The Miz River 明志江河ミジ川

"The Miz River" is 3 Years Old!!!

2009-03-30T22:07:00.002+08:00

Celebrating 3 Years of "The Miz River"
Wow, can't believe that 3 years has past after opening the 2nd blog. Well, I can't believe that I'm getting so old... I better make full use of my youth before I slowly become an uncle... =p

Busy Period
Indeed, now is the busiest period, with many projects to rush, reports to be written and assignments to catch up. Almost no time to do other stuff though. Anyway, got to go off to do my work now. =(

More Hectic Days Ahead

2009-02-09T18:32:00.002+08:00

Meetings and Meetings
Hmm... Now the workload get more and more intensive. Recently had quite a number for meetings for my EE3001 project and my EE4210 networking project. Well, I think I need to work harder for my computer networks, considering the fact that I'm still quite new to computer networks (as compared to my friend KV and JJ).

Initially, I thought CS2106 Operating Systems would be a horror module (after some rumours from my friends). Now, I think that EE4210 Computer Communication Networks II is much more of a horror... Ok, maybe I'm still new to those socket programming, internet protocols etc., so there are some concepts that I haven't grasp yet though...

Anyway, all the first few project reports and lab assignments are due-ing soon. After that, there will be a bigger wave of work assignements and projects that I have to handle. Hmm... Maybe I should have taken some light electives that are not related to what I'm majoring in...

Chinese New Year
Basically the same thing. Eat a lot of goodies, visit relatives, received red packets, etc. Well, today is already the last day of Chinese New Year, so after that, I'm going to tabulate how much I've collected during the 15 days of CNY. Hmm... See if I can buy anything good with the money that I've collected... :P

Sundown Marathon 2009
After some persuation from my sister and my friends, I've decided to sign up for Sundown Marathon 2009 (42km). Well, it's held on 30-31 May (yup, and overnight run), and I don't think it will clash with my in-camp training, which is rumoured and more or less confirmed to be held on Dec 2009. Hmm... Just hope my ICT doesn't clash with Singapore Marathon 2009 though (ok, I suppose the ICT doesn't start in the middle of the exam period)... =p

First Post of the Year

2009-01-12T16:52:00.004+08:00

Year 2009
Ya, I'm know that I'm 12 days late, but anyway, Happy Belated, Belated, ..., Belated New Year. This will be my 1st post for the year, and just for your information, this is my 200th post for this blog. Time to Celebrate!!!

Modules Allocated
Well, just for your information, this will be the modules that I'll be taking this semester.
CS2106 - Operating Systems
EE3001 - Project
EE4210 - Computer Communication Networks II
EE4218 - Embedded Hardware System Design
IE2130 - Quality Engineering I
The good news is I managed to secure all my 5 modules with just 1 bid point each! =)

Anyway, the bidding is really exciting this semester for me, especially for IE2130 (I managed to get the other 4 modules in Round 1A for just 1 bid point). Well, After using up a lot of programme points for some of my modules (FNA1002X: 1221 points, EE2001: 710 points, EG1413: 305 points), I was only left with 2509 points when the bidding start. Well, the bid point for IE2130 went up to 3000 points in Round 1A, so I did not get the module in the first place. Nevertheless, I decided to wait till Round 2C, because IE2130 is offered as breadth for non-engineering students, and students from engineering (bidding as program module) and non-engineering (bidding as breadth) will be competing with the same quota. Knowing that not many non-engineering students would want to take engineering module as breadth, I decided to wait.

Eventually, I managed to get IE2130 after all the waiting. The good thing is that out of the 20 vacancies available, there are exactly 20 bidders bidding for this module. In that case, I managed to get the module for 1 bid points! Haha, at least I didn't waste my time waiting... =)

Well, thought of taking EE3208 (Embedded Computer Systems Design) in the first place, but I received many bad comments about my suggested combination (CS2106, EE3001, EE3208, EE4210, EE4218). Some people say that I'll have a very "fun" time with this combination, so I've decided to take up another Technical Elective instead. I chose IE2130 because there's no project involved (just 25% mid-term and 75% exams).

Anyway, lessons have just started today, so this would be the start of another exhausting semester...

More Modules to Consider

2008-12-28T20:53:00.004+08:00

The 5th Module
Well, I just realised that the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music is offering some electives. Those modules need to go through audition first before one can be admitted in the course, but never mind, I can give it a try. :P

Anyway, my revised list of my 5th module would be:
EE3208 - Embedded Computer Systems Design
GEK1054 - Music in the Global Context
IE2130 - Quality Engineering I
LSM1301 - General Biology
MA2202 - Algebra I
PH2110/GEM2006 - Logic

Results and Modules

2008-12-26T13:05:00.003+08:00

Results Out!
Ok, the exams results are out. Well, it's not fantastic, but it's not bad either, so at least that isn't so bad. Ok, here is the summary of modules that I've taken.

Modules Taken Summary
CS1101C Programming Methodology (Engineering Only)
CS1102C Data Structures and Algorithms
CS1231 Discrete Structures
CS1281 C++ to Java
CS2102 Database Systems
CS2103 Software Engineering
EC1301 Principles of Economics
EE2001 Project
EE2005 Electronics
EE2006 Digital Design
EE2007 Microprocessor Systems
EE2009 Signals
EE2012 Analytical Methods In ECE
EE3204 Computer Communication Networks I
EE3207 Computer Architecture
EE4214 Real-Time Embedded Systems
EG1108 Electrical Engineering
EG1413 Critical Thinking And Writing
EG1471 English For Academic Purposes (Engg)
EG2401 Engineering Professionalism
EG3602 Vacation Internship Programme
FNA1002X Financial Accounting
GEK1002 Introduction to Japanese Studies
GEK1505 Living with Mathematics
HR2002 Human Capital in Organizations
MA1505 Mathematics I
MA1506 Mathematics II
MLE1101 Introductory Materials Science And Engineering
PC1432 Physics IIE
SSA2202 Changing Landscapes of Singapore

Modular Credits Summary
ULR: 24/28 (85.71%)
Program: 84/120 (70.00%)
- Faculty: 10/10 (100.00%)
- Course: 74/110 (67.27%)
UEM: 8/12 (66.67%)
Total: 116/160 (72.50%)

Modules for Next Semester
Ok, these are my confirmed modules:
CS2106 Operating Systems
EE3001 Project
EE4210 Computer Communication Networks II
EE4218 Embedded Hardware System Design

Currently I'm stil deciding on my 5th module, and this is the list of modules that I've considered:
EE3208 Embedded Computer Systems Design
IE2130 Quality Engineering I
LSM1301 General Biology
MA2202 Algebra I
(and still considering other modules too)

Well, it can be a little headache when you still cannot decide what module to take...

Post Exams Matter

2008-12-09T20:05:00.006+08:00

Exams Over!!!
Ok, think I'm a bit late about posting this, since my exams ended more than 1 week ago. Well, this time round, I can't expect to get good grades for the exams, since I didn't really have much motivation and time (yes, still can't forget about the hectic EE2001/EE3207/EE4214 projects). But well, Engineering is about hectic design projects (otherwise why is it still called engineering). Well, more good semesters to come, especially when I have to embark on my B.Eng. Dissertation in about half a year time.

For this semester, think the best I could expect would be a B+ for my EE2001 and EE3207. Well, it's very difficult to get any grade below B for project modules like EE2001, unless you put in almost 0 effort for the project. For EE3207, the lecturer said that he'll give the top 30% of the EE3207 cohort A, and the remaining 70% will get a B (unless the person contributed nothing, or has almost 0 knowledge about computer architecture). So basically, I should expect around B+ for EE3207, given that our group did decently well for the 70% project.

Tentative Modules for Next Semester
Hmm... Think for next semester, these will be the modules I'll tentatively be taking:
CS2106 - Operating Systems
EE3001 - Project (Technology Assessment)
EE4210 - Computer Communication Networks II
EE4218 - Embedded Hardware System Design
One more module (still undecided yet)

Well, I heard horror stories about CS2106, but nevertheless I'll still be taking this module (otherwise how can I still call myself a Computer Engineer). Anyway, I've already made a mistake by taking EE4214 without taking CS2106 (EE4214 requires a lot of knowledge on Operating Systems by the way), so this time I'm going to make it up by taking CS2106 next semester. =P

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2008
Yup, this year I took part in the full marathon, again. Even though I did very badly last year by coming back 6h 23min (chip time) later, I told myself that I should try again and improve on my timing, so I've decided to spend more time training for this year's marathon.

Hmm... Unfortunately I'm one of the victim for the flu bug, so I still haven't fully recover when the day of the marathon came. Well, even though my father advised me not to run for the marathon (because I might suddenly get heart attack and die, like how some people died during the run), I told him that I'll be going at my own slower pace, so that I'll not make my heart overwork.

Anyway, I expected to come back at a later time this year, because of that stupid flu, but well, didn't expect that my slow jog can be quite fast... =P Ok, I've realised that I tend to walk fast and in big steps, and yup, that's the advantage of having longer legs. =) Anyway, managed to finish the whole thing by 5h 37 min (chip time), which is like more than 40 minutes shorter than last year.

Well, will be taking part for the full marathon next year again (if I have nothing important going on during that day), and hopefully I can get better results. =)

Exam Period

2008-11-29T22:18:00.005+08:00

Exams
It's the exam period. A lot of people started studying and preparing for their examinations a few weeks before the study break starts. Exceptional people like me only started studying and preparing one day before my 1st examination started. Ya, modules like EE3207 (Computer Architecture) are eating up my exam revising period because the project can stretch and extend up the the exam peiod... Anyway, our group manage to submit our project before our exams started, even though we faced a lot of problems with the clock for the 8051 processor (which we eventually managed to solve it by making the intruction execute at the down-clock instead). Well, I'm expecting my results to plummet since I haven't prepare much for my exams (and my CA results aren't so fantastic either). Thought of taking EE3208 (Embedded Computer Systems Design) as one of my technical electives next semester, but after getting "tortured" by that TTT for EE3207 (and yup, he's teaching EE3208 too), I have to think twice (or even many times) before deciding whether I should take EE3208 or not...

Well, at this point of time, I've completed 3 exams, and left that notoriously difficult EE4214 (Real-Time Embedded Systems) exam to go. Hmm... Can't put too much hope for that module, and if I can get a C for that module, I'll be happy enough... Well, for the 3 exams that I've taken, I've written quite a lot of rubbish for HR2002 (Human Capital in Organizations), answered a number of parts wrongly for EE3204 (Computer Communication Networks I), and "tikam" all 40 questions for my EE3207 exams. Well, can't depend on my rest of my module as well... Hmm... The EE3207 exam is one of the most "challenging" exam that I've attempted. Imagine the lecturer can ask you any questions that come from other sources (eg. computer magazines, newspaper, websites of some electronic companies, datasheets of some microprocessors etc.) and mostly NOT from the lectures... Hmm... Since the exam is MCQ based (and makes up only 30% of the overall grade), of course almost everybody will "tikam" all the questions (except for those exceptional ones who have read everything from the universe about computers).

Anyway, after completing (or almost completing at this point of time) this semester, I learnt one very important lesson. Choose your modules and/or your technical electives wisely...

Another Postless Months

2008-10-30T22:14:00.002+08:00

Projects and Projects...
Ok, another month without much interesting post. Now I'm trying to meet the deadlines for all my projects, so I'll be very busy for the next few weeks. Haix... I wonder why Singapore universities must be so "special"...

Term Break?

2008-09-27T16:34:00.002+08:00

Still Have to Go Back to School...
The term break is here, but well, I'm still going back to school to try to do as much EE2001 stuff as possible. It's almost the end of the term break, and I still haven't started my PCB design... Ok, my program for the user and the PIC are not completely ready too... Anyway, I decided to give a break for EE2001, so that I can do other stuff.

Hmm... There's also EE3207 project and HR2002 project too, which I had not started doing any of those yet... Ok, I better read up the article my project mate sent me for HR2002, so that I could at least come up with some points for the project. For EE3207, I still don't understand what I should do for the project... Ok, maybe I need some help here... For EE4214, I'm helping out with the hardware portion with Kavan and Evonne. Well, hopefully the task isn't as difficult though. Once done, maybe we could help out with some of the software portion (if we managed to complete the hardware part before time).

Oh well, think people like me are fated to overwork during the undergraduate period. I just want this semester to end...

This would be one of the busiest semester...

2008-08-29T12:16:00.005+08:00

Projects, Assignments...
Well, school have already started for 3 weeks now. Out of the 5 modules that I'm taking, 4 of the modules have projects... Yup, it's only the 3rd week, and I'm already quite busy with project meetings for 2 modules. I wonder what would happen to me during the 6th or 7th week of the academic semester, when the projects for the other 2 modules start coming in... Probably I'll be like the NUS architecture student, where I have to stay-in in campus to meet the project deadlines. Ok, at least my timetable aren't so pack with lectures, tutorials or labs. I suppose that is to give us more time for the project bah.

EE2001 Lab Quiz and EE3204 Test 1
Just had my EE2001 Familirization Lab Quiz yesterday, and I think I could at most get 50% for the whole quiz. Yup, some of the questions are not really found on the lab manual (and require us to do some research from the books or internet)... Ya, anyway, I shouldn't be thinking too much about the quiz, which only makes up 10% of the whole thing, and focus on other important matters.

Yup, very soon I'm going to have my EE3204 Test, and yet I still don't understand the networking lectures... Well, probably the lecturer had feed us too much information to us, that I couldn't grasp the concepts properly... I also look through the 1st tutorial, and I find that the tutorial is not so related to what he is teaching. The lectures are more abstract, while the tutorials involve a lot of calculations... Well, I suppose that I have to read up on my own for the module though (even though I don't know if I had that time and discipline to do so). Oh well, if I could get at least 50% for the test, I'll be jumping for joy...

Timetable
For those interested, this is my timetable for this semester.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8am-9am
9am-10am			HR2002 (S)
10am-11am		EE4214 (L)	HR2002 (S)		EE3207 (T)[E]
11am-12pm		EE4214 (L)	HR2002 (S)
12pm-1pm
1pm-2pm
2pm-3pm			EE4214 (T)[E]	EE2001 (LAB)	EE3204 (T)
3pm-4pm			EE3204 (L)	EE2001 (LAB)
4pm-5pm			EE3204 (L)	EE2001 (LAB)
5pm-6pm
6pm-7pm			EE3207 (L)
7pm-8pm			EE3207 (L)
8pm-9pm
9pm-10pm

EE2001	Project
EE3204	Computer Communication Networks I
EE3207	Computer Architecture
EE4214	Real-Time Embedded Systems
HR2002	Human Capital in Organizations

3 More Days!!!

2008-07-30T10:02:00.005+08:00

Almost Over
Yup, just 3 more days, and I'll be leaving the company. Well, there's only 1 week of break before school reopens, so I better "chiong" more games, movies and so on, before school starts. Anyway, the company just moved from Kent Ridge Lab to Fusionopolis. Well, it's nearer to the MRT station now, so I can choose to take a bus from Buona Vista station to Fusionopolis (and vice versa), or I could choose to have a 20 minutes walk from the station to Fusionopolis (and vice versa).

Anyway, the student lab is much bigger now, so I have more working space over here, as compared to Kent Ridge Lab. Well, since the company only moved during my last week of internship, I can only "enjoy" the new building for 4 days (and after that, it's back to Kent Ridge for studies).

Ok, once internship is over, I will have to rush up for my 15-20 pages internship report. Still don't know what to write for the report though...

Modules Bidding
Hmm... Can't believe that I spent 710 points for EE2001 project module. Well, it just that I have EE3204 on Wednesday afternoon, and the other people wants to take GEM2900, in which one of the lecture slot falls on Tuesday afternoon, so we only have one choice left EE2001 lab - Thursday afternoon. Yup, as expected, Thursday is the most popular slot, due to some reason. Wednesday is the least popular, with only 18 out of 70 filled (ya, one of EE2007 lecture and EE3204 lecture falls on Wednesday afternoon). Think they really have to improve on the timetabling management and EE2001 module registration...

Well, still have to bid for at least 1 more module. I still haven't decide what is that module I'm going to bid though...

3 More Weeks!!!

2008-07-14T09:09:00.004+08:00

3 More Weeks of Internship
Ok, now I'm already starting to count down. Well, once internship is over, I'll only have 1 short week of break, and back to school again. Yup, I predict that next semester will be busier than the past few semesters, as I have at least 2 modules that are project intensive (EE2001 - Project, EE3207 - Computer Architecture). Well, just hope that I could still survive in one piece after this semester...

Ok, now I'm planning what to write for the internship report. Kind of difficult to write a 15-20 page report when there's not much things to do. Yup, as contary to what my supervisor has said that is finishing the work makes report writing easier, I feel that it is what you have done and how much you have learn from the internship that makes report writing easier, rather than whether I could finish my task or not... Well, going to pester my supervisor for more work (else I'll be doing nothing for the next 3 weeks).

Who Is That Fake "MiZ"?
I have noticed someone has posed as "MiZ" and reply on the message tag, so I decided to do a check. Yup, the person who posed as "MiZ" and "wh" on 13 Jul 08 are from the same IP address (yes, exactly the same). Ya right, why would WH and me be so bo-liao to use the same internet point (or even the same computer) to post and reply the message tags...

Just want to say to the person who pose as "MiZ" and "wh", you have targeted the wrong person (who major in Computer Engineering) =). Please admit if you are the one =P.

PS. I'm using Windows Vista to surf this blog when I'm at home, NOT Windows XP. So try harder if you want to pose as "MiZ" in the future =P.

The Almost Unremovable Green Chip

2008-07-01T12:33:00.002+08:00

Still Not Used to Normal Life
After 2 weeks of ICT, I still haven't remove the mindset of a green life. I wasn't so prepared to go back to work, from the point that I still cannot wake up at 6am to prepare myself for work. As I was going to the canteen for lunch, I took out my IC to prepare myself, just to find out that I have to find a stall and pay for the food... Hmm...

Anyway, on my first day of work after ICT, I spent 30% of my time sleeping, 30% of my time surfing irrelevant stuffs on the net, 20% of my time reading newspaper, 10% of my time for lunch and breaks, and the remaining 10% of my time working (9.9% for surfing relevant information, and 0.1% on coding). Yup, I'm still in that 'Green' mode... Hmm... How interestingly for me to allocate my time for my work that has modular credits... Well, I don't mind doing nothing for the internship, just that I'll get worried about how I should fill in my 15-20 pages internship report if I had nothing much to do and write... Oh well, at must I get a 'CU' grade for my internship if I couldn't hand up my report, or my report is totally trash...

Well, there's also nothing much I can do for the internship currently, except to find out a method to resize my image on the program (using Video for Windows), in which I had the whole of week 5 (and probably this week and the next few weeks) figuring out how to do such stuff. Hmm... Anyone out there good at Visual C++ willing to help me out on this part? I just hope I won't be stuck on the same spot for the next 5 weeks...

End of HK ICT

2008-06-28T19:54:00.003+08:00

The 1st High-Key ICT (2nd Overall ICT)
For the past 2 weeks, I've been taking this ICT as a break from my intern. The second week of the ICT is more tiring than the first week though. Anyway, for the last week, we went through a 6km route march (with SBO and Signal Set), a mini (but kind of disastrous) outfield, and some stores and logistics to get ready for out-process. Didn't really sleep as much for that last week though, which is not really good for me since I won't be sleeping much for the remaining 5 weeks of internship (and also the next 13 academic weeks in NUS)...

Well, ICT is over, which means my so-called "Green Vacation" is over, so I have to continue doing C++ programming for my internship (in which I face very severe problems with coming up with the programs), and 1 more report for the internship (which I don't know what to write to fill up at least 15 pages of the main content). Haix... Maybe I should have taken graded modules instead of internship as my Unrestricted Elective Modules...

The Greens (A Break from Intern)

2008-06-21T16:51:00.003+08:00

The Greens: Good or Bad?
Ok, gone back for the annual in-camp training (ICT) again, and another 1 more week to go. Well, this time we have to go outfield, which can be kind of "sian"... Well, never mind, 2 days outside to feed the mosquitoes (and other bloodsucking insects). Back to cookhouse food again (which is sometimes good and sometimes bad), bt at least I don't have to spend too much money on breakfast, lunch and dinner outside (especially if none of my family members who knows how to cook are free to do so).

Hmm... Just taken my IPPT yesterday. Think there's something wrong with the 2.4km running station (luckily I didn't face that problem). Probably the sensor are getting old that it's kind of like Hong Joo's EE2001 group project (sometimes working, sometimes not working).

Anyway, after 1 year of not touching the signal stuffs, I've kind of forgotten how to operate them. Of course, the signals I'm refering to is the SAF Signals, not the NUS EE2009 Signals, one of the disgusting module I've taken (even though they are a bit related). Haha, hopefully I don't lay the lines wrongly when going outfield this coming week...

Anyway, the good thing about this ICT is that I get to have a break from my intern. Yup, haven't been sleeping for the first 5 weeks of my intern, so this ICT is a very good time to catch up with my sleep. =P Ok, maybe I should have taken graded modules instead of getting a vacation internship. I realised that the ICT pays better than my internship ($620/mth for NS ICT compared to $550/mth for internship). >_< Oh well, I've made the right choice by applying leave from my company to go for ICT (else I'll have less money this month, and I'll face a lot of administrative problems with defering, and it is not good to defer for High Key ICT).

Haix... Still have 5 more working weeks to go + one 15-20 pages report to write after my ICT. Now, who wants to take over my intern position?

I'm Surprised...

2008-06-01T22:54:00.002+08:00

Results Out...
Well, it's out 2 days ago. I'm surprised with my EE2012 results. Managed to get a B+, which is surprisingly good (in my standard). Still remember getting only 29/100 for my 2nd test, which is considered as one of the bottom 5-10% of the cohort. It seems that people are doing quite badly for the exams. Well, moral of the story, the 20% test doesn't affect much about the final grades...

Ok, now that I've passed CS2103, EE2007, EE2012, FNA1002X and GEK1505, I can start packing and tidy up all my lecture notes and textbook.

For next semester, I'll be taking EE3204 (Computer Communication Networks I) and EE3207 (Computer Architecture) as my core modules. If timetable permits, I'll take EE2001 (Project), if not I might consider EE3001 (Project). The (tentative) Technical Elective I might be taking is EE3206 (Introduction to Computer Vision and Image Processing). If they permits, I might be taking HR2002 (Understanding Human Relations in the New Economy), otherwise I'll take up another Technical Elective.

PS. I don't like my current job... =(

And It's Over...

2008-05-08T21:44:00.003+08:00

Exams Come and Go
Yup, finish all my exams. Well, just hope that I can at least pass my core modules, and get a grades at least good enough to S/U my electives (if they are not so well done).

Think the worst paper that I had is EE2012 (Analytical Methods in ECE). Yup, leave a question completely blank about Random Process, since I still don't understand what the topic is about (even though it could be quite important in Communications and Networks)...

There's also another difficult question in EE2012 about Conformal Mapping relating to electric fields. Yup, I hate electric fields and electromagnetism, so another "no-go" topic for me. Luckily, I don't have to take EE2011 (Engineering Electromagnetics). Heard from the majority of the EE students that this module is really a killer. Why? Because if you are weak in just at least one of this modules, that is MA1505 (Calculus), MA1506 (Mathematical Modelling), PC1432 (Physics IIE), or EG1108 (Electrical Engineering), you are doomed for this module (and this applies to majority of the students). Ok, I supposed the bell-curve is kind enough to help the majority of the students (like PC1432).

Ok, I stop babbling about exams, since it's over. Just hope that I can get at least a D for EE2012, so that I don't have to retake (the CAP might hurts a little though). It's ok anyway, the only module that requires EE2012 is EE4103, which is just only an elective.

Almost End of Semester
Well, can't believe that I'm reaching the end of Computer Engineering Stage 2. Thought I only just registered for my current semester modules. Well, maybe time flies when you have to meet many deadlines for assignements. Anyway, there won't be much holidy for me this vacation this semester though, looking at the fact that I still have the "green agenda" on the 2nd half of June, as well as doing something else as well.

Ok, time to roughly plan out the modules for next semester. Well, what I can say is that I'll be taking all programme modules for the next academic year, so most likely I'll clear the rest of ULR and UE modules on my 4th year.

The Post-less April

2008-04-30T23:59:00.001+08:00

Very Busy...
Ok, no post on April. Well, just too busy with the 3 projects (and another test as well), so no time to write something. Ok, there's also nothing much to write, since all my mind are about Assembly Language (Low-level Programming), Java (High-level Programming) and all about projects...

A Special Day

2008-03-30T23:07:00.002+08:00

A Special Day Today
Today is a special day for me. Yup, it's a special day, but well, I still have to do my own work, and the special day also comes up with an unwanted new "thing" as well... Hmm... Time to get more fresh air...

Recently have been eating quite a lot of food. Yup, Friday at Manhattan's Fish Market (at Plaza Singapura), Saturday at Jack's Place (at Ang Mo Kio), Sunday at Cafe Cartel (at Junction 8). Hmm... Wonder how much calories I've eaten throughout this weekend. Better do some running to burn of excess fats though. Think I should eat a veggie salad this Monday to clean up my intestines.

The Busy Weeks

2008-03-23T19:36:00.003+08:00

Tutorials, Tests, Labs, Projects...
Yup, these few weeks have been busy with the EE2007 Lab Project, CS2103 Project, and the "slow-paced" FNA1002X Project. Yup, indeed, most lecturers thinks that we only have 1 module to deal with. Also busy preparing for all the tests us well. Just had CS2103 test yesterday, and all I can say is that I couldn't remember what are being taught for the lectures... Never mind, so far the lowest test score (in percentage) I've gotten is 28%. See if this test is going to set a new record.

A lot of people were asking me what I'm doing during this long weekend. Well, unfortunately for me, I still have to prepare for the test on Saturday (after Good Friday), so basically Friday is the day for me to study, Saturday is the day when I had my test and make-up lecture (for Good Friday). Yup, basically 2 days gone like that. Well, I used my Sunday to watch a movie with my friends so sorry HJ, I still haven't start coding for the EE2007 lab yet. Ya, think I better start a bit of EE2007 lab after finishing my blog.

Anyway, I've stop doing all my tutorials for CS2103, EE2007 and EE2012, because all these tutorials are on Monday, and when I wanted to start doing my tutorials, it's already Sunday night... Ok, just might as well go to the class and listen to what the tutor said, no point writing rubbish, and throwing away the foolscape paper used for the tutorials later on. Hmm... Ok, maybe I should try a few question before the start of my tutorial (since I have break before all my tutorials).

The New Violin
Just today, I bought a new violin (with my father) at Synwin. It cost about $2000, but well, I have to ay that it is worth spending, especially when you are going for higher grades (can't possibly stick the the "jarring" and "ear-piercing" $170 violin when you go higher). Heard that when you play the violin often, and keep the violin in good condition, the violin would "adjust" itself to make it sound even better, and hence appreciate in value. Well, this time I better take care of my new violin, so that it would worth much more in the future... :P Well, of course, I'm not refering to the $170 violin, which might only depreciate in value...

Hmm... I wonder if how would they record the violin in Accounting that may appreciate in terms of useful value. If they have depreciation expense for inventory that decreases the usefulness over time, I wonder if they have appreciation revenue for inventory like violin and wine. Better ask the lecturer the next time I see him...

Happy CNY!!!

2008-02-07T09:57:00.000+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Have fun collecting red packets!!!

Anyway, I still have to do some of my work other than visiting relatives house and eating CNY goodies. But as far as possible, I'll try to have some fun as well (better start playing with Wii and Nintendo DS before the components get rusty). Hmm... Wonder how much weight will I gain after CNY... :P

Finalise Timetable

2008-01-24T22:10:00.000+08:00

Ok, my timetable has been finalise. For those who are interested, it is as follows.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8am-9am		EE2012 (L)
9am-10am	EE2012 (T)	EE2012 (L)	LAB
10am-11am	EE2012 (L)	FNA1002X (L)	LAB
11am-12pm		FNA1002X (L)	LAB
12pm-1pm	EE2007 (T)
1pm-2pm		EE2007 (L)
2pm-3pm				FNA1002X (T)	GEK1505 (T)
3pm-4pm	CS2103 (T)
4pm-5pm				EE2007 (L)	CS2103 (L)
5pm-6pm				EE2007 (L)	CS2103 (L)
6pm-7pm	GEK1505 (L)			GEK1505 (L)
7pm-8pm	GEK1505 (L)			GEK1505 (L)
8pm-9pm
9pm-10pm

CS2103	Software Engineering
EE2007	Microprocessor Systems
EE2012	Analytical Methods In ECE
FNA1002X	Financial Accounting
GEK1505	Living with Mathematics

It seems that there are a lot of computer work for me this semester. CS2103 is about designing a software, which is either in Java or C++. EE2007 is about 8086/8088 computer systems, so we'll need to write assembly language for the course (if you don't know what is 8086 or 8088, it's actually the ancient version of Pentium 4, Pentium DuoCore,Centrino Duo...). Yup, so I'll be spending more time on the computer to do CS2103 project and EE2007 lab project.

Hmm... Looks like I can watch movies on Tuesday and Wednesday. :)

A New Year

2008-01-05T15:33:00.000+08:00

CORS Bidding
Finally, managed to get FNA1002X (Financial Accounting), after getting outbidded last semester, when I missed by about 60 points. Anyway, this semester FNA1002X is somewhat "cheaper" than previous semesters for Engineering "Returning Students" (especially for lecture B2, when the bid points are lower than Engineering "New Students"). I suppose it's because they increased the number of slots (from 100 to 130) for Engineering "Returning Students"), so the points are much lower.

CS2103 (Software Engineering) is a "1 bid point" module, even though I put 39 points into it. Someone ask me to put a lot of points for this module, which I can't really do that, because I'm bidding for the "expensive" FNA1002X in the same round as well. The lecture will be held in FASS LT 11, which I don't understand why they want to have the lecture in FASS, when they could have chosen some LTs in Engineering (supposedly the Computing LTs are too small to cater for CPE2 and ISE2 students as well). Maybe because FASS is between Engineering and Computing...

Anyway, this coming semester can be taxing, as there is CS2103 (with quite intensive project) and EE2007 (with intensive laboratory sessions), so think I'll just be taking 5 modules, unless there's anyone that I know who wants to appeal for HR2002 (Understanding Human Relations in the New Economy).

Chalet
Anyway, the BRC Chalet just ended yesterday. Most of us brought laptop to the chalet, to do CORS bidding and to do some Facebook stuff. Anyway, this is more of a food chalet, because we had been eating quite a lot (hotdogs from IKEA, dinner at IKEA, lunch at Maxwell Food Centre, a lot of food for BBQ, snacks...). Ok, at least we did cycle at East Coast Park (which is a bit odd as our chalet is at Pasir Ris). Didn't really play much card games with them at night, as I was quite sleepy (yup, I do sleep a lot).

Ok, anyway, a Happy Belated New Year for those who are reading this.

Results!!!

2007-12-27T16:20:00.000+08:00

Results Out!!!
Ok, the results are out. As expected, I did quite badly this semester, especially EE2005 (Electronics). Yup, this C does have a very great impact on the CAP (unless the CAP is around 2). Nevertheless, I'm glad that I don't have to touch anything related to Electronics.

Let me see, EE2007 (Microprocessor Systems) is about assembly language and computer stuff, doesn't really need Electronics (but heard that assembly language can be difficult). EE2012 (Analytical Methods in ECE) is about Engineering Mathematics which applies on Electrical and Computer Engineering stuff, maybe some Electronics invovlved (but on a more Mathematical approach), CS2103 (Software Engineering) is about software development, no Electronics involved (but heard that it can be very demanding), EE3204 (Computer Communications Network I) is about networking, don't think there's Electronics involved, and EE3207 (Computer Architecture) is related to computer stuff involving microprocessor, don't think there will be Electronics invovled.

EE2001 (Project), EE3001 (Project) and EE4001 (B.Eng. Dissertation) are project modules. EE2001 might involve some Electronics stuff, but never mind, the project is done in groups. EE3001 is a written and presentation based projects, which is about improving on products, so that wouldn't involve much Electronics. EE4001 is Final-Year project, so I'll choose the project that's not related to Electronics.

So, basically, not much Electronics stuff for my core modules, and for the Technical Electives, I'll choose those modules that doesn't involve anything related to Electronics. :P

By the way, for those interested, GEK1002 (Introduction to Japanese Studies) is still ok for an Arts GEMs, so you still can consider that if you haven't clear yet (just be prepared to read a lot of readings though, which is on average 2 readings per week).

Next Semester Modules
Anyway, my timetable are somewhat planned already (if I don't face any problems with CORS). So, my modules (tentatively) is EE2007 (Microprocessor Systems), EE2012 (Analytical Methods in ECE), CS2103 (Software Engineering), GEK1505 (Living with Mathematics) and EITHER SC1101E (Making Sense of Society) OR FNA1002X (FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING). Still haven't decide whether to take SC1101E or FNA1002X yet though.

Things that I'll be Doing During Holidays

2007-12-11T18:08:00.000+08:00

Wii
Yup, bought the Wii about half a year ago, but haven't touch it for the past few months because of school work... Anyway, I'll be playing Wii Sports, so that my hands will be doing some exercises, instead of letting it idle around on the computer keyboard, or doing nothing while sleeping or resting on the bed. Hmm... Recently they just released Super Mario Galaxy, and heard that this game is fun, but I'll get it a bit later on, so that I'll know whether it's worth playing for quite some time.

Anyway, most likely I'll be playing Gamecube games, like Paper Mario. Yup, those games are indeed fun, and worth playing a few more times.

DS Lite
Yay!!! I bought a new Nintendo DS Lite!!! Thinking of buying that for like 2 years already, so in order not to think for a few more years, I decided to get 1 today. Anyway, I bought the $299 bundle, not because I supported the company that helps to distribute Nintendo products (the games that comes with the Wii bundle and the DS bundle are those games that nobody wants to buy), but because I don't want my house to catch fire with unapproved charger. Yup, recently there are news about explosion and fire hazard with unapproved charger, so I don't want to be the next one... Anyway, I bought Pokemon Pearl in addition to the $299 bundle, so it cost me a total of $353 (well, just take it that it is my own Christmas present).

BRC Chalet
That would be the right after the very beginning of the new year. Well, still got quite some time for the chalet. Anyway, we might be planning for our own outings before the chalet (so that we don't have to wait so long to have that BRC fun).

Facebook
Ok, currently I'm playing Battle Stations, feeding fluff pets and racing cars/bikes. Well, these short games will be the games when I decided to have a break from Wii and DS.

Holidays are just 5 weeks long, so before another series of torture begins, I want to spend most of my time having fun!!!

Finally Over!!!

2007-12-04T20:34:00.000+08:00

Exams Over!!!
Finally, the exams are over. Well, don't think I'll do well this semester. Hmm... If I can get at least a C for my GEK1002, I'll be jumping to joy. Anyway, I wrote quite a lot of nonsense for EG2401, especially that question that has only 2 lines and worth 25 marks. Also write quite a lot of nonsense for EE2009, since the questions are kind of not related to the lecture (some are not even related to Signals as well). If you have taken CS1231 or EG1413, you would learn something called "Venn Diagram" (the thing with 2 or 3 circles). Yup, EE2009 is something like that. the lecturer did say that 40% is an A-, but I still can't confirm that, until I get back my results.

Can't really finish my EE2006 paper due to time contraint. Ok, I have to admit that I'm a slow worker, so anyway, can't put high hopes on this module, since a lot of people would score (something like CS1231, where you need 90+ marks to get an A).

CS2102 is still ok, not easy, but not difficult. Anyway, since I did quite badly for my test, I don't think I can do reasonably well for this module. Ok, just hope that I won't get D+ or D for this module...

EE2005... Haix... Even if the time is increased by 30 minutes, I still only managed to complete less than 50% of the paper. No wonder why the lecturer said that people usually do 1 or 2 questions (out of 4) during the exams. Think they must have ask too much things for the exams. I wonder who are those wonder-people that can finish alll 4 questions within that 2 hour and 30 minutes.

Anyway, exams are over, and I'm not going to talk about it. :P Now I'm going to relax and have fun, before I get back my results, and before the start of another round of torture...

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007
Just last Sunday, I ran for the full 42.195km Marathon. Wanted to sign up for 21.1km Half-Marathon, but because Wei Qiang wanted to sign up for the 42.195km Full Marathon, because he wanted to get the Full Marathon medal and the finisher-tee. Well, I thought that it might be an experience to try out the 42.195 instead, so I decided to sign up for the full marathon as well.

Yup, running 42.195km is much much more tiring than 21.1km. Even though it is double the distance, the amount of tiredness increased exponentially (ok, at least it not as tiring as waliking up 73 storeys). Well, it it indeed an experience for me. I almost died while running in East-Coast Park (which is roughly 20+km from the start point). After I reach 21km (somewhere at the start of East-Coast Park), I told myself that I'll walk throughout East-Coast Park, so that I'll have that stamina to run the rest. However, once I reach 33km (somewhere at the end of East-Coast Park), I told myself that I'm going to walk for the rest for the 9km. Yup, my legs are already breaking down. Even if I'm not exhausted, my legs were unable to take more running (even after applying a lot of Deep-Heat).

Anyway, I managed to complete it in 6 hours and 30 minutes (which means I came back at 12pm when I started running at 5.30am). Ok, one of the bottom, but at least completing 42.195 is a great achievement for me (especially when I don't have that time to train). Ok, I still managed to get the 42.195 Full Marathon finisher medal and the finisher-tee, but I don't know if I should wear that finisher-tee when I struggled most of the time... Anyway, I'm going to keep the medal and the finisher-tee as a memento for completing 42.195km. :)

One More Week!!!

2007-11-09T22:40:00.000+08:00

CA Still Not Finished Yet Though...
Just one more week of school left, which also means it's just another 2 more weeks to exams... Yup, I better start preparing now, after stopping doing my tutorials since the past few weeks due to rushing projects, assignments and labs. Anyway, I still have one more CS2102 online assignments and CS2102 project demostration to go, plus tutorials for EE2005, EE2006 and EE2009. Also still need to assess my classmates' presentations this coming Monday as well for EG2401, which also contributes to the tutorial participation marks. Well, I'm going to take a break this weekend, before starting (that is if I have the motivation to do so) my revision.

Well, at least I'm done with EG2401 project and presentation, EE2005 assignments and all the labs for EE2005, EE2006 and EE2009, including the D2 lab test and D1 lab assessment for EE2006. Hmm... Still remember that the lab TA for EE2006 ask me all the questions in Chinese for D1 assessment (even though the language medium is supposed to be English), which I answered them in half-English half-Chinese (well, I don't know what are the component names and technical names in Chinese, so I definitely have to use English for that).

Anyway, if you'll are interested, this is the picture of my lab.

Looks complicated? Yup, I agree. After I finished wiring my circuits (which took me roughly about 1 week to do so), I can't really figure out what I'm wiring from the breadboard. Have to keep refering to my schematic to actually see what I'm wiring. Anyway, we are allowed to keep our lab project after the assessment, but I have to dismantle it next semester, as we will be needing the breadboard again for EE2007 (Microprocessor Systems).

School Madness

2007-10-20T13:58:00.001+08:00

So Much Work!!!
Well, it's Saturday today, and I'm in school wiring circuits for EE2006 outside the library... Anyway, my circuit look so complex, I don't think anyone could easily figure out what I'm wiring... Even I cannot figure out what I'm wiring at as well (if I don't refer to the circuit schematic and Integrated Chips schematics)... Hmm... My breadboard kind of look like a mess. Yup, so messay that I couldn't figure out what I should connect next...

Next week I'll have my EE2005 E3 experiment. Yup, that means other than preparing and submitting my EE2005 assignments, I still have to prepare for the lab. Heard that the prelab is difficult to do. Ok... I'm not so good at analysing circuits, and now I have to prepare such difficult task... Look like next week is a bad week...

Then, I have 2 projects, EG2401 project and CS2102 web database project, both due on Week 11... We are still less than halfway for both projects though... Hmm... Think my head is going to explode soon...

So much assignments to do, now I don't have that time to do my GEK1002 readings and most of my revisions and tutorials as well...

Yup, and then there's ops manning next coming week as well. If they mobilise us back, think I'm going to bring my EE2006 lab project, EE2005 pre-lab work, and possibly EG2401 project and CS2102 project, as well as CS2102, EE2005, EE2006, EE2009 tutorials and GEK1002 readings to camp. Well, they say no capturing devices, and those prohibited electronic devices to the camp, but then didn't say no tutorials, lab work or projects into the camp. Not that I have that time to spare. Hmmph, let say if they confiscate my stuff, then I'll ask them to pay for my whole semester fee... :P

Now I just want this semester to end. I'm actually looking forward to exams. Don't know why, but exams seem to be the most relaxing period as compared to the 13 weeks of instructional period...

The Peak Period

2007-10-13T12:36:00.000+08:00

The Busiest Time
Just finished my midterms. Anyway, I did quite badly for my midterms, but never mind, it's kind of expected, after months of sleepless nights, which I can't really concentrate when reading up my lecture notes. Then, I have 2 projects that are due in week 11, CS2102 and EG2401, and 1 EE2006 design project that is due in week 12. Ok, at least I've written a little bit for my EG2401 project, so look like it's time to start coding the web database for CS2102, and to wire up my circuits for EE2006. Haix... I'm going to do very badly this semester...

Anyway, yesterday I went to Yamaha at Plaza Singapura to have my lesson. When I reached there, I found out that most of the studios are dark and empty. When I took out my calendar to check, I realised that it is holiday... Well, ok, kind of wasted my time coming here and back for nothing... At least I'm using the train concession, so it doesn't matter much if I travel additional 2 more rides (on top of the 2 rides I used to travel to NUS).

Ok, time to go back to sleep (haven't been sleeping well for months, you know...), then hopefully I have the mood to do some work.

Finally, The Term Break

2007-09-22T10:32:00.000+08:00

Yet More to Come...
Haven't been blogging for quite some time, haven't been playing for quite some time, haven't been sleeping well for quite some time... Well, that is what happen when school starts. All your free time will get eaten up, because you have to spent so much time trying to catch up with the lecturers, who are either teaching at an incredibly fast past, teaching nonsense, or even teaching too little and expect us to know everything that is inside the textbook. Projects are coming up as well, with our EG2401 interim report to be submitted to our tutor by this coming Wednesday, and we had to start planning and coding for CS2102 Web Database Project. Hmm... Just hope the next 7 weeks would pass more smoothly and quickly... After the term break, we will be starting on the EE2006 mini-project, so that's really more stuff coming up... Haix... This term break is still not really a holiday to me, because I have too much tutorials and assignments piling up for me to do, and I still owe quite a lot of them (and I didn't do some of the tutorials because the tutorial session for that tutorial is already over).

Well, the good thing is I managed to complete both S1 and S2 lab for EE2009, so no more EE2009 lab for me. Moreover, I will be having my last CS1281 lecture and lab on that Tuesday right after the term break, so next time I can finish my lessons at 4pm, and try to rush up on my projects. Anyway, my assignments are piling up, and some of them are due during this term break, and I need to prepare for my tests, especially CS2102 and EE2006 (both are closed-book tests), because I can't really remember those stuff that are taught during lectures... Yup, my memory is poor, so I need much more time than others to prepare for the tests (and exams).

The Modules
CS1281 - C++ to Java
I think this lecturer is quite lenient in terms of the labs he set. Well, I supposed he really wants all of us to get a Satisfactory grade for this module (unless the person plagiarized the lab). Anyway, the labs are getting more difficult, but still manageable, even though I spent quite some time for my 5th lab, with 10 times more lines the lecturer expect us to write, and only pass 80% of the test cases. Anyway, just 1 more to go...

CS2102 - Database System
A lot of self-studying involved. Yup, the lecturer only teach so little (based on the lecture notes), yet expect us to already know everything under the roof (based on the labs and tutorials). If you are taking this module (especially if the lecturers are the same as what I have now), the 2 textbooks recommended are MUST get for this module, or else you'll get stuck for all the labs and tutorials (and you might not be able to answer a lot of test questions...). Haix... I don't know how badly I'm going to do for this module, based on this kind of standard...

EE2005 - Electronics
One of the 3 D's: Disgusting. You are learning all those electronic devices like Diodes, BJT Transistors, MOSFET, Digital Logic Gates, Amplifiers and so on, and learn about the concepts of electronic circuits with those devices. A lot of formulae involved here, and a lot of circuit analysis as well. Still don't really know how to use Thevinin's circuit analysis, or simplify any circuits though, only know how to anyhow pick and use the formulae to aply on this circuits... Even though it is open book, I don't know what bad is the outcome going to be like for my exams... The labs for this module are quite difficult to do as well. In my latest experiments, I had problems with the machines, so I have to borrow someone else's circuits to do the experiment... Connecting the circuit correctly is difficult as well... Think I almost spoilt the MOSFET while forcing the MOSFET into the breadboard...

EE2006 - Digital Design
One of the 3 D's: Demanding. Yup, The labs are in the form of mini-projects, in which we'll have to take a few lab session to complete, before the ab assessment. Hmm... This lab project needs a lot of planning as well... Well, this module is about designing the circuits with logic devices. Then, there is also VHDL, in which I'm still not really sure how the compiler works... Heard from the seniors that they have difficulty with D2B, which is VHDL programming test... Hmm... looks like I'm going to be like them, or even worse, as well...

EE2009 - Signals
One of the 3 D's: Difficult. Till now, I still don't really understand quite a lot of things for this module. The only thing I know is to apply the very basic concepts for Fourier Series (not important for the exams though) and Fourier Transform. Any questions more difficult that the very basic concepts, and I'll be unable to attempt them. Well, at least I managed to finish both my EE2009 labs. S1, which is about Signals and Spectra, is quite demanding, as you need to draw a lot of spectrum shown on the computer, and a lot of writing as well. S2 is probable easier, but I face some problems at the beginning, because I set up the circuits and devices incorrectly...

EG2401 - Engineering Professionalism
This module is quite philosophical. There's no right or wrong answer (but of course the answer have to be ethically sound). Anyway, the only thing that I'm more worried about is the project. Yup, this Wednesday we had to submit the interim report, so look like I need to rush up with the report. The project also involve a lot of writing and research as well, look like I'll have no time for entertainment for the next half of the semester...

GEK1002 (JS1101E) - Introduction to Japanese Studies
This module is ok, but think I participate too little during the class participation... Ok, I'm going to lose marks for that... Anyway, for this module, we also need to submit 5 reaction paper in total, and so far, I've submitted 3 already, and planning to do the 4th one by this weekend. Hmm... Think I didn't write so well for the first 3 reaction paper, since I only make some general comparison... Hopefully I could come up with better reaction papers for the next 2, or I might not be able to do satisfactorily for this module (especially since the exams is in MCQ format, which makes it harder to get at least a B grade if I don't put in extra effort)...

The Full Timetable

2007-08-24T16:10:00.000+08:00

Timetable of AY 2007/2008 Semester 1

Currently only have Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons free, with some of the Thursday afternoons and a very few Wednesday afternoons free. Well, I wanted to get one of the EE2009 (Signals) tutorial slots on Wednesday, 12.00pm to 1.00pm, but the tutorial slots were oversubscribed, so I was being allocated to one of the EE2009 tutorial slots on Friday, 11.00pm to 12.00pm. Ok, so that means I'm having lunch outside NUS after 2.00pm on Friday.

Among the 3 EE modules that I'm taking, EE2005 (Electronics), EE2006 (Digital Design) and EE2009 (Signals), I feel that EE2009 is one of the most difficult EE modules I'm taking this semester. It's very mathematical, and it's difficult to interprete those signals into Mathematics. A lot of things to digest, and even if I mug hundreds or thousands of times, if you don't know means don't know, unless you are expert in Mathematics, and are able to model those questions into some Maths formula. Some more the exam is open book, so what's the point of mugging? EE2005 is somewhat reasonable, and somewhat difficult, depends on the topic. EE2006 is still reasonable, but heard that the VHDL programming can be difficult...

Past Timetable
Here are my past timetable.

AY 2006/2007 Semester 1

AY 2006/2007 Semester 2

The Timetable

2007-08-12T20:06:00.000+08:00

Lecture Timetable

Currently, the timetable for my first 2 weeks will be as follow. Once I confirmed my tutorials and laboratories timeslots, I'll put up the full timetable. Hopefully, I can also get my Friday afternoon free, then I could used that time to watch movies. :)

Well, the FASS canteen (The Deck) is going to opened very soon. Yup, that's one of my favourite canteen during the 1st semester of my study. Kind of sad that they closed the canteen on the 2nd semester, but well, it's for the better, as they are upgrading the canteen.

Burger King is also opening soon at The Deck. Hopefully the prices are much cheaper in NUS, and hopefully they are offering breakfast as well, and at a cheaper price. I wonder how many times a week Hong Joo is going to eat there... :P

Signals: A core module for Signallers. Topics include: Power And Energy, Fourier Series, Fourier Transform, Analog System, Modulation, Analog Random Signal, Sampling And Digital System, Digital System, Discrete Fourier Transform, Spectrum Estimation, and Fast Fourier Transform.

School Restarting Soon...

2007-08-03T11:12:00.000+08:00

Still Haven't Recover...
Yup, already sick for 1 week plus, now feeling better, but still haven't fully recover yet... Haiz... I think gastric flu is a terrible condition to have (nausea, vomit, severe diarrhoea), haven't been eating my favourite food for quite some time already. Hmm... Maybe this is a good way to slim down for those interested. :P

Haiz, AHM is coming very soon on 26 August, and now I can't possibly train for 21km AHM in this state... Look like I'm going to suffer again for the 21km run... Ok, maybe I'll walk more often duding the run to prevent leg cramps again.

Module Bidding
The BRCs said that they wanted to take FNA1002X (Financial Accounting) and GEK1527 (Genes and Society) as their electives. Well, the thing is that I do not have enough points to bid for FNA1002X, unless I waited for round 3A, where all the available slots are combined together for everyone to bid (have to explain here because KV don't even seem to understand what's round 3 about), and usually less bid points are involved in this round, so don't think I'll be taking this module. For GEK1527, I have to say that my Biology is only of secondary 2 standard, and a lot of BRCs at least O Level Biology, some even had taken the full A Level Biology course, but dropped right before A Level examinations. Hmm... This is definitely not a safe module for me to take (unless I opted for S/U option).

EE2005 (Electronics), EE2006 (Digital Design) and EE2009 (Signals) are already preallocated for me (meaning cannot drop those module, unless I requested it in ECE office), so I bidded for CS2102 (Database System), which I'll be clearing it as my Technical Electives (Breadth). Ok, it does seems a bit early to clear a Technical Elective, but since there's a chance to do so now, why not?

Anyway, I have decided on GEK1002 (Introduction to Japanese Studies), and maybe possibly EG2401 (Engineering Professionalism), if there are still available slots for Lecture 2 (of course if there are no slots, then I'll try bidding for FNA1002X in round 3A, and if cannot get FNA1002X, then I'll try to get another available GEMs as a replacement in round 3B).

The Violin Exams

2007-07-18T14:54:00.000+08:00

All the Sliding, Tapping and Bowing
Just recently, I've been playing the violin to prepare for the Grade 3 violin exams just now. Yup, the scales, especially D major (2 octaves) scale, D minor (2 octaves) scale and all the chromatic scales, kind of hurt my fingertips a lot because of the sliding action involved while changing position on the strings. After doing so much scales, my fingertips had start to harden (it does feel funny when I'm typing out anything on the keyboard).

Well, didn't really played my pieces well as I shaked my hands too much because I'm feeling a little nervous, but I hoped I can still get at least a pass for my pieces.

Scales are fine, luckily he only asked me 1 D major scale (seperate bow), the only scales/arpeggios that requires changing of position.

Sight-reading is still ok, but think I didn't played so well though as I didn't really care too much about dynamics (loud/soft) and the gradation of tone (increase/decrease in loudness/softness). Anyway, the good thing about the sight-reading that I'm being tested was that there wasn't any position changing involved. :)

Aural... Hmm... look like no more full marks for me, never mind, I'll try to aim for a "fairly good" pass. For Test A, think I answered the time wrongly... For Test B, the examiner gave me a D-flat major piece, in which I have problems singing using the fixed-Do solfege ("Do-Re-Mi"), which I always use it for my singing test in aural... Well, after I looked through the aural syllabus for Grade 3 Aural, I realised that the candidates didn't really have to sing using the solfege, but instead can use "La-La-La"... Ok, maybe I should have use "La-La-La" rather than solfege ("Do-Re-Mi"), which makes singing much simpler... Test C and Test D is still fine though.

Well, before the start of my exams, the examiner tried to adjust the music stand so that it is suitable for my height, but unfortunately, the music stand could only be raised to a certain height, so I need to look down to look at the music scores. The examiner also commented that I must have eaten too much good food that I've grown up so tall, after adjusting the music stand to the maximum height... Ok, at least I'm still considered to be average in terms of height. I wonder what would happen if people like Kai or Hui Huang are to take music exams like violin, viola, flute, oboe, clarinet..., or any instruments that require them to stand while playing. Maybe after the exams, they might not be able to stand properly and straight after all the bending...

BRC Cycling Outing Pictures

2007-07-17T17:32:00.000+08:00

Cycling at East Coast Park (with Courtesy of "Moo-moo")

So far this is my 3rd cycling outing with the BRCs. Ok, this time I didn't cycle from one end of East Coast Park to the other end. Anyway, this time I knocked onto a bush while cycling... Ok, maybe I really need to train more to prevent more accidents from happening... Other than the minor abrasion on my legs, I wonder if the bush is badly damamged...

Merlion Park (with Courtesy of "Moo-moo")

Well, Hong Joo didn't want to come to look at the fireworks because he wanted to rest early to prepare for work the next day, and after seeing "live" fireworks for 2 years while in the greens, he wasn't so interested. Anyway, I just went there to see the scenery at the Merlion Park near the Esplanade. I didn't stay back for the fireworks though, because I accidentally stained my clothes while eating a Whopper Jr. from Burger King... Yup, felt kind of embarassed, especially when Ihad to take the train back from City Hall to Bishan with stained clothes...

A Circular MRT Trip

2007-07-04T17:53:00.000+08:00

One-Round Trip with NSL, EWL and NEL
Yesterday, I made a circular MRT trip. It started off from Bishan to Ang Mo Kio, where I had my Flute exams at AMK Hub Cristofori Music School. Well, the exams... Hmm... Think it didn't go so smoothly though. First, the pieces. Think I played it expressionless, so it kind of loses the meaning of the music itself... Made quite a few slips in the pieces as well. Hmm... Don't know if I could at least pass... Next is the scales. Well, the fingerings for the scales kind of got slip off from my mind, so I press the wrong keys, especially for the higher register. Well, because off that, it made some loud screechy sound that the examiner "blink his eyes" (after that, he didn't ask me to play any scales/arppegios that invovled higher notes). Ok, never mind, flute scales are not easy anyway...

After my exams, I took the train from Ang Mo Kio to Clementi (via Woodlands/Jurong East) to go to NUS Music Library to return the scores that I used for my exams. Well, it's going to due soon, and since I still have the time, it would be better for me to return the books as soon as possible after my exams. When I got to NUS, I saw a lot of security guards around University Cultural Centre (UCC). I was wondering what event did they have in UCC, until I saw the posters and billboards about commencement ceremony. Well, they must be very happy that they are graduating. For me, I still have to suffer for another 3 more years (that is if nothing goes wrong)...

After that, I took the train from Clementi to Clarke Quay to sign up for the Singapore Bay Run: Singapore Sheares Bridge Run and Army Half-Marathon (SBR: SSBR&AHM) at SAFRA Town Club. On my way to SAFRA, someone approach me and ask me for $2 because he has no money back home. Hmm... I don't know if I should help him or not, because I still can't really tell if he is a conman or a person who really has no money to get back home, so I kept quiet for a very long time, thinking about it. Seeing that I didn't open my mouth at all, he just walk away, sadly... Ok, it seems that he really didn't have the money to go home... Well, never mind, I didn't bring much hard cash as well...

Anyway, I sign up for the AHM 21km competitive (open). Hmm... That means I must really train harder for the 21km run. Ok, look like I need to squeeze some time out to prepare for long distance running.

Ok, after signing up for AHM, I took to train from Clarke Quay to Bishan to go back home. Yup, I was tired after this circular trip with MRT...

This is the circular MRT trip I made yesterday.

Movie: Die Hard 4.0 (aka Live Free or Die Hard)
Last Monday, I watched Die Hard 4.0 (aka Live Free or Die Hard in U.S.) with Wei Qiang. Anyway, I have to say that this movie is thrilling and interesting, and it is full of action from the beginning for the movie to the end. Well, really kind of enjoyed most of the part of the movie. *Recommended*

All of a Sudden...

2007-07-01T00:44:00.000+08:00

A Packed Week
All of a sudden, there are a lot of unplanned activities for me who is currently not working. Well, at first I thought I want to spent the rest of the holidays doing something more fruitful and enriching (which might helps if I want to go somewhere for a tour, of if I'm being sent by the company there to work in the future after I graduate, just in case), but... Ok, exams are coming, so there might be more things for me to do currently.

On Tuesday, I played the flute with someone else. Well, ok, some people might know that I borrowed the scores from NUS libraries for the thing. I might be one "cheapo" person that did that rather than to buy the scores, but well, the rules states that "only original copies are allowed", which didn't state whether they are originals from the bookstores or the libraries, so I just borrowed them. A little cost is to spent a little bit of transportation fees and some of my time to go to NUS Music Library to borrow the book (last week), and also to return the book (next week).

On Wednesday, I went to NUS to meet up with the BRCs to discuss the modules that we might take next semester. Hmm... Now I'm still considering the following modules: GEK1002 (GEMs Group B), GEK1505 (GEMs Group A), CS2102 (Technical Electives), EE2013 (Technical Electives), EG2401 (Faculty Requirements) and CS1281 (UEM). Well, I'm considering CS1281 so that I wouldn't face problems with CS2103 project when I'm taking next semester. I'm sure there are no super compiler that can read in and compile both Java codes and C/C++ codes in the same programming code file, right? Anyway, more modules discussions to come.

On Thursday, I went out with the NYJC (2002-2003) people (think this is the first time I went out with them) for a movie Ocean 13. Hmm... Not a bad movie. It's about a movie that involved very well-planned robbery and revenge. The characters in the movie must be very smart!!!

After the movie, I have to go for my lesson, and after my lesson I have to play the piano for someone else. A long day indeed.

On Friday, I played the flute with someone else again. After playing the flute, I went to Plaza Singapura to buy movie tickets "Transformers" for Saturday for the SIGs people. Yup, you really have to buy tickets 1 day in advance if you are planning to watch popular movies at Plaza Singapura on a weekends. At the same time, I deposit my violin inside the music studio.

In the evening, I went to the SSA (Singapore Soka Association) to collect the running shirt for the MILK run this coming Sunday (yup, which is today, and I'm wondering why I'm typing this blog now). Anyway, it's a long journey to SSA, in which I have to take the train to Tampines, and then to take the bus to SSA. Yup, a long journey just to collect a few things (which also includes running tag and some goodies). After that, I went back to Plaza Singapura again to have my lesson.

Just yesterday (Saturday), I went out with the BRCs again to cycle at East Coast Park. Yup, I think this cycling session is quite "siong". The 3 of us (Moo-moo, Raymond and me) cycled from the bicycle rental station to one of the end point of East Coast Park (somewhere near National Service SAFRA Resort), then cycle from that end point to the other end point of East Coast Park (the end-point near the flyover), and then back to the rental station. Just nice, 2 hours to complete this whole journey. My legs are straining after prolonged paddling, my crotch are hurting after prolonged riding, and my skin is half-side light and half-side dark... Look like I better put some sunblock lotion next time. Well, the other 4 people (2 times "0.5+0.5" pair) just cycled around the rental station (1 of "0.5+0.5" pair still try to learn how to ride the bicycle properly).

In the evening, I went to catch the movie "Transformers" with SIGs. Well, an exciting yet humourous movie. It's long, but worth the money to watch it. Well, the movie ends before 12 midnight, and the last train that reach Bishan from Dhoby Ghaut is at 0011. Hehe... Just nice, I managed to catch the very last train back (which is very crowded also...).

Later today, I'll have to play the piano for someone else again, and in the afternoon I have to go for the MILK run (I wonder if that Moo-moo is coming for the run).

This coming Monday, I have to play the piano for someone else for an important event. Tuesday I have to play the flute with someone else for another important event, in which I have to go to NUS to return the scores after that important event. For Wednesday, I have to go for my Dental Appointment to wash my teeth. Yup, I realised that I haven't been for a dental checkup for almost... 3 years. No wonder why I feel that my teeth are going to rot any sooner or later. After realising that, I quickly book a dental appointment, to prevent my teeth from being deteriorated even further... :P

Currently I'm still only at "Chapter 3"... Think that is really slow... Hopefully after Wednesday, I can speed up and concetrate more on my "fruitful and enriching" activity. :) Hopefully no phonecalls... :P

Blogging with Wii!!!

2007-06-24T18:43:00.000+08:00

Finally, the Connection Works...
Sorry, I can't really add colours to the subtitle, so I just leave it as it is (too lazy to type the codes).

Anyway, I finally managed to connect my Wii to the internet (after many connection errors...). Yup, now I'm using the Wii to type this blog entry out, so I can't really type too much here. Imagine you have to keep pointing, aiming and clicking to type such a short entry... Yup, it might take quite some time to do so.

Ok, for those who have Wii as well, you may be interested in exchanging Wii codes with me, so that we can exchange messages, photos, Miis... I'll find out my Wii friend code, and put it up as soon as possible.

Cheers!!!

UPDATE
My Wii Number: 3213 3945 8580 4701

Runspiration

2007-06-20T16:01:00.000+08:00

Making the Point to Run
Just recently, I read one of my friend's blog about running 5 times a week (5km for 1, 3 and 5, and 2.4km for 2 and 4). Initially, I thought it would be a bit crazy to go for a run for so many times a week, but after giving another thought, I felt that it wasn't such a bad idea after all. After reading through the blog and being "inspired" as well, I decided to make myself run more often, starting from yesterday with the 6km run at Bishan Park 1 and 2. Maybe I'll start off with about 2 times a week, hopefully I'll would be able to increase my running frequency (that is if I had that time to do so ). Not only for the preparation for the upcoming MILK run (I'm only running the 4km community run by the way), it is also for fitness purposes, controlling my body mass, and to prepare for the Standard Chartered Marathon (Half-Marathon) this December. Yup, I don't want to get leg cramps again like last year Standard Chartered Marathon (Half-Marathon) (which make me almost immobilised for about a month).

Anyway, from what I know so far, my sister will also be taking the Standard Chartered Marathon this year as well, after pursuasion from one of her friends and me. Yup, initially she just wanted to run for the 10km, but we pursuade her to take up the 21km run instead, because the 10km run is unchallenging and short. Well, we shall see when the registration for Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 opens in late-July.

Anyway, just asking, other than Kavan, who is being "forced" by his friend (of course the friend is NOT me) to sign up for the MILK run, is there anyone else joining the MILK run (community run) with us?

Modules Planning
Even though it's only June, which is still about 1.5 to 2 months away from CORS bidding, it's good to plan modules as early as possible, and to plan for alternative modules as well, to avoid disappoint due to clashes, unable to secure modules and so on. Yup, I wanted to take FNA1002X (Financial Accounting) to take advantage of the "freshmen protection scheme", but unfortunately the exam timing clashes with one of my core modules, CS1102C (Data Structures and Algorithms). Wanted to take GEK1002 (Introduction to Japanese Studies) as an alternative, but again the exam timing clashes with another core module, CS1231 (Discrete Structures). I did consider MKT1003 (Principles of Marketing), but if I take that, I have to wake up early in the morning for all the 5 schooling days. After a lot of consideration, thinking and planning, I decided on a Singapore Studies, SSA2202 (Changing Landscapes of Singapore). Ok, I thought I'll be in trouble taking up that module just by myself alone, because the CA consist of a 35% project, which requires me to find another 2 people to do the project with me. Fortunately, the teaching assistant is very kind enough to help me to find 2 project mates for me, and the 2 project mates are also willing to contribute to the projects fairly as well, which we managed to get a B+ in the end.

In order to avoid last minute planning, I decided to plan up some of the modules (especially electives) that I'm interested in planning. The first thing I did was to mapped out my core modules (even though they are mostly preallocated, I still mapped out to see what I have cleared, what I need to take, and what prerequisites I still need for other core modules).

For my course, these are the foundation/core modules that I may need to clear.
Faculty Requirements
ES1000: Basic English
EG1471: English for Academic Purposes (Engg)
EG1413: Critical Thinking And Writing
EG2401: Engineering Professionalism
HR2002: Understanding Human Relations in the New Economy

Foundation Modules
CS1101C: Programming Methodology
EG1108: Electrical Engineering
MA1505: Mathematics I
MA1506: Mathematics II
MLE1101: Introductory Materials Science and Engineering

Core Modules
CS1102C: Data Structures and Algorithms
CS1231: Discrete Structures
CS2103: Software Engineering
EE2005: Electronics
EE2006: Digital Design
EE2007: Microprocessor Systems
EE2009: Signals
EE2012: Analytical Methods in Electrical and Computer Engineering
EE3204: Computer Communication Networks I
EE3207: Computer Architecture

By using what I have learnt from CS1102C and CS1231 about graphs (hehe... :P), this is how I mapped out my core modules.

Based on my QET results, I'm only exempted for ES1000, unfortunately. But never mind, EG1471 is really quite helpful in my opinion. After studying for 2 semesters, I managed to clear some of my foundation and core modules. Since I have accumulated 44MCs, I have met the minimum requirement of 37MCs to get me to Stage 2 (which is CPE2 for me in this case).

After that, I "white-out" those modules that I have been exempted/cleared, leaving the other modules behind.

Using the graph concepts, I can only take those modules that does not have anymore prerequisites. In this case, I can now take those modules in black, namely CS2103, EE2005, EE2006, EE2009, EE2012, EG2401 and HR2002. Those in red (EE2007, EE3204 and EE3207) still need prerequisites, so I still can't take this modules yet for the next semester.

Well, I wanted to mapped out my Technical Electives and ULR/UEM requirements as well, but the module list is just too exhaustive for a very small page, and it is too tedious to mapped out also, so I'll leave that out for the time being.

Just for those people in NUS Engineering:
Stage 1 -> Stage 2 (eg. MPE1 to MPE2): Accumulate at least 37 MCs
Stage 2 -> Stage 3 (eg. MPE2 to MPE3): Accumulate at least 77 MCs
Stage 3 -> Stage 4 (eg. MPE3 to MPE4): Accumulate at least 112 MCs (excluding IA)

A Carton of Randomised Canned Drinks

2007-06-18T22:04:00.001+08:00

Anything? Whatever?
Recently, there's has been these advertisements shown on TV and movie theatres One of them is about the man who who wanted "Anything" but the shopkeeper didn't understand what he meant by that. The other is about the rebellious son who wanted to get the inheritance from his dying father. Initially, the son was jumping to joy when his father wanted to give him whatever, which shocked the other people about the decision the father made, but that whatever turned out to be the "whatever" can drink (too bad for the son).

The advertisement also appears on radio stations (one about a break during some sports training, and the other is about a man who wanted to buy drinks for his indecisive girlfriend) and bus stops advertisement board as well. Still remember about the news where the decorated cans on the advertisement board sign are been withdrawn due to the fear of mosquitoes breeding and the harvesting of cans?

Anyway, I really have to applaud about the creativity of the advertisement that the came out with. Yup, all those advertisements (especially the TV/movie advertisements), and the news regarding about the withdrawal of empty cans (even though that is not really done purposefully, but with some reasons), do give me a deep impression about those drinks. Hmm... A impression deep enough for me to get a carton of "Whatever" (wanted to get "Anything" as well, but there are too much drinks at home, and I don't usually take carbonated drinks).

Well, since the drinks are randomise, you can't really tell what is contained inside the can (the design of the cans are the same). Looking at the ingredients might help a little to determine the drinks, but most of the drinks are just generally label (for example, the ingredient "fruit juice concentrate" might refer to apple, peach, lemon or white grape juice concentrate).

For "Whatever", only Jasmine Green Tea and Chrysanthemum Tea can be distinguised easily by reading the ingredients.
Jasmine Green Tea: Water, Sugar, Tea Extract, Permitted Flavouring
Chrysanthemum Tea: Water, Sugar, Extract of Chrysanthemum, Permitted Flavouring
The other four flavours (Ice Lemon Tea, Peach Tea, Apple Tea and White Grape Tea) are just generally labelled as follows:
Water, Sugar, Fruit Juice Concentrate, Tea Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Permitted Flavouring

Haven't tried "Anything" yet (Flavours: Cola, Cola with Lemon, Apple, Fizz Up, Cloudy Lemon and Root Beer), so I'm not really sure about the ingredients part, but I'm assuming that if the ingredients contained the word "caffeine", it has to do with cola-related flavours.

Now that I have a carton of "Whatever", I'm going to take my time finishing the carton, hoping to try out all the 6 flavours.

Movie at AMK Hub
Well, this is the 2nd time I'm watching Fantastic 4. It seems that those movies that I watched in this vacation "come in pairs" (ie. watch 2 times). Well, nevertheless, it can be enjoyable to watch the movie one more time with my signal friends.

Well, I feel that it is a bit tedious to get to AMK Hub cinema, but since it is just being opened, maybe I need some more time to know a more efficient routes to get to the cinema at the top floor of AMK Hub. Anyway the seats have a similar feeling to that of Vivocity (that is they have that "protruding headrest" on the seats as well). Hmm... A bit uncomfortable leaning on the chair, but nevertheless, the comfortness of the seats is more than good enough. Didn't really get to see how the theatres look like as well were late for the movie. :P

Going Out - Utilising the Train Concession Pass

2007-06-13T22:10:00.000+08:00

Going Out
Recently I've been going out somewhere away from home myself, to release all those tensions that I had stored in my body for the past few days, and to relieve my "headaches" as well. Just not really sure why, but I'm feeling kind of vexed for the past few days... I supposed it is because of that letter that I received that day, and also that "another piece of paper" that I received a few days back. Well, at the same time, I'm also trying to utilise my train concession pass since it is currently school vacation for me, so I don't travel as often (even though I still used up all the 4 train rides for a few occasions).

On Monday, I went to Orchard to walk around the area, one way to released those tensions in my body. Haven't been visiting Wisma Atria, Takashimaya Shopping Centre, Wheelock Place and Shaw House for quite some time. Think the more recent one was buying a birthday present at Takashimaya Shopping Centre with some of the Back-Row Clan fellows (which what I called the BRCs). Anyway, the escalator up to the entrance of Wisma Atria is always very crowded, especially when the passengers just got off from the train. Think I'll try to avoid places like Wisma Atria and Takashimaya Shopping Centre for a while, until the underground passage to Wisma Atria is ready and opened for the public.
----- 2 train rides used on that day

On Tuesday, I went out to "train" my body again by "exercising", which is also another way to release . That' Yup, I didn't really do a proper warm-up before all those "exercise", so I went back home with some backaches and cramps... Well, at least I managed to recover most of it by today.
----- 2 train rides used on that day

Today in late morning, I went out to met my piano accompanist for my flute exams at Thomsom Plaza. Well, she needs some time to practise the piano parts, so I'll have to wait for a while before practising with her, which is good for me because I don't have to face my flute exam scores so often, which increase that tension whenever I have to face it...

Movie - Fantasic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Later in the afternoon, I went to catch a movie "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer" at Cathay Cineleisure. Well, I decided to take a sneak preview of the movie first before watching with my group of friends (either BRCs or SIGs) to see whether the movie is good. Well, I'm not really sure if it was just me or not, but I think that the movie is kind of short, shorter than what I would expect. The action part is also short in m opinion as well. Just only a short action scene and the movie almost comes to the end already. Hmm... I wonder if I had missed out anything important. Anyway, the movie was still not too bad overall.
----- Another 2 train rides for today

A Recap of Last Week

2007-06-11T15:21:00.000+08:00

A Sleepy Week
By right, a normal human beings should spend 33% of the time sleeping. However, right after my in-camp training (ICT), I've been spending more than 50% of my time sleeping (sometimes even as high as 75% in a day). Hmm... Think I must have gotten some sleeping disease while training in-camp. Well, that's something so odd whenever I'm staying in-camp in Sungei Gedong camp (even during the period when I'm still an NSF).

Anyway, on Friday, I managed to make myself to do some intensive exercise. Yup, it's so intensive that I exhaust myself when I got home... Yup, I was feeling very weak while playing the violin during lesson (which sometimes make those screeching or awkward sound due to the poor handling of the bow). After Friday, I continue to spend most of my time sleeping... What a way to spend my holidays!!! I hope I'll really be more awake when school reopens...

Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen
Last Saturday, we went to celebrate Jingliang's birthday at California Pizza Kitchen, organised by HJ (yup, he loves organising birthday celebrations). Why California Pizza Kitchen, someone asked me on MSN. That you have to ask the organiser, the same as to why steamboat at Marina Bay for Weibin's and my birthday as well (I supposed it all depends on what the organiser really want to eat, rather than the birthday boy :P), but anyway, I don't mind eating at California Pizza Kitchen, since I haven't had any pizzas for ages.

By right, we should be celebrating Nicky's birthday as well there, but he seemed to have forgotten the dinner (even though the organiser asked him first). Hmm... I thought my memory is one of the worst in the platoon... Well, he messaged us later about watching a movie, but he didn't come in the end because he wasn't really interested in Shrek 3.

Shrek 3 x2
Yup, I watch this 2 times again, because I didn't really catch some part the first time I watched this movie.

The first time I watched this movie was last Monday (4 June), just myself alone. I thought nobody is interested in this movie, so I catch it myself at Plaza Singapura.

Anyway, the second time I watched this movie was with Wei Qiang, Victor, Jingliang and Weibin. At first we wanted to watch at Plaza Singapura, because of the SAFRA cardmembers discount, but the seats are full, so we later go to Cathay and catched the movie at 10.30pm (even though the theatre only left with the first 2 rows). Hong Joo and Daniel later didn't want to watch because it was too late (even though I don't consider that late). Well, no SAFRA discount, but at least there's UOB credit/debit card discount of 12%. Think next time I'm going to watch movies in Cathay, since they have that discount every day (not really sure when it ends though). Yup, now I managed to catch those "very minor characters" that was stated in Wikipedia in the movie. The movie ends at around 12+am, and as there was no more train services at that time, we need to walk to Somerset to catch the NR buses back home. As usual, the NR bus that pass by Bishan came quite late, making me waiting for the bus for more than 30 minutes, and yup, the bus is very crowded as well as the result...

I am soooooooooo dead...

2007-06-10T09:44:00.000+08:00

The Exams Date
Now, who can recommend me the tallest building or structure in Singapore, so that I can jump off from there?

*Feeling Stressed* :`(

Just yesterday, I received a letter from the Singapore Symphonia Company Limited, regrading the date of my flute exams. After opening and reading the letter, I had a BIG shock.My date of exams is on 3rd July 2007. That is just so near from today!!! Oh dear, the accompanist for my flute exam may not be free on that day (anyway, it doesn't matter since I haven't practise with the accompanist yet). So, I need to find a new accompanist, and this accompanist must really be good enough to be able to play the piano parts in less than 1 week, and hopefully we are able to practise in at most 2 weeks time. Haiz... In such a very short period of time from today to 3rd July, it looks like I really need to spend the whole day practising my instruments for the whole of June (and possibly half of July for my violin exams as well, which is on 18th July).

Ok, looks like it's time to fail, which means I'll waste the money for the exams... Ok, NO work for me (which means no income, but never mind, for the sake of exams... Hmmph...

A "Challenging" Task

2007-06-07T10:55:00.000+08:00

The Accompanist
Before I start, anyone wants to be my piano accompanist for my upcoming violin exams? Well, all I have to say that I'm still at the beginners grade. :P

Anyway, just recently, I've been ask to play for someone for flute exam. That's means I might be taking up 2 people for the accompanist, one Grade 1 flute and the other Grade 4 flute. When I received this message, I started to panic. Haven't been playing the piano much often, especially during the period of "green" and "books" (yup, it's that "green" that degrades my piano skills from Grade 8 to Grade 5). Well, I still accept this assignment since the person can't really find an accompanist (by the way, I'm just an "emergency" accompanist, which is to accompany those people who couldn't find an accompanist when the exams are nearing).

The Grade 1 Flute piano part is fine, but the Grade 4 Flute piano part... Hmm... While trying out the parts, I realised that I started to lose my agility and flexibility... Well, at least it is still a little better than the "post-green" period. There are quite a lot of "jumping" chords, and I always had "misses" while playing those chords, which also means I kept playing the wrong notes.

Well, never mind about that. Anyway, "practise makes perfect", so I'll "try my best" (even though I'm always very lazy to do so) to dig out some of my time to play the piano parts (and not to forget to practise my pieces for my exams as well).

From this month onwards, I'll have my flute lesson on Thursday evening. This means that my weekends will be free (so more time to get lazy... :P). Anyway, as the level goes up higher, and now that I'm going for individual lesson, the fees also increase by $63 (including GST). Hmm... Kind of get a little too expensive... Well, think after I finish my flute exams (be it pass or fail), I'll stop my flute lesson, which can be temporary or permanent, depending whether I want to continue next time or not.

The Nintendo DS
Just recently, the US version of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl was released and sold here in Singapore. Kind of tempted to get a Nintendo DS Lite, but still thinking whether I should get a DS or not. Of course, there are also other great games for the DS as well (like Mario Kart, Brain Age, Animal Crossing DS, Final Fantasy etc.) and I've been thinking for quite a long time about whether I should get a DS Lite since last year, but still haven't make a firm decision. Well, once I have that money, I might consider getting one. :)

1 Back, 2 Gone

2007-06-03T22:46:00.000+08:00

ICT Finally Over...
Ok, finally the 1 week low-key ICT is over. Well, have to say that this one isn't as exhausting or tiring than what I expected, since most of the time we were in the lecture room having lesson (and test as well, which I fortunately managed to pass very barely). Well, the next one (if I'm not wrong, it would be high-key) would be more tiring and exhausting, I presume, because we may have to go outfield...

Well, we got $111.54 for this ICT. If you don't know why it is $111.54, I'll give you the calcalations here. Since our ICT falls on 4 of the days in May (including Vesak day), and 2 of the days in June, it is calculated as follows:

$570*(4/31) (this is for May) + $570*(2/30) (this is for June)
= $111.54838709677419354838709677419...
= $111.54 (round down, yup, sadly this is the case...)

Not so bad, considering we managed to get paid even when we stayed at home during P.H.

Anyway, I managed to pass my IPPT while serving my ICT inside camp, so that means I have cleared my IPPT for this window. Ok, now I can put IPPT aside until my next birthday (yup, now I really hate my birthday...).

Well, I'm back home from ICT just yesterday, and my sister is going to Japan today for a leisure trip for 1 week. Yup, I just came back with my family to send my sister off to Japan. Tomorrow, my father will also be going off to USA for a business trip for 1 week as well. Look like my home is going to be much quieter, with my father and my sister away from home for 1 week.

Results?

2007-05-31T14:39:00.000+08:00

NUS Results
Well, it's out. I'll post here, but only after I file for graduation and when I get my academic transcript (yup, which is about another 3 years time, IF nothing goes wrong). If you want to know, you may ask me, but I may or may not tell you. :P

Anyway, this is what I can tell you.

Having Fun

2007-05-22T22:36:00.000+08:00

The "Tales of Symphonia" Madness
Recently I've been playing Tales of Symphonia for almost the whole day. Yup, now I playing it the 2nd time, this time with the replay bonus (using 2x EXP :P) and using the Wii to play instead. I wonder if my console is able to take it when I'm playing Gamecube games on Wii for prolonged period, but never mind. Anyway, if I'm not going out, then I'll most likely be at home playing Tales of Symphonia, or maybe any other Wii games I have currently.

Going Out
In between the period that is from the time I finished my last paper till now, I've been going out quite often with my friends.

02 May - Went to Bugis Junction to eat steamboat and to watch Spiderman 3
07 May - Went to Plaza Singapura and watch Spiderman 3 again
08 May - Went to Crystal Jade to celebrate Stanley's birthday
12 May - Went to East Coast Park to cycle
15 May - Went to Ngee Ann City to shop
18 May - Went to Sakae Sushi at Heeren to celebrate HJ birthday with BRC

Think I must have spent a lot of money already. Hmm... Look like I need to save... So that I can by more Wii games :P Hehe... (But seriously my Wii game collections really need to increase).

Something from the OSA

2007-05-08T15:48:00.000+08:00

NUS Sports Jacket
Just right before my last paper, I received an e-mail from the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), saying that I won an NUS sports jacket for doing the OSA survey. Hehe, kind of unexpecting, since I didn't really think of the prizes while doing the survey. Anyway, here is the picture of the sports jacket. It is a normal black jacket with an NUS logo embroidered at the front-left side of the jacket, and also the words "National University of Singapore" embroidered at the back of the jacket. Not bad, now at least I'm not afraid of the cold if the lecture theatre or the sports/exam hall becomes too cold.

"Spiderman 3" and "Wild Hogs"
Yup, I've watched the movie 2 times. The first time is with some of the Back-row Clan people (Gavin, Hong Joo, Kavan, Kian Heng and me) last wednesday at SB Bugis, right after our last paper (which is EG1413 - Critical Thinking and Writing), and the second time is with some of the signallers (Chit Chin, Kai Quan, Wen Hao and me) just yesterday at GV Plaza. Yup, the movie is good, that I actually don't mind watching 2 times. So, in other words, those who haven't watch Spiderman 3 should catch the movie now. :P

Just last sunday, I caught another movie "Wild Hogs" with Wei Qiang. Well, the movie is not bad, it is quite funny. Not a bad choice for those still deciding on the movies to watch. If you want to watch it, better watch it soon, as this movie is already on the screen for more than 2 weeks.

Time for a Break!!!

2007-05-05T22:10:00.000+08:00

Exams Over
Finally, the exams are over. Not excited about getting the results back, since I know I'm going to do very badly (the first semester is already shocking enough, think this semester it is going to be even more shocking...). Anyway, results is just another matter. Now, it's time to have fun!!!

Wii
Ok, I've made a minor mistake in the previous post. It should be just simply called "Wii", not "Nintendo Wii". Ok, I've been playing this for the past few days (not the whole day of course). Currently, I only have 3 games, namely Wii Sports (which come inside with the console), Sonic and the Secret Rings (not that I'm interested in this game, but I'm being "forced" to buy this with the console) and Elebits (just bought it quite recently). Anyway, you can use the Wii to play Gamecube games as well, which is good since I have some Gamecube games with me. One thing that kind of surprise me is that the Wii, which uses the slot-loading optical media drive, is able to accept both the 12cm Wii disc and 8cm Gamecube disc (as shown in the pictures below). Hmm... I wonder how did they managed that...

For Wii Sports, it comes with 5 games, namely Tennis, Boxing, Bowling, Baseball and Golf. Yup, you use the Wii-mote to simulate using a racket in tennis, using the bat in baseball and hitting the golf ball with the golf club. For boxing, you'll need the nunchuk (so your nunchuk will be on your left hand and your Wii-mote on your right hand and simulate boxing).

For Sonic and the Secret Rings, you hold the Wii-mote horizontally and just like driving, you control sonic by tilting the controller to the left or right (and any other special moves will require some different kinds of movements with the Wii-mote).

Elebits is something like a shooting game, where you capture the Elebits with the capture gun to gain watts, and to move the objects to find the hidden Elebits. You can either use the circular transparent button on top of the Wii-mote (which is the "A" button) or the trigger button at the bottom of the Wii-mote (which is the "B" button) to shoot at the Elebits. The nunchuk is used to navigate the area. Anyway, I feel that I'm not really good at play this game, since I'm getting mostly grade C for most of my missions (with only 1 grade B and 1 grade A, and I also failed some of the missions a few times before I managed to clear it).

Well, I'm hoping to try out the internet using the Wii soon, but unfortunately I don't have a Wireless connection at home currently, so think I might have to wait...

By the way, for those who have Wii, please remember to do your warm-up first before playing it, especially if you are going to play some sport-related games. Yup, I've got cramps after playing Wii Sports for quite some time...

New Phone: Nokia 2626

Just recently, my Nokia 6610 phone went bonkers. Yup, the screen just wouldn't show anything. So just today, I've got a new phone, Nokia 2626 (costing about $100+). Yup, it is a Nokia 2-series phone without camera (so it's ok to bring this phone into the "No Camera Handphone" area). Ok, my new handphone may not be as good as the one you'll are holding currently (I know most of you'll have camera phones, some even have much more advanced features as well), but well I'm just satisfied with this phone, since I just only need to make phonecalls and SMS (at least this phone has better features than my old Nokia 6610).

Nintendo Wii

2007-04-25T18:11:00.000+08:00

It's Here (The Partially Official One)

OMG.. can't believe I got that thing in the middle of the exams (well, the salesperson called me that I could collect it today, so I just collect it).

Anyway, since I haven't bought the Wi-fi connector (to connect to the internet), so I won't be setting up the console so soon (so still cannot play yet). Most likely the earliest I'll set up is after I finish my 2nd last paper (so please do not ask me how is it at this moment, also need to check whether the console is working as well).

According to some sources, this is actually more of a parallel import from US from an official distributor in Singapore, just that they packed in the official 220V adaptor inside the box. Well, so it's more like an official parallel import (the more official one, which is the Asian sets, will be released on October 2007). However, shops like Best Denki are selling that as well, which leads me to wonder if the distributor are going to sell the US or the Asian sets instead...

April's Fool Day!!!

2007-04-01T21:26:00.000+08:00

April's Fool
Today is April's Fool. Usually, I don't really like April's Fool, because I'm always that unfortunate one that always get tricked by people (yup, and I don't do April's Fool jokes on others, that's the problem). Well, as this April's Fool falls on the Sunday, this means that I won't be meeting any of those pranksters in school and get tricked or fall onto their trap. Good thing for me...

The Steamboat
Yesterday, the 11 people (including me) turn up for the steamboat dinner at Marina Bay. Initially, I was told by the organiser (Hong Joo) that only 7 people (including the organiser himself, Weibin and me) will turn up for the dinner, but didn't expect much more to turn up (well, there are 2 people who said that they are coming, but were not free in the last minute). Anyway, I never had steamboat for a very long time, so when he told me that he will be organising the dinner at Marina Bay for steamboat, I agreed with him straight away.

Ate a lot of things for the steamboat, especially the cooked food (well, I really like eating the cooked food there). Anyway, we kind of cook the food with a mess, think there were a lot of food being burnt by the grill, and we put too much items into the boiling brooth that the brooth start to overspill... Never mind, that's what steamboat is to be. Anyway, I ate so much for the steamboat, that I didn't have that appetite to have my breakfast and lunch today (no worries, I can survive without breakfast and lunch).

Qing Ming Festival
Just today, I went to Lim Chu Kang cemetery to pay respect to my great-grandmother with my family and relaives. As per normal, we would pray to my great-grandmother, and burn incense paper to her. Well, she passed away before I was born, so even though I don't have any memories of her, I still pay respect to her, because she had to overcome all the difficulties in the past to bring up our family. Good thing the sky is clear while we are paying respect, so we do have much problems getting to the grave, paying respect and burning incense sticks and paper.

Anyway, on the way back, we had problems leaving the cemetery as there are too many cars exiting the cemetery at the same time. Yup, my father had to do a "3-point turn" at the narrow path with drains on both side (so it's more than a 3-point turn) a few times to change directions due to the heavy traffic. Hmm... If I'm the one driving, think the car would have dropped into the drain... Can't imagine what would happen if that really happened... Anyway, we took more than 30 minutes just to leave the place.

"The Miz River" Turns 1!!!

2007-03-30T13:13:00.000+08:00

"The Miz River" 1 Year Anniversary
Ok, not really some big celebration though, just that the blog had turned 1. Time really flies. I thought I just created this blog not long ago in replace of the previous blog. Anyway, the blog has been going slower over the months, having fewer posts than what initially have. Yup, the school work can be demanding, so I didn't really spent so much time blogging nowadays (also I spent more time sleeping as well :P). Anyway, a lot of things happened within this 1 year.

Recently, there has been an increase number of people going to the Central Library, so that means that there are less space available for me to study and revise. Anyway, I typing my blog inside the Music Library currently, which is inside YST (Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music). It is much quieter, and even though there aren't as many tables and chairs as compared to Central Library, the number of people studying or working inside Music Library is usually less than the numbers of tables inside there (ok, sometimes a bit more, but that does not make too much different, as there are people sharing tables with one another). Yup, now I'm visiting the Music Library quite often to study, as it is peaceful and quiet (hopefully no one know about this place yet :P).

Oral Defence
Finally, my oral defence for CTW is over. This means that we are done with the position paper. Yup, no need to meet up with people to discuss about the position paper, and no need to rewrite and think about it again. Anyway, I kind of fumbled a lot during the oral defence, so think I might lose quite a lot for that, but never mind, at least it's over already. Anyway, tomorrow I'll be having my C++ practical exam, and look like I may flop in this part, based on what I experience during the last sememster practical exams. Ok, better don't think too much about that...

After Week 11
Well, it's coming the end of the semester. Yup, just 2 more tutorials to go for CS1102C, CS1231 and MA1506, 1 more tutorial to go for MLE1101 and EG1413, and 1 more MA1506 lab to finish, and I'm done with this semester. Ok, after that I'll have to write helpsheet for CS1231 and MA1506, which can be a daunting task based on the experience I have for MA1505. Yup, think some of the people have seen my MA1505 helpsheet before, I tried to squeeze all the points and some examples inside, using the font size that is meant of small insects to see (ok, maybe not as exaggerated, but it very close to that). Yup, I spent almost a week to compile that helpsheet out (so that's why I'm still keeping the helpsheet with me, as I couldn't bear to throw my very hard work away). Ok, I better stop thinking of all these exams stuff, as it kind of freaks me...

Anyway, I awaiting for the vacation to come (maybe except of that upcoming ICT), the time where I can sleep for the whole day. :P

More "Hectic" Things Coming Shortly

2007-03-29T18:42:00.000+08:00

Week 11
This is another long and tiring week for me. Anyway, I've gotten back all my test results, the last one being C++. Hehe... As expected, I flopped the C++ test, getting no grade (which is ungraded) for the test... Oops... Never get anything less than 30 (ok, maybe except for secondary English, Chinese and History, and JC General Paper). Anyway, the other mid-term tests result are still ok. Hopefully can pull up my last semester CAP of 0.42 by a little bit (yup, 3 Ds and 3 Fs, so the CAP is 0.42). :P Oh, and this coming Saturday, we will have our C++ practical exams. Hmm... I've already flop for the last C programming PE (think I've only complete less than 50%, and most of them are just rubbish), so look like there will be another one to flop with. :P :P :P

Finally, my SS tutorial are over. No need to wake up at 5.30am in the morning to attend the 8am tutorial on Monday. Well, some people think that I'm one weird person that apply for the 8am tutorial slot, but I thought it can be quite convenient to just take up that slot, since I don't have to compete with others for the slot, and I have a lecture right after that as well. Anyway, 1 more SS lecture to go after today, and the lecturers and tutors will be giving back our projects next lecture. Hmm... Wonder if our group did badly for the project (that is if we write out of point).

Tomorrow I'll have my MLE tutorial. There aren't suppose to be MLE tutorial this week, but since next Friday is a public holiday, so our tutor push foward the tutorial to tomorrow (in fact this applies to all the Friday classes). Ok, have to wake up at 6.20am for a 9am lesson... Also, as my CTW tutorial falls on a Friday as well, my tutor decided to have Oral Defence on tomorrow for some of the group as well. Ok, look like we are one of the first few groups to have our Oral Defence...

Ok, I'm just hoping that week 11 will end soon... Anyway, my eyes are already turning black due to cumulative lack of sleep (yup, I'm trying to rush up the SS project, CTW position paper and clear all my tutorials for the past few weeks). Hopefully things will get better for the last 2 weeks of school (and I'm presuming it will get better, since I'll have less tutorials, lectures and I've also done with my project and position paper as well).

How NOT to pass on your examinations...

2007-03-26T17:52:00.000+08:00

How NOT to pass on your examinations

(Extracted from various sources.)

SoC Day!!!

2007-03-20T14:11:00.000+08:00

SoC Day
Well, even though this day has got to do nothing much with the engineers, it does has some impact to some of the non-SoC people, especially those students from Computer Engineering (FoE) Science students majoring in Computational Biology, and maybe also Other non-SoC people taking CS modules (except CS1101C, CS1102C, IT1005, IT1801 and any CS/IT modules design specially for non-SoC people).

Today is Tuesday, so we are supposed to have CS1231 lecture from 1-2pm. Well, since it's SoC day, there's no-lesson from 12pm onwards, so that means we don't have CS1231 lecture today (CS1231 tutorial is still on though). Well, since I have no lab today, that means my lesson ends at 12pm instead of 2pm. Ok, I'm back home 2 hours earlier than usual, so that means I can sleep more in the afternoon. :P Ok, I admit that I'm that kind of person that likes to sleep, but well, I'm sure everybody have their "own preference".

Hmm... Will there be make-up CS1231 lectures? Usually there's make up lesson if the lesson is being missed due to some events or holidays, but it seemed that our lecturer is slowing down his pace for the module. Haven't heard anything related to make-up CS1231 lecture, so most likely there might not be one (especially since we just missed only 1 hour of lecture). Ok, we still have to cross our fingers...

Test Results
Got my MLE1101 test results from the mail yesterday. Well, just because of that PSP-square question, I lose my precious 2 marks... Anyway, the average for the mid-term test seems to be very high, about 19.8. Well, that was kind of expected, since 10% of the cohort managed to score full marks (25) for the test. Ok, this also means that at least 10% of the people know what is PSP-square (or at least managed to guess correctly). Hmm... I just managed to get past the 19.8 marks by a little bit, so that means I'm just a little bit above average... Look like I need to work harder for this module.

"I have finish marking all the scripts. The last script was marked on the way back from Tokyo. So I haven't key in the score yet, and also I think I will need to do some moderation... Heavy moderation I think. I don't know, you will see. So... but the score that I'm going to give you... will be your actual score, so you will see your own score, and then... at the end, before the exam, I'm going to give you 1 more CA score, then you will know how heavy is the moderation."

That is what our C++ lecturer told us during the lecture yesterday. Oops... Look like most of the people had really flop in the mid-term test... Never mind, at least there is heavy moderation, which can be a good news to most of the people. Well, we will have to see how badly (or maybe how well for the computer experts) we had done for our mid-term test.

The Busier Times

2007-03-16T22:31:00.000+08:00

Life in School
After Chinese New Year break, I had been very busy studying for tests and doing projects. Yup, 4 tests (2 are all MCQ, 1 is MCQ + Short Answer, and the last 1 is completely Short Answer). Have been studying almost non-stop from about 2 weeks, and also have to prepare the helpsheet for CS1231. MA1506 tests is fine, MLE1101 test ask questions that you will never expect them to ask, CS1102C... Well, to me this is a test about luck... Think those programs that I wrote for that tests are uncompilable... Well, it's not that you can bring in you laptop and use Dev-C++ and tests whether it can compile and work or not. CS1231 test is basically a test of your logical and reasoning (mathematical reasoning, of course) skills. This also means that it is either you know, or you don't know. Yup, it's not really a studying module (in fact, it is not a studying module at all), it's mostly about how good your IQ is. If your IQ is high, you'll get high marks. If not, you'll get low marks.

Anyway, so far I've only got back the test results for 1 module, MA1506. Well, the MLE1101 test results are ready, but the department don'y want to released them yet, as some of the people have not took the test yet... Well, I'm presuming that they are going to use the same questions for the make-up test. For CS1102C, the lecturer had flew to Japan for some conference, so don't think we would be able to get our results so soon, since the test have to be mark by human as well. For CS1231, the lecturer said that we would be getting the results by next Wednesday, just hope for the best for that module.

After all the tests, I still have projects to rush on, EG1413 position paper and SSA2202 project. Yup, for Ctritical Thinking and Writing position paper, our group memebers basically just rush through the introductions and recommendations, adding the conclusion at the very last minute. Things are just so rush, and there's so little time, so we had to spend nights completing the position paper, in which the first draft is due just today. Yup, now I have panda eyes. Other than position paper, I also have SSA2202 projects to rush on. The deadlines are coming up (which is just next Friday), and we haven't write part A and B for the projects... Look like we concentrate a lot about the content that we haven't come up with part A and B (which is basically just our introductions to the article we are intending to discuss on the project).

Just this week, we received back our critique assignments. There are some people who did very well, scoring more than 80 marks for that. There are also unfortunate ones that got about 50+, because their tutors are very strict in the marking. Well, at least I managed to get 60+, which is somewhere at the peak of the bell curve, and I'm satisfied about that given the fac that I'm quite weak and my language (I have to take the bridging English module course EAP in the 1st semester).

After this week, we will only have 1 more CTW tutorial left, which is on the last week of the school. For the position paper, our group is the first to do the conferencing and oral defense within the class. We will have our conferencing next wednesday and oral defense next next Friday. Yup, after our oral defence, I also have CS1102C practical exam the next day... Looks like there will be another mind-stressful week coming up...

A New Flute

2007-02-25T17:27:00.000+08:00

New Flute: YFL-581H
Just this morning, I went out with my father to get a new flute. Well, my teacher has been yakking at me about when I'm getting a new flute, since last year... So, since my father still have a little spare money, he agreed to buy one for me. Ok, after buying the new flute, and after all the Chinese New Year stuff, we ran out short of money, so looks like we need to save some money, and I better get a temporary job during holidays to make up with the money... Yup, I know there's ICT during the holidays, but it's good to get a job, right (but I hope that there's make up pay for ICT even if we are holding a temporary job).

Anyway, I actually wanted to get the closed-hole, offset-G flute with B footjoint, so that would be either YFL-514H or YFL-614H. Unfortunately, Yamaha (Singapore) did not import YFL-514H and YFL-614H to Singapore. Well, thought of making a special order, so the staff there helped me to ask Yamaha (Japan) about the price of YFL-514H and YFL614H, and they only state the price of YFL-614H (don't know why they didn't tell us the price of YFL-514H though). Kind of shocking that YFL-614H costs about S$4400, which is about S$500 more expensive than YFL-614 (the one with just a C footjoint).

Anyway, I decided to get YFL-584H, which is opened-hole, inline-G flute with B footjoint, since my teacher told me that most professionals are using those kind of flute, rather than closed-hole or offset-G flute. Yup, the price of the flute is supposed to be around S$3300+, but as a Yamaha student, there is an 8% discount, so we paid around S$3000 for the flute. I also wanted to trade in my old flute (YFL-261), so that we could pay less for the new flute, but we later decided not to, as my father said that I may use the old one as spare.

Ok, look like there will be no good birthday for me for the next few years, since I won't be getting presents from them (but never mind, I didn't get anything good and special on my 21st birthday anyway). Most likely no overseas tour until I graduate as well (but never mind also, I need to concentrate on my studies first, and I haven't go for a group tour for like 7 years).

Here are some of the pictures of the new flute.

This is the flute outer cover.

Flute outer cover and the inner case (with the flute inside).

Flute case with the flute inside.

A comparison between my old YFL-261 flute (top) with my new YFL-584H flute (bottom). Notice that the new flute is longer in length (due to the B-footjoint), and the G-key is at the different position as well (offset-G for YFL-261, inline-G for YFL-584H). Both of the flute are opened-hole, just that the holes are smaller for YFL-584H than YFL-261 (well, I usually play my YFL-261 with the hole-plug, so I'm not really trained in playing opened-hole flute).

Mini-Cards
While visiting my relatives house, I found a set of playing cards that is very small in size. Well, the cards are actually meant for the playhouse that my relatives has, so they are meant to be small (but not really small enough for the playhouse though).

So, here is the picture of the cards.

Yup, very small in size. I wonder if anyone can shuffle and distribute the cards properly, and also to prevent the cards from being blown away with just a light breeze...

Names

2007-02-23T21:50:00.000+08:00

Names in Different Languages
Recently, I have been discussing with my parents and my sister about my name in other dialects and languages. My name, as on the profile, is "Kang Ming Zhi" (Chinese: 江明志) (no harm putting my name on the blog, since my name has already been given away on the profile). I was wondering, why I'm using Hokkien for my surname, and Mandarin for my given name. Well, since my family is using Kang (instead of Jiang) as the surname, so I supposed they want to keep the uniformity. In that case, rather than being known as "Jiang Mingzhi" (no spacing between "Mingzhi" in this case), I'm called "Kang Ming Zhi" (with the spacing). But, how about using fully Hokkien instead?

Well, my mother told me that if I'm using Hokkien, my name would sound very awful, and I have to agree with that. "Kang Meng Chee", that's my name in full Hokkien. Yup, it kind of sound a bit "rough" to me, so it's a good thing I'm not using my Hokkien name. Well, say if I'm using Cantanese, then my name would be "Kong Meng Chee"... Also not much of a difference from Hokkien, just that the surname uses an "O" instead...

If I were to use Japanese, then it would be pronounced as "Kou Mei Shi" (Kanji: 江明志, Hiragana: こうめいし). Hmm... Sounds kind of odd to me... But anyway, there are different ways to pronounce those 3 characters for Kanji, still looking which one would be the "nicest". If it is Korean, then I'll be known as "Kang Myeong Ji" (Korean: 강명지). Hehe... Doesn't sound too bad to me, just that the initials might look kind of funny... Yup, think it's better to stick to my original name instead.

My Own Pasta
Think for 2 of the nights, I've been learning to make pasta from my aunt. Yup, I thought it can be quite interesting to make one, so I decided to learn. The first time I baked the pasta was with my sister. Haha... We were kind of clumsy when chopping and slicing the onions and garlic. Then, we have to take turn to stir the tomato sauce, as it took a long time for the sauce to be ready... Not use to the long stiring. Anyway, the pasta isn't that bad, just that it has a stronger tomato sauce taste.

Just today, I also baked my own, with the help of my aunt again. This time, instead of using can tomatoes to make the sauce, I used the fresh tomatoes. Hehe... I forgot to wash the tomatoes before slicing the up on the chopping board... Well, never mind if I have diarrhoea, since I have a bit of constipation... Anyway, I took a very long time to slice up the tomatoes, since I'm not used to those kitchen stuff. While pouring the tomatoes into the pot, I accidentally dropped some of the tomatoes slices onto the stove... Hmm... Hopefully the stove can still work... Ok, the rest is just stiring the creamy tomatoes stuff (because I added milk and flour to make it creamy) and to boil the pasta itself. It taste a bit blend, but I'm ok with that anyway... :P

MA1506 Chapter 1 Summary
Ok, I spent the whole of today typing out the summary for the Ordinary Differential Equations based on the lecture notes and some other source. Anyway, for those people who are interested, I've already uploaded them onto the IVLE communities. If you are the signallers that I know during army, then it would be under "The Signal Cove" community. If you are those people that I always sit with during lectures, then it will be under "The Back-Row Clan" community. If you happened to fall under both categories, then of course you can choose either one of them. If you are neither from those groups, then you can message me through MSN, or post your request on this blog. I'll send an e-mail about that.

Anyway, I'm using dy/dx and (d^2)y/dx^2, rather than y' and y'', as I feel that it is clearer in that sense (so that you won't mistook it as power of 1 or some other things). Of course, feel free to edit my summary if you think that there are some areas that need improvements, or to suit your own preference.

Chinese New Year: A Discussion of the Past

2007-02-19T22:31:00.000+08:00

Let's Discuss
Ok, other than collecting red packets, eating a lot of Chinese new year goodies and bakkwa, exchange mandarin oranges and so on, our relatives also discuss some of the things of the past and some situations.

Well, think some people know that I have an Eurasian cousins (half Italian/Chinese). One of my Eurasian cousins, Jonathan, is already reaching 1.86m in height, and is still growing. His mother (which is my aunt) predict that he would stop growing at the height of 1.88m. His mother also told us that about 1 year ago, when he bring Jonathan for some medical checkup, the doctor told her that Jonathan should avoid getting dengue fever or any high fever. Why? Because getting such high fever for those who are still growing will make the person much taller after he recover (which means he might hit more than 1.9m if he get high fever). Aiyah... If I knew that, then during the dengue fever epidemic when I'm much younger (not the latest dengue fever epidemic) and still growing, I should have visit the dengue-fever-prone areas and get contacted with dengue fever, so that I can grow taller than what I am now (that is assuming I can recover from the fever)... Ok, anyway, never mind about that, since most of the men I know are of about the same height as me.

We also discussed something about the past when I'm still a toddler or a very young child. My grandparents were still living in that old wooden attap house in Jalan Pemimpin when I'm around that age (think they only moved out when I'm about 4 or 5 years old). Well, one of my cousin still remember that I fell off from the high slope near the house (the house is located at the top of the slope). Yup, my parents and relatives didn't really know that I fall of the slope, until they found out that I went missing. Initially, they couldn't find me, as I was being covered by the tall and long grass surrounding the house. It's only when they hear me shouting for help, that they managed to find me inside the grass near the drain... Hmm... I couldn't really remember that incident though, only my parents and my relatives remembered that. The surprising thing is that I wasn't hurt badly in any way while I fall off the slope (no dislocations or fractures, maybe some small bruises). Maybe because the tall grass acts as a "cushion" while I fall off.

Of course, we discussed about things like how I was often bullied by one of my cousin (the one who still remember about the incident I fell of the slope) whenever they come to the house, and "snatched" away the TV, the incident where the same cousin and my sister throw the shoes and slippers everywhere outside the house and so on. Yup, we were just a naughty bunch of kids then, including me. :P Of course, there are some nice and sweet memories carrying inside that old attap house (already demolished to give way to some industrial/office buildings). If there is a chance, I might post up some of the photos up here. Still remember that my grandparents breed chickens at the back of the house (unfortunately, the chickens were been killed and eaten up by a greedy snake later on...).

Movie: Just Follow Law
Went to watch this movie with my parents at 12.50am (yup, after midnight, don't know why they want to choose such timings). Anyway, I have to say that the content is so-so, but the show is very funny. It is just kind of unexpecting for Fann Wong to act out in such rogue manner (after the character "switched" bodies). Imagine when the woman inside the male body shouted for molest when the man inside the female body touches himself (or maybe herself)... Yup, some sacrifices have to be made when the bodies are switched. Of course, after the switched, the woman would behave like a man, while the man would behave like a woman... Kind of funny and odd with some of the scenes there. There is also a security guard who follow strictly by the law. Yup, when the fire engine park on the VIP lot to save the building from the fire, he went to wheel-clamp the fire engine... Hmm... I wonder if this really happened here...

A Super Pasta Feast
Today, we visit our relatives houses. Yup, more red packets to collect, but not as much as the first day. Anyway we arrived to one of my cousins house to have our lunch there. My cousin is learning how to baked pastas and pizzas from my aunt, so she's trying out the cooking to let us try. Anyway, her pasta and pizza was not that bad, considering that she was first time baking such dishes, but as I was feeling a bit hungry, I ate a lot of pasta and 2 slices of pizza in the end.

After that, we went to visit another relatives house. Well, they ordered pizzas from Canadian Pizza, and KFC Feast Meals as well. They invited us to eat the commercial pizzas, but we were feeling a bit full after eating the homemade pizzas... Wanted to get 2 slices of pizzas (1 from each flavours) to find out the difference between the commercial and the homemade one, but I was feeling too full to do so... Yup, I like eating pizzas, hopefully one day I can learn how to make pizza myself from my aunt one day, so that I can baked my own pizza whenever I feel like eating. Yup, there's frozen pizzas, but I don't like frozen pizzas,as they taste kind of wierd...

Yup, it is a long and sleepy day for me. As the movie ends at around 3am, we reached home at 3.15am, and think I only start to sleep at around 3.30am, so I only wake up at 10am after my mother woke me up. Spent most of the time in the car and in relatives house sleeping... Never mind, usually my parents and my grandparents did the talking and chatting while in the relatives house, while I just made my appearence to exchange oranges (and collect red packets and eat the CNY goodies :P), and if my cousins are around, talk and chat a bit with them. :)

Happy New Year!!! 新年快乐!!!

2007-02-18T09:06:00.000+08:00

New Year Eve
Well, someone want to ask me about programming lab during Chinese New Year eve, but unfortunately I don't know anything about that at that point of time... Anyway, I submitted my program last night already, but there are still bugs in it... Never mind, at least I managed to get 8 out of 10 test results correct. Ok, time to concentrate collecting 红包 (hong bao). Maybe I should come up with a 红包 counting program... :P

New year eve is also the day where we have a reunion dinner as a whole family. Well, my relatives, who are staying in Italy permanently, came to Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with us, so they are staying with us for the next few days. So, there are 2 more members joining us for the dinner this new year eve. Hehe... Got a lot of abalone... :P

Happy New Year!!! 新年快乐!!!
This is the year of pig. Does that mean that this is the year to slack, sleep and eat a lot? Well, anyway, I wish everybody reading this a happy and prosperous new year!!!

The Start of Mid-Term Break: Increasing Stress Level

2007-02-16T17:57:00.000+08:00

The Past 6 Weeks
Just don't know why, this 6 weeks seems to pass by very quickly, just like a flash of lightning. I thought I'm still at the 1st week of school. Anyway, I realised that I haven't accomplish much during that past 6 weeks, and I don't know if I really learn anything in school as well... Oh well, Mid-Term tests are coming up, that will let me know if I really learn something from school.

Before the start of week 3, I'm already starting to feel the intense stress coming up. Still remember when Kai Quan told me how could there be stress even before tutorials started. Yup, I mean, Kai Quan is taking up 23 MCs of module, while I'm doing 25 MCs (this 2 MC really means a lot). CS1102C had taken up too much time from me. Yup, I'm doing C++ ALMOST EVERYDAY, almost to the point that I'm quite scared to starting up my computer... :P Ok, not to the point that is so serious yet, I'm just exaggerating (but if this continues, this may really happens). Still remember when I had to spend from Wednesday night to next Monday night to finish up my 1st CS1102C lab (even though it is not graded), almost neglecting other modules that I have. Good thing my SS doesn't take up too much time, just that we need to do up one project (in which we are about 65% finish by now).

Ok, let me talk about my feelings on each and individual modules that I experienced during the past 6 weeks.

Data Structures and Algorithms: This is the most time consuming module that I've taken. I spend almost my whole weekend just to finish up my lab (usually not really complete by Monday though), and also to rush up on my CS1102C tutorials. For tutorials, there will be a few people presenting the answers each week, so I've decided that during the week that I'm presenting, I'll be doing only that particular question he asked me to present. Ok, I don't really care too much about whether my program is compilable or not, as long as there's something, it's all fine with me. I'm also spending a lot of time trying to catch up with the lectures as well. Ok, at least I know how to implement basic classes, and also know how to make use of basic vectors, lists, stacks, queues and so on. So afterall, my standard is just at basic level. Even for my lab, I'm using my basic fundamentals from CS1101C programming methods (yup, that's how pathetic it can get).

Discrete Structures: So far CS1231 is fine with me, mostly about logical stuff, except for Mathematical Induction though. Ok, I know how to perform the normal Mathematical Induction, that's also taught in JC, but I have problems using Strong Mathematical Induction, as well as Well-Ordering Principles. Hmm... The mid-term test will also cover those topics, look like I'm going to write nonsensical stuff if they asked about Strong Mathematical Induction and Well-Ordering Principles.

Critical Thinking and Writing: Finally, I finished my critique and hand up to my tutor!!! Ok, I have to admit that the article used for the critique is kind of difficult, as there are a lot of difficult words used inside (well, it's written by a professor). So, I have to open up the online dictionary and check up on the words. The article is also difficult to digest as well, so I need to read the article several times in order to understand what the writer is trying to say. Well, kind of difficult to pinpoint his strengths and weaknesses, but eventually I managed to find some of the weaknesses (but think I may spot them wrongly). Quite difficult to find the strength of the article, so I try to squeeze up some out, to make my citique "looks nicer" :P Ok, now we have to prepare for the position paper, which is due in another few weeks time. Hmm... hopefully things go smoothly...

Mathematics II: Haiz... I'm one unfortunate student who got the lecturer that speaks and writes unclear English, and a tutor who don't know how to teach... Well, I've decided to switch tutorial classes (since there's no attendance marks). Still stay on to the same lecture group, since the other lectures clash with my other modules. Well, I'm still unclear with most of the topics, until I try to attempt the tutorials and read the lecture notes al over again (at least I have a basic understanding about those topics). Hmm... Looks like attending the lecture is of no use. I've decided to buy the textbook as well, as I find that the textbook is much clearer and easy to understand, which is much better than he lecture notes (yup, maybe the coordinator shouldn't have created the lecture notes instead). I also learn another lesson from the lecture, which is to bring a few clean sheets of paper. I realised that my lecture notes are so dirty and messy, that they become almost unreadable... Ok, maybe my handwriting isn't that neat, but well, there are just so many things to copy... Yup, our lecturer just don't like the lecture notes... Maybe should have gotten a camera handphone and take pictures on the lecture slides.

Introductory Materials Science and Engineering: Till now, I'm still wondering why I have to do MLE1101, even though I'm in Computer Engineering. Hmm... Do I need to know the materials we need to use, the crystal structures of the materials, or the defects in materials when I'm doing C++ programming? Well, I suppose there could be the case, since this is already the 21st century. Maybe one day, we need to know which is the correct materials to use and how to minimise the defects with the materials, when we are trying to make the C++ programming more efficient and fast. Yup, things gets weirder nowadays. Anyway, there are a lot of formulas and concepts that I need to remember for MLE1101, and remembering stuffs is something that I can be weak at... Hmm... Just hope for the best...

Changing Landscapes of Singapore: Hmm... This is one module that I haven't put in much effort... Ok, at least I contributed quite lot for the project, so at least I'm doing something for this module. Well, so far the lecture is the best among all the modules that I'm taking, so I try not to miss it (even though some people say that the lecture can be a bit redundant). Well, there are a lot of readings to do for the module (good thing they compiled the readings into book form), and now I've completed about 40% of the readings, even though I'll forget what I read after a short while... Hmm... Never mind, I'll try to find out the key points before the exam... Well, for the tutorials, we are supposed to contribute ideas about the issues we are discussing, but for the 1st tutorials (so far I only had 1 tutorials), I'm just talking nonsense... Ok, at least some of the nonsense do make senseto the topic.

The Run Last Saturday
Well, finally I had my first running session last Saturday at Bishan Park with Wei Qiang and Weibin. Well, I ran quite slowly during that run, as I had not been running for quite some time (the last time I ran before that was the 21km Standard Chartered Marathon last December), and I was not feeling well as well (I don't really want to collapse halfway in the park). Anyway, I also tried doing some pull-ups after the run, but only managed to do a few... Looks like I need to train up on my arm muscle as well... After that, we had our breakfast at McDonald's in Junction 8... Hmm... Looks like I putting back what I lose, but I'm ok with that anyway.

Coughing for 2 Weeks
Well, it started out with a runny nose (I supposed it's due to rapidly fluctuating weather), after that the runny nose affect my throat, and I start to have sore throat, resulting in the coughs that I have now... Well, Chinese New Year is coming, and this is happening... Ok, never mind, I'll still take junk food even though I'm sick :P Anyway, the cough had been quite bad for the past few days. I was coughing so much and so hard, that my throat almost split apart... Hmm... I wonder if anyone reading this is nice enough to share the remedy to get rid of the cough quickly...

Lecture Only Weeks Ends, The Start of Tutorials

2007-01-21T10:29:00.000+08:00

The Past One Week
Ok, now I start to feel the workload coming in. Firstly, for CS1102C I have to do a lot of catch up with C++. The lecturer was teaching the course so fast, that I still don't know how to implement the classes properly (not to talk about inheritance). The only few things I know about classes is that it is private by default (unlike structures, which is public by default), and you usually make the variables/attribute private and the contructor, accessor, mutator and facilitator public. Anyway, I attended the help session at LT 4 last Friday, and understand some of the things by a little bit...

Next is the SSA2202 project. Well, as I couldn't find my project mates on my own (since no one is taking this module with me), I have to seek help with the teaching assistant. Anyway, now I have a project group, consisting of a girl from FASS, a boy who is a student exchange from Canada and me myself. Hmm... the exchange student kept reminding me of Benjamin from the Signal platoon, I don't really know why. Maybe because he look a bit like Benjamin, due to the spectacles he's wearing, and the way he speaks, because he has the accent, which is kind of like Benjamin's. Anyway, we faced a bit of problems with the project, because it is quite difficult to settle a topic to discuss, and to find a newspaper article that MUST be from The Straits Times dated in the year 2006... Hmm... that's a big restrictions... Other than the project, we still need to do our readings as well. Can't really just read the readings in the last minute, since my exams are very close to one another.

About EG1413, we need to start preparing for the 1st assignment (individual critique) by finding articles and resources from books/newspaper/internet to support our own point of view. After that, we have to prepare for a team position paper. Hmm... Need to start reading up the arguments given inside the resource book and to find related articles on the internet now...

For CS1231, MA1506 and MLE1101, I have to read up the lecture notes back home, so that I can understand s bit more about the topic, and to do the tutorials. Hmm... some of the MA1506 tutorial questions are a bit weird, so I decided to skipped that out and attend the tutorial to find out how I should go about doing it... The first tutorial for CS1231 and MLE1101 are quite managable, so that doesn't pose much problems. Wonder if things may get worse later on...

The Busier Days Ahead
Well, someone said that this Miz river is getting dry. Yup, the dry spells are here again, so there's no doubt that it is running dry. This dry spells is going to last for a few months, so for those people who need to get water from this river, you may have to be patient for the fresh flow of water to come. Anyway, the sediments will always be there for you to collect. :P

Busier days ahead. When tutorials start, I'll be spending much more time on my school work, so as to minimise the effect of dropping CAP. In that case, I may not post a new entry as often as I can. Well, I'll try to post a new one when I'm really free, and I have finish the work that I need to do. Well, I'll always pop by the blog, so you can leave your tags here, and I'll try to answer them (unless the tag is just purely rubbish).

Movie: Pan's Labyrinth
Sorry Kavan, can't really watch this with you (that is if you want to watch) because our Mr Nicky wants to watch this show. :P Well, Nicky called me at the middle of my EG1413 tutorial, but I can't pick up the phone, or the tutor will complain. Well, I call back to him, and he said that he wants to watch Pan's Labyrinth, and ask us to decide the timing. I said ok, since my schedule is quite tight anyway, so Wei Qiang and I planned to have the movie at 7pm at Marina Square. So eventually, Kai Quan, Chit Chin, Weibin and Chun Hoo came for the movie as well. Desmond wanted to come, but he said it woud be too rush for him, as he had lessons in the late afternoon.

Before the start of the movie, we went to Carl's Jr. to have our dinner. Hmm... I don't why we decided on Carl's Jr., when Chun Hoo didn't want to eat fast food... But anyway, we still go there and have a quick dinner (even though the serving size is relatively big).

The movie is not too bad, just that it would be better if it focus more on fantansy than about the war. The fantasy part is kind of like a movie for children, because of the fantasy, but well, it's an NC-16 movie, due to violence on the war part. So, I'm not really sure which audiences is the movie trying to target, maybe it's a movie for people who like fantasy, like me... :P

Discount Coupons!!!

2007-01-13T15:31:00.000+08:00

Borders Discount Coupons
Anyone intending to buy any books, CDs, DVDs or VCDs? Well, there's a 40% discount for one full-priced book and also 25% discount for one CD/DVD/VCD at Borders, Singapore. Just print out the coupons using the links given below (print as many as you want). I found this out while reading the CS1101C forum, thank you very much Mr Tan!!!

Click here for 40% off one full priced book coupon.

Click here for 25% off one CD, DVD or VCD coupon.

One coupon per customers per day. Please remember to read the terms and conditions first before using the coupon. Discount coupon expires on 25 January 2007.

(PS. I'm not related to borders in any way.)

The First Week of the Semester

2007-01-12T22:43:00.000+08:00

Lectures, Lecturers and More
Just to keep you'll an update, these are the modules that I'm taking this semester.
CS1102C - Data Structures and Algorithms (C++)
CS1231 - Discrete Structures
EG1413 - Critical Thinking and Writing
MA1506 - Mathematics II
MLE1101 - Introductory Materials Science and Engineering
SSA2202 - Changing Landscapes of Singapore

CS1102C
The lecturer isn't that bad. He is Chinese-educated (a Singaporean), so his English may not be that perfect. Well, I have to say that he going through the C to C++ part quite quickly, so I have to keep reading up the lecture notes and practise a bit using my laptop to at least understand a bit what he's saying. Think that he might be a bit rush for the lecture, just one week and he covered strings, structures and classes. Kind of difficult to absord what he had taught us. Well, there's no webcast for us to view for the last 2 lectures, but he understands our problems and managed to get the lecture webcasted.

CS1231
During the first lecture, the lecturer just introduce himself and ask us if there are any questions. After that he just released us from lecture, so we attend a lecture for just less than 20 minutes. Ok, so I just rush down from Faculty of Engineering to Faculty of Science just for that... Never mind, I wonder how would those people who lived at Pasir Ris and only had CS1231 lecture on that day felt...
Well, so far the lecture covered about logic. Hmm... It kind of look like some IQ module for me. Hopefully won't get poor grades because other people did much better than me...

MA1506
I think the lecturer is an opera singer!!! His voice is just so high, I thought he was singing a chinese opera to us... Anyway, if you attend his lecture, so far what I feel is that you won't be listening to his lectures, because you are just way too busy copying notes that he put up on the OHP (and also you can't really decipher much what he is saying anyway).
Unfortunately, the coordinator for this module is a cauasian, so our lecture notes and tutorials are mostly made up of words and sentences... Hmm... It can be difficult to digest what the lecture notes and the tutorials are trying to say though...

MLE1101
Hmm... The lecturer is kind of "lor-so". He talk a lot of rubbish during the introductory lecture, and talk quite slowly as well... We had our 2 periods of MLE1101 lecture at LT 7, and having 2 periods of lecture at LT 7 can be a torture, especially when the air-con at LT 7 isn't working properly, and the ambience is poor as well. Can't really concentrate in such lecture theatre, I wonder when they are going to upgrade it.
So far we learned about the atom structures in the lectures, which is kind of like Chemistry to me. Well, I supposed there's some Physics concepts to that.

SSA2202
So far I think that the lecturer is the best among all those lecturers that I had met on the first week of the semester. I feel that she is humourous, and able to give the lecture clearly and make it interesting as well. The only think I don't like about the lecture is to print out the lecture notes, because the lecture notes contains a lot of pictures, which waste a lot of ink from my printer...

Well, from next week onwards, we will start to have EG1413 - Critical Writing and Thinking tutorials. Ok, time to write intellectual essays...

Textbooks
So far I had spent about $120 on textbooks (all new textbooks). Hopefully, I won't just buy the textbooks and throw onto the shelves or on bed and leave it to rot, like what I did last semester on my Electrical Engineering textbook. Well, not that I didn't want to read it, but I find that the focus and the method they are using on the textbook are kind of different from what the lecture notes covered. In order not to confuse myself, I decided to just stick on with my lecture notes. Well, at least I managed to utilised my C programming textbook (because the exam is open book), and use a bit of my University Physics and Economics textbook to seek help for my tutorials.

One Recent Incident
Last Thursday, Meijun wanted to take bus 188 to Harbourfront and take the train back home from there. She wanted the 3 of us, Hong Joo, Kian Heng and me, to accompany her there, so we agreed. Well, it cost me $1.08 to travel to Harbourfront bus interchange, as compared to the normal $0.65 to travel to Clementi or Buona Vista station. Never mind about that, I was also interested with the bus route anyway.

Well, as we travelling in the bus, there was this man, about 40 to 50+, who enter the bus talking on his mobile phone quite loudly. Well, the bus captain keep waving his hand to the man. I didn't know what the bus captain was trying to say, until I realised that the person haven't paid for his bus fare yet. Yup, I didn't hear any beeping sound or the coins sound when he entered the bus... Hmm... The bus captain was waving quite furiously, but he didn't respond to that. In the end, he decided to continue driving off the bus...

Well, we decided to see if the man tap his card at the end of the journey. Yup, he didn't... We were kind of angry and upset with the person who did not pay for the bus fare throughout the journey. Well, don't think he forgot to tap his card, because I don't think he can forget twice, and the bus captain had signalled to him... Most likely he knew about that, but he didn't want to pay... Haiz... I wonder how could such person exist... I feel that the bus captain had to be fiercer and daring, so that the person will remember to pay...

Some Changes
Ok, now my Violin lesson had changed to Friday 8 - 9pm. So, that means that I'll only had Flute on Sunday 3 - 4pm. So, if you want to ask me out for a movie, I'll be free after 9pm on Friday, or after 4pm on Sunday.

Before I Start the Next Semester...

2007-01-07T17:36:00.000+08:00

NUS Semester 2
Managed to bid SSA2202 - Changing Landscapes of Singapore successfully. Well, I couldn't find anyone to take this module with me, so I might face some problems finding a project group for that module. Well, if by Week 6 (just before the "Drop with F grade" takes place) I still cannot find a project group, then I might have to drop this module. Getting a grade W is at least better than getting a grade F or a grade U/CU (if I declare S/U), and anyway I just bidded the module for 2 points, so it doesn't hurt too much if I dropped it... Well, hopefully I could find a good project group real quick...

By looking at the modules I'm taking for this coming semester, I think that my CAP might most likely drop. Well, not because I'm overloading this semester (in fact, I considered to have overload last semester, just that the extra English module does not carry any MCs, even though it is similar to any 4-MC module), but because the modules are more demanding. CS1102C carries 5 MC, so this would mean that there will be a lot of work to do and revise (considering the fact that CS1101C is already quite demanding enough) to get at least a decent grade. CS1231, from what I have heard, can be quite difficult to score or get a good grade. This would mean I have to work very hard for that module as well. MA1506 contains some A Level Further Mathematics topic + some new things inside. Well, I've forgotten my Further Mathematics stuff already, so more revision needed for me. MLE1101... Some say that this module is very easy, others say that it is difficult... Well, I have to find out the difficulty of the module myself tomorrow morning...

Tomorrow I'll be starting my next semester, so that will be another 3 to 4 months of stress and hard work for me.

Donut Factory
Last Wednesday, my sister bought a box of 12 donuts of different flavours from Donut Factory for the whole family to try. Well, she said that there was a very long queue while waiting to buy the donuts, and since she had queued for a very long time, she decided to buy 12 donuts of different flavours at one go.

The donuts, I have to say, are quite interesting. There are common one like the chocolate with nuts donut, and also extraodinary one like cheese donut, donut with jam filling inside and other more. Some of the taste sweet, others have an interesting or unique taste. Think if there is a chance, I might queue up and buy more donuts.

The Music Examinations Certificate
Finally, I got my Grade 2 Violin and Grade 3 Flute examinations certificate today. Hmm... Look like it takes a very long time for them to process the certificates.

2007 First Post

2007-01-02T17:20:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year!!!
Before I start my blog entry, I would like to wish everybody (yes I know it's a bit late now) a belated Happy New Year!!! For Muslims, I would like to wish them a very belated Selamat Hari Raya Haji!!!

Suki Sushi Lunch Outing
Last Friday, I went out with my Secondary school friends, Kavan, Wei Jian, Siu Hang and Wen Jie for a lunch outsing at Suki Sushi at ORchard Cineleisure. I haven't been eating any sushi for a very long time, so think it would be a very good time for me to have a sushi buffet with them.

Initially I ate those sushi from the conveyor belt with Kavan and Siu Hang, while Wei Jian and Wen Jie kept ordering food from the person. After eating for about 7 or 8 plates, I started ordering food from the person as well. Yup, I ate too much rice already, so it's time for a change.

Well, think in total I ate more than 15 plates of food and 3 glasses of orange juice, which I supposed it should be enough to cover the cost of the buffet. I felt very full after the lunch that I could not really walk properly. Anyway, I decided to skipped dinner after that, as I did not have any appetite for dinner.

NUS Cors bidding
Well, just after I got my results, I logged in to CORS to do my bidding for EG1413 - Critical Thinking and Writing. The only 4 slots I could bid from are E35 to E38 Sectional Teaching classes, and each class only have 1 available slot for new student. I kind of hesitated whether I should bid this module for this semester, paying more than 100 points, or to wait for next semester and bid it with lower points. After switching Sectional Teaching classes for like 3 days, I decided to put 305 points for E37 right before I went out for my lunch outing (also the time they started on close bidding).

Ok, I got the module eventually, but I had to pay 305 points for the module (because there are 2 other people bidding for the modules as well). Yup, me being the highest bidder, got the sectional class. Feel kind of upset that I spent so much for that module, but anyway, at least I got that module...

I also managed to get MKT1003 for 1 point, but I decided to drop it as I heard that the workload for MKT1003 is very heavy, and I could not fit my tutorial schedule properly as well. Well, look like I have to find another module to replace that, or I'll just stick on to 5 modules.

Anyway, the modules that I'm taking next semester (tentatively) are as follows:
CS1102C - Data Structures and Algorithms
CS1231 - Discrete Structures
EG1413 - Critical Thinking and Writing
MA1506 - Mathematics II
MLE1101 - Introductory Materials Science and Engineering

Hmm... Some people might ask me how I'm able to take CS1102C, EG1413 and MA1506 with that results I posted just now? Ok, so for now, I decided to modify my results so that I can take those modules.

Well, next semester will be a semester with more workload, even with just 5 modules that I currently have. CS1102C, a C++ programing (OOP) module which carry 5 MCs, will carry the most workload among the other modules that I have. 3 lecture periods, 2 labs periods + programming labs and 1 tutorial period + tutorials every week, which can be very demanding for people like me who haven't even master C programming (non-OOP) properly yet. There are also certain changes from C to C++... Look like I really need to work very hard for this module to at least pass...

For CS1231, this is not really about programming. It's something about logic + mathematics (if I'm not wrong). From what I know, at lot of people failed the module. Even if they pass, they only got a grade D or at most a grade C. Haven't come across anyone who got an A, or even a B, for this module yet... Kind of scary... So this would mean I need to pay more attention to this module and very very hard as well to pass...

Ok, more workload for me next semester. I'm still thinking whether I should take up a Singapore Studies module and S/U it...

Movie: Borat
Ok, my 1st movie for 2007, also my first R21 movie. Well, the movie seems quite funny, so I decided to watch that movie. Heard from my sister the the movie has a lot of crude jokes, don't know if anyone of you there would want to watch it, so I catch it myself instead.

Well, it's really funny, and of course there are some crude scenes as well. Don't feel like writing what I watched here on this blog though... :P

A Merry Holidays

2006-12-28T17:48:00.000+08:00

Last Tuesday Flooding
Well, the news report that there are floods in Thomson road, at the platns and flowers nurseries, destroying a lot of plants there... Hmm... That is quite near my area. At least Bishan is not low-lying, so there isn't flood near my area. Kind of unconvenient to go out especially when it rained heavily, and there were flooding in certain areas. Some areas also have soil erosion, which causes mudslides.

Paper Mario
Finally completed the storyline for Paper Mario. Haven't finished certain task yet, but never mind, think I'll leave the rest of the things until the next holiday period.

Movie: A Night at the Museum
Watch this movie myself last Friday at GV Bishan. The movie is quite funny, especially when the main character tried to tell what he experienced during the night inside the museum when he was working as a night guard there.

Movie: Curse of the Golden Flower
Watch this movie with Wei Qiang, Chun Hoo, Wenhao, Chit Chin and Weibin at GV Vivocity last Saturday. Before the movie we had our lunch at SuperDog at the basement. Yup, the fries are still as good.

The movie, I have to say, doesn't have much storyline. Hmm... Maybe I didn't really understand the movie. Well, what I see was mostly the glitters of the clothings the people are wearing. My sister also said that Jay Chou only had one expression in the movie, which I kind of agree after watching the movie.

Movie: Charlotte's Web
Suppose to just have my lunch with my sister on Monday before she went to catch a movie with her friends. In the end, I decided to buy a ticket for myslef for another movie at Cathay Orchard. The movie was not that bad, just feel that the talking animals were kind of cute. It's amazing how Charlotte the spider is able to come up with words using the words. I wonder when they shoot the movie, they really used the web and form words using their hands, or just use some synthetic materials to form a web.

Victor's Chalet
Well, last Monday (Christmas Day) was Victor's birthday. Suppose to organise his chalet on 25th Dec, but there are no slots left on 25th Dec, so he has to booked he chalet from 26th Dec to 28th Dec. Anyway, the 6 of us, Wei Qiang, Chun Hoo, Wenhao, Chit Chin, Weibin and me bought a shirt for him right after the movie. The shirt looks interesting, hopefully he would like it... :P

Anyway, I had problem getting to Victor's chalet, which is at Aloha Loyang. I took the wrong shuttle bus, which bring me to Coasta Sand resorts, so in the end I walked to Aloha Loyang under the rain. After that, I had problems finding the bungalow he rented, so it took me quite some time before I found it...

Anyway, I washed my hair after reaching Victor's Chalet. Hmm... Hopefully won't fall sick because of that... Anyway, I only had a light dinner there, since I'm not really feeling hungry.

Well, as the last train from Pasir Ris is at 2323, we decided to take Andrew's car to MRT station. As there are a lot of us going back, Andrew decided to sent us back in batches. Well, I was in the first batch. Imagine, excluding the driver, there are 6 of us squeezing into his car. Yup, Kai Quan, due to his height, sat in front of the car, while the rest of the 5 of us squeeze behind... Luckily the ride was only a short one.

NUS Results
Ok results out... Anyway...

Hmm... Oops? :P

A Nice and Cooling Rainy Day

2006-12-19T22:26:00.000+08:00

Greetings
Good evening, thank you for visiting and reading my low-visitor-count blog. I decided to put up a new blog entry tonight, since I'm surfing the net currently, and I'm not playing any games ("The Sims 2" and "Paper Mario" to be precise) at the moment.

Rain
It had been raining a lot quite recently. This is somewhat expecting, since there are usually a lot of rain at the very end and at the beginning of the year. I heard that there are floods along and near Thomsom road and Lornie road. That is quite near to where I lived. Well, at least there were no floods today in Bishan, even though it rained a lot from morning to evening. So, I assume that Bishan is at a higher grounds, or it has proper drainage which drain rain water easily.

Gaming and Sleeping
Today, I spent most of the time sleeping. A cool raining day makes it a good time to sleep as it is cosier. I only spent a few hours playing Paper Mario so far, just managed to complete Chapter 7. Just one more Chapter to go, and I'm done with the game. I still thinking whether I should sleep early tonight, or to continue playing Paper Mario. How about The Sims 2, some people may asked. I'll continue to play once I complete Paper Mario. Gamecube games can be very addictive, especially games that is published by Nintendo. Even though Gamecube only has about 600 game titles (as compared to 2000+ for Playstation 2 and 1000+ for Xbox for 6th generation consoles), it has many good games available within the 600 game titles. That is how it managed to survived despite it's low popularity. Even though the games are good, it is not officially sold here in Singapore, which I think it can be a pity. Yup, my gamecube is an imported one, just for your information.

Food
After reading Hong Joo's blog, I really feel like going around Singapore to eat, but recently I have constipation. Yup, constipation for about 1 week. So, currently I'm trying to take those food that is very high in fibre, so that I can do my business as per normal. Ok, I admit that I still eat a lot of junk food. That is what happened if you exert too much pressure and stress during exams, which can even carry on after your exams (for me especially).

Movie
Currently there are 2 movies on my mind, "Night at the Museum" and "Charlotte's Web". Hopefully, I can catch "Night at the Museum" by this week or early next week, and "Charlotte's Web" by next week or before my Academic Semester starts, that is provided I can stay away from my Laptop or Gamecube.

Nintendo Wii
Just last Sarturday, before meeting my NUS friends for lunch, I went to Gamescore at Funan to preorder a Nintendo Wii. Anyway, I told my parents that I will be getting one Nintendo Wii, and there are fine about that (provided I don't neglect my studies). So, I paid a $50 deposit, and wait for their phonecall once Nintendo Wii is officially out in Singapore and pay the rest. My bank account is going to have less money, but I'm fine about that, since I've plan to get one of that console for a long time.

Meeting Up with NUS Friends
After preordering a Nintendo Wii, I met up with my NUS friends, Kian Heng, Meijun, Hong Joo (also considered as my NUS friend, so he is one of them that has 2 or more friend status, namely NS friend and NUS friend), Yaoliang and Gavin, for a lunch. Kavan (another one that has 2 or more friend status, in fact 4 to be exact) is not free on that day, as he is caroling at Tiong Bahru. If he told us earlier that he is caroling at Tiong Bahru, we might even go there and hear him sing Christmas Carols. After some pondering, we decided to settle down at Din Tai Fung at Wisma Atria and have our lunch there. Ordered some noodles and sides for my combined breakfast and lunch.

After that, we walked to Meridian Hotel to play pool. It's about $10 per hour per table, so we played for about 2 hours. I think I'm quite lucky at the beginning, getting a lot of pool balls into the holes, considering the fact that I'm still a newbie. The luck wear off after that, when I keep striking my opponents pool ball into the hole.

It is a fun day, and the good thing is I didn't spend the whole day playing electronic games, at least reducing the chance of getting eyesight problems.

NUS Examination Results
The official release of NUS examination results is between 26 Dec to 27 Dec. For me, I will be getting my official result online on 27 Dec at 7am. Well, some people managed to have sneak preview of their results a few days back. It is a pity that I missed the sneak preview, but I ok about that. At least I have a few more days to survive in that case. Well, I heard that some people hacked into the system and let out the results, but still, I don't really know what is the actual case.

Anyway, I heard that Kai Quan is doing very well for his exams, so I assume that he had gotten 4.9+ for his CAP (Cumulative Average Point), that is assuming that it is very difficult to get an A+ or an A for EG1413 (Critical Thinking and Writing). Well, I'll never be able to get that high for my SAP (Semestral Average Point), not to talk about my CAP. Anyway, I will just be less than 8 days before I get to know my results.

Ending
Ok, it comes to an end of this blog entry. Hope that you will visit this blog again for updates and so on (and also to increase my visitor count :P).

Good night!

Mad About Another Game...

2006-12-14T16:25:00.000+08:00

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Hmm... Just a few days back, I decided to set up my Nintendo GameCube after it hibernated in a box for like 4 months. Hmm... Anyway, I bought the game Paper Mario quite long ago, but never get to finish it. Ok, in fact I'm still stuck at the Prologue (Chapter 0), yup so that's quite pathetic, because I thought it was difficult to play... Anyway, I decided to start a new game, and now going to start on Chapter 2 (and now I find the game getting easier to understand and play... :P).

Of course, whenever I play role-playing games (RPG) or adventure games, I would have to follow through a guie. Yup, I'm just an RPG/Adventure game idiot, so I really need to use the guie, or I'll get stuck in one place forever...

Nintendo Wii
According to a moderator from GameAxis forum, Nintendo Wii has been approved by IDA for its Wireless LAN 2.4GHz and Bluetooth. Now we just need to wait for the final registration of Consumer Protection (Safety Requirements) Registration Scheme to complete the process. That's really a good news for Singaporeans here who are waiting for Nintendo Wii to launch here. Just hope that the protection scheme can be completed very soon. Hopefully, the console is not overpriced by the distributor...

Anyway, there is at least 1 store accepting pre-orders for Nintendo Wii. So, anyone here had done so already?

Movie: Open Season
Just don't know why, I feel like watching this movie yesterday. I was suppose to have my lunch myself, but in the end, I spent my money for this movie plus a popcorn combo. Anyway, the movie was not the bad. It is about a bear who was kept in captivity by a female "environmentalist" (not really sure if that's the correct term). The bear was badly influence by a mule deer and "misbehaved", hence was being put into the forest. The bear was however unable to adapt living inside the forest, so all the comical parts happened.

Before the start of the movie, I saw a movie advertisement, which is an animation where a boy was being travelled to the future by another person from the future. Quite interested about the movie, but don't know what's the movie title... Can anyone enlighten me?

To Korea
Ok, I'm not the one going to Seoul, South Korea. Anyway, our family sent my sister off for a 6-Day trip to Korea yesterday night. Well, she was going with 3 other friends from NUS. Hmm... Come to think of it, I haven't been for a tour for a very long time (excluding the Wallaby training exercise 2 years ago). If I'm not wrong, the last time I went for an overseas tour was 7 years ago. Travelled to Bangkok, Thailand with my family. Hmm... Think I should consider going for a tour the next vacation, well, see whether I have that money or not first... :P

Haven't Been Playing Games for 4 Months

2006-12-09T09:27:00.000+08:00

Game Madness
Just bought a new expansion pack for The Sims 2. Now I'm playing it like mad... Yup, that's what happen when you did not touch any computer games for a long time. I'm playing this from morning (10+am) to morning (1+am). Think at this rate, I need to change my spectacles soon.

Anyway, I've some interesting screenshots here (the quality isn't good though). It is about a Sim who painted 2 paintings based on the photographs that I have (one picture taken in Yoshinoya where we had our breakfast after SSBR/AHM, the other picture taken by a photographer while I was running the vertical marathon). Quite a good artist that Sim is. :P

Exams Over!!!

2006-12-06T08:48:00.000+08:00

Finally, Exams Over...
Yup, my exams for Semester 1 AY 2006/2007 ended on 2 Dec 2006 at 11am. Ok, don't think I'll do so well for my exams, so just hope I could at least get 2.50 for my CAP... Haiz... For PC1432 Physics IIE, think I'll have no hope already, only completed at most 50% of the paper and out of what I've written in the paper, think only at mot 50% correct... Ok, maybe only 25% for my paper... For other modules, still ok (as compared to Physics), just that I couldn't finish most of it on time... Never mind, I left out those that I don't know how to do anyway... Hopefully can get at least Cs and some Bs for this semester... :P

Well, results will be released on 27 Dec 2006 (for 1st year students), which is like just 2 Days after Christmas... Ok, think that got to be one of my worst Christmas presents that I have...

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
Just last Saturday, I ran the Standard Chartered Singapore Half-Marathon 21.1km, with Wei Qiang and Dezhi. Supposed to meet up with them in the morning, but I forgot to bring my handphone along, so in the end, I just start of with myself. Before I start, I deposited my bag into the bag deposit counter. At least I don't have to carry my pouch along with my while I run.

The first 10km is ok, I managed to jog continuously without exhaustion. After 10km, my legs feel a bit tired, so I decided to slow down my pace. From 15km onwards, my legs start to have cramps. Yup, it's a little bit painful initially, but I still try to hang on with it. After running for quite some think, think from 16km to 17km onwards, the pain is getting quite unbearable. I couldn't run properly, so I have to run for like 100m, and walk for 200m... After the last turning point, which is from 18km onwards, I decided to walk throughout my last 3km, as the pain is getting too unbearable... Haiz... think I didn't do my warmup properly, could have run at a much shorter time instead since I'm still not exhausted yet... It's a pity, but never mind, I still managed to complete it under 3 hours... To be exact, my GunTime (based on the time they sounded the horn) is 2h41min47sec, and my ChipTime (my net timing based on the time I stepped on the mat) is 2h36min58sec. Yup, it took me about 4 to 5 minutes for me to reach the start mat.

Anyway, after I completed the run, I decided to rest for a while, drinking water and 100-plus given there, before collecting my bag. Well, tried to find Wei Qiang and Dezhi, but couldn't fins them. I suppose they have collected their bags, so I decided to collect mine. Haiz... Didn't expect the queue to be so long. The queue is just like a squeezed S-shape at the beginning, and it went around the baggage tentage at the end. Yup, it's quite long. After queueing for quite some time, a Cisco officer called me and the other 2 people out (those that carry the number tag starting from 17XXX and 18XXX) to join the queue near the tentage. Ok, it seems that there aren't that many people with tag number 17XXX and 18XXX collecting their bags at that time... Anyway, I managed to collect my own bag without a very short time when a volunteer managed to find me with my bag immediately...

Thought of finding a public phone to find Wei Qiang, but I managed to spot Dezhi there while collecting my bag. Ok, at least I could save some money from calling back home to ask someone at home to find Wei Qiang's phone number, and to call him from the public phone. We then went to Burger King to get a drink. Well, have to say that the drinks in Burger King had shrunk in size... The medium sized drink is the same as McDonald's regular size, while the large is McDonald's medium... Hmm... looks like with increase of GST, if price doesn't increase, then there will be a decrease in quantity...

One more thing about the marathon, I like the finisher medal. It looks like a souvenir made for tourists from Singapore. :P

Movie: Happy Feet
Just yesterday, I watched the movie "Happy Feet" with Wei Qiang and Dezhi. The movie was not too bad, the content is there. Well, it is quite musical I have to say, hear a lot of singing from the movie. Well, the penguins get their right partner by singing. Anyway, didn't really expect the ending to end that way, which was kind of a surprised to me.

After the movie, we went to SuperDog to have our dinner. Well, never tried that "fast-food" joint before, so decided to eat there. Well, the SuperDog are not as big as the one sold in "Wallaby" (most of the hotdogs contains beef by the way), but well, the meal is still very filling. Anyway, I ordered a Chilli Dog with Chilli fries. Have to say that the "Chilli" doesn't have much taste, and it is not spicy, even though they said that they are "proud of their chilli"... Hmm... Anyway, I really like the fries there. Think it's one of the best I've eaten. Not only it taste good, the crispiness of the fries is also "correct". Not too soft that it is like soggy fries, not too crispy that it is like crackers, it's just nice!!! The outside skin of the fries is very crispy, and the inside is still quite soft... Ok, I'm not good at expressing things, but it is one of the most perfect fries that I've eaten. Even thought the meal cost us about $8 to $10+ each, I have to say it is still worth it, especially the fries... :P

Vertical Marathon Pics

2006-11-22T10:22:00.000+08:00

Photos of Vertical Marathon
Finally, SportsphotoX has uploaded the photographs of the vertical marathon onto the website. Well, thought of ordering one of my photographs to "commemorate" myself running for the vertical marathon. Ok, anyway, all the 7 photographs taken on me have that very shack look... Yup, don't really look so good there... Well, you can imagine how shacked, tired and exhuasted I was after climbing 1336 steps (73 storeys) up the staircase in Swissotel.

Ok, I upload the pics here for you'll to see.

Exams Nearing!!!

2006-11-21T09:42:00.000+08:00

Exams
The 13 weeks instructional period is over. Ok, now had to really hit very hard on lecture notes and books. Anyway, my exams are all cramped together, so I just don't really know how I should study. Yup, from 24 Nov to 28 Nov, I would have finished 5 papers out of 6 (the last one is at 2 Dec). Well, so far I have briefly covered through Maths and Physics (at least I finished the Maths help sheet already), going to start on Electrical Engineering and Economics. Haiz... Don't know if I could really make it for the exam or not. Never mind, as long as I can complete at least 50% to 60% of the paper, I would be very happy. :P

Swissotel Vertical Marathon
Just ran the vertical marathon last Sunday. Well, I feel that running the vertical marathon is much more exhausting and tiring than any other "horizontal" marathon. Yup, initially I could climb up from the 1st storey to the 10th storey without much problem, but after reaching the 30th storey, I started to feel out of breath... FRom the 30th storey onwards, I started to walk more and more slowly.

Ok, at least I completed the marathon with the timing of 13 minutes and 46 seconds (more precisely, 13 minutes and 45.90 seconds). Ok, still not too bad for a first-timer doing the vertical marathon without much training. But anyway, I was ranked 66 out 127 in that category MEN 20-29 (rank 318 out of 578 for all MEN category), which means I'm at the bottom half... Ok lah, on the bright side, I managed to finish the marathon in less than 15 minutes. :P

Tag Number, Finisher Medal and Finisher Certificate

The Finisher Medal (Not so well taken though... :P)

S...

2006-11-02T20:35:00.000+08:00

The EG1108 Grades
Ok, yup got an "S" grade for EG1108, which is below average... Kind of expected since I only answered slightly more than half of the paper... Anyway, this Professor is kind of "creative" I have to say (in terms of the grades he give). Rather than grading us using A B C or 1 2 3, he uses the 5 letters P, Q, R, S and T. P being the best, and T being the worst. Well, after looking through the statistics, this is what I can deduced if I convert it to NUS grading system.

P: A+, A
Q: A-, B+
R: B, B-
S: C+, C
T: D+, D, F

The majority fall under the R, S and T category (about 160+ for R and 190+ each for S and T). I'm that unfortunate one that fall under the "S" category, which is like getting a C+ or a C... Well, look like I really need to work harder... Well, maybe the first lecturer isn't the type of person that gives lectures. Hmm...

Semester Ending, Exams Coming
Yup, just about 2 more weeks of lessons left. Haiz... Think I can't really remember whatever I learn in lectures... I wonder how I can go for the exams like that... Yup, well, at least CS1101C is open book, so there's no need to memorise all the codes and algorithms like mad, MA1505 allows one sheet of A4 size handwritten formulas inside, and for PC1432, they will include the formula list inside. Anyway, I'm still not too certain about the applications, so I don't know about that... Never mind, once I done with all my tutorials for my last week, I'll start practising on past year papers.

Anyway, the CS1101C lab is just less that 2 weeks time, and I'm still not really certain about arrays... Hmm... Well, wanted to find time to practise more, but I still need to complete my tutorials first... Hmm... Well, I shall see when time comes...

Anyway, I just finished my EG1471 mock exam a week ago, so hopefully things will get better for that module. The only important thing I need to do for that module is to revised the mock exam essay (once the teacher return us that), and to get ready with my portfolio. Well, my portfolio is somewhat quite comprehensive already, so I don't have to worry to much about it at least...

Vivocity
Still can't really get the chance to watch movies with my friends at Vivocity after it had opened, so I decided to catch one movie there myself last Saturday, World Trade Centre.

Well, about the movie, I have to say that it isn't that bad. It talks about the two police officers who managed to survive after the collapse of the building. Well, basically the police officers were recalled back to the station after the plane crashed onto the 1st tower. As they were inside the tower, another plane crashed on the nearby tower, hence, the building collapsed and they were all trapped inside the rubble. It then described what happened to the two of the police officer while inside the rubble, and also about their family members, after knowing they were inside the scene.

Ok, about the cinema, yup, I have to agree what Wei Qiang had put on the blog earlier. The seats are more for tall people like Kai Quan. Well, they have the headrest on the seat, which might give you backache or some uncomfort after prolong sitting, especially if you are not the correct height for the seat. After sitting for some time, I started to feel that ache on my back... Wanted to stand up and stretch myself, but that would affect the people behind me, so I have to bear with it... Other than that, the gradient/slope of the theatre (that I watch the movie) is generally good, as I'm able to watch the movie with ease without the need to adjust myself because part of the screen is being blocked by the people in front. The legroom is generally fine, still able to stretch my leg there. The salted popcorn is of the correct saltiness, so I hope they will at least maintain the standard of popcorn, but of course, if they can improve the standard, then that would be good.

Well, they also have other different kinds of movie theatres, namely GV Max (big screen theatre), Gold Class (giving you all the comfort while watching the movie, of course with a much higher price) and Europa (showing Art movies with so-called better and classier seats). Well, if there is that chance, I might want to catch the movie at GV Max and Europa theatres, and of course if I have that money, I would like to watch it at Gold Class... :P

Ok, about Vivocity in general, I have to say that it is quite large, but the shops seems to be those shops that sell things at the higher end... Anyway, I was kind of dissapointed with the supermarket and department stores inside there. The place doesn't have that "ambience" as a supermarket and department store... When I went inside there, I don't feel like buying anything inside there... The choice of fast-food restaurants is kind of disappointing also. There's only a very small number of fast-food joints (no McDonalds, KFC...). Maybe because other fast-food joints can be found outside Vivocity nearby, so that's why they didn't have those, but that's not the valid reason for having so few fast-food joints... Well, they have a lot of restaurants, but don't think people like me will have enough money to afford to eat at such places so often... Well, there's the food court, but the food is kind of overpriced, so if you want to come to Vivocity, unless you have lots of money to spend, it's better to have your meals somewhere else first before coming here.

Anyway, I have to say that the promenade and the courtyard on Vivocity is beautiful, can get to enjoy the scenery of Sentosa. :P Ok, that's really the truth. Well, I'll come back again to enjoy the scenery next time (and maybe watch more movies :P).

Back Again to Studies After Term Break

2006-10-15T17:19:00.000+08:00

Test Over, Mediocre Results
Yup, all my 5 tests are over, and I've gotten back 3 of my tests results. Well, just only a mediocre results (still kind of acceptable though), especially with the ranking. Can't expect anything much, since I'm competing with the PRC, Indian, Vietnamese and Burmese scholars, students from top junior colleges or students with 3 to 4 A Level distictions, some even have 1 or 2 S paper distinctions. Me? Well, just only a student with 1 A Level distinction, no S paper and fail General Paper. Ya, there is one foreign student in my class who actually had a Bachelor Degree for Sociology (obtain from other university), and he's taking Computer Engineering as a 2nd degree. Yup, he's also the one scoring full marks for MA1505, PC1432 and CS1101C tests. Ok... I have to say that's extremely impressive... Don't think I have that capability to do so...

The 2nd Half of 1st Semester
Well, it's going to be a busy time for the 2nd half of 1st semester (consisting of 7 weeks). Firstly, I have to write a long-text assignment for my EG1471. Ok, Now I'm just starting the introduction for my essay, and the assignment is due soon... After the long text assignment, there will be a mock exam, which is to write another essay. Ok, at least the mock exam is done completely in class, so maybe that's not much of the problem.

I also have 3 labs during these 7 weeks of studies, 2 for EG1108 and 1 for PC1432. Well, that means that for 3 Mondays, I have to wake up at 6.30am to attend the lab session at 9am. Yup, for any lessons in the morning, I have to wake up 2.5 hours before the lesson starts, and 1.5 to 2 hours before to leave home. NUS, I have to say, is "transportically far" from my home. (Definition of "transportically far": a lot of time needed to travel from one place to another using mass public transport, such as buses and trains). Well, so that means that I have to wake up at 5.30am on Tuesday and Wednesday... How tiring...

There are also 3 lab session for CS1101C during this period as well. The week after I had my last lab session, I'll have my pracical exam. Haiz... Heard that getting 20/100 for practical exam is considered very good... Ok, that's sound extremely stresful and taxing...

Well, as usual, I have to do my tutorials for 5 modules (CS1101C, EC1301, EG1108, MA1505 and PC1432). Yup, since I'm mostly in school, I'll only have that time to do my tutorials during free periods in campus and during weekends at home. Can't really do my tutorials after I came back home from school during weekdays, as I'll be completely exhausted. Yup, given with the timetable that I have, I need to have very good time management. Just in case you don't know, I haven't been touching any computer games and console games (namely Gamecube and Gameboy games) ever since I matriculated... Well, there is this famous saying "All work but no play makes Jack a dull boy". Yup, very soon I'll become a dull boy like Jack, haveing very little meaning of life. Never mind, once I finished my exams, I'm going to play my computer and console games all I can before the next semester starts.

Nintendo Wii
Well, just remembered something when I talked about consoles. Heard that Maxsoft is coming up with the Singapore version of Nintendo Wii. Well, finally, they decide to come up with the Singapore version of Nintendo console, when they did not do so for Nintendo 64 and Nintendo Gamecobe. That means there's no need to import the consoles and games from countries like United States, and we do not have to use the external step-down transformer (for converting 220V~240V supply to 110V~120V supply to suit the console). Well, hopefully the Singapore version games and consoles would be cheaper that those imported ones... I'm also hoping that they would release the consoles by the end of this year... Well, probably they might. :P

Current Violin/Flute Lesson Timing
Just to keep you'll an update for my lesson schedule.

Violin: Sunday, 1pm to 2pm
Flute: Sunday, 3pm to 4pm

So, for those people who want me to watch movies with you'll, I'll be free the whole day on Saturday (unless I have extra or make-up lessons) and after 4pm on Sunday.

The Terror of EG1108...

2006-09-30T23:48:00.000+08:00

EG1108 Terror
Well, this is a letter sent by one student to our lecturer, that is being posted on the IVLE.

Dear Sir,

It is respectfully stated that I and a large number of my classmates are having trouble with eg1108. We are all really working hard to catch up in these vacation.

They lectures went too quickly for us (90% of class) to catch up!We are really working hard.Usually when you went too fast, we would loose interest in the class

this is beacuse we were not able to understand things.You would have noticed that a large of students either chatting or smsing and many of the students actually

leaving the hall. Please sir Eg1108 and CS1101C are the toughest for electrical engineering students. I have got to know about the negative marking policy that will

be followed in this Mid-Term exam. For each incorrect answer, 1 mark will be deducted.Please sir it is respectfully stated that we will hardly be able to score any marks and

with the negative making thing our score might end up to be in negative !!!! "This policy is in fact discouraging students from attempting all the questions!!!!!."

Please sir give this a second thought. Is it possible to make changes to this policy? Most of the students are already facing a lot of problems with this module. Plaese sir

we will highly appreciate your act of kindness !!!

Thankyou!

Yup, I strongly agree with the fact that EG1108 is the toughest module. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only 3 MCs. This 3-MC module is extremely powerful enough to kill all our brain cells.

This module may just be dealing with the electrical part of Physics, but it goes way in depth. The circuits given are extremely complex at the start, and we have to use complex numbers to solve of AC circuits. Anyway, I've check up on PC1432 AC circuits topic, and I don't see any complex number being involved inside. Well, I supposed they didn't want to use complex numbers to make things more complex...

If they really have negative marking for EG1108 term test, thing a lot of people are going to get zero marks for the test. Haiz... Anyway, the circuits thing are just the 1st part of EG1108. Hopefully, things will get better when we get to the 2nd part, which deals with magnetic fields, transformers, generators and so on.

Hello Panda!!!

2006-09-28T23:25:00.000+08:00

The Blackened Eyes
Yup, after 6 weeks in NUS, my eyes had blackened so much that I really looked like a panda. At least I'm wearing a spectacle, so it wouldn't look to obvious to other people. Haven't been sleeping too much due to that terrible timetable the administrative staff from the Faculty had plan for me. Yup, that's also the same reason why I haven't been blogging recently. By the time I got home, I was feeling so exhausted that the only thing I want to do is to sleep...

ZZZZZZZzzzzzz......

The Timetable
Just for those interested, this is how my timetable is like.

Monday
0900 - 1200: Common Lab (For EG1108 and PC1432)
1300 - 1400: MA1505 Lecture
1600 - 1800: EG1108 Lecture (Good for ZZZZZZzzzzzz......)

Tuesday
0800 - 0900: MA1505 Tutorial
1400 - 1500: EC1301 Tutorial (Yup, there's 5 hours break in between...)
1600 - 1800: MA1505 Lecture

Wednesday
0800 - 1000: EC1301 Lecture
1000 - 1200: CS1101C Lab (Even Week)
1200 - 1400: PC1432 Lecture (Yup, from FASS to SoC and to FoE... An Amazing Race...)
1400 - 1500: CS1101C Tutorial
1600 - 1800: EG1471 Seminar
(Yes, this is the most hectic day, especially for even week...)

Thursday
1400 - 1600: CS1101C Lecture
1600 - 1700: PC1432 Lecture

Friday
0900 - 1000: EG1108 Tutorial
1100 - 1200: PC1432 Tutorial (Wk 4, 6, 9, 11, 13)
1400 - 1600: EG1471 Seminar

CS1101C: Programming Methodology (C programming)
EC1301: Principles of Economics
EG1108: Electrical Engineering
EG1471: English for Academic Purposes
MA1505: Mathematics I
PC1432: Physics IIE

Modules
Ok, let me talk a bit on the modules that I'm taking.

CS1101C
This module isn;t that bad, in fact can be fun. Yup, you create those simple programs like creating, currencies/units conversion calculator, Cumulative Average Point calculator... Once you finish the course, you may even create simple games like Guessing Number, Mastermind, some MCQ questions and so on. The lab on the other hand... Haiz... Even squeezing out all the brain juice that you have, you might not even get the solution. Yup, they are REALLY testing your concepts. The same goes to their tests and exams (after attempting some of the past papers). The good thing? Testes and exams are open book (of course it has to be open book, if it is not, your brain will explode after trying to remember so many programming definitions).

EC1301
Well, I've got a fun lecturer that also tells interesting stories and jokes, so the lecture is not bad (I know there's another lecturer that is kind of bad...). Well, you have to know the concepts, and those taking Econs in A level will have that advantage, since it covers the basis of Economics. Too bad I'm not one of the, so I have to work harder... Anyway, the beauty of this module is that the test and exam are in MCQ format, yup 100% MCQ. Well, this also means it's harder to get Grade A due to that bell curve...

EG1108
NEVER TAKE THIS MODULE AS UEM!!! (Anyway, I don't think anyone will take it as UEM) This module only has 3 MCs, and the concepts are so difficult to understand. Haiz... Not only it is difficult, the lecturer (the current one) is also bad... It will be better off to stay at home to read up on your own rather than to stay for 2 hours listening to to his lecture... Yup, he just merely reads from the slides and talk a bit more... You'll never understand anything from the lecture. Anyway, I discuss with Hong Joo about the economics costs and benefits of attending his lecture, and both of us agree that the cost is a lot much greater than the benefits for that. Yup, the good thing about taking Economics...

EG1471
Well, can be quite fun, but also time consuming. There's no MCs allocated. You could be doing something else rather than to write paragraphs or essays. Well, never mind, I wanted to improve on my language anyway.

MA1505
This module is mostly on Calculus, so if you are the one that hates differentiation and integration, this will be one of your most problematic module. Yup, you will definitely do a lot of differentiation and integration. In fact, differentiation and integration will be the most important things that you need to know in university. Unless you are applying for FASS (except those intending to major in Economics), differentiation and integration is a MUST know topics.

PC1432
Haiz... Even though it's just only a step-up of A-level Physics, the step-up is just too great for me to handle. Yup, maybe I could have forgotten most of the stuff while in the army, so I need more time to absorb what I've learn into my brain. Anyway, there are quite a lot of integration (that's why integration is important) involved as well, sometimes it makes some concepts a bit complicated... Well, I have to say, take this module IF you are really good at Physics (this also holds for all the following Physics module as well: PC1141, PC1142, PC1143, PC1144 and PC1431).

Lecture Theatre Comments
Currently, I'm attending lectures at LT2, LT7, LT7A and LT11, and these are the comments I have to give.

LT2: A lot of broken tables, and tables that have split lines. Always have problems finding seats with tables in good condition, especially for this kind of small LT that only has 200+ seats

LT7: Very old LT that uses uncomfortable seats and small tables. The air-con are also not functioning properly, so you might feel a bit hot inside...

LT7A: A lot of broken seats. Some of the seats are stained as well. Think this LT must be overutilised that the seats start to "drop off" from their positions and other seats start to have stains.

LT11: So far this is one of the best LTs. The seats and tables are relatively new, and the leg-room is wide. Think they just renovated this LT before I matriculate.

Hopefully they will do something to LT2, LT7, LT7A and most of the LTs that need some servicing... :P

Music Results
Think I haven't post this yet. Well, got my result like about a month ago. Here it is.

Grade 2 Violin: 120/150 (Merit)
Grade 3 Flute: 123/150 (Merit)

Hmm... Think I must have have performed my pieces a bit badly... Anyway, I've got full marks for aural for both my exams, so think that's how I got my merit.

Marathon, Anyone?
Currently, I've sign up for the Standard Chartered Marathon (21km), and also mailed my application for Vertical Marathon (waiting to be approved). Anyone keen on joining me for the run?

An Exhausting Week...

2006-08-20T16:07:00.000+08:00

The Uneven Timetable
Unfortunately for me, the timetable is kind of uneven for me. For Tuesday, I'll be spending the whole day in NUS just for 3 periods of lessons. Yup, this means that there is a long break in between the lessons. Well, I could only put in one tutorial slot there, since I only can ballot the tutorials for 1 module. The other modules are already preallocated.

For Wednesday, on alternate weeks, Ill be rushing from one place to the other. Between 8am and 10am, I have my lecture at Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), which is located at the south-west side of NUS. Right after my lecture, I'll be rushing to School of Computing (SoC), which is located at the north-east side of NUS, for my programming practicals (if there's one on that week), which is from 10am to 12pm. This means I must sprint from FASS to SoC, which might take me more than 15 minutes to do so, or squeeze inside the shuttle bus with other students to SoC, which comes every 4 minutes...

That's not the end. After my programming practical at SoC, I have to rush to Faculty of Engineering (located at the west end of NUS) for my next lecture from 12pm to 1pm. Yup, either I have to sprint or to squeeze in the shuttle bus. Anyway, there are only like about 200 working seats (seats without broken tables) in that lecture theatre, and there are more than 200 students attending the lecture. So, if I have to rush from SoC to my lecture at FoE, most likely I would have to take up those seats with broken tables, or to sit on the stairways instead.

I finish my lessons late on Wednesday, so most likely I would already have "passed out" before going for my last lesson of the day...

Buying Textbooks
Well, so far I had spent about $200 on textbooks. Some people said that I should have bought the 2nd hand textbooks from the seniors, or from the 2nd hand book fair, or maybe just use the lecturers lecture notes or presentation slides. Well, I prefer newer textbooks, as it would not have writings in it, which may looks kind of messy. Yup, those writings can be helpful, but I'm used to my own writing. Sometimes I might not understand what other people write as well, so it's better for me to get a new textbook and write the notes myself. Getting the textbook would also supplement what I learn in the lectures, so that I can know a little more. Yup, that's learning.

Exhausted
Yup, the first week of lessons is NUS means there were a lot of admin stuff to do. We have to print out the lecture notes/presentation slides, check up for compulsory readings and buy the textbooks, familiarise with the place, and so on. It can be exhuasting, so exhausting that right after I reached home, I would just fall asleep straight away...

Friday: That Only Rest Day
Yup, this will be the only day where I can rest and relax for the whole semester. Anyway, I went to SAFRA Toa Payoh in the morning to collect my SSBR/AHM race pack at the race expo. Collected my SSBR/AHM T-shirt, goodie bag coupon, tag number and the pins at the expo. Just for those people who are interested, my tag number is 6094. So, anyone buying 4-D?

Well, I'll be running the 10km SSBR next Sunday with Wei Qiang, Hong Joo, and some other people which I still can't confirm if they are running as well. Yup, just next week only, so far only ran up to 6km... Well, never mind, I'm only taking part in the fun run, so should be ok if I walk for the next 4km... :P

Later at evening, I met up with Chun Hoo and Wei Qiang at Westmall for a movie "Dragon Tiger Gate". Well, initially, Chun Hoo thought that there's a great movie discount at Eng Wah cineplex, and wanted to watched Ant Bully, but it turned out that only "Dragon Tiger Gate" movie had that discount... Well, never mind, I know that somehow I'll have to watch this movie with someone. Anyway, the movie was not bad, the plot was kind of simple. Yup, we only paid $5 for each movie tickets. That's really cheap.

Saturday Run
Finally, Wei Qiang and I decided to go and run at Bishan Park on Saturday morning. Yup, we haven't been running for quite sometime already. Well, decided to spend our morning to train for the upcoming SSBR/AHM. Haha... Me kind of exhausted after running for about 4+km... Hmm... Looks like I might not be training enough...

A Tiring Week...

2006-08-13T15:04:00.000+08:00

The Evening Lectures
For the past few days, I had been attending the evening maths lecture conducted by the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. The lecture were about the maths that we were going to do during our course. Most of the things taught by them are applications of maths for our engineering course. Well, I didn't understand what they were teaching though... What they taught to us were either new to use, or I had learnt them before in junior college, but never use them in such a way... Yup, they were also very teaching very quickly as well. Before I could even finish at least half of the page of a presentation slide, they moved on to the next slide already. Hmm... One of the lecturer, Dr Loh, always like to use the word "this" and "that", pointing to the slides. Well, it was kind of confusing when she just kept using "this" and "that", expecting us to absorb from the presentation slides very quickly... Yup, the topics are kind of new to me, don't think I can absorb so fast, right? Another lecturer, Mr Yu, a PhD student, would use his own Chinese English to teach us, and present his lecture with his presentation slides very quickly. Always didn't have that time to copy all the things on the slide... Well, at least they posted the presentation slides on the website, so that I can read the slides at my own time.

For all the 4 lectures that I attended, I was late for the 3 lectures. Yup, I haven't had my dinner before coming for the lecture, so a few of us, including Hong Joo, would take our time to find a place for dinner and eat. Haha... We were late for like 15 minutes for the first 3 lectures... Hmm... Think that was really a bad start for school... :P Anyway, I have to comment that the McDonald in NUS is really cheap, each set meal is cheaper by $1 plus as compared to the McDonalds outside in Singapore. For those people who don't know where is McDonald in NUS, it is just beside Techno Edge canteen, the canteen in the Faculty of Engineering, which is quite near to the computer centre. Oh yeah, if you are a student in NUS, you will get discounts for dining in Subway inside NUS. That's nice, maybe I'll eat Subway everyday... :P Well, Subway is located near Yusof Ishak house, just for your information.

Tertiary Ez-Link Card
Yup, I had collected the card already, now I could apply for my concession pass. Only applied for the train concession, as I don't take the bus as much as I do for trains. It's cost me $45 per month (for 4 rides a day), but it's definitely worth it. Without the concession pass, I'll be spending $70+ per month for the train. With the pass, I just need to spend roughly $45 to $50 a month. Yup, will save about $20 a month in that case. Well, I didn't apply for the bus as I did not travel with the bus as often. So far, I only spent about $30+ for the bus trips per month. The bus concession pass would cost me $52 a month for unlimited trips, so I'll have wasted $20 for the bus concession pass... Well, you have to consider whether the concession pass would benefits you or not...

Anyway, the tertiary Ez-link card will also make a good photo-identity card. It can also be used to buy food from McDonalds's and some food courts, items from 7-eleven and any places and vending machines that accepts Ez-link card. It can also be used as a library card as well. How nice... At least I don't have to bring out my pink IC (which cost $300 to replace if I lose it) or my driving licence (unlesss I need to drive).

Happy National Day!!!
Well, don't really feel that National Day was here. Maybe because I wasn't in MOE schools anymore, so didn't really receive much National Education and all those stuffs...

Anyway, I spent my afternoon watching a movie "Click" myself. Well, have to say the the movie was quite nice. It was funny at the beginning and at the middle, where Michael misused the so-called universal remote control. It got a little touching when he realised the mistakes he had made.

Didn't really watch the National Day Parade on the television though. Just feeling a little tired to watch... Well, the National Day Parade didn't really seem appealing to me as well, maybe the fireworks may look kind of beautiful...

Non-ICT IPPT
Yup, I attempted my very first non-ICT IPPT just yesterday (Saturday). Well, I decided to take my IPPT in SAFRA Toa Payoh Gym as it was near my house. Some people might have asked me, why I didn't take my IPPT at FCC (Fitness and Conditioning Centre), as there are monetary awards for IPPT taken in FCC if I do well enough, whereas taking IPPT in the gyms do not have any monetary award, no matter how well I perform (as they set the 2.4km run on treadmill to be just only a pass standard). I have to say that I wasn't going after money, and after having a very long break without exercising, I feel that I couldn't get to even at least a Silver award, so I decided to take in the gym, since the SAFRA Toa PAyoh gym is very near to my house. Anyway, I didn't know how to go to any for the 3 FCC (Bedok, Maju and Khatib).

Some people also ask me why do I take my IPPT so early. Well, I have to say that my IPPT window was the FIRST to be opened in my platoon, after we ORD in March, so Wei Qiang is lucky enough to have his window be the last one to be opened, since he ORD in February, right before we ORD. Yup, so in that case, I have to be one of the first few to attempt my IPPT, right. Anyway, my window had already opened for quite some time, so I better take my IPPT someday soon.

Anyway, when I went to SAFRA Toa Payoh to take my IPPT, I realised that most of the people who come to the gym to take their IPPT are those people who birthdays are coming soon. Yup, there was one of them who told me that his birthday was on next Friday. So, actually, they were mostly birthday boys, who didn't want to be IPPT defaulters. Well, they chose the gym because the weather outside would affect the IPPT taken in gym, since it was conducted indoors.

Thought that I might not be able to pass my IPPT becuase of pull-up, but in the end, I managed to do 7 pull-ups. Hmm... I wonder how I could have done that without exercising... Anyway, I managed to pass all 5 stations. Well, after the treadmill run, when I went up for out-processing, the IPPT instructor accidentally delete my scores and particulars from the notebook. Well, the fitness instructors (which is also known as PTIs) thought that I forgot to do the in-processing, only when the IPPT instructor (the older indian guy) told him that he accidentally delete my records... Luckily, my IPPT records can be found in the PDA the Fitness Instructors used to record our scores, so the person had to key in my score manually instead. Well, as he had to do the in-processing to key in my scores, it look like I only took my whole IPPT for about 30 seconds, as the time difference between the in-processing and the out-processing was only like 30 seconds apart... Well, just that something screwed up...

Anyway, I got my IPPT test receipt here with me. The test receipt will be given to the people right after their IPPT test, to keep track of their scores. Yup, have to keep the receipt just in case they forgot to input my scores into their database, and if they accused me of being IPPT defaulters, I can show them this receipt. Well, here's mine.

Happy Birthday Zhiliang
Went for the Zhiliang birthday celebration at his house. Well, as Zhiliang had too many guest to entertain, he message me to tell us to go to his place by our own. Well, after meeting with Shi Qing, Hong Joo and Victor there, we took the first bus that we saw that went to Zhiliang's house. About the present, the 4 of us shared the sheep soft toy costing about $28 as a birthday present for Zhiliang.

Well, as we were about to enter the condomimium area, there was this cat that kept following us. When Zhiliang opened the side gates for the 4 of us to enter, the cat flollowed us inside the place as well... Hmm... I supposed the cat was smart enough that there was a party going on in the function room in the condominium area, so that would mean food for the cat... Haha...

Anyway, the food was quite nice there. Hmm... I was wondering which caterer did they ordered the food from. The cake was also nice as well. Yup, kind of rare of me to say that, since I don't like to at cakes... Anyway, we also had a bit of fun there, especially when there were some people throwing the birthday boy into the swimming pool.

As I was feeling a bit giddy and tired, I decided to leave earlier, with the "Easties" (Shi Qing, Hong Joo and Wenhao). Yup, I was really feeling so tired, right after I reached home, I went to my bed and sleep straight away...

A Hectic Week

2006-08-06T17:33:00.000+08:00

So Many Things to Do!!!
It had been a hectic week. Finally, I managed to squeeze out some time to type out my blog. Yup, anyway, I've already maytriculated, and now, I waiting for round 2A to start, so that I can bid for my Physics module, and 1 more module, either 1 module from Singapore Studies, or 1 module from the SARTORS requirement (business/management module).

Monday
Ok, this is just one day that I can relax. Well, basically, there's nothing much for me to do on that day. I decided to catch a movie "Thank You for Not Smoking" at Cathay Cineleisure. Well, the movie was not bad, quite funny actually.

Tuesday
Met up with Hong Joo, Kai Quan there at Clementi to go for the Engineering Welcome Session. Well, Hong Joo also met up with one of his friend, Jia Cheng. The 4 of us went to take the bus to NUS to meet up with Hui Huang as well.

Well, the welcome part was kind of boring, with the introduction of the Faculty of Engineering members and all these things. Well, the vice-dean also kept mentioning on how we had made the right choice of doing Engineering in NUS, mentioning all the rankings, SARTORS accredition and so on. Ok... After that, he went on to talk about what we could do next time when we graduate, the faculty requirements and the university requirements, and also a bit about the modules.

After the vice-dean talk, we had a talk by the Engineering Club memebers about the activities they are organising. Well, they kept encouraging us to take part in the Engineering O Week, but then there was only a limited slots for us... Hmm...

Lunch was catered buffet. Well, we queue for the food a bit late, so we were only left with fried rice, bee hoon, and those food that people didn't want to take. Hmm... Still felt a bit hungry after lunch...

After lunch, we had a video presentation about CORS, the module bidding system. Well, we can't really sleep during the video presentation, or we might miss out a lot of things.

After the welcome session ended, Kai Quan wanted to meet his friend, who was having a welcome session at School of Computing to pass some things to him. Well, we decided to accompany him along, so that he won't feel bored. We went to the canteen at Faculty of Science, and had our snacks there. Well, I was actually having my early dinner there, eating wanton noodle, as I was feeling quite hungry since I didn't eat much during lunch. Well, I have to say that the food at NUS canteen is cheap. Haha...

Wednesday
There's a Maths revision going on during that day. Well, I decided to come along since my standard had already dipped. Yup, think now my standard uis equivalent to a primary school student... Anyway, the lecture was about Sets, Funtions and Com[plex numbers. Well, I realised that my brain had become so rusty, I couldn't really recall much what I had learn last time... Hmm... Must be because of Army...

Thursday
It's our matriculation day. met up with Hong Joo, Wenhao and Jian Hao at Clementi station. Well, I arrived a bit late, so they had to wait for me there... Haha... Anyway, we took the bus there after that to MPSH.

Well, as Hong Joo and I arrive a bit too early for the matriculation (well, they had actually allocated the timeslot for us), the person there told us to come back again at our allocated timeslot, as they did not have our matriculation card. Well, ok Hong Joo and I decided to go out and wait before our turn comes. Well, at our allocated timeslot is the next timeslot, so we didn't have to wait for too long. Well, poor Jian Hao had to wait until 3pm for his turn... Not really sure what he did during the meantime though...

Anyway, after we matriculate, we collect our NUS bag and mug before proceeding on to the fair on the 1st level. Well, there was a notebook fair going on during our matriculation. I wanted to get a notebook, but still can't decide on what model to get yet. As the notebook thing might take quite some time, and we had to go to the 2nd level for some other things, I decided to get my notebook the next day, which is Friday. Yup, the fair will still go on until Friday.

We then met up with Wenhao and Hong Joo's friend outside the notebook booth, and we went to the 2nd level together. Over there, I bought a matric pack and a engineering pack, which cost me a total of $20. While we were walking across the ECA booths, we were always being stopped by the people there, to listen about theiractivities and so on. I sign up for a few of them, can't really remember what I had sign u[ already. Anyway, I also sign up for NUSSO, but subsequently got rejected as I had not enough experiece with the orchestra and the instrument as well. Sorry, there's no piano section in the orchestra.

Well, I also applied for the DBS-NUS Debit card. I thought it look kind of nice, so I applied one, with most of the people as well. Now I need to wait for about 2 weeks for the card to arrive to my home.

Friday
Well, by right I should be attending my maths revision lectures on that day, but eventually, I had to give the 1st lecture a miss, and I had to be late for the 2nd lecture. Well, the notebook thing just take too much time...

In the morning, I met up with Victor Cheng and Hong Joo at Clementi station. Well, why do I include Victor's surname onto this blog? Later you will know why. Anyway, Victor Cheng wanted to change his passbook acount from thumbprint based to signature based, so he wanted to visit a POSB branch before going to NUS.

When we reached the MSPH for the notebook fair, Victor Cheng and I were still deciding and discussing which notebook should we get. Eventually, both of us decided on Fujitsu S7110 notebook with Victor Cheng's friends, and my JC schoolmate, which is also called Victor (well, it's Victor Lee). As Victor Cheng was using free-interest loan to pay for his notebook, it took him only a short while for him to finish since he didn't have to collect the notebook on that day. Well, as Victor Lee and I were using the "Cash and Carry" payment, it would take us some time for us to finish. Yup, when I queue up, the person asked me to come back in another 30 minutes time, so I decided to have my lunch with Hong Joo first.

Well, when I came back to the notebook fair, it took me 30 minutes to make payment. Yup, I'm using 100% NETS, even though the notebook cost me more than $2300 after the memory upgrade and getting the Microsoft Office 2003, since I have to NETS card, 1 is my POSB Go! Enhanced ATM card, the other is my orange POSB Debit card, which can be used as a NETS card as well. After that, I waited another 30 minutes to collect my notebook. After that, I had to wait for another 15 minutes for my turn to come to fixed up and check the notebook. After that, I had to spent another 15 minutes for the person to setup, configure and check the notebook for me. Once done, I bought the notebook insurance as well, which cost me more than $80. Yup, it was already 2.30pm by then, the start of the 2nd maths revision lecture.

Before the lecture, I had to go to the central library to check on my CORS. Yup, almost coulnd't find my way to the library. After that, I had to find my way to LT7A, which took me quite some time to find... Yup, walking on the engineering blocks is like walking on the maze, you have to find the way there. Different paths and staircase will lead to a different place... The levels are also confusing, when I entered the building, I was already on the 4th storey... Hmm... Look like I better familiarise with the place, or I'll had problems when I study next time... Managed to reach the lecure theatre by 3pm.

Well, I realised that I had missed a lot of things from the differentiation lecture. They taught the things that was not important for our A Level syllabus. Hmm... Luckily there is a webcast for us to view on the internet. Ok, hopefully this would be the only and the last time I had to do this...

After the maths lecture, Hong Joo, Daniel and I had to go to the Zhen Hao's party at Aranda chalet. Well, Victor Cheng was not coming along with us, as he had something on later. We then took the bus back to Clementi to wait for Roger, and at the same time, I was waiting for my father to come and bring back the notebook for me. Well, after putting the notebook and stuffs onto my father's car, we went straight to the station to meet up with Roger to go to the chalet.

Well, the chalet was kind of like a platoon gathering, where we gather around at talk about stuffs and things we did or are going to do after we ORD. We stayed up quite late. Yup, it was really late, when we realised the last train will be leaving at 2323 hours from Pasir Ris. Hong Joo, Wenhao, Daniel, Kai Quan and I had to run to the station in order not to missed the train. Well, even though Kai Quan and I will be taking the carpool home (with my father's car), we still ran along with them. Haha...

Saturday
Well, the flute lesson was just as usual. We pracise from our textbook and the flute repertory book.

Later, I met up with Kai Quan at Cathay Cineleisure to buy tickets for the movie "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift". Well, BSO wanted to watch the movie with us, so he ask the 4 of us, Wei Qiang, Hong Joo, Kai Quan and me to watch the movie with him. After buying the tickets, Kai Quan and I had our dinner at Burger King before Hong Joo, Wei Qiang and BSO met up with us.

Well, the movie was quite nice and exciting. It kind of reminds me of the movie "Initial D", as the racing concept is kind of similar.

After the movie, as Wei Qiang wanted to catch the fireworks display at esplanade, we decided to go along with him to watch the fireworks.

After that, we went to Marina Square to find a place to eat as Wei qiang and Hong Joo had not had their dinner yet. After walking around for quite some time, we then decided to settle down at Cavana. Yup, I order a Chicken rice there, so that would be my 2nd dinner. Haha... Well, I didn't eat much for breafast and lunch, at I didn't had my popcorn during the movie due to time contraint, so it isn't so surprising to have a 2nd dinner.

Sunday
I was feeling so tired in the morning... Anyway, I told my parents that I won't be going out to have breakfast with them, as I wanted my beauty sleep. Yup, I slept quite late last night (or should I say this morning). My father then bought my sister and me hotcakes from McDonald's when he came back home from breakfast.

I was a bit late for my violin lesson in the afternoon. Well, I was still feeling very tired during tha time. Actually, I didn't realy feel like going for the lesson, but anyway, since there would be a scheduled holiday next week, for both Saturday and Sunday, this means that I would not have my flute and violin lesson next week. Ok, so I just attend my lesson as usual. Yup, made a lot of mistakes while practising with the rest of the class... Hmm... Anyway, I didn't have so much time to practise... Well, hopefully things will get at least a bit better...

Didn't really had my lunch as I was feeling a bit tired to eat. Well, come to think of it, I had been eating quite a lot for the past week. Yup, and I didn't run on Wednesday evening and Saturday morning... Ok, so think I really need to train up more next week... Yup, SSBR/AHM is nearing...

Yawn...

2006-07-30T15:46:00.000+08:00

Friday: The Sleeping Day
Think I had done nothing much for that day, except to sleep, and maybe to surf the internet for a while. Well, just don't know why, recently I'm just into sleeping... Maybe because this sleeping disease is hereditary? Yup, my mother sleeps a lot, as what I know, so maybe that's why my sister and I also like to sleep a lot... Ok... Think I must do something to do away with the sleeping...

Saturday: The Running Regime
Well, met up with Wei Qiang at Bishan MRT station to run at Bishan Park. Well, we planned to cover both Bishan Park 2 and Bishan Park 1. That would total up to be 6km. Hmm... As we reached Bishan Park 1 (the park further away from Bishan MRT station), I realised that Wei Qiang had slowed down... Hmm... I was wondering why... Anyway, when I was at the road junction waiting for him, I thought he had fainted somewhere in the middle of the park, because he took quite sometime to reach the junction. Wanted to walk back to have a look, but well, managed to see him jogging slowly towards the road junction.

He then asked me to proceed on with the running... Hmm... Well, I supposed he need some rest first, so I continue on... Anyway, when I read his blog, he said he had gastric pain... Aiyah... Should have told me earlier. Then I could help him to walk all the way back to Bishan MRT station. Anyway, I wasn't really running during the last part, since I was already out of breath as I was still feeling very sleepy and tired... Yup, when you are sleepy, you will yawn a lot as your brain needs oxygen. At the same time, when you are running, you also needs oxygen for other body parts... So, after running for quite some time, I really felt out of breath... Yup, walk all the way back to the end.

Well, after the run, we had our breakfast at McDonald's again. Hmm... Can't think of any places to have breakfast, so we just go there.

Had my flute lesson in the afternoon. The teacher again ask me when I'm going to upgrade my flute. He said that it would be difficult for me to continue using my beginner's flute to hit high notes. Ok, I told him that I'll only get a better flute next year, when they had the mid-year sale again. Yup, currently not enough money. I need to get a notebook when I matriculate, and also upgrade my violin as well, so don't think I'll have enough money to upgrade my flute now. He said that I should start saving now so that I can upgrade my flute. Ya, I'm no longer serving as an NSF, and I'm not working now, so I can only get money from my parents, and I don't think they will give me much as well... The money is needed for some other important expenses as well, in which after that I'll only have a bit of money left after all the spendings... Ok, I'm thinking how the "savings" thing can be made possible...

Sunday
Had to wake up early to go to the temple with my family to pray... Yup, I was still in my dreamland... Don't really feel like waking up... Anyway, I'm about to matriculate soon, so I decided to go to the temple with them and pray that I can get good results when I'm studying in the university. Yup, not only that, I also hope that I can win lottery so that I can buy a notebook, upgrade my violin and upgrade my flute without having to worry too much about moeny... Haha... Ok, ok, I'm thinking too much now...

After praying, we had our breakfast at S11 food centre at Ang Mo Kio. Well, at least my father realised that this food centre has more food choices to offer, rather than the hawker centre that they always had their carrot cake on...

In the afternoon, I had my violin lesson. Hmm... Think I had dropped my stantard of playing by a lot after being seperated from the class... Hmm... Forgot how to play some of the pieces he wanted us to play... Well, never mind, maybe I'll spend some time practising on those pieces, which I don't think I'll do it anyway... Haha... :P

The Violin Exam

2006-07-27T20:45:00.000+08:00

Mum On Holiday
Yup, my mother had just gone for a short holiday just this morning with her friends to Malaysia. My father specially take leave today just to fetch her to the meeting point for the trip. Ok, think it's time that we had to do our own chores... Well, at least my grandmother knows how to cook, so food is not a problem here.

The Lazy Morning
Just feeling so sleepy and tired when I woke up this morning. Well, after I brush my teeth and ate a bit of things, I went back to the bed to sleep again. So tired... I wish I could sleep as much as I could... Well, the air-con is not working, so I felt a bit uncomfortable sleeping. Well, sleepy but uncomfortable... I still continue to sleep until 11am anyway.

The Violin Exam
Since my father is on leave today, he fetch me to Plaza Singapura for my exams. Well, thought of joining Hong Joo and his colleagues for lunch, since he was just working nearby, but he only going to have lunch after 2pm. Hmm... That would be a bit late since I have to report for my exams by 2.42pm, 15 minutes before my exams (which was at 2.57pm). Yup, they are very precise about the timing, and if yoou don't know, they allocated a very specific time period for different grades. Anyway, I decided to have lunch myself at Yoshinoya myself.

Before my exams, I had some practise with my teacher first. Hmm... The practise seemed to go quite well actually, but during the exams, I made a lot of slips and trips with the pieces, scales and sight-reading that I played for the examiner... Hmm... Don't sound good as well... I made a major trip on my third piece, so think that piece is going to be "buang" (hopeless). Well, if I could at least pass (get at least 100 out of the maximum 150 marks) for this exam, I'll be very happy... :P

After my violin exams, I join my sister for lunch at Burger King, as she had not eat anything yet. Didn't order any food to eat, since I was feeling quite full. After that, I went back home straight, as I was feeling very tired and sleepy. Yup, I went to sleep straight away when I reached home. Haha...

Warm and Humid -> Sleepy...

2006-07-26T20:01:00.000+08:00

Very Sleepy...
Well, I had not been doing much things during the past few days. Anyway, I was feeling sleepy, especially in the afternoons, and I just spent my days sleeping... Haha... How nice... Think it must be the warm and humid weather that made me sleepy. Whenever I sleep or nap in the afternoons, I'll tend to sweat, making the bed or the sofa a bit wet. Well, once it's a bit wet, I just couldn't sleep anymore, no matter how sleepy I feel, so I would just get up and use the computer.

Movie: Hookwinked
Well, no want seemed interested about this movie, so I decided to catch that movie at GV Marina yesterday. GV Bishan is not showing this show, so I had to go somewhere else to watch it. Didn't want to go to GV Plaza, because I didn't really want to meet my violin teacher, especially when nearing my exams. Yup, he would keep asking me whether I had practise at home frequently, whether I can play with my accompanist well enough, and so on... Yup, he's teaching at Yamaha Music School at Plaza Singapura on Tuesday, so I'll try to avoid that place until my exams had ended.

Well, at first I thought there was a movie slot some time around 3 plus. When I reached the ticketing booth, which was before 3pm, I realised that the next slot was 5.15pm. Hmm... Did I read the timeslot wrongly? Maybe they might had cancelled the movie instead? Anyway, I still buy the ticket at 5.15pm. That means I still had about 2 hours plus before the start of the movie... Ok, so I decided go to Millenia Walk to look around. Well, I heard from Sock Mui, one of my Maybank temp staff colleagues, there is 1 shop named "Candy Empire" where they import sweets, candies, chocolates, biscuits and chips from other countries. That time, Sock Mui let me try out one of the chocolate sticks (containing hazelnut cream inside) she bought from that shop. Well, I had to say that it was fantastically sweet and nice!!! Yup, I really feel like buying one box to eat. Well, when I went to Candy Empire, I found that chocolate sticks, which cost $9 per box. Hmm... Really wanted to buy one... Anyway, I decided to buy it next time, maybe when it gets closer to Zhen Hao's farewell party, or Zhiliang's birthday party, I'll buy about 2 boxes for you guys to try out. Haha...

Anyway, when I got back to Marina Square, I heard someone calling out my name from my back. Oh, it was Shiqing. He was at Anderson's Ice Cream, meeting his former classmates there. Well, he said that next time he would catch more movies with us. Ok, that is if there are movies that interest at least the both of us first... Hopefully it's not some weird movies...

Well, the movie was shown in Theatre 2, which is just beside the Samsung Platinum Lounge. When I got into the theatre, I noticed that all seats have the word Samsung on the front and on the back as well. Hmm... I supposed Samsung must had sponsored GV Marina's Theatre 1 and 2, no wonder why both theatres are located from a different levels from the other 4 theatres...

Anyway, about the movie, it wasn't so bad anyway. The story that each character tell got funnier and weirder... Hmm... Kind of unexpecting what kind of story they told the imspector. Anyway, the culprit for the missing recipes could be easily guessed when the 4 of them, Red (the riding hood), the wolf, the axeman (which is actually an actor) and granny told the inspector their story.

Jogging from Ang Mo Kio to Kallang
Well, initially Wei Qiang asked me to meet him at 6pm today. When I was about to reach Ang Mo Kio station, he messaged to me that he was unable to make it for the run, because he was very busy. Well, since I was already reaching Ang Mo Kio station, I decided to hop off the train and start to walk and slow jog from Ang Mo Kio station to the start of the Kallang Park Connector near Bishan Park. Haven't tried exploring the road, so I decided to run the park connector by myself.

Anyway, about the park connector, I had to cross some bridges and also cross the road to reach the expressway near Toa Payoh (which is near St Andrew's School). After crossing the expressway, I reached a private hosing estate, where there was a short break in the connectors. Well, had to find the connector myself, but anyway, they had signs to point out which way to run to the connector, so I followed the signs and continue my way with the connector.

Hmm... At first, I thought I lost my way there. Ran for quite a distance already, but still couldn't find any recognisable landmarks, or and MRT stations. Well, I couldn't also run back, because that would be like running another 5km. Yup, by the time I reached Kallang Bahru, I was a bit exhausted already. Already crossed som many roads and bridges, yet still haven't found one... Yup, there are actually a lot of roads to be crossed on the 2nd half of my jogging route... Well, I didn't give up. I told myself that the nearest MRT station should be somewhere near, so I decided to continue jogging until I saw an MRT track. Hurray!!! Finally found the way to the MRT station. I quickly jog my way there to get to the MRT station, which is Kallang station. Yup, I actually jogged from Ang Mo Kio MRT station to Kallang MRT station. Before taking the train back home, I cooled down myself and bought a bottle of mineral water from a nearby vending maching first. Yup, I was perspiring so much after jogging for more than 6km (don't know if it's more than that, they don't have the marking on the 2nd half of my jogging route).

Anyway, as I was still sweating a lot while boarding the train back home, I tried not to stand too near to anyone else... Haha... Afraid that they might not be able to take it... Hmm... What I noticed was that the people didn't really seem to mind stading quite close to me (the train was crowded also), so I guessed it was ok for me...

My Piano Skills: Dipped in Standard...

2006-07-24T14:27:00.000+08:00

Attempting the Piano
Hmm... After I got enlisted into the army, I had not been playing much then. Realised that my skills had dropped... Well, it was expecting though, since there wasn't any piano in the camp to practise on...

Well, I just made some video clips on my playing. Made, quite a lot of slips and mistakes, especially Fur Elise.

The second one is the Allegro con Spirito by Hook, which is my Grade 5 exam piece. Made a few slips also...

The third one is the Prelude in D by J.S. Bach. Think this one is still fine...

There wasn't much contrasting dynamics in my playing as well. Not really sure if it is because of my playing, the camera or the piano...

When the Air-Con Becomes the Heater

2006-07-23T20:02:00.000+08:00

The Unfunctioning Air-Con
Recently the air-con on all our bedrooms had not been working properly. They had been blowing warm air instead inside our bedrooms, making the bedrooms warmer than what it is outside. Well, we realised that the air-con external unit is spoilt, so that's why the air-con is not blowing the cool air... Anyway, my father had ordered a new set of air-cons to be installed in all our bedrooms, and it would be arriving in about 2 to 3 weeks time. Haiz... That means I had to sleep without air-con for a long period of time... The temperature is also generally warmer in July as well... Looks like I'll have a very bad time sleeping at night... Haiz...

Tertiary Ez-link Card
Yup, I had applied for the Tertiary Ez-link card last Thursday. When I checked the application status recently, it had changed from "Status: Eligible" to "Status: Application Received". Ok, great, they are making my card right now. Well, can't really get the card during Matriculation days, since I missed a period of dates for making the card so that I could received the card when I matriculate. Never mind, I'll just be getting the card another 1 week later.

Once I received my Ez-link card, I'll apply for the consession pass for trains. Yup, the train is the most important form of transport for me. When I'm studying in the university, I'll be taking the trains every day, so it's better for me to apply that. Not really sure if I should apply for bus concession, don't really take the bus so often, maybe except to go to the university from MRT station and vice versa... Well, I shall see first...

Jogging at Bishan Park
Yup, Wei Qiang and I agreed to run somewhere around Bishan on Saturday morning. Anyway, I met up with Wei Qiang at Bishan MRT station yesterday morning, and went to Bishan Park to had a jog there. We ran for about 1.5 rounds then, which total up to be about 4km. Haha... I was exhausted after 1 round, about 2.7km, but I just kept going on, sinced I need to build up my endurance for the comming SSBR/AHM. Anyway, there are a lot of facilities in Bishan Park, like a dog park, which is an area for the dogs to run about, and also and Spa somewhere at the middle of Bishan Park 2. There is also a fitness corner with 19 stations as well. Not really sure how many fitness corner are there. The running path is shady as well, as most of the path are covered by trees. It's really a nice place to run there. Me also haven't been to Bishan Park for a long time, think last time I ran there was with my family, when I was still in lower primary. Haha...

Flute: Starting Level 4
Ok, just started my Flute Level 4 lesson yesterday. There are definitely a lot of things to catch up, like doing the trills properly, and also practising on Flute harmonics as well. The pieces we are doing are much faster, and the range of notes get larger, looks like I need to train more on the fingering and blowing techniques more.

Well, the teacher said that I need to upgrade the flute, or I'll make my classmates suffer, especially when I'm playing harmonics and high notes. Yup, it is really difficult to play harmonics and hit high notes with a student flute, always have to blow out a very loud sound instead, which can hurt our ears. The problem is that I bought my flute just one year ago only, and the new and better flute will definitely need a lot of money... Well, money doesn't grow on trees, you know. If it does, I'll be buying all the high ends musical instruments by then. Anyway, even if I need to get a new flute, the earliest I will buy them will most probably be next year, some where in the middle of the year, where they had the mid-year sale. I had to upgrade my violin first, since my violin is really lousy, much lousier than my flute, and I had been holding on to this violin for more than 2 years. So, I need to upgrade my violin first, and accumulate my money so that I can upgrade my flute.

No Violin Lesson
Well, this morning, my violin teacher called to say that he was not free in the morning. My exam is nearing, so he asked me to come earlier during the day when I have my exam, so that he can practise with me before I go in for the exam. I do not have to go for lesson in the afternoon, so no violin lesson today. Basically there's nothing much in the morning, so I went out with my family to have my breakfast.

Qualifying English Test (QET)

2006-07-21T21:19:00.000+08:00

QET: Forgotten How to Write An Essay...
This morning, I met up with Hong Joo and Zhaoxiong at Bouna Vista control station. Well, Zhaoxiong is a friend of Hong Joo, which was from the same BMT company and same platoon in Signal Institute with Hong Joo, in which later he got posted to 4SIR. Yup, he is also a signaller as well.

Anyway, there were a lot of people going to NUS for the QET. When we reached the bus stop opposite Buona Vista, and the first bus number 95 arrived, Hong Joo and Zhaoxiong couldn't squeezed into the bus, leaving me along inside. Well, I've already tapped my card onto the reader, so it was too late for me to get off the bus when I realised that Hong Joo and Zhaoxiong was still outside the bus. Never mind, I told them that I'll be waiting for them at the bus stop inside NUS.

When I reached the bus stop, I met one of my classmates, Kaifeng, and one of my schoolmates (oops, forgot his name) there. Yup, there were also taking QET, at the same venue as me as well. After meeting Hong Joo and Zhaoxiong again at the bus stop, we went to the Multi-purpose Sports Hall 2 (MPSH 2) together. It was kind of crowded outside the hall. Yup, there were actually a lot of people taking the QET. Victor then arrived later and met us there outside MPSH 2.

We were actually discussing if there are air-cons inside the hall, because Hong Joo was sweating a lot, and if there aren't, then Hong Joo might need to used the paper given to us to write our answers to wipe his sweat. Haha... Just joking. Anyway, there are air-con inside the hall, the the air-con is really cold. Kind of freeze a bit while doing the QET. Well, the QET was free sitting, so we just pick any sits somewhere at the middle together.

Hmm... I realised that I had lost touch with my language already. Section A was about spotting the errors in the sentence. Hmm... Can't really seemed to spot the errors easily for me... Maybe I had not been reading much lately... Section B was about essay writing. I realised that I had forgotten how to start an essay... Hmm... I just made an abrupt start, so think I would have lose a lot of points for that. Also, I just write some rubbish out for the essay, and I think I wrote way out of the point... Well, haven't been writing such essay for a very long time, so it is expected for me to forget how to write a proper one... Never mind, Hong Joo and I discussed that we are going to be classmates for the English module. Haha...

After QET, we went to look for a place to have lunch. Well, the canteen at Yusof Ishak house, one of the nearest canteen to MPSH 2, was very crowded at that time. We decided to take a bus somewhere else to eat. The first bus that came was bus 96, which would bring us to Clementi. We decided to board that bus to Clementi, and had our lunch at Kopitiam near the bus stop we alighted at Clementi, as Hong Joo need to hurry to work. Hmm... I wonder why Hong Joo only took half-day leave. If that was me, I would have taken full day leave, so that I could spend the other half to rest at home. Yup, I'm one of the person that like to rest a lot. Haha...

Ok, now we had to wait for our QET result to be posted onto the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) website on 2nd of August, at 10am. Hmm... Me not waiting anxiously for the results, since I knew that I'm going to do very badly... Haiz...

The Piano Accompanist

2006-07-20T20:13:00.000+08:00

Violin Practise
Ok, I decided to take out my violin and practise for my upcoming exams. hmm... Still don't sound that good, there was still a lot of unwanted notes that comes out whatever I played. think I could have lost some of my bowing skills already. Must be because of the temp job that I had, which took up too much time...

Anyway, I only practise for about 30 minutes. For the rest of the morning, I spent myself in front computer, surfing around. After lunch, I took a nap before going out to be the piano accompanist for Luanne's exams.

Being the Piano Accompanist
Took bus 59 from Bishan Interchange to Tampines Cristofori Music school, as 59 brings me directly there. Hmm... The bus journey is a bit long I have to say, and there was some congestion on the expressway. Thought that I'm going to be a bit late, but still managed to arrive there 15 minutes before the exams.

Anyway, Luanne played a bit softly during the exams, so I don't know if the examiner might mark her down for that. Not really sure how well she did for the sight-reading, scales and aural, since I had to leave after I've done with my work. Well, she said that sight-reading seemed easy, so I guessed the exams should be ok for her.

Anyway, her mother ask me how much do she need to pay me for the accompaniment. Well, she ask the teachers and said that usually the accompanist will charged about $35 to $40 for the exams itself. Well, we then agreed on $50 for one practise session and the exams that I gave her. Well, ok, at least that would cover me for the meals for the next few days...

Anyway, the way back was a very bad experience. The bus was so crowded, that I almost could not breathe properly, due to the lack of oxygen. Luckily I was standing under the air-con, so it was not as stuffy. The expressway was also jammed as well, so I had to stand for a very long time inside the bus, throughout the whole journey. Wah... My legs kind of sore after prolonged period of standing, and I still need to use my legs to climb up the stairs when I reach home, as my block is having Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) now. The lift get congested very easily, so it would be faster for me to use the stairs instead. Yup, had been doing so since they started the LUP on my block, at least that's a good for of training for me...

Let's Run!!!

2006-07-19T20:37:00.000+08:00

Tuesday Matters
Hmm... Nothing much happening on the day. This was just one day that I could spent my time the whole day at home. By right I should start practising for my violin exams, but kind of lazy to do so anyway... Hmm... Think I must be taking the exams too lightly already.

Ok, basically, I just used the computer and internet for most of my morning, and rest, sleep and idle on my bed for most of my afternoon and evening. What a relaxing way to spend my day. Oh, and by the way, Tuesday morning was one of the very rare morning that I had my proper breakfast, at McDonald's. Not only that, I had my breakfast at the restaurant as well. Hmm... The probability of me doing so is... Well... I supposed it is less than 1%, that's what I could say safely.

Wednesday: The Running Day
In the afternoon, I met with Wei Qiang outside Clarke Quay station to go to SAFRA Town Club together. Yup, I just got my SAFRA card yesterday, so I was going there to collect my gift. Wei Qiang wanted to go there to sign up for the 10km Singapore Sheares Bridge Run (concurrently with Army-Half Marathon). I already sign up for the 10km run online, now waiting to collect my Race Pack around mid-August. Haiz... If I know that I got my SAFRA card yesterday, then I would have sign up with Wei Qiang at SAFRA centre, so that I could get my Race Pack immediately instead...

Anyway, as I sign up for the 5-year membership plan, I was given a choice of either an Aigo MP3 player (hold up to 30 songs) or a Timex watch analog and digital watch. Well, as I did not really need the MP3 player right now, and the Timex watch looks very appealing to me, I decided to get the watch. Yup, I was thinking of getting a new watch, now I had one for free. Not bad...

Later in the afternoon, I met up with Wei Qiang again at Yew Tee MRT station. We had planned to run at Limbang Park, a small park between Choa Chu Kang MRT station and Yew Tee MRT station. Well, as it was only a small park, we planned to run for a few rounds there. Initially, Wei Qiang suggested running 8 rounds, so I agreed. After seeing me being very exhausted and also lagging way behind while running the 6th round, he decided to stop there to wait for me. Yup, I've grown weaker already, think I going to fail my 2.4km run... Ok, we then do our cool down, and after that, we walked to Lot1 to have our dinner there.

Yup, looks like I need to exercise and run more often. Well, we planned to run again this coming Saturday at Bishan. Think the run at Bishan might be much longer than Limbang Park. There are also 2 places that we can run at Bishan, one is at Bishan Park, the other is the Kallang Park Connector. Mostly likely we might be running the Kallang Park Connector, as I had not try out running that route yet. Well, I shall see how is it... So, anyone want to join us this Saturday for a run? Timing still not confirm yet...

Presenting the Maybank Temp Staffs

2006-07-18T09:27:00.000+08:00

Our Group Photos
Ok, finally got those photos that we had taken during the day when Qiuting left. Now, let me present the temp staffs in Maybank. Not really all temp staffs, but most of the temp staffs, I mean...

So, who's my understudy, someone might ask. Well, he is that guy wearing a red shirt and a blue jeans, with dyed hair, sitting in front and at the middle of the camera. Yup, know who's my understudy now?

The Snorlax in my House...

2006-07-17T20:24:00.000+08:00

So Tired...
Ok, let me start of with yesterday morning. Had to wake up early to go for my violin lesson. Still feeling very sleepy and tired to go during that time... Well, my teacher wanted me to have my lesson seperately from the rest of the class, so that I could concentrate on my exam pieces and correct some of my mistakes. He said that my playing was still not so clean, and I didn't have much bow control as well, resulting bowing on the wrong parts of the violin some of the time. Hmm... So I supposed I need more practise on that.

Anyway, it was also another short 15 minutes lesson again. Yup, at least I didn't really bother to rush down to Plaza Singapura, even though I knew that I was going to be late. After my lesson, I had my breakfast at Burger King, since I had the BK coupons with me. Well, for teh breakfast, I wanted to change drink to Ice Lemon Tea. The person I ordered the food from did gave me Ice Lemon Tea, but was the medium size one. Hmm... Kind of a bit large... Maybe next time I should specifically request a regular size Ice Lemon Tea.

Wanted to rest on Sunday afternoon, but I felt that the weather was a bit too hot to sleep, and also I can't just switch on the air-con for the whole day, it would eat up a lot of electricity, so I just use the computer and surf around until evening. Not that there were a lot of things to surf, but I was reading forums and boards messages. Kind of interesting to red what other people said about certain things actually.

Well, for today, I spent most of my time on the bed, sleeping. Haha... I was just so tired, I didn't really feel like doing other things. Yup, I need to practise the piano accompaniment parts for Luanne's exams this Thursday, and I need to practise for my violin exams next Thursday, but was not in the mood to do so. Anyway, after having my lunch, I just went to sleep straight away until dinner time. After dinner, I went to bed again to nap for a short while before I got up and type out this blog. Haha... I think I'll get fat very soon like that... That's why there's really a need to cunduct a running regime for me. Ok, will be running with Wei Qiang this Wednesday evening at Choa Chu Kang, let see how it goes.

Ok, I need to go and sleep now. So tried... Haha... Good night!!!

Packed with Activities -> Exhausted...

2006-07-15T22:23:00.000+08:00

Tired and Exhausted...
Haiz... Now I really need more breathing space... There are still many things to do even after my work contract ended... Firstly, I have to prepare for my flute exams, practising with my sister, after that it is my flute exams. Next, I have to accompanied one of my classmates, Luanne, for her flute exams, did a practise sessions with her just now. Ok, I'll talk about that later in this blog. This coming thursday, she would be taking her exams, so I'll be going down to accompany her for the piano part. The next day, I'll be taking my QET, and I have yet to prepare... I also have to practise for my upcoming violin exams as well, with my teacher, and also with my sister as well. Once all these exams are over, I'll only have a very short break before I matriculate... Haiz... I wish some people can donate me some time to me, so that I'll have more time to rest and for entertainment as well... To me, 24 hours are just not enough... Maybe just for now. Hopefully things will get better...

Movie: Pirates of the Carribean
Watched this movie with my army friends yesterday. Haha... I was a busy person, but when comes to movies, I'll definitely squeeze out my free time to watch with my friends. That's how much I LOVE watching movies. I'm just one movies maniac... Haha... Anyway, there were 8 of us watching that movie, so that was like more people than usual. We met up at 6.30pm to have our dinner at a food court, Kopitiam, at Plaza Singapura. Well, don't really know what to eat, so I just randomly pick one stall and buy the food there. Didn't finish my dinner because I wanted to save some of my stomach space for my beloved salted popcorn. Yup, that's one of my favourites, something that I would always buy them for movies without fail (unless I don't have the mood to eat, which occurs less than 1% of the time).

The movie was kind of long, think it's between 2.5 to 3 hours. Well, didn't really watch the first Pirates movie, as my mother didn't want to watch that movie with me last time, because she didn't really like such movies. Ok, I think that the movie was still quite nice and funny, not as bad as how my mother thought last time. Haha... Hmm... Kind of sad that the movie ended in the crude way... Hmm... I wonder if we missed anything out from the movie, as we left at the middle of the end credits... Not really sure if they would be showing extra footage...

Miz the Piano Accompanist
Yup, today I had to go to Cristofori Music School at Tampines for a practise session with Luanne. Didn't really know how to get there, so I met up with Luanne and her mother at Tampines bus interchang to take the bus there. Hmm... Luanne's mother asked me to wait near the McDonald's at the bus interchange. Well, there are more than one McDonald's in Tampines. I know that the McDonald's she's refering to is the one somewhere near the bus interchange, so it is definitely not the one at Tampines one. At first, I waited at the McDonald's just opposite the CPF building, as I thought that's the only McDonald near the bus interchange. Well, Luanne's mother then message me that the McDonald's is just opposite to Bengawan Solo cake shop. Hmm... I didn't see any Bengawan Solo at the McDonald's I was waiting, so I decided to walk to the bus interchange to check out. Yup, there was actually a third McDonald's, which was located inside the bus interchange itself... Hmm... Ok... Maybe she should have given me more description about the location. Come to think of it, the 3 McDonald's at Tampines Central were located so near to one another, I wonder if they were actually making money from the 3 McDonald's, since they were actually like competing with each other... Never mind, I still can see that McDonald's is still thriving in Singapore anyway.

Ok, we took bus number 3 to the Cristofori Music School. Hmm... I have to say that the Music School was kind of located at such wierd place. It is located at a building which kind of looks like an HDB flat (or maybe it's really an HDB flat). Hmm... we need to walk around, after that climb the stairs to reach the place. Think if I were to go there by myself, I'll definitely get lost... Hmm... Anyway, I'll be going there by myself on Thursday afternoon, pray that I don't get lost there, or else it would affect her exams...

Anyway, I did some practise with her with the pieces before proceeding on to the aural. Her pieces was fine, so I decided to move on to aural. Hmm... She wasn't good at the beats and the time of the music. I also faced some problems explaining to her about those things... Hmm... I didn't really know how to teach music in a theoretical way, still didn't have that experience to do so yet... Also face some problems with the "Listening music with understanding sections". She didn't really take up Music Theory, so it was kind of difficult for me to explain the terms she need to know and understand... Ok, never mind, aural was just 18 marks out of the total marks of 150. Just hope she could score from her pieces, scales and sight-reading.

Well, after playing the piano as an accompaniment and for aural practise just know, I had something to say about their piano. I DON'T LIKE TO PLAY WITH THEIR PIANO THERE!!! The keyboard touch is kind of soft, and the piano can't produce much dynamics as well, in other words, the keys of the piano are not sensitive with the touch. No matter how I played just now, it didn't turn up that nice... Hmm... No wonder why my cousin hated using their piano after taking her Grade 8 Piano exams at Cristofori last year...

After the practise session, Luanne's mother treat me for a snacks at the snacks shop near Simei MRT station. Hmm... How generous and nice of her. Anyway, the snacks was quite nice. Hmm... Maybe before Luanne's exams on Thursday, I asked Hong Joo (if he's not working, think mostly likely he would be working), Dezhi, or maybe some of the people living near the area to eat the snacks with me first and chat. Haha...

Flute: Changing Class
Yup, I'll be changing class soon. Think this is the 3rd time I'm changing class. Same day, but the time will be from 3pm to 4pm. Ok, this also means that I have to pay more for the school fees... Yup, going to level 4 after that... Think I only stay at level 3 for only less than 2 months... That's kind of short...

Anyway, whatver result I get for my Grade 3 flute (distinction, merit, pass or fail), I'llbe doing either Grade 5 or Grade 6 Flute next year. Will not be taking Grade 4, kind of time wasting to take 1 grade at a time, especially for instruments like flute. Well, for Grade 5/6 flute exams, I mighthave to find other piano accompanist to play the piano part for me. Anyway one with good/competent piano skills willing to be my piano accompanist?

Thursday, The Exams Day

2006-07-13T19:19:00.000+08:00

The Exam Day
Yup, for the month of July, every Thursday, maybe except the first Thursday, which is 6th July, would be an exams day. Today, I'm taking my Grade 3 Flute exams at Yamaha Orchard( Plaza Singapura). Next Thursday, on 20th July, I will be accompanying one of my classmates for her Grade 2 Flute exams at Cristofori Tampines. The Thursday after next week, which is on 27th July, I'll be taking my Grade 2 Violin exams. Yup, kind of a coincidence... Maybe they set aside exams needing piano accompanist on Thursday?

Well, anyway, my Qualifying English Test (QET) is on Friday, 21st July. Looks like of break the Thusday exams rule, but anyway, to me, it doesn't break that rule. Why? Well, because it is a test, not really and exams. Well, it is also not a music test anyway. Hmm... Come to think of it, I haven't prepare for my QET yet. OMG, I had forgotten how to write an essay already... Think I will be preparing to fail the test, and take the additional English modules... Never mind, at most I make more friends in the class... :P

Flute Exams
Yup, I'm taking my Grade 3 Flute exams today in the afternoon. Hmm... Kind of made a lot of slips, especially on my solo flute studies, and some parts of the scales... Well, my piano accompanist, which is my sister, made a bit of slips on the piano part, but never mind. That can be improvise, and the examiner doesn't really mark how well the pianist played anyway, he just want to see how well I played and coordinate. Hmm... made quite a lot of slips on the studies, as I did not hold the flute properly, don't know what he would be writing on the mark sheet... Well, it seemed that he wrote a lot of things on the mark sheet, don't know if most of them are negative results... Well, I'll only know when I got back my results in about a month time.

The aural part, hmm... Think I answered very badly for section A, recognising the time and and beats of the music. He said I should start tapping when I get along, but... Haha... Me only tap almost at the end of the piece, and tap on the wrong beats as well. He then ask me about the time of the piece. By right you should answer something like "simple duple time" or "compound triple time", but I just briefly gave him one number, which is 3, and I don't know if it was even 3 beats a bar... Hmm... :(

The rest of the aural part was ok for me. Section B (Echo Singing), I was able to echo out what he played. Section C (Regonising Differences), I was also able to tell out the difference in the phrases he played, and also in detail. Section D (Listening to Music with Understanding), I was able to answer his questions promptly. Don't know if I answered the questions appropriately though... Well, anyway, I did my Grade 8 Piano some time back, so by right I should be able to answer Grade 3 aural sections easily, since the aural test is the same for all instruments, but kind of forgotten how should I answer them. Yup, I took my last piano exams 5 years ago, so can't expect me to remember how to answer, right?

The rest... Hmm... still ok, to my standard, but I don't know what's the examiner standard. If he's grading my playing very strictly, then, hmm... I might not be able to make it. Well, tend to make more slips than usual during the exams, maybe because I'm a bit nervous... Ok, now I have to cross my fingers...

Last Day of Work: Good Riddance Maybank!!!

2006-07-11T20:56:00.000+08:00

Maybank, Good Riddance to You!!!
Yup, my last day of work. Anyway, even though this is my very last day, I still work as per normal, keying in the applications needed to be keyed, and printing those things that I need to print. Hmm... I should be sitting down and slacking, but never mind, at least time goes faster when you have something to do. Chae Yun, Guan Si, Serene and me share the cost of the chocolates to give to our colleagues, both perm staff and temp staff, as our farewell gift. Haha... not as good as the one Justina give, but at least there's something.

We had lunch at NYP Food Junction today. Well, thought of going to Ang Mo Kio central to have our lunch there, since the head was not here today, but decided to just go NYP instead as we were a bit too lazy to go so far out. Again had western set for lunch. Hmm... Come to think of it, of all the visits to NYP Food Junction, I only buy from the western meal stall. Hmm... Not that I don't want to try oyut other food, just that the queue were just too long for the other stalls, and the western meal stall was relatively shorter. Didn't really want to wait too long on the queue, so I would just have western.

Tehn, we went to Cheers and bought some potato chips and biscuits. Haha, we actually planned to have an office picnic later in the afternoon, and gather the temp staffs around our work area to eat and talk. Well, our head was not present anyway, so we could just talk loudly and eat as we like, without having her to complained to our supervisor.

Yuppie, my last day of work in Maybank. Finally, I'm free!!! Now, it's time for me to do some exercise after so many weeks sitting on the office chair for prolonged periods. Think I had gone fatter after 3 months of work. Never mind, I'll go for a run sooner or later.

Anyway, this is what I have to say to my workplace.

Good Riddance!!!

Last Working Monday: Still Working as Normal

2006-07-10T20:50:00.000+08:00

The 2nd Last Day
Yup, my 2nd last day of work. Anyway, I still work as per normal. Can't just sit down there and slack, it would be very boring like that. The only way to kill of time is to do something, which is to work, that is to do what I need to do inside the office.

Anyway, there wasn't anything much to do in the morning, since there were very few movement charts to be matched, and there was also nothing much to print. The applications would mostly come in around lunchtime, so I just play around with the WebEAA, AS400 and Microsoft Excel, typing and doing all the nonsense inside. Haha...

We went to the Tech Point canteen to have lunch. Guan Si, Sean and Bingtian went to have lunch at the cafe on the 1st floor of Tech Point, while the rest of us went to the canteen on the 6th floor. Hmm... Feel like trying out the food from the cafe, but I already had such good lunch with my friends yesterday, so think it would be better to eat cheaper food today. Yup, this would be my last lunch at Tech Point canteen, with Chae Yun and Serene. Hmm... Missed the place? Don't really think so... Haha... The food wasn't so fantastic anyway, but it does bring memories to me...

Anyway, Chae Yun, Serene and me planned to buy farewell gifts to our coleeagues. We decided to share on chocolates and sweets. Hmm... Don't think the gifts will be as good as Justina's one, where she gave each of us a bag of candies and chocolates, with a handwritten message that is written on a card she drawn herself. Remember the dog that I post on this blog some time ago, and the avatar that I used on my MSN? Yup, that's the one. She drew each of us a different characters. Hmm... Don't think I have that ability to do so...

DS Lite: Anyone Intending to Buy?
Yup, anyway, I have decided to get one. When will I be getting one? Still not really sure yet. Don't think I'll get one so soon, since the DS Lites are only recently released here are selling out fast, so the prices are going to be high. Think I'll wait for a few months, or maybe a few weeks at least, to see if the prices dropped. Now the demand is very high, so it can be a bit difficult to get...

So, anyone intending to buy one? Maybe we can go out and buy the DS Lite together. :P

Weekend Activities

2006-07-09T19:18:00.000+08:00

Saturday
Hmm... mostly stay at home and rest. Yup, it can be very tiring to work a full 5-day week from 8.45am to 6.15pm. Yup, some people might say it's all only administrative stuff. Well, I can tell you that you will feel very tired after prolonged hours working with the computers. Yup, someone told me that the person can play DotA, MapleStory or Puzzle Pirates the whole day, whole night, or whatever it is. Anyway, at least playing those games add on to your fun meter. Doing administrative work decreases each person fun meter by a lot. Yup, at the end of the week, not only you are dying to sleep, you will also be dying to have entertainment as well. Hmm... Maybe in order to achieve both, I should dream about myself playing games.

Well, since my lesson is only in the afternoon, I just rest at home and use the computer (haha... think I'm spoiling my eyes) to surf around. Nothing much to do anyway, and I also don't really feel like going out to exercise, or walk around the shopping centres. Just kind of sleepy, and me don't really have that mood to do so.

For the flute lesson today, the teacher ask me to conduct aural lesson for my classmates. Haha... Actually I don't really know how to teach aural. Well, I mean for aural, you should at least know something about the music notations, beats, melodies, harmonies and all these things. Didn't really know how to start off with the aural. Anyway, the last time I had my aural was at 2001, when I had my Grade 8 Piano. Can't really remember how my teacher taught me aural last time... Anyway, the aural lesson went on quite badly, think most of them didn't really know the answer them... Never mind, hopefully things will get better.

Well, after I came back home, I went out again with my family to had our dinner at Chinatown. We just find any place to settle down at eat. Had chicken rice meal for dinner. the chicken wasn't that bad, just that there were a lot of bones inside. After that, we just had a short walk around Chinatown. The place was kind of crowded, not sure if it was always very crowded during the weekends. Well, there was anything much of our interest to see, so we went back home after walking 1 small round.

Sunday
Well, my teacher ask me to come in the morning with my sister to let him listen how I played for my exam pieces. Ok, we reached there way before 9am, because my father was scared that there might be a jam on the expressway. Ya, I can see that the car was still able to move up to the speed limit of the expressway. We actually waited outside the studio for some time before my teacher came in.

Hmm... thought that the lesson would be like 1 hour, so that my teacher can polish up how I played, but in the end, it was only just a short 15 minutes. Yup, the teacher REALLY just listen to what I played, and made some comments. He then just told me to practise at home. Yup, we travel all the way to Plaza Singapura just to let him hear my playing for 15 minutes...

Ok, anyway, my sister and I had our breakfast at Burger King after my lesson. Yup, there was a Burger King coupon that came with The Sunday Times newspaper today, so we used that coupon to had our breakfast. After that, I went back home first, as my sister wanted to cut her hair over there.

Later at noon, I went to Tampines Mall to met some of my campmates for lunch. Well, Andrew was going back to Australia to study, so we decided to have lunch with him at Tampines Mall. Before that, they went for windsurfing. Hmm... Windsurfing seems fun, but don't think I would take up as an recreational activities, since I don't know how to swim... Hmm... Kind of sad...

Anyway, I met up with Hong Joo first, since he wasn't going windsurfing with them also. We went to walk around the shopping mall, before looking for a POSB/DBS ATM. Hmm... Didn't expect the POSB/DBS ATM to be so diificult to find in Tampines. I could see lots of UOB ATM, but couldn't find any POSB/DBS ATM inside and around the mall. Eventually, we had to go out to somewhere futher to the POSB branch to draw money. Ok, so UOB actually dominates Tampines...

Met up with Shi Qing, Wei Qiang, Andrew, Jun Ren, Kai Quan and Haohan in Tampines Mall after withdrawing the money. Well, Jun Ren suggested that we try out the food at Phin's Beerhaus n Grills (which kind of specialises in steaks and grilled stuffs), so we decided to have our lunch there. Well, I ordered the Weekend Dory and Prawn set, which comes with the soup of the day (cream of broccoli) and a drink (I chose Peach Tea as my drink). The food that I ordered was quite nice, and as what Hong Joo said, it taste better than the food in Fish and Co. Hmm... Maybe because they added a bit of beer onto the fried Dory fish, so it taste somewhat nice...

Lunching at Tampines Mall Phin's Beerhaus n Grills, with courtesy of Hong Joo.

After that, we went to have a short walk around Tampines before going to the Tampines library. Hmm... Kind of odd that Shi Qing went home after the short walk, thought he might want to go to the library as well. I supposed he had something on. Just browse around the books there, and after that, we call it a day.

Yup, tomorrow is Monday, the first day of the week, but don't think tomorrow will be as blue as other Monday. Yup, just 2 more working days to go. Haha...

Happy Birthday Dezy!!!

2006-07-07T23:37:00.000+08:00

The 22nd Birthday
Yup, it's Dezhi's birthday today. Happy Birthday!!! Hmm... Don't know have that chance to meet him on MSN to wish him "happy birthday". Think I saw him online just now, but was busy watching TV... Hmm... never mind, I'll send him a message instead. Wonder what he did for his birthday just now.

Work: Coming to the End Soon
Yuppie, going to finish my contract soon. Recently, there were very few applications coming in. Think this week average was only like 30+. Well, there was really nothing much to do in the office with just only a few applications, except to play with the WebEAA, AS400, and also surf around the Maybank website. Well, just to let people think that I'm working... Haha...

For today, I was stoning in front of the computer most of the time. Yup, nothing much to key in, nothing much to print, nothing much to calculate... If I helped Chae Yun or Priya with routing or with the credit bureau reports, then they will also have nothing much to do later... Ok, just look around and see what is so special about their cards. Well, nothing much, their debit cards are all MCE (MasterCard Electronic) cards, so the shop must carry the MCE logo if you want to use the card. Shops with just normal MasterCard logo would not accept MCE cards. MCE cards cannot be used online also, so not really that good to apply, unless you are going after the design. Yup, the Flash Debit is kind of cool.

Ok, just only 2 more working days to go. Yay!!! Hmm... Don't know if I should prepare my farewell gift for my colleagues. Anyway, I'm just going to slack inside the office for the last 2 days. Anyway if anyone tasked me to do something, I'll just dragged to the very last day, or just throw onto one side and left it alone.

Superman!!!

2006-07-05T22:44:00.000+08:00

Work Matters
Yuppie, just only a few more days left till I finish my contract. Hmm... wonder when they usually put in the money into my CPF account. Just check my CPF account using my SingPass, and well, inside only like $250+... Yup, that's like way too little for retirement... Never mind, I still have a very long time to accumulate the amount. Hmm... Only have like $160+ inside the ordinary account... Don't know if that will be enough to cover my insurance the the next few years, should be enough till I come from the university to work, I supposed.

Many Things After Contract Ends
Ok, only a few more days, but these few more days can be a long time for me. I've been doing the same thing for almost 3 months already, and also I haven't been exercising much. Haiz, after my contract ends, I must really find time to run in Bishan Park or East Coast Park. Anyway, there are also quite a lot of things for me to do after my contract ends. Still have to prepare and go for my flute/violin exams (and my sister still play quite badly on the piano part), and also have to do accompaniment for one of the people for the flute exam, at Tampines. Yup, the person is taking the exams over there. Look like I have to travel all the way there just for practise sessions and exams... Hmm, anyone living in the east want to watch any movies at GV Tampines or Century Square?

Well, taking about music exams, this morning I message to my violin teacher to tell him that my sister and I can make it for the practice session. Hmm... Wonder what he's going to comment when my sister is going to play the piano parts badly... Anyway, the more important one is the violin part, so if my sister play badly, it's still ok for me provided I can improvise a bit and to let her catch up with me. Well, I send the message in simplified Chinese. Yup, my first time ever I send the message completely in Chinese. I had to change the language settings to simplifired Chinese, and type the message character by character, slowly. Need to spell out the hanyu pinying first before finding the characters out. Take me some time to finish just a very short message though...

Exercise
Yup, haven't been doing exercise for a long time. Anyway, I'm back to a zero-fighter again. Hmm... Look like I must sign up for a gym programme already. Can anyone recommend me a good gym? Hmm... Maybe I should sign up as a SAFRA member, so that I could enjoy the gym at a discounted rate (maybe I'm wrong about this, those who know can help me to correct this). Ok, I'll be taking part in the running event, so anyone cares to join me? The next running event I'm signing up will be the 6km Sheares-Bridge Run (or commonly known as Army Half-Marathon, though 6km is not half marathon), which will be held on 27 August 2006, Sunday.

Movie: Superman
Well, watch Superman just this evening, with Wei Qiang, Kai Quan, Chun Hoo, and our dear BSO, Nicky. Yup, Nicky is also the one that likes to watch these type of movies, so I asked him out, as I promised the previous time. Well, as Nicky is unfortunately still in 46 SAR (at Sungei Gedong Camp), we decided to watch at Causeway Point, a midpoint of Lim Chu Kang/Choa Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio/Bishan, and on Wednesday, so that it's easier for Nicky to leave camp as it's nights off day.

We watch the movie today, but I bought the tickets yesterday, so that we do not have to rush to buy the tickets. Yup, now I'm buying tickets one day before the actual movie outing, so that we do not have to worry too much about getting bad seats, or not getting any seats at all for the movie, after all the experience of buying movie tickets. Anyway, we were still a bit late of the movie, as Chun Hoo need to eat his dinner first. Yup, he was a bit late because he wanted to complete the mission in MapleStory first. Ok, another Weibin... Well, me stop playing MapleStory (and most games) because of tight schedules, never mind, there are other priorities I need to set as well.

Well, about the movie, the plot was not as good as what I expected, but at least it had certain entertainment values. Yup, some people commented that this Superman movie was not really worth watching, but anyway, people like me would watch any kind of movies. Well, at least this is not the worst movies that I watched, I've seen movies that I can fall asleep for more than 50% of the screening time, or those movies that I cannot understand at all, and some of these movies have a high or decent ratings. Well, maybe because I not suited to watch those types of movies...

Anyway, this is also the first time we watch the movies with Nicky. Hopefully he could join us for the future outings. Well, he seemed interested in Spiderman, and one more movie, forgot what is it called (haha). Ok, think I can ask him out again to watch with us.

Monday Blues: Not as Blue Now

2006-07-03T22:15:00.000+08:00

Woke Up Late...
Well, today I woke up late, because of the deceiving sky colour... It had rained very heavily before that, so the sky was still very dark even after 7am. Didn't really rush to work, since it's perfectly fine to be late for work. I mean there are people who are late like 30 to 45 minutes everyday, and no one said anything about that... Well, I could still catch the 3rd shuttle bus at 8.45am, so there's still a lot of time left.

Bluey Monday
Yup, go to work in the bluey mood again... And yes, I'm wearing that blue shirt, to show that I'm in that blue mood. Well, at least today was not as blue as other Monday, maybe because my contract was coming to the end already. Haiz... Even though there are just only a few working days more, I still feel that it was still a long time to go... Yup, working in Maybank just make time pass more slowly...

Well, even though in the blue mood, I still do my work just as usual... Anyway, even though there were like more than 100 paper applications that came in last Friday, we still managed to key in and print out all the customers' informations before ending our work day last Friday, and yup, by right the printing should be done on the next working day. Well noting much to do after matching movement charts, so we helped another temp staff to route the applications (which is to prepare for approval/decline) to the officer. I would usually "prep for approval" unless the customer do not have enough income (do not meet the minimum $30000 a year requirement), or he/she is a foreigner. Hmm... Don't know why they want to reject foreigners applications...

There aren't that many applications coming in from the mails as well. Anyway, my understudy wanted to play some tricks to another department, because they always like to give us a lot of work JUST BEFORE we end our work day. Yup, I agree with that. We decided to hold on to their mails until 6pm, and only gave it to them after 6pm. We also opened one for the mails, which contains the paper applications, and glue ALL corners of the applications, staple them very fully and taped up the sides of the applications. Haha... The person will have a very hard time opening the applications, don't know if he might spoil the applications when opening up...

Yup, Monday work day is gone, another 6 more working days (8 more days) to go...

Sunday: A Day to Sleep

2006-07-03T21:58:00.000+08:00

Sunday Morning
Well, recently my grandfather had been complaining about his leg pain... Hmm... Yup, he had leg pain, but don't know why instead of sitting down to rest his legs, he would always like to stand up, without moving at all, at the same position, for a very long period of time. This would just make his legs much worst... So much worst that his legs swelled... Anyway, in the morning, we went out for breakfast without my grandfather, since he was unable to walk. My grandmother had to stay behind to look after him... Hmm... How sad...

Well, before we went for breakfast, we went to a temple near Sin Ming to pray. Haha, as usual, I would pray for getting many distinctions A+s and As for university studies, hoping to get 1st Class Honours. Ok, yup, I know that's almost entirely impossible, but well, I should study hard to get a decent grades, right?

After praying at the temple, we went to the S11 food centre at Ang Mo Kio to had our breakfast. Hmm... The S11 at Ang Mo Kio is so much different than in the past, it is more vibrant now, with much more stalls operating. Anyway, I had my ramen for breakfast. It didn't taste that bad though, quite decent. Well, definitely better than the ramen at Yoshinoya. Hmm... there were a lot of stalls that I would like to try out their food on, but well, my stomach can't hold that many food. Never mind, I'm sure next time we will go back there to eat again.

The Violin Issues
My violin exams are nearing. At first, my teacher ask me to come on Tuesday afternoon with my pianist (which is my sister) to let him hear how we play. Hmm... Sorry, I have to say to my teacher that we are not as free as what he think. My work contract haven't end yet on Tuesday, and my sister also had to work as well. Can't possibly take leave just to let him listen how we played, right? Anyway, he ask me to come on Sunday morning instead then. Well, not really sure if my sister will be free on Sunday mornings. Working as an OCBC Personal Banker/Consultant, she had to go for the roadshows on Sunday. Well, anyway, I asked my sister, and she said she might be able to make. Ok, once I can confirm, I'll message to my teacher... in Chinese. Yup, don't think he can understand SMS in English, so I had to change my phone language setting to simplified Chinese to type the SMS in Chinese to him. Yup, can be a bit troublesome...

A Sleepy Afternoon
After I came back from my lesson, I just went to bed to sleep... Well, just feeling so sleepy, I didn't really feel like doing anything else. Well, most of my relatives came to our house during that time, but I just continue sleeping anyway... Too tired to do anything already. Think must be because I had been sleeping very late and very little recently... Never mind, once my work contracts end, I can sleep as late as I could. Haha...

World Cup Quarter-Finals

2006-07-01T22:42:00.000+08:00

Watching World Cup
Yup, Shi Qing invited us to watch World Cup quarter-finals at his house, as his father just subscribed to Starhub cable. Haiz... too bad my home doesn't have Starhub cable, we only had Starhub Internet cable, which can't be used to watch cable channels...

Anyway, after meeting up with some people at Tanah Merah station, we went to the food centre nearby to had our dinner. Hmm... The dinner kind of take quite long to prepare... Me didn't really eat much, just mostly rice, as I didn't really had much appetite. Haiz... It's all because of work...

Anyway, we went to Shi Qing house after the dinner. While some people are playing mahjong and cards befor the match start, I was looking at the pictures Shi Qing took when he was in Japan. Haha... He took some odd pictures though. Hmm... Come to think of it, I haven't gone for a tour for quite a long time already. Think I might want to vist Japan, Korea and some European countries.

Well, since there were 2 quarter-final matches going on, we stayed overnight at Shi Qing house to watch the matches. Anyway, my sister also watching the quarter-final matches at her friend's house as well, so basically both of us were not at home to sleep during that night.

Hmm... about the first match between Germany and Argentina, it was kind of boring, I have to admit. No goals during the 1st half of the match. Well, the excitement came in when Argentina scored a goal in the 2nd half of the match. After that, Germany scored a goal as well, which eventually turned out to be a draw... There was also no goal at all during the extra time, as well as the half-time. Haiz... Almost fell asleep while watching... At least the penalty was quite interesting to watch. Well, the 2nd match between Italy and Ukraine was more interesting, but I was already too tired to watch, after the very long match between Germany and Argentina, eventually fell asleep during the 2nd match... My sister even agree with me that the 1st match was very boring, so boring she couldn't stay awake for the 2nd match... Haha...

Well, after a short rest at Shi qing house after the 2nd match, we went to have our breakfast at McDonalds at Bedok. Don't feel like eating though, but still order a Hotcakes meal for my breakfast. Didn't put any syrup and margerine on it, since I prefer to eat plain hotcakes. Haha...

After getting back home, I still didn't really sleep straight away, don't know why, even though I only slept, or maybe just napped, for just a short few hours. Well, I still use the computer to surf net, go out and buy lunch, practise my exam pieces with my sister before I went to bed to sleep. Haha...

The Miz River 明志江河 ミジ川