Spirited Away book review

I've just fall in love with the novel, Spirited Away by Cindy Miles!

It is classified under paranormal romance.

The novel is, oh, so nice and sweet. I highly recommend it to anyone who love a good romance story. The plot is very nicely written and quite engaging too.

It tells the tale of the ghost of a 13th century knight (who was murdered in his keep) who falls in love with the 21st century female forensic archaeologist he paid to solve a mystery. Read the excerpt here : http://www.cindy-miles.com/spirited_away.html

I'm looking forward to reading other Cindy Miles' novels. But, that can be a little difficult as I'm relying on the library for them. Unless, I buy them...which is alright except that I don't think Popular bookstores will have any stock...

Anyway, it has become my new favourite! At the same time, I'm reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It's because that part of the book was use in Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer that I'm reading it. I'm curious about the plot.

Off to more reading

P.S I'll introduce more novels here next time.

Singapore F1 Grand Prix

Yesterday's F1 night race was just spectacular! The street circuit was lighted up so brightly that from an aerial view, you can easily spot it.
No rain but the temperature and humidity was quite high. Many unexpected things happened, be they good or bad.
With the night scene of Marina Bay as backdrop (which was really beautiful), this Grand Prix was said to be the best, rivalling that of Monaco.
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Hot favourites to win this Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen crashed out with just Lewis Hamilton making his way to the podium in 3rd place. In the end, Renault's Fernando Alonso won and Williams' Nico Rosberg was second.
Felipe Massa was leading when he went for his pit-stop. There, he lost precious time because of a pretty bad mistake by the Ferrari team. From then on, he was trailing behind.
My favourite, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was doing quite well during the entire race when with just 4 laps to go, he crashed into a barrier. Ferrari crashed out. How disappointing...
There was once or twice when the safety car came out because of the crashes, I do not know much about that rule though.
Racers who retired were Toyota's Jarno Trulli, Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr, Red Bull's Mark Webber, Force India's Adrian Sutil and Honda's Rubens Barrichello. I have to say Mark Webber was really unfortunate, 3 days on the circuit, 3 days of mistakes and crashes.
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Next year, F1 will be back in Singapore seeing as Singapore has signed a 5-year contact. Can't wait.

P.S : Contrary to popular belief, F1 is not just about modified cars zipping around the circuit 61 times. One needs the concentration, skills and luck. Mistakes made last night shows that anything can happen. You may be leading at 1st, but no one knows the results until the last moment. No wonder there are so many fans out there.

F1 fever in Singapore

My perspective of the F1 race has changed. As the days go closer to the big night tonight, my interest for it has piqued. Reading all those articles about F1 and witnessing it on TV, it makes me sort of proud to be a Singaporean, seeing as the world's 1st night race was held in Singapore. I like to read all those positive comments and praises by tourists and racers alike. I supposed it makes the whole thing more real.
I'm not a F1 fanatic, merely someone who is newly converted, after watching the qualifying round yesterday. It's hard not to join in the fever afterall. The whole family has plans at 7.30pm tonight to watch the race on TV.
Don't forget to catch the race live as it may be one's only chance to watch it on Channel 5.
It's a bit disappointing though that brands like Porsche, Lotus and Lamborghini are not taking part. I've always love those cars.

Banners done by me

Disclaimer: Quotes are taken from Eclipse and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I have no claim over the pictures except for the 1st where it is stated that the photo belongs to me. The banners are done by me and are not supposed to be re-post without permission. (The least one can do is to credit me)
This is what I've been doing the past few days. It took me ages, by trial and error, to come up with these. They are the best I can do, at least for now. I am quite happy with the way they turn out. I really admired those people who can do animated banners and avatars. In case you are wondering, the interest started when I joined www.twilightlexiconblog.com. After seeing those beautiful banners and avatars, I wanted one myself but do not want to take others' work, so...

-Banner 1-

-Banner 2-

-Banner 3 (using as avatar)-

F1 is coming to Town

In just 3 days time, F1's first ever night race will be held in Singapore!
I've have not much interest in F1 and I think most Singaporeans are like me. There's a newspaper article about "Pride in F1 race missing". I agree with what the reporter writes. Maybe it's because F1 is an 'high-end' and expensive sport or some people just have no interest and think that it has nothing to do with them...
I do like watch to pit stops during the race and the modified cars are just, wow. That's about it, I guess.

Choices

Choices, choices.
Life is full of choices.
Anyway, yesterday, after much considerations (not), I chose Introduction to French and World Issues. Don't ask why because there won't be a fixed reason. To me, it's the heart that matters. My heart is already made up when I 1st saw this subject, it's just that I care for people's opinion more than mine so that's why I took such a long time to decide.
It's always the same, a good example would be my choice of poly. I can make up all sorts of reasons to pacify myself and others but the truth is, my heart is already set upon it. No amount of reasoning can make me change my mind unless...then again will have enough reasons not to choose that. (Who am I trying to kid anyway? I'm just in denial)
The next big choice is during November, where I'll decide which diploma I want to go. Business?, Logistics? or Marketing? I know I won't choose marketing so it boils down to either business or logistics.
I follow my heart and feelings more than my brain. Not sure if its a good thing or bad.

Murders & tainted milk

How terribly exciting...
There had been a case of multiple murders near where I lived. The case happened at Yishun Block 349 while I lived at Block 350.

Apparently, it occurred at midnight yesterday. But this morning, my father reported to us that the whole area was cornered off and police and reporters alike were still there. When I went out this afternoon, police car and private cars were still there.

It was only then I knew that this was not a simple case of someone dying. 3 females were murdered and 1 injured. All were reportedly from China. The suspect was caught on the spot but seems that he was not the only murderer. http://news.sg.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1684997

And another thing, the whole China tainted milk powder fiasco is escalating.
Melamine was apparently added into milk powder in China.

How bad can these people go? I don't understand at all. 4 babies were dead because of this with hundreds more hospitalised with kidney stones. Don't they have 1 drop of compassion and corporate social responsibility in them? They should be made to drink the tainted milk instead...
Now, not only is powdered milk produced in China affected, even food items made from milk and "fresh" milk were hit too. China-produced ice-cream brand and fresh milk were removed from shelves indefinitely. But, of course, Singapore did not import the milk powder and certain brands of fresh milk. However, that did not stop the authorities from carrying out checks on other brands of ice-cream and chocolates that are quite popular in Singapore.

Since both food items required milk to make, it is worrying that these manufacturers will obtain their milk sources from China as it will be cheaper. The problem is you don't know where is the milk is from when you consume an ice-cream. Due to today's borderless companies, you don't know at all where different ingredients are from. The brand itself may be trusted, but the ingredients are a different thing all together.

I personally have a weakness for chocolates and ice-cream. The brands I support and consume are mostly from the Western countries. I hold a certain belief that expensive means it's good and safe to a certain extent. That's selective perception and it may be my downfall but up till now, I still trust certain brand more than others. Don't we all?

Like my father says, consume everything in moderate quantities and don't just stick to one brand of food item, it may lessen one chances of getting affected.

In my opinion, settle down in a countryside, buy a few acres of land, rear cattle and poultry and grow your own vegetables and fruits. That's what I call safe and reliable.

Oh my god, what had the world become?!

Financial crisis

Financial crisis... It's a worrying trend indeed.
Since Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch's sale, more bad news are coming in. Thousands of office workers will be jobless worldwide. Other mortgage giants are also facing this crisis like AIG and HBOS of Britain. As a result, stock markets are not looking well.
I don't know half the stuff they are reporting in the newspapers and I guess not many people will care, if they don't buy stocks or policies. But, this is going to affect the whole world's economy, so it got me worried.
Some experts liken this crisis as second to the Great Depression...
Edited as of 19th Sept:
Stocks markets were at an all-time low. More banks are being affected and this turmoil is spreading. Good news is funds are pumped in to aid some of those in need, although it still remains to be seen if this helps.

Good news & pictures

More good news! I was in the top 10% of BSG cohort and qualified for the certificate programme. My friends/group mates also qualify for it too! Congrats to them!

Normally, students must do 3 CDS in any sequence but we have to do 4 CDS in a cluster which we select. I'm more than happy to qualify for this programme but I know it won't be easy.

I chose certificate in cross-cultural studies as my 1st choice. For the subjects, I can choose between Introduction to French or Japanese and either World Issues or Global Citizenship.
Wonder what language I should choose to study. I like French more than Japanese. But French seems more difficult...
I would choose World Issues if I have my way. Global Citizenship means I have to travel overseas in my holidays.... The other 2 subjects are cross-cultural psychology and transnational studies.

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Yesterday, we went to biao jie's housewarming. Nothing much to post, just pictures.

Cousins & Brothers!

Extended family members (with some still not there)

Sunset in beautiful colours.

*Do not re post without permission*

End-semester results

Hooray! Got the much anticipated end-semester results via SMS today. I thought it will be out tomorrow, but the earlier the better.
Not bad, not bad. If I keep this up throughout my stay at TP, I will be most happy about it.
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Accounting 1: B+
60% of this overall came from the end-semester paper. Not too bad, I guess. I'm not good with numbers.
Principles of Management (POM): B
I'm a little disappointed by this grade as I have 60% of it secured with an A, which means that I did not do well for my paper. Oh well, at least there's a B.
Computer Systems & Applications (CSA): A
Surprised I got A. I fretted over the paper for so long so it's amazing I can get this. Don't forget the D+ I got for my Excel project.
Communication skills: Z/Distinction
Surprised by this too. I never expect this grade at all. I mean, I did not expect to do well for the written paper. Guess I was saved by the presentation.
MicroEconomics: A
No suprised or shock here. This was the most neutral subject. I don't really dislike it compare to other subjects. Since I got A for the project which is 40%, I have to rely on the paper.
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Overall, I'm quite happy with the results. Can do better or at least maintain this, come next semester. My GPA is 3.7.
Take care

Hooray

Yay! Thanks to my father, I got back my laptop! It cost $55 though.
Everything was gone, but that's mostly ok. I'm busy downloading stuff in again, this time with Norman Virus Control. I really hope nothing will go wrong now... My father says he won't help me again if something goes wrong.
What will happen to the books I borrowed yesterday to keep me company? I guess I'll still read them although the pace will be slow down. There's, after all, only this much things to do online. Given a choice between books and going online, it depends on my mood and preferences to make an obvious choice. Mostly, it's a tie. I love both of them very much.
See ya~

Laptop & holiday

I miss my laptop...
I really want it back...
There seemed to be a trend going on here. Whenever the holiday is here, the desktop or laptop will be spoilt.
1 more month before the PSLEs are over, then my father will send the desktop for repair. To be exact, it's the hard disk that needs to be change, so the whole system unit needs to be repair. Was consulting my CSA textbook, haha.
Have to rely on my father to get back my laptop...Wish that place is more accessible and I'm more independent. Only when my father is free, would he go there and get it...sigh...
Planning to go library on Monday again, not that the books I want will be there. I wrote one whole list of books I want and can't even find 1 there.
I have not enjoy the holidays so far yet so don't......
I know, I know, I have a long holiday. And I know I should... But no pressure please. If that's the case, I rather forsake my long holiday. Zzz...
Makes me wonder if the situation will be different if I'm not in Poly.
Till then

No laptop

Friday...and still no laptop.
In case you are wondering, I'm using my father's laptop to write this. These few days past without much problems. Been reading, more reading and sleeping. Went to library on Monday and borrowed 5 novels, all contemporary romance, I think. Finished all of them by today. So, 5 books in 4 days, not too bad.
I called Asiapac today as I wondering why they haven't inform me about my laptop yet. Turn out that they called me twice, but, well, I think they called my father instead. They need my approval to continue working on the laptop.
Anyway, I need to pay $50 to change the whole hard drive or something. Furthermore, I can only collect it on Monday.
I'm taking lots of precautions when I get it back...
Will write more when my laptop is back.

At it again

Zzz... Sent my laptop for repair again. 2nd time in less than 6 months...

This morning, I on the laptop, but everything was so laggy. I can't even move my mouse without it being lag. Nothing can be done at all...

Waited ages for just 1 page to load...
I didn't really back up any files, but that's still ok. I can just download everything again. I had a hard copy for my favourites. Most of my pictures are still inside my camera.
4 days without computer, think I can handle it? I'll see about it, if the laptop is ready before Friday, I may go down to Henderson Road to get it, since my father will only be back at Friday. However, it's so far away, and I don't know how to go there...
Sigh...What's wrong with it anyway? Stupid technology...