EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

This blog is pronounced dead

2010-05-10T04:43:00.000+08:00

It's kinda obvious isn't it?

But the links on the left are pretty useful, and since I have a habit of going back to this blog after leaving it for a while(hopefully I don't do that in life), I'll keep this here.

For now, I am officially Tumblring over!

Not that I'm qualified and all but I don't need a Degree in order to bitch right?

2010-05-04T02:42:00.003+08:00

Over the years I've never understood why Sumiko Tan is STILL writing the column for Sunday Times. I mean, moat of the time she's just plain boring; the only times when she isn't is when she starts talking about being single end up sounding more like she's trying to reassure herself that it's ok.

Last week's column simply proved my point that she is so damn boring: one HALF-PAGE article on how she put on braces, types of braces(is this Lifestyle or Mind Your Body?!), how she couldn't eat(awwww~), how she cut herself on the braces(again, awwwww~), throw in a few thoughts here and there, try and link up with some 'life lessons'... TA-DAA! Sumiko Tan's latest article.

If you ask me, she's really just trying to tell herself: "I'm being vain and probably dumb but hey, I went through shit and it was really torturous so its okay to be vain! xoxoxoxo".

If I had known writing blog-posts can get me a weekly column in Sunday Times I would've sent mine in years ago.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Closed

2010-05-01T21:29:00.001+08:00

Simply because I like the book and I can't anything else to use as a header.

Oh, and its not a typo; I changed the tense to make it bit more personal.

[/edit]

And then I decided its too ugly. Zzzz.

Financial crisis

2010-04-30T01:12:00.000+08:00

Starting the holi-holidays~ with a movie date and then BBQ meet-up with the mad people of CS!

This holiday is going to be different and I'm looking forward to Senior's camp(hopefully I can go) and Orientation when school starts. (deliberately misses out release of results end May)

BUT FIRST. I need moolah.

Name calling

2010-04-25T00:25:00.002+08:00

NEWS OF THE DAY:
"The 'helix-shaped' pedestrian bridge to Marina Bay Sands has been officially named: The Helix."

I can't believe they actually thought of that! The creativity, the ingenuity, oh man I NEVER would have been able to come up with such a novel idea for the bridge!

Think about it! The human DNA also comes in the shape of a Helix and by naming the bridge after the Helix, it signifies the bridge as the core building block of the success of Marina Bay Sands! And guess what, the most incredible thing about this is that the name corresponds to the shape of the bridge OH MY GAWDDDDDDD so witty!!!!111

This really adds on to Singapore's glorious history of naming famous landmarks in Singapore which really inspired me to want to do great things.

Remember the Budget Terminal? Totally representative of the services offered and you should applaud the improvement from 'Terminal 1' and 'Terminal 2'. A whopping six-words improvement! And the pun there, 'budget' and 'terminal', so funnny!!

How about the Orchard Central? Did you get the wordplay there? Did you? DID YOU? I'm sure you didn't!

It's the CENTRE OF ORCHARD! Like, you know, right smack in the middle? Surrounded by all the other shopping centres, so its in the CENTRAL of ORCHARD, hence ORCHARD CENTRAL! Omgosh soooo witty, bet'cha never thought of that right? HAH.

Oh, and how can we forget the $400,000 spent by URA to find a brand name for Marina Bay to sell major developments? Who else in the whole of Singapore would have thought that we can name Marina Bay as, wait for it... wait for it...

MARINA BAY! I slapped my head and asked myself why hadn't i thought of that, seriously! That was really money well-spent eh.

Last but not least, my all-time favourite, the single biggest creative achievement which had really inspired me to take on the Creative industry, tackling one of the most boring names and changing it into something entire mind-blowing and different:

Science Centre, Singapore (Previously known as The Singapore Science Centre)

Isn't it sad

2010-04-23T23:31:00.001+08:00

that I'm 21 and still feeling bad for wasting a day because I didn't study?

No this isn't one of those times when I'm trying to play down expectations and fake it so that when I really do screw up my exams I can act all nonchalant and say that its because I didn't study.

My fundamentals are already there, so if I do screw up the exams its only because I screwed them up.

I just think that its sad that I have my youth in my hands, and yet I'm constantly feeling guilty for not having done enough.

I rested one whole day after two exam papers yesterday. Shouldn't I take it as well-deserved rest?

Yet what's going through my mind is that I'm 'wasting time' and I've been constantly trying to get my ass to getting something done when I'm obviously not productive.

Oh well. Back to the books I guess.

Remember

2010-04-23T00:30:00.001+08:00

I like how in CS we meet new people and these new people are never afraid to say hi.

It actually makes me feel like I have many friends even though I've always believed that I'm socially inept.

But I stick by the belief that at the end of the day, we only need that one or two(in my case, 3 excluding the gf) people who'll stick by you no matter how far we are apart.

We need a supper when all these madness is over.

Daily panic reminder

2010-04-19T13:54:00.000+08:00

There is more to life than just exams.

Ok screw that I'm going to mugggg AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Fanboy moment

2010-04-16T03:53:00.000+08:00

My favourite ballad from their album. When I first heard the song I immediately liked it because of the lyrics, which is about a girl going through a stage of denial after being cheated on/betrayed/dumped.

And because the lyrics gave me a very stong vision of how the MTV would look like, this one really falls short of expectations.

But anyway, CONCERT TOMORROW =DDDD

Back for seconds(as in, a few seconds only)

2010-04-15T17:25:00.000+08:00

I really want to say that I haven't been bloggin because I'm too swamped with school work.

But I'll be lying, and I wouldn't want to use up my daily quota of lies on a blog entry.

The fact is when I have spare time I go tumblr! I think I fit in extremely well in the emo-ness of tumblr, hence I'm enjoying going through photos and reblogging my favourites.

I'm not going to publicise it though, because the tumblr is also for my lovey-dovey thoughts and I would HATE to destroy that manly image you have of me.

AND ITS 2 DAYS TO S.H.E concert! Hurhur.

I can almost hear you assholes laughing at my plight

2010-04-06T00:58:00.000+08:00

I DO NOT LIKE MACBOOK. I SHLD HAVE GOTTEN A CHEAPO NETBOOK WHICH CAN CRASH WHENEVER IT LIKES WITHOUT MY BALLS SHRINKING FROM THE SHOCK.

Because I'm a cash-strapped student stuck in the mindless whirlpool of the education system, which ironically is supposed to help me get out of another whirlpool(you know, the poor people's one), I usually weigh my pros and cons VERY carefully before I invest in something expensive that I want.

Throughout the years, I've never made any regrettable purchases. Clean record. UNTIL I BOUGHT MY FIRST APPLE PRODUCT. The iTouch.

I didn't liked it and it was dead weight as an MP3 player. Ended up selling it.

Not learning my lesson, I bought a Macbook on a rush of materialism and ta-daaaa, I have the 2nd regrettable purchase of my life.

Yeah its flashy and fast and all. But whatever sexiness there was had all seeped out through the cracks.

And I can't push the blame to anyone to absolve my guilt cuz I cracked the damn thing myself. Damn.

Anyway this issue came up again because something happened just now. I ALMOST screamed in horror(what came out was a suppressed whimper) when my Macbook shut down by itself halfway through an installation with a pop.

AND STOP CELEBRATING YOU NINCOMPOOP ITS NOT MY SCREEN EXPLODING.

The damn thing took a while more before it could start-up and I spent the next minute cleaning my tears, thanking a god that I don't believe in and backing-up my files.

Why the hell did I end up spending $1900 on a burden?

But one thing is for certain: I ain't donating a single dime to Steve Jobs anymore.

Now wipe that damn smirk off your face and go and do your work, lah.

Decisions decisions

2010-04-03T03:38:00.000+08:00

The realist in me is telling me that COM202 is useless and I shouldn't spend too much time or effort on it.

But at the same time, the perfectionist in me is telling me that since I'm going to do it, might as well make it a clean and good job.

How now brown cow?

Sheesh

2010-04-02T00:42:00.000+08:00

This week's a respite in between last week's fury and the coming week's wrath. Mainly because there wasn't 231 to worry about, I guess.

One quiz to prepare, two projects due, one project going on. This weekend's productivity will decide how swamped I will be.

Oh, and I'm kinda pissed that we're not going to have one week study break before the Finals hit home. I wonder what's the Student Union doing for our welfare seriously.

Like what my friend told me, SMU has 2 weeks' worth of study break, NUS' student council is fighting for increased financial aid, what's NTU's Student Union doing?

PRINTING THE BANNER FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL EVENT LAH.

Kns.

我爱雨夜花

2010-04-01T11:32:00.000+08:00

S.H.E's newest album, 'SHERO', despite the amusing title, is a much better piece of work than the previous one.

On a sidenote, apparently Shero was already coined by feminists before A-Xin decided to act smart.

The ballads are as per normal standard; the surprising song was the hokkien rap, a bit Jay-ish but that's only because its a rap song.

As for why I felt this album is better, I can come up with 5 big reasons why is that so:

They did not do a duet with Fahrenheit this time round.
Fahrenheit did not do a duet with them this time round.
There wasn't any song in the album that featured Fahrenheit's amazing vocals.
Fahrenheit's amazing vocals was not featured in any song in this album.
Last but not least, FAHRENHEIT DID NOT SING AT ALL THANK GAWDDDDDD.

Apologies to any Fahrenheit fans. If you're clear-minded, or at least, not deaf, you should know singing isn't exactly their forte(or something they should be doing at all).

Hebe's hair is still ugly though. Tsk.

Worried

2010-03-31T03:21:00.000+08:00

Maybe I'm not used to caring so much but I guess I'm not as heartless I always thought I was haha.

Nice to know there's a human in there somewhere.

Plastic

2010-03-28T14:34:00.000+08:00

My Editors gave me an assignment: to write on an FYP about cosmetic surgery.

ARE THEY TRYING TO HINT AT SOMETHING?

I'm learning new stuff though, by looking through their FYP.

CAN SOMEONE TELL THAT IDIOTIC A-XIN THAT THE FEMALE EQUIVALENT OF HERO IS HEROINE NOT SHERO

2010-03-26T02:39:00.000+08:00

I admit. I'm a stinking pirate.

I acquire certain items though non-legal means.

But that's only because I'm a poor, cash-strapped student stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty, and its really too damn easy to be a pirate nowadays.

Yet, no matter what, I know where my loyalties lie.

Every year, without fail, I will spend money to buy that one original record.

But this year, I'm facing a very big problem.

WHY IS MY LOVELY HEBE'S HAIR SO UGLY?

Quit bitching

2010-03-24T01:40:00.000+08:00

I have every reason to freak out.

And I don't even have energy left to be funny!

I have the tendency to offend people whom I don't mean to, while the people I want to offend don't get offended by me.

SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ME.

Watch me and tremble, for I bring the purity of oblivion to your world.

2010-03-21T21:28:00.000+08:00

The next 2 weeks will be Apocalypse.

I can imagine the flaring tempers and flying punches exchanged over the incessant cackling of deadlines, the pile-up of uprooted hair on the floor due to stress, and the blood spilled over the benches from people coughing out blood.

Ok I'm exaggerating. But these 2 weeks really will be real tiring in trying to meet project deadlines, following which will the calm (of mugging) before the storm (of Finals).

We shall perservere.

A Bold Move

2010-03-20T01:30:00.000+08:00

I realise I have yet to blog/announce my new status! Considering how big an attention whore I am, its quite surprising that I managed to forget to blog about it.

That's right: I've changed from a Sony Ericsson to a sleek Blackberry Bold 9000.

What status change do you think I was going to talk about? Hur hur.

Anyway, I decided to get it because getting a Curve seems countertuitive when the Bold is priced the same; iPhone is out of the question for me since bigger screen=bigger surface area to crack, and I don't like touch-screen either.

Syncing the Blackberry and getting to understand it (the Uncle not familiar with new technology) took me quite a while. I would say that if you're a tech idiot (if your name is Quek Wei Liang or Natalie Teo then I'm talking about you), you better avoid the phone.

The QWERTY keyboard's a darling and I charge the phone every 3-4 days even though I leave it on all the way and the Blackberry Internet Service throughout daytime, which is not bad.

But it's only been a month so honestly, its still too early to tell if things will go well from now on. Yes I'm talking about my relationship with the phone.

Let's see how things work out eh.

P.S. If something happens to the screen within a year again I will stop buying ANYTHING with a screen for 5 years. Really.

The thunderclouds behind the rainbow

2010-03-18T00:07:00.000+08:00

Amidst the gloom lovely things do happen.

Like how both my articles got published so I'm released from the death grasp of article-writing,

Or like today.

I managed to get away from 231 without having to work on a website, which would have meant that I'll be up the whole night, so now I've one less thing to do.

This makes it so much more easier!

So now I'm only left with 202 guide, 208 quiz, 208 assignment, 102 research project, the next 231 project...

Aw shit.

Law-maker's freedom?

2010-03-17T00:57:00.001+08:00

"Any change should be made by Parliament, and not by the courts."

What use is there, for the arms of Justice, when the strings tied to it are controlled by politics?

5 more weeks

2010-03-15T21:44:00.000+08:00

As the course goes on I realise I feel that I require increasing effort to keep myself up for 231.

I've hardly started on my other projects and it's bothering me.

And not to mention the immense effort of keeping myself optimistic and confident with what I'm doing, otherwise I'll just break down. Let's hope no bad news would come along.

Sentences about death

2010-03-15T00:05:00.000+08:00

One thing I feel very strongly while learning about Business Law(besides the fact that judges are really goddamn smart) is that the law favours the educated.

Perhaps I am asking for too much, but the imperfection in the law system seems too much even though it may not be obvious or easily exploited.

Yes, there should be fairness and justice. Yes the law ensures social order and for that I am thankful.

The fact that Yong Vui Kong committed the crime is indisputable.

I understand that under the system of case law, the ruling in this case might open up new grounds of dispute when it comes to the mandatory death penalty.

But isn't it high time for us to consider the doubts surrounding the sentence and the way it works?

I feel that the MDP really worked as a deterrent and to a certain extent, it has really served the country well.

But I think there are unfortunate people out there, who were forced by circumstances to make a decision that they probably wouldn't have made if they had an alternative, who deserves a bit of mercy and a second chance.

Nowadays things don't seem so black-and-white anymore.

We were really having fun with the no-one-knows situation

2010-03-13T00:01:00.001+08:00

This issue has been really bothering me and I am not surprised that it has caused such a commotion.

So today, I shall make this announcement and clear everything up once and for all and after which, please leave me alone.

I do not mean to hurt anyone in the process; but the truth is that you just cannot control your feelings and when that happens, you just need to let her go.

I'm sorry Hebe, I must divorce you now that I've fallen in love with someone else.

It's all my fault and it has nothing to do with anybody else.

So please, GO AWAY!

Dude,

2010-03-12T03:14:00.001+08:00

I think that it is common-sensical that when someone is obviously trying to keep a low-profile, you don't go on and ask questions or do things that practically screams, 'Here look here, he's blah blah blah blah...'

Seriously.

A dose of self-doubt, a sprinkle of weariness

2010-03-11T15:34:00.001+08:00

So what am I worth?

Who am I in this world and where do I stand?

What am I doing and what is this for?

How much do I matter and how much does this matter to me?

Questions that bother me and answers elude me.

I think I complicate life.

Sometimes we just need a reason, any reason at all, to remind ourselves why the hell are we still doing what we're doing

2010-03-10T23:16:00.003+08:00

202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA. 202 is not useless I'm doing it for my GPA.

Quiz in 9 hours

2010-03-09T04:13:00.000+08:00

So, why is a raven like a writing desk?

Well if you're talking about my writing desk, I'll say it's because both of them produces notes that are less than desirable.

Random

2010-03-07T00:06:00.001+08:00

I like to read stuff that I cannot fully understand.

Like Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Or that guy in my school who writes in a cryptic fashion.

Stuff that has a deeper meaning to it but I just simply can't grasp it because it is beyond my intellectual boundaries.

And the reason for liking this is because it makes me feel dumb. Insignificant. That I'm obviously not smart enough.

You might be thinking I'm being masochistic. Or just bashing myself up as usual.

Well, I do this because this keeps me humble.

Grounded when I get too smug.

I do this because pride blinds people and we NEED to be reminded that we are simply not good enough. Humility is the way to go in this big world filled with so many people with so many different strengths that there is bound to be someone out there far better than you.

I'm not asking you to stay quiet and continue being mediocre.

I'm saying that by keeping your head low to be humble enough to absorb what others are teaching, when eventually you raise your head up, you realise that you're already one notch above the rest.

Desertification

2010-03-06T00:24:00.000+08:00

Canvassing tomorrow at Tampines!

I swear that it's going to become a desert over there if it doesn't rain.

Muahahahah very soon the East will burn and the West shall be...

as smelly and dusty as ever.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-05T01:11:00.000+08:00

Putting aside the dubious choice of lead (Mia Wasikowska) and an ending which was too typical/predictable for all that randomness of the film, I thought Alice in Wonderland was pretty alright.

The story itself was meant to be slightly nonsensical so I'm very much at ease with the flow of the story, which is also why I am slightly disappointed at how it ended with a run-of-the-mill battle scene.

I love how every character is so unique and memorable: my favourite is the Cheshire cat simply for being itself,

and the White Queen because she is so random she's hilarious.

Johnny Depp's Hatter is well, very Johnny Depp; I'm sure if that's a good thing or not, but it fits in well with the character so I guess its fine.

Tim Burton maintains his style(although I don't hold myself as an expert on his movies) and I think that the visuals are already quite worth the money. Basically, a film which I will watch again but not before I read both of Lewis Carroll's books to appreciate the deviation that Tim Burton has from the originals.

Ok. Back to reality now.

There is Malice in this Wonderland

2010-03-04T02:58:00.000+08:00

I just realise, I'm screwed! Hahaha.

One of my article is due TODAY and I'm still looking for one interviewee and waiting for one reply for interview. The other Opinions article for 南苑 is half-done because I have problems with actually having opinions to voice out in the first place.

Among that, proper school work undone and I'm supposed to do research also!

It's one thing to have a fulfilling school life but it's really another thing to be SWAMPED by it. I can't even imagine how people can actually juggle Hall activities as well.

Down

2010-03-02T18:38:00.000+08:00

Missed a picnic today because I had a fever last night and now I'm nursing a bad stomach. If I'm not wrong, should be because of that packet of duck rice.

I feel bad for ps-ing but I feel even worse lying on the bed doing NOTHING except cringing in pain every now and then. Nowadays I've lost the ability to do nothing without feeling panicky.

Let's just hope the shit (figuratively and literally) ends tonight.

I'm sure I'm not the only one

2010-03-01T20:53:00.000+08:00

Actually I have a lot of stuff to do.

2 articles for Chron, 2 quizzes, 2 research papers and 1 pain-in-the-ass project. I can't believe last semester I only had one paper to write and was complaining about it already.

As much as I want to chiong, I think I'll prefer to keep this recess week a REAL recess week.

*scutters off to mug fervently*

Shit

2010-02-27T00:03:00.004+08:00

Now I have to wait till next Chinese New Year to get another chance at repairing my Macbook screen.

Na bei.

Because there are other stuff more important than blogging

2010-02-25T21:29:00.002+08:00

Evidently, I'm not blogging much.

From that sentence you already can tell that I really have NOTHING to say because I'm making an observation that is... easily observable. Which makes it empirical. But is it independently verifiable? Is it falsifiable? I think it is because my posts are becoming short and meaningless. Which makes the observation of my degradation into a bore a scientific fact that can be subjected to single- or multi-factorial tests.

Alternatively, you can get a in-depth interview or throw me into a focus group. Whatever it is just make sure you don't throw luncheon meat slices at me.

Which brings me to another issue. Why is it so damn hot nowadays?

It's only February (Omg i just spelled it as Februrary) for Poseidon's sake why can't you rain more? Rain equals prosperity lei, and I forgot to buy Toto for Friday's $10 million ang-pao draw.

Nevermind I can go tomorrow.

Can you imagine what I can do if I win the $10 million?

I CAN REPAIR MY MACBOOK SCREEN!

It's the old ginger that's still the spiciest

2010-02-23T01:22:00.000+08:00

How much alcohol do I have to drink to screw up my voice enough to sound like him?

姜还是老的辣!

Buddhism's my inspiration now.

2010-02-20T12:36:00.002+08:00

Because there's no such thing as eternal damnation in Hell due to limited karma. Same goes for the ones who go up for doing a lot of good deeds.

The question now is, how limited my accumulated karma is.

Random

2010-02-20T01:42:00.001+08:00

Let's find something in the world that's happy to blog about, shall we?

Haiti.

Nuclear proliferation in Iran.

Niger.

Caning of women in M'sia.

Elections?

Kim Jong Il's birthday.

Pastor Rony.

Liu Xiaobo?

Romanian ambassador.

Ahh screw it.

At least my life's relatively happy compared to all that shit happening outside.

208

2010-02-18T00:22:00.000+08:00

There's this chinese saying that goes, "thunder loud, raindrops small".

Basically that's what today's 208 quiz was. Like how the whole of S'pore made a big hoo-ha over the renovation of the National Stadium(er, what's happening to it anyway?). I can't believe I spent the whole CNY holiday partly worrying about it. I should have spent the effort on my other projects lah na bei.

That said, I think the projects are all pouring in. Very sian. Not stressed out yet, but it wouldn't be long before it gets to me.

"Being straightforward is a gift, being too straightforward is a curse."

I'm a cursed man. Gotta learn the art of political-correctness fast.

Gambling

2010-02-15T17:38:00.000+08:00

I LOST MONEY ON FIRST DAY OF CNY HOMG.

And you know why? I lost because my friend's mom came out twice and chided us for being too noisy and on the second time, demanded us stop the game IMMEDIATELY. Not only were we halfway through the West Wind(not the West Wing), I WAS ON A WINNING STREAK THAT HAD ALREADY RECLAIMED HALF OF MY LOSSES.

In the end lost 10 bucks. Na bei.

All these years of battle experience on the mahjong table, never have my winning streaks been broken by someone OUTSIDE of the mahjong table.

This is a divine sign.

Mahjong, for me must stop. Now.

Release

2010-02-14T02:56:00.001+08:00

And here we go again, the cheery ching-chong-qi-long-dong-qiang song pollution and test-of-PR-skills with over-zealous relatives whom you don't even know if they know your name(because I don't really know who they are exactly also).

Although its CNY, don't expect me to do a happy-new-year sorta post because everyone else is happy so I should offer some sort of balance; more importantly, posting happy posts on MY blog is sacrilege.

That said, I really am pissed off because firstly, this short break marks the beginning of the rest of the semester, which is gonna be REAL busy, and secondly, I need to go visiting for today and off to M'sia for tomorrow.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I haven't even decided on whether to bring the laptop in for M'sia or not!

Ok ranting finished.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Valentine's too.

Hurhur.

Two-Oh-Two

2010-02-11T01:02:00.004+08:00

Nowadays I realise that I can start pinning the number 202 to many situations that are undesirable. Pretty dandy and useful I'll say.

Here's a few examples:

1. When you have a break between lessons that's too short for you to sleep and too long for you to stone, you can say "Wa lao have to 202 until the next lesson".

2. Faced with the situation where you're caught in a malfunctioning lift with a guy with MAJOR B.O, you can relate the incident to your friends(as an after-lunch joke) by saying, "Na bei kenna caught in the lift with that smell really damn 202 sia".

3. Quizzes are common in Uni life and failing them isn't that uncommon either. After you failed a quiz that has 20% weightage and you actually had studied for it, you can say "Study so much still fail, I can 202 the module already lah".

4. Let's say that one day you got really unlucky and cracked the screen of your Macbook and then later in the week dropped it by accident, you can say "I think I did too many evil stuff already; 202 just came one round to bite me in the ass".

5. You're in the tutorial that is boring and an absolute waste of time, then the tutor started throwing a bitch fit and began to scold the whole class like he/she is in a primary school class. What you can say about this is, "The lesson was an absolute 202 and we just got 202ed by the tutor who's really a total 202. Seriously 202 man."

Amazing how flexible the number two-hundred and two is eh? Try using it and I'll guarantee you'll never have to use another word of vulgarity again.

Good for those who's chalked up too much bad karma!

This semester is really different

2010-02-10T02:10:00.000+08:00

I guess it makes a difference when you find passion and love...

in the modules you study. COM231 Creative Strategies is taking up loads of time(relatively speaking) but because I'm working on stuff which I can see would be applicable to my future job, I can feel the drive and motivation to really work on it, even willing to go back to school at 1AM just to finish up stuff.

Contrast this to modules like those that seeks to improve your literacy in information. They're teaching useless(don't see where the module is heading) stuff and the lack of teaching ability in the tutor doesn't help either.

Oh well. Life sucks take drugs.

Random thought

2010-02-09T03:43:00.000+08:00

He who paints the flower cannot paint its fragrance.

Just follow your senses and stop trying so damn hard.

Handphones

2010-02-08T03:49:00.002+08:00

I don't change them on a regularly basis, simply because there isn't a need to.

My current Sony Ericsson w810i has served me well, proving its hardiness by staying alive for the past 3-4 years.

My previous phone, which was the Nokia 3200, was even more epic: it survived a tsunami(dropped into toiletbowl), earthquake(dropped from table after I failed to pick up a call), thunderstorm(charger malfunction which fried the charger), frequent skydiving accidents(lost count of the number of times it dropped) and even an extermination-campaign carried out by its owner to see how long it could last.

Now, I'm presented with a rare opportunity to upgrade to a new phone. Reason being the Father is going to upgrade to a line contract that is much more expensive, getting a cheapo phone would be a waste of the perks the plan comes with.

After an hour-long consideration I am left with two choices:

1. Sony Ericsson w995

SE hasn't let me down and their Walkman series fits in well with me, since my Creative Zen Nano requires too much scotchtape to get its act together. However, the major issue I have with it is that this phone is expensive not just for its improved music player, but also because of the built-in 8.1 megapixel camera. In other words, it is trying to fuse the Walkman series and the Cyber-shot series. Why the hell should I spend the money on something that reminds me how ugly I am?

2. Blackberry Curve

The temptation to settle for this is huge. While I tell myself that I'm not doing a business so big that I need a Blackberry, the Curve's lower price range is alluring and the fact that it boasts of practical functions which I will use is even more appealing.

The choice is pretty straightforward for me, if you're smart and able to read between the lines(or rather, patient enough to read this pointless post that is going on about my own meaningless life).

Buying SE would simply be going back to my old lifestyle, except that I get a better MP3 player and a clearer camera which I'll only use when I accidentally select it. The Curve, on the other hand, presents me with the delusion that I'm being constantly connected to the world and hence, trick me into thinking that I know everything and feel gleeful about it.

But there is one very, very, very big problem.

Later screen crack again how?

$200 gone

2010-02-06T13:31:00.001+08:00

The difference between getting a professional dentist and student dentists is damn big. The pain level and time taken was so much better that I feel like I can go for it again.

JUST KIDDING.

Anyway I realise that now, I dread the unable-to-eat part more than the i'm-giving-you-anasthesia part of teeth extraction.

No food=cranky=don't feel like doing anything=WASTE TIME

I need to mug.

[/edit]
Lucky can drink teh. Not as cranky anymore.

202=Incomprehensible

2010-02-04T05:33:00.000+08:00

I learn more from my project in a week than I did for the past 3 weeks for 202.

Someone need to reassess the people who are trying to get us literate in information. In fact, check the bloody system can?

I can't help it

2010-02-02T00:22:00.001+08:00

A friend commented that he hates this blog, because it's so emo that even when I'm joking around the dark humour is still very depressing.

It's not my fault, really.

Asking me to stop this is like asking Stephen King to stop being scary, getting Haruki Murakami to write utterly mundane and ordinary novels, begging J.R.R Tolkien to write LOTR 4(because he's dead, duh), waiting for 金庸 to write an English novel or even hoping that Russell Lee wins a Pulitzer Prize!

Now before you start giving me the eye-roll for comparing myself to all these great writers(sans the last one), I would like to clarify that I'm not saying I'm on the same level as them; just trying to draw a parallel here.

Oh wait that's as good as saying the same thing isn't it.

ANYWAY. It's in my nature to emo and since the web is my avenue to emo so that in real life I can devote my time to being Mr. Joyful, you'll automatically see a lot of emo posts here and there.

This blog doesn't represent me; it's a part of me that I'm allowing people to see. Like an iceberg, there's still a lot of me that you haven't seen: like how I snatch seats from elderly people on the train, push pregnant women into the path of oncoming trucks or that I cracked the Macbook screen because I hit a kitten with it.

It's never accurate to judge someone by face value, or worse, by the way he/she writes. Personally, I would say that the best way to judge a person is to interact with the person and let your heart tell you what to think, what feeling the person gives you and trust that feeling.

Take for example, in my case, don't be fooled by my witty and sarcastic online persona; I am in fact, a sincere but overly-serious nerd who lacks a sense of humour and is utterly stupid.

Don't let what others say affect, nor should you disregard the subtleties that gives away someone's characters. Believe in what you see.

Oh. My maggi is done.

The death of innocence

2010-01-31T21:14:00.000+08:00

I am sad to announce that after X years of watching 我猜我猜我猜猜猜, I have to give up watching it now because the soft-porn star is co-hosting the show now.

At the beginning there was 阿雅 and 小S, then Rainie took over and stayed there for a good 4 years. Those were the prime years of the show.

阿雅's temporary absence was filled in by random hosts, then Hebe and Selina took over for a while. But 我猜 just wasn't right without the chemistry between 阿雅 and Jacky Wu.

Her return and the new co-host 蝴蝶姐姐 was a breath of fresh air and it injected new life into the progressively staid show.

Yet now, the producers decided that the show needed a soft-porn star, and 蝴蝶 was replaced by the horrifying 瑶瑶.

While I'll admit that she is kinda sexy on first look, the minute she opens her mouth and starts pouting I swear I almost took my chair and smash it into my screen. Goddamn irritating lei. Here's an example:

If I didn't tell you, you'll probably think this is a Japanese pornstar.

Why? Why must they deprive me of yet another quality variety show? Even if they want the sex factor why choose her, of all people, when I've recently officially listed her as my 2nd most detestable star(Cyndi Wang retains her crown for now)?

I am devastated. For now, I must mourn. Goodbye.

All I have to give

2010-01-29T19:56:00.001+08:00

Without the rain the warmth of the sun wouldn't feel as great. Its the bends and turns that makes you appreciate the constant of the straight road, the sad moments that reminds you to treasure the happy ones.

I'm not an optimist but I don't give up on myself. I don't have hope for people generally but I know the few who are worth my trust and care.

I am both relieved and worried, because I am, like everyone else, flawed and incomplete. There is only that much I can do and so little I can provide.

But even at that, I'll do whatever I can to be better. I'm not going to back down this time, neither am I going to hide in the corner like a coward.

As for the results, I hope for the best.

Sadly, I have nothing interesting to blog about

2010-01-28T22:20:00.000+08:00

梁文音's campus concert was ok; I think when the performer on stage is comfortable, the audience below would feel comfortable too. She's damn cute by the way.

My Creative Strategies module has been a real eye-opener. Just when you think you'll do fine, you see people come up with amazing stuff. As the chinese saying goes, 'outside of people there's more people'(人外有人), I have a lot to learn this semester.

Anyway, I don't think I've never been so bitchy towards anyone in my whole life.

I'm sorry. Since the Macbook is already gone case, I'm having too much fun to stop now.

The slow takeover

2010-01-25T21:17:00.001+08:00

I feel like I'm actually occupied by work.

As opposed to last semester, when I still were in gaming mood for the first one month, I'm getting through everyday now thinking there's something I've yet to read.

I'm not stressed, most likely because the modules I'm taking actually manages to interest me(except for 202).

I would expect the rest of the semester to go smoothly from now on. I can't think of anything worse that can happen after all that has happened to me(or rather, my possessions) so far.

Except perhaps, having a brick dropped on my head. Which is highly likely given the state the school(WKW) is in...

Closer

2010-01-25T02:19:00.000+08:00

"But the people in the photos are sad, and alone. But the pictures make the world seem beautiful, so the exhibition is reassuring, which makes it a lie, and everyone loves a big fat lie."

They say honesty is the best policy but what if lying had kept everything ok? Would that justify lying? When is lying wrong? Why is it wrong? Am I right to still believe in honesty?

It's sad how one lie can make the rest of the honesty become so... suspicious. But is that the truth in the first place?

We'll never know for sure.

The facts speaks for itself

2010-01-22T21:36:00.000+08:00

After my Business Law lecture on torts, I conclude that...

if my Macbook sues me under the tort of negligence, I will lose. Like, without a doubt.

Hell, it's so obvious that it can even invoke res ipsa loquita to kick my ass.

Update!

2010-01-20T21:22:00.001+08:00

I know I've been whining about the Macbook's cracked screen a lot these past few days and you're sick of reading it already, so I'll try to keep it out of the writing even though it keeps popping up in my head ok.

For some reason I feel like I'm damn cracked screen busy, yet I'm actually pretty far behind on my readings. This is a far cry from last semester where I enjoyed life when everyone else cracked screen is slogging away.

It's primarily due to the fact that my timetable is cracked screen condensed into 3.5 days and I'm working on my article for 南苑, which is the Chinese desk for Nanyang Chronicle. If you haven't cracked screen read it yet, go grab one and just admire my name because I know most of you would rather die than read a CHINESE news article.

I'm struggling with my article not because cracked screen my Chinese sucks but because I'm bad at interviewing people, and people are generally bad at interviews.

However, I still can enjoy myself cracked screen because I'm learning sooo much more on my own from the work than from my COM204 tutor *coughjimmycough*. Plus I'm getting advice and help from the powerful minds behind the paper so I'm leveling up cracked screen pretty fast.

School aside, some personal emotions are running rather high cracked screen which I'll rather not talk about openly here. Hopefully I can get a grip on myself before anything goes awry.

And that's all I have to say about my cracked screen life. If you managed to read the whole boring thing and end up here, it means you aren't studying enough.

cracked screenBYE.

Be strong

2010-01-18T22:48:00.000+08:00

I'm depressed. Who wouldn't be, if in my position?

It's pretty obvious I would be because it's a Macbook, it's cracking(note that i used 'cracking' instead of 'cracked') and now, thanks to my sudden bout of carelessness for the first time in 21 years, a dent and chipped edge due to a drop.

Am I going to repair it? Eventually, I guess. But not now.

This is obviously karma at work. All the atrocities I've commited, insults I've hurled, people I've killed(driven to suicide by the previous sin), hearts I've broken(ok fine this is made up), ants I've murdered, trees I've fell, flowers I deflowered(as in, real flowers, not the personified sense of the word), snails I've crushed(accidentally)...

*sigh*

I shall hold on to the current Macbook until all the misfortunes are over; the screen is cracking anyway just let it finish cracking. Then I'll decide.

Until then.

Start today

2010-01-17T23:15:00.000+08:00

Because as S'pore students we need vulgar motivation before we can start.

Bao Ang Pao

2010-01-15T21:39:00.002+08:00

Two years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a fellow army colleague's wedding at the prestigious Conrad Hotel.

For the Chinese, it is tradition to pack a red packet, or ang pao, as a form of thanks for the invitation to the dinner and blessing for the newly-wed couple. The other implied meaning the red packet has is to give the new couple some money to lessen their losses of holding the dinner.

Most of the time, the amount we pack depends on how close you are to the couple. More importantly, it depends on how many stars the hotel has. Did I get the priorities right? Yes you're not seeing anything wrong, neither am I joking. Money>friendship, fact of life, get on with it.

Back to the dinner, when I was preparing for it, I had no idea how much I should pack and back then, I didn't realise that the amount depends on the standard of the hotel. So I thought $80 would be enough.

So imagine the shock of my life when I reached there to hear most of the people discussing the amount they packed: it was a few times of what I packed. It's not because they all know the guy very well; it's simply because the place is Conrad Hotel.

So for the rest of the evening, I stayed verrrry low under the radar and managed to dodge the question till the end of the day when most of the army regulars were too drunk to give me the death glare for packing a paltry amount of money.

You may be wondering, why am I saying this?

I'm relating this incident because something happened had jolted that memory. Till this day, I still remember this incident vividly because I've never felt sooooo damn embarrassed before.

Similarly, I am quite sure that a few years down the road, most of us Singaporeans will look back at the past and think to ourselves, "45,000 to 50,000 people had died, 3 million more were hurt or left homeless; and we, Singapore, one of the top-ranking economies in Asia, donated only US$50,000?!"

Crack! And I wished I had cocaine

2010-01-14T00:46:00.002+08:00

用像夏天的微笑，
隐藏好心情有多糟

3 days into school and... it isn't exactly pretty. Sure, things are very much the same and STARS somehow decided to concede and give me what I wanted. But I still get the feeling that it's different somewhere and it isn't anything good. It's ok if you don't understand what I'm saying so far because I don't either.

For those of you who have me on Facbook, if you're wondering why I've been raving like a bimbo, here's why:

This is not a new Macbook design. No, it isn't my screen proctector(oh, the irony) either and I'll slap you left right if you say it's my wallpaper.

I accidentally CRACKED MY OWN SCREEN.

The little plastic cover meant to protect(oh the irony again) the Mac charger's magnetic end was at the hinge and I conveniently closed the Macbook only to hear the sickening sound of my heart cracking.

That's NOT the full extent of the damage though. You'll have to see it in person, kinda difficult to explain in words.

I spent the rest of the day walking around like a zombie clutching his dead Macbook in WKWSCI before making my way down to the service centre, where they happily declared a $800 death sentence on it.

I really do feel like shit now because there's no way the warranty covers that, and I was planning to save up for exchange.

I think it's karma. Serious. I've always acted like an asshole without a care in the world and now, the world is getting its revenge.

*sigh*

我认了。

Add/drop is an intriguing thing devised by the top brains of NTU

2010-01-12T22:43:00.001+08:00

On one hand they want us to excel, on the other they make us sit in front of the computer and refresh idly, hoping that the very irritating digit would change so that we don't have to end up taking something absolutely random and out-of-point (E.g. Digital Lifestyle with its very literal interpretation of 'DESCRIPTION').

NTU is already very random and out of point - I don't care who is performing where, ExxonMobil; and why the hell am I STILL getting emails to take my damn temperature? - why implement STARS with sooooo few vacancies?

Camping on STARS really kills efficiency: I couldn't even surf Youtube without worrying that at that very moment, a slot in HP102 is being freed up!

Ok fine I'm just being the whiny S'porean brat I am. Afterall, I'm just going to end up going back to camping because I can't find any other way around this. At least this is rather cathartic and I feel much better already.

PS: Major loser moment when I realise I got the meaning of 'empirical' the wrong way round. I've misunderstood it for quite a few years already. I'm sorry, 'empirical'.

Time will tell

2010-01-10T18:34:00.000+08:00

Something feels different this time round.

The previous semester I came into school excited and brimming with anticipation, and I've came out of it feeling beaten and cheated.

Maybe it's the new-found cynicism I have for myself, people and the system.

Or maybe I'm just thinking too much. We'll see.

Sick

2010-01-07T22:42:00.000+08:00

The world is sick of humans and obviously global warming isn't helping us to warm up to each other.

Quote

2010-01-06T21:56:00.001+08:00

"I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions."
-Augusten Burroughs

I may not be a nice person but my morality is still intact

2010-01-05T23:39:00.002+08:00

They say if you can show patience and compassion for your enemies(or people you detest), it says a lot about your character.

I'll have to admit, I simply find it impossible to be patient to those people whom I believe doesn't deserve that. And I'll also admit that this makes me a petty man and lesser of a person.

In some ways, I guess I'm just like those people I dislike: people who know their problem but refuse to change. This is one thing that I've never been able to change all this while, even when I'm learning to be receptive to people and comments.

Maybe it's about time for me to learn when to shut up and sit down.

Stepping on the cracks

2010-01-04T23:33:00.001+08:00

When I was young and out with my parents, I imagine myself walking on a minefield and would hop around, trying to walk within the tiles(regardless of the size) and avoid stepping on the lines. Because if I stepped on the lines the ground would explode and I will fall all the way to the center of the Earth.

Now that I'm old and out alone, I imagine myself walking on a minefield and would hop around, trying to avoid stepping on phlegm spitted on the floor by inconsiderate ~~china workers~~ people. Because if I stepped on the phlegm... well, I'm sure most of you would know how damn disgusting that is.

Amazing how things change as you grow up eh.

First resolution of the year

2010-01-03T17:33:00.000+08:00

I don't do resolutions because whatever I want to do, I do first then I talk. But sometimes talk is good and I should talk more(constructive stuff).

Here goes: This year I'm going to aim to complete at least 2 half-marathons.

Not exactly ambitious but it's actually the stepping stone to my goal of completing a full marathon. I never was a runner because I have flat-feet(really damn seriously flat) so my legs ache easily. Or at least that's what people tell me; I've been living with these feet all my life so I wouldn't know if there's a difference in having that arch or not. I would say the main reason is that I'm pretty lazy and had lacked the determination to train.

I hope to change this.

And hopefully, this new-found determination can be carried over to the other aspects of my life which have, for the longest time, been lying in shambles.

Bliss

2010-01-02T23:03:00.000+08:00

It's always better to remain ignorant, I guess.

There's a lot of bad emotions running around in me. Need time to cool them off.

The party where no one bends down to pick up anything

2010-01-01T10:35:00.002+08:00

I never was a very happening person. Well, I still aren't.

Clubbing never was was interesting to me and I usually prefer to stay at home most of the time. The hippest thing I've ever done was whacking a taxi's boot and shouting 'OEI' at him for stopping across a pedestrian crossing, but even that was years ago when I still haven't learn my manners and have yet to feel the need to conform to social norms.

But this year's countdown, I'll admit, is actually kinda cool.

Sure, being a straight guy at a gay party would seem rather, erm, dangerous for an inexperienced-in-life sua-ku like myself. But being the first time working there(I emphasize, WORKING there as crew and no other services), all the 'don't bend down' jokes we made and the actual experience there is really very interesting.

For one, I never knew they put condoms in the toilet cubicles, even throwing in a free lunricant! Woah.

After counting down to 2010, everyone went crazy and the entire kitchen area where we're supposed to prepare the drinks practically emptied out. The atmosphere felt really nice and high and I really didn't feel like I'm getting paid to do all this. For the following 2 hours, full-time staff continued their drinking, because they have to 应酬*cough*. As for us, the temporary staff, we can only drink soft drinks and red bull. Sad.

But because the table was kind of shaky, vodka accidentally spilled into the jugs and we, being loyal environmentalists who show support for Copenhagen 2009 and Mexico 2010, refuse to waste the drinks and have 'ta'-ed all the drinks.

Not a single drop wasted. So good, right.

The event ended and we did REAL work of clearing out the whole area. Although I'm a bit pissed at idiots who refuse to work and workers who are just idiots, I suppressed my frustration and told myself nothing in this world is free.

And because I'm really sleepy, I'm too lazy to come up with a smooth and memorable closure for this post so I'll just say HAPPY 2010 AND BYE!

With the passing of a decade comes another possibly catastrophic year

2009-12-31T08:17:00.002+08:00

Oh look, the decade of 2000-2009 is leaving us, woot!

I think emo-me can have a million things to say about this passing decade and the recent revealing of semester 1's results. I guess old habits die hard when it comes to examinations and results, but I've been trying to stop thinking like a O/A-Level student since, and honestly speaking, I really did ok.

But because I felt like it, I carried out my cathartic verbal diarrhoea over at the Wretch blog instead, which is the unofficial trash-bin for all my trashy emo posts.

I'm doing my countdown this year in a rather, erm, gay atmosphere while working to repay my mahjong debts, so this interesting start to the new year/decade should be a good sign!

Let's embrace the new year with cheers and a positive attitude, and may bad karma STOP COMING ROUND TO BITE ME IN THE ASS!

Sian

2009-12-29T15:31:00.001+08:00

Apparently, my results for my COM205 speeches was a prediction of my overall results.

B for the win, yo.

[/edit]

Apparently, the early release is a leak of results for the year 1s!

I demand all results of Semester 1 to be nullified. HAHA.

Sunday Morning

2009-12-27T12:36:00.005+08:00

I'm sorry but I can't stop giggling when reading the article on M'sia outlawing witchcraft.

I'm a bit slow with the news, but I just read that Ris 'Boomz' Low had met the Singapore Tourism Board to "discuss promoting Singapore 'in terms of fashion sense'".

Seems that I'm not that far from becoming spokesperson of National Council on Problem Gambling.

Addict: "I have a gambling addiction."

Me: "What are you addicted to?"

Addict: "Mahjong, I've lost all my fortunes because of it! Please help me!"

Me: "You've come to the right person. First, you must be mindful of your 下家. No matter what, as long as you don't 放炮 and tahan for that 满台自摸, you can win de..."

Awake for >36 hours and I'm delirious.

2009-12-25T20:51:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas people!!

Went out for the whole night to hang out with the guys, followed by mahjong just now and I haven't slept a single bit since I woke up on Christmas eve morning.

On my way back on the bus I had a dream and I think I really should quit mahjong after this Christmas.

In the dream, I was visited by three ghosts.

Firstly, the Ghost of Christmas Past appeared in a form of a little boy and showed me the scenes of my childhood, then innocent and still untainted by the evil that is mahjong. I was contented, happy, used pocket money sparingly and most important, I didn't piss off friends for winning their money. Then the Ghost just disappeared.

What appeared next was the Ghost of Christmas Present, in the image of a financial banker, Delwynn Lee Kok Mun. However, he is not really Delwynn Lee Kok Mun because Delwynn Lee Kok Mun is not yet a financial banker so obviously the ghost just looked like him.

Anyway that's not the point. The point is that this ghost showed me pages and pages of numbers and dates in red which I cannot comprehend because I haven't taken MB102 yet. Apparently, those figures are the deficit I've made over the few years of playing mahjong. 'Win big, lose bigger' was what the Ghost of Christmas Present said to me before scuttling off in his Porsche.

At that point of time I was really wavering in my belief. Isn't mahjong simply a time-passing habit that wouldn't cause me much trouble? The Ghost of Christmas Future gave me the answer.

Ghost of Christmas Future looked like an old man who looked really really familiar. I could've sworn I'd saw him somewhere before, but I can't put a finger on where exactly. Anyway, he appeared next to me with a walking stick and a packet of teh and introduced himself as Uncle Tan. We've got the same surname! What a coincidence.

What Uncle Tan did which answered my question was to tell me what happened to him when he played too much mahjong. He is poor and homeless because he lost all my money to gambling(that old geezer even asked me for a loan, good thing I don't have his currency); his wife and children left him for another man and he had no friends because he won too much money from them and they gave up.

After saying his piece, he left and I had my answer:

Mahjong is bad. It has caused me to lose a lot of money, and it is time to stop. That's right.

From now on, NO MORE MAHJONG UNTIL NEXT YEAR.

After the atas dinner

2009-12-24T00:23:00.001+08:00

I tell you, if somehow M'sia decides to drop a bomb on Orchard during this festive season, they will wipe out around three-quarters of the total population in S'pore.

The whole country practically spilled themselves there!

And if you're wondering, that remaining one-quarter are either chilling out at Boon Lay Interchange or shopping at Little India.

Post 21st thoughts

2009-12-20T01:56:00.001+08:00

Never mind the fact that I wore the uncle-est looking shirt I've ever owned(uncle even by MY standards) to a dinner where I took photos which ends up on a present, this birthday week is really enjoyable.

Big thanks to all who remembered; I left birthday out on Facebook because there's no point in having people leaving me wishes when it's Facebook that reminded them ~~and also to give myself a reason to make myself feel less shitty for the dismal number of friends who remembered~~.

By chronological order, Big thanks to the cousins for the early and yearly meet-up; thanks to the few Bocelli people(Marcus, Amelia, Jianxuan, Nat, Samantha, Malcolm, Eunice, Fiona, Wallace) who turned up for the buffet and board games; thanks to the Rubbish guys(Delwynn, Wei Liang, Kai Quan) for bursting their wallets, and the 2/4 Clique(Chee Wee, Xiu Ming, Sin Kuan, Sin Yee, Pristine) for giving Uncle Tan so much 面子 by all(yes, ALL, wow) turning up.

I don't do shout-outs frequently so this is the special-est and rarest post you'll ever see here.

For a weird guy who usually doesn't make a big deal out of birthdays or special events, I guess I am really lucky not to be left all alone these days.

So go

2009-12-17T22:04:00.000+08:00

The Ruling Party's Handbook on Question Answering

2009-12-15T23:51:00.002+08:00

All characters and dialogues are fictional, any similarities to living persons or real-life scenarios are purely coincidental.

One day, in an unknown education institution,

Tina: "Mr Tan, what does recalcitrant mean?"

Mr Tan: (silence)

Tina: "Mr Tan? Did you hear what I asked? What does recalcitrant mean?

Mr Tan: "Ok Tina stop and ask me another time, we will do Maths now. Here are your test papers from last week's test and because I'm feeling happy, you will all receive bonus 5 marks! It's ok if you don't understand it, as long as you're happy you shouldn't have too much questions ok?"

Tina: "Mr Tan, then what does doctrinaire means?"

Mr Tan: (goes on about maths)

Tina: "Mr Tan, then how about 'beating around the bush'? What does it mean?"

Mr Tan: "Ok guys, please be reminded that next week there will be a History test. If you fail that test you will be forced to stay back in school everyday for revision. If you continue failing it, the school's average score will drop, it will close down and every student will have to go somewhere else and maybe die from malnutrition. Please be worried sick about that instead and forget about the other 'minor' issues."

Tina: "Ok then. I have a History question for you Mr Tan. What's the difference between Hitler's Germany and our..."

Mr Tan: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH TINA. You are being a bitch. You already have gotten detention for general indiscipline for listing out the names of students who got kicked out of the school on your diary, have you left your manners in the dentention room? You have a dubious record therefore you cannot ask me anymore questions."

Tina: What? The dentention was meant to be a secret and the Principal promised that it will not be revealed! You're a lousy teacher! You don't answer my questions directly either!

Mr Tan: "AHA. Now the whole class can be my witnesses. All your report cards are with me so you will tell the truth and that is Tina is being rude by calling me names and starting this argument. For this, I will ban Tina from speaking in this class from now on. And Tina, if you're disenchanted with this arrangement, you can can always leave the school."

Tina: " I, but I..."

Mr Tan: "Be quiet. Now class, turn to page 264 on public policies..."

==================================================

Random story I thought of. I'm not lying, it is random.

*cough*Anway, on an entirely unrelated note, the recent spat between YPAP members and a certain outspoken S'porean on FB, which is really nothing important since the mainstream media aren't saying anything much about it, has caught my eye and I'm checking up on it! Quite interesting, you can read about it here and here.

21 years ago, an evil spawn was conceived

2009-12-15T01:07:00.000+08:00

I think it's the latter.

Anyway, there it goes, the 'big' 21st birthday. I think it's only 'big' because everyone thinks it is. In the end, it's just the few people who matters that remembered and bothered. Or maybe the periodical reminders from me leading up to the day itself helped.

STARS in two days! Shit.

And I was wondering how can I blog about today

2009-12-14T00:01:00.006+08:00

(In light of the sensitive subject discussed and the author's inherent nature of going overboard, the author has decided to practice self-censorship and all inappropriate content has been removed.)

Went down to Zsofi Bar at Little India earlier in the evening for a CS event, Unplugged, where we had our talents from WKWSCI doing acoustic performances. I've never been to the Little India station since its opening and boy, was I surprised when I alighted. There was                                                      so many                                   queueing up                   escalator!

As we made our way to the bar, passing through the streets, the number                                astounding. It's about 20 times worse than the situation at Boon Lay, I tell you,                                 flooded and                                        grass field! Seriously, I've lived in S'pore for 20 years and I never knew                    so many                                   wa lao!

Of course, me being me, I made enough racist comments to ensure karmic retribution on myself for the following year. Like for example, when                                                                                             HAHA. I'm not the only one of course. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ made their contributions to the momentary racism.

Dinner afterwards was fine but I can't take spicy stuff so it's not as fufilling for me.

And with this, begins my 4-days of activities. Will update if there's anything interesting!

Fashion idiot

2009-12-13T13:18:00.001+08:00

Shopping is like abstract art, I can never understand how it's done. It's made worse by my absolute lack of fashion sense and unwillingness in leaving the house.

I resolve to get myself clothes to wear by the end of this year otherwise I'm going to start wearing the grey admin tee out.

On an unrelated note, I'm watching 海派甜心!

Taiwanese idol dramas get on my nerves for its predictable plots and certain draggy arcs but thanks to improved connection speed, I can skip the boring parts. Plus, 罗志祥 is kinda funny AT TIMES (I skip the act cute parts) and there's oh-so-cute Rainie Yang. She's the only celebrity who can act cute and not piss me off; though for the show I think she really can't look fierce enough for the part.

But it's only at the sixth episodes so I might get sick of it like I did for the previous 蒋小花 drama.

My life is really boring. Sheesh.

I'm awake not because I woke up early

2009-12-12T09:22:00.003+08:00

There's lot going on in this country that I think people should know but are not being told. But I guess this probably happens anywhere. We are safe, clean and rich(relatively speaking), but at what expense? Freedom does come with a price, doesn't it?

Mean World Syndrome

2009-12-10T23:19:00.001+08:00

I believe in karmic retribution; I know it exists because I've been on the receiving end of it for a very long time. And no, it's not the positive type.

I kind of like the idea of 'an eye for an eye' as well. Contrary to what most people would believe, I don't think the whole world is going to go blind because not everyone is evil and had done bad things that would cause them to suffer retribution for it.

So, as a hypothetical example, if a villain plucks out the hostage's teeth as a form of torture, he should receive the same punishment, preferably from the hostage him- or herself.

I'm having such morbid thoughts because I just watched 学警出更 and I'm mortified at Winnie's predicament. Hello she's pregnant lei, at least give her anaesthesia(shit I didn't get the spelling right at 1st try) lah. Geez I sound like an auntie already.

Somehow bad people have it easy. There's a lot of injustice around and bad guys don't seem to get what they deserve.

I should start watching happier shows.

Snores

2009-12-09T04:31:00.002+08:00

Because I'm nocturnal and I've been sleeping AT LEAST 12 hours, I've forgotten how the Sun looks like now.

When school starts I'm positively screwed.

It has been a long while

2009-12-07T07:38:00.000+08:00

and we've forgotten how to live.

For me, I've forgotten how it feels to sit on the grass, wet with dew, to just enjoy the morning breeze. I've forgotten how it feels to walk under the cooling rain and just let it wash me. I've forgotten how it feels to just plug the music in and run around my old neighbourhood until the player stops.

But I think that it's not that I've forgotten. It's just that while 'growing up', I decided that these actions have no meaning, and I stopped doing them.

How many of these 'childish' actions did you have? And of those, how many have you forgotten?

Fail

2009-12-05T02:20:00.002+08:00

This, ladies and gentlemen, is NTU's way of saying "YOU WAIT LONG LONG THEN WILL HAVE LOR".

Another update

2009-12-05T01:22:00.000+08:00

It seems easier to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger than plan modules, especially now that it's the glorious holidays after the bloody exams. But time is not on my side; then again, when has time ever been on anyone's side? Actually, I think it's pretty easy to shoot someone in the head. Even easier if that person is...

Anywayyyyyy, I'm officially debt-free for this December(the month)!

Managed to clear the bloody debts I owed the hospital for the braces treatment, and my pay from the school has came in whoosha! Not a lot of spare cash for shopping though. I'm just grateful that this month should turn out pretty smooth.

Random update

2009-12-04T01:17:00.000+08:00

I'm thankful for KQ and Wl because they're provided me with a specific goal to accomplish this December(the month), otherwise I'll just be spamming Full-Metal Alchemist(re-watching the old series) and doing nothing else.

But I still think we'll end up wasting money. Hah.

Enjoying life

2009-12-02T04:15:00.001+08:00

This December(the month) feels so short and inadequate for the amount of stuff I need to get done! And module planning is like the last thing I want to do.

Bad news even before the next semester even started: I'll be having two core modules' exams on the same day AGAIN. And I'm not even sure if I can avoid a third one!

Complaining to the administration seems like a viable resort but this is, afterall, S'pore. We(S'poreans in general) either complain in places that don't matter, or we don't complain at all, even at places that matter because that's equivalent to giving ME a lesson on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle - NO POINT.

Besides, complaining about dates of exams seems like something a whiny spoilt brat would do and I RESENT THAT (credited:Marcus Yong).

So I'll just have to live with it.

Who knows? I might do sooo badly when the results come out that I'll have to quit school.(I honestly doubt so; I'm just saying it for the sake of being careful and hypocritically modest. For more details behind the reasoning for that, check out Delwynn's post which makes an awful lot of sense.)

Teh ftw

2009-12-01T03:07:00.000+08:00

via loveyourchaos

Stop calling me uncle. Teh ftw ok?

Naturale

2009-11-29T23:05:00.001+08:00

In this era of photoshop, plastic surgery and amazing make-up skills/products, so many of us have forgotten how to accept our imperfections as it is but have instead, settle for 'solutions' that goes around the problem instead of solving it.

The ugly proclaim themselves perfect from behind that powder mask and the those inconfident declare their rebirth through deception.

Is it wrong? Why isn't it right? Does it matter if these solutions can get you around the problem long enough to render the problem non-existent? Does it matter if it helps you find yourself even though society dictates that it is 'unnatural'?

I'm all for the natural look though; I'm just doing a min-debate in my mind on why am I taking the negative stand towards this issue.

Irrelevant thoughts again eh.

Update

2009-11-28T03:47:00.000+08:00

Post-exams chillout was real fun. JX + Marcus + Mano is really the lethal combination for a great laugh.

Mahjong session was not cool though. Because I lost money. 此仇不报非君子. Roar.

I need to plan my next semester's timetable by 10th next month. STARS nightmare all over again ahhhhhh~

Random thought

2009-11-26T23:52:00.001+08:00

Would you rather be smart and ugly, or good-looking but dumb? (For the sake of it, assume the fallacy of fairness)

If you ask me, a good-looking person can pretend to be smart to cover up his stupidity and somehow get away from anything but a smart person cannot pretend to be good-looking because that only makes him a delusional snob. So the choice's pretty obvious.

Then again, if he can pretend to be smart, he's not that stupid afterall.

I don't mind waking up one day and be good-looking and dumb for a few days though. It'll be interesting to note how it feels.

Ahh the bliss of holidays. You get to think about absolutely irrelevant stuff.

WOOO HOOO

2009-11-25T22:34:00.002+08:00

I remember those dark, dark periods of my life. Trudging through the repetitive cycles of mugging everyday and mourning the lost of my glorious youth to the vile terror called 'A' Levels. Even then, after I made it through the ordeal, battered and bruised but still pretty alive, there was no celebration of our triumph.

But just now, minutes after my paper, I walked to my friends and we instinctively gave a collective WOOO-HOOO, hands raised, eyes bright and smiles wide, much to the chagrin of the others who still have papers*sniggers*.

I don't think I did as good for my papers as I should be. The first day where I had three papers really took a toll on me(I'm sniffing and croaking away now) and so, my concentration level for my preparation on Tuesday was too low to save my two papers today. There were a lot which I went through but didn't commit to memory because of reasons I do not wish to divulge.

Ok fine I was just lazy.

This has been an interesting semester. I've made quite a lot of tactical mistakes in studying and planning, but I made interesting friends along the way, for which I'm really glad about. The effort I made to MAKE myself study was immense. My writing speed has also slowed down significantly; I couldn't finish three of the papers. Can't say the 2 years of slacking in the army didn't do any damage now.

Oh well. It's over now and I'm really too lazy to worry or feel sad about them.

Holi holi holidays~ ~

Things to Do

2009-11-23T23:19:00.000+08:00

Just a personal checklist.

Finish up Prototype (the game, not the cognitive schemata)
Reformat my room
MAHJONG
Sing K
Pick up the dusty basketball
Catch up on books
Reformat computer.
Pick up whatever I've neglected

I'm so tired that I can't even feel sad about screwing 2 of the 3 papers I did. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and realise that today's a dream.

Out of my mind

2009-11-22T23:26:00.000+08:00

Amidst the hopelessness, I saw a ray of light...

I thought that I can really survive the onslaught of three exam papers in one day, and that thought gave me hope and drive.

But then...

You despicable double-headed SONNAWABITCH.

Countdown to destruction

2009-11-21T20:51:00.001+08:00

It's an interesting observation that I'm making such a big hoo-ha outta this exams. Considering how chill I used to be for exams in the past, with the exception of the life-determining 'O's and 'A's, this reaction is really quite peculiar.

Is it because of the fact that I've been out of touch with the pen-and-paper for two years that's making me nervous?

Or could it be that this panic stems from the insecurity I feel over this path I have deviate to, and the many talented people I've met?

Or perhaps it could be that I've changed in my two years in army, causing me to be obsessed with results and grades?

Only one thing is certain.

My BitTorrent download of 'Shaman King' is taking far too long.

After studying too much...

2009-11-20T23:59:00.000+08:00

My brain flashed an error message just now:

"You are running low on disk space. Delete unwanted files to free up disk space."

And so I did.

Now I'm left with two folders. One is named 'Passwords'(1MB), the other is 'Personal information'(2MB).

Whoever you may be, I'm sorry, Friends(500kB).

Same crap, different day

2009-11-18T23:19:00.000+08:00

You go in the system, blend in with everyone else and start fighting to get to the top of the mix so that we can advance.

It turns out that advancing means going into another blender, and the only difference between this one and the previous one is that this is bigger, more competitive and even more important. But at the end of the day, after going one whole round, we're all back to the same question we asked at the beginning: what's all these for?

MM Lee acknowledged that the system of teaching Chinese Language was wrong from the start. Years from now, hopefully someone else is going to go up the stage and say that the examination-centered system was wrong from the start.

Cut

2009-11-17T02:35:00.001+08:00

I cut myself with a blade today.

It was painful. There was blood. But, strangely, it felt almost... liberating.

As if the stress and frustration had built up for so long that it couldn't find any other way to release itself.

But I know this is wrong. Very wrong.

So this will not happen again. I promise.

I promise I will buy a new shaver to replace the blunt one so it doesn't freaking cut me when I'm shaving.