My my my... how time flies!~ Been back for almost a month, still feeling the heat back here. I can sweat immediately after a bath, and that's the worst kind of feeling. Prickly heat powder is very effective to solve this problem, keeps me cool and nice!
Dec 6th, is the day we broke up. Well, it's better to move on now to a new life. There's no point in carrying on something that I feel wouldn't work out. It was a rough two years really, probably due much to the fact that we were far apart, but the lack of chemistry just couldn't be patched by a few words & actions.
On another note, it's my 24th birthday tomorrow! Two cycles of the chinese zodiac have passed just like this. It's time to move on to another phase in life, the working phase. Well, I really wonder what I would have become by the time I reach the third cycle, meaning age 36. I look forward to find out...
By the way, I am really annoyed by this recent Nokia advert bus. I was on the bus 14 today heading home, and there was this screen right in front of me, which kept playing loudly (overshadowing the guy behind me who was snoring) these Nokia advertisements. I'm sure I watched the adverts close to ten times. And this same stupid phrase keeps popping up "the next episode is about to begin". Oh yeah, who cares?! who cares about the next episode of whatever is about to begin. It's real, i mean REAL, irritating!
Wednesday 12 December 2007
Saturday 27 October 2007
Back!
Hi, I know I haven't been blogging for a short while, and anxious people have been telling me to continue blogging. Kinda been busy with tons of assignments and exams are just round the corner. Panic week! Or rather, if you are well prepared, you shouldn't panic right?
Thanks to everyone who continue to tag here even when the blog gets quiet.
Below are some photos of stuff that happened during this period of no-post...
Spartos Night: 3 Tigers on our table, and 3 well-behaved and civilised people
Spartos Night: Daryl and Mr Huh? (with the blur look)
Spartos Night: Me and my two nice neighbours. Yes we're going to have a good time
Valete: DL, the best initials!
Me visiting Uni of Sydney
What a magnificent university with a huge court yard
Diana and me in Sydney
And by the way to people who still haven't heard about it, I'll be going back on Nov 15th. Seeya then
Sunday 2 September 2007
Off on holiday
Tomorrow, or rather today, I'll be off to Melbourne, the place where I had stayed for half a month in the beginning of this year, for another holiday. Melbourne is a very nice city and definitely worth another visit. But this time I won't be along, as I'm going with Barney, Ting Yi and Zhong. Should be a relax and chill-out trip with lots of jokes and stories to tell.
After that, will be going to Sydney to visit Diana for a couple of days. Haven't seen her in a while, so I'm looking forward to catching up with her.
Anways, been reading this article: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/297259/1/.html
and realised that the US would very likely cut their interest rates soon. This means the Australian dollar would get stronger due to their high interest rate, which also means that anyone with money should buy more AUS$ and sell US$ now. Just a tip, although I haven't got the money. But the AUS$ going up would mean that SGD$ would become weaker relative to the Aussie dollar as well. Thus I reckon one of my good moves this year was to bring over lots of AUD$ so as to gain on the high interest rates which would be more than sufficient to cover all transaction costs. Well done to myself. Haha!
After that, will be going to Sydney to visit Diana for a couple of days. Haven't seen her in a while, so I'm looking forward to catching up with her.
Anways, been reading this article: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/297259/1/.html
and realised that the US would very likely cut their interest rates soon. This means the Australian dollar would get stronger due to their high interest rate, which also means that anyone with money should buy more AUS$ and sell US$ now. Just a tip, although I haven't got the money. But the AUS$ going up would mean that SGD$ would become weaker relative to the Aussie dollar as well. Thus I reckon one of my good moves this year was to bring over lots of AUD$ so as to gain on the high interest rates which would be more than sufficient to cover all transaction costs. Well done to myself. Haha!
Random Picture
Wide-eyed anticipation of entering the workforce for these graduates
Friday 31 August 2007
Party On...and On...and On
Mid semester exams are over and it's time to party. Had a party last week after the end of my first exam. Bought half a dozen of Strongbow Dry and another half dozen of Toohey's Extra Dry for my mates. Had some good music from our resident DJ Barney. Chips aplenty due to contributions by me, Jared, Tingyi (with his cuttlefish) and Jayshen. Thanks guys. It was a great party. Woot!
Then it was onto Jiayun's birthday party yesterday, where we had a cake, chips and some orange juice before heading out to King O Malleys, a local pub. Great place to sit around with plenty of friends and just drink. Drank more than the previous 2 days combined, with pints of beer, stout, shots of tequilla and even absinth minded, this cocktail which contained absinth (green fairy). Crazy and fun night man. Woot!
The arsenal of alcohol for the night
Having a drink brings out all the smiles, except Jayshen who was quite unhappy about Barney
The host of the party (me) enjoying the night
Jared drinking wine straight from the bottle (hmm...)
Then it was onto Jiayun's birthday party yesterday, where we had a cake, chips and some orange juice before heading out to King O Malleys, a local pub. Great place to sit around with plenty of friends and just drink. Drank more than the previous 2 days combined, with pints of beer, stout, shots of tequilla and even absinth minded, this cocktail which contained absinth (green fairy). Crazy and fun night man. Woot!
Monday 27 August 2007
The truth is out!
Refer to: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/specialreport/news/288515_8/1/.html for what I'm about to say.
It has been months since UNSW pulled out of Singapore within a short period of the start of operations, leading to shocks among many students who had enrolled in the university. However, I guess the largest shock had arose from EDB as it fathomed the consequences of this pull-out, so much so that it could not lift it's curtain of silence until recently, to reveal the amount of damage that was done. In a country like Singapore where actions by the government or goverment-related organisations would be sure to attract speculations and rumours, the amount of the loan is of great interest as punters rub their hands in anticipation.
A failed investment is common in the business world. A failed investment by a seemingly "solid and efficient" government in a culture where a poor child gets 99 instead of the full 100 marks in a test gets reprimanded is unacceptable, or at least to the people. The brings us to the saga of NKF again where a certain minister's wife was the patron. Now what went wrong in this case? Although a failed investment of around $15m can be considered small considering the amount of assets the EDB possesses, it is significant in the eyes of the common folks who may never see $1m in their lifetime.
I would speculate that it is the failure of checks within the system that caused the damage. Just as a factory needs a supervisor to supervise the entire manufacturing process, there needs to be someone to check if investments are sound before loans and grants are lent or given. Saying "Investors know their business better than the government. In this case, UNSW – as the investor and the operator – is in the best position to assess the viability of its business plan. (The) government's role is to facilitate and support investors in their decisions, not to second-guess or guide those decisions." is the sign of shirking of responsibility. When banks loan out monies to businesses, they too make checks on the backgrounds of the company. Is it too difficult for the EDB to undertake such a task?
Of course trying to forecast if an investment will be a success or not is not a straightforward mission, and you can at most allocate a probability to it. But signalling for a pull-out within less than a month after operations shows signs that this probability is close to 100%. How could this not be detected unless checks weren't even made in the first place.
Another source of fault lies in the MOE. The eagerness of the MOE to turn Singapore into an education hub [What's this thing about creating Singapore into hubs for everything from medical to MICE to education? I say just focus on what you can.] in recent times has led to the search for the creation of a 4th university after SMU. Maybe the market in Singapore is indeed too small for a 4th one? Has anybody considered that? And when UNSW comes knocking on the door, it is put into plan without market analysis perhaps. This would probably pressure EDB to fork out the enormous loan and grants to UNSW as an incentive for them to build the building just so that Singapore will have a 4th university. Again, is it needed? Look at the damage it has done.
Taxpayers' money goes into that building and now it is an empty shell waiting to be filled. Even though I have not joined the ranks of a taxpayer, I will in the future, and if something like this happens to my money, you will definitely want some explanation and a decent one. But so far, nothing of the sort. Just the usual concern for their reputation. After that, it is back to the search for another university to fill the gap. Sigh.
It has been months since UNSW pulled out of Singapore within a short period of the start of operations, leading to shocks among many students who had enrolled in the university. However, I guess the largest shock had arose from EDB as it fathomed the consequences of this pull-out, so much so that it could not lift it's curtain of silence until recently, to reveal the amount of damage that was done. In a country like Singapore where actions by the government or goverment-related organisations would be sure to attract speculations and rumours, the amount of the loan is of great interest as punters rub their hands in anticipation.
A failed investment is common in the business world. A failed investment by a seemingly "solid and efficient" government in a culture where a poor child gets 99 instead of the full 100 marks in a test gets reprimanded is unacceptable, or at least to the people. The brings us to the saga of NKF again where a certain minister's wife was the patron. Now what went wrong in this case? Although a failed investment of around $15m can be considered small considering the amount of assets the EDB possesses, it is significant in the eyes of the common folks who may never see $1m in their lifetime.
I would speculate that it is the failure of checks within the system that caused the damage. Just as a factory needs a supervisor to supervise the entire manufacturing process, there needs to be someone to check if investments are sound before loans and grants are lent or given. Saying "Investors know their business better than the government. In this case, UNSW – as the investor and the operator – is in the best position to assess the viability of its business plan. (The) government's role is to facilitate and support investors in their decisions, not to second-guess or guide those decisions." is the sign of shirking of responsibility. When banks loan out monies to businesses, they too make checks on the backgrounds of the company. Is it too difficult for the EDB to undertake such a task?
Of course trying to forecast if an investment will be a success or not is not a straightforward mission, and you can at most allocate a probability to it. But signalling for a pull-out within less than a month after operations shows signs that this probability is close to 100%. How could this not be detected unless checks weren't even made in the first place.
Another source of fault lies in the MOE. The eagerness of the MOE to turn Singapore into an education hub [What's this thing about creating Singapore into hubs for everything from medical to MICE to education? I say just focus on what you can.] in recent times has led to the search for the creation of a 4th university after SMU. Maybe the market in Singapore is indeed too small for a 4th one? Has anybody considered that? And when UNSW comes knocking on the door, it is put into plan without market analysis perhaps. This would probably pressure EDB to fork out the enormous loan and grants to UNSW as an incentive for them to build the building just so that Singapore will have a 4th university. Again, is it needed? Look at the damage it has done.
Taxpayers' money goes into that building and now it is an empty shell waiting to be filled. Even though I have not joined the ranks of a taxpayer, I will in the future, and if something like this happens to my money, you will definitely want some explanation and a decent one. But so far, nothing of the sort. Just the usual concern for their reputation. After that, it is back to the search for another university to fill the gap. Sigh.
Sunday 26 August 2007
Ursies Ball 2007
Ursies Ball this year was held on the 17th of August at Thoroughbred Park. Place was alright, food was good, free-flow red wine, white wine, champagne, beer, lemon lime and bitters, and sky juice, and the live! band was awesome. So nothing to complain about, except that there was too little time. But this once in a year event was definitely worth the go and perhaps more worth it than the international ball which was held on the same day. Anyway, below are some pictures of the night.
Ready for the ball
With an insurance salesman (Jay Shen and me)
From left: Barney, me, Derrig (Ursies President for 2007), John (my senior resident), Hannah (international representative 2007) and Daryl (Malaysian student of the year 2007?)
Black gloves have 2 functions: They keep you from feeling the coldness on your hands (they don't actually keep your hands warm), and they go with the hitman theme (notice the red tie as well)
Huw and me (He's learning Chinese and is really good. He comes to me for help sometimes)
Going back in the cool neon-lighted double-decker bus
Ready for the ball 
With an insurance salesman (Jay Shen and me)
Classmates for 7 semesters (Jia Yun and me)
Blue is the colour of royalty (Eun Hae and me)
Two hitman posers (black gloves sold separately)
From left: Barney, me, Derrig (Ursies President for 2007), John (my senior resident), Hannah (international representative 2007) and Daryl (Malaysian student of the year 2007?) 
Morgie and his dance moves
Let the fire begin
Studs out for a puff
Black gloves have 2 functions: They keep you from feeling the coldness on your hands (they don't actually keep your hands warm), and they go with the hitman theme (notice the red tie as well)Huw and me (He's learning Chinese and is really good. He comes to me for help sometimes)Going back in the cool neon-lighted double-decker bus
Monday 20 August 2007
ball video
I just typed out a post and due to weak wireless connection, the draft was not saved. Kinda annoyed again. Now I have to recall what I typed..
But the stuff that I wanted to say is that (pardon my use of point form):
But the stuff that I wanted to say is that (pardon my use of point form):
- Roger Federer won his 50th title
- I received letters from friends
- Should not always just the bad things but should remember good things that happen. So keep those bird's nest with rock sugar coming!
- Inspired and loved the Ursies ball video 2007 as this is my last year here
- Inspired to produce a post ball video of my own. Throw in some pictures and videos, and interview people regarding their feelings about the ball, and of course the theme song.
Yep that's the gist. Hope this doesn't fail me again...
Irritated...
Just read my 365 Inspirations quotes book and it says something about in life, we must give and then we will receive a lot in return. Is it really true? I ponder about this for awhile as I go through some of my friend's blog, And I realised that I bought popcorn chicken and wicked wings for them yesterday, and what did I get in return? Not being called to take the group photo at the Ursies Ball. Being left out in the cold. Geezzzz.... I feel disappointed. Sucks man.
This brings me back to the time when I tutored Hock in Maths C in A Levels, and in the end he got an A! Hooray. And what did I get for History? a "C". He got an "A". What did I get in return? Jibes and laughter from him. Sighz....I think it doesn't pay to be kind in this world.
And what's with the phone calls in the middle of the night but have no sound? Something's wrong with the phone, i don't know what.
And why did Man Utd lose to Man City? Despite all the domination and possession, we lost.
Irritation bugs me like a prick in the skin, or a piece of meat stuck between the gaps in your teeth.
This brings me back to the time when I tutored Hock in Maths C in A Levels, and in the end he got an A! Hooray. And what did I get for History? a "C". He got an "A". What did I get in return? Jibes and laughter from him. Sighz....I think it doesn't pay to be kind in this world.
And what's with the phone calls in the middle of the night but have no sound? Something's wrong with the phone, i don't know what.
And why did Man Utd lose to Man City? Despite all the domination and possession, we lost.
Irritation bugs me like a prick in the skin, or a piece of meat stuck between the gaps in your teeth.
Thursday 16 August 2007
The REAL 40th post!
My mistake. There was this autosave function that somehow created 3 drafts within my entries list, which made me think I had reached my 40th post, but NOT! This is the Real 40th post. haha.
Just read an article about the most expensive football player, who comes from, surprise surprise, Watford. He costs 60m pounds. Marlon King is his name. Checkout: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=453289&cc=4716
Well then, 2 more days to Ursies Ball. One more day actually, it's past midnight now. Everyone's really excited and gearing up for it. Even the usually casual Jayshen, who initially said he was not going, has forked out about $100 to finance the hiring of a suit for that day. That speaks everything. Barney went for a pants alteration, Ting Yi bought a new tie, Chern hired a tux and Daryl borrowed a suit. The whole ball thing is getting exciting. With the most exciting being Jared getting rejected twice in his attempts to get girls as his date on that day. Ouch! But seriously, the first was dumb (get your facts right!) and the second was....dumb as well (nobody likes being second). The happy thing is, there is free-flow alcohol on that day. Yeahsss!
Just read an article about the most expensive football player, who comes from, surprise surprise, Watford. He costs 60m pounds. Marlon King is his name. Checkout: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=453289&cc=4716
Well then, 2 more days to Ursies Ball. One more day actually, it's past midnight now. Everyone's really excited and gearing up for it. Even the usually casual Jayshen, who initially said he was not going, has forked out about $100 to finance the hiring of a suit for that day. That speaks everything. Barney went for a pants alteration, Ting Yi bought a new tie, Chern hired a tux and Daryl borrowed a suit. The whole ball thing is getting exciting. With the most exciting being Jared getting rejected twice in his attempts to get girls as his date on that day. Ouch! But seriously, the first was dumb (get your facts right!) and the second was....dumb as well (nobody likes being second). The happy thing is, there is free-flow alcohol on that day. Yeahsss!
Sunday 12 August 2007
A Star-Studded Cast
This could be the first time that I had such a dream. Many friends that I know were in this dream. I couldn't really remember the storyline, but it was really fun and a lot of people were there, even some people whom I rarely talk to. Nonetheless, such a dream reminds me of tv serials where they made it just for fun and invite many of the actors and actresses of the tv station to star in it. Some snippets of the dream which I can still remember are Kaixun peeing without flushing (sorry Kaixun, I know you wouldn't do that but random things happen in dreams), David tapping my shoulder and when I turn around he became Jiarong, and shaking hands with Giang, Alvin and Rayner (somehow he had a deformed fist) in the arts club room.
Standing behind me was Square rock
Went for a combined A1 & D1 trekking adventure to Namadgi National Park yesterday. It was about an hour's drive away from campus. Despite the strong winds warning on the met station website, we went ahead and were greeted with.....strong winds! I guess the winds must have blown away all the animals because any kangaroos, wallabies, different species of birds that we would expect to see on the hike were nowhere to be found. All that was present were some droppings along the footpath. Very nice. With hunger in our stomachs and fatigue in our muscles, we finally made the slightly more than an hour's trek and reached the lookout, known as square rock. Excellent view there but extremely strong (and cold) winds. Below are some pictures taken at square rock. We then had to make our way back to the vehicles, which we then drove to a quiet nice place (it was this year's IB end point) for a bbq. This concludes the A1 & D1 floor "party". The cool floors rockz!
Standing behind me was Square rock
There was a gorilla on the trip
Our Senior Resident John hiding himself from the winds
Beautiful view of the trees below. A little foggy though due to sleet
Elation at reaching the rock, so we can now turn back for lunch. Despite the smile on my face, I was really feeling cold, hungry, tired and hungrier
Sunday 5 August 2007
Happy Birthday Mom
Today is my Mom's birthday, so I would like to wish her a very Happy Birthday! I haven't seen her for more than one and a half years, come to think of it. And just when I was typing this post, she rang me, what a coincidence! Happy Birthday Mom, love ya! _______________________________________________________
Can you give me a break and stop calling me? I'll call you if I want to talk to you...
Friday 3 August 2007
40th and counting...
I have finally reached my 40th entry on my blog. I didn't think I would come so far considering I used to think blogging was rather boring, but I always liked to read someone else's blog though. Nonetheless, this is a milestone for me, and I hope I can still continue this routine for some time to come.
My laptop is getting too small for my needs, not in the physical size, but in the amount of disk space it has. Maybe it's time to get a new laptop next year, considering it'll be my last year in uni, the last chance to make use of student privileges and get a laptop at student price. This IBM is really good though, hasn't given me any major problems since I got it in Aug 2004, been 3years already. I like IBM. I'm not sure whether it's successor, Lenovo, would be able to live up to the standards. And I don't really trust other brands. Hmm I'll see how it goes. Hopefully can get a good and affordable one.
I'm caught onto the Hitman fever recently. It's a computer game about an agent 47 who's sent on missions to assassinate people. It's a really really very very absolutely cool game! Thanks to Jared for introducing me to the game. Now I feel like fiber-wiring people and taking them out with my silencer. Hee just joking (well maybe I would..) There was this mission where 47 had to go to Kuala Lumpur's famous twin towers to take out this target, and that mission was super interesting. You can disguise as the pizza boy, or a fireman to access the building. Uber-cool! The game is so popular that they made 3 follow-ups to the original. There's Hitman, Hitman 2, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood money. There's even a Hitman movie that's going to hit the screens in October, starring Timothy Olyphant, aka Thomas Gabriel in Die Hard 4. I'm definitely going to catch that show, regardless of how good/bad it will be be.
For information about the movie, checkout: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465494/, http://www.hitmanmovie.com
For information about the video-game, checkout: http://www.hitman.dk/, http://www.hitman2.com/, http://www.hitmancontracts.com/, http://www.hitmanbloodmoney.com/
My laptop is getting too small for my needs, not in the physical size, but in the amount of disk space it has. Maybe it's time to get a new laptop next year, considering it'll be my last year in uni, the last chance to make use of student privileges and get a laptop at student price. This IBM is really good though, hasn't given me any major problems since I got it in Aug 2004, been 3years already. I like IBM. I'm not sure whether it's successor, Lenovo, would be able to live up to the standards. And I don't really trust other brands. Hmm I'll see how it goes. Hopefully can get a good and affordable one.
I'm caught onto the Hitman fever recently. It's a computer game about an agent 47 who's sent on missions to assassinate people. It's a really really very very absolutely cool game! Thanks to Jared for introducing me to the game. Now I feel like fiber-wiring people and taking them out with my silencer. Hee just joking (well maybe I would..) There was this mission where 47 had to go to Kuala Lumpur's famous twin towers to take out this target, and that mission was super interesting. You can disguise as the pizza boy, or a fireman to access the building. Uber-cool! The game is so popular that they made 3 follow-ups to the original. There's Hitman, Hitman 2, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood money. There's even a Hitman movie that's going to hit the screens in October, starring Timothy Olyphant, aka Thomas Gabriel in Die Hard 4. I'm definitely going to catch that show, regardless of how good/bad it will be be.
For information about the movie, checkout: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465494/, http://www.hitmanmovie.com
For information about the video-game, checkout: http://www.hitman.dk/, http://www.hitman2.com/, http://www.hitmancontracts.com/, http://www.hitmanbloodmoney.com/
Monday 30 July 2007
Stuart Highway
Was looking through the photos taken during my central Australia holiday trip and I came across this photograph of me under a road sign that points to Alice Springs and Singapore. Thought it is quite interesting isn't it?
Pointing to the road home...
Pointing to the road home...Sunday 29 July 2007
Movies watched recently
Have been pretty free recently, and so watched a number of movies.
Letters from Iwo Jima - This is a movie about the war fought on the island of Iwo Jima during WWII depicted from the point of view of the Japanese. It's a very good movie I must say, and Ken Watanabe acted very well in the show. Although there were a couple of bloody scenes which you would usually expect from a war movie. But some of the grotesque ones like the Japanese commiting hara kiri with a grenade were not shown. The remains of their bodies were however shown in Flags of our Fathers.
Flags of our Fathers - This was the same war on Iwo Jima but told from the point of the Americans. However in this movie, the focus was not so much on the war as it was on the flag, that's why the title. It narrated much more on the famous scene where the Americans raise their flag on the soil of Iwo Jima, who these "heroes" were, and what happened to them. This was more of a political show. Maybe not as good as Letters, but deserve a review definitely.
Road to Guantanamo Bay - This movie is a docu-drama of an account of 4 British-Pakistanis who went to Afghanistan (apparently to travel and eat the enormous naan they have there) and became trapped in the country during the US bombing of Afghanistan. 3 of them were subsequently captured and treated as fighters of the Taliban forces, and sent to the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and tortured and interrogated as terror suspects. The last guy is still missing. It's a real eye-opener this movie, although some question whether it was real. But you feel very deeply for these people after watching it. I would say it's quite good.
Premonition - Sandra Bullock in this movie is the wife and she wakes up and learns that her husband is dead. The next day her husband is alive. The next day her husband is dead again. Then alive again. Sighz... In explanation, she wakes up (on alternate days) after her husband is dead, and before her husband is dead. so she learns how her husband dies, and also her husband is cheating on her. And in the ending, she wakes up on the day her husband is going to die, and rushes off to save him. Not really a good movie is an understatement.
Zodiac - This movie takes it's story from a real police case that dates back to the 1960s about a killer called Zodiac and how this young cartoonist working for the newspaper is obsessed with breaking this case and looking for the killer. The ending was rather draggy as the case dragged on for a number of decades. This show is worth the watch though as it is an interesting detective story and is taken from an actual bestseller written by the cartoonist himself.
Paris Je T'aime - A number of interesting stories strung together, some touching, some filled with love, some funny and some totally incomprehensible. I've always liked short stories type of movies so it appealed to me. Makes me want to visit Paris too!
Letters from Iwo Jima - This is a movie about the war fought on the island of Iwo Jima during WWII depicted from the point of view of the Japanese. It's a very good movie I must say, and Ken Watanabe acted very well in the show. Although there were a couple of bloody scenes which you would usually expect from a war movie. But some of the grotesque ones like the Japanese commiting hara kiri with a grenade were not shown. The remains of their bodies were however shown in Flags of our Fathers.
Flags of our Fathers - This was the same war on Iwo Jima but told from the point of the Americans. However in this movie, the focus was not so much on the war as it was on the flag, that's why the title. It narrated much more on the famous scene where the Americans raise their flag on the soil of Iwo Jima, who these "heroes" were, and what happened to them. This was more of a political show. Maybe not as good as Letters, but deserve a review definitely.
Road to Guantanamo Bay - This movie is a docu-drama of an account of 4 British-Pakistanis who went to Afghanistan (apparently to travel and eat the enormous naan they have there) and became trapped in the country during the US bombing of Afghanistan. 3 of them were subsequently captured and treated as fighters of the Taliban forces, and sent to the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and tortured and interrogated as terror suspects. The last guy is still missing. It's a real eye-opener this movie, although some question whether it was real. But you feel very deeply for these people after watching it. I would say it's quite good.
Premonition - Sandra Bullock in this movie is the wife and she wakes up and learns that her husband is dead. The next day her husband is alive. The next day her husband is dead again. Then alive again. Sighz... In explanation, she wakes up (on alternate days) after her husband is dead, and before her husband is dead. so she learns how her husband dies, and also her husband is cheating on her. And in the ending, she wakes up on the day her husband is going to die, and rushes off to save him. Not really a good movie is an understatement.
Zodiac - This movie takes it's story from a real police case that dates back to the 1960s about a killer called Zodiac and how this young cartoonist working for the newspaper is obsessed with breaking this case and looking for the killer. The ending was rather draggy as the case dragged on for a number of decades. This show is worth the watch though as it is an interesting detective story and is taken from an actual bestseller written by the cartoonist himself.
Paris Je T'aime - A number of interesting stories strung together, some touching, some filled with love, some funny and some totally incomprehensible. I've always liked short stories type of movies so it appealed to me. Makes me want to visit Paris too!
Thursday 26 July 2007
Naked people running around campus
Before I get to the exciting topic above, which might have drawn you to read this in the first place, I'll be talking about the recent flu bug that has hit me.
I think I caught the flu, and have a slight runny nose, chesty coughs, sore throat, muscle pains, slight fatigue and slight fever. Oh man, I hate getting sick, and it makes me very irritable. So, if I have appeared quite irritated or frustrated to anyone, I apologise now, it's the flu bug that is influencing me.
Structure of a flu virus
Well then, on to the story. Was walking back after classes today at 1pm and realised that there were many people at the centre of union court watching some live! entertainment. As I had to go to the atm machines at union court, I had to stop by and watch the entertainment. First, I saw a few people at a competition trying to guzzle down like a 1.5 litres bottle of milk. That was crazy man. And after that, they called for people to be naked. Initially I thought they were probably just topless and would still have their underpants on. No! There were these 2 guys who totally stripped naked and had to run around union court, not that it was embarassing enough in broad daylight with hundreds of people watching, but also it was winter and bloody cold.
So this one guy ran with his hand covering his you-know-what and ran but came back like within a short while and put on his pants. The other, the brave soul, gave it all. He did not attempt to shield anything and ran really fast and took some time before coming back. I think there was some prize to be won for the guy who could last the longest. What a sight man, it was hilarious. As I left the place, I saw a couple of policemen approaching the ground. Didn't know what happened after.
For a schedule of bush week, checkout: http://sa.anu.edu.au/?newsID=172
For pictures of naked men, do your own research. cheers
Wednesday 25 July 2007
Recent happenings
Recently, much has happened. First, school has already begun for more than a week now and I'm taking 1 level 4000 stats course, 2 lvl 3000 stats courses and 1 lvl 2000 accounting course. The last one as an elective. Initially took 3 lvl 3000 courses but then too much workload. I already have 2 assignments from my actuarial control cycle 2 (hons) course! Geez...
Something else happened in college last week. There was the sudden death of an ex-ressie, whom many said to be a resident from last year with the nick-name "Death". So do not give such nick-names like "Disabled" or "Death" etc. to yourself or anyone else. Anyway, the point is that the planned car scav-hunt was cancelled and the bus bar-crawl which I had signed up for has been postponed to much dismay. There is a nice glow-in-the-dark t-shirt to go with it as well!
Also, I've got a new neighbour by the name of Eunice, who is currently occupying Yunjin's old room. Eunice is a nice Singaporean girl and studying some science subjects. She offered me some coke zero today, so I have to say that she's a nice person. lol. No lah, she's really a nice and cute character on the floor. Just beside Eunice is Tracy, also a new resident who just moved in to replace Jeremy. Tracy is from Taipei, Taiwan, and so 3T's? She speaks good english though, wonder where she learnt that from. Haven't talked to her much yet as she doesn't talk much and haven't seen much of her around.
Tried to cook some porridge a few days ago, and it didn't turn out as nice as I expected. However, some of the people who tried it kinda liked it, so at least it made me a tad joyful. Shall improve on it the next round.
Been looking through the NUS website a couple of days ago about the modules I have to study when I go back, as well as the lecturers. Will be taking Microecons 3, macroecons 3, 1 honours thesis and most probably behaviourial economics. Good thing is, I can avoid the lecturer Basant whom Chermaine once mentioned that tutorial participation in his class takes a large proportion of the assessment marks. Then there is this lecturer teaching Micro 3 who hails from the cold cold region of Siberia. What a remarkable thing, a lecturer from cold Siberia teaching in hot Singapore. Have to see what his class is like. Then there is this visiting professor who once taught in ANU for 2.5 years. Well, have to look him up and have a small chat with him. I also realised that there are many many Korean lecturers in the econs department! Is it just a coincidence or is there some economic incentive to teach in NUS? I counted at least 7 or maybe more. Hmm maybe I could based my honours thesis on that. Well, gotta start thinking about my thesis title already.
Damn, that idiot OSV8 or whatever that department is have not replied my email. I'm trying to enquire about staying in this hostel in NUS. Apparently I heard that most of the hostels are quite full now, so I'm not sure whether I can get a room in the 2nd semester. Maybe my "I don't have an house" plea might ensure that I can get a room. For some information about this hostel, checkout: http://www.nus.edu.sg/osa/housing/acc/rvr.html. There are some pictures there as well.
Something else happened in college last week. There was the sudden death of an ex-ressie, whom many said to be a resident from last year with the nick-name "Death". So do not give such nick-names like "Disabled" or "Death" etc. to yourself or anyone else. Anyway, the point is that the planned car scav-hunt was cancelled and the bus bar-crawl which I had signed up for has been postponed to much dismay. There is a nice glow-in-the-dark t-shirt to go with it as well!
Also, I've got a new neighbour by the name of Eunice, who is currently occupying Yunjin's old room. Eunice is a nice Singaporean girl and studying some science subjects. She offered me some coke zero today, so I have to say that she's a nice person. lol. No lah, she's really a nice and cute character on the floor. Just beside Eunice is Tracy, also a new resident who just moved in to replace Jeremy. Tracy is from Taipei, Taiwan, and so 3T's? She speaks good english though, wonder where she learnt that from. Haven't talked to her much yet as she doesn't talk much and haven't seen much of her around.
Tried to cook some porridge a few days ago, and it didn't turn out as nice as I expected. However, some of the people who tried it kinda liked it, so at least it made me a tad joyful. Shall improve on it the next round.
Been looking through the NUS website a couple of days ago about the modules I have to study when I go back, as well as the lecturers. Will be taking Microecons 3, macroecons 3, 1 honours thesis and most probably behaviourial economics. Good thing is, I can avoid the lecturer Basant whom Chermaine once mentioned that tutorial participation in his class takes a large proportion of the assessment marks. Then there is this lecturer teaching Micro 3 who hails from the cold cold region of Siberia. What a remarkable thing, a lecturer from cold Siberia teaching in hot Singapore. Have to see what his class is like. Then there is this visiting professor who once taught in ANU for 2.5 years. Well, have to look him up and have a small chat with him. I also realised that there are many many Korean lecturers in the econs department! Is it just a coincidence or is there some economic incentive to teach in NUS? I counted at least 7 or maybe more. Hmm maybe I could based my honours thesis on that. Well, gotta start thinking about my thesis title already.
Damn, that idiot OSV8 or whatever that department is have not replied my email. I'm trying to enquire about staying in this hostel in NUS. Apparently I heard that most of the hostels are quite full now, so I'm not sure whether I can get a room in the 2nd semester. Maybe my "I don't have an house" plea might ensure that I can get a room. For some information about this hostel, checkout: http://www.nus.edu.sg/osa/housing/acc/rvr.html. There are some pictures there as well.
Tuesday 17 July 2007
Christmas in July!
Today is the celebration of Christmas in July in Ursula Hall. Yeahssssss!!!! Another occasion to have some better food and to take some pictures and make merry! Hope it'll be tons of fun!
Me, Daryl and Jared decorated my door with Christmas decorations
Me, Daryl and Jared decorated my door with Christmas decorations
The end product!
Hope to win the best door decoration contest!
Sunday 15 July 2007
There and back again, A human's tale, by Doni
Today's Sunday the 15th of July, the last day of the winter holidays. Today is also Yunjin's birthday, my ex-neighbour. Happy Birthday Yunjin! Hope you have fun wherever you are.
Been back from Central Australia on the 6th, and it was an awesome journey. Anyone should do it. If not for the spectacular view of Ayers Rock (Uluru), then for the vast Australian outback. I certainly know how big Australia is now. However, take note that this is during winter, so weather in that region is pretty pretty cold, especially at night, and rather hot during the day, as it is for a desert. I seriously wonder how the aboriginese live there in the past.
Well other than surviving the dryness and harsh cold/hot weather, and of course some pesky flies, there was also the steepness of Uluru which will send some faint-hearted turning right back. It was a really steep climb to the top, and we were amazed during the climb to see some parents bringing their young kids with them on the climb. At some point, the slopes could be like 70 degrees steep. And getting up is just the beginning, you have to get down via the same route too. Think about it. Another challenge on the trip which was generally dry, was the sudden strong rains and winds at Peterborough, one of the few pit-stops we made on the way back. Throughout the whole night, rain was splattering our tents, howling winds were attempting to rip the tents from the pegs, and the cold weather was adding to the misery of the situation. We, well mostly Zhong, the poor guy had to hold on to the only pole which was supporting the whole tent so that the wind did not topple our only shelter throughout the night. Kudos to him!
Well so much for misery, there were definitely great moments throughout the trip, hilarious moments which included a guy named Joseph, and new friendships forged. There were photo opportunities galore, that resulted in more than 4 gigs of photos in my laptop which I had to drastically reduce. Anyway, here are some of the better photos of the trip...
Monday 18 June 2007
What a good dinner
Dinner was lousy at college today, so me, Jay Shen and Barney decided to eat out at Izumi. That proved to be a very good choice as we had a fantastic dinner. We ordered one kimchi chi gae (kimchi soup), one yu gae chang (spicy beef soup) and one dumpling soup with rice. It was a really good meal, and I think the last good meal I had was maybe on Hannah's birthday lunch at Jimmy's in Dickson, which was some time ago. So really enjoyed the meal, and reminded me of the time when we went for food spree in Sydney. Had an ice-cream from Kim's Grocery after that to round up this hearty meal. Though it was really freezing cold outside, and it seemed like an absurd idea to have ice-cream, but that was one ice-cream that wouldn't melt and it tasted really cold.
Received an email from Diana yesterday and learnt that she was going to University of Sydney in July to study Masters in peace and conflict or something like that. That's good. Might take the opportunity to visit her in Sydney before next semester begins. Haven't seen her in a while. Can bring her to eat good food in Sydney.
Been watching some random stuff lately. Most random of all must be "Drawn Together", the reality tv for cartoon characters. They put a number of cartoon characters in one house a la Big Brother style, toss in some dumb, stereotype, sex, suicidal, racial, lame jokes and make it into a comedy cartoon. "Watching it will decrease your intelligence level" warned Jay Shen.
Also watched Victoria Secret's Fashion Show, or "The Greatest Show on Earth" as claimed by Seo Yeon. Well, the highlight of the show (for 2006) must be the dance by Justin Timberlake performed to "Lovestoned" and "My Love". Awesome man! Also watch it for Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Gisele Bundchen. Totally HOT
One more exam to go! yeah
Received an email from Diana yesterday and learnt that she was going to University of Sydney in July to study Masters in peace and conflict or something like that. That's good. Might take the opportunity to visit her in Sydney before next semester begins. Haven't seen her in a while. Can bring her to eat good food in Sydney.
Been watching some random stuff lately. Most random of all must be "Drawn Together", the reality tv for cartoon characters. They put a number of cartoon characters in one house a la Big Brother style, toss in some dumb, stereotype, sex, suicidal, racial, lame jokes and make it into a comedy cartoon. "Watching it will decrease your intelligence level" warned Jay Shen.
Also watched Victoria Secret's Fashion Show, or "The Greatest Show on Earth" as claimed by Seo Yeon. Well, the highlight of the show (for 2006) must be the dance by Justin Timberlake performed to "Lovestoned" and "My Love". Awesome man! Also watch it for Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Gisele Bundchen. Totally HOT
One more exam to go! yeah
Monday 4 June 2007
Exams coming
It's 3 more days to exams, so no time for blogging. Nothing of much interest anyway. Here's a couple of photos from the Hot air balloon fiesta some time ago. Cheers.
Me and the Mike Wazowski (from Monsters Inc.) balloon
Me and the Mike Wazowski (from Monsters Inc.) balloon
Friday 1 June 2007
Steven's Stories
This is a post which I wanted to put up at the end of my semester and before the exams, but didn't get to finish it. Now here it is.
Well, exams are coming up pretty soon, so haven't had the time to blog. Today marks the end of teaching period and the entering of the crucial examination phase of the semester. What better way to sum up the whole semester than with stories told by my lecturer for Risk Theory STAT 3035, Dr Steven E. Stern.
To see how he looks like, checkout: http://ecocomm.anu.edu.au/people/info.asp?Surname=Stern&Firstname=Steven
The "Clearly" Story
One day, this policeman was patrolling this shanty part of town. He was walking along this dark alley, and along the two sides of the road were gutters filled with thrash, a whole lot of thrash. As he continued walking, he saw ahead was a man under a bright street lamp. This man was dressed in tuxedo, wearing a tall hat, and surprisingly, rummaging through the rubbish in the gutter. This policeman was rather intrigued by the scene and decided to ask the man what he was doing. "Hi sir, may I ask what you are up to?" "Oh I'm searching for my watch which I've lost," replied the man. So as a kind policeman, he decided to help the man search for his watch. After searching for half an hour through the piles of stinking rubbish filling the gutters, they still have not found the watch. So the policeman decided to ask the man "Are you sure you lost your watch here?" Which the man replied "No, I lost it over there [points to another pile of rubbish in a dark area], but the light is brighter here."
This story was used by Steven to describe our use of approximations to find an answer to various variables throughout the course.
The Pot Story
As a clarification, the pot here refers to pot as in pots and pans, not pot as in the other meaning, you know... Yeah, so before I start with the story, I must let you know that this story is not funny. It is as it is, just a story.
So there's this big financial company which is embarking on this project and needs to employ a talent in this field for the job. They sent out ads for the job, and received thousands of applicants for the job. So the selection panel decided to set up a test for them to complete, which helped them to eliminate the number to about a hundred. Which they then proceed to conduct a few rounds of interview which managed to land the final two applicants for the job. One is an actuary and one is a mathematician. So the selection panel was at a lost of how to choose between the two of them. Then this statistician who was among them, who hasn't spoke throughout the whole time, came up with an idea. The others who never quite took note of the statistician the whole time, decided to listen to him, since they had no other plans. So the actuary was called in the next day, and the mathematician the day after.
The next day, the blurry-eyed actuary came in early in the morning, and met the tester. "So what do you want me to do for the test?" The tester asked him to proceed to the adjacent room. In the room was a pot of water in the centre of the room, a window on one side of the room, and a boiler in one corner of the room, which was connected to a power socket on the wall. The tester said "The test is to show that you can boil some water." The actuary was rather confused by the request, but then since he has came so far, he might as well proceed with it. He took the pot of water from the centre of the room and placed it on the boiler, flick on the switch, wait for a couple of minutes, and showed the tester the boiling water. The tester put a tick on the sheet of paper. The next day, the mathematician came in, and proceeded to do exactly the same test. He too showed the tester he could boil the water in the pot with the boiler. So back to the selection panel who couldn't understand the test. The statistician came up with another idea for a test. So the actuary was called in the morning of the next day, and the mathematician in the afternoon.
The actuary came in the next day and asked the tester for his test. He was told to proceed to the next room. The room was the same as the other day, except the pot this time was on the window sill. So the tester told him to show that he could boil some water, again. He proceeded to fetch the pot of water from the window sill to the boiler and then heat up the water to boil. So the tester gave a tick on the sheet of paper. Then later on, the mathematician arrived. He went into the next room, and it was as the actuary has seen, the pot of water on the window sill. The tester told him to boil some water as the test. So gleefully, he took the pot of water from the window sill, and put it in the centre of the room.
The End.
FYI: The mathematician got the job.
That's all folks for this time. I'll be away in Central Australia for the next 12 days. So hope it'll be fun. will come back with loads of pictures. Adios
Well, exams are coming up pretty soon, so haven't had the time to blog. Today marks the end of teaching period and the entering of the crucial examination phase of the semester. What better way to sum up the whole semester than with stories told by my lecturer for Risk Theory STAT 3035, Dr Steven E. Stern.
To see how he looks like, checkout: http://ecocomm.anu.edu.au/people/info.asp?Surname=Stern&Firstname=Steven
The "Clearly" Story
This is a story about Norbert Wiener, the famous mathematician. During one of his lectures in MIT, he was writing down equations on the board and then he said "CLEARLY, xxxx = yyyy...". He then paused and stared at what he had just written for a while, and the subsequently exited the lecture hall. All the students were stunned and dumbfounded. "Why did the professor leave the room?" "Is he coming back?" So they waited, for a while, for some time, for a long time, but the professor did not reappear. The students were confused at this time, whether to leave or to stay. At this moment, Norbert Wiener came back into the lecture hall, and continued "Yes. Clearly, xxxx = yyyy."
For information and more interesting stories about him, checkout:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Wiener
The "Light is brighter" Story
One day, this policeman was patrolling this shanty part of town. He was walking along this dark alley, and along the two sides of the road were gutters filled with thrash, a whole lot of thrash. As he continued walking, he saw ahead was a man under a bright street lamp. This man was dressed in tuxedo, wearing a tall hat, and surprisingly, rummaging through the rubbish in the gutter. This policeman was rather intrigued by the scene and decided to ask the man what he was doing. "Hi sir, may I ask what you are up to?" "Oh I'm searching for my watch which I've lost," replied the man. So as a kind policeman, he decided to help the man search for his watch. After searching for half an hour through the piles of stinking rubbish filling the gutters, they still have not found the watch. So the policeman decided to ask the man "Are you sure you lost your watch here?" Which the man replied "No, I lost it over there [points to another pile of rubbish in a dark area], but the light is brighter here."
This story was used by Steven to describe our use of approximations to find an answer to various variables throughout the course.
The Pot Story
As a clarification, the pot here refers to pot as in pots and pans, not pot as in the other meaning, you know... Yeah, so before I start with the story, I must let you know that this story is not funny. It is as it is, just a story.
So there's this big financial company which is embarking on this project and needs to employ a talent in this field for the job. They sent out ads for the job, and received thousands of applicants for the job. So the selection panel decided to set up a test for them to complete, which helped them to eliminate the number to about a hundred. Which they then proceed to conduct a few rounds of interview which managed to land the final two applicants for the job. One is an actuary and one is a mathematician. So the selection panel was at a lost of how to choose between the two of them. Then this statistician who was among them, who hasn't spoke throughout the whole time, came up with an idea. The others who never quite took note of the statistician the whole time, decided to listen to him, since they had no other plans. So the actuary was called in the next day, and the mathematician the day after.
The next day, the blurry-eyed actuary came in early in the morning, and met the tester. "So what do you want me to do for the test?" The tester asked him to proceed to the adjacent room. In the room was a pot of water in the centre of the room, a window on one side of the room, and a boiler in one corner of the room, which was connected to a power socket on the wall. The tester said "The test is to show that you can boil some water." The actuary was rather confused by the request, but then since he has came so far, he might as well proceed with it. He took the pot of water from the centre of the room and placed it on the boiler, flick on the switch, wait for a couple of minutes, and showed the tester the boiling water. The tester put a tick on the sheet of paper. The next day, the mathematician came in, and proceeded to do exactly the same test. He too showed the tester he could boil the water in the pot with the boiler. So back to the selection panel who couldn't understand the test. The statistician came up with another idea for a test. So the actuary was called in the morning of the next day, and the mathematician in the afternoon.
The actuary came in the next day and asked the tester for his test. He was told to proceed to the next room. The room was the same as the other day, except the pot this time was on the window sill. So the tester told him to show that he could boil some water, again. He proceeded to fetch the pot of water from the window sill to the boiler and then heat up the water to boil. So the tester gave a tick on the sheet of paper. Then later on, the mathematician arrived. He went into the next room, and it was as the actuary has seen, the pot of water on the window sill. The tester told him to boil some water as the test. So gleefully, he took the pot of water from the window sill, and put it in the centre of the room.
The End.
FYI: The mathematician got the job.
That's all folks for this time. I'll be away in Central Australia for the next 12 days. So hope it'll be fun. will come back with loads of pictures. Adios
Friday 18 May 2007
A Rainy Day
A view from my window, of this dark and wet day
Today is a rainy day. It hasn't rained a lot in Canberra for some time now, but today it did. This is good for the water shortage that has affected this area of the world.
Another piece of good news (or bad news): My Investments lecturer fell sick and lecture was cancelled this morning. Had an additional hour of sleep to make up for rising early this morning. Yeah, I hope she doesn't give us a make-up lecture. Bet she must have overslept due to the rainy weather, and provided that excuse. Sneaky, but a good one at least.
Haven't had a lot happening, just some small random stuff. It's "random act of kindness" week, so the rules of the games are: we are assigned one person to be kind to, and what you do is up to you. Well at least what I did was to give my RAOK some chocolates and biscuit and sweet. Well I received plenty of stuff myself from my RAOK, will show you guys the picture sometime, after I gather all the stuff I received.
Read news about the Inter's win against Roma in the 2nd leg of Coppa Italia, but it wasn't sufficient for them to turn round the 1st leg deficit. Pretty upset about that, but well, we have held the trophy for 2 years consecutive now, time to give others a chance. Hopefully Man Utd will win the FA Cup this weekend, against Chelsea.
Well, rain has stopped now but still seems pretty wet outside. Media player is playing "I don't know you anymore" by Savage Garden. A slow nice song to go with the general mood of the day. Would be better if I was sitting by the fireplace with a mug of tea/coffee to go with it, but it ain't happening. Gotta be contented.
Monday 7 May 2007
We are the Champions!!!
Manchester United are the newly crowned CHAMPIONS of England!!!
The 9th Premier League title by Alex Ferguson, and first title since the Londoners stole our title after 2003. A whole season of consistency has paid off with sweet success. Congratulations to the whole team! Ole Ole Ole Ole.....
An Interview of Sir Alex Ferguson after winning the title can be found at http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1wsp1_sir-alex-interview-title-wining
[And thank you Wenger and team for a job well done]
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