Monthly Archive

have i even mentioned that i don’t have money to buy textbooks yet? anyone wanna jointly-sponsor my education?

i only had two days of school to attend this week, and i’m already buried six feet deep. i’ve got the weekend to finish ploughing through 2cm thick of readings for a single tutorial. and that’s not even counting the tuition lessons i have, the other modules’ work and the fyp preparations i have to make for next week’s meeting.

die lah. how to survive the semester like that?

everything in ntu is the epitome of imbecility. from adminstration to logsitics. by administration i mean the way they deal with students. this is a very bad week for the school, cos i bet student dissatisfaction with the school has increased by 400% during this week.

first of all the add/drop session screwed up big time. their system screwed up and allowed students to log in one day earlier. then they realised their mistake and shut down the system again. then on the actual day it’s supposed to allow us to log in, they claimed that the network would be too congested and declared the starting hours to be postponed by 4 hours. *blood boil* we pay the increasing tuition fees for what. free one ah. give us such screwed up systems. if they know the network is going to be congested like every other semester, then make preparations for it lah~ it’s not as if this is gonna be the only time the network is gonna be congested. add/drop period screw up, even registration also screws up every semester.

then just yesterday they sent us another blood-boiling email. it doesn’t really concern me since i’m not doing a minor, but i empathise with those who are doing in their minors. two years ago when they gave us a briefing on this new system of general electives, they declared that if we choose to do a minor, we can just fulfil 15AUs worth and they’ll give us the remaining 1AU free. no strings attached. now they say cannot, even if you have 15AUs you need to exceed the minimum requirement, at least must get 16AUs. And they had the cheek to say, “We hope this message serves to clarify the message which may have been erroneously conveyed to you or possibly misinterpreted by some of you at a briefing on NTU’s Minor programmes conducted at the MLT sometime back when the university minor programmes were first rolled out for your co-hort. “

such insolence. everyone i asked vividly remembered my version of the story lor even before i prompted them. shows that everyone heard the same thing. itz either the speaker had a concussion or it just proves that the school is damn bloody screwed up and fickle-minded. in cases like these, who is the ultimate victim? the poor bloke who did a minor and probably sitting there shaking legs thinking he can have a pretty free timetable. now the poor bloke has to add/drop within this two weeks, find something that doesn’t clash with his entire timetable, increase his workload for the semester and worst of all, log into stars to add a subject.

even the transport system is damn cocked up. it’s becoming so bad there’s actually a black market transport system liao. i don’t even know if it’s approved by the school authorities (better if it isn’t, otherwise it may turn out to be less efficient) shiya and i were waiting at the bus stop around 8.30pm and we waited for about 15 to 20 minutes before the sbs 179 showed up. a single storey bus which so so damn crowded (thanks to the fantastic frequency) it passed by without picking up the people waiting at the bus stop. wait wait wait. still no bus. finally a plain white passenger van stopped at the bus stop. the friendly driver asked, “going to mrt station. 70 cents per trip. want to hop on?” we were like “huh?” but there was no time to going huh-ing and since the passengers did look pretty much like students and not crazy kidnappers we hopped on. tadah, we reached the mrt station quickly, without much fuss, had seats and everyone were happy.

if ntu has small little issues like that they can’t even solve, they’re doomed. no wonder no one wants to invest in ntu. smu and nus get those big-assed sums of donations and we, ntu just sit here on our bums waiting for our saviours to come along in those damned 179 buses.

by the way, i have dropped the elective on world politics and added malay lessons instead. wahahha. it’s a truly desperate measure on my part. but then at least i’ll be able to shop around in malaysia speaking some malay. those roadside fruit stalls, durian stalls and satay stalls in malaysia always have malays who cannot understand english. malay lessons would come into handy. but then the real reason is because i was very traumatised by the environment of the world politics class.

when we stepped into the class, there was silence. the awkard silence was just there throughout the entire hour i was there, minus the parts when the lecturer was speaking. the lecturer was a hitler in disguise lor. cannot do this, cannot do that. absent die die must have reason, during lessons cannot leave the lecture theatre. only got 2 breaks in between, cannot go out unless it’s an absolute emergency. even if we want to leave the class early during the break gotta tell her. i’m surprised we didn’t have to report to her if we wanted to go to the ladies. blah blah blah. and she talked as if she were giving a speech lor. a very nice and formal speech to the parliament.

the other students in the lecture were scary. sit there wanna show that they know a hell lot of world politics like that. there’s one which shiya and i still can’t figure out its gender. but that’s not important. anyway i impulsively decided to leave the class early during the break. defying the lecturer’s rules and regulation #158. but never mind, i dropped the module immediately after that and probably wouldn’t ever see her again. amen.

all in all, school is still less smelly than attachment.

first day photos:

oh yah, the poor seah fengyi is on mc for two weeks, which explains her absence in the photos. first day of school kana chicken pox. *flabbergasted* where got people so sway one. but i cannot laugh at her cos i’m scared of retribution. no fengyi in school no fun one. no one sitting next to me to suan, no unglam lunch moments, no one to scold me when i have evil thoughts. sigh.

this place serves pretty good food. nice garlic bread and nice chicken kebabs, which unfortunately came in *ahem* very creative presentations. the garlic bread (approx. more than a foot long) came standing in a erm….garlic bread stand? and ended up looking like a giant candlestick on the table. the kebab came hanging from an iron stand, but the nice waiter offered to un-kebab everything on my plate.

caution: this restaurant has very heavy chairs. very heavy cutlery.

i didn’t realise my picture host had credit limits till yesterday. gotta cut down on the hits per image. thus i shall learn from sharie the funky one and combine many pictures into a big-assed one!

*by the way, gotta share this! the previous post: mr teh tarik refers to an indian stall in far east square. their teh tarik is MUST try standard!! especially if you drink it immediately - don’t wait for the ice to melt!!

our crazy last day.

it’s not officially over till i get my pa report signed, supposedly arranged to be yesterday. but instead the back-to-office trip shall be postponed to coming week. but still, had a superb dinner with selina and jasminder at chijmes.

more photos to be posted up soon!

the school is damn bloody screwed up:

Remaining Vacancies During Add/Drop Period

All remaining vacancies for Unrestricted/General Electives will be made available to students during the Add/Drop period stipulated. Automatic approval is given if there are no timetable clashes for your choice of general elective.

they’re a bunch of dirty liars lor! i just checked the vacancies for the electives i applied for but did not get, and there’s a hell lot of vacancies available! yet they are not giving me my electives! and there’s no timetable clashes lor!

tamade. how the heck am i going to clear my ges this semester!

in case people who know me are wondering why there’s such a gloomy post prior to this while i appear perfectly fine in real life. itz cos i think it’s unfair the way i get affected when things happen around me. therefore i shall learn how to ignore these happenings. can’t let my world turn upside down everytime stuff like these happen.

retail therapy does help people forget things. including setting the handphone alarm so that i’d wake up in time for the seminar i was supposed to attend. bah!

i don’t understand how people can hurt others so easily without sparing a thought. especially when it’s those closest to them, who have brought them up for the past more than twenty years. it’s not just the financial support that we have to be grateful for, it’s the thoughts, the care and concern behind all those actions. why is it that people can be so blinded by short term frustrations and their own pride? there’s only a line the width of a strand of hair between pride and immaturity.

is it worth giving up the character that you were born with over small little matters, over people whom you’ve known for less than five years? if so, then what does the term family mean to you? especially so if you’ve once sworn you’d never be like this, and that you’ve reprimanded someone else for the exact same thing. why is it that people can change so much because of someone who’s not worth it?

i’m tired of hearing things like that. why can’t you give and take? we’ve taken so much, can’t you give a little back in return? is it too much to ask for? i’m tired, i’m disappointed, i don’t wanna be affected by this, i don’t wanna end up like you. i don’t wanna end up hurting people who’s the closest to me, who i have to thank for my presence and all the things i have.

yet i am in no position to give you a piece of my mind, because i’ve done them wrong too.

i wish i had spent more time interacting and keeping in contact with my ex-classmates. man, i really miss a lot of them nowadays.

it’s not as if kids are irritating enough. tv makes them worse.

yesterday, heard from somebody her niece (or was it a cousin) has turned into a morbid little monster. apparently the parents of the little monster were showing her photos of her late grandparents. cos the kid probably wouldn’t have understood the term “passed away”, the parents explained to her that her grandparents were dead. the kid innocently asked, “who killed them?”

the parents replied that no, nobody killed her grandparents. the kid then asked, “then how come they died?”

next scenario, again heard from the same person. the little monster (dunno whether it’s the same kid or not) was attending her grandparent’s funeral. so during one of the rituals the descendents were sobbing and wailing. the kid commented, “don’t cry so hard lah, not that many people died mah. there’s only one dead person.”

gosh, if i ever have kids i’m gonna make sure they watch kid-friendly shows. winnie-the-pooh, sesame street, disney, stuff like these. not even barney the ugly purple monster.

this was supposed to be posted last weekend, right after qiuling’s birthday on friday. but due to technical errors and logistical problems (of the camera cables), it’s been delayed for one week. for photo-hungry people like tracy, enjoy *exclamation mark* minimal shots of me, cos i really think i look hideous in photos.*8th july 2005, friday - qiuling’s birthday*

1. thursday afternoon - the scheming me decided to con her. out of boredom and pity (having to spend her 21st at the booth) i decided she would have many surprises. so i asked her if she would be angry if i got her a butterfly (or moth) specimen for her birthday. she got very annoyed.

qiuling is VERY scared of moths and butterflies cos of some stupid channel 8 drama she watched when she was a kid. and there’s an abundance of moths around the booth. she screamed every other day while we were there.

2. friday morning- i gave her part I of her presents. a photo frame from Prints and a nice card. she was pleasantly surprised and relieved (very relieved) that it wasn’t a scary butterfly specimen. here’s her relieved and happy look. plus the “heart melt” look after reading the card. the gullible gal totally let her guard down.

3. friday late morning - by a stroke of luck my supervisor asked me to go back to the office to pick up some stuff. so i bought ql her favourite favourite bah chor mee. she’s a sucker for this bah chor mee. but being the friend-and-a-half i was, i forgot to tell the bah chor mee guy to leave out the pig’s liver and the spring onions.

4. friday post-lunch hours - got baomu to distract the very gullible ql while i picked up the nutella cake from polar. and she gave a very dumb look, like she simply could not link her birthday, birthday cake, HER birthday cake together. lol. arrival of vips selina and jasminder.

selina and ql like taking photos very, very much.

5. friday post-cake - handed her a thin parcel wrapped in ugly newspaper as i conveniently forgot to get wrapping paper. asked her again if she would really really be scared of dead butterflies or moths. she had this totally reluctant look when accepting the present and opening it. the dumb gal even asked me if it was very colourful and i went “yes, yes, it’s very colourful”. dunno why she so dumb also.

she tried to take photos of her matching pants and file. and insisted that her arms wouldn’t appear on the photos. so there was this photo where she lifted her arms and her armpit was on the photo, as if she was airing her armpits. lol. she threatened me and demanded that i do not post that photo. of course i’d do anything to post that photo, but then i’ve accidentally deleted that photo and that very photo’s in her memory card. damn.

she whacked me like crazy when she saw the shades of pink. bought her this folder cos this auntie wouldn’t bear to spend 16 bucks on a folder. and she likes my brown one, so i got her an ugly pink one. lol. now we, the best attachment mates, have matching files *exclamation mark* and she has pants to match her file too. lol.

another card for the birthday gal.

many surprises in a day maketh a happy gal *exclamation mark*

no more surprises liao. and depressingly, i have to admit that we are bonded for life, whether i like it or not. cos we spent our 21st birthdays with each other. and this gal bought me a mini mini cooper for my birthday *exclamation mark* and brought me to nydc for lunch *exclamation mark* and she got the waiter to bring a slice of their yummy cake with a candle on it, which i accidentally blew out cos i was laughing so hard.

photos:

there’s more photos of her than me.

the mole near my eyebrow seems to be growing larger. and my nose probably has 2kg of flesh hanging there.

i swear we stopped harrassing the giraffe alone after this photo. i was so suprised there was a giraffe at the table we were sitting at and decided that giraffes would be my birthday mascot cos i wore a giraffe t-shirt on my birthday. so of course must take photos with the giraffe what.

i am getting very bad at describing events and stories. either it’s the influence of weiwei or simply cos i’ve not been practising. die liao. i’m becoming a super-boring-and-not-photogenic-person.

by the way, ATTACHMENT HAS ENDED FOR ME *exclamation exclamation mark* i never felt this happy for a long time. more photos will be up, when i get the cables from wenwen next week.

thanks to the rich wenwen who’s buying a new camera, i’m getting her old one for a low price!! patience, patience to all who wants photos of my spiky hair and greasy face. the cable’s still with her due to my impulse decision to get it from her on thursday. i will get it coming week and then upload it soon. soon. relatively soon.

i’m stuck with a 16mb memory card for the time being, which allows me to store a ridiculously small number of photos. wait till i get my hands on a memory card with more space. at low prices. now lemme think about the second part. how to achieve that ah?

have i already mentioned that this coming week’s gonna be my last week of attachment!! man, i’m gonna celebrate like there’s no tomorrow! ha! no more irritating boss, no more boring-sit-there-and-kill-mosquito-booth, no more telemarketing, no more spamming!! gosh, five more days, five more days, five more days!

i dunno how i should treat my dear little desktop anymore. it’s passed the phase of “restart-ten-times-and-work-only-once” phase. now it’s into short-term memory. all the personal settings i had for my account has gone missing. itz back to the ugly blue taskbar and the hideous windows default wallpaper. hideous, hideous *exclamation mark* (did i even mention that the exclamation mark’s not working again)

it’s such a chore signing on to msn too. cos each time i try and save the personal settings the computer just doesn’t remember it the next time i switch it on. so i have to start from scratch personalising everything.

yawn.

can’t be bothered with modern technology anymore. it disgusts me.

excuse me, i shall go to sleep instead.

i am SO looking forward to the end of attachment. 10 more days. 10 more tiring days, when i have to wake up at about 4.30am so that i can arrive at raffles place at 7am daily. the only comfort is that i’ll be out of the office, out of the boss’ sight, working with my friends, and being able to slack for half the day. my boss is ultimately irritating. even though i do agree with the fact that he has done much within these few years, he is still incredibly irritating.

to prepare the stuff for the 10 day event, almost everyone in the office was roped in to cut stickers and paste them on some catalogues. at least most of the people who helped us out were nice about it and we could actually converse with them. such a miracle. and i was extremely amused to discover all the underlying dislike they have for the boss. it’s really quite interesting. to think that the boss had to add sarcastic remarks.

cos initially we ql and i were intending to prepare 60,000 copies of flyers to be given out. of cos we assumed that they were willing to spend some money printing some flyers. but then someone (forgot who) suggested printing stickers to paste on the leftover catalogues instead. and they did it in-house. all the printing, cutting and pasting. so we did about 2,100 of that in slightly more than a day. the boss who only helped (he was really quite dumb at it) with a few of it, actually asked me “so that time you were saying you wanted 50,000 right? now you know what it’s like. 50,000 - gotta be kidding!” and it said it in a 100% sarcastic tone.

BLOODY HELL.

i didn’t do it to waste money lor! it was purely for the sake of getting publicity for the event what! what the heck! he thinks i enjoy giving out flyers a lot ah! i could have always suggested giving out only 1,000 copies in 10 days then i’ll be sitting there doing nothing what! he thinks i like running around giving out flyers a lot ah! and who was he to complain about the work when he only did a few copies?! so damn smart aleck some more, broke the penknife in the wrong direction.

damn bloody pissed with this kind of arrogant people.

but then again, i’m the kind of person who wouldn’t be affected by the things said by people i don’t like. since i don’t like them, it means my views differ from them. therefore i still think i’m right. of course i’ll remember what he said for a long long time and detest him for that (i’m notorious for bearing grudges). but then i shall continue to live a good life after attachment and wait for his company to crumple under his incompetency and sorry leadership qualities.

i just got my tuition fees today! plus my pay cheque! and the angpow money from my birthday! wah lau eh, i feel like a millionaire!! but then i know i gotta be rational and stop spending so much. gotta save up for pocket money next semester! before i start saving up cos i have a deal with wenwen, i will be going for a manicure and pedicure with the llama and buying two chokers i really like from our neighbouring-stall-to-be. wenwen’s gonna kill me for this, but i think i really have no other expenditures after this! apart from my phone bill and erm, nothing else, i guess. i swear i do see the importance of saving!!

excuse me while i go enjoy the jiu wu zhi zun vcds i borrowed from ql’s friend. shall burn a copy of it soon. and i know some other people wanna watch it too! but be patient lah, today’s been a tiring day. maybe i’ll do it tomorrow. maybe.

wahahahahaha.