Overdue - More than ever.

Lately, I am sourcing for a free unlimited photo storage site as I have almost used up the free space given by Flickr. Till date I have no idea where I can get such a great deal and I might end up paying for 2 years of Flickr subscription just to have my blog done properly. I am beginning to regret that I am not updating my blog because I am in awesome Europe! Luckily I do have a very good memory (not when it comes to study) and I will update my Euro adventures on my blog soon enough. Tomorrow is the official start of my exams! Well, technically I have had one last Wednesday and it did not go so well. I could not answer most of the questions and the examiner had to give me pass. I think he knew I was an exchange student (kinda obvious) and he said I could only manage 50% of the questions. I have no one to blame except myself because I didn't really put in enough effort though. Come on! I am on exchange!


Yesterday I watched a movie called "The Sting" as recommended by Arnau, a friend from Barcelona.

It was a film made in the 70s about the 30s and I must say it was good! The plot is about this con-artist, Hooker (yeah, what a name) who engaged the help of a master con-artist to bring down the killer (a rogue bank dealer) of his friend. The motivation was because Hooker and his friend conned a runner of the rogue bank dealer thousands of dollars and the enraged bank dealer then ordered both of them to be killed. Shan't tell you the ending though, go find out yourself :) It was rather interesting how the movie was played in terms of the sets, scenes and plot.



Don't you think Brad Pitt looks like Robert Redford? 
 Here's a funny quote from the movie. 
Robert Redford stumbles upon the master con artist, Gondorff laying on the ground, drunk like a fish.


Redford: Luther told me I could come learn something from you. I already know how to drink.

It feels weird - Sometimes it does.

It's been months since I've updated my blog. With less than one month to go before I head to Denmark for my exchange, amazingly, I feel nothing. Seeing my friends post about bidding for their desired modules make me feel elated and alienated simultaneously. Finally I can escape the troublesome bidding process for once but I feel like I'm left behind. DTU (Denmark Technical University)'s module-choosing process was very much easier compared to NUS's. I just had to find that module in the system and "check" the box to indicate that I am reading it. Yes, I got it, four modules in total.

Speaking of modules, my results are the same as last semester. My results are always the same. No up, no down. Ok, technically speaking it is decreasing. I dislike the fact that taking UROPS denied me more time for my usual modules, especially Dr Zhao's advanced coordination chemistry. Sigh. Nonetheless, UROPS was my only saving grace for the past semester. Oh well. Looks like I have to suffice with my current CAP. I still remember the hellish days I went through to churn out my thesis. It was OMGWTFBBQ x 10000 experience and I really abhor it. Thankfully I had the kind assistance of a lot of PhD students, especially Min Hwee and my assistant mentor, Akeha. :) Sheau wei really ensured that we (UROPS students) had sufficient equipment to begin synthesis. Now I have no idea if I should continue to be in Prof Hor's lab for my FYP. The only compelling reason for me to go back is that I really do like the people there. On hindsight, I kinda screwed up my synthesis also... So I'm pretty sure even if Prof Hor were to take back, it would not be for my synthesis skills lol.

So many things happened within this short span of a few months. I bought a new camera (Olympus E-PL3) and sold my old (Canon IXUS860IS)! Well actually I bought the camera from someone who did not appreciate the nitty gritty details of a DSLR camera. I like dealing with such people because I think I got the camera from her at a huge discount with ten months of warranty to go. :D

Below is the summary of what I had done over the holidays:

Met up with Terence. Look what medical school has done to Kong. lol.

We ate at Kuru Kuru as introduced by XY. The light made my face rounder than usual.

Kbox with the usual people followed by Coldstone icecream.

Watched Mission Impossible IV with Qi and Kong and proceeded to our fav budget Jap restaurant, Nihon Mura. 

Ever since the outlet behind my house closed down for good, I have no where to order cheap takeaway. :(

Hugeass telescope!

We went to the observatory in NUS Physics yesterday. Hong qi was our tour guide for the night and he showed us this movable roof which I thought was way cooler than Mike Posner. We saw Jupiter and its four biggest moons as well as our beloved moon. It was a really cloudy night.

Anyway...

Too fast too soon - Better enjoy yourself while you can!

My attachment at Fajar Secondary School officially ended last friday. I miss the students and working with my friends though I absolutely abhor waking up at 5.45am. Michelle, Steffi, Shani and I went to United Square to buy Stickies for the kids. We bought 4kg of Stickies for $178 and repackaged it ourselves into mini packets. 

Freaking a lot.


We had udders ice cream!

Shani, Steffi and Me.

With Michelle.


Well technically I could not help cause Hao Chuien was still doing our project hence I had to focus on that first. Stickies were wildly popular with the kids I must say. I do not really enjoy it cause I find the sweets a bit too sharp or maybe I have a soft mouth.

Hard at work.



The kids wrote me a damn touching farewell note. :`) They included a gift too.


Bye kids! Hope you all remember my amusingly naggy ways and please do well in your studies (they don't know the existence of my blog)! :D


Our farewell meal at Pizza Hut the day before.

Family photo. Shi Hui was missing though.


Helped cousin buy Macbook Air and installed some programmes with her. What I can say is... I want one!

Antique beside the sexy one.


`
Ate at Tawandang Suntec City with my buddies last week and I must say, there are better alternatives elsewhere. The food is exorbitantly priced.

`
Went Universal Studios Singapore two days back with my university friends. It was fun but it was super hot that day.

Cleopatra that tried to put up an icy aura. Her job so easy, no need to talk to visitors, just act aloof.

I went bonkers when I saw this. This is like a dream come true cos I have been fascinated with Jurassic Park since I was little.

The Spinosaurus was quite real thought it was painted green.

Rapids Ride!

Roy was drenched while Lloyd and stef stayed completely dry.


Lunch at Goldilocks! 
I'm sure she can do better with the chickens. Stick with the porridge maybe.



The water puddle on the ground is their pee, really. 

With Betty Boobs. Her parting words were,"You guys better take care of the girl!"

Stef got despised (a bit of a strong word here) by a caucasian lady when she tried to climb over the railing to exit the queue for the Waterworld because the show was having some technical difficulties and the show was to be cancelled. Unfortunately she climbed into the "express lane" and was questioned by caucasian lady.


"Do you know this is the express lane?" and "Where is your express pass?". Such condescending words! She must have thought stef was an alpha tango. Poor stef.


Anyway, Jerel left at around 5.30pm and we went for a Monsters Show and I nearly fell asleep cause I was too deadbeat. After that Roy, Tuan Quan and I "spammed" Battlestar Galactica as it was nightfall and there were little people. Our conclusion: The front seat offers the best view and the back seat is the scariest. 


No idea why? Because if you are seated at the back, u get to experience more "out of your seat" feeling as you will start accelerating at the top arch while the people at the front seat only experience it after the arch. 



Charlie Chaplin!
He was really damn funny as he tried to amuse the visitors who were trying to take a photo with him. Salute!


Till then!

Time flies - She's got you high and you don't even know it

Three weeks of attachment at Fajar Sec flew by and I'm left with one week left. Gotta submit my two projects soon which I am quite worried about because we have not really offered any novelty ideas. Anyway, I enjoy teaching very much. The students are quite, unique. I rushed myself through the marking of a class's assignment before going out for Harry Potter and I must say the students are not prepared for 'O' levels examination anytime soon! I remembered I completed every practice papers diligently but I don't see it in any of the students. 


Anyway, I went to Joycelyn's convocation a week ago and here are the pictures which I had grabbed from facebook.

We look good here.

:)

Some day it will be our turn! 

I was so deadbeat that day cause I woke up very early for school, proceeded to the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) for a meeting and waited till 10pm for the presentation ceremony to end so that Joycelyn to come out. Thanks Pristine for buying our dinner.


Ok fast forward to this week. I had another meeting with the research team and I was late. I went to IMRE not knowing the venue was at S9, which was damn far away. Supposed to meet at 4pm but ended up reaching at 4.25pm. It was rather embarassing because the room was rather small and the presenter had to pause for me to take a seat, which was a table with a plant on it (there were no seats left).


We had dinner at Superdog and the fish in the fish burger was really smooth, much to my surprise. Afterwhich we had some time so we went to Cold Rock to have some ice cream. 

Itchy nose.

Itchy head.

Strawberry Shortcake ($11.50)

Too close for comfort.

Caught Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 with my army buddies yesterday. I must say the movie was really good. Like many people have said, it is the end of an era. We grow up watching HP movies! I found Professor McGonagall damn cute she summoned the stone soldiers. She exclaimed that she had always wanted to use this spell as she shook her fists in excitement. She was quite the pro when she battled Snape and chased him out of Hogwarts. There were a few touching moments like Harry witnessing Snape's unyielding love for his mum through the pensieve and Hermoine's desperate plea to accompany Harry to meet  Voldemort. The small bloodied body of Voldemort was nasty. Overall the movie was really impressive. 


Anyway I bumped into Alicia's clique at 313 before the movie and Ming han commented that I grew fat. Yes Ming han, please be my personal trainer will ya? Today is his birthday, so... Happy Birthday! He doesn't know I have a blog btw.


Thanks to Guan Zhong for sending me and David home again! 


Just finished watching 500 days of Summer.

It was an interesting movie because I actually could relate to some of the things inside. This is not a love story, but a story about love. The female lead looks like Katy Perry. Thanks Steffi for lending it to me! I'm having trouble watching the Kite Runner due to DVD region issues. Gonna watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soon. Oh yeah, I bought 9 dvds from Laserflair cause it is having a clearance sale as it is moving from Bukit Panjang Plaza.

What do ya notice abt the genre?

Three dvds are missing from this photo. Wolverine Origins, Iron Man 2 and Transformers 1. I wanted to buy something more intellectual but they were running out of stock for most of the movies. :/

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (3D)

I was awake for 23 hours yesterday because I woke up at 5.45am and slept at 4am today. I am still racking my brain to find novelty ideas for one of my projects. I met up with a professor from NUS Chemistry deparment to discuss more about UROPS (undergraduate research opportunity) and it went well. So I do not have to think about taking those boring year 3 chemistry core modules as I can replace the 1 core mod with the UROPS. I really hope I can do well for it because it does not seem easy at all. The first task the professor had given me was to read one of his research papers which I am trying my best to decipher.


I headed to town to meet up with David cause we have some errands to run. Topman was kind enough to swap a new pair of pants for my faulty pair (one button fell off and the other was about to). I hope the new pants can last, but I would not put much expectations for Made-in-China products. Oh wait, my Macbook Pro too. :/


There was a Food Fest Fair in Takashimaya shopping centre's atrium. We ate sausages, ice cream and stopped short of buying the dango.

Dango (roasted riceball in Japanese I think).


We tried a few samples and it was not worth the money.


Since I had booked the movie tickets for us, I requested VB to suggest a place for dinner. He promptly recommended Red Tomato, which we found out was Hot Tomato at 313 Somerset shopping mall. ._.



VB, please get the name right haha.



Salmon pasta with mango salad ($11.90).



Seafood Combo ($13.90).


The green mussels were not fresh and the salmon was half done. Till now I do not have a stomachache so I guess the salmon tasted good (if it was initially meant to be half done). The dory fish was passable as you can get this from Fairprice but at a price of $13.90, it was acceptable.

Chicken Chop and sausage pasta ($11.90).



Fish and Chips ($9.90).



Vb and Wen Juan.


This is Wen Juan's debut!


The photos below are koped from Tian Shuo's facebook so kudos to him! Tian Shuo was excited about his new hoot and kept shooting us.




Cam-whoring while waiting for seats.



Guan Zhong and I.



We looked really funny.



I think I moved a bit.


Mdm Jayne came to join us for dinner! It has been a while since we last saw her. We had a good chat over dinner but she could not join us for the movie.



We caught it in 3D and it took our eyes a while to adjust to the effects. The movie was full of effects that you have to catch it in 3D! I still prefer Megan Fox over the new girl. The new girl has this British accent that did not go match with most of the crew but there were more action than speech though. Some of the scenes jumped really fast and we thought the film was cut at some parts. For example, after Bumblebee and his friends saved the people who dropped from the building, the next scene showed Bumblebee and gang getting subdued by the Decepticons. Also, we found it lame that Optimus Prime was trapped by some ropes and this caused him to be out of the movie for like 30-45 minutes. Overall, the movie was quite good. Even robots have a weak knee for hot girls.


P.S: Thanks to Guan Zhong for sending me and david home! 

Expectations - and reality.

One tub of durians and this is only a tip of the iceberg!


My mood is down today cause I did not do well for CM3291. The moment I reached home, I tucked into icy cold durian which lifted my mood somewhat. I hope the meeting with Prof Hor tomorrow will be smooth and finally friday is coming. Looking forward to the long weekend (Monday is Youth day) and the rest ahead! 


P.S: Now I'm really worried for CM3292. Need to do something about it.