Hey hey, I've discovered another high side of being the daughter of a nice, friendly lawyer - Mooncakes.
The Mid Autumn Festival is yet to arrive in a couple of weeks and my mum has already brought home 3 rounds of mooncakes ( not including the first from my cousins). Each came with their own delightfully aesthetic hardy boxes and most probably rather high prices as well. The first batch came in 2 boxes of 8-9 delectable mini mooncakes with the unique filling of custard purchased from the hotel's restaurant above my mum's office(a last minute buy as you can see). Just 2 days ago, I came out of my room to meet an gold, oriental box with mooncakes held within individual gold boxes. They looked like those boxes the Chinese officials used to present their dowry with. As I was staring in awe at the shimmery effect of plastic gold reflection in my face, Shiyun anti-climatically added (in her typical auntie tone)
'Wah, fine knife and fork some more.'
as she pointed at the text printed on the small rectangular box nestled in the middle of the golden aura. This batch came from some fine dining place. Impressive looks aside, the mooncakes were fairly fresh and yummy too. And now, just 2 days later, my mum walks in with a multicoloured, flamboyant looking plastic bag from 'Hong Kong Disneyland' . And as you can guess, yup! Mickey Moose (I prefer calling him that) Mooncakes! Apparently this client works there.
Behold the benefits of the daughter of a nice lawyer. (I bet the lawyers at Khattar Wong don't even get a sweet!) So anyone who wishes to kidnap me may now ask for mooncakes as ransom. =)
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Patenting
You guys know the author Michael Crichton? Here's a truly entertaining essay about patenting. Read it if you have the time, I know you're all mugging for the exams. =)
THIS ESSAY BREAKS THE LAW
· The Earth revolves around the Sun.
· The speed of light is a constant.
· Apples fall to earth because of gravity.
· Elevated blood sugar is linked to diabetes.
· Elevated uric acid is linked to gout.
· Elevated homocysteine is linked to heart disease. · Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins. Actually, I can't make that last statement. A corporation has patented that fact, and demands a royalty for its use. Anyone who makes the fact public and encourages doctors to test for the condition and treat it can be sued for royalty fees. Any doctor who reads a patient's test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent. All this may sound absurd, but it is the heart of a case that will be argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In 1986 researchers filed a patent application for a method of testing the levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, in the blood. They went one step further and asked for a patent on the basic biological relationship between homocysteine and vitamin deficiency. A patent was granted that covered both the test and the scientific fact. Eventually, a company called Metabolite took over the license for the patent. Although Metabolite does not have a monopoly on test methods-other companies make homocysteine tests, too-they assert licensing rights on the correlation of elevated homocysteine with vitamin deficiency. A company called LabCorp used a different test but published an article mentioning the patented fact. Metabolite sued on a number of grounds, and has won in court so far. But what the Supreme Court will focus on is the nature of the claimed correlation. On the one hand, courts have repeatedly held that basic bodily processes and "products of nature" are not patentable. That's why no one owns gravity, or the speed of light. But at the same time, courts have granted so-called correlation patents for many years. Powerful forces are arrayed on both sides of the issue. In addition, there is the rather bizarre question of whether simply thinking about a patented fact infringes the patent. The idea smacks of thought control, to say nothing of unenforceability. It seems like something out of a novel by Philip K. Dick-or Kafka. But it highlights the uncomfortable truth that the Patent Office and the courts have in recent decades ruled themselves into a corner from which they must somehow extricate themselves. For example, the human genome exists in every one of us, and is therefore our shared heritage and an undoubted fact of nature. Nevertheless 20 percent of the genome is now privately owned. The gene for diabetes is owned, and its owner has something to say about any research you do, and what it will cost you. The entire genome of the hepatitis C virus is owned by a biotech company. Royalty costs now influence the direction of research in basic diseases, and often even the testing for diseases. Such barriers to medical testing and research are not in the public interest. Do you want to be told by your doctor, "Oh, nobody studies your disease any more because the owner of the gene/enzyme/correlation has made it too expensive to do research?" The question of whether basic truths of nature can be owned ought not to be confused with concerns about how we pay for biotech development, whether we will have drugs in the future, and so on. If you invent a new test, you may patent it and sell it for as much as you can, if that's your goal. Companies can certainly own a test they have invented. But they should not own the disease itself, or the gene that causes the disease, or essential underlying facts about the disease. The distinction is not difficult, even though patent lawyers attempt to blur it. And even if correlation patents have been granted, the overwhelming majority of medical correlations, including those listed above, are not owned. And shouldn't be. Unfortunately for the public, the Metabolite case is only one example of a much broader patent problem in this country. We grant patents at a level of abstraction that is unwise, and it's gotten us into trouble in the past. Some years back, doctors were allowed to patent surgical procedures and sue other doctors who used their methods without paying a fee. A blizzard of lawsuits followed. This unhealthy circumstance was halted in 1996 by the American Medical Association and Congress, which decided that doctors couldn't sue other doctors for using patented surgical procedures. But the beat goes on. Companies have patented their method of hiring, and real estate agents have patented the way they sell houses. Lawyers now advise athletes to patent their sports moves, and screenwriters to patent their movie plots. (My screenplay for "Jurassic Park" was cited as a good candidate.) Where does all this lead? It means that if a real estate agent lists a house for sale, he can be sued because an existing patent for selling houses includes item No.7, "List the house." It means that Kobe Bryant may serve as an inspiration but not a model, because nobody can imitate him without fines. It means nobody can write a dinosaur story because my patent includes 257 items covering all aspects of behavior, like item No. 13, "Dinosaurs attack humans and other dinosaurs." Such a situation is idiotic, of course. Yet elements of it already exist. And unless we begin to turn this around, there will be worse to come. I wanted to end this essay by telling a story about how current rulings hurt us but the patent for "ending an essay with an anecdote" is owned. So I thought to end with a quotation from a famous person, but that strategy is patented, too. I then decided to end abruptly, but "abrupt ending for dramatic effect" is also patented. Finally, I decided to pay the "end with summary" patent fee, since it was the least expensive. The Supreme Court should rule against Metabolite, and the Patent Office should begin to reverse its strategy of patenting strategies. Basic truths of nature can't be owned. Oh, and by the way: I own the patent for "essay or letter criticizing a previous publication." So anyone who criticizes what I have said here had better pay a royalty first, or I'll see you in court.
· The Earth revolves around the Sun.
· The speed of light is a constant.
· Apples fall to earth because of gravity.
· Elevated blood sugar is linked to diabetes.
· Elevated uric acid is linked to gout.
· Elevated homocysteine is linked to heart disease. · Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins. Actually, I can't make that last statement. A corporation has patented that fact, and demands a royalty for its use. Anyone who makes the fact public and encourages doctors to test for the condition and treat it can be sued for royalty fees. Any doctor who reads a patient's test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent. All this may sound absurd, but it is the heart of a case that will be argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In 1986 researchers filed a patent application for a method of testing the levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, in the blood. They went one step further and asked for a patent on the basic biological relationship between homocysteine and vitamin deficiency. A patent was granted that covered both the test and the scientific fact. Eventually, a company called Metabolite took over the license for the patent. Although Metabolite does not have a monopoly on test methods-other companies make homocysteine tests, too-they assert licensing rights on the correlation of elevated homocysteine with vitamin deficiency. A company called LabCorp used a different test but published an article mentioning the patented fact. Metabolite sued on a number of grounds, and has won in court so far. But what the Supreme Court will focus on is the nature of the claimed correlation. On the one hand, courts have repeatedly held that basic bodily processes and "products of nature" are not patentable. That's why no one owns gravity, or the speed of light. But at the same time, courts have granted so-called correlation patents for many years. Powerful forces are arrayed on both sides of the issue. In addition, there is the rather bizarre question of whether simply thinking about a patented fact infringes the patent. The idea smacks of thought control, to say nothing of unenforceability. It seems like something out of a novel by Philip K. Dick-or Kafka. But it highlights the uncomfortable truth that the Patent Office and the courts have in recent decades ruled themselves into a corner from which they must somehow extricate themselves. For example, the human genome exists in every one of us, and is therefore our shared heritage and an undoubted fact of nature. Nevertheless 20 percent of the genome is now privately owned. The gene for diabetes is owned, and its owner has something to say about any research you do, and what it will cost you. The entire genome of the hepatitis C virus is owned by a biotech company. Royalty costs now influence the direction of research in basic diseases, and often even the testing for diseases. Such barriers to medical testing and research are not in the public interest. Do you want to be told by your doctor, "Oh, nobody studies your disease any more because the owner of the gene/enzyme/correlation has made it too expensive to do research?" The question of whether basic truths of nature can be owned ought not to be confused with concerns about how we pay for biotech development, whether we will have drugs in the future, and so on. If you invent a new test, you may patent it and sell it for as much as you can, if that's your goal. Companies can certainly own a test they have invented. But they should not own the disease itself, or the gene that causes the disease, or essential underlying facts about the disease. The distinction is not difficult, even though patent lawyers attempt to blur it. And even if correlation patents have been granted, the overwhelming majority of medical correlations, including those listed above, are not owned. And shouldn't be. Unfortunately for the public, the Metabolite case is only one example of a much broader patent problem in this country. We grant patents at a level of abstraction that is unwise, and it's gotten us into trouble in the past. Some years back, doctors were allowed to patent surgical procedures and sue other doctors who used their methods without paying a fee. A blizzard of lawsuits followed. This unhealthy circumstance was halted in 1996 by the American Medical Association and Congress, which decided that doctors couldn't sue other doctors for using patented surgical procedures. But the beat goes on. Companies have patented their method of hiring, and real estate agents have patented the way they sell houses. Lawyers now advise athletes to patent their sports moves, and screenwriters to patent their movie plots. (My screenplay for "Jurassic Park" was cited as a good candidate.) Where does all this lead? It means that if a real estate agent lists a house for sale, he can be sued because an existing patent for selling houses includes item No.7, "List the house." It means that Kobe Bryant may serve as an inspiration but not a model, because nobody can imitate him without fines. It means nobody can write a dinosaur story because my patent includes 257 items covering all aspects of behavior, like item No. 13, "Dinosaurs attack humans and other dinosaurs." Such a situation is idiotic, of course. Yet elements of it already exist. And unless we begin to turn this around, there will be worse to come. I wanted to end this essay by telling a story about how current rulings hurt us but the patent for "ending an essay with an anecdote" is owned. So I thought to end with a quotation from a famous person, but that strategy is patented, too. I then decided to end abruptly, but "abrupt ending for dramatic effect" is also patented. Finally, I decided to pay the "end with summary" patent fee, since it was the least expensive. The Supreme Court should rule against Metabolite, and the Patent Office should begin to reverse its strategy of patenting strategies. Basic truths of nature can't be owned. Oh, and by the way: I own the patent for "essay or letter criticizing a previous publication." So anyone who criticizes what I have said here had better pay a royalty first, or I'll see you in court.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Teacher's Day
My first school event spent in ACJC. (Skipped National Day you see) The whole programme was rather entertaining and well planned. Afer obtaining feedback from my sister that JC programmes are general 'fun-ner' and hipper since they were fully organised by the students, which was pretty true. There were several reasons why I chose not to return to St Hilda's. I know some of them seem rather petty and insignificant, but they ultimately form a huge massive ball of a reason why I shouldn't be loyal to my secondary school.
1) I'm pretty angry that my neighbourhood school deprived us of a lot of opportunities. When you compare what other schools, even other neighbourhood schools gave their students the opportunities to maximise their potential. Well, the only person I'm to blame is myself for ending up there in the first place. But looking on the bright side, hey, it earned me $1500 in 3 years. But there's not much point being a big fish in a small pond, you simple get a hell of a shock when you enter the ocean and meet Jonah the BIG FISH.
2) I was extremely secure and content in my secondary school after spending a good four years there. Well, the first two weren't exactly the most ego boosting considering that I had hair akin to imploded cauliflower, but the following years got better as I proved myself to be better versed inwardly rather than be a cheena bimbo. Anyways, I'd already got past that face and submitted to the fact that I wasn't going to be a Miss Singapore or Miss Hilda for that matter any time soon. I simply enjoyed my friends and the intellectual hold I had over my life. I qutie a control freak you see.
Yes, the main point is, being in a level where there are 1000 students who are equally if not more capable and intelligent than you are automatically gives you a tinge of inferior complex. As much as I miss that kind of recognition and familiarity back in SHS, hovering in the past doesn't eliminate the fact that you're still as incompetent as ever. I want to resist that temptation of lingering and grappling at what's gone.
3) It's bloody Tampines from Buona Vista la.
4) I'm still annoyed at my form teacher for giving me such a slip shot testimonial, if it can still be called that. How can you call 'Cuiwen is a nice and pleasant blah blah blah' a testimonial? Ther's no personal touch in it whatsoever!! All our testimonials were basically cut and pastes.
ok I need to mug. Actually no, I'm simply too distracted by youtube to write anything more coherent.
1) I'm pretty angry that my neighbourhood school deprived us of a lot of opportunities. When you compare what other schools, even other neighbourhood schools gave their students the opportunities to maximise their potential. Well, the only person I'm to blame is myself for ending up there in the first place. But looking on the bright side, hey, it earned me $1500 in 3 years. But there's not much point being a big fish in a small pond, you simple get a hell of a shock when you enter the ocean and meet Jonah the BIG FISH.
2) I was extremely secure and content in my secondary school after spending a good four years there. Well, the first two weren't exactly the most ego boosting considering that I had hair akin to imploded cauliflower, but the following years got better as I proved myself to be better versed inwardly rather than be a cheena bimbo. Anyways, I'd already got past that face and submitted to the fact that I wasn't going to be a Miss Singapore or Miss Hilda for that matter any time soon. I simply enjoyed my friends and the intellectual hold I had over my life. I qutie a control freak you see.
Yes, the main point is, being in a level where there are 1000 students who are equally if not more capable and intelligent than you are automatically gives you a tinge of inferior complex. As much as I miss that kind of recognition and familiarity back in SHS, hovering in the past doesn't eliminate the fact that you're still as incompetent as ever. I want to resist that temptation of lingering and grappling at what's gone.
3) It's bloody Tampines from Buona Vista la.
4) I'm still annoyed at my form teacher for giving me such a slip shot testimonial, if it can still be called that. How can you call 'Cuiwen is a nice and pleasant blah blah blah' a testimonial? Ther's no personal touch in it whatsoever!! All our testimonials were basically cut and pastes.
ok I need to mug. Actually no, I'm simply too distracted by youtube to write anything more coherent.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Irony
Hmmm, I found it a tad humourous when I saw someone post up pictures of his/her relief work done in some dilapidated kampong inclusive of all the little starving kids, and following that the pictures of him/her and friends at NYDC and starbucks.
Talk about charity. I'm not saying the person was awfully insensitive and hypocritical for posting such contrasting photographs, I mean, honestly we would probably be guilty of that. The thing is more of how insensitive we have all become. we have all become so swarmed with poverty, adversity, oppression, misfortune and the works that we simply disregard it and catogerise it under a whole new section in our lives: 'Things we know exist and people we feel pity for but can't/don't/won't do anything'
And so off we go to buy $5 cups of gourmet coffees, scones and crumpets. Hey, why not throw in a Prada whilst we're at it? Anyways those people in Aceh would probably die before the US agrees to send my money over.
And the saddest thing is, I know that everyone who reads this, inclusive of me is just going to feel guilty for perhaps a nano-second at most and then move on. Why's that so? Are our lives as sucky (see prev. entry) as we claim? No! Thankfulness and gratefulness, the church never fails to endorse that. However it's so difficult to always keep that in mind, I suppose that's the reason for them revising it week after week to get it into our high-density, uber-thick super-strong skull and into that mushy 70% water-constituted thing we call our brain.
Talk about charity. I'm not saying the person was awfully insensitive and hypocritical for posting such contrasting photographs, I mean, honestly we would probably be guilty of that. The thing is more of how insensitive we have all become. we have all become so swarmed with poverty, adversity, oppression, misfortune and the works that we simply disregard it and catogerise it under a whole new section in our lives: 'Things we know exist and people we feel pity for but can't/don't/won't do anything'
And so off we go to buy $5 cups of gourmet coffees, scones and crumpets. Hey, why not throw in a Prada whilst we're at it? Anyways those people in Aceh would probably die before the US agrees to send my money over.
And the saddest thing is, I know that everyone who reads this, inclusive of me is just going to feel guilty for perhaps a nano-second at most and then move on. Why's that so? Are our lives as sucky (see prev. entry) as we claim? No! Thankfulness and gratefulness, the church never fails to endorse that. However it's so difficult to always keep that in mind, I suppose that's the reason for them revising it week after week to get it into our high-density, uber-thick super-strong skull and into that mushy 70% water-constituted thing we call our brain.
Hey People!
For all you musical fans out there! Or actually, any one who's looking now, here's a song my friend sent to me and which I later went to check out on youtube. If's a musical with a different twist! It's great for some ego boosting for some of us.=) I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mK9ssCpFyI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mK9ssCpFyI
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Smile!
Here's what I have to smile about!
1) I just got a new phone! Despite it being one of the early predecessors of Nokia phones (It's a 6070) I'm nonetheless extremely happy with the buy and the phone. The previous Motorola I had was successfully upping my blood pressure and frequencies of migraines with it's laggy internal processer (if it even had one) I've described its lagginess rather vividly to quite a number of people already, but allow me to once again elaborate how I would probably die if I were to need to call the police/ambulance urgently. It's as if my phone is this 70 year old woman who's incapable of any action once in a state of shock, which by the way happens pretty often. You open the flap too quickly, it goes into shock and you can't key in anything for about 5-10 seconds (which sadly is considered eternity in a world where occasions are considered to the nanosecond) If you press too many buttons too fast, BAM! Worse still, you recieve a call on a second line or a message comes in half way and stuff like that. Basically, the phone is akin to an 80 year old man who's slightly senile, slow, unable to multitask, slow, extremely un-human-friendly, slow, yea you get the point.
Hence, unable to take this traumatic frustrations, I decided quite strongly to get a new phone.
Yay!!
2) We saved $50 whilst getting the phone! I kept telling my mum we'd earn $2 from the Motorla since we bought it at 98 but would be selling it at 100. (haha, yipee 2 boxes of muar chee for us) To our delight, we ended up trading it in for 120, which means we earned $22! haha, and somehow, Nokia is selling the phone for $38 more than those little mobile phone shops under the housing board estates. Yay!
3) The salesmen were really friendly and pleasant! They even freely told us about their experience of nabbing a mobile phone theif! (Apparently some Malay student had attempted to sell a phone filled with Mandarin contacts, pictures, ringtones etc) Haha, ain't that nice that our friendly shop owners are doing their part in keeping our streets safe? =)
4) I had a great time with a bunch of my class bowling at a really cheap rate of $1.50 per game! And I discovered (for the first time) Marina South! I think it's gorgeous really, I can barely wait for our promos to end! Fly kite! fly kite!! (Throwing 9 pound balls aren't really my thing you see, I have this affinity for longkangs)
5) I really enjoy my classmates sometimes! They can be quite a breath of fresh air sometimes!
1) I just got a new phone! Despite it being one of the early predecessors of Nokia phones (It's a 6070) I'm nonetheless extremely happy with the buy and the phone. The previous Motorola I had was successfully upping my blood pressure and frequencies of migraines with it's laggy internal processer (if it even had one) I've described its lagginess rather vividly to quite a number of people already, but allow me to once again elaborate how I would probably die if I were to need to call the police/ambulance urgently. It's as if my phone is this 70 year old woman who's incapable of any action once in a state of shock, which by the way happens pretty often. You open the flap too quickly, it goes into shock and you can't key in anything for about 5-10 seconds (which sadly is considered eternity in a world where occasions are considered to the nanosecond) If you press too many buttons too fast, BAM! Worse still, you recieve a call on a second line or a message comes in half way and stuff like that. Basically, the phone is akin to an 80 year old man who's slightly senile, slow, unable to multitask, slow, extremely un-human-friendly, slow, yea you get the point.
Hence, unable to take this traumatic frustrations, I decided quite strongly to get a new phone.
Yay!!
2) We saved $50 whilst getting the phone! I kept telling my mum we'd earn $2 from the Motorla since we bought it at 98 but would be selling it at 100. (haha, yipee 2 boxes of muar chee for us) To our delight, we ended up trading it in for 120, which means we earned $22! haha, and somehow, Nokia is selling the phone for $38 more than those little mobile phone shops under the housing board estates. Yay!
3) The salesmen were really friendly and pleasant! They even freely told us about their experience of nabbing a mobile phone theif! (Apparently some Malay student had attempted to sell a phone filled with Mandarin contacts, pictures, ringtones etc) Haha, ain't that nice that our friendly shop owners are doing their part in keeping our streets safe? =)
4) I had a great time with a bunch of my class bowling at a really cheap rate of $1.50 per game! And I discovered (for the first time) Marina South! I think it's gorgeous really, I can barely wait for our promos to end! Fly kite! fly kite!! (Throwing 9 pound balls aren't really my thing you see, I have this affinity for longkangs)
5) I really enjoy my classmates sometimes! They can be quite a breath of fresh air sometimes!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Things I'd like to hollar to the world
Well, not exactly hollar since typing and hoping that people have the time to read isn't exactly vocalising. But anyways, here's a little trivia to start your reading my post.
1) The defininations of the following words seem to differ slightly across different dictionaries. But anyways, here's what I gather from the one in my room;
Egoist - Person who is concerned about his/her welfare
Egotist - Selfish person; A conceited, boastful person
Egocentric - Marked by extreme concentration of attention upon oneself; self-centered
Hence, contrary to how people normally call those people who seem to think of nothing but themselves egoists, it seems that it is actually a term far too mild for them. Henceforth, since you have now been educated by moi, please correct your insults to others to 'egotist' or 'egocentric' for better effect. It works even better because of the authentic usage of the term as well as them probably not having heard the term before. =)
2) I have extremely straight feet! You'd be able to notice a perpendicular tan line across my feet due to the short construction experience in Batam a couple of months back. (I know, it looks damn funny and I was a moron to actually wear sandals to a construction site.) Take a look at your feet now and notice the general outline of your feet. You'd probably notice that you have 2 nobs on your feet, one on either side. However, one of them seems to be absent from mine.
You can use my feet as a ruler!
1) The defininations of the following words seem to differ slightly across different dictionaries. But anyways, here's what I gather from the one in my room;
Egoist - Person who is concerned about his/her welfare
Egotist - Selfish person; A conceited, boastful person
Egocentric - Marked by extreme concentration of attention upon oneself; self-centered
Hence, contrary to how people normally call those people who seem to think of nothing but themselves egoists, it seems that it is actually a term far too mild for them. Henceforth, since you have now been educated by moi, please correct your insults to others to 'egotist' or 'egocentric' for better effect. It works even better because of the authentic usage of the term as well as them probably not having heard the term before. =)
2) I have extremely straight feet! You'd be able to notice a perpendicular tan line across my feet due to the short construction experience in Batam a couple of months back. (I know, it looks damn funny and I was a moron to actually wear sandals to a construction site.) Take a look at your feet now and notice the general outline of your feet. You'd probably notice that you have 2 nobs on your feet, one on either side. However, one of them seems to be absent from mine.
You can use my feet as a ruler!
3) Ovation produces GORGEOUS guitars with GREAT sound. Just see for yourself.
I can't seem to upload the other pictures but I'll try again later. So... it's off to work/mug/die. bye!
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Angels/Foot
Don't be taken over by these 3 apparently chio bu. Firstly, the lighting is bad for one thing, and secondly, looks can be decieving. Now these 3 pretty ladies here, actually, the main perpetrators were the 2 at the bottom who chose to torment my gigantic ego by ensuring that I looked like a COMPLETE idiot. Actually, not that idiotic la, I mean, considering that style practically oozes from me, I do idiocity with style man. ;)
Haha, anyways, enough of that, I shan't elaborate on how stupid these 2 girls made me look and how they had the cheek to record it! (As you can see Fei fei has already resorted to blackmailing me) Unless of course they choose to upload it on You-tube after which I would boycott and buy humongous paper bags to hide myself and change my face by living in the dark. Fei you better not lose your phone ok, or I'd have to change my name to some bimbo English name like pammy so as to attract more people to watch the online version of my stupidity being captured and continue the trend set by the predecessor Tammy. =)
Anyways, here's what the girls got me, and as you can see, majority of them were on my list! haha, though I've experienced quite a number of repeats this birthday, theyre all none the less welcomed and well-appreciated by me! And I love the pens, aren't I a cheapo. haha...
Watch out for a longer and more elaborate list next year. I reckon I'll have a checklist and hotline too.
Monday, August 07, 2006
My Family!
My house was filled yesterday! Even though it happens pretty often considering that 1206 square feet ain't much to work with and as you can see, that's my miserly puny dining area. Allow me to do a quick introduction round the oblong table, starting from the guy in red
Liyang (pretty soon to be family if you know what I mean), my all-grown-up cousin Zach, his mum (my ee-ee), dad (my uncle), *gay* lawyer cousin and my other *gay* programmer cousin (they cohabitate) haha... Zach's sister and her husband. So anyways, never before have we had so many relatives down all at once in our comfy, cozy abode due to the majority of the Lims living in Malaysia and anywhere else but Singapore.
You see my grandad had wanted a family of lawyers/doctors/scientists, you know, the prestigious makes. Unfortunately for him, most of his chlidren had the vision of educating little kiddies. And so, one scientist and 3 teachers later, my mum had no choice but to pack her bags and be sent off to little ole Singapore to study law when all she wanted was to teach little mal-ay-sian devils. And hence, here we are, the Singaporean family living in exceedingly constrained spaces as compared to our relatives who have plenty of land and space to live in.
The night went really well with the cousins and older generations jamming. Out of the eight cousin, 3 play the piano, 1.5 play the cello, 2.5 play the guitar and all are pretty competant at bellowing lyrics out. And thus, the Asian Von trapp family was formed! You would never guess how BeeGee's Words can be jammed with 2 guitars, a cello and a whole bunch of people strugging to harmonise with each other! No matter how many chickens/cats we killed that evening, boy did we have a good time. Sure enough it was damn tiring, but it was real worthwhile. I like my family, =) inspite of a few members being pretty screwed, we've still got it all together more or less. =)
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
A Fantabulous Day!
I had one of the most memorable, traumatic and gorgeous days ever! And here's a little tribute to those who made all of it possible for me, I would have just wallowed in a waterhole on my birthday if not for these people!
1) The hot babes and pimps in my class! (aka Mingxiu and gang!)
Now these few people, (the illustration given above is not entirely accurate due to absentees on that night) decided to be really quirky in their funny methods and gave me things that simply made me smile and gleam, I was really touched by the efforts of the girls in getting the card (and the guys in getting a Banana) It truly surprised me and shocked me, coudn't help but give these people hugs and squeezes! =)
People: Mings, Joanne, Sang-gali (hee), Singning, Clovis, Michael, Chinhong, Yan-chiobu-wen, juliza, qianzi, sijie (+entire class )
2) My damn cool and loony Cello section!
1) The hot babes and pimps in my class! (aka Mingxiu and gang!)
Now these few people, (the illustration given above is not entirely accurate due to absentees on that night) decided to be really quirky in their funny methods and gave me things that simply made me smile and gleam, I was really touched by the efforts of the girls in getting the card (and the guys in getting a Banana) It truly surprised me and shocked me, coudn't help but give these people hugs and squeezes! =)People: Mings, Joanne, Sang-gali (hee), Singning, Clovis, Michael, Chinhong, Yan-chiobu-wen, juliza, qianzi, sijie (+entire class )
2) My damn cool and loony Cello section!
These bunch of clowns had decided to send me a bouquet of handsome roses (below) to my seat in the morning via my classmate Juliza whom by the way has managed to prove her acting prowess. Now after spending most of the day humiliating me by screaming/shouting/attracting attention as how Anli does so professionally, they finally chose to end the torment by admiting that they were my 'Secret Admirer(s)'! Now how cunning and caniving is that! But it was bloody sweet and I couldn't help but proudly and openly parade my bouquet after they told me. 
People: Tovya, Anli, Singning (cunning you), Elgin, Chialing, ShiJing, Zixing, Jovita, Siyi(nice hints)
3) All the miscellenious people who messaged/called/tagged/testified me!
People: wendy, deo, janet (although it went to the wrong number), natalie, shijing, elias, tricia, sijie, annie, shiyun, aiping, dhab, constance, bert, serene. Sorry if I miss any of you guys out. =)
4) Family!
My mommy gave me a mirror claiming that I was vain. I'm s0oo0 not la. Jie gave me a couple of jazz Cds~ Tovya a Personlised cap (absolutely adore it!) that brown thing is the banana wrapped in the ACJC foolscap paper pad cover, cookies from the girls in class and of course my bouquet from my STALKERS. =)
Never occured to me that God had blessed me so very abundantly in friends and loved ones. =) Even though I'm such a terrible friend treater, ok fine I'll buy you guys sweets ok, haha...
Friday, July 28, 2006
A Coveted Image
I'm consequencially happy today considering the fact that I skipped 2 lectures today. 2 you know, TWO!! Yes, I am such a studious one that the most classes I've cut in a day come up to a sad, skinny 1. Can you believe I even went for GP classes during the first three months when I wasn't required to?! Gosh cuiwen you're such a nerd.
Anyways, I was pretty disturbed during my break though, however unlike some people, (in no reference to anyone in particular) I shall choose not to wallow in these minute matters concerning the social cohesion of me and my surroundings. Anyways, my day was made when I was debating with my conscience (though it was obviously putting up a futile struggle) on whether to cut the last lecture of the day, and I know I shouldn't exactly be publicising this but a couple of my friends decided to share some of the loot they had gathered some time ago. Lo and behold! They produced very much coveted ACS ring files! They had apparantly stashed quite a nice pile and were nice enough to share them with us.
Anyways, I was pretty disturbed during my break though, however unlike some people, (in no reference to anyone in particular) I shall choose not to wallow in these minute matters concerning the social cohesion of me and my surroundings. Anyways, my day was made when I was debating with my conscience (though it was obviously putting up a futile struggle) on whether to cut the last lecture of the day, and I know I shouldn't exactly be publicising this but a couple of my friends decided to share some of the loot they had gathered some time ago. Lo and behold! They produced very much coveted ACS ring files! They had apparantly stashed quite a nice pile and were nice enough to share them with us.
I can tell you people honestly that I am extremely proud of my school crest. And I'll bet my last dollar on it that I'm not the only one. In my opinion, the ACS crest has pretty much become an image of branding. One which says - exclusivity, wealth, pro-expatriate, English and what not. Our school logo is very much coveted by many. It seems to come to the extent that splashing the tri-coloured logo across any good would make it several classes higher.
So then, I went home feeling much more pleased with myself for being in the right place at the right time and managing to get my hands on 2 lovely files. And being the cheapskate that I am, I would have been happy even if they were cheapo china files. =) And anyways, knowing that I have great friends around me who somehow never fail to give me support simple makes me smile. =) (even though my ulcer hurts like crap and my smile risks the craters in my cheek enlarging.)
Monday, July 24, 2006
My Day's Coming!
I'm hardly looking forward to my birthday actually probably because it signifies the end of July and the coming of August and hence the coming of Promos. Yuck. In addition to that I know that the way my friends and I are so stringent with our time, the bunch and I wouldn't probably be able to gather for the time being. I've already set my sight on a simple budget dinner at a fast food outlet which is considerably empty such that we can proceed with our funny antics without half the customers regurgitating their Big Macs back on their trays.
I actually have a rather big lot of rubbish to spout, however I shall stop myself and allow the priority to go to my birthday. =) As you can see it's pretty evident how sad my life is that I have to actually blog about my own birthday even before it has happened. Sheesh, what a loser. Well, like my sister's entry, for those who actually read our blogs and are clueless on what to get for us on this special day, here are a few major pointers:
1) I want a colourless, clear Nalgene bottle since I'm running out of plastic bottles to use and throw because I always seem to have the affinity of leaving them in toilets
2)Rod Stewert Jazz albums, any jazz albums (China budget CDs are welcome)
3)If you're filthy rich, love me, have $800 to spare or either, an Ovation (NOT Ovulation) M.O.B. (My Other Board) guitar is very, very welcome.
4)A one way ticket to Nebrasca for my dad
5)Flowers! I'm damn sad la, never received flowers in my entire life ok...
6)a bag of vaccumed Mushroom chips (from NTUC)
7) Six pack of Nescafe coffee, or a Java Chip Frapp from Starbucks. =)
8) For those with even tighter budgets, grab a guitar and serenade to me.
You know it took me really long to come up with a list like that, I'm not really craving for anything... hmmm, how nice and low-maintainance I am, =)
I actually have a rather big lot of rubbish to spout, however I shall stop myself and allow the priority to go to my birthday. =) As you can see it's pretty evident how sad my life is that I have to actually blog about my own birthday even before it has happened. Sheesh, what a loser. Well, like my sister's entry, for those who actually read our blogs and are clueless on what to get for us on this special day, here are a few major pointers:
1) I want a colourless, clear Nalgene bottle since I'm running out of plastic bottles to use and throw because I always seem to have the affinity of leaving them in toilets
2)Rod Stewert Jazz albums, any jazz albums (China budget CDs are welcome)
3)If you're filthy rich, love me, have $800 to spare or either, an Ovation (NOT Ovulation) M.O.B. (My Other Board) guitar is very, very welcome.
4)A one way ticket to Nebrasca for my dad
5)Flowers! I'm damn sad la, never received flowers in my entire life ok...
6)a bag of vaccumed Mushroom chips (from NTUC)
7) Six pack of Nescafe coffee, or a Java Chip Frapp from Starbucks. =)
8) For those with even tighter budgets, grab a guitar and serenade to me.
You know it took me really long to come up with a list like that, I'm not really craving for anything... hmmm, how nice and low-maintainance I am, =)
Saturday, July 22, 2006
=)
I'm so happy!! My darling's coming back! Darling in this case refers to Annie of course, my b*tching cum crapping partner back during the good ole' days. All right, we did much more of the latter than we did the former, we are rather nice people you know, haha...
Anyways, for those who aren't aware, I shall devote this little segment to her, she's completely in love with AC and endlessly covets the fact that I'm in and she's halfway across the globe studying American history, haha... I don't care to how much extent that is true, it looks nice and if she disagrees, what's a tagboard for? haha....
Yay. She already semi-condemned me for joining the Cheena-est CCA in AC. What the heck, I love the Chinamen teaching us and I love that she's coming back!
Gosh, what an absolutely brainless entry, for the first time, I'm really beginning to feel the unfamiliarity of thinking profound thoughts. Darn.
Anyways, for those who aren't aware, I shall devote this little segment to her, she's completely in love with AC and endlessly covets the fact that I'm in and she's halfway across the globe studying American history, haha... I don't care to how much extent that is true, it looks nice and if she disagrees, what's a tagboard for? haha....
Yay. She already semi-condemned me for joining the Cheena-est CCA in AC. What the heck, I love the Chinamen teaching us and I love that she's coming back!
Gosh, what an absolutely brainless entry, for the first time, I'm really beginning to feel the unfamiliarity of thinking profound thoughts. Darn.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Fact is...
To be completely honest, the CO barbeque was a complete waste of my time and effort. Well at least the onus is no longer on me to 'bond'. well, I did manage to know one the girls in my section better. Anyways, there were nice people around, and I suppose it's too early to say anything, (I'm being extremely positive here) but I guess lets see. Anyways, it came to my realisation yesterday that bonding is a spontaneous reaction and by product, guess it can't be forced. Well then, shall apply that to the youths in church too, haha... Can't really force them to sit down and bond you know.
Well then, I can't believe I'm actually sitting down and using the computer, it seems like such a thing of the past. Damn, more work and even more work to do.
Why my post so boring ah?
My muse decided to take an uncalled holiday. Darn.
Well then, I can't believe I'm actually sitting down and using the computer, it seems like such a thing of the past. Damn, more work and even more work to do.
Why my post so boring ah?
My muse decided to take an uncalled holiday. Darn.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Ah!
You unsupportive people, never tag! Flooble threatened to close my chatterbox because no one posted stuff la. >:(
Anyways, back to the civilised AC English, uh-um, lets see what I can write about, I had a terrible CHINESE oral, my CO's going ot be performing to old froggies next week (I highly think that half of them may end up dead) and most of our playing still sounds like shit, to add on to that I lagging as far as the distance of Zimbabwe to Singapore in school work and life has never seemed so screwed. I've lost all the skill to push myself to mug. I just succumb to bloody distractions so darn easily. Sleep, cello, digging through my pile of papers to figure what to complete first only to end up piling them up once again before I can even finish writing my name, it's a bloody vicious cycle that doesn't seem to be able to end. The crappiest part is that Promos are barely 3 months away. Thank God PW seems to have progressed (we no longer want to attempt suicide) All right, thank God for that. Whew.
Shit, that still doesn't change the fact that I'm lagging miles behind time.
Shit.
Anyways, back to the civilised AC English, uh-um, lets see what I can write about, I had a terrible CHINESE oral, my CO's going ot be performing to old froggies next week (I highly think that half of them may end up dead) and most of our playing still sounds like shit, to add on to that I lagging as far as the distance of Zimbabwe to Singapore in school work and life has never seemed so screwed. I've lost all the skill to push myself to mug. I just succumb to bloody distractions so darn easily. Sleep, cello, digging through my pile of papers to figure what to complete first only to end up piling them up once again before I can even finish writing my name, it's a bloody vicious cycle that doesn't seem to be able to end. The crappiest part is that Promos are barely 3 months away. Thank God PW seems to have progressed (we no longer want to attempt suicide) All right, thank God for that. Whew.
Shit, that still doesn't change the fact that I'm lagging miles behind time.
Shit.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Tipping Point
I've realised than wordy entries tend to be rather dull, and yet I'm not quite willing to post pictures due to the high time comsumption. So I'll keep this entry quick, simple and hopefully interesting.
I've been reading The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. It's a darn good book. Go get it if you can.
All right, that's waaay too short, haha... I realised during the last few days that ACJC is not exactly the school that I would recommend for my juniors in St Hilda's. It being a neighbourhood secondary school, most of the kids there already lack initiative and pretty much need to be spoon fed everything. And that's definately not what you'll get in AC. For crying out loud, our teachers are the ones who seem to be cutting classes! There are 2 simple reasons as to why AC has gone into the top 5,
1. The teachers in the Arts Fac are good. Even our H1 Econs teachers are good. Thus resulting in nice pretty scores for the Arts students.
2. What about the majority, namely the Science students then? Aha... Here's where the trick comes. Most of the science students are rich enough to pay for tuition, books and the works.Why slog through the whole year when the $200/hr ex-VP can help me?
And thus, st hildan's (science kids) have neither money, nor independence and self-sufficiency. So what else do you expect me to say?
Man do I miss these people... =
I've been reading The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. It's a darn good book. Go get it if you can.
All right, that's waaay too short, haha... I realised during the last few days that ACJC is not exactly the school that I would recommend for my juniors in St Hilda's. It being a neighbourhood secondary school, most of the kids there already lack initiative and pretty much need to be spoon fed everything. And that's definately not what you'll get in AC. For crying out loud, our teachers are the ones who seem to be cutting classes! There are 2 simple reasons as to why AC has gone into the top 5,
1. The teachers in the Arts Fac are good. Even our H1 Econs teachers are good. Thus resulting in nice pretty scores for the Arts students.
2. What about the majority, namely the Science students then? Aha... Here's where the trick comes. Most of the science students are rich enough to pay for tuition, books and the works.Why slog through the whole year when the $200/hr ex-VP can help me?
And thus, st hildan's (science kids) have neither money, nor independence and self-sufficiency. So what else do you expect me to say?
Man do I miss these people... =
Monday, June 19, 2006
Exceptionally Distressed
I feel like shit. No, I feel like the shit of the bacteria that feeds on excrement (shit's just too plain crude.)
My terms are coming, so are all my fellow friends', the only difference is that I haven't been studying and am so going to screw them up whilst they have been studying and are already brilliant to begin with. Even though I constantly console myself with AC's good reputation and standard of being top 5 JC, that definately does not automatically guarantee me a place in Uni or eliminate the huge risk of retaining. However improbable and distant the idea of retaining may seem to you people, it is, sad to say much closer to all of us than we think. It has no longer become a challange to fail subjects in JC, very much in contrast to examinations in secondary school where one could easily do the papers whilst paying more attention to the usage of sadistic means to end the life of the scurrying ant on their desk but still be able to pass or even ace the bloody exam.
My terms are coming, so are all my fellow friends', the only difference is that I haven't been studying and am so going to screw them up whilst they have been studying and are already brilliant to begin with. Even though I constantly console myself with AC's good reputation and standard of being top 5 JC, that definately does not automatically guarantee me a place in Uni or eliminate the huge risk of retaining. However improbable and distant the idea of retaining may seem to you people, it is, sad to say much closer to all of us than we think. It has no longer become a challange to fail subjects in JC, very much in contrast to examinations in secondary school where one could easily do the papers whilst paying more attention to the usage of sadistic means to end the life of the scurrying ant on their desk but still be able to pass or even ace the bloody exam.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Germany and Vienna!
I decided not to write much but simply upload photograps and captions. People these days require colour and visual aids.
Pathway to The Enchanted Forest
My sister and I just aren't apt at taking self photographs
Just look how large the Dandelions
Plenty of pretty buildings and skies like this.
We actally saw a rainbow! And I actually managed to take a photograph of it!
Look what's ahead....
The famous World Cup Stadium in Munich!
Look, another pretty street.
Haha... Funny brand
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Flies Anyone?
We recently returned from Malaysia from our tri yearly visit to our relatives down in KL. Hygeine conditions never seemed so terrible! To think that we, Singapore, the uber clean and green city resides just next to the fly infested Malaysia. Or perhaps it was only JB. However large the extent of this infestation, it is still enough to make my stomach do dozens of somersaults in a minute. During our lunch stop at some place near the causeway, we came to this fast food place. As we know, fast food places are supposed to boast one of the cleanest environments out of all the food places. This place however, chose to serve flies with their fries. Bloody disgusting. The air-conditioned mart next to it wasn't any better, flies were being zapped and fried by that deadly looking wire grill every half a minute. The even more terrifying thing was that the number of flies never seemed to cease!!
Fry Fly Fries.
Been a long week.. I actually came home close to 12 4 out of 5 days this week! There was AC's choir, then TP's choir, (Which was well performed by Aiping and shiyun) then a friend's birthday, then SYFC's Garage performance. Whoo! By far one of my busiest weeks!
Sorry I know there doesn't seem to be much link between flies and late nights. my brain ain't functioning clearly right now.
Fry Fly Fries.
Been a long week.. I actually came home close to 12 4 out of 5 days this week! There was AC's choir, then TP's choir, (Which was well performed by Aiping and shiyun) then a friend's birthday, then SYFC's Garage performance. Whoo! By far one of my busiest weeks!
Sorry I know there doesn't seem to be much link between flies and late nights. my brain ain't functioning clearly right now.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Musicals
The pictures here depict the 2 musicals I recently went for with my mum and sis. Just if you're wondering, no I don't go for 2 musicals a month.Anyways, the one on the left, Aspects of Love, is based on a novel (a rather stupid one I must say) and the music-written by the one and only Andrew Lloyd Webber. It starred one of the big names Monque Wilson. The one on the right, on the other hand is inspired by a sweet love story and music-written by none other than our local Beauty-World-Cha-Cha-Cha musician, Dick Lee. Starring local talents Emma Yong, Robin Goh (Oo!) Gani, Lim Yu Beng, George Chan and a whole lot more.
Now as much as you would like to trust the more foreign sounding one to be more entertaining and worth watching, I would have to say our seemingly hopeless local production surpassed it hands down. Man of Letters was not only well written and directed, but well sang and acted as well. I must admit Dick Lee has finally moved on from cranky sounding musical attempts. The songs were smoothly layered, the lyrics well versed and the orchestra was simply charming. All right so his lyrics did get a little meaningless and repetative after a while, but hey, it was much less painful than watching the actors in Aspects of Love making out with each other every scene change! And oh, what CHARMING leads we had!! It was a simple plot to follow, the fairytale story every girl needs once in a while whilst the storyline of Aspects of Love proved not only to be screwed and incestrous, it was bloody sappy as well.
Man of Letters was simply gorgeous. I haven't been to a good musical in qutie a while, and considering that AOL was a hundred bucks a pop to see 2 pianos and loads of kissing whilst we paid 60 to get not so good seats but loads of quality, I'd say Man of Letters rocked. RJ Rosales was there too! Though he only did one song as a guest singer, boy was he a charmer!
Oo yes, to continue with the mood, here are a few Utube videos my sis spent the entire day hunting. People like AiPoing should appreciate it! (if that silly girl would come online la.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy-A-wyzj7c&search=miss%20saigon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsJpfwYBx2U
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