Day 5 of Work & Travel - Off Day 2!!

This is my second day off and there wasn't much plans to start with. Except to go to the Rec Hall office again, this time to sign up for hikes and trips and not just looking. That in itself had been topsy turvy. So let me start from the beginning of the day. I've arranged to meet Su and Wanglin for breakfast @ 8am. Wanglin only woke up at 8 when i went to knock on her down. Damn funny, cos when she finally realised someone was knock on the door, she went 我的天啊! I almost burst out laughing, but i left her to get ready while me and Su went ahead to the EDR first.

breakfast was the usual stuff, there's always scrambled eggs, which is fine. Anyway, the food here suits my taste!! I'm good with it. :) sidetrack a little, carlos, the guy from columbia, he totally dare not try the food here. He says the tastes are different from his home and he doesnt wanna eat them. So he's always having sandwiches and salad. Funny guy.

After breakfast, Su went giddy she went back to her room while i'll help her sign up for the trips. So wanglin and I went to the rec hall to sign up trip my trips, wanglin already signed up yesterday. But since she had nothing better to do, she tagged along. We got to the rec hall, only to realise it's not opened yet. We were there at almost 10am, but it only opens at 1pm.

So we decided to venture into the trails and to our best of luck, the trails which were closed due to bear sightings were being opened as we are walking there. So we were lucky enough to be the first few people to walk trail ever since it was close due to bear sightings. The trail itself leads us to several places, Observation Pt, Solitary Geyser and also the Upper Geyser basin. The toughest part it the first part of the trail UP to Observation Pt, although it's only an ascent of 200ft, it was 2km of walking uphill. Super exhausted when we reached the top. But the view was great. :)



The next part of the trail took us to the Solitary Geyser, like its name describes, it's a geyser by itself way up on the hills. Geysers look very nice and are deceivingly dangerous. They are filled with bacteria because of the high temperatures, they could also cause surround ground to become brittle and if some unlucky guy steps on the brittle ground and falls into the hot spring or geyser. It's SAYONARA!! The water temp inside is way above 100 deg celsius. scary but beautiful.



Finally we got down the hills and arrive at the upper geyser basin. When they say geyser basin, it's literally loads of geysers gathered together in sort of like a basin kindda place. Some of them go exploding all the time. Some take a few yrs to explode. After going thru the various geysers at the basin we had to go for lunch before it's gone.



Lunch was quite good today, we had burgers at the Snow Lodge. It was quite good, better than the burger i had at mammoth. Met Alvin and Lorraine at the Snow Lodge EDR. And Alvin went on with his blabbering again. Can't stand him. Talks super non-stop. After lunch Alvin tagged along with me and Wanglin to the rec hall office.

It was not a sight i was expecting as i got to the office, all the trips and hikes which i was interested in are already filled up. I was kindda sad and disappointed, but the good new is, more trips will be available every friday. So when the new ones are up, i'm going to sign up immediately. Rraawwrrr!!!

That's basically the end of my day already, wanglin and i intended to continue our track up north from where we left off. But after lunch we were feeling the strain already. So some other time. We just went back to the dorm and rest.

Xiaodan came to my room to chat after she finished her work, cos she was the one who was super enthu in the hike up the hills. It was close the past few days so she couldnt go, and when the trail finally opened, she's working. She wanted me to bring her there, but i was just too drained already. hehee. So we just chat and use comp in my room. Later alvin join us in the room, and my room kindda became a lan shop, everyone with their own lappy. hahaa.

So far Alvin has successfully made everyone who he came into contact with be afraid of him. Why? cos he talks non-stop. He is very knowledgeable, and he can talk to you about everything in the world and he will always ask you questions you CANT answer. He's nice but just don't know when to stop.

Gotta rest, working tml. And very sleepy now, seriously, i dun think i'm losing weight. I hope i can.

Day 4 of Work & Travel - Off Day!!

Several dum things happened over the nite. I sent my clothes to the laundry for washing. I was in Tshirt and shorts and the laundry room was in the next block. SO just imagine pitch black, super cold, Tshirt & shorts!!?? Ya, you can imagine. :P Anyway, i was actually in Tshirt and shorts the whole nite. COLD...

2nd dum thing i did. My dorm room will lock whenever the door closes. I took a bath in the morning, all was fine, i remember to bring my keys, but when i got back to the room, pick up my toothbrush. I closed the door, with my keys still inside!! that's it, i locked myself out of the room, SUCKs!! I was in tshirt and shorts again... so smart of me. :P.. I had nothing except for my toothpaste and toothbrush, so i could go for breakfast, the RC (resident coordinator) will only be in at 8, which was time the breakfast ends. I kindda accepted the fate that i will miss breakfast due to my stupidity, but @ 730 i felt i had nothing to lose. So i walked to the EDR (employee dining room) and go ahead with my breakfast. Luckily the staff allowed me to eat after i told them i locked myself in the room. When i got back from breakfast, the RC is in and i could open my room with his master key!! SO all's well!!

I've been trying to get online when i came back into my room but it seems the connection really sucks when there's more people using. I'm constantly surviving on 1 bar on connectivity. But somehow the photos slowly get uploaded, emails are slowly received and MSN sends messages with a lag. AND I wanna re-emphasize SLOWLY!!

Cos it's my off day, i intended to walk around the area and get to know it better. However, due to the not so fast internet connection, I only started my wandering around old faithful after lunch. but i'm glad i only started after lunch. cos the moment i step out of my dorm, I met wanglin whom i knew from san francisco airport. It was great to see her again and it's her off day too. So we went walking around together with another guy called carlos. he's from columbia and a very funny youth guy, I knew him from the bus ride in bozeman to HR.

We asked our way around and got to the recreation hall office. That's where we could find out abt organised trips for employees. On the way to the rec hall office, i spotted another fren xiaodan, and 4 of us went to the office together. There were a few trips which we wanted to join but i wasnt sure of my work schedule so i have yet to sign up.

And since we were at the rec hall, we shoot hoops for around an hour. finally started sweating after a while but our shooting really really sucks!!! and the basket seems higher than normal. hmmm... anyway the rec hall looks like a cosy place, i'll be back for more sports and entertainment.

Carlos had to rush back to the dorm to get ready for his work in the evening. I brought xiaodan and wanglin the the gift shop at the old faithful lodge where i tried to show stuff which i found interesting as much as i could. to the extent of my limited knowledge at least. I wanted to visit the other gift shops also to visit my fellow trainees at mammoth. there are 3 gift shops in olf faithful area, I work in the old faithful inn and there's 2 other old faithful lodge and snow lodge.

Outside the gift shop, we met the driver who drove us into yellowstone from bozeman airport. Her name's kelly, very nice lady and she totally reminds me of a female version of hagrit. We chatted with her for a while and we went on to see the old faithful geyser. It was an amazing sight, the water shoots up over 10 storeys!! WOAH!! look at the photos for more insight. I've linked all the photos to the fotopic website so you see all the photos.

Day 3 of Work & Travel - From Mammoth to Old Faithful

Today I woke up at 3am and started going online to do stuff. When to bed at 10pm and i had 5hrs plus of sleep and i felt good when i woke up. Seems like we need to sleep less and the body seems to recharge faster. Den i went to study and read thru my manuals @ 4plus.. den i started packing my stuff into the bag to move to old faithful @ 6plus before going for breakfast.

after breakfast we had some familiarization practices on the cashier and i think i did quite good for a first timer, and considering i only read the thick manual this morning. :) it seems others think i'm doing well too.. so that's good.. Anyway, i only got news this morning that i'm on duty this evening!!! which was like super shocking to me cos i only read the manuals this morning and i'm suppose to handle customers in the evening!!?? anyway, it's done deal. I have to do it!! :P

we were suppose to start moving over to Old Faithful after lunch but cos of the duty in the evening, our trainer suggested we should go earlier. so at 10am we got a ride from my roommate was going in a similar direction. He was going to another village further south. so 4 of us packed our luggage and other stuff into his car, which was amazing cos we managed to get everything in.

Btw, his name was George, so he drove us all the way to Old Faithful, on the way we saw loads of stuff. Herds of bisons, elks, boiling rivers, piles of unmelted snow everywhere. it was a beautiful sight, and i forgot to take photos many times... we did stop at this one little fountain to take some photos though.

Old Faithful looks totally different from Mammoth. It still looks very countryside looking here, but there's much more people because of the famous Old Faithful geyser which spurts water up high at regular intervals. I'll be working in the gift shop, and the one here is 3 times the size of the one at mammoth. I'll be thrown directly into the thick of action.

but it wasnt bad. I think i kindda got into situation after the first 1hr or so. There were loads of guests but they were very patient cos i told them it was my 1st day there. And it was great. Most of the guests were very nice and very accommodating, but there were a few who were black-faced the whole night. But overall was good, at the end of the day i clocked about 1.7k of sales, but my final cash was $1 short. According to my sups, $1 is not a big deal. okie!! me and vj are supposed to be on duty, but su told the manager she wanted to work too. but she was just walking around cleaning up things everywhere, and she earns as much as i do, she is so SMART!! hahaa... so that's the end of my 1st shift!!

Here's some photos and a map of yellowstone so everyone wun be too lost about the wheres i'm talking abt.

Day 2 of Work & Travel - Training Day in Mammoth

Among those who arrive on the same day as me, there's only 2 people assigned to Retail and i was one of them. And i found out that i was a reserved position, which meant i was only allocated this position at the last minute. Think they figured they need more people and so here i was. The other person is Lorraine from NUS as well, graduating Biz student.

Yesterday i got to know a few people, Alvin from NTU Sociology, he has a weird british accent. Imagine a singaporean in USA speaking ina UK accent? WEIRD. But thanks to his introduction of the place and people, i got to know a few more people here. There's this guy Frank, he's from Germany, but he speaks good english and he's really funny. He's a bell captain aka bell boy, but he's 42 yrs old. Most of the older people are very nice. There a lot of retirees here, it's like this is the post-retirement job. How nice is that?

Anyway, today's my first training session and also my last. Will do some practice in the morning and i'll be off to old faithful. Had the full 3 meals here in mammoth's EDR (employee dining room). Food is much better when you arrive earlier. :)

Today's training consisted mainly on general knowledge and sales procedures, dos and donts and also how to use the cash register. First time on a cash register, kindda nervy on that. But it was fun, the training Marlene was very nice. I was lacking suitable pants for work as were Lorraine and Su, who came earlier then we did. Marlene drove us into town and got some from our uniform store, Su & Lorraine even got new shoes.

The 3 of us went up the hot springs trail for a hike after dinner. It was a vertical ascent of 300ft but the windings and steps really make us OUT of breath. It's not just me. :P here's some pictures to tell the story.

Day 1 of Work & Travel - To Yellowstone

due to the confusing time differences, i'm considering the time i got to san francisco as my day 1. the flight from taipei to san frans was quite boring cos there wasnt any in-flight entertainment available, which was super disappointing considering the good quality entertainment we had on the flight from sg to taipei. there wasnt any personal tv or game consoles, no nice music, so in the end i spent most of the flight sleeping, waking up in between only for food and to go back to sleep again. boring, even the movies on the big screen were boring.

things have been good since getting to san frans, i made some frens. when i walked out of the customs, i bump into these 2 guys whom i felt i shld try to get familiar with, paul & jianlong. I was repaid well, thru them i got to know 4 others, first was kangwei & ailing, then wang lin & xiao dan.


knowing them relieved me of the feeling of being alone and immediately i was feeling happier. although we had to spend the nite at airport for the transfer, we had a pretty good time exploring the airport compounds together. the result was a great find, a 24 hrs subway which has a promotion price from 12am to 4am. 2 footlongs for only 9.99USD, which adds up to only 5 USD per footlong, which adds up to 2 meals, which is SUPER SUPER worth it!! :)

the first 4 people i met were all from NUS final yr engine students. initially they were together with me then we realised our final flight to bozeman had different timings which meant we could be at different villages, which is kindda sad. So i'm left with the 2 gals, wang lin is from SMU 1st yr and Xiao dan NTU Final yr. So we have a conglomerate of ALL Unis in SG. hahaa.. All 7 of us took quite a few pictures together, loads of fantastic mountains in my pictures, i'm definitely going to blow the limit of my photo space in fotopic, i wonder if i shld buy more space, hmmmm....



At san frans, there was no free internet but there was still reception on my auto-roam phone. At bozeman, there isnt any auto-roam AT ALL!! That's a huge proof that the place is RURAL. had my social security application done and job allocation done. I'm in the gift shop as a retail staff, how cool is that? hehee.. the best thing is that it's different from the usual housekeeping and i'll most likely get to meet lots of people. Challenging, exciting and getting kindda scared and shivery now... :p

Anyway, i'll be ending up at Old Faithful, which is kindda cool cos that place supposing has internet access and great view. BUT, i'll be staying at mammoth for 2 days for a training session. I'll only go to Old Faithful after that. I'm on the way to mammoth now. I'm typing this on the bus in advance. :)

HELLO YELLOWSTONE!!

Finally found a way to get online. I'm now in my dorm in Mammoth, same thing, no Hp recep but luckily we have wireless here. Otherwise i'll feel so so so disconnected. Had my first meal in yellowstone, we were late so there wasnt much food left, so it wasnt really fantastic. I got to know a few people, whom i'll be training with. Really have to get to know loads of people really quickly. Everyone seems to know everyone!! It's a really small town at mammoth, 5 mins walk and it's one end to the other end. Will post some photos about mammoth tml. Meanwhile, it's time to sleep.

Day 0 of Work & Travel - Transit in Taiwan

I'm taking a break now at the first stop of my many transfers to get to Yellowstone. I'm now at taipei, toa yuan airport. And i'm quite happy to to find sockets and free wireless available here. :)

My next flight will take me to San francisco but i still have a few hours to burn. And my electronical devices somehow seemed drain of their juice, all needs recharging. Luckily for the sockets.

8 Year Anniversary

Today is our 8th year anniversary, but she's in Vietnam and i'm flying to USA today. The next time i'll see her will be 2.5 mths later. So we had to celebrate our anniversary on saturday. We spent the whole day together. Went to the Singapore flyer for a great view of the city and a great dinner at Hog's Breath.



It was a happy day, and i'll miss you loads dear!!

________________________________________________

Movie

1. Made of Honor

It's a comedy, a good one. But sometimes i would rather it be a pure romantic love story. Great acting by the cast and interesting storyline. Great show to catch.

(score = 3.8 of 5*)

MAYDAY MAYDAY!!!

HELP!! My jaws are aching like hell!!! I made the boldest decision in my life to remove all my wisdom tooth at once on monday. And now i have 2 VERY VERY swollen cheeks!! OUCH OUCH OUCH!!! It's really painfull and torturous, but i'll have to do it in SG. Cos i'm leavin gfor US next monday, and healthcare & medical in US is super super ex... so it's impossible to do it there. I just hope now that the swelling and the pain will subside soon. Cos i really really feel miserable now.

Have been eating porridge the whole day. I cant really chew, cant really talk much, cant really open my mouth at all. Feel quite paralysed. Very depressed that i have to feel this way after my exams. Will be off to US soon, better be well by then, or else!! I dunno what i'll do there.

This week is supposed to be busy, wanted to meet up with my various groups of frens before going to US. but this aching jaw is really turning me off all those ideas of going out.

_________________________________________________

Movies

1. Nim's Island

I was actually looking forward to this movie. The trailer was good, so i was expecting some excitment and adventure to be going on. However, there was none. quite lame actually. disappointing.

(score = 1.8 of 5*)

2. Ironman

This movie is actually quite good. One of the better superhero movie of recent years. Quite cool, all the high-tech gadgets and stuff. Some parts were really funny too, but not to the lame extent, so that was good. Oh, if you are watching it, remember to stay after the credits. It tells us to expect Ironman 2 soon.

(score = 4.8 of 5*)

April's Fool

Nope it's not the day of the month... but the person of the month. I'm declaring myself as the officialy fool of the month.. Oh well.. I shall not wallow with my grievances... i'll juat talk abt the happy things.

Went Melaka with dear last weekend. Drove up to Melaka. Drove so far up north for the first time. It was really shiok, but tiring. yet it was all worth it when we reach the destination.

Watched a few movies over the past few weeks.

1. Definitely, Maybe

Story about a father telling his love story to his daughter. And the daughter guesses which character in the story is really her mum. This is a very funny yet touching movie. Very NICE.

(score = 4.8 of 5*)

2. Forbidden Kingdom

Jackie Chan & Jet Li + pretty gal Liu Yifei!! BUT the story line is very lame and expected. This movie is totally made for ang mos to watch. To asians or chinese, this story just produces loads of "????". The fight scenes are not extremely exciting. So yah, unless you are a HUGE fan, not that exciting.

(score = 2.8 of 5*)

3. Superhero Movie

Super lame show. Funny from start till the end. BUT!!! there was problem with the screening. missed like 30mins of the show. And we made GV compensate our loss. That was the disappointing part.

April oh April!!

April is officially the most dreaded month this semester. Deadlines, presentations, projects, reports, you name it i have it. At the same time it also means the semester would be over soon, and i'll be off to WAT very very soon.

In the past week, i've successfully abstained from all CE lessons, be it lab, tutorial, lecture. I've converted myself somewhat to a business student, how cool is that? Not very cool actually, business modules are deceiving, very deceiving. They make your timetable look damn good, sometimes 3 day weeks even. But when it comes to the workload, BOOM, hell-high. Readings, preparations, projects, the worst is projects, can totally take 10 times the "allocated" time to complete. Damn tiring.

Oh did i mention Exams start end of the month, that's also WHY this is the most dreaded month!!!!

Movies,

1. The Bucket List

2 terminally ill men met in their wards. When it became clear to them that they both have not more than a year to live. They made the bucket list, things they ought to achieve before the "kick the bucket". It's a very nice show, great acting from the 2 main actors and a very entertaining plot. A great show to catch.

(score = 4.8 of 5*)

Ghosting Time

Time is a thing, it's something,
you cant see, yet you know it's there.
you want to have, and never have enough of.
always seemingly working against you.
crawling slowly like forever, when you want it over fast.
speeding past you and you wont even know it, when you want it slow.
some people say can be made, if you arrange your activities properly.
only moving forward, it will never standstill or move backwards.

Time is Precious, and I'm a Pauper.

Time just passes me by, how i wish i can turn back time. I used to be happier, when things are happening within my understanding.

Yet time is my only ally, for i believe...

ALL will be FINE when time comes.
_____________________________________________________________

2 weeks past since my last post, and it seem like time just flash past me once again. And hence my passage above to somehow illustrate how i feel about time. I've also labeled myself the "Habitual Potang-er" in MSN. Been missing school many many times. Not very good for my grades, but i somehow convinced myself it DOESNT matter.

Tried to make myself feel better by spending more time with dear and watching movies, and other things that are supposed to make me feel better. None working so far. Well....

Movies,

1. 10000 BC

This show is about a legend, a legend never before told cos it was SO SO SO long ago. Most likely it's fiction, but the plot is quite refreshing. Even though the show was quite long, the pace was good, it's quite intense so you gripped in the seat and dun get too bored. Comp Gen graphics are not bad too, they had to create all those prehistoric animals. Well it was a good show to watch.

(score = 4.2 of 5*)

2. The Spiderwick Chronicles

Same actor as August Rush (Freddie Highmore), seems like this kid is popular in hollywood. He doubles his roles in this movie, he's a twin, which is quite cool cos he had to portray 2 very different characters. I wonder how they create the scene with them fighting each other. A very fantastical story, perhaps too out of this world to believe yet you feel it could be quite true. The ending wasnt fastantic though.

(score = 3,9 of 5*)

3. Slam

I would never watch this show if you gave me a choice, but this was a surprise screening and i was pretty much forced to watch it. the plot was actually quite good, the basketball skills portrayed in the movie were not bad, but too faked, too showey, not very realistic. Perhaps that just due to poor acting. Although plot was good but how they brought out the story was quite bad, motives not clear, sometimes i simply cant understand what they were trying to show or say. A bit TOO confusing especially the ending.

(score = 2.5 of 5*)

4. Vantage Point

This was suppose to be one of the shows i really wanna watch after seeing the posters and trailers. But it's quite disappointing, cos i was expecting more. It was suppose to show the different perspectives of various people differently involved in a certain incident. That was interesting, but they showed the different views one by one.. and there's this part where they had to literally, "rewind" back to the start point, not once, not twice but 6 times before they allow the whole story to unfold. the "rewinding" was really getting on my nerves!! but the plot and story is quite good, except it felt like watching the serial "24".

(score = 4 of 5*)

A week after Break

It's a week after the break and nothing much have changed since then. I'm feeling unmotivated once again. How will i find the motivation. I guess i've found the answer. I'll need to find the one thing that I really liked to do. The one thing that i'll feel very happy and satisfied after doing it. I've not find it yet, or rather i'm not sure if i really found it. I think it might be sports, it might be music or singing. It's almost definitely not studying...

I've just watched this movie "August Rush". This is the best movie i've watched this year. Once again it's a great movie with great music, i've always prefered that combination. Here's wat's the movie is about..

**WARNING**

this is the WHOLE plot. If you dun wanna spoil your mood for the movie.. skip the italics and watch the trailer below instead.

The main character, Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore), can hear music in everything around him. He is being raised in an orphanage with no contact with his parents, although he insists that he can "hear" them. Evan believes that the music that he can hear in everything from the wind in wheat fields to the buzzing of electrical lines, is some kind of message from his parents, whom he wants desperately to find. During his stay at the orphanage, Evan meets a counselor, Richard Jeffries (Terrence Howard), who gives a name card to him, introducing himself as a New York child service department member.

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that his parents were a famous concert cellist named Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer from a rock band. They met and fell in love in one night, but through a series of events, were separated. Late in her pregnancy, Lyla was in a car accident and was told by her father (William Sadler) that her child didn't survive. Lyla and Louis both had trouble concentrating on playing music and were miserable without each other.

During one night, Evan hears what he considers "the ultimate call." He follows the sound with the name card from the man but gets sick and passes out. Evan is picked up by a trucker, is taken to New York, and the trucker calls the number on the card. Evan is told to stay in a certain spot but after the wind blows the card into a vent, he wanders around the city and finds a boy named Arthur (Leon G. Thomas III) playing the guitar. Attracted to the music, he follows Arthur and falls in with a group of street kids, all musicians of some kind, who are being cared for by "Wizard" (Robin Williams). Wizard is a busker who sees the children as "investments". Evan gets access to a guitar and begins to play music for the first time. He turns out to be a child prodigy, and Wizard gives him the name August Rush, both as an alias and a stage name, from a slogan on a random truck driving by about the August rush to the beach.

Lyla's father confesses to her on his deathbed that her son lived after all and that he forged her signature on the papers giving the child up to the state. Lyla goes to New York City in search of her son. Meanwhile, Evan's father Louis has also begun to play again, and while trying to trace Lyla, has also ended up back in New York City, where they had originally met.

Meanwhile, Jeffries is seeking him. He becomes suspicious of Wizard and has the police follow him. They raid the condemned theater in which Wizard and the kids live. Having run away, Evan hears a choir singing in a church and meets a little girl named Hope (Jamia Simone Nash) who sings in the choir. She teaches him how to read and write music, and he begins to play the pipe organ with consummate skill. Reverend James (Mykelti Williamson), the pastor of the church, has Evan enrolled in Juilliard School, where he does brilliantly, eventually writing a magnificent piece called "August's Rhapsody", which is going to be performed in the open on the Great Lawn of New York City's Central Park with the New York Philharmonic. By coincidence, Lyla Novacek, who has been repeatedly nudged by her friend to play with the philharmonic, agrees to do so.

But Wizard wants to make money from Evan, and having found him again through the concert advertisements, he forces Evan to leave Juilliard and the organizers of the concert by implying that he will tell everyone Evan's real name if he doesn't, in which case Evan will be sent back to the orphanage. Evan reluctantly goes with him. While busking under Wizard's supervision, Evan meets a fellow guitarist, who is, unbeknownst to both of them, his father Louis Connelly. Evan, who uses his name August Rush, says that he has a big concert coming up, but that he can't go. Louis tells him that if he had a big concert, he wouldn't miss it for anything. Evan decides that he must go to the concert. But first, he has to get away from Wizard.

On the day of the concert, Evan is in the subway station with Wizard and Arthur, counting money. Evan tells Wizard that he is leaving. Wizard does not let him go, but Arthur helps Evan by hitting Wizard with his guitar, allowing Evan to escape. He arrives at the concert just in time to conduct his piece just as Lyla is leaving the performance, who coincidentally is attracted to the music and turns around to approach the stage. At the same time, Louis and his band are in the area, driving in a car. He sees a lamp post advertisement of the performance announcing August Rush performing, like the boy told him, and also Lyla. He runs out of the car towards the music. After approaching the stage, he notices the conductor really is the boy he met in the park. Coincidentally he finds Lyla right next to him, listening to the music. As Lyla goes closer to the stadium, Louis follows and stands right next to her, holding her hand. In surprise, Lyla looks to her side and sees Louis. And as the piece ends, Evan turns to the crowd, and the three recognize each other. The movie ends as it fades out of the concert at Central Park, with Evan saying in the background, "The music is all around us. All you have to do is listen."

(score = 5 of 5*)

The day that happens only once in 4 years.

Today is 29 Feb 2008.. Interesting day, this year is a leap year so there's an extra day in Feb. What's this extra day for? It's used to regulate the year. In our calendar there's 365 days, that is SUPPOSED to be the time taken for Earth to rotate around the SUN. It's not EXACTLY 365 days but for ease of calculations, ancient ppl rounded it off. SO, to prevent the days from getting TOO haywire, they added an extra day to offset the miscalculations. There you have it... Lesson for the day...

Now back to myself...

This week is my mid-term break.. supposed to do catching up and speeding up of projects one.. but somehow, NOTHING was done.. I'm quite demoralised by the fact that my groupmates arent really responsive about projects.. is it me?? or are they just not bothered?? I've done wat i could already, it's up to them to take the next step... I'll try to spend the weekend catching up on my own work. So boring...

Slightly more exciting is the start of my coaching theory course.. My class was HUGE... 100++ people, coaches from many different sport.. unfortunately i have made any acquaintance yet.. well.. there's still 8 more lessons to go.. Lessons for this course are quite fun, the speakers are pretty interesting.. What they say makes total sense...

Movie of the Week

1. Juno

Interesting show.. Witty speech.. realistic actors... Funny... And very real...

(score = 4 of 5*)

CNY is long over

CNY is long over already, or rather the holidays are over. back in school for 2 weeks already.. and this week i'm having 2 tests.. both from my CE modules... did one yesterday already.. think i kindda messed that one up.. but i think i might have learnt abit of how to do it during the test.. haha.. it's not open book..

2nd test on thurs.. water resource engineering.. i think i can do well in that.. but whenever i think i can do well i will not... so i also dunno what to expect.. just follow the flow i guess.

last saturday, did an idea presentation for my Techno Marketing module... although my groupmates said we did ok.. i felt we did quite badly.. technical problems... my laptop wouldnt work again.. which is shitty, cos it seems my laptop always gives problem during presentations.. there must be a problem... besides that.. the presentation not very well done.. cos only done on friday.. quite shabbily.. and i cant help think i seem to be the only one in this idea...

let's talk about movies!!!

watched 3 movies since CNY

1. Kungfu Dunk

another jay chou movie on the market.. i think he's quickly gaining popularity in the movies as well... BUT... i think supporters of his movies need to be fans of him in the first place.. that's the only way you will enjoy his movies.. cos.. his movie characters always seem to be portraying himself... always seem to be amplifying his inner desires... hahaa.. rather ego actually.. but nonetheless entertaining... but this show itself failed in one aspect, it's TOO much like Kungfu Hustle...

(score = 3.5 of 5*)

2. CJ 7

A much anticipated movie by acclaimed comedian stephen chow.. perhaps cos there was too much anticipation, the results werent amazing... the expected funny parts were damn funny... but it din really create impacts like Shaolin Soccer or Kungfu Hustle. But the idea is refreshing, however the plot is quite weak.. and the ending was quite lousy too.. not very intrigueing...

(score = 3.5 of 5*)

3. Jumpers

this is a very interesting show.. new idea i think... people who have the ability to teleport.. and they have their natural predators... interesting... and i expect there to be sequels to this show... just think it's really cool to be them...

(score = 4 of 5*)

1st Break of the year

it's week 4 of the semester, and it's CNY week... a much welcome break to the busy schedule... but i wonder it i can keep up the pace of doing things after this break.. i've been trying to keep up with the class speed but past few lessons i've been slowing down overall.. i can feel that i'm starting to lag here and there.. I just hope i can catch up during this break and catch up with speed... it's damn hard to keep the engine running... !!!!

Dear fell sick on monday.. damn scared she cannot enjoy her CNY.. it seems like she has loads of stuff to help out... so she basically doesnt have much time to rest.. so kelian... REST REST!!! Stop kpoing around e house!!

When Twilight Fades.. It's Dawn...

Classes have started.. and i'm 2 weeks into them.. let's say i'm going in HOT.. which means... throw into shit piles of work.. yup.. and it's only just the second week... tutorials are up... projects are starting... loads of assignments going on already.. it's really going into hyperdrive.. i've been wondering if i'm being too ambitious this sem.. although i'm only taking 5 modules.. but they are quite full project and assignments.. although i have a 4day week.. but it seems there is never enough time..

for one of my modules, i was drawn to be group leader.. 7 in the group... it's a marketing module.. essentially by the end of the semester, we need to come up with a business plan... i was ok with being leader, and quite motivated with the responsiblity on me.. BUT... response was quite lacking.. since last tues which was the lesson.. i have been faced with difficulty trying to coordinate for a meeting to discuss on stuff for the next lesson.. damn jialat... gotta improve!!!

but on the other hand.. i'm also quite happy with myself thus far.. i've been to all lessons and tried to pay attention to everything so far... which is really pretty good... most of the lessons make some sense... which is also very good... now it's trying to cope with tutorials & assignments that's really drowning me out...

while being busy in school recently, i haven been back to tj for volleyball in a while.. which is pretty bad.. not enough exercise.. i can feel my stomach bulging, and my mum's endless bursts of nagging is really driving me nuts.. played badminton a few times... but the way we play badminton is just plain reaction.. not much movement.. so not very effective in burning fats... just make u tired only...

oh well.. i think things will only get better... and i will make myself carry on watever good i've achieved so far...

NOW... movies i've watch 2 shows recently...

1. Cloverfield

It's a shaky film.. the either show was film to look like it was taken from a handy cam.. and it was a chaotic situation.. using a handycam really made it really dizzy... i find the plot quite interesting.. BUT the ending kindda sucks.. many of the viewers were hoping for some end credit specials.. but now.. it just ended without and ending.. I should have expected that, afterall it's a movie from the makers of LOST!!

(score = 2 of 5*)

2. 27 Dresses

This is a super sweet story.. all good and almost nothing bad happens in this show.. it's even more enchanted than enchanted.. hahaa.. but the plot is really good... good build up... good twists... and most of all a nice ending.. alls well and ends well.. i dun want to say too much about this show.. but it's really worth the $$ to watch...

(score = 4.5 of 5*)

Twilight ZONE!!

I feel i'm in some sort of a twilight zone now. Why?? Cos school is starting on monday!! So i'm basically on the verge of the end of holidays, which sucks. Haven done much contructive stuff over the pass few weeks, den BOOM.. School is going to be back in session again. That's like so so fast. oh well. It's time to face the books and notes again. At least i'm happy to know i have a 4 day week. :) And only 4 of the 5 modules have exams, but on the downside... there WILL be loads of projects. Perhaps projects will keep me going on better then tutorials.

2008 has BEGUN!!!

While i was still thinking iwhat to put in my last post for 2007.. 2008 came jumping at me.. took me totally unaware and unprepared..

the past year has been pretty ok.. in the sense nothing too bad had happened..

exams are ok.. scraped thru both semesters... nothing better than expected... first sem was more boring.. 2nd sem was alittle overloading with 6 modules going on... but i'm happy to enjoy a few module really much... but that main thing is i managed to scrape thru regardless how not involve i'm sometimes in during school...

i work at several places during last year's summer break... it was a good experience.. 2 places i enjoyed most is at the track & field meets & selling laptops in NUS.. working at those places gave me 2 things... exposure to different working conditions and also supplement to my $$..

talking about $$, last year.. i got my car!! finally... but $$ has been dwindling because of that.. increasing oil prices & all other car operation charges like maintenance, ERP, parking.. the list just goes on.. OUCH!! my Wallet hurts...

quite a few frens got married last year.. din hear anyone breaking up.. so i guess it was good in that sense too... me and dear are still going strong.. 8 years is coming up soon.. hehe.. relations with her family have improved over the past few weeks.. her niece seems to like me more than before.. and i tihnk dear's getting jealous.. :P

FOR 2008...

it's time to relook my directions.. set simple goals... when you set your goals too high.. u will not be able to see them.. and very soon.. you lose them... last year's goals were actually pretty simple.. but somehow.. i lost them after sometime too... so now... what should i do for the new year??

To make things simple.. this is my aim for the year...

"Pass IPPT, Pass Exams"

Highlight of the year would most likely be my trip to US for work & travel.. :)

And now.. it's time to look at module details again!! time to bid for modules for the coming semester...

Pre-X'mas Weekend

Another week of training in Tj has just past.. And there's this ominous cloud lurking over my head.. it seems to be telling me.. "you are losing the ability to instill confidence and spirit into the volleyball team, you better BUCK UP!!" past few training sessions has proven to be a bottle neck for me.. the lack of experience really left me stranded trying to think of ideas how and what to train.. it's really quite difficult, although having gone thru training, not all drills work.. especially when there's INSUFFICIENT players turning up for trainin, sometimes it's just me being brain-dead...

Just hopes trainin will get better when school re-opens... there's alot of things to do for the new year... oh yah... that means new year resolutions again!! hahaa.. i'll leave that for my next post.. for now time to rot and enjoy the x'mas hols..

watched 2 BIG movies this week already... "I am Legend" & "Warlords" I cant say they are boring or bad movies, neither can i say they are very good. therefore i feel these 2 movies seem to be made for certain groups of people, some people will just appreciate and understand it more.. and i'm most probably not among that group of people.. dear said we haven watch any very good movie since "stardust", which was actually very true.. we watched "stardust" with little expectations but was thoroughly entertained by the show, well the rest have been below or rather different from expectations.

Tj Training Begins

Been going back to Tj almost everyday for the past week. Fung is not around, so i'm taking over training. Personally, i think the trainings went quite well, although the gals team is seriously lacking in attendance. gals played a frenly match against shss & cchs(y) yesterday and the guys played against xms today. the gals did quite well, won shss 2-1 but lost to cchs(y) 0-2. the scores really dunt tell the full story, fatigue played a very very larger part of this fixture, but i think the gals played well intially.

guys were supposed to have frenly today, but cos they somehow broke the indoor court net yesterday, and i believe they are finding chances to not train on saturday. They arranged for this frenly. I seriously think they should not be having frenlies at this stage yet. their basic coordination and movements are not up to mark yet. played 4 sets with xms, won 1st 3 but lost the last. why i say they played poorly?? that's cost they are playing against a team whose average height is like 10 cm shorter then them, and less experienced than them. there wasnt sufficient defensive coverage when our players spike, hell there was ANY coverage at all at times.. they won initially due to their height & physical advantage and skills wise, they are not there to match yet, which is quite disappointing.

Monday BLUEs...

Exams may be over but it's not total rest time for me.. that sucks.. i'm taking charge of tj training this week.. cos fung not around.. he's in china.. well.. we all know wat for.. first training today with the gals.. not very encouraging for me.. only 7 ppl.. and i was very quickly running out of ideas wat to do.. that kindda sucks..

Sunday was a happier day.. watched golden compass with dear for FREE!! cos she has GV vouchers.. hahaa.. den ate at toastbox.. den walked around at vivo.. den meet up with my MNO mates for dinner at marche.. it was a great time...

Semester 5, 07/08

This is my story of my whole semester. The 5 of 8 which i'll be undergoing in my NUS years. There wasnt much to look forward to at the beginning of the semester. Ever since i found out i got into civil engine, it just seemed like another blow to my ego, motivation, drive and many other positive things in me. but there's no one to blame but myself for landing myself in this state so i tried setting a simple goal for myself to achieve. improve my CAP, regardless by how much, just as long as i do.

with that in mind, i knew i had to do something, i had to take more modules. 6 modules, while almost everyone else had only 5, some only 4. besides taking 6 modules, i have to do considerably well for ALL of them in order to achieve my aim. seems like my aim is not that simple anymore.

I started the semester with watever enthusiasism i managed to salvage from my dwindling interest in studies. lectures, 1st impressions mean a lot.. some lecturers simple attract you to school, while others well.. do the opposite.. and in civil engineering, most of the lecturers are from the latter group. not a good sign at all..

wanting to try to deviate from the usual engine modules, i took 1 module from business and 1 from real estate.. the business module is a life saver, so much more interesting than everything else i was taking this semester.. the only module which i want to attend the tutorials.. though i somehow managed to miss most of the lectures still, even though the lecturer was really very good.

the real estate module was like non-existent for most of the semester... why?? cos, there was like only 2 tutorials for the whole semester and i've only attended like 2 out of the many mnay lectures there was.. i guess, my learning i affected by one very important condition.. location.. i realise i'm very reluctant to travel to different classes.. i'd still prefer, things happening the way they were back in secondary school & primary school..

MAKE THE TEACHERS/TUTORS WALK TO US!~!

Yup, that would really keep me in class and i'll have much better results.. i think i'm the sort whole will take things only if they are shoved down my throat.. sometimes.. not... hahaa..

the most interesting module for all 3 civil engine modules is this design project... it was really a very good chance to allow creativity to flow.. but somehow i think i was restricted by my group.. maybe my ideas are a little off the charts, but i seriously believe they were do-able.. epecially when this project is basically set without boundaries... yet, we were so box'd up in our traditional ideas... it's a pity...

i also took this really "moral" module call engineering poffessionalism.. it's really right civils and moral lessons back in secondary school.. it's all about doing the right things, making the right decisions.. blah blah.. but it was experience, cos i was working with people who were pretty competent, which made a light work out of everything.

my favourite is still the MNO module, especially when our project group took a whole day filming at DODO factory.. it was a very very good experience.. filming, acting, editting... it's all fun and entertainment.. if only everything about studying is like that... got pretty close with the bunch of them too.. which was really good..

exams.. i think i'm really really relieved it's over.. it's a torture for me.. going into the exam halls.. trying to fill up the black spaces on the answer script.. with answers which i know are hugely part of my own imagination.. this is my expected score...

B+, CE3101
A-, EG2401
C+, RE3481
D+, CE3121
C-, CE3115
B+, MNO1001

If i actually manage to achieve results like above or better, i seriously consider myself over-achieving.. and i'll be very very happy.. and best of all it means a very slight improvement to my CAP..

my overall opinion of this sem is me being pretty much a ghost.. seemingly non-existent for most of the semester with regards to my engine classes.. thanks to the non-engine modules which made my experience much more tolerable..

with that i'll end with some significant photos for this semester, significant to me at least...

Finally!!

The Semester has OFFICIALLY ended!! Yeah... last paper.. MNO.. 4 helpsheets.. i only managed to write 3. best part?? i left the exam hall early.. but dun misunderstand.. it's not cos i did too well.. i only bared managed to finish crapping.. i just did not want to waste time checking.. cos i'm quite sure i have nothing else to write. this sem is over and done with..

tml...

tml i will reflect on the whoel of this sem...

Exams Time

It's now half way thru the exams... 3 papers down.. 2 more to go.. and i have the luxury of a short break... but sadly... i doubt i did well for the past papers... might not even pass... so it's actually quite depressing... but... nothing much to regret about.. cos i wasnt working hard for it anyway... i'm just glad it's over... looking forward to holiday break...

School's Out!! Exam's IN!!

the final days of the school semester have been a horrific experience... loads and loads of deadlines to meet... loads and loads of stuff to do, study, read, do somemore... ridiculous... but somehow.. i survived it all!! with a few corners cut here and there... but still i managed to get out in one piece... BUT BUT BUT...

Exams are round the corner.. and after somewhat ghosting thru the semester.. this will spell the largest disaster that will befall on me.. now i have to digest and absorb... a whole semester worth of lectures/tutorials/readings in the short span of 1 week and try to get myself as ready for exams as possible.. how easy is that??

Ups & Downs in a single day

the day started off with something i was quite proud of... 1 pager due today.. and a 3 page teamwork analysis also due.. the task?? to get all the above done in 30mins... and miraculously.. i spent something like 40 mins to complete it.. amazing.. even though content was total crap but being able to cook up something in that short time.. priceless...

big down of the day... lecture test for soil mechanics... haven been to lecture/tut of any sort.. print out the notes for the very first time.. see them for the very first time... and BANG.. time for test... and the result was simple... blanks... blanks on 80% of the paper... 20% was MCQ so i could just select SOME answers... still it felt like shit...

so just to make myself feel better... splurge... hahaa.. watched GAMEPLAN... damn funny... child actors nowadays, are simply.. WOAH!! ate Waffles at Gelare... ate paste & Waraku Pasta... overall felt much better....

BUT!!! like i said before... deadlines are still lurking... and they are getting real close now...

--= *Stardust* =--

Just came home from watching this movie... it's been years since i watched a Claire Danes movie... in fact i think this is my first one.. cos i seriously dun think i watched her Romeo & Juliet with Leonardo Di Caprio.. hehe..

This story is a refreshingly new fairy tale... not any old plot i've seen before... so it's nice and new... hilarious throughout the show... but most importantly it's actually done very logically... even though it has loads of fairy tale fantasy in it.. it's still very logical.. the flow of the show is very logical.. it actually explains the plot very well.. there's no point the show where we go "hey wat happened in between" kind of things happening... there's always answers... timely ones as well...

Great actors with the likes of Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and this new guy... Charlie Cox.. he's funny.. and not to forget Claire Danes... she's really suited to act in this sort of shows... hahaa..

Anyway... i liked the show.. and love the happy ending... :)

I thought Wrong.. but What's New??

This week is supposed to be less busy... but i was wrong... deadlines keep coming back at you... finish one.. on comes another... there's always another deadline waiting for you... aaarrrggghhh...

but... I did a few happy things this week... i went to Hog's Breath at Vivocity... the food was good... it's a bit pricey... that's y me and yanli went on tuesday.. it's ladies night.. and they get 50% off the main course... which is good... oh.. and the service there is the best among all eateries i've been to so far... good service.. good food.. yum..

yesterday we also went to Ajitei , another restaurant by Ajisen... jap food.. nice!! not too expensive.. but the main attraction here is the desserts... haven got to try them yet.. cos we were too full after the mains... :P

finally... i've just uploaded fotos taken during MNO video filming.. please go see see...

Wireless on BUS

I just sent my car for servicing.. and now taking bus to school.. it's been a while since i took public transport.. and this is surprising.. there's wireless on board... cool.. hahaa..

the only side effect.. i cant do this too long on a bus.. or any moving transport.. i'll get headaches... i'm getting one now.. arrgghh...

Finally!!! the Video is Done..

Finally the BTSL Video is done.. after sleepless nIghts of editting... IT's DONE!!! and here's a compressed version which is uploaded into Youtube...



However that's not the end of work for me... more dealines coming up.. UURRgghhh.. What the hell....

Deadlines

Deadlines are lines which kill you when you don't finish your tasks on time... this is week 10... loads of deadline coming up this week... 4 out of 6 modules... super tired.. haven been sleeping much the past few days... felt really drowsy when i drive to school in the morning... BTSL video is coming to a close soon... left with editting and sound effects to do... den there's paper for engine prof... paper for urban planning... and huge project for infra project... everyday is packed with meetings and discussions and projects...

btw, i'll be going YELLOWSTONE!!! from 13 May to 22 Jul i'll be working in Yellowstone national park... i finally get the chance to go overseas further than china.. hahaa...

very tired now... need sleep....

How was NUS Week 8

this week is when all the projects actually have a meeting.. and that basically makes up my whole week... i haven been going for lecture.. nor have i been to much tutorials... but project meetings have been plenty... and most of them are enjoyable...

today.. i spent my WHOLE day at the DODO Fishball factory office... all the way at Senoko.. doing MNO video... elaine managed to get liyang(her long term chauffeur.. also the son of the MD of DODO)... there's yvonne who looked seriously like a female boss today, very professional looking lar!! den kah hwee or ah KAH after today, she just reminds me of the pantry.. all of us knkow why... elaine, well.. she's the future DODO bosstress... hahaa.. hope she dun get pissed by our irritance... hahaa.. Zerong, super funny was the stuff he says... especially those scenes which we were suppose to talk "rubbish" cos there would be no audio.. the "rubbish" he says.. simply makes everyone laugh till u drop!!! henkie.. our old man & bad man.. i think he had a great lesson in acting today.. hahaa... finally our main producer.. mr OH wenjun.. damn pro is what i have for him... and dues to our filming overrun.. think his family had to wait up for him for dinner... and FINALLY there's me!!! I think i'm a ultra crazy actor.. i think i like to act.. it's fun... or rather i like to be a comedian... just be lame...

that's just damn cool... we were running around the office shooting here, there, everywhere.. luckily it was public holiday.. so there werent much staff around to be irritated by us.. we were seriously noisy.. but there was loads of fun doing this video shoot.. and i got to act.. this is by far my first major role in any video clip ALL MY LIFE.. and i loved it.. it was just damn fun... although this video clip is ultimately supposed to be just 7 mins.. we managed to stay at the office for almost 12 whole hrs for filming... hahaa.. loads of wasted time on crapping and hysterical laughing... mostly by me...

technically it's elaine's birthday now... so we celebrated for her earlier on just now.. i actually bought cake for her yesterday.. and hid it in my car.. and i only remebered to take the cake after like 5 hrs of filming.. hahaa.. i shove it into the fridge immediately.. i guess it was still ok when we ate it.. heheee.. hope no one has problems after eating... think elaine was quite happy we celebrated for her.. and yah.. we TOOK loads of photos.. and loads of video today... cant wait to get my hands on them.... hahaa...

This is week 8

total there's 13 weeks of lessons... this means majority of the semester is gone.. and i feel like i have successfully GHOST past it... i managed to survive so far without any get failures.. but.. HOW the hell will i survive the final exam?? a miracle??? this is the time of the semester when i think i should find a religion.. or maybe practise some black magic... hahaa...

Get more for less

Ask for less and you will get more...

If you are less demanding, you find you have gain more than you asked for.. If you ask for too much to be done, it simply reduces your speed and nothing gets done... take one simple task at a time.. stay happy and live easy... :)

This Feeling is new

This is the first time i feel betrayed by a lecturer... you ask him about how the project should be done.. he gives you tons of ideas... you work on it... do and suit his tastes... but when presentation comes... there's another bigger shot there.. who shoots down almost every aspect of the presentation... and that dumb lecturer just nods his head along.. BETRAYAL... BIG TIME... there goes my results...

This Is My Mid-Term Break

Mid-term break... this mean it's half way thru the sem already... loads of things/assignment/projects... and my engine is still cold...

Week 6

Week 6 is coming up... and that's basically HALF the semester gone!!! Deadlines are coming up!! and what have i done for the psat few weeks??? NOTHING!! Practically NOTHING!! although not physically nothing... but the academic value adds up to ZERO!! A big fat ZERO!! I dragged myself to school early today... managed to reach here around 830am.. and since then.. i've completed a short PPT presentation for Eng Professionalism tut.. and that's all for now.. i'm drained... already...

last week is slightly more eventful... attended one of my airforce colleague's wedding.. it felt great initially to be meeting up with them.. but after awhile i felt i have lost touch with the way they behave, talk and think... And i realised most of them are leaving the force already.. something that i was trying so hard to get into, they were all trying to get out.. they say i was lucky to not be inside doing crap like they are.. but i feel i could have made a difference... too bad i wasnt there...

finally watched Ratatouille last week... it's a nice cartoon with a simple plot.. but the graphics.. WOAH... close to reality... it's simply stunning... further more i watched it at GVMax.. huge screen.. superb resolution... the only problem was the freezing cold temperature... BBbbrrrrRRrr...

also caught the lastest Sandra Bullock movie.. quite disappointing actually.. the plot became alittle too obvious in the middle of the show.. and the ending was... unexpected.. but unexpected wasnt good in the case.. i would prefer it to be the expected ending... i feel the show has some sort of religious linkage to it.. but i wasnt religious enough to understand it... :P

-----Suspended--------

This BLOG is From Now on.... SUSPENDED... for more News from the author.. please visit spikefire.blogspot.com

NUS Week 5, here I come...

Blogging has once again deteriorated to a once a week activity... i see 2 reasons...

1. I'm too lazy
2. No one's bugging me to do more often anyway

last week hasnt been any much better than the week before.. but as usual i still like my MNO class loads.. MNO is basically a very fun class.. so so so much more fun than all the technical crap in engine.. damn!! i really hate wat i'm studying.. aarrgghh... but it's my choice.. so i'll stick with it..

MNO highlights included 2 tutorials this week, one's the usual one on tuesdays.. the other is an extra lesson on saturdays.. called BAFA BAFA.. we played a game.. which was actually quite interesting.. first we learn some simple rules of our society.. den start on it.. the we start interacting with another tutorial group which has totally difference rules of games.. this kindda mimics a persons emmersion into another society.. you get the same kindda of lost of directions, you get the same cluelessness.. but you'll also start understanding what happens after a while.. even though you totally dun speak their language.. it's really quite a fun yet meaningful game...

watched evan almighty this week.. it's MUCH nicer in terms of plot and acting compared to Bruce Almight.. which is just a crappy show starring Jim Carrey.. and i really recommend watching this show... christians may not agree with wat i say.. but i think the show is nice... and funny... great entertainment... oh by the way.. i'm saying all this here because.. i'm going to end my movie addict blog.. cos it's rather tedious to maintain.. and their aint much viewership except for myself... so it's goodbye movieaddict.blogspot.com...

NUS Week 3 Over

3rd week was over in NUS, and still nothing much was achieved for myself.. got to know a few people in my MNO class.. missed many other classes... basically nothing much was achieved in school over the past week.. but i feel the ball is finally starting to roll.. so i hope things will start going on smoothly from now on...

friday was basically the highlight of the week.. going back to tj for homecoming dinner... met up with some 06 people.. and other tj frens.. too bad the turn-out for our batches not very good.. otherwise it shld be quite fun.. the current tj vice principal was my history teacher back in cchs.. and he still remembers me... which is pretty cool... i took quite a few pictures that night.. just follow the link on the left to check them out...

saturday went minds cafe with bingguang, jass, lihui, wanyang, yinglan, jingting & dear... basically, now i have a pretty bad impression of minds cafe.. pretty bad... the games are alrite, the food actually not bad... except when it came to mine.. my lasagne was frozen in the middle when they serve it to me.. no to mention mine only came after EVERYONE had finished their food.. super sad & pissed... so yah.. that's pretty much the last time i'll go minds cafe i guess... hahaa...

sunday had KTV at the NUS guild house at Suntec.. it's a pretty cool place.. the KTV facilities not bad.. i like the rooms much more than other KTVs outside.. their songs are piggybacked from the Kbox systems... but somehow less updated... but it's cheap and good... however, the membership to the place really quite ex... hahaa..

Week 4 has begun and it started off with labs.. 3 lab session in 2 weeks.. going to be a very very busy 2 week up ahead...

Bourne Ultimatum

Jason Bourne finally finds out his true Identity. This is the key focus of the film, after the past 2 prequels, this finally puts and end to the Jason Bourne Amnesia problem.. But there seems to be 2 more Novels after Bourne Ultimatum, which i doubt would be made into movies due to deviated storyline & plot... we shall see..

Continuing on the witty escapes and seemingly genius ways of killing and getting out of though situations, Bourne Ultimatum ties you down into your seat. Non-stop action from start to the end. Julia Stiles has a slightly longer role in this episode compared to the last 2, and she even hints of an affair with Bourne.. interesting.. too bad that was not built on in the show.. perhaps a basis for the next installment?

Pictures


Official Website
The Bourne Ultimatum

Classic Quote -
Noah Vosen: [in car, on cell phone] Perhaps we can arrange a meet.
Jason Bourne: Where are you now?
Noah Vosen: I'm sitting in my office.
Jason Bourne: I doubt that.
Noah Vosen: Why would you doubt that?
Jason Bourne: If you were in your office right now we'd be having this conversation face-to-face.
[Bourne hangs up]

License To Wed

A Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) puts an engaged couple, Sadie & Ben (Mandy Moore and John Krasinski) through a grueling marriage preparation course to see if they are meant to be married in his church. This is not just a typical romance flick, you add in Robin Williams, you get a HILARIOUS Romantic flick.

Basically i decided to watch this show because of Robin Williams, he's a great entertainer.

Pictures,


Official Webpage
licensetowedthemovie.warnerbros.com

Classic Qoute -
Reverend Frank to Ben : So Ben, what have you been doing, besides little Sadie here.

I'm so Drained...

It's been a pretty busy week cos school is finally back in session... kindda hard getting back to the mentality of studying.. totally dread facing the books again.. though i haven bought any books this semester, the lecture notes are just as bad.. no matter how much i hate it.. i still have to go thru it.. sucky...

in the past week both the guys and gals vball teams from tj played their last match for the singapore open.. and the results for this whole tournament had been losses from start till the end.. it really sucks to play that badly.. but then again.. there's no one to blame cos we were lack of trainings...

It's GOING BACK TO SCHOOL for me...

The past week in NTU has been pretty easy.. compared to NUS, the crowd in NTU VERY VERY little.. den sales wasnt very high.. and i seriously think the "feng shui" of the booth quite bad... totally blocked from the view of the entrance... so yah.. sales werent very good... but the good thing is, this really leaves us with nothing much to do except to talk cock.. hahaa.. so yah.. quite fun also... but NUS still better... got more common ground to talk about....

The volleyball open is also drawing to a close for me soon... so we haven won a single game... due to the simple fact of lack of training... physcially and mentally totally not ready for such a competition.. so yah.. quite disappointing.. but no one to blame except myself..

So this is basically the end of all the fun and games and work i have for the past 3 months plus of holidays... it's been an enriching experience, this holiday... worked several part-time/temps.. made a bit of $$... gain loads of experience and frens too...

it's time for me to start checking NUSemail... start printing and reading notes... aarrgghhh...

anyway new photos taken during the NTU lenovo have been uploaded.. take a look...

NTU!!! Here i COME!!

First day of sales at NTU... not exactly wat i expected.. but not too bad.. there's quite a crowded even though i felt there wasnt much adverts being done for the roadshow.. BUT.. we din sell much... and NTU don't accept NETS payment.. at least NUS accepts NETS... so so dum.. hahaa.. den because of the system of ordering in NTU.. it's pretty hard to track how many sets you actually sold... so it din really matter... just help selling only... only 2 other fellow promoters from NUS are here in NTU... then there's quite a few new people... especially some with totally no experience or product training.. sianzZ... so i was actually one of the more experienced ones there.. wth...

still not feeling well... flu is still quite bad... breathing still difficult... wonder how to cope tml's work and vball match after that... oh well... one step at a time...

Rush Hour 3

3rd installment of the funny pair of Jackie Chan & Chris tucker... Fast Tongue... Fast moves... FULLL of funny crap... simple entertainment... not really the best plot you have on cinemas nowadays.. but seriously.. are you seriously looking for a DAMN good plot in Jackie Chan movies??? NO!! it's about the stunts and the jokes.. and the after show credits...

So Basically If you are a Jackie Chan Fan... watch.. if not.. unless you are bored and look some more simple laughs...

Pictures,


Official Webpage
www.rushhourmovie.com

The ONE Scene You'll laugh your ASS off...

Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker Visiting the Martial Arts Centre...

Sniff Sniff!!

Laptop selling in NUS has ended.. Sales has been pretty good actually, and got quite a fair some of $$ from it too... so i'm quite happy with it...

National Day just felt like any other day... no special feeling at all.. feels kindda sad rite?? not enough hype in the event... not enough involvement by the people... mainly cos too much non-locals locally...

Ask some vball ppl over for steamboat on friday... quite a few din turn up... so there's only 6 of us... but i think we still had quite a good time.. got quite a bit of food left over though.. hahaa..

anyway... i wasnt feeling well the past few days... first it was very very bad sore throat... loads of phlegm... den finally i got rid of the phlegm.. came flu... nose totally blocked.... feeling cold... and weak... totally played like shit during the match against Hew Rockets just now... sucks....

sniff.. snifff....

Secret - 不能说的秘密

Jay Chou's latest involvement in the movie industry. It's a romantic love story, with the usual corniness which made him so unique. It's a movie with Jay Chou written all over, it seriously seems like Jay is fulfilling some childhood fantasy of his in this movie. It just made him look damn good... But!! This is a good movie to watch, the romantic essence of the movie will just make you go "aawwwww"..

Pictures





Soundtrack - 不能說的秘密 MTV


Official Webpage
www.sonypictures.com.tw/movie/secret/
Alternate Webpage
ent.sina.com.cn/f/m/bnsdmm

Scenes Making This Show WorthWhile,
1. Piano Battle
2. 4 Handed Piano Playing
3. Jay's Final Playing of "Secret"

Perfect Stranger

A suspense thriller with a huge twist in the show. From the start till almost the end, you'll guess who's the bad guy and who's the victim... as you go on.. you realise evidence pops up refuting your previous argument..

It's a very intriguing plot... it keeps you locked into the storyline... you want to solve the case... and yet everytime u take a step forward you realise you are going in circles... the ending is just simply unexpected...

Great acting from Bruce Willis & Halle Berry, really kept the suspense going on throughout the whole show..

Pictures,


Official Webpage
www.sonypictures.com/movies/perfectstranger/

Classic Quote:
Grace: Stroke a man's dick, you get him for one night. Stroke a man's ego, you get him for life.

A new week..

A new week has begun... back to sales in NUS... 8 sold today... quite a poor result... gotta try harder... let see how tml goes...

watched Perfect Stranger over the weekend & watched Secret just now... More detailed reviews can be found in my movie addict website...

A full Boot

The day started off with a good lunch at the coffeeshop near yanli's place.. Off to Expo for the Popular Bookstore Warehouse Sale... bought some stationary there.. and 2 document drawers... those stuff took up most of the space in my boot...

Thereafter, we went to Giordano Warehouse Sale.. Spent more than a hundred bucks there on 4 bottoms and 7 tops... bery bery cheap.. hahaa... and that basically filled my boot to the brim...

Down to Hougang Stadium... first match of Open... Against NTU... We would really have a good chance of winning if only we had more practices under our belt... but we did not play too badly considering is the VERY FIRST time we are playing together on the same team.. Lost 3-1... But it's okay... the tournament has only just begun...

Sell, Sell & Sell!!!

For the past five days, i've been spending most of my time in NUS MPSH 1.. standing there in a rather nice Lenovo, dryfit tshirt, with a clear folder in my arms.. all ready to tackle any questions about the Lenovo Thinkpads.. X61 & T61.. These are the 2 models which i was promoting at the Matric Fair and Laptop Roadshow... Sales weren't too bad i would say... sold 41 laptops over the span of 5days... but that's definitely not the best result.. i think i'm only middle range the top seller has almost 80 sold over the 5 days... BUT, i think i could do more if i really sold actively.. Starting a conversation & creating an interest is not my forte.. wat i do best is remember facts and make sure watever i explain gets across to the audience.. oh yah, i also have a knack for understand all kinds of accents, PRCs, Indians, Americans, Vietnamese, Malaysia even French... hahaa.. and i would always speak to these people with a tinge of their accent, it's done subconsiously but it somehow works in a to make them understand me.. so i guess it's not offending.. :)

This whole week is fruitful, the experience of selling a product is new to me.. and i'm grateful that i'm working and leading a team of guys who are not there to just pull up their own numbers, instead we have been helping each other close deal over the past days.. especially today... i've been slacking for most of the day.. all i did was helping out in demostrations and explanations... and they would occasionally put my name as the sales person on their order form for me.. helping me get 6 sets sold on my numbers today.. otherwise it could have been a big fat zero... i really couldnt care less about my numbers... as long as we are selling as a team... it's fine... great ppl to work with.. working in a team that ACTUALLY works AS a TEAM.. just makes everything much more enjoyable...

I'm looking forward to next week, recharge over the weekend, so i wont be lethargic like today... hahaa.. next week there's only 3 days of sales.. let's see if i can hit 40 in those 3 days...

Tml makes the start of the volleyball open for the guys team... first up is NTU... judging by the state of their current team... there's a high chance we can actually win.. so for now... it's time to sleep...

Matric Fair Over

Part one of my 3-part laptop selling is over. Matric fair is over, all the freshies have supposedly visited the laptop booths and gotten their laptops... but there's still many who have not decided wat to get yet and would probably come back in the next few days.. from tml onwards till next wednesday the road show is still on and is also open to all students and staff member of NUS.. i hope i can actually clock more sales in the following days..

didnt sell much today, but i did a lot of talking and persuading.. cos i was happily helping my team members to sell.. as long as we can convince others of our superior product and achieve numbers, it doesnt matter who sells it... so yah.. basically i've been hiding in within the booth the whole day.. and i'll help others explain and add on with charateristics of our laptops... although totaly numbers have not been soring high.. but i believe customers will return to us eventually...

today also marks the first match of the volleyball open... rush down to hougang from NUS.. really took quite a long time to get there.. traffic is bad everywhere... no matter where i was coming from.. that kindda sucks... gals team played against TNT which is actually " The National Team" a bunch of national team players from my era... hahaa..so basically no chance of winning.. but towards the 3rd set.. there's lot of improvement and confidence level is building...

and now it's time for me to hit the bunk.. i'm tired..

Dead Tired

It's been more than a week since my last post, last week is basically going thru training to be a good laptop sales person, which actually is totally insufficient. But luckily over the course of the training, i learn about Lenovo and how this laptop is actually REALLY good. because of this i build confidence IN the product.

Monday was the first day of the matric fair in NUS, only manage to sell 6 laptops.. and i was really lucky to get the last 4 sales cos they were like already wanted to buy.. all i had to do was to reinforce their decision..

Today, tuesday is actually much better... At least i am more confident in speaking and creating a conversation with the customers.. and really manage to convince a few customers to buy.. and i managed 11 laptops in total today.. basically, i'm trying to sell as much as possible not cos i'm grubbing for the commission which is actually VERY little... it's like the least among ALL the vendors there.. instead, i want to build up my confidence in speaking and selling, since this is my first ever sales job.. and also i'm confident inthe product, especially it's durability.. i'm going to get one Myself!! mum has agreed to pay... hahahaa..

but the consequence from these 2 days of selling are VERY sore feet and quite a hoarse voice now... been stand from 9am to 6pm with only about a half hr break in between.. wonder how am i going to withstand the next 10 over days... TIRED...

Volleyball open will begin on wednesday... wooo... it's time for a new season...

ok.. i'm too tired now... cant think anymore... zzzzz