Though I have a million and one things to do, I don't feel like doing them at the moment. I am having a stomach cramp of some sort and I guess it is not bedtime yet. I should also finish tomorrow's tutorial before tomorrow starts so I won't be going to bed before then. I just thought I'll drop by and say hi to the world before it becomes too hard to do so. I have been blogging less because I was having a few great weeks and have decided to focus on making myself a good person again.
Remember how I was very angry at myself at the end of the last post? I suddenly felt very energetic. I just want to get back right on track again. I went running. I wanted to make myself sooo tired that I wouldn't be able to get angry or think about it. It worked well for the first night or two I guess. I wasn't fit, and therefore, felt really miserable after the runs. Plus, the anger is fueling the run too. I become determined to run every night, and make a right turn in my life. Therefore, I ran three nights in a row. It finally felt like things were going right again.
By the time the third night came, I thought to myself that I can do this every night, from now on, till a long time to come. Then I was needed at home. All the train tickets for all the days then were sold out, except for 31st December's night train. I guess I figured out why. People in KL would want to countdown in KL and people in Singapore would want to countdown in Singapore. It was all good, it fit in my plan. Except that I wouldn't have such an exciting new year this year. Oh well, if you are happy, every day is new year! =)
I also went around to catch sights and sounds of Singapore in 2007 that I might have missed. I hope the Christmas decorations in Orchard Road are still there because I haven't experienced it this year. In a hurry to buy train tickets home, I missed them, or only managed to pass by. Instead, I think I stumbled upon Vivo City since almost all the bus home passes by there. Vivo is like 'the' hangout place for me now. Orchard is 'out' since it was not nearly as convenient. Every bus at the back gate goes to Vivo with the exception of 200, which goes Holland Village, and passes by ACJC, so everything was great and fine.
No use trying to SMS and call your friends to wish them a Happy New Year anyway, because the phone didn't work. Yeah, it always doesn't work when you need it to. =) I couldn't send any goodbye messages or make goodbye calls because everyone is supposedly having their line busy and the messages are still in my outbox after many tries. Tying lose ends to 2007, in a less than dramatic way. Somehow 2007 was not a very good year, and I am determined to make 2008 better. It already sounds better, so that's good.
The train was not full and there were many empty spaces. It was a rather peaceful way to end 2007. I had a great new year on 2007, but it turned out to be not such a good year after all. I still kept my hopes high. I turned on my laptop and read books until it was out of battery. I am loving my laptop more and more. It rocks! =) I think I was probably more productive than I usually am. I managed around 33 pages per hour. Not speed-reading. Sometimes you feel like you need more time to understand one part then you have to read the part again and again. It's still quite impressive. I think I can finish that 1.2k pages book soon. (Yeah, it's Petzold. Again.)
Then I had a decent 4 hours sleep. Nowadays I can't wake up on my own anymore. I feel like there would be one day where I'll sleep and I would never wake up. When I woke up, most people have left the train. Luckily I was having very little luggage and hence I could just jump out of bed and leave the train. At this point, I should probably write a program that prints "Hello, KL" onto the screen. KL is as per usual, with some differences. Things have gotten more expensive. Malaysia is ranked top three lowest on the Big Mac index, so things are supposedly ultra-cheap over here but I still feel the pinch. I used to let my stomach go loose when I am in KL, but not anymore.
Like every other street-smart person, we try to compare prices to see if we are really getting the best deal out of our money. Our perception of value will change from time to time, but since I was not at hometown for a long time, I don't know what's a good deal and what's not. Especially when my reference are dated. Luckily, poor people are extra street-smart than their average counterparts. I took a bus in KL, and we were required to pay RM1 flat fee. I was thinking it was really cheap. Taxi still around a quarter of what you will pay in Singapore. (If you convert.) Taxi is more needed in KL, because things tend to be spread wider apart.
Car is really essential in KL but driving fun have reduced greatly in the recent years. Not enough roads, carparks are being built. The places where you want to go, means there are other people who want to go to the same place. It's traffic jam when you need to use the car most. Inefficient. New highways often means extra costs (toll) for the average consumer. And I am already convinced that owning a car, you always lose. =) I know I know, and I agree that the experience is more important. But then I was told during the accounting lecture today, that assets will soon turn into expenses. Depends on how you look at it, and my sense of value and perspective is that, cars are not worth the trouble. Views and sense of value can change in the future by the way.
The good old Ramly burger under my house is still RM2. After around 6 months. I think I have sinned, because I ate Ramly burger in NUS, which is $2.5, and don't taste as nice. I suspect it is not even the same thing, and these people are just selling under the brand name. Maybe it's the same burger patty, but the taste and the way it is prepared is different. I think down in Singapore and even Johor, they prefer to use barbeque sauce somehow. Give it a more 'burnt' taste. Like myself, I wanted to gobble up 5 at a go, but in the end I only bought 2 for myself. Money's a little tight and life's getting more difficult. I shall save the other 3 burgers for the rainy days.
There was one interesting thing that happened back in KL. It was actually something weird. That day I got caught in the rain, and didn't want to take taxi home because you know when it rains, taxi suddenly become more expensive and rare. Besides, I am not in a hurry to get to anywhere. The irony was that I got stuck at a taxi stand. It didn't provide a very good shelter. No taxi that passes by goes into the taxi stand anyway. =p Only my top half of the body got sheltered. The bottom half was absolutely drenched. Then an old man come to me, and tried to tell me a story. I felt weird talking to him though.
I was totally going to be drenched anyway, because I realized the water was diffusing upwards. I was going to make a dash across the road in the heavy rain. He stopped me. Then we exchanged names. He say he's from Terengganu so I want to ask him more about Terengganu since I heard entertainment is pretty bad over there. However, he prefers to talk about KL instead, and then say that he used to have a house in KL. He then says that he's a singer by profession and tried to prove that with a log book of song lyrics sprinkled with pictures of famous singers. He said he is a good friend with 'them', then take out his contact book out of his bag with the famous singers names and address and handphone numbers. =p Gut feeling starts to kick in, and this person may not be telling the truth. He agravated the situation by immediately asking for my phone number and my parent's phone numbers. Why is a singer such as himself so free? Oops, I have a bad feeling about that, and the rain easened, so I finally made the dash. I told him the truth though. I told him I don't have a handphone number and I don't have a house phone. =p
That day started well actually. I walked all over KL, even completing Berjaya Times Square and Low Yat Plaza and the whole area around Petaling Street. Went back through my old secondary school too, and saw 'juniors' playing basketball. I realised just how much Confucian basketballers are better than ours. Watching them was more fun. Even Malay and Indian kids over play great basketball. Not that I am saying Chinese are good at basketball, but you usually see Chinese play basketball. Soccer and badminton is something everyone play, but basketball seems to be mainly Chinese. When I was passing by too, the Confucian girls team were having a practice and I think they are good.
Low Yat Plaza is now crowded and busy. Computer parts have gotten so cheap (cheap is relative) now, but I am still only able to do the window shopping. Nevertheless, I feel accomplished, and that day, the 350GB hard disk drive seems to be at a sweet spot. Berjaya Times Square felt like a giant games store. After a certain level, all the shops seems to be toys shop, gift shops, novelty shops and stuff. It's like 4th floor, 5th floor, 6th floor and 7th floor all sell the same things. Keep in mind I didn't pay attention to boutiques, since they are mostly for ladies and I can't wear them anyway.
That's about all that I experienced in KL besides sitting at home and reading books. =) I was just trying an even greater degree of self control. We've got a wireless router in my house now and it was great. It was only RM139 and now each one of us can surf the internet at the same time. It also gave me the impression that our internet connection improved. =p We're feeling that we are finally getting our money's worth (RM77 a month to TMNet) for the internet. Amidst all the complains about how slow internet in Malaysia is, playing Maple Story on my 1Mbps connection seems fine. No lag, and with the addition of the wireless router, me and my sister can play at the same time. =) Thank technology for making our lives easier.
I actually didn't get enough rest going back to KL. There were actually lots of things for me to do everyday, but at least I felt like I lived those 8 days to the fullest since there were things to do. However, I am drawing nearer to a pre-planned chalet and barbeque. Things are still not done yet so I need to be back in Singapore to do some last minute things before that. I got chucked into a train ride back to Singapore, exactly 8 days after reaching home on a similar train ride. Didn't feel like 8 days. Felt like just a few minutes in KL and I am on way back. I got the lower cabin bed! I got the lower cabin bed! =) (For RM43) (Current KTM tickets pricing are as follows:- KL-Singapore, upper cabin bed, RM43, lower cabin bed, RM38, Singapore-KL, upper cabin bed, S$43, lower cabin bed, S$38)
And so I thought I am going to enjoy my journey back to Singapore. After all, I kind of enjoyed the journey home except for the fact that I have to climb up and there is not enough space to sit straight. I was terribly, horribly wrong. I got the bed nearest to the door. I am kind of immune to the noise that the door makes when it open and close. But I am not immune to people smoking. Being a non smoker I am rather sensitive towards the smell. Ok, after a while I acquired temporary immunity. Then I don't know why, there is always a long queue to the toilet nearest to me. I am less than one metre from the toilet door, but it's separated by the cabin door. They have nowhere to queue so they queue into the cabin, leaving the door open and the noise of the tracks and their endless talking goes towards me.
That was still not the worst thing. The worst was the very strong shake when the train is moving. I began reading at first, but after around 30 minutes I really felt dizzy. Imagine the screen shaking at least 3 cm to the right and 3 cm to the left constantly. After a while, I fear that the excessive shaking might have damaging effects to my hard drive, so I switched it off and went to sleep. I slept for 30 minutes, then awakened by the excessive shaking. Try to sleep for the next 30 minutes or so, fell asleep for 10 minutes, then get awakened by people queueing up for toilet because they were talking loudly. Tried to fall asleep but to no avail. The shake is making it hard and it seems to worsen. At 2a.m., two aunties (old ladies but not old enough to be addressed as grandmother) began talking to each other and they fear so much that the other person couldn't hear that they shout out every word in their dialect. It become worse when they try to out-talk the other, increasing the volume more and more. Ok, at least they stopped at 4a.m.. Luckily they were not in my cabin. I pity those in the cabin next to me, they must have had nightmares.
We reached northern part of Johor rather early, so I thought we are going to be on schedule. Then it began to take really long stops. Tried to sleep but in the back of the mind, there's a reminder to not sleep so soundly as I need to wake up to clear the customs. The subconcious reminder is keeping me from sleep, as I probably have a grand total of 1 hour of sleep the whole night. The thought that I am going to reach back my room and have a great sleep is preventing me from sleeping. I experienced sunrise at the Johor Bahru station, where they check our passports. We waited and waited, but they never came. Soon, it was really sunny outside. They finally came and I thought it would be only a small delay.
I was wrong, after the check, the customs officer were walking around the train up and down many times, checking each and every cubicle. I was sitting up, because from now on it was supposed to be a short way till the end of the journey. (If you look at the Google Earth satelite image, it is!) After the customs officer fail to find the person who they think is hiding on the train for a passage into Singapore, they gave up. It was a really long wait though. It was almost nine o' clock when the train began moving again. By then I was really in a bad mood from all the lack of sleep.
Train stopped at Singapore side of customs. I went through customs, and happy that my phone could work again. I chatted on the phone pretty much throughout, so I didn't feel that time has passed. =) It was also another slow clearance. I decided against taking bus to Woodlands MRT because I have a straight bus back to the back of PGP from right outside the Tanjong Pagar train station. =) Then after the train started to move, it stopped on the track for a long time. We are somewhere in Singapore and by this time people were starting to complain. Why is the train so severely delayed? I got the straight bus home with all my luggages and finally reached home at around 12.30. Forget everything else, all I need now is a nice long nap.
I got awoken less than 5 hours later. I was supposed to meet friends to buy stuffs for the chalet the next day. I was really tired but I was really excited at the same time so I found the energy to drag myself out of the bed. The whole KL experience and thinking that I am going on a chalet soon probably lightened up my mood. I feel like I can take over the whole world again. Not to mention I actually managed to study when I was back in KL. Time felt like it paused and flowing very slowly. All these while I am having fun. I need to lighten up. =) For my grades too. Here comes the Wai Hong with even finer degrees of self control.
Wow, one of them were really great. She had actually planned what to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner and every other meal and buying in advance. She's travelling on a really low budget. I was amazed and I ought to make a concious effort like her too, since I really don't have enough money. Even though Wai Hong is poor, he is generous, and he is in a really generous mood since he found meaning to live again. It probably will be the last time he'll be having fun in a long time since school is starting soon by then. Sometimes I felt like it was a reflection of myself that I see. I should be going really low budget like that. I don't have enough money. Best part, during the actual chalet, she brought zero money but we'll get to that part later.
I brought my mini fridge there even though it was heavy but it turned out to be really useful. I am all for greater enjoyment. =) So Miss Low Budget decided she doesn't want to join the rest of us for Sakae Sushi because she had to meet a relative for dinner. (Of course we all know the actual reason.) She dragged another person along with her, and I think they both ended up not eating dinner. (Well, that's what friends are for, right? =)) I was just trying to be understanding so in the end we didn't make them come. I know Sakae Sushi is expensive but I like sushi and I was in a generous mood. Hey, we are sort of going for a holiday, and Sakae Sushi by the beach sounds like a great treat! Besides, it's peanuts compared to something like Crystal Jade. In the end we went to the Harbourfront Centre outlet instead. Great view! It was really quiet too since it was weekday. Besides, the one in Sentosa does not have buffet, so... =)
We probably ate nearly three hours. I didn't stuff myself too much though. I stopped when I started to feel full. I was in a good appetite mood too so I actually ate much more than I usually eat and still haven't stuffed myself yet. I don't want the chalet trip to have miserable trips to the toilet. =p For once in a long time, I was truly able to relax. I didn't feel time passing. It was as if it froze. The irony is that, time passes even faster when you are having fun. In the end we were probably like 7 hours late for chalet. Whatever. =) As long as we are happy!
We played a lot a lot of games. Esther can probably open a games house or one of those board games cafe like Settlers. All these times are going to turn into precious memories. =) It was too late for anything else in Sentosa, so we just have a quiet walk along the beach. I couldn't fall asleep in the end, there was too much things I wanted to do. I woke up early in the morning too, because I am not used to air cond mornings. However, I don't really feel tired because maybe I am excited at the multiple things that we are going to do for the day.
We met with a celebrity filming some show here in Sentosa. First time seeing a celebrity here. At first I thought it was Fiona Xie, but then again, I realized due to my little television experience, it was actually Kym Ng. And I found out very much later too. I met Joon Yeng too, and what a coincidence, his room is just next to mine. The last time I was here, I met Roy with his unit too. It's really a small world Singapore.
Luge ride! Luge ride! Luge ride! My first! Never thought it was going to be so exciting. It was rather short but it was nevertheless fun. The fun could have been increased if the course was at least 5 minutes. Oh well, I guess it's because they don't have so much space or the highest peak isn't high enough for a course that runs 5 minutes. The ride was surprisingly easy to control, and we looked like professionals running and racing through the course. It was rather expensive for something that's over in less that two minutes. We raced three times and the third time was at night, and I saw one of the most beautiful view of the beach and the moon. Pity I don't have a camera then. I think I also managed to reach top speed at the last bend, because I think we couldn't go anymore faster than that. The taste of wind pounding on your face is great! Just some pics of us having fun:-
I fell in love with Cluedo there. I feel like I am getting Cluedo withdrawal symptoms. In addition, the barbeque was great. There were great cooks and the food turned out good. I didn't need to spend the night and the morning in the loo. We gave some food away too, but forgot to ask them how it tasted. =( Barbeque was completed with some difficulty though. It was raining, and I started the fire. This is the first time I am holding an umbrella and I am not sheltering myself or someone else. It rained harder later and I felt like I should just give up and wait for later before we start fire again. At some point I think I killed the fire by trying to spread it too fast before it was ready. Luckly due to Esther's powerful fanning, it came back alive again and soon the smell of charcoal fire began to fill the air.
The firestarters used were of really good quality. It burned brightly for quite a period of time before dying. That was why we were able to make good fire quickly. The charcoal was tough to light, but once lighted, it stays hot for a long time. They made a great combination for having a good time barbeque. In addition, the stuff were reasonably cheap, ($12.50 for 50 sticks of satay) and the satay was great that I wanted to have more.
On our way back, even though I was all tired, I sort of got rejuvenated all of a sudden because the radio was playing 'So Young' by the Corrs. Reminded me of the 1998 Commonwealth Games. I suddenly feel like I am so young again. Yeah, cause I am so young now. =)
Back to school, back to bidding. In the end, I am happy because I had a beautiful timetable. =) Everything feels like it is going to go well at this point. 2008 feels like a great year. It even looks and sounds better than 2007. I also began 2008 without new year resolutions. =) Then I also went for a run every night after the chalet. I felt energetic and more focussed. I have tried to weed out distractions and is partially successful. At last, I am now doing revision in advance instead of trying to catch up. I really really want to get that A+, and am putting A++ effort into it.
Summary of the past two weeks of school and up to today, I went exercising on 5 out of 7 days in a week for both weeks. Either basketball, running or both. I spent an entire Sunday sitting at home and just studying, for the first time in a very very long time. Wai Hong only missed one one hour lecture on week 1 and one one hour lecture on week 2 and did prep study prior to lectures. Wai Hong felt so good on Wednesday night of week 1 that he sprinted all the way through the A2 bus route and even got cheered on by passer-bys chanting 'ACJC! ACJC!'. He did that after he played basketball too and still wearing his favourite jersey containing the word 'ACJC' at the front. However, he felt really bad the day after with both his knees aching. He went to school everyday diligently and met angels everyday. He even had amazing luck with basketball.
After a really angelic two weeks, he met with setbacks this week, but he told himself that the week hasn't ended, and there is still plenty of time to set things straight. He overslept a lecture and consequently went late to the next tutorial on Monday. He also overslept the tutorial this morning and didn't manage to get notes before the 2-4 lecture. After putting in 2 weeks of exercising 5 out of 7 days, he has not exercised for five days in a row counting tonight. He decided to end the streak at 4 by playing basketball later. Wai Hong sincerely hope to have a better week. =)
See, school's boring right? I could summarize the whole two weeks and two days in two and a half paragraph. =)
Maybe there's something I missed out. When I went back to KL, I decided to dig my own pile of treasure that has become so small. Yeah, all my treasures fits into one drawer now. I stumbled upon a copy of my 1998 diary! I read, and I flew back in time, feeling and remembering what happened each day as a Primary 6 kid. I felt like I should thank myself for diligently recording every single detail. I begin to admire the beauty in everything. There's beauty in simplicity, even complicity. I'll go by my own 'minimalist but complete' style.
Hey, there's something else I am good at. =)
See, I ended up on one of the week being the top 21-22 among so many competitors. And I am doing well this week too, improving to nearly be able to see my name on the top 10 list. Unfortunately, this application is taking too much of my time. I am compelled to log on at least once a day and check everyday news at the NBA. I don't really want to be tied down to not really important things. =) I have since decided to remove this application. Maybe I'll add it back during the holidays, just maybe. For now, I need to focus.
Wai Hong is currently an undergraduate student at National University of Singapore. He majors in Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering. He is a member of the forever sixteen :) club since he was sixteen. He was lucky enough to end up in Anglo-Chinese School Independent and then Anglo-Chinese Junior College, where he spent his best years and still looking to spend more best years. He was born into the world on 16th October, sixteen years ago. =)