The Sandman's Coffee Machine

back home, and still tender

2005-11-20T23:36:00.000+08:00

Sorry for being out for a while. Some updates would be good now.

Thanks to Grace for putting up some wonderful photos from my stay at the hospital over my birthday-weekend. That's taken on Friday night, after they wheeled me out from the operation theatre. Daren, James and Grace dropped by, and with a nicely proportioned mango cake too. Think they were looking forward to eating it, but seeing the sorry state that I was, they had to forgo any thoughts of me consuming any food that night, and had to go off without cake. Sorry guys! The cake's good though...

I had a nose job. Well, it was more like a blocked nose, but May likes to call it a nose job. Even my manager warns me the repurcussions of ending up looking like Michael Jackson. So anyway, my very good doctor (his nurses call him Angie) took one of these out. And without making any cuts! How cool is that?? Only complaint was that I woke up soon after the operation because of the constant chattering of the nurses in the operating theatre. They put me in some observation corner before I was to be wheeled back to my ward, just to make sure my condition is stabilised. But it really was kind of difficult to do so! Yak yak yak yak....

Some friends from the old workplace dropped by too. And they bought me birds' nest! Wow... those things ain't cheap. Thanks people! Also that huge fruit/flower basket that the bank sent. Quite sure that boss sent it. Cause he's the only one who asked which hospital I would be in. Am also quite sure there'll be tonnes of work waiting when I get back :(

And of course to my lovely girl who spent her entire weekend with me in the ward, on that dastardly uncomfortable chair:

Two Australians win Nobel Prize in medicine

2005-10-05T00:00:00.000+08:00

Is it actually possible? I mean, Perth Western Australia is really a weird place (says our new Nobel Prize winner. see paragraph below from story through link above). Outcast, out of reach, and barely noticeable to the rest of the world. The Sahara is probably geographically more accessible from the rest of the world than PERTH.

Somehow, after realising that the winners indeed from UWA, some strange tingly feeling came from within. A mixture of pride, amusement, and some green tea from dinner was felt. Maybe nice guys do win afterall. Even if its once in a blue moon.

So anyway, here's an except from the MSNBC article on them. Bravo!

The two researchers began working together in 1981. “After about three years we were pretty convinced that these bacteria were important in ulcers and it was a frustrating time for the next 10 years though because nobody believed us,” said Marshall, a researcher at the University of Western Australia.

“The idea of stress and things like that was just so entrenched nobody could really believe that it was bacteria. It had to come from some weird place like Perth, Western Australia, because I think nobody else would have even considered it.”

Give us our daily bread...

2005-09-27T00:57:00.000+08:00

Just posted a photo of my "that one" (since so many of you are bugging me for a photo of her), and some great shots of my 2-month-old trip to BKK. Had a relatively good time there, but wish it wouldn't drizzle on our boat ride though... Hopefully can go back there soon again. I was promised a tour-guide...

Seems like quite a few of us rush through the daily routine of work/NS/uni without much thought into planning for weekends/freetime/holiday breaks. Realised this when I was talking to Richard-the-Poh a few hours ago. By the way, I have to admit he does look cute and cuddly. But there's no way I'm going to do so at his neighbourhood coffeeshop. I guess its just stepping out of our comfort zone. If you feel dissatisfied, step out of your circle and do something for yourself. If you feel too lazy about it and don't mind lazing around, then continue doing so. Hey, there's no evil in being piggy. Just don't gripe to those around you about it, without any actions to support your whinings. I think they call it "procrastination". Sounds cliche right? Maybe a bit of deja-vu about it as well?

Well, I'm going to (try to) look forward to work tomorrow. My Indian colleague with the monotonic voice (he's a great guy actually) is going to coach me on some stuff, and that's probably going to form the bulk of my work from now on. Yeah! Give it to me!!! And I'm going to commit at least 1 hour every weekend to my Lego-cleaning+sorting project from now on. Estimated time to completion: end-2007... Maybe mid-2008

2005-09-27T00:36:00.000+08:00

It really was a sight to see him chug away. You think easy uh? You try to even hold a 1-litre solid glass mug in your hand! My wrist almost dislocated when I tried to lift it up

2005-09-27T00:33:00.000+08:00

For some strange reason, both Turtur-D (not Initial-D) and I felt the cup noodles on AirAsia tastes quite nice...

2005-09-27T00:31:00.000+08:00

Seems like fridge-girl sells little bunnies at Chatuchak market as well: "You wan? 1? 2? 50?"

2005-09-27T00:28:00.000+08:00

Yet another scandalous photo of the fridge-girl. (Daren can vouch for me that she forced us take this photo of her on the bed)

2005-09-27T00:27:00.000+08:00

Somehow a fridge salesgirl sneaked into our apartment trying to sell us the fridge. I think she's selling fridges in New York now

2005-09-27T00:25:00.000+08:00

Stayed at this FABULOUS service apartment. Beat any 5* hotel hands down. Anyday. Thanks Daren for the great lobang.

2005-09-27T00:23:00.000+08:00

Yah, TurturGrace and TurturDaren and Turtur went to Bkk couple of months ago. Sorry for not posting photos earlier. I went nutty at the Royal Barges Museum

2005-09-27T00:20:00.000+08:00

This is the ONLY photo I have of her. REALLY!

What did he just say to 'cher???

2005-08-21T23:04:00.000+08:00

('cher: slang for "teacher" in sg schools today)

Caught up with some old old friends (read: I knew them while we were in primary school. count that from 1986!), and one of them just started formally teaching in some primary school. That'll be kids ranging from the age of 7 (I think) to... whatever.

So ok, it is a sad fact that we have bratty kids with bratty parents who demand the world from schools today. Ranging from "How cum my chill-ren kannot speach Engrish poperly uh?" to the ridiculous "My son knows the number of our lawyer". What the..? Has our social conscience degenerated to this ludicrious level? Last I checked, it is not the institutions' primary affair to instill (MTG enchantment: one green) social values and ethics. Surely the parents don't expect their kids to learn what's right and wrong from the school? But signs of this phenomenon are hard to ignore.

My newly-government-approved-teacher-friend's-colleague ran this little exercise with his students: A drawing of an public bin near the letterboxes. The bin's overflowing with trash and the students were asked to comment on it. What he got were 2 sets of answers from all his students:

(1) "People shouldn't throw things into the bin when it is obviously too-filled up"

(2) "Why is the cleaner not doing his job?"

Plus teachers can't hit/torture/maim/vertical suplex the kids now, I guess those that continue to sign up as teachers deserve some commendation for their bravery and commmitment. As for myself, my kid better be complaining about too much homework and "evil" teachers when he/she comes back from school. And I'd personally hand out canes to my kid's teachers. "Feel free to crack them anytime."

Which brings us to the next headache: Are these same kids going to be part of this society? Or will they hopefully migrate elsewhere (with their bratty parents) and leave us alone? I guess England was facing this problem in the 18th century, and in 1787 used Australia as a solution. Best not let history repeat itself, cause I wouldn't give an Australia to those brats anyday.

Geeks vs Bengs

2005-08-21T22:21:00.000+08:00

A good friend of mine recently got hooked up with a new guy. Lets just call him "Brainy" (no particular reason). Quite unlike her previous guy (so she seems to say). So I was trying to give her some encouragement, that geeks are good. Whatever that last statement means. In fact, much better then "Beng-s". As a token of my partial geekiness, I've summed up the wise move that she has just made with the following:

"Geeks are a safe bet. Like blue chips. Can only appreciate in value over time. Whereas ah-bengs are risky investments. Never know if they'll make it big-time, or end up as some runner for a neighbourhood bookie syndicate"

As a token of appreciation in my kind intentions, she replied with this:

"hierarchy of the bookie world: Bookielet, Booklet, Book, Bookie Tua Tau, Big Book, Encyclopedia"

Of course some of us might be inclined to insert "Compendium", "Pamphlet", or even feminised-versions of those words (what's wrong with "air-stewardess" anyway?? why call them flight attendants instead?? More on that for another night of blogging), but we'll just leave HM to her cute quotes.

I guess its a natural reaction to rank everything we find. Nothing wrong with wanting to score a Big Book, then compared to a Bookielet who's fresh out of secondary school and haven't even yet gotten his first tattoo on his arm.

Holiday or not to holiday?

2005-08-11T15:25:00.000+08:00

This has got to be the best interview process ever!

Get in to talk to them at 8:05am. Get out of the office at 8:55am. Agent called at 1pm to check if I did wake up and made it for the interview. Agent called back at 3pm to tell me I got the job! And I start tomorrow!

Woohoo!!!

I think I'm happier working, then sitting on my bum at home everyday. No one would turn down a holiday, but I don't quite feel at ease without a job. Sure the daily 8am - 6pm will give me more grey hairs, but what's life without the excitement of all these ups and downs? Call me sucker for the melodramaticism, but hey... I lurve it! Can't wait to start work. Heh.

2005-07-29T00:27:00.000+08:00

More tulips at Araluen Park, Perth WA

2005-07-29T00:26:00.000+08:00

Tulips at Araluen Park, Perth WA

One more update... for the road

2005-07-26T10:05:00.000+08:00

No thanks to my boss, I'm forced to go job-hunting again. Oh well, guess its better to start now then to delay the inevitable. I mean, it was great at THE COMPANY. People are great. Female:Male is about 20:1 (ok, its an exaggeration. Maybe 12:1). Most people are nice. Best tennis courts on the island. What else can a guy ask for?

(Did I mention that I met someone special there? Very special...)

Nah. Better that I leave now then to rot in there. The job isn't exactly what I would want to do as a career, much less for the next few years. Might even go crazy by the end of the year if I stay longer. Will be missing a couple of good friends there though.

So anyway, here I go again. Except that there's this inertial that's holding me back. Laziness? I don't think I can deny it, or come up with a better reason for me not moving my sorry ass. My favourite job agent just submitted my resume for an opening. Sucky job, judging from the job description they sent. But the pay should be pretty decent. Giving tuition 3 times a week now too, so income should be pretty healthy for a while. My tennis buddies aren't too happy though. Especially my recent distraction (sorry baby!). Cause my weekday nights are booked up by tuition. Wish I can spend more time with her...

I need new furniture. Everything's a mess in my room. Grrr... Need to move out of the house soon... Then my room can be officially converted into a storeroom for my marder's trash. The Collector (ref: The Simpsons) pales in comparison with my marder.

Me and my Ah-Ma

2005-07-04T20:15:00.000+08:00

Thanks for this guy for scanning my 20+ year old photo, here's a little treat for you peoples. Nice eh? That's my grandma right there. With her grandson (that's ME!) there. With his favourite Nintendo GAME AND WATCH. Those things costs a bomb. 50 big buckaroos!!! You can get like a car for $50 back then! (maybe not a car. maybe a 500cc bike).

Hmm...time to make another trip up there. Heard from a friend who went recently that its still quite nice. Not too crowded and noisy. Plus its Malaysia!!! (S$1 = RM$2.2). Anyone?

Cameron Highlands (1982?)

Weird things that my friends talk about

2005-07-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

Here're some conversations that I just had with my friends today:

(1) ...talking about some buddhist temple / buddha statue in Bangkok...

yah... i hear that guy quite steady one... got 4 face.. one face one digit...

(2)... this one just appeared on my Messenger window...

ken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dickken got small dick

(3) ... this was referring to a female friend, who planning for a Bangkok trip with another guy and myself...

one of us: yeah, now that you're one of the GUYS now, we can go do guys stuff together uh? visit nightclubs, soak in those men's only japanese baths...

her: AHHHHHHHHHHH... NNOOOOOO. I'm NOT ONE OF YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!

anyway, there've been some not-so-good-news recently. need to try and perk up on life. hope you're having a better time at the moment. lemme know how things are going for you! write write write. leave a comment!

And I thought you people would take care of me as I've taken care of you...

2005-06-18T23:49:00.000+08:00

Dear People of me...

Wah lau, after knowing my fanatical attention to boh-liao details, why is it that no one mentioned anything about my spelling error? ("Discreet" was wrongly spelt as "Discrete". See upper right segment of blog).

Sigh... Is it just me? Just tell me I'm the weirdo one around here that nickpicks on all the out of place words, the lines that don't run straight, and the asshole drivers who don't signal when they change lanes. I don't think we'll shorten our lives if we get mad at the people around us. Perhaps they really do appreciate the effort that we put in when we put out their mistakes.

Hey, if I know that someone told me I could be wrong, I would be more than happy to hug and kiss and shake his/her hand. There's nothing better than to improve oneself, and even more so when others show concern towards you!

So please, send forth any criticisms that you all have buried under all these years. (Except Naomi. You save it under a .doc file first. I'll create a new gmail account for that).

[Special note 1: This mistake was pointed out to me by someone whom I've never met, but have conversed online sporadically. Its nice to talk to someone who can be open about everything, yet be fair in her judgements and opinions as well. Though she's a tad ... umm..... simple.]

[Special note 2: Of course it is also possible that because of the impossibility of physical repercussions that she would (dare) point this out...]

sick (semi-mega flu)

2005-06-16T19:49:00.000+08:00

sigh... i need a new nose, or some new medication that'll give me instant cure for this damn sinus problem.

a new nose would be better though... anyone knows where i can get one?

my dearest ah-mah

2005-06-12T21:41:00.000+08:00

My ah-mah (grandma) whacked her foot against something today. Well, not really whacked, cause she can't move that fast anyway. but she was kinda hurt by it, being 80/81years of age. So anyway, it got kinda swollen up today, so her foot now is in a bandage (courtesy of my mum). When i got back home after an afternoon out with the chums, she was limping around the house with the bandage semi-unravelled, looking like a modern day Egyptian mummy come alive.

:)

Of course i helped her put the rest of the bandage back when i saw one of them escaped from those National Geographic Egpytian special, and realise she's one of those fakes. And just when you thought she's so cute and adorable, she walked (more like shuffled) past me while I was banging on the pianoforte, this overpowering nauseating stench enveloped the 2m radius around me. I looked at her, and questioned the cute fiend from beyong the Nile. She denied it vehemently, and I wondered if it was just a trace of what she had left in the living room 5 minutes ago.

She's a sneaky one, I tell ya....

Short movie clips... worthy of storage in the Jedi Archives

2005-06-09T00:28:00.000+08:00

Personally, I felt "Race Car Wreck" was a bad stunt to play... (plus they aren't that great anyway)

pwoah. my Engrish has become more powderful! I have ONE Shakespeare now.

2005-06-08T06:55:00.000+08:00

yeah. good schtuff james. (But i don't regret almost screwing up my Literature paper when I was 16 though... hahaha)

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures."

William Shakespeare
— The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,Act IV, Scene III

2005-06-06T00:24:00.000+08:00

... sorry, but i HAD to take this photo (from some new condo showroom at Katong. hope they sold some of their units though)

2005-06-06T00:20:00.000+08:00

me getting lost in Shanghai.

2005-06-06T00:18:00.000+08:00

some wise words from Lao Zi

And if you guys want a preview, this is one of my favs from ALP (see post before this)

2005-06-03T00:19:00.000+08:00

Anyone know how I can squeeze the photo so that it doesn't spill over to the column on the right???

How I spend my past 2 afternoons in the office

2005-06-03T00:04:00.000+08:00

The creator of this comic strip is absolutely hilarious! I was literally laughing my head off at my desk for the past 2 days. My neighbour thought I was surfing some weird porn shit again... (but of course that's not true. NOT TRUE)

This guy has got good ideas...

2005-05-31T01:01:00.000+08:00

Sure the post sucks. The style of writing sucks. And the entire presentation just reeks of being cheeky to the issue. But he's heading in the right direction... (hiak hiak)

MC for the day

2005-05-30T19:13:00.000+08:00

Guess what. Went back to the office today, and was still suffering from the after-effects of yesterday's flu. Felt like I was swimming in my own.... (you get the idea)

Anyhow, off I went to see the doctor nearby. She's probably about late 30s or early 40s. A bit kooky and weird. With a very very very strong US accent. She looks like any auntie on the street, but that accent makes me feel somewhat edgy. Can't pinpoint what makes me feel that way, but that's one doctor which I don't feel quite comfortable with. Maybe its a good thing. At least I'll be thinking twice before getting MC again.

Now, the fun really begins once I got back home. EVERYBODY was online!
!!

That's the reason why I don't get to see THOSE guys online. Cause they're on during office hours, whereas I'm only on after office hours. Had a bit of a blast catching up with old friends. Miss you guys. But its not exactly good for my headache when I'm typing to 6 windows at once.

BTW, I've added some new links to the sidebar. Will do so from time to time. Seems that there are bored people in my company who chain-sends hilarious stuff on the Net. Should share around good things right?

The site meter's higher than I expected. Feeling warm and fuzzy inside

:)

Sad as it sounds, I'm happy as a bird (read as: big, yellow, sesame street)

2005-05-29T01:22:00.000+08:00

(Note: For all you overaged Sesame Street fans out there, I've got nothing against this big fella. Just feel like adding him here. Nothing to do with what I've written below)

Anyway, my lack of activity on this blog is making me feel uncomfortable again. So here's some new stuff about my non-typical week. I just love trying to be special and different from the common people. Maybe that's why they refer to the spastic and socially-inept people as "special people"

Came back from my trip to China. Had some hopes initially, but felt that those hopes were probably more based on false expectations and fluffy dreams. Got brought back down to earth pretty fast after meeting our "friends" there. Trying to do business, or even talk about business to those guys can be compared to drawing your own blood, with them smiling at your pain.

Not laughing... smiling.

Anyway, I'd have to admit that it really was a good experience. 5 days, 1+ grand gone, and 4 nights spent in 5* hotels later, here are some of the valuable lessons that I've learnt from my trip to China.

1) Book your hotels YOURSELF. If you get someone else to book for you, you're most likely going to spend too much, even though you may be getting half price off the normal rate.

2) If in doubt, grab a cab. No point asking the locals for directions. 80% of the population in major cities are as clueless as you are.

3) When travelling with a companion, make sure he's willing to step into nightclubs to check out the girls. If not, just dump him at some touristy spot where he'll be happy to snap photos like the rest of the tourists

4) If you're going to take a train, make sure you get the TIME, and DATE right. Or else you'll end up like me. Clue: I can now run very fast with my luggage.

5) There's nothing wrong with food sold at roadside stalls.

6) If someone tells you what she's selling is good food, ask her if she's tried it herself.

Anyway, I've got a couple of photos from this trip. Will post them on this blog tommorrow. My ass is too heavy to reach for my camera now. The bed is closer.

-----------------------------------

Archiving my fabulous (sounds gay-ish here) weekend!

2005-05-02T13:17:00.000+08:00

phwuah!

I love working Mondays - Fridays. Had a damn good Saturday. Went down to Tuas and did the necessary fieldwork. Completed the final touchups and the first prototype will be ready for collection next week! Woohoo! Finally... some concrete advancements in this project. Somehow I had a sneaky feeling this might turn out some really good rewards (and of which, I refer to $$$!!!, and maybe business experience and other cliches in those stupid ads that promote "creativity" (phui phui) and "entrepreneurship" (PHUI!)).

Anyway, was dead beat when I got back at 5pm, and for the rest of the day, some really bad stuff in the air gave me flu. Those that make you feel like a leaky faucet. No. Not make you feel. Make you look like one. Eeshtch! Still managed to go out for supper with some friends. And as usual, one of them is complaining about his job: How he hates it, and if he should take up job offer A that is with another MNC (somehow he feels all MNCs suck, cause he's working in one now.), or with job offer B. How simple-minded can some people get!? You have one bad experience, and you brand everyone else that is similar to be bad. Sigh. I give up. I try to help, but if they can't even help themselves, there's no point for me to get exasperated over their problems. Get a brain dude. (And yes, I realise how condescending that sounds. You haven't met my dear friend yet...)

Sunday sunday sunday. I think I was lured into going to this Bookfair at the Expo. Freaking Expo. They had to move it out all the way to pre-Changi. And my friend whom I sent back with all her books lives in the West. Sigh. I think I should take public transport more often now. I probably spend less on my own food per month, then what I pay for petrol. Sucky selection at the fair, but less crowded then some other fairs that I've been to. With all the kids running around, you'd expect more crying, whining and falling down here and there. Hmm... Maybe after all the travelling that you have to take to reach that godforsaken location, they're already bushed. (heh heh). Got 2 books for myself (which I somehow gave to my sis cause she was in a bad mood.) Ancient Roman art and culture, and another on Byzantine artworks. Surprised that she took them rather willingly, and none of the "raised eyebrow to the weird brother" look. Good sign. Least she's not as boring as I thought she was.

Crazy mother woke me up this morning, and asked me to pick her up from the bus terminal. She (and 3 other similarly-brained aunts) took the 8 hour bus ride to MY. But she sort of liked it. Spacious seats, and rather comfy, so they say. Think I should try it for the next trip up to KL... Damn this low paying job! Finished up my 1.5 hour of tennis (not much actually... ended up picking balls for my friend on the distant end of the court), showered, and going to catch a nap before those crazy foreigners call me out again...

Snoozzleeeeeeyyy

anyone home?

2005-04-27T23:38:00.000+08:00

Yup. Thanks Yew-wee (sounds like) for reminding me that I HAD a blog. Not just to rant on, but apparantly because (quote) this turtur can write intelligently and interestingly enough (unquote).

!!!

Ok. My ego-universe is recording a net entrophy (how the hell do you spell this anyway?!??! enthrophy? enthropy? enthropy?) increase of some minuscule but quantifiable amount.

Life suddenly feels better.

Sigh. I guess its just what you make of it. Enough of my life. Lets talk about other people's lives instead (grin grin grin)

First of all: I think Miss Wendy Cheng (God knows why I even read her rants) needs to do something else besides being a celebrity. There's so much crap about and around her, she should be mistaken for a landfill.

Friend Turtur number 1: To have a friend like that really tests your patience. I'm not gay or anything like that, but I like to catch up with some of my closer guy friends. Even more so when I was studying then and commute (I love this word) between Perth and SG. Would email them before my exams, and meet up with a particular few within 24 hours of touchdown at Changi. Talk about their work, girlfriends/ex-girlfriends, family, anything under the sun.

But now? Sigh... bad words cannot contain or express my grief and disappointment. And sorry, bewilderment (ok, that's a bit too much). Call this turtur up, and ask him out for coffee. Nope. Not free. Tired etc. Another day perhaps?. Call up another day. Same response. Not literally, but you get what I mean. Repeated this quite a few times, but always the same response. Hey buddy, I don't fucking care if you have a girlfriend/boyfriend/parents dying problem. If you can't be bothered, don't even suggest to meet up another time. Cause if there won't be another time, don't tell me so.

Maybe I'm single, so time isn't really an issue for me. No worries, no contraints, no pressure. But there has to be a line where friendships should be clearly marked. Maybe I put too much time and energy and efforts into relationships with my friends. Maybe its just me?

Ok, lets move on to Colleague P (for Patrick Kuan). This fucker really pushed me to my limit. How things work in my company is like this: On Public holidays, no one comes in. But every team needs to have one personnel on duty to do some necessary daily work. This guy on duty has to work for 13 hours straight. AND (get this) gets paid double per hour worked. So effectively, you work one day, and get paid 2.25 times more for that day.

Right. So the day was up for grabs. No one seems to be interested. I replied to the email that was sent out (asking who wants to be on duty), indicating my interest in working for this public holiday that's coming soon. Its not a first come first serve basis, but at least you should show your intention, and maybe draw lots.

Guess what Mister Kuan emailed to my reply?

"Its ok (insert my name here). You can take a rest on that day, cause I'll be coming into the office anyway."

Should I be pissed, or should I just take it as a "learning process"?

BLOODY HELL!!! *Expletives*. *More Expletives*. *String of Expletives in foreign languages*.

If anyone of you that's reading this, and think this is an unavoidable "learning process", you can go jump off the nearest rooftop. (And let me know, cause I won't feel the pain when I shove you off the building)

I'm really messed up right now. Work sucks. Tennis backhand is getting worse. Exercise regime is a joke. Sarah wants to do her PhD...

Hey, one more thing. Yew-wee? This post is for you. There should be more posts coming up. Would be nice to have some comments on my posts though... Some words of encouragement/disgusts to spur me on me writing more...?

Aussies say work makes them sick

2004-09-28T16:14:00.000+08:00

[as reported on news.com.au, 28 September 2004]

can you hear that? the world is laughing.....

snippets of my past few weeks

2004-09-27T13:53:00.000+08:00

hope some people out there still browse by here once in a while...

anyway, i'm back to home now. think my folks thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Down Under. probably because i did all the driving everywhere, and i arranged for everything. sigh. my 7th trip to MR wasn't as enjoyable as my previous trips. maybe its the thought of this trip being my last...at least for the next few years. makes me kind of sad. a feeling of reluctance i guess.

anyway, thought i'd share some stuff that came along my way these few weeks:

1)
me: so anyway, i heard gameboy got this girlfriend. that joker actually found someone who's willing to put up with his childish nonsense! wonder where he gets those drugs from...

friend (with chicken rice in his mouth): so who's the guy? (try and imagine some guy with his face halfway buried in his chicken rice, and tilting his head slightly to ask me that. of course his mouth was still stuffed with rice)

me: GIRL! GIRL! GIRL!

2)
(another) friend: so why should we even share the $50 registration fee at the Registry of Marriage?? i mean, after signing that damn thing, we (us guys) will be legally bounded to them (girls). which just adds salt to the wound! cannot look at other girls, cannot hang out too much time with guy friends talking about other girls, cannot spend too much time playing tennis cause need us to accompany them for shopping, watching movie, and other boh liao stuff.

in short, they should at least offer to pay.

me: you try, i'll call the cleaners

3)
friend's wife: AIYOH! cannot iron like that one lah! see? still creasy! let me show you lah... aiyoh.... (she then shoves him aside, and proceeds to do the ironing herself)

friend: (innocently moving behind her, and shrugging his shoulders)

me (relaxing on the sofa set): nice move turtur.

friend: (evil smile)

signs of getting old (much as i hate to admit it)

2004-08-28T21:56:00.000+08:00

haven't posted anything for a while, so i'll just do a quick run up before i elaborate on my uncharacteristically deplorable title.

bits and pieces of my past few days:

1) all my friends are idiots when it comes to movies (except maybe ah lim... but then again, we share dislikes, but our tastes aren't exactly similar. i mean, i'd NEVER volunteer myself for WOMAD. some $$$ should be involved in any consideration). why do people rather watch some stupid movie like "The Twins Effect" (some hyper-hyped up crappy HK "action" crap... you get my point), instead of watching Bourne with me. SIGH. plus most of them are working, and spending those precious few non-working hours with me takes some contemplation. but still, i managed to get ken-ken to watch it with me. somehow i felt cheated, cause he mentioned this a few times: "eh, next week we watch AVP okay?" i think that's blackmail.

2) job hunt has turned up something good. pay sucks, but company's not too bad. job description's pretty crappy (i mean, 50% data entry?!!!), but i hear that the office is staffed by under-30s, so the working environment should at least offer some compensation towards my potential boredom. hopefully i'll get the interview next week, and wala, singapore's unemployment figure will decrease by one, and the GDP will increase slightly. (financial services do contribute to GDP right?). the job's only a 4-month contract, so i guess i can look forward to a better paycheque after this.

3) had a wonderful tennis game with droopy-mouth-boy. possibly because i beat him. ngiak ngiak ngiak. met up with lulu after the tennis game, and had good hawker food (we're both poor). i haven't really had a good friend-friend talk in AGES (read 5 years), and i'd actually just found out that he's getting married. didn't even know he had a gf. but from his description of her, i guess they're lucky to have each other. plus, she's a statistician, and i wouldn't want to argue with them. *head bow down low*

4) played tennis early this morning with al (not al bundy... yet), and turtur-girl (no, she's not my girlfriend. why "turtur-girl" is because "turtur" originated from her brother, who's a close friend of mine... and that's another story altogether). ran for a big forehand from the left-side of the court to the right, and after i whacked the ball, i sort of sprained my back. well, not really sprained, but felt more like a super-cramp on my right shoulder blade. too much muscles there i suppose. the next 2 hours were EXCRUCIATING! bad words can't convey how i felt then. couldn't stand up straight, and i had to walk face down from the courts to a nearby bench to rest on. couldn't lie down flat on my back, or on my front, or even on my sides. after about an hour of trying to find a comfortable position on the bench, i felt really really sick. then proceeded to scream for a plastic bag to puke into, but nothing came out cause i didn't have breakfast. THEN i felt some inevitable movements in my bowels. don't worry, i made it on time to the toilets. according to my marder (who's medical expertise probably saved my family and extended relatives tonnes of mullah), the puking and shitting wer induced by some nerves on the spine. shudder....

back still hurts now, but at least i can sit almost upright and switch on the com. oh well, guess i won't be going for the 4-hour badminton session tommorrow :(
was looking forward to that actually. people there are really nice and friendly.

hopefully tommorrow will feel better. and praying hard that i get the interview next week.

ME ME ME! its all about me!

2004-08-16T00:37:00.000+08:00

hmm...
just noticed i haven't been writing for the past 2 weeks. can't really help it. been busy meeting up with friends. that, or i'm been busy trying to remove the trash from my room.

yes. you heard me right. TRASH FROM MY ROOM.
!!!
AHHHHH!

i've been away from home (sg) for the past 4.5 years, and my sis (and marder, and to a limited extent, my farder) have been using my room as a para-storeroom. my cupboard, cabinets, drawers, even my table top is stacked with all their knick-knacks!

till now, i've probably spent more than 15 hours clearing up. and gazillion amount of microscopic and evil dust particles have entered my sparsely haired nostrils. i was leaking so badly, i'd probably finish off a entire box of Kleenex if i had not given up after about 2 hours of work. imagine dust from some of my old secondary school notes! those 12 year-old dust are probably toxic and deadly!!

anyway, i've always been prone to hay fever, so its been 2-hour session each time before i succumb to fever coming up and my body feeling weak from the constant sneezing. there's about 60kgs of stuff that was removed so far, and i've still got my farder's uni books to get rid of. that's 30-year old dust particles!

i need military grade gas masks.

anyway, that's going to be one of my projects for the upcoming week. will add more stuff for the next few days, now that the writing-juices have been unplugged.

sniff sniff

2004-08-02T03:24:00.000+08:00

right.

i've received several complaints from friends regarding my lack of activity on this front. the reason for this absence is due to my current state.

as of the time i stepped back to my home country (of course adrian would NEVER agree to the use of the word "home" here), i am officially added into the "unemployed" headcount. i am now unemployed! ohmygawd! no income, no allowance, no work, no duties, no employer, no nothing!

sheesh! anyway, my usual care-not-for-this-forsaken-world attitude soon overcame this seemingly unusual behaviour, and i proceded to spend the next few days meeting up with friends, unpacking my stuff (which mostly is still stuffed in the original TNT boxes i packed them into), and occasionally sending out resumes to job agencies. to this date, i've sent out to a grand total of 2 agencies! woohooooooo!!!

of course there's always time for some tennis, some coffee chill-out sessions with friends here and there. did a friday evening pseudo-reunion with my local first-year-uni-classmates and everyone still looked good and happy. a good sign nonetheless (is this even a proper english word??). tried to get into balaclava, but was jam-packed. i mean i don't mind squeezing up to girls, but there're some really smelly guys in there as well. we passed on that, and adjourned to the coffee joint next door, and had some really good and cheap gyozas ($6.50 for 6 good ones).

saturday was almost equally nice, except that i managed to wake up at 7:55am for a 7:40am meeting with some guys for a early morning tennis session. my inability to
set my alarm clock right was justified when it started raining at 9am (hahahahaha!).
did some flower shopping in the afternoon with a friend (i like those freezer rooms), and met up with yet another group of friends for steak and a bottle of red i brought back from perth. western food here in singapore costs A BOMB (maybe two bombs), and they can't seem to get it right! bloody hell! the sides were good though, but the meat wasn't really up to my expectations (hey, i expect some value for the amount that i'm paying!). corkage charges weren't that bad ($18/bottle), but i don't think my friends enjoyed the wine as much as i did. sigh. guess i need to do more wine-education here.

sunday was terrible though. lost my favourite (and ridiculously priced) umbrella. had afternoon iced coffee with some friends, and left the brolly there. rang them up about 3 hours later but they claimed not to have seen it. bet some stupid customer must have grabbed it the moment i left the joint and went around the first corner! asshole-singaporeans!

:(

anyway, its going to be a week of resume-sending, agency-hopping for me. but first, i have to try and hook up my sis' stupid printer to my laptop!

seeya...........

packing up

2004-07-19T23:04:00.000+08:00

i feel kind of left out. today's the first day of the semester for everyone, and i'm strutting around aimlessly at home. sigh. pack pack pack. 2 orange TNT boxes have been sitting in my room for the past 4 days, and slowly eating up my stuff. gobble gobble gobble. and since the TNT guy is coming to collect them on wednesday, my room is getting more and more sparse as wednesday approaches. another sign of my reluctance to leave surfaced as i was dismantling my x-wing lego set. not that tears start flowing from my eyes, but the process of removing my statement from the living room just struck me: "i'm really going off for good this time"

also, i've been giving my friends the many beloved/treasured stuff that has accompanied me on my 4 1/2 year odyssey here, hopefully they will have some use for them. (or at least not to throw them away!). no use for them, and no point trying to advertise for a sale.

met up with some friends over the past few days. had some really good meals, and of course good times. don't think i can sustain this lifestyle after i go back. firstly, i'll probably be broke from eating out at nice steakhouses, and also, most of my friends back there are working, and so most likely to be free to meet up only on weekends.

that reminds me of something very very important: WINE. how am i going to enjoy my wine again??? i've got 6 bottles of my favourite WA wine, and although one of my friends is bringing them back for me at the end of the year, i have no place, and no one to enjoy them with! CRAP! people back there have been telling me there's no culture of BYO, so that they can get you to buy their stock of wine instead (and of course rip you off big time). any suggestions on how i can overcome this?? or places where they do allow customers to bring their own wine??

hmm... think i shall suspend my lament for now. back to work, and more ICQ+Messenger windows. i can't refuse a chat. there must be something wrong with me.

and everyone deserts Perth during winter...

2004-07-10T18:55:00.000+08:00

the story goes like this:

since its winter here in australia, and the break between semester in uni is only 3 weeks, so most IDIOTS (overseas students) leave perth and go back to their family because it is (quote):

1) too boring here
2) there's nothing to do
3) all my friends have gone back
4) i miss my family and friends
5) i miss my BOYFRIEND(s)

okok, my response list here may be a bit biased, since all the whinings that i've listed are voice recordings (in my head) of girl-friends from here. i've lost the number of times i've tried to persuade the un-informed of the MANY MANY MANY things that you can do here.

so let me reiterate my word of advice: move your ass and go out of the house! its not THAT cold. plus it DOESN'T rain every frickin' day!!! unless you're my housemate...

(let me give a brief description: pale skin, hairless legs (he's a guy btw), reads endless sci-fi books he borrows from the library... and at the beginning of the holidays, he proclaimed that he's going to find work during this holidays... yah right!!! my ass! okok, i know i shouldn't be saying this behind his back, but i REALLY can't understand this behaviour sometimes! grrr..)

fine. since he seems happy, so i keep my nose out of his business (except to bitch incessantly about him to my other friends).

anyway, back to my sales pitch. today, i had a great day of tennis. had absolute fun with 3 other fabulous (i'm not referring to skill levels here, just the right attitude towards the sport) people. so what if the technical skills are obviously unbalanced? as long as you're willing to give it a shot, your friends will definitely appreciate your efforts, and everyone will definitely enjoy the company!

so tennis lasted for more than 3 hours, which was great. except that aya and her sister didn't come. those piggies slept until 11pm. would have been enjoyable if they were there though...

did some trap shooting in the afternoon! my regular partner at the range had the entire lane to ourselves! and now that we're official members of the club, we got discounted prices for the rounds and targets as well! woohoo!!! my kill average today was DEPLORABLE, but hey, i haven't shot in more than 2 months. i think i deserve some slack... at least for the next few sessions. can't wait to go shoot in sg...

so after dropping my friend home at his place, i raced down to catch the table tennis session at my uni's sport centre. MAN, those guys are GOOD! doobie was there with her friend as well, and with some other friends, we had some fun "dancing" around the table tennis table.

and for tonight's dinner, a couple of my friends are cooking, so i shamelessly hinted at being lonely for dinner. haha... so to end my FABULOUS (yes, i know i sound gay, but can't find any other suitable adjectives) day, dinner will be followed by KILL BILL vol.2 (courtesy of some video CD pirates).

now you tell me, how can perth be boring???

no more sun-roofs for me

2004-06-29T17:02:00.000+08:00

2 announcements today:

(1)

i've finally got my Lego set number: 7191. WOAH! it was worth all the time i spent waiting patiently on ebay for it! got it for a low low price of A$XXX.XX!! spent about 7 hours trying to assemble the damn model, from 10:45pm to 5:45am. but it was worth it! the instruction book was about 50 pages i think. my eyes were squinting since 4am. peter came over at about 11 and cleared all my econometric notes, but i quickly chased him away so that i can continue on my greater quest.

so after a lot of cursing and squinting (YOU try to look for this piece that's half the size of my fingernail), the old feeling starts flowing back again. i remember the days when i would empty the entire box of legos (think 15+ kg) on the living room floor, and start snapping on bricks here and there. this would probably continue for the next few days, until there's a entire system of roads, buildings, residentials, offices, shops etc etc. for a while, there was an airport as well!

oh well... there's always a kid in all of us. just that i don't bother much to hide him (heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)

(2)

yes, my baby's finally sold. someone saw my ad for the car, gave me a call, met me in the afternoon, went out of a drive, and bought it from me. lost quite a bit of money from it as well, but i was more worried about not finding a buyer for it. so i guess the final price we settled would be better than what the stupid dealers are offering me.

i'm going to spend some quality time with her for the next week. can't really bear to let her go though. she was a great car to drive around. good power when needed, but yet not too heavy on the fuel as well. i'll be bringing her down to margaret river with me for the weekend. she likes those long stretches of open road, i can tell.

i want to be a pirate king

2004-06-25T17:17:00.000+08:00

as of 5pm today (25th June 2004), i am officially free from bondage of school. [this is of course assuming that i do pass all my units this semester]

so apart from all the mish-mash of happiness that run through my body, the unavoidable question comes along: now what?

for the next few days, i will be [in no particular order]:
1) playing tennis 'til my shorts fall down
2) shooting trap at the club 'til the gun barrel melts
3) eating dim sum 'til the chef surrenders
4) playing network games with friends 'til the wires burn up
5) washing my 2-week pile of laundry 'til ... um, my laundry basket is empty
6) ... that's it for now

that takes care of the "short-run" [bloody economics jargon. i really have to work hard to get rid of all these bad habits of incorporating economic jargon that no one else understands].

in the "medium-term" [there i go again], i'll be going on a short trip to my favourite vineyards around margaret river. gonna go wine tasting, sightseeing, tourist-shop browsing, small country town walking, more wine-tasting, avoid drink-driving..

yessssssssss.... i can't wait :)

and after that, i think i want to be a pirate. what better way to:
1) get a tan
2) get some exercise and get rid of this HORRIBLE TUMMY!!!
3) finally learn how to sail
4) be tax-exempt from any governments
5) have an excuse to get a parrot on your shoulder
6) have your own jolly roger flag (i think i'll have mine in a metallic blue-ish pink background)

yup, i'm gonna be a pirate. now to look for those "world-famous" boatbuilders that perth claims to have....

Oxygen tanks for sale...

2004-06-24T15:56:00.000+08:00

Ok, according to this report [Indonesians pay heavy price for illegal fires], there's SOOOO many indonesians being affected by the haze, and the healthcare authorities are overwhelmed by the number of respiratory problems.

And to quote from my favourite paragraph: "The problem is caused by small farmers and large private plantation owners who thumb their noses at anti-burning laws. They set fires to clear their land cheaply and prepare it for planting".

WTF?! life is cheap there right? just shoot the idiots who don't comply. and for those "large private plantation owners", shoot them AND up to their 2nd-degree related relations as well! come on! people can't breathe! and its not as if you can hide the damn smoke! what the hell are those "authorities" doing there anyway? playing on their hand-held tetris machines while blowing the fan towards their office windows so that the smoke doesn't get into their office??? as for the police who are supposed to be enforcing the law, we'll leave the best for them:

step 1) kill the chief of police for that region, and maybe his direct subordinates.
step 2) boil them (frying is unhealthy, and remember to take out the bones).
step 3) organise a buffet for the local police. some salad too, too much meat is unhealthy.

hey, i'm all for capitalism, and the glorious worship of the dollar sign [note to myself: remember to buy the altar]. but this is too much! isn't there any other methods of clearing the friggin' land? bloody hell! there's unemployment problems in sumatra right? hire them cheaply and start clearing! is it that hard to get some guy to round up some of his buddies and do some easy manual work? and how much are chainsaws if we're talking about forested areas where machetes don't work?

*deep breath*

come on! we're not talking about small forest fires here. if there's only 300m visibility, i'm sure you can literally taste the smoke in my mouth.

(some bad words): #%!#!#^!#^!#^!#!$^&$@

ok, i'll be back tommorrow on this after i cool down.
for the moment, i'll just look at my stupid articles for tommorrow's exam, and scream at those instead.

such is life...

2004-06-22T11:46:00.000+08:00

... a conversation i had with a friend of mine. there seem to be a breakup "virus" going around lately amongst some of my friends, so i thought i might just add this in today.

FRIEND :
i broke up recently. i´m a little sad

ME:
hmm
ok
hope you're feeling better now...

ME:
sometimes i guess we just have to do what we need to do
ce'st la vie

FRIEND:
u´re right, but why is it so painful?

ME:
because you put your feelings and your heart into it

and when it doesn't turn out "right", you feel sad, rejected, useless, disappointed
but that doesn't mean we should give up these feelings
because you're not alone

[i wasn't trying to hit on my friend (as many of my pea-brained friends might suggest). just trying to make her feel better]

AND, icq doesn't suck as much as msn messenger.
because of simply one thing: it allows me to leave messages!!!! and crappy msn messenger doesn't!!

its a conspiracy i tell you!

2004-06-22T02:37:00.000+08:00

ok
there's a problem

wimbledon fortnight's just started. and through the sudden kind gesture of australian television, i suddenly have 6 hours of non-stop action from the grass courts! why can't they do the same for the french open! bloody favouritism for aussie players! if only hewitt and philippousis plays consistently well on clay courts, we'd have french open on tv everyday for that fortnight! grrrr

anyway... back to my conspiracy theory. THEY know i have one more paper on friday. and THEY know its my shittiest paper to date (who in the right mind would take a unit like "Topics in Applied Econometrics"????). i hade NO CHOICE. i really really really didn't want to do it, but i ran out of other units to take. i most certainly am not going to do one of those stupidly fanciful finance units, and certainly not any BS management units, or some marketing unit that i'm totally not familiar with.

soooo, i'm stuck with studying for this paper, which is RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of wimbledon fortnight! why do i have to make a choice on this???!

*sob sob*

this is SOO unfair! why don't they just put it on cableTV instead, and deprive me of a choice (since i don't have cable at home). but noooooo, they HAVE to show it on regular TV... just to tempt me, those bastards!

Ahhh... the long lost art of MUDding

2004-06-21T00:43:00.000+08:00

for you guys who used to MUD, try this out!

on the lighter side of life

2004-06-20T14:47:00.000+08:00

was talking to my friend. about his girl, commitment and related stuff like that. then it occured to me:

1) if most guys often forget to do the little things for their girlfriends
2) if it costs only $50 to be engaged in singapore
3) if the guy feels that she's the one (or they constantly get pinched for straying eyes), and both parties are contented with each other

THEN there presents a good ROI. For the low low price of S$50, one (us guys) can (hopefully... with some sincere internet- or tv-inspired words to make her tear) reap quite good returns (intangible, but definitely substantial)!

(* note to myself: get some lawyers specialising in defence against feminist groups attacks)
(* note to guy-friends: you owe me one)
(* ROI = return on investment)

more exam-induced deviations...

2004-06-20T14:25:00.000+08:00

i asked a friend last night if he/she thinks that he/she would stand up for his/her friends?

the response was a rather quick "yes".
no hesitation.
i admire that in a person, and in someone that i have the pleasure of calling "friend".

there was no pause, or uncertainty, or some stupid questions shot back at me (like one of those: define "stand up", or "give an example", or "uhhhhhhhh, depends how close i am to them") in the reply. clear conscience like that is sadly missing in this small world of mine. or maybe i don't know my own friends well enough.

i don't doubt this friend of mine's values, or his/her judgements on himself/herself. in fact, i am sad that i would even place initial doubt in his/her word. i'm sorry. but i guess i've come across too many deceits and lies and falsehoods to allow me to take the value of things as they appear to be.

And I thought its only the Chinese that eats everything...

2004-06-19T17:02:00.000+08:00

Whoa! New Zealanders are definitely a more adventurous bunch than their neighouring Aussies. Here's some of their more creative culinary experiments:

(By the way, these are names of pies)

* Road Kill
* Headlight Delight
* Guess That Mess

Wish they'll open a branch here though...

on the lighter side of life

2004-06-19T15:40:00.000+08:00

i'm becoming a recluse, a hermit, the unseen side of society! my heist from the nearby dewsons says it all:

* 2 packs of M&Ms (TV says i have to buy the new black and white ones)
* 1 box of Snakatas (sour cream and chives... i kinda like these ones)
* 2 more packs of instant pastas (hey, cheap and fast way to cook pasta@home)
* 1 pack of twisties (can't let go of my childhood...)
* 1 litre of milk (for my instant pasta)
* 1 pack of Arnott's Chips Ahoy (these are great cookies!)
* 1 pack someother branded bite-sized cookies (just as good)
* 1 twin-pack Oreos (you can't leave the supermarket without Oreos!)
* 2 packs of those extremely yummy but horribly priced Red Rock Deli potato chips (you HAVE to get the red wine and tuscan herb flavour!!!)

and that comes up to just under $30

sigh

i just hope these last me for at least 3 days.

... i think i snack too much
then again, since binging is becoming a socially-accepted temporary behaviour, i take a significant amount of consolation in that.

(side note: have to seriously work on the tummy after the exams)
(note to friends reading this: don't laugh... i can hear you)

Painful workings of the brain (ie, headaches)

2004-06-18T14:50:00.000+08:00

I have to confess, that I don't think a lot about certain things in my life. I guess we all live on cruise control for most of our daily activities, which is basically just attached to some in-built rational and logical instincts. If you're going to cross the road, and you see a car speeding down towards you, of course you don't run across and try to beat it right? And if you see an unmarked white car, and he's doing all the speeding and swerving in and out of the busy traffic with you, your fat ass is probably going to be pulled over by that policeman behind the wheel of that car.... RIGHT??? (which is exactly what I saw on the road just last night)

So why do people behave irrationally? Environmental causes? Cultural differences? These all sound soooo cliche: over-used and over-heard. But sometimes we do have to wonder if we're passing these judgements too quickly and without thought? Do we read the headlines in the newspapers and allow ourselves to immediately aligned ourselves with the editors or the reporters? A very common headliner today in Al-Jazeera "Israeli officers demoted for murder". and so with the word "murder", most people would have the instant reaction of hatred for these guys, who have committed a heinous crime of removing someone else's right to live.

Wait... think about it: what did they do? Murder someone? Hey, its murder. Not have a game of rugby with your buddies and someone's shoulder got dislocated. Someone's bloody life was lost! Well, if the non-impulsive reader would continue reading the page, he would find that the victim was this wheelchair-bound Palestinian was shot somehow when Israeli soldiers fired on some "stone-throwing Palestinians near a check-point". Ok, so the defence might continue along the lines of "shouldn't the soldiers have checked and see who they were shooting at???" that probably would be a common reaction from the non-impulsive reader as well.

:et me first ask you a question: have you EVER been shot at by someone before? Or have HUGE CHUNKS OF ROCK being thrown at you before? Just try and imagine a big chunk of jagged and uneven stone being hurled at you. you don't even want to imagine the pain if it lands on your head.

When your life is being threatened, your instincts takes over. If you have a gun in your hand, you shoot at whoever's threatening your existence (or your pretty face). The non-impulsive, patient reader might come to this conclusion: that the victim (God rest his soul) was probably caught in a firefight. An innocent victim tangled in the cross-fire.

So is there anyone to blame? Well, I guess that if the victim's father wanted blood, he should hang around the checkpoint, and hurl stone at THOSE people hurling stones. Not to protect the soldiers, but rather to protect those who might be unjustifiably killed if the soldiers are forced to retaliate. Yes, one can only argue if it really was necessary for the soldiers to open fire. But I guess that's up to the Israeli military (who has since charged the officers responsible for giving those orders).

I guess my point is: there are few definite rights, and definite wrongs in our world today (and no, I'm not an atheist, but I don't believe in any historical recordings, simply because most of those things have been written and rewritten countless of times. Errors made in those process... sigh... not to mention translation errors!!) If there's any instances where someone tells you about something, or the media reports something on the TV, take some time to think about it. It is not fair to the guy who got his photo (thanks to some keen-eyed yahoo neighbour) posted on the internet, just because his name is the same as the convicted paedophile, and also to the girl who got convicted of child abuse when the naughty brat who she's supposed to take care of, happens to be clumsy and fell off the ladder when he's trying to reach for his toys at the top of the cupboard and broke his arm. These (yes... very lousy) examples are what I'm talking about here. Open your eyes, and more importantly, open your mind. There's more than 2 sides to a coin. Rational thinking is a virtue in our complex and infinitely-bizarre world today. People don't stop and think much about things anymore. Lonely old ladies sitting in the retirement homes would donate their live savings to the televangalist on TV, and those guys would actually do stuff that's akin to grabbing his own penis and hitting himself on the head wth it! (see this smartass Jimmy Swaggart) We can all shake our heads, and resign ourselves to the laws of normal distribution, and say we can't help it if idiots exist. Hell, that's what I tell my own friends sometimes when we see things like that. But for the non-impulsive and patient reader, the least that you can do for yourself is to think first, then act (whenever possible).

Inertial is bad

2004-06-16T00:47:00.000+08:00

Today's maths paper was HORRIBLE!
Nothing came out from the Game Theory section. And he spent 6 lectures and 2 assignments on!
Instead, questions that tests our fundemental understanding of the unit appeared. This guy (my professor) has been teaching this damn unit for too long. He knows how exactly to sieve the chaff from the seeds (whatever... one from the other). I mean, if you have been conducting this unit before some of my coursemates have been born, that's a sign that something else should be done! [Inertial No.1]

Of course I was furious (to a certain extent) after the paper. Left the examination hall early, althought it was only a 2-hr paper. I did attempt all the necessary questions, and thought i gave it a good shot. Hopefully my prof. will feel the same way too. But the feeling after wasn't too good. Went back home, spent some time on the com, and then went over with Hungry Jacks to friends' place. Hate to be alone and gripe. Good company is always appreciated. So this feeling of not wanting to look at my notes for tommorrow's paper continued until after 10pm. Sigh... time is definitely inelastic. Time lost is non-recoverable, and non-substitutable. [Inertial 2]

Well, at least tommorrow's paper is more of my style. Essay-based, 3-hours of blue-ink orgy.
Hopefully my mind will be well-organised.
I tend to write too much for the first few questions, and the last question always end up being squeezed for time.
Too enthusiastic at the start? Perhaps...
Poor time-management? More likely...

Why do people resist change?

2004-06-14T18:20:00.000+08:00

More Westerners got killed again today in Iraq.

[See link to Reuters here:Five Contractors Among 13 Dead in Baghdad Blast]

This attrition of civilians in a newly-"liberated" country is a cause for concern. The foreign powers present in Iraq now would realise that democracy cannot be shoved down other people's throats, nor can it be simply presented as a present: "'ere you go! Go have fun, and don't forget to fill up our supertankers waiting outside your ports!"

The powers here seem to collide together in a massive pit of blood. We have the bin-Laden faction operating (seemingly) from Afganistan, constantly bombarding the Arab population of the evil agenda of the American culture. This action is of course understandable, given the stupid mistakes that the West have committed since the state of Israel was created. But what's disturbing about this source of disturbance is its unwillingness to adapt. Yes, these terrorists/Islamists/mujaheedins/whatever-glorious-or-infamous-labels may have circumvented the financial police through their complex network of financial sources, and they have embraced the Internet as an additional tool to rally both Muslims and other sympathisers to their cause. But what about trying to reach a compromise?

When someone mentions again Islam is a religion of peace, I would like to knock him hard on his head. Look around! Where's the peace? Where's the actions towards peace? Islam is not a religion of peace?!? It is a culture of violence, and that only the strong survives. It does not tolerate individualism, and it gives power to those currently in power. Where's the justification of violence and bloodshed? In the Koran?
Sheesh, if the Koran justifies such actions, then I hope the other Muslims (especially the Arab-Muslims) go find someother religion, cause THESE IDIOTS are advocating their causes behind the guise of your Prophet.

Come on. Greed in man is non-disputablable. And with so much money "flowing" (pardon my pun) around in the Middle-East, one can understand the despair of the average Arab-Muslim when he sees that Allah's gift (the black thing in the ground) is being siphoned away to the people in power, and to extravagent expenses spent on "Western" goods.

Ok ok. Lets say bin Laden is a true pious Muslim, and that he wants to overthrow the corrupt rulers, and banish evil Western influences out of the Arab world. And that he succeeds in that. So we will have 2 worlds. The Muslim world, and the rest of the world. With no advocacy of technological development in Muslim literature since that only preaches the advancement of the soul towards Paradise, and with more luxury goods being made cheaper, how is the great Muslim leader (if you're talking about the Shi'a ruling, or rulers if the Sunni have complete rule) going to stop those nonsense?

A ruler, who is human, and have human emotions and desires, AND have no advanced learnings of his surroundings, will NEVER be able to stop any cultural or ideological invasion from external sources. In my mind, since borders are erected by man, and given man's tendency to innovate towards his betterment, these borders will always be overwhelmed by the need of the free-thinking Muslim living behind those walls.

In conclusion, Islam as present is a doomed religion. Hey, I don't want to make a statement like that. Offending 1.2 billion Muslims is definitely not a nice thing to do (ref: Salman Rushdie). I do have respect for my fellow man. Unless someone steps up to correct those contradictions in the Koran (since all Muslims lead their live strictly by the Koran), we will always have opposing factions within the Muslim community. And with their stance as a non-progressive religion (at least for the conservative Muslim), and their absolute rejection of other religions, they will never understand and comprehend the workings of the world outside of which their desires will definitely lie.

News... from the most remote capital city of the world

2004-06-13T17:29:00.000+08:00

Seriously guys, Perth (where i am) is the MOST remote capital city in the world.
Nearest city to the east is Adelaide (about 4 hours flight from here)
North would be Bali (about 3.5 hours)
West should be Johannesburg (definitely more than 6 hours flight away!)

Thank God for the Internet :)

Can't wait to start work and get out of University. I love the University, and the people in my Department (they call it the Economics "Programme" now, but no one really bothers), and my friends here. But guess there's a time to leave the nest and get a job. Don't think I'm the academic sort, but I really do love the tutoring that I've been doing for the past semester. Have sort of a pride and responsibility thing with that. Good extra money too.

Okay... back to work!

Desperate times resulting in illogical actions

2004-06-13T14:45:00.000+08:00

ok

i have exams in 2 days
i have barely touched my notes
i have just started my blog

sigh

:)

my actions are a conundrum upon myself

ok, back to work...