Highlights of 2012!

When I looked at last year's 'highlights of the year' blog post and saw that I wrote "This year was pretty… meh", I couldn't help but think 'bitch please, this year was fabulous!" hahaha. Indeed, this year was extremely eventful and I can't believe everything actually happened in a short span of one year. It seemed so long ago. Anyway. Let's begin with a walk down memory lane of the supposed doomsday year... 2012!

Pre Union Camp

As I'm sitting here less than 24 hours away from the start of UC (probably less if you include Day 0 which starts today),  I can't help feeling a sense of underwhelmingness (if such a word existed). There is none of that pre-camp hype that I felt for Arts Camp, and I'm almost leaning towards the 'not-looking-forward-to-this' feeling.

It will be the first time I'm going for a camp where I know almost NOBODY since... O Week? Well on the plus side I know one of the councillors and one of the freshies, but it's a whole different dynamic when we are in a new group of people who are unfamiliar with each other.

I don't even know whether the OGL+Councillors are a fun batch, it seems really tentative and uncertain - the OGL only wanted to make identities for the freshies TODAY, on Day 0 -_- We haven't even finalized WHAT exactly the identity is. And he said to meet at 9AM, to which only 1-2 people said they can't make it so early (myself included) until last night, when suddenly 3-4 other people said they will only be coming at night / late afternoon. Dafuq?? Couldn't they have said so earlier? So now I'm not sure how many people is even going to be there with him at 9AM to THINK about what identity to make and start making them. And whether they will finish it in time. Guess I'll find out later.

 

I'm not in the best of conditions too - I'm still nursing a cough which had plagued me for weeks and escalated to epic proportions last Thursday and forced me to go see a doctor for medicine. It is a lot better now for sure, but I'm definitely in no state to be shouting cheers. Hope it goes away completely tomorrow.

And so. Goals I have for this camp? I don't even know. If you asked me 3 weeks ago when I signed up for this, I would have said 'To have fun' and to 'Make many new friends!' but now, my energy level is just so low that I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish those. I'll try I guess. For myself.

 

Just an update

Life is good now. For now.

Income
I am working for my previous company (well, I kinda never really stopped working for them), working on Google advertisements and stuff. It's quite an interesting job role, and I'm enjoying what I do. Plus, the hours are extremely flexible - at the moment I'm going in Mon, Wed, Fridays, from the morning till whatever time I want. That means I usually leave anytime between 12-3, depending on me. :D Yes, it is THAT flexible. Plus, I can also work from home and get paid.

I am kinda primarily working to support my increased food intake + gym. Eating more is expensive!

Diet + Weights
With this luxury of time, it also means I have time to plan and prepare my diet, and do my weights, in accordance to my plan to bulk up. My goal is anywhere from 65-70KG, but my primary focus isn't really a weight gain but a mass gain. I want to look bigger. I'm tired of looking skinny. Being skinny looks weak. Malnourished. Unattractive (for guys). Small. I want to look healthy. Fit. Buff.

Eating more is proving more tough than I thought. From breakfast onwards, I am NEVER not full. In other words, I am perpetually, consistently feeling full. And I keep eating. And eating. My current mealtimes are something like 9AM(breakfast), 11AM(brunch), 1PM(lunch), 3/4PM(mid-day snack), 6/7PM(dinner), 8PM(protein shake), 9PM (fruits), 10PM (yoghurt). It's hard. And expensive.

I'll post my diet in my next fitness journal or something, perhaps together with the nutritional information for fun. Yes, I spent quite some time calculating the calories/protein because I had daily target intakes I needed to hit.

Blogs
I started an entry on a philosophical topic, then  I got really bored and stopped midway through. The thing is, I don't even know if there's an audience for it, what's the point of writing if noone reads? All these other stuff that I'm blogging now I don't mind blogging even if noone reads, because it's kind of a diary for myself. But the philo stuff, I've spent hours writing/thinking about it during semester time so it's kinda depressing to think about it again now lol.

The Future
The next thing to look forward to is May 15th when Diablo 3 is released. I probably won't be THAT hooked because my gf will be emomeemo if I neglect her (haha) and I'm not the sort to play something for hours without getting tired... at least not nowadays anyway (the 14-year-old me is more than capable of sitting through 5-6 hours of Counter-Strike). And after that... will be May 28th/29th (I really gotta check exactly when it is) when results are released! That will probably set the tone of the next few months. :(

And of course, will be expecting my letter from Boston Uni anytime soon, and should be planning my trip in the US with fellow SEP friends! Hope it will be fun!

I will also be very interested in tracking my progress in my gymming... I wonder if the programme I'm on is as effective as it touts itself to be. My goal is to bench/squat my own body weight! :D Wish me luck!

 

The Last Hurrah

Five guys. Over five pounds of ribeye steak, bacon strips, hotdogs and bratwurst sausages. A grill. Some beers/drinks. Music.

That was the scene on Thursday night, probably the last time the guys from hall were having a meal together. Me, Will, Soemin, Daryl, CaiJie had a mini-BBQ to celebrate the end of the semester and exams, and it had all of the good stuff.

No chicken wings or any of the 'usual' BBQ stuff. The meat was GOOD stuff. The steaks were almost an inch thick and juicy as hell. The bratwurst were the size of four of my fingers.  Bacon was crispy and tasty (abit too salty too)

[caption id="attachment_1484" align="alignnone" width="500"] Yummy yummy beef![/caption]

Pictures ahead!

2 more days!

Ughhh the wait is unbearable, but 2 more days left before I'm free!

Sorry for the lack of posts these past few days, but I've been having exams. But I do have 2-3 posts queued up to be published after my exams, so stay tuned! :D  Have an exciting announcement to make (well it's exciting for myself probably but most likely not for you HA.). Some posts that are coming up:

• Module Review


• Grades Prediction


• Secret Announcement


• Philo Blogs


• Christianity Thesis


• Insomniac post about exam results


• Born at the wrong time

Wow so many things to blog about! Probably a month's worth.

Will have my final paper on Monday, Marketing 101. Not entirely prepared for it, but don't see how much more I can do.

Ok see ya guys in 2 days!

[S] There's going to be more!

I can't wait for exams to be over! I have so many things that I want to do!

One of them includes blogging often (which I seem to already do) - I already have many topics that I have in mind that I want to write about - one general theme I plan to cover is Philosophy. I've learnt many interesting things in my philosophy module this semester that I want to share with everyone, and I'll be writing these posts in an easily understandable manner such that the noobest of philosophical minds can get it :)

Another series of blog entries I have planned are what I call my 'Christianity Thesis' in which I lay out my opinions and beliefs about Christianity. Many of them may be controversial, but I really want to make them known and perhaps get clarification on the uncertainties I have.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="280" caption="Yes, I know this isn't the most accurate usage of the meme"][/caption]

I'm a Guinea Pig!

Being in a university with a strong emphasis on research means that there are always ongoing studies that require participants. These studies often have fairly decent payouts, and since I was staying in hall this semester I decided to sign up for as many as I could. It turned out to be a pretty decent part-time job.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="288" caption="I'm a guinea pig yo!"][/caption]

This semester is nuts

I really should blog more often, I think about it (blogging) very often but just can't find the time to sit down to do it. It's like my safe haven.

It doesn't really matter if noone reads it, as long as it's available for my own perusal.

I've a swirl of thoughts so I'll try to segment them accordingly, just scroll to the heading that seems interesting to you I suppose.

1) Szehong became a Christian!

If you haven't heard, my gf has accepted Christ (a month ago or so) and has been attending church service regularly.

If you told me this a year ago I would have been incredulous as it didn't seem very likely, as she had already been exposed to Christianity before due to her friends. This was something that I thought, that it would be harder for a person who has been repeatedly exposed to Christianity to eventually accept it (as compared to one who is finding out for the first time), since that person is probably numb to it or has been habituated in some way.

This was the case for another friend of mine, as I remember his response when I invited him to a christmas event my church had - 'nah, i've gone to many of these before, it's all the same'.

I thought that because a person has heard the same message so many times, why would he suddenly just accept it?

I have underestimated God's favor and goodness in working, and apparently people DO accept it even after hearing it many times.

And for the case of SH it seems that she has made a pretty informed decision, when I talked to her more about it, it was clear that she knew what she was doing and why she wanted to accept Christ (and she also knew much more about 'religion' in general than me and I had much to learn from her :) )

This was a humbling experience, and obviously a very happy one for me. A heavy and tough task has been placed upon me, to be a good mentor for her and guide her along her Christian walk, and I gladly embrace it. I pray that God will give me the wisdom and ability to do so.

2) School is hectic before it even started.

This is a long section by itself, and probably needs further splitting. I don't even know how I'm going to retell the story coherently.

Basically, this has been the most hectic 2 weeks before school reopened (up to today, 1st day of school). Hectic not because of any other things but because of school-specific stuff.

In previous semesters, the 5 modules that I have to take were always pretty clear cut and decided ahead of time. I will bid for my modules accordingly, and get everything settled nicely (e.g. I'll get what I bid for, and have everything by end of Round 2)

This time round, it's different.

The original plan

I originally wanted to take a Lab module (compulsory for Psych majors) along with 2 Psych mods, 1 of which is a compulsory mod and the other is an elective. The remaining two modules would be Philosophy of Religion and Marketing, and these 5 were pretty set in stone.

The first hiccup

The first hiccup came in Round 1A, when we (me and friends) realized that we couldn't even bid for the lab we wanted - it was reserved for Year 3s to bid for. Being a popular lab, this meant that it would be gone at the end of Round 1A.

It was time to find backups, as I frantically went to search for another module. I settled on one eventually, Personality and Individual Differences, sounded interesting.

Complications

Things began to get complicated when a friend of mine, Nella, who has taken basically same modules as me all the while, suddenly wanted to change her module choices, and introduced a module that I never really considered, Mod X.

The gf had some other modules she was eyeing as well but they weren't of my interest so it didn't factor in. I was also doing considerably more research abt the modules (due to my free time) so I was feeding her information that I got.

But basically this injection of a new module made me realize I shouldn't be too set on taking a module, and I should consider alternatives.

Thus in came Mod Y, a module that is taken by a prof I like but he specifically dissuaded us to take the module, because he didn't really have time to prepare for it and was having 'burnout' from lecturing 4 sems straight. Also, the lessons were at 8AM.

After an extended email conversation with this prof, he basically greatly discouraged me from taking the module. I still wanted to take it, because I had no other real options, so I thought of taking X and Y (and the compulsory mod)

The 2nd hiccup

Amidst all these problems, I suddenly realized something that would have been disastrous had I missed. I had originally planned to do 5 modules worth of Psych modules at SEP (exchange prog) next sem. However, after doing some calculations, I realized that if I did that, I would exceed the limit of Psych mods that I could take!

I had to cut it down to 4 modules worth of Psych mods (which involved amending a submitted form for SEP and going down to school a second time during the holidays), AND also remove one Psych mod that I was taking in NUS this sem.

This meant I had to take only 2 Psych mods, and find a breadth/gem to take in its place.

Cutting down one Psych mod meant I had to choose one out of the 3 options (X, Y and Personality) instead of the originally planned 2. I asked my prof for Y for advice, and he actually told me that I shouldn't take Personality because of the prof taking that mod (I'm anonymizing the modules so that the identity of this prof doesn't get out) . Further checks with friends and stuff also confirmed that the Personality mod Prof was ... not desirable.

This reduced it to X and Y. And now I found a breadth, an LSM, that some friends were taking as well, but the thing was that it clashed with X, so if I took that LSM, I wouldn't have been able to take X and would have to take Y.

First attempt at X.

My preference was to take X because the prof for it is highly acclaimed and won teaching awards before for teaching that module! And the module is supposedly a lot more interesting than Y too.

So I just MPEd Y first (noone wanted it, so easily got it for 1 point), and tried bidding for X, but failed to get it after one round (19/11 bidders).

The next round actually released module X (5 spaces)... for FRESHIES which was retarded because X has certain pre-requisites that meant that it was like a 0.1% chance that there was a freshie that could actually take it.

At the same time, as the round progressed, I bid (And won) for LSM and my other mods (marketing + philo)

By the end of Round 2, I had 5 modules. I didn't get Mod X because of the stiff competition, oh well. No biggy. All seemed fine and dandy.

Tyranny of Choice

In Round 3, suddenly 18 slots opened up for Mod X. EIGHTEEN F*CKING SLOTS.

What the hell ? Why do you have to save the spots for the last round and not just release it earlier!? It wouldn't have cost 707 points in Round 1 if just 8-9 more slots were released.

And so suddenly Mod X became a viable option, since it was virtually a guaranteed 1 point module. Over time, only 4 bidders entered the bidding arena for it. Waaay under quota, definite 1 point.

Also, over the course of time, Mod X's attractiveness had gone up as I heard more and more good stuff about it. So now I wanted to take Mod X - but it clashes with LSM! How now brown cow?

The IS problem

I have to find another breadth or GEM to replace LSM then. (This was actually alot more complicated, there were other modules I considered in place of LSM but I eventually settled on LSM)

I found a decent sounding module, ISxxxx, and actually managed to rope in a good friend, Candice, to take it with me. However, there were 2 lecture slots for this module (choose 1), and Candice could only take the 1st one. I could take both, but taking the 2nd slot would mean another long problem for Marketing (which I won't elaborate cos it's too longwinded and this post is already mega longwinded)

This meant I needed to get the 1st slot. BUT. Somehow fate has it that the first slot only had 5 spaces, whereas the 2nd slot had 12 spaces. This meant a significantly lower chance of getting the 1st slot (with candice!) !

When Open Bidding ended (and Closed bidding began), the first slot had 10/5 bidders and 2nd slot only had 12/12 (or 11/12, it fluctuated).

After significant deliberation, I actually decided that I shouldn't risk it and I should try for the 2nd slot because it's kinda risky to try for the first one with so much competition and I didn't have that many G points. Also, I would have to drop the LSM to bid for it, and lose 200+ points in the process. Thus, too much risk to try for the 10/5 slot, I'll have to settle for doing IS on my own :(

Quantum Mechanics

BUT. Lo and behold in the last 30 minutes before closed bidding, I stumbled upon this other mod about Einstein and QM - it actually fit perfectly in my timetable. And after quickly texting a few friends, I found out that it was actually quite an easy and slack mod and supposedly easy to score.

The most important thing was that it was actually under quota! like 20/30 or something like that. In fact, it was one of the ONLY breadth/gem mods that still had so much space (besides the super boring ones like 'Plants and Society') (I know because I checked them all) so I could get it for 1 point!

This led me to realize that I should just risk it - I can bid for the 1st slot for IS, the one with Candice, AND at the same time bid for this Einstein mod which I'll definitely get so it's my backup, and if I don't get the IS mod, I'll just take this mod which isn't all too bad.

Verdict

I didn't get the IS mod. :( Sadface. Was looking forward to doing a module with candice, had never done so before (NM101 isn't counted)

Thus I'm doing this module called Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness.

Thus, only TODAY, at the end of the first day of school, did I manage to settle all 5 of my modules and FINALLY finalize my timetable. (Well not quite, there's still tutorial balloting)

What a whirlwind of events it has been.

And you're one heck of a baller if you actually read from start to finish.

CORS Bidding Dilemma

It’s thattime of the year again – no, not New Year’s Day, not post-Christmas, but CORSBidding!!

I’m justgoing to pen my thoughts down so I can organize them better and make betterdecisions. But I know for sure I’m going to have a big headache when it beginsbecause things won’t go as planned.

MUST-HAVEModules

These modulesare those that I MUST take this sem, so I will throw all my points in them:

PL3234 - Developmental Psychology
One of the 5 Core (required) modules for Psych majors, so I have to clear it! I don't want to wait too long to take it too so best to get it over and done with.
Problem is if I take this, I can't take my back-up lab mod of 'Lab in Applied Psych'. That comes in later.

Expected Bid Points - I should get this for 1 point or in MPE

PL3282A - Lab in Interpersonal Relationships

This is the only lab that I want to take in the list of labs, the other one is Lab in Social Psych but that one is only available in Sem1 and I'm going on SEP in Sem 1 so I MUST take this.

Any other lab would be something Cognitive Psych related which will be considerably tougher because of having to use special program to design stimuli!

My backup for this is Applied Psych (I don't really want but I don't mind doing, not like the Cog Psych labs which I DONT WANT to do), but the problem is Applied Psych clashes with Devt Psych.

Expected Bid Points - 500++.

Previous sems' records show this mod goes for at least 500 points. I will be throwing EVERYTHING I HAVE in this mod, because I HAVE to get it. Fingers -crossed.

Contingency plan is I take this in Y3 S2 I guess, because apparently Y3 students get priority for labs, and from bidding history it seems that this mod disappears after Round 1A (eaten up by Y3 students already). So ;( I need a 5th mod if that's the case.

WANT-TO-TAKE Modules

These modules are what I want to take but not entirely necessary, I can try to find backup if I don't get.

MKT1003X- Marketing

To fulfill my breadth requirement, and also taking this with some friends. Sounds the most interesting of the breadths so why not? S/U ftw!

Expected Bid Points - Not sure how to interpret the Bidding History because there are separate queues and stuff, but shouldn't be too ex! 100? Doesn't affect my other mods though because this is G account.

PL3241 - Personality and Individual Differences

Taking as an elective mod of course, and sounds like an interesting module. Shouldn't have any problems getting it, judging from past history.

Expected Bid Points - 1

PH2211 - Philosophy of Religion

Now it gets tricky. This module is to fulfill my UE, but it also costs a hefty amount in Round 2B (not sure if I can bid for this in 2A or 2B!) (200 + points!)

If I were to splurge everything I have on Lab in Interpersonal, I have to find some alternative for this slot already because I wont' have the points I need to bid for this.

Expected Bid Points - 1 if available in 2A, 200+ if only in 2B

Argh ok I'm gonna go for lunch, when I come back maybe hunt for other alternatives.

A fulfilling job

I'm working at an education consultancy right now, doing admin work and whatever needs to be done. I'm like an extra pair of hands.

Apart from administering SATs and GMATs and other standardized tests, they also have two 'College Consultants' who are basically advisers for those who are interested in applying for college (e.g. those who finished 'A' levels, etc)

So what they do is guide the individual through the entire process, including writing the application essay, choosing schools, preparing documents, submitting documents, etc. This is naturally a lengthy process, so naturally they spend alot of time with the students, often over a few weeks.

As a temp staff who isn't laden with tooooo much work, and the office being fairly small, I am often able to listen in on everything that happens, like what they talk to the students about, how they give guidance, etc, and it's all really interesting!  The college consultants are both really nice and friendly too, so they're nice to be around :)

And I can feel how fulfilling the job is for them - it IS a pretty huge deal that they're helping out with - they're helping these kids apply for their colleges man! Without them they won't have a future! So it's hugeeee. And many of the clients are really thankful and grateful as well, since they really are v nice and helpful and friendly.

Like right now as I am writing this, one of their past clients came back to say hi, and thank them and even bought like a jar of snacks for them! 

I hope my job in the future is something like this - challenging, fun, rewarding. I don't even need like high pay or anything. 

a chuckful of surprises

This is going to be a random update of my life, plus my thoughts on the latest episode of Chuck (S4E9). The review is after the pagebreak so as not to spoil those who haven't watched it and want to watch (Or just so those not interested can just not click it)

Ah, just finished two exams in the past 2 days. New Media was really hard despite being all MCQ.. the options were all super close and the questions weren't easy. Especially the application questions..oh wow. Each were worth 4 marks each.. so like really damn stress to choose one option knowing that you could lose 4 marks there and then.

Today was PL1101E which has always been one of my stronger modules as well as the one I put the most effort in to.. So I thought it was quite manageable. I won't dare say I'll ace it so hard that they can't find a good enough grade for me (LOL that came out funny) , there WERE quite a few questions that I wasn't sure of and my essay was smokefest for abit. But.. manageable ba. Because I worked really hard for it. Hope I get my A :/

Last paper is on Monday!! ugh fml most people would have ended exams by then and I'll be the only sad person having a paper. PHILOOO. Have to immerse myself in the complicated inquisitive world of philosophy for the next 4 days. Maybe I'll make another philosophical post

Ok thoughts on Chuck after the page break




I liked how we finally had a 2 parter for Chuck! Like every time the action gets so intense and they get into such danger and trouble but at the back of your head you know everything will turn up fine so in the end there's no suspense or tension. Like, they're captured by enemy spies? Don't worry, they will escape, or someone will rescue them. They are have 10 guns pointed to their heads? Don't worry, they will disarm everyone in a high tempo fight synchronized with music.

It's always the same! That's something about Chuck that made the subsequent seasons more and more predictable and hence the action less and less enjoyable. I wouldn't mind a few cliffhangers like how the previous episode ended.

Anyway, while the whole 'giant she-man' thing was funny, it was also highly unrealistic? Like oh sure, a CIA spy easily beats 'the best fighter' of Thailand. Furthermore, the fight wasn't really realistic, I would expect a street fight like that to be more than just the typical roundhouse kicks style that Chuck always uses. There should be more grappling, locks, and of course dirty moves which was the only thing they got right (throwing sand into Sarah's eyes)

Want to know how to make a decent street fight? Think Prison Break Season 3, SONA. Now, THOSE fight scenes certainly get your adrenaline up and you are almost cringing from the violence but leaning forward to urge the protagonist on. Also, how Michael eventually won the fight was realistic too. (And even more necessary because he isn't supposed to be a fighter)

How the whole scene could have been improved was Sarah fighting her teeth out trying to beat the fighter, and actually losing eventually, but the whole idea of that scene should capture the desperate effort of Sarah to keep fighting to save Chuck. Then in the end the 'boss' will ask his fighter not to kill her but let her find Chuck. Much more emotional value!

Ok maybe my critique on this whole 'unrealistic fighting' is not ... 'accurate', because this was precisely the style that Chuck started with and it's meant to be like that (for comic value). But once in a while can throw in some stuff like what I suggested right? ^^

I also didn't like how Chuck woke up from his 'sleep'. Wasn't his memory supposed to be wiped out? How come everything is fine and dandy!? Oh sure, lobotomy is a reversible process. Just yank out the electrodes (?? another part that I thought was damn weird.. Like she wasn't worried that just yanking them out may actually cause damage to Chuck)  and all the memory is restored.

I thought it would have been much better for Chuck to open his eyes.. then go "Who are you?" -to be continued-

SO MUCH BETTER!! THREE PARTER!! Ratings sure go up. hahaha.


Ok that's all I have to say for Chuck. I hope the scriptwriting stops being so predictable~
(btw the blog post title is a line that Chuck said during this episode, I guess it was intentional and so lame lol. 'I am just chuckful of surprises!' (I think the actual expression is 'chock-full' or maybe it really is 'chuck-full'. I've no idea how to spell it)

And on a random side note, loved the LOST references in HIMYM this week! 4 8 15 16 23 42 :D 6 numbers I will never forget haha. Ok that's all I have, I will see you guyssss(and girlsssss) next time!