Yep... went for my first lab session as a lab TA today from 4-6pm. It's nice to help others, to be a guide to others. I like the feeling of being able to help others. Heh. I do hope that teaching as a career will be as enjoyable and fulfilling. Hee.
Morning... I overslept. I was woken up by a message from a friend that he was stuck in a traffic jam and will be late in meeting me at my secondary school. Oh no, overslept again :/ Anyway, he was nice enough to drive over to fetch me when I asked him if he could. We went to fetch another friend and soon reached school.
Hmmm, it's been years since I last went back to my secondary school. It's Teachers' Day Eve today, so we decided to go back... to our old school... but in a new building. My second time at that building. I was there once when the new building first opened. Ehz, only managed to talk to my secondary 4 Chinese teacher. A little disappointed in not being able to see my form teacher and personally wish her a happy Teachers' Day.
Oh yar, saw a friend whom I knew from my first three months in SAJC. She's now a teacher at my secondary school. So many teachers have left the school... there aren't many left whom I know.
My friend dropped me at Ikea where I went to get a haircut. Bought KFC home to eat for lunch... O.R. Fillet Burger, Cheese Fries and Iced Lemon Tea. Did some preparation for my lab TA thingy, played a bit of a web-based riddle puzzle game, then left my place to go to school. I only managed to get to level 6... dunno how to proceed to the next one le.
Hmmm, having some problems configuring my reseller account. How I wish my webhost support will be better :/ They're really quite slow in replying to my emails. Haiz.
Ah, how time flies, it is now the fourth week of school. My friend was asking me via MSN Messenger (Oh, by the way, MSN Messenger 7.5 is out, I'm not using it yet though) when our midterm break is. I just replied in a nonchalant manner that it should be in about three weeks. It was only after a while that I realised that three weeks is only a short time and that the semester's 1/4 gone le.
Hmmm, woke up at about 12 noon today. Was supposed to meet my friend in school to work on a lab assignment but didn't in the end due to the fact that I overslept. Cooked spaghetti for lunch... so as to finish up the rest of the cabonara sauce that I have. I've still got spaghetti left though... shall try another flavour of the sauce the next time I intend to have spaghetti. Heh
I reached school just before 3pm... had a project discussion with some friends till about 6pm. I was busy trying to install some stuff and doing some research on my part while they were about the project proposal. Stress... I have to read up more tonight when I get home. GloMoSim is going to give me a headache soon :/
Dinner in school... Ate Oyako Don from the Japanese stall at the Science canteen. Hmmm, I think it tasted better the last time. There's no more free tea either (I don't collect the tea, but it's just a point worth mentioning).
Okie... I have to go give tuition le... Having an online meeting at 12 midnight, going back to my secondary school tomorrow morning, most probably another project meeting in the afternoon in school, having lab TA duty from 4-6pm in the evening. I do hope I'll be able to get enough sleep tonight...
My friend's project is finally over, which means that I can now concentrate on my own modules and try to make up for lost time. I'll take a breather first though... for perhaps a day or two. Too many things happening over the past one month. The "mrbasic" incident... me helping my friend... and the most recent webhosting problem. I'm not sure if I want to pay that kind of money in the long run... I'm not even running a company.
Being able to run a website providing a service to people perhaps fulfils a small wish of mine... but it's just a hobby :/ It's not that I have a lot of money to spare. Giving up on the myFLASHbox website would mean a saving of SGD30 a month in the future. That's a lot of money loh. Anyway, shall see how things go for the next two or three months. If I cannot find anyone to share the hosting cost with me, I might consider just giving up the whole myFLASHbox website altogether... I'm not that willing to pay so much for a hobby.
Well, was a little tired and had some things to do, so I ended up skipping a lecture. I reached school at about 1.30pm, went to collect the password slips for my lab TA thingy this coming Wednesday, then settled down in Programming Lab 1 to do my stuff. Genes and Society lecture at 4pm... I was chatting with a friend using MSN Messenger on my laptop and wasn't really paying attention to the lecture. Well, I did take note of the important points though.
Project meeting at Level 8 lab for about an hour. I spent the rest of the time in school surfing websites and clearing emails. Hmmm, was almost 10pm by the time I reached home. Settled the myFLASHbox thingy and cooked spaghetti with cabonara sauce for supper. I'm really spending too much time on the FLASHbox site. Will need to automate some stuff soon... if I can find the time.
Hmmm, forgot to write about this performance at The Esplanade which I had free tickets for but didn't go in the end because I was too occupied with a lot of stuff. Last Thursday to be exact.
Hmmm, my site's currently down. Suspended due to some breaching of user policy because I'm not supposed to run a website for free FLAShboxes under my current plan. I've emailed the webhosting company and gotten another plan, but the site is still not up after 12 full hours :/ I'm going to lose all the FLASHbox users liao... might as well close down the site if that's the case and revert back to the original plan, since upgrading was to cater for the FLASHbox website.
Saturday afternoon was spent in church... sound duty. I dropped by Chinatown on my way back and bought some snacks home, since my relatives were coming over for dinner. Dinner was chicken rice, packed from a nearby food centre. There was fishhead curry as well. The night was spent completing the hörspiel website after a few weeks of procrastination.
Well, slept only at about 5am because I was helping a friend with some powerpoint slides. Didn't wake up in time for sermon and bible study. I went to church for lunch, followed by my discipleship lesson. The break between the lesson and my cleaning duty was spent helping the pastors maintain their desktops.
It was 7pm by the time I reached home. Was surprised to see that my site was suspended again (it was suspended once on Friday night I think). This time it is taking them a lot longer to reactivate my site :/ A good thing that I blog using external sources... If not I won't be able to write at all.
Oh yar, since I just got a new reseller hosting plan, anyone interested to buy some webspace from me? I've got quite a bit to spare...
Rubbish mail count, 22 - 28 August 2005: Spam mail: 118 Virus mail: 6 Total: 124
[Addon 29 August 2005 15:05] Well, they finally got my site up at about 2pm... Zzz [/Addon]
Well, I've been rather occupied... helping a friend with a project and settling my webdomain problem (will elaborate on it later). Which explains why I haven't been writing in this bloggie of mine. Ah, I've been replying to Shouts in the FLASHbox though :P
Wednesday, 24 August 2005
Hmmm, I met a friend for lunch at Tiong Bahru. We walked for a while in Tiong Bahru Plaza before both of us headed for home. First time meeting this friend... online friend actually.
I went grocery shopping again at NTUC FairPrice. Ah, forgot what I did for the rest of the day le... :/ One of the reasons why I blog... I cannot remember things that happen a few days before, if they are not really significant. I know of people who are good at remembering... it's just that I cannot. Heh.
Thursday, 25 August 2005
Hmmm, I went to school... to meet friends for lunch before sitting in in their lecture for some J2EE stuff. Quite interesting I guess... today's lecture was about the client-server model. Then there was some stuff about stubs and skeletons. Need to do hands-on de, which I don't think I will be doing, since I'm not even taking the module. I might ask my friends for the codes and everything though, just for knowledge sake. Heh
I went for my Genes and Society lecture after that... Hmmm, quite ok ba. Finally found out the nationality of my lecturer... she's English. My friends and I couldn't figure out her nationality from her name :/ I rushed home after the lecture. My uncle boarded the bus which I was on. He was going home after his walk from his workplace to the bus-stop. A 1-hour walk leh. Quite impressive woh, his determination to get some exercise.
Well, reached home, settled some daily admin stuff, then left my place again to go give tuition. Tuition was ok... my cousins were cooperative. Hmmm, met a friend for supper nearby, his treat :P Well, he came over to my place to stay over to rush his project. We didn't catch much sleep.
Oh yar... my webhosting account was suspended for an hour at night, because the company which I am with said that I violated the user policy by giving people free FLASHboxes. They were saying that it's equivalent to some reseller thingy. I think they are just shocked that I'm using so much bandwidth, even though my plan allows me to use an unlimited amount of bandwidth. Anyway, I'll need to upgrade my webhosting plan and pay about 4 times more than what I'm currently paying if I want to continue providing the FLASHbox service :/
Friday, 26 August 2005
Hmmm, skipped my lecture again :/ This time not because I overslept, but because need to help friend, so I guess it's more justifiable? Anyway, went to school to meet friends for lunch and to have a project meeting.
I manage to get a copy of the NUSSU diary, all thanks to the vice-charperson (external projects) of the NUSSU welfare committee who was really nice. She made an effort to arrange for a time for me to go find her to get the diary. Really very nice of her.
Well, no dinner at home, so I ate dinner in school after meeting a friend. Dinner at the Engin canteen. I tried the Japanese stall. I think Science's Katsu Don tastes better :P Dessert was good though... Chendol combo... It's actually chendol ice-cream with some mixed fruits and nata de coco. Hee
I think the FLASHbox incident has sort of come to a close. I'm not sure if I can be considered the winner, since I managed to force the plagiariser to take down his website. But what's lost is lost... He has gotten hold of my source code and there's nothing I can do about it. If he's going to make use of it or let people download it in future, I won't be able to do anything also. Meanwhile, life still goes on for me.
Hmmm, I haven't been updating my main website. Or rather, the Tuesdays with Turtle series. I think I might be spending a bit too much time on the myFLASHbox website le :/ Actually I'm not doing anything constructive. I plan to do some stuff, but I am just too lazy to do anything. Haiz.
It is now week 3 of the semester, the start of tutorials and lab sessions. With no tutorials or lab sessions, it is not of much difference to me. The project datelines are getting closer though... and I'm only just beginning to make a conscious effort to read up and try out stuff. Ehz, will need to work harder.
Hmmm, woke up in the late morning to finish up something for a friend. Ah, didn't do much during the rest of the day, but time still seems to go by quickly. I shall go do some reading later... I've got a little catching up to do, since I missed last week's Mobile Computing lecture :P Ah, managed to get a locker for myself for the rest of the academic year. I doubt I'll be making use of it much though, since I don't bring a lot of things to school anyway.
I was supposed to have a lunch appointment today, but it was postponed to tomorrow. Hee... I'm a bit lazy to leave the house.
Let me see... Hmmm. I need to first post the email count thingy.
Rubbish mail count, 15 - 21 August 2005: Spam mail: 81 Virus mail: 7 Total: 88
I seem to be getting lesser and lesser spam emails, which is a good sign I suppose.
Well, went to school in the late morning and had lessons till about 1.45pm. Had lunch with my coursemates, then proceeded to the level 2 computer lab to do some stuff. I went for my first Genes & Society lecture at about 3.45pm. Well, the lecturer is really interesting. Heh. It's like attending my German language lessons. Hmmm, some of her explanations might not be that clear though, since she uses rather long sentences which might make understanding harder.
I went home after that to install Macromedia FLASH into my laptop before going to my cousins' place to give tuition. Dinner was overburnt oven-heated pizza from Carrefour. Ah, I didn't know how to use their mini-oven, so I ended up with a pizza with burnt crust. Had to help my cousin with a simple FLASH animation to illustrate one of the National Education messages. Well, I really made a very simple one, within the two hours of tuition.
Hmmm, the morning was spent at the Esplanade, on an Esplanade Backstage Tour. It was a really insightful tour... interesting also. We were given an introduction to the history of the Esplanade, some structural details, as well as a rather in-depth tour of the concert hall, theatre and some of the backstage areas, including the dressing rooms. There were refreshments after the tour as well... at the Aria. The food was good :P Got to know three people as well. Of the four of us who sat at the same table for lunch, I was the only one who had no particular reason (other than curiosity) for going on the tour.
I walked over to City Hall MRT Station and decided to take a bus home instead of the MRT since I bought the bus consession for this month. Ehz, decided to take bus number 195 to see how long it takes to reach my place. Well, my conclusion is that I cannot take bus numbers 195 and 145 home because both buses will go to a lot of other places before reaching my place. Taking bus numbers 51 and 32 is safe, 51 being the fastest.
Left my place in the evening to meet a friend at Clementi for dinner at Pizza Hut. I tried the Cheesy Lava 3 Stuffed Crust Pizza. Ha, really quite cheesy. I think I quite like it. Had a Hut's Platter as well. My friend and I were rather full after the meal. Ehz, headed down to school to get some stuff done before going home at about 9.45pm. I took bus number 33... quite fast since it was rather late at night and there was not much traffic on the roads.
Sunday, 21 August 2005
Morning. A mobilisation exercise at 10am. I met a friend of mine at an MRT Station near his place and we headed down to the new Keat Hong camp. It was a boring affair... took about one hour travelling there, walked into the camp, signed our names and left the camp. I shared a cab home with one of my friend, since the both of us wanted to get home quickly to do our own stuff.
Afternoon. I cooked spaghetti for lunch, only to realise that the cabonara sauce that I bought last week and only used once had gone bad. Anyway, I only found out when I started eating it. Well, since the sauce was heated before being eaten, I finished eating the spaghetti anyway :/ The rest of the afternoon was spent helping a friend do some work.
Evening. I took a nap before my cousins came over for tuition. I went down to NTUC FairPrice to do my weekly grocery shopping in the middle of the tuition because it was already quite late and I was worried that it would be closed by the time tuition ends. Ehz, a quick trip... I basically just grabbed what I wanted, paid and walked back to my home.
Hmmm, didn't do much for the rest of the day... Slept early.
Hmmm, didn't do much on Thursday... Basically just went to give tuition in the evening. I was ranting at my cousin at her place about the FLASHbox plagiarism incident. Ha. I think she couldn't stand my ranting. Anyway, had the thought that I'm now half a broken man. Yep, perhaps that's how bad this incident is/was.
Overslept this morning, so I missed my lecture. Ah, second week only miss lecture liao... not a good sign :/ Anyway, went to school to have lunch and discuss projects. It was about 5pm by the time I reached home.
Well, I've been keeping track of MrBasic's moves even though I'm not able to access his website via normal means. Today, I googled, and a link appeared. It was a link to an entry that MrBasic had posted in a forum, announcing his shoutbox with emoticons. From the details in the forum, he's 34... 34 le and still behaving like this.
Well, with an online translator, language barriers don't pose much of a problem, and Dutch is quite similar to German. So I registered for an account and posted a reply to his entry, in Dutch (with the help of the online translator of course).
He has supposedly removed his shoutbox from his website. Here's what is on his shoutbox website, in Dutch:
Ik vindt dit heel erg jammer. Maar heb besloten om MIJN shoutbox te verwijderen.
Dit omdat er personen zijn die beweren dat ik de shoutbox gestolen heb.
Dit is pertinent niet waar !. Alle componenten die ik gebruik zijn open source.
Ik heb van niemand iets gestolen of geript. Dit verhaal gaat wel te ronde.
Ik ben zelf zo'n 4 jaar bezig met flash en php. over een maand gaat www.mrbasic.nl open en zal mijn portfolio te zien zijn.
Zoals in mijn eerdere verhaal : In 2004 heb ik flash chat aangeschaft voor 5 dollar. www.tufat.com
Dit word geleverd met fla file s. Hier kwam ik het Jolan component tegen.
En na enig uitzoek werk zag ik dat dit open source was. Het is te downloaden op http://www.flashcomponents.net/ zoek op jolan . Ik heb nooit een database achter MIJN shoutbox laten draaien. Ik heb het werkend gekregen met LOUDSHOUT te downloaden op http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/29161.html .
Ook zwerven er allerlei emails van mij over het internet. Sommige daarvan zijn aangepast om mij zwart te maken. Ik heb geen zin meer om tijd te steken in het verwijderen van zwartmakende shouts. Ik vind het heel erg jammer. Nogmaals : Ik heb deze shoutbox zelf werkend gekregen. Als je verdere uitleg wil mail of bel mij dan. nr staat op www.mrbasic.nl
Ehz, here's the translation using Altavista's Babelfish:
I find this very very jammer. But have decided MY remove shoutbox.
This because are there persons that claim that I have stolen the shoutbox.
This is not pertinent where!. All components which I use are open source.
I of nobody something has stolen or geript. This tale goes, however, too round.
I am myself about 4 years busy with flash and php. over a month open www.mrbasic.nl and my port folio will see being.
Like in my earlier tale: In 2004, I flash chat for 5 dollars www.tufat.com have bought
This with fla traffic-jam is provided s. here encountered I the Jolan component.
And after only work saw I select that this was source. It is download on http://www.flashcomponents.net/missing on jolan. I have let twist never a database behind MY shoutbox. I have got active with LOUDSHOUT it to download on http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/29161.html.
Also there all kinds of e-mails of me roam concerning the Internet. Some of it have been adapted me make black. I have to no more sense put time in removing blackening someone shouts. I find it very very jammer. Once again: I have got these shoutbox themselves active. If your further explanation wants mail or bel me then. no. stands on www.mrbasic.nl
All I can say is, he still doesn't want to admit that he decompiled my shoutbox to get the smiley component, even though I have concrete proof that that was what he did. The proof is here, if anyone wants to take a look.
Let's just hope that this will be the end of such problems. Though I doubt it will be, since he still has the source code to my edited smiley component.
Well, ha, boring entries over the past few days... More to come if this still doesn't settle down.
After wasting two valuable days in a pointless and futile defense of my intellectual rights, I'm moving on. This should hopefully be my final update on this incident.
Ok, I'm moving on. It's no point arguing with someone who has no conscience, no guilt, no ethics.
For those who do not know FLASH, I'm going to clarify why I made such a big hoo-hah out of this plagiarism incident.
FLASH is basically edited as a .fla file. The final output which can be viewed is a .swf file, which cannot be edited. Since I am the creator of this FLASHbox and I did not reveal my code (the .fla file) to anyone, no one should be able to edit my FLASHbox.
I have used an open source smiley component for this FLASHbox which I modified quite extensively to make it work well and fit to my style. The edited copy is in the .fla file.
Since the .fla file belongs to the FLASHbox, anyone who is able to rip anything out of the .swf file (perhaps by using Sothink's SWF Decompiler) and edit it after that is doing something wrong, even if the original component in the editable .fla file was open source.
The smiley component that I have used is open source, but my FLASHbox code is not. Since the .fla file contains my own codes for the FLASHbox as well, it is natural that I have the right to not share it.
The .swf file is not the source code and decompiling it to obtain the source code is unethical in all sense. The same goes to decompiling any other programs in any other language to access the source code. No amount of editing done to the illegally obtained source code will make it justifiable.
MrBasic has obviously decompiled my .swf file and thus illegally obtained my source code. But he blatantly denies this fact time and again even though I have proof. He has blocked my IP and I am no longer able to access his shoutbox website.
I might be rude to spam his shoutbox with what MrBasic terms as "nonsense", but I only state the truth in there. It is up to the general public to decide for themselves who is right. I guess no one would be able to understand the devastation that I've gone through. All my effort spent developing this FLASHbox to find out that someone has easily obtained my source code illegally and treated as his own.
I'm a student... My studies are my priority. I have spent a lot of time on this FLASHbox website, though it is just a hobby. This incident has allowed me to learn that humans will do anything just to get what they want, to witness the cruelty of society. I have been hurt, in ways unimaginable by others.
I've wasted two days in a pointless defense of my intellectual rights. I'm moving on and will continue to maintain this website in my free time. Improvements to the FLASHbox will no longer be spontaneous, because someone has killed my passion and motivation for it.
Ok, perhaps a short update on the past few days.
Tuesday, 16 August 2005
I went to school and had lunch with a friend at the Engin canteen. I tried one of the stalls with fewer people queuing and well, I sort of found out why there were so few people buying from that stall. The pricing is quite reasonable, so is the portion of food. It's just that it doesn't taste that nice. Edible, but not fantastic.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at Science faculty. Chanced upon a lunch gathering of a few coursemates and joined them for a short chat, after which I parked myself in one of the labs to do some stuff. I went for a briefing for my lab TA module at 4pm and it ended just slightly after 5pm. I suppose that the workload for it is going to be quite light. Since it's only on alternate weeks that I have to do lab duty. Back to the computer lab, then over to my cousins' place to give tuition.
It was hard to teach after realising that someone has stolen what belongs to me. Anyway, called up a close friend of mine on my way home, ranted and ranted for 16 minutes. I had to end the call because I had reached home and the handphone reception in my house is horrible for the Singtel network. A big thank you to this particular friend who lent a listening ear and also to those I have ranted to in MSN, for lending listening eyes. Heh
Wednesday, 17 August 2005
A friend came over in the morning to get some of his work done. The CORS tutorial registration website was a disaster. I was lucky not to have to deal with the frustration of not being able to log in to the website and to face unloadable or unprocessable (if there's such a word) pages because I did not have any tutorials to bid for.
I went for a tan in the afternoon... I think I look better with a slight tan. Well, most people do anyway... healthier-looking I guess. A short one, followed by an early dinner of chicken rice at the nearby hawker center.
Why can't he stop modifying my version of the smiley system and go modify the free one instead? Well, the answer is because it's not that easy to modify the free one because the free one has some bugs which are difficult to rectify. It's easier to make one that is already working look different isn't it. No matter what, as long as he is still modifying my modified version, I will keep haunting him.
And he is so childish as to impersonate me... Why would I say that his shoutbox is cool? I'm not so magnanimous.
Hmmm, do help by going over to his site and shouting the following: [Select text and do a "Ctrl+C" to copy] Check out the original smilies shoutbox at http://myflashbox.notsniw.net.
Well, I found out that that MrBasic (ah, that's the nick of the guy who plagiarised my FLASHbox) was really using my modified smiley system. Why? Because only my FLASHbox has square smilies and his version has them. Although they are not available for selection, they will appear when one types the correct text.
At the point of writing this, he has already disabled the square smilies in his shoutbox, but little does he know that I downloaded an earlier free version he was distributing... and that one shows the square smilies. I've already uploaded that version to my FLASHbox website. It can be accessed here. Anyone who works with FLASH will know that I won't be able to tamper with the FLASH file unless I have the .fla file, which I won't have (unless I can create one from the FLASH file using a commercial FLASH decompiler which I don't have), since he claims that it is his work.
I confronted him by sending him an email:
You're so despicable... plagiarising my smiley system and letting people download it for free. Do you know how much time I spent to make the smiley component work because the original free one didn't work well? Do you know that I drew every one of those square smilies myself? All my hard work plagiarised and treated as yours.
And you had the cheek to post your link in my FLASHbox. I do thank you for that though, without which I wouldn't have found out what you have done. Make one on your own if you're good enough, don't pass off someone else's hard work as your own.
notsniw
And this was his reply:
This shoutbox i made it myself. I used the SmileyTextField from jolan.org [Insert: Well, Jolan.org has been down for months le] http://www.flashcomponents.net/ ( search for jolan ). And I used a simple flash shoutbox to get it work. All of this is open source. So I don’t understand that your angy.
MrBasic
And then I replied in two separate emails since I was quite angry at his reply:
Well, where did you get the square smilies from? I drew them...
And Jolan's SmileyTextField has a lot of problems... I spent days debugging it. Even your smiley layout is the same as mine. Jolan's doesn't look like mine.
Ok, I drew the FLASH version of the square smilies... the original ones were GIFs which I use for my MSN Messenger. Anyway, I'm still waiting for his reply. He proceeded to replace his shoutbox with one without the square smilies appearing (nice move of his) but still having a smiley panel that looks almost the same as mine.
Take note of the smiley panel that is being used. Find them very similar?
Well, my smiley panel was modified from this one... and it took me quite some time to do it. I do suspect that my FLASHbox smiley panel was "kopped" by that person. I mean... it's looks totally the same as mine lah. And my smiley panel is I do one loh. The layout and everything. Even the close button for my smiley panel was drawn by me. The original smiley component looks rather different from my modified one. How not to suspect?
It's not impossible that the smiley panel was "kopped", since software like Sothink SWF Decompiler is available in the market today, not to mention pirated versions. Perhaps it's my fault for not taking enough precautions. Ah well, nothing major also. Just a shoutbox, just hours spent on "perfecting" it, just a smiley panel only wad.
Ah, forgot to post the email count thingy yesterday...
Rubbish mail count, 8 - 14 August 2005: Spam mail: 104 Virus mail: 5 Total: 109
Hmmm, was slightly late for my lecture this morning. I think this hardware-software co-design module is quite interesting. Maybe it's not easy to do well for it, but it's interesting.
Lunch was western again :P Crispy dory with an additional egg. I've been eating western for all my meals in school for the past few days that I've been in school. Hmmm, went over to Engin to get some stuff from a friend. I'm not sure if it'll be useful for my module. I'll need to go over to the Co-op tomorrow to take a look at the book. Will need to check if it's the same...
Nothing much for the rest of the day. Helping a friend with some stuff.
Ah, ich bin noch krank. Ich kann nicht auf Deutsch schreiben... weil ich zu lang Deutsch nicht benutze. Ich finde es schwer, wenn ich auf Deutsch schreiben. Ok, ich denke, dass das genug ist :P
I think I'll soon forget how to form sentences in German, more complicated ones though :/ A pity, since I've taken four modules of it and am supposed to be quite proficient in the language. Well, at least enough for me to survive if I went on a holiday in Germany. I would have been quite comfortable there, being able to ask for directions, order food, read signboards etc. Saying things like "Das ist zu teuer." and "Ah... Das ist billig." when buying things. Well, it will soon be history, once I forget how to use the language.
I slept late last night, and so didn't manage to wake up in time for sermon in Church. I managed to be in time for the end of bible study class though. Hmmm, had lunch, then went for my discipleship class. The first of thirty-four lessons, each lasting about three hours, with the last one or two taking ehz, eight hours I think. Today's lesson was on authority (权威 in Chinese). A comfortable start I guess... slow-paced, so that we can get used to it.
Ehz, slept on the bus on my way home as usual. Missed my bus-stop by one stop so I took the chance to go over to NTUC FairPrice to get some titbits. Ehz, bought cabonara sauce for my spaghetti... I still have a packet of spaghetti. Maybe I can cook some of it for Tuesday's lunch.
Ich bin müde... Ha, I always say that during the semester, but I think it's a little too early for that now.
And they are... 1) The Win-tone 2) The Winnie look-away 3) The 0.5 second sentence
Courtesy of Kiddie.
I woke up in the late morning today. Got ready and went over to my cousins' place to give tuition. Hmmm, it was already 2pm by the time it was over. I went home, did some unconstructive stuff at the computer... fiddling with webbie, surfing blogs etc. Soon it was time for me to go over to my grandmother's place for dinner.
Dinner was the usual... curry chicken, braised meat, roast chicken, sweet and sour pork, etc. It's been quite some time since I last visited my grandmother. I will sometimes have the urge to go see her, but I don't think I ever did it at those times. I should go over more often... since time should permit it. I'm supposed to have quite a bit of my own time this semester.
Tomorrow's going to be a long day. I think I'm not going to view the fireworks... Though I really want to. Hmmm, see how ba :/
Almost didn't want to wake up to go for my lecture since I slept late last night. Lecture was ok... Mobile Computing seems to be an interesting module. I think the time that's going to be spent on it will be quite substantial as well.
Lunch... Western again. I ate chicken chop. The auntie who was selling it didn't ask me what sauce I wanted and just gave me mushroom sauce -.-" I wanted black pepper sauce loh. Ah well. Nothing I can do about it. There was this guy who asked her if he could add butter rice to his order... then she just told him it's possible if there is butter rice and that she's not sure if there's butter rice today. She didn't go check loh -.-"
I was on my way to the bus-stop when I met a friend who helped me photocopy something, so I walked back with him to the Co-op to collect the book. It was home after that, followed by a short nap. Hmmm, I need to get a grip on myself these days. I'm just so not me anymore. Happens when one listens to the heart more than the mind. Just can't seem to do anything at all :/
Feeling a little tired. This shall be a quick entry.
I woke up in the early afternoon I guess. It was raining, just as the National Environment Agency predicted. "Stoned" in front of my computer monitor, bathed, then left my place to meet a friend at Tiong Bahru Plaza for a movie.
I met my upper Secondary form teacher as I was walking out of Tiong Bahru MRT Station. Quite a surprise for both of us ba... She couldn't really remember my name, but I guess she remembered my face. It has been about 7 or 8 long years. Ha, I'm old le. Anyway, really glad to have seen her. I've always wanted to go back to school to visit her, but no one wants to accompany me. Managed to get her contact number and email, so I guess I should be able to keep in touch with her.
Movie... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hmmm, nice movie... rather interesting. I've forgotten the story le, but I guess the movie managed to refresh it a little. I'm not sure if the movie's different from the book, but I think there should be some differences. The "Oompa-Loompas" were a little irritating though :P They looked quite ugly, all the same face de. Haven't watched movies for quite some time le.
Dinner was Long John Silver's. My friend watched me eat since he was going home for dinner. After dinner, we saw that there was a Pasar Malam (Night Market) nearby, so we went to take a look. Nothing much. There was a stall selling vegetables though. A little weird.
There's school tomorrow. Hmmm, I need to get down to doing work :/
Hmmm, was reading through the old entries that I posted yesterday, the second entry in particular. I was thinking "Hmmm, I used to be able to write like this?". Nowadays I don't do much thinking... So, entries which reflect my inner thoughts are rare. Entries are just descriptions of day to day happenings. I don't even write about current affairs anymore. Not that I wrote a lot of it in the past.
Was looking at some of my old documents... and I came across one named "Sundays with Kiddie.doc". A file that I created last year. There's only one "entry" in it. I had initially planned to start a series of entries with the title "Sundays with Kiddie", in response to a friend who created "Tuesdays with Turtle". Well, apparently I did not have any storyline in mind. Perhaps I didn't have the time and mood to write as well. Anyway, here's what's in that file...
Sundays with Kiddie (03.10.2004)
The coin spun, reflecting light as it rose high up into the air before landing back into the Lord’s right palm. The Lord threw the coin into the air again, eyes intent on the coin as it rose up and fell again. Half an hour has passed since he started to play with his one and only coin, a circular disc with a dragon imprinted on one side and five raised dots on the other.
The coin was cool to the touch, and the Lord has always treasured it, for it was from a faraway land. He looked out of the arched window, straining his neck while trying to look at the sundial in the garden below.
He could see the water from fountain land on the stone birds, drenching them from head to toe. The willow trees murmured as the wind blew. It was a cloudy day, and there was no sun. He turned his attention back to his coin and started to whistle while he tossed the coin again. It was a slow and soft tune, soothing to the ears.
The coin fell, not into his palm, but to the ground with a soft tinkle and it rolled towards the wooden door with rusty metal studs. He rose, and was getting ready to walk towards the door when the door creaked. The Lord paused and a smile appeared on his face, revealing a gold tooth.
Comments anyone? Ha.
The day passed rather quickly. I woke up in the late morning and packed a stack of notes that was on the floor. Now I have another stack left which I think I'll pack later. A friend dropped by with lunch. He went down to NUS to meet up with another friend to get something. Since he was coming at around lunchtime, I got him to pack food from the Engin canteen for me. Hee.
He packed salmon with rice from the Japanese stall for me while he himself ate "Ba Chor Mee" (肉搓面 in Chinese). I tried a little of his noodles. Quite good leh. The Engin canteen had most of its stalls changed. I should go over and try the food when I'm free. Heh. Anyway, he came over to scan some stuff and to 顺便 make use of my CDwriter, since his is most probably spoilt.
Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get a high score for a game. Well, managed to do it before I left my house to go to my cousins' place for tuition. Hee. Quite happy ba. Another good news is that I managed to get my TA (Teaching Assistant) module this semester, which means that I'll have a chance to earn some money while being a lab TA. The rate is at SGD20 per hour. The briefing is on next Tuesday... More details on it after the briefing ba.
Tuition was normal. Still having a semi-blocked nose and cough. Zzz
Last year this day... It's interesting to note, that on this day last year, I wrote many entries as well... Ha.
10 August 2004, 03:29 [NDP 2004] National Day Parade 2004... I was there, as one of the spectators.
My day began at about 1pm, when I woke up to have lunch. I managed to talk to some friends online, got ready and left the house at 2.40pm. Yup, with my red OP t-shirt, my berms, my sandals and my black sling bag.
I met my friend at Queenstown MRT Station and we headed down to Kallang MRT Station, in a train with quite a few other people wearing red as well. We were quite early... and already there was quite a crowd. A short walk led us to the bus area where we queued up for a ride to the National Stadium in the free shuttle buses.
This process reminded me of my days in the army, when my platoon was in charged of the boarding area as well as the buses. Nice memories... heart warming ones. Memories of us ushering the public onto the buses when it was raining heavily and we had no form of protection from the rain. We were all drenched... totally drenched. Some people even offered their umbrellas.
A short ride was all it took for us to reach the stadium. We walked up the steps of the main entrance of the stadium, collected our goodie bags and proceeded to the seats. It was quite a hot afternoon... and the sun was shining directly in our direction.
It's always very interesting to notice how obedient Singaporeans are. It can easily be seen when we were led to the benches. We don't have the choice to choose our own seats and nobody attempted to request for better seats (those with a better view maybe).
We were seated by 3.40pm I think... and there were not many people yet. The bulk of the spectators arrived between 4.30pm to 5.30pm I think. I opened my goodie bag and proceeded to explore its contents. A plastic bag for throwing rubbish, a cap, two bottles of drinks, a packet of Justea, biscuits, some other foodstuffs, a shaker can, a Nokia 3200 shaped torch light, a handheld fan, a handheld "drum" with a mini stick, an NDP booklet, one magazine, some discount coupons, a packet of tissue and even a packet of Sakae Sushi wet towel.
The emcees were still rehearsing and testing the microphones when we reached there and I even got to see how they covered the field with a large piece of canvas. I got to see Lin Junjie rehearse for his item for the night as well :P
There was this word search puzzle in the NDP booklet and my friend and I tried to do it while waiting for time to pass. It was quite a good "time-waster" and it was soon time for the pre-parade segment.
At this point... I would like to stress that there were these policemen who were standing right in front of me for most of the duration of the parade and performances and they really spoilt my view as well as my mood for the day. I had this constant feeling to ask them to squat down or something. It wasn't my choice to sit so near to the aisle.
Ok, the pre-parade segment... a dance to "Let's Get Loud" by the motivators, followed by some talking by the emcees, singing by the combined school choir, School Display Band Performance by Tanjong Katong Secondary School, a Mass Display Performance by Boon Lay Secondary School and lastly, a Total Defence Performance by NCC and NPCC cadets as well as the Civil Defence and the Army. There was the usual parachute spectacular by the Red Lions as well.
The parade... The contingents form up, the arrival of the members of the Parliament, Prime Minister Goh, President S R Nathan, the National Anthem with the Super Pumas, Chinook and the State Flag, the flypast of the supersonic jets, inspection of the Guard-of-Honour with the 21-Gun Salute, the Presidential Drive-Past, the Feu-de-Joie and lastly the March-Past by the Colours Party and the Guard-of-Honour.
I managed to take some pictures of each of the events that happened... I have a picture of President Nathan in the Drive-Past as well. It's quite clear I think. I managed to take a picture of the jet planes as well.
Next, the main show... consisting of 3 parts: 1. Our Home, Our Strength -- with lots of "flowers" and "greenery" in the mass display by the People's Association. Lin Junjie also performed his version of "Home"... a funky and upbeat version 2. Our People, Our Passion -- with lots of balls that rolled down from the top of the stadium and mass display by the Singapore SOKA Association 3. Our Future, Our Hope -- with mass display put up by Telok Kurau and East Spring Secondary School and the NUS Dance Society
A finale with the rendition of "Home" by Kit Chan as well as the fireworks display and a song medley and another round of final fireworks display. My view at the blue sector of the stadium was not that good, and most of the fireworks were blocked by the lighting structures.
A final tribute with a short movie clip for PM Goh who will be stepping down soon... I was quite sad. PM Goh was a really good Prime Minister and he did a lot for Singapore. I suppose it's time for him to take a well deserved rest.
The Kallang Wave... It was done quite a few times during the whole show. A must in every NDP show. This will be the last time the NDP will be held at the National Stadium until it has been rebuilt.
I met my friend and his girlfriend (both of whom are my secondary school friends) after the whole event because they were at the National Day Parade as well. It took quite a while for us to reach Kallang MRT Station given the crowd... more than one hour I think.
A short train journey over to City Hall and we settled down at Cafe Cartel. I ordered a Waffle with chocolate ice-cream, peach slices and caramelised bananas as well as a chocolate milkshake. We ate and had a short chat. We had to leave at 11.35pm because Cafe Cartel was closing and my friend sent me home in his car. A short but appreciated meeting =)
A big thanks to Mr JJ Cheong for his NDP ticket without which the above would not have been possible. Heh :P
Overall, it was quite a nice NDP... except for some minor though irritating stuff like my view being blocked by the policemen. It's good to be living in Singapore =) I'll put up the pictures that I have taken when I'm in the mood... together with the photos from the fireworks display at The Esplanade. Now it's time to rest because school starts tomorrow for me.
9 August 2004, 04:33 [Some thoughts] The night is late... and sometimes, late timing is a good factor when it comes to putting down thoughts :P
There are three thoughts that I would like to type down. Here goes...
Firstly, about the uniqueness of a person's suffering. Some things that I find quite true... There is no point telling people that there are others who are worse off then them. It doesn't help in anyway, because everyone's suffering is unique. We have to recognise that suffering is unique in order to be able to help in comforting others. Sometimes, just staying with a person when he or she is depressed already helps a lot... much more than telling them that there are worse things in life.
Of course it would be good to think that suffering is essential when it comes to learning or just to accept that it's part and parcel of life. It's not easy to see suffering in a positive light, but doing so will make things seem better. One thing I know, is that viewing suffering in a positive manner lightens the load.
Secondly, about forgetting and moving on. One thing that I myself think is not true, that time can heal everything. I think that time only makes wounds deeper, because it simplifies the relationship and it becomes easier for one to be reminded of past memories. One can never forget... no one ever forgets, the information is stored permanently in the brain.
Yes, one may never forget, but one can put unhappy memories aside and decide to move on. Putting unwanted memories aside is not an easy task, but I personally think that it is the only solution in order to move on in life. Why would a person be willing to allow himself or herself to be stagnant? There is much more to life than suffering and unwanted memories.
Lastly, to live a life without regrets. No matter what I do, I will want to make sure that every decision that I make will be without regrets. I have had enough regrets in life. The mildest of which would be to regret helping people who are not worth helping, just that I hadn't seen it at first.
It's not easy (Ha, I'm seem to be saying that everything is difficult :P) but that's how I would want to live my life. I don't want to allow things to happen now which will end up with me regretting months or even years later. As long as I am accountable to myself, as long as I think will not regret the decisions that I have made, then any decision that I make is justifiable even if others don't feel the same way.
The bottom line is, you only live once... make the best out of life, don't live to regret it.
9 August 2004, 03:12 [9 August 2004] Happy 39th Birthday Singapore!!
Okie... so the next thing I knew after falling asleep was hearing my handphone's alarm clock ring and drifting back to sleep. I woke up at about 1pm because I had to give tuition to my cousins who had come over.
After two hours of tuition, I bathed and left my house to go down to The Esplanade again. This time, it is to view the fireworks display =) I love fireworks. Heh
My aunt came over to fetch my cousins and thus sent me over to City Hall MRT Station where I met Victor. The both of us then walked over to the bridge leading from The Esplanade to The Fullerton Hotel to join a few of my coursemates who were already there. The time was about 4.45pm in the late afternoon. The fireworks display was to begin at 8.30pm in the evening.
I got to know a few friends of one of my friend, those who were in the same ushering team as him. I also met a friend from BMT who was a friend of my coursemate. Singapore is really a little small. It's easy to find mutual friends :P
After almost 4 hours of waiting under the evening sun and watching the number of people increase at an exponential rate, it was time for the display. There were so many people that even the bridge, which was meant to be travelled upon by cars, was filled with people. I had no idea where all the cars disappeared to. The whole road was filled with people. I'm glad that I had reached there early to be watching the display from quite a good position.
It feels so good to be able to view fireworks live, to be able to see and feel the fireworks at such a close distance. It was simply captivating. I managed to take some pictures of the fireworks but only managed to get one or two really acceptable pictures, out of about 20 that I took. Not too bad considering that I'm not using a tripod.
I shall go and watch next week's fireworks display as well. This week's display was by a Hong Kong team. I think next week's one will be by Singapore. Not so sure... but it doesn't matter because as long as there are fireworks for me to watch, I will be happy :P
I went over to Bras Basah Hawker Centre to have dinner after the fireworks display... All of us ate noodles. The noodles stall is supposed to be quite well known. I think it's quite good. I'm not picky when it comes to food... I cannot tell the difference between good and better. Heh
I'm supposed to have a family gathering tomorrow evening. My friend suddenly had two tickets to the NDP parade because his aunt didn't want them, so I'll be going down to watch the NDP parade live. The first time I'll be watching the parade live on the actual day. The last time I watched it was during one of the NE shows during my army time.
Looking forward to tomorrow or rather, later :P
Ok, today was spent at home... woke up in the early afternoon, didn't do much, watched the National Day Parade on television. Hmmm, I think the program items were quite good this year, at least it's back to the basics. The mobile column was quite boring though :P
No lessons tomorrow... tuition in the evening though.
The first day of the new semester. It's nice meeting my friends again, after such a long break. It's not that nice being sick and having to go to school though :P Well, given the timetable that my friends and I have, I think we'll at most get to meet about three days a week and only for lectures and maybe labs. Hmmm, lunch gatherings will be common after lessons though, as we've always done in the past few semesters.
The first lecture of the semester was a three-hour one, with two 15-minute breaks. The actual duration of the lecture was about two hours. Hmmm, the module seems ok, but I'm sure it'll get more taxing as time progresses. Lunch was western... grilled dory. Nice. Heh
Hmmm, met two friends on my way home. One of them was a secondary school friend and the other a JC classmate. I guess I can be quite chatty if I want to. Reached home, checked my emails and stuff, then left my place to head for Marina Bay.
I messaged my friend while on the train and he replied saying that he was at Tiong Bahru Plaza when the train that I was in just happened to arrive at Tiong Bahru MRT Station. I hesitated exiting the train, but did it eventually because the train door was opened for so long that I took it as an indication that I should alight. Ha. Anyway, found my friend at NTUC FairPrice. Hmmm, it used to be Cold Storage though... I haven't been inside the building for quite some time le.
Bought drinks, then headed to Breadtalk to get some bread for the night, since we reckoned that it would be difficult to find food at Marina Bay. Knowing the unreliability of my rechargeable batteries, for the first time, I bought two very stylo AA Energizer e² Lithium batteries at a cost of about SGD8. So expensive leh, but what to do... wanted to make sure that the camera would work.
Met another friend on the train, then headed straight for Marina Bay. Hmmm, quite a lot of people, though there weren't that many where the static displays were. Quite interesting ba, the displays. I finally saw the prototype for the SAR21 with the M203 grenade launcher. It's heavy loh... about 5 or 6kg I think. I cannot imagine carrying it once they manage to get it right :/ The SAW version is not out yet though.
Got many other interesting stuff ba, but I'm lazy to talk about it. Anyway, I think I had a bit of gastric, so we went over to the bus-stop opposite the concert area to sit down and eat our bread, since the concert area was not opened to the public yet. We managed to get a good seat I guess, but that would imply that we were there a little too early :P Actually we were quite a distance away from the stage, but we face the speakers, so it was quite bad when it started. Deafening sound system, coupled with the screams of a few girls behind my friends. Fortunately there wasn't any shrieking girl behind me.
The concert started with a short musical involving some magical illusions... Quite power, the illusions. There were performances by quite a few chinese pop singers and groups after that, including F.I.R, K-One and 183 Club (I didn't know about this new group until my friend told me more). Singaporean singers like Tanya Chua, Cai Chun Jia, Wendy Koh, Taufik and Rui-En were also there. Even FM93.3 DJ Zhou Chong Qing got to sing two of his songs. There was a short performance by a team of people controlling some remote control kites as well. Made in Singapore and costing SGD600 each.
The finale to the concert was the countdown to National Day, which was immediately followed by the second instalment of the Singapore Fireworks Festival, choreographed by the Singapore team. It was accompanied by live music from the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, which was seated just in front of the performance stage. Quite stylo ba... Fireworks accompanied by national songs performed by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.
The journey home took quite a while. We decided not to wait for the shuttle buses but walk to the MRT Station instead, since it would probably take longer to wait for the buses. The walk to the MRT Station was erm... tiring. Ha. We walked quite fast, walking on the grass instead of the pathways so that we could overtake people :P It almost felt like bashing in the forest in my army days, particularly when my friend who was walking in front encountered some spiderweb in the process. Heh
Opened parachute... First time me seeing it :P Me with a Superpuma... I've been in one before. Heh M113 Weapons, the 40 and the 50 Dissected armour weapon rounds Me with a Primus Air-conditioned Out-field Medical Tents Me with a police dog. No one wanted to pet it woh... cos it looked too fierce maybe F.I.R K-One 183 Club Taufik and Rui-En Start of fireworks display Ah, fireworks Slow floating fireworks that look like traffic lights Ah, fireworks Towards the end
Well, I'm tired... was at the National Day Countdown Concert at Marina South.
Before I go to bed, here's two streaming video clips, the first, taken with my lousy digital video camera, and the second, taken by my Sony digital camera, to celebrate Singapore's 40th National Day =) Click on "Show Clip" to display the player and start loading the clip. Then the "Play" button to play the clip.
The first, a 2-min clip of the starting of the fireworks (about 4MB, with sound).
The second, a 1-min clip of the finale (about 2MB, without sound but with more colours).
The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes... So I'll try to get more up when I wake up from sleep =) I took pictures too. Heh. I had a good friend Mr. JJ who helped me with my digital video camera because I couldn't possible handle two electronic devices at the same time. Nope, not the JJ Lin who can sing very well though :P
Was too sick to go to church... spent the whole morning and afternoon sleeping instead. I'm sick of being sick. Zzz. It's bad because I can't get anything done. I doubt I'll recover soon though, this seems to be a big one.
Well, school's starting tomorrow... life's going to revert to normal soon. ie. monotonous days of school and tuition. Some thoughts will have to be put aside. It won't be easy, but I believe that I can psycho myself to do it. It's just a matter of making me believe in myself and having schoolwork to worry about. Ha. Oh well.
Well, myFLASHbox.notsniw.net has reached a user count of 1000, about four months in advance. Anyway, the new goal for the end of the year is a user count of 2000. Ehz, achievable I guess. I'll be putting up a FLASHbox layout contest soon... maybe at the end of the week. I hope there will be participants... The winner will get to have his/her design converted to a FLAShbox and he/she can then use it on his/her website/blog. Ehz, not very attractive, but it's FREE loh, so can't expect much from me also lah :P
I'll be going down to Marina South tomorrow I guess, for the countdown to National Day 2005. Didn't get to see the fireworks on Saturday, so I think I should go down and take a look tomorrow ba. Not a very wise decision since that would mean putting my health at risk, but it's National Day ah... I should go and take a look de... to immerse myself in a concoction of nationalism and patriotism.
I want to go find a life... find someone whom I love and loves me... But for now, I shall go bathe, find food, take my medicine and then go sleep.
Okie, email count for the week... Rubbish mail count, 1 - 7 August 2005: Spam mail: 77 Virus mail: 4 Total: 81
Well, I guess having about four entry titles saying that I'm sick is enough. Well, not saying that I've recovered. I think the illness is at it's peak now though, so I'll probably start recovering I guess.
I didn't stay at home the whole day though. I went to give tuition to my cousins in the late morning. Lunch was rice with fried chicken wings. Heh. Nice. I walked over to Holland Village's Guardian pharmacy to buy flu medicine... "Actified" is the brand of the flu medicine. They've come up with the tablets again. I used to buy the syrup since they didn't have the tablets.
The rest of the day was spent at home, sleeping most of the time. I've sort of finished the hörspiel webpage... can see it here if anyone wants to. It's in German though... most of it. A collection of "radio plays" that my German 4 class made last semester. There's some English in the navigation and headings though :P
Okie, I think I shall go rest again. Feeling a little drowsy after taking the flu tablets :/ Can't get anything done with a blocked nose. Didn't even go see the fireworks yesterday evening. Sianz.
The title's getting more and more boring. The brain's not really working now that I'm sick. Having quite a bad runny nose now :/ The illness is making me feel sleepy as well. I doubt I'll get much done these days. Sianz
Hmmm, working on the hörspiel webpage. I hope to get most of it done by tomorrow. I've been dragging it for too long. It's about time I put my heart to it (despite my horrible runny nose that's making me feel sleepy) and really try to get it done. I don't know how long I can last though :P Took a nap just now. Will have to eat panadol again after eating a snack or something later.
Dinner out today again... Fish and Co. A belated birthday treat for a friend. Seafood platter for two as well as two glasses of lime juice. The norm, whenever we go out for dinner. Fried calamari does taste a lot a lot better than grilled calamari. Yum... fried calamari's one of my favourite food too, though a bit expensive. I make do with the fried sotong from Old Chang Kee :P
Okie, short entry. Giving tuition tomorrow morning... I hope I can wake up in time.
Argh. I'm officially sick... The sorethroat has caused a flu... and it's being made worse from the smoke from the joss paper that people are burning for the start of the 7th Month... the Hungry Ghost Festival. It's all smokey outside the house... and the cool temperature of the night has trapped the smoke near the ground level. It's all misty/foggy outside. A bit eerie. Ha. But the smell's the bad part. Zzz
Shall type a quick entry, eat two panadols then go sleep. The air's making it worse. Maybe sleeping will help.
I woke up in the early afternoon today and left my place soon after that. The destination was PartyWorld Orchard. A ktv session with Elaine, Victor, Tammy, Boon Seng, Holly and Changni. First time meeting Changni. She can really sing loh... especially Teresa Teng songs. Power leh... so similar. Truly entertaining.
Anyway, I only sang two songs because of my sorethroat and Elaine commented that my "断点" was the best she has heard from me so far. She was saying how come I sick then can sing nice. Then I told her it sounds better because it's only the second song that I'm singing for the day. I normally sing more and so my voice erm... deteriorates after a few songs which strain my voice.
Dinner at Suki Ramen at Cineleisure. Hmmm, I thought it was not bad, but the rest didn't really think much of the food. I like the mini octopuses that came with the set rice though. Hee. My all time favourite Japanese mini octopuses :P Very nice can... Ha. Oh man, that's so not me.
I went over to Guardian Pharmacy to top up my store of lozenges, then took a bus home, stopping at NTUC FairPrice to do a bit of grocery shopping. Today's entry seems to be in an exceptionally Singlish style. I shall blame it on me being sick... and lazy... I can't be bothered to phrase the sentences correctly. Anyway, Singlish has it's attractive aspects as well. One of which would be the ease at which one can express himself/herself without bothering about the sentence structure.
Okie, go sleep le. Haiz, falling sick at a time like this is not fun at all :/
Ehz, going to clear my SMSes... So I'm typing some of them out :P
"A friend is never a coincidence in your life. They are meant to enter your life to bring you joy and laughter. So I will treasure the friendship between us."
"Time is like a river. You cannot step on the same water twice because the flow that has passed will never pass you again. Cherish every moment of your life."
"Life is like a harbour. Friends are the boats and lots of boats come and go. Some stay for a while. Others keep drifting about. But I'll spoil yours so you'll stay stuck in my harbour forever."
"Each of us is a star that shines with the rest. Sometimes we twinkle alone. But when you are about to lose your sparkle, I'm always here to add a glow!"
Ah. Sianz. Confirm sorethroat liao... the inflammation's on the top part of the throat though, so it's still not too bad, since eating doesn't really add to the pain. I woke up early, ate a lozenge and went back to sleep. I finally woke up in the early afternoon.
I cancelled today's tuition session because I don't think I can teach with a sorethroat... It'll only make the sorethroat worse. It's best to not talk much and drink lots of water, hoping that the sorethroat will recover at a faster rate :P I'm not that optimistic about the fast recovery part though :/
Hmmm, links that my friend pasted in mIRC as well as her blog I think. Two very nice FLASH animations making use of MapleStory and two separate chinese songs to tell two stories which are linked. Do take a look. I think the stories are very nice and rather touching =) Story 1 Story 2
I'll be rather occupied from tomorrow onwards. Having a ktv gathering with some #JustBlog people tomorrow, followed by a dinner appointment with a friend on Friday evening, tuition on Saturday morning and then perhaps over to Marina Bay in the evening to watch the Singapore Fireworks Festival. There'll be church on Sunday, then most probably tuition in the evening. School starts on Monday :/ So fast...
If giving brings back suffering in return, would you choose to give or choose to hold back? Perhaps I should just give my mind a break at times... to let go of some thoughts and concentrate on those which are of higher priority at this point in time.
Sianz, I'm currently developing a sorethroat... it started last night I think, when my throat started feeling parched and dry, despite my more-frequent-than-normal drinking of water. Well, hopefully my early treatment using Trachisan lozenges will help alleviate the pain and suppress the sorethroat before it has the chance to manifest itself fully.
Oh yar, I tried cooking spaghetti again for lunch yesterday. Erm, not a very successful attempt. I think I cooked too much noodles... and the noodles were a little too dry. The carrots were undercooked. I shall boil them for a longer time on my next attempt, since I still have more spaghetti. The broccoli could do with a little more boiling as well.
Hmmm, woke up in the early afternoon today... didn't really want to wake up since it was raining and the weather was so condusive for sleeping. Nice to snuggle in bed. Heh. Argh, just remembered... I've got a ktv gathering this Thursday... how to go with a sorethroat :/ Maybe just go there listen to my friends sing... ah, but that's so disappointing.
Returned two books that I borrowed from the library but didn't really have time to read. A friend and I went over to the nearby hawker centre to eat the 锅贴. Nice. Heh. I was first introduced to it less than a month ago. Shall go there and eat once in a while from now on. Enjoy life leh, just sit there and savour the 锅贴s and chat.
Anyway, came home, waited for dinner, had dinner, then ate an additional nonya dumpling. I think channel 8's 同心圆 is getting more and more dramatic. Sometimes I really cannot stand watching Yvonne Lim's character in the show... so super scheming loh -.-" Well, not that I have the chance to watch it everyday though.
Hmmm, there were quite a large number of FLASHbox applications over the weekend. I managed to find out why. I think tag-board.com was down over the weekend. It's up now. When it was down, some people switched to using my FLASHbox I guess. It could be a temporary measure for them, since I've seen a few negative comments on the FLASHbox. Of course, there are more positive comments though. Heh :P There are about 840 subcribers at the moment... My initial goal was to reach 1000 by the end of the year. I guess I can now try for 2000 le. I'm worried about the amount of diskspace that the FLASHbox database is using though. It has already reached 3MB, which is quite large considering it's all just text. I'll need to come up with something to clear the database soon. Perhaps during the semester ba.
Okie, I should try to sleep early and wake up early tomorrow to get my stuff done.
The beginning of a new month, and soon, a new semester in school. My final year in NUS... Looking back, time really seem to have passed by quickly. Three years, six semesters of "torture"... one year, two semesters more to go. Very soon, the transition from the academic phase to the working phase will take place. I'm quite looking forward to it though... new experiences await. Heh :P
Hmmm, I haven't been sleeping much these days I guess... The day was spent playing Neopets and sleeping. Nothing much. Oh yar, I've got this corn on my left foot, just beside the smallest toe. Ah, I think it has been there for quite some time le, just that I didn't really notice it. I thought it was nothing, but now it makes walking a little painful :/ Anyway, bought corn caps on Sunday and I've tried using one on the corn. Ehz, my first time using it... not sure how it will turn out.
Me with a Superpuma... I've been in one before. Heh
Air-conditioned Out-field Medical Tents
F.I.R
