meragamma

Marina Barrage

2009-08-11T02:11:00.001-07:00

Decided to make my way to Marina barrage on one lazy afternoon. Went to Marina Bay MRT. There were some huge differences compared to the previous time I was there. For one, there were major constructions everywhere. As I walked along the path to wait for the free shuttle bus, two or three cement mixers would come roaring past me. Dust was in the air.

Finally the bus came. When I reached the barrage, I strolled my way upwards. It's kinda hard to describe the place, but basically, it is literally a grassy walkway to another level which is a green field. Found a comfortable spot near some couple sharing some quiet time together.

Meditated on the bench for close to an hour. Before I turned into a stone Buddha statue, Belinda came. And soon after, the rest (cclia, minhuey, ome and selene) came. We set up two transparent groundsheets for all of us to sit comfortably and have a subway picnic.

By the time dinner was done, the area was dark. Good thing we brought some light sticks. And then after, we had the most pleasant CG together. With cclia strumming the guitar, and the wind blowing, it was a sweet moment.

Another area to consider besides Hendersson's Waves to bring your loved one in the future.

The Meeting of 3 friends

2009-08-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Went for the 4th service with cclia and belinda. The guest speaker was simply awesome. He was humourous yet he managed to get his message across. Instead of going back straight home after service as normal, we decided to linger on at Crosstalk long after our dinner were complete to just chill.

Even though on retrospect it made me delay my SOAP, it was still worth it. I do not know when will be the next time the 3 of us get to meet like this and just enjoy each other's company. If I had gone home, I would have eaten microwaved pizza from Sarpino, which I indeed ate when I got home.

How I wish I can...

2009-07-09T08:47:00.001-07:00

Just started my attachment, which is gonna last for 6 weeks. Finally get to apply theory to real-life situations. Zx is posted somewhere near to my place as well (not near for him though) at CGH.

Managed to obtain one Hillsong concert ticket and one extra, for the purple rose. Haven't seen her for quite some time le. :( Really sad; sometimes (actually, most of the times), ppl around you dun show grace; it's frickin tiring (exhausting) extending grace to them. Perhaps, I have a slight revelation on how Abba feels when we take His presence for granted; Good thing I'm not him :D

It's also very troublesome to lead; at times (actually, all the time) I wish I can be at the back seat. Not that I came looking for it in the first place. -_- Gah.

It will be good if my future daughters have characters like Cclia; it sure brings joy to any father.

Before Malacca

2009-06-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

As usual, I did not have 24 hours of uninterrupted slacking at home. Since my CG wants to queue up at 1115 hr to get the tickets for the 3rd service, I made my move out of the house at 10pm, accounting for the huge crowd going for the PC show.

There are 3 huge crowds at Suntec: One going for the PC show, the other queuing outside the Rock and the last dunno what the heck those two groups are doing there. Queued up for some time before we got the tickets. Cclia came late :(.

After getting fixed seat tickets, we went to have lunch at Millenia Walk Koufu, where we stayed there for 2 hrs playing Monopoly Deal card games. It was a simple but extremely addictive game. Which requires quite a bit of cunning and strategy (10% luck also).

Filled my stomach with breaded chicken as I watched my fellow brethren and sisters play. In the end I joined in as well. Managed to complete a few games before we went back to the Rock for some more feeding as well. All I can say is...it's an awesome service! Never laughed so much and enjoyed that thoroughly for such a long time le! It's....beyond human/natural logic to try to explain using my limited vocabulary. One must be there to experience.

Since it ended 1/2 hour late, subsequently, I was also 1/2 hour late as I had to push my way through the crowd, from Suntec-->City Hall-->Choa Chu Kang! Went to change out of my outfit to wear something which I had never worn in ages--my soccer jersey (last worn during the Sec 4 soccer match competition)

With my black and orange jersey, we (including the Purple Rose :D) marched towards the birthday girl's condo. Cam-whored like never before, ate a satisfying meal and finally celebrated her birthday cum temporary farewell to the US.

Hitched a ride back from a classmate's car. I'm amazed---she had financed her own (?!) car and driving license using tuition money+bank loan. Financial independence. Though small, it was a comfortable ride.

4 hours before I wake up to make my way to Clementi and then...Malacca (for 5 days). Adios!

The PC Show

2009-06-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Curfew breached again, as usual. Went out in the afternoon to have lunch with my friend at Toa Payoh. It's good that her boss is quite understanding, since she gave the both of us unlimited time to makan. Proceeded to the nearest foodcourt to have a late lunch.

After sending her back, I went to City Hall to take a look at the PC show. Crowded like sardines as expected. Squeezed through the crowds with zx and scouted around level 4 and 6 looking for the best deals for netbooks. (since my dad's laptop was spoilt early this morning). My radar couldn't pick up my fellow classmate who was helping out in the PC show.

Went to the Coffee Club late at night with my army friend to pass time. The place was quite comfortable, plus there was virtually no one around. Left the place just before the whole mall (White Sands) shut down. Hope the caffeine does not keep me awake tonight.

Waraku Casual Dining

2009-06-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

In the end, I broke the vow of staying at least one day at home doing nothing. Left my house hurriedly at 615pm to meet up with the A&F ppl at Waraku, which was actually outside Marina Square. The human traffic was insane; it impeded my movement from City Hall.

Pleasantly surprised to see my ex-CG friend at the restaurant. Since we are in an "isolated room", we had to remove our footwear and sit on cushions. Ordered Tonkatsu Ramen after a while of mulling. My ex-CG mate paid for the bill using his HSBC card, which entitled us to a 10% discount (effectively no service charge). Too bad the waiter didn't allow us to split the bill, as we cannot use both the 10% discount and the 1-for-1 ramen deal as well :(

Left at around 9 plus as my ex-CG friend wanted to meet my CGL! Hence we drove down to Liang Seah street. As expected, it was filled with cars. Though we managed to quickly displace one car from the lot, Crystal Jade HK cafe (too crammed I feel) was too packed with ppl. Ended up wandering (after my CGL and her friend parked her car, coincidentally behind our car) near Bugis to search for a resting place. Tried to go to TCC but since it was occupied, we miraculously ended up at Starbucks.

Ordered Dark Mocha Frappucino and spent the night listening in the interesting conversation going on between my CGL and ex-CG friend. All I can say is that I have learnt a lot in that encounter, especially about the realities of life.

Thankfully, we left at 12am, with free transport back home :D

Left 3 Dead

2009-06-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Zx, Ray and I decided to attempt to conquer Survivor mode in L4D one fine night. We were insane young fellows; we had actually agreed to meet up at the usual place at 10pm.

Due to some church activities at the Rock, Ray and I ended up 50 min late at the place. Must apologise for the extreme waiting time that zx endured.

Despite our best(est) efforts in attempting to cross the 10min mark, we had failed in the end. Our best timing was 8min 37 s trying to fend off (literally) legions of zombies. If only there was a 4th player involved, we might have been able to bask in the glory of our achievements. Alas, time and zombies were against us. It was a miracle as we had somehow managed to stumble back to our cars, leaving the place at 3am. (?!)

By the time I had finished bathing and drinking the lone cup of chrysanthemum on my table, it was already 4am.

The Many LAN sessions

2009-06-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Too many to simply recount here. I shall just pen down whatever that comes across my mind. After the semester was over, my frequency of LANing increased by infinity.

Once, I was happily slacking at home during evening when Raymond suddenly called, saying that he wanted to play LAN with his brother as well. I quickly agreed and lo and behold, he came to my house downstair with his car to pick me up.

Arrived at Katong Shopping Centre (or was it Complex?) to play an hour of LAN. Its super ex rate of $2.30/hr coupled with lousy coms drove us away after the fated hour. The exorbitant chicken chop of $8.90 also drove us away to the nearby legendary Katong laksa. Even though the gravy soup stung my throat, I drank every single bit of it as it was delicious.

Made our way to Parklane (as usual) and played for several more hours, before we decided to go back. On the way to our illegal parking lot, we decided to buy some Rochor Street Tau huey.

Biometric Passport

2009-05-30T09:00:00.001-07:00

And so I went down to Lavendar to collect my passport. Went out right after my 7 a.m. war. Managed to reach ICA building 1/2 hour earlier. As I had booked my appointment online, it was swift. Only waited for 10 min to be served. Since I am going to Malaysia in a few weeks time, I must ensure that the passport is at least valid for much longer than 6 months. (My old one was due to expire on 21st Dec this year).

I must say that the eportal is quite efficient. The photo in my new passport was uploaded from my com a few days ago, instead of having to take instant colour photos at the building last time.

Much has happened over the past few weeks of slacking. Shall touch on them in my next post.

Recuperation Part II

2009-05-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

We were joined by Min Huey at Bedok MRT station. Helped Michelle carry her guitar and took a few shots (as usual) of our group on the train.

When we arrived at HarbourFront station, we waited for a few more of our CG ppl--Cclia, Bel and Ome. Some of them went to buy the $1.80 chicken rice at the store conveniently located near our waiting spot; others went to super dog to get their "dogs".

Left the cool comfort of VivoCity and waited at the bus stop (blardy humid) for bus 97 to bring us to Hort Park (which I had been wondering the whole time what the heck was it). It was literally hot when we went there; I was sweating furiously under my cap.

The bridge that we climbed on was an interesting architecture. It reminded me of those old Sonic games in which Sonic had to speed across those pathways filled with rings. It was of a similar concept, except that there was no rings or TV sets. The linkway up the sky was quite narrow and we could actually see through the bottom of the walkway; we were like several storeys up in the air :S

By the time we travelled the whole 2.7km, dusk was already approaching. With bellies growling and feet itching from mozzies, we hurriedly made our way through the darkening path. After a few group shots and some cars that sped past us, we managed to ascent to our final destination for the night: Hendersson's Waves.

It was beautiful at night. (one day I might upload the photos). We scaled the wooden bridge (one of them commented that it looked like a worm). Just like the earlier trail, we were like close to 20+ storeys "suspended" in the air. Finally settled down at a convenient resting point.

We began our picnic spread of chips, salad (prepared earlier in the afternoon) and other munchies. All the while, our backs were leaning on the side of the bridge, with the cool night breeze caressing our bodies. Cclia and Michelle began to strum the guitars, playing some hymns. With good food, great company and nice music, it was life! :D

I reclined my back, slowly resting as I downed my ju hua cha. Ahhh. Time must have passed by extremely slowly. After a long time, we reluctantly left our camping spot and made our way towards Mount Faber, passing by a few couples snoggling, petting and what nots along the way. (still on the same Hendersson's waves)

Followed the signs and along the way to the top of Mount Faber, we stopped by to admire the night scenery of the lit buildings, which appeared quite small to us. Had to ask a security guard for directions at the top of the hill before we began our descent, passing by an apparently ATAS place known as Jewel Box.

On our way down, we came across a few telescopes that needed gold coins to see anything. We did not linger there for long, being the cheapskate SG (ok me only). Almost horlanded, as we chose to follow the road instead of going down this wooden flight of staircase (the staircase was kinda dark, since there was no lamps along the way). Turned out that if we had walked down the dark staircase in our descent, we could have reached Vivocity faster. Thankfully, after encountering a few friendly Ah Tiongs, we navigated our way back to civilisation.

It would be good if this adventure had ended. Alas, it did not. After a quick visit to the loos, most of us bought some drinks at 7-11 (Bel had bought a chocolate cake at Bakerzin, which was sinfully ******ic). Lazed around in the humid play area outside, sitting near the water area at the rooftop on Vivo, before we really had to make our ways home. Somehow, we unanimously agreed that we don't want to spend our nights as vagrants on Vivo..though I do not mind going back to Hendersson's Waves to enjoy the night breeze....ahh...if only I have a lover at the moment.

Recuperation Part I

2009-05-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

Just got home from an outing that lasted 1/2 day (literally). The shower had washed away the dirt, sweat and a bit of fatigue off my body; hence this post here that you see.

After losing some online war, eating wanton noodles and attempting to fix my dad's com, I made my way to the mrt station. Being the cheapskate ****tard that I am, I decided to save 40-60 cents by walking across the park at noon. Had to don on my cap to shelter my head from the scorching sun.

Since bus-train hybrid concession fare was slashed from 97 to 93 dollars, I decided to renew mine. This time, the concession office had installed speakers in front of the glass panel, hence I am able to hear the "topping-up" lady very audibly.

Went to see my fellow classmates at Tampines. Lost count of the number of times I travelled between Tampines Mall, the MRT station and Tampines One just to wait for them to be free for lunch. Only managed to have lunch with two of them at 230pm, before I had to make my way to my friend's house to accompany him in his cooking quests (another guy that likes to cook like AO).

Reached his house exhausted and thirsty. Being a typical male, I lazed around his living room while he and 2 of my CG girls were busily preparing a spread of kebabs, potato salad and chocolate brownies. Ran out of salad dressing, in which the girls promptly went downstairs to get. The only job that I get is to mix the salad well by folding (with Italian dressing) and putting the bowl into the freezer.

Supposed to meet the rest of the CG by 430pm. By the time we are done feasting on the kebabs and brownies, it was already 440pm. The 4 of us proceeded to HarbourFront Station for another long evening ahead...

CG outings

2009-05-08T11:06:00.001-07:00

Ever since my last paper ended a few days ago, I have been feverishly going out with different group of friends to "celebrate" and "dewind". Turns out that my sleeping hours is like cut into half compared to during study break.

After Pharmacology I paper (which ended at 7pm), my friends decided to celebrate all the belated birthdays that had occured during the semester. Went back to Mad Jack at Parklane (otherwise known as Paradiz) to have some Blue Mountain burger. It was filling, but one kinda gets sick of stuffing the patty in the mouth after some bites.

The following day, I met up with my CG friends. The guys had gone to Cathay for LAN (at an ex price of $2.50/hr) while the girls went for their retail therapy. Later met up at MINDS cafe which was opposite my favourite haunt. Played for 4hrs till dinner, then went back to Parklane again to eat at Ishi Mura, a Japanese theme-based food court.

Friday. Went to school for some briefing about my attachment in 6 weeks time. Later, the guys went to (no need to guess by now) the usual haunt to kill some zombies/survivors. Ate at Ishi Mura again (deja vu) for lunch. Wanted to linger longer for more male-to-male bonding, but I had to leave and meet the CG guys for a short zombie shooting at Bedok Princess.

After a short killing spree of around 1515 zombies, the 3 zombie killers went and meet the girls at Tampines One. It was my first time at this shopping complex. Went to this Japanese restaurant, Manpakku, for dinner, which I must say the food provided is better than usual.

True enough, after we had finished our meals, there was a long queue outside. Went to get Pao Pao cha (aka bubble tea) to complete our dinner, before going to Bel's house for CG.

I shall leave the CG details for another post..

Wolverine

2009-04-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Had looked forward to watching this box-office hit for many months. Finally got a chance to watch the show with my friends after one of the exams.

It was quite action-packed and exciting. The only gripe I had was that the movie was too short -.- It did not even hit the 2hour limit.

At least I can enjoy a day slacking before I hit the books again to study pharmacology.

Old Airport Road

2009-03-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

After service, I went with my older sis, Jie Fu, Serene and Andrew for a short but delicious meal at Old Airport Road. Decided to be adventurous and try another Western Food Stall.

Holy Grill! That's really the name of the stall. Apparently, the stall owners were so busy cooking for customers that they put a stack of order forms in front. (with pencils provided!) It's feels quite weird passing your order form (with your HP number to boot) to the stall owner without saying anything.

After a substantial wait, a ring to my handphone and some walking to and fro, I finally had my Western meal. It tasted unique; though on hindsight I should have replaced my salad pasta with some other side dish.

Next time I shall try Lau Fu Zi Char Kway Teow, which my sis had said it was overrated.

Decisions

2009-03-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

While Zx is afk for ultra long mugging all the while, I was also busy preparing for tests that are gonna come as sure as sunrise. Spent my day today poring through my notes, as well as letting my character afk skill train in Cabal.

My close friend had asked me to join her in studying during the break. Sadly, I'm not sure if I can join her..there's gonna be camp during the exam week. Sigh. I so wish...

I am thankful that sometimes doors were seemingly shut, causing a wavering of faith. But at the end, I trust that somehow, all things will worketh for good for all who trust... :)

More Buses and Train

2009-03-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

After 4 long hours of lecture, I made my way to the bus stop---I chose to take 198 across 198 instead of 95 just across the road. That was mistake no. 1; I had ended up waiting for more than 16 **** minutes for that single bus! Almost fell asleep on the bus, when I realised that I had reached Buona Vista MRT.

Just as I was going up the escalator, I missed the eastbound train. Ended up waiting for 6 min for the next **** train to come. As usual, the train was packed with humans. Trudged my body towards the intercarriage link. Again, I had almost fallen asleep standing up. This continued for many more stops until I reached Bedok. Finally, I had a vacant seat that allowed me to rest. Plonked myself and I think I really fell asleep.

On the way home, I bought a Cadbury Mcflurry (new concoction by Macs), which promptly melted into a slurry in the blazing sun. Ended up drinking the slush. Reached home and got myself a well-deserved break before dinner.

Joo Koon. Still not used to seeing "Joo Koon 5 min" instead of "Boon Lay 5 min". Why does Joo Koon sound like Raccoon to me? Aha lame.

Buses and Train

2009-02-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

It's quite a surprise when I found out one day that Boon Lay is no longer the last station in the West; by the end of this month, 2 more stations will be added to the East-West line: Joo Khoon and Pioneer (sounds lame).

The bridge at Buona Vista is finally torn down. Now, there's a new but narrow linkway from the train station to the opposite of the road. Unfortunately, the escalators are not functioning yet. May turn out to be another Dhoby Ghaut where space are rented out for shops in Vista Xchange (?)

Usually, the journey home to Pasir Ris would be an arduous one. Most of the time, I would end up standing all the way to Tampines. It was kinda surprising when I saw an empty (close to) train stopped by. It felt good to be able to nap all the way home.

It would be good if they can increase the frequency of bus 95 as well as the number of empty trains. Not good to start or end the day as a sardine.

Juggernaut

2009-02-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Have to juggle my time between revising, designing a webpage, relaxing and other social activities. Amazingly, it's not the small fires that will matter in the end; only one thing is needful.

Shall take a rest soon. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day: Need to go back to MicroB lab, LAN appointment, as well as celebrating my close friend's 21st birthday :)

Recharging

2009-02-18T05:15:00.001-08:00

Just had an MCQ quiz in which many of the questions were scenario-based. On retrospection, I might have spent too much time on the hard facts; seemingly minor details from the notes came out in quite a number of the questions. -_-

Quickly rushed home to watch Bleach and scan for any spoilers online. I wasn't disappointed. Threw all my notes one side and took a short but well-deserved break.

Was pleasantly surprised when my close friend msged me about some crazy Japanese reality show. :) The commentator made quite a number of witty remarks. These Jap contestants are...insane. Basically it's an endurance course that is worse than SOC---The Ninja Warrior. None managed to clear the 3 stages of hell to be the ultimate Ninja Warrior. Shall stay tuned to see who will finally emerge victorious.

Drugs and Society

2009-02-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

This happened a few weeks ago: I was trying to find ppl to take the eastbound train with me after lecture. Turned out that most of my friends have additional lectures. Feeling bored, I decided to "crash"---attend one of my friend's lecture as a guest.

Since I was feeling ravenously hungry, I decided to da bao chicken chop and bring inside the LT for my delayed lunch. The module that I had crashed into---Drugs and Society.

Since I could potentially create a mess with the chop sauce, I decided to sit in the front row. Hence, while I was happily munching on the chicken, the lecturer proceeded with her lecture on heroin and its social/legal issues. While the webcam was still turned on, she proceeded to ask an open-ended qn, in which there was no takers. Inevitably, she turned to me---the person still munching on chicken chop.

Gulped down my chop and answered the lecturer as simply as I could---the guest who was not supposed to be there. Was relieved when my Q&A was over. My "torment" was further extended when I realised that the lecturer did not give a short break during the 2 hrs, long after I finished the chop.

Was glad when the lecture was over---I rushed to catch bus 95 but sadly to no avail; I ended up waiting for the next one with my friends who slowly strolled out.

MicroBiology

2009-02-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

Finally got to study something relevant in my profession. Had a hand in inoculating several nutrient agars and broths last Friday. Went back today to check the growth of my precious microbes.

Sadly, two of my culture media failed the test (actually more like 3); the plate that is supposed to contain confluent growth showed nothing, while the disinfected fingerprint showed growth. Inoculated the wrong bacteria in the agar slope as well...arrgh! Supposed to put steph aureus, but i ended up putting Ps. aeru...damn

Hmm. I guess it's not bad, considering that I had to rush down to Central Forum to collect my pink roses to give to my beloved(s). :) Completed the practical 1/2 hr earlier than expected. It shall get better.

Must get used to tidiness and fastidious preparations.

Computing

2009-02-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

Finally revived my dead blog; I was trying to find a suitable background for months leh (so that ppl won't have to keep on highlighting the words). Shall save this current one in my 2 GB cruzer thumbdrive.

Seems that I have to send my desktop for repair this Thursday; it keeps on showing me the blue screen of death each time I attempted to boot the computer. This is sad, considering that I have recently just reformatted my com.

Was kinda surprised that the Purple Rose has decided to pursue computing with me. Now it seems that I have to assume the role of a leader in assigning tasks. It is nice to be able to enjoy her presence everyday. I wonder if she knows...she's the apple of my eye and there's always joy whenever I see her. I just wish that she's online more often; it's quite boring to keep on staring at the notes with just the desktop as my companion.

This post shall mark the start of memories as well as the events that are to come.

The Gathering of the Three (Trees)

2008-12-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

Have many things to blog about. Unlike AO, I don't really have the discipline to motivate myself to remember interesting stuffs that have occurred. Perhaps one day when I dig through my subconscious I might be able to recall.

During one of the days before the start of new year, I went to Orchard to meet Ginway and Kunzi (Eddie's new nick)at Orchard. As usual, GW was telling as anecdotes of his encounters with his friends in colourful detail. Deliberated at Cineleisure at some time before deciding to spend the afternoon at Kbox.

Practised our vocals singing the usual Mandopop; had my fill of peanuts and snacks (after GW forced me to drink whisky, which tasted like acid flushing down the throat). Had to drink Eddie's share of whisky as he hesitated.

Left early as we ran out of songs (or rather, GW was too bored with KBox). Went to the nearby food centre to eat stingray+omelette rice. After that, we walked down to Cathay to watch Ip Man, which was a rather interesting show.

By the way, GW is rather buffed up now, so you might be taken aback when you see him in the future. All those hard work invested in pumping iron have certainly not gone to waste!

White Sands Fish Market

2008-12-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

Recently, there is a small eatery of Manhattan Fish Market at White Sands, replacing Carona Chicken. Being the curious eater, I decided to take a look at the eatery. Seems that they are having a lunchtime offer of just 9.90 for the Manhattan Fish and Chips.

Like any true Singaporean, I found that the offer of a full complete meal at $12+ is too irresistible. Spent my time slowly munching on the chips and the fish.

Hopefully, I can get to try all their lunchtime meals; I still got some $5 vouchers left to spend.

HSBC Treetop Walk II

2008-12-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

This time, I went with the same bunch of friends instead of having army people beside me. Instead of starting from Venus Drive, we walked a further distance around one side of MacRitchie reservoir before finally reaching the 250m long suspension bridge.

We took a break at one of the six storey tower(actually, there was only one) to have a picnic. Similar to the structure at Pulau Ubin, we made our way up the spiral staircase, took a few photographs at the top, before settling down at the 5th storey. (by then it was noon). Sat in a circle and began distributing biscuits, potato salad and chips. After having adequate rest, we continued on the trail along MacRitchie.

Along the trail, we entered into a country club next to MacRitchie. Took a few more photos of ourselves and the terrapins in the pond. Though they appear deceptively slow, once you start feeding them with tapioca chips, every terrapin will start swimming towards you. We must have emptied around 1/2 bag of chips, as it was fierce competition between the biting terrapins and the fishes.

Finally completed the 11km++ trail (which was one full round around MacRitchie); it was longer than the miserable trail I had in the army. With legs slightly aching, we made our way past some familiar sights, like the cross country starting point, the carpark, etc. Decided to go to Far East Plaza after sufficient rest.

Had lunch at the chicken rice stall; dessert at some new eatery (Hong Kong Desserts) before proceeding home, as I had no interest in shopping. On hindsight, it might have been better if I had accompanied them, since it began to rain heavily the moment I stepped outside. Had to use my bag as a temporary umbrella; a bit irritated that of all times it must rain now. Thankfully, by the time I had reached Pasir Ris the rain had subsided.

Raving Rabbids

2008-12-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Just came home after a whole day spent at my friend's house. Went to play with her Wii after spending some time making a birthday present and waiting for the rest to arrive.

Tried Wii Sports and Raving Rabbids; it must have been very intensive, since there are already signs of fatigue in my arms. Dinner was graciously provided by the host's mum, who provided a sumptuous spread of fried chicken wings, mushrooms and macaroni with bacon. Drank copious amount of liang cha as well.

Time to rest my arms; I hope they recover on time for the treetop walk at MacRitchie Reservoir.

Sunday Respite

2008-12-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

It's six more days to my sister's wedding. My CG friends seem to wonder why my sis has not gotten married for so long; I surmise it must have been because I had mentioned the event frequently to them.

Finally cleared up all my past notes; it took me around 3 big ring files to put them away. It's strange how one looks forward to the break when there is much to study; when there is nothing to do, one wonders how to pass the time.

There is much to catch up; duckgoesquack seems to be very fond in writing huge chunks at one go. AO had managed to clinch the best musician award..congrats! I am hoping to repeat the feat last semester. Of course, the first ppl to know will be those still reading this blog.

Shall cut my hair soon. It is troublesome and messy to maintain such a long sideburn and wavy fringe.

Nothing to Do

2008-12-06T07:16:00.000-08:00

Finally, it is semester break. Although only 4 days have passed, it felt like weeks have trickled away. Spent the past two days enjoying myself with this new anime called Code Geass. It is quite an intense anime; in fact, one of the few that can make me cry. (for some scenes) Now I understand why it was voted the best anime in the past two years.

Maybe I should consider purchasing a game; the problem is that none really catches my interest; all of them cost around $50. I guess the marginal benefit does not justify the marginal cost.

Thunder Tea Rice

2008-08-17T08:44:00.001-07:00

Decided to try this exotic dish at Suntec Convention Centre. Had to push through throngs of people to go to the food court, which does not look like the typical Kopitiam. Managed to grab two seats for my Ma and I and went to see what it has to offer.

Bored with the usual choices of chicken rice and hokkien mee, which are ubiquitous in every Kopitiam in Singapore, I decided to try some Hakka dish--Thunder Tea Rice set.

Slightly more expensive than normal dishes, it came with a bowl of brown rice filled with an assortment of vegetables, so much so that I can't even see the rice. I had ordered the set meal which included a plate of fried beancurd and omelette, together with a bowl of soup which is green.

Sampled the bowl of greenish soup, which tasted unique. However, I find it quite sickening after a while, so I quickly drank all of it while my mother ordered the exact same organic dish as me. Can't imagine my stomach can take all the green algae in the bowl (it looks like a pond that has undergone heavy eutrophication.) Just like the soup, the rice tasted quite crunchy with the vegetables, however it gets plain as time passes by. It's a good thing I ordered the omelette and fried beancurd; they helped to musk the taste of vegetables in my mouth all the time.

Apparently, this ancient dish had a myriad of benefits, one of which is to detoxify the body. It is also said to help win battles in ancient China (through the pamphlet I was reading when queuing up). If the warriors were all like me, then that side would have been doomed. Didn't feel any reinvigoration of spirit, instead my jaws felt tired after chewing for what seemed like eternity. My mother seemed to enjoy the meal though.

Had to clear my mouth with a good drink of Teh, which also had a heavenly cost of $1.50.

Reiatsu Spike

2008-08-13T07:35:00.001-07:00

The first week is always a honeymoon week. It's the period of time in which students are in a transition from holiday to study mode; labs have also not commenced at this time.

Spent my free day bowling with some classmates in Tampines SAFRA. Such a convenient place for me. Took some time to get used to the bowling balls. Apparently, they are fricking heavy even though I tried my fingers into the smaller balls. Hence my results for the three games exhibited gross imprecision. Scored 38 pinfalls in the first, 128 in the 2nd and 94 in the last. Only managed to get used to the bowling alley in the 2nd game onwards.

Played four games of pool before retreating back to my house; I have decided to save costs. Hence I had to decline the offers of eating at Sakura in SAFRA and eating at some restaurant in Holland V.

Since I wasn't officially invited in the latter event, I shall not crash their party celebration. Might as well spend my evening exercising and reading up on my notes, which I managed to fulfill.

Shall enjoy the presence of the purple rose tomorrow.

The End of Rag

2008-08-08T23:29:00.001-07:00

After many months of sweat and blood, we managed to produce an award-winning float design on rag and flag day. At least the blood shed was not in vain. Can finally take a breather as I recuperate from my tan marks on my wrist and feet.

Uncovered more secrets within the faculty during the rag period, which was more than those from one whole academic year combined. Skipped another stayover at a friend's house as I have to clean up the mess left behind after the raucous celebration, as usual.

The scent of the purple rose is sweet indeed.

Triple Kill

2008-07-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

Decided to meet with the usual people after being bored cooped up at home. Since I had arrived early, I wandered around PS like a lost bird before being informed that the dinner was to be at The Cathay. Hence, I breathed in more smoke as I made my way there.

By the time I had reached there, there were hungry Singaporeans queuing up with Ivan at the basement Japanese eatery. 99c for all sushi seemed to irresistible to hungry stomachs. Eddie joined us after collecting his books at Peace Centre.

Finally entered the eatery; ate 5 plates in the end while the rest ate more. After a while, all sushi tasted similar; had enough of japanese rice.

Observed many 7/10 walking around, enjoying their Friday freedom as the wolf walked around. Walked to PS and back to tau huey stall while deciding on desserts. Ivan, the ice-cream man, departed from the three of us early as rain water is hazardous to him.

After he left, the 3 of us braved the slight drizzle to fill our stomachs. Queued up for the usual. In her hurry of getting me a $2 change, the auntie gave me back $7. Not bad. Paid $2 to eat $3 worth of soya bean. Happily, we went back to savour the taste of free-dom. Decided to try the same trick one more time, but unfortunately, there was sufficient change around, and the vicinity was less crowded. Nonetheless, we drank 3 more cups of soya bean drink. 10c for $5.10 worth of soya bean products is a great supper to end the day.

Like what Eddie said, I managed to continue my streak; she was really online, even after I bathed, brushed, flossed, gargled. Happily chatted with her for a few hours before exhaustion took over...

Miscellaneous

2008-07-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Have been going out for the past few days, especially to NUS. Went to meet Eddie and his friend for lunch after some scaling and polishing. Indonesian food at Engine Canteen is overrated; the piece of meat known as chicken chop makes me thirst like crazy. While I ingest this horribly salty meal, Eddie was editing an atrocious Science paper about understanding the universe.

Went our separate ways after lunch; took a train ride to Bukit Batok after waiting for close to an eternity for bus 95, as usual.

Met up with one of my friend and accompanied her until City Hall; at least I did not spend half of my time dozing off. Coincidentally, after she left, I noticed that Ashraf was standing near me all along! We were oblivious to each other until she left. Hence, my whole journey from the west to the east was interesting, to say the least.

Overnight Stay

2008-07-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Met up with zx after completing a paper at ACJC hall. Left 1/2 hour earlier since my stomach is growling. Chilled out at JEC's food court which was already closing while waiting for Eddie.

Wanted to eat Aston's Western food, but I guess we arrived too late. Settled for a $5 chicken cutlet. It tasted decent to me, perhaps it was due to partaking my previous meal at 3pm. Heard that the Science canteen Western food store now charges $2.60 for a chicken chop, an increase from 30 cents. Caused an uproar in zx, who is used to economical food.

Stayed over at zx's house, not before sending Eddie home by his car. Concussed at around 1 a.m to 2a.m. Decided not to set any alarm and let my body clock dictate my actions tomorrow.

Lazed around until 10 a.m. Left refreshed due to zx's hospitality, although the train ride of 54 min bored the hell out of me.

Aloha

2008-07-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Spent 5 days at Aloha Changi. Initially wanted to only stay for 3 days; ended up sleeping over for the whole camp. Forged closer friendships with my classmates. This is the first time I took part in a camp as a senior.

My prayers are really answered. Not only the purple rose came, but also the two other roses as well. It was like heaven on earth. I am more than contented to be able to have spent some quality time in their presence.

Aim for next academic year: To make both my goals a reality in my life; a combination of the goodness enjoyed in the past two sems...

Rambo III

2008-06-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

After the ordeal at Fong Seng, Tb and company managed to make it back to NUS in one piece. Heaving a sigh of relief, the gang trudged back to the dusty small room to enjoy some air-con.

The excitement of the misadventure had not worn off; Tb and gang were reenacting the damn scene ad nauseum from different perspectives. A short time later, the adrenaline rush ran out and was replaced by fatigue.

2.30 a.m. The gang took turns to bathe at the 6th level toilet. Tb declined to immerse his body in the freezing cold water. Instead he chose to cut more cans with the rest who were left behind. It's just like a normal field camp day, Tb thought to himself.

By 3 a.m, everyone in the room was feeling sleepy. If they had not wasted one hour waiting like a kuku bird in Fong Seng, they might have cut 100 more cans. Like the rest of them, Tb removed his gloves and washed his hands off all dirt and metal splinters.

Initially, Tb had wanted to sleep across two chairs, but it felt too uncomfortable for him. In the end, he opted to sleep on soft mats with a large pillow borrowed from the nearby shelf. The company of heroes arranged themselves so that they do not end up kicking each other in the face. Snoring was almost immediately heard once the lights went off.

After a while, Tb crouched into a fetal position; he feared that stretching himself too much would cause someone to eat his foot in the morning. Four hours later, someone's alarm clock rang; the morning rays were already peeking through the blinds. Two of the original gang had to leave early for work.

At Tb's behest, the remaining souls decided to go to Engine Fac for McBreakfast. Their morale were slightly lifted with the luscious thought of delicious hot pancakes/egg sausage burger in their mouths.

When they had arrived, a sign "This outlet will only be open from 11 a.m" greeted the hungry wolves. Whatever excitement that was built up during the shuttle bus trip there vanished into thin air. With disappointment, they resorted to eating normal food to fill their stomachs. Basket, 11 a.m onwards means no $4.50 McBreakfast liao! Na@#$ come all the way here, Tb thought angrily to himself as he stuffed tau sa pau pieces into his mouth.

In the end, after their miserable breakfast, everyone else had other commitments to fulfil, leaving only Tb and two other guys to bring the screwed up lorry back to Bishan.

10 a.m. The lorry made its way from NUS to Bishan. This time, Tb was not roasted like a duck sitting at the back, he was now the second vehicle commander, with air con comfort all the way.

Finally, they reached some automobile shop. Seemed to Tb that the niche in the whole lane was vehicle parts. Under the blazing sun, Tb alighted with his barang barang. Tb and his other friend helped his driver friend to carry his barang barang as the latter went to find the owner to settle some issues, namely the screwed up lorry.

After finishing their business with the lorry workshop, the trio walked some distance to the nearest bus stop; Tb was by then listless. They had waited what seemed like eternity before the bus came and brought them back to Bishan MRT.

As expected, there was no seat for the two Easterners. It was a struggle even trying to stand throughout the journey, as Tb had found out, even with two hands clutching onto the metal bars.

When he had reached home, he let down his barang barang and took a nice bath, though it felt uncomfortably warm to him. He brushed aside the niggling thought and went to change into another pair of clothing, ready to leave his house to another friend's house to design a birthday card.

3pm. The lone figure alighted from bus 15 and ambled slowly through his friend's condominium. His black messy hair did not help matters; it absorbed more fricking radiation into his head. Damnit, is it me or the sun? Tb squinted as he tried to locate his friend's block under the glaring star.

When he had reached his friend's unit, the both of them were already busy cutting artwork for the handmade card. Tb felt unusually thirsty; somehow his thirst was insatiable, even after drinking his friend's winter melon tea and some water from his bottle. He also felt lethargic throughout; the simple task of pasting double-sided tapes and cutting letters exhausted him.

His two friends asked out of concern after seeing him trying to struggle for the past two hours. After much consideration, he decided to make his way back, leaving the house early.

5p.m. The second time he had reached home. This time, he headed straight for the freezer, obtaining an ice pack to soothe his burning head...

Rambo: Second Blood

2008-06-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

The familiar smell of roti prata and murtabak greeted them as the hungry souls ,released from their confinement, made their way to a table. Tb spared not a thought for his wallet, since he was eating supper/dinner/lunch. Though $6 for a chicken cheese murtabak seemed expensive, it was actually quite economical---spread over 3 meals. The tao hui in Tb's stomach is long gone by then. To satisfy his cravings, Tb ordered a Milo dinosaur.

Like hungry wolves, Tb consumed his meal with much gusto, though he was still the slowest eater. His ravenous hunger displaced the tiny worry in his mind about his throat---it seemed to be in pain whenever he swallowed his murtabak pieces.

Satisfied in the flesh, Tb and gang made their way to the nearest 7-11 to walk around the convenience store. They ended up buying nothing. The merry gang made their way back to the lorry which they had parked beside the road.

There was an ominous foreboding. In front of the screwed up lorry, there was a middle-aged man with a potbelly staring at the vehicle, together with a woman that had eyebags outside (presumably) of her red car. Whatever jovial mood the gang experienced before instantly vanished.

They walked cautiously towards the vehicle. "Are you all the owner of this lorry?", a demanding voice queried. Tb's leader and driver affirmed meekly. The scene: the semi-d with the gate half ajar and the offending vehicle blocking the only way of traffic. "Sorry, sorry , sorry..." "Already called the police, it's best if you all do not leave."

It was a one-sided exchange. Tb and gang looked dejectedly around them.
"You all youngsters ah, dunno how to think about others...."
"You all are fortunate enough to study so high, yet after so many years of education dunno how to think. So many heads here none of you all thought whether this lorry will block the way or not."
"I shouted for 40 min like a madman across the 3 coffeeshops, nobody responded..."
"If its 5 min for a quick bite I can understand, but then 45 min...You know I dun like to do this (call police) but then..."
"You know in Christianity, do unto others what you want to do to yourself; Buddhism got this karma thing..." Tb glared at the old man. He had to bit his tongue to resist saying anything, since he knew that his group was already in the wrong; but still, it felt like an insult to his parents from a self-righteous person.

"What happen if my wife kena heart attack how? Need to rush to the hospital and find our gate block? Can cost human life you know?!" Tb looked at the semi-d. There was already one car inside. The man said that his daughter, his son and himself could not park their cars due to the lorry. So in total, they possessed four cars. Tb was SO sure that they will just not call a taxi to send the wife to the hospital and sit around the lorry.

The police indeed took their time to come. Mr Lee and his daughter, whom the gang thought was Mrs Lee, impatiently called back to the police numerous times to check their status.
"Hello, I am Mr Lee, I called the police 15 min ago...." "....1/2 hour ago, yes, 34 Clement_ Drive" "Hmm, take so long, this police, when they come I will give them a piece of their mind!"

Meanwhile, Tb and his gang waited around the lorry. While Mr Lee told his son that the police is coming, they did likewise to warn other vehicles illegally parking nearby for a quick bite. A taxi driver was just about to park behind the lorry on the single zig-zag line.
Just as the taxi driver was about to leave his vehicle:
"Eh uncle, jing cha yao lai le." Tb said with a glum face, at the same time, pointing to the lorry for the taxi driver to see.
"Zhen de..ma?" came the hesistant answer. "Zhen de" Tb's friends chipped in. There was strength in unity, in persuading people.
The taxi driver quickly drove off his taxi, leaving Tb and his gang to wallow in front of 34 Clement_ Drive. Several groups of undergraduates passed by as well for their happy supper, giving Tb's group some curious stares.

It seemed like eternity. For a moment, Tb thought that the police would not come. The slight drizzle did not help---Tb had wished for a downpour so that everyone would get wet together. "I already take photo with my camera handphone liao," said the daughter whom they mistook as Mrs Lee. Most of Tb's gang stared into space away from the commotion, leaving their leader and vehicle commander to face the music.

The police finally came. Surprisingly, the pieces of minds that the house owners promised to give to the police also vanished in thin air. Instead, all Tb heard was a soft and polite conversation.
"You must understand, Mr Lee, we have other priorities and emergencies also, we will take some time to come here." Meaning=low priority
"Yes, I understand, I understand."
From what Tb gathered in the bits and pieces of the conversation, the policeman came from the expressway to that area.
"You know, I shouted like a madman for 45 min in the three coffeeshops and no one responded." Tb could not hold back his tongue anymore. "Sorry, it was 1/2 hour only. And we could not hear you shout as well." The man did not say anything.

The policewoman wielded her power as well. She reprimanded some MATs along the way, who had parked their motorcycles on the pavement near 34 Clement_ Drive and were stunned/gawking at the scene. "You all know this is illegal parking...park here I am gonna summon you!" They hurriedly left the scene.

"If these people are gonna park here everyday, I am gonna call the police everyday you know,"said the female Lee. Tb immediately felt pity for the police personnel. Other meaningless conversation ensued, like what happened if the offending vehicle left the scene, towing charges, what measures the residents could take, etc.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing much that we can do, " was the official police reply.
"I mean, my house has just enough space to park four cars..." An invisible flying fish came out of Tb's mouth. Yeah great, who would have thought you all have F@#$#ING four cars, Tb thought. They had presumed the owner was at home because when they had first arrived, the lights in the house was off and there was already a car parked in that semi-d.

Finally, the policeman whisked Tb's leader aside and said gently. "Next time, remember, don't park in front of people's house. Don't get your driving license earn so hard then lose it just from parking....And tell your friends about this also! You can go now." Sounded to Tb like a plea from the police that they did not want future trouble/nuisance. Tb felt that the police could have been given them a heavier penalty if they wanted to. Perhaps they already knew that the resident was a regular.

Tb and co. left the scene, with the couple still talking to the police. By the time they had reached the campus, it was already 0130hr, Tuesday. 3 hours since they last had murtabak.....to be continued.

Rambo: First Blood

2008-06-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

Monday, noon. Tb made his way out of Bishan MRT. The last time he saw it, it was still under renovation; it still is. The gantries seemed to have shifted. He then made his way to the toilet at J8 instead of the makeshift ones outside the station. People are naturally late, he thought to himself.

Found out that he was not the sole person to arrive early. Met another of his classmate in the same toilet. Both of them made their way outside to wait for the others. After 5 min of stoning around breathing in cigarette smoke and getting baked by the sun, they decided to loiter around J8 instead.

After some time at Comics Connection, they received a call to meet the rest soon. Both of them made their way down back to the station. Joined by two others, they waited at Bishan bus stop. Some time later, a pathetic looking lorry made its way toward them.

"Up the lorri!" The four of them had to make their way at the back together with their barang barang, since the front cabin was fully occupied. The searing afternoon heat was quite unbearable; they were occasionally relieved by the wind generated when the lorry moved.

The gearbox of the lorry was cranky. Tb's friend had to use all his might to change the gears, resulting in an uneven ride. The four held on to their dearest lives at the sides of the lorry. It was a double whammy of searing heat and a screwed up lorry. Tb almost flew halfway across the lorry when it suddenly braked. Other minor events happened as well, such as a taxi tailgating the lorry as well as several horns here and there. Tb noted that his skin was turning red.

Picked up another person at Bedok MRT after an uneventful ride from Bishan. Went to her factory to collect junk materials, which made Tb wonder if they were really karang guni in disguise. Went to Ubi, in almost the exact same way back to Tb's place of nightmare. The humps did not help alleviate his mood, as there was no suspension in the lorry.

The lorry managed to successfully parallel park, though it took some time and by then there were two cars behind waiting; Tb was surprised that they didn't horn. Alighted from the lorry to do sai gang; transported some wooden pellets, sieved through dustbins and helped the factory owner do some spring cleaning by lugging away their cardboards. Tb and gang must have cleared away years of dust in one single day. And hence the dust and millions of microbes were displaced onto their hands. "Geez, we are not even paid to do this," as Tb thought to himself, pulling out a styrofoam strip from a rubbish bag, "even recruits get paid to do sai kang".

Returned back to NUS. Once more, Tb and gang were baked twice under the sun. Once baked, twice roasted. Dumped all the junk, or rather, the recyclable materials into a small room in NUS, not before pressing the oil to the max trying to reverse the lorry upslope. After a short respite, the lorry made its way for a second round to get more junk from IMM, leaving Tb and one other guy to breathe in the dust in the air-con room.

Both of them rested a while in the room. Tb decided to illegally used the com to watch Rambo. He realised that tvlinks.com can go to hell, seriously. Youtube is a much better alternative to watch Rambo III and IV. After satiating his bloodlust for TV violence, Tb had no choice but to start on the dreary job of cutting cans.

The lorry had left at 3pm. It was 9pm and the lorry had not returned. By then, stomachs were growling. The only thing that Tb had for breakfast was tao hui, which was not even considered a proper meal. Innumerable can shrapnels had filled the table , as Tb tried to distract his stomach by cutting more cans.

930pm. The lorry had finally arrived. As expected, it carried more junk for the sai kang warriors to dump into the room. After washing their hands off it, the tired and hungry guys proposed to go to Fong Seng for supper, since Subway at NUS was closed by then.

The lorry stalled a couple of times, due to inexperience in handling the lorry as well as the screwed up gearbox. After stuttering its way across NUS, they finally made it to the 24hr coffeeshop.

"Eh, you sure you wanna park here?" Tb asked. His concern was that it was in front of semi-d. "There's still a couple of space behind that lorry" "Never mind, just eat chop chop can liao, the lorry also need some space to reverse"

By then, Tb and his gang were already in "Man mode". With growling stomachs, they hastily agreed and made their way for their lunch/dinner/supper.....To be continued.

Redemption

2008-06-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

Finally, I managed to haul my lazy ass and go to the nearest GV cineplex and redeem my movie ticket. Was absolutely bored out of my socks staying at home. I decided to redeem it for Kungfu Panda. Tampines Mall was really crowded; had to spend around 15 min queuing up for the ticket.

Tried the new Mac meal; the onion rings were crap. I would rather exchange it for fries any time of the day.

Video streaming is atrociously slow; I had to manually stimulate the website to prod it continuously. Grr. Nothing much happened to the TTC either--Eddie surprisingly went all the way to Tampines to help his friend repair com; I assume zx and ao are stoning at home as well.

Just met up with zx and Ernie yesterday, the latter who is rather...well-stocked. Luckily, I wasn't as red as a lobster even though I was under the sun. Both had just spent 6 hours worth of LAN on a simple meal of chicken rice. Unfortunately, no one could lure AO out of his meditation. Exhaustion did us in after a while, and we returned home since we lack one more person in playing Battleship.

The Can Cutter

2008-06-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Went back to NUS to help the Log head cut some cans together with six others. The muscle-brain coordination is much better now and everyone ends up cutting more cans than the first day, though we still have 500+ cans left.

Tried the Peg Legs at LJS at Jurong Entertainment Centre, since we were all sick of Science Canteen cheap but tasteless food. Prices have increased as usual, with the 2 piece meal at $3.90-$4.20. Ate slowly since it was pouring cats and dogs. Loboed there until the rain had subsided.

Met up with two of the trees at Funan checking out rechargeable batts. One of the other tree was already happily engaging virtual enemies. Walked from that place to Kopitiam near Paradiz. After a simple dinner, the trees went to Cathay to discuss our options at a basement Ya Kun. The rest of the details can be extracted from Ao's musings in life; no point repeating here.

Two consecutive days, or rather nights of sleeping less than ideal. Went to Suntec together with 3 of my other friends to help cut cardboards (more stuffs to cut, great) and helping to colour with crayons/play with white glue that looked strangely like...shall not go into too much details.

Went our separate ways after both events. Managed to catch a wink in the train, though it gave me a neck ache on my right side when I awoke at Pasir Ris.

East Coast Park II

2008-06-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Met a few of my classmates at Dhoby Ghaut to take a bus to ECP. People are naturally late, so we waited for 1/2 hour for all to arrive. Horlanded and did a mini route march before we managed to find the secret underpass concealed by vegetation. Reached the crowded Macs with the rest of the people.

With the blazing sun in our face, we made our way through the skate rental shop. $10 a person. A hefty price to pay for skates and guards(for the palms and knees. Strangely they do not provide for elbows) that stank of rotten feet. Put on the disgusting skates that were worn by gazillions of skaters, who were probably beginners like me.

One of my friend's friend was a rollerskating instructor, so we managed to secure his services for free. Managed to pick up the basics quite easily, much to my surprise. It seemed almost like deja vu to me, although I seriously cannot recall any single time that I have skated before.

In the middle of the skating session, it rained heavily. Quite taxing on the body to keep trying to balance, hence sustained quite a number of minor injuries. If you don't fall, you can't learn anyway. I guess practice makes perfect. Must have lost quite a lot of water, as well as contributing more sweat to stink up the skates, because I was feeling very thirsty. Returned back to the shop exhausted.

Later went to the usual hideout to play Battlefield 2. Eddie and his army friend were there as well. What a small and connected world.

WILD card

2008-05-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I surprised even myself. Saw other offensive letters in my results page. More shocked than disappointed, although on hindsight in a tiny bit of my mind I had kinda expected it. Guess my essays aren't convincing enough. Sadly, I decided to use one of my wild cards.

Just finished Time to Shine 2 community service. Brought some underprivileged kids from NewTown Primary to Changi Airport T3, along with some of my friends. Primary school kids are quite tiny, although they possess boundless energy, always running around.

Aim for next semester is to be better than this semester.Had not expected my classmates to pull off such a stunt. Damnit

Collision of Worlds

2008-05-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Went to watch Prince Caspian today, since one of my friends had paid for my movie ticket. It is more exciting than just reading from the books, though the director took the liberty to delete some scenes and add in other exciting stuffs. Definitely worth more than Indiana Jones.

Met Eddie and his army friends at City Hall MRT as I was strolling back from Eng Wah Cinema at Suntec. At the same time, once I crossed the gantry, I met more of my classmates! What a small world indeed.

Having fun watching free movies at home---the ones that I never had the time to watch.

Heroes IV

2008-05-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

Had a half-hearted intention of going to NUS today. The meeting is to be held next Monday. Usually it would take me 1 1/2 hours to reach the campus; this time it only took 1hr 10 min. By the time I arrived at the scene, zx was already sprawling on the table. His free tuition was also cancelled.

It could not have been mere coincidence. We bumped into Raymond; I also bumped into Whitney and Esther. All looked happy. Accompanied Eddie to the NUS library (where else?) to search for physics tomes. His joy is derived from perusing formulaes, theories and equations.

After paying a visit at our humbly small library, we went to Paradiz and meet up with Eddie's friends for a LAN session. AO joined us after almost one year of wandering in jianghu. Alas, my stamina for DoTA games has decreased. Could not help but feel tired after the 2nd one.

Had a simple but nice meal at a nearby chicken rice stall. Later went to some soy bean stall with oil sticks for some desserts. Surprisingly, it had a second storey that is air-conditioned. So we loboed there for around 2 hours enjoying the aircon. A bunch of girls later came into this room, drowning out all other sources of noise, including us.

After the heroes had dispersed back to their clans (with AO lugging his weaponry and equipment), I managed to find a seat on the train. On the way to Pasir Ris, a group of young kids sat down beside me. All had some piercing through the lips, like a cattle ring. The most apt words to describe them--- "emo kias". Most likely they belong to some gang, though I guess they could only be 16 the most. Very young rebels indeed. Gave them the TB look when they blared their handphone music "Superwoman".

Finally get to have some rest. I realised I had not enjoyed an afternoon nap for weeks already.

Swimming

2008-05-19T01:52:00.000-07:00

Went down to the swimming pool downstairs for the first time in 5 years. By then, my googles had already gathered dust. Took some time to clean and find my pair of swimming trunks.

Did not swim for long; after all the pool is only 1.2m deep -_-. Lazed around in the water, ate some crackers, had a bit of suntan before going back home. It has been three days since I last exercised, and my muscles still ache. Damn.

Sleep

2008-05-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

To be able to sleep is indeed one of the many blessings in life. I was tormented by a fleeting rest during the exams. It must have been due to stress. Sure enough, I was able to resume back to my sleeping pattern after my last paper was down.

Finally managed to eat the McGridle Egg with Sausage burger. Actually I am blessed to be even able to eat a hearty breakfast (though still not as nice as Sausage McMuffin). People in Myanmar are starving by the droves due to the corruption of their government. There will be retribution one day. It's only a matter of time.

Some random observations on the MRT: Apparently I have witnessed two people falling like Humpty Dumpty when the train braked to a halt. Trains are not 100% safe, so be certain of your footing at every station. I wonder if the two victims had any internal injuries after their unfortunate incidents.

Time to have a nice sleep; had been out of the house since 12.

Aftermath

2008-05-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Spent my idyllic holidays doing my own stuffs in my own sweet time. Let's see, among the many things, I honed my dota skills, read Narnia chronicles, completed heroes V expansion etc. A free man is indeed a happy man.

Went to East Coast Park with some of my friends to teach them how to cycle. When I go there on my next trip I must learn how to rollerblade. Later that day I went to Bugis area for some walking around.

Had a rough idea on how I should train for my IPPT. This time, I must train for an additional station for a glimpse of the silver.

Should rest during these three months. I doubt there would be any more vacation as long as this in the future. Maybe when I retire gazillion years later...

Bonus Battle

2008-05-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

My tranquil surroundings have been disturbed by the completion of the E!Hub that is next to Downtown East. Went to explore the place with my family for the first time since its inception. It is like a mini-Cineleisure, Pasir Ris version. With the influx of people, the traffic around my house has increased as well, especially on Fridays and in the weekends.

Besides having cinema theatres, the place also boasts of a mini Ferris wheel (?!), a much smaller version of the Singapore Flyer or the Big Bicycle Wheel. Now I finally know the mystery behind the rotating lights when I pass by the building. It also has a huge kickass NTUC Fairprice, literally at our doorstep. People craving for food can dine at Newyork, newyork, Gelare, Korean restaurant, Chatterbox, etc.

Just read an article on Sunday Plus about how a sexually-frustrated seal tried to hump a penguin. Poor Bird. I thought humans are the only perverse species on Planet Earth. Guess that it must be due to global warming! After trying for 45 min (long endurance), the seal gave up its captive and went about its own business. A deprived man, or rather, animal is an angry one.

Tomorrow, my battle will commence when the sun is setting...

Seeing as how there were no one around him in the desert sands, Cloud began to withdraw his blue zweithander and face the enormous red monstrosity in front of him. With magical gems empowering his sword and his very soul, he looked grimly ahead. No one to help him, they had all been blown away. He must kill it within two hours....

Global Warming

2008-05-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna expound on theories on why there is global warming. Rather, I am just gonna gripe about the recent inconveniences that it has brought about.

Was bitten many times by mosquitoes for the past few days. Pissing the @#$% out of me, made worse by my lack of sleep before my physio paper, I woke up (rather, got out of the bed) to kill a sluggish mosquito filled with my blood. The mozzies seem to like my foot a lot. -_-

So damn hot until the tiger balm that I used to apply on the bites had even melted to a pool. When the exams are over, I must train for IPPT. Hopefully, the weather won't be so humid.

Tried to go to Macs to try the MacGridles burger today. Was disappointed as both Downtown east and Whitesands were packed to the max with kiddies and their families. Geez. Just like the Ben and Jerry free ice cream cone day. The Ben and Jerry ice cream store at White Sands branch (and all the other branches too I guess) saw brisk business as the queue were as long as those during the Hello Kitty days.

Final Fantasy--Last Boss

2008-04-27T09:22:00.001-07:00

At the end of every FF game, there is always an end-boss for the protagonists to defeat. Usually, the big bad guy refuses to die in just a single fight and will linger on in different polymorphs.

In this story, our main character has reached the end of the game. After levelling up to the maximum level (usually 99 or 100 by convention), the party approaches the series of bosses.

Weapons sharpened, stats maxed. The ultimate of every item is obtained. (at least in my FF games, almost). What is unusual is that the main char is alone facing the bosses.

There are 5 bosses altogether. Two come together, the rest come in alternate days. Let's enjoy the ending credits by the end of May.

End of Myself

2008-04-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling very frustrated studying for the extra modules. The questions are reminiscent of GP essay questions which I last encountered 3 years ago.

Went back to the school library to borrow a Redspot Neuroscience textbook yesterday. Wanted to meet Thng for dinner, but he was having a late afternoon nap. Had two chat sessions with one of the tutors; it's like MSN conference.

Managed to get 0.5 marks after the tutor said I could email him regarding any discrepancy. I am thankful for the grace shown towards me. It's better not to push my "luck" a second time. Eddie and Co. will only be back on the 16th May; AO will be some time later. At last another TTC meeting to look forward to; the silence and boredom of looking of my notes are making me pull my hair.

I had to admit I felt quite demoralised from the past results received. Only divine intervention and grace can help me now...

The Broken Mask

2008-04-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

After countless days of reading through various blogs, I decided to return to this website again. By tomorrow, I would have finished reading through everything once (almost). Time for the second round during the last week.

My morale has been low for the past few days. I need something to cheer me up. Minor things must not get to me; if not how do I face the greater challenges in life later on? The only way is grit my teeth and bite on like a bulldog to a piece of bone.

Anime fillers are around the season. All the people in the Treetop Community are putting in their best efforts..how can I be like a sack of potatoes? The final exams will be a boost to all my grades.

Had a pleasant chat with ....... on MSN a few days ago. At least it helped to kill boredom. Signed up for some work attachment during the holidays. Better to get paid for doing your profession than lazing at home.

The mask is almost broken..but at the last moment, his strike of resolve greatly weakens his enemy.

28 Days Later

2008-04-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Recently, one of the Western food stall in the Science Canteen had collapsed. Not surprisingly, it was Bambino. Even at peak hours during lunch, there was barely any queue. Perhaps, whispers of the infamous pasta had made even the bravest of souls out there lose heart.

Coincidentally, the other Western food stall in the premise began to sell pasta. Much to my delight, some were quite tasty. More choices for my tastebuds. (although they are also relatively more expensive compared to the rest of the Science canteen food).

While on my way to the Science library, we chanced upon a wobbling rat in broad daylight. OMG! It even stood on the spot long enough for us to take photos with our camwhoring phones. It then wobbled across from the drain to the open green patch of grass nearby, wandering about (and almost brushing past us!)

Sad to say, it probably died, when we returned to the same spot a few days later, with decomposing carcass and all. It was quite a disgusting sight; it's clearly decomposed, and rapidly so under this humid weather. Its skin was only a cover to hide its skeleton. I shall spare you the rest of the details. (I think I saw a man hold the dead rat by the tail and dumping it into the nearby bushes! What the @#$@!)

Tried the McGridle burger Breakfast set today. Quite an interesting concept; the buns are cooked in honey, and there is a logo of "M" on it as well. Unfortunately, I can no longer apply to be a Macdonald member, since Macs is phasing out membership by the end of next month. -_-

Managed to compress my Wednesday into my Tuesday timetable. Going back for one hour on Wednesday is simply a waste of my energy, since I take 3 hrs in total to travel.
Shall spent my free day tomorrow doing a summary on Biochem....

A glance of the purple rose made the weary traveller glad in his heart. It made everything worth it for today, even if it was only for a fleeting moment...

5 weeks

2008-03-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

At long last, I get to go home early from this week onwards, after a gruelling week of sleeping at 4 a.m. Now the limiters have been lifted, I can go into "Bankai"---full steam revision at home. Just nice, one week for each.

AO recently achieved the pinnacle. O.O. I guess each to his different path. Just like the Knight and the Blade.

Recently went to Absolut Haven (which is, coincidentally, near Paradiz Centre!) for a Good Friday dinner with some brethren and sisters. Ate a medium Ribeye steak. The meat is .....so tender. Just that I do not like peas in a pod. Other than that, it was perfect...though perfection comes at a price.

Was pleasantly delighted when my beloved crashed my tutorial! Woot. Hard to concentrate on renal physiology when she's the centre of attraction (to me that is).

If there is one wish, it would be for the Sun to stand still, and its sunlight be reflected off my armour for the world to see---that I can be a testamony to the darkness around....

Strawberry and Ice-cream

2008-03-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Finally managed to finish my Biochem tutorial. Enjoying my cup of strawberry HL milk as I am typing. It's a glimpse of heaven on earth. Before that, I had Haagen Daaz chocolate almond ice cream stick as dessert, kindly redeemed by my mother.

I really admire MM Lee; at least he got guts to admit that it's a serious breach in security caused by complacency. A rose is a rose, no point saying that "it helps to bond the communities together." Yah right, it does..but let's pray that the guy has not escaped.

Forgot to mention that they change the MRT voice lady. Last time, it would startle any person brave enough to test the system with a stern warning "Do not eat or drink in the train station!" Now, the new voice sounds so feminine and gentle, that all intended effect is lost. -.-''

Cathay Cineplex is under construction just next to Downtown East. Lol. Next time I would have no problem watching late night movies...just a walk away from my house :D. Really a self-contained area.

Just got back my physio CA. I feel...extremely happy. :D Haven't seen 100% percentile in a long time, since P6. Danke to Yeshua, and of course the many MSN evenings discussing with Thng.

It's nice to stop in an oasis once in a while. Now, it's time to move through the desert to find another one....

Embrace Change!

2008-03-03T07:51:00.001-08:00

Which happens to be the main theme of Barack Obama's campaign. Went to a hairstylist at Far East Shopping Complex at a reasonable rate of $35 to get a hedgehog hairstyle.

Changed my recent passwords to reflect a change ...in taste. Somehow, the apple of my eye seems to be more beautiful everyday. I wonder why no one has made a move. Hmm, her birthday has just passed, though this time I did not do anything (like, stupidly give a rose..). It is kinda belated by now.

Went to the Arrow Ministry for the first time, after a long time from the now-obselete Campus ministry. With so many people prompting me (two sisters, one classmate), I decided to give it a try. Enough searching in the desert...time to find the oasis to water my parched mouth.

Some Mat by the name of Mas Selamat (I kid u not) apparently escaped from the 5-buddha palm like clutches of the police. Now, everyone from grassroot leaders to unlucky NSFs is mobilised to comb the areas for him. Geez...as you can see, it's always more cost effective to prevent than to remedy the problem, just like any STDs.

The questions that people want answered: How the *#@$ does a limping man escape from a toilet without anyone noticing? And why the !@#$ does the security personnel that are with him not give chase?! Man, this feels like one of the few CS maps in the past (the main objective is to escape from Counterterrorism forces...you are the terrorist -.-)

It will be problematic if he has already escaped to Indonesia...which means that Singapore has failed...and heads will ~~probably~~ roll. As usual, SG ppl make light-hearted jokes about it, like some calling it "Toilet break, prison break II" and greeting each other with Selamats! Lol.

If every Mat was like Ashraf and Hanis, the world will be a much better and peaceful and prosperous place. Seriously. All these terrorism are mainly politically inspired rather than along religious lines. Sigh. The middle-east crisis between Israel and Palestine will like go on for eternity, sadly.

So amusing. The apple of my eye has a voice that sounds like Whitney. (when I first heard her).

Botak Jones

2008-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

Spent almost the whole of yesterday researching in the Central Library. In the morning, we had breakfast at Engine Macs, which is more than a dollar cheaper than outside. Totally worth my money.

First time I had been to the Central Library...and I must say that my own library pales in comparison. The former is like a regional library! It even has microfilms and multimedia viewing room. Will be visiting the new National Library with Louisa and Wee Teng on Wednesday...so that will be two new libraries in a week.

Had my dinner at Botak Jones in Clementi. Initially, it was sumptuous but the large portion meant that I began to eat exponentially slow. Spent to close an hour trying to devour the Cajun chicken set meal. Every fry counts, especially if it costs $8.

Took so long that I sat through a heavy downpour, and was accompanied by three strangers ordering Botak Jones as well. In the end, I had to use my trusty Pink Dolphin water bottle to help me swallow my food. ("I swallow"--by Zoe Tay)

Trudged out of the place like a drunkard with a beer belly. My stomach must have been filled with a mixture of fats, proteins and carbo. Occasionally, some reflux would come up along the way, bringing back the diluted taste of Cajun chicken as well as a few cells of my gut back to my tongue.

I think an experience is more than enough.

Cantonese

2008-02-22T07:26:00.001-08:00

Cantonese songs actually sound quite nice, unlike the Hokkien songs that my father sing at the wee hours of the morning, pissing the hell out of me. Managed to find a few Cantonese classics.

They should rename Recess Week mugging week. Seriously. Everyone (including medicine ppl much later)is not spared from the snare of project. Damnit.

Have to meet Louisa and Wee Teng for discussion some time next week. At least I get to utilise my concession card more.

Shux. Since the indirect method has failed, I have to resort to the more direct way. Damnit. Why does it have to come to this stage?!

Let's not be limited so early in my uni career. I rather have an open stance. During lecture, the lecturer mentioned that his friend was married 4 years ago at Fullerton Hotel.....but was divorced 2 years ago. -_- What a waste of time, seriously. I rather just get married once and for all.

Finally, Flyff version 11 can load without me downloading 2356 files each time -.-'' Will level my knight to 105 once my exams are over.

Chap Goh mei is just over. Unfortunately, I never eat any Ar Ball ling or Tang Yuan, though the moon is round like the balls.

I have to cut my hair now! Argh. I look like Jay Chou with messy hair, though that's not a compliment. Time to do a spiky head like Cloud Strife.

The Chinese Odyssey

2008-02-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

Reached home quite exhausted. After like 6 hours of tutorials and lectures, I finally reached home. (while many others are absolutely free on Friday) Decided to try out Flyff Version 11. Quite troublesome to load the program, as an error message would pop up, which meant that I have to manually repatch.

Thankfully, I did not skip the last lecture; there's a pop quiz at the end (in total 5% of my final grade!) Very pleased with my recent small test; although its only 15 marks in total, it made up 5% of my grade as well. However, I still did not know where Mauritius is.

Gonna be a busy week next week. It's just before the one week respite. Which meant more work in the form of research. @#$%

Spent some time looking for old classic. Managed to find the Chinese Odyssey Part I and II in youtube, directed partly by the damn talented Stephen Chow. It's a sad comedy. Shall put a preview of it later.

Found a relatively cheap shaver from Philips. Quite pleased with the simplicity and aesthetics of my new black and red manual shaver.

Athena Chu looks so pretty last time. :D Enjoy the preview. (it's near the end when Stephen Chow became Monkey God and fought with Bull King T_T. You will see why if you watch till the end. Got subtitles as well)

A Simple Dinner

2008-02-15T05:01:00.000-08:00

The night before: Was vigorously wrapping single stalks of flower at one of my friend's house, together with a few other friends until at around 10p.m. It was hard work. Even though a single stalk of flower looks deceptively simple, it actually involves a lot of effort just to stick fake leaves, baby breathe, wrap, etc.

Was so exhausted wrapping flowers that I almost wanted to sleep immediately after traveling from Bishan. Asked Gin Way for some advice and action plan before I went to sleep at 230 a.m.

Skipped Physio tutorial in the morning, since I am gonna have another long day on Friday anyway. Decided to wear smart casual for a change, since I remembered Raymond looking cool in it.

Went to the PS room to collect the 9 single stalks of roses. It's a good thing that they ran out of white roses. The orange roses were much nicer. Expectedly, went to the lecture late as we waited for the roses. Gave them all out to 9 of my closest female friends (unfortunately, budget does not allow more...there's simply too many girls -_-''). Some prepared bouquets for their "other halves". I prefer buying something that can last longer.

Went to PS at the end of the long day. Since there were too many ppl queuing up at Manhattan Fish Market and Cafe Cartel, I decided to go to Gelare. Ordered a simple Sirloin beef set and a chicken set. As long as it can satisfy my stomach, I am a happy man. Decided to forgo the dessert since I felt kinda full.

The world must have lost thousands of acres of flowers that day, as around 3 billion flowers change hands.

CJ7

2008-02-10T04:48:00.000-08:00

Went to watch CJ7 with my dad at Tampines Mall. A simple but nice show, which I felt is better than Kung Fu Dunk. No wonder it was almost all sold out even at absurd timings like 1 am. -__-

Later ate at Soup Restaurant at around 9 p.m. We were among the last few patrons. Was quite a satisfying meal despite its hefty price. Was well worth it considering the fact that all the broccoli were freshly prepared. In addition, we ordered toufu with medium-sized prawns dipped in "crab" gravy! Of course, we ate the signature dish of the place---Samsui chicken dipped in garlic sauce (cabbage wrappings provided).

My younger sister was looking through my facebook account and commented that one of my classmates looked quite chio. Had to agree with her. A long time ago she was....never mind shall leave that for another tale another day.

This CNY period was well spent (I felt). Managed to finish all my required readings and tutorials (almost) by Sunday. Of course, mingled with Heroes V: Tribes of the East in between.

Was wondering whether to crash physio tutorial tomorrow. If I do that, I can save 2 hrs on Thursday, which is going to be a long day compared to only a single 2hr block tomorrow, which is ultra lame. Hmm.

Now I shall finish reading Mr duck's entry. :S I didn't expect such a long one!

Shave, floss, sleep.

CNY

2008-02-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

Sounds like the SNY item from DoTA (sange and yasha---pronunciation differs for different ppl). Anyway, this CNY would be different compared to previous years. For once, I would not be wearing red and no red packets would be issued; recently my grandmother passed away, and since she's a high ranking member (like what my older sis called her), hence we had to observe this tradition.

Think might be bringing my notes there---13 sheets and 25 pages in all :S. Kan lin liang! Since the interlude between lunch and dinner is quite long, I guess it can be done. The lecturer might as well place the whole book online for printing, at the rate the printings for each lecture go.

Some random stuffs that occured during the past weeks:
1) Protege and Warlords are up for running for the top HK awards. Some time last year, Wajihah, Ashraf, Nick, Zx and I went to watch this sobering show about a mole in a drug organisation. Quite gripping and thought provoking. Worth the money spent.

Meet the Spartans is about to be shown! Watched more snippets of it when I was at Cineleisure playing pool and eating some Jap food.

Apparently, the police cannot arrest you if you punch someone---as long as it does not cause grievous hurt! As they classify punching and slapping as part of minor altercations, they can only refer the victim to the magistrate's court. Reason given was that their workload would increase exponentially if they have to arrest every Tom , Dick and Harry involved (including raging couples). :S

What will you do if A-->B but C-->A?

Food For Thought

2008-02-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

After studying GIT (digestive system for short) and listening to the lecturer's unorthodox, but highly effective way of teaching, I have come to the conclusion that humans as a whole did not evolve from a soup of atoms that somehow formed 1 cell organism (which decided one day that it was so bored at remaining one cell that it somehow merged to form a multi-cell crap and somehow evolve to become humans). Note the number of somehows I have put in this one paragraph alone.

For those who support the theory of macroevolution, I would like to wonder aloud: Why is it that the soup is so adapt to evolving, but now despite the thousands of years of changing environment, humans still adopt the "millenia-old" template of many of our fundamental systems?

For instance, our body still uses the old template of "Na+ is hard to get, since I have excess K+ anyway, I must conserve as much Na+ as possible". Hence, the advent of lifestyle diseases due to the human body unable to cope with the stress of high sodium diet. We should have evolved to find a way to excrete Na+ instead of conserving Na+ to death if organisms are so highly adaptable.

Macroevolution. One of the professor (last sem) said that to form a cell out of a primordial soup of chemicals is like asking a person to assemble a Boeing plane from scattered metal parts all over a huge field. I do acknowledge microevolution though; after all, if u have enough genes to play around with, some variations are bound to survive better than others.

Enough of all these scientific thoughts. 3 day week is a good thing to have. I bet those SAF soldiers will be grinning very widely next week (except, of course, those that need to return for guard duty)

Gotta find a tutee (1 or maybe 2) to leech and a driving centre soon. Suddenly, I realised I gotta shoulder a bit more responsibilities than usual. Which is a good problem.

An Unexpected Week

2008-02-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

Many things have happened this week. Looks like I have gotta ask Raymond, the more experienced guy, and Ginway too.

Perhaps after years of seeing JC students getting hitched and splitting off has made me jaded. I am glad I did not follow the popular trend at that time. It's also a good thing in a way. You tend to (of course, not by your own self effort only) avoid all the stupid pitfalls along the way. One of the manifested blessings. It's quite encouraging to still see some (especially abin and vk, esther and so on) that are lasting.

Whatever I do (or we) will have eternal ramifications. That's why I must see whether we can get along; hopefully it will be not much of a problem. I certainly do not want to follow the bad traits of my father.

I prefer.......(fill in the blanks) that has eternal value. Looks like a major overhaul of all my passwords is on the way.

Agape, eros, phileo and storge. I know looks alone can last only 6 months the most (or so they say). That's why personality compatibility must be assessed at the initial stages. Slow and steady. Slow and steady is the best way I guess.

The treetop community will be the first to know about this, not to worry....(and of course, anyone else that is still my faithful reader after like...400 random posts). Oh btw, congrats to Ao for getting like 96 8-fairies. That will be next resolution for all my modules.

I will post some pictures some day...this year really got a shower of peach flowers....

Chilli Crabs!

2008-01-30T08:33:00.000-08:00

Had a tummy filling, sumptuous prereunion dinner at Jumbo Restaurant in East Coast Park with my family. The chilli crab gravy is simply ....orgasmic. That is, when it's hot.

It has been a good time so far. We had spent the past one month eating dinner together, due to my older sister recuperating at home. Shall be celebrating another finger-licking reunion dinner tomorrow.

Finally managed to skim through reading GIT. The ambitious plan of reading every chapter for biochemistry simply...fell apart -.-'. Guess now I have to go to the library and get some red spots...as usual.

Time to sleep. Another long day tomorrow.

The Night of Vodka

2008-01-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

Woke up early in the morning to go all the way to SRC handball court to play against the seniors in captain's ball. Was hoping to get a shot at Haagen Daaz ice cream. Ended up getting trashed in every game with tails between our legs.

Went to YIH to have a simple lunch with my fellow batch mates. Followed one of my friend to Eusoff Hall as he needed to prepare his equipment for a floorball match later. Met Nikhil along the way with his cool funky bleach hair. Ashraf should really take a look at his new...hairdo :D. Initially wanted to take a bus to Buona Vista MRT. In the end, we longpanged another person's car to Tiong Bahru MRT station.

Went home exhausted and tanned, so I took a nice afternoon nap until around 6pm. Wore a simple polo-T shirt and jeans and went to Clark Quay to meet my army friends.

Apparently, there was a V bash event (Verve) organised by NUSSU. Queued up outside The Arena for quite some time before entering the premise. Unlike the richer folks, we ended up standing around a small table, putting our goodie bags (with a complimentary CD, Cleo/Teenage magazine and a couple of vouchers) under it. Met one of my fellow friends en route to the destination.

Since I had zero exp at either a club or pub, we decided to follow the leader of the pack (who had vast xp) and ordered the complimentary free drinks of vodka as well. Geez. Tasted damn frickin bitter. At least not as smelly as beer.

It became quite crowded later. There were a live band performance, some drinking competition, fashion lingerie show (which the den of wolves hooted and cheered) and a lucky draw which neither of us won. If anything, The Arena was more of a pub than a club.

All the preconceived notions of debauchery and wild wet fun did not materialise. At least, not as bad as I thought. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was organised by a student union. I guess it did not want the reputation of NUS to go down the drain. Yeah. After spending so long on trying to make itself known as the "top 20 uni" in the world. The "worst" it came to was lap dancing, in which the president and another guy were stripped to their shirts and belts removed (though the other guy declined to remove his shirt, perhaps due to the fact that he hid a beer belly, which would make many people become Merlion) and the raucous provocative dancing by 3 other girls around their bodies.(again to the lusty cheers of many wolves).

Went out of the pub at around 2230hr. My army biological clock started to tick, hence I declined supper and Kbox with my fellow "kakis" and went home to sleep instead.

K歌之王 II

2008-01-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

While most of my fellow batch mates are shaking legs at home today, lim bei (no actually me only) went to school. Tried waking up 1/2 hour later. Ended up 10 min late for a meeting.

After that, the few of us went to the Engine canteen for lunch. Despite what my army friend has said, there are actually quite a number of eye-catching creeps. (although the numbers do not compare with the Arts people, as I realised later). The chicken rice, is fantabulous! Trashes the one at Science canteen completely. Never have I seen such cheap and good chicken rice---all the grains are glistening with chicken stock, adequate meat, even after adding the veggies, it is only $1.90.

Went back to Science to collect my own personal document. After spying through the signature list, I counted 10 others who would be collecting the same cert as me. No prize money (unlike IPPT) unfortunately.

Met Zx later in the usual hideout of the library. After he left, I spent the time exploring the Arts Faculty.

Met Chun Wee in the same lecture! It's been around 6 years since we last met. Quite an interesting lecture, with a mesmerizing lecturer to boot.

Went home and after a short while, my dad and I went to Downtown East to have dinner before supporting my maternal aunt in a Union Championship Singing Competition.

It was like a pugilistic meet. The 12 finalists, including my aunt, belted out a myriad of songs, in Tamil, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, English and Chinese that impressed the crowd. Different trade unions sent their minions out to support their idols. After a 3hours wait, my aunt got 2nd place! Wow. Didn't expect that to happen.

Hmm. Will be having a Captain Ball's fight-out in the morning tomorrow. And probably gonna meet my army friend for some clubbing bash organised by FASS/engine later at night. -.-

The Gracious Society

2008-01-21T06:59:00.000-08:00

"It will take beyond my lifetime for Singapore to be a gracious society"--Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore.

Today, indeed, I experienced Singaporeans in their full glory. Who says SG people are an ungracious lot? Well, tour with me in my morning adventure to prove you wrong!

Early in the morning, six o'clock....shall not digress further which might lead into a childhood vulgar song. Anyway, I was happily making my way to the MRT station, looking forward to the bright and sunny campus of NUS. After a while, I realised that throngs of people were walking out of the MRT station!

By the time I made my presence felt, there was already a huge crowd gathered at a nearby bus stop. Nonetheless, despite the fruitful time-wasting, the crowd was generally a happy lot! Everyone was walking gaily and calmly to the nearest bus stop. None complained even though they knew they were gonna be so early for school and work. The best way to start the first day of the week.

Finally, the bus had arrived. Everyone automatically formed a straight line to the bus entrances, even giving way to the sick, elderly and the young. (although somehow, I managed to automatically get up the bus without moving my legs. Really). Some commuters gently reminded their neighbours not to push. You could even hear people thanking the SMRT personnel for bringing the shuttle bus over.

The best was yet to be. (When the passengers had finally squeezed up the bus, the bus sensors malfunctioned. Hence they could not close properly). After a fruitful time wasting session waiting for the bus to move, some people even automatically got off the bus! They would rather be concerned about other people being late for work than themselves. How nice. Some middle-aged men even gently reminded the driver, "Oh what the fish. Why the FISH do they get off the bus? Get the FISH up!" (by now you should have gotten the hint). In fact, they liked fishes so much that they kept saying "FISH" under their breath. Some even urged the driver not to move, as they know that safety is of course, more important than them being personally late for work. What is possibly getting fired and scolded by the boss compare to the lives of 50+people at stake?

And hence, after 20 minutes of fierce competition deciding who got to hold the doors of the bus shut , the bus moved. Occasionally, the bus driver would steer his bus straight ahead instead of turning left. He wanted to practise his 3 point reverse turn so badly, I suppose. After 3-5 tries of successful 3 point turnings, he went on to practise reversing all the way back to the junction to turn left again. As well as slamming on the e-brake.

By now, everyone was euphoric. A few more fishes flew in the air, of course. Some even sympathised with SMRT, saying how little they have gleaned off our pockets, hence this performance today; so we must forgive them. One lady (from China, in Chinese) even told someone on the phone, "The bus driver really knows his way! I am sure I know why I am on this bus, and that taking this bus from Pasir Ris to Tanah Merah will surely bring me to Simei CGH!".

We managed to reach Tanah Merah, due to some passengers acting as bus captains, giving helpful information to the driver such as "turn left" (one said) and "turn right" (the other said, simultaneously at a junction), earning a few friendly horns as well as probably, a few polite middle fingers. (ended up turning right, which encountered more traffic lights instead of turning left which would have led to the expressway -.-''')

It even wanted to stop at Expo (again, due to a few blur passengers), before being gently reminded with yet a few more fishes to go straight to the MRT instead.

Waltzed into my lecture 1/2 hour early, as usual. (By the way, the driver said he came from Redhill). I guess he wanted to practise his bus driving skill in the isolated town of Pasir Ris. What a gracious society!

P.S, try to find the few statements that are different from the rest. (...)

Readings

2008-01-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Just finished a set of notes that comprises 20 pages +++. Had to resist the urge of playing DoTA everytime I finished every word, sentence, paragraph and page.

Pressure. Best defined like the time (a long time ago) when Damien, Junda and I had to mug for geography paper (essay!) after a gruelling biology paper essay in the Junior block. And the intensely insane reading through of notes in less than 24hrs for Physio paper 1.

Finally the manga scanlations are out, after 2 weeks of Japanese holidays the authors have taken. A nice reprieve from the real world.

Damnit, one set of my lecture notes contain an insanely large number of pages (100+ ?!). No choice but to devour the ink in the school's CBLC. As of 2nd week only (which haven't even started), my reserve is only 1/2 tank.

Had a long and nice chat with one of my beloved friend. Initially wanted to just spend the lonely night mugging away, until her nick appeared and did not instantly disappear for some time. The opportunity cost was well worth it :) (seldom do I put smilies, was kinda surprised I see AO donning one.)

So looking forward to Monday. Let's see, 2 lectures, one lab. Hmm. Time to put on the damn lab coat again.

Looks like I am gonna have to make new friends from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences during my course of studies as well. Might as well spice up my life. They are legendary for being...hmm...how should I put it, well dressed and beautiful, though I am not sure how true is that. Maybe the makeup and clothes can really transform a person.

Not sure if I had mentioned it before, but miraculously, 3 of us managed to escape from the jaws of tech mob. It was a last minute affair to boot as well; just as I was cursing my bad luck and packing my army field pack, the clerk called to say that he has placed my name on the imaginary holding list. Guess that it was a gesture of good will from him.

Managed to cut down my flossing time from 1 hr +++ to a few minutes. Hopefully, I got do a decent job, if not the dental surgeon (I prefer calling people as what they will be in the future, most likely) will kill me :S. Cannot let her efforts go to waste. It's kinda tough at the start. Really. Very. Especially if you salivate every few floss here and there, dripping all over the table, the keyboard, yourself, your shirt...etc. Sometimes, you might hear an occasional !@#$ from my room, especially when my brute force slides the floss too deep in....and its fricking disgusting. The slime (my own, sadly) might be occasionally stained with gross red food particles. Urgh. The smell is retching as well. Yeah expected. Especially if its 21 years of trash hidden.

One day I would add her to facebook as well :D. Friendster is like...an ancient dinosaur.

Meet The Spartans

2008-01-16T04:26:00.000-08:00

Apparently, there is a movie that is a spoof based on 300. I have never watched a parody before, so I wouldn't know. Heard that Epic movie was quite a failure.

Just finished reading up on endocrine. Urgh. Why the *@#$ does a human being contain so many hormones?! The worst part is sometimes the hormones will affect the secretion of another, and there's no logical explanation for it (yet).

Just took a jog at 6. Managed to do one more pullup than I had expected. They say exercise stimulates growth hormone secretion. No harm giving it a try. Now I am just waiting for the 9pm show. The final four episodes should be quite exciting.

The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step. It has been long since I had that intense feeling after the desert rose had wilted beyond my reach. Now that ken toh and raymond had found theirs, maybe I should start exploring the flowery world. Had a target in mind; but as usual, it comes with challenges. Damn man. Cliques are really...troublesome. Especially if its all XX.

Today saw a random couple making a few rounds around the science canteen, like how doggies walk around their kennels before they eat, while we were discussing about life options. Saw them again at the bus stop, this time holding hands. Big hands over small hands. :S

Strike when the iron is hot. Wish me balls of steel then.

Trailer 1
Trailer 2

Happy like a bird

2008-01-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

No lab sessions this week. My lectures are all in the morning, which means no more battling the afternoon z monster (for a few weeks only).

Now my hair looks like Zack's (who looks like Cloud). Ever since the miraculous cancellation of my tech mob (due to the battalion clerk striking my name and 2 other lucky souls off the company list), my hair has been growing.

Was happily browsing through some of my peers' blogs. It's a good thing my name is not there on the links. I deduced the only way they can ever find out about mine is either I am drunk or through Mr duckgoesquack's blog.

Had been a frequent guest of my sister's house. Thoroughly enjoyed the family dinner and the 9pm show at her house.

May I have peach flower luck this year.

Well Spent

2008-01-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

Must be one of my most enjoyable holidays to date. Absolutely no obligations to do anything, which makes me free to try everything.

By this time, Eddie, Ivan and Kentoh should be back at the States. I am gonna wake up in roughly seven hours time.

Spent my Thursday meeting up with my JC classmates(DJ, VK, val lau, mel, abin, lam and steph); had dinner at some restaurant and then proceeded to play pool. Went back to campus on Friday to print some notes. Managed to reach the library on time just to print a set of notes before 5pm. Later went to Clementi to have dinner with DJ and Yanfen.

Looks like it's gonna be four months time before I am gonna touch any games. Of course, it is one of my new year resolution. In writing, that is. I would wanna get Heroes V: Hammers of Fate to spend my 3 months of holidays with....

一个人生活

2008-01-09T03:12:00.000-08:00

First time using chinese words as my title. AO, the veteran of the CL, should be able to read these words with ease.

Will be venturing into unchartered territory. Eddie's words are resonating in my head as I type. "95/110 and 110/110 is a world of difference," so said the top melon. His 20 pages of "Racism in WOW" must have Wowed his marker so much that he got full marks.

Mulling through my barang barang as I pay the storeroom a visit. I better find the fax machine soon, if I wish to avert more of these bull!@#$.

Physio notes and tutorial questions are up, as testament to their efficiency. Gonna take out my Marieb bible soon.

Calling up people just to waste 1/2 day in camp is really a pain in the @#$. Really. Especially if your house phone can't be used.

It's a good thing that I ORDed early, from what I heard from the bn clerk, things can only go downhill for NSFs in my unit. Now they had just implemented 5BXs. I won't be surprised if I return to find SOC in place.

Going to my sister's house for some homecooked free food now.

The Lonesome Hero

2008-01-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Monday. Met Eddie and Thng. Tried some Japanese Chicken and Cheese Ball from a pasar malam while waiting for Eddie at Boon Lay. Almost puked. Waited quite some time before the man himself appeared. Later realised that he took a bus instead of driving down. Went to his house, looking for interesting stuffs to bid. Tried to read up on my real estate afterwards. Ended up watching Kelly Clarkson. Zx joined us in the cold room to exchange some files.

Unfortunately could not join the duo for dinner. Had to rush off to my old camp (@#$!) for some briefing. Took a long and lonely journey through the cemeteries, as usual. Apparently, someone shifted house, so somehow or another I ended up as 3IC. TMD.

Tuesday. Went to have free scaling. Chilled out at the library for a few hours reading the damn estate book again, before wandering out to ACJC to wage the war that should not have happened. Feasted my eyes on words like "..Knowledge Based Economy...3 year leases+3" and also on the flower flower world.

Sadly, the security guard was not charmed by my looks. Hence I was not let in. So I rested at the bus stop nearby, occasionally walking around the whole damn campus like a lost dog. Since the guard was not gay, (neither am I) I could only exude my yang aura outside. Only after hours toiling (the butt hurts) at words, looking at buses, babes and sitting down on the same spot, I decided that enough was enough.

Went in feeling confident this time that I won't be stopped. The guard looked at me with weary eyes. I could not give a @#$%. Strolled to the same Jap eatery at the swimming pool and ordered fried rice and coffee. In between sips of coffee, I looked at the pages of my highlighted book and occasionally glance at the field.

This time there were students all around. So after my leisurely meal, I proceeded downstairs to R&R, admiring the table tennis scene.

Finally, the time had come. The exam venue is different from the past. The room was much smaller, and frickin colder by a lot less. By then, people of all shapes and sizes had gathered in full force.

Since the exam fee was reluctantly paid, I gladly used up every single piece of paper that was given to me, to maximise the cost per sheet. Choose 5 out of 8. Hmm. The MCQs, though they were few, were worse than even physio! A greenhorn like me can never guess whether they were trick qns. All of them had either D) All of the above or D) None of the above, which made life hell for me.

Decided not to brave hell but took the easy way out, which is to write as tidily as I could for 5 essay qns. Since time=money, I also happily spend the whole 2 1/2 hrs there, instead of rushing to complete everything within 1 1/2 hr the previous round.

Looks like only Wednesday is my only free day.

Top Melons

2008-01-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

Met Eddie and Co. yesterday. Initially thought that zx was tagging along as well, until I met them. Concluded that zx would never go out just for the lame activity of LAN gaming. The co. included ivan, jeonjijhyun86 otherwise known as benjamin and another of eddie's friend.

McMuster is no longer operating at Paradiz. Instead, another operator called GG(U) was in its place. We never went there. Went to a corner LAN shop which had some sort of ladies' night offer...they could play for free from Monday to Thursday.

Depended on Eddie's com to host bnet. Played several games of DoTA, only losing the last one. Randoming all the way was perhaps our downfall.

By the end of the $7 game, we dragged our weary bodies to the nearest Kopitiam. I had Ban Mian; Eddie had yong tau foo while Ivan chose an exotic dish with a long fish.

Departed after the 9pm dinner. Eddie as usual took his bus together with Ivan; I took the MRT (as expected) together with jeon.

New Year's Eve

2007-12-31T05:04:00.001-08:00

Nightfall had descended upon the land. After one whole day of sleeping, lazing around and studying, I am finally awake. 2 more weeks before school reopens. Must say that I have enjoyed myself thoroughly. The next one will be even better, 3 months of pure bliss.

Ate some black chicken yesterday, which was why I had a bit of sore throat today. Levelled AO and my character during the past few days. 4 levels closer to 105.

Might be seeing Aliens Vs Predator 2 very soon.

Oh btw, a new cosplay shop just opened in the 3rd level of Suntec Tower 4. Spent my time browsing through the display sets and the catalogue. Quite an interesting array of costumes. I might decide to get that as a gift one day.

The King of Songs

2007-12-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

Went to meet my army friends (all from logistics side) yesterday. Arrived 40 min late, just in time to collect the movie tickets for I am Legend. It would be quite a sad sight if Singapore becomes like New York City (in that show) one day. I would prolly go raid an army camp, get a SAR21 and a trusty dog as my sidekick.

Had dinner at the food court in the basement of Cineleisure. $4 for a ban noodles is a rip-off. @#$@#$@$. Even the $2.50 bowl at S11 had more ingredients and is more appetising.

Played Pool upstairs. As usual, the place is filled with smoke. After an hour or so of hitting balls, we continued singing all night (and all morning) in Kbox just nearby.

Sang from 10pm-6am. Ate many nuts, drank honey lemon and had a free buffet at around 1am. (from the leftovers of the earlier one). Sang until we all slumped in our seats, before taking the first train home.

Happy Hour

2007-12-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

Had the gathering of the Treetop Community at Dragon Gate Restaurant, without AO. Met Thng and Eddie at Harbourfront MRT (after checking the online results). Met Raymond along the way. Were joined by Ken Toh, Yonglai and Ivan in the restaurant itself. Coincidentally, I saw one of my fellow batch mate in the table next to us. If our table was all guys, her table was all girls. Guess it would mean both RJC communities gathering in close proximity, albeit from a different era.

Fiddled around with Ivan's US$800 camera. Ate so much prawns that prawns are swimming in our gastric juices. They should really just rename it as Prawn Gate Restaurant. Waiting time was quite bad actually; waited for so damn long for the next serving.

Left the place after wasting 2 hours there. Went to Dhoby Ghaut to do the usual stuff--LAN. Initially went to Speedy to play Battlefield 2142, but the lousy LAN connection really pisses us off. So we left without paying a single cent, thanks to Thng and Eddie asserting their rights as dissatisfied customers. Crossed over the bridge to McMuster, or what used to be McMuster.

Played for 3 hours before proceeding for dinner at the foodcourt in PS. Since the queue was insane for the cinema shows, we decided to forgo watching movie. Left after dinner and continued playing DoTA with Eddie, GW and Eddie's friend.....100% victory.

Christmas Wishes

2007-12-22T23:04:00.000-08:00

A long update. Neglected it due to my other commitments.

Has been roughly around one month since exams has ended. Revelations will be in a few days time. Must thank Gin way for going through heart physio with me, if not i would totally smoke through a whole question, though in the process I almost got his car clamped.

Finished Heroes V. If you are a fan of Heroes III, heroes V is a MUST buy. Some campaigns were quite challenging, especially the frustrating AI that always walk around the map with one peasant just to claim your mines.

Never touched Flyff for a long time. As expected, it came up an error box when I tried to load it. Had to manually patch it myself.

Had to study one of my papers again. Damnit. Realised that was the paper that I never touched the 10 year series at all. Grr.

Met Eddie, Ivan and Thng at Sim Lim Square yesterday. Had a generous portion of fried wanton noodles, though we didn't linger for too long because of the smoky air and fatigue.

Did my IPPT in Maju camp with Thng. Managed to scrape through with $100 in my hands. PTI was rather slack. Which is good, if not I would have failed. I think they were kinda xian of doing the same thing over and over again twice a week.

Now the only member left in our treetop that is not here is Alvin. The rest are ba ck. Including ken toh at home. Heard that he is using my Steam online account with glee. He better own with my account. After all, my reputation is at stake.

Will be attending a Christmas party at Whitney's house. A first for me. Never celebrated Christmas in a party before.

Weather is nice today. Shall proceed with an afternoon nap.

Resting

2007-12-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Spent some time putting aside all of my notes. Amazing how many ring files that I had used just in one semester only.

Just collected one of my script. At the same time, I played basketball with my batch mates, spraining my fourth finger in the process. Finished at around 4 plus. By the time I had reached home, it was time for dinner. Had my haircut on the way home. I learnt the name of a new hairstyle: spiky---instead of the usual armani and botak.

Dammnit. Had to retake Marketing paper again. *@#$#$@#. Picked up a new manga: D-grey Man while lazing in the confines of my home. Not a bad manga, though it really needs to improve in its fight scenes---some are just plain confusing at times.

Started my IPPT regime; have to do what every man has to do. Grr. Hope to get some money in the process.

Battle Weary

2007-11-21T10:33:00.000-08:00

Just finished reading through another set of notes. Time now is 2:30 am. I wonder if I can be up by 9am tomorrow, when the glare of the morning sun hits my face.

I guess it is inevitable. When more than one organism occupies the same ecological niche, competition is bound to occur due to the limited natural resources. Sometimes, I wonder how long can this earth sustain 6+b humans. Maybe it has already hit 7b somewhere in India/China.

Some have already accepted their fates. Others decide to be "dian di" for the rest. Dammnit. Even though the sword is stained with blood, hell will freeze over before that happens. At least put up a good fight. (reminding myself, as always).

One more day of revision before the sun sets.

Stock Check

2007-11-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Tuesday, in fact it is already Tuesday, since it's 12 am at the moment. Just finished some practice papers, though it was a little slower than expected, at least I managed to browse through all of them. It's one thing to look through the notes with your eyes only; it's quite a different matter (though a much needed experience) when writing on paper.

Apparently, NUS used to like to set long essay questions, since the exam period used to be 3 weeks++ long. Thankfully, it is now reduced to a measly two weeks. The benefit is that there are now more MCQs, the bad part is less time for revision.

Quite amusing when I briefly looked through the papers today. Saw IUHAIJ in a picture, posing together with a bevy of other girls and guys in "Hey Beautiful" So weird.

Shall make another trip to NUS tomorrow; to mug, eat lunch and visit the dentistry department.

Autumn Leaves

2007-11-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

It's less than 10 days to the Winter Wars. Due to the long break, I have lost track of time, alternating between sleep and study. Tomorrow will be the last day that I will be touching cadavers.

Even as I speak, my ex-students are preparing for their major class outing at a chalet :). I might decide to pop by to see, perhaps even bringing my notes along. I am sure that they have done very well for their exams.

My desktop abruptly gave up on me. That stupid piece of metal could not even connect to my printer. Acer brand computer. It's not even a year yet dammit! Had to use Safe mode to store all my important files and photos in my backup D:/ Grr. And it made a hellot of noise.

How do I separate a hydrophobic molecule from its hydrophobic core?

The Winter Wars

2007-11-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Just came back from Dingjie's birthday party. The food served at Blooie's Bar and Grill is excellent! Seldom do I eat second helpings of the same dishes, especially at formal gatherings like parties. It also marks the first time that I actually bought a present for somebody. Usually, I would just be the passive contributor of cash.

Ruifen, Winglam, Andrew Lam, Vanessa, Abin, Jon Teh (lol) and Youwei were present. Time literally flies when you are in good company. Arsenal vs Man U match was broadcast live at the same time as well...it was bloody exciting with both sides finding the net. On a random sidenote, I just realise one of my friends (actually, technically speaking,...)look like Faye Wong.

The weeks ahead are getting slacker by the day, since most of the major modules have run their course. Like AO, I consider it as my extended study break, just before the 116 of my batch face different challenges at the end of this month.

When it starts to snow, it will herald the start of the winter wars...

Wasting Paper

2007-10-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

In just one semester, I got enough paper content to fill up two thick ring-sized files. (even with all double sided) Sometimes, one wonders how many trees are there left at the rate of paper usage (2X ring files for one semester X ___ no. of students, not including research papers that somehow must be one-sided).

Eating dinner now as I am typing this. It's 9pm already; I had blacked out on my bed for the past two hours -_-. 3 more hours of wasting paper again; a necessary evil to practise all the questions.

Just took a look at AO's inventory of books. One of them from McMurry rings a bell; it's my companion in my two hour long break between lunch and the next lecture. Heck, I can even faintly remember its library call number by now: QD 251.3 Mcm

Actually had to wake up at 5.30 am tomorrow. Hadn't done that in a long time.

One more hurdle, another one and finally, 5 in a row.

...I gotta be better than yesterday, better than an hour ago, better than a minute ago, better as time passes...

2am.

2007-10-25T11:03:00.001-07:00

Staying awake at this hour despite having a physio tutorial in 8 hrs time. Just discussed with Alvin Ong about some simple equations. Unlike ao and zx who are owning big time (will be) in their respective big ponds, the pond at my location is getting overcrowded.

One more week to another CA, this time in essay form. My Razer mouse died on me. How convenient. Had to switch back to the old acer mouse that came with the com.

Let's see. I have attended Yonglai's birthday party at some Partyworld place. Hmm. I have two more coming up. Haven't heard from Eddie in a long time. Should be enjoying his stay overseas. All the extra knowledge that he has accumulated must have paid off.

Maybe when I am more awake I shall write more. For now, it's time for my 5 1/2 hrs of sleep.

Archmage

2007-10-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Those familiar with that old school game would know that it was quite popular, even before the era of Counterstrike and DoTA.

Ran around 4km in the perimeter of the campus. Unfortunately, my legs could not cope with two steep slopes along the way. Like a Gear 5 trying to go upslope, my jogging had turned to walking.

Even as I am typing this, the lactic acid in my legs cause me to grimace slightly in pain whenever I walk or climb the stairs, which proved plentiful in the campus.

Gonna attend Yonglai's funky KTV party on Friday. My lab partner today had a high fever. :(. She suspected it was dengue :S.

...Just like many years ago, he took the dusty staff in his hand. With eyes bent on destruction and chaos, his affinity for fire provided an easy choice for him to make. Terra shall soon fear the advent of the Eradication mage...

The Frozen Throne

2007-10-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

A huge bug flew in my room some time back, now it is lying motionless under the intense heat of my lamp. What a way to go...in a blaze of glory.

Just finished my group powerpoint presentation; it's in the early stages. The dentist had provided me with some oral floss; its circular husk is now lying somewhere on my table.

Met my maternal relatives yesterday for some sort of reunion in a nearby Chinese restaurant. It would have been the place to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. Alas, things have changed.

What a difference one week had made. Only 7 days ago, I was furiously trying to cram 5 modules' worth of information in my head. Now I can finally heave a sigh of relief, but not for long though.

...The goal doesn't stop even if he has reached his current target. No, that's not the end. There is still someone else that mattered, out of his batch that he must surpass, as he made his way towards ascension.

On a Dusty Path

2007-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

His mind was blank as he lifted his weary shoes towards the setting sun. While his peers had all left him for their comforts of their homes, only he set his sight towards an objective that was only known to himself.

Finally, he reached the end of a short trek--he found himself to be staring at the gates of ACJC. It almost became like a mini-routine for him since it was three days in a row--head to the left, towards the sports complex and climb the stairs towards the badminton hall.

Like a soldier being thrust into a middle of a battle right after he had marched 24km, he was trying to remove whatever questions that were still fresh in his mind from his previous tests and concentrate on the task at hand. Dammit, he thought to himself, as he took out his old dusty study guide and immersed himself in the midst of a crowd.

He did not know what the others were thinking. Not that he cared that much. The other participants were far older and more experienced in this profession than him. He was the odd one out that looked more like a student rather than a working adult. Perhaps he was imagining too much, but he thought he could hear a snicker or two. One hour, he stared at his watch as he was furiously flipping the pages, hoping to remember an extra thing or two.

Hungry and exhausted mentally was his state as he made his way into the hall. He was among the last to enter as he noted the huge number of people gathered, which was not very obvious under the growing darkness of the evening sky. Silently, he made his way across the many rows. "A, B, C....J" as he walked across the rows. "30, 29, 28...12" as he walked to his seat.

Freezing in an unfamiliar place did not make things better, as he found out soon enough. As time ticked by unconsciously, he shivered as he attempted to write as much as possible, his hand shaking as he does so.

"You are not allowed to leave in the last 15 min or so, so as to not disturb the other candidates" He looked at his watch. 9pm. Mustering his strength in writing cohesively with his shivering hand, he managed to complete the last sentence. Blasted air-con, he thought to himself as he packed his bag in the front and left as quietly as he came.

Along the way, he came across "One Rochester". Save for a water fountain in front of the condominium development, there was nothing else that interested him, as the rest of the site was still under construction. What is done is done,no point dwelling on it, he thought to himself. He turned his eyes away and continued walking along a dusty path towards the MRT station.

Tooth Fairy

2007-10-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

As I was happily studying and examining my one United Nation of the stomach, I suddenly felt an acute pain. ARRRGHH. What is this feeling ?!!? Not again, I mumbled to myself. Did a crude examination of my teeth, by prodding each of my tooth. Not pain. Not pain. Not pain...ARGGH !##$@$. Immediately, I popped two Panadols and some antibiotic (?!!) kindly supplied by my dispensing counter.

Damn. I thought I saw my neighbourhood friendly dentist not too long ago. It's not even six months yet! Guess that some things can't be helped, like taxes and life.

Hmm. Last night I dreamt about rings. Maybe tonight I must dream about my beautiful tooth fairy. Under her tender loving care, I await like a lazy crocodile under the Hot singaporean sun in which some bird picks the teeth.../p>

Grr. Donated two marks back to the lecturer today. I am not feeling generous. In fact, I should be more stingy. There's also a free $10 and some light refreshments...in exchange for blood....

End of Respite

2007-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

2 CAs in the span of next week. 4 in the following week, which 3 of them I signed up on my own accord. Today's message was refreshing; it recharged the long depleted battery in me.

Hmm. Haven't seen my classmates in a week now. I wonder how they had spent their weeks as well...it doesn't matter anyway. When there is no one to talk to in a long time, it is like getting banished into the zone of silence. I can empathise how the Ellimist felt, millenia of wandering in the void with nobody to talk to makes you appreciate any living soul encountered along the way.

In between naps, the only companions that I have are the computer and the notes. Some may find it sad. Things will turn out better a few years down the road. And tonight, I can dream about rings, rings and more rings. Maybe some human organs and parts along the way.

..there is a certain person that I must surpass....

Back to Gedong -_-

2007-09-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Met Wai Leong at Tampines MRT. Waited 10 min for him because he had forgotten how to tie his combat boots. After all, he's only human. (I almost forgot how to fold the damn uniform.)

It was drizzling when we finally reached Choa Chu Kang. Perhaps Heaven was mourning for us for the time we lost (more like wasted) travelling there. Noticed that Lot one is undergoing a facelift, just like White Sands and countless other women.

Managed to hail a cab and lo and behold, it was the newest model (the most environmentally friendly apparently, some Euro standard). The cab driver suaned (=sarcastic remark) to the poor cabbie in front of him, saying that he got the passengers (=us) because his cab is newer.

Apparently, my army friend had his camp pass. Somewhere, I could not find mine so I had to go to the guardhouse and get a visitor's pass. Did not bring a camera handphone, like all obedient (ex) SOLDIER, though it almost destroyed my cam phone when I tried to put the SIM card to the old HP.

It was a prudent decision to take a cab, albeit an expensive one. The cab almost horllanded to God knows where. Cost a hefty $5 each instead of the usual 3. Had time to eat the Han Guo Mian (literally Korean noodles) and sit in the mess.

Almost burnt my G.I tract in the process. The auntie just dumped the whole packet of chilli in the noodles.

Had a talk by the commanding officer about mobilisation. Damnit. It clashes with my next sem's timetable! Wth. I wonder if I can defer this kind of things. It is gonna be quite stupid if they call me in the middle of lecture and I have to rush home just to go back and report to camp.

Caught up with old friends. The RSM, as usual, asked everyone to cut his hair, which nobody cared. All my understudy have been promoted. Time really flies. Especially if I have to take IPPT soon.

1000 MCQs

2007-09-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Almost concussed. That is, after studying close to 800 MCQs -.-''By now, my highlighter is half gone, considering that I had to highlight whatever questions that boggled me. My wu lin mi ji (Shaolin secret book) has become a colourbook of some sorts.

Monday. As expected, Alvin's probably busy with his orientation. Meanwhile, there is still 200 more freakin MCQs to go! ARGH. I think tonight I can dream about (and count) A), B), C) and D)s instead of sheep.

Stumbled across many of my current classmates' blogs. Guess that after so long, the scanning eye is still not dead.

Now my only communication to the world is either zx, ao and some random friends. Breathed in much-needed fresh air when I ventured out of my territory to go to the White Sands Bank.

Quite an interesting feature. The ability to link Window Media Player to MSN.

Recent Changes

2007-09-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Was quite amused when I read the news from the Health Ministry that Singapore is facing a shortage of medical doctors and pharmacists, even though NUS has already expanded their intake. I heard they were quite confident that Singaporeans studying overseas will answer their call of duty to Singapore, when they graduate and return to homeland to contribute to the health care sector. For now, foreign talent will fill the void.

Just finished my reports and my quota of the day. Now it is time to put theory to practice. Went to the market earlier. Regretted spending $12 for a not-so decent haircut, in anticipation of my reservist call-up. Maybe I should not use the word anticipation. Plan to settle my IPPT date by this week.

Collected some free goodies (Mid-autumn celebrations) from the Management Corporation, which included a small mooncake, a water bottle, etc. Might as well make full use of the benefits that came because of the monthly maintenance.

And finally my nose has stopped clogging like a sewer pipe. It feels good to be well again.

Awake

2007-09-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Had physio test last morning, which was better than the previous week, though not say very good. Am I demanding too much of myself?

Had free lunch today after hearing some talk. Not good. I am already reverting to holiday mood, even though it is not appropriate.

Time to sleep.

Normality

2007-09-12T03:22:00.001-07:00

Finally realised why there is a break only after 7 weeks; the amount of info that is piling in is relentless. Best part of it is after the break, I have to sit for two tests on Monday.

Spent my weekend reading Claymore after a tiring round of physio and anat. As typical of any shonen comics, the protaganist always start of as some weak piece of **** and gaining power ups around the way. Just like Final Fantasy. Claymore is simply....girl power.

Celebrated my younger sister's birthday. Had to contend with so much extra leftover food after the party.

Sent Alvin Ong off to UK. Never expected a huge crowd with his scout friends. At least his is a straight course to Masters. Decided not to eat at Burger King even though it was very tempting.

And now only Thng and I are left in Spore. Kinda sad; guess it means I just have to spread my roots further and deeper....

The Twilight Tavern

2007-08-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Chinese New Year will never be the same again. Took bus 17 to a HDB block downstair. Met the rest of my maternal relatives before having a silent meal of chicken rice. Helped to fold a few paper money.

Somehow, no tears came. My tear ducts probably dried up a long time ago.

I wonder what is the predicted life expectancy of the 86 batch.

The Midnight Post

2007-08-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Came back from the hospital visit at CGH. My maternal grandmother was a sad sight. At least she can still hear my mother and sister talking to her, although she grimaced in pain all the time.

It was too sudden; we were just celebrating reunion dinner some months ago. Now it is a week since she's in the hospital.

Was told that they could not give her more morphine. Any more and her diastolic pressure will drop too low. Alas, since the dosage is reduced, the pain experienced is more acute.

I never recalled what my paternal grandmother looked like. All I could remember was that I had to wear a sackcloth when I was very young, and that I was an uncle already.

And now, all I can do is watch in silence...

Completing the Cycle

2007-08-22T03:26:00.000-07:00

"Remember ah, you all must learn how to label the synovial joint." It's a good thing that I covered briefly about the new topic with my former students, because now I have to learn what the hell that structure is in more details.

To some extent, uni life offers more freedom, at a cost of more independent learning. The 2hours break in between lectures is often a good excuse to chill out in the library.

Planned in such a way that I had to take two tests on the same day two months later. Speaking of tests, in my current level of fitness, I surely have to exercise more regularly to manage a pass. It's kinda tough if my normal days are gonna end at 6pm very soon everyday.

Have to visit my grandmother at CGH very soon as well.

And the Path begins.

2007-08-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Too many thoughts to recall, so I would just jot down the ones that have left an impression on me.

Met Alvin Ong, Zx and Eddie at Orchard. Zx was shopping for white pants while Eddie was looking for a laptop bag. Though my first half of my orientation camp had just ended, I did not feel sleepy and agreed to meet them.

Sadly, I would not be able to send Eddie off to the airport tomorrow. :(. Damn timetable---4 lectures (8hrs) in a day. Felt a tinge of regret, but as Zx had said, Eddie would be in the same flight as Ivan and Ken Toh (at first).

Need to find a reliable study group soon. One that stays in the East preferably. I must actively seek out these kind of things.

This must have been the first time I am blogging on a laptop. The carrier bag had already gathered dust when I opened it.

Had spent one whole day trying to keep up with the notes. All those organic stuffs aren't really as simple as they looked to be.

Read AO's inspirational story about Jay Chou. As long as one not give up hope, there will always be a path ahead, no matter how less trodden it is. No matter where Isaac digged his well, there would always be water.

I am hoping to at least find one confidante in the huge class. After all, double bond is always stronger than a lone atom.