Happy New Year!! 2006 is here!!

Tallest Twin Towers in the World!

I have been there!!!

NLDS Singapore 2005 - "Discovering Passion, Unleashing Potential"

It's been a while since the last posting cos things have been moving soo soo fast since my last entry...

One of the greatest highlight of my term so far: NLDS Singapore 2005

The conference was from 8th to 11th Dec, with the facilitator pre meeting from 6th to 7th Dec 2005. So from 2nd Dec onwards, everything was just crazy with so much to prepare.. didn't help that I fell quite sick even before the conference... must be a curse of NLDS... I think I have been sick almost every NLDS since my 1st year in AIESEC :)

Anyway, the delegates this time were really cool people... the turnout was quite small but the people were really enthusiastic and eager to learn... they really made all the difference to the entire atmosphere of the conference...

The facils had a great time as well, especially with our guests from overseas, Bomi from AIESEC Hong Kong and Jasmine from AIESEC Malaysia... I'm glad they enjoyed themselves so much here also and I'm thankful for the help and perspectives offered by them... =)

I didn't bring my camera but there were delegates taking photos all over the place so stay tuned while we consolidate all the photos...

All in all, it was a great experience... all the months of hard work really paid off in the end, with NLDS ending with a bang and all leaving with fond memories, new knowledge, rediscovered passion and a chance to look at their potential... =)

Visitor in the house...

My house had a visitor in the night...

I walked past my brother's room this morning to find something hanging from his light...





A bat!! and quite a small bat too... hanging there, sleeping peacefully (at least I assumed it was sleeping)...

Never seen one this close up before... most of the time I just see them swoop past the glare of the street lights at night, the kind where you can just vaguely make out the shadowly profile of the bat...

but here... wow... it's quite cute really....








my mom tried to prod it to fly away but it just hung there swaying as my mom prodded it, looking around the room... must be quite disoriented...

oh well.. we'll just have to see if it flies away this evening... :)

Mockingbird....

Aileen was right... everyone of us should go do something we used to do but haven't done in a while...

last night, I took out the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and read it again. The book was my 'O' level literature text so yeah... it's been a while since I've looked at it again... it was interesting...

for one, the book was full of my scribbling down of notes here and there... this paragraph is to show prejudice, to show this and that... I could see parts where my highlighter ran out of ink and the colour was so faint... I could see some scribblings in pencil which started out clearly and then got fainter and blurrer, indicating the parts of the lesson when I tried to stay awake and take notes but failed halfway... I could see doodlings and random marks here and there, indicating the times when I was either bored or testing out the ink in my pens... fond memories...

and then it brought back the ideas we used to have that perhaps Harper Lee didn't really mean to convey so many hidden messages.. that perhaps she was trying to write a nice decent book about prejudice (that message was obvious enough) but that literature teachers and students around the world got so serious about reading in between the lines that the book has become a celebrated literary work... after all, Harper Lee didn't have anymore works after that book... maybe she got freaked by the reaction of the literary world...

reading the book again also brought back memories of us sitting in the lecture theatre watching the film version of the story.. it was really old, being in black and white... the unfortunate part is that I don't think I finished watching the entire show... maybe I had to leave the class early or something... or maybe the teacher didn't show us the whole film in the first place due to time constraints... I really can't remember... but I bet it was a great show... I won't mind watching it again... hmmm... and I certainly won't mind if some director or producer decided to remake it... after all, prejudice and the innocence of children is a theme no one gets tired of even in this century... I'll think it's even more relevant today...

amazing isn't it? how much a book like that can bring back...

but good thing is that it's a proper story... I don't think I want to read my Romeo and Juliet text again..

This feeling...

I don't like this feeling...

where it feels like no one else but you still care about how things go... that everyone is too caught up in their own little world to bother about you, even though you're working for something bigger and beyond your own little world...

doubt, anger, confusion, helplessness...

why???

Photos

Forgot to include the link to the photos... so here they are:

http://wwwsharontan.myphotoalbum.com/

they're in the album titled accordingly...

Malacca

Got back from Malacca last night... yup... went for a short 2 days (1.5 days if you don't count all the travelling time) with my parents and my aunt... my bro didn't wanna go cos he was still having classes..

Anyway we took the coach down and boy it was quite a long journey... but then again, after travelling from New Delhi to Agra, nothing really counts as long anymore... we went by the 2nd Link and it was my first time there... the place looks nice enough.. only setback was that it was super empty... there weren't anyone in the lines and hardly any vehicles using it... so that kind of cut travelling time, since there was zero traffic all the way from the link to the expressway leading from there...

we stopped over at Ayer Itam (I know it means Black Water but I'm not sure if I spelled it right... never did learn Malay) while the driver lunched... pretty uneventful except for the fact that they were playing the chinese version of the Dragostea Din Tei song (Numa Numa hey... yup that AIESEC song) continuously... sounds quite horrible and in case you're wondering, the singer is actually Singaporeans and is singing about cockroaches in that song...

anyway, after that it was directly to Malacca bus terminal... another sprawling place and you can tell it's quite new... reminds me a bit of our own HarbourFront, where the terminal is housed in a shopping complex selling all sorts of stuff.. oh and the terminal comes with a very cool looking overhead bridge.. I've never seen one so long in my whole life...

so after admiring the place a bit, we headed off to this hotel my aunt found on the internet... not too bad for 69 RM a night... it's just a 3 storey building with pretty decent hotel rooms... at least there's aircon and a TV :)

anyway by this time it was like 2 plus in the afternoon (we boarded the bus at 9am in Singapore) so we headed across the street for some Chicken Rice Balls... I have a photo of the rice balls in my album... see if you can figure out which is the fishball and which is the rice ball... that was quite interesting cos the few chicken rice ball stalls in Singapore sell rice balls that are the size of your fist and not so small as those in Malacca...

I managed to hurry my mom so she'll eat faster and then we set off for the attractions... we walked about 20 mins to get to Christ Church (which is the famous red church building you always see when you look up Malacca) It's quite something to actually stand inside a bulding that's more than 100 years old... you don't get such old stuff like that in Singapore.. we're like so young compared to Malacaa...

most of the historical sites were around the area of the Christ Church... there was a hill behind with a dutch graveyard and remains of another church... the last standing wall of the fotress A Farmosa is just behind that hill... there we saw lots of museums as well (though we didn't go inside).. most of the museums are housed in buildings that were built more than 80 years ago...

after that we walked over to the river and the maritime museum. It's an actual model of a ship used back in the days when Malacca was a bustling port of trade (even earlier than when Singapore started) and they've included exhibitions of actual equipment used in those ships, models of other ships that visited the ports in the old days etc.. we weren't allowed to wear our shoes in (I assume they didn't want us to damage the floor, being made of wooden planks and all) so we carried our shoes about.. felt quite like being in a real ship, because the aircon was leaking at place down under the deck so you get wet spots and leaky roofs :) but all in all lots of interesting displays and definitely worth it for 2RM entry fee. the air con was quite enjoyable as well..

anyway, after that we decided we'll go hunt for some of those tasty Malaysian foods that Singaporeans and Malaysians always talk about.. we headed in the direction of this hawker centre stall place only to find a carpark and a sports complex there... there's lots of construction going on there, probably to make the place more modern etc... anyway the food centre was gone... apparently the last time my aunt was there was 5 years ago so I guess the changes weren't so surprising after all :)

without the roadside stalls, we headed for this shopping complex across the road... tried some KFC cos we heard it's better tasting than the one in Singapore... I thought it was quite ok.. at least it's not as oily as those in Singapore... and we said we're healthy... gee... well we didn't spend much time in the complex... My dad said we should go to the Portugese Settlement and the Portugese Village so we headed in that direction until my mom complained that it was a tad too far to walk... in the end we turned into this area with lots of Nonya restaurants and ate at the same one my aunt visited 5 years ago... it was quite ok... I really liked their Otak Otak... :)

after dinner we headed back to the hotel... I wanted to continue to Portugese Settlement but my mom said they're probably closed at night.. I didn't think it was likely cos I imagine it would be a place where tourists, especially the westerners would visit and have a drink at night.. in the end I was right... the hotel manager told us that place sells food and stuff at night.. must be something like CHJIMES in Singapore... haha..

well we were too far away and it was late to turn back so we headed to the 5 start hotel nearby for some drinks (my mom wanted to try cocktail :)) there was a live band playing when we got there... the male singer's quite ok and the electric guitarist rocks... only the female singer was a turnoff... she ruined many a good song that night...

so that marks the end of the 1st day in Malacca...

Day 2 saw us heading off to the "Antique Street" area of Malacca... it's on the other side of the river from Christ Church and the other historic attractions... quite a lot of chinese and nonya stuff there... the adults I was with were reminscing about their childhood when people still stayed in those double storey shophouses... that was quite interesting... we saw some temples along the way as well... yeah the place kind of reminds me of our China Town, just that it's still less commercialised compared to ours... which is a good thing I feel... oh yah we tried Chendol at this supposedly famous stall... man their syrup and coconut milk were thick... it's the real thing!

anyway we spent quite some time in that area and finally headed back to our hotel area for lunch at the Bulldog Cafe cos we found some recommendations to eat there on the Internet... sells nonya food as well and it was pretty good food... just that the owner was quite scary... she tried to "force" us to but her pineapple tarts... we declined, having bought fresh ones at Temple Street so she wasn't quite happy... she kept trying to compare how hers were better and that we should just get hers as well... :S

well after lunch we took a cab back to the bus terminal... had to be early cos we hadn't bought tickets back home... we got there at 3pm only to find that the next bus leaves at 5pm.. well no choice... ended up roaming the shopping complex for roti canai (Singapore calls it roti prata) but they didn't have it anymore... so we went to A&W...

did you know that A&W was the 1st fast food restaurant to open in Singapore? Unfortunately it was also the 1st to leave the Singapore market... couldn't keep up with competition from McDonalds and KFC and the rest... so we poor Singaporeans have ever since been deprived of root beer floats, curly fries, coney dogs and ice cream waffles... we would have packeted some home for my brother but I doubt the food would survive a few hours coach ride home...

good thing we didn't... it was freezing on the bus, partly cos there was a huge thunderstorm on our way back... because the expressway travels along the outskirts of the states, we got to see lots of natural scenary like moutains, plantations, small villages here and there... there were no skyscrapers or buildings to block our view of the night sky, which was dark, cloudy and would flash once in a while as the lightning streaked through the sky... there weren't as many street lamps along the road as well so it was really dark... it was quite an experience sitting in a coach zooming across an expressway that was hardly lighted underneath the lightning-streaked sky... must be something to live in those villages we passed by...

after some hours, we reached JB (different route from when we travelled into Malacca)... but before that we stopped over at Ayer Itam again and horror of horrors... they were still playing that chinese song... the poor hawkers there...

well that pretty much rounds up the 2 days in Malacca... not too bad for a short trip to get away from it all in Singapore... the only sad part comes when we get back and all the deadlines and things-to-do rush in our faces once again...

Slow Dance...

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask
How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Counting down!!

Lots of things to count down to:

2 more papers till the end of exams! (and which means no more exams until this time next year!)

1.5 more days before heading off for a one-day trip in Malacca!

1 more week till the start of taichi classes again! (had to stop this sem cos classes ended late on taichi days :S)

1 more week till I can catch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the cinemas! yes I'm a self-confessed Harry Potter fan... and if you're asking why not catch it this weekend? That's because it's freaking expensive to watch movies except on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.. Also, I'm guessing the cinemas will be fully booked with other even more ardent fans...

3 weeks more till the start of NLDS Singapore 2005! (find out more here)

5 weeks more till Christmas!! Presents, food, fun with friends!

6 more weeks till the end of 2005! well I'm not sure how this will work out to be something worth looking forward to but hey it's significant enough... oh now i remember! End of Dec 2005 marks the start of 1st Jan 06 which is someone's birthday... hehe...

can u believe it? 2006 is coming! and that means 2 more years till Olympics in China 2008 =)

Presenting.. the state of my desk...

in the midst of exam preparations...

Because You Live - Jesse McCartney

what a nice song...

Because You Live
by Jesse McCartney

Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart
It's the end of the world in my mind
Then your voice calls me back like a wake up call
I've been looking for the answer
Somewhere
I couldn't see that it was right there
But now I know what I didn't know

Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has twice as many stars in the sky

It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again
Cuz of you, made it though every storm
What is life, whats the use if your killed inside
I'm so glad I found an angel
Someone
Who was there when all my hopes fell
I wanna fly, looking in your eyes

Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has twice as many stars in the sky
Because you live, I live

Because you live there's a reason why
I carry on when I lose the fight
I want to give what you've given me always

Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has twice as many stars in the sky

Because you live and breathe
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help
Because you live, girl
My world has everything I need to survive

Because you live, I live, I live

Voicing my thoughts

Everyone has so much to do...

but everyone only has 24 hours a day...

So why is it that some people can do more than others?

Reason 1
they cut down on the number of things they have to do... either outsource, or arrow it to someone else, or heck care and chuck it aside...

Reason 2
they make full use of their time by improving their efficiency... read faster, type faster, think faster, learn faster...

I can't think of any other reasons...

Everyone has so much to do...

but everyone only has 24 hours a day...

Have you found your Missing Piece?

interesting powerpoint... makes you ponder...

http://www.geocities.com/tuitionmatch84/themissingpiece.ppt

Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

see what I mean? 

4 Reasons Why Men Need Insurance...

deadly... 

wicked... 

Why Men Need Insurance... 

Xiao Xiao Stick Man Fighter

Hey to everyone...

Because the link I put for Xiao Xiao (left column) seems to have died, thought will just make things a bit easier for everyone since I have the files in my computer already...

those interested can download the Xiao Xiao Flash Movies from the following links. Just right click and "Save Target As"

Enjoy!!

Xiao Xiao 1 - One Vs One (Avi File)

Xiao Xiao 2 - Game

Xiao Xiao 3 - One VS Many (My favourite!)

Xiao Xiao 4 - Shooting Game

Xiao Xiao 5 - One VS One

Xiao Xiao 6 - Game (bit of error in this cos it gets stuck at one of the stages)

Xiao Xiao 7 - Mutilator

Xiao Xiao 8 - Mutilator II

Are you stupid?

I got bored and found this link on a friend's site...




The site says:

You are 14% stupid. This means...
You are far from stupid. Congrats on a great accomplishment!

Thoughtful them even provided a table...

Stupidity Score Requirements

Status Needed Score
??? -------------------- 0 - 9
Pretty Smart ----------- 10 - 24
Fairly Smart ---------- 25 - 39
Smart, but Stupid ------ 40 - 59
A Little Stupid --------- 60 - 79
Stupid ------------------ 80 - 89
??? ---------------------- 90 - 94
??? ---------------------- 95 - 100

but seriously.. if i weren't stupid... why am i doing a stupidity test instead of studying for exams?? hmmm....

*ponder ponder*

Oh bother...

hmmm... my 1st exam paper is on the 2nd of Nov.. which isn't too far away... so what the hell am I doing blogging at this time?

I dunno... so much to do so little time... even when there is time like now, so hard to keep immersing oneself in work... need to take a break from the books or the whatever other stuff I need to do...

yet, so few forms of entertainment... TV shows nowadays are just crappy if you don't have cable... I haven't gotten hold of any new books yet... only entertainment is radio... sad state of life when one doesn't want to leave the house or to spend some money.. haha..

ah well.. this is just a blog entry with no real meaning in it... maybe there is some meaning la.. just to waste a few minutes of your time to read this till the end.. haha...

Wise Words...

"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly.

Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end.

What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such."

Dear friend

I know how you are feeling now...

I can tell you feel so lost... so misunderstood... so unappreciated... so at a loss... I look and see you with so much to do... and so much popping up out of the blue...I see you try to deal with things today but they never seem to really get dealt with.. and when tomorrow comes, it brings new things to for you to face...

I've been your friend long enough to know that you will keep going, you will keep standing... because you know that there will be consequences for people aside from you if you don't... and I applaude you silently, because I know that these people may not always be aware of what you are doing... they don't see everything that you are doing, everything that you are dealing with...

You tell me that sometimes you feel like you are nothing but a small insignificant part of this vast universe... and you wonder if you really do make a difference... I think you need assurance... you need someone to listen and to comfort you... and I wish I can be that person... but I'm not the best... I can only hope that you find someone or some people who can do that...

I know you feel like crying... like breaking down... but your pride holds it back... but the barrier will break one day... you know that... and as your friend, I can only say that you need to let it all out... to cry and break down... to acknowledge and show that you are not as strong as you, or others, think you are...

Dear friend... you know who you are... and in these hard and stressful times, I wish you strength... I wish you clarity of mind and thought... I wish you humility to accept that you do make mistakes... Take care... and may you soon find that freedom which you seek and which you treasure...

Love,
Your Friend...

Changing perspectives...

Singapore skyline taken from Hill Street 

A Shot of Singapore by a Singaporean

Singapore from a different perspective... 

I want to be a tourist in my own country...

You must be wondering what I mean by that...

one school of thought: after all, Singapore is such a small country, I should have learnt my Singapore history better, I should read more newspapers and then I should know enough about Singapore... besides, Singapore is not like China or USA which is really big and you need to take domestic flights to see another part. Singapore isn't that different in the east and the west and for goodness sake you don't even have a domestic airport! so yeah... why would I want to be a tourist..."

But that's just wrong... Singapore is small for sure... you can travel from one end to the other in 2 hours by MRT... but who says that everything is the same?

Have we ever realised that each housing estate and constituency is different? Why don't you compare Toa Payoh culture and Seng Kang culture? The former is one of the oldest estates in Singapore and the latter is one of the youngest. Are they really that similar?

Have you walked along the Padang and observed the monuments there? Everytime I go there I realise that the last time I went, I had left out one or two monuments... yeah u can say I'm blind but that's not the point.. the point is how many Singaporeans make an effort to strolll along that area and learn about the monuments?

Does being an expert at Singapore history mean you have seen these monuments? Have you admired their design and wondered how their styles can be so different? Have you noticed the contrast of having a modern stylish building standing just behind a history-rich building like the Parliament House?

Have you strolled along the whole stretch of the Singapore River, wondering how kids could swim in the days when the water was black? Have you taken the River Boat tour in that little boat that chugs along and driven by a very tanned ah-pek? Have you posed for shots along the river with the Singapore skyline of skyscrappers in the backgroud?

No? Why? Is it because it is something we only associate with tourists? with foreigners? Is it because we think that we've been here all our lives and don't need a photograph as a keepsake? In the first place, is taking photos only just about having a keepsake, to show that "I was there?"

But if you think about it, you don't go to the Singapore River all the time... even if you do, the landscape changes... 5 years ago, there was no Esplanade and the Merlion was standing at a different location...

Every place in Singapore has a story to tell... I want to know more of these stories, even if they do change here and there... and I think... the only way I can do that.. is to become a tourist in my own country...

Armed with my map and trusty camera, I will not be ashamed to be seen taking photos of the various stories in my own country...

What's in a name?

Sharon Tan Xin Ni

You are an individual with high standards. You have a strong and stable character with a keenly analytical and logical mind. Preferring a practical and constructive approach to life you put your energies into activities which build material abundance. Your worldly success is an example to everyone of what careful organisation and determination can achieve.


try it out at this site

Random thoughts

Here I am.. stoning in front of my laptop at 1.30am on a Wednesday morning... it's quiet outside... and the radio is croning some really nice songs...

so much on my mind these days.. so much on my to-do lists... so much to settle, so much to think about... yet... don't feel like doing anything... why? irresponsible? tired? maybe... I dunno...

but tonight... seems the perfect night to do nothing.. to just sit back... enjoy the breeze (from my room fan), enjoy the song on radio ("tonight I need your sweet caress, hold me in the darkness. Tonight you calm my restlessness, you relieve my sadness...") and stone... to just blank out all the deadlines, the tasks... to just enjoy... to relish in whatever random thoughts running through my head... to relive certain memories trapped at the back of my head... to just indulge in the night air... to feel alive... to feel like me...

Good food and Good company = Satisfaction

What an evening... I don't think I have eaten so much good food in such a short period of time...

As a kind of send off thingy for Hwan Cui, Aileen organised a Food Night (after the on-the-spur idea after MAF that day)... basically, we meet up and travel around seeking out the good food of Singapore...

Randal, Jie An, Hwan Cui, Aileen and myself were the food hunters this time round...

1st Round
1st Round took place at Tiong Bahru Food Market... it might be a make-shift food centre but this is THE place to go for lots of good food.. a lot of the stalls there have already been talent spotted by various eating programmes as you can tell from the posters and newspaper clippings hanging at the stalls..

anyway, I was late so when I got there, this was all that was left...



Food covered:
- BBQ Sting ray
- 15 Sticks chicken satay with 3 ketupats
- Fish ball mee pok
- ICe Kachang
- 1 packet of Chee Kueh
- 1 oyster omelette

2nd Round
After the 1st round, we decided to head for the famous Milo Godzilla... where you may ask? to.. Spize - The Makan Place at River Valley Road... it's a muslim stall so get ready for a whole menu of prata varieties, bbq hot plate stuff, and interesting drinks...



Food covered:
- 1 Bee Hoon Goreng Ikan Bilis
- 1 Mutton Murtabak
- 1 basket of french fries
- 2 plain prata
- 1 apple cinammon prata
- 1 mushroom cheese prata
- 1 banana plus ice cream tissue prata: tissue prata with filling of ice cream and banana slices
- 1 bandung
- 1 Milo Godzilla: Milo with milo powder and ice cream
- 2 iced teh-oh


This is our spread of food for the 2nd round...


don't forget the tissue prata delight...

Till now I can't believe the 5 of us finished ALL that food... we were sooo bloated after the night... but man it was fun... =)

we should do it again guys... but not too often ok? I don't want to put on too much weight...

MAF 2005

For those who don't have the faintest idea what MAF is, it actually stands for Mid Autumn Festival.. yup.. my junior college holds an annual huge celebration for MAF and in typical Singapore fashion, the many generations of HCJC graduates have successfully made the acronym sound so cool and funky that it's now officially part of our JC tradition... *beams happily*

so what's so big about MAF? well nothing much, just that the council puts up decoration in the central plaza (think lights display), put up a fountain (for aesthetic purposes i guess.. traditions kind of make u forget the reason they do such stuff), there's a stage in central plaza, performances by performing groups, and about at least 8 generations of HC students.. no big deal... =)

ok well, the big deal about MAF is that wushu gets a performance slot every year, and every batch holds special memories of THEIR MAF... it's also kind of the 1st performance after the seniors step down so you know, you get those 1st-Big-Performance-on-our-own jitters and excitement... the main thing i remember about my MAF? playing with fire and gunpowder... man that was fun...

but reminscing aside, this year's MAF was kind of disappointing in terms of performances.. too many individual singers kind of performances.. i tell you this whole project superstar and singapore idol is NOT good for our society...

but the great part was seeing my batch mates again... crapping about our good ol days and breathing the air at the hui suo(albeit a bit stinky especially after the wushu performance) and in HCJC in general...

hanging out with them always rocks... and it helps that aileen DRIVES!! and Jie An eats a lot.. which justified a trip to Adam Road Food Centre for supper... after 2 weeks of India, it's no surprise how happy ice kachang, rojak and satay can make me...

Makes it feel soooo good to be back in Singapore...=)

oh yah.. photos are up as well on my site... i'm too lazy to put the link here once again, though I just noticed that with all these words I'm typing, I should have saved the effort and typed the link instead.. oh well.. forgetful and lazy me...

The Taj Mahal

a sight to behold... 

The MC in Agra, India... at the site of the Taj Mahal....

Incredible India... all in awe... 

I'm still alive

Yes after a very long absence from the blogging scene, this post is to indicate that I am still very much alive... and honestly I don't care if you greet that comment with groans or cheers...

well much has happened.. for one, today is the last day of the first half of semester 1... which means effectively, I have gone through 6 weeks of classes and should be chocked full of engineering knowledge... unfortunately, a close scrutiny of my brain last night proved otherwise... instead of technical concepts and mini blueprints, I find, to not much surprise, the following things in my head:

- steps for 2 new dances from IC
- lots of acronyms, some of which include PD, @XP, SLP, IC, R&R... the list goes on
- playback images of cool parties and cool people and cool sessions...
- vague images of how a typical Singaporean driver will (or not) survive in the streets of India

and that's just a small part of my head.. the other parts are trying to unclog themselves from the cold/flu/fever streak that occured in IC as well...

and in case you're lost, yeah I just got back from a near 2 weeks trip to India for AIESEC International Congress...

I have no way of describing the whole experience... just two words: Eye Opening

oh and some photos are up already.. mainly those of India sights... yeah I forgot to mention I went to the Taj Mahal!!! another Eye Opener.. check them out at http://sharontan.myphotoalbum.com/

p.s. this is a very random posting... complain all you like... more updates next time =)

1st day of school

today was the first day of NTU Semester 1 of 2005/2006... it's back to the life of a student...

oversleeping before lectures... rushing for lectures... dozing off during lectures... stuck in the crowd in the crowded Canteen A (which looks nicer after the renovation but unfortunately the food quality didn't change much)... stuck in the crowd on bus 179 in and out of NTU... stuck in the crowd in the crowded Printing shop in LWN library (40 odd documents printing per printer and some guy before me printed 12.5MB worth of Word Documents!!! Can you believe it??? Man did he cause a jam... just like the rest of the people hanging around the other printers)... stuck without a computer in LWN libray just like the other 15 odd people lurking around waiting to pounce on any computer the moment it gets freed of use... stuck clueless in the lecture because the lecture notes are either not printed yet, or not uploaded onto our portal... oh and I'm also clueless as to whether that cockroach living in LT 1 has either died or moved out because of the cold (or lack of food during the holidays)... it better not make an appearance at our NTU AIESEC Welcome Tea...

Something interesting though... today, I actually saw a few guys from my batch in JC! yes they are out (finally) of National Service and are here to start a fresh life as a 1st year uni student...

congrats guys... you have officially entered the wonderful world of university... While there aren't any commando-sized mosquitoes on campus, do watch out for the lecturers that drone on like the equivalent of a Incredible-Hulk type mosquito...

While there aren't any vast forests (not in the vicinity of our lecture theatres and tutorials rooms anyway) through which you have to trudge for days and nights on end without bathing or sleeping, do take note that the same may occur near the month of November and that the "trees" you will be trudging through will come in the form of pressed, white sheets covered with words and numbers... at times, the road ahead may seem even more ardous than that night you spent digging trenches...

While you no longer need to stand in the rain in your flimsy poncho trying to bear with the cold without any extra layers of clothing, note that here in the harsh environment of the university, even with extra layers of clothing, the cold may be even harder to bear.. the only comfort you may get out of the cold in university is that at least you do not need to wear the ugly flimsy poncho, and that you're not wet... Also be warned that temperatures you will be subjected to are highly extreme, with conditions similar to the desert in Australia or Africa (or whichever desert you went to if you did for some Army Operation thing)... once you step out of the cold of the lecture theatres and tutorial rooms, you may very well experience a blast of air so warm and humid you would think you were standing behind an F16 when it starts to take off...

And if you thought you could kiss those mountain hikes goodbye, think again... NTU is built on a hill and the treacherous slopes are everywhere... be prepared to have classes in MLT (South Spine) followed by classes in LT 1A (North Spine)... when that happens, all you can do is tighten the straps of your backpack, take a deep breath, and make your way up the slope or the stairs...

And you thought university life was a good break... =)

Saturday was a Good Day...

Saturday was a good day because of the 6th National Wushu Display in the evening... Not just because there were some really cool performances at the display, but also because I got to hang out with my wushu batch mates again. Like I pointed out to them, it feels different hanging out with them and with uni friends... Somehow, only they seem to understand and appreciate corny humour... and I can freely say and do crazy stuff with them without worrying that they will freak out... =)

anyway, for more information on the 6th National Wushu Display and what went on, check out http://hcwushu.blogspot.com/... This blog was started up by me and a couple of my batch mates to keep everyone updated on the latest happenings in wushu (and HC wushu)

For those more into visuals, photos are available at My Photo Album... Videos might be coming soon as well... =)

Nostalgia...

Dunno why but everytime I hear this songs, it sounds so nice... and feels so nostalgic.. of what I have no idea... (karaoke perhaps?)


Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough
Patti Smyth | Don Henley
______

Now, I don't want to lose you
but I don't want to use you
just to have somebody by my side.
I don't want to take you,
I don't wanna take you
but I don't want to be the one to cry.

That don't really matter to anyone, anymore.
But like a fool I keep losing my place
and I keep seeing you walk through that door.

But there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart they can't trust.
There's a reason why people don't stay who they are.
Baby, sometimes, love just aint enough.

Now, I could never change you,
I don't want to blame you.
Baby, you just have to take the fall.
Yes, I may have hurt you,
but I did not desert you.
Maybe I just want to have it all.

It makes a sound like thunder,
it makes me feel like rain.
And like a fool who will never see the truth,
I keep thinking something's gonna change.

But there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust.
There's a reason why people don't stay who they are.
Baby, sometimes, love just aint enough.

And there's no way home,
when it's late at night and you're all alone.
Are there things that you wanted to say?
And do you feel me beside you in your bed,
there beside you, where I used to be?

But there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust.
There's a reason why people don't stay who they are.
Baby, sometimes, love just aint enough.

Baby, sometimes, love... it just ain't enough.

Friends...

My JC classmate William is leaving for USA in August for university and today, I went out for dinner with him... I guess it sounds like a very early "farewell" dinner kind-of (1 month in advance) but I don't wanna deceive myself with the thought that I will definitely be able to catch him again before he really flies... with school starting soon and recruitment and AROC just round the corner, I do foresee a very hectic August...

But that's not the point... I just feel like saying some stuff...

It definitely isn't true that you find good buddies only in Secondary School. Even though JC is for 2 short years only, it's amazing how much fun we had together back then... And what really gets to me is that even though in the time of these 2 years since graduation, we haven't been in touch as often as both of us had hoped for, it's still that easy to relate to each other, and relive those wacky moments in JC...

Perhaps this is really friendship? Perhaps friendship isn't just about always keeping in touch, always chatting on the phone, always meeting up... Perhaps friendship is about still being able to connect even after a time of absence... that even after not seeing each other for months, upon meeting, no one feels uncomfortable or feels like we're all such strangers...

I won't say I'm the kind of person who is good at keeping in contact with people... and perhaps it would seem that I would rather move on and not keep up with the past... but to all those out there who matter to me (you know who you guys are), know this that you will always remain a friend in my heart and that I won't forget those wonderful moments we shared together...

Letter from the Dean..

Dear Sharon

I congratulate you on your excellent results. You have done brilliantly well.

We hope that you will continue to find intellectual simulation in your studies. At the same time, the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will do its best to provide the necessary support for you to develop your talents to the fullest.

I wish you great success in your studies and your future career.

With warmest regard

Acting Dean of School


I was very surprised to receive such a letter. Why?

• Because some weirdo of a lab technician gave me a C for my lab module and I didn't think a C would warrent results as excellent
• Because I got a C also for my business module called Risk and Insurance (yes I have to admit I totally screwed up that paper) and even though its not a core module, it still doesn't look pretty on the results slip
• Because I don't remember ever getting any "necessary support" from the school. As a matter of fact, the school has been the main cause of many of my complaints
• Because it sounds like they only want to support me now because I have thus far achieved grades excellent enough to warrent their praise. (Notice they don't say "continue to provide" So if I screw up my grades next year they won't provide anymore? How practical and pragmatic!)
• Because they didn't tell me how they want to support me. (If the letter had come with an offer of $3,000 stipend to my school fees, this posting would have taken a whole new direction)

And because they did not provide suggestions of concrete actions on their side to support me, I now deem this letter and the envelope a waste of money, a way of unnecessarily depleting our Earth's precious resources and a misappropriate usage of the school's privilage of sending mails without paying for postage. Oh and also for wasting the efforts of dear Mr Postman who works so hard so that we can receive our mails.

Damn... I'm such a cynic when it comes to education... *grinz*

How many of us can be like so?

Some People

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.

Some people move our souls to dance.
They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whispers of their wisdom.

Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.

They stay in our lives for awhile,

Leave footprints in our hearts,

And we are never ever the same.

The conspiracy continues...

How right I was... Talent VS popularity... and "bought" popularity at that... *shakes head*

________________________________________________________________

From: Sub Dean-Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (Alumni)
Sent: Fri 1/07/2005 4:28 PM
Subject: Our very own MAE student on Channel U "Project Superstars" - VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Dear MAE Students, Alumni and Colleagues,
You have received a previous email to support our MAE student, XXX , who is participating in the Channel U "Project Superstars". Well, he has made it to the next round (thanks to you!!) and this will be televised on the 6th July at 8.30pm on Channel U.
Once again, it will be greatly appreciated if you can support this MAE STAR in the making - voting commences from 8.30pm to 11pm on the same evening.
For an insight into life as a contestant - please see XXX's email below.

Thanks and Kind Regards
Sub Dean (Alumni)

______________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 5:20 AM
To: Sub Dean-Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (Alumni)
Subject: RE: Our very own MAE student on Channel U "Project Superstars"
Importance: High

Good morning!

Just had a meeting over at Mediacorp. We've all been re-paired up. I'm no more with YYY, my buddy for the previous quarter-finals. In the next round, I've been paired up with ZZZ, the tough competitor with good vocals.

My recording will be on the 4th July (this coming Monday; gosh! left only 3 days to practice!!) and it'll be televised on the 6th July, 8.30pm over Channel U. Same as the previous rounds, voting commences from 8.30pm to 11pm.

The results show today proved something: Power of the voting system. Anyone with the lowest judges' score, can still secure a place in the next round so long as he has a huge support base. The contestant with the highest score was still booted out from the competition. The lowest score stayed up.

Sir, would be gratified to you if you broadcast the message to everyone again to support me on the 6th July. I'm sorry to trouble you whenever it comes to this. I'd do my best, deliver my best.

Take care and best regards.
=)
XXX

Lessons learnt...

Yesterday was my House Warming plus Family Gathering plus my very early birthday celebration (almost 2 weeks in advance!) Actually my mom was using my birthday as a reason/excuse to invite all my family people down la... hehe

well it was truly a happening evening... 3 generations in the house: My grandma and my granduncles, my uncles and aunties and my cousins... all from my mother's side... it lasted into the night... 3am plus i think... haha... and i think i've learnt quite a lot of stuff...

1) Kids nowadays are very familiar with computers
My bro was hogging the computer outside in the living room with his warcraft games and stuff... so naturally the guys were hanging outside as well.. in the meantime, the youngest cousins (a pair of twins who are 9 this year) were in my room and they knew pretty well how to handle my laptop (should have turned it off man.. haha) they were looking for games on my desktop, browsing the internet for their game sites (whose URLs they keep in their wallets)... amazing... maybe i should hang out a bit more with the younger kids... so different from us back then =)

2) Moms are always watching the backs for their kids
My mom was sitting around the dining table talking to my uncles and aunties over beer... there was still food left from the buffet catering and no one really wanted to eat anymore... i went into the kitchen to find my grandma rummaging through our cupboards looking for pots and containers to keep the leftover food... so that when the caterer comes to collect the stuff, they won't take all the food back as well she says... and all the while my grandma's kids (my uncles and aunties) were chatting over beer... =) yeah man.. Mom's watch our backs for us...

3) Frankness is good... but too rare in our generation...
My mom grew up in a family of 8 siblings.. last night, my 2nd uncle, his wife, my 3rd aunt, my youngest aunt and my parents sat around and talked about all sorts of things over beer... they talked about their marriage, about their childrens, about the past, about each other's personalities... it was frank... but everyone was comfortable.. i was impressed... there should be this kind of frankness among siblings... not some unspoken rift and political correctness we see more often nowadays...

4) As much as they trust us, they still worry
After my cousins and i got bored with mahjong, we were "invited" to join their table and conversation.. and the topics that came up were about boyfriends and girl friends, getting a driving license to drive parents home (especially after drinking sessions.. heh), about lesbians and gays and how open they are today comparatively, about us not being feminine or masculine enough (haha)... yeah.. they trust us a lot.. but parents will be parents.. they worry too =)

all in all, i think my family rocks... they brought us up to be independent, to be close among the couins in our generation, to have that kind of frankness and honesty with our parents that not every youth in Singapore has nowadays...

They rock.. =)

Self defence mechanism??

Today is 25th June 2005, Saturday...

I have a few deadlines to meet by 1st July 2005, a few more meetings to attend till 1st July, and what seems to be quite a lot of things to settle by Mid July as well...

Strangely, things seem to be going quite ok... maybe is a self defence mechanism.. some people freak out when they have lots to do... some get so stressed and pissable at almost any little thing... some get aggressive, some get depressed...

What about me? hmmm... I don't really know... but it seems that when things start to pile... I get a bit more relaxed (if that is even possible.. ) I imagine this invisible shield around me that's protecting me from the many pissable things around us in life... and all over the shield all these words "when there's already that much to do, anything else adding on to the list won't make much difference anymore"

i dunno... so weird....

For the sake of it

here i am still up and settling stuff at 3.38am in the morning... hooray...

The real deal on being 'real'

Nov 14, 2004
The real deal on being 'real'
By Janadas Devan

THE 'real' as an adjective is puzzling. Whatever do people mean when they say 'real world', 'real life', 'real thing', 'the real McCoy' and so on? Why are we so anxious about the 'real'? Surely, the real, if it is real, ought to strike one as obviously real. Does our anxiety about it suggest a certain uncertainty about the realness of the real?

Let's begin with 'the real McCoy' because there really was a real McCoy - a Joseph McCoy, to be precise, a rancher in the American Wild West in the mid-19th century.

Ranchers in those days butchered their cattle primarily for local consumption. McCoy decided to do something nobody else had thought of doing: He drove his cattle across hundreds of miles to railway stations, from where they would be transported to cities in the east, to be butchered and consumed there. McCoy, not surprisingly, became a very rich man.

And not surprisingly too, he soon had competitors. Rustling cattle on horseback is not rocket science. If one cowboy can do it, so can others. In desperation, McCoy began calling himself 'the real McCoy' so as to distinguish himself from his imitators.

Coca-Cola adopted a similar strategy in the cola wars of the 1960s, when it took to calling itself 'the real thing'. 'The real thing' was merely imitating 'the real McCoy' - who of course was not unique either, for he turned out to be eminently imitable.

This provides one clue as to why we are anxious about the 'real': Market economies are wondrous mechanisms for churning out a multitude of the same. If a new product proves economically successful, it is bound to elicit imitators; if a new fashion in clothing catches on, it is bound to create knock-offs. Our anxiety about the 'real thing' is a reaction to the sameness that characterises life in industrialised societies.

The other examples of 'real' - 'real world', 'real life' - cannot be so easily explained. Teachers often tell their students of the 'real world' they will face when they leave school. Businessmen are often scornful of academics because they allegedly know nothing of 'real life' and have never been 'in the trenches'. And soldiers in war - literally, not metaphorically, 'in the trenches' - often refer to civilian life as the 'real world'.

(And not only in war, I might add. I remember hearing this phrase, 'real world', during national service in Singapore. There we would be, camped in some soggy and dank field, slapping mosquitoes, trying to keep the rain from seeping through our ponchos. It's not possible to get closer to reality than that, one would think. And yet, at precisely those moments, someone would pipe up about his plans in the 'real world' after leaving NS.)

What makes working life more real than school life, economic life more real than intellectual life, and civilian life more real than military life? Why is the 'real world' 'always being defined as where we are not', as Harvard University don Barbara Johnson once asked.

Her answer was that 'these differing perceptions of the real are nothing other than perceptions of the boundaries of institutions. Whether one is in the university or in the army, the real world seems to be the world outside the institution'.

Institutions, she theorised, created boundaries between the unreal and the real so as 'to assure docility, paradoxically, through the assumption of unreality' within institutions.

Students, listen up, the real world is a frightful place, so you had better concentrate on your lessons, otherwise you are going to founder in the real world. Soldier, listen up, the real world's rules don't apply here, this is a different world, you must abandon all your civilian delusions.

There is considerable truth in Professor Johnson's reading, but I'm not sure it is sufficient. Consider that strange phenomenon, the television 'reality show' American Idol (and its spin-offs).

The show's formula is simple: Ordinary people are given a shot at stardom. Judges assess each singer, and viewers vote two performers off the show each week until only two remain for the final competition. It can be a very cruel process - and for precisely that reason, exhilarating to watch - as faults are enlarged and blemishes exaggerated. It is also thrilling, for some remarkable talents have emerged - the 'real things'.

But a strange thing happened during last year's show. One William Hung - a Chinese-American nerd, a totally untalented singer, the most awkward, stiff and robotic personality ever seen on TV - emerged as the star. He became so popular, he now travels the world to show off his lack of talent. His website describes him as the 'Real American Idol'.

The Los Angeles Times thought Hung's sincerity was the quality that elevated him above the rest. The lesson to be learnt from his unlikely popularity, the paper said, was 'that talent is far less critical to winning Americans' hearts than honest effort'.

That surely is an exaggeration. How many Hungs will America take to its heart? Would America abandon its current stars for the galaxies of bad singers and bad actors out there? Surely not.
And yet, for a brief moment perhaps, Hung became the marker of the real. Not because the 'real' is always something else, as Prof Johnson put it, but because he failed so clearly to be that something else.

Perhaps we are so anxious about the real because modern society makes such incessant demands on us to be so many somethings.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Once there was a giving tree who loved a little boy.
And everyday the boy would come to play
Swinging from the branches, sleeping in the shade
Laughing all the summer’s hours away.
And so they love,
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon the boy grew older and one day he came and said,
"Can you give me some money, tree, to buy something I’ve found?"
"I have no money," said the tree, "Just apples, twigs and leaves."
"But you can take my apples, boy, and sell them in the town."
And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon again the boy came back and he said to the tree,
"I’m now a man and I must have a house that’s all my home."
"I can’t give you a house" he said, "The forest is my house."
"But you may cut my branches off and build yourself a home"
And so he did.
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

And time went by and the boy came back with sadness in his eyes.
"My life has turned so cold," he says, "and I need sunny days."
"I’ve nothing but my trunk," he says, "But you can cut it down
And build yourself a boat and sail away."
And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

And after years the boy came back, both of them were old.
"I really cannot help you if you ask for another gift."
"I’m nothing but an old stump now. I’m sorry but I’ve nothing more to give"
"I do not need very much now, just a quiet place to rest,"
The boy, he whispered, with a weary smile.
"Well", said the tree, "An old stump is still good for that."
"Come, boy", he said, "Sit down, sit down and rest a while."
And so he did and
Oh, the trees was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

Makes you wonder...

Opened my school email just now to find this in the inbox... Must say it's a very very interesting request...

makes u wonder doesn't it? Do our "winners" win because they have the talent, or do they win simply because they have more people behind them? People who don't even know them, but judge based simply on an impression through email, TV, newspapers, SMS even...

I wonder if a certain polytechnic did something like this during our Singapore Idol finals...

p.s. I deleted the name of the 'star' from the email, just so I don't do any publicity for this person by accident...
_______________________________________________________


Dear MAE Students, Alumni and Colleagues,

I reckon you may have heard and watched the trailers on the Channel U “Project Superstars”. It is a chinese singing competition, akin to Singapore Idol, with its sms and call-in voting format broadcasted over Channel U. One of our students, XXX, chinese name: XXX has emerged as one of the top 12 guys (there're top 12 gals as well), after 3 rounds of auditions from over 4000 contestants.

His first performance will be broadcasted on 22 June (precorded on 15 June) and the voting line (or SMS) will be open then.

The contestants will have many people rooting for them. As part of the MAE family, I am writing to encourage you to support our very own “star” XXX. Turn on the TV Channel U on 22 June and register your support!

Thanking you in advance!

Sub Dean (Alumni)

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now...

My very first NY Student Coucil Invesititure Song... never fails to inspire.. and bring back great memories...

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
By Jefferson Starship

Looking in your eyes I see a paradise
This world that I've found is too good to be true
Standing here beside you
Want so much to give you
This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you

Let them say we're crazy
I don't care about that
Put your hand in my hand baby
Don't ever look back

Let the world around us
Just fall apart
Baby we can make it if we're heart to heart

Chorus
And we can build this thing together
Stand this storm forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, Nothing's gonna stop us now

I'm so glad I found you
I'm not gonna lose you
Whatever it takes I will stay here with you
Take it to the good times
See it through the bad times
Whatever it takes here's what I'm gonna do

Let them say we're crazy
What do they know
Put your arsm around me Baby
Don't ever let go

Let the world around us
Just fall apart
Baby we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this thing together
Stand this storm forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, Nothing's gonna stop us... ooooh...

All that I need is you
You're all that I ever need
And all that I want to do
Is hold you forever, and ever and ever

And we can build this thing together
Stand this storm forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers
We'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, Nothing's gonna stop us now

Am I psychotic? =)

Some songs my classmates and I made up in primary school... is it disturbing? hmmm... hahahha

My Bonnie (Original)
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
My Bonnie lies over the sea
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me

My Bonnie (Sharon's version)
My Bonnie looked into the gas tank
It was dark and she couldn't see
She lit a match to help her
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me

Bring back, oh bring back, oh bring back my Bonnie to me, to ME!!
Bring back, oh bring back, oh bring back my Bonnie to me!

Clementine (Original)
Oh my darling
Oh my darling
Oh my darling Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Oh my darling Clementine

Clementine (Sharon's version)
Build a bonfire
Build a bonfire
Put the teachers on the top
Put the principal in the middle
Then let's light it from the top


Barney's Song (original)
I love you
You love me
We are one big family
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too

Barney's Song (Sharon's version)
I love you
You love me
Homosexuality
People think we're ordinary friends
Actually we're lesbians

Another dead end...

This guy is the Sub Dean of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering by the way... not much of an explanation huh?

now i need to plan my next move... hmmmm


From: Yeo Song Huat (Assoc Prof)
Sent: Mon 30/05/2005 4:34
PMTo: #TAN XIN NI SHARON#
Cc: Goh Wee Hoon, Madaline
Subject: RE: Question About GER - PE

Dear Sharon,

It is very good that you have completed the requirement of Minor in Business in such a short time.

Students have a chioce on whether to take on a Minor, knowing very well that this means addtional AUs (& additional effort). In general, if a student is not able to cope or not prepared to take additonal AUs to earn the Minor, then he/she should not commit to a Minor. The AUs obtained is to earn the Minor should not be used to fufil other requirement at the same time.

In your case, you should choose another subject under the BM PE list to fufil your 3AUs. I am sure you will learn something from the new subject.

Best wihses,
Yeo SH

-----Original Message-----
From: #TAN XIN NI SHARON#
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 8:48
PMTo: Yeo Song Huat (Assoc Prof)
Subject: Question About GER - PE

Dear Sir,

I am currently a year 2 MAE student and as required by the new GE requirements, I have to take 1 module from the BM (Business and Management) category of PE. At the same time, I have already completed 4 of the required 5 modules to be awarded a minor in Business.

I found out that although the minor modules also appear in the list of BM PEs, I am unable to substitute them to fulfil my BM PE requirements. I would really appreciate if you could explain to me the reasoning behind this arrangement.

This is because from the way I see it, the BM PEs are to broaden our scope of modules taken so that engineering students may have some grounding in Business and Management. The fact that the minor modules appear within that list shows that they all serve the same function of teaching us more about business management. Furthermore, taking a business minor is already overloading on the original number of required GE AUs. Since the modules serve the same purpose, why is it that students like myself cannot use the minor modules to fulfil the BM PE requirements? I know quite a number of engineering students are attempting a business minor, and it would be a lot more helpful if we could spend our AUs on other modules which will further complement our learning interests and process.

I am looking forward to your response on this matter.

Thank you very much!

Sharon

Exasperated with the Education System!!!

Basically it all started when NTU changed the General Education Requirement (GER)… As an engineering student, I must fulfil the following:

15 AUs of Prescribed Electives (GER-PE) comprising
- Art, Humanities & Social Sciences (AHSS) 9 AU
- Science, Technology & Society (STS) 3 AU
- Business & Management (BM) 3 AU

9 AUs of Unrestricted Electives (GER-UE)

Definitions:

GER-PE = Prescribed electives in GER curriculum, which are categorised into 3 sub-areas of studies comprising Art, Humanities & Social Sciences (AHSS); Science, Technology & Society (STS); and Business & Management (BM).

And AU = Academic Units (the no. of hours of class that module comprises of)

UE = unrestricted electives which means you can take any module outside your own faculty and it would count towards this.

Now the issue comes in with the BM modules… See I am taking a Business Minor, which means I take 5 modules of 3 Aus each, amounting to 15 Aus in total. This 15 AU will also cover my 9 AUs of GER-UE, which by right should leave me with 6 Aus of extra business module units. Till this date, I have finished 12 AUs of my Business Minor modules… Follow so far?

Ok then I look at the GER-PE requirements and find that I must do 3 AUs of a BM category module.. ok no problem… so I look at the list of BM modules offered and notice that the following 5 are cross-listed with Business Minor… of these 5, I have already done the first 3 (and scored pretty well at that as well)

- MB101 Accounting : Cross-listed with Biz Minor
- MB102 Business Finance : Cross-listed with Biz Minor
- MB103 Principles of Marketing : Cross-listed with Biz Minor
- MB361 Operations & Quality Management in Manufacturing and Services Industries : Cross-listed with Biz Minor
- MB363 Management Decision Tools : Cross-listed with Biz Minor

So I thought to myself, "In this case, my business minor modules should count towards my BM requirements.. after all it won't make sense that I take more modules than others to do a minor in business and still need to do another module in business.. especially when my minor modules are mentioned in that list"

But I figured I better make sure so I sent the following email:

-----Original Message-----
From: #TAN XIN NI SHARON#
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 11:56 AM
To: Khong Meng Chee, Elaine
Subject: Question about GE-PE requirements

Dear Mdm,

I was looking at the list of subjects under the Business Management Pescribed Electives and noticed that some of the courses listed inside are cross-linked with the Business Minor. Does this mean that if I have taken those modules to clear my business minor, I do not need to take any more PE from that category?

Sharon

And this is the reply I got today:

From: Khong Meng Chee, Elaine
Sent: Thu 26/05/2005 3:36 PM
To: #TAN XIN NI SHARON#
Subject: RE: Question about GE-PE requirements

Hi Sharon

The subjects that you read for the Business Minor or any Minor are used to off set against General Elective requirements (the new term for this General Education Requirement – Unrestricted Electives ).

However, you would still need to read Prescribed Electives from the Business Management category as they are under the General Education Requirement – Prescribed Electives.

Should you need further clarification, fill free to contact me.

Regards,
Elaine Khong

Can someone explain to me the logic behind this??????? Just because of some crummy requirement in the book, everything has to happen that way? Come on, my Business Minor should be more than enough to teach me about Business and Management... Doesn't make sense that I should spend another 3 hours of my time on business stuff when I can use it to take another more interesting or useful General Elective!!!

And if they wanna argue in terms of AUs, hey mine seems feasible. I have done so far
- 12 AUs of Business Minor
- minus 9 AUs of GER – UE
- Equals 6 AUs of modules which are in BM category also
- Minus 3 AUs of GER – PE (BM) as required
- Equals an extra of another 3 AUs
- Plus the 2 AUs I did for GER – UE in Year 1
- Equals 5 AUs extra than what is required!!!
- And this is excluding the remaining 3 AUs of Business Minor I have left!!!

After I have calmed down, I shall draft and send an email to the Dean or Vice-Dean or someone high up... and if that doesn't work, I shall consider putting together a petition... I'm sure many engineering students do business minor also...

Man… Talk about manifestation of the No U-Turn Syndrome (NUTS)

My learning got disrupted by my education...

yes here I am, back to bitch about the education system in Singapore... for those who know me quite well, u've probably heard this before... anyway, just to clarify, the title of this entry was a line quoted by Mark Twain... ok maybe not exactly but u get the message huh...

I don't understand why the schools here overload students with so many subjects... it almost seems like a competition where the faculties see who can give more modules to their students... now we have general electives and prescribed electives and core modules and what not... yeah yeah it's all for the sake of a broad-based education... but do they see that education NOT EQUALS learning??

education is a process... a process involving textbooks, notes, guidebooks, tests, exams, projects, lecturers, tutors and mentors... and here it's become such a process that students only go for it just for the sake of going... education no longer has the connotation of making someone "highly learned"; rather, it is now so associated with spoon-feeding, with the mentality that one studies enought to pass just so to move on to the next year...

it's kind of sad that Singapore is recognised for its high standards of education... but if u look on campus, the ironic case is that Singapore students are the ones "manipulating" and "spoiling" the name of education... most of the time they are the ones skipping classes, not doing well for exams and tests, while the foreign students are the one really there to learn and achieve... I don't have anything against them, and it's because for some of these students, they feel that they learn and achieve more being involved in ECA or hall activities...

actually, do u think there's that much to learn from classes? i go from class to class and year to year... and what I hear is that what we learn in university won't be that useful at work also... is that true? maybe to a certain extent... if so, why the heavy focus on core modules? why not lower the core load, and encourage broad-based learning that is truly broad based in the sense that you choose whichever ones you are really interested in? and not because u have to fulfil 6 units in that particular category? why are enrichment activities only restricted to the top how many % of the cohort? these are the projects that really inculcate some hands-on practical stuff or learning stuff... isn't university our last chance to study and take courses full time, whether or not they are within our faculty? shouldn't such opportunities be open to all who are interested?

yeah i sound so idealistic... but to me.. uni IS the last chance where there are opportunities to learn in depth things beyond my faculty... and it's really sad that the education process here is so good and recognised internationally that our own students no longer see its value-addedness in terms of learing...

Random thoughts

Randomness Number 1

Some guys have problem with girls being "better"... doing this 5 weeks project called Engineering Innovation and Design (EID) for NTU... compulsory for all year 2 engineering students and in my faculty, we (a group of 12) come up with an innovation or product and develop a business plan to market it la... in my group, I am the only Singaporean (the rest are Malaysians)... also, I am one of the 3 girls in the whole group... doesn't help that the other 2 girls are usually quite quiet... anyway, I'm the kind of person who just voices all the concerns or possible loopholes for each idea or product la... u can say I'm pessimistic, but I always believe that for such things, need to think really objectively and any possible flaw must be voiced out and addressed... so yeah... think some guys don't like me for that.. doesn't help even more that mostly what I say somehow comes true in the end.. ie the concern I raised is crucial, or a point I made about why something won't work really happens... is this a "Guy Ego" thing? or am I really that irritating?

Randomness Number 2

It just sort of hit me that my term in MC (Member Committee) of AIESEC in Singapore is just around the corner... it may sound weird but all along, meeting a trainee or SN or anyone who was in MC always seemed such a "whoah" thing... like far away and so impressive... and then today after the 1st day of MC Team-to-Team Transition, I realised that I am really gonna be in the MC... and that it isn't such a far-off thing anymore... I don't mean this in the sense that I don't understand the significance of my role... it's just so gradual in a sense, cos I guess some of us have been working closely with the current MCs anyway... anyway it's also the "wow... how time flies!" concept... in not too long, I'm gonna have 2 batches of juniors... and I'll be in a team I, as a junior, used to think was daunting... hmmmm... reversal of perspective in some sense?

Randomness Number 3

I've been doing wushu since 2001, which means this is going into the 5th year... never was conscious of that until Yamini asked me today... this was after she saw the screen saver on my laptop.. yeah you guessed it... photos of wushu weapons, pro people doing the routines, photos of Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Vincent Ng, Donny Yen... hehe... sometimes I wonder why I have these photos and all the collections of wushu related stuff... sometimes I think I do it because it's a way of reminding myself of my passion for the ART, the "glorious" past, the fun days... but I sometimes also wonder if it's due to guilt on my part... honestly I haven't really had the time to train as much as I want to, or to go back to HCJC and get involved in the wushu community more, or to even meet up with my wushu buddies... and there is this gnawing feeling of guilt at the back of my head which tells me it's just WRONG to let go of the connection with Wushu, and what it has given me... and because I don't have the time to take physical action in training, I seek solace in collecting these things, perhaps only in a bid to prove to myself that I still hold that connection with Wushu, to remind myself of my passion for it and that it is burning on... so is this really all there is???

Randomness Number 4

Why am I blogging till 1.30am when I have a meeting tmr morning at 11am, followed by transition with Triin, followed by dinner gathering with wushu buddies??


Sometimes I wish I understood myself... and sometimes I wish I don't...

Afterthoughts on Taipei Trip 5th to 9th May 2005

What can I say? I really really enjoyed myself sooo much ths trip... Many thanks to Aibek and Jane to host me...

Many thanks to Aibek, Triin and Jing Wen too... I remember we were sitting at the Coffee Bean at Lot 1 in Choa Chu Kang after visiting the Singapore zoo... I was complaining about how I wanted to go outside and travel around, see and explore new places but that I couldn't find the time to do it... Then Aibek and Triin were telling me that if I wanted to go that much, I should make my own time out, and not use work as an excuse cos there will always be work still undone... and it was there that we decided we shall go to Taiwan and visit Aibek after the NTU exams... =)

This was actually the 1st trip outside Singapore which I made on my own.. in the past, I either went with family, or with friends on expedition kinds of trips.. so it was really a cool experience for me.. it felt different la.. feels more independent, and you can really do things which YOU yourself like (unlike in a huge group there may be conflicts on where to go.. hehe) only slight problem is that you may not have someone to explain the places to you, you may have to resort to posing for your own photos to show you were there, and when you see something funny you can't just laugh out loud without people around you giving you weird stares.. but that aside, before this, travelling always seemed so difficult, cos must wait for others, must plan stuff etc. But hey I just realised how easy it is!! Just book a ticket, get some maps, take a plane and you're there!!

I think after this trip, I want to do more of such travelling... I dunno why but I've always been fascinated by all the amazing stuff outside tiny Singapore... and now, I've realised that it's not that difficult to go out there and see more.. Just need a bit more gung-ho attitude, a bit less kiasu and kiasee mentality, a bit more time to save money and off I go again...

maybe to China next... I wanna see Shaolin Temple and Great Wall... =)

P.S. for those who wanna see photos, here is a repeat announcement that they are on http://sharontan.mtphotoalbum.com

Day 5 in Taipei

My last day in Taiwan!! Flight is at 6pm so I had the morning and a bit of the afternoon to walk around somemore before going home.. Aibek and Jane went off to work so I was on my own again.. I went to Xi Men to meet Jing Wen, Sherina, Shin and Yi Cui for breakfast!! Yup, another AIESEC Singapore gang were in Taipei and they were with Sharol from Soo Chow LC.. we visited their campus and AIESEC office before heading off to the canteen for breakfast.. I had what I ate on the 1st day (it's called Dan4 Bing3 in chinese but I dunno its english name) again and the gang tried it too, it being their 1st morning in Taiwan.. Sherina was trying to take photos of everything and Sharol was quite embarrassed sometimes.. hahah.. quite entertaining..

Anyway, they were heading off to Taichung for a day and since I was on a more rushed schedule, I went off 1st and walked around Xi Men.. most shops were still closed so nothing much to see.. then I dropped off at Zhong Xiao Dun Hua which Jane said was something like Orchard Road.. well of course the buildings weren't as high (cos of earthquake danger) and not as fanciful as those here.. it wasn't really what I expected until I found the underground mall.. it's like our City Link Shopping Mall, just a lot longer.. =) it even links to another MRT station.. I got bored walking there after a while since I'm not much of a shopper and went aboveground.. found a street and alley with lots of eating places and tried the pork chop rice.. this dish is really common and everywhere I go I see stalls selling it.. so figured I might as well try it before I go.. quite tasty la.. hahah.. I think generally Taiwanese eat quite a lot of meat, since most of the roadside stalls I had seen sell meat dishes..



After that, I headed home to pack and get my luggage.. Jane had kindly passed me her keys so I wouldn't have to go around in the morning with all my luggage.. then it was off to Taipei Main Station, taking the express train back to CKS International Airport.. and it was as cold as the day I arrived.. -_-" I was early so I had to hang around.. then I noticed that the queue in front of the closed check-in counter was getting longer.. I wonder if it's a Singaporean thing or a Chinese thing.. so Kiasu.. hahahaha.. even when at the boarding gate people were so eager to board the plane.. The seats are already assigned so I was wondering why until I overhead this guy saying they should board quickly so that there will be enough space in the baggage compartment for their stuff.. kiasu-ism at work.. but looking at the amount of stuff people bought, I won't be surprised if they don't have space.. I think I was the only person carrying 1 backpack… everyone else has a few more bags of stuff bought in Taiwan.. shopping la.. so Singaporean =)



Anyway, this time back I was lucky enough to get a window seat and since it was evening the sun was still bright enough for photos.. the view was great, with clouds below and above us.. further below us, I could see the lights of Taiwan and the sprawling mountains and greenery.. then the most unlucky thing happened.. my digicam battery suddenly died!!! So ironic I thought.. just when I get a window seat and a perfect view the camera dies.. so I got thick-skinned and asked if the people beside me had any batteries to lend.. they must have thought I was weird but I don't care they had batteries so I could take my photos happily.. the plane had passed by the more perfect view but beggars for batteries can't be picky so I took whatever I could see.. My last view of Taiwan was thus my view from the plane.. See in the following shot, you can see part of the mountains sticking out among the layer of clouds.. cool huh?



And that.. is the story of my 5 days in Taipei.. =)

Day 4 in Taipei

Today is Sunday!! The day of the big trip out of Taipei City!! This time, we took one of the trains (the railway kind) to Kee Lung, which is where one of the ports of Taiwan is located.. right beside the Ocean also I think (I'm not too sure cos my chinese map says that's the East Sea) We didn't really see Kee Lung itself cos upon reaching we took the bus to Bi Sha Fish Port (I did the chinese to english translation cos my map speaks chinese) It's a small fishing port town famous for seafood and we saw lots of weird seafood at the fish market there.. crabs, lobsters, giant prawns, crayfishes, shark meat, huge whole fishes, sea urchins, fish roe, seaweed, squids, all sorts of clams and shellfish.. aside from the fish meat, most of the other sea creatures are sold alive so it's really really fresh.. we had a seafood dinner at one of the restaurants there.. Jane and I had to guess what the dishes were cos we weren't very sure what the chinese names of all those fishes were.. luckily what we ordered turned out quite decent.. hahaha..

After lunch, we took a boat to Kee Lung Island some 20 minutes away from the port.. after getting off at the island, we followed a guide as she brought us around.. unfortunately she was speaking Hokkien, so we only managed to figure out that the island used to be a naval port and was used by the Japanese when they occupied Taiwan.. today the island doesn't have its own source of water or electricity and I don't think it's really inhabited la.. lots of greenery, rocks, stones and other stuff you typically find on an undeveloped island =) you can see photos from Aibek's blog if you like.. he was climbing around taking photos..



When the tour ended, we waited (for quite a while) for the boat back to the port and then tried some SEAFOOD ICE CREAM.. yes the ice cream is made from seafood.. we tried 3 flavours: prawn, squid and seaweed.. the prawn one tasted like prawn paste that was cold and creamy.. Squid didn't taste very much like squid but it was gray cos they mixed in squid ink.. the seaweed tasted.. well seaweedy.. hahaha.. interesting huh?

After that we took a cab up to Jiu Fen, which used to be a gold mine town that has revived and is a popular and unique place to visit, since it rests on the mountainside.. we had to climb lots of stairs to get up but once there, the view is great.. you get to see Kee Lung Island and the port where we had come from.. in the distance, rolling misty mountains flanked by the sea completes the perfect scenary.. ahhh.. so nice.. =) the shops here sell nicer stuff too.. a lot of souvenirs made of wood and the food sold here is also different from that in the city.. the whole place has this old exotic feel as you walk along the sloping cobbly pavement with short squat shophouses lining both sides… I did most of my shopping here.. =) then we had dinner in a restaurant perched near the edge of the slope so we could enjoy the night view while eating..



But being more village than city, the shops starting closing at 8 plus or 9 plus and we had to rush to the bus stop in case we missed the last bus out.. the road down was very winding like Genting and quite dark and narrow at some places.. it's quite amazing how the driver could get us safely down.. we alighted at Rui Fang where we took the railway train back to Taipei again.. the train ride back was very funny cos we were sitting in the carriage with a local family and the kids were staring openly at the 3 of us.. probably because we were speaking English, because Aibek didn't look local and because we were taking photos of ourselves.. =)



What a day!! I thoroughly enjoyed everything =)