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This week has been a PACKED! week.
On Monday, there was a talk in campus at Boon Lay from 8am - 5pm. This means waking up at 6am, leaving the house at 6.30am, and reaching back home at 7pm. Slept at 12am plus that night.
On Tuesday, the talk continued from 8am - 11.30am (had to wake up at 6am again! Shucks!). After lunch, the whole lot of us had to adjourn to HQ SCE army camp. Finished at 5pm. Loitered around Jurong Point after that, and went for a seminar session at 7.45pm. Reached home at near 11pm plus. Showered. Dinner. Online. Hair dried. Slept at 1am plus.
On Wednesday, the talk - as usual - started at 8am (woke up at 6am again! Shucks, shucks!). It - as usual - lasted until 5pm. After which, I met up with TR, Mel, and KX at Orchard Ion at 5.40pm. Shopped, had dinner, and shopped again. Reached home at 11pm plus. Showered. Dinner. Online. Hair dried. Slept at 1am plus.
Today, Thursday, is the LAST day of the talk! Again, it started at 8am (shucks, shucks, shucks!); ended at 1pm. Since this is the last time we'll meet, we adjourned for lunch at Jurong Point - and ended up in a restaurant which service is, well, horrible (shall talk more about it in another post!). Finished lunch at 4pm. Shopped for birthday gift. Left JP Boon Lay station at 5pm and headed down to Simei. Fell asleep throughout the train journey. At 6pm, when I was at Tanah Merah Station, PH called and woke me up from the slumber. Dinner was canceled. Alighted at Pasir Ris Station and took the bus home instead. Reached home at 7pm.
TIRED! Byebye!
Oh yeah, the visit to HQ SCE.
We were saying, some of the vehicles and tanks look sooo impressive. Some of them are able to "open up" and morph into something else. It totally remind us of the TRANSFORMERS!
And, yes, one more thing: Investiture Ceremony is happening on the 20th Jan 2010! I'M GRADUATING (again?)!!! Ermmm... My last graduation ceremony was on mid-July this year. It's only 4 months ago! This feels a little... duh?
"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Which controls your life? The spirit? Or the flesh?"
WOW.
P.S. Rev. Treat said this. Not me.
1) You start cutting out coupons, discount vouchers, and getting hooked by McDonald's Monopoly game and the likes.
2) Unlike previously - you got bombarded with birthday chalet or party invitations every other day - but now, it's more of hearing out friends' marital woes or relationships problems, encouraging friends who are undergoing marriage counseling, kena-ing red bombs, baby showers and the likes.
3) Your wallet - like magic - gets increasingly bloated. NRIC. EZ-link. NUS matriculation card. NIE matriculation card. Citi card. Citi SMRT card. HSBC card. POSB ATM card. Cash Card. NETS Flashpay card. Popular membership card. AlumNUS card. The Minds member card. Watsons member card. Mount Zion member card. Passion card. Gr8 pal card. HSA card. Organ donor card. Polyclinic card. Private doctor's card. CSC card (not yet, 'cos I've NOT YET gone down to CISCO to get that face shot taken. Aishhh... Shucks!) Oh, yeah, throw in bits and pieces of #1 as well.
Which reminds me, I really ought to get a new wallet SOON (someone please kick me out of this procrastination). The existing one has served me faithfully for, what? 5 years? Practically falling apart into pieces now.
"It's not about the bike: My journey back to life" by Lance Armstrong.
I've been reading this book for a couple of weeks now, juggling it along with those that I've bought in early Oct.
Last night, while lying on the bed waiting for sleep to whisk me off to dreamland, a sudden thought dawned.
"Everyone has a talent, do you believe it? 行 行 出 状 元。 There are so many types of jobs and works. Everyone has a talent. It is just a matter of discovering it. Can you imagine that? If a person ever discovers that hidden talent and exercises it daily, of what prominence that person would achieve?" The older brother had once told me this.
It has been so many years ago; so long ago that I can't even remember how old young we were at that time when the conversation took place. Whether had he said that just to dope the silly / naive / gullible me back then; I had - and still have - no idea. One thing is sure though: I still remember this statement up till this day because I had believed it back then. I was half marveling and half despairing at the vast pool of jobs / works of different nature out in the world. Would I ever be able to discover mine? I had thought, feeling like this is nowhere easier than searching for a needle in a haystack. No, scratch that. Make it a ear stick.
Last night, before sleep overtook me, this flashback of memory - like a silent ghost - drifted into the mind out of nowhere.
I know the book written by Lance Armstrong is about his battle with cancer, overcoming it, and going on to win the Tour. Last night, though, I had a different perspective.
Look at Armstrong. He has this talent in competitive cycling. His physical finesse is amazing; he has an aerobic capacity of 83.8mL/kg/min of VO2 max (the average person has 40 - 50), he has a higher-than-normal tolerance for pain, and he has other physical attributes that I would not mention here because, well, you know, the jargon baffles me.
He has this inborn talent for cycling.
However, what if, this same Armstrong is not born in America, but, let's say, Ethiopia? Despite this being the same person we're talking about here - with the same physical attributes and iron mental will - would things have turned out different? Would he have been exposed to the world of cycling and biking in the first place? Or would this talent be buried forevermore?
You?
If you had taken up fashion designing, could you be the second-generation Valentino?
If you had taken up sculpting, could you be the next Michaelangelo?
In the world of competitive swimming, the next Micheal Phelps?
The world of singing, the next Celine Dion?
The world of writing, the next Stephen King?
The next Martin Luther? The next Picasso? The next Issac Newton? The next Da Vinci? The next Beethoven? The next Gong Li? The next Jack Neo? The next Li Jia Wei? The next Bill Gates? The next Warren Buffett?
Nature versus nurture is a common bone of contention and debates. I've always thought it's a mixture of BOTH nature and nurture. The diamond is always there, hidden inside somewhere; it just takes a bit of fire, polishing, perseverance, time, and patience to bring it out.
Me?
It's one thing to be good in some things, but it's another to be excellent and a natural in it.
Me?
I'm still in the midst of discovering my own niche. But, you know what? In this game of searching and hide-and-seek, God is a Master Player.
In the world of chess, He's the chess player and we're the chess pieces. For areas the chess pieces dare not explore, I pray that He extends his finger and give it that extra push of strength and courage.
17th (Tuesday) : CME workshop. 1230pm - 430pm.
19th (Thursday) : CME workshop. 130pm - 530pm.
23th - 26th (next Monday - Thursday) : Enrichment Induction Program for all BTs. 830am - 530pm.
Holidays! YESH!!!
Off to prepare for school. When the journey is 2 hours long, you need to prepare early (sigh)! Ta!
"Do you realize," He commented in jest, "that you've been at it for nearly an hour?"
Earlier on, Dad were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Today is a free day for me; come to think of it, this week is a breeze (I only need to go back to Boon Lay only on Tuesday and Thursday)! I bounced to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. It was 3pm. He was by the sink, washing the veggies. I eyed the packages of frozen pork on the counter.
Dad has always been a wonderful cook. He would cook dinner before heading out for his evening shift work. This explains why, sometimes, I'll have a super early dinner at 4pm+ (well, the food is already there. Might as well eat. 早 吃 早 消 化。 Less fattening). How he manages and juggles both roles so well, I have no idea. For sure, it is taxing and tiring. Since I'm practically almost freed up from school, might as well put it to good use.
I took a pair of scissors, slitted open the packages, and emptied the contents into a clean bowl. "I'll jiak-par-lamg, ok? If it's nice, tell them that I'm the one who marinated it." I giggled, "If it turns out gross, it's you, ok?"
Squatting down, I opened the base cupboard. The eyes sweep across the different containers and bottles, while the brain mentally explored the contents in the refrigerator. Dad has always been a natural at cooking; he can put some weird ingredients together and, viola!
He just has this unknown talent in cooking; he has this magical touch. Momentarily, I wondered how would my marinate turn out. Normally, as a mediocre beginner, I would source out only recipes with raving reviews and try them out in my own leisure time. I don't have - yet - the expertise to solely go by the taste buds. Without a recipe to follow, I feel momentarily lost. This is a quite like a gamble. Concentrating, I wondered how well would the various combination of condiments compliment each other, while not being too overpowering.
Light soya bean. Sesame oil. Paprika pepper. Black pepper. White pepper. Sugar. Teriyaki sauce. The last choice of condiment - I admit - is purely out of curiosity sake and nothing else. Hey, if something had been done the same way thousands of time doesn't mean that it necessarily have to remain so all the time. Sometimes, a little change is refreshing and needed. It is good to be different.
I settled the bowl of marinated pork down on the dining table. Dad suggested, "Do it 水 饺 style. The meat filling seems to be alot. Won't be able to finish it all if it's done in wan tan style."
I deliberately plastered on a long-suffering look and whined. "I don't know la. Only wan tan style."
"Wah lau... So easy you also don't know?" He took a piece of flour cake and plonked a tablespoon of meat filling on top of it. "Like this lor, so easy." He folded it into half and proceeded to twist and pinch the corner.
"There! Ta-dah!" He lifted up his pork dumpling on his palm happily.
I pretended to evaluate his piece of work. "It looks ugly leh. Not like those restaurant ones." I decided, "I'll do it curry-puff style!"
And so I did. For the next hour. I made my virgin 水 饺; 30+ of them. While he fried some eggs and cooked a bowl of cai xin.
When he was done with the two dishes, I still had about 4/5th of meat fillings left. "You're such a slow-poke!" He teased.
"That's not fair! Yours is so simple, anyhow fold fold one; but mine is CURRY-PUFF style leh. Cannot compare!" I protested.
"Who asked you to make curry puffs."
"Looks more presentable and pretty, mah"
"Eat liao come out also the same thing, what."
"No lor," I lunged into a defense, "See ah... When you cook ah, must cook with the heart, you know? Cook with the HEART. Aiyooo..." Rubbish, I know, but I argued just for the fun of it.
A special a-la-carte plate of pork dumplings! 'Cos I prefer my dumplings steamed. Not boiled in some soup.
"You see, you see!" I beamed, "Pretty anot? Curry-puff style, leh!"
"Pretty also no use," Dad took a look and concluded grandly, "Mine is the authentic 水 饺. Yours are all curry puffs. The one that I made is the real one which look like the real 水 饺!!!"
Yeah, right, Dad. Try harder.
P.S. The meat marinate turned out great! =)
There's going to be a Biology Content test this Friday; and I absolutely am not even the least motivated or interested. Biomolecules and human physiology are totally fine, I love them as a matter of fact; but studying plants is absolutely another thing. PLANTS?!?!?! Plants hormones?? CO2 emission / fixation / assimilation rate? C3 plants? C4 plants? CAM plants? Auxin? Cytokinins? Abscisic acid? Gibberellins? 2,4-D? IAA? iP? IBA? NAA? Stomata conductance? Ahhh...
The test this Friday is going to be a goner. Inject some study bugs into me, now, please!
Anyway, Sem 2 is really - in the blinking of an eye - drawing to a close soon.
13th (this Friday) : Biology test. 1230pm - 230pm (of all days to take a test, it has got to be Friday the 13th. How nice).
17th (next Tuesday) : CME workshop. 1230pm - 430pm.
19th (next Thursday) : CME workshop. 130pm - 530pm.
23th - 26th (next next Monday - Thursday) : Enrichment Induction Program for all BTs. 830am - 530pm.
Then... It's holidays!!! FREEDOM!!! All the way until Jan 2010, when I'll be released as an official full-timer! Aishhh! Goodbye, honeymoon!
A couple of months back, a friend brought a news article to my attention. The case featured turned out to be about a serial molester who victimized 9 young girls - ranging from age 9 to 14 - over a period of 16 months. Aggravated molest, sexual assault, and attempted rape. Not only did he grope them and outraged their modesty, but also forced them to perform OS.
The name is unfamiliar, but apparently, we graduated, well, sort of, from the same course. We had the same modules for our fundamental year. This man is someone whom we had once shared the same LTs throughout the whole of year 1 in poly.
After doing some googling to get a clearer picture of what the whole case is all about, I was totally shocked. And yes, he looks kind of familiar.
Apparently, he topped the class several times, had clinched a number of scholarships and awards, and was second-in-command in his section during NS days.
Recently, this case is in the news again. Apparently, the appeal against the 32-years sentence and 24 strokes of cane is not successful. He's only 23 this year.
While googling, I stumbled upon numerous blogs and forums which had "broadcasted" this news article. Reading all the nasty comments and vicious remarks, it's kind of damping. Of course, truth be told, if it were any of my kids whose modesty got outraged, my anger would certainly not be any lesser. But, still, when words of such nature are targeted at someone whom you sort of "know", it's...
I don't know. Lately, I've been at quite a loss to aptly describe feelings.
Won't be putting in my two-cents worth regarding this case. There are none.
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