So.... I'm still alive. Yay~
Semester 1 of my first year in NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is almost over! Right now I'm on my study break and final examinations are coming soon. How fast. It feels just like yesterday when I was wondering when my classes will first start.
At least one thing has improved so far: my typing. I'm typing a lot faster now and with more accuracy. xD
So FASS is trying to implement a partial liberal arts system where before you major, you have no compulsory or pre-allocated modules. Good news is, you are free to take whatever module you want~ Bad news is, you have to bid for EVERYTHING. The bidding system is so tedious. For FASS students we have 600 faculty points and 400 other points. Good luck bidding for more popular courses that can go up to 300+ points for one module.
In order to graduate with a degree from FASS, we need to take 2 General Education modules, 1 Singapore Studies module, 2 breadth modules, 3 faculty exposure modules, 7 unrestricted modules (which can be used for minors), 15 major modules for bachelor and another 8 more major modules for honours. Each module is about 4 MCs (module credit).
To graduate, we need
BA- 120 MCs and CAP 2.0
BA (Hons) or BSocSci (Hons) - 160 MCs and CAP 3.2- (optional Honours thesis)
This semester I'm taking
1. Introduction to Philosophy (PH1102E)
2. Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness (PC1325)
3. Introduction to Public Speaking (GEM2027)
4. Environmental Biology (GEK1515)
5. South Asia: People, Culture, Development (SN1101E)
1&5 are FASS mods and I'm taking them to fulfil exposure modules requirement. 3&4 are general education modules, one arts and one science and I'm taking 2 as my breadth module (from physics department). I wanted to try more FASS modules but the bid points were too damn high and I couldn't get what I wanted. Philosophy cost 300+ bid points! That's more than half of my 600 faculty point! The rest all cost only 1 bid point each though... I'm saving up for semester 2.
In FASS you have to declare a major latest by year 2 and earliest year 1 semester 2. Most majors don't have any prerequisites but for the one I'm interested in, Psychology, requires at least a B- in two of its introduction modules.
I wanted to bid for Psychology modules but they were too popular and cost too much. T^T
So I'm saving up for next semester!
If you really need more time, you can appeal to the school admin and ask to extend time before you declare your major. Of course, then you'll have to plan your timetable carefully because you would miss one semester of your major modules. And if you don't graduate in time, the government's subsidy will run out... and you'll run out of $$$.
For now the expenses are about S$4k/sem and I'm using my Dad's CPF to pay first. I'll have to return the money to him, with interest, when I start working of course, but honestly I'd much rather pay interest to my Dad than to banks.
To learn more about CPF Education Scheme, click here.
To be honest though, I don't really know what I'm doing in university. I have no motivation to study because I don't know what I'm studying for. I'm just going along with the paper chase because I don't know what I want.
I've tried working in retail, admin, charity organisations etc and I cannot survive for longer than 1 month in any of them.
I constantly put myself in a position where I have many options to choose from... Maybe that's my security. On one hand I have many, many opportunities. On the other I have too many options and I don't know how to choose. I really want to find a job that I love and I would be happy to do for the rest of my life but really, so far there is nothing I can do for the rest of my life.
No joke, I even get tired of eating sometimes (mostly during long holidays) and I just stop eating because I don't like eating anymore. And eating is a necessity essential for my survival.*sighhh~*
What to do.
On a side note, I really think that I was born 30. I'm only 19 and I feel like birthdays have lost their meaning because I have celebrated too many and they just don't feel as special.
I'll tell you a secret. I'm actually 50-year-old fabricating the life of a 19-year-old for my own amusement. And if you see me outside it's because I am really, really, prodigiously good at make-up. Also botox. My friends can testify to this.
-just kidding-
Even my sense of humor is old. Oh well. Off to knit christmas mittens.
Side-side note: I reallllyyy love christmas and I have no idea why. We don't even have snow in Singapore. Or cold weather, or egg nogs or roasted turkeys or nutcrackers or plain old fireplaces... Landed property is scarce. :'(
We do have the heck a lot of chocolates though~ Mmmh~
Monday, November 17, 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Tumblr
Hi. Sorry there really is nothing going on with me right now and I have no inspiration as of yet so... here is my tumblr.
http://laugh-it-up--honey.tumblr.com/
I mainly reblog stuff that I find funny, interesting or meaningful. I'm also kind of a geek so I find some sciency stuff really interesting. Also Harry Potter. ♥
http://laugh-it-up--honey.tumblr.com/
I mainly reblog stuff that I find funny, interesting or meaningful. I'm also kind of a geek so I find some sciency stuff really interesting. Also Harry Potter. ♥
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Bad Month
I try to post at least once a month, but I really just don't have anything to post. My life is just school, home, school, home. I lead a boring life.
Anyway, this month has not been good to me. I've been failing at everything.
I failed the auditions for my school's acapella group (no surprise here though haha). I failed my driving test (it's not that I failed, it's how I failed that I can't get over). I suck at philosophy and I don't understand crap about any other modules I'm taking. And just today, a tutor for one of my mods (environmental biology) gave me a 0/2.5% because I uploaded the assignment in the wrong format. 2.5% is nothing, I know, but she could have emailed me to tell me to re-upload it, hello.
In one of the lectures she randomly selected a guy that was sleeping in lecture and asked him to throw a feathered seed up on stage so that the whole lecture can see the seed slowly float down (yes this is what we do in university). That guy happens to be my friend so he told me that afterwards, she found his email amongst ~100 other people in the lecture to thank him for throwing the seed. She could email a guy to thank him for throwing a feathered seed but couldn't email me to ask me to re-upload a submission in a format she couldn't open?
She had to scrutinise all the faces to pick out his face to find his email to thank him, but my email was right there with the submission! What?
I'm just pissed because of the difference in treatment. What if the assignment was 25% HUH??? 25% down the drain because she couldn't open the file. It's not like they specified what format they wanted either.
So, for the driving test. I failed at the S-curve because I mounted the curb. WHAT????
I have never struck the curb in the S-curve before, so when I did strike the curb on test day, I didn't know what to do and panicked and up the curb I went. -____-
Worst way to fail ever.
Moreover I had a trial run beforehand with the same car and everything went perfectly. No striking of curbs, no honking, no nothing.
Maybe next time I should just be like, 'screw the warm-up. Lemme at it NOW.'
Don't ever fail at S-curve. It's so embarrassing. Like all other instructors and testers will notice. And remember. Because nobody fails the s-curve.
Last thing! Guys go check out Alex G's new album, Alex G. She's a youtube-based independent artist and she's awesomeeee. She started by singing covers and collaborating with Tyler Ward and now she has her first full-length album!
Bones and Make Your Move off her album:
Alex G's
Youtube account
iTunes album
Okay bye :3
Anyway, this month has not been good to me. I've been failing at everything.
I failed the auditions for my school's acapella group (no surprise here though haha). I failed my driving test (it's not that I failed, it's how I failed that I can't get over). I suck at philosophy and I don't understand crap about any other modules I'm taking. And just today, a tutor for one of my mods (environmental biology) gave me a 0/2.5% because I uploaded the assignment in the wrong format. 2.5% is nothing, I know, but she could have emailed me to tell me to re-upload it, hello.
In one of the lectures she randomly selected a guy that was sleeping in lecture and asked him to throw a feathered seed up on stage so that the whole lecture can see the seed slowly float down (yes this is what we do in university). That guy happens to be my friend so he told me that afterwards, she found his email amongst ~100 other people in the lecture to thank him for throwing the seed. She could email a guy to thank him for throwing a feathered seed but couldn't email me to ask me to re-upload a submission in a format she couldn't open?
She had to scrutinise all the faces to pick out his face to find his email to thank him, but my email was right there with the submission! What?
I'm just pissed because of the difference in treatment. What if the assignment was 25% HUH??? 25% down the drain because she couldn't open the file. It's not like they specified what format they wanted either.
So, for the driving test. I failed at the S-curve because I mounted the curb. WHAT????
I have never struck the curb in the S-curve before, so when I did strike the curb on test day, I didn't know what to do and panicked and up the curb I went. -____-
Worst way to fail ever.
Moreover I had a trial run beforehand with the same car and everything went perfectly. No striking of curbs, no honking, no nothing.
Maybe next time I should just be like, 'screw the warm-up. Lemme at it NOW.'
Don't ever fail at S-curve. It's so embarrassing. Like all other instructors and testers will notice. And remember. Because nobody fails the s-curve.
Last thing! Guys go check out Alex G's new album, Alex G. She's a youtube-based independent artist and she's awesomeeee. She started by singing covers and collaborating with Tyler Ward and now she has her first full-length album!
Bones and Make Your Move off her album:
Some covers:
Alex G's
Youtube account
iTunes album
Okay bye :3
Sunday, August 24, 2014
C.S. Lewis Quote, Mere Christianity
"Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, `Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally, we shall insist on seeing everything - God and our friends and ourselves included - as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred." - C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Education Rant, University Stuff and Other Stuff
The coming Monday will mark my 3rd week since lessons started. I do not look forward to studying at all. D: I know I'm whiny haha.
Education Rant
Studying used to be a privilege that only the best of the best, those with brains, money and time could afford (or you can just use money to override everything else). Studying is a means to know more information and upgrade yourself. Well, theoretically at least. It all sound very romantic, but that is just not true for me. The main reason why I even enrolled in college at all is because I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I'm dragging the deadline for a career. I don't know what I'm good at. I'm not good at anything. It's like, no matter how good you think you are or how much effort you put in to perfect your skill, there will always be a buttload more people way better than you. Good thing is, this thought keeps you humble. Bad thing is, it is also extremely depressing.
To be honest, there is nothing that is 100% this or that. Everything is a grey area. If white is good and black is bad, everything we have is just varying degrees of grey. Moral values, laws, family, technology.... So same goes for knowledge. If you know too little you are ignorant. If you know too much, you become judgemental because it is just easier for your brain to compartmentalise according to what you already know.
I am unable to enjoy studying. I'm trying to change that, but in my 15 years of education and conditioning according to society's demands, I was forced to learn things that only became progressively (how do I put this nicely) useless as I climbed the education sector. Honestly, what can I gain from knowing how to calculate the number of mols of a very specific and rare element, say cobalt, and what happens when you drop it in water or if you drop it in another equally unaccessible chemical. Really, what are the chances of you just happening by a piece of cobalt when walking on the road.
Of course, if I actually liked chemistry I might have found studying these reactions fascinating. I'm not saying I completely learned nothing from my 2 years in JC, but at this point which is about 8 months after my A Levels, I only retained about 10% of the information that my school shoved down my throat.
A few days ago I was just talking to my mom and I realised that hey, what happened to studying to quench your thirst of adventuring the unknown?
While I cannot account for education in other countries, I have been in Singapore education for 15 years of my 19-year life so I think I am pretty qualified to complain about the education system.
The whole point of schooling is no longer to educate us. Rather, we are all stuck in the never-ending paper chase where, somewhere along our evolution, a piece of paper with some writing on it becomes tantamount to decades of hard work and is known to employers as a decent enough judge of character. No, schools do not care how much information we actually retain after we leave them. They care only about the results we give in one round of gruelling examinations.
Ministry of Education may argue and say that they are trying very hard to promote an "all-rounded education" and they are, but that's not the point. Students are unable to receive an "all-rounded" education because we have reached the point where education has become a passive chore. The main purpose of schools has eventually become to train us to answer examination questions.
Take me for example. I did not understand a single crap about say Chemistry even after 6 years of "education". I knew what reactions would give what results, but I never understood why. I memorised it and managed to pass my exams, but really, I still understand Chemistry as much as when I was 14. I don't.
I am going off topic, ranting about the past 19 years of my life. I just... I don't know. It doesn't feel like 19 years well spent. My posts start nowhere and end nowhere. I don't have an introduction nor a conclusion. I just type whatever I'm thinking of right at the instant.... and perhaps, that's the beauty of informal writing.
Notice: Not that I'm hating on Chemistry (I totally am), it's just the hardest subject to study for me. I am a subjecist exercising subjecism on the subject Chemistry. (Yeah I'm lame like that.)
University Stuff
Oh yeah, about my university life, nothing much happened. I found out that Architecture students have absolutely no life and according to what Horsefly (formerly known as Poh or Lizzy) says and my observation of her recently deranged brain, most of the first-year architecture students have gone crazy staying up all night, night after night, to draw hundreds of lines, circles, and triangles.
A typical (wayy dramatised) scene in the archi studio: imagine yourself with baggy eyes, clouded mind and empty stomach, stuck in a enclosed air-conditioned room with many others in the same state as you as you draw, oh you draw, repeatedly, the same lines, lines, lines, hundreds of them, on gigantic pieces of A1-sized papers as you screw up paper after paper and have to repeat the whole process.
3 days of doing the same assignment, deprived of sleep, you finally manage to get your hand into a momentum. You are happy; relieved. You've never known such peace as your brain shuts down and your hand is able to move by itself. You start to get into your assignment. Lines start flowing perfectly from the pen that you paid too much for when suddenly, the guy sitting beside you starts laughing to himself. He stops. You ignore him and continue drawing your lines. One line, two lines, three lines. He laughs again, only this time, you detect a slightly more noticeable hint of insanity in his outburst. He must have triggered something in the room, because suddenly, the girl sitting at the back starts mumbling to herself. Her mumbles grow louder, louder, then they stop abruptly. You think it's over, you release the breath you didn't know you were holding. You start to turn back to your assignment, but he laughs again and she mumbles again. You are trapped. You are desperate. Help me.
Notice: Horsefly told me about the mumbling and the laughing but I made everything else up HAHAHA. If you want, you can make up a story about FASS students too. xD
Other Stuff
So... This happened.
This is proof that insanity is transferable from archi students (namely Horsefly) to us normal humans.
Bye~
Education Rant
Studying used to be a privilege that only the best of the best, those with brains, money and time could afford (or you can just use money to override everything else). Studying is a means to know more information and upgrade yourself. Well, theoretically at least. It all sound very romantic, but that is just not true for me. The main reason why I even enrolled in college at all is because I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I'm dragging the deadline for a career. I don't know what I'm good at. I'm not good at anything. It's like, no matter how good you think you are or how much effort you put in to perfect your skill, there will always be a buttload more people way better than you. Good thing is, this thought keeps you humble. Bad thing is, it is also extremely depressing.
To be honest, there is nothing that is 100% this or that. Everything is a grey area. If white is good and black is bad, everything we have is just varying degrees of grey. Moral values, laws, family, technology.... So same goes for knowledge. If you know too little you are ignorant. If you know too much, you become judgemental because it is just easier for your brain to compartmentalise according to what you already know.
I am unable to enjoy studying. I'm trying to change that, but in my 15 years of education and conditioning according to society's demands, I was forced to learn things that only became progressively (how do I put this nicely) useless as I climbed the education sector. Honestly, what can I gain from knowing how to calculate the number of mols of a very specific and rare element, say cobalt, and what happens when you drop it in water or if you drop it in another equally unaccessible chemical. Really, what are the chances of you just happening by a piece of cobalt when walking on the road.
Of course, if I actually liked chemistry I might have found studying these reactions fascinating. I'm not saying I completely learned nothing from my 2 years in JC, but at this point which is about 8 months after my A Levels, I only retained about 10% of the information that my school shoved down my throat.
A few days ago I was just talking to my mom and I realised that hey, what happened to studying to quench your thirst of adventuring the unknown?
While I cannot account for education in other countries, I have been in Singapore education for 15 years of my 19-year life so I think I am pretty qualified to complain about the education system.
The whole point of schooling is no longer to educate us. Rather, we are all stuck in the never-ending paper chase where, somewhere along our evolution, a piece of paper with some writing on it becomes tantamount to decades of hard work and is known to employers as a decent enough judge of character. No, schools do not care how much information we actually retain after we leave them. They care only about the results we give in one round of gruelling examinations.
Ministry of Education may argue and say that they are trying very hard to promote an "all-rounded education" and they are, but that's not the point. Students are unable to receive an "all-rounded" education because we have reached the point where education has become a passive chore. The main purpose of schools has eventually become to train us to answer examination questions.
Take me for example. I did not understand a single crap about say Chemistry even after 6 years of "education". I knew what reactions would give what results, but I never understood why. I memorised it and managed to pass my exams, but really, I still understand Chemistry as much as when I was 14. I don't.
I am going off topic, ranting about the past 19 years of my life. I just... I don't know. It doesn't feel like 19 years well spent. My posts start nowhere and end nowhere. I don't have an introduction nor a conclusion. I just type whatever I'm thinking of right at the instant.... and perhaps, that's the beauty of informal writing.
Notice: Not that I'm hating on Chemistry (I totally am), it's just the hardest subject to study for me. I am a subjecist exercising subjecism on the subject Chemistry. (Yeah I'm lame like that.)
University Stuff
Oh yeah, about my university life, nothing much happened. I found out that Architecture students have absolutely no life and according to what Horsefly (formerly known as Poh or Lizzy) says and my observation of her recently deranged brain, most of the first-year architecture students have gone crazy staying up all night, night after night, to draw hundreds of lines, circles, and triangles.
A typical (wayy dramatised) scene in the archi studio: imagine yourself with baggy eyes, clouded mind and empty stomach, stuck in a enclosed air-conditioned room with many others in the same state as you as you draw, oh you draw, repeatedly, the same lines, lines, lines, hundreds of them, on gigantic pieces of A1-sized papers as you screw up paper after paper and have to repeat the whole process.
3 days of doing the same assignment, deprived of sleep, you finally manage to get your hand into a momentum. You are happy; relieved. You've never known such peace as your brain shuts down and your hand is able to move by itself. You start to get into your assignment. Lines start flowing perfectly from the pen that you paid too much for when suddenly, the guy sitting beside you starts laughing to himself. He stops. You ignore him and continue drawing your lines. One line, two lines, three lines. He laughs again, only this time, you detect a slightly more noticeable hint of insanity in his outburst. He must have triggered something in the room, because suddenly, the girl sitting at the back starts mumbling to herself. Her mumbles grow louder, louder, then they stop abruptly. You think it's over, you release the breath you didn't know you were holding. You start to turn back to your assignment, but he laughs again and she mumbles again. You are trapped. You are desperate. Help me.
Notice: Horsefly told me about the mumbling and the laughing but I made everything else up HAHAHA. If you want, you can make up a story about FASS students too. xD
Other Stuff
So... This happened.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees the rap. xD
This is proof that insanity is transferable from archi students (namely Horsefly) to us normal humans.
Bye~
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Periods
I guess I really am running out of things to write given that I've been hermit-ing in my room for days.
Anyway, for the girls out there who are just starting to go through puberty, I got you. ;D
Frequency
PMS
Bigger Boobies
Cramps
Some have it, some don't. If you don't properly take care of your body, you'll get it one day and believe me, it is horrible. I didn't use to have cramps and I took that for granted and continued eating ice cream, drinking cold drinks, and sleeping late and now I have cramps. T^T
Sometimes I forget that it's that time of the month and I'll forget to take precautions. If I slept late or had cold foods the day or the day before my period came, the cramps would be so horrible. It's like someone repeatedly stabbing your uterus (where the womb would be if you're pregnant) (lower than your belly, slightly above your bladder area). Or someone slowly peeling away the walls of your uterus, leaving a bloody mess (this is essentially what is happening inside your body).
So, moral of the story, take care of your body.
Sleepiness
Body Odour
Pads / Tampons
On the side note, do you know that pads and tampons are a very recent invention? My mom didn't have them in her school years so they had to stuff big wads of tissue in their underwear instead. And big wads of tissue fall out really easily. The students often find wads of bloody tissue lying on the ground and nobody would dare to go pick it up because how embarrassing is that?? And she was in a co-ed school. Tough times, tough times.
In very conservative countries like India, periods are considered as punishment for girls and is shameful and taboo. Thus they are embarrassed and often use the same piece of cloth, over and over again, without washing because they are too ashamed to wash it in case anyone sees. This is extremely unsanitary and needless to say, the women have contracted many diseases.
Article here (warning: harsh reality)
Alright I hope I shed some light on things regarding menstrual periods. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Half the world population have it or had it, and that's about 3.5 billion now.
University starts next week. GAHHH.
Note: I got all the images from google images search. I must have the weirdest image search history.
Anyway, for the girls out there who are just starting to go through puberty, I got you. ;D
Frequency
Everyone's body clock is different. Normally periods have a 20-40 days cycle. Mine is about 30+ days so it comes later and later every month but that's normal. I have a friend whose cycle is like 3 months. -_____- Apparently it's genetic. As long as the cycle is regular there is nothing wrong.
PMS
They are very, very real. Secondary school biology will teach you all the names of the changing levels of hormones in your body. If you find yourself getting all moody -sudden bursts of anger, happiness, hilarity etc- then you are most probably experiencing PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome) and your period should come a few days later.
Bigger Boobies
Yes they do get slightly bigger. Part of PMS.
Cramps
Some have it, some don't. If you don't properly take care of your body, you'll get it one day and believe me, it is horrible. I didn't use to have cramps and I took that for granted and continued eating ice cream, drinking cold drinks, and sleeping late and now I have cramps. T^T
Sometimes I forget that it's that time of the month and I'll forget to take precautions. If I slept late or had cold foods the day or the day before my period came, the cramps would be so horrible. It's like someone repeatedly stabbing your uterus (where the womb would be if you're pregnant) (lower than your belly, slightly above your bladder area). Or someone slowly peeling away the walls of your uterus, leaving a bloody mess (this is essentially what is happening inside your body).
So, moral of the story, take care of your body.
Sleepiness
I don't know about others, but this is true for me. I sleep a lot when I'm on my period and get tired really easily.
Body Odour
Your odour becomes really concentrated because of hormonal change. This happens to all animals. If your female dog suddenly smells really strongly, then she's in heat (fertile period).
Pads / Tampons
Please, please use the right type of pads/ tampons. If you know you have a really heavy flow then get the gigantic ones. It is really embarrassing and annoying when you 'leak'. Some friends 'leak' almost every single time and I don't understand why. Can't get bigger pads? Bad positioning?? Bad sitting posture?
On the side note, do you know that pads and tampons are a very recent invention? My mom didn't have them in her school years so they had to stuff big wads of tissue in their underwear instead. And big wads of tissue fall out really easily. The students often find wads of bloody tissue lying on the ground and nobody would dare to go pick it up because how embarrassing is that?? And she was in a co-ed school. Tough times, tough times.
In very conservative countries like India, periods are considered as punishment for girls and is shameful and taboo. Thus they are embarrassed and often use the same piece of cloth, over and over again, without washing because they are too ashamed to wash it in case anyone sees. This is extremely unsanitary and needless to say, the women have contracted many diseases.
Article here (warning: harsh reality)
Alright I hope I shed some light on things regarding menstrual periods. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Half the world population have it or had it, and that's about 3.5 billion now.
University starts next week. GAHHH.
Note: I got all the images from google images search. I must have the weirdest image search history.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Hi there
So I was just browsing YouTube and I found some videos I wanted to share!
Marianas Trench
I really like their style.. Which I can't pinpoint haha.
Another artist: Moriah Peters
She sings Christian-Pop~
Her voice is ♥ ♥ ♥
Marianas Trench
I really like their style.. Which I can't pinpoint haha.
Like how they stutter-sang
And made a satire song
Pop music 101
Some simple instructions
For a good first impression
Now lets start with a first one
A minor chord, tensions grow
Fade in the bass, like so
Now, with momentum, go, stop
And bring the beat back
It’s called "four-on-the-floor"
A beat you can’t ignore
I’ll bring sexy back once more, yeah
They’ll love that, yeah, fo sho!
The chords are 1-4-6-4
Now I’m talkin' familiar
Harmony in thirds, not fourths
Will take you into the pre-chorus
[Pre-Chorus]
Real quick now, don’t you bore us
Hurry up and get to the chorus
Dumb down, they won’t ignore us
[Chorus]
Get to the floor
And here’s some words you should know
Like, “DJ, never let me go”
"Pour shots and then we'll lose control"
Or, “Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby”
How about one more last word like
"Hey girl, we’ve only got tonight"
Some things just go together like
"Higher", "desire," and "fire"
"Higher", "desire," and "fire"
[Verse 2]
Guitar and strings like these
To sound like Black Eyed Peas
This ones a filtered swing
This one’s a legend key
Hipster music on cassette
But you probably don’t know that yet
808s, hey, ho, hell yeah!
Heartfelt pop anthems from Mumford and his Sons
Gang vocals, here we come
Thinking, “I will always wait”
Drop more bass
[Pre-Chorus]
K, slow down
Take it to the chorus
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
I can pitch shift my voice if I want
I can pitch shift my voice if I want
I can pitch shift my voice if I want
I can make my voice low
The bridge is
The part when
You bring in
A rapper friend, 'sup?
Simplify, slow the beat
Abbreviate "feature" to "feat."
[Verse 3]
Quick now, fill in the gaps, I'll try
Right up and down, eliminate that which you really would rap and
Give them a classic, like, "Get get get"
[Chorus]
Oh, yeah, dance
[Outro]
Boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots
Joshua Ramsay
Boots and cats and boots and cats and boots
-From Jackie Toews comment
"boots and cats and boots and cats" XD
Another artist: Moriah Peters
She sings Christian-Pop~
Her voice is ♥ ♥ ♥
Friday, August 1, 2014
My Weirdly Wired Brain
First things first, hello! I am now officially a freshman at National University of Singapore, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
The things is, FASS operates very differently from other faculties because you're already majoring the moment you enter uni in other faculties, but in FASS you only declare your major by the end of your second semester.
Good thing is, you have more time to explore. Bad thing is, you have to plan EVERYTHING from the start. You have no core modules. You have to bid for all 5 modules the first sem. And for people like me- antisocial and didn't join any camps- they only give you 2 days lecture orientation (each subject only has 20mins) which is NOT ENOUGH. I can't base what I want to study for the next 6 months on a twenty minute lecture!
FASS introduced a new scheme called Gradeless First Semester to encourage us freshies to explore as much as we want without the consequences. You can opt 'gradeless' or not for a specific module after you get your results. YAY~
They said they're doing this to promote their 'liberal arts' (which, officially, FASS is not classified under liberal arts education. The only one in Singapore is Yale-NUS).
Also, they don't tell you much about their bidding system in the lectures. I am damn lost and now there is a high chance of me not even having a single modules man.
Research more online and ask your peers!
Okay, next thing. So yesterday I was playing 'Kill Shag Marry', 'Truth or Dare' etc with Ger and we got to the point where she asked me who I thought was the prettiest girl in our cohort (when you play these things you unspokenly do not include the participants... I mean how vain would it be to say yourself HAHA. Kidding.).
I realised that I have officially lost the perception of 'physical beauty'. At this point in my life and psychological condition, all faces look the same to me. Really. I can't really connect an unmoving face and body to words like 'pretty' or 'beautiful' or 'handsome'.
For example, I think that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really cute because he smiles like a siamese cat or defenseless puppy.
Also, I am obsessed with the song~ (I am very late haha.)
Running Man is a korean variety show that is damn funny. The members have great chemistry and interactions and the missions they do are really creative~ Just google "Running Man" and a lot of links to english-subtitled episodes will come up~ Each episode is about 1.5hours so if you have the time and just want a good laugh then I really recommend watching it. GO! :)
The things is, FASS operates very differently from other faculties because you're already majoring the moment you enter uni in other faculties, but in FASS you only declare your major by the end of your second semester.
Good thing is, you have more time to explore. Bad thing is, you have to plan EVERYTHING from the start. You have no core modules. You have to bid for all 5 modules the first sem. And for people like me- antisocial and didn't join any camps- they only give you 2 days lecture orientation (each subject only has 20mins) which is NOT ENOUGH. I can't base what I want to study for the next 6 months on a twenty minute lecture!
FASS introduced a new scheme called Gradeless First Semester to encourage us freshies to explore as much as we want without the consequences. You can opt 'gradeless' or not for a specific module after you get your results. YAY~
They said they're doing this to promote their 'liberal arts' (which, officially, FASS is not classified under liberal arts education. The only one in Singapore is Yale-NUS).
Also, they don't tell you much about their bidding system in the lectures. I am damn lost and now there is a high chance of me not even having a single modules man.
Research more online and ask your peers!
Okay, next thing. So yesterday I was playing 'Kill Shag Marry', 'Truth or Dare' etc with Ger and we got to the point where she asked me who I thought was the prettiest girl in our cohort (when you play these things you unspokenly do not include the participants... I mean how vain would it be to say yourself HAHA. Kidding.).
I realised that I have officially lost the perception of 'physical beauty'. At this point in my life and psychological condition, all faces look the same to me. Really. I can't really connect an unmoving face and body to words like 'pretty' or 'beautiful' or 'handsome'.
For example, I think that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really cute because he smiles like a siamese cat or defenseless puppy.
SEE SEE ♥♥
Who knows, maybe I have some missing neurones in my brain or something.
How attractive I think you are 100% depends on how much I like you.
Say most of the people find this popular girl in my secondary school very pretty (including Ger) but I never did. I'm not bitter, really, I just can't wrap my mind around it. Like if I were to analyse her -big eyes, slender body, smooth skin- then yes, I can admit that she is very pretty according to society's standards but I personally don't find her pretty.
You can say that I am just extremely biased (I can't deny hahaha). I find every single one of my friends attractive, really. Some of them have really pretty eyes, or a nice smile, or have charisma.
Because I'm weirdly wired like that.
Also, I am obsessed with the song~ (I am very late haha.)
They are all Running Man members~
Running Man is a korean variety show that is damn funny. The members have great chemistry and interactions and the missions they do are really creative~ Just google "Running Man" and a lot of links to english-subtitled episodes will come up~ Each episode is about 1.5hours so if you have the time and just want a good laugh then I really recommend watching it. GO! :)
Sunday, July 20, 2014
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes
I FOUND THIS GEM.
I gotta say, I'm very impressed HAHA.
They managed to change "Blurred Lines" to something meaningful.
"ROBIN THICKE HAS A BIG D"
------->
"'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC HAS A BIG DICTIONARY"
GOLD.
I gotta say, I'm very impressed HAHA.
They managed to change "Blurred Lines" to something meaningful.
"ROBIN THICKE HAS A BIG D"
------->
"'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC HAS A BIG DICTIONARY"
GOLD.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Let It Go - Mandarin Versions
So about a month ago, I was working at Popular Bookstore and they were trying to promote Frozen Soundtrack CDs, so they played the soundtrack, over and over again, day after day, for about 2 weeks straight before they started to alternate between some other artists' CDs and Frozen.
I was so sick of the many different Frozen songs that I know every single word of the songs in English, 80% of the Mandarin version, and could sing along poorly to the other dialects.
And let me tell you, of all the versions of 'Let It Go' that I heard, the mandarin version they went with was by far the WORST of them all (I only understood the English and Mandarin version anyway hahaha).
Their translation for "let it go" is "随他吧" (sui ta ba) WHICH SOUNDS SO HORRIBLE. Full phonics for the lyrics here.
So there was apparently another version, translated by a Taiwanese called "放开手" (fang kai shou) which translates into 'open your hand' but means 'let go'. The words are better than the previous one, but still doesn't sound smooth as a song.
【Frozen 冰雪奇緣】Let It Go 林芯儀 (TAIWAN)
from Aimei Amy Chen on Vimeo.
So I was complaining to my friend one fine day and she introduced me to this beautiful, beautiful version that is so damn chim (slang for difficult/complicated) and I don't understand 70% of the words that they have used, but it sounds so beautiful. This is how the Chinese language should sound like, not the "随他吧" crap. (Who am I kidding my Mandarin is so bad.)
(Sorry I can't find pinyin for this and I'm not good enough to translate it myself)
翻詞 (lyrics)：棉裡
錄製 (produced by)：棉裡
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
風掣千刃，寒嘯千載，慰我心安。
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried
身得托滄海，血以薦軒轅。
Don't let them in, don't let them see
勿近勿探，陰翳猶在。
Be the good girl you always have to be
綱禮持之，也堪念存心善。
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
昨日無常，今時無往，
Well, now they know
然，盡矣說。
Let it go, let it go
我如風，任去留。
Can't hold it back anymore
休將鴻鵠比伏囚。
Let it go, let it go
我如虹，任天闊。
Turn away and slam the door;
且聽狂瀾度三秋。
I don't care what they're going to say
毋言多，不敢同苟合。
Let the storm rage on
一霰風攤破。
The cold never bothered me anyway
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
啼笑遠煙皆邈末，屋舍儼若蟻螻。
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
時維往矣不勝惶恐，今非彼可制我。
It's time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through
適於旦夕，何以為兮。假我之力，驚剎天地。
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
誰是誰非，方圓無稽。
I'm free
肆意行。
Let it go, let it go
我如風，任去留。
I am one with the wind and sky
浩蕩中天氣無咎。
Let it go, let it go
我如虹，任天闊。
You'll never see me cry
初晴乍逢霽雨後。
Here I stand and here I'll stay
駕寒宮，劃地為樓，
Let the storm rage on
不懼風蕭索。
My power flurries through the air into the ground
力拔千鈞氣貫地，聚息攝魄冰。
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
靈動珠齏騰霜起，重於游絲輕於絮。
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
花晶盤鬱擷綺思，玉宇觀飛驚。
I'm never going back, the past is in the past
過眼翻覆往昔，何必執於歸去。
Let it go, let it go
我如風，任去留。
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
願化羲和驅夜魔。
Let it go, let it go
我如虹，任天闊。
That perfect girl is gone
無暇過隙便無蹤。
Here I stand in the light of day
駕寒宮，向陽高聳。
Let the storm rage on
一霰風攤破。
The cold never bothered me anyway
唯我，敢挑隻身赴寒流。
I was so sick of the many different Frozen songs that I know every single word of the songs in English, 80% of the Mandarin version, and could sing along poorly to the other dialects.
And let me tell you, of all the versions of 'Let It Go' that I heard, the mandarin version they went with was by far the WORST of them all (I only understood the English and Mandarin version anyway hahaha).
This is the 'official' version, translated by mainland China. It uses very simple Chinese words and is almost a direct translation of the English lyrics over to simple Chinese with no regard to the flow of the pronunciation of the words with respect to the tune. NONE.
IT. IS. HORRIBLE.
Their translation for "let it go" is "随他吧" (sui ta ba) WHICH SOUNDS SO HORRIBLE. Full phonics for the lyrics here.
So there was apparently another version, translated by a Taiwanese called "放开手" (fang kai shou) which translates into 'open your hand' but means 'let go'. The words are better than the previous one, but still doesn't sound smooth as a song.
【Frozen 冰雪奇緣】Let It Go 林芯儀 (TAIWAN)
from Aimei Amy Chen on Vimeo.
So I was complaining to my friend one fine day and she introduced me to this beautiful, beautiful version that is so damn chim (slang for difficult/complicated) and I don't understand 70% of the words that they have used, but it sounds so beautiful. This is how the Chinese language should sound like, not the "随他吧" crap. (Who am I kidding my Mandarin is so bad.)
They used traditional Chinese musical instruments as background music (that I cannot name... Maybe the Er-hu and flute and some others...).
It is called "如释冰" (ru shi bing), which, in direct translation, is "like free ice". (Translation does not make any sense.)
(Sorry I can't find pinyin for this and I'm not good enough to translate it myself)
翻詞 (lyrics)：棉裡
錄製 (produced by)：棉裡
翻唱 (sung by)：許曉雲
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
霜輒夜白，日暮盡蒼生遠。
Not a footprint to be seen
獨遊偶影江水寒。
A kingdom of isolation
山門內外蜃城孑然。
And it looks like I'm the queen
王於冰雪定蕭山。
Not a footprint to be seen
獨遊偶影江水寒。
A kingdom of isolation
山門內外蜃城孑然。
And it looks like I'm the queen
王於冰雪定蕭山。
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
風掣千刃，寒嘯千載，慰我心安。
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried
身得托滄海，血以薦軒轅。
Don't let them in, don't let them see
勿近勿探，陰翳猶在。
Be the good girl you always have to be
綱禮持之，也堪念存心善。
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
昨日無常，今時無往，
Well, now they know
然，盡矣說。
Let it go, let it go
我如風，任去留。
Can't hold it back anymore
休將鴻鵠比伏囚。
Let it go, let it go
我如虹，任天闊。
Turn away and slam the door;
且聽狂瀾度三秋。
I don't care what they're going to say
毋言多，不敢同苟合。
Let the storm rage on
一霰風攤破。
The cold never bothered me anyway
唯我，敢挑隻身赴寒流。
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
啼笑遠煙皆邈末，屋舍儼若蟻螻。
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
時維往矣不勝惶恐，今非彼可制我。
It's time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through
適於旦夕，何以為兮。假我之力，驚剎天地。
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
誰是誰非，方圓無稽。
I'm free
肆意行。
Let it go, let it go
我如風，任去留。
I am one with the wind and sky
浩蕩中天氣無咎。
Let it go, let it go
我如虹，任天闊。
You'll never see me cry
初晴乍逢霽雨後。
Here I stand and here I'll stay
駕寒宮，劃地為樓，
Let the storm rage on
不懼風蕭索。
My power flurries through the air into the ground
力拔千鈞氣貫地，聚息攝魄冰。
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
靈動珠齏騰霜起，重於游絲輕於絮。
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
花晶盤鬱擷綺思，玉宇觀飛驚。
I'm never going back, the past is in the past
過眼翻覆往昔，何必執於歸去。
Let it go, let it go
我如風，任去留。
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
願化羲和驅夜魔。
Let it go, let it go
我如虹，任天闊。
That perfect girl is gone
無暇過隙便無蹤。
Here I stand in the light of day
駕寒宮，向陽高聳。
Let the storm rage on
一霰風攤破。
The cold never bothered me anyway
唯我，敢挑隻身赴寒流。
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Adventure Cove
So Dog and I went on an impromptu money-spending spree to Adventure Cove yesterday! She coincidently saw an online promotion where they were selling two adult tickets for $50 (usual price is $38/person) so we bought the tickets Monday night and went on Tuesday. Efficiency hoorah.
The promotion here: http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Promotions/category/Attractions
(I didn't take any pictures so I'm getting them online haha)
It is actually really, really small. Really small. Like it would only take you about 15 minutes to walk one round. But the thing about Singapore is, we are super awesome at utilising small spaces.
Most of the rides are really standard. You could find them in Wild Wild Wet for a cheaper price. AC has slightly cleaner waters, less Singaporeans and way more lifeguards.
The entrance ticket does not include Ray Bay, Shark something, or Dolphin something. So you don't get to touch stingrays, sharks, or dolphins (not much to watch either). You have to buy separate tickets for those at a couple of hundred dollars I think.
(Sorry kinda small)
The highlight of AC for me is the Rainbow Reef where you get to snorkel in the saltwater aquarium! Yay~ I have never snorkeled before (I was too young when my family went on a vacation to a Malaysian paradise island *sigh* and my mom refused to let a 3-year-old snorkel. *SIGH* #liferegret), so I thought that the Rainbow Reef was plenty fun. It's quite (use of word is subjective) deep and there are more fish than I thought there would be. I saw Nemo, Bubbles, Dory, Dory's cousin, Dory's cousin twice removed, Dory's cousin thrice removed, and some bigger fish. They had some sparse corals here and there too.
The most thrilling ride would be Riptide Rocket where you really just zip along the bumpy tracks. The heavier you are, the faster you go. Sadly the queue was no joke. Dog and I went on a Tuesday and we had to queue for I'm estimating 30 mins. Imagine going on a weekend or public holiday.
Another ride I really enjoyed was Adventure River where you just float, get stuck in bubble float traffic jams, and float.
The coolest part of AR is where you could see the stingrays and Dory's family swimming beside you, only to be separated by a glass wall.
I have to warn you though, the floor is SUPER PAINFUL to walk on. They had to make the floor rougher throughout the park for better friction, but I didn't think about it and went barefoot (I wore sports shoes there. Idiot.) and lost a good patch of skin on my heel. Wear slippers there everyone, if you care about your foot skin.
Overall, I felt that yes, it was worth the $25 (mainly because I have never snorkeled before), but if I had to pay $38 I wouldn't be happy. You can go to cheaper Wild Wild Wet (Downtown East, Pasir Ris) for water rides. Adventure Cove is more tourist-y and most of the people there are tourists (AKA more eye candy hahahaha~).
Oh yeah, the food there is twice as expensive as food sold in Vivo food junctions. They don't allow outside food, but really, who would actually go and open your bag to check (unless there is a really distinctly food-ish bump). So eat up before you go and bring snacks! They have water coolers so water is not an issue (duh, haha).
Also, the lockers there are at $10 for small lockers and $20 for big lockers for the entire day and you can open them as much as you want.
Ok bye~
The promotion here: http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Promotions/category/Attractions
(I didn't take any pictures so I'm getting them online haha)
Map Of Adventure Cove
It is actually really, really small. Really small. Like it would only take you about 15 minutes to walk one round. But the thing about Singapore is, we are super awesome at utilising small spaces.
Most of the rides are really standard. You could find them in Wild Wild Wet for a cheaper price. AC has slightly cleaner waters, less Singaporeans and way more lifeguards.
The entrance ticket does not include Ray Bay, Shark something, or Dolphin something. So you don't get to touch stingrays, sharks, or dolphins (not much to watch either). You have to buy separate tickets for those at a couple of hundred dollars I think.
Touch ze rays
Kiss ze dolphins
The highlight of AC for me is the Rainbow Reef where you get to snorkel in the saltwater aquarium! Yay~ I have never snorkeled before (I was too young when my family went on a vacation to a Malaysian paradise island *sigh* and my mom refused to let a 3-year-old snorkel. *SIGH* #liferegret), so I thought that the Rainbow Reef was plenty fun. It's quite (use of word is subjective) deep and there are more fish than I thought there would be. I saw Nemo, Bubbles, Dory, Dory's cousin, Dory's cousin twice removed, Dory's cousin thrice removed, and some bigger fish. They had some sparse corals here and there too.
A dramatised Rainbow Reef
The most thrilling ride would be Riptide Rocket where you really just zip along the bumpy tracks. The heavier you are, the faster you go. Sadly the queue was no joke. Dog and I went on a Tuesday and we had to queue for I'm estimating 30 mins. Imagine going on a weekend or public holiday.
Riptide Rocket
Another ride I really enjoyed was Adventure River where you just float, get stuck in bubble float traffic jams, and float.
Dramatised Adventure River
The coolest part of AR is where you could see the stingrays and Dory's family swimming beside you, only to be separated by a glass wall.
I have to warn you though, the floor is SUPER PAINFUL to walk on. They had to make the floor rougher throughout the park for better friction, but I didn't think about it and went barefoot (I wore sports shoes there. Idiot.) and lost a good patch of skin on my heel. Wear slippers there everyone, if you care about your foot skin.
Overall, I felt that yes, it was worth the $25 (mainly because I have never snorkeled before), but if I had to pay $38 I wouldn't be happy. You can go to cheaper Wild Wild Wet (Downtown East, Pasir Ris) for water rides. Adventure Cove is more tourist-y and most of the people there are tourists (AKA more eye candy hahahaha~).
Oh yeah, the food there is twice as expensive as food sold in Vivo food junctions. They don't allow outside food, but really, who would actually go and open your bag to check (unless there is a really distinctly food-ish bump). So eat up before you go and bring snacks! They have water coolers so water is not an issue (duh, haha).
Also, the lockers there are at $10 for small lockers and $20 for big lockers for the entire day and you can open them as much as you want.
Ok bye~
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Things That Make Me Happy
I am finally taking the first step to become a less spiteful person...
In no particular order, things from the top of my head right now
1. Good weather
= mildly sunny, moderately windy, and slight drizzle
2. Having a baby smile or laugh at me
My mood just shoots over the roof when this happens
3. Meeting kind strangers
Like when I run out of change for the bus fare
4. Somebody getting me something I really really wanted/ needed
Double points if I didn't expect it (very rare)
If I become slightly hostile when that happens it means you did it right and I'm slightly shy
5. Somebody going out of their way for me
I think I'm the type that is very conscious about these things.. So if you do an unexpected favour for me, I will remember and I'll be twice as nice to you next time (I'm not a nice person.. -_______-)
6. Pocky
Want to bribe me? Use Pocky.
7. Llama/ Alpaca soft toys
Even I was surprised at this recent discovery. I'm not usually a soft toy person.
8. Being home alone
I can be at 100% loner and nobody can judge. I love it.
9. Paychecks
Smell that? That's the smell of materialistic power.
10. Dessert (the expensive kind)
I love sweet stuff that are not sickly sweet. Chocolates, pies, cakes, bubble tea, cakes, ice cream, cakes...
11. Travelling
I am so going to spend all my money travelling the world.
12. Enjoying the arts
I enjoy looking at art even if I can't understand them (I, unexpectedly, have culture)
13. Tricking others
I'm a bully by nature
14. When I look back and realise that I've been very efficient
I plead guilty to procrastinating at life.
15. When my effort is appreciated
16. Discovering awesome new songs and wallpapers and books
Bonus: .________________________.
Isn't this emoticon super cute haha like .________________________.
the longer it is, the more awkward I felt HAHA
Ok bye.
.___________________________________________________.
In no particular order, things from the top of my head right now
1. Good weather
= mildly sunny, moderately windy, and slight drizzle
2. Having a baby smile or laugh at me
My mood just shoots over the roof when this happens
3. Meeting kind strangers
Like when I run out of change for the bus fare
4. Somebody getting me something I really really wanted/ needed
Double points if I didn't expect it (very rare)
If I become slightly hostile when that happens it means you did it right and I'm slightly shy
5. Somebody going out of their way for me
I think I'm the type that is very conscious about these things.. So if you do an unexpected favour for me, I will remember and I'll be twice as nice to you next time (I'm not a nice person.. -_______-)
6. Pocky
Want to bribe me? Use Pocky.
7. Llama/ Alpaca soft toys
Even I was surprised at this recent discovery. I'm not usually a soft toy person.
8. Being home alone
I can be at 100% loner and nobody can judge. I love it.
9. Paychecks
Smell that? That's the smell of materialistic power.
10. Dessert (the expensive kind)
I love sweet stuff that are not sickly sweet. Chocolates, pies, cakes, bubble tea, cakes, ice cream, cakes...
11. Travelling
I am so going to spend all my money travelling the world.
12. Enjoying the arts
I enjoy looking at art even if I can't understand them (I, unexpectedly, have culture)
13. Tricking others
I'm a bully by nature
14. When I look back and realise that I've been very efficient
I plead guilty to procrastinating at life.
15. When my effort is appreciated
16. Discovering awesome new songs and wallpapers and books
Bonus: .________________________.
Isn't this emoticon super cute haha like .________________________.
the longer it is, the more awkward I felt HAHA
Ok bye.
.___________________________________________________.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Another Thing That Annoys Me
I have a lot of anger in me, I've realised. I should share something that makes me happy next time.
Anyway, I've been using facebook a lot more recently *cough* work *cough* and my 'friends' share some really good, inspirational stories on facebook... That have very unfortunate titles that really demeans the story into another one of those meaningless, attention-seeking articles, and this annoys me.
For example, I see this article that my 'friends' shared:
Anyway, I've been using facebook a lot more recently *cough* work *cough* and my 'friends' share some really good, inspirational stories on facebook... That have very unfortunate titles that really demeans the story into another one of those meaningless, attention-seeking articles, and this annoys me.
For example, I see this article that my 'friends' shared:
I'm sorry, but what's up with that lame title that is obviously phrased to pique the attention of 14-year-olds?? It even sounds written by 14-year-olds (I know, I've been there). Why couldn't a more simple title like, oh, I don't know, "Beautiful Sceneries" or something be good enough? It's straight to the point and doesn't sound attention seeking. I'm really bad at titles too, but still, why not just "A Man Filmed Heaven For 7 Days", why add the "What He Saw Took My Breath Away." part??? It really demeans the whole article. If I saw that title, I wouldn't have clicked on the link, but two people who usually shared good links shared this, so I did. The video was great. Link:http://www.lifebuzz.com/heaven/#!UrjG0
The photographer filmed some really beautiful footage of our planet.... But I almost didn't open it beacuse of the stupid title.
Another example:
This too is a great video about a great pianist performing in a train station, but with a stupid title that sounds like it was written by 14-year-olds. "You Gotta See This."???? Why is that phrase in the TITLE? It doesn't add any meaning to the video, it doesn't explain anything from the video, it just says 'click me, click me! I'm a website that really needs more visits'.
http://www.upvines.net/he-noticed-a-public-piano-then-he-blew-the-whole-train-station-away-you-gotta-see-this/
And so on and so forth...
Well goodbye. I just wanted to rant. :D
Saturday, May 31, 2014
May 2014
Hello. So I'm a bit lazy with posting.
I went to Taiwan with JM and John from 14th May to 24th May. We took Scoot which cost about $360 per person to and fro from Singapore to Taiwan. I'll post a more detailed itinerary... Probably.
After Taiwan, I had non-stop driving lessons. I completed 6 lessons in 4 days. Crazy right. I'm learning to drive manual cars, meaning I have to manually shift gears and what not. I can't coordinate so many things at the same time. Really isn't easy. @_@
Plus, I have never driven a car before in my entire life, and suddenly I'm having 2 lessons per day. My left leg was shaking by the end of the week from constantly depressing the clutch haha... I'm not an exercise person. I improved a lot though! I went from can't even start the car nor steer to driving on the road and everything. So nervous to drive on the road, especially when there're a lot of gigantic trucks. I'm really short. I can't even see beyond regular cars.
I signed up for ComfortDelGro school lessons. You have to pay ~ 100 bucks to start an account where you get a number of e-trials for your Basic Theory Test and Final Theory Test. The waiting time to book these tests is about 2 months. You can only book your FTT after you passed your BTT. Then you can only book your driving test to get your license after you pass your FTT. So in total from signing up to getting your actual license is at least 6 months, and you have to squeeze about 24 driving lessons in between (varies for each person), and each lesson costs $65 for weekday lessons and $75 for weekend lessons. Driving is not cheap.
Another option is to get a private driving instructor instead (which is arguably cheaper), but I opted for the school because of the 'free' e-trials and their pool of instructors. If you hired a completely incompatible private instructor, you are screwed.
I'm currently learning from CDC's 'common pool' of instructors. There are some good ones, some awesome ones, and of course there are some that just waste your time (and 70 bucks!!). Really depends on luck in the end.
You can also opt for 'one team' instructors so you just stick to those few instructors throughout. The good side is that they know you better and can better monitor your progress. Bad part is that it costs 'a bit' more $$$. You can assign a team, but I don't think it's useful because I don't know the instructors and with my luck, I might've ended up with a COMPLETELY incompatible team.
Ok, so right now I'm currently working at a 4-day event at Marina Bay Sands with Dog, Ger, Val and Pig.Today was the first day and we (dog, ger, me) didn't have ANYTHING to do because we are part timers and only had to deal with event stuff. Pig and Val are full timers and they had a lot of things to do haha~
So we just surfed the internet the entire day and get paid to do so. BEST JOB EVER.
We were so bored that we started chatting on facebook and we came up with the following story.
Presenting... Untitled.
A story of true love, betrayal, determination, extraterrestrials, coloured skin, cannibalism, metamorphosis, freedom, comedy and nonsense. Written on Facebook messages. The masterpiece of 31th May 2014, presented in its raw, unedited form. *Every line is a different author*
*the ( ) is us chatting*
Once upon, a time there was a girl called yj
and a boy named K
they were childhood sweethearts
And they lived happily ever after
or so everyone around them said
The end
(YOU SPOIL SPORT
not the end yet
-continue-)
*Sequel*
but one day, something terrible happened that tore them apart
She found a new love called L
yj was so sad tat she cried all day long
Her tears turned into a magical fountain
She felt bad for betraying K, but couldnt' tell anyone. One fine day when yj and L were frolicking in a flower field
the magical fountain flooded the areas ard it
forming an impenetrable moat
(Walao so chim)
Yj and L were stuck on the flower island!
(Awesome)
yj and L had no choice but to eat flowers for the rest of their lives
(Whut)
At first, YJ was really happy because she could stay with L for as long as she wanted without feeling guilty over K (HAHAHA WHAT)
But yj couldn't take eating no meat
and when they drank from the water from the magical fountain, they turned into magical, neon green cows
(omg i laughing to myself now)
and lived happily ever after
(later ppl tink i siao)
eating flowers. Yj couldn't stand not eating meat so she decided her stomach was more important than love, so she ate L. One cow ate the other cow. WHAT A SIGHT! And when K came looking for her a few weeks later, she was so hungry she tried to eat him too
(and she ate him too? Hahahaha.)
but alas, he escaped after being bitten by her
and found a new love
thus started the mad Cow Disease
which spread to all parts of the world. haiz
(hahahaha
interesting story. potential story writers)
But he kissed her accidentally. By true loves kiss she turned back into human
but her skin remained neon green so she walked around, glowing green for the rest f her life. All alone, because she tried to eat her true love
like a green alien
the US government had to lock her up in Area 51 to prevent any conspiracies
But there was this one man who finds her very interesting
(ARE WE STILL CONTINUING
Ok
story so long ah haha)
So he visited her almost everyday
He was brightly coloured, just like her
but in the end he got caught too
His skin was a striking hot pink (hahaha what)
Their cell was next to each other
And they had to be locked up in very separate cells. She missed him, because he made her feel less abnormal. He made her feel like she belonged. The wall between their cells was so thick, they didn't know they were right beside each other.
But somehow she knew the man was near her. So she tried many futile ways to check where he was.
She pounded and pounded on the thick wall
and kicked and kicked
She almost broke down
when suddenly, the wall cracked
Yj:" what what happen?"
Hot pink colour shined through the crack and she knew, he was near
(i can't continue hahahaha.i will laugh out loud n madly)
Suddenly this power inside her surged up. She banged her weak fist on the wall. The wall cracked even more
(hahaha -colleague- alrd thinks im crazy)
n the whole prison collapsed (hahaha i tink the girl beside me tinks im mad too)
She thought to herself omg this building must be so old. Yucks
The two lovers ran into each other's arms while thick rubble fell on their heads, but they refused to be daunted by serious head injuries. So when they left the prison, they each had half a brain left. But they thought, it's alright, two halves make a whole.
(what hahaha) however they became stupider due to half a brain left.
-the abrupt end-
*Thank you for reading this ridiculously long story*
I went to Taiwan with JM and John from 14th May to 24th May. We took Scoot which cost about $360 per person to and fro from Singapore to Taiwan. I'll post a more detailed itinerary... Probably.
After Taiwan, I had non-stop driving lessons. I completed 6 lessons in 4 days. Crazy right. I'm learning to drive manual cars, meaning I have to manually shift gears and what not. I can't coordinate so many things at the same time. Really isn't easy. @_@
Plus, I have never driven a car before in my entire life, and suddenly I'm having 2 lessons per day. My left leg was shaking by the end of the week from constantly depressing the clutch haha... I'm not an exercise person. I improved a lot though! I went from can't even start the car nor steer to driving on the road and everything. So nervous to drive on the road, especially when there're a lot of gigantic trucks. I'm really short. I can't even see beyond regular cars.
I signed up for ComfortDelGro school lessons. You have to pay ~ 100 bucks to start an account where you get a number of e-trials for your Basic Theory Test and Final Theory Test. The waiting time to book these tests is about 2 months. You can only book your FTT after you passed your BTT. Then you can only book your driving test to get your license after you pass your FTT. So in total from signing up to getting your actual license is at least 6 months, and you have to squeeze about 24 driving lessons in between (varies for each person), and each lesson costs $65 for weekday lessons and $75 for weekend lessons. Driving is not cheap.
Another option is to get a private driving instructor instead (which is arguably cheaper), but I opted for the school because of the 'free' e-trials and their pool of instructors. If you hired a completely incompatible private instructor, you are screwed.
I'm currently learning from CDC's 'common pool' of instructors. There are some good ones, some awesome ones, and of course there are some that just waste your time (and 70 bucks!!). Really depends on luck in the end.
You can also opt for 'one team' instructors so you just stick to those few instructors throughout. The good side is that they know you better and can better monitor your progress. Bad part is that it costs 'a bit' more $$$. You can assign a team, but I don't think it's useful because I don't know the instructors and with my luck, I might've ended up with a COMPLETELY incompatible team.
Ok, so right now I'm currently working at a 4-day event at Marina Bay Sands with Dog, Ger, Val and Pig.Today was the first day and we (dog, ger, me) didn't have ANYTHING to do because we are part timers and only had to deal with event stuff. Pig and Val are full timers and they had a lot of things to do haha~
So we just surfed the internet the entire day and get paid to do so. BEST JOB EVER.
We were so bored that we started chatting on facebook and we came up with the following story.
Presenting... Untitled.
A story of true love, betrayal, determination, extraterrestrials, coloured skin, cannibalism, metamorphosis, freedom, comedy and nonsense. Written on Facebook messages. The masterpiece of 31th May 2014, presented in its raw, unedited form. *Every line is a different author*
*the ( ) is us chatting*
Once upon, a time there was a girl called yj
and a boy named K
they were childhood sweethearts
And they lived happily ever after
or so everyone around them said
The end
(YOU SPOIL SPORT
not the end yet
-continue-)
*Sequel*
but one day, something terrible happened that tore them apart
She found a new love called L
yj was so sad tat she cried all day long
Her tears turned into a magical fountain
She felt bad for betraying K, but couldnt' tell anyone. One fine day when yj and L were frolicking in a flower field
the magical fountain flooded the areas ard it
forming an impenetrable moat
(Walao so chim)
Yj and L were stuck on the flower island!
(Awesome)
yj and L had no choice but to eat flowers for the rest of their lives
(Whut)
At first, YJ was really happy because she could stay with L for as long as she wanted without feeling guilty over K (HAHAHA WHAT)
But yj couldn't take eating no meat
and when they drank from the water from the magical fountain, they turned into magical, neon green cows
(omg i laughing to myself now)
and lived happily ever after
(later ppl tink i siao)
eating flowers. Yj couldn't stand not eating meat so she decided her stomach was more important than love, so she ate L. One cow ate the other cow. WHAT A SIGHT! And when K came looking for her a few weeks later, she was so hungry she tried to eat him too
(and she ate him too? Hahahaha.)
but alas, he escaped after being bitten by her
and found a new love
thus started the mad Cow Disease
which spread to all parts of the world. haiz
(hahahaha
interesting story. potential story writers)
But he kissed her accidentally. By true loves kiss she turned back into human
but her skin remained neon green so she walked around, glowing green for the rest f her life. All alone, because she tried to eat her true love
like a green alien
the US government had to lock her up in Area 51 to prevent any conspiracies
But there was this one man who finds her very interesting
(ARE WE STILL CONTINUING
Ok
story so long ah haha)
So he visited her almost everyday
He was brightly coloured, just like her
but in the end he got caught too
His skin was a striking hot pink (hahaha what)
Their cell was next to each other
And they had to be locked up in very separate cells. She missed him, because he made her feel less abnormal. He made her feel like she belonged. The wall between their cells was so thick, they didn't know they were right beside each other.
But somehow she knew the man was near her. So she tried many futile ways to check where he was.
She pounded and pounded on the thick wall
and kicked and kicked
She almost broke down
when suddenly, the wall cracked
Yj:" what what happen?"
Hot pink colour shined through the crack and she knew, he was near
(i can't continue hahahaha.i will laugh out loud n madly)
Suddenly this power inside her surged up. She banged her weak fist on the wall. The wall cracked even more
(hahaha -colleague- alrd thinks im crazy)
n the whole prison collapsed (hahaha i tink the girl beside me tinks im mad too)
She thought to herself omg this building must be so old. Yucks
The two lovers ran into each other's arms while thick rubble fell on their heads, but they refused to be daunted by serious head injuries. So when they left the prison, they each had half a brain left. But they thought, it's alright, two halves make a whole.
(what hahaha) however they became stupider due to half a brain left.
-the abrupt end-
*Thank you for reading this ridiculously long story*
Saturday, April 19, 2014
SMU Interview (11/04/2014)
(Note: Read the maroon words to skip all my ramblings.)
I am not doing anything with my life right now. I really just stay at home all day and do nothing.
Sooo I officially turned 19 yesterday~ Yay growing old~
After 19 birthdays the specialness of a birthday just wears off... I still enjoy the cakes though~
Alright. So now I am still in the process of choosing a university to go to. Thank God I am eligible for local uni. I really don't have the financial means to go overseas or private universities. Gonna have to take up loans just to go local u. ):
Why's education so expensive. Isn't learning new stuff beneficial to everyone? Like really, the student benefits by learning new stuff and securing a stable income, the family benefits (pride, stable income etc), society benefits (educated individuals do behave more rationally, plus literacy rates increase and who knows, the student might find a cure for cancer), the government benefits (pride, cure for cancer, improvement of standard of living of the country...)...
So why they make education so damn expensive when everyone benefits??
Like I read somewhere, "What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of someone who can't afford an education?"
My mind is a mess. I don't really know what I'm thinking nor how to say it.
*SMU interview starts here* *Road to SMU interview starts here*
So I was scheduled for faculty of social sciences interview on 11th of April. I did a bit of research prior and all I read was individual interviews with a very casual setting where they asked about mundane things like what are your hobbies, what do you do in your free time etc to get to know you better. It was two interviewers to one interviewee.
So I happily went for the interview without preparing anything and it turns out, oh no, I was in a group interview of 5 interviewees to 2 interviewers. It was a very bad day for me. From the start, I was running late because I do not have a punctual bone in my body. Then Google Maps lied to me and said that it was a 7 mins walk to SMU from City Hall MRT. I made an unconscious left turn when I was supposed to turn right because of road obstruction, so I ended up walking in the opposite direction. The SMU people had to call me 3 times to direct me and they didn't know where the hell I was either. Such a bad day. And it was raining. I did not have an umbrella nor was there shelter. These kind of things only happen when it matters you know.
I spent another 10 mins loitering at the entrance of School of Social Sciences because I couldn't find the visitor's gate. *Ensues third phone call* I finally reach SMU School of Social Sciences an hour late.
(Take Circle Line MRT to Bras Basar. SMU is right outside the MRT station. There are two rows of gates beside an ice cream shop near Mr Bean. Walk towards the left row of electronic gates and the very left gate is the visitor gate.)
*SMU interview starts here*
When I finally showed up, they gave me my name tag and put me in a room with 8 other girls sitting around a cramped table, each reading an article and furiously writing (I was kinda intimidated at this point. Articles?? WRITING???) and told me to take a seat. I had to interrupt the girl beside me to ask what the heck was going on and she said that we had 20 mins to read the two article that they gave us which we are going to discuss later in the interview (whhaaaaattt??). They were all furiously writing small, neat, aligned words on the foolscap paper while I just started scribbling because I haven't written in so long and my handwriting... I'm so ashamed of it.
(They gave us two articles on poverty, one for Singapore establishing a poverty line, one against. 20 mins to read the articles, not allowed to bring the articles into the interview room where we then discussed about the articles. 5 interviewees to 2 interviewers, one a professor at SMU, the other a SMU alumni.)
And then they brought us to a waiting area (without refreshments, sadly) and split us up into two groups of 5 and 4 (one girl was absent). We chatted while we waited and that really helped to ease the tension we were all feeling. :)
No surprise, the first topic that came up was "how did you get lost??"
So when it was our turn, they brought us into a conference room where we seated opposite the interviewers, facing huge wall-to-floor windows where we could see people entering and leaving the elevator, which, honestly, was kinda distracting. I really liked the room though, because I like huge windows. It made the room seem bright and much bigger than it actually is.
The professor started talking first. She had a PhD in cultural rituals and was teaching Performance Arts. She talked about herself and the school and made a few jokes to help us feel comfortable because we were really tense. The alumni, male, was now working with the government to extend help to the people (sociology work, I imagine). We put our names tags on the table in front of us.. Which to me made the whole interview seem very formal.
The first question we discussed was "do you think Singapore should establish a poverty line?"
Some people said no, some people said yes. All of them had very logical reasons for their stand so there I was, thinking "how do they decide who to enroll then, if all of us are about the same standard?"
One girl in particular had a very convincing and well-thought answer. She said that she was working in close contact with family with financial needs, and that a poverty line would be unfair because they calculate income per capita of a family, not of the number of people reliant on the working individual. For example, a single mom only has two children, so income per capita is divided between 3 people which is in acceptable range. But in reality, she has to feed her children, her parents, and her in-laws (I think the husband passed or is incapable.. I forgot that part). 7 people were dependent on her one source of income, but she could not apply for financial aid.
I forgot what the other 3 people said (also very logical reasons, just not that impactful)...
I said that yes, a poverty line should be established but it should not be an ultimatum because there is no certain, 100% foolproof way to measure poverty, like the girl above mentioned pointed out. However, a lot of resources, manpower and time is needed to cater to and calculate each household's poverty standard, and even more is required to extend modified help, so a poverty line should be in place as a filter to induce faster action. With a poverty line, the government can first extend help to those below the poverty line and then slowly cater the extended help. (Blah blah... Basically having a poverty line saves time, but said in a more sophisticated way *smirks* haha.)
And then they asked a few more questions and asked if we had any questions to ask them. There were quite a number of awkward silences as we were thinking of what to say but the professor managed to fill them up. The interview was kept very casual, so don't be afraid to laugh and joke to relax. Show them who you are and make them like you.
We said our kinda awkward goodbyes and left. The end of the interview.
Afterwards I talked a bit to the current student in charge of the interviews and I found out that we are graded upon 20 marks for our interview.. Nobody knows what they were looking out for to grade us. If you get above 16, you are guaranteed a spot in SMU. Of course, you won't ever know your score.
They sent me my admission email 4 days later on the 15th. (YAY~) I must've done something right that day. xD
(I still don't know where to go. NUS accepted me into Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences too. I have not heard anything from NTU. I have to accept an offer by 2 June, but that's a long time later... Supposedly. ;D )
I am not doing anything with my life right now. I really just stay at home all day and do nothing.
Sooo I officially turned 19 yesterday~ Yay growing old~
After 19 birthdays the specialness of a birthday just wears off... I still enjoy the cakes though~
Alright. So now I am still in the process of choosing a university to go to. Thank God I am eligible for local uni. I really don't have the financial means to go overseas or private universities. Gonna have to take up loans just to go local u. ):
Why's education so expensive. Isn't learning new stuff beneficial to everyone? Like really, the student benefits by learning new stuff and securing a stable income, the family benefits (pride, stable income etc), society benefits (educated individuals do behave more rationally, plus literacy rates increase and who knows, the student might find a cure for cancer), the government benefits (pride, cure for cancer, improvement of standard of living of the country...)...
So why they make education so damn expensive when everyone benefits??
Like I read somewhere, "What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of someone who can't afford an education?"
My mind is a mess. I don't really know what I'm thinking nor how to say it.
So I was scheduled for faculty of social sciences interview on 11th of April. I did a bit of research prior and all I read was individual interviews with a very casual setting where they asked about mundane things like what are your hobbies, what do you do in your free time etc to get to know you better. It was two interviewers to one interviewee.
So I happily went for the interview without preparing anything and it turns out, oh no, I was in a group interview of 5 interviewees to 2 interviewers. It was a very bad day for me. From the start, I was running late because I do not have a punctual bone in my body. Then Google Maps lied to me and said that it was a 7 mins walk to SMU from City Hall MRT. I made an unconscious left turn when I was supposed to turn right because of road obstruction, so I ended up walking in the opposite direction. The SMU people had to call me 3 times to direct me and they didn't know where the hell I was either. Such a bad day. And it was raining. I did not have an umbrella nor was there shelter. These kind of things only happen when it matters you know.
I spent another 10 mins loitering at the entrance of School of Social Sciences because I couldn't find the visitor's gate. *Ensues third phone call* I finally reach SMU School of Social Sciences an hour late.
(Take Circle Line MRT to Bras Basar. SMU is right outside the MRT station. There are two rows of gates beside an ice cream shop near Mr Bean. Walk towards the left row of electronic gates and the very left gate is the visitor gate.)
*SMU interview starts here*
When I finally showed up, they gave me my name tag and put me in a room with 8 other girls sitting around a cramped table, each reading an article and furiously writing (I was kinda intimidated at this point. Articles?? WRITING???) and told me to take a seat. I had to interrupt the girl beside me to ask what the heck was going on and she said that we had 20 mins to read the two article that they gave us which we are going to discuss later in the interview (whhaaaaattt??). They were all furiously writing small, neat, aligned words on the foolscap paper while I just started scribbling because I haven't written in so long and my handwriting... I'm so ashamed of it.
One of the pages of my scribblings
(They gave us two articles on poverty, one for Singapore establishing a poverty line, one against. 20 mins to read the articles, not allowed to bring the articles into the interview room where we then discussed about the articles. 5 interviewees to 2 interviewers, one a professor at SMU, the other a SMU alumni.)
And then they brought us to a waiting area (without refreshments, sadly) and split us up into two groups of 5 and 4 (one girl was absent). We chatted while we waited and that really helped to ease the tension we were all feeling. :)
No surprise, the first topic that came up was "how did you get lost??"
So when it was our turn, they brought us into a conference room where we seated opposite the interviewers, facing huge wall-to-floor windows where we could see people entering and leaving the elevator, which, honestly, was kinda distracting. I really liked the room though, because I like huge windows. It made the room seem bright and much bigger than it actually is.
The professor started talking first. She had a PhD in cultural rituals and was teaching Performance Arts. She talked about herself and the school and made a few jokes to help us feel comfortable because we were really tense. The alumni, male, was now working with the government to extend help to the people (sociology work, I imagine). We put our names tags on the table in front of us.. Which to me made the whole interview seem very formal.
How it feels like after you put the name tag:
In reality:
The first question we discussed was "do you think Singapore should establish a poverty line?"
Some people said no, some people said yes. All of them had very logical reasons for their stand so there I was, thinking "how do they decide who to enroll then, if all of us are about the same standard?"
One girl in particular had a very convincing and well-thought answer. She said that she was working in close contact with family with financial needs, and that a poverty line would be unfair because they calculate income per capita of a family, not of the number of people reliant on the working individual. For example, a single mom only has two children, so income per capita is divided between 3 people which is in acceptable range. But in reality, she has to feed her children, her parents, and her in-laws (I think the husband passed or is incapable.. I forgot that part). 7 people were dependent on her one source of income, but she could not apply for financial aid.
I forgot what the other 3 people said (also very logical reasons, just not that impactful)...
I said that yes, a poverty line should be established but it should not be an ultimatum because there is no certain, 100% foolproof way to measure poverty, like the girl above mentioned pointed out. However, a lot of resources, manpower and time is needed to cater to and calculate each household's poverty standard, and even more is required to extend modified help, so a poverty line should be in place as a filter to induce faster action. With a poverty line, the government can first extend help to those below the poverty line and then slowly cater the extended help. (Blah blah... Basically having a poverty line saves time, but said in a more sophisticated way *smirks* haha.)
And then they asked a few more questions and asked if we had any questions to ask them. There were quite a number of awkward silences as we were thinking of what to say but the professor managed to fill them up. The interview was kept very casual, so don't be afraid to laugh and joke to relax. Show them who you are and make them like you.
We said our kinda awkward goodbyes and left. The end of the interview.
Afterwards I talked a bit to the current student in charge of the interviews and I found out that we are graded upon 20 marks for our interview.. Nobody knows what they were looking out for to grade us. If you get above 16, you are guaranteed a spot in SMU. Of course, you won't ever know your score.
They sent me my admission email 4 days later on the 15th. (YAY~) I must've done something right that day. xD
(I still don't know where to go. NUS accepted me into Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences too. I have not heard anything from NTU. I have to accept an offer by 2 June, but that's a long time later... Supposedly. ;D )
Sunday, March 30, 2014
My Weird Obsession
I just love this so much it doesn't even make any sense.
I'm a weeks away from 19 and I'm listening to this. Oh well.
Enjoy fellow young-at-heart-ers!
I'm a weeks away from 19 and I'm listening to this. Oh well.
Enjoy fellow young-at-heart-ers!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Batam Trip
I don't think I can make it in time for the university application deadline. I am so dead. I just mailed my application today and the earliest they'll get it is Monday and Tuesday is the deadline so I don't think I'll have time to send any more data if there was anything missing. Fingers crossed.
Anyway. I went on a 5-day mission trip to Batam, Indonesia with 12 other people from 19 Mar to 23 Mar. There were the heck a lot of problems, but it was still overall very enriching.
Let me rant first.
There was a major communication issue right from the start. COGS Batam was supposed to host us and provide us with details and help us arrange our program, but my group's Pastor (let's call him LB for Little Brother since he seems like our little brother even though he's 10 years older... I gave him some Nips [cheap M&M] and he looked so happy I just had to give him the rest...) kept trying and trying to contact COGS Batam Pastor (let's call him PC) but he didn't reply until super late. There were two groups going on mission trip, one to Batam (my group) and one to Changmai, Thailand. The Changmai people got their details and programme very early and had ample time to prepare dance, songs etc while us Batam people only got our info A WEEK BEFORE THE ACTUAL TRIP. Luckily there wasn't as much for us to do, or else we wouldn't have made it in time. Irresponsible much, PC? He didn't even contact LB to explain why he was so late with the info.
My group prepared one Noah skit, 3 Bahasa songs, 2 Mandarin songs, a couple of action English songs and a handful of games. It's a good thing we prepared very flexible programmes too (the games and songs don't require many props), because NOTHING in our mission trip schedule went according to what PC told us. We had to improvise throughout the trip. I'm just thankful that we didn't fail miserably.
We contacted mostly kids, and they really enjoyed the Noah skit (we made cardboard animal masks) and the action songs~ They were so cute.
We went to a day activity place in one of the slums, 2 orphanages, visited two homes, went to St. Andrew's school in Batam (kindergarten and primary) and attended 2 Bahasa services and one Mandarin service.
Most of the people we visited are Christians, so we could be straightforward with our Christian programmes and our interaction was two-way. The children in the orphanages sang and prayed for us and it was just one of the most powerful experiences of my life, really. Having children pray is very different from having adults pray, because children are pure souls that are especially welcomed by God. (':
We actually had a lot of free time (we spend at least 4 hours everyday just loitering around) due to bad scheduling so I just felt like we could have done much more. I mean, if we were going to travel all the way to Batam already (1 hour ferry ride from Singapore, 2 hours waiting time), might as well do as much as you can. I'm the all-or-nothing type.
I wanna go back there soon~
Everything there is cheap because we stayed in COGS (Church of Good Shepard) and most some hotel. The clothes are super cheap, the food is cheap and good, and the chilli there is so awesome I can't even-
Anyway. I went on a 5-day mission trip to Batam, Indonesia with 12 other people from 19 Mar to 23 Mar. There were the heck a lot of problems, but it was still overall very enriching.
Let me rant first.
There was a major communication issue right from the start. COGS Batam was supposed to host us and provide us with details and help us arrange our program, but my group's Pastor (let's call him LB for Little Brother since he seems like our little brother even though he's 10 years older... I gave him some Nips [cheap M&M] and he looked so happy I just had to give him the rest...) kept trying and trying to contact COGS Batam Pastor (let's call him PC) but he didn't reply until super late. There were two groups going on mission trip, one to Batam (my group) and one to Changmai, Thailand. The Changmai people got their details and programme very early and had ample time to prepare dance, songs etc while us Batam people only got our info A WEEK BEFORE THE ACTUAL TRIP. Luckily there wasn't as much for us to do, or else we wouldn't have made it in time. Irresponsible much, PC? He didn't even contact LB to explain why he was so late with the info.
My group prepared one Noah skit, 3 Bahasa songs, 2 Mandarin songs, a couple of action English songs and a handful of games. It's a good thing we prepared very flexible programmes too (the games and songs don't require many props), because NOTHING in our mission trip schedule went according to what PC told us. We had to improvise throughout the trip. I'm just thankful that we didn't fail miserably.
We contacted mostly kids, and they really enjoyed the Noah skit (we made cardboard animal masks) and the action songs~ They were so cute.
We went to a day activity place in one of the slums, 2 orphanages, visited two homes, went to St. Andrew's school in Batam (kindergarten and primary) and attended 2 Bahasa services and one Mandarin service.
I think this is the slum (can't remember :/)
Inside the activity room in the slum, singing! So cute.
Noah's ark and the animals
Singing with actions at the orphanage~
"I love you Jesus, deep down in my heart~
Talk about deep, deep, down, down,
deep down in my heart~"
"I love you Jesus, deep down in my heart~
Talk about deep, deep, down, down,
deep down in my heart~"
Performing for us!
Them children freestylin'
Them children freestylin'
The teens beatboxing
We watching
That magical moment when they sang and prayed for us!
Building a "swimming pool" at St. Andrew's School!
Sorting a couple of hundred goodie bags for the children
St. Andrew's kindergarten kids performing for us! So freaking cute I can't-
Gaming: Untangle (aka Spider Web)
We actually had a lot of free time (we spend at least 4 hours everyday just loitering around) due to bad scheduling so I just felt like we could have done much more. I mean, if we were going to travel all the way to Batam already (1 hour ferry ride from Singapore, 2 hours waiting time), might as well do as much as you can. I'm the all-or-nothing type.
How we spend our free time: writing out the lyrics for the next day's programme and jamming
Mostly jamming.
I wanna go back there soon~
Everything there is cheap because we stayed in COGS (Church of Good Shepard) and most some hotel. The clothes are super cheap, the food is cheap and good, and the chilli there is so awesome I can't even-
Group photo after a home visitation! (Yes I'm inside)
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