S/U not

I've decided to stay conservative and keep my S/U. It's tempting to SU genes because my CAP will jump by a bit, but I will never know how many electives I might take (and possibly screw up [Especially maths mods]).

My CAP is improving steadily, I hope it continues until I get a CAP 5 sem. Haha. Damn, I must be dreaming.

I'm going to embark on my first run since 2nd December! Haha. Almost a month of inactivity.

Surprises

Had many surprises over the past couple of days.

Just got back from Desaru with the gang. All I can say is, we are never ever gona go there ever again. I shall not whine about it too much here. But luckily, Zhongwei brought his newly acquired board and card games there. So it turned out to be less disappointing. Both Citadel and Pueto Rico are nice! We had a fun time producing 'bananas' haha.

I shall not talk more about the ants infested room, cracked walls, insecticide smelling room.

I am pleased with my results. Definitely. Of the 6 modules this sem, 5 were above expectation and the last one WAY WAY below expection.

I am pleasantly surprised with my Jap studies results. Never expected to do well for it considering that I had to make a guess between 2 choice for about 20% of the paper.

Although I got full marks for my Midterms for Econometrics I, I found the final paper much more tedious and wasn't confident of securing an A, but I got it.

Macroeconomics was my most confident paper, I told many people that, if I were to get only an A this sem, it would be macro. I was kind of expecting an A since I did fairly well during the midterms too, but never expected to be amongst the top 5%.

Genes and Society. This is least expected. I failed midterms, I didnt know how to do many of the questions in the final paper. But I got a B! But now because it is a B, I dont know if I should S/U it.

EA1101, lets face it. Those who know me well, know that my english is quite chui. Although I think in chinese sometimes, my chinese is even more chui. Haha. So this grade really flatters me. And I didnt disappoint Dr Ngoh, who was quite happy with my performances during the term.

Microeconomics. Disappointing. B-. Enough said. Still don't like Poddar. (To, my friends in EA1101 and ENS taking Micro I next sem, good luck.)

But on the whole, I am happy. =)

And my poor mouse is sick. Hugs. You will get well soon! =)

I haven't had the best of days.

Maybe I'm petty or something, but certain things will be better left unsaid.

Anyway, christmas eve dinner wasn't good at all too. Na and I were wondering if we would ever return to sketches ever again. Haha. And I think it is highly unlikely that we would.

But neoprints are nice! Hehe.

inspiration

I've been reading Joseph Stiglitz's Making Globalization Work.

It has definitely made the neurons in my brain work harder. I have developed an interest in Developmental Economics. Well, I already had interest in such things, but the interest just keeps growing.

Economic policies must not be applied to any country wholesale from a template. Minor twerks must be made to accomodate each country, because every country face different issues. We can't assume ceteris paribus. Sometimes, too much assumption makes things less complicated in theory, but when applied on a real situation, it just creates such a shit hole.

Markets, government, individuals and communities work hand in hand in the development of a country. Which I totally agree with Stiglitz, I don't buy Adam Smith's invisible hand fully. I support government's fiscal reforms to lay the foundation for economic growth. Government expenditure on infrastructure, communication and legislation on commerce and trade are all crucial to ensure a society of reasonable standard of living instead of growing income disparities between the rich and the poor.

Singapore was commended on her hard stances against corruption. And also her policy of having highly paid civil servants proved to be an effective tool in stamping out corruption.

I got 4 new books to read over this holiday. Haha. I am so not going to finish reading. 3 of them are on Economics. lol

Top civil servants pay adjustment

Well, with a boom economy that raised the rewards of the top management in the private sector. Big earners of the public sectors are receiving another pay adjustment above the one earlier this year.

As I've mentioned earlier, it would take my mum abt 171 years then to earn 1 yr of the salary of one of the highest public sector earners. Now the figure just rose to 200+ years. Gee.

I've already mentioned in my previous post regarding my opinions on this.
Just to reiterate on it, not that I think that the ministers/mps don't deserve such salary, but I just don't see monetary reward as the right way to go for the public service.

I shall stop here, before anything politically incorrect slips off my fingers.

Essays

I just realised the MAS essay has already been opened.

And it's topic is on something that I am very interested about. So it is a die die must do essay. =D

Since I feel slightly better, it's time to consume a bit of my brain cells.

Sick

Fever + Diarrhoea + Feel like puking. Had a horrible night last night and a horrible day today.

Went for reservist briefing. Just realised that my unit will be broken up and used to top up the other battalions. =/

Then there aren't people I know. The next few years are going to suck.. BIG TIME.

KTVing

It has been a while since I KTVed, and then suddenly, I went KTV twice in a span of 2 days. Haha

Yesterday with people from EA, then today with the NEFMQ people. Haha. Now my throat a bit sore. lol. Money is flowing out of my wallet like water dripping out of a tap that is not turned tightly. Bit by bit, but in time to come, it will fill a bucket!

But I really did enjoy myself these couple of days. =)
A break from my utter bordem at home.

So now I've got things to do, Budget essay, my part of the new NEFMQ proposal and read up on investments.

Rising Prices.

CPI is rising. Taxi fares are rising. And I believe that bus and MRT fares are going to rise too.

People would have different reactions vis-a-vis the hike in fares, but mine would be to simply cab less.

Sadly, none in my family has benefitted from the boom economy in Singapore. My mum hasn't had a bonus in 3 - 4 years, got her pay docked a few times because her company wasn't performing well and yet she puts in 200% effort in her job. I've a fixed nominal allowance, despite rising nominal wage from tuition from teaching longer hours, I'm getting less utility from teaching my boy. Partly because I feel underpaid and partly because I want to use more brains when teaching.

Some people are filthy rich, while some struggle to stay afloat in the vast and hungry ocean. Some are born into it, while some work hard for it.

Money is such an amazing entity. You can never do without it. Money per se isn't everything, but in contemporary society, ceteris paribus, I'd rather be rich than poor. Thus I need to keep myself motivated in moving towards my goals. Whether I get a Ph.D or not doesn't matter, all I seek is success and happiness.

Motivation comes in different shapes and sizes.

For me, it's my family. What's yours?

I wanted to write the Budget essay. But can't seem to bring myself to start writing it. Haha. Downloaded most of the relevant information to get me started.

Maybe I shall spend some quality time tomorrow morning to brain storm about it.

Jack and Edgar are both away!

Gang:
When is the next gathering? Desaru?

I hate the feeling of emptiness.

Things to do this break.
*Shed at least 2kg.
Meet up with people.
Essay.
*Check my eye.
Shopping.
Read up on investments.
Finish reading my new books.

* indicates priority.

Over.

Finally the exams are over.

Now I am feeling lost. Haha. Feeling slightly empty.
I need to do something constructive.

Went walk walk with wq yesterday before meeting the EA people. Had the mail servers been more efficient, more people would have turned up, but still, it wasn't too bad. More outings planned. =) This could be one of my best december holidays ever. A occupied one that doesnt just revolve around sleeping and gaming. Haha.

Going to restart my training soon. I hope.

Back to watching Heroes.

Tanks.

I was watching TV this morning and realised that there are alot of tank collectors in the world.

I didn't know it is so liberal out there. Haha. But as long as they keep their tanks safely under their custody, I'm pretty indifferent whether they collect tanks or bicycles.

It's quite amazing to see how passionate they are with their tanks and they have mock exercises to replay out battles of WW2. Very cool. Some tanks are even registered modes of transportation - meaning they can be driven on roads / highways.

If only certain things were still what they were.

Switched off.

I'm switched off for studying Genes and Society.

Sucks to have a paper 5 days after all the core modules.

Well, at least I understand something now that I didn't understand previously. Haha. The result for sleeping during lectures.

I'm just waiting to enjoy my holidays.

Anyway, I am considering Lasik. Any recommendations?
Specialist clinics or Hospitals? If you ignore the pricing.

Run run run!

Just completed the Standard Chartered Half Marathon this morning. Quite a disappointing run la. It was quite alright from the first cm to the 16th km, then I cramped. =/ Severe cramp that left me rooted to the spot for several minutes. I couldn't move an inch. I felt the cramp coming after passing the 14km mark, so I did some stretching and walked a bit, was hoping to find some deepheat along the way. Then ALL the medical stations and personnels ran out of deep heat. =/ So I was limping from 16 to abt 19km enduring the pain. I suspect the usual lack of salt, since my arms were full of salt by that time. My shorts had streaks of salt marks too. (I think I can be a desalination plant.) Another suspicion I had is that my calves and thighs are not strong enough. So its operation training on my core muscle group once I recover from the lingering cramp.

Brend and I started the race abt 20mins late because we were queueing for toilet before the start line. Haha. Then we went on a chasing the main bulk mission. Eventually we separated haha. Saw this girl wearing a wedding gown (Ok, maybe just a veil and a white halter dress) running. Quite cool. Another man was pulling a tire along the way. Respect.

When I finally overcame the cramp, it was nearing the end point. Haha. And so qiao, I saw small mouse when we were turning in! Hee. It is fate I tell you. Hee. After that went on to collect the medal and bag. Had brunch with brend before heading home. Slept for a couple of hours. Haha. Tired.

Okay, it is confirmed. I will take part in the full marathon next year. Partly because I want the finisher tee, and also I want to prove that I can do it. So I'm looking for run buddies starting from now!

And now, back to studying for Genes and Society. =/

I was influenced by Jack's post to post this.

I too find it ironic that I manage to find time to do so many other things that I dont normally do. Haha. Oh well. Must be the sian of studying syndrome acting up.

I've actually planned out what I wanted to study next sem as well.

Micro analysis 2,
Money and Banking / Financial Economics/Econometric 2/ International Economics / any Science Gem. ->( Any 2) ,
Intro to Psych (The only draw back is that it is monday 1800 to 2000 - So if my frens not taking this sem, I'll give it a miss again.) ,
Bahasa Indonesia 1.


Yeah, we should never give up when we fail even though giving up may be the easiest way out.

Economics

It's almost the end. Almost.

I'm still quite disappointed with the standard of the micro paper. I'm sure half the students left early. Repeats from past sem paper, tutorial questions. I still think you are not even half as good as Dr Wong. Now half the class will cluster fu*k on the top of the bell curve.

Stop being lazy.

On the other hand, Macro was slightly challenging, albeit time comsuming but at least it is a much better set paper.

And ITS FRIDAY!

开张了.

Crap

I think I just screwed up my JS1101E paper. Haha.

The MCQ questions were so specific. I'll definitely prefer essay questions than MCQs for such modules. There is no point for studying for understanding. More of memorizing the entire reading package. Hopefully with the understanding that I had, I managed to "common sensed" the answers.

Oh well. After almost 3 sems here, I think I'd rather take short answer/essay questions than MCQs. Since MCQ at this level can be a teeny bit annoying.

Looking on the bright side, 3 down and 3 to go! =)

Condolences

Condolences to the familes of the deceased National Dragonboaters.

It saddens me when athletes are lost in such tragic events. They'll always be amongst the pride of the Singapore sporting arena.

Hope that the families can get over it and bounce back soon.

Quack

I hate it when I lose my voice!

I sound like donald duck! Haha

ExamsS

2 down. 4 to go.

Armed with sorethroat and a large cache of phlegm, revision is just oh so wonderful.

Both the papers that went by last week were at opposing ends of the stress-o-meter. Econometrics I and Eng for Acad Purposes, the former being the most stressful one and the latter, otherwise.

As expected, Ec3303 is heaps harder compared to the midterms. I just hope that all those that I genuinely know how to do will be correct. As for EA, despite being 0mc, I still hope to score an above average grade. But I know my essay isn't as good as it should have been. The points were rather insignificant. But oh well, no point crying over spilled milk. Just make sure I don't spill milk all over the next time round.

And thanks to Kai (No, I'm not refering to myself) for reminding me that labour supply doesn't affect the Full employment level in the Keynesian model, because employment is demand determined.

I just realised my macro isn't as good as I think it is. And so happens that my micro isn't as well. Damn. Better buck up if I wanna live my short-run and long-run dreams.

Game Plan is a really great show. I'm glad we made the decision to watch it. Hehe. Oh, thanks Qy for recommending!

Went to collect the racepack yesterday, but kuku me forgot the buy the bus ticket. So I went down today to buy it. Grrr, but at least I didn't waste my commute time. Reading readings on the go - something that I've mastered over the sems.

Lunch today was good. Doing anything with you is always good. =)

Please stop the singing.... Argh...

England OUT!

After so much...

England squandered her chance to get into Euro 08 yet again.

An issue I didn't understand, without 4 first choice defenders and without both their first choice strikers.

McClaren had to give Carson his first competitive international debut.

And with Crouch as the leading man, who happens to be the best 'header-er' among the forwards of the England team. Why not start with Becks who happens to be the best crosser?

Geez...

My only regret is that I did not bet on Croatia winning.

Seriously, the English team needs more depth in its squad.

Revision

This has got to be the worst "week 13 leading to reading week period" I've had so far. I'm not in the mood, I keep having headaches, I can't sleep even though I'm like damn tired. And the next morning, I'll wake up feeling damn lousy because of the awkward sleeping posture and also because I was unproductive the previous day.

But at least things are taking a turn for the better. At least that is what I think so. Been wondering how is it I don't remember a thing Dr Lee Jin said immediately after all his lectures. It's not as if he is an incapable lecturer. Apart from the slight dryness (What do you expect from a statistics module?) he has been rather clear. After eliminating all the other plausible reasons, I've zoomed down into 1 strong argument, it's Math. That must be the reason why I'm taking eons to understand it. Haha. It's modules like this that makes me really appreciate the textbook.

Since I'm talking about textbooks here, might as well digress a bit. I realised I haven't been as hardworking as before. I hardly read up prior the lectures. In fact, I never. I normally do the reading up after the lectures or after the tutorials. It's perhaps due to the lethargy during the beginning of this semester. And once I'm lagging behind, I can't seem to get out of that vicious cycle. Enough of digression, let me get back to the main topic of why I wanted to blog.

I'm finally starting to understand the final few lectures of Econometrics, hopefully I'm interpretting the things correctly. But so far it still seem to make much sense. I'm done with Microeconomics and as soon as I complete the past sem papers of Macroeconomics, I should be left with JS1101E that I will prepare intensively after EC3303 and Genes and Society that I do not intend to touch until the end of all my papers, which is on 30th November.

Japanese studies is a bummer. I do not really know how to study for it. It might seem like a history/sociology/geography module. But the fact that it is a MCQ paper makes me wonder what I should study. I still believe I've made a wrong choice to take JS, I'm much better at throwing smoke grenades than sniping, if you get my drift.

The hidden reason why I wanted to blog this post, is to write something. That is to prepare for my English for Academic Purposes paper this Friday. Haven't been writing alot this semester, although my Academic papers are still of relative above average standards. Hopefully, I do not screw up on the grammar editing segment. Time for lunch and mugging!

I am jealous!

Boo.

Arrrrgggghhhh

Macroeconomics is driving me nuts.

Why so many schools of thought?? =/

Can I just support Keynesian since I buy its idea? Oh bummer.

And speaking of school, it has been more than 2 weeks and NUS Business School still hasn't replied to my mail questioning their rationale behind their new improved requirements for a minor in management.

I'm going to take it to ST forum soon. Grrr.

First CORS dont reply me, now NUS Biz Sch don't reply. Grrr. Irritating.

Alright, I'm done bitching. Back to books.

To digress a bit, here is a link to the Budget 2008 essay competition for those of you interested. I might consider taking part since the deadline is mid Jan.
http://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/essay.html

There are some things that are more complicated than they seem. I plead with you to look beyond the superficial layer. Look deep inside them, they need help.

It's more than just about providing them with adequate material needs. You're forgetting about the nuturing aspect.

Childhood socialisation is crucial, maybe not so in terms of developing them into future scientists, but moulding them into good people.

They are still young, they need to be taught the appropriate values. I don't want to see bright kids turning into monsters. Especially those from my family.


Another issue, I'm not being biased against PRC or anything. If you all have family members who go over to China, be it for a holiday or on a business trip and happen to buy dried groceries, beware. My grandma bought a hell load of sea cucumbers (Hai Shen) from China and they are definitely unsafe for consumption. (They might even be poisonous.) On the surface they look alright, but after cooking it, she decided to try it. Apparently, it caused tremendous discomfort to her throat and her face became slightly swollen. Prior to this, she already heard her friends complaining about the sea cucumbers causing some of them to have itchy throat and many of them had since gone to the doctor.

From speculation and hearsay, we suspect the seller added cement into the sea cucumber to "add weight" to it. But we have no proof or what so ever, it could jolly well be the case that all of them happened to have mishandled the sea cucumber. But just beware, when you buy such goods. Only buy from trustworthy sellers, and its not just for the case in PRC, but anywhere including Singapore.


And last but not least,

Happy Birthday Edgar!
=)

Runs

I think my ankle is recovering.

Thanks Reilly, for teaching me those ankle strengthening exercises. =)

Touched

I received a sms from someone and that really made my day yesterday.

I shan't blog about the details, might spark some controversy. Might go into the other place.

Thanks. =)

Concluding remarks

This semester is coming to a conclusion.

Rather disappointed with how some things are going on.

Not trying to be sarcastic or anything, I seriously feel damn slack. Despite taking 6mods, of which 1 is worth 0 MC, I find it less taxing then the previous semesters. And because of this, I didn't put in my best effort in everything I did. I know I could have done better; I know I would have done better.

I tried to get involved in stuffs, but I cant seem to fit in. I quit NUSDB to concentrate on studying, but ended up quiting trying to concentrate on my studies. Bah, the irony.

What's left now is to buck up for the remaining % of the modules. I still have that little dream to make it there. Which is still mathematically possible.

I seriously need a kick to the head, and I won't use the defence against kick to the head stance.

Ok, enough of grumbing, time for some happy updates. =)

I'm happy over a certain issue.
I'm glad to be in T9 of EA1101 as I've made some wonderful friends.
DW6 of JS1101E is pretty interesting with the "talk in mandarin during Jap studies tutorial" group.
I've officially gotten over it.
I've made improvements over my presentation style.
I'm more sociable than ever before. (Yes! Finally)
And I've discovered my hidden aptitude with regard to the usage of the Sociological Perspective.

Enough time spent on facebook and blogging. Time to glue my bum to the chair while I work.

Wasn't feeling all that great and happened to chance upon the video of the 3 assholes who didn't pay the poor uncle for the trishaw ride. This just made my blood boil.

The 3 fuckers can fucking die getting run down by a truck 15 times for the 15 dollars they refuse to pay and for their fucked up morals.

Even Satan wouldn't spare them.

James Dunham - Achmed

SILENCE! I kill you!

How I wish this is just an essay topic.

It would be so much easier.

At least I would choose a stand for my thesis.

Actually, I thought we're moving out of it already.

Because it does feel abit better than before.

We'll come to a conclusion, for better or worse.

=)

Benitez said this with regards to Fowler returning to Anfield playing for Cardiff in a league cup match:

`And he is still more than capable of scoring against our defence. As long as we win and score enough, I would be happy for him to score once more in front of the Kop. But only if we win, maybe I can agree that with him!

Doesn't sound very nice in my opinion. I hope Fowler scores a hat-trick.

Finally done with my Genes and Society essay.

Took a stand against both Reproductive and Therapeutic cloning. I'm just glad its over. Ha

draft

Finally drafted my letter to NUS Biz Sch to question their rationale behind their new requirement for the Management Minor Programme. I tried my best to hide my ultimate bu- shuang ness while arguing as academically as I possibly could in an attempt to make them reconsider their not so popular decision.

Although I have this feeling that I'm wasting my time, but at least I tried. This has to be the most important thing I've done since I hit my double 2s. Haha

=)

Thanks for the presents, well wishes and company people!

P.S. I will make good use of the dark blue note book.

Happiness....

Certain little things makes me happy.

But the summation of many little happy things can really make me bright and cheery for days!

A couple more tuition lessons before I stop teaching him for this yr. Probably restarting late Dec to prep for his next year.

1 more month to exams. Can't exactly say I'm not stressed, I'm stressed because I always want to better my own target.

Its make or break! Need to stay focused and goal oriented!

Happy!

The title says it all =)

Gosh.

1. The Minor in Management Programme is open to all NUS non-Business undergraduates who have completed at least three (3) Management Minor modules at the point of application (including the Management Minor module(s) that they are enrolled in at the time of application).

I'll never get a minor in management liao.

How am I suppose to get abt 5k bid points to get 3 biz mods? Lets hope next sem's mods are 'cheaper'

Although I feel like questioning their rationality for the above requirement, but I believe their answer is to prevent students who want to make use of this minor in mgmt, to gain an edge over other students. (Students under the minor prog can bid the mods during phase 1C.) No offence to my engine friends, but engineering students can use their programme points to bid for certain biz modules? Which they have 750 per sem and certain mods of theirs are all pre-allocated at 1 point?

With 400 credited to my general account, I can at most have 3200 points by my last semester. Haha. I guess I have to bang on doing MNO, BSP or MKT first rather than FNA. Haix

I'm in tutorial now.

CPs are driving me mad with their endless arguments and disapproval with the tutor's explanation.

simplicity is bliss too

If only it were so simple.

Life would be so much easier.

Emotions would be much more easily controlled.

A little digression to local news,
Most of you might already know about the fire that engulfed the wet market situated at Ang Mo Kio St 61. This is the nearest wet market to home. Quite sad this had to happen. I've grown up around there for as long as I've been born.

Still remember the times when my family would come down for supper every other night, which explains my active involuntary participation in the TAF club.

But on the lighter note, the temp market that will be situated at the nearby carpark, which will be there for about 4 months, is almost all ready for use tomorrow morning.

Lets hope the stall owners are able to cope with their losses.

the view above the bar is different

My friend said this, "the view above the bar is different." After he managed to clear chinup.

Grats Gaorui! Haha

I need a push,
A nudge might work.
For I'm no superman,
Else I won't be here.

Been a "big brother" to many,
But who shall be mine now?

Mental turmoils in and out,
Pressure scaling up the vent.
Denial of stress thou shall not,
For accepting weakness makes thy stronger.

Stress per se I can handle.
Summated with forlornness that I can't.
Who will be there in the end,
That I won't know till it comes.

Random thoughts

I just find certain entity being childish. They denounce certain meetings between other entities and certain religious icon.

This feels almost like a primary school kid conversation, "Oei, you better not talk with them, if not we don't friend you."

Was on the train and saw this 1 chocolate bar in uniform, sitting down, happily chatting on his earpiece, reading his book and trying to look intellectual. But there was this aunty with white locks standing right in front of him who at times was unstable.

Not a very good sight.

EC3303's midterm is suprisingly easy. An open book test that has questions that are very similar to the tutorial questions.

The only down side is that I have to calculate Cov(X,Y), Summation(u^2) etc, which was rather tedious and prone to mistakes.

Damn thick readings for JS this week.

rojak

I've been contributing alot to Singapore's economy recently.

Frankly speaking, I'm not behaving rationally as a consumer. I do not have an increase in income nor an increase in expected income, or anything along that line. Yet, I just keep giving myself excuses to consume more and more! If consumption smoothing sets in, I'm going to live in poverty over the next couple of months!

Met up with 2s22 on friday night, really been awhile since we met up. Although the turn out wasn't great, but at least it wasn't that boring. Chatted quite abit. Went to SMU's pub, (I didn't catch the name) for some beer with the guys after our dinner.

Went out with Na after my tuition today, went to collect her Great Eastern Women 10km Run goodie bag and No. Tag at Millenia Walk. Quite alot of people running I guess, its good that many people are keeping fit and healthy. And running is a good sport too! Tried munchy donuts for the first time and felt that it is better than donut factory's donuts! Went to candy empire and spent more money. Haha.

Just came back from a run from my house to lower Seletar Reservoir and back. Quite a few thoughts in my mind during the run. I really love running at night, its cooling and I can run alot longer without feeling drained. I managed to clear this route without stopping for the first time. Running at night after it has rained trains my agility and reflexes as well. I believed that my step-overs have improved tremendously after I have to "siam" away from the so many snails on the footpath. But seriously, its abit too dark at some parts of this route, and considering that I have mild night blindness, I don't really enjoy this route at night. Oh well, need to up my distance if I were to complete my stand chart half marathon with a respectable timig.

Really need to put in alot of effort for my Econometrics. Perhaps taking ST1131 instead of EC2303 to clear the prereq for EC3303 wasn't such a good idea. No point crying over spilt milk though. I'm struggling when it is not very hard. Help.

Just realised that school boys now and during our time is pretty much similar. My tutee was telling me how he and his friends catch spiders and all sorts of bugs. Banging the tables to pretend to be playing the lion dance drums. And hey, they still earn badges for participating in the young scientist thingy or something. Something that I used to do too! Haha. Brings back memories huh?

And can somebody tell me why transparencies that are compatible for inkjet printers are so damn expensive? It's S$9.60 for 5 pieces.

Unexplainable suffocation.

Uncontrollable flow.

Dear Edgar, Luke, Jack and Jeremy,

Good Luck for IPPT tomorrow.

Remember the 7 hours of sleep and to drink beyond your point of thirst.

=)

Got back results from all the Midterms so far. Both econs mod above the mean, but slightly disappointed with Micro. But expected it, since I didnt know how to do those qns. Haha. Oh well.

And I really got 20/40 for Genes and Society. Haha. Not confirm if it is the actual marks because the lecturer only went through the answers during lecture and hasn't given us the results yet. I certainly hope the mean is not something like 30. Haha. Looking on the bright side, most ppl sitting around me made a hell lot of noise as he was telling us the answers. So I assumed that I am not the only one doing not so well.

Weekend was quite hectic, as in I was quite busy with things that aren't really necessary. Haha.

Since its the last few days I had the car, I drove mummy to IMM on Saturday evening to buy toilet paper. Well, we did have dinner, shop around too la.

Drove mummy, Uncle Hc and Aunty Laileng to Toa Payoh for breakfast on Sunday. The climax was when some old uncle stole my parking lot. He is probably in his 60s, so I decided to control my anger and not give him a piece of my mind. But my Mum and Uncle scolded him "F*** you". I was taken by surprise. Haha. So I went to the multi-storey carpark further away instead. Perhaps it is fated, it started raining heavily as we were having breakfast and since we parked at the MSCP, we were sheltered all the way to the carpark. =) After that, I had to deal with 2 tutorial assignments, which were due today and had to complete a set of readings that is required for today's Js tutorial as well.

Went to town with Na today, its quite nice as it isn't too crowded. Shopping and fooding. =)

Haven't been running recently, I'll probably die during the Stand Chart Half Marathon if I don't restart my training. Haha. But of course, I got work to rush as well.

*Prays that I'll not be lazy tomorrow.

Seeking Miracle

Seriously, I think I will be elated to get a 20/40 for my Genes and Society Midterm.

But since almost everyone is saying it is difficult, I hope the Std from the mean will be very wide.

I wonder if it is just me, because I find almost everything in the test paper not taught or not emphasized during lectures.

Oh well, at least its done.

Its Friday....

Saw buddy in school today!

Long day in school even though I only had lessons from 10 to 12. Stayed back to study for Genes and Society until abt 6+ before going to meet the NEFMQ people.

Ate at Munchie Monkeys for the first time, haha. Not exactly fantastic, but I guess its not too shabby for its price.

Tried out 2 sample quizzes for genes and society. And didnt do very well, I barely passed. Either a miracle happens, else I will really have to use my S/U at the end of the sem.

Its not the same anymore.

Midterms

2 Mid terms just went by like this.

And I am quite impressed by how fast A/P Wong gave us back the results. Haha. I took Macro econs test on Wednesday evening and I got the results by noon today.

Genes and Society and Econometrics left. Both my worst modules for this sem. Wish me luck. =)

Drove to school today. It is convenient in one way, but on the other hand, I have to go to school latest by 0930 to ensure that I manage to get free parking at Kent Vale.

And so I arrived in school about 3 hours before my first lesson, but at least time wasn't wasted. Managed to do much revision, definitely more productive then when I am at home. Maybe because there are less distractions, such as sheep throwing and bed.

Journey back home wasn't that smooth, heavy traffic from the off-work crowd. Witnessed an accident somewhere along clementi as well.

Since grandma is abroad, we ate out. So mummy, uncle hc and I went to botak jones again (after so long). I don't think I'm going to eat there again. Prices went up and the serving just got smaller. Although I am still very full after the meal, the utility just isn't there anymore.

Driving for the first time without the P-plate. I must say, the feeling is not too bad. =)

Aunt and Grandma went Vietnam, hope they enjoy themselves.

Went to celebrate Na's mother's birthday with their family. And after that, we went to Lu's hall at NTU. Quite nice, reminds me of OCS bunks. There is a vague resemblence.

Dreading the reopening of school, well at least I'm dreading the midterms.
Very unprepared.
Bummer.

I realised I am no longer the pillar I used to be.

Tranquil is insufficient.

Mindcafe.

Went to Mindcafe yesterday night with Jaren, Shaun, Felicia and Javin from my EA class.

Well, I had loads of fun! Haha.
Haven't laughed like that in such a long time.

Thanks guys. It help me get id of some unhappiness. =)

To the gang:
I think we should go too! =)

就是爱你 - David Tao

就是爱你

我一直都想对你说
你给我想不到的 快乐
像绿洲给了沙漠

说 你会永远陪着我
做我的根我翅膀
让我飞
也有回去的窝

我原意
我也可以
付出一切也不会可惜

就在一起
看时间流逝
要记得我们相爱的方式

就是爱你爱着你
有悲有喜 有你
平淡也有了意义

就是爱你爱着你
甜蜜又安心
那种感觉就是你

我一直都想对你说
你给我想不到的 快乐
像绿洲给了沙漠

说 你会永远陪着我
做我的根我翅膀
让我飞
也有回去的窝

我原意
真的愿意
付出所有也要保护你

Oh~~

在一起时间继续流逝
请记得我有多么的爱你

Oh~~

就是爱你爱着你
不弃不离
不在意
一路有多少风雨
就是爱你爱着你
放在你手心
灿烂的幸福全给你

Above x2

就是爱你爱着你
我都愿意

就是爱你爱着你
要我们在一起

就是爱你爱着你
我都愿意

就是爱你爱着你
要我们在一起

PS. Not sure if all the wording are right, didnt manage to get any chinese version to refer to. Haha.

Busy Recess

I'm having a tad too much social activities at the moment. Haha.
This is going to be a busy recess week and I have quite alot of things to do.

Just yesterday I went for Econs Society's gathering at Orchid Park for a game of paintball, didnt win my game, and ended up having bruises and cuts. Haha. But it was quite fun, and got to know some people from it. Met Na and we went National Skin Centre after that, nothing serious with my hands just Eczema. When I opened the Consultant's door, I was taken by surprise because there were 3 people inside. After some introduction, I realised 2 of them are trainee doctors. Quite a friendly bunch of people.

Met up with Joanna in the afternoon and after having lunch in school, we went to our "long awaited, little scandalous date" to Kbox. Haha. Haven't sang in quite sometime. But it was great fun! =) Thanks to my best karaoke partner. Haha.

Met my family for dinner at the coffeeshop, hadn't eaten out on a weeknight for quite sometime. Its about time my grandma took a little well-deserved break.

Went over to Na's place for awhile. Though it was short, its definitely worth it. =)

Coming up next over the next few days, I will be teaching tuition on wed night and sat afternoon. And will be attending a workshop in the place of my NEFMQ head on thurs and fri and have a EA class outing on thurs evening. Haha. Busy me.

And now, I really must study!

Bz bz bz...

It is done! But it didnt turn out as well as I had hope it would be.

I've been to orchard 3 days consecutively. Something that I don't usually do. Haha.

Meeting with the gang was great as usual. Downed my first Tequila shot at Balcony last night. Haha. I think thats the first time I went drinking with the gang. And what a coincidence, saw Jaren at Balcony too.

Met up with Maoliang today to lend him my vcam. And he treated me to Crystal Jade! Haha.

Completed my 3rd JS reaction paper. I wonder how good they are. I don't really have the inspirations to write anything.

ENS Paintball outing + National Skin Centre Appointment tmr. =/

And that marks the start of Recess week!

I haven't heard those words for a very long time.

The many facets of me.

I'm beginning to lose myself.

Somebody told me that I should start rediscovering myself. But where do I start? How do I go about doing that. Not when I can't even pinpoint my current location.

The follies of mankind.

Interesting Phenomenon.

I've always wonder why this happens.

Whenever a woman pushes a pram into the MRT carriage many eyes will turn and scan the woman, the baby and perhaps her company.

Shortly after, if the baby is adorable, they will smile to themselves or talk amongst themselves while fixing their eyes on the baby.

So here I was observing the carriage I was in today.

When the woman pushing the pram came in with 2 other women. All eyes were moving up and down, scanning the women and the baby.

At least 3/4 of the people at the section of the carriage I was in were looking at the baby and the woman who by my inference is the child's aunt. Observing how she was patting the baby to sleep and smiling to themselves.

I cant help but wonder, what were those people thinking of in their minds then.

And the most amazing thing is that, I saw them on the train as I was heading for my tutee's house. And I saw them again around my neighbourhood when I was on my way home. Haha

寻爱 - Pursuit of Love.

人生就是为了找寻爱的过程，每个人的人生都要找到四个人。

第一个是自己,
第二个是你最爱的人，
第三个是最爱你的人，
第四个是共度一生的人.

但很悲哀的，这三个人通常不是同一个人!

你最爱的，往往没有选择你；
最爱你的，往往不是你最爱的；
而最长久的，偏偏不是你最爱也不是最爱你的，只是在最适合的时间出现的那个人。

在适当的时机，碰到适当的人，叫着幸福。
在适当的时机，碰到不适当的人，叫着错误。
在不适当的时机，碰到适当的人，叫着遗憾。

I've gotten this from Jo.

Don't you agree with it? I know I do.

So many questions on my mind.

So many 'Whys' popping up here and there.

Be it school work or personal life.

I need to find answers to my queries. Else, I'll have to eat eggs for my tests!

Life is just so fragile. People die of illness, old age and accidents.
Another plane just crashed recently, resulting in deaths and injuries. I wonder if it is the result of a decline in standards of pilots? Or is it purely an accident. I cant be certain with investigations still ongoing.

The melting of icecaps seems to be worsening.

"There has been a reduction of the ice cover over the last 10 years of about 100 000 sq. km. (38,600 sq. miles) per year on average, so a drop of one million sq. km. (386,000 sq. miles) in just one year is extreme." (Retrieved from CNA.com)

Will Singapore be submerged? I don't know. Any Geographers keen to answer me? Who knows, Singapore might become one big underwater world in the next century.

Case of CPL Teo.
Major blow to the SAF and Mindef. And with reference to CNA's article:

"Three lapses in the SAF's systems and procedures have been identified concerning the recent incident where a full-time national serviceman walked out of Mandai Hill Camp with his rifle and ammunition during his guard duty, said Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean. "

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/300336/1/.html

I believe many heads will roll, not solely with regards to this case per se, but perhaps more of a structural thing. Might involve a major revamp as well.

The Global Economy is going haywire.

More accurately, it should be the stock market rather than the economy.(At least for now.) With so much speculators of the stock market, people react to every little comment made by certain important people. If people were to get information regarding the funds rate, the stock market will fluctuate yet again.


Sometimes, life makes fools out of men.
And most of the time men fools around with life.

Dinner.coffee.movie

Met up with Chi, Edgar, Jack and Qiyang for dinner at Fish and Co last night. As usual, they never fail to say, "Make that 2, ...3...." Haha. I've always found that interesting. As usual, my order was quite different from the group.

Dinner was accompanied by conversations, entertainment by our ever entertaining WSO and the confusion of the mixed identities between cheese and salt.

After dinner, we went to the Cathay to check out what movie to watch. After a battle of Scissors, paper, stone, it was decided that we watch "The Invasion". Prior to the movie, we went to Starbucks for some coffee.

The Invasion is quite interesting, apart from the fact that it was Nicole Kidman who is the lead, I found the whole thing quite engaging. Started me thinking.

A World without Crime. How ideal. But then again, this requires some philosophical discussion, which I rather not to engage in.

Back to studying/doing assignments.

Rare occurrence.

Something that hasnt happened in a long time.

Everyone in the Gang is ONLINE!

Yet another week has gone.

The feeling is just so different.

Work load hasn't increased by alot relative to the previous sem, however the content is definitely much more difficult.

Presentation over for now, not the best of presentations, but it really has been awhile since I presented anything.

Finally submitted a reaction paper for JS, and seriously, writing a 250 word paper is much more tedious then writing a 1000 word one. Being concise and precise is definitely not my forte. I can't show off my extraordinary skills at beating about the bush!

Been thinking about minors, still considering what to minor in. Perhaps I shall stick to my original plan of doing a Management Minor, who knows, I might even upgrade to a 2nd major in Mgmt, or even an ad hoc DDP B.Soc.Sci(Hons) Econs + B.B.A. Haha. Wishful thinking.

Genes and society slowly getting on track. Mugging from the textbook is definitely helpful when your lecturer is going too fast for you.

Although initially I was apprehensive about being in EA1101, I kind of enjoy being in the class. Mainly because of the people there, nice friendly people. I forgot who told me this, but seriously I think that, "Its the company that matters most, and not where you are." is damn true. Of course, I must admit that my grammar has improved tremendously.

Attended Iman's wedding after my tuition, didn't stay for long because the only people there that I know apart from Iman, is Hairul and a couple of Charlie men. Could see that he is happy and much more mature. Seeing him get married is really something that makes me happy. Still remembered the time when Ben and I got him to cut our hair. Haha. Those were the days.

Went for a super extended family gathering yesterday and finally saw my Aunt who is currently a lecturer in one Ireland Uni. Haven't seen her for almost 10 years, and now that I talked to her, I realised that lecturers there aren't earning alot. But so long as she is enjoying herself there, I guess money isn't of fundamental importance.

Finally done with tutorials on a Sunday afternoon for once. Haha. Gives me more time to do some revision and prepare for the upcoming lectures.

Still contemplating on joining something, be it in school or outside. However even with these comtemplations, I have no real idea what is the driving force behind all these desire.

Perhaps it is not for the interest per se, but more of beautifying my curriculum vitae.

Finally, a little digression towards Joanna, I'm damn happy for you now la! Glad that you found bliss and happiness in him. =) All the best for your honours year.

Busy

I'm suppose to be busy.

But I cannot bring myself to do work.

I feel rather unaccomplished and need some active involvement in some activities.

I think I am crazy.

Thoughts.

Was listening to 93.3FM and I heard this story from Mary.

There was a man who is always feeling troubled about the things happening around him.

One day, he went to a sage to seek his enlightenment on how to relieve himself from those feelings.

The sage brought him to an abandoned house.

Sage: On the table lies a glass of water, despite being left alone here to collect dust for many years, it is still crystal clear. Why is this so?

After some deep thoughts, the man responded.

Man: I know! It is because the dust are all settled at the base of the glass.

Sage: Yes, that's right.

In life, there are many events, people or relations that are very difficult to forget. Instead of forcing yourself to forget them, keep them in mind. However, let them settle to the bottom and remain calm. Concentrate on the other things in life. Don't start stirring them up, and cloud up the glass of water. Let them be a reminder to you, but don't let them be the cause of your unhappiness and the source of your troubles.

Like the glass, if there is no force shaking it, the dust will always be settled at the base.


Sorry about the bad translation. It was in mandarin. Haha

S/U option.

The ability to make the studying of a particular module easier.

2 options.
For students matriculated in AY07/08 -> They get to exercise this after getting their results.
The rest of the students -> They must exercise it during the 6th Week.

Ya, unfairness and etc. I agree that the AY07/08 people might be having it easier because personally I wouldn't want to keep my S/U until the last sem and S/U 3 modules during the last sem anyway.

There has been a forum going on and there are about 200 over posts to it so far.

I've been wanting to air my views and feelings, but when I see what the rest are posting I feel scared.

Why? What the hell is going to happen to the future of Singapore? Half the people participating in it are bitching about things. Not what undergradutes are suppose to do in my humble opinion. When you talk, talk with logic, reason and sense. Not simply complain that life is unfair.

If you are unhappy being in NUS and aren't proud of being here, screw off. I bet the feeling is mutual between you and the school.

Disappointing.

Ratatouille

Well, I caught Ratatouille with Na just now. Its a really fun show. =)

"Anyone CAN COOK."

Its pretty inspiring to know that Remy, has such aspirations and dreams of becoming one of the finest chefs in Paris.

So, I shall use Remy the rat as a role model! Onward and beyond! Haa

But speaking of food, I haven't been cooking for quite some time apart from cooking instant noodles/ campbell's soup.

Been thinking, for SMEs to function, do they operate similar to MNCs? I mean in organisation and employer-employee relationship. I strongly feel that in order for SMEs to function well, and reach the optimum level of efficiency/output, the have to command loyalty from their staff. Once you manage to capture the hearts and minds of your employees, they will put in their heart and soul for you. Why pick on little things that aren't even worth mentioning? For an employee who has worked in your company for almost 10 years without a single day of absence, and he tries his best to make it happen even regarding your personal stuff, I seriously think you are losing it. But people are like that, they won't feel the pain until they fall.

Alright, tonnes of tutorial to rush. Sleepless night.

Rainy Tuesday Afternoon.

I had wanted to go swimming today.

But it just wont stop raining.

Guess I am resigned to the fate of reading my textbooks for the whole day.

一人一半

一人一半，感情不散。
一人一素故，感情才会久。

*Note: 素故 = 四分之一

This is a portion of the lyrics of one of the favourite songs of Singaporeans from the local production, 881.

Come to think about it, it does make certain sense. Don't you all agree? Especially the army dudes.

Yet another week gone.

Hmm, the end of the 2nd wk in school.

Somehow Economics is more mathematical than I think, but I guess I shouldn't have much problem coping with the math yet. Somewhere deep inside of me still wants to try and get a First Class which is still mathematically possible.

Genes and society is killing me. Somehow, I believe skipping lectures and going yum cha and having dim sum won't even affect my grade since 95% of what the lecturer doesn't mean a thing to me. Haha. I am so going to S/U the module.

English for Academic Purposes tutorial though can be a drag, but can be pretty interesting as well. Gender ratio of 5 guys to 9 girls, I can't really complain. Haha, but I always thought that girls were better linguistically? 3 presentations in all for the module, hopefully it will help me in my future public speaking, which can definitely do with some polishing. Been studying stuff like the proper use of noun, pronoun, verbs and etc. Feels rather primary school, but frankly speaking I only know how to use the correct terms prior to this course. Now I know why they are used this or that way. For example, when do you use that and when do you use which? I had no idea of this at all until attending this class.

Well, kudos to Dr Ngoh. =)

Its nerding time.

Clear IPPT.

Yeah. As what QY said, one shot one kill. I managed to clear my IPPT in one go. Initially I wasn't very confident about it, because when I was practising my SBJ this morning at home, I couldn't even clear 216.

I am quite impressed with the electronic ippt system, it really saves alot of time. Well, since we could choose which station to attempt first, I decided to go for the killer - SBJ. And Ta da, my first jump was 221, and immediately I became excited, haha so and for my 2nd jump I hit 225. Yay, that was a great morale booster. And of course subsequent stations weren't much of a problem.

2.4 wasn't that bad either. Although still a long way from gold, but at least my timing was way better than the previous trials that I did myself. But I am happy that its over and now I just have to maintain this level of fitness at least. And of course I am happy with the silver.

Saw Rizuan (My MG Gunner) there. Surprised that he was there for RT since he is always of gold standard, and found out that he never go and take. Don't understand some people nowadays.

And guess what, I kena bird shit on my hand yet again. Tell me how lucky/unlucky I am la. Some people never kena bird shit before in their whole life and yet, in my 22years of life I had been bombed 4 times. And guess what, all 4 times landed on the same forearm. I am starting to wonder if there is an invisible target board there. Furthermore, this is the 2nd time I struck the lottery at that place, there are about 20+ people waiting to cross the road at that junction, but the bird have to choose me. Looks like I AM the chosen one.

Whining aside, I did see weird drivers today as well. A P-Plated car started doing its U-turn when the green man came up (its red light for him) and when all the pedestrians started to cross the road? The main problem is, he didnt give a damn that people were crossing? He just continue driving as if we were all invisible and we had to give way to him. Sadly I didn't have time to catch his car plate. Next, just immediately after the green man stopped blinking, a taxi started driving off when the light was still red. =/ I think they really need to wake up their idea.

Oh ya, forgot to add. I finally saw Thye Heng today in school. After 2 sems. Haha.

The week that past so quickly

Last week really went by so quickly. Probably because I was busy for almost every day and night.

Attended 3 dragon boat trainings over the week, 2 land and 1 water. I must say, it is a really good sport and the training is tough but yet enjoyable. However the commitment level is also as high.

On days without competitions, the training is usually 4 times per week, and when competition is round the corner, it ups to 5 days. Although I enjoy it quite alot, I think my priorities in NUS is to study hard and get good grades. So I have decided to stop joining their trainings. I think fun, enjoyment and satisfaction can be obtained at a lower cost. But I'm really glad to have attended and experienced the sport personally.

Modules this semester don't look very promising. I suspect I might fall quite far off from my targeted CAP region.

Genes and Society is a killer. First lecture and I dont know what the heck my lecturer is saying already.

Buddy - I need you A level Biology text book. Haha.

And while looking through Macro economics and Econometrics, I almost thought I was taking mathematics modules.

Celebrated Augustin's birthday in advance on saturday evening, he is really much cuter compared to his brother, haha. But then both are my cousins, so I guess I cant be biased. Equal love for both of them then.

Drove for abit too, getting slightly rusty.

But at least over the weekend I caught Secret with Na, I am really impressed with how Jay wrote the story. Its really something special. I am quite touched by the whole thing.

Gelare was nice! Papering was not too bad, and of course the Ji Dan Zai was good too!

Alright, I guess its time for me to read my Intro to Biotechnology Text.

Water Training.

Well, first water training went quite alright I suppose. Not too tiring, but my technique is pretty bad. I should enjoy this sport. =)

End of week 1.

Its not easy trying to get back into the studying mood after a 3 month break.

But as what Jack said, Nil Sine Labore - Nothing Without Labour.
Yep, I got to work very hard. Especially since I am starting to feel some modules aren't as easy to score as I initially thought they would be.

But hey, I'm trying hard to keep up with the readings.

Which brings me to another point.

Dragon boat training is 3 to 5 times a week (Mostly 4 times). Am I able to maintain my CAP by joining such a high commitment sports? (If I get through the selection.)

Troubled.

Spam.

Hah, I found my lecturer's email classified under spam.

It seems to get darker and gloomier as the days get by.

First day of school.

Today is my official first day in school even though I didnt had any lessons.

Kind of overslept also la, so I skipped breakfast. Haha

Left for training at abt 1530 and had enough time for dinner and changing up before waiting for the bulk to come.

Quite surprise to see so many people wanting to join the team. But I don't think alot will stay on after the first couple of weeks.

From what the seniors said, today's training was just a welcome thing. More to come, and I really found it shag. Haha. Cham.

First we did a run around school of roughly abt 2.5km. Followed by 2 sets of circuit training which consisted of 8 exercises. The sets were back to back la, so for a not so fit guy like me who didnt do circuit training for more than 1 year, its not easy. Didnt have time to catch my breath even haha.

Made a few friends along the way as well. =)

But still, it was enjoyable. Looking forward to the next land training on Thurs and of course the first water training on Sat.

Ah...

Well well, the start of a new semester. But lessons dont start until wednesday for this week.

I will be attending the Dragon boat welcome training tomorrow, I wonder how welcoming it will be. Haha.

But my mission to make it a 4 day week has failed. So I must go to school every week day!! Blah, at least lets hope I get off to a good start!

Something interesting.

Well, its more interesting if you understand hokkien. haha

Happy National Day.

Happy 42nd Birthday Singapore!

You are a miracle.
So proud to call myself a Singaporean.


Many things happened recently. Be it internationally, regionally, locally or even within my own life. Thought through quite alot of stuff and was wondering what I am looking for in life. Sometimes it is just so confusing with so many things going on around you.

At this point in time, my main concern is to ultimately get a good honours.
With that it could lead to me fulfilling my dreams in the far future.

There are so many things I want to do, some of them seems so out of reach. But nonetheless, not impossible. Also, so many things that I keep telling myself that I will buy when I get my first official paycheck after graduation. So many that I probably need 5k per month to buy all within the first month. Haha.

Lets see what I want to accomplish/get:
Before graduation
Complete Standard Chartered Half Marathon 2007 at a timing better than my previous AHM.
Represent NUS in some DB competition.
Maintain if not improve my CAP.
Complete my first ever full Marathon by 2008.
Grab an internship at one of the banks in Singapore especially the central bank.
Graduated with a 2nd Class Upper.
Write the honours thesis. - to see if I am cut out for research work.
Pick up roller blading. - At least I want to know how to brake.
Go back to swimming.
Cherish my friends more.
Pick up diving. - I so want to see marine life up close.

After graduation
Going on my first Europe Trip.
Secure a good job.
Buy a DSLR camera. - Fulfil my wish to capture the beautiful images of the world.
Carry on leading a healthy lifestyle.
Buy a car.
Get a Ph.D. - It all depends on my results and whether I have any interest in research at that point in time.
Work in an International Organisation.
Teach at my Alma Mata. - Only if my title is Dr.
Keep contact with my friends. - Something which I am damn lousy at.
Marry the love of my life.

Guess this is enough of what I want to do/ achieve for 1 day.

I think its always good to review what you want in life once in awhile to keep you going on without losing focus.

Would You be there?

Would You Be There

If I were blue, would you be there for me,
And whisper in my ears that's ok.
Would you stand by me, let me hold you tight,
And say you love me one more time.

If I feel good, would you slow dance with me,
And touch my lips with tender loving care,
Would you die for me, would you run with me,
And never look back..

Would you be there to love, to be with me?
Would you swear that your love is always true?
Would you say that you'll always be the one,to take my breath away?
Would you be there to love, to be with me?
Would you swear that your love is always true?
Would you say that you'll always be the one,to take my breath away?
Would you be there..

If I am away, would you still think of me,
And wished that you could hold me now.
Would you die for me, would you run with me,
All the way ...

Would you be there to love, to be with me?
Would you swear that your love is always true?
Would you say that you'll always be the one,
to take my breath away?

Would you be there to save my soul tonight,
Would you swear that your love is always true,
Would you say that you always be there,
To kiss my pain away,

Would you be there to love, to be with me?
Would you swear that your love is always true?
Would you say that you'll always be the one,
to take my breath away?

Would you be there to save my soul tonight,
Would you swear that your love is always true,
Would you say that you always be there,
To kiss my pain away,

Would you be there ..... for me ...

____________________________________

I know I will.

Last Module.

My 6th module for the sem has yet to be decided. I am not acting tough, but the combined MCs for 6 mods are 20, because the English Mod that I am required to take is of 0 MC.

Should be taking a Science GEM, so that it can be S/Ued if the going gets too tough after all, I will be battling 6 Mods, teaching tuition, joining DB training and not forgetting getting a little bit of life.

Think I should be taking this:
GEK1527 - Genes & Society

Distancing.

Maybe this is the best option.

As what people always say, "Absence makes the heart fonder." Who knows, we might even find an extra dose of oxygen to rekindle the flickering flame.

Might take this time to explore myself thoroughly and deeply, haven't really had time for myself.

We're still us.

Gearing up for Ippt.

Yikes. I thought the long distance training recently might have helped me with my 2.4 timing. There was some help alright, but not sufficient. Feels like I have neglected the speed component totally in my recent training. As I was striding, I could feel the calfs aching and aching, that was during the morning and I thought it was because I wasnt warmed up enough. I tried running again in the evening. This time with an additional warm up round prior to my run. The result, a faster timing, but an equally sore calf.

Oh well, its time for some fart lek training to increase my speed.

Somehow it feels more shag to finish 2.4km then to finish 14km.

Think I finally got the technique for SBJ. Just needs more practice and doing some tuck jumps, lunges should do the trick.

Chin up isn't a problem at this point in time, except that I experienced a very smooth bar at YCK Stadium which is pretty frictionless with sweaty palms. Haha.

Alright my new aim in life is to evolve into a fitness freak! Haha. - Not manhunt style, but rather live strong, enjoy sports.

Sat.

Met the Popular guys for lunch at high-tea time slot. Yang treated us to Pizza hut for being a great help to him.

Actually we didn't do alot, just doing our job. Thanks for the meal though. =)

Tried doing some SBJ just now, and was horrified with the distance, I wondered if I even broke 200, lol. But after doing some surfing, I remembered the technique of jumping le, so I shall try again tomorrow. Should be doing a trial 2.4 run tmr, to see how my long distance running recently has benefitted my 2.4.

Got reply from the Capt of NUS DB le, will join their training on 14th Aug.

Think I am most likely going to go for the Standard Chartered Half Marathon. Looking for run buddies.

Anyway, got 4 out of the 5 mods that I wanted to take. So I am quite happy. =)

Bad Patch.

Can I like runaway to somewhere where there is just me, myself and I?

Can I just hide at a corner and weep myself dry?

Can I drown myself in my Absolut 100 or Chivas?

CCA

Alright, I've made up my mind.

Ever since the matric fair 1 year ago, I had been interested in joining NUS Dragon Boat team.
If I don't do this during my junior sem, I doubt I'll be able to do in as I progress higher up.

I've contacted the Captain and is looking forward to join the training.

Last Day

Today is the end of my 2 month working stint at Popular' warehouse. Been working for Harris (One of popular's newer departments) for most of the 2 months. This is my longest ever temporary position and frankly speaking, quite a memorable one.


It started with 4 of us, pasting price labels on books. It wasn't the best of jobs, too monotonous and too simple in my opinion. I desired to learn something out of this vacation job, but during the first week, my wish just wasn't fulfilled.


Entering the new week, we were attached to another group of temps whom we're supposed to take over when they are going for their enlistment. Much more to learn and much more to do. That made me happier. 2 more additions came our way and now we have this team of 6. As the previous group ended their term, another another addition joined our growing team.


This team was fabulous, although we hardly know each other very well, efficiency was at its best, even the supervisors and manager were impressed at how efficient and precise we are.


Information flowed in bit by bit, we've learnt more skills of the warehouse. Such as the operation of a Auto-picker/Order picker, Electric stacker, Pallet jack, etc. We learnt much of the processes within the warehouse and learnt how to pick stock, do stock taking, stock transfer.


It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out our newly aquired knowledge, so when we learnt all that we could possibly learn, it starts to get boring and draggy again. Day by day, we are always doing the same stuff. Alot of double work being done, alot of wastage on scotchtape, plastic wrapper.


Before roadshow.

Picking the books for the roadshow, peeling off the old price tags, stock take, tag the new price tags, pack them into cartons, fit them into a pallet of ASRS standard. Shrink wrap the cartons on the pallet.


Few days prior to roadshow.

Take the pallets out from ASRS, removed some cartons and fill the remaining pallets to a higher height to save space and trips of the trailer.


After roadshow.

Pack up, send to warehouse, repack into ASRS standard, store in ASRS. Take out from ASRS, scan titles, pack and send back to ASRS, repeat for 60 over pallets. Found error, take out pallet from ASRS, sort out the errors, return it to ASRS.

Haha. Towards the end, it got really unbearable. Its so tedious that I dread going to work.

But one thing, I really did learn quite abit there and my colleagues there are awesome.

Screwed up.

Not that I want to whine, but I am pretty pissed.

But I cannot place any bids on my modules! Not even my core modules.

I don't know whats wrong, emailing cors doesn't help because all I get is the automated reply that says thank you for your enquiry, we will get back to you ASAP.. Blah blah.

Now my allocated mods seem to have disappeared as well.

Runs runs runs.

Anyone interested in running the Standard Chartered Marathon? Its on 2nd December.
I am not talking abt running the full 42km, but doing the half marathon.

The link:
http://www.singaporemarathon.com/en/

Btw, I've signed up for the 12km competitive Sheares Bridge Run. If anyone wants to join me, the registration is still open until abt 6th Aug if i remember correctly.

Back.

Back from Taiwan! Arrived last night at about 11pm.

Never expected myself to say this, but Singapore is way cooler that Taiwan at this period. The temperature was between 35 to 39 degrees.

Went back to work and gave tuition today. Wouldn't mind some extra rest, but hey more money won't do me any harm either.

Quite shocked to hear about what happened to Siti. Condolences to her family. Although we didn't have much interactions between us, you've helped me quite abit back then.

Thank you Siti.
May you rest in peace.

Life is so fragile.

What a day.

What more can you ask for when a whole day of pictures taken on foreign soil on your camera is GONE, after your memory card crashes?

Blah.

On the brighter side, we got an extra day to go back and take more pics. =)

Away..

Dear all,
I will be in Taiwan from 1300hrs - 19th July to 2300hrs - 24th July 07. And my phone should not have autoroam, but I will probably be bringing my laptop, so might still be online, anything just contact me via email.

PS. Harris Bookfair is now opened at Suntec Convention Hall 401.

There are quite a couple of steals around, do take walk around there to check out some of the books.

However, I do find it lacking in the Non- Fiction department. (Quantity there, but quality not really there.)

So long.

Runs

12km Sheares Bridge Run anyone? Its on 26th Aug.

Not going to attempt AHM - too little training done.

Days that left and those to come.

Rather hectic week I had, I'd say.

Busy with work, runs, weights training, tuitions and finalizing the details of my trip. Its really not easy trying to keep up with the tempo of my training after work each day. Even when sometimes the workload at the warehouse is not very physically strenous, just being at work saps every ounce of energy I have, leaving me drained after work. By midweek, I already feel the strain on every single muscle that was worked.

Running up steep slopes nearing the end of my running route has always been challenging, but without fail whenever I feel like stopping, I will start humming the OCS song's chorus, "We come from OCS, we are the very best. Leading with dignity and pride. Wherever we go, people always know. Our spirit is forever more." And more often than not, I overcome the slope feeling like I just started my run. But the constant pushing has indeed benefitted me heaps.

My tutee has definitely opened up slightly more on the second lesson as compared to the first one we had. Though I do have a hard time keeping his attention. But seeing that he can do what he could not do on the first lesson made me at ease.

Remaining schedule.

OT tomorrow, training on Sat, tuition on Sun.

Work on Monday.
OT at Suntec on both Tues and Wed.
Flying off on Thursday morning.

There will be a bookfair at Suntec from the 19th until about 22nd July by Harris Book Company. The books aren't dirt cheap, but there appears to be some discount as compared to their normal retail price. Do check it out if you are interested. Many many titles of many many categories.

I will be flying off to Taipei on 19th July at 1300hrs. And will be back on the 24th 2300hrs.

Does anyone have any special request on what they want me to get for them?

NOTICE: Missing Person

Dear Viewers,

Below is the link of the details of a missing girl, Felicia Teo Wei Ling, 19.

http://poww.livejournal.com/97634.html

If you've seen her around or sth, pls contact the numbers listed on the link.

Thanks.


PS. The girl is of no relation to me, perhaps just friend of a friend of a friend.

Tuition.

Started giving a Pri 4 boy tuition at Khatib area.

Not a bad first day at work I'd say. But the boy, could be the "ex" of Na's current tutee. Haha. So coincidental right?

But anyway it was fun giving tuition. At least I think I like teaching/ passing on knowledge to people that needs help. And thanks to Jack who prompted me to go Popular to browse through the assessment books so that I could revise on the topics. =)

Looking forward to the next session.

Met Na after that and we went shopping at Borders followed by having some coffee and a Spike - D at Big O. The spike - D was not too bad but the coffee could definitely be better.

Went running just now, its always nice to run at night, especially since the weather has been pretty disgusting recently. This might sound funny, but... I just realised I can do over-grasped chin ups today. Haha. Ever since enlisting, my chin ups has been done the under-grasp way, today I finally tried the "orthodox" way and I managed an 8. I would say this is the results of hitting the gym dilligently, and I am definitely going to keep it up.

Work tomorrow. Sian.

Currently experiencing Pre-Monday Blues...

seven seven seven

Today is a very special day. A day that can only occur once every century - 070707.

I attended Rachel's wedding lunch at Riverview Hotel in the afternoon.
Rachel was Na's Accounts Manager back at Legend, but as of now she has resigned and is happily married! She changed alot since the last time I saw her, definitely slimmer and perhaps prettier? But most women do look prettier than usual on their wedding day.

The food and service there weren't that fantastic in my opinion. Perhaps its due to the special day, the standards dropped? Or high demand for fresh ingredients that led to a hike in price and Hotels, restaurants alike hiking prices to make a windfall from these newlyweds? I don't know, I don't normally have a "golden mouth", but this time I am quite disappointed at the quality when the cost isn't cheap at all.

But nonetheless, I wish you all the best in your marriage, Rachel and Mandrick. Have a blissful one. =)

After that, we got a lift from Legend's director, Randy to Cityhall. From there, we made our way to the NDP rehearsal since Na managed to get tickets from her friend, Yan. The place is quite nice, apart from being smaller than Kallang. And instead of the Kallang wave, we were doing the Marina wave! Since this year is commemorating NS40, there was a vast display of the different services on the stage. Truly spectacular I'd say. Even though today's Parade wasn't on the actual day, most of the effects were already quite facinating, especially the fireworks. I was awed by today's fireworks, I cannot imagine how WOWderful the one on the actual day would be.

Really wish to be able to attend a NDP on National day itself. I would really enjoy the atmosphere, sitting by Singaporeans of different background, celebrating our Nation's Birthday. Singing, laughing, cheering. Wow.

And as usual, listening to National day songs always make me tear.

Happy Day. Thanks dear. Love you. =)

Havent blogged in awhile

Lets talk about last week, on Monday night, Fern and Joyce had planned a surprise belated birthday celebration for Na, and of course I tagged along for the added suprise.



We had dinner at Fish and Co in Wheelock.



Some of the pics

Puffer Fish Family

Me, Na, Joyce & Fern(L - R)

Nothing much for the week apart for Thursday night's stay over at Ed's. Luke was driving us around in his black knight for dinner and supper before heading over to Ed's place for some PS3 and sending Zhongwei off at the airport after having Bk's breakfast. Haven't had such a stay over in ages and I was really tired. I was thinking if this is a sign of aging.

Saturday was East side day. We went to Changi Airport for a walk, followed by going to Kallang wanting to see fireworks. But we lingered around Geylang for quite sometime after 10pm which was supposed to be the time for the fireworks to be launched as according to what I recall.

Disappointed, we left the vicinity and as we arrived on the platform of Kallang MRT Station, we saw the fireworks!! So, it made our day still.

Sunday, was a laze at home day. Both of us busy with our own stuff, went for a 5k run in the evening. Decided to try doing some chinups to see if my gym sessions were effective. I was quite impressed with myself for still being able to do 9 chin ups after 5km. Not considering army days, but since ORD, I couldnt even muster a 10 consistently when I was still fresh, let alone after completing a 5km run. Slowly I am regaining my fitness. Just that, my 2.4 is still pretty slow. It seems I might have to do some interval training.

Anyway, a question to the gang.
Should I focus on muscle toning or muscle building? Aka, Cardio or Strength training?

Any preferred regimes? Currently I have been whacking Strength training. Does cardio training with weights get rids of the excess flabs while toning the muscle or is running to burn fats the only way?

Email

Courtesy of Ed and Jack,

My NUS email is now:

xiekaiwei@nus.edu.sg

Wanted it to be something like xie.xie@... but I think its lame haha.

Week End

Met Zhongwei and Kaiquan on Friday, had dinner at the Bubble tea place at Jubillee.

Was at AMK hub with Na yesterday.

They experienced a power failure for about half the building.

So as we were walking around NTUC, we heard this over the PA system, "We are currently having a power failure, ........ sorry for the convenience caused." I couldnt stop laughing for a while. Haha.

After that, we headed to Northpoint's Starbucks, shared a Venti Azuki Frap. Not too bad, except the caffeine level was too low.

Prior to that, Na came over to my house where we cooked Yong Tauhu again, haha, and watched Meet the Robinsons. Its a pretty nice show. =)

Sunday.
Went beaching with Na, the weather wasn't that great la, it rained when we arrived but the sun came back when we are leaving. =/ But I had a jolly good time squashing Na's head while sleeping on the bus on return journey! Hehe

Personality time.

Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:
You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.

What are you most afraid of:
You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Got from buddy:
http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

PS. Jack and I seem to have rather similar personalities.

Happy birthday...

Happy Birthday mouse!

Its the eve of Na's birthday, and I went to collect the sunflower I ordered the day before.

Was actually planning to go to Kallang stadium, but the weather wasn't that fantastic, so we gave it a miss. Instead, we proceeded to watch Ocean's 13.

I didn't watch 11 nor 12, but 13 is pretty damn cool. The way they planned for the heist is simply brilliant. And the mouse is googoogaga over Brad Pitt.

After that we went for a shop around before heading to Spageddies for dinner. Reservation is good, because they reserved a very big seat for us. Ha, so the 2 of us were like occupying a table for 4 to 6. I had the Lobster and Chicken combo while Na had the grilled chicken pasta. The lobster was pretty fresh and its cooked just nice.

After dinner, we went to Funan so that I could get a wireless lan card for my desktop. And after that we made our way on foot to the Esplanade. Went to Hagen Daz for fondue. Its a big serving and its pretty expensive. Maybe because we were sitting directly under the aircon, it made the chocolate harden quite fast and it wasn't that satisfying. However, it is still nice to dip ice cream into hot melted chocolate! Yummy.

Really do hope that we will be spending many many more birthdays together. Love you dear.

Pursuit of Happiness.

Ripping this off Buddy's blog:

I just saw Ronald's nick:

How do you know when you're happy and not trying to be happy?

Indeed.

This has really sparked me thinking. Can I really be happy? What do I want in order to be happy.

A good job? A family of my own? A car? A comfortable house? A lot of money? Having a paycheck of $10k/mth?

What about scoring an A for a test? or even having a delicious ice cream? Such small events do give me a sense of happiness and fufilment momentarily, but do they add up to a greater happiness?

Na's views is that she cares more about the little happiness as she is unsure of the future.

I understand her point of view, but what I am curious about is whether anyone can be truly happy?

The pace in Singapore is pretty fast and there isnt much time for someone to take a breather. Wake up, wash up, take breakfast, work, home, dinner, wash up, sleep. - This vicious cycle goes on and on in a capitalist system. Everyone is a slave of this system, although each individual is different, but we are all mere pawns in this game of chess and can be easily replaced. With the falling birth rates, the increase in cost of living disproportionately higher than the rise in wages, the fall in rate of dependency per adult, it just gets tougher.

Many would have to work till they are in their late 60s.

Can they be happy? Will I be happy?

Will you be happy?

My Comp Arrived.

Seriously, I think a 20 inch monitor is a tad bit too big.

Good for watching movie and perhaps gaming, but otherwise, its not that friendly.

Reminiscence.

Was looking through my old documents in the comp.

And I found those reflections, appraisals and peer rankings back from cadet days.

Certainly brought back some memories of the good old days.

Gym

I've gain at least 6kg since 23rd Jan 2005. Sadly, its not muscle mass.

I am pretty determined to get back to at least how I was shaped like back then.

YCK Gym, I'll be visiting you more often.

Hmm...

A few points to discuss/inform.

Firstly, my new desktop coming in on Sat! Dell is pretty efficient, I only placed my order on Sat and they said they could deliver tomorrow. =/

Secondly, I've decided, its either make or break. I shall start going to the gym again. I wonder how many years ago was my last entry into a gym. So every tues and thurs after work I'll be going YCK Gym, if anyone wants to join me, feel free. By make or break, I mean either I make it out alive or I break my bones in the gym.

Next, regarding the Taiwan trip.
It is confirmed that we will be flying on the 19th of July which is a thursday. It will either be a 5 or 6 days trip, depending on whether we are going to Taroko Gorge/Windows of China. The 5day itinerary is out. If you want, just get from me.

I will most probably start booking lastest by early next week. So, if anyone (with another friend/girlfriend/spouse) is interested to join, just inform me and we can talk about it.

Lastly, working in a warehouse can actually be quite interesting although it might be physically demanding at some point.

And a little update on the weekend that just went by. Went to the IT Fair on sat, and its still very darn crowded. Bought my desktop there. Had a very filling dinner with Na and her mum. And went jogging at about 9pm. Its definitely much quieter at the time, and without the scorching sun, I could run further and faster than I normally do when I run near dusk.
Carried on with my lesson plan writing, this time on Performing Hand Reflexology. 1 more trainer's guide and ppt presentation to go. Of course theres another set for Post Natal Massage.

Sunday was cooking day. Although its a simple fare, its always enjoyable to cook together. Went for dinner with Na's family and I met her Da Jie's Xiao Qiang. Haha. He definitely has a better figure as compared to Mr A. And mummy is back from Malacca, with loads of food and a couple to Polo-Ts for me.

Psych VS Soci

Buddy:
Psychology is mainly the study of human cognitive behaviour while Sociology is the study of various social structures and how these structures affect our daily life and experiences? Psych mainly focus on individuals while Soci deals with individuals, microstructures such as families, macrostructures such as cities or even social systems. - Just my interpretation of Psych, because I don't really know what Psych deals with.

Anyway, To the Gang.

Can you all make it on Tues, Thurs or Fri next week? 5th,7th & 8th respectively.

Because Frank can only make it on these days, and due to some research, most of us are not feeling very rich, in fact we are very poor. So, any suggestions for a dining place thats has good food and is economical?

Updates.

Today is Vesak day. The best thing about it is that, I dont have to work. Haha

So here is a little update.

My supposed 2 week stint at Popular has been extended to early August. So I wont be jobless for this period of time. Working condition is alright and my fellow temp colleagues are very easy to get along with. Lunch bus is indeed surprising, because you do get to go to different locations everyday. With to and fro shuttle bus at Ang Mo Kio Mrt Station, what more can I ask for?

I came across some books that are kinda lame and they seem to be mocking other more popular titles.

For example, there is this series called, Barry Trotters. Obviously a parody of Harry Potter.

Another one is the following:

Lame huh?

Gang meeting later. Its always nice and delightful to meet the Gang. I think its just the camaraderie we share. Always looking forward to it. And I do realise I haven't organised one yet. So I shall do it soon. How about tomorrow? Blah. Cranky me.

Taiwan trip - some of you might already know that I am planning a Taipei trip at the end of July and I've received responses from interested parties. Frankly speaking, I wasn't expecting such a warm response la. But for the time being, I will be planning the itinerary for the trip.

What is confirmed is that, we will be flying Jetstar. Choice of hotels should be a 3 star hotel within the Ximen Ding vicinity or with a Metro station within walking distance. Which zooms in to mainly KDM, Wonstar, Paradise, Rainbow. (Only KDM and Wonstar provides breakfast.)
Won't be switching hotels in between because it is a all Taipei trip.

Based on initial planning, the estimated date of departure is between 16th July to 25th July and the expected length of stay is most probably 5D4N.

This is a free and easy trip. Transportation from airport to hotel and hotel to airport will be via shuttle buses, such as Freego Bus.

Daily transportation will be by bus, MRT and Taxis.

Based on this arrangement, the estimated cost for a Paradise hotel room (assuming 2 person to 1 room.) + 2-way air tickets inclusive of taxes (rounded off) is about SGD600 per person.

This trip was initially planned for just Na and I, so interested parties please at least come with a friend/spouse/sibling. (Try to make it a neat arrangement such that you don't have to share room with my other friends because interested parties are from my different circle of friends.)

Photos.

My all time Favourite Group!

The all time Favourite of the All time Favourite - Hebe!

Attack of the Stuffed Toys!

The Newest Member of the family - Noisy(Left)

Trees of the favourite hang out.

Results.

I'm elated with my overall results. Definitely made the right choice to switch course.

Happiness aside, I am rather disappointed with my Nation-Building results. Expected to at least maintain my previous sem's grades, but it dropped by 1 grade instead. Last sem, I got 2 B- for the class tests and got a final score of B+. This sem, I got B+ and A- for my 2 class tests, and I ended up with a B for my final.

Econs is definitely the main cause of joy, while Sociology was a pleasant surprise.

I'm just delighted.

I'm sick.

Poor Referees

Referees, are poor people who get criticized, blamed and threatened when a team loses a match. It has been on the rise it seems, managers, players, fans, legends, wonderkids, heroes, flops, Toms, Dicks and Harrys.

Are referees today so lousy? Are they not human? If you think the referee is biased or crap, f_ing get 22 referees running on the pitch to keep a close eye on every single player.

Lose it with sportsmanship even if the ref made a mistake, it can't be helped, if you think you can do his job better, then quit whining and resign as a manager or player. Sign up as a ref. See if you get any threat letters.

Irritating.

PS. No one in my family is referee.
This post is not targetted at any teams, managers, players. It is just a summary of how I feel that referees are being treated too harshly and under respected.

First Day.

Well well, first day at work.

I don't remember mentioning this, but I am working at Popular's Warehouse as a warehouse asst. And I stuck about 1000 price labels on 1000 books by hand. (I'm not exaggerating.) Now, I can proclaim I am the human price tagger!

This job is pretty stress free, zero learning value, but I do get to see some good books that are going to be put on sale at a discount price of $6. Some of these books are still for sale at its original price at Kino, Times, MPH and even some of the Popular retail outlets, so they are fairly new. Although I can't buy the books at the warehouse, I might know when and where they are going to be on sale, so if you all want any books, (that aren't too new) I might be able to tell you all when and where its going to be displayed.

They hired 4 temps, of which 3 are undergrads. Haha. Not exactly a type of job that requires undergrads in my humble opinion. One of them is Na's friend. This just amazes me, I tend to be fated to meet Na's friends who take the same modules as me or temp together with me. Haha The supervisors are nice and such, but I didn't really like the guy-who-wears-shirt-and-pants-and-never-broke-a-drop-of-sweat-guy. Whatever/whoever he is, (Either manager or something.) he's too damn proud and arrogant. He is just an AP.

Although the pay isn't very high, $5.50/hr, they have a company bus that sends us to and fro to AMK Mrt Station. They even have a bus to drive us out during lunch. What amazes me more is that, the lunch destination is different everyday in the week! And its never fixed, so you are in for a surprise everyday!

Well, it can be monotonous and get pretty boring and sweaty but well at least I'm not rotting at home.