Tuesday, November 29, 2005

I love this decadent lifestyle!

It's a decadent lifestyle I've been living the past few days since the end of exams, and I'M LOVIN' IT! Been going out almost everyday with great company, and watching vcds. Only sad thing though, is that money has been leaking out of my pockets like nobody's business. Wish there was an endless supply of that resource.... -_-"

Just watched 4 vcds of "The Rose" by SHE, Huang Zhi Wei and the other actors (I can't remember their names) yesterday. Haha, barely halfway through the series though, but yesterday was pure blissful laziness. Just holed myself up in my parents' rooms and watched vcds. When I got sleepy, I slept. Woke up again to continue watching. Muahahahaha. Then I left to meet Yi Lun to watch "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". I think it's the best one of the Harry Potter movies so far. The dragon scene was so exciting! I'm glad they played it up. The Quidditch World Cup was a little disappointing though, 'cos I was looking forward to watching them play Quidditch. Nonetheless, the entrance of the players was dramatic, and Krum got a welcome befitting his status as the World's Best Seeker. =) I think Emma Watson's behaviour was a little over the top though, 'cos she was mostly rather agitated during Moody's lesson of the Unforgivable Curses. Hmm... the impression I got from the book was more of Hermione being herself as usual, just giving the answers in a matter-of-fact way. Didn't really expect her reaction. But then again, a movie is different from a book, isn't it? The plot was changed quite a bit, but I must say, the change in plot didn't disrupt the flow of the movie. Great! Haha, wish there were more scenes of Cedric Diggory though. He's rather good looking. ;) I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't watched it. =)

Guess today marks the end of my decadent lifestyle. Meetings are starting, and so are trainings. I hope these won't clash with each other or make my hols so packed I can't continue with my current life! Haha, I'm enjoying it too much to wanna let it go! =D

Friday, November 25, 2005

Freedom!

Yay! In just 6 hours' time, freedom will arrive! For now, I shall just have to endure the wait, filling the time with revisions. I do hope the paper will be easy today, and that the questions that come out will be things that I know how to answer. Dun wanna have to repeat this paper- or any of the other papers for that matter- again.

Yesterday evening was fun! Went with Serene to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao for dinner at Jurong Point, then we went to walk walk awhile. No regrets eating at Crystal Jade man... The Xiao Long Bao was heavenly! And then there was this pastry like thing with radish inside. Man... It was soooo soft. Then we shared a bowl of Sichuan La Mian. It was a nice experience eating it, though I think it doesn't quite suit my tastebuds. Nonetheless, the taste was unique, and the texture of the noodles was smooth. Nice. Great recommendation, Serene! =) Shall go there with Von and Lun on Sunday. The meal was quite affordable in all. Less than $15! Much cheaper than I expected it to be, it being at Crystal Jade and all... Haha, and it was fun going out with Serene. Found the skirt that I've been looking for! Alas, it's in JP and costs $33!! I'm going to Far East to see if I can find that skirt there. There's one problem now though. How do I match that skirt? It looks quite hard to match. Shall find a picture of it and post it up for u all to see... soon. =)

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Congratulations!

Haha, it's a day for celebrations. It's Evon's last paper tomorrow, and guess what? She's accepted into the Vet course at Massey University, New Zealand! Yay!! Of course, she'll have to get through the first sem there to qualify, but I have confidence in her lar.

The only thing I'm sad about is that she'll be leaving Singapore, then I won't be able to se her. I shall miss her. It's not the same as living in Singapore but on the other side of the island. This time, it's across the ocean, almost halfway round the world (is it? Oh well, even if it isn't, it feels like it). That time when I first moved into the NTU hostel I was quite homesick. Bet it'll feel worse for Evon. But then again, she was always more independent.

Anyway, we'll take things one step at a time. I hope the days won't fly too fast, and the hols won't be so busy till we can't spend enough time together. AND I hope my parents don't book the air tickets for Evon to fly off on a friggin' weekday. THEN I'll be forced to pon school, which is very troublesome you know, having to come back from hostel and all that.... And this time, my father won't be sending me back to hall 'cos he'll be going there with Evon first, for her to get used to the surroundings there first.

Ok, back to sleep.

Monday, November 21, 2005

What does my Birthdate Mean?




Your Birthdate: February 20



You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride.

Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you're happy, this is a good thing.

When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it's very hard to get you out of it.

It's sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious.



Your strength: Your warm heart



Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions



Your power color: Black



Your power symbol: Musical note



Your power month: February

Talking online

Haha, how amazing technology is. I'm now in my room, and Evon is just a shout away, but guess what? We are MSN-ing each other. =D How weird is that? The wonders of technology.

I was just thinking: is there a way of preventing someone from learning to use the computer when the person really wants to learn it? Take my houseguest for example. Her father refuses to let her learn (much less use) the computer for fear that she'll learn bad things online. Thing is, she is SO tempted by the Neopets games Von and Lun play online. And when she asked how to start the game, as much as we wanted to, we could not teach her. Well, she then turned around and just started clicking on anything on the screen- yep, you got it. She clicked on the white empty space on the screen too, and tried to move the pictures. Anyway, back to my story. She finally managed to start a game, and proceeded to play it with gusto. Without any of our helps. So, is there any way of not teaching a person how to use a computer?

Frankly, I think she should be taught how to operate a computer. After all, when she starts going to school, it would become a necessity to know how to at least use Microsoft Office. On the other hand, she is unable to control herself. While we would wanna teach her how to use Microsoft Office for her future survival in Singapore education, there is no doubt in our minds that her primary interest would be to learn how to use the Internet to play games. And woe to us the day she discovers online gaming. NOT Neopets, mind you, but Maplestory and other games (Just a question: is Counterstrike an online game or LAN game? And what's the difference?). Oh wow. I can just feel shivers down my spine.

Not that she's as bad as I've led y'all to think. I think she's just innocent, though she acts and thinks of herself as worldly. Been there, done that. Yah right. One thing good bout her is that she doesn't hold grudges, and she's... endearing in her own way, though sometimes she does get a tad annoying. Or maybe it's 'cos it's been 7 years since I was 12 and I can't really remember what I was like when I was her age?

I'm thinking perhaps the last reason is the reason why we're not quite able to adapt to her. No wonder sometimes we wonder why our parents don't understand how we feel. NOW I know, and I can hardly blame them. They have been away from our ages for, what, 20-odd years, while I'm only 7 years away from 12, and I can't really adapt to the 12 year-old mentality. This is food for thought. Oh, yah, and I guess this is also the reason why some adults speak to us in that irritatingly patronizing way. They can't remember their way of thinking when they were our age, that's my guess.

Yep. It's all speculation on my part, but... I think it makes sense- don't you think?

And for the NUS students taking their exams, ALL THE BEST!! =)

Oh yah, and I think studying for exams has made my butt big. I have butt cramps now. How do u relieve them? *cheeky smile*

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Are we all conformists?

Haha, nothing special to talk about, just that I think I'm quite wasting my time today. Can you imagine spending like 1 and a half days reading an essay about state apparatuses that are so ultimately depressing?!?! The essay was rather depressing. I mean, can your believe that even before we are born, we have already been subscribed into a particular ideology?

Althusser says that we individuals are always-already subjects- that is, we are ever ready to subscribe to an ideology. There is family ideology, religious ideology, political ideology, etc. Our responses to anything that is presented to us already proves that we are responding to its ideology. Even when there's no response, we also subscribe to it, because in a warped sense, we ARE responding to it. Even while we are fetuses, we have already been given an identity that makes us irreplaceable on this earth and society- our names and our family background. Thus, this makes us subjects of a particular ideology.

Why am I a little depressed by this essay? Well, firstly, it is a DIFFICULT essay to understand. I don't understand why he has to have so many long sentences with so much grammar inside. Makes it all the more confusing. And I never did understand writers' fascination with "not unlike" and "not uncommon". Why can't they just use the words "like" and "common"? Makes passages much easier to understand. Granted, I know that some sentences sound much nicer with these troublesome words, but... don't you think that it's so much easier to understand the simpler words?! JUST GET TO THE POINT!!

Secondly, it brings forth the realisation that we actually have NO human rights. Whatever rights and control we always thought we had over our lives was nothing but an illusion, to give us a false sense of control over our destiny and life. Well, this essay simply subverts whatever we- or rather, I- thought about our lives and the control we have over it. It's depressing, isn't it? That we already have to conform to certain social expectations. Even when we think we are bucking the system, according to Althusser, we are merely departing from one ideology and subscribing to another. That means, no matter what anyone says about being a non-conformist, that person is still conforming to another ideology of not conforming. Yah, it sounds familiar, doesn't it? The paradoxical saying of "Non-conformists are also conformists".

I don't like to think that all my actions have already been decided by a particular ideology, no matter how much of a follower I am. It's a kind of human arrogance, I guess, a kind of blow to the human arrogance that we aren't that independent and controlled as we think we are.

Humph. What do you think?

Saturday, November 19, 2005

CRAP

By right, I should be happy that HP200 is over and I can spend the next 5-6 days languishing at home and studying for that last paper. But by left, I realise I had brought the wrong FREAKING file home. So now I have to go back to hall to bring back that file. CRAP. Sometimes I amaze myself with my stupidity.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

3 Down, 2 More to Go

And yes, and still counting, with both anticipation and trepidation. Monday's paper was... shall we say, disappointing, coz I forgot how to do the questions, and what the heck's the difference between total differential and total derivative anyway?! Tuesday's... and that's today's paper was... kinder to me than HP101, but how well I do would be, of course, a whole different kettle of fish. Especially when I found myself dreaming of Statistical formulae yesterday night and explaining it to *GASP* a LIZARD!! Oh man... What logic is this... everyone's laughing at me for dreaming bout it- no, not the stats part, the explaining it all to a lizard part. Particularly when I absolutely HATE lizards.

Back at home AGAIN, though this time, it's NOT my doing. It's the Hall 6 admin's fault this time. Of all the times, they just had to decide that the exam week is a good time to repair the leak in the toilet. Yah. When the leak has been going on for the past, what, few months? The repair of the leak has resulted in power failure for the whole floor on my block, and when it feels like it, the whole hall. So there's no choice but for me to go home to study in peace. Ah, home sweet home. Nonetheless, I don't really think the next few days leading up to Friday will be anything but sweet. I still have to study Sadistics (Statistics, to be precise), which I haven't started yet. Yes, the sweet irony of it all. Don't have time to study but have time to blog. Don't I just love being human. Poor Serene though, tomorrow's her paper and the blackout just has to happen the day before. What a great way to calm one's nerves. -_-" Serene, if you read this, I hope our paper went well for you and the questions were darn easy!! =)

Anyway, I'm sleepy but wishing I was more awake. I'm wanting to slack but wishing I was more hardworking. Yah. It's an irony all right. Just hope HP200 on Friday will be full of easy computations....

Sunday, November 13, 2005

1 Down, 4 to Go

Yep, and it sounds so darn easy. I just wish it was. Wed was a disastrous paper, and totally disillusioning for the rest of my papers. Now I can't help but wonder how the rest of my papers are gonna be like, but there's no use worrying and wondering, is there? I shall just have to try my best for the other papers.

Back in hall on Sunday night- a first for me I must say, and I do confess that I feel SO reluctant to come back here after staying at home the past few days. Home is just too comfortable. =) Can't wait for exams to be over, then I can stay at home... But something tells me I shouldn't be too happy yet. Oh well, nonetheless, it doesn hurt to dream some, right?

Reached some sort of impasse with my new tenant, Wang Kun AKA Angel. She's been a right monster until yesterday when she got into trouble with her father the day before for not doing her homework and learning English. To get into detail with what she did, well... I shall tell you some other day. I'm taking a break from Basic Maths for Economists for the moment. I swear, my head's near to bursting from all these stuff. I just hope the paper will be kind enough to me tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Tomorrow

Tomorrow shall mark my first foray into University Exams. Wow, am I so excited for it. -_-" I do hope I'll be able to remember the definitions and the theories... It will be soooo "The End" for me if I can't remember. I hope Biopsych comes out tomorrow, coz I'm gonna study harder for it. And... I dunno what other topics, but hopefully they'll be the ones I studied for!

On a MUCH more positive note, tomorrow marks the day when the occupants of Hall 6, Block 35, Unit No 3-664 can eat meals other than those offered by the canteens in NTU!! YAY! There'll be hotdogs and ham, toasted bread, and... my darling roommate Serene's ingenious idea, PIZZA BREAD!! Oh yah, and now it's possible to have otah on bread. Oh goodness! I'm salivating at the thought of it. And now I don't have to worry that my heavy breakfast prior to an afternoon paper will have to come from one of the canteens! =D

I'm so hungry just thinking of it. And now I'm off to dinner. Wish me luck for my exams!! =)

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Countdown

Im beginning to feel a vague sense of panic yet again. I was just doing the planning of my revision, and I realised that there isn enough time for me to complete my revision for statistics. This means that I have to quicken my revision throughout for all modules, which means that I have to forgo taking notes. Omg. How did things come to this stage?!

It's now countdown to the various papers. How crappy is this: the main papers are lumped together, while the Cinematic Pleasures paper is one week after everything. Great. Just when that is the elective that doesn't require so much mugging. Why couldn't they have put HP200 a bit later?!

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Study Week

So here I am, in the NTU hostel, Hall 6, mugging for the coming exams, hoping and hoping and praying hard that I can create another miracle like I did for mid-term tests. Well, I do hope I can do well, and make my family proud of me. =) However, I must admit that I'm rather sick of studying already. Sick of Intro to Psych already, even though it's been a very interesting course. I just don't know what I'm making notes for. It's not as if I'm gonna read through them after this sem, and I sure as hell don't think that I can read thru them a second time. So what am I making them so colourful for?

Well, I guess this serves as a reminder to myself that I should make notes earlier next time, but how?!? There are so many things to do! Oh man...

And now I'm faced with a challenge: Trying to keep my eyes open. Should I sleep or shouldn't I?

Monday, October 24, 2005

Inspiration

WOW! I went down to the reservoir to watch the Wakeboarding Championships yesterday. COOL! The stunts the competitors executed were nothing short of spectacular. There were triple somersaults executed by the champion- Philip (something.. think it was Goldberg), glides on some thin platform. Wonderful. Watching them wakeboarding gave me a sudden urge to go learn it too. But like Yi Lun said, the most we can hope to do is to hold on to the rope. At the very most we could hope to move and change directions. To hope to be able to somersault and land on my feet would be too much to ask for. I hope the C'ships will be held at Bedok Reservoir again next year!! =)

The performance by the Stars from Florida were spectacular too. There was ballet on the skis, acrobatic stunts where the guy held the woman aloft and she balanced on his shoulders, or he used one hand to support her while she moved gracefully, and there was this 4-man thing where all of them somersaulted off the ramp at the same time.. helicopter jumps... WHOA! FANTASTIC! It was a real eye-opener... =)

Maybe I might consider taking it up... One day.... Anyone got any lobangs? ;)

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Wakeboarding Championships is here again!

It's the Wakeboarding Championships again! It's being held at Bedok Reservoir, just directly in front of my house. I have a vantage view of the reservoir from my living room and my parents' room, but, oh, how sad that I can't stand there for extended periods of time to watch the competition. Come to think of it, it was the same thing last year. It was around the same time, but it was the time when I had to prepare for As. So.. yah, it's self-explanatory, isn't it?

Anyway, wakeboarding looks quite cool. All the somersaulting on the water. It's a l'il like water-skiiing, but more extreme, isn't it? Cool. I suppose these competitors are the best their countries have to offer, and it's quite heartbreaking to see them executing their amazing somersaults and other stunts only to land on their backs in the water and having to restart it all over again. But then again, in competitions, I suppose one has to get used to failures and losing and having the courage to start all over again. They have to have strong determination to learn from their mistakes and simultaneously forget what happened the last time and compete once again. Amazing.

I think athletes are quite remarkable people. Not only do they have to keep their bodies in top shape, they have to keep themselves mentally alert and fit as well, and condition themselves to forget about the audience or ignore the pressure they are feeling at important competitions. It's quite a hard task to ignore the pressure and just focus on doing well. On top of that, they have to strategise on the spot. I think most of us have had experiences in doing that during exams. However, exams is just between the exams and the individual. In competitions, it's the competition, the competitor, the individual and the audience. People are watching the individual. It all boils down to how strong one's mind is to resist the pressure to succumb and keep one's mind clear. Whoever said jocks are brainless?

Friday, October 21, 2005

It's amazing how at one moment, something can look so promising and just crash around your ears the next moment. One moment ago, I was elated at the possibility of finishing off the project. The next, news came that we had to do one more. Now, we are so so so near to the completion of the current one, but we are short of a paragraph. Kinda reminds me of what Yi Lun said last time "Life is not perfect". Coz they were making a puzzle for her teacher, and they happened to lose a piece. They thot of that reason to tell the teacher when they gave it to her. Haha..

And of course, not helping things is MSN, which is cutting off communication between my groupmates and me. What a life.

Kudos to my group mates though. Haha, IF we manage to finish this sometime tonight, it's one milestone we've crossed. All of them played big roles in bringing the whole proj to actuality, and I know there have been times when we felt damn frustrated, but FINALLY, the proj will be done. Soon.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

This is my latest favourite song. It's Daniel Chan's 心有独钟... Such a sweet song!! *swoons*


Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

I see the light..... REALLY

YES! I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel now! I know last week's one was a false alarm, but I am SURE this time it's true! The report's OK already! YES! Haha, finally, no more late nights or early mornings trying to get the report right, and no more agonising over whether the phrasing's right, or if the paragraphs are too lengthy. WONDERFUL! Haha.. It felt like a load off my shoulders just now when Mario didn't have any more to add to our report. Hmm.. But of course, that's not to say he's gonna give us high marks....

Tomorrow's the Math test. Oh man, I hope I do decently this time, otherwise can you imagine how embarrassing it would be that I got full marks the last time but failed or did badly the second time? I gotta confess, this is not merely about doing well- it's also about the widely talked-about "face". Yah... Shallow as it sounds, that's what I'm bothering about. I hope time passes faster so I can get the chose over and done with. THEN I can get back to reading my other texts which I have temporarily given up in lieu of the coming test. I wonder if this is worth it.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Stupidity

Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch!!!!

I am school-sick. Sick of school. Sick of doing work. Sick of doing stupid things that kill my stupid brain cells. Sick of reading stupid things that my stupid brain cells won't be able to stupidly process, thus making me look stupid reading the stupid textbook.

If you are still reading this, you must be thinking, "What a stupid fool to write such a stupid entry that stupidly makes no stupid sense." Oh well, you are probably right...

Ever thought how the word "stupid" sounds like a pig? It sounds so fat and squashy and if I picture the word in my mind's eye, I can just about see the snout of the word. Weird. Of course, that's not saying that pigs are synonymous with stupidity. Some ppl would kill me for saying that. I'm just saying the look of the word, just like how Daimaru used to look like an accordion to me. There's a term for looking at words as pictures, but I can't remember it. Read about it awhile ago. My hippocampus must be chock-full of memories already. -_-" What utter rubbish.

Finally finished studying for HE103- Basic Maths for Economists, but the aftereffects of studying it make me feel like I didn't actually study it. Don't understand what the book is saying- well, maybe I did.. at least I THINK I understood it better than during the lecture especially with my lecture notes in such bad shape. Maybe I shouldn't bother about saving ink for pdf files since they all come out looking like **** (fill in whatever words you think are suitable). Now I'm left with trying to refine the discussions section, and re watching Modern Times. I hope there's enough time, what with us going out for dinner later and me spending the next 15 minutes or so typing this entry. Don't think I'll be able to pull another miraculous full marks this time, though I'm crossing my fingers that the paper will be easy enough for me to do respectably well. I'm not hoping for full marks, though it sure would be nice if I did... ;)

Can't wait for exams to end, then I'll be free!! No need to go to school and bust my brain cells. It sooo doesn help that Yi Lun has finished her papers and will be relaxing already and that my family is in Bedok while I'm all the way across the island! Oh well, as good as the holidays seem to be, I think I'll have to go back to join in some camp or trip planning... and I did just agree to join the hall vball team. What a joke. I haven't been playing vball for about a year already. Wonder if I can still run and jump. And I dunno where Yi Lun has put the knee guards. Hah, will I even make the team I wonder.

OK, in case you are thinking of going to get a gun to shoot me for being in such a melancholic and utterly histrionic mood, save yourself the effort, darlings. I've finished my ramblings.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Haha, check out Evon's blog at http://yifang-sama.blogspot.com . There's a wonderful analogy on studying. Since I can't tag on her board, I shall just mention it here:

Von! I did hear it's hard to enter the Land of Mugging. I myself have been kicked out a few times for lacking the quality "Lack of Concentration". But I heard some people actually can gain citizenship into that land, simply coz they have the following qualities:

1) Unlimited source of Brainpower
2) Unlimited source of Concentration and the Ability to Prioritise.
3) Knowledge of Harnessing the Energy to Keep oneself Disciplined.

Oh well, as you can see, I lack most of this, so the most I can get is a PR. Well, that is if I do actually can bring myself to study without getting distracted lar. On normal days, think if I can get a visitor's pass it would be not bad already.

Do the rest of you agree with her blog? I also particularly liked the way she personified the printer. Haha, her blog is entertaining. Go read it! =)

Oh, I have changed my tagboard already! Hopefully this time Cbox will be nice to me and stop giving problems!! =)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I'm bored. And sick of studying. And there's another Basic Maths for Economists test next week. I have this feeling that I won't be able to create another miracle this time.. the topics that will be tested are topics which i have absolutely NO confidence in. Crap. Cant even bring myself to study it now.... Yah, guess I'm like an ostrich. haha..

Today is the first day I watch a movie that seriously made me throw up. It DID! The movie's called "Tarnation", and I think it's a documentary if I'm not wrong. It looked like it was taken solely from a handheld camera, so the pictures were jerky... to make things worse, pictures were flashed at such speeds, and the pictures were in black and white! Think it can be compared to "The Blair Witch Project" (I initially wanted to watch it sometime during the holidays, but if it's gonna be anything like "Tarnation", I think I better skip it). Oh yes, pictures were moving fast, and the music was irritating. Punk rock with some heavy metal. -_-" The movie felt like it took FOREVER to end. An hour into the movie I couldn tahan already. Left the LT to the toilet. No prizes for guessing what I did there....

I hope NEVER to watch another movie like this again.