Merry Season

Merry Christmas!


It was a rainy and no snow day!

Nothing much this time, and Santas didn't give me a good present on 23rd Dec. Ha.

Nonetheless, 2009 is coming. So fast!

ESE-ing

It was one of the few times that our class get together and this time it was a End-of-Semester dinner on last saturday (13 Dec).

The attendance was almost half the class size, and i would consider it quite a good one. Ha.

The girls
The guys
At the Jazz Bar
While everyone is busy with FYP in this holiday season (how sad), at least there is some time to chill out.

Talking about FYP, i think i'm very ill-disciplined. This is bad.

O School Recital

The concert is finally over on Monday (08 Dec'08), but with any other concerts, the post-concert emptiness feeling will set it.

Simply because there won't be any practices, rehearsals, or get-together to sweat, laugh and dance.

But still, the concert is definitely a good one, at least to us, our item. Haha.

The feel-good factor was very strong the moment we stepped off the stage, that's the difference between that and other rehearsals.

You will know it.

It was my first time involved in a production by a commercial dance school, and it sure felt somewhat different as compared to past performances...

The Fantastic 4 in our respective item costumes!
A group photo with Ann at the backstage before performing
With our great instructor!
After our item!
Supporters from d'Hops!
The overall experience was great and enjoyable. And i've sure learnt a lot from everyone and especially, our dear instructor!


FYP is a dread. Period.

Have a break

Exams has already ended quite some time for me, but instead of resuming my FYP, i'm giving myself some well-deserved break for the moment.

How i wish i don't have to do my FYP, because it is such a spoiler to the vacation period.

But for now, i shall enjoy while it lasts. Ha.

I'm still dancing now and then, in school and outside school, and am involved in a performance which is coming soon...

Focused
It will be a good one, i hope. Ha.


And i managed to find the cause of the 2 ugly grey lines on my blog and have removed it already. So glad.

Exams ended

Exams have ended for me, much earlier as compared to the rest.

But i'm enjoying it alone. How sad it sounded.

Perhaps the sadder things are i'm closer to graduating, closer to start working, closer to start the dreaded FYP.

Anyway, i was late for my paper today for 10minutes and to think the lecturer actually called me on my phone when i was still stucked on the bus. How bad it can be.

But at least it is over, though i don't feel any particular excited about it.

It still felt like holidays

Exams has just started, and i have been rather slack in studying.

That is the perils of having just 2 papers this semester.

It was Engineering Professionalism today and we can bring in 1 help sheet. Thanks to my 'devotion' to non-academic matters, i only managed to finish my help sheet just 6 hours before the start of exams.

And i broke my record for nano-writing. In the past, i managed to squeeze 7 lines within a 5-cent coin, now i could do 8 lines!

The power of 0.38mm pen
And because of that, i managed to write at least 80% of the lecture notes into the help sheet. Ha. I'm just too lazy to study.

Besides, this module is about professional ethics. If you have ethics, you will have. If you don't have, you have to fake you have.


One paper left next week, and it will be a self-declared holiday before i embark on the dreadful FYP!

Our Design

Tomorrow is the day - the end of all the insanity work done for the past weeks.

130 pages of report after compacting and squeezing and almost 30,000 words, inclusive of everything.

Thickest report ever
I spent days doing the entire report formatting, thanks to a recurring bug who kept resetting the equations to bold fonts when i unbolded them.

We only have 20 minutes of presentation. Speed is crucial.

After that, it is holiday!

Ok, there's still FYP and exams.

And why do i see 2 grey lines on my blog. Urgh.

Dansational

It was a weekend with dances and i think it can be rather tiring.

As usual, friday night was practice for the Recital which only ended at 11.40pm.

Saturday afternoon was audition for Cactus'09 of which i actually forgot the steps and anyhow danced, totally out of sync with the rest of my group. And funny thing is, for the two tries, i did the same wrong steps for the beginning, jump steps in the middle and end improperly. Haha. Never mind.

At night was Danzwar competition held at St. James. Even days before the competition, i predicted the winner already, and it came out to be correct. Still hang around after that and it turned out the outlet which we went was totally not suitable for the young and perhaps even adults. Ha.

Sunday afternoon was vetting for the Recital. It was kind of stressful seeing a few good items put up by so-pro people. There were 2 runs and it seemed we still have a lot to do. It isn't as easy as it seemed.


As for this coming week, it is not going to be easy. Damn the projects.

Ahh...


2 more weeks of school left before exams. So fast.

Patience pays

Last year in September, my laptop has gone bonkers - browsers and some programs appear weird with missing texts.

I kept wanting to format it if it is really the case of virus infection, but i kept procrastinating.

So after 13 months, out of some unexplainable phenomenon, my laptop is back to normal.

But, that's only after i installed the Windows XP Service Pack 3 update. Haha.

That saved my laptop probably. I don't know how it did it.

Ha.


Sheesh.. 3 project presentations all on the following week. That's bad.

Time is a factor

I think at the rate im blogging, there is a possibility that im going to forget the significant things that has happened or the things i've done.

But i'm really lazy to do anything.

3 projects due in the remaining 4 weeks, and it still doesnt seem enough. Yet i want to get over them as soon as possible.

So ironic.


I tried to recall what i've done in September and it was difficult... sheesh.

Bleeding Love

Oh, i like this choreo...

From SYTYCD4..

Enjoy!


Suddenly felt like it has been a long time since i dance...

Neither here nor there..

I'm confused to how i should feel now..


Sad, because it happened?

Or..

Glad, because it is over?



Maybe i need more time.

It's the 7th day.

Recess-ive

It was supposed to be a recess week, but it turned out to be a 7-day week for me.

I have been going to school for the past 8 out of 9 days just to attend ESE Safety, Health & Environment Day, project meetings, FYP labs and course...

The poster design competition which our team submitted, but didn't win. Ha.
Oddly, during my usual school days, i wasnt even that preoccupied. Furthermore, i don't have any mid-term tests.

But anyway, recess week is ending, and 7 more weeks of lessons next with all projects deadlines in view...


F1 is here and i managed to watch it live at Marina Square for a few minutes. Really cool! But on TV, it is still very intriguing..

Changed.

I've have finally changed my header picture after 7 months.

Actually i wanted to regularly change my header picture, in fact i already did this picture like months ago, but was too lazy to change it.

But just for remembrance, this is my old one....


It's New York City by the way with special appearance of me on the poster. Haha.

Present Impression

So i had my first presentation for this semester on monday evening.

It was also my first ever presentation in 4 years that we had to dress formally since the project is to be a pseudo consultancy company selling our professional services...

My group and obviously i was the odd one out
We have time limit for the presentation and prior to the actual one, we had practices to ensure everything flow smoothly and do not exceed the limit.

However, some group still exceeded the time limit, so i'm not sure if they are gonna be penalized somehow.

Anyway, there will be part 2 for this project and since the lecturer said from his past experiences, students usually become better for the second part, i guess we gonna be wearing blazers for our next project. Ha.

I'm seriously joking. Oxymoron.



Someone should seriously STOP bothering me for obvious reason. He or You (since you must be reading this) know it since you said you will stop. But after countless times, you never kept to what you said you will do, that is you will stop contacting me. I'm sick and tired of it. So stop message me or face the consequences! It's your choice.

School Life.

So now i have 3 groups projects and 1 individual final year project on hand.

Seems like i will get busier and busier with deadlines inching closer and closer.

It is going to be Week 5 of this semester! That's fast.

But I still didn't feel like i was attending school for the past weeks. Maybe because i only have either 6 to 8 hours of lessons a week, depending on that design project module and another module's tutorial.

People have been studying, but i don't know what to study or don't feel like studying actually. Ha.

But i seriously need to work on my projects already... Ha.


Toning down.

Rag Day 2008!

This time, we performed on Rag Day on 08 August!

Not as dancers on the float or Raggers, but as part of the filler programs after all the floats have finished floating past and the rest were patiently waiting for the results of the floats competition..


Well, our item was the same as CAC+US, so not much difficulty for most people.

Nonetheless, it was fun and enjoyable, being able to participate in Rag Day, though not really as a Ragger. Lol.


Sheesh... Projects are pouring in now.

Sawatdee Khrup!

So after my internship has ended on 01 August, i left for Bangkok on 03 August.

Our flight was at 6.30am and i only reached the airport at 3am++ after hours of dance practices and night supper later...

Day 1 (03 Aug 2008)

After an uncomfortable 2 hour 20 minutes of flight on the budget air, we arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 7.45am.

Took a cab and went to our hotel directly. It was real early, but they allowed us to check in though.

The Tivoli Hotel::Our room
Spacious and nice room::Even the bathroom is nice
The hotel we stayed in was a boutique hotel, but it is below S$100 per night though. Doesn't sound budget, but it sure is comfortable.

After some sleep, we got out of the hotel to start our tour. Taking the hotel's tuk tuk to the nearby MRT station, we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market.

The hotel's tuk tuk service::Empty train station
Walking alone the open market::And the shelter area
The weather was real hot and there were many people. This market is too big and is said to have over 10,000 stalls. But the stuffs they sold can be similar at each area...

Crowded eatery::Glass bottle of Coke and my fried rice
Chatuchak Park::Some monument in the middle of the park
Had lunch, walked around for 3+ hours, bought a few cheap bargains and left the place.

Another empty MRT station::Some street market
Sweet and sour fish for dinner::Carrefour
Without any plans, we ventured into some shopping malls where we had dinner, before going to Suan-Lum Night Bazaar which is near our hotel..

The night market entrance::Some fake structure
Supper and beer at some nice restaurant with nice ambience
The night market is somewhat different from Chatuchak's but since it was near to our hotel, we only 'see see look look' and planned to go back again another night...


Day 2 (04 Aug 2008)

This day was reserved more for sight-seeing, so off we went again on the MRT and later transferred to their skytrain, BTS.

The ticket and ticketing machine. So old school::Transferring from MRT to BTS
Their platform::The train
And we arrived at one of their ferry pier to board the ferry along the Chao Phraya River. The ferry would bring us to the many temples that can be found along the river..

The ferry::Waiting area
The paper ticket::Inside the ferry
First, we visited the Grand Palace that also has a temple residing within the complex. But we only stayed in the free area and didn't buy any tickets to visit. Ha.

Funny looking trees::The temple
Grand palace complex

And then we proceeded to the next temple, Wat Po where the reclining Buddha is..

The giant reclining Buddha
Placing coins in each container
In the temple, there are several structures they called it the chedi. I don't really know the significance behind the structures, but they looked interesting.

Then, we settled for lunch in an eatery just beside the river pier...

There are 91 chedis in the temple complex::With the 4 largest chedis
Wat Arun across the river::Eating by the river
And took another ferry to cross the river to the opposite to visit Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of the Dawn..

The ferry
Wat Arun from afar

Wat Arun close up::Magnificent structure
Climbing to the top::The top view

The structure of Wat Arun is actually very tall. Climbing up the near vertical steps can actually induce vertigo.

Beneath the structure::Sitting on the base stairs
Towering::The peak
Grabbing for life::Looking down
Bottom to top
Then we took the ferry back to where we started and ventured to the next place...

Signs at the pier::Their wet market
High rise buildings along the river
The Victory Monument::Fashion Mall
Beer again::Live performances

We were back at Suan-Lum Night Bazaar again where we had dinner while watching live performances. More shopping again afterwards.


Day 3 (05 Aug 2008)

This day was also for sightseeing. First stop was the Hua Lamphong Train Station. Nothing much actually. It was just a visit that was along our way to Chinatown...

The interior of the station
The trains
The streets of Chinatown
Narrow alley with shops
With time to spare, we took the ferry again and traveled from one end to the other. The entire journey took like 1 hour but at least we could rest and look at the scenery along the river.

The Memorial Bridge::Endless floating plants along the river
Rama VIII Bridge::Setting sun

At night, went to a shopping mall and also the Patpong Night Market. It was more shopping for bargains.

Sumptuous KFC dinner::Patpong night market
The stalls::On tuk tuk back to hotel

There are also several night clubs and pubs beside the night market where one can watch the 'GoGo' girl and 'Thai Girl' shows. But we didnt watch any. Haha.


Day 4 (06 Aug 2008)

Shopping was reserved for this day. Taking the MRT and Skytrain again, we were on the shopping district...

The National Stadium in the background::Sheltered walk-way above the roads
MBK shopping center::Inter-locking rail tracks

So basically we went MBK Center which has all the cheap and bargainable stuffs.

While more high-end brands and boutiques are found in Siam Discovery, Siam Center, Siam Paragon and Central World which is the largest shopping center around, we didn't really buy much...

Siam Discovery::Siam Center
Siam Paragon::Central World
After hours of walking, we had a quick dinner before rushing back to our hotel....

Chicken strips and burger for my dinner
Back at hotel, we have a spa appointment. Since it was the last day already, we gotta relax and relieve our muscles from all these travelling for a while..

The Tivoli Spa
The room
I had Crystal scrub, ginger wrap, and massage. Though the scrub could be painful, the wrap very scorching due to the ginger use and the massage quite mild, it was still some form of relaxation. Ha.

With some time to spare after the spa, we went back to Suam-Lum Night Bazaar again for some last minute shopping and to spend all our Thai baht away. Haha.


Day 5 (07 Aug 2008)

Waking up at 5am+ to check out of the hotel and check in at the airport for our morning flight back to Singapore.

Reaching the airport::The waiting area
My Burger King breakfast

Well overall, the trip was rather slow-paced and not rushing here and there. It was good in a way.

And i realised i ate a lot in this trip, it was definitely more that what i had posted in this entry. Haha.

I yearn for more overseas trip......

Pseudo-holiday

1 week of school has passed, and i still felt like having holidays.

Maybe this is how a 2-day week feels like.

Despite that, i still went back to school everyday, to the extend of leaving school only at late night.

Well, final year project, design project and another 2 modules' projects will start soon.

I see a busy schedule coming.


Anyway, yesterday was audition for O School Recital.

Through such event, it is not difficult to realise it is always a world with 'one mountain higher than the other' in existence.

But, it was fun and for fun though. Haha.


Actually, it was a good chance to learn by joining more, but too bad, we didnt realise early... Ha.

On Interning

1 August marked the last day of my 12-week internship.

Well, some would choose a 24-week attachment rather than 12-week, citing reasons such as being able to learn more and that the company is more willing to teach.

Yes, they are true. But that doesn't mean a 12-week internship will half the amount learned. What matters most is the experience, regardless the length.

My internship company::The relatively small office
My tidied desk before leaving::My pass
In the desk-bound 12 weeks, though they didnt really follow the training schedule due to 'unforeseen circumstances', I still managed to learn from the numerous small tasks here and there.

Since my company is dealing with water treatment related projects, naturally i was able to learn much from this industry.

One interesting experience would be the visit of skid fabrication workshop.

Skids are like separate structure which parts of the water treatment processes are built upon. For instance, one skid can be for chemical dosing where pipes, valves, pumps are built on steel structure and such structure allows easy transport and installation on actual site.

A chemical dosing skid::Valve tags
Reverse Osmosis module trains::Skid fabrication workshop
But this also mean they have to be designed properly such that they are able to connect to other skids with proper alignment of pipes and such. Just like jigsaw puzzle.

Other significant experience will be the opportunity to visit the Singapore International Water Week convention at Suntec City in June. Actually, it was an exhibition where all other water industry-related companies will be present, showcasing their technology and products.

The Singapore International Water Week Convention::My Pass
Jar test apparatus::Flocs forming
It was definitely a good time for all to network and learn.

Another interesting task was to assist in jar test. Well, to know the type of chemicals and the concentration to use for optimum floc-forming and coagulation will be through a jar test.

Varying known amount of chemicals are added to each jar with the water required to be treated and mixed and observed.

It was very amazing how the flocs will just appear only when you started to mix them, and not at the point when you added the chemicals...

Small flocs and big flocs
But at the end of the jar test, report has to be done. Luckily i wasn't ask to do it. Ha.

Overall, the internship experience was good, though i wish more can be done.

But it is also through such experience that i came to realise how tough engineering work can be. It is not the kind of work done but the amount of work to do.

It just isn't easy.


I'm glad it is over. I can't imagine if it is 24-week instead.

Project Summer on Sand

Held at the East Coast Park on 26 July, this is actually a charity/volunteering event organised by SMU and we were invited to perform.

It was morning, cloudy and breezy and the SMU students made up the main crowd in fact.


Our item was nothing new, but smaller in size to fit the small stage.

Overall, the performance was average i guess, mainly due to the environment and set-up.

We still need to learn and gain more experience.


School starting soon. Sheesh..

Break's Over

Ha, I just came back today from a short overseas trip right after the end of my internship..

Location? I shall talk about it next time.

Meanwhile, I've taken several nice pictures and maybe one can easily realise where i went from these preview photos. Ha.





School is starting soon, and i still have a lot of things to do or needed to do.

Just like after getting home from the flight back, i went out again in 1 hour time. That's how packed my schedule is.

Oh well.


Maybe a 2-day school week is good for me?