Your sometimes active blogger.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Recce at the Singapore Zoo.

"Recce at the zoo? Wait a minute. I didn't quite catch it. What's recce?"

Recce - (Military) Slang word for reconnaissance.

Reconnaissance - The definition is a little...ah, whatever. Basically, it means scouting.

"So, you went to the zoo to scout?" , you may say. Well that's only half right. Sure, we were scouting, but hey, we aren't plotting to do anything bad. So back to the story. We were there to 'look' at the surroundings in preparation to bring kids to the zoo as our Community Involvement Program (CIP) - even though I'm not good with kids.

Going to the zoo makes me feel like a kid again. It has been around 5 years and above since I last went to the zoo. Many things changed, but something definitely did not change - the stench of the animals' droppings, especially the elephant. For some reason, the elephant ride is the stinkiest place in zoo. Oh well, maybe the keepers aren't doing a good job.

Beware of the stink bomb.

To view the photos, please go here and here.

10:37 PM

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Quick Update.

17 Nov 2009 - Assembly of Youth for the Environment (AYE)

For pictures on our day out, go here.

For more information of a vegetarian lifestyle, go here.

21 Nov 2009 - Anime Festival Asia 2009 (AFA09)

It was so fun. Pictures are on the way - having difficulties uploading them. Edit: Here you go!

22 Nov 2009 - Anime Festival Asia 2009 (AFA09)

Missed Kaname's panel session - what a waste!

Got Danny Choo's autograph at his session - thanks ShaoJie! :D

Pictures are again on the way. They have to crawl from my house to the Facebook server. Anyway idea how far it is? Edit: Here too!

25 Nov 2009 - Barbecue Session at Dr. Thian's house.

Tried out some games that were meant for the zoo trip - wasn't that effective though. Most seem so nonchalant about it. But, who cares. After all, we're supposed to have fun today. Can't believe I actually got full from a barbecue session. Guessed Dr. Thian ordered too much food.

Awaiting for Jerome to upload his 208 pictures that were taken by JianWen's professional spamming. Even though Jerome had to delete around 30% of it.

Edit: And there's the last one..

Mou Ikkai! :D

11:56 PM

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Just as I thought.

Singapore school's sports day is really boring.

No one in the right mind will schedule a sports event in the middle of the afternoon where the Sun is at its peak. It's scorching hot. Besides, in a humid country like Singapore, it doesn't helps. I ended up being sweaty and sticky. What a waste of time!

The thing is, the school had to pick out a few classes, make the event compulsory for them and offer some CCA points for attending. That sounds pathetic. It's as if no one wants to go and see the athletes compete. True, no one would want to go in the middle of the scorching hot afternoon. Anyway, there wasn't even fan installed in the sports complex. So what do they want to do? Try to kill the participants and audience by overheating them? まったく。

"I'll cut up you up!" ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ

11:14 PM

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Packed like sardines?

The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.

- Gilbert K. Chesterton

The train environment in Singapore is getting worse. According to statistics, Singapore's population in 2009 is 4,987.6 ('000). Look at that amount - it has increased almost by a million since 2000. And that amount is serious affecting the public transport. Everyday, when I take the train, the train is pack with people. It seems as if we've become the minority. That's not the problem. The problem is, that it's so unhygienic. Imagine a train packed to the max with people and suddenly, someone sneezes. In a humid and air-conditioned environment, germs travel faster and multiply faster. It's the same as the bacteria in your mouth. They multiply quick because it's humid, and there's a constant food supply in your mouth. In the trains, humans are the 'containers' for these germs and thus, we get sick as well.

Why does the Earth gets warmed up? It's because of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere thats trapping the heat. CO2 is one of them. In a packed train, the ratio CO2 to oxygen has increased significantly. Why? Because there's not much air ventilation and it's even worse when it goes underground. There's not much oxygen in the underground. Even if oxygen particles diffuses into the tunnel, it's takes a long time before the oxygen concentration is back to the standard 21%.

Either SMRT needs to increase frequency and speed of the train (because trains are 2-4 mintues apart during peak hours) or, we need to have lesser people which definitely can't be achieved with the rising population rate. Maybe we should have longer trains. One of the ways SMRT did was to remove seats in the train. This might work better if they had more hand bars and support poles. Otherwise, people will start falling on each other, causing their sweat to rub on other people. Eew, body odor.

"Give me some space! T_T"

8:30 PM

Monday, November 9, 2009

Paint.NET?

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.”

-Harvey MacKay

Tried using Paint.NET for the first time today. Kind of tricky since I'm lazy to explore the keys. Instead, I went to search for a tutorial and found this interactive guide here. It's quite useful, so try it if you're deciding to use it. Oh, and remember that the eraser button erases the picture to transparent rather than the secondary color, unlike other editors.

Actually, Windows 7 paint feature is also very useful. However, you can't create layers with it so it's a little troublesome when dealing with many layers. Personally, I would recommend Paint.Net if you need an image editor. It's comparable to photoshop, and it's FREE! Yups, you've heard that right. It's FREE! So get yours here today :D

Did a little testing and got so results. The picture of Len from the previous post was edited with Paint.NET. If you're thinking why the timestamps doesn't tally, I kind of played with it. Besides, it's a bother updating several times a day if you update your blog on the same day. You'd probably end up with more posts to make and spending more of your precious time.

Tried convincing myself that money isn't everything, but could only succeed halfway. If you think friendship,love..etc is more important than money, you're wrong. The most important other than health is time. You can't buy time with money. Unlike health, you can get yourself some medicine with money (except for terminal illness). Time is everything. If you have time, you have money. You can always earn money if you have the time. Even if you're the richest man, woman, cat, dog or whatever, you can't buy time with money. You can't possibly tell God, "God, please give me more time. I'll pay it with my money."

わたしはかわいいでしょ？♥

11:41 PM

Sunday, November 8, 2009

What to do? Just rot.

Lots of project recently. Projects = team. And a team needs to have meetings before further work can be done. So while waiting, I'll guess I'll rot.

Then again, instead of rotting, I tried googling for what I can do. Did some er, "music research" and am enjoying listening to them on my phone. I wanted to try studying programming again. Maybe I could end up like Danny Choo in the future (yeah right, like that's going to happen -_-), but I don't know how to go about it. See, there are many different types of programming language. What if I learn a language that is not going to be much use in the future? Wouldn't it be a waste of time? (Like rotting isn't a waste of time.) And, I don't even have a single clue on how to go about it, like the software used and the basics. What's worse, I might end up screwing my computer. Anyway, I've kind of 'mastered' katakana. Not much of mastered, by at least I can remember how to write them and might take a little time to recognize them.

Anyway, the list of Cospa items that are for sale in AFA09 is out. Not all, but still, it's better to head down there to check it on that day. Seems like the entrance queue is going to be long. I can foresee lousy campers 'camping' outside Suntec Convention Centre on Friday night. Guess they'll stink the AFA09 if they do that. Still have not decide whether to buy the AFA09 official t-shirt. I wonder what goodies you could win if you were spotted by the organizers.

Len says, "Stop staring! I know I'm cute ♥"

10:58 PM

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The McDonalds Monopoly Game?

Buy any Extra Value Meal and get game pieces. Collect the set of same colored game pieces and win! It's that simple.

Recently, McDonald's has started their monopoly game in Singapore. From what I've know, this game has been long existing in the US a long long time ago. There's even events (frauds) dating back to 1995. Read more about the game's history here.

Back to the game in Singapore. To date, there's already 3 winners - 2 32GB Touchscreen MP3 Player (though they never specify the brand) and a Samsung 40" Full HD LCD TV. Check out the winners here.

7:45 PM

Monday, November 2, 2009

Oral Ulcers

"Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning."

- Thomas Jefferson

I've got a pretty bad ulcer, somewhere on the other side of my right cheek. Hate it, but what to do? It's part of growing up. So instead of grumbling, reading up on it would be the best.

Wiki definition - An oral ulcer is the name for the appearance of an open sore inside the mouth caused by a break in the mucous membrane or the epithelium on the lips or surrounding the mouth.

So, it case you've never got/seen an ulcer before, here's how it looks like. Took it from wiki as well.

After reading through the article which you can find it here, I found out my ulcer was caused through a physical injury. The accidental hit from the toothbrush must have caused it. What a pain in the ass!

Amazingly, one of the ways to cure it was to rinse the mouth out with brine (warm salted water) - and I thought it was no more than a unproven remedy. Still, I wouldn't way it to heal through this way. I think it's better to leave it by itself. Seems like I have to skip lunch for a week or so. Just hope I have enough money for AFA09 :D

7:21 PM

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tuesdays - Probably the worst day or the week.

"It's not your aptitude, it's your Attitude that determines your altitude in life!"

A new module for the start of the day. Just like other modules, the teacher spent a lot of time on boring stuffs. I think he took up about an hour or so. And I was so interested in a new module. Seems like this module isn't going to work out for me. We learnt how to draw the Doraemon and mine ended like some weirdo.

Time goes by and soon it was time for Digital Electronics. I'm starting to lose interest in this module. It's either the module is boring or I'm not putting any effort. I think it's both. I'll try to put in effort, but first, I need to be like a few months ago when I was interested in this module. Anyone got any tips to make yourself interested in a subject?

Then, we had lunch at McDonalds. The prices were not what I expected. The Mega Mcspicy costs $0.30 more than the McValue Lunch's prices. I ended up buying even though I was trying to persuade myself from not buying it. Maybe it's was just a sudden craving. While queuing to make my order, I saw Angelina. It's has been a few months since I last saw her. I'm glad she looks as happy as ever.

After lunch, It was time for Maths lesson - my least favourite subject. We had a change of teacher and I think this teacher teaches better. At least I'm definitely learning something. I wonder if it's me or my teacher really look somewhat like Drew Carey - the host for the game show "The Price Is Right".

^ Just give him black hair and a grumpy look and he'll look like my maths teacher. We all know maths makes one go grumpy. Even the most cheerful person can turn into a grouch after dealing with maths everyday. Give him a break and soon he'll have that smile like Drew Carey.

8:05 PM

Monday, October 19, 2009

New Semetrial Term.

"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn."

- Ignacio Estrada

New term, new teachers and new subject. The 6 weeks long holiday has finally ended.

Woke up and went to school early today. When I was there, there were around 6 classmates who have already arrived. I thought they might be excited about the new school term but it seems so otherwise. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't do much during the holidays. Boy, I was glad to see them again since the class meet which was supposed to be held during the holidays were cancelled. It's weird, but I can say that I've definitely missed them.

One thing I hate about new semesters is that the teachers spent time going through the module map and about how the lesson is planned and so on. Not that I don't want them to waste time, but, don't waste it on something which is both physically and mentally draining. Hearing something of no particular interest is enough to bore someone to death.

And so it seems that we'll be learning about capacitors this week. I had to answer the call of nature at a wrong time, right when the teacher was demonstrating how to do the experiment. I didn't even have a single clue on how to use the function generator or the oscilloscope. Maybe I knew how to use the generator but, without the oscilloscope, it's useless. Good thing Shao Jie came to my rescue. Thanks!

♪┏(・o･)┛♪┗ ( ･o･) ┓♪┏ ( ) ┛♪┗ (･o･ ) ┓♪┏(･o･)┛♪

As usual, for the PEEE lecture, Mr. Sudhir went about elaborating more about the module map and some things and stuff. I almost died of boredom throughout the lesson. But still, learning was important. So, I had to try to stay awake as much as posssible.

Finally, it's time for the next module - TCS (Teamwork and Communication Skills). I never thought I would say this, but, I think I'm beginning to like this module more. Maybe it's because a different teacher is teaching us, meaning a different style/method of teaching. I think it even has to do with the location. The previous one used to have a smell which I was kind of sensitive to. The current is better as it has brighter lightings and the class glass windows and doors makes the room much more comfortable, making it a conducive learning environment.

8:54 PM

Monday, October 12, 2009

GEMs - General Elective Module.

After much consideration, I decided to take "Everyday Chemical Hazards". The class size is fine though, not too much, not too little. It's horrible - A class of 40 in poly is pathetic. It's only for 1 semester. Guess I'll just have to deal with it.

I wanted to take "Genes and You" or "GM foods" initially. But looking at my depressing biology results, I decided not to and rather take something which may aid in my life in future, I guess (though I wished they had a cooking or a baking class).

Oh, about the Natsu Matsuri 2009 post, I don't think I'll be filling it up. Guess I'm just lazy. Anyone up for a mah-jong session? Japanese mah-jong would be fine since I'm still learning, though mah-jong on Viwawa.com doesn't seems to be that bad after all.

12:27 PM

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Rotting will get you far in life.

September 27 - Rotted at home.

September 28 - Rotted at home.

September 29 - Rotted at home.

September 30 - Rotted at home.

October 1 - Rotted at home.

October 2 - Rotted at home.

October 3 - Rotted at home.

October 4 - Rotted at home.

October 5 - Rotted at home.

October 6 - Rotted at home.

That's it. I guess you know how great my life is. Thanks :D

11:16 PM

Saturday, September 26, 2009

It sounds good, but...

it isn't what it's really like.

A GPA of 3.83.

Sounds good isn't it? Yeah, I know. But not when there's only 2 modules that make up the score. Many other people could be getting as high as me or even higher. There's a saying, "There's always someone that's better than you." Apparently, it's true.

I wonder how I did for my Maths. Hope it's not that much of a shock.

Note: No, there is no sarcasm in this post and I am not boasting. I'm dead serious. But I'm not dead yet though...

4:05 AM

Friday, September 18, 2009

Fading Existence.

I can't really find a picture that describes my thoughts. It's difficult to imagine without that picture. I don't even exactly know what kind of picture I want, but if it's the right picture, I'll sense it. Maybe it's fate that this post would be left blank.

11:02 PM

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Dreams. 夢。

Recently, I've been having a lot of different dreams. Not like those dreams where you aspire to be a minister or a businessman, but rather, those dreams you get when you are sleeping. If it was a bad dream, we would call it a nightmare.

So lately, I've been having dreams with murder scenes, family issues, school work and every little bits of life.

Once, I remembered seeing an old $200 Singapore dollar. But in reality, such a note did not exist. I wonder if I was just in my dreamy land or so with $200 notes as being the currency. Next, I saw a murder scene in my dream. I wasn't even watching CSI that night, and I don't watch CSI. The victim was horrifically murdered, but I just don't feel anything. Well, at least it's better than sleepwalking so that I won't go around stabbing someone in the chest with a knife or plunging from my window to my death. The only bad thing about it was that these dreams make me sleep long periods of time so I would tend to sleep until noon when I wanted to wake up early. Seems like these harmless dreams had an effect in real life as well.

So I was curious and tried searching on the web for "Meanings of dreams". There were tons of crap readings which I ended up wasn't being interested in and gave up finding the meaning of those dreams. Wonder if there are any dream interpreters which might know the meaning of these dreams and like to share them with us?

Oh, speaking of which, I remembered a joke about dreams. Not really good at telling jokes, so the story structure might a sound little weird. Sorry if you've heard/read it before.

「There was a couple who were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. On the day of the anniversary, the wife said to the husband. "Dear, last night I dreamt about you giving me a diamond ring for our 10th wedding anniversary," said the wife, "I wonder what that means." The husband replied, "Oh, I get it. You'll know it when I come home this evening." The wife thinking that her husband got the hint went shopping for groceries to specially cook for him this evening.

That night, the husband came back with a gift. But the gift wasn't what the wife expected. It was bigger and had a retangular shape to it. The wife thought her husband had bought her a necklace instead as times were really bad for them. The wife happily opened the present. And this was what she got.

A book titled "The Meaning of Dreams."」

Oh well, if only my dream about striking the lottery was real. Looks like I'm rich, in my dreams though. Anyone need needs a loan in dreamy land currency can approach me. -_-

Good night~

Sweet dreams, they say.

11:30 PM