One Down, 4 To Go!

Yep, and I'm feeling a sense of relief as I finish French today. Though there are other heavier modules, I've to say that I've been very worried about my French, worried about the stupid articles which I can't seem to place at the right place. =S

And today's paper was pretty interesting. The comprehension was pretty cool, requiring us to write the family tree of the character, doing his timeline... and other questions in other sections included matching, filling in someone's particulars, and crossword puzzles! I love crossword puzzles, just that I couldn't read the instructions in order to know that it was a crossword puzzle. -_-" It was only after I answered what I could, then I checked with the invigilator that I realised it was a crossword puzzle. And the first invigilator I asked said it was "obvious". Well DUH I think it was obvious too, after I realised it was what it was, but when I couldn't understand the instructions, how was I supposed to know? Or maybe I just don't have the common sense required to understand it. -_-" Ah well, all in all, it was a pretty interesting paper. I quite enjoyed doing it actually. Haha, never thought I'd say that about exam papers, but yah. At some points I was really having quite a bit of fun. This is unlike other exams where rote-learning's required. It's more like the maths exam papers I did in primary 1. Haha... Well, now I'm hoping that my level of enjoyment matches the results I'm gonna get. I hope I do well! *crosses fingers*

And I better get back to work now.

All the best to all of you who have exams!

Which Language?

While revising for my French paper, a thought suddenly came to me: during the World Wars, what language was used as a medium of communication between the different countries? And how did German and Russia communicate? France is a nationalistic country, would they have spoken English? And Japan, being nationalistic as well, would they have wanted to speak English? How did the countries tell each other things and communicate their terms and conditions for war and peace? Could there have been miscommunication between the countries which led to a protracted World War, or started the wars? Like, you know how different cultures will phrase their sentences when using a foreign language based on their knowledge of their own home language, so... could there have been misunderstandings?

Isn't it interesting? Or am I the only one? Haha!

Little Superhero Girl

This video made me smile alot. The children are so cute! Somehow they moved me to tears... The singing's not that great, but they seemed so innocent!

Slacking

I totally feel like slacking right now. I'm not sure if it's coz the last of the projects was just completed today, or I simply have a subconscious death wish to plunge my GPA all the way to hell.

OK that sounded really pissed, but truthfully, I'm not feeling pissed. Just wondering why I don't have a sense of urgency, when I should be all spidery. Maybe it's just like what Joyce said yesterday, and what Kok Yong reiterated last night- the sense of urgency I get when there is no time left to study is a positive reinforcement, coz it makes me move and try to do things better. This is classical conditioning, coz I pair having no time with studying. And after that, it all becomes operant conditioning, where having no time makes me study, minus all the sense of urgency. Hmm. This explanation sounds wonky to me. Did I get the concept right? HP324 students, help me out here! Tell me if this concept's wrong.....

And on a different topic, I realise my room at home's pretty small. Even though Yi Lun's not home, I don't think there's enough space for all my things. I just began moving my things back home, and though I've only been moving files and clothes and other miscellaneous things, I realise I might not have enough space for everything. Argh. And looking at the things left in hall, I think I'll have to put alot of my stuff inside the store room, to pull them out again when I move back to hall again next year. Maybe I shouldn't bring that many small things back to hall next year, then my move back home won't be so troublesome?

On the bright side, though, I realised I won't need to pay an additional $7 extension stay in hall just coz the office will be closed. Apparently, though they are closed, I can still drop off my keys on the night of 30 April before I leave hall. Which is great, since I probably won't be back anymore for the rest of the three months. Haha... Hmm... But I wonder if there will still be too many big and necessary items left to move on that last day, seeing as how I still need my trolley and water cooler and toiletries before the last paper. But it's good, at least I don't have to waste more money! =)

With the prospect of 30 April looming nearer, I shall decide to be positive and go attack my revision with vigour.

Ah the beauty of words, how they can belie the truth of everything.....

Finally!

Finally almost all the projects have been completed. Now I'm left with one more presentation tomorrow, then I can start revising my work in peace. After finishing the report early this morning and handing it up, I felt a load off my shoulders- finally I can put this aside and concentrate on my backlog.

Of course, when I got round to checking just how much backlog there is, I realised there's no better time to see just how behind in my work I really am. And it's a good thing I check it now, coz it's really a huge pile I haven't touched, and I'm gonna need a whole damn lot of discipline in order to finish studying everything.

Ah well, I must be grateful for the little things. At least projects finish earlier this sem! And I'm looking forward to June! =)

Instead

Verse1:
I saw him shaking his change in a coffee cup
Asked for a dollar but I told the man to give it up
Said he's hungry I don't think that it's true
I bet my dollar he'd just spend it on booze
I turned my back on him and began to walk away
But then I heard a little voice inside me say
What if it's really true?
What if he's hungry?
What if it's not for him?
Does he have a family?

How'd you get here
How'd you end up on the street
Where did go wrong
Wonder what I'd do if it were me

Chorus:
A new point of view
A walk in your shoes
I wish I could get inside your head
To see what you see
When you look at me
Cause I could have lived your life instead

Verse2:
It was 90 degrees in the Summer heat
She was veiled in black all the way down to her feet
This is America doesn't she know
Somebody take her shopping buy her some clothes
She came up to me I didn't understand a word
I was about to leave then another thought occurred
She must be really lost scared and frustrated
I should try again to see what she's saying

How'd you get here
How'd you get so far from home
What was it that made you leave
Wonder what I'd do if it were me

Chorus:
A new point of view
A walk in your shoes
I wish I could get inside your head
To see what you see when you look at me
Cause I could have lived your life instead

I wanna see oh see what you see
And I wanna feel oh feel just what you feel

Chorus(2x)

Cuz I could have lived your life instead(2x)

I used to overlook this song, until I got curious enough to search. And what a pleasant surprise, nice lyrics in addition to catchy music! I wanted to put up the song, but couldn't find it on imeem. Oh well... try looking for it if you can! =)

WHEN I SEE AN ELEPHANT FLY

Did you ever see an elephant fly?)
(Well, I seen a horsefly)
(And I seen a dragonfly)
(Yeah, I seen a housefly)
(Ha-ha-ha-ha)

Yeah, I seen all that too...
I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band
I seen a needle that winked its eye
But I be done seen 'bout ev'rything
When I see a elephant fly

(What d'you say, boy?)I
said when I see a elephant fly

I seen a front porch swing, heard a diamond ring
I seen a polka-dot railroad tie
But I be done seen 'bout ev'rything
When I see a elephant fly

(I saw a clothes horse, he r'ar up and buck)
(And they tell me that a man made a vegetable truck)
(I didn't see that, I only heard)
(But just to be sociable, I'll take your word)

(I heard a fireside chat, I saw a baseball bat)
(And I just laughed till I thought I'd die)
But I be done seen 'bout ev'rything
When I see a elephant fly

Well I be done seen 'bout ev'rything
When I see a elephant fly(With the wings)
When I see an elephant fly

---From the Walt Disney film "Dumbo" (1941)(Oliver Wallace / Ned Livingston)
Cliff Edwards, Jim Carmichael& The Hall Johnson Choir (Film Soundtrack) - 1941


I was just listening to this song on my mp3 player the other day, and I really love how they play with words. Haha... structural ambiguity, anyone? ;)

And I put this song up on my blog. Turn on your speakers and listen to the song!

Yes!

Yes! Another thing to be happy about: one project down!

Well I guess having a timed deadline's good in a sense, because it gives me a sense of urgency. But I only realised how much a procrastinator I am until 5 hours before the deadline, when I had to really get my act together and come up with something, no matter how crappy the beginning was. Yep, so after getting out a paragraph or two, I was on a roll, baby! And I ended up overshooting the word limit. Again. Like, what's new right? -_-" Never mind! It's behind me already, and I think this Linguistics project's the biggest project of the sem, and it's over. Though there's still a presentation tomorrow and a French Oral on Tuesday, I've decided to look on the bright side. Over this week, 2 headaches will be gone!

And I'm gonna have a new resolution: I'm gonna try saving more money. I need money to travel! Haha... December's coming up, and alot of important people's birthdays are coming up then, so... yep. Hopefully I can afford that air ticket. You think I should fly down to NZ from Miri? Ok, besides travelling there, I want to go on holiday!! =S Haha but where can I find so much money? I checked the 4D results... Argh, didn't manage to win anything. So sad! Whoever said kena-ing bird shit has a relationship with winning 4D probably didn't mean me. =(

Ah well, nature's law of equity. Who knows, if I'd won the money, something else would be taken from me. It's just as well, I guess? *shrugs*

And now I should get back to my work. Jiayou!!!

10 Happy Moments

Haha I got this from Evon's friend Yvonne's blog while procrastinating. I think we should try to do this more often to remind us that life's not so bleak and hopeless after all. If I tag you, please try to do it k? Cheer up everyone! =)

1. Valentine's Day (the thought still brings a smile to my face)

2. My birthday (thank you all of you for remembering and celebrating it with me and for sending me your wonderful messages! I'll be doing a post on that soon, I promise!! =) )

3. This:

4. The thought of my bank account increasing this month!

5. Helping out the LMS division - it was fun watching all the ambassadors working together to promote HSS, and their own divisions =)

6. talking to Evon on the phone, like, finally!

7. My friends being so nice to help me find participants for the Linguistics project- thank you so much!

8. The new Cartoon theme I got in my handphone!

9. My Little Mermaid organizer- yah yah I know it's childish, but I still think it's super nice! Catherine was like, "You really like Disney, don't you?" To which I happily replied, "Yup!" Haha I really like Disney you know, I want to go Disneyland again! It doesn't matter which one, I just wanna go there!!!!! =)

10. I'm anticipating this: finishing the Linguistics project and presentation.

11. I know there's supposed to be 10, but I want to put more! Coz I'm anticipating these:

- Evon, Yi Lun, and Kok Yong are coming back! =) I'll be super happy then! Haha we can like finally do sister stuff when Evon and Yi Lun come back. Miss them so so so much!!!! =)

As you can probably tell, I'm in kind of a hyper mood now. Haha... well I think this things works you know. The thought of all these happy things makes me smile with the memory of them, and kinda gives me more motivation. SO, the people I wanna tag are *drumroll please!*

1) Merrilyn

2) Si Huan

3) Evon

4) Yi Lun

5) Cotton

Report Writing

I don't like writing reports. I really don't. Argh. Even if I have good group members, I still don't like writing them.

On a brighter note, did you know that there's igoogle? It's quite cool. Go check it out, you get to choose gadgets to put on your homepage. One of the gadgets I put is this thing called "Things to Ponder". It's so 欠扁! It was, "how do you draw a blank?" and another one was, "isn't it unnerving that doctors call what they do 'practice'?" Haha! And you can put games like bejewelled on the page, together with picture of the day, quote of the day, countdowns... haha it's quite alot of things. =) It's cool!

Happiness?

Everyday we hear of people around us saying that their greatest wish is to be happy people. Even on special occasions, like birthdays, New Years, Christmas etc, we find ourselves wishing others happiness.

But when we wish others happiness, are we projecting our desire for happiness onto others? Or is happiness a universally pursued need by all of us?

There are many theories about what constitutes happiness. Some say that it's the simplest things in life, like a cup of coffee when you want to take a break, that makes them happy. Some say time alone makes them happy. Some say adventure, going on holidays. Some say when things go well in their lives.

But how well is well? At which point will we say, "I'm a truly happy person, and I shall be contented with what I have. I will not hanker for more than I have been given. I shall be content". I think there are only a rare few who would view life in this way, and I must say, these are the people I really admire, because they are courageous enough to go against the conventions of wanting more in order to survive in society.

To me, I believe that happiness, in whichever dosage it comes in, should be treasured. Sure it stings when I find that there are better things outside which I didn't manage to get, but... if I think about it, things could have turned out worse, couldn't it? I won't deny that I'm competitive, and I want the best. But I'm trying to become a person who is contented with what she has, because in reality, nobody can have it all.

Like Evon said, there's a natural law of equity. When we get something that's extra to us, something in another aspect of our life will be reduced. I believe in that, and so, though I'll continue striving for the best, I'll learn to be contented with what I get.

I won't say it's easy, because it's definitely not. How could it, when we're always faced by people who are living examples of "if I could do it, you most certainly can", which makes us think, "he/she could do it, I think my capability's as good as his/hers, so why should I be happy with myself? This is not good enough. I must get better!"? I guess that's where 人比人，气死人 came from.

Haha an ironic thought just struck me. Aren't we often envious of those who seem happier than us, making us want to be happier people than who we are now?

Come to think of it, is it an evolutionary phenomenon that makes us so competitive?

Yep, just some thoughts before I start on the report that I'm procrastinating over. My groupmates are so efficient! Here I am, hoping that I have at least until tomorrow before their parts come in, but they're so efficient! Haha... This is good too in a way, the faster we get this done, the faster we can get back to other work. Yes! Jiayou!!

And to all of you, have a good recess! =) Jiayou!

Valentine's Day

Yah I know Valentine's Day was like 2 days ago, but I was too busy to blog about it. BUT: That doesn't mean my Valentine's Day was uneventful. Sure, Kok Yong was away, but he sure made his presence felt. Haha he sent flowers! Omg, it's the first time I've received a bouquet of flowers from a guy- my favourite flowers, no less. Yellow tulips! It was so sweet of him to send flowers while he was from China. Well, here are the photos! They were arranged so nicely!!! =)

Aren't they so pretty? Heard it was hard to find florists selling yellow tulips, so Kok Yong had a hard time looking for one. It was only after a month of searching that he was able to find a florist, with a reasonable price, though it was still pretty expensive. =S Valentine's Day is indeed a day to suck dry the pockets of couples. -_-" Well this does not in any way mean I do not appreciate his efforts. I am!!

Imagine the shock I had when the deliveryman appeared at my door calling me on the morning of Valentine's Day. Sure the guard had called up earlier to let me know, but there have been many occasions when the guard called and said there was a delivery when he had got the unit wrong. So I thought the same way- after all, nobody ordered anything. Yah, so I was quite shell-shocked when the guy actually appeared.

And what a big bouquet of flowers it was, and so beautiful! And there was a card and a little bear inside. Wow. Haha...

But besides the flowers that made my day, I think it was the knowledge that Kok Yong had actually remembered my favourite flowers and taken the trouble to search for them, and sent them while from China. That was very very sweet.

I'm trying to dry the flowers, I really hope they can be dried... Some petals have dropped already, and do you know how sad I was when I saw that?!?!! But no worries, I am pressing the petals in a telephone book at the moment, hopefully they'll be preserved... Ah well, if the tulips are not preserved, I hope the roses and the baby's breath will be.....

Wellwellwell...

What Yi Ling Means

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life.You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone.Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Haha what do you think? I think some of it has a bit of truth, but wait- do I see a contradiction? How can I be "pretty tightly wound" and still "relaxed, chill and very likely to go with the flow"...? Haha but this is pretty entertaining nonetheless. ;)

CNY and a Bit More

I realise my posts have been on the short side lately. Feedback has been that the entries are easier to read in bite-sized pieces, and I agree, actually. The font size on the blog is too small! Even I don't feel like re-reading my entries, so you're forgiven. Thing is, I know the solution is to post it up with bigger fonts, but... people got poor memory larrrrrr... Haha I promise, I'll try my best to remember to use larger fonts next time!!

Well, since it's Chinese New Year, here's wishing all of you a happy and wonderful New Year! May the Rat eat up all the bad things that happened in the past year, and leave behind all the good things!

Speaking of Chinese New Year, I had the privilege of taking a nice nice photo with 3 handsome boys last night when they came visiting. Omg I like the photo very much. For those who know, one of the cute boys is none other than Jingxun! Haha I've put up his photo before I think, and Si Huan, you thought he was cute too right? Let me show you the picture!!

From left: Jonan, Jingxun (Kieran), Ian.

It's a pity Kayden wasn't in the photo, or it would have been perfect. Haha these guys are usually the stars of my CNY. It's always a pleasure to see them. Easy on the eyes, easy on the heart. Haha!

Ok this post has been longer than the usual few, so I shall leave you to admire this photo. =)

I am an Augmenter

I think I am, you know.

1) When I drink coffee, I:
(i) get headaches
(ii) get stomachaches
(iii) get an accelerated heartbeat (thankfully, it hasn't caused me to make a misattribution of arousal, coz I swear I wasn't on caffeine when I met Kok Yong. Haha! )
(iv) lose my appetite

2) When I eat dark chocolate, I get a slight headache and I get a bit high

3) When I laugh too hard, I get asthma attack

4) When I drink tea, I get slightly woozy

5) When I'm in an excited atmosphere, like after watching an exciting match, I get a headache after that.

6) When I take too much chilli, I get a stomachache (but that could be due to too much chilli taken in the past, combined with bad eating habits, that caused this... )

ContradICTIONS!!!

Yah I'm a mess of contradictions. I want time to pass faster, yet I want it to go slower. I can't seem to make up my mind. But I think I'd like it to pass faster. =S

Attempting to Look Through Your Eyes

I don't understand why when a not-so-rich person (let's call that person NSR) gets attached to a rich one (let's call this person R), tongues will start wagging as to the motive behind the NSR's getting attached to R, and of course, the popular opinion would be that NSR chose R because of his/her money. And when things go wrong between the couple, such as perhaps the NSR initiating a breakup with R, people will go, "See, told you it was because of money! Maybe NSR realised he/she wouldn't get any money, and decided to go off in search of greener pastures!" Or if R broke up with NSR, it may be, "I told you they wouldn't last, R finally saw that NSR was with him/her coz of her/his money! Poor NSR, she got cheated..."

Well what gives people the right to talk about others' motivations for being with someone of a different socioeconomic status? What if they really loved each other? Just like what the title of this entry says, it's at attempt to look through the target people's eyes, trying to figure out why NSR or R did what they did. And you know what the irony is? They become so convinced of their reasons that they think it's a truth set in stone! OMG. Nothing you say will change their minds, and they find various reasons to support their case.

I'm not saying that it's wrong to attempt to look through others' eyes to try to figure out their reasons behind the thigns they do. God knows I've been doing this all along, and I guess it's human nature to try to decipher the things people do. But why would people get so fixated on wealth as the sole reason why an NSR would get attached to R? What if it was R who approached NSR first? What then? R wanted to share his/her wealth with NSR?! R felt that he/she wanted a change in lifestyle/was sick of his/her rich lifestyle and so thought NSR was a refreshing change? I mean, if it was just a speculation, a possible reason among several other reasons, it might be a valid excuse- after all, people are just brainstorming. But when it becomes a sole reason for a couple's get-together.... well.... don't you think they need to be given a chance? Just coming to a fixed conclusion without actually knowing what happened between a couple is rather unfair, don't you think?

Looking Through Your Eyes

Omg, this is such a sweet song! And the music video's so sweet! Haha makes me feel like looking for the cartoon to watch. It's the soundtrack from Quest for Camelot. Lyrics are below. Enjoy!



Look at the sky
Tell me what do you seeJ
ust close your eyes
And describe it to me

The heavens are sparkling
With starlight tonight
That's what I see
Through your eyes

I see the heavens
Each time that you smile
I hear your heartbeat
Just go on for miles
And suddenly
I knowMy life is worth while
That's what I seeThrough your eyes

[Chorus:]
Here in the night
I see the sun
Here in the dark
Our two hearts are one
It's out of our hands
We can't stop what we have begun
And love just took me by surprise
Looking through your eyes

I look at myself
And instead I see us
Whoever I am now
It feels like enough
And I see a girl
Who is learning to trust
That's who I see through your eyes

[Chorus]

And there are some things we don't know
Sometimes a heart just needs to go
And there is so much I'll remember
Underneath the open sky with you forever

[Chorus]

-- LeAnn Rimes

Truly Madly Deeply

This song has always been a favourite of mine. I think the lyrics are quite sweet. I think most of you have heard the song before. Haha... Don't you think the song's nice? =) Hehe, is anyone gonna sing it to me? ;)

I'll be your dream
I'll be your wish
I'll be your fantasy.
I'll be your hope
I'll be your love
Be everything that you need.
I love you more with every breath
Truly madly deeply do..

I will be strong
I will be faithful
'Cos I'm counting on a new beginning.
A reason for living.
A deeper meaning.

Chorus
I want to stand with you on a mountain.
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever.
Until the sky falls down on me...

And when the stars are shining brightly
In the velvet sky,
I'll make a wish
Send it to heaven
Then make you want to cry..
The tears of joy
For all the pleasure and the certainty.
That we're surrounded
By the comfort and protection of..
The highest power.
In lonely hours.
The tears devour you..

I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever,
Until the sky falls down on me...
Bridge Oh can't you see it baby?
You don't have to close your eyes
'Cos it's standing right before you.
All that you need will surely come...

I'll be your dream
I'll be your wish I'll be your fantasy.
I'll be your hope
I'll be your love
Be everything that you need.
I'll love you more with every breath
Truly madly deeply do...

Chorus

--Savage Garden

Blogger in China

I heard Blogger is banned in China. Really ah? Apparently, alot of Singaporeans can't view their friends' blogs while they're over in China, since most Singaporeans prefer to use Blogger than others. Oh, Livejournal's banned too! Hmm I wonder why. These blogging avenues are just tools for people to air their views, why ban them? People will say what they want to say. Hai... Real troublesome, don't you think?

So are there any ways of viewing blogs in China?