Random Recollection Series 2005/Part 12

(1) A Monday night, I returned just to realize my internet connection was down. I think I stared at the monitor for quite a moment, contemplating what would be the best next course of action. At that moment, I was brought to realize I can be so IT-reliant (albeit, I say I'm quite an IT-idiot). It's a fact that I know nothing much about computer. I only use it for simple things. Simple things like connecting with pals, listening to music, browsing the net for leisure and knowledge, and work.. Ha.. simple things are important to me, then. :)
Anyway, the problem was fixed in about 15 min.

(2) On Wednesday, I actually covered a mileage of more than 150km. This is about 3 times above the average mileage per day (suggested here). To get a feel of how far 150km is.. erm.. okay, that's about three-quarter of the entire length of coastline in Singapore.

(3) Unbelievably, my degrees are still escalating (not much, though). Haiz.. I am referring to my condition of myopia and astigmatism.

(4) I was talking to one of my *little pals on the phone. In the midst of the conversation, I noticed my handphone pouch was empty. While still talking over the phone, I began to search for my handphone at the same time in my room. I didn't see it anywhere. Then, I was confused and panicked a little. I just came home not too long ago, could I left it elsewhere outside?
Another thought raced through my mind : I thought I had to end the conversation on the phone to concentrate my effort in the search. Erm.. Only to realize "the phone" I used to converse then = "my handphone". Kaoz! I can be that blur.

(5) Took a little trip along Orchard Road. Mm.. I feel that the festive lightings this year are rather disappointing. Did I miss any nice ones?

(6) I recalled some weeks ago, when I entered a classroom, the white board was sprinkled with many words. I asked one of the *little pals to prepare the board. One particular big bold word right at the end of the right corner was spared in the cleansing. It caught the attention of quite many, and apparently no one in the class know the meaning of that word and was starting to ask each other. That word is "Aphrodisiac".
有影无??!! Oh yes, I was a little surprised when I learnt that there were at least two English debaters in the class.

(7) It is certainly very heart-warming to be given a book : "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and a VCD - Korean Movie : "A Moment to Remember" for reason as simple as s3p thinks they are really nice and really want to share with his friends. Sincerity is priceless.

Movie Offers ...

Isn't it nice to note that OCBC Credit Cards offer 10% discount to tickets at Cathay Cineplexes and HSBC Credit Cards offer $1 off per ticket at Golden Village Cineplexes. Wow! This is certainly the season for catching some good movies at a cinema!

Okay, I'd watched
- Harry Potter and the Globet of Fire, and
- Just Like Heaven.
Mm.. What's next? Hehe..

Just Like Heaven :
Although the review for it wasn't that fantastic, I find the story simple and nice. The kind of "romantism" demonstrated isn't the usually kind we always see, and yet it is so moving. Ha.. It's a kind of show that will leave a sweet after-taste. Here will tell you more.
By the way, thanks to s3p for the effort in securing the tickets and the company.

Harry Potter and the Globet of Fire :
I think
- the smartness of Hermione is downplayed,
- Triwizard Tournament could be more grand,
- Lord Voldemort could be more devilish, ...
Nevertheless it's pretty enjoyable. See here for yourself.

As-a-matter-of-factly, I am not that much of a cinema-goer. Although I fully understand the vast difference in watching a show in the cinema and watching it at home, yet I hardly initiate any plan of an outing with friends to watch a movie in cinema. Each and every time, I was asked to join in, by friends. Haha.. I am so weird.

I think there is only one kind of gathering I ever initiate. Mm.. It is the kind that involves food. Yup, and only occasionally. :P

My (Injured) Canon A80

My camera was on a "trip", passing from one hand to another. Aiya.. That means I lent it to my friends, one after another.

This evening, when it was finally returned to me, I was glad as I have some planned "missions" for it. But to my little little dismay, it was injured.

Just take a look at it.

Can you see the injury? Haha.. The angle is biased and the injury becomes not that obvious. Don't blame yourself if you couldn't detect it. :P
Now, let's take a look at another picture of it, taken from another "cruel" angle.

See! I can't even open up the cover to access the CF Card. Someone had dropped it hard enough such that the metal ring becomes bended and acts as a natural stopper for the cover. A faint crack line is also observed on the body frame around the base of that metal ring. Mm..

Who has dropped it? They all claimed that they didn't notice any such impact. Okay, their puzzled looks were convincing enough. I wasn't out to hunt down the culprit and/or to demand whatever, anyway. I don't have the heart to, as they are my friends. Knowing that I am such a careless person, it might be the situation that even before I passed the camera to them, the camera was already injured.

I would be lying to myself, if I say I don't feel a thing for the camera.
- It was recommended by a pal.
- Another pal bought it for me, together with his, for a "group discount".
- I took the trouble to get a decent charger for the batteries.
- It took me quite a while to get used to it and finally I somewhat did.
- It accompanied me to many journeys and capture parts of my memories, etc.

But, I really can't bring myself to blame anyone. Firstly, anyone who did it, didn't do it on purpose. Everyone can be careless. Right? Secondly, simply because they are my friends and I know them too well and have always trusted them. Material stuff.. bah!...

Come to think about it, when it comes to such material stuff, I tend to let go quite easily. Ha.. The butt-dent was another incident, wasn't it? Oh, I now recall another incident. My new car was literally dragged for about 10km, with its handbrake applied. I was not the driver, but I was in the car too. Haha.. I even finds it funny when we (the driver and me) tried to play detective to identify
- the reason for the lack of power of the car throughout the journey (got extra drag mah), and
- the source of the almost pungent smell, due to the burnt brake-pad, I supposed.

All these instances allow me to explore myself, in a way. Yes, I can't bluff through my teeth, I admit that I do feel for my "materialistic lost", but only momentarily and I hope I'm reassuring enough that I don't blame anyone. I know what matters to me more/most.

All the best everyone!
Special thanks to all readers, reading till this far. :)

I'm Geared..

A little surprised that the picture of my shoe can be grabbed from the net.

I'm geared. And this time is for real, I hope.
It is a small matter actually.

This evening, I went for a jog and I covered 5.6km. Wow! I ought to give myself a pat on the shoulder. Firstly, for making the effort to go jogging (finally), and secondly, for covering that unimaginable distance. I have to admit, when come to physical fitness training, my discipline (the lack of it) is unmatchable.

Heh.. now my legs don't feel as if they belong to me.

A Morning @ Changi Airport

It was barely 6 am but the airport is already buzzing with life. Not surprisingly actually.. heh... I am talking about an internationally well-acclaimed airport here. I don't expect less. I was there just watching / observing while waiting for the arrival of some friends from overseas. Noticeably, the temperature is cooler and people appeared to be less hurried (implies more friendly). I quite like it.

I have always enjoyed seeing a good mix of people from everywhere around the globe. Many were speaking in languages I could hardly comprehend. I am not eavesdropping. They were nearby and were talking pretty excitedly. Perhaps, that's why I like airport (in general). I am never bored during transit, waiting for my departure or waiting for someone's arrival.

Just to add on a little :

@ Departure Hall :
准配去他国度假的人，脸上写的是开心。话也似乎比较多一些。
来本国度了假的异国同胞，表情稍微沉静一点。是玩累了吧，我想。
来送机的朋友，应该都是真心来给予祝福的。我也看了有好多依依不舍、
情人¹之间的拥抱、泪别的画面。

@ Arrival Hall :
回国的朋友，脸上写的是快乐也微带倦意。但疲惫中也露出了丝丝满足。
来本国度假的异国同胞，脸上写的是期待亦含一种渴望。我也希望新加坡不会让他们失望。
来接机的亲朋好友，看到了所等的人，那一种喜悦我不必阐述吧？哈哈。。

Okay, I was only a little early and only saw/felt that much. My friends had arrived (only at 7:30am, ha.. I saw them physically) and I got to "re-focus" on my next role. :)

- - - -
¹ 情人乃有情之人。此情亦可指朋友之间的友谊、母子之间的关爱、兄弟之间的手足情深、情侣之间的累世情缘、等等。

A Lesson for Me ...

Someone reminded me . . .

问题之所以让你看见、让你察觉，不是你的高明、你的智慧，而是你的责任、你的义务。

在引导方面，尽量多给予正面的鼓励；正面的鼓励不是宠坏他、不是称赞他，而是多鼓励他，减少批评与指责。
例 如：你面对着一位长年吸烟的人，吸烟的人难道比别 人还不知道自己吸烟的害处吗？而今你要他戒烟，一直在他面前说不可以，要他马上改正，这个人是绝对戒不了烟瘾的。如果换个方式，你勉励他戒严的同时，介绍 他嚼口香糖或吃糖果，是不是比较容易引导别人改进呢？所以正面的鼓励是很重要的，不要只在别人的不好、缺点处一再批评，这不叫做领导、引导别人。这叫做虐 待别人。

用你最真实的一面去面对这不同的人就好，不必要在自己的脸上涂粉，或者换上不同的衣服来装饰自己。过度的装饰，总是丧失了本质；而经过美容的言语，往往扭曲了愿意。

- - - - -
I just feel like writing it down to remind myself. It's indeed a humbling life-long learning journey for me.

Kent Ridge Park Revisited..

I learnt that the park I mentioned a few days ago is known as Kent Ridge Park. I actually returned to it tonight with a pal. I would say the view there at night is just as wonderful. The calmness felt during night time at such altitude¹ was quite an experience altogether.

In the calmness of the night, we were standing at the peak of the park, feeling the touch of the fresher breeze, looking at the sea of glittering lights of the city far below. That was plain cool!

It was only on our way down from the park, I recalled an event happened so many years back in 1992. This was the very park I came as a freshman together with so many freshies during one of the orientation programme by Sheares Hall!! We had some kind of night programmes and we were supposed to reach the peak before sunrise. Yes, we were supposed to rush there to witness sunrise as a little treat for us.

It was (is) such an interesting feeling that those fond memories flooded my mind in torrents. How could I miss this fact last Saturday? Heh.. Of course, the park is rather big and I was at a different section last Saturday.

Believe me, the park is a great place to see sunrise. I'm sure I will be back there again, one morning, early enough to see the sunrise. :)

- - - - -
¹ Kent Ridge Park must be located at a reasonable height. Right?

Random Recollection Series 2005/Part 11

(1) I need to be "reminded" that I have got an external DVD burner. Erps .. Or rather, J has just returned it to me. I could have easily forgotten that I bought it once upon a time. Haha.. That's how sotong I can be. I think I can only remember when I really need it. Oh dear, come to think about it, that means I don't really need it? Never mind, at least someone has made good use of it (at least once). Mm... Of course, I wouldn't mind to lend whoever that needs it. :)

(2) My second Yahoo Auction sale successfully closed on 14/11/05. Ha.. Just about 3 days apart from my first sale. Not bad. The idea of conquering one more IT-barrier is pretty exciting, I feel.

(3) There are software(s) to handle MSN, ICQ, ++ together. Somehow, I still prefer to operate ICQ and MSN separately. I don't quite like the changeable-nick part of MSN. Is it due to my inflexibility? Ha.. I admit it can be quite fun, but I simply can't follow well which nick belongs to who. Okay, the limitation is mine. I actually quite like the oh-ooh tone of ICQ (which will be missing if I were to use that software). Oh, and the fact that I can leave a message in ICQ even while the recipient is in offline status, is kind of cool.

（4） We were in a classroom having a gathering-of-sort. We took quite a lot of pictures using digital camera. One *little pal was looking at the pictures taken of me, zoomed in... and exclaimed, "You are so humorous and... blah blah blah (*ahem.. shy to mention everything here lah) and I don't understand why you are still single." Some other *little pals who were just beside were nodding in agreement. Erps.. Is that supposed to be a compliment? Haha.. Coming of age, I find it a little difficult to accept such compliment graciously nowadays. I accepted it anyway. :P

(5) I "performed" again. Ha.. Just a simple tune I hummed along to quite a crowd. Kena sabo lah. Hey, but this time round, offers rolled in. Haha.. Not that kind of commercial offers that will transform me to become a super star la.
Just friends coming up offering
. - kind compliments,
. - opportunities to sing duet with them,
. - invitations to go KTV with them.
Erm.. But I don't quite like my singing that much leh. I prefer listening to the younger ones who were much more lively and entertaining. Nevertheless, I thanked them for their offers and I really did it from the bottom of my heart. It's their sincerity that I can feel and this is the key factor to make the world a more gracious place to live in, I supposed.

(6) Try reading a week's newspaper at a go. Ha.. My schedule has been that kind of pack lately and I don't even have enough time to read the newspaper. After posting this, I shall happily bury myself with the newspaperS. :)

Learning Journey : Bukit Chandu - - -

Reflections at Bukit Chandu : I wonder if this is new to you. It was new to me unit today (a Saturday morning). This is a WWII interpretative centre commemorating the gallantry and sacrifice of men of the 1st and 2nd Batalion Malay Regiment who defended the western sector of Singapore in February 1942. The end of the battle there, more or less marked the beginning of the Japanese Occupation.. argg..

I'm not so much into history. But the little bit of Singapore history captured there is rather well presented, I must say. Okay, rather standard museum like stuff. But.. ha.. technology allows some fanciful display. There is a canopy walk near by. It is quite a decent long stretch of stable walk path constructed tall and high, and we were literally walking almost on the canopy. What a feeling! That stretch of walk path leads to a park. Mm.. the serenity there is unlike other park I have seen. Cool.

A simple lunch with some *little pals after which, was quite interesting too. Oh.. since no one in particular was rushing for time, I drove them around for some sight-seeing. Haha.. judging from their expression/reaction, bet they will return to those sites again. One commented, "You are so different. You drive *little pals around and have meals together." . . .
Mm.. different meh? Don't know lah.

Since they were mostly staying around the north, I sent them back. The last one even wanted to invite me up for a cup of drink. Erm.. I don't mind actually, but I was rushing for another appointment. I got to turn down the kind invitation. Next time... next time... :)

It is supposed to be a learning journey. I should be learning more about the making of Singapore. Okay, I did. It's certainly more interesting that I've learnt to understand my *little pals better. It was a rather tiring day, no doubt. But I think it's lovely and pretty memorable.

Silly me, should have brought my Canon A80 along. Heh..

无情中的有情

I see that the queue is so long. The people in the queue are waiting for hope. These people I'm talking about are the *little pals and most of them are with their parents. They are queuing up to appeal to the authority to reverse the "verdict" passed.

The repeats don't want to waste one more year. Nobody wants to, anyway. They promise heaven and earth that they will work very very hard if given a chance to be advanced. They come up with many reasons why they had missed a bit and implore the authority to give them a second chance.

The superannuated felt even more lost. Some even blame the college for being so heartless. So heartless to just kick them out, despite the loyalty demonstrated throughout their 2 year stay with her.

The passing mark is indeed artificially drawn. If it was drawn at 50, those getting 48 and 49 will feel the pinch ; if it was drawn at 45, those getting 43 and 44 will feel just as miserable. Other country may even set their passing mark at 60. Mm.. So what do we mean by we had missed a bit?
We asked for a second chance. Mm.. not that I am siding with the authority, we are already given plenty. I am afraid the scores for our CAs are indicators enough for us to work hard or else.
In general, with a weak foundation in year 1, what can we expect to get (finally) at the actual A Level Examination. Besides, everyone agrees that there are plenty overlap of material between the year 1 syllabus and 0 Level material, while year 2 material is going to be rather different.

The feeling of those being superannuated is definitely no good. Still, I don't think it's fine to say we are being kicked out. We are here, chosen this path to achieve a goal-of-sort. This is already a second year we are at year 1 level, for a 2 year course. Yet the results.... mm.. Isn't it an indication that this path is not suitable for us? If for some more humane reasons, we are being advanced to the second year based on such far below border-line results, what makes us feel we will eventually make it good enough at A Level Exam? Will we be eventually wasting 3 years instead? Wouldn't it be better to release you earlier to allow you to explore more suitable alternatives?

Okay, some statistics : this year, the year 2 levels have 108 *little pals not getting a single A Level pass in their Preliminary Examination. What kind of result will they be getting in the A Level Exam? Most of these 108 *little pals are the ones who were advanced to year 2 or had gotten borderline pass during their year 1 end-of-year exam. This stresses the importance of a strong foundation.

Hence,
... Is allowing a *little pal who is supposed to be superannuated, to be advanced, being more cruel in reality, but just seemingly more compassionate on the surface?
... Is letting a *little pal who has failed, to repeat, is much like giving another (certainly not the second) chance to re-live their lifes?

Examination indeed can be so harsh. The axing can be so 无情. Yet, we can't deny it's for the good of the *little pals concerned, to a certain degree. Can I say this is 有情 ?

I also hope everyone can be promoted.
I am reminded by stark reality : some people need more time.