Post-Xmas...

Belated Merry Xmas... and an advance Happy New Year!!

I had a rather busy christmas period. Lots of shopping, photo-taking, movies and of course not forgetting the food.

23rd:
We visited the botanical gardens. Heard that there was some interesting christmas tree there so we decided to go there and take a look. There are many trees made and designed by various schools and organisations. However, the night lighting does not really differentiate them apart from each other.


The decorations on this tree make it look so magical.

After which, we stop over at Ion for a quick coffee break. We took some pictures before heading out to Marina Barrage.




Inside Wheelock


Outside Lido Shaw


happily posing with my camera.. aint she just cute. hahahaha.. :P


my dad says she looks like she is advertising for starbucks. (after seeing a serious of pictures with the coffee..)


The wind was so strong that my pictures turn out so blurry. My tripod was even shaking at some point of time. Sadly, the only focused picture of the flyer is one where our faces are not in focus. It was my first attempt with night photography on tripod. Obviously i need lots of practice.

24th Christmas Eve:
Planned to go Bird Park but the bad weather in the morning disrupted the plan. Even in the afternoon, the sky was cloudy. We decided to play safe and give it a miss. Went to vivo in the evening to catch Sherlock Holmes. And then...


PARADISE... sooooo nice....

25th Merry Christmas:
Nothing much. Just dinner and movie. Watched the chipmunks.


The pizza is nice with the cheese and nacho dips. Very interesting and delicious taste.

27th:
Went for my first RT... It is kind of slack, i. Hopefully it is because it is the first session so it is more of an orientation session. If following sessions are like this, i doubt i can pass the test in 4 weeks time.

28th:
Just finished watching Buzzer Beat. And that explains my updated header picture. I cant exactly remember what the Japanese wording is but it goes something like "Work towards your dream, your number 1 fan". I felt that Yamashita Tomohisa is beginning to look like Takuya Kimura. In the drama, the clothes he wear and his charisma gave me that feeling. oh and there is definitely many scene of his "meat" for those drooling female fans.

Going off to cruise with family and dear in a few days time.. woooo.. hopefully the weather will be nice and it will be a wonderful and memorable trip.

棋子

i just love the way he sings.. original singer is wang fei...

说谎

why sad songs always seems nicer...

xmas decor part 2

went down to orchard today to shoot while waiting for dear... apparently i only covered one side of the whole stretch of road... will go down again someday to cover the other side and of course, the night shots...


this one is the one outside ion. It is an interesting tree as you can actually go into the tree. It looks beautiful inside and i think it will look even better at night. No shots inside the tree as i was unable to re-produce the beautiful lights inside.


This year, they have many reindeer with different dresses. This is particularly picked as i cannot help but wonder if it is from Thailand. You know what i mean...


one random shot. I thought the lamp post look lovely with the ribbon. The Chanel at the background is an accidental surprise that complements the picture.




Part of the Ferrero Rocher tree... I personally like these 2 a lot.


I know this is not part of the Xmas decor but i find this figurine cute. I saw it while on my way out of the taka.


frosty the snowman...

after that i went to catch Mulan at bugis. The cinema is so old school! it may look old but you could almost imagine its swagger back in the good old days. Anyway the movie is not bad. Full of fire and passion. I find the last part of the movie slightly too draggy though.


My first night shot in bugis while waiting for dear...


a close up...


another random shot...

Finally i met dear for dinner at Ajisen Ramen. They had a change in menu... No more spicy miso and pork curry ramen... Ordered the pork kimuchi ramen which i did not particularly enjoy due to the ginger and the many vegetables...

Heard this nice song on my way back home...


That particularly sums up my day. I shall go catch some sleep before i start listening to too much emo songs...

on a day like this....

... when the price tags kill off all desires to shop...

i can only resort to collecting christmas trees and decors...


bugis...


inside bugis...


from soo keee....


inside suntec...


outside suntec...


outside raffles city... i thought it is an interesting tree which is different from the ones that they usually have..


outside raffles city... quite an interesting concept.. bling bling... they used that for the overhead street design thing too... did not managed to get a nice shot though. wonder what it looks like when it is being lighted up.


close up bling bling...

That is all for today. Will take another day to cover the town area.

poisoned...

It has been a very long time since i got poisoned by a local phone. This is since the day I stumble upon a forum showcasing Japanese phones. I owned one 903SH and i tell you, they have this huge and crystal clear screen with top notch cameras with CCD sensors.

It is more than 2 years since i got my 903SH. I could only see and dream about the later models with those sleek and classy design with amazingly clear and large screens.

FINALLY, the wait is over. Sony Ericsson has finally come up with the Satio, boasting 3.5" screen with a 16:9 ratio. YES, you can enjoy widescreen video! Those Japanese phones used LCD TV technology for their screen. Sony Ericsson has done it for the Japanese market. I wonder if it is true for this one though as it is not specified. Imagine having a Bravia for your hp screen. Anyway, if the videos available online can be trusted, it is definitely a very clear one. (I think they played HD version of the Transformer 2 trailer and its fantastic!)

It also boasts a 12.1 megapixel (although i do not really think the bigger the better.) and uses its own CMOS sensor. Slightly disappointing. The pictures turn out vibrant on the phone. Wonder how it would be like on the PC. But it has one feature which i like a lot. The touch focus. By simply touching the screen, the camera will take a shot with the desired focus area. Sounds like a big potential for playing with macro shots.

The downside is that there is no 3.5mm audio jack, which is very disappointing as it is supposed to be a powerful entertainment phone. There is also a slight bulge at the back where the camera is housed and it is definitely a fingerprint magnet.





Simply cant wait to get my hands on 1... (If only the model comes along with the phone. Hahaha. Oopsx someone going to come after me...)

Okie now i should really get back to my revision. Haha. Anyway just 2 more pictures.


Light vs Darkness. (My need for revision vs the desire to slack)


Darkness is taking over~~ (So is my desire to slack...)

End of the world!!!

School term has finally ended. This is how i ended my last lecture.

"So if you do not have any more questions, i conclude that this is the end of the module. I will be on leave from tomorrow onwards. If you have any questions, you can approach prof A. He has taught this module before. On the actual exam, prof B will be invigilating. The paper will be marked by prof A. I have already given him your CA grades."

Amazing! In fact, SHOCKING! And we were always in doubt what is the scope of the exam. He initially said closed book exam which is disastrous given the difficulty of the module. After much persuasion from the students, he said "If you want, you can bring 1 to 2 pieces of paper. I will ask the invigilator to close one eye."

WHAT? Ask invigilator to close one eye? so does that really mean helpsheet is allowed? and what is 1 to 2 piece? so its 1 or 2?

"They chose to stay behind and leave their fate to the prayers." -quote from the movie 2012

I find the above quote suiting to my situation. Yea, caught the movie after school today. The movie is freaking good to be missed. Highly recommended. Non-stop action and an absolute thriller.

While watching this movie, i had one take home message in my head. I am going to put in a harder effort in conserving earth. Don't get me wrong. I am not that noble, trying to save the earth and all. After watching 2012, my only thought is to try and conserve earth, hoping all that shit will not happen while i am alive.

Another quote which got stuck in my head. (I can't really remember the exact phrase but it goes something like this.)"The day that man stop fighting for each other, that is the day mankind will end."

happiness (sadness) is just a state of the mind

the title was quoted from the movie "love happens". I guess that is what i really need now.

exams are just around the corner. Slightly less than 2 weeks to be exact. There is absolutely no motivation to study at all.

Hey! Why is that so? you got a month break right after your exams no?

yea~~ and i have got 2 weeks of in camp training and 1 overlapping week of standby immediately after the exam period. I am not exactly sure if that is something to actually look forward to.

Looking at the issue more optimistically, perhaps i should be happy that i have this issue to complain and whine about. After all, this is my 2nd last final exams...

Love Happens

It has been a long time since i last visited orchard. The christmas lightings are up!! It is about time to bring out my big camera and snap away. In fact, i planned to bring it out but i changed my mind at the last minute. Nevertheless, got some not-fantastic-but still-decent photos to share~~






dont you think that the japanese packaging make it seem so much more delicious?

Caught the movie "Love Happens" today. i have to say, it is rather disappointing. The movie is about this guy who writes a self-help book on coping with the loss of a loved one. The book turned out to be a hot seller and he held seminars to help people cope with the loss. However, the fact is he never did get over the death of his wife.

Other than a few tear jerking moments where they describe their feelings and how their loved one dies, the rest of the movie was quite bland. With the topic that the movie is touching on, i expected a much more sadder show. The best part of the movie is... JENNIFER ANNISTON! I still think she is hot.

Exams coming in around 2 to 3 weeks time. Time flies. Soon i will be back in camp for my re-service. And also the start of RT. Haiz...

Halo

Came to know this sound during a ktv session. beautiful...



"Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace
You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away"

MISERABLE!

2 days to proposal
2 weeks to presentation and CA2
4 straight liverpool loses
5 weeks to exam
6 weeks to final project
7 weeks to ICT

+ one more CA3 in the middle of all those.

I am feeling so burned out already. My real break will only come in like 8 weeks? That is more than half a semester, and my break is only 2 weeks before i start my last semester?!?!

And what is rafa doing?! 4 straight loses? haiz...

OLD~!

I can fully feel the effect of turning old today.

I woke up at around 8 plus yesterday morning to complete some work. Lessons started at 12 and ended at 7pm. To top it off, went for a kbox session with my secondary school friends from 11pm to 4am. It has been a very long time since our gathering involve something other than food. I finally reached home and slept near 5am. I felt amazed as i did not really feel very sleepy at 5am.

But, the result of my crazy day almost killed me today. I am feeling so sleepy and restless throughout the whole day. I practically sleep my day away, and i am still feeling sleepy now.

Signs of me turning old......

Super belated bday present

Come to think of it, i think i did not get myself a present.

Anyway, i was walking past the Adidas shop when this Liverpool shirt caught my eye. Furthermore, there was a promotion where a spending of $120 would get me a Liverpool scarf. The shirt already cost half of that amount. All those factors were probably the reason why i got the sudden urge to spend. My victory...



Maybe it was also because i got the feeling i have not buy anything for quite a long time. All the numerous times where i needed to control my urge to shop when i saw something that caught my eye... hahaha.. i somehow got the guilty feeling now.. argh! the evil of shopping...

I am just going to convince myself, it is a present for myself. Hopefully, this will reduce my guilt whenever i think about it.

Religion VS Science

(I have nothing against religion. Please forgive me if you find my views offending.)


Italian group claims to debunk Shroud of Turin

I have just read the above article which appeared on yahoo news. Scientist has managed to reproduce the Shroud of Turin(revered as the cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb). Apparently the italian group is trying to make a statement that the relic was actually man made.

After i read this article, a question came into my mind. What happens if there is strong evidence that the religious materials are fakes? Can you imagine the chaos if it is proven that the Buddhas, Christ, and all the gods and heaven stuff are all proven to be imaginary?

Before all the religious people out there start to flame me intensively, I am not dismissing your religion in any way. I do respect each religion, but I urge all of you to step back and think about this in a neutral stand. Start from ground 0 and think about this.

Personally, I believe people would probably break down and feel lost. To put it in a lighter way, imagine that the beliefs that determine who you are, how you live are suddenly taken away. This is especially problematic for people of older age. It will be hard to accept the beliefs you have been holding on to, is proven to be wrong.

I know my question is hypothetical. However, I also believe that even with strong evidence, the religions will still exist. As mentioned in the article:

Garlaschelli told Repubblica he didn't think his research would convince those who have faith in the shroud's authenticity.

"They won't give up," he said. "Those who believe in it will continue to believe."

Once again, to all religious people who happen to stumble upon this post, i apologize if i offend you in any way.

Mid Autumn Festival

After so many years, i still cannot understand how Mid-Autumn Festival justify the littering of public areas with used sparklers and the amount of vandalism caused by the candle waxes.

Anyway next week is e-learning week, and this is what my lecturer said: "For e-learning week, study chapter 7 on your own. You may want to refer to the textbook so that it is easier to understand."

A question came into my mind. What is the point of having lecture in the first place, if we can understand the materials just by studying the notes and reading the textbook.

In fact, most of my lecturers are not really well-prepared for this e-learning week. Most of them just upload the notes and that is it. I cant help but think that the school is carrying out this trial too soon, without giving adequate time for the prof to prepare. Either that, or the prof cant be bothered. Perfect example of good cause, bad execution, bad results.

Singtel wins EPL rights

Nightmare come true..

After winning the Champ League rights, tearing us apart.. now they win over the EPL rights too.

Everything will be fine if it is just a switch of channel but hell no! it is abt a change in setup box and everything. Given that it is only for 3 years, what is next? Are we going to see singtel having the rights for following 3 years, lose out to starhub for 3 years? So we have to keep rotating between them??

This is crazy! No consumer welfare!! Thinking should i make e switch....

happy belated birthday~~

hahaha my first try with collage.. wooo its damn cool!!! thanx germ for intro-ing me the fantastic software.. not only does it make pretty collages, it has a nice editing tool too. expect more to come..

dear brought me to some erm.. dunno where de restaurant. it is a bistro bar i think. they actually have a security guard post. hahaha. apparently there is some deutsch bank there. the atmosphere is very cosy and the service is excellent. nice place for chill out and definitely a good place for couples. if only its a weekend last nite.

so fast.. its the mid term break.. for ppl whu fail to realise it yet, the break does not mean rest.. it has the "destroy" notation. its the signals the start of many projects, the different tests and b4 you know it, its the final exam.

well.. it may sound terrible.. but den.. somehow i feel.. the real working life sux even more.. well.. shall enjoy while i can now..

it is amazing, but my prof just tell us today that our mid term test has been uploaded on the ivle. stunned. we are supposed to hand in our answers after the mid term break. not good for me. i dunno any other students and i gt no one to discuss with!!!

update: i have start to use twitter.. tot its a good idea when i wanna blog 1 liners. but there is some prob with the blogger widget. i set for only 1 update from twitter but its showing the whole list now.. haiz..

Fight for kisses

saw this advert posted by frds on facebook. enjoyed it very much so here i shall replicate it on my blog.

FIGHT FOR KISSES

MY EYES!!!!

they played a very terrible trick on me today..

i was buying a can of coffee from the vending machine.. den.. i was abt to turn my eyes to the collection point when i saw e msg.. "Now Disappearing..."

i was so shocked that i immediately took a 2nd look. phew.. it is "Now Dispensing.."

i felt like a fool....

the blower's daughter

another beauty found from watching xin guang.. amazing song.. totally caught my breath away.. totally can fit into any sad romantic shows.. definitely can make tears flow.. especially the way he sang "i cant take my eyes off you.."



just beautiful aint it..

the original vers of e song.. equally nice..


here are other songs performed by him during the various epi of e show.. get high marks each time. each time also quite touching.. but none like e one above..