The aim of this trip is just to relax - hence it is unlike my Europe trips which aims are to learn something new and see something different. So I really relaxed.
We have almost no plan: all we have are 2 printouts from wikitravel, a few maps, a GPS handset, and a magazine add-on from i-Weekly which tells us where to find good food.
So we randomly picked places to go to, slotting in good food in between - and it turned out really well. Places of interest in Malaysia almost always consist of temples after temples after temples, but we managed to visit only one cave temple and yet our itinerary was full.
I have not had such intensive input of good food ever. The best part was Penang - we went to the congregation of hawker stalls at Gurney Drive, ordered $30 equivalent of food, and we ate till we almost died. Of course that wasn't all - that was just one dinner. We also had steamboat dinner one of the nights whereby the pot has a chimney that sprays fire.
Though not all were nice: the beach at Batu Ferringhi was a disappointment. The water wasn't clear, and there were too many jetboats too close to the shore. Anyway since we were there we spent one whole morning and half an afternoon at the hotel pool - shouldn't waste the sun.
Just that, after driving into Malaysia for the first time, I realised how dangerous those coach buses that ferry people from Singapore to KL actually are. I saw this Five-Star Travel juggernaut on the expressway near Seremban ahead of me and as usual I tried to overtake it. I couldn't overtake it at all - not even after 100km - I completely gave up by the time we reached Malacca.
We stopped at Ayer Keroh for almost an hour for dinner, and my dad took over after that. The bus reappeared at Yong Peng - we saw it entering the expressway there. Yong Peng is not like Ayer Keroh whereby you get to stop and rest immediately after you exit the expressway. Basically, after we stopped, the bus flew all the way to Yong Peng, negotiated itself to some stop point/restaurant, stopped for dinner, negotiated back to the expressway, and met us again all in the same time as we stopped and travelled down. You can imagine how fast it went.
So it was behind us all the way - at some point it was following a small car with probably only 1.5 meters between it and the car - until we were at Tuas Checkpoint. Of course it couldn't be faster than us anymore.
That wasn't the only bus that behaved like that. That was just the most dangerous one. Those drivers are crazy, seriously. Don't ever take those buses unless absolutely necessary. And when you see them on the expressway, don't let them be in your vicinity - try to shake them off. You never know when they'll lose control and crush your car :P
Christmas day - in Singapore. Last Christmas was spent wholly on vehicles basically.
Don't feel like Christmas at all, but all that matters is the company - family and good friends.
Will be meeting some friends for lunch, and then will call my sister out to buy stuff to prepare for Christmas dinner. Should be yesterday but she was out so we didn't eat much.
And we will be setting off for Ipoh tomorrow.
Unlikely to be back again next Christmas, but will definitely be the Christmas after next :)
Oh and United Airlines. It's not too bad - other than food which tastes exactly like Chinese take-out and the out-of-order entertainment system for my seat on my first leg there's nothing much to complain about. Since it's cheap I guess if I fly United I can come back more often - added advantage :)
If this thing is not photoshop-ed, the guy that came out with this image has to get 13 friends to cooperate with him while he blocks 10 of them. That's quite an effort :D
It is not in the Bible. Nope. But it was taught to me by a Sister when I was still really small and it stuck with me ever since.
Then there is this story that my mum loves to tell (I have heard that at least 2 - 3 times from her - she always repeat stories :P) about a person stranded on a rooftop in a flood, praying to God to send angels to save him.
He died still - because he didn't realise that the fireman and the soldier that came were the angels that God sent. God helped him but he didn't help himself.
It might not be consistent with Christian teachings - I definitely don't know enough (or, who am I to say anything). But, in my humble opinion, there is a big problem if people expect God to do everything for them without practical input from them. A sinner who keeps sinning and shows no remorse would still go to hell? At least this is what I believe to be right?
Digressed. There have been little miracles happening... here and there. I, am, truly, grateful :)
Finally. Was so stressed the past few days; seriously, was popping panadol and antacid every few hours just to make sure I don't fall apart from all the discomfort I was getting from staring at the computer screen continuously.
I already have so much to study for even when the exams aren't cumulative. I can't imagine what will happen if I get cumulative finals for my classes next semester... Med biochem, micro-b, d-bio, nervous system, basically all of them are memory-intensive. I hope that my anthro and history class will only require essays from me.
Haha have been hearing about phys-found 1. Kind of tempted to take it in fall because it sounds really interesting - though most prob I'll have to S/U it in the end. I definitely can't deal with the math fast and good enough to win those geniuses from BME - how is a bio major supposed to fight with a BME in solving problems that require strings of ODEs? It is good for me though because my way of thinking now is not quantitative; alright for a physician I guess, but definitely bad for a scientist. I have to brush that up :P
Good preparation for HBTM also - I know nothing about systems biology which I might eventually need to know. Now I just know bits and pieces from my random experiences here and there. I am trying to take neuro stuff to give myself a systems perspective in the neuro sense, phys-found 1 will give me a systems perspective for the circulatory system. Cannot take phys-found 2 - I don't know MatLab :P
As you can see, running out of good classes to take from the bio department - unless I want to take plant biochemistry, evolution, ecology, glycobiology, etc (boring). I can progress to 600-level though; it is possible, but not next sem :P
Though there are just too many geniuses around. Singapore feels like a safe haven - I never had the feeling wow this place is really filled with freaking geniuses when I was studying in Singapore. Compared to what I am getting now lab attachments in Singapore were just relaxed - I was so highly supervised every time (i.e. get told what to do and how to do it). One of the reasons for me to be looking forward to graduation is the one-year attachment - I know, even if I will be stressed, I definitely won't be as stressed as now.
I don't know whether that is good or bad - I just have to constantly remind myself of the geniuses in the rest of the world and keep in contact with some of them when I am back in Singapore eventually. We as scientists do not only compete within our company or organisation for position and salary raise - we, as individuals, compete with the world.
Well in order for me to get good grades I have to compromise a lot of things - I am not considered active on campus. Geniuses can still pwn everyone in exams with 2 leadership positions in clubs, regular volunteering and authorship in research papers (they might be the third or fourth author but then it doesn't matter because they're still undergrads - as long as there is it is impressive).
I cannot outdo these people. But I can get to know them and work with them - though sadly I know this kind of people definitely exists (from the classes that I take!) I don't know them yet (doesn't mean that we take classes together we will know each other - this is America). Haha maybe during graduate school I will get to know some :P
Yeah 2 more days. Though I can almost smell 3 A-es coming this way. Or B+es or whatever else.
There are some good things about not getting all As anymore:
1. Others won't think that you are invincible anymore. They will start to see you as a human. 2. There is no need to stress about not maintaining 4.0: comparatively 3.8 is alright, as long as I don't do too badly. Anyway 3 A-es or 2 A-es + 1 B+ is the minimum I can afford to get this semester :P
And I think in Hopkins A- is a 3.7 and a B+ gives you a 3.3. *shudder*
Oops getting 阿Q already. Better go back to mugging soon.
Sigh feeling old... I am now 23 and I am still not a graduate student yet. Among all the birthday wishes Shi Hui's was the most entertaining... It was, just, funny. I have to bring out the emoticon XD that I have tried my best not to use (it looks a little too exaggerated?) when I replied her :P
Thanks again to all who have sent me birthday wishes and to my housemates who bought me the cake! I didn't even know they went out until I saw it during the study break at CC kitchen yesterday night (the best thing is I didn't even see them bringing it down).
Just cleared 2 exams + 1 report yesterday. 2 more exams and 1 more paper to go. By Friday.
Haha anyway from Facebook group:
香港出世，星洲長大……究竟我地係香港d定係新加坡d？
I think I belong to the 新加坡d kind at this point. Kind of miss Siglap more than Mongkok :P Singaporean Chinese is becoming my second mother tongue - and I don't blog like how HKers blog too :P
HK is a damn fun place to be in - just that I don't see myself living there in the near future - but I will definitely visit very often. And Cantonese is a damn fun and colourful language to use (I need to renew my Cantonese vocab - depend on you liao sushi :P)... I guess Cantonese/Singaporean Chinese are still the two that I feel the most comfortable with. Getting very used to English too, haha though I think standard Chinese is the worst :P
Hahaha Songyu continue to 加油!
Oh Siglap. Uniquely Singapore actually features Siglap, and says the following:
It is also sometimes called the Holland Village of the East, although Easterners will set you straight and have you know Siglap is peerless.
Haha of course la. Siglap feels way more local with good local eateries (NO crystal jade :P), is smaller with less tourists, things are cheaper, NOT surrounded by HDBs, NOT surrounded by circle line construction, and Siglap/Katong has a rich history dating back to the colonial era! The Siglap/Katong kopi/kaya toast/confectionaries/roadside laksa relaxed kind of culture is unique to the East. Of course it helps when your school's school song has the lines 亭亭樹影, 習習海風 in it and when your friend's family runs a kopidiam with a branch in Siglap :P
And the Cheesecake Cafe there is just awesome. The cheesecake is alright (Cheesecake Factory standard :P) but the ambience is really good. They have nice huge sofas with large pillows to hug when you go in with a group - or if you are lucky :D
The East is just nice! Other than Katong/Siglap we have East Coast Park, Changi Beach, Pasir Ris, Pulau Ubin, Airport (go to Changi Coast and watch planes fly!) and recently they just linked up all the parks in the East by park connectors. Food-wise, as far as I know, there are still Bedok Corner, Simpang Bedok, Bedok Int., Fengshan 85, Old Airport Road, Geylang, Changi Village, East Coast Seafood Centre, etc with awesome food. The only things not nice are probably just Pulau Tekong and the army camps.
(This kind of girls are being loved at home excessively, causing them to think that all guys in this world will treat them like how their family would. They might also have been heavily polluted by Japanese drama, Korean drama, Hollywood movies, mushy comics and fiction since they were small, resulting in serious brain damage. Generally it is recognised that this syndrome is more common in girls that are considered slightly pretty or pretty, though according to statistics dinosaurs that like to dress up and feel good about themselves belong to the most seriously affected group. However, because only pretty girls exist in all guys' perspective, while guys consider all others to be mere Christmas trees or underdeveloped men, guys are generally willing to act as 'nice guys' or 'slaves' before these girls. Therefore symptoms in these girls tend to exacerbate; guys tend to expediate the process without even realising despite them suffering from the consequences of the syndrome.)
(Hahaha this article is definitely written by a guy. Please don't take it too seriously - this is more for humour than anything. The terms 'dinosaur', 'nice guys', 'slaves' etc do not reflect their actual meanings in Hongkong and Taiwanese slang.)
Haha yeah sushi Yan you can never be a real sushi. You don't have nice enough parents and a nice enough brother. We are just too brutal (and idiotic?) :D
Of course the article provides a link to one describing the Prince Syndrome (sushi仔) as well :D
Edit 11:17pm: I just couldn't stop reading all these Uncyclopedia entries. Seriously damn funny... hahaha and I realised that I am really out of touch with the HK/Taiwanese student culture.
Singaporeans do not have a strong sense of identity; this is unlike people in some other countries.
People have suggested that it is the product of a heavily paternalistic government... A lot of Singaporeans do not feel that the country is theirs, rather, they feel that the country is the government's. I have pointed out repeatedly that Singaporeans always tend to confuse loyalty to Singapore with loyalty to the PAP government. And, I just recently heard that due to very practical reasons of survival people have to display loyalty to the PAP government during elections especially if they are civil servants (don't know whether that is true or not; I have to see it with my own eyes first).
Nevertheless, no matter whether it is true, when you feel that even during elections you can't freely play your part in deciding the fate of your country - and as always the fate of the country is decided by the government - how to feel patriotic?
Since Singaporeans don't feel they own Singapore, and they feel that the Singapore government owns Singapore - it's just difficult to be patriotic.
Britain has a rich history - the ideas of due process, democracy etc are pioneered by the British; they used to have a great empire and an amazing navy; they have had great composers and writers like Elgar, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen; they defended their own land fearlessly against the Nazis in WWII; there are many reasons for the British to be patriotic - if they want to be. Because those are THEIR laws, THEIR political system, THEIR empire, THEIR armed forces, THEIR music, THEIR literature - which are still influencing the world (and a lot of us). So many things in Singapore are inherited from the British!
Singaporeans don't even see the achievements of Singapore as their own - they attribute all of them to the government. Of course we still do have the flag-waving frenzy of the NDP, but walk around Singapore and find something that a Singaporean can make himself feel proud because that thing truly belongs to him.
Singlish is something that truly belongs to Singaporeans and the government doesn't want people to speak it because the British and the Americans don't understand it. Well, have you ever heard people from Manchester speak English? To us who are used to the American accent some British accents can be near incomprehensible. But did the Queen try to campaign everyone to speak English her way?
You can of course argue that Singapore needs to survive so we have to make practical policies, but that is precisely why Singaporeans have a weak sense of identity. Cannot blame anyone and cannot compare anything once this argument is used. We can't blame Singaporeans for not being patriotic; a lot of people just cannot find anything to feel patriotic for.
You really have to feel that Singapore belongs to you and vice versa before you can actually be patriotic. Like I am now a British yet I don't feel anything for Britain because I don't belong there and Britain doesn't belong to me.
Oh by the way I posted the song because I love Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 and I just recently figured out its lyrics and what it actually is :D
Land of Hope and Glory Sir Edward Elgar (Pomp and Circumstance March No.1)
Last Night of the Proms (2007), Royal Albert Hall, London
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free, How shall we extol thee, Who are born of thee? Wider still and wider Shall thy bounds be set; God, who made thee mighty, Make thee mightier yet! God, who made thee mighty, Make thee mightier yet!
The good thing is, I am slowly clearing everything. Problem is that I don't know whether I can clear them fast enough. The next 10 days is really going to be bad. Just bad. I will have 2 exams on Monday and I haven't even started studying because I am still stuck with reports and essays.
I am certainly going to have the worst birthday of my life so far this year. I have never needed to work on my birthday at all before. This year I will have 2 exams waiting for me to study for on my birthday.
I am really looking forward to 14 Dec... Won't have anything to do because almost all my friends will still have exams all the way till the 18th but then at least I can commit myself to make a feast out of whatever that is left in the fridge over the weekend. And invite people over for study break :P
(Whoever supports the idea let me know!! :D) (And James will complain again that I made tiramisu when he's not around :P)
Will then run another set of experiments over the week. After everyone finished exams we will go to Washington DC. Then I will go home... and enjoy the sun.
i. God created everything in the universe. ii. I am part of the universe. iii. Therefore, God created me.
i. Planets are held in orbit round the sun by gravity. ii. I am held on the Earth's surface by gravity. iii. Therefore, all matter attract each other by gravity.
Which way of reasoning makes more sense to you?
The first kind of reasoning is known as 'deduction' or 'a priori'; the second kind is known as 'induction' or 'a posteriori'. Haha choose one and tell me! It doesn't matter if you are religious or not, because God can also be proven using a posteriori reasoning. I am just using convenient examples to illustrate.
But it sure does tell me whether you are the follower of an English or a French. Interesting huh.
