Christmas Shopping

Oh man.... I haven't finished buying Christmas presents yet!! Still left with Evon's one... How?!?!?!?

Went out with my mother and her colleague, Evelyn, just now. NOW I know what shopping is. Haha, she's the real shopping queen man, knowing the salesgirls and they her, and buying whatever catches her fancy, and knowing where to find what. She even knows who to find to make good imitation branded clothes which are, in her own words, "like the real goods... down to the smallest detail". Well, I can't say for sure how true that is, coz I realise now that I don't have the kind of eye needed to be able to differentiate real from imitation, so I guess I'll have to take it at her word. We went from Wisma to Far East to DFS, and, boy, is she a member of so many shops- DFS, Soo Kee, Iora... you name it, she's got it. Even if she doesn't, there's some way she can get a discount. Oh man... Haha, and she's got quite an eye for clothes I must say, even for young people. =)

Bought 2 tops which I would normally pass up coz they are not my kind. Shall post up the pics one day. Too lazy to do so now. I used to ignore those kind of clothes coz I thought they would not suit me, but surprisingly, I look decent in them, though I still feel a teensy bit self-conscious when I wear them. Not sure if I'll bring them to hall though.... Haha, maybe this is another excuse to go shopping again? =)Oooh, which reminds me... I have to get bottoms for the tops! Coz the tops are for Chinese New Year. I saw this bottom in Mango, and I was so tempted to get it! It was at a discount, initially at $75, now at $49. Basically I felt it was a good buy, coz I was blinded by my desire to get it, but now, yah, $49 is still kinda steep... It's the normal price of pants sold outside Mango when there's no sale. How sad... I still quite like that bottom though.........

Angel is on holiday! Yippee! Haha, this means I don't have to get up to make her breakfast anymore... Hehe... Not that it's tedious or what, I just don't like to get my sleep interrupted. Luckily it just takes about 10min to get her breakfast prepared and then off I go back to dreamland. Hee... And before you get it into your mind that I prepare some ghastly breakfast for her that makes her run to the toilet, I don't! I prepare very nice breakfast for her k! The first day was the sausages sliced and cheese put on top of the bread and then toasted in the oven (Serene, does it sound familiar? ;) ). The third day (second day I had training, so it was Von who did it) was ham and cheese sandwich. Fifth day (also Von, coz I had training) was cheese sandwich. So you see, I'm nice, aren't I? Oh, and these eaten with Milo. Haha...

OK, I have to go now... Have to start thinking how and what to get for Evon for Christmas. I hope I can get the answer by tomorrow. Good night and Merry Christmas everyone! =)

Yesterday's friendly match with Sheares Hall was a disaster for me. I was allocated a new position- centre- a position I've never played in my whole life, so I messed up everything. When I thought the ball was supposed to be for the back row, I went for it. When the ball was supposed to be for the front row, I left it to the back to take it. I kept forgetting to shout for the ball when I wanted to hit it, I couldn't send the ball to the spiker, and hooking was crap. Argh. I'm rather surprised they still put me in to play though.

So I guess you can guess whether we won or lost. We played 4 sets, and we lost all 4 sets, and I have a nasty feeling quite alot of the points were lost because of me.

I won't say my mistakes were due entirely to a new position, but also because I think I wasn't motivated enough to play well yesterday, which is so disgusting, 'coz it's a very bad attitude to have to play. But maybe this is what they mean by 'off-form', where everything just seems to go wrong no matter how you want to play well but can't seem to get up the drive.

Oh man... Tomorrow is another training. I'm soooo lazy to move myself to NTU tonight again, and I'm sure my father is too. And tonight we are gonna have a wonderful dinner. I hope. What a bad way to end a potentially wonderful evening. Ah well, let's hope tomorrow's training will go smoothly! =)

The Long Wait is Over!

Yep! Results are out finally! Haha, not that I was particularly eager to know my results, but I couldn't stand not knowing how I did for the exams, particularly the papers which I felt I had flopped in.

Well, results were ok, better than I expected (cos I wasn't expecting much), but Stats was a disappointment, though it could have been worse based on the bell curve. I should be happy about my overall results, so I shan't waste my time thinking about should haves and could haves.

Oh, and I've finally managed to turn up for hall trainings! Been going for every training since the time when I stupidly turned back home from Tiong Bahru, and I think my teammates are very nice people. At least they don't look at you like you just did something so disgustingly wrong when you miss a ball or when you hit a ball wrongly. On the contrary, they encourage you and tell you that it was a good try. AND they were all said with a smile, which makes a difference. I appreciate that, and I feel that would be a better working environment than in an environment where criticisms and dark looks are given when something is done wrong. It stifles improvement and increases stress, so much so that at the end, one wonders why one still bothers to actually want to continue with that particular activity.

One thing that makes me so lazy to go back for training is the fact that NTU is so friggin' far away from my house! I have to stay in hall like twice a week to attend training just so that I don't have to wake up at the ungodly hour of 0545 to make my journey down to NTU. Ah well... And today's slightly better though, cos it's a friendly match with NUS' Sheares Hall, and it's in the afternoon. Nonetheless, I'll have to make my way down soon.... I just hope I'll not be home too late. Been getting too used to staying at home and enjoying the comforts of home, so much so that thoughts of school reopening nearly plunges me into depression. OK, so that was an exaggeration, particularly when an advantage of going back to school would be that I wouldn't have to teach a particular someone who is so totally unmotivated to learn but so motivated to learn how to dress herself up like some wayang singer, thinking that she looks like some million-dollar superstar. A girl of 12, putting mascara and makeup and thinking that people are so jealous of her looks that they are out to get her and her friends!

Ok, to be fair, there's another side to her that's endearing as well: that is that she has initiative and she can be qutie helpful. And she is the kind that 讲义气，which takes character. I just wish I knew how to convince her that it's still too early for her to wear makeup and spend more of her time learning her English.

Or maybe I'm not cut out to be a teacher at all.

Volleyball Training Today

I finally moved my butt to do more than jogging every 2 weeks. I went back to TPJC to play vball with the juniors today, and wow, all I can say is, LUCKILY I went to train there first before I went for the hall training.

After not playing vball for almost a year, my arms have become so unused to the force of the ball and the pressure it exerts when we play it. So now I have to endure the pain of a first timer again. Crap. AND I played more vigorously than a first-timer usually does, so now I end up with 2 swollen forearms. It hurts to stretch them. Needless to say, my legs are aching as well. Haha, I'm not regretting it though, 'cos I got to refresh my skills again, and realise that my service has deteriorated. *sniff sniff* Ok, let's hope that the next time I play, I'll be better.

Which reminds me to ask about the hall trainings again. I haven't been to a single hall training yet, and nobody ever tells me when they are. They don't even have a schedule or sth to send to us... goodness. So far there have been 2 trainings (if I'm not wrong), and I haven been to any of them, the first time being that I had to go for Rotaract, the second time being that I had diarrhea. Again. Argh. That seems to be a common phenomenon with me these days... I wonder what's wrong with my stomach, but I highly suspect it's sth to do with eating the chilli padis whole. Haha, and the thought of eating them whole is making me salivate. It's so shiok I tell u, but I must warn u chilli-lovers: your stomach will BURN after eating it, and make sure you are healthy when you eat, otherwise throwing it up will be a damn horrifying experience.. and.... beware when you go to the toilet... it burns too........... heh... disgusting, I know, but I think I should warn u first... haha... =)

Of Weddings and Gatherings

The last week has been a wonderful flurry of activity- a cousin's wedding, and relatives who came over to attend the wedding. Here are some photos to show you!

My first time as a guest-book signer officer (don't know what you call them...), though I'll admit I wasn't of much help, mostly 'cos I didn't know what to do and 'cos Bernice Jie-jie was doing an efficient job of it. Haha, I've a feeling I'd keep guests waiting if I had been the one telling them where they were supposed to sit! Nonetheless, it was a nice experience to be involved in a cousin's wedding.

This was the table we sat at. The restaurant's called Grand Shanghai, with Shanghai as the theme. 5 people are allocated at each of this kind of table, but as you can see, who gives a hoot about regulations?

From left, clockwise: Kenette, Alvin, Alan, Yi Lun, Evon, me, Linda

I like this! It was such a novel experience to attend a wedding like this!

We listened to Chinese oldies the whole night. There was really a nostalgic atmosphere to the whole place, just what I love! It's too bad that it didn't occur to me to take photos of the singer. =)

That night, it was photos galore! But if u wanna see us more close up, the photos are in my yahoo photo album! =) Here's one of me with my niece:

This is my niece. She's Accalia, and 9 this year, but I can never remember that she is actually this age. My impression is that she'll always be 3 yrs old! Haha, time passes very fast. 9 years just zooooomed past like that!

Do you know, I never knew I had a grand-niece (or great-grand-niece or whatever the relationship is called) until that night? I'm not entirely sure of how far ahead in the generation ladder I am from her, but she's my mother's sister-in-law's sister's grand-daughter. My mother is her great-grandaunt, so what does that make me?

This is Sammi, my Grand-niece. She's 8 this year, and can you imagine? For 8 years I never knew I had a grand niece! I feel so old now!

The next day, Linda went out with Serene and me. We went to Bugis Street to shop. Haha, I know.. this is about the 2nd or 3rd time in 2 weeks you've heard me going to Bugis, but, you don't hear me complaining! Wow... We walked till our legs hurt! But as there was entertainment in the form of girls' best friends (clothes), I'm not complaining! Haha... Forgot to take pictures though... so sad!

And the next day, Linda and I went to walk around at the City Hall area. We went to Citylink, the Esplanade, and Suntec City, after which we went to Orchard Road to look at Christmas decorations. Again, I walked till my legs hurt up to my knees. And get this: I was wearing sports shoes this time. Haha! =) It was fun though, to go out and walk around with cousins. We asked Von, Lun, Alvin and Alan along, but only Alvin and Alan could make it. Ah well, some other time, then... =)

This was taken at the Esplanade, one of the display pieces. It looks so quaint! Hee..

The last day Linda was here, which was yesterday, we went to Sentosa. This time, Lun and Alvin couldn't make it, so Alan, Linda, Von and I went together. Yah... I know, you must be thinking that Sentosa is quite a boring place. Well, that's what we thought too, but I guess boredom is how one perceives things to be. To be honest, there was not a single dull moment during our trip to Sentosa, which was GREAT! We rode the newly opened Sentosa Luge, played at the Children's Playground, at the beach, went to the southernmost point of the Asia continent, and basically walked around alot.

This is the Children's playground. Haha, isn't it interesting? It's a see-saw come merry-go-round. We- or rather, I- were like young children again, playing on this contraption. =)

This is the Sentosa Luge! We went up by a chairlift, and we went down by these. We went down at such high speeds it was quite scary, but very exhilarating! I feel like going one more time!!

Tada! The Enchanted Grove of Tembusu in which resides 4 human-like elves among the magical toadstools which spring up at midnight! =)

And after that, we headed for home. Whew! By then my feet were about to fall out of their sockets, what with 3 consecutive days of walking, walking and more walking! But even though my legs were sooooo tired, I still feel that this past 3 days was spent very fruitfully. Catching up with family, and attending and getting involved in a wedding has been very fun! It's so sad that we will have to wait one more year to have a gathering of this scale again. Heopfully by then, more cousins will be together and we can have even more fun! =)

Tagged? Me?

Haha, Hurul, I read your blog, and while I'm still not clear about what it really means or what I really have to do, I shall just try it out. Haha... =)

Ok for the game "Tag", this is what you have to do....

1. post 5 weird/random stuff abt yourself
2. at the end, list the names of 5 ppl who you want next to this and leave a comment "YOU ARE TAGGED" in their blogs and tell them to read your blog for rules!

(i) My sisters and I used to play this game where we would be 'magic princesses' out to save the world. I would always be the first to be struck dead. Why me? Well.. I felt being dead was like sleeping, and I wanted to sleep. So what better excuse to sleep while playing? =)

(ii) I talk in my sleep.

(iii) I like to read and watch impossibly romantic and impractical story plots. I know they are senseless and totally illogical, but they just fill me with such a sense of wellbeing that is just so addictive. Haha, I'm a sucker for romance.

(iv) I collect lyrics.

(v) I like watermelons and dogs.

Hmm, hope that's random enough- well, at least the last one was. Hehe, it's quite hard to think of 5 random facts about myself offhand, but for the fun of it, here they are.

The next 5 people to be tagged are:

Bernice jie-jie
Alan
Evon
Merrilyn
Yan Fang

Great Shopping Today

Went to Bugis to shop with Jiun Pey today. Haha, unexpectedly, we only took a mere 4 hours to finish shopping in the whole of Bugis. I have no idea if it time passed too slowly or if we had shopped too fast, but it was only 4 hours! The last time both of us and Jieting went shopping at Bugis, we took the whole day and we did not even manage to walk the whole of it! And now Bugis Street has expanded! Wow. Then again, I don't think we shopped too fast, 'cos we went into every shop! Jiun Pey's theory is that the other day, we had spent time bargaining for our, well, bargains, with the help of Jieting. Haha... =)

We felt that our trip out today wasn't justified in that we had only spent 4 hours out when we had planned to spend the whole day out, so we went to all kinds of places to walk. In the end, we went to the Guan Yin Temple at Waterloo Street (was it Waterloo St ah, JP?) to offer our prayers. It was only then that we realised today is the first day of the lunar month (the 10th lunar month if I'm not wrong...). JP bought a lotus to offer to Guan Yin, and we went in to squeeze with the other devotees. Man, there were SOOO many people! One lady even got burnt by the joss sticks, but of course, because they were in a temple, she just had to forgive and forget. I could tell from her face that she wasn't very happy (but then again, who would be happy at being burnt?). Anyway, I digress. We didn't really know what to do, so we had to follow the examples of the other devotees at the temple. One interesting thing I noticed was that we were the only people from our generation in the temple. Haha... It was... weird, but I think it was memorable. Haha, I think in the future when I think of JP and Bugis, I'll think of this memorable trip, the same way when I think of Muh and Jiarong I think of the trip to Changi Airport where we walked from East Coast beach to the airport. Memories!! =)

Haha, great trip!

I love this decadent lifestyle!

It's a decadent lifestyle I've been living the past few days since the end of exams, and I'M LOVIN' IT! Been going out almost everyday with great company, and watching vcds. Only sad thing though, is that money has been leaking out of my pockets like nobody's business. Wish there was an endless supply of that resource.... -_-"

Just watched 4 vcds of "The Rose" by SHE, Huang Zhi Wei and the other actors (I can't remember their names) yesterday. Haha, barely halfway through the series though, but yesterday was pure blissful laziness. Just holed myself up in my parents' rooms and watched vcds. When I got sleepy, I slept. Woke up again to continue watching. Muahahahaha. Then I left to meet Yi Lun to watch "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". I think it's the best one of the Harry Potter movies so far. The dragon scene was so exciting! I'm glad they played it up. The Quidditch World Cup was a little disappointing though, 'cos I was looking forward to watching them play Quidditch. Nonetheless, the entrance of the players was dramatic, and Krum got a welcome befitting his status as the World's Best Seeker. =) I think Emma Watson's behaviour was a little over the top though, 'cos she was mostly rather agitated during Moody's lesson of the Unforgivable Curses. Hmm... the impression I got from the book was more of Hermione being herself as usual, just giving the answers in a matter-of-fact way. Didn't really expect her reaction. But then again, a movie is different from a book, isn't it? The plot was changed quite a bit, but I must say, the change in plot didn't disrupt the flow of the movie. Great! Haha, wish there were more scenes of Cedric Diggory though. He's rather good looking. ;) I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't watched it. =)

Guess today marks the end of my decadent lifestyle. Meetings are starting, and so are trainings. I hope these won't clash with each other or make my hols so packed I can't continue with my current life! Haha, I'm enjoying it too much to wanna let it go! =D

Freedom!

Yay! In just 6 hours' time, freedom will arrive! For now, I shall just have to endure the wait, filling the time with revisions. I do hope the paper will be easy today, and that the questions that come out will be things that I know how to answer. Dun wanna have to repeat this paper- or any of the other papers for that matter- again.

Yesterday evening was fun! Went with Serene to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao for dinner at Jurong Point, then we went to walk walk awhile. No regrets eating at Crystal Jade man... The Xiao Long Bao was heavenly! And then there was this pastry like thing with radish inside. Man... It was soooo soft. Then we shared a bowl of Sichuan La Mian. It was a nice experience eating it, though I think it doesn't quite suit my tastebuds. Nonetheless, the taste was unique, and the texture of the noodles was smooth. Nice. Great recommendation, Serene! =) Shall go there with Von and Lun on Sunday. The meal was quite affordable in all. Less than $15! Much cheaper than I expected it to be, it being at Crystal Jade and all... Haha, and it was fun going out with Serene. Found the skirt that I've been looking for! Alas, it's in JP and costs $33!! I'm going to Far East to see if I can find that skirt there. There's one problem now though. How do I match that skirt? It looks quite hard to match. Shall find a picture of it and post it up for u all to see... soon. =)

Congratulations!

Haha, it's a day for celebrations. It's Evon's last paper tomorrow, and guess what? She's accepted into the Vet course at Massey University, New Zealand! Yay!! Of course, she'll have to get through the first sem there to qualify, but I have confidence in her lar.

The only thing I'm sad about is that she'll be leaving Singapore, then I won't be able to se her. I shall miss her. It's not the same as living in Singapore but on the other side of the island. This time, it's across the ocean, almost halfway round the world (is it? Oh well, even if it isn't, it feels like it). That time when I first moved into the NTU hostel I was quite homesick. Bet it'll feel worse for Evon. But then again, she was always more independent.

Anyway, we'll take things one step at a time. I hope the days won't fly too fast, and the hols won't be so busy till we can't spend enough time together. AND I hope my parents don't book the air tickets for Evon to fly off on a friggin' weekday. THEN I'll be forced to pon school, which is very troublesome you know, having to come back from hostel and all that.... And this time, my father won't be sending me back to hall 'cos he'll be going there with Evon first, for her to get used to the surroundings there first.

Ok, back to sleep.

What does my Birthdate Mean?

Your Birthdate: February 20

You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride. Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you're happy, this is a good thing. When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it's very hard to get you out of it. It's sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious. Your strength: Your warm heart Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions Your power color: Black Your power symbol: Musical note Your power month: February

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Talking online

Haha, how amazing technology is. I'm now in my room, and Evon is just a shout away, but guess what? We are MSN-ing each other. =D How weird is that? The wonders of technology.

I was just thinking: is there a way of preventing someone from learning to use the computer when the person really wants to learn it? Take my houseguest for example. Her father refuses to let her learn (much less use) the computer for fear that she'll learn bad things online. Thing is, she is SO tempted by the Neopets games Von and Lun play online. And when she asked how to start the game, as much as we wanted to, we could not teach her. Well, she then turned around and just started clicking on anything on the screen- yep, you got it. She clicked on the white empty space on the screen too, and tried to move the pictures. Anyway, back to my story. She finally managed to start a game, and proceeded to play it with gusto. Without any of our helps. So, is there any way of not teaching a person how to use a computer?

Frankly, I think she should be taught how to operate a computer. After all, when she starts going to school, it would become a necessity to know how to at least use Microsoft Office. On the other hand, she is unable to control herself. While we would wanna teach her how to use Microsoft Office for her future survival in Singapore education, there is no doubt in our minds that her primary interest would be to learn how to use the Internet to play games. And woe to us the day she discovers online gaming. NOT Neopets, mind you, but Maplestory and other games (Just a question: is Counterstrike an online game or LAN game? And what's the difference?). Oh wow. I can just feel shivers down my spine.

Not that she's as bad as I've led y'all to think. I think she's just innocent, though she acts and thinks of herself as worldly. Been there, done that. Yah right. One thing good bout her is that she doesn't hold grudges, and she's... endearing in her own way, though sometimes she does get a tad annoying. Or maybe it's 'cos it's been 7 years since I was 12 and I can't really remember what I was like when I was her age?

I'm thinking perhaps the last reason is the reason why we're not quite able to adapt to her. No wonder sometimes we wonder why our parents don't understand how we feel. NOW I know, and I can hardly blame them. They have been away from our ages for, what, 20-odd years, while I'm only 7 years away from 12, and I can't really adapt to the 12 year-old mentality. This is food for thought. Oh, yah, and I guess this is also the reason why some adults speak to us in that irritatingly patronizing way. They can't remember their way of thinking when they were our age, that's my guess.

Yep. It's all speculation on my part, but... I think it makes sense- don't you think?

And for the NUS students taking their exams, ALL THE BEST!! =)

Oh yah, and I think studying for exams has made my butt big. I have butt cramps now. How do u relieve them? *cheeky smile*

Are we all conformists?

Haha, nothing special to talk about, just that I think I'm quite wasting my time today. Can you imagine spending like 1 and a half days reading an essay about state apparatuses that are so ultimately depressing?!?! The essay was rather depressing. I mean, can your believe that even before we are born, we have already been subscribed into a particular ideology?

Althusser says that we individuals are always-already subjects- that is, we are ever ready to subscribe to an ideology. There is family ideology, religious ideology, political ideology, etc. Our responses to anything that is presented to us already proves that we are responding to its ideology. Even when there's no response, we also subscribe to it, because in a warped sense, we ARE responding to it. Even while we are fetuses, we have already been given an identity that makes us irreplaceable on this earth and society- our names and our family background. Thus, this makes us subjects of a particular ideology.

Why am I a little depressed by this essay? Well, firstly, it is a DIFFICULT essay to understand. I don't understand why he has to have so many long sentences with so much grammar inside. Makes it all the more confusing. And I never did understand writers' fascination with "not unlike" and "not uncommon". Why can't they just use the words "like" and "common"? Makes passages much easier to understand. Granted, I know that some sentences sound much nicer with these troublesome words, but... don't you think that it's so much easier to understand the simpler words?! JUST GET TO THE POINT!!

Secondly, it brings forth the realisation that we actually have NO human rights. Whatever rights and control we always thought we had over our lives was nothing but an illusion, to give us a false sense of control over our destiny and life. Well, this essay simply subverts whatever we- or rather, I- thought about our lives and the control we have over it. It's depressing, isn't it? That we already have to conform to certain social expectations. Even when we think we are bucking the system, according to Althusser, we are merely departing from one ideology and subscribing to another. That means, no matter what anyone says about being a non-conformist, that person is still conforming to another ideology of not conforming. Yah, it sounds familiar, doesn't it? The paradoxical saying of "Non-conformists are also conformists".

I don't like to think that all my actions have already been decided by a particular ideology, no matter how much of a follower I am. It's a kind of human arrogance, I guess, a kind of blow to the human arrogance that we aren't that independent and controlled as we think we are.

Humph. What do you think?

CRAP

By right, I should be happy that HP200 is over and I can spend the next 5-6 days languishing at home and studying for that last paper. But by left, I realise I had brought the wrong FREAKING file home. So now I have to go back to hall to bring back that file. CRAP. Sometimes I amaze myself with my stupidity.

3 Down, 2 More to Go

And yes, and still counting, with both anticipation and trepidation. Monday's paper was... shall we say, disappointing, coz I forgot how to do the questions, and what the heck's the difference between total differential and total derivative anyway?! Tuesday's... and that's today's paper was... kinder to me than HP101, but how well I do would be, of course, a whole different kettle of fish. Especially when I found myself dreaming of Statistical formulae yesterday night and explaining it to *GASP* a LIZARD!! Oh man... What logic is this... everyone's laughing at me for dreaming bout it- no, not the stats part, the explaining it all to a lizard part. Particularly when I absolutely HATE lizards.

Back at home AGAIN, though this time, it's NOT my doing. It's the Hall 6 admin's fault this time. Of all the times, they just had to decide that the exam week is a good time to repair the leak in the toilet. Yah. When the leak has been going on for the past, what, few months? The repair of the leak has resulted in power failure for the whole floor on my block, and when it feels like it, the whole hall. So there's no choice but for me to go home to study in peace. Ah, home sweet home. Nonetheless, I don't really think the next few days leading up to Friday will be anything but sweet. I still have to study Sadistics (Statistics, to be precise), which I haven't started yet. Yes, the sweet irony of it all. Don't have time to study but have time to blog. Don't I just love being human. Poor Serene though, tomorrow's her paper and the blackout just has to happen the day before. What a great way to calm one's nerves. -_-" Serene, if you read this, I hope our paper went well for you and the questions were darn easy!! =)

Anyway, I'm sleepy but wishing I was more awake. I'm wanting to slack but wishing I was more hardworking. Yah. It's an irony all right. Just hope HP200 on Friday will be full of easy computations....

1 Down, 4 to Go

Yep, and it sounds so darn easy. I just wish it was. Wed was a disastrous paper, and totally disillusioning for the rest of my papers. Now I can't help but wonder how the rest of my papers are gonna be like, but there's no use worrying and wondering, is there? I shall just have to try my best for the other papers.

Back in hall on Sunday night- a first for me I must say, and I do confess that I feel SO reluctant to come back here after staying at home the past few days. Home is just too comfortable. =) Can't wait for exams to be over, then I can stay at home... But something tells me I shouldn't be too happy yet. Oh well, nonetheless, it doesn hurt to dream some, right?

Reached some sort of impasse with my new tenant, Wang Kun AKA Angel. She's been a right monster until yesterday when she got into trouble with her father the day before for not doing her homework and learning English. To get into detail with what she did, well... I shall tell you some other day. I'm taking a break from Basic Maths for Economists for the moment. I swear, my head's near to bursting from all these stuff. I just hope the paper will be kind enough to me tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Tomorrow

Tomorrow shall mark my first foray into University Exams. Wow, am I so excited for it. -_-" I do hope I'll be able to remember the definitions and the theories... It will be soooo "The End" for me if I can't remember. I hope Biopsych comes out tomorrow, coz I'm gonna study harder for it. And... I dunno what other topics, but hopefully they'll be the ones I studied for!

On a MUCH more positive note, tomorrow marks the day when the occupants of Hall 6, Block 35, Unit No 3-664 can eat meals other than those offered by the canteens in NTU!! YAY! There'll be hotdogs and ham, toasted bread, and... my darling roommate Serene's ingenious idea, PIZZA BREAD!! Oh yah, and now it's possible to have otah on bread. Oh goodness! I'm salivating at the thought of it. And now I don't have to worry that my heavy breakfast prior to an afternoon paper will have to come from one of the canteens! =D

I'm so hungry just thinking of it. And now I'm off to dinner. Wish me luck for my exams!! =)

Countdown

Im beginning to feel a vague sense of panic yet again. I was just doing the planning of my revision, and I realised that there isn enough time for me to complete my revision for statistics. This means that I have to quicken my revision throughout for all modules, which means that I have to forgo taking notes. Omg. How did things come to this stage?!

It's now countdown to the various papers. How crappy is this: the main papers are lumped together, while the Cinematic Pleasures paper is one week after everything. Great. Just when that is the elective that doesn't require so much mugging. Why couldn't they have put HP200 a bit later?!

Study Week

So here I am, in the NTU hostel, Hall 6, mugging for the coming exams, hoping and hoping and praying hard that I can create another miracle like I did for mid-term tests. Well, I do hope I can do well, and make my family proud of me. =) However, I must admit that I'm rather sick of studying already. Sick of Intro to Psych already, even though it's been a very interesting course. I just don't know what I'm making notes for. It's not as if I'm gonna read through them after this sem, and I sure as hell don't think that I can read thru them a second time. So what am I making them so colourful for?

Well, I guess this serves as a reminder to myself that I should make notes earlier next time, but how?!? There are so many things to do! Oh man...

And now I'm faced with a challenge: Trying to keep my eyes open. Should I sleep or shouldn't I?

Inspiration

WOW! I went down to the reservoir to watch the Wakeboarding Championships yesterday. COOL! The stunts the competitors executed were nothing short of spectacular. There were triple somersaults executed by the champion- Philip (something.. think it was Goldberg), glides on some thin platform. Wonderful. Watching them wakeboarding gave me a sudden urge to go learn it too. But like Yi Lun said, the most we can hope to do is to hold on to the rope. At the very most we could hope to move and change directions. To hope to be able to somersault and land on my feet would be too much to ask for. I hope the C'ships will be held at Bedok Reservoir again next year!! =)

The performance by the Stars from Florida were spectacular too. There was ballet on the skis, acrobatic stunts where the guy held the woman aloft and she balanced on his shoulders, or he used one hand to support her while she moved gracefully, and there was this 4-man thing where all of them somersaulted off the ramp at the same time.. helicopter jumps... WHOA! FANTASTIC! It was a real eye-opener... =)

Maybe I might consider taking it up... One day.... Anyone got any lobangs? ;)

Wakeboarding Championships is here again!

It's the Wakeboarding Championships again! It's being held at Bedok Reservoir, just directly in front of my house. I have a vantage view of the reservoir from my living room and my parents' room, but, oh, how sad that I can't stand there for extended periods of time to watch the competition. Come to think of it, it was the same thing last year. It was around the same time, but it was the time when I had to prepare for As. So.. yah, it's self-explanatory, isn't it?

Anyway, wakeboarding looks quite cool. All the somersaulting on the water. It's a l'il like water-skiiing, but more extreme, isn't it? Cool. I suppose these competitors are the best their countries have to offer, and it's quite heartbreaking to see them executing their amazing somersaults and other stunts only to land on their backs in the water and having to restart it all over again. But then again, in competitions, I suppose one has to get used to failures and losing and having the courage to start all over again. They have to have strong determination to learn from their mistakes and simultaneously forget what happened the last time and compete once again. Amazing.

I think athletes are quite remarkable people. Not only do they have to keep their bodies in top shape, they have to keep themselves mentally alert and fit as well, and condition themselves to forget about the audience or ignore the pressure they are feeling at important competitions. It's quite a hard task to ignore the pressure and just focus on doing well. On top of that, they have to strategise on the spot. I think most of us have had experiences in doing that during exams. However, exams is just between the exams and the individual. In competitions, it's the competition, the competitor, the individual and the audience. People are watching the individual. It all boils down to how strong one's mind is to resist the pressure to succumb and keep one's mind clear. Whoever said jocks are brainless?

It's amazing how at one moment, something can look so promising and just crash around your ears the next moment. One moment ago, I was elated at the possibility of finishing off the project. The next, news came that we had to do one more. Now, we are so so so near to the completion of the current one, but we are short of a paragraph. Kinda reminds me of what Yi Lun said last time "Life is not perfect". Coz they were making a puzzle for her teacher, and they happened to lose a piece. They thot of that reason to tell the teacher when they gave it to her. Haha..

And of course, not helping things is MSN, which is cutting off communication between my groupmates and me. What a life.

Kudos to my group mates though. Haha, IF we manage to finish this sometime tonight, it's one milestone we've crossed. All of them played big roles in bringing the whole proj to actuality, and I know there have been times when we felt damn frustrated, but FINALLY, the proj will be done. Soon.

This is my latest favourite song. It's Daniel Chan's 心有独钟... Such a sweet song!! *swoons*

I see the light..... REALLY

YES! I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel now! I know last week's one was a false alarm, but I am SURE this time it's true! The report's OK already! YES! Haha, finally, no more late nights or early mornings trying to get the report right, and no more agonising over whether the phrasing's right, or if the paragraphs are too lengthy. WONDERFUL! Haha.. It felt like a load off my shoulders just now when Mario didn't have any more to add to our report. Hmm.. But of course, that's not to say he's gonna give us high marks....

Tomorrow's the Math test. Oh man, I hope I do decently this time, otherwise can you imagine how embarrassing it would be that I got full marks the last time but failed or did badly the second time? I gotta confess, this is not merely about doing well- it's also about the widely talked-about "face". Yah... Shallow as it sounds, that's what I'm bothering about. I hope time passes faster so I can get the chose over and done with. THEN I can get back to reading my other texts which I have temporarily given up in lieu of the coming test. I wonder if this is worth it.

Stupidity

Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch Don't wanna go back to sch!!!!

I am school-sick. Sick of school. Sick of doing work. Sick of doing stupid things that kill my stupid brain cells. Sick of reading stupid things that my stupid brain cells won't be able to stupidly process, thus making me look stupid reading the stupid textbook.

If you are still reading this, you must be thinking, "What a stupid fool to write such a stupid entry that stupidly makes no stupid sense." Oh well, you are probably right...

Ever thought how the word "stupid" sounds like a pig? It sounds so fat and squashy and if I picture the word in my mind's eye, I can just about see the snout of the word. Weird. Of course, that's not saying that pigs are synonymous with stupidity. Some ppl would kill me for saying that. I'm just saying the look of the word, just like how Daimaru used to look like an accordion to me. There's a term for looking at words as pictures, but I can't remember it. Read about it awhile ago. My hippocampus must be chock-full of memories already. -_-" What utter rubbish.

Finally finished studying for HE103- Basic Maths for Economists, but the aftereffects of studying it make me feel like I didn't actually study it. Don't understand what the book is saying- well, maybe I did.. at least I THINK I understood it better than during the lecture especially with my lecture notes in such bad shape. Maybe I shouldn't bother about saving ink for pdf files since they all come out looking like **** (fill in whatever words you think are suitable). Now I'm left with trying to refine the discussions section, and re watching Modern Times. I hope there's enough time, what with us going out for dinner later and me spending the next 15 minutes or so typing this entry. Don't think I'll be able to pull another miraculous full marks this time, though I'm crossing my fingers that the paper will be easy enough for me to do respectably well. I'm not hoping for full marks, though it sure would be nice if I did... ;)

Can't wait for exams to end, then I'll be free!! No need to go to school and bust my brain cells. It sooo doesn help that Yi Lun has finished her papers and will be relaxing already and that my family is in Bedok while I'm all the way across the island! Oh well, as good as the holidays seem to be, I think I'll have to go back to join in some camp or trip planning... and I did just agree to join the hall vball team. What a joke. I haven't been playing vball for about a year already. Wonder if I can still run and jump. And I dunno where Yi Lun has put the knee guards. Hah, will I even make the team I wonder.

OK, in case you are thinking of going to get a gun to shoot me for being in such a melancholic and utterly histrionic mood, save yourself the effort, darlings. I've finished my ramblings.

Haha, check out Evon's blog at http://yifang-sama.blogspot.com . There's a wonderful analogy on studying. Since I can't tag on her board, I shall just mention it here:

Von! I did hear it's hard to enter the Land of Mugging. I myself have been kicked out a few times for lacking the quality "Lack of Concentration". But I heard some people actually can gain citizenship into that land, simply coz they have the following qualities:

1) Unlimited source of Brainpower
2) Unlimited source of Concentration and the Ability to Prioritise.
3) Knowledge of Harnessing the Energy to Keep oneself Disciplined.

Oh well, as you can see, I lack most of this, so the most I can get is a PR. Well, that is if I do actually can bring myself to study without getting distracted lar. On normal days, think if I can get a visitor's pass it would be not bad already.

Do the rest of you agree with her blog? I also particularly liked the way she personified the printer. Haha, her blog is entertaining. Go read it! =)

Oh, I have changed my tagboard already! Hopefully this time Cbox will be nice to me and stop giving problems!! =)

I'm bored. And sick of studying. And there's another Basic Maths for Economists test next week. I have this feeling that I won't be able to create another miracle this time.. the topics that will be tested are topics which i have absolutely NO confidence in. Crap. Cant even bring myself to study it now.... Yah, guess I'm like an ostrich. haha..

Today is the first day I watch a movie that seriously made me throw up. It DID! The movie's called "Tarnation", and I think it's a documentary if I'm not wrong. It looked like it was taken solely from a handheld camera, so the pictures were jerky... to make things worse, pictures were flashed at such speeds, and the pictures were in black and white! Think it can be compared to "The Blair Witch Project" (I initially wanted to watch it sometime during the holidays, but if it's gonna be anything like "Tarnation", I think I better skip it). Oh yes, pictures were moving fast, and the music was irritating. Punk rock with some heavy metal. -_-" The movie felt like it took FOREVER to end. An hour into the movie I couldn tahan already. Left the LT to the toilet. No prizes for guessing what I did there....

I hope NEVER to watch another movie like this again.

I see the light.....

I'm beginning to see the light, as 21st Oct draws nearer. Nope, not exams, if you are wondering, but the report. Haha, it's starting to disturb me quite a bit. You know, like an axe over the head? Come 21st, it'll be gone! Though I hope the report goes fine, and of course I'll continue to do my best for it, I shall be glad to see the back of it. Unfortunately, this won't be the end of reports. I foresee more coming in the semesters to come.

Oh well. I still feel a sense of achievement though, coz I finished compiling the different reports already! Yay! Still left with Pony's though, but that will soon be done come tomorrow. Right now, I wish I could greet my bed with enthusiasm, but I can't. I gotta do my HP101 tutorial. And I did promise Papa I'd try to study the Psych and other stuff another time, so... yah. I'll try my best. Really!

Ok, I'm done with the little break here. Going to carry on with my *groans* work.

The rest of you, I hope you are having fun! =)

GOOD LUCK!!

Today has been a tired but fruitful day. Slept at 4am this morning trying to do the HP102 report (yep, the one you all read of me whining on and on about it), then off to tutorials and especially the Basic Maths for Economists tutorials. Oh my god. I thought going for the tutorial would help ease my doubts about that chapt. BOY was I ever so wrong. I ended up as blur as I was last wk. -_-"

Anyway, I went for Project Bridge at 430pm. Project Bridge is a place and a programme set up for early school-leavers between the ages of 13-18. It aims to help the school-leavers in finding a job, or helping those who are still keen on getting an education get back into schools. They also target those students who are in dange of leaving school- these are the students that we are helping. We coach them in mainly Maths and Science. I think this is a worthwhile cause, and.. hmm, though I may not be joining rotaract next year, I still feel like going back there to volunteer. Haha. I was apprehensive about teaching there at first, maybe 'cos I was doubtful of my teaching abilities, and the students' behaviours, but after 2 sessions teaching there, I feel a lil more confident bout teaching them, though I think my teaching has to be improved on. *sheepish smile* Contrary to what some may think about these potential school-leavers, they are actually quite keen to learn and get good grades. They may be from the Normal stream, but they are quite smart you know. =)

I taught a guy called Yazid today. Tomorrow's his N-Levels Maths Paper 2, and I was coaching him. I hope he remembers what I taught him today man. There wasn't enough time to cover everything, and I think he started his revision very very late, so the most I could do was to help him refresh his memory on factorisation etc. Not enough time to do Trigo, though, which I think is quite dangerous, coz Trigo is an important topic, as we all know. =S He was quite encouraging too. Haha, when I said I can't draw for nuts, he said "You can do it!" in Malay (I can't remember what the words are in Malay, but there you have it). He was also quite willing to teach me Malay, like Dino. Haha... I think it was only towards the end that we started to feel comfortable in each other's presence. =) They are all very friendly, and were very open about their thoughts and their work, even explaining their art pieces to us. I hope they do well for their N-Levels and proceed on to Os and then to Poly and wherever it is that they wanna go to. =) It's amazing to know that just a few hours with them could make me feel like that, really. That's why I wouldn't mind going back there to teach. I think it's a worthwhile cause. =D

Ok, 'nuff said. I gtg back to do the Discussions section again. Haha, I'm sooo not gonna sleep at 4am today... gonna slp as soon as my hair is dry. ;)

Writer's Block

I hate writer's block. They always leave me with a sense of inadequacy and helplessness. Well, I sometimes find that the way around writer's block is to write about it. So here I am, trying to damndest to dissolve this meaningless wall that's standing between me and my sleep.

One thing that came to mind while thinking about writer's block: What do you do when you meet a wall? Do you
a) dig a hole under it, or
b) try to walk around it?

I think there have been many theories surrounding this question, especially theories surrounding the personalities of those who choose either one of the options. If my memory serves me right, walking around the wall seems to reflect a go-getter attitude, showing initiative blah blah blah, while the digging hole one seems to reflect a stubborn stick in the mud who insists on doing things the hard way. Well. Which are you? Personally, I don't think either one is good. What if the wall goes on forever? Is a person gonna walk the whole length of it forever? What if the underside of the wall is concrete? Is the person gonna try to dig up the concrete bit by bit? Oh well, maybe I'm just reading too much into it again. Or maybe I'm just in a bitchy mood these days.

What is it that I'm doing that gave me a writer's block? Well, I'm trying to do my part of the HP102 report, since I was mostly playing a fool on Friday during our discussion. Ironically, or not, the part I volunteered to write on is the "Discussions" section, and now I'm trying to compile Merrilyn and Si Huan's contributions together to try to form a coherent essay. I hope the paragraphs I've done are Ok- I'm left with one important part, and I don't know how to put all of it together! It's something lurking at the back of my mind, and keeps sliding out of my grasp each time I try to put a finger (or a fist, depending on whether you wanna be literal) to (or around, again, depending on whether you wanna be literal) it. It has something to do with the inconsistency of the researchers (us) when briefing and debriefing the participants, and the timing of the timers, and the scoring of the scorers. And something about the stress given to the participants. They somehow seem to fit in as one point, but I can't seem to be able to come up with a suitable beginning sentence. Argh. I don't want to leave this till the week, though, cos it would be hanging over me until I finished, and goodness knows how behind I am in my work. I haven't completed my Maths homework yet, and I haven't even read the lecture notes of it yet. That aside, there is my readings to be done this week. This is a major thing, and I don't wanna give it less than my full attention. After all, 5 people's grades are on the line here, including my own. If I'm gonna try for the exchange prog in Year 3, I better make sure I do a good job of this. And also not let my groupmates down. And also not be a sleeping member in the group. It's not a nice feeling to be a sleeping member, I realise.......

OK. Going to drink chicken soup and going back to the grind! Wish me luck! =)

Deaths

It seems like there is always someone we know dying these days. Just on Thursday I received news from my father that my granduncle, who had been suffering from liver cancer, had passed away that afternoon. I was also told that Yi Lun's friend's father, who had also been suffering from Hepatitis B, had passed away that same afternoon, though 2 hours later. He had slipped into a coma 2 days before and passed away while still in one. Then last week (I think), I read on Alan's blog that his junior had passed away. He had died of heart cancer. Why are so many people dying now? I was expecting my granduncle to leave us anytime, but I was still sad upon receiving the news. Though I wasn't close to him, his departure just feels too close to home. Yi Lun's friend... I was feeling shocked and sad. I was hoping that he would recover gradually and live on a few more years. Alas, that was not to be. His death was rather sad for me coz I guess I could just imagine how I would feel if I were in Yi Lun's friend's shoes. Granted, his departure was expected by his family members and they were mentally prepared, but somehow, I believe that no matter how prepared one is for the demise of a family member, the event would still be equally heart-wrenching. After all, death is irreversible. No amount of calling or screaming will make the person come back to life. I think, if I were to be in Lun's friend's shoes, I'd be absolutely devastated. I can't bear to think how I would carry on with life. Just losing Peke last year made me cry at odd times. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose one of my family members. I don't think the pain can ever be assuaged. True, people have to go sometime, but I sometimes wish we could live forever. Perhaps I sound dramatic, but... well, today just made me think about how insignificant life is, particularly when I witnessed the cremation of my granduncle.

We went to the Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium to witness his cremation. As I walked around his coffin during his last rites, I was just wondering, we live for about 70 or so years, contributing in whatever way we can, or just simply surviving, only to end up as ashes in urns after that. Why do we even bother to waste time thinking about how to hurt others and do harm to them? Life's just too short to actually do them. I'm not trying to say that I'm perfect- cos I'm definitely not, nor am I trying to be philosophical and moralistic here, but don't you think it would be nice if everyone just made proper use of their time while living to make this a better place? An idealistic plan I guess... And perhaps I'm merely building impossible castles in the air, but I'd like to think at least I'm treasuring the people who matter to me the most and making a difference in THEIR lives- my family. Making the world a better place doesn't mean one has to great things. I just think as long as they make the world of their loved ones a better place, that is as good as anything can get.

Another thing that bothered me about death and funerals was the way the procedure was made so... mechanical, so commodified, so capitalistic, and so... cold. The undertakers were doing their job just as a means to an end- that is to be expected, I guess, since the only reason why they are undertakers is because there is a demand for their services. The body they were supposed to be taking care of was just that- just another body that had to be taken care of. The rites were conducted for their procedures rather than a feeling, I felt. Like it had to be done right. Instructions were called out by the assistant of the monk (yes, you heard right. Assistants) to us, and we were expected to follow it. The whole funeral procedure was just another assignment the undertakers had undertaken. Even before the rites had been completed (to transfer the coffin from the funeral parlour to the van), the assistant was already taking out the notice of my granduncle's death from the door of the funeral parlour. Slowly but surely, every trace of a funeral having been held there was erased. It was kind of symbolic, I guess, to symbolise the erasure of my granduncle's existence from the living world after he was cremated. But anyway, I digress. I was talking about the removal of the notice. It was like, "Oh, another funeral ended. Let's finish this off and go on to our next assignment". They couldn't wait for the rites to have finished? Would detaching the notice from the door take several impossible hours to accomplish? Furthermore, as I saw the coffin being pushed into the incinerator (is that what we call it?), it struck me how cold it was. The coffin was being pushed into the incinerator by rails and machines! An efficient and impressive way, no doubt, and a feather in humanity's cap, but.... throughly mechanised and cold.

Observing the funeral was a rather horrifying event to me. Not in the ghostly sense, but rather in a symbolic sense. Humans tend to have a teleological view of themselves, but I think at the end, we are no more significant than others. After all, all we turn into is ash in the end, not gold. In Gothic literature, we are always reading about characters who face the horror of losing their identity, but in the end, that is what happens to us. We become just another body that another profits from.

Perhaps I'm having these thoughts because of my age. Or perhaps I'm being overdramatic and thinking too much. Or perhaps I'm just getting too carried away by my thoughts and depression over the events. Perhaps I'll come to see death as a homecoming when I grow older. One thing's for sure though. The event I observed today made me realise that man is fallible, and my family's no exception to it either.

Schizophrenic

Look what we got up to yesterday morning when we were supposed to be doing our report for our project (By the way, the authors are Merrilyn, Pony, me, and a guest appearance by Si Huan):

Schizophrenic

SIHUAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am pony pony pony pony pony here… there was a time, wheb ppl said tt Singapore wun make it

BUT WE DIIIIID~~~~~

I found a note my grandma wrote. I was quite surprised as she hadn’t came to my house for a very long time. Sometimes I wonder if she’ll ever get here. Because the last time she was telling us about her encounter with the wolf that wanted to eat her up. Luckily I went there in time to get her out of the wolf’s stomach. It was a terribly difficult operation. I was distracted several times by sihuan and merrilyn and pony who refused to help me be productive. So in the end, a fast operation that only required 1 hour (because all I had to do was kill the wolf) I took 300 days. Seems like that was a very traumatic experience. All that I am saying is starting to make no sense. But at least I knew why my grandma is not coming back anymore. She had died iof starvation and was too disfigueed because of the HCl in the stupid wolf’s stomach. Sihuan started protests on the extermination of the wolf pack. But somehow we always have this feeling that sooner or later, she would be joining in this unethical operation. Guess what my grandma wrote? Let’s be good children and be industrious. But like the naughty children we are, we decided to have our own identity. To follow what grandma says would be conforming. We must have our individuality! YES! Grandma must have passed on as an unhappy, unlucky old maid. But we DON’T CARE. We have to be like all youngsters be, to be rebellious, be in the trend of our individualistic culture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you think of our story? Does it make sense? I'm afraid it doesn't, otherwise it wouldn't be titled as such. Yep, that's the reason.... Ok, go ahead and faint now, the story's over! =)

I'm a BLUE Person!

Based on your answers, it appears as though your primary color is Blue. Approximately 10% of the men, women and children on the planet share your sensitive, peace-loving disposition, so you're rather special.

As a Blue, you:
-- need to feel unique
-- look for symbolism
-- value close relationships
--encourage expression
-- desire quality time with loved ones
-- need opportunities to be creative
-- compromise and cooperate
-- nurture people,plants, and animals
-- look beyond the surface
-- share emotions
-- make decisions based on feelings
-- need harmony
-- are drawn to nurturing careers
--get involved in causes
-- bring unity to society

If you're like most Blues, you are perceptive, warm, humane, spiritual, patient, agreeable, poetic, genuine,devoted, compassionate, personal, sensitive, artistic, romantic, accepting,idealistic, insightful, peaceful, caring, and emotional.

Here are a few famous Blues you might recognize: Steve Allen, Emily Bronte, Pearl S. Buck, AlbertCamus, Emily Dickenson, Jane Fonda, Mohandas Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, JamesJoyce, Vladimir Lenin, Shirley MacLaine, Thomas Paine, Carl Rogers, EleanorRoosevelt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Schweitzer, Oliver Stone, and Leo Tolstoy. If you would like to learn more about the patented Insight Personality System,or complete a more thorough personality test, please return to www.insightlearning.com. You are now subscribed to the free Insightse-newsletter which will give you bits and pieces of information about humantemperament each week. However, if you want this valuable information deliveredto you more quickly, please visit our on-line store and purchase an affordablewebsite membership or one of our innovative educational products. Or feel freeto give us a toll-free call at 800-320-4788 and visit with one of our friendly personality experts.

Hey, to Psych students- Merrilyn and Pony: http://www.insightlearning.com this website provides a real-life example of Internet experiments. There's a briefing before the test, and a sort of debrief after the test- the results. They also allow for questions to be asked by providing contacts. I think it's a rather useful website. Go visit it when u are free! =)

Slappable, I am

I seriously ought to slap myself over and over for delaying the revision for the Cinematics Class. Now I have this horrid feeling I'm not going to do well for the test tmr. I've one more reading to do- Laura Mulvey's Visual Pleasure in Cinema or something like that, full of Freudian theories which I think I'm not in the mood to read about now. It needs a fresh brain to take it in. And GREAT. I can't remember the character names from From Hell. What a fabulous way to end the week. -_-"

Oh well. It's 1237am, and from the Psych textbook, they say there's no more point cramming the night before, coz all the info will be stored in the short term memory and there's limited space. So sayonara, and I'm going to sleep now. Hopefully the test will be ok, and I'll do reasonably ok in it... I have zilch confidence in the essay I handed in to Kenneth Chan, and there'll be another essay for the exams. CRAP.

Good night!

Yesterday Once More

Yesterday was rather a blast. Went to K-Box with Jieting, Jiun Pey, Jinghua and Jinghua's friend, Yi Ling ( is that how you spell it?), and we sang from 2-7. Well, at least I think Jieting and Jinghua did, coz Jiun Pey and I left at bout 530. Dunno bout Yi Ling though.. we were supposed to have left together, but she decided to stay on a lil longer. =) Anyway, we sang song after song, and well, I must say, I feel a tad ashamed to be singing with such company. They have great voices which so put me to shame I tell you. Haha, Jieting was singing "童话" in soprano coz... I think someone was singing it in a normal voice (can't really remember). Wow, Jieting, I take my hat off to you. She went REALLY high-pitched! AND it was still in tune OK! WOW! =) Need I say anything more about Jiun Pey and Yi Ling? Oh well. Suffice it to say that they have fantastic voices, all in their own unique sense. Jiun Pey's voice, though soft, has a kind of "magnetic" quality about it, as quoted from Jieting. It pulls at people, making them wanna listen more to it. Yi Ling, well... her voice is strong, and she has what we call "台风". When she sings, there's emotion, and gestures... Makes me wonder why she didn't take part in Superstar. I didn't ask her either.

Jieting and Yi Ling went rather high yesterday. They were singing some song- forgot the title, and they stood up on the sofa:


haha.. quite cool rite? Their voices match quite well I must say, and I suggested to Jieting that she and Yi Ling should actually sing a duet for Impresario. They should!

One blip on an otherwise great day: service at K-Box. Man! So rude! When it came time to pay, I just took out all the change... didn't wanna give them tips... I mean, for wat?! Yah, I know it sounds kinda bitchy of me to do so, but... well... they ruined an otherwise fun day. -_-"

Haha, now all i have to do is persuade evon and yi lun to go with me to k-box... hmm.. mebbe we can even ask the cousins to go... Alvin, Alan, Laura, what do u think? ;)

Yesterday

Hey, just a short note here first b4 i blog proper here....

To Jieting, Jiun Pey, Jinghua and Yi Ling (not me!! another Yi Ling) if u want the photos! They have been uploaded into my Yahoo! photo album! go there and get em if u wanna see them or upload them into ur comp k? I'll be posting some up later...

Haha, but for now, i gtg do my work... so overdue.....

Hmm... Gender Difference?

Haha, Merrilyn found this article during our stats class yesterday. It's called Women like Women more than Men like Men

This article is courtesy of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Read it and tell me what you think!

Laura: for more information on Psych, you can visit this website k? =)

WEEKEND!!

Haha, it's the weekend again!! And I'm back at home again! =)

This week has passed ok lah, and.. well, its amusing actually, coz remember in my last post I said I had made a few mistakes for my maths paper? Well, as luck would have it, the mistake I had apparently thought I had made was not a mistake at all. It was correct due to my carelessness you see... I had missed out the word "false" in the statement, so I anyhow chose the odd one out. Haha... Si Huan's method worked! =)

I'm gonna try to enjoy the weekend! =)

YIPPEE!!!

YAY!! FREEDOM!! For the moment, at least. Today was the last paper. Not say it was done well (I made a few mistakes), but at least tests are over. I just hope not too many mistakes were made, coz the lecturer said that the final paper's gonna be hard. And Hard's just so NOT what I need for "Basic Maths for Economists".

It's such a nice feeling u know, of not having to mug so hard for once in the past 10 or so days. It's like the lid has finally been taken off. Oh, and not to mention the worry of not being able to finish revising. Argh. Don't even get me started.

Si Huan found more ppl from SADM!! Yay! So tomorrow we will be collecting like 10 more data from them, then we can submit our results to Mario and he'll analyse our results for us. That is, if Si Huan manages to get her friend to do so by tomorrow... coz i informed her rather late u see.... hee... Oooh and here's something exciting: Mario says that our experiment is worth exploring, and after we have finished with this project, maybe we should improve further on our experiment- creating a software for our experiment, then rewriting the research or something, then maybe we can try submitting it to one of the smaller Psychology Journals to be published. COOL RIGHT?! I'm so excited just thinking about it. Of course, this idea would not have been possible if not for Merrilyn. Haha... =) And, yah,though it's not one of those more prestigious journals like APA's one (that's natural... the prestigious journals have a rejection rate of up to 90% a year!), I think it's a great exposure and it's kinda flattering to know that you have the kind of research that is interesting enough to be published. =) So, Laura, isn't Psych fun?

Hehe... i'm waiting for my hair to dry, which explains this ungodly hour at which I'm still up. Supposed to sleep early tonight though.. Ooops... =X

3 Loads off my shoulders and one moreto go!! YAY!! FINALLY can breathe a small sigh of relief. But there's another test tomorrow- Basic Maths for Economists, and MAN! I so haven't prepared for it!! Disgusting. But I just couldn resist letting out my sigh of relief just for this short moment... =)

Last week was a real horror. I barely had time enough to catch my breath or even catch up with family. One week seemed a long time to me before the hols, but once it started did I realise HOW WRONG I WAS. NOW i know that 1 week is NOT enough to study 6 chapts, much less 5 modules of work. OK, so I'm gonna make plans, plans which I hope I can keep.... *keeping my fingers and toes crossed*

Though tomorrow is a hectic day for me, I'm still looking forward to it!! Coz it's the last paper!! YAY!! Then I have a short break. Before it's back to the grind. Have to complete a report and carry out somemore experiments, coz Mario says we dun have enough SADM students. CRAP. Hopefully our group can finish it faster and then can fully concentrate on exams!! ARGH

Today's paper was ok, got 34/45... I know... it's not very great... but considering the fact that I had rushed thru its revision and I thought I was gonna fail it, I think its ok lar. I could have done worse, BUT I certainly could have done better. Today's test just made me realise how unfamiliar I am with research designs. CRAP I actually forgot what was the independent groups design, matched groups design etc. I was mentally kicking myself. OK. This tells me I should make notes for that already.

OK, I'm going back to study... Wish me luck!! =)

Been feeling a vague sense of panic lately, think it's stemming from the coming onslaught of tests descending upon me like.... like.... like a flock of vultures!! Bursting at the seams here man, and I thought 1 week was long?! who the heck was I kidding? After 2 days, all I've accomplished is finished compiling my subcomm list, send an email to my lecturer bout the essay I'm supposed to do (which I of course haven't done yet, but I've watched the movie to refresh my memory), finished part of my stats assignment (the other half hasn't been done yet because yours truly had overlooked the fact that I had an assignment to do and thus forgot to bring home the book from hall), and.... that's about it. I still have 13 chapters of Psych stuff to read, an essay to write (I'm hoping to start on it soon!!), bout 6 chapts of Basic Maths for Economists to read for the test, and... *GASP* a freaking project to complete by this hols. Oh man... and I thought I would have time to volunteer to do the slides for our presentation... It's like, I'm losing control of everything! I've never been so unprepared for tests before man... It's so many chapters and scaring the hell out of me. And thing is, quizzes are supposed to help us pull up our overall GPA. Well, how am I gonna do that? By cheating?!

Was so stressed just now I quarrelled with Lun. Argh. I hate that... Hate quarrelling, esp when I'm seldom at home, and we seldom see each other. Waste time, energy, emotions... and thing is, the burst of anger didn't even help to dispel some of the helplessness and frustration inside me.

Haha, how true are the results of the tests below? Gimme ur comments! =)

Slow and Steady

Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It'd really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment. They expect you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then usually decide against it.

How'>http://www.blogthings.com/howdopeopleseeyouquiz/">How Do People See You?

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is low. Even if you're tempted, you'd try hard not to do it. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/keystoyourheartquiz/">What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!

And I'm sooo ecstatic about it. Not that this break is gonna be a breeze though, coz it's not. There are projects to be done, reports and essays to be written, and.. *GASP* surprise of urprises! tests to study for! -_-" Oh well, on the bright side, at least it's one GLORIOUS week of no lessons and staying at home and being with family, even though their term will start again this week, and von is having her prelims. Argh. I shudder to think of the horror of prelims.

After a week of mad rush, the hols are a thankful reprieve i tell u. For the whole week, I've had 6 1/2 hours of sleep practically everyday. All thanks to the variation of the stroop project that we had to carry out. The project's not finished yet, though. There's still a report to be done and a presentation to prepare for. Thank goodness I've got wonderful groupmates. Haha, they are a wonderful bunch- lame, good-natured, responsible. I hope we end up in the same tutorial group again next sem and the subsequent years. Though everyday is a race with time to get our project in shape, there're always laughs to share, which makes the whole process much more bearable and enjoyable. Love it. =)

I wanna watch the netball finals of Singapore vs Malaysia. Netball's quite fun to watch- fast-paced action. Whoever said netball's for sissies is a dumb duck.

I'm still trying to bully my heart into starting on my holiday homework, but it's bullying me back by forcing my brain to send messages to my fingers to start blogging and talking (basically doing anything that doesn't involve studying), and so far, my brain has been succumbing. Not that it doesn't know that it's succumbing. It just enjoys the pleasures of doing nothing. Well, no sirreee! Not anymore! Going out with Jinghua today, so I guess if I wanna have a guilt-free and happy time out, I better get started. Looking forward to the high tea tomorrow too!! YAY!!!

It's 2340 hours, and I'm not asleep yet. Not that I dunno why, but it's coz I'm so fed up with the stupid software that I'm supposed to download to carry out my group's experiments. Yah. And darling Yi Lun is helping me design the logo and the biz card for DAC. Really grateful to her for that.

I know I should be sleeping, but I keep having this feeling like there's something I haven't done yet. It's getting on my nerves. I know there are alot of things I haven't done yet, but this nagging feeling feels important. Can't put my finger to it though. Projects are pouring in like nobody's business already, and I'm swimming in them now. Not to mention the extra readings that I've gotta do. Finally caught up with HP101 (Intro to Psych), and slightly ahead in HP200 (Stats in Psych Research), but behind in HP102 (Research Methods in Psych - *yawn*). Yah, and how bout my electives?! And the activities that I joined. Is this just a teething problem, or is this a bad omen of things to come?

Oh cripes. I haven't come up with a criteria and questions to ask the interviewees. SHeesh!! I gotta think about it tmr after my lecture. Oh, one bright spot for tmr. Watching From Hell, a movie with Johnny Depp inside. Yay! Love his acting. I hope I understand the deeper insinuations of the movie. As advised by Dr Chan my lecturer, DON'T TRUST WHAT THE DIRECTOR SHOWS YOU. That's what he says to think whenever we watch movies *shrugs*. That way, he says, we'll get more from the movie.

Oh before I go, THANK YOU Xue Fang, for giving me ideas for the variable ratio schedule!! =)

My week

Alot of things have happened this week-

Mon: went for NTU's 50th anniversary, but we didn stay to watch FIR's performance. Pity, that, cos I heard they performed 6 songs. Nonetheless, I don't really regret it lar. We had to stand for so long, and the ppl kept asking us to stay at the side. One moment they told us to move to the left, the next they told us to move to the right. Well done. Who do we listen to then?

Tues: first Deli Aprecio Club (DAC) meeting. Interesting. We have to come up with designs for the club logo, come up with the Club's slogan, vision, mission and values. And subcomm recruitment is on Tues, 730 pm. Anyone interested in joining publications? Just come find me. Which brings me to another point: the criteria regarding the members for my subcomm, and I gotta figure out how often to hold the meetings. Oh, and questions to ask the interviewees. Oh man. I've never done this before. Can someone advise me pls?!?!?!

Wed: Nothing much, just the usual weekly torturous Wednesday, with 3 consecutive lectures dragging over a space of 6 hours. And when I say consecutive, I do mean CONSECUTIVE. Seriously, the only thing that I look forward to at the end of Wednesday is its end and dinner with Jieting and her rommate Shijia. Haha, it's great to dine with them. Can talk to them and unwind and gossip. I feel relaxed in their company. Oh, and if Dr Kenneth Chan is screening movies, yep, then that's another thing that I look forward to, just that I find that I seem to be unable to understand the movies more and more. Is it because I'm pressurizing myself to see things? Or issit that I just can't grasp what Dr Chan is trying to teach us? Or is it that what I watch is entirely beyond my schema of knowledge- gayism, the male gaze, or the cinematic gaze?

Thurs: Watched Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (or La Belle et La Bete). Wonderful movie, though there was a constant tendency to compare it to Disney's version. This version seems more magical, more realistic than Disney's and much darker. Oh, and rather hilarious too. The actions of Belle (Josette Day) was so over the top. The perfect swoon- fainting but not causing pain or bruise to any part of her body, AKA gently falling down while fainting- the classic female putting her hands to her forehead... well, u get the idea. Her face always seemed to be glowing too. Haha. Just learnt the term today. Her face looks like it just came straight out of a vermeer painting. An example of that is the picture below, done by Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch painter. This painting should be familiar. It's The Girl With the Pearl Earring. I meant to watch the movie, but I was in hall. Argh. OK, here's the picture:


Credits to Johannes Vermeer and http://www.about-vermeer-art.com/vermeer/vermeer-posters/poster.html?id=1

Cool movie.

Fri: Need I say more? I can come home!! Today was an unusually long Friday though. Had to do 2 project discussions for Psychology. Luckily one of them was quickly done, which is a load off the shoulders- nonetheless, I'm getting worried. Info seems to be processing in my head at an unusually slow pace. I can't really catch up with what the tutor is saying when she teaches the SPSS file. Darn. I keep forgetting the steps, and I don't even know what the split file is for. Crap. I don't know what to use what for. Argh. I hope my friend can get hold of the SPSS prog and I can borrow to practise. The other... I have to ponder the project again. Seems like I didn't contribute much to the project this time. I hate not being able to contribute to project. Shall see what ideas or what I can do for the project tomorrow. Hopefully I can come up with something.

I have to sleep early tonight... My new plan is to sleep early on weekends and HOPEFULLY wake up early the next morning so I can get an early start on the day. Let's hope my new resolution stays.....

Variable-ratio Schedule

It's now 940pm, and I still haven thought of what is it in our everyday life that's a variable-ratio schedule. A variable-ratio schedule is a timetable in which behaviours are rewarded an average number of times but on an unpredictable basis. An example of that would be like a slot machine which might pay off at an average of every 20th time, but the gambler doesn't know when this payoff will be. The slot machine might pay off twice in a row and then not again until after 58 coins have been inserted. This averages out to a reward every 20 behavioural acts, but when the reward will be given is unpredictable. This schedule produces high, steady rates of behaviour that are more resistant to extinction.... So can anyone tell me what might constitute a variable-ratio schedule?!

I have decided that I'm not gonna waste my life thinking bout it. I've got other things to do like catch up on m reading of the textbooks... oh man.. i'm soooo way behind... So if anyone's got any idea, pls pls PLS tag!!!

American Horror Film

Here I am, at 2332 hours, fighting a war between my brain and my eyes- the brain is saying I have to keep awake to read this ghastly article, while my eyes are insisting on closing. Mark my words, when I finish reading this article, the war will be the other way round. Is this the natural act of nature or issit just me? Anyway, I'm still awake, and not even halfway thru this reading of the American Horror Film, where Freud and Marx come into play. It's a whopping 28 pages long, and I've only reached the *GASP!* 4th pg of it. How wonderful can I get I wonder. So what am I doing online? Frankly, I don't know. I guess I just can't take in anymore information. The gist of whatever I'm reading so far is that the American Horror Film plays on the subject of "The Other", which is whatever we are trying to repress but appears in the subconscious of our mind. Hence Freud. BUT, where does Marx come in? I don't quite understand how he fits in with his bourgeois capitalism theory, but, there u have it. Yah, so from what I've read so far, it seems like the American horror films play on these 2 to bring about fear in us. Yep. That's what I've gathered so far. Will update u on what it's about if and when I finally understand it. Don't bet ur money on it.

Thoughts about my family

I realise I am one lucky girl to have such a wonderful family that supports me in whatever I do, and try their best to help me achieve it. I have always known it, but often take it for granted. It was only just now in the car ride that it finally dawned on me that I had never acknowledged it.

Regardless of the fact that my parents wanted me to go into the Science stream or do Chinese or Econs in Uni, they supported the choices I made, even though at times, it looked as if I HAD made the wrong decision. Like entering the Arts stream instead of Science. I know my mother was disappointed at my choice because she felt that as a Science teacher, her children had better chances of doing well in the Science stream as she could at least help a little in our doubts. Arts? She had no idea what was going on there. Nonetheless, she continued to show me support by never showing what she truly thought of it. The only way I knew of her thoughts was through my father. I guess I disappointed him too, by absolutely discarding the idea of taking Chinese and Econs in the U, which he reckoned were the 2 fields in Arts which had the biggest career advantage. Instead, I chose to take Psychology, a field few people know about. He supportd me in this, and heped me gaher info about the course. He was also the one who talked my mother round when I decided to take Arts instead of Science. Though my As results were anything but spectacular, I'm really glad they had not forced me into what they wanted me to be. For that, I'm really sorry that I had to go and do averagely in the exams. They allowed me to do what I had an interest in, and encouraged my every decision. Even when they thought that it was an unwise move, they encouraged me on, saying that it was a learning point, and it happened for a reason. That was what happened when I entered TPJC instead of TJC. I know they were disappointed, but they consoled me by saying everything happens for a reason. I think they were right in that sense, cos I have a feeling that if I had really gone on to TJC, I wouldn't be where I am and what I am now. They never looked at me any differently or with regret whenever they recalled that I was in TPJC and not some other JC they wanted me to go

Of course, I'm not forgetting about Von and Lun. They have been my confidantes, and my advisors. Haha, Lun, I'm not forgetting that comment you made to Lijun about us not needing any mirror coz u are one for us. Whatever fear I have, they would try to dispel it for me, listening to me, and trying to help in any way they can. I remember how Lun often stayed up and put her work aside to help me work out my speech and listen to the way I presented and gave opinions about how I sounded. Granted, oftentimes her comments were uneasy to bear, but I know they were given that way because she's my sister and she saw no need to hide anything from me. Need I say that my presentations always went smoothly? =) She was the one who also made me face my fear head on, like the elections for DAC the other day. I was already planning to withdraw from the elections, and was still internally debating (though I was sure at that point in time that I was gonna withdraw), when she urged me to go ahead with it and just try it out. Even after I agreed to continue with it, she could see that I wasnt really keen on it, so she reprimanded me. Yah, I know, it's kinda mei da mei xiao to acty reprimand ur elder sister, but that was done to wake me up I guess. As for Von, I'm grateful to her for listening to me, esp during the days and the minutes b4 the DAC elections. She REMEMBERED to sms me to check on how I was- I guess she somehow knew I was almost a wreck as the time grew nearer to the elections. It was great to receive her msg and I tell you, I really smiled when I saw the msg "Hello! How are you?" A simple msg, but the timing and the thought counted.

But what actually made me write this post was what happened yesterday. We were moving the fridge into my hostel room. I wasn't the one who carried the fridge. Evon was. Everyone else was helping to carry the other stuff up. It was, like, logically speaking, the fridge is supposed to be for me, and I should be the one to carry it. Nonetheless, she knew that me carrying it was abit too much to ask for, so she automatically helped me to carry it. My father helped her too. The main point of the trip yesterday was the fridge, and I ended up not carrying it. Also, the fact that my father is so willing to drive me up to NTU every Monday to drop me off and coming up with me to make sure everything is all right, regardless of the fact that he's late for work every Monday. He helps carry so much of my stuff.

All the actions carried out by my family came so naturally to them, that there was never a second thought about doing them, and that's what makes the actions much more valuable and memorable than anything else. It is this selfless giving, I guess, that makes many say that "Blood is thicker than water", and "Home is where the heart is". Now I fully understand the implications of these words. I sometimes wonder: my family does so much for me, what have I done for them that is truly memorable?

This entry sounds very heavy doesn't it? It sounds like I'm putting my life out for all to see, and my family for all to evaluate. But I AM grateful for all that they have done for me. =)

The Past

I'm beginning to hate thinking about the past. It's always, "I should have done this, I shouldn't have done that". Well, I know as well as anyone does that there's NOTHING I can do about it, so why can't it leave me alone?

Home Sweet Home!

I'm HOME!! IT'S FRIDAY!! Haha, I just love Fridays, coz it's when I finally come home man... Can sleep in my own bed, can eat homecooked food, and best of all, I'm with my family! Haha... though we call each other everyday, I still think there's a distance between us. Probably it's psychological, but it is hard to talk on the phone. I dun really like to talk on the phone- I can't hear things clearly, and alot of the times, I'm really afraid I might misinterpret what some ppl tell me over the phone, or I say something else which is totally irrelevant to what they had just told me over the phone. Yep, so next time if I keep asking you to repeat yourself over the phone, please be patient with me ok? It's not that I was not paying attention; rather, I couldn hear you very clearly over the phone, and probably needed some time to understand what you were saying, so pls excuse me if I keep quiet for a while after listening to u. =)

Alot of ppl have been feeling stressed out these days. I think it's coz work is finally catching up with us, and what we are learning is really getting tougher and tougher. Like the Stats module for Psych. I initially thought that I would be able to handle it coz in JC, Stats was pretty standard format, and I thought I had understood the concepts needed to do the questions. Boy, am I wrong. Well, maybe not wrong in my method of doing things, but perhaps in the understanding of the methods and the symbols. Usually we just talked about X and X bar without really knowing what they stood for. Now, I find that I actually have to know them in order to know what the heck the textbook is talking about. Sure I know what they are referring to, but it takes me quite some time to understand which symbol they are talking about when they use the words instead of the symbols. Worse still is when they phrase it in another way, and I have to go thru another round of "analysis". Hmm, this makes me wonder if I should just forget what I learned in JC and just concentrate on what I'm learning now, or if I should look back on my notes. The situation is the same as what's happening in the "Basic Maths for Economists" module. The maths is simple, yes, but the way the lecturer teaches kind of makes me feel like whatever Maths I learned in JC has been uprooted, but nothing has been planted back in its place. I mean, even the way he teaches simple differentiation makes me think, "Have I really learned this before?" and thus makes me doubt myself, even though I'm very very sure that I have not learned it that way before. Or maybe it's a sense of insecurity at work here. Hmm....

Time really flies man... It's already 9 something. I think I better go do finish up one of the chapts i'm supposed to be doing, so HOPEFULLY I can have some time to myself to do some SHOPPING!! Haha, looking at everyone's clothes in NTU just makes me wanna do more shopping. It's the fun of looking at new stuff and acquiring it and actually finding good buys that makes the whole experience so fun. Haha, I wonder y some guys actually question why we girls like shopping... =)

Visual Illusions and Others...

Haha, today's Intro to Psychology tutorial on visual perceptions was cool! very interesting. So much so that I started to see illusions everywhere for the first part of the morning, like how the cut grass on the slopes look like they had been cut in steps in comparison with the uncut grass below them. Too bad i dun have a digital camera with me, or I would have taken the photo for u to see.

Oh yah, special thanks to Bernice Jie Jie, for her picture from her blog. It caused alot of interest among the class when I showed it. All of them were intrigued by the manipulation of the ball... Haha, incidentally, the perceptual concepts here are actually quite a few. Let me try to explain it here. Firstly, there was the figure-ground relationship between Bernice JieJie and her bf and the ball in question. When we look at the picture, we are first unable to tell how far away the ball is, and how near they are to the ball. And besides, we are unable to judge it also because we are unfamiliar with the place- it's beyond our experience. But we can judge the distance roughly by comparing it with the buildings and the trees in the background. therefore, it looks nearer to us. And besides, if u'll look closely at the picture-esp the one with Bernice Jiejie, the size of the ball is just the 'right' size to hold in the hand, which makes the illusion even more believable. The one with her bf is believable when looked at from a distance, but up close, the ball looks a tad too big... hee.. =) nonetheless, the pics were a huge success. Haha... Hmm, about the other perceptual concepts involved, I'll have to ask my tutor about it again, or discuss with my classmates. Still a little woozy on that. Paiseh.

"Others" in my title referred to the lecture we had later in the day. Again it was "Intro to Psychology". Only this time, it's regarding Memory. Cool. Why do I mention it here? Well, it seems that I have an inclination to 'apply' wat I have learnt to things that are happening to me. Erm, it's crap lar actually, haha... coz when I wasnt listening and my friends asked me wat was going on, i just said, "I dunno. Information wasnt encoded in my memory." "Encoding" here refers to getting the information we receive from our surroundings into our memory, and one of the reasons y we dun remember info at times is coz we never pay attention to it, hence the info doesn get encoded into our hard drive. It was just stored in our "temporary folders" in our head for like, 1 or 2 seconds, then POOF! gone.

Argh there's a quiz soon, and its 6 chapters!! Wat am i gonna do?!?!?!?!?!? seems like it's 80 mcq qns. MCQs might sound easy, but they NEVER are. The answers are always so damn close to each other its irritating.

Ok i gtg study already!! i have to have some life outside of studying... oh man....