Ah-Ho's Diary

2012-01-09T19:55:00.002+08:00

I believe said about 'the other reason' girl (to protect the innocent, I shall leave it as that).

What I liked about her? I just simply love her smile. It really can light up a room with her megawatt smile. And I really love to see her laugh. Just hope that one day I can steal a shot of her laughing which is i think quite difficult hahah!

That's it i am going back to camp for my outfield now.. I see if there is anything that i can write. Hopefully it won't be too long.

And oh My new year's resolution is to talk to 'the other reason' girl.

2012-01-08T21:47:00.004+08:00

07th January 2012 marked one of the most important events on my calendar, a close friend of mine, Mei Feng, has decided to sign 'the contract' to bind her love to the man she loves. Probably, I am more excited than the bride herself for some other reason. LOL!! (I said it cos i knew you will read this HA!).

Well Meifeng isn't exactly a long time of mine but we became close friends after graduation from University. The irony is, I am not as close to the person who intro-ed us (the other reason) as compared to her. Hmmm.. LOL! From her being single to being in a relation and now, she's married. I really feel sooo happy for her (I secretly shed tears of joy for her.. shhh..) Hey, Meifeng, I bet your dad will be real proud of you and will definitely bless you from above.. Stay cheery ok? hah! The picture above is the winning shot from that ceremony itself and it is the only decent one that I can present. (Shame on me!) I LOVE IT so much!

As for the groom, he's a nice chap and I believe he will definitely look after his wife. And I must say, he's a big 'fan' of my photography LOL! cos he keeps asking me to help him get some pictures taken. LOL.

Now for 'the other reason' why I am so enthusiastic about going to the ceremony. The girl's a very very good friend of Mei feng, and I had a crush on her since an elephant could remember when. And why I didn't go ahead and really court her? The reason is that everytime I her within 10m radius. My mind would automatically shut down and goes into ultimate blankness. Haha.. And after all these years (7 years to be exact), I still could not curb with that difficulty. I mean, I can talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere. But once you place me in front of her, I am as good as dead.

I somehow got to get rid of this problem and start talking to her. ARGH! I just hope that one day I can be terribly honest with her and get rid of all the 'chains' that has been bound to me. I must grab the opportunity as it comes..

2011-11-14T21:59:00.003+08:00

It's been more than a year since I updated. I just took the trouble to look at what I have posted the past few years. Is damn funny and kinda stupid ah well.. People grow up and think differently.

Within this year many things have happened - good ones, bad ones. As the saying goes, Shit happens but life still goes on. Haha!

This year marks my last year as a 20+ and 2 of my long term pals have got married - 2 down 1 more to go! Feeling damn happy for them and Boy I sure am glad that I was part of both weddings.

I attended my poly bud's wedding on Sat. Words cannot describe how happy I am for him now that he has finally settled down and his wife is also my poly classmate - how cool is that? Now I just hope to see his baby real soon haha.. On his wedding day, I was one of the Brothers and the coordinator for the dinner. And I was being arrowed to catch the bouquet from the bride as i was the only single brother around - the rest are married. Damn!! And to rub salt into wounds, the bouquet just fall in front of me and i have to grab it. =(

And also in that wedding, I find the emcee quite cute (seriously) - just a casual comment haha and the wedding couple volunteered to match make for me OMG haha.. well let's just be friends first, I am not counting my hopes though.

I have decided, next yr's my big 3, therefore, if i am still single by next yr end, I will concentrate on going to Tibet before 35.. means workout and saving money hehehe..

2010-06-06T21:55:00.002+08:00

My buddy had just tendered his resignation from the company. Which means i will all alone after i finish this project nobody to bitch now.. Maybe it will be my turn after this project

My 2nd project will start tomorrow. I think this project will be particularly draining for me sigh.. Tougher project, with nobody to rant to after work sigh.. Low morale and no motivation to work.. Hope things will be better soon..

2010-05-26T21:50:00.001+08:00

Project start. It's tough coordinating things around. Can't really focus on task. Too many things coming up. I think I am not suited for this. Sigh. Feel damn stupid at site these days.

Miss this girl argh! Feel like ranting but ahh well..

2010-05-16T23:09:00.002+08:00

Was having driving test yesterday and i got immediate failure!! damn!! This is the first time i beat the traffic light.. Argh!!

2010-05-09T21:23:00.001+08:00

Suddenly I feel i have lost my fighting spirit altogether.

2010-05-06T23:39:00.004+08:00

Kayla and her mummy!!

i have not been updating for very very long time. so i reckon no one will ever read this page again. But anyhow, i'll just write a few words about what has happened within these months that i am away. I am having difficulty finding words to put in here so pardon me.

The past few months has been quite terrible. It's been a year since i joined this company. I have rot in the company for like 6 months before really a project of my own. It was very badly done but it was a good experience.

Basically for this job i was being thrown into a place where none of my colleagues are in and was alone there with no proper office to do up the piping for a new incinerator. The place is dirty, smelly and full of mozzies. I am not complaining abt the smell and dirt part as i am accustomed to it when i was in Sembcorp. The thing is i was thrown there alone with nobody to guide me and i screwed up real badly. An inexperienced engineer being put there in a jungle with no one. I have to slowly find my way out but good thing one of my colleagues will on and off come and visit and advise me on certain things. and other colleagues will call or sms me to see if i am ok.

And i really have to thank a couple of my friends who were there to hear me whine and rant about my work. =) or else i think i will breakdown.

On a brighter side, my sis had given birth to a cute little girl - Little Kayla. She's such a dear and adorable. She's one of the reasons that i am holding on to myself.

There's this girl. We used to hang out, go pray at bugis together and dine out. we used to rant abt our work. As time goes by, she gives me a feeling that i would want to protect her and makes me want to dote on her and make her happy (it is always a pleasure to see her smile). I remembered once she said that there is this girl at her office whose bf/husband brought her food from home and it was sooo sweet. At that instance i wanted do the same too. like say, ask her mum to cook her food from home (yes, i kind of know her family la) and i would travel to bring to her office. Well, we were that close and i grew increasingly fond of her. i told her abt my feelings a few months ago. Thereafter, i began to take her presence for granted and did many stupid deeds. Sigh

Recently, she began to be cold towards me. I dont know why, maybe is because of the things i said or did prior to that. And because of this i realised that how important she is. Maybe she has found somebody whom she can rely on. I certainly hope this guy treats her very well if that's the case. For me, i think i will continue to be there if she ever needs me. If there's any chance that she wants a person to share her burden, i will always be there.

2009-10-17T00:53:00.002+08:00

I haven't been blogging since quite some time

Just last week I saw a girl i had a crush on 3 yrs ago. Ohh my she's gorgeous... sigh... and my heart began racing like watching liverpool in penalty shootouts. ah well i thought i have moved on after these years seems like i haven.. =(

2009-01-03T15:18:00.002+08:00

Day No. 6

Have been a little bit short tempered and impatient these days. Don't know why. Maybe it's work as there have been too many accidents happening as of late and I am not really happy with how the company views this. Ah well. Somemore now I have smsed Pigmel less. One less person to talk to.

KL trip was not so great as there were nothing much to see there only for shoppings and the shops there argh. The shopping queens who went with us just took 1 hr to walk ard and got nothing. Ah well.. Have told Piggy that I like her and that's just that. I must say that when i told her this i just want to let her know about it. Didn't have any hope or agenda. Now I just want to get over it and move on. Hope it won't take me very long.

Have been thinking about what happened in the past few months. Stressful moments and happy ones. Realised that I was happier when I was able to talk to her on the phone, sms her daily and even looking at her during her haircut hah! It may seem nothing to her but was really glad to be able to take care of a person that I liked when she's not feeling well. Ah well.. Think won't have much chance to do the same for her again I suppose. As what the Army always say - suck it up and move on.

Tree will always be there for leaf if she needs him and no matter where wind brings her to.

2008-12-20T23:38:00.002+08:00

Slowly Recovering.

Had a chat with David on Thursday. Now I looking for a change in job. We chat about jobs, our dream and the possibility of us working together. Feeling much better now as in I am not so vexed and I have reorientated my focus. However, I still think of her a lot. And with the help of my dear, I now know how to deal with this prb and I now know what to do next. Thanks dear and Bro.

Met her whole day today. Initially i thought htat i would meet her just to go temple and a quick lunch but in the end, ended up shopping with her friend.

2008-12-17T21:37:00.002+08:00

Sweet Memories

Sometimes I can't help but recall back my times with her. Mr B asked me to format my memory already and forget about what had happen. but I didn't want to cos it was a happy one.

2008-12-16T21:40:00.003+08:00

3 days on....

Went back to work on Monday with a grave mood. Hoping to find 007 to talk to and su ku. Sigh too bad she's on a 2 day MC for food poisoning. So have to carry on working.

Life's pretty aimless now. Every week I have always been looking forward to meet Piggy for meals and listen to her complain about work, sister and what nots. Sigh.. Now have nothing to look forward to and asking her out for dinners will be a bit difficult.

Dont know how long this will last but I sure hope I will get over it soon. The sooner, the better. I still hope that one day I can tell her that how important she is to me.

2008-12-13T23:08:00.003+08:00

Frog Alone - Game Over

Let it go ba.. Let it be free flowing.

But I still like her.. I will be there for her whatever happens.

I am Speechless.

2008-11-25T23:19:00.003+08:00

Piggy's Bday

19/11 was a disastrous day. Met on her birthday and had a meal. I think this might be the last time i meeting her for dinner or something le. Sigh. Such lousy planner I am.

I am really terrible at talking, esp to people I am interested in. Ask me to talk to my workmates, I am ok with that. I can rattle on and on and on. But in front of her i just become mute. Ah well.

And talking on the phone? I think that I wil fail horrendously. If there were to be a grading system on that. I probably think i will score a big fat zero. I cannot sustain a conversation on the phone for more than 5 mins before. It's just book appointments, making arrangements and what nots. I've been trying to talk to her on the phone but sigh.. dont know why my mind just went blank.

Sigh Such a failure I am..

2008-10-25T21:11:00.002+08:00

I was working in the afternoon shift yesterday and my Asst Manager accompanied me while waiting for her husband to end work. I told her that where I am now is just a small part of my big dream. And told her that even if i fail to achieve my dream in the future, I will not want to feel the regret because I have tried.

Deadline is nearing soon. And I still do not know what to get. Sigh. I dont know what's going to happen next. Even if i lose i must lose gracefully and be a gentleman i am expected to be. Ah well. All I know now is that I am falling deeper everytime we meet.

2008-10-11T23:17:00.001+08:00

Hmm I got this feeling I have been stabbed in the back. But then again who cares? ahh well.. If anybody wants to play dirty, I will certainly entertain.

2008-10-06T22:42:00.002+08:00

Froggy Only.

Life is really full of twists. If there is a need and she is really uncomfortable about it, I'll just leave and wish them well. I remember a quote I read from Jacky Cheung's concert.

爱不是牺牲，也不是占有，而是成全。
得到爱的时候，要让爱自由，
得不到的时候，跟是要让爱自由。

For now, I will just hang on. I still have a promise to fulfill and the deadline is soon haha.

2008-10-01T23:12:00.002+08:00

Froggy and Pigmel

Get to know this girl recently, she's really cute. Tell you more next time.

P.S. - Just for the sake of updating my life now.

2008-09-01T23:56:00.003+08:00

I just dropped a few drops of tears moments ago. No, not because I am sad but I was really touched by someone. This someone was my senior in pri/sec/poly and a personal friend. I was touched by his determination and his belief. And his 'living life with no regrets'.

GO Ming Jun go!!

http://singaporedream-rtw.blogspot.com/

2008-08-19T23:19:00.002+08:00

19/08/08

It's been quite some time since I blogged, too busy slacking in work and complaining about work.

Time flies and I have already worked for 2 months. I am getting used to the work here only thing that it's quite mundane. Sigh, hope things will get better soon. I am itching for some challenges hahahah..

And I have plans to go back to books in 2 years haha Hopefully it can be fulfilled.

2008-06-26T23:37:00.002+08:00

Time for some updates. I have got some whinings so please bear with it.

I went for a week's trip to Hong Kong and Macau with my secondary school buddy Adrian and his family, we had fun and lots of good food. I see if i have the time to put up some good pictures of them hehe..

I have since started work with some big corporation after the Hong Kong trip and a week's break. Kind of bad actually and the second day i already one out. That's bad. But now i decided to stay for a couple of years before really think what's my next part of life would be (i.e. the initial plan set out i think we can throw into the drain BUT i think if given the chance i will still pursue my masters. As for which industry i going into is still unknown because I dont see my future with sembcorp.)

Now for the whining, Today is the 4th day of work and i have already been stunned a few times. Firstly, one of my colleagues just said in front of others without prior notice that he had handed over EVERYTHING to me which means he had washed his hands off everything and he didn't even tell me anything. This leaves everybody in the office stunned. Here's the conversation

A: "hey, can you order some uniforms for spares?"
B: " Oh, i have handed everything over to Ivan so I am not touching all these."
Me: *stunned*
A: !@#$#@$#$%#53

YUP, that's one. There's more to come. I dont know whether i can last the 2 years i set myself to stay hai. If these kind of things keep happening. I think they will see the last of me ever. I have never been so demanding towards people around me before. I think I am slowly training to become a devil these days. Hai...

2008-06-06T17:50:00.002+08:00

it's been a long time since i last blogged. about 1 month +? ahaha.

Nothing much really happens these days though just that I have accepted sembcorp's offer and I shall start working from there. Hopefully it will allow me to do a career change. I am thinking of going into business or somthing and I will be allowed to take MBA or something in the future. That's just a rough idea.

Today is last day of my intern and yea.. haha i had fun for past 6 months and not forgetting the slacking part. haha. and come 23rd June I will be officially an employee of Sembcorp.

These days i have been surfing stomp.sg and i find that there are many many types of pple in this world. Haha pple who like to la sai, pple who really got nothing better to do and people who dont think. Ha.. Well who am I to comment? I am just a boy hahahah

2008-05-12T23:12:00.002+08:00

Man Utd - The Worthy Champions

Yesterday marked the end of the English Premier League and my last second season watching soccer. Why? Because I refuse to go get the singtel cable TV and watch champions league and I dont want to watch EPL alone. That's all

Back to the 2007/2008 season. I must now stress that I am no Man Utd fan and I am a Liverpool fan. However, I think Man Utd really deserves to win this season. With their well balanced team, and players who really play their hearts out in every game and their never say die attitude. They just refuse to say that they lost the game. They will just run and chase every single ball they until they get the winner. Wow That's what i call passionate footballers and hunger to win. I really enjoyed watching them play matches. And oh, their players stick together even though they have lost a game. *Respect*

*note: I was an anti-Man Utd fan until this season.

On the contrary, I have lost respect for Arsenal as a team. Although they are playing very good football - passing in style. They have proved to be too flashy and inefficient. Can see cannot eat type. Moreover, their captain really make me sick to the gut. As proven in the Birmingham game, he just refused to stick with his teammates and left for the tunnel after they conceded a last min penalty. Hai.. And on the surface, they seem to have very good teamwork but that is just when they win. But when they go on a drawing streak you can see the fracture in the team. and now the team is in tatters and torns.

ok that's it for now i shall go on and have a run bye

2008-05-06T21:08:00.003+08:00

Strange Music

I was listening to my mp3. I find something very interesting. As I listen to one of Mozart's famous composition, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I gives me a very special feeling. I dont know how to describe it but it's very soothing. What's more is that the music sounds like it has a 3D surround sound on the the ear piece while others (I changed to pieces by other composers) don't have. Hmmm.. I wonder is it his talent or is it the recording. And somemore the no. of instruments he use for that piece is very little - Chamber Orchestra.

2008-05-05T18:26:00.003+08:00

I am so bored doing something that is redundant that I decided to blog and update a little bit of the happenings. So there..

Graduation

As times passes by weeks, I am also inching towards my graduation and also marking the end of my schooling days. At least for now... I shall summarize some of the highlights, my thoughts and complains about this 3 years as an undergraduate in Nanyang Technological University.

I had some mixed feelings about the school because i think the course never teach enough about environmental engineering - They were too focused on the water and the other things like air and solid waste blah blah were almost non existent. However, the subject that the school made us take took me by surprise and provides me with valuable knowledge about the 'real world'. The subject is economics and it's totally irrelevant to engineering but at the end of the day i find it very useful. More on that later.

In the university, i have made quite a number of wonderful friends also and there are always bad sides for every good side, i also met some not that wonderful ones. Wonderful ones like people from my Orientation group, Moogles and of course MY DEAR (she'll skin me alive if i dont say this) and some of the random people I get to know when I joined committees and friends of friends'. Not so wonderful ones are, ironically, some of the people I am for most of the time throughout my 3 years in NTU - some calafare b*****do who doubted me when i stepped into NTU and these guys are those who did well academically *shrugz*.

During my 2nd yr, I struggled for life literally. With getting good results in mind, I strained my brain by studying for long hrs and not knowing that i cannot absorb while my ever so wonderful roomie plays games and sleeps in front of me. Bleah! In the end, i didn't get the results i wanted, hence, staying very low profile in front of my classmates. I even said to my friend ' I am here to get the grades and not anything else' and my that friend happen to be a dean lister of NBS later on in his academic life. What grave mistake i made and feels like a slap in the face wahaha! but really must respect this moogie friend of mine as he really enjoy to the max and work damn hard.

My year 3 was the best year of my NTU life, I began to relax and enjoyed more of my university life. The year also introduced me to the versatility of my course (rather than just water, water and more water). And as i was the only yr 3 in the lecture room of yr 4s, I was worried that I might be left out of the grp. Surprisingly, the yr 4s were very open and we ended up enjoying doing project together. These bunch of seniors ended up as one of my closest friends in NTU (psst.. one of the peeps is my sunday soccer teammate since poly days and got quite a number are my poly junior and classmates haha). That subject is basically a summary of what an environmental engineer can do from technology to management and ISO. It also touches on things like economics (see it's useful ok?!) and environmental economics was being taught briefly. It's a shame that i didn't get to take it. But taking economics really helps to understand the importance of cost and benefit. It was also during this time that i discovered my dream and decided pursue it even though it is not the most glamourous of jobs but i dont care. What people dont want, I take.. haha

Then comes yr 4, Stressful, hectic were some of the adjectives to describe it. But all in all, it's quite a good one as i get to know more people through MF committee and get to meet impt pple like MM Lee. But the process in between was disastrous. I have to juggle between FYP, Integrated design project, MF. And June was a very low period as my dad was admitted to hospital and that got us all too worried. It was followed by the passing of my grandmother. However, I have a group of friends who somehow or rather listened me whining all these time that made time easier for me. My FYP PhD student was also very nice too. Though he is abit of a workaholic but he let me have my off days to be with my dad and friends. Phew... Thanks peeps.

The 3 years in NTU was somehow fruitful for me even though i didn't get what i set out to achieve but i got something more valuable from there - friendship, dream and vision. The only thing i feel a pity is that i dont get a gf here wahaha!(damn i am starting to talk nonsense again! haha but it's true. well. I will have to look harder in years to come and conc on my dream then). I thought that the course of environmental engineering should be more diverse and touch abit more things like air pollution and management, soil pollution and solid waste. It's a shame that we as environmental engineers have only knowledge on water resources and treatment and when people ask us on other things we just give a blank look. From here I would like to wish the new batch of graduating environmental engineers good luck and urge them to read more about our work. It has lots of potential. And finally, thank you my friends for making an otherwise unbearable place so fun.

2008-04-12T23:57:00.002+08:00

Time to say something in here...

Swiss Serenade - Swiss Cottage Secondary Winds Symphony Concert

It's been a very long time i enjoyed myself in a wind band concert. I had previously attended the NUS's concert but it put me to sleep. Even though the NUS band members have better technique playing their instrument but their repertoire really puts it's audiences to sleep. After that concert, i decided that i should look at the repertoire of the band concert before deciding whether to attend or not. That's why my friend invited me to go watch the NIE one which i rejected because of the repertoire again.

Back to the serenade, i decided to go for today's concert is because the conductor was my teacher when i was in secondary school. He's a very good teacher but a bit too fierce - his voice still sends shivers down my spine today. But well i think i owe a lot to him as he not only teaches music but also teaches us soft skills to be used today. As his wife and me discussed when i met her just now, his favourite phrase is 'fail to plan, plan to fail' and these things you dont understand as a kid but as you grow older, they come back to you.

The first part of the concert was ok, like the wind band concerts we attend day in day out and frankly, it's not very good, quite 'messy'. I think they lack something that they used to have - teamwork. However, as i was listening, memories of how we trained started to come back - good and bad ones. It's a miracle how we could endure those 'verbal abuses' thrown at us back then hahaha.. but that, somehow had bonded us as a team and i can bet my last dollar that is what that conductor had wanted from us. And now i heard he didn't lose his temper that much already. but well.. he's still a very good teacher in my mind and he is one of the people that really has my respect.

The second part of the concert was what i was looking for all the time in a concert - creativity. The second part was really something different from conventional concerts. It consists of a combo band ( small band of about less than 10 and a few vocalists). And in a society where creativity is so scarce i think this is something that really opens up the window for the creative minds of the band( every concert from that band has different things). The combo band played and sang oldies like memories, quando quando quando. And the audiences really enjoyed the show even though there was a few screw ups here and there but hey, they are just students.

The final part of the concert was a tribute to the sec 4 and 5 graduating pple, where they march in and played a few songs they had been playing. It's also a creation of that conductor. Well, he got lots of pattern la haha..

I really hope that that teacher really continue to teach students how to lead and the importance of creativity. And i also hope that future band concerts will play some pieces that let its audiences enjoy and understand what they play and not play pieces that are technical throughout their concerts. These pieces should be kept for them to display their skills during competitions not entertain concert audiences. Hope that there would be creativities to be displayed during concerts too hah..

2008-03-23T00:18:00.002+08:00

A Quick Round Up

Just came back from a short short run. I have not been running since chinese new year and can really see that my fitness has dropped to rock bottom and with my increase in weight. SIGH!!!! Need to buck up a bit if I seriously want to go for the marathon at the end of the year.

My manager at sembcorp has verbally talked to me about staying in company as a perm staff. He even talked to the HR about it. So an interview with them will be near. Speaking of the company, Channel U crew came to my depot on Thursday to film a mini documentary about people working 24 hrs. The person featured in that show is the captain at my depot and he kept cursing and swearing on how leh ceh the whole filming process and that he was really gun jeong. Lol.. Well.. Now i call him the Sembcorp Superstar WAHAHAH!! The show will be on i think somewhere ard April.

Before I leave i just put a quote by someone out there la. Which Shen Wei thought is very inspiring.

Intense Desire Creates Not Only Its Own Opportunities, But Its Own Talents

2008-03-12T22:15:00.002+08:00

I was reading an article from Forbes magazine at one of the coffee beans ard and I came across some quotes on talents and hardwork. I thought I would like to share some of the interesting ones.

Everyone Has Talent At 25. The Difficult Thing Is To Have It at 50.

-Edgar Degas

The next one is quite inspiring, something many entrepreneurs believe:

Everyone Has Talent. What Is Rare Is The Courage To Follow The Talent To the Dark Place Where It Leads.

-Erica Jong

The final one that I am going to share is the one I find very interesting. The person who said it was a violin virtuoso who had exception technique on the violin and wrote the Carmen Fantasy. He was also a very arrogant man. After reading the quote, I find he has every reason to deserve what he has including his arrogance.

A Genius! For 37 years, I've practised 14 hours a day, and now they call me a genius!

-Pablo De Sarasate

2008-03-09T22:06:00.001+08:00

Just clarify somethings. My dear is NOT my gf. She's just a very close friend of mine haha and we started calling each other dear since dont know when haha for the fun of it.

2008-03-07T01:02:00.002+08:00

I LOVE MY DEAR!!!

Why??

Because when I was really undecided about what to do, she's always there to give me a tug and say, 'Hey, this is your dream, remember that and give it your best shot at it.'

2008-03-02T16:08:00.002+08:00

Life is full of Irony, especially for mine. It seems like it's been there to make fun of me HA!

2008-02-05T23:41:00.000+08:00

Ok, I think the next few months you'll be reading about my attachment-my encounters, my view, opinions, my thoughts and COMPLAINS. These are very subjective so if you don't like what i am posting, you can stop coming to my blog from now on haha.

Today I ended work quite late but i get to hitch a ride on a rubbish collection truck back to CCK ehehe.. Not bad eh? Free transport.. I think the captain of the fleet a bit buay tahan me liao haha just now i told him that i wanted to hitch a ride back so as to save trouble of walking out and save $$.. He gave me the 'you are full of shit look' lol.. haha.. But true enough, after i come to sembcorp i become full of rubbish.. A lot of nonsense from me la..

Anyway, while i was travelling in the truck and dumping the rubbish off our ass, the driver said to me, 'you all study until university, good, can be manager or what sit in office and plan. Not like us do manual work very tough.'

Not very pleased with what he said, i countered, 'Having a degree and being a planner doesn't mean anything, without people like yourselves whatever we have planned is just on paper and they will not spring into life and run the operation. Moreover, now that everybody's study a lot and then you throw a stone, the person it hits will most prb be a grad or undergrad. Therefore, in 10 or 20 years, the drivers might be an undergrad.' (dont shoot me, it might be true, this might be due to academic inflation) To conclude, i added that university grad or not, manager or worker, their roles are equally important.

After that, I had an early reunion dinner with my cousins. I found that there is one person i can really talk about my attachment- my roles and what i observe. He is my cousin-in-law. He is one of the very few to support me when i said i wanted to go into that line and i really had fun talking to him about it. This is because he is also in similar business and he has a startup doing with cleaning service.

2008-02-02T01:04:00.001+08:00

Hmm I dont know how to put the title for this post ah.. well think it can do without one..

I just enjoy telling people that I am collecting rubbish as my job hah.. It's really fun to see the 'huh?' look on the face and those lost look lol.. Initially I would try to explain what I am really doing but as time goes by.. I dont really care la. As what my cousin-in-law said, '只要你懂你在做什么，不用去管别人怎么想，对得起自己就行了。' And if I am able to, I think i would take this line as my career for my future. I kind of have this vision that rubbish will eventually become an integral part of the world. (explain that later)

The most impt thing is that even my own family is not convinced. And my mum, kept bugging me(it gets on my nerves sometimes) asking why i chose to go this place and not back in the lab doing testing(which never fails to bore me to sleep). I just have to keep telling her there is no way I am going back into the lab. Moreover, the water industry will be saturated with scholars and why do i have to squeeze my way into the place when there are people who are so much better than I am. Rest assured the industry is in safe hands and they dont need me there to waste their resources. I dont want just a job, I want to do well - Very well.

Why do I want to choose to build my dream around solid waste? One of the reasons is stated above. Another reason is that i have a vision of using rubbish to be converted into fuel. And I hope to gather enough experience from sembcorp and see what I can do with that experience. Moreover, I believe that everything must start from the beginning that's why dont be surprised that I am collecting rubbish. It's part and parcel in doing Waste management. I remembered the first time i hopped into the truck for collection, the driver told me this, 'Don't be afraid of rubbish for you wont know how you will depend on it.' This kind of reminds me what my friend told me, ‘stop living in a rubbish world.’ After I told her that I will one day be the director of Sembcorp.. haha.. ah well. A dream will be a dream.

Well I think I am going to be defiant this time and pursue my dream from now on. Btw it was my family who made me stay in Singapore to do the degree in Environmental Engineering.

I think that’s all for now

2008-01-29T21:33:00.000+08:00

Meaning of Teamwork

I have been playing soccer for so many years. Last week we really had a good time. Maybe is that the people i had been playing with have been playing together for so long that we subconsciously gelled as a unit. Everybody has been doing their part in defending and attacking. It's been a very long time since I had such happy time we even shared a few jokes and doing stupid tricks. The guys took losing as a team and not blaming each other whenever a goal is conceded.

Enough of technical stuff, what i was trying to say is that it really take some time to build a team and friendship and when it is matured. This team can really overcome all sorts of difficulty, and working as a team involves everybody working together and distribute the load. Take for example, 100% of work is divded btw 5 pple each of them takes 20% and when suddenly one person decides that his share is too tough and stop working his share of 20% is shared among the rest of the four making 25% each. and everybody's will be cursing and swearing.. I have met too many of that 1 person along the way already hai.. and this type of people happens to have those good results type HAI!! Whatever.. high IQ but low EQ perhaps..

Why am i talking about this?hmm...

2008-01-26T09:40:00.000+08:00

Wanted to delete every entry in the blog and start everything new.. but this blogger dont allow that so yea i gave up after just deleting a few entries.. esp when the connection is so darn slow

2007-10-06T16:50:00.001+08:00

Just happened to stumble upon this.. It's beautiful.....

2007-10-06T01:18:00.000+08:00

Ministerial Forum 2007

YEA!! Ministerial Forum 2007 has been held and it was well received and a very successful one. Everybody was happy and the people from the PMO side were happy with our performances.

It took us one year and 1 month to get this things done and the committee really had some turbulent times during the course of 1 year. Firstly, there were no ministers who wanted to come over to give this forum and we waited for like about 6 months. When we got finally got a minister to talk to us, it's MM LEE (we didn't expect to be him), the father of Singapore and we were all excited about it and got on to work until the second turbulence struck.

During the May/June period, many of our commitee are graduating and we were left with a very crippled commitee and everything was hard as we had to start everything from scratch and start to get our new committee members quick! And in we have people from Hall 2. And all these people know each other and makes them easy to work with and influenced the style of work. And we gelled quickly and started to get into business. With a very experienced logistics and very creative publicity everything was up within a few weeks. And the countless meetings to tie down everything all the uncertainties we can think of and the difficulties we face.

The 2 days before forum itself was torturous as we had to set up the audi and think of all the ushers deployment. and we spend like the whole night to put up the decos and the souvenirs for the audiences and putting up the backdrop took us 2 full days (and the champions forgot to take picture of it we just hope that the media took some and send us).

For the forum itself, everything was a rush as we had only 1 1/2 hrs to fill up the audi and everybody have to clear security and register with us before going in. The ushers IC (Me!) dont even have time to change and while tying my tie i have to take a peep to see whether the ushers were doing well as the audiences come in. Then in comes MM Lee, and he gave a forum yada yada(for details please refer to straits times or alternatively you can go to ntu website to look at the cuttings).. then off he goes to reception and we took a pic with him before he left for another function that he had to attend.

All in all, we had a successful forum. Even though there are complains and whinings during the preps but we certainly had fun and made good friends here. and our teamwork and friendship even impressed one of MM Lee's Press Sec who commented that our committe have good teamwork and everybody's looking after each other. Initially we didn't want the photo taking with MM Lee because he was in a rush but this lady (press sec) insisted that we should and she enthusiatically asked to get organised quickly and helped us to get MM and Mrs Lee to take picture with us. She's very cute and funny too. During her first visit to do recce, we were in a room thinking that she would wnat to discuss serious matters regarding the forum, we ending up having casual talks, speaking in chinese and taking chinese lessons from her. Such delight to work with a person like her.

ahhh well... all these things can only be archived as memories I suppose. Really proud of ourselves as the organising committee. As this is my final year, I doubt i will be working in any events anymore. As I always tell my juniors I have expired already. Now the spot light is being shone on my juniors. as the saying goes 长江后浪推前浪前浪死在沙滩上。

Thanks MF 2007. Thanks for the memories and thank you MM Lee.

2007-09-30T23:31:00.000+08:00

Yea!! I am going to Sembcorp for attachment. Just the company i wanted for my attachment. This is by far the best news i got ever since the year has started. Phew..

However, following the good news comes a very bad news.. Sigh.

2007-09-21T01:17:00.000+08:00

Bascially I am busy as a bee these days. I dont even dare to go out and have some entertainment. I'll have to skip some of my friends' birthday parties.

What am I doing? At least during poly days I knew I wasted a lot of time playing games and watching tv. Now? I am basically in school from 11am onwards and will start doing experiment preparation and do experiment until like 11+ pm and reach home at about 1am and bathe and sleep at 2 am. Sometimes when I am not tired, i try to study a little and do a bit of my report which is very rare. I even have to go back to school on saturdays and sundays to do experiment. WTF and now I STILL CANNOT FINISH!!!! ARGHH!!! There goes my long awaited A for my fyp.. hai... I will be in deep deep deep trouble soon. With MM Lee coming to school and ID which has been postponed to week 12 of the. I think my misery will not end so soon. Sigh....

Screwed by today's quiz.. and well this is by far the worst of the lot. I just feel like dying now. Anybody can bring me up from the dead? I even cannot enjoy my fortnightly soccer games with my mates.. HAI... I seriously need someone to talk to man.. I am simply going to explode. ARGH!!! HELP!!!!!!

Only thing i can look forward to is an 'ice-cream date' with my 'dear' in October. And there is a high chance of the 'date' buanging also..

2007-09-14T01:40:00.000+08:00

You can choose to ignore what I said, it's your call. I am just trying to put my point across.

2007-09-10T16:39:00.000+08:00

3 more weeks but will I last till that week? hai.. I am on the verge of going crazy la. Tomorrow there will be 3 meetings 2 for ministerial forum and another one for my project. And if my densimeter is repaired by tomorrow i will have to travel all the way to pasir panjang to get it and do experiment till night.

*note that my report is just like less than 10% done. And deadline is coming HAI!!! Dont know what to write at the moment la... sigh.. results not complete also...

2007-08-25T13:21:00.000+08:00

...And Scenario 3

And scenario 3 is very common that people may encounter one way or another la. Recently, I have been asked to go down to have lunch with a friend (before I go down I already know what I am going to get. *in the previous post i already explained already the whole thing. It's about network marketing*). I went there just wanting to know how it operated and see if i liked that idea.

Hai after the presentation of so called business idea (actually is psychoing using money and more money and flashy car) i dont like the idea la. Dont ask me why. I just dont believe what they can offer la. It's like too good to be true for me.

Okay back to the irritating part. After a few days, my friend called and asked me when can he meet me up again and present his product to me. I told him that I would be tied down with work until the end of oct. He dont believe me and kept smsing me every other day telling me to give him a chance to share product.

Look, The situation is this, I dont even have time to go have a good sleep and a good meal, What makes you think that I have time to listen to your so-called product presentation? BA!! In the end i just simply ignore the person la.

P.S., just in case you all dont know why I am rushing for time, Here are my deadlines:

2nd oct FYP report draft.
4th Oct Ministerial Forum.
End of first week of Oct Integrated Design Project

And on top of that i have 2 lessons, one of which has to hand in weekly assignments of things that I have not learnt before i.e. Control Beyond Engineering.

2007-08-24T01:45:00.000+08:00

Nonsense..

These days I really have no room for tolerating nonsense. With the stress level piling up with project works and MORE PROJECTS! I really cannot afford to.

Here's scenario no. 1 (This issue occur a few weeks ago when the school just started. And I have already forgotten about it and since these pple involved are my friends, What the heck. But another issue arrived just today so I might as well type this out):

The group has already been formed for a project involving 4 guys and 2 girls. The maximum number of people in a group is 6 and there is this girl who is good friends with the other 2 girls in the group wasn't involved and the other 3 guys have already roped me to make the group 6 members. Then when I was heading home that day one of the grp members SMSed me asking me to see if i can get another grp to join. Why? Because this girl was upset because she was not in the group. Why is she upset? Because she and her good friend had already made arrangements to be in the group BUT this group friend didn't breathe a word when we were discussing about who would be in the group. It's a consequence of not speaking up during meetings.. BA! I've got to admit I was EXTREMELY irritated then. but now I'm fine le.. Sometimes i just feel that my click of friends do not speak up enough la.. xian.. It could have saved us so much trouble lei..

Now's scenario 2: I am involved in this Forum committee la and i have 2 programmers working under me. A few weeks ago, I was chasing my programers for the programmes I asked them to plan for the forum and NOBODY responded (email, smses, and PHONE!!). Just a few days ago, there is this programmer who emailed me asking how was everything since it's 2 months away. I asked him where he was and I was looking for him a few weeks ago. He replied to me saying that he was on a long holiday!!! and WITHOUT INFORMING ME!!! Oh my!! What i asked him to do has been done BY MYSELF!!! and he comes in and say he has a long holiday.. If he had told i would not be so pissed BUT HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COURTESY TO EMAIL ME AND SAY HE'D BE AWAY!!! ARGH!!

Now I am asking myself, shall I be nice? or shall I just unleash the evil side of me... I really dont have that patience to talk to pple nicely anymore.

*Warning*: Dont irritate me during these 2 months, I'll simply chew the person's head off. Don't even think about it. *ROAR*

2007-08-20T23:42:00.000+08:00

Festival, Carnival, Concert

Events to attend before I die:

Last Night Of The Proms - UK (Till now I am still wondering why I didn't go for this concert when I was in Birmingham) - July
Oktober Fest - Germany - October of course!!
Carnevale Il Venezia - Venice, Italy - Febuary (too bad I wasn't there during the Feb period).
New Year Concert - Vienna, Austria - New Year's Eve

Sigh.. Though these places are far from home but I reckon it would be a very good experience to attend these events. Like watching the Proms, we can see the patriotism of the English and see many of them attend the concerts be it in the Royal Albert Hall, in the parks in various cities... Wooohooo and sing the land of hope and glory with the pple there.. Hmm.. haha (*psst* I subconciously learnt their national anthem when I was there). hehehe

Anyway, the people at hte concert are so much more spontaneous over there as they clap, sing.. etc etc whereas singaporeans just sit there and do nothing like wood blocks/statues. Worse, Singaporeans leave concerts even before the whole thing ends!! How Disrespectful to the performer who is giving their all to give the best performance to the audience and these people just walk out.. Hai...

2007-08-17T00:01:00.000+08:00

Woch #2

2nd week into the new semester and I am as good as dead now. Spend the whole of my holidays (3 months and mind you is 3 whole bloody months) soaking in my lab trying to figure out ways to improve my experimental setup and eventually clear all my experiment. What did i achieve? NOTHING!!! Been stuck on how to make the flow constant. Now that everything is settled and is just a matter how many experiments I have clear. 9 x (2+3+4). Hai... and I wonder if i have the time to finish everything. I may even have to stay overnight in Hydraulics LAb and work over the weekends. Hai... and i still have a design project to handle (which is tentatively same deadline week as my FYP). There comes a question about myself. How come my friends can do experiment smoothly and not spend 3 whole months (some even spend like 2 weeks during holidays)? Or am I stupid or something? Hai... Lazy to compare la... Week 10 will be my death week. With design project deadline, FYP deadline and Ministerial forum. I think this few months will not have sleep.

P.S: Sometimes I feel like laughing when looking at some of my friend's nick on MSN. He just amused me la... They just like to announce everything on it. Ha. Ha. Ha. and This person is just beginning to get on my nerve with his attitude la.
To protect the innoncent I shall not name who la.

2007-08-13T02:08:00.000+08:00

Network Marketing

Have been asked to listen to people talk about network marketing. What they promised does not impress me even one bit. I dont know.. What promise is money, flashy cars etc etc. But I dont know why i am not moved.. Maybe just plain stubborn ba. I think I am looking for more than money ba.

2007-08-12T16:47:00.000+08:00

School Opens Woch #1

Why some people just refuse to speak up? They could have just save us so much time and trouble if she were to speak up and prevent people from getting pissed off by small issues. HAi....

School had just started for only one week and I have so many things to do. On top of that, as I mentioned it's just only the first week, problems have already come to meet me. I can predict a very very bad semester up ahead. Nothing much to say for now, no time either. As the saying goes 有时间死没时间病。

P.S. I have 4 projects now - FYP, Integrated design , Ministerial forum and the last and my favourite - design and build my own grave for my resting at the end of the semester.

2007-08-02T00:53:00.000+08:00

Frustrated

I've officially been pissed off by my fyp. Everybody's been doing FYP, only MINE gives me so much problem and with minimal results sigh.. Been asking Technicians, contractors blah blah blah... to give me advices to improve on some of the problems but NOTHING!!! still back to square one. Experiment cannot start, and back to asking technicians, contractors blah blah blah again.. One thing though, I went to the other lab so frequently that the 'uncle' there knows me and when I tell Mr Foo (technician designated to help me) about my problem, this uncle springs into action. And this 'uncle' is the technician from another lab whom I used to fear because of his loud voice (we used to call him CSM - Company Sergeant Major).

I think i need a break, maybe a week or 2 in somewhere out there. I am eyeing a trip to UK next yr, any takers? I missed one of my pal's wedding yrs ago in India due to work commitment. I think i should go over to london to pay her a visit. And to Birmingham to visit this China guy who looked after me when I was there for my attachment.

P.S. he has just got a baby girl who is extremely cute haha maybe should buy something over for her hehe...

2007-07-20T23:28:00.000+08:00

Jacky Cheung Concert

Went to Jacky Cheung's concert last week with my sis and the man is one of the greatest singers and performer ever walked this planet. The whole concert lasted for about 4 hours without interval and that man sang till his voice turned hoarse (did i get the spelling correct?). Well it was really a nice concert and it made my every single cent worth. There is this song that really caught my attention. The name of the song is 讲你知, he wrote it for his wife and it's in cantonese. Too bad I do not know how to post music in the blog (I suck at computer stuff la, till now I think i spoilt ard 10 computers already). However, I would like to share the lyrics with everybody.

看你背面我身体欠自然

看你正面两手失控在颤

看你笑脸我开心数夜数天

与你说话我哑口会无言

与你碰面我体温会乱变

与你贴面一世的经典

若你肯再拥抱紧一点

我愿意用我十年

去换我共你十天

ooh

要讲你知你的意义

每当我的心肝跳一次

没法子难制止

你是血液渗于我每一处

要讲你知我的故事

这一秒即使心再不跳

在记忆潜意识

爱是已在心中永世不变

光阴可以瞬间转数十年

生死起跌也知不会幸免

当中只有爱的感觉未曾变

Anyway, the tune of the song is rather normal but I like the lyrics. heheh. Why? Some of my friends already know the reason le haha.

Alright, that's it for now and now I have to go back to reading my papers. Sigh... Really working to see if I can get an A for my final project. If so it will be my First in my uni life, and I've got a feeling I wont get it.

2007-07-07T00:25:00.003+08:00

Before I go, I think I would like to share this song hehe.. I think it's a very nice song even though its damn old haha.. Good night..

2007-07-06T23:41:00.001+08:00

Violins and Music

There's nothing much happening these days except those routine lab work, design and experiment. YEA!! It's that boring and please do not remind me again....

Was having lunch with my parents at IMM the other day and bumped into my violin teacher. Apparently, he didn't really recognise me as he just walked past me. hmmm.. Maybe I was too naughty then and didn't practise much so he would rather forget me.... well....

Back to the main point, after the 'bumping' incident I started to think about my past when I was still practising violin.. What if I practised hard enough.. and what if I had the patience to emphasis on the fundamentals like intonation... I could have been a maestro myself... And now I have taken a break too long from music - 6 years to be exact. I tried picking up the violin the other day to try and play some of the pieces that I can recall from my 'harddisk' of repertoire and yea i can remember the notes and some of the tunes. BUT my fingers just dont want to follow my command, i.e. it's stiff as if i have been in the freezer for 6 yrs.

I have planned to go back to learn the violin during my attachments and yea this time will be on my own money so that i can feel the pinch of paying for the expenses for the course. Moreover, I have wasted enough money over the years and didn't get any results that I can say I am proud of. This time I will start everything from the basics. From tuning, Intonation, Rhythm and so on.. and my dream is to play any of Paganini's pieces. (esp those with left-hand pizzicato)

To start off, I will have to save up and buy a new bow. The current bow I am using is too light for my liking.. hmm may go down to the violin shop at Paya Lebar in a few weeks time to get that.. Anybody wants to go with me? Just drop me a msg hehe.. We'll go see how to choose a bow and take a look at some of the exquisite violins they have..

P/s: I tried on a 90 year-old violin from Czech a few years ago. Still very impressed with the sound it produced and the price is even more impressive -$6k and that's the price for just an average violin mind you...

2007-06-24T08:43:00.000+08:00

As the saying goes, 'Good things come in pairs', that does not apply to bad/unfortunate things - They come in 3s. I am anticipating the 4th to be here soon.

2007-06-17T01:02:00.000+08:00

I seriously think I need a short break. Some overseas trip might be good.

Been busy like a mad dog these few days. Running here and there, getting my experiment setup, calling people to give their professional advice on the equipment, indenting this, indenting that, buying this buying that. The whole week was total hell. Go lab in the morning ends leave at 8pm and sometimes late at night.

Headaches will occasionally occur. Sigh... Maybe I should relax more.. Slow down my pace.

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Just went for Play! A Video Game Symphony. hmm.. It wasn't a bad concert and the arrangements are good. But the orchestra seems ordinary.. Didn't deliver much and without the WOW factor there. Maybe I have expected too much from the orchestra after watching the American ones in Youtube.com. Spent quite an amount on the CD and the programme of the concert. Sigh.. Didn't have as much fun as I have expected.

2007-06-12T16:20:00.000+08:00

Hehe This baby is so cute right? hahaha.. She's my friend's niece.. lol her name is Stacia Aka Wen Wen.. hahaha haiyo.... haha she has the smile that can steal the hearts of millions lol... I am a self confessed fan of hers hahaha...

Ok I think I am crazy already wahahha! Sooo Cute!!!!

2007-06-11T18:30:00.000+08:00

YEa!! My daddy's been discharged from hospital on tuesday but he still has to stay at home to rest and not run around. And my mum has a special set of diet for him hehehe..

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my project's been busy as ever, staying till late at night to finish up with the experiments. However, sometimes i deserve it la because of my stupid hands which accidentally hit the laser and the whole experiment has to be run from the beginning.. sigh..

Now that we have finished one of the parameters of the experiment, we have decided to modify some of the experiment setup so as to make the experiment results nicer. It's still in the brainstorming phase. I.E. we are still thinking of ideas to curb with some of the problems we have encountered during the experiment and trying to eliminate those human errors that we made. Hmm.. Tough one. Spent the whole afternoon consulting technicians and people who will helping us make the necessary amendments to the existing equipment.

It's going to be tough.. but I believe it will be a fruitful one.. If I didn't get an A for this project, at least I have learnt some valuable lessons by doing the project AND.. How is it like to be PhD student. One word: TOUGH!!

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I guess there is this question running through many graduating students now about their future. Should they specialise in certain field of their course? Hmm.. I have been thinking about that too.. I am interested in doing water quality or water treatment. but something tells me that I should do something else.. hmm.. Maybe i just want an overview of everything and learn by reading up and on the job. hmm.. If i really do specialise i think i can only do very limited things.. But let's go with the flow ba. Most prb, if i really starting a company i think an overview of things will be good. Think my first 5 yrs after grad would be checking out which field is hot and i am interested in. Studying and working is 2 different things..

2007-05-31T23:39:00.000+08:00

sometimes I really think that life is really a joke (or at least to me). Things are sure to happen when you are the busiest.

It's been a tough holidays for me. While everybody is working for the allowance, enjoying their holidays overseas, sleeping to their hearts content etc, etc. I have to go back to school as early as 9 am and go back to my hall at ard 9 pm earliest, just for my experiment to run and complete my results. Kill ME!!!! But I brought this upon myself cos i decided to rush the project over the holidays so that i can finish off with what i need to do and concentrate on my schoolwork and report writing during school term. What's more the experiment just takes too much time to set up(filling and draining the tank and calibration) while the actual run is just like a few minutes.

I am starting to consider that taking intersem is the biggest mistake here. I totally have no time to study for the exam which is like on the 13th of june. And my prep for my presentations and negotiations last time was like crap but i am lucky to have quite good group members who are quite zai with their presentations.

To make things worse my dad is now in the hospital, I am not trying to play the blame game now or what, but it's kind of sudden for me. First, he felt tired and feverish, then his body turned yellow and in the end the doctor said that he should go into the hospital for recuperation as they say he's overworked. I just hoped I will have more time for me. And I feel useless at times as I dont know what I can do to help. It's good to see him looking better as days goes by, the tired factor is slowly diminishing.

And my mum and sis started to believe in those grandmother stories by asking my dad drink this and that without knowing what they let him drink will cause and mixing and matching. BAH!! The cases they hear is INDIVIDUAL drinks not ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! Who knows what synergism effect can these things cause. I did tell my mum and she just tell me 'Dont you want daddy to be well?'.. WA LAU.. HE'S MY DAD!!! OF COS I WANT HIM TO RECOVER QUICK!! Or maybe that's just the curse of being a science students. Thinking too much about scientific facts of things. Sigh.. Just hope dad will be well.

Sigh... I've been running ard - to the hospital, school lab and temple and trying to find time to read up on the literature of my project and my examination notes. Hope everything will be better in 2 weeks time at most and my dad get discharged soon. Now i have a stiff neck, think my bed is calling me already.

End of whining.

2007-05-29T19:22:00.000+08:00

Hydraulics Lab is now my second home.. If you cannot find me at home or hall.. Can try look for me there.. haha

2007-05-24T16:50:00.001+08:00

Summary of the first 2 weeks of my holidays (is there any holidays for me?).

Basically my intersem started immediately after my examinations. Fun but it is quite taxing for me and some of my coursemates who finished the exams the same time as me. We took up negotiating classes as our business and management PE. It's an interesting subject but can be rather tiring. After class i still have to go back to my lab to do my experiments for my FYP. And guess what? The equipment spoilt in my face again. Sigh.. How many times must they spoil before letting me do my experiment in peace?! DUH... As what my professors would say to their research students who ignorantly things everything is so ideal and wont spoil until they finish their projects, 'Welcome to research.'

Anyway, back to my PE. The course was interesting and the lecturer was really funny. She never hesitates to poke fun of pple and herself which lightens the whole atmophere. And trust me, she really has a LOUD laugh.

What is negotiation without actualy practice right? As part of our assessment, we are required to do a panel presentation and a negotiation role play. We chose gender discrimination as our presentation and negotiation for IR between the company and an imaginary government as our role play. The negotiation and presentation became like an impromtu for us as we didn't have much time to search for information and sort them out. So we just picked out some critical webbies and use our own experience with the 2 issues to present. Fortunately, it turned out quite well for everybody. That's about it for the negotiation class.

As for my project, it's a total nightmare. The equipment have a tendency of spoiling in the middle of experiments and always have to delay the whole process to get it fixed and after we get it back the values we did before have to be taken out and REDO everything from scratch. Sigh.. and the equipment are not cheap.. Just the laser already cost a bomb (approx. $120 000) sigh.. and we still have cameras blah blah blah just hope that wont spoil again.

Just discussed with the PhD student about our project, apparently, our deadlines have been pushed backwards to 1st of July for the analysis and getting of results. So between monday and 1st july, there will be endless nights and burnt weekends all dedicated to my dear project. sigh.. I think it's a give and take la.. sacrifice now and towards the end of the project i just have to focus on my report writing and shake my legs.. lol..

2007-05-08T00:18:00.000+08:00

CV 4000 Engineers and Society

The school never fail to give surprises for our final paper. It's totally on history of Singapore and who invented what. The best thing is, the whole paper tested on EVERYTHING that is being taught in the lecture. Therefore, spotting is no use. The questions can run from part a - d, with every part from different chapters of the notes. Grrr! I hate history...

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The other day, I was out with some of my close friends i knew in university. They did an analysis on my.. All of them concluded that the type of girls I like are fierce.. blah blah blah... then they added if the girl is not fierce, I will not like... -_-"... !!!!! And one of my 'sis' who knew that all along claims that I am 皮痒 and 欠骂. That's why.. -_-'

2007-05-04T00:29:00.000+08:00

Exhausted.

I am extremely exhausted. Everytime i pick up my notes to start reading, the 'back diffusion' phenomena occurs again. This time worse, this phenomenon comes with a good pal of his -headache. Sigh... Why can't I have super memory like some of my friends where they can memorise the whole stack of notes with so much ease. Sigh... The usual after-exams package coming to visit me again.. They just refuse to leave me alone - making the first few weeks of my holidays a disaster.

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With the Yr 4s graduating soon, they are all looking desperately for jobs now. Sigh.. It seems that the environmental market is soooo small in Singapore. Hope that this will be better soon.

Sometimes i wonder if my results will land me an engineering job. Maybe will try chemical engineering company when I graduate, issue challenges to the elite haha.. I reckon the demand for environmental engineers will be up soon looking at the global awareness of pollution and ISO 14000. Hope I can go overseas haha.. No prize for guessing which country i hope to be in though.

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2007-05-04T00:16:00.000+08:00

CV 4000 - Engineer and Society

Last paper for the the exams which is tomorrow. This is a very tough subject. And I mean tough because we dont know what the lecturers will be focussing and the things they cover is all over the place. Sigh.. A bit here and a bit there. Basically it's just history lessons for the yr 4s. MY GOD!! I haven't passed since I dont know when. Throughout my secondary school life, I failed all (and I mean ALL) of my history exams and tests. Ironically, They still let me take history in sec 3 and 4 despite failing in in sec 1 and 2. Lucky for me, I passed the bloody 'O' Level Examination with a C.. Phew.

Think tomorrow just smoke through the paper. sigh...

Bumped into my Biotech lecturer just now. I asked about how we fared in general as a class for the papers. Sigh.. After listening to him, I xian 3/4 already.. but i think this we wont fail la.. Confirm, guarantee + chop. haha...

EN 4554 - Air pollution Control

This paper was super easy. I dont fancy an A though.. Because others might think it's easy also and do much better without any careless mistakes.

2007-04-30T00:49:00.000+08:00

Past and Future - Shit and More Shit

Have been thinking about my past and my future. I found out one common trend which is very obvious.

During my secondary school years, I was a quartermaster for the band. This post means that i need to clear whatever shit the band leaves behind including repair instrument, do stocktake with teacher-in-charge etc etc. Anything that goes wrong means going into the firing squad and being F***ed big time by instructor (which is very common. Frequency like say 1 every 2 lessons?). Clearing shit..

I managed to escape such treatment of shitty business in my poly because I just refuse to join CCA. Even band. Just too slack la. hahaa

Army. Got into combat engineers(notice my life revolves round engineer?). This time is a big time shit vocation. Building bridge for others and help them clear mines. BAH... and being a specialist for this vocation means MORE MORE SHIT. Preparing for stores and stuff. Anytime you will receive unexpected 'arrows' asking you to do this and that. Clear shit again.

Now that I have reached university, I am doing Environmental Engineering. Guess what? I am doing calculations to clear other people's SHIT from the wastewater. Things like BOD removal, organics blah blah. And I think(if i am lucky enough) I will be in that line after I graduate.
Clear shit again, again.

Now notice that my life not only revolves around engineering but also SHIT. I think next time when I leave this world, people will start saying 'he leads a shitty life'. HaHa. Very funny. But I love this job.

2007-04-28T02:43:00.000+08:00

I really liked this song for its music. Haha I thought I can share haha.. Michael Buble's sway. Pussycat Dolls also sang this with a cha cha feel and many dancers use it as their song for the ballroom dancing. Behold..

2007-04-28T01:49:00.000+08:00

Round up of Week #2 of examination.

Mon - EN4556 Membrane Technology
Wed - CV4202 Human Resource Management and Entreprenuership
Thurs - EN4559 Biotechnology In Environmental Engineering

Like last sem I was EXTREMELY (I repeat EXTREMELY!!!) careless during my preparation and during my examination. What can I say about myself other than a failure. Sigh... I missed a very good chance to get a good result for the monday paper. What our prof set for our paper was sooooo easy. Sigh. I will never forgive myself for that hai. I spent so much time prepare for membrane and i even can memorise what he said about the whole course sigh. However, the first part of the course wasn't that easy though but it's still 'doable' WTF. I missed a good chance to get good results for my final 2nd sem DUH!!! I'm praying hard that the prof is lenient with his marking.

As I said in the previous post, HRM is also a killer. Basically, we have to memorise each and every topic from the front to the back. As usual, I didn't manage to finish and what I can remember about it is minimal. It's my usual practice to look at the past year paper (PYP) a day before the paper itself to let my mind run through what's going on. The PYP succeeded in making my morale go rock bottom. What they asked in the paper was specifically what is in the notes (i.e word for word from the notes) ARRGHH!! UNPREPARED! Lucky for me, the paper was totally different from the PYP. Even if i managed to devour all the notes i see, it's impossible to do the paper at all. It's more on application of what we have learnt and we have to understand what he has said during the course and write everything in YOUR OWN WORDS. This is where the SMOKING comes in.. but i think i will do badly for this one as there are a few WHOLE questions that require things that we really memorise.. I simply hate memorising word for word..

Biotechnology, the subject I learnt to love in this sem. The prof really went all out to claim our head. OWNING!! The paper really took us by surprise. I spent almost a 2 weeks preparing this subject and what happened in the end? I dont know how to do the paper.. I dont even know what some of the questions they were asking.. *faint* but some questions were really interesting though - Problem solving questions whereby we have to use what we have learnt as our weapons to solve they problem that are given to us. For example, there is a leak in gasoline tank into the soil, given the properties of the chemicals, they ask you to tell them how are we going to get rid of the chemicals using bacteria. This type of question has no right or wrong ans to it is how you use what you have learnt during the course and apply it and how you going to support the answer, you can try smoke through with how you understand about the method.

The biotechnology course of this sem can be easily compared to microbiology in yr 2, the course in yr is just the lecturer rattle on from the slide (more of memorising from what he had prepared in the notes without making us understand) blah blah blah. Eventually, i started to dread the course of microbiology because of the hardcore memorising part. When I took this course I was a little half hearted as the bad memory from yr 2 really puts me off. But something really made me stay but dont know what was it. Maybe it's my friend who's teaching one small part of it and to peng chang that's why i took.

However, my perception of biotechnology changed after i took this course as the lecturer made every effort to explain the uses and why certain process require certain methods instead of others. He even took time to understand our problems and find out where our weaknesses was. (*whispers* our biggest problem is that our foundation is not there at all from the start). He even entertained me for asking some very very very basic questions like 'WHAT IS BOD?' ( BOD is actually biological oxygen demand, it is our rice bowl in the future) and some questions like how to use bacteria to biodegrade uranium radiation (*NOTE: uranium is already an ELEMENT, no bacteria on earth can degrade that as it cannot be degraded further). He also spent 1/2 - 1 hr after lect to explain to us any queries. I think I have learnt quite a lot for this subject even though I predict I wont score good for it. Happy with a B or a C. and no regrets taking this up.

Next week, EN4554 Air pollution control and CV4000 Engineer and Society.

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Sometimes I hope to tell this person how much I like her.. sigh seems that this hope is almost impossible already..

2007-04-24T23:10:00.000+08:00

Now i know my biggest nemesis is not DNAs and stuff..

It's HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT!!!! It's driving me nuts. I was partly to be blamed also la, leaving it to the very last minute to study.. Sigh been concentrating on biotech too much... I also experienced the phenomenon of 'back diffusion' which means the more i study, the more i forget sigh... Don't know will pass or not this time. Just read the PYP and DAMN! it's a lot of memory work.. DIE LA!!!!

It's going to be a sleepless night......

2007-04-20T01:46:00.000+08:00

Just a quick update on the final week of school.

The final week ended with 2 quizzes in 2 days. Were a couple of easy quizzes to me as the lecturer didn't do any stunt and posted questions similar to the tutorial questions. We did put in effort in preparing for those quizzes though. Now that exams are coming, the second half of these modules should not be a problem.

Met up with an old friend of mine,Jervis, at Wala Wala on friday also. He just came back from the US and will be going back soon. That's why I think I should meet and catch up with him even though it's examination period.

The meeting was good as we chatted about the recent happenings. Apparently, he's going ROM at the end of the year, which means of the 4 who went birmingham, 2 are married, 1 attached and one single and that's yours truly. haha. Anyway, I don't know why for some reason, Jervis seems to know what I my plans will be and why without me telling him. Is it that I am too predictable these days? Moreover, I've been pressed by him on why I am still single? duh.. The usual sort of questions I encounter day in and day out.

That ends the final week of school. With a good meeting with an old old friend...

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Here comes the first paper, Professional Communications, we're the last batch taking this paper for exam (Argh!), like Technical Communications which I was the final batch taking as exam also. Why do I always get this type of 'Kang Tao' one? Duh.. If i were to take the Prof Comm next sem, i wont have to take the exam!!! But I thinkthe course work will be much heavier compared to this sem but in a way it's good (I hope).

Enough of complaining, the paper was rather easy as it's open book and applications. However, I think i did differently from the majority for the last few questions so I think I'd be happy with a B.

As for the rest of the papers, I am working on it hahah.. Just hope that I manage really escape D this time round.

*P.S. The Yr 4s have officially had their last day in school, they did it with a little celebration and tribute haha.. but well really nice to have classes with them though. Totally enjoyed yr 4 now. I know people may think I am insane haha..

2007-04-11T00:15:00.000+08:00

Ok.. This is a very very very VERY old song but it's very nice.. So much better than some of the songs now.. It's tune is simple but catchy and it's lyrics is good too. Too bad Karen Carpenter(the singer) passed away before I was born hai..

2007-04-10T22:15:00.000+08:00

Was read about a story from a newspaper(or is it a newspaper?) last week. I nearly died laughing at the article, not because of the content but the way they put it. The person who asked me to read it was fuming mad about the article. The article was ok and what made it so 'special' is they way they put the 'negative side' of the situation. One thing is that the 'negative side' came out of the blue AND it's totally redundant. Have to ask the authors what message are they trying to send to the public, conflict within an organization? It's an article to celebrate the success of an event la... Another point is that it's making a comparison with no solid evidence and the comparison really has no depth in it. So why put it in? And the the 2 things they compared are 2 totally independent things. I think if the other party knows what the authors did they'll blow. haha..

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Exams starting soon lo.... After this semester, I got 1 more sem before I can officially say that I am in graduating mood hahah.. 2 more sems to graduation. Anyway, next sem I will only have 3 subjects to clear and if I am lucky only 1 examination WOHOO!!! However, I will be busy with my project after the exams sigh... Hopefully can fight for an A and learn as much from my supervisor and the PhD student...

Think the first 5-10 years of my graduation will be working and gaining experience. From there, I think I will see what I am going to do next. I had plans for setting up my own company but I need to build my network and survey the market before committing first. As I always say, future is unknown but we have to work and see what's next.

I may end up teaching also haha.. but looking at my presentation skills I think i will have difficulty presenting my lectures or class. haha.. I will most probably fumble in front of my students.

2007-04-02T00:06:00.000+08:00

week 10 and 11 passed like the speed of light. When I was busying with my biotech quiz and took to the quiz on friday ZOOM, it's the eve of week 12 already.

Week 10 is one of the busiest week in my academic life with 2 presentations and a quiz. The best part of the week is that on the days that I don't have presentations or quiz, I have to stay in my lab till wee hrs in the morning. DAMN! I dont even have time to prepare my presentation on thursday and needless to say my friday's quiz on Human Resource. The Monday's presentation was not bad at least I improved a bit but I don't know why, I just got more and more nervouse as I go on talking about my topic.

The presentation on Thursday was a total disaster as there wasn't much information on the topic which we were talking about - Banning of Sand Import from Indonesia. I wasn't totally prepared for the presentation so most of the things i just did it on an impromtu basis and I fumbled la.

Quiz on Friday. Hmm The quiz ended up with a mass copying session as there were so many people at the LT that it was impossible not to look at each other's answer but it was a rather easy paper actually kind of common sense in a way la so not much of a problem for me.

The break came on Saturday as i managed to fork out some time to meet up with Mich and RS for KTV session and dinner and gossiping was unavoidable with my 2 'sisters' (Just Shitting about school, about the good old days where we used to fight and quarrel over projects in my poly days).

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The week of 11 was just spent on reading my biotech notes and trying to analyse what the prof was talking about all these 11 weeks. I am now kind of interested in biotechnology (something that the interest died in yr 2 when I was taught by the other guy). Basically, caijie and I was bombarding questions to the lecturer about the biotechnology that is currently being practised in environmental engineering. Well, I did embarrass myself by asking some of the most fundamental questions and stupid questions that I was supposed to know. From there, i realised how shallow my foundation for biotechnology knowledge was...Sigh. But at least i've learnt something valuable that might help in the future and clarified all my doubts. The lecturer is nice too.

Just came back from The Phantom of The Opera show at the Esplanade. The whole thing was like WOAH!! The props was elaborate, the singers were damn good especially the Phantom.

The Phantom here was soooooo much better than the one in the movie, the movie version's voice just dont sink into people's mind sigh.. In all the movie was the disappointment. However, the theatre one was really good and it's worth every cent that we paid for. I suddenly realised that one of the toughest job in terms of acting/singing etc. scene is being in a musical - you have to be good in singing, dancing and acting to be in there basically an all rounder I suppose.

Met some new friends at the Esplanade who're the friends of my long time friend. They stunned me in a way haha. They told me that this was their first time to a musical. It was their reply to my question that stuns me.

Me: ' So what makes you come and watch this?'
Them: 'Oh, I never tried watching a musical before, so i decided to tag along and try. You dont try you dont know. Once you try then you'll know whether you like or not.'

I was thinking to myself woah, haha but the ticket a bit expensive lei. However, I kind of admire this type of attitude from people. Really..

Another thing that i was impressed was the customer service of The Line at Shangri-La. Was having dinner with my family at The Line as my sis for some reason got a 100 bucks voucher haha.

While I was there i noticed the service crew was really helpful in a sense a lady had her hands filled as she has to carry her child on one hand and hold a plate on another and this waiter came and offered to help and carry her plate to her seat. Ok. This is a simple gesture which anybody can do and what's more they should help as they are paid to do so. Furthermore, Shangri-La is a world class hotel and service must be there. HOWEVER, these are some gestures that need to be appreciated. At least to me la! It always makes me feel good in a way to see those haha.

Today, I had a high influx of SMSes asking me about subjects in yr 4. Some classic ones are 'What are the subjects that are easy to get A?' I nearly fainted on the street when i saw that one there. I am not against anybody here.. but I think I have a reputation of taking tough subjects lei. For example, German language where people would avoid like a plague unless they are really interested in it. Biotechnology, which is giving headache to almost everybody in class. And next in line would be using computer to sort out DNA sequences and some biotechnology shit.

Ok! to be fair, the subjects i just mentioned, I either got a pathetic C+ or I failed the quiz. But what i meant is that difficulty of subjects is subjective la and i get my joy not from getting As but what i have learnt at the end of the day la (Noble hor?! but aiya I remembered i said i came to get As when i started off in uni but i kind of give that up during my second sem). And to think there is one Major Elective that most of my batch of students dropped because it was too tough and i ended up alone with all the yr 4s. But I scored a B for that sub and i gained a lot from there also thanks to its tough project.

I dont even know what to say about which subjects to take.

Became subject counsellor and information hub for the day.

For more information about Yr 4 PEs please dial 9*******

BA!!!

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Can't help but to think about this girl la..

In Trouble liao lo...

2007-03-21T02:45:00.000+08:00

More of Kitaro, this piece is called Rei Mei. Dont ask me what it meant, i have yet to check it out even though it has been around for more than 10 yrs. It's kind of a relaxing music to me. It's just an excerpt of the piece. Sigh too bad it doesn't have my favourite part where there are Chimes. But it's good enough to share with you.

2007-03-20T00:45:00.000+08:00

Woch #9

Why does my mind always go blank when I see her? sigh.. I wonder. What am I afraid of?

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Week 9 is a rather slack one so slack that I do not remember anything about it. Only thing that our Engineer and Society tutor decides to drop us a big bomb by saying that week 10 is our presentation. What topic did my friend draw for my presentation? He drew the one about Indonesia's banning of exporting sand to Singapore. What luck...and now I am cracking my head over the opportunities that an engineer can have for his enterprise with the ban in place. SIGH!!!

I will be having 2 presentations in week 10 and a quiz (Shit I cannot seem to absorb anything about the module). But anyway I have just done one of it which is about inter cultural Communication. The good thing is that I am slowly improving in my presentation style thanks to Caijie's pointers. Even though I am still nervous at times now, I can confidently have eye contacts with the audience.

Will update more soon. Have to run to bed now, Tomorrow will be a long day in lab doing experiment.

*Note: This post is written during week #10. I wrote week 9 because sometimes i would liketo summarise what happened in week #9 haha

2007-03-13T22:08:00.000+08:00

WooHooo!!! I am thrilled now.. About the concept of my company. Apparently, there is this senior who has this same idea as me but the bad thing is that I dont know him yet. Maybe ask Janice to introduce him then we can share our ideas about this company of ours hehehe...

Ok! Back to studies...

2007-03-12T01:06:00.000+08:00

Woch #8: a Shitty weekend.

I will go into the shit weekend part late on. It's the first week after school reopen.

Nothing much during the week just that time really flies this sem. When i was adapting to the yr 4 life and doing my FYP, it's week 8 now and 1 more month to exams hai... This sem has been plague with assignments, presentations after presentations and last but not least a big project. It's time wasting especially when you equipment is as old as your academic life and they have a habit of breaking down IN YOUR FACE.

The ENE yr 4s organised a BBQ session for all yr 4 and I was invited to join them... It's a good opportunity to let our hair down and have fun. Guess what they played durint the BBQ. haha Eagle and little Chickens and some old games to relive the childhood days haha.. Esp in IT age now, these games are really hard to come by when pple plays more computer than get off their chair.

Saturday was a very nice one. It's the start of a shitty weekend in fact. When was on my way walking to the Students' Activity Centre for Open House, a bird shit dropped on me. SIGH!!

Now on the Open House. I was lucky to have a great group of ambassadors working with me for the internal bus tour haha. Really had fun working with them though. It's tiring to work the whole day when you are talking and it's even more tiring when things keep changing everytime you need to get some rest. Luckily, the guys just worked without complains and can tell that they really had fun doing it. I enjoyed myself too. Hope to work with them again.

During the Open House, I was able to talk to one of my professors about a module I took last sem and it happened to be one of my favourite ones hehe. We were discussing how he can improve on that course so that more people will register and benefit from the course. Apparently, not many want to take that module because they feel the project is too tough and it lacks depth for their liking. However, to me I think it's a perfect course to see what environmental engineers can do other than water treatment and work in NeWater plants and Desalination plants like Hyfux. And the project though it's tough but it was a fruitful one. While doing the project i might be whining about how hard it is to contact the correspondent in Denmark and how I need to digest the whole lot of information including the guidelines the country draw up to protect the environment. However, through the presentation I get to know what other countries have been doing and where have they gone. Professors are not superhuman and they do not know everything under the sun. That's why they encourage us to do research and present to everybody in the class. That almost end the day of fun and learning in the open house.

Just this morning, my sis and I met up with my little nephew (Baby Ian) and his family for breakfast. and guess what, his sister stepped on dog shit hahaha and my cousin has to clean it from his car. Later that afternoon, baby Ian did a multi million business in the car. haha.. That's what i called a shitty weekend

2007-03-07T02:41:00.000+08:00

This is an interesting song. Reminds me of the good old days back in the army haha.. BMTC and SISPEC was the best time in the army as we just have to leave our brains in the cupboard and do what we were told to do. As the SISPEC motto goes "With Pride We Lead, Got Time We Sleep". Obviously it was altered by the people there though.

Life after SISPEC was total hell. Have to be responsible for almost everything under the sun including the dust under the cupboard sigh. but hell those were the days and it's memorable. However, if you ask me to go back and serve again? I think not.. hahaha

2007-03-07T02:33:00.000+08:00

Just came back from watch Letters from Iwo Jima. It's a very nice movie talking about soldiers protecting the island of Iwo Jima during the World War II.

The way the movie is filmed is abit similar to that of Schindler's List - In black and white, only that this movie they give a very fade colour to it. To a certain extend it's like black and white already. The only part it has colour is the blood on a pistol of the general.

Ok.. i shall not ruin those who are going to watch the movie(partly i is because i do not know how to describe the movie already as it is almost 3am and i cannot think anymore haha).. I think it is a movie that is really worth watching.

Liverpool and Barcelona playing Champions league tonight. Do I stay and watch? or shall go to bed and hide in my lab tomorrow morning? Sigh...

2007-03-06T00:29:00.001+08:00

This is a video of kitaro and the music is Silk Road. It's a very old video i think and i chanced upon it when i was youtubing.

He is one of my favourite modern musicians haha. All time favourites haha. If you can get hold of his album Kitaro Live in USA: An enchanted Evening, Try listening to his Heaven and Earth, it's a bit long(about 10 mins) but it's nice and it's written for a movie of the same name. It's about the Vietnam War. Will see if there is more music videos from youtube from now on.

DISCLAIMER: Music is very subjective. You may like it, you may not. BUT give it a try and see if you like it. :)

2007-03-05T22:40:00.000+08:00

Pause Woch

It was a busiest term break I had in my entire university life. Had to clear 2 assignments, a site visit, meetings and finally my FYP.

The week started with a meeting for the open house on a sleep deprived Monday. The meeting was ok except that I was a little bit late due to me sleeping in my hall. Prior to that, The Moogies came over to my house for a steamboat session (Is that the start of an annual reunion dinner for the moogies?). Anyway on that Sunday, the ever so 'intelligent' me forgot to get go to the ATM to get money. I ended up activating my family's coin reserves to have a session of black jack with the fellow moogies.

The assignments for Air pollution and Engineer and society are absolute blood suckers. Sigh have to do up a report on the air quality of various places like quad, lecture theatres and lab. In the end we have to come up with a comparison. We ended up smoking through everything. As for EnS, it's a rather easy presentation (at least for my part) as mine is just introduction about the bhopal disaster and the others have to analyse the situation and give a countermeasure if the same scenario ever happens again.

Wednesday was a highlight of the whole break, our lecturer organised a trip to NeWater plant and see the operations of the plant (something beyond the visitor centre). We get to see how they troubleshoot and test the water quality. And one of the engineers there told us (secretly) some 'extra' info. Haha... Will post some pictures of the plant when I get them from my seniors.

When a person is unlucky, even non living things will collaborate to bully him. Initially, the fluorometer (some equipment to measure concentration of a dye) just refused to let me calibrate and just last week, Arrghh, it shut down on me. I have to send it for repair and stuff and it's in SIM LIM la!! freaking far from my hall. Everything just have to hold just because of the adaptor. Sigh.. All my project schedule disrupted.. Sigh Wonder when will my project start man..

On a lighter note, my supervisor invited me to his office to 'lim kopi'. Initially thought it would be a lengthy one and he would bombard me with questions regarding the project and why the progress is so slow. Stress lei.. if he really ask that. Somemore I had experience of that when i was in UK doing my attachment with University of Birmingham. Dr Barker(my attachment sup) could blabber on for like 3 hrs non stop about the project, so much that I eventually dozed off in front of him. Picture this, one on one situation and I dozed off when my supervisor was talking. Champion. Anyway, my project sup now took only 15mins to finish the meeting. What did he ask? 'How are you?' diao -_-". but we did discuss something about the project also and tie up some loose ends about the theory of the project.

2007-02-27T15:11:00.000+08:00

Why am I so busy this sem? Sigh... Stressed!

What am I busy with? Sigh... Lost!

I am sleepy now... Yawns.. need to perservere. got 2 assignments to clear...

Need to motivate myself... How? Arrghh!!

Trying to have fun doing my FYP also... But the fluorometer also bully me by refusing to calibrate properly and dying on me sigh...

ArRGHH!! I hate this type 'don't know what's next feeling'

2007-02-25T01:33:00.000+08:00

Woch #7.2

I just came back from Chingay 2007. It was fun. Joel and I became the busiest among the volunteers as we kept walking up and down to take pictures and look for the little cute girl we saw on friday haha (she was in a bad mood on friday and when we wanted to take her pic she simply turned away).

The post parade party was fun. Managed to mingle with the performers and take pictures with them. The korean band girls are sooo cute haha.. And their performance... Can sweep you off your feet man.. Very disciplined.

After the parade, Desiree and I decided to go to JE and catch a cab back home. I dont know why I was in a very chatty mood just now and started talking nonsense with the uncle. I was seldom this creative in speech and I dont know why i just keep talking and started to say that uncle might be sending 2 future leaders back home and so he is contributing to the society... hahahah.. (even desiree wanted to puke out just now lol)

That aside, the uncle really brought out some things that are really interesting to take note of - one must not be afraid to fail. and we must have a vision of what we are doing hah.. then he started telling me that his vision is to be a taxi driver and there he is - a taxi driver.. ahahha Interesting uncle hahah.. Had an interesting talk with this uncle here haha..

2007-02-22T01:06:00.000+08:00

Woch #7

Signs that tell you that you are aging:

you're discussing with a close friend the prospects of being a goddad of her children when she's same age as you and she's not going to get married in the next 2 years. =(

2007-02-07T22:37:00.000+08:00

Woch #4

Ok I know it's week 5 of the academic semester but.. nvm.

The above clip was an excerpt from a documentary/movie An Inconvenient Truth. It's cute cartoon illustrating a surfacing problem that everybody has been neglecting - Global Warming. Got hooked to this show after my air pollution lecturer showed some part of it to us. Al Gore presented it really well in this show. However, it can be boring to those who are totally not interested in the environment and science.

2007-02-01T20:20:00.000+08:00

Hmm This is some random pic I found. Hehe Taken during the army days. Well Xiong but somehow it's quite meaningful to me and to a certain extend fun la. Made some interesting friends along the way.

Most memorable moment was while rafting, the rain clouds practically 'chase' us and we could see one side of the reservoir was raining while the other is not lol.

2007-02-01T20:04:00.000+08:00

Just had a presentation this morning, it went well except that Cai Jie(one of my groupmates) overshot his timing and I ended up having only 3 mins to present my part. Anyway we were doing something on Cheng Ho and Vasco da Gama - some see navigation pple. Hmm quite interesting topic to present for an engineer though. I am slowly overcoming one of my greatest fear of all time - presentation.

This afternoon Cai Jie also broke a news that there is a chance that I would be going over to dubai for 3 months this May to work under Sembcorp. Hmm wonder what are the chances of going there like. Arr there is no concrete plan. Have to further enquire about the placement there. And it would be a nice experience to go there to work.

2007-01-31T01:14:00.000+08:00

I happen to stumble this article on Best Companies to work for and Google's campus turn out to be number 1 on the list.

Let's see what do they have to make millions to kill to have a place in there:

1) They have a laundry room to let the employees do they laundry.

2) Free Gourmet meals

3) Onsite car washes

4) Spa, swimming pool, volleyball courts

4) $500 voucher for takeout food after birth of a child

5) Feeling ill? There are 5 doctors and is free

6) Unlimited Sick days

These are just a few of the perks they get as a Google employee. And when you think you're going to apply for a job there?? Read on.

The Dos and Don'ts during interview:

Dos:

1) Go to Stanford, Havard, or MIT. Though Google has relaxed its GAP standards to about 3.7 average, be prepared to discuss the Bs you have earned along the way. -_-'

2) Stree how well you work with others. Google cannot tolerate lone rangers, they want team players who work from start till the end with their fellow colleagues.

3) Talk about your many diverse interests. (like flying fish, breed buffalo) (haha). Narrow interests are a turnoff

4) Be prepared to get up at a whiteboard and write a software code during your interview. Brush up on "bit twiddling" (whatever that is). Really

Don'ts:

1) Joke about the whole Don't Be Evil thing. Googlers take the goodness seriously.

2) Go on and on in your interview about the doctoral project that you didn't bother building or trying to commercialize. Google likes doers, not thinkers.

3) Talk about money. They'll think you're just trying to get rich. Even Though you probably are, it's something you're not supposed to discuss out loud.

4) Mention the competition. In its eyes, everything at google is sui generis. Other than programming languages, if it wasn't invented there, it's not worth discussing.

This is the best company for you.

2007-01-29T00:52:00.000+08:00

Some pictures to spice up the blog else it's full of words.

Ok this picture is taken 6 years back in Venice Italy. The person beside me is Jeremy, one of the people I got to know better during the attachment. He's someone who sings errrrr... hahaha ok cannot say till so detailed else he'll scream at me haha.. Btw I was known as Mr Ho then (for I don't know what reason, maybe just the fun of it la) and the rest of the 2 guys with me had even more terrible names. hahaha...

Well kind of miss those days man.. Now that everyone of us have gone our ways, good luck to you guys man. Hope we can meet up someday again.

Fun and laughter, Tears and sorrow. No matter how bad the situation is, life still goes on.

2007-01-29T00:23:00.000+08:00

Woch #3

It's past midnight and I think I am going to get sick soon. Going to drop a (cute) little post before I go to bed since my hair is wet (excuses).

It was a busy week for me attending ambassador recruitment and training for the open house. It's going to be busier next week with assignments due and Final Year Project Preliminary Report due the following week.

Biotechnology in Environmental Engineering is a killer. Most of the time when the lecturer is talking I dont even have a clue of what is he talking about. Cannot seem to get the whole point about the topics. It seems that it's more Microbiology than engineering. However, it's quite interesting when you try to relate to what they do and what we take for granted in our daily lives, it's only the details that's a bit complicated. Moreover, the tutor is nice, stopping to explain details that we dont understand along the way (even the very very fundamentals). Let's learn as much as we can shall we?

Last week, my seniors had a presentation about their trip to Hong Kong. It's like an educational trip where they go and understand the environmental management of the country. It is so called inspired by a module we took last semester haha.. And I think that the professor is very inspirational though he can be monotonous in his lectures. Most probably is that project that really motivate these people to go on that trip (the project required us to contact the environmental agency in any city of your choice and ask them about their environmental management policy and compare with singapore's). *ey? I think i repeated this many many times* hah... Anyway, I want to be in Environmental Management is also inspired by this course too.

And I still say I regret entering the course. Think I will have to reconsider that comment I made the last time. Hah...

P.S. Joel.. If you are reading this... I think you will meet this professor of mine soon cos I think he's teaching Minor in Env management also.

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I started to like this girl ard last semester(I think) but well, from the looks of it i think it's not going anywhere so. I think I can continue to Dream on... Sigh..

Going to bed now.. Will update more next week. Wish me luck for my assignments and projects.. LOL!!!!!

2007-01-20T14:42:00.000+08:00

Week #2

The week is better as there has been more things to do after school rather than rotting in hostel and wait for things to happen. It has been in fact a really packed week. Coming up the first was briefing for the open house ambassador recruitment on Tuesday and followed by a series of recruitment itself. Though tiring because of having classes before that though but had fun and get to know new friends and prospective people that I will have to work with in the upcoming NTU open house.

I have been occupied during the first few days of the week for the preparation of the project for my final year and I ended up 'swimming' in the lab and to fill that 'swimming pool' I have to wait like 3 hrs!!!! (sigh I can smell problem when doing the project already.)

While waiting for the tank to fill up i decided to raid the computer that we are going to use for the experiment. hehe. and I found plenty of erm... movies? haha. (dont ask me what movies they have la.)

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Have been reading quite extensively recently since I have the time. I started thinking my path for the future since I am nearing the end of my academic life. Questions like 'Where I can go with what I am doing now?' and 'Whether I like doing what I am doing now.' Struck me and looked at me in my face. The readings and the knowledge I gained through previous semesters have given me some vague answers to the question.

Last semester has given me some insights of what environmental engineering can do, the problem the whole world is facing and what we can do about it. Coming from a chemical engineering background surely helps with some knowledge about this growing industry and this time round with environmental engineering knowledge, it gives me the exposure that most people neglect with the growing economics and the advancements in technology.

I am more or less sure that i will want to set my foot on environmental sector. However, if there is a chance I would want to go places like China and India. Right now, India is somewhere I would want to go. Why? Places like America and Europe are rich and comfortable to work in. I would want to experience something different. With the emerging economy in India, hope there is job there. hahaha. These are ideal situation for me la.. Some other factors will come out eventually that will stop me from going or might fire my determination and make me want to go there more.

I have also plans that I might go into Entreprenuership but well that is something even harder to fulfill. In order for this to fulfill there are even more conditions to be met in the first place. Things like experience in the field that I want to do and it might also be something like what i mentioned in the previous paragraph (I am too lazy to retype the whole thing and it will be a bore reading it also). I hope that I will eventually go into teaching and try to share my experience with the people around me in future haha.

The future has too many things that are to be discovered. The best way is to plan and have a rough idea of what to do. Along the way there will be factors that disrupts or enhance the goal that is set. Then, that is when a person decides to change path or to continue the journey.

2007-01-13T00:47:00.000+08:00

School has already started for 1 week and dont know why this semester is extremely boring as compared to the previous few. Maybe the people that I usually hang out with are on attachment.

The lectures as expected are boring and I cannot take the only module that I find interesting, Environmental Economics, because it is classified under Unstricted elective for me and I have cleared that.

This semester, I am going to clear the remaining major prescribed electives for my environmental engineering. YEA!! which means I am left with about 3-4 subjects to clear before i set off on attachment. I have heard a lot from friends about the attachment they are in now. Some of them are in crappy companies that make them work like office boy hmm.. Think I will worry about that next time.

This sem I got stunned on the second day of lesson. When I was sitting in LT16 all set and ready for my lecture to walk in and start the lecture about biotechnology in environmental engineering, I saw a friend, someone I knew a few years back.

Curious about why he was there I asked him, "hey trevor, Why are you here?"

"Oh, I am going to give 4 lectures on molecular biology."

diao + jaw drop + -_-' = stunned

This time round I cannot sleep in lectures le.. and no more usual lecture room practices like chit chatting and all... This will definitely be very very very awkward.

This sem I am also doing my FYP. hmm so far so good only thing is that the camera just won't work. sigh... Reminds me of my poly attachment days when all things failed during the prep phase of the experiment then. sigh.. hope everything goes well and we can start experiment asap.

2007-01-07T21:20:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is the start of a new semester.

Sigh... I will ba a new kid on the block from tomorrow onwards for 1 semester. That's because my ass itchy when I was in year 3. I opted to clear my final year and FYP before going to do my attachment like the rest of my course mate. In a way, it's good for me because I can go into the attachment company and if I like it there then I will stay if there is any vacancies.

Will be going to hall 3 from tomorrow onwards. Hmmm.. This time no more roomie this roomie that liao cos my roomie is a total stranger to me.. hahah.. Wonder if he can stand my singing or not wahahha... Well.. We shall see hahaha..

School starts = less late night games and more sleep and more reading.. HAI!!!!!!! Nevermind.. Just stick to my principle can liao... hehehe....

2007-01-07T00:09:00.000+08:00

Something to be proud of when I am still in NTU.

The pilot plant for the biogas in NTU is fully operational now. I think it should be the first in Singapore. The biogas conversion is still being researched to fine tune the minor problems before a proper plant can be constructed in Singapore. If everything goes well, it will reduce the solid waste generation by more than 50%.

This biogas plant converts food and organic wastes into useful and combustible gas using bacteria. The biogas generated is basically methane. It is combustible and emits less carbon dioxide. And Methane is something that comes out of your body when you have improper digestion. It stinks. Ho hohoho.

Anyway, with this biogas thing, it marks the beginning of a environmental friendly age for Singapore. This is also a message to the others out there that although Singapore is a small country, it will always improve itself to catch up with the technological powerhouses like Europe.

2006-12-30T22:45:00.000+08:00

Oh the blog is collecting dust.

Here's an entry. I have just got my results a few days ago. They are not good but I am satisfied. The most disappointing one is hydraulics got a C+ after all those derivation I make myself do while revising. Seems that the paper was an extremely easy one considering i only forgot how to derive one formula out of the whole paper. Well overall the results are quite expected compared to the stunners I had last semester with Ds more than the stars in the sky. One thing that I have proven this sem. CARELESSNESS KILLS!

To sum up the semester, this one is one of the best I had in my NTU life. It started with German during the intersem, one of the best subjects I have taken so far. I didn't do that well though but i really had fun and made quite a number of new friends that had helped me in one way or another.

My school sem was rather interesting this time round, getting to know my classmates better and to mix around with more people. These group of friends have been really helpful academically and helping one another with schoolwork and as usual, I contributed the least because you know la.. My results is just average compared to some crazy classmates of mine. The semster has been filled with gossips and more gossips haha. There is nobody in the class can escape the wrath of our gossip group and I cannot escape that too.

This sem I also infiltrated the year 4's group. I am a spy for yr 3s. Initially, there were 9 classmates of mine who joined this group but eventually all dropped the subject and I was left alone against all the other year 4. Why? Because they find the lecture they attended too boring. However, the subsequent lectures are rather interesting. Initially, there was problem finding group to do project but eventually the problem was solved and I put into a group who calls me 小师弟。 And naturally the person who started it is my 大师姐.

This time round, I also experienced a couple of first times in my academic life and coincidentally, it all occurred during the examination period. First time I sweat in the examination hall because the paper was too difficult and i was sweating profusely even though i can feel that the air con in the hall is cold (Even the famous MOM which is also very tough, gives me no such effect.). Another first time is, I left the examination hall before the examination stops and the subjects were taught by the same lecturer. And I got B for both (*heng*). I think these 2 subjects will be useful in future but the information have to be updated everynow and then with constant reading and both are related in one way or another.

The semester had been fun and entertaining, they say yr 3 are stressful but I think because I was not aiming high that's why I am rather relaxed this sem and I learnt a lot from people around me. It's time that I aim for my first ever A in NTU already. Air pollution control and my FYP, I am aiming for an A and I will work towards that now. Why? Because I want to specialise in these fields. Anyway my fyp project I got something related to Desalination. Something to do with the brine they get after the desalination process. (Salt = Brine it's that simple.)

***

When I was having dinner with my dad at Botak Jones in Clementi, I met my secondary school PE teacher. He taught me for only a brief moment and he left the school. Therefore he couldn't remember me and I was low profile when it comes to PE.

Had a little chat with him and found that he is teaching singing now. Not those singing like Hai Die or what schools that they have students going for superstar competitions Mediacorp organise these days. The type of singing he teaches is those musical drama type and opera. And during the meal he and his friends were discussing chorale works but classical composers. I am a classical music fanatic but not really a chorale person. The classical music market in Singapore is quite small and its really hard to get CDs around in Singapore. But at least the one CD i want is still available but i dont know whether it's good or not. Pieces by Paganini is already very difficult and for a person to play his complete works well I think he must be very good.

Anyway back to the secondary school teacher topic. I have never seen anybody as talented as he is. He is a volleyball coach and PE teacher back in secondary school. He is very involved in musicals ( I saw him acting in a local musical, Chang and Eng, a story about a Siamese Twins). He dances, he sings, he plays the drums and the double bass. Woa... How talented can a man be? Anyway, It's nice having to meet teachers who have taught me before and I have been bumping into them quite frequently haha and Ms Ng who never really taught me but went to M'sia with the band, I saw her many times already, when working at CS and at the standard chartered marathon volunteer.

Think that's enough for an entry. Ciao

2006-11-21T23:06:00.000+08:00

Sigh.. Only 2 papers down I am as good as dead.

First paper was water supply, I know how to do the paper but was very very careless and didn't finish the paper. SIGH... VERY CARELESS!! and didn't do some questions cos I DIDN'T SEE THEM!!!!! Gek Sim!!

Second paper which is today was Hydraulics! When I got into the Exam hall, I sat on the wrong seat.. GRRR BAD OMEN... sigh everybody had a good laugh back there and it was damn embarrassing.. Bad things come at least in pairs.. when i thought this subject is one of my best ones.. WRONG... my lecturer chut pattern. come out something that really stunned the whole exam hall (for my course at least) BAH!! really Cui Cui.. lau bak sai man.. sigh...

ok now i shall go go bed now.. tomorrow have to study for back 2 back papers and i have only 1 day to settle that.. ARRGH!

2006-11-03T20:01:00.000+08:00

Utmost in your mind is success. You are constantly seeking stimulation and a life full of experience. You are trying to 'grow' and above all you need to develop freely and to shake off the shackles of self-doubt. You are an enthusiastic individual, full of life with the desire to live intensely. You like contact with others and are enthusiastic by nature. You are receptive to anything new, modern or intriguing. Your interests are many and you are likely to expand your fields of activities. You are optimistic about the future and you deserve every success because deep down you are a 'winner'.

You are a very warm and emotional individual but unfortunately in the past too many people have taken advantage of this sensitive trait. You need aesthetic surroundings, or an equally sensitive and understanding partner with whom to share a warm understanding. Everyone has to compromise at times and circumstances are such that at this time you are feeling the need to do just that. Put all of your hopes on the back burner and let matters flow for a time - forgo some of the things you want. The good times are just around the corner.You are holding back.

You need to find friends in whom you can trust and once they have proved themselves beyond all possible doubt you will be prepared to give them your all. The existing situation is not of your liking - you have an unsatisfied need for mental stimulation with others whose standards are as high as your own. Trying to control your instincts the way you do restricts your ability to open up to others and the way you feel at this time is suggestive of 'total surrender'. This is not to your liking as you consider such thoughts as weaknesses that need to be overcome. You feel that only by control, controlling your innermost thoughts, are you able to maintain your air of superiority. You want to be admired for yourself alone and not for what you can do or for what you may have done. In essence 'you need to be needed' and at the same time 'you need to need'.

You really like doing what you do and, more than that, you like yourself. Your attitude to work and to life is that 'If its not fun - then don't do it'. You want to be liked and respected, not for who you are but for what you are - and it seems to be working.

***

http://www.paulgoldinresearch.com/cg/ Found this site from a friend's blog it's interesting

2006-11-02T00:14:00.000+08:00

I've always enjoyed Integrated Environmental Management aka EN4852 classes. Although i keep grumbling how hard the project is to correspond with people from Denmark about environmental problems and people ther dont reply, it gives a very new perspective of what my course is about (other than those dry and boring calculations about concrete design and hydraulic jumps).

The course gives us room to let us think about our current situations and allow us to give our point of view. For example, the recent haze situation, the problem was posted to us by one of the lecturers and asked us to give suggestions about what we can do about it. There is no right or wrong answers for this and classmates come out with many many different ideas about solving this problems. More of like a seminar/forum kind of thing. The lecturer will first tells us about some information about the topic of the week for 2 hours (which are sometimes very interesting), then the third will be a Q&A or a 'no holds barred' discussion where you can ask any question that comes to your mind and the lecturer will answer you.

Today and next Wednesday are our presentation on what we have done for our project. That is, Environmental Management of other countries and compare it with Singapore's style of management. The presentation went well for every group and the killer is always from our peers. Our coordinator encouraged us to ask questions which will be graded as a group. Now, having lessons with the seniors are fun, they are really smart and they really ask very good questions about the environmental management and can receive very group informations about environmental issues, economics that govern them and why is it so difficult to manage these Environmental problems. I am appreciating my course more now thanks to these people.

Next week will be my group presenting, hope i will have enough information to counter their 'siege'. Well everybody has put in a lot of effort in this project and i think we will be able to make it then. Looking forward to the presentation already. Hope to learn more from these seniors.

Exams are coming already, everybody brace up let's run to the finishing line of this semester. And do take care of yourselves and drink more water these days. The weather is very terrible, Raining one moment and sunny the other. Good Luck.

2006-10-17T23:06:00.000+08:00

Sigh.. I am beginning to think that it's a Big mistake to buy that BBC concert ticket... I have got 3 quizzes on that week and a project Deadline and presentation to meet.. SIGH!!!!

But it's been vERY VERY long since i last attended a decent concert. And this one only comes for one day... Sigh.. thinking of giving up the ticket... OPTIONS OPTIONS..... hai..

Exams coming... Think this sem will the like the prev sems le hai.. Ds all the way.... ARGH!!!
just received news that my potential A fly off liao DIE!! cannot salted fish flip body liao

2006-10-11T23:32:00.000+08:00

Just finished attended another interesting lecture.. hmm it ended with a quote

'Singaporeans are very fortunate to be growing up in a clean and good government, BUT they have been brainwashed to think that they are the best'

2006-10-08T18:15:00.000+08:00

I was in cant a the other day and saw something which was really interesting.

Darth Vader conducted the Storm troopers in an Orchestra and The must they played was Imperial March lol.. The baton Darth was using was his light saber haha.. Interesting.. And those pple are actually Lego Figurines hahaha it's very cute..

2006-10-08T02:34:00.000+08:00

I am looking forward to my attachment in year 4. This is where i hope i can go back and pick up my violin again... Take violin lessons. And maybe will do driving during that period also... Sigh till now i still regret stopping my violin lessons. Too lazy last time la.. DuH!!! nv practice hard enough...

Now everytime i step into Esplanade i feel very strange. The smell reminds me of something that i cannot make up what is it.. hmm.. maybe it's my music room smell i used when i was a kid. ya.. and the feeling is very different to what it is like to shop haha.. I feel very comfortable there haha.. (2nd home ba wahahah!!!) ahh well..

Went to have dinner at the Hog's Breath at chjmes with my cousins, nephews and nieces.. Oh man they have grown to such big boys and girls which reminds me that i am getting old also (no thanks!!!!).

Here's a picture of the guys and the kids. I look real funny in this...

ok... These days the weather is getting very bad. the PSI has reached up to 150 in the afternoon. Oh my.. And yesterday my orientation friends from NTU came over to celebrate the mid autumn fest.. Well it was fun, I am sure the other had fun too. But the haze was really a spoiler.. Duh.. Sigh pple burning crops to clear their land for their new batch of plants. hmmm... We discussed some possible ways in the Integrated Environmental Management class the other way. Our verdict: there is no sure work way to make this work. There are simply too many things to look into for this to happen and it might take like say at least 10-20 years to stop their way of life..

2006-09-18T23:01:00.000+08:00

One of my childhood dreams is to be a conductor (Not the Electricity conductor la its the conductor for orchestra and what nots) hai.. Seems that this dream will be further and further..

More on this another day.. Have to go back study for tml's quiz... Life in uni is about quiz, study, exams and projects. It's getting boring for me now...