1st post of 2010! What next for this year?

It's a brand new year in 2010 and I'm finally blogging again. (How many times have I said this?)Now that I have a little time at home and it's getting a little boring. However, I'm not going to moan about it since I really don't want it to be busy again. The extremes of life is complicated and we should be careful what we wish for. Actually I don't hate or loath such quiet time, I just hate waiting. Patience is the greatest virtue in life, it is one of the hardest to achieve especially in the modern world where we want everything to happen instantaneously.(Something like instantaneous is almost unachievable in signal transfers, most things could only move fastest at the speed of light, eg radio waves in telecommunication via handphones) I'm waiting for the results of my exam last year to come out, hopefully not to haunt me, I really want to start off well my new year well by having good result and having past problems coming back with a vendetta is definitely the last thing on my mind. Of course I'll stop speculating on what will really happen as it is totally unpredictable. (Like having a probability outside the range of 0-100, which means that the result is meaningless.) Looking onwards instead of backwards(something like entropy and the second thermodynamic law which introduced a time arrow into physical laws),this year I have to plan with how to use my time before going off to somewhere 'special'.
One of the best way to use my time now is to read books. Everyone values a good book and the library is the heart and soul of most civilisation. In Trantor, the Trantor library is the place where Hari Seldon spent most of his later life developing psychohistory. The same library also escape the sack of Trantor during the fall of the Empire.(Amid some help from the second Foundation) Hence we can see that everything else can burn but the library should avoid the burn. On top of that, I used some money to buy books at a particular Japanese bookstore in my country I live in. (The Japanese bookstore sells plenty of English books, I have not mastered Nihongo in any sense) Yes, finally I have splashed the cash. (Mr Wenger, I hope you could splash the cash in January too so that Arsenal can be strengthened for the second half of the season.)Of course, this leads to the question of book I am currently reading. Well, you can tell that I read sciences fiction and some other books. And I am in no way going to influence others to read my favorite or recommended books. Free will is another virtue and everyone should know deep inside themselves what they like and go through your instinct to get those books. (Of course Free will to do good is always the priority, if it is just temptation, forget it)
Anyway that's what I have in mind to do for the new year, the rest of the things would depend on the result of last year's exam. Now I'm mainly waiting, thinking about what I've read and worrying about the future.
One post on what happened last year should emerge after the release of result. So watch out for that.
And finally, a long delayed, awaited, tragically short holiday soon. :)

1st post of 2009! A little late but as long as it's 2009, there's no fault with the statement.

It's really a long long time since I touched Blogspot. I'm quite surprised that I can remember the password and the username. Not bad that I can still retain and recall some information in my mind when I couldn't accomplish this feat in the midst of my examinations. So the question that everyone would have is like, "What prompted your return to the blogging sphere, have you not heard of Twitter or Facebook?" Ok, that's a good question but it's really a question of preferences. I prefer Blogspot to type a story/personal account/opinions/all three of them instead of social networking sites. Well, let's try have a little reflection about these days. I just finished my mid-years examination which was really a maelstorm of events and emotions. But one thing overshadowed all the rest of the events quite significantly. People may not notice it and it's not bad grades or the toughest of the examination. These things always happen in the examinations, so what's the different? The pain. Ouch. The answer is H1N1 influenza! Who would have thought that a virus would crash the examinations in such a fashion. The whole school suddenly becomes a fortress (Not that the school is a very open place. Security cameras, fierce looking security officers and barred wires are the norm of every school in my society). Well it seriously took a great amount of attention away with temperature exercises and others precautionary measures taken (I watched War of the World on state TV in the middle of the exam period, a good movie with decent Tom Cruises acting and the reminder that viruses are reserved to kill aliens and not us). Suddenly health became a concern for everyone, we're no longer worried about the final graduation examination but rather whether we would live to see another day. I personally feels that this is a good reminder. We should not take anything for granted, health is definitely one of them. Usually we moan and groan things like, "Arsenal draw at the Emirates yesterday and Rosicky is not back from injury." Well, no more. It have definitely left a huge mark on me and an important lesson too. When we worry about things like results and image problems, we should take a good look at what we already possessed.
However despite the dominance of the pandemic, life goes on and revisions come straight after the shocking examinations. Yeah, the second half of the year is going to be the real deal. Whatever happens before is already history, we can learn a lot from history really but let's not dwell on the topic of history or one of the things would happen: 1.It'll become a history lesson. 2. This blog becomes history. 3.I'll become history. With a renewed determination and grit to push forward and seize the moment and achieve as much as I can(because we don't know whether H1N1 or anything would affect us)in a day, it's time for revision. Like every Terran marine knows, these soldiers of fortune(or misfortune especially if you're against a Zerg invasion or have a Protoss carrier above your head) always knows, "Hell, it's good to be back."

Before Xmas

Well, the festive season is here again. It's been a long year, a lot have happened and finally Christmas. It is probably the most important day in the calendar besides Good Friday and Easter Sunday for a Christian like me. But personally, I love Christmas more than any other holidays, I have always been skeptical about Chinese New Year or some other days. Especially after debates whether Dragon Boat festival is from China or Korea plays a part. The verdict would probably be based on the best dumplings. Christmas is the type of holiday which is calm and peaceful(suits my personality) unlike Chinese New Year which is all the rush and bustling with noise and anything red. That's why I loathe the idea of Christmas discounts or the "Shop till you drop" mentally of people. Just keep it simply, have a meal with family members. Although I must really admit there are plenty of good deals out there. The Detroit Three is a great deal, 3 for the price of 1.(Assuming the original price is at the height of their history). What's more it comes with the Autobots as your personal security guard from GM. They can help to protect you and your family from villians before Superman or Batman arrives. No food or drinks needed, just Allspark fragments which to humans is just seashells from the seashore. But the very very quintessential function is to protect your daughters or to a lesser extent your wives from vampires. Yes, vampires. The burgeoning effect and obssession of Twilight on girls is on a scale never seen before. Genghis Khan would surrender his Mongol army if they are pitted against the "zombified" teenagers. The cause of the phenomenon of Twilight on girls is unknown especially if you're a guy. I have not read the book yet, but I have doubts that I will like it and I'll say this book is not for me and I will stick to my books instead, namely LOTR which is the closest(but not too close) trilogy I have to Twilight. In order to protect my computer and blog from virus of angered Twilight fans or even personal security( I don't intend to buy the Detroit 3 and Left 4 Dead is not the answer to zombies), I shall rest my case. Speaking of virus, Internet Explorer is said to have loopholes in its browser to allow hackers to get you. I have always trusted Open sources and this really justifies the choice of switching your browser from the buggy and unreliable IE for Firefox, Opera or Chrome. I wouldn't be surprised if the virus/malware is codenamed "Master Chief" or " Marcus Fenix". To the world of sports, it was a great week of football but don't go telling that to people in my country, they were unfortunate to go down and lost in a competition they enjoyed and were supposed to be good at. The really good part was that Arsenal was never beaten by any big four clubs this season and only the referee stand between victory and a draw and we got a draw. I think we deserved a draw with Liverpool since we'll never walk alone right? Anyway if you don't have a clue of what to buy for your friends, here's a great idea.Introducing Flame from Burger King, which is a body spray to make you smell like well, you guess it a Whopper. So enjoy the holidays while you still can because everyone's going to say 2009 is not going to be a good year.

Celebrating 50 posts on this blog. How history influenced the future and potentially this blog.

(If you are someone who absolutely hates history in anyway, pluck out your internet cable now. The blog bears no responsibility for any medical conditions that you get after reading.)
Finally, this blog have reach 50 posts. This is a remarkable and noteworthy moment for this blog. A milestone of how far this blog went since it was first started. (The date of origin or why it is created is unknown, even to the author. You can say that it is "part of history".) The only information which can rival this good news is probably concrete proof that Hilter have only one ball. And his first question was, "Doctor, will I be able to have children?" Quite interesting that some rumors from WWII finally have some evidence. A half a century+++ question solved.( Hey it's the no. 50 again!) Speaking about WWII, my holiday have been full of booms and bangs in France. Parachuting down with AA guns shooting at you is no joke, you really wish you brought your passport to show that you're not an illegal immigrant. Even if your Sergeant Matt Baker, you still need some half witted squad members to follow you on the hard task to Berlin. Brothers in arms is really no Call of Duty. Aiming at a Nazi five metres away is like swimming in a pool with no water. That's the most irritating part of the game. Games aside, I have been following the television more closely, which I need to in order to survive in the world.(Tell you the story later.) And my intuitive reaction was to watch the History channel. Contrary to the name, most of the programmes actually have numerous elements which are linked to the future. One part of a show about Paint was how microchips can be added to them in the future and when painted on walls and bridges, can help scientist to monitor the wind strength and others of that particular area for the long term. Not bad, even history have a few surprises that you wasn't aware of. So going on the story of December, which maybe can cheer you up and build the mood towards Christmas and forget about the lousy economy or pirates back with a vengeance.
To the story, I was with my CCA friend in school. (Rule no. 1 of the holidays: Don't use the word "school".) And we're discussing about random things and she exclaimed that she can't wait to go home and watch her TV programmes. Then it came to me that for a few weeks (in mid November), I couldn't find the national kids channel on my TV. It was once a shared channel with kids programmes in the morning and Indian channel in the night. So I was quite shocked that the Indian channel dominated the whole schedule of the channel. The first time I saw this new trend, I took it as maybe a special day for the Indian community and completely ignored it. After observing the same thing for about two weeks, I began to sense suspicious and in a way fear. I hate cartoons by the way, never watched the kids channel since..( I am at a lost of History terms to use. My history sucks.) Anyway, the reason I was fearful was that despite rapid falling birth rates in my country, there is no need to neglect kids of their favourite channel. They need time to relax, not just study to get a perfect score for their secondary schools.( Rule no.2 of the holidays: Don't do it again!) So she was so super shocked that I was oblivious to the new kids channel created. And she can't stop teasing me about that. It was a big ridicule in her preception to neglect such changes in TV. To me however, the TV is just well, a radio with moving pictures. So let the schandenfreude begin. Ok, but I have always value the radio highly, especially with BBC Friday night comedy and other podcasts, it have really taken a lot of appeal away from the TV.
So here's the final part. Posing an important question, " What do you do to preserve your country's history, heritage and architecture?" Well, the answer is to install a minister with no links to history, heritage whatsoever. In Italy, the new guy in charge of museums and archaeological sites will be the boss of Macdonalds. I guess you have to win the World Cup before to understand why. But the Gman said," The right man in the wrong place makes all the difference in the world."
So enjoy your holidays mates and for theCrew, I'm looking forward to the year end events.

Don't stand where the comet is assumed to strike.

Yes, finally everything that's supposed to be over and things which should not even happen are part of history. Even after the final year examination, everything should stop but hell never stops. It just began. The project which I need to do was the tedious and complicated to complete. Those were crazy times, I even dread sitting in front of my computer during that period. If parents want their children to go play outside and enjoy physical games and have a great time outside, they can volunteer their child to do 1/16 of the project. With that I think they will never spend more than 45 minutes on the computer. What's more you can save money on spectacles too. A great idea in such a special economic situation. But I have learnt a lot from this experience, although I would say that the outcome won't be good. I didn't do well for my presentation and it was pretty disappointing for myself. I can only hope that I can pull myself up in other areas. Besides this, I am no longer taking Chinese language. I have been waiting for this moment even since secondary school. I've never been good at Chinese my entire live even if I have exposure to it constantly. I think it's a sad irony or paradox(I have no idea which,to all literal and knowledgeable readers out there, do not hate me or go on a shopping spree for this) humans have never been good at things they do time and time again. Like my mother does not have any significant improvements in her cooking even if she does it 3 times a day. I have been taking public buses for my live and seen my neighbourhood bus drivers numerous times. But they are still late and unreliable. I guess old habits die real hard. And for most things in life, your skill and improvement just stagnants.
So what's next? The golden question posed to President Obama after taking the white house and instilling a new fresh breathe of air into Americans and their dream since independence. The same question for Arsenal before they meet premier league rival Manchester United at Ashburton Grove. And now me. I could only say that I am going to brace myself for the worse. Next year is Hell's highway of the 21st century. And you need to be more that Sarge Matt Baker to survive it. And don't stand where the comet is assumed to strike too. But for now there is GTA san andreas radio, it have the best collection of ads that I've always enjoy. Here's some of it:



--Proposition 421-- (Kill all smokers)

Woman: If only the world was less like this...

Man: I could use a smoke (sound of lighter)

Woman 2: Hey! Put that out!

Woman: ...and more like this...

Man: I could use a smoke (sound of lighter)

Woman 2: You murderer! I might have children one day! (sound of gunshot)

Woman: Smoking kills. Unless you kill first. If you’re around a smoker, you
-will- die. Smokers may look like they’re relaxed and having fun, but don’t
believe it. Vote "yes" on Proposition 421. Let’s outlaw smoking everywhere-
even in people’s homes, and allow honest citizens to legally kill anyone who
smokes. Let’s live in a world without smokers! Prohibition works- let’s prove
it. Let’s move up the food chain. It’s time to smoke the smokers! Vote
"yes" on Proposition 421.


--Tropicarcinoma--

Man: The sun! Giver of all life! The Mayans worshipped the sun, then they...
disappeared without a trace. Don’t let this happen to you! The fact is, if
you spend time in the sun, you’re almost certain to die! All leading medical
practitioners have determined that sun exposure causes cancer. And heartburn!

Woman: I’m an expert. Going in the sun is as dangerous as smoking, or living
too near a nuclear power station.

Surfer dude: Oh no! Not chemo again!

Man: No! Never again! With Tropicarcinoma!

Woman 2: Keep out the sun’s dangerous rays with Tropicarcinoma! It’s a unique
blend of cocoanut oil, zinc, aluminum, boron, magnesium, and other volatile
metals that neutralize the sun’s rays and form a chemical shield that’s just
great for the skin. And the I.Q.! Try Tropicarcinoma!

Man 2: I’m a lifeguard, and I love Tropicarcinoma! I even coat my eyeballs
and digestive tract. I’m white as a sheet and shooting blanks! I feel great
about myself! And that’s important!

Woman 3: A friend of mine asked me, "why spend time in the sun if it’s
dangerous, and you don’t want a tan?" I just laugh, and try not to think about
it.

Woman 2: Tropicarcinoma. Give the sun a challenge!


--Ultimate Disc in the Dark--

Man 1: In darkness, you only have your nocturnal instincts to rely on.

Man 1: Ultimate disc on the dark! The electric, stimulating new game that’s
sweeping the city of San Fierro! It’s a non-contact, contact sport where you
throw a flying disc in the dark!

Man 2: I got it!

Man 3: Ooh, get him! Nail his ass!

Man 1: It’s a new competitive sport for the uncompetitive! An aggressive,
action-packed game for those who love nature and living on the edge. It’s
harder than football! It’s faster than rugby! It’s about throwing a plastic
disc and catching it! Pitch, then catch! Run to the goal and score! Ultimate
disc in the dark! Just like a real sport, only we made it up! And it has a
great social side.

Man 4: What team are you on?

Man 5: I’m on the other team!

Man 4: Me too! Ah! Take that, silly!

Man 1: If you catch it, you gotta know what to do with it! Some will struggle.
Some will submit. And everyone is laughing! But it’s your quest to come out
on top. This is a great excuse for some serious fun and a way to meet people
like you- and never see them again. Late games begin every night in San Fierro
Civic Park. Or, start your own game! Come play Ultimate Disc in the Dark!

Finally, back to blog. A little update.

Blogging have never been part of my life's priorities. But after such a long time, I have returned to blog. The past few months were crazy and insane, I couldn't remember every fine detail but you can say it was a maelstrom of events and tasks. What I do know was that there was the Promotional exam which is the main reason I have to drop blogging since it concerns my future and is a determining factor to how my life in school is going to be like. I scrapped through it no doubt. However, the most disappointing thing is that my life did not get any less busy after Promos. In fact it is even more stressful with others. Not really sure what to blog about, I don't really have any topic in mind, but maybe I'll say more in another time. And the achievement of this week, finishing SWKOTOR II after some hard times. The force is strong with this one.

No fancy titles.

It was a extremely long time since I have logged into blogger to blog. Time is really an elusive thing to grasp, sometimes it seems like forever and suddenly you are caught up with every assignment in the world that you seem to have lost it completely. Well, I couldn't really remember what happened with my life after I "disappeared" from this blog. There were some special days like the recent Teacher's Day where people especially teachers must have enjoyed(Who don't like free gifts?). After staying at home for my well deserved break(which ironically holds no purpose to let you relax but rather hype up for the up coming exams), I came across a lot of things ranging from the English Premier League to the situation in Thailand. Somewhat something felt amiss from all the news. And that was the Olympics. During the Olympics period there was news and many other great event happening as if there's nothing to watch besides the Olympics. I watched nearly every match that a student could possibly watch in his school life. From the Phelpsian achievement to Jamaicans immigrating to the Birds Nest. There was no short of surprises and excitement. Damn those Chinese for making it this good. I not saying that I love those people or their ideologies nope. I'm no exercise fan too, I hate to sweat but I like to watch sports from the TV. Speaking of which the PE department of my great school just gave me the lifetime opportunity to join their special PE course. For four sessions I get the benefit of going to school extremely early to try to replicate Usain Bolt running at the speed of his 100m for the distance of about 3000m. I felt like an Olympic champion after coming out of their training programme. People have commented that these posts are all too long. Well I like to keep them short and sweet too and I am going out of words, time and things to blog about. This blog may become "dead" for the upcoming period of time which is going to be worst than what happened to my for my previous few weeks. You all have been warned. So give your computer a break, stop blogging or blog hunting or going to indecent sites. Be environmentally friendly and save your oil price. I'm taking a break from such "mundane" activities like Facebook and Blogspot, MSN should follow. If you want to find some form of entertainment, try turning on the radio.

Week 7 or 8?

Whatever it is days have passed and after being hit by the flu last week, the new week have started and it had passed very quickly. I can't even think what I did for this week besides eating and sleeping. Not to mention watching TV in my clothes during the extra holiday. And I was shocked how the TV went into my clothes. As for my progress in school, not much could be deduced. It was a blurred and muddled week and the only event that I think is happening is the Beijing Olympics. But the Olympics don't happen in school, I just realised that. And I wonder what the tracks and the field was built for. Anyway, I am really dead tired with the double physical education period back and with numerous projects (besides the most important project) coming in from various subjects like Physics. The time I got with my homework dropped dramatically. It's like a bad family crisis. You are always out in work, your wife thinks you are having a affair with the secretary. The kids are neglected and they indulge themselves into rock metal and the internet. Your superior thinks you are stealing office resources and you are robbed of every welfare including the ergonomically correct chair. Your colleagues are always gossiping non-stop about ants in their pants and the symptoms of stroke. And you think you can go back to school. Well, think no further, anyone wishing to take my homework and my work load can buy them from me. I accept paypal only. The reason I'm saying all this must be because of the flu. Frankly I haven't recover fully. I think I may never, in the state I am in, surviving a flu attack is fortunate enough. Eating the medication prescripted by the doctor it somewhat felt good. A sense of assurance that there's still red pills and antibotics( I hope I didn't mess up with the one the body produces, pardon my lousy and abandoned Biology) for you to eat. I feel like the Italian climber who survived K2 and the avalanche. Suffering from severe frostbites and many other health threatening symptoms he finally returns to the base camp. With his team half dead or missing, it was a fortunate event that he was saved and able to survive. After an examination, I always felt like that. Mentally and psychologically, I am tired and wasted of everything. My brains are near dead and my spirit is on the verge of leaving the body. But what's the best thing? "I am happy to have gone to the summit of K2, it is something that I've always dreamed of," the Italian climber was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. Well me too, after every examination and nearly everyday in school, I am also somewhat happy with achieving something. I won't dare say I got very good grades or am a very successful person, I never was. But achieving things small and step by step at a time is good progress. As for the ending, it is no longer safe to board any bus or public transport. You'll never know who is there to stab you just for the fun of it or that your face is just disgusting to the person. If it can happen in a safe country like Canada, then it can happen everywhere. With gobalisation, opportunities can be found in almost any instants and circumstances. Who knows how fast such a trend would set into people's minds. And in the country I am in, there's definitely no escape if you meet a psychopath on the bus. With the crowd beside you there is no route out. And then the schadenfreude over your dead body begins.

I am so tired that I thought Ronnie Winter was my friend.

Yeah, I am dead tired. Every bone in my body is aching and I couldn't even think straight. When Huang Yu( I hope I spelled your name correctly, if not, the reason why I got this wrong is obvious) passed my a recording of "guardian angel". I found the song familiar and a little weird. It was not any recording you find on Youtube or from the nearest iTune store. And Huang Yu asked me to guess who sang it. I somewhat knew the voice but I could not say who. I gave the worst answer(not telling anyone who I said). Obviously, I was wrong and the lead singer was Elliot. It was a momentary madness but I wasn't in Sparta yet. Well, as a friend you could say I did a bad job. But that's not my fault(sorry Elliot), Elliot's song was too good to be true, nobody could have listened and guessed it was Elliot save Elliot himself. Guess I have to admit that I'm getting old, age is getting on me and I have to accept the fact that I cannot run as fast as last time (PE just got worse and worse) and among other things. I am also quite surprised, although I should not be, that my friends in other schools are high and in form for their examinations that they have extremely decent results. Of course they are overall nice and good people and the gap between me and them just got wider. Of all those out there who thinks that I'm joking. Well, I am definitely not. Take for example this week, I just broke another apparatus in the in the Chemistry lesson. I hate myself sometimes. One person once said," In life it's not one damn thing after another, but the damn thing over and over." Of course there's a little cynical and true but I knew I could live through all these. In my high school, it had taught you everything you need to survive in this world. Even when the sky falls on you, you would know that it's nothing special. Why? Because in my high school, the sky falls at least twice a day.
Another event to be noted was the arrival of the Japanese band in my school. If it doesn't involves war, I think the Japanese are mosted welcome everywhere around the world. Their performance was unrivaled in my country. The Japanese boast some of the best bands in the world. And they didn't fail their reputation or their country. I was in band once and I get the sense and the feeling of nostalgic in my body as the music ran through my ears. I had seen such performances before and is not a new or fresh thing to me. The pieces were somewhat familiar. But what really caught my ears was the clarinet. I would never forget the sound that it produce. I played it for 4 years since high school but now I had lost every skill and technique of the instrument. It was a tragedy beyond words. Such short and bittersweet memories resurfaced in my mind. (If I had to retell the tale of why I needed to give up the clarinet, it would need at least 2MB of words)As the band performed on the stage, I couldn't but think of how hard it was for them to prepare for such a performance. The members at least needed numerous tries and oceans of sweat before they even get their plane ticket printed. Not to mention the soloist. They have at least the pressure of the band squared. Looking into such events and reflecting about my life. I knew it is about time to do sometime or lose everything. Some points in life, there are critical moments. And this was it. Everyone except me are fighting for their lives everywhere. So, I have decided to change from hardly working to working hard. Like zergs coming out from their lairs. It is time to feel the rush.

How something free turned sour. But they can learn from the pseudo Japanese stall.

It was another day to start with school, feeling a little down and sleepy, you got on the daily transport to get to your destination. Of course, at the end of the ride, despite wanting to curse the transport system in its current dire state, one would look forward to getting a copy of the free newspaper to read and take your mind off. Everyday was the same, a routine which slowly embedded into my mind. I like to read the papers in the morning, waiting on the bus or even at school. It provides something to think of before the first lesson. But to my horror today, they(the company which distributes these papers) decided to distribute it at a much later time, which I would have no chance to collect one copy. It was a fatality blow. The voice from the announcer of mortal combat rang in my ears, "Finish him!" At that moment, I was still in somewhat of a shell shock. Vision was blurry and some hallucination of the past appeared. I could see an imaginary paper in my hands but I couldn't read it. After coming back to my senses, I thought of the possibilities of they they want to postpone the paper distribution. I came up with these conclusions:1) the working people complaint that students were taking all the papers leaving them with nothing. 2) The people distributing the papers wanted to get to work later. 3) It was all a prank to the coming national day.
It was not good at all, but I knew that something like this would happen. When newspaper is free, one should be cautious. There is no such thing as free lunch and giving out free newspaper is no exception. It was a corporate scam of sort, playing with people's minds and in the end forcing people to buy papers to read instead after a "honey moon" period. I hate monopolies. Whatever the reason for such changes, we are always the losing end and at their mercy. Shifting the timing of distribution would not change the demand for the papers. Even SPCA's dogs know that. But instead of increasing the supply of the papers they do this instead. It's like trying to mend a hole in a boat by taking wood from the other parts of the boat and nailing them on the hole. In the end it'll still sink. To misquote Robert Mugabe," If there's not enough money, I'll print more." This should be the motto of the newspaper company. " If there's not enough free newspaper, I'll print more."
But of course, there is always ways to solve such problems. Taking the case study of my school's Japanese restaurant would be a fine example. Just a few months ago, the Japanese restuarant closed down due to a lack of customers(through observation), little variety and wrong variety of food(by trying the food). Price was a concern too.(by paying money) There was a stalemate by the restaurant. Time passed and nobody really have any idea whether there's going to be a new store or other plans. Just this week, the restaurant reopened. There was a new look. No more energy consuming fridge or disgusting sushi rolls which are not authentic Japanese. There was only set meals and bento sold. Instantly there were large crowds gathering to get their first taste of the food. One important lesson that they have learnt from their failed experiences was, don't target the favour of the locals(trying with sushi and fast and carriable food for the busy lifestyle), instead target the favour of the Japanese(bentos, ramen, miso soup). Whether the locals like, it is probably good. Whatever the Japanese like, it is probably much better. With a move of ingenuity and commitment, couped with the students hungering for some Japanese food again. The stall thrived with customers at the expense of other stalls. The move was clever yet utterly disturbing, that I could feel that I want to try the stall too. And I did. Risk taking is a virture which the government is promoting. I bought the ramen and I felt that it tasted worst that instant noodles. But with a more broader variety and more to eat, there must be something nice. Like Macdonald's, there's a burger that I like to eat even if it will cause cancer. As seen, there can always be ways to regain the volatile public trust. Like how this restaurant did it, the newspaper must relook everything to make its free newspaper a success. Opportunity starts with Intel(good computers and brains) inside. Empty minds won't solve a thing and if they need a place to print newspaper. I'm sure Zimbabwe would be glad to help.

Playing host and finally reading a book.

Well, blogging had became frequent these days, I don't really know why but there are very important things that I would like to write down. As my results are all in, I somewhat have an idea of my goals and strategies for the upcoming schools days. Like how a football season ends and it transit into the transfer period, there are things to complete for the next major barrier in life. Of course there are lots of speculation and disappointment in the air. I've never liked the result collection. It is morale crashing and tiring. Looking at past mistakes and having the feeling of dysphoria that you could have done better is ever so nostalgic. But those are the past now, no more remorse.
Last week, some visitors from my homeland came to visit my family, and there are some middle school students too. Their purpose of visiting is for their school's foreign trip to visit a foreign country. Of course, with my personality, you can say that I'm not that comfortable with new people. But I'm glad to say that I tried my best. I can offer them the best hospitality like going to Merlion and eating some local delicacies. Paper prata was their favourite food. I won't argue about that too, Indian food is nice. We took some photos and have memories which would stick to us for a life time. I'm quite sure that they would learn something meaningful for their lifetime gaining a broader prespective of the world. I too have a great desire to travel and see the world. Not just America or the European countries but maybe the southest point of Argentina where it is closest to the south pole.(This idea was inspired by a Taiwanese traveller for a television programme, sometimes I feel that Taiwanese people owns all Asians like my homeland people and some others)
And I'm finally reading a book! Not that I have any time but I started a few pages. The book is Saul Mellow's "Mr Sammler's Planet". I found that my sibling borrowed it from the library a few weeks ago and I read a few pages. Was a complicated book but it was a good book. Anyway, I have not really read a book since high school. So it was hard, my eyes were tired easily and I felt that I was just reading and not understanding it. Which I spend quite some time on the same page reading it again and again. Thus wasting quite a amount of time.
One very regrettable thing this week is that I couldn't meet my friend Jon at his own institution of higher study when I need to do a survey there. There seems to be some miscommunication and other factors like my own school mates who accompanied me on this trip. So super sorry for Jon for missing him and making him wait at his school. Hope you would not be angry. That's I would dedicate this song for you as an apology. It's O2 by orange range, it's in code geass and it rocks.

And Shiawase Neiro by Orange Range again. This is the ending song for code geass. I personally like O2 more but this is good too.

Mind disturbing and the youth day.

Well, it's already the second half of the year. Nobody likes to admit but we have to face reality sometimes. Speculating the second half of the year contains health hazards. So I wouldn't do that on this blog. In case people crash and die. As always, to have a break and a longer weekend is a luxury. Like taking one gold bar out of the bank and returning five gold bars the following day. "Compensation for the lost time" is the favourite excuse or "we can't let you have time for yourself or else you'll become idle". Our benefactors have plenty to afford as a vendetta after the holidays. So Newton was right. His laws(not naming them for various reasons, eg the rules are not proven so any viewers online can slam this blog for trying to misquote newton)really applies more to life than to physics. If something good happens, something detrimental would definitely chase you down and it will hurt you. Sometimes I wish this blog can afford more, like ways to solve inflation and how to predict when the bus's coming(or not). But listening to a lecture during the week, it was for some report writing and the teachers showed us a sample of the report. After explaining to us all the beauty and details of the report they told us that there's a catch. The sample would not be accepted due to the length of it. And to end the lecture:" Please find your own ways to make the report acceptable." It stuck me with two things. In my mind I was thinking, " If everyone in the world can find their own ways, I think I have a home in Mars now." It wasn't the best of thoughts but it was very true, we can't do everything and showing us a "failed" example is definitely not going to help. Why waste our time on something impractical. It's like using the story and theory of Daedalus to inspire people to fly. The iniquity of the world just jumped a notch after that. My mind wasn't in its best state during the writing of the blog post, it was mostly because of the flu I got in the weekend and the chinese oral exam tomorrow, which I'm trying to think and speak the language(Ironically, I'm writing english). So if you think that whatever philosophical insights or the views above are crap(I know of some who are out there). Please ignore them. That's why I don't blog much, it always needs a whole lot of care in writing. School's coming back soon, I got lessons to catch and things to do and results to face. Clearly that's why I'm not feeling well. If not for theCrew and good friends, it would be tenfold worse. They say that an apple a day, keeps the doctor away, but does it include apples which fell from the tree and hit the head?

The Germans, the exam and the fox

Once a Dutch football pundit commended," In every tournament, the final always consists of the Germans and the Italians." Well, in a sense that is quite true, the Euro 2008 which so prominently featured teams like Portugal and Holland, the Germans were considered outsiders. Watching every local newspaper column in the build up of the tournament, it was all about how such(Deco and Co, Russia with their new talents...) teams would have won the tournament. When asked about the Germans, they all said, there's no hope and that the Dutch are better. What really would shut their mouth was how the Germans reached the final. But that was the good part of the story, the final was well sadly, very much like the Germans. They have went through 13 finals(including Euro2008) and just won 6. That is not pretty and talking about German efficiency, we can have a little doubt about that. But the Germans themselves are not surprised. Someone commented on Soccernet:" The only people who think that the Germans can come back from the 1-0 deficit are the non-German fans." So kudos to the Germans with their unique culture and fantastic football which made fans like me. Nobody remembers the losers but the biggest losers is legendary.
Apart from the Euros, there is the examination I received straight after the holidays. Well, who could say that he doesn't like the school after such acts of love? I really have no information or details of my results. That's not important to my teachers and I dread seeing them too. Especially some subjects which I think there is really no hope in. And the end's not there yet, with the chinese oral and listening just around the bent, one could hardly feel how fortunate that their circumstances are.
Finally a great tribute to the Firefox. I know it have been a few weeks since the arrival of Firefox 3 but it definitely deserves its share of respect. Not only freeing us from the clutches of the IE but even in a certain extent blocking off bullshits and bugs for the IE. One great example of why I hate and distrust the Microsoft have reignited me recently. On MSN, my friend's computer tries to send me viruses. I am wondering what in the whole IT rim are those people doing trying to allow msn as a medium for virus. I don't believe that of all their experts in the Silicon Valley, they couldn't think of a possible solution for such problems. Clearly they either don't deserve their pay or they are the people sending such virus. And my friend should really format or get a anti virus software for his com... That aside, it's just another week in school and I'll have to get used to life as a student again.

My holiday's over...

It was quite some time since I blogged. Not that I didn't have the chance. I spent about 70% of the time I am awake on the computer. This led to some people thinking I was dead or went to become a hermit(this was commented by my civics tutor when school started). No. I was just slacking away at home. The holiday sure was fast. One day I went out with theCrew, the other I was facing the examination of my Chemistry paper. From the point of a student, I didn't make use of my time during the holidays to catch up on your work, consult your tutor, get some tuition, go to the library. I didn't do any of the above save the last one. I went to the library. Now's that something to be proud. In the country I'm living in, either you hate the library or you embrace it as your second home. And it was such an unused place, people neglect the library, especially the new National Library(Now I'm sure that half of your either never went there before or only explore a few levels). But the library is the pride of the country. No other building can rival the knowledge that it offers to the public. So stop going down to the shopping mall and getting cheated by firms. But one very important fact to take note, I am in no way promoting the Library for those people. Actually, I got a very malignant feeling towards those li******ns, save the ones from Warhammer 40k. With a reference to Dilbert, you'll know why.
Dilbert is in his easy chair, reading a book.
Dogbert, sitting on Dilbert's legs, asks, "Why do you waste your time reading books?"
Dilbert replies, "Because reading increases my knowledge, and knowledge is power."
Dogbert then argues, "But power corrupts..."
"...and corruption is a crime..."
"and crime doesn't pay..."
He(Dogbert) comes to the inescapable conclusion, and his ears go up as he states, "If you keep reading, you'll go broke!!!"
Dilbert and Dogbert, hair and fur standing on end, stare at the book Dilbert has now abandoned on the easy chair. Dilbert protests, "Gosh! It always seemed so...so...harmless."
To which, Dogbert replies, "Oh yeah, the li******ns would love to have you believe that!"
See, therefore we should jettison them as soon as the technology of robot is matured enough. Hence, my role as a student during the holiday have been much of a opprobrium. But as a normal human, I wasted no time in playing games and enjoying my holiday. I got plenty of rest too. I get to wake up late and sleep late. Optimus Prime once said that"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." Well, that such is true during the holidays. People get to go on a trip overseas and so on. One remarkable that happened to me was that I am now a full citizen of the country I'm living in now. I just got the passport and I get to enjoy the rights of being one and have to obey to the obligations and rules set by the country. Nonetheless, it was inevitable. Maybe I have taken this country to be my new root, ever since the communist invaded my backyard in my birth country. So yay to myself. That's the good part of my story. Here the tragedy, everyone get ready cos it's gonna get heavy. It was my examinations right after my break. And it was merciless. Right now, in the time plane when this post is written, I'm in the middle of the examination period. You may say that is suicide to be doing this during such a time. But I believe a post on the blog would not be as harmful as 1min of Korean drama. So let's hope the upcoming papers would not be so bad. Actually I'm quite speechless and flabbergasted to a certain extent to describing the exams. It was a hard blow. After just the 1st day, I lost all the energy and mental strength I recovered from the holidays. Now I'm suffering from memory loss, internal injury and repetitive strain injury of my right hand. With such health hazards, it would make being drunk a saint if you compare those two. Anyway, that's the end of this post I fear. I got a lot to catch up before the next paper...

theCrew outing and a summary of another week

Yes we did it. theCrew went back to mshs and we finished our very important mission of collecting our certificates and the pinafore run. It was well worth it to see back my old friends in the very same hostile environment where it all begins. The school never changed much since I walked off from it after the O levels. But there were some new features like a overhead shelter covering one part of the school. So when I stepped into the school, it was like Indiana Jones walking into the Temple of Doom. I sense danger with all the mindless and hapless students of the school roaming around like zombies. But my job was not to waste these people. It was to collect my certificate and escape before the impeding doom arrives. So I rendezvous with theCrew and started our ascend towards the General Office of mshs. I never liked that place. Cause all the big evils of the school are there, their job is not to facilitate students, but to humiliate students. Well I can recall all the instants where people told me how they got scolded when getting a form or when the person needs to leave early. I personally never went there often, since I know the risk involved. But that day was different. I knew I won't be coming back so I got to get the certificate. We stepped in and the personal at the reception table stared at us. That person knew we were graduates coming back to collect our belongings. So she initiated the attack. " What's your name, class and index number.." I clearly couldn't remember my index number. It was the toughest question posed to my in my status as an ex-student of the school. But lucky, with theCrew around, it was a piece of cake. My friend and classmate, Wei Ren said 5, and I wrote it down. Then the person came back with all the certificate and year book. We signed some stupid paper, collected the various items and went out, on the way we meet Mr Kwok and Chen as always posed all the stupid questions for him. It was our farewell gift to him I guess, after all those years of hardship under him. On the way to the bus stop, Jon and Elliot started playing their own games. And we just watched. Then we celebrated our victory with our 2nd most favourite food(1st was the ban mian in Roxy square), Subway. We ordered our sandwiches and tasted the flavour of victory.
The other days of the week meanwhile was not well spent, I practically didn't do much of anything. It was just some light reading here and there, went out for the Guitar BBQ which was another fun filled event. Saw the Pre U seminar sandcastle at the food court of East coast park. It is notable that there are still two more week of holidays left. I somehow feels that time during the holiday is much faster than in school. Meanwhile there is Euro 2008 to watch and I am ready to catch up on football again after the English Premier league ended. Yeah, so it's the end of another week.

The holidays and a letter from hell

Finally it is the holidays, I know it's a bit slow as the first week of holidays is nearing its end. But I had some things which required my immediately so I was out of contact and eventually out of the blogging world for some time. As in what the matter is, it would be discussed in the near future, as it would be quite interesting I guess. In my whole week of holiday, I meet with various milestones and experiences, didn't get to go on a holiday though, due to that important event. There was the elearning, which in my opinion can be considered a tragedy to the students like how the story of Iliad was to the Greeks. As least for me, you can say that things never went smoothly for me during the two days. The timetable clearly didn't serve it's purpose, but that's good in some way as you can access the system as when you like. The only problem was that the learning environment was not compatible with the legendary Firefox, which have for years served Takshun with such vigor and effectiveness that you can't say no to Open source software. I never liked venturing into Microsoft's products, not that I don't trust big corporations, but I always have a bad feeling when I use Microsoft's softwares(with the exception of Windows XP which I had to use). Like there's the "It's a trap!" from Admiral Ackbar. No choice, sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. So I installed Microsoft's IE7 to view the elessons. Sadly, I ejected into my Warhammer 40k after 2 mins of lagging with the lessons. So the time wasn't badly spent by me for elearning. When one door's closed for you, there would always be another opened. In the rims of the IT world, the gaming industry always welcome computer users with open arms. A side note, I found it quite slow of IE to incorporate tabs as to Firefox. So another victory for Open source. During the holidays, I found that my time could become much more flexible, I had cereal at 12 and then I watched TV in my pajamas, and I wondered how the TV got into my pajamas in the first place. Haha. Zheng Hui styled jokes aside. Really, I found that the world is more peaceful without our "benefactors" controlling our lives. I better savour all the free time I get before the dread examinations. Damn, the exam is really the major spoiler in this tranquility period. I have tons of unfinished lessons to get straight with before I can even gain entry into the exam hall. That's enough of exams, it gives me an instant headache thinking about it. Another event was that I received a postcard with a "Happy Grandparents Day" greetings on. Although it looks ordinary with the normal pictures, but one with an IQ of 50 would immediately be suspicious of who would send this "card" to a 17 year old. And to my dismay, it was from my most feared High school, calling me to go back to collect my certificate. Oh, I can't even type out the name of the school as it brings chills down my spine. I can see how the school manipulated me during my high school days to write down my very own address on the card. I bet I was drunk when I wrote it. But though disturbing, I too found it a little assuring that the school haven't destroyed everything that belongs to us. So I most probably would venture back to that place with theCrew. We're already graduates, what can do they do to us right? I hope I don't bump into my band, I'll be screwed as all the crazy and torturous memories return in my mind. Anyway that's all I guess. The holidays would be fruitfully used I hope, cause I don't really get much of these times.

Weekly report

It's always good to have a few days with no school before the official holidays. It was definitely well deserved since we work our ass off just for these few days for ourselves. If not for e learning. What's more, there was a schedule for us to follow. Congrats, so your live had been dictated once again by our "benefactors". These are times when you feel like turning off the computer. Frankly speaking, I found that anything related with education is screwed up. Would you play a game with educational purposes inside? Or correctly, nobody play games for their educational purpose. If that happens, what would happen to the people playing GTA IV? Of course, I'm an avid fan of the GTA series, so everytime there's a new GTA out, it makes me feels proud like a mother watching their baby walking their very first steps. So, we all should get the game sometime or another. That aside, I think my workload is basically cleared. With the exception of PW, which I think is the prime evil obstructing my free time during the holidays. I was uber busy during the past week so I didn't blog. Also there were some events which are big blows to me, as it really sickens me that past problems are haunting me again. One was the change of my maths tutor. I find it unacceptable that all this is happening now. It's already like a few months after our JAE and they suddenly want a reorganisation. Now I heard that we're going to get some other tutor which I don't think we can rely on. So we can say good game to our Maths. Some of the others are quite trivial and personal so it is meaningless to discuss it as people reading would have no clue about what it is. Sometimes we just try too hard getting what we want and we just don't have them. Say results, your favourite football team, your whatever. Don't make me think too hard, it's just a blog.... But I think I know why this happens. As statistics shown by Asok the intern of Dilbert: There is no correlation between your efforts and your rewards! Wow! Now that's assuring. Now you know how this world works, maybe you can plan for your future with more insights. That way at least you wouldn't be too disappointed. And if you see others feeling the same way. You can at least say."I told you so." Finally, there was the soccer game between our school and our eastern neighbour school, which is better academically and it was a good game to watch as both sides are good. Well we prevailed in the end because of some good play(during the 2 goals) and luck which kept our opponents at bay. So I aren't surprised with the results. As for that nothing much is quite fun besides the lunch outing with my CCA which is the guitar ensemble and we had fun together. So we finally have a holiday and a rest, which I really really need. But after that, it would be exams and stress and other problems. So here we go again, just like those good old days.

Life's give and take

It's been a long while since I blogged. You can say that this week is the hardest I've experienced in my current school. The whole school's tension and fiery was raised to a entire new level. A few significant events in the school, one was the allocation of PW group. I was fortunate to have some of the most reliable mates in my squad. I was also appointed the PW leader which I had to accept without any objection since my teacher in charge is a women not swayed by comments, somewhat of a iron fist ruler to a certain extent. But at least we saw her laugh and have some fun during her class. I wouldn't want to complain or criticise. Just hope that our group can get along with her and learn as much from her for our PW to be successful. The task of the project requires a hell lot of work and I had to make up a plan somewhere before it's too late to save ourselves. Besides that, we had two practical tests. One for Chemistry and one for Physics. I think that both were good. Since I did everything I could to the letter of what they told me to. But there is still one more upcoming spa. The teacher told us that it's going to be difficult. There are also tests too. I couldn't believe that they would fix everything on a single week. I wonder if that is due to the staffroom conspiracies. Which is something like:
In the depths of the maths department underground meeting...
Maths teacher A: " Damn it. The rumors are true. Those people from the Chemistry department have finally initiated Project SPA. They're trying to collect chemicals to finish the Van der Waals' cannon and oxidise our brains. I ever heard that they got the whole equation out already!"
Maths HOD: " Good grievous! Vito Volterra bless us! We got to win this. Stop their progress while you can, the great works of Issac Newton must not be losted. We're the sole protectors of it. Those people from Physics, what do they know about him. He's a mathematician! Not a physicist! $%^^&*^$#%. Put the maths test there to deter their progress. Everyone start setting questions NOW! Nobody is to rest until we got at least 20 marks worth of questions! And once we get our Fermat's Last theorem out, it's all over for them..."
Thus due to the internal feuds between the various departments, there can be no peace...
Of course this is just a story and no means to represent anyone. But it's always a wonder to me why there is a need of so many staff rooms. And they are far apart too. But I guess that teachers are humans too. They are just like students. They need friends, they hate other people who are not with them or they find disgusting. It's the human nature. But I am quite interested to know about staffroom politics. I don't believe in perfect harmony within the staffs. If you can't even find a stench of harmony between a small group of people. A movie about this could be interesting, we can learn a lot from it and it would even be in the Oscars by the start of next year. Of course these are some of my random ideas which I came across during this week.
Another interesting thing was that I finally lost to someone in my class for the position of class rep. There was a voting and sadly I lost. In the build up to the contest, it was quite clear that he would win by a big margin but in the end I put in a good fight despite doing nothing of gaining votes or publicising myself. But nevertheless, things in my reality are never perfect. In life it's all about giving and taking. We can't expect to do everything. Like if everyone's the rich guy, where's the poor guy? To be honest, the feeling of losing is never nice but somethings I got to admit it. I lost fairly and hold no grudges to anyone. I wish that I can be or have some leadership opportunities in the distant future and I know that there will be. So it was a bittersweet experience for me. What's more, there are more important things I value than these leadership things.
That somewhat concludes my week, there is only more to do, more to ponder I fear. The world have never been easy but now it suddenly got worse. Luckily there's still code geass to look forward to. And theCrew have much bigger plans for the world, so there's really no need to despair.

Steel rain

Take out the big guns. We're needing it. No. It's not a drill. Never had my body been in such a mode since those crazy days of the O level. The arrival of the SPA examination had me getting near death experiences. It's never pretty to have such practical exams. I never liked it for my entire life. I wonder what are the chances of timing pendulums in my working life. And wonder ever more when it comes to why the education requires such "skills". The world's already technologically well ahead of these methods. I guess things which are totally far apart can affect each other radically. Who would guess in the 1960s that watching TV or using the fridge would be a mean to kill polar bears. But it is. Unless you believe that global warming's a myth. Back to this week before we think too far and start to drift off into a parallel dimension. This week, it's still full of politics, fiery, tension and intensity. If it's compared to the English Premier League, it may even beat it hands down. The main important and significant events are the council investiture, my birthday last Saturday to name a few. Yes, I'm already 17. One year closer to death and another year of experience into my life. Actually birthdays aren't that important. It's not unique and always happen no matter what we do. We all grow up and... who knows what happens. The council investiture, I got no comments. Did a little job for them in exchange for CIP hours. It was relatively fun to station at the side gate and welcome the outsiders coming in with Huan Yu and a new friend Yi Han. Coincidentally, Huan Yu got the same birthday as me. Besides that, we are poles apart, in terms of everything, financially, physically and others. Just that we get along well. Now that's what important. Congrats to theCrew member Elliot being the president of the photography club. Not to mention Zheng Hui too. He achieved his goal in the EXCO. Y'know, somehow "I told you so" just doesn't quite say it. Anyway, Labour Day's a life saver. Thrusday was never good in my context. Basically, there is never a positive word to describe school. Not that I could think of. And get ready, all those Online Football Managers out there. Whether you're the friendly rivals or the rivalry friends. The game is on. Only on the pitch can we decide our paths. So move off Forbidden Kingdom. The rollin' thunder's coming. Even the skies are darker these days.

Immortality, take it. It's yours.

It just feels good to have a day without cca. Nothing beats the pleasure of arriving home in the afternoon with time to spend for yourselves. These things are rare nowadays. Especially in my school. It would be the optimum day if not for the physics test. But nothing in the world's prefect. These weeks are project filled, not to mention that the practicals are coming. As how important the Pennsylvania elections is to Hillary Clinton this week, it 's going to be the same for me sometime down this road.Well, I am totally not prepared. Suddenly time seems to fly so fast. Looking a little further ahead, there's only one month left before the mid years. Yes I could hear the f word. On theory, it is supposed to be the period which you work hard, but all these can't be done. To sum up the week, I had the physical education test and I passed the 5 stations. Well, quite a surprise for me as I usually fail the standing board jump. So a great improvement to my attributes of this area. As for life, well, Monday was as usual, Tuesday was screwed up. There were heavy rain, there was make up cca, there was a lot of difficult subjects and it was the latest day in my entire timetable. Not to mention the extra econs before cca. And to leave a final vendetta on me, I had to come to school earlier before the normal wednesday timing for some house elections. The house election is student council election downgraded. Although the candidates are somewhat unpromising, I still have to vote in pursue of the interest of maximizing society's welfare. Although this might hurt my satisfaction as a consumer, sacrifices had to be made. Well the same can't be said of the world now, nobody's giving a damn on how the food prices are. There are shortages everywhere. Recently, there was the shortage of butter in Japan. And these problems are definitely not going to be solved at this rate. Of course I'm in no position to criticize as I have no plan myself to change the world but I think that war would be soon if we don't solve these issues. I'm definitely not going to entertain constant increase in price in my school canteen which would really sicken the school population. As our trouble increases like oil price or food price, I think that nobody have given so much to the world like we humans do. No wonder we deserve to 'rule' this world. If you can't sense the irony and sarcasm in my statement, then you really are a wonder. So everyone get ready cos' it's going to get heavy. Polytechnic's starting for all those who chose that route and junior college's getting worse. So embrace and savour the little time you have for yourselves. Immortality take it. It's yours. Grab it while stock last.