The end of the year marks the beginning of yet another year... I cannot help but spend some time thinking of what I have done in the year. I remembered I visited the temple during Chinese New Year and the fortune teller told me that this year was the best for those born in the year of the tiger; followed by 2 or 3 years of "not so good" years. Be it studies, job opportunities, love, etc etc... this year is the best for the tiger-ians.

How time flies...

Kinloong has officially graduated; eddi will be going for NOC for a year; louelle will be going to South Africa for SEP (or perhaps for some world cup fun and giraffe-watching); ks also going IA; my 2 chem eng SCBs will also be going for their IA; leaving behind poor old me to do fyp. So the next sem will be rather lonely i'll say.

The year behind me...

It has been good. Though tiring, the greatest enjoyment i had was ironically... rag. The rest of the year? Doing SK for engin club and mugging of course. Speaking of the uni education, its an education made for the smart and talented; but not for the hardworking but less smart and talented. So much is crammed into one semester and we are expected to be experts at the end of the semester. I dunno... perhaps this is true only in chemical engineering. As for the exams, i feel quite screwed. Let's just hope that the fortune teller is correct.

The year ahead...

I really dunno... i guess it'll be full of mugging again... with FYP on my hands, how can it ever be relaxed? Apart from that, i'll say that just dun hold your expectations too high and dun worry be happy.

Christmas is near and somehow its the festival that i enjoy most. The cooling weather, as well as the mood and atmosphere around me makes me happy.

~~It's the season to be jolly, falalalalalalalala~~

Kids these days are really getting quite out of hand... I really wonder what is being taught to them these days. Smoking, vulgarities, perhaps being a little bit too open than what is to be expected of them. I witnessed a very "interesting" conversation between a group of secondary boys and a malay auntie at Choa Chu Kang MRT station. These boys (sec 1 or 2 cos they were wearing shorts) were loitering near a generator/transformer unit near the MRT track. The malay auntie (an employee from SMRT) saw them tempering with the lock and told them to stop and move away from the place.

Malay Auntie: Oei, hello... what are you doing there? You are not allowed to stay around the area!!

Sec. School Boy: Why? Cannot ar? I walking around with my friends only ma... this is public place why I cannot be here?

Malay Auntie: Clearly annoyed, she tried to maintain her composure. You are not allowed to tamper with the lock.

Sec. School Boy: K**CC*!!! Not happy go call the police la.

Malay Auntie: (Now she's mad) Eh, how can you say that? I talk to you nicely you all don't listen and now you scolding vulgarities.

Sec. School Boy: Go away la. F*** your (probably quite inappropriate to post say it here)

Malay Auntie: The malay auntie was looking quite stressed now... so she left... i think to call her supervisor.

My bus arrived shortly after that. Really, I wonder what is going through their minds at that time; doing something so stupid and foolish. Perhaps they're just a bunch of troubled kids wanting to express themselves or seeking attention outside which they cannot get at home. Or perhaps they are just spoilt or just not being taught the right thing. I've seen secondary school kids smoking openly at bus stations, playing cards at the void deck etc etc.

I flip the newspapers, and I see people in China doing ridiculous things like dispatching 20 limos that their home owns just to fetch a rare breed of dog (tibetian shephard) from the airport; drink driving with a group of friends in their Ferraris and Lambo only to kill a pedestrian and still take it as a joke.

Seriously, this particular breed of people is really worrying.

Oh darn... i look at my last post date and realized it was on August 7th... and its now October 20th; which means I have not updated this page for two and a half months. All thanks to university...

Oh well, so here's two stories about the preacher and the preached.

Story 1: The preacher meets the tired JC kid on the MRT train

Tired JC kid: (On his way back home after school; thinks to himself) Oh man, I'm so tired, I think I should take a nap on the way home. (Closes his eyes)

MRT PA system: Sembawang.... Sembawang.... Doors closing, please stand clear of the closing doors.

Tired JC kid: Hears footsteps and opens his eyes to see a angmoh taking the seat next to him. He has a name tag dangling on his chest.

Angmoh: Hi, are you on your way back?

Tired JC kid: (oh man... now i can't go back to sleep) Ya, just finished school. Do I know you by any chance?

Angmoh: Oh, I'm from the (forgot name) church and I just wanted have a casual conversation as we head back home.

Tired JC kid: (Damn, now I really can't sleep)

Angmoh preacher: You look really tired, are you ok?

Tired JC kid: (Trying hard not to look uninterested) Ya, I'm fine, just feeling tired and exhausted after PE lessons.

Angmoh preacher: School must be really hard these days isn't it?

Tired JC kid: Ya, I am having problems with my standing broad jump and the teacher made me do extra leg exercises and now my leg feels sore.

Angmoh preacher: Oh i see. After some silence, the preacher finally asked: do you believe in God?

Tired JC kid: Maybe... no one can prove its existence anyway. (Diplomatic answer)

Angmoh preacher: Do you have a religion?

Tired JC kid: Well, on paper i'm buddhism... but i think of it more as a way of life.

Angmoh preacher: I see, would you then like to come to our church and experience our "way of life"? You can make more friends and expand your social circle...

Tired JC kid: (Too tired to listen anymore and thinks of a way to get away) Er... I'm really busy right now as I have a test coming up next week.

Angmoh preacher: Well, it's ok. Would you then like to leave me your contact number and name so that we can contact you in the future to inform you of church gatherings?

Tired JC kid: (Hesitates for some time as he is skeptical about church)

MRT PA System: Woodlands... Doors Opening...

Tired JC kid: I'm sorry... I just reached my destination. Nice talking to you. (Runs out of the train and waited for the next train)

The preacher just chose the wrong place at the wrong time to perform his stuff.

Story 2: The university kid meets the auntie preacher.

Auntie preacher: Hi, I'm currently doing a survey on Christianity and peoples' perceptions on it; can you spare me just 10 minutes.?

University student: (Thinks it was rather interesting and decides to listen to what she had to say.)

Auntie preacher: Do you believe in God?

University student: No.

Auntie preacher: Do you believe in superior beings other than God?

University student: Well, basically no... (ghosts maybe?)

Auntie preacher: How do you see God? Do you see him as a male or female figure?

University student: Er, male i guess... (I have acted as Jesus in a role play during kindergarden)

Auntie preacher: Do you see the things around you as gifts from God?

University student: No. I think I slogged and tried my best in achieving them.

Auntie preacher: I see... If you see 2 birds sitting on your window sill the first thing in the morning when you opened your eyes; what would you think off?

University student: Erm... i guess they must be tired so they decided to take a rest on my sill? I would shoo them away as they would dirty my sill if they decided to take their morning poo there.

Auntie preacher: (Laughs) Very well. Thank you for your time. Here's my namecard and a copy of The Daily Bread that perhaps you would take some time to read.

University student: (Smiles and took the booklet and left.)

The above are just the personal views of the tired JC kid and the University Student.

Ok... first of all... i dunno who's the ass who used MY NAME to write those stuff on the chatbox... although a clever guess is sze seng.

Anyway, i think i should refrain myself from scolding vulgarities or cursing. Best is to totally quit from doing that. I was a good boy in secondary school and in JC. No matter how things went I still would not scold F---. The worst was only a damn or shit or darn it. It was only after i went to the army only did i start to pick up vulgarity scolding on the way. I remember there was one platoon sergaent in Foxtrot SISPEC whose name i forgot because it was such a bad memory to begin with. Nothing good would come out of this platoon sergaent's foul mouth. His first words were "LCBKNNCCB". Don't bother to find out the meaning of these acronymns if you dunno their meanings... it wouldn't sound good.

My bunk mates all scolded vulgarities, except for one; who managed to remained untainted.

I thought about it. Vulgarities are NOT good. I dun scold vulgarities at home. Maybe must see people la. Sometimes vulgarities are also a form of communication and it also helps to boost relationships and foster stronger bonds between people.

But then, generally; they are just not good.

The more I see it, there are really a lot of meanings to this post title. Ok, to start with, I must say that I feel particularly useless on Sundays... consecutively for 2 Sundays. I also dunno why, but yea. Perhaps its the worry of not being able to complete the float building on time for rag day. Float building has been seriously delayed and slow because Megatron; Xavier; or that particularly person whom all of you know is NOT doing her job. This had taken a toll on the already tired builders; especially eugene who had to come up with ideas for the float deco.

And I thought i could give her a chance to prove her worth.

Right from the horse's mouth: "Coincidentally, I went to the doctor and he said I am having a VERY VERY BAD COUGH. So I can't come to help in the deco."

I was really pissed. What kind of a reason is that? Hardly turn up for work; or more precisely, only TWICE. And the 2 times is do half-f***ed job then leave early, saying "ok, I think i'll come by another day to give you all more work" If it was another person he/she would probably have just shot and shouted "f*** off"

If I would ever lose it again and hit a person, tt would be her. The only 2 times I lost it was in primary school when one malay guy hit me and I slapped him, causing him to lose one of his front tooth. That was rather funny though. His mother came to look for me and we patched it back together. The other time I lost it was in army when one stupid bugger provoked me so much with his slacking; MIAs; ball-carrying that I gave him a good scolding so loud that the guys in the other bunks thought I was going to beat him up. In that case, I would be in the wrong.

I realized I have a strong tolerance for things, maybe too much compassion; maybe I'm too willing to give other people another chance; maybe I'm just being too good a chap. So much so that it harms me in some way or another.

It's a strength, but also a great weakness.

I can't imagine myself shouting at people, drowning them in saliva with every single mistake they make. I'll try to find a way to avoid conflict. Its just not me to be picking a fight. I know i'll lose somehow... cos my brain can't turn fast enough. I'll always think of the arguments I wanted to say AFTER the fight... haiz

But then again, the float building process and the deco part had been a fun and enjoyable one. Though tired, it was rather fun and amusing. I think life in rag would be better if she had not turned up at all. There will bound to be 3 main topics everyday, fishing, dancing and archery. Somehow, these topics managed to keep us alive during the deco process which would otherwise lull us to sleep.

The situation now is less hands, more work... bleak outlook.

Perhaps the stars can be my guiding light tonight.

Perhaps the Sun (literally) can be the light that shines my way through.

Here I am, sitting in front of my laptop at 11:27pm, typing away on the keypad. The living room is dark and my parents have all gone to sleep. The only noises coming from around me are the radio and the incessant "dings" coming from my msn messenger whenever someone comes online.

No .a tonite because eugene is not online (probably out smiling). Eddi most probably having some post-nine-activities and ben is probably fishing since puffer is online while sze seng is learning ballet.

This is when my thoughts have the highest tendency to run wild and "anyhow think"

Oh well, feeling quite bored tonite...

Went for RT today... and many more days to come. Saw many fellow NSmen suffering the same fate as me. I thought to myself, why the heck can I not jump? Maybe I should eat more frog legs. As they say, eat the parts to replenish the parts that are not good. Or maybe I had some superhuman power like luffy that allows me to jump as far as I want to. This problem has plagued me since I was primary school. (Fail)

Oh well, saw a few people lighting up their bloody cigarettes once they step out of maju camp... even more started to smoke at the bus-stop where I was along with them waiting for the god-forsaken bus that seemed to take forever to come. Somehow they do not know that bus-stops are non-smoking areas. Too bad I can't just take down photos of them smoking with my handphone and send it to NEA without first knowing their names and particulars. Anyways, maybe I should have some mind-reading powers to get their names from their brains or become an invisible man so that I can snatch the cigarettes right from their very eyes and snuff it out in their noses.

On the train back home, I saw this pregnant lady with no place to sit. Somehow, the PCK way of telling people to give up their seats to the needy has not serve its purpose. The arrow pointing downwards indicating that it is a reserved seat has also failed. Now, i probably need some mind-controlling techniques to control these peoples' muscles so that they can remove the glue attached to their asses and stand up to give up the seat to the lady.

Well, this is afterall, not a perfect world.

Reached home, feeling all lethargic and muscle aching all over after the RT. More Harry Potter after dinner as it was being aired on channel 5. The sixth installation of the series was not that fantastic though. Mostly kissing and fooling around and some people say it deviated too much from the story-book by J.K Rowling. Nevertheless, I think I should buy the whole series someday and read it. Maybe it'll be more interesting that way.

Very hot tonite... No wind, no stars... The sky looks a bit of a devilish purple as the road lights illuminated the skies. Was just stoning away when ben started poking me for contact glue and chopsticks to feed "fishes". Asked me a trick question and I fell for it. Beware, someday i'll shoot you down with my perfectly honed archery skills. I did learn archery when I was in secondary after all...

News of the much hated H1N1 A influenze virus has been hogging headlines for some time already and it doesn't seem to be stopping at where it is right now. Chui la... now having cough and sore throat... some more i've been to maju camp; attended engin camp, which I also dunno whether got anybody kena already... now feeling a bit paranoid maybe I kena jackpot already.

Anyways, this weekend was hell weekend for me as I have to attend RT(remedial training) and then rush of to overnight cycling and then to another RT session :( really hate RT sessions, a total waste of time and money... somemore maju camp already got 19 people who have gotten the virus. They claimed that the RT personnel are safe from the virus as the camp personnel have been quarantined, in a barrack right opposite the place where the RT is being conducted. I really doubt the 'safeness' of the place.

Night cycling was tiring, yet fun, partly because I got plenty of chances to poke fun at ben and suan him with opf. (Good thing her principles forbade her to read other peoples' blogs) To be frank, I was quite disappointed with this year's night cycling in the sense that there wasn't really very good food for me to eat nor was there a wide variety to choose from as I am having a bad throat which disallowed me to eat at the places we visited. I only had a bowl of hot tau huay and a cup of teh tarik for the whole night :((

But overall, the logistics and the turn out was quite well done.