United Nations

United Nations is what my house is turning into, or going to turn to in the near future.

A Russian girl, Natalia (don't know if that's how you spell it, Russian spelling and all), came last night with her friend Anastacia (I like this name, but again, Russian spelling and all, I might have spelt it wrong), who was here for the night. Haha, Anastacia said she knows Natalia, but when the latter arrived, she didn't know her.

If everything goes according to schedule, there'll be another Russian coming soon. o.O

I know your eyes are probably bulging with surprise now. How the hell are we gonna communicate with the Russians right? Well, I don't have an answer to that now, but I promise I'll tell you when I find out.

Now here's a riddle: What food is it that has black eggs, and the rice is put with water?

Haha, betcha managed to guess it was century egg porridge. Anastacia was given that when she was staying in another Singaporean's house. Haha, she called up her family in Russia and said, "They gave me black eggs! And they gave me rice, and they put water inside it!" Haha, this probably shows the difference between Russians and the East. Russia's just too far away from Singapore, bet they didn't even know of our existence until their parents wanted to send them over here to learn English. Why here for goodness' sake?! Well I don't know the answer to that either, but I'll see if I can ask Natalia that. Incidentally, I like the name Natalie too. Haha.

And this morning: when Anastacia was given a ham and cheese sandwich (ham and cheese for God's sake! How different is that?), she exclaimed, "OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT?!" And refused to eat it. Haha... Maybe they don't have the packet cheese like we do here?

Well anyway, that Anastacia's pretty loaded.. hmm, "pretty" is an understatement. Very would be more correct. She has been here 2 weeks, and she has spent USD700 so far. That translates to about S$1400. Amazing eh?

Haha, I know I sound like I don't really like them, but... I guess I'm not used to their ways, and neither are they to mine. Or maybe to them I'm suaku, just as I think they are suaku. Haha, our culture's probably alien to them, just as theirs is to me. Perhaps this is a good time to learn more about a distant country. =) Wish me luck! Hope I can become friends with Natalia and learn more about Russia so I won't become a goondu next time.. haha =)

Sleeping patterns and slacking

Haha, contrary to what I tagged on Si Huan's blog awhile ago, now I seem to have problems keeping my eyes open. -_-" It's getting to be a pattern: a period of sleeplessness, followed by a period of sleepiness. Cripes! It's getting a bit irritating, coz I never had much problem sleeping in the past. Don't tell me my times of great REM sleep are over?! I hope not. I so love REM sleep. Imagine thekind of sleep where it takes soooo much effort to open your eyes, your limbs feel deliciously heavy, and when you finally manage to reach consciousness, all it takes is to close your eyes before you reach slumberland AND- here's the best part- go back to where you stopped in your dream. Heaven.

Hmm. Does slacking have anything to do with this difference in sleeping patterns? Or maybe the stress of the publication's getting to me, such that the escapist in me is trying to find solace in sleep. This usually happens around exam times, particularly since I started school in NTU. Sleeping's such a fun activity! No worries, no reality. It's the only time when I don't have to worry about deadlines, about survival, about many other things. Well, I wish I could sleep whenever I want, but once the term starts, well, it's not gonna be possible. Time table's not very friendly to me this coming sem. I've got lessons at 930! Well, at least it's not 830, but still... Thursday ends at 730! =( Ah well, on the bright side, hopefully I'll manage to get both the science PEs, and put an end to science modules for the rest of my 4 years. Then next will be the biz modules, THEN I shall be left in peace to go do the other modules which I can bet are much more interesting than biz and science. I was never one for science, although I know my arts subjects are not particularly spectacular as well. BUT in terms of interest, the Arts win anytime. I love figuring out the Lit stuff. It's like solving a mystery- when you finally uncover what the author or poet's trying to say through the symbols or metaphors or whatever it is they use, there's this sense of satisfaction, and an admiration for the creator of the piece. That's why writers are to be respected. No one can play with words the way they can. It's so brilliant! History's fun too, but I absolutely hate studying for it. Geog's another matter though. Haha, I could never understand it. =( Anyway, I'm digressing. My point is that, Arts is so much more satisfying than the Science for me. Haha, think if I had been in the Science stream in JC I wouldn't even have qualified for university. Probably would have gone mad there. Haha... =)

I'm rewatching Meteor Garden and it's still charming me!! Probably coz the chemistry between Da S and Jerry Yen's still great. Love to watch them bicker. Haha and I still get hooked to the story, even though this is probably the third time I'm watching this show. And it's not only me who's hooked. Camella and Yi Lun are hooked too! And this is also Yi Lun's third, if not, second time watching it. Meteor Garden's different from other idol dramas I feel, and somehow, none of them can match up to it. Haha. I'm glad I bought the DVD. I've been wanting to own one. =)

Well. I have to go sleep now. Haven't blogged like this for quite awhile, and it's kinda cathartic to do so. Kinda feel lighter now, which is good. On the other hand, a part of me's getting heavier......

Fly Away

"When will you be home?" she asks

as we watch the planes take off

We both know we have no clear answer to where my

dreams may lead

She's watched me as i crawled and stumbled

As a child, she was my world

And now to let me go, I know she bleeds

and yet she says to me

You can fly so high

Keep your gaze upon the sky

I'll be prayin every step along the way

Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far

apart

I love you too much to make you stay

Baby fly away

Autumn leaves fell into spring time and

Silver-painted hair

Daddy called one evening saying

"We need you. Please come back"

When I saw her laying in her bed

Fragile as a child Pale just like an angel taking flight

I held her as I cried

You can fly so high

Keep your gaze upon the sky I

'll be prayin every step along the way

Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far apart

I love you too much to make you stay

Baby fly away

ohh...

I love you too much to make you stay

Baby fly away

- Corrine May

This song still makes me cry. Corrine May is a darn good singer.

Studying overseas

I have thought about studying overseas quite a few times. Would I miss home? Would I be change in any way? Would I be able to travel to different places during the holidays? Perhaps the answers would be in the affirmative. However, many times I have countered these thoughts with the consolation that everything near and dear to me is more important than a new environment with less stress etc. Perhaps there would be stress, but of a different kind. Perhaps I would miss home, but it will pass. I won't say I regret staying back in Singapore to study, but I'll admit, some times I just wish I had gone overseas.

With Evon and Yi Lun going to or planning to study overseas, and with other friends going overseas to study too, it just seems like there is a much wider world out there when I study overseas. Although Singapore is a cosmopolitan society and we're in no way more ulu than our counterparts from other countries, the thing about studying locally is that there is no reason to go overseas with our friends during the holidays. I mean, those studying in places like UK, NZ, US, Australia etc will get to explore other places in Europe, or the country. What can I do? Travel to Malaysia, which I have done on several occasions? Furthermore, there's less chance of actually experiencing more, in a sense.

Ah.. I don't quite know what I want, actually. On one hand I would love to be able to study overseas, or at least travel, but on the other hand, I have little confidence that I'll be able to keep myself from missing my family and friends and the things back home...

Ooh!!

Ahhhh I'm in love in love in love!! With this dishy-licious guy call Hu Ge ( 胡歌). All thanks to Jorene, who lent me her DVD for 天外飞仙, now I just love seeing his face. He's so cute!! Haha, let me show you some pictures of him and stop sounding so much like a bimbo. ;)



Look at him! Good-looking eh? But this is from the Chinese Paladin and not 天外飞仙... He looks much better here than in the latter, but still good-looking nonetheless... =)









Doesn't he look cute here too?








Haha, but I think he looks better in period dramas than modern dramas. Hai, the sad fact of life.... Hmm, don't you think he looks like Daniel Radcliffe here?






And this, is a pic of Hu Ge with his co-star in 天外飞仙, Ariel Lin Yi Chen... cute! =)








Haha, another actor who's eye-candy's Tae!! He's Thai, but he stayed in Taiwan to learn Chinese from what I read. Nonetheless, he's good for the eyes too!

Oh man, Jorene Cheng Siwei! What have you done to me?!

Ok, besides the cast, the show is great too! There were quite a few touching scenes inside which made me cry... I recommend this show! And Hu Ge played this super nice guy, it was just so endearing. Haha, that was what made me decide to go find his photos. =)

Ahh yes, the pictures were from:
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t115185.html
http://asianfanatics.net/gallery/index.php?act=thumbs&aid=2060

Cliffhangers

I hate them.

Books!

I really really love books, especially storybooks, especially romance. Muahahaha, goodness knows why though, but I do.

I just bought three storybooks recently- The Time-Traveller's Wife, Lolita, and Ash Wednesday- and I've finished The Time-Traveller's Wife and am going on to Ash Wednesday now. The Time-Traveller's Wife was such a great story! Made every cent of it worth the money. I just finished it at 1 plus this afternoon, and I was crying all the way.

The Time-Traveller's Wife is a story about this guy Henry, whose genetic code has some problem, such that at sporadic intervals, he will travel through time to some time in his memory. For some reason, he often travels to his wife's- Clare's- past, back when she was a little girl, all the way till she was 18. Clare knew all about his life, and vice versa. Thing is, he visited her past when he was in his 30s and 40s, while he met her for real at 28, so when he met her for real, he didn't know who she was, but she had all those memories of him. It's kinda sad, but there's nothing both of them can do about it. It was touching, the way they loved each other. Whenever Henry was gone time-travelling, Clare would worry, and throughout the time Henry was visiting Clare's past, Clare had to understand that though they were married in the future, at the present Henry did not yet know of her existence, and thus was still leading a rather rakish life. Henry, on the other hand, had to understand that during the time he did not see Clare (from the time when Clare was 18 to 20, because during that time Henry did not appear anymore), Clare was free to see whoever she wanted, because while Clare was waiting for Henry to appear, Henry was still leading his own life without any awareness to Clare's existence, and surely Clare was free to lead her own life as normally as she could. It's kind of a twisted logic within the book, where it seems that past, present and future coexist at the same time. One can travel to the past and spend, like, a day there, and then go back to the present, where only about 10min was spent, so it's kinda like perceiving past and present as separated by many years, or a few minutes. At the last part, the part which I was reading this morning, Henry knew when he was dying, and he used the knowledge to organise stuff that might happen after his death. He died in Clare's past, but Clare was not aware of that. In the end, he reappeared in his present, in Clare's and his daughter's arms. It's heartbreaking to see two people so in love having to leave each other, and it's so hard to be Clare, knowing when Henry was going to leave and die sometime in her past but being unable to help stop whatever it was that was making him go off or prevent his death. I can only imagine the helplessness Clare must have felt.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you see it, while Henry was alive, he time-travelled to the future sometimes, such that he could see his daughter as she was growing up, and at the last page, see Clare when she was 82, so it's abit like coming back from the dead to revisit his loved ones in their memory, though for him, it would have been all over, as the self that visited his loved ones was the self when he was alive. But maybe that is comforting for him, too, in the sense that he was able to see how his loved ones coped after his death, and somehow have a part in it.

Henry's daughter could time-travel, too, and she sometimes travelled into Henry's past to look at hime. Unfortunately, the time when she travelled to Henry's past was the time before she was born, so he could not recognise her, and also could not treasure the time she visited him to spend time with her. It's heart-wrenching too. Imagine a daughter visiting her father in his past after his death, and wanting to be close to him and telling him that she's his daughter, all the while knowing that she can't, because she can't defy history. But perhaps she is able to derive contentment from all these, because at least she can still see her father, touch him, perhaps talk to him, have some contact with him, rather than not being able to see him forever at all.

Perhaps my explanation of the story complicated your understanding of it, and made you decide not to read it. But I assure you, all will be understood after you read it, and you sure won't regret ever having set your eyes on the book.

Now, I should go back to devouring Ash Wednesday. It seems like a promising book!

Books!

I really really love books, especially storybooks, especially romance. Muahahaha, goodness knows why though, but I do.

I just bought three storybooks recently- The Time-Traveller's Wife, Lolita, and Ash Wednesday- and I've finished The Time-Traveller's Wife and am going on to Ash Wednesday now. The Time-Traveller's Wife was such a great story! Made every cent of it worth the money. I just finished it at 1 plus this afternoon, and I was crying all the way.

The Time-Traveller's Wife is a story about this guy Henry, whose genetic code has some problem, such that at sporadic intervals, he will travel through time to some time in his memory. For some reason, he often travels to his wife's- Clare's- past, back when she was a little girl, all the way till she was 18. Clare knew all about his life, and vice versa. Thing is, he visited her past when he was in his 30s and 40s, while he met her for real at 28, so when he met her for real, he didn't know who she was, but she had all those memories of him. It's kinda sad, but there's nothing both of them can do about it. It was touching, the way they loved each other. Whenever Henry was gone time-travelling, Clare would worry, and throughout the time Henry was visiting Clare's past, Clare had to understand that though they were married in the future, at the present Henry did not yet know of her existence, and thus was still leading a rather rakish life. Henry, on the other hand, had to understand that during the time he did not see Clare (from the time when Clare was 18 to 20, because during that time Henry did not appear anymore), Clare was free to see whoever she wanted, because while Clare was waiting for Henry to appear, Henry was still leading his own life without any awareness to Clare's existence, and surely Clare was free to lead her own life as normally as she could. It's kind of a twisted logic within the book, where it seems that past, present and future coexist at the same time. One can travel to the past and spend, like, a day there, and then go back to the present, where only about 10min was spent, so it's kinda like perceiving past and present as separated by many years, or a few minutes. At the last part, the part which I was reading this morning, Henry knew when he was dying, and he used the knowledge to organise stuff that might happen after his death. He died in Clare's past, but Clare was not aware of that. In the end, he reappeared in his present, in Clare's and his daughter's arms. It's heartbreaking to see two people so in love having to leave each other, and it's so hard to be Clare, knowing when Henry was going to leave and die sometime in her past but being unable to help stop whatever it was that was making him go off or prevent his death. I can only imagine the helplessness Clare must have felt.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you see it, while Henry was alive, he time-travelled to the future sometimes, such that he could see his daughter as she was growing up, and at the last page, see Clare when she was 82, so it's abit like coming back from the dead to revisit his loved ones in their memory, though for him, it would have been all over, as the self that visited his loved ones was the self when he was alive. But maybe that is comforting for him, too, in the sense that he was able to see how his loved ones coped after his death, and somehow have a part in it.

Henry's daughter could time-travel, too, and she sometimes travelled into Henry's past to look at hime. Unfortunately, the time when she travelled to Henry's past was the time before she was born, so he could not recognise her, and also could not treasure the time she visited him to spend time with her. It's heart-wrenching too. Imagine a daughter visiting her father in his past after his death, and wanting to be close to him and telling him that she's his daughter, all the while knowing that she can't, because she can't defy history. But perhaps she is able to derive contentment from all these, because at least she can still see her father, touch him, perhaps talk to him, have some contact with him, rather than not being able to see him forever at all.

Perhaps my explanation of the story complicated your understanding of it, and made you decide not to read it. But I assure you, all will be understood after you read it, and you sure won't regret ever having set your eyes on the book.

Now, I should go back to devouring Ash Wednesday. It seems like a promising book!

When all else fails...

Try getting sick. I swear, that's gotta be the fastest way to lose weight. I've been sick the past 2 weeks, so my appetite has been puny, and I think I've lost quite a bit of weight. At least, the tummy is decreasing in size... ;) Or maybe it's the constant violent coughing which is strengthening the stomach muscles. Now they're aching, and it's the sit-ups kind of stomach muscles pain.

Coughing is a pain. Mira says it's kinda irritating to hear the cough, coz it sounds serious, like I've got TB or something. Much as I hate to admit it, she's right. I find it irritating to cough too! It gets in the way when I'm talking, and can you imagine when I'm in a quiet place like the library?! That makes it worse coz when I start coughing, I don't stop for the next 10 seconds or so. If you're thinking 10 seconds isn't a very long time, well, it is....

Anyway, hopefully the cough goes away soon. I wanna start eating chocolates!!!!

I've got nothing to do, so I decided to try this thing out... =)

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

How does the world see me?
Britney Spears- Bombastic Love

Hmm... I bring excitement and drama in their lives? Ah.. that sounds nice...

Will I have a happy life?
Faye Wong- Tian Kong

Is it trying to say the sky's the limit? Well I shall take it as a good sign!

What do my friends really think of me?
Tina Turner- He Lives in You

Well... taken in the religious point of view, it's kinda blasphemous, isn't it? But kinda flattering...

Do people secretly lust after me?
98 Degrees- I Do (Cherish You)

Ooh.. I like the sound of this! ;)

How can I make myself happy?
Shi Xin Huey- Gan Xie Ni Yong Xin Ai Zhe Wo

Hmm.. I should be thankful for the love I've been given... Good advice. I shall remember that.

What should I do with my life?
Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra- Japanese Graffitti III

Well.. I don't quite know what to think of this, actually. Does it mean I should go explore many areas of life? Or does it mean I should go the artistic route (?!?!) Or does it mean I should just waste my life away...? The song sounds cheerful, so I shall make myself happy and reaffirm my identity as a human being by thinking of myself as a good person. I shall choose the first reason. Muahahahaha!

Will I ever have children?
Vic Zhou- Wei He Ni Bu Lai

This is sad, man...

What is some good advice for me?
98 Degrees- The Hardest Thing

It's hard to give me good advice...?

How will I be remembered?
Lisa Ono- So Danco Samba

Ahhh.. As a person who likes to dance? Or as a person who enjoys life? Anyone knows the meaning of this title or song?

What is my signature dancing song?
Britney Spears- I’ll Never Stop Loving You

Reflects the romantic notions I often have I guess... =)

What do I think my current theme song is?
Joe Hisaishi- Kaze No Oka

I don't understand this title. Can someone tell me the meaning of this title?!

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Maksim Mrvica- Dance of the Baroness

Ah... I'm majestic?!

What song will play at my funeral?
Robbie Williams- Come Undone

Well that's rather true isn't it?

What type of men do I like?
Ni He Wo He Ta Zhi Jian

Love triangle?!

What is my day going to be like?
Britney Spears- Overprotected

Hmm....

Dong Dong Dong!

"Dong Dong Dong, 1,2,3... Kuishin-Bo..."

Muahaha wonderful wonderful dinner after a long long wait to have Kuishin-Bo!! We were supposed to go there in March, but because the people there don't pick up the phone, we didn't manage to go there in the end. HOWEVER, on Sunday, we walked up there and BOOKED it for tonight! YES!!

Kuishin-Bo is a worthwhile place to go. The sashimi's great, the ALASKAN SNOW CRAB is GREAT, and the chilled prawns too. The sushi flavours are interesting- Salmon with Avocado. And at sporadic moments, there will be "Dong Don Dong...!!!" which means the restaurant's special giveaways like Mochi Ice cream or lobster put with some type of sauce. Look at the pictures and u'll know! =D


THIS is the Alaskan Snow Crab. There was ALOT of meat inside I guarantee you. Just look at this plate. It took about 15 min to finish this whole plate, even though it looks like there's only a bit there? If you're wondering if the crab's fresh, yes, it definitely is. Can you imagine what the WHOLE crab would look like? ;)







And here's the overall picture of the paper steamboat. Don't be alarmed when you learn of the Japanese name for it. It's Kami Nabe (pronounced as ka-mi na-beh). So be careful to look at the person's mouth when hearing the pronunciation! =)















And this is what's inside the steamboat. This is chicken flavour, and there's another one, beef flavour. We only managed to have one though, and I'm gonna order that the next time we go. Yes, you heard it right- next time. The soup's great! The meat's chewy, hmm... but I didn't get to try the rest of it. I was too slow!!







And here's one of the specials; the first one, in fact- lobster and shrimp and cream sauce. Ooh lala, fantastique! Later on there were Mochi Ice creams, candy floss, lobster with black pepper sauce and some more, but I was too busy eating to take pictures. Haha!!!








Ok and here's what our table looked like at our last round of the buffet. Von! We're waiting for you! =)











Oh yah, Von, Mummy asked me to take this picture to show you. I also don't know why, but I think it's something along the lines of what you would have done when faced with unfinished food and thinking of a way to hide it. =) For the rest of you, well, the base is actually strawberry pudding, topped with one white and one black tart wrapper and an orange peel. The toppings actually serve to hide the base.





Yes, and see my blissful face?













Yi Lun looks like that 'cause she was enjoying her cafe latte (they said it was nice, by the way) and I disturbed her by asking her to take photo.










Von, this picture is for you! Papa purposely posed for you one!!! =D He's holding a dragon-fruit, and doesn't he look handsome?











Yep, and this is the end of my Kuishin-Bo experience. To quote my Primary one recommended composition ending, "We are happy."

"Dong Dong Dong, 1,2,3... Kuishin-Bo!"

Sushi Buffet!

I was surfing the Sakae Sushi website last night when I came across this:























Really tempted to try it out, but the flip side is that there'll be no transport, so it means I might have to go with my parents, who are, unfortunately, not sushi enthusiasts. Well, Tay Yi Fang! I'm counting on you! When you come back we shall try the supper buffet together k? Then papa and mummy won't be likely to say no! ;)

Well, on the normal side of the sushi buffet...


These are the teatime, lunch and dinner buffets offered by Sakae Sushi. Interesting, eh? I always thought Sakae Sushi only has teatime buffet. Ah well, I've been enlightened. Anyway, anyone knows where OUB centre is? =)

I can't wait for our sushi buffet!!! =D

Tagged tagged tagged tagged tagged

Yep, and since I have nothing better to write in my blog, I shall complete Tay Ah Fang's chain tag.

Five Songs Which You Know All The Lyrics Right Off Your Head

#1- Angela Zhang: Yi Shi De Mei Hao (Man, that's my favourite song)

#2 - Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey: Where You Are

#3 - Coco Lee: Before I Fall In Love (Brings back memories...)

#4 - Rascall Flatts: God Blessed the Broken Road (Very very sweeeeeet song!)

#5 -Angela Zhang or Corrinne May (It doesn't matter who-both are nice): Journey


Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionaire

#1 - Travel round the world!

#2 - Build a house for my parents

#3 - Shopping!

#4 - Save

#5 - Buy new furniture- noozer spoils them, don't ask me how.

** As a sidenote, I think there's something wrong with the question. I don't think a million would be able to support all these.... haha... Maybe we should say Multi-millionaire instead, eh?


Five Bad Habits

#1 - Procrastinating

#2 -Worrying too much

#3 - Fertile imagination=> it's so fertile, I think it would support a whole ecological system for a forest...

#4 - Paranoid

#5 - Long-winded


Five Things You Like Doing

#1 - Lazing my days away like now

#2 - Daydreaming

#3 - Sleeping

#4 - Reading

#5 - Puns


Five Things You Will Never Wear, Buy Or Get New Again?

#1 - Yep, that's for sure, BRACES

#2 - Canteen 2 Spaghetti

#3 - Canteen 2 Lontong, or the food from that stall, for that matter

#4 - Heavy metal CDs

#5 - I'm sure there's alot, but I can't remember them offhand


Five Favourite Toys/Things (not putting people cus they're not things)

#1 - My laptop- Can't live without it

#2 - Schnoozee, even though he drives me CRAZY with his pee. On second thoughts, is Shnoozee a thing?

#3 - My bolster

#4 - Romance stories. Yah, I'm a sucker for romance...

#5 - Grease. The movie!

Me, Myself and I

from Lina's blog

Maybe I should just scream in the middle of Orchard Road during lunch time one day.

I love puns. They are so clever!

I don't understand why Schnoozee refuses to pee on newspapers. Oh, and I don't understand people too.

I lose my things easily, because I'm usually distracted.

People say I look like a carbon copy of my father. But I think I'm looking more like my mother as I grow up.

Love is when your puppy runs up to you when you come home even when he has been ignored the whole day. I really love that quote =)

Somewhere, someone is waiting for us.

I will always love you only happens when you find The One.

Forever is when you don't have anymore regrets in life.

I never want my family to become estranged.

I think the current US President should chew his pretzels more carefully.

When I wake up in the morning I wish it was still night.

My past was too sheltered.

I get annoyed when I lose my things.

Parties are for mingling.

My dog is so adorable you wanna bite him and keep his eyes.

My cat is non-existent. I hate cats.

Kisses are the best when they're sincere.

Tomorrow, I'm going to look for the gourmetclub publication by SMU. Anyone has any friends from SMU?

I really want to laze everyday away just like now.

I have low tolerance for people who treat others like they are ignorant or stupid.

Post-Exam

Evon was right. The maximum number of movies I can humanly watch in a day is TWO. Pathetic, isn't it? Just watching two already made my eyes wanna drop. Of course, it's two movies and a few hours of tv. Haha, I love this decadent lifestyle, and I can soooo get used to it. It just makes me not want to go look for a job or something to do this hols, and just stay home, read books, watch tv, go out... basically just rot at home. Oh man... Is this the nature of an introvert, or a lazy bum? I suspect both.

Today's polling day, and results are due to be out "in a short while", as mentioned repeatedly by the reporters since 10pm. I've decided not to wait. The wait's until 2am for goodness' sake! Well, the latest news is that PAP has won Yio Chu Kang, but lost Hougang to Workers' Party. Hmm, at least it wasn't lost to SDP. As Alvin (my cousin) says, "PAP will win, it's just a matter of how many oppositions will win". Yep, and that's rather a worry, isn't it? Hehe, just call me a PAP supporter. Do you think Parliament will turn out to be rather Taiwan-esque? Haha, that will be something we'll know soon enough.

Anyway, politics is something I'm not good at analyzing about, so we shall stop there before I say something that's offensive. I can't afford legal fees.

So. End of exams, 1 month of worry for results, 3 months of freedom. What to do?

Oh, and Evon: I'm not gonna do the chain thing. I can't think of any smart-ass answers like u do. =)

Something to make you smile and hopefully laugh!

Haha! I read this on Live Journal just now... Enjoy!

Hospital Charts

1. She has no rigors or shaking chills , but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night. 2.. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

3. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.

4. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

5. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

6. Discharge status: Alive but without my permission.

7. Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.

8. The patient refused autopsy

9. The patient has no previous history of suicides.

10. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.

11. Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.

12. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

13. She is numb from her toes down.

14. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.

15. The skin was moist and dry.

16. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

17. Patient was alert and unresponsive.

18. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

19. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

20. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

21. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

22. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

23. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

24. The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stock broker instead. 25. Skin: somewhat pale but present.

26. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.

27. Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.

28. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.

29. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Generativity vs Stagnation and Other Thoughts...

You know, reading about Erikson's life stage for middle adulthood makes me think that Hitler, Stalin and other famous people in history should be proud that they managed to maneuver their 'crises' to become generative in mid-life.

The 7th stage of Erikson's life stages theory, Generativity vs Stagnation, says that "generativity encompasses adults' desire to leave legacies of themselves to the next generation"(Peterson, 2002). On the other hand, stagnation happens when individuals sense that they have done nothing for the next generation. Hitler has certainly left a legacy behind, and who says he hasn't left behind valuable lessons for us?

1) League of Nations was a failure, without the co-operation of the superpowers of the world (US and Britain) (As a sidenote, don't you think this sounds incredibly reminiscent of a particularly significant event in 2002?). Anyway, from the League of Nations grew the United Nations, which learnt from the mistakes made by their predecessor (?).

2) The world of politics is DIRTY. Hitler and Stalin could play this game well I'll admit... Imagine, each agreeing with the other on what they want from the other, but all the while planning attacks.

3) And who has forgotten the extermination of 2 million (or was it more?) Jews in WWII?

Hitler has immortalised himself, all right. Ok, so to pinpoint Hitler in this post seems unfair, coz the whole History thing has more than one players, and of course, we are forgetting the roles played by heroes, like... Mother Teresa, Ghandhi (though I know some feel it's debatable whether he's actually a hero) etc. I'm just feeling a tad bitchy today, so humour me, ya? ;)

Oh, yes, if you look at it from another perspective, we could probably also say Hitler was stagnated (self-absorbed). He didn't contribute anything to the next generations except horror. So, yah, I guess you could say Hitler was stagnated. But to be fair to him, he wanted to restore Germany's pride, and restore his homeland, so to a certain extent he probably wasn't very self-absorbed. Ah well, I still stand by my first opinion that he's generative. =)

Ahh.. and I realise I can probably never manage to become a great psychologist who practices what she preaches, coz I have gotta face reality. I can't always look at the situations when making attributions to behaviour. I'm a victim of the Fundamental Attribution Error! *GASP*

The Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) is the tendency for observers to overestimate a person's behaviour as his/her disposition, and neglect the situational causes of that behaviour. Let's say we see this father smacking his daughter in a shopping centre. The first thought we have might be that the father is cruel, and neglect the possibility that his daughter was probably making a ruckus a while ago.

I realised that if one always takes into account the situational factors before getting angry or making judgments, that person must be a truly understanding person who never ever gets angry, because that person would be able to understand that the actor's behaviour may not be his intention. OK, some of you may be thinking, if there is a consistency to this person's behaviour and a lack of distinctiveness in the types of situation this behaviour is exhibited, we probably have a right to get angry. Well, I would not disagree with you, but I think somehow the observer's anger may be attenuated?

I don't think I can be as understanding and as good-tempered as that. Much as I would want to be, and try hard to be, sometimes I just don't wanna look at the situational factors. Sometimes the same behaviour may occur again and again, to make it seem far-fetched that the situation is causing it. Though I said before that the observer's anger may be attenuated, I think I'd feel even more frustrated at that, because I think I'm justified in feeling that anger or frustration. BUT, to be really angry or frustrated, wouldn't I be spoiling my own self-concept as a good, understanding person? Ahh... and now here comes cognitive dissonance, as I try to justify my anger, and if my self-justification goes in the selfish direction, I probably would carry on in my way of thinking that the person is always wrong.

Oh, and all these are hypothetical, of course, in case you're wondering.

And in hindsight, I realise that this entry may seem rather illogical and I may have gotten my concepts wrong. Haha... Somehow I had it straight in my head, but once I typed it out they seem to have gone a funny way..... =S

Scary!!!

Yi Lun just told me this ghost story. I felt it was too exciting to keep to myself, so I shall blog about it.

There was this security guard and his partner working in this office building. They were supposed to patrol the grounds after the office building closed. This security guard kept seeing something white at the corner of his eye. At first he thought it was his imagination coz it was after working hours, and the office building was empty except for the 2 of them. However, he soon became bothered by this 'vision'. He asked his friend if there was anything beside him. The friend said no. So he thought he was just tired and decided to go wash his face. In the toilet, he looked into the mirror. There was something at the corner of his eye.

























A rice grain.

Exam Sleepiness

Exams are coming in 2 weeks!! Oh man... And I'm behind in my revision. So many chapters unread, and heard we're gonna need more than luck for Social Psychology! =S Scary...

I feel a sense of relief, though, that the projects are done, and they seem to have been done rather satisfactorily. I hope. Based on the presentation last week, I would say our content's fine. Now it's the content of the portfolio....

I think it's the stress that's slowly building that's making me feel so sleepy these days. No matter how much sleep I get, it's still not enough. My eyes still want to close! It was like that during mid-sem when I was studying for the HP101 test. I just felt like sleeping and sleeping. Ah well, after the exams I'm gonna find one day to sleep the day away!! =) Man am I looking forward to that. *satisfied grin*

You know, I should have read Psychology stuff before my A-level GP paper. Seriously, there's so much info about prejudice, groupthink, etc etc, wonderful GP stuff. Too bad each time I tell Evon and Yi Lun about it, they are too busy to read it. To be expected, I guess. Year 2's a busy busy year. Haha, I doubt I'd have paid much attention to it until the last minute too...

Anyway, I'm going back to the land of mugging....

The Light is Appearing... Sooooon..

At long last, after this week is over, I can heave a sigh of relief. CS814 will be handed in tomorrow, and one more project down, one more to go. I can't wait. It's like this pressure cooker in me man...

Anyway, I think I haven't done much for HP203, so after tomorrow, I shall devote my attention to it! And then, we shall go back to the books. I haven't opened my textbooks since last week. Man I'm so way behind in my revision.

Thanks Si Huan for being so efficient with HP203 and doing so much, and covering our butts when we were doing CS814. I shall give all my attention to it this week! =) I think without that girl ah, our group would be rather behind time. Hopefully, after this, she can have enough rest... If anyone's having a bigger pressure cooker inside them, I think it's her. Hey, I hope you don't mind me talking about you here!!

Haha, so it's in a light hearted mood that I'm typing here, and I gotta go to sleep already, since I'm gonna have 8 hours of sleep, starting now....

PMS

I hate it. Never took notice of it, but this time it was practically staring me in the face that I just had to notice it.

It's been a maelstrom of emotional upheaval this week, mostly with me getting moody and irritated with no apparent reason. I don't even know why I got irritated. Sheesh. It's a bad feeling... bad bad bad... And I find it hard to tolerate myself, much less my family. Wonder how they could stand me without getting fed up this week. Even I'm disgusted with myself.

Ahh.. the beginning of a new week. Let's just hope the stupid moodswings won't start. School's soooo not the place to have moodswings and be irritable. I don't wanna get all moody and then affect the others.

Wish me luck!

One Down, Two More to Go!

Yay! Another project finished! Another load off our shoulders! Now it's down to CS814 and HP203. Not that worried bout HP203 though, cos that one still has 2 more weeks to its due that. But I'm worried bout CS814. Technically it's due in 2 weeks' time as well, but it's due on MONDAY. Yep, so in actual fact, we have a week to do it. I know we should start on it this week, but HP202 just ended today!! And I'm going out of school tomorrow, and won't be back on Thursday. Please please please don't ask me to come back on Thursday!

Luckily, Dr Ang thought our presentation was fine. When I read her guidelines yesterday, I was quite worried, and wondered if our group had actually followed what she wanted. Thank goodness it was fine! Haha, I think this project couldn't have been completed so efficiently (seriously! We rushed through it from last week to yesterday! It was only 2 days you know, excluding the weekend). I still think this group is a GREAT group where everyone tries and DOES do their part without ever complaining about their load. I like it that everyone tries to help everyone. =) Hmm... hopefully next Academic Year we can consider being in the same tutorial groups again? What do you think? ;)

Anyway, I have to go back to doing my tutorial. Take care! =D

Concert in NTU

So exciting! Zhang Shao Han is coming to NTU for a concert! Hope I can get tickets though, otherwise it'll be so disappointing! I quite like her songs, so I hope to see her live!

Hmm... I wouldn't mind if Guang Liang came to NTU too.. I'd love to hear him sing Tong Hua live too... Why is it that only Chinese singers come here to hold their concert? What happened to the English singers?!

Asked Yi Lun and Angel to come along too. Think they might like to come along, especially Angel, who loves this sort of events. She's quite poor thing lah, actually, whole day stay at home... Not that she works on her English particularly hard when she's at home. In fact, I think she hardly touches her English stuff. There's no motivation within her to want to do well for the subject. Doesn't she realise her family's counting on her to get into a local school so that they can do their business here?! Ah well... Hopefully one day it'll finally click in her and she'll work harder. She only watches tv at home!! If she watches tv and learns her English from the subtitles it's ok. But I have a feeling she hardly even glances at it. Anyone has any idea how to motivate her?

Results...

Just as I predicted in my last post, now I am kicking myself for not making use of the time. Read my textbook a second time when I should BLOODY WELL have been reading my lecture notes. Crap. Lost stupid marks for that stupid experiment. Who the hell (except those who read the lecture notes of course, and I'm not blaming them) would come up with such STUPID experiments like testing whether people would find BLARDY pictures the BLARDY funniest with a BLARDY pen in the mouth?! Or maybe it's just me who was STUPID enough to not read the lecture notes lar. Ah well. I'm pissed with myself.

Well. Decided not to put CS814 under S/U option, so according to the cognitive dissonance theory in Social Psych, I'm supposed to be experiencing cognitive dissonance, which will make me justify internally why I didn't put CS814 under the S/U option, since I didn't have much confidence in doing well for it in the first place. I do hope it sets in, 'cos I need the internal justification and the subsequent confidence to boost my confidence in the subject. For those who dunno what I'm talking about, lemme explain what I mean.

In the first place, I didn't have much confidence in CS814, a module I've been doing as an elective. Then, there's this S/U option available to us, where we can S/U the modules which we are not confident of doing well in. So, now the logical thing is to place this CS814 under the option, and everything will be fine and dandy right? Well, I decided to do the opposite. Which means I decided to take the risk of not doing well for the subject. Yep. So that raises what we call the cognitive dissonance within me. As in, a psychological discomfort inside my mind. It's uncomfortable in the sense that I'll keep wondering if I did the right thing, what the consequences will be if I do badly, that kind of thing? Therefore, I'll try to justify to myself why I did what I did to try to make myself feel better. Since there was no external justification like reassurance from the teacher-in-charge that I'd do OK, or the knowledge that I'd do Ok, I have to find internal justification, by convincing myself that this is still early in the Semester, so I still have time to buck up on the course, and that I will actually do well in the course, because I like the course. So with internal justification, I'll convince myself that doing well in the course is gonna be Ok, that I have just as much chance of doing well in the course as anyone else. Yes. So I'm gonna believe in that, and hopefully I'll be spurred on to work harder for this course.

I didn't expect that this course would be this hard, seriously. I thought prescribed electives were supposed to be easy. Ah well, maybe I feel like this because I'm out of my comfort zone. Ok, enough of these depressing thoughts. I'm off to work hard! =)

Thursday... Friday... Saturday... And Exams soon!

Well, it's finally Thursday, which means tomorrow will be Friday! It's strange, but I kinda find that this week has passed real slooooooooooowly.. I mean, the time just creeps by. Even HP202 tutorial, which usually zooms past without my being aware of the time passing, was slow! Goodness, what happened to time this week?

Haha, well, I think Pony would scold me for wishing that time would pass quickly. After all, tomorrow's the Social Psych test. I have no idea why I would still want time to pass so fast even when there's a test tomorrow. I don't even know if I'm well-prepared for it. I have a nasty feeling I'll be kicking myself for wishing that time would pass faster tomorrow, once I realise that I hadn't prepared enough for the paper. Well. So what the hell am I doing online, blogging about time passing very slowly and then knowing what will happen tomorrow? Frankly, I have no idea. Sounds crappy I know, but there you have it.

JB Food trip by Deli Aprecio club has been cancelled because of the bird flu. To be honest, I feel relieved at its cancellation. At least there's one less event to be carried out. However, I'm not so sure it's such a good thing. You see, when JB food trip is cancelled, all the more the committee would want the year-end publication to come out. Which means that I'm in deep trouble. Which means more writing. Which means more time spent on something which won't go towards enhancing my GPA. Which means more headaches. Which means more apportioning out my time to handle more things. Sheesh. And there are sooooo many readings to be done already! This weekend, my time will be occupied by project readings. And God knows that I haven't prepared well for my Personality Psych and Developmental Psych papers. And exams are in 4-5 weeks' time. Everything is just dandy. And my father is always behind me nagging for me to start my revision. Well, as if I don't know what's at stake here.

Ah well. This is life I guess. After 4th May I'll be free! For a few days, at least. Hmm. And I can look forward to going K Box with Yi Lun! =)

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1. In Chinese, the sound 'Yi Ling' means 'bite the wax tadpole'!
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3. South Australia was the first place to allow Yi Ling to stand for parliament.
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5. In the Spanish edition of Cluedo, Yi Ling is the victim.
6. Yi Ling has enough fat to produce 32 bars of soap.
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8. Czar Paul I banished Yi Ling to Siberia for marching out of step!
9. Twenty-eight percent of Microsoft's employees are Yi Ling!
10. Yi Ling can sleep for three and a half years.

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Happy Holidays....

Oh wow. The whole family's sick, thanks to Evon's good bye present to us. My mother, Yi Lun and I have been running a fever these last few days and my fever is still climbing. Last measurement was at 38.1 degrees. Sheesh. So because of this I have to forgo Project Bridge today. Haven't gone down for 2 weeks- this is my 3rd week- I think Yancy must be getting irritated with me.

Been sleeping the whole day, and it's still not enough! What a time to get sick. I still have to study for tests and do projects one leh! And I broke out in hives this morning. It's the worst case I've ever experienced. Bumps all over the body; even eating the usual medicine didn't really help. -_-" It's so irritating. I have no idea why it's such a serious breakout today, I didn't take any seafood yesterday. Don't tell me I am allergic to fish as well?!

I do hope I'll be able to get well by Friday! I wanna go back to TPJC to play vball! Haven't played it for a long time, I kinda miss it. However, I think it's unlikely that I'll be going back, if my mother and Yi Lun's slow recovery are an indication.

Ok, it's time for me to sleep. My eyes are sooo heavy. Let's hope I don't break out in hives again tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Haha... Yep, my birthday was just over like... an hour and 20min ago, but still, I'm still quite touched by the events of today. Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday greetings and celebrated my birthday with me! And to Evon: I still miss you! This is the first birthday with you not in Singapore!

Anyway, the day started with me being late (I'm so sorry!) meeting Si Huan and Merrilyn. Alvin doesn't count 'cos he was late too! Met him while walking up the stairs from the train. And then we went to Kbox, where we sang until 2+ pm, and reluctantly left the place. There were still so many songs unsung! And most (if not all) of the songs unsung were Si Huan, Merrilyn and Alvin's! Feel so bad. They pushed my songs up first to let me sing 'cos it was my birthday. So sweet! Hey! We must go Kbox again after the exams k?! This time sing longer! Not bad! Everyone can sing so well! =) Though there were some points when we had no mo qi. ;) OH! I almost forgot! Merrilyn, Si Huan and Alvin sang Twins' Happy Birthday to me! Haha... So fun.. But I thought the song was never going to end. It just kept going on and on... and faster and faster... Oh man.. haha... Nonetheless, first time I've had a karaoke versh of Happy Birthday sung to me!

Then, with nothing to do from 2+ to 5.30, we walked around Suntec, and discussed project in a corner of Suntec. Haha, that is a nice place to do discussions! Nobody disturbs us! =) Yah I know... It sounds a bit anti-climatic to actually discuss project on my birthday and after an exhilarating time at Kbox, but to be honest, I quite enjoyed the discussion leh. Quite fun what, and at least we got some of our discussions done. =)

Then off it was to meet Pony and Wen Keat. We went to Chong Qing Yuan Yang Steamboat! Haha, it's a new experience, though I think Marina Bay's variety is better. This Chong Qing place is only a good experience to try Yuan Yang hotpot and the Ma La hot pot. Other than that, Marina Bay wins. =) I had a great time there though, haha. It was so full of laughs! With WenKeat and Alvin... Oh man... haha, and Si Huan... Natural entertainers.. =)

First joke of the day:
Si Huan: My whole family uses the leftover watermelon to rub on our face, that's why my skin is
so nice. Alvin you should do it!
The rest: (eye her suspiciously)
Si Huan: It's true! (proceeds to demonstrate)
People walk past, looking at her and wondering what she's doing.

Second joke of the day:
Si Huan: I think it's the chemical reaction of my saliva and the white of the watermelon that
make my skin nice when I apply on myself. Alvin, you should seriously try it.
Wen Keat: Then he should bring the whole bag home and try!
Alvin: ... Don't want! Later infection!
Wen Keat: Yah lor, then maybe mushrooms will grow on your face!
(Loud bursts of uncontrollable laughter around the table)
Pony: Then Alvin bo hua leh, come here to eat steamboat. He can pluck the mushrooms from
his face.
(More uncontrollable laughter, this time with moans of pain as we hadn't recovered from our last laughter)

Wen Keat and Merrilyn proceeded to eat LOTS of prawns (or should I say Merrilyn only?) after the rest of us gave up. Then we went to Bugis.

3rd joke:
Si Huan to me: Your surprises for today haven't ended yet.
Me looking at her wide-eyed: Don't tell me they went to buy cake!
Si Huan: Dunno leh, maybe they are making chocolate cake in the toilet! But why take so long?
Wen Keat: Maybe not enough ingredients. That's why Merrilyn was eating so many prawns just
now. She wanted prawn flavoured cake!
(uncontrolled laughter again)

Yah. That's it. But in between, there were many jokes! To tell them all, I'd need until like tomorrow, but I'm too sleepy. Haha. Yah I realise some of these jokes are a lil mean and erm... disgusting, but at that point in time it was rather funny, particularly when you see Wen Keat's face when he talks. I guess you just have to be there when the jokes were being said. =) Oh, and I don't think Alvin's offended....

Haha, Si Huan got saboed! Though she didn't realise it. We meant to sing the birthday song to her in Swensen's when the Earthquake was brought over, but she was too preoccupied singing out my name that she didn't hear everyone else singing her name! =D

Oh and there's 15% off for anyone with a birthday at Giordano's! Bought a pair of jeans from there. Been eyeing their jeans for ages! But it's still quite ex... from $45 to $38. Not very much of a good deal, but I've been drooling so much over it that I'm running low on water. I saw another pair which I like! (Like the cutting! and the design!) But it was $69!!! Even with 15% discount, it's still too much. I have to start saving money. But I'm not doing a very good job of it leh.

They gave me a blue Mizuno sports bag! =) Thanks guys! Haha, it might look small on the outside, but upon closer inspection the moment I got home, the interior is quite large! =) Aiyah, even if it wasn't, I'd still squeeze my clothes in one! =)

Shinder just called me! Wow she remembered my birthday even though we haven't talked in ages! So sweet of her! Really happy!

Haha, think this has been a wonderful birthday for me! Lots of people remembered me, and wonderful presents I received! Haha, all are presents I've always secretly wanted but never bought because of the cost, or because I wasn't sure if I would use it. But since it's given to me, I SHALL USE IT! =D The only dark cloud is that I'm 20. Yah, I know, most people can't wait for 21, but... 20 is old!! Just imagine, I shall be 30 in 10 years' time! And there's no significant other in sight! Haha... I sound desperate... Haha... I'm just kidding. But well... It's no fun getting old leh. Wonder why I wanted to grow up so much when I was young. Silly.

Haha. I shall retire to bed now. My eyes can't open.

Thanks again, everyone, who did or said things to make my birthday a great and memorable one!

And Serene, CONGRATS on passing your exam! =)

Crikey the last 2 days have been a total waste. I thought I'd have learned from my lesson from last break, but apparently, I'm still too addicted to slacking. -_-"

Though DAC has been taking most of my concentration, I think I'm not justified in not doing anything. Social Psych has been untouched! And I'm going to be out of the house the whole day tomorrow! And Tuesday! Ahhhh!!!

OK, I'm going to work hard. I'm going to sign out of MSN. Right Now.

A Meaningless Routine?

I'm supposed to write about a meaningless routine for my Craft of Writing assignment. What a joke. All routines have meaning what, otherwise why do them for goodness' sake! I feel like writing, "doing the regular assignments for this course is a meaningless routine in itself", but that would be digging a grave for myself. Really! What do they want us to write?

I've decided to write about making my bed. I mean, that was the best routine I could write about. What else? Doing homework? Eating? Well I do find eating meaningless sometimes. If only there was such a pill or chewing gum like the one Willy Wonka invented- the gum that can allow one to eat 3 meals! Haha... then don't have to worry about what to eat, or that I'm too full to eat or something. BUT sometimes I do enjoy eating... Hehe, think if such an invention is created, we can all say byebye to recess, lunch breaks etc. Hmm.. it'd be good for workaholics who go without meals though. At least they wouldn't have to worry about gastric problems. =)

OK, let's brainstorm about why making beds is meaningless.

1) I'll only mess it up again at night---> waste of time
2) What if I oversleep?
3) Too busy!
4) Do it so that people won't think I'm a messy person

Can't think of anymore reasons, but I would think points 1,2 and 3 can be under the category of "waste time". So that leaves me with only 2 reasons. Think you I can play around with 2 reasons? 250-300 words? I've never had a problem with exceeding word limits before! This is shocking.

Anyway, Evon left on Thursday. It still feels kind of surreal that she's gone. I just keep thinking she's in school or something. And I think noozer is lovesick. He doesn't seem to have any energy!
Just talked to Evon on the phone. Poor girl! She's sick, in a foreign country, and has no friends yet! And she's homesick! When I spoke to her on the phone just now I also almost cried man.. I miss her! Didn't think I would miss her so much. It's almost as if it's beginning of last sem all over again, when I missed everyone so much. Haha, I was always on the verge of crying whenever I spoke to my family in the first few weeks. Thank goodness I have gotten used to it, and have begun to appreciate hall life. =) Well... in a sense, I guess I'm luckier than Evon. At least I'm still in Singapore, and at least I had Serene as my roommate. These 2 combinations made my adjustments better! =) But for Evon... I do hope she adapts soon!

Miss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss herMiss her!!

Tay Yi Fang if you read this you better tag on my board or I shan't call you anymore!

Ok, I'm going to watch Kate and Leopold now. Bye!

Updates...

Yes, I'm so totally bored with Developmental Psych that I just had to empty my thoughts into this Pensieve known as my blog. Nothing can get into my useless computer of a brain, so I have decided to take a break (but seriously, i haven't even reached the 3rd lecture!)

Si Huan, this is what i think!

Basically I think what you said about the life instincts operating on a higher level of awareness while the death instincts operate under a lower level. This can be seen through the survival of the fittest, and when people are on the verge of death. Their instinct is to LIVE, not die, just like Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Hmm.. but when does the death instinct take place? Personally, I think it happens when a person feels that his or her life is threatened. I once watched a movie about this girl who was sent to a freak show because she had hair all over her body that made her look like a wolf. Her friend then gave her a chemical his mother had invented (but it was not finalised yet) that could get rid of her hair and make her more human. It worked at first, and she soon wanted more, to get rid of even more hair. BUT what happened was that the friend's mother injected more of the chemical into a rabbit, and instead of losing all its hair, the rabbit started ripping its own skin from itself. Yes. It bit the skin off itself. It was like self-destructing because from what the mother said, "It felt scared". Si Huan, perhaps that's what you meant by the death instinct? Similarly, when it's applied to humans, when we are really scared and running for our lives, it's primarily for survival. But what happens when we reach a dead end or reach the edge of a cliff? What would we do? Would we surrender to the threat? Or would we attempt a last-ditch effort to save our life? What if jumping off the edge of the cliff resulted in death? Would we still take it? Perhaps this is what Freud meant when he says that the life and death instinct can coexist together...

On to less disturbing stuff...
Chinese New Year came and went, all in the blink of an eye! I thought 5 days was sufficient to catch up with work, but BOY WAS I WRONG! I didn't get to catch up on ANY work at all, much less DO work. Sheesh... It was fun though, getting to dress up as I usually wouldn't, and seeing relatives whom we seldom see, and catching up with cousins whom we haven't seen for a long time! Here are some pictures!

3 of us in the car. It was a looooong ride to fourth grand-aunt's place. Her place is at Tanjong Pagar ( I think).













And here are my 2 cousins. My 2 and only paternal Singaporean cousins! The other 3 are in Australia... =) The one on my right is Kenny, and the one on the left is Eng Hock. See the family resemblance?


Isn't he sooo adorable?! He's my nephew, Jingxun, only 15 months old this year. He looks like a future Mr Nice Guy, and someone who can act in one of Jack Neo's movies! =) Very sociable and friendly and generous! He even offered us his ang pows! =D


My 3 other nephews. Introducing Sean (the one behind), Gerald (the one saying "Cheese!") and Jonan (in orange). Jonan was supposed to look handsome! He is, you know, just that I think he just got scolded by his mother, that's why he looks a little grudging... Three more are missing, but never mind, I shall get their photos when I see them!

So yep, the days passed very fast...

And now fast forward a few days....
It was a HORROR. Last week was the ultimate HORROR I tell you. Presentations, fairs, all came at one go. Late nights and early mornings were a norm last week, with only Friday to sleep in. I tell you, never have I been so happy to see a Friday coming. There was Chocolate Fest and HSS Family Fiesta, but I was mostly at the Chocolate Fest there, coz I was down for duty for like the whole day on Thursday. Wednesday was full of commitments- school, helping Dr Lee, and then a meeting with DAC. Tuesday... was busy with preparations for Chocolate Fest. Decorating the board, when I have no sense of decor AT ALL. Sheesh. Thank goodness for Shuen Yun's help man... Without her I think I would have gone mad or something. When Thursday came, I was rather relieved. And thanks to all my subcommers man. Without them I think I might have had another round of madness, so thank you! Even though I know some of you were bored to tears that day... hehe...

And today... SAD.
The test was such a disaster! I know I read the answers to those questions before the test, and I know that I know the answers, BUT I COULDN'T REMEMBER THEM! I think I only managed to remember like a fraction of each question, so that amounts to, what, a small percentage of the marks? And the essays. Which person in their right mind would give 4 essay questions and 24 short answer questions that merit 3 marks to be done in 2 hours?! And the prof could still say, "The paper will only end at 1330. You have plenty of time to complete your paper, so relax." Sheesh. How the hell was I to relax? And how much does one write for a 3 mark short answer question anyway? Is it 3 points, or does it have to be a mini-essay? And if so, why would it be called short answer questions? They should be called SHORT ESSAYS! !(*^#*&^(*^$#&%

It was such a disappointment today man... Hopefully Developmental Psych will be a much kinder paper, though I doubt it very much. My only hope lies in the coming break, where HOPEFULLY I shall have enough time to catch up on my work... Ohhhhh WHO AM I KIDDING? There's gonna be NO break. I have to help organise the JB Food Trip, which is sooo gonna take up so much time! And study for Social Psych. And complete the 2 projects.

My life has narrowed down to NTU. Experience Nanyang. Oh yeah *nods head*. Believe me, I am.

And fast forward another few days to Thursday...
Evon's going to NZ already! Time really flies man. It seems like only yesterday when I just thought her (or anyone of us, for that matter) going overseas to study was such a faraway thing. Now Evon's going away, leaving Yi Lun and me in Singapore. And Yi Lun in Clearwater, soon going to NUS, and if she's going to take up Vet Science as well, then Massey Uni next year. So that will leave lonely old me back in Sunny Singapore. Yippee. What fun. I better find a better half before Yi Lun goes away, so there's someone to spend time with me. My parents have each other already. I'm just an extra. Haha! =) I'm just kidding lar. How to find someone man?! My life is only NTU now. Last week I hardly had time to even talk to my father! So sad, considering the fact that we talk every day. Last week's standard conversation was, "Hello? Pa ah? Yah, I'm ok, but very busy. I'll call you again ok? Ok I'll remember to take my chicken essence, bye!" That kind of thing. Well, take out the exclamation mark from the "Bye" and that's basically it. I just put the exclamation mark there to give a kind of positive spin on the conversation, but the truth is, it was said in a tired voice.

Anyway. Back to Evon and my future sad and lonely existence in Singapore. Maybe if Yi Lun goes to NZ next year I'll be living with 2 'younger siblings'- Angel and this other boy. Goodness. What great fun I'll have, going home to see my siblings, who actually aren't. Who am I going to talk to? I might as well also go overseas lar, like that. Hopefully I'll get the exchange programme. But then again, getting the exchange programme would mean *GASP* MORE YOUNGER SIBLINGS!! Sheesh. So there you have it. To go, or not to go, that is the question.

OK, this entry is getting depressing, and I better end it. Perhaps it's my death instinct at work, getting me all depressed so that I won't be in the mood to study and then won't do well for this coming test and then not doing well for subsequent tests and then finally getting even more depressed until I get a nervous breakdown and maybe end up in IMH for the rest of my life.

Ok, I was exaggerating.

Whee!

Chinese New Year's coming!! Can't wait for it. Not only do we get the ang pows, we will also get to dress up, and then go visiting (not that I like this part very much. I only like visiting some families. Hee.. ). Best of all, it's HOLIDAY!

I'm going home tomorrow after the interview. Oh man, after knowing more about the service which I'll be hired for (IF I manage to pass the interview, and that's a very big IF), I'm starting to have doubts about myself. What if I can't handle the child? What if I'm too blur to know what the aim of the activity is or how it is supposed to be carried out? And what if I don't have enough time to catch up on my work this sem? Thing is, I think this home teachers thing will require me to go to the child's house to teach him/her, and one big problem is my parents. Will they let me go to another person's house? Papa is already nagging about the time needed to be spent there. I kind of agree with him, but I was also thinking, this kind of opportunity doesn't come very often, and I should try to broaden my exposure if I'm going to go this Psychology path. So it's a question of what my priority is. Then again, we will only know the results after the interview.

Yep, so tomorrow's Thursday, and Friday will be coming! Friday's gonna end at 2.30pm, and then I can go out with Evon and Yi Lun! I do hope we'll be watching Memoirs of a Geisha! I've been waiting for it for like forever! And we're gonna buy Yi Lun's new year clothes, clothes that she'll wear for chinese new year, but ultimately belong to me, coz she seldom wears those clothes. Muahahahahaha! I like! I do hope we find nice clothes though... =)

OK, so there's all you have of my bimbotic talk tonight. I was merely taking a break from my research on the Weecare services. I'd hate to think I failed the interview because I went there an idiot and came out looking like a bigger idiot. So I better go learn about autism and the school and maybe about the situation in Singapore about autistic children.

Wish me loads of luck people!

And in case I don't blog again before Chinese New Year,

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR and GONG XI FA CAI!!

What is my Major?

I have NOOOO idea why the results turned out so small man.. the bars are supposed to reveal the different percentages I scored for each Major and now the only indication is the numbers. -_-"

Oh well. Personally, I feel the results are rather accurate, though I don't really know why Sociology is the course that's for me. 100% some more! I always liked Anthropology, seriously, so there's no surprise that it's ranked the same as Psychology. In fact, before I decided to take up Psychology, I wanted to do Anthropology, but I had already dropped History and Singapore doesn't have a course on Anthropology. I love culture! And people. =)Surprisingly (or not) Journalism's 3rd place. Prior to wanting to do Anthropology and Psychology, I wanted to be a journalist and eventually a writer, but I eventually came to terms with the fact that I was never gonna be as creative and as engaging as the bestseller authors, and I dislike having to write with restrictions. In journalism, there are restrictions I feel, coz there are points about each event to be noted down, and we HAVE to include them in our articles. When there are such points to be written my writing goes all stiff and horribly awkward. Sounds fake to me, and I can't write well. That's why I much prefer writing Lit essays to GP essays. Lit essays offer more freedom to express my thoughts and there's greater flexibility in language. =)

No surprises that the science subjects rank so low in my score... Absolutely no interest in them, especially Physics, though I wonder why Chem is the lowest. Dance and Art... Not that I dislike them, but coz I can't do them for nuts. I'd LOVE to be able to do Art and Dance, but I've accepted that some things just can't be forced.
-_-"

This picture was taken by Merrilyn in her room. It's now my wallpaper picture. I wanted to remove it from my wallpaper initially, but the more I look at it, the more I like it.



What do you think?

What is my Major?

You scored as Sociology. You should be a Sociology major! Sociology 100% Anthropology 92% Psychology 92% Linguistics 92% Theater 83% English 83% Journalism 83% Engineering 75% Philosophy 75% Dance 58% Mathematics 50% Biology 50% Art 42% Chemistry 33% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

Busybusybusy

Sch started about 4 weeks ago, and things are picking up fast! Projects have started coming in, quiz dates have been booked, presentation deadlines coming up, and events are rushing in! Whooo! Life's getting more exciting!

Social Psych already has a project, and we are just beginning to get underway, once we confirm a social psychology question to research on. It's funny you know, how we can think of so many questions regarding social psychology and when the time comes to think of a topic, the mind is blank. Ah well, no point longing for something that isn't likely to come back for probably forever... Our project is on fundamental attribution error. Fundamental attribution error is the error outsiders make regarding a person's behaviour. That is, when someone behaves a certain way (the actor), an outsider will attribute the actor's behaviour to his/her personality, while the actor would attribute his/her behaviour to the situation. So for example, if I were to fall down in lecture, those who don't know me would think that I'm a clumsy person, but I would think that it's not because I'm clumsy, it's coz the floor was slippery. =) More specifically, our project on the fundamental attribution error is regarding cultural differences-how individualism in the west and collectivism in the east can contribute to differences in fundamental attribution errors. Cool question, isn't it? Now, if I can only access the journal providers....

Quiz is for Developmental Psych, and immensely interesting module about human development. I just hope the quiz is easy... It's a few weeks after CNY and I hope there's enough time to finish revision...

And the presentation I'm absolutely dreading- CS814: Information Visualisation and Perception, and we have to give a presentation on visual attention. Where the hell am I gonna get the info from man I wonder. One silver lining in this otherwise very very dark cloud is the fact that after this presentation I don't have to worry about this course until the term paper is due, for which I'm sure a very big headache is imminent. Bleah.

Events coming up! Whoo! Chocolate Festival 2006 is coming up from 8-9 Feb. I'm involved in the publicity for it, but I'm not entirely sure where I can find proper pictures... I feel those I submitted were most apt for the posters... But they were too pixelated. Argh!! So now I have to find alternatives. Sheesh. Another event coming up is the HSS family fiesta. Merrilyn's setting up a booth and I think I'm gonna help her, though I haven't really thought how yet, since the Choc Fest is going on at the same time. Hmm... Food for thought later... One more event is the upcoming JB Food Trip during the Feb break. Meetings are commencing to plan it. Hope turnout is good this time....

On top of these, I'm thinking of signing up for a teaching prog for autistic children which I think would be quite enriching and a good experience. At the same time I'm also interested in the job offer to be a student helper in psych research. I think both would be good exposures for me in the field of Psychology and they sound very interesting. Haha, but I would have to pass the interview for the autistic children one first.... And I have to complete my resume. Argh!

Ok, I'm going to sleep now. My eyes are tired....

Ooh lala, the prediction of my future seems quite positive, so I do hope it's gonna come true! As for how accurate the personality test is, I shall let you decide! =)

The Picto-Personality Test You are a person who is very calm and kind. You go out of your way to help people who need your help. When alone, you let it all hang out and ignore every social convention. You are adventurous, always up to do the most extreme things. You have a certain recklessness that makes people very attracted to you. In the future you will be happy and live richly.

Take this Test at QuizGalaxy.com

Late Thursday Night

Yah, and my hair's still wet. Waiting for it to dry so I'm lounging in front of the laptop finding things to do. I don't want to read my Psych stuff! So sian, so I decided to take a break from all these.

Chocolate Fest is coming in Feb! Watch out for it!

Haha, the meeting today was about this Chocolate Fest... I'm supposed to do the publicity stuff for it... Bleah. I don't like designing. Writing, I can do. But designing? NOOOOO! So I've asked Yi Lun for help, since she's GOOD at it. =)

Argh! My hair is still damp! And my body seems to itch alot today. I wonder if there are more mosquitoes tonight than usual. Irritating. I can't wait to go to sleep man, coz when I wake up, it'll be Friday!

Miscellaneous Thoughts...

Back in Hall again after a public holiday and a rather slack 1st week. Lessons are due to start this week, and I have just come back to reality that tutorials start tomorrow and I HAVE NOT STARTED YET!! Crap. If not for Sihuan's SMS asking what are personality concepts, I think I would have just happily gone to sleep tonight man.. And now when I look at the questions, it's like what the?!?!? I'm supposed to do a piece of experience sampling for 2 days and map a 2-day rhythm for myself and extract som personality concepts out of my experience sampling and make a simple record of my experiences?! For starters, I don't even know what experience sampling is, and I don; know what personality concepts are, and, what kind of record am I supposed to come up with? AND I don't have 2 days. Great. And I have a feeling my tutor is Chang Weining. Serve me right, I guess, for being such an ostrich.

It's been raining everyday these days, and I'm LOVIN' IT! =) Gloomy the skies may be, but at least it's cool. I hate hot weather. Makes me feel so stifled and sticky and not able to think. And cool weather is good for resting. I guess that's part of the reason why I didn't do my tutorials.

I watched the rerun of Campus Superstar today. Hey Dunmanians, we have a junior inside! She's Clara! Haha, not that I know her, but I heard she's my volleyball junior and school junior. She's not bad, and she's quite sweet too, but she almost got kicked out last night. Haha, first time one hears of a Dunmanian actually taking part in a singing competition. Last time, we mostly heard Dunmanians taking part in Science and Math competitions. Oh, and Ivan took part in Who Wants to be a Millionaire back in Sec 4. Haha, it's always kind of a thrill to watch one's schoolmates on TV, even though one might not be close to that schoolmate.

Read my mail today, and I think chances of me receiving the bag I ordered online before Chinese New Year are getting smaller and smaller by the day. From what I read in the email sent by the organiser, the supplier seems to reply selectively to her emails, and keeps talking about money, money, money. Argh.

Yes, I know... I have to get back to my tutorial... Wish me luck for it man...

Online shopping!

Even as I type, now, the other window in this laptop is in Livejournal, looking at stuff people are selling online. I can't help it. It's so addictive to go look at new stuff for sale online everyday while being cooped up in our little world that's called NTU. What's more, it's like shopping without having to move!

I placed an order for a white handbag a few weeks ago, and I can't wait to get my hands (or my eyes) on it! Hope my first time at this online shopping spree business won't have a sad ending for me. I really like the bag. Hope it comes soon! Preferably in time for Chinese New Year, but I have a feeling that my wish is not going to come true. =) It would look quite nice with my New Year clothes, seriously.

Ooh, before you get the idea that I buy things online on a regular basis without a single thought as to the cost of the items, YOU'RE WRONG! Haha.. I just feast my eyes and dream a little about how I would feel if I had ordered that item. Even though I have done it a few times already, I still do feel apprehensive about buying things online. There has to be a certain degree of trust between buyer and seller, but what if *GASP* the item gets lost in the mail or something? Yep, so though I like to look at the stuff online, it's quite a rarity for me to actually carry out the terribly tempting deed of clicking the button to place an order or negotiate the price of an item. =)

Which reminds me. The page in the other window is idle. I gotta go. Bye!

End of IHG, Beginning of a New Semester

It's the end of IHG for the Hall 6 girls' volleyball team. It's quite sad, 'cos we had played all the way to the semis, only to lose there. We met with Hall 2, and I must say, it was a GOOD game. In fact, it was the best game I've ever had the pleasure to play. Everyone put up a good fight, and at the end of the games, both sides were still friends and I think both sides respected each other more for the fight each put up. Still, I wish that we had won... Who doesn't? But I wish Hall 2 all the best in the finals. I think they'll be the champs this year. =)

Now I know what makes vball players hooked to the game. I didn't really understand before, but I think I do now. In the past, for me it was just a form of exercise and something I knew how to do (In JC, that is. In secondary school it was mostly 'cos I was already in that CCA and there wasn't much point in quitting since I had made good friends there). This time, I felt the adrenaline rush and the rush of pride for the team whenever we won a game. These two feelings combined are truly very addictive feelings, one I wouldn't mind to repeat again next year, should I be in Hall 6 again. The feeling of playing this time was thrilling, and, at the same time, scary. You never know when and where the ball is coming, and when you manage to receive the ball and help save the team a point, the happiness and satisfaction is so great. I kept getting killed by Joy's ball that day. Argh!! Haha, one day, I shall learn to master receiving that kind of ball. I hope it'll be soon...

School's started, and it will officially start next week with the tutorials. Just finished acknowledging the subjects, and I'll be taking 5 subjects again this sem, contrary to the 6 subjects I had initially planned for. -_-" I had wanted to start on my Minor this semester, but... there's no more vacancy! So I shall have to settle for CS814, which is some science module which looks rather boring. Still... I shall have to take that sooner or later so I shall try to look at it in a positive perspective. Craft of Writing seems quite promising from the lecture. Let's hope I'll do reasonably well for this course. Hmm... I wonder if there are anymore of such courses. In the event that I do well for it (I really hope I do!!!!) I hope to be able to take other of such courses. Seems fun. =)

Let's hope this new semester will bring with it good news and good results and everything good for all of us. I wish you all a happy semester ahead of you! =)