Cycle, cycle, cycle!

Yesterday was lunch with parents, meeting up with Nasri and Zhi Han (for some crap too), running with Kossy and Noel, and dinner with Noel after that.

However, it was just a tossing and turning night for me. I wonder why, many times. Just unable to pinpoint the exact cause, but probably what would be happening today, I guess? In the end, I had barely slept for 5 hours, and awoke with a tired mind but a recharged body.

Morning, met up with Candice, Jorin, Kossy, Noel at Clementi Food Centre for a mini-gathering "breakfast" before heading for the bank to settle the Rovers stuff.

What the DBS trip had for me was a certain eye-opener. There was no one at the main enquiries counter, and we were unsure what to do at that time. It was 11am then. However, I remembered the previous time I had went to the bank and proceeded to get an automated slip and to go upstairs.

So off we went.

And the bank officer who attended to us 3 seemed to be running on a short fuse. A really short fuse. Basically she just went through all the documents and attended to us as though we were little kids (probably 'cos we all seemed to be younger? I dunno...) Although previous Liquan and I had come to confirm all the documents and necessary information required for the account, this particular bank personnel was very quick off her block to demand things which we had already kindly put in front of her.

Moreover, she seemed to want to do everything quickly and spoke to us in a rough and unkindly manner. I deemed it as her personal style, but it got to my nerves when she just chided us in a gruff manner when there seemed to be a problem setting the account up (of course, the problem resolved itself). In essence, the person lacked patience and customer-orientated service.

And we 3 agreed that this was one bad example of customer service. Seems like our dear government has to do something to improve customer services, as we're mainly in the services sector and highly dependent on this sector of the economy.

After which, we proceeded down to Queensway to exchange Jorin's sandals, and I got myself a mini-first aid kit. Would come in handy, as I would be going on quite a number of trips also. Time to get a new LED torch light, water bag and maybe a pair of cheap slippers. Heh.

ECP cycling outing with 5B proceeded in the afternoon! And it was fun, since exams are just over, and you can just about throw the books into a corner, wait for it to rot for a month, before desperately finding buyers for them. Despite the recent bad weather, quite a number of people actually turned up! Alvin, Amelia, Daryl, Jialiang, Ming Kwan, Selina, Wai Keong, Wee Kwok, thanks for your support!

And this cat was sleeping so nicely during one of our stops at the food center in ECP, the Lagoon (i think?). I just had to take it.



Basically, we cycled from ECP to NSRCC, attempted to go to Changi Village, but realised that the option was to go onto the road, since the pavement was cut off after a short distance. Went back the same way and enjoyed the good weather. And Daryl went down this part of the jetty near to NSRCC (basically, he just jumped down, haha), so there you go:



And then, we saw these:



Hmm, seems like ECP did some additional tune-ups, and I guess the millions intended to spend on improving the facilities at ECP is to increase the number of people going there, and to have more shops opening in the area.

Proceeded to return the bikes, and saw Jacqueline and her 1B class at the outing at ECP. Same time, same place, different activities. While they proceeded to Parkway Parade for some food, we went over to Katong Shopping Centre for some "cheap" fare. Haha.

And we were all Minute Maid spokespeople in a flash. Haha.

Current Mood: Happy

Bong re-visited!

Well, yesterday was the re-visiting of Lumbong, and boy, has it changed much since we last went!

Met early at Kranji MRT with Candice, LG, KH, TQ and HH, the latter 2 going there to buy tickets for the Berkelah recce.

Basically, it was pretty early when we reached Larkin, and while we walked around to look at the prices of the tickets to Kuantan and KL, we were talking of the free strawberry milkshake that the last person to arrive (HH) had to provide. Or rather, it was just LG only.

Anyway, back to the story.

So HH and TQ left after getting the tickets (a whole stack of them too!), whilst the rest of us trooped off to catch the 9.30 bus departing from Larkin to Kota Tinggi. Reached Kota Tinggi pretty fast, and departed for the plantation after preparations.

After a quick (and almost non-existent) warm-up and 2 pointers from Candice, we're off!

Basically, the plantation trail has changed quite a bit since the last time I walked. That was...2 months ago? (Held in Sep) Almost mistook the wrong route inside there, but...I sort of recognised the turn, just that the vegetation really was making judgement difficult. Not to mention the limbo-rocks which we had to do. Not funny...Imagine with our big bags, and doing that. Haha!

It was a quick 6 hour up-down trek, and the jungle trail was quite alright, except a close brush with death with falling rocks (Survival Tip 1: Remember, never ever look up with your mouth open, and spectacles save the day!), getting injured with LP when we're in front of one another, laughing non-stop and acting like crazed participants...

And KH has shown us why he is proclaimed (unofficially of course) the King Of Lamers...

Candice: "On the way in, I saw a board that says 'Waterfall mining'. I wonder what they can mine at Lumbong."
KH: "of cos it's water la. That's how u get Mine-ral water mah."
(quoted from Candice & KH, all rights reserved)

And a whole lot of nonsense spilled out in this trek.

As we did not arrange for a cab to pick us up, in order to do a statistical test of the number of taxis coming into lumbong (quote from LG), it was found that on a weekday, 100% of the vehicles going into that area are headed for the Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort.

Luckily, KH went over to the Resort and the security person helped us by getting a member to drive us out of the area in his car, and we paid RM15 for the ride. Pretty cool huh? But definitely, not to be done again for more than 4 people! *takes note*

Went back to JB, and looking at the jam at the Causeway (at 7.50pm!), we decided to go and have our dinner first at the nearby shopping mall (and reception from Singapore appears to be strong at higher levels, nearer to metallic objects at the food court)

So for ultimate fun, just throw a group of fun-loving friends up a waterfall trek, and you get your fun. No holds barred, 100% satisfaction!

Current Music: The Sound of Music

Jorin...Happy Birthday!

Yea yea yea!

Celebrated Jorin's birthday with a spin (pun intended) through K-Lunch today. Although it was a short 3-hours worth of food, songs and pretty much laughter, it was great to have an event organised away from the mundanes of cycling, trekking, jogging blah blah blah...

And all of us, the exam-already-over-and-I-dunno-what-to-do gathering there early in the morning, it was certainly great.

Basically, it was a covert operation (again!) and Wanling, Heng Hong and I managed to uncover what Jorin needs...a pair of sandals.

And off we (WL and I) went to get the Teva (branded hor!) sandals from Queensway yesterday. (Thanks WL, for being really nice to go down during your busy exam period...)

And today, met up with Tianqi, Jorin and Heng Hong early in the morning at Somerset for the K-Box. And everything went as per planned...Candice and Lianguo arrived shortly after, and had already prepared a cake!

Wanling arrived late, but we had already managed to do some last-minute adjustments to ensure that Jorin would be out of the way whilst we prepared the cards, cake and everything else in the room.

And she was shocked (well, not 100%, but the gift, definitely. Haha. I'm pro)

After the K-Lunch, LG, Candice, WL and TQ left, whilst HH, KH and I (literally) dragged Jorin up to K-Pool for an hour plus of beginner's pool. It was damn fun playing, just needed more ppl, that's all.

After Jorin left, we headed down towards Borders, but not before grabbing a can of the new F&N flavour. Very cool drink, but a little on the sweet side. At Borders, there's this cool exhibition done up by this French photographer who did aerial photography of various scenes around the earth, and here's one of them...



It's damn nice la! Haiz, really an eye-opener, and lets you see places which you might never get to. Indeed, we're really lucky to be living here. And I'm really impressed by the quality. Alas, never got to view finish. Left with HH to NEL, and KH went off homeward bound.

Never mind....to view again...another day!

Current Mood: Happy

In the News...

It's pretty pathetic, I'd gotta admit. $3K for such a stupid moment, a rash decision.

Just because she's a CEO doesn't mean that she ought to be bossing around with the ICA officers at the airport and throw the meat on the floor when realising she has lost.

It's like throwing a tantrum. It's basically childish. Considering she's a CEO, I won't have thought such actions would be enacted...now, I think otherwise.

We have laws, every country has laws. Even your home has, too. (Unless you don't have one, which I can't say for all)

So if you can't live by the laws with this place, then just don't come here and throw a tantrum when you realise that the oh-so-deliciously-finger-lickin'-good food is wasted because you cannot bring it in to your family (or friends, whatever).

Agricultural laws are in place in Singapore to help protect us from the slew of viral diseases afflicting the globe. We're considered pretty lenient already, and if you wan comparisons, have a look at Australia then. Theirs is even more stringent.

It's all in the interest of public safety and health concerns. You can eat all you want in China, but please, do respect the law here concerning the well-being of all

Anyway, talking about laws, read about the recent comments regarding the execution of Nguyen, an Australian who was caught smuggling heroin in transit in Changi Airport. To cut the long story short, basically the Australians are trying to lobby for a turn-around in our court's decision. Now, I just think that they should not try to impose their laws on our courts and reverse the decision. Imagine the value of the law should it be changed after strong protests.

Basically, the ball's in our court, and we're to do whatever is as defined in our court (pun not intended).


To all FNA1002 students: Take a look at H16 of today's Home Section...And u'll understand what the full-page ad is about.

Current Music: Sun Yan Zi - Yan Lei Cheng Shi

The End

And the end...was it beautiful?

To me, it wasn't. In fact, a horrid way to end. After weeks (or days) of studying and preparation, it turned out to be like this.

Exam strategy? None.

And there goes the module which I had the greatest confidence in.

Perhaps, "confidence breeds complacency" is true. After all, I had concentrated mostly on my other modules, especially Physics and Marketing. The stack of books and notes was tremendous (below)

And perhaps, the day just wasn't smooth sailing after all. Firstly, I forgot to bring my waterbottle with me into the exam hall (which is usu the case); Secondly, I forgot my desk number at the start.

And looking at the questions, I just fumbled as I thumbed the pages, uncertainty grew, and all there was left as a huge black void.

Guess I should just enjoy the hols, since the results are of no consequence...You can only look forward to the future, reminiscence the past, and live the present.




There it goes!


There it goes again!

Darned, the Serway textbook was too huge for my wastepaper basket. Maybe a lighter would suffice

Time to watch the movies I've always wanted to, go out with friends I've always wanted to be with, enjoy sports, enjoy nature and a whole lot more.

Hopefully, Dec will be much better...

Current Mood: Exhausted

Current Music: Wu Yue Tian - Sun Wu Kong

Cold Cold Day...

Woke up today morning, feeling the morning breeze...the wind...and the cold.

Been raining for the past 2 days already, and it's really cool to have natural airconditioning at this point of time, after a period of hot and dry weather. Well, TRIED to study in this good-to-sleep weather, but failed quite miserably.

Then again, nah...

Exams are really a killer. You kill millions of brain cells each day trying to force in things which you might not use in the future, or have no use before, or do not know what the hell you are learning it for.

On top of that, you just get results, but do not know where the mistake lies, what it is, or whether any of the information you know of is correct in the first place.

Basically, you think you know everything, but you do not know what you don't know. What an irony.

Was doing Maths and Marketing the whole of today, been a killer. Looking at my helpsheet, there was a sense of satisfaction (and therefore I shalt not throw it away after exams) on completing it, but I kept thinking what else should be added, or have I missed out any important formulae. Looking at the past year question pretty much sucked as well. Trying to attempt them, using the "tricks" we've been taught...and I think to myself, what's the use of all these? Is there an application which we can put these into good use?

Marketing was still alright, at least I could relate to the current ME. Haha. Price, Product, Place, Promotion, the Consumer Buying Process, the AEITA model, the utilities given by a product, the values consumers look at when making a purchase, the channel intermediaries...The list just goes on.

Crap. This ain't supposed to be some MKT1003 blog. This is a blog of today.

Life has pretty much hit a all-time low. No runs, no outings, no movies. Just plain me sitting in front of stacks of papers and textbooks, each screaming at me as if saying "Read me first!" And pimples appear as if landmines have just been spread over the entire planet.

And I did, and 3 are out of the door as I speak. Banished from my room...till I find suitable buyers for them.

2 more to go, before the semester draws to a close...finally.

Current Mood: Cold

Did he get off too lightly?

I think so, and so do many netizens too. The recent newspaper article (The Sunday Times, Nov 20, 2005, pgs 8-9) shone light on pianist Melvyn Tan, who has defaulted his NS 28 years ago. The 49-year old pianist, who has lived in UK for the past 37 years, paid a fine of $5,000 after the court hearing. According to the Enlistment Act, "those who evade national service can be fined up to $5,000 or sent to jail for up to three years, or both." The pianist has about 30 recordings to his name and a regular touring schedule in Europe, and made his mark in the classical world with his performances on the fortepiano.

So, a guy with a successful career, by escaping the country, work/live/study overseas, and come back to pay an interesting $5k fine.

In my opinion, he has set a precedent to all. The fact being, you can go overseas when young, default NS, not return to Singapore, earn a big living, and then return, just to pay a fine. And $5,000 is not that much compared to the thousands he earns in his touring performances, and it would be peanuts.

Thus, why the precedent?

Avoiding 2.5 years of NS with 9 cycles of reservists, plus staying overseas, certainly is tempting. Basically, it seemed like you can "get out of NS with cash". And if that's the case, why wouldn't other parents consider this for their child, who have to surrender 2.5 years (now 2 years) of their life serving NS? They might consider migrating overseas, using Melvyn's case as an example.

Indeed, I fear for the lashbacks and after-effects of such a precedent being set. That being said, there might be more parents sending their kids overseas to study and work, and ensure that they make it big overseas. Work hard there, do not come back.

A wrong message sent, indeed.

A good thing would be to update the law, increase the fine or jail term, to prevent people from having thoughts of defaulting NS! If NS can be defaulted so easily, I'd bet it's an easy way out for a lot of people.

All people are equal? Maybe not, after all.

Current Music: S.E.N.S

Æon Flux

Based on the MTV animated series created by Peter Chung, "Aeon Flux" is set 400 years in the future, when disease has wiped out the majority of the earth's population except for one walled, protected city-state, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. The story centers on Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron), the top operative in the underground 'Monican' rebellion - led by The Handler (Frances McDormand). When Aeon is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets.

Man...this is a movie worth waiting for and looking forward to, esp after exams Charlize Theron looks damn cool (not to mention chio) in the poster and trailers!

Links:
Lycos Aeon Flux Slideshow
Yahoo! Movies
Rotten Tomatoes

Current Music: S.E.N.S.

Look! A plane!

U've seen the A380, now...meet this new replacement for the Super Guppy, the A300-600ST Super Transporter (Beluga).

The cockpit of the A380, looks damn cool, here.

1 down, 4 more to go...

Current Music: Liang Jing Ru - Si Lu

Finally...MP3s are better than CDs?

*lol*

Just less than a month ago, my CTW project group had just finished an article regarding MP3 piracy affecting consumers. Now, it seems like Sony (which has a record of shipping audio CDs with copy-protection software), has made a terrible flaw in its copyright protection software which creates security weakness in computers. Better still, it is impossible to remove, according to this Windows expert, who discovered it all. Part I Part II Part III Part IV

News also available on other sites: CNN BBC USA Today

Thanks to them, now other viruses are using the software that Sony distributes to hide themselves: CNN News Report

So moral of the story is, it is safer to download MP3s than to buy CDs, cos you'll still be backstabbed by the evil "copy protection software" which the CD comes with, giving you a free dosage of virus or allowing your computer to be taken over by hackers.

Seems like my essay should have changed.

Current Music: Zhou Jie Lun - Ye Qu

*lol*

You know you hate mugging or studying for exams when:

1) You enjoyed a swim, regardless the company
2) You enjoyed a run, regardless of the distance and tiredness you've to overcome
3) You enjoyed a night's out with friends to catch the latest movies
4) You forget when your tutorial timeslot (I remember who laughed at me!)
5) You can't get yourself in the mood of constant revision at 2am at night
6) You enjoyed killing people in Counter-Strike *hahaha*

There's more, but I kinda forget. Haha!

Watched Sky High with Jiahui yesterday, it was a cool movie! But, it's just the atypical Super-hero family sort of story, can't be compared to The Incredibles, which I would always remember as one of the best...and of course, Spiderman 2 and Daredevil.

Dinner @ The Pepper Place (was it that?), at Taka, the supposed "fast-food" restaurant, but it wasnt. The hamburger and chicken combo was nice, portions too much for one person (i think!) and they have a lot of 豆芽 inside it! Following which, we headed down to Far East to get the watch she wanted, only for her to mull over it still. Guess when you look at it the second time, the feelings for the watch is totally different already. Then, we went back to Taka to get some Venezia ice-cream, which was simply delicious!

It was a great night out, really enjoyed the company ^_^ At least it's a break from studying. Haha.

Current Mood: Happiness

Current Music: Zhou Jie Lun - Mai Ya Tang

1 Birthday/day...Shiok?

Was a really great weekend (not so great cos exams are looming, but THAT can wait, haha), and I din really have time to blog all these while. So let me revert back to story-telling mode, shall we?

Haha. Oh man, I sure love to do 1-post-per-week blogs already, maybe this oughta be weekly instead of daily, considering that I do not ramble on and on now.

Just returned home from Alvin's birthday celebration, and now resting after a great night. Amelia was kind to give Enping, Meilin, Selina and me for a ride from Bishan, considering that all of us were staying in that area. I also learnt one thing whilst there: That someone is habitually late (or so I heard). Off to the PIE we went, and we reached Lakeside (or so I thought) earlier than expected, 'cos we were supposed to meet Wee Kwok, who was fetching Daniel and Wai Keong.

And I need to brush up on my Western MRT Line. We waited at Chinese Garden instead of Lakeside! Argh. Mistake of the day. Anyway, managed to convoy to Summerdale, where the party was held.

Dawn, Ghim Song, Minchen, Welly and Zhan Sheng were already there, together with Andy and Junjie. Saw Mingyi and Bingkai at the party also, and Jiaxin came along shortly after. A small world indeed.

Well, the highlight of the day, was not the food, not the birthday boy, but the "celebrations" we did for him. Well, a picture speaks a thousand words, so I should just show the pictures and it'll all do...I hope.

The 'director' (right) and the 'producer' (left)...You'll know why...scroll down




(clockwise from left-most) Daniel, Wai Keong, Ghim Song, Jiaxin, Enping, Gong Yu, Wee Kwok, Meilin, Amelia


(L-R) Junjie, Andy, Me


(clockwise from bottom left) Selina, Dawn, Welly, Meilin, Minchen


Alvin with his coke (Seems like ready to fight sia)


After water dunking...Round 1!


Round 2!


Round 3!


Round 4! (This is when he went in himself. Haha)


A botched Round 5 though...but we had a substitute.


Class Photo 1!


Class Photo 2!


Whose legs are those?! 180 deg water dunk!


Despite changing out, he cant get dry...haha.
Now on to the previous days....

Friday
Wanling's birthday was on the 5th, but Jorin and I decided to give her a surprise the night before, hence...the 4th was chosen. Managed to totally 'smokescreen' the entire surprise till the last minute, despite having a few possible times when we almost let the cat out of the bag. All it started out, was a Batu meeting. And she was baited instantly. Haha.

She was totally surprised! A 3-staged surprise, started with a sumptuous dinner meal at Holland Village's Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, then a cheesecake at Coffee Bean, and finally, a Nalgene waterbottle to (hopefully) 'replace' the one she lost!

How did we know what colour of the bottle to get? Well...just crap out a discussion and ask. And there you go. Instant answers. Dang, we are good. Haha.

And we just talked and talked and talked till it seemed pretty late, and we bade farewell to our wonderful birthday girl...After letting her see the great HV night-life, that is.

Saturday
Well, it all started the day with a rushing of tutorial from 1am-3am, 'cos I just got home from WL's birthday surprise, and I was talking to Gek Puay regarding the tutorial. Which I nearly forgot anyway. Haha.

Managed to snooze for 4 hours, and woke up in time for the 9am tutorial. In fact, reached a little too early to see a deserted NUS. (Other than the YIH you see) The tutorial was okay, the presentations were fine, but I realised that every group now started with a SWOT analysis framework after what Team 2 and our team did. Geez.

Evening was Grace's birthday. Another 21 year old! Met up with Genevieve, Hark Kah, Huijunand Junhong at Bishan, as Junhong was driving. Reached her chalet a little late, and we saw Guanyu, Shuwei and Weichuan there.

It's a pity that I've no pictures to show for this, 'cos we took a lot of pictures, including one with the birthday cake! (not the girl. Haha!)

Well...*yawn* Cant get into the studying mood. Geez....another late night. 夜猫子俱乐部 still in action...Disbanding due on 23rd November...so...watch out!

Current Mood: Hyper

Current Music: Zhou Jie Lun - Ye Qu