Last night

Today is the last day in SG before I leave for my month long trip to the faraway land of Europe. So many things happened during this time of preparation, and now finally we leaving on a jet plane, don't know when we'll be back again. Okie, just kidding, I do know when I'll be back, thats on the 11th of July. Quite a long time away from home. My mama will be back tomorrow!!! but I won't see her because her flight will only touch down at about 10 plus. So take care mama.

Went to Raffles to change our Euros today, For the first time in my life I was holding on to 15k of $50 notes. And if ya thinking that its gonna look like some mafia gathering, exchanging money in classic brief case, think again. 15k only came to about a stack that is less than 5 cm thick.

I changed 1000 Euros, will be taking out more $$ tmr from the bank. Also went to the agency to get our Eurail passes, thats another $1000 gone. Still have quite a bit to do, gotta return my library books, get money from bank, pack my bags (yes, I know I've said this many times, but I'm still not finished with my bag). Okie, now its up, up and away.... Goodbye people, see you all soon!

First

For the first time in my life today (I mean yesterday), I am really faced with financial difficulty. Haiz, I went to top up my diesel tank, as usual I topped up $20, after discount its $19. So I went ahead to swipe my card, but alas the most hated things has to happen, my card cannot be used. The counter staff told me that my card is sort of locked and that I may want to check with the bank, but I guess it should be because I do not have money in the account already. This is the first time such a thing has happened. Damn sad man. Luckily I took my mama's atm card with me today (before my mama left, she had purposely left her atm card behind together with her card no. so that I could take money if I need it), else I would not have enough to pay the cashier. Haiz, it does make me look back and think to myself whether the decision to go on this trip is really worth it. I have never been on a trip this disorganised, and with this much problems. Initially after looking at the way they book the hotels and stuff, I already expected some problems to occur, but the problems just seem to be piling and for a moment I did regret accepting the offer to go on the trip. Why am I putting myself in such a situation where I am in such a bad shape. If I had gone to another place, this would be so much easier, and my life would not be this terrible. Right now I am looking forward to the trip, and at the same time hating the trip. It has reached a 50-50 situation, especially the money issue. I am trying my best to accommodate the money problems. As in, if I have to fork out a little bit more, then I try to say its ok with me. But I don't know if the rest realise that I am already pushing my accounts to their limits already. I cannot push myself any further. This is pretty bad, well since its already a fact that I'll be going there then I guess I will have to make the best of it. But I really can't afford anymore hiccups. Going deeper into my piggy bank is a big no no, I'll just work with what I have and try my best to enjoy the month. My mama is now in HK, I hope she is enjoying herself. I miss my mama, I really do. How I wish I can see her right now. Its times like this that I really really miss her, just feel that there are so many things that I can talk to her about. And when she's around, I just keep quiet and sometimes make her mad. I'm trying my best to be a good child, but I'm not up to the mark yet. At 25, she still has to worry about me. Mama, I'm sorry, I will work towards being a better child. But in the mean time, you still gotta help me with my trip. =)

Taiwan goodies

Vivian just came back from Taiwan and she bought some food stuff for us, and this had got to be the most interesting stuff she got for us, hahaha

The packaging is pretty cute right, hahaha.

Inside there are packets of boobs, they are actually white citrus chocolates

Deli Moroccan

Hmmm... I can't remember if I've already mentioned this, but anyway the main point of interest of this entry is the photos...

Last thursday Imran brought me to Haji Lane for Moroccan food at Deli Moroccan. Its along the walkway towards the Sultan Mosque. I'm beginning to like Haji Lane. The ambiance is good, its very ethnic, very middle eastern. I think it a pretty nice place to relax and chill out with a bunch of friends. And the best part is, it is not crowded. Unlike the city area and some dance clubs where there is limited space, many a times we are stuck in a 1 by 1 foot square; and the only type of dance that you can engage in is hopping up and down vertically like a lost bunny. And thats not the worst part, the worst is when there are people inside who (1) stink, (2) sweat like hell, (3) might have stood at an area for too long and probably thought that they have become a fossil, standing beside you. Number 1, trying to maneuver through this groups of people can be quite a daunting task. You have to try to hold your breadth for very long (because the line is stagnant, if it was water mosquitoes could like breed there), and then you have to be sharp enough to spot small openings between people and try to squeeze through without getting touched or touching any of the sweating bodies. A bit of sweat and stickiness is alright, but I have come across people who look like they've just came out of a shower. Then there are the group called the fossils, who just stand there and don't move or attempt to give way no matter how many excuse mes you shout into their ear. I have no idea whether they are deaf or visually handicapped, but they are standing there just like a pillar. Utmost irritating. Lets see, did I also mention about the group of people who just think they are most beautiful creatures that god has created. Yup, they think they are damn good looking, and then just try to pose as if the whole world is looking at them. Come on, get a life dude. And then there is the group of young kids and ah bengs who probably values the past. They might be try to revive the glory period of the days of clubs like fire and centro. Because they not only dress like the past, they behave like the past. Kids who think they are old enough just because they add a few fucks and chee byes into their speech, it just irritates me. Sorry if you are one of them, I'll probably hate you. To me, if you are 16, act like a 16 year old. If you are a 26 act like a 26 year old. enough said. Well, having said that, I do like to go clubs once in a while. The frequency is getting lower now, probably I just feel that I've passed that phased. Now I'd rather sit in a pub and have drinks with my friends, playing silly pub games, or just to have a nice meal together. I value that time together more than having a million friends in clubs who you probably recognise their faces but deep in your heart you are asking yourself ,"where the fuck have I seen this guy before" and "what the hell is his name"... and the next thing to do is to give that colgate smile and say ,"Hi, long time no see". Yup, the fake-o days are probably over for me, although I do use this tactic once in a while. I'm pretty bad with names, It'll take some time for me to register your name in my pea-brain.

Okok, I realise that I'm getting out of point with all that clubbing issues I have. Well back to the main point - Deli Moroccan. The food there is pretty authentic, we had the Tajin (I think my spelling is wrong here) chicken with potatoes and a pita bread; and also ordered the Moroccan mint tea. The chicken was great, tasted fabulous. The portion don't look big, but together with the pita bread, it was a pretty filling combination. The service was also commendable. The staff were friendly, half-way through our meal, the boss came out and just talked to us for a while. The mint tea was also pretty special, it tasted a little like bubble gum, I think its because they use spearmint. Yup, but it was really quite nice. So all in all, I think that place is pretty nice place to check out.

Sultan Mosque

The menu

Imran - my 2mp camera is actually pretty clear at night, erm at least better than I had expected
Tajin chicken with super lot of potatoes

Mint tea - they even served it in there authentic steel tea cups

诈胡

Haiz, as it turned out, it was a big mistake. Erm or you could call it a beautiful mistake, as Benny put it, at least we were happy for a night. Yup, the winner on Sheng Siong show last night was not my mama. It was someone with the same name, haiz. But nevermind, whats not meant to be yours will never be yours, life still goes on with or without the cash prize (of course it will be better with it, hahaha). Anyway, I figured that I've been talking about my love for my family a lot lately. Getting a little lovey-dovey with my family. but really I can only express my love for them on my blog (probably because they won't be reading this), when in a face to face situation, I just don't have that courage to say it out loud that I love them. So for all those that can't stand all this I-love-my-family shit, sorry, I think there will be more to come, especially before I leave on my holidays. I miss my family, even before I fly....

Sad dayz

This has to be one of the sad days in my life thus far. My bro left for holidays in Vietnam in the morning, and my mum left for holidays in HK in the afternoon. And by the time she returns, I'll be out of SG already, which means that I won't be able to see her till July. Just after she checked in, I was already missing my mama, hmmm. Never knew that I would miss my mama so much, love ya mama. It wasn't that bad when I drove my bro to the airport, because he'll be back before I leave, I'll still be able to see him before I leave. When my mama walked into the transit area, and waved goodbye to me, I just felt like crying, it just feels so sad. Although I know that she's going to have fun there, but maybe its because I'm leaving SG for more than a month, so I won't be able to see her for a long period of time; and she won't be able to see me off. So when she left I felt so sad, but still I wish her fun in HK, and enjoy herself. Take this period to relax and get her mind off work, she's been working so late recently.

After sending my mama off, I went to Sheng Siong to get stuff for Europe. Bought 7 big packets of instant noodles, some biskets and instant herbal tea. And it was then that I realise that the Sheng Siong show is back on TV. So with my receipt I filled up the contest form and dropped it into the contest bin. Of course deep in my heart I was thinking, "Pls, as if I'll win. In the past I've filled in so many forms and none of them ever got drawn. Even let me win $10 also good". But I still filled it up anyway. Then I went to get 4D, a few of us had agreed to buy 3430 together, 1 big and 1 small each, with hope to win something to supplement the Europe trip. After that I head home to pack my bag. Just to break down my baggage, my backpack is pretty big and the amount of clothes I have inside only take up about 10% of the entire backpack. And the other 90% is all food, hahaha, cheapo. But I don't care, I gotta try to save on food for this trip. I got limited cash remember. So now, my bag is almost packed. Still have to squeeze some stuff inside.

Then I headed to my grandma's place for dinner and to tell Da Gu about the insurance. And also to ask about photography. It was at my grandma's place that I checked the 4D. Armed with great hope that I'll win something tonight, at the back of my head already thinking of how I'm gonna spend the winnings. But of course, things did not turn out as expected, in fact the usual happened; which is I won nothing, sianz. So I left for home, gotta bring food back for my dad before going to meet Imran (Imran invited me to his family BBQ, so thought I'll drop by since its on the way) then Benny and gang (Andre's granddad just passed away, got knock down by a car, my condolences). While driving I got a call from my dad, and he told me that my grandma sort of heard my mama's name on TV, and that she might have won a lucky draw in ----- The Sheng Siong Show!!! Wow, just when I thought that my family would never win anything, haha. My grandma could not confirm if she heard correctly, but remembered that the host mentioned that the contestant had bought $40+ of stuff from Sheng Siong. They called the phone number but no one picked up, so the audience picked the boxes on my mama's behalf and guess what, its was x100. Which means that if the contestant is my mama, she had won $4000+, wow! hurriedly called my mama and she confirmed that she had bought $40+ of stuff from Sheng Siong not too long ago... So it does makes sense, see they called my mama and no one picked up (because she was on the plane and could not pick up the call. When my dad called, she just got off the plane), Then my grandma heard my mama's name. And She did buy $40+ worth of goods.... Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I really hope its her, she's given me much and I really do hope she wins something. I'm just waiting for the show to be uploaded on Mobtv to check tomorrow (usually it will be uploaded the day after, around noon time).

Will give my mama a call again if its confirmed! Good luck mama! You go gal! Have a good time in HK, I love ya! And of course the same goes to my bro as well, enjoy yourself and love ya! Erm as for my dad, ya still in SG, so drive safely and bring back more moo-lah pls, love ya too.

So now I'm alone at home, my dad's out driving taxi, and no one else is around. My grandma asked me to sleep over at her place, but I think its pretty late now, so maybe I shouldn't disturb them. Probably will be going over tomorrow again. Will be leaving for a long holiday soon, so I should spend some time with my family.

My family is away

Tomorrow, my bro will be going to Vietnam in the morning, and my mama will be going to HK in the afternoon. So I'll be here in SG with my Dad. But I'll be leaving next wed, wahahaha. hmmmm my whole family is flying these days. I'm gonna miss my family. Well as you all know, my bro is giving me $500 for my trip, well I don't have 500 for him, so I gave in 500 Dong instead, yup thats just like a few cents in SGD. But thats all I've left. And my mama is going to loan me a thousand plus, similarly I can't give her a thousand in SGD, so I gave her HKD$1200. See good exchange rate. Yup gave her all the HKD that I have left. Hope they enjoy themselves during their trips. Well you can see that only my Dad is a constant. He's the only one not flying, and he went to tell my grandma that when we're all away, he'll go to Batam. Huh?!? He want to go Batam for what, get second wife ah? The biggest problem with him is that he doesn't think before he says things. And then he doesn't save, remember for America I had to fork out an extra sum of money so that he could go also. Come on, its time to have a little savings, you have a family to feed you know, you can't like behave like a teenager/student, only working to ensure that you can feed yourself, and that you have enough to spend now. You gotta look further than that you know. Haiz, I don't know how else to let him know... he just doesn't get it. Nvm, anyway to my bro and mama, have fun and enjoy yourselves!!

Adsense

Firstly, let me announce that I have reached 100 posting already *pop champagne**crowd cheers*. Never thought that I'll end up being this active here, but well congrats!

Okie lets get to the case proper. Well I just got an email from google adsense indicating that they detected invalid clicks on my adsense. So in their perspective, I'm not supposed to click on interesting articles and advertisements on my page? I agree that some people may abuse the system and click the advertisement a million times to earn more cash, but if you review my account, I only click on certain articles because they seem interesting. Isn't adsense supposed to be used to increase a product's exposure, and since I don't control the adverts that are posted on my blog, naturally some articles will interest me. So is there a problem with that. That doesn't make too much sense here. I'm a consumer too. So okie, from today I cannot click on my own advertisements. Come on lah, I'm not like earning a lot from google here. In total I only got like $16 in 2 months, thats like less than half a day's pay. I think its obvious enough to guess that I'm not cheating google here. Erm people out there who read this crap, please click the adverts for me k. Enuff said, if google wants to take it away so be it.

Sentosa

Its been like ages since I last went to Sentosa, so Beng and gang suggested that we go Sentosa for a tan, and get ourselves out of the white chicken look. Was supposed to meet there at 10, but in the end I was still at Sean's place at 10, haha. Took William's car down, I didn't want to drive. And you know what was the best part, everything was fine in the car, until we reached and step out of the car. The moment we got out of the car, it started drizzling. And it got bigger and bigger. We parked the car at Siloso, and thought we'll try taking the tram over (bad mistake, the damn tram took ages to arrive, and it was moving slower than a tortoise, people can actually walked faster than the tram), another reason is because William was afraid that the peacocks will attack his car, hahaha. But still the tram ride was interesting though, maybe just because of the novelty factor, you know when you haven't done something in a long time, and this just drives up the interest level. Well we waited for like 15-20 mins before the tram came, and that began our slow ride to Tanjong Beach, where the west gang was at. From the west was cy, Beng, Huan and Joesph. And it was still drizzling then, just lightly. One of the funny moments was when we alighted the tram Sean asked,

"Hey is that group of people them? Can't be leh, think they not so active wan.... Eh its them leh, I see one lump of meat running about (referring to cy)" hahaha.

When we arrived, they were playing volley ball, we settled ourselves in, laid our bags and started with the first activity (as in the first activity with everyone around) - beach soccer. By now the rain has already stopped, but the skies are still rather overcast. There's a little sunshine every now and then, yup, overall it was pretty shaded. But soccer was damn tiring, after just running for a while I was already panting, haha old liao. And then came funny part 2. cy was running after the ball, trying to get it from Joseph, then his pants fell, hahaha. half his butt was out (got wear under garments of course), it was damn funny, the way the had to slow down to hold on to his pants, while still running for the ball. Gotta give him a best sportsman award for that.

After that tiring round of soccer, we went into the water for a dip. More of the sun is out by now, so it was cooling water + warm sunshine. Great combi, nothing more to ask for at a beach. So we played monkey in the water. Started with only 1 monkey, then we changed some rules, then added a second money to make the game more challenging. It was really fun, but I can't help but think, in what way do we look 25 playing monkey in the water. We look like a bunch of jc kids at Sentosa's beach. And if you thought that monkey in the pool was simple and easy, think again. It was just as tiring. I don't know who started it, but everyone went on to throw the ball super far out, so we had to swim for our lives for the ball. And of course after money was break time. Hahaha, shack!

Then we went to play volley ball. So far, William has been at the shade all the while. He didn't join in all the earlier sessions, so he pestered till he joined the volley ball. All was fine, the game was nice... until....... it started raining again. And this time its a down pour. The rain was super big, but I don't know what got into us, we just continued playing in that super heavy rain, hahaha. This has got to be a first in my life. I remember swimming when it was raining before (when I was little), but never have I played ball games in the rain before (erm let me correct that, I have never played ball games in super heavy rain before). So we just continued, and from the heavy rain, we played till the rain stopped and the sand dried a little. And one thing I learnt today, the sand is super course when it is wet. I think I got a million scratches on my leg now. And I hurt my hands during the game. I sort of twisted my left pinky and my right thumb. So you know how painful I'm feeling as I'm typing this. It looks a little swollen now, haiz, don't know if I can exercise in this condition a not. Been telling myself that I have to go and exercise but haven't been able to wake up.

Back to today, After volley ball, they were hungry, so they decided to order fish and chips from the restaurant. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't order anything. While they were waiting for their food I went to tan in the sun (I know it won't work, I won't get tan.... only sunburn, in fact I think I'm a little burnt, feeling a little itchy on my back, but not to the point of pain). The fish and chips are pretty normal. Nothing really fantastic, but I guess they were really hungry. Initially they wanted to head to beauty world for gaming, but in the end tiredness got the better of everyone. So we decided to head home instead. But William was hungry (he too didn't eat at the restaurant), so he asked the rest if they want to go makan at Beauty world, and he said that he wanted to eat fish and chips. Huh?!?! I know its cheaper at Beauty world, in fact its about 1/2 price (Sentosa was selling at around $14, Beauty world has a student meal at around $7), but its a little like rubbing salt in the wound right. hahaha. Just eat some prata or something and settle lah. But I guess everyone was also tired, so no one bothered to argue. Joseph was super tired, when we reached Beauty world, he already looked 1/2 dead. Super shack.

William drove me back after that. Yup, but I didn't get any rest, not till now (I mean just now when I really returned home). After I alighted at my grandma's place, I picked up my car and went home to get some stuff, and then headed straight to Tampines to settle my HP stuff. I wanted to sell my nokia 6280 to the Ah Beng shops, but the prices they gave was just ridicules. He told me that my HP is worth $120, but because the condition is not good, so to attract customers he'll have to change into an original casing. And that will be $58. So I'll be able to get $62 for selling the phone to him. Super huh?!?? Come on lah, Ah Beng, if you can't think with ya head, then think with ya ass lah. Firstly, the whole point of taking the phone to sell to shops outside is so that we can get a better price than what the telcos are giving for trade-in. Starhub values my phone at $100. If ya gonna give my $62, then what is my incentive for selling it to you. Suck my dick lah. Further more, for these Ah Beng shops I still have to prepare my phone box, I must have my charger, battery, accessories, head piece and whatever that came with the phone. I have to go through so much trouble and you expect me to sell it to you at a price that is lower than Starhub, in which a trade-in would only require my phone, battery and charger. Saves me so much trouble, don't have to try to sayang him and suck his cock and lick his balls to get the extra dollars on the phone. I was thinking that its just not worth the trouble. So I just headed straight to Tampines Mall, and got a queue number, and omg for a monday it was super crowded. I had to wait like an hour and a half before it was my turn. I did my re-contract today, decided to buy the LG KS20.


And it just came to me again, inside me, I kept asking myself is it worth it. To spend this kind on money on a phone, mainly because it looks good (and I'm not kidding, I brought the phone home and now I have no idea how to use the phone, still in the midst of finding out). Because there were so many phones to choose from, and there are many phones that have much higher technical specifications that the KS20. And those phones are so much cheaper (okie, maybe not super a lot cheaper, range is about $50 to $100 cheaper). So is it worth paying this amount of money for a phone because it looks good. And again I felt this guilt coming to me, telling me that I'm over indulging. Well I tried not to think about it and made up my mind to just buy the phone, but even up to the point when the guy asked me what phone I wanted, I still hesitated for a few seconds before I could mutter out "LG KS20". Now that its all settled, I've already bought the phone, so whatever it is, no regrets. But here I must write something to commend my previous phone, the Nokia 6280. Although I really don't like the looks of the phone, but I must say that it is one of the best phones I've used, and it is also one of the most ill treated phones that I've owned. I got that phone because of my dad, In my previous re-contract I got a Sony erisson phone, but in just a few days I lost the phone on the MRT. It was damn fucked up. I like only had the phone for a few days, not even a week. So after that I used my mum's contract to buy a HP. I got a red panasonic VS7. It looks pretty cool (you should have guessed by now that looks play the biggest part in my selection). Then my dad bought the Nokia 6280 with his contract. Then he kept asking if I want to change phone with him. I kept saying no, until I couldn't take it anymore so I changed with him. And his reason for changing with me is because he wanted me to get the better phone, and that its ok for him to use a simple phone, again huh?!?!?!?! What kind of reason was that? I really love my panasonic. Well I still changed the phone with him. The 6280 is just like any other phone. simple and easy to use, the camera is considered decent at 2 mp. The interface is easy to understand (as with most nokia's HP, but I must say that the recent models from nokia is pretty complicated). And the best part of the phone is how sturdy it was. And that is also why I said that this is the most ill-treated phone I've own. I've like dropped this phone more than a million times. And very often, when it drops it sort of shatters. The back cover comes out, the batter comes out. But the amazing things is, after assembling them back together again, the phone can still be used without any problems (other than the scratches). My friend (Jc) also had this phone, his phone fell from the third storey, and it also shattered. But again, after assembly the phone was perfectly fine. Thats the most amazing part of it, it is just so reliable. The alarm is also good, wakes me up 90% of the time. It like became my good friend that I can count on every time. Well I hope my new phone can live up to that high standard that the 6280 has set, but first I'll need to find out how to use it. Bye 6280, it was a very nice partnership, forever friends! (hey I'm not crazy talking to my HP k, it really is my good friend)

Hmmmm okie I'm pretty tired already... blog another time. Goodnite!

10 Day countdown

It is just 10 days away from my grad trip, getting excited. Excited over the trip, and also excited to see my bank accounts empty for the first time in my life. Well I have already prepared myself for reality, haiz having decided to go on this trip, I have already expected this day to come. My mum just told me that if I really need to just sign the card (my mum got a sub card for me, just in case I need to pay for anything in emergency, I love my mum), yup she told me not to wait till I'm hungry till I'm like crawling on the ground, haha how cute can my mum get. My bro has generously agreed to sponsor a little to my trip, yup, he's been of a lot of help lately. My birthday treat, sponsoring a little to trip, buying a wii so that I can play, and he even told me to sell his old Hp and use that money as a subsidy for my new Hp. Yup, thats why I love him too, hahaha. I love my family. We have our squabbles, and we hate each other at times, but that happens in every family right. And it is times like this that they show that they really care for me and hope that I enjoy myself. It does make me think that I've been pretty selfish at times. When the opportunity came to go on this trip, I literally jumped in, not really thinking that I will have any money issues. As you know, I'm not from a well to do family, far from it in fact. I knew that my account would barely be sufficient to support the trip, but I still readily agreed to the trip. Maybe deep in my heart I just thought that my family would support my decision, and lend their helping hand voluntarily. It didn't even come across to me that 'what-if' they didn't support me, what am I going to do. Even though I know that after I come back from the trip, I would be totally broke, but deep inside my evil self is telling me that someone will support me during that time. And now, I just feel that I am a little selfish. I always proclaim that I will spare a thought for others, for my family, but in times like this, I sort of let the dark side take over me. Not that I am saying that I regret agreeing to go on the trip, but it just makes me feel loved and cared for. All these times I've been taking things for granted, the things that I have and the people around me. I always tell my family that if they had the money just go on a holiday, buy things that they like for themselves, don't save up for me. My mum is going to HK with my aunt this sat, and she needs the money there, I don't want her to save on herself so that she can give me some money for my trip, my bro is going to Vietnam on sat as well, he too needs the cash to enjoy himself there and he's also thinking of going into investments now, so who am I to take their money so that I can enjoy myself, while they are feeling the pinch. This is the thing that is breaking my heart sometimes. I guess it is time for a little reflection on myself, now that I am moving to another phase of my life, I guess I'll need to grow up and face reality. I hope I will be able to secure a good job after I come back and treat my family to a good meal, and earn enough to bring them for holidays. Whatever it is, I've promised myself that in the future if my bro ever needs financial help (if he does) and that it is within my means, I will provide as much as I can. I guess thats the least I could do.

Having said that, I will be going to Sentosa tomorrow (I'm such a sucker), but its gonna be a cheap thing. We are just going there for a tan. No expensive expense. Its been ages since I last went to Sentosa, hopefully I can get my aunt's camera tomorrow morning. Well I do need to get it early to do some trial photo taking session. Need a crash course on how to maximise the camera. Okie, guess I better sleep early, gotta wake up early!

Hmmm... just wanna say it again I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!

The last lap

Today, or should I say yesterday, I had my final presentation, and man it was hell. I got the person I really didn't want as my moderator, my worst nightmare, Prof Lim Kee Yong!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh... The moment he came in, I knew that I was going to have a hard time, and as expected, life wasn't easy in during the presentation. In fact I didn't really presented anything at all, it was an 1/2 hour Q&A session. He just kept shooting me with questions, its was rapid cross-fire. He came on and he said that he had already read through my entire report, and all that I was presenting was already in the report, so he didn't want to hear all that, what he wanted to know is how I substantiate my points, and what I write in the report. And he kept asking me about my figures,"why did you use 3? why not 5 or 10 or 1?", "why 65%, where did you get this magic number from?", "who said that it this number is reflective, it was you right? Now, what we want is not about what you think, its about what your research shows", questions like these were flying throughout the presentation, and I was drilled like hell. All that I prepared the day before was totally useless. Well I don't blame Prof Lim, its his job to drill me, and before hand I already know that he's the type of professor that really drills his students hard, so when I saw him come in, I already expected the worst. What I really hated was my own prof just sat there and smiled to himself and didn't even try to help me out a little. I mean at least try to put in a few good words for me lah, I'm not asking for much also, alamak. He just sat there and smiled and laugh to himself, as if he also knows that my fate would be such when I am faced with Prof Lim. Before the presentation I've already told a lot of people that I just hope that my moderator is not Prof Lim, Just don't give him to me, and tadah, it just had to be him. My friends that sat in for my presentation was terrified looking at my presentation (she the next to present, but to a different moderator), from what I heard, she was clutching my other friend's arm throughout my presentation, hahaha. Well one thing about my own prof, I must still commend him because a lot of things that the moderator asked for, my prof had also reminded me before. For example the survey, and the substantial part. So I must say that he did reminded me a lot but I still didn't include some of them in my report. Well I know that my report is not the most accurate, in fact there are many big flaws in it, but seriously it is not easy for me to come up something that is new in such a short time. Apparently they believe it is do-able. Although I have an entire year to do this project, but I still have my other modules to clear. I'm not saying that it totally cannot be done, but its not as simple. But Prof Lim did tell me that it was their job to drill my report and to drill me to answer questions. And after everything he came up to shake my hand and told me,"Congrats, you've graduated". That is a sigh to relief, hahaha. At least I know I got through already, hahaha. And not all about my report is bad, Prof Lim did mention some good things about my report, he said that my format is good, my referencing is good, and my command of english is good (surprise, surprise, never thought anyone would ever say that my english is good), but my literature review is not strong enough, that I am making too many personal assumptions, and the the case studies are too bias because I based it on a single user (which is myself). Well I still thank Prof Lim for his time today, and if you ever read this, I just want to say," you really gave me a hard time, hahaha". Haiz, never mind, its finally over, now onto the next phase of my life - unemployment. Now I'm officially unemployed, so anyone got any jobs offers for me?

Final Presentation

Finally I've reached the end of the road, in just a few hours time, in fact it is today at 1300 I'll be giving my final presentation of my FYP to my professor and to a moderator. Well I've only finish creating my slides yesterday evening, and have just finish rehearsing the presentation, and I'm like screwed, hahaha. I find that my presentation is too long. Just now I tried timing myself and I ended up using close to 40 mins to finish my entire presentation, that is like 25 min overtime. Now, it is going to be difficult for me to cut down any more of my content, so I guess I'll just have to practice to speak faster later on. Lets hope everything goes well tomorrow, all the best to me, wahahaha. ORD lor!

Birthday part II

For my birthday today, let's see I practically did nothing, wahahaha. Met Imran at Whitesands for Swensen's lunch (it comes with a birthday treat). So spent some time with my good friend, shopped a little at Whitesands (as if there's anything to shop there), then went over to my grandma's place for dinner and the sweet noodles (what we eat at every birthday, it comes with 2 hard boiled eggs). And thats practically it, thats all for my birthday. Well, maybe I'm getting a little bigger now, so birthdays arn't a big deal anymore. Of course I treasure a good time with my various clicks of friends and family, but just a simple meal together, or drinks (not necessarily alcoholic, coffee & tea is good) is satisfying enough. We don't even have to eat expensive, I'm happy even if we eat at some kopi tiam. Yup, I think its the company that counts. Well I'm happy that many still remember me and my birthday, got quite a number of birthday wishes on my handphone and facebook today, thank you very much people, I know you all love me, I love you all too, wahahahaha. So now, the most important thing to do is, to start on my presentation, I haven't done anything at all, damn it. I'm like so screwed. Ok once again Happy Birthday to ME!!!! hahahaha...

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yup, today is my Birthday! I'm now officially 25, at the mid point of the twenties range, at an all time low point in life. I can't remember if I've blogged about this, but remember I'm now unemployed and broke. Hmmm can life can any worse than this. Well lets forget about the worrying stuff first can get onto the happy things in life (at least for today). Well last night (actually it was just a few hours ago), my brother treated the whole family to dinner at Imperial Herbal Restaurant.

The Restaurant is at Vivocity, which serves great herbal cuisine. We took a package dinner, which had about 8 dishes (think wedding dinner style) that consisted of a cold plate, sharks fin, noodles, fish, sea cucumber, abalone, and a lot more. The dinner was meant to celebrate his first pay back in Singapore initially, but of course my smart Brother delayed the occasion to include the dinner for my birthday + mother's day. So it was 3 occasion in one. Smart move to save some $$, hahaha. Well dinner was terrific, the food there was superb, and it was most filling. I'm like bloated after the whole thing. We started with the cold dish which was a deep fried frozen cocktail fruits. It looks like a goreng pisang, but when you bite into it, it is like very cold inside. The frozen fruit is just starting to melt, so the cold juice just oozes out when you bite, the mixture of warm and crispy outer layer with the cold fruit is just heavenly. This dish also came with some cold vegetables with some strands of black stuff (I think its seaweed, donno just eat) which was also very good. It was tossed in sesame oil and other kinds of sauces, and it taste great. Then it was the sharks fin soup with crab meat and roe. They also added herbs inside, so it tasted a little different from the usual sharks fin eaten at wedding dinners. Yum-my! Next up was the herbal chicken. The chicken is super tender, the sauce is super tasty, and you can really taste the herbs. The next dish is sea cucumber with abalone and wai shan (I don'y know what is that in english). I don't really eat sea cucumber, because I think its very slimy, gooey and has a fishy, but this sea cucumber is really well cooked. It is not slimy or gooey, you can still bite into it. The abalone is braised then sliced, it taste alright, very tender, not overcooked (think like eating rubber). The best part of the dish is the wai shan. This is some root like plant that taste a little like yam, a little like potato, a little like tapioca, yah something like that. It was fried and cooked together with the sea cucumber and abalone, and it taste superb. OMG, I have never been a fan of wai shan. I do eat it, but I do not particularly like it. Woah, this dish changed my perspective of the plant altogether (later on the desert is also wai shan, absolutely changed me into a wai shan lover now). Then it was the fish. The fish tasted ok, I thought it was a little over fried, but it still does taste pretty good though. And after all that oil and meat, next is the vegetables. It was celery stir fried with mushrooms. After all that heavy tasting food on our taste buds, this dish was a very refreshing change. And the mushroom is really really nice here. By now we are already at 120% full (ie we are already super full), so when the next dish came, which was the noodles, we asked for them to serve only half the plate and takeaway the other portion. But I must say, the noodle is really quite nice. It really taste quite good. Then, it was birthday surprise. Yup, because I was all along expecting the dinner to be for his first pay, so I didn't think my bro will get a cake for me. Orhhhhh, so sweet! Hmmm come to think of it, its been a long time since he did something this sweet for me. But who cares about the past, thanks bro, love ya! Well they bought a cake from baker's inn, luckily they only got a small one. For the cake, I also asked for half the cake to be served (although it was already a small cake). So each of us got a small little bit of the cake. Well we had to conserve whatever space we had in our tummies, there was still desert. The desert was the famous malt strands wai shan (erm I think its translated this way). Basically its the wai shan coated with melted malt. Before serving we were given bowls of cold water, so when the dish came, we had to immediately pull the wai shan and put them into the cold water. So as you pull the wai shan, strands of malt forms behind the wai shan, a very interesting sight. The cold water will solidify the malt to prevent the wai shan from sticking to each other. After everything is in the water, we take them out of the water, and back onto the plate to eat. Oh man, this dish taste good. The malt has a very scented sugary smell and taste, the wai shan is bite size and only very lightly coated, love it! The service at the restaurant is really good, and I would highly recommend anyone who loves herbal stuff to go there for a meal. Great place, great food, great service, what more can we ask for. Thanks to my bro again! Happy Birthday!!!!!

My birthday cake!


Me and Mum & Dad

My cool grandma (and aunt when to toilet, so didn't get a pic together with her)

With my bro and Huiling

The three of us acting cute, wahahaha!

Brand new start

Well as most would know, my birthday is coming, and just 2 days ago I had my first celebration (erm maybe its the second, remember the drinking session that I had in March, that was supposed to my birthday celebration as well). Yup, met up with Wai Hon, Benny, Andre and Han Rong at Tampines Mall to have dinner at Phins. As usual I was pretty full because of a late lunch. So I only had a bit of here and there, didn't really have a full meal. After that they got a 'cake' for me, well sort of a cake, we bought 4 pieces of Hershey's Choc ice cream pie from BK and put them together into 1/2 a cake. It was like the most innovative cake I've had in my life. Very good idea, coz we didn't have to wash up or cut the cake, hahaha. After that we went over to Benny's place for Mahjong, hahaha I won! Well thanks guys for the birthday! With many more years of friendship to come!!!

And today, I finally finish clearing up my room. With a new coat of paint and a new order of furniture (I can't buy new stuff coz I'm now broke and unemployed). Yup, so its a new beginning for me. Oh yah, as expected my Europe trip got some problem now. At the back of my head I'm thinking "I told you so", but of course we'll try to work something out. Okok I gotta end here to go put a parking coupon on my car before the parking pontianak comes. Ciao!

Nights out

As said earlier, I went out to party right after my papers. Was supposed to head to Wala Wala's, but we decided against it, we were at Holland Village though, instead of Wala, we sat at Olio's for drinks, there was 1 for 1, so it was pretty worth it. I ordered 1 pint of Hoegarden (which means 2 pints, because of 1 for 1), and we sat there just talking all the rubbish non stop, haha. The reason we didn't go to Wala was because Jeremy brought his dog (I think he was called skettle) along, anyway he just got castrated today, haha poor dog, another reason is because we wanted some place with seats. Knowing that Wala would not give us a seat, and most definitely not allow dogs inside, so we chose to sit at Olio. It was a pretty good session, I got to know May better (Bucky's gf) and the Koreans guys much better (Jung Mun and Johnny). Well I think the drinks also made it easier for communication. Thats the great thing about drinks, not too much, just a little to lighten up the mood, and we can talk about everything under the sun, haha. After spending hours at Olio, we headed over to Mount Faber to sight see. And I am ashamed to say that being a Singaporean, this is my first time up there after the renovation. I haven't been like to Mount Faber since eons ago. Jung Mun and Johnny will be heading to Thailand next week, so I guess probably I won't be able to see them anymore (unless they make it back before I leave for my trip of the century), so I hope they enjoyed themselves tonight, and all the best in their future. Have a safe trip back home guys, will miss ya.