'catalyst' for I have 'catalyzed' many unnecessary 'reactions'. Like a friend of mine said earlier that if I hadn't started it, all these things wouldn't have happened. But then again, it is stuffs like these that make like all the more interesting. haha. Oh well. Too late for regrets now.

Japan is having one of the worst natural disasters and nuclear crisis she had ever had. Let's all pray that everyone in Japan will pull through this adversity. Keep the faith. Things will get better, hopefully. My prayers are with them.

There's apparently an sms being circulated around regarding the danger of radioactive rain that is imminent in this country, as a result of Japan's nuclear meltdown. According to local experts, however, such occurrence is not likely cos it requires several other factors, such as a complete meltdown and continuous fire to happen before radioactive clouds can reach the country which is 5000km away from Japan. And apparently, according to local media, the sms originated from the Philippines. So, if you'd receive the sms, let's not forward it further to prevent unnecessary panic among the people.

I'm letting go..

Solemnization day!

2011-03-12T19:56:00.007+08:00

I thought today will be busy. Sekali when I went there, not much work to do cos most of the things have already been done/prepared. So just sit around, chit-chat with cousins eat, eat and eat. Weddings are really a good way to get fat! lol. Oh, it was nice talking to the cousins, considering the fact that I've never really interacted with them for the last half a decade or so. It's my fault I guess. I'm anti-social. Wait, no! I'm just shy. lol. But yeah, it was nice talking to them today, just like the childhood days.

Here's a few pics of the solemnization ceremony held earlier at noon.

The Tuan Kadi dressed in black, sitting opposite the groom, is very young seh! haha.. And thank god, the akad nikah ceremony was successfully done once.

The pelamin (wedding dais). Nice!

Bride and groom with cousins (the older ones.. lol)

The pics didn't really do justice lah. My cousin and the dais were much more pretty than can be seen here! lol.

Tomorrow will be the big day! Shall rest well tonight. Most probably I'll have to forgo Man Utd's match which will be held at 1.15am. Nvm, football matches are held weekly, but weddings, as they say, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! haha..

I guess the signs are becoming clear. I shan't trouble you any more.

TGIF!

2011-03-11T22:18:00.005+08:00

It's Friday! The weekend is here again! This weekend will be a big one for my family and relatives cos it's my cousin's wedding! I'm very happy for her that she is tying the knot tomorrow. But once she does, I'll then be promoted to 2nd in line to do likewise! Oh no! Ahh never mind, I'm still young. Must build up career first! haha..

I realised that I have funny lecturers this semester. Not that I'm complaining though. One lecturer tells lame jokes now and then, and can even equate chemical concepts to real life situations. Another lecturer, erm how should I put it, has a tendency to not coordinate what he says to what is on the slides/whiteboard. For instance, he said, "Lets move to question 2." You look at the whiteboard, and he's actually doing question 3! On another day, he points to the deltaH but says 'entropy' instead repeatedly! Well, there are other examples but I shall not list them all. Oh, and another lecturer would often tell jokes about his experiences too. He once told us how his father, who is also a teacher/lecturer, took his student's handphone when it was ringing in class, and BAKED it! hahahaa... These lecturers do make the semester a more enjoyable one.

After class earlier, I went to the IT show with the clique. It was an impromptu thing really. I don't really have anything in mind to buy so just accompany the rest there. The place was unsurprisingly crowded, even when peak hours has not reached yet. After that, we went over to PS to catch "I am number four." I've been wanting to catch it since it was released and finally the desire is fulfilled today! haha. The movie was not bad, but not that fantastic either. The action scenes are more towards the end and they weren't a lot. It reminds me of the disappointing Transformers 2. BUT Sarah (Dianna Agron) was pretty though! And she's the same age as me! hahaa. Oh no, I think I'm having a thing with all the female leads of the movies that I watched! lol. Anyway, I'd give the movie between 6 and 7 out of 10 points. Went home after that.

I want to complain! I have pimples that line up in a straight line on the left side of my face! Argh! Why must it happen today when I have a wedding on the weekend!? The pimples somehow look like nails/screws have been stuck on my face! LOL.

Ahh, tomorrow will be a busy day. I should turn in early tonight.... after I finish my lab report. haha. Good night and have a good weekend!

Sometimes I feel like an idiot talking to myself. I know I shouldn't feel this way, but yes, I'm a little disappointed. Oh well..

Thankful Tuesday!

2011-03-08T20:05:00.003+08:00

Yes! I got back my organic paper and I'm contented! Considering that I didn't answer 18 marks worth of questions and still manage an acceptable grade, I feel so relieved! haha.. Shall work harder for the next test!

Yes! We got back our geog assignment and again, we saw top grade on the front page! It feels good! With comments such as "Excellent" and "Awesome job", the lecturer really has a way to motivate us to produce good work each time! I think the markers in science faculty should follow such ways too! For today's practical, we went around FASS and YIH to find bearing of certain landmarks and angle of slopes. Even though the weather wasn't that great, it was fun!

Oh yeah, thank you to good twin for coming today! Her presence has given me a great blessing today! haha..

I shall spent the day tomorrow to study for me TM quiz. Since my weekends will be burnt due to my cousin's wedding, I'd figure I will not have enough time to study well. Never mind, I shall revise as much as I can and hope for the best! =)

Have a happy Tuesday! :)

Monday Blues

2011-03-07T16:01:00.002+08:00

Today was supposed to be a bad day. Why? Because Man Utd lost their match against Liverpool! 1-3!! Losing to our arch rival was bad enough.. but losing 3-1 is sooooo arrgghhh! The lead at the top of the table is slowly diminishing with the Gunners fast catching up! Grrrr!

But today was also viva day! haha. And surprisingly, it went well. Except the first question which stunned me, I was able to answer all the rest! The only bad thing I guess was the lecturer keep asking me to quickly answer the questions, giving me no time to think. And got quite of a shock too that the session was 20 minutes and not five minutes that I expected it to be! lol.. Oh, and thank you to good twin for her blessing! ;-)

Today, it was made known to me that a person in the cohort feels I'm dao!! Wah, this is like the 2nd time in the semester whereby I was made known of others' bad impression of me! I guess in the last semester of your course, you'll start to know how everyone else thinks about you? This is not good! I hate to be misunderstood. I don't like it when people have the wrong impression of me cos that probably means that I've projected something wrong in one way or another. For all you know, 90% of the batch thinks I'm fierce/dao/unfriendly. Sometimes when I tried to be friendly to others, they give me some weird reaction. But when I don't interact, they think I'm dao. I'm confused! Oh well. Maybe I should put a smile on my face everywhere I go? Though chances are, people might mistook me (again) for unsound mind! haha..

So, that was Monday for me. 2 bad - 1 good = overall it is a bad moody day! haha. I hope yours is better! =)

Time for my emo nap now. Take care!

Celtic Woman

2011-03-05T22:02:00.006+08:00

It's weekend again! Week 7 has finished! So fast! It seems the weekends come and go in a flash each time! lol

The past week has been all right. My geog test was manageable and I managed to catch up with my school work. Good! haha..

While queuing at the Pea Oh Ass Bee earlier after mum's polyclinic visit, there's this uncle in front of me who was, hmm how should I put it, very friendly! haha.. He talked about how the queue at Yishun was very long such that he had to go the branch we were in, talk about the rising prices everywhere (even kopi now cost $1), how his house evaluation rose from 300k to 500k, that his daughter is studying Engineering at NUS and son in RP etc. Yeah, we managed to chat about a lot of things cos the queue was rather long. But the best part is that he told me to study hard, so that I'll not suffer much in the future. Power lah uncle! Thank you for the advice! haha..

"You raise me up" is a song I first heard on radio sang by Westlife years ago. After that, I listened to Josh Groban's version and his voice was WoW! haha... And few years ago, I came across this version by Celtic Woman, an all-female musical ensemble. Today, I came across it again! I think they have an awesome voice! Especially the lady in the middle that sings the part from 1:29 to 2:04. The violin performance was fabulous too! They almost melt me lah! hahaha..

Good night world!

Waiting and wishing

2011-03-03T00:12:00.003+08:00

Woke up at 3.45am today to watch the big match between Man United and Chelsea. Man United lost. Disappointing. Shouldn't have wake myself up to watch. Waste of precious sleeping time.

After the match ended, prepared myself and went off to school to study for my geog test later (Thursday). There was a lot more people in the library this time around as compared to two weeks ago. Tests and quizzes must be looming for them as well. Went off at about 8pm. Can't believe that I was there for 11 hours. Luckily the Muttons were there to accompany me over the air and provided me with a positive mood. But only just.

I'm dead tired now. I shall turn in shortly so that I can wake up for a last round of revision before the test. Wish me luck!

That's it for this short update. Happy mid-week!

All I wanna do is trade this life for something new. Holding on to what I haven't got.

Restart

2011-02-27T12:52:00.008+08:00

School starts again tomorrow. 1 week has gone by, just like that! The workload will move up a notch from tomorrow onwards, with me having tests every week for the next three weeks. This is in addition to the weekly lab reports/tutorials/assignments that I have to do. And I'm pretty scared of my TM quiz since it falls right after the weekend when my cousin's wedding will be held. Both saturday and sunday will be spent helping, so that leaves me only 1 day to study. Shucks, the fact that it's worth 30% further add the pressure. But, nvm, if I don't do well, I'll just have to work hard for the exams. No matter what, the earth still revolves around the sun. Life still goes on. lol.

When I don't ask, people say I don't care about them. But when I ask, they think I'm just a busybody who should mind my own business, even if they don't say it explicitly. There's no need to actually, because actions speaks louder than words and I can feel it. So where do I draw the line? A friend once said to me years ago after I refused to share what's happening in my life, "Fine, if you don't want to tell me. But don't say that I didn't ask or care about you." Now I know how she felt.

Team Alpha!

2011-02-25T20:30:00.010+08:00

Hello peeps! Hope you're doing great! Yesterday was Team Alpha chalet/bbq! Woohoo! It was something I've been looking forward to for the past few months!

Went with Kae Chian and Fauzan and reached there at about 7 plus. Even though most of the old birds did not attend, I totally had fun catching up with those who were there. The chalet was organised in conjunction with the emancipation of 3 NSFs and the transfer one of the regulars there. And talking about ORD-ing, I was actually the most senior ex-SC who attended the event yesterday! Wah, how time flies. KC was asking me, "So, how many ORD events have you attended already?" That does make me sound old! haha.. How time flies!

There are two things that normally comes out of my team-mates mouth when I attend such events. The first is about my hair, which sadly I can't control but already gotten used to. lol. The next, is of course, about the fact that I am the legendary triple 5! In case you are wondering what that is, it refers to a post that I started during my time in the team and the triple 5 is the phone number of that particular spot that I normally take care of. Yes, I'm actually proud that I was the first SC(or nsf) in the team that takes on a role that used to be strictly for regulars. From then on, my junior SCs were given similar roles. So, that is why I am the pioneer and legendary one! wahahaa.. And it gives me great pride to be told that I was given the post cos I earned it. And I'm happy too, that all the juniors that I've taught turned out to be as successful in that particular post. Maybe I'm not a bad teacher after all? haha. Oh, but wait, as what KC (one of those juniors that I've taught) says, "My favourite answer to their questions has always been 'up to you'!" lol.. And some of them said that because of that, they are able to learn and progress well as I gave them freedom to think. Nice! haha.. Of course, another way to look at it is that, I'm just a lousy teacher. LOL

Oh yeah, the regular that would be transferring out is someone whom have helped me quite a lot during my time in the team. Even though she can be fierce and throws things (lol), she is very helpful, eagerly helping all the brothers and sisters in the team. To that, I would like to say I'm very thankful and grateful that I've been under the guidance of a great and nice person. Thank you Lindy Lee P.Y. All your help and advices will always be remembered. All the best for your future endeavours. And not matter what, even though personnel come and go, Team Alpha will always remain a family. Till we meet again.

Lindy Lee!
Close-up!Candid shot!Team Alpha family
Informal shot. And no, it wasn't my middle finger. ^_^

While at the gym earlier, an interesting thing happened. When the parking wardens came to inspect the vehicles whether they have displayed valid parking coupons or not, the gym personnel shouted, "Mata lai liao.. mata lai liao!" And that sent people running out of the gym towards their cars. Such helpful people you have out there. haha! Went back to my Marsiling home after that. Took a short nap. Later, ate chocolate ice-cream while enjoying the quiet and serene atmosphere. Ahhh, heaven! haha.. Oh, I managed to catch one of those repeat telecast of TVB dramas, Wars of in-laws II showing at 6pm! haha.. It's been a while since I last caught TVB series. Quite a nice show. And Myolie Wu has such a cute face lah.. lol. And I actually mixed her up with Joey Yung until I googled them. haha..

All right, that's it for now. Term break ending soon, shucks! Must enjoy the last couple of days! haha.. Ciao!

Recess!

2011-02-22T12:35:00.003+08:00

Recess week is here! Yes! Unlike last sem's though, there's a lot of school work to be done this time around. What a bummer! But it's okay. I shall work hard and play even harder! haha..

Went to school yesterday to discuss and submit our geog assignment. Still can't believe that they asked us to go back on recess week to hand it in. I thought ah yip says no academic activity during this week! lol.. Anyway, after the discussion, we had our lunch at The Deck and went out to have fun! haha..

Went to MBS firstly to walk around and window-shop. Went over to ArtSience museum and found out that there were TPs and white vehicles, presumably with VIPs visiting the place. When I went home did I only found out that it was in fact the Austrian President who were there visiting the museum! Whoa! Anyway, after MBS, we walked over to Esplanade where the rest were excited to purchase tix to Kumar's Amazing Race. Unfortunately, the tickets for the five shows were all sold out. Disappointing! Went over to Marina Square and then Suntec, while drinking Eskimo's bubble tea, where we bought tickets to The Green Hornet! Yes, I finally got a chance to catch the show! haha..

Overall, it's quite a lame show. Seth Rogen was funny as always. Jay Chou should just stick to music. And oh, I didn't know Cameron Diaz was acting in the show before yesterday! She's one of my favourite hollywood actress and she's still pretty even though she's almost 40! awwww! hahaa... After the movie, it was time for some walking exercise. Unable to come to a decision on where to eat, we walked to a lot of places. From Suntec to Raffles City to Funan to Clarke Quay, where we finally settled at MFM at The Central. After having our fill and the continuous jokes and chats, we continued our walk towards Chinatown and then Outram Park before taking the train home. It was indeed a tiring, yet fun-filled day.

It was a great way to cheer me up too, considering the fact that I fell into a depressed state, or what you may call emo, for four days last week. And I didn't realise that I sigh too much until CC commented about it yesterday. Hmm, I guess I ought to cut down on that.

That's it for now. Have a happy week!

It's not dying you need to be afraid of; it's never having lived in the first place.

Valentine's

2011-02-14T20:43:00.005+08:00

It's 14 February today, so let me wish you,

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's the day when you see flowers being held by ladies, and men too! And they say, it's also the day when the men would get a big hole in his pocket! lol.. Anyway, I received a friendship valentine gift from someone today! So sweet! It is little things such as this that makes me happy and brightens up my days. To the person, all I can say is, Thank you. I truly appreciate it, for friendships are one of the few things that I always cherish deeply.

I'm eating the box of charity chocs from school and also the cookies I bought today. Yum Yum. If this kind of eating style doesn't make me fatter, I don't know what will. haha.

Organic test is this friday. But I don't feel the mood or motivation to study. Alamak! How ah like that? lol. My brain cannot switch off now! Please postpone it till 2 months later! ^_^

Not sure why but I always feel tired on lab days even if the experiments do no require much work. So, I shall sleep early today. Before 12, I promise! haha. Have a great week!

Honours/Graduate?

2011-02-13T18:13:00.005+08:00

Ah, it's been a week since I last update this blog of mine. Have been busy this past week. Had to finish up assignments, tutorials, 2 x lab reports and study for quiz. The semester has now really begun!

Went home rather late on Friday. Stayed back in school after TM tutorial to do some stuff. After that, my friends and the others were discussing about going to year 4 and doing the honours project. It was an interesting discussion; some points which I've never considered before were stated by some of them. Factors such as do you intend to work in the same industry as what you're studying now, choosing your projects, horror stories about FYP supervisors, pay-wise, the fact that a lot of companies (esp pharmaceutical ones) are leaving singapore, and the fact that a lot of employers don't bother to look at your honours cert unless you're first classhonours graduate, were much discussed and debated about on that day. Needless to day, after that, the probability of me going on for honours has dropped. It is now 60% probability that I would graduate after this semester. The change has got nothing to do with peer influence though. Just that the discussion has made me thinking and I felt that the points brought across were mostly logical.

Woke up early yesterday to meet up with the two KCs, KaiChuan and KaeChian (my NS buddies), and had breakfast with them. We went to Casuarina Curry @ Casuarina Road to have prata there. It's been a while since we met, so we took the chance to catch up with each other. Topics such as our past experiences when we were in the team were inevitably reminisced. It's always great to look back at all the happy times that we had. My 1.5 years in the team has always been one of the highlights of my life. There will be a chalet coming soon too as a few SCs and regular will be leaving the team. 24th Feb, I can't wait for the date to come.

The meet yesterday was also due to KaiChuan going down under to Aussie to complete his degree. Hearing his story about how expensive it is to study at a private school in singapore (where each module cost about 3k), made me realised how fortunate I am. I can't imagine what I would do if I didn't get into my current school. I would probably be working now and not studying FT cos I can never afford that kind of money to pay for my school fees. I come from a family where we don't believe in having debts. If we want something, we pay it in full and never in installments. If we can't pay for it, then we will not buy it. That does not mean we are rich, just that we prefer to live within our means. And seeing there are many people today who are debt-ridden, I am thankful that I have been raised up the way my family has raised me.

That's it for this short update. Tomorrow is the start of another academic week. Hello Week 6! After you leave, it will be recess week! Woohooo!

Have a lovely week, as always! :)

Teaching (edited)

2011-02-06T15:29:00.008+08:00

After a month long hiatus, I woke up early today to finally join the guys for soccer at FICO. The toe still hasn't recovered yet, but like my friend said, "Play first, regret later." haha! Unsurprisingly, the long break has taken a toll on my fitness. I felt tired after a mere few games. This is bad. I have to regain back my fitness, I have to. I've always admire people with good stamina. It is something that I always aim to attain but have so far never been able to achieve. Where did I go wrong? Probably I didn't push myself hard enough and that more often than not, I've given up too easily. Hmm..

Stopped by at Ann-Tee-You-See to buy some stuff on the way home. Met one of the staff there who had requested me before to give tuition to her kids. And today, she asked me again and for the second time, I politely declined. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against tuition or teaching other people. I would love to if I'm 'fit' enough. But to me, to be a good teacher, you need to have confidence. Without confidence, you will not be able to deliver you stuff well and your message may not be brought across to your students effectively. And truthfully, I don't have this confidence. I myself am not entirely confident about my subjects, how am I going to teach other people? I don't want other people's kids to do more badly in their studies, rather than improving. Especially since her child has the ambition to become a doctor! Omg, if I were to tutor her, I'll definitely be ultra stressed! A wrong method of teaching and her wish is wrecked! -_-

And with this, I have to say that I have the utmost respect for all teachers and teachers-to-be. I think teaching is a noble profession which often does not get the amount of recognition that it deserves. It doesn't matter which level you're teaching, be it pre-school level, primary, or JC level etc. One of the qualities that I see in good teachers, besides confidence, is patience. Being patient and knowing how to control your students are important, especially in today's society where the kids' behaviours are somewhat different from few decades ago. I myself have never been a "truly-obedient" student back in the lower levels of school. I have made mistakes, some of them I wish I've never made. But one thing that I can never forget are all the teachers whom have taught me throughout my school life. To all of them, I can only say thank you. Thank you for teaching me. Thank you for imparting all the knowledge to me and correcting me when I make mistakes. Each and everyone of you have been an inspiration to me. Thank you for helping me become what I am today.

Oh, I also have to say that I think there is a big misconception that one's cleverness is gauged by where one attends his/her school. I don't really believe that being in NUS means you are clever. I am one fine example. If you ask me questions regarding what I've learnt during the early years of education, I think I would have failed terribly. Don't ask me how I got to NUS. You can call it luck or a miracle. Whatever it is, it just happened. lol.

Talking to the lady earlier kinda embarrassed me slightly. Because I can't hold a decent conversation in malay! I realised my grasp of the language is becoming poorer to the extent that it's hard for me to talk to someone in pure malay, meaning without the inclusion of english words into my sentences. To think that I once excel in this mother tongue language of mine, this is bad, really bad. I think I should start to watch more of malay shows and read malay books. And probably go and talk to people who can speak malay to me too! I have to restore my language proficiency as I don't want to be a laughing stock where people would say, "Hey, he's a malay but doesn't know his language!" Probably Sharon who is taking MALAY 3 in nus is already laughing too if she's reading this! haha

The long weekend has passed and school will resume tomorrow. I don't know how many times I've said this in my posts, but yeah, how time flies! haha. It's already week 5 this coming week! Gosh! Time to buck-up!

Till next time, have a good day! :)

You're perfect to me

2011-02-04T21:33:00.005+08:00

Came across this song some time ago, and I think it's pretty good. The lyrics are meaningful and the message it tries to bring across, to accept each other for their true identities, is great. It's something that many people could relate to. The video is equally good too. It is about a woman's struggles (depression, alienation etc) before she eventually become a successful artist, and delivers a message against cutting and suicide.

Here it is, Perfect (clean version) by P!nk.

To me, everyone is perfect in his or her own ways. I have always believe in this. We should never try to change ourselves just because someone doesn't like a certain aspect of us or because it doesn't conform to the norm. Ultimately, being unique and special in our own ways are what differentiate us from everybody else. :)

Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead
So complicated, look happy, you'll make it!

Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect,
Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing
You're perfect to me...

Traditions

2011-02-02T12:38:00.006+08:00

Yes! It's the long-awaited longgggg weekend! Woohooo! A great time to rest the mind and body!

To all those who are celebrating, let me take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Lunar New Year! All the best in the year of the Rabbit! Hong bao na lai! haha..
Talking about that, I will always get the same reply from my friends each year.. "I'm not married yet." Haiya... It reminds me there was once I keep pestering my friend until she really gave me one. A big hongbao somemore! But with nothing inside.. haha! I still remember it was given to me just before we enter the exam hall! I was so excited to receive it cos it was the first time that anyone gave me a red packet! lol.. What's inside doesn't matter of course.

Oh, that reminds me of another matter. Some years ago, a friend of mine told me that when they received hong bao, they can only open them after the 15 days of celebration (something to do with luck iirc). When I asked my other friends recently, they laughed at me (lol) and told me they can open even on the day they received it, just that not in front of the person who gave it. Is the 15 days thingy a custom/tradition no longer practised by most people? My friends also told me that the 'cannot sweep the floor' and 'cannot wash/cut hair' rules are some of the things they no longer practised. These raised an interesting question. Are we losing our customs and traditions? And I'm not referring to the chinese only. From observation, it seems the indians, and surely, the malays, no longer follow strictly the traditions that our forefathers practised in the past. For instance, the spirit of gotong-royong is rarely practised here in Singapore these days. Even when it does, it's not the same as what I observed when I was a child. Is modernization responsible for all these? Or has practicality taken a higher priority in this fast-paced society? One thing for sure, the customs and traditions observed by the different races here have slowly, but surely, declined.

And talking about CNY, I think my niece is surely on her way to become trilingual. She's already quite fluent in her English and Malay, and now, I think she has started to get comfortable with the Chinese language too. All this is thanks to her lessons at her kindergarten, where the language is part of the curriculum. My friends told me that I should get another set of exercise books from the school for myself so that I could learn together with her! Why didn't I think of that? Very good idea indeed! Maybe in time to come, she could tutor me too! haha

That's it for now. Have a lovely weekend! :)

Those little things

2011-01-29T18:57:00.002+08:00

While hugging me, my niece said, "You're the best 'brother' in the whole wide world!"

It may mean nothing to most people. But to me, coming from a 4-year old, it means a lot.

I know that whatever happens in the future, my family will always be there to support me. What more could I ask for?

:)

Sunshine after the rain

2011-01-28T17:44:00.008+08:00

The weekend is here again. Kejam celik kejam celik, pantas sungguh masa berlalu.

Went to the career fair for the 2nd time during the 2 hour-break. Unlike yesterday, I received a lot of freebies and information from the different companies today. After attending the fair and seeing all the different jobs available, I'm very tempted to graduate this year. Well, shall see how the present sem goes before making my decision.

Today I witnessed a classic case of monkey-see-monkey-do. Everybody was waiting outside the LT assuming that the lecture from the previous slot has not finished yet. Well, no one bothered to open the door to check if there was actually a lecture going on. Everyone assumed there was. We all know what you'll get when you assume. You'll make an ass out of you and me. At least that was what I have been told during my early years of education. Needless to say, the lecture theater was empty when I went to open the door to check.

For the lecture itself, the lecturer made a good impression of Sheldon Cooper again. He might not know who the character is, but darn, his sniggering, like a friend of mine says, and talk about finding your fixed point where live revolves around it, does remind me, and I'm sure everyone else who's a fan of TBBT, of Dr. Cooper. Probably all smart people are like that? I don't know.

Nothing much to update actually. Lacking the endorphins to write further too. Till the next post, have an enjoyable weekend.

I don't understand why it's affecting me. This cannot happen. I have promised myself that. But I don't know why I felt uneasy after noticing it and this is not good. It's amazing how a single encounter affects you more greatly than all the happy things that happened today combined. What a 'great' way to end the week. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Never mind, tomorrow will be a better day. There will be sunshine after the rain. There will be..

Bulan, jangan biar siang, biar alam ini kelam,

Biar ia sepi, sepertiku.

Cookiesss!

2011-01-25T18:10:00.004+08:00

Yes! Today I received a cookies treat by Ms So again! Yum yum! haha.. A great way to start the lectures! Nice! Thank you to Christine! Woohooo!

I realised coffee seems to have an opposite effect on me. I drank coffee in between lectures earlier and I felt sleepy right after drinking it. Now I know what to take if I ever suffer from insomnia. haha!

The Green Hornet opens this week in theaters. Thinking of catching it cos of one of the main actors. No, not Jay Chou. Don't get me wrong, I respect him as a singer and a song-writer cos he does make and sing great songs. But acting is a different thing altogether. Yes, it's Seth Rogen I'm talking about. If he's acting, I'm sure the movie will be pretty funny! Just take a look at Superbad, Knocked up and 40-year old virgin, and you'll know why their ratings were all on the high side. The common denominator? Seth Rogen of course! Yeah, I'm looking for a good laugh! haha..

CC talked about how we and the others have changed from the poly days till now in terms of appearance. Talking about that, I really missed my poly days. Those were the days where we go down to the canteen to get curry puffs during lab time while waiting for instrument or reaction to finish. Those were the days where I'll always sit at the most front row of the LT where I don't mind being asked questions during lecture, and also a certain chinese lecturer will always ask me questions in malay! Those were the days where friendships were more genuinely forged, rather than based on academic excellence (although I saw some exceptions). And definitely, I miss my chubbier face and more carefree life! argh! The list can go on and on... but to continue looking at the past and lamenting about it isn't good. Our lives move forwards, not backwards. There are still lots more ahead of us.. lots more experiences to gain, lots more people that we will meet. Nevertheless, whatever happens in the future, these memories of my poly life, just like the other important chapters of my story, will always be etched in my heart.

All right, that's it for this short update. Tomorrow is my free day! From this week onwards, I'll have a mid-week break on Wednesdays! Yay! haha.. Hope I could do some catching up with my school work, and possibly start on my report. lol.

Till then, signing off. :)

Fierce

2011-01-24T17:47:00.005+08:00

Today I finally realised the benefits and importance of sleeping early. I turned in before 12 last night, as I was having a fever and a bad headache, and got about 8 hours of sleep. When I woke up, I was feeling very refreshed, eager to start the day! haha! This actually showed that, in addition to how much time spent on sleeping, what time I start to sleep plays an important part too! Cos the feeling I felt today is different from those days when I had 8, or maybe more, hours of sleep but started after midnight! lol.. And needless to say, my headache is mostly gone now and body temperature has dropped. Thank god! This has also given me further impetus to fulfill my new year resolution! haha.. Well, sometimes you'll never know/believe the benefits until you experience them yourself.. heh

Today's lab was supposed to be a short one. However, the instrument was spoilt according to the lab tech, and thus we had to do another experiment! I was expecting a 15 minutes lab session. Instead, I got a 2 hour-plus one! The lab report seems harder to do too! Argh!

Today, I was told that I have a fierce look that the person is afraid to say 'hi' to me. Oh no, is this true? That means there is an angry face on me most of the time (when I'm not smiling)? I am an introvert and I don't talk alot, but I have never see myself putting a fierce look. I am a friendly person leh! lol.. Maybe I should bring a mirror next time and look at it wherever I go, so that people won't get the wrong impression. haha! But then again, if someone whom you barely know, ask you for your phone number after a few conversations, you can't help but to feel shocked and taken aback. ^_^

A falling star.. least I fall alone..

Which way will you go?

2011-01-23T16:19:00.014+08:00

Phew, just finished my many-many-pages-with-many-many-graphs lab report. I think this is the first time my lab report reached 5k words! ^_^ and no, this just concluded report is not because I have been procrastinating. Just that I was pretty occupied in doing other stuff this past week. Am still sick. It is, I tell you, not fun to do your report while being sick! But somehow, I survived and hopefully the sickness will go away soon! shoo shoo~!!

Found out from FB that shrek and fiona has separated and has now become mere friends. That explains their sitting positions in class. I'm sure things will become difficult, not to mention awkward, considering that they are from the same clique. It kinda reminded me about the situation I had gone through before, although the circumstances were kinda different. (Yes, I'm someone who'll start to reminisce even if the similarity is only slight..lol). It is tough and hard to forget something especially since you will be seeing the other party every single day. It took me almost two years before I finally started to let go. There's a saying that goes "Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship -- never" -Charles Caleb Colton. Well, some people would subscribe to this principle, while others could defeat this notion and eventually became friends again. I guess it has got to do with how strong and how willing are you to let it go, after all the time spent together previously. One thing I've learnt from my experience is not to dwell on it for too long. Time waits for no man. Cry a river, build a bridge and get over it. Life still goes on, no matter how you look at it. It is too short for us to dwell on things that had already happened. Live life to the fullest, cherish it and be happy! =)

It is the start of the 3rd week of the school term tomorrow. So fast! I'm still in the holiday mood lah. How? How? haha... Week 3 also means that tutorials, assignments etc will start to pour in.. boring! Oh, and I haven't been following through my new year resolution of sleeping before 12 on weekdays! Shucks! I need something to remind me to sleep before midnight, cos I often don't realise the time until it has passed the golden hour. Haiya...

Yes, I can't wait for my cookies treat this week! haha.. Just thinking about it has made me hungry.. haha! I shall end this post with a song from the winner of 2nd season of X-Factor Australia, Altiyan Childs. Great song and meaningful lyrics. ".. Somewhere in the world tonight.. everything’s alright..." Have a great week ahead! :)

Bittersweet

2011-01-20T18:37:00.006+08:00

Today is a good day! Because today is Sharon's birthday! haha..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARON!
May your dreams and wishes come true! Hope you had a great day!

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Another friend of mine also has lost his pet tortoise on this very day. =(

I've made up my mind. I'll be taking organic instead of quantum. Yesterday's lecture seals it. Lecture very dry + lots of maths + 80 mins lecture without stopping = bad Bad BAD! I'm sorry quantum, it was fun when I first got to know you. But after a while, I realised you're too difficult and boring for me to handle. Till we meet again in the future. I shall put my faith now on the organic module. Uncle Richard, I heard that you're a nice guy. I hope you won't disappoint or shock me during test/exam time. haha!

I'm down with cold now. The bad thing when you're sick is that it hinders you from doing alot of things, including your school work. Hmm, which kind soul has passed the virus to me??? Own up! haha..

The weather these few days is kinda weird. It can be very hot during mid-day, while dropping to a cool temperature in the evening, or sometimes rain, like today. If only, snow falls.. lol..

All right, have a good Thursday! Weekend will be here again, shortly. Cherish it! =)

When an Aries become a Pisces

2011-01-18T19:46:00.008+08:00

If you haven't heard about it yet, there has been news recently on major sites about a 'new' zodiac sign. Yes, there is a 13th star sign called 'Ophiuchus' that is between Scorpio and Sagittarius.

"SOME find it hard to accept changes in their lives, while others adapt to it quickly. But here are some changes that might not go down well with many.

What if someone told you your horoscope is not what it is and that whatever you've known about yourself all these years might be altered?

Astronomers from Minnesota Planetarium Society have revealed that the alignment of the stars has been pushed by about a month because of the moon's gravitational pull on Earth.

This means that those born under the Virgo sign find themselves as Leos now, and those born in December now belong to a (gasp!) new sign...." -Taken from AsiaOne

Can read more here or just google about it and you'll find lots of recent news about this so-called change.

So, for most people, our star sign would be the one that precedes that of which you have always identify yourself with. Therefore, I would be a Pisces instead of an Aries! Did some read up on the traits of a Pisces and some of which really describe me!! haha.. For instance, one of which states that , "You excel at becoming emotionally involved in every little development of your life, even if the results hurt you in the end and they often do." Aiseh, how true! haha.. No wonder sometimes when I read the horoscope for an Aries before this, I can't relate to it very well.. lol.. But with this development, a problem has arise. So now I have to change my blog address is it?!?! hahaa..

Anyway, yesterday was the start of my lab! And I just have to say this... I miss my organic/inorganic lab!!! Physical lab is very boring! And every week there will be reports to write! argh! Although my org/inorg lab can easily finish till 4 or 5pm, with lots of waiting time, the process of doing the experiments is fun! I know it's premature, but so far, the same thing cannot be said for physical lab. Well, I guess the fact that something will be produced at the end of the lab excites me. lol. The only consolation would be that the physical/analytical lab is a little cooler than the org/inorg lab! ^_^

After being stressed out by lab, me and friends went out for a sluncher at Cineleisure and thereafter we went to K-box! Wah, it has been a long while since I last held a mic! haha.. Sang some songs, including one of my fav all-time k-song, Hao xin fen shou! Although it's a sad song, it's a nice one to sing! lol.. Finished at 10 plus, reached home about an hour later. We are still in the holiday mood! heh

Having headache now. Probably cos not enough sleep. And there's 8am Quantum lecture tomorrow. I guess I should sleep early tonight.. if I can finish my work fast that is! haha..

Have a lovely week!

Duality

2011-01-14T23:47:00.004+08:00

Wootz! 1 week of the new term has passed! Just like that!

Great to be back in school! Great to see all the familiar faces again! And great to be in the company of the friends too! All the jokes we shared never fail to make the day more interesting, especially when the lectures are boring. haha!

About my modules... When I started the sem, I was very determined to take Quantum and TM modules. Quantum, in particular, cos I told myself I have to avoid Organic and Bio modules at all cost after past experiences! After 1 week of lectures, my mind have changed. While the lack of interest of Bio didn't change, the Organic module is starting to interest me more than that of Quantum. Especially since we have been told that the latter module involves lots of maths. And I hate maths... ever since the basic maths module I had in year 1, that is! lol..

It's interesting to know how the university can change your taste. Before uni, I always like math subjects while doing fairly well in them. Once I enter the uni and took that module, it seems these higher level mathematics don't appeal to my brain. All those limits, exponential series, etc etc etc can be very confusing for me! If only maths are just problem sums, factorization, expansion.. then life would be perfect for me! hahaha.. Anyway, I shall give myself till next week before making my final decision on the modules. Luckily I bid for the Organic module on the last day of the bidding period. If not, the process of appealing for mods etc would be messy.

I'm so tired now. Can't believe I went down to Orchard three times this week alone, two of which were to get something done. Body now all aching lah, and of course, my toe hasn't recovered yet! Thus, still can't join the guys for soccer! Argh! All right, think better turn in now. Tomorrow morning gotta go NTU for something.

Oh, I know no one reads my blog these days. But nvm, talking to yourself is also fun too! haha.. Have a lovely weekend!

Year 3 Sem 2

2011-01-10T15:34:00.004+08:00

Tomorrow is the start of the new semester.

Being probably my last semester in NUS, I have promised myself to work hard to get the best results within my capabilities. I don't want to disappoint my family, as well as myself. And knowing that I can never eradicate procrastination, I have pledge to keep it to a minimum. Hopefully I won't get distracted easily. lol. And yes, I shall try to sleep before midnight on weekdays from now on! haha

My left toe is still injured. What a 'great' way to start the new semester. Not sure how long before I can go running, swimming, and most importantly, play football again! *frustrated*

Went youtube-ing JK Rowling's Harvard commencement speech again last night after Christine shared with me that of Steve Jobs', and the quote she gave at the end always inspires me.

"As is a tale, so is life. Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters." -Seneca

Have a great cold week ahead!

Feeling depressed

2010-12-25T23:17:00.006+08:00

Feeling down right now.

There's nothing to look forward to.

Had a game of soccer with the usual peeps at fico earlier. I thought that would cheer me up. What I got instead was a cut on my chin and damaged left toe.

Got my results earlier in the week. Not bad + CAP improved. But till now, I still haven't decided whether to continue with the honours year or not. There are external factors to consider other than the current grades that I have.

I looked through my chat logs/msgs and realised just how many mistakes I have done to other people. I'm a bad person.

It's the holidays and I ought to catch up with friends, and yet everyone seems to be drifting away.

I no longer have the motivation to see through each day.

I'm losing it.

Despite me smiling and showing happy faces, most of them are just me putting up facades so that people won't worry.

I'm feeling depressed.

Yup, my life is pathetic. Thanks for reading.

-emo mode-

Be happy!

2010-10-15T18:18:00.003+08:00

Just had to blog this.

Today started out as a moody/emo day. Reached school in the morning but no mood to study for the upcoming tests. And kept falling asleep too! haha

And then, things began to change....

Reached earlier for lecture, as always.. While waiting for the lecturer to come, I heard Christine coming up and calling me, (well, not really my name but my nick) and gave me subway cookies! It was really a pleasant surprise! hehe.. Thank you to her!

Class ended, and another surprise awaits me.

Walked to the bus-stop and boarded the 95 bus. Then saw Sharon boarding the same bus! Ahhh, been a long while since we last bumped into each other on the public transport! It's always great to have company on your journey home, even though I'll probably bore the other party cos of my introvert nature! haha... Nonetheless, it was nice to have her company and spending the time to catch up with each other! =)

Today is a lovely day indeed! :)

Sickly

2010-09-27T21:11:00.002+08:00

I'm sick.

Fever. Flu. Sore throat.

It always happen when I'm planning to stuff myself with food.

Hate it.

This is one of the reason why it's tough for me to gain weight.

Damn.

I need a rest.

Not sure whether I'll be skipping school tomorrow.

That's all.

Bye.

Short update

2010-09-18T16:07:00.004+08:00

The last time I updated this blog was at the start of school. Now, more than a month later, the recess week has arrived. A lot of things have happened within this period, mostly studies related. Hari Raya has also arrived last week and that marked the end of my 1 month of fasting. As you get older, the excitement of the festival will decline. I'm no longer that excited as when I was younger. The added stress of schoolwork didn't help either. During the last weekend, I had to juggle time doing my reports, tutorials, study of tests and do the traditional visiting to relative homes as well as entertain guests. Fortunately, the week went past pretty well and my test was doable.

IFG has also finished a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, we didn't do well. Only managed a draw out of the 4 matches and the other 3 ended in defeats. The consolation for me was that I scored the only goal for the team for the entire tournament. Never mind, let's try again next year. I may join again if I decide to continue with my honours year.

It's one week holiday for me this coming week. Finally, after two years in the uni, there's no report, test, tutorials to do! Shall take the time to rest my mind. And now that the fasting month has passed, I shall continue back with my fitness regime. I shall try to keep myself fit and healthy.

This coming Tuesday is another of Team Alpha's chalet. It's been a long while since I meet up with my team-mates and I can't wait.

My sis has found a new job. And I'm very happy for her. Wish her all the best in the new chapter of her life. One of my cousins has just given birth, as I write this, to a baby girl. That means another addition to my big gang of nephews/nieces. Congrats to her on the newborn.

Some of my friends around me are facing problems. Even though I may not be able to help, I hope and pray that their problems will be solved soon so that they can live their normal lives again. Cos it doesn't feel good when you see those around you being troubled with issues, problems etc. I certainly wish I can help, wherever I can, if they allow me.

You'll feel so moody when people around you are moody. Hmm...

Obnoxious

2010-08-10T21:53:00.006+08:00

Hello! Since some people are bugging me to blog, I shall update now.. haha..

Today is the start of my 3rd year in uni! How time flies! I only had a 2 hour lecture today which started at 2pm. That's one of the good things for this semester.. that is, I get to wake up late on most of the days! No 8am lessons anymore! Yeah! While walking to the LT, I glanced through and saw a lot of 'fresh and eager' faces. Never really look at the girls though.. cos after all they are only xmm, born in the 90s!! Holy smokes, I FEEL OLD!!! hahaha.. Anyway, the first lecture went well and the lecturer gave a good first impression to me. Let's hope this continue for the rest of the semester.

This time around I have decided to mug less for my modules and enjoy life more! I'm not being overly confident or think that the modules are easy. Just that, I think I should not put myself with unnecessary stress and instead enjoy more of what I want/like to do! Life is short anyway!

Tomorrow is the start of the fasting month! Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak! Also, tomorrow and friday I'll be having IFG soccer training at school. Luckily it's in the evening(means near break-fasting time), if not I'm not sure how I'll survive the trainings. Oh yeah, because of my fasting, I'll be missing my weekly dose of soccer with my buddies! Ah, that sucks! Just as we are about to feel accustomed to FICO.. lol.. Nvm, 1 more month and I'll be back!

Oh yeah, I forgot. When I was about to reach my LT earlier in the day, I saw Miss Arrogant outside the theatre. Why do I call her Miss Arrogant? Well, she never seem to smile when she noticed me. Even though I've seen her on the bus-stop on the way to sch regularly for the past 2 years, she never tried to return my smile or acknowledge it whenever I bumped into her. I'm not exactly obsessed with the person or what lah. Just that sometimes it makes me really wonder what 'wrong' have I done!? Maybe she find my face obnoxious, or I have a bad aura? =(

Ah well, never mind. Life still goes on.. haha! Tata~!

Updates

2010-08-01T20:43:00.007+08:00

It's been a while since I last updated this blog.. cos there's nothing much to update and have been kinda busy.

During the holidays, especially for the past month, I have become more sporty. Played football weekly with my sec sch mates and picked up a new outdoor hobby. The thing about outdoor activities is that, even though you'll get more chao tah(which I already am), they'll get canceled when it rains. This sucks especially when you're all motivated to carry out these hobbies. Just like today, when there was a downpour and my soccer got canceled. Despite all these, I feel my body is in a better shape now. Hopefully, I can pass the next IPPT I'll be taking, whenever it may be.

Went out with my uni friends last week to have dinner, do some catch-up and watch a movie. It was also to be our 'last outing' before two of them flew off for their exchange programme later this month. Ate at Manhattan Fish Market at Marina Sq and caught The Sorcerer's Apprentice at Suntec. The movie was pretty nice, especially with all the visual effects. It was funny too. The show finished just in time for us to catch up on the last remaining train services. Other than that day, and a few other dates with friends, I've not really been going out during this three months. I know, needless to say, my life is pretty pathetic. I lead a boring life...

Anyway, this coming week will be the last for my holidays and sch will reopen on the day after National Day. We are halfway through the bidding period now. Hopefully, I'll get the modules and lab timing I want. Fingers crossed.

Two days ago, I celebrated one of the more significant dates of my life. As always, I have mixed emotions cos it involves both the highest and lowest points of my teenage life. Some people tell me that I should let the bad stuff go away and don't cling onto it. Well, the fact is, I'm not really clinging onto anything. Even though I may have forgiven all the wrongdoings that have been done, I'll always remember the specific date till I grow old. For it serves me as a lesson and a reminder of my mistakes so as to never repeat them again in the future. I would never want a second scar etched on my heart...

That's all. Till next time, bye.

Losing your loved ones..

2010-06-28T22:52:00.004+08:00

Hello!

It's been a month since my last update. Nothing much to update and also lazy lah. Soon, 2 months of my holidays would have been gone and then there will only be one month left before I hit the notes again. How time flies! During this holiday, I've not done much so far. For that, I'm rather disappointed with myself. Hopefully, for the last third of my holidays, I'll manage to achieve something I've been wanting for a long while. A secret for now, but *fingers crossed*.

The past week has been very torturous for me. I had a high fever on last tuesday and my temp was fluctuating between 38 to 39+ degrees, peaking at 39.4 on few occasions. It was bad, really bad. And my body refuse to sweat, which means it was unable to lose the heat. Coupled with sore throat and flu, I was practically very weak, staying up on bed the whole week. It was only on thursday that I went to the doc after seeing that my temp didn't go down. The visit was great! The doc was funny and we talked alot about the world cup! haha! Worth the consultation fees! lol.. Miraculously though, after reaching home from the doc, my body temp shot back to 39-ish!! The viruses must have been very angry at my visit to the clinic! haha.. Anyway, my fever began to die down at about saturday and now it's left with the sore throat! Arrgghh, please let it heal faster!

Anyway, yesterday I receive the unfortunate news that sam's mum has passed away. So, earlier in the evening, I went to the wake together with Meixuan, Yiting and XiangHong. Even though this isn't my first chinese funeral, this is the first time I attended a catholic one. Met Sam, then pay respect and then sat down at the table to talk for a while. We left a short while after the prayers started. Losing a parent will never be easy. But I hope she'll be strong going through this difficult experience. And no matter what, we, as friends, will definitely always be there if needed.

My body has been down for the past week. And sadly, so has my enthusiasm. Sigh..

Reservist

2010-05-23T21:47:00.004+08:00

Hello folks!

To whoever that is still reading this blog, I hope you've been doing great!

I've just completed my 1st reservist cycle (aside from the IPPT this coming wednesday). The three tours I had with JW team 'C' was great! I've learnt alot of new things, gain valuable experience, had lots of fun and laughter and of course, get to meet a bunch of great people!! I had the 'privilege' to experience lots of interesting stuffs but because of certain restriction, I shall not state it here. Nevertheless, thanks to everyone who had made my stay in the team a comfortable one! Will miss you guys! 9 more cycles to go! haha

My TL and other team-mates gave me an advice before I left. That is basically, to 'open-up and be more outspoken'. Actually, this is nothing new. I got the same advice when I finished my NS in DHQ 'A'. In fact, I think whenever I leave a certain place, that same advice will be said to me. What does this show? That I've never learnt? Nah! On the contrary, I feel that I did changed. Maybe it's too small a change that people didn't notice it. And sometimes, when I did try to be more open, people don't appreciate it. Especially in NUS. Maybe it's the age gap, or the difference in mentality. God knows. But the bottom line is, whatever advices that have been given to me, rest assured that I have taken them seriously.

They say that life is a journey. So, thank you to all those who have guided me on which paths to take throughout this long journey.

Happy mood

2010-04-06T19:01:00.011+08:00

Despite my busy schedule, I just had to update about this.

I went out of the hall early after my test today. While loitering around and waited for my friends to finish, someone walked up to me. I looked up and saw Yuting holding onto something and then gave it to me while wishing me a happy belated birthday. I was utterly shocked and lost for words! All I could mumbled was a thank you. I know I should have said something more, but my brain was still digesting this unexpected encounter that nothing else seemed to come out of my mouth. Anyway, inside the bag that was given to me was a present for my birthday, or should I say, presents! =)

Well, as you can see, I received, not one, not two but three presents! They were actually from Yuting and Sharon! So, to the both of them, I would like to say a big THANK YOU! I was very pleasantly surprised by their gesture, especially since we don't interact that often. Nevertheless, thank you again for making me such a happy man today! *Big smile* hahahaaa...

Oh yeah, about the test.. lol.. it was okay I guess. Luckily it wasn't that hard (I think) as I fell asleep while doing my revision last night. I feel relieved too that I've completed and handed in my 2 lab reports due tmr. Now, there's one more report to go and then I can concentrate fully on my exams! Yeah! Looking forward to my 3 months break! hehe..

In the meantime, back to my school work! Ciao!
------------------------------------------------------------

I always believe that whenever something bad happens, good things will come soon if you continue to believe. They may not be related to each other but that generally happens to me. Today, the fortunate encounter further reinforces this believe. Life is always full of ups and downs. When something bad happens, don't despair. Learn from your mistakes (if you've made one) and move one. Your life will not change for the better if you continue to think that all hope is lost. At this point though, I would like to say that I'm fortunate enough to have great people around me to support me whenever I'm feeling down. It is due to their presence that I live a happy life today.

My hatchday

2010-04-03T22:50:00.003+08:00

Today is a very significant day. Today is my birthday.

Nothing special happened on this "special" day though.

24-years old now. I feel old.

There's one wish that I hope for. That things between us will be as before.

But I know it may never come true for you have stopped talking to me, for reasons that only God knows...

I know I've not been updating this blog, partly because I've been very busy with my school work. Will update again when I have the time.

Sense of appreciation

2010-02-06T00:08:00.004+08:00

Even if we never speak to each other again, even if we never chat with each other again, I'll never regret what I've done. Maybe I'm just too sensitive, but if my intuition is right, then I don't understand why the sudden change in attitude.

It hurts when others don't appreciate what you have done, especially if they are done with good, sincere intention. When I offer to help, why can't others accept them without feeling suspicious? When I give something, why can't they accept without thinking I have other intentions towards them? Why must there be a hidden agenda in everything I do? Why can't it be that I help because I really want to help or I give something because I really want to, due to certain occasions?

That being said, I do not regret my actions. If people cannot appreciate my efforts, then so be it. But I'll still continue to be the way I am as I see nothing wrong with it. "Two roads diverged in a wood... and I took the one less traveled by.." I believe someday, some people will appreciate the things I do.

It's only the 4th week of school but I've been busy, very busy with my school work. It seems there's no difference in my workload or free time by taking one less module this semester. And because of that, I've been accumulating sleep debt as I've been sleeping for irregular hours. Just last night, I only had 30mins of 'proper sleep'. My sleep deprivation has also caused me to easily fall asleep after few minutes of reading my notes. Additionally, I could feel my body becoming weary. If this goes on, I know it can have detrimental effect on my studies especially since tests are coming up soon. Hmm, time to review my time management. Meanwhile, I guess I should catch some much needed sleep since it's the weekends now!

Good night ppl! Have a great weekend ahead! =)

Project ST - Complete!

2010-01-19T17:01:00.004+08:00

Aiseh, my plan nearly failed today! haha.. Went to school much earlier this morning. Waited, waited and waited but no sign of her.. So, no choice, went to class and went ahead with my back-up plan. When planning for something, always have a back-up plan in mind! haha.. Especially so for me, cos this past week I've been very unlucky with the stuffs I did! Arghh! When I didn't see her before class, I thought I was going to go through another round of failure yet again! But phew, the alternative route was still present and thus the LT became the platform instead. Oh ya, I got a Dove choc in return too! Sweet! It feels like an X-mas gift exchange! hahaa...

Anyway, I know she will not be reading this but nonetheless, let me wish Ms Sharon Tan a Happy (advance) 21st Birthday!! May all her dreams and wishes come true in this great year! =)))

The result of the 2nd round of my tutorial balloting will be out later tonight. Let's hope, on this great day, the results will be in my favour! As what Black Eyed Peas says, I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night.. hahaha! But even if I failed to get my desired slot, it's all right. Life still moves on.. =))

From bad to worse

2010-01-18T20:33:00.002+08:00

Things just keep getting worse.

I failed to get my tutorial slot! Arrgghhh!!

Now, I just hope tomorrow would not turn out as bad.

*prays hard*

Flunked

2010-01-14T19:50:00.003+08:00

I'm so disappointed.

Within this 1 week, I have failed numerous things.

1) I failed to secure the module I want.

2) I failed to secure my preferred practical slot.

3) And today, I failed my classification shoot!

4) Other stuffs, which I can't recall now, but I know they are present cos collectively, they have lowered my morale.

Did I fail because I fail to plan? Are the distractions around me caused my failures? Does a bobo shooter destined to always be a bobo shooter?

Today's shooting failure has really brought my disappointment to another level. I thought I've tried my best, and yet I've flunked. Now, I have to wait for another retest which will cause me to miss another day of lessons.

I'm very disappointed in myself.

Really.

Shoot

2010-01-12T20:56:00.003+08:00

It's the second day of school today and thus I've finished the first round of lectures for all my modules. Here are my first impressions.

Organic - Introduced himself as a strict person. My first impression is that he can teach well, or at least deliver the materials well. That is good.

Spectro 1 - Second time teaching me, so not so much of a first impression.. haha.. Lots of equations as always.

Spectro 2 - Not sure whether it's because I was lacking of sleep or the lecturer's melodious' voice, but I almost fall asleep in that lecture. Time to stock on red bulls! Oh, and I shall not be bad by talking about his appearance.. ^__^

Landscape - Similar like the organic's lecturer, he delivers his stuffs well with a slight slang but with clarity and the occasional humour. That is good and important!

Okay, today wasn't as good a day as that of Monday. I knew it, good/bad days will always come in pairs, one after the other. At least that's what my experience have taught me. Yesterday was kind of a good day with me having only a 2 hr lesson and received a pleasant surprise while waiting for the bus to go home. Today, however, I screwed up my lab registration. As a result the order of my labs did not go according to plan, and to top it off, I did not manage to get any slot for one of my module. I guess I've placed too much trust on the wireless capabilities in NUS. I've learnt my lesson. All that is left for me now is to appeal and hope for the best.

I'm not sure why but I can't really concentrate on today's lecture. Somehow, there is someone/something distracting me and caused me to lose my focus on what's being taught by the lecturers. That being said, there are few things on my mind lately, because of the events that are happening within these 7 days, especially that of next week's. What if the plan fails? Hmm...

Tomorrow will be a free day, but will accompany mum to SNEC for her follow-up. On Thursday, I have to skip school because I have my NS recall for shooting! I think it will be only like the 2nd time in my 1 1/2 years that I'm skipping a lecture. Can't help it though, when the nation calls for your service, you just got to render it.. haha.. Now now, I'm not sure how I'll fare in the shoot cos I've not been training my fingers. Maybe I'll fail again, who knows. haha. Never mind, let's just hope for the best.

Wish me luck peeps! =)

A new dawn awaits

2010-01-07T21:34:00.003+08:00

Woot! It has been quite a while since I've updated this blog. Been busy with stuffs lah.. lol.. But before I forget, let me wish you a Happy New Year! May 2010 brings us lots of luck and happiness!

School starts next week and I kinda dreading it! Module-bidding is over for me though, although I only need choose an elective and the rest are cores for this sem. Yes, I'm only taking 4 modules this sem! For a poly graduate, I've been 'overloading' the last couple of semesters. So, this time around, I feel like slacking! haha.. But looking at the modules this sem, which are memory-intensive, I doubt there will be much rest for me, especially for my brain. But it's okay, as long as the workload is less (even by a little), I'm contented. It seems my brain not functioning as good as before. What does this show? I'm growing old! Oh no, jialat lah like that..... lol

Was looking at the name-list for my elective and found that there are few familiar names there. Some I would be happy to meet, while a couple of those I would rather they not take the same module as me. But it's all right, being the friendly person I am, I shall adapt to the situations and accommodate whatever that may happen. Yeah right! hahahaha....

Today, I spent my whole day at SNEC and SGH again. Waited like more than 5 hours at SNEC doing nothing before being transferred to SGH cos they was no bed -__-. Wait, wait and wait until I'm having a headache now. Aiyoh!

Can't wait for Sunday again.. haha.. Have been playing football with dear friends consecutively for the last 3 weekends at Cck. I feel great after each session and I want more! haha.. That being said, due to the hot sun for the last 2 sundays, I've become chao ta already! hurhur... LOL

Hmm, dunno what to update already.. hah! Oh, I will be occupied for the next couple of weeks due to studies and other events. Hence, I may not have time for any updates. So, till my next update, take care, stay healthy and be happy always! =)))

In a mess

2009-12-25T23:22:00.003+08:00

There are lots of things I want to update.

But not sure why, something is bothering me and I don't have the mood to do so.

Maybe I'll just let them reside in my mind, in my heart.

To whoever is celebrating, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

The enthusiasm is faltering..

Sweet Surprise

2009-12-23T00:30:00.002+08:00

I kinda forgotten to blog about this but since I remember it now, I shall write about it.

Few days ago, my parents went back to my Marsiling house and went they came back, they passed me an envelope which they retrieved from the letterbox. The moment I saw the envelope, I instantly know who it is from and what's inside! hahaa...

The envelope... got Santa! lol

The words have been blurred to protect out privacy.. lol... but did you see my name pasted vertically? Cool huh!?

It's a christmas card from dearest Weiting!! haha.... Thanks alot dear fren! It really took me by surprise! And yes, I'm fortunate too to have a friend like you! Thanks again for the lovely card and for the lovely words!! =))

Choices.. which one?

2009-12-22T18:03:00.002+08:00

Well well, my results is out!! What can I say, in NUS, you should always expect the unexpected! A couple of my modules didn't turned out that well as I expected, while another couple of my modules turned out better than expected (thank god!). So, as whole, it kinda cancel everything out! haha.. Just last night, I dreamt that I got straight As and I was so happy.. but after a while I thought to myself, "This is too good to be true!!" Indeed, I woke up and came back to reality. Oh well, how I wish the dream was real! But then again, I know my own limitations, there's only a certain height I could go to. So, I shall not ask for much. I'll accept the results I get. Syukur alhamdulilah. In fact, I'm already thankful that I achieved both of my targets for this semester, which is avoid a grade C for Inorganic Chemistry and the bonus of an increase in my CAP (+0.02!! lol). But it's still very far away from my targeted class of honours lah. If I dun get much better results in the next few semesters, I doubt I'll ever reach that target. I'm running out of time! Eeeks! But nvm, as they say, let's take one baby step at a time.. haha!

Anyway, went for my yearly Orchard marathon again. Went to all the major shopping centres along the whole of Orchard Rd, including 313@Somerset. Nothing much at that new shopping centre leh. Or maybe there are some shops yet to be opened. Nonetheless, this year around I wasn't looking to buy anything, cos there won't be any exchange of presents.. haha! But I was still window-shopping lah, looking out for some items in my 'to-buy' list. Now I have a rough idea on the prices of the items, and how much damage it will cost my wallet.. lol.. Later, went to Causeway Point to continue the window-shopping before taking the bus back.

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Should it be jewellery or a wallet? Hmm..

Immerse in natural phenomena

2009-12-19T19:36:00.005+08:00

Well well, what a tiring but an overall fun couple of days!

Woke up early yesterday morning to send my mum for her follow-up at the eye centre. Most of the time we were waiting, waiting and waiting. 5% of the time doing stuffs and 95% waiting!! I stood and sat waiting for either the nurse to call the name or number to flash. Kinda inefficient if you asked me. The appointment was actually early in the morning but we only get to see the doc like a few hours later! What's the point of having an appointment time then? We were there for like more than 7 hours! Anyway, the right eye was good and successful according to the doc. The surgery for the left eye will be done soon. And then we have to go through all these things again... shucks!

Reached home feeling a little groggy. Might be due to the tiredness in waiting or that I didn't have enough sleep the night before. Nonetheless, spent some quality time with my niece. Sis and bro came back late at night and then asked me whether I wanna take a spin in the rented car. Two places I had in mind. Marsiling - to transfer my notes there, and Yishun Dam! Not sure what's attracting me there, but since the first time I went there, I've been visiting the place as and when the opportunity arises. Maybe it's the journey that fascinate me. As they always say, life is a journey, not a destination! haha.. One thing for sure though, I now know the routes to a petrol kiosk in Yishun when I was struggling to find one on the first few occasions! hahaha.. The driving last night was not without any risk. I drive to those places with my 'check engine' light illuminating! Went to one of the petrol kiosks and asked them about the light, the uncle said it was due to the brake oil being insufficient! I believe in that until I reached home and looked up on the internet and found out that the light is most likely got to do with the engine rather than the brake. Luckily didn't buy any top-up for the brake oil or what, if not will feel like kena cheated! lol.. The most important thing though was that I managed to get back safe and sound! heh

Woke up early again this morning to have a game, or more appropriately, games of soccer at lam soon @ CCK with my old buddies from sec school. Reached there at about 10 and it was bright and sunny, perfect for some soccer. As usual though, majority of them are late, but after nearly a decade, I've gotten used to it.. haha! When more people had arrived, we started playing another group of players where half of them look only slightly older than half our age (dammit, we're old!! hahaha). Had no choice but to play them since they occupied the court first. Played against them until the first rain of the day falls on us. Stopped the game, went to the nearby block to have a rest while waiting for the rain to stop. Well, it turned out that the rain never stops. So we went back to the court playing among ourselves when the rain was reduced to a drizzle. And when it got heavier, went back to the void-deck again.. lol. Did this until it came to the last few games where although the rain became heavier, we still continued playing. It's kinda fun playing in the rain, actually. Other than getting ourselves wet, everyone was really enjoying themselves.

As I've said earlier, we've been playing together for almost a decade and I can say the camaraderie is still very strong! As what one of my friends said, while reminiscing the good old days, "..we've gone a long way!" And certainly so! We've gone from playing with plastic bottles, upgraded to tennis ball, then a smaller-sized soccer ball before the current normal-sized ball!! haha.. We are fortunate enough that through these games of soccer, we are able to have an avenue to catch up with each other on what's the latest happenings in our lives or just have lots of laughter, which may be absent in our daily life. I say, nothing beats spending time with your friends, whom you've known for years, doing something that everyone enjoys the most! Soccer + good company + lots of fun/laughter + rain = rockin' good time! Well, maybe not the rain (cos you can get sick from it) but well, yeah, you get the picture.. haha! Oh ya, that reminds me. I've been using running shoes for my street soccer outings, and from the looks of it, I don't think it will last if I continue to do so, especially with the monsoon season. I think it's time to buy a pair shoes, for either one of the usage, so that I can have one pair for jogging/running and the other for soccer... but no money how to buy?!?! hahaha... Oh well...

Anyway, you know what, I've been remembering my dreams ever since my last update about my lala land! That's 3 consecutive days of dreams that I remembered having! haha.. For Thursday night, I dreamt that one of my uni friends text, or rather MMS me, pictures of the scenery around the school and was telling me how she's missing them! The funny thing is the pictures are all seaside views with yachts and beaches only a stone-throw away! The first thing which I told myself when I woke up was, I would be so motivated every day if I were to study in such a school! hahaa... Last night, I dreamt about my results. Actually, more of a nightmare. I dreamt that failed two of my modules with grade F! Eeeekss!!! Is that a sign? Oh no!!! Not sure why I'm dreaming about this when I'm not really anxious at all even though it will be released in a few days. Nvm, whatever it is, I'll just hope for the best, and come D-day, I'll accept whatever grades I get and move on.

Have a great weekend people!

Dreams.. seem so real!

2009-12-17T17:30:00.006+08:00

Saw an article at Channelnewsasia website by Forbes indicating that Singapore is ranked as the world's smartest city! What this means, I'm not so sure (hahaha!). But it feels good isn't it, to be living in a country where she is in the forefront in many areas. But one thing I'm puzzled is, if Singapore is smart, how come I'm not? hahaha... Okay, that's a lame one.

Another ranking which interest me more is that of the world's best-paid cities. Do you know Zurich (Switzerland) has the honour of being the world's best paid city? How much? A gross pay of $30.30/hour and a net pay of $22.60/hour!! For a typical 8 hour working day, that would be like about $160++/day and in a month, well you do the math! The article also states that even after taxes, they were able to buy the most, given the local cost of goods! My god, I want to migrate to Switzerland!! Besides the pay, I'm sure the people there are nice, right? In the meantime, let me just dream of living there... hahaa!

Anyway, you can view the articles here:

World's Smartest Cities

World's Best-paid Cities

Oh yeah, I had a few interesting dreams last night. Firstly, I dreamt that I stole something (kinda forgotten what it is now) with someone and was escaping from this building, escaping security guards, running through gates and was gasping for air as I was trying to get away from those who were trying to catch us. After a while, I had this feeling that I was going to be caught anyway since there were CCTV cameras earlier in the building and the security whom we escaped from would surely remembered our faces. So, I began to panic. And then, I woke up, with my heart beating fast. It seems so real!! But luckily it isn't, if not, I'd be in jail now! haha

Went back to sleep again, and then I dreamt about an old friend (Doreen) whom I've not met for quite a while and was shocked when she told me she had joined the police force! Being the lady-like person she is, I was really surprised when she told me what she was doing and I was like questioning her on why she chose that route!! So much questions that I kinda miss by bus-stop. After that, I woke up for the second time! haha..

For my last one, I dreamt that one of my uni friend (Yuting) was shifting house and it was a day when stuffs from her old house were transported to the new one. Her other friends were there helping too! One thing which created a laugh was that her new house was in Jurong West again! hahaha... Through this dream though, I was actually motivated to do some house cleaning in the day! Cleaned the fans, windows and vacuum the floor among others. My mum said, "Spring cleaning for christmas is it?" haha! But I can say it was a good workout for me! I can feel my muscles now kinda aching.. lol! But at least it's better than just lazying around the house!

It's been a while since I remembered clearly what I dreamt about in the sleep. And to remember all 3 of my dreams, I think that would be a first! Some say that what you dream about at night is somehow a reflection to what you're thinking/feeling in the day. On this occasion though, I think Ms Lala Land decided to give me some interesting dreams just for the fun of it! haha.. That being said, how I wish I can remember my dreams each time they happened! =))

Britain's Got Talent

2009-12-16T22:46:00.007+08:00

I've been watching Britain's Got Talent the last few days via youtube. Being a show to showcase whatever talent you got, I must say this is a very interesting show! Although I've not been catching American Idol for the last few seasons, I can say that BGT is more fun to watch than Idol, with a lot of interesting stuffs presented to the judges and audiences by lots of hidden talents out there in Britain. Some moments can be so touching that makes you drop a tear or two. Here are some of my favourites (again, pause my background music at the sidebar to listen):

Connie Talbot (finalist of the 1st season). The sweet innocent smile, yet powerful singing of 'over the rainbow'! She'll definitely be a start in the future.

Signature (runners-up of the 2nd season). Just love the surprise when the other guy came in. Totally wasn't expecting that!

Craig Harper (semi-finalist of the 2nd season). Nice imitation of Boyzone's No Matter What. Love the look on Piers Morgan's (the judge) face when Craig tried to imitate him! heh

Andrew Johnston (3rd place of 2nd season). What a great voice he has!! Kinda sad when he tells the story of how he was always being bullied in school. To all those bullies, get a life man! Like what one of the judge says, ".. they didn't like you because you've got more talent that they can dream of ever having." Nicely said!!

There are more interesting talent which I didn't include here, and of course the much hyped about Susan Boyle. Go search them in youtube!

Went to Ann-Tee-You-See earlier in the day to buy some groceries. The cashier was attending to me when this lady queued behind me. The strange thing was that there was another counter right across which was empty with no customers, and which she could not have miss it! And yet she insist to queue behind me. If she wasn't pretty, I'm sure I would have mistaken her for a stalker stalking me! hahaha... What strange people my neighborhood has! lol

Alright, have a lovely mid-week! =))

Cycle

2009-12-15T13:09:00.004+08:00

Me: Alya, what has happened to Elmo (covered with blanket)?

Alya: He passed away already.

Me: ??? ^__^

I'm not even sure whether she knows what 'pass away' means. Kids these days, pretty smart aren't they?

Anyway, I wanna cycle! I wanna cycle!!! Arrgghh, I miss riding on a bike, with the wind rushing past me!!! Cycling, anyone? hahaha

Okay, this is just one of those random posts. Ciao!

Garfield

2009-12-13T22:12:00.007+08:00

I was reading my archives, especially the first few months of blogging, when I chanced upon this...

A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever

Yes, it was about the present I got for my 19th birthday!! GARFIELD!!! Really miss him lah... he's been resting in a plastic bag at Marsiling for the last 4 years. And I think I can count how many times I hugged him since he was given to me! Sitting there doing nothing, no wonder he's growing FAT!! hahaha.. Just to have an idea how big my little cat is, here's a couple of pictures taken from the aforementioned update.

Sleeping on my bed

Trying to slim down using the power rider (but to no avail ^_^)

Imagine how my friends brought him to school to surprise me.... Now imagine how I had to bring him home in a crowded MRT and later, the feeder bus! Boy oh boy, it's one day I would never forget! heh

Anyway, I was browsing through keeptouch earlier when I came upon this very moving video. Not sure when it was aired, but today was the first time I see this. It's a commercial by Pantene in Thailand. (You might want to pause this blog's background music at the sidebar beneath the 'Now playing' thingy to listen to the music in the video)

Very touching right? I think the Canon in D music fits perfectly in the video. The advertisement aside, I feel the content was rather meaningful too. It really shows the determination and perseverance the girl had in pursuing her dreams despite her obstacles in life. It is this kind of moment that makes us sometimes pause for a while and think, if someone who has had serious challenges in their life and still managed to reach their dreams, why can't we, who are fit and able, do the same thing? Like what I chatted with a friend some time ago, sometimes we get too caught up with our worries and problems that we tend to forget how more fortunate we are as compared to other people, such as those who are struggling even to live every day because of various difficulties. Fortunately though, with this kind of videos, and valuable friends around, I get constantly reminded to be grateful for what I already have.

So to my dear readers (if any), and to myself, life is too short to be constantly angry or sad about the little things in our life. Whatever you want to do, do it as there are only so many tomorrows. As they say, every morning when we wake up, we have two simple choices. Either go back to sleep and continue to dream, or wake up and chase those dreams! Stay positive! Pursue your dreams! Live every single day to the fullest and life will be much more meaningful.

Have a great week ahead! =)

Saved from embarassment

2009-12-12T23:08:00.006+08:00

I've seen it countless of times in the movies/drama serials. I've even seen it in real life just last week happening to someone in front of me in the queue. Today, the same thing happened to me!!

I was at the cashier at Tampines 1's G2000 to pay for the shirt which I was going to purchase. Seeing there's a 15% discount for UOB customers, I used my debit card for the transaction. So, I handed over my card and the lady swiped it on the machine thingy. And guess what? The lady asked me if there is another card I could use! At that moment, I knew that there was insufficient amount of money in the account!! Arrgghh, so paiseh man!! Luckily though, Chay got the same card as me, but with enough money of course. So I still got the same discounted price thanks to that! Although I would have enough cash with me if Chay wasn't around, I now know how embarrassing it feels like for people to have such encounters.

Yes, my UOB account has run low because I forgot to 'top it up'. That account is actually my secondary account which I had since upper sec solely for its atm/debit card function. My main savings account though is in POSB. And yes, as few of my friends might know, I don't have any card, be it atm, debit or credit card, from POSB. Why? Because I'm afraid that with the convenience of a card, I would then spend as freely as I could or withdraw as much as I want. In a way, I'm afraid that I could not control my spending. So, if there's a need to dig out money from this account, I would have to queue at one of the bank's branch. My favourite would be the one at civic centre, where there is this nice and pretty bank teller working there. But of course, this is another story.. haha! Back to my finance management, some had asked me, is it worth the hassle? From someone who has been saving his entire life, I'd say it's definitely worth it. I'd rather queue and wait to withdraw money, than have no money at all when rainy days come. That being said, it seems that more branches are converting their bank tellers to automated machines. And that means trouble to me! If the day comes where there would be no more bank tellers within the vicinity of my house, I guess I would have to be discipline enough to prevent over-expenditure. Speaking of which, I didn't quite realised that my UOB account has run low cos normally I would. Have I been spending too much lately? Hmm....

Anyway, as I have mentioned earlier, I was at the east side just now with Chay. We went to the new shopping mall at Tampines, named Tampines 1. Well, actually not just that. We went to all 3 malls at the vicinity; Tampines 1, Tampines Mall and Century Square. Well, Tampines 1 is not bad I must say. There are some interesting shops which I've never seen before. And amazingly enough, all 3 malls were crowded with people! Wah, got so many people living in the east is it?!? Anyway, other that my embarrassing purchase of the shirt and a stop for dinner, we were practically just looking around and window shopping.

One thing I don't quite like about the east though, is that it is mostly populated with my own race! Well, it's not that I don't like my race lah. It's more of a disappointment. Seriously, looking at the young teens these days wearing stuffs which really does not look good on them or even fit them, never fails to make me shakes my head every time I head out. Some even wear skimpy clothes when they are merely 13-14 years old. Come on lah, if you don't have the body or the looks, please stop dressing like some models/actresses whom you see on tv. And don't get me started on their attitude. I guess kids these days are trying too hard to be someone older that they really are. They are trying to grow fast, too fast in fact. But even if you dressed up as someone older, if your mentality is still immature, it's really of no use.

I don't see myself as a very mature person with no flaws, but looking at the teenagers these days in general, of whatever race, there seems to be a serious lack of maturity in them. Well, you don't need to look too far actually. I've already seen such people in my school. Really, even though they come from some good schools, or some good JCs, I don't see anything special in them when they don't even have that certain level of maturity that is parallel to their age. Well, as the saying goes, and which I've included in my earlier updates 4 years ago, "Growing old is mandatory; Growing up is optional." Everyone will grow old, but whether they will grow in terms of their mentality, thinking is up to each individual. If things go the way it is now, I really fear for the future of this society. Being caught up in the rat race, in a place where paper qualification plays a very important role, certainly doesn't help in the maturity aspect.

After the window shopping, we took 168 back to Woodlands, before I took the train back home. There is this one thing I need to let out. I've been wanting to blog about this for quite sometime but it seems I've always forgot to do so. Since it's still vivid in my mind right now, I shall write it. PLS PLS kindly TAKE OUT your ez-link card and tap it when you're going in or out of the station. It has occurred to me more than once where the person in front of me receive an error because the reader could not detect the card properly. Why? Because she placed it inside her handbag, being too lazy to take it out!! Come on, how much energy would you consume if you take the effort to dig out your card, tap it and put it back? Very minimal!! And yet, some people still do that, causing inconvenience especially to others who are waiting in line to exit the station. If you place it inside your purse/wallet and tap it, that's fairly understandable lah. This is freaking handbag!!! It really shows how lazy and inconsiderate you are!!

Kk, let's not get too agitated. Anyway, Chay will be going over to Melbourne tomorrow for his gf's graduation ceremony. That's like two of my friends I heard who have gone to or is going to Melbourne, in recent weeks. Just the mention of the name of the city is enough to fuel my desire to go back there again!! Arrgghh, I really miss the place lah! As I've said to a friend recently, besides the weather, buildings, people, I missed the slower, more relaxed and seemingly stress-free lifestyle!! Never mind, few more years only. After I start to work and save enough money, I shall travel back there again! Yeah! Meanwhile, Bon voyage (must try to recall whatever knowledge I still have of the french languange lah.. haha!) to Chay! Have a safe journey and a nice trip there bro!

Oh shucks, it's another lengthy 1k post. It seems I have lots to write these few days huh! lol.. Feeling tired now, but there's a match later at 1.30am. Gotta catch it cos last week I already missed it for coming home late. Till next time then, Au revoir!

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Seeing pretty people makes my day.. always! hahaha!

Changes Everywhere

2009-12-11T21:14:00.008+08:00

Whoa, what a day!

The day didn't start pretty well. I failed to wake up in the morning for my jog/run. So much for all the meticulous planning! I'm really pissed and disappointed with myself for this laziness! But never mind, I shall keep my spirits high and hopefully, the next time my alarm rings, I would be less lazy... and wake up!! hahaha

The next thing is, you know, after I wrote my last post about how I'm missing my team-mates, I got to see a couple of them today! Unfortunately though, it wasn't a happy occasion. Got news from Fauzan yesterday that Suban, who I can say one of the reasons why Team Alpha is what it is today, was hospitalised. After hearing that, decided to visit him, together with the rest of the team who were supposed to have just finished their night shift. Since the hospital is Mount Elizabeth, I figured that I would meet them over at the hospital itself rather than at station since it would take me lesser traveling time. I arrived about 1 hour early! Well, it's no one's fault actually since we don't know when they will reach there after settling all their stuffs at station. So, meanwhile, I loitered around Orchard Road, ate Cheng Teng dessert @ Wisma (hahaha!) while waiting for them. At about 10.30am or so, I decided to walk over to Mount E. Then Fauzan called me and said that Suban will be discharged in an hour's time and hence they decided not to go. I was like, wtf? I was already at the hospital's lobby! Nvm, since I was very near already, I figured I might as well go visit him myself. And so I went...

Reached his room and saw his mum, and he was lying down on the bed. We exchanged greetings and then he began to talk about his injury. It's actually the muscles at the back which is causing the pain, but when he talked about all the scans and procedures done on him like CT scan, endoscopy and poking a big needle thingy on the chest (or is it stomach) area to draw blood, that freaks me out! And having jabs 20-40 times in 3 days, I understand how painful it could be! Besides that, we catch up on things such as work and other stuffs before I bid my farewell. And then, I went to Orchard MRT to wait for Fauzan cos he said he wanted to go to SPH. I wait and wait... and wait... and wait....

And after 2 hours, he finally came!! Whoa, by then my butt was like so numb after sitting down for so long that I had difficulty walking. It felt kinda like 2111 lecture where the lecturer can go on for the full 2 hours, just that this time it kinda felt worse.. haha.. Within this 2 hours though, I managed to do quite a bit of stuffs. Sitting down near the gate of the MRT station would surely be a target for all the surveyors, or all those requesting for donations. Yes, I donated but luckily no surveyors approached me. Lazy lah to entertain them.. haha! Oh oh, within these two hours, most of what I did was to look at the people walking past by from left and right, or rather to and from all sorts of directions! It's kinda fascinating trying to figure out what is in each of their mind. For example, if this person is walking fast towards the exit, what is he/she trying to catch? Or is he/she late for an appointment? It's sometimes interesting to try and figure what they are thinking.. haha! Oh, and I noticed one thing. There were quite a lot of people with cameras hanging around their necks walking around the station! Some are tourists, but majority doesn't looked like so! Is photography gaining popularity here? I've been thinking to take up photography as a hobby. But one of my friend say it's an expensive past time, with lots of moolah needed to maintain the camera. Plus, with my unsteady hands, I doubt I can take good pictures also.. haha! Ohhh, well....

Anyway, back to Fauzan, we went to have our lunch at Taka first before heading to SPH @ Braddell. Yeah, accompanied him there cos he wanted to put up a notice in the local newspaper to look for someone. Luckily SPH was my former workplace (okay, I only worked there for a day but still considered a workplace right? haha), so I sort of remembered the directions although it was like 3 years ago. I'm quite good with directions okay, don't play play! hahaa.. Oh, that being said, I missed driving lah! Must go find a car one of these to drive before boring school starts again! Anyway, back to the advertisement, listening in to the conversation between Fauzan and the staff there, I now sort of know much more what it takes before someone wanna advertise or put up something in the newspapers! It's not that simple, you know. For instance, to insert the word mother or sister in the notice, you have to provide documents to prove the kinship! And if you wanna mentioned "Late (so and so)", as in the person has already passed away, you then have to provide the death cert!! And of course, different notice sizes or font sizes have different prices per day too! Oh, anyway, I kope a sweet (mentos) from the desk which was of course meant for customers. I love mentos! Cos they are the freshmaker! wahahahaa... After everything have been completed, we walked back over to Braddell station to take the train back home. I alighted at Woodlands and bade goodbye to Fauzan who would be alighting at Kranji. He told me he's not sure when he would be stepping back Singapore again. I say if there's fate, we'll surely all meet again soon. And because of the uncertainty, he gave me about 1/3 worth of the vouchers he just received from SPF earlier in the morning, which could be used at 7-11, cold storage among others, and which amount to 50 bucks! Aww, what a good friend he is! haha.. Thanks bro!

His day probably ends there but not for me. Did you noticed that I alighted at Woodlands, rather than Sembawang? haha.. Yes, firstly I went to Causeway Point to have my lecture notes bound before I put them at my house in Marsiling. It's my sis' house in Sembawang lah, so the room cannot be too messy and occupied with my notes all around. It wouldn't be nice or appropriate then. That being said, I was taking a risk there, since there was no guarantee that I would clear all my modules. But it's all right, if I were to flunk any of my modules, I'll just go back and retrieve the notes again. In the meantime, I'll just have to pray hard.. haha! Anyway, I noticed a peculiar occurrence on my journey to the Marsiling home. It seems that for the last 4 or 5 trips, I have been taking the same feeder bus each time, even though I took at different timings! And how do I know? Cos at the rear exit of this bendy bus, one of the ez-link reader was detached for unknown reasons. It feels kinda strange and creepy to take the same bus you know, but then again, maybe it's just a coincidence! Okay, let's not think too much! hahaha.. Reached house at about 6.15pm, put my notes, rest for a while and watched tv, before leaving and taking another bus back to my home. Reached home at about 8pm and my day ends there.

At this point, I have to say alot of things have changed in the country. The Orchard Road I went to earlier had undergone alot of changes since I've been there. And even the Sembawang Shopping Centre I went to on Thursday for the Care Bears Live show (Yes, went there to accompany my niece), had changed considerably!! It seemed very different now! More like a shopping centre in town! Oh, my neighbourhood in Marsiling had changed too! I was buying a drink at the chinese convenience store at my void-deck when I saw the owner and he recognised me although it has been a while since I've been there! And he pointed to his daughter and asked me whether I remembered her or not. Of course I do! My mum was the one who took care of her when she was still a child, and because of that, my mum commented last time that she looked like a malay, especially her eyes! hahaa... Darn, I miss my childhood days, I miss this neighbourhood! Everyone has grown up, new faces can be seen too! It teaches me one thing though. Time doesn't stand still. What you want to do now, better go and do it. Once time has passed, you can't relive it again. Do what you have to do now so that you don't have any regrets!!

Dear oh dear, this has become too lengthy a post, with more than 1.5k words, and it seems like it has become more of like my life's story.. hahaa! I'm not sure who still reads my blog but if any of you still do, I'm sorry for this long post. I still have lots to update but I guess it's better to leave it to another post.. and I'm very tired to type also.. hahaa.. Till next time then! Have a good weekend! =))

Team Alpha

2009-12-09T16:04:00.007+08:00

Was talking to Fauzan yesterday about today being his last day, his ORD and all. Saw all the comments he received in facebook too and that triggered all the nostalgia I had in me. Damn, even though I've got a 2nd chance about half a year back, I'm starting to miss them again!

I miss my 555 seat!
I miss picking up the calls!
I miss sending the guys to msgs!
I miss chatting with them!
I miss being teased at!
I miss the THAs, A,C,D,E and of course, B cells(^_^)!
I miss the admin area!
I miss receiving despatch!
I miss being made to roll on the floor (believe it or not)!
I miss the metal thingy that secures the hands!
I miss searching the people!
I miss my brothers and sisters in the team!
I miss the sharing of stories!
I miss the jokes, fun and laughter we all shared!
There are so much other stuffs that I've yet to include, but I guess the most important thing is that,
I dearly miss being in the company of the team where we shared sorrows and happy days together!!

Ever since I left the team, I've yet to experience the same happiness that I enjoyed while in the team. How I wish I could turn back time and relive the story once again!

Juliet DHQ Team Alpha, you will always be placed in a special place in my heart!

I'm missing them so much that I dreamt of them last night. It pretty much sums up what has been going through my mind lately.. ^_^

Sensitive issue

2009-12-07T21:48:00.002+08:00

Why is it that these days, whenever I meet with someone whom I've never met in a long time, the first thing that comes out from their mouth is about my hair? Not fun, you know!!!

hahahaa..

Ahhh, well.. I've kinda accepted my fate and have gotten over the fact that I'm becoming the butt of jokes.

Never mind, whatever they say, I still love my friends! lol

D.I.E. Again

2009-12-07T14:02:00.003+08:00

If you didn't know it yet, my holidays are finally here! Yeah, baby!

1 week has already passed actually and that's freaking fast! Why does time always flies when you're having fun?!

Have been catching up on my favourite series - namely The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, Two and a Half Men. And of course, D.I.E Again!! Yeah, it's a sequel of D.I.E and I can't believe it has actually started and finished airing few months ago!! This is what studies can do to you. It makes you forgot about other things in your life!! haha.. Anyway, I'm almost finished watching the series. As much as I like to have another sequel, I think having two is already sufficient. A third installment may make the show draggy, unless the script writer can come up with some interesting plot that have not shown before. But I have to say again, Sonija Kwok is very pretty lah!!! hahahaa

Oh, went to Causeway point last week to accompany niece to catch Sesame Street in action! Got to see Ernie, Cookie monster, Elmo!! hoho, I feel like a kid again!! hah.. Standing rather close to the stage, I almost got a heart-attack at the finale, but don't ask me why.. lol

Went to catch 2012 with Chay at Marina Square on Saturday night. It was a rather nice movie; the special effects, the sub-plot and all. And as much as I question this whole 2012-end-of-the-world thingy, it does makes me wonder what will happen when such a day come to greet us. And more importantly, I guess it's time to try to save 1 billion euros so that I can board the ship!! hahahah... kidding! Oh ya, I forgot, thanks to Chay for treating me to the movie!! lol

Reached home at about 2am. But something funny happened. I was taking this lift A (or so I thought) to my 11th floor house. But when I came out, I actually came out of lift B!! Interesting isn't it? Not sure what happened, and I don't want to know why.. haha!

Anyway, 2009 will end soon. Time really passed very fast. And I guess it's time I do some reflection. What have I done during this year? What have I achieve? Or have I not? What's my resolution be for next year? Hmmm....

Down but not out

2009-11-30T17:10:00.002+08:00

I'm down with fever and flu.

And I still have one more paper left tomorrow.

I shall not talk about today's paper.

And please let me at least complete tomorrow's paper first before you viruses further attack me! Please!

Exhausted

2009-11-26T07:04:00.001+08:00

As of now, I've gone more than 24 hours without sleep. My oh my, I really need a rest soon...

Eye

2009-11-16T23:10:00.003+08:00

It's been a long day.

My day was spent at SNEC and SGH. Me and family accompanied mum to the national eye care centre to have her cataract eye surgery. Although it's a minor surgery which took less than an hour and that I should be in the midst of preparing for exams, I decided to take the day off to accompany her with the rest of the family, cos she's my mother after all. After all the waiting, the operation was successfully carried out before 3pm. And after another round of waiting, she was then wheeled to SGH to be admitted for the day. Went home around dinner time so that she can have her rest and so as not to disturb the other patient in the room. She'll be back home tomorrow.

That's all. Just a quick update. Alhamdulilah that her operation had gone smoothly. I hope, wish, pray for a quick recovery! All right, I shall turn in now. It's been a tiring day. I shall start my revision tomorrow. Take care!

Looking at my surroundings, looking at the people around me, a lot of things went through my mind wherever I went to earlier in the day. Some set me thinking, while others made me recollect my memories. Some gave me answers, while others left me questions. By the end of the day, my mind is feeling pretty exhausted from all the inner self talking. The question is: what is happening? Am I going crazy?

Stand

2009-11-09T21:15:00.002+08:00

I learnt new things today.

Steps to take during disagreement or when you 'want out':

1) Learn to make your stand
2) Gather enough courage to have a conversation with the other party
3) Try to make the other party understand and make them feel how it would be like if they were in your shoes.

Where did I get all these? From eavesdropping total strangers' conversation during my way back in the train earlier. And I think it makes sense. Go ponder.

I'm tired and in need of rest. Bye!

Suspiciously obvious

2009-11-06T21:37:00.012+08:00

Phew! Finally I can have a sigh of relief. Just finished another 3-tests-in-2-days today! The last 2 were manageable but the first one was kinda disastrous. After two straight tests of such difficulty, I'm starting to fear the prospect of failing and having to repeat the module. But, whatever. I've already done my best and that's what that matters the most. Whatever the result is, whether I'm cut out to be studying in this field, is secondary. But I'm very very tired. Have not been sleeping well the past week. Been falling asleep during studying, and studying when I should be sleeping. I know that sounds kinda contradictory and I could have just switch the two events at their appropriate times and everything would have gone well. The thing is, I'm losing control of my body, or specifically, how tired I am. Often, I would doze off while reading my notes in the night, especially if my lecture ends at 6pm that day. I would then woke up in the wee hours before transferring myself to the real bed. On average, I had only 1-2 hours of sleeping time for the past week! And that shows how pathetic my life has become. Seriously, I can't wait for this semester to end for it has been a very tiring one...

That being said, I had my much needed respite last Sunday though when I joined my fellow brothers and sisters in their team bonding session cum Don's farewell at JB! Yes, even though my dad lives there, it's been quite a while since I last crossed the border and stepped into the state. Met up with the guys near station where we were to board a bus (yes, chartered bus!) for our journey towards Tuas Checkpoint. That day was the first time I used my recently made biometric passport and admittedly, I was kinda 'sua-ku'.. but it's kinda cool lah to use your fingerprints to pass through the immigrations though it feels abit like doing your own 'live-id'.. hahaa! Unbelievably, after passing trough, we actually got a tour guide for the day! And the first stop was shopping at Jusco (I forgot which branch was it.. lol) where some of us did some shopping. I did not buy anything though, cos I didn't see anything that I fancy and the whole shopping centre kinda looked like a replica of Vivo city on the inside. One good thing though, was the people there. There was this promoter at the supermarket and she was kinda cute and looked a bit like Joanne Peh!! So nice was she that me and my friend were like so melted (maybe this term is inappropriate but that's how it feels like) after our encounter. Unfortunately, she wasn't there anymore when we went back to the supermarket to buy more things. No fate i guess.. hahaha! After shopping, we went to Senibong restaurant to have our seafood dinner, all paid courtesy of the team's MFE fund! Had a good meal, where I drank almost 3/4 of the tom yam soup meant for the table, and a chatting session too! Went back after that but not before memorable moments in the bus where there were entertaining dedication of songs as well as a touching speech by Don. Reached home kinda late due to some problems at Tuas Checkpoint, but thanks to Haikal, I managed to get home around midnight. Washed up, check my mails and turned in as I have 8am lesson the next day (read: no revision done that day). But I guess the time spent away from studying was worth it. It's been a while since I've been in their company and to say that I missed them would be an understatement. It's kinda sad to see Don leave the team though because when you mention Team Alpha, few people will come to mind, and he is one of them. Nonetheless, I wish him all the best in his new department! And as we say, 'Once an Alphian, always an Alphian'! It was a fabulous day and one that I would not forget for more reasons than one. Video and pictures taken on that day by Endang can be viewed in Facebook.

On the school front, I think I'm developing a bad reputation, although I'm not too sure what bad things I have exactly done. How else could you explain the steady decline of interaction with my peers (outside my normal group of friends) even though I'm becoming more open? I wish someone could tell me where I have gone wrong so that I can can correct it. So, unless that happens, I would still continue to behave the same way and do the same things I always do for that's what makes the person I am today. I wish things were much simpler though, where people would appreciate the things I do without any hint of suspicion towards me or my actions. Maybe it's the age gap, maybe it's the different mentality. But one thing for sure, even though I'm no saint, I've grown up to do things, to help others because I want to rather than have any other intentions. Even though sometimes it goes unappreciated, satisfaction coming from knowing that your actions does, or potentially does, have a positive impact on the other party. And that has kept me going to do the things I always do. But after all that has been said, if people still can't believe or trust my actions, then I guess I shall just have to live with it. I can't change them, can't change the way they think. They may have their own mindset and I have mine. We live every day doing the things we believe is right. If they think that avoiding me is the right thing to do, then by all means it's up to them. They live their lives, I live mine.

Can't believe the update is closed to 1K words. If only I can write this long each time, be it virtually or for my school work...

Mundaneity ends

2009-10-27T21:18:00.002+08:00

A few good things happened the last couple of days. It was a refreshing turn of events after weeks mundane living with no real source of happiness to look forward to.

On Monday, after 38 days, the silence has been broken. I'm not sure whether fate has played a part or was it just a plain coincidence, but it is always great for something to occur when you're least expecting it. But I won't be getting all swoon over though for I've learnt my lesson. Nevertheless, I'm still happy that such events has occurred.

No test this week, so I shall take a little bit of breather before the combo 3-quiz-in-2-days test next week! Oh, I realised that the lecturers are starting to know me, or at least relate my face to my name. And that can only be good or bad. Although I'm starting to shudder at its implications, I shall also remain positive! haha! =))

That's all, nothing much to blog. Happy midweek tomorrow!

Attitude

2009-10-23T18:57:00.003+08:00

Why must there be condescending people around?

No matter how smart they are or how intellectual they appear to be, it does not give them the right to show a patronizing attitude to a fellow human being!!

I learnt my lesson today. I shall not ask for help from such people again. It'll just make my blood pressure rise.

Pissed!

Diverge

2009-10-21T17:46:00.004+08:00

It seems you have started to distance yourself from me. Maybe I'm just being sensitive, but that's just the way it seems.

If it's true, even if our paths should never crossed again, I'm glad that they did at some point in my life. And I'm always thankful for that.

That being said, I guess I deserve to know someone better.