Friday, February 29, 2008
I guess it's not secret now that some JI terrorist escaped in Singapore. No doubt that it's a shock to all who thought that Singapore is all safe and sound from the troubles of the world, and having gone through NS personally... well it doesn't make me feel all the more confident about the SAF's capability in apprehending this felon. But I was from the infantry so I guess who am I to speak?? I trust our commandoes, guards and police are more efficient. So like any other concerned, loyal and true Singaporean, I've been following the news rather closely on this JI terrorist's escape, and I came across this paragraph in a report by the DPM.
"The picture of Mas Selamat is splashed all over the country. Look out for him and if there is any information of anyone that looks like him, report the case to the police and you can be sure the police will look into it thoroughly."
I feel sorry for anyone who looks like him.
Dan
4:51 am
Thursday, February 28, 2008
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me.
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
Dan
5:12 pm
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wanted to watch Juno today, but by the time we got there all the tickets had been sold out. Oh wells... I think this week is time to watch all the movies I want to watch, because it's cheaper, and quite obviously the movies aren't screening in Melbourne yet. But on the bright side, if I miss it here, I can probably catch it in Melbourne. So without any movie to watch, Rach and I decided to walk around PS. She introduced me to a shop called Diso. Everything in that shop is for $2, and everything is from Japan. Ok, where it came from didn't really surprise me, but the price!! My gosh... I know I'm slow, since these dollar shops have been around for ages, but I never really fancied going in because I never really thought anyone could get anything useful for a dollar, but I was proved wrong. The stuff they sold was quite random, but practical. I can really see myself shopping there next time. I know...I'm cheap.
Dan
3:26 am
Monday, February 25, 2008
I just watched Scream 3. Now, I'm not one for horror shows, but much to my surprise it turned out more funny than anything else. I've been thinking, and I realise that I've been paranoid about people doing the same degree as me, probably because I feel like they are all doing it so much better than I do. But today I've given up worrying about that. OK, it wasn't suppose to sound like that. I'm going to watch frasier now... need some humour to get all that horror stress out of my blood.
Dan
3:21 am
Sunday, February 24, 2008
In exactly one week, 7 days, I'll be off to the land down under. I think I'm still in the semi holiday mood, though I miss school. It doesn't feel like school is going to start soon. I miss talking about econs, rationalising it all out with fellow econ students. Went for a party with Rach today to meet her church young adults. We had quite abit of fun playing Citadels...I should really buy that game before I leave for Melbourne. But I think the thing I enjoyed more than the game was the short chat I had with one of her friends who was majoring in econs, hearing her explain her thesis paper to me. Really interesting. Wonder when I will write my first and own thesis paper... Also, tonight I just realised how many people are majoring, or going to major in econs!!! Makes me feel frustrated because I hate competition. When I wanted to be a lawyer, I would bump into people who would want to be lawyers as well. Then, when I had an interest in psychology, I suddenly found myself surrounded by people who wanted to pursue psychology. Now I'm going to major in econs and finance, and I find a crap load of people majoring in econs. The world is just unfair. On the bright side, I heard that Singapore is short on econ teachers, so my desire to teach econs could still be realised.
Dan
3:17 am
Friday, February 22, 2008
6 months seem like such a long time, and yet it has come and gone just like that. I love you.
Timetable came out today, and it was crazy!! Almost every other slot was full, I was clicking away just to get the slot I wanted. Example. For econometrics, all the classes were full except for one that was at 94%. So I reckoned that one person's slot must be 6% because when that class was full, there'll be a 94% else where. So I was refreshing like crazy just praying and hopping that the slot I want will be free for me to fit myself in. Suffice to say that I think I did a pretty good job, and have been rewarded with a half decent timetable. No complains there, though I do not get any free days this time, I think it'll still be the same after all. I miss school!!! I can't wait for my first lecture.
Spoke to Duane for the first time since he arrived in Melb. It felt so good to have a familiar face there. This year is going to be a BLAST, I can just feel it.
Dan
5:32 am
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Since I could not find a way to change the template of my blog to something more... "in". I've decided to go with the preset layouts... I Know, boring, but this actually isn't too bad. 10 more days and counting till I return!! Excitement building up not knowing what to expect. Weird? I know, but I miss my lifestyle in melbourne.. not sure what exactly I miss though. I want to say school, but that is just so geeky...
Timetable came out yesterday, and I've been busy editing it to fit everyone else... to get the best possible timetable. Sad though that for this semester I'm not going to have any free days. I'm gonna miss last semesters 4 day weeks now...
Dan
3:31 pm
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
I've been trying to load a new template but after all my hardwork, I was shot down by stupid blogger. It seems that since they changed over to the gmail system, it's not as simple as a copy and paste to load new templates anymore. And I've got one account on the old system and one on the new system. This sucks.
Duane flew off today. It was so exciting being in the airport again. Seeing the students fly off, and the big farewell groups. Just reminded me that it'll soon be my turn. Less than 2 weeks!!! First up, I can't wait to end work. 2 more days and counting...
Dan
3:49 am
Monday, February 18, 2008
I'm feeling... random. Is that right? or do I actually know how I feel, but fear to face it's reality.
Fears, there are so many that some can actually be classified as irrational. But I guess if it's nothing too serious it won't be something that requires therapy, like fear of sleeping alone, fear of snakes. Is it right to pass on our irrational fears to our children then? I guess the very obvious answer would be a loud resounding no, but can we help it? I guess the problem with fear is that it does not only affect us, but the people we care about as well. Then how do we deal with it? To overcome our fear so that it no longer frightens us? Then, there are some fears worth having aren't there?
A picture speaks a thousand words. I guess we can't argue that either, the power of interpretation. It's so powerful I fear that some of us underestimate just how effective it can be. Remember the days in primary school where there was a segment in the oral exam where we had to tell a story when a picture was given to us. Our power of interpretation. We all fought to read as much as we could into each picture, each action. Actions speak louder than words. I guess saying I love you, and showing I love you will be very different too.
Dan
3:19 pm
Sunday, February 17, 2008
It's been a very good weekend with Valentine's Day, and Duane's farewell party... but all of course just serve as a reminder that the time to go back to Melbourne is close. Anyway, here are photo's for Vday... I think I did a rather good job =p
BEFORE



AFTER

And needless to say we both had a great time =)

Dan
11:08 pm
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The truth hurts. Sometimes it takes another person to point it out to us, and we get pissed because we refuse to believe it. So then whose in the wrong? The delusional me, my honest friend, or both of us?
Dan
3:06 am
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
I watched 27 Dresses today, and it wasn't a very bad show. In fact it was quite nice. The one thing I learnt from the show that I couldn't get out of my head though was this phrase. Personally I don't think it's true, but it's funny.
Love is patient, love is kind
Love is slowly going out of your mind.
Funny story, I woke up late for work today. Well technically I didn't because I set my alarm for 7.45 am, and woke up at 7.45 am, but only realised then that I should have left the house at 7.30 am to be at work on time. So I didn't go to work instead. Speaks a lot of my motivation for my work huh? Wonder how I'll survive the working world. But it has taught me something very important. Choose the right job, or regret for a long time to come. Sigh... another day of work tomorrow.
Dan
1:03 am
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Looks like the new year break is over. It was a great time to relax, catch up with family and friends, wake up late in the mornings... all kind of make me dread going to work tomorrow. But I guess it has to be done. I'm so looking forward to the 21st when work ends. But till then I guess this is the closest I've come to a holiday this year. Had visitation with the cell today, and it was quite fun, visiting each other houses. Anyway valentine's day is soon!! Guys, better have something planned.
Dan
11:22 pm
Saturday, February 09, 2008
The first few days of the new year is coming to a close, and so is the long break that I've looked forward to since the beginning of the year. It's been great celebrating the new year back home. Kinda makes me wonder what I missed out on last year because I had to fly back to Melb early on the 2nd day of the new year. Money wise, it's been the same as every other year, which isn't something to complain about. I guess I expected earnings to be a bit lower this time round given the extremely high petrol prices, and now rising food prices. I was calculating this afternoon how much I should save a month to have a reasonable amount for my retirement, and it amazed me at how a little savings each month would go a long way to a secure retirement. Sounds very CPF board like, very government, I know, but it's true. Can't rely on the government, who knows maybe in 30 years time they may decide to raise the age on which you can draw out your CPF again.
Dan
3:47 am
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Chinese New Year!!! It's here, and I'm going to use it to relax and enjoy the break from work. I've found working rather monotonous, I guess its because it's not my interest, but it was a good experience to get some working experience. Anyway I had an OCF reunion dinner and it was quite fun. Realised that time has flown by so fast. It seemed like just yesterday I was sitting in OCF bible study group discussing when we were all returning, and now we're all talking about flying back already. I think work has made time feel so fast.
Dan
4:22 am
Sunday, February 03, 2008
I was chatting with a friend one day, giving advice on overseas education. My friend led a sheltered life, and had trouble accepting the fact that the world around, the circumstances that had been given were less than ideal. It was driving my friend into a corner, forcing a decision out as though through torture. Of course human nature would want us to delay in making that dreadful decision. But in my advice I said that where you go, whatever you decide to choose, you must remember that it will never be perfect, because we are all humans.
After giving the advice, I realized that I myself have been forced to make decisions less than perfect. Sometimes I even know the consequences of my decisions and try to amend them. Sometimes I ask myself why did I make that decision knowing what would follow after. But what happened cannot be changed.
So what happens to people who grew up with ideal mindsets? Should we live expecting them to lower it, and become more realistic, or should we better ourselves so that we meet their expectations?
I love you inspite of everything.
Dan
3:21 am
Saturday, February 02, 2008
It's February already!! So fast. One more week then it'll be CNY, and a few weeks after that I'm off to the land down under. Quite exciting to start the new semester. I was thinking back on my lifestyle in Melb, and I realize that most of the time after school, or when I'm cooking dinner, I'll throw in an episode of friends, or frasier to watch, and its somehow refreshing. The comic relief seems to ease the tension, the stress of school. I grew a liking to those classic sitcoms I decided to bring a few back home with me.
Here, my brother throws in a cd everynight. Maybe it's because I've seen it all, or maybe its because I'm not studying so I don't feel the stress and the tension, but I find that it's been overdone. Rach of course tells me I overdo it myself in melb, but I never felt that way down there. Just a realisation that dawn on me. Maybe it's his way of escaping school as well. Its quite sad really, Singapore is so small, so pressurized that to escape the real world, we have to resort to the TV to comfort us.
Dan
1:47 pm