be mine

2007-11-04T10:32:00.000+08:00

It's time to move on, and it's time for a short and sweet finale.

May everyone experience joie de vivre. Take care.

2006-12-04T11:57:00.000+08:00

It's the final crunch time of the semester! Woohoo! (That was a sarcastic woohoo, if you haven't realized.)

Haha, in other news, it was a nice getaway at Boston over Thanksgiving. It's ironic how Thanksgiving break forces you to take a break, and then you return to a workload that drives you to the other end of the relaxation spectrum to the no-time-for-relaxation side, and then 3 weeks later it's total relaxation again.

Looking forward to some snow at least?

Check out the photos from some link

2006-10-15T10:44:00.000+08:00

Who's hungry in Baltimore?

24Sep06 - Chicken curry and roti prata

28Sep06 - Typical dinners

A typical lunch: ta pao from the Depot

14Oct06 - Fish Curry! with fishballs, tao pok, Chinese cabbage and carrots.

2006-10-15T10:38:00.000+08:00

Random Fall 2006 Picture

View from the lounge

Our lounge

My kitchen area

My room

2006-07-10T22:29:00.000+08:00

Prata monster

2006-05-23T21:18:00.000+08:00

I'm back in Singapore for the summer! Harlow everyone!

2006-04-23T05:10:00.000+08:00

It's Spring Fair this weekend, but the weather has been really bad, rainy and gloomy as opposed to almost-summer weather just the day before Spring Fair, which is why people said it's cursed to rain every Spring Fair.

2006-04-15T10:47:00.000+08:00

Yay! I had my first violin and piano lesson today! Haha. It is refreshing to be learning a new instrument after 9 years. I felt like I was in Sec One again, taking advice from seniors.

I'm going to kill Control Systems, there's no other way. Ganbatte!

Had lunch with the Dean last Fri, it was such a formal event that I felt severely underdressed. Got to get a proper coat from Singapore next time.

This is a stressful week. May I sail through it safely.

2006-04-13T03:26:00.000+08:00

Swiss Alps

Swiss trains run like clockwork, this one left less than a minute after the scheduled time.

Snaking through the lower parts of the Alps

Nice?

Climbing higher and higher.

A lonely house

Another lonely house - it really looks surreal on the slope

Near the top..

View from the top of the world

Absolute breathtaking

Postcard shot - my favourite

Descent

Frozen Lake Miralago

At Tirano, Italy, after the 4 hour ride..

2006-04-11T08:29:00.000+08:00

http://www.goglogo.com/ggl.asp?lo=shengie

Try my own search engine!

2006-04-09T02:32:00.000+08:00

more often

2006-04-08T04:19:00.000+08:00

More of Paris

Inverted pyramid in the Louvre

External pyramid - Main entrance to the Louvre

River Seine

Notre Dame

Yes, morbid I know, but we visited a cemetary. But it's Chopin!

2006-04-07T22:53:00.000+08:00

Paris: 20-22Mar2006

From the foot of Eiffel Tower at night

It glitters for about ten minutes once in a while. Quite ugly actually.

Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace

The extensive grounds of the Versailles Palace

The colossal Arc de Triumph

Champs Elysee - 10 lanes! Widest road in Paris. LV flagship is here too.

Sucre Coeur - we witnessed a mass that was in progress. The chorals were so peaceful.

2006-04-07T11:09:00.000+08:00

I've been tagged! Okay this is some chain tagging thing, but it's fun!

Name five of life's simple pleasures that you like most, then pick five people to do the same. Be original and creative! :)

My 5 simple pleasures in life:

1. Being with my family and relatives - doing nothing, baking, arguing, cooking, window shopping, walking around in Chinatown, blah.

2. Playing my erhu - it has supported me through many stressful years

3. Talking lame shit with good friends - coffee club was becoming a favourite place, too bad there's none here.

4. Listening to good old music - music lifts my soul

5. Reading about anything that remotely interests me - made easier with Wikipedia. The evolution of Asian languages, history of human migration,.. music of the minority Zhuang nationality of China, .. an erhu made of horse femur. Blah.

2006-04-07T10:57:00.000+08:00

More of London

Lifting the London Eye! Haha.

?????????haha. Spring is here. I hope they didn't plant these.

The often misnamed Tower Bridge - London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. Come to think of it, what a morbid nursery rhyme that was!

See what they do to appease tourists like when they have to restore the St. Paul's Cathedral? They provide a pencil sketch! Haha.

Millennium Bridge crossing River Thames towards Tate Modern (some modern art museum that was originally a coal factory)

Buckingham Palace

2006-04-03T04:37:00.000+08:00

18-19Mar2006 London

Watson and I in front of London School of Economics and Political Science

Richie and I in front of BBC

Chinatown in London

2006-04-03T04:06:00.000+08:00

19Mar2006 Scenes of Cambridge

Watson, Richie and I in Fitzwilliam College

Chee How and I in St. John's College

St. John's College and River Cam behind me

Rustic River Cam

Back entrance to Trinity College

Majestic King's College

Christ College

2006-03-10T08:49:00.000+08:00

One more week to Spring Break! It's really fast, but I have one more Econ midterm before that. Can't wait to see Watson in London!! :)

2006-03-02T08:41:00.000+08:00

I'm so proud of my brother!!!!! Congrats man! :)

2006-02-27T11:12:00.000+08:00

Some people do not get their priorities right, for example, not studying when they're supposed to, but complaining about every single thing on earth, except themselves.

2006-02-24T08:41:00.000+08:00

For fun

http://kevan.org/johari?name=shengie

Thanks ppl! :)

2006-02-22T09:38:00.000+08:00

Hell week

I have 5 midterms and quizzes this week! Argh!

2006-02-14T07:46:00.000+08:00

Ski Trip

Went skiing on Sat at Whitetail Ski Resort in Pennsylvania, it was fun! But I fell down so many times.. especially on the more difficult slope. I love beginner slopes; they boost your morale. The snow storm got so strong that you couldn't see more than 20m in front of you, and when you're on a steep slope, uh oh..

Unfortunately, the only photo I have of the place is this.

And the school is quite pretty after the snow storm over the weekend. This is the Upper Quad.

The Freshman Quad with Mr Frosty as a guard

No kidding; the snow was that high!

The 'Beach'

2006-02-11T05:29:00.000+08:00

CNY Dinner at the Singapore Embassy

All satiated after the dinner. We had char kway teow, among other delicacies. I was lucky to be in the right van, the one that didn't get lost on the journey to Washington D.C. Haha.. the embassy looks quite posh in fact, and is located along International Drive, a pretty neat precinct in DC.

CNY dinner - Freshmen potluck

We had a nice little potluck last weekend too. Might as well cook since we're hardly free to do so anyway.

How's that huh? Haha.

2006-02-06T05:51:00.000+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!!

School has finally started, and first week started off slow and steady. Finalised some initial plans for Spring Break at last. Having scrapped plans to go to California due to exhorbitant plane tickets, we're not headed for London, Paris and the Alps in Switzerland. Can't wait to see Watson in London! We may head up to visit Cambridge over there too.

In other news, I really hope to survive this sem's classes, especially Signals, Systems and Control, my first brush with electrical engineering in my life.

Also, there's the upcoming CNY dinner hosted by the Singapore Embassy in Washington DC which we'll be attending. So exciting!!

Shout-out to all those who've visited this page in recent times: Thanks for dropping by!

2005-12-21T11:45:00.000+08:00

Well, exams are over. Had dinner at Zhenxin's place yesterday, he's a great cook! Haha. We watched Love Actually after that, it's quite funny though lame.

Going to do major spring cleaning tomorrow. Also having lunch at Chinatown Cafe with Teck and the rest.

Can't wait for Sat.

2005-12-21T11:44:00.000+08:00

I'm living with a hermit. At least it's benign.

2005-12-13T09:35:00.000+08:00

Hell week is here!!

Just survived a Calc III mid term today, but there's still the final to look forward to on Thu. Argh. Then it's Orgo on Fri and Mol Cell on Sat. Exam on a SAT. Evil. And there's a stupid poster presentation tomorrow. Bah.

My brother enlisted on Friday. Haha, ended up in Raven coy.

Can't wait for Sat. Then there will only be one more exam left on Mon, which isn't a tough nut. Thank goodness.

2005-12-06T04:47:00.000+08:00

It's snowing!

2005-12-04T05:40:00.000+08:00

New York - Went with Richie!

How we got there

Coolie quarters, but cheap lah.Only 30 USD per night.

On the ferry to Liberty Island.

We're free!

Taken from the base of the Statue of Liberty - I love this picture

The crowds at the annual Thanksgiving Parade - baby boomers and babies rejoice

Scooby Doo!

Times Square at 445pm - It gets dark early

More of Times Square

Harry Potter! Actually I prefer LOTR.

Picturesque United Nations - Wonders of an evil tree, a road sign, and a camera

UN Security Council

Singapore at the UN General Assembly

Korea Way

Am I in Korea? No! You're in Korea Town. Had lunch with Raphael here on one of the afternoons.

Somehow, the Great Singapore Sale pales in comparison to this. 65% off!

Manhattan Mall - nothing fantastic. Taka is probably as grand.

Museum of Natural History

Example of an exhibit

Another example. Look at the intricate craftwork!

Here comes the T Rex!

Singapore Cafe in Chinatown

Don't buy from this store!

View of Lower Manhattan from the Empire State Building

Traffic jams

The ethereal bridge

2005-12-04T02:08:00.000+08:00

It's been a whirlwind week. Just returned from New York last Sunday, went there for 5 days over the recent Thanksgiving break. It was a good chance to recharge myself for the upcoming finals in about one and a half weeks. 3 more weeks before returning to Singapore!

2005-11-21T11:11:00.000+08:00

Cooking curry chicken tomorrow. Hehe. Hope it turns out well.

It's almost Thanksgiving! I've been feeling so slack this weekend. I actually watched LOTR 1 and 2 and half of 3 for the first time in my life. And only got through 1.5 chapters in Lodish. Argh.. signal transduction is killing my brain cells.

And then it's Wednesday and we're off to New York City. Woot. One more month and it's time to go home. But before that is a big hurdle - FINALS. Dang.

2005-11-18T10:22:00.000+08:00

Argh. It's damn cold now! Right now it's -2 degrees celsius. Even my refrigerator is not as cold.

2005-11-15T08:57:00.000+08:00

Tallest artificial Christmas tree? Hahaa. This is from the Str aits Ti mes.

2005-11-08T03:45:00.000+08:00

Woot! Just had a great Indian meal with Chris. And there was a discount for students so we paid only 10 bucks for the buffet. SO full now..

2005-11-07T11:30:00.000+08:00

21!!

2005-11-06T09:22:00.000+08:00

I'm sure the trees in Baltimore are so confused. It feels like summer again. But i'm sure it's just freak weather.

Yesterday I saw Mars. Yeah, I'm not joking. There's an observatory on campus, and we went there to have a look. Later on we went to Mattin Center for free coffee and doughnuts and of cos watch JHEC pull their cool stunts and tricks. (JH Entertainment Club, in case you were wondering).

2005-11-06T09:10:00.000+08:00

Scenes of Hopkins

Gives you a false sense of security eh?

My school!

Trudging up here to class every morning

Front view of the MSE library

Back view of the library and botak trees.

Looking on the Upper Quad

Gilman Hall among the trees

Wolman Hall - where I reside

The lobby

2005-11-03T06:33:00.000+08:00

Happy Diwali! Selamat Hari Raya!

Last week I watched 4 films - one Spanish "Talk to Her", one Cantonese "Chungking Express", one English "Dead Poets Society" and one French "Les Choristes". All were quite good! Haha. Now it's back to work. No more relaxing.

2005-10-28T06:17:00.000+08:00

Temperatures are dropping quickly. Haha. Past few days has been hovering around 5-7 degrees. Brrrr.. and some parts of Western Maryland has already started to snow. In October!

2005-10-28T01:30:00.000+08:00

Mid terms are over!! Woohoo! Haha. I haven't felt so free in 3 weeks.

New song on my blog. 'Almost a Whisper' by Yanni. Hope someone likes it. I actually used Midi Maestro to rearrange it 'cos the original instruments used were atrocious. :)

2005-10-09T08:20:00.000+08:00

It's been raining for almost 36 hours! Ok la, there were intermittent breaks, but it just doesn't get sunny anymore these days. And the temperature dropped to about 13 degrees celsius on this dreary drizzly evening.

This weather makes me feel like sleeping, but I have econs mid term on Monday.

The City

You see these all over the city; Baltimore's THE place to eat crabs. This was taken during Orientation week, when we went to Inner Harbor (or town) for a baseball match.

Another view of Inner Harbor.. from the top of Federal Hill on another day:

Presenting... the FOUR DAO GALS.

What's there to do at Inner Harbor other than pigging (maybe crabbing is a better word) out on crabs (oops then this becomes redundant)?

Now.. I don't remember it was so fun! Haha, just kiddin.

Well, back to the baseball game, it was so boring that we left halfway.

There was something interesting though: Many men trying to smoothen the sand pitch during half time.

Brb.

2005-10-01T11:27:00.000+08:00

Look out for Food, People, Classes, The City and more. Haha.

I have to mention this. I was volunteering at the Hyatt Hotel here on Wed for the BMES (Biomedical Engineering Society) Annual Fall Meeting which involved some 2000 people. It was the first time I had to take a public bus in Baltimore, and I had to do it in formal attire. I was like in a long sleeve with a tie and vest thrown over, black pants, black shoes etc. Felt kinda 'out' on the bus, but the ride was alright.. learnt some stuff from it. Like how much's the bus fare, how to open the door to alight etc. Haha. Sounds dumb to the uninitiated. Welcome to America.

Oh, I digressed so much. I meant to say this; I took a cab back to Wolman after my volunteer shift ended, and in the cab my cellphone slipped out of my pocket, and I left it IN THE CAB. Damn, I was in such a foul mood during dinner that I was blabbering nonsense. I called the taxi company and they sent a message to the cabbie and he apparently didn't reply within the first half hour. When I happened to call my number again during dinner, HE PICKED UP, and said he was sending it over right after I gave him my location. I bolted out of Wolman Station (the dining hall) right away. I still can't believe he was sooo nice to do that. In Singapore, there's probably at most the same chance of getting your phone back after leaving it in a taxi. I tipped him 10 bucks. I hope it's enough to cover his gas, else he might not be so kind again the next time someone leaves something valuable in his cab.

THANKS CABBIE 887. You made my day.

2005-10-01T10:55:00.000+08:00

Wooot! Haven't been here in so long, feels a bit like home coming to blogger. Well well well, sorry to all the peeps who've been checking here for updates! My sincerest apologies.. it's been exactly a month since I arrived in Baltimore and the experience has been great so far.

Frankly speaking, the culture 'shock' turned out to be rather diluted, as compared to what I was expecting. Somehow, it didn't seem very different from anywhere else. Granted, the people are different, the streets are different, the slangs are different, the food is different, but somehow taken altogether I didn't feel overwhelmed by it all, nor alienated. I am lucky I guess, having been exposed to elements of American culture even in Singapore, being well versed in the English language, and generally being open-minded.

Inevitably, it's not all that smooth mixing into the local student population. It takes some effort, but people here are generally accommodating, and while they don't go all out to integrate you into their cliques, it's good to be reminded that it takes two hands to clap, and it's our job as much as it's theirs. I remember how even in Singapore we don't necessarily embrace wholeheartedly a new international student; it's not because we are evil people.

Phew! I didn't mean for this post to be so philosophical in nature, but I guess I haven't had a real chance to reflect on my first month in Hopkins and to express it to an audience who I know will appreciate it (other than my family, with which I have been in constant contact with).

With my schedule confirmed, and having settled down into the daily routine and chalk and talk (and study), I will probably find myself blogging once again.

The Weather

When I arrived it was pretty much still summer, though you could get a chilly day or two in between the strong sunny days. Sometimes it felt as hot as Singapore, but definitely not as humid, which I appreciate very much. However it makes my lips dry, and in the first few days I had to put on lip balm. Now I have adapted I hardly put it on. There was a cold front about 3 weeks back, which meant daytime temperatures of about 20 degrees, but it was nothing really.. compared to like NOW. Just 4 days ago, the sun seemed to disappear, peeking out only a few times a day, and even so its warmth was no longer as all-embracing as before. You had to walk into an area with sunlight to actually feel kinda warmish. Then, temperatures fell, and people started donning sweaters to class and even to dining halls. Today my friend asked me for lunch, and since I was in the dorm I came down in berms and a t-shirt. Boy was that a bad idea! I was alright before eating, after lunch I was half freezing. Today's temperatures were about 13-15 degrees I guess, with lows of 8 degrees. As they say, it's not so much the temperature, it's the wind that gets to your bones. Well, it hasn't gotten to my bone yet, but I am sure that's a pretty bad experience. SO, I went to the JHU Barnes and Noble book store and grabbed the nicest (and most affordable) jacket I could find. And dug out my winter wear from cold storage. I enjoyed the cool breeze the first day I came here, but the winds now are no longer of the same character.. they possess an evil streak. Haha. Go figure.

My fingers are tired. Stay tuned.

Later!

2005-08-08T19:29:00.000+08:00

Woot. It's been such a long time since I last blogged. Now that my attachment has ended, I finally have some time to myself. Not that I could not wait for my attachment to end, it was a really great experience, and just before I left last Friday, bidding farewell to my colleagues, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. They are all such nice people, especially my lab officer May, who even gave me a farewell present, and baked a mango cheesecake for me.

Some of my colleagues.

Helen and I

Well, but I have to move on, and I can console myself knowing that I will be back there next year.

Some pics from Raphael's 21st bdae dinner treat. Arigato raphael.. lol.

He looks damn sleepy.

No longer sleepy.

William's favourite toilet in Wisma. NO, don't call me a bitch, You're the one. :)

Have been bumping into ppl recently. Just as well. Saw eugene and john at wisma on friday. Today I went to the national library and saw my sec 2 chinese teacher, and pb at bugis.

Last sat I celebrated my 21st bdae 3 months early. Hah. Haven't copied the pics from my digicam.

3 more weeks. Paul's leaving on wed. SO fast.

2005-07-16T19:29:00.000+08:00

My bro got GOLD in the International Biology Olympiad! Congrats!

Just talked to Ms. Ooi just now at the Hwachong Prize Presentation Ceremony. Felt a bit extra collecting my brother's prizes, but it was ok, talked a bit to the student sitting beside me. Making fun of Ang's pronunciation (haha, they call him CEO/Principal now, how weird) etc.

Concert's next sunday at esplanade 3pm. It's FREE! Drop by whoever's free.

2005-07-06T21:49:00.000+08:00

Phew. Long day! Morning went to apply for my US visa. On learning which school I am going to, the lady who interviewed me advised me to take care of my lab experiments, because she heard students were known to disrupt other ppl's expts to get a better grade. :S How thankful I am to her for that piece of advice.

Met Janan at City Hall later in the afternoon for tea. Caught up on lots of stuff. Have fun in Europe! There were like a hundred policemen all over Raffles City, 'cos of the ongoing IOC convention upstairs. Poor Paris.. I was hoping for it to win the bid.

2005-06-27T20:14:00.000+08:00

Met the ppl from HCCO 0102 exco last sat! We went to Marina Square and ate at Hans. Marina Square looks so different now, reminds me of the hip areaaround Bugis! Then we hanged out at the Esplanade, enjoyed the wind, shared chilly stories lol.

On Sunday I went back to my lab! Believe it or not. No choice lah, gotta run a 6-day long protocol. It's either sunday or next saturday, which is absolutely a no-no.

Gonna apply for my visa next week.. but I have yet to know when my deed signing will occur. Bah.

2005-06-22T21:58:00.000+08:00

Everyone go read "Family Matters" by Rohan (or Rohinton) Mistry. Mistry's an Indian Canadian who migrated to the steppes in 1975. Despite that, his story about this Indian family is remarkably impeccable; one can hardly tell he had even left India for a year.

And yet, it's not because the story is so locally 'Indian' that it charms me. "Family Matters" piercingly applies to all kinds of societies across the globe; it delves deep into the essence of human nature, which transcends racial, religious or geographical differences that intrinsically distinguish one society from the other.

I guarentee you will learn a lot, without realising it till decades later.

2005-06-21T12:54:00.000+08:00

Phew it's been a long week. Last wed we did the MBTI personality test. I still feel that the results vary with moods. That day I was an ENTP. Friday we had a tour of the 5 research institutes in Biopolis. Was so busy in the lab later that I could not make it for Zhengyong's birthday party on Sentosa. Hope you had a great 21st!!

Sat I watched this concert at the Esplanade, "Admiral Zheng He". It was a musical describing the life of this eunuch Zheng He. The balance of the orchestra (SCO) was pathetic, to say the least. I can barely hear the bowed string instruments, even the gaohu. And the number of string players was even smaller than what you would find in the average symphony orchestra. They should have scaled up the orchestra's size for a musical of such a large scale.

Was catching up with Zhengru on msn yesterday evening. It's amazing how long we have not talked to each other..and I haven't seen him in person since 1996!! :x I'm looking forward to more pri sch gatherings before I leave.. always felt more 'ngam' with the pri sch ppl than my sec sch friends.

2005-06-14T22:00:00.000+08:00

Don't buy anything from a person called Bun Seong. He's a stupid cheater of a salesman. One of those victims of direct selling schemes who didn't make it. Selling some magnetic mattress thing.

Ok, just felt like whining.

Today was super fun. Janan would love it. :) At SHATEC, we learnt how to cook lamb stew, stir fried chicken with celery, chicken rice and pepper beef steak. It was a sweaty time. And a hot splatter of oil almost made it into my left eye. Ouch.

2005-06-13T20:35:00.000+08:00

Aiya... I should have known that hydrogen peroxide is unstable in the presence of light. And should be stored at 4 degrees celsius, where even so it's stable only for 6 months. *shrugs* Just repeatthe expt lor.

Today was quite boring. Talks and talks. I skipped the UK talk 'cos it was totally irrelevant to me, and went back to the lab for a while, where I attended half of a training session for this new microscope in the lab. Then there were talks by US scholars, representatives from MICA, STB and CNB. I loved this 'Uniquely Singapore' TV advertisement where a Japanese lady was preparing tea for two Japanese businessmen when she suddenly poured the hot water teh-tarik style! Haha, it was hilarious, esp. when she did the teh-tarik stun with the air of one doing what all normal Japanese tea brewers would do.

Tmr is fun. We're learning cooking at SHATEC.

I have to start revising my physics and maths. These are important subjects.

2005-06-10T19:43:00.000+08:00

Wow! After one week of residential stay at NTU, my bro was selected to represent Singapore at the International Biology Olympiad. And to top it up, he was informed by HCI of his being awarded top in biology, chem, physics and maths. ^____^ Congrats!

I hate medical bureaucacy. Today I went to get my Mantoux reading done, and it was 10mm - so I had to take an X-ray. But a doc advised me not to take another one so soon after my previous one, so I had to go back to Shenton Medical Group to get my x-ray report, and the doc was not very friendly, until he realised which Uni I am going to. -__-

Next week is the Pre-departure program. It's just talks and talks and talks and talks. Except on Tue when we'll learn cooking at Shatec! Woohoo :> My favourite day of all five. But i can't go OBS cos of my shoulder problem. It's a good and bad thing.

2005-06-06T19:37:00.000+08:00

Finally booked my SIN-LAX flight today. So I will be flying on 31Aug 1610H on flight SQ20.. Was compiling the things I needed to do in preparation for the sch and the scholarship, and there's quite a number. Well, at least the flights are all settled! I booked the domestic flight from LA to Baltimore on Sat with Richie, at the United Airlines office in town.

Today was Dave's bdae, so we went to Crystal Jade at Holland V for the bdae lunch. It was interesting to see a Brit trying to tackle his noodles with his chopsticks gracefully, and I think he did a rather remarkable job, without having to succumb to using a fork. :) We bought a cheesecake from NYDC for him later. And his present was a special set of books teaching English speakers how to speak Mandarin.

Went shopping last sat with mom. Bought two track pants and a polo tee from Hang Ten. It was like 70% off the pants. Woohoo!

2005-05-30T19:39:00.000+08:00

Got my Zen Neeon at the Creative warehouse sale last sat! It's quite nifty and looks pretty cool. In the evening met Alvin for dinner before watching Hwa Chong Choir's concert at VCH. Don't eat the ba cho mee at Funan food court, cos they add ketchup without you asking for it. Saw Xiao Kai and Jiamin there. On the way home saw yaohao and ji quan. Yaohao finally decided not to bring his cello to the UK. Haha.

GSS is finally here! Haha, recently I like shopping more and more.

2005-05-25T19:44:00.000+08:00

Welcome back to SG SQ!! :)

Anyway, I went to see a psychologist today, an aftermath of last Monday's psychometric test. He said I am too idealistic, which was what worried him.

Bumped into Lip Ting and Alwyn too.

Then went shopping with my mom at OG Orchard and John Little. Saw a couple of shirts which I will get next time. But I bought a pair of jeans and a 'holiday casual jacket', which was planned to be used for semi-formal events like seminars and house dinners. Hmm.

2005-05-25T19:40:00.000+08:00

Your #1 Match: ENFJ

The Giver

You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed.
Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections.
Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down.
You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine.

You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist.

Your #2 Match: ENTJ

The Executive

You are a natural leader - with confidence and strength that inspires others.
Driven to succeed, you are always looking for ways to gain, power, knowledge, and expertise.
Sometimes you aren't the most considerate person, especially to those who are a bit slow.
You are not easily intimidated - and you have a commanding, awe-inspiring presence.

You would make a great CEO, entrepreneur, or consultant.

Your #3 Match: INFJ

The Protector

You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.
Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.
You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.
You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them.

You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

Your #4 Match: INTJ

The Scientist

You have a head for ideas - and you are good at improving systems.
Logical and strategic, you prefer for everything in your life to be organized.
You tend to be a bit skeptical. You're both critical of yourself and of others.
Independent and stubborn, you tend to only befriend those who are a lot like you.

You would make an excellent scientist, engineer, or programmer.

Your #5 Match: ESFJ

The Caregiver

You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.
A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.
You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.
You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.

You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.

What's Your Personality Type?

2005-05-22T20:02:00.000+08:00

One of the graduate students in my lab just bought a Zen Micro.. actually I thought she should have waited till the Great Singapore Sale before getting it. And Rasu just told me abt the Creative Warehouse Sale next weekend.

Yesterday went down to STA travel agency with Richie to reserve our flight to Baltimore. In the end we reserved the Northwest flight.. which isn't that great cos we have to waste one night in a hotel and there are two transit points SIN-TOKYO-DETROIT-BWI. Maybe we should stick to the SIN-LA-BWI route instead.

After that we walked around Isetan for a while cos it was still early to meet my P6 classmates. I was showing him some clothes at TopMan which are quite swell but we agreed the prices are quite 'swell' too.

Then it was the most successful 6J gathering in a few years. Haha. 12 ppl turned up, and in the short span of waiting for some of them, we entertained like 3 surveyors/charity ppl. Did you know they earn 50cents per survey?! That crappy piece of paper which you don't fill up properly? As long as you write something, they get 50cents! Hmmm, it's tough work, but then again I don't really see the point of paying ppl to do such surveys. We created an island at Taka, just outside the Guess shop, blocking the human traffic for like ten minutes, cos we were waiting for someone and could not decide where to eat.

Haha and seems like Pri sch gatherings are not so rare after all.. Rasu just had his last week.

Today Bugis was damn crowded.. so many ppl praying.

2005-05-19T21:24:00.000+08:00

I am liking my work and work place more and more. There're Chinese, a Brit, Japanese, Taiwanese, and recently, a Canadian Chinese attachment student in my lab. And there're some Malaysians, Americans and other Europeans in the other labs. It's really interesting.

And the very first rat cells I grew last week are dying, slowly but surely. :( No one in my lab has succeeded in growing that cell line successfully yet. Bad feng shui? Hah. Well, nevertheless, I am growing two other cells lines for my new project on inducing pre-malignant cells to turn malignant.

The only bad thing about work is that there's no music!!! Argh, and my sony radio has died on me. :(

Do you think the price of Ipod mini will drop during the Great Singapore Sale?

2005-05-13T21:07:00.000+08:00

Yes! I survived week one at work! Haha, it wasn't that bad really. Spent so much time reading and reading. And grew some cells towards the later part of the week. Today's considered a red-letter day.. passed real quickly. Morning had a group meeting.. and May baked pandon chiffon and chocolate cake for us. The latter was baked without eggs or butter. Amazing. Then in the afternoon was the official opening of IBN, which was graced by DPM Tony Tan.

Finding a good book to read. Somehow the reading gene is me is starting to go into overdrive. Ok, that sounds totally geeky.

I am getting tired of eating lunch everyday. Cos it's usually not a very well-accompanied affair. But I guess that's the way life is.

2005-05-05T20:15:00.000+08:00

Second last free weekday. And it rained and rained.

Watched Kingdom of Heaven yesterday with Will and I found it awesome.. the war scenes from the air were breathtaking. Then met Raph for dinner at Crystal jade.

Before that, went down to SIA at Paragon with Richie to enquire about flights and such. Waited for more than an hour! And in the end we were advised to do it online.

Well.. at least I can confirm that I will be catching the flight SQ20 at 1610H on 31Aug.. provided I can get tickets! Haha.

2005-05-03T19:10:00.000+08:00

Hwa Chong JC CO got Gold with honors! Congrats to them. Their second piece was rather magical, in fact, many members of the audience didn't really appreciate it much, until the judges' verdict arrived.

Because I had an appointment with Director of IBN I had to miss VJC's performance. Reached there super early because Derrick's mom was kind enough to give me a lift all the way to Biopolis. So even after taking my time to change into executive wear, I was still half an hour early. And in the end was 'ushered' to the canteen. So unglam. And I went back 3 minutes before the appointment time. And waited till 1215 before I finally got to see her. Haha. Anyway, it was more of a 'choose-your-department' kinda thing rather than an interview.. Apparently they have this new project that aims to create a totally artificial KIDNEY. How amazing is that! They got a doctor, biologist, materials scientists, engineers etc working on it. Director even remarked that this could get someone a Nobel if they succeeded.

Tired. Damn tired. I am going to watch TV now.

2005-04-29T17:07:00.000+08:00

I almost killed my chance of getting a research internship at the IBN an hour ago. An IBN staff called and asked me if I were free to meet the Director this coming Tueday. Tuesday is the day of the SYF CO competitions for JC orchestras, which I very much wanted to witness. SOO.. I asked if I can meet Director on another day.

And regretted it the moment I hung up the phone. So after half an hour of deliberating how to explain myself, I called the staff back and confirmed the appointment. Phew!

In other news, I finally went to see the doc today, after enduring 4 days of increasing excruciating pain in my throat. Turns out I have a throat ulcer, arising from a rather serious infection. Which explains why it was painful to eat, or even talk these few days. Urgh. :( Wasted one whole week at home. WELL, I hope I recover before Tue's meeting.

2005-04-26T21:47:00.000+08:00

ORD LOH!

aye, but i caught a flu. well, there's never a perfect day. this one comes close to it!

2005-04-21T21:32:00.000+08:00

At last the concert was over last Sunday. The backstage of the Esplanade concert hall (and theatre) is like.. wow.. grand like a hotel. okie la, not like the fullerton but an average decent hotel. The performers' rest rooms have built in toilets, lockers, and some even come with sofa beds. Saw a backstage helper who looked like he recognised me but was too busy to talk to him.

Met devin for lunch on tue. and he was presenting a 'business plan' to me. haha, anyone interested in learning more about network marketing? Feel free to ask me and I will introduce you to him. Frankly, I think it's quite a good idea, based on sound principles, provided you WANT to and MUST get rich, and that you possess a rather gregarious personality.

After that went to make new spectacles! Got two pairs in the end.. one good pair and one pair for rugged use. Surprisingly, after two years in OSC peering at the computer screens from day to night, my short-sightedness improved! Left eye dropped from 550 to 450, right eye from 550 to 525. Amazing huh? Yah right. It's compensated by the fact that my astigmatism increased.

On wed went to Gombak Clubfitt gym with xuanming. It was surprisingly crowded on a weekday! According to xm, it was less crowded on the few weekends he went there. After which we had lunch at westmall.

Today, I went down to Tanjong Pagar to witness the SYF CO competitions. Woah, Nanyang really deserved their Gold with Honours. Theirs was a performance packed with PUNCH. The bowed strings were solid, and made up half the orchestra's volume (without the suona and louder percussion instruments). That should refute a recent Straits Times journalist criticising the whole chinese orchestral genre as a fundamental weakness that cannot be overcome. The knowledgable composer can do wonders with the acoustics of a still evolving modern chinese orchestra.

My cousin played for Bukit Panjang Govt High, which clinched a Silver. Not bad I think. :)

I received a call from my pri 2 teacher asking me if I am free to relief teach tmr! Relief teach .. PE!! Hahaha. Don't laugh.

2005-04-15T21:48:00.000+08:00

Wooohoo! I set aside this evening to blog 'cos if I were to delay anymore, some of the thoughts I had would have been overtaken by events..

Hmm. Last Sunday went for Hsinghai practice as usual. Had lunch with pb's mum and lihua jie at Fortune Center. Quite paiseh that they always insist on paying for my lunch everytime we eat together.. but of course next time I will treat them well when I start working. On the way to the bus stop I decided to pop by OG Albert for a while, and lo-and-behold, there was a storewide 20% sale! So, I promptly went in search of the Giodarno denim jeans that I intended to buy, and got a sweet 10 dollar discount off the shelf price. They didn't have the relaxed fit, but the roll-ups were more or less the same.

On Monday I attended a "Cancer Symposium" organised by the BMRC at Matrix, Biopolis. The lectures were potentially interesting. Haha, in the sense that, the introductions were promisingly understandable, but the speakers just suddenly crossed a line, and jumped into a deep pool of endless jargon at highly accelerated paces. Wahaha. I was lost more than a couple of times. But A*star really fed us well.. we had like 3 meals! Explains why I just had to fall asleep more than once during the whole day.

On tue went to swim for the first time in dunno-how-many days. Then in the evening met xm before heading to amk for a ktv session with the osc guys. Passed by this Baleno outlet which was selling a nice top for only 7 bucks, so I bought a blue one. Previously I bought a white one at IMM.

On wed went to IMM with my aunt and mom. Fila was having a sale, so I got another tee again. But my aunt paid for it.. was feeling kinda bad abt it, 'cos she didn't really have to. In the evening went for Hsinghai practice. Ma Xi, a specialist in Mongolian grassland music, was the guest singer. Maybe he was reserving his voice for Sunday's performance, but I could barely hear him singing despite being within 3 metres of him.

On thu, met Victor for a game of badminton at Potong Pasir CC. I felt that maybe I spoilt the game a little for him 'cos I was not going all out to catch the drop shots etc.. didn't wanna risk getting injured 3 days ahead of the concert. We ended up playing a doubles match with some older uncles.. and lost. haha. Aye. Next time we will beat them! went Hsinghai at night again..

Today went to Jurong point my three aunts and mom. We went big-time watch-hunting, for some unknown reason. Haha. I realise that most watches seem ugly to me. But I finally saw a new arrival at Casio that caught my eye - casual, yet not too casual that it cannot be worn into a dinner.

2005-04-08T21:13:00.000+08:00

I almost forgot that tmr's the weekend already. Periods of holiday or leave always blur the line between the weekday and the weekend. Just like how last Friday, I remarked to William how the crowds were just not coming in to Orchard despite it being the start of the weekend.

Yesteday went to Gombak for clearance in the morning. Kinda stupid.. had to climb halfway up the hill to get a pathetic signature. And gomez, xm and I were stopped by this brainless warrant officer who tried to be funny with us. Ok, so what if my hair is longer than yours? I am going to ORD, while you're going to be stuck there asking everyone "why ur hair so long?"

Then we headed to Lot One for a drink before going back to camp. On the mrt, there was this guy who was so enthusiastic about sharing good music with the rest of the carriage (and probably the next one too) that he had to blast Li Sheng Jie's "Chi Xin Jue Dui" from his CD player, and the next few tracks too. Dam and I were so amused we had to make fun of him - Your friendly mrt deejay, daily from Sembawang to Toa Payoh mrt station. 'And the next song is..' Brain-wave for the next CIP project?

The regulars were kind to give the 3 of us a lunch treat at Jack's Place at compass point. I ordered mixed grill since I couldn't really decide what to eat.

Then it was FFI. The first time the medic took my blood pressure it was super high, that he had to record it in red. Scary. But that's the problem with me, I always fail the first time. Later the doc took it again and it was normal. 130/80. Phew. The dental FFI was really FOR SHOW. He couldn't have checked my teeth for more than 3 seconds before announcing jubilantly "Ok, you can go now!"

Today I went for a most-uninspiring A*STAR Corporate Seminar. Urgh. The food wasn't even enough, and it wasn't that good to start with. Haha, yeah the main reason we (me rich and liangjie) went was for the food. Met a junior who was from hwachong and tchs too. Haha, and coincidentally he's on course at signal school so he basically went all the way home with me.

Yawn. Can it not rain tmr?

2005-04-06T22:03:00.000+08:00

Today was another rainy day, at least in the afternoon. It was one of the rare days recently when I spent almost the whole day at home, other than a short jog at the park across the road, for various reasons. Shouldn't be spending so much when I am saving up for certain big time purchases, bad weather for sport, hafta make some headway into my stats course. I finally completed chap 2 and even 3 today, moving on to the 4th. Ah. And I finally got down to watching 'Spartan' which I borrowed from Will last year. Haha. A rather sinister plot though.

Tmr I am going back to camp. It'll be my second last chance to talk to the people at OSC before I ORD. In a somewhat sad-yet-happy way, I am looking forward to it, so much so that I actually prepared my no. 3 way before bed time!

Aye, my friend asked me yesterday if I can play the er xian and jinghu. Apparently someone's looking for an erhu player who can play those two similar instruments too, for an upcoming Singapore Arts Fest performance in June.. Too bad. I can't. Although I am confident of faking quite a bit.. aha but I would be receiving a pay of it, so have to be more honest.

Just 5 minutes ago, I was reading this newspaper cut-out my dad passed to me, some speech MM Lee gave at the opening of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. It's like taking a micro-lesson on global economics and international relations! It only accentuates my wish to pursue a minor in economics/politics in jhu, although I am only one third into the article.

Yawn, shall continue tmr.

2005-04-05T19:26:00.000+08:00

Oops.. almost forgot to blog till thiam hao reminded me.

Hmmmm. Today is Tuesday.. woah so let's backtrack instead. Today I basically slacked at home; submitted my housing questionnaire and tried to advance a lil in the stats course i am taking, but barely covered one chapter! Yesterday was more eventful. went to the facial doc and after lunch, made pineapple tarts and brownies at my aunt's place. and guess who i saw? Nick Ngor! haha he looks much chubbier than before. In the evening I watched the recorded 'Turn Left Turn Right'. Call me a soapie but I liked the show a lot, especially the soundtrack.

Last weekend was filled with contradictary emotions.

On sat, I attended Weijie's 21st bdae party at the Madeira in Gombak. Jingyun and Lily went too. She looked resplendent in her prom gown. Before that I followed devin to his friend's place in bb to play some financial intelligence game, 'Fat Cat Smart Money', similar to 'Cashflow' which I played at the Meridien a few years ago. The principles I learnt are very sound.. I needa find out how to invest my money wisely. :)

On sun, I was at Hsinghai practice when I received news of a junior's mother's demise. To me it was unexpected, the considerate lady had instructed her children not to reveal her condition to anyone, as she didn't want us to be worried for her. She was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas 18 months ago. 9 months ago, she suffered a relapse; metastasis had set in. She's the first person I have known substantially in person who had died of cancer, so naturally I was slightly traumatised.

Met william briefly on sunday to show him the location where his potential first business may be set up. He passed me a whole stack of notes on how to get my U.S. social security number, hp plan, ID, driver's license, credit card and bank account! Thanks man! ^___^

Last friday, went to visit my third grand aunt, with my eldest and second aunt and my mom. Argh, I really regret not knowing Hakka, couldn't understand much of their conversation. But here and there my mom translated, and some parts sounded quite Chinese so still.. not so bad. aha. The coffeeshop downstairs is the only place I know that sells the traditonal Hakka 'lei cha fan', or green tea rice. Basically it's an all-vege meal, with many types of finely chopped vegetables. After that met william in town to watch the Eye 10, which was super disappointing. It was more of a comedy than a horror movie, not scary at all! After that we went shopping all over Orchard.. walked from Heeren, where we bought a black Adidas hand bag for Weijie, and a card, to Isetan! That's quite a feat, I felt quite tired after that. Must remember to get the jeans from Giordano next time. Ate at Crystal Jade, rather missed the food there. haha.

Met Prof Nadeau from Case Western Reserve University last tue during the informal lunch. Met a few other PhD students from the RIs, and they are really funny pple! Haha.. crapped a lot with them. And after that I had to read up quite a bit on RNAi. :O On wed went to IMM in the afternoon, then the public lecture, after which I had dinner at holland v with Richie. Wanted to go to the crystal jade xiao long bao there but it was so crowded!

Last weekend was Qing Ming, went to Holland V to pray my paternal great grandparents.

Tmr will be a slack day. I hope.

Things to do:
1. Get a decent pair of spectacles.
2. Get a decent watch.
3. Get a decent pair of jeans.
4. Get a decent casual short sleeved shirt.
5. Book plane tickets.
6. Confirm tuition with Maj Lim's daughter (Yes, can you imagine my shock when she called?)
7. Vet my accounts. Urgh.

2005-03-26T18:44:00.000+08:00

On wed, I went to a public auction in Little India with my father. There was a wide assortment of goods on offer. I guess auctions are not really for me.. I got a headache after two hours of the auctioneer repeatin the bids in the same, irritating manner. And I think quite a number of rash decisions were made on the spur of the moment, which were probably unretractable unless you were prepared to pay the fine.

Then we met my mother at Sheng Siong at ten mile junction to get some stuff for the cheesecake. After that I went down to meet Richie at Buona Vista again as there was a public lecture at Matrix that evening. We waited like quite a while for the shuttle bus that never came; maybe we were at the wrong bus stop. We witnessed a group of ppl (presumably working in Biopolis) jogging up the long slope leading to the complex. The speaker is from Oxford, and I was quite impressed with the faculty of biochemistry there, from his introductions. But I felt he spoke too fast, and although I grasped the main concepts, unfortunately I couldn't remember many details. We then headed to Clementi for dinner.

On thu, I played badminton with Victor, for the first time in like.. 5 years? haha. Needless to say, I was initially stumped by him, but with his kind coaching I can say I re-honed some of my rusty skills. But one down side is that my right forearm is still aching till today!! Argh.

Yesterday, went down to OG Albert complex with my mom and aunt to get some winter wear, since they were having a 20% sale. Then in the evening, went over to a relative's place. Picked up some clues on how to improve my oreo cheesecake, which I tried my hand at that morning. It was too soft.. as I didn't have the right equipment to whip my cream properly. Haha oh well. :)

2005-03-22T21:15:00.000+08:00

These two days have been busy!!

Yesterday was my first day clearing leave. Went to see a facial doctor in the morning. The doctor is anti-traditional. She said that no restrictions on diet are necessary. -__- I wanted to ask her about 'heaty food' but I guessed she would simply dismiss it, so I dropped the idea. Well, Benny seems to have opposing views on this. ^____^ And I agree quite a bit with him on the benefits of TCM.

Then my mom and I had lunch nearby at Sixth avenue. Saw sec 4 bio teacher Mr. Chung there! It was just after TCHS's Founder's Day so I saw Kalavathi and a few other teachers there too. I still remember how Kalavathi made my sec 2 class stand up and sit down repeatedly until we could do so with no noise at all.

After that we went to the Cold Storage nearby in search of cream cheese, which I need to make my oreo cookie cheesecake. Haha, the reciper Shermin gave me has been sitting in my hard drive for days already.

Went swimming in the afternoon.

Today, upon waking up, i felt like running so went for a 3km run before breakfast. Then played this hongkong mahjong game which I downloaded from the net for a while. I realise I dunno when I can 'shang', I only know how to 'pong'.

Later I went down to Buona Vista to meet Richie, as we were both attending the scholar's lunch with Professor Raymond Dwek, who is visiting Singapore as part of the Distinguished Visitors Program initiated by A*STAR.

It was a very cosy lunch, albeit al fresco style, at Bistro Fabulous located on the first floor of Centros. Being my first time at such a lunch, I overdressed slightly. Haha. But then, I could always argue that Prof. Dwek dressed up as much as I did. Heh. There was a lab officer from IMCB, BMRC senior officer Belinda, and a second year PhD student from BII who joined us too. Prof. Dwek talked at length about his research interest, glycobiology. In fact he's giving a public lecture tmr at 6pm at Matrix L3A, for those who're interested in the topic. He advised us to pursue something 'important' for our PhD, not something 'safe' that would guarentee results. Something he said at the end was really encouraging to Richie and I, to the effect of: "Doing research is like playing a violin in an orchestra. When you find that your fingers don't work anymore, you cannot play in the orchestra anymore. Similarly, some ppl realise that they cannot advance anymore in a research career after some time, because they lack the drive and passion. But you're different, you won't be like that, I can tell." I seriously wonder how he can tell. ^___^

After the lunch, we decided to look Celine up at her office. It was great to see her personally to resolve certain issues that take infinity to settle through the wonderful communication device called 'email'. So we got an idea as to when we could expect our medical, psychometric test, and lab attachment. Phew. But I guess nothing's really confirmed until I have signed the deed.

The uncertainties in life.

2005-03-21T13:47:00.000+08:00

________________

Picture diary - Last day

Doctor Eugene and I after setting an appointment for 16 June 2011. ^__^

Daniel lim, me and Gavin!

Good old Janan and me.

Huzz' the man!

Me and Haofatt. Hebe rocks!

[tbc..]

2005-03-21T13:06:00.000+08:00

FINALLY. My first day clearing leave. Hmmm, still haven't fully grasped the significance of this renewed freedom.

I will miss the nsfs.
__________________

Picture diary: 2nd last day

Our areas of expertise.

Fatally stabbed..by SAF core values

Hanky panky in the bunk..?

No doubt about it.

Me and Thiam Hao. *shh..*

Prisoners of the bunk.

Cool dudes of Section A!

Ramayanan Festival - Vanakam.

_________

2005-03-15T21:43:00.000+08:00

My LAST duty!! Haha, can't believe it but the day is finally here. I was at Toa Payoh Central earlier to buy a dvd-r and guess who I saw? National table tennis players Jing Jun Hong and Li Jiawei! Woah..and I didn't even say Hi or something. Wasted.

Spent this morning fiddling with my Travelmate, after finally enabling my broadband connection last night! Woohoo! At last.. I could download all my stuff. realplayer, quicktime, divx, flash and blah. I hate it when embedded in the software installation is a tricky step that tries to install yahoo toolbar/google toolbar.msn toolbar without you realising it! Other than that, it's so moralising (as opposed to how demoralising the fujitsu can be) to see how my d drive still has 32GB of space despite having loaded half of my mp3s into it. And the free 256Mb thumbdrive is really useful 'cos the fujitsu infrared seems unworkable.

Intended to swim in the afternoon, but was invited by Watson to his club. Haha, so decided to go there in the end. Played 4 rounds of bowling, and we totally suck at it! Haha. But it was fun nonetheless. Devin was supposed to fetch me to work, hah, but in the end his parents wanted to go jb. Sian. oh. Paul is going backpacking in Europe for a month! Sounds SUPER.

I spent almost the whole weekend at the IT Show. On Sat afternoon, after sleeping till 1 plus (was on Friday night duty), I went to Suntec to meet Janan. The journey took almost 110 minutes! Grr...massive jam at Orchard. And it was really ren2 shan1 ren2 hai3 at suntec. Met my mom for dinner and we had a hard time getting around too.

On Sunday, went for Hsinghai practice a lil while before heading to Suntec to confirm my order. Grabbed a bunch of cheap longans on the way, which turned out average. I think I got a pretty decent deal, $2248 for 15inch, 1.7Ghz, 512 ram, 80Gb, ATI Radeon 9700, and DVD Dual drive. As expected, the sound card is rather sucky.. but then that's alright. My dad bought an external 40GB hard drive for our Fujitsu which currently has a measly 4GB. Haha.

Last Friday, I went shopping with my aunts and parents at Orchard. Got a khaki corduroy pants for 34.9 and a charming blue pullover at John Little's sale. And some thermal socks as well. The sale is really a big deal there. You can get a parka for just 28 bucks! (down from $148) but of course there's a catch: there are only XL and XXL sizes. :p There's this nice new Valentino jacket that I should go back to get. Then we adjourned to OG Orchard, the new one, not the one that is permanently having a Moving-Out-Sale. I saw a very sleek jacket there, which unfortunately didn't have my size. Well, hopefully when the 20% sale starts soon, it will get re-stocked.

Friday last day, and not surprisingly, I am having mixed thoughts about it. It's always hard to leave a comfort zone.

2005-03-10T21:18:00.000+08:00

I was crossing the overhead bridge this morning after dropping from my first bus when I saw a group of 3 young students, not older than sec 2, in front of me. And one of them, a scrawny youngster who probably has an identity crisis, started to light a cigarette and smoke it happily, AFTER he turned around and saw that I was looking. Soon after he passed the cigar to another friend, and then the other. I had a strong impulsion to go up to them and say, "I just attended the funeral of someone who used to smoke a lot." But I thought it wasn't very nice in more ways than one, so I shall just send a complain to their secondary school principal.

Today we went to Macpherson for lunch, and decided to give the famous prawn mee a try. It was really not bad, especially someone who doesn't really fancy prawn mee, but who still eats a good prawn mee. They offer a rather extravagant menu, what with pork ribs with big prawn noodle and even abalone with big prawn noodle!

That day, I had my LAST PC interview, which ended up a very good conversation, where I had no qualms about raising certain issues at all, with the 'immunity' granted by an impending ORD. :D And of course, I picked up lessons in management, managing people that is. And I believe I have offered as much as I learnt, which will benefit my NSFs throughout the rest of their service. (I hope.) People often have a bad habit of not letting you know that they appreciate you until the last minute. Which reminds me: not to take people for granted. That nips so many potential misunderstandings in the bud before they are even born. Well, communication is the key. EFFECTIVE communication, that is.

Aye, after some serious consideration, I decided not to buy an ipod now. Especially when I am gonna spend much more getting my laptop. Last survey: Acer, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Dell, or IBM. Which one would you choose? Thanks to qiyue, I have eliminated Compaq 'cos it apparently overheats rather easily.

It's gonna be a busy weekend!

Tmr I am going down to Orchard to check out the winter wear, and see how it compares with Winning Winter Wear, the storehouse of which I visited a couple of times. I can't believe a set of long jons costs 60 bucks! Argh. And that's only the underwear.

On sat going down to Suntec after my fri night duty for the IT Show. Is kenny's bdae dinner still on?

Sunday gotta go for hsinghai.. I already missed last week's practice, and the concert's in one month! For the august, the conductor suggested playing the harder version of Gadameilin. I am really curious as to how much harder it is, but with the kind of standard the orchestra has.. I dunno if it's a worthy risk to take. And after practice, I am going down to Suntec again!!

2005-03-08T21:37:00.000+08:00

Yawwwwwn. I dunno why but I seem to be suffering from L.O.S.S. recently. Argh.

Hmm, last last weekend was really eventful. I guess that started it all. Gave tuition in the morning, then rushed to meet william for hide and seek at cine. The jam at Orchard was SOOOOO bad, I decided to drop at Tangs, and walked ALL the way to cine, and still managed to beat my bus. Terrible. Then after dinner downstairs, went for the ntuco concert at singapore conference hall and finally supper at lau pa sat with my juniors. After that I never really recovered I guess.. on Sunday morning went for hsinghai practice. Met timmy for lunch at bugis. Then I chanced upon a fruit stall selling mangoes for 50 cents each. Grabbed a couple.. and they turned out super sweet!

Last weekend was rather restful, but apparently not enough. Met minghui for nusco at ucc in the early evening, then had dinner later with them.

I wanna get an IPOD MINI!

2005-03-05T21:40:00.000+08:00

ARGH!! I am f***in frustrated with all these stupid delays. I sent out my forms to JHU mid of last month and they haven't received it! And ppl ard me are not making it any easier. Can't you just leave me alone?
______________

Today is such a bad day. Parry's dad passed away suddenly on Friday morning.. yes it's shocking but I am relieved he seems to be taking it very well. His strength is really something I can learn. As raphael said.. he will be a very successful man in future, and I think so too.

Don't smoke, don't smoke.. it really destroys you.

Sighhhhhhhhhh

:(
______________

Sorry for the vulgarity, I know it reeks of bad upbringing, but that's absolutely not the case. I am not going to edit my post just for the sake of removing it.

2005-03-03T09:45:00.000+08:00

2005-02-24T20:55:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, when I take the late bus back home, like after day duty or after hitting the gym, I start to think about things. Some things I don't usually like to think about, some things I think about from a different perspective than in the day time.

Somehow, it being dark out there makes a hell lot of a difference. The dark unleashes the hidden insecurities inside of you that you are usually unaware of, or aware of but make a conscious effort to conceal them. And some of these.. are better kept concealed, no matter how painful.

Aye. What does it mean when someone close to you say they don't wish to live long? I would always empathise with anyone who expresses such a wish, because it just means that, despite how glorified 'living life to its fullest' is, there're always certain things in life that really are better not living for.

I bought Liu Zhong Yi's CD at Chinatown on Tue. I like his songs because some of the lyrics really make sense, on a deeper level than the average pop song crooning blind love and heartbreaks.

These are my thoughts after listening to Fei Fu Jian Yan, which talks about how a group of friends meet for a simple reunion after years of living their own individual lives after graduation from school:

It doesn't matter how much you talk about 'principles of life' and 'lessons of life' that you have learnt from your past experiences, 'cos no one really can truly understand where you're coming from, simply because they have taken a different path from you. Rather, what matters is that you had seized the many little chances in your life (which you probably hadn't) that would have made a difference to your life, and make you just that much better off than you are today. That would have made more of an impact (albeit on yourself) than grumbling about lost opportunities to your friends, who can, at best, lend a very sympathetic ear, and console you on "life's unfairness". Which, really, isn't the case, as you know it.

It all lies in your own hands.

'Where you come from doesn't matter, as long as you get to where you want to be.'

That's the crux of the song, as I have made it out to be after listening to it for the nth time today.

2005-02-21T15:48:00.000+08:00

23 more days. That's quite a lot considering I haven't subtracted days off for duties and so on.. and stupid chief clerk says she can't get the FFI date any earlier than end of march, and asked how about april? Grr...

I was so glad to see an advert in the papers yesterday about the IT Show 2005 to be held from 10-13 March in Suntec. I'll probably get my notebook from there if a good deal flies by.. instead of waiting till the NUS Matriculation Fair in July. Just in case there's any delay.
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Picture Diary

10Feb - 2nd day of CNY

Went over to 2nd auntie's place, where we were busy honing our jim rummy skills.

We had some sort of a fusion lunch - spaghetti bolognaise and cabornara, fried yee-mee, and chicken wings.

After lunch it was back to jim rummy, and other weird card games I never knew existed, like dim, and others whose names I've forgotten.

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11 Feb

Was on duty the previous night, so came home and slept away the first half of the day. Watson dropped by in the late afternoon. Had a good chat with him :)

I am really interested in the ushering job at the Esplanade, as the Singapore Arts Festival is coming up in June. Pay you 6 bucks an hour to watch concerts leh.. haha. The other one that involves packing cigarettes in boxes in Woodlands is really not too bad either, considering the high pay (8 per hour for weekdays, 10 for weekends). But it is potentially life-threatening as it will probably bore you to death.
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12 Feb

Gave tuition in the morning. I prefer teaching bio and chem topics 'cos my physics is relatively sucky. Esp. when she asks questions on OPTICS. I hate optics 'cos of my physics teacher. And the questions are tough, cos it involved TRIPLE reflections in two mirrors, and the teacher told them to 'figure it out' themselves. So much for the new MOE mantra "Teach Less, Learn More(?)." Nanyang teachers are really quite garang. For e.g., she asked me to teach her s and p orbitals. And she's only sec 3! Haha.

Spent the whole afternoon helping my mom prepare for the big dinner that evening. It must have been one of the more successful 01S79 gatherings, evident in the following photo.

Oh, and that was before Devin arrived.

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2005-02-19T21:41:00.000+08:00

I so need a new laptop!! I've been neglecting my blog bcos it's so hard to get online at home. My Fujitsu is so obselete it even runs out of memory to run windows explorer. :X

I am munching on the Rotiboy bun my mom bought for me just now. Nice nice.

Argh, the 15 days of CNY are almost over, and I haven't blogged once at all, except to put the lyrics for Liu Zhong Yi's "Fei Fu Jian Yan", a meaningful song that I dedicate to all my friends. It's not the typical 'thank you for being my friend' song, it's more of the zhong1 yan2 ni4 er3 type. Because blogger.com doesn't let me type chinese, I am seriously considering switching over to another server that does.

Another of his song, "Hou Bu Lian Ren", is damn damn nice too. Only a few days ago, when I was searching the web for his lyrics, did I realise that I named the original "Fei Fu Jian Yan" as "Hou Bu Lian Ren", so when I searched for the latter's lyrics, I got the former's instead. Haha. really silly.

And as a result of liking his songs so much, I can't wait till I go Chinatown again so that I can pick it up from that parallel import shop. Anyone heading down town lately?

Okie, anyway, here's trying to catch up on my diary:
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Picture Diary - 8Feb - 1st day of CNY

Woke up late as usual (cos stayed up to watch the cny show) to find my mom already laboring in the kitchen, preparing the 'zai choy' vegetarian dish for lunch. It's my family's tradition to eat a vegetarian lunch on the first day of new year, though I never knew why. Plus we usually eat meat for dinner anyway. *shrugs*

Here're the ingredients in case I ever decide to cook it myself.

So after cooking we finally had breakfast.

I am going to miss this so much.

After that we went to my maternal grandparents' place nearby. Forgot to take pictures. Darn. Then we came home for lunch with my aunt.

Then we adjourned to my uncle's place in Jurong. It was pretty much the same as every year.. you get the idea. But this year there was something different when we got home...

CARROM! Yeah, I like carrom. It's a good way to end a day.
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Till later.

2005-02-14T09:16:00.000+08:00

2005-02-08T18:25:00.000+08:00

It's dinnertime but I am still very full from lunch! We had reunion lunch (as usual) and at 1430h we (thankfully) started to eat. Haha. Helped my mom fry prawn fritters and later on my aunt's fish fillets. I realise that using a deep-fryer beats using the traditional wok 'cos the former doesn't splitter and splatter hot oil all over you! I dislike frying stuff because of the oil splashing on me. I told mom, that's why all cooks wear long-sleeved shirts, and not a singlet. :p

Anyway it was quite a spread, and I am sooo sad that I didn't take a picture of the food before eating, 'cos that'll be my only memory of reunion meals for a long while. :( We had roast chicken, white chicken, prawn and fish fritters, a stew of sea cucumber, san-zam-ba, mushroom, and black fungus, leek and beancurd in black sauce, leek and roast meat in black sauce, broccoli with abalone and carrot, button mushrooms with abalone and carrot. MMmmmmmmmmmmm. But still.. I really can't eat anymore.

In the morning, I went back to Chinese High and Hwachong. Okie, i am still not used to treating them as one entity. I was really happy today although I didn't see many of my peers. Met Ms. Pek at the hall, who still hasn't changed, and I forgot to get her hp no. Chatted with Mr. Tan as he left the hall. Then after the annual pilgrimage to the staffroom, I saw Mrs. Sow, and Mdm. Chan. I was telling Mdm. Chan about how worried I was that recently, I have been noticing so many brown/yellow (or dead) patches of grass over different parts of Singapore. They're almost as ubiquitious as green grass USED to be. Everyone seems to take for granted that cow grass, being resilient as it is, will always be green. But my recent observations really show how the climate is changing in a way that affects more than just us; it's affecting the whole ecosystem. She said in reply, if only the boys were as interested in observing such things as I did. A common complain from many teachers: the boys are too slack because they don't have to take the O levels.

After asking around, I finally found Mr. Chung at the Admin Office of Hwachong International. Haha, he's now its principal. Had a heart-felt tete-a-tete with him. He said that I am growing very well. And when I attributed it to him and the other teachers, he said I am too kind. Haha, still the nice guy he always has been. But seriously, after today's visit, I am only more convinced and impressed by the professionalism demonstrated by my teachers - they really care for you even after you graduate, to them every student is like a growing process that never ends, and their job doesn't end just because you have graduated; akin to a social worker who often visits a former charge who has long been released back into society.

2005-02-07T14:00:00.000+08:00

CNY is coming. I am quite looking forward to enjoying this New Year because it's the last one I am gonna have in Singapore for quite a long while. But there's no point being sad about not being able to celebrate it in the next 3 years, so I shall look forward to having a good time this year.

Today I was on off in lieu in the morning, but decided not to take the afternoon off as well (and hav a super duper combo) because of the CNY lunch at my office. But tomorrow I am taking one day off (for a half working day; another brainless stupid m i n d e f policy), and since I am on Thu night duty, I get Friday off, and no weekend duties. So it's going to be quite a long break! :)

My mom collected the almond cookies from Watson yesterday and they taste pretty good! Anyone looking for almond cookies should look for Watson next time.

I am thinking of having a mini class gathering at my place this Sat. So far the response has been encouraging. Those who can bring stuff pls feel free to do so! :) I hope most people eat chicken curry.

2005-02-05T10:36:00.000+08:00

I slept like a log last night, I figure at least 11 hours! Haha, was feeling tired on Friday again, so decided it was a sign that my flu is worsening, so I decided I had to sleep.

2005-02-03T09:14:00.000+08:00

At last I feel myself recovering somewhat.

Was browsing through some airlines yesterday, and I realised that Singapore Air doesn't fly directly to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, which is the nearest to jhu. So that's a lil problematic. Gotta consult vera or tc.

Yesterday my bro brought back his gold medal for the Chemistry olympiad. He's bringing the bio one home on Monday i think. Haha, had nothing better to do, took some pics of them on a Pooh bear. And I realise I can tweak my digicam to make Pooh stand out like a superstar.

2005-01-27T10:14:00.000+08:00

I'm having a flu. Argh. My throat is so ticklish that I didn't fall asleep till 1 plus this morning. :(

2005-01-26T15:01:00.000+08:00

At the request of Mr. Su Chang, here's the..

Joke of the day

Just now maam lim told angie: i saw ur frog yesterday, gave me a shock

mr tan: when r u going to kiss it? (so it will turn into prince charming)

angie: hehe, i am still considering whether to kiss it or not

haha. it's rather esoteric, but if u get, u get it. :p

2005-01-24T22:23:00.000+08:00

On duty now. It has been a busy weekend! Phew. Went for my first swim in dunno-how-many months this afternoon. At last, no more monsoon, no more MC, no more reason not to swim.
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21Jan2005

Had Hsinghai prac in the day. Then followed by night duty. Had a long talk with Mr. tan, and realised that he used to live quite near my dad's kampong near Mindef. And, also learnt a couple of things that I probably will learn only from someone like Mr. Tan. heh.
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Picture Diary: Chinatown 22Jan2005

Gave tuition in the morning. Then in the evening, we went to Chinatown to look-see-jalan. Wah, the buses were so damn crowded; we missed the first 190 on purpose so that we could get the long bendy-bus. So we got there in the end... and almost couldn't alight! 'Cos it was just so damn bloody crowded..

Anyway here are some random shots for those away from home.. which reminds me this is my last CNY in Singapore for quite a while. :(

What's CNY without the elaborate decorations?

This scene of pomelos hanging around like heads was so intriguing I couldn't help but take a shot.

Cookies and more cookies. 1 dollar per small box.

Here're your lup cheong, waxed duck and other dried meats.

Did I see wrongly? An ang moh VENDOR in Chinatown? Btw, this guy made it to the news. Haha. Apparently he has been setting up a CNY stall for many years.

Dried fruits (winter melon, lotus root, carrot, etc). Winter melon is my favourite.

God of Fortune, or Cai2 Shen2 Ye2, found his way here too! Too bad he's not for everybody, he belongs to Tiger Beer. -__- See what he's holding?

The lightings at Smith Street (Food Street).

Err, multi-colored melon seeds anyone? See the promotion sign "TRY GOOD THEN BUY"

Welcome the Year of the Rooster.
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23Jan2005 - Hsinghai Concert

At last the concert that we've practised 'so hard' for. Haha. Frankly it wasn't very good. But haha, no major flops.

2005-01-18T20:52:00.000+08:00

I'm trapped in my house! There must be a hornet nest near my block. So far my mom has caught one and my father another. Now all our windows are closed to prevent more from flying in. Apparently, our neighbours are facing the same predicament, with some of them even switching off all their lights. There're like at least 20 hornets at the lift and corridor areas. :(

Removed my stitches today and I must say that in all my visits to Alexandra Hospital, I have never failed to be impressed with their professionalism in extending health care to their patients.

After that went to this winter wear store in the old Queenstown area, I think it's called 'Winner' or something. They have a really large selection of winter clothes, with those for 0-5 degrees, sub-zero temperature, or 5-10 degrees etc.. I found one in the 0-5 degrees range which is quite affordable, in fact, cheap. But too bad they don't have the size and color that I am looking for. The shop assistants were quite helpful. In the end I bought 2 pullovers for 29.90 each. Saw a really stylish and nice jacket but it costs like 300 bucks!

Concert is coming and frankly we're not going to make it. Every practice now is more like damage control then anything else. Anyone wanna watch? Haha. And even so I am quite shacked out by the practices. All because of my course of antibiotics that thankfully ended on Saturday. Man, antibiotics really suck away all your energy, leaving you exhausted at mid day. And all the bacteria in my gastrointestinal tract is gone as a result, leaving me with bouts of indigestion.. must drink more yoghurt.

Have been cooking quite a bit last week during MC. Heh, my mom praised my fried rice. Asked me if I bought it from outside. :) But cooking is tiring.. especially if you have to cook everyday. The preparing, the washing up.. *shakes head* You really must want to cook for the people you're cooking for, either that or you cook for the money.

Hwachong got 3 golds and 1 silver in last year's Bio Olympiad, and RJ got 2 golds and 4 silver, according to hearsay. They have this irritating habit of purposely not announcing who exactly got what medal, which is why my bro has to wait till tmr to find out if he got any at all at the Physics Olympiad prize presentation.

Despite having such a long break from work, the moment I experienced work yesterday, I felt totally sick of it. I am really sick of my office. Okie, minus the NSFs and some of the regulars. But the whole job is stale.

Shiqian has been in Cal for almost two weeks already. Time really flies. Soon she'll be back and I will be gone. How are you doing there? No K-box, can sing along the roads to raise funds for the tsunami what. :)

I don't exactly like this style of blogging, but this is precisely what I am doing: doodling.

Dee daa dee daa.

I vowed on New Year's Eve to write about my New Year Resolutions. I never got down to doing that.

Here's Number 1:

1. Don't take people for granted. Make time for family and friends. Time flies, but you're lucky if you even have the time. So, make the best out of it. Esp. when I am going to miss soooooooo many people and events in Singapore later on. You don't wanna be forgotten, do you?

1. Don't take people for granted. Communication is the key. Let them know when you appreciate them , don't just keep quiet. Say thank you to the cleaning aunty. She's paid to do her job, but you're paid to do your stupid NSF job and you know how important compliments are for your morale, especially when you don't get them.

1. Don't take people for granted. Good people don't remain good forever. Bad people, though it's dangerous to assume so, don't remain bad for ever. Be wary, yet be forgiving to those who deserve your forgiveness.

1. Don't take people for granted. People don't live forver. I remember.. the first treat I gave my paternal grandpa at a local teahouse in Chinatown was to be my last. He passed on two months later. And the treat was initiated by my mom, who felt that I didn't have many chances to do so. The power of intuition.

1. Don't take people for granted. Otherwise, other people will start taking you for granted, and soon, you'll be the victim.

Aye, it's a rather long one, but that's exactly what I felt on New Year's Eve, which doesn't fall all in one para, and I think it still applies for a loong loong time.

2005-01-13T15:58:00.000+08:00

Of all coincidences, my cousin, who just enrolled in Hwachong, ended up in the junior class of my brother. Haha.

Was reliving my countless interview sessions when I was advising my brother on filling up a form for an interview that would decide if he would represent Singapore at the International Biology Olympiad later this year. They asked really difficult (but expected) questions, like "How would you see yourself as an ambassador of Singapore at the Olympiad?" and "What is your current interest in an area of biology/science?" Good thing I had just gotten an Economist magazine with a rather comprehensive 'survery of nanotechnology', plus a publication with a focus on nanotechnology from A*STAR, which made good reading material for him.

Sometimes, I think I should conduct courses on how to tackle interviews!

But one question my mom feels will bog him down is this: Since you like Biology so much, why didn't you choose Biology S Paper over the other 3 subjects?

This is a hard one.

2005-01-11T16:59:00.000+08:00

Congrats to Isabel for getting into Yale! I'm still stuck in a hell hole.

Plucked out my left wisdom tooth this morning. It was more painful when she oulled out my left upper useless tooth. I thought she was tearing my mouth apart! I hate teeth-plucking. :(

2005-01-10T13:51:00.000+08:00

Picture Diary: Hwachong Orientation Campfire 05

Lighting the campfire under the bridge. If u've been to hwachong, u will be able to visualise this very well. :)

And the 4 words are Apollo, Ares, Athena and Artemis, representing the four faculties in Hwachong Institution.

Artistic shot: actually I used the night eye mode to take this, turned up quite well on my laptop, but i guess they reduced the quality when I uploaded it to mypicgallery.

Some of the banners. The theme for O105 is "Supernova". Their orientation shirts are so nice.

The HC choo choo train.. normally we do it after the mass dances and all, but this time they apparently couldn't wait. :)

Mass dance in full swing

Guess how I bribed them into giving me this splendid shot?

I didn't. :P

2005-01-10T13:09:00.000+08:00

Some old photos..

5Jan2005 - Sending SQ off

Sq seems pretty settled down so far. All the best to her!

2005-01-08T09:13:00.000+08:00

Phew, it's been a busy start to 2005! And in 45 minutes I will be having my first tuition session of the year..
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Countdown@CCK 31Dec2004

The grassroots committee is really enthu this few months, other than the mandatory new year countdown at the community club, they also planned a flea market spanning two void decks, a music concert in teck whye garden with NTU string ensemble, NUS harmonica ensemble and even karaoke for the elderly, a beer garden, a concert band, roller-blading/cycling/skateboarding stunts and so on. Coupled with the rare celebrations planned for Deepavali and Hari Raya last year, and the fact that out of the blue they had an 'Inter-racial harmony Night' event last month, it's no wonder my mom is certain that the elections are near, if not this year.

The flea market brought some surprises too. I chanced upon this ancient text, 'Solid State Electronics', for just 1 buck.
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2Jan2005

Went to hsinghai for practice. It was raining cats and dogs the whole day! With less than a month to the concert, I seriously wonder how we're going to make it.
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SQ on SQ2 5Jan2005

It was an exciting day for SQ as she took her first flight on a plane to the other side of the world. In many ways it was probably as scary for her as it was exciting. Saw her off at Terminal 2 with Aw and some of her NUS friends. Had a good chat with William. Eh sq, save the tears for a happy occasion! :)
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6Jan2005

Day duty sucks. Luckily I caught my bus at 8:04pm sharp. Else I swear I would have taken a cab home. Clear leave is less than 3 months away! Woohoo!
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7Jan2005

On one day off. My parents and I met my aunt for lunch at Bukit Panjang (the wanton mee is not bad), after which we walked over to Plaza for a while. We actually walked all the way to Bukit Panjang from our place in Cck.

In the evening, we went to Adam Road food center to try the mutton soup, which I have never eaten before in my life. It's really not bad, but I prefer dipping the bread into the soup rather than drinking the soup by itself. Saw my bro with his classmates there too.

Then we WALKED to Hwachong from there. It's a day of walking. Saw quite a number of J5s there and on the way there, so I didn't feel too extra. Surprised to see jiabin, gerald, suqi, YI QIAN (finally back from MIA, when he accepted my friendster request after ONE YEAR, I forgot what his nick was and asked him 'who are you?'), keith, joel, roderick (another MIA case) and nico.

The orientation campfire was quite a blast. As usual, they warmed up more and more towards the end of the campfire. I'll put up some photos later. I even have a video of the mass dances, I wonder how I put that up?
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Ok.. tuition time.

2005-01-04T10:51:00.000+08:00

Woah, have been reaaaally busy in the office because of the tsunami crisis. It's already 4 Jan and this is only my inaugural post in 2005!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

After slacking for most of Dec (I only worked 6 days), I suddenly feel very sian to start working again. But it was a good rest.
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New Year's Eve

Actually planned to go for the countdown but it was raining and the fireworks were cancelled, so sian. In the end, met up with Sq, Weijie, Lily, Jingyun, Isabel and Alvin at Lot One. Initially we were all misled to thinking that we were going for a sushi buffet, but it turned out not to be. Haha, but still it was a good meal at Sakae.

Sq Sy Alvin

Sy Lily Jingyun Weijie

Well.. the variety at Sakae isn't that great.

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Suddenly I was reminded about something that took place last Monday when I was at Alexandra Hospital to remove my stitches. My mom and I were waiting at the reception area when suddenly a rather large group of anciliary hospital staff entered and started singing Christmas carols. They even gave out small goodie gifts. Was really quite surprised and suitably impressed that they went to such trouble for their patients' welfare. But then, the number of hands I shook.. urgh. Very un-Sars-friendly. Haha.

2004-12-30T21:51:00.000+08:00

The fireworks at the Esplanade were cancelled, i heard on tv just now. hmm, so i guess i probably won't be going down since the countdown is probably gonna be cancelled too. Sian, but again, it doesn't seem very right to be celebrating too..

Hmmm. Happy 2005. Ming Tian Hui Geng Hao.

110,000 toll. I still can't imagine.

2004-12-29T13:55:00.000+08:00

A belated X'mas game

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PC Version | Mac Version

2004-12-27T11:58:00.000+08:00

I'm sure everyone has heard of the earthquake in Banda Aceh yesterday. My sympathy goes out to the helpless victims who can do nothing about this unfortunate natural disaster thrown upon their already frail shoulders. Is nature throwing us a hint?
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On happier times, finally met Watson yesterday after a long hiatus! He still looks the same :) I bought a new phone cover at Toa Payoh. We decided to dine at Crystal Jade Toa Payoh, and the moment we walked in, I saw 3 of Watson's ex-classmates there, Chi Sheng, Alvin and Junyu. Haha. So coincidental, 'cos their class just had a class gathering at lunch time. So we sat together. Despite the initial awkwardness, as I don't really know them well, the conversation topics didn't dry up, and I think they're pretty okay people.

We had to force this shot out :)

Oh and did I mention Ronald Susilo and his beau Li Jiawei was sitting at the table opposite us? We only found out when we left the restaurant and Chi Sheng mentioned it matter-of-fact-ly, as if we all saw them in the first place. Haha. Susilo looked kind of self-conscious, for someone who should be used to being in the limelight. Jiawei looked kinda aunty-ish.
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After that went shopping for some canned cocktail for the BBQ cum potluck at Matthew's place. I didn't find out till yesterday morning that it was not solely a 01S79 gathering; he invited his church friends too. Haha, I have to say his friends are indeed quite happening, throwing each other into the pool to say the least.

The food was quite good, and the company was exceptional. Let's see who went: Eugene, Alvin, Shunting, Wanyi, Devin, Shermin and Isabel all the way from Seattle. The place is located in a very nice environment, windy and open.

This is the most representative shot I could find in my Minolta, taken by Shermin. We always forgot about Eugene who was kindly cooking for us!

And here are the ladies

Sometimes I love my cam.. apprentices and the chef. Who's who?

And sometimes I don't.

But one thing's for sure, Devin loves BBQ.

Thanks for the quiksilver belt Alvin. I needed one.

We were all laughing ourselves to death when we heard about Wanyi's adventurous exploits in her mother's womb 2 decades ago. :P Actually, some of us were laughing more at Isabel's laughter than at that. Haha, the effects of vodka.

After that we adjourned to the table tennis room, where we had the Olympic beginners' event in full swing. Actually, it seemed more like the Paralympics. Haha, I am hopeless in table tennis. So are some of the rest. Hehe.

Eh where's the ball?

2004-12-25T16:12:00.000+08:00

Merry X'mas to all. Hohoho..