Home is where the Heart is

During econs lecture today, our lecturer asked us - Do you value money? Many of us answered YES without hesitation. Is money important to you? Another quick YES! And I remembered previously someone told me that the money is not yours unless you spend them. So why do people place such an important emphasis in money? Why are people chasing after money and saving them?

Yes, money alone is not important. It's just a piece of paper but it is the things that we get from the money that we value. If today we are told that we cant use money to purchase our necessities or wants, do we still keep that piece of paper? Do we still bother about it? Of course not. So in conclusion, we have to value what we have around us. It is the things that give the value to money.

This is the first time I have a potluck party. I think it's super fun. Thinking of what to cook, how to cook and especially if you haven't really cook much before like me. So of course since we are all 'beginners' we went for something simple - meringue creams, brownies and lychee jellies!!

I went shopping for the ingredients with Michelle on Tuesday. It was great experience trying to buy everything we need within the S$20 budget they gave us. Initially we have cheesecake on the list too but it exceeded the budget so we didn't get to make that. But 3 dishes are good enough. So proud of us! We manage to cook all 3 and it was less than the budget! Haha great achievement.

We started cooking on Wednesday night itself because we might not have enough time to do all of them on Thursday. Started to cook around 11pm coz we planned to complete all our tutorials and study for my test. So at 11pm, we went to the kitchen and started mixing everything. Hehe I started off with the jellies first mixing the jelly powder and cutting the lychee to be place in the trays.

Since we seldom bakes, separating egg white from the egg yolk was something new to us - especially for me, it's a total new experience. But I was successful for 3/4 of them. Not bad huh?:P Michelle then beats the egg white together with sugar (well this was our own formula coz the instructions in the recipe said use a pinch of salt but since we don't have salt, we use sugar).

And so we continue cooking the jellies and beating the egg white till it was white and thick. We didn't have anything to weigh the amount of sugar to add to the egg white so it was just an estimation and of course estimations are bound to errors so it was a bit sweet:P

Ha-ha I guess the worse thing was that our oven wasn't working!! Initially we were trying to look all around to see if we can find the power supply to it but it was to no avail. Michelle messaged her friends so finally we went over to Block 10 to bake the Meringue Creams. It was done at about 3.30am when we finally went to bed.

Here are all the desserts we made -
Lychee Jellies (2 trays)
Brownies (1 tray)
Meringue Creams (1 tray)
So here are all of them!
And lastly - all the 'bakers' (Michelle was having CCA so was not in the photo)
Friends are the most important part of your life. Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter, but most importantly, treasure the memories. - Dave Brenner

Today's the photoshoot for all NUSSU Sub-Comm. Hehe..and I was lucky enough to be part of it. It's so fun thinking that we'll be visiting the studio and have our photographs taken by professional photographers. Haha..not many chance in a lifetime. I mean why would we want to pay so much just to have photos taken rite:P

We were supposed to meet 9.15am at Little India MRT. But somehow, it's hard for everyone to wake up so early. Haha..we were all late, except for maybe Ximin:P Woke up at 7.30am and gave Guoqi a wake up call. Met at the bus stop at 8am, waited for quite awhile until I was wondering how come the bus stop was so empty before I remembered that the shuttle bus only operates from 9am on Sundays! Arrgh...so we had to walk all the way to YIH. Now I really admit that there are a lot of stairs and slopes in NUS. Super tired and sweaty by the time we reach YIH. Haha..and we forgotten to call Chris also:S Anyway we reached about the same time.

Packed 2 videocameras, 2 DSLRs and 2 tripods and set off to get a cab. Hehe..there was some function at staff club so are people coming in with cabs and we just stop one when it was about to exit from Staff Club. We saw Ximin on the road while travelling on the cab so we stop somewhere before the MRT and walked over to the studio. Haha..and we were super early so walked around to look for a place to have breakfast. I had mine before going:P

We weren't prepared for the photoshoot. Didn't put much thought into what we want to take and how we want to position ourselves. But it's ok. We are satisfied. Slack around the place and took some photos on our own.

Had lunch at Food Junction@Bugis. Then walked back to the studio to collect our equipments. I was super tired and sleepy by the time I came back to PGP. Showered and did my stats tutorial. Haha..Ee Lin asked me how to do question 4 yesterday but I think that's the only question I didn't know how to do. Hee..sorry.

I enjoyed my dinner. Super nice:P Thank you!

Yay..the week is finally over. Hmm at least for academic week. I can't imagine myself having 1 assignment, 4 tutorials, 1 presentation and 1 CA all in the same week. Our assignment question was release last Sunday night! I thought she would release it in the morning at least I would have the whole afternoon to do:S Presentation question was also given during last week's tutorial. And of course tutorial questions are only release the week before. Hehe..so I'm not really considered procrastinator rite:P but sometimes I do felt quite lazy to do my tutorial.

Anyway, one week's over, 4 more tutorials next week (no tutorial for Physics..yay!) and another term test. I think this is going to continue all the way till the end of the semester. Do I regret taking so many modules? Actually no! I enjoyed every lesson (at least most). Haha..I like Practicals so that's the plus point for diversity. And I have great project mates and classmates for Managerial Econs. It's so fun going for tutorial although it's 9am in the morning because we will just wake each other up. But I don't like the tutors though. Haha..both of them:P I like Accounting lectures more and of course the tutorial is equally relaxing and fun. Our tutor is doesn't mind joking around with us. Stats lecturer's fun too but she go through the lecture quite slowly so sometimes it will be boring:S. Business law was a bit frustrating but again it's my group mates that made my day. Well done for our presentation although it wasn't really that good. We could have done better. And Physics used to be my favourite subject in secondary school.The questions are quite hard but I enjoy learning about them. Plus I have super hardworking and thoughtful group members.

Yup yup. As much as I don't like doing projects, I think projects are what bring us closer to our course mates. Even online discussion and simple e-mail asking how's the project going on, let us know that there's always someone the for us. Someone we can depend on, someone we can fall back on.

But life is always fair. We gain something, we will lose something in return. These few days made me realise that life is very realistic. We can't afford to live in fantasy, our own world, our own dreams. When you failed, you are out. No one is going to help you. This is a competitive society, when you are slow, that's it, you failed. But I just don't understand is winning really that important that we can neglect the people around us? Where is the loving society that I used to live in? Where are the people who cares? I'm so confused. Sometimes you won't even know who are true friends and who are those that are using you as a stepping stone towards success. How are we to judge them? We can't. All we can do it just treat them with sincerity and hopefully they will do the same.

I recently read an article that suggest banning students in school uniform from entering shopping malls. I thought it was just an idea but it's already happening in Singapore (if I'm not wrong, just one school :P). I remember back in Malaysia, once school's over, I will usually go straight home unless I've got co-curriculum activities in school. We don't really have the luxury to roam around shopping centres like those in Singapore.Furthermore, it's really inconvenient and there's not shopping malls around my place. Okay maybe one if you consider Wisma Thrifty as one. So that's the way things were all the way till I'm in Form 5. Daddy fetch me to school in the morning and take the bus/walk home with my sisters. But since I came here, I realise that most students do not go straight home after school. I came to realise that when I was teaching though coz I will usually head back to hostel after lessons. We can see many students in school uniform walking around the shopping centres.

Although I'm not a fan of going to shopping centre, I think the banning of students to enter shopping centres in school uniform is futile. Students do not go to shopping centres to waste time. I remember I will usually do my groceries after school. That will save me a trip to specially visit a supermarket to get the things I want. Wouldn't it be such a waste of time if I have to go change, then go out again? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter to me now since I no longer have any uniforms to wear. I actually missed having uniforms. It not only gives us a sense of identity but save us the trouble of thinking what to wear. Haha..I'm hopeless with clothing.

We'll be having our Main Committee meeting tonight. We haven't had one since the semester started. So it's time for us to keep each other updated of what's happening and what we had done or will do. I think it's a form of respect for the committee members if they are inform of the latest happening in the club. In fact, I think the members have to be informed too. Besides, having meeting regularly will keep us bonded together. If the committee members can't work with each other, how to you expect to get the respect and confidence from the members. So I'm glad we are all doing fine.

Sunday is going to be the standing committee photo shoot. I think it's going to be exciting and fun. We haven't really got our dress code yet but looking forward to it. Haha..we are going to be shoot by professional photographers. Cool....

I just love this month, it's super exciting with lots of happenings. Oh we had our NUS Reversi Open last week. I've got 8th. Not bad rite. Haha..I think there's about 20 people participating in it. And this week is the NUS Food Festival. So don't forget to vote for your favourite canteen stalls. Prize giving will be on the 20th of Feb. Not sure if I'll be attending. We are having 4 coverages in the same day if I'm not wrong - IES Committee Photo shoot, NUS Food Festival, National Sustainability Conference and OSA Volunteers Appreciation Night. And the last one is going to be a paid coverage! Haha..have to do well for it.

Okie I think my post is super random and messy. I just can't help it. A lot of things are going through my mind so I just type as it comes along. Time to prepare for practical. Arr..another CA!

I'm starting to feel the stress this semester. There's abstract for our Physics project which due next week so that means lots of project meeting. Managerial econs group assignment is going to be due on the 16th but we have yet to start. The first test is also coming up very very soon. That will be 20% of my final score.

Just got my project group for accounting today. Because I was late for lesson, I had to join which ever group that didn't have enough members. Anyway, I think my group's not bad too - Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese. So I think I can learn a lot from them. The problem is we have no idea what we are suppose to do. Maybe wait for the topic to be release soon:P

My Biz law assignment is going to be due next week too. There's 8 of us in a group so it's quite hard to find common free time for meetings. I think we just have to try doing it on our own and compile it next week.

So effectively I have 4 groups for projects this semester - Biz law, Econs, Physic and Accounting. And Stats if the tutor decide to pick us to present the tutorial questions. So stress so stress.

I think I'm spending a lot of time for CCAs. Monday: My Roadmap meeting; Tuesday: SAVE and IGC; Wednesday: VPC; Thursday: VPC; Friday: Combined MC Meeting for Sports Club; Saturday: IGC. So I'm spending the whole week on CCA. Is it a sign that I'm suppose to let go some. I don't think I will be able to handle all of them well. Am I consider as "Jack of all trades, master of none"? At least I have the feeling I am.

What am I suppose to do? I think I should start listening and PRIORITISE. I can't have my finger in every pie.

Yay! I got nice groupmates for my managerial economics module:P At least I think they are nice, we can get along quite well. Hope we will have a great time working together. Our first assignment will be released this weekend. And the most interesting thing is all of us come from different faculties; Engineering, Arts, Business and Science. We didn't manage to get the topic that we wanted to do, the tutor just refuses to pick our Group name. So we have to settle for the last topic which is yet to released.

I think I'm quite lucky, so far all my project groups are really nice. I enjoy working with them. Physics groupmates are super hardworking..hehe..sometimes I feel quite bad not being able to contribute much but they are just really helpful. I haven't started working with my Biz Law group yet, our first assignment will be tomorrow and we are Group 1 so see how things will go. So far only know one person well enough, Steve. That's quite good considering I don't even know anyone from the same tutorial group. Will get to know the rest of them soon, there's 8 of us all together.

We had our Physics group meeting at 1pm and manage to finalise quite a lot of things. Now is just the information gathering part. Haha and I feel so hardworking - first time going to library to do research and borrow books:P

Also had a short meeting with Guoqi at Science Canteen regarding the upcoming coverage. Hmm am I too occupied with CCA? Haa..I totally forgotten to collect the money from the IGC booth at Engineering today. So sorry..too busy.

Anyway, we have another lecturer for Biodiversity. Yay! At least I think I understand more things now. Continue to study hard:D

Accounting lecture was very interesting today. The lecturer not only gave us angpaus but also sang CNY song and gave out gold coins at the same time. Very entertaining. I like the lecturer. Haha..he said he don't have the super power to make people fall asleep during lecture and I think indeed he don't.

The canteens are getting very packed. The lunch queue was super long but luckily we manage to get our food fast. Went for the Statistics tutorial after lunch. We finish the lesson in about 30-40 minutes. Haha..it was free for me all the way till 4pm. So I decided to go back PGP and have a nap. Super tiring these days probably because having CCAs till quite late.

Went over to Engineering to mend the booths for IGC. But I think I didn't do as much as I did last Wednesday. :P I had dinner at the Engineering canteen then rush off to another CCA - SAVE. Met them at YIH then walk over to Science, around Science. Finish at about 7pm. Then we went over to Staff Club and finally dismiss at 7.30pm so I went over to MPSH 4 for IGC.

We had our committee meeting too so in the end left MPSH 4 at about 10.20pm. If there's no committee meeting, I think I will most probably be back by 9pm :D Got to sleep early. Morning lesson tomorrow.

Went to VivoCity to watch InkHeart today. Quite a nice movie. Ha-ha..I wish I also can be like the characters. I want to travel into Hundred Acre Woods. Hehe..then can go hug the real pooh bear! Hmm but I didn't understand one part of the movie. How come the mother was not in the book? How come she can't talk? Did they mention in the movie? Not too sure..maybe I fell asleep at the time but as far as I remembered they didn't really explain. Hee:P Never mind la..I think the girl is so smart. I wish I can write like her too. Can think of the storyline right on the spot.

Had lunch at Food Republic before going for movie. I was wondering how come VivoCity seems so empty on a weekend. I went there yesterday but it was super packed. Do people prefer to go out at night these days? Ha-ha..maybe:D

I did my laundry early in the morning. Woke up at 7am to wash my clothes but the dryers wasn't working. The coin box is full so we can't insert anymore coins into in. So in the end, I have to hang my clothes all around the room to dry them. Luckily this week I don't have that many clothes since weekend and Monday was at home.

And yes..I enjoyed myself :P Thanks for the presents and treat!

Weekend is finally here. I have lots of tutorials and readings to catch up with so I always look forward to weekend to complete them. I just don't seem to have enough time during school days or rather I'm lazy:P

Attended the Intermediate Photography Course this morning and learn lots of new things like Gestalt principle, how to use shapes and lines to make picture more exciting and even black and white pictures!!!

Visited Aunty Rita in the afternoon. Had lots of goodies there and stayed till about 7pm. Watched an adventure story about Treasure Island on Okto. Met Ziyang at Vivo and back to VPC room to download the videos.

Yay..finally no more dealing with microscope. I thought I'll doing better with microscope having been through 2 months of research attachment in which I have to look at the microscope everyday, but I'm wrong. I'm still bad in using the microscope. Have to practice more. I'll need to use it more in the future. But for now..haha..I can forget about it first.

We had our first Field Trip around Kent Ridge, identifying the plants and animals. I didn't realise that there are so many different species around us. To me, all of them looks the same, providing shade and oxygen:P and of course food for other animals.

Fishtail palm (Caryota mitis) Took me quite long to spot this.

Figs (Ficus sp.) There's suppose to be wasp staying in the fruit but we were no luck in seeing any

I'm so proud of myself today. I manage to do so much in just one day. Hehe..ok la..maybe not a lot but I think I still spend my time well.

I did my mini spring-cleaning of my room. Swept and mop the whole room. Wipe the cupboards and table. Hehe..change my bedsheet. Do laundry. Iron clothes. Yeap..I haven't got my ironing board yet so I have to iron on my bed. Arr..if I go on ironing it's going to be super flat by the end of the semester. But my room is super clean and nice now except for my table which is in a big mess. I was doing my work then the wind blew and the papers flew.

I also bought my new year clothes today. Then pack my things to go back to KL tomorrow morning. Finish my statistic tutorial with a few blanks here and there but I considered it 90% done. Those that I left blank are those that I don't know how to do. Hehe..then did a bit of my lab report. Had a hard time trying to fit everything into 2 pages with double spacing and 1 inch margin. There are 4 experiments to cover. So can roughly gauge how much I can write and how much I need to write. Haha..it's still not done but don't care already. Continue when I come back.

I still have my Business Law tutorial and Financial Accounting tutorials to complete. Stress stress. How come so many tutorials to do at the same time. I need to complete at least one tutorial when I'm back in KL so i think it should be Biz Law since the questions are posted online.

I watched 2 movies today. Mamma Mia and Space Chimp. Haa..I'm just too bored in hostel. Most of my clustermates went home. So just a few of us left. I think less than 5. And the fire alarm just can't stop ringing. Haa..i think it's spoilt again. I still recall the first time when it rang, all of us made our way down. That was a mini fire if I'm not wrong. But now, I hardly see people bother. I think they should really do something about it. Cannot always give false alarm.

There's coverage request for NUSSU Bash tonight at Zouk. I just found out where that is and I realise it's not easily accessible. Next time must claim transport allowance. Hehe..I just remembered that they mentioned we are allowed to claim if the event is after 11pm. But today's should end around 10.30pm. So nothing for us.

CaptureNUS a videography competition organised by NUSSU VPC and supported by OSA is currently on. I wonder if I can take part. Hehe..the prize money's very attractive. $2500 for the 1st prize. Hmm..I'm not aiming for the 1st prize, consolation also I happy already:P cannot be greedy. Even if I can't join, I'm still proud of my club for organising this competition. I know everyone put in a lot of effort in it. I can't wait for the publicity video to be out:P

Take care everyone. Happy Holidays and Happy Chinese New Year!

And HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY JUNE!!!! I miss you. Hope I'll get to meet up with you during these few days.

You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes. - Winnie the Pooh

Haa..Yeap, the semester started just 2 weeks and we had our first CA already. It's Microbiology. I had no idea what to answer for the paper. Totally blur. Nothing came to me. I have no idea how to spell the bacteria names. So in the end I think it was more of a mix and match exercise. I just write whatever I know and combine the names together. Hopefully I can get some marks out of it. Hehe..who knows that bacteria really exist rite:P Alright I think I did badly for that paper. So have to study harder to score for the other tests.

Had my first lecture at business today and I have a new friend..Hui Hui..She's so sweet and nice. Next time I don't need to go lecture alone or rather sit alone in lecture. Hehe..and I realise Qin Jin is also in the same lecture as me. Yay..more and more people that I know. I think lesson will be more fun with friends. Oh they were having some photoshoot in our lecture theatre so we were asked to fill up one part of the LT. Quite funny seeing how they want most of us to move to the empty portion of the LT and they have models too. Ha-ha..the lecturer didn't know about it so when the photoshoot was done and she said we can go back to anywhere we want to sit, she thought she scared those students away that they want to run home..Hehe..so funny:P

Today's also the last practical session with Anthony our Microbiology TA. He did quite a lot of dictation today which I can hardly write anything down. But nevermind, I don't think it's very important :D

Had dinner at Ghim Moh Food Centre. That's my first time going there although it's very near to NUS. We had chicken rice, the chicken's nice, very soft but I think the rice's a bit hard. Hehe..the one near grandpa's house taste nicer :P

Oh I also manage to catch up with Jin Yew after super super long. Haha..finally met him online today. Glad to know he's doing well. Wish him all the best. He's currently studying in KL. So might have chance to meet up when I'm back.

I can't get all the tutorial slot I wanted..not even 1 of it is my 1st choice so now my time table is horrible with tutorials flying here and there..going to school for a one hour tutorial then break 2 hours then back again for tutorials!!! Arr that's bad. And my tutorials are every week. At least if it's alternating week would be better. Haih..I can't complain. Hope I can get a slot for ACC1002x tmr. I'm just very unlucky with this CORS balloting.

"Yes," said Winnie the Pooh.

"I see now," said Winnie the Pooh.

"I have been Foolish and Deluded," said he, "and I am a Bear of No Brain at All."

Yes! I started to give tuition again but this time is not as far as in Pasir Ris, it's just at Taman Jurong. Hmm..quite hard to describe how to go there but I manage to find my way! Haha..yippee I didn't get lost..great achievement for myself *clap clap clap*

After my tuition, I decided to go VivoCity to get some groceries (stock up more food in my room) and have my lunch :P They were filming some show there and make it quite hard to walk since have to avoid the camera.

Came back to PGP to nap awhile then go out to uncle's house. Had dinner together with them. Uncle brought us to Tanglin Village - Dempsey Cluster, Long Beach Seafood. We had crab, prawn, mushroom, chicken, bean curd and fried baby squid! Haha..the baby squid taste like ikan bilis.

Went to Orchard to shop after dinner. Aunty bought me a shirt too. Yay!

Yay! I finally submitted my PR Application form today. So now just have to wait for the reply which takes about 3-6 months.

Reached ICA at 9.30am then queue up to take photographs. Not bad quite fast, by 9.50am I was already done so went up to level 5 to get my queue number. My appointment was supposed to be 10.15am. Meaning I was early and have to sit there to wait. My queue number was A059. And guess who is my serving officer? Haha..it's Zhi Zhan. I would have never thought of meeting him there. Counter 17!! So surprising. So coincidental. He checked through all my documents and asked me where is my Uni result slip. Arr!!! I forgotten to print it out. And I forgotten to photocopy also. Haih...but luckily he gave me a slip of paper so the next time I go back I dont have to wait for the queue.

Made my way back to NUS to print the result slip and photocopy the student pass. I think I spend more time on travelling than at ICA. Haha..Reached back ICA at 12pm. Went to collect another queue ticket then look for Zhi Zhan. Hehe..cut queue a bit..lazy wait..Haa he didn't tell me I don't need to go get another ticket lor. Haih..but anyway the standard procedure is to get another queue ticket so nevermind.

Met Alex for lunch at Orchard. He wanted to go buy board games. Haha..but the place there sell quite expensive. Ticket to ride which we played in NUS cost almost $100!!!!


If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.

Yay!! It's done..thanks Ghaz for putting this wonderful video together and everyone else who have contributed to make it a success..it's lovely, it's cool, it's amazing, it's superb =P
(remember to pause music at the side before playing)

This is the earliest I ever go to school since I entered university. Reach FOS at 8am. Why? Haha..I'm on duty for the Biological Sciences Society Bazaar. My duty slot is from 8am till 10am. But since the stores are mostly not opened at 8am all I need to do is just sit there and take care of the things while reading my notes. So was sitting there with Way Inn and Fish. They really taught me a lot of things like how to handle stores and how to make sure everything in the bazaar are going on smoothly.

10am. Time for statistic lecture. Hehe..I like this lecturer. She's very lively and enthusiastic. So the lesson is not that boring. After all, I really need to pay special attention to stats. My stats are horrible. Have to work hard and score well.

12pm. Lunch time. Had lunch with Benjamin, Bryan, Gerard, Mun Lok, and Eelin. After lunch, I went back to PGP to rest. And I was almost late for the Physics lecture at 2pm. Luckily Benjamin called me. Haha..I fell asleep!! Arr..luckily the lecture wasn't very important. Just an introductory lecture. I can hardly hear what the lecturer said. The LT is just too noisy or he's not speaking to the microphone.

After the lecture, I went over to YIH to pass Hasan the YOG Logo Launch DVDs. Then came back to Science to help out at the bazaar. This time I was selling things. Haha..not bad yea? And I was doing it with Michelle. Fun Fun Fun.

6.30pm. Meet for dinner at Engineering canteen. Haha..we really plan to travel to all faculty for food!. Went to Arts on Monday, Biz on Tuesday, Science for lunch and now Engineering!