,;`'/@.c\'`:.

June!

2011-06-06T01:18:00.000+08:00

As the world sleeps tonight
I lay awake, field pack by my side.
They dread the start of a working week,
Lying ahead of me, ICT objectives await.

Lets do this!

Bad Dreams

2011-05-10T08:39:00.000+08:00

woke up from 2 disturbing dreams today. to put it in a very short manner,
1) i was surrounded by doctors who took out bits and parts of my body, teeth, fingers, etc...
2) i was cut with a long knife by a gangster and left to die

time to go for a run :)

Exam Stress

2011-04-25T08:23:00.001+08:00

as usual, i can never finish my revision on time............ argh.

Minecraft adventure

2011-04-08T23:27:00.002+08:00

had one of my craziest adventure in minecraft. on a nomad mission to collect white wool and red wool, i got lost and couldn't find my home. i kept travelling until i found a cave system. it felt like it was pulling me in, urging me to explore its depths. i went in just to get some coal and iron, but the darkness was never ending. soon i found myself some gold. i had to make an iron pickaxe to dig it, so i set up a workbench and 2 furnaces. after getting the goal, i realised that the cave was part of a big large cave system. and this gold was 28 blocks above bedrock. i decided to explore abit and i found lava. which is quite cool considering how close it is to the surface. i explored around more and found 2 dungeons, filled with chests (1 of it was flooded and just below surface sand) 1 of the dungeon even had 5 saddles. more importantly there was 2 redstone.

i'm saved. i have the ingredients the make a compass. while trying to find my way back to my workbench, i found more gold and independent lava pools. this cave system really amazing. i also found more redstone and lapis lazuli. and at 21 blocks above bedrock i found diamond. what an amazing find!
now i embark on my journey home, with some steals from this cave system:
-3 stacks of coal
-90 iron ingots (remaining after smelting some iron tools)
-28 gold ingots (remaining after crafting clock and compass)
-52 lapis lazuli
-66 redstone
-2 diamonds

Minecraft Update

2011-03-27T14:56:00.000+08:00

a 2 hour mining yielded me:

spider spawner
saddle
336 redstone
40 lapis lazuli
4 diamond
21 gold

:)

Stressed... Must Rant!!!

2011-02-24T19:32:00.000+08:00

change is NOT the only thing that is constant in this world. "change" takes place at different rates depending on environment and the drive behind the change, and may not stay at the same rate.

constant would be something like Boltzmann constant, Euler's number, Avogrado's Number, they stay the same throughout, you know what i mean!

Recess Week

2011-02-23T01:11:00.000+08:00

It appears that the sun is going up on the analemma. This means that the sun will be rising and setting earlier each day. Gone are the days (the past few weeks) when the sun rises at 7:20am and sets at 7:20pm...

Today, a few long-tailed macaques invaded my home and ate a few guavas.

One even tried to climb into the house through a window grill, only to be noticed by me. It froze and stared at me. I stared back at it. It then jumped off and hanged around on that tree branch, allowing me to take a few photos. When I was done, I went downstairs to chase them off but they had already retreated back into the forests of Mandai...

Here's something I watched today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-A0iHSdcA
It's about a experiment on whether thin people can grow fat by overeating.
In short, the documentary concludes that the human body has a pre determined weight that the body is to maintain. This means that everyone who has been encouraging me to eat more because i'm so thin, have no idea what they're talking about. =/
By eating more, I will only increase my basal metabolic rate. It was once proposed that BMR is inversely related to longevity. This means that I will die earlier if i attempt to increase my weight =/

on a more related note with the entry title, i've been very unproductive during the recess week... i sleep about 10 hours a day... gosh...

Native vs Exotic

2011-02-12T22:04:00.001+08:00

Recently, last sunday to be exact, I went down to Sentosa Flowers with a friend. It was generally fun, though I expected more. Well at least the event is free.

There were many colourful flowers, and being the frog in the well that I am, I've never seen most of the flowers there.

But what struck me was not the beauty of the flowers, but the thought of the origin of the flowers. Are these flowers exotic? Were they imported from foreign countries for this annual event? I don't know the names of these plants and thus I wasn't able to find out...

Whether these were native or exotic plants, well it doesn't matter as long as they are beautiful right? That would be what I would feel before I took the module SSS1207 Natural Heritage of Singapore. Economically that would be the ideal thinking, since the purpose of these flowers are to improve Sentosa as a tourist attraction rigt?

What is the fate of native species of plants and animals? It is through my SS module that I learnt that Singapore has been heavily invaded by foreign species. I'm not talking about foreign talent, but that is another hard truth. On tuesday the lecturer made me realise the importance of protecting our own native species, because they belong to Singapore, and some are even endemic. I felt like I can relate to what the lecturer was saying because he kept using the phrase "foreign talent" when he was actually talking plants/animals. Was the pun intended? Honestly I do. Native species tend to get bullied/displaced by invasive species, and I don't like it.

I hope that if the plants that were on display were indeed exotic, measures are done to ensure that they do not infiltrate our vegetation and displace local species. After all, if our ecosystem is affected, one day it will ultimately affect us.

Growing up

2011-02-05T15:20:00.000+08:00

another cny, i see many relatives once again. the flow of time is significant on everyone i knew. the adults look older, the young are maturing/matured, the shy toddlers are filled with innocent (festive) joy...

but being 23 this year is somewhat depressing. i'm no longer a young teenager with less troubles... even my prime health has passed...
this also led me to think, when will i be considered "old?" i did come out with a defining stage/criteria for myself recently; the day when i no longer ascend/descend stairs by steps of 2, would probably signify my old age. yes, i do climb stairs by steps of two almost all the time. but the more challenging part is descending by steps of two, it always takes me a few normal steps (of one) before i skip every alternate step. the thing is, i've been doing these since sec sch, and i've almost taken this habit for granted. how will i feel when the day comes when i can't do it anymore?

nevertheless, my mind is still young, and i'm looking for people to play cards with me now!!! happy cny~

Week 3 Summary

2011-01-30T14:23:00.000+08:00

It has been a rainy week, with rain almost everyday. Even today, the rain has been non-stop since I woke up. It's really a good weather to sleep in, I went to sleep right after breakfast and woke up for lunch LOL.

Anyway this is the 3rd time I'm posting my timetable, but I've dropped a module; MA3215.

Look at how free I am... 3 days with only 1 lecture... put them on the same day for a 3-lecture day (that's how a normal day can be) and I get a 3-day week, something you seldom experience in Science, though that can't be said for Arts students.

Well I've been using that extra time to concentrate more on Algebra II and Complex Analysis I. In fact I even have time to do textbook questions. But I have to be careful not to chiong too much and wear myself out before exams... as warned by Kia Joon.

So anyway I took part in "Are you a Math Freak?" competition organised by NUS Mathematics Society on wed. I didn't get into the finals, but it was fun. If you want the paper just contact me.

On thurs I went to Kent Ridge (with kiajoon amy sylvester chingsi), which is just behind sci fac and NUH.

here are some photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=615331&id=812045456&l=8eccdf7383

If you like nature or enjoy field trips to nature parks/reserves, do contact me! The next one will be on 12th or 13th Feb

and it's still raining...

2 Weeks gone by

2011-01-22T10:40:00.002+08:00

what a way to start the new sem.. I fell sick right after the first day of school, must have caught the flu virus. and becoz of that, first week of school was hell... there was 1 night when my throat was in so much pain, to the extent that I was actually scared.

anyway week 2 ended with 2 friends flying off for exchange programme, and the tutorials have started coming in.
heres what I think of my 5 modules after 2 weeks of school
MA3111 Complex Analysis I: seems like a easy module. I'm quite motivated for this.
MA3201 Algebra II: its really a level up from algebra I, but I should be able to cope. I don't really like the notes though, too many propositions and theorems squeezed into 1 page, every page is almost fully highlighted..
GEM2507 Physical Questions from Everyday Life: well it started off really interesting because first chapter was on the Universe and i learnt most of the stuff from PC1322 Understanding The Universe, chapter 2 is on math and yea i pretty much sailed through... but now we the syllabus is entering the chemistry field... sux...
MA3215 3-Dimensional Differential Geometry: It's an interesting name. It's a difficult module. it started off with a comfortable review, but I'm learning new stuff now that is a jump higher from MA1104 Multi-variable Calculus... the jump from lvl 1000 to 3000 seems appropriate, becoz this module seems so difficult. to make it worse, there's no lecture notes, no lecture slides, becoz theres only a compulsory textbook and the lecture is presented on the whiteboard. gosh..
SSS1207 Natural Heritage of Singapore: nv really had interest, still not having that much interest. it's really as what everyone says, a module for Life Sciences students. theres about 10 forums for this module in IVLE (there's forum participation marks) and the number of posts increase almost exponentially everyday.... (well there's 500 students).. gosh...

and here's my new timetable after some tutorial changes. may change again due to some unknown intention of MA3215 lecturer.
well tues seems like a demanding day... monday and thurs looks good, wed is a screw-up... thanks to RT... which i deferred to may... thus making my point of making wed afternoon free pointless...

did anyone noticed the Sun on the top of this page? it has started moving down! I'm happy coz it works! hahaha

We learn something new everyday

2011-01-06T21:33:00.001+08:00

Thanks to a army friend who posted this on Facebook, I learnt a few interesting stuff today. First of all, no matter the source, we should always keep an open mind and be skeptical, just like how we should have been when we heard of the misconcepton and believed in it, if applicable.

Here are my favourites from the wiki page:
-There is no evidence that Vikings wore horns on their helmets.

-A belief that decades/centuries/millennia begin not on the year ending in 0, but rather on the subsequent year ending in 1 (e.g., "The current millennium didn't really begin on January 1, 2000, but rather on January 1, 2001") -- based on an assumption that there was no year 0 -- are founded in an incomplete understanding of historical calculation. The currently dominant system of numbering years, known as the "Anno Domini" or "Common Era" system, was proposed by Dionysius Exiguus in 525 for application to the Julian Calendar (and later was applied to the Gregorian Calendar). For this reason, all year numbers prior to 525 are the result of calculation rather than historical record. Two systems of calculation exist in parallel: The Historical System, which holds that 1 AD/CE was preceded by 1 BC/BCE, and the Astronomical System, which incorporates a year 0, and thus has 1 AD/CE preceded by 0. With scholarly works in which precision is important in BC/BCE years, it is necessary for the researcher to identify which system of calculation is being used. The Astronomical System (with a year 0) is actually more common[citation needed], and is endorsed in ISO 8601, which deals with representation of dates and times.

-Searing meat does not "seal in" moisture, and in fact may actually cause meat to lose moisture. Generally, meat is seared to create a brown crust with a rich flavor via the Maillard reaction.

-Mussels that do not open when cooked may still be fully cooked and safe to eat.

-Sushi does not mean "raw fish", and not all sushi includes raw fish. The term sushi actually comes from the rice used, sumeshi, which is gently folded with rice vinegar, salt, and sugar dressing. The rice is traditionally topped by raw fish, cooked seafood, fish roe, egg, and/or vegetables such as cucumber, daikon radish, and avocado. The related Japanese term, sashimi, is closer in definition to "raw fish", but still not quite accurate: Sashimi can also refer to any uncooked meat or vegetable, and usually refers more to the dish's presentation than to its ingredients. The dish comprised of sushi rice and other fillings wrapped in seaweed is called makizushi, and includes both "long rolls" and "hand rolls".

-It is commonly claimed that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the Moon. This is false. None of the Apollo astronauts reported seeing any man-made object from the Moon, and even earth-orbiting astronauts can barely see it. The misconception is believed to have been popularized by Richard Halliburton decades before the first moon landing. Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt has been quoted as saying "...the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up."

(I learnt this in PC1322 Understanding The Universe last semester too)
-Black holes, unlike their common image, do not act as "cosmic vacuum cleaners" any more than other stars. The collapse of a star into a black hole is an explosive process, which means, according to mass-energy equivalence, that the resulting black hole would be of lower mass than its parent object, and actually have a weaker gravitational pull. The source of the confusion comes from the fact that a black hole is much smaller and orders of magnitude more dense than a star, causing its gravitational pull to be much stronger closer to its surface. But, as an example, were the Sun to be replaced by a black hole of the same mass, the orbits of all the planets surrounding it would be unaffected.

(I learnt this in GEK1506 Heavenly Mathematics & Cultural Astronomy in my first semester too)
-It is a common misconception that seasons are caused by the Earth being closer to the Sun in the summer than in the winter. In fact, the Earth is actually farther from the Sun when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Seasons are the result of the Earth being tilted on its axis by 23.5 degrees. As the Earth orbits the Sun, different parts of the world receive different amounts of direct sunlight. When an area of the Earth's surface is oriented perpendicular to the incoming sunlight, it will receive more radiation than it will when it is oriented at an angle to the incoming sunlight. In July, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun giving longer days and more direct sunlight; in January, it is tilted away. The seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, which is tilted towards the Sun in January and away from the Sun in July. In tropical areas of the world, there is no noticeable change in the amount of sunlight. See also effect of sun angle on climate.
-There is no single theory that satisfactorily explains myopia—in particular, studies show that so-called eyestrain from close reading and computer games can lead to myopia, but the underlying physiologic mechanism is poorly understood. There is also no evidence that reading in dim light or sitting close to a television causes vision to deteriorate.

-Shaving does not cause hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker. This belief is due to the fact that hair that has never been cut has a tapered end, whereas, after cutting, there is no taper. Thus, it appears thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges. The fact that shorter hairs are "harder" (less flexible) than longer hairs also contributes to this effect. Hair can also appear darker after it grows back because hair that has never been cut is often lighter due to sun exposure.

-Sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children. Double-blind trials have shown no difference in behavior between children given sugar-full or sugar-free diets, even in studies specifically looking at children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or those considered "sensitive" to sugar. The difference in behaviour proved to be psychological.

^-Prolonged exposure to cold weather such as rain or winter conditions does not increase the likelihood of catching a cold. Although common colds are seasonal, with more occurring during winter, experiments so far have failed to produce evidence that short-term exposure to cold weather or direct chilling increases susceptibility to infection, implying that the seasonal variation is instead due to a change in behaviours such as increased time spent indoors close to others. Viruses spread more easily when humidity is low which is the case during wintertime. A lowering of body temperature can, however, reduce the body's resistance to an infection that is already present, and cause temporary sneezing and runny nose.

-Humans have more than five senses. Although definitions vary, the actual number ranges from 9 to more than 20. In addition to sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing, which were the senses identified by Aristotle, humans can sense balance and acceleration (equilibrioception), pain (nociception), body and limb position (proprioception or kinesthetic sense), and relative temperature (thermoception). Other senses sometimes identified are the sense of time, itching, pressure, hunger, thirst, fullness of the stomach, need to urinate, need to defecate, and blood carbon dioxide levels.

-The notion that goldfish have a memory of only three seconds is false.

-Bats are not blind. While most bat species do use echolocation to augment their vision, all bats have eyes and are capable of sight.

(for laughs)
-It is a common misconception, even among adults, that humans and dinosaurs (in the ordinary sense of the term) coexisted. According to the California Academy of Sciences, around 41% of U.S. adults mistakenly believe they co-existed. The last of the dinosaurs died around 65 million years ago, after the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, whereas the earliest Homo genus (humans) evolved between 2.3 and 2.4 million years ago.

-Bulls are not enraged by the color red, used in capes by professional matadors. Cattle are red-green color-blind. It is not the color of the cape that angers the bull, but rather the movement of the fabric that irritates the bull and incites it to charge.

Time for school.

2011-01-05T19:03:00.000+08:00

After a week of (smooth) bidding, I have gotten all my desired modules without even planning for backup modules. That's because most of my friends are fighting for applied math modules while I'm taking the unpopular modules i guess. Nevertheless this should be my final timetable, only 2 modules allow me to choose from multiple tutorial slots and frankly I don't have much of a choice given this schedule.

Good luck to everyone else who still needs to do bidding in later rounds :)

Some Astronomy

2011-01-04T22:53:00.000+08:00

In case you didn't know, there was a partial solar eclipse today, the first eclipse of the year.
For more information,
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2011Jan04P.GIF
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_January_4,_2011

Well don't be sad if you missed it, I only found out when it was over. Besides, it's not visible in Singapore.
It's interesting how I found out about it though. I was staring at the Sun in Stellarium, and I noticed the Moon being exceptionally close today. My first thought was, "Ah! Today should be New Moon (day 1 of lunar calendar)", but I thought again, "Wait, the Moon is seldom this close, it almost looks like there should be an eclipse!" Well I didn't get to witness the actual eclipse, but my experience in Stellarium sufficed.

So why was I staring at the Sun anyway? I was finishing up on my analemma banner :). See the banner on top, with the figure of eight and a yellow circle? Yup, that's a simulated analemma that my friend Yong Kian and I came out with. It's amazing what a mathematician and programmer can produce when they work together. I wanted a analemma calendar for my blog so I approached him to help me with the coding. After spending 1 afternoon, we managed to produce it, I did some final touch-up on the Sun (ok it doesn't really look like the Sun but it's a diagram anyway =P) and added in a nice background photo that I captured last week. And there you have it, a really cool banner. Much credits to him.

How does it work? The Sun's position in the analemma changes every single day. This is a simplified rising analemma when viewed from the equator, with exact East in the middle (in terms of length) (it's not the intersection). Come visit my blog everyday and observe where the Sun appears to be :)
If this interests you, feel free to try your own experiment by observing where the Sun rises from as viewed from the same location everyday (you can view it from your own kitchen/bedroom window) Do this for 6 months and see how far the Sun has moved ;).

Re-opening (Again!)

2011-01-04T17:18:00.000+08:00

I don't know how many times I have abandoned and reopened my blog, this could probably be the 5th time? But I'm back again! This time with a lighter tone for my background.

Why did I abandon my blog some time last year?
One issue is probably the lack of time. When there is no obligation to write, there just isn't spare time. If there was free time I probably spent it on MSN and Youtube.
A major factor would be Facebook. If my blog serves as a channel for me to express myself, then Facebook does a better job at it. If sharing information, photos, videos, are the reasons why I would post a blog entry, Facebook does a better job. In short, Facebook replaced Blogger in my life.

Why did I come back to my blog now?
Facebook is still an efficient platform for me to share media, but I'm hopelessly addicted to Facebook and I need to ease out of the obsession. I don't want Facebook to be my unoffical homepage. I can't imagine how empty I would feel if Facebook suddenly closed down without notice. More importantly, I think I'm losing my ability to write. Since young, writing had always been a must because of essay-writing assignments. But in Uni, I write equations, proofs, solve math...

How long will this blog last?
It's hard to say. I don't want to commit myself to blog forever. I'll try and post a new blog post at least once a week, probably once a fortnight during critical periods like mid-terms and finals.

So what better time to reopen my blog, the start of a new year, a new semester =D
Lets hope this will not be the only post of 2011 =P

Surprise!

2010-02-01T21:22:00.002+08:00

Sem 2 has started! It's Week 4 now. one of the important things that involve school life is lunch breaks, and being a Science student, it is only natural that the Frontier (name of the sci canteen) becomes the canteen I frequent most (reason being convenience, nothing else). As such, it is fitting and probably about time I give my own personal reviews of the food and beverages you can find in Science Faculty :)

(omgosh. an out-of-the-blue post and it's food review?!)

So anyway, I would like to highlight first that even though I've been eating at the Frontier almost every school day since August 2009, I have NOT tried every food stall in Frontier (let alone every food on the menu of any stall!). In particular, the stall that sells rice with ala carte vege and meat dishes is one of them. Another is the steamed soup stall, where you eat from a metal, probably stainless steel, bowl. Oh and not forgetting the stall that sells roti prata. Is it a Indian food stall? Gosh... months of eating at Frontier and I still have no clue... As for the Malay food stall, I've only tried it once.

I've tried Dily's and MegaBites too. In time I will review them too!
So, do I start now? Haha, not today! I should take pictures too if I want to review it right?
In any case, I'm currently experimenting different combinations of fruit juices from the fruit drinks stall. I had Strawberry Lime today. In other occasions I've tried Pineapple Kiwi, Carrot Orange, Carrot Kiwi, Apple Orange (common mix I think), Strawberry Milkshake, Carrot Milkshake, Orange Milkshake. Now, before you feel sceptical about any combination as you imagine how the taste would actually mix, I'm proud to claim that I enjoyed them all! However, I'm still far from trying out every single combination! There are fruits I've yet to touch yet, like watermelon, mango, etc...

So stay tuned!

~

2009-10-25T03:46:00.002+08:00

Oops. It's almost 3 months since my last post. To say that I was too busy with schoolwork would be a poor excuse, considering that I am always logged in on MSN and facebook. Thus, I shall not account for the absence of updates.

So what got me back to update today? Well I had been wondering why this blog was created... I planned for the birth of this blog to be on my ORD day. I even had the template ready before that fateful day, the day I became a full-time civilian again... So, actually I wanted to post entries, 1 by 1, of my ORD journal. No, the journal is not meant to depict the 2 year story of my soldiering life. Instead, it was a 41-day countdown to ORD. Amazing. Why 41? Well, I started that diary on the night I left Sinagpore for Brunei, and the first entry was written on the plane.
Did I post all the entries in the journal online? No, I did not manage to. Prolly got bored of it...
There was however another goal of the blog. It is to promote my photography works. I bought very own DSLR on my ord day, and started to take better pics ever since.
However, it led me to update my blog only when I have photos to share.
Now, I do have photos to share, but I am just too lazy to do it... Lol.

The year is coming to an end... I must say it's been a fast year. I used to tell myself that this year was going to be a fantastic year. 2009, the year I ORD, the year I pass driving, the year I enter university, the year I turn 21...
No matter what happens, it is definitely better than 2007 and 2008. Those 2 years were lost years of my life. In fact, my 19th birthday is most likely the worst birthday I ever had. A most depressing one in fact... In case you are wondering why, a short answer is army. My 20th birthday was probably ok...
Now... why am I talking about birthdays? My birthday is in one month, and its my 21st! What does it really mean?
You see, this year I witness the most birthday celebrations and having friends attending birthday parties now and then was a very common thing to hear. It's because the 88-dragon-babies are turning 21 this year. Yea, most people I know celebrates 21. Seriously, is it that special?
Initially, I never really wanted to celebrate my 21st this year because I'm lazy to and it falls in the exam period.
Now, my decision still stands, with a different reason. Being a GEK1506 (Heavenly Mathematics: Cultural Astronomy) student, dates no longer seem as unique/special as they used to be to me.
Here's what I think. You survived 21 years, do you actually know how many days are there in that? How many times have you celebrated your birthday on the wrong day without you knowing it (and you probably still don't know now) because of the inaccuracy of the calendar? Ok, that's probably a bit controversial, but let us think about it. Lets say you are born today at 12 noon. Your 'true' birthday next year (2010) would be a bit before 6pm next year on the same date. Ok so what does it really mean? Imagine you were born at 9pm on 25oct2009, then damn, you should celebrate your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd birthday on 26oct, not 25th..
Go by chinese calendars and you should probably ask yourself how many leap months you have lived through. Go by muslim calendars and another interesting point comes into mind. You want to celebrate your 21st year alive on this miserable planet. By the gregorian calendar you may be 21, but don't punch me when I come to your party and tell you that you are much older than you are because more than 21 and a half muslim years have passed.

Am I against birthday celebrations because I'm getting old? But there are still adults who celebrate their birthdays right? Probably just a guess, but I think young people, especially very young people, love to celebrate their birthdays, and also the old people. Families tend to celebrate the old people's birthdays more often than middle-aged people.

You strongly believe your 21st birthday is special. Think of every reason why it is so, and you probably can rule out that your 22nd should be even more special for the same reasons. After all, you are celebrating your 1,2,3,...,20,21 years of survival/experience/achievement on this planet too when you decide to celebrate 22. It's inclusive. You can't say "I'm celebrating my 16th birthday because I'm finally 16th, but hey, I'm not giving credit to my 1st 15 years"
Think about it, will your 34th birthday mean anything to you? Will your 45th birthday be special? Any plans for your 48th birthday?
Will you be rejoicing, or complaining that you are getting old? Either way it doesn't really matter.

Science Orientation Week

2009-08-10T17:50:00.005+08:00

my one and only camp before U and i loved it! 1 x good one is enough. yes i made frens. yes i had fun. yes i am more ready for uni!

on the first day it was a lil ice breakers and dry games. it started off well becoz holun was in my og. and then i found out that there were quite a few nyjcians around. so in a way theres something in common besides the modules we're bidding for? haha. the games were ok, though i fell down twice in the same area in 2 different games, scratching both my knees. right knee had a wound that lasted for the whole of sow. the pain was horrible especially during showers or when im stretching/retracting my knee. at night theres this fear factor games. one of which was um... a game similar to wheel of fortune. my team had to clear a plate of blue cheese, raw egg, dried frogs, crickets. i took the blue cheese. and omg... it freaking stinks...

2nd day we played wet games. they were quite fun too. there was this game where we play captain's ball using a ball of dough. i got hit in the face by the ball of dough. dam pain lol>_<. secret-pal gift making on this day too. u can see the angel clay i made in my previous post.

3rd day was more games again. by the 3rd day we were pretty much bonded already. after eating meals tgt, playing games tgt, sleeping in a lecture theatre tgt.. etc. but i left at 10:30pm instead of staying with them becoz i had driving revision the next day (sat)

day 4, after my driving lesson in the morning, i rushed down to sentosa to join my og in the beach games! generally ok, everyone seems tired after camping in sch for 3 days, but we still had fun. at night, i had 3 choices to take my journey. either go supper with og, or go take pics of NE Show 3, or go Jowie's 21st bdae. naturally the 3rd option was the wisest choice becoz its jowie's 21st! haha. but sad la, missed out on 2 events.

---
monday driving test. PASSED!!! with 4 points only. pro right? hahaha
i dunno which route i was given though. just take instructions and drive. wahaah

after which i rushed down to nus for the freshmen inauguration ceremony.

after the ceremony we went to marina sq where ogl kelvin treated us to pool. =D

tues was flag day! we nus students went to various parts of singapore to flag for donations for the less fortunate. it was a really fun (abit tiring too) day. the morning rush ppl were more generous. some interesting situations:

situation 1: i asked this stranger if she would like to donate some money. she turned away and proceeded on. i said we're from nus. she stopped in her tracks and took out her purse to donate some coins. LOL
situation 2: this middle aged lady asked me where am i from (which organisation am i from). i said nus fac of sci. she then said "but i don't even know if my daughter will get into nus..." though her comments were pretty unrelated to this.. i replied "maybe if u donate some money u may have good karma". she smiled and said "karma, thats a good word. i'll give it to you". and she went on to rant about she will give me all the coins she have, adding that if she doesn't have any then its my bad luck, lol. she gave me quite a lot.
situation 3: this young girl walked up to me and said "are u in year 1?" i said "ya". she put a coin in and told me to study hard and wished me good luck in uni. that was quite an encouraging moment haha.
situation 4: a busker in a underpass called for me and donated 20 cents into my can. my frens and i were quite touched so we sang a song with them. jason mraz's lucky. it was a really fun experience to busk with such a jovial mood. anyway i donated $2 to him before we left.

pls check out my flag day pics. coz its taken by me. haha.

after flag, some of us went to watch Hangover. nc16 show but i find it a bit more towards the m18 category. besides nudity, there were a bit of sexual references. vulgarities come and go easily but im pretty much accustomed to it after ns haha. i like this movie becoz the way the story develops is good. the story is bout this group of guys who are celebrating a bachelor's party for their pal and wake up not remembering anything (sound like a typical hangover? no), and they have to use clues from whatever they have to find out what happened and where did their friend end up. the ending was a great concept too. i find it quite original, to use a camera and show a slideshow of pics to tell the untold story in the movie.

---
thurs met up with the og for buffet dinner at crystal jade, went to play left 4 dead, and finally go back to sch to stay over for the next day; SOW Part II. after helping out a lil rag, took a 4 hours sleep till 7:30am. and here we have it. the last day of SOW.
at lunch, our secret pal was revealed to us. my sp is a cute girl from nj. her gift for me was quite nice too, got a camera. kind of thoughtful of her to remember that i like photography haha.
after lunch we went for amazing race. went to chinatown then to esplanade then to fort canning park then to boat quay then to sci centre then to west coast park then back to nus. woah...
had western dinner and changed into pyjamas for the slumber party!
all look so cute in pyjamas!
during the awards presentation was dam sian. our og didn't win anything at all. i think out of the 16 ogs, only got 2 or 3 og nv win anything at all during the whole orientation, including my og, lol. but nevertheless at the end we still get to cheer because we won the best house! consoling la... then they played music and we danced+taopok+take photos. lucky nv tio taupok, though one of my seniors carried me to take pics and i thought i was gonna get stripped or "pillar"-ed. XD
we then went to help rag a bit and went out to eat prata in our pyjamas. yes, everyone was staring at us becoz we were in our pyjamas. but it was a fun experience. went back to sch to shower and it was already 4am. we had a heartwarming talk in a tutorial room till 6am. some of them took a half hour nap but i just stayed awake since its already 6+. so i didn't sleep at all for a whole day.
went to cheer for sci fac (its rag day on sat!), then took a short nap on the slope in front of the University Hall. then went for lunch where we had a good heartwarming meal before departing. it was a good end to the week we shared together, as a OG made up of different people with common goals. we got to know each other, we really bonded well, and we enjoyed the time spent together, forged into memories that will stay for very very long, if not forever.

Sch is Starting!

2009-08-02T22:54:00.002+08:00

cant wait for sch to start. need to study or brain will just rot lol.
anyway i went for the first part of my orientation and it is just so fun la. love my og!~
even though i fell down twice (first on left knee, 2nd on right knee) and ended up with a wound that lasted till now (and counting), which btw caused a lot of discomfort and pain when i straighthen and bend my knee/shower/get wet in the beach of sentosa, i pretty much enjoyed my orientation. holun is my og mate, coincidentally! yvonne thng, my sec sch fren, is a senior of my og! wow.. another senior is a nyjcian too. my mass dance partner is a nyjcian too. furthermore, my og name is actually Mario! lol.. things seem to fit very well. im not a hardcore mario fan but i could relate well to it.

check out a clay angel i made for my secret pal.

tml is my driving test. hope i pass. i cant say im confident, but i dun think i am in any way a hopeless driver. so.. good luck to me haha~

NE Show 1 2009

2009-07-12T19:16:00.002+08:00

yesterday, i have finally gotten my very own tripod and external flash. still trying out flash photography, but really love what flash can do to your photos. let there be light!

so anyway, the build up to the fireworks was great, get to see choppers, f16s, artillery on "boats" and colourful flares. however... rain had to come and shower on renny's and my eos 450d. it was a frantic moment. we were desperately trying to protect our cameras while trying to capture as many good shots as we could in that few minutes that lasted like seconds. the body was relatively safe but the photos were ruined and the front of the lens were wet. what a scare....

Click to see pictures (you need a facebook acc though)

ya i know, the photos look quite bad, especially the fireworks. take this as a recce session for NE Show 2. i will be more prepared.

H1N1 In Singapore

2009-07-08T10:20:00.005+08:00

it appears that with the rise of the number of h1n1 cases, my blog has also taken preventive measures by staying inactive and dormant. have u taken ur temperature before viewing this site?

anyway, this is a graph i've plotted to reflect the number of h1n1 cases reported in singapore. data comes directly from MOH website. the vertical axis depicts the total number of cases while the horizontal axis depicts the day sequence since singapore had its first h1n1 case, with Day 1 being the first day.

but before we label this as purely an exponential curve, we must put into consideration that the sharp rise took place during the june holidays. we can blame the travellers and holiday-goers! looking at the first few cases yes we can. in fact, in late june, more than half of the infected people are aged 20 and below, while a slightly less than half belong to the 20-50 group. thats a even larger range then the <20> traffic advisory don't work anymore because chances of getting the virus locally is much higher now. so now i'm looking at ndp... while fortunately and unfortunately i did not manage to obtain any tickets, i really hope that there are no irresponsible idiots who despite suffer from flu-like symptoms decide not to miss the once-per-year event.

facing the risk of contracting a flu virus is not the way to start school term either...

-------

so that aside, i just attended kh's 21st! we were supposed to eat a japanese restaurant when to the organiser's (tan huiyong) realization (a lil too late) that it was not certified halal and we had malay guests. after some frantic moments, we managed to settle at thai express. still, there was no halal symbol and the muslim guests did not eat their dinner with us. i think kiahow must have felt bad for them, after all his frens came with goodwill, well wishes, and a present.

after dinner we proceeded to Acid Bar for drinks. personally i strictly don't drink. but sigh.. since it's for kiahow, i managed to take down a few sips, which was perhaps 1/5 of the whole bottle.

heard he got drunk and vomitted 4 times. guess he had fun =D.

Click to view pictures. (need facebook acc =P)

should i have a 21st party?
currently no intention and decision is against it.
but its still months away. lets think about it much later XD

Ooo...

2009-06-15T20:15:00.002+08:00

i've finally gotten myself to resume blogging after a long period of inactivity.
but the reason why its so stagnant is probably becoz i associate the opportunity to blog with the publishing of photos... it sort of became a routine; a responsibility; a chore... and it takes out the fun and purpose of taking photos, or even blogging for that matter.

therefore, a flaw in the concept of this blog has been discovered. perhaps i should do away with the photo of the day. after all, hardly anyone notices it anyway lol!

anyway, i went to the pc showand got myself some photo paper and ink for my canon selphy =D. and i went the next day to get myself a samsung omnia. hehe ^.^. well frens who have seen me using my old phone would prolly know its been many years since i've been using that old one (panasonic; and i dunno the model). but... kinda miss the old phone. its not a fabulous phone with smart features but it has some memorable photos, and the sms tone and ringtone has sort of became a part of my life.
nobody knows this, but im used to hearing majulah singapura (instrumental) every morning at 6:15am, 6:25am, and 6:35am ringing from my phone alarm. actually this shows that my activation energy is quite high eh... lol
my old sms tone is a familiar tune from super mario.

last sat went to zhen fa steamboat. i like the fact that novena is just a 30min direct bus ride from my house, but the steamboat dinner seemed disappointing. honestly, i rather be eating 1gds cookhouse food than the dinner i had. the only thing i enjoyed was the ice cream and the ice cream puff and the drink. and if u ask me what i would pay for the dinner i had, honestly, no more than $8, strictly. in fact with $6 i can dinner almost anywhere that can give me more satisfaction. of coz i cant discount the fact that i had the choice of eating what i like amidst the varierty of food, and steamboating with a group of frens is definitely an experience 1 shouldn't miss out. really, it was the dinner-with-frens-but-put-the-food-aside and the after-dinner mingling that made the night. =D

photos in the next entry!

~~

2009-05-04T21:13:00.003+08:00

this morning was the first time i drove in wet conditions, quite a fulfilling experience. however, weather was so cold, plus the car's aircon, that towards the end of my lesson my feet were getting numb from the cold... so numb that i couldn't properly feel the accelerator. there were even instances i couldn't feel the brake pedal, and i thought i missed it. afternoon's lesson was fun too, get to drive around amk and yio chu kang, as far as to the Teachers' Estate, and amk ave 3, where i previously lived. and ssdc has finally started on their temperature taking measure for all visitors, as with many other places. just imagine, a car at the centre gets used by up to perhaps 7 different learner drivers. and every single driver would touch the steering wheel and the gear...

anyway, been doing some event photography on my own haha.
AMK HUB FOOD FARE

MINISTERIAL COMMUNITY VISIT TO NEE SOON SOUTH
hmm kinda lazy to upload photos for the actual event. but i took pics of a tree planted by minister lee bee wah =D

ok heres 1 pic from the event.

SEMBAWANG SHOPPING CENTRE RACE 2 WIN
my mother was one of the lucky 120 hopeful participants, selected to take part in this event to fight for a chance to win a chevrolet auto car. participants must find different given locations (retail stores) in the shopping centre and collect 6 stamps. the 1st 12 to make it back will then play the final game to stand a chance to win the car. and so, 95 participants turned up, and turned sembawang shopping centre into a obstacle course. for 20 min you can see people of all sorts (gender, age group, fat aunties, skinny geeks, etc) running around the whole place.
generally, the 1st 12 to complete their objectives were young male adults, unsurprisingly... so anyway... the final game...
in order of their ranking in that previous race, 12 participants will take turns picking a key from 16 keys to try and open the car. if they succeed, the car is theirs. if all 12 have picked a key and failed to open the car, the 1st 4 will continue their turns at the final 4 keys. the winner of the car turned out to be the 2nd guy, at the 14th picked key, out of 16. meaning, all 12 tried their luck and failed =/ what are the odds lol. for the 2nd guy, he was to choose a key out of key 2, key 15, key 16. and guess what? key 2 was the fateful one. perhaps thats why its called Race 2 Win (2 wins).

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
9th entry; 090209, 2212 HRS

Lying on my double decker (bottom half), with standard (SAF) blue bedsheet and a damn small pillow wrapped in blue pillow case. While i prefer my bed, I have no other choice but to accept and adapt to what I have
So anyway, seems like today will be the earliest night I'm turning in to. Might have been more well spent if I can enjoy the full moon and yuan xiao jie with my family. 5 days to V-dae, thus 5 days to Singapore! (and 32 days to pink!)
Today's work was the least thus far, as the batallion is outfield and there's hardly anyone in camp, not that there will be work even if the rifle coys were in camp. Managed to play basketball and more DS games. I still suck at B-ball... I think I should stick to playing squash for the rest of the week lol.
Today was also eat-your-pills-and-vomit day. However, I did not vomit. which is of coz a great relief.
1 month left and I'm starting to slacken.. but I know I shouldn't as I don't want to waste time being unproductive, and I don't want to miss the free time in army enjoying life.

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK is a short ORD journal written, word for word, by Alvin during his last days of full-time NS.

~.

2009-04-20T20:16:00.005+08:00

went for my nus pre-enrolment medical checkup today. quite an enjoyable experience. the staff were friendly, and the process was smooth and efficient, quality service u will never experience in a military medical centre. lol.
a fren told me that it's not a fun experience to be lost in nus. but after dropping off at the yusof ishak house, it took us only 5 min to locate the UHC. =D but we kinda cheated anyway, coz we went into the campus via taxi. and wth, i paid the full fare while yx and danny didn't fork out a cent. met this guy named jeremy. apparently i met him at nyjc. he is a fren of jeremy teo who is a 1gdsman. this is the part where i should say "singapore is small" but it's not really that surprising anyway.

on the way home, i saw this pri sch gal wearing a specially designed t-shirt with the words "JING SHAN PRIMARY SCHOOL" at the back. it looked quite cool. it then occured to me that i've almost never seen any jsps students for quite a long time already. it's like, you can see so many other pri sch students walking around but where does jsps students go... maybe they are like me, go straight home after school. lol.
also... it's been a really long time since i've seen any of my pri sch frens... maybe by a stroke of luck fate will have us meet in nus.. any one..

life is like a flawed tetris puzzle, with holes in between every layers, caused by uneven pieces that don't fit each other.

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
8th entry; 080209 2230HRS

A sunday spent in a foreign land. Days to go? Less than ten.

This morning as I went for breakfast, can't help but notice the camp is covered with mist. When it got brighter, the balance of mist and light made me feel like I'm wearing foggy specs. It also casted a dim glowing effect, making the whole environment dreamy-like. It really made me feel like I was in a dreamland/heaven. Certainly a cool experience.

I spent most of the day playing squash and talking to my friends back in SG through MSN, glad that most of them were online on this lovely Sunday. Tomorrow is YuanXiaoJie, how I wish I can be with them...

So anyway, with regards to my progress in mathemagics, I can't master 3-digit squaring as it requires the mastery of 2-digit squaring. I'm talking about mental calculations!

Hope tomorrow may be as fun. However, a week has passed and I need to take my pills tomorrow. So.. another expected round of vomitting...
Good luck!

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK is a short ORD journal written, word for word, by Alvin during his last days of full-time NS.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T01:44:00.002+08:00

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY TO ALL~~~

of coz, a holiday seems like any other day now haha. but its still special, coz its the people you know that are free. thats the main point. just hours ago i met up with yk for dinner. quite a rare meeting i would say... but cool yk looks smart in his uh no.3 =D

this is amk hub at twilight

and this is amk hub later in the evening

sorry no tripod...

and there was full moon!

after trying to capture the details of the moon, i realised that it's not as easy as it seems... firstly im inspired to get telephoto lens, 2ndly i wanna get external flash. and i need a tripod. but im gaining experience too =D

so anyway past few days i tried cardstacking. my previous record was 7 storeys high on the triangular pyramid tower, and now i've managed to break that record to an auspicious number 8. nice.

Cardstacking not only requires patience and determination, you need precision, good sense of angles, and a creative mind that understands the pressure points and weight distribution of ur card structure. Of all that i have mentioned, I'm quite lacking in all of it. What I have, was only time...
Took me 1h30min to make that 8 storey tower.

I wanted to go higher, so I discovered another concept of cardstacking. A pattern that goes vertically upwards. This pattern, however, requires much more perfection in it's placement, and a slight deviation often lead to failure. What's frustrating is... everytime this pattern crumbles, the whole tower falls.. So i spent half a day, and I only managed to reach 3 storeys high...

Come to think of it, I wanted to build a tower that was at least my height initially...
So anyway i improvised on that pattern and came out with another pattern... but my skills are quite bad... so I only managed to reach 2 storeys high.

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
7th entry; 070209 2230HRS

Ok I have lost count to the number of remaining days to Friday the 13th...
I'm really starting to enjoy the perks of being what I am... or rather having an admin post. I'm having more free time and the work tasked to me are much more manageable...

I played squash this morning, quite a good workout I would say. But what really mattered was taht it brought memories of JC days back to me. No, I wasn't from Squash, but my friend Gay PR was, and he's a pro. I still remember the fun days of my class playing squash together, and it was Gay who taught most of us how to play. Thanks to him I was able to enjoy the game today. Come to think of it, I miss playing sports with my JC friends. Squash, basketball (I suck at it though), Petanque (my CCA)... You know what, I really want to play petanque right now. It's a pity nobody knows that game.

Today is also the 21st bdae of my BMT sergeant, Daniel Hakkim, and my OGL-mate (both of us were OGLs of OG12), Marilyn. Congrats to them, I hope they had a great time. Mine is coming 'soon', in 9 months...

By the way, I've learnt how to square three-digit numbers mentally! But I need to master two-digits first...

Two days to the end of CNY, Yuan Xiao Jie, and I'm in Brunei... At least I had a good view of the 80% full moon while on my way back to bunk. The bright and beautiful moon casted it's white, dim, radiant glow on the slightly cloudy night sky of Brunei, forming a spiral cone of white fluff around itself from my view. It's beautiful, it's meant to be appreciated, it maks me miss home...

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK is a short ORD journal written, word for word, by Alvin during his last days of full-time NS.

XMS HOMECOMING 2009

2009-04-05T21:36:00.003+08:00

yest went back to my sec sch for homecoming (after watching slumdog millionaire for the 3rd time). not for the nostalgia though. while certain corridors and parts of the building do make me think back on those sec sch days, the sch just felt different. after all, i spent only my sec 1 and sec 2 days in the hougang site, while the other 2 years (sec 3, 4) were spent in a temporarily holding site at fernvale.

therefore, the memories that played in my mind were of those sec 1 and sec 2 days. but, homecoming had always been a special event. it used to be so fun, all of us planning and preparing so hard for the day, and working so hard on the day itself trying to sell our products. i definitely saw the same spirit in most of the students there.

i went back with the usual gang; kh yk wl hy. met a few familiar faces like renny jiayang, samuel, jasper... and even senior sebastion and junior lisa. both from choir. but... that leaves us with a lot of people who didn't go back. of coz... most of our teachers are gone, mostly transferred to other schools. so.. i only got to meet ms phan. i saw mrs lim hui hui but didn't manage to talk to her. i saw mrs song too, but shes here visiting the sch with her husband and daughters. i guess shes still attached to the sch/colleagues after transferring out.

the 1st stall we patronised was wl's cousin's class stall. we bought "bubble tea" which tasted quite.. bad.. frankly it tasted like mediocre colored/flavored water with fruit cocktails. but it's ok, its the effort they are putting in for the sch that we must appreciate, not the quality of the drink.

i didn't eat/drink anything else becoz i didn't wan to get my hands dirty/sticky when i'm handling my camera. didn't really hunt as many photos as i planned to, after all i'm with a group of frens who were there for a different purpose.

Click to see album

after the homecoming went to dg to play and eat. met maurice while walking on the street. still looks the same haha. thought he would look different after commissioning.
yk met quite a few frens, and every encounter leads to a 10min conversation that leaves wl hy and i staring around lol.

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
6th entry; 050209 2240HRS

Having rain in Singapore is nothing surprising. In fact, the opportunity to sleep with a cold raining night gives thrill to most of my friends. But right now, I really wonder how can anyone live in a place that rains, half the day, every day?! Every night after my shower, I have to go through another shower of rain before reaching my bunk. =/

This week seemed to have an interesting trend for me. Work is ending earlier and earlier while last parade is getting later and later. Fortunately I got to use the internet for 10 min today. Not being able to spend quality time chatting with my closed ones sux though... Lets just say I took a quick gasp of air by seeing them virtually.

The book "THINK LIKE A MATH GENIUS" that I bought at the airport on the night of my flight is interesting! You must be thinking "Why spend $20 on a book on Math when you can buy something else that is more beneficial or entertaining to read?!" I don't know but the book sparked some curiosity in me, urging me to grab it. So anyway I've learnt, so far, how to mentally calculate the square of any number up to 100. Amazingly, the mehod originated from the quadratic equation formula of (x+y)(x-y)=x^2 - y^2...

While the amount of time spent working seems to reduce by the day for me, I can't help but envy my friend (who is going to ORD same day) because he is so free that he can have the whole day to himself, using the internet, have tea breaks, play PSP, read books, sleep, play squash, etc... usually he's tasked with near-negligible work. Compared to me, he is here in Brunei for a holiday. Maybe I shouldn't compare my worklaod and freetime with him just because we are from the same batch though... After all, I received a better ORD grading than him, and a CO medallion...

Today, over lunch and dinner, my colleagues and I discussed about certain people, and their bad points. Work politics & networking of friends came into topic. Come to think of it, I had a failed friendship with my partner, Jimmy. I find that a pity as Jimmy is quite a good friend to have. But I know the root cause of the failed friendship, and I'm not surprised about it. After all, I've always believed that I have a dual personality which is prolly the answer to why people wonder why I am so indecisive.

Breakfast please be good because it's a Saturday and I'm not at home. =(

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK is a short ORD journal written, word for word, by Alvin during his last days of full-time NS.

Random Randoms

2009-03-29T11:24:00.006+08:00

Have you wondered how to take this photo?

It's quite simple actually.
Well it takes no more than the simple logic of taking it up close!

~~

2009-03-27T23:48:00.003+08:00

been trying out more photo taking again!
i really love my dslr! photo-taking used to be so restricted by my Yashica camera years ago, to such an extent that whenever i upload 80 photos, i only publish 10. but now, i delete only about 1/3 of all shots taken on the spot, and publish as many as flickr allows! ^-^

No Swimming; Who would want to anyway?

Finding The One In Hundreds

Being Indifferent

My Panning Improved!

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
5th entry

The screeching sounds of metal against metal echoed through the bunk. A few people from Support Coy stared at me as they lay relaxed on their beds. Suddenly, the saw in my hand lost control, as it flew to the side and went straight for my left hand, guiding my right hand along. A sharp and acute sensation was felt in my left thumb as a small triangular rusty blade of the saw pierced into my skin. An exclamation of profanity could be heard, followed by the sound of the saw hitting the ground. What seemed like a clean cut turned out to be a bloody one, as waves of blood oozed out within fractions of a minute. I have just experienced yet another episode of my series of misforunate events.

The series started off with me buying an expired prepaid phone card (for international calls). That was not realised until the night when I happily made my way to the canteen, finally having my first early night (@9pm) to myself... Well I wanted to call my family and friends back in Sg to tell them how I was faring. However, probably due to the card's age or to my excitement, the 10-digit PIN got scraped off along with the foil. That totally ruined my night. After all, it's $10 wasted. But hey, Shih Shun (a perm staff at LC and my BMT platoonmate came and said hi to me!) He suggested that I use the internet. To which I did, but the bandwidth was being stretched by all those permstaff using the internet via their own personal laptop, and it took me 15 mins to sign in to MSN messenger!

So anyway had a quick chat before heading back to bunk, still feeling dejected by the fact I wasted $10...

Before I could cheer myself up, I locked my cabinet key inside the cabinet itself. Bloody shit... that worsened my already-ruined night. On a side note, I forgot my shower foam too when I went to take a shower, and had to borrow from a friend who was there forunately..

So anyway in the morning, I took half an hour walking around the camp looking for a lock-cutter, in vain. I decided upon a saw upon deseration, which was successfully borrowed from a construction worker after getting help from a Malay translator, my friend Rizal. Back in the bunk, I was hesitant at first, as I was unsure if a thick padlock really could be sawed. It was only after a prelim trial which scratched the silver metal that I was convinced that the saw is made of a harder material. So, after failing ot pick the lock with two sewing pins, I threw down my last card, though not a triumph card, and proceeded with the sawing.

It was successful, it took an hour, and I cut my left thumb. I hope that puts an end to my series of misforunate events, because I already suffered a night without brushing my teeth, washing my laundry, lost $10, and a $11+ padlock.

=|

2009-03-24T21:45:00.004+08:00

been having weird dreams, as usual. last night, dreamt of my family in a setting about 5-8 years ago. we were eating dinner, and theres this black pepper crab dish that tasted quite nice. i could almost taste it in my dream. *drools*

so anyway i resumed furnishing my room today, and opened my hongbaos from this year's CNY. ya i know it's already march, but it's not as late as last year, when i opened the hongbaos only in nov/dec (can't remember the exact period). maybe im lazy to open the red packets, or maybe i prefer being able to see unopened red packets knowing i have money inside, just that i dunno how little it actually contains.
=/

had an assignment of taking pics of a stream to show how dark it is at night (residents of that region comlaint that it's too dark).
but after taking 1 photo, i decided to try my hands at some photo huntng. here's what i got...

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
4th entry

38 days and counting, today things were much better... or maybe I'm adjusting to the stressful environment of a Bn overseas exercise. By the way, temperatures in Brunei make Sg seem like paradise. It is always cloudy here, due to heavy humidity (owing to the dense vegetation) yet the day temperature is so freaking high. My laundry dried up at a speed comparable with P.Tekong conditions, despite the dense humidity. Lunch never fails to cause me to sweat, even though the sunlight I'm exposed to is not intense.
I seriously do not want to experience combat training in such weather conditions. With that, I sympathise with the troopers.

On a side note, the stories I heard about suicidal chicadas are real! Everyday, chicadas fly around the room, getting itselves stuck in the fans, putting themselves just centimetres from being sliced or diced by the fan blades Over the past few days I've seen chicada half-bodies, wings, and other weird insects I've never seen before.
Can't wait to go back Sg for warm and cool air, that is more dry than here.... Seriously... the laundry, the towel, the sandals....

~

2009-03-22T09:16:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, was the first time my camera went out for a walk with me! so exciting to bring it around. to my dismay, it rained heavily and i was quite worried that my camera will get wet. on the way to yk's house, lightning struck bishan park. it was probably 100 to 200m away when it happened. the pulse of flash totally engulfed me, causing me to shut my eyes unvoluntarily (though it didn't even make any difference). for a while, i thought the bus had been struck. i could hear 5 beats in the cracking of thunder. the passengers on the bus were shocked too. but our instinctive reaction was to see if anyone had been struck. however the curtain of rain had obscured our view...

in any case, it later dawned on me that it was a dam good opportunity missed, an opportunity to take a shot of lightning so close up. it will prolly take me a stroke of luck too.

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
3rd entry

39 days to go... It is almost hard to believe and accept that today is JUST MONDAY! Started the day with... pills. It was not my first time consuming anti-malaria pills, so what struck me was an unpleasant surprise; I didn't expect to vomit after taking 2 green pills that kill worms.

I still remember ever week during my PTP phase in P.Tekong I had to take 2 anti-malaria pills. Well, it wasn't as bad as those with G6PD, those poor fellows who had to consume an alternate daily pill. The irony to the practice was that it had to end just before the enhanced batch enlisted. (P.Tekong was declared malaria free) Now, why such timely coincidence...

So anyway, the green pills caused me to vomit. Let me tell you, I could have endured that vomitting sensation. But no, I had to go to the latrine... Walking into the toilet, I noticed a soldier rinsing his mouth after vomitting. I then proceeded to find a clean cubicle.

1st cubicle: Guy vomitting
2nd cubicle: Toilet bowl clogged with faeces
3rd cubicle: Another guy vomitting

I couldn't take it anymore.. as though my disgusto-meter had reached its brink, the warm yet acidic fluids shot up my oesophagus and flew out of my mouth, as I aimed at the toilet howl to minimise "collateral damage"

To be continued...

Guy sleeping above me= Sleep-talker
Guy sleeping beside me= Snorer

>_<

Transiting to CV life

2009-03-17T19:39:00.003+08:00

still a bit not used to being a civilian haha.
im wake up at different times every morning, i snack whenever i feel hungry.. i dreamt of my army colleagues.....

anyway i went to learn driving yest! my very first practical lesson. honestly i thought the instructor would drive me round to orientate me... but i took the wheel right at the start... so basically i practised on 1st and 2nd gear, but i went up to 3rd gear too. quite fun, wished i could practise the whole day though. perhaps if u give me the car and 1 month to myself, i can learn everything by myself too. XD.

IT Show 2009

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
2nd entry

1st day at Lakiun, and things weren't as bright as I hoped to be. So, the journey to camp was a torture, not that I was expecting sth luxurious or a holiday trip, but having to travel in the wee hours and then take a torturous watercraft in the hot and humid conditions of Brunei for 3 hours...
Sometimes the wait is more miserable than the actual misery, because it's the fear and uncertainty that toys with the mind...
just like how I used to fear NS.
Gotta sign off, because CO is enforcing the lights out order. Apparently one soldier, who was given inadequate rest and even meals, had collapsed in the jungle, activating a heli-evacuation ... And so.. here I am, on my first night in LC, trying to sleep in my dirty clothes, waiting for my first shower and teeth-brushing (since I left home) when dawn arrives...

Celebrating the progress

2009-03-15T11:31:00.002+08:00

yest we bronco plt 4 02/07 gathered for a cause. we celebrated the 2-year anniversary of our enlistment! i bet most of my friends don't do that. becoz, unfortunately, their bmt was not long enough for them to bond with their platoon mates, and their 2-year anniversary ain't special anyway, whilst mine is a ord weekend.

not everyone turned up though. prolly about 55% attendance. but my section only had 3 ppl including me. quite sad. but we still had a great time. even though we only had dinner at F&Co and a few went for a movie, it was great catching up old times and sharing our experiences.
Can't believe we still talk about the horror incidents that happened back then. haha. in fact, jackie revealed another story that took place in Pegasus coy. though skeptical, we found the story exciting. well... there was this 2 recruits who went to the toilet in the middle of the night to pass motion. as they were almost done, they heard the toilet flush. both thought the other was done, but after asking each other, they realised that it must be someone else. however, they did not notice anyone else in the toilet. as they were washing their hands, the tap beside 1 guy suddenly depressed, and water flowed into the basin. they were not sure if it was because the tap was faulty. nevertheless, the guy beside that mystery tap pulled back the tap into it's "off" position before they hurried back to sleep, in worry that their sergeant might reprimand the platoon for leaving the tap on. so why did the tap beside the soldier suddenly depress? was it the water pressure? was it their drowsiness that made them oblivious of the flowing water? quite a mystery i would say....

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41 DAYS; COUNTDOWN TO PINK
1st entry

So here goes... the plane is on the runway now, on a silent countdown to takeoff. And yes, I'm on my own countdown to ORD, the big day of many men of Singapore.

As the engines pick up speed, the aircraft started to move. Oh my, the acceleration is thrilling, and within seconds we have liftoff! At a ground speed of 400+km/h, I'm actually feeling a lil dizzy. Soon enough my eardrums are 'popping', at an altitude of 3km off the ground. Here I am, wondering "what am I doing on a SIA Raffles Class flight... to Brunei?"

Blog Rebirth

2009-03-13T16:40:00.006+08:00

All right! my blog is now officially open! the last entry of my previous blog was on 30 dec 2007. and now its 13 mar 2009! the day i left my batallion. coincidentally, i ord on a fri-the-13th (F13).

lets hope my branch will be able to manage without me. its not becoz im that indispensable, but becoz without me, my branch is officially short of manpower (my understudies are on course). i just had to leave my unit when they are on standby... but hey, better than leaving with the Feb batch, mostly deserters that did a bad job on the overlays, real bad job. Kinda disappointing.

but hey, i should really stop worrying so much about my unit now, now that i'm officially off duty, for good.

so how did i feel today, about ord?
i think it's overrated. i dun feel euphoric, just relieved. its just a mere transition to a next part of our lives, where we take on more responsibilities and stress ourselves with many other issues in life.
this leaves me to wonder why people shout "ORD LOH". my conclusion is that they just want to make other people jealous. a simple act that passes on, batch after batch, and now a traditional practice.
i'm not saying we can't be happy about it. it's just that i treat ORD the same as graduation, and i seldom see people going around asking "when you graduate? I GRADUATE LOH!"
haha come to think of it it's quite comical.

i wanna get a dslr, but frens are telling me not to buy from the IT show, but get from a camera shop instead. decisions....
stay tuned to my blog to read my short diary, titled "41: Countdown To Pink"

Office Entertainment

2008-04-20T17:40:00.001+08:00

something nice to look at before my blog opens in 11 months

Coming Soon

2008-04-20T16:57:00.000+08:00