extend-o straws...

I was drinking vitasoy and I realised that they do not give extend-o straws anymore. Do you remember the extend-o straws? For the larger boxes. They have replaced the extend-o straws with normal bendy straws.

I miss the extend-o straws.

week 3...

It is the third week of school. But everyone is studying. The library's study tables are filled. And I must admit that I am one of them. Or at the very least, I'm trying to be one of these people filling out the seats of the library's study tables.

Every semester I say that I will study harder. And every semester, other things just pop up and take precedence. But still, I will say this at the beginning of the semester. I WILL STUDY HARDER. I WILL try TO PULL UP MY CAP.

At least I've actually stopped wasting time playing mindless computer games. So I guess that's a start. Been spending more time writing again. Had also been thinking with what I want to do with the "half-past-six" stories that appear occasionally on the blog. And being the ego-centric person that I am, I was thinking what IF (yes WHAT IF...) someone picks up the idea and writes a mega-hit-of-a-book and earns lots and lots of money??? What happens then? Where are my high-powered lawyer friends???

Tuesday of week 3.

infamous...

Honestly I don't know how famous I am. Or prehaps, my name is just too common. This happened in CDA class on Wednesday.

Prof: You are Alvin, right?

Me: Yea.

Prof: I remember you from somewhere, are you form the mentoring programme?

Me: No, haha. Alvin is such a common name.

Prof: Hmm, I definitely know you from somewhere. You are Alvin... Chua?

Me: Ya.... *stun look.

Yes, I think my name is plastered all over the department or something. I think the rest get a kick out of the fact that most of the professors "think" they know me.

Also, I felt retarted after that class for saying something that caused the entire class to be quiet, even the Prof looked at me with that, "Hmmm, what shall I answer???" look. Yea, not really a good start. Dang, must go the readings properly now.

881...

If you don't know what 881 stands for, then you are not alone. But I am assuming that many of you do know what it is. It is Royston Tan's new movie. Indeed, local movies are not well supported by the local community.

The show that I was in was populated by grannies and people generally over 35. There were less than a handful of youths in there. I guess the fact that the movie was in mandarin and dialect didn't help. But I must say that if you have time. Go watch it. It is an extremely heartwrenching show. I totally tugs at your heartstrings. Especially the ending.

The climax was cheesy. The only "not good" (don't want to say bad...) part of the show I feel. The showdown between the good guys (papaya sisters) and bad guys (durian sisters, May and Choy) was of the ultimate cheesy-ness. Lasers blasting out of bras that look like durians are never of good taste.

I thought that the actors were all really good though. Qi Yi Wu (715) was convincing as a mentally ill guy that plays with a chicken daily and never talks. The musical like feel of the movie really made it into a getai. It was a getai shown in the movies. Makes you wonder why we don't go absorb more of our culture.

the last harry potter...

Finally, the sep-tology is over. Half sad, half happy. Seven books and I must say that the last was just as good as I expected it to be. And yes, it is still a children's book. Not the disney type of children's story where no one dies. But it is a good mixture of fantasy and reality teased into a great story.

Many people died. That's one thing you don't really expect. Many unexpected people died. When J.K. said that 2 main characters will die. I thought, "2 is fine. One too many, actually." Gambled on which would kick the bucket and honestly, Snape was destined to kick more than just small bucket. For Snape, the bucket was probably the size of a house, a big house, three stories with all the works. Sorry Se*rene, but that was the truth. If you believed that Snape was a good guy, you have to accept that his bucket was approximately this size. Other people that died included Fred, Lupin and Tonks.

Anyways, the story was weaved together really well. One thing that I really like about J.K. is that she manages to get stuff that appears in the previous books so well involved in the later books. That's one thing that I will try to accomplish if ever I try to write a story spanning more than 1 book. Haha. I can hear the laughter. The small items that appear in the earlier books are littered all over the seventh book. And this means that if you haven't read the previous books, you might want to.

J.K. also tied up the ending really well. Although the final battle was short. That is the understatement of the year. The final battle was preceded by a lengthy exchange between Harry and Voldermort. And It ended with both parties casting one single spell. It ended the way it begun with Voldermort's own spell bouncing off Harry's spell causing him to be killed by his own spell. Fitting? Maybe but it seems too convenient.

Harry didn't resurrect as stated by everyone. Everything happened in his mind. If you died, I doubt your mind be working. So Harry was knocked out. The killing curse that Voldermort cast had only achieved what they needed it to, to destroy the horcrux within Harry. After that, Harry was still alive. Unconscious but ultimately alive. So no resurrection.

Neville was quite a surprise. The meek shall indeed inherit the earth. His character was always shown to be weak and timid but it all changed in the last 3 books. One of my favourite peripheral characters.

Nineteen years later was a good chapter. Though it really leaves nothing to the imagination, I guess it doesn't matter. 2 thumbs up, a good read.

unhappiness...

After talking to Alici*a and reading Ji*nhan's blog, I have NO CHOICE but the vent my unhappiness. VENT VENT VENT.

Apparently, the university has finally realised it's own stupidity regarding the S/U option that we can exercise. And I do remember complaining about it every semester that I need to decide to use it. It's not enough that they limit the number of S/Us you can exercise, that I can still understand. The stupidity comes in the time frame that we have to declare it. We, referring to students admitted prior to AY07/08 (this year), have to declare our S/U option somewhere in week 6-7. That's about the mid-term recess week.

As a tool to help us to take modules that we might be unwilling to take due to the fact these modules might unfortunately pull down our grades. The current S/U time frame does not help at all. At this point of time, usually, most modules have not taken the mid-term test nor made us hand up any significant assignment. So basically, for us, declaring the S/U option for us is a gamble. A gamble because even if you do well, you cannot retract the S/U option. S/U-ed modules do not count into the final CAP grade. They subtly taunt you if you get a A+ by writing a S*.

So after countless appeals by students, the administration has finally changed their stand!!! You would think that a tertiary education institution would make better decisions. Now, the S/U option can be exercised at any point, even after the results have been released and even after appeals.

This is the websites with important dates:
http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/undergrad/tocheck/calendars/impt_events_n_sem1.html

But this only applies for students admitted in AY07/08. So they can S/U after the results have been released and verified. But not us. This is unfair. In every sense of the word.

This being the case. Older students continue to gamble their on their grades while the new students can make more informed decisions that will indefinitely help in the better usage of their S/U options. Unfair. Why the double standards? I feel that we are now in a worse off position than before. Honestly, does allowing us to be able to exercise our S/U option at the same time as the Year1s cause the administration to fall and crumble?

I believe that the worst part is that nobody really knows about the new system. Not even an email. The year 1s should bow at our feet everytime a senior walks past. We fought the war, they are reaping the benefits.

one week...

The first week of school has ended. Ended ended ended. Why must I repeat it 3 times? I have no idea either.

School is officially hectic. Hectic hectic hectic. Tried an evil plan but got tharwt. Actually there would have been an "evil-ier" way out. But I think that's just too evil. As a form of confession, here is the evil plan. Wanted to drop a module becasue I thought that the workload would be kinda heavy. Furthermore, it's a business module. That means presentation. Since I don't know anyone in the module. I thought, yea, just find another module and drop this one.

And there was another module. And after 5 weeks, this new modue would stop it's second lecture and I would finally have my free day. And I didn't know that bidding has been cut from round 3f to 3c. So I was under the impression that I would still have another opportunity to bid again. But in round 3c I got outbidded. Tharwt. Dang.

Here is the "evil-ier" part. I wonder if I would get the administration into trouble if I state this? Anyways, a friend works for science CORS. And I had information that under-the-counter stuff can be arranged. HAHA. Or I could just appeal. Well, I did neither. So now, I'm still kinda "scared" of the business module. Sian lah.

12 weeks to the end of school.

first day...

I looked forward to this first day in the exact same way that I looked forward to the first day of work. With much dread. I tried getting to class on time today. But I was slightly late. Dang. Will try harder next time. Haha. While nine in the morning is not unearthly in that sense. I never ususally make it on time.

At least I know most of the people in the class. Know them by name anyways. Everything will be fine. I hope.

Anyways, ever had the feeling that when you really need something from QT, it just happens to pop into your face? "POP!!!"

So yea, the biggest problem in life has an answer. Not the answer that I would like to hear, but since it has been from 3 sources, I guess it must be more right than wrong. I hope I don't mistake the signs. Haha.

13 weeks to the end of school.

new sem... new timetable...

I am a 3rd year Arts student. When people think of Arts students, here are the typical stereotypes. One, Art people are slack. Two, Art people are slack because most people have 3 day weeks. Three, Art people are too cool. Haha, the last one is a good self opinion.

As an Arts student, I am suppose to have a 3 day week. BUT. I as an Art Student, I have a five day week. Hiaz. The only good thing is that this sem, there is only 1, yes ONE, exam!!!

But it is still one of the latest dates. 6th December. But one is one.

backdates...

I realised that there should have been some stuff that I should have posted up. Guess I was either lazy or busy. I perfer to have been busy.

Backdated from Thursday, 2nd August 2007.

Met almost half the class for dinner. That's right 19 out of 40 people came for a dinner. Dinner was at Marche at Vivo. Must say that the standard of food needs a good kick up the butt. The company on the other hand was great. It has definately been awhile since I've seen some of them. A long while. The girls are all working and the guys were... well... being guys. It was fun. We talked about everyone and everything. Talked about where we wanted to work at and what we wanted to do.

Pictures. Yes, people complain that there aren't enough of such things on my blog.



Backdated from Saturday, 4th August 2007. (It wasn't that long ago.)

Going to Founder's Day Dinner. Founder's Day Dinner was usually not as boring as this year. Maybe it was because it was in the school hall. Maybe it was because our table was surrounded by "Old Folks". Maybe it was both. The first thing E*ric said was that if he had a chance, he would run. When we first sat down, it was the greatest idea at that time.

It didn't help that the one line that kept going through my head was this thing that we used to say when were still in school. "We didn't like the school. But we'll sure remember the people forever." Yes, sitting in the midst of the older people just made it clearer. We did not belong there. The older people acting like little giggling girls didn't help either.

But as the night wore on and as more familar people came to sit at our table, everything seem to be more comforting. Dinner didn't seem to be as boring anymore either. Dinner by the way was suppose to be done by a Italian Styled restaraunt. Either Italian food has since changed or this Italian restaraunt specialised in serving Chinese Italian Food.

As usual they had entertainment. I must admit that the videos were nicely done. The Fairfield Heros one. And of course highlights of the evening was the after-event event. Haha, Dover never cease to make everything better. Had a short but interesting talk with Tat Chuen. Honestly, I don't recall having many of such talks with Tat Chuen. Either I didn't share much or I just don't have problems of such scale often.

And the ONE line that Tat Chuen has impressed on me is: How can I love someone who doesn't love Jesus? Yea, lots of thought. Deep hard thoughts.

a new man...

There was a beginning and now there is a continuation. So this is the next part of the story.

~ " ~

But it had to stop. Running away was not the answer. Not that running away hadn’t provided a temporary reprise. But the fact remained. Running away was like the mist that hung around after the rain. It merely masked the problem. Solving the problem required John to do the opposite. John had to stop running. The mist enveloped John as he made his way along the wet sidewalk.

John looked back at the three years that he had spent wallowing in depression. Three years that could have been better spent. But the three years spent alone out in the world had not been totally wasted. The three lonely years had indeed toughened John up. Gone were the days where John’s view of the world was veiled by roses laid meticulously on a silver platter borne on the backs of the many attendants that shuffled around him.

The three years had widen his horizons, discoloured his tinted view of life. John knew now that he had been one of the fortunate ones. He was one of the few that grew up with all of his needs taken care of. However, John couldn’t see the bliss that sheltered him in his youth. Then, all John did was lamented how the people around him could never please him.

It didn’t take three years for John to find out his fairytale existence was merely contained within his sprawling estate. No, John realized that he was nobody out in the world without his identity that came with his family name. John had found out shortly an hour into his flight for freedom. But to return then would have reinforced in John the failure that his family thought of him. Moreover, John’s pride could never have shut out the whispers that the domestic help was capable of spreading.

It wasn’t the first time that John had attempted to return. Three years had seen sixteen different attempts. With only John’s own footsteps for company, the silence of the night had proven a conducive environment for reminiscence. The same rain that had accompanied John as he left has welcomed him back as he stepped off the train. Now only the mist remained.

John came to a stop as he came up to the flight of stairs. The familiarity of the steps was comforting. John stood there staring at the knocker. However, he couldn’t bear to bring himself to raise the knocker. It wasn’t that he was having cold feet. John couldn’t wait to enter the house. He had wanted so desperately to get out of the cold. It has been three years and warmth waited for him on the opposite side of the door. He just didn’t want to create a din.

The prodigal son is here. But the return would have to wait till more earthly hours.

holidays...

Finally, holidays have resumed.

One week, no more no less. Need to bid for 3 more modules. What can I take?

Need help deciding. Dang.

last day of work...

Today is the last day of work. And honestly, I kinda miss work already. I miss the fun people that work at HQ and I throughly enjoyed the 2 months that I spent there.

And I especially enjoyed the last two days of work. That cause my replacement came. And hoenstly, I totally enjoyed her company, wished she came earlier. Kinda tired, will be sleeping soon.

Anyways, lastly, I'm fine now. Maybe abit of a leaky nose, but I'm more or less fine now. Thanks for all the concern.

sick... sick... sick...

sick... sick... sick...

Hiaz, the last 3rd day of work and what happens? I fall sick.

I better not spend the last week of holidays as a sick man. I will NOT let that happen!!!

I want to enjoy the last days of my holiday doing more than continuously sniffing and making sure nothing drips out of my nose.

Tomolo my replacement comes.

Hope i'm not going to get any sicker.