Grandfather's birthday celebration

Today we went to Plaza Parkroyal Hotel for buffet dinner to celebrate my maternal grandfather's birthday. C & J did not come (I suppose they are busy). Not sure if Ah Gong was disappointed or not. I hoped everybody enjoy in one way or another (or even if they didn't, I am glad nobody showed it). In fact, we even chatted and did some catching up for about an hour after finishing our dinner.

I am really happy because a family that is for a period of time faced with knotty troubles and unending squabbles (所谓，家家有本难念的经!), is once again, brought together for a simple yet memorable dinner.

Recommended food: Durian prata (take the 'center' pieces for they contain more durian – slurp!)

Xmas

Hoo hoo… Merry Christmas! Christmas eve had been pretty fun last night. Yes, fun even though we had no turkey, no log cakes, no gingerbread man/house, no Xmas tree with ornaments, no candles, no Xmas decorations, no Xmas songs etc. It’s sometimes the company that makes the day! Five of us (Ah boy, Picachew, Xi, Xian & me) had two Canadian pizzas (we definitely love Canadian over Pizza Hut ones), chicken wings, wedges, and coke for dinner.

The game of Singapore edition monopoly practically lasted the whole night (from about 6.30pm to 12.45pm)… and the eventual winner was Picachew! Coincidentally, he was also the one who sort of opposed to playing monopoly initially (I think he preferred mahjong – thanks for getting a mahjong table – we’ll definitely meet another day for a dry swimming session).

What about today? Oh, I had been a couch potato, sitting in front of the goggle-box, for practically the whole day… ate delicious fried bee hoon (cooked by my mom) for dinner… followed by “Meet the Fockers” movie at night (Don’t ask me nice or not… I’m not a good reviewer because I always say all shows are good unless they are really of the one or zero star standards).

That’s all for today… And once again, Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Ah Boy reports to Sec Sch

This morning, Dad and I accompanied Ah Boy to his new Secondary School today. When we arrived, we were greeted by young counsellors (hmm, that's my job when I was in school too - recall with fond memories). I didn't find the counsellors smart-looking even with the tie on, this was probably due to their uniform design where the shirt was worn in the tuck-out manner. Anyway, we proceeded to check out the class that Ah Boy is in. There are two express classes (two only? puzzled!). My first reaction was to look at the list of names on 1E2 (not that I look down on Ah Boy lah but his score is really not that high mah)... huh, couldn't find? Eh, how come? Then I look at the list of names on 1E1 and finally found his name. Hmm... I continued to kaypoh and found that there are a total of 28 students in his class – 15 girls, 13 boys – and out of 13, there are 3 Indians, 4 Malays, and 6 Chinese).

Then we proceeded to the hall. As usual, it began with the unavoidable "sometimes-very-long, and don't-know-talking-about-what" speech by the principal. This is a young school with a relatively young principal. Their principal looks approachable but I am still unsure if she has the “in-control” look and voice to match her post. Well, this may be the “new-generation” principal that the students can associate with – I guess I will find out more in time to come. After her speech (I'm glad it's short and sweet), she tripped and fell. Oops!

As Ah Boy proceeded to do his registration at some level 2 classroom, I couldn't help but noticed the contrast in height. But luckily there's another Malay guy who's sama sama, else he'll definitely feel bad.

The school is young (only 5 years old). The exterior façade looked new and okay (but I am not fascinated by its color combination even though it is much better in comparison to my previous Sec Sch). In my opinion, it does not have an amazing layout, could have been better. I also cannot find the basketball court (maybe it's at some hidden corner which I've not explored – I mean I didn't really walked around much) and the soccer field seems out-of-bound, with gates just like that of the stadiums (Why must it be locked up? Shouldn't it be free for all at any time of the day? *Puzzled*). The classrooms are not impressively equipped either.

I guess I haven't been buying school textbooks for too long but frankly speaking, these books are getting more and more expensive. I don't think I need to fork out up to $300+ for the textbooks during my days. Two sets of uniforms and PE attire will set you further back by perhaps another $80. Wow! And I have yet to include other things such as pens, pencil, liquid paper, eraser, ruler, pencil case, bags, socks, shoes, etc...

Frankly I don't enjoy the curriculum in Sec Sch. I think they tried to force-feed us too many things within too short a time frame... Imagine from four subjects, you switch to more than double... English, Literature, Chinese, Maths, Science, Geography, History, don't-know-what Technology, Art, PE, etc... alamak!

Btw, Ah Boy is my bro, NOT my son hor!

Talking about hobbies...

Usually my friends would be dumbfounded by my reply that I didn't have "fixed" hobbies because they rotates and/or changes over time. Well, I really can't fixed anything as something I like best because I usually only do things which I enjoy doing at that point in time. Perhaps I am fickle-minded but who cares. For example, I do enjoy Swimming, Squash, Rollerblading, Photography, Badminton, Backpacking, Karaoke, etc... though I may not be a pro. With so many activities that I enjoy, it is impossible to do everything at one go, right? Hence, there may be things which I do not touch for months depending on my mood and schedule, bf's/friends' schedules, etc... and as such, the equipment for that particular activity will just help to collect some dust and become a temporary home to the guest spiders at a corner of my storeroom at some point in time. Hmm, I don't see anything wrong?

Sports/activities which I definitely hate: BOWLING!

ADDITIONAL NOTE:
Tonight, I am going swimming... Shiok...
Chou xian, you better put in some effort to exercise... else I doubt you will pass your IPPT!!!
Picachew pass already leh...

Okie... need to get back to my "stucked" programming again...

We can do a lot more than what we think we can...

Yesterday Xian & I volunteered our time to fix the hooks of the wooden x'mas trees (with mini hanging ornaments) that was to be donated as presents to an orphanage. Hopefully the x'mas trees would bring smile and laughter to the 60+ children and they would have a fun time fixing it up.

Bird's language - do you understand?

话有一点难听... 不过你有没有发现，有些人很喜欢做鸟？
怎么说? 因为有一些人就是很喜欢讲“鸟话”。

The king of fruits - Durians!

You either love it or hate it... To those who love durians, the taste is indescribably fantastic. To those who don't, I heard that an apt description of the durian's taste is akin to "a Chinese type of cheese" or "eating cheese in the toilet". Well, I prefer durians that are sweet and creamy dry.

In fact, I just had some yesterday night. Usually after eating, you need to be extra careful not to burp and fart because unlike the fragrant scent that you get before consumption, the second-hand smell is horrible. You can't really smell it during/after eating - hence, it's important never to taste the durians when purchasing.

Talking about durians, maybe let me share my reminiscences of my childhood days at my grandfather's durian plantation (definitely smaller than the football field) at Jalan Ulu Sembawang (well this is definitely very "ulu" by mr brown's definition). Oh in case you are wondering if this place exists before you are born, I'm not a "lau kok kok" hor – I'm around mid-20s only okay!

I guess I was around 8 to 10 years old then. I still remember the waiting period (yes, my cousin(s) and I really wait outside the plantation for durians to drop after school – and mind you, this is as fun as fishing). At times, we would set up our made-do temporary tent using cardboards to fight against the scorching afternoon sun. How fun... the "thud" sound is awfully unforgettable... and the treasure hunting is so enjoyable. Sometimes, we have a contest to see who find the fallen durian first and so we really have to focus and listen hard. At that age, walking into a durian plantation really takes some courage, as we were quite afraid that durians might fall on our heads. *Choy!* Hahah...

Anyway, I really enjoyed my memorable childhood. I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch the durian season comes by and go, to wait for the "thud" sounds, to walk into the durian plantation to search and collect the fallen durians, to learn to open the durians, and to gobble down the fresh delicious flesh. I doubt many of you experience this before leh...

You cannot catch me...

There are two types of occupation that I hate most: 1) Tester at driving centers, and 2) Traffic police. These are, no doubt, decent occupation but I supposed those who failed enough times and those on the receiving end of a fine or demerit points will hate them (unless you are a *4D siao* and they are your fortune god –you will understand if you have watched 突然发财).

First, I have many doubts that testers practice everything of what they preach. Second, how often is the speed that we were taught reasonable enough in real life driving (e.g. one of my friends who drove his dad's Mercedes was "horned" at when she drove 50kmh or less in front of a Mercedes bus after she got her license – even bus driver thinks she's too slow)? Third, how often are you failed for things which are okay to one instructor/tester but are not okay to another (why is there a difference in standards)?

Complaining about speed... don't you find that there are sections of roads that have ridiculous speed limits set at 50/60 (I've no objection of this speed or lower if it's for neighbourhood and school areas)... and why can traffic police speed along such roads but not us, the tax payers? If they are not saints, we aren't either. Not that I enjoy speeding but I occassionally do when the speed limits are ridiculous... an I can only say: "You cannot catch me... na nee na nee poo poo!"

Anyway, Xian was caught speeding yesterday and Xian's bro just failed the driving test... sickening isn't it?

Have a break!

"Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live." - Margaret Fuller

Have you sold yourself to your company? Remember to take a break to recharge!
Today I'm on leave leh... haha...

Oh yes, Xian, you should learn from Xi, Picachew, and me...

Lost for words...

Can you imagine traveling in a MRT compartment with someone who talks over his mobile at the top of his voice in a "foreign" dialect as though the other person on the other side of his conversation has hearing deficiency? How about having another accompaniment going along in Singlish? All these for at least half of my journey from Yishun to Jurong East, how irritable! I couldn't even concentrate and enjoy reading my favourite mr brown's column.

Oh gosh, I can tell how irritated everyone in my compartment is. I was so tempted to make the "sssshhhhh" sound coupled with the index finger on the mouth action that I was taught when I was in Kindergarten and in lower Primary, but hesitated because I was also taught not to be rude and to mind my own business. I guess everyone who is seated near me is taught the same old thing (perhaps because the "syllabus" didn't really change that much during our times when we were "educated").

Since I couldn't read my TODAY in peace, I begin observing what my fellow passengers did to combat such acts - perhaps trying to learn something from them? The only closest thing they did was to throw their disapproval glares occasionally at the two inconsiderate ones to indicate their irritation in the hope that they would both stop. However, it seems like such glares are useless to the thick-skinned and inconsiderate ones. Some others with mp3 players reach for their volume control to do you know what. Another kept his Straits Times into his leather business bag. Surprisingly nobody asks them to stop and nobody moves to another compartment (so having a seat and bearing with the noise pollution is still better than standing).

That leaves me to think: Why didn't we act - is it because of some unwritten standards/rules we adhere to avoid getting into trouble? Are we too intolerant? Maybe it is time to perhaps include some reminders for the considerate use of mobile in our next courtesy campaign...

Kelong result?

Those who know me better will know how I studied for my Knowledge Engineering exam (cursing and swearing at the same time). The exam format is to choose any four out of six questions (which mean two questions from each lecturer). Well, I choose only to study exactly four questions for this exam... leaving behind 1/3 of the notes that probably account for 3/5 of the thickness of all notes. I chose to do questions from the first lecturer because it is more calculation-based (which means you must know how to apply what you have learnt). I like such questions as they are more challenging (hee hee... less people will know how to solve) and more importantly, fewer things to commit to memory so long as I understand the fundamentals. I chose second lecturer's materials because of better flow and the existence of tips (that's why you shouldn't miss any class). The lack of understanding of blackboard and control systems (not the blackboard that you see in class) slowed down my learning curve considerably and most of the time, I had to just rely on pure memory (I know it's not good but what to do?).

Frankly, this way of revision is really not my usual style. I generally will revise all and seldom skip any parts. To put it literally, study in a kiasu way (宁可杀错，不可放过) – sometimes even read up the texts for better understanding rather than just rely on lecture notes). In fact, I was real worried the day before exam... worried because I may not know how to do those resolution proof questions (in fact, I can't solve the past year exam questions on this)... worried also because what if those things which I didn’t managed to revise pops out during exam... I even called Xian that night and told him that this will be my first time (well, probably the last – too scary) going into an exam hall with the bare minimum and to see what I can do on the spot.

Well, well, guess what... I got an 'A' for this module!
KELONG... well maybe lah but you definitely need to be exam smart for this "feat".
But I really do wonder if it is a result of moderation and what's my real grades?

Mandarin is cool

昨天Jackie 还叫贤把他常挂在嘴边的笑容“捐”些给我。哎哟，真似的。贤还说他会帮我多笑一些。有没有搞错， 帮我多笑？我还好啦，只是心里有一些些的烦。
我还挺不错的，心情不好的时候还有人逗我笑，还可以拥有一张苦瓜脸的权利，还有一个可以减轻烦恼的“梦幻世界”… 应该还挺幸福的。

还有，夕夕毕业咯… 恭喜恭喜。

In support of the Speak Mandarin Campaign 2004… ;p

An hour in a Cashier's Life

If you think being a cashier is a simple job, you are only half right in my own opinion. It’s simple provided you are experienced. However, if you are like me, no prior experience whether in wrapping complex and delicate items, or operating the register and processing NETS and credit card payments, Murphy’s Law will probably apply – “If anything can go wrong, it will.”

Last Saturday (4th Dec), I got a go at being a Cashier for about an hour… I’m pretty excited at the thought of a $500+ sale transaction that is going to take place at that time (the register ringing soon)… but seconds later, that excitement turns nervy when my mind started processing how I am supposed to remove that bulky but delicate item from the top-most shelf (as I figured out later, I need to use a ladder as I’m still a few centimeters short with the help of a chair), how to wrap (I must confess that I fumble at it but I didn’t make a mess…), and how to process credit card payment (I was only given a 5 minutes verbal tutorial and one NETS payment hands-on before the person-who-believe-in-me left)… well, well, everything seems to turn out reasonably well until I pass the receipt to the customer for his signature. Guess what, the receipt wasn’t aligned properly and hence, almost half the “cardmember signature” box was gone… “oops, how to void huh?”, I thought for a moment (why didn’t they teach me how before they leave?)… I reach for the phone immediately to call for help and luckily help was on its way back in less than a minute… well, I did continue helping out and other transactions were fine as "practice makes perfect".

My little fishes...

What a boring day! But hey, it's friday... and the weekend is here soon. Yes, I'm still debugging the seemingly undebuggable codes...

Anyway, yesterday I had the luxury of time to spend with my little fishes again (cos no one is at home when I reach home)... The joy of keeping fish is to watch them swim, feed, grow and live in harmony (lucky me, they did). I said lucky because I like a mix of varieties in my tank but it was the ignorant me when I go on my first few impulse buying sprees (now that I know more, I don't) after I took over an empty tank in my house. Maybe let me share with you some of my tank residents (trying to break away from the codes for a while):

My Penguins, aka hockey-stick tetras, are active swimmers but they do not jump at all (even though some sites classify them as good jumpers). My Zebra Danios are also very active and are heavy eaters. They are beautiful, fast but graceful long-finned swimmers. My four honey gouramis are orangy red and they are the ones who eat the most and always beat their tank mates to the food during feeding times. Their occasional dashes to the surface for air (sometimes around the same time) are fun to watch.

My Pink Corydoras Catfishs, aka cute scavengers, seem to be forever hungry and are always busy roaming around the gravels and hide-outs looking for food. The only time they stay very still on the gravels is when they are feeding on their new-found food. Hmm, I hardly ever see my catfish go to the surface to swallow air bubbles down their intestines… and if I do, it’s during feeding times (to take in oxygen and to feed at the same time?).

And yes, my one and only rainbow shark is great to watch too. “Jaw” is pretty energetic and likes to swim in and out of hide-outs but is not aggressive to its tank mates except for several games of chase with my honey gouramis during feeding times. Again, people say sharks are jumpers but mine isn’t.

The ones that will breed without any assistance are my shrimps, and unfortunately the trapdoor snails and ram’s horn snails that come undetected with the moss (I help myself to all these freebies from Kim Peng’s pond… keke…). My brother and I enjoy treasure-hunting these shrimps as they usually hide. Hmm, I’m wondering if it’s okay putting 2-3 fresh-water clams in? Wait till I find them…

Oh btw, if you have noticed... I’m a “scientific-name” idiot. And that’s also the reason why I never take any module that is related to Biology. Haha…

A "nothing special" special day

Just finished helping my sup to review an IEEE paper... Phew! Luckily this is a good one – the last one I reviewed was a nightmare (the topic itself is attractive but the discrepancies coupled with lots of sentence structure, grammatical and spelling mistakes make it difficult to read and follow).
Nothing special happens in my monotonous lab with the exception that one of our lab mate Handik is leaving us to Germany (Oestrich-Winkel, a small town about 60km from Frankfurt) tomorrow for his one-year project as a post-doc. Handik, congrats on attaining your Permanent Head Damage (PhD), ha ha…;p Nine of us went out for his farewell lunch this noon (this may not be something special for you but it is for me – frankly, I have not taken lunch with so many people after I resign and embark on this “back-to-school” journey) and was treated to an enjoyable lunch (also because it’s a great change from our routine canteen food). Not much time to write more (anyway, what more can I write)... need to get back to writing and debugging my simulation codes...