Fiery pits of Antartica
POSTED AT 11:37 PM

It's quite a funny thing when the clouds are-a-raging outside with thunder, lightning - the full package - and the winds are blowing everywhere sending papers flying and people flapping and it's freezing cold outside but nice and warm in the library.

You don't even need a jacket to be able to sit comfortably in the library and study. You probably need a raincoat to study outside.

And it's nice and spacious nowadays, because everyone seems to have found alternative study corners. Plus school's out, so we don't have to see all the year ones anymore.

I've been teaching some people stuff. Hopefully it's of some use.

There's nothing like exciting future plans to look forward to, to pull you up from the depths of despair, frustration and annoyance and keep you focused on the task at hand. I just hope everything lives up to expectations.

I have free tickets to Tekong, if anyone wants. Not bad day trip.

Stars and Stripes
POSTED AT 09:55 PM

With the excitement of election season quickly fading into the background, it's time to face up to reality: that the job at hand still remains as difficult and tenuous as it has always been. If polls had extended to the rest of the world I'd think it'll be safe to say that Bush would have been forced to pack up and go back to Texas, judging, at least - in rather biased fashion - on polls conducted in the UK.

As it stands the presidency now hinges on the results from Ohio, where he holds a 140,000 lead. Not that anything has been confirmed officially, but it's really hard to see Kerry pulling off a Red-Soxesque turnaround at this point.

So this choice was made by the American people. Yet we, The Rest Of The World, will have to live out the consequences of this decision. Whether or not we continue to live in a rapidly destabilising world, with an increasingly sluggish hyperpower dragging down the rest of our economies, at this very moment, lies in the hands of 250,000 absentee voters in Ohio. Perhaps Bush might do well with his strength and determination. Perhaps Kerry might do well in implementing his elaborate plans. All remains to be seen.

It's sad, isn't it, that people are voting not on Party loyalty or even as a show of support for their preferred candidate, but rather as a sign of contempt for the other side. It's a question of who's the lesser evil, and from these signs it doesn't look like a rosy four years ahead. Sure, it's not of our business, and we may be right on the other side of the world, but you can't deny that the outcome will have a profound influence on the rest of us.

So it is. So it shall be.
Feeling: sombre

The World in Brief
POSTED AT 10:09 PM

Take a look at this. A pretty good analysis of the US election results, if you've ever saw one. I don't know how true it is, but it's hardly surprising is it?

Interestingly enough, Connecticut has the highest average IQ. Ever stopped to wonder why? I think there can only be one answer to that...

I almost sprained my wrist today, after slipping on my sole-less shoes and trying to break my fall with my right hand. I wonder if they'd let me type out my exams if I couldn't write them out. I guess I'd have a jolly good time drawing out all the structures in Microsoft Paint.

19 days to go...

Singapore Pools put up a tantalising 3.15 on Milan the other day. Tempting, indeed. But I realised that it would be foolish to bet against Barca at home, plus exams aren't really the best time to be throwing out money like this. Luckily for me, willpower and common sense prevailed, and I kept my wallet in my pocket, or else I'd have been slightly poorer and feeling even more depressed.

On a brighter note, the school library was throwing books out today! I went to the recycling bin and helped myself to the best of the lot which hadn't already been scavenged off by similar bargain hunters. I think I found a gem in a book on E. M. Forster's selected writings. I can foresee all the other books on psychology taking a one-way trip into the depths of my bookshelf. Pity they weren't condemning the Sandman stuff. Now that's just wistful thinking.
Feeling: geeky

Differing standards
POSTED AT 01:52 AM

I was listening to this Elton John song: Something About the Way You Look Tonight. It's quite a romantic song, and as I was thinking about that it suddenly occurred to me that as Elton John was singing it he'd probably had a very different kind of person in mind from what I was imagining - a man, I guess, rather than a woman. The lady dressed in a elegant evening gown in my mind's eye was abruptly replaced by a man in a tuxedo, and after that the song somehow didn't seem as intense as it did before.
Feeling: silly

Oxfam
POSTED AT 11:15 PM

I seem to have picked up the unfortunate habit of leaving clothes in school. Last week I left my pe stuff in the canteen; today I left my school uniform. I really hope it's still there tomorrow, because I would only have one set left and I don't really want to have to buy a new set just for the next 8 times that I need to be in uniform.

I'm in somewhat of a Minesweeper Flags craze at the moment, due in no small part to sx sending me an invitation to play every single occasion we are both online. Anyone that's up for a game can come and find me. Just send the invitation through MSN.

Plane rides and boat tickets
POSTED AT 11:06 PM

I want to travel overseas as much as I can before I go into NS next year. Not that I'm full of cash now; I'm not thinking of Europe, Australia, or even Japan. Rather I think it would be really nice to spend some time with my friends and family away from here before we all start drifting away to our respective lives after the end of this year. Unfortunately, I think my mom will be going to Shanghai without me, because we can't really match our schedules.

Malaysia's a cheap and exciting place to go to, I think. As long as you stay away from the North and JB and don't go driving down the North-South highway in the middle of the night it should be quite safe?

The thing about going overseas is not so much about where you go or what you see or what you do; rather, to me it it has always been about the very experience of travelling. Sure, it's great to go to new places and see things like the Pyramids or climb the Himalayas or see the Three Gorges Dam or go and see the Table Mountains, but I think more than that is simply the fact that you're away from home, and there is this inherent excitement associated with that.

Plus, there's quality time with your travelling companions. Because on a trip you tend to stick together in groups more so than back at home, travelling together provides fantastic opportunities for people to get to know each other.

Of course, it's not free, and it's certainly not cheap. But if I lived in a perfect world, I'd spend my one month break making little short trips around the region with different people. Now wouldn't that create a great trove of memories worth cherishing? I think there are two main purposes in life - either you accomplish great things, or you create memories for the future.
Feeling: peaceful

Sleepwalking
POSTED AT 06:06 PM

I almost got hit by a car yesterday. Not exactly what I would call a near-death experience, but certainly a sobering one. I certainly hope I haven't used up all my luck on that.

I'd just woken up, and was on my way to the coffeeshop down the road to get breakfast. I don't care much for bread in the mornings because I eat it every other day anyway, so since I didn't ahve to go out early I thought I'd stroll over there and get myself a packet of noodles.

So I went walking down the road. Mind you, this is still within my estate, and not out on the main road. I guess I was half asleep, half lulled into a false sense of security by the cheery morning.

I looked one way, waited for the truck to pass, and made my crossing. But I had neglected to look the other way, and was rather rudely and horrifyingly jolted awake by a blaring horn as a car sped by barely a foot or two away at a speed quite capable of dismemberment.

One careless moment could have spelt disaster. I really have to take things more seriously. Maybe someone is watching out for me. But I shouldn't be wasting all my good fortune on moments of idiocy like this.

On the bright side, I guess if I had walked a couple of steps faster that morning I wouldn't have to finish the rest of my examinations.
Feeling: moody

Late night insomnia
POSTED AT 02:11 AM

I never like running to catch a bus, because it's often a waste of effort when the bus drivers don't bother to wait. Sure, some are nice and all, but others aren't too impatient or are simply quite blind.

I was on my way home today after a long day out, and was walking towards the bus stop in a rather lethargic way - the way one would walk after a long day out - when a bus pulled up in the bus bay. Like I said, I don't usually run for buses, but I thought the air con on this one looked nice and inviting, plus I had dinner waiting for me at home, so I ran the last few steps to try and catch the bus, only for the driver to close the door just as I was about to board the bus, and as I stood there outside waving at him through the window to reopen the door he just drove off, leaving me standing there rather stupidly like an idiot and with some girls in the bus stop laughing at me.

I've got to whip my interview skills into shape, and quickly. I've never been strong on first impressions, and I tend to screw up under the pointed pressure of an interview, and those are definitely the elements for disaster. I just don't like talking to people when there's so much at stake on what I say so I have to think about what I want to say and then as I'm thinking about what I want to say I'm thinking on my gawd I have to say the right thing here and don't go shooting off your mouth again just try and act intelligent here what was the question again?

As you can see everything tends to go rapidly downhill from then on.

Upon watching Singapore Idol last week I have to admit, grudgingly, that Sylvester is quite good at singing Mandarin songs. Unfortunately, the judges are still as captivating as ever with their contradictions, non-sequiturs, and load of tripe in general so the show tends to lose its flavour somewhat, especially since they like to go for advertisements so bloody often. The new olympus ad isn't even as nice as the previous ones to make ad-watching worthwhile anymore.

Having fallen asleep just now I am now not sleepy at all.
Feeling: awake

Google, google I love you!
POSTED AT 09:40 PM

GMail has introduced pop3 capabilities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more?

Oakland
POSTED AT 10:12 PM

I must admit, I'd never found myself so stressed before an examination as I did before today's English paper. Perhaps it's because it's the subject I'm least confident in, and also perhaps it's a subject that depends a lot on your on-the-spot ability, and perhaps it's the kind of paper where you can come out feeling great but the results might totally disagree.

Anyway, I was most afraid of today's paper, not least because one component of the paper was Donne's poetry, something I've always enjoyed but I've always struggled with in essays. It's an organisation thing. I just don't link all the various ideas together very well and as a result I not really good at these essays without the book open in front of me.

Since the trend had been towards love poetry the past few years, I'd decided to concentrate on studying love poetry, and neglect the religious poetry, although in my opinion his religious poems are the real masterpieces.

So. Come exam time, I was sitting in front of my paper with the clock ticking away, and there was actually a doable religious question on the exam! To think I didn't touch the poems at all; I could have aced this. The love question was quite doable too, but somehow it didn't feel right. It was a funny feeling, because even as I tried to plan out an essay for the love question, I found myself inexorably drawn back to the religious question.

I don't know what pushed me into doing a question which I'd hardly studied for; perhaps the little voice in the back of my head that said Just doe it! So I plunged in, and there was no turning back.

In retrospect, it doesn't seem to have been a bad decision, but I had to plug quite a few holes with some very vague descriptions of poems which I wasn't too familiar with. Certainly not too much depth, but I hope to have impressed with my breadth.

Shakespeare was a little messy, but I hope I'll come out unscathed. Dickens was a rather safe, conservative kind of question.

The worst part of these examinations, I think, apart from the fact of the huge pressure present, is that you have to wait ages to find out how you do, all the while with wild thoughts wandering around in the back of your head. Actually, I think the worst part is the pressure. I guess I need to get my future settled on my prelim results in case anything untoward happens.

The best part, is that you can throw away your notes after each paper.
Feeling: numb

relative ways
POSTED AT 11:50 PM

I'm starting to miss my old site quite a bit. I miss the nice orange background, I miss b2, I miss all my old links and most of all I miss my archives. They've been an extension of myself and my soul for the good part of the last 3 years or so, and to have everything vanished just like that overnight is quite painful indeed. Stupidly, I'd never bothered to back up any of the archives. The lessons of the last few scares when the site went down for a while should have taught me to do something about it, but obviously I never learn from my mistakes, do I? Sometimes I love to just go browsing around in my old posts to get an idea of what I was like then, and perhaps to relive some of the memories - and the horrors - and bask in the limited glow of nostalgia.

Everything's starting to strain at the edges. Exams are far from over, but all the post examination obligations are already starting to crop up, and it's a thin leash that keeps me focussed on the task at hand and not to go bothering myself with all these little things which need to be done but can jolly well wait until after the 26th of October.

I guess I keep messing up again and again. It's a weakness of character, I think.
Feeling: cranky

Missing
POSTED AT 11:14 PM

Whatever happened to drollery.com?

Woo, it's nice to be invited to all these tea-sessions. Even if I may not be totally interested in what they have to say, at least there's the food to look forward to!

Speaking of which, it's time to brush up my interview skills. Argh.

New day, new day
POSTED AT 01:05 AM

I'm glad that it's over. A fitting end to the last two years of classes, hard work and motivation, to go out on a high? with two major papers that pretty much sums up my education over the past two years.

And of course it's a great feeling to be finally free of this burden. Whatever's done, is done already, and is already on its way to Cambridge. For now, it's time to kick back, relax, and wait for next year when I have to shave my head.

Our graduation dinner is next week, and I have absolutely no idea what to wear. Of course, it's expensive to go out and buy a suit - at least a couple hundred dollars? I'm not that rich, and more importantly, I don't have that kind of money to splash out on clothes that I'll probably have no need to wear ever again in the foreseeable future. I could borrow from my father, but we're not exactly of the same size, so it won't really be that well-fitting; I've tried on one of his jackets already and the sleeves are rather short.

I must admit, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to these sorts of things - colour coordination, matching apparel and all that. If I just borrow all my father's stuff, I guess it'll be a plain black suit. How... plain, indeed.

I'll see how it works out. Perhaps some fashion guru would enlighten me.
Feeling: euphoric

Burden of vengeance
POSTED AT 10:57 PM

I watched Shutter today. (spoiler alert).

I'd originally declined an offer in the afternoon to watch the movie, but ended up watching the show in the end at night with a couple of other friends.

First I'd like to say that I enjoyed it. Next, I would like to say that - It. Is. Scary.

Spine-chilling, freaky and entertaining. Indeed. There are some points, however, which I think detracts the show somewhat from its success. First, the fact that some scenes - like the black out part and Tun is running around in the dark with the flashes - while scary, don't exactly add to the plot of the story. So it's just thrown in for kicks by the producer.

Second, in one scene you can actually see the mic that they used in the production of the film peeking out from the top of the scene. It's quite obvious, and I found it unbelievably funny.

Also, as an additional aside, say what you will, but I think the female lead is quite pretty.

Anyway, back to the movie. It's basically a story of vengeful ghost seeking ... vengeance. What seems at first to be a simple haunting after the two lead characters accidentally hit a figure on the road at night takes on whole new proportions when we discover that the 'figure' is already dead anyway and has insidious personal links to the male lead.

It's pretty standard ghost movie stuff - menacing music, anticlimaxes, shock therapy, the works. But it's very well presented, and even though you can pretty much guess when the ghost is going to make her appearance, it still grips you and frightens the hell out of you. Well, at least it frightened the hell out of me.

At the end, we find out that full guilt that the male lead carries - while his drunk friends raped his ex-girlfriend, he did nothing to stop them but instead just stood there taking pictures. This ex-girlfriend, of course, is abovementioned vengeful ghost seeking vengeance.

We don't find out about this until the very end; for much of the show it's implied that something bad happened to this girls, but it was inflicted by his friends with him innocent.

At that very moment of anagnorosis when we discover this treachery, I knew it was pretty much all over for the poor guy. Until then, he'd been put through the washing machine with the ghost but I kinda got the idea that he wasn't in any real danger, after all, all his friends committed suicide much earlier on already but he was still around; he even threw himself off the edge of the building but survived the fall. Essentially, he seemed a pretty decent guy who made a forgivable mistake in his riotous youth. Yet when we discover just how deep the rabbit hole went for him, he lost all value in the eyes of the audience; he became the bad guy, and from then on the producer could pretty much do anything to him.

The part at the end when we discover his spurned lover sitting on his shoulders is a nice touch. Chilling, yet highly appropriate, resonating with what was said earlier in the film, though in a different context - that sometimes the dead long for their loved ones and return. The ghost of his ex-girlfriend now sits on his shoulders, and will remain as a burden on his soul for the rest of his life.

Gutting, isn't it?
Feeling: scared

Throwing out the junk
POSTED AT 12:47 AM

Now that I'm really, really free, I've gotten down to the bittersweet task of clearing out all of my notes, work and assignments which are currently strewn all over my bedroom floor and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Bitter because it's been a huge investment of time on my part in putting all of this together, and now that everything has to go it's like losing a close companion. Sweet becase, hey, I'll get to see my bedroom floor again for the first time in months!

Speaking of which, if anybody wants my notes, please ask me for them. Seriously. I don't mind passing on the joy and certainly I'm pretty proud of my compilation of notes. I have loads and loads of lit stuff - esp Donne, Woman Warrior and Hard Times; I have Organic Chemistry stuff for Paper 0, and I have the black book for physics which is pretty much a TYS for paper 0 with worked solutions.

On second thoughts, nobody that comes to this site will have any use for them. Actually, this is one of the things about this site that I prefer to my old one - it's not really as public as the one at lastgoodnight used to be, since I didn't publicise this place outside of my circle of friends, so I can talk about more personal things here. Then again, I didn't really publicise my old site either (at least to offline friends), and somehow all sorts of people still found their way there.

The problem about post As is that there's so little time!! Unlike the girls who have 8 or 9 months of free time with nothing to do, I have, what, a little more than a month to do everything that I want to do? Pretty rushed, and I suppose it just means that I'll just have to prioritise and spend my time well with people well worth spending time with.

It seems that everybody has watched The Incredibles already! I haven't, and in order to prevent a repeat of Finding Nemo, I guess I better find some company quick to go with me to watch. But I certainly don't regret watching Shutter instead, ehehe.

Seriously, where is Lele?
Reading: I found my Life of Pi!!!!
Feeling: relaxed