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Thursday, August 31, 2006

nus freshmen recognition guide

1. Walk around in school wearing orientation t-shirt.
2. Walk around in school carrying orientation file.
3. Start waving for bus when it is still in front of the red light one junction away.
4. Press the bell when bus is just leaving the stop before OED. (the Sun Sports Club bus stop)
5. Start to shuffle to the exit door before the bus turns into NUS.
6. ______(fill in the blank)______

(do not take this seriously)



Wednesday, August 30, 2006

not a lighter note

Some of the lecture notes for ME2 are really disappointing.

Take for example, ME2113 Mechanics of Materials I, every lecture the lecturer will show us the errata for the previous lecture. That means, for one whole week every week we have been believing in the wrong things. And when you look at the front cover of the notes, it has that legendary NUS logo there. I thought that old lion retired long time ago? Wow, so the lecturer didn't update his notes for x years already, or the module hasn't been taught for a long time?
hj was asking me in lecture something about the formula in the example. I told him don't bother, since the lecturer will be telling us it's an error next week. -_-"



ain't no doubleback girl

All I know about twang and chelle is that they are climbers (and they have Mad Rock) and they are in JC2. Now they are in the midst of preparing for exam (I hope...) and somehow thinking of them reminds me of myself the same time 4 years ago...

I remember I was supposed to prepare for exam. (prelim or A-level?) But somehow I wanted to climb so badly, yet I scared climbing in school would get scolding from teachers. So, during the study break (or remedial week?) I went to the then still existing SAFRA Bukit Merah rock gym to boulder. Then I remember I did rush back to school for lesson... Somehow nowadays I'm less willing to sacrifice for climbing.

Oh I had a weird dream last night. I dreamed of myself climbing with 2 girls, and I had crampons. Indoor ice climbing??? Eek.



Tuesday, August 29, 2006

trial look

hi people! I'm thinking of doing a major maintenance for this blog next month and was wondering if I should change the look as well... this is what I've got...
(can click the image to enlarge)

Now, do you want the cool black one or the gay orange one(with NUS logo)? Comments comments comments!!



quote of the day

你永远是我的小弟
--School of Design and Environment photocopy shop lady.
(not said to me!)

(translate: you are forever my xiao di. ok lousy translation)



Monday, August 28, 2006

stim table

Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of Fluids.
aka Steam Table.

paperback.
below average quality paper.
size of an exercise book, even thinner.
less than 30 pages in total, inclusive of a few "note" blank pages.



  • Lecturer's price: S$3

  • nth hand's ancient NUS Co-op pricetag: S$4.90 (where n>1)

  • NUS Co-op's current price: S$7.90

  • Amazon.com's price: US$28.95


  • inflation.



    transparent people in the park

    Went to Botanic Gardens to listen to Singapore Chinese Ochestra's concert. Ended up when we reached Symphony Lake we heard western music and a banner that said "SSO in the park". Ermm, SSO(Singapore Symphony Orchestra) isn't quite the same as SCO... seems like the newspaper made a mistake again. Tsk.

    Anyway since we were already there, might as well sit back and enjoy the music. At least they catered for non-hardcore-classical-music-listeners like me, other than a few classical pieces they also played a medley of pieces by Beatles! (these few days there were lotsa musical coincidence for me. Eg, Saturday I was thinking of Eason's song, then ended up the radio played it, then yesterday I was really thinking of Yesterday then SSO played part of it too... maybe I should have thought of 4D numbers.)

    The grass patch around the stage was quite packed with picnic mats and people relaxing and enjoying the music. And then I saw lots of freaks who really thought they grew up eating glass (my brother said this) or their flesh was transparent. C'mon there were people behind you and you still stood right in front of them blocking their view? I saw another group even better, they set up beach chairs right in front of someone else's mat. On the contrary there was this Caucasian lady who pulled her daughter to one side and apologised to the group behind when her daughter just blocked their view for that split second.

    Why can't people be more thoughtful?



    Saturday, August 26, 2006

    song of the day

    明年今日 by Eason Chan 陈奕迅

    No thanks, next year's today I don't want to be like this year's today...
    (明年今日: next year's today in Chinese)



    toxic pictures

    My happy meal. Big huh? No toys included.

    birthday boy busy drinking, Alex busy posing.

    Meder: Nicholl you look awesome(lonesome) tonight!

    Meder: why you poke my strawberry?
    Alex: have you heard of "flying elephant crosses the river?"

    Meder: what is CB?
    Chow: Charlie Bravo.
    Nicholl: ... (hears no evil)



    toxic birthday

    Yesterday was my birthday. Today I have less than half a life left.

    Had dinner with Alex, Nicholl and Meder at Ichiban Boshi at Esplanade. There seems to be a trend that the 4 of us climbers like to celebrate birthday at Japanese restaurants. I had a very big happy meal served on a very big tray =) 3 cups of sake.

    Then we went to Max Brenner Chocolate Bar which was quite cosy. They served nothing except chocolate (minus the mineral water) No alcohol here.

    Next we went to this nice pub at Boat Quay called Actors. It's very cool cos there were customers jamming oldie songs. They even played birthday song for me =) 2 submarines and about 2 glasses of beer. This was where Nicholl wet my pants when she held my glass in front of me and drop the cup of vodka into the beer and it overflowed.

    I tell you those guys were all out to make me drunk. Next we went to Sahara. 2 graveyards, a few sips of Alex's white russian, and a few puff of shisha That's it, that's when Merlion shifted indoor and the water jet got half-digested food inside. Everything was fine until I had to hold my breath to pose for a photoshot with the shisha smoke, and I choked... then my stomach turned upside down... then I told Alex I needed plastic bag. Vomitted.

    I think they will kill me with alcohol poisoning before I even got drunk. Very funny, when we were leaving Sahara I said to the waiter "sorry leh, have to make you clean up" Went to Riverwalk's toilet to continue puking, and Alex seemed surprised that I took the toilet paper to clean the toilet seat... surprisingly sane, surprisingly conscious. And Alex sent me home by bus. (and I knew where to alight) Sorry to make him take cab home.

    Today... I only stopped puking at 12noon.



    Thursday, August 24, 2006

    solidcraps 2006

    **for mechanical engineers**
    What 3rd angle projection?
    Pang jio also need to measure angle meh?
    (pang jio: verb, hokkien dialect for urinate)



    experimental error

    One experiment was enough to spoil my honeymoon week 2.

    The experiment was on Flow and Energy Loss, in which we got to play around with sophisticated unclear reactors. The procedure itself was very straight forward, the main course was actually the questions that followed. First you had to fill up 3 data tables, over 200 boxes to fill in total. Next you had to plot 13 graphs. And as if that's not enough, they gave you 4 discussion questions, in which you have to research on the internet to find the answers. All within 24 hours.

    The most ridiculous thing is, we haven't learned all those stuffs. I flipped my notes, and found this part at the very end of my notes. Wow. So what is the purpose of having lab sessions when we are doing everything more-or-less-blindly? At least at secondary and college level the experiments were quite closely linked to the pace of the lessons, but from year 1 onwards things are quite crappy. You can be doing the experiment for stuff that they are going to teach half a semester later. (I can understand the logistic part, cos they don't need to prepare so many set-ups all at one time, and idling them the rest of the time, but still...)

    Many more weekly experiments to come...



    redhanded

    Song for whoever by The Beautiful South.

    One innocent year 2 engineering boy and four dunno-innocent-or-not year 1 business girls were caught redhanded at a quiet corner of NUS.

    Tsk, must find quieter spot to have lunch next time, thought Grinning Gecko quiet enough. Ended up the moment my lecture gang came out from Co-op and first thing they saw was me....



    Tuesday, August 22, 2006

    ear ring binder

    That day I was asking Alex, those office ladies when they run out of ring files or paper fasteners, do they use their gigantic ear rings to bind paper?



    Monday, August 21, 2006

    chasing bus

    On my way to school I saw something I wanted to term as miracle.

    I was walking towards the bus stop near my house. There was a bus already at the bus stop about to leave, then this lady with heels started running 100m at right angle towards the bus.... and she got in.
    -_-"

    By the way I don't really believe in chasing buses.



    closed path

    ARGHH!!! Why did they replace the nice foot path outside LT6 with grass???

    Hong Jun said it's for Singapore 2006. Road improvement?



    four million smiles and one indirect kiss

    Had lunch yesterday at Imperial Treasure at Marina Square. Realise bad service can really spoil one's clear judgement.

    Waited at the entrance for about 3 minutes and noone bothered to attend to us. Then when I requested to change to a quieter table (the one we were at was facing the concourse with electrical goods roadshow), the waitress stared at me. While taking the orders the manager looked at my brother as if he was speaking some new-found language. And when my glass of tea came, it came with a complimentary lips mark. (er perhaps even if there wasn't a mark, it may not necessarily be clean too) With our mood spoilt, how to enjoy the food?

    Geographically, Marina Square is just beside Suntec where the Singapore 2006 meetings will be held. It won't be surprising to have some of the visitors spill over to Marina Square, I suppose? Maybe they discriminate against locals, I don't know.



    Sunday, August 20, 2006

    my new rockport

    I got a new pair of shoes today!

    It's a pair of Rockport. Actually I was choosing between Caterpillar and Rockport at Royal Sporting House, I like both brands quite a bit, the Caterpillar looks damn macho, but then guess it would be baking my feet in this climate as well. Wanted to try the Rockport, but no staff attended to us, so we didn't make any purchase at RSH.

    Then we went to Rockport's own store (which is managed by RSH as well) The staff there was really helpful. Not the smiley type, but he was really patient and sincere in explaining the feature of the shoes, then made an effort to look at my foot shape. To be honest I felt like it was my first time buying shoes.

    Feel a bit heart pain that my mother paid for it. My birthday present. (no no no I'm not hinting to you guys!! I don't have a wishlist anyway)



    Saturday, August 19, 2006

    looking for belay slave

    Saw this email from the climbing club's yahoogroup:
    Hey dudes,

    I'm looking for a climbing partner. Generally to climb WEEKLY at the vertical walls over at Climb Adventure and also to alternate between natural rock climbs over at Bukit Timah dairy farm.

    A bit bout myself:
    I'm just an average rock-climber lookin to improve my rock skills and yeah, need a partner to climb with and belay. I'm not competitive. I have my own full set of equipment.

    I can't help feeling that he just wants a belay slave. (if not he wouldn't have mentioned the word "belay")
    Err, can always hire a social escort and pay for his/her sports climbing level 1 course.

    I think I got it wrong, cos climbers are nice people.



    pop the olive

    Can someone please tell me
    what does extra virgin mean?



    Thursday, August 17, 2006

    retro bus ride

    Today I came home on this retro Nissan U31RCN bus of SMRT service 852. The vertically opening windows, the sliding exit door, the rubber floor mat with circular pattern...

    Reminds me of Iijima Naoko (飯島直子)'s Japanese drama Bus Stop (バスストップ)

    (photo from http://tib1208u.fotopic.net/p13051452.html)



    playing ps

    you can't be a peasant in Singapore
    Dr Sridharan
    PS: Play Station, Plaza Singapura, Political Science

    If my ME lectures are saturated with male hormones, then my GEK1003 Introduction to Political Science lecture is the direct opposite. Somemore most of the students are year 1. How to tell? Somehow the year 1s like to proudly display their freshman folder. And the year 1 girl beside me seemed shocked to see me copying down notes.

    And we had a welcome tea session somemore!



    Wednesday, August 16, 2006

    cranes for charity

    Hey people from NUS, although I don't really like NUSSU, but there is this tiny thing which we all can do for charity. Just drop by any NUSSU booth you bump into in campus and fold a crane origami, SongHe will donate a bowl of rice to Red Cross! The record breaking challenge (which includes the Milo truck challenge~!) is on 22th August (next Tuesday)

    (content may differ from cover illustration)



    books and bookie

    The first half of my honeymoon week 1 was busy with selling textbooks. So far I've sold 5 textbooks, not bad huh?

    Can't help feeling a bit sad, cos all my books are dear to me. I kept them in the condition as though they just came off from the bookstore's shelf. But I know they are slowly on the way to the rubbish bin too, I remember how I felt when I threw away my primary school textbooks. Anyway most important is the books can help other people.

    Want to hear my 5-books (the oldest book is 5 years old) successful story? No. Commercial secret =P But I do provide after-sale service too (learned from my temp assignment with HP) There was this yr 1 Science Fac girl who bought my physics text, she asked for my MSN so that she can ask me if she doesn't understand anything... with my grades not like I can help her much though...

    The thing that troubled me a little was that the Physics department has decided to change the main text for Physics I. That means, my Physics text had devalued, in a way. So I was quite pissed off when on the day of transaction the guy SMSed me saying he didn't want to buy the book anymore. I was like, what the, a book thrice the thickness of a yellowpages, I carried around in school whole day and then you said dunwan... But if I was in his smelly shoes I would have done the same too. Anyway some potential buyers sound like big shot in their messages. Nevermind, they are noobs.

    I did something bad, went to Buybackasia's sale at YIH and approached anyone who seemed interested in the text. Anyway the price set was ridiculous: $56, when a brand new one cost less thant $50.

    Worker's Party said, "You have a choice."
    No?



    Tuesday, August 15, 2006

    iconic figure

    currytan:
    Are you Siu Hang?

    I thought I could hide my identity and get past him, but somehow he recognised me.(from that profile pic? Oh aren't I cute?)



    Monday, August 14, 2006

    quote of the day

    UNCLE YOU JUST CRACKED MY LAPTOP!!
    a girl in business suit while boarding bus 151 at engin bus stop.

    The bus was full, but she insisted on squeezing in onto the bottom most step at the entrance. The driver closed the door and the girl's laptop bag was outside the bus, so in fact only the carrying strap was caught in between. Imagine the bus moving with a laptop bag hanging outside...

    Her fault.



    Sunday, August 13, 2006

    first to rock wall then to school

    Tomorrow semester starts.
    Today went rock wall.

    面壁思过.
    发粪涂墙.


    Climbed with Meder, Marcin and Nicholl. It's the first time seeing Meder since he came back from his long business cum climbing trip. Now Meder is a hardcore trad climber fully equiped with helmet and stuff!

    Joke from Meder: Do you know why Malaya became Malaysia?
    'Cos of the merger, SIA represents Singapore.


    Craps on climbing days are always fun.



    just another passenger

    I saw 小强 on the bus last night.
    I thought below 1.5 metres don't have to pay the fare?

    Went to see the fireworks last night and the return trip was very crowded, both the bus and the road. Took me 2 hours to get from Suntec to Ang Mo Kio. Unbelievable. And today's paper didn't even mention about the jam.

    Not mentioning the usual moron who keeps kicking the back of my seat, there was this stupid passenger who stood beside my seat who kept hitting my head with his stupid belly. Must be eager to see me perform Zidane.

    (小强: noun, Chinese nickname for cockroach. Originated from Stephen Chow's movie. My name is not Stephen.)



    Friday, August 11, 2006

    outbid (not outbidded)

    Survivor by Destiny's Child
    (not Chow. Chow only sings Saliva)

    For the first time, I bidded for a module with more than 1 bid point. Not 2, but 289 points!

    The most exciting part of semester 3 is over.



    on boy-girl-relationship

    Option 1: 划清界线
    Option 2: 各走各路
    Option 3: 一刀两段
    别爱我 by Ronald Cheng

    enough said.



    Thursday, August 10, 2006

    quote of the day

    alex: ...the sultan durian 3 for $20, then got super sultan sell by the kilo one!
    chow: then got ultra sultan or not?
    alex: super better or ultra better?
    chow: have to ask ultraman fight superman



    round 2a


    the bid point for GEM changes almost every other nanosecond.
    Close bidding seems comforting. Or is it the other way round?
    See no evil.

    (I think I've made a tactical mistake...)



    Wednesday, August 09, 2006

    national day

    Happy 41st National Day!!

    I was thinking, LKY must have attended at least 40 National Day Parades...



    Tuesday, August 08, 2006

    lesser evil

    between

    not knowing what you want

    and

    knowing what you don't want

    which is better?



    Monday, August 07, 2006

    attack of the killer kueh

    I was eating a nonya kueh when I found a staple in the red bean paste.

    What was it doing inside there??



    quote of the day

    happy schooling

    Siu Hang to Janan

    NTU's semester starts today.
    NUS's is next week =)



    Sunday, August 06, 2006

    animal farm revisited

    "All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others."

    The first time I read Animal Farm by George Orwell was some 8 years ago. Now that I am a qualified voter, the second visit seemed to feel different.

    Orwell was a socialist, but the socialism he saw in Soviet Union wasn't quite the same as the ideal model by Karl Marx. So in a lively approach he wrote this book describing what was really happening in the communist state.

    First there was the power struggle between Snowball and Napoleon, then the expulsion of Snowball, followed by dictatorship, state propaganda and white terror in the form of secret police and public execution. Plus failed 5-year plans and fake output statistics, I think it was as good as the real thing.

    Lesson learned: if you don't have knowledge, you will be manipulated by those cleverer than you. Purely using brute strength will lead you to nowhere other than working to death. Other than the pigs, the only clever animal in the farm was actually Benjamin the donkey. Right from the beginning he knew what was going on, but he was too smart to let it be known. Surely one donkey isn't a match against a gang of pigs plus their bodyguards of fierce dogs? Wisdom also means knowing what you can do and what you can't do.



    Saturday, August 05, 2006

    special move

    I wonder if EA Sports is going to include this special move into the next version of FIFA 07?

    up + right + down + left + x + y + z

    er, that's Street Fighters. Or Marvel vs Capcom?



    Friday, August 04, 2006

    全世界 stand-by

    The police stormed into my house last night.

    I opened the door for them.


    With regards to the dangling bamboo pole, fearing that it may drop and hit someone below, I called up my Neighbourhood Police Post's hotline and informed them about the sighting.

    20 minutes later 2 sergeants arrived at the scene. (the Police Post is just 3 minutes' walk from my place -_-". Oh there's a 7-Eleven and prata shop near by. *hint hint* And they have the habit of using the patrol car even if it's one block away)

    With the help of civilian resources (ie my house's bamboo stick, and myself) the combined task force was able to retrieve the dangling bamboo stick + underwear, while the bedsheet was left dangling on 7th floor. Ok lah, the sergeant isn't as tall, so I was the one who leaned out to pull the bamboo stick in. The police brought back the 01 x bamboo stick + 02 x underwear as evidence for investigation.

    If you were the owner of those items, would you look for the police to claim them back / report loss?



    Thursday, August 03, 2006

    hanging in thin air

     
    That is not a parachute. That's someone upstair's bamboo stick + bedsheet + underwear. Seems like it will drop down any moment when equilibrium is not maintained.

    Now am I supposed to call 995? I have harness, but I don't have ropes....



    金枝欲孽 之 溜鸟奇案

    non-original Hong Kong drama with Chinese subtitles.
    WARNING: contains hokkien biological terms.


    Episode 1
    Episode 2
    Episode 3



    Wednesday, August 02, 2006

    mouse bit me

    People, next time when you are using the computer, make sure you are in a comfortable position.

    Think I hurt my right hand while using the kid's catalogue terminal at the library...



    unidentified farting object

    (At YIH bus stop)
    "Hi good morning! Are you freshman or senior?" Senior. Woohoo no more noobs.

    (At UHWC)
    "05 or 06?"
    "undergrad or post-grad?"

    (At Ang Mo Kio hawker centre)
    "Hello 小姐, 要喝甘蔗水吗?" What the...
    (for those who still dunno, I am MALE)



    tunnel pest


    Was waiting for train at Outram Park MRT Station yesterday when I saw 2 aunties asking a young lady how to get to Potong Pasir. The young lady looked like a mainlander-Chinese (let's not care about what's her job) and she went to look at the directory together with the 2 aunties. Then she told the 2 lost aunties to board the Boon Lay-bound train. I was like, what the...

    I was telling myself 好人难做, so didn't intend to bother, just then a guy pointed the aunties back to this side of the platform, ie Pasir Ris-bound. Just as the train was approaching, I couldn't take it anymore and showed the aunties the way to the North East Line platform, where they could board the train to Potong Pasir.

    I feel sorry for the 2 aunties, being kicked around like a ball. I could see that Chinese woman with a stupid smile at the corner of her lips.

    If you can't solve a problem, at least don't make it worse lah! Very paiseh to say you dunno the way meh...



    Tuesday, August 01, 2006

    cors - thunder only happens when it's bidding

    Song of the day - Dreams by The Corrs

    Time of the year for CORS again, with round 1A ended a few hours ago (and result coming out a few hours later) Have been cracking my skull thinking of what GEM to take this semester.


    I don't quite understand, but some people has placed 200 points for ME2 core modules, and look at ME2121, high demand?? The department has told us to place 1 bid point for the core modules, now 1 point doesn't seem that safe anymore.

    Now, how can it be possible the quota is exceeded? Mechanical Engineering modules.. could it be year 4 student retake, or... some brave arts students want to take this as breadth?

    If I got outbidded for my own core modules, I don't know what to say...




     
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