Life in pixels.

CLXIV – Wordpress.

2011-01-23T23:28:00.002+08:00

164

I have moved. At last.

It's still under development; ongoing thing actually.

And now, Blogger, having given me over 2 years of writing and thinking, will be archived. You will be missed.

Here's the new link!
http://thebaroquelover.wordpress.com/

Everything I write thereafter will be there.

Farewell, Blogger. You've grown too old.

~Me.

P.S. Thanks Graeme and Moses. Difficult decision, but yeah. Fresh start!

CLXIII – The Decision of my Life

2011-01-23T17:23:00.002+08:00

163

Ok, not really. I just wanted to make it sound dramatic.

Anyways, I thought Blogger is getting old and outmoded, so I'm thinking of change. Yes, Barack Obama. REAL change.

People have been jumping onto the Tumblr and Wordpress bandwagon recently, and I can't help but feel that I need to do the same.

It's a tough decision to make, but I think I can finalise tonight.

Watch this space.~

CLXII - Dresden

2011-01-08T01:05:00.001+08:00

162

The mood was muted. Ambers of red-hot timber and debris lay littered across the scarred, cratered earth. Feet shuffled, people mumbled; some weep, some stand, astonished that they are even alive, albeit covered in gaping orifices and scabs of burnt flesh, let alone in one piece. Bodies lined the bloodied, messy road so high that one could not look over them. The whirr and drone of aircraft engines slowly faded from the cacophony of a dying city.

Had a visitor to the scene arrive three days earlier, he would have seen something different altogether.

Chances are, that visitor would have become part of the gruesome statistic as well.

Then, it was peaceful, something that is completely normal. That is, if it was peacetime. A maniacal Hitler was still clinging to power, or whatever has remained of it. Stalin's troops are charging towards Berlin faster than anybody could have imagined. Nazi Germany was being swallowed whole by the Allies, bar none. And still the Fuhrer grips the red-hot pole of hope, long after it had become hopeless.

1945. That is the year destined to be known as the year Peace finally reigned, but not very many people know the terrible way it got to be so. And an innocuous city was part of that way. It's a beautiful city, no doubt, home to many Baroque structures quite striking to the eye. At first glance it looks nothing like the industrial and military war machine the Allies tout it to be. Unlike Berlin, it had not suffered terribly. In fact, it had hardly been touched since the war began.

One fine evening in February though, Lady Luck made a U-turn. The silence of night was broken by the sound of sirens and later, the characteristic whistle of bombs. Darkness was replaced by a haunting red glow, followed by flaming fireballs from exploded ordnances, as hundreds more fell from the sky like rain. A flood took the city over in its frightening red and yellow hues, frying anyone in its way to a crisp. Those who jumped the flames had the life literally sucked out of them: a firestorm has started. Rescuers attempt to put out the carnage; as they do a hail of explosives blanket the heart of town, dealing damage and death twice over.

Daylight fails to bring any hope of solace. Now that the British bombers have left, the American ones take over, repeating the sorry, sorry state of affairs. As much as survivors want to survive, by the next nightfall such hopes were quelled. More die; more still begin to be disillusioned. Round-the-clock bombing has reduced the city to a shambles.

Now, multiply that over 3 days. It isn't hard to see what has happened.

Dresden has, today, been largely restored to its prewar glory. Little evidence exists of such a terrible event. Still, if you can find it, there are scars the city can never hide. Time heals all? Guess not.

Till then~

CLXI - MMXI

2011-01-03T19:08:00.001+08:00

161

I am late.

But who gives a flip. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

School has begun, and I am pretty happy with things so far. Had so much to do, like (in order):

Christmas party at Celeste's;
Chalet w/4D (quite a fail though HAHA);
Cycling mania;
Alvin's movie marathon; and
Choir batch dinner outing + movie marathon (well, kinda :/)

Life's good; lovely way to start 2011. Let's hope this spirit keeps up for the rest of the year. I want 2011 to be the best year I've had so far.

'Nuff said. Enjoy the festivities, if there are any left, hohoho.

Cheers; till then!~

CLX – Holidays!

2010-12-11T23:27:00.001+08:00

160

I'm completely shagged out as I type this, no thanks to gym this morning, but hey, it's the holidays!!

MSTs were a piece of cake, I believe. Now I just need my results to reflect that opinion...As for all! =D

Normally by now I would have typed something philosophical or somesuch just because it's dwelling in my head, but now nothing's dwelling in my head but lethargy. I'm not typing right: I make spelling errors en route (thanks spellcheck for saving me), and I'm seriously starting to zone out. I doubt I'd last past midnight...oh the soreness is hitting me hard D:

Still, on the bright side, there's lots to do during the festive season, and I can say there are plenty of places I will be going this month, albeit not being overseas...then again, the house is in a right awful mess. Oh, joy.

I guess I will end here before thinking saps the remainder of my brain juice so, before I commit this post's coup de grace, and in case I do post for the rest of December, I'd like to say:

Happy Holidays! =)

And now for something completely different....zzzzzz.

Cheerios; till the-zzzzzzz!!

CLIX – Back: Temporarily

2010-12-02T22:48:00.002+08:00

159

It's been almost a month since I blogged. Meh.

So quickly, 2010 is drawing to a close. Is it just me or is each successive year passing by me faster and faster? Before I know it I may just be a senile, frail 80-year-old who has forgotten why he has existed. Sad.

Anyways, apart from this forethought, there are several happy things (and a sad thing) I wish to announce:

First up: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
Just got it this past Monday, and I can tell you, it's great fun, though after a while it gets quite difficult. But it's the challenge which is the real enticement.

The user interface. Awesome huh? =D

Next: Holidays!
December is here, and I just can't wait for fun and more fun! Apart from NOT studying (heh), there is lots of catching-up to do, especially with my sec-sch mates, most of whom I have not seen in over a year. Imagine that. Also there are other things in store, but I'm too lazy to list them out at the moment. Whoopsie-daisy.

To wrap it all up in time for Christmas: my Xbox360 has been found!
Just when all hope was lost...it got found. Yay. Can't wait to play my beloved Forza Motorsport 3 come time to relax! I haven't seen it in 11 months! =O

All things though have to be tempered by bad news...I hate.

The winner: MSTs.
Nevermind that it's next week, it's the punishing fact that the lecturers for CF and FMRP had to include 6 & 5 chapters respectively for the upcoming tests. Hell hath no fury like a teacher's scorn. I am thoroughly worried. Really.

So that's it, my update of the month. Don't expect much back here, I may just be too lazy to check back and type more. Maybe till sometime in my hols.

Signing out then; cheers!

Till then~

CLVIII – R.I.P., Darren Ng

2010-11-05T18:31:00.001+08:00

158

That is all that needs to be written.

No one deserves to die the way he has. Dying like that is...unspeakable.

Oh and stop hating. He deserves no such bad publicity.

Peace out.~

CLVII – Fresh from my mind

2010-11-04T22:41:00.001+08:00

157

I have been fascinated with the Universe for as long as I can remember. At the age of 7 I could rattle off the 9 planets (Pluto was still classed as one at the time) – in order - as fluidly as water would cascade over a waterfall. Memory boasts my greatest pride when, back in Primary 6, my form teacher told a few of us in class to scribble down on the whiteboard the planets in our Solar System. I handed the marker back to her not a minute later, beaming, before the rest had even come halfway through.

As I grew older, so did my fascination and knowledge of space: marvelling at how even our Sun, that globe of gaseous flames, being a Type G star, is dwarfed by thousands of stars in our galaxy, in terms of size and luminosity. In the universal context, our local star is but a grain of sand. There are also thousands more tinier stars out there – Type Ks and Ms – which can burn up to 10 times as long as the Sun (which by the way would last 10 billion years), whereas massive Type As and Os would burn out in mere millions of years. To a young mind these were astounding facts.

From there I spread out, going to types of galaxies, black holes, nebulae, neutron stars, white and black dwarfs, super and hypernovae, dark matter, things like that. Of course I didn't touch things like quantum physics; to me these were simply too much. Not only that, I had tremendous interest in prehistory (particularly dinosaurs), and basically general knowledge. To Dunman Secondary's old slogan, "Knowledge, the Torch of Life".

These are all and good, but in today's rat race, they are irrelevant. In business and finance nobody is going to ask you how many parsecs away Alpha Centauri is away from us (which is 1.34), or whether a Diplodocus and a Seismosaurus were one and the same (and they were). In class today I was told that people can be worked like a dog for some good money where knowledge can be a make-or-break factor. Not the aforementioned knowledge though – it's knowledge of the markets, of the economy, of the human state of mind. Lecturers somehow can't stress these enough.

Technical Analysis teaches us how to evaluate trends such that you would be in the know. Whether to buy or sell, hold a long, short, or square position, it's down to how much one understands from what he sees on the screen. Brokers are entrusted with clientele money and are expected to use their judgement and knowledge to grow their portfolios. It's a man-eat-man world, and without the right stuff people will bite the dust sooner than later. It's a scary proposition to even think of considering, but that is life, at least it's the one I am training for. Sometimes I question my decisions, but once they are made, there is no reneging, no backtracking.

Memory and interest are my saving graces. I know I can store an elephant of knowledge in a case no bigger than a football. And oh, there surely must be a reason for me choosing the course I have chosen, and then sticking to it for nearly 2 years. Come on, it's not that hard to sum it all up! I know of persons who bicker about how the school, the course, and the modules suck, but I can never get to grips with why they never dropped out. They retain neither the interest nor the knowledge, yet they stubbornly stick on like superglue. My father has done lots of finance stuff during the span of my life, and I have every intention of following in his footsteps. I want to be in the know, and that's why I am where I am.

If a certain five-year-old with a book and gusto for learning about what lies light-years out in space and what transpired many millions of years ago can remember so much, why can't I? Why not now? Definitely food for thought.

Now my brain has hollowed out. Phew.

Till then!~

CLVI - Revelations

2010-10-09T18:18:00.000+08:00

156

My results are out. I’m pretty impressed by the astounding turnaround, but there is still much left to be desired.

If there is a reason for me to be a perfectionist, it’s because I have to be. Even if I were to provide a miracle and get a GPA of 4 for the remainder of my poly education (which I’m sure I can accomplish), I’d not even scratch 3.6. I could throw my arms up in defeat and cry out “Bugger all”. I’m not like that.

I shall make a fresh start from sem 2 onwards, and I’ll give my all. If anything, it’s because I can. I’ve got friends who did 3.8 and better, so why can’t I?

This also applies to me as a whole. After all, I have not been the most filial son, the most devoted friend, or the one with the most virtuous character. Come semester 2, I will fight for change. A change in me.

Clichéd? Maybe. But this is change that I need. I cannot be stuck as I am now. If I can’t be a new me, at least I will be one who is improving, always.

Till then~

CLV - Peace through force.

2010-09-21T19:16:00.003+08:00

155

The Tsar Bomba being detonated in the Soviet Union in 1961. At 50 megatons, it is the largest nuclear device ever tested in human history.

That is the way peace was brokered half a century ago, however unconventional. However, in the 21^st century, is this still a solution?

“I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones.”
-Albert Einstein

We don’t want a future when nuclear power is the driving force for politics, especially for certain countries...

Till then; treasure every day you have.~

CLIV - FREE

2010-09-17T18:38:00.002+08:00

154

Free. Free. Free...

...from the clutches of the mid-year exams;
...from the restraints of study and mugging;
...from having to worry that I'll be late for a paper or for class;
...from being worried about what hurdle lies in the next corner.

Free...for now, at least.

But that means a host of other liberty-killers will take its place. My role in prepping my sis for her PSLE, for one, is undeniable. The other is my solemn duty to do my household chores. I heave a huge sigh. Life, however, goes on.

That can be said for my dear JC friends; their prelims are underway, and As are only 2 months away. To them I wish the best of luck; the torture is near over. =)

This month-long holiday is gonna be hectic, but I'll ride it through. Gym is going to be more frequent now!

To my poly pals, HAPPY HOLIDAYS =)

Till then!~

CLIII – Holiexams.

2010-09-02T01:25:00.001+08:00

153

It's part holiday (which by the way stretches well into October), part exam (ending on the 16^th this month); part respite, part irritant.

It's the holiexams, a magical hybrid of endless hours on the computer and sprawling on bed with nearly as many hours (I tend to use the term nearly quite liberally, with just a hint of sarcasm) of studying and banging heads on the work-desk over a vexing trial paper. And it may sound like a paradox, being what it is; alas it isn't. Why so I can't say – it's just not paradoxical, 'nuff said.

Two papers have passed (Cust Relationship Mgmt & Macroecons Analysis I [which was an e-paper]), and now remains 3 others and a presentation (which can be damned if I don't score). Come the 16^th, it will be nearly pure holiday for a full month. Excited, you may ask? Splendidly so.

It's been a while since I last blogged, so this is a break of some sort, one of which I require. Otherwise I feel and fear that I will just go blind and dumb. Lots of things coming up, but my brain's recollection department has retired for the day, so no details. Just...........lots of things.

Oh and another thing – I'm turning 18 shortly. That means, amongst other things, alcohol and cars become legal. The former I can promise you will be strictly regulated (such 'luxuries' are few and far between). As for the latter: only time can tell....

There's little left to type for tonight, so I shall retire for now.

Till then!~

P.S. A random thought: I may be a commoner on the outside, but inside I feel as though I am like some sort of dandy, one with refined styles and tastes...could it be that I was once...?
Well, just saying. Night!

CLII - BREAKKKK

2010-08-14T11:01:00.001+08:00

152

I'm one week late in typing this, but who gives a crap about what I write anyways?!

So yes, it's the long-awaited YOG break, and all I did this past week was, from highest frequency down: using laptop, helping siblings with homework, bonding day, falling sick...and gym. Isn't my life so predictable?

This week has also been filled with smiles, as well as tears. I'm torn between happiness and sorrow. It's a challenge that's befallen me, I know. That's why I'll try and pray hard so that I'll conquer it. And my family too, will conquer the demons.

My parents' greatest wish for me is to have a good life in the future, and what better time to prepare for that than now? Exams are looming 'round the corner; I'll prove to them that I can score, that that will be my redeeming factor. That is my very early birthday wish. They love me; I will not disappoint them.

Break is also my chance to become fitter. And it gets better – it's basically 2 months of exercise in a row. I'm sore from one session yesterday, and that points to a good start. My aim? Drop 5kg of fat, and gain as much, if not more, in muscle. It's as simple as that.

That's it for now. I doubt I'll have anything interesting to write after this, other than perhaps the fact that a few of my friends and I have been chosen to become brokers at some trading competition.

Yeah, that's about it.

Till then~

CLI - Interregnum

2010-07-25T01:09:00.001+08:00

151

Title speaks for itself. As of now I'm in some sort of limbo.

There's a sort of lull in my projects (no kidding, there's still plenty to go), as well as in my tutorials and other stuff. This whole weekend is a lull.

The YOG break is about 2 weeks away; believe me, it's more jam-packed than I would be comfortable with, given what will be coming up following all the festivities. That's right—the fun before the maelstrom.

Exams: basically, the Big One. Almost ALL my modules will be represented then, and they will ALL account for 50% of my overall module grades. F-I-F-I-T-Y. If I am a no-show, I might as well just fail and drop out. It's terrible.

To make matters worse, the two modules I'm weak in now are representatives: FMI and MA1. Especially MA1. I feel shaky even just typing the very letters out. That tingly feeling.

So yes, interregnum indeed. Now I have to get over it, finish my RWPS report and presentation, conclude my MA1 country report, finish with Love Relations presentation, and so forth, before I get into revision proper. And I got a feeling; it's going to be one hell of a fight. As it nears, it even exudes a psychological aura just by thinking about it. Terrible, just terrible.

Like how the English Interregnum was England's disastrous attempt at republicanism, any more of that on my part will spell my academic doom. End of story.

Sad, isn't it? To clear one hurdle, only to find a gazillion more awaiting you, each higher than the last? The thought follows me, like a shadow.

So yeah, enough ranting, more revising! I must have that old O level fighting spirit!

Till then!~ =)

CL – Happiest 150!

2010-07-13T23:33:00.004+08:00

150

Yeah, 150. Not a big milestone (should it be considered one? Guess not.), but nevertheless I shall ramble on.

I dug back through my blogging record and yeah, lots of changes. Not just in what I write, but how I write. My 1^st post, on August 30^th 2008, was about Os and how I'd miss the choir and Dunman Sec in general. Trying a blog for the 1^st time, of course I poked around my friends' blogs for some ideas, before making that 1^st nervous step into the blogosphere.

Here's an excerpt from that post, will keep it short, just to show how much has changed:

a chapter reborn...

looking back at my secondary school life, i am shocked at how fast time has flown, and how much things have changed...and now, with the year drawing to a close, i realise how precious these memories are, and never will i forsake them. haiz, why does it have to end so freaking soooooo-n?!

I see the difference. Do you?

It's been through a lot. I've covered it all: O levels, dedications, poems, Obama, my work stint at Marks & Spencer, results, posting, SP, Dunman, choir, friends, exams, F1...the list goes on.

As I grow, my styles have changed. Alot has changed. I only wish that my burning desire to succeed in academia remains. That is all.

Ere 2 years have come and nearly gone,
Times with frustrations; times with which I'm fond.
Apart from things, events that have come to pass
Fun with the choir, and fun with my class;
I hope the most, and that it will not fail
My grades and results, they shall prevail.

Oh and not forgetting
My friends, teachers, all of them
They've all certainly made
My life anything but a sham.

~~~
=)

Of course, all my posts can still be accessed...still. HAHA.

Till then!~

CXLIX – Yet more music.

2010-07-12T23:46:00.001+08:00

149

There can never be enough good music, good pieces lying 'round in the internet. But perhaps I'd snatch a few and bring it here.

Give yourself a lifetime, and you'd never finish going through the whole lot. That's the general idea, at least.

And who says Latin is a dead language? Doesn't Latin exist in one of the most recognisable pieces of our time?

Behold the Man who is a bean! (It's the first piece playing on the Mixpod.)

Ecce Homo, qui est faba;
Ecce Homo, qui est faba!

Vale Homo, qui est faba;
Qui est faba; qui est faba!
Vale Homo, qui est faba!
Vale Homo, qui est faba!

Qui est faba.

Translated directly:

Behold, the Man who is a bean;
Behold, the Man who is a bean!

Farewell, Man who is a bean;
Who is a bean; who is a bean!
Farewell, Man who is a bean!
Farewell, Man who is a bean!

Who is a bean.

Anyone who has watched Mr Bean would know this instinctively. =)

Another one is an accompaniment to Vivaldi's Spring—Winter. You'd be caught in the dark if you have not heard it before, it's one of the most recognised pieces around. And it's one hell of a great piece, which is perhaps why it has survived for 295 years! Top that, Gaga! (Though it's absolutely unfair to compare it this way haha. :/)

When I feel hard-pressed, that's where I fall into. Its soothing notes and lyrics. It helps me through my day, like how others would depend on something else....yeah. Especially now, with projects and tutorials piling like an Everest everywhere I go. -.-

So I can sleep soundly now. Till the next day dawns, with the air filled with yawns, I shall sleep soundly.

Till then!~

CXLVIII – Results!

2010-07-05T22:15:00.001+08:00

148

My blog is dying; it needs reviving. :/

So anyways, recall that rant about getting below GPA 3 and stuff like that those months ago? Then recall the resolutions I created for myself after that episode of ranting? All those As I need to claw my way back up?

The fruits of my labour are showing, better than expected! J

I took 4 papers; 3 have been returned. So far, it's 2As, 1C (CPF, of all topics zzz.), so it's pretty much fair game. So I can smile and say I'm well on my way! :D

A reality check, though: so far things have been going my way, but not with the likes of Macroecons, Report Writing or the like. Lecturers talk of how difficult the mid-years are going to be (50 %!!!), how tedious, how this, how that. Scary. Also, it's only been a term, so I'm only 1/8 the way through, which in perspective kinda sucks.

So yes, I can celebrate a little and stuff, but then I'll realise it's back to the grind, and the cycle repeats. EIGHT consecutive times, a real bugger.

This year isn't looking bad at all.

Till then!~

CXLVII – Dreams aren’t gonna just materialize.

2010-06-15T23:41:00.001+08:00

147

Today I just talked to my parents about having our own family portrait taken when I graduate from SP (y'know, those graduation gowns you get to wear, which you see in pretty much every traditional family portrait). My dad agreed wholeheartedly; my mom...not really. She said to me to hold that thought till I graduate from University, so when people ask my mom silly stuff like where I graduated from she could say so with a little more pride.

Paper society, remember? In S'pore saying you got a degree or a masters sounds way better than saying you've got a diploma to feed you. Well, obviously, but hey, this is an Asian society as well, which means it's a society of saving face.

Which is why University is still a prime choice. Locally, preferably. Again, this isn't simple—think about all the other people out there who think the same way. That means I'll have to fight extra hard to get what I want, and need to attain. If not here, then overseas, if the necessity arises.

I've had enough of this procrastination. It's gotten me nowhere, but down. Way down. Like Sec 1 bad-results down. Being the shy one has gotten me nowhere either. Look what happened when I finally opened myself at FOC and FOP? It worked wonders, it achieved miracles. So away with the old, and in with the new! If I don't transform now, I might as well not do so, for it'd be too late.

I'd like to shed a few pounds. I'd like to study hard and do well for my sake. I'd like to be more open and friendly.

Oh, I'd like to have that family portrait taken too =) Hopefully in future when I see myself smile in the photo I will know it is one which is well and truly genuine and worthwhile.

Till then!~ Lots of holiday activities to occupy me for the next week and a half!

P.S. I've added a couple of new pieces, Pachelbel's Canon in D and J.S. Bach's Toccata und Fugue for the Organ. Hope they are worth listening to. =)

CXLVI – Tragedies of a Composer.

2010-06-13T01:21:00.002+08:00

146

So, the exams are over. Did OK I guess, but only results can speak for themselves. Time to move on.

Lots of things happening this holidays, but I can't be bothered to list them out. There is no point in doing so anyways, so again, time to move on.

If life can be summed up in the chords of the piano, then I think I know just the person who fits the bill, one whose work reflects his outlook of life, as well as the life of his own. That's right, it's Frederic Chopin.

When you become really good with the piano, as I hear from many recordings, the chords and notes become a mere guide; it's the pianist who does the interpretation, and places the feeling in the music, things that make a listener discern between an amateur and a master, a maestro. And I guess when Chopin wrote all those Etudes and Sonatas he knew how pianists in future who play it would interpret it—that in the manner in which he had lived his life. As far as I have read, his isn't the happiest: he died impoverished and ill, and still so young.

If you listen to his work (I've put up Nocturne No.20, alongside the likes of Scriabin, Handel, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi), you may notice something about his music, something...pained about it. Like as though he is chronicling his life in a series of works, subtly hiding the true intensions of publishing them, like saying, "Enjoy what I have missed, what I have lost, lest you end up in the state that I am in". Maybe that's not it, but that's how I see it.

Chopin's life is a tragedy; his work is anything but. And those beautifully placed notes on paper have become the most sought after the ears of the discerning. I've had enough of modern pop, for now. And as an exception, I shall move back...to when classics ruled the airwaves, when it was the blast of the trumpet, the squeal of the violin that struck a chord with the masses.

When true feelings, be it fear, anger, sadness, lunacy or sheer joy, did not need words for them to be expressed with absolute clarity.

Till then~ =)

CXLV – Issues, issues.

2010-05-29T14:53:00.001+08:00

145

I'm in a major conundrum. An unexplainable, inexplicable conundrum. And it worries me, it bugs me.

Why so?

For those who know me and say MST, hell yes. It's 2 weeks from now, and it looks, ironically, harmless. I know my concepts; I know that banks must keep an MCB of 3% with the MAS, and 13-18% MLA, that there are loans out there which second-hand car dealers utilize to scam people, legally, and that the MAS does not wield all-mighty power, as MA1 formulae show. What I fear is the abstractness of it all, for not all that is taught is tested, not directly at least.

See, the financial world is full of uncertainty. New examples are being made every day. The questions may refer to them and, using the concepts which we have been taught, as a result we have to use intuition and some logic to get them answered. It's the subjectivity; much like the SS and Geog which I had much fear of back in my days at Dunman. That, I guess, will have to be dealt with a pinch of salt, lest I implode.

Also, it's the matter of formula, formulae. Especially with my MA1. If not for some rechecks and trial-and-error, as well as Flex, I might as well have flunked my BB test on Thursday. Not that there are many formulae, no. It's the many variations to it that frighten me so. For instance, A0 can be written in one way or another, given the number of autonomous parameters given, and K, the multiplier, can have a varying number of other dependant parameters on its own, mastering which will actually make things quite easy: almost the whole class scored full marks, fairly or otherwise.

So yes, I'm worried. And undermining whatever leftover time I have to revise are my country report, the report introduction corrections, as well as the questionnaires. It's really screwing me over.

And now for the bright side: I got into Yearbook as a journalist! Well, that was largely because I was only 1 of 2 people present for the interview. Went smoothly though, we shook hands and there we go! Time to rack up CCA points!

Also had a great time with some of the Devils @ the Cathay! Nevermind the fact that we waited for an hour to be seated at Aston's, at least we could chat and joke! Simply, it was great! Hope to meet up again soon!

Oh well. For all the worries I've piled up, isn't it time to revise?

Till then!~

CXLIV – Joke of the day...for intellects :/

2010-05-12T20:53:00.002+08:00

144

An elderly man went to the doctor's to have his regular physical check-up.

Upon finishing the examination, the doctor asked the patient a question.

"How are you feeling?"

The old man replied: "I've never felt better! I've got an 18 year old for my bride, and she's heavy with my child!"

The doctor was rather surprised, but he quickly regained his cool and responded: "How about I tell you a little story?"

"OK, sure."

The doctor began. "There was once an avid hunter, who never missed a single hunting season in his life. One day, as usual, he was off to another open season but, in his eagerness and haste, grabbed his umbrella instead of his gun!"

"So he was in the forest alone, with an umbrella for a gun. As he was stalking a deer through the woods, a great big bear lumbered across his trail, menacingly headed for him. The hunter's instincts took over and, without hesitation, he squeezed the handle of the umbrella. The bear immediately fell forward, dead."

As the doctor concluded the sentence, he found the old man in a state of disbelief.

"How could it be", he spoke. "Someone else must have pulled the trigger!"

"Ermm...." the doctor replied. "I'm getting to that."
~

Well, if you didn't understand that...your loss. :D
Just something to break the silence.

Till then!~

CXLIII – Life, in practical terms

2010-05-09T19:06:00.001+08:00

143

Bertrand Russell

Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living.

adapted

Happy mother's day, mum. Filial piety may be my biggest failure, but that doesn't mean I don't love you.

Till then~

CXLII – Weekend rush.

2010-04-25T18:35:00.001+08:00

142

Week 1 of school is up. Week 2 is about to fly in my face.

Nobody gets spared. Tutorials have got me by my throat, simply because it's a revision of Year 1's work...which I have largely abandoned.

This weekend, it's MA1 and FA, the latter being the more fearsome one. I've got pen, paper and notes at the ready, yet I have forgotten. Forgotten where to look for answers, which pages to flip to for reference. And to add that Graeme apparently can do most of it very frankly scares the shit out of me. I mean, if he can remember, why can't I?

WHY DO I FORGET?

Anyway, tomorrow's the briefing for the Japan cross-credit programme. I feel that if I can make it in it will be a great blessing. Lessens my burden in sem 2, which would really help. =)

OK. Back to the grind!

Till then~

CXLI – School.

2010-04-20T20:04:00.001+08:00

141

Title says it all. I'm back at school.

And there are whispers in the pipeline that indicate Year 2 is, and will be, tough. This obviously isn't good for my all-star prospects. Like say, Macroeconomic Analysis. Angela Koh says it has a very high failure rate. Worrying eh?

You bet.

I'm doubling up on my efforts to stay on top or, in worst-case scenario, to stay afloat. But otherwise, as of now, my prospects are good. Really good. =)

Oh yes, there are a few things I want to update on...

FOP:
Actually, I didn't need to go for days 3 & 4 but, since I will rot at home anyways, I say, why not? Basically slacked Thursday away with the other facils. Camwhored with DBF01 once we were back at SP. And thankfully, we broke the quota! So did many other classes! Great job! =) We shall meet up soon!

Sentosa:
FOC vets met at HarbourFront MRT @ noon with Frisbees in tow. Bought lunch, then headed down to Siloso beach to have fun! Basically we played Monkey Frisbee, dunking, beach volleyball, water captainball, the such. I got wet, almost everyone got dunked. We had alot of fun, that's for sure! Got mildly sunburnt, though I don't think to the extent of Wylie (her shoulders are red and burning)... :/ Damn the water was uber-salty.

After that went to Vivo to have a Carl's Jr. Dinner! Its burgers are massive, but that doesn't mean a 25% increase in volume has to be followed by a greater increase in prices! -.- Ate on Vivo's rooftop with the rest of them, but had to rush through my meal 'cos my dad wanted me to be home to help my brother in D&T. Was too late though—he was already asleep! Totally wasted my trip home, could've stayed on... )= DEVILS FTW!

And of course, the end of the outing heralded something scary...school. It's only day 2, and yet it has given people goosebumps. There are stacks of notes thicker than an A-math textbook, and they make my shoulders sag. Got a "new" bag, but I doubt it'll last with all the weight it's carrying. Shall study hard, and hopefully (and a MUST) I can get As for every single module!

Bring it on.

I'll try to update as frequently as time would allow me, and that would mean LESS POSTS. School will soon swallow me whole.

I WANT TO GO TO JAPAN FOR THE CREDIT EXCHANGE THIS SEPT!

Till then!~

CXL - FOP

2010-04-13T22:03:00.001+08:00

140

Just returned from Day 2 of FOP, and I'm exhausted. Think about it: I'm a stationmaster that has to be energetic for every class that passes through our station: couple that with 3½ hours of sleep at school.

Get the picture?

Man, when the air-con shut off yesterday, even opening the windows won't help. How to sleep that condition?!

Notwithstanding these, it was actually quite a good programme. I was assigned to DBF01 with Vivienne and Justin, to a bunch of freshies. Ice-broke, then lunched (in an awfully packed FC5) before heading off to do station games. Won't elaborate, but it involves raffia string. Lots and lots of it.

Had dinner with facils at Clementi. We then watched funny vids on YouTube, prior to heading outside and playing random games with the remaining Devils. HAHA Eric and his "dey-kor" (underwear) nick playing Concentration! Ended up drinking loads of refreshing (and rumoured to be disgusting) water! xD After that we showered (2am somemore :O) and ended up sleeping in the SB Store, 'cos it was the only place left with air-con!

Day 2 featured talks, videos, performances and more stationmastering! Exhausted, as you would expect. Guess what, I'll have to wake up at 7.20am tomorrow!

Anyhow, I think DBF01 is not bad. Quiet now, but sure to speak up soon enough! Hope to open them up to one another before Thursday... :) Well least there are potential hyper people that can liven up the class...I think!

Back to the grind! Eyelids drooping! Shan't elaborate more!

Till the-

CXXXIX – FOC 10/11!

2010-04-09T18:02:00.001+08:00

139

Freshmen Orientation Camp 10/11 = Awesome!
What more can be said about it?

Here's a rundown of what happened from Sunday through Wednesday:

DAYzero:
Met some Devils @ Orchard MRT to have dinner! I led the group to Lucky Plaza (where I maintain my braces), where there is a restaurant called Ria specialising in Ayam Penyet (smashed chicken). Bee Hoon, Joyce and Charrier were already there, and so we settled down and ate! The chilli was too hot for me, and my blueberry juice failed to quell the burn in my mouth D: Damn was it expensive. Also, it was there where we realised Eric has only brought 2 sets of underwear—for a 3-day-3-night camp. Till now how he survived with that number, I'll never know. Give me ONE Eric clap! :D

OK so after dinner we MRT'd back to Dover and prepared our Cluster dance before the clock struck 8. Tony then went through the usual admin stuff before our dance showcase! All the clusters did a great job, though I felt Devils' was the BEST! I guess that led to what would happen on Gala Night...

Next was the Nightwalk prep. There were 2 routes, SB and EEE, and because EEE was touted as longer and scarier, I chose it. And to be honest, when we walked it with Imran later that night, it was. It was totally dark, and silence was only broken by the shuffling of feet, the groan of toads, and hushed chats. Personally the U-shaped toilet was creepy (and so it became), and 6 people volunteered to scare there. Damn it if only I wasn't so hesitant. Continued down the route, and some were assigned; some weren't. In the end there had to be a slight alteration to the route, and that was when we encountered the Tunnel. Totally creepy with the lights out (not to mention they went out on their own); it will become the basis for one of the longest and scariest scare sections of the walk.

By the time we were done it was already 3.15am. Forgot whether I showered then or later i the morning, I was way too tired. And as usual, the air-con was frightfully cold.

DAYone:
Woke up at 7.45am and washed up. Changed into the MAD Camp SP T-shirt and headed down for breakfast. From there we slowly hyped ourselves up in preparation for the arrival of the freshies!

11.30am. Whoa were some of them early! Amongst the first from our cluster to arrive were some girls—Tiffany and Jolene. Like I said, they were damn early. Soon the rest of them streamed in, and were greeted with screams and "WHOO!"s. And typically, some of them were stunned, haha. (:

Later was the ice-breakers, and I tagged Daniel's group up. Played all sorts of games, including blow wind blow, and of course, forfeits. Oops my memory's failing me already. After that was the globe-making session, which is made of a balloon, some glue, paint and Miley Cyrus' face. Not bad, considering the shortage of time we suffered. (:

Next up we Events people were called to set up the station games, with me and Joyce taking the 'marbles on spoons' game. Unexpectedly numerous problems cropped up, since there were time constraints, and the changing of many game locales due to threats of rain. As a result, the clusters rushed out to MLT12 only to find that the games have relocated, save ours (BizIT), and so they crowded outside the doors for awhile before making their move to the other stations. In the end, only 3 teams played at our station in the course of 2 hours; we ended up sitting down and chatting for much of the time. The hour-long wait was otherwise unbearable. We ended at 7.30pm before heading back to MLT12.

But there was no break, 'cos then we had to leave to prepare for the nightwalk happening later that night. We headed for the engineering block and determined our job. Imran led us through the revised route later on, with Joyce and I left at where we were supposed to scare. Unique and Aaron were not far ahead, so we headed up to them and chatted. Oh I hate them mosquitoes, they gave me rashes. Since we had plenty of time, we wandered the route and chatted with more people on the way. The nightwalk was supposed to start at 11pm—the lights should go out by then. Quietly we had dinner there at 10.40pm, and our props came just shy of start time. In the end Joyce and I were the only scarers without props (wouldn't it be weird to scare people with our SP shirts screaming back at the freshies?). Just as we finished fretting about our lack of equipment, the lights went out. 11pm.

Aaron, Unique, Joyce and I headed back to our posts, when we made our shocking discovery—the lights before the main library are still on! How the hell are we supposed to scare people like that? For the next 45mins we searched frantically for any master switch that would plunge the entire area into darkness, but to no avail. Tony couldn't find the switch either, so we decided to make do with just the props. We set the Red Lady (one hell of a scary prop) at a junction where she wouldn't be seen till the freshies have made their turn—she looked scary even in broad daylight! Joyce gave up any hope of scaring anyone there, so we headed to the dark part of the route, and stationed ourselves where Charrier and Eric were, just before the Tunnel. Our job was simple: play ball.

And so we waited. It was only alot later when the first group came along, epic fail, that one. They walked right past us, and when Eric jumped out to scare them, all they said was "Look, it's 2 underwear!" and laughed! LOL Eric was stunned! Anyhow we got our satisfaction a minute later when the confidently strided into the Tunnel, only to start screaming hysterically. And it went on, and on, and on...

More groups came through. Some of them were genuinely suspicious of us just sitting there and rolling a ball about, others just walked past us, distracted, only to be scared by Eric as they walked past him (man gotta respect him). It was almost endless, and I was getting tired from my lack of sleep. Typically our cue to start was when we hear screams just before our station, and while there was no-one we talked about how incredibly good the scarers in the Tunnel were.

If I can recall I saw a GL crying and shivering from the Tunnel. She could not stop shaking, and I felt sorry for her. I also heard more people cried during the walk. :O

In the end it was just GLs taking the walk. Couldn't be bothered to scare them any longer, HAHA. :D We simply packed up and left. By then it was way past 3am. Wayy past. Made the long journey back to SB to wash up and change before going back to bed. Totally, totally drop-dead tired by then. Day One over!

DAYtwo:
Woke up early again, even though I overslept by a full hour. Washed up and headed own for breakfast with the cluster (if I can remember LOL), then already we had to prepare for the Wet/Dirty games. Before that of course was the Mass Dance Rehearsal, had to teach them the basics to the dance. Wei Chen did his Jack Neo act there, bloody funny! Like how he screams 走开! 走开!!!!! HAHAHAH! Well then had to go prepare the Dirty game props.

Took the items and headed to the MPF. Spread the canvas sheet out and poured all sorts of disgusting shit on it, like shampoo, BBQ sauce, sesame oil, mayo, tomato sauce, amongst others. And OH IT STANK. YOU'D ALMOST WANT TO PUKE. Went to make the field game with Eric and Zhi Xiang before the whole thing began. Man it was blazing hot, as though it was burning on purpose. It began in earnest, and Eric was once again our SAVIOUR! He did the live demonstrations for the freshies, even ending it with a body slide on the muck we've created. Of course, many disliked doing what he did, and either:
1) jumped clear of the canvas, with only the feet getting stinky, or
2) slid on their bare legs and hands, which were easy to clean.
Some, however, seemed to relish getting dirty! They ran towards the canvas, and flung themselves into the smelly mess. Sliding and rolling and skidding, some just couldn't get enough! :O

It was kinda like a limbo of sorts, although it was a fun limbo, and this went on till 2pm. The whole time the sun was relentless, and by the time I got my lunch I've been cooking for a good 4 hours. Lunch was short and quick, and by 3.30pm I was being roasted again. Between each and every game I had to run up the stairs and to the water-cooler to quench my thirst. At that point, water was the best-tasting thing that ever went into me. But during the game itself, who cares about the heat? All I did to every camper was this: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! OK, now run here! Take the front of the cardboard box and JUMP! Jump! (x10) NOW RUN!". I thought it was real good fun! This part went on till about 5,6pm? By then I was well and truly cooked. Official sunburn. (Now I'm peeling skin off my nose! Urgh.)

After that, Events people could finally slack! All we did was to go have our shower, change into our camp T-shirt and sat in the MLT with the campers. Made friends with a few of them, including Basil and Wenjuan (who rebutted me when I said "Why you blushing?" with a "How about you?". Totally owned, 'cos I looked like a lobster in a boiling pot LOL.). We then headed down to a buffet dinner. Campers took their food first before we followed suit. Log people had to eat first before going to Moberly to set up the Gala Night props. All of us sat together as a cluster, so bonded. :D Took alot of food haha, could compete with Daniel!

We then moved on to Moberly and, since we had some time left, the groups did their own separate rehearsals. The facils also rehearsed the cluster dance one last time before Gala Night began. Didn't know why the stage was so dark, very hard to discern people. And so we all sat down and bombed other clusters (Dark vs Light Side) and sang cheers!

It soon began with the group performances! They were quite good, though some I didn't get LOL. Also we all noticed that most of them used the same song: Sorry Sorry! By the time we heard it for the umpteenth time we sort of groaned. We got worried too, because our piece had that song in it. D: So it went on through the night, 19 performances over. AND GUESS WHAT? THEY SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST! (As quoted by Clay) We screamed and ran up on stage to do our dance piece, and it was great! When we were done we jumped for joy and screamed like crazy, it didn't matter! We then went back to our seats and did the Mass dance as a whole camp! It slowly disintegrated into dancing madness as we finished and formed a human train up onto the stage!

Just about everyone squeezed onto the stage and screamed and danced and jumped and cheered, it was magical. Though the DJ sucked (HAHAHA), we just screamed, danced, jumped, cheered. I forgot about my lethargy for a moment, and exercised like I never did in my life! Balloons popped, the stage shook. The music blared, and we just did what we did. I think that went on for a full 30-40mins. I was exhausted when I was done, all I did was to run up to the water-cooler and camp there. Soon people dropped out and went back to their bunks, us included. Headed to the bunk and played Indian Poker, where I suffered my hardest hit from Eric. In the end we just sat down and wrote them warm-fuzzies to everyone else, but I fell asleep halfway through, at around 3.30am thereabouts. Last thing I remembered was how friggin' cold the bunk was. After that Sleep punched me square in the face.

DAYthree:
Woke up at 8.40am that morning, still dead tired. Finished off the remainder of the papers, and washed up. Headed down to FC6 for breakfast (roti prata) and chatted with Basil, Menon and Marvin. After they went up to pack their stuff I went across to the facils' table and ate some more prata. We all just sat there and stoned, and joked about how Eric has no more underwear. Much later, we went back up to bunk and packed our stuff, before going back down to MLT12.

There we bombed more groups (We know Cupid, We don't care cheer) before Tony announced the results of the camp. And could you believe it? THE DEVILS WON! By 90 points! The cluster just screamed and screamed and screamed. We got our movie tickets! :D:D After that Tony broke camp, and we all rushed out to camwhore. And yes, all of them pictures can be found on Facebook! Took so many in those 30 mins. But while the campers got to go home, the facils involved in FOP had to stay back! D: But at least that means I didn't have to go back today!

So it was during the briefing that I realised I was facil/stationmaster with Wei Chen! I'll be taking DBF/FT/1A/01 with Viv and Justin! So who's in that class?

Anyhow after that we were supposed to go out together for lunch but cancelled it because we were so darned tired. I simply took a cab back to Tampines, showered and slept. Only woke up for dinner and some Facebook. And guess what? I'm still feeling camp hangover! D:

I miss camp. I miss the Devils. I want to relive those 3-4 days again.

I'm tired. I've been typing non-stop for 2½ hours. At least I've updated! :D

Next stop: FOP!!

Till then!~ :D

CXXXVIII – NOT Away.

2010-04-08T17:04:00.001+08:00

138

Yes, I'm back.
Yes, I had loads of fun. ^^
Yes, I seriously want a Devils' cluster outing!

But...

Yes, I'm too darned lazy to update at the moment >.<
Yes, I still want my sleep (I've got a slight headache).
Yes, I need my rest for next week's FOP.

Who's going into DBF/FT/1A/01?

Also...

Who's going into DBF/FT/2A/05?

Just so you know, Devils is the most awesome cluster! :D
I'll update tonight or tomorrow!

Till then!~

CXXXVII – Away.

2010-04-04T09:29:00.001+08:00

137

FOC till Wednesday

will write about it after then!

Also, my room is complete! Cheers!

Till then!~

CXXXVI - Thought

2010-04-01T23:16:00.003+08:00

136

Big in word, big in meaning.

And contrary to what people think, it doesn't run you over like a freight train.

No. It's more like a steamroller: slowly, but surely, it crushes you under its weight. Better still, it takes its time.

First are small things, like chores, taking care of your room, the lot. That isn't bad. What I worry about is what comes next. The big-uns.

I'm turning 18, and that means I'm at the threshold of adulthood. Once that happens, the steamroller accelerates. My parents tell me that once I finish NS, ie. 21, I'll have to rent a home for myself (read: I get KICKED out of the house). Anyways, I heard that's the case with most other people too, so I guess that's fair. But what's next?

Taxes, house, car, education (later which I'll have to pay), then family, voting, food, work...and the list goes on. Sometimes I lie in bed and think how adults are actually able to deal with all that, and all the stress that comes along with it. And then I ask how I will survive it myself.

In short, the reins of life are slowly being transferred from my parents, to me. Their problems concerning me will eventually become mine...and more.

No wonder there're so many cases of tax evasion, chalked-up debts, and broken families. Some people simply can't assume responsibility, can't accept responsibility. They try to escape it, and those are the results, the sad statistics.

So why do we even want responsibility? Why so when there are undesired end results? For awhile I was tormented by these questions, and for awhile the answer eluded me.

And then I slap myself on my forehead and say 'why am I so stupid?'—it's in me all along.

Responsibility is tied to trust. So having responsibility means you have the trust of someone, somewhere to do your job and to do it right. For instance, my mum trusts me to keep my room neat and the government trusts the taxpayer to pay his taxes. My family was trusted upon to take care of someone's dog while he was overseas.

It is also tied to pride, pride in making sure you do your job right, be it to please other people or not. Then comes the final link in the chain—satisfaction, especially so when you've done a good job. You swell with pride, or at least pat yourself on the back when you've made good on your taxes, to quote an example. Point is, without responsibility, you won't gain trust, and then you won't gain satisfaction for satisfying. Your life depends on responsibility. That's how the world works.

So I look upon the grand scheme of things, and sigh. But then I realise it's actually better for me, the feeling of trust, for no-one likes lying around and being completely useless and helpless. For being helpless and useless is not the way life should be spent.

For those who think responsibility is something you run away from, this is your chance to think twice. It's not worth it.

Till then~
(3
more days!)

CXXXV – Nukes, Tron, and the Folding Bed

2010-03-31T18:10:00.003+08:00

135

Came across a Straits Times article concerning the possible destabilisation of North Korea. More protests and dissent, say informants and think-tanks, maybe exacerbated by its currency revaluation which appears to have done more harm than good (well obviously, otherwise why would people complain?).

Questions of Kim Jong Il's ailing rumoured ailing health and the succession issue has made the situation more precarious. Power struggle, it seems, is almost inevitable in the secretive state. And while South Korea, whose warship is blown in two near disputed waters at the maritime border coincidentally around the same time as the publication of the article, possibly due to a stray (or 'stray') mine floating about in the cold waters, is the one most at risk, followed by the US of A, I believe we here too, even though thousands of miles away, are at risk.

Here's why:

Nobody knows how many nukes the North has, but Mr Kim does. All those missile tests last year (or the year before?) have unnerved so many, for the capabilities of such weapons are already known. Should they be used in retaliation in the regime's dying days or, worse still, by trigger-happy power-grabbers, the consequences will be pretty much like this...

...and then the rest is history.

Also the article raised the possibility that, in the countless refugees that pour into neighbouring countries, there could be terrorists, radicals that can make their presence readily known in the form of a suspicious-looking package left behind at a crowded marketplace that would jeopardise many civilians' lives. Who would want that to happen with all the terror crap that has already happened these past few years, not forgetting the one in Moscow not 3 days ago?

I guess you wouldn't need any more convincing. And honestly, I wouldn't want to think about it either, the effects are so morbid. Sometimes I wonder why I'm born into such a volatile day and age, even though things actually seem more stable than before?

Hey, DPRK says it's willing to get back into denuclearization talks (even though it walked out of it), and we're all glad about that, but what happens if it fails, again? What if this is only N.Korea putting on a mask and being two-faced? No-one knows, and no-one wants to know.

Anyhow, Disney is releasing a movie in Winter 2010, and by looking at the trailers, I'm guessing Tron: Legacy will be quite an awesome movie.

Here are the trailers...

Teaser.
Official Tron Legacy Trailer

Preview.
TRON LEGACY Trailer #2

Cool, right? It's 9 months away but I think it'll be worth the wait! :D BTW Tron: Legacy is the sequel to the 1982 film Tron, and it takes place 27 years after the latter (real time). :D

And of course, my bed's arrived! Well, not a bed exactly, but a sofa-bed! It's already filled half of my remaining room space, and I guess now I have my own room, with no interruptions from my siblings (that is, if I lock the door, otherwise they'll come in anyways :/) I'll put up a picture of it once the rest of the room has been put up and spruced up!

Now, 4 more days! :D

Till then!~

CXXXIV – All Better!

2010-03-29T16:05:00.001+08:00

134

Says it all really.

And it was achieved by sleeping on my brother's bed for 1½ hours. Testament to how dusty my room really is.

Now, if I can keep it dust-free, I can avoid this 3½ day episode from ever happening again, period. Don't want to spoil my experience at FOC now, right? J

Till then!~ (now the house needs sprucing up :/)

CXXXIII – Cold sweat

2010-03-28T18:02:00.001+08:00

133

Oh great, I've fallen sick. Yet again.

That puts my illness tally to 2 bouts in 3 days.

Thing is, I feel unbearably warm, and I sweat (in bed, mind you), yet a touch of wind chills me to the core and gives me sneezing fits and a runny nose. The bed being rather dusty might be a factor: I'll have to vacuum it soon. Me not sleeping enough is yet another reason, so I'll say goodbye to late-nights too. ):

I hope this ends soon, 'cos camp will be on in a week (read: A WEEK!), so I'll need all the fitness I need to sustain sleepless nights till Wednesday! 16◦C air-conditioning there will make sleeping very difficult indeed anyways. Damn, if February was scorching, March is pretty polar. Singapore's weather has bipolar issues! :O

Anyways, ordered the bed, chose the table, and bought the lights for my room, so I guess it should be ready for full habitation in a week! Brilliant! Finally something I actually look forward to in the house...!

And, oh yes! I'm blogging again!

Till then!~

CXXXII - Hits and Misses

2010-03-26T22:54:00.002+08:00

132

Devils!

McAfee virus scan is taking forever to scan my laptop, so I've taken the liberty to kill some time.
~

Being a facilitator has really opened me up as a person. Sure, I may still be rather reserved and quiet, but least it's an improvement from last time, when saying "hi" was pretty hard for me to manage. To put it in perspective, I'm breaking the ice. Slowly, but surely.

Breaking away from harbour isn't the easiest thing to do. And now I'm doing something that deals with people, and the camp will tell if I can cope with that (which hopefully will be the case :D). With support from my cluster, the Devils (ftw!), it shouldn't be hard! I'll just have fun and make more new friends! :D

To quote from Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." In 20 years I'll look back on this and smile. Forged friendships, inexhaustible fun. (:

I've missed many opportunities before, and I regret it, so I shall make FOC as memorable as I can! :D

Till then!~

CXXXI – Saving Grades

2010-03-26T00:41:00.001+08:00

131

I've just found a terrific way of saving my grades and pulling it up above 3.6.

Get As. Not just any old A, but one for all modules as well.

And oh, did I mention I have to do this for the remaining 2 years in Poly? I mean, how...hard can it be?

This though shall wait till the 19^th...now it's R&R. (:

Till then~

CXXX - Bittersweet

2010-03-25T16:07:00.001+08:00

130

Half the holidays have come and gone. And as the title implies, it has been one with some conflict in my mind.

Bitter:
Got my results yesterday, and I wasn't pleased. For me anything below a GPA 3.0 is just not good enough. The standards I've exerted on myself have failed me. So many in my course got a 3.4 and above, it only begs the questions: what happened? Didn't I do well enough?
I can only think I've got my inter-sem results to blame. I did so horrendously. Final exams were much better, but perhaps the losses incurred before could not be covered. Oh well.
Anyhow, sophomore year will have a fresh set of modules, a clean slate. And although my overall cumulative GPA will always be affected by this episode, I believe I will come back from the dead. At least a GPA 3.5, please—I need it. Just hope that the 20-40-40 rule will stand. That freshman year's damages will be minimised. ):

And then there's the light at the end of the tunnel—DEVILS! :D

Sweet:
I have recently returned from my facilitators' Bonding camp. I was exhausted at the end, but it was completely worthwhile! Our cluster (Devils) has grown so much in these 2 days, and of course, we bonded! We shouted cheers (which in creation seems to be second nature HAHA), played games and took on challenges together—little wonder we were able to befriend each other so well! In between we had meals together, danced together, laughed together, ran together. In essence, we've bonded together far better than through all the trainings combined. (: GO DEVILS!
Following Sunday we'll meet up again for FOC! And we'll try to be as (legally) high as we can get for the freshmen! :DDD
Additionally, my room is almost 100% complete! A week ago it was a complete wreck (so has the rest of the house); now it only lacks a proper bed and work table, but even then I can finally sleep in my own bedroom for the 1^st time in 8 years! Eight! By the end of the month my room should be ready! (:

OK so that sums up my post...maybe I should post more often. Anyways at least I ended it on a happy, light note! Will spend the rest of the hols happy, and come Apr 19 I will start studying real hard once again!
10 days to FOC!~

Till then! (:

P.S. I've become obsessed with the harpsichord; it is like a piano, but to me it's far more fascinating and regal! Scarlatti is the best amongst the harpsichordists!
Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata in G major, K. 455
~

CXXIX – Music, what the doctor ordered

2010-03-18T02:58:00.001+08:00

129

OK, so I am typing away in the wee hours of the morning. But then again, it's the only time I can, given the mess my place is in now.

Do allow me to begin.~

---

I have always loved classical music. It took me away from this fast-paced, relentless world and into a parallel universe so surreal it would feel like a dream. And I would float in it, like a butterfly would flutter about.

That is, until the outside world permeates through my earphones and drags me back into reality. That I dread.

My love and appreciation for such music had been with me since childhood, since my ears first caught its exuberance, its richness, its wonder. It teases you with quick, playful tones; it haunts your innermost soul with mournful cries. It is able to evoke even the most deep-seated of emotions, forcing them out with its power. You would not readily find modern pop or rock which can affect one's emotion to that degree.

While my siblings blast modern music out of their handphones and sing along to their hearts' content (which I don't mind—I do like a good many of them), I would still revel in tunes already centuries old. It does not matter which era they belong to, be it Baroque, Romantic or early Contemporary, I like them all the same. And I have to agree with one YouTuber: "anybody who can write music and have it be remembered and played centuries after their death is one hell of a musician."

Being in the choir for four years gave me such an outlet. So I can't play the organ. Or the piano. Or the violin, guitar, trombone or any instrument, for that matter. It didn't matter, for I still had an in-built instrument for that express purpose of creating music.

My voice.

Mr Toh is a conductor with passion for music. And he showed it brilliantly in his conducting, and the choir itself. The results speak for themselves. And under him, my love for choral music grew as well. Be it folk songs, carols, or old prayers, he managed to instil in us that love for music. And it is because we love it that we sing well too (maybe not in rehearsals, though).

He is a great conductor, not just in the sense of achievements and awards, but what his choirs could gain in return—friendships that last, and a healthy passion for singing. I will never forget how much he has influenced me in that aspect, that which I have unending gratitude for.

Those four years have come and gone, but the music stays. I'm listening to more pop songs now, and I reckon some of them to be darned good. And with that you would think classicals are a thing of the past.

But like I said, I have always loved classical music. And that love shall stay forevermore.
~

It's 2.57am now. Would like to wish Mr Toh a very happy birthday. (:

Till then!~

CXXVIII – Epilogue of sorts

2010-03-03T23:05:00.001+08:00

128

It's over. And I still can't wrap my head round it.

MOB was fine, very easy actually, a sentiment echoed by all my peers at school.
Accounting was easy too, to my pleasant surprise. My greatest success was perhaps being able to reconcile the bank statement with company ledgers, something I used to dread BIG time. Still, I think I can only muster a B overall, 'cos my MST results really, really sucked.
Economics was fine, but could have done better :/
The real bugbear comes from Statistics, which lost me lots of marks, and to make things less comfortable, it accounts for 40% of my total Stats marks. Damn.

No point crying over spilt marks though—who cares, it's over! All there is to it now are the results and GPA, which will come out roughly in 3 weeks' time. My hopes for making Honour Roll list have faded...

...which leads me to my next point: ambition. I have my ambitions, and I think I know how to get there, but to do so require sacrifice. Lots and lots of it. Clichéd, I know, but it doesn't kill to drive reality home...right? Anyway, isn't the Uni route what everyone wants, what everybody yearns for?

Guess not. Haha. Not all my friends opt for that route anyhow.

OK, now to my post-exam activities. My class went to the Cathay @ Orchard to watch Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It was so-so, given the weak plot (the book was much better), but at least there was the CGI to fall back to, as well as the various battles involving Medusa (Uma Thurman), Hydra, and the lightning thief himself. I doubt that it was $8 well spent, even with a stellar cast backing the movie.
After that a few of us went to the arcade and played Outrun, BishiBashi and the touch-cube thingy. Good fun all around. Thereafter I had dinner before going home at around 11pm.

This isn't the end.

There's cycling with the class at East Coast Park tomorrow (which will burn us. I mean, it's heatwave season!), then facilitator bonding sessions during much of the March hols, followed shortly after by a Bonding camp, Freshman Orientation Camp early in April, and finally Freshman Orientation Programme a week before classes recommence. To fill the gaps in between I've been thinking about a mash-up party, a class reunion or two, choir meetup, choir concert, lots of gym and not forgetting transforming a storeroom into MY bedroom.

That pretty much sums up my holidays, and my post for the day. Now my next biggest agenda is to lose that belly fat...damn. Running, and lots of it, should do the trick!

Till then!~ xD

CXXVII – Hearts and ang pows

2010-02-14T16:19:00.001+08:00

127

Today is a very special day. And it will not come again till 2048 (YES I BOTHERED TO CHECK), which is a long way away...I think I'll be a granddad by then. :/

And so without further ado, I shall type...

HAPPY VALENTINE-ESQUE CHINESE NEW YEAR!

As the title suggests...well I'm sure you'd understand. Singles, like me, Happy Friendship Day! Get them ang pows! :D

Anyways, 3 papers to go...to FREEDOM!

Till then!~

(P.S. this will really be my last post for the month. Hehe)

CXXVI – Cacophony before the storm

2010-02-06T00:10:00.001+08:00

126

Well, this will be my last post for the month. Hopefully what you see below can account for that.

FEB
8^th:     IDEA Presentation and CRS Presentation
10^th:    ITAB Web Presentation
11^th:    MOB FY Paper
22^nd:    PACC FY Paper

MAR
1^st: ECONS FY Paper
2^nd: STATS FY Paper

So yep, say hello to my pre-arranged itinerary. Not that I wanted this arranged anyways, but oh well, that's the price of trying to get a GPA of 3.65.

Anyhow, updates. I'm now in the Events Dept for FOC! That means I'll be stationmaster for field games! Actually, I wanted to be GL (Group Leader for the unacquainted), but Joyce somehow managed to convince me that running around with your group simply isn't worth it (which by the way is actually quite a good point). And since I didn't mind becoming one, I've become one.

Honestly, I can't wait for what's coming up next!

OH and I've chosen the Financial Trading option over Banking! I could still change, but heck. That's what I've wanted (: Onward!

Right I shall stop here. From here on out it's mugging FTW. No, seriously, I have to get my O level groove back again. Damn.

Till then!~

CXXV – FOC surprise!

2010-01-21T23:19:00.001+08:00

125

Yesterday I had my first FOC meeting. Along with it came feelings of excitement, anticipation, and predisposed uncertainty.

It started at 3pm, and finished at roughly 5.30pm, so yeah, it wasn't long, but it was enough for me to know quite a few people...or at least their names. :P

Let's start from the beginning.

Justin, Vivienne, Jac and I came into a room full of people whom we've never met. We split into 2 different rooms (guys/gals), which for Viv was rather 'traumatizing' (as she was the only girl from our class to make it), and waited while we were given numbers for the girls to pick, thus forming a pair. As for me, it was this nice girl named Joyce, who wears braces like I do :P.

We were sent to an adjacent room to join a cluster of us pairs (4 clusters in total) so we could start doing icebreakers in earnest. Started with the "good morning" game, which involves us saying "Hi so-and-so, so-and-so, etc, my name is so-and-so". This was a cheating game, as we had earlier stuck name-tapes on our shoulders, so anybody having problems with someone's name just had to glance over to the person's shoulder and voilà! Problem solved!

Next game involved Tony asking us random questions about our partners. Most of us managed to escape initially, but after a while pairs got caught, and eventually one pair (surprise, surprise, it was Julian's!) had to forfeit. They did some watermelon banana forfeit, heheh.

Following that supposed to be some lie-on-belly activity, but the trials for the game failed big-time. Not easy to lie on somebody's stomach while somebody else is doing the same to you. Next!

Last came our beloved Wacko. It was funny, considering the fact that the whacker had to content with the whackees' constant spewing of names, and the latter oftentimes ended up calling out to the unfortunate soul so he/she wouldn't just stand in the middle and look helplessly around (some unlucky ones became unfortunate souls themselves). In the end, someone hyper named Jasmine got hit, and she and her partner Clay had to forfeit too. They did some glue game, where they stuck themselves together and did weird things :/

Ta-da! 1^st facilitators meeting done! I did enjoy myself thoroughly :D

Anyways, next Wed there is a talk for DBF students over the concentrations available for year 2. My mind has long been fixed on Financial Trading, but still, better to know what you're flying into...

Also, I'm smack in the middle of projects with datelines as long as a toothpick. What more can I say?

Uh-oh, mum's nagging at me to wipe the table :/, so I'll end here!

Till then!~

CXXIV – Oh, joy!

2010-01-17T23:22:00.002+08:00

124

Title sums it up, actually. This past week has been blessed with quite a fair bit of luck, and I'm glad. (:

And yes, this comes still as I grapple with the thought of looming exams.
~

But before that, let's reveal the post-carnage stats. It's not a pretty picture:
~

2 As

1 B+
1 D+
1 D.
~

Pathetic, if you ask me. Still, it's not all a bed of nails, for I can transform it into one filled with roses next month...provided I can A for every single module. :/
~

But anyway...
~

I am now a facilitator! Along with Justin, Vivienne, Julian and Jac! :D Yay, that means meeting with freshmen and stuff like that, haha. Training starts this Wed so I'm quite a fair bit excited about this whole thing. Hope it all works out!
~

Also finally made some friends I can actually speak comfortably with in EPI! This would definitely help with my planning and stuff for my group's role-play a month from now. Quite excited, actually, cos you would see Graeme shaking with his high-mech act again! Well, perhaps.
~

Yesterday my dad and I were picking up my siblings from fencing when I stumbled across this:
~

A Mazda MX-5 NA. The very car I've been wanting to get my hands on.
~
This example definitely has been modified, especially with a set of fixed headlights (the original has ones that pop out). It's the only NA example I've seen so far, the other MX-5s being either an NB or NC, which are much more recent. Still, I might have a chance to actually get my hands on one as soon as I get my driver's license probably next year. Whee~ :D

~
Today however, is one from hell. Housekeeping hell. A trillion tons of junk has officially evacuated from the abode, and that has yielded results—a much, much neater room, for one. Which means: to hell, sinuses!
~

Ok, that's all the smiles and frowns for the week, hope the next one's even brighter!
~

Till then!~

CXXIII – 17 going on 18.

2010-01-10T00:35:00.003+08:00

123

It's 2010. And for someone born in 1992, that means...18. New doors open.

You could guess the rest.
~

And of course, the first thing on my mind, possibly one of the more interesting aspects of adulthood, is the car. The insurance, house, work and booze can wait (seriously, I hate the very idea of drunkenness and the problems associated. Urgh). Right now there is a Toyota Allion, but my dad has been considering to get an old Mazda MX-5 NA (yes, the one with the retro retractable headlights), thus adding a roadster to my 'inventory'.

A Toyota Allion, with auto transmission.

The Mazda MX-5 Miata NA...manual trans. Damn.

That, however, would mean getting a licence. Thankfully, I have a plan—Highway Code test by midyear, and with practice I'll take my manual driving test by next year (when I'm well and truely 18). After that, time to hit the roads (:

Leaving that aside, my exams are only a month away, which means much of my CNY will be burnt trying to revise for it. Still, the gambling and the money can be sacrificed for the fruits of success that would later come :D TIME TO STUDY HARD!

After that, holidays! 7 weeks of that should be enough. Perfect time to catch up with old buddies, some of whom I have not met for years. (:

I've got to stop now. It's late and I have to wake up at 8.30am! *Sighs*

Till then!~

CXXII – This and that.

2010-01-08T01:01:00.001+08:00

122

I'm ending the first week of school now. It's ok, considering that exams are next month. Oh well, not that there's very much to blog about anyways here, because it's just business as usual.

Had my facilitators' interview yesterday, and had quite some laughs in the process. Saving me from the silly acts is Vivienne! She did all the stuff the testers told her to do, and all I had to do was to stand still. :D Anyways, the results will be out next Wednesday, so I hope I can make it into the team! Being able to interact with the juniors would be a great joy.

Now, on to other news.

Someone introduced to me a blog (or rather, a particular post in the blog) which has been making waves in the local blogosphere. Kitchen Tigress, or KT for short, had gone to an OCBC branch on her birthday, fully expecting to be given a 'surprise' cake as per in the Sunday Banking Ad. What ensued after she was told that the ad was purely commercial is now being hotly discussed in numerous forums. Had MrBrown not picked up on this post, all that would not exist.

OK, my two cents' worth on all this hullabaloo. Since when did advertisements do a "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" gimmick? Carlsburg and its holiday experience? Guess not.

Or it being able to deliver its beer even in the highest of mountains? Please.

Point is, advertisements are hardly ever true to its word (perhaps only the telcos' messages can be believed). Also logically, I have to agree, how can branches store a massive reserve of cakes for its numerous customers anyhow? The very thought beggars belief.

Next, the poor staff. Having them to put up with her only to have their 'surprise' cake flatly rejected (apparently KT bakes pretty good cakes) is just mean. While she can laugh at the supervisor's reactions, I would laugh at her gimmicks. Clichéd, but so true—what if she went through the same treatment? The sock must be on the other foot before the implications of such an action can be realised.

In short, it was just a total, unnecessary waste of time and also too much lost face on the supervisor's part. KT, you have no shame. Of course, people have their pride and egos, and essentially, what she does is up to her. However, what happens as a result...well, she'd better watch her step, because she has ruffled too many feathers. Still, you can eke out a few laughs from the ridiculousness of it all.

It's late. Time for bed! (:

Till then!~

CXXI – Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T21:12:00.002+08:00

121

Hello 2010!

Went to Bryan's place to partake in the festivities on New Year's Eve. It was not bad, most of the choir people went, as well as some of Bryan's other friends (whom I do not know much of). We played Taboo, sang carols, and counted down to the new decade with a small glass of Moet & Chandon. Heck, even the fireworks from Marina Bay were visible! Beautiful, that. (:

Thereafter I joined Moses and the other K-pop crazy people to watch some, erm, K-pop on Youtube. The Xbox360 this time was somewhat forgotten. It was difficult for me to sleep thereafter, even though I had something to attend later that morning. However, once that group started to watch horror movies (Moses' staple), weariness took over. I and the horror movie lovers left early that morning, me and TB on service 28.

I have my resolutions. Sometimes I ask myself why I set such high expectations for myself, but isn't that the express purpose?

GPA 3.7! Hard as it seems, I want it so badly;
Get fitter for NS, one of my greatest bugbears; AND!
Be less shy in front of acquaintances. Shyness is my greatest social faux pas.

Tough, but I will do my best! :D

So once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Till then!~

CXX—Avatar & everything else

2009-12-30T19:53:00.006+08:00

120

Well, went to watch Avatar with some of my secondary school friends a few days back, and seriously, there is hardly a word to describe how wonderful this movie is. How corporate greed leads to racial—as in human-alien—betrayal and the such...well, if you have not watched it, I suggest you do, or your holidays may have simply gone to waste. ;) It is definitely one of the best films of the year. James Cameron should give himself a pat on the back!

In other news, school's starting soon, and if you're in a quandary over what to do over the New Year Weekend, too bad. Mine at the very least is filled, though not to the brim. Bryan's New Year party will feature quite a fair bit over the next 2 days. That means lots of XBOX360 (Halo at least), people, mahjong and of course, the annual movie marathon which we all love. Saturday's empty on my schedule, but Sunday evening me and the other choir people will be celebrating Moses' and Bryan's 18^th!

Still, that would mean the last term of my school year would arrive. Huzzah. Just hope I can land that facilitator job. :D

Thus with this post I wave adieu to this tumultuous decade that has been marked in blood, fear, empty pockets and the great surf surge (which means the internet domination). Since there is no word that can collectively describe these 10 years adequately (and since "Naughties" seemed, to quote a man of prominence, "silly"), I will aptly leave this aside.

Goodbye, decade with no label. Not that people need labels for this anyways, for it's just too...memorable. :P

Oh, and a happy New Year too!

Till then!~

P.S Happy birthday, Dad (:

CXIX - Joyeux Noël.

2009-12-25T00:50:00.003+08:00

119

As I type this we herald what all people, regardless of who we are and where we're from, have been waiting for. Something maybe perhaps worth keeping note in a not-too-good year.~

It's cold right now. Perhaps it's to keep to this spirit so many are familiar with.

Christmas. What more is there to say? Fir trees, presents, Santa. We all love it no?

Well, nothing to say now, so before I sign off:

Joyeux Noël. Merry Christmas. (:

Till then!~

CXVIII - Holly-DAZED.

2009-12-22T00:25:00.005+08:00

118

This holiday has proven itself much tougher to endure than I have initially thought.

It can get quite boring and routine, and multiplied with my siblings' rowdiness (sometimes I can't stand how immature they can become), it simply starts to turn out being quite disappointing.

However, these few weeks can redeem themselves yet.

Firstly, credit to Wen Xin for finding websites like MLIA to help me kill time. How much more average can my life get? Otherwise it would seem that Facebook is my only constant companion—maybe it really is. It becomes your friend when no-one else seems to have time for get-togethers (or for you), and after several hours refreshing your homepage and profile-hopping, it becomes a real bugger. So Wen Xin, thanks (:

Next, and no prizes for guessing, is Forza 3. –Graeme, this is a lil' taste-test for you.

It has given me hours of artificial adrenaline-fuelled racing in cars I hope, but not really expecting, to get. The fastest I've come to? In a Veyron, the thousand-horsepower legend, on the Le Mans straight—396km/h, 11km/h off the mark. It's the closest to actually driving it, as the tyres screech, the engine screams and whines, and the landscape passes in a blur of colour. To top the icing on this delight of a game is how your vehicle interacts with the environment—barricades, opponents, grass, everything. Trying to knock another car off the track when you're doing 300km/h, even on a straight, can yield disastrous results.

Or does it? The Rewind utility is there to mend every wrong you make when doing speeds even the traffic police would be afraid of. However, abusing this utility (or using it at all) could result in you cheating and winning races on its back. Sure, you can use it all you want when you're practicing, just to make sure you get a good feel of the track, but NOT when you race just to win—that's cheating.

Also in is the cockpit view, where you 'drive' in the driver's seat itself, with detailed...details of the car's interior (unique to each and every car) which adds to the realism. But, the view from there is poor, so those less comfortable with racing only being able to see some of the track ahead of you could try the bumper or hood view for a change.

See? I forgot all about my holiday blues already! :D

Anyways, Christmas is coming, so yeah. Hope to at least be merry with my friends around and NOT just have me sitting in front of some electronic device or console and burning my eyes out. That would really suck.

Happy holidays!

Till then~

CXVII – Yesterday’s everything.

2009-12-14T17:45:00.002+08:00

117

It's a review, recollection, and result, all rolled into one convenient post.

Let's start with the review first.

New Moon

So I've been told, this show was only meant for sissies. And so I tell them, speak for yourselves.

Ok, let's move on.

The rough synopsis is as such: Bella is growing older; Edward isn't. When he and the Cullens leave Forks for her safety, she seeks solace from her painful depression through committing dangerous stunts and in spending time with Jacob, an old friend. However, something happens to him as well, and at the same time something/one is out baying for her blood (no prizes for guessing who, really). Through some miscommunications, Edward ends up going to Italy to have himself killed by an ancient coven, but is stopped just in time—not before a quick fight, though. They eventually return to Forks, and Bella, desperate to stay 18 forever, has to make a choice that could break an uneasy truce and cause...bloodshed.

On to the review. Surprisingly, it didn't contain very much action scenes—in fact it could possibly add up to not much more than 5 minutes of real fighting out the movie's 2-hour length—instead focussing on Bella's struggle with her feelings following Edward's departure. As such, it made for a, erm, rather dry plot which sees little character development (except for in Jacob's case, of course). Here however the feud between the vampires and local Indian tribes becomes much clearer.

Verdict: If you are a fan of the series, then good news: it could possibly appeal to you, though it could not be more appealing to teenage girls, as I found out in the cinema (yes, time to get Jacob's physique). However, if you are neither, well, just prepare for some disappointment.

Score: 3/5. Some reviews are far more critical of this, I promise you.

Other than the movie

My family and I had lunch at Billy Bombers which was, unsurprisingly, almost empty, yesterday. Who can deny that Orchard Cineleisure is a prime teen hangout spot, added to the fact that Billy Bombers is flanked by far cheaper fast food joints? Even then fast food can be notoriously expensive.

Had pretty good food, actually. Ribs were awesome, not to mention the oysters and the chicken, and the mixed grill (lamb, potato, chicken, whatnot), and the malt shake—see how much I ate? ;) I was pretty happy with the meal, though it burned a massive hole in my dad's pocket. After that was New Moon. Then we just went straight home.

Graeme and Sean had been telling me about Google Earth, and I couldn't help but try it out on my laptop.

I was astounded. I love it.

This is already the most basic tier, so don't expect much detail. As far as realism is concerned, only the lie of the land is. Buildings and structures are flat. Want to get more? You'll have to pay.

[EDIT]: After some tinkering, I realised that there IS 3D buildings utility, although it's quite unwieldy and slow (kills my processor when I go to cities like NY--massive lag). And weather. Don't know whether that's live, though.

Last, but definitely not least,

Results—not live from Prague

Ms Yeo has given us the most wonderful news: DmnChoir has gotten GOLD (2^nd in category) and BEST for interpretation of a song (Kasar)!! Best news I've heard in a while. Heard they're now headed for Dresden. Snowfights expected. xP So we're all happily awaiting their return on the 17^th. Flourish of cornets!

That's all for now. Quite a long post, this.

Till then!~

CXVI – HollyDaze!

2009-12-12T15:42:00.001+08:00

116

EXAMS ARE OVER. Enough said.

Forza 3 shall soon be part of my console collection. This game has gotten rave reviews, and it could be the closest thing to getting an R8 or Veyron and travelling up to 350km/h on the streets without getting a speed ticket under your windscreen wiper. Can't wait!

Also, the choir is about to perform in a competition in Prague in an hour or so. Songs in the repertoire include O Magnum, Audete and 平安夜. Results should be out by evening there (which means past midnight here on Sunday). Prayers are with them! Ah, memories of winter 2005 are flowing back to me now, miss them.

Anyways, that's all I have to write for now. Three weeks of holidays!

Happy holidays. (:

Till then!~

CXV

2009-12-04T20:55:00.001+08:00

115

I'm tired.

Next week's schedule is chock-full of exam papers. But on Friday I shall be set free.

Free to go wherever I please. Free to do (almost) anything without let or hindrance.

Or at least, that is how I hope it to be. After all, not everything can go your way, so I'll be happy with what the holidays can offer me. (:

Before I go on my week-long hiatus, here's a parting "gift", so to speak...hope you like it!

TO MY EXAMS

Well, it's time to part, adieu

Sayonara, goodbye.

Enjoy yourself while you can

But my exams, your end is nigh!

Tragic to think that you'll go so soon

But I'll laugh with vengeful scorn,

For when the time comes, so quickly

You'll disappear, vanish, be gone.

And thereafter I'll be thinking back,

What if you could feel?

Then when I realise that you CAN'T...

All I have to say?

Adieu.

Till then!~

CXIV

2009-11-30T22:27:00.002+08:00

114

The controversy rages on.

Many say global warming is putting the Earth at risk, that the North Pole will have an ice-free summer by 2100, that if it isn't stopped, it will change the world as we know it forever.

And hardly anyone, least those who I know, disputes that.

However, there must be a form of balance in this dispute. That lies in climatology.

Haven't you noticed that all these things about the detrimental effects of global warming have been said, and written, by scientists, as well as influential personalities like Al Gore? Not that I am against their views, but what do the climatologists have to say? Isn't it that, as some say, asking a scientist about climatology is akin to asking a brain surgeon about the respiratory system? Maybe they would know a little of that, but nevertheless, that is not their specialisation.

Scientists talk of the human contribution to global warming, and mention little else of the other contributing factors. Climatologists, however, focus more on the latter, less-talked about facets of this aspect of their profession.

This increase in global temperatures, they say, is attributed more to the natural climate cycle, which states that such temperatures rise naturally before falling (like a balance) and causing a worldwide cooling, in which we know in the form of major ice ages of old, and other such phenomena than humans. And so our actions cannot be said to be conclusive of the detrimental effects of global warming.

In any case, what the scientists have stirred up has indeed brought about an improvement in the way we live. Green energy points to the future (although still in its infancy), and there have been pressure to reduce our carbon footprint in every way possible. In urban establishments, we enjoy fresher air and cleaner surroundings, and why not? Whether or not it would make a real impact in stemming global warming, at least for us living in towns and cities, we can breathe easy, literally.

The real debate between scientists and climatologists does not lie here. I only write about the two sides of this story, to make people aware that, in fact, there are people who believe this isn't our fault. After all, there will always be two faces to a coin.

Where is the debate, then? It could be in the international tribunals, numerous dialogues, or even simple arguments of loggerheads in a chatroom over the internet. The truth to that debate, however, lies in time.

One side has to be right.

Till then~

CXIII

2009-11-29T21:50:00.001+08:00

113

Well, it's lost.

No more OC for me ):

Now I'm all for facilitator in the FOC/P! Sean supports me too, hope Jac succeeds as well! xD

School tomorrow, damn. But what the hell, holidays begin on the 12^th, so I'm just holding my breath. So quickly, this year has come, and now going...going...almost gone.

Come on Honour Roll, you're mine!

Ok that's all.

Till then!~

CXII

2009-11-26T22:27:00.002+08:00

112

Hey guys.

I have well and truly run out of things to write on my blog.

Unless...

Anyways, I have gone for the SP FOC/P OC Interview just yesterday. Even though I stammered—not to mention quite a bit—my chances are, in opinion, quite good. I'm sure Sean and Jac have done well too. WE WILL GET INTO THE OC! :D:D

But, in the shock case whereby I DON'T, I shall not fret. Facilitator slots are up for grabs, and chances are competition will be low :S

And the rest shall be history.

Also, I will be busy this coming weekend with the YMCA Fencing competition in which my siblings are participating in.

(EDIT) JING XIANG CLINCHED THE BRONZE, AND I HAD A BLAST! WELL DONE BRO!!! :D LI-ING, YOU DID WELL TOO!

There, all there is to write has been written. Least for now.

Oh, and MSTs end on the 11^th of next month, with the time thereafter given free for me to enjoy the festive cheer. That leads to yet another thing: Freeman's New-Year party! That has been a tradition for most of us former choirboys (and gals). Won't miss it for the world (:

Till then!~

CXI

2009-11-23T23:26:00.002+08:00

111

I'm watching Lethal Weapon 4 on HBO now, and it's really, really funny.

Swashbuckling kung-fu (ooh, ouch) and sarcastic humour—perfect for a Monday night. After a perfect dinner, of course.

Sarcastic, intelligent humour: what I like about British comedy. From Monty Python's Flying Circus in the 60s and 70s, Fawlty Towers in the latter decade, Blackadder in the 80s, A Bit of Fry and Laurie in the 90s, and Little Britain in the new millennium, Brit comedy has become a class of its own.

It also has a neat cast too, featuring but not limited to John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, and Tom Robinson, and they would give us what would be quintessentially British. This is what I think is cultivated during the Blitz, using humour to get them through their "Finest Hour". 70 years hasn't ruined that, has it?

Whee. Looks I'm addicted to that. :D

So if you're feeling down or out (not surprised if it's homework), watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn15BUFBvu8&feature=related – FAWLTY TOWERS, 1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iB8qh0-hGc – BLACKADDER, THE CAVALIER YEARS, 1989
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjOSLCR2hE – MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, 1969

The rest? Discover them yourself! :D

Till then!~

CX

2009-11-21T20:09:00.001+08:00

110

Cool weather, check. Nice breeze, check. Thunderstorms, ch-. Well, we can see that can't we?

Yes, the annual monsoon season is upon us once again, heralding temperatures as low as 24◦C, if you believe that is so. And I can safely say everyone loves it.

Perfect weather for sleep, for an afternoon indoors. And maybe perfect for a bad bout of cold, it's so cold at times!

Now, finally, I am finishing up the work meant to be done for next week, and I am proud of it. (:

And for IDEA, its Aston's for our experience presentation! That means root beer, mashed potato, and medium-rare sirloin steak! However, that would only come after Graeme and I conquer our CRS article assessment. Which means we're running out of time.

Also, it's only 2 weeks to the MSTs. Accounts is THE module to worry about, as everyone would agree.

So, with that:

Till then! :D

CIX

2009-11-20T00:06:00.001+08:00

109

Ok, so I'm down with a bad bout of the cold.

Well, it isn't that bad, is it? Just my 3^rd bout in 3 weeks! Still, I feel absolutely pathetic.

Like I've grown...old. By multiples. It's aging, accelerated. I've even got white hair sprouting out! D:

Anyways, I've got work aplenty to complete, and here they are, in chronological order:

POA: Lab exercises 2-5, as well as Tutorial on Float, due Monday.
Critical Reasoning Skills: My article on Animal Testing, with a cross-reference to Graeme's "Life's a box" conformity article, to be tested on Monday.
Statistics: Tutorial on Chi-Square (wow), due Tuesday.
Economics: Tutorial 15 (so much for catching up), due Thursday.

With that in mind, I'll enjoy my Friday despite all the lectures. And maybe procrastinate just a tad bit (?!), before I delve in. MSTs looming over the horizon!!!

And on this "bombshell", enjoy your weekend!

Till then!~ (:

CVIII

2009-11-17T21:43:00.002+08:00

108

Do bear with me, because it's gonna be really long, but I think I ought to write this out, since it's about someone who has made an impact to not just a few people, but perhaps thousands.

It is the end of an era for Dunman Secondary. Yes, yet another chapter of its 46-year history has been written and set in stone.

2005. I was no more than a freshie there. Dunman by then has become a fledging school, having been from strength to strength since it hit a trough 2 years before. Its principal, Mrs Edelweis Neo, along with the teaching staff then, was the driving force behind this extraordinary recovery. I was worried—it has gone so far already: the pressure was already on us. The question then was: "Can she better it?"

Mrs Neo knew the challenge. And she was ready to tackle it head-on.

Results never lie.

If 2005 was a good year, the next 2, progressively, would be even better. Naturally, 2008 would represent a zenith never seen by the school before. Such success would then pose challenges, which can be likened to the increase in the resistance of air as a plane approaches the sound barrier.

The pressure was on us now, but we were not alone: Mrs Neo was more than ready to take it on. But nobody said it was going to be easy.

And it wasn't. Not just for us and the teachers, but for our principal as well. As the Os drew near, she took time off her (amazingly) hectic schedule to teach us English. Teach! It is something that her job scope perhaps did not warrant. To add to that, she spent hundreds of dollars to buy us little buns and burgers to help us through the nights of endless study. How much better can that get?

This dedication, along with that of the teachers', didn't go to waste—our results were on par with those of the previous year—and I hope this year paid off as well. This principal didn't just take the managerial role, but the PR and teacher roles as well. She to me is a rare breed. And with her leaving Dunman, this breed has become rarer.

She has left a legacy, one never to be erased, one perhaps none can match, one that may not be seen in Dunman again.

For its current students, having a new principal at the helm doesn't mean the honeymoon is over (honeymoon is perhaps the wrong word to use). It just gives all the more reason to bring the school to new heights, under the aspirations and legacy of the old and the fresh goals of the new.

It is indeed the end of an era, but it isn't the end of the honeymoon.

No. It is only the beginning of true success.

Till then~~

P.S. Graeme introduced me to this dynamic way to blog—through Microsoft word! It's excellent, and I could be using this platform to blog here on out. 素晴らしい！:D

CVII

2009-11-15T00:10:00.002+08:00

107

hey guys,

changed my layout. seems i'm finally sick of the old. and so, this is how it shall be henceforth.
just a quick update.

till then!~

p.s. mood: excited now. justin, viv, shirong, tb and larry are coming over in 10 hours' time! looks like halo 3 odst's multiplayer platform is gonna be a blast! can't wait! :D

CVI

2009-11-14T16:27:00.002+08:00

106

it's been an uneventful week, really.

terribly uneventful. it's like having breakfast with ham, sausages, eggs and a nice hot cup of hot chocolate - WITHOUT the ham, sausages, eggs or the nice hot cup of hot chocolate. to have to drag my weary self to school every morning (cept' for fridays...12's the time: hope you like your book melissa!) and not having coffee help you through your day just turned me into a perpetual zombie. lattes work worse in this department.

but otherwise...it's been a good week for me! not winning food implosion @ sp just means i don't have to execute my promise (or swearing) of never wanting to eat again - which would have been the saddest thing to ever happen in my life.

also, even with me zombie-fied, at least i could plaster a smile on my face. and to top the icing on my expired-yet-still-tasty cake (ooohh this is in SUCH bad taste), i've memorised the entire hiragana alphabet!!! now it's on to katakana and kanji...which i hope would bring me the same joys of memorising it! :)

i hope this coming week can be filled with even more joy! :D homework, be prepared for elimination!

as such, before this post begins to look like an uninteresting essay (if it isn't so already) -
till then!~ :D

CV

2009-11-11T20:59:00.002+08:00

105

if there's something i'm seriously losing, its my sense of self-control.

look, nevermind that i was weaned off the laptop - FOR A WHILE - when it was return'd (without a glitch when it went INTO servicing 0.o) i just went...almost nuts. also forget the fact i use it for poly work: after all, isn't it it's purpose?

i saw my results in sept on mysas, and i told myself i cannot afford to slacken. i was so determined...till the term started. something clicked. or snapped. i can't really tell. and now i'm (almost) hooked. how you define hook'd is up to you.

honour roll...i want my name in it, yet i'm doing little to justify my want. *sighs* i need to want. get it? i must want it bad enough to do well, otherwise i'm toast. the inferiority complex will consume me.

ok, now i'm completing my MOB powerpoint, as well as attempting my econs. so before i get carried away, i shall stop.

till then~

OH AND friday is COLOUR FRIDAY! PURPLE TOPS PLEASE :D

CIV

2009-11-01T20:57:00.002+08:00

104

as promised (rather late), i've return'd to blog about my trip to JAPAN!!

well, won't say much, cos it was pretty much a pilgrimage. but i have to say, my 2nd trip back there was...exciting. (: who knows, there will be opportunities next year, definitely!

ok so here are a few of many pictures taken...

yes, the plane i was in - an A380! and actually, it put the b747 in perspective: roomier legspace, quieter travel and, of course, a bigger entertainment screen! couldn't sleep, so watched a couple of movies.

fuji! in autumn! and people of numerous countries just flocked here (thus the crowd). beauty uncompromised.

if this bowl of udon isn't perfect, i don't know what is.

same goes for this wonderful bowl of ramen. what's perfection?

the hoando, the largest temple in the vicinity. stepping into it gives an overwhelming sense of tranquility...well of course i'm buddhist (:

well it was a spiritual awakening....as well as a shopping paradise, despite the fact that browsing time was already at a minimum (with so many activities to attend) - my luggage was stuffed full of food and souveniors.

anyhow, i'm now learning japanese, partly because of how rampant language barriers are there. so, as of now, i know how to introduce myself, talk about about scenery, and write a little. reading is still out of the question.

and so, i'll just slowly get acquainted with this language. not hard really, its pretty standard.

as of opportunities, there are TWO:

1) study trip there (or so rumour has it)

2) backpacking! - which of course me and my friends have to pay for ourselves -.-

back to the present. zbrush is giving me plenty of headaches, its so cumbersome. to make things worse, the presentation's tomorrow! zzz. catching up, then, will be an issue.

AND, many thanks to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday! its the thought that counts! THANKS GUYS (:

well, time for bed. especially since tomorrow's hell day. 8am - 5pm to be exact. yawn.

so now,

till then!~

CIII

2009-10-20T15:42:00.002+08:00

103

back from japan!

and to be honest, i miss it alot. 3 days was wayy too short.
i promised that i will return, perhaps next year? for the study trip? xD

anyway, will update later!

till then~

CII

2009-10-15T13:15:00.005+08:00

102

well i'm leaving s'pore for narita in a few hours' time, so i'm basically spending the afternoon erm, idling.

it's a midnight flight spanning 7 hours, and since tokyo is only an hour ahead, i don't expect any jet lag. still, there are better things to look forward to, especially when i am flying there in this:~

majestic. the airbus a380. :D

don't ask me why this plane is so sought after. maybe its an opportunity to boast that "i've flown in the largest commercial jet airliner EVER". so? it's still a plane. it's just really, really, REALLY BIG. and somehow it makes you feel puny. very puny.

anyways, i'll not be back till tuesday morning, so if i'm lucky enough, i may make it for the 10am lecture that day. :P yes, as you can see, 7 weeks of non-stop holiday has made me mad enough to say "i want to go back to school!!", so yeah. SP DBF people see you then!

i'll try to pop a couple of pictures up here (and the rest on facebook)...if i can.

so yes,

till then!~

CI

2009-10-12T16:15:00.005+08:00

101

hey people!

well, there isn't much to post, but least there's THIS:

actually, we wanted to celebrate ms kwek's birthday last saturday BUT she, at the last minute, told us that she COULDN'T make it...so i, lunchless and hungry, decided a COMPROMISE.

what COMPROMISE? zibin, amanda, weizhen, alvin, xianda, yinghong and i had lunch at CS instead (actually some already had their lunch at home so...yeah). and because we finished THAT so early, we were at a loss: what then? and ALVIN gave us the perfect time-killing solution. and even though i objected initially to it, i didn't regret it.

a movie.

surrogates.
basically it's about a society that is entirely dependant on biomechanical beings to go through the rigours of daily life - in style. and after one particular person (willis) loses that, he slowly realises that surrogates are merely masks that people wear (like how he remarked that a pretty lawyer could most probably be a fat balding guy sitting in his couch: could be true?!), and that there is something even more sinister....a destructive weapon and a twisty plot...won't spoil it.

it just reflects US as a society: we have makeup, then cosmetic surgery and, in the quest for bodily perfection, go even further. in the end, we become the people we are not, losing our true meaning and identity in the process. maybe this is what the movie intends to tell us...hmmm.

anyway after the movie i had to rush off somewhere else so i went home with zibin (who was already late for work).

oh well, back to reality. GEMS registration tomorrow, and japan in a couple more days, which means i won't be back till tuesday! HAAHA. and the BIRDIE is almost complete!
i hate my timetable ):

till then!~
:D

C

2009-10-06T20:58:00.002+08:00

100

great cheer! :D

not simply because its the hundredth post (what's so special about that anyway?), but because of the following reasonssss...yes i haven't felt so happy for so long:

1. i made new friends!!! :D
2. finally found things to kill time!

had M.A.D. (Make A Difference) camp from last fri thru sunday, had loads of fun yeah?
first day, met up with graeme early @ sb (the post-renovation results look AWESOME!) and went in. our groups were splintered and reorganised because only half of the enrolment, in turn one-third of their aimed attendance, turned up.

anyway, did lots of activities to bolster bonding, and i loved it, even though water seemed to be its main theme. :D :D
that night, melissa attempted "heart-to-heart" talk, and it went out fine till the lecturers chased us back to our bunks.... -.- haha.

day two was the day for everything. morning was an amazing race, learnt lots of stuff, killed our feet haha :x then back to touch up our group page before going for a foodhunt (out, again) and finally, the nightwalk - more pple to know (: - a nightwalk with a difference...ending with a dance...sort of. we stayed up real late to finish up testimonials and to just talk...slept at 5.20am -.-

day three....cleanup and camwhore. need i say more?

roadrunners ftw! should meet up yeah? :)

and yes, the 'birdie' me, jasper, tb and ryan are creating @ dunman is a true timekiller. and better still, it now holds monetary value...for us!

next week...japan!
will miss school a little...couple of days perhaps ):

till then!~ :D

XCIX

2009-09-29T00:29:00.005+08:00

yet another start to yet another potentially dreary week.

so, what happens to you when you're bored? really bored?

simple. this.

scribbling! :D whatever is better. (click to enlarge)

and of course, eventually, it came down to this.
boomz.

setting the record straight on english.

oh well. 7 weeks of holiday now coming full circle. helping ms kwek to do some designing and painting :P least it helps kill some of the time now. otherwise what you see above will happen again.

perhaps i'll post next after MAD camp. make new friends, i suppose. and of course new things to write about. i hope.

till then!~ :)

XCVIII

2009-09-27T22:29:00.003+08:00

98

hamilton won. perhaps a win too late. but well done. you've done well. :)

and for those still consumed by CRASHGATE, GET A LIFE. just look at alonso: renault has had a massive fallout, and still he, undaunted, raced his way to podium spot.
well? he didn't cheat. all was fair. crashgate just shows how scandals and politics can consume such a beloved sport. if critics continue to cling on to the scandal, all i can say is this: you've lost sight of the sport itself. can't it have the essence of the 50s and 60s? can't it be just racing?

well done alonso. you kept your goal in sight, and crashgate suddenly seemed insignificant. you are an inspiration.

mad camp this weekend. can't wait (:

till then!~

XCVII

2009-09-23T14:38:00.002+08:00

97

yes. time for the great reveal.
and frankly, i'm disappointed.

cumulative GPA: 3.346

FOM: B
EC : B+
ITAB: B+
ONOW: A

yes, it's paltry, especially after all the aims i've given myself.
jac is the best of the lot: 3.88. imagine that.

so yes, it's time. time to reflect, recall, and refocus.
and i'll reach for the sky...still, i have to be rooted and resolved. i will come back with a vengeance. (:<
but now, it's to enjoy whatever fruit life has to offer, before delving into books again.

till then.~

XCVI

2009-09-22T20:37:00.002+08:00

96

gym is officially essential to my well-being. haha.
speaking of which, tb, zibin and i went there today. upper body is the main focus. i'm starting to be afraid of ns.

went back to dunman to, well, hang out. timmy & ashley, then jasper & zhi an (basketball!), and ms kwek, AND chock-full of kinder bueno bars. and air-con, mr ng and mr lee wl :)

anyway, i caught tb in the act of covertly grabbing a bar. on video. and sneakily, of course.

the man at the printer is mr ng. and yup, that is dunman's d&t room (:

went to hang out @ budget cafe last before going home.

ok, now to a graver issue:
RESULTS OUT TOMORROW.

i have my target set, and it's rather lofty: 3.4.
well actually i've revised my target downward from 3.7, so...yeah.
that's all. i tell you guys once i get to grips with it tomorrow.

till then!~
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- howard thurman

XCV

2009-09-16T16:59:00.005+08:00

95

hello people!

have returned from the 01 chalet @ aloha loyang yesterday! however, i was wasted from all the physical and mental torture endured in one short night, so didn't blog then. therefore, i shall do so now (:

MONDAY
left home with my brother's bike, cycling up the connector to prp. BUT! because certain people were late, i ended up being delayed, under the blazing sun, for half an hour -.- till they all arrived.

as a side-note, justin re-bonded his hair so it's straighter. better for him too.

so for most of the afternoon i did random stuff like tai-di (no translation -.-) and blackjack, losing miserably, and mahjong! YAY after learning how to win just last week (-.-) i managed to win 2 of the 5 games! :D happyhappyhappy.

in the evening we went to rent some bikes (9 in all), cycled to downtown east for dinner (can't be bothered to supply details) before the main event - night cycling!

not any old-how cycling round and round prp, this time we were doing it long-haul (40km)! was doubtful whether i (and the bike) can survive what looked like torture.

@ 10pm, we set off. naturally, uphill was a pain in the arse, but downhill was joy. travelled to changi village, then to the coast beach where planes fly right over your head, to perhaps the longest stretch of straight road in s'pore: 8km in all. and because it was parallel to the runway, we would see a plane take-off or land every 2-3 mins.

just as we finished that path, it turned to midnight, and already people were trailing behind and getting lost. also, the bike seats were killing our arses - every bump was a pelvic nightmare.

continued down to east coast park, where graeme, our friendly local area guide (FLAG), realised we had missed an exit which could have saved us - and our behinds - up to 15km of travel. and pain, of course. nothing could be done: it was closed anyway. soon, though, nature would give way to urbanised living.

from there,i became the convoy's FLAG, because i knew the kebangan - bedok route better. actually, it was straightforward, as the path was virtually straight. they simply needed a leader in the darkness. heheh.

you may have noticed that i haven't been complaining about my thighs burning or anything. sure they hurt but, remember our rears, bottoms, butts? when on every bump, crevice or kerb pain unimaginable to the common mortal becomes reality? ok i'm exaggerating, but i'm simply wanting to drive this point home: pain in rear > pain in thighs.

anyways back to the journey. went round bedok reservoir and back into tampines. while people were flagging in strength and their complaints ebbing away due to weakness, home was only less than 10km away. so, as much as we were in agony, we cycled to the bus interchange and into a 24-hour mac. by then, we were so sore that even sitting down on the softer, seemingly cushy seats became a task.

and once we sat down, we almost didn't get up again. ate and chatted in there for roughly an hour before heading back to the bikes and have our adventure - and pain - come full circle, literally. i was the 6th of 12 to finish the little expedition, coming back just before 4am.

i'd say even though the pain at the end was awful, it was definitely fruitful and ironically, enjoyable. not only did i get a thorough leg-and-ab workout, it also beat lying around the chalet, wasting half the night away. so i dare say it was 40km well travelled.

went in, showered, chatted and watched malcolm's collection of top gear (crap he has every single episode of every single series) before turning in for the morning (6am -.-).

TUESDAY (though much of the above happened that day but...yeah.)

woke up at around 11.45am. lazed in the corridor because i couldn't get back to bed. went in to sean's room and lazed some more. left the chalet at 12.40pm for lunch (there was a shuttle bus to catch then). missed the bus, so went to downtown's JUSTACIA for a meal. had a bulgogi ramen, which was actually not bad at all (the ice-cream was so-so).

after lunch a few of us decided to catch a movie at e-hub. the proposal. i won't give a review (too lazy), but i can say it's more than a just a girly chick-flick, because therein lies a tad deeper meaning. shan't spoil the fun for you guys.

went back to the chalet and decided that there was no point staying on because there was nothing left to do (justin was literally wasting away). went t o the beach for a walk, then packed up.

i left early (7pm) because i had someone else to meet, someone i hadn't quite seen for over 10 years.

i could hardly recognise priscilla, and there were many people i didn't know, so it took some time before we actually noticed one another. had a nice short chat, but couldn't stay long because she was busy and i was rushing for dinner ): so we had to part ways ): but we will meet up again soon!

went to white sands with the 'deserters' for dinner. had two 6-inch tuna subs and a 32oz cup of tea. was totally wasted by then. no details.

cycled home later on. showered, did a prayer, and went to bed @ 11.30pm. i didn't wake up for the next 11 hours (:

here's a vid to close off this entry (:

i do apologise: moving lights and some sound would be all you'd note of an aeroplane flyover, but yeah. it was already past midnight (:

jac's joke. don't want to discriminate anyone, but it's sooo funny, i think.
~~
one day, two blondes were walking through a small clearing in the woods.
while doing so, they came across a set of tracks.
"look,"one said. "deer tracks!"
"no,"replied the other. "those are obviously moose tracks!"
and so a quarrel broke out between them over what tracks those were.
10 minutes later, a train ran over them.
~~
till then! :)

XCIV

2009-09-11T00:36:00.006+08:00

94

gym. laptop. jog. dmnchoir. console.
bored.

chalet. birthday. camp. japan. job (?).
results=oh no.

clinging on to the edge of existence.
~~
many many years from now, on my deathbed;
on my final breaths;
should someone ask:
"how was life?"
"has it been kind?"
"has it been forgiving?"
i shall chuckle and simply say,
"wonderful. fruitful;"
"and one without regret."
family and friends,
it's time to end;
and with a smile and a prayer,
to hell with the naysayer,
the curtains draw.
i hope it was a ticket well spent.
~~
time to accept mortality.
till then.

XCIII

2009-09-04T23:44:00.003+08:00

93

happy. and nostalgent. (:

why, you may ask?

well, allow me to explain it in 2-three-word sentences.
1) had gym today
2) saw choir today.

first, gym. haven't had much of that recently. in fact, after only 3 sets of 15kg weights, my arms got killed. well, it isn't sore yet, but i'm sure that will come...soon. tuanboon teaching me all the right techniques ('cept for the lack of warmups), so 6 weeks of intensive training? gunning for it!

had a mcdonald's lunch (quite a waste, no?) then popped home for a quick shower before meeting up with the alums for choir.

choir. only the people wishing to go to europe come end year came today. laughs. nostalgia. especially when we went down to help them with 平安叶. woo.
later came their new song, the set piece Audete, Gaudete. tb came to lament: why? why is it that they, instead of us, got this song? it's deceptively simple: no emotions, brutal, strict. and loud, of course. not like all the other songs which require far more technique control. oh well. fate is fate.
then came O Magnum. killer song that, a stark contrast to the one they had sung earlier. ended at 4.30pm? ditto.
stayed inside for awhile, rummaging through the adam khoo booster items. then we popped downstairs for some basketball (which i haven't played since O lvls =.=). non-exercise took its toll - was exhausted not 10 minutes into the match. no.

later nipped back up to join the juniors and zer, nick, tb, moses for a carolling session. wonderful. nostalgia all around. (:

to be honest, i do miss the choir, its teachers, its conductor. so much has changed, yet so little had been lost. if i could, i would return. honestly: why not?

oh wells. nostalgia, experience. 2 teachers in life, almost like parents.
i guess there wouldn't be anything to write unless something terribly exciting happens during the holidays.

till then!~
Life must be understood backwards; but... it must be lived forward.
-Soren Kierkegaard-

XCII

2009-08-31T23:22:00.006+08:00

92

today was awesome (:

went back to dunman for tchers day (tmr sch won't be open) with the (almost) complete 4D collection. me and tuanboon went around the school for awhile before the rest came. sat around a while longer :/ and later went on to visit ms kwek not once, twice, but three times! HAHA

and yes, ms thong is pregnant. and it's a boy ;)

took lots of pictures, caught up with one another (took very long) before actually splitting up (boohoo.) went for a lil bubble tea before going to tb's place for some mahjong.

well actually, i didn't play: i went on to watch some brit comedy, which i truely adore.
in fact, here's one for you guys to watch!

MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
season 2 episode 11 part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15QfSAY6azw

warning: DO NOT WATCH if you:
1. don't understand or appreciate british comedy (mind you, you need some comprehension, not like many in-your-face american comedy); or
2. are below 16 years of age.

the link above is the most unpolluted of all the episodes - continue to them at your own expense.
btw it's just part 1 - you can find the other 2 parts to this episode by yourself.

IF you watch and are offended - do mind that this show was created by brilliant intellects - you are almost certainly immature :D hehe.

OH! back to the story.

tb, larry, weizhen, alvin and i later went to tmart for dinner. chatted alot on our ambitions when we grow up (thinking like adults now. not good.)
after that its home sweet home.

end of story.

well. that's all i shall write.
till then!~

XCI

2009-08-29T23:34:00.002+08:00

91

three letters - Y. A. Y. get the jist?

yes, the exams are over, and so begins 7 weeks of Y. A. Y.
here's the schedule for the break. :D

AUG
31 - return to dmn!

SEPT
14-16 - chalet @ aloha loyang

OCT
2-4 - MAD Camp
15-20 - Japan!

sean, viv and i are looking for a job now: any short term things eg exhibitions. don't want anything which need longerand inflexible commitments hehe :/.

but until then, :D
till then!~

XC

2009-08-15T12:55:00.005+08:00

90

yes people, it's the ninetieth post! and to top it off, it'll be my last for the next fortnight! the blog's going to be a year old soon. nothing special about that though....

the coming week is, unofficially, study week. and here's the schedule for revision:

sun: read up followthrough.
mon: econs - 2 past year papers.
tues: itab run-through, econs - remainding papers
wed: accounts - 1 past year paper.
thur: accounts - remainding papers/any tutorials.
fri: marketing - 3 past year papers.
sat: marketing - remainding papers.
sun: redo 1 accounts paper.

yes, looks can deceive. but this is where hiatus begins. i'll probably write again after the 28th (econs paper), and then thereafter it's 7 weeks of vacationing.
oh and would we be able to come back to dunman around teachers' day? suggestions please.

till then!~

LXXXIX

2009-08-13T18:15:00.004+08:00

89

hello people.

feel terrible? like the whole world has gone to the dogs? want to chuck all your stuff out the window and curse and swear, simply because your kit-kat wasn't made from pure bitter choc? or maybe just feeling down?

fret not.

jac told me a really good 'joke', and it really gave me a real morale boost (as in laugh) :D even if you're already as bouncy as a squash ball, it doesn't really matter.
enjoy.
~

a line of dead people wove and looped round the clouds as they awaited their entry into heaven. as usual, st peter was at the gate, letting them pass. however, the job was becoming really dreary, and st peter decided he needed a little pick-me-up.

standing up to the line of deceased, he spoke. "if you can tell me how you died, i will let you pass into heaven."

a man walked up to the gate. "how did you die?", st peter asked.

then came the reply :"i was coming home from work, as usual. as i stepped into the house, i noticed there was something going on inside my room. as i opened it, lo and behold, my wife was sleeping with another man. seething, i chased him into the kitchen. his disapperance only angered me more, and i quickly rushed to the balcony."

"there, i saw a pair of hands gripping on to the railings. immediately, i brandished a large hammer and started smashing at his fingers. he cried in pain, but refused to let go. however, 10 minutes later, he lost grip and fell of 9 stories. i looked down with glee, only to find that he was still kicking! as enraged as i am, in a fit, i hauled my fridge out the balcony and killed the bas**rd. suddenly, from all the excitement, i had a heart attack. and here i am."

"ok", said st peter. "you can pass."

and so he passed.

the next guy came along. "how did you die?", the saint asked.

sighing, the man spoke. "i had just finished a run and was back home on the 10th floor of the apartment. all was well, until i slipped on a puddle on my balcony and fell over the railings! desperate, i clinged onto the balcony immediately below mine."

"just as i began hauling myself back up, there came this man, with a large hammer, and before i could explain, my fingers were feeling its wrath. it hurt, but i held on for dear life for a whole 10 minutes. i couldn't take it anymore, so i let go."

"this was it, i said. but no! i fell strategically on a massive bush, and lived! i was thanking god that i had survived, when there came falling this fridge. then i am here."

st peter nodded. "you can pass"

and so he did.

a third guy came along, cold with blue skin. st peter was puzzled. "how did YOU die?!"

in between shivers, he man replied. "imagine the scenairo: i was in a fridge, naked, hiding from some maniac of a man."

~
maybe it was how jac said it. ONE'S JOKE IN ANOTHER'S MOUTH (or writing, in this case) IS A JOKE NO MORE.
if you're ever down, jac will be your remedy. after all, laughter is the best medicine. and he is the bottle to that medicine.

yay! ec presentation is OVER! now i can focus on my papers which are 2 weeks from now. thereafter it's SEVEN WEEKS of pure vacationing! :D playplayplay!

toodleloo!
till then!~

LXXXVIII

2009-08-11T22:29:00.003+08:00

88

well, if you hadn't expected me to post anytime soon, here. i posted.

anyways there was virtually nothing to post, so the 'hiatus'. what i intend to write about now concerns what happened only in the past couple of days. and here they are:

G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra;
SB Talentime 2009.

first things first. G.I. Joe at face value looked real cool. and to be honest, it is. with a bang here, a boom there, awesome chase scenes, it would make any guy's adrenaline run. except graeme's, of course. more bang than plot, for one, added to the fact that many physics laws were not just bent, but broken, ground, mashed, blended and then dissolved in this movie made his blood literally boil.
i'll leave the review to graeme. and it's apparent he's really not pleased.
http://totallysedated.blogspot.com

then came the talentime earlier. and once again graeme wasn't pleased with the result, particularly the chinese solo. why so i'll once again leave it to him. well, it was quite interesting and, erm, amusing, given that graeme and jac were sharing the same square metre of space. anyways jac won 5 free yoghurts, which he despised :/ had a light dinner thereafter, and home to where i am...

accounting tomorrow, effective comms presentation on thurs. i'm really looking forward to the more restive study week next week.
there. updated. don't expect me to blog often, though. exams coming. bahh.

till then!~

LXXXVII

2009-07-27T21:25:00.004+08:00

87

hello world.

sickness gone, projects up to par. :)
so ya, really nothing else to type, except...

yesterday.

i was at my dad's friend's place (exotic) for "lunch"--and it ended up being a six-hour binge-eating session :p

what i ate: onion, mashed potato, lamb, florentine steak, tomatoes, pizza, cake, prawns, fish. top that off with water, apple juice, pinot noir and chardonnay.

oh and i made my 1st 'professional' observations of the moon. the palm tree was my standard while taking the time lapse photos of its transit across the sky.

1930hrs.

note moon as per perspective to the tree. light still dominates the satellite. just past halfway between tree and roof.

1942hrs

sky has darkened very significantly. moon has moved sightly down right towards the bottom right of the photo. note more than halfway to roof.

1958hrs

sky has darkened to the point that palm tree is not clearly visible to the naked eye; roof edge illuminated by moonlight. note moon has moved even closer to rooftop. clouds not discernible.

2018 hrs

complete twilight. palm tree nearly indiscernible. moon heading in roughly same direction as the sun. 5/6 the way to roof. clouds surrounding visible.

2037hrs

clouds obscuring outer rims of moon. moon almost touches roof.

moon disappears above roof by 2050hrs. moon completely obscured by clouds by 2110hrs; moonlight still visible. moon lost from vicinity (not that the observation space was very large) by 2210hrs. observation ends.

---

yup that's it for today. i just hope i can make a more detailed observation using a more...suitable imagery device for such express purposes :)

till then!~

LXXXVI

2009-07-15T16:52:00.002+08:00

86

haiz. came back yesterday with a 39 C fever, a throbbing headache, chronic cough and a body which felt as though it has boxed 12 rounds with mike tyson. so yes, i am a) wearing a mask as i type, and also b) currently in a week long quarantine.

i'm kinda exhibiting flu-like symptoms, but most of that went away throughout my 20 hour sleep. my fever shot through the roof at midnight at around 39.8 C. thankfully its come down to a pretty normal 37.3 C. taking just about every precaution now...

so i guess my life will be pretty boring for the next week. nothing to blog about i guess. c'mon, how can blogging about lying in bed and bickering be remotely interesting?

so yes,
till then~

LXXXV

2009-07-12T21:13:00.006+08:00

85

sunday sunday sunday...hmm lets see...

morning: headed to yishun (!) to help out at the sree navaradan mission centre with the class. nth much to elaborate on here, just some area cleaning, since we couldn't interact with the elderly because of H1N1. later an admin guy gave a quick tour of the place. Feelings of pity rose out of me....just slightly. after all, there are 2 sides to a coin.

later headed to the cathay to have lunch. and guess what we had... :)

yes! its none other than dear old ASTON'S! had prime sirloin with ibc rootbeer. medium rare. and quite frankly, i kinda like the blood. and since the movie was eons away, we sat. and chat(ted).

5.45. went to watch...

ice age 3! won't spoil it for those yet to watch it, but i can say its pretty quite decent. worth the watch, but perhaps just a tad ridiculous (before any ice age lovers flames me, it is good to note that a)i am NOT a critic, and therefore b) it is purely opinion). but honestly, it was DAMN funny.

by then it was very late, so went home with justin, and back to where i am now. because priscilla was ill today, i had to reschedule the meeting to nxt sun (i think...?) and so go out with my class tday instead :p.

get well soon pris (:

argh! unfinished work.
argh! results out throughout the week.
argh.

till then!~ :)):

LXXXIV

2009-07-10T19:57:00.007+08:00

84

at long last, a dreary week draws to an undramatic close.
itab: 53/100 (i studied ok! just tht i had no time to finish =.=)

the other modules will be released nxt week.

homework, homework, homework zzz.

just proof that i did work! :D
~
ok, sunday got work at the salvation army. guys, make sure you're at yishun mrt by 9.30am! after that, depending on certain conditions, i would go on to meet priscilla (the girl i haven't met for very long, and who has been my only friend till i was like, 4? haha) and maybe do a little catchup :)

and then its back to monday blues :(

till then!~

LXXXIII

2009-07-04T14:32:00.002+08:00

83

finally, the mid sems are over.

still think i'll get a gpa >3.5 :D but of course there're other modules which are project-based. shall ace them!
taking time off now this weekend now before delving into wave 2 of this never-ending battle.

damn, i feel so empty, so lonely now. can't deny this feeling.

oh, and is there school this mon? dunno if youth day applies to us in poly :/

dunno whether i'll blog soon. encourage me!
till then~

LXXXII

2009-06-29T21:07:00.003+08:00

82

happy birthday tuanboon!

ok, yesterday we celebrated his 17th, cos there was school for many today (darn). was scheduled for 5pm, but i was late in coming, and reached the café cartel 40 mins late. however, tuanboon only came at 6.30+ cos he was waiting at the mrt station for us when we thought he was waiting for yuling (oooh)...so yeah.

present were tb, weizhen, jess, alvin, larry, yiliang (how'd he get into the mix), lydia, yinghong, me and yuling (came only after dinner ._.). had carbonara, and honestly, it sucked. dunno bout the rest, but i was sure it was better. was stuffed full man. later cme the cake. and the pictures.

the pic says all.

the couple. scandal.

no hands!

after tht all but me tb lydia and yuling left. left cartel for t1 to find a spot for lydia and tb to use their laptops. eventually we ended up i kfc playing o2 jam. this continued in mcdonald's till 11.30pm. yuling missed the last train; she was to miss the last bus too, so she took taxi. eventually took 28 home. forgot to officially wish him in the bus :x

tmrw is back to school. back to exam theatres. meet the projects. damn.

till then~

LXXXI

2009-06-27T18:01:00.003+08:00

81
was reading reader's digest, and after going through the 'word power' section, decided to write a story out using all the words in the section. (those words will be in orange and italicised)

RANDOMNESS
It was yet another usual day in Danny's household. Our protagonist heads to the kitchen, feeling rather peckish. After all, it was breakfast-time. Half of the refridgerator was dug-out, as usual, to satisfy his ever-growing appetite. After such a hearty meal, he felt ebullient, ready to tackle yet another day at work, as dreary as it is.

Only yesterday, Danny had failed to clinch his company a multi-billion-dollar deal with an MNC, so he had to endure the odium of his colleagues, bitterly regretting placing him as project lead. Still he strode into the workplace, ever adamant that the failure was no more than a peccadillo (is he nuts?). While any normal presenter would try to gain the interest of his client, Danny had instead bloviated, putting his client basically to sleep. Potential success turned into devastating failure in no more than a paragraph and 2 minutes. His abecedarian speech ruined a culmination of months of work, just what no-one had hoped.

Danny sat in his desk, resisting glares from his project-mates. After less than an hour, his boss called him in, apparently to admonish him for his poor performance the previous day. Danny simply shrugged and led himself to Mr B.'s office. Nothing would prepare him for what was in store.

Danny entered the office, exuding a sigh. "What now?"

"Do you know what you've lost us? Do you?" Mr B. fired back, his eyes aglow with anger.

Danny shrugged. It would be the final nail in his coffin of dead-end jobs.

Mr B. handed him a slip of paper. Slowly, with clammy hands, he opened it. No big deal, he thought, just a slip of paper.

He was wrong.

As he read down the neatly typed paragraphs, his eyes gave the look of fear, and his forehead began to sweat. His fingers twitched and shivered as he finished, again slowly folding the slip. His boss gave him a smile, and said rather smarmily:

"I'm 'glad' you've worked with us. Good luck with your future endeavours."

"B-b-but...b-b-ut...", Danny began, freezing in mid-sentence when Mr B. raised his hand, giving him a look which is as tacit as it would go.

Danny wheeled around, and quietly left the office. The odius looks given to him by his colleagues earlier had been replaced with that of empathy. Having packed his personal belongings, he stepped out of the very place where he had hoped to spend the remainder of his career in, lugubrious and plodding, a sharp contrast to his earlier attitude. With that, his quixotic hopes and aspirations simply shattered, never to be pieced together again.

It was pouring heavily outside, and so he whipped out his bumbershoot, never to know that the decision to release him was a rather legerdemain, sleight-of-hand business. It is a moot point, after all: give trash, get thrashed.

So there he went, into the hail of water, never to be seen again.
~~~

done. time now 6.56pm :p
failed to use the word uxorious (doting on one's wife). dunno how to fit it into this story. otherwise the other words have their meaning in the passage itself. find it yourself!

yay tmr celebrating tb's bdae @ the cafe cartel!
till then!~

LXXX

2009-06-26T15:12:00.004+08:00

80
the eightieth post: in memory.

i feel immensly compelled to type this out.

michael jackson hasn't been part of my personal roundup, but i am equally shocked by his sudden death resulting from his supposed cardiac arrest.

he has been the idol of so many millions of people, from his days in the jackson 5 in the '60s, through his single 'thriller' (highest grossing single in history, with 100mil albums sold) amongst others, and even in the recent criticisms, controversies surrounding him.

he has left a lasting legacy which make him, aptly, the King of Pop, now and forever.

rest in peace, jacko. you'll never be forgotten. after all, that is what makes you king.

till then~

LXXIX

2009-06-25T18:23:00.003+08:00

hi people.

been too lazy to post recently :x the results of uber procrastination (why do now what i can do later) LOL.
ok so i'll now post this week's highlights, not to say there are very much at all anyways :p

MONDAY
finally took that tiny step to get up and study! initially had lunch with shirong and tuanboon, then headed for the library. yinghong came sometime later, though. so yup, there we were, studying whatever we could, looking up reference books, checking back on our notes, stuff like tht. didn't matter if we were from different courses and schools, as long we had the initiative to do so.
shirong 'gave up' first-after only an hour of studying he went on to read some soccer books. bleah.
next to go was tb. he had brought his laptop to complement his study, but it died soon after and he was left with no place to charge it, leaving him practically helpless. head-on-table was his desperate solution.
went 0n to study longer before my sinuses succumbed to the cold of the institution. and so we left for bk @ tm to simply waste our time. talked about life when secondary school and o lvls dominated our lifes, when we made every single silly mistake, things we'd never say whilst in secondary life. really did feel old then. the teenage years are leaving us. hello adult life.
stayed there for 3 whole hours. shirong and yh left 1st, but me and tb had an event to attend to later on...(ps tb finally found a way to charge his laptop-some power plug in the mall's basement!)

the few of the alums who helped with the juniors' performance earlier this year were treated to a 'lavish' meal in thaiexpress in tampines 1 by...ms yeo! haha had soft-shelled crab curry rice, and i was to realise mine was the mildest item on the menu...bryan suffered immense torture eating his meal (spicy, spicy...), 'affecting' his sanity, while tb accidentally chewed on a few chilli padis, leaving him with a face cringed with pain and glass upon glass of water gulped down in quick succession. later joshua, with his rep for his 'adventures' in the toilet, went to (no prizes for guessing) the toilet. thankfully this time, he didn't add to the 'flavour' of our meal by telling us how he had to fight his by-products. yeuch.
later accompanied lydia and erika to cold storage. bought 2 cartons of milk, then left for home.

TUESDAY
sister's 11th bdae! well jing xiang had to skip choir cos of this...had a massive luncheon followed by numerous games. well then came dinner and the cake ceremony. at long last the feudal 'wars' that have been waged between my siblings have ceased, making for a peaceful bdae (unlike the once of previous years-was almost like a blood feud.). maybe i felt the day ended way too quickly...

oh well. next week school reopens, and moh's gonna stand by it, unless by some virtue (didn't say it was good) the virus suddenly simply attacked students...mid sem tests, projects (4 and counting), it almost seems i shouldn't be typing all this out (which btw has taken me half an hour). holidays come and go just like tht. haiz...

ok. will blog when i feel like it. and don't push your luck on tht :D
till then~

LXXVIII

2009-06-17T21:43:00.007+08:00

long, long weekend!~

finally, i overcame procrastination to type this out! haha so here's 3 days of drug-like euphoria! :p

SUN
choir alumni bbq! went to jerr's palce at 4-ish. quan feng finally came out of the dark! and we would later realise that he is an essential at just about every bbq--because of his dragonboat experience, he is able to give illuminous flames to pits within 10 mins! haha so very soon pple were eating, and with some barcardis, it flew into full swing. sorry that i didn't take any pics (go to facebook to see them).
well bought too much food, so yeah theres some wastage. went back to jerr's place for more slack. wanted to stay overnight but, nah. reached home at 12.20am.

MON
4d class reunion/bbq! cycled with tb to ehub to buy the groceries with debbie, wen qing, lydia and sakshi. cycled/walked to our pit and set it up. it took quite a while for pple to come, but by sundown most of them had arrived, happy, and eating. without quan feng it was tht bit harder to create a self-sustaining fire. well we did lots of stuff, cycling, chatting, and catching up with one another. very enjoyable. man i miss those guys. hung out at prp till midnight, got drinks, then the whole lot went home, with me, tb, sam and ying hong cycling home together thru the tamplines park connector. exhausted, sore, but immensly satisfied :)

pics from the bbq:

our futile attempt in trying to light a pit...

tuan boon (with moses and sam) preparing the charcoal

sunset at pasir ris park

alvin. didn't bother to flip the photo ><

as seen through moses' cam. maybe not.

assorted foodstuff. yum.

TODAY
went to the gym with tb and sam. didn't cycle. had quite a workout, in particular the arms (they are sore now). later went to makipuku japanese gourmet town for lunch. here's what i had:

sweetcorn/butter ramen; and

forgot its name. rice-filled beef omelette with pepper-onion sauce.

thereafter we went to cold storage for awhile, before going home.

cannot procrastinate! have to start studying and continue with my projects. augh! LOL. hope i can update soon!

till then!~

LXXVII

2009-06-13T23:26:00.003+08:00

yay!

but before all the pomp, lets look back:

friday: did an interview for ec, with my dad's friend, at where else? a pub! we had club soda (no alcohol, btw). was supposed to have started at 5, but our dear friend julian only made it at 5.30 zzz. well conducted the interview, and in fact we learnt much more, so much more...

(back to immense joy)

haha bought bbq items to jerr's house, and basically slacked off today. now i'm hooked to restaurant city :-O ! tomorrow bbq at jerr's place with most of the rest of the 08 choir alum! PLUS mon there's 4D 08 class bbq at prp!

haha long weekend left to go! :D

till then!~

LXXVI

2009-06-11T12:19:00.004+08:00

hello

was exhausted yesterday. had a class gathering at east coast! had fom meeting earlier at school, so took a train down to bedok to meet the rest.

had a picnic with them in the baking sun. and seriously, it was hell. we so desperately wanted to bike. and so we did, but no pictures of that here, sorry ><>

vivienne knocked someone down, and caused a scary laceration on the victim's knee. thn we had to stay awhile to tend to her (julian and mingwei went to get antiseptic). after she became better we rode back, racing mingwei to the finish (i won =D)

our little 'picnic' in the sun.

after cycling, we headed for the beach to watch the sunset and chat. later we played '007 BANG' (some choir pple should know this). the penalty? day-old cornbeef (ugh). never gonna eat cornbeef again...stayed there till pretty late, though.

elaine, justin and xiang feng

sunset begins. the sky's so beautiful...

after that, 7 of us (me, sean, justin, julian, mingwei, elaine and dinah) went to katong's aston's specialties for dinner. i had grilled fish with herbs, with sides of potato salad and colesaw. loved it. then we chatted at the table for well over an hour (11pm), then went our separate ways.

my wonderful dinner XD

took service 10 to tampines interchange with justin and julian. justin's mom picked me up and drove me home past midnight =p a good, exhausting, warm day ended.

augh interview tomorrow! plus can't wait for alumni gathering this sunday! gonna be a long holiday! =)

till then~bye!

LXXV

2009-06-08T20:37:00.006+08:00

back to blog!

haha fri had fom presentation. whole class wore formal. was very nervous, cos it was 15% of our overall score. furthermore 1st grp to go zzz.

finished quickly. YAY! =D victor nelson joe went through my speech portion. better thn practice, but was speaking a lil fast and also slightly nervous (haha 1st time was stammering and pacing, but no more! =D). in the end got 20/25 for it! respectable, respectable.

formalwear detail. finally wore tht silver tie! =D

sean and graeme in their formalwear. btw graeme got 21.5 for his speech.

to kick off my holiday proper, i went to visit dmnchoir at its annual camp. OMG (sidetrack) school changed like alot la. there's so many unnecessary changes, such tht it nw resembles a primary school. its virtually overcooked, i mean, facilities are very good as they are, but what's with to kill a mockingbird quotes on the steps? or the banners sprawled all over the place? zzz =.=

and i hate my haircut. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

back to topic. tb and i volunteered for orienteering. and honestly, it was pretty mundane: only 2 grps came in the 5 hr span tht it was given. very warm. and sian haha. met up with many pple we worked with for the perf, as well as some new ones.

talentime was, well, funny and somewhat un-understandable?>< cos we were seated so far back we couldn't hear anything...

met up with mr toh heheh. and managed to persuade a whole lot of alum to stay back. so from 3 pple it became 11! =D went home to shower and change, thn came back. took alot of work with me, but in the end never worked =.= played bball for awhile. went to canteen to play some 'whose line is it anyway' game. damn funny sia. had to invent a poem quickly given the theme. funny, gay, and at the end very twisted. hehe.

moses had wanted to play captain's ball upstairs, but whn we arrived it was too late: pizza's arrived. so played around with the bball a while longer, thn retreated to the avt (by thn it was 2am). played upwords initially, thn got bored. tb went to study for his psycho exam on mon, and the rest went to watch movies. didn't watch 'coming soon'. can't be bothered.

instead i watched 'antique' with a few other pple. gay show. seriously its gay: guys kissing and groping and s**t like tht, it was disgusting. but at least it had a plot.

continued to stay up till 5.45am (after we've watched the fight scenes from ff vii), thn slept. not for long, cos at 6 i was woken up as the alum wanted to go home. augh. all of us sluggishly headed for the gate, and went our ways. went to tb's house for awhile, had a drink and a nap. thn went home for some real sleep. woke up only at 5pm sia (with lunch at 2).

damn i miss choir....

so yup sry i didn't blog the lat few days. nw i need to enjoy, work, and work more. =.="
till then~

cheers! =D

LXXIV

2009-06-02T00:24:00.002+08:00
i just hope its a bloody heatwave.

just.

if this substantial rise in temperature, which is making people sweat buckets of water just by standing up and walking around, is part of a bigger trend, i'd be worried.

bloody worried.

just hope it dies off. quickly.

till then~

LXXIII

2009-05-31T10:23:00.006+08:00
typing again!

anw yesterday went to celebrate my mum's (extremely belated) bdae. just my parents and me, cos my siblings are in m'sia now.

had dinner at cugini's at robertson walk. somehow the owner of the restaurant (an italian) became friends with my father out of sheer coincidence: my dad was driving when he saw a cyclist tumbling to the ground after a lorry clipped his bike. he had stopped to divert traffic away from him. it was around then that he revealed he owns a fine-dining restaurant, and they became friends :-O. the police came and the rest is history.

so we ate there. had assorted cured meat for starters (the raw beef was marvelous!), and for mains i had alla carbonara (up to then i never knew carbonara sauce was made from egg as well, hence the yellow tinge. before then carbonara seemed all cream to me), and dessert a assortment of tiramisu, custard and ice cream.

had a little house wine too. the nose was amazing, rich and aromatic. the taste was pretty good too (though maybe a tad sour for my preference). maybe i would get more of this 06 vintage.

now i crave for italian food. unfortuately i ate my food before remembering that i should have taken pics of it ><

also, i went to science centre on thurs with samuel and tuan boon to see the da vinci exhibition. riveting, how he does his works, especially with the mona lisa and the last supper =-O later took the long, tiring train ride from jurong east all the way back to tampines......

well, back to doing 3 projects and 3 pieces of homework now....zzz

till then~bye!
(wen xin: i posted as promised!)

ps. a miracle happened yesterday--our dinner was on the house, cos he just happened to help an injured cyclist! :DD

LXXII

2009-05-26T22:41:00.002+08:00
hello world :)

uneventful week. as expected. *gasp* exams week after hols!
econs: 30 jun 09, 1430-1530. topics 1-6(minus cost graphs)

well today went to watch 'night at the museum 2'. very funny, except the ending left many questions unanswered, like (spoilers ahead) how the smithsonian, after being horrendously wracked, was patched up, and what happened to amelia earhart after her take-off without the stone (crash, burn?). more on graeme's blog soon.

kudos justin. at last nearly the whole class showed up.

now to touch up my onow essay.
till then~bye!

LXXI

2009-05-23T17:10:00.002+08:00
damn, today is scorching.

had kayaking elective today. second lesson. met sean (who had dengue not 3 days ago-he's recovered quite well) and deyun at clementi. headed off to poly marina (yes, sp has its own marina) to find that graeme had been watching blackadder prior to our arrival (and yes, graeme, thanks to me, is officially hooked onto a 20-year-old british comedy series).

after some checks and new lessons, we headed out into the marina. we inadvertently took the streamlined kayak, which was faster, but far less stable. you get the rest.

a couple of 'tutorials' later, graeme suddenly took a turn for the 'worse'-he was seasick. and at my arms' expense, i dragged and rowed and hauled myself, graeme and the kayak back to shore. after that we took a dip in the (not-so-sanitary) marina and cooled off.

thereafter we headed back only to turn around to shore as we were finished for the day (damn). had the usual injury-fibreglass cuts on my arms and legs. those lil' crystals embedded in your skin isn't much fun.

sean left first-he was off the malaysia for some golf (damn) while graeme went to the yacht club for lunch (dammmnn), but not before accompanying me and deyun to the busstop. from there it was clementi-tampines-lunch-home sweet home.\

list of homework and projects to complete:
accounting
econs
statistics
fom f1 pbm
itab project.

damn.
till then~ bye! :D

LXX

2009-05-11T23:19:00.003+08:00
(post removed on discretion by blogger)

but don't tell me i didn't warn you...
:D

LXIX

2009-05-05T18:12:00.003+08:00
ok. hello =D

the photos here. just as promised =)

xiang feng's contorted body hurling a ball down the alley. classic.

deyun's attempt at a strike. =p
scores after the 3rd game. i'm 'balls' =.=, but hey, i topped! =D
--------------------------------------------

(edit yesterday's post)

lol i ended up not going for kbox =x lazy, plus was attempting to do all my homework by today...

oh wells. got to finish my accts, stats and itab homework now...
till thn
bye~

LXVIII

2009-05-04T22:07:00.002+08:00
hello~

had bowling today. and this time my scoring improved. tremendously.
some pics from tday. will post them tmr.

zzz sian tmr have to bring thermometers to school. not even we are spared.
but of course, its for the greater good.
at least tmr we get to go to kbox...at a subsidised price.

till thn.
bye~ :D

LXVII

2009-05-01T23:05:00.002+08:00
WITH REGARDS TO THE IMMINENCE OF THE SWINE INFLUENZA:

to the persons who just happen to be on this blog, please allow yourself to read the following statements. who knows, it may mean your life. my 2 cents' worth on this issue...

if you haven't known, WHO has raised the alert level to 5 (pandemic probable) on monday, meaning the virus has adapted to the point where it can freely spread human-to-human, and with the prevalence of air travel, the influenza has presented itself on most continents, the lastest being asia (hong kong).
MOH in singapore has raised its alert level to orange in lieu of WHO's decision. temperature-taking in educational institutions are now a requirement, reminiscent of the sars epidemic of 03.
signages at shopping malls and other public buildings have advised that persons who have gone to affected countries and present symptoms of flu (eg. fever, respiratory issues) are to STAY HOME (ie QUARANTINE), a critical part of the entire prevention process.
should the symptoms not abate, or get worse, there's a dedicated emergency line (s'pore only) activated only yesterday, 993, which will give you priority at a&e and provide you with necessary tests and, if required, treatment.
refrain from travelling to affected countries, or travelling at all, to minimise, as far as possible, the risk of the virus spreading.
stock up on supplies and medication as soon as the need arises, for once the infection goes into full swing, supplies could be hard to get by, added to the fact that going outdoors may almost be completely improbable.
the world has to prepare for a long, protracted war with the influenza, and chances are it will cost lives. but how many are dependant on how people react to it. knowledge is the best weapon, and it, along with the nessesary actions, can eventually defeat it.
-----------------------------
on a lighter note, do listen out for 'water night' by eric whitacre. it is haunting at parts, and its ending put me to stunned silence, unspeakable beauty, indescribable, literally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYvRhVJXM-k
enjoy.
till then~ byee

LXVI

2009-04-28T21:36:00.003+08:00

my lecture theatre. xiang feng and jac in the foreground.

there have been TWO events that only serve to reinforce my views on TWO facts:

1) singapore poly's facilities are just AWESOME!
2) the evening rush-hour is just terrible.

why, you may ask?

here are the reasons:
1) just today me and (most of) my class went to spgg (grad's guild) to play bowling. pretty empty then, and we had 4 hours between econs lecture and acccounts lecture...so we played 3 games...all for $6!!! there were many, err, bloopers throughout, like 'long kang man' living up to his name, and that 'sky can punch all the pins to the ground'. LOL. my results are none of your business, not to say they were good anyways...=x

after that (we still had a free hour) we went to the arcade in spgg (!?!) to add to the fun $1 gives you 3 daytona races OR 9 lives in time crisis (which sky is GOD-LIKE in). so if we wanted to cool off, we could go there-everything is like less than half price-all we needed was the admissions card! =D

2) oh well, when you're released 6, what's expected is what we dread: the rush-hour. it got pretty packed by outram park, where graeme, deyun and dawn got off. thankfully i found a seat! by city hall, it was completely filled up. i slept all the way to tampines.
i took the service 293 home. this time, i wasn't spared-i was squashed at the side of the bus. and it was so for 10mins. D: which now reiterates why i hate rush hours, as do everbody else.
~ok. time for me to sleep now...nights all!
bye~

LXV

2009-04-25T13:10:00.002+08:00
crap.

now i'll be eternally known as 'the guy who f**ked up on stage'...

why did they have to call my name at the wrongest time?!
that's why i hate screwups.

oh well. guess i'll have to live with it. all over again ):

least fish & co was fun! i think...happy bdae weichong! (:

bye.

Life in pixels.

CLXIV – Wordpress.

CLXIII – The Decision of my Life

CLXII - Dresden

CLXI - MMXI

CLX – Holidays!

CLIX – Back: Temporarily

CLVIII – R.I.P., Darren Ng

CLVII – Fresh from my mind

CLVI - Revelations

CLV - Peace through force.

CLIV - FREE

CLIII – Holiexams.

CLII - BREAKKKK

CLI - Interregnum

CL – Happiest 150!

CXLIX – Yet more music.

CXLVIII – Results!

CXLVII – Dreams aren’t gonna just materialize.

CXLVI – Tragedies of a Composer.

CXLV – Issues, issues.

CXLIV – Joke of the day...for intellects :/

CXLIII – Life, in practical terms

CXLII – Weekend rush.

CXLI – School.

CXL - FOP

CXXXIX – FOC 10/11!

CXXXVIII – NOT Away.

CXXXVII – Away.

CXXXVI - Thought

CXXXV – Nukes, Tron, and the Folding Bed

Preview.TRON LEGACY Trailer #2

CXXXIV – All Better!

CXXXIII – Cold sweat

CXXXII - Hits and Misses

CXXXI – Saving Grades

CXXX - Bittersweet

CXXIX – Music, what the doctor ordered

CXXVIII – Epilogue of sorts

CXXVII – Hearts and ang pows

CXXVI – Cacophony before the storm

CXXV – FOC surprise!

CXXIV – Oh, joy!

CXXIII – 17 going on 18.

CXXII – This and that.

CXXI – Happy New Year!

CXX—Avatar & everything else

CXIX - Joyeux Noël.

CXVIII - Holly-DAZED.

CXVII – Yesterday’s everything.

CXVI – HollyDaze!

CXV

CXIV

CXIII

CXII

CXI

CX

CIX

CVIII

CVII

CVI

CV

CIV

CIII

CII

CI

C

XCIX

XCVIII

XCVII

XCVI

XCV

XCIV

XCIII

XCII

XCI

XC

LXXXIX

LXXXVIII

LXXXVII

Preview.
TRON LEGACY Trailer #2