17 December 2007

On Blogging and Sydney

The style of blogging changes in accordance with a blog’s audience. A blog entry can be meant as a diary, for the owner’s future self to read and recall. It can be phrased to inform friends regarding the ups and downs of one’s life. A blog may also pose as a means for the owner to communicate to single people, albeit publicly.

I think the primary purpose of this blog would be the former (or is supposed to be that anyway :P ).

I was absent from Singapore last week, because I went to… Sydney!!!

The itinerary went like this:

Day one: My family flew on the new A380 despite nay sayings from fellow friends. Took off at 9pm Singapore time, reached at 7am Sydney. (7 hours flight) No time to sleep! I was busy throughout the flight with food to eat and movies to watch. I barely slept an hour through the trip, with ramifications for the whole day because the tour began immediately after touchdown. ZZZZzzzz. The first few attractions (like the Botanic Gardens where I caught my first glimpse of the beautiful Sydney Opera House) still kept me awake. But by the time I was taking the cruise along the Sydney harbour (port Jackson) I was fast dozing off. Even the interesting snippets of Sydney history narrated to us on the loudspeaker couldn’t keep me awake. Though I forced myself to pay attention after that, I couldn’t help thinking that I paid so much just to sleep!! Haiz…

Fortunately the first day wasn’t the most interesting, except that I got to see the opera house up close. It looked good from all angles, and the shimmering harbour as a backdrop simply brought out its modern charm.

Against the freezing cold summer (global warming I’d expect), lunch was a horribly cold chicken Snitchzel that I shall never forget...

We spent the night at an inn in the Blue Mountains. We were duly horrified to discover a thick fog engulfing the entire area the next morning. As such our trip to Echo point to view the Three Sisters (A landmark that stirred memories of Sec 3 geography) was in vain. A trek at the nature reserve was reminiscent of Bukit Timah, except that the place was much bigger and the weather, MUCH COLDER. Summer in the highlands was colder than winter in Shanghai.

We left when it was almost noon, at a time when the fog seemed to clear a little. It was a long and boring trip back to Sydney with only Jay Chou songs on an mp3 player (my sister’s) for entertainment.

In accordance with the rearrangement of itinerary, we visited the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World. (The former claims to be Australia’s top tourist destination) I saw Crocs, Lizards, Sharks, Wallabies, Anteaters and the adorable Koala Bears. But I was mystified as to the Kangaroo’s absence. [insert pictures here] Dinner was Thai food in Ang-Moh land.

Day three: It was free and easy today, and with after much consideration (and consultation against the travel guide, “Top Ten Sydney” we decided to visit the Botanic Gardens (Again!) for the free tour that they offered every morning at 1030. Despite waking up late, dragging our feet for breakfast, and getting lost around the garden perimeter, we made it just in time for the tour. (Apparently it wasn’t a tremendously popular one because my family were the only ones that day) Our friendly guide, a certain Mr Noel, brought us about to see the plants, peppering his explanations with interesting tidbits and lots of scientific names of plants that seemed much harder than anatomy. (somehow femur is easier than Ficus carica). So, I didn’t catch a lot of names and the information just went in one ear and out the next, but I did meet an interesting personality in Mr Noel. He was really friendly, and was fun to talk to even when the subject wasn’t plants. And when I mentioned I was a first year med student, he remarked that people want to be able to feel a sense of attachment to their doctors, not simply someone who treats the disease and shoos the patient off. Food for thought…

The rest of the day was regrettably spent shopping, which was quite fruitless though we did manage to explore the city centre and visiting interesting shopping arcades (like the strand arcade that dated back to 1892) and Chinatown, which was good for more affordable goods. By the end of the day, my legs were totally drained. (All the route marches I had undergone had strangely little effect on my stamina in an urban setting)

The fourth day of our holiday was likely the most uninteresting one, for we had to travel almost 5 hours (to and fro) just to view 4 attractions – the Hunter Valley Gardens, Chocolate Company, Cheese Company and one of the wineries. Err nothing much to say here… the stuff was kind of expensive though they were amid lush surroundings. By this day the cold weather had receded, and we were faced with a threat of skin cancer amid the Singapore-type sunshine.

And we left for home on day five :)

By the end of the trip I decided the things I missed most about Singapore was the food. I couldn’t stand sandwiches and chicken snitchzels any longer!!! I do hope my friends over at England are taking the food (and weather) well… But now I am wondering what exactly to do during these holidays. And the thing about blogging is this – if u don’t do anything interesting, you won’t have anything to blog about!

08 December 2007

Freedom. AT LAST! Somehow this itsy weeny CA had ballooned into a huge mugging affair… I had this impression that EVERYONE was working really hard… and consequently I was spurred into studying as well. Not that all that studying paid off… for PHYSIO the essays were horrible, especially since I hadn’t written for a test or assignment for YEARS. (okay, months) But I guess I’m happy with anat and biochem J

Fred Claus. I dunno what made me watch this movie, but I did. Like Jonathan put it, it seemed rather rubbish at its first moments, but it showed its merits later in the plot. The plot, in itself, is highly improbable, full of improbable twists and turns (that made me cringe, at first, and still had me puzzling long after). I mean, how does someone change his view of his entire life after listening to just a few words from a stranger? (ref: scene where Fred Claus is in a self help group for people overshadowed by their powerful siblings. Bill Clinton’s “brother”, Sylvestor Stallone’s “brother” make their debut appearance. Fred Claus reflects upon their words and changes his entire opinion of his brother) and not to mention the fact that Fred Claus managed to deliver like millions of presents to ALL the children in the world in the matter of ONE night? With a tiny sleigh for all that load! AND doing all that even after losing contact with headquarters?! Ok laugh at me for pointing out all these silly details, I’d admit that I’m kind of cynical about some stuff.

The counterargument. The movies saving grace? Great entertainment with lots of corny jokes with a take -home message to boot! Really fun watching Fred and Santa, two grownups, throwing snowballs at each other. And I suppose it is nice seeing everything end happily ever after, with everyone overcoming their differences. Sounds just like a fairy tale! Haha. The bottomline is I did enjoy the movie somewhat though I probably won’t see it again! As charlene put it (even before watching the show) – “It’s just a nice chrismassy kind of show”. I hope I didn’t misquote that.

Borders. I visited it after dinner at home J Waha its so convenient to have such a comprehensive bookstore so near my house!! Though I would prefer the library, since the books at Borders aren’t exactly affordable. And now that it’s the hol’s, I need to find new reading material! I’m getting lost about what exactly to read. Who to read. And Where to obtain the books. And I want to get a travel guide to Sydney. Cos I’m going there next week! J

The end. A happy ending to the end of CA ONE.

18 November 2007

Rotaract Volunteer Programme

On Thursday it was my first visit to NUH as a volunteer. I was totally unprepared, save for the crisp new shirt I was wearing. Luckily Jon helped me print my volunteer tag and even reminded me of the timing for my shift J

Things started out really slow. Jon and Ami were more or less the people I knew best volunteering at my slot, so I sort of hung around with them. Not surprisingly, the three of us were unsure of how to start or approach patients. It was like, “let’s find someone that looks friendly and bored”, but we were surprised (pleasantly of course) that most people didn’t need people to talk to; they either had family members around or simply wanted to rest. And at first I felt almost redundant, why had I bothered at all? But after almost 30 mins “orientating” ourselves, Ami took the plunge first, followed by Jon and I. For some reason, the first few people I met weren’t particularly keen on talking (perhaps due to the hesitant look I had?). But then things started picking up, we started learning the trick of finding patients who seemed approachable and willing to speak. But sure enough, the patients who yearned for company were around, we just needed to pick them out! It was a good session overall, except for the tentative start.

Hmm. That’s about it. I wanted to recount a funny incident but I realise I can’t describe it adequately. The emergency exit joke seemed so funny then but I can’t describe it without sounding lame. Nvm then (:

14 November 2007

Green day

Green day

Following yesterday’s successful og lunch (for a few of us) at pgp canteen, our og decided to hail today as lakota day! So today, the whole og (or at least the part of the og who were informed) wore green! Photo opportunity, despite the gaps in the green of orange, white and … Good sign of lakota’s og spririt eh? ;P

Following the photo session, first session with our new PBL mentor! Suffice to say, the session was really swift and decisive, and we finished in record time (50 mins?) compared to what we were used to (2.5 hours!). Comparing the two tutors, the first possessed contagious enthusiasm, the second is really knowledgeable. For a case study on “near drowning”, I got assigned “the consequences and treatment of cyanosis”. But I later realised cyanosis was just a symptom of hypoxia!!! So how?

The next highlight of the day was MALAY LESSONS!!! Which were very confusing, very fun and which really did weird things to my brain. I think mugging anatomy is not even half as hard as learning basic Malay!!! Haha but maybe I’m not used to the language yet… but some excerpts will help jog my memory:

· (Pointing finger at me) “Awak mugger!” – jon

· “Huntu di belakang awak!” (“ghost behind you!”)– a classmate when asked to form a malay sentence using what we had learnt.. to which the teacher replied with a hearty “terimah kaseh!”

· “saya suka cakap” (“I like to talk!”)– another classmate.

Saya suka belajar Behasa Melayu! At least it’s a good reason to take a break from physio anat and biochem…

10 November 2007

The duke-nus interview went along quite well today.. and it was certianly interesting to be informed about changes in the medical landscape so pertinent to me in my face by the vice dean of education of the GMS himself.

haha i am tempted to reveal the details but since i am merely a photographer/cum morale booster for LY, i shall not spoil the article for pulse...

some interesting points I gathered:
  • there are 26 ppl in the pioneering class (if i rmb correctly), with 17 singaporeans
  • the fees are 35k per annum for 4 years after subsidy
  • the students use ganong for physiology. (but they supplement with guyton coz ganong's "incomprehensible")
  • they use papa moore for anatomy!
  • they finish biochemistry in like 6.5 weeks
  • they have tests everyweek that are counted if i'm not wrong, and a major test every four weeks
  • interestingly, they get to dissect specimens themselves at SGH

And that’s the end of this post. I will *try* to be more mugger tmr. Oh, and happy birthday Jason and Sheila! :P:P:P

01 October 2007

How does a person go about deciding what he has to do, at this moment? This question has intrigued me particularly, not just because I am curious intrinsically about the nature of thinking, but also because I am a particularly indecisive person. How, for example, does someone decide to go for a run when his usual schedule dictates that he must have breakfast? (That, for one, is exactly what I did today) Logically speaking, his environment must play a very important role in shaping his thought process. A nice, cool and sunny day, for example, would likely influence his decision to run positively. A stormy night would affect it oppositely.

But obviously, a person’s individuality would have to come into play, and this is particularly complex because it is in turn determined by a multitude of factors, genetic and acquired. Let’s examine the reasons a person might give to go for a run:

1. He is feeling tired and would like to boost his spirits by exercising

2. He has benefitted from the Healthy lifestyle campaign and has incorporated running into his plans for keeping fit

3. He notices he has no other more important activities lined up and he can afford to use his time for running

4. He spontaneously decides that he wants to run, perhaps having been informed of this thought in a dream or by some higher being while he was unconscious

5. Or perhaps he doesn’t want to run, except he is being forced to do so by higher authority; for example, in the army or during physical education class

Most of the time though, it is unlikely that any one of these factors alone influence his decision to go running; it is more likely an interplay between several modes of argument going in his head that will affect his actions. What about reasons for not running?

1. The person feels lethargic and doesn’t want to run. In other words, he is LAZY. (which is quite a common reason actually)

2. The person has unfortunately, fallen ill, and doesn’t want any intensive physical activity to compromise his physical well-being in this time when his immune system is under stress.

3. Or perhaps, as mentioned above, it is raining heavily outside and nobody in the right mind would run when it is raining cats and dogs. (Notice, in this case, that two arguments are in play – one, that it is inconvenient to run in the rain. Two, there is a kind of social pressure that acts to prevent one from running)

4. He could have been given advice not to run, possibly from a nagging mother or grandmother concerned for his well-being.

I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY I HAVE TO STUDY now.

30 September 2007

somehow the marine parade/katong region seems quieter nowadays. what with two/three different classmates leaving for the uk to further their studies. (which 3? vipul, michelle and yunhua. okay maybe yunhua doesnt live that near me..)
what to say ah. kind of lost for words. coz im not a sentimental person. but its still kind of sad to see friends leaving for places far away. hmph.
anyway here's wishing those studying overseas all the best for their studies. coz it is kind of competitive out there. but most of all, pls come back often to visit!!! hahahaha.
meanwhile i shall have a nice time here poring over obscure texts. and maybe expand my social circle.
it seems like a very hot day...

31 August 2007

today i went back to rj then ri with leewei and keyi. i was surprised. pleasantly surprised to see that the teachers had not really changed much - most of my sec3/4 teachers were still around! But i must make a confession here - i didnt know which teachers to see, so i didnt go around looking for them. i was more of hoping to bump into them.. lol. and its kind of weird coz im was the only one from 3/4E there. (okay-excuses!) i tagged along lamely with keyi to see his teachers - ms chong and dr lee! (but strictly speaking dr lee taught me too, so i at least managed to see ONE teacher. unfortunately he didnt really rmb our names, which kind of disappointed me a bit.)
though the teachers were still there, they had all changed in one way or another. dr lee, for eg, is now head of science. mrs lai is head of raffles academy! at rj, things had changed dramatically as well. mrs asha was on maternity leave and ms wu had been transferred to moe. luckily a chance encounter with ms veera allowed us to catch up with the current state of affairs! and we saw mrs yeo. n mr jeremy ng. n learnt lots of interesting stuff. it sure feels different to be back in rj as a student. leewei n i wanted to crash mrs yeo's evolution lecture but we didnt know where it was held. keyi wanted to attend the piano masterclass posing as an rj student. (in cvs!) i toyed with the idea of going to comex (n maybe meet my og friends there)
but i didnt.
after seeing the ri teachers, a tour of the ri canteen led keyi and me to the uncle at the old kampong istimewa stall. (how i miss the food!) anyway he treated us to nasi bryani (yummy), and he was really friendly. apparently he recognised keyi even though he had not seen him for 2 years.. lol! talked to us abt the gst hike and stuff.. and how though 2% doesnt really seem a lot, it does add up for the consumer. (2% more for the rent, 2% more for every stage the chicken drumsticks go through to get to the stall. the costs for his one bax of chicken rose from 40 to 53 dollars! woah...) no wonder he wants to go on a break...

19 August 2007

group photos are supposed to be snapshots of particular moments that have been deemed significant enough to be immortalised for posterity. but why should we take photos? as momentos of the time we had together, for us to stare at in longing for the days long past when we are old and ailing?
a memory is something like digital photos stored in the brains hard drive, something like the stuff u see in harry potter's pensieve. when ppl describe their past to u via the use of visual aids (photos) u have a tendency to review ur own past. and sometimes compare the times u had with the times he had. and there are bound to be parts where u are uncomfortable with n others that u are proud of.
but i think the most important thing is not to regret anything u do. sounds cliche, but i have a surprising tendency to remain dormant when action is required. totally unbecoming of a doctor. ouch. i guess i take time to improve though =)

13 August 2007

its been a long time since the last post.. haha i have been kind of slack with my blogging..
well there's not really any good reason why i should blog today, of all days.. maybe its the first day of school? maybe it was the day when i took the nus medicine oath? maybe today was the life-changing experience that will kickstart a new era in my life?
much as i wish life would be dramatic, today was rather anti-climatic as a first day of school. not to say it wasn't interesting; in fact, quite the opposite. its the tiny little things that make a day enjoyable - things like folding paper cranes as an og, taking a bus together to fass for lunch, and lamenting about the long queues at the canteen there to one another.
(don't get me mistaken though - i dont mean to say i found lectures and dean's tea boring. they are interesting, and often, funny)
but it is strange how life turns out due to little things u do for yourself. had i not gone for medicamp, had i not applied for medicine, had i instead decided to take up an astar scholarship, things would have turned out very different indeed.
but i'm really enjoying myself now and i wouldn't change anything.
next step? i think i'll join the nusso. just for the kicks.

28 July 2007

chian yeh deleted his blog! that is like the saddest thing ever
noticed that my lnks were'nt v up to date.. gotta delete/change some of them so that at least my blog is kept tidy
i think rag is going well! given that i've been turning up for 5 days consecutively, u might think that i'm a bit sick of rag by now..
well, at least i'm doing something Constuctive for once at rag instead of rotting at home. ( at least thats what i'm consoling myself with)
sentosa outing tmr? to go or not to go? Hahaz
and i still dunno if i shld play for coda..

actually one can survive quite well livng in a cave, and maintaining human contact with others only when there's a real necessity. But that probably means survival in the most basic sense.
Huzzah.
I dont think doctors can live in seclusion><

now where was I?

to end of this post, a list of books i've read

The Inheritance of Loss by keran desai
Earth, Air Fire and Custard by Tom Holt
In Your Dreams by Tom Holt
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
And Of course: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I recently reread Jams and The Giant Peach, and Going Solo by Roald Dahl

Looking to read:
Blink
The God of Small Things
The Portable Door by Tom Holt

need to plan a library trip..

20 July 2007

medicamp 2007

oh no! medicamp is over! this is such the saddest news ever la...
i am down with a bad sore throat after binging on junk food during the camp.. and all that shouting!
thank u ogls for making the camp extra fun and exciting, for being so enthu and for all the tireless motivation! even i, someone who usually isnt enthu abt camps, became a bit "high" near the end. YAY!
now everyone is asking me hows medicamp.. and theres so much to say that i usually just end off with yea.. its great! coz im just lazy to explain..
my sis says that since i have the strength to type this rubbish i should have the strength to talk to my friends. but isnt it more efficient to broadcast in my blog? :P
the friends i've made may not be many, but i hope we'll stay close-knit and help each other in our five years in medicine..

15 July 2007

this post was supposed to be called harry potter and the free movie tickets, but i've forgotten so much about the event that i've decided to focus more on current affairs instead.

current affairs! from what i recall, friday was a *relatively* more action packed day. it was fun filled (the afternoon) and meaningful (the morning). so what happened exactly? ooh in the morning it was the usual round of work at the physio dept at kws hosp. eh i met this guy called alvin again whos like one year my senior in medicine! so cool right?

afternoon ah. boring stuff like cycling in east coast beach and dotaing and trying out random food in my neighbourhood that i havent tried myself. for lunch there was the v poisonous and garlicy rougucha mien xien which gave keyi acute stomach discomfort. then we trotted off to rent bicycles at $5 ea at our favourite bike stall in east coast which still gives away free drinks in the form of mineral water.

after cycling for 2 hours we had a dota session in which keyi had to be persuaded he wasnt going back on his word of quitting dota.. he was 'training' me instead so that i could attain a minimum proficiency in it. haha! despite losing 2 rounds i was commended for improving my skills during the session. yay!

Harry Potter, the Free Movie Tickets and the bargain-priced Pizza!
On wednesday evening the medical school year ones were given a tremendous treat in the form of heavily subsidised dinner and free tickets to the preview of harry potter.

i'm not really in the blogging mood today so everything i type turns out to be a mere description of events that have occurred. anyway, still need to get used to all that white-ness in my blog?


13 May 2007

What went on last Week
  • A horrid 4 day 3 night field camp in which I got bitten by sandflies and mosquitoes, but also where I think I learnt the most useful stuff in my course. Plus lots of time for talking and bonding with my section/platoon mates. Okay, maybe I have to change my opinion on field camps. (I'll have plenty of time to decide though, given that I have 2 more to go)
  • A session in which I experienced really teary eyes in a smoky room. *cough*
  • A v short class outing in which I arrived late and discovered that 30 mins later everyone would go home. Except for a few of us who decided to go window-shopping.
  • Many mixed emotions in which I realised promises will not be kept and resolutions could be misplaced. But i think i'm changing for the better :)
  • Good luck to all from Echo company going for field camp next week! Good luck also to those who applied for NUS Medicine (me included of course!)
  • Last but not least, Happy Mothers day! May my mum stay youthful and happy, and may she lead a stress-free life! :)
-----------10 MAY was my birthday! (*hint hint*)--------------
oh i have a nice wallet from sis. YAY! time to get rid of that grimey blue thing..





30 April 2007

when i have something to say, i blog :)

Its been - horrors of horrors - a month since I last blogged!
ok, i've thought a lot over the past month. and i think (or at least one of my thoughts is) that blogging does involve a certain amount of narcissistic exhibitionism.
So I take back my words from a post long long ago.

WELL. just to update ppl, i'm *cough!* quite happy in sispec. YAY! suffice to say that life is definitely not as bad as what my sergeants in bmt told me. in fact life is arguably better, with greater freedom despite tougher training. yup. so life's not too bad :P

so far during the labour day break, i committed myself to reading. YUCK. what a boring enterprise you may think. but seriously i cant think of anything better to do with a flu and a sore throat.

I'm trying to kickstart a reading habit. and I think a good starting point would be to list out the books I've read already, just to familiarise myself with the stuff i'm interested in but forgot to follow up on. I borrowed a book called "the little guide to your well-read life" (which, I emphasise, is more interesting than it actually sounds). it dispenses advice on stuff like choosing books to read and how to make the most of books after you actually get them. And the idea of creating a bookography (the list of books you like) arose from here.

here's my list so far:
Jia Yi’s Bookography + List of Candidates (stuff i might want to read)

Fiction
Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code
Candidates: Angels and Demons

David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green
Candidates: Ghostwritten, Number9dream

Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

George Orwell
Animal Farm, 1984, Shooting an Elephant and other collected Essays

JK Rowling
Harry Potter!

JRR Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
Candidates: The Children of Hurin

Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime
Candidates: A Spot of Bother

Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Boy, Matilda, The Twits, Going Solo, The Great Automatic Grammatizator, Skin and Other Stories

Young at Heart 
A Wrinkle in Time, Charlotte’s Web, The Chronicles of Narnia


Non-Fiction

Brian Greene/Physics
The Fabric of the Cosmos
The Elegant Universe

Enrichment
If life is a Game, these are the Rules
Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Popular Science
The Horrible Science Series
The Murderous Maths Series

Reading Help
The Little Guide to your Well-Read Life, Steve Leveen
Book Lust

Psychology
Lateral Thinking
How the Mind works

Richard Dawkins
The Selfish Gene

Magazines/Periodicals

The Straits Times
Time
Newsweek
The Economist
The New Yorker
New Scientist
Scientific American
Discover
IEEE Spectrum
PC Magazine
National Geographic

Hopefully i will be able to garner enough committment from myself to expand this list!

And yup, I have medicine interviews next week! how do u say busybusybusy
.

25 March 2007

Lots of things have happened since i last updated. (DUH) but i feel an urge to blog coz i feel like blogging. hahaz.

currently i'm just wondering what will happen at sispec. (HORRORs - no OCS)

will i be able to cope, or will i just stumble and fumble like i did in bmt.
soc is a nightmare hahaz
but i hope i will be able to overcome my difficulties and do reasonably well. i dun want my army life to be time wasted away..
(wonders what ppl will think at this childish ponderings, then shuts off)

ok gotta go to bed. long day tmr... hope i wont get tekkaned too badly lols

byebye! =)

17 March 2007

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18 February 2007

woah. 5 weeks in ns have come and gone soo quickly. in a blink of an eye i have passed the halfway mark of my bmt. questions bobbing in my head right now: to be or not to be? a commander that is. i really don't know what to make of my life in ns. there are some moments - like building and tearing down freaking basha tents, and digging the perfect shell-scrape against the resistance of monstrous tree roots and unbreakable rocks - that i would rather not have gone through. but theres always the saying that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. i am still pondering the validity of that statement but i guess for now i must agree in a sense. at least [after going through all of this] i can be said to be more than a nerdy mugger.

bah! looking at the calender - i see things that i fear and anticipate. sit test-soc-more bcct-a level results!-the 24k route march-and then another cycle of (perhaps even more) gruelling training depending on my posting. i cant imagine how much of my life actually depends on this posting. i need to decide. and maybe pray. that whatever i get, i can deal with it and do well in it.

bah.

anyway, have a happy holiday to whoever's reading this. gongxifacai! wanshiruyi! shentijiankang! gongzhuoshunli! haiyou xueyejinbu for those getting back their a level results! Whatever happens, life still goes on. so don't worry, be happy!

what a corny post.

=)

06 January 2007

more bad poetry
-one week to NS-

~~~~~~~~~
a week before I join the army
i can't help but feel a tinge of worry
whether the instructors are mean
it remains to be seen
let's hope their mood won't be runny

~~~~~~~~~

two years of jc has fast flown away
army (1 yr 10 mths!) should be faster than day
before i'm given a gun
and start cursing the sun
let's try to stay happy today!

what?!

i think i should stop making poems. they're getting from bad to worse :(

04 January 2007

ukulele pothead piggy

Today I have invited a guest blogger (uoyoaix) to blog. She must have a lot of things to say..

UOYOAIX: *Clears her throat* So hello there.

Jiayi: Ukulele! Ukulele!

UOYOAIX: The story of the ukulele pothead piggy unfolds..

Jiayi: Me ukulele pothead piggy!! UKK! UKK!

UOYOAIX: Oh well-

Jiayi: Uku! Uku! Le! Le!

UOYOAIX: ?!

Jiayi: UKULELE!!! *The "LE" reverberates due to the merging of many echoes created by the multiple reflection of "LE" from many different surfaces*.

-The End-

01 January 2007

Wahoo! Its New Year's Day, 1 January, 2007!
Whole family went down to Mac's today for a McDonald's Breakfast. For some reason, everyone ordered Hotcakes, so there wasn't much variety. (personally i don't think the breakfast was worth it, coz hotcakes are a load of flour and cost 3.20 each. and the maple syrup + margarine aren't even healthy.) but it did make for a refreshing change from the bland old eggs + bread kind of breakfast i'm used to :)

then went shopping at parkway for stuff. My mum kept asking what there was to buy. (I need to remind myself to look at the pack list) but we bought stuff anyway.

couldn't find a place to eat at parkway, so my family went home. had yellow noodles + prawn + meatballs instead. wasn't too bad i guess. dad commented that it was rare that our whole family had lunch at home..

then whole afternoon was spent on uni essays. I knew I should have done them earlier! don't even know if they'll still consider me given my late submission. *after hours of revision and finalisation* I submitted all my applications.

I hope at least one is successful (most likely Cornell) but I'm telling myself I won't be too disappointed if I don't get in. There IS more to life than overseas universities anyway.

gotta go, have a Happy New Year everybody! May your life be fruitful and fulfilling as ever, and may you stick to your new year resolutions! (Do I have new yr resolutions? maybe I should make another list, like last year)

A Poor Attempt at Poetry
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Its late,
I'm going to bed.
Hope army life is not as horrible as what some have said.
Sweet Dreams, sleep tight
Hope I don't have nightmares tonight!
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HAHA. I'm a poet. :P