Musing

What to do? My calling....My Calling.....just to pay the bills or passion

Songs

'Rosemary' songs

Feeling Young again

Was playing toyguns shootout with my 2 little neighbours, shooting at each other, froom door to door. It was fun, no graphics, no screens, just plain imagination, screaming and shouting bang bang bang and real physical action. They broke out into giggles when I acted shotup and dying. haha Old school fun

Musings

Our lives are full of contradictions and it is possible to live with them. People would have different expections of you. That is natural of the world around you.

Regrets, I've had a few, then again.....

If anyone asks me in the future about what I regret about not doing Honours, I would say I regret being unable to do Special Paper in Military History taught by Brain Farrell. I met him that other day at BK. I asked him about the Korean excursion for this module, which students went with him to visit Korean War battlefields. We chatted abit while we waited for our orders. I told him I have been waiting for his military modules for 3 years since I missed it in my 1st yr 1st sem. He asked if im doing honours and for my CAP, which stressed me out LOL. His parting words was 'It's in your hands'. At that moment I felt I had let him down. Looking back, i wasnt really a great student, esp so among my peers in uni, but also in itself, im the lazy student all along. It is great to be able to study in uni, all the ideas and concepts, simply amazing (esp what profs do for their Phds n all). It is also the greatest irony of my life (as of now) to be able to study in FASS n my major. My grades sux but I realised I learned alot as well and met interesting ppl, ppl who are far far more dedicated about their work. Haha sometimes i spent far more time during semester learning about other bits of history other than the modules im doing for. (esp hist vids on youtube). One thing i enjoyed doing assignments is learning the extra bits about history and I regretted being unable to do. I feel terrible about missing out all the knowledge and the little tidbits about life and people that I always read about. That day I sat among the shelves (D-DS rows) and sobbed alittle. I felt all the energies and efforts in writing these books are wasted cus I didnt push myself harder to read them. It's always tomorrow, 2ml, 2morrow, tomolo and tomorrow. Well tomorrow came, today went and yesterday lost. Haha but im glad i was able to help others along the way even if i cannot help myself....

Musings

The secret to the sword technique used by the main lead in the anime Rurouni Kenshin, is not some super fantastical moves or ability, but simply the motivation to stay alive and return to one's loved ones and friends. From all the history books and biographies that I have read this is certainly true. Nothing compels anyone more than the desire to go home. There was this example of sailors when their ship was sunk. The one of the few survivors was a 40ish man who was wounded and lost a lot of blood but he clung onto life hoping to see his family again. The rescuers found bodies of uninjured young men, who had simply given up hope. I recalled that there was a book on a German prisoner of war who trekked across Siberia, he literally walked home. Determination, they didnt give up.

Bathroom Musings : Humans, Nature, Machine, Ourselves

Surprisingly I think much better while Im in the shower, and no I dont sing, unless at that moment I feel that it is up to standard. Anw... Aftering watching Seabiscuit on telly, it reminded me how an individual is connected to his or her horse / craft / machine / person at such an intimate level. The rider and his horse, a chief engineer that listens to his engines, a master craftsman. Passion and hard work plus a sense of kinship, maximises the potential of both. Maybe its talent, though i think much of it is passion and sense of ownership and belonging, like pride. Its all the little details that make things work, like in Seabiscuit, the rider was telling his replacement the habits and quirks that make the horse go faster. Even the so called BIG Picture does really matters at times, but ppl forget, especially those at the top, forget about the little things that make ppl tick and make things work. Even machines can have their sensitivities, go ask a pilot or racecar driver. Especially when its complex enough, it can develop a 'character' even more so when success or your very life depends on it, you become more attached to it, be it something alive or mechanical. It is interesting to examine the relationships between self and EVERYTHING around the self.

Oldies

Bear with me, let me indulge in some oldies

Exam Craziness Pt 1 (Or the Last)

Sat for a paper on Monday. MCQ 60 qns. Pretty alright finished up early. Saw a guy on the right, his answer sheet blank. Blank! It was obvious since you have to shade little black ovals. He had none on his even right before I left. Dunno whats going through his mind. If he knew he was going to give a blank sheet he should not have gone for the paper and revise for his other modules or something. He could have spent the 3 hours++ (2hr paper + waiting/travelling) for his revision or even just to rest. Well I know what issit like to give up on something. It just that its more about weighting your options and thinking about the next step. I wondered whether he stayed until the end of the paper. I hope he left after the 1st hour since hes not going to do anything at all.

How to Become Invisible

1. Wear specs.
2. Have a Southeast Asian History book before you at a table
3. Have a confused look on your face
4. Dont say a word
5. Voila! You are now invisible!

Was sitting outside the library (go left after exiting, tables there) revising, reading my book bright as day. These two girls came along, one with her food/lunch. The one with the food placed the food right in front of my book (they were touching) she was right before me. I looked up, i mean im all right with people sharing the table to have a bite, study or just to adjust their bag and stuff. She didnt look at me and continue chatting with her friend. Her friend probably have seen me and is just as confused. Only after a few lengthy moments, she chatted somewhat with her fren, only then she saw me. Her fren went like 'Didnt you see him sitting there?' I just had to say to them after they shifted to the other end of the table, smiling and gave a quick laugh, 'Am I invisible?' Though im not sure how they viewed it, maybe im sounded pissed or something but i was just laughing it off.

Walking Whistling Tunes

A German folksong which my deutscher Lehrer introduced to us when I took German 1 class (aka Level 1) a few years back that stayed in my mind ever since. I usually whistle the very first verse, well mostly only half is all I can manage, when Im alone and walking about, bored and all.



(First Verse)

Muss i denn, muss i denn
Zum Städtele hinaus
Städtele hinaus
Und du mein Schatz bleibst hier
Wenn i komm, wenn i komm
Wenn i wiederum komm
Wiederum komm
Kehr i ein mein Schatz bei dir
Kann i auch nicht immer bei dir sein
Han i doch mei Freud an dir
Wenn i komm, wenn i komm
Wenn i wiederum komm
Wiederum komm
Kehr i ein mein Schatz bei dir

Must I indeed, must I indeed
Leave the town
The town
And you, my darling, stay here
When I come back, when I come back
When I come back again
Come back again
I shall return, my darling, to your side
After all, I can’t be with you all the time
After all the joy we had
When I come back, when I come back
When I come back again
Come back again
I shall return, my darling, to your side

RT

No wonder it uses so much time, there is like almost 60 people in one group led by one PTI. The individual statics were fine, it was quick and to the point. Only when it came to the chin-up stations (wic i am excused muahahahaha :() that the queues start to form and lots of time is wasted then. The PTI spent quite a bit of time explaining techniques and tips and such which I think people has been listening to for years. A brief reminder will do fine....but one that stretches 5 mins or more, no thanks! Almost missed out the attendance receipt part haha didnt realise.....NOOB! I almost thought i was promoted cus one guy before my number was 3SG TOH, lol i tot it was mine. HAH wishful thinking........SIgh have to go 2ml again and twice a week through the exams, fortunately it is easy to arrange for makeup, i.e., shift the session to another date.

Vietnam 1975

We can learn about history through the songs, even the propaganda songs, sung by the peoples during trying times as they reflect what values and ideals the nation-state felt the people should have and then comparing how well the peoples accept these values and ideals or to even mould it to fit their own needs. Even if the context is of war and conflict, it is remarkable people still compose and take part in culture formation, expressing themselves through songs. This is especially so when the most accessible media was radio. They even have dance troupes travelling down the whole length of Vietnam by foot mostly to entertain people, and of cus spread propaganda. (Anw I just felt that the songs are quite catchy)
Both sides did horrible things to advance their goals in war, I grant you that. But do not doubt the resoluteness of the Vietnamese peoples. The final end and a new beginning. Uncle Ho, first and foremost, a nationalist unmatched by any other.

J' attendrai - Rina Ketty

A song I discovered in Das Boot and have come to enjoy. I think the submarine captain in Das Boot enjoyed this song cus it echoed he and his crew's desire to return home after each lengthy patrol.

10 Sept 2009

hmm hmm been seeing examples of PAR lately in the past evenings at sch. Audi A4 going round the sch for joyriding, a gal driving, wif a guy in the co-seat, prob trying to impress. A convertible wif flashy headlights, neon lights n playing songs loudly. hmm hmm n to tink I walked from sch to Clementi mrt..... skipped lectures to read up my stuff n something interesting happened. I was interviewd by a Taiwanese graduate student doing research in SG, abt local politics. If any1 who is reading this, u prob would have been approached for help in being an interviewee by now...haha OH YA was in the toilet n some poor girl made a mistake n came in. Tink I was quite visible...I heard some noise and turn ard just in time to see a fleeing yellow jersey. N in just those cases when the brain rems little details, I recalled the owner was a gal i spotted earlier in the lib. Hoping to sastify my curiousity, I hurriedly washed my hands n exited to try spot the jersey. Lo n behold, a girl in yellow jersey was in a sort of a panic dashing back to her frens. To really affirm my suspicions, (n to rub it in), I asked the grp whether did she enter the wrong toilet wic they confirmed. I noted in passing 'I saw her doing so' n left. I shud have said I was in the toilet when I did! N a sidenote, I saw the 'lingerie-xposing' lead that other day, I wondered if the event was remembered as well as I did by the lead. hmmhmmm

Entry 06 September 2009

Wk 4 of sch now. Things picking up. Just finished a presentation, stayed back in sch till 1-2am to finish it. Had a very nervous presentation. Hate presentation n stuff. Have to keep adding in pts after the presentation cus I left em out. haha. Borrowed tons of books but nt really finishing em. Have to start doing essays now. Feeling alot mindblank on how to start. Have to kickstart my mind soon. Time running out. Brain seemd to have degraded. Cant seem to b able to grasp higher level concepts n express my ideads properly in class. Shud be more concise than to speak out my ideas in a rush. go to be more disciplined. Wish there were more free days to sit dwn n read all the books. Going to classes really takes lots of time n energy. Lots of time spent to find books too. Hmm tired now

Log Entry 13 August 2009

Decided to use the blog as a diary of sorts. 1st wk of sch gone. Very anti-climatic. Trying to get most of this wk n nxt wk readings but library being spammed with freshies n gan-chiong seniors trying to get everything. Forgotten to bring my thumbdrive in which I had uploaded HY2208 E-reserves that I wanted to print in school, much faster n cheaper than doing it at home. Alas now I have to go to sch on Friday to do it so I can try to read stuff over the wkend for the coming lectures. Going thru the introductory lectures and felt pangs of nervousness and anxiety when the thought of doing all these assignments comes into mind.

Was reading another WW2 sub book. It was in a diary formatt wic the British author was recollecting his time in service aboard a HMS sub. He used "Cheap enough what!" in describing a good bargain. I was then wondering if all the British slangs/habits provided the genesis of Singlish.

Being very unactive in sch. No CCAs n stuff. Dun particular like such activities since NS. Getting lazier n lazier since then. The 'stay low n take cover' mentality still ard. Prefer my own private time. Unless it pays $$. haha was telling it to my fren who is trying to drop all these stuff to focus on study. With less n less ppl ard, I started to enjoy more of quiet time reading n napping with bouts of running n cycling but cant do much since the Bintan leg injury.

Getting more n more forgetful n absent-minded. Always wanting to double-cfm things unless its written down.

Haha seeing all the freshies dressed up to their nines for their 1st wk of sch was all very amusing. I prob did the same, but most prob nt. Am trying to see how long I can grow my hair. Saw some1 i knew just nw n I tink he has been letting his hair grow since yr1 ! Now his hair is reaching his shoulders. Saw something interesting while zapping stuff. I had to do a doubletake on this guy wearing a hairband. Tot he was a girl until I saw his moustache n goatee. HAHA maybe I should sport a hairband too. Nw my mum complaining I looked like a girl. That was what she wanted when she was expecting me wat. LOL. Shud bring my mum to a normal sch day. The fashion would have shocked her. Guys with ponytails n hairbands, gals in all sorts of attire.... OH YA my lecturer sports longer hair than me, haha n she was saying the scholars should have short hair n look neat n tidy hahaahaahaha ok I think i shud stop now. This almost becoming a pageful of words. Back to work/play....

First Day on School

Started the 1st day of semester with the customary Curry Chicken noodles though its standard has declined. The curry is now more watery. 1st semester of the year always have more foreign exchange students. There was an American student queuing up behind me at the abovementioned noodle stall. He asked me wats the name of that noodle?? Lo n behold it is the mighty MEE POK. Instead of coming up with something fancy or englishy transalation, I gave it to him straight. MEEEE POK! erm ya, just pronounce it as MEE POK. Ya u just choose ur 'main dish', aka fishballs / minced meat mushrooms (didnt tell him thats Bar Chor though) n u choose ur type of noodles, wic in this case MEE POK. His fren came over (assumed American-Chinese, as he looked clueless as well as the accent). His fren got his stuff from vegan stuff. He remarked he got some veggies n mock meat. I looked n it was mock Char Siew. I had half a mind to tell him its Char Siew, but thinking on how to explain it boggled my mind n I stopped myself. Gave em a quick smile n 'no prob' n went on my way.

Blah blah finish lunch n afternn SEA lecture. SEA modules always have a good spattering of foreign students, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Irish, Americans, Canadians, Aussie, Qatar, French n then some (these are in my class). Always interesting to have diff perspectives.

Wanted to get textbks n coursepacks, but the freshies mixed wif gan chionged yr2s n 3s created long queues. Not wanting to get caught in the 5pm-6pm rush. I TCK (go home slp). N apparently it's in vogue to bring your own seat to the MRT nowadays!


Sitting on a wooden stool

Whistling fun

Went to watch a movie with the gang (des rj ivan jm js, so gay:). Wanted to get drinks n tidbits from NTUC. Me saw something nostalgic.



Whistling sweets from our childhood days!!!! But this one is from Japan 1, so is 'attas', $1.90 or something.




I spent the evening whistling, annoying the hell out of rj n des n until ivan gave in n joined me too muhahahaha

Backlog: Visit to Mr Ng's at Toa Payoh

After (me rj ivan) helping him out during Vesak Day (i tink it was that), Mr Ng invited us (des andy daryl rj me tangchee) to his place for dinner. Talked about life in general, education, having kids, getting a house, etc.....Teased daryl about marriage...generally talked about pretty mature topics, a far cry from our days back in AMKSS. Mr Ng have 3 children. Its hard to imagine how much time have passed since our days with him as our teacher-in-charge when we were sec3-4 in NCC(air). His kids seemed to like Desmond alot, n they kept 'attacking' me prob bcus of my KGB shirt.

Mr 'Chu Stunt'

I declared myself suspected H1N1 today when I exclaimed I have sore throat and duly went to see doctor from office. LOL actually its only simple sore throat n I have no fever, doctor measured me 36.5 Celsius. LOL shit now office ppl thinking why chunhoe always 'chu stunt' n fall sick. SOmemore My 'blurness' & absent-mindedness have reached new heights....feeling very blur in office....need more slp. Esp shitty since my boss n the secretary was toking abt the bintan trip n asking me stay off from work 2 days after my return. Then now dunno whether I can get my passport done in time, gonna collect it on 6/7/09 Mon, then to book boat seat, done by JM. SO SORRY JM!!!! Feel so irresponsible for neglecting my health n overlooking my passport expiry date.......Doing things at the last moment again.....Siansation feel too paiseh to go to work now....

WORD per MINUTE!

52 words

Typingtest

I finally found out what's my typing speed. I was stumped that day when I had to fill out a form to register with Achieve Agency for my temp job this hols. One part of the form inquired abt my typing speed. LOL i nvr tested it b4 so I left it blank. I told Ivan they all, if I calculated from the time I needed to fin a 1500 word essay, I write at abt 4 words / minute. LOL

AWESOME!

yeah bought at T3 Candy Empire....total $$ = $30 (excluding GST, wic amt to $2.10!) MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Vigilant SMRT staff

Yest I was stopped by a staff member upon exiting at Raffles Place in the morning on the way to work. He asked for my EZ link card. Still in my morning daze, I flipped out my wallet n picked out my NUS tertiary card for him. He 'OKed' me n I walked off. LOL. Shuda ask him why. Perhaps he tot I was abusing subsidised pre-tertiary students cards haha. I tinks its the moustache n goatee that Im trying to grow ( or grown). Prob tinks im sme adult trying to cheat SMRT $$. Then maybe he had forgotten abt tertiary student cards for the more laojiao students.....
THEN when I was going home from Raffles Place, I was drinking a small bottle of Sunkist orange juice. Wanting to top-up my farecard, I joined the queues at the machines. Lo n Behold, there was a staff member there, "Sir no drinking at the station". I looked up n the numerous "FINE" signs are everywhere n staring at me. Funny I dun recall them being there. I tot it was OK to drink before entering thru the gates. Apparently noT! I 'orhed' him n walked back up the escalators n dropped the bottle in a bin. All happening on a Monday........yawnz

Assquest (one Sat nite in the middle of semester 2 08/09....or wassit fri)

Bus ride back to AMk from east coast. 6amplus

A bench sit wif Einstein n some1 else, somewhere along east coast, near the 'attas' housing.

Silliness at the bus stop, directed him into this pose, he was covering Mark Lee

Me n Cameraman

The team at SG river, near Bank of China i tink

Fell aslp halfway during photoshoot, cameraman edison too enthu leh...

Fancy lights

Wif Flash

Team at one of the checkpts, at one bridge near Clarke Quay i tink

One of the organisers wanted to take some pix of us for her personal use, in which I questioned her abt the exact meaning of her line, confirming my suspicions

TEA C

Taking a break near NUS Law Campus




Damn hungry, by the time it was 3 or 4 am, since we started at 9pm, I tink we were the only team to stop for food



NUSSU guy that my fren knoes




Fancy Church whose Cross changes colours, near serangoon - whitley there.

Note his yellow bikequest singlet, the participants got a white one.

NUS crowd, got a fair no of exchange ppl, the briefing guy (the NUssu person in charge) did a fair military style briefing in the similar style n voice connotations. Some Indian nationals kept interrupting him n asking him qns, answers wic were in the back pages of the briefing paper we got, in wic the speaker was trying to get to that part of the briefing...quite funny...cus the Nussu guy was trying hard not to roll his eyes in exasperation

one of his frens in our team, cameraman didnt have his picture taken


My BMT section buddy. Nt my buddy-buddy the pair one, but in the section. If u see him one day, ask him wat he calls me by......

Pressies from my dearest ones,

N they got a $100 Funzsquare,( or wateva that gameshop in amkhub is called), in which i duly squandered on 2 games, COH Tales of Valour and Stars Wars Unleashed wic are not shown here cus they were quite shortlived, if not disappointing........sadz.....

Bicycle Horn. Rj said that I complained ppl ignored my bell, so they got this. #(*$(* LOUD. Tried it at home.



The 'Cake' So thats where Sinling n Clara went to? Issnt it?

Wish my days are like dat........

NUS The Deck Huo Kuo!

Bike Escapades

Books u find in Central Library

3 Mentally Handicapped Bo Liao Ppl on a Walk

NUS Subway

Our final destination

A pretty bush in one of the greenhouses of Hortpark

The bridge b4 Hortpark

Cant resist using the large leaf to do the classic 'shelter thyself' wif a vegetative appendage

The walkways among the trees

It looks like a hand sheltering the walkway from my vantage pt

The other 2 ppl, apparently after army every1 is alittle bit crazy

Henderson Wave n its height

Tinks thats Sentosa

The start of our 3-4hr walk, starting from Vivocity....reaching the top of Mt Faber, we spotted our 1st sign