Your Friendly Neighbourhood

two five

2012-02-01T23:56:00.002+08:00

so...... its just another day with dinner with uni friends at Wild Honey and another celebration at Itacho and Delicious.

The difference is, I removed my birth date the day before on facebook and it really show who exactly remembers your birthday. Although it's sad that many friends only post on your wall or text you superficially because facebook reminds them of your birthday, the real sweet ones are those who doesn't need facebook reminders.

Chun Huat
Yanying
Zhengnian
Kee Wei
Lydia
Mandy
Huimei
Wan Huei
Michelle
Agnes
Peixuan
Zhi Hui
Daniel twin

(after whatsapp hints)
Pear
Woon (and called me coz she remembered but forgot ha)
Sida
Songern
Reika

(after hints)
theng (who felt really bad. HA!)
kenny

and my mum gave me ang bao.. which is really unusual.

CNY Port Dickson

2012-01-25T23:14:00.004+08:00

I was a little reluctant to go back to PD this year because I know it will be so boring with all the cousins all grown up and not many kids to play with (and tortured) and some of them won't be going back as well. It is my last time visiting as a student (unless i take on a PHD) and I might not have the same opportunity as a working adult, locally or overseas.

Turns out this is one of the better CNY, although it was a little quiet or have I got used to the boredom?

Some of the better times this year are the big fireworks (lit by me), the food and family.

炸香蕉

招牌炸肉 This is the best thing ever about CNY

Looks like the photographer has improved. Haha

We set off on Friday after school and till today (Wednesday), I have been stuffing myself with a lot of CNY goodies, sugared drinks, fried bananas and too many awesome food and I'm suffering the aftermath of a calorie bombardment.

I have no idea if Chinese New Year will still remain the same after my generation so I should set as a reminder and motivation to visit the place every year for the life away from the city and technology. It can be addictive sometimes just to do nothing, watch the sky and breathe in the sweet air.

Bedok 85

2012-01-19T00:07:00.004+08:00

Had dinner at Bedok 85. The place is closing down after this Saturday so Mr tummy decided to have a trip down just to eat the supposedly "one of the best" bah chor mee in Singapore. and i decided to clog up some arteries, after working out in the morning, so i ordered bah chor mee, fried oyster egg and chicken wings all for myself. Pretty awesome stuff but they got me bloated for a few hours!

CNY's around the corner! watch out for the tummy!

PX wedding

2012-01-18T00:02:00.002+08:00

I have known her since kindergarten if i can recall well enough.

I felt it was a little too fast, or maybe it was just me being same age as her.

Sighs, years.

All the best to this longest friend I have known!

Buffets

2012-01-13T22:11:00.004+08:00

Within 30 days i went for 2 buffets because I have one for one promotion! Woot!

1. DBS card promotion at triple three, Mertius Mandarin hotel

The selection was quite good, international buffet and the sashimi was freshly cut. Only the tepanyaki was prepared on the spot, the rest seemed like catered from elsewhere and it tastes like kopitiam food.

I was a little disappointed at the quality of food but desserts were much better with cakes and sorts. The bill came up to $41 per person after 1 for 1 promotion.

2. Singtel Birthday month promotion at 10@Claymore, Pan Pacific Orchard

The selection was not bad too, and they had fresh lobsters, crabs claws and fresh oysters from US and France.

The quality of the food was much better and well prepared than Triple Three.

See the quality for yourself.

Oh and they had this really good prepared-upon-order menu which is also part of the buffet, with steak, lambs, sea perch and scallops.

ohhhhhhhhhhh the scallop is mmmmmmph.

Desserts were also very good with many different cakes to choose from and there's a chocolate fountain.

For the price of $36 per person after promotion, this buffet is one of the best I've ever had.

Ameizing

2012-01-10T22:49:00.004+08:00

Kick starting the year with the awesome first concert is....

The title already described how it was.

The power of her voice so ever alluring, she was a real ever-shining star. Her energy and stamina maintains throughout the concert and every sound that escaped from her lips feels like warm diamond, so precious and beautiful.

The best part of the concert was the 40 minutes non-stop medley of ballads which featured all her hit songs like 如果你也听说, 勇敢, also describing her journey of life as a singer and lover. Many times she was holding back her tears, revealing her true emotions as the song lyrics.

Nothing beats watching it live but this will also do. I can watch this segment a million times and never get sick.

The Queen sets the bar so high up that others seem so far away and I am so glad I get to watch it twice!

I can already say that this is, no doubt, the best concert of the year and the best concert ever.

Looking back 2011

2012-01-03T23:42:00.007+08:00

It has been a tradition for me to review my additional year of living on earth from a few years ago on my blog, for memory sake and learning from mistakes to upgrade into something more.

January to February: Transformation
Ended my internship on a high note
Wall painting and furbishing my own room finally and I am so proud of the results. Privacy and convenience. I can't believe I used to be a ghost around the house.
Learnt the truth about things finally.
Taylor Swift concert in Singapore!

March to May: School term
Started school, became more hardworking this time and attend many lectures
Made new friends while doing projects and stuff
Many projects ongoing at the same time

May - July: Global Summer Studies and travelling
I had to fly 2 days after my exams to San Francisco, where I did studied at University of California, Berkeley for 6 weeks of summer. Totally loved the weather and environment and opened my mind to things I have been blind in Singapore.
Made lotsa new friends, met Yuru, traveled to Yosemite National Park, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
A 5-day return transit at Hong Kong which was exactly the same 6 years ago and ate everywhere I went. Met Jenius and Naifen for a lot of food too.
Came back with huge bag of shoppings.
Made a resolution not to travel with amateurs and Ls.

Came back to a series of exciting movies, Captain America, Green Lantern, Planet of the apes, Harry Potter, Transformers.
Finished True Blood, Modern Family, Game of Thrones, Falling Skies altogether before school commences.

July - September: Relaxation
Another semester starts with projects and FYP.
All relaxing because of many long holidays heading to recess week
Job hunting with rejections
Nostalgic return to HSBC to interview Betty and Vin Seng
All of my electronics failed simultaneously: Watch, phone, laptop.

September - December: Presents and Events
-The climatic winds changes its directions, the eventful monsoon season starts.
For the good or for the bad, everywhere floods.-

Recess week at a fun chalet, haven't had a good one for a long time.
Stuffed a lot of good food in my mouth with chairmeh
Spilled milk incident-no harm done
Again, made many friends doing torturous projects together

Nigel's wedding
A long exam period but still had fun in betweens
SNSD Craze for me and my friends over their concert
Bought Iphone 4S: my first apple product and an exponential drop in laptop time
Baked lotsa stuff: Macarons, choco tarts etc
Completed a few books and many comics

I didn't realise 2011 was such an eventful year! It seems like a really long time, especially the third quarter. Things turn out to what I didn't expect them to be. Good or bad, it's tattooed on me.

As I enter my year of Quarter-Century, the wheels of evolution spins even faster. I already expect changes that ripples the rest of my life but I'm not really sure if I'm ready.

To a better year 2012!

A series of weird dreams

2011-12-29T11:24:00.001+08:00

A series of weird dreams just now when I was sleeping and waking continuously for an hour.

D told me not to give up and forget about it.

My C group of friends agreed to go California for our group trip. Haha

Somebody got pregnant and somebody thought I was the one who made her pregnant but it was the ex boyfriend.

I woke up late for the buffet that I was going today.

Hah I fantasize too much.

A bit of Xmas here and there

2011-12-25T21:46:00.007+08:00

First trial of Matcha macaroons turned out really nice!
Its one of my best bakes yet!

It was quite accidental coz I had leftover ingredients from my cheesecake brownie and I didn't want to waste them so I just made them quickly.

Matcha macaroons with cream cheese filling.
What most of my friends described

"The saltiness of cream cheese came out, followed by matcha flavour which lingers at the back of the tongue"

Also tried Brownie Cheesecake for the first time and turns out really good too. The chocolate i worked with added a very nice touch of cocoa butter to the brownie and the cream cheese I mixed in complemented the sweetness of the brownie.

It is time for more Matcha bakes

Set lunch at Chef Daniel's kitchen which is really value for money: Soup, Main and dessert for only $16.50.
I ordered Grilled Sirloin for the main, which is well marinated and prepared and the vegetables are surprisingly soft but crunchy!

I had a lot of bubble teas too, with promotions.

Grass Jelly milk tea at Shiny Tea was not bad and you can get another fruit tea for an additional $1. I also had Peach Melon fruit tea at Sharetea and you get a free melon tea with a purchase of large Peach Melon fruit tea. Hee hee.

I didn't expect Xmas presents this year but turns out I had really a bit of presents!

haha. Cindy and my sis gave me too! Wow!

I was expecting a normal day today with normal dinner but there were so much food on the table! A Xmas feast!

Guess my parents also felt the festive mood too.

oh to add to the festive mood, I coloured my hair Copper. haha

Buys from US

2011-12-23T23:29:00.003+08:00

Before I forget, I just wanna show off. Haha

The pile of clothes I bought from US in summer.

My collection of Kor water bottles, also from US.

My limited edition Star Wars X-wing

Judgement

2011-12-20T19:55:00.004+08:00

I feel like I am judging my friends too much. I really should stop it and reset because I am stereo-typing them even before I meet them.

Or shld I not?

After all everything is lesson learnt.

Taurus especially. Stubborn, inflexible, proud, don't like to admit they are wrong. And when they make a mistake, just keep quiet, make no sound, expecting others to make the first move. You didn't even say anything to me and you go around telling others what you should have told me and you expect me to know?! Can you not be a stone-head?

I just hate it when people take me for granted. Not that I think I'm a big shot or anything, its just they expect me to be so ever nice or forgiving or what. Some people just like to take advantage of me. and some even have the cheek to turn it into an arrow behind me.

Fine, if that way, so be it. Don't expect me to do anything extra anymore. Seriously.

no whining

2011-12-15T20:07:00.002+08:00

I just went for a dip in the pool. Another pool therapy.

All these social media status updates or tweets makes us crave for attention and whine about tiny little things. When I look at things at a wider angle, I realized that some of them are irrelevant. Therefore I am going to stop whining like a girl and put some productive thoughts into actions. DO NOT WHINE.

One of those tiny little things like how I went back to school that day to find out that my mentor sent all the FYP samples to china without telling me and I have to do the 6 hour experiment from scratch. I wasted a day coming to school because I can't start the experiment in the sunny bright afternoon which I intended to swim and it rained heavily when I got back.
Yeah, I shouldn't care about small little things like that.

And then it also dawned on me that I was living my my past and it is very unhealthy. I have to live the now and look to the future.

The glory in the past is history.

Your future lies ahead.

crashed

2011-12-14T00:45:00.004+08:00

I just don't know what to say. After hearing what leeping told me about retard face getting called back to the company, the whole world crashed on me. Flat on the face. Its not the first I have heard. They called bird face back too. So should I feel sad or pissed?

I haven't been really depressed or sad or emo this semester because I was enjoying school life that I have forgotten what it feels like to be so demoralized.
Pissed because there are more capable and more deserving people out there who wants it more than them. Some people just gets things so easily while others who wants it more just needs to work even harder.

I haven't been doubtful of my abilities till now because there is only one ultimate goal after these 4 years: To get a good paying job.

So if other people can get it so easily without even trying, why work so hard for 2nd upper? why minor in business? why part time in banks?

What else do I need to do to prove my capability? Am I not capable enough? or am I over-confident? Did I over estimate myself? Am I doing things the wrong way?

I'm not going to say life isn't fair because it is like a kid just pure whining and not doing anything. I'm also not going to say anything bad about them because there's nothing I can do about it. I'm just not convinced that they should be there instead of me. Entirely, it is about me, not them.
But I believe in the principle of equivalent trade. Maybe its something that I use to comfort myself but it is the way of life. You gain something but you also lose something of equivalent value in a way or another.

The bright side is, at least I don't get to see their fface. But LP said I shouldn't discount myself because of them.

I will walk patiently and find the light at the end of the tunnel.
Reflect and reform. I hope optimism works.

bubble teas

2011-12-12T19:56:00.005+08:00

What I did today:

Went Jurong East for astons and library to borrow more comics. I wanted to go Central Library but my account was full already.

The bubble tea fad is starting to balloon again. There are more than 5 bubble tea shops in Jurong East itself and more than 7 in Clementi like Shiny Tea... Drink tea... I had most of them before in Taiwan. Guess its a matter of time before the bubble burst again.

I saw this at JE MRT!

Its from Taiwan and quite good. And they have healthier pink pearls!

Headed down to Yew Tee and tried this SOD bubble tea. I had SOD milk tea with grass jelly as usual.

They claimed "SOD is commonly known as SuperOxide Dismutase. It's an anti-oxidant that helps to remove toxins, prevent and neutralize various types of free radicals that damage our body. It also boosts our immune system. Today, all Singaporeans are able to enjoy the FIRST healthy and premium SOD Bubble Tea Series at SOD Cafe in Singapore which is a joint-collaboration by both Singapore organization, SOD Cafe LLP and Food Innovation Resources Centre."

Review: I had no idea it was tea coz I didn't taste any tea flavour at all. Mayb I should try their speciality greek yogurt milk tea.

Healthy bubble tea anyone?

So you think you'r superior?

2011-12-12T19:54:00.002+08:00

This is so sad but its so true.

Click to read and enlarge.

LHR with time

2011-12-12T19:34:00.004+08:00

Our sense of time is such an amazing thing.

We could feel that time is passing slowly or too quickly, its such an irony because time is actually a constant. Since we can't change the constant, we can change the variable, which is our speed, which is relative to time. To maximise it, output per time must be maximised. Ok i'm going out of track with all those engineering terms.

Anyways, all I want to say is I have a love hate relationship with time. Sometimes I want it slow, because I can slowly complete my things and enjoy the moment but sometimes I want it fast because I am waiting for something to be completed. At the same time, I want both during exams, because I want exams to finish asap but I want to complete my studying as well. During holidays, which is now, I want to slowly finish my comics and my to-do list but I also wanna start my school term quickly so that I learn more productive stuff.

For example, before today I had to complete my FYP interim report and I had lesser time to play. After I'm done I feel that I have much more extra time than I expected. So the moral of the story is.... plan your time well. But you will waste more time planning it. HA! Such irony!

Hi Apple 4S

2011-12-11T15:02:00.005+08:00

Social pressure comes in a phone.

An iphone.

4S.

White.

Which i waited for a month.

Because everywhere is out of stock.

I miss my walkman phone....
the radio
the walkman mp3
the number pad which i can press without looking
the number pad sms which i do not have typo mistakes due to fat fingers
the battery life which can last for a week on a single charge

the spiderman chain which i can hang

the small size that fits in my pocket

and I hate the new expensive plan which charges extra for caller ID. argh.

SNSD Girl Generation

2011-12-11T14:16:00.005+08:00

I thought I would never be a fan of korean pop but the concert I worked for yesterday was so awesome that I can't take my eyes off them on the stage.

Its unbelievable. Their star factor and energy factor was full gauge throughout the whole concert.

My friends came to watch the concert and they saw me work for the first time. haha. They also had serious withdrawal syndrome after that.

Its incredible that their dancing was so synchronised, the angles of their legs and arms are so equal and their timing was so exact it seems like they are robot, but there are some little bits of imperfection between them. Their dancing was the best I've ever seen and they maintained the same level of energy throughout the 3 hours.

Their songs are so catchy and they can really twist and shake.

omg the shoulder twists!!!

check it out:

Arrow of SNSD cupid shoot my heart please....

All pass

2011-12-07T21:03:00.003+08:00

I went for my IPPT for this year at the new Kranji camp, a short 20 mins away from my house and there's only less than 10 people taking so it was quite a fast and casual one. Although i was 20 seconds away from another $100, i was glad my SBJ improved (or issit the machine) but i shld have trained more for my 2.4. Oh wells, better than nothing.

I have so many stuff to occupy me this holiday!

I just spent $20 on baking stuff!
I bought matcha powder, walnuts, jelly powder, flour, soya bean milk etc etc...
I baked chocolate macarons yesterday and made beancurd today, all because most of my existing baking stuff are expiring by year end and there's still a lot left!

FYP interim report by this week and i am procrastinating A LOT. Sighs, i need to get rid of this super bad habit.

I have this stack of Spidermans that i keep delaying to read coz once i read there's nothing more for me to look forward to! I have ransacked most libraries of their comics and i have so little left that i haven't read.

I still have 3 sets of untouched gundams in my cupboard and my friend's giving me another. Heh. i wonder when i'm gonna set my ass down to do it.

I have Kingdom Hearts uncompleted in my PSP and i just installed 3rd Birthday. Seriously have no idea how to finish the games.

fyp injuries

2011-12-05T21:53:00.005+08:00

its really hard to type when you have an injured thumb. To make it worse, an injured 4th finger on the other hand makes it even worse to do everyday chores.

Somehow i managed to sustain so many injuries on my hands while doing FYP. I was machining and filling and grinding my aluminium pieces. And it makes it hard to type my interim report so i will postpone it. hee hee.

I always get the 'no directions in life' kinda feeling during the hols. Its like sandwiched between studying and working. You can't really spend money because you do not have a job and you can't really study because school hasn't started. And I believe this is one of the last time I'll be having a really holiday holiday so might as well holiday totally. heh. ok.

Maybe a short trip somewhere will make this holiday fulfilling. But again, financial constrains.

after exam comics

2011-12-05T01:14:00.002+08:00

I love our public libraries.

So many new spidermans to read after my exams

Money vs FYP

2011-11-30T23:23:00.004+08:00

Dear Ernest

My dept needs help. Can you ?
Hear from you.

Best regards,
Manager
__________________________________________

Hi Manager,

Sure, when do you want me to come in?
I can start on Friday 2 Dec.

Best,
Ernest

_______________________________________________________

Ernest

Much as I would like you to come by and help us but your stay with us is a little too short. I needed someone who can stay with us longer and in the meantime I have found a candidate who can start work immediately. It would be easier on the dept since training is required.

Ernest, so sorry I am unable to have you on board this time round and trust you understand. Hopefully, when you finally graduate, or maybe in your next exam break, we can have you with us if there is job opportunity.

Hope to you see you sometime again and in the meantime, have a good holiday.

Do pop by when you are free, maybe we can have lunch ?

Thanks very much for offering your help.

Best regards,
Manager
_______________________________________________________________________

Hi Manager,

No problem, I was also worried that I do not have time to do my Final Year Thesis this holiday.
Thanks for the opportunity and I'll come by for lunch sometime soon.

Best,
Ernest
__________________________________________________________________________

I was supposed to part time at HSBC for my ex-manager to gain some cash for a month.
Oh wells, no money but time for FYP and friends.
Way to look at it, money can be earned back but not time.

Exam doesn't kill you (stronger)

2011-11-30T23:10:00.004+08:00

"What doesnt kill you makes you STRONGER, stand a little TALLER, doesn't mean i'm LONELY when i'm ALONE"

Kelly Clarkson's What doesn't kill you (stronger) rang in my ears after my last paper just now and i feel totally awesome!!! Exams dun kill me! Neither does it make me taller.

This exam period was too long! I had a week long break in between when I did a lot of stuff like watch Tintin, bake, read comics, library and stuff. I hope I don't get punished with a C!

This is the 2nd last time I'm gonna have exams! Felt kinda sad thinking about it, I have so much free time to do what I want during exam periods. No project, no homework, nothing except information in the head. I can pack my stuff, rearrange my clothes, read comics, watch videos, pack my notes, exercise, more bedtime. I'll really miss exams.

I didn't have insomnia until yesterday, went to bed at 1.30am and I was still staring at the ceiling at 5.45 after I heard the sound of the first train. Totally terrible. I think it was the sprint training in the evening when I was training for my 2.4 that filled my brain with oxygen. Good thing is my paper is at 5pm.

I feel so awesome now.
I shall enjoy it until results are out. HAH

Exam

2011-11-11T18:59:00.004+08:00

First paper next week and i'm running out of time.

I am casting my laptop aside, no unnecessary online time.

Isolation for two weeks!

Full force enjoyment after that

See you guys 20 days later!

all the best, all the way. Gimmi lucks.

November presents 2

2011-11-07T16:03:00.006+08:00

Yay! I've got another freebie again. HAHA.

Yea all the money that flew away will come back to me in one way or another. The principle of equivalent trade.

Money flew away in a red packet yesterday when I went for Nigel's wedding. Good thing I had backup money to top-up when I did market research with my other army friends about how much to put inside. Now I wouldn't stoop to the scrooge's level. Haha. Pride and face.

The dinner wasnt too bad at all!

Meeting up after 3 years wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be and some guys never change with age. heh. I loved the Yam paste dessert so I'm gonna try make it myself when there's yam.

Its time to bake again! All my baking stuff are expiring by Dec!!! Argh!!! I'm gonna have so many cakes after exams.

11 more days to my first paper. Jia you jia you.

November presents

2011-11-01T22:57:00.004+08:00

November comes like a birthday. I had so many surprises and presents on the first day itself.

#1 The night before met woon for ice cream, she gave me a box of Tokyo Bananas from Japan! yay! but the matcha ice cream costs me insomnia till 4am.

#2 Lifeng just found a website that I can download graphic novels, both Marvel and DC. No need to wait for library books! Comics everyday for me!

#3 NTU gave all final year students quite a good goodie bag! Redbull, coffee, lotsa tea, tee-shirt, Frolick voucher, writing pad.

The best thing: No queue!

#4 Somebody is brave enough to let me trim his hair. OMG.

But I'm not new to cutting hair coz I used to trim my own and I have been observing my hairstylist for years and getting tips here and there from her.

And it turned out better than I expected! No uneven lines or what, just a neat trim and he's satisfied as well. =) mutually beneficial. He saves money I gain experience.

I provide good service ok. Free showering facilities and free food and "extra service". hahah.

Look forward to more cutting!

#5 Stef Sun replied to my tweet!!!

#6 It was sunny in the afternn and I was gonna regret not going swimming when it rained so heavily that the bed never felt so good. Half hour nap.

#7 Once upon a time and Walking Dead new episodes came out! woohoo

Happy day!

Happy November everyone!

All the best for my exams!

ready set

2011-10-26T23:53:00.005+08:00

Management report and Prof comm presentation are finally over!!

The only one left is Mech Design report and Design Optimization CA, so after the halt on FYP I can take a small breather before I go full speed on exams.

I am planning to complete my IPPT too, before I become too unfit to even get a pass. I have been binging too much food recently and my fitness plans have been postponed once too many. Now I don't think I can complete the fitness goals that I had set for myself at the beginning of the year, unless i work really hard.

Sketches of post exam plans have been drawn up, still in the rough stages and that include getting a new phone, working at my previous PT job for some cash and perhaps a short getaway somewhere.

I like having something new to look forward to, makes me wanna work harder for it.

input 2

2011-10-23T23:00:00.001+08:00

Breakfast at 11.30am:

Wanton mee

Lunch at 5pm at Tiong Bahru Market:

Char kway teow

Tutu kueh

Fishballs and fishcakes

Honey dew sago

Ching teng

Dinner at 8.30pm:

Rice, fish, pork, vege, sweet corn soup

Bobochacha

all inputs.

input vs output

2011-10-20T00:04:00.005+08:00

Output:

40 laps plus 2 warm-up swims.

Input:

1 big packet of rice with potato, vege and pork for lunch,
1 chicken cutlet with dory, sausages, grilled prawns and whipped potato +
1 lychee martini & baileys choco cake +
1/2 Choco fudge banana cake +
1 scoop of Rum & Raisin and Nutty Choco ice cream for dinner.

How to slim down like that.

planning for an apple

2011-10-18T23:28:00.003+08:00

Plans for a new phone has been postponed!

Initially I wanted to get the Iphone 4S once it lands in Singapore on 28 Oct... but November is the last second crucial time of my life in college so I cannot afford any distractions.

I still love my old phone but peer pressure..... haix......

30th November I shall own the Iphone 4s.
Unless i have no money.
Or I no longer have peer pressure. Ha.

Shocking week

2011-10-16T21:44:00.005+08:00

Tuesday
I wore shockingly bright orange tee and was attracting a lot of attention. Even in class, participated more than usual.

Wednesday
Super Shocking spilled milk incident. Lucky there wasn't any aftermath.

Thursday

I managed to finish my part of management report which I had procrastinated for so long, I sent to my partner to finish up.

Friday
I had to get the images in my CDR for FYP presentation but I couldn't burn anything in the CD. I was running out of time so I walked to buy another and the drive still couldn't detect anything so I gave up the images. and my lunchtime. tsk. FMLx1

I had Subway, Gelare Waffles and Texas chicken for dinner with Zhi Hui. Shocking big appetite.

I shockingly found this deals thingy (similar to groupon) that I bought for $76 a few months ago and it expired. I just threw away money. FMLTTM x infinity.

Saturday
I had a shockingly good and well-spent Saturday.

A lot of first times and round 2s.

First visit to Tiong Bahru Market, I had a lot of really good food!

This is round 2 lunch. plus dinner.

Fishballs!!! Nice and cheap.

Prawn and pork rib noodles $4

Mango Pomelo jelly with ice jelly! $3.70. Added tadpoles for $0.50 .

shockingly cheap desserts

Wonderful ching teng for only $1.20

First time on the circle line to Holland V, which is really convenient. Mille Crepe (bad) and Frolick for round 2 desserts.

Oh and I bought some vitamins for my mum with some voucher and I discovered they forgot to give me the discount when I glanced at the receipt on the train. Now I have to go to their store for refund again. tsk. FML x2

Sunday
I went to shock somebody at his house and he treated me to lunch at 5pm.
Enroute home I stopped over at Bukit Panjang Plaza to collect my vitamin but they were outta stock so I have to go back another day. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. FML x3

2 big shocks when I got home. My aunt moved house and somebody gave her a 47" TV but she already have a big TV so she gave to my dad when he went over today. He carried the whole thing home, put it in his room and its GIGANTIC. We already have a 42" in the living room. I have no idea why we need 2 BIG screens at home.

And he cooked dinner: Bah Kut Teh and chicken rice which were shockingly really good. I had a craving for BKT since I saw the BKT at Tiong Bahru yesterday! Really good Sunday dinner

Learning from Calvin

2011-10-13T19:39:00.003+08:00

Stole this from my friend's blog.

getting caught

2011-10-12T21:35:00.005+08:00

You can do anything, just don't get caught. -learnt from army

I had my share of epic exciting and awkward moments today.

Was almost caught doing what I wasn't supposed to be caught doing with a friend.

Luckily there wasn't any drama or what, just plain old me being smart.

All thanks to spilled chocolate milk and coolness.

2011-10-08T20:42:00.004+08:00

I have really too many things to complete.

- Mechanical design report

My group have to design an electric car and write about the various mechanical designs like the steering mechanism, suspension, the entire car frame to support, the reinforcements, the impact testings and safety factor. Less than a month to complete and I haven't even bought the logbook.

- Management report

A report on management, I already interviewed 2 managers and still have to find journal articles to analyse and support.

- Professional communication presentation

Prepare a presentation on cultural differences

- Nano tech lectures

I have already missed so many hours because I have to do FYP

- FYP

I have to do a lot of lab work that takes up a lot of time. and a presentation every 2 weeks.

-Exams

is less than 2 months away. I'm so dead.

SAVE ME.

Bye Steve

2011-10-06T23:24:00.005+08:00

You created ideas and tortured engineers, in a good way i guess.

Although I don't own any apple products YET,

isad

breezy afternoon

2011-10-04T20:59:00.003+08:00

i dun get the K.

its so... bland and weird.

I'd rather eat something good.

I love the weather today!

Raining heavily in the early mornings and it was a goooood sleep.

I had planned to hit the pools in the afternoon but it was still drizzling, but really breezy!

Comfortable and sensational at first, but the temperature went up and it was a weird feeling. bleh.

I am so tired i feel like sleeping now.

I am a vampire

2011-10-03T23:06:00.003+08:00

One of my uncles who watched me grow up reminded me that I love to bite things, even when I was a baby in a cot, I will bite the bars.

yeah, I had this vague familiar sensation of biting into some rusty steel and the taste lingers in my mouth.

My cousins and I grew up together, so everytime they will leave me and him in this cot and I will always try to climb out or bite the bars. And when I have nothing to bite, I will bite him and he will hit me back then I will cry or bite harder.

Or he will hit me first and I will bite him.

I guess that's why I'm not afraid to bite stuff. In fact I might secretly enjoy biting.

I am a vampire.

i need to...

2011-09-30T17:09:00.005+08:00

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS

I felt like I haven't done any substantial since the start of this semester, when it is so crucial to my grades. Its like I'm holidaying all the way!

I need to stuff more knowledge into my brain!
Do more tutorials!

FOCUS FOCUS!!!!

Chalet

2011-09-30T00:11:00.003+08:00

I haven't had a chalet for a long time and I'm finally back after a 3D2N at Aloha Changi, which is 10mins from Changi Village.

A really secluded place, but the chalet has a good seaview and has 4 rooms so everyone slept comfortably throughout.

First night: BBQ, the food was catered and really good coz they were properly cooked and marinated. And i watched them burn a coconut into an exlixir. I did not join in coz it was too juvenile but I did dance around the fire.
We played Citadel till 3am in the room.

Second day: Brunch at Changi Village, the famous Nasi Lemak (I have no idea how to tell a good one) and Citadel again, bridge, and cycling. We went from our chalet all the way to East Coast park and ate Carl's Jr. HAHA
Luckily we reached back before the really big storm came. I was totally so shagged from the 5 hour cycling.

Third day: Nasi Lemak again, checked out and home. I had to interview my HSBC manager for my management report and collected my precious lappie on the way back!

I MISS MY LAPPIE!
but its not the same anymore coz everything is erased. Sighs. ~$257~

as the cold wind blows

2011-09-26T23:29:00.001+08:00

Sunday.. Just recovered from the drinking session the other night.

I went to my PT kkw's gym with kenny coz I have maxed out my weights at home and I need a quick boost in strength.

It has been so long since I worked so hard till my body's so sore I can't lift my hands to wash my hair in the shower!

The night was still young on a Sunday so I drove over to disturb chunslut in hall and ended up me checking my emails (my lappie's sent for repair, remember?) and watching TRUE GRID, which was really good.

He prevented me from going home halfway the movie and then it rained so heavily after that.

If I hadn't felt so tired after the gym I could have resisted.

He totally sucks!

The storm was so big, the wind so strong and was blowing me away!

I had to wake up for the chalet the next day, no choice, i drove back in the storm after the movie ended.

At least there was a happy ending.

Exhilarating experience to be covered in the wild storm. I supposed its my first time in it.

Mission Chivas

2011-09-24T17:04:00.005+08:00

Now I really understand how alcohol can affect your brain.

I was talking non-stop and ideas keep popping into my head and words just flows out.

and I was doing stupid stuff like yoga poses and asking the rest to do it.

The hangover I'm having now is seriously no joke.

Once you cross the line, you will never get it back.

My liver is screaming!

costs of maintenance

2011-09-24T16:41:00.002+08:00

Why are my electronics failing on me!!!

Phone: $47
Watch: $55
laptop: ~$200
I am so devastated my lappie is gone for this week.

Future expenses:
Nigel's wedding: $___
Px's wedding: $____
Clothes for the wedding: $___

Please rain money.

guys and office wear

2011-09-22T20:36:00.006+08:00

The season of career finding and networking events have already started and I have way too many of my engineering friends wearing office/formal wear and damaging people's eyes and think that its okay.

Come on, guys beyond the age of 21 are over the my-mother-ask-me-to-go-home-early or the my-mother-say-cannot stage. If you are still in it, you get a free embedded 'LOSER' label on your forehead. Its time to grow up and get your own stuff.

Why all guys my age MUST own at least ONE set of good formal wear or office wear.

What is formal/office wear?
1. A clean crisp formal shirt
2. A pair of fitting business pants
3. A matching tie
4. A leather belt
5. Black leather Shoes
6. Blazer (optional)

The problem:
"Oh I don't need formal wear because..."
1. I can borrow from my brother/father/uncle
2. I am not wearing office wear for work
3. I seldom wear it

1. If you want to wear oversized, over-washed with fading colours, white-turns-yellow clothes, yeah sure, go ahead and borrow from your whoever. Not only will you look like them, people around you will think you are them. Never ever borrow whoever's clothes, old or new.

This not applies only to office wear, when you know you are going to stay somewhere cold for a while like 2 months in California, Berkeley, never just have ONE single jacket for 2 months or even worse, your brother's old ugly grey oversized adidas jacket that looks fake. Heh.

2. Unless you are your own boss or you don't wish to get promoted to a manager next time, you are probably NEVER going to miss wearing formal office wear. Meetings with the directors, meeting customers, awards ceremony, just to name a few.

3. If you sound like this, you need a life. You probably don't get invited to friends weddings (don't get me started on how broke I am) or to friends'/company's celebrations or parties.

How to choose?
Shirt must be fitting. Not tight, not oversized, shoulders lines and arms width very important.
Pants cling on to your waist and legs, not too tight or baggy.
The first rule is that your shoes must be the same colour as your belt.
Larger sized people, as usual, dark colours has slimming effects and vice versa.
If you need more height, vertical stripes.
For classic, white shirt, black pants, black shoes and belt and a coloured/pattern tie.
For more information, look at magazines.

Where to buy?
Shirts and pants are easiest, in increasing prices, there's either off-the-rack like G2000, Uniqlo, Zara, or custom-made or high-ends like Zegna or Boss.
For blazers, I don't trust those far-east tailor-made shops. For normal sized people, I'd rather get it off the rack - Topman, Zara because they offer various fits like slim-fit.

Studies have shown that how you look during an interview occupies a large 85% on whether you will be employed by the company. You can talk well, have good results but if you don't wear well during interview, you lose out to people who wears better.

relativity

2011-09-17T23:07:00.003+08:00

Time passes slower when you are faster

Physically - yes, but you will be breathless but can be trained

Mentally - yes, you will tire out, but it can be trained too.

that's why I think fast all the time to save time. And i don't wanna be physically fast all the time, i like to stroll.

____________________________________________________________

i realise my sense of humour is dropping in direct proportion with my age.

but its weird, age shouldn't be in relation with sense of humour.

hm... whatever. its time to brush up!

phone and socialising

2011-09-17T13:50:00.004+08:00

The invention of Iphone and other smart-touch-screen phones have definitely changed our way of communcation and socialising.

I have long noticed these changes in a lot of my Singaporean friends who switched to phones like these.

For example:

Having dinner with people and you'r busy typing away on your phone.

Or whatsapping or facebooking or twittering when the person beside you is talking to you and you'r totally oblivious to everything else.

Hm... I can't judge them right away, mayb they have a multi-million business deal they have to conduct over the phone, or mayb its a matter of life and death.

Oh wells, I'm so glad that my guy friends remained much the same after their phone change and this is definitely a reminder for me after I change my phone.

Well balanced

2011-09-09T17:49:00.004+08:00

Eats this week: (with slutty muffin lover)
Pork Chop Rice
Moon-cakes
Tom's Palette Ice Cream
Had 2 fat men feast.
Ice cream chef is quite disappointing btw. Only 5 flavours in a small shop, the ice cream is only average. Tom's palette is still the best ice cream around!

Workouts this week:
working out and running directly, every alternate days.
I'm increasing the reps coz my weights are already maxed out.

Eating and working out, eating and working out, all adds up to ZERO!

oh one more thing. I HAVE NO MONEY!!
Some went off with the bearish market and some still on credit with friends.
Such a bummer to control my spending. Fortunately or not, I can't buy any more clothes/bags/shoes because I have bought enough this summer so all my spendings goes to food.

and the whole cycle repeats.

first job rejection from Shell

2011-09-08T00:06:00.001+08:00

Dear Ernest,

Thank you for your interest in pursuing career opportunities with Shell, and for taking the time to submit your application for Employment.

We have carefully reviewed your details; however, we regret to inform you that we will not be progressing your application further at this time. We will keep your resume on file and will inform you of any suitable job opportunities that may arise in the future.

If you would like to reapply for any of our other opportunities, we ask that you wait twelve months before submitting another application. This will give you sufficient time to gain additional experience and/or qualifications.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to give individual feedback.

We wish you every success as you launch your career and thank you again for your interest in Shell.

Kind regards,

Shell Recruitment

Wake me up in September

2011-09-01T21:31:00.005+08:00

Oh how I love Septembers.

The change of seasons

The nice weather
The falling leaves
The cool wind
The full moon
The mooncakes
The recess week
The midterms

Time to really catch up!

weirded out

2011-09-01T20:55:00.002+08:00

The months of July August September of every year are always the weirdest, especially the chinese seventh month. Not those supernatural kinda weird but its the things happening to me and around me.

They always turn out for the unexpected and life changes dramatically after that, and it always these few months that made me so uneasy.

Things could happen even while staying at home, like my parents suddenly signed up for computer courses poof they have emails. I'm so afraid the next thing they are gonna do is becoming my friend on facebook. OMG.

Last friday i had FYP meeting. I totally went to the meeting unprepared while the Phd students prepared their individual presentations. After they presented, my group of FYP students went up one by one to present their individual projects and it dawned on me that I'm supposed to do a presentation too. BUT I HAVEN EVEN STARTED MY PROJECT AND I HAVE NOTHING TO PRESENT!! I was so anxious and freaked out and I was going through all the possible scenarios to explain to my professor why I didn't do my presentation.

I almost peed on my pants when the last speaker was coming to an end, and then I gave an excuse to go to the washroom to calm down. And then I was ready, I went out and saw them walking out of the meeting room. It turns out that the meeting room was gonna be occupied by another company and the meeting was officially ended... without me having to present!! and then my prof came over to say "xia ci ba!" (next time)

I was so weirded out. I dunno whether to feel happy or sad or wadever emotions. I was so stoned and then I walked away quickly in case he changes his mind and pull us to another meeting room. OMG 2.

on way to school I keep seeing people who I wanna avoid or don't wanna see. Argh OMG 3.

I had a good dim-sum date with Michelle but it was kinda an slightly awkward ending when I had to meet my friends for dinner. OMG 4.

My eye infection lasted for 2 weeks and swelled up to a hideous monsterous thing on my eyelid and exploded while I was sleeping and I still have the stain on my bed. It swelled to its explosive size during my "mini recess week" so I'm too hideous to go out to the public and exploded on the last day, just before school starts. Luck or what? OMG 5.

My parents suddenly went to Port Dickson for the long holiday but I had too much work to do. When the cat's away the mouse comes out to play! Ha I had to do my own meals for 4 days, which is not a heavy price to pay for all the freedom I have. Like I can get home at wee hours without disturbing anybody or I sleep naked till afternoon with the aircon and nobody to nag at me or turn off the aircon. OMG 6.

pre recess week

2011-08-22T21:13:00.004+08:00

Just when I was about to get my gears going the engines are switching off.

Union day on Thursday-no school
Free day on Friday (if there's no FYP meeing)
Polling day Holiday on Monday
Public holiday on Tuesday

Therefore, its holiday for me from Thursday to Tuesday! It's like a mini recess week.

I have plans to eradicate the flabs that are growing in size in front of my stomach that includes abstaining from sweet and fatty food. For the past 2 hours I worked out, jogged and worked out again. Then my father came back with butter crab.

super epic fail.

brand new day

2011-08-18T23:04:00.004+08:00

Guess what?

I am still suffering for jet lag!!

Yeah i know it has been for like 1 month since I'm back but I keep feeling sleepy in the afternoon when it's 11pm in San Fran and I can't seem to fall asleep before 3am.

there's so much things running in my mind i can't seem to concentrate on my lectures and all! Every night I go to sleep, thoughts will be popping up like shooting stars in a meteor shower.

I need to clear my mind out, leave my baggage behind and begin with a clear white sheet.

Then I can start a brand new day the upcoming semester!

and 整个场面我hold住!!

moving on from holidays

2011-08-10T21:47:00.004+08:00

ok fine i'm too lazy to finish my US exchange extries and i kept thinking if i dun finish i can't make new entries so i shall postpone those and start on new ones and carry on with my life. HA

SO FAR...... movie marathon

I was also surprised that I considered Rise of the planet of the apes is the best movie this summer! At first i wasn't so keen on watching it but all the reviews said that this movie is the best of the year and i certainly agree after watching it yesterday. Its a MUST WATCH this summer!

The rest are also great, CGI is damn awesome!

For TV series, I finished:

3 seasons of True Blood

1 season of Games of Throne

1 season of Fallin Skies

1 season of Vampire Diaries

so school has already started a few days but I'm still quite reluctant to go back. It seems that my holidays are so short!

The first 2 weeks when I'm back I was getting used to the time here but after that I suffered a rebound jet-lag. Now I can't sleep until 4am and I'll wake up at 1pm, even though I tried lying in bed at 1am but I kept rolling around.

Hm.. I need some Chamomile tea.

Las Vegas

2011-08-04T21:50:00.006+08:00

Vegas is SUPER AWESOME!!!!
If you go with the right company, it will blow your mind totally!
We stayed for 2 days 3 nights there and it wasnt really enough. HAHA but you will never wanna leave if you stay for too long.

HAHA there's a section of the Casino where you can play card in front of them. I suspect its a distraction so you will not pay attention in your game.
Anyway she posed for me when i was taking the picture, and i gave her a thumbs up and she tickled me. HEE HEE

The Brooklyn bridge in front of NYNY hotel

The Venetian! one of the most expensive hotels.

They have a Gondola river and artificial sky inside the hotel itself.

I was in Paris!

Excalibur hotel, where i stayed for one night

Chillin' along Las Vegas Boulevard

The famous water fountains of Bellagio! SUPERB million times better than Sentosa's

yea I won some money while playing Jackpot. I was left 20c and won $3.50. HAHA

Just need to tip the rabbit girl 1USD and you get free flow alcohol!

Yea i was a bit drunk after a few and kept talking to the rabbit girl. HEE HEE

The swimming pool at our hotel is FILLED with people and it looked exactly like scenes from American shows.

We had a free upgrade for our room coz our previous room was not serviced. YEAHHHH

I still think that Vegas was the awesomest city yet!

There's always something to do and see, even in the middle of the night you can go down and gamble if you can't sleep.

and there are a lot of wedding chapels here. HAHA

Los Angeles I

2011-08-04T21:29:00.006+08:00

Here's where i went after school officially ends.

We took a bus and train to Los Angeles and rented a car from there. There's no way you can get around California without a car, and then we set off to one of the best outlets in California, Desert Hills Outlets and stayed there for a night.

Outlets: where i spent A LOT of money

The next morning: Walt Disney Concert hall and Hollywood, which took only 3 hours to finish everything.

I've always wanted to visit this amazing architecture: Walt Disney Concert Hall

Hollywood sign in the background if you can see

American Idol finals are held here.

And then we head to vegas in the evening.

complain complain

2011-07-28T02:15:00.005+08:00

yeah guess my friends convinced me not to complain about it anymore.

I'm better than them in so many ways, complaining about their ignorance wouldn't do me any good. or them for that matter.

Its the truth
Not every guy knows as much as I do
and not every guy looks good in pink and plaid shirt like I do. Heh.

so don't try to pull off my style coz its not gonna work on you the same way its on me.

Yosemite Park

2011-06-24T01:54:00.002+08:00

I wanted to go to a National Park in the US for very long because they are, of course, entirely different from all the forests you can see in Asia and the landscape and climate is has also much more variety.

Two of us went coz the other's guy's girlfriend said she has a "bad feeling" and hen-pecked and no-backbone him withdrew from the trip. It was a 4 hour drive and it was my first time driving in such a beautiful scenery where its a sea of golden mellows everywhere along the route of California. No wonder they call California a golden state. So sunny and golden!!

We drove up the steep and windy road up the mountains and before we even enter the park the view was breathtaking. Huge waterfalls turn into rivers and huge mountains in the distance. We saw some unmelted snow on the ground too.

so we parked and explored the park and decided to hike up the yosemite falls. the upper one. The weather was so cooling that I didnt even sweat a bit.

It was a torturous 4 hour climb up and 2 hour climb down. My legs and body hurts so much, and that was that for the day.

Oh we stayed at Curry Village, which really like a campsite but with more amenities. they have like campfires and story tellings and there were no lights at all!

This is where we rested for the night and the night was FREEZING because we were like in a valley between two mountains. I think it went down to 0 degrees or somewhere near.

Second day was much simplier, we just walked and walked along the trails of the lower Yosemite Falls and we saw a deer along the way. I was hoping to see a bear or a mountain lion but no luck.

The whole park can be covered in 2-3 days and they have free shuttle bus from one place to another.
I love nature! Especially with pine trees all around, its so christmasy!

I hope to see some bears some day.

@ Berkeley 3

2011-06-10T14:18:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I feel like I should travel with myself or with my clones.

My friends have totally no ideas about anything. yeah anything at all.
They haven heard of
Abercrombie - one of the most famous clothing brands in US
or H&M - one of the most popular clothes retailers in the world
or Krispy Kreme - the best donuts in the world
or In n Out burger - US's best fast food
or LV/Prada/Hermes are EUROPEAN luxury brands and not american
or Greyhound - the famous US coachbus
or Glee or Forever 21 men or Old Navy or American Eagle
or how to cook spagetti
or What/when is INDEPENDENCE DAY
or what is an outlet
or what is Froyo
or what is the pearl in bubble tea made of. No clue.

Totally. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to 2 cave aliens from another planet and bringing them around earth or around San Francisco, when I'm there for the first time myself.

Serious?!?!?!?!
They are already 24 years old and they have no clue about such things?!?!
Have they been living as a fossil!?!
where have they been all these while!??!

Most of my uni friends (also in engineering) know about all these stuff before we talk about them. I mean, these are some very basic social stuff you need to know at the very least while you live in this world of commercials and retailers.

I sound like I'm very knowledgeable but there are far many who knows more than me.
I think this trip is really an eye-opener for them, but to me it feel like bringing a 24 year old to Sentosa or Orchard Road for the first time. I'm sorry for being harsh but to me its irritating to talk to somebody with a different wavelength and I need to explain almost every meaning of the words I said.

"Oh, there's a plaid shirt in H&M which has a nice cutting!" - huh what's plaid and what's H&M and how to tell if its a nice cutting?

@ Berkeley 2

2011-06-06T08:27:00.009+08:00

I take back my last sentence.
I guess its just a matter of getting used to the new environment.

so far I've been adapting well in Berkeley!

The climate
yeah it is really cold although its considered summer, but the residents said that it is one of the coldest summer they have experienced and it will get warmer in June or July. The unexpected rain was caused by the tornado in other states and it was raining these few days. and cold. When the wind comes it feels like the exam hall aircond blowing right at your face.
I have to wrap myself with a thick woollen blanket every night to go to sleep and i hate waking up in the morning coz its so comforting to sleep in. HA
I LOVE to bathe in the hot shower but i hate stepping out.
I LOVE a cup of hot chocolate in the cold morning.

Its a love-hate affair with the weather. But I'd choose this weather over Singapore's anytime. At least I wouldn't sweat even if I ran a few hundred meters. but my finger and toes are cold all the time.

The Town
Well, Berkeley is a really small town. The supermarket, Target is 40 minutes away (imagine you have ride 40 minutes just to get your groceries) and everything is so sparse. Talking about groceries, Ben n Jerry's is SO CHEAP! 2.99USD for 1 pint!!! OMGGGG. we bought a lot.

(huiting! there's ben n jerry's in FROYO!!!!!!)

There's a train called BART but its really expensive, like $8 a ride to San Fran.
The bus comes at 30 minutes intervals.
It made me appreciate the small city of Singapore even more, everything is right at your footstep - Train, NTUC, Malls, Cinemas, clinic, everything is just so convenient.

oh the view from my house is really amazing.

The People
They are really friendly and random. I always have interesting bus rides. Once I was waiting for the bus and some random lady came and asks me for relationship advices. WHAT? do I look like a relationship advicer to you? But she's really friendly anyways.

The School

UCB is really proud of their bears.

Their cheer is Go bears!

Their student link is called bearfacts

Their STARS is called telebears

Their edventure is called bspace

and they even called their wireless airbears

who would get a name for their wireless networks!? and they even have a UCB merchandise store right in front of the school, selling everything UCB and bears related.

Oh I've met many international friends along the way! My HRM groupmates are french and mexican, we love to learn each other's vulgar languages.

In one of the supermarkets, I met this cute taiwanese girl who used to live in Malaysia studying at a british international school, currently studying at Beijing University, doing an exchange here now. And she introduced me to her friends, 2 Hong Kong guys and another cute Japanese girl who loves gundam as much as me!!
She promised to visit me in Singapore and bring gundams along. HAHA

San Francisco
Its just a 45 minutes bus ride and its free for all UCB students! So far I've only explored the CBD and the shopping district Union Square and fisherman's wharf. I haven been to other places, but its a shopping heaven here. I wanna buy everything back!!

I'll blog about my weekends next up. Now its time to study for midterms. hais.

I'll start on my video project soon.

@ Berkeley 1

2011-05-25T13:32:00.003+08:00

I don't know about later, but right now i'm slipping into a mild depression.

First day into arriving at UC berkeley, super jet-lagged, lack to sleep totally and it doesn't help to have a sucky accomodation the first day i came. But right now its much better, except that I have a room-mate.

The courseload is so heavy because we have to complete 15 weeks of lesson in 6 weeks.
I have 1 group project, 1 personal paper, 1 reflection paper to write for HRM.
I have a 2 page, 3 page and 5 page paper and a final exam paper to write for my other course.

I'm feel kinda lost in this foreign land and it doesn't help when I have 2 other friends with no direction sense in the beginning.

Maybe I held too high an expectation before I came.

This summer has got to be the worst summer ever.

packing

2011-05-19T23:37:00.001+08:00

Hi Society I'm back but I can't hang around because....
I HAVE 2 MORE DAYS LEFT TO SAN FRANCISO AND MY LUGGAGE IS STILL EMPTY!!!!

BUY BUY BUY
PACK PACK PACK

later.

exam period

2011-05-02T00:21:00.002+08:00

I have to really work hard now and isolate myself from the society.

See you guys in 20 days.

exam time

2011-04-24T20:53:00.006+08:00

Am I going to say I hate school now?

Nah, on the contrary I do enjoy school.
I'm not the kind of person who will say that I hate school because of the countless projects/assignments that WE ourselves procrastinate to do in the first place.

and yes, I have the amusement park ride project left, due next week, that I have been telling myself to do but constantly delaying. Not because I don't know how to do, but I'm just not sure of how to express them.

oh btw did i mention i changed my flight details because of my friend? yea I'm taking Cathay now, transiting at Hong Kong.

My Cathay Flight is confirmed:
22/5 8am Singapore to Hong Kong to San Francisco
10/7 1.30 San Franisco to Hong Kong

and stopping over at Hong Kong for 5 nights - its free so might as well. I'll be hanging out with very random friends also. ha

15/7 Hong Kong to Singapore!

anyway exam's in 2 weeks time and I hardly have time to prepare.
Needless to say, see you guys after a few weeks! and gimmi lucks.

Uni Clique

2011-04-17T21:40:00.004+08:00

I realise I seldom talk about my university gang although we hang out together all the time! Its weird coz its a norm and you don't realise it until they'r gone.

My college clique has a lot of dynamics because we are a mixture of very different characters, but very balanced. We have like almost every typical guy in the group.

The smart one is a walking wikipedia who knows about ANYTHING random under the sun. The history of Sikh culture, Taylor swift's music, the life of a Issac Newton and he's damn smart because he analysis everything. The only thing he doesnt understand is relationships. haha

The slow and innocent one is a person of diamond-strong willpower. He can study for 2 days straight without a wink of sleep and go for exams and he loves studying overnight in school. And he's a devoted christian. HA. If he wields the green lantern ring, he will be unstoppable. But he's too slow to jokes and too innocent.

The manly one is a very muscular hulk. Everything should be manly and all he think about are girls and sex.

The himbo doesnt know anything but wans to know everything. ha. He's a funny character whose luck runs out everytime.

Another is the total opposite. His luck is unlimited. I dunno how he does it but he always does it.

The solo one does everything himself isolated but share his results.

Me? I'm the random mixture of anything. Music, clothes, history, internet, gundams, spiderman. yeah baby.

MIA

2011-04-12T22:39:00.003+08:00

I really hate people who act MIA: refuse to answer calls, refuse to reply to messages.

Where is your sense of responsibility?!
you think I enjoy waiting for your reply?
you think just because you don't feel like replying means you can make people wait for your replies?
AT LEAST GIVE A NO OR SOMETHING!

so damn irritated.

waiting and waiting.

2011-04-10T19:59:00.004+08:00

The projects are yet to be completed!
that's sadly inefficient.

It's kinda weird that I'm starting to like attending lectures. The lessons are a little interesting, but what makes lectures likeable is talking with friends, which I will definitely miss after graduating (unless I further my studies).

Weekends are such a bore with so much work to be done, but unfinished because we are constantly waiting for something. Waiting for the results to be confirmed. Waiting for the final product to confirm. Waiting for the airline to issue the ticket. Waiting for berkeley to confirm our classes and accommodation.

I misss walking around Orchard. I have not stepped a foot there for.... 2 months at least. I have been saving my money for shopping at the US outlets, which makes orchard look like a mama-shop. And I have already bought something there online and sent to my friend's place. hah.

Bye bye money.

ongoing projects

2011-03-31T23:29:00.004+08:00

Engineering Design Project:
Requires the design of a theme park ride for kids in lieu of Universal Studios. Somehow I have a hitch that it is a commercial project in disguise.

Systems Project:
Requires the design of a dynamic control system for a car travelling along PIE.

Lab Project:
Requires the findings of the effects of free and forced heat convention over a flat/pinned/finned plate, and comparing correlations like Reynold's number and Nusselt's number theoretically and experimentally.

Engineering Analysis Management Project:
Requires the formulation of a business plan to combine our 4 individual businesses using replacement analysis and rate of return.

Berkeley Project:
Requires precise planning of flights, coordination of timings and course matching. I am a little irritated at my troublesome friends. One has serious sticky girlfriend issues, literally, and the other just has... no issues at all, he just doesn't do anything about anything until somebody tells him to. But I shouldn't be complaining coz I'll be spending 2 months with them soon. haha

I am planning to transit for 2-3 days at Japan, Tokyo for the return trip to see what's its like over there. Rarely you get the chance to see how a city recovers and how the citizens react to the aftermath of a natural disaster right? There shouldn't be any deterrence since most shopping centres in Tokyo are open for business already.
Maybe I should also transit a few hours during the stopover to eat and shop at Narita Airport.

Life is good with freedom.

cravings

2011-03-28T23:20:00.003+08:00

Wow it has been long since I last did this:
Beer with the boys and hanging out at Clarke Quay till dawn.
My body clock needs some twitching again.

I keep having bubble tea and frozen yoghurt cravings nowadays!
An ultimate combination which keeps me happy the whole day. haha

and I feel like baking the perfect tiramisu right now.
Ok when I am more free.
Maybe end July or something.

so what's currently going on with my life?

2011-03-23T13:19:00.002+08:00

Hm.. nothing much, just school and more school, other than there's nothing much exciting stuff until after exams.

Regarding Berkeley, I'm still trying to match one more of my core modules but I'm still on waiting list, and when I'm on waiting list I can't request for my Visa document, so I hope it'll get settled soon enough. Housing is settled, we are still working on the expensive flights to US.

The 2 other friends I'm going with ain't interested in travelling after the summer school, so its quite a bummer for me.

I mean when you go to such a faraway land on an 18 hour flight you might as well maximise the opportunity to explore the place right?
And his only constrain is that he doesn't want to be apart from his gf for so long. What a reason! Mayb I don't understand his position but I think it too ridiculous to have such a superglue relationship.

I don't mind travelling alone but its always better to travel in a group for economic and safety reasons. Well there's always possibilities that my cousin will be visiting or I can make travelling friends there too. Regardless, I have already planned to optimise my time in California eventually. heh

Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-13T16:48:00.004+08:00

Adjustment Bureau is quite a good concept movie - action, adventure, romance, comedy, but the editing of the movie and wide camera angles made it easily forgettable and doesn't leave a deep impression. Nice movie overall.

I'm hooked on Matt Damon's movies since I caught Adjustment Bureau and my friend told me the bourne trilogy is super good.
and it is SO TRUE! I can't believe I missed the Bourne Trilogy in the theatres!

Bourne Identity
Bourne Supremacy
Bourne Ultimatum
The Informant!
Invictus

Next few:
Good Will Hunting
Talented Mr Ripely
Hereafter
Greenzone
The departed

He is super talented! I watched him change into different roles in different genre of movies. The way he walks in Bourne, his accent in Informant, his different build in Informant and Invictus, its like a whole different person altogether. Not only good in acting, he's also one of the few who studied at Harvard before dropping out for his career.

So much in one person!

2 week break

2011-03-08T18:16:00.002+08:00

Plan reduce-90%-online-time failed terribly. There is no easier way out than to pull the plug on the modem. But i'm not going to do that. ha

I have finished a few movies and the 2 entire seasons of Modern Family, which i absolutely love! Season 2 is ultimate funny, sometimes i wonder if my neighbours think i'm insane from laughing so loudly.

And this week is elearning, next week is recess, so lets welcome the two weeks break into my schedule, BUT at least 50% comprises of studying time.

ok study time. Bye.

closure

2011-03-08T17:26:00.004+08:00

I guess I need some closure instead of an endless tornado of rage generating every time i think about it.

I'm fine with not appreciating my gestures. But not appreciating, plus bitching about me on a single event based on your own ASSUMPTION is crossing the line big time.

You wanna talk about being calculative? You wanna talk about being petty? Well look at the mirror before you judge. I guess I don't need to answer to anybody or clear my name.

This is not a matter of whether you have true friends or not. Its a matter of whether you have superficial bitch friends or not. So what's there to lose? I have everything to gain to have bitches out of my circle.

Henceforth, rather than hurting my inner peace and emotional spectrum, I shall move on from generating negative energy and channel all my strength into something more productive in my life so that I will live better than you in the next decade.

There will be nothing more to talk about.

Case Closed.

Refresh blogskin

2011-03-02T15:20:00.002+08:00

Yeah new blogskin after so many years.

Check out the Da vinci Spidey background.

Check out the new reaction feature below: you can click your reaction to my entries.

heh.

Any comments?

Berkeley Summer Sessions Application Received

2011-03-01T21:57:00.003+08:00

Thank you for applying to UC Berkeley Summer Sessions. Please read this page carefully and print for your records.

Your Application ID is *******
You should receive your Confirmed Class Schedule confirming your enrollment within two weeks. The Confirmed Class Schedule will be sent to you as a password-protected attachment to the email address you provided during the registration process.

IMPORTANT: If you do not receive your Confirmed Class Schedule within two weeks, please contact Berkeley Summer Sessions immediately.

MySummer (https://mysummer.berkeley.edu/mysummer/appStatus.php) is your student portal for document transactions and updates with Berkeley Summer Sessions. You can upload required documents, change your transcript address, and check your status. To access MySummer, you will need your CalNet ID. Detailed instructions on how to create your CalNet ID will be sent to you along with your Confirmed Class Schedule.

Remember to visit our website (http://summer.berkeley.edu) for updated news and information, and to familiarize yourself with Berkeley Summer Sessions policies.

Other useful links include:

Frequently Asked Questions
http://summer.berkeley.edu/student-services/faq

Deadlines Calendar
http://summer.berkeley.edu/registration/schedule

Enrollment Changes
http://summer.berkeley.edu/student-services/change/drop/add-course

Refund
http://summer.berkeley.edu/registration/refund

Transcripts
http://summer.berkeley.edu/student-services/transcripts

scthefkingbitch

2011-02-20T14:24:00.003+08:00

YOU F**KING BITCH. Calling you bitch is degrading the word bitch.

go ahead and spread fake rumours about me, why not make up stories along the way? oh, right, you did.

see who's calculative? I barely remember the joke while you treated it so seriously.

what? do i care about that few pathetic cents?

and who's the petty one who remembered the incident so clearly?

Do you want to return me the few hundred petrol royalities for these few years and the fine that i got that night? did i even bother mentioning?

If you don't appreciate my efforts, fine.

Take a look at your freaking pathetic self in the mirror and ask what have you contributed to the group? Other than the time that your demure self desperately wants to get drunk and volunteered your own room? OH speaking of which, who was the one who provided the vodka and didnt ask for any payment? YOURS TRULY, U F**KING BITCH!

I hope your sorry ass be stuffed with karma for the next million lifetimes.

I am so glad I knew this side of you that made me NEVER regret leaving the group.

a little hiatus now

2011-02-10T13:58:00.004+08:00

My results are hanging on very thin thread now. Less than nano-meters thin.

Therefore I have to focus on my studies now so that I can somewhat maintain my grades.

That means reducing online time by 90% and weekends are studying times.

Less blogging and less FB.

ciao, till the next time i blog.

Oh wait... one more thing

Taylor Soh-Swift was so awesome yesterday night

Ernest Alsoh-Swift

CNY 2011

2011-02-07T21:29:00.005+08:00

As usual, annual trip to Port Dickson during festive period for 4 days. I have to wake up at freaking 5am in the dark to go on the roads as compared to my usual 11am. -_-

Overall it wasn't as bad as I have expected, just that some of my cousins didn't return this year because my uncle's 8 seater was stolen which is kind of a wet blanket coz i only see them once a year.

What we mostly did was play with cards and 出老千 to make the younger one lose and distribute the cards, play street fighter on the laptop, eat lotsa fattening goodies, drink lotsa sugary soft drinks, bathe and sleep.

The young one is really super funny although I cant recall half the jokes he said.

I didn't know throwing rocks into the rain pond could be so fun. haha

and we walked around the usual place

yeah i see them only once a year. The kid is growing so fast!

Contrast to the rainy season in Singapore, it was really sunny with some cooling winds so I had a really good tanning session for 4 days. heh.

so its back to school now...

I have a feeling I'm taking over the 4 hour drive the next time we go back.

New Room

2011-02-01T19:10:00.003+08:00

Ikea Micke Table $109
Ikea Billy Bookcase $219 + $50 delivery
Wardrobe $479
Bed and Mattress $599
Paint $103.50
Rug $29.90
Drawer divider $1.50

Total: $1590.90
Within my budget of $2000

I had the fun of painting half of my room as well as assembling the Ikea furniture which is like Lego!

A Gundam shop in my room, no space for my Lego thou.

Ikea Billy Bookcase cum display cabinet and storage cupboard which i painted

this is what i call The Bench and The Shelf

Ikea Micke Table with 2 long drawers

Comics on the table.

My wardrobe is too huge to be in a picture. My bedside table and the rug

My grooming shelf in my wardrobe.

two four

2011-01-27T23:03:00.002+08:00

This is one of the best birthdays I've ever had for years!

Not because today is a fulfilling day (it was rather boring fyi) but because all the happenings all around which made me super excited.

Firstly,
I AM WORKING FOR TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Secondly,
I APPLIED FOR SUMMER EXCHANGE AT BERKELEY!!!!
HELLO US IN SUMMER!!!

Thirdly,
MY NEW ROOM IS COMPLETE AS OF TODAY!!!!
And today marks the first day of staying in my own room for the rest of my days in this house. I love building Ikea furnitures!
The room itself deserves a post of its own, next post.

So what i did today:

10am: Visit Dentist Daniel Tan, my twin to complete scaling of my teeth
My teeth is completely clean today!!

12pm: Lunch at NUS with somebody

1pm: Comics@Library

3pm: Finishing the room.

Thats all for today. Nothing much fancy or anything.

The horoscopes are really accurate man! 24 is really a major revolution for me and i can feel more life changers coming.

This year is GOOOOOD! Happy birthday to me!

2nd IPPT

2011-01-19T23:13:00.003+08:00

every guy in uni or work cringe at the sound of the 4 letters.

I.P.P.T.

After training hard last year, I succumbed to flu and other illnesses this year and stopped training, not even once this year.

Nearing my birthday which falls next week, I booked a weekday slot just to test the waters and determine my standard.

Surprisingly, my SJB remained the same! that was my first station and it was a pass, so I breezed through the rest of the stations except running. It was quite a feat considered I was still coughing and having runny nose along the way.

then it was the 2.4km run. On the third round I was already out of breath and feeling terrible and I considered walking at the 5th round. I was left with 1.55 minutes for the last round and I was on the verge of puking already.

I never felt so terrible before, having running for your life and being sick at the same time. My lungs and the whole wind pipe was burning in hell flame and my concrete body resisted my leg movements. My stomach churned like a hurricane and the vomit was at the edge.

I told myself, I do not want to take this again and even if I took again my SBJ will not be so lucky. So I pushed everything aside, mind over body, neglecting the puking feeling and dashed for my life for the last few meters.

VOILA! PASSED BY 3 SECONDS.

$110 deposited in my bank account and I'm happy with that.

Lesson learnt: Don't take your IPPT at the last minute in case u fall sick. (like me)

Cousins outing

2011-01-17T22:52:00.003+08:00

Peperoni pizzeria at Greenwood Ave

HUGE and GOOD PIZZA! yums

straight train to NYC

2011-01-17T22:23:00.008+08:00

I was on the underground train platform in Singapore and i can't believe my eyes when I saw the train route. There was a New York City station. I took the next train bound for NYC and after a few hours I was at the subway platform at New York City, clearing the customs and it was snowing and so cold!

I was so excited and thrilled that there is actually train from Singapore to New York and takes only 5 hours which costs around S$20+!!

I still can't believe it so i took the train back to Singapore to tell my other friends. On the way, I was wondering how they built the train system then somebody told me the train was underground so it can travel very quickly. I waited for my friends at the station and went to NYC again to play in the snow.

It was so convenient that I can just go to New York City anytime I want. Some of my friends rejected the idea because they are afraid of their english language and some of them thinks the train ticket is too expensive.

and then i suddenly woke up.

It is time for an overseas trip.

wall painting

2011-01-15T21:36:00.004+08:00

Painting walls is not fun at all. I spent the last 2 days painting half of my room.
First 2 coats of white base, followed by 1 coat of white for white walls and 2 coats of blue for blue walls.

It involves a lot of ladder climbing, art work and detailed painting. I was so relieved it all turned out very nice and i was too lazy to do a wall painting of spidey which i intended to originally.

I was sick for the past week. Flu, throat inflammation, cough, blocked nose all attacked my body system simultaneously and i was hoping to get well naturally but it didn't happen. So i went to the doc's today to get some antibiotics, which had immediate effect so i could be well enough to train up for my ippt which expires next week. argh.

and the house is undergoing a revolution, everything is just so unsettled and temporary. Well i hope everything gets finalised and settled down before school starts, or latest by CNY.

Furniture shopping

2011-01-12T23:48:00.002+08:00

I took the car and spent the whole day furniture shopping all around Singapore for my room today.

I bought the paint, the bed and a rug eventually, confirmed an Ikea desk but I still can't decide on my wardrobe and book shelf.

Wardrobe - sliding doors or swing doors.
Sliding doors are much more expensive than swing doors, but saves more space and more stylish than swing doors, but swing doors fits more into my budget for a wardrobe!

Book shelf
I'm just having a flat desk for my table and keeping all my books and other stuff in the bookshelf, using them whenever needed. And I want to display my Legos and Gundams in the book shelf as well. Multi purpose as a display cabinet and for book storage.

Furniture in Singapore is really expensive and quality is not that fantastic either. Sighs. Its hard to find a satisfying furniture.

the two things i dun really like

2011-01-08T22:52:00.002+08:00

1. How are you?

How do you answer this question when people asks you that? We were taught in primary school to answer "I am fine" in a robotic manner. After growing up, "good" in a robotic manner. It's just another political standard answer that lacks personal touches and emotions.

What do you expect people to answer when you asks this question? of course you will predict/expect them to answer "good" or "busy" and not "bad" right? Its like becoming another "I am fine"!

I know it's a politically correct standard question that will not go wrong anyhow but it really lacks sincerity. It clearly shows the laziness of the asker to remember the last talked topic with him/her or the effort to point down to certain subjects. Its okay if you rarely see the person, but its not if you work in the same floor and see the person at least twice a week.

Better suggestions:
Are you coping well with your new job/place/desk?
will I see you at the meeting?
so what are you eating for lunch later?

All in all, it is not a good question BUT it is the right question to ask when you meet people. Just like my next point.

2. Handshakes

Same as 'how are you', first times are okay, but subsequently... its seems a little insincere. Not to complain, but Lionel and I shook like so many times for my farewell I can't remember the number. It seems so weird coz we know each other so well and its still a handshake. Ya, I know there'r no other ways right, hugs are too er....

Better suggestion: ok i can't come out with one except hugs which seems inappropriate.

Internship

2011-01-07T23:16:00.008+08:00

so.......... today was my last day of work.
Well, effectively second last coz I'm going back for a day in February.

Not as I expected, I was squeezed dry from morning to late. We were supposed to end by 4.30pm but I worked till 6pm. As a result I didn't do my proper farewells but hey, at least there's one more day in Feb. haha i doubt i'll do much also.

Concluding this internship, I was most fortunate to have the best supervisor an intern could have. We were comfortable and open with each other, although most of the time he does the talking.

I wasn't sad to leave my friends coz I know we will always hang out after that, but I will miss Lionel and his kids on his desktop. Every time I see their picture the world suddenly lights up. haha. No, I am not a paedophile like what my other intern friend call me, but Brandon (one of his kids) really resembles me when I was young! Another colleague commented that Lionel and I looked like each other again just now.

and of coz I'm happy to at least resemble my idol in looks.

Why is he my idol?

Good(rich) family background? he was sent to get a degree in US when he was young. Just imagine sending somebody to study in US in the 80s.
Check.

the brains? He finished his masters in Australia.
Check.

Fitness? Previously a national squash player, he gyms, runs and golfs often.
Check.

Looks? resembles me.
Check.

Character? Speaks really well, everyone loves him.
Check.

Financials? a few properties, 2 cars, promising career.
Check.

But too bad, girls.
He's happily married with 4 kids. (did i mention 2 twins?) and his wife is the homemaker. To me, he's a living example of my dream future.

I'm really inspired by him, the way he plans his time to balance work and life, and the way he uses words to smoothly transit from one topic to another without awkward silences. One thing is he's too business etiquette routined - a lot of handshakes and phrases that comes out of the ten year series book of business etiquette, and losing the personal touch or style.

I've also learnt A LOT about business reporting from him. He's really good in presentation notes and i'm good in generating the graphs so I helped him in most of his presentations. To be frank I think i'm quite careless in some of the work.

Anyway as reluctant as I am to check my results, I promised to update him about my grades so there is no way out. I haven't checked my results for a year now. Maybe I should get somebody to do it for me and i have a rough idea who to ask.

I guess since we are each other's first time (sounds wrong) er... I mean I'm his first intern and he's my first intern supervisor, the firsts are the hardest to forget so I'm very glad to keep in contact with him through coffee or whatever. OH I forgot about the Korean boss. He asks for dinner this Thursday which i don't know if he'll remember. But i'm sure he will forget about introducing his daughter to me. -_-

Until then, I might be organising some gathering.

Overall, it was the most enjoyable semester yet!

Work + fun + treats + idol + friends = Internship

depressed

2011-01-05T22:09:00.003+08:00

First week of 2011 and i'm depressed already.

firstly, this:

It is seriously the best romantic comedy I saw although it left a very traumatic residue inside my heart and will stay there because there is no answer.

WHYYYYYYYYYY IS LIFE lIKE THATTTTTTTTTTTT

Its highly recommended for all young adults.

secondly, just as I am breezing through the handover Lionel dropped a bomb on me last minute and I have to implement a major change to one of my projects. I have to add another layer of hard effort before I leave. Not the kind of news i'd like to hear at this point of time and it doesn't help when the new guy has serious short term memory.

I am vexing over my supervisor farewell gift/card or whatever. or should i not?

I had my farewell lunch but it was on corporate credit.

I mean he's really nice and all but I'm slowly being replaced by the new guy and its not really necessary right... or maybe i don't weigh as heavy as i think.

hm... i have to do it by tmr.

first 2 days of new year

2011-01-04T19:42:00.004+08:00

On the first day of new year the first thing i did was to visit the hair dresser to trim my hair. and then it was steamboat with the usual gang at taka! yayness.

it was on the first day of 2011 that i discovered my new allergy to prawns when my nose started itching and rashes appearing on my face. I guess lesser crunchy and juicy seafood for me this year.

On the second day of new year I had a wonderful baking session.
5 items on the menu:
Chocolate banana muffins
Banana crepe
Chocolate Macarons
Egg custard tart
French apple cake

Looking back 2010

2011-01-02T22:22:00.005+08:00

Well first half 2010 is kinda boring, except for the beginning of the year.

January to May: School
Needless to say, totally loved the Osaka holiday which marks an enjoyable start to the year.
And more studying continues
I developed insomnia during exams
The cooking interest begins to unleash inside me.

May - July: Summer Holidays
Worked part time at HSBC and got to know more people
Experienced the Raffles place life
then something changed in between
Oh and superb Jay Chou's concert of the year
I also applied to Ford Japan for internship but they closed down my position because of bad debts
BUT I got accepted into ExxonMobil

July - December: Internship
Internship at ExxonMobil doing marketing with the best supervisor an intern can get
Nice working environment, culture and people including the korean boss who likes me a lot. Ha.
I met some nice fellow internship friends and bond quite well, considered I was the only guy in the interns corner.
I applied to INSTEP to exchange at Canada/Sweden but couldn't match my courses for next semester
But luckily there's still GSS UC Berkeley to fall back on.
More baking continues towards the end of the year when I was on leave, meetups, BBQs and dinners.

New friendship forged, old ones remained, some faded-certain reasons, but overall its all balanced.

Well I certainly hope 2011 packs many great stuff for me and a notch higher than the last!

Xmas season

2010-12-29T23:59:00.004+08:00

Xmas eve was rachel's surprise bdae party at mc donald's. First time i attended a birthday party at mcd (iirc) and luckily the waitress was funny enough to accommodate us 'kids'.

XMAS IS ANNUAL (not for last year) CHRISTMAS CHOIR (indoor) BBQ! Thanks to songern and his family for preparing the food for us beforehand and booking the pit.

This year was special because of the rain, we had an indoor BBQ so we actually cooked the food on the stove instead. well, his parents did. it was so wonderful.

and WE FINALLY GOT TO CAROL!!

WELCOME BACK CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!

less pear.

Boxing day was meet up with Agnes and PX, and i bought myself a nice sweater which can be used for my US exchange next year. haha.

and till the rest of the year, i'll be on leave! no working till next year!

lemon meringue - fail

2010-12-25T00:38:00.003+08:00

First trial lemon meringue pie fail

I just found out the reasons

The container of white powder that usually contained corn flour was replaced by potato flour so i used potato flour instead of corn flour. That explains the meringue and the lemon liquid.

I didn't check the acidity of the lemon curd. It was way too sour for human consumption. Too much lemon juice. check.

i used the wrong kind of eggs. The very small eggs does not contain enough protein in their whites to form stiff peaks when beaten. thats why meringue is so runny.

but the pastry crust was unbelievably a success! Its so nice when eaten on its own and its my first time baking a pie tart pastry.

ok nxt one will be good.

working weekend

2010-12-19T17:10:00.004+08:00

I was thinking about work this whole weekend although I did went out for some xmas gift shopping yesterday and supposed to hang out with another group today but it was postponed.

so I got up today to complete some work in the afternoon because i knew it's going to keep running through my mind until I've finished it.

yea I was a little bored today, all my shows like walking dead, gossip girls and glee are on halt because of the holiday season, might as well do some productive stuff like work.

I can foresee myself as a workaholic next time.

Xmas cookies and card

2010-12-17T23:34:00.004+08:00

Lionel's wife baked xmas cookies for everyone in the department and Lionel gave me a hand written Xmas card.

THAT IS SO SWEET AND NICE!

Really touched at the fact that my supervisor's wife actually made cookies for me!
and my supervisor gave me a personal xmas card with his well wishes.

In return I bought candy-canes for his family. He said his 4 kids will LOVE them.

I will wish to post a picture of the cookies but i dun think it'll look as good when it comes out of my body.

Intern + Supervisor Xmas Gathering

2010-12-17T22:12:00.006+08:00

You know you have to do something when your supervisor mentioned "hey we should have an interns and supervisors gathering" on 3 separate occasions and the Korean boss asked for a xmas gathering.

So, I chaired the event, asked everyone for a free date and send calendar invites to 13 people. Nobody knew who's gonna pay for it because its difficult to split and the 4 interns were prepared to go dutch, or worse still - BUY for our supervisors.

And then judgement day is here.

the afternoon Lionel pulled me into a room to pass me some department xmas gifts.

L: hey so what's the program later?
Me: oh just a simple xmas dinner, are you okay with that?
L: yup i'm fine, but since its an unofficial event you know the company will not be paying right? because every department has their own financials and its difficult.
Me: yup, we know we expected it.
L: or are you all buying?

He must have seen the look on my face the split second i hear that. I swallowed.

Me: Er.... we don't mind la.

Game Over.
Well done, myself.
Now i think of it, i should have said something like...Good idea, should we? or we'll leave it to another day? or i hafta ask the other interns first.

so i went back to announce it to my other 3 supposedly-good-intern-friends and they thanked me. Thank you, in our intern terms means thanks for paying. I was so stressed up the entire afternoon i couldn't do any work. I have already made reservation at Brotziet, a german bar and restaurant with mains starting at $20 and beers starting $10.

1 intern + 1 supervisor = $80
1 intern + 2 supervisors = $120
13 people = $450

i got ready my gloves to wash the dishes after the dinner. Nearing the dinner time, the korean boss came over and i was a little bit relieved that he was going. Well he's the one with the corporate credit card.

Fast-forward, I was thinking, heck! just have fun first and stress later. I was in my natural high because I was chairing the event. K boss ordered everything and we all had beer. Pork knuckle, sausages, seafood appetizers and beer. Super wonderful and sinful combination, but it was really worth it. SO GOOD. The company was exceptional, a lot of laughing and interacting.

ok i said i will never drink in my life but alcohol is never unavoidable, especially after work and exceptionally especially with a korean boss. Once your glass is empty, another glass automatically comes up at his order.

My body system is very sensitive. Not having touched alcohol for a long time, i feel the maximum effect of the alcohol. I wasn't drunk, it was only beer, just high and babbering almost non-stop at the table (i think). Its not over the edge, just taking more than usual.

The bill came, magic dusts and fireworks appeared on my mind when O KOREAN MIGHTY ONE whipped out the credit card which shone like a golden sun over the horizon and hand it to the waitress.

I am so glad everything worked out in the end and everything went smoothly. Except for the fact that my corner of the table didn't have much to eat and went home feeling a bit hungry.

and another thing. I'm feeling the effects of talking too much then. I wanna take back some of the things i said, like how i have a lot of free time or how i wanna join the company, because my supervisor just opened the flood gates of work.

Customer visit

2010-12-15T21:03:00.004+08:00

well, i really dun have anything to say after meeting the customer, its kinda boring for me while both of them do their magic talking.

and then after they asked me how was the visit, I really don't feel anything. Mayb i was expecting a bit more or issit because of a culture shock.

it kinda opened another world to me when i know what Lionel's doing. He's really the expert, the pro, the everything who is good at talking and moving on to our objectives smoothly without the customer or me realising it.

Seriously he is the expert to learn from. I have infinite to learn from him.

prof visit

2010-12-15T00:05:00.004+08:00

So my prof texted me at 3pm asking me if he can visit at 5pm. what else can I say?

I think it was my first important exam-like event for this semester, i was a nervewrack. I can't concentrate in work after the message and thought he was a scary guy, but he turns out to be a very serious person with a kind character!

i wonder what Lionel and him talked about in the room for so long while i was waiting outside.

well, I have no worries coz Lionel is the best supervisor an intern can get.

and i wonder whats in that envelop that Lionel passed to him after my interview. Might be some voucher or something for the visiting prof as a gift. even the visiting prof have a gift. I bet visiting friends have door gifts too.

and then I met huiting for dinner! yay!

anyway I'm gonna meet a big customer tmr and i'm really excited!

EM DnD pictures

2010-12-13T23:03:00.003+08:00

Here are my DnD pictures!

The theme was masquerade, we went as pirates coz we interpreted the mask as our eye masks and pirates are in the victorian era too. My idea. heh.

Anyway the costumes were rented for $50. Good thing we went to Lynn's house to change first and she drove us to Marina Oriental.

Mi and Cindy

Our table!

This is the Korean boss, aka my future F-I-L, who forced us to tattoo our faces with the same flower as him. He likes me very much.

Bonus points added for me!

Oh anyway he came as a genie which is so cool! and won one of the best dressed. He took out his hat and mask in this picture thou..

This is Lionel my supervisor and my idol (Story for another day).

Many people say we look alike. I look like a younger version of him and he looks like an older version of me.

He haven wore this bow and tux since his wedding like 10 years ago. heh.

I won a $60 Haagen Daz voucher, and a set of portable chargers.

The first few prizes for lucky draw were ultimate good. Mac book air... Ipad... Xbox... Dyson air multiplier... $750 Marina bay sands voucher... 2 night spa and stay at Banyan Tree... so on.

It was super fun and entertaining and full.

interns BBQ

2010-12-13T22:35:00.003+08:00

Did i mention i love to BBQ?

the exhilarating effect of starting the fire
the heat of dancing flames
the sizzling of first trials
the excitement of food getting burnt

and of course, the friendship bonding!!!!!!

last saturday was my first BBQ of the year (if i remember correctly) with my fellow interns and scruffy the dog.

The food was catered and the chicken wings were best ever. very well marinated and fully cooked. We had tiger prawns (my fav), shitake mushrooms, hotdogs, chicken chops, bacon, otah and mashmellows!

it was one of the perfect BBQ where there were minimal leftovers and well cooked food and great fun even though we had 7 people and the place had mosquitoes at night.

and then we went Lynn's house to play wii till 3am. ha

Annual Choir Xmas BBQ is up next!! YAY

Company Perks

2010-12-08T21:03:00.007+08:00

HALO WORLD I'M BACK IN ACTION!!

I have finally finished my last hurdle of internship: the report and logbook. Report is done while logbook is 99% done while the due date is next week.

I'm also extending my intern till mid jan (i think) and then school will rock and roll.

My company has been treating me very well thank you, my supervisor is my idol, and i have received many perks like....

$100 shopping vouchers after winning something at an event
$60 Haagen Daz vouchers after winning it at DnD
$30 popular vouchers for completing the attachment
$20 starbucks card as a doorgift for an event
and i have tonnes of chocolates at my desk after winning at my team bonding event

Right now I really have no idea how to spend them. Haagan Daz is ok, but i dun really buy books at popular and i don't drink coffee. oh wells, at least they do not expire within these few months so i can take my time to think how to spend them.

AND THEN there are the company lunch and dinner treats

The DnD at marina oriental,
the other day my supervisor treated me to carl's junior for lunch
the next day my event committee treated us to dian xiao er with 2 herbal ducks and we only had 4 people
and dinner my department had 5 HUGE CRABS and more dishes at long beach for 11 people.
yesterday had a treat from Marg, whos our fun fellow colleague at taiwanese restaurant and we had 2 awfully chocolate cakes and 2 scoops of awfully chocolate hei ice cream which is simply the best chocolate ice cream ever.

tomorrow we are having lunch with another younger colleague at vivo and next week we are having an intern and supervisor xmas dinner at a german restaurant.

It is crazily sinful to stuff all the food. And i always suffer when there are food left on the table.

Colleague: hey there's one more crab claw/duck/chicken/beef/egg/ anythingonthetable!

another colleague: OH give it to the youngest!

*everyone looks at the interns*

Me: *pretend to be distracted/look for somewhere to hide my face*

female interns: no, we are full!

*everyone stares at me*

Colleague: Come on, you are the youngest guy intern, don't be shy.

Me: but I'm very full already!

Colleague: No, young man needs to grow!

the next thing it's on my plate and it happens ALL the time.

Till now i have no idea if its a good or a bad thing.

bz for IA

2010-11-28T12:43:00.001+08:00

I will be rushing my IA logbook and report for 2 more weeks before i officially have time to blog about crabs and the other things that went into my tummy.
stay good for the time being!

eat and eat

2010-11-18T21:41:00.004+08:00

so here's the thing.

it has not been easy for me, but it keeps rolling and rolling in my mind!
I think it just became worse because it is like venom, a parasite.
how i wish i can get my red and blue suit back.

Today we just got a treat from the company, Thai Accent at Vivo, which has the best thai food in Singapore. I am getting very fat from all the treating in the company.

Last week me and cousins went to Melben for crabs, which is superb because i haven been eating crabs for so long. I LOVE the crab thick beehoon soup and the oatmeal crab. Now i feel so crabby.

Tomorrow the company is having DnD at Mandarin Oriental.

Next week we are going bowling and seafood at long beach.

I think the company needs to provide a gym for fattening me.