naked run!

Just saw an article on MSN news that I had to blog about!

Students from the University of the Philippines recently organised a naked run! Haha.. Apparently their naked run has some political messages - they are protesting against extending President Arroyo's term in office.

Since I saw the naked mile run on American Pie, I have always wanted to organise one in NUS. Somehow or another, I think NUS would not be pleased about the publicity it will receive. Anyhow, I think the students themselves are too conservative to want to participate. Living in Singapore is wayyyyy boring........ Imagine holding a naked run and protesting against government policies. Now that would be sending a message.

The University of the Philippines holds their naked run annually(!!!). Can you believe it's an annual thing?!?! When will this happen to NUS!?!? I might go join them one of these years lol

master of puppets!

Been a break week for me. Finally had the time to lock myself at home and just do my own stuff. I managed to land my hands on two games recently thanks to Zijian. They are both updated versions of my all-time fav classics! Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Sid Meier's Colonization!

I first played Colonization way back in 1994 when my Godpa got me the game from the States. I think not much people in Singapore play this game. The common one people play is the more popular Civilization (yes, they are different games). Unlike Civilization, Colonization takes place from the year 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World (modern day North and South America) and sparked off the Age of Discovery, to the American War of Independence. You're basically in charge of the expedition and the aim is the win the war. But somehow or another, I always skew towards accumulating wealth instead. The updated version uses the Civ4 game engine which is freakin slow on my lappy because of the graphics. Nevertheless, it is GREAT to be playing the game again after such a long time!

For RTK, the last one I played was RTK4: Wall of Fire, the Sega Saturn version. The one I'm playing now is RTK11. 7 versions difference, around 10 years apart and thousands of changes to adapt to. It took me more than 72 hours of clocked gaming time to complete a single scenario at beginner level. I'm imagining how long it will take me to complete the advanced level. RTK is based on the classic Chinese novel. It is through this game that I started to read more on Chinese history. Previously, I read a lot on American history because of playing Colonization. I think I should visit the important sites of the Three Kingdoms at least once in my life. Places to visit: Cheng Du (capital of Shu), the Stone Sentinel Maze near Baidicheng (created by Zhuge Liang around 200+AD but rumour has it that the maze still trapped the soldiers of Kuomintang when they were fleeing the People's Liberation Army in 1949), the site of the Battle of Chi Bi, and many more but I need to do research on before coming up with the itinery.

Hm.. I don't know why but I've always been more interested in playing empire building games. I'm not so much the CS or Dota playing type. Heck, I've played C&C, WarCraft and StarCraft but nothing, and I mean nothing, comes close to the enjoyment of RTK or Colonization (or even Civilization for that matter). Even business simulation games like Capitalism are more interesting to me.

Ah well, time to get out of my hermit life again soon. Lots of friends to catch up with over the holidays. Not to mention I got the Union Trip coming up in Jan. We'll be visiting 4 cities in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane) from 2 Jan to 11 Jan.

But first, it's that time of the year again. Yup! Christmas and New Year is here (again.. and so fast too). Happy holidays everyone!

10% Storewide Sale!

Duchess Bags is having a 10% storewide sale!!

Although the 10% is not applicable to items listed on the Year End Sale, anything and everything else that is available on the Duchess and Coach websites are entitled to the 10% off so what are you waiting for?!?

The sale in on from now till 11 Dec 2359 hrs so hurry and place your order NOW!

Visit duchessbags.blogspot.com!

Exams are OVER!!!!

EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!!!!

Another semester down. Hopefully the results will be good but I'm hoping against hope because my last paper was damn chui. Super hard la the QM paper. I thought we had to do financial investment calculations. Kept checking the cover to see whether I was sitting for the right paper. But anyways it's over so there ain't nothing I can do and I ain't gonna keep thinking about it.

Was a really crazy week for me last week. Moving house, 3 exam papers and BOD results all in 5 days! It was really weird on Wednesday because I left Normanton for the exams but went back to Bukit Panjang after. Kinda disoriented. Somemore did some unpacking inbetween papers. Couldn't really concentrate on the exams proper.

Results for the BOD case is out. Was wondering why did they choose to release the results during the exams and set the deadline for the appeal also during the exams. Tactic by the school to discourage appeals? Hmm... Moreover, I really wonder just how considerate can these people get. I mean, they are the university admin staff. Can they possibly not know that this is our exam period. Releasing the results during the exams and distracting us like this. Trying to force us to retain one semester so they can earn more school fees? Hmm...

Anyway I gotta run. Exams are over but the new house is still in a mess. Going to buy some curtains now and continue unpacking the house later.

Finanical Crisis..

It looks like the financial crisis has finally overflowed into the economy. Althought there was wide spread talk of the crisis, it was contained to mostly financial firms for the past few months. Right now, in what is a sure sign of the spillover, the "Big Three" carmakers in the US are appealing for government bailout.

It seems this financial crisis is going to overshadow the Asian economic crisis in 1998. And it's exactly 10 years on. Talk about financial cycles. Job cuts have been creeping into the news lately too. DBS have started slashing 900 jobs, Citigroup is cutting a near-record 50,000 jobs worldwide. It is predicted that this will get worse going into 2009. I'm still a student but I can feel the fear in the air. This crisis is bringing back memories of 1998. Things were really bad then and I can't imagine it is going to be worse next year.

Already, the STI has free-falled to 1,665 points, that's more than half it's value slashed from early last year. I remember reading in the papers then that analysts were saying it would breach the 4,000 mark by this year. In just one year, things have changed so drastically.

But admist all the gloom and doom, there is always good news. Especially for the uninvested. Now is a good time to start picking up stocks. Of course, do the due calculations first and pick up the discounts. There is always some people who would say that the stocks will continue to fall. But if you are already buying at a (huge) discount, what's there to fuss about? The stock market is awash with prizes now. Certainly wished I had the capital to pick some up. Well, anybody out there wants to invest in my mutual fund?

Meetings!

Here's my list of meetings and project submission for the past one week:

Sat 8/11
- NUSSU Council Meeting @ BTC

Mon 10/11
- Meeting with SDE Dean and Heads of Department
- Meeting with faculty admin and year reps
- NUSSU Council meeting with NUS President and senior admin

Wed 12/11
- Prof Com project submission

Thur 13/11
- Board of Undergraduate Studies meeting

Fri 14/11
- RE Econs project submission
- QM project submission

There you have it! 5 meetings and 3 project submission in one week and my exams is starting just.. next week!! Can't believe I went through this week already. There was actually another meeting on Thurs with President Nathan but he went down with flu so his visit to SDE has been re-scheduled. Lucky, cause it would have clashed with the Board of Undergraduate Studies meeting.

What's with so many meetings you say? Well lots of issues are discussed during the meetings regarding the direction of the Union and the University or the students and the faculty, depending really on which level the meetings are at. Most of the NUSSU meetings are at university level where we will discuss changes, policies and direction for the entire NUS student body while most of the faculty meetings affect only students and happenings within SDE.

It's been a real eye-opener for me thus far. Being a student leader has given me so much more perspective on student activities. But it has also taken up much of my personal time. I need to start concentrating on studying and mugging for the exams right now.

Can you believe they wanted to schedule a meeting on the day just before my second paper?!? Like smack in the middle of the exams!? Luckily I managed to push that meeting back to a day after my last paper. Otherwise I would be so distracted. Not to menton I'm moving house mid-way during the exams.....

Well now that there's no more meetings and the projects are all done... TIME TO MUG MUG MUG!!!

YES to Singapore Textbooks!

Seems like I'm reverting back to a words-only blog. Too lazy to save and upload pictures these days cause it's just too damned time consuming.

I was reading my textbooks yesterday and I realised that almost every single textbook we use in NUS are textbooks written by American authors. It's pretty frustrating cause all their examples, writing style and train of thought are American. Like why do I care about the demographics of Ohio or Minneapolis?!? True they are only trying to illustrate examples but I'm pretty sure I would be able to understand better if it was in the Singapore context.

Perhaps this is one way in which America is spreading their culture. Students learn so much about America during their studies that America becomes like a 'promised land' and we take this mentality out into society.

I say Singaporean should study textbooks that are written by Singaporean professors, with a Singaporean style and in a Singaporean context!! I've have enough of trying to understand what it's like in America, having to put all the examples in the context of American society. Do American students have to do that? No, they don't have a clue about what's happening with the rest of the world!

Say YES to Singaporean textbooks!!!!!

Personality Test

Saw a personality test on Kelly's blog so I decided to take it. Here's what it says about me:

Reliable Realist (RR)
Reliable Realists are down-to-earth and responsible-minded. They are precise, reserved and demanding. Their most prominent quality is reliability and they will always make every effort to keep any promise given. Reliable Realists are more quiet and serious persons, they do not talk a lot but they are good listeners. They sometimes seem reserved and distant to outsiders although they often have a great deal of wit and esprit. Their strong points are thoroughness, a marked sense of justice, doggedness bordering on pigheadedness and a pragmatic, vigorous and purposeful manner. Reliable Realists do not dither about if something has to be done. They do what is necessary without wasting words.

This personality type not only expects a lot of himself but also of others. Once Reliable Realists have set their mind on something, it is difficult to persuade them otherwise. They do not like to leave anything to chance. Planning means safety to Reliable Realists, as well as order and discipline. They have no problem respecting authorities and hierarchies but do not like to delegate tasks. They are certain that others would not deal with them as conscientiously as they do. In management positions, they are very task-oriented - they make sure that things are well done; however, they do not have a great deal of interest in personal contacts at work.

In relationships too, Reliable Realists are reliability itself. As partners, they are faithful and consistent, well-balanced and sensible. Security and stability are very important to them. They have little time for extravagances and flightiness. Whoever has them as friend or partner can rely on them for a lifetime. However, it takes quite a while for Reliable Realists to enter into a relationship or friendship. They have little need for social contacts; they therefore take great care when choosing partners and friends and limit themselves to a small but exclusive circle which meets their high demands. They tend to show their closeness to people who are important to them by deeds - their partner should rather not expect romantic declarations of love.

Well, I felt that it was not really accurate. Maybe around 50% true or so...... What do you guys think? Oh yeah, the test is available on http://ipersonic.com/ if you wana take it.

Duchess Bags is having its 2008 Year End Sale!

Crazy prices slashes of up to 40% off the Singapore retail prices for Coach bags!

Check it out at duchessbags-promos.blogspot.com!

PS. Please place your orders before 1 Dec to get it on time for Christmas!

Long Vacation!

I've recently been re-watching Long Vacation.
It's a J-Dorama from way back in 1996. I first caught the show around 1998 (can't believe it's been 10 years!!) when it was shown on the local channels. That was during the start of the J-Pop wave during the early 2000's. Re-watching the drama reminded me why I was so into Jap stuff during that time. The show emphasized the culture and economic backdrop of Asia and Japan during that period. The characters were so real and you could actually feel for them as you go through the series. I would definitely recommend anyone to go watch the drama if you haven't caught if before or rewatch it if you already did. It's really good!! This series was the first in many hits for Kimura Takuya btw.

Anyway, Tomoko Yamaguchi caught my eye... again. Totally mesmerised all over again by that beautiful smile of hers! Can't believe that she was in her early 30's when she acted in Long Vacation. Here's a recent picture of her (I think she actually got slimmer since 1996):

She's already 44 and still looks so good!! *melts*

Shoutout!

Just a quick update!

Things have not eased up at all since my last post. It's been hell busy over the last couple of weeks. No room for breathing space at all. But it's been enjoyable! Yup kinda weird that I always complain about being busy but then turning around and saying that I'm enjoying it. Well it's hard to explain this feeling.

Sorry that I have not been able to spend much time with you lately. I know we've both been pretty busy but rest assured that I'll commit time for us to spend together.

Well I've been the President of DE Club for about a month or so now and things have been, you guessed it, busy! Lots of meetings and meetings and meetings. I guess that's the life of a President (thanks for the induction Ernest!). There are many sensitive things going on right now that I can't discuss (or vent, depends on how you look at it) on a public space. I hope that DE Club will be able to achieve the objectives that we set out to achieve this year. Of course, not forgetting all of our usual events as well. Jiayou everyone!

Last week was the mid-sem break but I hardly got any break at all. Was in school for 4 days although it was break. Meetings on 3 of those days and make-up class for the other one. Damn the break week zipped by fast enough. I don't even have the time to catch up with my studies and my mid-terms are coming up already! Not to mention I got like 5 outstanding projects that still need to be completed within the next month!

Well looks like it's gonna be even more fun!

Jam and Hop: Pandemonium 2008!

We attended Jam and Hop: Pandemonium 2008 a couple of Fridays back! Sorry, it's been quite a while since my last update. Again (and I know this has been a really convenient excuse for awhile now..), I have been sooooo busy that I just cannot find the time to update my blog!

As usual, SDE students would gather and zi-high. Daniel bought a couple of bottles of alcohol to school that day and kept it in his locker! Haha.. Of course, then there was the question of the mixers! Garvin managed to solve that problem via a nearby vending machine...

While the party was going on inside, we were outside drinking and generally being a social nuisance. This was one of the rare chances that the school allowed alcohol to be consumed within its premises so of course we'd seize the opportunity! Here's a group pic of us!
For this year's Jam and Hop, NUSSU did something right by inviting Electrico to come down and jam! It's been such a long time since I've seen Electrico in performance. Sadly, they didn't play any of their old songs, they jammed only the new tunes. We simply couldn't pass up the chance to take a shot with the one and only.... Amanda Ling!!
Well, Jam and Hop 2008 was actually about 2 weeks back or so. Since then, lots of things have happened. I'll update again during the next post! See ya!

Start of Year 2!

School started again last week! And what better way to start a brand new semester by partying!!! I actually didn't want to go down Zouk last Wed cause I'm like running dry for this month already... But then! Garvin went to msg me and tell me "dun pang seh ah!" He already went out of the way on Sun to go KTV when I asked him to so how?? Bo pianz have to go clubbing. But no regrets cause I had a really fun time there! A mix of seniors and freshies went down party! It's great to see the bonding during FOC and Rag in action! Here're some pictures...And of course, not forgetting Louis, who celebrated his birthday there that night! Happy Birthday dude!
Start of Year 2! It's gonna get busy again!

SDE Rag 2008!

I can't believe a year has passed. Seems like just yesterday the title of this post read "SDE Rag 2007"! It's been a whole year and the new batch of freshies have joined us. The spirit of SDE still lives on in them! So here it is! This is the reason why I was so busy in school for the past month! All the staying over, helping out with the dance, helping the float team, outings, interactions and fun that we've had. This is SDE Rag 2008!



Although we didn't win anything this year, not to worry. The freshies are already planning for next year's rag. It's gonna be sooo huge!

Of course, the very next day after Rag & Flag '08, we had the SDE Rag Appreciation Chalet! It was super fun! Dunno when I can get my hands on the pictures. Will upload them when I do!

My 24th Birthday!...?!?!?

Man I'm getting old.. Just hit the mid-20's last week! I think most guys my age should already be working.. But I'm still stuck in uni studying and at least for the next 2.5 years also. Not that I'm complaining though.. I grateful actually for the chance to still be studying and enjoying tertiary education at my age.

Well my 24th birthday was made special by Kelly! It was the first time she planned an entire date with me and I totally enjoyed myself. She had RAG training in the early afternoon so we started the day around 5 by catching The Dark Knight. Pretty good show but kinda long.

After the show, she brought me to walk walk cause she had to delay time haha.. We went to the National Library and I gave her her birthday present cause I didn't manage to do so in BKK. It's a Coach pouch! Authentic one k!

So we delayed enough time and headed to Hanabi at Odeon Towers for dinner. She had planned for Lycans and friends to be there so I got a sweet little surprise seeing all my friends there! Dinner was fantastic of course.. It was Hanabi afterall. And they gave me my presents there. I got a Calvin Klein underwear, a Pedro bag and a pair of Converse sneakers! Lots of stuff huh..After dinner, Kelly, Steph, Eug Ang and myself were supposed to go for a movie cause apparently everybody couldn't make it for the movie.. BUT in the end we went to Zouk instead! It was another surprise cause most of them ended up there also! The conversation in Eug Ang's car was hilarious.. I kept asking him to turn right but he kept turning left haha.. Izaac, Garvin, Daniel and Raj met us at Zouk to mambo the night away.. And, no, I didn't get drunk on Martini this time round!

It was a great being able to spend my birthday with all you my friends! Thanks guys for making it special and thanks to Kelly for making it happen! Love ya all!

New Driver In The House!

We have a new driver in the house!

Congratulations are in order for Miss Ang Xin Yi Kelly for passing her driving test!! Yay! After all the hardships and struggles, you are now finally able to pilot a Class 3A automobile without an instructor breathing down your neck!

We went to have Pastamania at HabourFront for dinner to celebrate. She bought me dinner. Two of us. Simple meal. Just the way I like it. I couldn't really talk during dinner cause my voice is out cold due to all the shouting for 'O' Week on Monday. But I enjoyed the company all the same. Felt good to just have dinner with you.

Congratulations again darling! =)

FOC Photos!

Waayyy overdue post here. Was a little busy in the run-up to BKK so didn't have the time to update. But no sweat! Here it is finally... The pictures from FOC 2008!!

The last 2 pictures are like the only ones the main com took together. Think we were too busy running all over the place to take pictures during the camp! And what better way to bring back memories of the camp than to screen a video of it! Thanks to the DE Club Publicity Cell for doing up the video in such a short time!

And last but definately not least, the entire FOC committee had an appreciation dinner last Tuesday to thank everyone for all their hard work and just to unwind.

It was my first time eating at Tao's and I thought the food was pretty good. The service there's excellent and I would definately recommend anyone to got there for a good meal.

Well that pretty much wraps up SDE FOC 2008! It has been a blast!!

FOC 2008!!

IT's FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After nearly a whole year of planning, SDE FOC 2008 was a blast!! Of course, incidents cannot be prevented and we experienced a pretty serious incident during the camp but luckily with the hardwork of the entire committee and OGLs, we managed to pull through and end the camp on a super high note! SDE FOC 2008 was spread out over 4 days (5 for MC and OGLs) and we stayed at Eusoff Hall during this period. Here's the action!

Day 0 (Sunday 29/06/2008):
OGLs were supposed to report at 3pm but many turned up only during the evening. Day 0 was basically for everyone to prep-up for the camp. OGLs came up with all the group identities, cheers, games, etc. While the MC was busy prep-ing up for the games, getting logistics done, ensuring all last-min checks and preparations were complete.

Day 1 (Monday 30/06/2008):
The freshies were supposed to report at 8.30am. I thought that timing was pretty early and we expected them to be late. But they started streaming in at 8.15am! Can you believe it!?!? Registration took us all the way to 10am. Tony and myself wanted to do a combined camp opening speech but we realised that our timings just wouldn't allow that so BRE went on with our own programs first. We put our bags at LR426 and continued playing games and bonding sessions till lunch, when the AKID side joined us. After lunch, BRE went on the Amazing Race, which was basically asking the freshies to run all over the school to play various games. This was to let them know the school better. After dinner, we went on for Fate Night. During Fate Night. something happened in the AKID camp and Caderam, Ernest and myself had to go for an emergency meeting. I can't elaborate on what happened because the case is still on-going. Suffice to say, the incident cause us to work all the way till 5am in the morning.

Day 2 (Tuesday 01/07/2008):
I had to brief the OGLs on what happened the night before but I couldn't let them know the details because things were still pending. I reckon the OGLs already knew what happened though. Word must have spread around pretty fast. I had calls and SMS-es from my seniors asking if everything is okay and letting me know that they would take leave from their internship to come down if the need arises. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the seniors who showed me the support I needed. Thanks goes out to Ernest and Ryan who was there helping us the entire night. And not forgetting the MC and OGLs, who had to work through all the uncertainty. Thanks so much for everyone's support! Day 2 started out with a talk by Emit-Asia and then a mass dance session followed by lunch. After lunch, we played Funival (like a pun on carnival). Funival was a real surprise in that it got the freshies super super high. I couldn't believe the number of cheers and bombings between OGs. It was great! After that, we had another mass dance session, followed by dinner. Then the OGs went to do up their banners. Day 2 ended pretty early for the OGs but late for the MC cause we had to plan and plan and plan again...

Day 3 (Wednesday 02/07/2008):
Field Games day! Again, we had a mass dance session in the morning to teach everyone the AKID mass dance (BRE had their own mass dance), which was the combined camp's mass dance. After lunch, we proceeded to the field to do out Field Games. The weather looked like it wasn't going to hold out, but luckily it did. We had to deal with lighting warnings, campus security, etc. It's a real headache to conduct anything on the field when we can't spray water, use a canvas, use food items, etc. There's like so many freakin rules to follow. Ah well, guess I'm still in Singapore, that's why. We had to try and 'siam' campus security and hope that they don't do spot checks while we were conducting the games. Thank the Heavens that everything went smoothly. No rain, no campus security. After dinner, we had the AKID OGs join the BRE OGs for the start of the combined camp activities. The combined OGs were supposed to plan for the MTV presentation the next day.

Day 4 (Thursday 03/07/2008):
Day 4 is a freakin long day. We started pushing people out to Sentosa at 8am in the morning! At Sentosa, we carried on with our Beach Games. As usual, I had to deal with Beach Patrol walking all over the place and asking me the same questions over and over again. But it's okay cause we had adequate safety measures in check. We had marked out the evacuation point, water point and first aid points during our recce. Beach Games went smoothly and took us all the way to lunch. Because of time constraints, we decided to let the OGs have lunch and then wash up after that to prep for going back. It took them around 2+ hours to do that so luckily we had planned for the buffer times. We reached school at around 5 plus and got on with the MTV presentation. After that, we did a combined mass dance, combined prize presentation before Tony and myself closed the combined portion of the camp. BRE side carried on with our Fate dinner. We had a video presentation of the camp (thanks to the DE Club Publicity Cell for all your efforts!), a BRE mass dance and finally the BRE prize presentation. After that, I closed the camp officially with another speech (3rd one that day!). Many freshies stayed back to mingle around after that. We even had one OG go to Fong Seng for supper! The camp was a success!! I'm glad we managed to pull through the crisis and end on a super high note!

Special thanks goes out to the Main Committee: Caderam, Kailin, Weiting, Henry, Ben, Christina and Kelly. Not forgetting the fantastic Programs Committee: Zijian, Stephanie, Jasmine, Ezann, Kok Liang and Eugene Ang. All the OGLs who volunteered their time and efforts to help out with the camp. Izzac, Collen and Kelly for coming up with the BRE mass dance on such short notice. Ernest and Ryan who came down and stayed with us throughout the entire camp. And also, all our seniors who came down and showed their support. Head's up to Tony, Zi Tong, Zi Xu, Owen and the entire AKID MC, it was great working together with you guys! Without everyone's help, the camp wouldn't have lasted past the first day, much less be such a great success! Thanks to each and every single one of you!

I'll post up the pictures of the camp in the next post. This post is already too long. Well up next: RAG!!! Albert and Mervin, jiayou! We sure win again this year!

Looking Back!

Alright I'm officially done at Global1 Events! .. At least for the next 3 weeks. Audrey says Global will need me again after I'm done with the Freshmen Camp so I might head back there towards the end of July.

It has been great working there. Learnt so much about running an event and got to know Dr John Demartini. I got to admit I haven't even heard of John Demartini before working there. The people there was great. My boss was Guosh's eldest sister, Jo. My supervisor is Audrey, she's Taiwanese but moved to Singapore about 10+ years ago. Here's some pictures of my time there!

Guosh popped by the office to help out but we ended up having more fun than doing more work. Haha..

This is Audrey, she's a pretty cute and nice young lady. She got me contacts for hotels in Bangkok where I'm (hopefully) going in July.

This was taken during The Secret Revealed. 4 of us SCSC warriors back in action doing what we do best - sai kang!

Group picture here with Dr John Demartini. He's smack on the centre.

There were lots of clearing up to do after the event. We ended up going home only at about 12am. These were very tiring but a hell lot of fun days..

And look at the paper work I had to do for the post-event admin.

Jo treated us to lunch at NUSS Suntec a day before we left. It was to celebrate Audrey's birthday and to view the conference rooms for the Secrets to Financial Mastery seminar in August. Food there's fantastic and the portions are huge!

Well, now that I'm done working. I've got to start concentrating on running SDE Freshmen Camp 2008! Trial camp for the OGLs coming up this weekend, Admission Day is next Sat and then the actual camp happens on the 30th June to the 3rd July. Lotsa work to do!

Special thanks to Tham for all the pictures!