Exam Results Not Fantastic....

I got a C for the first time in NIE! What the heck! A C+ for Dr. Benny Lee's AAE202 Language Meaning and Use! But surprisingly, the cumulative GPA is the best so far - 4.13. *Sigh* If only it were slightly one grade above (B-), my GPA would be 4.22! * Smack* I must really wake up and face the reality. But how could one possibly do well in ALL modules? Perseverance? I MUST work DOUBLY hard next year.

On the other hand, I think I must also give myself a pat on the shoulder. If I did not put in enough effort for the other modules, I would not possibly have gotten 4.13. My results are not very impressive but they sure are very encouraging. The slight blemish will always be there to remind me to seek clarification when in doubt and of course, stop my own procrastination.

Some People Are Selfish...

Two years ago, before outprocess, I approached Ryan to see if his vehicle could sit two passengers - one for me and the other for Eric. I was thick-skinned enough to ask Ryan on behalf of Eric. On hindsight, I was rather kaypoh. But if I did not help Eric to get a free ride, would he label me as a selfish person?

This morning, I messaged Eric to see if he would like to meet up with me and Ooi for lunch before heading to the Singapore Discovery Centre. He replied that he was taking Gerald's car. I wanted to ask him if he had asked Gerald for me but his response was quick - "U ask him whether got space or not? Den late lunch if u wan."

It took me by surprise. Why didn't he ask Gerald for me? Or at least let me know that he was getting a free ride from Gerald? Why was he being so secretive? Or was I expecting too much from a person I considered as friend? Or perhaps I was just a bunkmate to him and nothing more?

People are selfish. Not all, but some.

After having several bad encounters with people I considered friends, I always remind myself that I must not commit myself 100% to a friendship. I do not wish to harm my friend. Conversely, I do not want myself to be harmed too. Consequently, I know I will not have any true friends if I maintain this belief. But do I need them?

Annual ICT Starts Tomorrow...

Only a few hours to the start of the dreadful annual ICT. Haircut, checked. Mess tins, checked. Tupperware, checked. PT shoes... spoilt and not packed into the fieldpack. WTF (What The Fish)! It's not my fault. In such a short notice, how would I possibly get a pair of PT shoes. I don't expect myself to spend my own civilian money for that item. I only want to buy it from eMart with Reservist currency!

Last Minute Pissed Me! (Continued...)

On 26 November, Monday, I decided to call 1800-3676767, the number listed on the NS PORTAL (www.ns.sg) to provide feedback on my last minute ICT notification. The person on the other line was a guy named Roslie (?). I told him I wanted to feedback to the relevant personnel on my matter. He said, "So you want to complain?"

"No, I didn't say I want to complain," I replied immediately. "And please don't take it down as a complaint. I only want to feedback."

As I was explaining everything to him, I could hear him punching his keyboard furiously. Towards the end, he said, "We'll ask someone from your unit to contact you within these few days."

Feeling rather insecure, I decided to send my feedback via e-mail too. So by 10PM, I sent my e-mail to them at contact@ns.sg.

The following morning at 9 o'clock, I called Mr. Venkat from MOE to request for a deferment letter for National Service call-up. The speaker was very friendly and encouraging. I suspected that he was the same person I had spoken to two years ago when I called for the same reason.

Before I ended my conversation with him, I received a second line from an unfamiliar caller. When I tried to answer it, the caller hung up. As soon as I ended my call with Mr Venkat, the mysterious number appeared again. I quickly answered it and soon discovered that the person was a lady - from 403 SAR.

She introduced herself as Ms. Ng and explained to me that the late notification was due to the change of division sometime early this year. My data just happened not to be transferred properly then and hence, they missed out on me. Anyway, the lady kept apologising to me as she was explaining to me. Finally, she popped that question, "Do you want to come back? If you don't want, it's okay because we know it's our fault." To take the blue pill or the red one?

House Warming at Derrick's...

I met up with Alan at Choa Chu Kang LRT station yesterday at 12.30PM. As usual, he was late, by about 10 minutes. We were on our way to Derrick's house warming, which is located near Fajar LRT station. When we reached the void deck under his block, May and her boyfriend were already there, waiting for us to join them. Anyway, Alan and I felt embarrassed if we just went up to his place empty-handed. The three of us bought him a bedcover (?).

Derrick's place was crowded with guests; most of them wore unfamiliar faces. Some were teachers from his school (CCKPS) and the rest were his relatives. He showed us around and we eventually chatted in his bedroom. And Derrick and Alan boasted how much bonuses (2.5 months) they were going to get this year-end! Arrggghhhh... Just wait for me to graduate by 2009 and see who's got the last laugh.... Hee... hee...

We left his house at approximately 2.30PM and took a bus to Funan. I went to one of the appointed Apple resellers and requested them to test the adaptor which I brought along. "Yeah, it's spoilt", confirmed the young man. I unwillingly pulled out 3 $50 notes from my wallet for a new one. Alan remarked that a Fujitsu AC adaptor only cost less than one-third of the price I had paid for my Mac one.

After that, we decided to walk to Sim Lim Square (SLS). He wanted to buy an antique graphic card for his PC and a game for his friend. After spending some fruitless time at SLS, he decided to call it a day. We then went separate ways. I took 67 home.

My Utterly Rotten Apple! (Continued...)

Just on last Saturday, something went wrong with my MacBook again. This time, the 60W MagSafe Power Adaptor that accompanied the MacBook was spoilt! I really want to puke over the quality of Apple products. First, it was the screen. Then came the adaptor. What would I expect next? Keypad unresponsive? SuperDrive jammed? Battery burst into flames?

Last Minute Pissed Me!

On 22 November 2007, Thursday, I received a letter of notification to report for the annual ICT, which starts from 03 December, Monday and ends on 15 December 2007, Saturday. The letter was dated 19 November 2007. I was shocked, utterly shocked by the last minute notification! Aren't they (the people higher up there) supposed to inform their (service)men six months in advance? And why am I not given the official SAF100? Subsequent checks on www.ns.sg only displayed an SAF100 for a briefing which has been scheduled for NEXT YEAR! There is no presence of the SAF100 for the annual ICT!

Don't think I want to siam the ICT, okay! I am more willing to attend the training because it is currently holidays anyway. I just dislike the last minute notice! What if I have already made plans to go on a trip or return to school for some courses? Do I cancel my plans because of this? Who the hell is responsible for this? Why do they like to disrupt a civilian's life like this? They seem to suka-suka recall unwary civilians and give them much hell.

Careless Mistakes All Over!

This afternoon, I took my AAE101 paper. Before entering the exam hall, I was so full of confidence. I expected myself to do well for this paper, getting at least an A-. This paper, together with AAE104, were the only papers that could get me As in this semester. Unfortunately, I made a couple of careless and silly mistakes, which could easily cost me 40 marks (20% of total weightage)! No wonder I saw so many delighted faces when the exam ended. They were the cautious ones. How could I possibly get an A- now?

I wasted so much precious time answering two questions, when I was only asked to attempt ONE question! How could I have misread the question? I could have used the time to answer other questions which had much higher weightages! Arrggghhhh...

Wow! Exams Are Coming!

15 Nov 2007 (Thu), 1300-1530hr:
AAE101 - Introduction to the Study of Language

20 Nov 2007 (Tue), 0900-1130hr:
AAE202 - Language Meaning and Use

21Nov 2007 (Wed), 1300-1530hr:
AAE104 - Exploring the Grammar of English

23 Nov 2007 (Fri), 0900-1130hr:
AAE201 - The Social Variation of Language

An excursion to T3...

I felt like a superstar when I was greeted by my ex-students from 4.2. They were screaming my name and waving at me with excitement. When one of my students, Shan Hao, came to me and asked, "Mr. Lim, you're going for the excursion, isn't it?", I knew he had wanted me to be in their class. I replied, "Yah. You want to snatch me away from the other class?" He nodded, and replied, "Yes, yes." That alone was a great encouragement for me to be a better teacher.

Anyway, here are some images of my excursion with 4.11 to T3, which cost a hefty price tag of S$1.75 billion to build.

Impressed by Sony Catalogues...

A Note to Take...

28 Oct, 12:06PM:
"Still working on my counselling. Never mind la. I'll change my lit review to fit into your analysis."

27 Oct, 5:53PM:
"I'm uncomfortable with this mode of working when we can't openly discuss. Tough. Just a comment."

27 Oct, 5:04PM:
"I don't know. Cabrina rushed me. Now i don't hear anything from anyone after that. What do you proposed?"

27 Oct, 4:42PM:
"Need to make some ammendments with you on the assignment 101 but now working on 232. Maybe can work during one hour break before Physllis and Benny's lecture on monday. I'll provide the cita on monday too. Amending my lit review too. Didn't put in the references.

26 Oct, 1:33PM:
"Sorry. I couldn't wake up. Slept at 4am. Talk tonight. 2 pts: the th sound is not consonant inventory of the language tamil. And the rhotic sound is a feature of indian languages."

25 Oct, 7:34PM:
"The lit review is based on the analysed data you submit yesterday. I need to discuss with you your content. Anyway, i don't think i need to submit to Cabrina for editing now. We can both look at it tomorrow or saturday. Discuss online and via phone."

09 Oct, 4:02PM:
"Try different group dynamics. I want to do well for the modules."

09 Oct, 4:01PM:
"Ooi..i'm thinking of joining another group for social linguistics group assignment. I'll let you know on wednesday during the tutorial."

02 Oct, 10:19AM:
"I'll pass the BOOK tomorrow cos i don't gave time to collect it today."

My Utterly Rotten Apple!

Why do I always get plagued by rotten high-tech products despite my very best attempt to be an IT-savvy person? Why am I more often being penalised for embracing new IT gadgets when I should be encouraged? (Remember my Nokia N80?) You will know what I am trying to tell you if you look closely at the image above. What do you see? A gorgeous black MacBook? Not really. An utterly rotten Apple with an irritating blue line of dead pixels appearing in the middle of the high-resolution screen. No more Apples for me!

Truly Undesirable Attitudes, Man!

I thought my wrath would have subsided after penning my displeasure over a male group member's working attitudes while working on our AAE101 group project. He pissed me off yesterday by chasing after us for our data and saying, "We don't have much time, you know. Left with 2 weeks only." Anyway, where is the resource book that we have requested from him since 17 September 2007, Monday? 12 days already!!! That was even before the 1-week recess. And what had he been doing during that 1-week break? God knows. And now he dares to come and chase after us for our work?? I was even told that he managed to finish his AED105 individual essay at the eleventh hour?

I am generally good-natured and seldom blow my top. And if I do, that person who incurs my anger must be very, very mean and detestable. The thing about this immature (or overly sensitive) male is that he keeps recycling his infamous lines - "We don't have much time." and "You don't understand what I said." - whenever he feels like picking a fight with us. Who does not understand who at all?? I admit defeat if I am the ONLY one who misunderstands him. But for the 3 of us to misunderstand him? Either he is being not clear with his utterances or we are dumb. And it seems that despite his many years of working experience, the OSOAG fails to develop any soul-searching. Or perhaps in his world, he is always right.

OSOAG - Overly Sensitive Old Age Guy!

RECESS Day 1 - Accomplishment?

We arranged to meet at Ang Mo Kio Hub at 12 noon. I reached the place half an hour early. I waited for Wan Yee outside New York New York. When she came, we decided to lunch at Dian Xiao Er. I told her that I felt a little drowsy after taking some medication. It was not long when Cabrina turned up, appearing very sick. Wan Yee joked that we were "sick cats"!

Our purpose was to record and analyse customer service agents' speeches for their pronunciations of certain English words. We approached one guy from the hello! shop and bombarded him with many questions (ranging from payment to technical), hoping that he would chunk out as many mis-pronounced words as possible. Unfortunately, he seemed quite well-versed in his English.

Upset by what we had, we decided to travel to Compass Point to collect more data. We made our way to hello! (our primary research target) and the girls managed to talk to a male agent. It seemed that the result was not ideal. I took a queue number - 1035 and waited patiently for my turn to come. It turned out that this time, we had a female staff. We concluded that staff at hello! seemed well-versed in their English.

Got to work harder next time!

Truly Undesirable Attitudes, Man!

a) If one of your group members is late for a group discussion for 1 hr 15 min, what would you do? How would you feel?

It happened to me on 4 September, Tuesday morning. We agreed to meet at the NIE library at 11 .30 A.M. As usual, I arrived some 10 minutes before the appointed time. A female member SMSed me that she and the other member were hungry and they wanted to grab a bite. Fine. Anyway, earlier on, I was told by another male member that he would be late too. So I took out my notes and plunged into them.

The girls came up eventually. One was sensitive enough to ask me if I was angry with them. I shook my head and told her not to ask any more, citing that I really would if she persist to probe any further. So they sat down and we decided to start our discussion without the other guy. Our discussion was coming to an end when I suddenly received an SMS from the fellow. He was still on the bus - 199. I glanced at my watch and shook my head. Should he have taken a taxi when he is late?

He arrived at 12.46 P.M. He smiled to us and sat down. We presented to him our suggestions which we had brainstormed while waiting for him. He looked at them and nodded. We then drafted the research proposal and delegated tasks. The girls wanted to do the CRITIQUE together and I had no objection. Then he said he wanted to write the CRITIQUE. Fine. I passed him the only resource book that we had. As we were packing, he looked at us with surprise, "You guys are leaving soon?"

(To be continued...)

As Wiped Off Unhappiness...

My unhappiness over the B+ I had for AAE101 Research Proposal was immediately wiped off by 2 As the following day. I would have never thought that I could get an A for my AED105 essay on Moral Education. What later came as a surprise was that our group managed to score an A for our AED105 seminar presentation! I was overjoyed!

This was my first A in essay writing, especially for Educational Studies modules like Educational Psychology I & II (taken in 2005) and the current Critical Perspectives on Education. Frankly speaking, I was totally impressed with myself for the first time! Consequently, it re-ignited the spark in me wanting to do well in this programme and for the next essay on Religious Education. I began to feel the stress to write a piece of essay capable of demonstrating critical thinking. Will I be able to get another A?

Upset by a B+...

The grade of AAE101 Research Proposal, which has a 5% weightage, is troubling me so much that I doubt I have the mood to work on other things at the moment. Frankly speaking, I am easily upset by results or grades. I am not a competitive person. I am a perfectionist. But however perfect or meticulous I try to be, I will still make poor judgment or minor errors. Oh, dear! I still have not printed out my work for tomorrow's seminar presentation and attempted the 3rd question for AAE202 tutorial 5.

My New Love, V8!

One week ago, I finally plucked up the courage to end my one-year-old relationship with N80 and started a new love life with V8. Heartless? Perhaps. I could no longer understand N80. Lately, she would always give me the cold shoulder whenever I tried to get intimate with her. Driven by frustration and disappointment, I decided to leave her for good. Soon, the svelte V8 caught my eyes and I thought if I could own her, I would be on cloud nine. Who knows...

On the second day, she started to throw tantrums. She did not want to charge at all! On Friday, I decided to bring her down to the service centre. I could not believe my eyes when she acted perfectly fine there. She had made me a fool in front of those people! Anyway, I was glad to see her well again. I began to wonder if she had staged this whole event to attract my attention...

My Love is You...

Less than 3 months after its revival, my Nokia N80 is on the verge of death. Recently, it has started to show signs of depression and undesirable misbehaviour. I nearly suffer mental breakdown with it when it starts to throw tantrums. It would protest strongly by fading the colour of the screen whenever I try to use the SMS feature. Sometimes, the screen would appear totally white (almost like the blue screen of death on any rebellious Windows PC). On other occasions, it would just irritate me by exiting the SMS screen suddenly and denying any further access to the SMS feature.

What have I done wrong? I like this phone so much that I forbid myself to look at other chic phones on the market. Ok, sometimes I do peep. But could this be the reason? Or it did not like me to dress itself up in transparent armour? No matter what, I still love you. You may not like me but you cannot force me to dislike or disown you. I will keep you by my side till the day you give up on yourself.

Happy Birthday, My Singapore!

I Do Enjoy Teaching!

Two days before I left SVPS, one of my students sneaked up on me and shyly placed a packet of HELLO PANDA on my table. I looked at him and he smiled. The smile on his face brightened me up at that instant, when I was nearly driven crazy by the tons of worksheets. "Why did you give this to me?" I asked, holding the gift. He smiled sweetly again. "Do you have money for recess?" I asked him. "Yes, yes." He replied with nods.

I am not sure when I am going to open up that packet of biscuits and savour every piece of it. But I am sure that I will remember him, his smiles and appreciation in my heart. I realise the joy of being a teacher is not to expect what your students will give you at the end of the day, but to treasure their appreciation of your teaching and character. The packet of food is nothing but a force of motivation and encouragement for me to strive to be a better teacher.

Are You That Great?

I have been relieving Mrs. Ching of her 4.2 since 9th July 2007. Before I took over the class from her, I had expected the class to be well-behaved and well-mannered. Well, I was wrong. Yesterday, during their Inno Chef lesson, I was utterly shocked by the audacity of one of my students when he said, "Why let the lousiest classes go first?" I immediately examined the faces of the other students to see if they unanimously agree with him. Some were expressionless. Some were giggling. And some looked aghast. "Do you think you are great?" I asked, staring at the whole class. "Tell me what's so great about you?"

There was a hiatus.

Since Wednesday, these children had been bombarding me with the same old question, "When are we going to take our 1.6km test?" Frankly speaking, they were only interested and excited about it because they were going to miss a substantial number of lessons! During Inno Chef, while waiting for the teachers-in-charge to prepare their stuff, I announced to the whole class that they would be going for their recess at 3PM, instead of 4PM. Then they started to ask me when they would take their 1.6km run test. "After 4.6 and 4.7, and perhaps other classes," I replied.

Then came the rude shock.

I could not believe that a 10-year-old child would comment in such a way. What daunted me was that this child is a prefect!

Hey! What A Relief!

On Wednesday, when I was relieving for Mrs. Mazlan's 4.9, a boy asked me, "Mr. Lim, you teach 4.5 yesterday?" I nodded. "The monitor says that you are a good teacher," he continued. I am a good teacher? I was rather surprised and I asked him, "The monitor? Darren? Is he your friend?" He nodded. Oh, that boy!

Darren is from 4.5 - Mr. Khor's class. I taught them on Monday and Tuesday, when their form teacher was on medical leave. The boy caught my attention because he was rather shy - with girls. When I asked the girl beside him to share her textbook with him, his face blushed. He requested to sit beside the boy in front of him. I smiled at him and denied his request. He reluctantly followed my order but moved his desk away from the girl's.

I was amused by him and his action. Was I like him when I was his age? NOPE. When I asked Darren why he had created a gap between him and the girl, his face just turned redder. Then some cheeky boys shouted, "Because boys and girls cannot be together." I cast a befuddled look at them and asked, "Why?" The boys continued, "You know... because they will.... you know..." and they started to laugh.

Yesterday, before the school dismissal, I heard someone mention my name from a distance. I turned and noticed that Darren was glancing at me while speaking to his classmate. What was he talking about me?

Death of My N80!

Just barely a year, my precious Nokia N80 died on me on Thursday, 17 May 2007. I tried to revive it by removing and installing the battery and the SIM card for the umpteenth time. It just did not work as I had hoped. "Could it be that the SingTel network is down again?" I thought so and tried the SIM card on another Nokia phone. It worked well! Tears streamed down my face...

Eh.... just a little dramatic lah. Anyway, the demise of my N80 has given me a valid excuse to get a new phone. I could perhaps get a PDA phone. But the sudden death of my phone prompted me to seriously think of an answer for this logic-defying question - "Is it worth to spend so much (S$700 and above) on a phone which could become obsolete the minute you buy it?"

N80 was the... fifth phone that I bought over a period of 8 years. My first phone being Nokia 3210, which Mum bought it for me when I was sent to Tekong for BMT. A year later, I bought Nokia 3310 before I went to Australia for Ex-Wallaby. In 2002, I bought Nokia 7650 and I had been using it until the award-winning RAZR came into my life in 2005. A year later, I traded in V3 for N80.

N80 was the most expensive phone (S$688) which I had paid for and yet it had the shortest lifespan. I thought I would be able to use this phone for another two years (just like its grandpa - 7650) but it seems impossible, unless I send it for servicing. Should I? Perhaps I should. I think I better save more money now when I can and be frugal with my spending.

Greatly Upset by Classmate...

I have been plagued by someone for the past few days with his incessant night calls and MSN messages. So today, I decided to give him a call. What would he probably want to tell me so urgently? He started with very mundane questions like "How are you?", "How's your school?" etc. After a while, I began to see his real purpose for contacting me.

"How did you do?" he asked. "Mostly "Acceptable"s lah," I told him. "For me I will definitely get a CREDIT lah," he replied. I congratulated sincerely. Then he replied nonchalantly, "My worst grade is only a "Proficient"." Why would he antagonise me with such a comment? The last time, he compared my grades with his other friend's and said, "Not very good compared to S."

His behaviour really puzzled me a lot these days. Now you know the reasons I did not want to answer his calls? Frankly speaking, I regretted giving him the opportunity to be so boastful...

Plagued with Many Uncertainties

I have not been blogging for a while because I am always so inundated with work, and more work. Though I am penning this entry now, I am still very much occupied with lesson plans. When most of my friends or classmates have ALL their observations witnessed, I still have THREE more observations to go. Have I been procrastinating again?

Just hours ago, I glanced through the feedback given by my CTs, SCM and NSC on my previous teaching. Out of the 7, 2 were branded "acceptable" only. Am I really that bad? "Acceptable" means I have only applied SOME of the relevant competencies of the process appropriately, but with much hesitation. Huh?

For one observation on Science, I did not even get a "Proficient" from my CT. He sure has higher expectations than my SCM. When I asked him how I could improve myself to get a "Proficient" rating for all competencies, he said shyly that I was actually "there". He could not award me with any "Proficient" because if he did so, it would be very difficult to justify for better ratings for my upcoming final observation. Sigh!

Anyway, I was told by my CT that the actual criteria for a "Proficient" was almost IMPOSSIBLE for even her to achieve! When I started to think about it seriously, I felt disappointed and disgusted. Whether or not someone does an excellent job for his/her practicum greatly depends on his/her CTs.

Makes sense? The trainee may not be good but if the CTs are lenient and forgiving, and they understand the plight of his/her trainee and they still remember how they were like when they were still trainees, then the trainee may well receive better grades. I guess the opposite is more disappointing and soul and mind-torturing. If the trainee is good but crosses the path of his/her CTs, then he is unlikely to survive. Eh... what about an average trainee? The average trainee would be venting his frustration on his blog right now.

11.30 PM. I have relaxed enough. It is time for me to organise my thoughts and pack up my feelings. I still have many things to say but I am hard pressed for time now. I have not even talked about the many uncertainties that are plaguing me... Sigh. Maybe some other time... I just put in my best and see how it turns out...

Who Is That Kid?

This picture was taken at Sentosa. I was around 12 years old then. I used to be very skinny when I was in P1 to P3. After the streaming exams at P3, I was invited to a BBQ organised by my third uncle (mum's side) for about a week. And it was then I ate and ate and ate and became much rounder.

Wrongly Accused by Someone...

Yesterday, I was wrongly accused by one of my colleagues in my practicum school. First of all, she called my mobile phone at 2p.m. and exclaimed, "Aren't you supposed to come and take over my class now?" I was befuddled. I looked at my time-table and there it was - 2.30p.m. I told her politely, "Err... My lesson starts at 2.30p.m." There was a hiatus. She apologised and hung up.

Secondly, when I went to see her for her feedback on my teaching, she questioned me, "Where is the second copy? I told you to scan the old copy as well, right?" I told her politely once more, "I put them at the back (after the original copies). You have to scroll to the back of the document to find them."

There is one more thing I have to say but due to the lack of time, I shall leave it till tomorrow.

Touched by My Friends...

This late morning, I felt so bad when my friends wanted to subsidise my expenses at KTV. "What's your reason for not wanting to join us at KTV tomorrow?" asked Derrick. "Is it because you find it expensive?" I hesitated, and then nodded. "We can pay part of it for you. Come, join us!" I glanced at Alan, and looked at May, who was wearing a weak smile. (I later learnt that she was having a stomach-ache).

"No lah, actually I am not interested in it," I blurted out. Then I felt being interrogated by the Terminator; minus the shotgun and the shades. I almost wanted to give in. And I knew I was extremely mean when I said, "I won't be happy even if I join you guys." I could see the disappointment on the Terminator's face. I could have excused myself in a nice way but I did not. Why?

I do not know. All I know is that I have a bunch of friends who are nice and accommodating.

(Eventually, we decided to catch a movie at Shaw Centre. Not sure what the show is but I certainly enjoy their companionship.)

Best of Both Worlds!

Yeah. I finally got my cool, matt-black Macintosh to run on Windows XP, after so many months of speculation and consideration. Oh, I got a Mac? Yeah! I did not buy it on impulse. I bought it last October during the most crucial period, when I was rushing to complete my assignments on my dying 2-year-old Fujitsu. If you are wondering the fate of my Fujitsu, well, it is now serving my sister wholeheartedly.

Anyway, the most irritating issue I have encountered is the system time. The time sometimes moves faster by 7 hours when I am running OS X. But it runs perfectly well when I am on Windows XP. Another issue is with the keypad. This time, it affects Bill Gates' baby. Shortly after usage, the keypad will run amok. But having a mouse solves this problem.

Overall, it is nice to have OS X and Windows XP running on one computer.

For now, I look forward to owning the Apple iPhone!

Sigh... Wishes and Dreams...

Just when others could start on their DCE201 assignments, I am still foraging around for a suitable Primary 2 story book with the theme "Wishes and Dreams"! And we are strongly encouraged to complete these assignments within the e-learning week starting from next Monday! Where is the good luck which I used to have? I have made fruitless trips to libraries at Woodlands and Bishan. Should I visit Jurong East library? How I wish I could easily find one?

Interesting Poem ~ Ice Lolly

A friend of mine excitedly shared with me an interesting piece of poem by Pie Corbett.

Ice Lolly
~~~~~~~
Red rocket
on a stick.
If it shines,
lick it quick.

Round the edges,
on the top,
round the bottom,
do not stop.

Suck the lolly.
Lick your lips.
Lick the sides
as it drips.

off the stick -
quick, quick,
lick, lick -
Red rocket
on a stick.

Safra Toa Payoh - IPPT!

Having lost in Toa Payoh town a year ago, I decided to take a bus to Safra Toa Payoh this time. After I exited from Toa Payoh MRT station, I took a left turn, turned to Exit B and got on the escalator, which delivered me up to Singapore's first air-conditioned bus interchange. Buses 8, 26, 31, 90 and 142 were my options. Since I was rushing for time, I quickly made my way to 90 because it had the longest queue. Befuddled? Hee hee... I smiled proudly to myself. I was definitely going to reach the test centre before 11am. I tried to remember the surroundings as the bus was leaving the interchange.

15 minutes later. I cursed myself. I glanced at my watch repeatedly as I walked past the opposite traffic. Why did I miss the stop? Where was the monastery? When the building finally appeared, I knew I was quite near my destination. I should have chosen to walk to the test centre in the first place. Eventually, I reached there 5 minutes late, with sweat streaming down my back. What a wonderful experience!

The first station was Chin-up, followed by Standing Broad-jump, Sit-up and Shuttle-run. I failed Chin-up and Shuttle-run like I did the previous year. I managed to score 3 points only on my second attemp at the broad-jump. For 30 sit-ups, I got 2 points. Anyway, disappointment did not swallow me at all because I was not the lousiest. I just hope my RT will not come knocking on my door so soon...

While Waiting For 172...

Alan used his new Samsung phone to take a picture of me with the gorgeous Fann Wong! Er... Fann Wong's poster, to be exact. We waited for nearly 15 mins when the bus finally came. Before that, Alan was whining incessantly like a child, "Why so long? Should have taken 199 instead." I then suggested trying out the camera features of his phone. (Wednesday, 17 Jan 2007)

I Made Someone Pregnant!

Obviously, it must be in the dreams! Definitely not mine!

This morning, my sister told me that she dreamt of me getting married with a girl from the same institution. How strange! Apparently, Mum was not happy with my decision to make the girl pregnant and hastily hold a simple wedding function whereby only a few relatives and friends turned up.

My sister recalled that in her dreams, she did ask me if she was the girl I was after. I said no. Shortly, she saw the girl and called her "Da Sao (大嫂)" (sister-in-law) happily. How amusing! Somehow, in her dreams, Mum became a grumpy mother-in-law and she did not like the way my wife drink soup! And when the wedding function ended, Mum complained to me that my wife was always hiding in the room.

Ha ha ha...

Anyway, I am just curious who the girl is.... Perhaps she is destined to be my wife. Hmm... maybe I would show my dear sister photographs of my female classmates to see if she could remember who is the one...

Sweet dreams!

Long Time No See!

Wow! I am finally back! The last time I penned my thoughts was about 3 months ago. It was a hectic semester last year. Just for DED200 alone, I had to kill millions (maybe billions!) of neurons in order to produce 3 essays and a group presentation. I put in a lot of efforts in the first 2 essays but when I did not get the desired grades, I almost dropped dead. B+! And I felt really worthless during group discussion. Eventually, this module helped me garner an A. Pretty amazing, huh? Anyway, I did slightly better as compared to the last 2 semesters. Maybe Lady Luck is with me? I hope to keep it up.