Just thought I should post a post today, because the date is kind of cool and rare. Maybe it would be memorable sometime in the future too. 29th February is a date we see once every four years! It would be the first in my blog history too! I had hoped to update here everyday but due to lack of time, I couldn't be doing that. This is because I believe that everyday is special. =)

I played soccer on Monday, unlike the normal me right? It's because my friends saw me walking past and they waved at me. They were short of one person to make two full teams. I think they were frantically looking for one last man as you can see some of them on their phones calling their friends to come down and play. I was thinking it wasn't such a good idea because while I don't mind sweating in my shirts, I was wearing slippers and just had lunch. In the end, I played anyway. =)

I haven't been playing soccer for a long long time. I seem the remember the last time I played was during PE when I was in J2. However, the rules changed a bit. Our goal is a single lamp post and there are no goal keepers. Hey, I might have improved over the last time. I was just utilizing my basketball skills of positioning and trying to get open, and I also scored a beautiful goal. Beautiful because the other striker ran up, I ran up, and he attempted a shot at goal. He missed the 'tiang' but it became a beautiful flying cross. I just lifted my left leg and knee-ed the ball right at the 'tiang'. It must have been lucky because I know I can't aim with my leg for nuts, and it went straight at goal. Nevertheless it was a beautiful goal.

Then I also realized why I shouldn't be playing soccer. I was defending on one posession and was the last defender. The enemy striker was going to attempt a shot on goal. I tried my best to block the ball alright. Like any other striker, they attempt to hit the ball as hard as possible so that even if it was blocked, it might go in. He charged for the kick, swung a half-circle arc, and the kicked. Guess what? He missed the ball. He kicked my right leg. I didn't feel the pain then. After I went home to bathe, I was wondering why the place ached when water runs. I just realized I am missing a big piece of skin. Since I was playing in slippers too, there were blisters all over my foot. We can only do these during the mid-semester break. =)

I went for Pepper Lunch (ペッパーランチ）too! The reason why I haven't been there for a long time was because of my perception of value. To me, they are extremely expensive, considering I am poor, and considering after you mixed them, it is like fried rice. Fried rice for S$10? I better be getting a great great plate of fried rice. But I missed the feel of buttered rice in my mouth badly. To a certain extent, I think I have forgotten the taste. Therefore, I decided I should just go refresh my memory a little on this day, 29th February 2008.

This is a season for nostalgia too, because I think the last time I ate Pepper Lunch it was with the class, 2SC5 and most people actually went! I remember those memorable moment when we finished half the bottle of the soya sauce. However, I don't think I will be repeating that today. I am trying to reduce MSG intake. I ended up clearing 1/8 of the soya sauce bottle, still quite respectable la. =) Even before I had the food, I had the feast of senses already because when other people are cooking theirs, it's sizzling and the good smell travel all the way to my nose just to make me hungrier. When you are hungry, everything taste a lot nicer right? =) Oh, by the way, it tastes much better (in my opinion) when there is a lot of soya sauce. I like the butter and soya sauce combination. Still, I think S$10 is too much to ask, because it was quite little rice. I was not even halfway full, and had to go to Breadtalk nearby to refuel. Maybe next time I'll try the cheese version. I love cheese too! =) Imagine flowing cheese + butter + soya sauce! =)

Shopping at Funan IT Mall today. Seagate 500GB 7200rpm 16MB cache is going for S$185. Maybe you can bargain to get a little cheaper but that's already a whopping S$0.37 per GB. Now that's value for money. Well, to a person who likes computer anyway. A girl will tell you beautiful dress at S$80 is a great bargain. Luckily the Flosss bread from Breadtalk is still of the same price.

Now there's even an open Facebook group that you can join named 'The voices of an expensive Singapore' to share your passionate sentiments on the heart and soul felt ever increasing cost of living in Singapore. =) It's nice to note some facts though, the starting pay of fresh university graduate hasn't increased for the past 10 years. Companies that increased their charges for services does not mean that they are increasing their pay for their employees, especially the lower levels ones. Bottomline, someone up there don't realize that some people are not getting pay rise all the time. These people remain poor or even poorer now that their income can buy less things so they might end up working even more hours to cover up for the new living expenses. So the next time you increase your price just to increase the profit, think of all the poor people in the world whose lives just got more difficult.

Now too, most utilities and public transport have been privatised. That is in my opinion a good thing, because they tend to provide better services and a better value for money in the face of competition. However, when they increase their prices, I expect them to provide better services. Just like the pay of Singaporean ministers is one of the best in the world, I expect them to give one of the best service. That's what meritocracy is all about right? I suspect the increase in price is just to increase revenue, so that investors will have greater confidence in investing in the company. When I gain enough knowledge from Financial Accounting, I will be looking at the annual reports for more clues. =) I think Singtel is actually doing a good job facing competition from Starhub and maybe M1. They have responded with free laptops and free Wii and actually managed to change some of my friends who were using Starhub Maxonline to Singtel internet plans.

I saw two cool T-shirts! I must get one when I am in the US! This will be the first time I buy shirts other than school-related ones in a long long time.

This looks like a great shirt to be wearing to Fun-O-Rama 2008! =)

I always wanted to say this, but I am too shy to say so. =)


The much needed and much awaited mid-term break is here! =) From where I left off the last time, I then went on to try and cram as much Japanese vocabulary as I could. Then I got too tired again at around 3a.m. and crashed to bed and immediately fell asleep the second after. I was rather stressed because I wasn't very productive and didn't manage to finish as much as I have hoped to finish. Then I got awakened around 20 minutes later... and I couldn't fall back asleep. I was going to officially declare "I hate Thursdays!". Well, then I decided to wake up and and finish up on the script. I managed to finish it by 6a.m. before I got swept by another 'too tired spell' and crashed onto my bed.

Snoozed the alarm around an hour before I woke up too, feeling a little dazed. However, I still fell more fresh than the night before, and all of a sudden, it was as if I have seen the light, the homework became a little easier. Maybe it's the fruit of the hard work the night before, or my brain just works much more well when time is running out. It was a mad rush before I finally made it to class a little late too. Was rather stressed because I didn't spent as much time as I would have liked mugging for the vocabulary quiz.

Luckily the vocabulary quiz turned out right. I was lucky I managed to recall everything. I hope this will be the first time I will cruise to a perfect score for a vocab quiz. The next thing I worry about is whether or not I made any spelling mistakes. It's quite cruel, because if you have spelling mistakes you lose the marks even though you remembered the word and what it meant. Felt a little high after thinking that I will be scoring well for the vocabulary quiz, so I had fun during the tutorial. I am loving Japanese more and more! =) I think I did pretty well for the tutorial as well. (Yeah, every tutorial's participation is graded.)

Then lecture came. We start every lecture with the lecture quiz which I think is exceptionally unfair. I realized that the questions for every lecture quiz comes from the upcoming lecture. They expect us to know what's for the next lecture before the lecture even start. I think reading in advance is respectable, but hmm, you shouldn't grade a person based on that. In addition, they upload the lecture notes extremely extremely slow, like at the end of Tuesday night. A little research is needed if we were to read and learn in advance and the time frame allowed is just too small. I wouldn't mind if it were uploaded 1 week in advance but it is not. Fortunately, as every week passes by, we get a little smarter, and wiser as to how to tackle these.

However, the thought that I scored zero for the lecture quiz just destroyed the mood for lecture. The thought that I did not have enough sleep last night begin to creep in and soon, I was just not interested anymore. Played basketball at night, but I played rather poorly. I was shooting well, but I was not passing well. I commited a few turnovers in a row, credit to the good defense. Plus, I was required to guard a person much taller and bigger size than me so I had to work real hard on defense. I think to a certain extent it worked, because he didn't score, but I think I worked too hard. Sooner or later, I am going to get tired.

I feel great nowadays playing ball. I used to get a period where I could not concentrate and study after exercising, but recently, exercise felt like nothing. It is just like brushing teeth, a reflex and a daily activity that is integrated into my day. I get withdrawal symptoms now if I don't exercise. It used to be my leg hurts after exercising, but now it hurts if I didn't exercise. I think I shouldn't put the best years of my life to waste. I should probably join a basketball team or a cross-country team. Anyone hiring? I can commit time until around end of April, when the final exam starts. Looking forward to improve myself too. =)

Then Friday came, but I think I sprained my left wrist while sleeping or something. It hurts since I woke up on Friday until now. I thought I did perfect for listening quiz but I didn't. I got one wrong. Still hungrily gunning for my first ever perfect quiz except lecture quiz. Then I thought I did quite well for the second ever listening quiz but I think I made one mistake. At least, I got the phone number right! =) That's the most important thing that day I guess. =) No doubt, I think I did well again.

I skipped the last lecture on Friday to go for the end of the Career Fair 2008. It was spectacular! I see lots and lots of companies offering jobs and they are all friendly people, giving more insights and information to what the company is and what it would be like to work in there. Also, they come with lots of internship opportunities. Unfortunately though, I wished it were the Silicone Valley, because I think there are only a few companies there that attracted my attention. Google, Microsoft and Intel weren't there. I was just looking at the career opportunities at AMD but unfortunately those are just not I am looking for. It might seem fun for a while, but I don't wish to take those for the rest of my life. We just spent the waning minutes of the career fair watching old heart-warming McDonald's TV ads. =)


I couldn't find the Peek-A-Boo one again. =(


Not the first time I find Youtube addicting. I ended up finding this gem instead. "Off the expressway, over the river, off the billboard, through the window, off the wall, nothing but net." =)
Then all of a sudden, I felt much more relaxed. Much much more relaxed. The mid-semester break have started! =) I felt so great, I went on a walk, and talked to people for hours, about life and everything else about life. Must have been a lucky day, because I got invited to just go out and chill at night too. I haven't seen Sharon for some time. =) In the end, we talked all night long again, about everything under the sun. It was great! =)

Then I needed a place to hang out for two hours because I clearly don't want to pay the 50% midnight surcharge for taking the it-shall-not-be-named. It's a very good waste of money, plus it was a blessing in disguise. I got to watch ESPN! I think I can watch that all day long. First I watched college basketball, UCLA vs. USC. It was a very exciting match because USC was clawing back from behind and they were getting so many points in a row you feel like supporting the underdogs. In the end, UCLA held on despite the USC team working very very hard.

Sometimes I wonder why we don't have leagues like that in Singapore or Malaysia. I think to a certain extent, they became so good at playing the game is because they have been given the chance to play the game. Of course, as the league grew, the number of talents grew as well. I am not saying we will be as good as the Americans overnight, but it will be a good start. Sports is beautiful. =)

Then I watched the Korean Open. (badminton) Everything was well and it was very exciting also because almost everyone won by the slimmest margin and you can't tell right away who was going to win. Just when you thought one would win, the other make a fierce run back into the game. However, there was one game I didn't like. It was the men's singles. It featured the World No.1 Lin Dan from China. (I think he plays really beautifully and I tend to support him whenever I see him play. There are exceptions of course. =)) By now I have even forgotten what was his opponent's name but I remember he's from Korea.

Lin Dan won the first set 21-4. Then things began to be interesting in the second set or so. It was a draw at 18-18 and the line's man on Lin Dan side said that a lob from the Korean was in and therefore he was awarded the point but it was clearly out as confirmed by replays. Yes, we can see clearer on the television that line's man can. Of course people were angered. Lin Dan was and was jumping around in anger, the coaches were too. Finally, the point was rightfully awarded to him, but I think the line's man did that on purpose, just to make him lose his cool or something. Maybe he's bribed. Or maybe he just have Korean pride. Or maybe he is just an idiot. Or maybe he didn't have enough sleep the night before. Even if it was not on purpose, the damage was done.

Lin Dan appeared more energetic, smashing much harder, but unfortunately, also a result of anger, he commited a few errors where he hit the shuttlecock too hard it went out of bounds. The second set deuced a few times before the Korean finally won, not because he smashed or made Lin Dan could not return his shot but on Lin Dan's error.

The third set was close too, and in the end it was deuce again. The kayu line's man commited an error again. Lin Dan was angrily protesting at the referee. The China coaches stood up in anger too and they must have been cursing those Korean coaches. In the end, a Korean coach shoved a China coach once and then a lot of people began to restrain both of them. Lin Dan was wrongfully given the yellow card as well. Sigh. As a player too, I know, confidence gets crushed everytime a referee gives a bad call.

Lin Dan didn't back down, he went on to score the next point. Then the next next point, to put him up by one in a deuce. Unfortunately, that was the last point he got and he lost. Oh well, better luck next time. =) Then I really really really wanted to stay for the live Bulls vs. Nuggets that is supposed to be aired at 9a.m. but hmmm, I really shouldn't be disturbing people, especially one that needs lots of sleep. Besides, I can take the bus and then walk home. Then I got knocked out and slept until 7p.m.. I later learned that the Bulls were shooting lights-out and the Nuggets played really well too. Sigh, it would have been such an exciting game to watch. Well, one day I will get ESPN on my TV in my own house! =)

I also talked to someone I didn't know much for a long time during dinner. About everything else again. I realized I am rather talkative these few days. Amidst talking, I can't help but sometime we accidentally touch on some rather disturbing aspects of life.

I talked to one friend and that somebody told me that the utilities bill of the house is $500+. My first reaction would be that it would be impossible. It would be able to pay for my own house's utilities for almost a year. That is just one month. Living in Singapore is that much more expensive that Malaysia? To be fair, the person have seven members in total living in one house and I only have three for some time and now there's only two person living there. They switch three air-conditioning units on for the night while we only switch on one occasionally when the weather is really hot and buay tahan. But still...

I know water is expensive in Singapore, but $500 a month is still too much. Therefore my other reaction is that the price of electricity must have risen too. Sure enough, I went to Singapore Power's website and found out that electricity will be priced at S$0.2262 per kwh for the period 1st January until 31st March 2008. I reckon it is going to rise after that too. It was priced at $0.2138 last quarter, and cited rising oil prices as the reason. As a consumer without income, times are just becoming more and more difficult. I have to redo my calculations regarding how much electricity we consume in S$.

Everything that affects our lives are increasing in their prices. I think the inflation rate for end of 2007 and early 2008 is far too great. First the public transport increased twice in rather rapid succession, and then taxi fares were raised too. Then food as there were earlier reports of flour shortages and whatnot other shortages. Now the shortages should have been resolved, but the food that increased their prices never eventually dropped their prices back. Then electricity. Then NUS hostel rental fees and school fees. I almost forgot to mention that one of the dishes I liked at the Kopitiam in Bukit Batok have increased their price to S$1.80. (I really don't know what it is called in English and I can't write Chinese.) It was traditionally priced at S$1.50 for a long long time. Additional rice were S$0.30 and they are now S$0.40. This is bad, because I usually eat two helpings. At S$1.50 it was cheap, because it would be S$1.80 with rice. Now it is S$2.20 with rice and I wonder why I eat that, because I can get mixed rice with meat for S$2.50.

I think everyone is feeling it, and therefore they are just blanket increasing their prices. It's a chain-reaction, because they feel everything has been more expensive. They are just increasing prices because everyone else are increasing their prices. I don't think that is right and those people are just fueling the vicious cycle. Of course, poor students like us always suffers. Actually, poor people in general suffers more and more. You can't blame them to be poor, they are born that way. They didn't choose to be born to a poor family. Of course, they are working towards changing and improving the situation, but all these inflation just kept them the way they are or even worsen their situation. Keep in mind, some people don't get a pay rise every year.

In other news, the nasi lemak downstairs have increased their price for additional rice to S$0.40 as well. Char Siew rice have been increased by S$0.20 to S$2.50 instead of S$2.30. I wonder how long more I should be eating instant noodles and bread. I had Char Siew rice for dinner just now by the way. =) The last thing I hope is that they don't raise the price of bread and instant noodles. I went to 7-Eleven last night and they don't sell those S$1 500g loaves anymore. They only 500g loaf I saw was S$1.45.

The feeling in general is that Singapore is not a nice place to live in, anymore. I feel the pinch more and more. It is also becoming too crowded. The frequency to which I get rejected by busses and trains increase. The queues for cinema tickets are just getting longer. It is harder to get a seat on busses and trains too. Owning a car is becoming a luxury in Singapore. Then still have to pay ERP. Then even if you own one, roads are increasingly getting more congested and parking lots are getting harder to find. Then you don't have a choice either because public transport are also getting expensive. We're just waiting for the day public transport becomes a luxury. Very sian, because you go to the Food Republic at Vivocity and you spend 1 hour looking for a seat. At Bugis Junction's food court, I spent more than 1 hour and still didn't manage to get a seat in the end. You can't really bathe more than once a day because then you will be over the threshold and have to pay higher water conservation tax. Everything else is becoming more expensive too. And you wonder why you pay more and are not getting any better services, especially the public transports. General comfort of living in Singapore decreased.

That's a pity, I initially planned to get a Singapore permanent residency and even own a house in Singapore. However, it is becoming a goal increasingly harder to reach and if I had that kind of money, I would rather buy a bungalow in Malaysia. See, perception changes over time. Then again, it isn't looking too rosy over there, but at least their density isn't as high. Like they say, always look on the bright side. =) According to Wikipedia, Singapore population stood at 4.48 million at the end of 2005 census and is the second most densely populated country in the world.
I also saw this news headline that caught my attention today. "Malaysian bloggers warned being monitored: report". Well, I don't want to link it because the nature of breaking news is that the link might be broken at some time. You can just google the title to get the whole article. In addition, I also don't want to mention names (so I censored it) because then when people are looking for this person, they will end up at my blog and generate unwanted traffic. Just to quote,

A Malaysian government minister has accused bloggers, who have been writing avidly on upcoming elections, of being cowards and warned they are being monitored, a report said Friday.

This minister said opposition parties were using blogs to get their message out because they believed the Home Affairs Ministry was busy monitoring reports in the mainstream media, the Star daily said.

"They think they can get away with it but it is not the case as they too are being monitored," she reportedly said, adding that bloggers were cowards and a nuisance to the ruling party.

Opposition parties have resorted to blogs, SMS messaging and YouTube in their campaign for the March 8 polls, to dodge a virtual blackout on mainstream media.

Major newspapers and television stations -- many partly owned by parties in the ruling coalition -- have given blanket coverage to the government and its achievements since the election was called.

The opposition parties rate barely a mention, but thanks to the Internet they have begun campaigning feverishly in cyberspace with the aim of reaching young, urban, educated voters.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index, and says the main media are "often compelled to ignore or to play down the many events organised by the opposition".

The government has previously threatened that bloggers could be punished under draconian internal security laws which provide for detention without trial.

I don't know about you, but this is definitely quote of the day material. I kind of gave up on Malaysian politicians long ago. Maybe this minister just came out of the forest or something. I heard this person have a law degree too. At this point I am just glad I am not going for a law degree. People don't see the idea that one day, they might be ousted out of power and they will be the opposition party. People don't see that they are extremely not open-minded. People don't see that there should be a fair competition.

Perhaps we shouldn't be too critical of this minister, for the bloggers are forgiving. We make silly mistakes all the time right? =) Me included.


"I failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's why, I succeed."


I slept around 3 plus last night after clearing my laundry. I set a total of five alarms since if I miss tutorials anymore I might fail the course and they are all set from 9 onwards all the way till 11. Magically, I woke up minutes before nine. So I decided it was still early, and I snoozed myself. I was only awake for less than 5 seconds to look at the clock and back to sleep again. Then the alarm rang. I also enlisted help to wake me up and I answered the call.

Must have been a reflex action, I kept on snoozing the alarm, and falling back asleep despite having very disturbed sleep. I finally got off the bed at around 10.10a.m., still early for my class. However, tiredness have forced me to move slowly, and I think I was almost late despite waking up early. The inertia was just too strong. Luckily, the bus was right there when I got down, and I was one minute early, a record. The previous tutorial group have yet to even leave the room. =)

Oh, and I think I earned my artificial participation marks this tutorial. She got smarter and she started to call people turn by turn and I didn't waste the opportunity on my turn. =) I also understood more going for tutorial. =) I think I am going to have a hardworking day today. I have plans on hiding in one corner in the library for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, because I had forced myself to wake up artificially instead of waking up naturally, I spent the rest of the day feeling extremely sleepy. I almost fell asleep in my lecture. Almost was an achievement, because I never did eventually fall asleep. I still get the gist of what he's trying to say. =)

I think I set aside too little time to actually planning the way the skit will work for my Japenese tutorial. Feeling sleepy, there is a mental block on creativity and actually writing the script. Writing is a challenge in itself because it's Japanese. We also happen to have very limited vocabulary. Not to mention I have super hard Japanese homework now. I don't know how to do more than half the question there. So much for understanding the lecture notes before tomorrow and learning from the textbook one lesson in advance. It's all a dream as time runs out. I don't know why, but people don't believe me when I tell them I really don't have time. Maybe it's an adult thing. Or people just don't want to believe me. I am just watching dreams being shattered.

Worse, I felt like I have spent lots of time actually achieving nothing. People don't understand what I want to do. And people still complain they don't get enough when they have so much already. They just want more. I also felt like I sinned today, because I ate two meals instead of one. I don't know if I sounded very stressed, but that's the way it is now. I felt like people don't understand me. I also felt that trying to be understanding almost always leads to people taking advantage of you. Maybe it's time to give up.

I wonder what on Earth I have been doing for the past eight months or so. I wonder why I missed one of those "Did you see that?" moment. I wonder why I didn't witness the next best thing on Earth, in my life. Just beautiful.




I felt so touched everytime I view those. I teared the first few times. She does not only have a lovely voice like I never heard before, she obviously got guts. And she's so mature she drives a lot of us adults to shame. At the same time, she exuberates so much youth. I think it's very sad because most adults that I know cannot even compare to a six-year old.

It also made me realise there is a lot more beauty in the world. =)

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.


I am rather sleepy now and am waiting for the laundry to complete so that I can immediately go to bed. I have some things to do actually but I really don't feel like doing them now since I am feeling really really sleepy. Worse, I could be made more awake by them and ending up sleeping somewhen later and waking up late for my class later. So I thought I'll check in the events, happenings and observations over the past few days.

From where I left off the last time, I so got the feeling that the coming Valentine's day is not going to be as good as expected. I am seriously sick, and am coughing so bad that on Wednesday night, the eve, I coughed until my nose bled. I think the high frequency of strong air through my nose have broken one of those arteries or veins or capillaries in my nose. I went to the sink immediately and on one cough, I sprayed lots of blood onto the sink. It looks almost like art, very evenly spread as if I sprayed red paint on the sink. The nosebleed was tough to stop too.

I thought I'll sleep early since more sleep = a better, nicer and more patient Wai Hong but I couldn't sleep just yet. The project is very important to me and I am waiting for e-mails from my group members as promised. Then I panic, because I waited and waited, and even after 12a.m., they still haven't mailed me. Meanwhile, I still have other things to be stressed about. I have two quizzes the next day and a piece of homework to hand up the next day, not only the project. I think Valentine's day is unfortunately, going to be my busiest day this semester.

I study and mug as hard as I could, but one thing kept bugging me. Time is running out. There is really not enough time. Then I think going home for Chinese New Year was a mistake. If only I have spent the time studying, I wouldn't be this deep in trouble now. I have studied every weekend before the Chinese New Year weekend. Everything was overwhelming. Plus, my group members have arranged for a meeting at 8a.m. on Valentine's day.

I finally got the e-mail close to 1a.m., and being very concerned and wanting to score as much marks as I could in the project, I went to redraw the same thing, just much more beautiful and nicely coloured in Photoshop instead of some UML editor. Then I went to bed, but I can't fall asleep. Coughing non-stop makes it a little harder. It also wakes you up at some unearthly hours.

I last saw the clock past four thirty. Hmmm. I guess I slept sometime after that, but before five. I woke up coughing and saw the clock, 8.04a.m.. Well done. I am supposed to meet them at 8 at the library. I need around 20 minutes to get there even if I dash out of my room immediately. It didn't help when I jumped out of my bed, my nose start to bleed again. I must have bruised it badly. I felt totally grumpy too, since that was already a few bad signs combined. Still, my hopes didn't die, yet. =)

I bathed and rushed to the library, around 1 hour late. Hmmm, they told me they have done everything we need to submit the day before already. I was just supposed to go there and check and make changes. However, there was actually a lot to do. One of our team members were crazy about the UI and insisted we draw all the UI out by hand, each and every one screen of them. That was actually a good idea, if we had a great artist. Since they also made changes to the things that they sent me on e-mail. That also means I cannot whip out my nicely made Photoshop use-case diagram because it might have errors.

I spent like the rest of the morning doing monotonous things, like drawing the same logo again and again. (Different screens mah.) That's it, time is running out, and I still haven't finished my homework and have confidence in the quiz. It took much more time than intended, and I felt so bad that I have to leave in a hurry. Then in a hurry I have to print my lecture notes and rush back so that I can get my homework book and do it. In a hurry too, nothing's coming through my mind when I am doing the homework. I simply don't understand what I am supposed to do. Hmm, I need to relax. After a while, and after getting more relaxed, I managed the homework and turned out almost late for the tutorial.

In the end I was almost 5 minutes late because I thought scoring at the vocabulary quiz is more important. I spent the final minutes before the lesson trying to memorize the whole vocabulary list but I forgot after some light-hearted conversation, I completely forgot. We really do forget things as fast as we learnt them. I guess I'll be lucky if I score 2 out of 10 for that quiz. It was a total disaster. The amount of bad signs continue to pile up and I didn't do too well for the tutorial. Was not oriented for tutorial. My mind was not there.

Then I was sitting at the side for the next quiz. I had a chance to look at everyone else's score. I scored 1 out of 5 I think. I looked through everyone's score. Mostly 3s, some 4s, one 5, one 2, one 1 and one 0. I felt a little more relieved that I was still better than one person from my row. It's time to work a little harder. My confidence was totally shattered. And I wanted to give chocolates to a lot of people, but I ended up not giving many. I didn't happen to meet a lot of people that day, or I am simply too shy to give to some. (Maybe even not close enough too.)

Some people are just not happy with what they got when they got so much already. It's nice to note that in Japan, it's the girls that give the guys chocolates on Valentine's day. And we were having Japanese lecture that day... =) Oh well, I didn't get any. Better luck next year.

Ended up eating in McDonald's for dinner. Kind of miss the fries there too. I had a prosperity burger, reminding me that Chinese New Year is not yet over. I felt miserable and I just wanted to relax and enjoy the meal slowly. Yeah, fast food is considered real food, at least to me. You don't have them all the time, and the fries were good.

Wow, fortunately today is one of the eye-opener day. You see people decked out in their best shirts/dresses, so much so that it felt 'high-class' to be on campus. You see things you don't normal see, at least I did. The day was rescued by spending some quality time. =)

I wanted Valentine's day to last a little longer, and even wanted to relive the day again. I might have done something differently, just to see what we'll get. I my heart, I was chanting, "Mo ichido! Mo ichido! Mo ichido!". But maybe, I'll do the same things all over again. I like how the radio is playing sentimental love songs that is so emotional. It's a nice day to be listening to the radio! =)

So it ended, and Friday came. I could remember my lines but not when it's my turn to get up on stage. Suddenly my mind became very narrow. I am looking at the other actor but I don't see. My eyes were blurred by the lines that I am supposed to say and when I do remember, I sped through them so that I don't forget the next few lines after. The result, I commited a mistake in the end. My lines were not smooth too so I guess I'll be penalized there. I guess I have to earn my points somewhere else. In other news, the listening quiz was rather easy, so I felt a little cheated studying hard for it. I guess people who didn't study would be able to score 5/5.

Esther is holding her birthday party Friday night in advance because she's going back to Australia to start school soon. At the start of the holidays, I was like, wow, 3 months is a long time. Now I don't feel like it's a long time at all. To me, 2008 felt like it has just started, but reality kicks in that we're already in February. Mid-Frebruary. Oh, I guess I wouldn't comment much on the present-hunting sessions in case she's reading except that we have a fun time thinking what she'll like. =)

We're horrible. I know we ended class late, but we reached there even later than after we have discounted travel time from school. Everyone have done eating and we're just in time to look at the cake-cutting ceremony. The dry ice was fun to play with. I almost didn't know everyone there. The dessert was nice too. I should have eaten less dinner and more dessert haha. Amazingly, Angela is actually very good at Uno Stacko. We only managed to make her lose once.

Since we're there late, it was short time before it's time to go. The problem is, we haven't even warmed the seat yet. It felt like we spent so much time getting there and so little time actually enjoying it. So we stayed over. Yay! We had so much fun. Angela won Cluedo again! =( I think it must be because I am getting old. I can't get past my normal sleep time anymore. Esther was going to play sparklers with Angel and I was supposed to join but a wave of confusion swept over me. All I want to do all of a sudden is to lie down and sleep. My knees felt like they didn't want to stand any longer. I lied down on the floor and the next minute I was knocked out. That was at around 5+ in the morning. The next minute, it was 8+ in the morning.

It was bad for Angela because she had a presentation that Saturday morning and she have to rush back to school. I pretty much spent the rest of Saturday sleeping. I next woke up at 8p.m., had a rather unproductive time studying and slept again. Sunday too. I pretty much slept much of Sunday, because I had such a tiring Thursday and Friday. At least I felt like I am prepared to take on this week.

I spent much effort on the homework and I think I should have done quite well. =) Had a great time at tutorial too. We sang songs during the tutorial. =) I was 10 minutes late for my first tutorial and am 10 minutes early for the next one. =) Monday ended well! Seems like it's going to be a good week. I guess part of the fuel for a great week is that the thought that the next week is mid-term break. =)

Tuesday I overslept my tutorial, but to make up for it, I spent a few hours mugging in the library, until my eyesight went. After reading a book for a while, everything else becomes blur. Resting my eyes doesn't work. Ironically, this doesn't happen if I read the same thing from a computer screen. However, I always get distracted while reading on the computer. Books were a good invention after all. Plus, I already invested the money, I want to make the most out of my books.

Perhaps it wasn't a great night to go play basketball. I can't see the rim clearly. I have lost so much strength that I was just getting pushed around. Luckily though, my moves still work. =) Had fun, that's all that matters. There were lots of comedic moments tonight.


I overslept my first CS1231 tutorial. I was not in a very good mood on Tuesday where I left off from last post. Fortunately I met with a few angels. Am fortunate enough to be caught on the same cramped bus ride. I was within 10 centimetres of her and it felt like all my troubles disappeared. Now I'll have to take the same bus ride every Tuesday, and hope that I'll be able to catch her. I am hopeless. Played basketball at night and bumped into Vanlong, after so so long.

Woah, Wai Hong was unable to adapt to the usual people's sleep cycle and hence went late for the Wednesday tutorial which his participation is counted. He also waited until he's really angry because he waited 22 minutes for his bus which had been promised to come every 7-9 minutes. So he waited for 22 minutes to take a 3 minutes bus ride when he could have walked and arrived in 15 minutes. Times are becoming more difficult nowadays.

I hate the tutorials to which participation is counted. It generates artificial participation. Then you will see one or two person on high and try to answer every question, even if you raised your hand first. Those people who genuinely wanted to participate are left out. Then there are those nice people who always allow other people to go first. They are being penalized for nothing. Let's just hope participation itself isn't such a big part of the final marks.

Face it, some tutors are just good at getting participation from the class. In my other tutorial class, participation isn't counted, but there will be people answering to question and generating good content. For everyone else, there's artificial participation you can generate by giving marks for participation.

Rushed to Bugis for Seoul Garden! =) Yay, I was really hungry after eating an average of one meal a day for two weeks. I have always realized this, but I was made to realize again, that even the simplest food taste heavenly when you are really hungry. The first few pieces of 'Char Siew Chicken' tasted really nice. I felt so satisfied. Then after two helpings of 'Char Siew Chicken overload', the third plate seemed little bland and tasteless. Then by the time it was the fourth and fifth plate, I felt like I was eating just for the sake of eating. Now I understand why Priscilla told me eating is a chore. I want to be hungry. =)

Rushed back for lecture too, since I wanted to be a good boy. I have straight bus back to Kent Ridge terminal, I just didn't know it took sooo long. It was crowded too, and on one turn where the driver hit the emergency break, I fell. I was standing near the rear exit, and all of a sudden everyone lost balance. There was a secondary school girl falling at me and I was falling towards and old uncle. I didn't want to hit anyone of them so in the flash of the moment, I grabbed the support pole and crashed my right shoulder onto the ezlink machine with a loud crack. So lucky, nobody got hurt. I didn't feel the pain too, possibly because my muscle contracted before the impact and the machine was flat so the pressure isn't that high. The machine still works too, except that it has changed direction around 90 degrees. =p

I was one hour late for lecture but fortunately for me, the one hour of lecture which I managed to make it to consisted of meaningful things. =)


Then I was enlisted to help with Angel's booth at Science. I am amazed that I can still do things like that. Having no CCAs for a while tend to lower my confidence in doing all these random works. I liked playing with the nail gun too. I miss Fun-O-Rama, where we painted our banners and played with more things. =p I was really late for my basketball appointment and I was really tired. I played bad basketball. Hopefully the next night will be better.

Then Thursday came. I studied really hard for the quiz, and wanted to do as well as I can. To my horror, I only scored 3/5 and I see a few people scoring 5/5. I also didn't do too well in my TB tutorial possibly due to pressure. I can answer, but when it is my turn, I fumble. Could have been due to bad luck as well. I know that's not scientific, but that's what it was. I'll try even better in my next TB tutorial. =) Played good basketball at night too. It felt like almost every shot is dropping for me. However, the other team was playing even better basketball. They had more chances and more dropped in for them. Then I went for a run too.

From the bad experiences of TB tutorial, then I determined to do my best for the TC tutorial too. Unfortunately, once again I had to wait 20 minutes for the bus. I was 15 minutes late for the tutorial and once I entered, I was called to perform the dialog. I haven't even caught my breath yet and it was natural to fumble a little. Luckily for me, the hard work the night before paid off. I think I'll get decent scores for the hiragana quiz. =)

I am beginning to like Japanese more and more. Starting to understand some of the Japanese songs that I listen to and they felt even better. Before this, I was listening to them because they were melodious. Now they are both melodious and meaningful. =)

Can you believe it? I spent the whole weekend studying. Nothing much else. Didn't even play basketball or run. I am starting to not be able to stand PGP food. I can only eat them when I am really hungry. Luckily for me, I am really hungry all the time. Had my first project meeting over the weekend too. Unfortunately, it wasn't as productive as I have expected. No worries, everything would be straight soon. Fortunately, everyone lives on campus, so we can always meet anytime.

I seriously want to do well for the project, so over the weekend I actually read up on UML but there were so many different specifications that most books teach a little different from another book. There was one book I liked titled 'UML Weekend Crash Course' and by now I forgot who's the author. I felt that I understood more. =)

Then came Monday, the birth to Week 4! Today I really felt on high, and I have to thank the weekend. I was supposed to wake up early on Saturday morning but I really couldn't take because of having not enough sleep for the week. Therefore, I slept a lot on Saturday and I think it is paying off on Monday. I overslept the morning lecture as usual. Then I got late again because I had to wait 20+ minutes for the bus. (Seriously, service this semester sucks.) So in the end I was 20 minutes late but no matter, I aced the tutorial I think. I understood and managed to clarify things that I didn't understand from books the night before.

TA tutorial was lightweight as well. There isn't so much preparation study to do and I almost spent the whole weekend on the CS2103 project. I didn't even do the homework that I was supposed to hand up. I spent the time right after CS2103 tutorial trying to finish the homework in a hurry. I finished 5 minutes before the TA tutorial and was hungry and so I bought food. I lapped up the food in 3 minutes then ran there, on time. =) There's penalty for being late for that tutorial but I don't mind, because I really like the tutorials. I don't want to miss a thing. =)

I think I aced the tutorial as well. Was able to answer everything. It was a lot of fun too! I must be feeling high that day. I thank having enough rest over the weekend. I conclude, I must always play basketball when I am feeling high. We were winning like mad. All possible games. We got cheered at. Had the opportunity to play with girls too. We only lost once. We came back from behind to beat other teams even if they were much taller than us. I was glad that some people actually witnessed Super Waihong that night. Oops, sorry, Ultra Waihong. =) I was feeling really good. It felt like all the shots were dropping and I am in control. For the last game, we won 7-2 and all 7 balls were scored by me. =) Yeah, I scored 5 in a row from everywhere. =) We were up 2-0 until I missed on a drive and turned the ball over. After they turned the ball over, it was over. =) I must be having the time on my life. For once I don't feel old, frail and weak. I felt like I was ready to take on the world again.

Part of the reason why I was able to do it was that there was no tutorial the next day. There is less worry on my mind too so I think that was why I could go all out. Then there was the lots of rest over the weekend. That was a very lucky day too, with tutorials going well and getting high. Hoping that this would be the turning point of my life. I want to reach the peak and stay at the peak.

Tuesday, went back to ACJC like finally. If I went back two weeks later than that, it would have been a full two years before I went back. I don't want to be away so long. Besides, I had been thinking of getting gym membership since I left school. The security guard is the same. Met Mrs. Lye too and she still hasn't changed then. In fact, she looked younger than back then. Could it be because she didn't change and we grew older instead? Honestly, madam, we don't have money to buy Fun-O-Rama tickets from you. =) Honest. The basketball board is still there, but how come there are only girls' names on the board? What happened to the guys' team? Sugarcane juice is now $0.90 but it still taste heavenly. Unfortunately, Yong Tau Foo isn't open. =(

We finally got the award where all the hard work went. Sexy.
Went to Marina Bay for steamboat. We were told by the bus driver that they were not open. All are closed for Chinese New Year. Ouch. So in the end, we went to Bugis for Seoul Garden again. It was the nearest and the nearest thing to Marina Bay Steamboat. =) Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy myself as much. I was stuck in a cramped corner, and the food just refuses to go down. Had a headache and didn't eat much in the end. Got cheated by the soursop and grass jelly. It looked so delicious. =(

Wednesday was another mad rush. I was tired after two days of not having as much sleep as I need. I was not in the mood for tutorial as all. Woke up late and went late. Not really my fault cause I really waited almost 30 minutes for the bus. It was not interesting as well. As usual, there is the artificial participation thing so I am just sianz. Contemplating not going for the lecture at 4-6 because there will be no shuttle bus after 6. I will have to take a long walk home. Got rejected by two busses that were almost 30 minutes apart so in the end I finally managed to be home after waiting at the bus stop for almost an hour. Sianz. That further let me felt that I may need to wait another hour just to get to the 4-6 lecture on time. I didn't want to walk there and walk back as well. Not in the mood. I got into a nice conversation with my cluster mates. =)

I should be rushing to Larkin right after so that I could make it in time for reunion dinner but I know better right? That there aren't going to be tickets unless I am willing to spend a lot of money. =( I also tried to get tickets early this year, but I dislike that to a certain extent because then I would be very tied down with little flexibility. Luckily when I scouted for tickets, they were all sold out. Maybe they aren't sold out. Maybe they are just kept behind so that they could sell at an expensive price. Seeing that public transport are a little slow today as well, I really don't feel like leaving that day.

I think I must have been too tired as well. I fell asleep without myself knowing for a while. It might have been a blessing in disguise. Maybe if I was later, most people would have already reached home for reunion dinner and then the demand for tickets wouldn't be as high then I would be able to get cheap tickets? My mood went a little more stable. Maybe I just didn't want to go home after all after having such a breakout week. I wanted to study harder for the four free day. Nevertheless, after everything is done, I left my room at around 10p.m.. It was perhaps a blessing in disguise because I find myself trying to catch the second last bus or train all the time. I managed to reach Larkin at 12.00a.m..!

There were tickets back to KL available immediately, but they were whopping RM80. I know if I bought a train ticket home instead from Singapore it is going to be S$38 anyway so that's actually ok, but I have decided not to get them since they are like more than 3 times their usual price of RM20+. I never took anything above RM30 back to KL by bus. I intended to keep it that way. =( I thought a lot about what to do next, whether I should go home or not. I cannot pay them RM80, because that will encourage them to do the same the next year, maybe even higher price. If we are happy, every day is New Year, and besides, I was just home around 20+ days ago. There were still busses back to Singapore, but then when I reach Singapore I have to walk home anyway. Singapore's taxi fares have risen too.

I have decided to spend the night in Larkin and take the first bus back to Singapore. I'll just take it as a walk and an unusual way to celebrate this year's Chinese New Year. See, then I can also add that to my resume, as I now have experienced spending nights over at a bus terminal. Fortunately for me too, it was not one of those silent nights. There were many, many of us who were unable to secure a ticket. The place have the festive feel. I forgot to mention there were fireworks right at 12a.m. too. At the Larkin terminal! =)

I absolutely forgot that I am supposed to be a vegetarian on the first day of Chinese New Year. And some other days too, but I totally forgot what those days are. So I went around Larkin and saw that Ramly Burger going for RM2 and looking great. I wasn't hungry, just greedy. =) It wasn't as nice as the one under my house in KL but it has it's own unique taste. I like the heavy with pepper kind of taste too. I slept from around 3.30a.m. and woke up around 5a.m.. Hey, there is a 24 hours McDonald's there. McDonald's breakfast! After converting, I realized that things are no longer cheap anymore. It is probably cheaper than Singapore by around 50 Malaysian cents.

My spirits were quite down after being subjected to the long wait. The Hotcakes with Sausages (RM7.10 after taxes, that's almost like Singapore) brought my spirits high up again. In addition, the place was playing some nice music. And I know they won't win. =)


After a really nice breakfast, I think the timing was great in a way that I should be able to board the first bus back into Singapore. Even luckier was that I decided to ask about the price of the tickets, and they lowered it to RM50. RM50 is still better than RM80, though I could have chosen to go home some other time and pay RM20+. I thought, maybe I should just go home. Or I should go back to Singapore and extend the long streak of being a good good, boy. Ok, I was sleepy too, so I decided to get the ticket and sure enough, I slept like a log throughout and woke up in KL around 10.30a.m.. I kind of regret it though. I see a rather tiring weekend ahead. =(

Took the LRT back home. I totally forgot that I was supposed to be a vegetarian on the first day of Chinese New Year, and I had a Ramly Burger and Hotcakes with Sausages. Oops. Nice to watch TV again and I kind of miss eating good vegetarian food too. From this point on, I think I am bound to get fat, because I eat and eat even if I was not feeling hungry, and I fill myself as much as I can. (Because I don't like to waste food, and all spare food comes to me.) I found out we were late and we were supposed to be visiting, and then rushed out to my grandmother's house.

Chinese New Year goodies were great and sunflower seeds were irresistible, so I continued to gobble gobble gobble. Caught up a little with relatives, and soon we were just out shopping. The queue for movie tickets gets worse year by year. Maybe there's a reason. When I was in primary school, I was told from textbook that the Malaysian population was 17 million. By the time I ended primary school, textbooks were saying 18 million. By the time I left at end of 1999, it was estimated to be 21 million. It's now 27 million. =) And somehow they are all at Mid Valley Megamall.

Went to a healthy eating cum vegetarian restaurant by the name of Nanking. Supposedly an expensive but good food restaurant. We reached there and there were no spaces at all. They were so full that all the staff were stretched super thin. When we finally got our place to sit, they keep on forgetting things that they were supposed to bring to us. Things like plates and chopsticks. It was okay because they were really doing their job and not idling around. Only problem I had was that they were refilling the tea too slow. The vegetarian fish looks and taste like real fish. Wow! The mock prawns looked like prawns but didn't taste like prawns. They made a mistake and we were accidentally rewarded with another dish we didn't order but tasted good.

In the end, the manager came personally to apologize for the seemingly poor service and promise if we come on normal days our experience would be at least much more comfortable. I didn't think they did a bad job at all. Like my entrepreneurship lecturer said the last semester, the most important thing when selling food is to have good food. I am not saying that the rest are not important, but the food must must must be good. I was already full before the meal, but since it tasted so good, I went on to finish another 3 bowls of rice. Then I was really tired and sleepy considering I didn't sleep the night before and took something like 5 hours nap on the bus out of my normal sleep time.

I really just crashed. I bathed when I get home and then slept all the way. Without myself knowing. I was just resting my head and that was all it takes to get it started. However, it didn't result in a great night sleep though I slept at an angelic time. 10p.m. but was awakened very early the next morning for breakfast. Yeah, so I ate, immediately went home and slept, and woke up immediately ate again. Terrible. I wasn't feeling hungry in the morning too. We were awake so early because we wanted to go Genting Highlands. I was actually opposed to it because all I want to do is sleep... I think that Genting Highlands is going to be even more crowded than Mid Valley Megamall. I think we are going to end up queueing for hours for whatever we are going to do.

Nevertheless, we set out for it. It was good weather that day too. We reached the Cable Car station around noon and just nice when we were there, they opened a new area for car parking and we were the first car there. Since it was so super crowded, the place immediately filled. So we were lucky! =) We walked up the escalator of the cable car station, and see that they queue was super super long. I think it'll take 3 hours to get up there. There was a senior citizen's queue and it was already super long. Then we overheard a lady saying that they are starting a bus service up the hill to ease the congestion. My father asked the counter and suddenly we're on the first bus up the hill. =) I am so excited. We're in Genting Highlands! It's 17 degrees Celcius with cool wind and lots of pretty girls! =)

We reached in 15 minutes. Then first stop we wanted to go for was the Karaoke after a good and cheap experience the last time we were there. I thought we will have to wait a long long while before we finally got our place. We were there and there's space. We reached like 2.35p.m. or something, then we saw one of the small brochures that there's an offer for tea time. It's RM12 per pax for 2 hours of karaoke, a drink and waffles if you ordered a hot drink. It starts at 3 p.m. though, but we didn't mind waiting because it was soon. The karaoke place seems amazingly quiet for the occasion. We could get in immediately, but it would cost RM38 per pax for 3 hours karaoke and nothing else. Of course as any other sane person, we will wait. There were a few pretty girls waiting too. =)

The milkshake was great! =) Then they have lion dance everywhere, and we were told to open our doors at 3.30p.m. where the 'lion' will dance around. The atmosphere was great and it finally felt like it's Chinese New Year. =) Of course, we sang our lungs out. Then we headed to the arcade. The indoor theme park as it was formerly called, has much less rides now. Even the number of arcade machines have diminished. However, we saw a lot more of basketball arcade machines, like one whole row of them. Possibly around 10 machines. The prices of arcade games took a spike too. It is now RM3 minimum for any game. That's really really expensive and unreasonable. However, in the name of fun... We worked hard too, we made sure we score around 100 tickets per RM3 spent. =p

There was nice things to watch at the arcade too. There was a guy who was tall and his hand is long enough to just push the ball into the net. Amazing! Then there was this girl who was automatic, like a machine. She just kept on shooting and all the balls had the same arc, rhythm and ends up the same result. Swish, clean through. That was some fun. Then we were headed to the bowling alleys. This time we weren't so lucky. We were in the queue and there were lanes. But they ran out of lanes by the time it's our turn. We ended up put our names on waiting list, but as soon as we return from a short toilet break, there were lanes for us. =) And there were a lot of pretty girls waiting for lanes too. =)

The game ended pretty well. I would say it was one of my best bowling games considering the number of bowling games I played in my life. I didn't longkang much, had two strikes in each game, a couple of 8s and 9s and a couple of 1s. I don't know why. For a few times in a row, I keep hitting the rightmost pin for the 1 point. There was a pretty girl on the lane to my right. =) Then we were just walking around First World Hotel since supposedly all the indoor entertainment are going to be moved there. We had bowling there too, and was just walking around. Then my sister all of a sudden become very interested in going into the snowhouse. The price is a little steep, like RM17 per person but I think it may be exciting and I haven't been to a snowhouse since I was very young at the Mine's Wonderland.

We had Marrybrown for dinner! =) I totally miss the Nasi Marrybrown. I used to eat those at the Marrybrown opposite Kota Raya when I was Form 1. (It has since closed down.) Everything is expensive up there I think. They were selling pisang goreng, at RM6 for 4. That's a rip off. How about a stick of 3 fish balls for RM2.5? It seemed even worse. Even the prices of things ar Marrybrown was high, I think it might be higher just because it's a tourist attraction place. I don't know, I paid RM10+ (less than RM11) for my Nasi Marrybrown with a drink.

The snowhouse! =) They provide jacket but I didn't want to wear their snow boots since your own shoes are allowed. It wasn't the same pair that I wore to China in 2002 but I think the feeling is going to be the same. I remember I was having a miserable time because I wore three layers of socks and still felt like I was stepping on the snow bare feet. It is only going to be 30 minutes, I guess nothing much can happen. Nothing much happened at first. It didn't feel like -5 degrees Celcius. It just felt colder than outside. Until we started hurling ice at each other. It burns. Gotta be quick to dust the ice off yourself. One time a lot ended up in my ears, and my ears hurt really bad.

There were something like a sleigh ride except we were sitting on inflated tubes. The ride was really bumpy and I think they had too many people going down the ride at some point, and I was not able to get off my tube fast enough. I got hit straight on, did the half sommersault and landed flat on my left. Luckily though, it didn't hurt and I was not injured. Kind of contemplating my mortality for a moment. Imagine if that was a car, or a lorry, and I might have been done for. The ride was a little too bumpy for comfort too but it was fun! =) They were giving either yoghurt or ice cream free inside the snowhouse. Imagine how cold it can get! We all took the yoghurt though. Can't imagine the ice-cream.

Some people threw up. Some people ran out and you can see that their whole face turned pink. I ran out a few times too. Some of the ice managed to make it's way into my shoe, and all of a sudden, I cannot feel my feet anymore. Ran out, emptied the ice from my foot, did some jogging on the spot before going in again. And then there was the time when a lot of ice went into my right ear. It really hurts and I can't empty it fast enough with the gloves. Even after the visit ended, I still can't feel my right ear for some time. It was no doubt RM17 was expensive, but it felt kind of worth it. Perception of value changed. Time really passes fast when we're having fun. When we ended, it was approximately 10.10p.m., and we made our way to the cable car.

We were thinking why there isn't a single soul queueing up for the cable car, it turned out that it wasn't in operation because there was a big technical problem that was unable to be resolved. We were directed to take the older cable car to Awana Resort instead and get down from there. Hmm, the queue for that would probably take another 3 hours. A taxi driver was trying to poach people to take his services down the hill, which I think will be exorbitantly priced. It's Chinese New Year, we're in dilemma, and the taxi down the hill were expensive in the first place. I remember very long ago, before my father got a car, it was RM200 per taxi from Pudu Raya to Genting Highlands.

Then someone came over and announced that they are going to start free bus services down the hill. We were right at the back of the queue, so we got out of the queue easy. We ended up first in the queue for the bus! =) And we were back to the lower cable car station in 15 minutes. =) Wow. But we played all day, and were really tired.

We became smarter, we know just what we need to beat the super long queue at Mid Valley Megamall cinema. Actually, I really wanted to spend at least the third day of Chinese New Year, at home sleeping, because I am really really tired. Oh well, in the name of fun. =) We booked our ticket. Since we know that everyone was trying to call in the afternoon to book the ticket, we booked ours after midnight. On the first call, we connected! =)

Third day, wake up early, eat breakfast which is actually a heavy meal. Ate bak kwa! =) And other Chinese New Year goodies too. Though I am full, I cannot help it, I just want to eat. Drank Kickapoo, =) which I rarely see nowadays. When we reached Mid Valley Megamall again, my sister was craving the Asam Laksa since she rarely gets to eat when she's at university. So we sat down and eat again. I got sick, and was sneezing non-stop. It soon turned out to be cough and I was coughing non-stop. Right about time. The pattern has repeated itself for quite some time now. Every time I go home, I get sick. If I stayed at home for an extended period of time and healed, then I'll get sick again when I come back to Singapore.


The movie was okay. I mean, I went into the cinema hoping to see a good comedy, but it turned out to be quite a sad story. What's worse was that it repeated the same words a lot of times, sort of reflecting my own life. A poor life. And he's naggy. Not something I want to see, especially when we're all happy and not thinking about worries, this Chinese New Year. I was having so much fun I completely forgot I have to get back to Singapore and study soon. At some point, I forgot who I was or something. We were just having good food and a good time. In the end, I felt like I got cheated of my RM12. It was RM12, because we had to pay RM1 extra for making phone booking. What happened to the RM7 movie tickets? I am not complaining though, because it's now $10.50 in Singapore on weekends. =) Had large caramel pop-corn! =) I heard from my friends that Kung Fu Dunk was rather lame too so maybe we had a blessing in disguise. =)

Had a great meal for dinner at a restaurant in Cheras, I think. My KL geography isn't exactly that great. I liked the Marmite Ribs the best. I stuffed myself with at least three bowls of rice again. (Because I lose count, I eat either three or four.) Come to think of it, every meal at home, I ate at least 3 bowls of rice. My father went crazy buying dessert. My sister said he bought two cans of each possible dessert. Like peach, longan, lycee, pineapple etc etc. We had longan for dessert that night. I gobbled a few more bak kwa before retiring and taking a long ride back to Singapore.

The ride home was miserable, because I was coughing so bad. I was on the window seat and it was really really cold because the air-cond blows at me when you make it blow at nothing. (Sideways) I took some clothes out of my bag and just covered myself with it through out the journey. Some people couldn't find a ticket back to their home and this family who's going home to Skudai actually paid the driver so that they could stand the whole bus ride. They eventually got off at Ayer Itam. I feel bad for them because they are like under the mercy of the bus driver. The bus driver was nice to them and offered to call a friend to bring them back to Skudai from Ayer Itam but his friend will be charging them RM10 per head. See why I don't like to go home during Chinese New Year?

Amazingly, there was no causeway jam. (I was taking Second Link.) I reached Jurong East and there was straight bus back to the back of PGP. As I was tired, I knocked out the rest of the day, and then proceeded to spend the rest of the night studying for the quiz the next day. I am always motivated to do well and work hard for all these quiz, but there's one problem, I am just not doing well at them. Maybe my strategy was bad or maybe I just need to study with someone. The worst possible scenario is cannot remember what was the word needed during the quiz. It happens, and right after the quiz I'll be like AHA! Then there was the equally bad that I remember how to write it in romaji, but fumble with the hiragana/katakana. Like only one character off. Still no marks.

I overslept the first lecture on Monday again, and I have perfect non-attendance for that one hour lecture. I can gain at least 4 hours of sleep time just by skipping it. Plus I need all the time I can get to mug for my quiz. Was early for my first tutorial on Monday, and I think that tutorial was great. There was no tutorial questions to prepare for and we were just doing our project. Then the time to pit all my studies for the quiz came. Ooh, I knew all the answers to the first vocabulary quiz in romaji, but I think I missed the writing part. Sigh. Then the katakana quiz was worse. I was practising lots of katakana before the lesson but I think they make you use hiragana for the vocab quiz just to confuse you or something. Right after the vocab quiz was katakana quiz and all of a sudden, my mind only has hiragana! I got totally owned by the quiz. I felt like crying.

I wanted to drown my sorrows by playing basketball. In the end I got owned too. Never mind, Tuesday came and I was late for the tutorial. Feeling the aftermath of the Chinese New Year week, and I wished I had more time to prepare for everything. I studied throughout every weekend except the last weekend and I think I am playing for it. Nothing seemed right anymore. I volunteered to help my junior at programming, but I got owned by the question. I feel so sorry for him. His deadline was 9a.m. in the morning and there was nothing much we can do. We can of course, try to do it from scratch and don't sleep all night long for it. Confidence crumbled a little. I have to review my programming.

I studied for the next morning and guess what? I think I am getting immune to my own alarms. I need to set new alarms or have alarms with different tune. I set five alarms and I overslept my tutorial on Wednesday. The one that have special requirement to attend at least 80% of the tutorials. Oh no, I am in trouble. I got no more wild cards left. I felt so so so bad, and this is me here, blogging.

I've just got surprises in my inbox. Lessons learnt, never check your exchange e-mail unless you have a project or awaiting mail. They almost never give good news. It's titled Fee Review and Adjustments but the title is misleading. It's more proper if they put Fee Hike/Fee Rise/Fee Increase. Short and straight to the point. Reason being nothing got cheaper, and everything got more expensive. No adjustments were being made, only increments. I felt extremely sad for the cohort entering this coming academic years. Guys who were in army were not affected, thankfully.

I can just tell you how much it costs now as a Foreign student. I am already permanently reduced to one meal a day and instant noodles/bread/mixed rice combo. I think those coming in this coming year can't even have money to eat. The loans have been beefed up, but that does mean you owe the bank even more money at the end of your course. I already owe banks $10k a year but those of you coming in this coming year will owe banks around $14k a year. My tuition fees is $6720 a year. (Well, after you add this fees that fees etc it comes up to around $7k plus.) Coming soon, a person same as me would have to pay $9540, a year. No joke.

And the worse thing... I'll just let you see. I don't even feel like commenting about it.

Soon, hostel will be a luxury, only for the VIPs.
I can't help but to feel that I'll have a bleak Valentine's Day ahead. This would be the don't know how many Valentine's Day which I should be doing something, but I don't have money. I don't even have enough money to pay for the air ticket of the Work and Travel USA. I was half hoping that I'll get at least some ang baos so that I'll at least have some money for a decent day, but it got absorbed into my bus trips back and forth, if you know what I mean. The red packet economy isn't that blooming this year. Plus, I am not really in a good mood after the fees rise news and accidentally miss an important tutorial. Plus, I have a project deadline, two quizzes and a homework deadline tomorrow. Plus, I'll have to meet my project group later for project which takes time off preparations.

I just hope and pray that I'll have a nice little day. =)

Happy Valentine's day, in advance.


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. =)

Angel * Carol * Esther * Michael * Mindy * Samantha * Seraphina

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