Wednesday lessons are hard to absorb with lack of sleep on monday and tuesday. I have lessons at 8.30 am on mon, tue and wed. Can't help dozing off during almost all the lectures today.
Took a nice picture of NTU after my lessons.
Originally planned to watch 36 tonight but Clarence ended his lessons too late and we went Jurong Point for dinner and some shopping instead. Bought 2 OP t-shirts at a discount of $15 each.
Been doing tutorials on today and yesterday. Physics and maths are getting harder and harder to do. Spent quite a lot of time figuring the answers to the tough questions. :(
It is NTU's 50th anniversary today and all of us had a half day break. Clarence did not come today as he did not have any lessons and i spent the lonely day in my hall. I guess i'm too bored so decided to take photos of my nice new watch.
Took a long nap in the afternoon and did more homework at night.
David (Fan) asked me out today as he promised to treat me to a movie this weekend for not being able to attend my birthday party last saturday. We met at 7.15 pm to watch Napola at 7.40 pm but unfortunately, the tickets were sold out. Got the next timeslot at 9.45 pm instead.
I adjusted the watch strap which my army mates had given me at a shop in Lucky Plaza and went window shopping for some time as David was interested in getting a bag and a sweater. Had dinner at a food court after that.
Napola (National-Political Institute of Learning) is Hitler's elite academy for training German youths. The story is based on a promising and idealistic young boy who is admitted to Napola with tragic consequences. It is immersely engaging with the cast's superb performance and the series of events that follow. We identify with the characters as they go through rigorous training, inhuman punishment and strict regime. A heartfelt movie with great conviction that could have been really superb had it added the element of war. Napola sure is one of the better movies i've watched recently.
It was quite late when the movie ended and i was not very sure if i had missed the last bus from Orchard. I waited til around 12 midnight at the bus stop and decided to take mrt to Newton as there were still buses back home from Newton mrt. Waited a long 11 minutes for the last mrt heading towards Kranji. Got off at Newton and i saw my 2 buses 67 & 170 drove by around 50 metres away. I had no idea that they were the last buses! By the time i realised, i was practically cursing everything i laid my eyes upon. If only i ran a short distance to catch my bus, i wouldn't have to be in this state again. I was really really pissed with myself. Let's just say that i had a really really long walk to ease my temper.
Slept until very late as usual and watched tv until evening time when i have to go back to school for my cca. Forgot to add that i have joined Chinese Society Ge1 You3 section, aka singing section last friday. Fuli and i have prepared Jie Kou with our group's guitarist Junyien and our group is the third to perform. I was really freaking nervous to perform in front of so many people but i was a bit excited at the same time. Liyuan and his friend came to take a look at the cca while my course mate Kian Shing also joined the cca.
The first two groups had a lot of people singing at the same time and it was hard for them to harmonise. Some songs they sang were not too hard as well (Peng You, Lao Shu Ai Da Mi, etc). After some nerve-wrecking moments, it was our group's turn and i was really very nervous. I don't have any stage experience before and i was my first time performing in front of so many people (actually only around 60 people).
We introduced ourselves and begin singing shortly. I think i started with a key too low? Also, i felt that my voice coming out from the microphone is a bit weird. I was thinking where should i look? I was tempted to look at the floor but i forced myself to look at the audience. I couldn't really hear my own voice with so many thoughts, the music and Fuli's voice along with mine. Thus, i was really worried and didn't think i did very well in the performance. It was definitely not the best from me as i didn't feel confident after singing. Nevertheless, the audience applauded loudly and i was relieved we had ended our performance. I was kind of dazed and in a state of blank after the performance as i felt that i could have done better and i was not used to the attention that was cast on us a few minutes ago.
My other group members who did not perform due to their preparation for an audition told us that we did great and i was wondering if they were telling the truth. We continued watching the performances from other groups and they were generally ok, except for some faults here and there. Each group had to write comments on a piece of paper for each performance and we had to choose a best group. Fuli and i left the task to our other group members and we sat back evaluating our performance and a few others. I couldn't really judge who is the best as a participant and it's quite hard to compare.
The president and music director gave comments after the show and they gave criticism to every group except my group and they said we sang well with emotion. It was a sign of relief and i guess i did not do as badly as i thought i did. Next up was the announcement of the best group and my group won with 4 votes to 1. I was actually quite surprised with the unanimity of the decision but i was glad of course. Actually i think we won because Fuli sang really well and i just did ok. We read the comments from other groups and quite a lot complimented Fuli's singing. Well, at least there is a comment which says the guys' voices "hao hao ting". Rather pleased but there is a comment saying my voice is too low. But well, at least we are better than other groups right? Haha..... It was a rather weird session for me as i was not used to singing in front of so many people and having comments given to us directly. Strange, but somehow rewarding and confidence boosting experience.
It was 9 pm and the Lantern Festival audition was about to start. I actually did not plan to audition for it but after the presentation, i felt that i should just go for it. Fuli had prepared 3 songs and he was the third to audition. I was considering what songs to choose from singers like Jay, Lin Jun Jie, Penny or Li Sheng Jie. After numerous song selections, i decided on Penny's Wang Qian Fei and JJ's Simply. I like these 2 songs quite a lot and know the songs' lyrics by heart. I was the last to audition and did not feel as nervous as the performance just now, coz there are only 2 judges hearing you sing. I felt that it went quite well as i tried to vary my voice from low to high and tried to vibrate the end notes with certain level of success. The judges gave quite a lot of comments saying that actually these 2 songs are not really suitable for my voice. They suggested that i should sing songs with more bass like Chen Xiao Dong's songs, etc. They also commented that my pitching was not entirely correct, adding that i tend to ignore the pitch within the lines for some words although i got the correct pitch on the whole. They also commented that i did not open my mouth wide enough. 1 of the judges was quite critical while the other seemed quite glad with my performance.
I'm not too sure what are my chances of getting into the Lantern Festival as i have no idea how many people they are choosing. Well, all is a learning experience and this is just the start. :)
It's my birthday today and thank you everyone who wished me Happy Birthday! Slept all the way til 12.45 pm and rushed to my 1.30 pm lecture after having lunch. My classmates were unaware of my birthday and i did not tell them of course, don't like to be in the centre of attention. Don't want any crazy things like singing birthday song in the lecture theatre to happen.
Rushed to pack my stuff after my lessons as my mother is giving me a dinner treat at Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao. My sister and cousin came along and we had a delicious and full meal at the Jurong Point restaurant. It felt nice to get together with my family since i stay in hostel and only get to see my family during weekends. Went back home after that. I was orginally going to do my tutorials in school but looks like that's not going to happen as i'm very lazy at home.
My friend's father is the chief editor of i-weekly and he passed a few of the ghostly pictures i took to his father to publish since it is in conjuncture with the 7th lunar month article on ghosts. Check out the latest issue 408 of i-weekly page 52. Pity they did not publish the photo with a lot of "spiritual orbs" coz i believe they do not want to scare the readers. The 2 photos published are the deserted hillview hdb with a red light and the picture deep within lim chu kang. These two are not very scary but you all can view my previous posts to view the scarier ones.
Location of the small article
The enlarged version of the article (left) and the cover page for the article on ghosts (right)
I had lessons from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm today and had a brief rehearsal for the song presentation on friday after my lessons. Fuli and i are going to sing "Jie Kou" by Jay Chou as our group's song presentation while another person will be playing the guitar. The practice was not long as the two of us are already familiar with the lyrics and only have to practise a few times with the guitar.
After the rehearsal, i took a break back at my hall before going for the bbq organised by the "onz" people in my course. It was at hall 6 beside my hall so i don't have to walk too far. There were not a lot of people at first but more and more people came to join in the fun.
We played a name game with a volleyball and had to shout out the person's name after that person threw the ball to you. It was like a mini orientation just that there were too many people for all to be able to participate. Next up was a fire contest to see who can build the charcoal fire the fastest. My group lost by a few minutes though.
We started to bbq after that and were chit-chatting amongst each other as well. Had a bit of bbq stuff and there was another game called the human tic-tac-toe planned. Took several photos as well.
A lot of people
My tutorial group
My closer friends in the course
Went back my hall around 10.30 pm after helping to clear the area for leftover food and rubbish.
Just watched The Maid with Ly and Paul after school at Jurong Point today. The show is actually not very scary but there were some moments that are quite creepy. However, quite a lot of the shocks were created by adding loud noises. The plot is quite original but unfortunately the story disintegrates at the end.
Also, this game is quite fun, do try it! It's quite easy to play as well.
Been slacking recently and don't really feel like doing tutorials until the last minute. Did 2 tutorials until 4 am on sunday. I need to get back to my mugging lifestyle!
Today is not my birthday but it's my birthday celebration (My birthday is on the 25th Aug). Was worrying about the number of chairs, tables, amount of food, size of cake, number of people, location to cut the cake, number of plates and ways to entertain my family and friends. Tried to do a bit of homework in the afternoon but could not really concentrate doing it.
Gave up doing after a short while when my father arrived with more tables and chairs from my relative's place and we have to help arrange them. My relatives were very punctual and they arrived mostly around 6.30 pm. Stephen, Weilin, Jiayun and Xin Hui came soon after and i was getting more and more busy attending to my friends, welcoming my relatives, bringing drinks, etc. Weiming, Fuli, Bernard and David arrived next and i brought them to a room where they can rest and chat. Shilei and Weiting came a while later. My JC friends and army friends took the same bus to my house and arrived slightly after 7 pm. Qizhi, Say Yong, Sheng Hua, Anna, Yining and Wenyuan arrived later. I was rushing up and down to allocate them to a desired room and put down their stuff while having a little chat with each one of them at the same time. I'm really sorry that i couldn't spend more time with each of you, i really hope i had the chance to do so coz i haven't seen some of you guys for such a long time.
Although i was so busy trying to catch up with all of you, distributing poker cards and making sure everyone had some place to sit, i feel really happy that you guys turned up. Most of my friends were chit-chatting, playing pool, singing ktv, playing table soccer or playing poker cards, while my relatives were playing mahjong, watching tv and talking amongst each other at the porch.
Soon, it was time to cut the cake and i had to inform everyone to come down for the cake-cutting session.
Stephen had to leave for another birthday party and we took the photo before he left.
A picture of the Swensons ice cream cake
My family and my grandparents
My "Tong2 Gan1 Gong4 Ku3" fellow guardsmen!
My fabulous JC friends!
My great secondary school friends!
My 1st 3 months classmates! (minus Stephen)
My hostel roommate! (from my JC gang also)
My aunties!
My uncles!
My lovable cousins
My mischievous cousins
Wenyuan and his friend he brought along
My mother's side relatives
My additional aunties + my mum
After the long photo taking ceremony, it was finally time to cut the cake. The cake was really tough to cut as the inner layer of ice cream was well insulated from the surroundings. After bringing out the big kitchen knife, the task of cutting the cake became much easier.
After everyone had their share of the cake, most of my friends had to leave as they had to catch their buses or train before midnight. Only my jc friends were left as some of them were driving as usual. I brought a bottle of Absolute Vodka for them to drink and i was coerced into drinking quite a lot. I felt a little high and dizzy after that but my face did not turn red. My aunty informed me that it is probably because my blood circulation is not good enough. They had to drink several cups as well and Ade & Clarence's face turned rather red. We then watched the slide show again that GS had compiled comprising of photos we took all the way from JC til now which brought back quite a few fond memories. After burning some copies for some of them, they left shortly.
My young cousins took over the room after that and they helped me to unwrap all the presents that everyone gave.
Helped one of my cousins to cut his hair after request from my aunty. My relatives left shortly after they had enough of playing mahjong. Been clearing the mess and uploading pictures at http://photo.epson.com (ask me for the email to view the pictures as i do not want any other stranger to view them). I've also been writing this post for a long time and i hope i have the energy to do my increasingly hard tutorials tomorrow.
I sincerely thank each and everyone of you for attending my birthday celebration!
I was supposed to go home today as i do not have any lessons on friday, but i'm staying coz the cca i'm going to join is held every friday evening. I'll be joining the singing section in Chinese Society with Fuli. Hope that the cca will be fun and that we can pick our own pop songs to sing.
Many people have been asking what i want for my present these few days and i've been thinking what i might need. I have been bugging my family for a K750i so don't worry friends, i won't ask you all to buy it for me (as if u all will buy anyway haha). I will love anything that you all buy for me coz i trust your taste and judgement, unless you prove me wrong, haha joking. I'll just be happy to see all of you there on sat. :)
Watched Charlie and The Chocolate Factory at Jurong Point yesterday and it's quite a good movie with delicious and colourful sets, memorable characters and an interesting plot. Gotta catch Napola, 36 and The Maid as well.
Been busy formatting my laptop, wrapping textbooks and attending lessons. Have to download a lot of security updates for my virus-prone laptop as well. Had a run around the campus with Clarence just now. I'm quite glad that my stamina has still not decreased although it has been a long time since i ran more than 2.4 km. Maybe it's because it's more cooling and relaxing to run at night.
I think i'm getting more and more slack, been sleeping in lectures and even tutorials. Luckily engineering students are not graded for participation in tutorials.
I have done most of my tutorials in school and now is the time to RELAX......
Went out with Ks on friday for a k-lunch session and we really strained our voices by choosing many challenging songs. Ks have much more stamina than me coz i almost depleted my voice towards the end of the session. Bought some stuff in Chinatown after that and ks had to leave for his tuition appointment.
I continued shopping for a little while before leaving for Bukit Panjang Plaza as i had to order my cake. Decided on a Swensons ice cream cake as it was really delicious at Zewen's bday party. Ordered a 4 kg cake which costs quite a lot!
Went back home as in the evening as i was going to have dinner with my family and some of my dad's business associates. It was rather weird having dinner with them as 3 of them were expatriates. The food at Long Beach Marina was good and we all had a very full dinner.
Saturday, felt quite bored at home and decided to call my jc mates out for dinner. Those attached were all with their gfs and the ones left are me, clarence and gs. Gs went shopping for a laptop case in Sim Lim Square but the shops there close early (more than 50% of the shops were closed at 8 pm). Went Bugis Village for a while and we decided to have steamboat at a shop opposite Shaw Centre. There were quite a lot of people eating and the price is good as well ($10). However, the variety of dishes were not a lot. We spent more than 2 hours slowing eating and chatting, reminiscing of our overseas trips and the fun we used to have. Well, to be optimistic, there are only 3 more months to our year-end vacation. So we'll probably have another trip then :)
Having another ktv session with Ly tomorrow morning. Gotta complete my physics tutorial tomorrow as well. :(
Regarding the email i've sent to everyone that i invited for my bday, all hotmail users seemed to get my mail inside the Junk Mail section so please do check your junk mail if you have not received anything from me yet. (Don't blame me for writing too much in the mail, i don't have the energy to fetch all of you from the bus stop nearest my house, ha.....)
Went out with my family on National Day to have buffet lunch at Sakura Toa Payoh. The food was not bad and we filled all our stomachs to the brim. After our lunch, we went to a warehouse sale selling good quality clothes at low prices and bought quite a number of shirts. Headed back home after our shopping spree.
Went back to my hall late in the night as i have lessons starting from 8.30 am on Wednesday.
Wed, it was another peaceful day of studying and i completed maths and econs tutorial for next week. There was no distraction since my laptop had spoiled and Clarence still have to wait a few days more for his new laptop.
Thursday, slept all the way til 11 am as my lessons start at 12.30 pm. There was an aerospace discussion before the tutorial and we decided to have a bbq next thursday in ntu.
Left school after my lectures for Jiekai & Junchen's farewell dinner at Marche Heeren as they are leaving Singapore soon to study overseas. There were fewer people than i expected but i was glad to be able to catch up with the present ones. Had a nice time eating and chatting until around 10 pm. Took a group photo as well.
All the best to Jiekai and Junchen for their future endeavours.
Just watched The Wedding Crashers with my jc mates at orchard after school. It's really quite hilarious and we all had a great time laughing in the theatre. Had a group discussion on maths after the show with Derrick as the tuition teacher since he is already in year 2 and has taken most of modules that we are taking now. Today was kind of a repetition of last Friday as we had a maths discussion as well after watching The Wayward Cloud.
My laptop had spoiled after using for only 2 weeks. Discovered that i could not open windows since yesterday night. I guess it must have been a serious virus attack that i wasn't aware of.
Spent the whole Sunday doing my tutorials and mistakenly done some extra ones as i have 3 tutorial lessons on Monday. I'm planning to take a break on National Day! No studying on public holidays!
About my birthday celebration, i have already compiled the email and will be sending to you all this weekend. Really glad that most of you can make it. :)
It's totally not like me but yes, i've been mugging these few days. Can't imagine mugging for 4 years minus the semester breaks. Bought 4 textbooks for $130 which all are very thick with loads of information. Not feeling so stressed anymore now that i am slowly adjusting to the change in lifestyle and the university system. Woke up automatically at 8.00 am today. Started reading my maths textbook but eventually dozed off for 2 hours.
Had only 3 hours of lectures today and went back to my room to do the tough maths tutorial. My memory had failed me with some basic maths concepts but luckily i brought my jc notes to refer.
Known quite a number of people from my course but somehow i feel quite sian of knowing new people recently. What's the use of getting to know more hi-bye friends? But of course, friendships take time to nurture so i'll just wait and see.
JC was loads more fun than university. How i wish life was as carefree as before but life goes on. Who wants to screw up the last leg of their education?
I miss KL, Bangkok, my ex job, my outings, my freedom.
