Countdown to HP HBP

Scream

I'm cranky and irritated. I'm in low humour and have no wish to entertain anyone. I hate having to plaster a smile on my face when my feelings are otherwise.

The reasons? These 3 upcoming weeks are going to be hell! I'm in hell.

4 days of school, 4 days of going home late, with 2 days ending at 9.30pm. I don't care. Friday, I'm off, I hope. Gahhh!

3 weeks of endurance, huh? I can do it, before I end up in the mental hospital. One of these days, I'll end up so depressed that......

I don't even want to recite the things are getting due.

Give me exams! I'd rather take that.

Musings & Oh The Horror!

Ahh, my travel bug has subsided, at least for now. It just makes me sick to think of flying on a plane.

But, not too long, I'll be envying those people who are travelling when I go to Changi Airport, again.

I miss the coldness and crispness of the air in Sydney! I miss Baskin Robins, whom ice-cream is just lovely. There are still so many flavours I have yet to try. I miss eating ice-cream on a cold day.

Next time, when I return to Australia, I'm going to Hunter's Valley, where the vineyards are. I'm going to get a kangaroo toy with a joey inside its pouch. I really want one of those.

Anyway, I got extra holiday in the end. Since Australia is one of the affected countries of H1N1 Flu.

I returned on 17th, Wednesday night, which means that I will only returned to school on Thursday, 25th. But, my course manager counted wrongly the days and told me to go back on Wendesday. So I did. In the end, he called me, and told me to go home.

Well, well, what a dilemma... It is a good thing, because I'm back home when I should be having lessons now. I just went for one lecture today.

Tomorrow, I'm back to school. It will be one lecture and the TNS programme.

Really, I can't understand why people have such a big reaction when they know that I came from Australia. Please, I may love the "extra holidays" that the school gives but people's reactions are starting to irk me.

I'm home for so many days, and I'm fine, so don't give me weird looks and asked why am I not quarantined. Hundreds of people are returning from affected countries each day, and you don't see every single one of them being ill.

And one more thing, in the affected country itself, everything is normal.

What bad luck! I was walking down the stairs and nearly fell, thereby, twisting my left foot. I'm walking with a limp now. And it hurts.

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Enough of all these. I'm really dead this term. (I thought that this term is where I could pull up my GPA...)

Gods, I can't believe the awful marks my group gets for the HRM PBL 1. 62%! And it's 20% of the whole subject combination! Worst still, there's PBL 2 with 25%! That's is altogether 45% of marks worth.

Actually, I can believe that.

I won't want to point fingers, especially here. Be it the group itself, or the familiarity or the toughness of the Problem-Based Learning 1, this was our first time doing it and being in this group. I can only guess that we didn't foresee this and that we didn't take it seriously.

PBL 2 will be different, at least for me. I'll put in my utmost efforts in doing my part and more. That being said, my resources are finite.

This is going to be a wake-up call for all of us. Hopefully. To look on the bright side, it's better this way. Better to get a rude awakening now and work hard next time, then the other way round, isn't it?

Seems like I have to rely on exams to pull my grade up afterall. To think, I was cheering at the prospect of riding on the projects due to the high percentage. I've forgotten that this was not my year 1 group I was with. It was at this time that I missed my old group even more.

Holy crap! With 20% being a C, I have to get a high A for my end-semester exam to cover up this blunder. At the very least, I have to get a B for the overall HRM grade or it's adieus to my three-point something GPA.

Gah! My GPA! My dream of going to study overseas, on a scholarship! Never had I been so in tune with this side of me before. I have my pride too.

Let's work hard and I won't have to see HRM again in my Poly life. Luckily, I didn't choose HRM as an elective...

I'm also sad to say that my MBS may be in deep water too due to implications. What am I going to do? MBS being computer-based is already a big problem. And now this...

This term seems all about exams. It seems to be wistful thinking that I can ride on the success of projects. Too much factors at stake here...

Enough of thinking what should have been and what could have been.

I'll stop here now. Pictures will be uploaded as soon as I have the time to do it.

Sydney, Australia trip 2009

11th June:

Went to Changi Airport around 9 plus as our plane leaves in the midnight. We're all excited since this was a last-minute vacation.

My boots were finally put to use again, I last wore it during the trip to Hokkaido, Japan. Unfortunately, this was where the first of the many unfortunate events that occurred throughout the vacation.

*First my boots, then my bag's leather handle started peeling, and one of my pants' buttons dropped off, finally, my jacket's zipper got spoilt.*

We arrived at the airport terminal 3 and was checking in our luggage when I discovered that my boots were shedding. The leather were peeling off from the lack of wear. It was rather embarrassing really. I ended up buying a pair of Keds shoes from the nearby store. There goes my boots.

My relatives reached slightly later than us and we went to the transit area early since I wanted to walk around. This is my first time going into the transit area in Terminal 3 and everything was rather fascinating.

The others ate some snacks at Burger King though I didn't. I am nervous when it comes to flying on a plane and my tender stomach can't handle too much pressure.

At last, it was time to board the plane. The whole journey took about 7 hours and I spent most of the time sleeping under the influence of the anti-sickness pill. It was a rather horrible experience as the pill produced many side-effects.

My mother and I also ended up changing our seats because the speaker above had some problems and it kept producing noise.

12th June:

Reached Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport at 11 plus am, Australian time. It was a smooth landing.

The weather was cold, and the air, crisp. What a respite from the heat in Singapore! Although, it was sometimes polluted by the smokers.

Checked into Mercure Sydney. It has great facilities and most importantly, my cousin and I got to have double bed, each. Wooo! My cousin and I were room-mates.

After that, it was time to go out. Walked through many streets and saw many old buildings with wonderful structures. Since it is winter now, the trees are almost bare.

Went to Darling Harbour next and there were many private yachts there. Saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge and many sea gulls. Walked to Sydney Harbour and that is the place where the famous Opera House is located. Took many pictures there. The Opera House is bathed with different patterns in the night.

13th June:

Went to a wildlife park which was a package with a tour group for the day. The usual animals that defines Australia are all there. Kangaroos, Koalas, poisonous snakes, frogs, etc.

The next destination was Nelson Bay where we will be going Dolphin sighting on MoonShadow 5. The journey there took a long time and so, we all slept there. The countryside with quaint houses and farms is really picture-perfect and is almost my dream destination to stay.

More yachts and speedboats at the harbour.

Had Fish & Chips for lunch. The grilled fish there is perfect. Fresh and lovely, unlike Singapore's frozen fish. The chips are hot and thick, a little too salty though.

And we're off on the boat. The upper deck was almost full to the brim with people. At last, the dolphins appeared. We were joking about how the dolphins are actually robot-operated and are people in dolphins suits.

Saw a fin or two in the waters. The bays surrounding the waters are very lovely. After a while, we figured that the first deck at the front gives the best view of the dolphins and so we went there. Indeed, we saw full view of the dolphins frolicking in the sea.

Went to Port Stephens 4-wheels-drive on the sand dunes. The sand dunes are so beautiful! Vast yards of soft sand with sparse vegetation. Sand meets sky.

And the best part of the whole tour? Sand boarding! I only went on it once because the climb up is so daunting. It is a long way down and I was screaming all the way down. It's a good experience to have.

The sunset there was even more beautiful. The sand and the colours of the sunset all mingle together. The clouds tinged with red.

14th June:

Took the tour to visit the Blue Mountains, another famous landmark in Australia.

Stop-over at Leura Town first. It is a picturesque town, with little shop-houses and brick houses. I had hot chocolate with brownie at one of the cafes.

Went up to the 3 Sisters next. Legends had it that a shaman turned his 3 daughters into rocks to prevent some men from catching them but ended up loosing his magical stones, thus, not able to turn them back.

The surrounding mountains and rocks with trees are all very wonderful. And we went for the railway ride down to the mountains. It is a 55 degrees ride down, making it the steepest in the world.

Went to Featherdale Wildlife Park. I took photos with the koala sleeping in the tree. We all thought that it was fake until some of us saw the ears moved.

The guide took us to Sydney Olympic Park where the 2000 Olympics was held in Sydney.

15th June:

Checked out of Mercure Hotel and moved to YHotel. It was a big change from the 4-star hotel. We called YHotel the 5-star motel which is equal to a 1-star hotel. My cousin and I had to shared a single double bed. The only good thing about the room is that we have our own bathroom.

Took the railway to DFO factory outlet stores. Bought many clothes there. For myself, I bought a demin skirt, Esprit shirts and bag. My mother and father bought Tommy Hilfiger shirts.

To say that it was cheap to buy at the outlet stores was not so true. Since Singapore Dollars is weaker than Australian Dollars, we are at a disadvantage. And the clothes are not exactly cheap either.

Went to Sydney Aquarium next. There's nothing much that differs it from the other aquariums. They have a wide variety of sharks though.

Ate at Jordons in Darling Harbour. My uncle ordered the Seafood Platter and the Seafood Deluxe Platter. Ate many different sorts of seafood, like prawns, scallops, oysters and fish.

And something unexpected happened at YHotel this night. It was about 12 plus am, my cousin and I were all asleep when the fire alarm rang. The first thing in my mind was " Oh god, I didn't set off the smoke alarm, did I?" But, I remembered that I didn't boil any water before going to bed.

I opened the door to see if the corridor was ringing with the alarm too, but it didn't seemed like it. The ringing is really piercing to the ears. My cousin went to knock on the guys' room door where my other cousin and brother slept.

After that, came the scarier part, the system told us to evacuate the building immediately! To think that I thought it will stop after a while... We just grabbed our jackets and bags and went down the emergency exit which is right next door to us.

My cousin was still telling me how convenient it is that the emergency door is right next to us in the morning.

Met up with my uncle and auntie on the way down. And there were 2 fire engines outside the hotel. The night was so cold and despite my jacket, I was shivering. Most of the occupants were down there too, some wearing bath-robes.

After a while, the fire engines left and we all went back up. I didn't know what happened. Maybe it was a false alarm or someone set off the fire alarm.

And the worst part, this is the second time something like this happened. The first time was during the trip to New Zealand a long time ago. It happened in the wee hours of morning then.

What an experience to have! I couldn't go back to sleep after that, fearing the alarm would ring again.

16th June:

My brother got sick and so my mother and father did not go on the trip with us. Nothing to fear, it's just some weird sickness, probably due to the fright that happened last night.

Paid for the Sydney Explorer bus which cost A$39 each. Oh gods, Australia stuff is really expensive. One good thing about this bus is that we can hop off and hop on the buses anytime.

The first stop was to Mrs Macquaries' Chair. From there, we can see the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It started drizzling and it got windy.

We then went to The Rocks. That's when the rain started getting heavier. It was a good thing that we got up the bus before the rain got any heavier.

Changed from the Sydney Explorer bus to the Bondi Explorer bus. We slept all the way there. In the summer, Bondi Beach, the most famous beach in Sydney will be full of surfers and beach-goers. But since it is winter now, the beach is almost empty.

Wow, it was really cold and windy there. My ears were starting to ache from the biting cold. Despite this, we saw some people and a couple of youth life-guards in their suits going surfing. The waves were especially huge that day.

My mother, father and brother came to meet us in a souvenir shop in the evening. Bought many things there. We each bought a shirt.

17th June:

Last day in Sydney before leaving for Singapore. We went to the Australia Museum and it is a great place. There are many sections of things to look at and it is very interactive as well.

Ate lunch at the airport and boarded SIA A380 plane. The famous plane which made its debut about a year ago, which has suites and is double storey. My relatives were seated on the upper deck while we were at the lower deck.

The spaces between the seats are wider and the toilets boost extra facilities such as colognes and perfumes. We joked about how there is bath-tubs available on the plane.

I didn't take any medicine before going up on the plane and quite enjoyed myself for the first few hours of the flight. I watched the TV for once: Confessions of a Shopaholic, the first half of He's just not that into you and Mall Cop.

I ate the dinner provided and ice-cream too. And then, the turbulence started. It was not that rocky but I can feel the protests from my stomach. I was not feeling well.

As we were about to touch down, that's when I dry-retched into the sick bag. Well, nothing came out, and my stomach weren't feeling any better. Sometimes, it's better for it to come out than to stay there.

At last, we're back to Singapore! I can't say I didn't miss Singapore. I do miss the food, the pricing, even the weather.

We all successfully past the thermal scanner in the airport.

Home Sweet Home~
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The pricing of the everything in Australia is eye-popping. The standard price for food is A$10 plus. It's a killer. I ordered a bowl of duck noodles in the food court, it cost A$9 plus. I could eat much better food in Singapore with that price.

KFC and MacDonald's isn't great there too. The chicken has no taste and the thick fries are loaded with salt. A normal meal cost so much more than a meal in Singapore.

The souvenirs aren't exactly cheap either. I bought many badges and key chains and some necklaces for friends.

In Australia, nougats and macadamia nuts is a must-buy. I just realised that Australians don't eat hard nougats, they prefer soft and bar-shaped nougat. So, we had a hard time finding the brand of nougat that we wanted.

Furthermore, their shops closed very early. By 7pm, most shops, including food stores are closed for the day, unless you go for those restaurants or cafes.

And I thought that the people there are more "cultured" in their ways of life. No, it didn't seem so. The walkways are littered with wads and wads of blacken chewing gums. Their trains get vandalised so much, even the glass windows are scratched with initials. Buildings are vandalised too.

One thing about the vandals, they are pretty creative and spot beautiful handwriting.

On the other hand, their toilets are clean and neat.

The static charges in Sydney is extremely high, you can hear the sparks when you run a plastic comb through your hair. And my face skin started peeling too, due to the dryness.

Off to Australia

Off to a spontaneous trip to Sydney, Australia from tonight until next Wednesday, 17th June. Taking SIA A380 plane back!

I can't believe it!

First, my cousin told me that they are going to Sydney in a last-minute decision. I was liked wow!, I wished my father is that spontaneous too.

Then, my father came back home and asked us if we wanted to go along. Finally, my mother said alright since my brothers did not go to Australia before. And we are off!

Woohoo! How cool is that?

I did all the booking and stuff. By right, we are supposed to fly one day later than my relatives because my father had a trip to Malaysia. But, I clicked the date wrong, and it can't be changed since the bookings are already done.

We should be flying off on Saturday morning, 12.00am. But, I clicked Friday morning instead. Anyway, my father cancelled his Malaysia trip and so, we're going with my relatives on the same day.

I also did the applications for VISA to Australia. I had to check all those details very carefully in case something goes wrong.

I'm taking a respite from the heatwave in wintry Australia! How great! It should be below 20 degrees all day long.

The last 2 times I've been to Australia was so long ago. Really hope to enjoy myself throughout.

Nothing should go wrong...

Au Revoir, for now~

Outing with friends 2009

My friend reached Singapore on Sunday morning via flight from USA. It's been a year, since I last saw her though I chatted with her almost everyday on Facebook.

Together with some other classmates from Sec 4, we met up for a gathering.

Mostly, I was the organiser. So, imagine my distress when I can't contact my friend at all. I've tried her US phone number to no avail. I was really at a loss of what to do.

Thankfully, all worked out in the end. Just as soon I meet up with another friend to discuss about it, she called me. Turned out that her phone has no signal.

It was great to see her, this time with an accent! And I finally got the Twilight DVD and wolf charm which I asked her to help me buy. I have to return the money soon.

When the others who were supposed to meet us at Khatib MRT came, we travelled to Wheelock Place for Sakae Sushi.

Altogether, 5 guys and 5 girls went to this gathering. There were supposedly to be more, but they dropped out. The 10 of us squeezed into a table at Sakae.

Walked around Orchard Road for a while and it started to drizzle. We then went to Bugis and watched movie in Iluma, the new entertainment centre in Bugis. I don't even know there's a new building at Bugis, seeing that I seldom go to that area at all.

There were not many movie choices to choose from. 3 choices were left: Terminator Salvation, Blood, and Drag me to Hell. The problem was that I don't watch this kind of movies. Drag me to Hell is absolutely a no-no since it's pure horror. Blood is M18, though I'm already 18, there are still others who are not.

Thus, we bought tickets for Terminator. In other circumstances, this is the kind of movie which I won't considered watching. Anyway, I keep my eyes adverted whenever I feel that I can't handle the scenes.

Before the movie, since we had some time left, the guys went to play at the arcade, and us girls had some "girl-time" at Coffee Bean.

My definition of frightening differs from the average person's. Giant, mutated animals movies scared me, so do gore (aka Sweeney Todd) and action violence and thrillers. Pretty pathetic, maybe.

I'm blessed and cursed with over-active imagination. I make up story-plots and fanfiction in my head which I don't penned down. But memories and images of different "horror" shows I've been unfortunate to view all jumbled up, becoming one big horror show that keep replaying in my head at night.

The movie ended around 9 plus. Walked to a hawker centre for a late dinner. I was not feeling very well so I ordered something light. I think the moment the movie had started, I was already feeling queasy.

When we finally parted, it was 11 plus. I reached home by 12am since my father came to Yishun MRT to fetch me.

Other than the watching of Terminator, it had been a wonderful day. My friend is scheduled to go back in Indonesia soon, so, there should be a gathering before she leaves.

Rumour: Tom for Riley?

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Tom Felton for Riley in Eclipse? It's a rumour for now.

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He's the one who made me fell in love for Draco and pitied him for the choices he had to make. I remembered the times when HP still ruled in my heart, my obsession is all about him. Who needs Harry Potter when you have Draco Malfoy?

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Some people don't want him to be that role because they say he don't look like the character, or that he's Draco, or that he isn't innocent enough.

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People seems to forget that Draco is a character, NOT a real person. It doesn't matter if Felton spend so many years playing the role of Draco Malfoy, because it doesn't make him less capable of acting in another role, in another beloved book series. He's an experienced actor, have faith.

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About looks. Who in the Twilight universe or other movie franchise looks like their characters? Well, unless they have plastic surgery. Make-up, the wonderfruit!

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Take Daniel Radcliffe for example, people see him as Harry Potter, and he’s stuck with that. That's why he wants to break out by taking up roles which is so different from the character he played.

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The same goes for Robert Pattinson. He’ll be always Edward now in people's hearts. Not mine though. He'll remain as Pattinson.

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I’m a fan of Felton, and would love to see him in Eclipse. But, for the sake of the hard-core HP fans and him, I hope this remains a rumour.

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Those HP fans who hate Twilight’s guts will pull their hair off if they know that yet another HP star went to the “dark side”. First Robert Pattinson, then Jamie Campbell, now Tom Felton!?

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I’ve read their extreme comments, I know how bad it can get. It’ll be another battle between HP and Twilight universe.

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I wonder how the extremists feel about this, no doubt they will rally against it. Will Felton get less love from the HP side because of this?

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I'm not insusceptible against the blurring of lines between an actor and a character despite what I wrote.

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I don't think I'm contradicting myself. What I'm trying to say is, people's perspectives are wrong. They see things too much. Once a bad guy, always a bad guy? I don't think so. Widen up. They are actors.

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It is an inevitable scenario because of the success of the movie franchises and books series.

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Mid-sem tests & updates

I'm finally back! *Deep breath* Feels good to write again!

For almost one week, I've been trying to keep my mind free from "clutter". All that is allowed in my head are theories and information. It's really taxing. I've always been the dreamer, the one who come up with fantasy plots for "stories" and anything that goes.

Now, my mind is free! I'm free! I can continue with the "stories" in my head. They are the fanfictions that I never penned on paper.

Mid-semester tests started on Monday, 1st June.

MBS paper was first. I always study the most for the first paper. It was fine, actually. I just studied all those notes covered in the revision lecture and I think it was great. I did get some MCQs wrong though, that I know that much. The case-study should be alright. An A for this paper!

Tuesday was supposed to the day where we see whether we got into the electives that we chose. I did not go back. Who will want to spend almost 3 hours journey to and fro just to get know that? But, due to some "technical difficulties", they postponed the release date.

My friend's and my theory? We reckon that administrative staff don't have enough time to allocate the electives so they postpone the date. Well, regardless, this Monday, 8th June, I'll know if I got into Entrepreneurship and Tourism electives.

Business Finance is my pet subject this term. Last year was Economics. For some reason, I've high expectations for it and I expect myself to score. Furthermore, the first 5 chapters are the easiest, so I'm digging my grave if I don't do well.

Unfortunately, my mind went blank the moment I read the questions. I didn't know if I should use average long-term needs or full 12-months long-term needs to calculate. I studied that so many times and yet I forgot. Initially, I use full 12-months long-term needs, towards the end of the test, I decided to switch.

Thank god for that! There really is a god, at least in my world.

The same for the other question. I cleanly forgot the formula for that calculation and wrote the wrong one first. I changed it and this time, I think I should get it correct. Am I lucky or is my sub-conscious trying to surface?

The other questions should be fine.

Today was HRM paper. The last one and I got the jitter-bug. I studied all those notes covered in the revision lecture and nothing more than that. I was worried that the lecturer may trick us.

I went to the room, read the questions, and silently cheered. Yes! The MCQs are so easy. I should be scoring full marks for it, unless there's something wrong with my eyes. The mini case-studies are great too. Although, I'm worried that I didn't write enough information. I mean, what they asked, I wrote the answers down. But is that enough? I did give definitions though.

I think my common-sense always deserts with me. Things often work with common-sense, but for me, it's just difficult.

Crossing my fingers that I'll get 80% for all the 3 papers. Mid-semester tests are the easiest to score, I should do that to help myself.

I depend very much on internal and external factors in this kind of scenario. Internal being, I will study hard for tests. External being, I believed in prayers, lucky charms (four-leaves clover) and all that.
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School's out! And my friend is coming to Singapore! Yay!

Someone is playing a trick on me.

I wished that H1N1 Flu will hit Singapore last time so that maybe school will be closed. Now, it's really here, with 11 cases so far and what? My friend, from USA, is scheduled to reach Singapore on Sunday.

Among those 11 cases of H1N1 Flu, most of the patients went to USA. I don't want things to get mess up... That's all I'll say.

I've lots of things to do this holiday. Pictures will be updated next.

New Moon 1st trailer out!

Ahhhhh! New Moon 1st trailer is out! Check this out!

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It's looking good, what with the birthday party, leaving scene, Laurent coming back, and the wolf form. Edward is gone, as in, lost in the movies.

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He can only stay in my heart and the books now. Robert Pattinson has taken over him. What the ****! The more I see the movie "Edward", the more I want to puke. How I hate those long sideburns...

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OMJ! Taylor is looking really fit! All those muscles... The special effects is more refined now. But, it still looks fake and really unnatural at some scenes. Like the one where "Edward" pushed "Jasper" and he flew into the piano.

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Kristen Steward's expression looks ho-hum to me. She's always wearing the same set of emotions, even though her character should be upset, angry, scared, or zombie-like.

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While the size of the wolf is great, the effects is bad.

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Well, well, it looks promising for the moment. I remain sceptical for now as a great trailer does not equal to a great movie. Chris Weitz, twilight fans are counting on you to make this into the sequel which can make us proud.

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The sequel is going to be so much better than Twilight the movie and that's a fact. Because, no matter how AU (alternate universe) New Moon becomes, it can't beat Twilight's spot from it's position in the cringe-worthy movies in 2008.

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I'm ashamed to say that I'm a twilight movie fan. For sure, my feelings for it remains on the bad side.

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