cover this shit
venerdì, aprile 29, 2005
OrGaniZed ChaOs
so i survived both smu's and nus's interviews tdy. survived, meaning, it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. But as to whether i'll eventually get selected, it'll be a different matter altogether, though i honestly don't think much of my chances.
what i'd like to say is, i thoroughly enjoyed myself at smu's interview. This was the 2nd round for LKC's scholarship, and while i'm not supposed to reveal the nature of their selection process i can say the entire experience was very liberating, engaging and full of surprises. 1 thing's for sure, it pays to go in with an open mind. Just throw aside all previous assumptions, presumptions, \(just a side track here.. does previous assumption = presumption? ) and all other preconceived notions of how an interview should be like out of the window. You'll be surprised by how much you learn.
some learning points gained:
- it is all very well to be pragmatic, but it was the visionaries, the dreamers, the adventurous and basically the ones who dared to take the paths less trodden who got to somewhere they believed in.
- " There are always 2 choices, 2 paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy." ~unknown
I think all of us failed qte miserably on our very 1st lesson of risk taking. We were just afraid to take the risk, so to speak. Even though the returns could have possibly been greater.
-" Why is the sky blue?" Prof Pang.
- "Never stop thinking." Michael Chua, the entrepreneur who kindly agreed to sit in on our interview, although it was highly against his "anti-scholars" principles. =P
These are just random flashes of insights i got, though not all actually took place just now.
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i guess by the time i was done with that interview, i was pretty much sold by the idea of attending lessons at SMU. i love their style. At the very least, you feel the faculty is genuinely interested in you as an individual, not just another student who'll help them raise their standards. (okay, maybe they just might have that ulterior motive. =p )
After years and years of doing the "right thing" and being absolutely pragmatic abt my choice of courses. eg. triple science and 1 humans (cos its hard to score in the humanities), Biology,Chemistry,Econs,Math ---> life sciences. i figured, it's abt time i do sth i'm genuinely interested in. So would i want business and psychology? business and law? what abt business and econs? i think i never really gave econs a chance back in jc. =p
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The law interviews, in contrast, were slightly more stressful. I admit that it wasn't very smart of me to say that i was also very interested in business and had attended an SMU interview earlier on. It just goes to demonstrate that consciously and subconsciously, this young lady over here hasn't fixed her mind tht NUS's LLB is THE choice for her. And if they were looking for candidates that have made up their minds of being high-flying lawyers since the age of 5. Well, then yours truly can jolly well kiss gdbye to the chance of attending law school.
it did give me an insight as to what my weaknesses were though. So let me just give a play-by-play of what i felt could have been improved on my part.
1) thou shalt not be as honest as i was.
2)i realized that when i speak, my thoughts just fly all over the place, like how my writing does. It gets messy, and may appear jumbled up to any listener who's not used to me, and sometimes i myself get confused. =p I eventually get my point accross, but only after some slight confusion.
3)i wasn't answering to the point, and when i did answer to the questions posed, my answers were only limited to my personal experiences and opinions which tended to border on the cliche.
damn, why does this sound like a crtique for a poorly written gp essay?
4)in return, i was asking way too many questions. Questions i myself had no answer to. i.e What is fairness? What defines guilt? How do you determine the severity of a crime, and what constitutes a fair punishment? and so on...
5)there were other grounds i could have pursued, like their Law and Business Administration dbl degree, which i am highly interested in, slated to be introduced nxt yr?!
hmm. guess i don't really possess the clarity of thought and expression required of a lawyer, huh? In contrast to the previous interview, ideas and exchange of opinions did not take place as freely. Felt like i was being cross-exmained by 1 of them. Just hoping that they'll be able to sense my enthusiasm for the subject. The competition's real tough, that's for sure.
Either way, i'm certainly gonna put in my best efforts for tmr's essay, and we'll just see where life chooses to take me. =)
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.
CS Lewis
Gemstar blogged on 4/29/2005 04:40:00 PM
lunedì, aprile 25, 2005
One night in bEijinggg...
Once we got past the horrendously loooong immigration queues, it was the crisp, cool air that greeted us the momment we stepped out of the airport. The poor driver, i think he waited really long for us. He spoke mandarin beautifully. =p i think they all did. But i've always admired those that can speak mandarin in that unhurried,contemplative manner, it's lovely. Cos some of them, esp the ladies, have these high-pitched, bright voices, which can be really jarring on the ears when they rattle off at you like machine guns.
Well, so this it, i thought. here i am, in beijing. For those who aren't in the know, it was with much reluctance that i left singapore. Sure, it was only going to be a short trip, but i was unsettled. The flight booked back for me was on the 27th, and i was still placed on their waiting list. What about my law interviews?! How am i going to know if they shortlist me? How am i going to get back in time for the matter? Plus i was actually looking forward to bringing the elderly to sentosa's dolphin lagoon on sat, as well as bb's and jaime's twin bday celebrations. =p
Beijing... is a cacophony of sights and sounds. It's a mish-mash of the ancient and the modern, a truly historically and culturally vibrant city! I love the energy and excitement there. Yet at the same time, the pace of life is not as hectic as singapore's. okay, i shall spare everyone the prose.
ShopPinG
i swear i've never shopped so much in my life before. behold, my conquests.
1. a pair of pink ballet-sorta mini heels
2. an LV handbag. with cherries!
3. a cool black clutch with this girl in a purple dress and her pet black cat!
4. 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of courdrouy pants, grey+ pink striped exercise pants
5. mini-tees, polo tees, t-shirts, office shirts
6. beige coat(ok, not sg friendly)
7. blue velvety sweater
8. raybans sunglasses
9. belts
shopping there is equivalent to going for a battle. however, you must really know where to go in order to cut the best deals for yourself. heh, but lemme elaborate on how the system works there first. The malls we went to namely, xiu shui jie and ya xiu shi chang consist floors and floors of stalls. ah, and here we get to see monopolistic competition at work. =p Every stall selling similar but slightly differentiated products.
1) arm yourself with a price conversion list. eg. 80 yuan = 16 s$, 100 yuan = 20s$
this is to facilitate any transaction process, you don't want to be paying more than what you'd usually pay in sg! =p heh. the sales-people were pretty fascinated by my list, they just peer unabashedly over your shoulder too see what sorta secret manual it is.
2) the 30% rule.
that's the general rule of thumb. never pay more than 30% of the price they offer. you will be amazed, cos by the second as you "negotiate", the price just halves, quarters... you can just kick yourself in the ass if you bought it at their "opening price." and whatever happens, stand firm, DO walk away if the price is not to your liking. 100% guaranteed that they'll call you back, then you start continue the round of the price war.
3) the home advantage.
by that i mean, by virtue of you being chinese. =D never, ever admit that you're not a local. Cos they practise price discrimination there. Woe betide you if you happen to be a caucasion. They literally latch onto you, tug your sleeves and speak to you in their sing-song english, and they sure charge the ang-mohs exorbitantly.
heh. i speak like some expert, but my mum was the 1 doing most of the bargaining, i was just the sidekick. That being said, you really have some high pressure sales people here, the momment they sense that you are interested, there goes... they're really articulate, persuasive and pushy. They'll put their arm around you, call you peng2 you3 and so on... Was pretty intimidated initially, cos once you find yourself dragged into the midst of the negotiations, you most certainly end up buying the item. At the end of the day, its still the sellers that gain. cos no matter how low you think you're paying for sth, they still profit. The only difference is their profit margin, either you let them earn more or earn less. obviously, the latter is very much preferred.
This entire experience brought new meaning to the phrase "shop till you drop". Trust me, it sure was hard work. =p I wouldn't say we got the best deals for everything, paid a lil too much for some stuff on our 1st day there. After tht, visitng the huge mega-malls dwn wang fu jing (their version of our orchard rd) became a piece of cake, it wasn't as mentally taxing. Some stuff we found at the shoprs down there after discount were even cheaper thn what we'd have gotten from our bargaining. *winks* oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Great Wall, Forbidden city, Underground Palace
mm. people say you haven't really visited beijing if you've never gone to the Great Wall. The chinese are fairly bemused by the attention that this wonder is getting. To them, it's just a wall used to keep the babarians out, a demarcation of sorts visibly and physically separating borders. We are in awe of course, of its length, the way it winds across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles ) from east to west of China. And you wonder, how did the humble man 2000 years ago build something like that with his bare hands? i'm told that many lives were lost.
It sure was steep climbing up the stairs. We only made it to the 2nd watch-tower b4 returning back to base again. Oh, they've added these slide-cars not unlike those you see in amusement parks that carry you up. fun! but nth much on the thrill factor, its "scenic view" speed.
the Forbidden CitY sounds all grand and imposing. i would have loved it there, BUT, the foreign dignatories just had to choose tht day to visit. So most areas were barred to us outsiders. *indignant* Yet they sold us tickets anyway, how thougtful of them. Wandered amongst the palace courtyards, and other pavillions and a few converted museums. It was fascinating to say the least, must have been huanzhugege's influence, i could almost picture all those palace maids, eunuchs, officials, princesses, princes, concubines, emperess, emperor going abt their daily lives. =p i was literally living and breathing history. AARGH. i very much wanted to see the inside!!!!!!! *sulks*
the Dingling Underground Palace is actually 1 of the 13 Ming imperial tombs, The tombs can be found on the southern slopes of the Tianshou Mountains. We had to climb many flights of steps tht just kept going dwn, dwn, dwn in order to access the tomb. Was pretty chilly down there, but well-maintained nevertheless. okay, so the fella buried in there was known as Emperor Wanli as well as his 2 empresses. This tomb was built over a period of six years, the morbid thing was they started building it when he was 26 if i remember correctly, at his request?!
yup. i think i can go on raving abt beijing.. the food there's great too!!! i love peking duck!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaah. signing out, sr.
Gemstar blogged on 4/25/2005 05:07:00 PM
venerdì, aprile 15, 2005
paint the silence
Have you ever wondered what it'll be like... to hear total silence? Now, tht's a scary thought, cos when that happens, either
a) the world has come to an end
b) you've lost your sense of hearing
i can't help but feel that the world as we know is about to undergo some drastic change, what with the deluge of news of impending supervolcano eruptions, earthquakes and their aftershocks, human conflict... It really is disheartening watching/listening/reading the news. Which is precisely why i never liked reading the papers. No news is gd news, i say. I WAS really quite content leading my ignorantly blissful life. =p At least that was back then...
Now, you just can't help but be more aware of your surroundings, of your society, of the world you're living in? Each and every single person is like a cog or a gear in this whole complicated, intricate assaembly of parts in a clockwork. 1 sets into motion the other and so on, we are all invariably linked 1 way or another. The things we do or say, no matter how insignificant, really does have an impact on others? Well, let's just say I'm starting to believe in karma. " what goes around comes around...what goes up, must come down! (ok 2nd line not necessarily true, not if i can help it) " ;)
Anyone heard of the chaos theory? I find it really intriguing, although i admit i know nuts about the mathematical side to it.
The flapping of a single butterfly's wings today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does. (Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141)
So the gist of the theory is that there is an underlying order to seemingly chaotic, random data. Thus predictions can be made with the use of mathematical formulae using these data as input. However, if we tweak the data such that there is just a minute variation, the results come out drastically different. (but of course the way they go abt doing it is beyond me.) So what might seem an insignificant event, such as the flapping of a single butterfly's wings may have unimaginable repercussions elsewhere in the world?
Using similar logic, it seems as though we humans are just digging our own graves, slowly, but surely. Hypothetically, if a tiny event aka butterfly flapping wings
----> tornado. What abt not so small changes like burning an entire forest, internal strife and wars between countries... Wouldn't it have more serious ramnifications on mankind as a whole?
But no, we go on living our lives as it is. Afterall, there's nothing we can do shld the world come to an end 1 day, can we?
Or is that really the case?
;)
Gemstar blogged on 4/15/2005 12:41:00 AM
domenica, aprile 10, 2005
Don't You Cry
Talk to me softly
There is something in your eyes
Don't hang your head in sorrow
And please don't cry
I know how you feel inside I've
I've been there before
Somethin is changin' inside you
And don't you know
Don't you cry tonight
I still love you baby
Don't you cry tonight
Don't you cry tonight
There's a heaven above you baby
And don't you cry tonight
...
~ Guns N Roses
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i've got the blues. damn damn damn.
i hate wrk. i hate wrk. i hate wrk.
Last nite felt like some smoky, rowdy blur.But i shld start my story from the very beginning. Turns out tht my cousin got cajoled into doing this advertisement shoot for bel'air, so last nite their family was invited for a dinner at this lady's(person in charge who oversaw the whole shoot) hse, and i went alg as my cousin's guest.
the hostess is really a warm person, very endearing and chatty, she was telling us all these amusing lil stories! But personally, it was qte discomfitting for me, their hse is pretty huge, and yea.. dining there was qte stressful, cos it felt pretty formal. i still dunno how to use my chopsticks properly. didn't finish up all the stuff on my plate. =p eeps. so we got to know malcom and miguel her 2 sons, and sim, miguel's friend. turns out it was miguel's 20th bday tht nite, so there was a celebration for him as well. Heh, it's amusing watching her and her son bickering with each other gd-naturedly, it's like 1 speaks chinese (she's taiwanese) and the other doesn't do it too well cos he went to australia for 5 yrs b4 coming back to do his ns. And the mum insisted it was his 19th bday and she even counted using her fingers to proove to him, haha.. but yea. he's an '85 baby, and this yr's 2005, so do the math urself. =)
so the entire time the bday boy and sim were like prodding each other under the table, fiddling with their hps and excused themselves away fr the table. haha damn, i make thm sound gay. i just assumed they were restless and wanted to go out and meet their friends. but yea, we only got to know aftr tht they were just deliberating if they shld ask us out. heh... cos in their words my uncle (my cuz's dad) looked damn intimidating. yea, agreed, he really does look like a triad boss.
mm so we were like, "heck, why not?" see lesson learnt. be bold guys, u nvr know. Gosh, i tell you, the momment they were outta the hse, their true colors revealed. lol. they were like all angelic and guai1 in the hse... and it was totally different 1ce they were out of vicinity of the mum's watchful eyes. but i must say they took pretty gd care of us la, cos we were pretty new to this kinda stuff... Like i've only visited 2 pubs so far? and my cousin doesn't drink. so we cabbed dwn to mohammed sultan, and went to this pub called barcelona to chill. it was supposed to be a bday celebration for him, with his bmt mates la...
thn the cigarettes got lit up and the alcohol came. -_- i hafta tell you, i absolutely can't stand the smell of smoke!!!!! argh. and those few ppz there were def. hardcore chain smokers, 1 stick aftr another. and since we got the pte rm... it was just totally confined to the space. bleargh. i excused myself qte afew times to the ladies, and to breathe too. mmm.. i suppose it was a different crowd la, they were kinda rowdy.. and CRUDE. but otherwise, all in the name of fun, army stories are interesting, esp when you have gd storytellers arnd. heh. oh yea. the cocktail i ordered was called "spanish kiss" but it tasted like cough syrup. AGAIN. aah.
yea. it was 3am plus by the time we left... $$ probs too, cos there wasn't enough cash at hand, and the atms nearby were outta cash. everything became on the bday boy in the end, yup and the 4 of us cabbed back tog... they asked for our numbers, said they wanted to bring us some place else nxt time... but we'll see la.
alrite. haix. back to reality.. back to wrk tmr .. bOohoooo. *sniffles*
Gemstar blogged on 4/10/2005 10:23:00 PM
sabato, aprile 02, 2005
2 am, and the rain is falling.
Here we are at the crossroads once again.
My oh my, my bioclock's screwed up once more. This week has been exciting for a "i'm bumming arnd cos i'm jobless" week. Here's a quick recap:
mon : lunch+ movie date with sy,
dinner with rg classmates, pubbing at chijmes' CHINA JUMP yay.
i definitely had fun!!! we watched HITCH which was qte funny, but pretty much average. One of those that don't actually make much of an impression on you after you leave the cinema theatre. It felt nice catching up, he's done with final year exams and yea, graduating to become a doctor! i'm envious. I mean, i'll only be wearing tht 4-fang1-mao4 in 4/5 yrs time??? I suppose it'll be a different set of challenges faced, once you step out into society. For him, it's dealing with patients tht have pretty much entrusted their lives/health to him. woaH, huge responsibility, that. hmm. and he passed me his pharmacology bk to read, which, i haven't looked thru yet. *sheepish grin* it looks... boring. Crossing my fingers and hoping tht i'll get accepted into my 1st choice for nus. Have to thank him though, cos he accompanied me ( real patiently, lol) when i was doing last minute shopping for clara's present.
Met the girls for dinner at SkaLs, this scandivinian eatery tucked into this corner of Raffles Place/ OUB center there. The food was good, and the company delightful. =) Prices were pretty decent too. (Below 10bucks) so, that's a *thumbs up* from sr. The 2 yr record of not meeting HT at all has been broken. That girl's still as babe-licious as ever! She's shed some of the baby fat (when there wasn't much to begin with) and i swear she looks like Cecilia Cheung(Zhang Bo Zi) now!!! It really was nice seeing all of them again, and yup, the chemistry we used to share is still there. Although, it has faded away acc. to yit and ht... just slightly. ;)
We went to check out this pub/restaurant called China Jump at CHIJMES tht sy suggested. And the place is cool!! it has a few of these cushy seats+table fixed within compartments in the WALL that's really cosy to chat in. You have to climb up a ladder just to sit inside.
So everyone ordered different drinks and while some were nice some were bleaH. Mine tasted suspiciously like cough syrup =s heh. It was some cocktail with Cranberry juice+ orange juice + amaeretta (whatever this is.) Pq's sex on the beach was nice, while yit's gin+lime and june's southern peach tasted a tad too stong for my liking. Clara's Yellow Bird tasted horrible too, and ht's Walking on Peaches one wasn't too bad. We were pretty much amused by all the names of the drinks la. I mean, who the hell names a drink "screaming multiple orgasms"??? I'd love to hear the customer who orders that. (pun unintended,sry =p)
Tues: cycling with zw at ecp!!
heh. it has been qte some time since i last went cycling. i think the last one was the Ubin Adventure i had with kel, el, daryl, josh and ching. i sure enjoyed myself this time too, and it was damn tiring cos we cycled all the way to the other end , all the way till the NS Golf and Resort Country Club. And we reached this portion where the bicycle route ended & the road for cars started. Mm, we also stopped at Bedok Jetty to watch pple fishing. The poor fishes were all jumping and gasping for their breaths. But they really made fishing look easy, like just dip the fishing line in water and before you know it Voila! you get a string of live fishes!! I think the bait they used were synthetic ones, so there wasn't even worms involved!!! Cheats. =p We even saw a random puffer fish and crab left dead on the jetty. haix, qte sad. but acty, fishing looks kinda fun too, but tht's probably cos tht particular fish was in season, so they barely had to wait b4 they caught anything. Looked suspiciously like the kind of fish we eat with Nasi Lemak.
Oh yea, did i mention tht we were perpetually hungry on tht day? okay, maybe it was me. i had a "fillet o fish" meal from macs + orange popsicle + mud pie + apple cinanmon muffin from coffee bean. *sweatdrop* output = input, hopefully. mmhmm and zw was laughing at me for all the popsicle stains all over my shirt. hmf. =/ twas fun, will miss him aftr he enlists.....!
Wed : Lunch at HanaBi with Cuz,
Facial at Jean Yip Academy, United Square
I shall be brief, considering tht huge chunk i typed up there. Met up with my cousin to lunch at hanabi, cos my fave chef's leaving le. haix. didn't even get to chat with them for very long. They bluffed us with, "lao3 di4 fang1 jian4 ok??" Then they left without saying gdbyeee!!! hrmm. but yea, i enjoyed my meal at least. Then after tht we joined my mum cos she wanted to try the hair colouring/cutting services offered at Jean Yip by their students which basically means cheap rates. i had this facial at 22bucks and it was... painfuLL. owwww. but yea, it had the works, the ice-cold qballs, the facial massage, removal of blackheads/whiteheads (ow ow owww), and a very soothing mask. Did feel an improvement in my skin after it, so i guess it was worth it. =)
Thurs: crashing smU with xm
We got to sit in 2 of their classes, thanks to pwl. haha, tht's xm's bro's friend.... he's sure fulla crap, damn talkative but a really funny nice guy. and xm left a piece of her behind in SmU. i sure hope u get it back girl!!! mm.. they were giving presentations in BIZ Strategy, on Macdonalds and Jetblue budget airlines. It really really really reminded me of those PW days. aha. Though i think it was qte cool, the way the lessons were conducted with the prof just acting as a facilitator. Then we sat in for creative writing where the students were discussing their poetry works. Qte paiseh, cos the prof actually invited us to give our comments but me and xm became really shy and all!!! "no comments!!" Yup, i'm glad i went, thanks for inviting me girl, and thank pwl for me, realized i forgot. Then we had dinner at Prince, for old times sake... heh.
Fri : my 1st driving lesson
so funnnnnnnnnnnnn!!! i had to admit i was qte tense initially, being my first lesson and all, and yea, i went in there with zero knowledge of how to operate a car. My instructor was really nice, and totally lame, he was cracking all these jokes left right centre and i have to admit his style works. By the time i was actually driving, i was all relaxed and calm. It's weird but i sort of psycho-ed myself into thinking tht it's one of those com games i'm playing, or just go-karting. The instructor was asking me if i had driven before??? haha... guess the only prob was manouevering the steering wheel, just felt kinda awkward with it. practice makes perfect i hope.... having my next lessson coming fri. aftr tht the nxt time i go will be in may!!! horrible, no more slots left!!!!
saturDay: volunteer orientation at youth challenge, housewarming party at uncle's
i learnt basic canto tht day... met lotsa rg girls there, which was a pleasant surprise. =) they've had volunteers tht came back from aceh, phillipines sharing their experiences with us. I'm inspired!!! Quite a few other humanitarian trips coming up soon and there's this sri lanka, distribution of relief supplies trip coming up real soon, and.. well, i do wanna go... cept tht my april schedule is in a mess right now, espcially since i dunno when i'll be called up for interviews. I shall be a lil less ambitious for now, and help out locally first. Frankly, it'll be a first for me working with the elderly. I mean, I've always been a natural with childern and am very comfortable interacting with thm, but i've no experience with the older folks whatsoever!!!! yup, so i guess.. i do have lots to learn rite now. =)
i had funn playing with the 2 lil boys at the party. ah! oh and you know smth, shy guys are pretty intriguing. Met this cousin of mine, who's really qte a gd-looking fella, but he's really really shy amongst the opposite sex!! haha, so kewt. at his age summore... (he's 5 yrs older) mmhmm. cos i heard this story... where these 3 girls actually brought a cake to celebrate his bday in uni, but he was so awkward and embarrassed tht he ran off to hide?!!! i'm amused.
Sunday: ocs visitation/ qingming @ grandpa's
heh. well well, made a short visit to the ocs chalet! it sure does look like one to me, even now... yep, so the few of us popped by to cheer shaun up. seems tht they've all caught the depression bug at delta. thing was, i only knew i was gg tht morning after beck's morning call... apologies for the looooong wait dears.i think i was like 1 hr late!!! so we met shaun and shawn there and they brought us arnd or attempted to. lol, they were horrible tourguides! i think we only saw the canteen and their bunks... pity me and becks cldn't stay on for too long, i had to rush off for the annual qingming at my grandpa's.
yup. so tht's tht..... a fulfiling wk with old friends, new friends, family. =)
Gemstar blogged on 4/02/2005 02:55:00 AM
