…and I sure hope its gonna be shifting up, instead of down. Just in case santa’s feeling a little good and wanting to give me a present a little early this year. Don’t wanna jinx some possible good luck that might be coming my way
23rd of December 2008. Yeap. D - Day. HAHA.

Anyways, there’s always a silver lining to every cloud! I’m quite amazed actually, at the amount of new friends that I made during the pre-exam period, and the amount of friendships re-established. Its funny, really. I’ve made more new friends in the past month than in the past year! One thing led to another, and BAM. Friends. And they’re not quite hi-and-bye friends as well! A little photo journal follows!

Oh, and about 95% of my friends on exchange are leaving (or have already left )))):) I’m quite saddened by that fact! It seemed like just 4 months ago that I’ve gotten to know them! You guys and gals totally rock! And remember that we’ll always be friends aight? Facebook’s just a click away (Australia/Holland/States/Canada/UK/Switzerland/Hong Kong are all technologically-advanced countries. NO EXCUSES :D), and when you people are in town, ya’ll know how to contact me! ((: Its good to also know that some of you are thinking of Singapore as a place to work at after graduation as well (((: Hope everyone takes care of themselves really good!

Memories..

Gonna miss you fun bunch of people! ): Till we meet again, one day. We will. I just know we will (((:

Ah, exams exams. I also just had to take my Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 3 a week after my NUS papers ended. Everyone else was enjoying their time while I was still sloggin’ it out in the school library memorizing Kanji, learning grammar and vocabulary. HAHA. But its cool. All over, and I sure hope I did well! Oh, and I actually had a post-exam lunch with a few of my classmates from my Japanese language school! I didn’t talk much to them when I was in class, I had no idea why! But after that lunch, we sure did catch up! ((:

フランス語を勉強したいの、みんな？：D

ね、今日本語でタイプします！なつかしいよね、今年は。僕にとって日本語のクラスは超楽しかったんですが、頭がいたかったんですよ。たくさんことを勉強しましたぜ。大学校のことも、日本語のことも、係属のことも、家族のことも。今僕はもっともっといい人になったそうだと思うんですよ。本当に。もしこのRANTをわかったら、コメントをしてくださいね。コメントがほしいぜ！（（：

Anyways, as I was saying, pics!

Student Leaders Networking Session + Post Party SynQ (DJing club in NUS) Bash! RAD STUFFS

oh, and more pre-exam photo-whoring sessions coming up!

The NUS Original Music Society also had a pre-exam jamming sessions!

With the Controller! (Thats JunHong’s musical moniker. and boy seriously, his tracks rock. I did a collaboration with him. Check out Zero Hour! http://www.myspace.com/jamtostayalive )

Damn, good times. Real good times (: Sure, the exams kinda got EVERYBODY down, but we’ve gotten through it all right? ((((:

ITS SLACK TIME YO!

(at least till the 12th of January comes, and school begins again!)

sigh.

HAHA!

But its cool yo, its cool.

Peace out, till next time! (((:

No matter how big your dreams are, you should never forget the small things in life. For they bring you great joy in a world where everyone’s competing for something; everything. As I was walking home just now, this awesome song by Mr. Children came on my earphones. It was this happy song titled ‘Hanabi’ (fireworks). At that exact moment as the light guitar strummings started to fade into the song, a breeze came blowing my way, rustling the trees around me.

There I was, clad in my comfy and cosy green hoodie, walking home without a care in the world. Rustling leaves all around, wind blowing in my hair and face. The dark sky was strangely inviting, almost surreal. My footsteps were silent, almost non-existent. I closed my eyes and stood on gravel for a moment, I was one with the night. I felt strangely satisfied, a feeling almost alien to me. I’ve forgotten about school; about relationships; about goals; about my past; my future. I was just there, just BEING. I smiled. I’ve never felt so happy for a long time.

In my quest for worldly possessions, I had forgotten how to just be happy.

I thank thee for reminding me ((((:

So happy and contented.

..but don’t get me wrong. I ain’t coppin’ out from my dreams and aspirations just yet!

And I believe in this concept of living a hundred percent. The ‘Universe‘ (everything you feel;see;touch) is what you make of it. It cannot differentiate good and bad. Think bad thoughts and voila! Bad things happen. I’m pretty sure you many of you had experienced this before yes? You attract what you think of, regardless.

One of the exercises I do daily is the strengthening of my goals, and many of you might not know this but my dream car is the Maserati Gran Tourismo Sports. And I have been visualizing the car. In all its glory, every single day. Here’s how it looks like:

Now, how often do you see a Maserati in Singapore? Not as often as a Toyota, I’d say. Even if you were to see it, you’d see it mostly in town or clubbing areas, where the rich and the famous flaunt their wealth. and it is VERY uncommon. But ever since I started doing this visualization exercise, I’ve been seeing the car EVERYWHERE, it isn’t funny anymore. Every. Single. Day. Once, minimum, twice in a day on good days. And I haven’t clubbed nor been to town lately. I see it parked at school. Me sitting at a bus stop and a Maserati just stops right in front of me. A Maserati driving by a bus stop where I was waiting for a bus. Coincidences? A little too far fetched. Believe, and ye shall recieve.

Oh, and pictures of the seminar follows!:

Subway was damn packed! I’ve never seen a Subway que THIS long. Ever.

Positive thinking is not bull crap. Trust me. Things happen. So many things have happened to me in the past week that just seem too far fetched to be a coincidence. And I’m not talking about just the Maserati incidences. And so many of my life-changing experiences in the past 5 years have evolved from positive thinking.

Please trust me, do yourself a favour and think good thoughts.

You’re happy. The world’s happy. And we shall finally have World PEACE! (: haaa.

Eid Mubarak ‘08

Picture with my parents, brother, paternal grandparents, aunty, uncle and cousins Arina and Amar!

Picture with moi family!

BBSS Raya Outing!! Pic with Nuraini and Grace! ((:

With the others! ((:

Again!

This baby is shooooo cuteeeeee! (((((: Dammitttt I want a kid like that one day. hahaha.

Photowhoring in the car!

Dinner with them people from the Exchange Programme! ((:

Damn, been hangin’ with them a lot ever since they came down to Singapore ever since term began. Got to know em’ from the Yummilicious food tour I helped head in NUS (see my previous blog posts! ((:). Most of em’ are from Australia, but 2 of them are from Hawaiiiii, one’s from Japan, and a handful are from Hongkong. Damn fun bunch of people to hang out with. OH, and can’t forget LEEROYYYY JENKINS and Kevin too. hahaha.

Fooooood Spread!

OH! And other pics that we had on other outings! (:

The Original Music Society

Man, its been one heck of a ride with these guys in school. Having fun just chilling with em’, attending indie gigs around Singapore and stuffs. I’ve also been made Marketing I/C, and we’re organizing something biggg next year in school. That, and spearheading our re-emergence into the school and the local music scene. I’m soooo excited! ((: Anyways, next up are pictures from a gig in school that we attended, hosted by one of our close sister society, RadioPulze! One of the more prolific local and up-and-coming bands The Oslo Castaways performed that night. They totally rocked! Pictures follow:D :

Another pic from one of them gigs (Amateur Takes Control, a local rock hypnotic-instrumental-type band, who totally rocks by the way! ):

General Pics!

Emo pics from the Singapore Flyer!

On the Singapore GP Race Track!:

Credits to my friend Woei Png for them great shots and Singapore Flyer pics! (((:

Oh, and I totally improved my swim time! Its weird, because I’ve never really improved this drastically before. Its weird. Usually my standard swim times for 500metres (standard free-style) would be really close to 9mins 40+ seconds, and I maintained it along that timing for a the past one year, which is really slow by race standards, but weirdly after I started training with the power-paddles (to build endurance and power in my strokes) 2 months ago (as you can see in my previous blog post ((:) , without any swim aids, I managed to cut it down to 8mins 37 seconds the last time I checked last Friday. I cut down nearly a minute in 2 months! I swear to god, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna improve so much the NUS swim team can’t find any reason NOT to get me into the team next year! (((: Wish me luckkk!(:

After 6 months of random interspersals of practicing and NOT practicing, and this being my first piano exam EVARRR.

I got 120 out of 130 possible marks, and that means I got a Merit pass (highest would be a 130 - Distinction :D)! I was pleasantly surprised when my piano teacher sms’ed me in the morning with the great news. OH.MY.GOD. hahahaha.

I’m already preparing for my grade 5 theory exams next year March ‘09. WISH ME LUCK FOR THAT ONE.

Mom: I know I didn’t want to learn the piano when I was really young, because me, being the lazy bum I was, didn’t want to do so ): I’m making up for it now aren’t I? GRADE 8. I want to play Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 C sharp minor Op. 27 No. 2 (3RD MOVEMENT OF BEETHOVEN’S MOONLIGHT SONATA). ONE DAY I TELL YA, ONE DAY

Take a look at how it sounds like!:

HAHA! I just had to do something with that access I had to the race track!

And I’m falling fast.

I’m not supposed to. I don’t want to.

But thats another story for another time.

ANYWAYS new timing! :

I kinda slowed down a bit, this is for the 30lapsX50m distance (1.5km, triathlon distance without the running and cycling), but an average of 1min40secs per 100m. I’m improving I guess. FASTER BOY FASTER!

Ooooh and I watched the 2nd day of F1 practices from the comfort of a restaurant overlooking a stretch of the track. SWEET! Nothing like enjoying a plate of Fried Chicken and Squid Kway Teow while Hamilton does his laps. I don’t know about you guys but the sound of the F1 engine just makes me wanna run CLOSER to the track and just STARE in amazement at those machines made for ultimate speed and control. sigh. I wanna be Lewis Hamilton!

His covers are TOTALLY amazing and even more his originals! I’m totally flabbergasted, I’ve never been this stunned ever since Lisa Lavie and Terra Naomi busted onto the scene. Check him out! I’ll put 2 of his best ORIGINAL songs here, check him out, I implore you! I’m totally addicted to these 2 songs right now. They’re on my Creative Zen right now!

Afraid of Everest - Lonely Starship

Afraid of Everest featuring Isk & Hosni- The Hook

This original’s been done with 2 Singaporean Youtubers Isk & Hosni, who’ve played wonderful drums and guitars for this song, it totally made the song more appealing! I’ll put up the original (acoustic guitar only) and the one with the full band. I’M STILL STUNNED. Check it out!
Original:

Featuring Isk & Hosni:

Visit Isk & Hosni’s LurveMyMusic Youtube Page here!: http://uk.youtube.com/user/LurveMyMusic
They do damn good intepretations of pop favourites such as Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours and Secondhand Serenade’s Fall for You…IN PUNK ROCK AND SKA STYLE! and they TOTALLY sound GREAT! Check it out! (((:

Thats it for this blog post. Wow, drive by blog post. haha! Till next time, taaaa! ((:

I also finished my Intermediate classes in 文化ランゲージ学校(Bunka Language School) and am well on the way to my 日本語能力試験(Nihongo nouryoku shiken, a.k.a. Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 3 (JLPT 3)) at the end of the year. WISH ME LUCK! Oh, and I just took my ABRSM Grade 3 Piano Exams last friday. It was quite a..stressful experience, but I should be able to pass (I AWAIT MY CERTIFICATE IN MY MAIL SOON :D). Jumped all the way to Grade 3, hoping to go to grade 5 next year! ((: The pieces were simple enough to play, but the technical aspects of the exam kinda sucked. But I persevered and practiced on. WISH ME LUCK!

Also, as for my studies…school just started again. and OH.MY.GOD. its madness!:

I’VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY INTEGRAL SIGNS IN ONE EQUATION, IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. That’s Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers, one of the core modules that my degree is based on. BUT IT HURTS SO BAD))): .. but I can’t say anything. I’ve been dying to get into this course. Must..maintain…Cap score average of 3.87… HAHA. LETS GET IT ON, YO. haha.

And I’ve joined this really cool new society in my school called the Original Music Society. The aim of this society is to promote the local music scene, and to provide a bridge of sorts between the scene and the student community in NUS. They’ve been really low profile these past few years, but they’re gonna re-establish themselves this year, and I’m gonna be part of it. SO HONOURED! (((: I even got to meet members of the Great Spy Experiment! HOW COOL IS THAT! The people in this society are so eclectic and funky, I’m sure we’re gonna make it so big, its not gonna be funny anymore:D A few pictures follow!:

Oh OH. And like, I’ve been training on my swimming more frequently these days. My tools of the trade include:

A pull-buoy (the blue and white thing), where you’re only using your hands to pull (thus concentrating your effort only in your pulling motion. Your body also gets used to the streamline motion general swimmers tend to ignore, making them splash a lot in the pool and wasting TONS of energy. You’re actually straightening your legs and tensing them consciously, which is a bitch to do in the beginning.), my paddles (the pair of weird contraptions), where you use it on your hand WHILE using the pull-buoy. If swimming without your legs to help you swim faster isn’t bad enough, these paddles add the resistance of swimming in cement to your arms. Finally, my goggles, without which I’ll be blind

I do 1KM runs (20laps X 50m (A standard pool length)), and DAMN I can now swim faster than I usually do WITHOUT my equipment. Usually takes me slightly above 19mins to complete that distance. MY NEW TIMING, FRESHLY TAKEN TODAY:

16 MINS AND 29 SECS! An average of 49.45 seconds per 50m lap. My original timing of about 19mins and 30 seconds (without the equipment) gave me an average of 58.5 seconds. HOLY CRAP. All I can say is that my stamina’s already there, but there’s just a little hand-leg co-ordination problem that I need to rectify to achieve that timing without the training equipment. AND I SO WANNA JOIN THE NUS SWIM TEAM! )): I’ll try for it next year. Till then, I’ll train hard. REALLY HARD! ((:

And and and. MORE PICTURES!

Yummilicious Food Tour 2008

GROUP PIC!:

Funky Facilitators!:

Some of the new friends I made:

More Pics HERE: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34253&l=ca0cc&id=555628939

Yummilicious Food Tour Facilitator Outing (Serangoon - Nepalese Cuisine)

ICE CREAM WITH REAL EDIBLE SILVER!:

More pics HERE: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36141&l=14ba3&id=555628939

Sentosa Outing!

Guitar Heroes MADNESS

As you can see, I totally rocked, and Lindy totally sucked. HAHA!

夏祭り2008 (Natsu Matsuri 2008, Japanese Summer Festival 2008)

For this year’s summer festival, I actually tried the Yukata on! A yukata is not to be confused with a kimono. Its somewhat like a bathrobe; and its much cheaper than a kimono as well! The girls had a chance to act all kawaii (more like こわい,for those in the know. HAHA) Pictures follow:

Kuala Lumpur Weekend Escapade

HAHAHA. I actually went on a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with some of the international students. Me being the ‘local’ (DAMMIT IM NOT MALAYSIAN YOU ASSES), I showed them around a bit. Pics!:

I love vadalism too. HAHA!:

Some of the nicest sceneries on the way back:

AND NEOPRINTS! HAHA!:

More Pics HERE:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39027&l=2e725&id=555628939
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39019&l=f54b7&id=555628939
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39025&l=0be1c&id=555628939

This had to be one of my longest posts EVER! HAHA! Hope you guys had fun loading the pictures I’ll try to update my blog more often nowadays. heh.

And before I leave, a cover of Ungu’s Kekasih Gelapku on Youtube. COMMENTS PLEASE:

For this, I thank everyone. You have my heartfelt gratitude. HUGS! (((((:

I told myself once: Its better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. And I still believe that wholeheartedly, even till today. And I will never forget whoever that had been in my life; who had been loved by me, and in return, loved me as well. I will never forget them. What they’ve done; what they are going to do; whether wrong or right, is never going to affect that - we’ve loved and there’s no changing that.

You are, and still that friend that I once had, Charmaine Fong Jean Mei. Whatever we did when it ended does not have any effect on the past, no matter how hard I try. Time will heal all wounds, and maybe one day we’ll see eye to eye again.

But till that day comes, I will live my life to the fullest! I will reach for the stars, and then some, and I hope you’ll do the same for yourself as well ((:

Thank you for teaching me what love is, I am in no way regretful of the time I’ve spent with you.

Till we meet again one day, my dear friend.

+
14th of October 2006 - 19th of July 2008 - ??th of ?? 20??

P.S. Why so serioussssssss, Commissioner? ahahaha. Dammit man, now I have my grade 3 piano exam, Japanese Language Proficiency Test Lvl 3 and my Private Pilot Licence to complete. AND SCHOOL. WOO HOO. I RULE IN PACKING MY SCHEDULE TO A T. mommyyyyyyy! ((((: