chewin' it

2010-09-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Doors are my temporary refuge~

2010-09-03T11:27:00.001-07:00

seriously i wonder how long can this last...

i want my privacy!!!

2010-09-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Been working for over a month already! Joining the workforce has been a really interesting experience. Majority of the people here are really young, so it makes it easier to initiate conversations and to communicate ideas across. Entered with a large bunch of new engineers, which I've been hanging out a lot with during lunch breaks and especially tea breaks =p Fridays are kept busy with our self-initiated sports hour where we play sports like frizbee and even basketball! Yep I actually played bball again after such a long hiatus and it really feels great to be able to dribble the ball again and I even attempted a few lay ups too!

Mingling with the seniors in my team has really opened up my eyes a lot during the past few weeks. Been pondering a lot about what my future career will be like a few years down the road and ocassionally wondering to myself if I've been making the correct decisions all this while. Sometimes I find myself lamenting at not paying better attention during my modules and wishing that I had taken certain technical electives so that I can better appreciate my project stuffs. Lol makes me wonder just how many of us are haphazardly going about with our lives without properly considering if we're really making the right choices and just conveniently choosing paths that are supposedly failproof. Darn maybe I'm one of these people myself...

Why did I take up aero....why did I decide to pursue engineering....why did I choose to go NUS...lol these questions are coming back again~~

2010-08-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

the life we are born into is without choice. just bite your lip~

2010-08-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Its my dearie's birthday week! Haha after searching for a suitable backpack for weeks, I decided to settle on getting a crumpler for her present. Managed to surprised her that day outside her LT with her camp comm friends! Apparently she really thought I wasn't going to come to find her...haha that silly girl =) And I almost went to the wrong LT! Coz I thought her lecture was at LT 2 but it turned out to be LT12 instead. Fortunately Geyi mentioned this to me and prevented me from committing the most "gong" mistake in the year. Anyway seems like she really likes the present! Gotta trust ur own instincts sometimes instead of worrying too much about what other ppl say! Although I really value the feedback and suggestions that were given to me too~ Thanks guys! U noe who u are =P

2010-08-14T09:58:00.001-07:00

My heartfelt condolences to lihui and her family...

2010-08-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

I think one thing I enjoy about working life is that I get to see the sun rise and set everyday. Hope I get to see more sunsets on the way home coz that would imply i get to leave work by 6~ Hahaha!

Went swimming today! Wonder how long I can keep up this exercise regime...go matthew go! =D

2010-08-11T05:16:00.001-07:00

Went running for a second time this week. Knee seems to be managing well so far except for some tightness. Its really troublesome to have to jog so cautiously tho...But still at least I can do somethign else other than just swimming. Never take your knees for granted!

Going to start losing weight for my dearie!

Goal in 3 months: Down by 5 kg!!!

2010-08-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

i've done it again~ allowed my blog to rot to the deepest recesses of time. but now i feel like writing once more.

sadly the motivation for blogging again isn't a good one. some revelations were made known to me last week which set me thinking and reflecting on myself. sometimes i wonder just how well i know myself. perhaps all this while i've been holding on to a very self-conceived image of myself, constructed for the pure convenience of putting my conscience at ease so that i can rest peacefully every night. and everything feels all right... until someone comes along and openly challenges this idealistic image of myself.

and then all the cracks which i have been trying so hard to conceal become so evident to me again. my flaws and insecurities start pouring out and my insides don't feel like they belong to me anymore.

i've always felt that i'm a simple person at heart. not wanting or expecting a lot from anyone or anything and just wanting to lead a happy life filled with smiles and laughter. but yet i still do things that just end up complicating my own life and hurting people along the way. haunted by the consequences of my very own actions.

i hate feeling this way. hate feeling my own confidence slowly seep away and leaving me trembling in the naked cold of my own guilt. a rude wake up call to the reality i've been escaping from.

i wonder...just how self-blinded have i become all these years? i'm sorry...

2009-12-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

argh!

i've let my blog rot away once again~ been almost 2 months since i last updated. Maybe I should change the name of this blog to "the laments of a inconsistent blogger" since I think such posts seem to make up a GREAT proportion of my blog. Lol!

its not as though there hasn't been much going on. On the contrary, there have been sooooooo much going on that I find myself suffocated for time sometimes. Don't really like to backtrack since I have no idea where to start, so...I'll just write about anything that randomly pops into my head!

Another semester has flown by again, concluded by yet another series of exams. Didn't do that well this sem though. Received a plethora of Bs but i guess i expected it since i didn't feel too good after my papers. Oh well! Another sem ahead. As long as i did my best, i should have no regrets =) Been busy with my fyp ever since the holidays started. Going to school almost everyday to fiddle with my experiment set-up and settle various miscellanous items that i need for it. FYP really involved a lot of project management coz i have to divide my time properly and interact with many individuals in order to get what i need. Thankfully, the technicians are really helpful and my professor's sense of urgency and resourcefulness really helps me expediate the whole process. After a whole series of troubleshooting and data collection (and REcollection =_=), I've finally gotten some results to present for my interim report. Hope things remain smooth sailing from now on...still have lots to accomplish! Will probably go for my knee surgery next year too and will be clutches for quite some time, so gotta complete as much as possible before that happens~

Celebrating Christmas with Bengines at christine's place was a blast too! We had a bbq/steamboat/stir-fry dinner and a simple gift exchange thereafter. Christine was a great host and kept asking me if i wanted more "drinks" to which i really couldnt refuse and had 6 shots that night~ lol! Food was great and the company was awesome...couldn't really ask for more =)

Life is really unpredictable. I've been musing about this for a very long time already to my friends and randomly thinking about it to myself, but its really so true~ After that incident i was really cynical and jaded about those sort of matters but now my optimism has been renewed again. All thanks to you~ =) Its really been a very very merry christmas =))

2009-10-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Cui...

Eye bags are appearing and pimples are popping. Damn~ One year away from the club has caused my body to be unconditioned to such treatment le~ And I've finally realized that my "time machine" has no effect on my fyp which I have been neglecting the past 2 weeks~ Cham la...but what can I do? Got another 50 page report to write for my specialization module lei! X_X Damn...aero specialisation module is rlly quite shitty and has no value-add~ Maybe the second project will be better though...

And ahhhh this week's Dhoppers is cancelled again coz its a public holiday!! Wa all this disruption is really spoiling the momentum of the classes. The last lesson was such a pain coz my body's inertia had returned after two weeks of inactivity and now we have to stop for another week again. Sian!! I can't even recall the last two dances le T_T

Lol my student will be having his exams this wed~ Really worried for him coz his fundamentals aren't really very strong. Tomorrow's lesson will be his last chance for revision, so really hope he uses it to clarify any doubts he may have. Hahaha I suppose as much as I complain about having to travel to and fro to his place so frequently which really hampers my plans for the day, I've grown quite attached to him and I really hope he does well for his exams. Jiayou ah Ryan!

Hmmm my birthday is around the corner again. Another year has passed~ Damn can't believe I'm 24 already~ Soon I'll be joining the labour force and hopefully doing something that I'm interested in. Teaching? Engineering? Hmmm...still dunno~ =S

Zzzz this is a super random post of things that just happened to creep into my head. Lol! Life is rlly such a happy mess =P

2009-10-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

I like it when it rains =)

Music humming softly in my ears. The soft orange hues of the street lights illuminating the rain drops that pass their way. Cars zipping by and splashing puddles into an evanescent flower of cascading droplets. Pedestrians walking cautiously by their sides, sheltered by their umbrellas. Some by themselves, with their heads bent low and meandering around obstacles in their way. Others in pairs, hugging each other in warm embrace under their tiny little space.

Walking in the rain without a care in the world.

And the whole world just suddenly seems so peaceful~

2009-10-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Seriously considering getting a ds....kingdom hearts!!! *_*

2009-09-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

"Children grow up when they start asking questions that have answers to them."

For the time being, Happy Children's Day~ =)

2009-09-30T10:33:00.001-07:00

Waa super sian~ my original post didnt get save coz i got logged out of my account! grrr technology really is the bane of my existence sometimes. can really feel the inconveniences it brings nowadays too coz sending out an email blast to the student population can be so troublesome la! Have to consider so much formatting and browser compatibility issues to ensure that the mail looks decent enough to be sent out. Wish i could jus convert everyone's default browser to IE to make my life easier -.-

Anyway! Shall do a chop-chop summary of what has happenened lately. Cleaned the clubroom and exterminated every inch of bacteria in there, although i think they're slowly creeping back again. Attended a great appreciation dinner and wore a great suit and tie courtesy of jq who very kindly lent it to me! Almost lost my camera after the event but a super super kind taxi uncle returned it back to me after i made a lost report to all the taxi companies in singapore coz i couldnt remember which cab i took @_@. Desperately trying to motivate myself to work hard for my projects (fyp, specialisation mod, fna, reporting stats) although inertia is super high! But focusing more on my upcoming midterm this friday which i hope i wun buang!

WHEW~ Zzzz time waits for no matt indeed~ X_X back to revision! wish me luck everyone! =D

Oh ya! Suddenly remembered that during the dinner (i sat beside prof christopher yap and prof chew "little martian"!), prof yap mentioned to me about pursuing grad studies abroad~ Man the thought of that really sounds very appealing lar. been home-bound for too long le~ should really get out of singapore for a while and immerse myself into some foreign culture! waaa shall really give this some thought...AFTER my mid-terms!!!! =P

2009-09-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Whoa I miss my room so much~ Finally back home and isolated in the comfort of my small little bedroom with the air-conditoner switched on and a blanket wrapped around me to keep me nice and snug. Lol the last week was a super hectic week lar, going to school daily and staying back till late at night to get my work done and settle club admin stuffs. And the week ended with our 32nd MC retreat which was hosted by the 31st MC. The 31st really did a very good job, ensuring that we were kept well fed with pizzas and icecream (of which I proudly abstained from consuming!) along with meaningful activities to keep our brain juices working. Good job guys! I think the 32nd learnt a lot from this short retreat, allowing us to get to know each other better too. Pity we couldn't have full strength the whole time but I guess that's the way things are since we all have our own personal commitments outside =)

Sometimes I really still think I'm crazy to re-join the club in my final year. Everyone is focusing on their fyps and last few modules and yet here I am adding more commitments to my already heavy schedule. Giving tuition 3 times a week is really setting its toil on me too but I can't drop it now since my student will be having his exams soon. Everyone probably thinks I'm crazy too~ But man...I guess I'm really a sentimental person at heart. Most of my uni life was spent in the club and there're so much feelings attached to it which mean a lot to me. And ya...that's why it was so hard for me to refuse when I was asked if I wanted to come back one more time to help the club. But yet, when I approached other friends of mine to run for the club, it was so hard to convince them to come back and help. Man...are the people around me too pragmatic? Or am I the crazy one? I used to always think that being rationale and logical was the best way to approach most matters coz emotions tend to blind us from bigger issues. But now I realise that if we devoid ourselves of such emotions, we can't attach ourselves to the things around us~

Are the people around me too practical or am I being overly-emotional? Hmmm...I'm not too sure about this either~ I guess all that matters now is that I'm happy with this crazy choice I made. No more regrets and stop calling me crazy. Just give me encouragement and strength to persevere on for the club one last time~ =)

2009-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Lol! Part 1 of internal elections jus ended~ I haven't gotten to speak yet though but I'll be the first to go later at 830am! Man hope I don't screw up my presentation. Being away from the club for the past year has really affected my public speaking abilities and the words don't come as naturally to me as they used to~ Lol so ya even thought this is my THIRD internal elections, I'm still gettign the jitters! Ah well..hope I put up a good presentation tmr nevertheless!

The 30th came down today! Ryan, Siewmun, Peal, Yman and Edison took time off to observe the proceedings. Man its always so nice to see those familiar faces again~ Their support really means the world to me lar~ So ya...Thanks for coming down today guys! Really sorry I couldn't present today for you to "shoot" me down with your questions! =P

Can't write much tonite coz i have to reach school by 8am! Ahhhh cannot be late ah matthew! PUNCTUALITY is VITAL!!!!! X_X

2009-09-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

My FYP desktop hard disk has been SAVED!! All my data in it has been recovered!!! AHHH there REALLY can be miracles! Just when i was about to lose hope and redo everything again, yikun mentioned to me that his senior who is now working at DSI might be able to help me retrieve the data. I really didn't have much high hopes then coz I had sent the hard disk to IT Coop (the SUPPOSEDLY IT specialists in NUS) to analyse it earlier and was told the files inside were too corrupted to be retrieved. They actually said that the hard disk was too severely damaged and referred me to a data recovery centre at Science Park who would have the necessary software to help me. Feeling extremely despondent by then, I decided to try my luck and was told by the people there that it was cause me a fricking $1000 to retrieve my data coz the hard disk was very old and extra effort was required to find the ancient parts. What the hell?!?! I was completely crestfallen by then and decided, with an extremely heavy heart, to redo my results so that I could avoid such expenses. So yes, I really was quite doubtful that anyone could recover my data anymore. Still, I passed the hard disk to yikun who handed it over to his senior on Monday. And goodness me, on Tuesday evening after my tuition, yikun gave me a call and told me, to my greatest elation, that his senior had recovered my data!!! I anxiously arranged to meet up with him and his senior Luke the next day and when all the recovered files was transferred to my computer, I realised that every single bit of my data had materialised back in front of my eyes again!!! AHHH thank you so much Luke! You helped me even though you didn't know who i was and i'm really really appreciative of that! Thank you so much yikun! You went around asking for help when you found out about my problem and helped me resolve it! Thanks so much! =D

Man this was a real close one for me...losing all that data meant redoing almost 3months of work which would have cost me much precious time indeed. Now everything is back on track already! I'm really so grateful to everyone who tried to help me one way or another, especially to yikun and luke for being my beacons of hope!!! Seriously lost faith in our NUS IT coop for their incompetency in not being able to help me with this issue. They provided me with misleading information and nearly made me burn a big hole in my pocket by recommending me that data recovery centre. Goodness me...and all those people in my lab were completely useless in providing any assistance to me at all too (with exception to my supervisor who patiently helped me reinstall everything back on the new computer) and only kept emphasizing to me that any costs borne cannot be reimbursed by NUS. Really piece of shit la they all...such people make me feel so disgusted sometimes... Its good to know that there're still a bunch of good samaritans out there to remind me that not everyone is that selfish and unkind~

And now...fyp re-commences!! Jiayou everyone! =D

P.S: yes i've bought a new thumbdrive and backed up my data to it alrdy~ lol everyone PLEASE REMEMBER TO CONSTANTLY BACK UP UR DATA!!! Computers are temperamental creatures~

2009-09-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Another rainy day T_T...oh man its so hard to travel around when the weather is so uncooperative~

Submitted my nomination form for engin club today. Lol I guess its no turning back from now onwards. Seems like there's quite a lot of people running this year, with a majority of the candidates being freshies. Seems like 32nd is going to be a veryyyy interesting year indeed~

Ended the day off by meeting Ethan and Yipei at WalaWala~ Lol its been so long since I last saw yipei and she's looking real good~! Lol I guess its really true what people say about girls becoming prettier when they're in love. =) Anyway the music at Wala was awesome today! I arrived after happy hour, so I only caught one song from Kewei~ But man, she really sounds good live. Really dun understand why she didnt make it through to the next round of PK on xing guang =( Well, although I didnt catch much of her singing, the next band that came up (i couldnt catch their name unfortunately) was just awesome la! Loved their song line up and natural stage presence. And the crowd today was crazy too! Responding enthusiastically to the lead's calls and singing together with him. Gee, never would have thought that Wala on a tuesday would be this fun =D

Lol chilling out with frens is a really nice feeling~ Helps me take my mind off stuffs. Sometimes my mind still wanders about the place and thinks about past issues that I shouldn't be thinking about...Hahaha the heart is such a sentimental object~~

2009-08-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Zzzz

Haven't been updating my blog again~ And its not as though there hasn't been anything happening lately. The first 2 weeks of school were rather normal and slack. Attending my lectures, meeting the Wolves for lunch at the canteen, playing squash after school, swimming whenever it didn't rain and meeting up with my JC class during one Thursday evening. Was really great meeting up with my jc class again. Some couldn't turn up though but from the sound of things, everyone's doing really well! Most of the girls have already even "bought flats" la! hahaha time really flies and everyone's moving on well with their lives. Really feels like yesterday when we were all still J1, staying back after school to play bridge at our class bench till late in the evening.

Dinner at on-the-pan! Raffles City~

Went down to JB during a weekend with bengines~ Although it was a very very short trip, it was still great fun gasping at how cheap everything was (same price, different currency!) and playing drinking games when we were back in the hotel room. Seriously, half of our expenditure was spent on titbits and beer la! Goodness, we're really a bunch of alcoholics~ Taught them how to play ring of fire and within 3 rounds, all the beer was drunk down. I'm still amazed at how I managed to attend school the next day for my fna lecture + dhoppers welcome tea! Oh yeah this is really random and messy but maybe I should mention now that I've signed up for dhoppers class! Its at 3pm every sat! Just attended one class this weekend and it was really fun! Still feel I look as though I'm doing aerobics but well..its only the first lesson la hor =P hopefully can pick up the "seh"/accent as time goes.

ah yes...the biggest decision I've made this year has got to be re-running for engin club. many people think i'm crazy (i think i am too) but i can't deny that i still have a lot of feelings for the club and i really wanna do my part for it one last time. my dad doesn't really support me but its my life i suppose~ well...lets see how it goes! If any of you see me in school, please give me a pat on the back k? I think it's gonna be a tough year ahead managing my fyp + modules + engin club commitments but i think i'll be really proud of myself if i can accomplish all of them. jia you to myself!!!

Incidently, after i decided to run for the club, my fyp hard disk crashed on me. After approaching IT Coop and a data retrieval specialist for help, I was quoted a hefty price of $1000 to retrieve my data. T_T where am i gonna find that amount of cash man...the data retrieval will also take 2 weeks to get the job done and with all that time spent waiting, i may as well redo all my work again~ Told my prof of my decision and thankfully he seems ok with it. Please everyone! REMEMBER TO BACK UP YOUR DATA OK!!! Don't keep procrastinating and do so TODAY! Computers have a really weird temper!! man this is a really painful lesson for me...

That's the end of my really messy blog update! Ahhh another week beckons~ Every week flies by so quickly when school starts...

2009-08-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

I am back from Oweek 2009!! After 5 days of insane fun and laughter, I am finally home with lots of laundry to be done and lots of sleep to catch up on. But man...am I suffering from withdrawal symptoms now! Really enjoyed every second spent together with my og Wolverine who had to patiently withstand my extremely random and crazily dramatic antics. The things we did together as an og were just out of the world la! Winning every game during Wargames, running around from station to station during Night Games like mad dogs to complete as many as possible and doing silly stuffs at Plaza Singapura were just testament of how crazy we were la! The councillors attached to the og were a great bunch of people too! Mervyn (our ogl) was the good tempered councillor who handled all the nasty administrative work throughout oweek. Jia Han was the other crazy councillor who would suddenly become "high" all of a sudden and not allow any of us to stone away EVER. Jeremy, the guy with the damn loud voice and serious face but who is really such a funny person once u get to know him better! Ethan, Yanni and Seok were a great help throughout oweek too and life would have been so difficult without them around. I was perpetually hounding them every second to make sure they will continue coming for the rest of the days. Joel, Lijun and Sebas also made guest appearances on some of the days to come lend a hand and have fun with the og! With such a great mix of councillors and freshies, its no surprise that our og won the BEST OG award for oweek!!! Whooo hoo!! Ah man, I'm just so proud to be part of such an amazing experience!

Pity this will be my last chance joining back as a councillor for any Freshmen Orientation Project le~ Was actually very tired throughout the whole oweek but I kept pushing on coz I wanted my last oweek experience to be one of no regrets~ Well I'm glad I did and I'm really happy that our freshies thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Guys, hope some of you (or even ALL of you!) will join back as councillors next year to help the new batch of freshies assimilate into uni life! Have to depend on you all to keep the Wolverine spirit alive le!! Do remember that us engineers are a fun-loving bunch too! Yea! Yea! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! ^_^

2009-07-16T05:08:00.001-07:00

Whoaa time to update my blog yet again!

Took time off from my lab to attend Commencement 2009 last week! It felt great taking photos with my seniors and basking together with them in such a joyous occasion. Everyone was running around taking photos with one another and throwing their hats in the air in celebration of their graduation. It was just awesome seeing everyone with such radiant smiles on their faces! Pearl was soooo happy when Ethan and I got her a Linus soft toy la! Never saw her so happy before~ I think she really thought I was going to break my promise yet again and forget to buy her one. After all, I still owe her 2 years of birthday gifts that I've yet to do anything about =P! Aiya pearl, friendship more valuable la hor! ^_~

Heh, wonder what my commencement will be like. I've so many memories in NUS and it just seems to sad to have to say goodbye to student life. But I guess that's part and parcel of life~ After next year, I'll have to move on to another phase in my life and officially join the working class. The..."Commencement" of yet another journey! Lol~ Ok , 1 more year to enjoy my uni life and fj around as much as I can~! Who's with me! =P

Went down to Ethan's place after Friday's Commencement with sirhong, steph and lijun. His parents were out of town, so we decided to hop by his place and drink up his alcohol!! Muahahaha~ And so we spent the entire night drinking, chatting, attending to steph's sprained ankle, playing games and listening to a crash course of preparing long island tea conducted by ethan's bro. Lemme see if i remember...5 whites...+ coke...~ Shit that's all I remember X_X

On Sunday, bengines finally had our kbox outing! Omg been looking forward to it since the holidays started. Unfortunately most of the songs I selected that day were unknown to rest of the gang~ Wa kao, time to listen to more radio guys! And Wong LC, stop singing those old taiwan songs la!! Hahahah~ We also took the chance to celebrate for the July babies too (lc, lihui and ign) and took lots of photos that day. Felt great being able to meet up with bengines and have fun together =)

Went for my ultrascan check-up today at Alexandra Hospital. Had been feeling some discomfort in my lower abdominal region, so my doctor got me to get a scan to see what was troubling me. Zzzz it would have been a relatively boring check-up if the doctor didn't suddenly decide to check my groin area too. I would have thought that something as "private" as this would have been done behind closed doors with the curtains pulled over, but no~, doctors and other nurses were walking in and out of the room with my nether regions in full exhibition to them. One doctor mistakenly went into the room and exclaimed "Opps!" before scurrying away. By the way, all of them were females too. Kns~ Oh and they had to apply a gel (electrolyte of some sort?) to the areas that were being probed, so yes I felt like I had made a mess in my pants by the time the investigation ended. Zzzzz what a great way to start my day~~

Oh ya, incidently, the check-up proved inconclusive coz the doctor couldn't find anything wrong. My gall bladder, appendix, stomach etc all seemed to be in good shape~ Whew...Was told to monitor my condition and come back again if the problem persists.

Shall end this blog update with...

I did it!! Yay!! =)) Altho..a bit too late liao ah~ But still, I'm v proud to finally accomplish it. All that mugging really paid off last sem~ =)

2009-07-04T00:19:00.000-07:00

Finally found this song! Sang it once at kbox but forgot its title. Thankfully a contestant sang it during last night's xing guang da dao~ Hope you all like it too! :)

2009-07-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm back from my reservist training! Felt really awesome meeting up with the guys once again. Despite not seeing some of them for almost 3 whole years since we ord-ed, everyone still seemed the same, spurting out vulgarities at one another and talking about "unmentionable" stuffs that we hardly dare bring up in front of our female friends~ Man it really felt good reuniting with my team again and I felt really proud/impressed that our team still managed to remain at full strength despite the long hiatus.

Hmm apparently I'm not allowed to divulge too much information about our reservist training, so I can't describe most of the activities we went through the last 5 days. In short, the trainings were at just the right pace, the bunks were comfortable, the companionship/commaraderie was great, some new people had the shadows of people we met in the past, the food was awesome, having no msn for 5 days is really terrible and I am a "bo-bo" shooter when in proning position. Hahaha guess that's the gist of things =P

Hiaz really want to go for reconstructive surgery for my right knee so that I can properly join the guys during the the next reservist. I heard the next one will be a lot tougher, so I'm very uncertain if I'll still be able to handle the trainings given my current condition. Was thinking of going for surgery in december but am still worried about the inconveniences it will bring me especially for my fyp which requires me to move about quite a lot. And the cost of surgery is exorbitant too~ Heard arranging for a private one costs nearly $8k! @_@ Where am I going to get that amount of money from...My dad's advice is to continue with the rest of my physio sessions first to see if they can help improve my knee's condition. Hmmm...argh that fateful day really was a life changing incident for me...

Anyway it turns out that my dad finally discovered what had happened. I guess it wasn't too hard to figure out since I had changed my hp wallpaper, which seems like a dead giveaway for those who are close to me. Lol I guess it was a matter of time before he found out anyway...

2009-06-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

Lol a nice duet by Gary and Fish =). Malaysia bagus laaa~

2009-06-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

Heyo everyone!! Yes I'm still alive out here, slogging away in my lonely lab! Amazingly, 7 weeks or so have already passed and the holidays are almost ending. The deadline for my internship interim report is already looming too~! Hiaz...time passes by so fast~

Lots of things have actually happened since the start of this holidays. Stuffs that I didn't wished to blog about here coz I felt I wouldn't be able to properly control my emotions from making me write about things I might regret about in the future. Anyway, one thing for sure is that life goes on nonetheless...

In between the various gatherings and kbox sessions I've been having this holiday, I still managed to find time to watch some variety shows on youtube! hahaha...I think most would know that I'm an avid follower of 超級星光大道 ever since linching got me hooked on it one fine day at the PC cluster. Although I think the producers are over-commercialising it by churning out season after season without properly grooming their winners, its still great to have something to watch over the weekend as I laze on my chair and have my lunch. The latest episode had their contestants choose a song that personally represented them and one such contestant really moved me with her story and her song choice. It so happened that its a song that I really liked too. She didn't score that well in the end but I was really touched by her performance~

We are always told to cherish our lives and the people around us. But how many of us actually do it? Most of the time we end up realizing that we forget to tell them how much they mean to us and before we know it, they're gone already. We love to complain, grumble, whine and insult but rarely do we show appreciation, praise and love for those arounds us. And it doesn't help that life is just so unpredictable at times, causing things to happen that were beyond our imagination and ultimately leading to regret within ourselves. A friend of mine passed away recently during the start of this holidays. Ironically during the exam period I was constantly narrating his outrageous and unique antics to my friends who haven't had the chance to meet him. And yet now, he has suddenly left this world to a place that he has (hopefully) found peace in. I still find it hard to accept but the harsh truth is that he has no longer here. To my 54B deputy team commander Jeff...take care and may peace be with you...

Darn I guess in the end I couldn't help writing a little about the thoughts that have been going through my mind. Well...lets always do our best to cherish our lives ba. Work hard towards our goals but always remember to be happy. No matter what, life is a gift and the best way to appreciate it is to be happy about it! I believe...it can be done~ =)

2009-05-04T06:20:00.001-07:00

yayyy jus completed my last exam today =) whew survived yet another semester in nus! can't believe I'm going to be in my forth year already!! ahhhh time zips by la!! @_@

*_* Felt so lost after my paper ended. Usually bengines will be around and we'll all hang out after that, having a nice meal together. But this sem, most of us took different combinations of modules and ended at different times as a result. Hiaz what a wet blanket having to go home immediately after my exam ended...

Anyway I can finally get some proper rest tonight! Yesshh! Here comes the holidays! First things first, a HAIRCUT!!!!!

2009-04-24T06:59:00.001-07:00

@_@

man 3 more papers to go. Finally completed my HR module~ Thought I wrote rather averagely...felt neither good nor bad about my two essays. Hiaz HR really is quite tough coz it tests on a lot on the intricacies that exist in organizations. geez now I know why I'm an engineering student...

Which reminds me of a joke jq told me the other day~ A lawyer, a doctor and an engineer wanted to play golf one sunny weekend. However when they got to the golf course, they realized that a group of guys were already playing over there. They waited for a loooong time until they cldn't take it any longer and went forward to find out why those men were taking so long. To their surprise, those men were blind! Shocked, they went to ask the owner of the golf course why they were allowed to play and discovered that those men had lost their sight when saving the owner from an explosion.

the lawyer said, "gosh! such sacrifice...i shall fight for more insurance from their agency for them!"

the doctor said, "i shall recommend to them the best medicine available to cure their loss of eyesight"

and then the engineer said, "why don't they just play at night since it doesn't make a difference for them!"

lol couldn't stop laughing when i heard this joke. somehow, us engineers are so logical/practical at times, overlooking certain important aspects that require us to use our hearts more. instead of just focusing on obtaining the numerical answers that we seek for our problems, maybe we ought to ponder more about the consequences of our proposed solutions instead. many things around us are the product of engineers and we can really make a difference for people amongst us if we wanted to. better construction layout for the handicap...products that makes lives easier for the eldery etc.

hmmm...lol wonder wats up with this sudden wave of philosophicalness~~ aiez all right back to my studying...bleahz TE = terrible electives @_@

2009-04-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yes! Today we finally concluded our HR project with our class presentation~ Waa I was really nervous beforehand. Some of my lines just keept slipping through my mind during the rehearsals and that made me very jittery before the presentation. Even had to go to the toilet to laosai la! Argh~ I always get so nervous before any form of presentation....

Had a lot of thoughts after HR ended today. Really feel very thankful towards the whole group for putting in so much effort for such a small project. Right from the beginning till our presentation today, everyone really went all out to give the project their best efforts. And the presentation today went really well too! The BEST out of all our practices I dare say! Everyone delivered their lines fluently and did a fantastic job. Was really grateful that I got the chance to work with lihui and zijun during this project too! It was my first time working with them and I'm very appreciative towards their dedication and discipline towards the project. Just glad I managed to work together with them before I grad from NUS =) Leafie, Sirhong and Ziqi are like my regular groupmates la! Dunno how many projects I've worked together with them too and the chemistry really shows! Leafie especially helped me out a lot and helped me do a lot of editing and emailing when I was busy coping with my assignments. Hiaz buay tahan la...its jus been an awesome experience =)

our HR group!!

Bengines with JY our HR teacher whose teaching style really rocks! Aiez btw...Yikun was not in the picture coz he was in the toilet @_@ Shit...

Well another project down! Today I sorta finished my ASSignment too, so I'm left with one last ASSignment! Damn ME4212 is a tough mod...all these summations and double sin formulas are driving me nuts. ALTHOUGH its pretty interesting in a sadistic sort of way X_X BTW!! I kena rejected for my VIP! Shit man...notified so last minute la and I only noticed it coz I happened to be checking the enhancement programs page today! Lucky I've been checking the webpage regularly to check the status of my application. The company didn't even have the courtesy to call me to notify la! Kns...now have to find another company to apply for VIP. Dammit...applying through school is the "WRONGEST" choice of all la...=.=

Aiya can't be bothered le. Still got lots of things to do...Back to workkkkkkkkk!!!! @_@

2009-04-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yes!!

ME3231 Lab report done~ Spent quite a while on it but it was a great way to revise too =) Whew...one ASSignment down but two more to go! Both belonging to aircraft structures @_@

Anyway out of sheer boredom I decided to add a playlist to my blog to spruce things up. Heh rather proud of myself in being able to edit it so that the size fits and all those unwanted advertisements are removed~ Upz la~

Hiaz..I'm pretty awake now coz I took a nap jus now~ yikes...guess I should go back to doing my assignments then...Jia you to me...@_@

2009-04-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

@_@

jiu ming ah....my me4212 assignment is killing me. spent one whole evening trying to work out the solution only to be stuck with some complicated coefficients that don't seem to look correct. argh if only there was some programme that could help me automatically compute out the solutions for 4 equations... @_@ damn i really really hate it when i waste so much time attempting to solve something but to no avail~

heh anyway jus found out today that sirhong has the same thumbdrive as leafie. made such a discovery coz i accidentally took his thumbdrive! waaa and he was just mentioning to me today if i saw his thumbdrive of which i confidently replied saying i hadn't seen it~~ gee to think it was with me all this while...

830am at stk later to conduct some testing for our design project...hiaz zombified matt yet again @_@

2009-04-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

@_@

I think its been ages since I last blogged. Wahahaha shit I'm just too lazy to maintain a blog~

Hmmm gee time really flies..In a few weeks time another semester would have passed. Aiez can't believe I'll be in my 4th year already! FYP beckons! Working life is waving at me! Ahhh man really can't bear to say goodbye to student life X_X

well first things first~ deadlines for my assignments and lab report are steadily approaching. damn got so many things to do and I'm still watching 星光5 now~ hahaha damn I'm such a youtube addict @_@

ok! i'm gonna try to update this blog as much as possible! heh back to youtube and my lab report for now =P

2008-07-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

Just came back from my brother's graduation. Today he officially graduated with a masters in Science! Really proud of my older brother for his achievement =) He graduated alongside the people from the School of Medicine, so today I witnessed a lot of new doctors being churned out into society. Saw a few familiar faces too (Hcjc seniors) who probably didn't recognise me already. And whoa...the valedictorian is one heck of a smart guy~ He had five awards to his name, including the Lee Kwan Yew award, and honors too. Geez, what a pian tai o_O

Took a few photos but I don't have my cable with me now to upload them to the computer. Till a later post then! Anyway I bumped into Sirhong, Karen (who mistook my name as "Michael". Geez do I have a "Michael" face?! o_O) and Qiying who were, coincidentally, on duty as ushers today. Hmmm maybe I should consider signing up to be an usher next sem =P

Another two more years before my own commencement. Watching the graduates take the stage just now, proudly beaming away at their accomplishment, was a very inspiring sight indeed. Gonna work hard and graduate with no regrets!!! Jiayou Matthew!!

2008-07-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

Its been a few weeks since Engin Camp ended but I'm still having withdrawal symptoms. All the fun we had, all the hard work we put in and all the tears we shed for the camp...all in exchange for our participants' smiles and laughter. Man...it sure was worth it =)

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the camp committee and all the councilors who gave it their all during the camp. I'm especially proud of the camp committee members who persevered through all the dry runs along with the camp event itself. Admittedly there were many problems that occurred now and then. However, the main thing was that we were able to resolve them, ensuring everything ran smoothly. Because of the camp comm's determination, the participants all had fun and that, to me, is the best form of measurement of success in any of our FOP events.

And, a big thank you to the 30th MC for coming down to show their support while helping to cover up any "poo-poo"s made during the camp. I'll always remember how Pearl and Siewmun stepped in to help Eddie sort out the distribution of the camp shirts on the first day due to a oversight made in the initial giving out of the shirts. Thank goodness they were around to help as there were many things happening on the first day already and it was a great relief to know of one less trouble to worry about.

The 30th Camp Committee. Thanks for letting me be a part of this amazing experience =)

The 30th Engin Club MC. Couldn't have done it w/o you guys =)

FOP period sure is one heck of a roller coaster ride. Immediately after the camp, we had our Oweek councilor dry run, Rag Blast and our annual night cycling event all on the same day. JQ and his Oweek team did a very good job in executing the dry run, with half of the mass dance taught and the station games played. Can't wait for the next councilor dry run...Jiayou ba Oweek team! Let us craft great memories for our freshmen and also ourselves to reminisce over~

Regrettably I didn't manage to drop by during Rag Blast but I heard it went really well too. There was a nice mixture of activity going on with some groups constructing models and another group working hard at learning the rag dance. I even witnessed the dance group doing push ups while I was making my way to a station game. Thank goodness all we had to do during my year as a ragger was just "crab walking" on the spot for a few minutes~ Ok... maybe I rather just do push ups =T

Night cycling attracted a larger crowd this year all thanks to the efforts made by Nat, the various OGLs and the 30th MC once again =). Nat did a great job spear-heading the entire event and I didn't really help to do much at all *paiseh*. We stopped over at various stops with the more notable ones being Lavender Food Square, Youth Park, Mr Prata Shop and Geylang~ Things started out a little slow due to the congestion caused by our huge turn out, but once we hit the road, things started to pick up pace. Anyway, most people were using the event as an opportunity to do some catching up..taking photos during our pit-stops and singing songs along the way.

2nd Episode of Chronicles successfully concluded!

FOP 2008~ Our club's largest project and my biggest dream. When its all over, my term in office will also end too. Ah...its been a long journey indeed..=)

2008-06-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

Yay today we successfully conducted our Engin Camp Pre-camp briefing (or PCB as it is more affectionately known!) at LT6. Despite the heavy downpour, a good crowd of councilors and freshmen still gathered to the briefing, so thank you for your support everyone! =)

I think the freshmen had a fun time playing the icebreakers and getting a glimpse of how crazy the camp will be like. All the credit goes to the camp committee who was really well prepared to handle the icebreaker games. Really proud of them for doing such a good job ^^ The councilors were very cooperative too and really helped make the whole event a fun-filled experience for the campers =) Kudos to them too!

But its gonna get tougher from here on though. Councilor dry run is this coming monday and there are still a few more issues to settle. Jia you ba everyone! Engin Camp will be a success!!!

Btw thanks to Mr Phui Jun Qiang, my name is associated to "cock" now~ hahaha grrr!!! T_T

2008-05-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Tiring times ahead~

Man I'm beginning to feel the pinch and pressure from everywhere. Feel so frustrated with things~ Am I not doing enough? Are my instructions not clear enough? Do people believe in me? Do... I believe in myself?

....

Hiaz~ Jiayou Matt~ =T

2008-05-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

Whew...

What a busy week its been. Engin Camp committee really had a laborious week carrying out all their dry runs this week. Despite a few delays now and then, most of the games have been tried out already and feedback has been noted. Kudos to the comm for all their hard work especially on Wednesday night where they had to stay back till 11pm to settle their erm..."cultural night" event. =X

Incidentally, I was selected to try out their Cultural Night and I would like to proudly proclaim that I did not scream at all! Unlike last year's Oweek where I was particularly jumpy and screamed at one station. Embarrassing.. =.=

Hiaz have to go to school for another meeting tomorrow. This 3 months break feels like the last one again where I found myself going to school more often then during the school term itself. Ah well, being busy is a good way to pass the time. Shall not stay at home and be a "zhai nan"!

2 more weeks before she comes back. Received an sms sent by her earlier this morning which greeted me when I woke up. It was a really simple (yet powerful) message that read, "I miss you". Seeing those words really made me feel very sad coz somehow, the physical distance between the both of us felt amplified by the message. Every night, I get to hear her voice over the phone but it still can't substitute poking fun of her in person or getting beaten up by her fiery temper. Hahaha...darn~

I miss her too T_T

Work shall be a good distraction from all this for the time being and the 2 weeks will pass by very soon! Yep! Work work work....

2008-05-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

o_O

"Matthew, ME year 3."

Just imagining myself saying that during engin camp or oweek is driving shivers down my spine. Just two years ago, I was merely a freshie coming in to NUS and now I am a "lao kok kok" who has gone through 4 semesters of examinations and many other forms of experiences. Time really flies by in NUS....

.....

"Matthew, Me year 3"

O_o

2008-03-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Last post 3rd Oct ...

Cuiz..its really been that long since I updated my blog. Wa if Linching didn't chide me today for not updating it for months, I would probably have forgotten about it completely~ My blog...is a flop T_T

Heh anyway lots of things have happened since my last update. I had my 22nd birthday (getting older liao la...), had my horrifying exams, managed to pull out our club's pioneer attempt of a cohesion day for the management committee and the various comms with Nat (Games Day 2008 hooha!), witnessed yet another successful Welfare Giveaway (kudos to Sebas and his team!), Hi^5-ed like crazy in Jan, bought flowers in Feb, paper-designed a motorised cleaner (with my suay project mates Sirhong & Ziqi who had to put up with my stubborness), oversaw Nat's successful Sports Carnival (Just Hoop It!), completed 2* midterms etc etc. But most importantly, I met her~ =)

So many things have been occuring lately and change has been an inevitable constant. Friends, family, personal, work...so many changes have arised (and are arising for that matter) and so many emotions have been felt that I suddenly feel so... alive.

And tired too T_T

2007-10-03T01:15:00.000-07:00

Everytime our GEK1006 tutorial ends, it leaves me in a very reflective and contemplative mood. It never fails to amaze how behaviors which we deem "natural" are actually processes that can be explained methodically and, to a certain extent, scientifically. Just take the example of this simple "equation" that our teacher taught us previously - think + feel = action. When something happens, we will subconsciously start to process whatever has happened by "thinking" and "feeling" about it before it gets translated in an "action". Gee this is so true yet its something I've never really realised.

But I supposed that's why I always look forward to our fornightly GEK tutorials as I thoroughly enjoy discovering the relevance of whatever we learn in our classes in our daily lives. Social interactions occur all the time in our lives, between friends and family, so its really refreshing for me to learn how all these can be explained and handled. Although it does make me wonder sometimes if we're all merely just sentient robots who have emotions and feelings but are programmed beforehand to react in certain ways to things that happen around us since everything can be "explained"~

Hmmm...

Neh~ We're all unique individuals and I doubt we'll be able to find another person out there who behaves and reacts to things identically to how we each do. Similar traits, yes; identical and cookie-cut like models, no~

Welcome to yet another trip of discovery to the many things that I boliao-ly engage myself in sometimes. Time to do tutorials la.... =.=

2007-09-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Appreciation Dinner 2007 has finally ended! After all those hectic weeks of preparing and planning for it, along with juggling between other stuffs like our MC retreat, club meetings and my studies, the dinner finally came to a successful closure last night. Looking back, there's this feeling of sadness that probably stems from the knowledge that the Appreciation Dinner unofficially marks the stepping down of the 29th MC. After working for a year with the members of the 29th, I guess I've developed a form of sentimental attachment to each and every one of them and knowing that they won't be around in the next management committee is a lil saddening. Still, there's this sense of optimism and hope that sprouts from the newly formed 30th MC and I bet, with all the talent that's in the 30th, we'll be having a very interesting year ahead. Lets jia you ba everyone!!! =)

The Dinner had a few problems along the way though. Late-comers (oweek comm ah...=X) who arrived even later than our Guest Of Honour caused the dinner to be pushed back quite a bit. Not forgetting the music that played during the serving of dinner and the anti-climatic scene of the waiters and waitresses entering in a way that didn't justify the techno music. Stared at Pearl in shock when that happened while she looked back at me helplessly too. Hahahaha...ahhh much to be improved indeed but hopefully everyone still enjoyed themselves nonetheless =)

Camera whoring was everywhere that night with everyone running about the place taking photos with each other. Didn't bring my camera though as it was too cumbersome to lug along with all the other logistics that I had to bring too. Had to "tompang" other people's cameras in the end, which fortunately were in constant supply.

Anyway, the 30th stayed back after the dinner to continue taking photos. Wyemun was simply hilarious with his innumerable poses and camera whoring that left all of us completely flabbergasted and laughing uncontrollably. Later, we even went down to Party-World where we sang till 6am (although most of us were half-asleep by then)! Heh, it was a wonderful night indeed...of nostalgia, fun and hope for the 30th~ Ok shall end off this post with a few photos I took that night. Hopefully there'll be more to post after I'm able to recover all the photos that I "tompang" off other people's cameras!

photo in the lift, just like last yr! i'm hidden at the side =.=

yet another handphone advertisement photo~ =P

eddie, siewmun, myself and weilei!

P.S : Ms Pearl, please rest up well ok? You've been really pushed to the limit the last few weeks so make sure you find time this mid-sem "break" to recover ah!

2007-08-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

Heh what an interesting day it has been~ =)

The day started off with me rushing out of home to attend my 10am lecture. Woke up at 945am today, so I accomplished my usual morning chores (brushing my teeth, packing my bag, bathing, switching off my lappie...) in a record-breaking 10mins. Naturally I was still late for my lecture, but ah well, at least I didn't miss it totally! Year two modules have been so challenging so far and none of them have webcasts too, so missing any of them completely is never an option on my mind~ =(

And while listening to the lecturer enthusing on the wonders of sectionalising objects while leaving certain places intact, I innocuously rubbed my eyes and out came... the missing half of my contact lens that was lost in my eye last week! Yes, while removing my contacts last week, part of it actually broke up and remained embedded in my left eye. Thought I had flushed it out already but evidently it was still in there. And I didn't feel a single thing all this while! Omg, its just a miracle that it actually managed to come out eventually. I am really thankful that our bodies are naturally built to flush out any foreign objects that remain in us.

I actually was so amazed by it that I took a few photos of my "discovery" but alas I'm too lazy to upload them. My laptop can't seem to upload photos from my handphone anyway and doing it on my desktop, and then transferring it over, is just too troublesome for me~ Ah wellz~ =\

The interview for this year's upcoming Engin Club nominees was held this evening too. Had a stomach-ache minutes before it commenced, so I ended up coming in slightly late. Was so embarrassed coz everyone was already in there and paying attention to what Zhenxian had to say. =\ Nonetheless my turn soon came and I faced my interviewers, Yiping, Jeremy and Chaowei. It was a very interesting and engaging interview to say the least. Hearing what they had to say while sharing a few thoughts and goals I had in mind actually made me see things in newer perspectives. Ended up learning more about myself too...

The interview lasted for quite long and by the time I was done, it was already 945pm. Ziqi, Junqiang, Sirhong and myself then rushed down to attend the sports bash once everything concluded, only to discover in our dismay that my friend Malcolm had been ousted from the pageant already. Darn~ Still, it was great catching up with him later. Met up with Chun Han too who painstakingly waited for us for many hours while we were busy with the interviews. Heh sorry man! =D

Darn 8am lecture tmr~ Still reflecting on what my interviewers said to me...Shall sleep on it ba!

2007-08-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

Matriculation Fair is finally over! And, on a successful note too! We actually managed to sell 750 bags out of a total of 800 bags, which kinda seemed impossible at first at we were receiving lots of competition from CHESS, who were literally stealing throngs of potential customers from us by doing up their own exam pack. Still, we persevered and even managed to convince a few chem eng students to buy our matric pack instead. ^^

All rightie shall take this opportunity to thank a few people!

Chaowei : Big Boss! Thanks so much for getting your dad to lend us his lorry and coming to school so early in the morning to help transport the items over! Sorry I didn't order an XXL size shirt for you though...=(

Zhenxian : Boss! Thanks for all your reminders and your assistance during the event itself. Was really touched that you actually stayed over the night before the event itself so that you can meet chaowei and I early in the morning to transport the remaining items over to the MPSH. And, you were always on the lookout to make sure things were running smoothly like, making sure our manpower was sufficient by calling back those who were missing and placing a "barracade" to stop the freshies from leaking past us. Thanks so much man!

Edison : Thanks a lot for all your help man. Must have been tough juggling between your responsibilities towards Oweek and Matric Fair. However in spite of all that, you still committed a lot of time to Matric Fair and helped me out in many ways. Thanks a bunch! =)

Ziqi : Always around to lend your support and help. Hahaha i think i need more than an hour to list out the things that i want to credit you with. =P Anyway thanks for always being around to help with the packing of the bags and even in the transporting of them. And, you were really great in promoting the bags too! Really really grateful for all your help =)

Ethan : Yo man! Thanks so much for all your contributions! Will always remember how the five of us (you, caven, edison, kevin and myself) managed to actually overcome the daunting task of transporting over 600 bags to MPSH4 on Monday~ Need I mention how good you were in stopping people and getting them to buy a bag each? Thanks so much for all your help man~ =)

Choo Min : Hey! Really appreciate all the help you gave for the event. Still feel bad for making you wait so long on Monday morning though. Will make it up to you somehow one day! Also, thanks for being around on the day itself to assist in the promoting of the bags to the freshies. Really couldn't have done it without your help! ^^

Eunice : Eunice, you nice! Eh..=.= Hahaha ok thanks so much for your help Eunice! Despite your busy schedule on Monday, you actually still managed to dropped by in the afternoon to help out in the packing of the bags which really surprised me. Thanks so much for all your help, even sacrificing your pak tuo time to help out with this event (sorry junwei...). Thanks!

Pearl : Aiyo, ever so helpful, ever so kind, ever so patient and ever so nice. Pearl just rox la! =) Thanks so much for all your help Pearl! Even though you were so busy with your own commitments, you still dropped by to help out. You were a great help during the day itself too, multi-tasking between getting shirts for people and coming out of the booth to promote the bags to the others. Thanks for all your help!!

Siew Mun : Siew Mun!! Thanks so much for all your help. Really appreciate all the assistance you gave in packing the bags and helping out in promoting them to the freshies. Like Pearl, you are also another great multi-tasking as you effectively managed to do everything at the same time! Thanks for everything! =)

Gee Hoe : Hey man! Thanks for playing an active role in promoting the matric packs to the freshies. You were always stopping them from leaking past us and were very convincing in getting them to purchase the pack for themselves. Thanks so much for taking time off to help! =)

Ryan : Hey! Even though I didn't really know you, you still offered so much help in many areas like the packing and transporting of the bags to MPSH4. Really appreciate all the help you gave!

*I am getting tired...*

Caven : Hahahaha another Oweek personnel who accidentally ended up helping me with Matric Fair. Think you must have been a little confused by how you got involved with Matric Fair all of a sudden. Hahaha but still, thanks so much for all your help. In the packing of the bags and the transporting of them which caused you to drive the van to and fro a zillion times. Thanks so much man! =)

Kevin : Even though you were involved in Matric Fair everyday, you still dropped by in the evening to help with the transporting of the bags which really touched me. Thanks so much for all your sacrifices and help man. Couldn't have done it without you too =)

Weeling and Hanxin : Another two busy people who actually still managed to find time to come down to help. Thanks so much for all your help! The both of you really helped expediate the process of transferring the bags from MPSH4 to MPSH2. Thanks!! =)

Man having a bad sore throat now. Talking non-stop for one whole day can indeed be very destructive towards your throat. Ok shall end off this post with a few photos that Pearl helped to take on the day itself! Oh no...jus realised that she's in none of them...=\

Busily promoting the bags

Our sea of red...

Ziqi with Choomin and Eunice! =)

Siewmun and Chaowei!

We love goofing around =P

Group shot! (Hahaha.. Siew Mun was mischeviously trying to push Choomin more to the side..)

2007-07-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Darn, school is almost about to reopen. Heard that Round 0 for Cors actually started yesterday and I wasn't even aware of it! Matthew, time to wake up and confront the next academic year la... Bengines, lets' move on to year two together! =D

Gosh many things have happened recently but I haven't been blogging about them. Let me attempt to recount them now. On Tuesday, we celebrated Pak's 22nd birthday at this Italian restaurant hidden in some obscure location along Rifle Range Road. Shared a lovely pizza with Eugene and had a great time catching up with friends I haven't met in ages. Ailin was there too and, yes, when ex-JC classmates get together, nostalgia starts to overwhelm the place. Apparently she'll be flying off to Japan to work as an English teacher for one year, so it was great to be able to catch up with her again before she left. Will post the photos of the gathering once I get them. IF I ever get them...(where are my CAC camp photos la...)

On Friday evening (yes I'm recounting what happened in reversed chronological order), we had night cyling! The event was organised with the purpose of acting as a post engin camp event for OGs to meet up again. Was grouped together with the Naga people, along with special guest appearances from Hydra, Olympus and Shrek. Things started off at around 1030pm at ECP, after which we went down to Bedok 85 (had the famous Ba Chor Mee there), Joo Chiat Road (had a glass of ice milo that's all. heh =P), Esplanade (where it rained and we had to take shelter under the bridge. played psychiatrist meanwhile~ =.=), Geylang (dou jiang you tiao ah!) and finally, back at ECP. Not too sure how much distance we covered in all but it really turned out to be a test of physical endurance for most of us. Most of us rode till our thighs ached and our butts tightened up. But I suppose all that hard work really made us savour the great food we had at every stop. Was real proud of Eddie who had only rode 4 times in his life but actually managed to muster enough courage to cycle on the road! Good job man! Being the only camera man for that day, I ended up taking many photos for everyone...grr full time Engin Club camera man liao la.. =.=

Bedok 85:

everyone posing in front of Bedok 85!

our extended Naga family ever ready with their poses

Jamen can't take his hands off Shaoming...

Yes, we all love our Ba Chor Mee~ =P

Joo Chiat Road:

We did stop, albeit temporarily~

Everyone enjoying themselves

HIAZ~ (eh plz don't kill me ah..)

Geylang:

Dou jiang you tiao rox la! =P

More Naga pictures!

And finally...

Exhausted and worn out but proud of ourselves nonetheless =)

Hahaha night cyling was fun la. After we returned the bikes, we went down to Macs for a sumptuous breakfast and continued playing psychiatrist with our Naga guests. Need I mention how much I fear the game? Grr...why do they like playing it so much...

Lots more happened along the week for me actually. Had a gathering with my CAC camp OG last Wed and watched Harry Potter (my first movie this holiday!) last Mon with Naga. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie as I was kept glued to the screen with all the action going on, along with all the special effects. Even felt slightly moved during the last scene when Dumbaldore (??dunno how to spell??) encouraged Harry to fight back that evil guy whose name I can't recall and not give in to him. Those who read the book felt a lot was cut off from the movie but since I didn't read it, I'm not complaining =)

Bet I missed a few things along the way but argh, I'm too tired to continue writing already. Hmmm Oweek dry run later. And, omg, its so late already!! oO Darn...going to be late again..

2007-07-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

Whew! Participated in CAC camp last week and gosh, it was even more tiring than Engin Camp la! Maybe it was because us councillors had dual roles to fulfil as we were made to be station ICs too unlike during Engin Camp, where the camp committee literally did everything for us. Waking up earlier to set up the stations and running around the place emphasing the importance of safety to the campers is no easy task indeed. Respect to the Engin Camp committee for being able to undertake such a task for the whole four days of the camp. Ah and yes there was also "cultural night", where our acting skills were put to the test and our endurance level pushed to the max. Imagine saying the same things over and over again for over 4 hours! Gosh =.=.... Still, there's this slight amount of satisfaction, as sadistic as it may sound, derived from erm "educating" the campers as they underwent our stations.

Anyway its refreshing to be able to experience a camp that is conducted very differently from ours. Although the camp was very exhausting physically, I still had a tremendously fun time bonding with my OG (Chicken Little!) and doing silly things together with them. I think our OG really stood out from the rest with all the "TONG KA"-ing we did throughout the 4 days. Granted, our OG probably wasn't as enthusiastic as other OGs, but well, we were still unique in our own ways and were having our own kind of fun. Yep, I'm proud of you guys Chicken Little, especially when you all performed your dance during the last night. Was really moved by the amount of effort you all placed in it! And really I'm being honest with you all when I said it looked really cool. And not forgetting the souvenirs you got for us and the unexpected lunch treat at Botak Jones, which really caught me off guard. I'm just impressed beyond words by all that gratitude you've shown towards us~ =)

Pity I don't have any photos to show at the moment. Just thought I'll blog down my feelings about the camp first before I forget about them. Guess I'll post the photos another time. Till then....TONG KA!!!!

2007-06-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Wow its the end of the month again~ The holidays are endinggggg >_< *bawls*

Can't believe that in a month's time, school will be reopening again. And I'll be in my 2nd year too! Time really flies~ One year ago, I had just stepped out from army, with my "high-sloped" hair cut and a burning desire to proceed on towards this new phase in my life. One year later, I've become a student yet again and have done/experimented on tons of things that I never had the chance to do so previously. Hmm... looking back, its been quite an eventful first year for me actually.

Goodness, I think i'm really becoming an ah pek. Ah peks like to reminisce about the past a lot rite? Hiaz...cham ah... >_< All rightie, time to concentrate on the present. Literally in fact coz... tts Amanda's birthday's today! Mervin, jasmine and I will be meeting up later to get a present for her. Not too sure what she likes though. Still, hope we can get something she'll fancy!

Drats... now, where and when was I supposed to meet up with them again? =\

2007-06-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Engin camp and boy, am I completely worn out~ What a crazy 4 days it has been, jam-packed with various fun-filled activities every minute and blasted with cheers from Ogs every single day. Because of the efforts of the camp committee, the flow of events went by smoothly too and there wasn't any unneccesary delays in between to spoil the momentum of things. Kudos to the committee members for a job well done~

Was given the additional responsibility to ensure that there were sufficent photos taken for our sponsors' follow-ups, so I was kept busy throughout the 4 days. Anyway its fun taking photos, so i'm not complaining =D

Day 0 had us preparing our mascots and Id tags for the next day. We came unprepared though and unlike the more "lao-jiao" ones, we found ourselves lacking in basic materials like glue, scissors and markers. Still, we managed to pull a few strings here and there to complete our task.

Sara working on our mascot "Naga"

Day 1. The freshies finally came and I found myself with my very first OG "Naga".

My OG "Naga"!

Our House ic Joel hyping the house up!

Telematches are all about getting wet...

and dirty!

We ended the day with the very first round of SP and learning the camp mass dance. SP is the most fun thing during camp for the councillors la! Had so much fun eavesdropping on the conversations of many unsuspecting campers and poking fun at them like making them hold hands with each other and doing various silly things.

A SP couple feeling the "connection". And the councillors enjoying themselves!

Day 2. Started the day off with the "classic" pool games, where the guys wished they worked out more and the girls start mysteriously having their "er-hmm" all of a sudden.

Naga in the water!

Guys piggy-backing girls in the water. Classic indeed~ =D

Edna and her hunks. lol!

Pool games are about getting the guys and girls to shed their shyness

And for guys to discover their "other" side!

After the pool games, we had our faculty walk which had us playing different games at different places in school. Ran out of batt though, so didn't take any photos then. Had to leave abruptly too as I had to prepare for a talk by our sponsor. Anyway we had our "Mystery Nite" that erm...night after dinner. The campers had to solve puzzles, ingeniously thought of by Melvin, at every station to unravel 6 different killers.

Naga cracking a case...

Naga and Dingyan, one of the station masters.

The campers enjoying their pizza supper after the event.

Day 3. The "traditional" Sentosa games, something every camp has to have. Its also the time when people get dunked into the sea, "mua-cheed" and buried in the sand for "Ha-ha" cards. But really, I think we're just trying to satisfy our sadistic sides =P.

A great way to start the day off is by cheering~ =P

The camp councillors!

Joel getting dunked by us. Yes even our own people aren't spared~

Naga posing for the shot before their "3-leg kicking" game

The beach caterpillar game~

After the beach games, we had our around-the-island games, which had us completing different tasks at various places around Sentosa.

Naga smiling away at being able to accomplish their task

Our pretty Naga councillors! *cough cough* XD

More SP stuffs happened that night but alas, no photos were taken as I had ran out of batt. This time the couples had to perform several tasks like feeding each other food and singing songs to one another. SP is just so fun la!

Day 4. We went to a different place this time - AMK hub and park! Again, we had an awfully fun time playing the games at different stations.

Breakfast before setting off!

Naga on the bus!

2 very cooperative strangers helping us out on a task

Food hunt, aka lunch!

4 of our Naga nannies

SP revelation night came after the AMK games. Finally, the identities of the SPs were revealed!

This guy specially ordered 12 roses for his SP instead of the compulsory 1 stalk everyone had to buy. Li hai man...

The dance competition came after dinner but I had to skip it as I had to help out with pageant stuffs. Man felt so weird teaching the contestants how to pose and do the catwalk. But wow, they were really fast learners and before long, they were well prepared to take on the stage.

The girl on the left won the camp pageant while the guy on the right was runner-up.

Haha just realised the female runner up is in the background of the photo above. Man can't wait to see how the final pageant will turn out to be.

Managed to invite a band down to further pump the mood!

Everyone enjoying themselves!

We were then treated to the camp video which allowed us to reflect on the things that happened and to remind ourselves of how important these memories will be in times to come. Siew Mun, our camp director, then went on stage to thank her committe and everyone for the support given to her, making the camp such a success.

Gee still can't believe camp is over though. For the camp committee members, their hard work and efforts finally saw light during the camp and I believe the amount of satisfaction they received at the end of it all is something I probably wouldn't be able to describe. Good job guys, we're all very proud of you =)

2007-05-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Wanna sound like a pro-gamer? Ever have problems deciphering what the people around you are saying? Its time for...Gaming Lingo 101!

Our word for today is FTW. It is the palindrome of one of the most commonly used net-words WTF, but no, it doesn't mean f*** the what (censored due to the viewership of certain 20 yr olds XD).

This slightly vulgar looking abbreviation actually means....*drumroll* FOR THE WIN!

Still unsure? Lets have a few examples to make things clearer for you.

conversation 1:
Gamer A: Wa this dungeon got a lot of monsters leh...
Gamer B: Blast them with an aoe spell ftw!!

*aoe = area of effect.

conversation 2:
Gamer A: Kill that mob ftw!!
Gamer B: Dun wan la...Kena lag will ftl la...

Thank you very much for tuning in to another lesson of Gaming Lingo 101. See you next time fellow gamers and gamers-wannabes!

...yes I'm feeling very bored that's why I came up with such a crappy post. Hahahaha XD

2007-05-27T10:53:00.001-07:00

Another week has passed and another one is about to began. Life feels so routine again. I feel kinda numb, yet calm, inside doing the same things over and over again. There's a certain peacefulness in it all and I suppose its helping to keep me sane. Hahahaha wa man hope I don't sound too emo.

Most of the week was spent going to school and doing my club stuffs. My key is still with Edison, so many a times, I was stuck waiting outside the clubroom for someone to help me open it. Somehow someone always shows up eventually, so things still work out in the end.

Met up with my army buddies on Saturday. Bob helped to organise the get together dinner at Thai Express and even our PC Soh came down too. Our dear Tan Keng Tiong was the one who initiated it actually but in the end, he couldnt turn up coz he was having lessons. Yes lessons at 7pm. NTU students really have it tough~~

once a scout, always a scout

Well it was great meeting up with everyone again. 18, Yongjun, Malcom, Eugene, Hengka, Hongjun, Mark-fark-, dy Zhi Zhou, Soh...quite a crowd but still not full strength. Soh was his usual loud self, albeit a lot plumber, making lots of noise and suaning the people around him. Still, it felt good to see him again. Had that heartwarming feeling meeting him again, kinda like what most of us get when we chance upon our old photo albums or letters. Btw digress a little...I think Thai Express becoming more kiam siap. Their portions are really becoming smaller and less flling. Ordered their seafood kway tiao and the serving given to me was really disappointing. Ok la..maybe they hinting to me that I shouldn't eat too much ..Zzzz

the 54B team. please let me recover from my injury..

Didn't take any photos though, which is a pity. I guess guys don't like to photo whore amongst themselves. Maybe we only like to take photos with girls but not with guys XD. Anyway Soh and Eugene left after dinner while the rest of us hung out at Starhub *opps* I meant Starbucks to do more catching up. Paiseh suddenly got possessed by Bob. After that we actually went for supper at Bedok where we had delicious rou cuo mian. While reminiscing about the things that happened back then, we suddenly realised that this coming Thursday marks the one year we've ORD. Wa lao...time really flies. Omg, before long I would have graduated, started work, marry someone, have unprotected sex and become a father. Waaaaaa~~~

just thought I'll randomly put Bob's team photo here too. hahaha

Btw I just came back from Kbox with my SLC OG. Sir Hong actually came which really surprised me coz I thought he'll be too paiseh to come. Felt good to kbox again after such a long hiatus. Didn't realise so many new songs had come up. Man really feel like a uncle behind the times. Cham ah~ Permanently cui liao. Again, we didn't take any photos, so ya nothing to show.

Going for the CAC camp dry run later. Don't know what possessed me to agree to sign up as a councillor for it but well, what's happened has already happened. Ok la, maybe joining more camps will make me feel more young again. Eh wait..didn't Betty join too many camps that time and resultantly became more.....*gasp* Cham ah...

2007-05-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Whew..another day gone by. Saw this personality quiz at Lihui's blog and decided to give it a shot too. Well here's the house I drew..

Quite a fine piece of art eh? I think I'll be able to wake Da'Vinci from his grave with a drawing like that. Anyway the analysis of it goes like this...

"Your house tells the world that you ought to be a leader. You are good at making friends and when the joyful moment arrives, you make the most out of it. You are shy and reserved. If you've drawn a cross on each of windows, you always want to live alone. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. Your life is always full of changes.

You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You have a strong personality and you like to command, influence and control people.

You added a flower into your drawing. The flower signifies that you long for love. It also safe to say that others don't see you as a flirt. You don't think much about yourself."

Wu ya bo? Hmmm seems quite accurate I suppose...from what I understand of myself that is. Anyway it sounds pretty good, so I'm not going to find fault with it~ =)

Stared out at the window just now to check if the stars were awake but it turned out to be another cloudy night yet again. Another time perhaps~ I'm not too keen to find out the answer yet anyway. =P

p.s: Alamak guys, didn't know you all started reading my blog le. Make me feel so paiseh with all those words of concern. Hahahahaha~ Eh, but keep them coming ah...

2007-05-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

I hate disappointing people. Damn! Yet why am I doing it so often these days? Called up a potential sponsor today and was told that they had decided to forgo the sponsorship. And after all that time I had spent on them! Really don't know how many more rejections I'll have to face before I can finally make some major breakthroughs. Really want to stop disappointing my fellow mc members especially Zhenxian. Hiaz, really want to stop disappointing myself too...

Grr...I won't give up so easily!!!!!

2007-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Went for my second acupuncture treatment today. Apparently, my knee seems a lot better now and the doc even reckons I'll be able to resume my normal activities in 2 months time. But man...2 months still feels like a long way to go. Worst still, this rest period spans across my holidays too, and I had planned to do so many things...

Oh well, I just hope my knee will fully recover this time around. Anyway, the whole acupuncture experience sure has been quite interesting! Its not as painful as I thought it'll be but neither is it painless. There's this weird, tingling sensation that runs down your spine as the needle slowly pierces into your skin and you can actually feel a kind of..."current" coursing through your body due to the strategic position the needle has been placed at. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that there's actually no blood throughout the entire procedure even after the needles are removed. Kinda like those balloon tricks, where one pierces the balloon with a sharp object, and then removes the piercing with the balloon perfectly intact. Fascinating indeed...

Took some photos while waiting for the needles to be removed.

my knee looking like a porcupine ball...

my knee having a relaxing sauna

Hope that's the last time I'll ever need to go for the treatment. Its so expensive too....

2007-05-12T11:17:00.001-07:00

Looks like I've jumped on the bandwagon yet again and created another blog. But who can blame me right? Afterall, eVeRyOnE seems to have a blog these days and it only seemed right that such a hip and cool person like myself should keep up with the trends. Muahahaha....

Anyway its not as though I never had a blog before. I did but that was ages ago. Think my last post was in 2005? Ancient~ Well this new blog is finally done up and I kinda like the layout and everything about it. As much as I would like to claim credit for coming up with such a nice design, the source code was actually done by some stranger, whom I've never met before but pounced upon while scouring the net for a design for my blog. Na, he credited himself already, so I'm not plaguarising ah...

Aiya, actually having a blog is so troublesome but ah heck, I hope I can maintain this long enough to have some stuffs I can reminisce about next time. Yep yep, plz give me the strength to let this blog last for a few years or so!

Now if only somebody would be kind enough to teach me how to set up a nice and hip tagboard..