GoodBye 2005

2005 was a year filled with fun, laughter, surprise and joy for me. Lets put it this way, I'm blessed with short-term memory... So by the end of the year, I will forget most of the bad things that had happened to me earlier. (I don't seem to be able to forget the fear I have for practicum)

2006 will be the year that I officially leave full-time schooling for full-time teaching. :"( It's sad... But life goes on. I hope that I can teach the children proper English... So many adults in their 20s are seriously poor in their Grammar. (My English is not perfect.... but I have seen worse).

I think it's about thime to do the New Year resolution:

Study for UOL
Work hard in my first real job
Be a good girl
Earn more money?

K... I try to keep it short since most probably I can't fullfil them. LOL

My top five favourite Movie of the Year

1. Batman Begins
2. Star Wars
3. Charlie and the Chocolate factory
4. Chronicles Of Narnia
5. Corpse Bride
6. Downfall

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Beware of fraudsters from China

"Xiao Mei Mei, this is the first time we are here in Singapore. I think we need a little bit of help. You see, we are from China...."

If you hear these words, please run away as quickly as possible. The stupid China fraudsters are here! Recently, there are many Chinese national here to cheat people of their money. They usually target youngsters in their early twenties.

I was approached by a China aunty when I was at Greenridge shopping centre and the very next day, my neighbour (same age as me) was targetted by a well-groomed man at bukit Panjang Plaza.

They are not really in need of help... They are just here to cheat you of your money by telling you cook-and-bull stories. They often say that they will return you the money (of coz it will never come true).

The schools holidays is coming to an end... And the only thing I had done during the holidays was read, read, read and more reading... How boring can my life be?

The power of Sudoku






I spent time cracking my head, trying to solve a Sudoku puzzel. Haizzz... According to Jinshan, he can solve some within 15 mins...

If you think you are up to the challenge, try your luck by getting a Sudoku book from the bookstore.

I'm thinking of how I should teach children Maths using Sudoku.

Photos taken during the Christmas party :)

Guess which 1 is me?




Merry Christmas

Guess what I got Christmas....
I got a lovely Elizabeth Arden Christmas Gift set from Tiger :)



And

A pair of bathroom slippers and door knob hanger from Shuxia.

Last night was a wonderful evening with the Tiger's poly friends... Being with a bunch of youngsters 4 years younger than me makes me feel that I'm getting old...

We had a great steamboat dinner. Yummy.. Prior to the dinner, we played mahjong until siao. Me and Tiger both lose in the game. Sian... Such bad luck.


My birthday is just around the corner....


P.S Photos courtesy of Shuxia.

I got this idea when I was watching TV yesterday.

Snow globe:

Emptied jam jug
1 figurine
distilted water
super glue
glitter
Ribbons

Use the super glue to stick the figurine onto the cap of the jam jug (the side which will be inside the jug.

Pour water into the jug (not completely full as the figurine also takes up space.

Put in glitter.

Close the jam jug.

Decorate the cap with the ribbons.

The results are out

NIE results are out... Lucky me... I have got A- for my hisotry :)... This makes me te only person with A for the two consecutive years... I don't care if anyone has got A for history this year... Too bad, there's no prize for being the best for two consecutive years for this subject... So unfair... There's special prize for Maths and English but no prize for History.

Anyway, this year I'm still slightly below expectations as I have got tonnes of B+ and B-!!!! I'm so disappointed that I didn't get A for Maths and Science. I was expecting so much for Science.There is a bit of grades inflation because they had removed the grade E from the new grading sy6stem. So I should be getting more As, bbut that's not the case... Anyway, I'm still happy that I pass all. Thank god for the results.

Guess where is this place



My mum and sis just got back from Aussie. they bgrought back enough chocolate to last me for my entire life... Now that they are back, I don't have to be scared of being home alone.

I'm freeeee..... I just finished my exams yesterday :)

Why we should learn Sociology

The time goes back to two years ago when I was sitting in the lecture hall, half awake. The sociology lecturer kept talking non-stop but I'm not really listening. Most students were wondering why they need to take the Sociology module when they are studying for a degree in Economics. I was also one of them.

But somehow I managed to see the connection between Sociology and it's usefulness... How can we understand the market trends if you don't know Sociology?

Previously when I was doing Multimedia, most of the time I did not have any idea in my brain when it comes to drawing... With Sociology, I'm able to analyze illustrations critically. And so my designs became more meaningful.

Now as a teacher-to-be, I also see how the Sociology is useful.. Many of the teaching theories were based on the sociological theories too..

Many a times, the Singaporean students failed to see think critically because they lacked such skills and knowledge... So they can't see the importance of a subject like Sociology.

It's Sunday

Finally the school term is over... it's now the exam break. Thank god everything is over. But I still have to study for my exams.

It's almost time to plan for the holidays... What should I do for my holidays?

Review: Transporter 2

This is worst than The Skeleton Key but I don't know why the crtics gave it a B- while skeleton key got a C-D. I think think movie got a B from the crtics because the good guy is a white.... very obvious... This is very sad.... XXX2 didn't get a good rating because The Ice is black. But XXX2 is better, cause it's got a lot more grove.

Bascially, the movie seems like a Jacky Chan movie. Stunts and animation. The good guy just wouldn't die no matter what. The stunts seem right out of Jacky Chan's old movie.

Good point: Kate Nauta is very sexy.
Bad: Nothing much is a plot.

In Belgium, the 2 smurfs were killed during a bomb attack. Many of the Smurf fled their hometown. Papa Smurf was reluctant to comment on the event. Baby smurf was still crying over the lost of Smurfette.

For more information, you may visit http://www.livejournal.com/users/jwz/554577.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/08/wsmurf08.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/08/ixhome.html

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Sorry for the missing images. I had been trying very hard to insert them but the silly blogspot just wouldn't work.

The Skeleton Key

Just came back from a free preview of The Skeleton Key (courtesy of funkygrad.com). I went into the theater with very low expectations on the show. The reviews from the online movie critics were very negative. I was rather busy with my homeowrk. But anyway, play comes first :)

This is the first time I have watched a movie which shows the unglamourous side of the America. The story was about this young women of 25 years old who started working as a hospice nurse in this old creepy house. They house has got a creepy history of hoodoo (not voodoo, which is a religion).

Thoughout the movie, I knew that there's no ghost in the house. I knew that it's a human behind all these. It's only the second half of the movie that is really scary.

The story comes with a twist. I was so scared that I was in tears after watching the movie. It was my first hoodoo movie so I was scared stiff.

Down side of this movie:
Racist

In comparison with the silly Chinese ghost movies, this movie deserves 5 out of 5.

Rating: 4/5 - 1 for racism = 3/5

Breadtalk

I was quite sick with eating breadtalk. For quite a while, I was buying bread from four leaves instead. But recently, I found two local favours which tasted delicious.

They are:

Banana danish

Nonya cheese (can't really remember the name of this one)

The pandan leaves used to line the bread gave it s unique favour. The banana danish have a very strong banana scent while the nonya bread has the same fillings as the nonya rice dumplings.

The dull dull world of the living dead

Tim Burton's Corpse bride

Just watched Tim Burton's Corpse Bride last Friday. The dull dull color of the living world makes me sleepy. The monochrome screen with ugly people. The obsession with formality of the living is killing.

The color of the dead is enchanting. The funky tune and the silly jokes. It just makes me wonder if I'm better off dead.

The show coincides with my philosophy... the living is worst than the dead... You never heard about 'ghost killings' but I'm sure you have heard of murder by the living.

Raing: 4/5

Butterfly

I wish that I can see the sky once again. Oh how I wish... i remember the times when I have chewy green leaves. Now I'm just tied up in this little chrysalis. It's so tight that I can't breath. I'm so afraid that I will never see the blue sky again. So uncertain about my fate. Will I be a beautiful butterfly or an ugly moth. Maybe I will never get to leave my chrysalis.

How I wish that I can be a caterpillar once again. Chewing freely on the green green leaves. But I understand that I will have to change.

It has been a long time since my last entry. Due to the stress in NIE a lot of my friends fall sick. Poor thing. Hope that they will get better.

I will be interviewing a professor in NIE tomorrow. I'm really excited. The questions were already prepared in advanced. Hope that everything turns out well.

How to spend your holidays
Have you heard of the chinese saying... Being poor allows you to have great creativity and with the creativity, you can solve any problems.

When I was a kid, my parents didn't buy me expensive toys. My TV broke down during the dec holidays when I was 7. Being a TV addict, I was very upset. No TV = no entertainment. My aunt brought a big bag of plastercine. My brother and I had endless fun with the plastercine. I feel that in many ways, simple toys can develop the creativity of children. Edison once said that all kids are creative. why restrict them to the teaching in classrooms? They don't need a teacher to teach them to be creative.

Two years later, I found a book on chess making... I spent hours with my brother to make my own chess game. By making the game myself, I also learn the logic of playing the game. It makes me a more logical person. Till now, I'm still benefitting from the things I had learnt when I was a kid...And I have learnt those things without much guidance....

What I had for lurch

I had cous cous for my lurch... For local Singaporeans, You might ask me what is cous cous. Cous cous is a species of pasta originating in North Africa. So it actually tasted some what like pasta. Rather than being in the form of noodles or extruded shapes, cous cous is granular. Being granular, the texture is almost like rice, but it's quite tiny, the size of a sugar grain. So it's actually pasta in the size of a grain of rice.

You can't get couscous at the usual supermarkets. I bought my packet from Carrefour at $2.85.

So how do you prepare the cous cous? I use the rule of a thumb method.

Cous cous

Pour out the amount of cous cous which you can eat into a bowl.
I can only finish a tiny bowl.
Pour in enough stock to cover the cous cous. You can use chicken stock or vegemite stock and even fruit juice. Make sure the liquid you use is hot.
Cover the bowl and wait for 5 minutes.

Ready to eat cous cous in no time.

Silly people on the blog

I just heard the news that two stupid men were caught writing racist comments on their blogs and in the public forums. How stupid can these people be? can't they understand that peace is precious? Can't they understand they they can be sued for these comments? Stupid people.

I just stumbled upon a personal blog of my course mate. From her writings, it's obvious that she is quite ambitious. She hope that she can get the cross-over. Hai... why so many people want the cross-over? I just try to do fine. anyway, I already have plans for my future.

I've got a new hobby. This plaque was made out of polymer clay and a ready-made wood plaque bought from Daiso. It took me two nights to made this. This is meant to be my bf's nirthday present. Tomorrow will be his birthday. Happy birthday to pong......

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Wondering what happened to my blog? I accidentally clicked on the wrong button on the blogger website and my template is gone!!! So this is just one of the ready made ones!

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Just watched the encore telecast of the finals of Project Superstar. Singaporeans don't know what is music.

The case of the missing restroom

This incident happen about 2 and half years ago. I met up with my friends to chit-chat in the bubble tea shop which my mum was working in.
After the bubble tea session with my poly friends, I feel an urgent need to answer to the call of nature. It was around 10.15pm, there was almost no one in the shopping all except my friends and the security guards. As I was washing my hands in the restroom, I could hear singing from the end of the restroom. It was a female voice and she was singing a Malay voice. I was glad that someone I with me in the toilet. But it was unusual; all the doors of the cubicles were opened. The door of the last cubical was half opened. Could the person who is singing is in the last cubicle? Why is the door half opened? Somehow, I don't feel like going into the cubical anymore.

I somehow forgot about the incident. Until a few weeks later, my mum told me that her colleague Yue met something 'unclean' in the very same restroom. Yue had heard someone singing sadly in the toilet. The 'person' sounded like this:” Mama.... Mama...." The song was sung in Malay.

My mum had another colleague Ming who was likes to chat with the customers. Most of the customers of the bubble tea shop were students. A few days after Yue's frightening experience, while chatting with a student, Ming was told of another incident which happened in the toilet. On the year in which the shopping mall first started its operation, someone committed suicide in the very last cubicle. She did it by hanging herself using with her school bag. It's hard to imagine how you can do that with your school bag right. She hung the bag on the hook of the door in the cubicle and she killed herself by putting her head between the hook and the bag.

Why would a person want to kill herself? She was a young student in a neighborhood school. It was said she ran away from home after receiving a scolding from her mother for her bad results. Her mum searched everywhere for her.

The next day, she was found dead in the cubicle. She had bloody 'nail-less' fingers. Before she committed suicide, she tortured herself by pulling out her finger nails.

Ming did not tell the customer about the Yue's experience before the customers told her the story.

It had been years since the incident. The shopping mall had gone through renovations. The toilet had already been demolished. I wonder where the Malay girl had gone.

The brewing machine from the top.

I'm savouring my first brew as I'm writing this blog entry. The beer tasted fanastic after 3 months of conditioning in the fridge. The tasted of homemade beer is so different from the commercially made. most probably I will make my second batch tomorrow.


Radiation

During the ECS lecture today, my prof did an interesting experiment. He borrowed phones from volunteers in the class and plugged the phone to the datalogging system. This datalogging system will plot the radiation graph onto the computer screen. Guess what's the outcome? Sony Ecrisson's graph shot sky-high and reached the pinnacle (more than 150 times compared to the rest)! the radiation level dropped drastically after the second ring. Samsung, LG, Siemens and Motorola were very very low, almost 0. Nokia and O2 were average. In the end, Samsung and Motorola emerged as the winner for having the lowest radation (Siemens was very close).



This is not the graph on the datalogging system, but it looked something like that.

Disclaimer: The experiment might not be a fair one as the radiation defers from the individual models and condition of individual phone.

The whimsical world of Willy

Yesterday, I was supposed to watch Charlie and the chocolate factory with my friends. But we somehow missed it. So I made it a point to catch the show the first thing in the early afternoon.

It was a dream come true to see the plot unfolding on the big screen. I was never a big fan of the original title. But my sibilings simply loved it. I burst into tears when charlie finally found the ticket to the chocolate factory. The chocolate fountain was certain magnificent and it reminds me of the chocolate fountain at Shanga-ri la. The Oompa-Loompas were very cute. With their funny hats, some how they looked like the characters of some Durex ad on the magazines (sorry for being lewd). But the way they danced remind me of the black and white American dance films, very synchronised and symetrical.

I thought the glass elevator will look really elaborated with golden frame or something.

Overall, it was a fantasy come true.

Rating: 4 (I'm a kid )

Quote: "Charlie, the world is full of money. They print new money every day. There are only 5 golden tickets. Why would you want to trade a thing so rare for something as common as money?"

http://chocolatefactorymovie.warnerbros.com

Review on triple three buffet at Meritus Mandarin

After reading all the reviews on the internet, I realised that Triple Three buffet at Meritus Mandarin is the best place for the makan outing... unfortunately, my friend Amy who was mourning for her chinchila could not come for the outing. The spread is fine... But I think that the renovation is rather old.... so there's not many people there.... very much unliked 'the line' buffet at Shangari-la which adopted the open space concept. 'The line' buffet has a very cheery feel. Actually the variety for both buffet is quite similiar but due to the open concept of 'the line', u might think that they offer more variety.

A good subsitution will have to be the international buffet at Plaza hotel which only costed ~$30.

Cost for lurch: ~$44.80

15% Discount for OUB credit card holders.

My fav items: The chocolate pralines, Honey grazed ham, fresh oysters (nothing special but they are probably the freshest I have eaten), carrot cake (the Ang Moh type not the Chinese one), ice cream

Lousy food: Soft shelled crab (taste worse than the one at NTU canteen), Sze Chuan chicken (the meat is slight tough and not spicy at all)

Food rating: 3.8

Cost rating: 1 (there are places which offer the same things but cost lesser)

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After having a heavy lurch at the Mandarin hotel, Adeline and I headed to the Heeren. I didn't find any beautiful clothes there and Adeline was thinking if I was being stingy. (Funny. can't she see I have so many clothes already?) But I have to admit that I had cut down on my buying already. But I think for a girl of my age, I'm already spending a lot. Amy and Adeline are slightly older than me so their speading must be different mar. I just spent a bomb on some IT thingy and upgrade for my insurance mar.

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Lingeria sale at ex-Timberlux centre (Havelock Road)

5th Aug - 7th Aug

10am - 10pm

rating: disappointing

price: $12.90 for 2 bras, $29 for sexy/lacy pyjamas and $10 for 4 thongs

After shopping for a while in Orchard, I went to the ex-Timberlux centre at havelock centre for "Victoria's secret and Gap lingeria sale". The crowd was reasonable, but the items were very limited. Most of the items were either too BIG or too small. The very tiny bras were 99.999999% without padding and underwire! They are all sports bras. I think only babies can fit into them. Most of the items were Gap. Some of the average sized bras were from La Sezza and the design was so very ugly. I think I only saw some pyjamas from Victoria's secret. I'm a fan of Victoria, so it was rather disappointing. Most of the labels for the gap items were cut off, leaving only the size tag. the only good thing I can say about the sale is that the material for the thongs were quite a good. I bought 4 pairs of thongs and went off.

Btw, there were also some branded baby's item on the sides.

found interest in doing more on flash
Very boring holiday... I found an interesting book on using flash in the art of cartooning from the library..... as the book doesn't come with a source CD, I have to source for the image from the internet. I can't find the exact 1 so I made do with what I found.

After struggling for a good whole 30 mins, I managed to finish an animation with the help of the book.

Here is the animated gif I created. Pls click the image to seee the animation.

I done it in vector. I dunno y it looks so small in blog, in actual fact it's a big image.

This is the rabbit I did last week using flash too:



Not bad rite......... The rabbit is quite detailed but I haven't colored it yet. Click n u will c the details.


P.S I finally got my first comment on my blog from Jinshan..... I feel motivated to write more and maybe revamp my blog.... Look out to new designs...

Recovering from flu
I was down with a flu yesteday. Last nite, I had a bad time trying to get some sleep. This morning when I woke up, I headache was so bad that for a moment I thought that I will suffer from brain damage.... Touch wood.

Bad News

I went to the MOE website to read up on my course. To my surprise, I realised that there isn't any application information on it. This can only mean one thing..... NIE is no longer offering diploma in education (general). Which means that if you want to be a teacher, you will have to be at least a degree holder. This is bad news. I will be considered the last batch (the last eunuch). My diploma is worthless.... Just like the last castrated eunuch, he did it for nothing, because the empire is gone! If I don't upgrade to degree level, very soon I will be looked down upon by the ministry. On the bright side, I might get to do the (part-time) degree for free as in-service training.

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To adopt a virtual or real pet, please go to the following website: www.spca.org.sg

Very bored
Today is just another boring day at home... With a month left for holidays, I'm not really sure what to do with it.

I was really hungry aand I decided to whip up a dish by myself.

Ingredients:
1 Potato

1/2 cup pasta

1 can of cream corn

2 cups of water or milk

Salt

1. Peel and dice the potato.

2. Boil the potato and pasta in 2 cups of water.

3. When the potato and pasta is cooked, pour in the cream corn. Stir. If you want the soup to be more creamy, drain the potato and pasta and pour in one cup of milk.

4. Serve.


Isn't it great! Creamy corn soup in 10 mintues. Try it!

Unbeatable deals
The pc fair is here once again. I was working with Dell during last year's pc fair. Feeling all sick and tired after a day of bargaining with customers and starvation. This year, I reali dun want to go down for the pc fair as it's reali reali crowded and I'm no longer a Dell sales staff.

But I really want to get myself a new pc than to scream and shout at my brother for his permission to use the current old and lousy pc. So I did some networking and called my ex-colleagues for help. In the end I got a set at an unbeatable price. I reali reali have to say that the price is amazing and no one can beat it! (Not even sim lim) It's cheaper than online, but I think that he didn't give me the freebie. Anyway, freebies are always some cheap stuff not worth the value.

Delicious Edamame from the supermarket
Yesterday, I bought a packet of edamame and it taste delicious. In case you dunno what is Edamame, it is the green soya bean you eat at the Japanses restaurant as an appetizer. You have to remove the beans from the pod and just pop them into your month!

It is available at Sheng Siong Supermarket at $1.70 for a big packet.

Die die must read
Last night I almost fell off my seat when I was watching Channel eight. Sly made the remark that the contestant is 'multi-purpose' when he actually meant versatile.

Anyway, my English isn't that good either as a teacher-to-be.

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Die die must Read

Last night I read the blog of a gal by the name of Yanyan, my fellow junior from SP. I think by now most of u would have read her award winning blog. Well written.

You can find her blog in xiaxue.blogspot.com

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Back to my boring self.

Today I went to the library and found a Science magazine 'Discover'. It's great! One of the previous issues discussed about Darwin's idealogy of evolution. Most of the article discussed how Scientist can predict how a species evolve over time using a software known as Avida. If you are interested, you can download the program from http://dllab.caltech.edu/avida/

Previously, Times magazine also discussed about evolution. According to Times mag, Darwin did not said that Man evolved from apes, but he suggested it. This brought me back what my brother told me. From one of the seminars in Church, he understand that it is in no way that Man evolved from apes and the Scientist idea of the 'Missing Link' is totally illogical.

My conclusion is..... Since god made humans in his image, why can't god be an ape?

Please do not laugh k.... Do enlightened me on that issue....

Beer conditioner
Today is the day is time for bottling my beer. I was very excited. I made a mess out of the thing. The bottler kept dripping.

I used the left over yeast sediment to condition my hair aft shampooing. It's great. Do give it a try! I learnt it from an article in the internet.

First, you have to shampoo your hair then rinse it.
Cover your body or else you might risk an allergy.
Next, Pour the beer through and rinse it after 2 mins.
The smell will stay and if you really mind, then pour a cup of brewed chamomile tea.
Lastly, rinse it clean.
Bear is so ex in Singapore and you will think that it's a luxury. Next time round, I will try red wine. LOL

Farewell to Dr Wee

U have taught me to be always be humble n to carry myself with interity.

I will bear that in mind when I serve my bond with the MOE.

My little brewery
After a long trip to Tampines to collect my beer brewing kit and getting my license for brewing, I started brewing my first beer.

It was so fun. With all the ingredients all in the brewing kit, I just have to wait for the yeast to get it's work done. Try it and u will love it.

I was never a beer lover but it's fun to see air bubbles coming out from the airlock.

If u r an avid brewer out they, pls msg mi and give mi some tips.

This afternoon I receieved the news that the ex-president Mr. Wee Kim Wee passed away at 5.10.

:"(

So happy, holiday is just around the corner. Next week will be exam week but I'm already in a holiday mood.

Just now I went for outwrd bound briefing but no one is there???? So irresponsible of the NIE people.......$#HIH)*(JKJ

These few weeks, I had been looking at all the computer pamplets. It seems that NTU has the best buy. But I dun reali like laptops. So dunno what to do. If I want a desktop, it will have to be Dell. But I know they wouldn't give me a discount. So disappointing :( Even an ex-employee also can't get discount.

Sorry for the horrible blog layout. I'm in no mood to change it. So many websites and things not done. All my clients chasing after me.

My ECE project is getting on my nerves. There's no point in doing this type of project.

Life is boring. I am now in my EED lesson. Y did he want as to come for the lesson when there's nothing to do. I haven even done my assignments.

Hope the holidays will come soon.