over the edge

Last night I dreamt of yet another weird dream.

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I was in some kind of pie shop. (Pushing Daisies?) There were two people sitting at a small round tea table and right behind them was a shelf filled with hundreds of cakes, pies and pastries. The shelf was brightly-lit and the aroma of the cakes seemed to have permeated through the membrane of my dream bubble into reality. I approached the two people who were deep in conversation. One of them was a blurry image of a man and the other was a little lady wearing pink and had an uncanny resemblance to Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series, but this one was kinder and gave me a slice of Raspberry pie from the shelf. I don't know how I could have known but the pie was delicious. The outer crust had just the right amount of texture to it and the raspberry filling wasn't all too sweet.

After having just a few mouthfuls of the pie, I found myself working on a ham pie recipe. Turkey ham wrapped with pie filling and the result tasted a lot like one of those hot dog puffs that they serve in army.

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Perhaps I had this dream cos I happened to come across this blogshop the day before selling chocolate and durian cakes... yum.

I've decided to keep a dream diary.

It seems that I've been getting a lot of dreams recently. And unlike most people, I remember what they were about quite vividly. Not too many details though.

Every now and then when I do dream about something interesting, I'll blog about it here.

So the other day I was dreaming about picking up tennis balls at a golf course. And I had to climb over some fence in order to do so. Then there was this security guard who found me and I started running and he didn't chase...


Another time I dreamt that the price of rice went up. Apparently I was having a meal with my grandma (who in real life would choose not to sit at the same table with us during dinner) and my mom served up a bowl with barely two tablespoonfuls of rice in it and said, "Na. You all share this." The next thing I remember was thinking about asking for more rice the next time I order Chap Cai Peng (mixed vegetable rice)...


Just last night I was dreaming about this huge playground with this spider-web made up of ropes reaching a height of a building. Then I started hanging on to these two stranded ropes and started climbing by simply letting go of one hand and grabbing a higher portion of the rope and then repeating this until I made it like 3 storeys. It was incredibly easy cos it was of course, just a dream. I, however, didn't like heights so I just loosened my grip and down I went. The good thing was, my hands didn't suffer from rope burn.

So a friend of mine came across this website and referred it to me.

www.fr3b.com

It's an online sampling hub where you can use points to redeem samples of perfumes, face wash, sunblock lotion and those kinda stuff.

So I spent the 6 points which were given to me upon signing up and redeemed 3 different samples. I only needed to pay a small postage and handling fee of S$2. Pretty worth it I suppose.

So the package finally arrived after 4 days of waiting and this is how it looks like...



Here's the back.



And here are the contents =)



I asked for a sample of the following...

1 x MenScience Advanced Face Lotion
1 x Blue Pollack Ocean Fragrance
1 x Dsquared2 He Wood EDT




Haven't tried them yet.

Cool morning. Dark clouds. SBS bus service 179 smelled like the hospital.

On my way out of the restroom, I see the nice elderly lady who works as a cleaner in the sports and recreation centre. I gave her a big smile and said, "Auntie! 早安 (good morning)!"

Auntie took this friendly gesture of mine as an invitation to tell me how her morning went. She told me that she'd just sat for an examination and how thick the notes she had to study were. She went on to say that even cleaners nowadays have to take exams and that it's not easy working in Singapore. She then told me what some of the questions were about in the exam - how to dress appropriately on the job; personal hygiene etc. The conversation lasted about 5 minutes with her talking about 95% of the time and once she realised I was going somewhere, she bade farewell to me.

I thought it was rather interesting that she would tell me about this.

Then the rest of the day I was in the lab till about 10:10pm doing column chromatography which lasted about 6 hours.

My sister made me promise to stop eating shark's fin soup.

So I joined this facebook group to

SAY NO TO SHARK'S FIN SOUP.

Join it.

NOW.





Corn starch FTW!

My Casio Edifice died on me. I thought the battery was dead so I sent it for a battery replacement. I received a call a few days later and was told that it was the watch mechanism which needed repair and not just a new battery. To do that, I had to pay $40, which is about one-third the price of the watch itself.

So I decided not to get that watch fixed.

A few days later, I got back my Edifice and apparently, it started working again. But since it's the Great Singapore Sale anyway and there are offers on watches at City Chain, I got myself this nice red watch from K-Swiss. I saw it in a shopping catalogue and knew I just had to get it.

This costs just $49 at City Chain. View other designs here.

With the rise of the H1N1 flu virus, more and more people are realising the importance of having good personal hygiene and practising social responsibility.

OR SO YOU THOUGHT.

There was this middle-aged woman who grabbed on to the MRT (mass rapid transit) pole while eating her curry puff with the same hand. Once she'd licked the crumbs off her fingers, she smeared whatever she had left on her fingers on the pole and when that didn't "clean" her hands enough, she pretended to adjust her clothes and the red polka-dot dress that she was wearing ended up with an ugly oil stain.

There's also a guy in my research group who has a very bad habit of not washing his hands after he visits the loo. I've been unfortunate enough to witness this 3 times already. Every single time he'll just walk past the wash basins without even taking a second look at them.

So, for all you guys out there who don't wash your hands after paying a visit to the toilet or after a KFC Chicky meal, this thing below - it's called a wash basin (aka sink). In case you're wondering what they're doing in the toilet, it's for you to wash your hands with. That shiny silver thing above - that's a water tap. You turn the knob and water flows out, allowing you to rid your hands of any unwanted residue that's gotten onto your hands after you flush. Here's a link to a tutorial on how to wash your hands. You'll need water, some soap, and of course, your hands.

I opened the mail box today expecting to see mom's letters and lo and behold, I was greeted by a mail box stuffed with a huge black package.

I dug out the package and found out that the package was indeed from Designbyhumans.

The tees arrived earlier than I anticipated. 10 days instead of 3 to 5 weeks!!! =D I'm elated.

Love the tees. Except some were a little too big despite being the smallest size. They are of excellent quality and they're neither too thin not too thick. I forsee myself getting more tees from DBH.





I'm just hoping they didn't attach swine flu together with the package. lol.

In the midst of my exams,
I find comfort and pure joy in this thing called retail therapy.

The best thing about it, I don't even have to step out of my house.
(But I still have to dig into my pockets. Duh.)

So yeah, I bought a couple... a few... OK... maybe just 7 tees from this website called Designbyhumans (DBH).

The tees from DBH were all designed by regular people with extraordinary talent. But don't just take my word for it (even though I'm reliable and trustworthy), go check it out! Much better than Threadless in my opinion.

By the way, DBH is having a spring closeout sale! Free shipping for orders above 70USD (after discount). Use this discount coupon (valid till May 4, 2009) for a 10% discount off your total purchase!

I've been constantly bugged to update my blog by some of my friends.

One threatened to remove a link to my blog from their website, while another complained that all I ever talked about on the blog is that I forgot that I have a blog.

I'm just about done with my math revision for the big math test tomorrow which carries 26% of the overall grade. Ok... maybe not about done. But I've done enough to realise that I really haven't done enough for the math test. Hooray.

In addition to the math test, I've got a presentation right after the test. We're supposed to be talking about the laws of attraction and how communication plays a role in taking the first step into a relationship. Our attire for the presentation will be formal wear! I can't imagine doing my math test in formal attire. It's gonna be quite uncomfortable.

I guess if I screw up on the math test, I can blame it on the formal wear.

Bwahahaha.

On my way home today, I arrived at Jurong East MRT today and was oh-so-warmly-greeted by huge crowds of people waiting eagerly to hoard a spot on the train going towards Marina Bay. It seems more and more people are using the public transport system and ditching their cars for a cheaper ride these days. Once the train arrived, everyone from outside started squeezing their way past those who were attempting to get out of the train. Some people are just so damn inconsiderate. But that's just how it is. You don't fight your way through, you don't get on the train.

So I was walking back home after a tight sardine ride home. I was waiting at the traffic light. Across the road I saw a huge group of school children waiting for the green man to appear. It was like a stampede of wild little kids with their parents herding them towards me.

My first instinct - SIAM. (Singlish term, meaning "to avoid")

That is why if I happen to become a teacher, I'm gonna want to teach slightly more grown-up kids.


Baaaa.

Dear Student,

After assessing the reasons that you have stated, we regret that we are unable to accede to your request.

Reason for rejecting the appeal : Class size has reached maximum capacity.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences





That's nonsense.
There were empty seats in the lecture theatre!
I shall be stomping the general office tomorrow.

I left this blog to die.
I'm wondering why the counter's still receiving hits.
But, like Ned from Pushing Daisies, I'm gonna bring this blog back to life.
Just a side note: Pushing Daisies will be cancelled soon =(

So... my exams are finally over (for this semester)!!! But I'm not expecting any good results. Everything seems so uncertain. The difficulty of the exam papers were all stepped up a notch from the previous years. But I only have myself to blame if I don't get the results I want.

But all these worrying about exams and stuff seem so unimportant and redundant when life's at stake. I'm talking about the Singaporean lawyer, Lo Hwei Yan, who became the first from our country to die in a terror attack, more specifically the recent terror bombings in Mumbai, India. I can hardly imagine what it must have been like for her or her family during those precious seconds when she was allowed to communicate with her family. It must have been devastating to be given hope of survival then have it swiped like a mat from under your feet. My dad is a frequent traveller too and my sis is on a long-term job posting in a distant land. I only hope that they'll be safe wherever they go and return home unscathed.

Amidst all the actual turmoil that's taking place around the world, there are actually people who kill each other for toys, or trample over Wal-Mart employees while picking out christmas gifts. It's a sad world out there. Whatever happened to the spirit of giving?


It's about a month till I get to have my own room. I can't wait =D I've placed an order for my bed, desk and wardrobe and they're gonna look great in my room. I'll post a few pics of my room when it's ready ;)





It's clobbering time!

So October went by without any posts.

I told myself I wouldn't let this blog die under me hands but I still did. Now to breathe some life back into it again...

Been pretty busy with lots and lots of tests. Exams are just 2 weeks away. Even after 12 years under the Singapore education system, I still feel the same gut-wrenching, stomach-twisting, nerve-wrecking, head-spinning feeling that always swallows me up whenever the final exams are near. There's really no room for error this time. I went to see the school's doctor (MD) today for a throat infection and so I got some anxiety pills from him.

Anyway, I'm a programmer for next year's SPMS (the school i'm in) Freshman Orientation Camp (FOC)! Totally psyched about this cos I get to plan stuff that'll make the future freshies' (slang for freshmen) lives even more miserable than it already is. It'll be fun fun fun.

Physics test tomorrow. Organic chem the following day. Guess this will be the only post for the month.





PV=nRT

I always wanted to use this as a title. Even though it's totally clichéd. lol.
Now that it's the last day of September, I can finally use it.
I like the song too. Really nostalgic.


Anyway, it's October in less than 2 hours. And it's Children's Day in Singapore tomorrow. I still remember the good times I had in primary school when my teachers prepared little gifts like pencils and erasers for the class. That was nearly 14 years ago (THAT long?). Nowadays, children are getting bolder and bolder, even requesting gifts automatically when special occasions like Children's Day or Christmas arrive. I know this because my mom, who'd been a childcare teacher, told me that the toddlers under her care demanded presents from her and requested expensive gifts like action figures, electronic games and Barbie dolls.



Anyway, October's not exactly a month that I would look forward to. Besides two public holidays on Hari Raya Puasa (where most of the day will be spent on studying for the physics test the following day) and Deepavali, October's gonna be rather boring and slow-moving. Nothing exciting like the Olympics in August and F1 in September. It's gonna be a long month.





Oh well... there's always Heroes to keep me going =)

Another full-time NS man collapsed and died this morning.

20-yr-old.

PES A.

Enlisted in July 9, 2008.

3rd military death of the year.





My deepest condolences to Private Joe Foo Wei Rong's family.

I saw this disturbing picture in the papers today and I thought I'd post it here for those who didn't see it.

There's a chinese proverb that goes, "打是疼，骂是爱" [Literally: Beating is (a sign of) affection, scolding is (a sign of) love.] A saying often used by parents. Of course, these parents don't beat their children as and when they like, only when their children require some discipline. After all, spare the rod and you spoil the child.

Naturally, parents who cane their children feel even more hurt from within with every stroke that they inflict on their child. But when caning your child turns into a form of channeling your anger and stress and even becoming some sort of enjoyment, it's time to seek some counseling.

Of course, children are not the only victims of domestic violence. The elderly too, can be victims of their children. Everyone - even men - can be victims of family abuse. More and more husbands are seeking protection orders against their abusive wives.

Whatever the case, if you're a victim of domestic violence, tell someone about it. Don't suffer in silence, and don't have the notion that the abuse you're receiving is "for your own good".

I'm just thankful that I grew up in a loving family, one that didn't equate love with violence.






Wait a minute... how did I end up writing a GP essay?

IT'S HERE!!!

The 2-hour season premiere was FANTASTIC! Oh my god I can't wait to spoil it for any unsuspecting Heroes fan who's reading this post right now... =O



Nah... not gonna do it. Watch it yourself =P



Lots of surprises and twists and turns and wonderful new powers. It's almost waaaayyy too much to handle. But like always, at the end of the each episode, I was thirsty for more.



By the way, volume 3 will last 12 episodes.
Volume 4 will be titled "Fugitives" and comprises 13 episodes. Oooh so exciting.




TV fanatic on the loose.

The week starting tomorrow, I'll have a one week break from lectures and tutorials. But there seems to be no time to waste, lots of revision to do. Organic chem is starting to become a big headache after the introduction of organic synthesis (i.e. synthesis of 1 organic compound from another to another and so on). Physical chem is becoming more physics than chemistry and I really do hate physics. I'm now stuck on question 2 of Problem Set No. 4 of Physics (something about torque) and I kinda gave up thinking about it for now. So that's why I'm here blogging.

But I did find time to watch the pilot episode of Fringe, the new sci-fi thriller from J.J. Abrams (producer of LOST). The show's somewhat of a cross between Heroes and The X Files. It explores an area of science called Fringe Science that has to do with stuff like mind control, invisibility and reanimation. That's my kind of show. I know my sis will like it too. We share similar tastes in U.S. television series, but she gave up on LOST after realizing how long-winded it is (I haven't). Too bad she's somewhere where it would be nearly impossible to catch the series.