This is how I learn chinese

他总是不了解　我那些假装的无所谓
关于那么是是非非　爱的疲惫　又有谁能陪
我总不够坚决　才会在爱里面绕圈圈
我学得会　口是心非不要流泪

天上的眼泪　他好像懂我的心碎
懂得轻轻给我一些安慰
我们应该要了解　伤了心有种爱的美
天上的彩虹　总出现在天晴雨过
我已经懂得轻轻的放手
就算我觉得难过　你会在我身边守候
陪我在一起去看彩虹

你总是不自觉　才会在爱里面绕圈圈
让他去飞　留个泪水才能学会

天上的眼泪　他好像懂我的心碎
懂得轻轻给我一些安慰
我们应该要了解　伤了心有种爱的美
天上的彩虹　总出现在天晴雨过
我已经懂得轻轻的放手
就算我觉得难过　你会在我身边守候
陪我在一起去看彩虹

挂干了成长的泪水　搭上了幸福的地铁
远方有个声音　那一定会是你

Some songs just so make you wanna take out that old dictionary and dig...

I wanna be a Singapore 'Idle'

I found myself catching the results show of Spore Idol Finals in spite of my vow of not catching it after the elimination of Gayle. But what to do. Too 'idle' mah. I was supposed to be studying but oh what the heck.

There was a segement of individual performances from the bottom 10. And Gayle Nerva still rock totally. Although it was blatantly obvious that the songs were pre-recorded, it makes it clearer why some of them really should not be idols. Look at Joakim, despite a studio recording where numerous editing and playback are allowed, he still sucks.

I must say that Gayle's rendition of Rhinna's Unfaithful was totally smashing! Unbelievable. She hit the high notes perfectly and her voice is still rock solid. Pity that Sporeans didn't give her a chance cos ppl like me just watch and don't vote. And for what? 60 cents a vote leh! Precious little going down someone's pockets just to put prevent someone from elimination. Sheesh. I can go toilet 6 times with that!

My mom is also a Spore idle. Too much idling time. She caught almost every show of the season and fervently supports 'heartthrob' Jonathan. She has 'idle' funds too, along with an idle hand, she spends money by smsing. She wasted 3 bucks voting for John just to see him get eliminated. Haiz. What for? Should give me for lunch money for skool mah. Anyway I'm proud to say that I've not collected pocket money from my parents since jc. Hence I refuse to spend money like that.

But money is not an issue now. Is there really a future for our idols? Or will they just be a 'Spore idle' like you and me next time? It would be impossible for them to enjoy success like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken with records sold worldwide but hopefully there would be some regional exposure.

I was telling the princess just now.

Guess what Taufik would say to Hady at the end of the tonight?

"See you at 7-11 ah bang!"

Lesson of the day

The man is the head of the household. He will always be.

But the woman is the neck.

She dictates which direction to turn and when to say yes and no.

Submit to biology and don't leant this lesson the hard way guys.

The day after...

NAPFA

I never realised there were so many slopes and steps to overcome until today!! Quads were aching like mad, and my lower back was superly painful too (this I dunno why).

My results: Amazingly, for the 5 stations I actually did better than when I was in JC. BUT, I failed my 2.4km walk/run. By onli like 11secs. My goodness. Lousy will of mine, walked for most of it. Haha. But nvm, never thought I'll pass anyway.

Had a great dinner with Shaun at the newly opened Thai-Malay restaurant near our house. We ordered pizza murtabak, and nasi briyani. And the portions were huge!! But we managed to gobble down everything because it's so GOOOOD!! Washed down with fresh coconut drink, and teh-o peng, it was a great deviation from normal food. Too bad greedy Shaun attacked the food before I had any chance to take picture of the food.

The pizza murtabak consists of minced mutton, capsicum (YUM!), carrots (dun ask me why), mushroom, and MOZZERELLA CHEESE!! Whee!!!! First time we ever had something like this. For the briyani, it came with a HALF chicken, vege, and papadam. Wowwee!! The best thing: the bill come up to onli $12!!

Next time I'm gonna try the TOM YAM, and Shaun has his sights on the MILO PRATA (heart-stopper)!! And together, we shall hope to polish off the FRIED ICE-CREAM, or ICE-CREAM PRATA. You wouldn't believe the selection over there.

Pictures up the next time I visit there. Unless Shaun's fork (or spoon) is faster than my camera.

I feel: FULL

They're not kidding when they say time flies...

Look what came in the mail today! (My bed is my table, my study corner, my library, my closet, my internet cafe and also my letter box)



Didn't I just settled you last month at the AXS??? You're back to haunt me again! Is that what you meant by 'suprise' written on the envelope??? So fast??? Arrgh!!!

*Tears open letter*

Wait. That was August, wow its September already. Seem like just yesterday that I dealt with you.

*grumbles grumbles*

Sigh bills again. There's nothing more certain in life than your monthly bills...

Randomness

Tmr going to have NAPFA. See what the school is doing to 老骨头 like us. Haben run or exercise or anything for like AGES. Wee~~ Hope no one faints tmr. Haha. Let's see how all of us will perform tmr.


Put the pic of this cute cousin of mine.
Messy hair!!


And cute kitty pic in my laptop.

Oh. Just wanna inform everyone that my laptop's name is Hallie!!
=))

*Chants* Mooncake mooncake mooncake...

In light of the Mid-Autumn/Mooncake/Lantern Festival, I would like to be the filial and doting son that I always was and still am. So here I am, helping mom advertise her mooncakes. They are definitely much cheaper than those sold outside but just as good. I can vouch for that.

Sound's farmiliar? Because it is. It is the exact replica of last year's entry as I have a bloody group report due tomorrow and I'm too lazy to re-photograph all over again. Hahaha.
Now once again, let me now introduce to you these mouth watering delicacies...



Firstly, we have the Cheesy Mooncakes!
They are my favourite.
Can never get enough of the cheesepowder and baked mozerella on the top of it.
Totally yummy.


The Traditional Baked one which I dislike the most.
But still a must-have for many. Oh well, to each his own.


The All-Time-Favourite Snowskinned Mooncake!!!
Many would rather eat the skin than the filling. So would I.
Absolutely delicious.


MOONCAKES GALORE!!!!!

Yup. These are just some of the many variations that my mom makes. They are as I have mentioned much cheaper than those sold outside.

Cheesy Mooncakes goes at 18bucks per box of 8.
Traditional Baked ones and Snowskinned Mooncakes go at 18 bucks for 4 big ones or 8 small ones.
The big ones with egg yolk sells for 20bucks.

You can also choose the additional fillings you want in the paste. Be it single or double yolk, with gua zi (melon seeds) or without anything at all, these mooncakes are sure to satisfy your tastebuds.

Besides, you can also choose the paste you would like to have. You can choose between greentea and of course the most common lotus seed.

Those who want any will be able to contact me.

There, I've done my part (again).

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival Everyone!!!!!

The calm after the storm...

Nah not before but after.

But after yesterday's failure of the driving test I did felt like trash the whole day. However Charleston was right. I did felt better after a night's sleep. And I woke up feeling like a new man. I shall put the past behind and look forward. No point crying over determined driving assessors. I will not be blogging about my test anymore or so I hope.

Anyway got a lil' blog worthy stuffs worth mentioning. I believe I must probably be the last person to read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven. But that is one heck of a powerful novel. I guess I'm probably the only guy to tear, I must bashfully say, rather furiously while reading the final chapters of this book. So embarassing. Fortunately I was sitting in an obscure part of the train and the peak period crowd didn't take any notice of me. But I must say the ability of a writer to translate feelings and emotions from letter heads on pages, so strongly, and pass it on to the reader is a powerful gift. I always believe that a pen is mightier than a sword. Mithc Albom has certainly demonstrated the ability to move so many hearts. If I'm not the last person to read this book than you gotta go and get it cos probably you're the last person who have not been moved. It'll do no justice to the book if I tried to describe it here so there. You gotta read it. It's magical.

Went for a jog this evening and it totally refreshed me. I managed to run my greatest distance since AHM 2 years ago. Wahahaha. Ran till I almost hit fort road at the western end of east coast and back. No sign of the haze as mentioned by Cheers. That's one of the perks for living near the sea I guess. An hour twenty plus of solid jogging left me feeling energized to criticise the last few of S'pore idols when I got back.

No doubt Hady was good. Jonathan's so so and Jasmine is still there because of her improvement but wth??? Look, Taufik (previous idol winner) was good too but what's the point??? Win S'pore idol, and YOU might just be the next poster boy for 7-11!!! Or stand a chance to appear on slimming advertisements!!! Where are our idols today??? But never mind. I was really convinced that our idols are doomed when I saw Staccie Orrico performed live some hours back. They are WORLDS apart from her. Anyway the only idol I ever supported this season was Gayle Nerva. Missed her trademark sideward nose snort. She was good but was not given a chance to really show. Definitely can be better than poser Rahimah anyway. Still one question looms. Where does all the millions of 60 cents collected from all the crazy mei meis go to? Its a lamentable fact that a S'pore idol's popularity is skewed towards the one with the richest fans. Haiz. LAME.

It's a full skooling day tomorrow thankfully. Something to do. The poor princess is buried to the neck with work again. Sigh. Will it ever end? Wished I could have donated the hours I have to her. Seriously. There is never enough time for those poor OT students. I've always told Cheers that the reason I have so much free time is because I paid more for my education so I work less.
IF, Skool Fees+Effort=Degree,

therefore ceteris paribus,

An increased in skool fees = A reduction in effort.

My theory holds true.

But no one believes me. Sheesh.

All the best to those working hard. Ignore the nosh I written above it's just for fun. I gotta study hard too. Exams in a month.

On a brighter note, Mooncake Festival is coming!!!!

Some Mooncake advertisements' coming soon.

My mom should be paying me for this. Hrummph.

You pissed me off yet again

*bitch mode on*

You keep saying we need to reflect on our behavior, but have you ever thought about your own? Maybe you were the one who made us behave in that way. I think you should think about the way you behave too.

*bitch mode off*

I've got so much work to do I dunno how to do them, when to start and all. Exams starting in ermm less than 3 weeks time, and there's papers on everyday of the week!!! And immediately after that I'll be going for my 8 weeks attahment. Is that gross or what...??!?!?!

I've been reaching home at 9 plus everyday for the past I dunno how long, staring at my comp for so long. I hope I dun kill this poor laptop of mine by lugging it to school everyday. I just wat my sleep please.

My grandma's brother (i.e. my granduncle) just passed aways recently and I don't even have the chance to go down to his wake. I feel so bad. =((

Brother is holidaying at Bali now, and I really hope he is having fun there. I want, no, need a holiday!!!!

HAIZ

I failed my driving test...

Haiz...

The whole family can drive except me...

I'm depressed...

The secrets to writing a good proposal

1. Must have a pyramidal effect, like a striptease. Show them abit, then abit more, and slowly reveal to them everything.

2. Must have accordian effect. General view, then Singapore context, then general view again, then Singapore context. Repeat as necessary.

3. End the proposal with a aspiring conclusion. Aim as high as possible, eg, We aim to present our research findings in the SM*OTC, or even the AP*OTC.

- as per CSM -

Teacher's Day celebration

We had a mini Teachers' Day celebrations for our lecturers on 4th Sep, Monday.


A heart-shaped cake from our class~

Meeting time was supposed to be at 12noon. but most of the lecturers were not free to come for the session. After waiting for awhile, HL came....


Lovely!


Class shot with HL

Then HB came with the 5 jap students..


The Jap students~
Honda, Sayana, Asaka, Aeowi, Cheesecake!!


A group shot of all of us!

*Grinz

Pictures from EL's birthday

Picture taken from El*ain's birthday party at Aloha Loyang. Theme was Clash. Hence, the weird dressing from all of us. =)

Check out the clashing dressing!!

Purple and yellow crocs!

eh....

We wanted to sing "ni zui zhen gui" to EL

Funny faces

The Princessy cake!!!

All the Otties!!

Ocean 72

And since we don't wanna miss out too.. we have our own name too. The MRTs (pronounds as merts)

A great weekend of fun, and laughter. Coming up (I hope), Sil's birthday party's pictures! Her theme was "Send in the cows!" And as usual, we had her go through the rite of passage. She had to go through some tests from us.

First test, we covered up four flavours of milk (strawberry, chocolate, coffee and white) and we made her choose 2 of it. On her first choice, she got chocolate and the pure milk one. And so, we made her choose again, and this time, we made her choose the coffee and strawberry one. And we mix them together for her to drink!! Haha.. Think it was rather gross. Such a big glass of milk.

Then the 2nd test was Taboo. She had to guess 8 chinese phrases with hints from zz and funk-p'. And all the words had the word "niu" on it. Real Fun.

3rd test was to feel our hands while being blindfolded, and guessing whose hand is it. Amazingly she only got 2 out of around 9 wrong. Haha.

The last test, she had to go around "moo-ing" while looking for a cow, which is our birthday card for her, complete with udders and a pull cart!!

Food was great, and we had Sil's 1 year old nephew to play with. Haha. Think he was quite over stimulated by all of us. =)) Oh... forgot to mention: the whole family decked out in the same t-shirt, with "I love cows" on them! So sweet.

My best friends

Trying on sunnies, dresses, having great company!!

I think I'm addicted to making collages. I've got so much work to do and I did this!! Haha~~
This is a collage made of our last meeting in April when Flo came back for a short while. I miss both of you!!

For all my mugging and project piahing frenz...

The route is shorter than it seems, you just have to find the shortest way around it.

If it fails, bargain with that bespectacled old fogey!!!

Cheers =)

I feel old.

I had this small discussion in school the other day with... ermm... I forgot who. But it really made an impression with me when i went over to my grandma's place to have dinner today. I met my youngest cousin (she's about 1.5yrs old), and boy, has she grown. She had so much vocabulary now, it's amazing.

Previously, it was other people who tell me "woah, you've grown so much". Now, I say the same thing to my cousin. Does it mean we are getting old already?? Oh my, I've only just had my 21st birthday, and I feel old liao.

I feel breathless when I climb liao 3 storeys, walk faster to school, even running up the escalator to chase after the train! My memory is turning bad, always forgetting where I place my phone, keys, forgotting to take things, which made me wheeze all around the house to get things, causing me to be abit late all the time.

Think I've hit quarter life crisis.

The cough syrup that the doctor gave me made me so drowsy I nearly fell onto the floor when i got up from my chair. Altough today was supposed to be my rest day, I had so much work to do that I could not rest properly without the nagging thoughts of the piling workload.

Joke of the day 2

This happened when JK offered to help us uy some drinks from the canteen, yesterday

MX: "Help me get one MENTOS ok"

JK: "OK"

Afterwards, JK came up with a packet with our drinks and a PANADOL!!!!

On another note, I've finally went to see the doctor, ad he said I've got upper respiratory tract infection. This is the first time that the doctor told me the diagnosis. Cool. Or was that supposed to be the norm? Not sure too.

I've got MC for tmr, so I can finally have some rest at home.

Toodloos~~ I'm off to BED!!

Extracts from the mobile fone...

Kiam : "Hey what are you doing now?"

Me: "Oh I'm studying in skool with friends, got pretty girls studying with me leh."

Kiam: "Aiyah so what? I'm studying with a sleek and smooth girl with brains faster that a pentium 4. Somemore she got what most girls don't have."

Me: "And what can that be?"

Kiam: "INTEL(ligence) inside..."

You're the man ol buddy Kiam. Wish I can chiong suah beside you again.

Take care!

I am a P.R.I.N.C.E.S.S

Call me Princess high-and-mighty-big-shot-told-you-so-boss-of-the-world!

Goodbye Steve Irwin

I'll always remember you as the one dresses in dowdy khaki shorts and shirt, going into crocodile pens, and not fearing them at all.

Hope you are having fun with the animals wherever you are right now.

I'll miss you....

I thank God...

Whenever I have a bit of time just to look out of the window from my balcony, I would stare out far and ponder. I love to let my eyes stretch across the horizon and my mind to go beyond it. It is a good break from the hours of back breaking studying, or rather the attempt from it. Well this time as I looked out of the window, I can't help but feel thankful for all the things that has happen in my life.

I thank God firstly for the provision of this laptop for without it, this post would not have been possible. Close friends would know that I am an appliance jinx. Anything electronic that I own would somehow malfunction sooner or later. Who remembers my 8310? Or better still my desktop? For older stuffs you can take a look at my discman and pager. Ironically the things that truly lasts in my hands are my hand me downs. Anyone wanna bet how long this laptop would last?

But that's another story for another day.

Today my mind brings me to a trip down memory lane...

God has given me a wonderful family, a loving partner, friends of immeasurable loyalty from all over and a life comfortable enough. Really I can never thank all of you guys enough for all that you all have given me. I am not rich beyond count nor do I possess intelligence beyond comprehension. But I am thankful that I have had so far had what I would call an easy life. I am here today in life not due to much hard work but through God's grace. For the past few years of my life, I was merely wheezing through it. From secondary school or rather from the time I could be held responsible for my own actions, all I did was to take each day as it comes. Tests exams whatever, to pluto with them. Life was meant to be enjoyed as I've always believed. I somehow passed my Os and even unbelievably even my As. Obviously, I did'nt get good results, because I simply do not deserve them.

But God was gracious enough to allow me to scrape a pass and threw me into a position in army which I had truly enjoyed. Ironically I back slided a while. Well I would not exactly say I have left my relationship with God, let's just say I just went further away from Him. The 2 years I've had in army really puts a lot of things into perspective. I have seen a recruit younger than me asking my fellow colleague to help him get a day off as his child was sick. Some asking for an advancement of pay just to clear debts. Some totally unable to stand the regimentaion of army life. Some unfortunately so poor in health that event the simplest of task is a chore. Many more with broken families and lives in disarray. It's scary but true. But through this dark couple of years God has neither left me nor forsaken me. So many times I was blessed by His protection over me. In SISPEC, in Taiwan, and back in BMTC, He has shielded me from injuries (fatal ones even), extras, backstabbings and even nasty or unreasonable superiors. He gave me energy to train and wisdom to lead and impart. God is good.

The 2 years flew by and I'm back in school again. School fees are costly and once again He has provided for me. I'm happy to say that I have returned back to church. All thanks to some concerned church friends who drew me back. It's time to wake up from the long slumber of mine. While it is true that God is gracious and kind, it is also true that God helps people who help themselves. While He is ultimately in control of your life, I believe it is us who decide how it turns out. Maybe that is why I studied more than I ever did for the Statistic paper tomorrow. Of course it amounts to nothing compared to the amount of time spent studying from some others I know (hint hint). Nevertheless it is a start. It is time to start honoring Him through the actions of my life.

I've had a full life and I plan to keep it that way. Its so sad that Steve Irwin just passed away hours ago. He was my favourite presenter on TV. Animal planet would never be the same again. Life is so fragile. That shook me up and freaked me out. No one knows what's in store for them. I may never reach 40 even, no one knows. Therefore to all readers, live your life to the fullest. Spend your time meaningfully and with purpose. In all things that you do, be a blessing unto others.

Don't know why I suddenly think so much today but oh well. That balcony window is enchanted I'm telling you. Haha. Just some random stuffs out of my mind again.

Back to studying and I leave this couple of sentences to all christians which I hope to live by...

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you...

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path...

Happy!!

Whee!! I've gotten my laptop, at a steal somemore!! Thanx dear for helping get it. So now I'm on my bed typing this entry. =)

Shaun had to fight tooth, nail and nose hair to get through the crowd and and help mi get the laptop and also a thumbdrive. =))

Have not installed Microsoft Words in yet, so everything had to be done in wordpad. Haha~ Feel so old school.

Saturday night was spent at Aloha Loyang where the ZQ stayed overnight to celebrate Elain's birthday. She had a princess birthday cake!! Complet with tiara and a wand. So sweet!! We had a treasure hunt for her, and I'm sure she enjoyed herself. We suddenly bursted out in to "Happy Birthday" song for her at the stroke of 12. Hope you like it! Her moms reaction was so funny - " just now sing already not enough ah". Haha.

We played Bridge, Mahjong, and watched Tokyo Drift. But all of us went to sleep at around 2am. This is the sad life of an OT student. Too little time to rest, so when there's is chance to rest, we rest.

Hope to get the pics from them soon so that I can post some of them up, especially the one of mi with the tiara and wand. Makes mi feel like a princess!

More pics!!

Pics taken on 28th Aug, At MOS for Rui's b'day celebration. It's my first time there, and I've not been clubbing since like ermm.. 2years ago? Came back with a sore throat which led to what I am now.


Bored, so we started photo-whoring.


And some more!


Whee~~


Almost the whole of the Otties gang. And I got a good hair erm.. night!


The other side~


Seeking some respite in the ladies.. haha


More pics taken in the toilet. I wonder where was I....

After that, Sil, Min, EL, Irene, and Funk-p' came my house to stay thru the night. After cleaning up, we decided to play some mahjong. Played around 5 times then all of us were too drowsy to continue, so we hit the sack at around 6, till 7 plus, where we went for prata at my favourite mama shop. =))

I like the blog so much now, coz there's so many pics!! =)) I love pictures. They make the blog colourful!!