hearts & sparks

2012-01-16T23:30:00.004+08:00

On Bee's birthday, we went all the way to the East side of Singapore, because we wanted to use up the voucher we bought on Groupon last November.

The initial plan was to drop by Old Airport Road Food Centre to queue for Lao Ban beancurd since we had to take a bus from there to East Coast Park. Heard that the beancurd's really good and they start selling their first batch of beancurd at 11.30am and will stop when all's sold out. They'll only start selling the second batch at 5pm. As we were both too lazy to wake up early, we ended up reaching the food centre at 2pm and the queue wasn't as long as what we saw in photos. We could only try the almond flavoured one as the original one was sold out, but it was good too!

So, the thing about the Loft is the food's good but the voucher was pretty much a scam.
We paid $49.90 for the voucher which includes a main dish and a pasta that didn't even make up that amount. They had a $10 return voucher that was only mentioned only after we asked. The couple beside our table didn't even know they hadn't gotten their return voucher. Guess what? The return voucher was not given to us on the spot. We had to leave our names/emails down and until now, we still haven't received our return voucher via email.

Groupon's discounts always seem so attractive but when you really use it, you'd realized you don't save much.

2012-01-16T23:07:00.002+08:00

Just when I thought I've got my modules all settled, I had to face yet another problem.
I managed to secure Urban Sociology, one module which I really enjoy after attending the first lecture. I planned all my tutorials and was ready to file for graduation, only to realize I really did read an excess Geography module and now, I have one UE lacking. Which means... if I don't get this solved, I wouldn't be able to graduate in time.

Despite the severe puking and diarrhea the whole morning, I forced myself to head over to school to enquire at the Dean's office. All they said was I had to send in an appeal online. So, I went to the Geography department to look for Mrs Chong to ask for alternatives. She's a much nicer person to talk to but sadly, she was on leave. ): And the person who talked to me kept asking me to drop the excess Geography module. How to when I read it last semester?! Pttf.

In the end, I sent an appeal through Cors online. Something which I can always do at home. I made a wasted trip down to school through all that uncomfort.

2012-01-10T00:12:00.003+08:00

CORS suck big time. My very last semester and I still have problems bidding.
Despite the declaration in Soci minor, I'm unable to bid from my minor modules in Round 2A. Tried to appeal, only to know that Soci is an open minor and I've got to wait for the next round, meaning that the modules would be super expensive to bid for and there will be less than 5 vacancies each time to fight for. What the heck's an open minor? So, why did I even declare minor for when I have to fight with everyone from all over NUS for my minor modules?

After throwing in all my points this round on a single soci minor, I've only got 400 points left, which is way below the sufficient level for any soci module, except stats and the seminar module. I wouldn't want to do stats because it is totally not required and I can't make it for the seminar module. Each module is at least 2000 points now and tomorrow's the last round of bidding. Why won't they just accept my appeal? I'm desperate to get my module to graduate!

Please please please let me secure my last module.

2012-01-03T00:27:00.002+08:00

I'm so satisfied with my Bee's packing.

I'm done with half of my study table, with all my story books, music books and unused notebooks propped up nicely. All these books give the impression that I'm really studious. Hahaha. I'd better keep my table the way it is for as long as possible, especially after school starts. My resolution for this semester: To pack my notes neatly into their respective files at the end of every week.

I'm also done with the table in my bedroom!!!
I've converted that table full of junk into my dressing table. All that is missing from my self proclaimed dressing table is a mirror. I've gotten a mini shelf from Muji to store all my beauty products. I've a drawer full of facial masks and another full of the sample products from Korea. I kept all my cosmetic products in a pouch and all the lotions at the top of my shelf.
I'm so proud of my table!

Now, I need to sort out all the random things lying around, pack the other half of my study table (most of the things there aren't even mine), clear my study room floor because of the mess I made when I came back from Korea, and the floor below my table in the bedroom.

I realised I've kept a lot of junk over the years and I don't even touch more than half of them, mostly magazines because I can't bear to throw them away. I even have my hair clip from kindergarten.

Glad to have Bee's help! I don't know when I'd even finish packing if I were to do this alone. I can take weeks just to pack my study table. Got to continue tomorrow. 2 more weeks to CNY!

2011-09-23T15:50:00.003+08:00

I passed my Grade 8 piano exam! (: (:
My piano teacher just sms-ed me. 2 more marks to merit but passing the exam is good enough for me. I've been working for about 2 years for this because I've been procrastinating my practice. I've been looking forward to this day since I started my practice.

I was bent on teaching piano the very moment I pass my Grade 8 but that was before I took the test. I still want to teach but it's after recess week. Mid term tests, project deadlines are all round the corner. I was asking around for music schools that will take in Grade 8 students as part-time teachers. I was intending to teach in North area, preferably Yishun and I found various websites that require me to send my resume in. But the thing is, the websites don't tell me what the working hours are like so I've not sent in any resumes. Des asked her music school if they need any piano teachers and I can start teaching whenever I'm able to commit. I want to but it's at Whampoa Drive and I've got to start around 4 plus 5pm on weekdays. I have school every single day till about 4pm and I start school early this semester. How am I supposed to commit?

2011-07-16T02:18:00.002+08:00

Those born on June 28 put emotion before reason, and their approach to matters is direct and immediate. They make a most universal appeal to their co-workers, friends or family, a large part of which is the humour and cajoling they employ. Since humour is a superior to reach people, they usually succeed in making an impression.

June 28 people have a way of moving others to react to them emotionally, and may in fact be deliberate provocative when trying to garner attention. The shock value they elicit is considerable and those who know them sooner or later come to expect almost anything. Although they may appear highly spontaneous due to their antics, most of what they do is well thought out beforehand. Indeed, those born on this day are masters at anticipating the effect they will produce.

Generally, June 28 people eschew patient, subtle persuasion in favour of an all-out frontal attack. Yet, they are so proficient at what they do and so masterful in their detailed planning that they rarely misjudge their audience or target group. Those born on this day tend to be more extroverted than introverted, but nonetheless are deep, complex individuals who are not easily understood.

Many June 28 people are leaders and movers in their family circle or social group. As employees, they can tuck themselves away for a time in a quiet place and work unassumingly but if they sense an opportunity to share a funny story or make an outrageous comment, they will tend to go for it. Logical thinking is not their forte and it is more often their consistent work ethic or inspiration that makes them good employees. But for those born on this day, diligence at work does not necessarily mean order at home, and personal areas of their life (love, housework, raising children, keep appointments etc) may be quite chaotic, even completely out of hand.

Probably the worst punishment for June 28 people is to go unappreciated or ignored. Some born on this day gyrate back and forth between an intensely social need for interaction and appreciation on the one hand and urge to be alone with their eccentricities on the other. Mates and children of June 28 people must either have a great sense of humour and loads of tolerance or perhaps blind love to put up with them.

Those born on June 28 often display a great objective interest in people. Because they are fascinated with human characteristics (particularly those of children), they may become taken by studies of behaviour, history, language or anthropology. In this respect they can make excellent psychologists who offer insights into people's motivations, thoughts and actions. In their circle, they are often consulted where a matter of human nature is concerned but may not be taken seriously by everyone due to their habit of putting people on. Behind the jovial facade, however, a June 28 person is most often hypersensitive and serious.

Strength:
Humorous
Interesting
Entertaining

Weakness:
Oblivious
Imprecise
Grating

2011-06-25T19:01:00.004+08:00

What is wrong with everyone?
Before I left for my field studies trip, everyone's asking when I'm free because they want to hold birthday celebrations for me. All I wanted was BBQ with my family at my grandma's.

When I'm back, I have birthday dinners planned for me. On days that most people are not free. Now I have a cake I didn't choose and no BBQ. And everyone's quarrelling over everything. I've never felt so disappointed before. It's not like I'm expecting a big celebration or anything. I just wanted to do what I've always wanted - BBQ with family.

Now, I want no celebration this year. I just want a day without anyone bothering me.

2011-06-24T04:59:00.001+08:00

19 May, Bong Khrai

Today, we were assigned our groups for our topo map project. After breakfast at 7.30am, each group was given a GPS to navigate our way around the mountains. It's not the GPS you use when you drive. This GPS gives us the coordinates, elevation, bearings and altitude at each way point.

My group took the trail off the main road, into the forest. We walked on really steep slopes off the trail, trudged through mud and saw little huts and terrace cultivations along the way.

Little hut along the way

Mini landslide just below the house

After more than half an hour of walking, we reached the end of the trail. We were guessing that this is a farm/plantation. I was really curious to look at the toilet in that hut above the stairs but 2 huge dogs came charging towards us. They were just curious and wanted to check us out, but I freaked out and ran off as soon as they were sniffing my group members.

At some parts of the trail, some of us received SMSes from friends. It was such a joy. Everyone's faces lit up whenever someone's phone rang.

There was still some time before lunch, so we went back to the main road to look for another trail, taking the coordinates of our way points along the way. We went into MEC resorts to check if there's internet connection but we ended up at another plantation. By then, everyone was too tired to walk. We took a break and sat at a spot with reception.

Lunch was at 1.30pm.
After lunch, Dr Z said there wasn't anything for us to do and so, he's going to drop us off at the botanical gardens near the foot of the mountains and we can explore the entire place from 2.30-5.30pm. Most of us were expecting the botanical gardens to be something like Singapore's and we were quite reluctant to get down. But the botanical gardens here is way more exciting than Singapore's! Entrance fee was about 100 baht per person.

We went to look at the waterfall first. Because we went to the botanical gardens shortly after a rain, the waterfall was pretty fast. The water level was so high it flooded one of the paths. We tried moving up that path though, but our slippers were all stuck in the mud.

Random bone along the way

And we crossed a river!

At the cross junction, all of us chose the nature trail instead of the footpath. And again, because of the rain earlier on, the ground was muddy. All of us were struggling to keep on the path and we had to help one another up the slopes because they were too slippery.

Struggling to get up the slope

The glasshouse was the attraction in the botanical gardens so we were determined to find that place. We took a long walk up the mountains via the winding path. All the vehicles slowed down to stare at us and after reaching the top, we knew why they were staring at us. They must be thinking that we were crazy because the walk took us almost an hour and the paths at the top of the mountain were really steep. All of us were out of breath half way up the mountain.

This wasn't even at the top of the mountain yet. We took a break here only because it had a scenic view.

Glasshouse!

The fish that committed suicide by jumping on the leaf

Carnivorous plants

We went back up to the mountains at around 7.30pm for dinner and spent the rest of the night getting started on our topo map. It was really tedious, having to analyze the map and the trail we took. But I now know how to put together a contour map!

-----

20 May, Bong Khrai

Again, we were not aware of what are the activities planned out for the day and because I need to bathe in the morning and there are 8 people in the house sharing that one little toilet, I woke up at 6.30am. While waiting for breakfast, I started doing on the topo map.

After breakfast, we were broken up into groups again for our soil pits, with 7 people in a group. When asked for a volunteer, one of my group members raised his hand and so, my group got assigned the soil pit furthest away from our house.

We were supposed to look for a climate station and find a spot near the climate station to start digging our soil pit (1m x 2m x 2m). We walked along the road, further up the mountain but the climate station was nowhere in sight so we went back down and walked on the trail near our house. We ended up at a ginger plantation and there was no other path to take, so we've decided to get back to the meeting point to ask Dr Z for the exact location. And, he brought us back to the ginger plantation. A rain gauge, about the thickness of a lamp post, was hidden in one of the corners of the ginger plantation. Because all of us were looking out for the climate station, something we presumed to be large scale, we spent 2 hours looking for our spot while the other groups have started on their digging. In an hour, we dug about 70cm deep into our soil pit.

We found out that the other groups' soil pits were just behind our houses. All they needed was 2 minutes to walk from our daily meeting point to their soil pits, but my group need about 15 minutes. ): There wasn't much to do after lunch, so we were brought to the waterfall.

There were a total of 10 waterfalls at this place and we were told that the 10th one right at the top is the prettiest. So we climbed flights and flights of stairs up to the highest point and it turned out to be a so-so waterfall. It was nothing as compared to the ones in Mauritius. Everyone just sat in the water, feeling around for rocks to be collected.

We were back at around 5.30pm for dinner and to continue with our topo map.

-------

21 May, Bong Khrai

Woke up again at 6.30am to bathe and to do up on my group's topo map. Super proud of myself for waking up so early. By myself some more.

We did all the technical stuff today. Classes started right after breakfast with our soil group mates. My group was assigned Dr Spencer, a geologist from Chiang Mai University, so we had to visit a river in the nearby village. Because he had to return to pick the other half of the group, the few of us had to find our own way down to the river. We barged through the jungles, trudged on mud and I got stuck in the mud so much so that my boots went into the mud completely and I had to remove my boots to get them out of the mud.

Over there, we built a small dam with the soil, mostly clay, to test for water velocity and collected some water so that we can bring it back to test for turbidity, dissolved particles and ions.

After we were done with all the tests and plotting of graphs, we followed Joon to our soil sample site to tie a pail onto our makeshift stand under the bamboo trees.

We had to return to our site every morning to collect the rainwater to test for water quality. Then, we went back to learn about spectrophotometer. After collecting the rainwater samples from our site daily, we had to test them for nitrates, nitrites, ammonium and phosphorous using the spectrophotometer and write a report per group.

All of us were looking forward to lunch and soon after lunch, my group followed Dr Eric to the village again. This time, to test for air quality. All the time, Zee Zee followed us.

We were just walking around the village, holding onto the device. Whenever motorcycles drive pass us, the values on the device would jump really quickly.

Zee Zee, the village dog that followed my friends back to the place where we stayed and it stayed there the whole time we were there.

Chicks
It's very common to see chicks/chickens and dogs along the roads of Bong Khrai.

It was dinner after all the lessons, and it free and easy.
Some of us went to do up on the topo maps while the rest went to dig further into the soil pits.

My group's topo map!

2011-06-23T00:13:00.002+08:00

Home finally!
It was so comforting just to be at Yishun MRT. Sense of place!

Still not used to the weather here. It's so humid. ):
And I'm having post field studies/arts camp withdrawal syndrome. For the past 1.5 months, I've spent every single day doing something with friends. Now that I'm back home, there's no one to talk to and nothing to do. I'm getting a little restless.

I'm going to get my sleep back.
Tomorrow, maybe I'll do some packing and go for a run. Yes, I'm going for a run. I've been so used to doing physical work in Thailand that I'm not used to just sitting around doing nothing. Will be meeting the field studies people tomorrow for assignment discussion.

I'm missing Thailand already. ):

2011-06-12T21:56:00.014+08:00

18 May, Chiangmai - Bong Khrai

Had our daily breakfast at Chiangmai Residence and had to wait for our group's turn to receive our results for the photo essay. My group didn't do that well, but we had fun exploring the city!

It was our last lunch together before we split up.
The humanoids stayed in Chiangmai for 4 more days to discuss their readings, while we physicals headed for the mountains. Before heading up to the mountains, all of us dropped by a wet market to get our supplies - long sleeve shirts, boots, ponchos and extra towels.

We reached Bong Khrai at around 4pm and there wasn't really much to do.
The room wasn't exactly clean either. All of us couldn't get used to it. We were each given one bed comforter, which we used to lay on the bed before putting our sleeping bags on. After laying everything on our beds, the TAs came to tell us not to flush anything down the toilet bowl because it will clog up the entire system. The toilet itself didn't have any flush to begin with. We had to flush everything down manually and there were insects everywhere.

Because there wasn't anywhere to sit in the house, we went out to explore the area.

Some room behind the houses we were living in

Abandoned salad bar

This is what girls do when they're bored. They braid hairs.

Our daily meal

We have this for all our meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's always rice plus one or two other dishes. Once in awhile, we'd have noodles and when we are served that, everyone goes for a second serving.

After dinner, the lecturer said that we'd be watching Thai movies in the hall. We ended up watching a sappy love story based on 2 high school students - First love.

Anyway, this is the house we were sleeping in. On the very first night, we heard some weird noises coming from outside and it sounded very much like a human. Turned out to be a gecko.

Our dining/chillax corner

Toast area

Very popular hangout place. On days when we were served breakfast with spicy food, usually leftovers from dinner, the toast area would be super crowded. At any time of the day, as long as we're not at busy with our projects or at the soil pits, there'd be people at this corner. Milo, bread, butter, jam, peanut butter, nutella. The amount of toast I had here is more than the amount of toast I had in 21 years.

Our daily supply of water

Our hall!

I wasn't used to the living condition there at all on the first day. The toilet was gross max and I couldn't bring myself to lie on the bed. But I really really miss the place there now.

2011-05-18T01:34:00.024+08:00

Had a really long day today. We left for S.P. Chiang Mai right after breakfast, because the lecturers booked the conference room there for us to give our presentations. They refuse to let us know which group is going first just to be fair to all. I seriously hate this suspense thing. Everything is so last minute. We don't even know the schedule of this entire trip and we won't know where we are staying/ the condition the place is until we arrive.

So anyway, the lecturers hired a few Songthaews to bring us to S.P. Chiang Mai.
Again, we saw the roads being flooded, but this time it was worse. All of us were so excited, taking out our cameras, going Wow, so cool! The flood was really quite bad. The shopkeepers had to use haversacks to prevent the water from entering their shops and people were just standing on these haversacks by the road. These people were amazed by us because we were so amazed by the flood.

Imagine a bus going by you while you're waiting to cross the road in Singapore. You see students going Wow, so dry! and everyone's sticking their hands out of the windows to take pictures because they're amazed by how no floods occur after a rain in Singapore.
Yeah, I bet those people thought that we were funny. I saw a few of them laughing.

The presentation went pretty well.
As usual, I was nervous but my group was the 4th to present so I could sit through the rest of the presentations comfortably. And my group was so lucky! Instead of asking us questions during Q&A, he gave us a comment and said that's just his comment. We can add on to his comment if we want to. Hahaha. We didn't need to answer any questions!

Dead snake right beside us while waiting for the Songthaew to send us back

After the presentation, the Songthaews were still there waiting for us to send us back to Chiang Mai residence. But a few of us wanted to do something instead of just staying in the guesthouse Plus it was some of our last days in Chiang Mai already. So we went for massage again.

Sala Chiangmai, the massage parlour we've been frequenting was full, so we had to walk a few streets down to look for other massage parlours. Cheap and non sleazy.
We finally found one after walking down the next street. 150 bahts for foot, head, shoulder, back. How cheap is that! It was actually 180 baht because of some promotion but the lady boss said 150 baht for us when we wanted to walk away.

Instead of an hour's massage, all of us ended late. So we had to rush back to the guesthouse to meet the rest for a group dinner.

The silly Songthaew driver drove us here again. It's not the first time Songthaews drivers have drove us to this hotel. Instead of Chiang Mai residence, they bring us to Johnnie Walker President Hotel, even after we told them the street name Chiang Mai residence is at. Now, all we do is pass the namecard of the guesthouse to the drivers. It worked well so far.

So we met at the guesthouse and everyone went for Northern Thailand dinner.
It was supposedly good, but being geographers, all we can think of is commodification of their culture and exploitation of females.

Right after we alighted from our Songthaews, we were invited by a group of dancers.

Dining area

We were thinking how little the food on the table is. 6 dishes, plus a plate of raw vegetables in the middle. Turned out that everything was refillable.

Then there were dances to keep us entertained.

This dragon like thing with a dog face was kind of scary. It galloped around the yard where the performances took place and went to the customers. It smelt one of the diners' neck, just like how a dog does. It was really freaky. I don't enjoy these kind of stuff.

It was worse when a man wearing a mask performed. His mask was devilish and it freaked me out a little. And these performances were supposed to be interactive so the performers went around the dining areas. Of all the performers, this guy with the devilish mask had to come to me. I didn't even dare to look at his mask. Gah! I know it's silly, but I couldn't stand looking at him. I didn't even want to take a picture of him. He was that scary. And everyone was laughing at me because I was cringing when he knelt beside me.

After the dinner, everyone headed for the night bazaar.
I went only because I needed long sleeve shirts, long pants, long socks and a hat for the mountains. All I managed to get was the long pants. ): Prepared to be bitten by mosquitoes tomorrow.

Everyone bought the same Chiang Mai shirt at the night bazaar!
One group bought the shirt for presentation today and all of us liked it, so we went to buy it as a group. That shirt is unofficially the 2nd Field Studies shirt. Hahah.

Will be getting back our results for our presentation tomorrow morning.

Anyway, I'll be leaving Chiang Mai tomorrow for the mountains. As far as I know, there wouldn't be any internet access nor reception for phone. So I'll be out of touch with everyone!
Goodbye world.

2011-05-16T21:52:00.012+08:00

Woke up early in the morning again for Thai lessons. This time I didn't learn much, because I'm still trying to remember the stuff I learnt from yesterday. The vocab today wasn't really practical for now and we can always use hand signals to express ourselves.

We had a quick lunch at the mall nearby before heading back for lessons with Prof Tracy Skelton. We had to do readings in Chiang Mai. ): Our quick lunch always take about an hour or so, because we'll always have a snack, a meal and dessert.

Auntie Anne's here is really cheap! We'll always buy something from Auntie Anne's whenever we visit the mall.

After lunch, the rest split up to get whatever they wanted. Some went to Diary Queen's, some went back to Auntie Anne's, so Wenying and I went to look around. And we found this little ice cream shop in a corner of the mall's basement.

Notice the instructions

It's pretty expensive for an ice cream in Chiang Mai, especially such a small one. But we bought one each to try.

It was just a pretty little thing. Wasn't that fantastic. It tastes a little like the potongs we have back in Singapore. But it was hilarious how everyone asked if we're eating eggs or sweet potatoes. No one believed it was an ice cream, until we licked it.

Lunch was the only time I left the guesthouse. After the session with Prof, we went back to our room to complete our assignment and prepare for our presentation. We were so lazy to leave the guesthouse, so we ordered Macs and paid the hotel to print our essay for us.

Today isn't as eventful as the past few days but I prefer it this way. At least we're kept busy with our assignment, not just wandering about the streets aimlessly.

Presentation tomorrow! In front of about 50 people. ): I want it done and over with.

2011-05-16T01:53:00.009+08:00

Sawatdii kha. Dichan pen nak suksaa, maha witayalai hengchar sinkhapoo.
(Hello, I'm a student from NUS.)

Thai lesson this morning was intensive. In that short span of 2 hours, we went through 4 chapters of thai. It was too much for my brain to take, so I just remembered all the practical ones. Like I'm a student, how much is this, too expensive, LESS SUGAR. Oh my gosh, you can't imagine how important "less sugar" is in Thailand. They love everything sweet. So much so that they provide sugar at every table, just like how we have bottles of pepper placed on the tables of eateries.

Thai lesson ended late so late it ate into the time my group set aside for writing our report. All of us went for lunch before splitting into our humanoids/physical groups for briefing. Physical geographers will be leaving earlier than the Humanoids, on the 18th. No internet connection, no reception for phone calls. I'll disappear from the cyber world for more than 2 weeks. Only during the briefing do we know we need gloves, long pants, long sleeves and boots. None of which were written in the packing list. And the lecturer had to number us according to our heights. Needless to say, I'm the first. Blame my genes.

Seriously, I don't know how many times this lecturer wants to scam us.
He said to get all these stuff from across the road. We ended up on a more than half an hour walk under the scorching sun, just to end up in a shop that sells GLOVES. One out of the many things we needed to buy. So annoying.

To relieve our feet of that tension, we went for thai massage!
I introduced Sala Chiangmai to another group and this time, I did foot + head massage. Damn shiok! The head massage included neck and shoulders! Both massage combined felt like a whole body massage. Just felt likeI was flying. Hahaha. We were served chilled lemongrass drink after the massage.

By then, it was already evening, so we headed for the weekend night markets.
I felt like buying most of the stuff there. Handmade diaries, batik skirts, harem pants, culotte shorts, accessories etc etc but the prices were all jacked up because of the large concentration of western foreigners in that area. The items are affordable for us, like 6 bucks for a cotton harem pants, but I refuse to be ripped off by the locals. I can easily find a cheaper pants somewhere else. So we headed for the food.

Kebab for 2 bucks!
Stupid pasar malam in Singapore sells one for 5 bucks. And the best thing about the kebab here was that they used the green chilli I had in Mauritius!

And look what I found:

Read this banner carefully.

These little pandan leaves are filled with omelette. Notice that banner above? You get to choose the fillings of your omelette. And they have bee/ant's eggs!!! How sick is that?

Fried crickets with thai herbs

The people here are really nice. We were told to get the locals' permission before taking pictures of them and their items. We haven't been rejected so far.

She reminds me of Darry

These 2 daredevils tried the crickets.
Well, we didn't really wanted to buy the entire bowl of crickets just for them to try, so we asked the lady if we can just try. She said yes! Such nice people they are. Anyway, they said the crickets tasted like heibee hiam without the spice.

This guy was blowing and heating up the flasks. We were just standing there watching him do it, blocking his way of business. Instead of chasing us away, he allowed us to take photos of him making the flask. Really love how courteous the people over here are.

Throughout the whole night market journey, it was raining. It has been raining for the 3 nights we've been here. Sucks actually.

Thai lesson at 9am again tomorrow. ):
Hope there isn't an overload of vocab again. Anyway, I realized my dad can speak fluent thai! I've always thought he can just say the numbers in thai but from our skype session just now, I realized he can speak basic thai. He learnt it from the construction workers at his site. I'm going home in 6 weeks' time to speak some thai to him!

2011-05-15T00:56:00.034+08:00

We woke up at 5am today to visit the morning wet market that starts at 6am and the temple to view the procession.

Our daily dining area, as well as common space for briefings.

The guesthouse we're living in is a pretty homely one. You can dress sloppily everywhere, sit anywhere you like and the staff are all very friendly!

I chose rice porridge again but the guy mixed up my order and gave me fried rice instead. It's delicious! I like the way they cook their rice. Wet and mushy.

After breakfast, instead of visiting the wet market first, we went to the temple because the processions start early. Again, we got scammed by our lecturer. No processions! The Songthaew drivers said the processions don't start so early. So we called our lecturer just to tell him that there's no processions. And he just said dreamily Oh is it? Okay... It was hilarious. Everyone couldn't stop laughing because we managed to interrupt his sleep.

This is the temple we went to, with no processions. I woke up so early just to be there. I had to take some pictures, though it doesn't mean much.

The Songthaew drivers were really nice. They brought us to the wet market instead, with no extra charge.

Dou jiang you tiao

The market here's slightly different from Singapore's. They have cooked food section as well as the raw food sections.

Pig's kidneys

This was outside the wet market. But it's busier than the inside and we saw really interesting stuff.

Skewered frogs

They sell lots of stuff we don't find in Singapore, like little chicks (skinned dead ones), the entire gut of the pig, that skewered frog and more. Their garlics are really really tiny.

By the time we were then, it was only 9am. The people living in my guesthouse decided to walk back since it was near.

The cars here are about S$20000! We needed this photo for our project on the standard of living, so we asked the receptionist to confirm that the figures represent the cost of the cars. She said yes, and added on that it's really really expensive. See the difference in the standard of living here and in Singapore? Over here, we can get a plate of phad thai for S$1.20 and a pack of chewing gums for S$0.40. The most expensive apparel I've seen so far is about 300 baht, approximately S$12. If I had more bag space and am not going to the mountainous regions after this week, I'd have shopped.

On our way back, we chanced upon another temple and it was crowded, so we went in to take a look. They're really serious about religion here. There wasn't really much to see in there and there wasn't a tour guide with us so we left after awhile.

We went back to our guesthouse to continue with our sleep, then project discussion.
Went out to take a few more photos for our assignment and searched for a food place we haven't tried.

Kang Kong and omelette

Their kang kong looked so harmless and bland when it was served, but it was really really spicy.

I ordered tom yam soup with prawns.
Such a disappointment. It was more sweet than spicy and not sour at all.

Mango stick rice!
Pure bliss.

It was raining heavily then and 3 other groups joined us for lunch. So we sat there, waiting for the rain to subside. The lady was really nice. She brought the fan all the way to our tables and provided us with umbrellas.

When the rain was less heavy, we shared 2 Songthaews up to the temple in the mountain. It was a 45 minutes ride, mainly because of the bends up the mountain.

It wasn't even a rain that has persisted for days. It was merely a few hours of rain and the roads were flooded.

After 45 minutes, we finally reached Doi Suthep Temple.
The lecturers said that if you haven't been to this temple, you haven't been to Chiangmai. So they made us visit the temple, despite the heavy rain.

The crazily long flight of stairs up to the temple.

I was literally out of breathe when I reached the top.

The temple was particular about our dressing. Knees have to be covered and no sleeveless t-shirts are allowed. If our dressing was not appropriate, we got to get a sarong or a scarf to cover our knees and arms respectively. To enter the temple, we have to remove our shoes despite the wet ground. It was freezing cold!

A scenic view of Chiangmai from the temple

The whole group of us went for BBQ buffet dinner. It was something like Marina South's steamboat buffet.

Again, the soup was sweet. Nothing but sweet. I don't even know what they made the soup out of.
The middle portion is for barbeque-ing our food. The exact opposite of our steamboat BBQ. Over here, we BBQ the meat in the centre and the soup at the side. We had a hard time balancing the meat in the middle and 80% of our BBQ food went into the soup.

I didn't really eat much. The meat all looked dubious and flies were everywhere. We even cooked the cooked food to ensure that the bacteria are all boiled away. This had been the most expensive meal thus far. 145 baht per person. That's about 6 bucks per person. It's cheap for a buffet, but considering that I ate only vegetables, it wasn't really that worth it. I could have spent that amount on 5 plates of phad thai.

We chanced upon this in one of the hotels while visiting the red light district.

The girls there are really aggressive. When they see a foreign man alone, they pull them towards the bar and the whole group of girls just jump on him. That street was more dangerous for guys than for girls, in my opinion. As we were walking and observing, all of us couldn't help but think that we're participating in ego tourism. Not a very nice thing to do, but we don't usually see these kind of things happening on the streets.

Well, that pretty much sums up day 2.
We're so bored it feels like a week has past. There really isn't much of a schedule. I'll be having thai lessons in the morning and I'll be free the entire afternoon, from 11am onwards. The humanoids have their meeting from 2-4pm but physical geographers have nothing to do. We have so much free time to look around Chiangmai but we don't really know what to do. The tours we want to take are mostly 1 day tours, so all we can do is take the Songthaews around Chiangmai and have massages.

I hope I learn to speak some thai tomorrow!

2011-05-14T00:43:00.000+08:00

First day in Chiangmai, and it's pretty fun!
We have our assignment already and presentation's on the 17th. The question is about differences but the objective is for us to explore Chiangmai on our own. So we're split into groups of 4 randomly. It's really different from all the overseas school trips we had in the past. This one is all about independence.

My group took a map from the reception counter and we've decided to head far East to look at the Ping River, plus all the markets there. It'll take about 40 minutes to travel there by foot but we went ahead with it and decided that we can always hop onto a Songtel halfway through.

Our Sim Lim Square

Their hospital

We were walking towards the centre of Chiangmai when our lecturer drove by. He pointed to the restaurant on our left and said that's his favourite restaurant. The chicken rice is to die for. So we went in, since we were hungry.

And we got scammed by our very own lecturer. WHERE'S THE CHICKEN RICE?!
The menu is made of salads and soups only. So we ordered a soup, papaya salad, rice and sticky rice.

The one in the little basket is the sticky rice.

I don't usually enjoy thai salads but this one is exceptionally tasty! The papaya's not even sour. It tastes like cucumber.

After our meal, we stopped by for chai yen, thailand's diabetes inducing milk tea.

Tako balls selling for 5 bahts per ball.

The food sold by roadside stalls are super cheap! Tako balls at 20cents each and 7 satays for $1!

Car with eye lashes

The Songtel that we took everywhere. They're like taxis in Singapore, except that they can pick up more than 1 group of passengers.

Anyway, we've decided to take the Songtel because we were super creeped out by some motorcyclist. My friend and I were walking in front and we noticed that man staring at us as we walked by. Then, our 2 other group members started screaming. He was wanking in broad daylights! We walked quite a distance away from him, but he followed us on his bike. He made a few detours and kept appearing beside us, staring at us. We didn't have a choice but to hop onto the nearest Songtel.

After 4 hours of walking and a few minutes in the Songtel, we found the Ping River. Not as spectacular as we had thought. It was just a wider version of Singapore River, except that it's not as urbanized. There was a homeless man living by the river. He bathes, and washes his shoes in the river. The very water that he drinks as well.

By then, all of us were tired and sweaty. We happened to see an advertisement on a tuk tuk, so we decided to go for massage.

150 baht for foot massage! That's like S$6 for an hour's of foot massage.

After the massage, we walked around again to search for the must-try thailand chicken rice.

Wet market

Once again, we failed to find it. But we ended up at the hawker above the wet market.

We had phad thai, fried rice, omelette rice and their diabetes inducing milk tea.
The food always look tasteless, but they're super yummy! I love love love the phad thai here. The noodles are super chewy.

See what the kids here do for entertainment. In Singapore, all the kids know is angry bird. How sad their childhood can be.

After our mid afternoon meal, we went back down to the wet market to look around and realized they don't just sell raw food. They have little snacks as well.

Look what I've found! Childhood biscuit, except without the biscuit. I remember how I used to bite the icing sugar off first then munch on the biscuits reluctantly. The adults here understand the kids better. They made the icing sugar WITHOUT the biscuits! If I had more bag space, I would have bought this home.

Meal worms in a box as snacks.

Us causing a jam

The drivers here are pretty patient. You don't really hear the honking at one another.
We took quite awhile bargaining with the driver and caused a jam behind but none of the drivers tried to overtake the Songtel and none honked us.

It was almost 5pm already and we had to go back to the villa for a briefing.
The briefing was quite a waste of time. It was another briefing about the project that we knew about already. And a little about the schedule for this trip. Then it was our free time again. My group and another went to the mall near our guesthouse.

There was a night market. Pretty much like our pasar malam.

Cupcakes in a box

Guy making meatballs

Skewered squid!

My favourite. And obviously I bought 1 to try.
It's the cheapest squid I ever bought! 20 baht for 1 stick. But it wasn't as tasty as it looked.

And this is my room!
Yes a little messy. It was at night already and we were done unpacking and bathing so our stuff were thrown all over the room.

Got to wake up at 5am tomorrow to visit wet markets and to look at temple processions.
Good night everyone!

2011-05-13T02:42:00.000+08:00

HELLO EVERYONE BACK HOME!
I'm in Chiangmai safe and sound. I'll be in this pretty decent guesthouse for a week, and that means free internet access for a week! But everything's in Thai, like google and blogger. So I have to make lucky guesses on what to click.

I really think mosquitoes are rampant here. I spotted a few really large ones IN the airport and I'm desperate for water sources. Refilled my bottle with the water from the cooler at the airport and it tasted weird. You know those metallic taste when there's blood in your mouth? Yeah that kind of taste. I brushed my teeth and the water tasted the same. Think I'll dehydrate here.

And because we're all separated into 3 groups, I'm skyping my friends sleeping somewhere else. I like my room because it's big, but their room looks like a mini cottage with all the brick walls. I want to be there with them!

It's 3am at Singapore now, but it's only 2am here. I'm going to turn in anyway. My room mate's asleep already. We need to wake up at 8am tomorrow because we don't have any idea what's happening tomorrow. Got to go down for breakfast, check with our student leaders and come back up to pack. I still have no idea why I have no space for stuff. My friends bought cup noodles plus bolsters! And their bags are of the same size as mine. ):

Good night everyone!
Catch you all online if I'm back in my room early.

2011-05-12T14:47:00.000+08:00

I've been waiting for this day ever since I signed up for this Field Studies module.
I'm excited and anxious about it. I don't know what it's going to be like over there. All my friends are humanoids, and I know only a few physicals. There will be a presentation on the 17th. That's 5 days from now and there are already 30 readings uploaded on IVLE. But I anticipate lots of fun! Can't wait to step into the river.

Packing's a chore though.
I'm done with my "luggage". 10kg worth of stuff. Now I'm left with my day bag. Got to pack all my chargers in, plus my laptop. I'm not even sure if there's internet access there. At first, they said there will be. Then, they said they want us to experience life without internet, away from the comfort of home. Now I'm imagining the worst. Because we're going to bath in huts with no roofs, from a pail of cold water.

In any case, if you want to reach me, drop me a message on my phone. I'll call you back via my thailand SIM card.
088-4034802
If you want to call this number straight, drop the first number "0" and replace it with +66 and continue with the remaining numbers. But it'll be cheaper for you if I call back! So just drop me a message. I'll call back as long as there's reception.

My return flight's on 18 June, at 8.20pm, terminal 1.
Flight FD4110.

I'll miss all of you back here!
See you guys when I'm back. (:

2011-05-05T23:24:00.002+08:00

The term colour blindness can be misleading sometimes. Most people who are colour blind are not blind to all colours, but just have a colour deficiency that makes it difficult for them to differentiate colours.

There are many different types of colour blindness, but the most common is the difficulty in differentiating the colours red, green and yellow. This is called "red-green" colour blindness. Other forms of colour blindness are difficulty in differentiating blue from yellow, or where everything appears grey.

Mock strawberries

Mock strawberries as they would appear to people with red-green colour blindness

Roughly 1 in 10 men are fully or partly colour blind, meaning that one of the three types of colour detectors in their eyes is either faulty or missing altogether. The condition is hereditary and sex linked. Fathers will pass the gene to their daughters, and not their sons. Mothers can pass it to all their children. However, because women can be unaffected carriers, men are at least 20 times more likely than women to develop colour blindness.

9% of men and 0.5% of women are colour blind.
I'm part of the 0.5%. ):

But there is evidence that people with colour blindness are much better than average at certain jobs. They are very good at finding green things hidden against green backgrounds, such as grass or leaves. They tend to find things by shape and get less confused by camouflage. Because of this, colour blind entomologists still catch lots of bugs and in wartime, armies prize their colour blind snipers and spotters.

Geography is the way to go!
I'm more than determined than ever that I'm going to work in the parks in future. Maybe NParks, so I'll be in the reserves often.

2011-04-25T23:48:00.008+08:00

I've been pretty much living the laid back life I've always wanted, turtling at home, with no social obligations to fulfill. And I'm proud to say I've been going to my grandma's place every single night for dinner!

Since a few weeks back, the only people I've been meeting up really often are the dumbies. No pre-planned gatherings, only impromptu ones.

Our daily conversations late at night (at 1am) goes like this:

Keong: So bored. Moo, you free tomorrow night?
Moo: Tomorrow night, tomorrow then say la. Tonight?
Keong: Free.
Me: Are you serious?
Moo: I'm changing already.
Me: Okay wait for me!!!

And off we go for supper after calling Darry.

Once, Darry smsed everyone for supper and we went all the way to Marine Parade for supper with Shan.

Steamed milk with egg

The best salted egg yolk custard bun!

A week before this, it's just school and home.
Watching TV while studying is so much more relaxing! And I think I'm more efficient when I do that, because I don't fall asleep.

I started appearing offline on MSN and putting my phone on silent mode. I know it's annoying if someone doesn't pick up your calls or reply to your SMSes really late, but I like it that I don't hear my phone beeping all the time and having to check my phone every now and then for phone calls or messages. I can leave my home now without my phone and still not feel weird. I'm less addicted to facebook/twitter too! Now I use my laptop only for checking emails, watching Big Bang Theory and of course, to chat with the dumbies.

It feels like exams are over already, but mine hasn't even started.
Everyone's tweeting about how badly they have done, how they're nervous for their exams. I get little panic attacks from these tweets because it feels as though I remembered my exam dates wrongly.

I'm looking forward to flavourful XLBs with the dumbies after exams!
And I promise to practice the piano for at least an hour everyday, before I fly.

2011-04-20T01:53:00.002+08:00

Took my 2nd jab today.
The doctor kept asking me how painful the first jab was because he knows I hate injections. He changed the needle for me! To the smallest one again.
He asked if I wanted to take a blood test right there and then so that I'd know if I need a hepatitis jab, then started laughing because he knew I'd say no.

1 more jab and I'll be done!
I seriously don't understand how people can get used to having injections. The idea of it freaks me out.

--------

I received an email from International Rivers today!
My voice was heard when I signed the petition to stop the construction of the Xayaburi Dam. They halted all construction activities and had the staff and equipments withdrawn. (: (:

"The Xayaburi Dam, if built, would forcibly resettle over 2,100 people and directly affect over 202,000 people, and could threaten the extinction of approximately 41 fish species, including the critically endangered Mekong Giant Catfish. An additional 23 to 100 migratory fish species would be threatened through a blocked fish migration route. These impacts in turn will affect the livelihoods and food security of millions of people in the region."

This is not a positive sign for the Mekong River.
There're so many dams built across the river already. WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO BUILD ANOTHER ONE?

2011-04-17T12:09:00.003+08:00

I hate the management for not doing something about pest control.
After so many complaints from the residents, they've decided to spray the rubbish collection point at every block once every 2 weeks or so to kill the cockroaches. Some die, but the smarter ones crawl further up the rubbish chute to escape the fumes. And INTO MY HOME.

One fine day, when my family was out, one courageous little cockroach made its way across the kitchen, across the corridor, past my bedroom and study room, and into my toilet and hid in an obscure corner (I don't know where) and has since STARTED BREEDING. I know this because there are so many baby cockroaches coming out at night! (I think it just laid its new batch of eggs because I found 2 cockroaches so small I wouldn't see them if they don't move). These baby cockroaches are so small they look like shavings from erasers.

I came home in the wee hours last night after supper with the Dumbies.
All I wanted was to wash up and go to bed quickly. Then, I saw a medium sized cockroach making its way towards the sink. My immediate reaction was to reach for the broom and smack it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another medium sized cockroach scampering (trying to get) out of my sight. I HAZ GOT SHARP EYES! So, instead of washing up, I went on a killing rampage.

Death count: 4

Sense of satisfaction.
And I hope I won't be punished for taking lives.

2011-04-15T00:38:00.002+08:00

I miss the time back when we were all 10 year olds, staying back in school to play catch and calling up one another's homes to chat about random stuff.
That was when friendship was sincere.
That was also when the bonds we formed were really strong.

Then there was the creation of handphones, and we started to contact one another via SMS.
Facebook and twitter are the current social networks that determine the way we communicate.
Whatsapp is replacing SMS and MMS.

There was a period when I was hooked onto facebook, checking updates on newsfeed every now and then. After signing up for a twitter account, I started communicating with friends whom I would not have any contact without the twitter account. I've been relying so much on these social networks to communicate with friends, so much so I've forgotten how it was like to invite friends to a social gathering before.

I've been thinking.
These social networks really do dilute person to person relationships. Instead of meeting up face to face for catch up sessions, people comment on one another's photos or write on walls. And strangers judge you base on what they see on your profile page.

How much information can you provide via those forms of communication?
Friends who care about you would bother to call you up, not leave a message on your wall or tweet you.
I can count with 1 hand the number of people I chat with over the phone and these are the friends I've met before the creation of these social websites.

So I'm going to spend less time on facebook/twitter, and eventually stop using them altogether.
Or maybe just use them to view photos.
Well, you may say I'll end up having less friends but if I have to keep in contact with these people via these mediums, I don't think they are my real friends. Friends do not keep in contact with one another via social networks. Plus it'd be hard to maintain a friendship over social networks. Eventually, you'll lose contact with one another.

I'll see how it goes.
Maybe I'll end up with people who are sincere about being friends?

2011-04-14T21:46:00.002+08:00

This is taken from International Rivers
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6507

Save the Mekong!

On the 19th of April, a crucial decision will be made over the fate of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. The governments of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam will decide whether to build the first dam on the lower Mekong mainstream, the Xayaburi Dam. Located in northern Laos, this dam is the first of 11 large hydropower dams that – if built – would devastate the world’s most productive freshwater fishery.

The Xayaburi Dam would unleash massive ecological change to a river that feeds millions of people. It would forcibly resettle over 2,100 people and directly affect over 202,000 people, and could drive critically endangered fish species, such as the Mekong Giant Catfish, to extinction.

The region’s governments are divided about whether or not to approve the Xayaburi Dam – your voice can make a difference. Please send the governments a message today letting them know that the citizens of the world care about a free-flowing Mekong River.

CLICK HERE to demand the cancellation of the Xayaburi Dam!

2011-04-13T22:15:00.003+08:00

My dad saw through me.
I've been delaying going to the doctor to get my jabs.
I was supposed to go to UHC with the geog people, and I was so glad when my dad said he'd bring me to my family doctor instead. So I managed to not take the jabs for about a week or so.

So my dad called the doctor today to make an appointment for me.
The doctor said it's not beneficial to the body if I take all 3 jabs at once because of side effects. THREE JABS! I need to go down to the doctor 3 times to get all my jabs done.

I asked for the smallest needle, so it took kinda long to get all the liquid into my body.
And throughout, I was squealing and the doctor was laughing. ):
So glad I went with my dad instead of with my friends.

2011-04-13T12:08:00.002+08:00

Yellowhead Jawfish
A male incubating the female's eggs in its mouth.

2011-04-06T20:56:00.001+08:00

Why is my hairdresser so disobedient? ):
I told him to keep the top and cut the back. He cut the top and kept the back!
I'm not usually affected by haircuts, but I am by this one because he didn't follow my instructions. He said I don't usually cut this much, but If I don't, my trainer would be unhappy. If the trainer's unhappy, he'll still continue to teach you! If I'm unhappy, I have to live with it.
WHY!

Now I have spiky top. Like the ah lianish hairstyle I had back in J1. ):
I'm supposed to look more feminine now.

2011-04-02T01:34:00.004+08:00

Girl 1: Ugh I feel so fat!
Girl 2: OMG. Are you serious?! You're so not fat.
Girl 1: Look at my thighs!
Girl 2: Look at MY thighs.
Girl 1: Come on, you're so skinny!
Girl 2: So are you.

Familiar?

Researchers found that nearly all women engaged in fat talk with their friends, and that about a third of them did so frequently — regardless of whether they were actually overweight or not. Mostly, women complained to their friends about feeling fat or bloated, or about feeling guilty for not going to the gym or eating too much. For many, it was a way to reassure or to be reassured that in fact they weren't fat at all.

The predictable back-and-forth argument between two women where each denies that the other is fat was the most typical content of fat talk conversations. When asked how they felt about fat talk, the majority of women indicated that it made them feel better about themselves — that it helps to know that I'm not the only one who feels bad about my body.

Yet the study showed that women who complained about their weight more often — even if they were thin — were more likely to have greater dissatisfaction with their bodies. They were also more likely to buy into the media's thin ideal. Of course, it could be that it isn't fat talk that makes women feel worse; rather, it's that people who feel badly about their bodies to start are simply more likely to complain about them.

Still, the habit doesn't appear to help women improve self-esteem or change their underlying attitudes about body weight.

"Although social support and empathy are usually viewed as psychologically healthy constructs, constant reminders that one's normal-weight or underweight friends also feel fat may not be helpful in the long run. Such fat talk simply serves to reinforce the thin body ideal and the notion that disliking one's body is normative for women. Women come to expect this type of talk from their peers and likely feel pressured to engage in it."

The researchers found, despite the fact that so many women used fat talk to seek reassurance from friends, several women in our sample remarked ... that they do not believe their friends when the friends tell them that they are not fat.

From TIMES

I do this sometimes with friends on those feel-fat-days. But I don't like it when people say that I'm fat. Seriously. I get comments like Can you stop eating so much/ Your arms damn fat/ You need to go on a diet.

Seriously. I don't think I need to go on a diet.
I'm not even overweight. All of you have been brainwashed by the media that being skinny is healthy.

Read the article above and repeat to yourself. I AM NOT FAT.

Apply my motto to your life:
EAT, LIVE AND DIE.

You'll be a happier person.

2011-04-01T23:29:00.001+08:00

oh geez.
I caused a minor scratch on my uncle's car. ):
He's not really affected by it but I am! Oh my gosh. I feel soooo guilty.

I think I'm going abstain from driving for at least a few weeks.

2011-03-28T23:47:00.002+08:00

OKAY.
Decision making time.

Level 4000 module to Fiji. (:
None of the people I know are signing up because they're all interested in human geog. ):
But only 15 vacancies available, first come first serve basis. ):
Most of the students there may be honours students. ):
But I'm really really interested in this module. (:
Should I be kiasu and go pay the deposit tomorrow?

Mich just said this:

eh, actually right, since you have high enthusiasm for geog, you should go for more of these trips. cos you'll have higher chances of meeting experts in the field. and who knows! it'll be your relationships with them that help you land your dream job! one that allows you to learn more about the geogy stuff! :D
then it won't be a Job anymore, it'll be like a hobby for you
and you'll never have to work for the rest of your life!

OKAY I'M GOING DOWN TO PAY TOMORROW. With my angpao money. Hahahah.

2011-03-15T23:53:00.017+08:00

Pulau Semakau

Visited Pulau Semakau with Geog Soc and fellow like-minded Geog majors on Saturday.
Technically, we visited Semakau Landfill. That's what the manager said.

We were briefed by the manager of Semakau Landfill that people used to live on this island before it became a landfill. No organic wastes are used to fill up the land and thus, no houseflies, rats and whatnots. Everything is burnt into ashes before filling the land. By year 2045, this piece of land would be completely filled and ready to be used!

But I was thinking. If every country were to do this, won't the earth be completely filled in future? No waters, just land.

After all the questions and answers, we were brought around the island by the manager in a bus.
We were so close to nature! Man-made of course.

Mangroves!

Not natural though. The natural ones have been destroyed because of this landfill projects and to pay back to nature, the government got these mangroves replanted. So instead of the sparse mangrove wetlands, we see an overcrowded mangrove wetland with trees aligned side by side.

It was low tide, so I got to see those stilt roots!
I was super excited then. Hahaha. Truly a geog major.

I got to see sea beds too! Because it was low tide.

This part of the sea is shallower because it was near Pulau Semakau. You know how waters are always shallower nearer the coast.

This is the cell that they're filling up now.

Semakau Landfill is split into 9 cells (I think) and the cells are filled up one after another. I think about 3 has been filled up already. This is the current cell they're filling up now.

And this is one of the cells that has been filled up.
This greenery is so lush solely because of animals, mainly birds. The Semakau people didn't plant these grass/trees at all. Amazing right!

The water there's so clear it doesn't feel like Singapore at all.

Look, you can see the bedrocks.

Across Pulau Semakau's Pulau Bukom. Shell company produces fuel for us on that island.
So can you imagine how clean they are? The water's clear and they said they spot dolphins in the waters sometimes!

Barnacles and water snails living on the rocks!

The scenery there is so much better than East Coast Park. And a lot cooler too.

This is the start of the intertidal walk starts.
I want to go back there for this! It's a 3-hour walk along the shoreline of Pulau Semakau during low tides. So it's close contact with mangroves, seagrass, coral reefs, CRABS, STARFISHES, and shrimps. And the area there's so much bigger than Chek Jawa!

There's actually a lot to do at Semakau Landfill. Bird watching, sport fishing and stargazing. But it all sounds boring to me.

Everyone thinks that Semakau Landfill's some rubbish dump and that it is smelly, with rats and cockroaches crawling everywhere. Totally not the case. The air there is so much fresher than air on mainland Singapore. I want to go camping there.

Ok la, this whole thing seems like some nerdy nature outing. But I like. None of my friends would ever visit this kind of places with me. All of us were chatting while we were there and we realized most of our conversations with our parents were the same.

Parent: Where you going tomorrow?
Student: Pulau Semakau.
Parent: What's that?
Student: Landfill.
Parent: WHAT?! For what. So smelly.

My conversation with my dad the night before I went was as above. When he came to pick me up, the first thing he said was "Should I wind down the windows? You stink or not?" TSK. My own dad wants to make me feel insecure because of the way I smell.

I really like visiting such places with the other geog majors.
Everyone stares at rocks, walk around in search for creatures living amongst those rocks and no one thinks it's weird. I won't be the only one staring out at the sea, or squatting somewhere peeping through those creeks. I can't wait for the trip to Chek Jawa! Have been wanting to visit that place since forever.

2011-03-15T23:36:00.001+08:00

What the shit.

Where's the humanity!
This girl's freaking ignorant. It's a natural disaster. Not God's answer to her. And what's her problem anyway.

2011-03-12T19:25:00.003+08:00

Attended the Geog Majors' Tea yesterday.
And after listening to all the changes in the curriculum and what not, I'm really glad I chose Geog as my major.

The newly introduced module to Fiji!
It starts next semester and it'll take place the entire semester. During recess week, for about 7-9 days, students will go to visit for field work. How cool is that. And we'll see landforms not found in Singapore.

Sands dunes
Limestone caves
Hot springs
Not the type you'll find in Singapore. Natural, and left natural. The ones in Singapore has been transformed into concrete and pipes for the convenience of people.

Oh my gosh. I am going to take this module next semester, despite it being a level 4000 module. And I need to know more physical geog friends.

2011-03-07T23:40:00.001+08:00

I've been wanting to get this haircut ever since my hair started growing. But now that my hair is slightly longer, I can't bear to cut it. Finally, it's of decent length!!!!!

2011-03-04T01:07:00.000+08:00

This little boy's soooo gullible!

2011-03-03T15:24:00.002+08:00

Wah I had a really really bad day today, because I started my day with a bad bad bad night.
I know I don't make sense right now, but that's just because I'm really tired.
I didn't sleep at all last night because I was too stressed over my presentation today. Never in my life have I not slept the entire night before a school day.

So I started my day with no sleep at all, went down to school early in the morning for my 8am tutorial. 7.55am and there's still no one in class. I know there IS tutorial today because my friend smsed me that she would be late. I checked my timetable, correct tutorial room. SO I DIDN'T FORGET ANYTHING THIS TIME. Called/smsed my friend but no reply. So I sat in the tutorial classroom alone, like an idiot. Then, 6mins past 8am, she called and say tutorial's at the Geog lab above. !!!!! I walked out of the class, only to see "GE2229 students, please proceed to Geo Lab for tutorial". PTTF. I blame it on the lack of sleep.

For tutorial today, we had to dig up soil specimens to test for the moisture content.
Saw the most number of earthworms in an hour in my life, used a spade to dig up the core that contains the soil, killed a few grasses in the process and harmed a few tree roots. Other than that, it was fun! I can't wait for the field studies in Thailand. (: (:

We need to return the geog lab tomorrow to bake the soil specimens we took to remove the moisture from them. And leave it to cool for about 4 hours before we can take down the readings. And while discussing who to do it, I happily offered that I can do it because I've got lecture from 12-2 tomorrow. One girl replied Isn't that the lecture all of us are taking? It's this module what. OMG I was so embarrassed I looked down. Some laughed at me, some patted my shoulders and said It's okay, we understand. ):

This was worse than walking into the wrong classroom. I could feel my face heating up after that. Sheesh.

BUT WHATEVER IT IS, I'M HAPPY NOW BECAUSE PRESENTATION ISH OVER! I CAN'T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT ANYMORE. HAHAHAHA.
It feels like the term has ended because it's such a huge relief! I was perspiring throughout the whole presentation and my face was burning like mad. And I'm sooooo glad it's over. OVER AND DONE WITH.

Imma going to change, wash my face, slap on some facial mask and take my afternoon nap.
BUAIX.

2011-03-02T21:53:00.002+08:00

Me: Wah dad, they're introducing a new module. Field studies to Fiji!

Dad: Hahahaha and you signed up for the one to Thailand.

Me: What? I want to go for the Thailand one. But if they open up the Fiji module, I'll sign up for it if I can go.

Dad: Japan and Thailand. Hahaha.

Me: Fuji's in Japan. Fiji's a nation on its own.

Dad: Oh ya oh ya. Where is Fiji on the map?

Me: Don't know.

Dad: WHAT!!!! Study Geog and you don't know.

Me: I'm studying about rock processes and stuff. I don't study maps.

Dad: Geog students MUST know.

Me: You know where's Pedra Branca?

Dad: Island la. Owned by Malaysia.

Me: No! It's Singapore's.

Me: And it's a piece of rock. Not an island.

Dad: I know, recently acquired by Singapore only. And how I know? They say it's an island.

I don't know why people always associated geog students to map. If you don't know how to read a map, you're not a geog student. And my dad's always trying to win in these kind of discussions, only to find excuses for himself when he says the wrong things. Hahahaha.

Dad, even if I can't read the world map, I'm still a geog student.

Speaking of which, the school's changing the curriculum for geog majors. They're introducing a new level 3000 module COMPULSORY for all majors. ): I've just taken my 4th level 3000 module and I'm done with it because the field studies module makes up 2 level 3000 modules. Now I've got to take one more. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it this sem.
And why are they only introducing the Fiji field studies now!

2011-03-02T01:40:00.002+08:00

Totally embarrassed myself today.
Joey smsed me saying that he walked into the wrong class, and I replied HAHAHA loser.
Guess what? I did the same thing an hour later, except worse.

I walked into the classroom and the lights weren't switched on. So I walked to the 2nd classroom at the back and all the unfamiliar faces stared back at me. I went out of the classrooms and called me project group mate to ask where he is and why isn't he at class. I think he was a little confused by me also. He was like now odd week meh. I said ya, week 7 what.

After awhile, we realized tutorial wasn't today. I read my timetable wrongly.
But wasn't really my fault GE2225 and GE2206 looks the same. So I went to the GIS lab for class and my project group mate was there. Pttf. Talk about embarrassing.
He started laughing at me and I had to tell him I read my timetable wrongly because I was in a rush to come for class.

Seriously, karma. For laughing at Joey.

2011-02-28T19:10:00.000+08:00

The japanese way of drawing merlions.
Freaking hilarious!

2011-02-21T01:16:00.002+08:00

If walking is good for one's health, the postman would be immortal.

A whale swims all day, eats only fish, drinks lots of water but it is fat!

A rabbit runs and hops all day long but lives only, at best, for 15 years.
In comparison, a turtle doesn't run. It does nothing literally yet can live for 200 years.

So why do people want to exercise?
Just eat and sleep well. And be a happy person!

2011-02-19T18:09:00.001+08:00

Oh my gawd. Bad karma.
I'm always talking about people and I actually sent the message to that particular someone I was talking about. Greatest embarrassment in my life. Made me sound so petty and shallow.

February resolution: To stop gossiping.

2011-02-16T14:26:00.002+08:00

Germaphobia/ Mysophobia

Germaphobia, also known as mysophobia, is an irrational fear that overestimates the risk of being exposed to dangerous germs. Many people of all ages suffer from various levels of germaphobia. When a person suffers from a phobia, he develops a fear of a certain type of person, place or thing. In cases of germaphobia, or mysophobia, the person pathologically fears the idea of infection through touching bacteria and contaminants.

One of the most well known germ phobics, who became so obsessed with germs that he could not bath, eat most foods, or drink most beverages. Eventually, he became confined to a single room on his hotel floor.

Germ phobia can range from relatively mild, where one might simply be afraid to use public toilets, for example, without some type of barrier, like a toilet sear cover or even a sheet of toilet paper. It can be so severe that individuals with germ phobia cannot leave their homes and may themselves actually live in filth, as Howard Hughes did, because they cannot touch anything for fear of catching germs.

How to diagnose Germaphobia:

1. Gauge your reaction when you come in contact with possible germs or dirt. You may develop a physical response due to the germaphobia. Patients often complain of nausea, rapid heartbeat and breathlessness when near any possible contaminants.

2. Determine whether you wash excessively. Germaphobes typically spend a good portion of their day washing their body, especially their hands.

3. Note any social abnormalities. Due to the patient's fear of contamination, she may refuse to share any personal items or use any public restrooms. Germaphobes typically don't share food, utensils, toothbrushes or other items. As the condition worsens, the patient may refuse to touch others or use doorknobs.

-----

I hate sharing food with people. Not that I'm selfish, but I really hate the idea of other people's utensils touching my food. I don't offer my food to people after I'm done because it feels like I'm offering my leftovers to them.

I hold my breath when people on the trains/buses cough or sneeze.

I avoid touching handrails when climbing stairs, on escalators etc. If there's a need to, I'll use the back of my hand. I refuse to let me grandma hold on to the handrails when she cimbs stairs too. I'd rather she hold on to me.

I don't like holding on to doorknobs of toilets, especially after I've washed my hands.

I don't like people using my phone because the idea of the phone surface touching their faces disgusts me.

I have to wash my jacket after someone else uses it.

I think I'm a little of a germaphobe, but not to the extent that I'd stay at home my entire life.
And I really don't like it when my own friends judge me for that.

2011-02-15T01:27:00.002+08:00

GGXX ONE OF MY GROUP MEMBERS WON'T BE IN SINGAPORE DURING RECESS WEEK. ANOTHER REFUSES TO MEET THEN AND IS AVOIDING ALL MY QUESTIONS ABOUT RECESS WEEK. MY HEART'S THUMPING REALLY CRAZILY RIGHT NOW. IT'S A PRESENTATION WHICH I ABSOLUTELY HATE AND MY GROUP DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO PRESENT ON. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

2011-02-15T00:42:00.002+08:00

What the shit. I've set aside my tuesday breaks for my group members and nothing's done yet.
We were supposed to meet for the 2 hours last tuesday to collate our powerpoint slides and until this week, we're still on our own slides. We were supposed to meet tomorrow to prepare for our presentation but one's not free to meet and OUR SLIDES ARE STILL NOT DONE.
And they refuse to meet during recess week.

I really don't like working with exchange students and students from the other faculties. Generally.
Both groups of students just need a C for the module to graduate. But why are they so selfish! It's my major and I need to do well to pull my cap up.

HYPERVENTILATE AGAIN.

2011-02-12T16:29:00.002+08:00

I'm a hypocrite.
Here I am going over to Malaysia for the weekend for prayers and I had Seoul Garden just a few hours ago. Seoul Garden = meat. I spammed meat not very crazily but enough to kill a few animals, especially cow. BEEF! I have beef in my stomach and I'm going to pray.
Really guilty now. But besides beef in Seoul Garden, there isn't really much to eat. No pork, the seafood isn't fresh, the chicken makes me want to puke.
It was a social obligation.

I'm going to be sincere when I pray later.
I'm not saying I'm not sincere at any other times. Gah! Shouldn't have eaten.

And I packed like I'm going for a 3 days trip.
2 t-shirts and a long pants for praying because dad said I'll definitely perspire. 1 t-shirt and fbt for sleeping. 1 towel for bathing and 1 face towel for wiping off perspiration. A few readings to make me feel like I'm able to study during those short breaks. Monopoly deal, also for those short breaks. Toiletries and other miscellaneous stuff.

So I won't be able to reply to any of your messages from now till sunday night.
SEE YOU PEOPLE!

2011-02-12T02:11:00.002+08:00

Bad hair day. Seriously.

Received a message from IVLE that my only class for the day is being canceled because the lecturer was sick. I was so happy that I could sleep in, until I remembered that I had project meeting in school. Went all the way down for a half an hour session with the professor just so that he can approve my group's project. But he said we had a lot to do before we can start on your project proper, so we stayed on to narrow down on our topic.

When we were finally done, I had to rush back home to change because I had to attend my parents' company dinner. It started to rain only when I boarded the train at Clementi. I was lucky in that sense. I wasn't caught in the rain.
And when I took out my file, I realized I forgot to submit my assignment, which was due at 5pm. So yeah, I had to brave the rain and rush back to school. KARMA. For bitching about the meow meow population.

I shall stop complaining about people. And not be so forgetful.

But I met the nicest taxi driver ever.
He knew I was in a rush, so he sped all the way to NUS and offered to wait for me so that I can get back home on time. Okay la, he earns more that way. But I still think he's nice.
So I was in his cab for about an hour and he chatted non stop. Really, non stop. I called home because I was afraid I don't enough money to pay him. After I hung up, he said aiya don't bother your dad la. Just give me whatever you have. Now you tell me, how nice can this taxi driver get!
Reached home and shortchanged him a little. A few cents less.
My dad took out his wallet when he reached the carpark and the taxi driver just waved him off.
If only everyone in the world's like that.

2011-02-11T01:27:00.002+08:00

I've met the worst tutorial mates today.
We were grouped into groups of 4 and I had 3 meow meows in mine. We had to finish as much as we can during tutorial time and do the rest on our own free time, but the assignment is due next week.

So, we had to calculate the amount of precipitation in the catchment.
And it took my group an entire hour to solve that question. It's not even difficult. All we needed to do was identify which are the inputs and which are the outputs. I said interception should be under outputs because it isn't part of the catchment. None of them trusted me. They kept going on and on about how interception is on the trees and trees are part of the catchment. The notes said interception is part of the water storage. And because they couldn't make up their mind, they asked the TA and he said interception should not be calculated into the water budget. They had to show him the notes and try to make him agree that interception is under inputs. If you can't accept what people tell you, why bother asking? Pttf.

They finally accept the fact that interception is under outputs because they asked the lecturer and she said interception is a temporary storage. It wouldn't stay in the catchment for long. Wasted an entire hour of my life. I know I'm not really good with my studies and I don't make sense sometimes. But why can't they just accept what the TA tells them?

They had the entire tutorial worksheet translated in Chinese.
They underlined all the key terms like hydrograph, rising limb, soil properties etc and wrote all the chinese terms for it above the words. And they conversed in mandarin throughout. They spoke English only when they need to tell me their point of view. Sheesh. I don't even know what they were talking about! How would I know what's hydrograph in chinese.

And because they can't trust me to do a good job, they took the answers back to type it out.
You know what's best? I asked for their contacts and it's all on that piece of foolscap paper. I have no way of contacting them now. I wouldn't know if they'd forget about the assignment.
But judging by how they were so worried about putting the wrong answer down, they'd probably by more anxious about their grades than I am.

What if they write my name wrongly? Or my matric number?
WHY AM I SO DUMB. Gah!

2011-02-02T01:26:00.002+08:00

Look at this!
This is the one and only time I had the patience to paint my toe nails so nicely. I've been imagining this design for days. And I think I've spent about an hour doing this.

Please do not zoom in on the nails. Some things look better from afar. Hahaha.
I don't have that steady hands for such intricate designs.

2011-01-30T19:23:00.003+08:00

Sheesh, the learning portfolio wasn't as easy as I've thought.
I spent the entire afternoon trying to "examine critically" the similarities and differences of the state of environment between Singapore, Australia and ASEAN. It's so hard to write because Singapore is part of ASEAN and Singapore is a country on its own while ASEAN is a region. How to compare!

Now I've got to write a page on what is under-population.
I found no readings on the definition and so I googled it. The only answers I got are from Wikipedia, but you know how the lecturers emphasize how inaccurate wiki answers are. Dang! I think I'll most probably get the rough idea from Wikianswers and write them in my own words.

It's not helping that I'm at home rushing out my assignment and my sis and mum just went out.
Plus they're going to shop for shoes! I know I said I'm not going to do anymore shopping because my wardrobe is absolutely full, but shoes don't count. They don't go into my cupboard.

I want to go out!!!!

2011-01-30T02:40:00.002+08:00

I can't believe I spent my entire night packing my cupboard.
By entire night, I meant since 8pm. It's 2.30am now. And I don't even feel accomplished. I did throw out some of my clothes but I have a feeling I'd put them back tomorrow because they're all new. My cupboard isn't a lot emptier. In fact, it's a lot more full because I added in all my new buys, except that it's neater because I folded all my clothes nicely and stacked them up. I have no idea how I am going to take those pieces of clothings hidden right at the far end of my cupboard.

I could have spent all these time doing up on my assignment due this monday. It's just tomorrow (it's past midnight) and I'm not even 1/3 done yet. And suddenly, I feel like I have so much to do. I have to do my research for my project by 7 feb, a tutorial assignment due on 9 feb and an essay of 1500 words due on 11 feb. I've not started on any of those. Plus I need to finish a reading and done watching a video by end of next week for my tutorial. Besides all those, I've yet to finish my readings for this week and this week is coming to an end! And I'm going to spend tomorrow finishing up on my assignment, which means no time for readings.

Gah! I've got to stop thinking about that or I'd start hyperventilating again.

2011-01-26T15:34:00.002+08:00

This man is amazing.
He held his breath for more than 2 minutes and swam more than 20 metres deep into the sea. Just to hunt for fishes. All of these without any scuba diving suit. All he brought into the sea with him was a pair of goggles, his underwear and his hunting equipment. Geez.

2011-01-24T22:19:00.002+08:00

Instead of going shopping with my mum, I went down to the carpark to hear about the building of expressway near my estate. I've never seen so many people down for any meetings before and so many of them spoke up. Main concerns were the noise, the dust, the view and the value of our property. They've shown us the map of where the expressway will be built at.

It's not a really strategic area I would say.
The expressway will be built right above gambas avenue. But instead of turning right towards PIE, it turns left then right again, which is really unnecessary because that just makes all the residents here unhappy. Well, they did say it's to maximize the usage of land, but wouldn't it be easier to just curve the expressway towards the right?

So, if our suggestions fail to get through, I'll wake up every morning due to noise of traffic right outside my window. And instead of the green patch of land on the army camp, I'll see the expressway right outside my window. Just 15 metres away. Worse, I could be looking at the column used to support the expressway. And the start/end of the expressway won't even be near my place.

Why can't they just build a MRT/LRT track instead?
I'm sure we can overlook the noise for that.

2011-01-17T00:35:00.003+08:00

I feel so bloody cheated.
Quite a lousy feeling to know that someone you've trusted so much actually lied to you. Not just once, but a few times. And you only find out because you've asked.

People treasure whatever they've lost most. I did, but not anymore.
Next time, I won't be as naive as I had been.

2011-01-14T18:59:00.002+08:00

When I saw my lecture notes for the very first time today, I know I'm going to drop the module after the lecture. Covalent bonding and hydrogen bonding?! What's chemistry doing in a geog module?

I was so concentrated on that part that I went into the wrong lecture theatre.
Because most of my modules are in LT12, I assumed this will be the same too. Everyone was just standing outside, chatting. I walked in, switched on all the lights and started on my breakfast. When those people walked in, I realized I've not seen any one of them before. Took out my schedule and realized I was in the wrong class. Geez.

I'm not going to drop this module anyway.
Because the lecturer's so dumb she's funny. In a way. She started the lecture by talking rubbish, like how she hasn't taught for years and she don't understand why the school wants her to start teaching again. But she'll figure out how to when it comes. She said it's normal for lecturers to talk rubbish for the first 15 minutes of the first lecture because it's introduction. After 20 minutes, she was done with introduction and she wanted to give a break because lecturing is tough. That's what she said.

And because she describes concepts in the most ridiculous way ever, I can remember them. It helps a lot in making the module easier.
She was explaining about the difference in the layers of water in the pond during summer. The bottom layer has more nutrients and less oxygen. She explained by saying because fishes shit. The nutrients are actually shit. Oxygen are used to degrade these shit, thus less oxygen.

Then, she went on to say even though the earth has an abundance of water, most are saltwater. Freshwater only makes up 2.5% (I did pay attention during lecture!). Out of this 2.5%, only 0.03% is available for our consumption because the rest come in the form of ice and so on. And she mumbled to herself "Thank goodness there's global warming. Water from glaciers are now drinkable. But if this causes flood, we're so screwed."
Which lecturer says that in front of the entire lecture group?!

But this is the only lecture this week that I managed to stay awake.

2011-01-13T23:18:00.002+08:00

I don't like how everyone's worried about my sis when she herself isn't.
My parents are asking around about the schools, getting her to write her choices down so she wouldn't do it at the very last minute. I asked friends about the JC they're in. And all these while, she's out with her friends. Why should we care when she doesn't?

Whenever I'm on my bed, about to sleep, both my mum and my sis will ask me about their choice of schools. In the afternoon, when I'm trying to get my sleep back, they call to ask. I can't even nap for 20mins. And now that I'm trying to do my readings, they're shouting over the phone. Sheesh.

Why am I the one affected by all of these when I'm not supposed to be?

2011-01-09T01:39:00.002+08:00

My mum makes packing clothes really difficult for me.
I packed all my unwanted clothes in a bag a year back. And she just kept them behind the door, because she don't want me to regret throwing all my clothes away. Today, she got me to look at all the clothes once more. I had to go through the whole painful process of putting away the clothes I couldn't bear to part with.

Instead of throwing them all away, I kept a few more pieces. Geez.
Clothes from my RHYA time, my primary school PE t-shirt that's so comfortable, pyjamas my grandma bought for me but I'll never ever wear etc.
Because my primary school PE t-shirt's so comfortable and they fit me fine, I kept both of them. To wear to bed. And surprisingly, I can still wear the PE shorts! I kept them to go running. It's a little like FBTs now. If I'll ever go jogging.

And tomorrow, I HAVE to clear my cupboard again because it's so full I have no where to place the clothes I've decided to keep again. To put these back into my cupboard, I have to throw some other clothes away. That's how messy my cupboard is. I need a bigger cupboard!

2011-01-07T15:14:00.002+08:00

I've been laughing at Keong for playing Cityville.
Imagine a 20 year old sitting in front of the computer all day long, building virtual buildings and asking friends for items to complete the quest. How stupid is that.
But I am so bored, I started playing too. I just spent the entire day in front of my laptop planting crops so that I have enough goods for my stores. Geez. Thank goodness school is going to start soon, or I'll be spending more time on this.

I really have a few silly friends who do stupid things all the time.

Mich called me a few days back to say she missed her stop TWICE in a row.
She wanted to get off at Dhoby Ghaut from Cityhall and found herself at Orchard. She crossed the platform to take the train back and ended up at Cityhall again. How can anyone miss their stop twice?!

Keong's the best.
He set a password to his blackberry and forgot his password on the same day. After 10 tries, his phone's memory got completely wiped out. All he has now is contacts from 2 years ago. Hahaha. No contacts on bbm, no stored messages, no photos, and none of his contacts within these 2 years are in his phone now.
He's persuading Darry to get blackberry as well. The reason being "blackberry doesn't perma lock the phone if you forget the password". HAHAHA. He's such a joke.

2011-01-07T13:18:00.002+08:00

My stomach has been really weird these days.
I'm losing all the appetite I used to have. Now the idea of buffet isn't that pleasant anymore. One meal a day is enough to last me the entire day. I won't even feel hungry. I used to eat more than 3 meals a day!

At the start, it was just the lost of appetite.
I get hungry, but don't even feeling like eating when I see all the dishes on the dining table. For the past few days, I've been out with friends and it's not possible to buy meals in small quantities. So I forced myself to eat. I'm glad I'm starting to get some cravings. But usually after lunch, I'll be too full for dinner.

I should get my family to the airport tonight, since it's a friday.

2011-01-07T00:24:00.003+08:00

I've got all the modules I've bidded for but I think I'm going to drop Thai.
For the many many reasons I've listed out.

Number one, it's messing up my timetable.
Number two, it takes up 6 hours of my life every single week.
Number three, there is final exam.
Number four, I'll only speak Thai during field studies.

And so, I'm going to drop it the first time when I wake up tomorrow. I'm going to take Bahasa Indonesia instead. Much more practical isn't it? 5 hours a week, practical and NO FINAL EXAMS. What's there not to love?

I just needed confirmation on my choice of module, so I asked my dad. He was eager for me to take up Thai but he agrees that Bahasa is a much more practical choice. So there, I just spent the past hour doing up my timetable. For most modules, I can only pick one tutorial from all the choices and I can end school around 2pm every school day!

I love geography because it's so interesting and there are so few tutorial choices to choose from. Doesn't make timetable planning confusing at all.

2011-01-06T21:16:00.002+08:00

I'm starting to get used to all of these.
It's a good thing actually, that I've got more time for myself. I get to sleep earlier at night if I'm not that hooked onto whatever I'm doing. I've got time to read my books before school starts. I can spend more time on my piano, if I can stop procrastinating. I get to meet up with my friends more!

I think I should go back to Ugly Betty before school starts. Or I wouldn't have time to watch it again. I've seen 2 of my geog modules' descriptions. And I'm dreading school.

The level 2 module has got the set of lecturers that make me nervous during class.
They emphasize a lot on class participation, and I really hate it. I get minor panic attacks the night before every single tutorial. But at least my writing style is accepted by them. I didn't do that badly for their module. But I've got an individual assignment due on 11 feb! I've seen the question. Ain't easy.

The level 3 module is going to kill me.
The lecturer was the one that taught the exposure module. The one who made me fall asleep in every single lecture. I'm serious. I don't think I heard any of the things he said for the entire semester. I like it that there is no final exam, but projects! I don't even know anyone in that module. What if I get some irresponsible group mates? Geez.

I just got the thai module. Yes, I'm going pick up thai. FOR 1 BIDDING POINT!
I haven't spent so little for any modules in the recent semesters. With 4 geog modules, I've spent only 5 bidding points. Damn happy. But right now, I've got to go check out the timetable for thai. It's so confusing. No lectures and all sorts of different schedules. I know that language modules require a few tutorials a week. I can spare the time. But some schedules show 1 tutorial and others show 2. So which am I supposed to choose?

2011-01-04T17:19:00.007+08:00

I've seen people drunk the very first time in Mauritius, and it was kind of scary. But I've never seen my very own good friend drunk before. Pissed drunk but still have morals to know what's right and what's wrong.

I'm sorry keong, but you were really the highlight of the night. It was so funny I have to share it with everyone I know. But just so you know, you're not a fucktard and everyone loves you still.

This was him high on alcohol. Blabbering on and on in his accented english.
Whenever he talked, he needed everyone else to keep quiet. He stared at his toes for a really long time because he hit his toes.

While the rest were cooking noodles, he was just talking about random stuff in the room and all of a sudden, he said he needed to pee. All of us panicked, but he was just there talking non-stop.
It was really funny, but I can't bear to type out the details. I think he'd kill me.

He was so drunk he couldn't remember a single thing the very next day. He didn't even know he rolled off the bed and hit his head on the dustbin. All he knew was there was a throbbing pain behind his ear. Hahaha.

Keong, I'd like to see you like this again some time!
It was quite an entertainment you know.

2011-01-02T11:49:00.002+08:00

I haven't been true to myself about my own feelings, but my body always react differently.
I tell myself I'm not nervous during the exam periods, but I get diarrhea whenever my exams are starting. I tell myself I'm not feeling upset and things don't really matter, but I get diarrhea too.
I guess my body understands how I feel more than I really do.

But why is it that I'm so bad at judging people's character?
Twice. I trusted them but both end up doing the same things to me. I've always thought you were different. Yes you are, in a really wrong way. I've been so stupid, thinking I could change your mind. Now I see why you're so insistent on whatever you've decided and why you're so sure you'll never regret your decision. You know what? I think you are right. We're both completely different people. I wouldn't even try to change your mind anymore.

Everything made me realise how important my friends are.
They've been really sweet, tolerating my many phone calls. I feel important in their lives more than I do in yours. I have friends who actually care enough to want to spend time with me and are willing to do anything for me.

Whatever you've done have really helped me stop having any lingering feelings.
I didn't know it could be so easy to forget everything. But right now, I think I can.

2011-01-01T14:47:00.003+08:00

I spent my entire holiday watching ugly betty, from the very first season to season 4. I'm almost done with this season too.

I really like Betty's character in the show.
Everyone laughs at her because of her weird fashion sense. They never believe that she can stay long for her job in the fashion magazine, but she believes in herself. She's always positive and helps everyone around her. She goes all the way to get what she want, no matter how others discourage her from it. Whenever something doesn't go her way, she channels her attention to something else.
She's emotional but practical.

If only I could be like her.

2010-12-31T12:51:00.001+08:00

"I've had to say good-bye more times than I may have like, but everyone can say that. And no matter how many times we have to do it, even if it's for the greater good, it still stings. And although we will never forget what we've given up, we owe it to ourselves to keep moving forward. What we can't do is live our lives afraid of the next good-bye because chances are they are not going to stop. The trick is to recognize when a good-bye can be a good thing - when it's a chance to start again."

2010-12-31T01:33:00.002+08:00

I knew this would happen. Somehow saw it coming.
I don't feel as upset as I thought I'd be. But the way people lie to you when you stop meaning something to them, it scares me a little.

2010-12-22T01:32:00.001+08:00

Facts about mistakes

If a barber makes a mistake
It's a new style

If a driver makes a mistake
It's a new route

If an engineer makes a mistake
It's a new venture

If parents make mistake
It's a new generation

If a politician makes a mistake
It's a new law

If a scientist makes a mistake
It's a new invention

If a tailor makes a mistake
It's a new fashion

If a teacher makes a mistake
It's a new theory

If a boss makes a mistake
It's a new idea

If an employee makes a mistake
It IS a mistake

2010-12-20T23:14:00.000+08:00

Day 4 in Kuala Lumpur/Malacca

We didn't had anything to do this time. No last minute shopping, no eateries we wanted to try. So the first thing we did after breakfast was sleep again, then to Ancient Thai for another round of massage. This time, we tried the face massage. It wasn't what I had expected. They did mostly back and shoulder massage but still, it's good. You can totally feel your muscles relaxed after the massage.

And because Puduraya was closed, we had to lug our heavy luggages with everything we bought to the LRT AND CLIMBED STAIRS because the escalator in the LRT station isn't working. Sheesh.

We slept on the coach all the way to Malacca.
Met my parents at Tesco. Zhanrui came along too! The very first thing we did was to have our favourite assam laksa and chendol at Jonker Walk. By then, I was too famished to take pictures.

Then, we went to our boutique hotel for check in.
Because this trip was too last minute, everywhere was fully booked except this boutique hotel. Melaka Straits is Malacca's very first boutique hotel. The room's really big and the decorations were all to suit the peranakan style. But I don't think I'll ever stay there again. In that 2 nights we stayed there, my parents killed 3 cockroaches and we had to put on the bedsheets for the extra beds ourselves.

We walked to Pahlawan to purchase movie tickets. Super cheap! RM10 (S$4.20) for a movie ticket on a weekend. We got tickets for Bruce Lee at midnight, and Harry Potter the very next day.

After getting the tickets, we were deciding on where to dine for dinner. And we saw the korean bbq rooftop.

Looks/sounds delish doesn't it?
I love korean food, so we've decided to give the restaurant a try. We're always having local dishes there. Haven't been to a restaurant before. And the boss told us the restaurant is only 4 months old.

Real koreans dining at the place.
That guy's watching the TV. Broadcasting news all the way from Korea.

Complimentary side dishes and soup.
The waiters (Koreans) were really attentive. They refill the dishes for us when they see it empty, almost immediately.

My sis was very fascinated by that tube above the stove. It really remove all the smoke. We didn't stink a bit after the meal. And she's just pretending to be cooking. The waiters do the cooking for us. So you don't get undercooked/overcooked meat.

Onion pancake for my sis.

The people there are really nice and attentive.
Whenever the stove turned black, they change the metal plate. Right after I took this picture, the waiter changed the metal plate. We ordered 3 different kinds of meat and I think they changed the metal plate 5 or 6 times. Can you imagine how many plates they have to wash for the entire restaurant?

Sis found a piece of metal wire in the bibimbap, so we told one of the waiters. Few minutes later, the boss came personally to apologise and gave us complimentary drinks. They didn't charge us for the bibimbap either.

The waiter provided my dad with this seat because he was trying to stretch. The waiter thought he was feeling uncomfortable after sitting on the floor for too long. How good can their service get!

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel to bathe, then for foot massage at Phoenix.
And we went back to Pahlawan for our movie.

Day 5 in Malacca

We had our very first breakfast at Melaka Straits.
It sucks, really. There wasn't much variety to choose from, and ants were crawling all over the coffee cups. We saw them refill the coffee pot by adding water straight into it, not freshly brewed coffee. We requested for more bread and one of the waitresses had to go out to buy.

So we shopped at Aeon, went to Jonkerwalk for their weekend chinatown for yummy food, got stuck in and rain and happen to see people kissing in the car and about to have sex, bought oyster omelette back to the hotel for late night supper.

We did almost the same thing for the next day before coming back to Singapore.

Even though Malacca's not as happening as KL, I prefer Malacca more. They have really good food and I feel safer there. But one thing I really hate about is their toilets. They don't provide toilet papers in the cubicles. And the people queue cubicle by cubicle. So you can be waiting endlessly for a particular cubicle and watch the other queues move in progress.

Despite the scary streets and toilets, I love short trips to Malaysia!

2010-12-19T23:00:00.000+08:00

Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur

Sis and I had the complimentary breakfast buffet provided by the hotel.
We were impressed by what they have to offer. Totally different from the hotels that we've stayed in. They have a wide array of food, from toast to pastry to cooked food. I've never eaten so much for breakfast in hotels before.

Being the pigs we are, we went back to sleep after breakfast, then took a bus down to the temporary bus interchange to purchase our coach tickets to Malacca. The main bus interchange at Puduraya was closed for renovations.

Upon reaching, you see people running to the bus. And when the bus door opened, those people stretch their hands in to attract attention from the commuters. It was a really scary sight. They are actually "runners" for the bus companies. To get business and they earn by commission. I had to wait until most commuters were off and ran to the front of the bus to alight.

My, they are really persistent. This lady followed my aunt everywhere. Really. She waited while my aunt talked to another company and followed us again to lead us to her company. In the end, we didn't get tickets from her company.

We took the train back to the city.
It's seriously confusing. They have KTMs, monorails and all sorts of lines. In Singapore, all we have is MRT and maybe LRTs. It was raining rather heavily then, so we ate at some random coffee shop that serves yummy food too. I don't know why, but all food stalls in KL serves yummy food.

When the rain stopped, we went back to the hotel to change and headed out again. To shop.
Visited their very first Uniqlo outlet at Fahrenheit (known as KL Plaza previously), Pavilion and Time Square. Pavilion is a little like Paragon, high-end shopping mall.

Dinner at Mr Teppanyaki at Time Square and we were back in our hotel.

Day 3 in Kuala Lumpur

After the breakfast buffet, we took a private bus to The Curve. Like I've said, they have a few types of public transport. For private buses, they have fixed routes too and you pay RM3 no matter the distance. And I really hated the bus ride. The suspension was so horrible that my butt's away from the seat whenever the bus goes over a hump. Feels so fortunate that Singapore has so much better public transport.

At Curve, all we did was shop at Brands Outlet. My sis and I used to get our t-shirts from there, but this time, all I got was a skinny belt. Yay to not overspending! Then, we took a cab to Mid Valley. The private bus was taking forever to come and we've decided not to wait. Lunched at Purple Cane. The food there is superb! They cook everything with tea leaves. Even their soup is served in miniature tea pots.

Here's the address:
Mid Valley Megamall, Mid Valley City,
LG-011, Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel/Fax: 603-22840322

After which, we took a cab back to Kota Raya. It's similar to Lucky Plaza here.
For them, it's little Myanmar. Shop owners are mostly from Myanmar. After my aunt got her shoes, we went back to Sungei Wang because sis wanted to get the shorts she got in another colour.

Headed back to our hotel and ended up watching the entire Pearl harbour, before dinner at the beef noodles stall at 1am. It's really freaky to be walking on the street past midnight. We were the only people on the street and the back alleys were really dark. I don't think I'll ever leave the hotel at such hour again.

2010-12-18T10:00:00.001+08:00

Day 1 in Kuala Lumpur

Right after (almost) my final exam, I went for an impromptu trip to Malaysia with my sis and aunt for almost a week.Usually, we'd drive in but this time, we took a coach in because we'll be meeting my parents in Malacca and they'll be driving. We took the morning coach and by the time we reached, it was already after lunch.

We stayed in Swiss Gardens. By far the best hotel I've stayed in.
Because we were there for the sake of travelling, there wasn't much we wanted to do so we stayed in to watch TV.

After the show, we decided to go for massage at Ancient Thai.
We wanted to try this massage parlour on our previous trip but it was fully booked. So we headed down. It's just around the corner from our hotel.

The massage was really good! Before 6pm, you only pay RM44 for an hour of leg/shoulder/head massage. They serve you ginger tea and the service was really good too.

Address:
No. 13 Ground Floor,
Jalan Tong Shin,
Off Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
(Located on the right hand corner at the end of famous Jalan Alor)

Opening hours: 10am - 3am (last call at 2am)
Go before 6pm for discounted packages!

The receptionist recommended us to a roadside stall that's opened 24 hours.

This was what they were selling. Yummy beef noodles.

Feeling all satisfied, we went to Sungei Wang to change our sing dollars into malaysian currency. The money changer at the entrance has the highest exchange rate all the time. It was only the first day, but I've spent RM150 out of my RM200. My parents gave my sis and I each RM200 for the entire KL trip. Yeah, they didn't want us to buy too many things back but the clothes were really cheap!

Then we had dinner.

We visit this stall whenever we're at KL.

Their fried omelette's a must get!
It's different from what you have in Singapore. They serve theirs fried, thin and crispy.

Look at how happy my sis is. She don't take spicy food but whenever we're here, she'll eat everything, especially the fish.

We walked back to our hotel with our loots and tried out the clothes and shoes we bought.
Love the location of our hotel. Everywhere is of walking distance.

2010-12-17T01:23:00.003+08:00

I'll be leaving in a few hours time!
Sis and I are not intending to sleep tonight because we have to wake up at 3.45am. It's already 1.22am now. Plus, I heard from my parents that SilkAir do not have any inflight entertainment. So I guess I can catch up on my sleep then.

I'll be back by 26th, I think.
Can't really be bothered to find out information about this trip. Ain't that interested. All I know is it's going to be cold there and I'll be there for 10 days. AND I'M MISSING CHRISTMAS BECAUSE OF THIS TRIP.

There's so many plannings for meetups when I'm back. With the FASS people for birthday celebration, with OG11 for our monthly gatherings, and with the secondary school people for belated xmas party. I haven't gotten down to baking my gingerbreadman! I've always looked forward to christmas because of the baking. I've always wanted to decorate stuff with icing sugar. Sheesh. I have to wait for the next christmas.

I'm really nervous for this flight.
6 hours on a plane! Ack. Hate travelling by planes.

2010-12-15T16:22:00.003+08:00

I think I've just typed the longest email I'd ever typed in my life. I'd so much to say, my fingers just can't stop typing. It makes me feel so much better. At least I've got everything off my chest.

Sometimes, I can't help but feel all alone.
Your best friends are overseas, you have no one to talk to. You feel like you've got so many friends, but none of whom are willing to listen to you. You feel like you can count on them to support you, to give you advice but when you really talk to them about your problems, they laugh it off to avoid getting into a serious conversation with you. And all you needed was someone to listen to what you've got to say.

Don't you think it's fair to give priority to a particular someone in your life if he/she does the same thing for you? How can you treat someone as insignificant when that particular someone has given you most of the priority in his/her life?

As much as I quarrel with my family, tell myself I hate them sometimes, it's really family members who will stick by you when you're feeling down and love you for who you are. They believe in you, they trust you to do your job well and they'll always respect you no matter what. True that people you love dearly would hurt you the most, but that's just because they mattered.

I can't stop thinking why I'd given so much of my time to someone who don't give a shit about me.

2010-12-14T01:03:00.002+08:00

Ever since I'm back from Malaysia, I've been leaving life exactly the way I want to.
Meet up with friends, do a little of theory (the bare minimum), read storybooks, and stay over at my grandma's. Which is why I haven't been online. The internet connection here sucks.
Sounds like I'm leaving in some far away resort with no internet connection, but it's just the lousy modem.

My sis has been getting everyone to play mahjong, so I've played for 3 days straight.
And I didn't lose a single cent!

Will be treating my grandparents to Swensen's tomorrow. Then home to pack my luggage.
Sheesh, I haven't exactly been doing what I have to. THEORY!
Okay, I'm going to watch ugly betty now.

2010-11-30T00:40:00.003+08:00

My entire after-exams-schedule is in a mess!
The plan was to get my stuff on Saturday (I did), catch a movie on Sunday (I didn't), bake with Mich on Tuesday because she's leaving for Dubai for the whole of dec (I can't), piano on Friday (I can't), Qiaoxuan's 21st on saturday (I can't again).
Because my sis and aunt planned an impromptu trip to Kuala Lumpur and Malacca.

I'll be going with them, which means I'll be away for the whole of this week, until sunday night I think. And I won't be seeing Mich until I'm back from China on the 26th.

I had one major thing in mind before this holiday, to brush up on my piano stuff.
I HAVE to take my exams next year, both theory and practical because I've procrastinated enough and if I don't take, I will have to change my exam pieces. And I'm not even done with learning the last piece. I hate it. It doesn't sound nice at all.

So now, I'll be going to Malaysia for a week and China for 10 days. I have only about half a month to learn everything. I have to make sure I practice for at least an hour a day, especially my scales!!!! I absolutely hate it, especially now with that 6 apart thing. It's so hard to coordinate both hands because both are moving at the same time, at the same pace, except doing different things. Different notes, different time to turn my hand. Sheesh.

And I have 12 library books to read.
It's not a must, but I want to. Because I like it. I've borrowed a few crime books on stalkers, parents killing their own child and crime in general. I can't wait to start on them! I'm bring 2 books with me to Malaysia. One thing I like about overseas trips are their hotel beds. So comfortable I can sleep all day. This usually gets me into trouble with parents because my body refuses to wake up and they are anxious to start their day early. Ack! And reading in the beds at night is such a pleasure. I should have nice cooling bedsheets and a comfy and luxurious quilt. Plus one air con blasting cool air! That's the life. Hahaha.

Okay, my main point is, I'll be away for the whole of this week. So don't contact me! If you do, I'll reply when I'm back.
So long people!

2010-11-26T23:44:00.003+08:00

I am so bored.
I'm almost done with geography. And I tend to do lots of other stuff, like blogging, because I know I'm almost done. Which makes me end later than expected. I don't intend to study interpersonal communications because it's an open book exam. Plus I don't have the time for it.
Sucks to have 2 papers in a day, with only 1 day to prepare for both.

Anyway, I'll be free from tomorrow onwards.
You can't tell how excited I am. I can't wait to start on my library books, try out all the yummy food places, watch TV and practice piano. Don't judge. This isn't about being nerdy. It's all about interest.

I'm craving for food.
The hot chocolate with marshmallows wasn't enough. I need something salty. Am going to find something to eat from the fridge.

2010-11-26T23:37:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow, and I'll be freeeeeee!!!!!!!

2010-11-23T22:16:00.001+08:00

The monkey laughed at the dog after checking out its genitals.

And another one.

I thought monkeys were supposed to be the more intelligent animal.

2010-11-23T16:49:00.002+08:00

Me: Will your mum allow you to go out often during your holidays?

Liying: Think so. Why?

Me: I think I'll be bored then. Guanli's working, Mich's going to Dubai for the entire month, my friends in NTU will be having their exams all the way till christmas eve. I've got lots of places I want to visit.

Liying: Where you want to go?

Me: Chek Jawa, Kusu Island, BUFFETS and shopping.

Liying: Wow.

Liying: Isn't Chek Jawa overseas?

CHEK JAWA IS IN PULAU UBIN MY DEAR.

2010-11-21T13:46:00.002+08:00

It's only the end of the first paper and it feels like the end of the entire exam.
Probably because this paper is really taxing. We're required to cite at least once in every paragraph, which means remembering which author said what and when he/she wrote the article.
And the paper wasn't easy.

So it's a major relief after the paper.
Lunch at Sushi Tei, rot myself out at grandma's and mahjong-ed through the night.
Just woke up an hour ago. So most probably I'll do some readings and head out to the library to renew my comic books.

Anyway, the medicine the doctor prescribed was really strong.
He said to stop taking the pills meant for diarrhea if I'm well. I don't know when to stop, but I took only 3 pills. Now I'm feeling all horrible again.
Because of the pills, I spent an hour in the toilet last night, which made me sleep at 5am.

2010-11-19T18:35:00.005+08:00

I'm bored whilst studying, but there's nothing really much I can do, except blog. So I've decided to list a hundred things about myself.
Here goes:

1. I've got a chinese name, and will always be. I don't intend to give myself an english name, unless my job in future requires me to.

2. I spend every night (almost) at my grandma's and I love fridays because that's when I get to meet everyone. Cousins especially.

3. I like dogs, but am afraid of them.

4. I have a guinea pig, which I love lots. Except that it stinks, really.

5. Mathematics used to be my favourite subject, but not anymore. I enjoy teaching primary school maths though.

6. I liked pink alot when I was a kid. I don't have a favourite colour now, because any bright and cheerful colour attracts me.

7. My ambition was to be an abacus teacher.

8. I've not owned any dolls since I was a kid. Not because my parents didn't want to buy me any, but because I don't enjoy playing them. I dread times whenever my sis made me play grocery shopping with her barbie dolls.

9. I do have a pile of soft toys in one corner of my bed. I kept them only because each and every one of them has its memories. I can't bear to give them away.

10. Soft toys and chocolates are the worse gifts ever.

11. I have 3 bolsters, 2 pillows, 2 blankets and a pile of soft toys on my super single bed. Because I don't like sleeping on empty beds.

12. I'm particular about cleanliness, which explains my consciousness for saliva.

13. I'm also a messy person, because I'm lazy. The irony.

14. I am not afraid of cockroaches. I just don't like them.

15. I day dream alot. I think about things that will never ever happen.

16. I don't like horror movies because I have a vivid imagination.

17. I watch only chick flicks and cartoons. Yes, I still enjoy cartoons like Tom & Jerry/ Popeye the Sailor Man.

18. I am not a TV person.

19. I prefer tea to coffee.

20. I don't like carbonated drinks.

21. I can play the piano and guzheng.

22. I've taken an interest to opera-ish songs. Eg. Think of me, I dream a dream, Time to say goodbye.

23. I enjoy reading. Alot.

24. I spend most of my time on the internet reading blogs and sourcing for good food. I do admire pictures on the menus.

25. I hate crowded places. It makes me frustrated.

26. I make lots of random comments on strangers to people I'm with.

27. I dread making small talks, which is why I pretend not to see a person I'm not close to sometimes. To save me from making small talks on the bus or whatsoever.

28. I can talk non-stop with people I like.

29. I like cooking and baking, even though I don't really know how.

30. I feel proud of myself whenever I manage to whip up a dish or two for my own meals.

31. I don't like wearing dresses. It makes me feel exposed.

32. I'm an environmental freak. If I'm given a bun in a paper box, I'll keep the lid of the box (because it's clean) in my bag and bring it home for recycling.

33. I despise people who crush their papers and dump it into the waste paper bin after writing a sentence and decide that it's not neat enough.

34. I'm a very t-shirt and shorts person.

35. I play around with my makeup before I bath sometimes and I can spend hours doing it unknowingly.

36. I'm a slow eater since I was a kid.

37. I'm fine with eating alone outside. I enjoy it sometimes, because there's no one to rush me.

38. I was well known back in kindergarten because of my slow eating habits. The principals called me "washing machine" because I grind food in my mouth but refuse to swallow them.

39. Ironically, I love food.

40. I like going for buffets.

41. I'm not bothered by grades, whether I do well or not.

42. I own a blogshop, out of interest.

43. I tend to do the opposite of what others want me to. I'm stubborn that way.

44. I don't travel light.

45. I have with me an umbrella, a water bottle, house keys, tissue paper, wet tissue, oil blotter, sweets, mp3, lip balm and a story book all the time.

46. I write in my organizer diligently because I'm very forgetful.

47. I love dining at the airport, or simply chilling there.

48. Mint makes me hungry.

49. I like soupy and soft meals.

50. I need my food spicy.

Okay, I've actually thought of much more when I was reading my notes. But as I've said, I'm forgetful. I forgot them all.

First paper tomorrow! Feels like exam is ending already, because after tomorrow, it's a huge huge relief. Before the stress starts to build up before wednesday. Hope I can remember all the authors' names and the year they wrote their paper for citations. 2 per paragraph! That's craziness.

Alright, off to bed. Wish me luck people!

2010-11-19T16:34:00.002+08:00

I am so so so bored.
Sis is going to the airport with my aunts to pick Liying up. I feel like going.
But I've got a paper tomorrow.

Why oh why are the days crawling by so slowly?

2010-11-19T01:14:00.007+08:00

This was shown during one of my social geog lectures, to sum up the module.

Even though there's equality (somehow) amongst men and women now, women are still expected to be responsible for child care and housework. If the child's mum is working, it'll be the grandmother's responsibility to care for the child. That is if the grandparents are staying with them. If you don't have the grandparents in the same house, you'll send your child to kindergarten or something, and again, a female is caring for your child. Just like how nannies and babysitters are often females. The sad thing is, females now are still expected to know how to cook and do housework, so that their future parents-in-law won't look down on them. Why are we not given the right to be lazy?

Anyway, that's just part of what social geography is about.
There's so many take home points from that video. Like how there's the language barrier between the different generation, how the aged is being marginalised on the street and about disability.

It's quite a touching story. It made me feel like crying.
Imagine when we are all old, and our own child thinks that we are a burden, even though all you wanted was to help. You love your grandchildren so much, but they just take you for granted.

But still, I think the old lady's acting's good!
She's the one in Just for Laughs Asia.

Okay, gotta hit the sacks.

2010-11-18T08:30:00.002+08:00

It sucks to feel ill a week before the final exam.
If it's flu, I can always have a pack of tissue with me. Why do I have diarrhea right now when I didn't even consume anything wrong?
I've been running in and out of the toilet for the past 3 days.

I'm supposed to study in school with Charmaine today, but ended up cancelling on her.
I hate it when people cancel on me the very last minute, and now I'm doing the exact same thing. Sheesh.

I need to collect my project assignment from school!
I don't know if I can ever leave home.

2010-11-07T23:10:00.003+08:00

I wonder how the relationship status thing on facebook works.
If girl A and boy A gets into a relationship, and she changes her relationship to be "in a relationship with boy A". The comments and whatnot will appear on her wall. Or maybe both.
And one day, if they decide to break it off, and she decides to change her relationship status to "single", it'll appear on news feed that "girl A has gone from in a relationship to single". Will the guy's change in status appear on news feed as well?

I was asking guanli about this, so we've decided to try it with our own facebook profile.
And he refused to let me change my relationship to single. He insisted that he has to be the one.
Such pride.

In the end, I didn't get my answer.
Because we were both fighting to be the first to "break it off" and we were busy deleting posts on our walls.

2010-11-02T21:51:00.003+08:00

This is too good to be true.

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST!!!!!

Okay, the excitement wasn't quite there when I typed that sentence.
I was really hoping to pass because it would be another $600 to book a second driving test plus all the driving lessons. And I wasn't that excited when the tester told me I've passed. It's not the i-want-to-call-every-single-person-on-my-contact-list kind of happy. It's like a milestone completed. Once, you passed, you passed.

For school exams, after you get through one exam, you'll face another. After PSLE, you face O Levels.
For piano exams, after one exam, you'll go to the next grade.
That kind of never ending thing. You know what I mean.
But for driving, it isn't so. Once you pass, you'll never have to go back to the centre anymore and no more exams. Unless you lose all the points you have, in the case of the minority.

And I thought I'd get my license straight away.

After knowing my results, I had to go watch a video, get my student booklet back, then queue up at the traffic police counter to get my license FOR 50BUCKS.
Why do I need to pay for every single item?

So I went up to watch the video.
But the in charge said it was lunch time, and ask for me to be back half an hour later. I so wanted to leave, but not watching the video is equivalent to not passing the test. It's a package thing.
I went for lunch too.
Came back only to see gruesome images like dead people on the road with deformed limbs or burnt faces. Blood and limbs everywhere. As much as I not like watching horror movies, I hate gruesome images more. I almost regurgitated my lunch.

And no, I can't drive on the road yet.
Because I refuse to use the photo I have for my IC. I'm vain that way.
My license is going to be with me for life. I'd rather take a picture with my hair as short as now than to use the photo I used for my IC.

I'll be taking my photo on Friday (hopefully) and will be down as early as 8am to register for my license card! Early bird catches the worm. I don't want to wait for hours just for my license because I'm paying $50 for it!

2010-10-31T21:21:00.004+08:00

I'm so addicted to milk teas that I had them in the past week more than I had in the past month.

Last Friday, I got milk tea from cupwalker after driving lesson because it was "on the way".
I mean, it was along the overhead bridge that I had to pass on my way to the MRT. I could have taken the bus, but that would take longer!

On Saturday, I had to make a trip down to Chong Pang CC to get a photo for my project, and order contact lenses. So happened that I've been wanting to try the new bubble tea outlet there.

So a cup from Ochado. It's great I tell you! Better than Koi. I've tried pop eggs milk tea and pudding milk tea. The latter was fantastic!

On Tuesday, I've decided to grab a cup of milk tea from cupwalker again. But this time, it was from Guanli to try.

And on Wednesday, my school had the bubble tea charity drive again. Again, because I see groups of students selling bubble tea along the arts walkway every week, at insanely high prices.
But then, I was kind of thirsty and have been wanting to try Gongcha and Eskimo. I know I'm always wanting to try drinks/foods, but that's what keeps eating enjoyable right.

And Eskimo is better than Koi too.
I like drinks that are thick.

And Ochado again on Friday.

So much for wanting to cut down on sweet drinks.
I've been drinking sweet stuff from school so much I told myself I had to stay away from sweet drinks. And here I am, drinking bubble tea everyday.
Seriously.

I would have to say their business gimmicks really worked.
It tricks people like me into buying their drinks. What with NO SUGAR and whatsoever. I always end up buying half sugar. It's half sugar!
Not much sugar content isn't it?

Who am I kidding anyway?

2010-10-26T23:20:00.002+08:00

I've got mixed feelings for this upcoming holiday.

Good news:
1. I'll be going overseas for more than a week in December.
2. I'll be going with my entire family. Cousins, aunts, grandparents and all.

Bad news:
1. I'll be going to cheena land.
2. I'll miss Christmas, my favourite festive of the year.

I'm always looking forward to Christmas. It keeps me going on the whole year round, because every single day that passes is one day nearer to Christmas. And my first Christmas away is spent in a country that doesn't celebrate it. At all.

Ever since I went there for the very first time, because my dad insisted on going there, I didn't like it at all. The food's too oily for my liking. The streets are dirty. And the air is polluted! Your nose gets clogged up after one day out, with BLACK shit.

Scenery, yes.
Food, no.
Shopping, no.
People, NO.
They aren't the most pleasant group of people around.

Why put me through the frightening flight to somewhere I don't fancy?

2010-10-25T22:43:00.002+08:00

I realised if I stop all the blogshopping and blog reading, I would have done alot more for my studies. Because if I were to switch on my laptop to do my work, I'd end up reading blogs during the breaks I give myself. Which is more than the time I spend on the assignment.

I.need.more.determination.

2010-10-25T00:21:00.003+08:00

I've been in a cold war with my sis for months because of a fight, and I wasn't supposed to be involved anyway.

Ever since she had her mid-year examination, she'd been feeling lethargic.
She comes home for a short nap, and asked to be woken up an hour later. My mum would have problem waking her up because that lazy bum just refuses to budge from her sleep. And the peacefulness in the house would be disrupted.

One day, it all happened again, except that my sis decided to take it out on me.
I came out from my bath, only to see that pig lying on my bed. And I was desperate to get her off because I had to wake up at 5.30am for school the very next day. I sat at the foot of the bed and waited for her to get back to her own bed. Apparently, she was waiting for me to do something so that she can vent her anger at me. Yes, I fell for it. I tried to pull her off my bed, only to get into a fight.

So we haven't been talking.
I refuse to take the initiative. Don't judge me. That's just because I wasn't at fault.
Anyway, she started talking to me today, for don't know what reason. And she was asking what the game my dad was playing on my iPod Touch on Saturday. MY DAD WAS ASKING for the game to be downloaded into her iPhone so that he could play.

It was the most brainless game ever.

Video slot.

He was addicted to this the entire time we were at the airport. He started off with $500 and by the end on the session, he had $2000+. I can't tell you how excited he was. He said he played this so that he'll know how jackpot machines work in casinos. Excuses. I can tell he just enjoys the game.

Back in Mauritius, I had the urge to visit the casino every night to get back to my slot machines. Except that the rules were much easier.

This was the one I was addicted to. Instead of 5 columns, we have 3 columns. And I can win 20cents for every cherry shown on the screen. That's how easy it was.

But I don't get why my dad is addicted to the video slot on the iPod Touch. It's virtual and plain mindless tapping of the screen. For the REAL slot machines, you feel the excitement because it drops money out quite frequently. You get to choose to keep your wins as credits or for the machine to drop your wins out. Obviously I chose the latter. I love the sound of the coins dropping out of the machine, even if it's just 20cents.

Now I know why I was addicted to it.
Interest is hereditary.

2010-10-19T20:00:00.000+08:00

So cute!

2010-10-18T01:24:00.000+08:00

2010-10-15T00:19:00.002+08:00

Some failed status on facebook:

A: Hey man, can I buy some of that weed off of you?
B: Dude, shutup, everyone can read this.
A: Oh shit, for real? My bad.
A: So can I get some herb or not?

Is he dumb or is he dumb? It's plain obvious that he's referring to weed.

-----

A: Only in LA would you see a homeless man lying shirtless on the side of the road sunning himself, not even on the curb. Literally ON the road!
B: Only in LA would someone see an injured/distressed homeless man lying shirtless on the side of the road and think "oh, he must be working on his tan".
C: LOL.
A: wow.

BIMBO.

-----

A: What does IDK mean?
B: I don't know.
A: ...Ugh! No one knows!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

-----

A: Why is the xbox 360 called xbox 360? Because when you see it, you turn 360 degrees around and walk away.
B: *facepalm*
A: ?
C: That's 180 degrees.
A: No it isn't. Are you dumb?
C: If you spin 360 you'll be looking at it again.
D: You'd be walking towards it.
A: No you wouldn't.

I'm speechless.

-----

A: Just finished eating a raw chicken breast, no sweat. Looks like someone owes me $20.
B: You're gonna die dude, salmonella for sure.
A: I ate chicken, not salmon, dude.

2010-10-12T23:55:00.002+08:00

YES. I've finished my study for tomorrow's test. Sort of.
I'm getting sick of studying so I was just flipping through the last set of notes on earthquakes. And there wasn't much to study anyway because I was busy playing games on the ipod touch during that lecture. It was some guest lecturer whose notes are so scientific. The first few slides are introduction to his company. Totally unrelated to earthquakes.

So there. I'm done with studying and thus, slacking.
But I did learn some new stuff! I have to remember that wind in the northern hemisphere deflects to the right and wind in the southern hemisphere deflects to the left.

And you know what?
Typhoons/hurricanes/cyclones (they are all different terms in different countries for cyclones) will never happen in Singapore! Even if they form near Singapore, they will never hit Singapore no matter how erratic their movements are.
Because firstly, cyclones move away from the equator and towards the east. Their movement is always polewards and eastwards. Secondly, for a cyclone to form or to maintain the cyclone, warm ocean current is needed. And that isn't available in the tropics.

Whoever said that Singapore is geologically disadvantaged?
Besides the size of our island and the lack of natural resources, I'd like to say that Singapore is strategically located on the world map.

2010-10-12T23:38:00.002+08:00

My mum's becoming our family's personal maid. Hahaha.
Recently, she bought some snacks from Marks&Spencer. And my cousin came back from Hawaii with lots of goodies for us. And because of my greedy dad, who always comes up with "I'm helping you with the calories", my mum has no choice but to walk around the house, sharing the goodies with my sis and I, since both of us are studying. Me, studying for the test tomorrow, and my sis for her o levels.

My mum poured a wee bit too much peanuts on the plate for me. So I'm offering it to my dad.
I'm not really in the mood to talk, so I just placed the plate on the stool and pushed it to him. He looked at the plate and said "You think I'm furball is it" but went on to eat it anyway. How different is he from furball?

Okay, my sis such an egoistic person.
She sent her photo to my dad's email because she wanted him to print it out for her from our study room. Her email's titled "Your Beautiful Girl".
PTTF.

2010-10-12T00:28:00.002+08:00

WHAT!
Guanli actually saw a girl strip naked in a club.

I finally got to talk to him after so many days.
Apparently, the hotel he's staying in has free internet access and they haven't been told about the free usage of the hotel's computer. All of them only knew about it today. But I don't know where this computer is located. At the hotel lobby maybe? Because he was complaining that he can't talk any longer. Some guy chasing him off the computer. The hotel receptionist maybe.

So he was saying. The club they were in was having some sort of dancing competition.
A girl on the stage stripped naked, leaving only her bottom. She TRIED to cover her boobs obviously. But the keyword here is TRIED. Which means she failed. Everyone in the club saw her naked upper body. All these to win the cash prize of NT2000, which is equivalent to SGD100.
And she may not even win the competition. Strip naked for a hundred bucks?! She's out of her mind. Really.

And I don't think I'm gaining much from his trip.
He said the clothes there are too fanciful for my liking, so nothing for me! I don't know if it's an excuse to not buy stuff for me. He said the food there ain't that good either.

Now Taiwan's not really in my list of must-go-places.
I rather spend my money on holiday places like Hokkaido, Canada, Paris, Africa, Maldives and HAWAII! I've been wanting to visit Hawaii since my secondary school days. Money money, please fall from the sky.

Oh and mich finally agreed to go for expensive buffet with me!
Okay maybe because James will be there. But we'll be going for Equinox lunch buffet next March to celebrate James and Guanli's birthday. I can't wait!

2010-10-10T22:26:00.002+08:00

Met up with OG11 again last night.
Oh my gosh, I was super late for it cos I forgot to bring Yingling's present out. We were supposed to meet at 6pm, and I left home around then. Sheesh. Thank goodness my dad sent me to the mrt station.

Joshua suggested going to Timbre because he liked it there previously when they visited the place. Only the guys went I think. So all of thought someone will be drinking.
We climbed that never ending stairs, took our seat (Joshua made a reservation for all of us), and started to look at the menu. Turned out, no one wanted to drink and Joshua only wanted to see see look look (!!!). And he said he'll be ordering sprite (!!!!!!!!!).
So we came to a conclusion. Leave when no one is looking. My goodness, most embarrassing thing to do EVER. First, we made a reservation. Second, we didn't even inform the waiter that we're leaving mainly because no one had the balls to do it. And all of us didn't dare to leave. We sat there for super long just to decide whether to leave or not and who will be standing up first. Hahaha.

We ended up in MacDonalds. Climbed that endless stairs all for nothing. Perspired like crazy, also for nothing.
Next time, if anyone ask to go Timbre again, I'll not go. Because either I'll share pizzas with them, which I don't like, or I'll end up not having anything because I don't like drinking. At most I'll share with Guanli when he's around.

Ok, I don't know what the heck my dad is doing.
I bet that's his new daily exercise. Because he was standing in front of the mirror, moving the dumbbells up and down. Then, he started running ALL OVER THE HOUSE. From the study room, to the living room, to his bedroom. He's not even running in circles! Weirdo.

2010-10-09T23:53:00.002+08:00

I am so angry with myself.
I can't believe I actually forgot to post on that forum even though I have written very clearly on my organizer. TO POST ON SSA2202 FORUM.

Why did the lecturer split the postings into 2 different days!
There goes half my tutorial grade. Yes IT IS GRADED. And I didn't speak up during the first tutorial either. I mean, not that I have the courage to speak up during tutorial. But this forum thing was easy peasy! Just answer whatever questions she post and you get the grade. Sheesh. I AM SO ANGRY!

-------

Pokes and feels the sanitary pad samples in NTUC because it was so colourful and attention seeking. Then HE commented "Are these sanitary pads as absorbent as tissue paper? Because if they are and are as cheap, I might just buy these to blow my nose."

All these in the NTUC last night. My cousin said it. He's a guy. And he said about the tissue paper thing because he has sinus. As everything was going on, the guy in the queue was staring. Blame Kotex Luxe series for packaging everything so nicely and attractive. But it was so funny hearing him say that.

2010-10-07T16:24:00.003+08:00

I prefer e-learning week because I can always pause the video and write down notes before playing it again. But my modules are disappointing me.

For my level 3 Geog module, there isn't even an online lecture. We're supposed to watch videos he filmed overseas and WRITE A REPORT touching on concepts, plus what we will put into our videos if we were to make one. Sheesh. Why more work during e-learning!

The lecturer in my level 2 geog module didn't record the lecture the same way other lecturers did.
She actually got technicians to sit in the lecture hall and recorded her. Instead of just seeing the slides go by, with her voice in the background, we SEE her giving a lecture in the empty lecture theatre. And I know this only because my tutorial mate told me. I can't watch the video because I have missing plugins, which I attempted to download many may times. Why is it soooo troublesome?

I'm actually trying to listen to the lecture on effective communication. He spent the first 6mins on stuff that are non-related to the lecture. He started the lecture with this:
Welcome students to the lecture on family, which I will start at some point. But first, let me tell you something about e-learning. You will not be able to see me in person. You'll only be able to hear my voice and my tone and make meaning out of it. It is in real person lecture that you will be able to visualize me, appraise me and be able to know me as a person, thus you will be able to communicate with me in real person. I hope this e-learning will be a new experience for all of you.

I am fallingggggg a s l e e ppppppp.
When is he going to start on the lecture proper?

2010-10-07T15:40:00.001+08:00

These are the little things in life that make me very happy. (:

2010-10-07T14:51:00.002+08:00

My very first time cooking lunch for myself!

Recently, I started to like cooking. I used to search for recipes, then give up when I realised how foreign the ingredients are. Then the very first time I cooked pasta, I got my aunt to go to the NTUC with me. I know how easy pasta is, but I made my own sauce! Had to sautee the mushrooms and onions. Hahahah I sound like a pro. SAUTEE.

Today, I made lunch with what I have at home!
Cheesy eggs, sauteed mushrooms and rice with shark fin soup gravy. YUM.

2010-10-07T01:15:00.003+08:00

Based on your drawing and the 10 answers you gave this, this is a summary of your personality:

You are sensitive and indecisive at times. You are a freedom lover and a strong person. You love your house and family. You are a gifted artist as well. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. Your life is always full of changes. You are a very tidy person. There's nothing wrong with that because you're pretty popular among friends. Your life is always full of changes.

You will avoid being along and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You see the world as it is, not as you believe it should be.

You added a flower into your drawing. The flower signifies that you long for love. It's also safe to say that others don't see you as a flirt. You don't think much about yourself.

Go draw your own HOUSE too!

-------

I don't really think what I'm like unless people tell me, so I can't really tell if it's accurate or not. But I know I'm not tidy. I'd like to be. I hate seeing my tables messy. I need things to be placed where they used to be, or I'll get frustrated. But, I don't make it a habit to put things back to where they belong. But I've been conscious about it. I just packed my table yesterday! I now have my stationery on one side, notebooks stacked up nicely, library books above some notes, piano stuff piled up together, AND FOOD STANDING UP NICELY WAITING FOR MY CONSUMPTION just like in a candy store. Definitely conducive for studying.

But I know for sure I can't stand bad hygiene.
I don't like my food to be tainted with anything gross, especially saliva. I don't like it when people touch my food with their bare hands. Like passing me sweets with their fingers rather than passing me the entire box to me so that I can pick my lucky one. I don't like it when people take some titbits (sweets, potato chips etc) out from its packet and putting it right back. If you take it, you take it. I'm that particular with my food. And I don't like it when my food gets mixed on the plate. Every dish has to be kept separated. Thank you very much.

And I think I think for myself quite abit. I'm not that selfless.
I can be selfish when I want to. Like having all my favourite snacks to myself. Hahaha. I'm most unwilling when people want a share of my favourite snack.

So, go try that drawingahouse thing.
They have super simple steps for you to follow. I was having some fun drawing my house. Not my dream house though.

2010-10-04T22:19:00.002+08:00

You know how much I hate it when others hit me on my head. Yet you did it.
You know how important my friends are to me. Yet you put them down.
You know I've always been honest with you. Yet you accuse that I lie.
You know I have self respect. Yet you called me cheap.
You know how much I want to pull my cap up. Yet you disturb me whenever I'm studying.
You know I'll talk to you nicely if you'd reciprocate. Yet you chose to start by shouting.

I never knew you'd be so malicious with your words.
I've never expected you to be so ugly.
You're making me lose all respect I have of you.
I'll never look at you in the same way again.

This is beyond disappointment.