Saturday, December 17, 2011

Adventure: Point for Reflections

A series of unfortunate events that has occured this week has come to a point where every single one of us, including you and me is to reflect on whatever that has been going on in our life. What is life to you if you are crippled? Imagine yourself having short of one hand or one leg, a life without facebook or twitter. These are analogies that one can think of, definitely relative to what has been happening to our lives the past few days. What is life to you without our public good, MRT Service? 5th day in running, 4 days not in operation. Have your lives been difficult? While you guys are complaining about bad service, bad maintainance and all, have you guys reflected that you guys may have taken the 24 years of good MRT service for granted all these while? Is there any point of time where you guys have greatly appreciated the government or SMRT & SBS Transit for providing you the comfort in moving from place to place? Have you guys notice the bus fleet renewal these 2 years in particular?

Well, it's normal. Human Beings tend pick out one bad thing out of the million good things. It goes the same in life too. You may be frustrated with things that are going on in your life now, like how your friends treat you, your living conditions and whatnot, but wait a minute, aren't you blessed that you are actually living in Singapore, with good public transport system(despite recent cork ups, but relatively still better than other countries), a rather steady government(despite the current hasn't been performing well these few years), and a comfortable environment to live in? Yes, we judge people according to their performance and all, there are definitely ways and areas they have to improve and we should support and give them chance. Maybe there should be new blood to take over the current batch of leaders or management for better delivery? Well, we wouldn't know what goes on behind the scenes but there definitely are struggles within each and every one of them in order to deliver, whether they really have the heart to serve people or for their own self interest or not. There certainly are struggles. Errors are inevitable, whats most important is how we can prevent the same thing from happening again? What, we commuters can do, to actually make life easier? Besides complaining, maybe we can help people around us to plan their journey, and also plan our own journey when we dont have the luxury of public trains. And also, don't get so worked up and be calm. Mr Lui definitely is under alot of pressure now, it is not really his fault that the trains break down, as he just took over this role as a transport minister and perhaps may be still in the process in getting a clearer idea of his job scope and all. 

Well, besides that, results are released. I'm particularly disappointed with it, considering that I have actually worked hard for it. Perhaps not hard enough. The problem I faced was time management. I couldn't really manage my time well and spend equal focus to each module. Something I have to really work on in semester 2 and I'm all set out to emerge victorious in semester 2! I will not be defeated! :)

Had a few good talks with my fellow comrades and I felt so much better. Thanks everybody!

Attended T's 21st birthday party, well, his birthday was 1 mth plus belated but still I wished him all the best and all. Met up with D and K to go early for the chalet to help out. I guess that's what I could do as a friend of theirs since we didn't have to pay or prepare for the food. It's a form of appreciation which I thought was necessary. Reached Coasta Sands Resort at 4.45pm and both Y and T haven't arrived. We ended up walking along the beach under the gloomy sky, but breezy weather, it was nothing but COMFORTABLE! :) #likeashiok only. 

The scenery was rather nice and I really need to sit there and think and reflect over my life and what needs to improve. D has been making alot of noise along the way but I'm really appreciate D and K for accompanying me at the beach. Ive taken a few pictures..
Somehow or rather, I love to take pictures of trees, both individual trees or a group of trees. Somehow they give out a refreshing feeling and they are like things that were with us since young. 
Saw the rainbow? It seems cool. I love this picture because the trees seemed to have darkened to really show the scenery well, plus the rainbow! :)
Why does the dustbin has to be there? :)

D said we should waste our time because they wasted our time. This is wrong. Y and T may have been held up in preparing the stuffs thats why they were late so we should understand. We cannot be always complaining about other people, it's time to really analyse why things happen and perhaps they have their reasons for doing so. Everybody have good intentions to start with :)

Finally we met up with Y and T, helped them set up the bbq pit and prepare the charcoals and all.. fun! First time I actually tried to set up bbq pit and the fire myself, with the help of T of cause! 

A, C, P, J and S came later but nevertheless we had a real good time! :) The polaroid pic was nice! 
Lol it has been really long since we last had a great get-together! This clique is a very special clique of mine and I really cherish them. Played game and had a talk throughout the night and finally we all went to sleep. 

The next day we went to downtown east to have our breakfast and we noticed the train disruption again. Well, find alternatives! :)

After which, went for study meeting, I'm glad that I have gone to the study meeting despite not enough sleep. I need these study meetings to really learn how to behave as a first-rate human being. :) 

After that I went for chingay. What a busy saturday! But still, I enjoyed every single moment I had yesterday because time was well spent!
I have never been in the Singapore Flyer before, but I was training just right beside it and finally had a real close look of it. It definitely looks awesome!! How I wish I can really be inside and enjoy the moments of looking at the scenery of Singapore. It will be good! :)

This is part of the MBS but I can't really figure out what is this place. Is it the casino? Well, the building looks awesome too! :)

Well, before I end, just want to share something. Went to JB the other day for a short while and had the wonton mee there. 
The stall looks very very simple, just a cart and there the old couple start cooking and selling their wanton mee. It then came upon me the fact that people in this kind of area are working so hard to make a living. I can see both of them had problems walking, but they still persisted. Question that came in my mind, "why aren't they children helping out? " I feel that life's really hard for them thats why we all should really appreciate whatever we have! :)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Blooper: Enrichment Lessons Smacked in the middle of the Holidays!

I guess SMU is relatively an interesting school. It gets you all stressed up in the whole of the 3 months of a semester, it gets you stressed up and can't really enjoy the holidays well by not telling you when they are gonna release the results for every module. Suddenly an email appears in your handphone and you know the results are out. The uncertainty is always there, up till now. 

Of course, the most exciting 'incentive' for SIS students ever, is to having to be called back into school for a 5 day pre-course lessons in school. Where all students from other schools are all sleeping and enjoying their holidays, we are all having our own time in school from 9.30am - 6.30pm having lectures. Not that I dislike it, I actually appreciate what the SIS Professors are doing for us. I guess we really need this 'incentive' to get us started and prepared of what we are to expect for the next semester. Results have been out in stages, and I guess most of us more or less know how well we have done and how else we can improve. I believe we all can do much better in the next semester. Whether you think the professor's gradings are fair or not, I don't think you can really change anything out of it, so what one can do is to evaluate yourself, what have you done well, and not done so well and needs to be improved and be back in semester with a full force and resolve to achieve victory at all cost! :D

For me especially, I believed the problem I faced in this semester is not being able to manage my time well enough. That's definitely something I will work on in the next semester. Also, I have to push myself to class participate more because I myself see how subjective professors can be in the gradings for such a component. So yea, that's something I would work on too. 

Well, shan't brood too much on school stuffs, it's the HOLIDAYS MAN! :D

My friends and I went to town on sunday to shop for a friend's present. It was a short 3 hours outing but we had quite abit of fun. I guessed it was all natural to be shopping for our own stuffs instead of picking and choosing presents for friend. But well, we still managed to settle for something which I felt was not bad. Really hope that birthday boy will like it man :)

While walking, we came across this beautiful decoration. I thought it was awesomely displayed. The reflection of the lights, that formed up a shape of a pyramid in the waters just seem so beautiful! How can I miss the chance to snap a photo of it, right? :)

Guess it's usual to see the mass decoration in Orchard road to fit into the festive seasons. What really appeals to me is actually not the things that were hung on the trees and all, but these sculptures that has always been there. Somehow, it's value seems to be magnified with the presence of all the lightings around it. Loving it :)

Yesterday, a few of my friends managed to find time with me to attend the 7th Student Peace Lecture at SMU, organised by Singapore Soka Association. I'm really glad and grateful that they actually took the time off to come down for this event and I'm pleased that they enjoyed the talk. THANK YOU VERY MUCH C, S, P and V! :D

After which, we did not forget that the Starbucks 1-for-1 deal was still on! :) Went to bugis with V, P and S to of course enjoy the #cheapthrill :) 

Awesome $2.50 per cup of STARBUCKS! :) ToffeeNut for the win! Nice. 
How was your experience of the Starbucks 1-for-1 cheap thrill? :)

Had quite abit of catchup with them, talking about life, love and relationships and all. Really wished we had abit more time with each other that night :) If not for my lessons my next day, I would have stayed longer :)

Anyway, i finally got hold of the picture of the new SMRT MAN A22 Bus on the streets! It was on Sv 61! I think this bus is rather awesome looking and no wonder SMRT wanna buy MAN buses because i believe they can be as strong as our MAN Trucks :) Nice picture! 

Fan of buses? Connect with me !! :D

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Happenings: The Journey to Strive to be a Better Me

The past few days has been rather crazy for me because I was very busy. However, all the work and effort in the things I do were very worthwhile and I thought time was damn well spent. All thanks to R for giving me such a good opportunity to be able to share a part of the Gosho with W. 

Through the preparation and study of the Gosho, Ive really learnt alot, alot and alot. Seriously 非笔墨所能形容的. It also reminds me that there are still so much more to the Buddhist teachings that I've yet to discover, and I shall really go read up and seriously strive to be a better me. Everyday I shall be a better person than I was the day before :). 

The sharing was yesterday. Nervous and all, but we still manage to really facilitate it quite well and manage to lead all of them into very good discussions. Through discussions and all, we also can think and reflect on our past actions and also how we can do better. I think this is what really matters :)

Chingay was fun so far! Yesterday was finally a day that I can really have a get-together with my fellow SMUSDs! hahah Awesome people! I really feel damn happy attending Chingay and be with my fellow comrades! They are really the group of friends whom really do not mind anything about you and shares great joy and encourage you all the while. Comfortable friends!
Sigh no YMDs, so I'm with all the YWDs. We had lots of fun anyway! :)
We had a chill-out at the Singapore Flyer, walked around there, some of us had ice-cream and some had bubble tea. Then, interesting enough, we all slowly became tourists :) the sceneries there were awesome!
I editted this photo and I thought it was nice! 
But I also like the original take! hahaha What about YOU? :)
This was not an emo-intended pic! Haha, I only realised that 1 person was standing there looking at the sea, "EMO-ING" after i took the picture. Nice pic!
I personally like the lightings of the different statue-like stuffs on the grass patch! The word "Singapore" shines very brightly too! :)

It was shag for me because I had to attend to a friend who had some problems in the midnight the day before and also prepare my sharing stuffs. So basically I only slept for 3 hours and then I went to chill out with my friends again right after chingay. But, I know I want to be there for friends :). So I shall do it :)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Meet Up: Something We Have All Been Waiting For

It's another day of outing for me! It's also another day of spending! Yesterday I had a long day, planned to go swim in the morning but due to unforeseen circumstances, waiting for my sister to leave the house for the office before I can drive the other car. When she finally left for work, rain start pouring down and there goes my plan to swim! 

After which, I have decided to step out of my house and do a loner bus touring and shopping myself. Sometimes I truly enjoy being alone, don't ask me why. Sometimes I truly enjoy staying at home too. That's when I can really read my stuffs and reflect on certain matters. I took a Mercedes Citaro SMRT857 to Yishun, then i took a Mercedes Citaro SMRT855 to HarbourFront. The trip on Sv 855 was something that I feel that I should mention.

I was waiting at the bus berth with this other passenger. A blind man came by and start asking if this bus is Sv 855. Then the passenger and I helped him along. He starts to say his story about his life. It's rather sad, because he was not the only handicap and all. I seriously feel the need to help him. We helped him board the bus, asked the bus captain for directions and all. Throughout the journey, I have been thinking deeply: 

:: It is very inconvenient for people who are handicapped to take a bus, hence most of the time these people will choose to take a taxi which they could barely afford. And I still dont understand and cant figure out why Taxi Fares are still going to increase ridiculously! I really feel sad for these people and the society. How unfeeling. ::

I felt the strong urge to help him all the way to the Alexandra Hospital. Fortunately, there's this lady who is going there as well, he is well taken care of. So I was relived.

After arriving to VivoCity, I went to walk around, then I settled down at Starbucks to read up on my stuffs. I think it's rather chillax.. Soon enough S came and we went to walk around. Bought a tshirt and then sat at the outdoors to chill. 
After which, met up with my fellow army mates. 

We had so much to catchup on, since we really hadnt seen each other for a very long time! We had our dinner at Bei Chuan Steamboat Restaurant. The food was okay. It's good to have a meetup over steamboat because we can really catchup well and long enough. 

We went up to the outdoors again and sat down to chill. We had a whole lot of fun! I really love this christmas tree. It's damn nicely decorated and lighted up. Celebrated A's birthday and chill for a while before we all disperse for our last buses and trains. 

D came with me home to collect the bag he bought for his gf. The whole time, I had a very good and thorough heart to heart talk with him. I have no idea why I told him so much about stuffs, but I guessed I have learnt quite alot from his advices and all. I appreciated the time spent and I hope we can really chat and talk again. Nice bro!

Hope you had fun too! =)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Refreshing Local Display: Already Famous

I had a long day of outing on Monday, and of course, a whole lot of money spent too.Finally I had the time to meet up with my fellow army mates, and I really enjoyed going out with them. It's like we have been talking and chatting in the whatsapp group for long but we didn't meet up much. So it's kinda great to see them once again. Spent the whole afternoon singing songs in the PartyWorld at NEX. 

As much as I like singing, I must comment that PartyWorld @ NEX is seriously not up  to standard. Well, the sound system, choice of songs were okay, but the aircon temperature was seriously last warning. We were like stuck in a very stuffy room for the whole 5 hours. It's good that we all were okay with it, and we had lots of fun. J, D, V, M, Y and M had lots to catchup on. I would like to go kbox with a few up to date people so that I can sing new songs! woohoo! lol.

After that, I went to meetup with my secondary school clique for a dinner, followed by a movie. The always-atas group brought us to Sushi Teh for dinner. I have not met up with this clique for damn long also, so I really cherished all the time I have with them. It's like a cool. Talked about studies, holiday plans and all. I really appreciate to be able to have this close to 9 years of friendship. It didnt come easy. Forever friends yo. 

After which, we went to watch the first Michelle Chong's movie, Already Famous. 
As far as I want to be objective, I can't help but compare this movie to all the previous Jack Neo's films. I felt that Michelle have already made a great effort in producing the movie. The storyline was okay, cast was ok, of course, with more credits given to the guest artiste XiaoGui,   in terms of humour, I guess Michelle is still not there yet. Yes, there are funny parts in the show, but I felt that she can do better. All in all, this show is quite enjoyable to watch and I kinda love it. 

Rating for this move: 2 / 5

After so much spendings and all, Ive been telling myself to save money save money, and here I am going out again. Meeting my vtw people for dinner later. Great catchup yo. Hopefully I can really set down to do whatever I planned to do soon. I can't seem to wake up early now. I have to change it. My bed is just too tempting! :)

Have you watched this movie too? Share with me your views? :)

Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Chill-Out Place That Was Never Discovered...

It was a Sunday all by myself. I did not want to head out. I just wanna stay and slack at home. Honestly speaking, I really enjoy every moment at home, sometimes I would rather stay at home than go out. Although I have to face the consistent questions of concerns by my grandparents, regarding whether I have eaten or what do I want to eat, I still enjoy staying at home. Why do I say consistent questions of concerns, can you imagine having to answer these questions more than 10 times a day? Not that I need alot of food in me. But well, as what my mother has always told me, these things are probably the very few things that my grandparents can talk to me about. I appreciate that and I know they are concerned about me. 

Had plans to run in the afternoon after my favourite 933 lhb results yesterday. I intended to explore new places for a refreshing run, so I decided to make a trip to Sengkang Riverside Park, for my run yesterday. 
I knew this place exists recently but I did not have the time to come and explore. After I parked my car, I realised that this place is huge! Thus the running plan was shelved and I have decided to go and explore the place, with my Samsung Galaxy S2 and myself :)

Personally I found this sign rather interesting. "Be Considerate, Keep your dog leashed, pick up your dog's poo". The picture seems cool too. However I don't see anyone with any dogs around yesterday. 
I love this picture quite abit. I somehow speaks a thousand words. I believed different people can actually take away different feel and stories from this picture alone. Lonely path?
I am not sure if you guys can see the whole flock of seagulls. They were beautiful, and awesome! It's really rare to see this kind of sight in Singapore, especially in a residential area. Nice :)
Many greeneries to talk about. This photo is one of my more satisfied shot of the green :)
Lonely path again? This photo seems rather symmetrical! I think it's nice. This bridge leads you to the floating island. 
Somehow, I feel like I was in the teletubby land. Patches of greens with some trees growing and I was hoping to find some holes to jump in. It was beautiful :)
Nice stairs. Leading you to a shelter, resting point :)
I couldn't spend more time exploring because it started raining like 1 hr after I arrived. Can u imagine, it was scorching hot when i was there (looking at the photos), and then followed by a thunderstorm. What a weather! 

Nevertheless, the short discovery of such place is definitely something meaningful, it manage to bring me out of my troubles for a while. I really love nature and I believe I would come back again :)



Saturday, December 3, 2011

Post Exams - A hole in the pocket!

The most anticipating post exams period has already arrived. Somehow or rather the post exam mood weren't as awesome as I thought. The releasing of results within any other day didn't help either. But who cares, I just want to sleep as much as I can and embark on my exercise routine, which I have neglected for the past 2 months at least. 

Of course, the holiday period is meant to meet up with friends whom I haven't met for a long time, and of course my close friends. It's awesome to be meeting them up again and we had lots to catchup on! Last day of exams, went to welcome T back from Australia, and met up with A, Y and D. Had a great dinner + chilling out session with them at Changi Village. We passed by the Old Changi Hospital because D wanted to have a peek at it. Half of the time we have been talking about supernatural stuffs, all thanks to A, leaving our hair stand for the whole night. Poor T, having to face all these upon arrival to Singapore. But we had a fun night!

The next few days were full of activities. 2 of my friends and I went to watch You Are An Apple Of My Eye. It was an awesome movie. No wonder the great ratings! Though there were inappropriate content but it was a rather meaningful movie! Love the storyline and all, what's more important - Chen Yanxi is damn pretty and cute! :)


The recommendation came rather late because I didn't have time to watch it until after exams. I believe most of you guys have already watched it! Memories of my school days just came back and this movie really make me feel like having a girlfriend soon - :P but well, good things have to wait, or i will be #foreveralone.lol 

Ratings for this move : 3.5 / 5

Jokes aside, went out and watch Puss In Boots on friday, and moved on to Old Airport Road for an awesome dinner! Of course, how can we miss out LaoBan TauHuay?! Guess how many did we buy?
A total of 26 LaoBan TauHuay! It was damn good, haha the tauhuay really melts in your mouth and you can totally enjoy the taste and it's texture and whatnot! Queued for 30 mins and finally we can get the tauhuays and seats to get our dinner. We had 

:: Fried Prawn Noodles ::
:: Grilled Stingray :: 
:: Grilled Sotong ::
:: Lala ::
:: Fried Oyster Egg ::
:: BBQ Chicken Wings ::

Didn't manage to take pictures because we were all too hungry that we just started eating! Yeah had a great meetup and chat with all of them! 

I still have a few more outings in the pipeline and I really have no idea how much Ive spent and I should really control now. Still have the JB trip and the Genting Trip to talk about! 

Sometimes, I really hope I weren't that free. My brain just can't afford to have nothing on its mind. It must have something to think about and more often than not, negatives just keep creeping into my mind, bothering me. Not enough dmk. Must really chant more and bring up my life conditions. 

Oh well, all will be good! :)

How are your holidays?! :)