Finally its Over!

6 months of endless work, the thesis is finally ready!

I must say I dreaded the editing part of it...

Hard to predict wat I will get..... Hopefully at least a B+

Anyway, its now time to enjoy the rest of my holidays!!!!!!

Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008!!

Another year has passed... This yr seemed to pass by really quick. A look back at 2007, started the year at Hyflux doing my IA... It was ahem, to put it in a nicer tone "could be better", pay was pathetic and the job scope was boring.... But met many new friends tats one thing good.

The second half of the year went by even faster... Wat I remembered was spending "quality" time in the lab doing my FYP from 9 to 6pm almost everyday.... Perhaps due to this hectic pace I got hit by that unexpected illness.... Took 2 to 3 weeks to recover... Then came the exams... Then the Dec holidays tat doesnt feel like holidays at all due to FYP and the worse part of it is its my last sch holidays.....Darn...

6 months to go b4 I graduate.... And I am ready to welcome 2008!! 25 years of studying is finally coming to an end... At least for the time being.

Holiday Workshops

Time really flies... Its now 2 weeks after my exams. Been busy with fyp as usual but went for 2 different holiday workshops last week organized by NUS Career Centre. One of them was on leading image and the other on public speaking. Quite worth the money paid... Anyway the lunch and 2 tea breaks provided was enough to cover the fee paid... Thanks to heavy subsidies from NUS.

The first workshop I attended on leading image teaches u how to improve yr image as first impression counts. There's the business and dining etiquette.... how to choose clothes that matches yr skin color, the type of clothes, how to match yr clothes. What I like best was lunch...haha. A 3 course meal was served.... And the instructor will go around and correct yr eating and sitting posure... how u should eat, handle the napkins, handle the bill, call for the waitress, how to be a good host and so on.... didnt realize tat there were so many techniques to learn.... I love the dessert served, chocolate truffle cake. Great presentation and of course taste... At the end of the workshop there was also a farewell gift, a 1Gb flash drive and a cert!

Dessert

Table for 10

The second one was on public speaking.... I just find it so so... Though i must say the professional speaker was good. The participants were split into small groups and each person was given a topic and ask to give a 3min speech on the spot... main aim to teach u to think fast and overcome the fear of speaking in front of others... Overall both workshops were useful.

In Need of Exercise

Been eating alot of sinful food after the exams, wanted to exercise but the it keeps raining these days... So no tennis, no swimming, no rollerblading, no jogging....

There's the gym at the clubhouse but one thing abt me is i dun like going to the gym cos its airconditioned.... Tend to get a cold after the workout.... And I dun like running on a threadmill either, prefer running in the open getting some suntan and see the different sights and sounds of my neighborhood.

Sometimes I "try" to wake up like 630am (I know some pple might think i am crazy but tats me, anyway i usually go for evening jogs these days rather than morning, haha...) and go for a morning jog as it is much cooler and I get to admire the beautiful sunrise too.... So as u can tell I am more of a morning guy

FYP Lab: 6 months of Sweat

After spending 6 months doing my FYP, "Biodiesel Preparation via Enzymatic Transesterification of Vegetable Oil" (Let me translate it, it means to produce biodiesel from vegetable oil using a reaction method called transesterification in the presence of enzymes), I am pls to say that all this is abt to end soon on 31.12.07 Mon.

The main reactants for transesterification: N-butanol, Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB), Palm Oil

Rotary Evaporator to remove N-butanol


Vacuum Purge Oven to remove traces of water or n-butanol

Oil bath in which transesterification takes place in a reaction tube

View outside the lab of WS2

View of my lab

An Eventful Dinner: For all the Wrong Reasons

Ok PLS bear with this long story (Longest post i ever posted) but I wished to share this.... An unforgettable dinner for all the wrong reasons.... I will nvr ever forget what had happened last nite in my entire life. Let's just say I was damn paiseh and embarrassed.

The story goes like this. I went back to sch yesterday to get my NMR results from the lab so that I can include it in my report due end of the month. It just so happened that it was my prof's birthday. His PhD students decided to buy him a cake and surprise him in his office. So everyone, PhD students, Drs and FYP students who happened to be in the lab have to attend the celebration. After the mini celebration, the prof was so happy that he asked us to join him for dinner whereby he will treat everyone. So he asked one of his PhD student to book a table at Tung Lok Seafood @ Arena Country Club cos he said Tung Lok's food is good. I thought to myself "wa seh, how come my timing so good, got free dinner at Tung Lok sia". There were a total of 2 profs (his good friend came along), 3Drs, 4PhD students and 4 FYP students who went for dinner.

Ok, only 2 of us are Singaporeans, 1 Malaysian and the rest that went were PRCs. We were informed that dinner will be buffet style. But the person that booked the place didnt know it was ala carte buffet. As some of us have experiments to do, those who were free can make their way to the venue first. So at 645pm, everyone left the lab leaving the 4 FYP students (including myself) behind as one of us was waiting for his expt to end. We left half an hr later.

We called for a cab and made our way there... Its a wise choice cos 1) Its peak hr 2) We dun wished to be too late 3) We dun know the directions to the place cos nvr been there b4, so by calling a cab, the destination is known to the cab driver b4 hand.

And again the same funny thing happened to me again... which was I spoke to the cab driver in chinese (I know I angmo pai but somehow i tend to speak chinese these days) and I got like no reply... The reason was the cab driver was a Malay and I didnt know cos it was dark.

Anyway, thats not the impt point in this story. Once we reached there, I was surprised that they were waiting for us to arrive b4 they order the food (Surprise bcos I was expecting them to go ahead and eat without us first). How often do u get 2 profs and 3 Drs to wait for 4 FYP students to arrive rite?? But the lucky thing was one gp of PhD students in another taxi have yet to arrive (even after leaving half an hr earlier than us).... Reason was they tried to flag down a cab on the main rd outside NUS and it took like forever and that the cabby didnt know the place.

As expected, the place being quite high class is mainly patronized by business pple... But the place was not full cos its so out of the way. Once everyone was there, the prof passed the menu to his PhD students and asked them to order whatever they want. Big mistake. As host, he shld have taken the lead and order on behalf of us. Perhaps while ordering, he could have asked "Are there any dishes you guys would like to try?" (U know that kind of cliche thingy) instead of letting his PhD students order.

The problem here was they didnt know how to order, cos they didnt know what ala carte buffet meant. So they asked the Captain to explain. They took forever to decide what to order and I was like going Pls, just pick a few dishes from the menu first, after which can order again if its not enough. Then somehow half way while deciding, they suddenly decided to count how much the dinner will cost.... DUH??? One PhD student was like counting loudly how much it would cost and even asked the Captain how much the extra charges (GST and service charge) it would cost us. How on earth the Captain will know until the bill comes rite? Then another PhD student took out her hp to do a calculation.... Its bloody embarrassing... Cos its the prof thats paying and if u want to figure out how much PLS for goodness sake do it discretely. And count how much will it cost b4 ordering in front of the captain instead of at the end of the dinner is just so....ahem. (The dinner is like 34 dollars plus plus, so add charges and all its estimated to be above 40 dollars per head). I think the Captain must be wondering whether we could afford to pay for the dinner.

As we seemed to take forever to order (I cant possibly order for them cos I am the smallest fry there and the prof asked his PhD students to order, not me), the Captain suggested that she will help us order a few dishes and if its not enough, we can order more later. As we were having crabs, the waitresses gave a total of 4 bowls of water with lemon to wash our hands. Then the 1st shocker came.... One of the Dr asked whats that (Ok, its ok not to know whats tat but what happened next was kinda of funny), and the next shocker came, one of the PhD student sitting beside me said it was sharks fin soup.... I ALMOST FAINTED SIA!!!! How on earth does tat look like sharks fin soup??? I quickly said its for washing hands after seeing the DR abt to take his spoon to try it (Yes, tat happened)..... The worst part was she didnt believe me and asked the waitress what are those.... damn paiseh man.... can tell that the waitress was trying not to laugh.

Next, we had "Buddha jumps over the wall'. The PhD students were asking me what dish was that. I was kind of surprised that they didnt know cos i thought in China they have tat too so I just said its a dish with abalone. After a while, they asked me how come our table only have chinese tea to drink while the table next door had like soft drinks and wine. THE........ I replied "Pay more then can drink liao" in chinese.

Our table received poor service from the captain as i can tell she was kinda pissed with us. Its like when one of the PhD student tell her to get more towels for us, she went like "xinnnnngggggggggg (can)!!!!". But it nvr came.... Obviously bcos that would mean more charges for us (towel charges) and it seems to her that we cant afford our meals. The only waitress that was very hardworking in serving us was a PRC.

Towards the end of the dinner, we had desserts. The prof ordered honey dew sago. As there were different desserts ordered by us, the desserts were placed on the table and we supposed to take the desserts we had ordered. The prof then asked the waitress which one was honey dew sago..... I think he nvr tried honey dew sago b4 (its ok)... but seriously it was quite obvious which one was the rite bowl and i thought he could make an intelligent guess rite.... cos the rest were either red bean soup, green bean soup or guilin gao.... So tell me which one was honeydew sago?? Obviously the one with honeydew, the one not red, nor green nor black rite??

The next funny thing was that there was a fire alarm midway through the dinner... And guess what?? They thought that it was a signal to tell diners that they were closing soon. OMG!!!! How on earth did that idea came abt?? So they asked a waitress what time were they closing and what was the alarm for.....I was lost for words man..... Havent they heard a false fire alarm b4?

Towards the end of the dinner when everyone was full, my prof's friend, the other prof suddenly said he didnt know it was buffet...erm.......

Then the PhD students were wondering if the restaurant got give discount on pple's birthday, saying that this is possible in China. I was like thinking this is Spore not China for goodness sake... Though there are some places that do have such a promotion in spore, its is unlikely that such a high end restaurant would carry this kind of promotion.... Then, they asked the Captain if such a discount existed.....ermm..... The Captain said only UOB credit card got discount.

The dinner was damn long.... 3 hrs long to be exact, from like 730 to 1030pm.... I nvr expect them to sit until the restaurant was abt to close.... We were the last table to leave. Good thing we were the last cos what was abt to happen next was the most embarrassing thing I ever come across in my life. The prof quarreled with the Manager saying he was out to cheat him.... zzz..... I was utterly shocked.

It happened like this, Prof called for the bill, ok the bill came and amounted to over 500 bucks... Another mistake he made.... Passing the bill to his PhD students and told the captain that they will check if they calculated the bill correctly....He is a host, he shld have just take a glance at the bill, see roughly how much, then just pass the credit card over rather than passing it to his student and tell the Captain that he is letting his student "check if they calculated wrongly". Perhaps he was shocked that the bill was so high... i dun know.

Then the PhD student said why no discount (Good, he spotted it but.....) For goodness sake, u need to give them the credit card first then they will include the discount for u by reprinting a second bill.

Ok, the bill with the discount came.... Then all hell broke lose. Apparently, the discount was like every 4 diners, the 5th dines for free.... we had 13 pple so we were given 3 diners free... But as u know there are other charges rite? B4 any discount, they will calculate the total bill first and add GST, service charge and other charges and from there give the discount.... so 13 pple times 40 over dollars per head were counted first... That was what made the prof unhappy.... He said that shouldnt they charge him only 10 pple rather than calculate 13 pple then discount from there cos he would have to pay extra charges for the "supposedly 3 free diners".... ermmm.... Then he asked to see the manager....ermmmmmm...... Accused him of trying to cheat him....ermmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Prof wanted to see proof of such a policy, that is to add the cost of all diners first.... I wanted to explain that its correct but decided against it after his PRC students decided to help him argue with the manager... To try to explain to the Prof now that the manager is correct would be suicidal cos it meant the need to embarrass the prof and it might affect my grade for the report. And u know Chinese pple likes "face". So i chose to keep quiet and let the manager try to explain of course without success...

The final icing on the cake was when the prof told the manager in chinese "We are from NUS u know and all of them are my students, some PhD. All of us know how to calculate so dun think u can cheat us". I really really dun know where to hide my face man.... very paiseh.

In the end, as the argument went on for a long time, prof asked the manager to give him the number of the HQ of Tung Lok gp of Restaurants to complain...... Sheesh. And of course the Manager gladly did that cos he was nvr in the wrong.

Ok, first of all I wished to thank my prof for treating us to dinner. It was a nice gesture..... But I think last nite's dinner was quite an eye-opener for me, an experience i wont forget for all the wrong reasons.... I guess being smart with all the qualifications is not enough, u need exposure to the outside world too. Perhaps they spent too much time in the lab...... And too little time for themselves....

A Day of Spring Cleaning

A super tiring day today, been cleaning the entire house for hours...
Toilets, my own room, windows, curtains, aircon filters, mop, vacuum the floor, take out the trash.... Though I left out the kitchen to another day cos its the most shiong place to clean....

Come to think abt it, I supposed I have mastered every single household chore.

Exams Over Liao!!!!

Finally, 3/12/07 11am came.... Freed from studying for the time being.... Had been studying for the same, silly module for the last 6.5 days... I tell u its torture studying the same thing over and over again....esp when its open lecture notes.

Went kbox after the exams at orchard cine...haven been to my usual hangout for a long time... since Aug... Sang many new songs, some can make it, some cannot.... Tried wo bu shi F4 and rainie's 任意门, all cant make it....haha.

Had a Super scare from my Prof when i checked my email.... said i nvr hand in my term paper via email that was like due a month ago... He emailed me yesterday and told me to hand it in by 6pm today....Wa Kaoz..... I did hand in lor.... Started to search frantically for that precious proof in the "Sent Folder". Lucky nvr delete the items in the folder...Phew! Thank god NUS upgraded the account capacity to like 1GB (if i am not wrong), otherwise if we were still using the older version having only 15MB capacity I will surely have cleared everything liao.....

Forwarded this proof back to him to show the time and date which I submitted my term paper.... Now waiting for him to reply.... And now I know the importance of keeping important emails. Lesson learnt here.

The Final Push

1 more paper to go.... Wait for me!!!
3/12/07 11am == Freedom!!

Break from Studying to Blog: T3 Open House

Notice the natural lighting from the entire ceiling... Cool way of cutting cost too!!

Departure Hall
Arrival Hall

The new Skytrain

The Visiting Crowd @ T3

A380 Aerobridge @T3... Apparently both T2 and T3 are equipped to handle A380s


Check in Counters


Taking a break from studying to blog.... Haiz and i feel guilty cos i shld be studying... sheesh... shall make it a fast one.

Anyway, its just a post on Changi's new T3 opening 9th Jan 08 (Hyflux birthday!).
Conclusion: Huge! Lots of restaurants to try out too!!! Seems like the airport has transformed into a pretty cool place to hang out :-)

UK Bullies

Recent newspaper reports on an old trishaw rider being bullied by 3 british tourists left me feeling disgusted by their actions. Worse of all they didnt even pay him a single cent and the uncle is left chasing them for money.

This has also made me feel strongly that the gov should do more to help the elderly in Singapore. Prices of almost everything in Spore has gone up in recent years, transport, food, housing... I have seen old people in their 80s still working as cleaners at hawker centres and I really pity them. Too little is being done to help the elderly... Maybe someday I shld go into politics and do something to help the elderly pple here.... Heh.

At a Loss

Dad brought my Mum to A&E hospital today.... Seems like her headache is worse than i thought, she's been sufferring for more than a month... And I am at a loss of what to do or how to help her... She's been crying almost everyday and I cant possibly keep her company round the clock.. Seems like no doctors can diagnose what's wrong... they just asked her to sleep more, take painkillers, stop worrying.... What is causing this headache???

Setback after Setback

Sometimes hard work doesnt equate results..... It is demoralizing and I always try to tell myself not to give up, to try harder nxt time...I dunno why but somehow I just couldnt perform... I tried.... I really tried.... Perhaps this is not a suitable course for me... uni is one of the most challenging time of my life.... Disappointment after disappointment, setbacks after setbacks..... Its tiring... I am tired.... Perhaps this is God's way of making me tougher to face the obstacles of life ahead.....

Presentation Day

Completed my presentation today..... Think it went really well... Was quite smooth sailing... Though I got bombarded by a lot of "why?" qns by the prof, why this why that, managed to smoke my way thru.... Surprisingly he didnt comment on one set of data obtained which I think is weird or wrongly done.... had difficulty explaining that part....

Anyway, think there are more work to be done after the prof recommended that I shld investigate some parameters which are impt blah blah blah....lab seems like nvr ending man.... Anyway at the end of the presentation, I told him after investigating these other paramenters I will wrap up the experimental part of the FYP and concentrate on writing my thesis... He said "Sure". Heng ah..... Otherwise there is no end to it.... I need to put a stop to lab soon...

I just "love" my Prof

I just "love" my prof for his last min emails, stunners and high expectations of his fyp students...
First, received an email saying he wanted a presentation to be done on Fri on the current progress...... Sheesh la... So short notice!!!

Next, I noticed he loves to forward emails between himself and other students.... Now I know who are the pple in the lab kena issued a violation warning.... Think he out to shame them... Just not my style....

3 days to come up with presentation.... Wish me luck!!!

Difficult Times

Seems like there are more problems by the day, first Mum is seriously ill and I am worried for her, now we are left to wait for her results from the hospital, then I was diagnosed with this unwelcome illness which i am slowly recovering from, Sis is down with flu, Dad is away on business trip and I am left to take care of Mum, my sch workload is piling up, my postgrad sup is not too helpful, more of bochap kind..... Will things ever get better?

I will be fine, No Worries

Thanks for the well wishes.....Will get well soon :)

Mid Autumn Festival

Its that time of the year again when family and friends gather to enjoy a cup of pu er tea and mooncakes while children play around with their lanterns. Yes, it is the Mid Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival (tats wat i always call it) . Hmm... Maybe I shld buy myself a lantern and play with sparklers!! Haha.... Still remember my childhood times.... Those were the carefree days.

I will know it is mooncake festival when dad starts bringing mooncakes home from all sorts of places, hotels, restaurants .... The funny thing is none of us in the family likes mooncakes, so we end up giving them away. I try to help finish some mooncakes, esp those snow skin types which will be the first to be eaten up while the traditional ones will take a longer time (snow skin tastes better). Have been eating mooncakes for breakfast for the past 5 consecutive days and I am abt to get sick of it....

Ok, think I shall stop blogging and concentrate with my latest "game" that I started playing 6 weeks ago..... Its called Hysys, where I can "play" with different temp, pressure, equipment like distillation columns and pumps..... I am still trying complete this stage which is due in 4 weeks time and to upgrade myself from Amateur level to Expert level.... haha... Sounds fun ya?

Term Break!!

Finally, term break after 6 weeks of sch!!! Time really flies.... It seems not too long ago when I was still enjoying my holidays after IA. Anyway, term break in NUS = No term break at all...sobsob... cos got project meetings, essay to write, FYP to do, the list goes on and on.... But then, I still need some time to rest..Ha. So, I think i shall satisfy my cravings for Kbox and rollerblading soon..... YESSSS!!!

Braggers are a bunch of Super Turnoffs

I just cant stand pple who like to boast or brag abt anything they can think of.... such as he or she has been to some fancy XXX restaurants and pubs (ok that is fine until the story goes on....), how he blow $$$ in a single night, how girls try to know him bcos he is shuai.... whether i have been there b4.... I mean pls la... like that also like to show off.... wth man...

Recently, someone boasts to me abt how he is going to be succesful after he graduates bcos he has, and i quote, "the brains and personality", "great presentation skills", how interviewers always "like" him when he goes for interviews, next time drive merc or bmw, how being a banker will earn more than an engineer (which is me i assumed) ... and the list continues cos he said so much i cant really remember all the crap he said.... ALL those bragging SURE tells me a LOT abt HIS PERSONALITY..... Wa kaoz.... I was trying to ren and not get pissed... But then I cant believed he even said those things to me.... It sucks big time or shld i say HE sucks big time and all the bragging makes me feel like puking!!!! Argh!!!!

I wun say i am an angel... BUT for one thing, I always learn to be humble AND I dun BRAG.... Probably its the upbringing thats different.... Come on, WATS there to brag abt in the first place? Only childish pple brags.... Sheesh.... I guess in life we get to meet all sorts of pple with "different" or "unique" personality and character, just have to get used to it.

Near Miss: Its one Close Call

Almost hit a motorcyclist this evening near my home... heng didnt sia.... My family and I was heading out for dinner at abt 730pm and its was dark and drizzling... Just drove out of my place and was heading to the main road from a slip rd, I took a quick glance to the right didnt see any cars thus didnt slow down..... The next thing I knew was my sis shouting at me to watch it.... I was like going "Huh?".... that was when i looked at my right wing mirror and saw a motorcyclist super close to the side of the car.... I totally didnt see the motorcyclist at all.... Oops.

Ok.... so lesson learnt is "Always slow down at slip roads".... and to drive safely.... Safety first.

Ratatouille: I Love It

I love this movie! Best animation show since The Incredibles was released. Remy the French chef wannabe is so so so CUTE! I realised that Ratatouille is the name of a dish in the show. A definite Must Watch!

Anyway, I will be taking a "long deserved break" from blogging cos sch's starting and I dun think I have much time to blog. Probably can sneak in a few entries here and there.... but i guess it will be me complaining abt things like my fyp... haha... pretty boring stuff huh? Will see u in Dec where Nuttycuppy's World of Fun & Laughter continues!!!

Sat 4/8: Klunch @ Cine

Went Klunch with my ex sup Mr KJF and zijia. yl was supposed to join us but he was sick... Anyway it was great.... Sang songs like 小情歌 and ai hen jian dan (inspired by my good friend and king of Kbox, jun pin).

Think cine has now become my fav hangout place.... makes me feel young again...heheh

Was at cineleisure early to grab tickets to Ratatouille for nxt fri!! Tickets were selling like hotcakes....Apparently there's a special preview nxt fri. This show will only be released on 30th Aug. For the 1st time, I am going to be the first few lucky pple in Spore to catch a new release! (Haha...very honoured indeed)

If u have no idea wat this movie is abt, its a Pixar Animation, abt a cute rat whose ambition is to be a french chef.... Sounds interesting?

3/8/07 Fri: Presentation Day

Went to sch today for my FYP presentation.... Had to do a powerpt presentation on my literature review and my research plan. Met my prof for the first time.....Presented in front of my prof and my graduate supervisor mr dai.

Think the presentation went well...managed to smoke my way through most of the questions my prof asked...

Anyway was waiting for my turn to present and i noticed the student in front of me presenting had like 7 slides.... And i was like going "eh...... i got like 41?" Was thinking whether hers was too little or mine got too many for a 30min presentation....

Anyway after the presentation, the first thing the prof asked me was "So Felix, where are u from?" eh..... I just said Singapore.

Apparently he thought i wasnt local cos he said i didnt have a singaporean accent when i presented... haha.. ok i take it as a compliment.... shows that my angmo got standard lor....heheheh....I was thankful he didnt ask me to present in Chinese...

Anyway, had lunch with him and the rest of the graduate students.... its my first time having a meal with a prof.... ha...but it was still ok...apparently he came to spore to work only 1.5yrs ago.

A Rare Sight indeed

Stopped at a traffic junction.... Looked to my right....And guess wat i saw??? An angmo!!!!!
Yes....an angmo....no ordinary one.... cos he's driving a blue comfort cab..... Tats the first time i saw an angmo taxi driver.... Rare sight indeed.... Thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.....

The Simpsons Movie: A MUST SEE Movie

Watched The Simpsons Movie today at Orchard Cine.... Definitely a Must Watch show of the year.... Worth every single dollar of yr movie ticket... Super hilarious, funny.... Laughed like mad throughout the entire show....

The best scene of the movie was when Homer sank in a quicksand while pointing both his middle fingers at the residents of Springfield... But bcos he was too fat.... he got stuck instead of sinking in... so got beaten up instead.... Highly recommended!!

23/7 Mon: Time to boycott KBox @ Marina Sq

Went Kbox again today... this time Khappy. Supposed to go to Marina Sq branch. But bcos the staff at this branch tried to cheat us we decided to go to Suntec one instead... told the 5 of us tat we can only sing till 530pm bcos they are fully booked in the evening... i mean wat kind of crap excuse was that? Firstly, I dun believe it is full on a Mon... and besides why must we leave at 530pm instead of 7pm when we are paying the full rate? In the end i just said "lets go somewhere else" which took the receptionist by surprise... think she was expecting us to just take up the package.... Will boycott Marina Sq branch from now on... cos it isnt the first time this outlet tried to cheat us.... Other excuses from this branch are "Klunch without lunch cos we run out of lunch boxes... and the rate is the same" and "Yr singing session is cut short till 6pm instead of 7pm because u were late for yr booking"... Pathetic excuses.

Anyway went to Suntec outlet... was quite empty... I still prefer the Orchard Cine outlet... their sound system is the best there... service is good too.

Tried singing some new songs which i concluded were not meant for me
1) 小情歌 - 蘇打綠 (too high... sounds weird when i tried to sing at a lower key)
2) 五月天 - SHE (Too many high notes... cant reached)
3) 记得爱 (need more practice... )
4) 非你莫属 - Tank version (cant hit the high notes towards the end of the song)

Songs that i think are suitable for me
1) 非你莫属 - Ariel Lin version (easier version to sing)
2) 逆光 - Stephanie Sun (Great to sing...love the groove)
3) 眷恋 - F.I.R (Still manageable)

Sun 22/7

Tried a new running route today... Ran from my place to Buangkok Station to Hougang Station and finally ended up at Kovan Station...

Probably about 10km? Just know that i passed like more than 20 traffic lights and zebra crossings...

Noticed there was a shop selling Selegie Soya milk and beancurd near Kovan Station but it was kind of empty... wonder why... maybe its a fake

Anyway was safe and sound at Kovan station and i decided to take the train back... yes the train... haha... tats the good thing abt running along the NEL route... not tat i was tired but bcos i didnt want to go through the process of crossing the traffic lights again...

Maybe the next time will run to Serangoon Station, then Potong Pasir? And maybe Boon Keng Hyflux??? heheh.. will see how then...

21/7/07 Wet Sat

A wet wet Sat... Went out with my family today...decided to head down to the newly renovated hawker centre at Old Airport Rd... Hasnt been there ever since it closed for renovations... As usual all of us ate the famous Loh Mee... Think its the best in Spore... And as usual the rojak from the stall owned by 2 old folks took forever to arrive.... Food is good, though i must say prices have gone up by at least 50%... GST increase == Everything goes up == I am feeling the pinch....

Anyway, we were driving back along Guillemard Rd.. was behind this 6 Military Police on their bikes... As it was drizzling they were wearing this green reflector vest... and bcos there were 6 of them many motorists were curious and slowed down when approaching them... think they were practising their riding skills or maybe for the NDP at that time cos they werent escorting anyone... But by driving directly behind them it feels like we were some VIPs haha... I even suggested my dad to turn on the hazard lights which he did for a short while just to make it "look" like we are being escorted (haha..ya i know its lame.... but just find it funny to be driving behind these outriders, it really feels like we were some VIPs... serious..heheh)

Fri 20/7/07: Klunch

Went to Klunch at Orchard Cine today... Was with jun pin, supposed to have zi jia too but unfortunately she decided to give it a miss, haiz.... anyway it was fun!! The lunch wasnt that nice though... they changed the menu to either BBQ chicken or Fish Fillet. Sang ni guang by stephanie... think its still ok.. heh. Tried singing fei ni mo shu by lin yi chen... need more practice.

Anyway, after hearing jun pin sang "xiao qing ge", "ji de ai" and "ai hen jian dan", decided to check out these songs on youtube to see if i can sing them... Looking forward to my next Kbox session. For now, it's back to my literature research...arrrrgghhhh

Shoot3

Was watching this new series call Shoot3 showing on channel U today... The topic was whether Singaporeans are willing to give crime offenders a second chance.

My personal opinion is that yes we should give them a second chance if they are serious in turning over a new leaf. But in reality and sad to say this, I feel that the society today doesn't give these offenders a second chance at all. I mean we can go on to argue that we Singaporeans should be more forgiving and that these ex-offenders have paid a price for their crimes so on and so forth.... but seriously how many people are willing to do that? It is easier said than done.

Even though this show did give examples of how some ex-offenders are doing well because people gave them a second chance, I believe that they are the exception. Cos I dun see why an employer would hire an ex convict over someone else who has a clean sheet even if both can do the job just as well... unless this employer is a true kind hearted soul that wants to specifically hire these ex-convicts or the employer himself is an ex-convict so he understands the plight of these ex-offenders, how difficult it is to find a job and so on. From the employer's point of view, he might be worried of hiring an ex-convict because of the lack of trust and he might fear that by hiring him his fellow workers that have clean sheets might not get along with him.

The fact is that it is a cruel world out there. Once u make a mistake, the society does not forgive u and the road ahead gets tough.

Perhaps what is more important is for these ex-convicts to believe in themselves, to regain their confidence and not to give up. Though i would think that getting a good job (ie high pay and high status) is difficult, but as long as they are willing to turn over a new leaf, willing to take up any jobs first (be it a low paying or a long working hour job) and from there move on with their life, I think they will not go hungry in Singapore.

19/7/07 Thurs

Met up with my uni classmates jun pin, weng hong and kay yang yesterday to catch harry potter at The Cathay. As usual jun pin was late again.... and the place wasnt crowded at all as expected. I think The Cathay is the best cinema in spore, they got the best seats, huge screens... only thing got to walk quite a bit. Movie was good, at least much better than the previous shows i watched like Fantastic 4 and Hot Fuzz...

Headed down to Starbucks at City Hall... chat abt almost every thing, travel, holidays, sch, fyp.... think all of us are dreading that sch's starting soon and that it is "THE" fyp sem... which means huge time to be spent in the lab.

But anyway, we decided to meet up again for kbox and rollerblade soon... finally there's kakis to rollerblade with...heheh

I will usually go for a jog around this open field next to my house... usually go for 3 rounds with each round about 1.5km long... I must say even though my place has a gym i hardly use it... cos i dun really like to run on a threadmill in an aircon environment... prefer to sweat it out in the open...

Anyway, decided to try out a new route today, think it was almost 7 to 10km long cos it took me almost an hour to complete... For the first time, i started running from Sengkang station, passed by Buangkok Station, Buangkok Green (yl claimed it is where zijia lived but i didnt see her there today..heheh) and finally reached Hougang Mall....

17/7/07 - My Next Kbox Song

Ok... think i will learn to sing this song ni guang by stephanie sun b4 i go for my nxt kboxing session... Will be my first stephanie's song... not really a fan of hers but i think this song is good, got groove, not too many high notes... Inspired by zhengning from RGS who sang it on Campus Superstar...

One thing abt me is i sing more girl songs than guy songs... dun ask me why cos i seriously have no idea....

Mon 16/7/07

Went to sch today.... Met up with So Man Tat, a guy from my cohort who did exactly the same FYP as mine last sem... Kinda of surprise that everything is the same from the project title to project description.... not sure if its a good or bad thing though... anyway he was kind enough to show me around the lab and pass me some literatures and report for me to read.

Saw sim chuan and sheena today... small world after all

Ate my fav roti prata for lunch... its still as crispy and tasty as b4...

Spent some time in the library to search for materials... was quite quiet except for a few PRCs...

Many orientation camps were going on at NUS... Come to think of it...time really flies... it was just 2004 when i had mine... sigh.... getting old...

Went for an evening jog... been exercising 2 days in a row... trying to lose weight actually... but seems like the more i exercise the more muscles i am gaining...so my weight doesnt go down...hmmm... dun think i want to go on a diet... i love food!

Sun 15/7/07

Time really flies... Sch is starting soon in a month's time. 1 more yr of hell b4 i graduate... YES chem eng is definitely very very competitive... Studying hard is not enough, u need to study smart...sigh

Ok....lets see wat i have been doing the past few days... was kinda of lazy to blog... been reading up on my FYP, was told to come up with a presentation by nxt month... think progress is still ok... did a bit of shopping, got a new set of bed sheet and a few clothes, went kboxing, queue for donuts at donut factory (for almost 3 hrs... come to think of it i think i am mad to queue for tat long...zzz...shld have gone to the suntec branch instead), exercise quite a lot these days, jogging, sprinting, pullups, situps... havent rollerblade for a long long time though.... kinda of diff to jio my friends to rollerblade with me..somehow they dun like the sport.

Was driving while listening to gold 90.5 (yesss... tats one of my fav station, the other is 933, probably got influenced by my dad, well.. some pple say its for the older generation but i beg to differ, they do have splendid songs that they play on air) and decided to check out these 2 songs on youtube after hearing them on air... 1st one is "If we hold on together" by Diana Ross, brings back memories of my childhood, and the 2nd one is "Beautiful Girl" by Jose Mari Chan...I am just fascinated with his soothing voice, didnt realize he was a flipino chinese until i watch youtube... pls bear with the old mvs though...heheh

If We Hold on Together by Diana Ross



Beautiful Girl by Jose Mari Chan

And this last song i thought of sharing is a classic hit by Cliff Richard... His live version is really good...

Ocean Deep

FYP headache

Ok... Prof Li Zhi is on conference leave so I am supposed to contact post grad student Dai Shiyao to discuss on my FYP.... Contact Dai Shiyao and guess wat.... Hes also on conference leave till end of the month...WELL DONE!!! So now, while typing this entry i am emailing Prof Li Zhi to find me another replacement for the acting supervisor so that I will know wat to do for my FYP.... Currently at a loss....sheeesh..... so much for pushing FYP to start a month earlier when no one is ard at NUS.....

FYP: Ready for challenges ahead..Come what may!!!

Finally, Prof Li Zhi HAS responded.... After waiting for 4 days for his reply.... Ok hes on conference leave wont be back till Aug...so wont get to meet him...instead i am supposed to contact this post grad student.... get some literatures from him and to start the experiment....
Well well well... I guessed the time has come for me to camp in the lab 24/7.... So that will be my second home.... sobsob.... anyway my FYP topic is "Biodiesel preparation via enzymatic transesterification of vegetable oil"... Sounds interesting rite? Hope the nxt 6 months will be "fun" and rewarding.... wish me luck! jiayou!!!!!

Stories by our Tour Guide William Chua

Thought of sharing some stories told by Mr William during the Japan Trip which I think is quite funny. According to him, he dun take tour groups from China. As we know, Chinese nationals have a bad reputation abroad.

• One bad habit is they like to spit everywhere they go.... probably just in case they get lost... it is a way of tracing their way back...heheh
• They need only 15min to have their meals cos they like to stand next to the buffet table and eat there...thus the tour guide always get complained from the restaurants....
• When it is raining and they dun have umbrellas with them, they will use the hotel shower caps as an alternative... Imagine a tour gp wearing shower caps walking in a busy Tokyo Street... so paiseh lor...
• Talk loudly... A conversation can sound like a quarrel...
• Hotel rooms tend to be ruined after their stay... heard that there was once a chinese national was cooking instant noodles in an electric kettle provided in the hotel room resulting in a short circuit
• Some japanese hotel rooms have fridge filled with can drinks... Once a can drink is removed from their slot, there will be a sensor to charge that drink to their account... 2 stories here, some pple dun know abt these sensors and start taking all the cans out to "have a look" only to realise they cant put them back... The other is they try to drink by using a straw without pulling the can out of the slot... thus they dun get charged for the drink...

Then there are complaints of tour guides for the following reasons which are quite funny too..

• As u know, most tour gps tend to urge their tour guide to sing a song in the bus during a long trip... there was once a tour guide got complained for singing too many songs
• Failure to carry luggage for the tour members when there are no porters ard..
• Failure to ensure that flowers bloom in time for the tour gp to see...
• Failure to ensure that the pet dog is well taken care of while the tour members go shopping...
• Failure to prevent tour gp members from getting constipation... yeeeessss constipation...

Then there are stories of tour members "jump aeroplane" or "tiao peh kee" in Hokkien... He said that there are many cases of tour members from China jumping aeroplane in Japan to seek a better life... There was once the entire tour gp "went missing", leaving behind the tour guide and bus driver at the hotel.

My First Video: Landing at TokyoNarita From Singapore

Took this video on board ANA flight during the landing at TokyoNarita from Spore

Things abt Japan

Some things i noticed abt japan and its pple....

1. Japanese pple are well dressed.
2. Japanese pple are very polite.
3. Most japanese dun speak english....so communication is a problem there...so i dun think its a good idea to go free and easy....
4. Japanese guys like to smoke and drink.
5. Lots of vending machines in Japan.
6. Japan is a seafood paradise.
7. Toyota is no.1 in japan....lots of cars for use only in japan that i have nvr seen b4...some are pretty nice
8. Lexus is not a popular luxury brand there.
9. Parking is a problem in big cities.
10. Customers are considered king in japan.... the same cannot be said in spore

Photo Set 6: Last one

Our tour guide, William
The tour gp members

Night View of Tokyo

Tokyo bridge

6 storey ice cream

At Otaru

At the musical box shop...bought 1 for myself

Bee!!

Hot japanese guy in tight pants!! A rickshaw rider...asking tourists to hop on... nice pants though..hahaha

Photo Set 5

Musk melons.... Very sweet and juicy... Quite expensive even in japan... abt 30 to 50 bucks per melon..each slice is abt 3 to 4 bucks.... In Spore it cost like 100 bucks in supermarkets...

From my hotel room, Sapporo city...noticed the ads, apparently they have these kind of sleazy ads and some pple on the streets will be asking pple to enter such "clubs"... they also have gigolos on the streets handing namecards to females

Night city view

Ferris Wheel...Lots of them in Japan...heard from the tour guide that these are popular with youngsters.... where they have their first kiss...haha.... Wonder where will mine be? haha



Me!!!

BBQ dinner at a local restaurant

Abalone!!! But it doesnt taste that fantastic though...a bit rubbery

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  At the chocolate factory with pinnochio
  
  
  

  Beers, Asahi, Super Blue, Sapporo Beer.... Decided to try them out at the hotel
  
  
  

  ME!!! Think it was at Asahikawa.... 2nd largest city after Sapporo in Hokkaido.
  
  

  

  
  

Photo Set 4

Me and sis at the ramen shop

BBQ lunch

Scenic view

Bright sun but its still cold...abt 17 deg

At the hotel room...japanese style

Enjoying my dinner..Jap buffet... sashimi, tempura....

Playing with water....

Playing with snow at the mountain top

Family photo

On a cable car up the mountain, victory sign!! YAY!!!!