From this day on
It's been an eventful december.
Many significant things have happened in my life. I went on a pilgrimage to visit Old Trafford, I went on a great holiday to Spain, I spent Christmas away from home for the first time.
There are a lot of stuff that can be said from those events, but I'll just let the photographs be the memories for once, too much to catalogue.
2007 has been an eventful year for me. It started in Singapore and ended in London. I had a 21st birthday party, where I had the company of many of my friends, I watched football in the National Stadium, I went Hong Kong with the fencers, I went out a lot, I worked with HATC, I did relief teaching in RI, I attended many 21st birthday parties, I drove a lot, I watched Manchester United win the title, and when I came to London, I did a whole lot of other stuff that is too long to write about.
Taking stock, I think as a person I have found my internal balance. There is the odd bad day here and there, but I think as a whole I am at terms with myself. I work along my strengths, and try to overcome my shortcomings. To survive on my own in London, I had to take the step up in terms of responsibility, and move out of my comfort zone. As I mentioned to my parents, it didn't seem hard at all to adjust, even though it was for the first time I had to do laundry for myself (I remember wondering how to figure out the washing machine) and having to settle meals for myself.
I have also found that I can deal with people easier now. Thanks to my job I guess. I still come across as the elder statesman (my hallmates call me "lao de" on account of my early birthday date) but it's a bad habit to dispense sagely advice.
Am turning 22 is less than 3 weeks. It's a bit harrowing, for 21 was such a nice year that I don't really want it to end. Yet it feels like that I have finally arrived with regards to adulthood, and with it all the unpleasant responsibilities.
The lack of posts is testament that the internal conflict in me has been resolved somewhat. Perhaps one day I'll trawl through the posts from way back in 2003 to see the evolution of me. I guess I'll still sporadically update, this place holds too much significance for me to close it down.
In closing, here are just some of my wishes for 2008. For the family and friends back home in sunny Singapore or overseas to enjoy good health and success, for me to work hard for my degree, for me to continue improving as a person, for friends here in London to cherish friendships, and finally, for me to be a better man.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
We were soldiers
Ok this must be the longest I have been away from blogging ever. Been darn busy, what with work and play, and also never found the motivation to blog about an eventful november. But here is the concise version of events.
The month of november had nick's birthday, which he celebrated party style in the common room of our hall, then went up to nottingham for the notts games, played football for UCL as their lone (loan) signing. Was freezing up there due to the crazy winds, played football with gloves for the first time. Met up with many of the 86 friends there as well. The next weekend I was the facilitator for the temasek forum, held at my school. Facilitated a session, which was good apart from the fact that I felt we spent too much time debating about 377A. On the same day England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, I was in a DBS talk listening to the CEO, but the main draw was the free food after that. Went up to Cambridge to visit my fencing captain with yq, we didn't get on the first bus as it was full, when we finally got there we walked around and admired the quaintness of the place, but it was cold as well due to the winds again. Somehow we ended up meeting all the former SO2 people, and had dinner together. This weekend, had dinner with my uncle and auntie and 3 other cousins at their place. Enjoyed the home cooked food goodness, and got driven back to hall from canary wharf by cousin in his 2 man convertible. Cool.
I guess this is the time to take stock of all that has happened so far. It's been a blast so far, but I think I need to study harder and make good use of the time during the weekdays so that I can play all I want on the weekends. But everything that has happened so far has convinced me that I've made the right decision to come here.
We were soldiers. Indeed.
Ok this must be the longest I have been away from blogging ever. Been darn busy, what with work and play, and also never found the motivation to blog about an eventful november. But here is the concise version of events.
The month of november had nick's birthday, which he celebrated party style in the common room of our hall, then went up to nottingham for the notts games, played football for UCL as their lone (loan) signing. Was freezing up there due to the crazy winds, played football with gloves for the first time. Met up with many of the 86 friends there as well. The next weekend I was the facilitator for the temasek forum, held at my school. Facilitated a session, which was good apart from the fact that I felt we spent too much time debating about 377A. On the same day England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, I was in a DBS talk listening to the CEO, but the main draw was the free food after that. Went up to Cambridge to visit my fencing captain with yq, we didn't get on the first bus as it was full, when we finally got there we walked around and admired the quaintness of the place, but it was cold as well due to the winds again. Somehow we ended up meeting all the former SO2 people, and had dinner together. This weekend, had dinner with my uncle and auntie and 3 other cousins at their place. Enjoyed the home cooked food goodness, and got driven back to hall from canary wharf by cousin in his 2 man convertible. Cool.
I guess this is the time to take stock of all that has happened so far. It's been a blast so far, but I think I need to study harder and make good use of the time during the weekdays so that I can play all I want on the weekends. But everything that has happened so far has convinced me that I've made the right decision to come here.
We were soldiers. Indeed.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Never let them see you bleed
It's 47 mins past midnight on a friday morning, my criminal law tutorial is by my side, half done, the readings for it I haven't read; other random stuff thrown around my room, a file here, a shirt there, Jay chou's new song "the longest movie" playing from my laptop, this is the scene for the night, another night where I can't articulate what I want to say. More likely, the feeling is so absurd that no words can describe it. And thus I'm here again, same scene, just that in a different country, with a tonne of work waiting for me but I decide to blog instead.
Can I still feel anymore, I wonder. It feels like I have locked up my heart and thrown away the key ages ago, so much so that the heart cannot feel anymore.
And I wonder if I oversimplify things. Sure it is way easier to deal with things when you can make them simpler, but that isn't the best way to approach things though.
But yeah, these issues, they are pointless to ponder for now. Things will fall into place, I believe that.
Besides, life is too exciting. Just came back from Brighton, where the seaside was marvellous. And with trips to nottingham, cambridge, glasgow and spain coming up, and a whole lot of other activities coming up, things will sure be looking up and up for me. So let's just set aside these worries that we can't deal with for now, and safeguard your own interests by being happy.
And of course, above all, never let them see you bleed.
It's 47 mins past midnight on a friday morning, my criminal law tutorial is by my side, half done, the readings for it I haven't read; other random stuff thrown around my room, a file here, a shirt there, Jay chou's new song "the longest movie" playing from my laptop, this is the scene for the night, another night where I can't articulate what I want to say. More likely, the feeling is so absurd that no words can describe it. And thus I'm here again, same scene, just that in a different country, with a tonne of work waiting for me but I decide to blog instead.
Can I still feel anymore, I wonder. It feels like I have locked up my heart and thrown away the key ages ago, so much so that the heart cannot feel anymore.
And I wonder if I oversimplify things. Sure it is way easier to deal with things when you can make them simpler, but that isn't the best way to approach things though.
But yeah, these issues, they are pointless to ponder for now. Things will fall into place, I believe that.
Besides, life is too exciting. Just came back from Brighton, where the seaside was marvellous. And with trips to nottingham, cambridge, glasgow and spain coming up, and a whole lot of other activities coming up, things will sure be looking up and up for me. So let's just set aside these worries that we can't deal with for now, and safeguard your own interests by being happy.
And of course, above all, never let them see you bleed.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Deceptively Dark Designs
The days are getting shorter here. Daylight saving has come and past, now there's a 8 hour difference from good old Singapore.
It's reading week now, but I haven't been doing much reading to be honest.
But I did stay in today and did case notes for contract law, but it was interrupted by watching anime on crunchyroll (Gundam 00 rocks) and doing some other random stuff.
Had homemade laksa in a coursemate's home, cooked by her mother. It was one of the best meals I had. Explored her home, which was great, it had a great view of the river from the many balconies. Braved the cold winds to take photos.
Saturday went to Borough market and enjoyed a delicious venison burger. Walked around the area checking out the foodstuff, wondered what is black cabbage and other vegetables I have never seen before. Almost got blown off tower bridge, for the winds were so strong.
Went to a part of Surrey, the southern part of England with ZH and Nick on Sunday. Was woken up at 0640 by a call by nick, who said, "Hey ZY we're going to Surrey today. It's now 0640, you have until 0715 to get ready and we'll meet downstairs." I mumbled an acknowledgement, before putting the phone down and went back to bed. After lying there for about 20 mins, I got up again and called nick. I said, "Eh Nick I wasn't dreaming right? We're going to Surrey right?" He replied, "Yes and you have 15 mins left to get ready."
We took the tube to Victoria station to change to national rail. The train there was practically empty, as it was a Sunday, and the station we got off was just as bad. It was just a building along the track only. We set off to the town, where we went to the local shops to check the maps there (we didn't even bring a map of the area with us) and stock up on food at the sainsbury's there. We headed off, but horlaned immediately. Fortunately, for this trip every intersection there were always helpful people jogging, walking their dogs or just strolling around to direct us to the right path. And they were always amazed when we tell them that we walked all the way from the train station.
We went out of the town to reach the outskirts of the nature reserve we wanted to see. So next was just cow, sheep, horse, grass, mud, tree, rain, field etc. We managed to get a great view of the next town we were supposed to go to on top of a hill, before we ventured down the wood which had 100 year old trees to the town.
At the town, we had our lunch in the train station. And that was the only time I felt really cold. It was raining throughout the trip, my jacket was soaked and my shoes and the lower parts of my jeans were muddy and wet. But as we were walking at a very brisk pace, I only felt really cold when we sat down to have lunch.
After lunch we decided to head back, but we wanted to check out the town first before we left. We headed to the main hotel, and saw that there was a hill behind it. Thus, we went for it. After much panting, we got to the top and enjoyed the great view. Nick placed a groundsheet and we laid there for a while as we waited for the next train to arrive.
It was a wet, muddy, cold, tiring but fun time. It's nice to have friends who decide to do this on the last minute to just disappear on a cold and rainy sunday morning.
To go along with the colder weather, I've been buying warm clothing, including a jacket for11-12 year olds from H&M's children's section. The shopping is nice here, but need to watch the expenses.
It's been a mind-boggling 7 weeks here in London. It doesn't feel that short at all, it feels like I have been here for quite some time already. In my time here, I've been vindicated many times to come to London. I got the fresh start I wanted. But there are many more areas I need to look into.
Some people said I don't smile enough! They made this point after seeing my surrey photos, they said they have never seen me smile so happily before. And it's quite a few people who say that. I wonder, because I think I laugh and smile a lot, but sometimes I just withdraw and drift off as well. Sometimes it's because I'm tired, or it's in the mornings my brain is still booting up so I really don't want to talk at all. But yeah definitely something to improve. But I smiled as I did in those Surrey photos because I was genuinely happy, and that to me is all the more reason to smile as I did.
I think I rather get to know people better than get to know new people. I think I prefer to get to know someone privately rather than in a group situation. This is what I learnt about myself when I think back of my behaviour.
The full force of the coursework is bearing on me now. Yet I'm still going out to play or explore. I guess I believe that my legal studies is part of my life, and isn't my life. I would want to learn from the school of life more.
Lately I have been entertaining more and more thoughts of just heading off somewhere by myself, with no destination in mind. Long walks help me clear my mind, and walking is a very desirable activity here in London for the weather is cool.
And again there's this bundle of feelings I'm experiencing but I don't know how to articulate them at all, so I'll just leave it at that. Besides, I know I'll be fine after a while.
Final thought, I told a friend that the girl of my dreams must be someone with contradictions. In other words, one who is strong yet weak at the same time, brave yet timid, talkative yet contemplative, and so on. It sounds like I would fall for a schizophrenic, but it just means I want someone to walk this knife edge with me. But in short, there is practically no one who would fulfill this criteria so I just I can shelve this issue aside for the time being. On this note, congrats Jim! Mission accomplished with 2 months to spare. Respect haha.
Ok 4 tutorials, 1 essay and a massive tonne of readings await me. Wish I could make the work just all go away, but that's taking rejection of reality a bit too far.
The days are getting shorter here. Daylight saving has come and past, now there's a 8 hour difference from good old Singapore.
It's reading week now, but I haven't been doing much reading to be honest.
But I did stay in today and did case notes for contract law, but it was interrupted by watching anime on crunchyroll (Gundam 00 rocks) and doing some other random stuff.
Had homemade laksa in a coursemate's home, cooked by her mother. It was one of the best meals I had. Explored her home, which was great, it had a great view of the river from the many balconies. Braved the cold winds to take photos.
Saturday went to Borough market and enjoyed a delicious venison burger. Walked around the area checking out the foodstuff, wondered what is black cabbage and other vegetables I have never seen before. Almost got blown off tower bridge, for the winds were so strong.
Went to a part of Surrey, the southern part of England with ZH and Nick on Sunday. Was woken up at 0640 by a call by nick, who said, "Hey ZY we're going to Surrey today. It's now 0640, you have until 0715 to get ready and we'll meet downstairs." I mumbled an acknowledgement, before putting the phone down and went back to bed. After lying there for about 20 mins, I got up again and called nick. I said, "Eh Nick I wasn't dreaming right? We're going to Surrey right?" He replied, "Yes and you have 15 mins left to get ready."
We took the tube to Victoria station to change to national rail. The train there was practically empty, as it was a Sunday, and the station we got off was just as bad. It was just a building along the track only. We set off to the town, where we went to the local shops to check the maps there (we didn't even bring a map of the area with us) and stock up on food at the sainsbury's there. We headed off, but horlaned immediately. Fortunately, for this trip every intersection there were always helpful people jogging, walking their dogs or just strolling around to direct us to the right path. And they were always amazed when we tell them that we walked all the way from the train station.
We went out of the town to reach the outskirts of the nature reserve we wanted to see. So next was just cow, sheep, horse, grass, mud, tree, rain, field etc. We managed to get a great view of the next town we were supposed to go to on top of a hill, before we ventured down the wood which had 100 year old trees to the town.
At the town, we had our lunch in the train station. And that was the only time I felt really cold. It was raining throughout the trip, my jacket was soaked and my shoes and the lower parts of my jeans were muddy and wet. But as we were walking at a very brisk pace, I only felt really cold when we sat down to have lunch.
After lunch we decided to head back, but we wanted to check out the town first before we left. We headed to the main hotel, and saw that there was a hill behind it. Thus, we went for it. After much panting, we got to the top and enjoyed the great view. Nick placed a groundsheet and we laid there for a while as we waited for the next train to arrive.
It was a wet, muddy, cold, tiring but fun time. It's nice to have friends who decide to do this on the last minute to just disappear on a cold and rainy sunday morning.
To go along with the colder weather, I've been buying warm clothing, including a jacket for11-12 year olds from H&M's children's section. The shopping is nice here, but need to watch the expenses.
It's been a mind-boggling 7 weeks here in London. It doesn't feel that short at all, it feels like I have been here for quite some time already. In my time here, I've been vindicated many times to come to London. I got the fresh start I wanted. But there are many more areas I need to look into.
Some people said I don't smile enough! They made this point after seeing my surrey photos, they said they have never seen me smile so happily before. And it's quite a few people who say that. I wonder, because I think I laugh and smile a lot, but sometimes I just withdraw and drift off as well. Sometimes it's because I'm tired, or it's in the mornings my brain is still booting up so I really don't want to talk at all. But yeah definitely something to improve. But I smiled as I did in those Surrey photos because I was genuinely happy, and that to me is all the more reason to smile as I did.
I think I rather get to know people better than get to know new people. I think I prefer to get to know someone privately rather than in a group situation. This is what I learnt about myself when I think back of my behaviour.
The full force of the coursework is bearing on me now. Yet I'm still going out to play or explore. I guess I believe that my legal studies is part of my life, and isn't my life. I would want to learn from the school of life more.
Lately I have been entertaining more and more thoughts of just heading off somewhere by myself, with no destination in mind. Long walks help me clear my mind, and walking is a very desirable activity here in London for the weather is cool.
And again there's this bundle of feelings I'm experiencing but I don't know how to articulate them at all, so I'll just leave it at that. Besides, I know I'll be fine after a while.
Final thought, I told a friend that the girl of my dreams must be someone with contradictions. In other words, one who is strong yet weak at the same time, brave yet timid, talkative yet contemplative, and so on. It sounds like I would fall for a schizophrenic, but it just means I want someone to walk this knife edge with me. But in short, there is practically no one who would fulfill this criteria so I just I can shelve this issue aside for the time being. On this note, congrats Jim! Mission accomplished with 2 months to spare. Respect haha.
Ok 4 tutorials, 1 essay and a massive tonne of readings await me. Wish I could make the work just all go away, but that's taking rejection of reality a bit too far.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Adrenaline Overdose
Ok as usual coffee does crazy things to my body. I shouldn't abuse it this way. Lack of sleep plus coffee equals to the state where your mind is dead but body is twitching in response to the stimulants.
Been some crazy week, with 2 essays to be handed in on friday, and when monday came I hadn't even started on any of them. Did my criminal law essay in 2.5 hours, while i split my public law essay between 2 days. After 3 years of not being challenged greatly, I'm surprised I could still write 2 1500 words essays in 3 days. But I'm very sure I'm going to get 3 for both of them though. Oh well.
Went to Stamford Bridge on wednesday night to watch chelski take on schalke. Was a great experience, from the start where we had to wait for 3 trains before we managed to get on one to go to the stadium, which ironically the station was called fulham broadway. When we got there there were many fans singing songs, and outside the stadium the police cordoned off the area and there were many stalls set up selling football merchandise or food. Bought a burger and chomped on it, went around the stadium checking out the place. Match programmes cost 3 pounds, so I didn't get one, don't like chelski anyway. Around the stadium there were large photos of the chelski players, which we took photos of and posed with them. Saw the megastore, replica jerseys cost 40 pounds, Nick wanted to buy the luminous yellow away kit.
When we finally got in the stadium and sat down, it felt so surreal. Normally champions league would mean waking up at 2am in Singapore to watch, but this was happening right before my eyes.
Watched the players warm up, and the away fans sang a lot and loudly constantly, far more than the chelski fans. Next to each seat was this chelski flag, which the fans could unfurl and swing it around. Being the Singaporeans we are, we grabbed as many as we could before we left the place.
Prior to the start of the match, the chelski fans would sing this chelski anthem that was rather amusing. When the match started, chelski got a soft early goal and frankly it was game over from there. Schalke had lost kuranyi from the start of the match and never looked to score, save for a header that rebounded off the post. And the sneaky alex hauled a man down blatantly when he was the last man, somehow everyone saw that but the referee.
It was great to watch the match from our position, for we could see the whole pitch, and with such a view you could focus on other things. I was observing Drogba's positioning and realised that he plays very well, running short to win headers. He doesn't really like to receive the ball, prefers to play a pass first time, meaning that the midfielders need to move up fast to support him. And the slacker frank lumpa, captain of the night, did nothing of the sort. Essien was the only one supporting from central midfield, and he isn't renowned as an attacker. Cole was all tricks and no effectiveness. But frankly i think lumpa did nothing noteworthy in the game at all. It was like he was invisible. And as Nick pointed out, even though he was the captain drogba was the one shouting instructions.
When the match ended we stayed to take photos and headed back. The tube was crazily jammed, so we decided to kay kiang and take the tube in the opposite direction, get down 2 stops later and take the train in the correct direction to avoid squeezing with the crowds. But as it stood, when we did that, there wasn't much of a crowd then.
Looking forward to go to next hopefully emirates stadium!
Ok as usual coffee does crazy things to my body. I shouldn't abuse it this way. Lack of sleep plus coffee equals to the state where your mind is dead but body is twitching in response to the stimulants.
Been some crazy week, with 2 essays to be handed in on friday, and when monday came I hadn't even started on any of them. Did my criminal law essay in 2.5 hours, while i split my public law essay between 2 days. After 3 years of not being challenged greatly, I'm surprised I could still write 2 1500 words essays in 3 days. But I'm very sure I'm going to get 3 for both of them though. Oh well.
Went to Stamford Bridge on wednesday night to watch chelski take on schalke. Was a great experience, from the start where we had to wait for 3 trains before we managed to get on one to go to the stadium, which ironically the station was called fulham broadway. When we got there there were many fans singing songs, and outside the stadium the police cordoned off the area and there were many stalls set up selling football merchandise or food. Bought a burger and chomped on it, went around the stadium checking out the place. Match programmes cost 3 pounds, so I didn't get one, don't like chelski anyway. Around the stadium there were large photos of the chelski players, which we took photos of and posed with them. Saw the megastore, replica jerseys cost 40 pounds, Nick wanted to buy the luminous yellow away kit.
When we finally got in the stadium and sat down, it felt so surreal. Normally champions league would mean waking up at 2am in Singapore to watch, but this was happening right before my eyes.
Watched the players warm up, and the away fans sang a lot and loudly constantly, far more than the chelski fans. Next to each seat was this chelski flag, which the fans could unfurl and swing it around. Being the Singaporeans we are, we grabbed as many as we could before we left the place.
Prior to the start of the match, the chelski fans would sing this chelski anthem that was rather amusing. When the match started, chelski got a soft early goal and frankly it was game over from there. Schalke had lost kuranyi from the start of the match and never looked to score, save for a header that rebounded off the post. And the sneaky alex hauled a man down blatantly when he was the last man, somehow everyone saw that but the referee.
It was great to watch the match from our position, for we could see the whole pitch, and with such a view you could focus on other things. I was observing Drogba's positioning and realised that he plays very well, running short to win headers. He doesn't really like to receive the ball, prefers to play a pass first time, meaning that the midfielders need to move up fast to support him. And the slacker frank lumpa, captain of the night, did nothing of the sort. Essien was the only one supporting from central midfield, and he isn't renowned as an attacker. Cole was all tricks and no effectiveness. But frankly i think lumpa did nothing noteworthy in the game at all. It was like he was invisible. And as Nick pointed out, even though he was the captain drogba was the one shouting instructions.
When the match ended we stayed to take photos and headed back. The tube was crazily jammed, so we decided to kay kiang and take the tube in the opposite direction, get down 2 stops later and take the train in the correct direction to avoid squeezing with the crowds. But as it stood, when we did that, there wasn't much of a crowd then.
Looking forward to go to next hopefully emirates stadium!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Rejection of Reality
Just let me get through this crazy week where I have 2 essays due this friday and loads of tutorials to cover. Just let me get through to friday and I'll be fine, I promise.
Somehow I have become a big brother of sorts! I didn't come to London to babysit people, but I guess I don't mind helping people, but again I'm mindful of not taking on other people's problems and treating them as my own.
I think I'm still hanging on. I loathe to admit it, but the 6 week downer period seems to be getting to me. And I don't see a good reason why it should. It's just work that placing a lot of pressure on me, and even that is highly debatable given the very languid and dismissive way I treat my work. But then I did get an "essay high" after smoking out a 1500 words essay last night. Never written so much unacademic crap before. Now only left 1 more essay.
While I was having my Japanese lesson, for the first time I actually learned something new and not just revision, I allowed my mind to wander back to my class I had back home.
To miss, to dwell, to worry, to pine for, all these are weaknesses in my eyes. I made my decision to come here, thus I'll stand by it. I chose to leave home, to leave all that is familiar and safe, to achieve this reboot of my life. And I have to admit, the reboot is going along swimmingly.
So why do I feel this malaise? This emotional and mental inertia? Apart from the obvious fact that I'm still human, and feeling all these emotions is highly normal, just that I should suppress them and start to get work done.
Anyway, like I said, there's reading week to look forward to. I aim to make good use of it, be it relaxing or studying. For now, let's stop this rejection of reality, and get back to work. And sleep more as well.
Just let me get through this crazy week where I have 2 essays due this friday and loads of tutorials to cover. Just let me get through to friday and I'll be fine, I promise.
Somehow I have become a big brother of sorts! I didn't come to London to babysit people, but I guess I don't mind helping people, but again I'm mindful of not taking on other people's problems and treating them as my own.
I think I'm still hanging on. I loathe to admit it, but the 6 week downer period seems to be getting to me. And I don't see a good reason why it should. It's just work that placing a lot of pressure on me, and even that is highly debatable given the very languid and dismissive way I treat my work. But then I did get an "essay high" after smoking out a 1500 words essay last night. Never written so much unacademic crap before. Now only left 1 more essay.
While I was having my Japanese lesson, for the first time I actually learned something new and not just revision, I allowed my mind to wander back to my class I had back home.
To miss, to dwell, to worry, to pine for, all these are weaknesses in my eyes. I made my decision to come here, thus I'll stand by it. I chose to leave home, to leave all that is familiar and safe, to achieve this reboot of my life. And I have to admit, the reboot is going along swimmingly.
So why do I feel this malaise? This emotional and mental inertia? Apart from the obvious fact that I'm still human, and feeling all these emotions is highly normal, just that I should suppress them and start to get work done.
Anyway, like I said, there's reading week to look forward to. I aim to make good use of it, be it relaxing or studying. For now, let's stop this rejection of reality, and get back to work. And sleep more as well.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Repudiate
For the last week, I went to a party organised by my college's Singapore Society, with my classmates and some of my hallmates. It wasn't very fun in my opinion, for the club didn't allow re-entries for some strange reason, the dancefloor which was in the basement was very hot, the drinks were expensive and they served tequila shots in plastic cups, the music sucked big time for they kept on playing techno, and even for a club it was too darn dark. But I had an ok amount of fun, so that's ok for me. Won't go clubbing in London anymore again. Too troublesome plus I don't think I'll have as much fun as I would in Singapore.
Work is piling up. I have 2 essays due on the coming friday and I have no idea how to do them. At least after is the reading week, would love a breather.
I have window shopping along Oxford St, which is the equivalent of Orchard Rd back in Singapore. Bought a polo tee and long sleeved shirt in Burton, the male section of Dorothy Perkins, for 13SGD and 25.50SGD respectively. They give 15% discounts for students, even the items in the bargain bin. Good stuff. The selection of clothes is great here, but all are invariably very expensive. Only brought back a free bag as the result of my adventures last fri.
Watched the rugby final in a pub. Had to squeeze myself into a small corner in a very uncomfortable position. The atmosphere was good, but it would probably be better if England had won. Oh well, I prefer football anyway. Saw the tail end of Man Utd owning Villa in the pub before the game.
I decided that there are a lot of things I want to do in Singapore when I return. I want to K, I want to club and drink with my friends, I want to be able to have a proper lunch of warm food not cold sandwiches, I want to drive a car, I want to be able to take afternoon snacks without great detriment to my wallet etc. This is not to say that I'm finding it tough here, it's more like I know now that I have only 3 months in Singapore when I go back, so I want to make good use of the 3 months to do all that as I know the other 9 months I'll be back here, watching musicals, football matches, eating cold sandwiches etc.
And as I expected, leaving has made me more appreciative of that little island called Home.
For the last week, I went to a party organised by my college's Singapore Society, with my classmates and some of my hallmates. It wasn't very fun in my opinion, for the club didn't allow re-entries for some strange reason, the dancefloor which was in the basement was very hot, the drinks were expensive and they served tequila shots in plastic cups, the music sucked big time for they kept on playing techno, and even for a club it was too darn dark. But I had an ok amount of fun, so that's ok for me. Won't go clubbing in London anymore again. Too troublesome plus I don't think I'll have as much fun as I would in Singapore.
Work is piling up. I have 2 essays due on the coming friday and I have no idea how to do them. At least after is the reading week, would love a breather.
I have window shopping along Oxford St, which is the equivalent of Orchard Rd back in Singapore. Bought a polo tee and long sleeved shirt in Burton, the male section of Dorothy Perkins, for 13SGD and 25.50SGD respectively. They give 15% discounts for students, even the items in the bargain bin. Good stuff. The selection of clothes is great here, but all are invariably very expensive. Only brought back a free bag as the result of my adventures last fri.
Watched the rugby final in a pub. Had to squeeze myself into a small corner in a very uncomfortable position. The atmosphere was good, but it would probably be better if England had won. Oh well, I prefer football anyway. Saw the tail end of Man Utd owning Villa in the pub before the game.
I decided that there are a lot of things I want to do in Singapore when I return. I want to K, I want to club and drink with my friends, I want to be able to have a proper lunch of warm food not cold sandwiches, I want to drive a car, I want to be able to take afternoon snacks without great detriment to my wallet etc. This is not to say that I'm finding it tough here, it's more like I know now that I have only 3 months in Singapore when I go back, so I want to make good use of the 3 months to do all that as I know the other 9 months I'll be back here, watching musicals, football matches, eating cold sandwiches etc.
And as I expected, leaving has made me more appreciative of that little island called Home.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Life goes easy on me, most of the time
Ok at fabian's behest I shall update on my happenings in London.
The second week of uni was quite uneventful, apart from the fact that the full timetable came into play that week. There were a few days of horrible weather as well. I really dread the horrible weather, as it means it'll get super cold, my shoes and clothes will get wet, and I have cross the bridge in a force 1 gale at times.
Had lunch at Bayswater, at the famous Four Seasons restaurant. Strangely enough, I didn't really subscribe to the hype. But it was nice to eat chinese food again. Afterwards we went to portobello market, again for me, before rushing back for dinner.
Sunday went with AO and ZH to the Natural History Museum. Saw loads of replica dinosaur bones and other interesting stuff, like the cross section of a redwood tree and an earthquake simulation area. After that, I left them to continue exploring by myself. I went to Imperial, which was a more cosy feeling campus with nice buildings made out of coloured glass. It also has the tree with crimson leaves, which can be seen in one of my earlier posts. I also went to Baden Powell's house, which was actually more of an inn and activity centre, but it has a small area dedicated to the man who started the scouting movement. After which, I dropped by Harrods before taking the Tube back. The stuff there was really nice, but the prices can make your jaw drop. A Versace T-shirt costs 100 pounds. Madness.
Monday I had a meet my personal tutor session. She was a very nice lady, who provided us with sandwiches and pizza. I scoffed a lot of them as I haven't had my dinner. She even poured the wine for all of us, to which I felt very embarrassed. I guess that's the culture there. I'm also not used to calling my tutors by their first name.
The rest of the week was mostly studying, trying desperately to complete my tutorial questions in time for the tutorial. And I'm back to my bad habit of sleeping late again. I guess once your body adjusts to the area, you start to require less sleep. When I first came here, I would feel sleepy at 8pm already, but now I can last till 2am and wake up in time for breakfast. But this isn't very healthy.
Went window shopping along London's main shopping artery on friday. The selection there is really great and nice, but the prices are steep. There are many labels that can't be found in Singapore, and the Topman they had there was huge. And they offer 15% discount for students in certain shops. I bought a polo t for 4.25 pounds after discount in Burton, which is the brother shop of Dorothy Perkins. Only downer was that I was lugging my criminal law textbook with me at the same time, thus my back ached constantly.
Went to a park today, Regent's park. Saw loads of birds, the swans there if the walked on the ground, they can reach up to my waist. Was thinking of how nice would the duck taste if it was roasted.
Interesting thing is was, AO and ZH agreed that, whilst we were at the Natural History Museum, if the dinosaurs were still alive now, the Chinese would find a way to cook and eat them.
Ok I think all those nights sleeping late is coming back to haunt me as I'm feeling darn sleepy now. Shall update again soon.
Ok at fabian's behest I shall update on my happenings in London.
The second week of uni was quite uneventful, apart from the fact that the full timetable came into play that week. There were a few days of horrible weather as well. I really dread the horrible weather, as it means it'll get super cold, my shoes and clothes will get wet, and I have cross the bridge in a force 1 gale at times.
Had lunch at Bayswater, at the famous Four Seasons restaurant. Strangely enough, I didn't really subscribe to the hype. But it was nice to eat chinese food again. Afterwards we went to portobello market, again for me, before rushing back for dinner.
Sunday went with AO and ZH to the Natural History Museum. Saw loads of replica dinosaur bones and other interesting stuff, like the cross section of a redwood tree and an earthquake simulation area. After that, I left them to continue exploring by myself. I went to Imperial, which was a more cosy feeling campus with nice buildings made out of coloured glass. It also has the tree with crimson leaves, which can be seen in one of my earlier posts. I also went to Baden Powell's house, which was actually more of an inn and activity centre, but it has a small area dedicated to the man who started the scouting movement. After which, I dropped by Harrods before taking the Tube back. The stuff there was really nice, but the prices can make your jaw drop. A Versace T-shirt costs 100 pounds. Madness.
Monday I had a meet my personal tutor session. She was a very nice lady, who provided us with sandwiches and pizza. I scoffed a lot of them as I haven't had my dinner. She even poured the wine for all of us, to which I felt very embarrassed. I guess that's the culture there. I'm also not used to calling my tutors by their first name.
The rest of the week was mostly studying, trying desperately to complete my tutorial questions in time for the tutorial. And I'm back to my bad habit of sleeping late again. I guess once your body adjusts to the area, you start to require less sleep. When I first came here, I would feel sleepy at 8pm already, but now I can last till 2am and wake up in time for breakfast. But this isn't very healthy.
Went window shopping along London's main shopping artery on friday. The selection there is really great and nice, but the prices are steep. There are many labels that can't be found in Singapore, and the Topman they had there was huge. And they offer 15% discount for students in certain shops. I bought a polo t for 4.25 pounds after discount in Burton, which is the brother shop of Dorothy Perkins. Only downer was that I was lugging my criminal law textbook with me at the same time, thus my back ached constantly.
Went to a park today, Regent's park. Saw loads of birds, the swans there if the walked on the ground, they can reach up to my waist. Was thinking of how nice would the duck taste if it was roasted.
Interesting thing is was, AO and ZH agreed that, whilst we were at the Natural History Museum, if the dinosaurs were still alive now, the Chinese would find a way to cook and eat them.
Ok I think all those nights sleeping late is coming back to haunt me as I'm feeling darn sleepy now. Shall update again soon.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Naivety
I know I'm supposed to be blogging about my life in London as promised, but I came across something I decided to comment upon.
Did some blog surfing via Ao's blog, and read the stressed teacher blog as a result. He basically comments about his life as a teacher, and lists a multitude of problems he encounters. At times I agree with his reasoning, but at times I don't. But I do know that the situation in singapore schools ain't great. This perception was cemented when I worked for HA in the past.
I just wanted to say this. Call me naive or what, but one of my plans I have for my life would be, after earning enough as a lawyer, I would quit, and join the education service.
I would put my students first, and help them achieve their potential. I won't subscribe to mollycoodling, easy way outs or show indifference to them. But I won't hesitate to show them the error of their ways in the worst possible way, telling them to wake up their idea rudely, whatever it takes.
Call me naive, or someone who has been watching too much GTO, but this idea just has my name stamped on it. It is a decision that is uninformed, hasty, filled with idealism and stubbornness.
But if it comes to pass, woe betide those who stand in my way.
I know I'm supposed to be blogging about my life in London as promised, but I came across something I decided to comment upon.
Did some blog surfing via Ao's blog, and read the stressed teacher blog as a result. He basically comments about his life as a teacher, and lists a multitude of problems he encounters. At times I agree with his reasoning, but at times I don't. But I do know that the situation in singapore schools ain't great. This perception was cemented when I worked for HA in the past.
I just wanted to say this. Call me naive or what, but one of my plans I have for my life would be, after earning enough as a lawyer, I would quit, and join the education service.
I would put my students first, and help them achieve their potential. I won't subscribe to mollycoodling, easy way outs or show indifference to them. But I won't hesitate to show them the error of their ways in the worst possible way, telling them to wake up their idea rudely, whatever it takes.
Call me naive, or someone who has been watching too much GTO, but this idea just has my name stamped on it. It is a decision that is uninformed, hasty, filled with idealism and stubbornness.
But if it comes to pass, woe betide those who stand in my way.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
爱是永恒
张学友
爱点亮心灵,永远不灰心
燃烧着真心情意,诺言已不必
这一生只要有你什么都愿意
有欢喜有哭泣
一切变成甜蜜
黑夜和晨曦,狂风和四季
我像温暖的摇椅永远抱紧你
我的心从未曾犹豫
最真的爱,全都献给你~
我和你相守相依
真爱生死不移
穿过悲和喜
跨过天和地
我和你永不分
离千千万万世纪无边无际
爱是永恒因为爱是你
生命会停息
岁月会交替
只要和你在一起
什么都放弃!
我的爱不灭的勇气
生生世世只愿伴着你
Yet another song I'm listening to madly nowadays. I sometimes end up singing it loudly with my earphones firmly in my ear, oblivious to the noise pollution I'm creating affecting everyone around me.
张学友
爱点亮心灵,永远不灰心
燃烧着真心情意,诺言已不必
这一生只要有你什么都愿意
有欢喜有哭泣
一切变成甜蜜
黑夜和晨曦,狂风和四季
我像温暖的摇椅永远抱紧你
我的心从未曾犹豫
最真的爱,全都献给你~
我和你相守相依
真爱生死不移
穿过悲和喜
跨过天和地
我和你永不分
离千千万万世纪无边无际
爱是永恒因为爱是你
生命会停息
岁月会交替
只要和你在一起
什么都放弃!
我的爱不灭的勇气
生生世世只愿伴着你
Yet another song I'm listening to madly nowadays. I sometimes end up singing it loudly with my earphones firmly in my ear, oblivious to the noise pollution I'm creating affecting everyone around me.
Friday, October 05, 2007
莎士比亚的天分
林俊杰
刻在树上的字任风刮
写着爱着一个人的故事
但是文字还是文字不像花
想送给你的每一个束花
想陪你的黄昏和沙滩
随着时间枯萎
梦醒了才后悔
我是一个没勇气的人
带着小小年纪的天真
想你一定是不敢转身
脸上微笑
心舍不得
我没有莎士比亚的天份
写出我们的喜怒哀乐
但在这一刻
写了一个完结篇
失去了你
Fabian always chooses this song to sing when we K. Kinda miss my killing chickens sessions with them.
Good songs take the edge off a very tiring day in uni. Law is making my head spin many a time, but I'll be back, and with a vengeance.
林俊杰
刻在树上的字任风刮
写着爱着一个人的故事
但是文字还是文字不像花
想送给你的每一个束花
想陪你的黄昏和沙滩
随着时间枯萎
梦醒了才后悔
我是一个没勇气的人
带着小小年纪的天真
想你一定是不敢转身
脸上微笑
心舍不得
我没有莎士比亚的天份
写出我们的喜怒哀乐
但在这一刻
写了一个完结篇
失去了你
Fabian always chooses this song to sing when we K. Kinda miss my killing chickens sessions with them.
Good songs take the edge off a very tiring day in uni. Law is making my head spin many a time, but I'll be back, and with a vengeance.
Every beat of your heart
By Corrinne May
So here we stand
Anchored in hope
Letting the rain wash away every fear
Stars in the sky
Twinkle and shine
I pray they won't disappear
'cause I don't know
where your journey goes
or how long it will take to unfold
But as long as we keep this moment shining in the dark
I will be watching over every beat of your heart
I wish that time could be replayed
I'd keep you here with me everyday
They say that love is letting go
I hope that you find your way
'cause I don't know
where your journey goes
or how long it will take to unfold
But as long as we keep this moment shining in the dark
I know you're watching over every beat of my heart
By Corrinne May
So here we stand
Anchored in hope
Letting the rain wash away every fear
Stars in the sky
Twinkle and shine
I pray they won't disappear
'cause I don't know
where your journey goes
or how long it will take to unfold
But as long as we keep this moment shining in the dark
I will be watching over every beat of your heart
I wish that time could be replayed
I'd keep you here with me everyday
They say that love is letting go
I hope that you find your way
'cause I don't know
where your journey goes
or how long it will take to unfold
But as long as we keep this moment shining in the dark
I know you're watching over every beat of my heart
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Ameliorate
Survived my first week of school. Brain's still kind of rusty, and I have to adjust to the new style of learning. No longer is it just mugging of organic chem reactions or integration formulas, it's now critical analysis of the law and questioning the the ideas of it. Not easy, as am still a bit too used to the route learning method in Singapore, where I'll have my multitude of highlighters ready to highlight every key point. Here you have to dig out the key points by yourself and read up widely. Wikipedia has been my best friend so far.
Weather here ranges from horrendous to fine. It was nice and cool on Sunday with a bit of warm sunshine, thus I went out only in a t-shirt and my black blazer with yq and sharon to camden market, for he wanted to buy homeware. Sharon, being the 3rd year student, brought us around and advised us about some issues in London. Back at hall we had the warden welcome party. Had 4 carlsbergs bottles and talked to a few people. Should have drank more as it was paid for by our fees. Alvin was in his fine form commenting on a lot of things that night.
Saturday was ok as well, it didn't rain but it was cloudy and gloomy. The temperature didn't drop very badly though, so it was still tolerable. Had my King's Singapore and M'sia society event, which consisted of a walk about campus (albeit a week late, thus I ended up knowing most of the places we went already). We made detours to leceister square and trafalgar square before finally ending up in chinatown for dinner, which was a sit down communal chinese dinner. I ingested 5 bowls of rice. Suffice to say for the amount I ate was definately befitting the 4 pounds I paid for the meal. Met a lot of people there as well, but socialising can get quite tiring as well so by the end of the night i was quite groggy already.
The weather was totally horrendous on friday and today. Friday was super windy and rainy, thus it was very cold. I only had 1 class for that day, a 2 hour seminar at 1100, which only lasted 35 mins as it was only the introduction. Braved the rain across the waterloo bridge, met up with some friends for lunch and went to primark. Bad mistake. Primark is this retailer in London that sells arguably the cheapest clothes in London. Think Robinsons during the sales period on a weekend or public holiday, take that crowd, and multiply it by 10. I kid you not. Even on a friday afternoon it was jam packed with people. In the end I got a headache, probably due to a combination of the cold and the smorgasbord of people, and left early back to hall via the tube.
Today was weird though. Although many things happened that can make me feel lousy and think it's a blue monday, strangely enough I'm quite upbeat. I went to the wrong campus for class this morning, ended up having to charge across the bridge to get to the other campus, and upon reaching there I still had to fumble my way to the venue which I wasn't sure where it was. In the end I was 30 mins late, and the tutorial lasted only about 15 mins more before it ended as it was only for introduction. Then to the law library I went, which is not in the same campus I just had my class in, where I tried to do some readings, but fell asleep at a few points but managed to get a fair bit done. I braved the rain again and grabbed some lunch to go at an eatery, before making a crazy decision to cross the bridge while it was still raining. My puny umbrella couldn't stand against the strong winds, and I was splashed by a vehicle. Fortunately I managed to jump out of the way a bit, thus it wasn't that bad.
Had my late afternoon classes and returned back to hall for a dinner of cold sandwiches and hot cup noodles, which cost me 79p. (SGD 2.40) Damn heart pain.
A rant about British cup noodles. I bought a 24p (72 cents) cup noodles which was the house brand of 1 of the supermarket chains in London. It tasted like crap, and nick agreed. Thus I decided to buy the more expensive koka noodles as I thought might as well buy something that tastes nice.
London is a real quirky place. For starters you stand on the right on escalators and not left like in Singapore, and people do follow it well. The service you get here is most of the times friendly, but sometimes they are not as efficient as it is back home so you get a bit frustrated.
Nick's floor is the official "party" floor, with the room that is 2 doors away from him the nexus of it. When they get drunk they'll do funny stuff like chase each other along the corridors and bang the doors of those who did not join them. Other stuff I heard are people playing golf and lacrosse in the corridors, on the girl's floors of all places.
I feel quite bucked as sat night a lady asked me for directions. I guess that should mean I look confident enough of my way around that people feel inclined to ask me for directions.
And ever since I came to London I can fall asleep very quickly, once my head is on the pillow I'll concuss in 5 minutes. And also my appetite is always good, as evidence by the generous amounts of food I take during dinner and my consumption of the 5 bowls of rice and me finishing off other people's char siew rice.
This post is rather random as my mind is a bit frazzled and tired so I'm just commenting on random bits of memory that pop into my mind. Since there's nothing new popping into my mind now, I shall stop here. Another update for another time.
Survived my first week of school. Brain's still kind of rusty, and I have to adjust to the new style of learning. No longer is it just mugging of organic chem reactions or integration formulas, it's now critical analysis of the law and questioning the the ideas of it. Not easy, as am still a bit too used to the route learning method in Singapore, where I'll have my multitude of highlighters ready to highlight every key point. Here you have to dig out the key points by yourself and read up widely. Wikipedia has been my best friend so far.
Weather here ranges from horrendous to fine. It was nice and cool on Sunday with a bit of warm sunshine, thus I went out only in a t-shirt and my black blazer with yq and sharon to camden market, for he wanted to buy homeware. Sharon, being the 3rd year student, brought us around and advised us about some issues in London. Back at hall we had the warden welcome party. Had 4 carlsbergs bottles and talked to a few people. Should have drank more as it was paid for by our fees. Alvin was in his fine form commenting on a lot of things that night.
Saturday was ok as well, it didn't rain but it was cloudy and gloomy. The temperature didn't drop very badly though, so it was still tolerable. Had my King's Singapore and M'sia society event, which consisted of a walk about campus (albeit a week late, thus I ended up knowing most of the places we went already). We made detours to leceister square and trafalgar square before finally ending up in chinatown for dinner, which was a sit down communal chinese dinner. I ingested 5 bowls of rice. Suffice to say for the amount I ate was definately befitting the 4 pounds I paid for the meal. Met a lot of people there as well, but socialising can get quite tiring as well so by the end of the night i was quite groggy already.
The weather was totally horrendous on friday and today. Friday was super windy and rainy, thus it was very cold. I only had 1 class for that day, a 2 hour seminar at 1100, which only lasted 35 mins as it was only the introduction. Braved the rain across the waterloo bridge, met up with some friends for lunch and went to primark. Bad mistake. Primark is this retailer in London that sells arguably the cheapest clothes in London. Think Robinsons during the sales period on a weekend or public holiday, take that crowd, and multiply it by 10. I kid you not. Even on a friday afternoon it was jam packed with people. In the end I got a headache, probably due to a combination of the cold and the smorgasbord of people, and left early back to hall via the tube.
Today was weird though. Although many things happened that can make me feel lousy and think it's a blue monday, strangely enough I'm quite upbeat. I went to the wrong campus for class this morning, ended up having to charge across the bridge to get to the other campus, and upon reaching there I still had to fumble my way to the venue which I wasn't sure where it was. In the end I was 30 mins late, and the tutorial lasted only about 15 mins more before it ended as it was only for introduction. Then to the law library I went, which is not in the same campus I just had my class in, where I tried to do some readings, but fell asleep at a few points but managed to get a fair bit done. I braved the rain again and grabbed some lunch to go at an eatery, before making a crazy decision to cross the bridge while it was still raining. My puny umbrella couldn't stand against the strong winds, and I was splashed by a vehicle. Fortunately I managed to jump out of the way a bit, thus it wasn't that bad.
Had my late afternoon classes and returned back to hall for a dinner of cold sandwiches and hot cup noodles, which cost me 79p. (SGD 2.40) Damn heart pain.
A rant about British cup noodles. I bought a 24p (72 cents) cup noodles which was the house brand of 1 of the supermarket chains in London. It tasted like crap, and nick agreed. Thus I decided to buy the more expensive koka noodles as I thought might as well buy something that tastes nice.
London is a real quirky place. For starters you stand on the right on escalators and not left like in Singapore, and people do follow it well. The service you get here is most of the times friendly, but sometimes they are not as efficient as it is back home so you get a bit frustrated.
Nick's floor is the official "party" floor, with the room that is 2 doors away from him the nexus of it. When they get drunk they'll do funny stuff like chase each other along the corridors and bang the doors of those who did not join them. Other stuff I heard are people playing golf and lacrosse in the corridors, on the girl's floors of all places.
I feel quite bucked as sat night a lady asked me for directions. I guess that should mean I look confident enough of my way around that people feel inclined to ask me for directions.
And ever since I came to London I can fall asleep very quickly, once my head is on the pillow I'll concuss in 5 minutes. And also my appetite is always good, as evidence by the generous amounts of food I take during dinner and my consumption of the 5 bowls of rice and me finishing off other people's char siew rice.
This post is rather random as my mind is a bit frazzled and tired so I'm just commenting on random bits of memory that pop into my mind. Since there's nothing new popping into my mind now, I shall stop here. Another update for another time.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Checkpoint
It's been 16 days since I came to London. As I don't have to wake up early tomorrow and rush off to a 9 am lecture, I shall allow myself a bit of contemplation here.
These 16 days have been crazy, but in a good way. There's so much to say, but I feel that I've made the right decision to come to London. So far, I have been enjoying myself, feeling like a kid in a very large candy shop. Even now, although work has started and there are readings to be done, I'm still taking time out to explore a bit.
It was a bit daunting at first, with so many stuff to be settled, but thankfully there's Alvin and Nick around for advice and help.
I also just realised, that apart from that video call on that fateful morning my laptop gave up on me, I have not called home. All correspondence have been through emails and the odd msn conversation.
And somehow I don't seem to feel too much of home longing. Sure I miss the food (paid 4 pounds for average roasted duck rice, which was nice as I was damn hungry and the portions were HK sized), the warmer weather (the wind at the waterloo bridge this week has been damn strong, almost got blown off, i kid you not), and the more reasonable prices, but there's is no overt longing to be back home.
I think I have learnt to accept the fact that you should adapt yourself to your environment. So that means accepting cold sandwiches, slow and inefficient service, high prices for everything, cold weather with blustery winds, the works. After all, I chose to be here.
And over the course of the 16 days of socialising, I can't help but think of something. I administered a lot of DISC tests in my previous job, which made me think about some issues. Those who are unfamiliar with DISC, it's a personality test which allows you to see what is your dominant personality, with D standing for dominant, I for influencing (ie good with people), S for steadiness, and C for conscientiousness.
I realised that, when faced with different situations, we cherry pick the best personality that will best deal with the situation and assume that persona. For example, even though you may be a introverted person, when it is during orientation, you attempt to be more sociable to interact with the group. Sure, it may not be very effective, but you consciously decided that a more extroverted and friendly persona is better for orientation, and assumed this persona.
Which leads me to think that the only difference between people like that and the teens that I counselled in my previous job is that the teens do not know how to interchange their personalities like that. Thus, in a sense, "maturity" is merely knowing what kind of persona to assume in what kind of situation.
Just a random thought from me.
It's been 16 days since I came to London. As I don't have to wake up early tomorrow and rush off to a 9 am lecture, I shall allow myself a bit of contemplation here.
These 16 days have been crazy, but in a good way. There's so much to say, but I feel that I've made the right decision to come to London. So far, I have been enjoying myself, feeling like a kid in a very large candy shop. Even now, although work has started and there are readings to be done, I'm still taking time out to explore a bit.
It was a bit daunting at first, with so many stuff to be settled, but thankfully there's Alvin and Nick around for advice and help.
I also just realised, that apart from that video call on that fateful morning my laptop gave up on me, I have not called home. All correspondence have been through emails and the odd msn conversation.
And somehow I don't seem to feel too much of home longing. Sure I miss the food (paid 4 pounds for average roasted duck rice, which was nice as I was damn hungry and the portions were HK sized), the warmer weather (the wind at the waterloo bridge this week has been damn strong, almost got blown off, i kid you not), and the more reasonable prices, but there's is no overt longing to be back home.
I think I have learnt to accept the fact that you should adapt yourself to your environment. So that means accepting cold sandwiches, slow and inefficient service, high prices for everything, cold weather with blustery winds, the works. After all, I chose to be here.
And over the course of the 16 days of socialising, I can't help but think of something. I administered a lot of DISC tests in my previous job, which made me think about some issues. Those who are unfamiliar with DISC, it's a personality test which allows you to see what is your dominant personality, with D standing for dominant, I for influencing (ie good with people), S for steadiness, and C for conscientiousness.
I realised that, when faced with different situations, we cherry pick the best personality that will best deal with the situation and assume that persona. For example, even though you may be a introverted person, when it is during orientation, you attempt to be more sociable to interact with the group. Sure, it may not be very effective, but you consciously decided that a more extroverted and friendly persona is better for orientation, and assumed this persona.
Which leads me to think that the only difference between people like that and the teens that I counselled in my previous job is that the teens do not know how to interchange their personalities like that. Thus, in a sense, "maturity" is merely knowing what kind of persona to assume in what kind of situation.
Just a random thought from me.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Phoenix down
The last week was 1 of the most harrowing of my life. My wife gave up on me on a sunny tues morning, which sent me into a very depressive state. In the end, after many exasperating phonecalls I did my own explorative surgery on her and after throwing a few phoenix downs on it she came back to life today. But she is now only surviving on 500mb of RAM until the transplant comes from singapore via yangqi.
I realised how dependent I was on my wife and how despondent I can get when she was incapacitated. Good thing I managed to load everything on the external hard drive before I reformatted. So now things are in a clean slate, hopefully it'll stay that way.
Otherwise, life has been fun. Playing ultimate frisbee in blustery conditions in Hyde Park, going to Ikea which is in zone 3, way out in the suburbs which is very unlike central London, queueing for 2 and a half hours for enrollment, going to the British Musuem and seeing a very nice katana blade (eat your heart out adrian) and remembering my sec 1 history by looking at the indus civilisation artifacts.
Classes started today, did myself no favours in the EU law tutorial by saying that Switzerland is an EU country. Not quite used to not having handouts for lectures, sometimes I can't get down everything the lecturer said and have to copy from the person next to me. I pity the person next to me though, she said she couldn't read my handwriting and I must admit my handwriting has really gone south.
Back to school after 3 years in the wilderness. The time of settling in is over, time to work the brain. At least at the end of the day, there's Jim's english (if you can call it that) to entertain me.
And poor Jose Mourinho. We were watching the match on TV and was shcoked that he left. And there were plenty of empty seats in the stadium! We did contemplate going to Stamford Bridge to watch but it was 36 pounds (x3 for SGD) a ticket. Super expensive. Let's hope we can get the 10 pound tickets for the Carling Cup match of Arsenal vs Newcastle.
The last week was 1 of the most harrowing of my life. My wife gave up on me on a sunny tues morning, which sent me into a very depressive state. In the end, after many exasperating phonecalls I did my own explorative surgery on her and after throwing a few phoenix downs on it she came back to life today. But she is now only surviving on 500mb of RAM until the transplant comes from singapore via yangqi.
I realised how dependent I was on my wife and how despondent I can get when she was incapacitated. Good thing I managed to load everything on the external hard drive before I reformatted. So now things are in a clean slate, hopefully it'll stay that way.
Otherwise, life has been fun. Playing ultimate frisbee in blustery conditions in Hyde Park, going to Ikea which is in zone 3, way out in the suburbs which is very unlike central London, queueing for 2 and a half hours for enrollment, going to the British Musuem and seeing a very nice katana blade (eat your heart out adrian) and remembering my sec 1 history by looking at the indus civilisation artifacts.
Classes started today, did myself no favours in the EU law tutorial by saying that Switzerland is an EU country. Not quite used to not having handouts for lectures, sometimes I can't get down everything the lecturer said and have to copy from the person next to me. I pity the person next to me though, she said she couldn't read my handwriting and I must admit my handwriting has really gone south.
Back to school after 3 years in the wilderness. The time of settling in is over, time to work the brain. At least at the end of the day, there's Jim's english (if you can call it that) to entertain me.
And poor Jose Mourinho. We were watching the match on TV and was shcoked that he left. And there were plenty of empty seats in the stadium! We did contemplate going to Stamford Bridge to watch but it was 36 pounds (x3 for SGD) a ticket. Super expensive. Let's hope we can get the 10 pound tickets for the Carling Cup match of Arsenal vs Newcastle.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Rebirth begins through destruction
This is the tagline for the new Gundam series, Gundam OO (double O). It looks good and hope it doesn't disappoint like Seed Destiny. But looks like the only way I can watch it would be on a certain website.
Am now doing a Corrine May marathon, haven't felt anything yet, looks like her ability to induce an emo mood does not work in a foreign country.
Met Crystal for tea on Sat, prior to that I walked down oxford street. Bad mistake, as the main shopping artery was like orchard road during GSS times 10. Fought my way through, managed to get to Primark, which was worse. The place was flooded with people. I just went in and checked out some of the prices, before getting out and caught a bus to Notting Hill as the central line was down for repairs over the weekend. Went past Hyde park, which was very nice in the sunshine. Had tea, then Crystal let me loose in Portobello market, which I felt was Chatuchak, only more expensive and it went only a straight line, something like HK's ladies' market. Saw a few interesting stuff, plus the prices were not as crazy as it is in central London. Hopped on the tube back to hall. Was quite bucked with myself as I managed the whole journey without getting lost or getting off at the wrong stop.
Spent Sunday at the Thames festival, saw a lot of stuff, like peregrine falcons on the top of the Tate Modern, interesting architecture, and other stuff. Had vegetarian Pad Thai noodles for lunch for 3.50 pounds from some riverside stall, and it was the nicest meal I had, as I haven't had asian food ever since I came to London. The highlight was the fireworks display. They shot fireworks from barges in the middle of the river between 2 bridges, which was really breathtaking. I was at the centre of 1 of the bridges, so I could see everything well and was left slack jawed.
Nick finally flew in today. Spent today helping him settle in and bringing him and his MOE entourage along, which somehow took up the whole day. We wanted to watch football in the TV room, but sadly they didn't have the channel.
It's going to be a week soon in London, and it sure doesn't feel like it. And so far, one of the things I wanted to ensure when I get here was not to be too relaxjack and make an effort to know my way around without relying on someone else navigating. I had it with horlan-ing because of me not making the effort to check out the route before I leave.
And yeah, I shouldn't focus on the dream. She's back in Singapore and fighting the good fight, while I'm here doing the same.
This is the tagline for the new Gundam series, Gundam OO (double O). It looks good and hope it doesn't disappoint like Seed Destiny. But looks like the only way I can watch it would be on a certain website.
Am now doing a Corrine May marathon, haven't felt anything yet, looks like her ability to induce an emo mood does not work in a foreign country.
Met Crystal for tea on Sat, prior to that I walked down oxford street. Bad mistake, as the main shopping artery was like orchard road during GSS times 10. Fought my way through, managed to get to Primark, which was worse. The place was flooded with people. I just went in and checked out some of the prices, before getting out and caught a bus to Notting Hill as the central line was down for repairs over the weekend. Went past Hyde park, which was very nice in the sunshine. Had tea, then Crystal let me loose in Portobello market, which I felt was Chatuchak, only more expensive and it went only a straight line, something like HK's ladies' market. Saw a few interesting stuff, plus the prices were not as crazy as it is in central London. Hopped on the tube back to hall. Was quite bucked with myself as I managed the whole journey without getting lost or getting off at the wrong stop.
Spent Sunday at the Thames festival, saw a lot of stuff, like peregrine falcons on the top of the Tate Modern, interesting architecture, and other stuff. Had vegetarian Pad Thai noodles for lunch for 3.50 pounds from some riverside stall, and it was the nicest meal I had, as I haven't had asian food ever since I came to London. The highlight was the fireworks display. They shot fireworks from barges in the middle of the river between 2 bridges, which was really breathtaking. I was at the centre of 1 of the bridges, so I could see everything well and was left slack jawed.
Nick finally flew in today. Spent today helping him settle in and bringing him and his MOE entourage along, which somehow took up the whole day. We wanted to watch football in the TV room, but sadly they didn't have the channel.
It's going to be a week soon in London, and it sure doesn't feel like it. And so far, one of the things I wanted to ensure when I get here was not to be too relaxjack and make an effort to know my way around without relying on someone else navigating. I had it with horlan-ing because of me not making the effort to check out the route before I leave.
And yeah, I shouldn't focus on the dream. She's back in Singapore and fighting the good fight, while I'm here doing the same.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Living it up
It feels like a whole week has already passed me by, but it really has only been 3 days! So much has happened, and everything is so new and exciting that it's rather exhausting to list everything out. Shall be brief and to the point then.
Orientation is fun, it's nice to meet people from other countries and listen to them tell me about themselves. They seem to be quite interested in the fact that I served NS before I came over, and most of the undergraduates are younger than me. Also they do have many different mannerisms and things about them that makes it so fascinating. Although it's hard to get over the initial inertia to try and get to know a person, once you get into the groove of it it's quite easy.
One thing I don't quite get is that everyone speaks with an accent, even the Asians. I found it quite weird at first, then I subconsciously speak in an accent as a result as well.
Went on the boat ride, saw loads of sights, felt very much like a tourist. Also the walking around is actually quite easy, apart from the fact that it's a big city with many lanes and things to see and it's easy to horlan, which alvin and I did on the 1st day due to an inaccurate map. Their MRT runs everywhere and it's so expansive that you cannot just try to whack, as that may result in you ending up in the countryside.
The worse thing is that everything is damn expensive. Many people warned me about this, but didn't realise how bad it is until I got here. As a result, I end up eating a lot of cold sandwiches from supermarkets, but ongbak is more pro than me, he bought a loaf of bread to keng.
I guess that's all from me. First weekend in London, but I have no idea where to go. Shall go check out on where to go.
It feels like a whole week has already passed me by, but it really has only been 3 days! So much has happened, and everything is so new and exciting that it's rather exhausting to list everything out. Shall be brief and to the point then.
Orientation is fun, it's nice to meet people from other countries and listen to them tell me about themselves. They seem to be quite interested in the fact that I served NS before I came over, and most of the undergraduates are younger than me. Also they do have many different mannerisms and things about them that makes it so fascinating. Although it's hard to get over the initial inertia to try and get to know a person, once you get into the groove of it it's quite easy.
One thing I don't quite get is that everyone speaks with an accent, even the Asians. I found it quite weird at first, then I subconsciously speak in an accent as a result as well.
Went on the boat ride, saw loads of sights, felt very much like a tourist. Also the walking around is actually quite easy, apart from the fact that it's a big city with many lanes and things to see and it's easy to horlan, which alvin and I did on the 1st day due to an inaccurate map. Their MRT runs everywhere and it's so expansive that you cannot just try to whack, as that may result in you ending up in the countryside.
The worse thing is that everything is damn expensive. Many people warned me about this, but didn't realise how bad it is until I got here. As a result, I end up eating a lot of cold sandwiches from supermarkets, but ongbak is more pro than me, he bought a loaf of bread to keng.
I guess that's all from me. First weekend in London, but I have no idea where to go. Shall go check out on where to go.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Surreal
Still can't quite believe that I'm actually typing this in London. My mind is still quite overwhelmed, and my body, which was running on adrenaline for 2 days straight, is finally spent. So a more detailed entry will come later then.
So this entry is to let everyone know I'm safe and fine in London.
I guess I shall let this blog still record Singapore time, but shall end all my posts with a London time.
110907 2155
Still can't quite believe that I'm actually typing this in London. My mind is still quite overwhelmed, and my body, which was running on adrenaline for 2 days straight, is finally spent. So a more detailed entry will come later then.
So this entry is to let everyone know I'm safe and fine in London.
I guess I shall let this blog still record Singapore time, but shall end all my posts with a London time.
110907 2155
Monday, September 10, 2007
10092007 2255 BA 0012 T1
And the day has arrived.
I really don't know what to write here.
Maybe I'm just forcing myself to be emo, to write something that can describe what I'm feeling.
In truth, on one hand I'm still coming to terms with the fact that yes, I'm finally leaving, and yet excited by the future ahead of me.
Those numbers and capital letters in bold may just be that, letters and numbers, but they represent something pivotal in my life.
What Mogilan said on his birthday is really right, it's the people in your life that shape your life. And I'm glad to have met great people in my life.
My family, especially my parents who gave me this chance to go overseas to study at their great cost without hesitation, is something I'll miss. If I had decided to study here, I could have just used home as a safety net where I can come back and relax, but there's no such luxury over there. My siblings, whom are now all grown up, have their own lives but still have dinner and lunch together and start chatting about everything. I'm really glad that they'll all so sensible, so much so my parents can hands off on their parenting. And my grandparents, who have watched me grow up, I'll miss them a lot, for they have been such a big part in my life since I was a small boy.
As for friends, the Guys, with whom I have been friends with for a good part of my sec school, JC and army times. All the times we hiked, camped, cooked, played, talked cock, organised stuff, went for random entertainment activities together, is just a testament of our friendship. How many people who met in sec school meet up so regularly (about once every 2 weeks) until this day? And how about that funny tradition we have of waiting for everyone before we start a meal? I think these two things themselves speak volumes of our friendship.
Fencers, somehow this year we met up a lot, and we had a great time as well. What with going to Hong Kong, or having a chalet, or just meeting up for mahjong or watching VCDs, it's been great knowing and hanging out with you guys. There's always so much fun and laughter and good natured teasing when we're together.
To my 4D classmates, I must admit I didn't really make an effort to keep in contact in JC and army, but now I realise that it was a very bad mistake. We had some memorable times in RI, all the times playing football, copying homework and basically being 16 year olds. Even now, although it's only a select bunch of us, but we do still meet up and laugh at each other once in a while. Was with them when we sent Barney off, he very nearly teared, I could feel he was holding back. He thanked everyone for coming, hugged everyone, and went off through those gates. The others were joking about, saying things like "hey he's finally gone!" but I know deep inside they are just coping with it by cracking jokes. I wondered then, what will I feel when I walk through those gates, I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
To all the other people I know, thanks to you. Unknowingly or knowingly, you somehow shaped my life and values. I wouldn't be the person I am if not for your contribution. I am truly, truly, truly blessed to have all of you in my life. Although I know a majority of you won't read this, but I will still say it. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart.
Leaving isn't going to be easy. But I'm ready.
London, here I come.
To all that I'm leaving behind, don't worry.
I will be back.
See you again.
Till then, all the best.
And the day has arrived.
I really don't know what to write here.
Maybe I'm just forcing myself to be emo, to write something that can describe what I'm feeling.
In truth, on one hand I'm still coming to terms with the fact that yes, I'm finally leaving, and yet excited by the future ahead of me.
Those numbers and capital letters in bold may just be that, letters and numbers, but they represent something pivotal in my life.
What Mogilan said on his birthday is really right, it's the people in your life that shape your life. And I'm glad to have met great people in my life.
My family, especially my parents who gave me this chance to go overseas to study at their great cost without hesitation, is something I'll miss. If I had decided to study here, I could have just used home as a safety net where I can come back and relax, but there's no such luxury over there. My siblings, whom are now all grown up, have their own lives but still have dinner and lunch together and start chatting about everything. I'm really glad that they'll all so sensible, so much so my parents can hands off on their parenting. And my grandparents, who have watched me grow up, I'll miss them a lot, for they have been such a big part in my life since I was a small boy.
As for friends, the Guys, with whom I have been friends with for a good part of my sec school, JC and army times. All the times we hiked, camped, cooked, played, talked cock, organised stuff, went for random entertainment activities together, is just a testament of our friendship. How many people who met in sec school meet up so regularly (about once every 2 weeks) until this day? And how about that funny tradition we have of waiting for everyone before we start a meal? I think these two things themselves speak volumes of our friendship.
Fencers, somehow this year we met up a lot, and we had a great time as well. What with going to Hong Kong, or having a chalet, or just meeting up for mahjong or watching VCDs, it's been great knowing and hanging out with you guys. There's always so much fun and laughter and good natured teasing when we're together.
To my 4D classmates, I must admit I didn't really make an effort to keep in contact in JC and army, but now I realise that it was a very bad mistake. We had some memorable times in RI, all the times playing football, copying homework and basically being 16 year olds. Even now, although it's only a select bunch of us, but we do still meet up and laugh at each other once in a while. Was with them when we sent Barney off, he very nearly teared, I could feel he was holding back. He thanked everyone for coming, hugged everyone, and went off through those gates. The others were joking about, saying things like "hey he's finally gone!" but I know deep inside they are just coping with it by cracking jokes. I wondered then, what will I feel when I walk through those gates, I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
To all the other people I know, thanks to you. Unknowingly or knowingly, you somehow shaped my life and values. I wouldn't be the person I am if not for your contribution. I am truly, truly, truly blessed to have all of you in my life. Although I know a majority of you won't read this, but I will still say it. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart.
Leaving isn't going to be easy. But I'm ready.
London, here I come.
To all that I'm leaving behind, don't worry.
I will be back.
See you again.
Till then, all the best.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Impending
The last few days were a real blur, filled with frantic packing and buying of stuff, all in preparation with my date with that aeroplane come next mon.
Hit the IT fair on thursday, checking out all the good stuff without buying much at first, trying to get the best deals. Walked from 1330 to 1830, before dinner with Nick at Carl's Juniors.
Friday we went trekking again, from upper peirce to lower seletar. Wasn't as exciting as the previous one, but it was as usual filled with nonsense chatter and nice sights.
Saturday had lunch with a old classmate, who said I have levelled up haha. But ate some dodgy lunch, thus had a very queasy stomach for the rest of the day. Had tea with the King's Law people, had a lot of fun talking to them, getting to know each other. Dinner was good stuff at canton wok with my grandparents.
Sunday, hit the IT fair early with my dad to buy all the outstanding stuff. And that started a whole packing frenzy, what with my obsession of putting all the clothes in ziploc bags ala ikea flat pack style, to the frantic buying of essentials, washing and sunning of stuff, making rounds at various places for various reasons, my life being governed by pieces of paper with scribbles on them and a whole of stuff strewn all over my floor in my desperate attempt for order. All this left me with little energy or time to really blog, and even less time to mull over my impending departure.
Thus I shall spend some precious time here to do so now. 1 suitcase has been packed, most of the stuff I've got already, and all that's left is admin, and all the farewell gatherings.
I'll miss a lot of things here in Singapore, the food, the sun, chinese radio, the greenery, the early morning chirping of birds, the busy road next to my home, the libraries and their abundant books, the friends, the family, the home.
When I decided to go UK, 2 years back, I remember saying to myself, "I can leave everything behind." That is still true, all I need to do is to just forsake all thoughts of my island home and move on.
But "can" is not the same as "will". I'm sure that there'll be a freezing winter night where I'm cold and having a running nose feeling hungry trying to mug something and everyone else in hall has gone home for Christmas. These nights are the nights your mind will start to wander and miss home, but I know they'll pass. After all, this is the path I chose to trod, and I'm determined to see it out.
Still, there are things I'll definately miss. Friendship, especially those who have lasted so long already, and family members, who are so important to me. I guess it's hard for me to articulate what I feel on a public blog, but you know who you are la (if you actually bother to read this blog you probably fall under this category) Thanks for the good times, the laughs I've shared with you, the times you laughed at me, or the times I was laughed at by you guys, the times when I kaobehed to you etc. You get the drift.
If you want to send me off, flight details are 100907, BA0012 2255 T1.
Wonder how I'll feel that day. I told myself not to get emotional, as there will be 2 girls on the same flight as me and I don't want to lose face, but who knows what will happen then. We'll let it see how it goes then.
Till my departure then. Let me make this last 5 days in Singapore memorable.
The last few days were a real blur, filled with frantic packing and buying of stuff, all in preparation with my date with that aeroplane come next mon.
Hit the IT fair on thursday, checking out all the good stuff without buying much at first, trying to get the best deals. Walked from 1330 to 1830, before dinner with Nick at Carl's Juniors.
Friday we went trekking again, from upper peirce to lower seletar. Wasn't as exciting as the previous one, but it was as usual filled with nonsense chatter and nice sights.
Saturday had lunch with a old classmate, who said I have levelled up haha. But ate some dodgy lunch, thus had a very queasy stomach for the rest of the day. Had tea with the King's Law people, had a lot of fun talking to them, getting to know each other. Dinner was good stuff at canton wok with my grandparents.
Sunday, hit the IT fair early with my dad to buy all the outstanding stuff. And that started a whole packing frenzy, what with my obsession of putting all the clothes in ziploc bags ala ikea flat pack style, to the frantic buying of essentials, washing and sunning of stuff, making rounds at various places for various reasons, my life being governed by pieces of paper with scribbles on them and a whole of stuff strewn all over my floor in my desperate attempt for order. All this left me with little energy or time to really blog, and even less time to mull over my impending departure.
Thus I shall spend some precious time here to do so now. 1 suitcase has been packed, most of the stuff I've got already, and all that's left is admin, and all the farewell gatherings.
I'll miss a lot of things here in Singapore, the food, the sun, chinese radio, the greenery, the early morning chirping of birds, the busy road next to my home, the libraries and their abundant books, the friends, the family, the home.
When I decided to go UK, 2 years back, I remember saying to myself, "I can leave everything behind." That is still true, all I need to do is to just forsake all thoughts of my island home and move on.
But "can" is not the same as "will". I'm sure that there'll be a freezing winter night where I'm cold and having a running nose feeling hungry trying to mug something and everyone else in hall has gone home for Christmas. These nights are the nights your mind will start to wander and miss home, but I know they'll pass. After all, this is the path I chose to trod, and I'm determined to see it out.
Still, there are things I'll definately miss. Friendship, especially those who have lasted so long already, and family members, who are so important to me. I guess it's hard for me to articulate what I feel on a public blog, but you know who you are la (if you actually bother to read this blog you probably fall under this category) Thanks for the good times, the laughs I've shared with you, the times you laughed at me, or the times I was laughed at by you guys, the times when I kaobehed to you etc. You get the drift.
If you want to send me off, flight details are 100907, BA0012 2255 T1.
Wonder how I'll feel that day. I told myself not to get emotional, as there will be 2 girls on the same flight as me and I don't want to lose face, but who knows what will happen then. We'll let it see how it goes then.
Till my departure then. Let me make this last 5 days in Singapore memorable.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Of sporting legends
You get football players who are all mercenary like, always trying to get more money and making headlines for all the wrong reasons. And then you get players like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
To be honest, I always felt my affection for Solskjaer isn't as high as it should be. He's every bit the best team player you can get, never a complaint from him, and he just goes about doing his thing and puts a smile on my face.
I remember ages ago when I still played CM, I used Solskjaer as Sir Alex did, as a supersub. I remember once I even sold him to Newcastle, and he returned to haunt by scoring a brace in a 4-0 win. Somehow, for all his skills, he never got the chance to establish himself as a 1st team player. The closest he got I think was when he was paired with Van Nistelrooy, but he got himself injured then. I think I always felt like he was a nearly man, always on the fringes, called upon to conjure a goal out of nowhere to save the day.
But I grew to admire him. His finishing was deadly, he had the composure and skill that was required of a real striker. He could score tap ins and spectacular goals as well, and could hit a good cross when he was played in right midfield for a time being.
One can accuse me of being misty-eyed, but it's hard to believe that Solskjaer has followed me in my support of Man Utd for so long. He was signed at the start of the 1996 season, along with Karel Pokorsky and Jordi Cruyff. All I remember of the 2 of them was a last minute equaliser from Cruyff against Derby in 99. And look where the 2 of them are now in the history of Man Utd.
As for Solskjaer, there are so many moments that will stick in my mind. 4 goals against a very hapless forest, that flick of the boot which capped off that magical night in Barcelona, a brace against Newcastle the start of this year, which were his first goals at Old Trafford since his injury, his cross for Giggs to equalise against Arsenal which was pivotal in the 2002/03 title race, his excellence on the right flank in the 5-3 win against Newcastle which was memorable for other things like Shearer's crazy freekick and Ruud's hattrick, the opener against Newcastle at St Jame's in the same season where he broke the offside trap to beat Given from an impossible angle, to equalise and provide the platform for a 6-2 thrashing, his brace against Ipswich which helped ease a painful defeat the week before, many, many more incidents that I can't recall offhand.
I read an article, which posed a question, who will be the legends of our time? Who will be the players that you will tell your sons about, and while doing so you'll inevitably stare into the distance as the happy memories flood back? Who will thses players be, the ones that will live on forever in our memory, whom we will speak of 20 years to come?
I'm sure for many a Man Utd fan, Solskjaer will be one of them. He'll never be as revered as Eric Cantona, simple because he was always the everydayman in red, quietly doing his job, and he always did it well.
You are my Solskjaer, my only Solskjaer,
You made me happy, when skies are grey.
Even though Shearer, was much more dearer,
please don't take my Solskjaer away
2OLEgend
You get football players who are all mercenary like, always trying to get more money and making headlines for all the wrong reasons. And then you get players like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
To be honest, I always felt my affection for Solskjaer isn't as high as it should be. He's every bit the best team player you can get, never a complaint from him, and he just goes about doing his thing and puts a smile on my face.
I remember ages ago when I still played CM, I used Solskjaer as Sir Alex did, as a supersub. I remember once I even sold him to Newcastle, and he returned to haunt by scoring a brace in a 4-0 win. Somehow, for all his skills, he never got the chance to establish himself as a 1st team player. The closest he got I think was when he was paired with Van Nistelrooy, but he got himself injured then. I think I always felt like he was a nearly man, always on the fringes, called upon to conjure a goal out of nowhere to save the day.
But I grew to admire him. His finishing was deadly, he had the composure and skill that was required of a real striker. He could score tap ins and spectacular goals as well, and could hit a good cross when he was played in right midfield for a time being.
One can accuse me of being misty-eyed, but it's hard to believe that Solskjaer has followed me in my support of Man Utd for so long. He was signed at the start of the 1996 season, along with Karel Pokorsky and Jordi Cruyff. All I remember of the 2 of them was a last minute equaliser from Cruyff against Derby in 99. And look where the 2 of them are now in the history of Man Utd.
As for Solskjaer, there are so many moments that will stick in my mind. 4 goals against a very hapless forest, that flick of the boot which capped off that magical night in Barcelona, a brace against Newcastle the start of this year, which were his first goals at Old Trafford since his injury, his cross for Giggs to equalise against Arsenal which was pivotal in the 2002/03 title race, his excellence on the right flank in the 5-3 win against Newcastle which was memorable for other things like Shearer's crazy freekick and Ruud's hattrick, the opener against Newcastle at St Jame's in the same season where he broke the offside trap to beat Given from an impossible angle, to equalise and provide the platform for a 6-2 thrashing, his brace against Ipswich which helped ease a painful defeat the week before, many, many more incidents that I can't recall offhand.
I read an article, which posed a question, who will be the legends of our time? Who will be the players that you will tell your sons about, and while doing so you'll inevitably stare into the distance as the happy memories flood back? Who will thses players be, the ones that will live on forever in our memory, whom we will speak of 20 years to come?
I'm sure for many a Man Utd fan, Solskjaer will be one of them. He'll never be as revered as Eric Cantona, simple because he was always the everydayman in red, quietly doing his job, and he always did it well.
You are my Solskjaer, my only Solskjaer,
You made me happy, when skies are grey.
Even though Shearer, was much more dearer,
please don't take my Solskjaer away
2OLEgend
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Ebb and flow
It's just one of those I don't really want to blog weeks again. Things slowed down to a crawl the last week, what with the singapore uni students starting school, and the overseas people busy with their own preparations, didn't spend a lot of time out. Spent the week waiting for my accoms letter to come, which up to now hasn't, got fed up, called the accoms office line, which was engaged for about 9 tries, on my 10th try it finally got through only to be 7th in line to be answered. The waiting took about half an hour, before I finally spoke to the officer who told me my hall. And thus, I'll be in the same hall as Nick and ongbak. 3 musketeers indeed.
Last fri was the king's gathering, I missed the bus stop for national library and came late, quite pissed with myself. Listened, networked with some of my course mates, one of them was a girl who was from the same JC as I was and was in the choir, thus she knew my brother, and taught at my sister's school for a while this year so she knows my sister as well. It's one of those oh-singapore-is-very-small moments.
Had dinner at manhattan fish market at andrew's request later, after which was rush hour 3. Then, 3 of us went to have some drinks at balcony. I kind of regret having that gin tonic, it killed my system totally, leaving me zombified for the next day, which was the legal forum.
I skipped the morning portion as I was shagged out, got driven to supreme court as it was pouring. Met BK there, listened to the moot court, some parts could have been in Greek for all I know, such was the lack of my knowledge. And BK didn't help, he would turn to me and go "Oh yah that's why blah blah blah" which I knew nuts about what he was talking about. But it was informative, shall work towards to be able to moot as confidently as Al was.
My grandfather's birthday was at night, was very glad to be able to see all my relatives before I leave. They gave me some advice, and before we set off my family took a family photograph, which has become my wallpaper already.
When the week finally came, I continued my random meet ups/farewells with friends who don't fall under any groups, in between just nua-ing at home and doing not much. I have a beef with the bank I opened an account with, they were so efficient that they made me wait for a damn short while only!
Friday was in army market with Nick, bought loads of ziploc bags between the 2 of us. 1 good habit I picked up from the army. The auntie from the shop I usually buy from asked us whether we were enlisting soon, we didn't hesitate to correct her and tell her we're on the other end of the spectrum.
Mahjong at nick's place followed, with many cries of "abandon ship!" and "oh you mean we're playing 2 points to win not 3?" and exaggerated actions of pulling out guns and pointing them at the other person's temple. In the end, as we were playing for dinner, Adrian being the big loser of 7 bucks paid about 30 bucks (so he claims) worth of food at chomp chomp, which we devoured quickly as we were all famished.
VCD night at adrian's place turned out to be rather funny, thanks to andrew's powerful driving and jokes about wombats hanging from monkey bars. 4 of us played mahjong while 3 of them watched before sunrise, played a bit of citadel (which i must admit is fun) and after supper we watched protege before I conked out.
Ok, 2 weeks left now. 2 weeks left to do what I want to do before I head off.
I've decided that, if I ever face any difficulty next time, give me some time to kaobeh about it, but once the steam has been let off, remind me that the problem still exists and I still have to deal with it. Complaining and griping about the problem won't help it one bit, but at least you let off the steam, thus allowing you the presence of mind to handle it properly.
In other words, just whack.
It's just one of those I don't really want to blog weeks again. Things slowed down to a crawl the last week, what with the singapore uni students starting school, and the overseas people busy with their own preparations, didn't spend a lot of time out. Spent the week waiting for my accoms letter to come, which up to now hasn't, got fed up, called the accoms office line, which was engaged for about 9 tries, on my 10th try it finally got through only to be 7th in line to be answered. The waiting took about half an hour, before I finally spoke to the officer who told me my hall. And thus, I'll be in the same hall as Nick and ongbak. 3 musketeers indeed.
Last fri was the king's gathering, I missed the bus stop for national library and came late, quite pissed with myself. Listened, networked with some of my course mates, one of them was a girl who was from the same JC as I was and was in the choir, thus she knew my brother, and taught at my sister's school for a while this year so she knows my sister as well. It's one of those oh-singapore-is-very-small moments.
Had dinner at manhattan fish market at andrew's request later, after which was rush hour 3. Then, 3 of us went to have some drinks at balcony. I kind of regret having that gin tonic, it killed my system totally, leaving me zombified for the next day, which was the legal forum.
I skipped the morning portion as I was shagged out, got driven to supreme court as it was pouring. Met BK there, listened to the moot court, some parts could have been in Greek for all I know, such was the lack of my knowledge. And BK didn't help, he would turn to me and go "Oh yah that's why blah blah blah" which I knew nuts about what he was talking about. But it was informative, shall work towards to be able to moot as confidently as Al was.
My grandfather's birthday was at night, was very glad to be able to see all my relatives before I leave. They gave me some advice, and before we set off my family took a family photograph, which has become my wallpaper already.
When the week finally came, I continued my random meet ups/farewells with friends who don't fall under any groups, in between just nua-ing at home and doing not much. I have a beef with the bank I opened an account with, they were so efficient that they made me wait for a damn short while only!
Friday was in army market with Nick, bought loads of ziploc bags between the 2 of us. 1 good habit I picked up from the army. The auntie from the shop I usually buy from asked us whether we were enlisting soon, we didn't hesitate to correct her and tell her we're on the other end of the spectrum.
Mahjong at nick's place followed, with many cries of "abandon ship!" and "oh you mean we're playing 2 points to win not 3?" and exaggerated actions of pulling out guns and pointing them at the other person's temple. In the end, as we were playing for dinner, Adrian being the big loser of 7 bucks paid about 30 bucks (so he claims) worth of food at chomp chomp, which we devoured quickly as we were all famished.
VCD night at adrian's place turned out to be rather funny, thanks to andrew's powerful driving and jokes about wombats hanging from monkey bars. 4 of us played mahjong while 3 of them watched before sunrise, played a bit of citadel (which i must admit is fun) and after supper we watched protege before I conked out.
Ok, 2 weeks left now. 2 weeks left to do what I want to do before I head off.
I've decided that, if I ever face any difficulty next time, give me some time to kaobeh about it, but once the steam has been let off, remind me that the problem still exists and I still have to deal with it. Complaining and griping about the problem won't help it one bit, but at least you let off the steam, thus allowing you the presence of mind to handle it properly.
In other words, just whack.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Not everyday sunday
Sometimes I think that supporting a football team is like living with family. At different times in your life, you love, hate, support, lose confidence in but ultimately you never ever forsake them. On that note, it's far from happy days for me again, it seems like the dark days of studying for A levels are back. That was a time when I hoped football would help me relieve the stress of studying, but I got was just pain.
It's just one of those days where you dominate the game but a long range shot hits someone on the backside for the win. Sigh.
Sometimes I think that supporting a football team is like living with family. At different times in your life, you love, hate, support, lose confidence in but ultimately you never ever forsake them. On that note, it's far from happy days for me again, it seems like the dark days of studying for A levels are back. That was a time when I hoped football would help me relieve the stress of studying, but I got was just pain.
It's just one of those days where you dominate the game but a long range shot hits someone on the backside for the win. Sigh.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Daunting
So much for Singapore's much vaunted nightlife. The 3 of us went around boat quay to cannery and couldn't find a half decent place which met our needs. They weren't very high in the first place, we were just looking for a place which 1) was non-smoking 2) not too noisy 3) had the "right" crowd (interpret that in your own way). In the end we ended up in a zouk for older people type of place, where we had a few drinks before heading off to TCC to sit down and talk cock till 3am.
We discussed a lot of stuff, but I can't remember all in detail. The stuff that stuck in my mind was, one, one of my friends told me a story that he got on well with a girl he just met, but when they arranged to meet she stood him up at the last minute, and as a result he struck off all chances with her, saying that if she already agreed to meet him, she should honour it and not cancel last minute.
The other friend said you have no choice but to move up the priority ladder, after all they just got to know each other recently only. My 2 cents worth is that you just have the moral high ground, don't concede it.
I think the thing that I felt was very poignant was my friend telling me when you should tell a girl you like her. It boils down to the phrase, "What are you up to?". When she says this, or something of the like, it's time to tell her.
This is related to what we were discussing, as we agreed more or less, that at the start, it's important to not invest everything, as you do not know it'll reap the benefits. I believe that, one shouldn't become frustrated or stressed out about it, or change yourself radically. It is just too tiring to do so and one should take care of yourself, as no one else will.
We sure have come a long way.
So much for Singapore's much vaunted nightlife. The 3 of us went around boat quay to cannery and couldn't find a half decent place which met our needs. They weren't very high in the first place, we were just looking for a place which 1) was non-smoking 2) not too noisy 3) had the "right" crowd (interpret that in your own way). In the end we ended up in a zouk for older people type of place, where we had a few drinks before heading off to TCC to sit down and talk cock till 3am.
We discussed a lot of stuff, but I can't remember all in detail. The stuff that stuck in my mind was, one, one of my friends told me a story that he got on well with a girl he just met, but when they arranged to meet she stood him up at the last minute, and as a result he struck off all chances with her, saying that if she already agreed to meet him, she should honour it and not cancel last minute.
The other friend said you have no choice but to move up the priority ladder, after all they just got to know each other recently only. My 2 cents worth is that you just have the moral high ground, don't concede it.
I think the thing that I felt was very poignant was my friend telling me when you should tell a girl you like her. It boils down to the phrase, "What are you up to?". When she says this, or something of the like, it's time to tell her.
This is related to what we were discussing, as we agreed more or less, that at the start, it's important to not invest everything, as you do not know it'll reap the benefits. I believe that, one shouldn't become frustrated or stressed out about it, or change yourself radically. It is just too tiring to do so and one should take care of yourself, as no one else will.
We sure have come a long way.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Such wanderlust
It has been a hectic few days.
National day was spent nua-ing at home, waking up at only 1130H and playing winning eleven for the whole afternoon, before going to watch the parade. Came to the conclusion that a lot of saikang went into the conducting of the parade.
Friday, played board games at Minds cafe with the fencers and watched the jay chou vanity project, err I mean movie thereafter. Played some game that required you to guess the sound of the phrase, which led to many laughs. The movie was surprisingly good, the 2 most prominent females were very attractive as well. The outlandish twist was debated very vigorously by Andrew thereafter, which of course drew a few guffaws. Went out to have supper with Nick at the thomson road prata at 11, got stopped at a roadblock on the way there. Met 4 people I knew at the place.
Saturday I wore my formal best to attend my MO's wedding. It was a simple ceremony, had a chuckle when the priest translated "pauper" as "porter" and called my doctor a professor. Met up with many of my men there, glad to know they're still fighting the good fight in the Organisation.
Couldn't stay long though, as I had to attend the UK pre-departure session. Went there, swooped for all the freebies, networked with the LSE people and looked out of place somewhat in my very formal attire. Went home and rested, jim and nick came over to watch football.
Sunday was parental side lunch, sought advice from 2 cousins who are studying in london as well. Had tea with ben and edwin, and the former told me how to be a match steward.
Monday had a very enjoyable time with Nick as we trekked from labrodor park to kent ridge park to science park II to hwa par villa, taking 92 photos on the way and discovering weird sights, like a mountain biking stunt platform in the middle of nowhere, trying to infiltrate a science park building with a supposed card security system, a boardwalk which you can overlook a nursery of sorts and a model of a tank in kent ridge park. Great cheap healthy fun.
Tuesday started with me driving my siblings to school so I can end up in RJ to certify my certs, which the person signed without even looking at my originals. Came home and slept for 2 hours, then saw an emo message from jim asking people out for lunch, which 5 of us responded. Decided to watch 881 after that, loved it for the Hokkien flavour, but some parts are very draggy though.
Just some reflections on what happened over the last few days
1) I detest long and draggy meetings
2) I am still wary about attending weddings
3) I love going on nature trails, but I need someone who will push me to go
4) I prefer photos of nature than of people
5) I am further strengthened in my belief that the process of wooing a girl isn't supposed to make you sian or unhappy
6) Guys do go a bit off when girls touch their hands
7) Packing is already a very irritating process, but "shadow" packing (my term for "packing" things when you're still using them) is worse
8) Being too emo is not healthy
9) Nua-ing is an activity that feels so good when you're doing it but you'll most definately rue the wasted time in the future
10) I am quite ready
Blogging, the short sharp and sweet way.
It has been a hectic few days.
National day was spent nua-ing at home, waking up at only 1130H and playing winning eleven for the whole afternoon, before going to watch the parade. Came to the conclusion that a lot of saikang went into the conducting of the parade.
Friday, played board games at Minds cafe with the fencers and watched the jay chou vanity project, err I mean movie thereafter. Played some game that required you to guess the sound of the phrase, which led to many laughs. The movie was surprisingly good, the 2 most prominent females were very attractive as well. The outlandish twist was debated very vigorously by Andrew thereafter, which of course drew a few guffaws. Went out to have supper with Nick at the thomson road prata at 11, got stopped at a roadblock on the way there. Met 4 people I knew at the place.
Saturday I wore my formal best to attend my MO's wedding. It was a simple ceremony, had a chuckle when the priest translated "pauper" as "porter" and called my doctor a professor. Met up with many of my men there, glad to know they're still fighting the good fight in the Organisation.
Couldn't stay long though, as I had to attend the UK pre-departure session. Went there, swooped for all the freebies, networked with the LSE people and looked out of place somewhat in my very formal attire. Went home and rested, jim and nick came over to watch football.
Sunday was parental side lunch, sought advice from 2 cousins who are studying in london as well. Had tea with ben and edwin, and the former told me how to be a match steward.
Monday had a very enjoyable time with Nick as we trekked from labrodor park to kent ridge park to science park II to hwa par villa, taking 92 photos on the way and discovering weird sights, like a mountain biking stunt platform in the middle of nowhere, trying to infiltrate a science park building with a supposed card security system, a boardwalk which you can overlook a nursery of sorts and a model of a tank in kent ridge park. Great cheap healthy fun.
Tuesday started with me driving my siblings to school so I can end up in RJ to certify my certs, which the person signed without even looking at my originals. Came home and slept for 2 hours, then saw an emo message from jim asking people out for lunch, which 5 of us responded. Decided to watch 881 after that, loved it for the Hokkien flavour, but some parts are very draggy though.
Just some reflections on what happened over the last few days
1) I detest long and draggy meetings
2) I am still wary about attending weddings
3) I love going on nature trails, but I need someone who will push me to go
4) I prefer photos of nature than of people
5) I am further strengthened in my belief that the process of wooing a girl isn't supposed to make you sian or unhappy
6) Guys do go a bit off when girls touch their hands
7) Packing is already a very irritating process, but "shadow" packing (my term for "packing" things when you're still using them) is worse
8) Being too emo is not healthy
9) Nua-ing is an activity that feels so good when you're doing it but you'll most definately rue the wasted time in the future
10) I am quite ready
Blogging, the short sharp and sweet way.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
High Fidelity
I am officially a Nick Hornby convert. After reading his Fever Pitch, I go on to High Fidelity which really deserves a chance to be used a literature text for the modern world. His observations of human behaviour is really spot-on, and more so when it comes to the male species. I couldn't help reread some paragraphs as I would have the feeling like "Yeah! I feel exactly like this at times, but I never knew how to describe it!"
Many parts of the book were just so insightful, but I only remember some parts that stuck in my mind. Here's one part, lifted from the book, about how a male bares his soul.
"It feels, even to me, like I'm being intimate: I speak quietly, slowly, thoughtfully, I express regret, I say nice things about Laura (his ex-girlfriend), I hint at a deep ocean of melancholy just below the surface."
Really hit it right on the head, if you ask me.
I am officially a Nick Hornby convert. After reading his Fever Pitch, I go on to High Fidelity which really deserves a chance to be used a literature text for the modern world. His observations of human behaviour is really spot-on, and more so when it comes to the male species. I couldn't help reread some paragraphs as I would have the feeling like "Yeah! I feel exactly like this at times, but I never knew how to describe it!"
Many parts of the book were just so insightful, but I only remember some parts that stuck in my mind. Here's one part, lifted from the book, about how a male bares his soul.
"It feels, even to me, like I'm being intimate: I speak quietly, slowly, thoughtfully, I express regret, I say nice things about Laura (his ex-girlfriend), I hint at a deep ocean of melancholy just below the surface."
Really hit it right on the head, if you ask me.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
On the side of me
By Corrinne May
I'm not the easiest person to love
I'm often the one who lets things go unresolved
Yet you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
Yet you choose to be on the side of me
on the side of me
I'm not too proud of some things
I've done in my life
The skeletons in my closet
Are too big for me to hide
Yet you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
Blessed Charity
You're on the side of me
on the side of me
Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it's cold outside
and there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
all alone I cried
there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
but you
I'm not the easiest person to love
But you, you've opened your heart to show me what I'm worth
'Cause you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
What a mystery
You're on the side of me
on the side of me
Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it's cold outside
and there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
all alone I cried
there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
I remember when nobody cared
Nobody cared
But you
Yeah you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
This is a beautiful song. The part I bolded is the part that has been stuck in my head for the last few days. Perfect song for those quiet nights.
By Corrinne May
I'm not the easiest person to love
I'm often the one who lets things go unresolved
Yet you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
Yet you choose to be on the side of me
on the side of me
I'm not too proud of some things
I've done in my life
The skeletons in my closet
Are too big for me to hide
Yet you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
Blessed Charity
You're on the side of me
on the side of me
Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it's cold outside
and there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
all alone I cried
there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
but you
I'm not the easiest person to love
But you, you've opened your heart to show me what I'm worth
'Cause you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
What a mystery
You're on the side of me
on the side of me
Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it's cold outside
and there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
all alone I cried
there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
I remember when nobody cared
Nobody cared
But you
Yeah you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
This is a beautiful song. The part I bolded is the part that has been stuck in my head for the last few days. Perfect song for those quiet nights.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Poisonous substances
What do Corrinne May songs and Love Actually the movie have in common? They are poisonous. Not poisonous in the traditional sense, but they are poisonous to your emotional state of mind. Imagine listening to Corrinne May's emo songs all alone in your dorm room on a wintry night, or watching Love Actually on a lonely Christmas. You'll be at best be very emo, at worst you're preparing the rope to hang yourself with.
Went for Corrinne May's concert last night, at NUS, with SR Barny and JM. We must have been quite a sight, 4 guys going to a concert together. Was very enamoured with her songs, her lyrics paint very vivid imageries and were struck a cord with me so much that I bought the CD. I haven't bought a music CD in ages, just for the record.
Barny was such a groupie, whooping at every song and claimed that Corrine May's husband was the "competition". After the concert, she had a signing session, and Barny practically ran out of the concert hall and ended up being 6th in the line to get his CDs and other stuff autographed. I managed to help him get my CD signed, and when it was SR's turn we took a group photo with her. There was a really long queue for her to autograph, but she was very obliging and nice. Really take my hat off her.
Was having a lot of fun in the fencing chalet from Wed to Fri. For starters, everyone save for adrian and I were late to meet at the appointed time, and we blew budget buying a lot of stuff that in hindsight, was quite unnecessary. The chalet reminded me of a FIBUA village, as it was quite old, but it was nice nevertheless. We rented bicycles, played mahjong and went out for supper at bedok, before watching a very lame movie Heartbreakers starring the gravity defying jennifer love hewitt, after which we turned in at 6 am in the morning.
The next day we wandered around trying to find something to do in first Tampines mall, then white sands then downtown east, failing which, we returned to the chalet and cycled around, checking out the scenery of the changi area, before we returned and prepared the BBQ. I tried to do the fire, but wasn't successful, and adrian took over while I fed twigs to the flame.
We over ordered food, so we had plenty of leftovers, so some of us took it back home or hall. By then, I inhaled too much BBQ fumes and felt so dehydrated and my voice started to become very raspy. I downed a lot of water and went to nap for a while while the rest played burn out. Woke up at 4, played a bit of Big 2, the rest went for breakfast while I stayed behind and played jaga. Packed up and cleared out by 1030, and I dragged my exhausted body home via andrew's car and then a cab.
30 odd days and counting. From now on, all activities I'll be doing will fall into only 2 categories, 1) settling anything London related 2) settling anything outstanding in Singapore. As Nick says, isn't that like everything?
What do Corrinne May songs and Love Actually the movie have in common? They are poisonous. Not poisonous in the traditional sense, but they are poisonous to your emotional state of mind. Imagine listening to Corrinne May's emo songs all alone in your dorm room on a wintry night, or watching Love Actually on a lonely Christmas. You'll be at best be very emo, at worst you're preparing the rope to hang yourself with.
Went for Corrinne May's concert last night, at NUS, with SR Barny and JM. We must have been quite a sight, 4 guys going to a concert together. Was very enamoured with her songs, her lyrics paint very vivid imageries and were struck a cord with me so much that I bought the CD. I haven't bought a music CD in ages, just for the record.
Barny was such a groupie, whooping at every song and claimed that Corrine May's husband was the "competition". After the concert, she had a signing session, and Barny practically ran out of the concert hall and ended up being 6th in the line to get his CDs and other stuff autographed. I managed to help him get my CD signed, and when it was SR's turn we took a group photo with her. There was a really long queue for her to autograph, but she was very obliging and nice. Really take my hat off her.
Was having a lot of fun in the fencing chalet from Wed to Fri. For starters, everyone save for adrian and I were late to meet at the appointed time, and we blew budget buying a lot of stuff that in hindsight, was quite unnecessary. The chalet reminded me of a FIBUA village, as it was quite old, but it was nice nevertheless. We rented bicycles, played mahjong and went out for supper at bedok, before watching a very lame movie Heartbreakers starring the gravity defying jennifer love hewitt, after which we turned in at 6 am in the morning.
The next day we wandered around trying to find something to do in first Tampines mall, then white sands then downtown east, failing which, we returned to the chalet and cycled around, checking out the scenery of the changi area, before we returned and prepared the BBQ. I tried to do the fire, but wasn't successful, and adrian took over while I fed twigs to the flame.
We over ordered food, so we had plenty of leftovers, so some of us took it back home or hall. By then, I inhaled too much BBQ fumes and felt so dehydrated and my voice started to become very raspy. I downed a lot of water and went to nap for a while while the rest played burn out. Woke up at 4, played a bit of Big 2, the rest went for breakfast while I stayed behind and played jaga. Packed up and cleared out by 1030, and I dragged my exhausted body home via andrew's car and then a cab.
30 odd days and counting. From now on, all activities I'll be doing will fall into only 2 categories, 1) settling anything London related 2) settling anything outstanding in Singapore. As Nick says, isn't that like everything?
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Once upon a time
Once upon a time, there was this boy who was doing his BMT (Basic Military Training) in Pulau Tekong. The boy had failed his SOC (Standard Obstacle Course) 3 times, failing to scale the vertical rope all 3 times. Thus, the boy was rather relieved to hear that his OC (Officer Commanding) tell his whole company that there would be no more SOC retests.
The boy was really looking forward to his block leave, which will last for a week after his POP (Passing Out Parade) which was on wednesday. The boy was then enamoured with the girl. The boy wanted to spend some time with the girl during his block leave. The boy then remembered that the girl's favourite food was sushi, so the boy decided to buy sushi from the nearby supermart, then go to the girl's workplace on the friday, as the girl would be going overseas the week after, and have lunch with the girl.
However, 2 hours before his POP, the boy's PC (Platoon Commander) gathered all the SOC failures and announced that they would be booking in on thursday night and doing a retest on friday morning.
The boy of course was disappointed that a monkey wrench had been thrown into his plans, but the boy decided to bring forward his plan to thursday then.
POP over, the boy went home and rested and woke up the next day and set his plan into action. The boy bought sushi from the supermart near his home, including 2 pairs of wooden disposable chopsticks which cost 10 cents each, and proceeded to the girl's workplace, which was a public hospital.
The boy took the MRT there. When the boy reached the MRT station closest to the girl's workplace, the boy glanced at his watch and realised that lunch time was almost over. The boy then decided to take a cab to the workplace to save time.
Once there, the boy made a beeline for the department the girl was working in. When the boy got there, the boy stopped outside, feeling very nervous. Finally summoning all his courage, the boy went into the department.
The boy didn't see the girl in there. The boy then approached the girl's colleagues and asked where the girl was.
The girl's colleague just simply replied, "Oh, she's on leave today, said she was going for a scholarship interview."
The boy was crushed. The boy went out, and called the girl on her mobile phone. The girl answered.
"Hey, you're having a scholarship interview is it?"
"Yup, it's my turn now! Talk to you later, bye!"
And with that, the girl hung up.
Dumbly, the boy realising he had made a futile trip, decided to head home. The boy, on his way home, realised that there was a free shuttle bus from the MRT station to the hospital, and took it to head home. The boy lamented the cost of the cab when he realised the existence of the shuttle bus service.
Outside his home, the boy, thoroughly dejected, decided to have the sushi for lunch. In his distracted sadness, the boy bit hard on his left cheek, causing him to have an ulcer for a few days.
The boy finished his meal and went home. Soon, it was time for the boy to return to camp.
The boy never felt so lousy waiting for the bus to the ferry terminal at the interchange. There were only a few others with him, and the boy wasn't in his most talkative moods. When the boy reached Pulau Tekong, he quickly settled down and went to sleep, not before taking a few minutes to contemplate what turned out to be a rather disastrous day.
The next day, after breakfast, the boy went for his SOC retest. This time, the boy aced the test with no difficulty at all, clocking in at 9.30 minutes. The boy had even managed to scale the vertical rope for the first time. When the boy did his final rundown to the finish line, his mind was just filled with the disappointment the boy felt yesterday, and it was like a fuel that pushed the boy to run a bit faster and push himself harder, almost so as to get rid of the disappointment the boy felt.
The test had ended at 9 am, and the boy hoped that perhaps, if they were left off early enough, he could still make it for another chance at having a sushi lunch with the girl. But, the fastcraft back to mainland was perpetually crowded and its frequency of trips were greatly reduced, so as a result the boy only got home at 12, and resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to make it for lunch hour.
The boy never told the girl that he went to look for her on that day.
The boy now knows that, what happened then, was probably a sign by the powers that be that they were not meant to be together.
The boy has moved on since then.
Once upon a time, there was this boy who was doing his BMT (Basic Military Training) in Pulau Tekong. The boy had failed his SOC (Standard Obstacle Course) 3 times, failing to scale the vertical rope all 3 times. Thus, the boy was rather relieved to hear that his OC (Officer Commanding) tell his whole company that there would be no more SOC retests.
The boy was really looking forward to his block leave, which will last for a week after his POP (Passing Out Parade) which was on wednesday. The boy was then enamoured with the girl. The boy wanted to spend some time with the girl during his block leave. The boy then remembered that the girl's favourite food was sushi, so the boy decided to buy sushi from the nearby supermart, then go to the girl's workplace on the friday, as the girl would be going overseas the week after, and have lunch with the girl.
However, 2 hours before his POP, the boy's PC (Platoon Commander) gathered all the SOC failures and announced that they would be booking in on thursday night and doing a retest on friday morning.
The boy of course was disappointed that a monkey wrench had been thrown into his plans, but the boy decided to bring forward his plan to thursday then.
POP over, the boy went home and rested and woke up the next day and set his plan into action. The boy bought sushi from the supermart near his home, including 2 pairs of wooden disposable chopsticks which cost 10 cents each, and proceeded to the girl's workplace, which was a public hospital.
The boy took the MRT there. When the boy reached the MRT station closest to the girl's workplace, the boy glanced at his watch and realised that lunch time was almost over. The boy then decided to take a cab to the workplace to save time.
Once there, the boy made a beeline for the department the girl was working in. When the boy got there, the boy stopped outside, feeling very nervous. Finally summoning all his courage, the boy went into the department.
The boy didn't see the girl in there. The boy then approached the girl's colleagues and asked where the girl was.
The girl's colleague just simply replied, "Oh, she's on leave today, said she was going for a scholarship interview."
The boy was crushed. The boy went out, and called the girl on her mobile phone. The girl answered.
"Hey, you're having a scholarship interview is it?"
"Yup, it's my turn now! Talk to you later, bye!"
And with that, the girl hung up.
Dumbly, the boy realising he had made a futile trip, decided to head home. The boy, on his way home, realised that there was a free shuttle bus from the MRT station to the hospital, and took it to head home. The boy lamented the cost of the cab when he realised the existence of the shuttle bus service.
Outside his home, the boy, thoroughly dejected, decided to have the sushi for lunch. In his distracted sadness, the boy bit hard on his left cheek, causing him to have an ulcer for a few days.
The boy finished his meal and went home. Soon, it was time for the boy to return to camp.
The boy never felt so lousy waiting for the bus to the ferry terminal at the interchange. There were only a few others with him, and the boy wasn't in his most talkative moods. When the boy reached Pulau Tekong, he quickly settled down and went to sleep, not before taking a few minutes to contemplate what turned out to be a rather disastrous day.
The next day, after breakfast, the boy went for his SOC retest. This time, the boy aced the test with no difficulty at all, clocking in at 9.30 minutes. The boy had even managed to scale the vertical rope for the first time. When the boy did his final rundown to the finish line, his mind was just filled with the disappointment the boy felt yesterday, and it was like a fuel that pushed the boy to run a bit faster and push himself harder, almost so as to get rid of the disappointment the boy felt.
The test had ended at 9 am, and the boy hoped that perhaps, if they were left off early enough, he could still make it for another chance at having a sushi lunch with the girl. But, the fastcraft back to mainland was perpetually crowded and its frequency of trips were greatly reduced, so as a result the boy only got home at 12, and resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to make it for lunch hour.
The boy never told the girl that he went to look for her on that day.
The boy now knows that, what happened then, was probably a sign by the powers that be that they were not meant to be together.
The boy has moved on since then.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Random nonsense
One thing that never fails to make me laugh is Mogilan's tale about how his CSM taught him to do guard duty. When challenging a person who may be a threat, his CSM told him that he has to be very firm and dominant to ensure the person listens to you. So instead of the conventional "Halt! Halt!" he told him to shout "Down, motherf***** down!" Apparently the foreign construction workers don't understand the former too well.
One thing that never fails to make me laugh is Mogilan's tale about how his CSM taught him to do guard duty. When challenging a person who may be a threat, his CSM told him that he has to be very firm and dominant to ensure the person listens to you. So instead of the conventional "Halt! Halt!" he told him to shout "Down, motherf***** down!" Apparently the foreign construction workers don't understand the former too well.
Lost
Ok, had another bizarre dream last night as I dreamt that I lost my Mum's Birkin bag (she doesn't own one at all) The Birkin must have came from yesterday's papers as it was featured in their boomtown singapore article. Felt extremely scared and lousy as I frantically searched around a store (the place I lost it in) for the bag.
To dream that you lose something may mean that you really have misplaced something that you had not realized yet. It may also be a signal for you to clean out and reorganize your life. You have become overwhelmed and distracted with the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life.
On a symbolic note, losing things in your dream may signify lost opportunities, past relationships or forgotten aspects of yourself. Your personal associations to the thing you lose will clue you into the emotional meaning and interpretation of your dream.
(Credit dreammoods.com)
I guess there is some element of truth there, as my life is a bit cluttered of sorts, have to organise it better for the remaining days I have left in Singapore. So many things I want to do. Let's hope it doesn't mean I've misplaced something that I haven't realised it though, that would suck.
Ok, had another bizarre dream last night as I dreamt that I lost my Mum's Birkin bag (she doesn't own one at all) The Birkin must have came from yesterday's papers as it was featured in their boomtown singapore article. Felt extremely scared and lousy as I frantically searched around a store (the place I lost it in) for the bag.
To dream that you lose something may mean that you really have misplaced something that you had not realized yet. It may also be a signal for you to clean out and reorganize your life. You have become overwhelmed and distracted with the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life.
On a symbolic note, losing things in your dream may signify lost opportunities, past relationships or forgotten aspects of yourself. Your personal associations to the thing you lose will clue you into the emotional meaning and interpretation of your dream.
(Credit dreammoods.com)
I guess there is some element of truth there, as my life is a bit cluttered of sorts, have to organise it better for the remaining days I have left in Singapore. So many things I want to do. Let's hope it doesn't mean I've misplaced something that I haven't realised it though, that would suck.
Loser?
As I lay in bed, listening to the radio while closing my eyes to enjoy the feeling of nua-ing, I was reminded of the time when i was in BMT, when lights out would be 2230 for the SAF standard 7 hours of sleep to get up at 0530 for 5BX. Of course those with girlfriends would pretend to sleep and use their handphones at the same time talking to their girlfriends, thus they had to be alert if the Sergeants came into the bunk and checked if we were asleep or not.
Which led me to remember an article I read in the sunday times way back, about a father who wrote an article that when his son went to BMT, he made an effort to call home every night and the father was happy that his son who prior to enlistment would barely talk to him and his wife now spoke to him more often and openly. The father was very happy, and told 2 friends about it. The first one, an older woman, said that she's glad that father and son are communicating better. However, the second person, a young lady, had this to say, which was, "What a loser. He probably has no girlfriend."
How untrue, yet grating nonetheless.
As I lay in bed, listening to the radio while closing my eyes to enjoy the feeling of nua-ing, I was reminded of the time when i was in BMT, when lights out would be 2230 for the SAF standard 7 hours of sleep to get up at 0530 for 5BX. Of course those with girlfriends would pretend to sleep and use their handphones at the same time talking to their girlfriends, thus they had to be alert if the Sergeants came into the bunk and checked if we were asleep or not.
Which led me to remember an article I read in the sunday times way back, about a father who wrote an article that when his son went to BMT, he made an effort to call home every night and the father was happy that his son who prior to enlistment would barely talk to him and his wife now spoke to him more often and openly. The father was very happy, and told 2 friends about it. The first one, an older woman, said that she's glad that father and son are communicating better. However, the second person, a young lady, had this to say, which was, "What a loser. He probably has no girlfriend."
How untrue, yet grating nonetheless.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Cold
Ok I know I said the weather provided me with an opportunity to try out wearing 2 layers which is probably what i'll do in London, but it's getting ridiculous. The cold enveloped my room like a blanket, so much so that touching my bolster is quite like touching a popsicle. I didn't even turn on my fans and slept with the quilt covering my whole body.
Had paper wrapped chicken for dinner on Sat at the "farm" at ulu pandan, the place I've been going to since I was a small kid. The oily goodness of the food there must have caused my subsequent malaise later in the night, but it was so worth at that moment in time as I tucked into the food I had enjoyed ever since I was a small boy.
Spent the last night feeling feverish and lousy, it's only a measly 26 degrees and I was struck down by a bug already. Although more sleep, vitamin C pills and chicken essence eventually got rid of the lousy feeling by mid day, I think my weak constitution is due to lack of sleep and excess of alcohol. Some remedying is in order.
Rainy days are emo days, so says my brother.
Ok I know I said the weather provided me with an opportunity to try out wearing 2 layers which is probably what i'll do in London, but it's getting ridiculous. The cold enveloped my room like a blanket, so much so that touching my bolster is quite like touching a popsicle. I didn't even turn on my fans and slept with the quilt covering my whole body.
Had paper wrapped chicken for dinner on Sat at the "farm" at ulu pandan, the place I've been going to since I was a small kid. The oily goodness of the food there must have caused my subsequent malaise later in the night, but it was so worth at that moment in time as I tucked into the food I had enjoyed ever since I was a small boy.
Spent the last night feeling feverish and lousy, it's only a measly 26 degrees and I was struck down by a bug already. Although more sleep, vitamin C pills and chicken essence eventually got rid of the lousy feeling by mid day, I think my weak constitution is due to lack of sleep and excess of alcohol. Some remedying is in order.
Rainy days are emo days, so says my brother.
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