I think most of us have no idea what happens if we don't vote.. Everyone tells me we have to vote, but when posed with the question of what happens if we don't vote, we're all dumbfounded... (the garang guni man come catch u lor... ;p) Here's what I found after doing some research.

Voting is compulsory in Singapore. All Singapore citizens whose names are in the current Registers of Electors are required to vote. Anyone who failed to vote in any election will have his name expunged from the Registers of Electors after the election. Citizens whose names are not in the Registers of Electors will be disqualified from:-
(a) Voting in any election;
(b) Standing as a candidate in any election; and
(c) Being a proposer, seconder or assentor for the nomination of any candidate.
They will have to apply to the Registration Officer if they want to have their names restored to the Registers of Electors. The application form can be printed from the Elections Department's website at www.elections.gov.sg

Just thought I'd share bit of general information. *wink*

A short post for today. If anyone who is interested in some entertainment, download this short clip I found on the web (Click on the picture above, it's 40mb btw, but worth the wait!) It's a short animation by Sony Pictures called the Chubbs Chubbs! Very cute and funny... :)

Oooh.. So exciting, reading all these election news... I just got my Polling Letter today to head down to the High Commission at London to vote.. Also booked my coach tix (GBP2 return! woohoo!) to head down. Seems like this election is gonna be quite hotly contested. What a pity I'm not in Singapore to soak up all the rally fever. But well, you can't have everything. ;p
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seems like my sister understood my toilet paper analogy... haha..
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and because I'm a little bored, i feel like i should entertain myself... so here's Some random stuff you didn't know about Kenny (picked out from "45 of the most random things you probably never needed to know about someone")

What did you do last night?
Sean and I were discussing stuff about darkroom photography. He found out Fitz has a darkroom that can be used! ;p Also, the stupid fire alarm went off at 3am (yes AM) when i went to bed at 2am. *frownz*

The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
Some mambo component for the CUMSA website. I think it was for the forum.

Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?
Well, not a 9 volt battery at least... ;p

What are you wearing?
A VJC 2005 Orientation T-shirt and beach shorts.. now now.. what was I doing back in VJ in 2005? haha

Type of music you dislike most?
cheese. yucks. also, noisy punkish music. eeks.

What kind of computer do you use?
a MACINTOSH Apple powerbook G4. I'm loving it. =)

You like anyone right now?
That's hard to say.. Really... =X

What's your favorite comic strip?
Gee. I haven't actually been following any comic strips. But i do have a Snoopy comic widget (it's a mac thing. ;p) on my Dashboard.

Best movie you've seen in the past month?
Billy Elliot. I blogged about it too. :)

Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?
MILLIONAIRE! Finding true love. haha

Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yes. Hasn't quite happened to me yet though. I need to walk around more often.

Did you have long hair as a young kid?
As a matter of fact, NO! The hair you see on my head now is the longest I've EVER had.
I don't suppose this qualifies as long hair... haha.. so paiseh to post this picture.. lol

Ok, i'm sufficiently entertained. Nitez my frenz!

Today hor, when i go to Boots, then wah, i see the Dove body wash buy one get one free leh... then the auntie-ness inside me say, so cheap, must buy. Then I went to Sainsbury, the shampoo also got the same offer. then i also buy lor.

But also because I actually do need shampoo. :)

Anyway, at this point, I should share a story. I recall that my sister and I used to laugh at my mum when she used to stock up toilet paper when NTUC had an offer (of course she stocked up on other stuff too, but toilet paper sticks in my head.. haha.. and also because there's a family joke which i cannot say... ;p). She used to say, "eh, 跟我㈠起去NTUC, 帮我拿toilet paper回来“. So there was always this joke when there was toilet paper on offer in NTUC. But now, on hindsight, I can see the wisdom behind stocking up toilet paper. =)

And remember this story. One day this toilet paper analogy will be applied everywhere... and you will know that it was I who started it.. haha.. ;p

*deep breath* kenny catches a quick breather.. just finished off two essays... phew... still got some more work to be done for tomorrow.... on top of settling stuff for the EGM and Easter Picnic that is... and other stuff lingering at the back of my head too... *catches another deep breath*

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was gonna write this a few days ago, but i forgot. one morning a few days back, i received a call just before 7am, and you know how early that is... =X it was a call to my SG number, and when I picked it up, it was this lady who identified herself as Jasmine, from Mids Wing, OCS. Took my a while to realise in my grogginess, OH, mids wing. Then came the next question, why was she calling? ;p Well, she told me that LTC Bernard Song, he was the.... oh.. hmm.. what was his post... but anyway, he was retiring on 1st of May and there's gonna be a dinner on the 2nd of May and I was invited.

"urm, sorry, i'd love to go but i can't. i'm actually overseas right now."
And she was like, "Are you sure? do you need time to consider?"
(consider? yah, i'd love to go, but can we get SAF to reimburse my airfare? ;p) "yeah, i'm quite sure.."

end of conversation. i wonder how many people she actually had to call up. although i think it feels nice to be remembered, even if it was for my NS days... come to think of it, i did have a really good time in Mids Wing... my buddy n i sleeping at 10.30pm every night... haha.. our trips to the cadet mess for the ji1 dan4 mian4, which is no longer available cos the shop closed... kenny being the opposition party in Mids Wing... those were the days... sighz..

I'm not sure if anyone remembers my post sometime ago about how "interesting" my homework is.... here's another one:

The more I study, the more I learn
The more I learn, the more I forget
The more I forget, the less I know
So why study?
"Discuss this in the light of principles which describe learning processes and why animals and humans forget."

Well, as my supervisor said, you can even buy the essay topic off a t-shirt... ;p exciting eh? Anyway, i've been hit by this object called "reality" today... haha.. It says that I have two essays that i didn't realise i was supposed to do until today... hmmz..

I watched this on SingaBloodyPore's blog, having been recommended by Allan:

It's the dialogue with MM Lee on "Why my vote matters" (Ok, i'm probably one of the last people on earth to watch this... ;p)

Well, I kinda agree with what MM Lee said, about how it is not because we have no opposition in Singapore but rather, it is that they are not competent enough to compete with the PAP. I really just feel that the opposition is just totally anti-PAP, which i think is the wrong approach. I don't think you can win just by slamming everything that the PAP is doing, afterall, you have to consider that the population is generally happy with the PAP. Rather I think the idea should be to improve on what's been done so far.

But I have to agree that the PAP is rather unfair on the opposition. What's with no free speech, no political freedom. Come on, let's face it. Any opposition in Singapore is scrutinised to the absolute detail and any mistake made will cause the opposition to be obliterated and annihilated, never to surface again.

Elections are such strange phenomena.

Honestly, I think, if you want to make a change, join the PAP. Don't waste your time on joining the opposition. Welcome to Singapore politics.

Had to escape from Cambridge for a while this week, so I went to London for a couple of days.

19 Apr 06
After having bought tickets for the wrong date online (cos i was looking at the June calendar... very smart of me.. ;p), I had to get a new set of tickets, having sold the "wrong" tickets to Sean, I hopped on the National Express bus to London. Come to think of it, having gone to London quite a few times since I've gotten here, this is the first time I'm heading there by bus. For good reasons too - It was only GBP4 for a pair of return tickets. :)

Having arrived in London, my first "task" was to go running - Allan's idea of a welcome greeting... ;p So Allan, Shihao and I put on our running gear and ran to Regent's Park. I must say I was quite mesmerised by Regent's park. Unlike the open picnic areas that i've been too, Regent's park was a park park, with flower beds, fountains, lakes, animals and more. Of course I was a little exhausted trying to keep up with the gang (Allan was obviously trying to prove that he's been going to the gym.. haha) to really appreciate and take in the sights.

Then having done as much exercise as I've done in a couple of weeks, we went to stuff ourselves at Misato, at Chinatown which serves really huge portions if you've not been there. And because we waited quite a long while for a table (there were 5 of us, including the apparition of Zhao Qing whom i've not seen for a couple of years. Although it was still amusing that he spoke with the same Jabroni accent he did before.... haha. Allan does a fantastic imitation), Louis and I had to rush through our colossal portions of food and headed off for The Producers.

Well, I must say I went with pretty mixed feelings about the show, having heard some mixed reviews about it. I thought the first half was rather boring and a little draggy. But I was glad that the pace in the second half picked up, and there were some pretty impressive stage directions, like this gigantic mirror with Nazi dummies dancing, forming a Swastika at the end. That was really jaw-dropping. *kenny catches his own jaw* Of course, I have to say some of the humour was rather bawdy (at this point, i'm reminded of Corrie's post on the Magic Fundoshi! I wanna watch that!) but that was what I was told to expect anyway, just "suspend the mind" as Louis said... haha.. (line i remembered: "Rest assured even though we're sitting here, we're giving you a standing ovation...")

But on the whole, I thought the Producers was an enjoyable production. Not the best of musicals I've watched but highly recommended. :)

20 Apr 06
One of my purposes for heading to London, other than catching a musical and meeting up with friends, was to go check out camera lenses at this shop called Aperture UK. Well, I hadn't quite gone with the intention of buying a lens, cos I'd just bought a lens from eBay a few days before... ;p But i just thought I'd check out some of the lenses available. But who knows, the shopkeeper brought out one of the lenses that a customer had brought in a couple of days back, a Nikon 28-200mm lens, and WOW. it felt so much better than the Tamron lens i'd bought from eBay. And it was just GBP130... urm, yah, so i bought it. haha. Now i'm putting the Tamron lens for sale on eBay.. haha.

My beautiful lens posing with my F65.

So now, my collection of lenses for my Nikon camera has reached 4, excluding a manual macro lens in Singapore.
Oooh.. how nice... :)

Anyway, I thought i'd also drop by Regent's Park again today to take some photos of Spring. And again, who'd have known that I'd spend my whole time by one of the public toilets at Regent's Park watching this toilet keeper feed squirrels. And who'd have known that I'd spend a whole roll of film taking photos of ONLY squirrels.

Squirrel approaches the peanut..

I kinda liked this photo for the squirrel behind bars... the larger version should be easier to look at.. (just click on it)

Those were just a couple of shots taken on my digital camera, not on film. I think the film photos will have to wait for a couple more months! ;p And to any conservationists out there, I don't actually have a preference for grey squirrels... they just happened to be around which was why i shot them.... haha. I haven't seen a red squirrel yet though... hmmmz..

So anyway, that kind of ends my trip to London. Went to catch my bus back to Cambridge from Victoria Coach Station and coincidentally bumped in Grace at the station and she was taking the same bus back. It was nice to have (good) company and someone to talk to on the long journey back. :)

I quote the subject from Pierre's nick. ;p How true indeed. Anyway, I think I'm gonna fly back early this summer... Earlier than i'd have preferred (make Pierre feel bad... hahaha) Probably between the 18th and 20th June i think. But yah, supposed to fly back to do Cabaret the musical... Pierre's last show before he heads off for his degree in technical design (is it?) at Yale (wah, dunch pway pway wor)...

Must take this chance to thank Pierre also... have indeed learnt lots from you... like your 5 "must-haves" for your documents (or issit 6? production name/date, company, document name, page number, updated by who/position) & the proper documentation for a production, like not taking short cuts, and more....

Although we've been through quite a lot of shit too, like when doing an "unnamed" production which was how we got to know each other, like wondering wtf (w for where) we were gonna find the stupid lin dai dvd (hahaha). But it was fun too, esp all those late-night suppers spent b*tching (ok, it was "constructive debriefing"... ;p) [But actually, come to think of it, i've only know you for a very short time. Looking at the productions i've worked with you on, i've only actually worked with you for 3!]

I am indeed blessed to have know someone like you, Pierre. thanks so much! (ok, disclaimer: i'm straight. quite straight. so is Pierre. :) )

[this is just a teaser. found this on the web.. ;p]

Just watched the Chronicles of Narnia. Can't say it was terribly enjoyable. What's with the rather contrived acting (ok, they're kids), and unimpressive CGI (especially the wolves), i can't say it was a terrific film. But then again, it's a Walt Disney film, ie. watch the good triumph over the evil, happy ending guaranteed or your money back. :) But well, I'd say it wasn't too bad lah. There were parts that I did enjoy and I would love to read the books, if i can find it that is....

Oh hang on. Why was I watching Narnia anyway? I should be doing work! ;p

I love the view from my room. Especially now that i've got my nice indoor plant, kenny staring out the window, stitch attempting an escape, my little witch with her hat poking from behind my bag... :)

Can't wait for the posters i ordered from Ebay to arrive! And a lens for my camera as well! And my books from Amazon! oops. have i been shopping too much? ;p

about time i got started writing on my slapton field trip (i realised i didn't actually write abt my trip to spain or my last 2 days in italy/venice yet.. haha)

Day 1 - 27 Mar 06
I think i was a little apprehensive about this second field trip. Kind of realised that coming for another field trip may not have been such a good idea after all. But i guess it was mostly just pre-field-trip jitters... ;p although upon arriving at the field centre, i kinda realised that there was no escape afterall! Quite literally though. Unlike Arran where we were right beside the ferry terminal, Slapton is kinda in the middle of nowhere! Didn't help that the briefing in the evening seemed to confirm that. I think the only thing i got out of the briefing was that there are "buzzers" signalling the different activities each day, like waking up, breakfast, packing our lunches, etc. It felt so military! (or mehbe it's just me...)

Day 2 - Gorah Rocks - 28 Mar 06
We set up the lab in the classroom. It feels more like a lab now. Makes us feel superior to the class next door who were doing their GCSE (ie. O levels). :)

Thereafter, we set off for this beach called Gorah rocks. After a steep descent (wet grass can be slippery! -according to the Geology health & safety guide), we arrive at Gorah rocks. Anyway, this is where I explain what we do for the trip. Our job simply was go out to the fields, look for interesting specimens, or seemingly interesting stuff, and bring them back to the lab, observe them under the microscope, and try to classify/name them.

So this being our first day out in the fields, we're all greenhorns and were like sheep being shepherded along. We were also drowned in latin names, what with Laminaria digitata(it's a type of seaweed), Calliostoma zizyphinum(it's a painted topshell, a gastropod, imagine a snail...), and more.. i think i've never seen more latin words in my life... :S But i must say it was quite fun. Especially back in the lab. A sand sediment from the rocks reveals lots of life under the microscope. A nematode (a worm) burrowing through the sediments, microscopic gastropods, brittle stars (kinda like a starfish), etc etc.

A petri dish of sand sediments. There's a polychaete (the black worm) at the top, which is pretty obvious.

My lab partner, Jon, hard at work, or pretending to be..

Our lab. With the tiny red chairs, i kinda feel like i'm back to kindergarten or primary school. =)

Day 3 & 4 - 29-30 Mar 06
Nothing much worth mentioning. We went to a couple more places (including going back to Gorah rocks on day 4) and collected more specimens and looked at them. Only exciting thing was that I found a sea hare, which was a prized-find (we had a list of prized-finds that if we could find them before the demonstrators did, they'd buy us a pint of beer. ;p) The species i found was an Aplysia-something.. Let's just called it Aplysia kennyfounditus for now. haha

Day 5 - Eden Project - 31 May 06
Exciting day. We were going to the Eden Project in Cornwall. More background info. The Eden Project has 2 huge domes (called Biomes) which recreate two different environments - the humid tropics, and the warm mediterranean.

The two HUGE domes are the biomes I was talking about.

it was really warm in the humid tropics, the moment i walked in, i was like, omg, i'm home! haha. they did a pretty good job of mimicing the tropics, you'll prob believe me if i said this photo was taken at the bukit timah nature reserve... oh, how i miss bukit timah nature reserve & the botanic gardens.... how i bringing kids for trails...

only annoying thing was we had this really irritating guide. he first tried to show how "superior" he was to us, by "proving" to us "What is not Chemistry?" because one of us said we were studying Chemistry. Then he went on to talk about really boring stuff, like what surrounds us? (the correct answer was "air" btw), and the fact that he annoyed all of us at the start, we were really just letting our thoughts wander.

But still the Eden project in Cornwall is definitely worth a visit. Oh, and we crossed the Tamar bridge too.

Day 6 - Snape Point - 1 Apr 06
Refer to day 3&4. Ok we went out to the woods behind Slapton also. It was nice to head to the woods instead of the coast for once. Lots of wood louses (they're terrestrial isopods btw) though. We also came across the poisonous Hemlock plant. Familiar name eh? That's cos Socrates died drinking the Hemlock poison.

A handsome Cormorant bird posing for us at Snape point.

Day 7 - Slapton Woods - 2 Apr 06
We headed to the woods again, but in the other direction. This time we came across the wild garlic plant. It's quite cool. If you break off a leaf, and rub it in your palm, you get a very nice garlic fragrance! garlic bread anyone? ;p

THE Boat Race
In the afternoon, we also had a break to watch THE Boat Race - Cambridge vs Oxford. It is so cool I tell you that it is even broadcasted on national TV! I think we were all more enthusiastic about the boat race than the whole week in the lab though. Pity Cambridge lost to the dark side (hey, i'm not being discriminatory here! Cambridge is the light blues, and Oxford is the dark blues team...haha) Not to mention that the newspapers the next day had centrespreads of the boatrace as well! How I wish i had been on the Thames to witness it. Next year, next year..

If anyone had watched the telecast on TV, you would have noticed that half of the rowers from Cambridge & Oxford are all Olympians or national champions. What i hear is that Oxbridge offers them a one-year diploma in some obscure subject, like tree-management or something, cos their main job is to row and not study! gee. something you never knew eh? :)

After the boat race, at night, we had a "quiz". Supposed to quiz us on the stuff we've learnt through the week. It was quite fun though. One of the questions was "Why did the bee have to die?". This question was cos while we were at Snape point, there was a bee on a rock near the water, and the tide was rising. But according to our demonstrator, there was no way we could have saved it. Why? Because 1. its wing was broken and 2. it's was stuck to the rock. Hmm.

Day 8 - Kenny's Birthday - 3 Apr 06
i'm 22. i'm OLD!

Ok. that's basically my field trip to Slapton Ley. Very fun and enjoyable trip and got to know more people around!

The subject reads "long hair" btw... ;p Anyway, i realised most people who read this blog are kinda shy and too reserved to tag, so i've decided to create a poll! What is the poll about? Find out here. :)

[edit] poll's been taken off, cos it was unvote-able... or noone seemed to have voted... ;p

Day 6 - NE Coast - 21 Mar 06
it was a very long walk. it was a very sunny day. :)


Arran Trivia by Liz: that's a dyke in the distance. (that mountain looking structure.. ;p)

Day 7 - Dykes Galore - 22 Mar 06
See that mound in the distance? That's actually a sill.. Impressive eh? It's called the DOON btw.

Other than the DOON, we saw about 2,126,983 dykes (nono, not people), I think I've seen them all. :)

Day 8 - Option Day! - 23 Mar 06
Today was option day. Not that we got the choice of staying in the hotel though. I chose to go fossil hunting. ;p Well, Liz kinda promised us trilobites although we didn't seem to find any. Found loads of crinoid stems (ossicles) and brachiopods though.

Some thoughts on Arran
This was quite a wonderful trip actually. Anyone for the 3-course dinner every night? (starter, main course and dessert!) Gee. I can feel all those fats showing already. Not to mention, I also watched more TV then I ever did since I got to Cambridge! We watched the Commonwealth games after breakfast in the morning, Simpsons when we got back in the evening, Formula One during the weekend. How much more can I ask for? ;p

Anyway, another bit of trivia. Did you know Scottish and Irish shots are 35ml as compared to 25ml for England?

I'm gonna do a summarised version of my *cough* rocking Geology field trip to Arran, Scotland. You never know how many Geology jokes there can be until you've been on one. Oh schist shit, where has my sense of humour gone to... ;p [warning: this post has geology jokes sprinkled all over.]

Day 1 - The Long Bus Journey - 16 Mar 06
it was a really long coach journey. (how else can u describe a coach ride? haha) i only recall waking up, looking out of the window and thinking we were crossing the snowy fields of Siberia, but well, it was really just Scotland. =)

We arrived in Ayr, Scotland, where we spent the night in a rather posh hotel(!!!) I also sneaked out of the hotel before dinner where I managed to catch quite a dramatic sunset. What a lovely way to end the day.



Day 2 - Ayrshire Coast - 17 Mar 06
We travelled along the Ayrshire Coast and stopped at certain points to look at various rock formations. (of course, since no one else reading this blog is quite as cool as i am to appreciate the stuff, i shan't go into details. ;p)

Anyway, it was like travelling through Hobbitshire in LOTR on a coach. The rolling vast green hills of the countryside with loads of sheep grazing on it.

see? nice sunny weather. sheep grazing on the slopes. students looking at what? (pillow lavas actually... *wink*)

Thereafter, we made the journey across the straits to Arran. Quite strangely, it brought back fond memories of my navy days. When the sheep (damn it, i really typed sheep), ship's lines were cast and pulled away from the harbour slowly, I suddenly had the image of MSTD (Midshipmen Sea Training Deployment) unfold in my mind. Midshipmen with our peak caps, and ever so smart looking No.3 uniform lining the decks, waving to our friends and families on the dockside, embarking on a 7-week long epic journey. Those were the days. Oh well. Enough of reminiscing now.

We arrived on Arran after sunset and checked into our rooms. After dinner, there was an intrusion *gasp* in our room. Jim (my room-mate) and I were giving a couple of good kicks to our door as it simply wouldn't close, not knowing that we had awakened the monster living beside us (quite literally). Having finally closed the door, and gone back to our room, the door bursts open and this guy whom we've not seen before (whom we found out later to be one of our demonstrators) enters and snatches the key which was on the table! Jim and I were just dumbfounded, wondering if we should let the other demonstrators know that a "stranger" had taken our key! We decided to just wait, and the key was returned to the keyhole safe and sound the next morning.

Day 3 - Corrie Foreshore - 18 Mar 06
ooh. Corrie will be proud that there's a place named after her. (or maybe she was named after the place, but let's assume the former.. haha.. ) Lots of walking. We also climbed up this hill so that we could look at the butts of brachiopods (brachiopods are kinda like bivalves. ok. in very simple terms, imagine a clam).. Nothing much else worth mentioning I suppose.

Oh, i also spent my nights reading The Time Traveller's Wife and got hopelessly lost on it. Such a beautiful and sweet story that I just wanna believe it's real and be a part of it. =)

Day 4 - West Coast - 19 Mar 06
.
(in case you think that this is an ordinary full stop, it's not. it's actually a very fine grained, well rounded particle of quartz. look closely)

Day 5 - Mapping Exercise - 20 Mar 06
Spent the day doing a mapping exercise on the Great North Glen Sannox. It was quite fun though. Phil and I were covering the higher parts of the hill and we got to see some pretty cool stuff and scenery. Like for example, sighted some wild deer!

See the two deer in the distance? Ok fine. i'm sua-ku (translated to be mountain tortoise. don't understand? ask someone who knows..;p) can? In Singapore, the wildest animal we see is like the cockroach lor... =X

Oh, Phil and I also got into some close contact with some sheep, which we decided not to disturb. They certainly weren't giving us a sheepish grin. (muahaha. writing this post is so much fun) Rather not be charged at by some ram. I'd imagine it's not very fun.


Ok, i think i shall stop here for now. I kinda realised that my summary is quite *ahem* concise.

Wow. I just watched two of the five episodes of BBC's Planet Earth documentary series. It's a first-class documentary. Really breathtaking. Anyway, one of my favourites:

Angel Falls. The world's tallest waterfall, falling some 1000m down. and that's not the best part. The water falls into the Devil's Canyon. :) How cool is that. I wanna go to South America!

Just as I was trying to find an answer to my troubles, my iTunes plays me the perfect song.

Think about the love inside the strength of heart
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark
Climbing higher through the fire
Time was running out
Never knowing you weren't going to be coming down alive

But you still came back for me
You were strong and you believed

Everything is gonna be alright (X3)
Be strong
Believe

Believe - Yellowcard

Indeed. Be strong & believe.

Yeah, i'm troubled, stressed, and tired. Where am I gonna draw my strengths from now?

"What's going on?" asked Veronika.
"Nothing," said Eduard, helping her to her feet. "Or rather, a miracle happened: another day of life."

from Paulo Coelho's "Veronika Decides to Die"

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Just finished the book. I won't say it's quite an uplifting book, but it does make you think about life, reminds you of how you should be the one living life to the fullest. As i'd say, we only get to live once. =)

If you had 5 days left to live, what will you do?

This was supposed to have been before the Billy Elliot post but well, i guess i had to blog for the moment. ;p

So it was the Temasek Forum today and for once, people actually came down to Cambridge, although most of them were coerced into coming by PSC (if they didn't, their CEP will probably drop to that of a clerk prob. ;p) But it was a good talk nonetheless. PS Lim (PS PSD) was really sincere and to the point, unlike some other officers who will try means and ways to dodge the bullet or go on a merry-go-round and not answer the question in the end.

Also had the 2nd batch of illegal immigrants in my room : Sharon & Yibing. We started watching Billy Elliot at like 12.30am and by 1am, Yiping had lost the battle to the Z-monster and soon after, at 1.20am, it was Sharon's turn to head off for her appointment with zhou1 gong1. So well, i went to bed as well, although i woke up at 2am and couldn't fall asleep for the longest time....

Took a group of the Londoners for a tour of Cambridge after the forum and I can't believe it but the colleges in town have started charging for people entering the colleges! OMG! It's ridiculous! Then again, I managed to get the porters to let us (all 9 of us) in to St Johns & Kings, which I guess were the two main colleges to really visit.

And then steamboat for dinner! Woohoo! We created so much smoke today I was a little worried that we were gonna trigger off the fire alarm in my room, even though we had subtly wrapped the smoke detector with a plastic bag (101 ways to use a plastic bag. ;p) Good thing we didn't. I cannot imagine trying to explain it to the porters if we did. (it would be hard to try and hide a steamboat plus explain why i was committing felony by harbouring four illegal immigrants. haha)

andre-the-scapegoat (right of kenny) & "can cook" allan (i really mean the inverted commas btw.. ;p)

"drinks soup with thai sweet chilli sauce" Yibing (left) & "i can walk very fast" Sharon

So light a candle on your cake
For every smile you've helped create
For every heart and every soul you've helped to grow
A little more
A few more pounds, a little more grey
Don't count the years, just count the way
It takes a little time to go from water into wine
Don't ever lose the wonder of that child within your eyes

Happy Birthday, my friend
Here's to all the years we've shared together
All the fun we've had
You're such a blessing
Such a joy in my life
May the good Lord bless you
And may all your dreams come true

Corrinne May - The Birthday Song

i just finished watching Billy Elliot on DVD having watched half of it with Sharon & Yiping in the dead of the night last night. And I must say i was really moved by the movie, even though i've watched the musical and i knew what was gonna happen. Somehow the movie just managed to strike the right chords in me, and I was seriously moved to tears. (Can't even recall what the last movie was that managed to do that. Maybe Pay It Forward?) It's such a good movie. Can't say much more. Watch it if you haven't already done so. =)

A pious man explained to his followers:
It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lived. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. "Don't be scared," I tell those fishes. "I am saving you from drowning." Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money i receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes. Anonymous

Extracted from the back of "Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan.

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I bought FOUR books today from the Cambridge Market! =) As you can guess, one of the books was "Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan, and I also bought "Joy Luck Club", also by Amy Tan, Wordworth's "Prelude", and Paul Coelho's "Veronika Decides to Die". Feel so cultured. Haha.

Also, in the last two weeks, I read three books! Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveller's Wife", Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" and Nick Hornby's "About a Boy". I think they were all really fanstastic reads. I kinda liked the real nice and sweetness of the two main characters in the book. There's so much love and chemistry oozing out from the text! Although I must say, I thought this chrono-impairment disease was real initially. =( Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" was really exciting and breathtaking, and kept me on the edge of my seat... although i must say it ended kinda ridiculously. ;p Hornby's "About a Boy" was just a book I thought i'd read since I really enjoyed the movie and plus the fact i can appreciate most of the places they were talking about in London & Cambridge now. =)

I now have quite a collection of books that I wonder how I'm gonna bring home. And it's only been 6 months. *frownz*

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There was an audition in town today for the role of Lyra in the upcoming movie the Golden Compass! (Honestly, i have no idea what it was all about) But anyway, there was this REALLY long queue from the Guildhall snaking all the way to Top Shop, filled with anxious parents accompanying their daughter. I was wondering initially, "Wah, GCS? (Great Cambridge Sale?)", only to be quite disappointed. *grinz*

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Meanwhile, I'll be finishing up loads of CUMSA stuff and unpacking my room before hitting the books! And I'll be starting to blog about my field trips soon! =)

well.. i'm 22... hmmz... how old is that? =)

it's been a quiet birthday for me this year (not that any year was particularly rowdy... seriously... ;p) but i guess i still enjoyed the day pretty much... thanks for the loads of birthday wishes!

and yes... i'm back for good (at least for the rest of this hols) now... i'll write again soon!