The Memorable Things of 2009

Last day of 2009 is here. Most people would be thinking what they want to achieve in the next year. I think back and there’s many things that change my life one way or another. Let me list out an item out of every category.

Phone: iPhone
Not that I want to promote their phone but there are many things from firmware to hardware to ease of use of iTunes on the computer. It just works! I’m using a Samsung phone currently and I’m experiencing so much difficulty syncing my information from phone to computer. Recently, Samsung has updated their software to the so called “Samsung New PC Studio” which spots a new look, additional functionality but gives me the same kind of headache. Interface that lags a great deal and hangs fast if you are entering a directory with lots of songs. Apple, on the other hand has made everything rather smooth. Of course, the older generation may be incompatible with the new memory intensive applications but I need not endure with the frustrating experience of waiting after every click. FYI, I don’t own an iPhone, I just occasionally play with my brother’s one.

Book: Mitch Albom – Have a Little Faith
I consider myself as a Buddhist partially because my NRIC said so and inherited this from my parents. Every year I go to the temple to pray for a few occasions: new year, Vesak Day (sometimes), grandparents’ death anniversary, end of year. It has become a routine thing and I never thought much into why I’m keeping this religion. A few catholic and christian friends came to me to persuade me to convert to their religion and I always find myself questioning some principles of the religion, like why non-believers will go to hell? To quote what Oprah on her show, “If there’s somewhere remote where people have never heard of Jesus, but all their lifetime they have been doing good deeds, they can never be salvaged? They will go to hell?” This are the things that I thought would never be justified. However, Mitch’s argument is kind of different. Through a progressive change, his point of view on religion has changed dramatically over time. I thought perhaps there could be just one god if it exists. People just choose to see God differently. He described how faith could be a beautiful thing and yes, to some extent, I agree.

Song: JS – Officially Missing You (Tamia)
Is it the trend that singers start popping out everywhere on youTube? That could be the case but this one that I heard, oh they are good. Visually appealing too. ^.^ It’s not the kind of Mariah Carey or Christina’s hits that can make people feel ‘Wow’. I think their sweet voices are kind of nice and it’s still resounding in my head. Haha.

Event: 15th JCRC handing over ceremony
It isn’t just a ceremony to me. In my mind, I was thinking that it marks the end of year 1’s commitment. All the meetings, discussions, emails, event participation and banner painting… would be gone. It was supposed to be a load off my chest but on the other hand it made me feel a sense of loss too. A struggle between continuing on improving my studies, relationship or hall commitment. There wasn’t any life user manual to teach me where to go, I had to decide what would be right and hopefully wish it was. Well, after a semester, I think it didn’t go very wrong. I just need to try harder.

There are some other things that I couldn’t fit in a category. The other day I was looking at my Facebook status. Oh, I’ve got 710 friends and I think I know at least 95% of them. That probably didn’t sound too realistic in the real social life. How do you sms or call so many of them? I guess it matters more on how to keep the existing ones in life. This semester, my roomie cooked things for me and bought food to share with me. Well, I thought it’s a really nice thing that you can do for a good friend. I think this is what I can learn from him.

Since young, I always hate my brother because he is always the big bully in the family who will always demand to get things he wants. Proud, impulsive and impatient. He doesn’t like to lose out in anything and therefore, I will be giving in most of the time whether I like it or not. I thought since I didn’t like him, I will think that he probably thinks the same way too.

However, one day this year, my mum tells me that my brother always tell her how I help him out on studies and giving him different opinions of things on how he should work things out. She said he appreciates it much. I was taken aback by that. Is that the brother who is always quarrelling with me, the one who said all those? I just did not think that I would influence him in any positive way because I did not think I have to or should be doing. Because sometimes I get annoyed at always being on the losing end as an elder brother by getting slapped back by his response after giving an advice. I was touched but still, with my ego, I just didn’t admit so. Ha, sometimes little things do matter.

There’s also this little book that I jot down things that happen. I’m not the only author for that book but looking back, it’s fun to have it around. Sweet or bitter, it’s the things that we call memories.

Okay, what a eventful 2009. Happy new year everyone! 2010 is going to be a better one! =)

Mid December Already

It’s already mid-December. Soon there’ll be another link on the archive that says 2010. Many years since I wrote the first post on this blog.

I spent some of the time when using my laptop rearranging the files on my computer. I just cannot stand messy files on my computer but not so much so on my physical desk. Weird right?

Kudos to scrabble team who emerged champion for hall 9! =) G O O D JOB! Hope that there’ll be more champions for other games. Hope pub sec will have enough banners to allocate for painting the champion banners.

Just celebrated my friend’s 22nd birthday. Since he was targeting a phone that he has been talking so much, I thought it would be fun to give him presents relating to that except that. I’m talking about iPhone 3G here actually. So we bought him screen protector, phone casing and even added brochures and things to lead him into believing that he’s going to get that. We did achieve that mischievous effect but turn out that it was a bad timing to be so…

He couldn’t get to register his core subjects because the school system crashed. Just after the celebration, he realised he lost his phone. I hope it’s not the case that his LG phone took a little walk since it realised that we were talking about iPhone as its next replacement. Sigh, next time better think twice before playing this kind of joke on people’s birthday. If not, perhaps induce negative Karma on ourselves. Ha.

I was chatting with another friend and I realise some people may think of me rather differently from what I think of myself. Partly due to the part that in a group, I enjoy listening to people and seldom voice out opinions unless I’m very comfortable with the group. That part of me hasn’t seem to change…

Back from Malaysia

It’s the 2nd time I’ve been to Malaysia. This time I was there in Desaru. It sure takes a hell long time to travel via coach to there. It felt like twice the journey of going from Hougang to NTU and back again if not worse. Probably the hot weather made it more unbearable than the arduous journey that I have to sit through to reach that spot on the map. The heat gets trapped in the coach and I feel like a roasted chicken in the “microwave” coach. Ha. But it was quite worth the money ($60) to relax after a stressing semester of studies. Somehow, the time just seems to pass slower in that area. It sets your heart at peace when you set foot on the sand of the beach, with sea breeze lightly brushing your cheeks. It doesn’t have to be far, just somewhere off Singapore will do. LOL.

Somehow for me, uploading pictures to facebook is always very troublesome. It fails me many times. I do not think that it is due to unstable connection. Anyway, the blog here should be more reliable. Ha. Much thanks to the organiser that we really have plentiful of food to barbeque. Stingray, cheese sausage, sambal sotong, crayfish and chicken wings etc. Not forgetting my all-time favourite of barbeque -  BBQ marshmellows! So much so that I think there were surplus of food especially the fish balls. Xueshen (the one on the right) showed me his tummy after the BBQ – looked much like a 5 months old pregnant lady. I suppose that’s all right if all the food comes just right for your taste! Ha..

There were some candid moments in the room though. I was shouting loudly that I was going to take photo of my friend when he was in shower so that he could prepare for it. Here’s what he shows me. LOL. Profile-picture worthy!

Anyway, the main focus of this trip should be go-karting. Remember the one in Escape Theme park? Yes, similar. I was expecting a really much larger terrain for go-karting. I was even hoping for some cool slopes. There was none. The only thing that excites me was the speed. You can literally go up to super high speed. The turning is kind of hard to master. However, despite the numerous advice of slowing down at curves, I sped up instead. I can feel the tyres gripping hard on the ground, just that I don’t feel that attached to the vehicle when I accelerate at turns though. It makes utmost physics sense. Ha.

There were many other things we did that night except sleeping. Gossips as usual were on the agenda for every group gatherings. Actually, there isn’t much to gossip about. Most of them you can actually confirm visually. Spent time talking with this year’s freshmen. Hearing their problems kind of remind me of my plight last year in terms of academics. Well, we all got to be forward-looking, shouldn’t we? Tomorrow will be a better day. Till then, I’m sleeping now. Yawn… More updates through facebook then.

Magnetic discs kill cancer cells?
PARIS - TINY magnetic discs just a millionth of a metre in diameter could be used to used to kill cancer cells, according to a study published on Sunday.

Laboratory tests found the so-called 'nanodiscs", around 60 billionths of a metre thick, could be used to disrupt the membranes of cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct.

The discs are made from an iron-nickel alloy, which move when subjected to a magnetic field, damaging the cancer cells, the report published in Nature Materials said.

One of the study's authors, Elena Rozhlova of Argonne National Laboratory in the United States, said subjecting the discs to a low magnetic field for around ten minutes was enough to destroy 90 percent of cancer cells in tests.

In a commentary on the report, Jon Dobson of Keele University in Britain said antibodies could be used to direct the discs towards tumour cells.

'This provides an elegant and rapid technique for targeting tumour destruction without the side effects associated with systemic treatments such as chemotherapy,' Mr Dobson wrote. -- AFP

Exams… 50% completed

It’s at this time of the year that I’ll be in a deeper relationship with my laptop. I’m touching it all over and I literally can’t take my eyes off her. She just seems so attractive and powerful. She gives me an avenue for me to alleviate my stress when I need to let go for a while. Allow me to express my confession to you. I love you darling. LOL.

Hail the power of RSS. With it, you can skip the needs to visit website. Just read the updates from your mail reader will do. You can read all your friends’ updates in an instant. However, I still prefer the traditional way of going to the site though. The look and feel of the website just gives me a more familiar appeal compared to the stone cold black text on white background you see in the mail. Haha.

I’ve been trapped in NTU for quite a while. Not quite sure what has been happening in Singapore except for what I’ve read from the updates my darling told me on straitstimes.com. I was thinking the high level of monsoon rain in Bukit Timah probably give the rich ones in that area to change a car. “Oh honey, looks like the car is in a bad condition. Should we get a new one?”, says the husband to the wife. Haha.

Something happened recently that was beyond my expectation. Just when you thought that someone would be nice to you or things will happen in a good way because you prepared for it, then it’s wrong. There can be no telling what the future holds for you, not unless you possess a pair of reveal-the-intentions/future type of eyes. I would like to have them if there were such a thing. Ha.

However, every cloud has a silver lining. Without the black, you can never see how pure white is. In comparison, I found someone else whom I could be worth being a better friend with. Let’s hope I’m right then.

My hair is still so damn short. It’s taking forever to grow back to that length. =/

Should I be more curious to poke further into non-personal matters or should I just stay out of it? Hmm… Still giving it a thought.

Kawaai Ne~

Here’s some pictures to help you destress the pressure for the exams. Although babies could be cute, there are some animals that look just so cute too!

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Random

I think mashimaro looks better than the blue bird. Since I don’t use twitter anyway.

Have you heard of bladeless fan that works? Yes, there’s one and it’s even more energy-efficient than the ones that have blades. It looks easy to clean too. It seems like it’s a new technology from www.dyson.com/fans/

This song by Jay Sean is so addictive. I didn’t know he’s a UK-born Indian. But the part when Lil Wayne sings, it’s so irritating. He looks sleazy in the music video.

Is there a faster way of studying like burning the notes and tutorials and ingest them? =x

Blog Updates!

It was time for a change of template. Coincidently, the pictures from the previous template that were hosted for the blog were removed by flickr due user inactivity. I kind of like the new one actually. Colours are neutral to bright. Serves to remind me to blog about happy things more often. Bigger fonts and wider spacing. Good for old people like me. Ha.

However with every change of blog templates, some things will be removed such as the tagboard and my friends’ links. It’s difficult to add back the links one by one. I’ll keep a backup of the links next time then. Ha.

In addition, I realised that I had tried to use proper English for my blog posts since Dec 2005. I recalled that back then whenever I feel like it, I’ll just write, without even having second thoughts about filtering the words I want to say through my mind. Not that I have gotten any better in my linguistic ability but I seem to have gotten used to the part about thinking-before-I-say now. I can’t end up writing stuff that I know will cause outrageous outcomes.

I used to blog about many happy events that happened to me but I seemed to have less of these up here recently. Hmm, I should try to remind myself to keep looking at the brighter side of life. :) Perhaps the best of life is yet to be?

I was also looking at the old photos that were taken when I was young… The one on the left was taken when I won an art competition ages ago.

I think I look cuter! (Thick-skinned) Haha. I realised that such hairstyle is back in trend too. No wonder they says fashion recycles its trend every 10 years. Maybe I should start marking my old clothes when I can start re-wearing them again.

Gee, but those were the times that were so carefree. I want to go back to relive those times again!

Sports day photo. I can remember the primary school teacher’s name. A nice teacher. Funny how sometimes I can remember things 10 years back when I have difficulty recalling events 2 days back. Haha. Except for the 2 tall girls in my class, back then I was about the same height with everyone else! Just that I stopped sooner than other people too. Haha.

Hope that the new friendships that were made stay on~ =)

Repaying Kindness with Kindness

How many times have you recalled paying someone’s kindness back with kindness? Although it’s said that when you do a kind thing, it needs no paying back but if your kindness is received by someone who has a conscience, he or she will feel grateful to you and eventually will repay you with kindness in other forms.

But there are times I just suck. I’ve looked through old emails, letters or even little things my friends wrote to me ages ago. Some of which I had totally forgotten its existence. Reading through them brings back bittersweet memories. Those may be all the childish moments that were spent together, all the naive things done together or all the tears shed together. Their sincere thoughts are all penned down on that little pieces of paper in a hope that it gets through to my heart that I should never forget them. Somehow I felt that I didn’t treat these people as well as how they treated me and I haven’t find the courage to bring them back to my life.

Many times I felt grateful that my friends came into my life. I’m thankful that they had left an impact on me and shared with me what I couldn’t learn from just books or from parents. They were the ones I look up to. However, I was wondering just how many of them thinks that way of me? I know I’m the quiet sort that will just blend into the corner. So insignificant. Truthfully, I may not want to know that answer. Some things are better left unspoken.

But as with every friendship built, there are bound to be some that hurts you deep into heart. Walls are then built, facades are then maintained. Unlike mathematics, there’s no right or wrong how you should handle interpersonal relationships. I hope to find the right formula to keep my dear friends close to my heart and the rotten ones out of the universe as soon as possible.

=/

Getting you to see from my point of view is so difficult. You will always think from your interpretation that I didn’t care…

Sad recess week

Recess week is here. But it doesn’t seem like a break at all. This is when project work and lab assignments go full swing into motion. Every where around in school, I see a huge crowd of students: canteen, outside LTs, study areas, halls etc. It’s like the only people not here are the lecturers and tutors.

 

 

I had said no to a few outings. Rather rare opportunity to catch up with my friends but had to cancel it due to school work. =(

Sometimes, I look around my empty room when I take a momentary break for my eyes, I feel like putting things up to personalize my room. I don’t know since when I have felt so comfortable about my room that it felt just an extension from my home in Hougang. However, when I recall the pains (I could barely squeeze myself into the car after loading my stuff in it) of packing things back from hall in April, I had decided to drop the idea.

My girlfriend’s close friend was ill in leukemia. I recalled seeing her earlier on last year and she still looked healthy. She’s only 20 this year. Her blood type is A+ and she needs platelets donation.

Platelets are the smallest division in the blood that helps to clot blood to prevent prolong bleeding. As she has to go through chemotherapy, her natural platelets are constantly destroyed by the process. Platelet donations last only 3 days before they die off so it has to be scheduled by the hospital. If your blood type happens to be A+, please help her and contact me with your name and phone number. Thank you.

Stress…

I feel married to my computer engineering (CE) course. I’m sharing my all my precious moments with it. Spending time to understand and commit to it. I even dream about it. But like love, putting in effort doesn’t always reciprocate and give the same returns in terms of results. How satisfying my marriage is.

So as it is, if for the moment, I’m speaking a language that you people cannot understand, please bear with me. I feel more acquainted with computer language than human language…

Anyway, do you think it’s weird for someone who doesn’t like drinking to go suddenly go drink?

Thoughts

Year 2 semester 1 seems really difficult. Will I flunk? It takes more than just time to get the idea through. It seems like designing circuit isn’t really my cup of tea. It’s not my flair too… What’s more during the stressful conditions of the exams, I may just walk out of hall. Ha.

I wonder is it stress or sleeping late. I have lost lots of hair recently I think. I can no longer feel the thick and lustrous hair when I stroke my fingers through them. Sigh…

Yesterday I considered myself step down after the AGM. It felt like ORD when the 15th JCRC jumped in unison upon the declaration of the end of 15th AGM. A year has gone by. I really want to thank my subcommers for the hard work that they put in. Some of them really don’t need the points at all but they still come down to paint nevertheless.

Back To School

 

Life has been pretty sweet. Except GPA, everything else is going quite smooth. Thinking back, I’ve still made a few friends in hall and CAC. As this semester starts, I can’t help feeling nostalgic on how good it is to be a freshie. I’ve aged! I was like them a year ago, feeling all fresh, curious and excited to be in the new environment of NTU.

Now I have my own OGs to take care of.

Now the friends that I have around seem kind of different. Friends come and go at different times. I have known that and have embraced that truth. Maybe it’s just a part of me that always like to lament on that.

Year 2 is really a fast-paced one. I can’t seem to afford long hours of not doing work. Unlike in year 1 when I’m practically having HTHTs at all nights. Sigh…

I’ve gotten a book recently. It’s not a new one, I’ve seen it before. But now I don’t ever want to look back at it, especially at the last page.

Whether I get to stay hall again will depend on my commitments this year. I know what I have to do to stay again but why am I feeling so undecided?

Assumption =(

When I’m upset, there’s nothing specific I’ll do. I’ll just flip through everything I can see or find while my disarrayed mind tries to set things in order. I hate that. It’s not productive in any way but rotting my life away thinking about useless stuff. But I just can’t help it.

Assumption is good, probably only in science and mathematics, I guess. It’s actually bad when you’re talking about human relations. Like er… I think you’re thinking about that but I’m assuming you know I’m thinking like this. No… No good at all especially when the truth isn’t anything like what you assume. Yes, truth kills! Be it in any method that it’s delivered to you. Only difference is just which method hurts more that’s all.

Maybe I’m in the wrong. Just let me have a little corner to rant my frustrations out.

That’s Life, move on!

I’m back! Oh, what does that mean when I’m actually still in Singapore…

Took a few photographs with xiao bao’s camera. Added some nostalgic feel to it. How’s that? Does it look very 1980s? Haha.

I’m so addicted to a new RPG “Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4”!

Maybe if you had played previous version, you would have more idea what I’m talking about.

This game sets you into the future in 2011. Although it’s a turn-based game, it’s so interactive in terms of its game play. It’s entirely up to you how you want to strike a balance between the fighting-life and the social-life in game and different answers puts you in a different scenario. There’s so many things to do in there that you can never get sick of. Even when playing through the main game, it already takes you more than 35+ hours. Something worth a try. =)
 
I always think I spent so much time sitting that I would never get used to standing more than 2 hours. LOL, but my job proved that standing should be the least of my concern. Comparing that with the trouble of convincing irritating and demanding customers; facing the dual-faced permanent staff; working with solely profit-oriented boss; standing didn’t seem so bad at all! Fortunately, there are a bunch of NTU students there in the same plight as me. Sorrow shared, not as bad in the end. I don’t know how much they think of this work place but definitely not a place that I will return to.

Hmm, recently, I’ve seen my tutee more often than xiao bao. I hope she doesn’t mind too much. Haha.

Just a few weeks more, I’ll return to school not as a freshman anymore… Time passes really fast! It just runs faster after 21. Ha.

Whatever will be, will be

Sometimes little things you do can piss people off just like the subtle kind of actions that your friends do can do much to annoy. Perhaps we do get a little insensitive sometimes…

I haven’t been blogging about myself that much. Don’t know how I should write about it anymore.

Thought about the new lesson plan I should have soon. I may not be able to get the same lessons as Sont and Henry anymore. =( Feeling more distant in a way… Sucks.

Also thought about my commitment in the new year. I don’t feel like joining anything. Maybe just a thing or two. Pressure from parents to just focus on what I have to ‘do’. On the other hand, what about the pressure the hall seniors exert on you to influence the next batch of freshmen to be actively involved in hall? It hasn’t happen but I can see it coming real soon. When that comes, what will my choice be like?

Why do I seem to have a dual personality that I myself just cannot deal with… Friends think that I don’t get mad at anything but I’m not. In fact I can possibly get mad at anything.

Hi Mr. Ho, why am I so imperfect? Can I care more about the people around me and stop having to put myself in the centre of the universe?

Speed!

Happened to chance through the Firefox website and found 2 videos that I find amazing. Submission by people to represent the speediness of Firefox.

Somehow, according to the acid test, Safari 4.0 has overtaken Firefox in terms of the most compatible browser in the eyes of W3. However, I’m so addicted to Firefox, I think I’ll just stick with it.

Life’s like this

First H1N1 case in Singapore… Sounds bad that Singapore has become one of the list of unfortunate countries who received such cases. Wonder how many more people that shared the plane with her caught it.

On another note, I came across this Death Note Parody Website. There’s a funny video on the site, here’s the video.

It seems like it’s not just a fan video because the celebrities are involved too! Haha. It’s actually a blog where people can write entries on how people they hate die. Sounds satanic but most people just write popular icons that they hate and it’s really funny the things that they write.

I came across a website that allows you to create your own web avatar that may or may not resembles you. There’s lots of tweaking options available. Here’s mine. Do I look like that? Ha

Interesting Pool

World’s deepest swimming pool. 2 pools, 3 pits of 5, 10 and 33m. Total of 2.5 million litres of water!

Cute Videos

2 videos that I’ve seen. All great videos. =D Which one do you personally like more?

Holidays

 

 

I was worried I couldn’t find time to play. I had lots of time now… Temporary job is so hard to find now. I can’t have the freedom to shop around unless I’m secured with a job! Moreover, now that it’s back to code yellow for swine flu, I don’t think companies are hiring people for temperature taking jobs then. I didn’t perform well for another interview. I think my main problem is I did nothing impressive.

Dear Mr Ho,
Please take note that chances for interview come rare. Please be more prepared next time you get one.

 

Signed,
Mr Ho.

Okay, it’s just a personal reminder. Sigh.

It’s been ages since I last went to zoo. Probably it was with my family I think. A whole day is enough to visit every animals and their shows. It’s tired to walk the whole day too. I guess I didn’t have enough water to hydrate myself. If you are not stingy on water then I guess you could purchase a small bottle of drink costing $3 from the vending machine!

I was fascinated by the white-tailed peacock! It looks really beautiful! The feathers are as pure white as a unicorn. There’s one young elephant that didn’t obey all the commands. Halfway through the show, it was distracted to do something else. The more senior and well-trained elephant came and soon the show picked up and showed more interesting stuff.

Just when I thought Singapore Zoo was all about animals, I found something peculiar and went to check it out. They do exhibit random fruit like mangosteen! So there I was doing a random action for a candid photo. Ha.

At the end of the day, I wondered why the zoo didn’t offer free tram rides like Sentosa. We spent literally the entire day walking under the hot sun… It’s not like the zoo tickets are any cheaper than Sentosa entrance fees. Haha.

Learnt something more about myself again. I really shouldn’t be that gullible to believe everything people tell me. Yes, it’s just another pure reminder to myself only.

Another ending…

 

Another semester is coming to end soon. I’m feeling troubled by the things I can’t control. System bounds everyone to a thinking space restrained with so called rules and regulations… There are many people I want to help to get them into hall but even given the rights and power to argue for them, it is still insufficient. Once again, it can be said that the system is to be blamed for… But who creates system?

I just manage to dig out this photo that was taken last semester. That seems like a really long time back. Things aren’t really the same now… What was good then seemed different now. Maybe only when things change, then you’ll treasure the memories you left behind.

The nearer it is to exams the harder it is to focus. Recently, I had spend an hour camwhoring with JY in addition to getting hooked on other stuff like playing solitaire… Anything meaningless usually can seem like a break for me. I can’t wait for it to end yet I want more time to study. I bet everyone in hall is feeling the same I guess.

I’m starting to feel sick of staying in halls. Haven’t been going home for very long time. Missed everything back there. The home-cooked food, my bed, my TV, etc...

Met up with my brother and my mum today at Harbourfront for dinner. My brother would be enlisted on the day of my first paper so I thought I should see him again before that. I think it’s also miserable to spend a birthday in camp. He seemed like he is in a bad condition. Scars all over, no front teeth. If I was him, I would have filled with regrets over what I did to land myself in that situation. It seemed like he didn’t feel this way.

Mum told me that dad and her went to watch movies. They are not sure about the locations of the cinemas so they went to look around for quite some time. When they found it, they were told that dad could get the ticket at $4 under elderly discount category. It was then that I thought to myself that I hadn’t realise all these while when I’m growing up, time has passed so discreetly and had taken the youth out of my parents’ life too.

Now they are old enough to be considered an elderly. They are lost on where to go even in heartland areas like Ang Mo Kio. I supposed my dad is too hard on working that they hadn’t have time to take on ample leisure time to rest. It’s then that I thought that I should treasure them for all their love that they have given me to bring me to where I am.

My mum passed me a bag filled with cans of herbal tea and instant cup noodles. She knows that I’m too lazy to cook packet noodles so she put in cup noodles instead. Out came the words in Chinese, “You must know how to take care of yourself lei.” I felt touched deep inside. I didn’t think I show any expression though. It’s just not me who will show it directly. Would I have as much time to give back to them as they had for all these years?

I keep getting sore eyes. I haven’t been crying hard or doing something naughty. Oh God, please let me be well soon… Ha.

Food for Thoughts

Haven’t been writing in a while. I was much denied of free time to do what I feel like doing. My life almost equals to studies now.

I have read through some comments on the so called NTU stabbing incident. Apparently, I think there are many fishy issues over it.

The student didn’t slit his wrist at all according to the autopsy report unlike what Professor Chan had claimed earlier. (Wondered where the news got the wrist-cutting part from…)

The ‘knife’ that was thought to be brought by the student is actually the Professor’s one. There was no murder weapon found in the bag except the normal schooling stuff: pencil case, notes, etc… (How would the student know where the Professor keep the knife unless the Professor took out the knife…)

There was a deep slit on David’s neck that had cut part of the artery which was never reported before earlier. (Was there any purpose in hiding this one?) There was a lot of blood on the student’s butt that is shown from the photograph I’ve seen from the blog, where did that come from?

David’s parents were denied the chance to see Professor and were told that he’s in critical conditions when the news reported that he’s in stable condition after applying stitches to the wound. Only Dr Su directly hear from Professor and gave media through his words. (Were there some sort of purpose to consider in hiding the truth?)

Apparently, there were many controversial issues over such an incident. I’m not ruling out the possibilities over the case that student has really stabbed the professor but I’m sure there’s pretty much more than it meets the eye. Not providing any links here but the things would be able to find from many sources. Maybe it’s time we should analyse news in a more objective perspective… I don’t know how biased the news can be.

Watched the Joint-Dance Concert on Sunday. It was really not bad except a few glitches like having a really lousy emcee and a bit of overpowering NLB staff and uncooperative audience. The emcee stuttered too many times! Even a simple sentence of ‘Let us welcome bla bla bla…’, he’s also making mistakes. Sounded really unprofessional and some were laughing over it. Spoiled the all cool mood of the dance performance!

NLB Staff were very strict about people moving in to sit towards the centre seats, leaving no vacant seats in between. Apparently, there’ll be problems for people reserving seats for friends who will be arriving late. There were some quarrels over this.

Other than that, they were very strict about disallowing photography and mobile phones. They flashed torchlight at the person doing that and sounded that out in a not so discreet manner. The VIPs were somehow near there and I thought that was quite embarrassing in a way.

Another argument was during the intermission period when there were people playing PSP. The staff again interfered and ordered the audience to switch that off. There’s this parent that quarrelled loudly with the staff, demanding her rights to do what she wants during the intermission break. She threatened the staff to complain about her bad attitude. The parent was more fierce than the staff… Oh man, talking about gracious Singaporeans… I think we haven’t reach that, not yet not yet.

Despite all that, there was this amazing performance put up by the disabled that really inspired me. They danced pretty well in wheelchairs considered that they only have their hands to help them move around in timing. There was one that was slightly out of timing but nevertheless, I observed joy among them in dancing. The passionate look on their faces showed me that they never think that they are lacking in any ways compared to the healthy people. It was really awesome. To live life with passion is to live life to the max! =)

Sometimes, I take people for granted and in return people take me for granted too. But there were people whom you can’t choose whether to have them in your life or not. My brother thinks that I’m too much of a busybody to nag him on his expenditures and when I choose to go out with his friends and him. I’m born to be his brother. If I could have a choice, I would want a older sibling to take care of me instead of me being the one who looks out for somebody who doesn’t even appreciate.

I’m told by Poo Hee that I’m supposed to perform for Talentime this Thursday. Doom. I really have no idea what song I should choose… =/

If Only A Day Has 24Hrs More

 

 

I could have choose to miss out everything in hall for a more peaceful academic life but I chose otherwise. I keep telling myself, it’s only for a year and I’ll move on to my studies. I don’t know why but I keep missing home recently.

Kayaking was quite fun as a hall activity. Somehow it reminds me of the times when I was secondary 3. That was long time ago when I participated OBS expedition. Ha. Only now with a different group of people.

There were still many lame things that are done in university. I used to think the older you are, the less lame stuff you do. Somehow, not exactly true.  Perhaps, it’s a temporary phase to go through knowing that once you step into the working world, you wouldn’t even dream of the chance of acting stupid or doing lame things with your colleagues. Ha.

I’m thankful of my friends for celebrating my birthday especially Jeremy. =) Thanks! I was only thinking why would JCRC hold monthly meeting on a Thursday which usually will fall on Wednesday. I didn’t even think that Jeremy will call Baohui down too. Haha. The jacket that I’m wearing in the photo is the present. Oots. My first Adidas jacket then. Haha. Oh by the way, thanks for the wishes, Ruth. =)  

I was also surprised that Baohui took me to this place called Keppel By The Bay where there were a few restaurants by the seaside. It’s an island near Harbourfront. The best thing of all was that the cab driver didn’t even know where it is. The place looks very posh and there were many yachts docked to the harbour. Someday I’m going to park mine! That is if I manage to earn that much. Waha. Everything starts with a dream :)

The restaurant that I thought we were going to dine at isn’t really a restaurant at all. It’s a gastro bar. The food’s nice actually. Look at the strawberries! (YUM!) However, it would be weird not to order any liquor at a bar. So we ordered some orange flavoured liquor which really tasted weird.

It had been a long time since I felt that relaxed. Thanks for the surprise. I really love it lots.

Valentine’s day celebration was fun too. This time round had to bring change of clothing. Kind of troublesome but oh well… There’s always a first time for everything. Ha. Literally toured from west to east and to central before returning to west again. Taxi fares were of course not any much lesser than other expenses. Lol. I think I need canvassing for my wallet too. Ha.

I think the simplest surprise can be really sweet as well. Something she gave me really touched me to the core of my heart. =) I had not expected that coming.

Someday I hope I can close my eyes and listen. To really listen for the gentle calls of the heart. Even without words, being in the company of each other is enough for the souls. =)

I wish the best for all my dear friends too. Hope you all had a fulfilling time with your dear friends and families and spending meaningful moments together.

Circle of Friends

Many fragments of thoughts in my head now. The following things would be mentioned with no direct links to each other whatsoever. I usually blog when I’m feeling sad. But this time it’s different.

Got cheated to be the only one from my batch to show up for Frank’s pageant competition. Moreover, the program’s really boring, unlike any other competitions I’ve seen. There were only 2 walkthroughs for the contestants in clothes that looked almost the same. The theme is not very strongly brought out. Most of them didn’t walk in a style how models walk. Their poses look pretty awkward too. Ha. Maybe the organisers had spent too much booking down Zouk for the event, probably.

This year CNY seems very short. Perhaps by CNY day 2 I already had to go back hall for presentation meeting. Ang bao amount is a lot lesser this year now that economy is really bad. Not expecting much anyway.

The relatives that I meet annually seem to be distant this year. Not sure why I felt this way though, perhaps because they really can’t tell me apart from my younger brother. The picture on the left is him. I don’t find us looking any similar though.

My cousins have grew taller. I’m still pretty much the same. Haha. I guess I’m really old and really soon I would be busy working day after day and a family to take care of when I’m back. Responsibilities to shoulder and mouths to feed. By then, would all the fun I have now disappear from my life totally? Where else can I find the strength to keep me going?

Thought about the 3 months break later this year. I think I really need to go work and earn some money, otherwise I don’t think I’m able to last 4 years with the current rate of expenditure. Ha.

Suddenly I feel like singing…  I have a melody that’s coming from nowhere, no purpose. Just a feeling I want to express. I want to thank all my friends who have been through my life. Thanks to Mingxiu and Hengyi who have made my secondary school days less monotonous. Thanks Ruth for being such a nice mei but I think I was never that nice back. =) Ha. Thanks to Jian Yuan and Esmond who have made JC seem so much more lively and entertaining. Thanks to Choonpei and Weina who have made me feel that it’s possible to have a friend who can just listen to you. Thanks to Lipsin and Hui Chuan who made my NS life less miserable. Thanks to Keefer and Jialing, Starhub clique who made my job something to look forward to day after day. Thanks Weiyen for being there to hear me out at the weirdest of times. Thanks Edwin, Shanghao, Poo Hee for making my hall stay worth it. There are still many more people I want to thank. It’s you that keeps me going. I hope I can do the same to you too. 

Thanks Bao for everything you did. It’s been difficult for both of us to find time for each other but I’m glad we tided through. Happy 2 months dear! =)

New Year Updates

 

 

It’s the start of 2009. Just finished with many of the IHRG and IHG pretty soon. There were many things I have learnt about during the year of 2008 to now and I have become more careful of what I have to and got to say. Being quiet at times becomes inevitable if I don’t want to be shot at unnecessary. Some politics will just be there even if you don’t want to believe so. It hurts when you know that it’s your friend who shoots comments at you not face to face, but through others. Everything can be used as a yardstick to compare on.

 

I’m happy that I finally see through the end of hall cheerleading. It has been an eye-opener experience to understand the sweat, friendship and teamwork of being a cheerleader. Throughout that period, many persevered while some dropped out. It’s not an easy effort from a total noobie to be trained a cheerleader. At least I’m proud of my own performance. =)

Ever since the training ended, there’s many things that had changed. No more night trainings that the team dreads. No more toleration of each other’s mistakes. No more sweat and laughter from the same few people whom I have seen almost every night. Suddenly, the night just seems to have quieten down. Perhaps I start to miss all the things that I used to do. =) 

I really feel thankful for everyone who came down to watch my performance. Big hug to you all. =) I want to thank Jian Yuan for collecting the goody bag for me. Felt bad that I couldn’t attend his event due to training.

 

Met up with Hengyi and Chris. It’s one of the rare occasions to meet up. I think my secondary school friends are generally very rich. Always tend to feel the uncomfortable distance between them and me. Be it their spending habits, hobbies, etc just don’t seem to click anymore… =/

Looking forward to Chinese new year. I’ll be another year older soon. The 2009 me that’s in the mirror seems much older, tired… I suppose ageing is something that’ll come sooner or later after 21. Mum seems to be less energetic recently. Part of me wants to graduate soon so that I can help in the family. Another part of me has reach that mentality level yet. There’s many things I want to learn, I want to see and experience before I step into the workforce for good. I can’t visualise what I’ll probably do in the future but for now I’ll be going full swing into studies. I must do much much much better this semester.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

It's kind of late to wish everyone merry Christmas here but it takes some time to sort out photos and to sum up what I want to say.

I had a different Christmas this year. I'm feeling very much in bliss although many things could have been a lot better. I am starting to see how complicated the social circle is. The more people you know, the more you would have to manage yourself and your friends better. At least that's what's expected of you if you want to maintain a nice impression in front of everyone. I have always wanted to be as nice as I can to everyone but that's not that possible it seems. Sorry friends if I have neglected some of you. I'll find a way to prioritise my time better. I'm still learning but it feels like time has less tolerance of me as I grow older.

Christmas eve is memorable for me. It doesn't matter where I spend it as long as I'm with you. =)

The food in Giraffe is very much expensive. The quality is not bad. Ambience is rather soothing for me I feel. The music they played was not the typical Christmas songs I thought. They played many Enrique's songs. What a pity it was raining that day otherwise it would have been a splendid ambience! The service is good. We hesitated for quite a bit on the Xmas meal but the waiter waited patiently for us to decide on the orders and the winning smile was more than enough to please the customers. It's worth returning on any other days. =)

We had fun in our own world playing with the party fedora hats they provided. I even wanted to play with the party poppers if it was at an alfresco setting. I figured that it would be pretty embarrassing or attention-catching if I did that. LOL. The seats I reserved were actually outdoor but the manager was nice enough to change seats for us when I asked for it. It's quite weird though as the only available table is a 6-seater table. BH and I just sat side by side at a corner of the round table that stationed right smack in the centre of the place. The rest must be thinking what's so special of us to take such a big table. Haha.

I was surprised that BH tried her best to dress up well for me. I would say she looks very elegant even without wearing skirt. Ha. Of course not in FBT shorts and VJ T-shirt that she jokingly said she'll turned out in. I supposed I had over dressed to some extent. Many people were staring at me which somehow make me feel very much uncomfortable.

After dinner, I thought it would be best to keep out of streets if I want to avoid being sprayed by foam. Although it's not legal anymore, it's still rather prevalent in the town areas. Aye, I would rather not take any chance. Movie was the next option. Twilight wasn't at all what I thought. It turned out to be a romance story that even kids can watch. Ha. I also got an ice-cream treat from her. For me, there seems no difference between Ben&Jerry's to Gelare to Andersen's ice-cream. I know ice-cream lovers will argue on that but that's just what I feel.

Grand cathay's cinema is really different. It looks so grand and the setting is very much like a musical theatre. =x Were we not supposed to take photographs in there?

After movie, we had supper over at Rochor tau huay area where we also had gift exchange when midnight strikes. She's observant to realise that my wallet's condition is much close to unusable state. LOL. *Touched* Little action speaks volume. =)

I had a Christmas party at Valerie's uncle's house too. Another mega-huge place for such parties. There were many people I don't know. Some are Edith's friends and some are Val's friends. They were many more guys than girls there and it felt like a ORD gathering. Ha. I'm glad I still feel a familiar sense of belonging to the group of friends whom I've not met for some time. I realise gift exchange is only nice if everyone makes effort to source for presents. Karma will ensure that people who wrap 'presents' from unused items will get similar treatment. LOL!

I love the part when everyone got together to play the sparklers to form words. Xuguang was actively trying to finish blowing his present (bottle of bubble foam). Come to think of it, there isn't any log cake to eat this year.

The Christmas celebration in hall was somehow not as good as I thought. Not sure if everyone was tired after playing IHG or simply not as supportive. Food and drinks were not bad but there really weren't enough time to put up superb music performance. I'm sure a little cheer and encouragement would do some good...

So far 2008 has been very much exciting for me. I tried out many things new and learnt many things. I'm grateful for all the good things that had happened and will cherish the love from the people around me. It's not possible to please everyone or do everything perfectly. I just want to look back things with a smile.

I had finished sorting my thoughts out. Good friends are like footprints in each other's sand. If you had never any more intention to step into my sand, soon the past traces of footprint will be erased by the sea and be lost. No matter how hard you try to seek it, it's gone...

Another chapter of my life is gone. My new year wish is to do better in studies and relationship. Happy 2009 everyone!