Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Dambusters!
The weekend went quite swimmingly considering my computer status is "Kaputz" due to a water-logged power adapter.
IBM called me today and told me that I wasn't eligible for the GovOnline 5% discount because it only applies if the order is placed by the university itself, so I'm being charged the full $79 for the adapter. Ouch....at least the stock has arrived earlier than expected, and I should have it by the end of the week.
Dosn't solve the fact that I have 2 assignments ongoing, one of which is in C, and I'm looking a the given code now and have no idea what the blodee asterixes mean...* my mid-finger you archiac middle-level language!
I swam on Saturday and afterwhich decided to head to town for a QYO concert, which I
m beginning to think is so characteristic of my life, didn't happen. It was scheduled for MAy and not MArch. I think my brother's dylexia is rubbing off on me...
The woman at the box office recommended the play "The Underpants" by Steve Martin to me though, student prices were however, a pricey mid-hundred $49. I told myself since I was seriously considering the play, why not splurge abit more and go for the Micheal Buble concertinstead, but alas, having the day I was having, I was told his concert was COMPLETELY sold out. She was helpful enough to tell me the QSO (Queensland Symphonic Orchestra) was perfoming the next day, and that student tickets were only $27. But, the Singporean in me remembered that there was such a thing as a "Student Rush" ticket, and I asked...well actually I asked whether it's cheaper if I come just before the concert, and she told me just 1hr before the concert, tickets for students would only be $11.
Decided, what the heck, live a little, spring $11 on top of the $1.10 train ride for some arts culture experience.
So I left the place, embarassed, but with a new agenda!
The next day, I re-used yesterday's train ticket (why not?) for the trip down to Southbank's QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre), across the Brisbane River from the city. Upong reaching the box office at 10:44am, I was told that the orchestra had decided NOT to release any "Student Rush" tickets for the performance. Hmm...I wonder if anyone's actually jumped into the Brisbane River after getting so dejected and depressed the whole week.... I'd actually love to think I'm a unique person actually, that individuality exists in me, having said that, why kill myself and deprive everybody else from my torments eh....
So yeah, EFTPOS away $27 of my cash for the QSO performance.
Had almost an hour to kill, so decided to walk down the swanky SouthBank promenade. Found a website which contain somebody's collection of southbank photos while looking for links.
They had a bazaar going, nice little trinkets for sale, cost a bomb though, luckily didn't feel the need to own any aboriginal art and/or instrument (yet!). Didn't see a boomerang though, want one. *with Aussie accent* It's Australian aint it?
Finally came across the obscure (well it is to me, coz I never knew where it was) Streets Beach at the Southbank Parklands. It's Brisbane's man-made lagoon in the middle of the city! Looked inviting, coz at the time I was sweating (was wearing black see), and it was not as crowded as I expected it to be. Well...hmm...maybe because marketing shots of the place always placed it bristling with life and people.
Walked all the way to the end, and U-turned down Little Stanley Street. That's where I saw mylk. Oh, it's that restaurant from the Australian reality series My Restaurant Rules. How quaint. I've found it. It was literally under wraps though, couldn't see what was going on inside, but there were waiters busily walking in and out. Hmmm..wonder if I'll appear on TV yet again?
Sigh...talking about food, I so miss gourmet food. Well...not only gourmet gourmet food, but hawker centre gourmet Char Kway Teow, Chai Tao Kway, Kway Chup, Chee Cheong Fun, Hokkien Mee, Hor Fun, Fried Rice with sunny-side up egg, ala-carte Ha-Cheong-Kai & stuff, Claypot Chicken Rice, Wanton Mee, Roti Prata....ARGH....could go on forever....but I don't want to impress yer guys too much with my mighty hanyu-pinyin powess (gotta thank my ACPS Chinese teacher for that, she was such THE terror).
My cooking of course isn't helping. My attempt at fried rice using aussie long rice grains failed completely, coz the rice came out of the rice cooker extremely hard and dry, and even turned brittle after an overnight stay in my bar fridge. Managed to flip rice all over my cooking hob and onto the floor, but at least that prompted me to mop the whole kitchen, toilet and balcony though (yay!). Errm...wait I digress...
So walked on down, back to QPAC, went into the concert hall and realised that I was surrounded by old farts. I was seated right at the 2nd last rows and lined up in front of me were rows and rows of grey and white haired folks. I never felt so old in my life....it's like some horrific geriatric nightmare come to life, where farty smelly old people congregate in front of you to commit mass euthanasia on a world-record breaking scale to the tunes of world war music. This is not the kind of visual art that I had steeled my heart for.
Thankfully, nobody had to etch "Died in a tragoc methene explosion" on my tombstone, they didn't fart as much nor did I step into any pools of drool. They did waddle rather comicly around the hall though.
Even without an interval scheduled for the 1 and a half hour concert, only one old prune and a young couldn't-sit-still-throughout-the-concert girl had to go pee pee.
Anyway, about the concert. It's the first of Queensland Symphonic Orchestra's "Music on Sundays" series of performances. They had very very nice music, and quite a good vocalist. If my computer weren't quite so dead, I'd be downloading all the music they played. Ahhh.....film music so enjoyable live. Didn't like Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 though....think he's an...acquired taste?
Ok, I know I promised an exclusive on what happened during the camp, but ever since my comp went down, school is the only link I have with the online world now, and I keep leaving my darn "Camp diary" at home.
Over the air: Chopin - "Heroric"
The weekend went quite swimmingly considering my computer status is "Kaputz" due to a water-logged power adapter.
IBM called me today and told me that I wasn't eligible for the GovOnline 5% discount because it only applies if the order is placed by the university itself, so I'm being charged the full $79 for the adapter. Ouch....at least the stock has arrived earlier than expected, and I should have it by the end of the week.
Dosn't solve the fact that I have 2 assignments ongoing, one of which is in C, and I'm looking a the given code now and have no idea what the blodee asterixes mean...* my mid-finger you archiac middle-level language!
I swam on Saturday and afterwhich decided to head to town for a QYO concert, which I
m beginning to think is so characteristic of my life, didn't happen. It was scheduled for MAy and not MArch. I think my brother's dylexia is rubbing off on me...
The woman at the box office recommended the play "The Underpants" by Steve Martin to me though, student prices were however, a pricey mid-hundred $49. I told myself since I was seriously considering the play, why not splurge abit more and go for the Micheal Buble concertinstead, but alas, having the day I was having, I was told his concert was COMPLETELY sold out. She was helpful enough to tell me the QSO (Queensland Symphonic Orchestra) was perfoming the next day, and that student tickets were only $27. But, the Singporean in me remembered that there was such a thing as a "Student Rush" ticket, and I asked...well actually I asked whether it's cheaper if I come just before the concert, and she told me just 1hr before the concert, tickets for students would only be $11.
Decided, what the heck, live a little, spring $11 on top of the $1.10 train ride for some arts culture experience.
So I left the place, embarassed, but with a new agenda!
The next day, I re-used yesterday's train ticket (why not?) for the trip down to Southbank's QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre), across the Brisbane River from the city. Upong reaching the box office at 10:44am, I was told that the orchestra had decided NOT to release any "Student Rush" tickets for the performance. Hmm...I wonder if anyone's actually jumped into the Brisbane River after getting so dejected and depressed the whole week.... I'd actually love to think I'm a unique person actually, that individuality exists in me, having said that, why kill myself and deprive everybody else from my torments eh....
So yeah, EFTPOS away $27 of my cash for the QSO performance.
Had almost an hour to kill, so decided to walk down the swanky SouthBank promenade. Found a website which contain somebody's collection of southbank photos while looking for links.
They had a bazaar going, nice little trinkets for sale, cost a bomb though, luckily didn't feel the need to own any aboriginal art and/or instrument (yet!). Didn't see a boomerang though, want one. *with Aussie accent* It's Australian aint it?
Finally came across the obscure (well it is to me, coz I never knew where it was) Streets Beach at the Southbank Parklands. It's Brisbane's man-made lagoon in the middle of the city! Looked inviting, coz at the time I was sweating (was wearing black see), and it was not as crowded as I expected it to be. Well...hmm...maybe because marketing shots of the place always placed it bristling with life and people.
Walked all the way to the end, and U-turned down Little Stanley Street. That's where I saw mylk. Oh, it's that restaurant from the Australian reality series My Restaurant Rules. How quaint. I've found it. It was literally under wraps though, couldn't see what was going on inside, but there were waiters busily walking in and out. Hmmm..wonder if I'll appear on TV yet again?
Sigh...talking about food, I so miss gourmet food. Well...not only gourmet gourmet food, but hawker centre gourmet Char Kway Teow, Chai Tao Kway, Kway Chup, Chee Cheong Fun, Hokkien Mee, Hor Fun, Fried Rice with sunny-side up egg, ala-carte Ha-Cheong-Kai & stuff, Claypot Chicken Rice, Wanton Mee, Roti Prata....ARGH....could go on forever....but I don't want to impress yer guys too much with my mighty hanyu-pinyin powess (gotta thank my ACPS Chinese teacher for that, she was such THE terror).
My cooking of course isn't helping. My attempt at fried rice using aussie long rice grains failed completely, coz the rice came out of the rice cooker extremely hard and dry, and even turned brittle after an overnight stay in my bar fridge. Managed to flip rice all over my cooking hob and onto the floor, but at least that prompted me to mop the whole kitchen, toilet and balcony though (yay!). Errm...wait I digress...
So walked on down, back to QPAC, went into the concert hall and realised that I was surrounded by old farts. I was seated right at the 2nd last rows and lined up in front of me were rows and rows of grey and white haired folks. I never felt so old in my life....it's like some horrific geriatric nightmare come to life, where farty smelly old people congregate in front of you to commit mass euthanasia on a world-record breaking scale to the tunes of world war music. This is not the kind of visual art that I had steeled my heart for.
Thankfully, nobody had to etch "Died in a tragoc methene explosion" on my tombstone, they didn't fart as much nor did I step into any pools of drool. They did waddle rather comicly around the hall though.
Even without an interval scheduled for the 1 and a half hour concert, only one old prune and a young couldn't-sit-still-throughout-the-concert girl had to go pee pee.
Anyway, about the concert. It's the first of Queensland Symphonic Orchestra's "Music on Sundays" series of performances. They had very very nice music, and quite a good vocalist. If my computer weren't quite so dead, I'd be downloading all the music they played. Ahhh.....film music so enjoyable live. Didn't like Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 though....think he's an...acquired taste?
Ok, I know I promised an exclusive on what happened during the camp, but ever since my comp went down, school is the only link I have with the online world now, and I keep leaving my darn "Camp diary" at home.
Over the air: Chopin - "Heroric"
Friday, March 26, 2004
Band of the Year
Band was, eh more relaxed for me yesterday.
More challenging than the first one I went to (which I should be quitting) though still not comparative to when ACSWO was at its peak...
While I was looking around for the links, I found our favourite Symphony No.1 aka LOTR has now been simplified into an easier excerpts version. How quaint... And the other day, Darren was commenting on how the version played by LSO wasn't to his liking. Hmm...havn't heard that one yet though. Aaron tells me UNSW's orchestra is playing the version from the movie (sorry Aaron, I guessed which version you guys were playing, hope it's the right one!). Ahhh...post-LOTR fever!
Geeeez....the fire alarm's just gone off. "The fire alarm has been activated, please stand-by for furthur instructions"
Argh...gotta evacuate! Can this DELL 19" LCD monitor fit into my bag?
Stupidiest of reasons....the IT society's BBQ outside set off the smoke alarm.
Remarkable response really, security arrived in less than 2 mins, in less than 5 minutes the fire brigade arrived with much "fanfare". Too bad they didn't put out the stinky BBQ.....
We were Best JC Band of the year 1997 *Shakes fists*
Band was, eh more relaxed for me yesterday.
More challenging than the first one I went to (which I should be quitting) though still not comparative to when ACSWO was at its peak...
While I was looking around for the links, I found our favourite Symphony No.1 aka LOTR has now been simplified into an easier excerpts version. How quaint... And the other day, Darren was commenting on how the version played by LSO wasn't to his liking. Hmm...havn't heard that one yet though. Aaron tells me UNSW's orchestra is playing the version from the movie (sorry Aaron, I guessed which version you guys were playing, hope it's the right one!). Ahhh...post-LOTR fever!
Geeeez....the fire alarm's just gone off. "The fire alarm has been activated, please stand-by for furthur instructions"
Argh...gotta evacuate! Can this DELL 19" LCD monitor fit into my bag?
Stupidiest of reasons....the IT society's BBQ outside set off the smoke alarm.
Remarkable response really, security arrived in less than 2 mins, in less than 5 minutes the fire brigade arrived with much "fanfare". Too bad they didn't put out the stinky BBQ.....
We were Best JC Band of the year 1997 *Shakes fists*
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
The Silver Lining
Well my laptop lives !! It lives!! Who said IBMs weren't waterproofed you poof!
The adapter didn't survive though, and being the gullible me that gives fully trusts his life with technology, I'm giving the adapter one last chance and see if it works after it's had it's dose of UV, infrared and whatever spectrum of light falls on it out there on my balcony. Well...at least I'll try again if nobody's nicked it.
Meanwhile, I can't do any work at home... so here I am in the freezing lab doing work.
I wonder why I seem to be the only one freezing here, the rest are all in short sleeved tees, and here I am bundled up in a sweater zipped right up to the neck. I need to put on weight me thinks.
A new adapter costs $79...which is surprisingly $21 cheaper than what IBM Singapore wants to charge me. Gotta give them a call later to find out the delivery charges.
Sigh....the price you pay for foolery
Over the air: Chinks making a whole lotta noise in the lab...it's driving me up the wall!
Well my laptop lives !! It lives!! Who said IBMs weren't waterproofed you poof!
The adapter didn't survive though, and being the gullible me that gives fully trusts his life with technology, I'm giving the adapter one last chance and see if it works after it's had it's dose of UV, infrared and whatever spectrum of light falls on it out there on my balcony. Well...at least I'll try again if nobody's nicked it.
Meanwhile, I can't do any work at home... so here I am in the freezing lab doing work.
I wonder why I seem to be the only one freezing here, the rest are all in short sleeved tees, and here I am bundled up in a sweater zipped right up to the neck. I need to put on weight me thinks.
A new adapter costs $79...which is surprisingly $21 cheaper than what IBM Singapore wants to charge me. Gotta give them a call later to find out the delivery charges.
Sigh....the price you pay for foolery
Over the air: Chinks making a whole lotta noise in the lab...it's driving me up the wall!
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
It lives !!!
Had a tremendously bad day today at school...and I think thats an understatement!
During my morning 9am lecture, I was taking a sip from my Kathmandu Bottle, when I noticed that the lecturer was staring at me drinking....hmm.. "Move away from the bottle Ben", I thought, so making as little noise as possible, I gently re-capped my bottle and put it back into my bag.
After the lecture, as I was walking to the canteen, I felt my leg getting wet. It took me almost a whole 1 min before I realised that my leg WAS slowly getting wet! I reached into my bag and it was wet! ARGH !!!!!!!
The first thing I did was to immediately take my laptop out. Argh...the half of the laptop bag was drenched. I headed for the toilet.... Took my laptop out of the laptop bag, and the bottom half of it was quite wet....disconnected the battery straight away.
The exposed battery connections weren't wet, so I assumed that there wasn't a short ciruit.
Started ripping loads of toilet paper and padding my laptop dry.
Just when I thought that was the end of that experience, I reached into my bag to check the other items only to find that the bag itself had become a mini swimming pool...it was flooded!!!!
The adapter was wet, my transparent plastic folder was wet, and all my notes in there too and my pencil box was soaked. Thank god it's actually waterproof inside, coz in pockets of my bag was my palm....
Took out everything from my bag, turned it upside down to drain it of all the water, padded everything else.
Couldn't get my pencil box dry, didn't want to look into my folder and water had gotten into the adapter, although the fuly enclosed thing doesn't have any screws....
By then, I was feeling really really pissed, worried and depressed already.
Decided to just head home, and maybe come back later for my 2pm tute.
Thumbs up for the person whom said "It never rains, it pours", because at the bus-stop, it started to rain.
I was clutching my notebook in my hand, coz the inside of my bag wasn't fully dry yet, and so I thought best to just carry in my hand, and it was air-dry itself if the insides were wet. But nooooo...it had to start raining.
God must have decided I've had enuff, by the time the bus came, the rain miraculously stopped. The bus wasn't the usual bus though, it was a coach bus. The kind that you take on trips to Malaysia, with plush seats come with seat belts, airplane-like light and air consoles above you, and a toilet. The driver explained that this was a stop-gap measure, till the new air-conditioned Mercedes buses arrived in eight weeks, and also that election was coming...hint hint eh.
Getting down was quite a bitch though, having no bell, and only one entrance. You had to make your way down the narrow aisle to the driver while yelling at him to stop.
Got back home, attached the battery back, and turned it on. Lights, sound and action. My heart heaved in relief when everything started up fine....and then my heart stopped, coz a crackling noise started and the screen kept flickering. Reach for the power and turned it off. Great...LCD screen, one of the most expensive component of the laptop, I'm soooo screwed.
Called IBM, and stupidly told them some water had gotten into the back of the computer. "I'm sorry but water damage is not covered under warranty. Courier charges are $135 and they'll send you a quotation". Hip-hip hooray, an C programming assignment that I haven't started on, the interface of my portion of the FYP hasn't even materialised. "I'd advise that you wait at least 30 more minutes for the water to dry, and try again." Sensible women....
So, in an attempt at bringing spirits up, I went to the nearby Chinese restaurant and had lunch. $5 for 3 dishes economical rice style was back! Lunch was good, with fish curry (and that included lady's finger!), pork and long beans and Omellete with garlic chives. Ahhh....filling and nice for once.
Returned home, tried again. *Crackle crackle*. Please let there not be any permanent damage. Decided to give my baby more time, and so continued reading "Practical C Programming" to past time. Mooooo....the cow said, and I fell asleep.
I guess you're reading my blog now, and it's good news. Third time lucky, I turned it on and it worked! No cracking, LCD looks fine....except the bottom of the screen where the water must have creeped in doesn't look as bright as the rest of the screen anymore.. but that might just be me.
My laptop works, and so far, the USB ports work, the speakers work, the LAN works. I pray everything works....
Sigh....it is indeed a good day to die.
Over the air: SW:ATOC - Return to Tatooine
Had a tremendously bad day today at school...and I think thats an understatement!
During my morning 9am lecture, I was taking a sip from my Kathmandu Bottle, when I noticed that the lecturer was staring at me drinking....hmm.. "Move away from the bottle Ben", I thought, so making as little noise as possible, I gently re-capped my bottle and put it back into my bag.
After the lecture, as I was walking to the canteen, I felt my leg getting wet. It took me almost a whole 1 min before I realised that my leg WAS slowly getting wet! I reached into my bag and it was wet! ARGH !!!!!!!
The first thing I did was to immediately take my laptop out. Argh...the half of the laptop bag was drenched. I headed for the toilet.... Took my laptop out of the laptop bag, and the bottom half of it was quite wet....disconnected the battery straight away.
The exposed battery connections weren't wet, so I assumed that there wasn't a short ciruit.
Started ripping loads of toilet paper and padding my laptop dry.
Just when I thought that was the end of that experience, I reached into my bag to check the other items only to find that the bag itself had become a mini swimming pool...it was flooded!!!!
The adapter was wet, my transparent plastic folder was wet, and all my notes in there too and my pencil box was soaked. Thank god it's actually waterproof inside, coz in pockets of my bag was my palm....
Took out everything from my bag, turned it upside down to drain it of all the water, padded everything else.
Couldn't get my pencil box dry, didn't want to look into my folder and water had gotten into the adapter, although the fuly enclosed thing doesn't have any screws....
By then, I was feeling really really pissed, worried and depressed already.
Decided to just head home, and maybe come back later for my 2pm tute.
Thumbs up for the person whom said "It never rains, it pours", because at the bus-stop, it started to rain.
I was clutching my notebook in my hand, coz the inside of my bag wasn't fully dry yet, and so I thought best to just carry in my hand, and it was air-dry itself if the insides were wet. But nooooo...it had to start raining.
God must have decided I've had enuff, by the time the bus came, the rain miraculously stopped. The bus wasn't the usual bus though, it was a coach bus. The kind that you take on trips to Malaysia, with plush seats come with seat belts, airplane-like light and air consoles above you, and a toilet. The driver explained that this was a stop-gap measure, till the new air-conditioned Mercedes buses arrived in eight weeks, and also that election was coming...hint hint eh.
Getting down was quite a bitch though, having no bell, and only one entrance. You had to make your way down the narrow aisle to the driver while yelling at him to stop.
Got back home, attached the battery back, and turned it on. Lights, sound and action. My heart heaved in relief when everything started up fine....and then my heart stopped, coz a crackling noise started and the screen kept flickering. Reach for the power and turned it off. Great...LCD screen, one of the most expensive component of the laptop, I'm soooo screwed.
Called IBM, and stupidly told them some water had gotten into the back of the computer. "I'm sorry but water damage is not covered under warranty. Courier charges are $135 and they'll send you a quotation". Hip-hip hooray, an C programming assignment that I haven't started on, the interface of my portion of the FYP hasn't even materialised. "I'd advise that you wait at least 30 more minutes for the water to dry, and try again." Sensible women....
So, in an attempt at bringing spirits up, I went to the nearby Chinese restaurant and had lunch. $5 for 3 dishes economical rice style was back! Lunch was good, with fish curry (and that included lady's finger!), pork and long beans and Omellete with garlic chives. Ahhh....filling and nice for once.
Returned home, tried again. *Crackle crackle*. Please let there not be any permanent damage. Decided to give my baby more time, and so continued reading "Practical C Programming" to past time. Mooooo....the cow said, and I fell asleep.
I guess you're reading my blog now, and it's good news. Third time lucky, I turned it on and it worked! No cracking, LCD looks fine....except the bottom of the screen where the water must have creeped in doesn't look as bright as the rest of the screen anymore.. but that might just be me.
My laptop works, and so far, the USB ports work, the speakers work, the LAN works. I pray everything works....
Sigh....it is indeed a good day to die.
Over the air: SW:ATOC - Return to Tatooine
Monday, March 22, 2004
The Time Machine
They're showing Sex and the City here now, 2 episodes in a roll, 1 full hour of SATC.
The thing is that the episode following the first seems to be a back episode. One min, one of the girls has a baby and the other is with this guy, the next episode, the baby's back in the tummy, and the other girl's dating somebody else. Something clearly is up.... and there I was at camp praising Australia's television programming.
Missed a whole day of school today. Woke up aching everywhere, hungry and having no energy to do anything. Either I was too tired from camp, or it's the cold flu. Don't ask me which. So I didn't goto school missed 2 lectures and a group meeting. Sigh...just what am I gonna do with myself.
Looking back at camp, there are again moments where I wished I hadn't acted the way I did, hadn't said the things I did, HAD the guts to say the at the tip of my tongue, eaten more, slept less, drank more, partied more, was more interactive, spontaneous and ....well to sum it all, not my usual self actually.
Crossing your comfort zone was one of the things brought up during the camp. But does crossing it mean also crossing the line defining who you are and what you're not? Pushing your boundaries sounds all such a happy, good thing. When is it not?
There was a question "What is your personal goal", and I wanted to contribute mine - "Living life without regrets". Unfortunately, I know I'm definately not the person who encompasses such a vision, at least not your model "living on the edge, living large, extreme" kinda person. At best, I would sound like a hyprocrite really.
Looking back now, even if I had a time machine, could I even bring myself to have done things differently?
TV is one of those things that is the window to another world, an alternate reality, a place of fantasy, or YOUR fantasy. That's just it though, it IS fantasy, it IS a make belief world. You watch programmes with people that have such picturesque pefect lives, and you have the euphoric "wish I was that person" feeling. But what happens is not reality I would like to believe. It's just the make belief of writers envisioning what they wish their lives could have turned out as. TV might help us envision a better lives for ourselves, but more often that not, the lives protrayed on the google box only picture perfect.
Even if I had a time machine....
Over the air: Sighs of Depression
They're showing Sex and the City here now, 2 episodes in a roll, 1 full hour of SATC.
The thing is that the episode following the first seems to be a back episode. One min, one of the girls has a baby and the other is with this guy, the next episode, the baby's back in the tummy, and the other girl's dating somebody else. Something clearly is up.... and there I was at camp praising Australia's television programming.
Missed a whole day of school today. Woke up aching everywhere, hungry and having no energy to do anything. Either I was too tired from camp, or it's the cold flu. Don't ask me which. So I didn't goto school missed 2 lectures and a group meeting. Sigh...just what am I gonna do with myself.
Looking back at camp, there are again moments where I wished I hadn't acted the way I did, hadn't said the things I did, HAD the guts to say the at the tip of my tongue, eaten more, slept less, drank more, partied more, was more interactive, spontaneous and ....well to sum it all, not my usual self actually.
Crossing your comfort zone was one of the things brought up during the camp. But does crossing it mean also crossing the line defining who you are and what you're not? Pushing your boundaries sounds all such a happy, good thing. When is it not?
There was a question "What is your personal goal", and I wanted to contribute mine - "Living life without regrets". Unfortunately, I know I'm definately not the person who encompasses such a vision, at least not your model "living on the edge, living large, extreme" kinda person. At best, I would sound like a hyprocrite really.
Looking back now, even if I had a time machine, could I even bring myself to have done things differently?
TV is one of those things that is the window to another world, an alternate reality, a place of fantasy, or YOUR fantasy. That's just it though, it IS fantasy, it IS a make belief world. You watch programmes with people that have such picturesque pefect lives, and you have the euphoric "wish I was that person" feeling. But what happens is not reality I would like to believe. It's just the make belief of writers envisioning what they wish their lives could have turned out as. TV might help us envision a better lives for ourselves, but more often that not, the lives protrayed on the google box only picture perfect.
Even if I had a time machine....
Over the air: Sighs of Depression
Sunday, March 21, 2004
QUT: Garden's Point
I'm back from camp...well not really back yet. The bus let us off at QUT's Garden Points campus in the city. Nice friend of mine is letting me use the account here to do my stuff. Hmm...compared to UQ, they have nicer facilities...tons and tons of terminals for student use. I guess it's because they're a technological university?
Argh.. they're using the Microsoft keyboard here, and it's sooooo damn noisy. Everybody can hear you type. Clicky keyboards suck people, get the soft-touch ones. IBM's range of keyboards are great! Really! No nonsense, quiet keyboards that feel great and of course, let's you think in silence. Think different!
Anyway, about the camp, I won'g blog so much of it down now. Gotta wait till I get back, am rested, can collect my thoughts, then I can blog it all down. Boy...think it's gonna be a massive blog
Over the air: Barrage of whirring computers!
I'm back from camp...well not really back yet. The bus let us off at QUT's Garden Points campus in the city. Nice friend of mine is letting me use the account here to do my stuff. Hmm...compared to UQ, they have nicer facilities...tons and tons of terminals for student use. I guess it's because they're a technological university?
Argh.. they're using the Microsoft keyboard here, and it's sooooo damn noisy. Everybody can hear you type. Clicky keyboards suck people, get the soft-touch ones. IBM's range of keyboards are great! Really! No nonsense, quiet keyboards that feel great and of course, let's you think in silence. Think different!
Anyway, about the camp, I won'g blog so much of it down now. Gotta wait till I get back, am rested, can collect my thoughts, then I can blog it all down. Boy...think it's gonna be a massive blog
Over the air: Barrage of whirring computers!
Friday, March 19, 2004
Mountain of Tambourines
I'm off to camp!!
Coming back on Sunday....so wish me luck!
I'm off to camp!!
Coming back on Sunday....so wish me luck!
One day at band camp....
Parting is such sweet sorrow, and I've dumped $65 of commitment into the camp already.
Have no idea what to pack, or whether it's gonna be cold or not.
Guess I should've asked... [Update: They emailed me stuff to bring! Ahhh..sleeping bag??]
Went for 2nd band practice yesterday, they played
Chicago (again)
William Tell Overture
Caprice Italien (what's the difference anyway?)
La Poluama (must be spanish for "The boring")
Parting is such sweet sorrow, and I've dumped $65 of commitment into the camp already.
Have no idea what to pack, or whether it's gonna be cold or not.
Guess I should've asked... [Update: They emailed me stuff to bring! Ahhh..sleeping bag??]
Went for 2nd band practice yesterday, they played
Chicago (again)
William Tell Overture
Caprice Italien (what's the difference anyway?)
La Poluama (must be spanish for "The boring")
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Blood Sucking Leeches
Managed to leech more stuff from the college network today.
Lotsa acappella and jazz stuff. My MP3 inbox is just growing larger and larger (so is my movie collection actually), but my workload is also growing directly proportional to it.
Talked to Bernise yesterday, been a long long long time since we spoke for such a long time.
Got inspired to take a plunge and goto a camp this weekend.
I pray I survive the "getting pissed" sessions and the Toga party.
While immersing myself into Austrlian culture is fun, drowning in it is not.
Over the air: Foyer full of asians speaking chink talk
Managed to leech more stuff from the college network today.
Lotsa acappella and jazz stuff. My MP3 inbox is just growing larger and larger (so is my movie collection actually), but my workload is also growing directly proportional to it.
Talked to Bernise yesterday, been a long long long time since we spoke for such a long time.
Got inspired to take a plunge and goto a camp this weekend.
I pray I survive the "getting pissed" sessions and the Toga party.
While immersing myself into Austrlian culture is fun, drowning in it is not.
Over the air: Foyer full of asians speaking chink talk
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
To boldly go where no man has gone before
It took them blodee long to notice what I've known since I was young. Yes, that Star Trek has majorly influenced today's gadgets and gizmos.
I do so miss my Motorola StarTac X. It was a classic handphone. I'm really just waiting for handphones to go retro. NO, I don't mean retro in the water bottle, brick-like motorola handphones from the 90s, but I mean the classic handphone designs that everybody loved and was so ubitious when handphones just came into being "fashionable".
Do yer guys even remember Jared's NEC handphone? Or my Philips handphone that had voice-dialing before anybody else had it (though it failed to recognize ONLY my voice). Those were the times eh?
It's St Patrick's Day tomorrow, and I have absolutely no idea what it's about except that it's about the Irish. I have some horrid green shirts, so guess I'll just put one on and...appear informed I guess? Hmm...wonder if the student's union gonna give out any freebies.
Did my bedsheets today, coz I seemed to have developed a rash. Thinking it might be because I used the sheets right out of the box without washing then first.
Being a cheep-o, I brought my sheets to school (colleges charge only $1, whilst it's $2.60/wash in my apartment), and well, since I had 4hrs to kill before a 2pm tute, might as make efficient use of my time.
Was informed that the laundry room at Cromwell College isn't locked, so went there straight after lecture. Had a hard time finding where the washing machines were, and when I did, they were all full...as in there were bundles of wet clothes everywhere from people ejecting washing clothes from the machine and putting their dirty ones in. No proper queueing system....
Didn't want to go home empty handed, and also because 1 queen-sized bedsheets, 1 single quilt cover and 4 pillow cases can be quite heavy. So I took a deep breathe, and steped into the Girl's only Grace College, and popped in on some Singaporean course mates living there, and luckily there were in. Did my sheets and I now have clean linen that smells freshly tumbled dried! I wonder if I would have proceeded to do my laundry even without the presence of the girls.....
Over the air: Rove Live's "Extrem Grant" segment, where they had a women Irish dancing (think Riverdance, NOT Ireland: Land of Lore) into a pool of guiness stout while at the same time reciting Irish limericks. Hilarious!!!!
It took them blodee long to notice what I've known since I was young. Yes, that Star Trek has majorly influenced today's gadgets and gizmos.
I do so miss my Motorola StarTac X. It was a classic handphone. I'm really just waiting for handphones to go retro. NO, I don't mean retro in the water bottle, brick-like motorola handphones from the 90s, but I mean the classic handphone designs that everybody loved and was so ubitious when handphones just came into being "fashionable".
Do yer guys even remember Jared's NEC handphone? Or my Philips handphone that had voice-dialing before anybody else had it (though it failed to recognize ONLY my voice). Those were the times eh?
It's St Patrick's Day tomorrow, and I have absolutely no idea what it's about except that it's about the Irish. I have some horrid green shirts, so guess I'll just put one on and...appear informed I guess? Hmm...wonder if the student's union gonna give out any freebies.
Did my bedsheets today, coz I seemed to have developed a rash. Thinking it might be because I used the sheets right out of the box without washing then first.
Being a cheep-o, I brought my sheets to school (colleges charge only $1, whilst it's $2.60/wash in my apartment), and well, since I had 4hrs to kill before a 2pm tute, might as make efficient use of my time.
Was informed that the laundry room at Cromwell College isn't locked, so went there straight after lecture. Had a hard time finding where the washing machines were, and when I did, they were all full...as in there were bundles of wet clothes everywhere from people ejecting washing clothes from the machine and putting their dirty ones in. No proper queueing system....
Didn't want to go home empty handed, and also because 1 queen-sized bedsheets, 1 single quilt cover and 4 pillow cases can be quite heavy. So I took a deep breathe, and steped into the Girl's only Grace College, and popped in on some Singaporean course mates living there, and luckily there were in. Did my sheets and I now have clean linen that smells freshly tumbled dried! I wonder if I would have proceeded to do my laundry even without the presence of the girls.....
Over the air: Rove Live's "Extrem Grant" segment, where they had a women Irish dancing (think Riverdance, NOT Ireland: Land of Lore) into a pool of guiness stout while at the same time reciting Irish limericks. Hilarious!!!!
Compromises
I'm watching Survivor:All Stars now, and it's the episode after the women quit becoz Richard "Hatch" molested her. It's a reward/immunity challenge where the "tribes" have to assemble a boat, pedal to the shore, run to a palm tree, retrieve 2 pedals to the boat, and pedal back to the platform. The Reward is a BBQ with open bar off the island, transport via this really great luxury yacht (wonder if I'll ever have a chance to sit on one, luxury liners don't count la!).
Both teams were at the end, neck to neck, until "Stupid Asian ABC" Shayene used the wrong end of the oar to paddle the boat, causing it to veer off-course. Great win for asians, woman....
The winning team gets to pick a member from the losing tribe to accompany them on the reward. The idea is to pick the one that contributes to the opponents the least I guess, but they picked the "motherly figure" to go along. Maybe instead of playing negatively, as in cause the other tribes to lose, they decided to bang on the "let's get one of them over to OUR side". Just another twist of the game I guess. Good strategy or not, guess remains to be seen.
"When in Rome do as the Romans do" they said, and when on a luxury yacht, why not practice your golf swing? They were on the roof of the yacht putting balls into the ocean....erm yeah....one of those "I'm sooooo rich, I don't care if I lose a basket of balls to the fishes". Ahuh....just waiting for the fishes to catch some kind of avian flu, or mutate...oops, I mean EVOLVE into some golf ball spitting putter-fish species.
Today's weather report stated a high of 29 degrees with clouds. I dressed prepared for the temperature to drop, but it seemed the hottest of the days I've been here so far (it was only jeans and a polo.....). It did rain on my way back though.
It seems the weather here in Brisbane is trying to find a compromise. Clear into our autumn season, but the weather's no better than summer. Still as hot as ever now, except for the occasional showers here and there.
There's O-camp coming up this weekend, and I'm still tied whether I should go for it. It would be a great chance to meet other people from around the region, but there are some parts of the agenda that I dread still. Pub nights, toga night, "getting pissed" night doesn't sound like my cup of tea...... There are however lotsa leadership, personal improvement seminars and team-building games and events that sound so enticing.
So any advice my faithful readers?
Over the air: Environmentalists screaming blodee murder
I'm watching Survivor:All Stars now, and it's the episode after the women quit becoz Richard "Hatch" molested her. It's a reward/immunity challenge where the "tribes" have to assemble a boat, pedal to the shore, run to a palm tree, retrieve 2 pedals to the boat, and pedal back to the platform. The Reward is a BBQ with open bar off the island, transport via this really great luxury yacht (wonder if I'll ever have a chance to sit on one, luxury liners don't count la!).
Both teams were at the end, neck to neck, until "Stupid Asian ABC" Shayene used the wrong end of the oar to paddle the boat, causing it to veer off-course. Great win for asians, woman....
The winning team gets to pick a member from the losing tribe to accompany them on the reward. The idea is to pick the one that contributes to the opponents the least I guess, but they picked the "motherly figure" to go along. Maybe instead of playing negatively, as in cause the other tribes to lose, they decided to bang on the "let's get one of them over to OUR side". Just another twist of the game I guess. Good strategy or not, guess remains to be seen.
"When in Rome do as the Romans do" they said, and when on a luxury yacht, why not practice your golf swing? They were on the roof of the yacht putting balls into the ocean....erm yeah....one of those "I'm sooooo rich, I don't care if I lose a basket of balls to the fishes". Ahuh....just waiting for the fishes to catch some kind of avian flu, or mutate...oops, I mean EVOLVE into some golf ball spitting putter-fish species.
Today's weather report stated a high of 29 degrees with clouds. I dressed prepared for the temperature to drop, but it seemed the hottest of the days I've been here so far (it was only jeans and a polo.....). It did rain on my way back though.
It seems the weather here in Brisbane is trying to find a compromise. Clear into our autumn season, but the weather's no better than summer. Still as hot as ever now, except for the occasional showers here and there.
There's O-camp coming up this weekend, and I'm still tied whether I should go for it. It would be a great chance to meet other people from around the region, but there are some parts of the agenda that I dread still. Pub nights, toga night, "getting pissed" night doesn't sound like my cup of tea...... There are however lotsa leadership, personal improvement seminars and team-building games and events that sound so enticing.
So any advice my faithful readers?
Over the air: Environmentalists screaming blodee murder
Monday, March 15, 2004
Life is short
Just got wind of some very sad news....
It got me thinking of my own experiences with death, and I remember how painful it is.
The saying goes that you'll never miss something, until you don't have it anymore.
Death must have inspired someone to write it down.
I wonder again about my impending meeting with death.
I'd recently, I changed my view about life from "There's so much to do in life" to "I'd rather die young".
The silver lining of my own experience, is that death does teach you a lesson of life. How fragile it is, and how short it is. It inspires you onto loving the things that you have in life more than when you used to take things for granted.
My condolences to my good friend for losing his father.
Over the air: Diana Krall - Pick Yourself Up
Just got wind of some very sad news....
It got me thinking of my own experiences with death, and I remember how painful it is.
The saying goes that you'll never miss something, until you don't have it anymore.
Death must have inspired someone to write it down.
I wonder again about my impending meeting with death.
I'd recently, I changed my view about life from "There's so much to do in life" to "I'd rather die young".
The silver lining of my own experience, is that death does teach you a lesson of life. How fragile it is, and how short it is. It inspires you onto loving the things that you have in life more than when you used to take things for granted.
My condolences to my good friend for losing his father.
Over the air: Diana Krall - Pick Yourself Up
Sunday, March 14, 2004
A State of Mind
Life is fragile, and some of us just know it too well.
I met one of my old neighbours today at the supermarket, and she asked me whether I could pop over to do a house call, computer problems it seems. They told me then, that somebody in building 2 (3 buildings in total, lived in building 1 last sem, now living in building 3) got burgled. Shocking news, considering our apartments have the key card system.
The story goes like this...
The occupant of the ground floor unit, awoke in the night to see somebody standing over her bed. Creepy scenes like these belong in the movies you'd think.... She screamed, the burglar bolted off. In another one of those weird stories where the victim's enraged enuff, this girl ran after the burglar. The burglar escaped, but not before giving the victim a gash on the forehead (apparently the burglar was wielding a screwdriver, but it wasn't said whether the gash was caused by the screwdriver). The burglar got away with the victim's wallet, passport and laptop amongst another things I think.
Neighbours heard the screams (2am, but thank God students here are all night owls), and saw the chase, but dismissed it as a domestic disturbance till they saw the burglar giving the girl a blow to the head. They immediately ran to assist.
The police were called moments later, and their response was "Oh, we'll come by at 8 in the morning tomorrow"
I think it was the next day, when the house across the road got burgled, and the same thing happened, with the 2 guys this time, chasing the thief, but was unfortunately unable to apprehend the idiot....
Having seen the guy throw something into the garbage bin, they opened it to find their wallets and also the girl's wallet and passport.
The guys asked the construction crew next door if they'd seen anything, to which they said that they've seen the guy around. The guys wondered out aloud whether the thief will be back, and the construction crew helpfully replied that he's sure the thief will be back, since the guy's bike is locked up to their fence.
Apparently, the police has been informed about this development (nice work guys, I have the utmost confidence in yer guys now), and they're staking out the bike.
The neighbour who recounted the story to me was commenting how brave the victim was to have chased after the burglar, and especially when she's a girl. (Those neighbours are both living alone, and also female).
But here I am, a guy, but fearing for me life, since I too live on the first floor.
I've been living here since last sem, and have been taking security here for granted...
I leave the balcony sliding door open, but the screen door cum grille is locked. A screwdriver can easily take care of the screen door though, it's aluminium and frightfully light.
Just like when I heard about the 2 Sporean guys who were killed in Sydney last semester, hearing the break-in has me fearing for my life yet again.
I didn't like living on the first floor then, and I don't like it now also. My impression of these apartments having been "break-in free" have obviously been tarnished....
Even now, both the screen door and sliding door are closed and bolted. I still don't feel safe. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight.... where am I gonna hide my stuff when I'm away in school? Where should I put my passport, my electronic stuffs, my headphones, my CDs, my speakers, my books, my laptop!
I've been bringing my laptop to school everyday, but now, I dun think I even have the luxury of leaving it at home when I go to school anymore.
Why did I have to hear this news from ex-occupants of these apartments?
I don't think my network here is good enough, since 1 week has lapsed since the incident, and nobody has mentioned anything about it at all. Why is it so hard for me to socialize?
Over the air: Ella Fitzgerald - What is This Thing Called Love
Life is fragile, and some of us just know it too well.
I met one of my old neighbours today at the supermarket, and she asked me whether I could pop over to do a house call, computer problems it seems. They told me then, that somebody in building 2 (3 buildings in total, lived in building 1 last sem, now living in building 3) got burgled. Shocking news, considering our apartments have the key card system.
The story goes like this...
The occupant of the ground floor unit, awoke in the night to see somebody standing over her bed. Creepy scenes like these belong in the movies you'd think.... She screamed, the burglar bolted off. In another one of those weird stories where the victim's enraged enuff, this girl ran after the burglar. The burglar escaped, but not before giving the victim a gash on the forehead (apparently the burglar was wielding a screwdriver, but it wasn't said whether the gash was caused by the screwdriver). The burglar got away with the victim's wallet, passport and laptop amongst another things I think.
Neighbours heard the screams (2am, but thank God students here are all night owls), and saw the chase, but dismissed it as a domestic disturbance till they saw the burglar giving the girl a blow to the head. They immediately ran to assist.
The police were called moments later, and their response was "Oh, we'll come by at 8 in the morning tomorrow"
I think it was the next day, when the house across the road got burgled, and the same thing happened, with the 2 guys this time, chasing the thief, but was unfortunately unable to apprehend the idiot....
Having seen the guy throw something into the garbage bin, they opened it to find their wallets and also the girl's wallet and passport.
The guys asked the construction crew next door if they'd seen anything, to which they said that they've seen the guy around. The guys wondered out aloud whether the thief will be back, and the construction crew helpfully replied that he's sure the thief will be back, since the guy's bike is locked up to their fence.
Apparently, the police has been informed about this development (nice work guys, I have the utmost confidence in yer guys now), and they're staking out the bike.
The neighbour who recounted the story to me was commenting how brave the victim was to have chased after the burglar, and especially when she's a girl. (Those neighbours are both living alone, and also female).
But here I am, a guy, but fearing for me life, since I too live on the first floor.
I've been living here since last sem, and have been taking security here for granted...
I leave the balcony sliding door open, but the screen door cum grille is locked. A screwdriver can easily take care of the screen door though, it's aluminium and frightfully light.
Just like when I heard about the 2 Sporean guys who were killed in Sydney last semester, hearing the break-in has me fearing for my life yet again.
I didn't like living on the first floor then, and I don't like it now also. My impression of these apartments having been "break-in free" have obviously been tarnished....
Even now, both the screen door and sliding door are closed and bolted. I still don't feel safe. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight.... where am I gonna hide my stuff when I'm away in school? Where should I put my passport, my electronic stuffs, my headphones, my CDs, my speakers, my books, my laptop!
I've been bringing my laptop to school everyday, but now, I dun think I even have the luxury of leaving it at home when I go to school anymore.
Why did I have to hear this news from ex-occupants of these apartments?
I don't think my network here is good enough, since 1 week has lapsed since the incident, and nobody has mentioned anything about it at all. Why is it so hard for me to socialize?
Over the air: Ella Fitzgerald - What is This Thing Called Love
Saturday, March 13, 2004
The Breakfast Club
It's pretty common to see teen life being depicted "accurately" in drama serials and movies these days, and it seems that it's a subject that really sells both on the big screen, and on the telly.
Everyone's been through that age where you're trying to find your voice, some of us are still in it, some of us reminisce about it. I'm keep looking back at it and wonder why didn't or couldn’t I do things differently, why am I the person now, can I still change and of course, if I had done things differently, would I have turned out any different from who I am today.
I really don't think anybody's excused from these dilemmas in life, it's just how people handle them that counts. If you can't handle it, there's always suicide of course. I have to admit that I have considered that option, but I guess I'm lucky that at that point, I still had really strong religious beliefs that went "You'll burn in hell if you take your own life". Everybody’s scared of burning in hell yeah? Some people ignore these issues, living in denial or "living in your own world". Some people tackle the issue head on. People might resolve the issue, come to a compromise, or fail to attain any kind of success at all. Even if you resolve the issue, it might come back to haunt you another time anyway, whether you did succeed or not. Doesn't that bite? Can anybody actually live their lives "without regret"?
Confidence. Self-confidence. Self-loathing. Self-esteem. Popularity. Acceptance. Friendship. Love. Self-love. Vanity. Courage. Brains. Intelligent. Power. Muscle. Sporty. Athletic. Musical. Entertaining. Funny. Kind. Caring. Weird. Artistic. Psycho. Troubled. Lone-ner. Hermit. Insane. Friendly.
These adjectives should be familiar to anyone facing their "quarter" life crisis, or some people consider that at my age, one-third of their lives have passed. Regardless of age, can anyone be truly in touch with one's self? One's emotions? Is anyone truly satisfied with one self?
What brought on this philosophical entry? Before flying of to Australia, I was frantically downloading movies back home, since I anticipated many hours alone with myself cooped up in my room, might as well entertain myself somehow. So I was downloading anything that sounded interesting on Bit Torrent. Some stuff didn't get through like my ST:TNG Season 2, and some stuff managed to get downloaded during the last minute attempt. So, back to the reason. I just finished watching this 1985 show called The Breakfast Club. It's about a 5 people having to spend their Saturday together in detention. One's a nerd, one's a rich-daddy's girl-prom queen, a jock, an (in the most appropriate spore term) ah-beng, and the weird-do. They find out what's it like on "the other side", become friends, wonder if they'll still be friends when they pass each other out in the halls when amongst their own group of friends. It’s about these 5 teenagers and the labels and mouds that they believe that they have to fall in line with. Since 1985, the story it tells still holds true today.
What do you do, when you're with your group of friends, and a social outcast approaches you? Seriously...even in uni, I see people being nice to the social outcast, and the bitching about them behind their backs. What do you do about it? Do you laugh along anyway to be "popular"? Do you laugh along AND join in the bitching?
What do I do you ask? I don't voice my dis-satisfaction, neither do I laugh along. It's as bad I guess....
Talking about social orders. I'm bitching about the PRC pple hanging out in the pool, making a whole damn lot of noise, and of course, I'm waiting for them to leave so that I can use the pool. I really hope they don't piss in the pool. If they just wanna soak in the pool, why can't they use the landscaped pool instead of the lap pool anyway. Sigh....PRCs..... Hmmm..is bitching about PRCs the same as bitching about social outcasts? Or does PRC = Social outcast?
Like I said, shows touching on such social sciences seem to have gained popularity once again today. Survivor, The Real World, The Big Brother, Who wants to marry a millionaire, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette....reality series where you throw people from different backgrounds together, and see what chaos develops, what kind group dynamics is played, the social order that falls into place.
It's actually interesting why I decided to watch it today. I was having my own marathon yesterday. Watched Brother Bear, Loony Tunes: Back in Action and Not Another Teen Movie. All but the latter were downloaded from Spore. NATM was downloaded from uni and in NATM, they a spoofed a scene from The Breakfast Club. I guess TBC is a movie classic and watching it just now, I can see why. It's a keeper BTW, not gonna delete it =P
"Regardless of race, language and religion". Discrimination exists in the world, you can't run away from it. . Like all reality series, they reward the person that's plays the game the best, that's most believable, most cunning, most popular. Singapore just chooses to hide everything behind this PC term - "a meritocracy".
It's pretty common to see teen life being depicted "accurately" in drama serials and movies these days, and it seems that it's a subject that really sells both on the big screen, and on the telly.
Everyone's been through that age where you're trying to find your voice, some of us are still in it, some of us reminisce about it. I'm keep looking back at it and wonder why didn't or couldn’t I do things differently, why am I the person now, can I still change and of course, if I had done things differently, would I have turned out any different from who I am today.
I really don't think anybody's excused from these dilemmas in life, it's just how people handle them that counts. If you can't handle it, there's always suicide of course. I have to admit that I have considered that option, but I guess I'm lucky that at that point, I still had really strong religious beliefs that went "You'll burn in hell if you take your own life". Everybody’s scared of burning in hell yeah? Some people ignore these issues, living in denial or "living in your own world". Some people tackle the issue head on. People might resolve the issue, come to a compromise, or fail to attain any kind of success at all. Even if you resolve the issue, it might come back to haunt you another time anyway, whether you did succeed or not. Doesn't that bite? Can anybody actually live their lives "without regret"?
Confidence. Self-confidence. Self-loathing. Self-esteem. Popularity. Acceptance. Friendship. Love. Self-love. Vanity. Courage. Brains. Intelligent. Power. Muscle. Sporty. Athletic. Musical. Entertaining. Funny. Kind. Caring. Weird. Artistic. Psycho. Troubled. Lone-ner. Hermit. Insane. Friendly.
These adjectives should be familiar to anyone facing their "quarter" life crisis, or some people consider that at my age, one-third of their lives have passed. Regardless of age, can anyone be truly in touch with one's self? One's emotions? Is anyone truly satisfied with one self?
What brought on this philosophical entry? Before flying of to Australia, I was frantically downloading movies back home, since I anticipated many hours alone with myself cooped up in my room, might as well entertain myself somehow. So I was downloading anything that sounded interesting on Bit Torrent. Some stuff didn't get through like my ST:TNG Season 2, and some stuff managed to get downloaded during the last minute attempt. So, back to the reason. I just finished watching this 1985 show called The Breakfast Club. It's about a 5 people having to spend their Saturday together in detention. One's a nerd, one's a rich-daddy's girl-prom queen, a jock, an (in the most appropriate spore term) ah-beng, and the weird-do. They find out what's it like on "the other side", become friends, wonder if they'll still be friends when they pass each other out in the halls when amongst their own group of friends. It’s about these 5 teenagers and the labels and mouds that they believe that they have to fall in line with. Since 1985, the story it tells still holds true today.
What do you do, when you're with your group of friends, and a social outcast approaches you? Seriously...even in uni, I see people being nice to the social outcast, and the bitching about them behind their backs. What do you do about it? Do you laugh along anyway to be "popular"? Do you laugh along AND join in the bitching?
What do I do you ask? I don't voice my dis-satisfaction, neither do I laugh along. It's as bad I guess....
Talking about social orders. I'm bitching about the PRC pple hanging out in the pool, making a whole damn lot of noise, and of course, I'm waiting for them to leave so that I can use the pool. I really hope they don't piss in the pool. If they just wanna soak in the pool, why can't they use the landscaped pool instead of the lap pool anyway. Sigh....PRCs..... Hmmm..is bitching about PRCs the same as bitching about social outcasts? Or does PRC = Social outcast?
Like I said, shows touching on such social sciences seem to have gained popularity once again today. Survivor, The Real World, The Big Brother, Who wants to marry a millionaire, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette....reality series where you throw people from different backgrounds together, and see what chaos develops, what kind group dynamics is played, the social order that falls into place.
It's actually interesting why I decided to watch it today. I was having my own marathon yesterday. Watched Brother Bear, Loony Tunes: Back in Action and Not Another Teen Movie. All but the latter were downloaded from Spore. NATM was downloaded from uni and in NATM, they a spoofed a scene from The Breakfast Club. I guess TBC is a movie classic and watching it just now, I can see why. It's a keeper BTW, not gonna delete it =P
"Regardless of race, language and religion". Discrimination exists in the world, you can't run away from it. . Like all reality series, they reward the person that's plays the game the best, that's most believable, most cunning, most popular. Singapore just chooses to hide everything behind this PC term - "a meritocracy".
Friday, March 12, 2004
Blind as a .......
Just got back from uni not too long ago.
The tutor was sympathizing with us that it's just the 2nd week of school, and already we have so many deadlines to meet for my IT Advanced Project Management Module.
The whole group (and other groups) had to stay late in the labs trying to finish up crazy amounts of documentations, charts, diagrams, tables...what have yer. The weird thing is that we're the only group who brings their own laptops, claim the whole foyer to ourselves by occupying 4 out of 5 of the available tables, whereas the rest of the groups goto the labs below and use the school computers for their work.
Although all of us own laptops, none of us are even remotely mobile. We're ALL tethered to the power sockets even though all of us are blessed with Wi-Fi equipped laptops. We're all IT savvy individuals, but when it comes to exchanging files, we don't share out our drives, we copy it onto a thumbdrive instead and pass it around. I'm thinking about it now, and asking why we're so absolutely underutilizing the resources we have now, it's really extremely perplexing. Possibly one of the reasons is that each of us are ripping files off the campus network, but tiny word, excel, project documents wouldn't even make a dent in our transfer rates (well actually for wireless, it's abit tricky to say), but it's ultimately easier just sharing the file out.
The other thing the thing about power. We're all so scared to go on battery mode, coz that means the CPU usually powers down, so we stay anchored to where the power sockets are (of course another reason is that we might as well keep our batteries topped up with school electricity).
Towards the end of the session, we were definately feeling very "high" on fatigue, because on one point, we were rolling around laughing because of a scrollbar!
One of the laptops was a presario (it must be pretty old, coz it's labelled a Compaq and not a HP), and it had a section of the trackpad delegated for scrolling use. I must have hit a bug, coz I was furiously scrolling up and down this huge document, when the whole image on the screen screen started shaking up and down. We were all staring at the document and when that happened, we all just burst into laughter altogether! The owner was of course really embarassed that we had found the bug and showed me that instead of furiously sliding up and down the scroller side, I could just flick quickly from the bottom to the top of the scroller trackpad, and the screen would scroll to the very top of the document smoothly. Being absolutely intoxicated, I then went flicking from the bottom of the document, to the top, and then back down again, going "Wheeee!". It sounds really ridiculous now, but we were all really really in sticthes over the bug and the over-enthusiastic use of the scrolling"feature".
The streets near uni can get pretty dark because there's usually no street lighting like in Singapore. On the drive to drop off the group members, something flew into the windscreen. The term "blind as a bat" does come to mind, but it looked more like an Owl then a bat though. Thing is that one's supposed to have extremely good night vision, and the other creature of the night, a sonor system far superior tomodern submarines. I guess being nocturnal dosn't make you immune to being fatigue to the point where intoxicating disoreintating behaviour becomes the norm all around. We are afterall, human?
Not sure whether to sleep, or to watch one of the movies I succeeded in copying off the college networks.
Have lecture at 8am though. Sigh...I need a car!
Over the air: Gerry Milligan - Walking Shoes
Just got back from uni not too long ago.
The tutor was sympathizing with us that it's just the 2nd week of school, and already we have so many deadlines to meet for my IT Advanced Project Management Module.
The whole group (and other groups) had to stay late in the labs trying to finish up crazy amounts of documentations, charts, diagrams, tables...what have yer. The weird thing is that we're the only group who brings their own laptops, claim the whole foyer to ourselves by occupying 4 out of 5 of the available tables, whereas the rest of the groups goto the labs below and use the school computers for their work.
Although all of us own laptops, none of us are even remotely mobile. We're ALL tethered to the power sockets even though all of us are blessed with Wi-Fi equipped laptops. We're all IT savvy individuals, but when it comes to exchanging files, we don't share out our drives, we copy it onto a thumbdrive instead and pass it around. I'm thinking about it now, and asking why we're so absolutely underutilizing the resources we have now, it's really extremely perplexing. Possibly one of the reasons is that each of us are ripping files off the campus network, but tiny word, excel, project documents wouldn't even make a dent in our transfer rates (well actually for wireless, it's abit tricky to say), but it's ultimately easier just sharing the file out.
The other thing the thing about power. We're all so scared to go on battery mode, coz that means the CPU usually powers down, so we stay anchored to where the power sockets are (of course another reason is that we might as well keep our batteries topped up with school electricity).
Towards the end of the session, we were definately feeling very "high" on fatigue, because on one point, we were rolling around laughing because of a scrollbar!
One of the laptops was a presario (it must be pretty old, coz it's labelled a Compaq and not a HP), and it had a section of the trackpad delegated for scrolling use. I must have hit a bug, coz I was furiously scrolling up and down this huge document, when the whole image on the screen screen started shaking up and down. We were all staring at the document and when that happened, we all just burst into laughter altogether! The owner was of course really embarassed that we had found the bug and showed me that instead of furiously sliding up and down the scroller side, I could just flick quickly from the bottom to the top of the scroller trackpad, and the screen would scroll to the very top of the document smoothly. Being absolutely intoxicated, I then went flicking from the bottom of the document, to the top, and then back down again, going "Wheeee!". It sounds really ridiculous now, but we were all really really in sticthes over the bug and the over-enthusiastic use of the scrolling"feature".
The streets near uni can get pretty dark because there's usually no street lighting like in Singapore. On the drive to drop off the group members, something flew into the windscreen. The term "blind as a bat" does come to mind, but it looked more like an Owl then a bat though. Thing is that one's supposed to have extremely good night vision, and the other creature of the night, a sonor system far superior tomodern submarines. I guess being nocturnal dosn't make you immune to being fatigue to the point where intoxicating disoreintating behaviour becomes the norm all around. We are afterall, human?
Not sure whether to sleep, or to watch one of the movies I succeeded in copying off the college networks.
Have lecture at 8am though. Sigh...I need a car!
Over the air: Gerry Milligan - Walking Shoes
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Band of Brothers
Just came back from band practice. What memories it dug up of the days of school band practices....still tickles me thinking of the music we played eons ago and what fun we enjoyed together.
Pieces of the day were....
Irish tune
In all its Glory
Chicago
Capriccio Italian
At first, all they had were a set of 4 timpinis, a drum set and a xylophone. Accessories were limited to the suspended cymbal from the drum kit, a tambourine, claves, ratchet. NO crash cymbals (used the high ride), no gong, no triangle and lastly, no Bass Drum(used the drum kit's hit drum). They later managed to find the bells, which, surprise surprise, is the glockenspiel that I used back in secondary school! Well, except newer, shinier and it wasn't bowed legged. It was much better than the glock that we had in ACJC (have they gotten new ones yet?).
Why you ask? Because they are a "community funded band". Think ACSWO, but they get to keep the money that they earn. Think ACSWO membership too (around 30-50), and ACSWO membership subscription fees (what was it anyway? $30/year?).
The pieces were simple, not like El Camino Real, Scheherazade, The Cowboys...etc. But James Swearigen pieces! I bet Capricio was really a challenge to them, but it's the relaxing, easy going pieces that you could enjoy, and not get stressed over rhythms and running notes, and stuff.
Am I going back? Well I don't know, it's really really very far away. But one of the band members was nice enough to give me lift down, since I'm on her way to the band anyway. Such nice people! BUT, I guess I have to see how things go.
I'm back if you did indeed miss me. My internet connection went down after I did some driver updates, that was actually sparked on by my friend's internet connetion going down due to driver updates too. Wonder if you can consider driver updating a virus. Anyway, some nifty knowledge mining on the microsoft website, deleting registry entries and reinstalling protocol stacks later. I'm back in the running! Did you miss me? =P
Over the air: Me frantically finding my Capriccio Italian CD!
Just came back from band practice. What memories it dug up of the days of school band practices....still tickles me thinking of the music we played eons ago and what fun we enjoyed together.
Pieces of the day were....
Irish tune
In all its Glory
Chicago
Capriccio Italian
At first, all they had were a set of 4 timpinis, a drum set and a xylophone. Accessories were limited to the suspended cymbal from the drum kit, a tambourine, claves, ratchet. NO crash cymbals (used the high ride), no gong, no triangle and lastly, no Bass Drum(used the drum kit's hit drum). They later managed to find the bells, which, surprise surprise, is the glockenspiel that I used back in secondary school! Well, except newer, shinier and it wasn't bowed legged. It was much better than the glock that we had in ACJC (have they gotten new ones yet?).
Why you ask? Because they are a "community funded band". Think ACSWO, but they get to keep the money that they earn. Think ACSWO membership too (around 30-50), and ACSWO membership subscription fees (what was it anyway? $30/year?).
The pieces were simple, not like El Camino Real, Scheherazade, The Cowboys...etc. But James Swearigen pieces! I bet Capricio was really a challenge to them, but it's the relaxing, easy going pieces that you could enjoy, and not get stressed over rhythms and running notes, and stuff.
Am I going back? Well I don't know, it's really really very far away. But one of the band members was nice enough to give me lift down, since I'm on her way to the band anyway. Such nice people! BUT, I guess I have to see how things go.
I'm back if you did indeed miss me. My internet connection went down after I did some driver updates, that was actually sparked on by my friend's internet connetion going down due to driver updates too. Wonder if you can consider driver updating a virus. Anyway, some nifty knowledge mining on the microsoft website, deleting registry entries and reinstalling protocol stacks later. I'm back in the running! Did you miss me? =P
Over the air: Me frantically finding my Capriccio Italian CD!
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
You are your Worst Critic
Breakfast today went quite well, except that the smoke alarm went off when I was toasting bread. It's not the first time it's happened, but everytime the shrill beeps go off, it's really quite shocking, AND loud.
I guess it's because I like my toast laden with carcinogens. But well, maybe the smoke alarm really hates my cooking, or maybe it's trying to save me from a cancerous death, or even maybe it's jealous of the attention I'm giving all the other applicances.
It's definately a bad sign when you start to talk to your applicances....
Over tha air: Chet Baker's Hotel 49
Breakfast today went quite well, except that the smoke alarm went off when I was toasting bread. It's not the first time it's happened, but everytime the shrill beeps go off, it's really quite shocking, AND loud.
I guess it's because I like my toast laden with carcinogens. But well, maybe the smoke alarm really hates my cooking, or maybe it's trying to save me from a cancerous death, or even maybe it's jealous of the attention I'm giving all the other applicances.
It's definately a bad sign when you start to talk to your applicances....
Over tha air: Chet Baker's Hotel 49
Monday, March 08, 2004
C is a Language with Absolutely No Class!
Swam 2 laps again, yes I know, how utterly boring my life is. Well actually it was 2 and a 1/2 laps without stopping. Headaches didn't seem so strong this time though, so I guess my health's improving.
After 2 weeks of crunches, my stomach dosn't seem any smaller. I must be pregnant now I guess, anybody know a good abortion doctor in Brisbane?
Seems weird I know, but pasta seems better after being left overnight? I boiled the leftover pasta from last night, nuked the sauce, and boy, it was the best pasta I ever cooked, I swear! Yes, how weird...think I'll try the pasta-left-overnight-in-the-fridge bit again.
Anyway, my modules are quite set already this semester, EVEN though, on friday, the brilliant (read lazy) faculty office wasn't able to resolve a conflict amongst THREE modules. Imagine that, 1 3hr slot, conflicting with 2 other modules, and they claim that at such a late stage (this is only the 2nd week of school!!), students have already planned their timetables around the lectures already and basically, who cares about 15 students. Hoooray...such amazingly inspiring adminstrators working for OUR benefit, espescially when TWO of the conflicting modules are pre-scribed to us. This must certainly be one of the perks of university life that everybody's been talking about...I'm serious, this is definately part and parcel of university education! Dealing with "faculty members" who have absolutely no idea why the 10m by 20m foyer, incidentally the only place that you can get wireless access AND plug-in your notebooks AND hold meetings, is so damn packed.
Today's OS lecture was great though, lecturer's got that...weird, geeky but cool subtle humour bit. Bits like "C is the only language with absolutely no class" and "B is the predecessor to C, who can guess what's the next sucessor to C going to be called?", and this is a lecture on how to program in C? Who can hate a guy who makes remarks like "I can't stop you if you choose to do your assignments on some obscure platform like windows......". Why do all the difficult modules have interesting lecturers AND, why have all the lecturers switched over to sexy powerbooks?
Seriously weird on that issue. Think apple's got some great marketing campaign to get lecturers touting around sleek powerbooks and using them for poewrpoints! No doubt, the deals that apple is flouting at the educational market is really enticing...in fact, I e-mailed the flyer to my dad. He wants a mac you see (not me!), and it of course dosn't help that they throw in a free iPod with when you buy a apple notebook. Sexy and free sex? Who ca resist! =)
Monday's so far spelling trouble for me. They've got friends, followed by Malcolm in the middle, Who wants to be a millionaire, survivor and then sex in the city on NINE. Where am I gonna find time to finish my 7 question with each question sub-divided into a furthur 4 question tutorial by tomorrow, 2 chapters to readup on, itinerary to plan for people coming to visit (yer guys BETTER be coming....), clothes to wash, my daily 100 crunches that have yet to be done, games (both on the PC and xBox) that have yet to be touched, online SPADES to play with friends, surfing, clearing SPAM, reading emails, ICQing, calling home.....
The good news? I only have 2 modules with exams!
Over the air: "Life is unfair..." Theme song from Malcolm in the Middle
Swam 2 laps again, yes I know, how utterly boring my life is. Well actually it was 2 and a 1/2 laps without stopping. Headaches didn't seem so strong this time though, so I guess my health's improving.
After 2 weeks of crunches, my stomach dosn't seem any smaller. I must be pregnant now I guess, anybody know a good abortion doctor in Brisbane?
Seems weird I know, but pasta seems better after being left overnight? I boiled the leftover pasta from last night, nuked the sauce, and boy, it was the best pasta I ever cooked, I swear! Yes, how weird...think I'll try the pasta-left-overnight-in-the-fridge bit again.
Anyway, my modules are quite set already this semester, EVEN though, on friday, the brilliant (read lazy) faculty office wasn't able to resolve a conflict amongst THREE modules. Imagine that, 1 3hr slot, conflicting with 2 other modules, and they claim that at such a late stage (this is only the 2nd week of school!!), students have already planned their timetables around the lectures already and basically, who cares about 15 students. Hoooray...such amazingly inspiring adminstrators working for OUR benefit, espescially when TWO of the conflicting modules are pre-scribed to us. This must certainly be one of the perks of university life that everybody's been talking about...I'm serious, this is definately part and parcel of university education! Dealing with "faculty members" who have absolutely no idea why the 10m by 20m foyer, incidentally the only place that you can get wireless access AND plug-in your notebooks AND hold meetings, is so damn packed.
Today's OS lecture was great though, lecturer's got that...weird, geeky but cool subtle humour bit. Bits like "C is the only language with absolutely no class" and "B is the predecessor to C, who can guess what's the next sucessor to C going to be called?", and this is a lecture on how to program in C? Who can hate a guy who makes remarks like "I can't stop you if you choose to do your assignments on some obscure platform like windows......". Why do all the difficult modules have interesting lecturers AND, why have all the lecturers switched over to sexy powerbooks?
Seriously weird on that issue. Think apple's got some great marketing campaign to get lecturers touting around sleek powerbooks and using them for poewrpoints! No doubt, the deals that apple is flouting at the educational market is really enticing...in fact, I e-mailed the flyer to my dad. He wants a mac you see (not me!), and it of course dosn't help that they throw in a free iPod with when you buy a apple notebook. Sexy and free sex? Who ca resist! =)
Monday's so far spelling trouble for me. They've got friends, followed by Malcolm in the middle, Who wants to be a millionaire, survivor and then sex in the city on NINE. Where am I gonna find time to finish my 7 question with each question sub-divided into a furthur 4 question tutorial by tomorrow, 2 chapters to readup on, itinerary to plan for people coming to visit (yer guys BETTER be coming....), clothes to wash, my daily 100 crunches that have yet to be done, games (both on the PC and xBox) that have yet to be touched, online SPADES to play with friends, surfing, clearing SPAM, reading emails, ICQing, calling home.....
The good news? I only have 2 modules with exams!
Over the air: "Life is unfair..." Theme song from Malcolm in the Middle
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Five Minutes a Day
Woke up at around 11am today, tuned on the telly and they had Five minutes a Day playing on ABC by a brass band. Ahhhh....the memories!
Switched over to Nine, and they were showing some concert by Micheal Buble! So I cooked my scrambled egga, saussages and toast to the smooth tunes and croons of one of my favourite swing singers. He's coming to Queensland in April, and tickets are $135 and $85. Ouch...maybe I can write it off under an "experiencing australia" expense...or hmmm...make it a birthday treat for myself?
Used my new Tefal this time, and phew, need to use so much less oil this time. And things tastes so much better without the toxic non-stick coating. Scrambled eggs so much more fluffier. I realised when I was eating that since I don't have any soya sauce yet, I could've added salt to the eggs, but well, less sodium in your diet is good! The saussages were already full of sodium I should think....
F1's now on in Melbourne though, would wish I was there, but just saw the crowds. Wasn't catching my interest on tv anyway, except I think they were interviewing Micheal Shumacher, and he was driving a BMW M3! My, my, BMW-Williams must be so proud.
They had Shannon Noel, the runner-up to Australian Idol last year which IMHO I thought was better than the winner, Guy Subastian. He sand the Australian anthem, and geez, I realised I've been here so long, and this is the first time I'm hearing it!
I'm full, OJed and bored.....
Over the air: The vroom, vroom, eeeeeeoooooh of Formula One cars!
Woke up at around 11am today, tuned on the telly and they had Five minutes a Day playing on ABC by a brass band. Ahhhh....the memories!
Switched over to Nine, and they were showing some concert by Micheal Buble! So I cooked my scrambled egga, saussages and toast to the smooth tunes and croons of one of my favourite swing singers. He's coming to Queensland in April, and tickets are $135 and $85. Ouch...maybe I can write it off under an "experiencing australia" expense...or hmmm...make it a birthday treat for myself?
Used my new Tefal this time, and phew, need to use so much less oil this time. And things tastes so much better without the toxic non-stick coating. Scrambled eggs so much more fluffier. I realised when I was eating that since I don't have any soya sauce yet, I could've added salt to the eggs, but well, less sodium in your diet is good! The saussages were already full of sodium I should think....
F1's now on in Melbourne though, would wish I was there, but just saw the crowds. Wasn't catching my interest on tv anyway, except I think they were interviewing Micheal Shumacher, and he was driving a BMW M3! My, my, BMW-Williams must be so proud.
They had Shannon Noel, the runner-up to Australian Idol last year which IMHO I thought was better than the winner, Guy Subastian. He sand the Australian anthem, and geez, I realised I've been here so long, and this is the first time I'm hearing it!
I'm full, OJed and bored.....
Over the air: The vroom, vroom, eeeeeeoooooh of Formula One cars!
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Lost ?
Yes, I got lost today....
I went to Target to get my clothes rack replaced, bought myselft a nifty Tefal frying pan for 20% off the original price of $33 ($22) @ Myers. Took the wrong bus that took me 3-4 suburbs away costing me $0.69. Totally pissed and confused as to where the hell I am (Kenmore, see if you can find it @ www.whereis.com.au. FYI, I live in Taringa), went to the nearest "mall" which is kinda like those dinky "shopping centres" you find in the heartlands. Wondered for awhile if I should pop into the Blockbuster to get some DVDs, and then ask myself how the hell am I gonna return them later (can you return them at ANY blockbuster store?). Ran around finding an commonwealth ATM (they charge you extra if you goto another bank's ATM, found an ANZ one, and cursed myself for leaving my ANZ ATM card back in Spore. Withdrew some cash so that I could get a cab back because the bus-stop stated there weren't any buses anymore. Later asked another nice lady (the first one pointed me to the dud busstop) who pointed me to another busstop, waited 30mins for the bus, got up the 440, and prayed that it took me back to my apartment.
Well I'm here, so yes, you can stop hoping that I'm still somewhere in the bushlands, possibly consumed by forest fire or a floor (DUH....). Tired, too tired to cook (please remember that I was carrying a 1m by 0.5m Ikea like clothes rack package and banging around my Tefal frying pan...I do so hope it's not dented by now).
ARGH! Please please let the screw fit this time round!
and
Thank God it didn't rain today.....
Over the air: Me screaming!
Yes, I got lost today....
I went to Target to get my clothes rack replaced, bought myselft a nifty Tefal frying pan for 20% off the original price of $33 ($22) @ Myers. Took the wrong bus that took me 3-4 suburbs away costing me $0.69. Totally pissed and confused as to where the hell I am (Kenmore, see if you can find it @ www.whereis.com.au. FYI, I live in Taringa), went to the nearest "mall" which is kinda like those dinky "shopping centres" you find in the heartlands. Wondered for awhile if I should pop into the Blockbuster to get some DVDs, and then ask myself how the hell am I gonna return them later (can you return them at ANY blockbuster store?). Ran around finding an commonwealth ATM (they charge you extra if you goto another bank's ATM, found an ANZ one, and cursed myself for leaving my ANZ ATM card back in Spore. Withdrew some cash so that I could get a cab back because the bus-stop stated there weren't any buses anymore. Later asked another nice lady (the first one pointed me to the dud busstop) who pointed me to another busstop, waited 30mins for the bus, got up the 440, and prayed that it took me back to my apartment.
Well I'm here, so yes, you can stop hoping that I'm still somewhere in the bushlands, possibly consumed by forest fire or a floor (DUH....). Tired, too tired to cook (please remember that I was carrying a 1m by 0.5m Ikea like clothes rack package and banging around my Tefal frying pan...I do so hope it's not dented by now).
ARGH! Please please let the screw fit this time round!
and
Thank God it didn't rain today.....
Over the air: Me screaming!
There are skin cancer clinics everywhere in Australia
Today's forecast seems to be sunny with some cloud cover.
Really beautiful day for a swim, so I went!
Then got inspired to bask under the sun for awhile, but I didn't have any suntan or sunblock lotion (what's the difference?), I went anyway, so caught some rays. Hopefully, they'll help with the acne and excema. Think I have a yeast infection again....hmmm...think I'm blabbing too much.
Managed to organise a warcraft game tonight on the local LAN. Whooopee!!
Now....wonder if I should goto the gym and make a fool of myself.
Hmmm....well we'll just see after my crunches!
Over the air: The sound of cars zooming past
Today's forecast seems to be sunny with some cloud cover.
Really beautiful day for a swim, so I went!
Then got inspired to bask under the sun for awhile, but I didn't have any suntan or sunblock lotion (what's the difference?), I went anyway, so caught some rays. Hopefully, they'll help with the acne and excema. Think I have a yeast infection again....hmmm...think I'm blabbing too much.
Managed to organise a warcraft game tonight on the local LAN. Whooopee!!
Now....wonder if I should goto the gym and make a fool of myself.
Hmmm....well we'll just see after my crunches!
Over the air: The sound of cars zooming past
The Man who sued God
It rained ALL day yesterday. Walked to my first lecture on Operating Systems in a very light drizzle, went to the next lecture in an even heavier drizzle, everybody thought I was late, but it's because the lecture clashes with the earlier lecture. Brollies (friends were kind enuff to shelter me) had to be used going for the last lecture of the day , and exiting the lecture theatre, it was already starting to not drizzle anymore.
So I went surfing instead (I dunt know how to surf, surf la), download lecture notes and tutorials to print, and do all my browsing in school (since I'm on a 150mb/mth quota back home)...well and partly to wait for the rain to stop too. The wind was really really howling and you could see the trees trying not to snap outside! Ran out of battery, so I HAD to go, since it became a light drizzle, decided to go have lunch...it was already 2pm!
Walked to the bus-stop, decided to catch a bus to Hawken Village (think of it was Holland Village is to ACJC). Took the wrong bus, stopped at another part of uni, and had to walk to Hawken. The "Spicy Beef Noodle Soup" was really great, coz I was really drenched by the time I got to the "restaurant". I learnt though that the "Spicy" just means normal Beef noodles with some oily chilli thing added on top.
Realised that the bus that takes me closest to my place dosn't stop at the bus-stop outside, so had to walk back to school (only 1 free bus transfer allowed within 2 hrs), stand under a tree (I know could have died, but think the wind blew the bus-stop away, serious!), and wait around 10mins for the bus. Thank God the bus came early, so we could board it early and wait for the scheduled time of departure (they have really nice bus drivers here! In fact, the bus I took to Hawken was an express bus, that stops only at the city next. The lady bus driver let me off when I found out). Walked 10mins back to my home, dried off, hadn't bought tea bags yet, so...all I could do was bathe in hot water.
It just got worse when I got home, started really raining cats and dogs then, so guess I was lucky to be home then. It rained all through the night too man...and news report was talking about some low pressure system in the area. Have either got to get an umbrealla, or pay more attention to weather reports. Sigh..., didn't swim or do me crunches yesterday though...
Treated myself to a movie, watched The Man Who Sued God. It's a really nice show that came out in 2001. Dunno if any of yer guys caught it, but would recommend it to everyone. The title sounds really depressing I know, but it's more of a drama than a tragic story! To boots, I think it's an Australian film, great captivating storyline, ok acting (Billy Connolly with an Irish accent) and happy ending. There's a dog here that's got quite a character though, ugly, but really delightful little bugger, quite ala Lassie. It's not really about the existance of God, but about someone losing his boat to a freak lightning storm, the insurance company wouldn't pay up due to the "Act of God" clause, and he very cleaverly sueing the insurance companies thru God! It's all very absurd come to think of it, getting insurance and then not getting insured when something really goes wrong. Really oxymoronic! So yeah, catch this if you want some thought provoking, philosiphical I-wish-I-was-a-lawyer kinda drama.
Today weather so far - Good for a swim, Sunny! I'm gonna return my 4-peice pot set to Kmart....I'm eating non-stick paint from the frying pan...and also go Target to get a piece of my garment rack replace, damn screw can't go in!!!
Over the air: Boston Pop's The Best of Christmas - Here we come a Carolling
It rained ALL day yesterday. Walked to my first lecture on Operating Systems in a very light drizzle, went to the next lecture in an even heavier drizzle, everybody thought I was late, but it's because the lecture clashes with the earlier lecture. Brollies (friends were kind enuff to shelter me) had to be used going for the last lecture of the day , and exiting the lecture theatre, it was already starting to not drizzle anymore.
So I went surfing instead (I dunt know how to surf, surf la), download lecture notes and tutorials to print, and do all my browsing in school (since I'm on a 150mb/mth quota back home)...well and partly to wait for the rain to stop too. The wind was really really howling and you could see the trees trying not to snap outside! Ran out of battery, so I HAD to go, since it became a light drizzle, decided to go have lunch...it was already 2pm!
Walked to the bus-stop, decided to catch a bus to Hawken Village (think of it was Holland Village is to ACJC). Took the wrong bus, stopped at another part of uni, and had to walk to Hawken. The "Spicy Beef Noodle Soup" was really great, coz I was really drenched by the time I got to the "restaurant". I learnt though that the "Spicy" just means normal Beef noodles with some oily chilli thing added on top.
Realised that the bus that takes me closest to my place dosn't stop at the bus-stop outside, so had to walk back to school (only 1 free bus transfer allowed within 2 hrs), stand under a tree (I know could have died, but think the wind blew the bus-stop away, serious!), and wait around 10mins for the bus. Thank God the bus came early, so we could board it early and wait for the scheduled time of departure (they have really nice bus drivers here! In fact, the bus I took to Hawken was an express bus, that stops only at the city next. The lady bus driver let me off when I found out). Walked 10mins back to my home, dried off, hadn't bought tea bags yet, so...all I could do was bathe in hot water.
It just got worse when I got home, started really raining cats and dogs then, so guess I was lucky to be home then. It rained all through the night too man...and news report was talking about some low pressure system in the area. Have either got to get an umbrealla, or pay more attention to weather reports. Sigh..., didn't swim or do me crunches yesterday though...
Treated myself to a movie, watched The Man Who Sued God. It's a really nice show that came out in 2001. Dunno if any of yer guys caught it, but would recommend it to everyone. The title sounds really depressing I know, but it's more of a drama than a tragic story! To boots, I think it's an Australian film, great captivating storyline, ok acting (Billy Connolly with an Irish accent) and happy ending. There's a dog here that's got quite a character though, ugly, but really delightful little bugger, quite ala Lassie. It's not really about the existance of God, but about someone losing his boat to a freak lightning storm, the insurance company wouldn't pay up due to the "Act of God" clause, and he very cleaverly sueing the insurance companies thru God! It's all very absurd come to think of it, getting insurance and then not getting insured when something really goes wrong. Really oxymoronic! So yeah, catch this if you want some thought provoking, philosiphical I-wish-I-was-a-lawyer kinda drama.
Today weather so far - Good for a swim, Sunny! I'm gonna return my 4-peice pot set to Kmart....I'm eating non-stick paint from the frying pan...and also go Target to get a piece of my garment rack replace, damn screw can't go in!!!
Over the air: Boston Pop's The Best of Christmas - Here we come a Carolling
Friday, March 05, 2004
Brrrr....it's cold tonight!
Anyways, just finished an essay, submitted it, and now I've gotta wake up ultra early to goto school, meet my other group members, and sign a plagarism declaration for the essay I just wrote. Is my faculty groovily paranoid or what eh?
Anyway, can't update yer guys much today, i swam, went shopping, bought 3 polo tees for $20.
Sighz...gotta keep away from sales....
PS. I think my mexican neighbour ran away with my rice cooker, come to think of it, I never verfied that she was indeed living next to me!
Over the air: Theme from Independence Day
Anyways, just finished an essay, submitted it, and now I've gotta wake up ultra early to goto school, meet my other group members, and sign a plagarism declaration for the essay I just wrote. Is my faculty groovily paranoid or what eh?
Anyway, can't update yer guys much today, i swam, went shopping, bought 3 polo tees for $20.
Sighz...gotta keep away from sales....
PS. I think my mexican neighbour ran away with my rice cooker, come to think of it, I never verfied that she was indeed living next to me!
Over the air: Theme from Independence Day
Thursday, March 04, 2004
"Is that Seafood"
At the post-meeting pizza party (every meeting here involves pizza it seems), I was munching and attempted to make conversation with an opening liner "Is that seafood?". That has gotta be the worse pick-up line ever or something. In case you were wondering, it was Vegeterian Dominoes, which incidentally was much nicer than the Hawiian. Needless to say, I made a quick exit after the last slice disappeared.
AIESEC is turning out to be one of the best clubs that I have joined so far. It was the only one that had a proper powerpoint presentation that attempted to explain what the club's all about, and even had a powerpoint about the "O-camp" coming up next week. Thumbs up for the professional way the meeting was conducted, which also included the committee introducing themselves at the beginning, and the president making a welcoming speech.
So far so good really, it looks to me like a stayer in my books this club, could even nudge out all the "We wanted to create a club for pizza eating, but the union said we couldn't. So here we are, under the pretense of enjoying Lego, using YOUR money and the Union's money to buy pizzas anyway."
AIESEC, I finally found out, stands for "Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales". No wonder they the full name of the society is such a secret, parle vu? They are a really outstanding organization with links with 750 universities, 85 countries and ...erm... I forget what the rest of the official T-shirt/uniform said.
For the next few weeks, we get to have meetings with a representative from each sector of the organization that you can choose to understudy in/intern in. And at the end of the 6 weeks, choose to apply to join that sub-commitee. How's that for a training programme? Puts ISO-certified BMTC to shame really....
Then there's the O-camp next week, at Ceder Lodge Camp on Mt. Tambourine. $65, but I get to mingle with 60 other people from all the other universities in Australia!
It's time for you to break out of that shell Benjamin, go exercise your PR skills =P Or die of shame trying.....
I wonder if I should even tell people I'm from Singapore.
At the post-meeting pizza party (every meeting here involves pizza it seems), I was munching and attempted to make conversation with an opening liner "Is that seafood?". That has gotta be the worse pick-up line ever or something. In case you were wondering, it was Vegeterian Dominoes, which incidentally was much nicer than the Hawiian. Needless to say, I made a quick exit after the last slice disappeared.
AIESEC is turning out to be one of the best clubs that I have joined so far. It was the only one that had a proper powerpoint presentation that attempted to explain what the club's all about, and even had a powerpoint about the "O-camp" coming up next week. Thumbs up for the professional way the meeting was conducted, which also included the committee introducing themselves at the beginning, and the president making a welcoming speech.
So far so good really, it looks to me like a stayer in my books this club, could even nudge out all the "We wanted to create a club for pizza eating, but the union said we couldn't. So here we are, under the pretense of enjoying Lego, using YOUR money and the Union's money to buy pizzas anyway."
AIESEC, I finally found out, stands for "Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales". No wonder they the full name of the society is such a secret, parle vu? They are a really outstanding organization with links with 750 universities, 85 countries and ...erm... I forget what the rest of the official T-shirt/uniform said.
For the next few weeks, we get to have meetings with a representative from each sector of the organization that you can choose to understudy in/intern in. And at the end of the 6 weeks, choose to apply to join that sub-commitee. How's that for a training programme? Puts ISO-certified BMTC to shame really....
Then there's the O-camp next week, at Ceder Lodge Camp on Mt. Tambourine. $65, but I get to mingle with 60 other people from all the other universities in Australia!
It's time for you to break out of that shell Benjamin, go exercise your PR skills =P Or die of shame trying.....
I wonder if I should even tell people I'm from Singapore.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
In school now, waiting for the my first AIESEC meeting to start.
Excited apprehension is the feeling now, they have an "O" camp coming up next week, and the whole "making leaders" thing is pretty nifty so far to me....oh and of coz it's on top of some mountain that I have never been to yet (better for the people coming to visit me also, coz then I can show them around Mt Tambourine...no corny percussion jokes pls!), but it's gonna cost me $65 for the camp. Bah....nothing in life is free right, wise once said.
As I was leaving for school today, my neighbours came to introduce herself to me, "Kala" I think if I got her name right, and she's Mexican (I think the same mexican girls that everyone went googly after last semester, where people kept posting on my apartment's forum about their arrival). Cool, she's my neighbour, and she wants to borrow my rice cooker! Damn...how embarassing, the whole place is a mess, I can't even open my door fully coz my study table is propped up behind the door, but that's good anyway, then she's can't get a full look at my mess.
She invited me over anytime, "come over to talk". Whoa....I'm not that loose, woman! At least have dinner first yeah? Oh wait...she WAS cooking dinner. Hmm...I know how those free condoms from O-week will come in handy now....
Yeah anyway she's not entirely just at my door, wearing this blouse that's only just being held up by the corner of her shoulders to meet me, she wants my rice cooker! Oh well, can lend to her la, since I've got no rice yet anyway...hers is at the shop, so she sez she's gonna borrow it only for a day. So kudos, I get to see her again tomorrow!
Why don't I have rice?
Coz today I went to buy my "garment hanger", which is HUGE, and I also got my LOTR Hardcover and the classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and also some eggs, ham, pasta, pasta souce, bread and minced meat. So I was very very laden down already, so yes...forget about making me carry a 2kg bag or rice. I dont' have a car *sob sob*
Ok, gotta go for the AIESEC meeting already.
The guy next to me is doing a paper on "An Overview of Singapore's Post-mordern Political-economy". What?! Yeah yeah, go wash our dirty linen to the aussies....
Excited apprehension is the feeling now, they have an "O" camp coming up next week, and the whole "making leaders" thing is pretty nifty so far to me....oh and of coz it's on top of some mountain that I have never been to yet (better for the people coming to visit me also, coz then I can show them around Mt Tambourine...no corny percussion jokes pls!), but it's gonna cost me $65 for the camp. Bah....nothing in life is free right, wise once said.
As I was leaving for school today, my neighbours came to introduce herself to me, "Kala" I think if I got her name right, and she's Mexican (I think the same mexican girls that everyone went googly after last semester, where people kept posting on my apartment's forum about their arrival). Cool, she's my neighbour, and she wants to borrow my rice cooker! Damn...how embarassing, the whole place is a mess, I can't even open my door fully coz my study table is propped up behind the door, but that's good anyway, then she's can't get a full look at my mess.
She invited me over anytime, "come over to talk". Whoa....I'm not that loose, woman! At least have dinner first yeah? Oh wait...she WAS cooking dinner. Hmm...I know how those free condoms from O-week will come in handy now....
Yeah anyway she's not entirely just at my door, wearing this blouse that's only just being held up by the corner of her shoulders to meet me, she wants my rice cooker! Oh well, can lend to her la, since I've got no rice yet anyway...hers is at the shop, so she sez she's gonna borrow it only for a day. So kudos, I get to see her again tomorrow!
Why don't I have rice?
Coz today I went to buy my "garment hanger", which is HUGE, and I also got my LOTR Hardcover and the classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and also some eggs, ham, pasta, pasta souce, bread and minced meat. So I was very very laden down already, so yes...forget about making me carry a 2kg bag or rice. I dont' have a car *sob sob*
Ok, gotta go for the AIESEC meeting already.
The guy next to me is doing a paper on "An Overview of Singapore's Post-mordern Political-economy". What?! Yeah yeah, go wash our dirty linen to the aussies....
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Survivors ready?
They're showing Survivor's: All Stars here, dunno whether it's in synch with Singapore's broadcast, but well, wasn't really watching it when I was in Singapore anyway.
Totally hate Richard, and *SPOILER ALERT*, I'm soooo glad that he got voted out.
Wat IS the deal with the nudity bit? Every challenge he gets naked, and what does it result in anyway, just some blotch running around on my TV where a perfectly nice blotchless picture should be.
Maybe it's "Back to the bible", being that way that God originally intended us to be, but I dunno, I'm just not comfortable with that sorry, it just disgusts me. He was very much shocked that he was voted out though, he was clearly expecting it NOT to be him, such audacity....he's already won a million already anyway, and clearly did make the mistake of letting it get to his head. Frankly, after everyone already knew how he played the game the last time, it's just the smart thing to get rid of him.....alliances with the devil, mostly leaves you without hands I say.
Slow and steadily, my electric kettle (it came with the place) is slowly getting cleaner. The heating element was so black, I definitely didn't want to drink anything that came out of it, and I still don't want to now. A suggestion to use vinegar to remove the grime (my friend sez it's mineral deposits) couldn't be completely carried out, only because I don't have vinegar. Somebody suggested salt instead, so having endorsed myself as a customer by lunching with a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, I helped myself with as many sachets of maccer's salt as I could inconspicuously walk away with (how many is that anyway you think? I got away with a handful...which is around 9 sachets!). It's just a matter of lather, rinse and repeat now. Well no lathering, but just me using my SIA economy class toothbrush to dislodge watever it is that's on the heating element. Well...I'd like to think the brushing is doing something.....till the sediments disappear, no boiled water for me yet =(
They're showing Survivor's: All Stars here, dunno whether it's in synch with Singapore's broadcast, but well, wasn't really watching it when I was in Singapore anyway.
Totally hate Richard, and *SPOILER ALERT*, I'm soooo glad that he got voted out.
Wat IS the deal with the nudity bit? Every challenge he gets naked, and what does it result in anyway, just some blotch running around on my TV where a perfectly nice blotchless picture should be.
Maybe it's "Back to the bible", being that way that God originally intended us to be, but I dunno, I'm just not comfortable with that sorry, it just disgusts me. He was very much shocked that he was voted out though, he was clearly expecting it NOT to be him, such audacity....he's already won a million already anyway, and clearly did make the mistake of letting it get to his head. Frankly, after everyone already knew how he played the game the last time, it's just the smart thing to get rid of him.....alliances with the devil, mostly leaves you without hands I say.
Slow and steadily, my electric kettle (it came with the place) is slowly getting cleaner. The heating element was so black, I definitely didn't want to drink anything that came out of it, and I still don't want to now. A suggestion to use vinegar to remove the grime (my friend sez it's mineral deposits) couldn't be completely carried out, only because I don't have vinegar. Somebody suggested salt instead, so having endorsed myself as a customer by lunching with a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, I helped myself with as many sachets of maccer's salt as I could inconspicuously walk away with (how many is that anyway you think? I got away with a handful...which is around 9 sachets!). It's just a matter of lather, rinse and repeat now. Well no lathering, but just me using my SIA economy class toothbrush to dislodge watever it is that's on the heating element. Well...I'd like to think the brushing is doing something.....till the sediments disappear, no boiled water for me yet =(
I am most positively zonked.
For the 3rd time in a role, I went swimming straight after returning home.
My proximity to the pool must be behind all this!!
Every single time I open the doors of my balcony (the studio is windowless except for the big balcony doors that open to the pool deck), I see (and feel!) the scorching heat of the sun, and the inviting salty waters of the lap pool....
This time, I managed to swim the entire breadth without stopping for breath!
Guess now, the only explaination of me not passing the swimming test during BMT must be the mental state of mind at that time. If only the sadistic PTIs can see me now....
Dunno why I still get dizzy after the swims though....wonder if it's possible to actually pass out while swimming. Hmmm....is that considered suicide or misadventure?
I guess that my next advancement in the fitness sterotypical hierarchy is to slap on some tanning lotion, and bask on the pool deck after doing some laps eh. And later, why not I go read up about weights, and go do reps at the gym.
So...this is what madness feels like.
Over the air: Some weird children programme on TV
For the 3rd time in a role, I went swimming straight after returning home.
My proximity to the pool must be behind all this!!
Every single time I open the doors of my balcony (the studio is windowless except for the big balcony doors that open to the pool deck), I see (and feel!) the scorching heat of the sun, and the inviting salty waters of the lap pool....
This time, I managed to swim the entire breadth without stopping for breath!
Guess now, the only explaination of me not passing the swimming test during BMT must be the mental state of mind at that time. If only the sadistic PTIs can see me now....
Dunno why I still get dizzy after the swims though....wonder if it's possible to actually pass out while swimming. Hmmm....is that considered suicide or misadventure?
I guess that my next advancement in the fitness sterotypical hierarchy is to slap on some tanning lotion, and bask on the pool deck after doing some laps eh. And later, why not I go read up about weights, and go do reps at the gym.
So...this is what madness feels like.
Over the air: Some weird children programme on TV
Monday, March 01, 2004
Newlyweds wasn't as funny as I thought le...
Nick Leshay: Rigor Mortis
Jessica Simpson: Rigor-who?
Bimbo....bimbo whiner...Geez....every other sentence outta her mouth is a whine.
Wonder how they can still stay married really.
Nick Leshay: Rigor Mortis
Jessica Simpson: Rigor-who?
Bimbo....bimbo whiner...Geez....every other sentence outta her mouth is a whine.
Wonder how they can still stay married really.
Back from dinner!
Ate Chicken Ho-fun at the jap-asian cuisine place nearby.
Sigh...prices have increased by $0.50 cents....even they are affected by the exchange rates eh.
Though, it's supposed to be adjusted down...not up.
Anyway, feel full...and sinful now.
Guess I'll go do my daily 100 crunches later to make up for it...hmm..or do them during the 1hr newlywed special later!
Thank God for australian TV!
Over the air: Nothing but my neighbour's vacuuming
Here's the BLOG entry that I wrote during my 1st lecture of the semester, today -
Ok ok, here's my BLOG on the anime screening that I promised yer guys!
First up was "Steelvia", which I felt is a badly drawn anime on robots.
Second was "His and her circumstance", quite nicely directed, pretty adult themes, dark at times, which reminded me of Evangelion... and also quite funny also. N *ahem*, I think I know why Calvin wants to get it hehehhe.
Third was "Outlaw Star", which just reminded me alot of Cowboy Bebop, but with a cooler ship that actually talks.
They screened 3 episodes at a go each time, with a 10min break in between.
Thing is that...I didn't talk to a single person throughout the whole damn thing.
Didn't utter a single word, nor was I spoken to.
Just sat there in the darkened LT and watched anime!
The whole "meeting" lacked direction really, coz as a newbie to the thing, nobody told us wat was happening. It was as if they expected only seasoned regulars in the meeting, and you instrinsicly knew what was on the agenda....
Here I am in the 1st lecturer the semester...and already I'm getting distracted by my BLOG.
DAMNIT!
But well have some ideas what the course is about already. So I guess I'll be fine if I distract myself abit, and blog it all down =P
The course is about Information Science or Information Spaces. About the retrieval, classification, analysis and storage of information.
I realised that the lecturer might be trying to tell us that when you ask a question or query online for information. Not only do you get the information back textually, but also graphically, or even throught video!
Let's say I want to find the capital of Australia. I could get back Canbera, Sydney or even Melbourne. Why? because I didn't state what kind of capital I was looking for!
Let's say I want to find out where is Sydney, and how to get there. I'll get a map of course, which is more useful in conveying information that just directions.
Great, I contributed "BLOG" to lecturer (he was asking for examples of bodies of information), and he somehow heard "LAW" instead....ahuh.A
Yes...oh well, at least he was very happy with the answer.
Oh a Break!!!
Ate Chicken Ho-fun at the jap-asian cuisine place nearby.
Sigh...prices have increased by $0.50 cents....even they are affected by the exchange rates eh.
Though, it's supposed to be adjusted down...not up.
Anyway, feel full...and sinful now.
Guess I'll go do my daily 100 crunches later to make up for it...hmm..or do them during the 1hr newlywed special later!
Thank God for australian TV!
Over the air: Nothing but my neighbour's vacuuming
Here's the BLOG entry that I wrote during my 1st lecture of the semester, today -
Ok ok, here's my BLOG on the anime screening that I promised yer guys!
First up was "Steelvia", which I felt is a badly drawn anime on robots.
Second was "His and her circumstance", quite nicely directed, pretty adult themes, dark at times, which reminded me of Evangelion... and also quite funny also. N *ahem*, I think I know why Calvin wants to get it hehehhe.
Third was "Outlaw Star", which just reminded me alot of Cowboy Bebop, but with a cooler ship that actually talks.
They screened 3 episodes at a go each time, with a 10min break in between.
Thing is that...I didn't talk to a single person throughout the whole damn thing.
Didn't utter a single word, nor was I spoken to.
Just sat there in the darkened LT and watched anime!
The whole "meeting" lacked direction really, coz as a newbie to the thing, nobody told us wat was happening. It was as if they expected only seasoned regulars in the meeting, and you instrinsicly knew what was on the agenda....
Here I am in the 1st lecturer the semester...and already I'm getting distracted by my BLOG.
DAMNIT!
But well have some ideas what the course is about already. So I guess I'll be fine if I distract myself abit, and blog it all down =P
The course is about Information Science or Information Spaces. About the retrieval, classification, analysis and storage of information.
I realised that the lecturer might be trying to tell us that when you ask a question or query online for information. Not only do you get the information back textually, but also graphically, or even throught video!
Let's say I want to find the capital of Australia. I could get back Canbera, Sydney or even Melbourne. Why? because I didn't state what kind of capital I was looking for!
Let's say I want to find out where is Sydney, and how to get there. I'll get a map of course, which is more useful in conveying information that just directions.
Great, I contributed "BLOG" to lecturer (he was asking for examples of bodies of information), and he somehow heard "LAW" instead....ahuh.A
Yes...oh well, at least he was very happy with the answer.
Oh a Break!!!
I can't believe I'm becoming a fitness freak....
I just came back from a swim....
just like yesterday, the minute I came back home, I stripped, put on my surf shorts, headed to the pool and dived right in.
Havn't touched the water...since swim training during BMT!
Geez.....
but well, I guess I still have it?
I still remember how to do the breast stroke....but only swam half the lap pool before I had to stop to catch my breathe....the pool water here tastes salty...weird...unless somebody's been peeing into the pool...
Couldn't walk straight after getting out of the pool though...still feel giddy even now.
BAH, what have I become!!!!
Over the air: "Send in the Clowns" from Simpson's The Krusty Comeback special showing on the telly
I just came back from a swim....
just like yesterday, the minute I came back home, I stripped, put on my surf shorts, headed to the pool and dived right in.
Havn't touched the water...since swim training during BMT!
Geez.....
but well, I guess I still have it?
I still remember how to do the breast stroke....but only swam half the lap pool before I had to stop to catch my breathe....the pool water here tastes salty...weird...unless somebody's been peeing into the pool...
Couldn't walk straight after getting out of the pool though...still feel giddy even now.
BAH, what have I become!!!!
Over the air: "Send in the Clowns" from Simpson's The Krusty Comeback special showing on the telly
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