Everything is Over!!

Finally... I've survived through the past two weeks. Had very little sleep everyday. Living on Redbull and coffee diet most of the time. Plus all those addicitive Red Rock Deli Chips. Now i'm coming back and i've planned so much stuff to do. Hopefully, everything goes as planned.

Can't wait to see all my friends back in SG.

2 More Freakin' Weeks

Another 2 weeks...

Just endure another 2 weeks...

Another 2 weeks and everything will be fine and dandy...

2 weeks... 2 weeks...

Everything will be done and gone after 2 weeks...

I'm so gonna destroy myself in this 2 weeks...

The First Challenge

Tomorrow will be my first paper of this month.

Hopefully everything goes as well as i have planned or goes according to what i have studied.

No matter what, i'm not going to hurt my mood on Friday nite for TGIF happy hour!! Haha...

The Exam Hurdle

Every student will go through hurdles while they are pursuing their education. Be it a Diploma or degree, there are bound to be hurdles to jump over. Each hurdle is like a milestone in your quest for better knowledge, a step closer to achieving your dream.

And it is this hurdle that marks the end of a section of that quest, that race. The exam hurdle. The exams can be something of a jitter to some people while it can be a written vomit of memorised knowledge. I've seen people written page after page in an exam. And i ask myself, why do i not do the same as them? Why not memorise and vomit the knowledge out.

It dawned on me that i could not do that. I'm the kind where i would like to understand the concepts and apply it in my own context. I hate memorising, that's why i'm very bad at it. But sometimes when it comes to the exams, there are bound to be stuff where you have to memorise. It is unevitable. That is when i have to succumb to the pressures of the exam and push myself to complete this part of the quest. My quest for gold where knowledge is gold.

Arghz... Whats wrong with me?!?!

Stuff doesn't seem to be working towards my favour. All started two weeks ago when together with my friends, are not allowed to enter the club where it was retro night. My kind of music!! After that, i had a bad hair cut which was quite a regret for me. Next time i heading to a more renowned hairdresser.

The next day i had a bad injury on my right calf. The calf was swollen very badly and i thought it was just bruising so i stopped running or playing soccer. Until about four nights go, i realise that there are purple patches on the sides of my ankles. Slightly worried, i made an appointment with the school doctor The doctor check my calf and told me that there is internal bleeding that caused the purple patches at the ankle area. He is unsure if there is a crack to my bone but he arranged an x-ray to make sure. His advise to me is not to participate in any sports at the moment... Which means no soccer games or marathon training for me.

Lastly, i just finished my assignment today. I started yesterday and finished just two hours before the submission closing. So i packed up and do some last min grocery shopping. Walked back home with 1.5kg of chicken meat and 2L of orange juice which is quite a tiring walk home. As i reach home, i unpack my bag, i realise i left my power cord in school!! Arghz!!! A friend of mine is heading back to school to see if the power cord is still there. Hopefully he can get the cord for me to save me from losing A$120 power cord.

Singapore Day

It was a day that Singapore was located in Melbourne for one day. That was one day that i felt i was kinda back home, eating my favourite food with friends. Even the servers or the food stall helpers are speaking Singlish, which help made the event feeling more Singaporean. Another plus point that this was definitely Singapore Day meant for Singaporeans, THE FOOD WAS FREE!!!

The menu for food was amazing! We had chilli crab, hokkien mee, char kway teow, chicken rice, nasi lemak, lasksa, prata, etc. Plenty of food that i love. I was like a pig! The throng of people there... It was frantic, at one point i had to queue up almost an hour for a small plate of chilli crab. Though some of the foods weren't very tasty but they still tasted like what they are. Singapore artistes came down to perform while we had our food. We were entertained by Phua Chu Kang, Hady Mirza (i think thats how it's spelt), Electrico and Dick Lee. As usual, Singaporeans tend to complain but it was more on the lack of tables and chairs but it was nice and it felt like having pinics.

My personal thoughts of this event while i was enjoying my food, looking at the number of Singaporeans here and the size of the event, it bring me back how much i love my country. Which country would bring people from almost all walks of life, fly almost six hours to a foreign city for a week and entertain or cook for people there? Not only that, the size of our country to make such an event possible is even more amazing. I am thankful for the people who came down to make that event successful. Also... I am proud to show my friends that Singapore is able to make such an event possible, let them try out the Singapore food and the culture.

The MOST Memorable Night, EVER!

The night started last night. The plan was to meet with five other soccer mates and go for a retro clubbing party in the city. I bough the tickets in advance and decided to collect the tickets when i meet the organiser. The catch was priority entry before 10.30pm. One of the mates was late and we ended up setting off late. It was quite a walk from the train station to the clubbing area. So after 15 minutes of walking, i called up my friend when i didn't see her outside the club. That was when we are 15 minutes earlier than the priority cut off timing. She came slightly past 10.45pm which resulted us having to queue up for entry.

So we took our tickets and started queuing up. We were pretty hyped to enter the club as the theme was 80's music, mambo and retro. When it was near our time, the door bitch said there was a restriction. Entry from that point onwards should be a ratio of one girl and one guy. That created a serious problem for us, we are six guys and no girls. My friend entered the club without even telling us or helping us for entry. I don't expect her to bring us in but i told her if we do not enter the club, i demand a full refund. She agreed to it without any complains since she was late. After queuing and hunting for girls the next 90 minutes, we decided to leave the club and go somewhere else. It was our first let down of the night.

Si we went to the city in search of another place to sit and have a drink. We can't think of any other place so we went to one that we know. When we arrived there, it was almost closing time. We were pretty desperate so we just entered a club that was nearby. It was another mistake. The club was empty, the dancefloor had so much space, you can actually move around easily with no resistance. The music was not bad until it went from bad to worse. It started with house, followed by R&B than it was raggae than it went back to raggae again. The music change was 10-15 minutes in a period. I was there for 45 minutes and i was suffering. Our second let down of the night.

In the end, we decided to go to our final resort, to a place in Chinatown where a shop with LAN capabilities and PS2 for play. Interesting concept but the place is badly maintained. The computers are bad and the place is not cleaned properly. It was quite an uplift for the events that happened before. Plus most of us had not played PS2 Winning Eleven for awhile and that felt pretty good. We enjoyed ourselves and created lots of crazy goals. Something we didn't expect for the night but it was at least something to curb our sadness.

Just before we head back home, we went to a nearby Macdonald's for breakfast. At the end of our meal, a guy walked in and started greeting us in Mandarin. He came over to us, he touched our head and said, 'We are the living children of the living God.' Than he blessed us by kissing our head. I was one of the lucky ones... What a way to end the night of events...

This has to go down as one of the worst night ever.

A380 Business Class Flight!! Woot~~

I call back home just to find out how is my family doing and about the trip to Sydney with the Carlsberg HQ staff. My mom updated me that we will be taking the A380, business class.

The initial plan was me meeting them in Sydney. But with the current plan that they are taking the business class seats in the A380 from SG to Sydney. Plan has changed! I have decided to go back early so that i can join my mom to try the A380 plus business class!

Hehe....

Beijing Paralympics

I've been working on my assignment for the past week. So while doing, i like to have the TV on or music playing so it does not sound very silent in my room. Sometimes the telly does not have much to see or nothing nice to watch. So i just have it on while i concentrate on my work.

Once awhile i will see what is it that im tuning to. Recently the Beijing Paralympics is on. Not live coverage but recorded telecast of the games. I was appalled at how strong the paralympians are. How mentally and physically strong. A man from Australia ran 200m at 20 seconds to break the world record. His diability? Cerebal palsy. I doubt i can do 20 seconds for 200m. Another one was this lady who was on the speeder wheelchair (i don't know what its called), she broke three world records in a single day. Each event is only 60 minutes difference. Amazing... They are seriously stronger. I am seriously amazed at what i've seen.

Guess this is what it means by if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.

Lonely Nights

I have been spending lots of time with my assignments for the past few nights. Rushing them to meet the deadline given by my lecturer. I guess it is part of my life as a uni student. My friend has given me this to think about, lonely nights with only my assignments to accompany me. I wonder... After my life as a undergrad student, what lies ahead of me. Will i be working so badly that i have only work to accompany me at night? Or i have enough social lifestyle to prevent lonely nights from ever happening again. Guess this is something i won't know.

Happy Father's Day

As a young boy, i have never quite appreciate Father's Day as much as Mother's Day. I do not know why... I have always looked up to my big man but i have never celebrated Father's Day. Even if it is, its just a simple dinner like any other weekend. This time... The feeling is rather intrigue. I was planning to call him near the evening time of the day. In the end, he called me in the mid-noon.

We chatted a little bit over the phone. He asked me about my school work, my lifestyle and my overall well-being. As usual, its always the good stuff. Half-truths here and there to make it rosy for him to hear. Do not wish him to worry about me when he has so much to worry about already.

At the ending of our conversation, he asked when will i be going back home. I could not give him a definite answer as the exam timetable has yet to be released. He told me that the Carlsberg HQ is having the incentive trip this year to Sydney. They will be heading there around mid-november. The plan is simple... I fly domestically to Sydney to join my Mom in the trip and then fly back together with her. That way i can save on the trip back to home. Then the flight back here next year will be an open-return flight. Well... It's something that i have not expected...

You win some, you lose some...

We played our most feared game last night. It was against the champions of the league last season. They were really good. The passing was good, the central midfielders were amazing. The defenders did a great job preventing all sorts of attacks against their goal front.

We played our best. We put in our best players and played with all our heart. I didn't get to play as coach decided to put in all the good players. The plan was to hold them up as long as possible and play counter attacking. We did manage to complete what we planned but they played really well. In the end, we lost 3-0 to them. Even though it was a loss, they said we gave them the most enjoyable game. We gave them a hard game and they seriously fought for the win. Guess losing by three is much better than losing 10. Hehe...

Nike Human Race and First Day of Spring

Today was the day. 25 countries ran on this day. A total of 1 million participants. I'm one of them. One of contributors to his world record event.

It was a chilly morning when i woke up. It rained pretty heavily during the early hours of the morning. I can hear the clashing of the raindrops on my windows before i drift off to sleep. I changed into my gear and left home with lots of excitement and hope. The rained had stop before i dropped of the station near the starting point. While walking there, you can see many others wearing the same. They too share the same feeling as i do. Once im there, i checked in my bag and proceeded to the starting point.

The temperature was getting better. It was definitely not as cold as my training days. It is the last day of winter anyway. So as i stepped into the back of the crowd where everybody waited for the gun to fire off. Some final stretches and the race started. The running course took us round the botanical gardens, into the city, off to another garden and back to the botanical gardens. It felt like i'm running back home when the marathons are usually held in the city limits.

After 55mins, i've arrived at the finishing line. Its been awhile since i've ran that fast and that long. The fastest guy in Melbourne was 32mins, so im aiming to at least hit 45mins for my next 10km run. The ultimate goal is still the 42km marathon at the end of the year. I will look forward to seeing my friends back in Singapore where we complete the marathon together.

Oh... Did i mention that tomorrow will be the first day of Spring? Okie. Tomorrow will be the first day of Spring. NO MORE BONE CHILLING DAYS!!

I do not comprehend...

I do not comprehend how life works. You tend to look one side and the other side evolves or change without you knowing it. When you turn back to look at it, it just makes you feel uneasy, a tinge of unfamiliarity and uncertainty. That's why i do not question how life works, i just accept it and move along with the flow.

I do not comprehend how fate works. It binds time and events together. Some people believe in it, some people do not. I'm one of the latter, always thinking that fate is just another word. Another word people used to simply summarise. That's why i do not question how fate works, i just accept it and move along with the flow.

I do not comprehend how luck works. From life and death issues to items of monetary value. We look at how lucky or unlucky we are in life and compare with each other. Sometimes we blame ourselves for being unlucky, sometimes we blame objects or even loved ones. That's why i do not question how luck works. If it works in favour for me, i appreciate it. If not, i'll just accept it and move along with the flow.

I do not comprehend how love works. It is something that couples share. It is something that all living things share. We love not because we have to, because we want to. We want to because we have a feeling that cannot be described. It cannot be described because it is something we are unable to explain. That's why i do not question how love works. I just accept it and put in as much effort into it as i can.

My First Varsity Goal

Match just ended three hours ago. The score, 5-3. My name is included in the score sheet. Haha... It's been awhile since that feeling has been felt. The opposition team wasn't really good so coach didn't put in the first team players in to play. The only ones are the goalkeeper(which was substituted in with 20mins to play), the captain of the team and two central defenders.

So i manage to play the entire match. We dominated the game most of the time and it was 3-0 during half-time. We were too confident and allowed 2 easy goals for them. Captain wasn't really happy with that and he made a very bad tackle in the box which resulted in a penalty. So they pulled to tied. When the kick off started, i was free on the right. I guess nobody wants to mark this small little asian kid. Hehe... So i was picked out and i took a crack shot at the goal. It was fantastic, just outside the penalty box and it went into the net. The feeling was fantastic. 4-3 now.

Nearing the ending of the game, i was part of the play that lead to a fantastic goal. I got the ball at my half of the field and started sprinting up field. Passed to the centre and it was pushed up to the strikers. The strikers played perfect one-two and they put the ball behind the line. An amazing goal but the strikers.

No matter what, it is still a match with a lack lustre team. No point celebrating like it is the finals. Two weeks time we will be facing our toughest opponents, champions for last year's tournement. Hopefully we won't be muscled or out-classed, but im sure we will put in our best effort to secure at least a point.

National Day Rally Speech

I missed out on the National Day Rally Speech due to my current location in Australia and the Olympic games in Beijing where our Singapore women's peddlers contest with China for the gold medals. No matter, i went online to read the transcript of our Prime Minister's speech today.

When i was young, i have never liked to listen to what our PM has to say. I would often run off to play games, watch movie or even read a book. It is until i was forced to listen to one of the speech and write a reflection about the speech in secondary school days. That speech was given by the previous PM, MM Goh. I have to say his speech changed way of thinking about Singapore and about my future. About what i want to do and what i can achieve with the help of the government. The next day, i started writing my reflections. It was suppose to be a 500 words essay but i submitted an essay that equates to four copies of the required word limit. My teacher said she was amazed at my reflections. But she warned me not to write that much the next time. Haha...

This time, i would not write that much about the speech. I have decided to keep my reflections to myself and remind myself of the goals i have been aiming for. It took me about one hour to complete reading the transcript. The only part that will drill deep inside me is this ending conclusion to the speech.


Ours is an improbable nation. We are a small country in an uncertain world, we always worry about the future, we never take anything for granted. Many people have put heart and soul into building what we have today. And through hard work and clear thinking, we've created something unique and something precious in Singapore, a home for all of us. Our forefathers have planted the trees which now provide the shade which we now enjoy. It's now our duty to plant trees and grow them, trees which will give hope and strength to a new generation. And you should do this not because you happen to be born here or because you happen to hold a red passport but because you believe in this mission, you believe in this ideal, you believe that Singapore is something special and worth fighting for. As Mr Rajaratnam said once, because "being Singaporean is not a matter of ancestry but of conviction and choice".


I know National Day has passed more than 9 days ago. But i have to say, being proud of my nationality is not just on that day itself, it is everyday of the year. Nothing comes closer than that...

Recent Events...

After that party on the 9th of August, there are a couple of events i would like to record down on this online journal of mine. With the start of the Olympics, i see myself as a track and field athlete. I've started on my 400m hurdles race and i've only jumped pass one hurdle... Well, hopefully the next hurdle would not be that difficult. The last hurdle before i finish the race is a huge one. That will require lots of skill and strength to overcome. With the support of friends, i should be able to clear the last one alot easier.

The landlord replaced my chair finally. After two weeks, he finally bought a new chair and its rather good. It's been awhile since i've sat on a good comfy computer chair. Hehe... The ones in school are good but i only get to sit on them for that tutorial class. Plus it is always the case that you want to get out of the class as soon as possible. Well... New chair is here and im sooo enjoying it. Haha...

Last night, i was in the city attending Jason Mraz concert. His concert was amazing. Even though we sat waaaay back at the last row of seats, it was still amazing!! He belted out a few of his famous hits and we sang along in certain songs. In between songs, he crack a few jokes which made his concert all so enjoyable. It ended around 11pm which was late and only reached home at 1am. Well... I do not mind attending another of his concert. He is really good at entertaining crowds.

The Patriot Inside Me

There are dates that i look forward to every year. No matter where i am, those dates are noted in whatever possible way. Dates such as the Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day, birthdays, etc. No doubt the important dates will increase as we progress in life but i always look forward to August 9th of every year. That is the day we celebrate our independence, our freedom and our home.

Since my arrival to Melbourne six months ago, i've wondered how would i get to see the National Day Parade(NDP). I've always looked forward to watching the NDP as it signifies how great our country is. How much our people love our country and how spectacular a small country can celebrate the independence together as one. My answer came from a close friend of mine who is the organiser of the NDP party in Melbourne city. It was the answer i was waiting so long.

On the very day itself, there was hundreds of Singaporeans there. I've met up with all my friends and we chatted while we had food and drinks. It was great to see my friends but the main highlight was to watch the NDP on a live feed. It was really cool to watch it in a foreign country. My friends and i had mini flags and we waved about while we sing some of the songs. In Singapore when they stood up to sing the National Anthem, we all stood up and started singing it too. I can see that no matter how far we are, we are true blood Singaporeans. Nothing could ever disrupt this loyalty and patriotism for a country so small yet so influential.

My best moment was the closing of the parade when we sing a medley of songs and end with a recital of the National Pledge and a last round of the National Anthem. I felt like i was back home, together with my family and friends. I realise that i belong back to Singapore. The patriot inside has awaken yet again.

It's Running Out!!

I running out of my moisturiser. If anybody can find it in or anywhere else, please let me know. I use the moisturiser from The Face Shop and its really good. Below is the photo of the product and the link of the product.

http://thefaceshopen.com/skin/detail_view.php?pCate1=5&pCate2=1&pCategory=138&number=1852

Dilemma

As if im not having one that has haunted me since the start of the year, im having another being piled up on me. If i have not made my commitments for my soccer and marathon participation, i would not have fallen into this dilemma.

I'm being encouraged to take over the presidency of the Singapore students club at my uni. It's not an easy job, as i see my friend, the current President, is struggling with school work and drowned in the club's work. I do not want to fall into the same position as him.

He has told me before that he hope i take over the position. If there is no successor, the club will have to close. That will be very sad to see this club being closed down due to no sucessor and my friend failing to finish his presidency as he has no sucessor.

Arghz... I need advice! And i need it fast!!