singaporekid

  wtf i havent logged on for two months and now livejournal's stuck some stinking ad on my blog without my consent! that's the problem with websites nowadays i guess, all those in-your-face ads, especially the irritating ones on youtube that extend an unnecessary 20 seconds of your video viewing time. there was once i had to view this ad which made some annoying hissing and wheezing sound it made the person sitting next to me in the cafe glare at me as though i was watching porn.

haha i really wanna find out what ORD-ing feels like. yes dun tell me to wait for 2015 or 2017, the world might have ended by then. and if it doesnt i guess ill have to carry that IBA (is it called IBA) and buzz around the malaysian jungle like mosquitoes. i cant even imagine that happening, as of now i cant even do nine pullups properly unless i hit the gym every other day starting from tomorrow. but i feel so traumatized everytime i step into the sch gym with trainers strutting around in tight-fitting uniforms. why dun they ever get a female trainer? and some of those gymming chinese make insanely queer noises that sound like they've got constipation problems. im trying to avoid going near them when they do make those noises, for fear that i may realize they are actually lifting 20 lbs. ahhh but then again im not really into bodybuilding... its too boring. even arnie's a governor now.

yay im deeply (and blissfully) sunk into the dungeons of facebook with the help of my precious vpn. hehehehehe :P actually hm come to think of it, we should be thanking the chinese govt for all these internet monitoring. they've been doing a great job so far staying in power and stabilizing chinese politics so that the world will not get to witness a fifth of its population burning flags over senkaku. so i guess someone will have to tio the saikang of meeting the needs of 1.3 billion people (or get blasted for failing to do so). therefore dun expect renrenwang or goojie to vaporize anytime soon.

weather's good in beijing this week, im still basking in the twilight of autumn! lalalallaa :P

 ive just discovered red stains at the entrance of my new hostel room and am horribly freaked out right now!!!! its like MY september 11, on the sixth anniversary of my blog. certainly very ominous. ive tried scrubbing them off with soap and they just refuse to come off. its paint, i convince myself. must be some energetic old man with alzheimer's, thinking that its chinese new year, walking past my room with red paint ready to liven up the area. 

now yog just came and left, and ppl are like, "what? did we just host an olympic games?" honestly speaking i dun even know how many medals singapore got (i blame my limited access to the internet for this) but its just quite sad that singaporeans are generally bo-chap abt this. i mean even over here, i can still see some stores with 'beijing 2008' decorations (maybe the shopowners were too lazy to take them down). the saddest part is that singapore might never host an olympic games again (ok maybe theyll let it return to singapore for the centennial yog) and we'll have to make do with bidding for scout jamborees instead (and lose). 

so the new sem has started and im busy again. it amazes me how frugal the freshmen are. they just simply refuse to buy new furniture (whereas ppl like me have just gone for ikea shopping sprees), they refuse to eat outside of school (i.e. spending more than 8 RMB per meal)!! and they dun even have to buy their own bed or shelf or wardrobe or wireless routers now that this new place provides us with them! i might indeed soon face the sad prospect of shopping alone (and i desperately need a winter coat now). 

going tibet this october! wootz :D

 a few days ago i wanted to journey from nus to hwach. so being the self-proclaimed cheapo that i am, i decided that the cheapest way to get there would be not to pay a single cent at all and take the BTC shuttle bus to nus law and walk to hc. so, at the biz bus stop i had this man of suitable dating age approaching me and chatting as though i knew him since jc. apparently he was some hall president or smth (takes good pr skills to become one, evidently), but at that time he seemed more like an insurance agent to me. and being usually annoyed by probing questions by a stranger, i tried to devise answers that sorta cut him off, like: 

"why r u in nus?"
     "uh... im studying here." -- Lie 1
"wow? yr 1? so ur 21? 22? this year?"
     "yeah."- i figured that telling him my right age would trigger more unnecessary questions.
"which fac?"
    "fass" -- Lie 2, coz that was where i initially thought i might land myself into.
"u look more like a ...lit person to me. (wth does this mean???) did u go arts camp?"
    "no." -- Lie 3, i didnt want to venture too far into this imaginary persona. 
"no? *looks stunned* you din go arts camp ah? *continues to look stunned* where did u go?"
    "went travelling." -- Lie 4, convenient and logical excuse.
"where to?"
    now at this point i was pretty amazed at his ability to chat me up, im thinking hes either an extreme extrovert, or that he's trying out a perfect pickup but failed to realise that im a guy. 
     "china." ---NOT A LIE, venturing into familiar territory,
"WHAT? YOU WANT TO BE AN AH TIONG AHH?" 
    *majorly put off* *rolls eyes* "no, (hell) no. (not when im sane, anyway)"
"ah ok, so whats ur full name? maybe can find u on facebook. nowadays hor, ppl just do the talking online one."
    *gave him my name* *breathes a sigh of relief as he whips out his phone and starts chatting up another guy*

so i was terribly curious abt how immensely popular he can possibly be, and therefore i went back and searched for his profile page, which logically wouldnt be difficult to find.  2,937 friends. lets see if he can beat MJ. now this is what i call IMBA NETWORKING. probably more extensive than wireless@sg, anyway. 

i was sitting down and staring in disbelief at how five weeks in singapore couldnt have passed any quicker, and before i know it id fall into the next yearly cycle of my chinese education. i refuse to get fixated on nostalgia, coz its like morphine- you get high on it, then u cannot let go. the thing is people do change, and im contented enough to be able to roughly track them down and adapt to new dynamics along with these changes. (of course it helps when u dun have 2,937 friends.) when the guys ord they will find new uni friends and girlfriends just like what the girls have been doing. this mold that ive been subconsciously trying to preserve will be deformed, even destroyed. its inevitable i know. the world is going to end in 2012. i just dun know what kind of world id be living in 5 yrs from now. maybe its time to start from zero again. train to pick up the pieces even before the mold breaks. 

i asked mr teo once, "is there anything in the world that never changes?" he said,"for me, my views on people and my beliefs about people fundamentally havent changed." for now im sure what i shouldnt change. if life is a car, ive been in the driver's seat for too long and now its time to retire to the backseat and let life take me for a jolly good ride. 

 TODAY said 93% of singaporeans think their country is better than any place in the world. seriously? to these 4,622,100 people: THINK AGAIN. with polyclinics and govt hospitals having their databases unlinked, and emitasia taking 8 weeks to process my TIME order (i could have COPIED 10 issues of TIME by hand in that time), and the distance-fare farce charging me an obscene $1.82 from town to bukit batok, this is still not heaven yet.

but of course, the news that ive just received abt my new hostel in china has just devoured every single bit of eagerness to return. according to them, the taps are only capable of dispensing cold water, even during winter. i wonder at which temperature will the human hand freeze. a tap card system regards daily sanitary processes as easy as ez-link (like tapping a water card to bathe or wash ur hands, tapping an electricity card to turn on the lights). i reckon i will never forget to tap out on the bus back in singapore anymore. but the stark contrast to this cutting-edge technology mess is that there arent any sitting toilets in this new building, when there are in our previous one.  this is too much for even a hostel with a retro theme. 

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, i've gotten my own room and ive signed up for this vpn that allows me to use facebook 24/7! :D

(p.s. just met up with venturez' 06 and 33rd oac! :P)

 

30 June	Bombarded by weird long foreign words. Fortunately Phoebe was there to pwn with her fluent German.	Frankfurt/ Heidelberg
1 July	A friend of Phoebe brought me around Mannheim. A nice city. I enjoyed lying down on the grass in front of the water tower until a policewoman muttered some German to me in a disapproving tone.	Mannheim
2 July	i travelled to the rhein. which was marvellous. and rode on an express train without paying :P	Frankfurt/ Mainz/ Stuttgart
3 July	tried escargots that looked like moss but tasted like... mussels? saw the tallet lightning conductor of the world. LOST MY WALLET- i dun understand why thieves like to steal from people coming from a country with a lower HDI.	Paris
4 July	i thought mona lisa was bigger. da vinci code scammed me.
5 July	versailles was pretty! eh at least now i dun only recall versailles as the place the treaty of versailles was signed, to the agony of history students and teachers.	Versailles
6 July	i would love to sit at the beach and read a book here everyday instead of  complaining about crowded MRT trains, rising bus fares and project groupmates.	Le Havre
7 July	the remaining eurostar tickets to london were sold at astronomical prices and at idiotic timings, so i decided to take a ferry instead. now i can convincingly say that ive travelled LAND, SEA, AND AIR in the same trip! i realised i bought the wrong tix for the ferry when i reached the terminal. it din help that the duty receptionist was itching to be pushed off board and feed the piranhas. she din have to go through the abovementioned ordeal because i (barely) had enuff money to purchase another ferry tix. grrrr.
8 July	after arriving at portsmouth, i realised that only the CREDIT CARD-OPERATED ticketing machines were working. and where was my wallet? FML. fortunately i met a nice couple and a nice train conductor that made my day.  oh then i spent one day in cambridge punting! its quite cool, except that i was travelling upstream >.<	Portsmouth/ Cambridge
9 July	highlight of the day: chinatown. i guess i was yearning for chinese food so much that i din mind paying 11 pounds for a decent meal.	London
10 July	the animated tour guide brings us on a walking tour around london.
11 July	i went to church in the morning, then watched a matinee about drag queens, then (tried to) shop along oxford street like a true blue englishman.
12 July	more shopping.  primark dominates my life. direction to primark --->>

in other news, my sis is doing her pw project on eating disorders. very hilarious. a girl who survives on salads working on eating disorders can be compared to sarah palin applying to be an english teacher. well but i applaud her for knowing the EXISTENCE of eating disorders. this is step 1. (x-1) more steps to go. 

i cant help but visit those sg forums nowadays and laugh at how our fellow countrymen write in jaw-dropping ingleesh. i think complaining can be a form of twisted humor at times (as demonstrated by this angsty blog), especially when the complainer is in a world of his own. if u dun believe me, just check out failblog. the original post on the phail of bolivian news eventually developed into a deeper revelation of the IQ of the average american in the comments. 

 so i just got picked in paris :S despite losing the monetary equivalent of an iphone, i still endorse paris as a city to fall in love with. skyping someone with the eiffel in the background sounds cool :) 

i havent really planned what im gonna do in the uk yet. ive 5 days there. havent planned my transport and accoms arrangement. the 5 days start on the day after tmr. i am so screwed. 

i somehow feel more inclined to TWEET than to BLOG nowadays, as my thoughts come in random fluffs just like pieces of cotton candy. a part of it just got pulled off. and eaten.

yes im returning to singapore on the 13th of july directly from london, but somehow im feeling kinda edgy right now. i think im in the midst of falling away and clinging on. i somehow can't find the energy to renew my old connections. i think im sorta tired from talking to people. 

if maturity is a good thing, then im definitely not maturing now..

i could spend the next 24 hours surfing facebook, profile-hop or photo-stalk but somehow every profile page i go to seems to be a world on its own now. i hardly talk to anyone in singapore now, and the ppl in beijing have not reached the stage for me to be comfortable with them. its a strange combination/ makeup that produces such mixed emotion. should i let go or should i hold on?

ive missed a few skype meetings with my mum these few days. its either our timings dun match or i have other things to do. i really dun know whats going on in other people's lives right now. do people even want me to find out about their lives, i wonder. 

i feel marginalized by life. i wonder how far being sentimental can bring me. 

there are things that i wanna do in singapore tho (on top of replacing my cards and paying off my debts). i wonder if i can finally declare my life as being in a "messed up" state. 

what exactly happened? there're so many things that i wanted to do but now i dun feel like doing. i thought i just saw my enthusiasm run past me. 

[insert: Straits TImes Asia yesterday-

Tipping the scales at 225kg, 1.58m-tall Liang Yong is known as China's Fattest Person. According to media reports, the 31-year-old- who weighed 5kg at birth, about twice the norm- now eats eight meals a day. 
He developed breathing problems last month and his waistline hit 190cm. Doctors say his heart and lungs are severely degenerated. 
With equipment like CT scanners failing to work because of his layers of fat, they face an uphill battle to save his life. 

Most interesting. ]


 and finally something interesting happens to shaoyuan, my mess of a nest (actually its more of my nest of a mess). a murder (alleged suicide) case happening in the room right under mine. the chinese authorities say suicide, alleged murder, but thats how the chinese get their annual decreasing trend for the country's crime rate. the unfortunate man was a mongolian, and he was discovered in his room in his underwear with slits found at his throat, chest and belly. and watching battle royale i guess wasnt the best complement to reading an email about a murder happening in my midst. well as of yesterday 140 residents of this fragile community have signed a joint petition to request for better security in the area. and that was when i also decided to lock my room when i go out to shower.  i tell myself, now u cant trust the random girl that throws murderous looks at u and quickly follows that up by breaking into a shy smile. after all, u dunno what china peeps do when they decide they have had enuff of mugging.

oh and if u see myself tagged in some photos in facebook that look like im in some glam gala setting, its the graduation dinner (im not the one graduating, of course) we held for our singaporean seniors last saturday. i didnt gatecrash some white house function.  

the return: 7.10 ;)  tell me some nice movies im dying to watch some!

 it looks like ive stopped blogging altogether huh... but alas no! i was just caught up with the horrendous amounts of thesis papers to be handed in. over the past 8 days ive eaten (eat paper? i treasure papyrus as much as koalas treasure eucalyptus), drunk, slept, walked, and breathed thesis papers and all i can say is that IT'S DARN BORING. :O and now that alls over i entitle myself four days of rest before going back to three-hour monotones. 

today is the FIRST DAY ive worn t-shirt and shorts out on the streets (and the first day i sweated in them!) !!! frankly speaking i feel rather naked after getting used to wrapping myself up like in a cocoon, but i do share the butterfly's sense of liberation in announcing that its SUMMER! yes and i have hardly gotten enuff of spring. well it seems like the PRCs still suscribe to the "summer wear= tshirt + jacket + pants" mentality, which i say is rather practical, if one doesnt wish to be diagnosed with skin cancer due to an overexposure of reactive lead particles in the air. and they are indeed armed with hats and umbrellas, as today i witnessed the full force of the PRC summer fashion contingent, wearing hats of different colors and shapes (id be amused if one turned up in a tricorne), having lacey umbrellas over their heads and occasionally using the traditional chinese fan to minimize chances of getting a heat stroke. personally i am glad at having the chance to FEEL LIKE singapore at last, although that also means changing clothes everyday (oops!)

tentative date to go back sg: 16 july! hehee just in time for national day and yog. i am so patriotic :)

 call it starting anew, call it finding new direction (the govt calls it happy retirement). now before the archives get messy, i would wanna stop blogging on this address soon, and that would be next march, when i turn 21 :) why? now i have thought of this question quite long ago, i mean, man cant possibly blog forever... i dun want my blog to become like historical annals chronicling my life from cradle to grave. not to mention an occasional webpage malfunction that strikes to wipe ur blogs out. well would i start a new blog? possibly, but not definitely... singaporeman sounds to me like an overly cheesy username.  i dunno yet but i might change to posting notes on facebook instead (speaking of which, im on my way to getting stable PAID vpn that allows me to go on facebook as effortlessly as in singapore! to those facebook friends who stalk their live notifications everyday, dun be surprised if u have to 10 more notifications everyday, which will roughly take u up to 6 hours a year.) i was thinking, now how does a blog officially END? u say, they don't, they just end when u stop posting anything and it officially ends when livejournal decides that its too much of a nuisance taking up cyberspace and proceeds to axe it. but i dun really want my blog to end up with a dormant tag on liwei's links, so there.

for now, its relaxation before the floodgates of thesis papers open! xi'an 2nd-4th april





relics





mount hua, an alternative to rock climbing. 

 just when i thought i can be done with winter and rejoice with the migratory birds in the warmth of spring, look what happened. 



NOVEMBER 1                                                                                     MARCH 14


bloody climate change. we're into our FIFTH month of winter and theres more radio broadcasts saying it will snow tmr. brother u know i dun live in alaska. obama pls settle smth faster before we all freeze to death.

and my teacher just told us this story:

"after 9/11, osama bin laden was trying to look for the next city to bomb. several options were explored: london, madrid, mumbai... then when one of his aides suggested beijing and passed him a photo of the city, he exclaimed, 'haven't we already bombed this?'"

black humour makes my day. oh oh yeah recently ive been trying to get unto facebook using a proxy that sorta works but is slow. so ive decided to logon to facebook lite instead. like coke lite, facebook lite is SUPPOSEDLY (note the word supposedly) a healthier option of the main thing, i.e. u can forget abt playing tower bloxx or mafia wars or restaurant city on there, not to mention the wretched farmville application where my precious farm got destroyed due to two months of inactivity.  but the good thing is, u can still upload photos (PLUS), view photos (PLUSPLUS), write on walls (PLUSPLUSPLUS) and read notifications (PLUSPLUSPLUSPLUS)! which is generally what i do on facebook all the time. im not that interested in sounding some random horn every 10 minutes in order to buy some virtual trap. im probably more interested in finding out whether cmf is attached or whether my OC is still in tekong. 

theres this two students in my french class who are mildly irritating. apparently they got into the wrong class (the sch din know that they knew french beforehand) so they are like owning the class im in now and the teacher seems to have quickened her pace just to suit them both :S as a result all i hear is a string of obscure french and (occasionally) in the middle of it all, my name, to which i reply, "je ne comprends pas" (i dun understand). this is bloody ridiculous. if i dun get enuff time to digest my basics its not going to set me off on the right foot. 

grahhh. here i shalt terminate my menopausal discourse. and return to read playboy

(p.s. may be going xi-an for qingming holidays! :D)