Swimsuits and Tetris

Sports Illustrated Swim Suit 06 has come out. Not many names I know in that list, but hey, who's complaining. And in line with the more sexual nature of this post, here is why Tetris is sexual. Enjoy. I am goin to get myself some zzz's.

V-Day!!

So it's Valentine's Day and what are you doing? If you're reading this instead of going out with any significant other, you must one of the following:

1. Single and bored
2. Single and really support Zu31G
3. Single and secretly think Zu31G is very attractive (if you are girl, please leave a comment. Thanks)
4. Attached but denounce the commercialism of V-day
5. Attached but not physically able to celebrate with your S.O.
6. Attached and really support Zu31G
7. Attached but secretly think Zu31G is very attractive (again, please leave a comment if you are of the fairer sex)

In any case, here's wishing all my audience a Happy V-Day. May the couples grow close and cuter (and for the guys less poor) and the singles grow abs and look like either Brad Pitt or Jennifer Love Hewitt. Cheers!!

Birthday Alert

Happy Belated Birthday to Dad!!
Sorry about not calling Dad, but at least your birthday is now immortalized on the Internet. =)

Super Bowl Ads

So if you watched the Superbowl, you'd know that the half-time show sucked donkey asses. Mick Jagger was inaudible for like 70% of the time and all he did was do that lil' shake my hips kind of thing. However, every year, companies take the chance to show off their new ads at Superbowl. And for those who missed them, here they are.

Nothing really much to blog about nowadays. Just trying to find a job and slacking off. Haha. Some people hate me for that. Haha. But that's something I can live with it.

P.S - Porn stars heart video games too!

Videos Galore!!

So the previous Duck Hunt link didn't quite work out. My bad. I didn't realise that they didn't allow direct linking and I forgot the original url already. So in order to make up for that AND for the fact that I didn't post any CNY thing, here are a few links to interesting (at least to me) videos.

1. Parappa the Rappa in real life. They say that art imitates life and now we have life imitating a rhythm bopping video game.

2. Dog >> Chicken. But let's give those beleaguered avians a bone here. (Warning - Chinese Link)

3. Anyone remembers the SNES and Genesis? Anyone remember screaming at the screen cos A,B,A,B,Up,Down,Left,Right,Start didn't give you enough lives in Contra? Well, if you (like me) never saw the ending to the game(s) you wasted your teens/youth on, you might find it here.

And that's all the videos for today folks.

Happy belated CNY. Well, technically there are 15 days...

Gaming News Redux

This is, as the title aptly says, retarded. A 50% tax on video games? The law-makers of this country really have their priorities straight yeah?

And I'm not sure if anyone who reads this regularly is old enough to remember "Duck Hunt" for the NES. It was the first game I played that required the Nintendo light gun. In fact, that and some weird game that involved shooting Mexicans were the only 2 games I ever played on the NES with a light gun. Anyways, "Duck Hunt" is back. And on steroids. With random jihadists (is that a word?) thrown in for good measure. Go try your hunting skills here. Amazingly, jihad warriors are easier to kill than ducks. Maybe the ducks in Central Asia are just that ghetto...

For the FF VII Junkie in You

Even if you don't game, this trailer is pretty interesting. Shows a bit of Vincent's past I think and the CG is great.



Plus, somewhere out there, a games journalist is weeping. (I would too, if I actually got to go to these events...)

Edit - Just in case you can't see the video above, go here.

Ode To My Life

This following piece is an Ode to my Life. I gotta get my act together!! And to those people out there who might react negatively, don't be jealous!! Haha.

堕落-ING
LAZY-ING
心情就想要坐下看个电视机
堕落-ING
改变-ING
改变了黄昏,黎明
凡事就想呆在家里

To the tune of 五月天's 恋爱-ING.

Confessions of a 20-something Drama Junkie...

Ok, so I used to wonder how people could couch potato themselves in front of the tv (or more recently, the computer) and vegetate away while watching shows. After watching Full House, all 16 episodes of it (which corresponds to ~ 16 hours), in less than 24 waking hours, I think I know why. Of course it also helped that I　didn't have class on Thursday (jealous anybody? haha) but sometimes the drama is so enticing, you just can't stop. Also, it really helps if the leading actress is as pretty as Song Hye-Gyo (송혜교).

But anyways, now that school life has more or less settled down, I guess I should start with job-searching and all that stuff. It's gonna be a crucial year so I have to 아자아자 Fight! and GoGo 加油！ (if you don't understand that, you are missing out on 16 hours of Song Hye Gyo)

Let's do it people.

P.O.C.A.R. - A Review

It's 530am and I've been asleep for the last 11-12 hours trying to recuperate from the weekend's aborted P.O.C.A.R. (Purdue Outing Club Adventure Race) attempt. From the way my body aches after that 12-15 mile trek, I think I need at least another 3 more days to soothe the sore muscles... But in any case, here is the review of how I spent the better part of my weekend. (Done IGN.COM style)

Presentation: 6. The boy scout camp was quite in the middle of nowhere and we had some trouble locating it initially. Also, it was a camp site so there was nothing spectacular about it. However the cookhouse was heated so that was good. And we (eventually) had a toilet with running water. Uber.

Graphics: 8. It was good to get back to nature again. Even if half the trees were bare and everything was queit. It gave a sense of soothing nature. Except when we had to trek through thorns... Some points lost due to the lack of babes but bonus points given cos I could see the constellations in real life for the first time. Big Dipper baby!!

Sound: 6. Nothing spectacular. Just the quiet sounds of a forest in winter. We did come across some hunters so we heard dogs and duck calls. Other than that, a forest in winter is perfect for quiet lovers.

Gameplay: 8. Ahh, the meat of POCAR. It was to be a 36 mile trek but I KO'd after the first 12 or so. But it was kind fun trekking through the forest and walking all the roads/trails/straight bashed paths. Thank god we had a pro navigator on our team. Else I think we would have quit even earlier.

Lasting Appeal: 5. It's a toss-up basically. I won't be doing this anytime soon, but it wasn't a NEVER AGAIN kind of experience. Perhaps when I get into better shape... Nah... Haha. I think that it was really lucky we could borrow stuff from POC but next time I'm sleeping in the car and not in the park overnight...

Overall: 6. It wasn't a bad experience but not something I would do again anytime soon. I was lucky and had uber-mates in Bruce, Julia and Randy. They made a gruelling sadomasochist experience that much better.

Pics will be up when I get some.

New Year, New Start, Bean Sprouts and A Sad Revelation

First of all, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ZHENZ!! Pai Seh. Was sick on your birthday so didn't post this till now. So here's to the oldest of our bunch, hope that you turn wiser and beat your "tourettes". =)

So anyway, it's a not 2 weeks into the new year, and I've already buried a few hatchets. Wow. That's a new thing. I nurse grudges like a drunkard nurses his alcohol after the last-call at a bar. And I must admit that it's a refreshing feeling. Letting go like that.



Bean sprouts, also known as Tao-Gay, are a really troublesome vegetable to prepare. I bought a bag of them the other day, and was hoping to just dump them into my stir-fry. However, I realised that they haven't been cleaned yet, so I proceeded to remove the tail and the husks on them. So for a bag of about 500-700mL of Tao-Gay, I spent 45 mins washing and cleaning. And I only did about 1/3 of the bag... Back-breaking work I tell you. Tao-Gay washing is.

Lastly, perhaps all the good karma I'm trying to generate in my life (letting my anger go, eating more greens, actually spending effort to prep the greens) will help me alleviate this situation.

Oh that's right. I resolve to shower more too. =)

First Links of the Year

So I'll try and make them interesting.

1. Unga!! A song about poop.

2. MIT and Mario. See, playing video games makes you smart.

Cheers to all. And may your new year be less full of Unga than the last.

忘情水

啊给我一杯忘情水...Let's forget about all bitterness and the heartaches the misfortunes of the old year brought and learn instead to better ourselves from our past mistakes. It's a new year and a fresh start. So here's wishing all my readers a happy new year. Go enjoy yourselves. Cheers.

P.S. - Home is definitely where the heart is. Although we are no longer teens, you guys (and you know who you are) are still the best. JeNgA!!

P.P.S. - Does anyone know where I can procur CNY songs? Preferably legally and F.O.C.. Thanks.

P.P.P.S. - This is an interesting read by Courtney Love about music labels and "piracy". Go read if you like to hear people bash the RIAA.

Merry Holidays!!

I'm such a loser, staying home on Christmas Eve, but I don't want to clusterf*ck with the crowd downtown and everyone else is off generating their own personal 24V's. So here's me wishing everyone who bothers coming here a Merry Christmas! May your Christmas be merrier than mine!!

P.S - The cat has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. But I liked the tree...

Edit - I changed the Christmas Pic. If you want to see what it was, go check out Ah Seng's. Image is taken from the brilliant Chugworth Academy.

Flying Spaghetti Monsterism

Warning: Prudes/devout Christians are not advised to visit the following site unless they have an open-mind and a fair sense of humour.

Having said that, go check out the new religon that's taking the world by storm. Some further background. Hilarious.

T3h Internal Clock

Is so busted now... Every day since my return, I have been waking up earlier and earlier. Cumulating in today's 630am wake up. Although to be fair, I did sleep at 6pm last night. But damn, waking up before the sun rises is such a novelty in a tropical country.

Anyways, just a few bits and pieces of news today.

1. Sucks to be vacationing in NYC now.

2. So what's this about Intelligent Design being a theory then?

3. Regardless of what's gonna happen, somebody's gonna get a hurt real bad.

Btw, all the best to people receiving their grades later on. Let us all pray for A's.

Being Home

Is awesome. Not 28 hrs after being home, I have already gone thru 6 different meals already. I'm definitely loving it.

To everyone still left in the snow, take care and hang in there. Although you'll miss my presence, it doesn't mean you can't have fun. =)

To people having vacation fun now, have fun people. We all deserve it. And here's to hoping no one burns out next semester.

Just to let y'all know I'm still alive and kicking and didn't crash my plane or anything. Cheers!

P.S. - For people bored at home.

Good Luck Guys (& Gals)

Well guys (& gals) this is it. Crunch time. Our grades depend on our performance during the upcoming week (or till whenever your finals end). So for all my readers out there, Zu31G s3z : Good Luck and All t3h B35+!!

Narnia

It's a good movie. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, go check it out. But be warned, it's a long show. Ensure complete bladder drainage before watching.



And who do you think will be prettier when they grow up? Susan (Anna Popplewell) or Hermione (Emma Watson)? Decisions, decisions. Unfortunately, neither of them are legal yet, so hands off guys. Till (April 15th) 2008 anyway.

Snow generally sucks but being able to dump it on people's heads does provide some measure of satisfaction at times. Haha. And for the record, I did NOT start that incident.

Humor in Misery

Check out the lyrics to this song I stumbled across while surfing:

歌曲：如来,救救我
歌手：陆洲 专辑：开不了口

佛祖会保佑我的,
悟空总会来的,
我在梦里一切都有!
可是现实常常是相反的……
吃我的妖怪很多,
你只是其中一个,
在你前面还有许多,
问他们这样呀又能算什么?
心里太清楚了,
其实徒弟恨我,
奇怪地球上怎么会有妖怪这么多!
如来,救救我吧!
一把年纪了,
一本经书都没有.
文盲是可怜的,
如果没读过,
人生是黑白的!
如来,救救我吧!
老是我被抓,
一点新意也没有,
我这个和尚啊就快要死了,
猴子又在哪儿!!!-…

Lol. I guess some people have it worse than bad.

And the Answer Was No.

Wow, I'm so lazy today that I'm not evening using html to edit this. I'll just compose and let the html work behind the scenes.

And so, the answer was no. Which was very disappointing and quite heartbreaking in some sense. I guess nobody can force emotions onto another (without dealing in illegal substances anyway) or hope that someone feels a certain emotion for you. My mind gets that fact 110% but I think my heart still says, "Never give up, never surrender!". Which leads me to think that my heart is more of a Tim Allen fan than my brain or perhaps Sigourney Weaver's boobs affect the brain less than the heart.

Anyways, I guess I have to deal with the fact that the answer was no but I still hope beyond hope that perhaps someday, the answer will change. Hopeless romantically hopeful? Probably. But that's just the way I'm feeling now. Will it change? Probably, but not in the near future I think. Unless of course, Jennifer Love Hewitt suddenly starts finding Asian Males with the initials JJ attractive. Haha.

OMG. I think I'll stop here before degenerating to some primal mess of emotions. 男子汉，流汗不流泪。

O fer 3

With only one more to go too. I guess job searching is a lot harder than what I originally thought it would have been. Just getting to that 2nd interview is really a shot in the dark. Well, if perhaps late news is good news, then may the last one be good news.

Haha, now that I think of it, at least with job searching, you know you just have to wait till the other better qualified candidates accept other positions before you become king of the field. Compared to some other facets in life, that's almost a sure thing. Unless of courses, you are some depraved maniac who has been subsisting on rats and lallang the last year or so. Then all bets are off...

To my readers who still have exams: Come on guys, we can do this! Never give up! Never surrender!! (kudos to anyone who can tell me which movie I just quoted from)

Wonders of A Mind

if disturbance == 0;
print"Life's good you lucky bastard.";
else
mood = (mood^0.7);
disturbance_mod = weemon ^ (1/mood);
disturbance = disturbance * disturbance_mod;

if frens == 1;
disturbance = disturbance / 2;

else
if disturbance >= max_lim;
print"FXCKINGKANINAHBEHCHAOCHEEBYEBANGSAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

end
end

P.S - That was my attempt to illustrate how a mind can internally self-destruct on it's own if loop. So try not to think too much. I know it's easier said than done, but still, one can but try yeah?

Congrats

To E.B.O.F. for her smashing new site. Go clickie clicky now!! It has t3h 0r4|\|G3!!



The frog(-like thing with the weird tail) says it all.

雨过天晴?

Well, not really. But I guess it's better than what I was feeling on Sunday and Monday. I really feel like a weight has been lifted. What replaces that though, is still open. All people can do is work hard and hope for the best I guess. I'll stop here cos it's kinda hard to type while crossing your fingers.

AGRAHGRAH

おんなのこころ、だれがわかる？もしだれかしってたら、おしえてください！どうやってだれかまっている？こまったなぼくは。

Post Holiday Musings

Well, the Thanksgiving holiday came and went just like that. But I have to say that it was fun. Even though I wasn't really feeling all that great on Tuesday and Wednesday. And hence have to work on Saturday and Sunday...But I finally have new pumps!!

So I rested a lot on those two days in order to be fully charged for Thursday's drive up to Illnois. Couple of things I noted during this shopping road trip:

1. Sheridan Road turns right at the hospital. Every time I go to see the Baha'i temple, I always miss that turning...

2. Walmart DOES NOT open on Thanksgiving... (8 people learnt this thanks to a certain commenter...)

3. The road is Boncosky, not Bobonsky.

4. If one wants to hide (potentially embarrassing) baby photos, one should do it oneself.

5. Always, always get to the post-Thanksgiving sale early. No matter how early you go, there will be people who are crazier and slept earlier than you.

6. Shopping in an outdoor mall in winter means a lot of shivering and popping into shops just to avoid the cold.

7. BSK is a determined and tactical shopper. A veritable well of shopping knowledge. (she also knows a lot more about my car than myself.)

8. Snow can REALLY accumulated in only 1 hour.

9. Driving in snow entails driving below the legal speed limit.

10. Driving in snow ensures a car wash the next day.

P.S. -
My shopping dividends for the whole trip:
1x adidas sneaker
1x reebok pumps
6x low cut reebok socks
6x atheletic reebok socks
1x reebok small duffel bag
1x nautica fleece
1x nautica long sleeve T

Politically Incorrect Post

Before I delve into the subject of this post, let me first say that you readers have been given ample warning. What could be clearer than a title indicating that the post is politically incorrect? If you persist on reading and end up with wounded sensibilities, tough luck. But I guess most of you guys are pretty ok, given that you actually visit my blog anyways.

In another completely unrelated matter, I wish we had some of that kind of teachers here.Hehe. What the hell was the boy thinking when he turned her in? I think he's not old enough to realise that most other guys would KILL or at least do quite dastardly things to be in his position.

Okie, finally to the subject of the title. My car has bird shit on it again!! Like 2 days after I cleaned the windows. OMFG. That is so irritating!! To counter this, I was considering a variety of options, like mounting a radar/sonar bird-targetting air pistol on the boot/trunk of my car. It could then shoot pellets at any low flying (~10-50 feet) birds within a 20 feet radius of my car. But then it would be expensive to actually design one of these. So then I thought of outsourcing the work. Hire a mexican midget (mexican, because I presume they will be cheaper than american or canadian midgets) to sit in the trunk/boot with a catapult and pelllets. The dude could guard my car and clean it at the same time. And with the strength of the USD, I think I would be able to afford his services for quite awhile. Then them F***ing birds will know that if they shit on my car, the car shits back. F***ing birds...

P.S. Schematic diagram pending...

P.P.S Happy Thanksgiving people! Eat more (birds) and have fun!

Precipitation...

Sucks. Especially when it causes you to shut down your entire system to clean up the mess the inconsiderate chemicals left behind...

Time I reached school : 230pm
Time I started studying : 235pm
Time system went bananas : Approx 245pm
Time stopped cleaning system : 630pm (and only temporarily too)
Probable time of experiment start : 730pm
As opposed to my original estimate of 4pm. Precipitation really really sucks.

OK. Stopping here to get my solution ready. Just a word of advice to budding chemists or people who playing with solution. Don't let them clog your system. Be afraid, be very afraid of temperature differences.

Birthday Alert

Happy Birthday to Zee!!
Hey man, straddling the moral horse or not, you still are a cowboy and a slick operator. Go have a blast!!

大嘴巴...

真是的。朋友曾经跟我说过我讲太多话，开口之前没想清楚。可是如今我没什么在乎。 但今天我犯了超大的罪。我这种粗心开口的说法伤了她的心。我觉得自己很笨，有个聪明，可爱，活泼的女孩喜欢我，我却这样使她伤心。我真该死。。。从此以 后，我不会这么轻易开口说话了吧。我的本性就是开朗和乐观，可是还需要为别人着想。对那位姑娘，我要深诚得道歉。对不起。我不会故意伤你的。有了你，生活才愉快。

好吧，现在已经晚了。应该睡了。各位，晚安。

Winter is Here

Well, just a scant 3 days from my post telling about winter, it showed up this morning with all its chilling fury. I definitely had temperature shock this morning, going for around 20 to -2 degrees celsius in 5 minutes, rushing for my morning class. The body just refuses to accept the fact that it's bloody cold and makes you believe that it's just a dream, a thing the weather is playing on you. Meanwhile, as you fight with your brain, your fingers get freeze and your legs get numb. It's been awhile since I've experience negative temperatures so I really had forgotten how bad it can get.

Still, some people seem to like it. I have no idea how they can find pleasure in the frost, snow and flurry that rages unabated around us, but if they're happy, at least there are happy people in winter. As opposed to freezing, miserable peaople. 如果她笑，那我就有足够的温暖了。

Winter is coming...

And the goddamned birds still shit on my car... Luckily it's raining right now, so I hope that the stuff gets cleaned off. If there are new water stains, at least they will be new water stains...

And the average clothed human being has just gained about 1.5 pounds due to the proliferation of puff clothes. The average hopes and dreams of adolescent males has also taken an expected down turn. With nothing to see, guys have no hope but to imagine...

And the school term is coming to an end soon. This is the final push. Gotta psyche yourself up to finish strong. To all the readers struggling and fighting, keep your head above the water, your 2nd (or perhaps 3rd/4th) wind is coming. Don't lose hope and don't stop fighting.

And even if girls were to be more complex than physics, I wouldn't want to be on an Earth without them. They just make life seem more joyful and bearable, although you do get the occasional violent *Cough* *Cough* obessive *Cough* *Cough* individual...

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...
-Henry V

Hang in there guys and gals. Vacation is in less than 6 weeks!!(for me anyway)

Words Of Wisdom Explained

I gleamed the insight that Girls are Simpler than Physics from one source of wisdom but it was never properly explained. For ages I hunted around for clues to garner deeper understanding of that phrase, and at last, I have found it. And can now die in peace.

Z: girls are simpler than physics
Z: true or false?
SAGE: i said true
CONFUSED Z: true?
CONFUSED Z: really?
CONFUSED Z: why?
SAGE: cos we are not tt complex
SAGE: need lotsa TLC, praises, presents and attention
SAGE: tt's all

Well, I think some people might have differing opinions so let those (probably anonymous) comments come on in!

Erm Dunnoe What To Title

Had a really good night's sleep yesterday. I don't know why but I woke up feeling refreshed and then went back to bed for another 40 minutes. Haha.

Don't really know why, but I feel a bit discombobulated (brushing up my verbal for the GREs) today. I guess it's just a cumulation of stress and fears of many things that are not really under my control now. But I guess that's life (I was gonna say cest le vie, but I didn't know how to do the strokes above the e's. Can anyone tell me how?)and we all have to suck it up. But at least I had one serendipitous event occur. Anyone heard of Inductis? But at least they said they would interview me over the phone. That was unexpected. But good. Unexpected but good.

Irritated

So here I am, trying to setup my Thunderbird mail at 3am in the morning. But the stupid thing just won't get it right. It won't transfer all my mail from Mozilla, nor will it even run the junk mail processes right. It hangs whenever I try to rid my folder of junk. So irritating. I'm giving it 1 more chance. If not, it's back to Mozilla for me. Thunderbird can go lay its egg somewhere else.

In other news, it was a day of loss. I realised that my Sony headphones broke in my bag and now I need to get a new pair. Perhaps #2 has some good ideas? Also, Transport Phenomena is so not getting done tonight. I need more sleep now. Goodbye. And yes, I know this is quite incoherent. But it's 3am. So there.

Be A Man

To the people shaking their heads and sighing, well, sooner or later, someone was going to make this joke...

Anyways, I believe that you can broadly categorise (UK spelling) people by watching their reaction to the phrase "Be A Man".

If someone answers "Do the right thing", you know you have a Russell Peters fan there and then. And then you both can chat about all his other jokes and laugh at all the racial funnies. And then you can rinse and repeat the process another 35 times or so, before someone gets irritated.

If someone answers "I Am Not A Man", do not question their masculinity. Because quite probably, the person is not a guy. And would be quite willing to prove that girls can and do beat up guys. So do not mess with someone who responds like that. You will either get trashed or get hit upon (equally undesirable if you don't swing that way).

If someone answers "No man, you be man" (pause here for at least 4-5 seconds of laughter), they are probably buzzed. At this point of time, if you are still cognizant of your actions and aware of your surroundings, it would be amusing to record any further antics of said person. Try to goad them into saying other funny things like "PUNCH RUSH!!" (while trying to imitate video game characters).

Well, a couple of events have happened in my life that have certainly affected the my outlook. Some were good, some were bad, some were both good and bad, but they are the reason why I've been lazy to update. Blame life for my silence. If anything can make up for it, perhaps some photos can?

Birthday Alert

Happy Birthday to Kenneth!!
To the 乖est of our lot, many happy wishes on your birthday. And Sorry, it's slightly belated, but hey, better late than never eh? Go ChemE!!

Birthday Alert

|-|4pP1 |31r+|-|c|43 to E.B.O.F!!
May you grow less violent and more proficient in DDR!! And thanks.

P.S, I'm sure you can read this message eh?

Miscellany

Well, seems like reality T.V. is really pervasive nowadays. Even the Muppets are not above getting a piece of the pie it seems.

That's really really sad, cos I remember watching the 2 old geezers do their thing about changing opinions from the show being lousy to being awesome. I also remember the episode that they had Piece Brosnan on, and everyone called him Mr Bond, and Ms Piggy was trying to dry hump him. Good stuff. Great stuff. And now it's a reality show. Saddening.

I give up, Transport Phenonmena is kicking my ass tonight. I just need some rest and then tomorrow, I'll beg and plead for a homework extension.

真乱

First, before I go off in another language, a public service announcement.

To Susi, Tee, Pri and Bang, Smoking is BAD!!

Some points raised in that article,
1. Smoking appears to be independently associated with weaker verbal and visual-spatial reasoning
2. Smoking is negatively related to IQ and thinking

So to anyone out there who smokes, please stop. Unless you want to die stupid, infertile and slow. Unless of course, you are on my hate list, then please, by all means smoke more. Smoke more and die. Although I seriously doubt anyone on my hate list smokes and even less of them come here anyways. I just like saying that.

Okie, with that out of the way, my apologies to some of my readers.

最近,我觉得自己已经高兴多了.可是,还是有烦恼.当一个人说:"对不起,我觉得我们之间没有那种感情...", 你应该怎么回答? "啊.是吗.我已经察觉到了"? 还是"哎,没关系吧,我会再接再厉的."? 真烦. 还是不能放弃,还是舍不得,还是对她有感情. 最终,只能希望吧.希望有志者事竟成.希望好人会占先锋.

Actually, my happy chart did dip a bit, but I guess it wasn't too bad, so no worries. Not like when I heard T3h N3wZ!! So there's just crossing of fingers.

Like #2 said, I have Fe-Balls.(And yes, I think only #2 will understand this.)

Stuff

Well, I just finished my presentation, and for something that got completed 2 hours before the presentation, I think it went pretty well. Although there were a couple of typos and completely wrong notations...

But anyways, here are a couple points of interest I would like to share:

1. So not happening in engineering. Maybe I should have gone to one of the schools listed there.

2.Amusing play on WoW and LotR. Courtesy of Pimp Bob.

Okie, now I shall sleep.

Happy Chart

Just in case anyone thought that I was feeling down after that last post, please don't be mistaken. I've never felt better in recent months, but I just thought that some introspection was needed. As further proof of my emotional health, I present my happy chart.



See, I've never been happier now than anytime in the last few months. So no doom and gloom for me!!

Balance

Like the crazy ass dude in Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid says, Life is all about balance. How does one balance work with play? Study with rest? Committments and pleasures? I think everyone goes through his/her own life trying to do balance all their wants, needs, responsibilities and expectations. Some are more proficient at balancing than others and some know how to take time from one of their needs and to put them into one of their wants. Me, I'm just trying to recalibrate myself.

I believe that anything someone does, always starts out less than adequate, but with time and a positive attitude, that process will fine tune itself. However, there might be an issue of time-constraint. The process has to work within a definite time-scale or risk redundancy.

Now, I'm trying to balance a new paradigm shift in my life and I just hope that by the good graces of whoever/whatever that is out there, I can get it done. Because if I don't, I think the loss will be quite severe. So here's to trying, it rhymes with eventual success and gratification!! (Well, kinda, if you're drunk, and high on questionable substances. Okie, so sue me.)

In less introspective news, Life from Space? Or perhaps someone out there likes a sweet fix?

Bird Shit Magnet

Now after what happened this weekend, I'm afraid to park under trees already. In just 1 night, the whole right (passenger) side was covered in white, brown and grey. I took 30 minutes just to clean the windshield... And then there was the roof and the rear windshield... What a trying process. I hate birds with incontinence/IBS...

Sloth

Wow. It's been awhile since my last post. I'm just been so lazy. And so busy with reports. I know it seems contradictory, but that's the way it seems.

Lots of things happening in the past few weeks like me getting comments verification so no more spam comments. (Sorry Numero Duo) And bloggers getting sent into jail for "seditious" comments. That's so g4y. I mean, the beauty of the internet is, if it pisses you off, DON'T FUCKING READ IT!! The internet is full of people who believe their opinions are bigger than their genitalia but who says you have to go to a blog you don't like? That's so sadomasochist. Except perhaps minus the whips and other toys.

For FUCKS SAKE people, get a clue. And by people, I don't mean the awesomenessitic readers of this site. That was just a ranting kind of statement. YOU guys are awesomness personified.

I'll probably rant more in awhile. After I get more sleep.

$100000000000000000000000000000000000000

Warning, the words "Bill Gates" and "porno" appear in the following conversation.

Some background - we were discussing what would make me stay in the states, and one of the factors is my future pay. So thusly...

L: pay u $100000000000000000000000000000000000000
Z: yeah
Z: that's something special
Z: USD summore hor
L: ......
L: like that u dun need to work
L: bank also dun want to give u interest
L: lol
Z: haha
Z: i think they will loh
Z: that's like super instant capital for them to play with
Z: haha
L: hahaha
L: they buy bill gate
Z: haha
Z: yeah
Z: make him sell porno movies

Lives of the Rich and Famous

Well, not quite famous but at least rich. And he's my namesake too. So I wonder where I'll be 10 years from now. On the bright side, at least I'm like 134908023509825x more handsome than him. HA!

Random Stuff Late At Night

Well, the title says it all. So without further ado, I present to you the Sushi Panda.

More Cephalopod Goodness

For the morbidly curious or the inanely bored, there's more news about those spotlight loving squids!

I guess the new term for sexual prowess is "hung like a giant squid"?

Terror from Deep

Giant squids, you can't live with them, you can't live without them (if you're a sperm whale that lives in deep waters that is). But now you can, for the first time in my living memory, see them LIVE and (somewhat) clearly!!

Brought to you by your childhood (or rather my childhood) memory of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

P.S - In a more crass joke, I guess Mike Brown (former head of FEMA) is the true terror from deep.(The joke is some attempt at equating deep with flooding. Yes I know it's really non-existent, but I was lazy to reword the title.) Such a ball-less man. I bet his backbone is made of yogurt.

Tragic Comedy?

Web-surfing before doing work can lead to new websites that one never thought even existed. For example, Katrina:The Gathering is something that I have never saw coming. It's funny and yet, there is a sense of loss at not only the disaster that befell the unfortunate people of New Orleans, but the incompetence and sanctimony of some of the people "in-charge". A caveat: If you didn't/don't play Magic:The Gathering, some of the terms and jokes might be lost on you.

This is another ridiculous thing. It's about WoW and gold buying and divorce. Hilarious. Probably fake, but hilarious nonetheless.

Lastly, I hate my car company. I called them on friday saying I need a new temporary licence cos mine expires today, they said ok. And it's supposed to be over-night mail too. It's sunday already and I can't drive cos of them lazy asses. Don't trust Evanston Toyota. They suck. (Of course, this is said in a real fit of annoyance and inconvenience, but I think they still suck.)

Wow

Wow. I'm finally staying at home over the weekend. It's the first time this whole month. Leaving this place over the weekend is really something that a person can look forward to, but it really really makes cleaning your room hard to do. Fortunately, I have some of the best parents in the world and they really helped me alot over this week and now, the problem of cleaning my room is much more manageable.

Lots of things to say, but I don't really know how to organise, so I'll just say it in chronological order.

1.Corpse Bride is AWESOME. It's a touching yet funny story about how a guy marries a "corpse bride" when he is set to marry another. The soundtrack is worth a listen too. Catchy.

2. Job-hunting is tiring. Especially if you have only a few companies that will even look at you. But hopefully, I have found a path that will lead to greater things. Unfortunately, I couldn't spend more time with my parents because of this job fair. But I did get a lot of free stuff from 3M. Haha. I'm such a cheapskate.

3. Northwestern University (NU) is a small university. But it's still one of the most expensive places in the states. Guess this means that there is alot of money per student. So #2, don't let it go to waste yeah. Work hard and play hard, and put that 12x to good use.

4. Somethings just don't make sense and yet, sometimes they still are oddly comfortable. At least I am still fubared so I know that I have roots. (this isn't very coherent, but I'm just blogging)

You Know You Have Had Too Much When...

You start associating acronyms with academic terms.

2: wat is SHC?
2: deductible @ SHC
Z: huh?
Z: i have no idea
2: insurance
Z: oh
Z: school hopsital
.
.
.
Z: i was going to say specific heat of combustion
Z: b4 u mentioned the word insuarance

Yes, I know I had a typo, but you get my drift.

The Closest Thing To Mambo

I just found a place that most resembles Mambo. It plays R&B and Hip-Hop, but more importantly plays rock and pop. Songs like "I Love Rock N Roll" and "Living On A Prayer" were songs that I never thought I could find here, but I am glad to say that I was wrong. Oh Neon Cactus, where have you been?!!?

Today we went there to celebrate Mina's 22nd birthday. It's a pretty cool place and you get lots people dancing. I got a chance to dance with this girl that just came right up to me. Must be my animal magnetism. (Kwong, please puke in the toilet) It was awesome. I haven't been in US club for over 6 months, I felt young again in that place. Songs that I actually knew were playing, I was dancing with girls, dancing with friends, dancing with random strangers. Sounds like a chionging night from home. Shiok.

But if anyone 1-upped me tonight, it had to be Sid the Quick. From nothing to phone number and caressing in 2 hours? YOU DA MAN SID!!! I gotta take lessons from you man.

Oh wow, it's so late already. I'm going to shower then go to bed. Hopefully I can make it to my 930am class.

To the CHAMPIONS OF EXCELLENCE, you guys were great. Especially Ms Ball for being such a sport. Rock On!! Viva La CHE!!

Birthday Alert

Happy Birthday to BSK!!
Keep up the good work and may you reap the rewards of your hard work!! And you are not that young anymore. Hahaha.

HOLY F*CKING SHIT

What ever happened to Freedom of Speech? I mean yeah sure, everyone's anti-racism, but does that mean that every time someone says something in a moment of anger/frustration/drunken stupour his ass will get police-d off? Wow, I guess the racists have to start inventing new terminologies then. The old ones will be too easy to detect. This is so BOGUS.

Maybe I should de-link myself.

Cos there's no time like the present

Well, it's been awhile since my last post and I figured that since this is gonna be another hectic week, I'd better post now while I still have the time.

1st of all, pics are still coming up. I'm in the process of getting them from my various sources and compiling so please be a little more patient. Well, maybe you guys will have to be a bit more than "little".

2nd, Boston was great. Free lodging, free travel and almost free meals too. The only caveat is that when you take free miles for travel, be prepared for screw ups. I left at 1130am but reached my hotel only at 1030pm at night. The direct flight from Indy to Boston is only 2.5 hours so you guys can just imagine how much waiting/transfer I had. Also, my return flight to Indy was at 6am in the morning. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night at the hotel. BUT at least I had a chance to eat fresh seafood. That's not something I can say very often over here. Had a chance to meet up with my cuz and Ms Turtle Lover too. It was nice to see a familar face over there and great to catch up.

To Ms TL: Don't worry too much lah. Things will be okie. 3.97 GPAs don't fall from the sky.

Incidentally, I heard a new reply to the commonly asked question "How's it going?". I guess this reply is rare cos alot of people will be lying if they answered "Living the dream." I overhead this conversation between 2 pilots walking in the airport.

Lastly, today was a day of funnies. The first funny was by Susi. In reference to people in a certain student organisation, he said they looked like nice people, but are actually assholes. Asked to justify his statement, he replied "There's a guy there who works in physics and seems to like his job. Anyone who works in physics and likes his job is an asshole." His audience couldn't stop laughing for a full 60 seconds. The second funny is courtesy of Ms Ball. Her methodology on How to Cope with Homework was pretty amusing, but I guess she spent more time doing that than actually doing homework tonight.

I'm gonna bathe and carry on searching for cars. So that the bad vibes from Ms BSK don't kill me. Till next time, cheers.

Revolutionary

As some of you guys might know, Nintendo has a new system debuting next year. The Revolution. The much hyped revolutionary thing about this system is its controller. Although the system has been shown, the controller has yet to be displayed so no one knows what it looks like or what it can do. However, that hasn't stopped people from trying. One of the best was this concept shown below:

Blatant Admission

What? You thought it was something about me? No. There's nothing that I can say that can be counted as a blatant admission. Either you know that about me, or you can infer from my posts my characteristics (wow, I got that right the first try).

Anyways, this is about Kakak. And her research. Apparently, she's doing computer based research cos:

Kakak: yeah... my research is computer based

Z: nice

Kakak: KAKAK is a lab hazard

And here I was thinking that NOT being in a lab is a good thing. It means you can actually eat/drink/sleep/download t3h pr0n while working. But I guess a positive spin on lab work is that you inspire sufficient confidence in other people about your own safety habits.

So..., the weekend was awesomenessitic. Went to Cedar Point over the long Labour Day weekend. Had TONS of fun riding all sorts of crazy rides. Like the Millenium Force and Magnum XL-200. One of the things I learnt from that trip is that no matter how handsome you are, G forces always do nasty things to your facial expressions and ensure that your photos never look good. Shoutout to Oatmeal for her assistance.

Lastly, a big Congrats to Zee for being a first time passer. You've joined a really exclusive club. Now you and Woon and Zhenz can laugh at me. =)

(Another) Birthday Alert!!

Happy Birthday to Oatmeal!!
Welcome to the LEGAL-ALCOHOL club. Leave your senses at the door and come join the fun. (Although waking up the next day is a drag...)

Birthday Alert!!

Happy (Slightly Belated) Birthday to No. 2!!
Pack well and enjoy your last few days at home.

I gotta get out more

And I know Kwong can't agree more. I think I've been holed up in ChE for way too long. In this week, I've been spending more time in the open labs all over school and I've just realised that there are more girls here than I previously thought. Not many more pretty/attractive/cute girls but still, you have to take the ba zhang together with the xiao long baos. Haha. Don't ask me what that means, I just think it sounds right.

Okie back to work.

P.S - Wikipedia is now my new best friend.

Nightmare Reacquainted

It's the 2nd week of school and already I have stayed up till 2am in the lab doing homework. I thought I could postpone the inevitable just a little while longer, but I guess work is a very insidious thing that just creeps up on you under the cover of procrastination.

I met a sophmore the other day, and when asked what was her reason to join my chosen profession, she replied that she liked chemistry and that her father and sister were engineers as well. She also added that she found the introduction course abit of a challenge. Such innocence in the young ones is a rare find indeed. I give her 10 to 1 odds that she will change major by the end of the semester.

The other day, some freshie came into the building and asked for directions to physics. 2 thoughts struck me almost simultaneously. 1 was she's cute, 2 was but stupid. I mean, walking into a building that's so obviously NOT the physics building to ask for directions TO the physics building? She could have asked anyone walking outside. Unless of course, she actually saw me inside and had an ulterior motive... Hehez.

Oh well, have to get back to work now. Can't wait for Friday. Going to Cedar Point this Labour Day weekend. Yeah!!

Last thoughts: Pr0n is Private!! (This goes to EBOF and A-E)

Oh What A Night

And no Woonkie, that's not what it means. I know, I suck.

But anyways, life in this 1st weekend of school has been good. A real contrast to the dreariness and loneliness of summer. Aside from the occasional skipped class and missed homework, everything has been going smoothly. Seeing friends again, moving in, eating free pizza at callouts... I would feel more alive, if it weren't for the fact that I'm still sniffling.

Anyways, to the subject of the Title. The Champions Of Excellence came over last night and we had a great time. We ate ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen and played Konga and chatted the night (Well, it wasn't the whole night, just about 2 hours). Thanks for coming guys (& girls). Hope you enjoyed yourself. I know I did, and I mostly pwned at Konga too. Even though (despite much insistence to the contrary) I hadn't played that game for about 2 months already.


This was My Birthday Present. The most Excellent Prince Of Persia. Although I think it's an easy way out(What shall we get him? I know! A game for his gamecube!!), it's still a very very excellent game. Thanks guys.

Because of that game, I have now come across Stuck Gamer which is an awesome site. You can see many many videos of games. I'm afraid that I'm gonna be spending some of my time over there from now onwards, just watching. Haha. Yes Kwong, I'm a P.O.S.

Well, that's it for now. If I finish the God Of War videos, I'm gonna go get a haircut.

Nostalgia Attack!!

So here am I cleaning my apartment and trying to unpack for stuff, when I stop to read some of the cards I've received since I came here. This reminded me of the cards I have back home. I was reading all the cards I received since 1999 last week before I flew. It was real nostalgic. There were names that I haven't seen or said in over 5 years. There was a little regret that I no longer knew what happened to them, but I guess what I have, I have to treasure more. Family, Friends, Fubareds.

Life Sucks When You're Sick

Yeap, especially when school has already started and your birthday is tomorrow. I guess it's because of travelling long-distance, moving and unpacking stuff and early morning classes that I'm not feeling too well. I just hope with plenty of rest and water, I'll recover by this weekend. I already forgot to do 1 homework already because of this stupid flu and fever (although it's really fscked up that hw is due on the 3rd day of school).

In more interesting news, NEW PICS ARE UP. Under 2 Weeks of Summer '05. Go check them out to see what I did in my short summer break, the friends I met up with and my Birthday cake.

Like I said earlier, it was really really great to be back. To see old friends, forget my current worries and recharge my batteries. I think that it's a good thing I recharged cos this semester is looking really really scary, with 4 labs and research and 2 other ChE classes. It's not gonna be pretty I think, I just hope I can survive.

You know where you stand when you see what kind of grant you get awarded. I thought that I did pretty well last semester, but turns out that I'm just a small fry compared to the rest of the cohort. But hey, at least my efforts got some recognition, however slight and miniscule.

Well, that's about it. I'm gonna go check out the freshies later at the callout. Here's to wishing. (for a better flu-free tomorrow)

Disadvantages of Returning at the Last Minute

Aside from being jetlagged on the first day of school, you really don't have much of a chance to unpack. As of right now, I'm still without my chair, lamp or shelf. And there are still a half dozen boxes in the living room calling out my name. AND on top of that, I have 730 classes, so I really didn't have much time to do anything... Which means that I might still be unpacking this weekend. Nuts.

Anyways, this is just to tell all my readers that I'm doing fairly well (aside from the bloody flu I'm having) and I want the pics from Numero Duo and Kwong. So please hurry up with that, and I can post them for all to see yah?

And I really wanted Conan, but Fossil is good too. =P

AWESOMENESSITIC FOOBARISTIC FRIENDS

That's what I Want To Say to everyone who came last night. I don't have much time back home but you guys (& girls) really made my day. Thank You.

It was really nice to be able to chill with all of you again. Just like old times eh. Boy we sure are getting old. But at least we still managed to hang out and have fun. I'm sure you guys treasure such moments as gems in your lives. And I'll be sure to keep them safe in a corner in my heart, so that I can always retreat to it to whenever life seems down or things seem bad, I know I'll have you guys.

Hope the new game you learnt was enjoyable. =) Go spread the joy to others!! Hehez.

Cheers to the last 7 years and cheers to the many many years ahead of us!!

I did it.

This was the previously alluded-to pic that my blogger was screwing up for me.

OpTiMuS iS Da BoMbzOrz!!

It's Official...

My days of DOTA-ing are behind me... I used play this during freshman year, but back then, this "all-star" mode was only in its infancy. Now when I come back, there's like 294058394806 heroes to choose from. I get really really lost...

Today had a birthday celebration *hint hint* with my relatives before I leave to go back to the cornfields. Quite touching. I got this awesomenessitic card from my aunt that I'll post once I go back and take a photo of it. If I can get a job overseas, the time I have left to spend with them won't be plenty so I'll enjoy it while I can.

Well, since I'm enjoying all the local stuff here before I have to return, I might as well try to swim more often and go out more. Considering the amount of coastline Indiana has and the number of (asian) girls (in short skirts). Some people, I suspect might even comment that there is more coastline than girls...

Yet another birthday celebration tomorrow *HINT HINT*. It might be my last for awhile with the guys. Let's make it a Blast shall we?

Interesting Things

Went to the dentist today. Hopefully I have whiter teeth now. Then went shopping for stationary and comic books in Orchard. Bought $20 worth of stationary (And hopefully enough pencil lead to last me for awhile). I FINALLY finished the Full Metal Panic comic series, 9 books in total, over 3 years!! Now I can just wait for FMP:The 2nd Raid.

Anyways, while in Books (Kinokuniya), Ah Seng and I came across this Russian book. Apparently, lamp in Russian is "Lahm-Pah". Please feel free to insert your own dirty joke. We were laughing at the language aisles for sometime over that one.

Had dinner with my old JC classmates (or at least those that we could still contact) yesterday. It was fun reminiscing about old times and interesting to see how old friends have changed. I wish I could post the pics now guys, but unfortunately, my USB cable is not with me. So you'll have to wait awhile. My bad.

Lastly, I just had to show this pic (bloody hell, tried to use blogger to upload, but the alignment is screwed to hell). Hilarious. He'd definitely get my vote.Taken from 8 Bit Theatre.

Actually, come to think of it. It's only 1 interesting thing...

Halfway Thru...

Well, it's the weekend already. I wish I could have more time to spend here with family and friends, but unfortunately, academic scheduling forbids that. So I can only make the best of this remaining week. At least I've met up with some of the friends already and can meet up with some more next week.

Anyways, I've spent most of the weekend reading. 2 books concurrently in fact. The first (brought to me by the miracle of the internet) is Angels and Demons. It's a very interesting read, and discuss a little bit about the clash between the two pillars of belief, Science and Religion. Personally, I don't care much for religion, but after reading the book, I would say that it did provoke some thoughts about 'God'. Nothing much to actually change my beliefs but it was interesting nevertheless.

The 2nd book (brought to me by the kindness of CHF and ZHENZ) is The Science of Discworld II:The Globe. While I've always liked Terry Prachett's style of writing, I believe that the first book was more interesting. This one talks about culture and society, and how our ability to tell and understand stories have differentiated us from other apes. It's a lot harder to substantiate stuff like that and still tell a good story. So it's kinda disappointing as a book. But I still have the 3rd book in the series (also brought to me by the kindness of CHF and ZHENZ). Hopefully that will be a better read. Interesting to note that I could only find those books on the UK Amazon...

Lastly, we have a 'new' president. La di da di da. Like anyone (who is even slightly cynical) expected anything else. I won't comment on this blog. Too much potential repercussions, but it's interesting that the dirt on the other nominee(s) didn't emerge until they stated they wanted to run...

Finally Dim Sum

Just a short post. Going to get the car tomorrow so have to wake up early. I finally had dim sum at Red Star Restaurant. The food wasn't too bad, and the prices were reasonable. But I had a chance to eat the marinated steam pork ribs. My favourite dim sum dish. That was a loooonnnngggg time coming and they tasted so good. The flavour was accentuated by the company. It's a real comfort being back among old friends. THANKS GUYS.

I think I might owe Apple Singapore an apology. Apparently, Ken says that he's accessed the internet before using a powerbook. Since that occasion was in the past, and with a different mac (I tried with the mac mini), I might be wrong. I'll try to confirm that before I fly. But what the heck, just hoot first. 先斩后奏。

Post-Mambo

So I went Mambo last night to check out the old spots. Nothing has really changed there. Retro songs are still blasting, hot chicks are still dancing but there was an huge influx of botak (clean-shaven) army boys that really destroyed the atmosphere. And that's ALL I have to say about that.

More Foods I have Eaten.

11. Vegetarian Mee Hoon
12. Minced Meat Noodles
13. Bak Ku Prawn Noodles
14. Durian Cream Puffs (Wanted to show the GOODWOOD PARK ones, which I ate, but couldn't find the pics)

Well, not that many different foods this time round, but I still have a little over a week. So plenty of time.

P.S - You are one sneaky little bugger. Never say anything one ah... TSK TSK TSK. All the best. Remember, no glove no love.

Pictures

So I went to this restaurant on the 60th floor. And the view was pretty good. Real panoramic but who wants to see panoramic shots? They are a dime a dozen. Instead, here are some of the more esoteric shots taken tonight.


I believe if we could look through the eyes of someone in a drug-induced stupor, the world would look something like this.


Here is a case of misleading imagery. The chinese menu title reads like "The Fairy Descends Into The Mortal Realm". So thank god for the japanese and english menu descriptions. If not for them, I believe some Chinese would be really disappointed with this dish.

Credits for photos go to my dad and the less handsome son (hint: not me) respectively.

Weekend

One weekend down, only 1 more to go. Not much time left at all. Still so many people to see, so many foods to eat... At least it's good to see the guys again. I think once we all graduate, meeting up won't be as easy as it is now already. That's a pretty somber thought. We are all growing up and nothing we can do to stop it. Just try to make the best of it I guess. And act young, something that I think we have no problems doing. Especially people like Zh, still so juvenile...

But anyways, meet with (pimp)bang today for brunch at Holland Village. Quite a lot of stuff to eat there. So here's more stuff to add to the Foods I've Ate:

6. Katong Laksa
7. Fried Kway Teow
8. Chee Chong Fun
9. Ban Mian
10. Chwee Kuay (not sure about the spelling)

About Apple Inc,
Apple USA = Real thing.
Apple Singapore = Pleasure by Masturbation...
It is the cheapskate immitation of the Apple Spirit I think. The concept of a hip-store is destroyed without internet access. It's just another Power Denki that specialises in Apple stuff then.

Finally, it took me 3 days to resume my duties as the family chauffeur. That slacker brother...

P.S - Said slacker can really sing. Well, at least compared to me... Har har.

430 Am

It's 4:30 am and I'm waiting for my hair to dry. So in the meantime, I'll just list down what I have done in the 27 hours or so since landing.

Things I've Done:

1. Bought textbooks. Something that costs this much and will give me a lot of headaches in the future was only S$48. And this was only S$51. So I paid a total of S$98 (tax incl) for something that I can only afford in the states if I sold my worldly possesions. What a rip-off.

2. Went to sing K with the guys. It was a blast seeing them all again, although the inevitable ribbing started the moment I opened my friend's car door. Still, I wouldn't trade that experience for (almost) anything in the world.

Food I've ate:

1. Lor Mee
2. Xiao Wan Mian (Sorry, couldn't find an image)
3. Xiao Long Bao
4. Roti Prata (Chanai for the Malaysians)
5. Roti John

So that's like 5 down and lots more to go. Ha ha ha. Life is GUD.

Back

Just got back. Will post later. Just wanted to say something about spending the better part of 4 hours in a plane surrounded by 9 kids. They NEVER SHUT THE SHIT UP. Bloody hell...

And people, you guys can start MSN-ing me already. =)

GODAMNIT!!

GODAMNIT!! My Spider Solitare record has fallen back to 61%!! Must be the current 6 game losing streak that did me in. DAMNIT!!

Well, it's less than 24 hrs to my presentation, and less than 48 to my flight. Once again, I wish all the people taking finals, all the best.

And moving really really sucks.

Last Day of Internet Access from Home

Well, writing the damn poster took less time than I expected, leaving me free yet again to post something.

Well, as of my writing, it's another 98 hours before I reach home. Provided of course that there's no flight delay or anything out of schedule. And boy am I excited. In fact, this conversation was the result of that excitement:

C: excited abt comgin back?
Zueig. 99 Hrs!!: u see the countdown?
(breaking with tradition, I show my full nick for effect)
C: yup
Zueig. 98 Hrs!!: see it change?

I'm just sitting around waiting for tomorrow to come so I can go and print the poster and go settle some stuff with my future housing company. So in the meantime, you'll have to bear with some of my thoughts.

1. Insanity is thy name indeed. I think Mark Cuban has some really insightful thoughts about technology and how it affects the world around us. What makes it even more interesting is that he's a multi-millionare and he has the same grouse as a college student.

2. So much pressure. Aiyah says not to be asleep when I return. But it will be 1am in the morning!! Well, I guess I'll still go and look for something to eat first, before sleeping anyways.

3. Spam, who doesn't hate it. But people over here have managed to turn it into a source of chuckles. Good going guys. Even though I don't understand some of the jokes.

4. Speaking of jokes, again from strategypage.com, Murphy's Law as applied to combat. It's long (over 100 points) but it's really funny if you understand them. Some good ones:

A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.
Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy other people to shoot at.
If the enemy is within range, so are you.
Any ship can be a minesweeper . . . once.

And,

If you need an officer in a hurry take a nap.

Haha. All I can say is ORD LOH!! So good riddance to all that.

Now I have 20 more minutes before the time becomes 97 hours. Can't wait.

Adventures in Moving

Well, it seems that I have a little resting time tonight. I've moved most of my stuff, my project will be reviewed tomorrow and the rental company isn't open till Monday. So I'll just say a little about the moving of my (and Ms Ball's) stuff.

First and foremost, a great big THANK YOU to BSK Hwang for helping move and letting dump my stuff at her place. I think I don't have that much stuff. 2 car trips were sufficient in moving most of my stuff. The only thing that couldn't fit into the car was my chair. All in all, pretty uneventful. Except that I was a little late and got scolded.

And that leads to the 2nd part of my story. To move the bigger stuff in the apartment like tables, chairs and mattresses, we (me and my roomate)rented a U-Haul. A 14-foot U-haul. Speaking as someone who's more used to driving a small sized car, that's quite a change. Sitting in the driver's seat, you get quite a sense of power. I mean, short of driving a Hummer, what other vehicle can actually ram another car and probably still be able to operate normally? But the steering on that thing sucked eggs. I was afraid to go above 35mph as the thing tend to go to the right and there was no power steering. I totalled 28 miles in that thing. and it was a real driving challenge.

But that's only half of the tale. The less taxing half actually. Moving the stuff was another matter altogether. Since we are subleasing this summer apartment, we had to move the original tenants stuff as well. And boy, is that some stuff. My roommate's original tenant had like 548306 boxes and 1 metal desk to move and some (ESPECIALLY the desk) of them were really heavy too. I really pitied him. Since we were moving in the afternoon, I got a tan from doing all that stuff. And now I think I have the flu. Ugh.

Okie some random stuff now.

1. Hinduism in a (sexual) nutshell. No offence to any religious people out there. It's a joke mmm'kay.

2. From the lovable Asian-Eskimo with questionable sexual preferences, what WWII might have been, if it were a Real Time Strategy game. If you don't play any online games, it might be hard to catch the jokes.

3. Who's heard of Pilsner beer? I didn't, at least until I found this. Good stuff yeah, that beer. If it can do what it can do in that game, I'm getting myself a lifetime supply.

P.S - For the first time in this summer, we have commercial water in our house. Just a note. Sure beats drinking (filtered) tap water.

Quick Post

I'm moving most of my stuff tomorrow and Friday, so I'll be busy. And then after that I have to concentrate on the report due next Tuesday. A really tight schedule. So this is a heads up. This might be the last post in awhile. At least till I get back home.

Just 6 more days to my flight. Booyah!!

My room is a mess now. With boxes strewn all over. I packed away my comforter already. But now it's kinda cold. Like 17 degrees C cold. Damn weather.

Okie, if I don't post again till next next week or so, I would like to wish all my readers who are taking finals soon , all the best. You guys can take my luck. I don't need it this time round. =). To those people who are gonna stop working for awhile, enjoy your vacation. School's just around the corner and God knows we need a break after working the whole summer. To the bestest dudes back home, 6 more days guys. 6 more days. Then you can bring me out and let's go eat. I want to eat Dim Sum, Char Kway Teow, Mee Kia, Ban Mian, Loh Mee, Hae Mee, Kway Chup (spelling??), Laksa, Hokkien Mee, Stingray, blah blah blah. I'm sure you guys get the idea. But most importantly, I get to see my friends and family. Awesomnessticism.

SWEET MERICFUL RELIEF

It rained today. And it's FINALLY cool. OMG. Thank god. I can sleep better now.

Proof that people think I'm younger than I really am:

X:fine..little kid
Z:u crack me up. i bet u have no idea of my age :D
X:21 max

Haha. It's good be a youngwanabe. Better than being thought of as a lecherous old man.

Well it's just a week to go before I fly back home. It's so close, I can almost taste the mee-pok and mee-kia already. Sooo don't want to do anything already. Just packing and getting ready to leave. But I still have to do that report for my summer research. Just hope I can concentrate enough to do a reasonably presentable poster. Haha. Or else I'll just write "In conclusion, the HAE MEE is separated from the MEE REBUS by the Chicken Rice Bed".

Day of Many Baths...

I took 4 today and it's still blardee farking hot. Weather.com reported a high of 100 degrees F (which is around 37 degrees C). That's like human body temperature!! To top it off, the A/C in the lab is busted. UGH. That TOTAL sucks.

This is like the weather back home, but worse. I was trying to cope with it by telling myself that it's just getting me used to the temperature back home, but I don't think that it's this bad back home. Well, unless global warming is a bigger threat than I thought. But it's almost exactly the same post-bath scenario here and back home. You know how it goes, bath, dry, sweat in 30 seconds... Disgusting.

A little helpful flower advice can be found here, regarding grammar. And while we are still on the topic of language use, BSK (haven't heard that one in awhile) has said that "true that" isn't the source of her ghetto-ness. Like so:

BSK: true that
Z: haha
Z: ghetto
BSK: no
Z: c'mon, u telling me "true that" isn't ghetto?
BSK: no
Z: really?
BSK: it is not..
BSK: my friend say that
BSK: friends
BSK: they r not ghetto

It is at this point, I go and urbandictionary "true that" and whip out it's definition to her. Case closed. There you have it,GHETTO.

Miscellany

Just some little bits of interesting (to me) news today.

1. What men have always suspected.
Especially about the alcohol. In fact, this news is so interesting that this post would exist just because of it.

2. Snaggy has just commisioned. CONGRATS man. Just another 300+ days to ORD LOH.

We were just discussing a retirement hobby, Snaggy & I. We can record a chorus of "ROD LOH" (his choice since we will be retirees)/ "ORD LOH" (my choice since it's more diao) on a CD. Drive to the ferry terminal, park along the road and BLAST the CD. Every sunday evening. What a thrill.

Eventful Day

Boy, what an eventful day I had.

First thing, I wake up with a start, extend my arms above my head (while still horizontal on the bed), hit the cupboard at the head of my bed, knock the hair dryer off the top of the cupboard and eat a mouthful of plastic for breakfast. Ugh.

Then, I went to the lab, and spent the better part of the morning (or at least, the morning that I spent in the lab), trying to fix a leak that mysteriously disappears when I'm searching for it. Like I leave the the setup to do something else, upon my return I see a wet spot on the ground. So I start checking my connections and everything, but nothing's wet, indicating that there hasn't been a leak. Doubly UGH.

Lastly, I spent about an hour in the sun at a traffic junction today, waiting for help, cos my friend's car's battery died. It was most amusing, looking at the people slow down to stare at me as they drove by. I should have flashed my phone number at the chicks... But a great big THANK YOU to everyone who tried to help. And hell, a great big thank you to those who even answered their phones. Thanks.

In a gaming related issue, I'm not sure if you guys actually know (or care) but recently, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA:SA) has come under fire for leaving codes for a allegedly dry-humping mini game inside their worldwide best seller. Personally, I think the only mistake was that they left it in there, but apparently, now that's a huge brouhaha. Here then, is a counterpoint about the whole thing. I guess it's good to see that gamers care about politics. But I can't stand those politicians who see only an issue they can exploit. I'm beginning to see why the popular vote here is RED.

Extras

This comic struck me as quite amusing. Many thanks to my mum.



And this is just a private joke. HAHAHAHAHAHA. OMG!! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Courtesy of charchen.blogspot.com.

Jin Juat

Hmm, not too sure about my hokkien there, considering that I would fail a hokkien 101 class, but anyways, IT'S BLOODY HOT!! And it sucks when you run out of cold water in the day and have to resort to beer and orange juice to cool down. Not that I'm against beer or orange juice but it sucks not having the option to drink water... Luckily, it's raining tonight, so I don't need to sleep in an oven.

I'm supposed to be working on my project full time, but there are a couple of recent discoveries that have derailed me from that objective.

The first is THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES.
The title says it all. All the stories of one of the greatest detectives ever to grace our collective imaginations (the other is Batman, I think) found free on the internet? I'm having SUCH a field day re-reading all the classics.

And the second is Full Metal Panic : 2nd Raid.
Sequel to Full Metal Panic and FMP:Fumoffu, if you liked the last two, go check it out. I think it's gonna be interesting. PLUS you get to see Chidori Kaname again. And how she abuses poor Sagara... Classic

Lastly, today's cool latin phrase of the day is "vox populi, vox Dei". And who says you can't learn new (latin) stuff from Zu31G...

Birthday Alert!!

Happy (Slightly Belated) Birthday to Mum !!

Damn, I was hoping to make the midnight deadline. Anyways, hope your birthday was a wonderful one mum. Sorry I couldn't be there, but I did send a card. =)

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Random Observation #1.
Full moon tonight. Waah.

Random Observation #2.
Jogging seems easier at night.

Random Observation #3.
Why is it called "random"? To the extent that I wanted to write these, I guess they aren't random. But I really didn't set out to write these when I went out jogging earlier. So "50% random observation"?

小弟弟

Hilarious. Since JC (or in american terms, HS) I can count the number of times I've been called "小弟弟" with 1 hand. But last night, I was called just that, and on internet radio too.

Interestingly enough, if I'm a younger kid, by checking out the DJ profiles on the site (which, I might add, has an amazing library of titles), I wonder how old the DJ really is. Considering that she didn't list her age (only given as "sexy") and I'm like older than almost everyone else.

For americans, there's Party Poker or Poker Stars. For Asians, there's VINAgames, or more specifically, Big 2!! It's free, convenient and is accesible anywhere with internet and Javascript. What a deal.

Anyone game to play?

Edit - I have ATROCIOUS writing. Ugh and NOBODY thought to point out my incomprehensible writings to me??

NKF = Whore ?

From the self-depreciating Neelia,

Right. I am not going to say that $600K is peanuts.. But at the request of dear Zueig, I present my side of the story.. or rather my pt of view. Don't slam me.

They need someone of calibre, of vision to head an organization like the NKF. It is a large organization no doubt. You can't take a cut from his salary, saying he doesn't deserve to be remunerated that much becoz it is a NON-profit organization. In that case, who wld actually work for these orgs? If you are saying those volunteers who spend their free time looking after the needy but get paid nothing, these volunteers have a full time day job to keep them alive. Durai's full time day job is heading the NKF. If he doesn't get remunerated here, he wldn't take on the job. I don't think many wld. We learn in economic theory that men are realists, rational pple. Getting paid $60K per mth (including bonus) is just a reflection of market mechanism. If you don't remunerate them enough, who will head the NKF? and I mean one of calibre....

That said, doesn't mean I condone what durai as done. Yes, first class flights and gold plated taps are bordering on overindulgence. But, I think the remuneration is fair. It just shld be disclosed.. so the public knows where their funds are headed and decide if they still want to donate.

That said, I am disappointed that many singaporeans have withdrawn their donations becos of the incident. Think it was common knowledge that the NKF is very cash rich, just that the tangible facts didn't come to light until recently. But pple withdrawing their funds, one after another, seemed to me, an emotional reaction of the poor man on the street vs the rich. The beneficiaries still need help. Withdrawing your funds wld only deprive the poor and needy of the little support they get from the NKF.

So let's go over what was said.

I agree that there is a need for someone with vision, drive and ability to lead. However, the caveat being that this is a publicly funded charity, people would EXPECT most (if not all) the money they donate to go to the needy, NOT the upper management. So 25K per month with a 12 month bonus with the perks (1st class travel, gold-plated bathroom fixtures) is GROSS indulgence on the part of the CEO. And on the perks, I would dare say is gross misuse of public trust. Surely the water won't turn into acid because it reacts with stainless steel taps? And business class, first class, it's still the same plane, if it crashes, you still die.

No wonder they wanted to keep their pay secret. Why would the public donate (and essential fund) an organisation that puts earning money above helping the people the money is supposed to go to? I can't remember where I read it, but I read that something like $0.10+ for every dollar donated goes to actually helping the patients. The rest, I guess, goes to ensuring the upper management gets "fair" recompense. It's a Brilliant rack, you have only overhead and minimal amout of wages to worry about. Half of the people doing the grunt work are volunteers who work for free, so even MORE money can go into your pocket. Wow.

You mentioned that 60K per year is fair value for someone in that position. I would agree if it's a private for-profit company. However, it seems like in order to get the 60K per, certain very questionable practices were engaged. 12 month bonus? OMG. That's just greedy. Just as it is greedy to keep asking for donations (and blatantly lying to the public) when they already have 200+ million in reserves which can last another THIRTY years!! Looks like the Board had forgotten that NKF is a NON-Profit organisation.

I didn't know that NKF was THAT rich. And maybe it's because I'm not back home often, but I don't think that kind of information is splashed across the headlines of the news. i think it's fair that people withdraw, because what's the point in donating to an organisation that, without further donations, can last another 30 years (bearing major catastrophes)? Also, if I were to feel like donating, I would rather give to the Kidney Dialysis Foundation or Red Cross(links are given in the previous post). The NKF is playing the "Oh pity the poor patients" card when they are sitting on a veritable treasure trove of (morally questionably acquired) money. The NKF doesn't deserve any sympathy. It got itself into this trouble, it can get itself out of it (with that nice 200+ million it has).

Besides, even IF you donated to the NKF, there's no guarentee that (with the current practices) most of your money will ever reach the patients. I read somewhere that only less than $0.20 per dollar donated ever gets to the patients. At that rate, I'd rather toss the money to hobos on the street. They get a greater rate of return on my money.

See? No harsh words. I didn't even say F*CK once.

FUCK NKF. Okie, now I have.

P.S - C'mon, lets hear what you have to say. Surely Neelia isn't the only one from Singapore who actually has an opinion? Don't let people say we are an apathetic nation!!

P.P.S - Weird sounding phrases:

Talking about mosquitoes
"Sucks to be well, sucked"

Talking about Photoshop-ping pictures
"NO WAY am I letting u deface, my erm face"