This blog is all about me, and anything about me. Be prepare to be loaded with lots of food, movies, music, grumbles and even some foul language. This is the place for anyone who knows me, even on the most superficial level. Enjoy and hope you know me better each day. (please adjust your display setting to Unicode)
Meeting People
Once again, I volunteer myself for those chances of interacting with exchange student from other part of the world.
This time, as 'buddies' to them, providing some guidiance as to adapting life in NTU. The students assigned to me includes 2 Dutch guys (not interested... haha). 1 Mexican gal (seen the photo, really not bad, even at sai lou's standard), and 2 Hong Kong gals.
The western students are quite friendly, they add you on MSN, talk to you a bit about the plan of what to do upon arrival, etc, etc. Whether they truely apreciate, I don't really care. At least they having to courtesy to reply, I feel useful and contented on my side.
But I do have my down time for this time also.
While one of the Hong Kong gal established contact with me, and I have been bringing her, and her friend, whose buddy did not contacted him, around NTU. When the guy need to go down to Orchard for X-ray for the medical check up for his Student Pass in Singapore, I ended up taking the 2 for a tour at Orchard Road, the whole stretch. They are quite happy with my plan, and having me able tot communicate with them in their mother tongue, they are more than delighted.
Unfortunately, the other gal, she sinply thinks I'm tranparent or what. Having arrived on theday I received the list, I quickly tried to contact her e-mail. When I find out she did not collect her key for her hostel, I start to worry for her safety. It was only later then I found out that she is staying with her relative here, and they had taken care of everything for her.
To make it worse, when I ask for some update on her situation of the admin stuff in school, the very staff from International Service Centre, whom had given us the task, allowing us to contact the exchange students, gave me a rather shattering comment: you are only their buddies when orientation starts tommorrow.
From the negative reaction from the student, I feel that it's at least courteous for someone to reply a mail that offer you help, espcially when you will be entering a foreign land. Relatives may be usefulm, but it definately will not be as helpful as someone who eat, sleep and study at NTU yah? Even if those relatives are staff of NTU, are you sure you will know better than the students that have gone thru all those things day by day?
As for the staff at ISC, I feel like being slapped by my own hand. Yes, the foreign student can take care of themselves, some how. They have released us the info of the students, and had given us the go-ahead to contact them. When we try to show the students concern, in some way we are doing NTU a favour by playing a competant host, promoting NTU's image. Here I trying to be concern, and you give me some comment like this, what the fucking you people are thinking of us student volunteer? Fucking cheap labour? Just because we study here doesn't fucking mean we can be fuck around by people like you loh.
Enough rant for today...
Tommorrow will be the orientation for the 1st batch, and next day, I will be bringing the western groups for their make up orientaion on school. No matter how the final outcome will be, I will only say that I have put in my best, and will not care about the outcome.
What is more important, is to meet people.
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/28/2005 10:53:00 pm
Proof of Life
This fall's Japanese drama in Japan is really full of great dramas (sorry for bad pun...).
One of the most tear jerking is 1 Rittoru no Namida (1 Litre of Tears), an adaptation of a published diary of an chronicle diseased, Aya, whom day by day lost her body functions. The most cruel of all, is that she will be maintaining her brain function until her very last breath.
In the gruelling period of 5 years, from a bright and cheery, basketball playing secondary school girl, she is reduced to a total dependent, not even able to hold a normal pen properly, speaking in gibbrish, and in the end, only to convey her mind by pointing to hiragana on a board.
However, before the end, each day after the disease surfaced, she keep a diary of her everyday feeling. She do so in order to make it a attempt to make the best out of her each passing days, all in the name of ikite, to live on.
Her diary was also published in a monthly publication for people with chronicle disease, and touch the hearts of many who share the same woe. In doing so, she find a new meaning of the remaining days of her life, doing all that she could to live on, recording every thoughts she had in the diary.
I feel for this story, cause not long ago, I was finding solace in life by writing things in life on this blog.
However, mine is so punny as compared to the heroin in the drama. My post during that time, often rants of the so-called woes in life back then, is really some of the most useless bytes floating around the Internet.
But true enough, it is through these rants and sometime interesting event in life that I gave me the spur to live on each day.
Though my blog will not be of any worth in the years to come, like the diary, it is my proof of life.
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/23/2005 03:10:00 pm
Lost X Secret
Was watching TV travel program, and it was talking about eating cobra in Vietnam.
Eatting snake, literally, is something I had done, with the last time about 7 years ago, when lou ma zi's dad is still capable of finding the snakes, and still able to handle the chef knife to slice up all the ingredients, that is really more than 5 different types of snake.
This is one lost delicacy my family will not be able to savour again. First, finding the snakes is close to impossible nowadays. Secondly, no one in the family had inherited the excellent skill with chef knife, especially so after lou ma zi's dai zi (Hokkein: big problem). Thirdly, to savour this winter delicacy in sunny Singapore, get ready to lose some sleep, or nose bleed like you have never before.
I can tell you better, after eating bats, squirrel, etc in East Malaysia some years ago...
Then, following that food/travel program, a features on Disney Sea in Tokyo.
It's the only Disney theme park I will be motivated to go. Why?
Even the sweeper can perform stunts when sweeping up a cigarette butt.
And there's some secrets behind the Far East counterpart that you will never see in the Western Disneylands.
All dishes are served with Japanese staple: rice; All rides in the theme park will NOT get you wet, even if it is DisneySEA; You can hold a wedding ceremony at the theme park itself, with maxumum numbers of couple of 15 per day.
There's something out there in the east waiting for me to discover.
But before that, some hard, cold money waiting for me to earn.
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/19/2005 10:00:00 pm
Always Something New
One thing I can say I really have fun this holiday, is going down to St Francis Methodist School twice in a fortnight, and mingle with two different group of Japanese students from Nigata.
Where is Nigata? It's north of Tokyo. It's also the place that was most badly hit during an earthquake last year. But it is also the prime Japanese rice producer, also the best. How good? Let say it's 5 times the price of normal Thai rice.
Ok, back to the girls. Yah, most of them are girls. hehe... But trust me, they ain't as pretty as those that made it to the magazines or movies...
The first group had a workshop on Japanese food culture. Though I know a lot, there's still things that I still had yet to know or tried. And through this time, I finally overcome my curiuosity, or rather fear of natto.
What's is so scary about that? Let say it's fremented beans that linger on your chopstick forever if you don't wash it clean... But frankly speaking, eatting it on its own is really too much, but I think it will be quite good if there's some Japanese rice to go along with it.
Or should I say, anything goes with good Nigata rice...
For this week, or rather today, I am attached to a workshop on music and entertainment. The students perform a short dance segment and played a Japanese version of a childhood game I play.
Besides that, thanks to handphones and their added features nowadays, it always a good tool to start any conversation.
And also, Japan's technology is so localised. They are always using something they use only.
When the girls were going to perform their dance, they need the music. However, they brought a MD without bringing the player. When I asked for help from St Francis's own student helper, he gave me this 'who would MD' look when I asked him for a MD player. In the ended, after running up and down the 5 storey high school, he managed to find 1, which happen to belong to another Japanese student.
When the other part of the world using cassette, the Japanese use MD; when the world uses CD-R, some of these Japanese still uses MD...
There's just gonna be something new everytime you meet Japanese students coming to Singapore.
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/15/2005 08:23:00 pm
You Pay for What You Get
A bell pepper. One from NTUC, one from Isetan. What's the different.
A great deal.
The NTUC's is bitter to the mouth, even when it is cooked in permesan cheese and home-made ketchup.
The Isetan's is sweet, not a tint of bitter. It's good enough simply fried with beansprout and light seasoning.
And of course, the Isetan bell pepper costed about 50% more than the NTUC's.
The is the law of universe, you pay for the quality, and it's nothing special.
The problem is, when your family is so accustommed to this kind of high quality, how are my tastebuds going to adjust themselves to the normal standard when I have to earn my own living, and can no more afford such luxury?
I better earn some good money, or I will lead a pitiful life of surviving on NTUC food for the rest of my life...
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/12/2005 07:57:00 pm
Value It
I was having a fever for the past few days. Why? 'cos I stupidly not go see the doctor when the first syptome of flu occur.
And this happened right after my 24th birthday.
It also meant that I missed the KTV outting of my freshies' , which is also a chance to meet someone special, and on the next day, to catch up with my friends in school which we had a little misunderstanding during the previous semester.
I feeling like saying to myself: What the fuck are you doing? You are fucking 24 and you can't take care of yourself?
Now that I had paid the price, I swear that I will strife hard in preventing such flop from entering my life.
Once is enough, cause we only live a day once.
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/07/2005 11:45:00 pm
24
This week marks the 1st week of holiday.
Watched a documentary on Winston Churchhill, realising that he was actaully mentally unstable during his primership, and hence doing abnormal things such as not surrendering to Germany during WWII. It really takes a mad man to fight another mad cap.
Did something of great importance: going for my Individual Physical Proficiency Test, which I failed it, and I don't really care also. I am in the university, and the army can't touch me... Quite childish to think this way.
Especially, in 2 days times, my 24th birthday.
I had been commented about my slight imporvement in terms of maturity, but yet, in terms of interpersonal relationship, I still have to work hard on it.
One example is converstation with others, which I have the tendency to end up talking about myself, rather than listening to others. I had improved slightly only when I have online conversation, which actually allows me to think a bit first.
And this is rather hindering when dealing with opposite sex.
This is another problem I have till 24th years old. I am still single, and had zero exprience in a realtionship. But, I am telling myself not to rush things, as it could only make matter worse.
Anyway, this year celebration is going to be just among my family. However, I still can't think of a place to have a nice dinner at.
Any suggestion? And no Swensen's please... I don't think I wanna do a review of how lousy the food there is. Tint my blog...
// sprinkled by wing_0 @ 12/01/2005 01:14:00 pm