So many things to do, so little time. That’s basically been my life during the last 2 weeks, so I start week 3 by being 4 readings behind on my sociology module, and 2 tutorials behind. My only real achievement so far has been the completion of 1 math tutorial. 2 weeks to complete 1 lousy math tutorial! Sometimes, I just can’t help but feel that somewhere in the last 2 and a half years, I had lost half my brain. Seriously, who takes 1 whole hour just to complete 1 silly tutorial question? I’m probably gonna die in the exam hall during the mid terms and finals.
And then there are the sociology readings, where I can read the same line 10 times and not take in anything. Who knew sociology could be such a dry subject. But then again, Ranneth did say that the introduction to sociology is usually quite dry, and things will probably become… um… “more moist(?)” as the module progresses. The only thing I can do now is pray and hope his “prophecy” holds true as the semester unfolds.
And now, for the burning question: where did all that time go? First off – sleep. I’ve never been more in love with my bed than I was before I entered the Army. Maybe my body is trying to compensate for all the sleep deprivation I’d endured during BMT, but if you ask me, BMT training screwed me up big time, but that’s another story.
Secondly, I think I’ve been having way too many extra-curricular activities for my own good. ABEng.com FCG (Architecture, Building and Design, Engineering, Conservatory of Music Faculty Cell Group) welcome tea, Music Ministry welcome tea, then the CSS AGM (Annual General Meeting). Then there was Nick Lee’s birthday party today (Sunday), which was great fun. I even managed to revive a small bit of the table-tennis-playing skills that I used to have. But anyway, Happy Birthday Nick (Lee)! Though to come to think of it, I think I wrote something similar on Nick’s birthday card as I did with his warm fuzzy during the FOC… (Oops… Sorry Nick! I’m missing half my brain, see…) Anyway, I spent the whole of today looking for a really cool looking bag for Nick Lee which I saw a few seasons ago at a Puma boutique, and also doing a little bit of shopping for myself. It’s not good to spend too many months away from town, because when you finally get there after that long hiatus, you end up going Christmas shopping in August, which also provides an answer the the question “where did all that money go?”
The we’ve got a new keyboardist in the form of Jean, which would probably be a good thing, but it also means an extra burden – we’ve gotta practice on weeknights now since it’s only then that we can use the main chapel for practice. Various AGMs for MM (Music Ministry) and ABEng.com FCG complete the round-up for the week, followed by the FoE Bash at Attica the following week and Yvonne’s Prayer Rally the next day. Ok, let me rephrase that so you all don’t have the misconception that we’re all suddenly praying for or to Yvonne. It’s actually a Prayer Rally organised by Yvonne. Less time, more late nights, more fatigue, more sleep, less time…
As the American poet Delmore Schwartz once wrote: “Time is the fire in which we burn.”
These are the only decent shots I took on Friday and Saturday at the fireworks festival. What am I supposed to do with 2.0 megapixels??? Actually, it was more like a fireworks weekend, since it only lasted those 2 days, but it was still a blast. I love fireworks. The explosion of colours in the sky, the sound, and all the smoke that hangs over the whole place after the whole display ends. Ok, I not a big fan of the smoke, and nobody is. But maybe that’s why there wasn’t any wind to blow the smoke away (‘cos there weren’t any fans! Geddit? Gosh that was lame…). But if there’s something about me that has improved after my 2 years in the Army, it’s my tolerance for toxic fumes, and the smoke wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked, so all’s well.
The top picture, which I’m also using for my header, was taken on Friday at the war memorial after Lisa’s farewell dinner. She’s going away to Hong Kong for 2 years. There goes my keyboardist, which means I can take a 2-year hiatus off playing for mass! Finally, I can be like a normal person on Sunday and wake up after the sun rises. But really, we’ll all miss her. If only she could get her internet connection up and running and add us on her IM. After the fireworks on Friday, I went to meet up with the some of my FoE O-Week groupmates, and then we had supper. I generally don’t feel very comfortable in big groups, but yesterday went pretty well for me. And I’ve gotta say it’s great having friends around in a unfamiliar environment in NUS, ‘cos then you know you’re not alone.
First week of university life was a hell of a wake up call for me. There is just so much I’ve forgotten and so much I need to catch up on that it’s scary. I can’t even remember mathematical functions anymore, and a few weeks ago, I found myself wondering what the word “asymptote” meant. And I’m beginning to regret taking sociology, because my first lecture contained so many big words! I’m gonna have to get used to reading up a lot if I wanna get a decent grade in that module.
I can see my life now for the next 3 months: work hard, pray hard.
I watched Rush Hour 3 with Seb, Nick Hong and Ranald a couple of days ago, and it was pretty fun to watch, in a ridiculous sort of way. Some of the stuff in the movie are never gonna happen in the real world, like the french taxi driver who aspires to be an American spy so that he can kill people for no good reason at all, or the flag parachute, but all that, combined with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s constant bickering, is what makes the movie so funny. Just don’t expect an outstanding storyline though. And as with every Jackie Chan movie, expect some hilarious outtakes as the credits start rolling.
And will somebody tell me what happened to that chinese girl they were trying to rescue???
In the meantime, I’m still thinking about which CCA to join. Cue sports, or motorsports? Or maybe neither, since I’m already in CSS. But motorsports looks so interesting, and as for cue sports, I’ve always wanted an excuse to get myself a cue stick…
Hmmm…
Filed under: Ramblings
Ferrari – those guys seem to produce everything now. I recall seeing Ferrari cologne somewhere, and now this. Well, at least this one as something to do with automobiles. Anyway, I saw this during flag day, which was part of NUS’s orientation week. It was more like “flak day” really – everyone was keeping their distance from us like as if we had contracted all 8 strains of herpes. Maybe it’s because of that terrifyingly pink “Flag + Rag” T-shirts that NUS gave us. It made us feel like a bunch of excessively gaudy road divider.
Flag and Rag Day were part of orientation week, which was pretty fun, except for the part where I lost my voice, which is strange, because I’ve never lost my voice since primary school, no matter how much I shouted and cheered. It’s been 5 days now, and I’m only just regaining the use of my vocal cords. So throughout O week, I was dragging myself to school because all I wanted to do was to stay at home and not shout, and also because I was too used to rotting away at home. But when I got there, I actually had a really good time, despite my sounding like Gollum, or something like that.
Bidding for modules was something else. It was a somewhat frustrating experience, from which I had learnt that NUS is filled with very generous people who are more than willing to part with all their allocated bid points in exchange for a single module. Not to mention the fact that nearly everything clashed with my pre-allocated modules in some way. So in the end, it wasn’t a case of “which module do I want to get”, but “which module can I get”. But at least I got something after the previous round of bidding, and it went for only 1 single bid point, since it was under-subscribed. So I’ve got the power of 500 bid points during next semester’s bidding! ~Evil laughter~ But then again, I might’ve just picked up a bomb because the module has to be under-subscribed for some reason right? It seems pretty popular in FASS though. I guess only time will tell if I will sink or swim.
Term starts for me on Wednesday, and it’s pretty scary. I was just printing lecture notes a few hours ago, and the thought of trying to understand all that was just mind-boggling. I guess my brain has rusted over after 2 and a half years away from school.
But as the cheer goes: “We will win the war!”
Filed under: Film/Television
I just watched The Simpsons Movie this afternoon with my brother, and it’s great! It’s got lots of silly jokes and funny moments, but it kinda fell short. Literally - it’s a pretty short movie, with a runtime of only around 1 and a half hours. And I wished more supporting characters had some screentime, but with the movie being so short, I guess it’s a bit difficult to feature more supporting characters. Nonetheless, it’s still really good and highly entertaining, and Homer is still as idiotic as ever.
So whether you’re a true blue Simpsons fan, or if you’ve never watched a single episode of the Simpsons in your entire life (You know who you are! And frankly, I still quite amazed…), go watch it!
Oh, and stay for the rolling credits.
