Happy Birthday to me :P

Wow....long time since I last blogged...haha...alwayz been too lazy to do so. But then, I had a wonderful evening with some of my friends. Don't want to go into too much details, but thanks guys (includes girl), for coming along for dinner. Hope you all had lots of fun too.

Thanks for the many presents, some a bit wierd, but still, it's the thought that counts...I guess :P hahah

I know some of you had to set some time aside to come down, thanks a lot again, really appreciate it :)

Happy New Year?

Hmmm, guess this new year is close to one of the worst for a lot of people, with the tsunami disaster that occured recently. Kinda brought about a very gloomy end to what would have otherwise been a rather good year for everyone.

It was a rather good year for me, although I felt that somehow, it wasn't as good as the previous few years. Not sure why, but could be that I didn't accomplish much this year.

Anyways, today's blog is quite a guessing game, dun wanna say any names out, but you all can go figure for yourselves as you read through. Not good to say out the names. Come ask me for the answers, if you dare...hahahaha

Strangely, the thing that first came to my mind when I thought back about 2004, wasn't about school, wasn't about bowling, not my volunteer work, but....was about the turbulent world of teenage relationships, between boyz n girlz...hahahahhahahaha

Strange right? No it's not about me, my status, haha too bad, gonna remain confidential :) It's more about the guys (and their girls) that I've got to known from NY3OC. Dunno why, but I didn't think about such things when I was in XT. (For those of u who dunno...NY3OC...XT... = arcade thingy, ok? hahaha)

Yeah i was thinking about it, no one, yes, I do believe, not a single one of the guys in NY3OC, who got attached in 2004, managed to keep the relationship going for more than a year. Seems like the only ones who managed to, are those who had the relationship since a long time back, before 2004. I think that's only one guy? hahah congrats to that one person!

Some have had numerous relationships during the year (I consider 2 or more relationships in a year to be numerous hahah). Some had a try with one relationship, but ran into some problems. And others were desperately trying to get themselves hooked on to one, but still akan datang.

Along the way, I seemed to have given advice to many of them. Some genuinely asked me for advice, and some, well, haha I KPO a bit so gave them my opinions :)

Unfortunately, most advice isn't taken, and then, well, not so pleasant outcomes occur. Most give silly excuses to cover up for their faults, but there are a few who take time to think through what had happened, and try to make sense of things. Not to say I'm some Aunt Agony or counsellor or what, but I believe, some things, which are common sense, are easily forgotten at the sight of the opposite sex :)

As I am writing all this, well, OK, other than relationship problems, most also had issues with their school work, though it pales in comparision to issues with their girls :P

As usual, there are some who cope well, some who failed a module here and there, and some, well, who realized that they made some wrong choices along the way and don't seem to enjoy what they are doing.

So in the midst of giving advice, and watching them handle their issues, I managed to find a common trend amongst most of them:

1) Set out towards their goals (be it girls or school work) with certain hopes and expectations
2) Start off reasonably well
3) After sometime, get a bit lost, and stumble horribly (either a break up, or failed module)
4) Learn some important lessons

Step 5?

Some learn from thier mistakes, and learn not to get burnt twice, but some, just like to jump back into the frying pan again...hahaha

Strange isn't it? After being burnt, they wanna get burnt and burnt again, like having more lives than a cat. Maybe that's just part of growing up? But doesn't it hurt to get burnt so often? Not to mention that it hurts others who are directly affected too?

Haha I can think of at least three people who fall into that category.

OK OK enough of mudslinging at these people :) There are others too who did well. I enjoyed IRCing and MSNing with many of them, sharing thoughts and experiences. I'm sure these people know who they are.

Anyways, today is 1 Jan 2005, hope the new year goes well for everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Hi hi yes, I'm blogging on the morning of Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas to one and all :)

Funny, this year I didn't feel like staying out late on Christmas eve, came back at 2am. Might not seem early to some people, but that's quite early for me though, haha...

Christmas seemed rather empty this year, with only a Chirstmas eve party with the NY3OC peeps at Alex's place. Well I was supposed to meet them earlier in the afternoon at Atrium, but I was kinda lazy, so I just went directly to his place at 5pm.

The party wasn't too bad actually, had a pizza hut / KFC dinner, some idling around, watching TV, exchange of gifts, and some games, with a little bit of drinking :) Actually, I think the best part was the gift exchange, seeing all the funny surprises that each of us bought. I got Channon's Evo7 car model, kinda like a super big Matchbox toy car.

Come midnight, most of us opened up the other presents that we received too. I was quite surprised by the number of gifts I got. Thanks again to one and all who bought gifts for me, definitely won't forget some of them, like the Spongebob Squarepants hang-on-the-car-window thing from Ryo :P

To those whom I bought gifts for, hope you like them too, sorry if I got T-shirt sizes wrong, or gifts that you all already have...haha...kinda bad in choosing presents.

Ah Sad bought quite a bit of liquor. They were meant for playing games, but some of the die hards who wanna get people drunk took most of them, with some in the process getting drunk themselves..ahaha...so how does it feel not being able to walk in the direction that you want? :P

But most of the peeps managed to control themselves, got a little high, but not drunk. At least that keeps the fun around, rather than having to run somewhere to find a place to puke. Those guys like Ryo, SJ, Shini, TMR, and some others, well done on not getting drunk (unless of course, you all got drunk after I left? hahaa)

At around 1.30am, I sent Channon and Mutu (who was quite very drunk?) to Orchard to meet some of their friends. Orchard Road was crazy at that time of the morning, still a lot of people, but most trying to catch taxis back home. Certain stretches of road were full of rubbish from the party goers.

When I got home, my parents and my brother were still awake, I guess that's why I didn't stay overnight, wanted to see my family on Christmas Day. Although now, part of me is still hoping to be with the rest at Alex's place, but then, I see them so often every week, so I guess I should have more time with my family too. Hopefully I won't be too late for church tomorrow morning as well, to make some sense out of this whole Chirstmas season.

I'm still wondering what I'm gonna do after church tomorrow. If everyone's busy with their own things, it's gonna be a rather boring day.

Maybe I'll go log into Cronous now, wish my other online overseas friends Merry Christmas over the game :)

As for you all, my faithful readers, have a wonderful and meaningful Christmas!

My Christmas Wish

*Yawnz* again....

Had to wake up this Sunday morning to go for my school bowling roll-offs, for the IVP in February. Haha I shouldn't be complaining, it was to start at 12pm, and that's a good time too. However, the bowling centre management screwed up, and we only started at 1pm, as this cosmic bowling event (in the day time?!) started late. Furthermore, the bowling centre staff today were rather screwed up themselves, insisting that we didn't book the lanes at 12, and charging us rates other than the quoted ones.

Didn't do as well as expected for the roll-offs, I was hoping for a 195 average, but did only 187. Hope to do better in next week's second session.

Anyway, since the session today ended late, the few of us who were going for KK's BBQ went straight after having a late lunch. Not bad, had the chance to meet up with the older bowlers, some of whom I haven't met for quite awhile. Just in time for Christmas :P

When I got home, I heard about a Christmas eve gathering with the NY3OC people. Somehow, I wasn't too excited about it, especially when they talk about the alcoholic drinks and all that. Really, what's the kick? But the gift exchange and dinner is a nice idea, so I'd probably come by for that.

Comparing the lives of my bowling friends who have graduated, and the NY3OC peeps, there's such a stark difference. Once out of school and into the working world, we seldom have time to catch up with one another. When we do, like at today's BBQ, it's good fun catching up with all the latest happenings.

As for the NY3OC group, most are in school, though not all. The common thing among us is our liking for arcade games. Arcade games are fun, good ways to enjoy too. A few of us have our own activities too, like Mutu and his ODAC to keep him busy most of the time :) But most of us, seem like have nothing to do but hang around the arcade all day. After school, the next place to drift to would be the arcade, and hang there until it closes.

I really hope for these guys/girls, that they do find something else to keep themselves occupied with as well, in addition to playing games. Find something meaningful to do.

When you get older, reach your mid 20s, when you look back at your life.....

Are you gonna think thoughts like
"wow, ODAC was great fun, no regrets joining that CCA"
"I'm glad I learnt driving when I had the chance, no need to hassle with that now"
"School life was great, good to have graduated with a great bunch of friends"

or

Are you gonna think
"I should have done better at my studies, I can't get anywhere with this lousy certificate"
"I'm so busy working now, no free time for anything. I should have made better use of my time when I was younger to learn something / take part in some event that I have no time for now."
"What WAS I doing with my time when I was 18?"

Come on friends, don't deceive yourselves. All of you have finished secondary school. Some of you are working, some studying, and some not doing anything. Everyone is a step close to adulthood. A time to be independent, something that all teens fight for when they are younger. You're getting nearer to achieving it. But can you handle it?

It's been great getting to know all the NY3OC people. Live your lives now to have good memories, not bad regrets. That is my Christmas wish for you this year.

Christmas is coming!

Finally got down to doing some Christmas shopping today. Actually, I managed to get almost all the things I wanted, except for one more present, which I have to try and get it soon.

I think I'm not a very good person to shop with, especially when I'm the one looking for things :) I dragged poor Jren with me all over orchard today. Haha he even asked me "What's the rush? Why need to get everything at one go?" Stumped me for quite awhile there, I told him better to get everything done at once, but then, if I'm not really sure what I want to get for somebody, best to check out other options and take a bit more time.

Played several rounds of ID today at Atrium, I think it was rather uncomfortable, for Jren especially, since he was trying not to let my car level down. Haha, can't be helped, the level difference was to great, chances of my car levelling down was high. To balance it out, I had to win twice for every win he got, which wasn't exactly fair to him. Anyway, thanks for the games and following me around shopping.

The rest of the ID guys met up with Jren and myself later in the night, but seems like time was quite tight, some of them wanted to buy things, but didn't manage to get their chance to shop. Sorry Ryo! I'll go around with you another day, and perhaps pick up an item or two for myself too.

The Orchard Road crowd was terrible, both human and vehicular traffic. I had to park in a rather inconvenient place, which had high parking rates too. No choice right? If I want a parking lot at this time, only those places with high charges would have spaces. After getting out of the parking lot, I had to weave my way through the crowds. Wow didn't expect it to be so crowded, I thought last minute shopping was like a day or two before Christmas, not the week before :)

Yeah so today was a good day, but the rest of the week, got a little exasperating. Can't get my school projects and experiments done now, everyone is busy with their own things, and away on holidays. Only thing that I can manage to do are to write my own papers for my research.

Other than that, I had to prepare briefing notes for a cycling relay event in January, which I'm helping to plan. I had the briefing itself last night, which saw only 50% attendance. Quite disappointing, but chairman said that's the norm, just have to tie up loose ends with the rest over the next week. But anyway, all the committee members are invited for a dinner at the Istana with President on Jan 10. I, of course, accepted the invitation...haha...this would be my second time to the Istana. A rather formal event, perhaps I need to do something about my hairstyle before I go...oops :P

Alright, I'll try to blog more often instead of squeezing so much in one day's entry.

Blissful

*Yawnz*

Had to play the organ for service again this morning. Haha, been waking up late too many days, now getting up at 9am seems like a daunting task, went to church yawning. At least I didn't make so many mistakes today as the last session.

Must have eaten something bad, I had bit of diarrheoa today, had to scramble to Guardian Pharmacy at Clementi Central to get a box of charcoal pills before going to NUS.

The rain was rather persistent today, all the running in and out of the car in the rain (forgot my umbrella) has given me a slight cold now.

Some how NUS has come to be my favourite haunt on a Sunday after church. If I'm not meeting anyone, then I would stay at the library until it closes at 4.30pm. That's what I did today, while waiting for Ryo and SJ to confirm their plans. The library is really so comfortable now after they renovated. Sunday's a good day too, since there aren't too many students around. So comfortable until I slept for 30 mins or so too :)

Around 415, just when the library announced that they were closing for the day, Ryo told me they felt lazy to go out, so not going Atrium today. Same sentiments here, the weather was really good for staying indoors. So I went home, alternated between playing Cronous and sleeping. Yay, my bow valk's at level 63 today. 2 more levels to go for the black armor and Houyi bow.

My bro also came home rather early, so both of us were in my room, I at the PC playing Cronous, he at the PS2 playing Lord of the Rings.

Yesterday wasn't really a pleasant day, since most of my friends (the arcade ones) were feeling very down over the loss. I thought it was nothing much to fuss about, but I guess most of them aren't really exposed much to competions, so they don't take too well to losing. Nevermind, this would be a good experience. Haha there are lots of quotes by various people about lessons learnt in losing, but I guess we have all heard them so much, that I shouldn't say it here. Hmm... not entirely bad I guess. Ryo was d man of our match, clearing the whole of KC's team...haha...steady lah.

And again, today was a good day :) Hope yours was as well.

Ordinary day, but so many thoughts...

As like the previous week, I spent much of my time this week answering e-mails from students, and meeting up with those who have got problems with the 2162 module. Some questions are good, but I don't understand, why even with a forum, that some people just have to ask questions that have been asked before? Why can't they take the time to read through the questions that others have posted? After all, the other questions are related to their coursework as well.

I noticed so many who give a big SIGH when I suggest that they go look up some reference books for more in-depth material in preparation for this module. Hey man, this is an OPEN BOOK exam, so you can't expect to be happy with just your lecture notes. Besides, I'm not asking them to read through the whole book, just sieve out the important parts.

I don't understand what I was doing today, but I found myself in the library searching up references so that I can make the lives of the students easier. Hey man, who did the same for me when I was a student?

Today I didn't go to the arcade, since there was a computer fair, SITEX, at Expo from today until Sunday. Planned to go with Ryo, SJ and TL after school. Thing is, we actually planned to meet TL at Expo after his work, while the 3 of us head down around 5 pm.

Then, at 5 plus, TL called me and asked if he could take a lift from Clementi at 6 plus. Common sense told me I can't do that. 6 plus and we'll all be stuck in a jam. So I told him I can't pick him, gotta go get SJ and Ryo now.

I dunno what's with me, a minute later, I called SJ and Ryo, see if they wanna wait or not. They said ok no problem. I knew very well I'd be in for a jam. But I called TL and told him we'll wait for him.

So that's it....I picked TL up at 6.20, went on to pick SJ and Ryo, and ended up in a bloody long jam, reaching Expo at only 7.30 pm. Was I right to have waited? Or should I have stuck to common sense? If there wasn't any jam, that's ok. The long jam only wasted more petrol. But if I didn't wait, then TL wouldn't be with us...

damn.....