it gets dark so early here..
Monday, November 03, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
holidayyy!
yay today is the first day that feels like a holiday, a productive happy day
gerald and i decided to go walk treetop walk cos i've never been there and we started from macritchie entrance (since its near his house and he has trouble waking up ;). it was a 4.4km walk till the treetop walk itself and another long long walk after that. the forest was not too exciting, probably cos i only notice 2 things: the road i'm walking (to protect my ankle) and the rusting on the leaves. there were a number of joggers on that path and many enthu healthy seniors who also came out for a morning walk/jog/briskwalk. made me wonder if i'll have enough energy to come walk this long trail again when i grow old.. there were a buncha macaques in the trees near the Terap Hut and they looked pretty happy playing around making a lot of leaf rustling sounds. i'm happy they have learnt not to pounce on bags expecting to steal food.
when we reached the ranger station we saw a group of ppl and a minister walking out of the ranger station. didnt know what they were there for but didnt look like it was a very official kind of thing that requires a lot of security. somehow we assumed they were going to walk treetop walk and followed behind them for a while, before realising we werent supposed to be walking along a fence that seems to be keeping ppl away from a nuclear missile storage building. turned back to the ranger station, decided to empty our shoes of sand, turned to the right path and walked on. guess who i met! =D hehe truly 不约而同 =D we continued to the treetop walk where we met a family with 3 high kids. the parents decided to let us 4 go ahead first and we had to move in single file on the suspension bridge.
the bridge was pretty short. it was hot and the creatures were mostly hiding in the shade. you could hear some bird calls but they were from quite far away and there were some bugs and butterflies and a few swallow/swifts (those small birds with the cross tail that I see a lot at my forest too) but otherwise nothing much, which was quite sad.. but we were taking pictures anyway to show us being 60m from the ground. we were stopping traffic and the kids behind seem to be getting impatient haha.. after the suspension bridge it was some flights of stairs up and some flights of stairs up until you come to a + junction before reaching back at the ranger's house. it was a wide orange clay path which well-like structures dotted and irregular intervals along the path and that was where we parted ways with our fellow pair. they had come in from venus drive at upp thomson (the shortest way in) and were going back to macritchie. so they walked our path back, while we decided to turn right and walk rifle range trail which ends up at king albert park.
i think rifle range trail is probably one of the nicer trails to walk. u cant find a trail that is SO WIDE it looks like a dried up river and this trail actually has a stream passing through it! ok i exaggerate. its a big drain. but isnt it nice to hear some water on a hot day, water flowing down some slope with the loud gushing sound. we walked past some fences protected by rolled up wires with razor blades. i dun rmb the name even though gerald said so many times. its supposed to be very powerful protection for very powerful buildings. and at the end of the trail we reached a building owned by ST engineering and we thought we had some 3km left to walk. So we walked. and walked. and minivans and trucks passed us but they were going towards ST engine. Then we heard a lorry coming from behind us, we turned to stare at it for a while wondering if we should hitch a ride. But we turned around and continued walking.. the lorry passed us.. and stopped right ahead of us! And the driver offered us a ride out to bukit timah road! Yay! It is so cool to ride on the back of a lorry. It is windy and happy =) and we sped past an ammunition command, BKE, some winding road, the gun club… I think we would have melted in sweat if we really walked all the way out. they dropped us at king albert park where we had an ice cream to cool down, snapped pictures while standing in the middle of the Malaysian railway track, ran across the railway bridge across bukit timah road (ok I ran, because it was more exciting.. if a train is going to come u dun wanna be stuck on the bridge! He didn’t.) (it was damn fun!) and took a bus back to bishan intending to have lunch there. then we saw our companion pair again! While we were in 157 we saw them walking out of macritchie going to cross the road to get to their lunch destination. I think she wanted island creamery and wasn’t willing to consider alternatives and have lunch with us =P haha!
Lunch was at an affordable thai restaurant at Clover Way which is just inside Jalan Pemimpin which is opposite RJ. They had nice green curry and nice tapioca dessert. And I said hi to a teacher. We were supposed to go cycling after lunch. but post lunch syndrome set in and we were both too tired. We fixed half our 1000pc puzzle and felt super accomplished =) then dinner then dance class where I coped nice mocha from dance frens and one of them bought me celery soy milk from mr bean. Which is quite interesting and not too bad and very healthy haha
So ends a happy day..i’m supposed to have more inspiration to mix music but I dun hmph
gerald and i decided to go walk treetop walk cos i've never been there and we started from macritchie entrance (since its near his house and he has trouble waking up ;). it was a 4.4km walk till the treetop walk itself and another long long walk after that. the forest was not too exciting, probably cos i only notice 2 things: the road i'm walking (to protect my ankle) and the rusting on the leaves. there were a number of joggers on that path and many enthu healthy seniors who also came out for a morning walk/jog/briskwalk. made me wonder if i'll have enough energy to come walk this long trail again when i grow old.. there were a buncha macaques in the trees near the Terap Hut and they looked pretty happy playing around making a lot of leaf rustling sounds. i'm happy they have learnt not to pounce on bags expecting to steal food.
when we reached the ranger station we saw a group of ppl and a minister walking out of the ranger station. didnt know what they were there for but didnt look like it was a very official kind of thing that requires a lot of security. somehow we assumed they were going to walk treetop walk and followed behind them for a while, before realising we werent supposed to be walking along a fence that seems to be keeping ppl away from a nuclear missile storage building. turned back to the ranger station, decided to empty our shoes of sand, turned to the right path and walked on. guess who i met! =D hehe truly 不约而同 =D we continued to the treetop walk where we met a family with 3 high kids. the parents decided to let us 4 go ahead first and we had to move in single file on the suspension bridge.
the bridge was pretty short. it was hot and the creatures were mostly hiding in the shade. you could hear some bird calls but they were from quite far away and there were some bugs and butterflies and a few swallow/swifts (those small birds with the cross tail that I see a lot at my forest too) but otherwise nothing much, which was quite sad.. but we were taking pictures anyway to show us being 60m from the ground. we were stopping traffic and the kids behind seem to be getting impatient haha.. after the suspension bridge it was some flights of stairs up and some flights of stairs up until you come to a + junction before reaching back at the ranger's house. it was a wide orange clay path which well-like structures dotted and irregular intervals along the path and that was where we parted ways with our fellow pair. they had come in from venus drive at upp thomson (the shortest way in) and were going back to macritchie. so they walked our path back, while we decided to turn right and walk rifle range trail which ends up at king albert park.
i think rifle range trail is probably one of the nicer trails to walk. u cant find a trail that is SO WIDE it looks like a dried up river and this trail actually has a stream passing through it! ok i exaggerate. its a big drain. but isnt it nice to hear some water on a hot day, water flowing down some slope with the loud gushing sound. we walked past some fences protected by rolled up wires with razor blades. i dun rmb the name even though gerald said so many times. its supposed to be very powerful protection for very powerful buildings. and at the end of the trail we reached a building owned by ST engineering and we thought we had some 3km left to walk. So we walked. and walked. and minivans and trucks passed us but they were going towards ST engine. Then we heard a lorry coming from behind us, we turned to stare at it for a while wondering if we should hitch a ride. But we turned around and continued walking.. the lorry passed us.. and stopped right ahead of us! And the driver offered us a ride out to bukit timah road! Yay! It is so cool to ride on the back of a lorry. It is windy and happy =) and we sped past an ammunition command, BKE, some winding road, the gun club… I think we would have melted in sweat if we really walked all the way out. they dropped us at king albert park where we had an ice cream to cool down, snapped pictures while standing in the middle of the Malaysian railway track, ran across the railway bridge across bukit timah road (ok I ran, because it was more exciting.. if a train is going to come u dun wanna be stuck on the bridge! He didn’t.) (it was damn fun!) and took a bus back to bishan intending to have lunch there. then we saw our companion pair again! While we were in 157 we saw them walking out of macritchie going to cross the road to get to their lunch destination. I think she wanted island creamery and wasn’t willing to consider alternatives and have lunch with us =P haha!
Lunch was at an affordable thai restaurant at Clover Way which is just inside Jalan Pemimpin which is opposite RJ. They had nice green curry and nice tapioca dessert. And I said hi to a teacher. We were supposed to go cycling after lunch. but post lunch syndrome set in and we were both too tired. We fixed half our 1000pc puzzle and felt super accomplished =) then dinner then dance class where I coped nice mocha from dance frens and one of them bought me celery soy milk from mr bean. Which is quite interesting and not too bad and very healthy haha
So ends a happy day..i’m supposed to have more inspiration to mix music but I dun hmph
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
i saw a white throated kingfisher today!
there it stood perched on my window for that few seconds..
i didnt take a picture of it though, it was so close my movement may make it fly away..
there it stood perched on my window for that few seconds..
i didnt take a picture of it though, it was so close my movement may make it fly away..
Sunday, November 18, 2007
why do we never use DNA fingerprinting to identify your mum?
in the notes its always paternity testing.. i don't remember seeing maternity testing except in my answers. today i figured out why we dun use DNA fingerprinting for maternity testing. cos all kids belonging to this mum will have the same mitochondrial DNA! intracellular organelles are inherited from the mother and the father only contributes the nuclear DNA. so if your mitochondrial DNA is exactly the same as this woman, it probably confirms that she's your mum.. or maybe grandmum. haha
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Liberation!
haha! with gp gone half my troubles were gone. with econs gone all my troubles are gone! now theres only one chem and 2 bio left... that should be pretty smooth sailing and alright.. and after that SATs. A level taking so long to finish...
i decided science A level super easy. prelims set so difficult scare us only. but arts A level very difficult. prelim and A level same standard.. so if you dunno what subject to take, just take science. its the safest. the opp cost is that u may find along the way you quite like arts subjects and you don't get to study something you like. BUT whatever it is, you still can get very safe 5A, without that much effort (i think) econs interesting but 读到要死 X_X so thus ends my 2 years of econs education lols
bio! chiong!
i decided science A level super easy. prelims set so difficult scare us only. but arts A level very difficult. prelim and A level same standard.. so if you dunno what subject to take, just take science. its the safest. the opp cost is that u may find along the way you quite like arts subjects and you don't get to study something you like. BUT whatever it is, you still can get very safe 5A, without that much effort (i think) econs interesting but 读到要死 X_X so thus ends my 2 years of econs education lols
bio! chiong!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Wine appreciation
I'm amused. My dad loves wine. He has his own 9x2 rack for his wines. But he's the only one who drinks wine in the house. and wine is something you can only really enjoy when you have fellow wine drinking mates. unlike how u can go down beer when you're feeling lonely or just feel like destroying yourself. And because he takes quite a wide range of medicine it isn't very good for him to stress his liver out by drinking excessive alcohol. so my mum always asks us to "help him" drink so that he will have less to drink.. my mum herself isn't one who really likes to drink wine either and she'll ask to drink so my dad takes less.. today my dad got a friend to come over so that he'll have someone to drink with. lol someone who's drinking cos he's willing to drink. so for a first time in a long time he isnt drinking almost an entire bottle by himself.. lol
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wonder Kids
I've been made to read the newspapers daily. and i've been conscientious..
yesterday (looking at the time now, 2 days ago would prolly be the more correct term), there was this article, actually 2 articles one in the main section and one in the home section, about this family of wonder kids who have done so many o level subjects aceing every subject, and all of them are "underage" - 12 and 14. and i thought ok these are damn smart people and they really got it in the genes man.. until i read more and felt damn cheated. dunno whether to feel i wish i made a cleverer choice and figured out all my alternatives, or to feel happy that i'm proving myself as a better student.. either way i believe most people will compare themselves with these so called wonder kids if you read the article..
so anyway. the o levels and a levels that they take are not the ones administered by SEAB-Cambridge (the ones that a large bunch of us sit for and slog our brains out for) but by British Council and London Edexcel (that I think usually the international students take..). and if i didnt get my facts wrong, SEAB-Cambridge version is more challenging?.. While the International exams administered at British Council and London Edexcel are less difficult compared to the ones set by SEAB. SEAB-Cambridge means SEAB sets papers while Cambridge marks. I dont know to what extent the 2 papers differ in difficulty though, cos I havent sat down to compare or gone to find out the nitty details about the level of difficulty. but even their parents say that most singapore students should be able to take the other exam and pass with soaring colours. may be taken as humble comment but i think it is quite true too.. so i'm sorta wondering why so many people are being put through the damn difficult SEAB test, and so many people struggle so much to get into JC and with all the through trains its even more difficult for non-train-takers to get into the top jcs, when these struggling people could have a better life taking international exams and going somewhere else for an education, maybe starting university earlier, getting out to work earlier, retiring earlier.. well i guess maybe some people don't have much choice.. especially when going overseas costs a bomb cos of all the travelling and living expenses. so stress your mind out to keep education costs low. the only consolation that i can find is that an A in Singapore 'A' Levels gives you more credits when you go to college/uni than an A in International 'A' Levels. Thats true for maths..8 credits compared to 4 i think. but the other subjects, I think the credits given are the same, most don't make a distinction between Singapore exams and International exams also.
so which is better..I have no idea. when u you have SEAB setting, maybe your students know the scope of testing better and know the marking schemes better and you are perhaps expected to do better. but Cambridge international papers are done by people all over the world so shouldnt they be more flexible in marking? (the way the A levels curriculum is structured, you can ace most subjects by purely memorising key words.., and sometimes it is super frustrating when different key words come up for the same question and at the end of the day, you aren't awarded the marks cos you don't have the key term -.-) and if Singapore sets difficult questions, does Cambridge mark more stringently too?.. maybe one day i will infiltrate the exam boards and figure all these out. I cant figure out rationally who is at the losing end, but I have a feeling students put through the singapore exams are those at the losing end.
and the article comes at a horrible time. at a time like this, with a levels and o levels just a week away, such a reminder that there are alternative easier paths can really make some feel so cheated. and you think of having to compete against these other people with straight As in intl exams that are set more easily.. at a university the disparity in the grades can really make an impression..
oh wells. press on. i'm not worried that i'm not going to make it to university or that i won't be able to do well for a levels.. these a level period is going to pass very quickly and before I know it even prom will be over. so yea keep working hard.. i just happen to be someone who likes to keep looking back to see if I had made the right choices (if i made a choice in the first place) even though I cant change what's done.. lol
yesterday (looking at the time now, 2 days ago would prolly be the more correct term), there was this article, actually 2 articles one in the main section and one in the home section, about this family of wonder kids who have done so many o level subjects aceing every subject, and all of them are "underage" - 12 and 14. and i thought ok these are damn smart people and they really got it in the genes man.. until i read more and felt damn cheated. dunno whether to feel i wish i made a cleverer choice and figured out all my alternatives, or to feel happy that i'm proving myself as a better student.. either way i believe most people will compare themselves with these so called wonder kids if you read the article..
so anyway. the o levels and a levels that they take are not the ones administered by SEAB-Cambridge (the ones that a large bunch of us sit for and slog our brains out for) but by British Council and London Edexcel (that I think usually the international students take..). and if i didnt get my facts wrong, SEAB-Cambridge version is more challenging?.. While the International exams administered at British Council and London Edexcel are less difficult compared to the ones set by SEAB. SEAB-Cambridge means SEAB sets papers while Cambridge marks. I dont know to what extent the 2 papers differ in difficulty though, cos I havent sat down to compare or gone to find out the nitty details about the level of difficulty. but even their parents say that most singapore students should be able to take the other exam and pass with soaring colours. may be taken as humble comment but i think it is quite true too.. so i'm sorta wondering why so many people are being put through the damn difficult SEAB test, and so many people struggle so much to get into JC and with all the through trains its even more difficult for non-train-takers to get into the top jcs, when these struggling people could have a better life taking international exams and going somewhere else for an education, maybe starting university earlier, getting out to work earlier, retiring earlier.. well i guess maybe some people don't have much choice.. especially when going overseas costs a bomb cos of all the travelling and living expenses. so stress your mind out to keep education costs low. the only consolation that i can find is that an A in Singapore 'A' Levels gives you more credits when you go to college/uni than an A in International 'A' Levels. Thats true for maths..8 credits compared to 4 i think. but the other subjects, I think the credits given are the same, most don't make a distinction between Singapore exams and International exams also.
so which is better..I have no idea. when u you have SEAB setting, maybe your students know the scope of testing better and know the marking schemes better and you are perhaps expected to do better. but Cambridge international papers are done by people all over the world so shouldnt they be more flexible in marking? (the way the A levels curriculum is structured, you can ace most subjects by purely memorising key words.., and sometimes it is super frustrating when different key words come up for the same question and at the end of the day, you aren't awarded the marks cos you don't have the key term -.-) and if Singapore sets difficult questions, does Cambridge mark more stringently too?.. maybe one day i will infiltrate the exam boards and figure all these out. I cant figure out rationally who is at the losing end, but I have a feeling students put through the singapore exams are those at the losing end.
and the article comes at a horrible time. at a time like this, with a levels and o levels just a week away, such a reminder that there are alternative easier paths can really make some feel so cheated. and you think of having to compete against these other people with straight As in intl exams that are set more easily.. at a university the disparity in the grades can really make an impression..
oh wells. press on. i'm not worried that i'm not going to make it to university or that i won't be able to do well for a levels.. these a level period is going to pass very quickly and before I know it even prom will be over. so yea keep working hard.. i just happen to be someone who likes to keep looking back to see if I had made the right choices (if i made a choice in the first place) even though I cant change what's done.. lol
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sounds of the Forest
you hear the sound of twigs branches breaking, you can almost hear the heaviness of the entire branch, you hear some tearing of the bark of the tree, and then you hear a loud rustle of leaves. soft landing
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
I've been weary. not from mugging i think. but a wrong book that landed in my hands at the wrong time. i totally shouldnt be reading storybooks now when i should be mugging. And i dun feel like i've gotten very far with my mugging and its bothering me cos i dun even feel panic coming yet.
this book is beyond painful. there's so much pain hurt and love in between its pages. but the writer is so good she makes me wanna read on. (and in a way i want it to end quickly) i think the emotional roller coaster i get reading it at night is making me tired. and i really don't feel like reading it le. i've gotten tired of the pain, before the narrator has come to a point where she cant take it anymore. and yet i feel that i'm not quite feeling what the narrator feels yet. i skipped to the ending. i think i like the ending - an act of so much courage and conviction.
we are always most deeply hurt by those we deeply love.
this book is beyond painful. there's so much pain hurt and love in between its pages. but the writer is so good she makes me wanna read on. (and in a way i want it to end quickly) i think the emotional roller coaster i get reading it at night is making me tired. and i really don't feel like reading it le. i've gotten tired of the pain, before the narrator has come to a point where she cant take it anymore. and yet i feel that i'm not quite feeling what the narrator feels yet. i skipped to the ending. i think i like the ending - an act of so much courage and conviction.
we are always most deeply hurt by those we deeply love.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
another IQ question =)
this is a question justina asked me. quite funky. do without a paper and pen, just ur brains and if u wish, ur fingers. lol
there are 10 people in a room. the first person knows 1 person, 2nd person knows 2 people, 3rd person knows 3...9th person knows 9 people. how many people does that 10th person know? to say that first person knows the second person is to say that the second person knows the first person. its like a handshaking question. if 1 shakes hand with 2 then 2 shakes hand with 1. yeps.
the 10th person knows 5 people =)
there are 10 people in a room. the first person knows 1 person, 2nd person knows 2 people, 3rd person knows 3...9th person knows 9 people. how many people does that 10th person know? to say that first person knows the second person is to say that the second person knows the first person. its like a handshaking question. if 1 shakes hand with 2 then 2 shakes hand with 1. yeps.
the 10th person knows 5 people =)
Saturday, October 06, 2007
eye candy
A toast to chem! =P
iodine in hexane!
BUGSgalore!
iodine in hexane!
BUGSgalore!
the oh so chio butterfly and the huge bee was encountered at ubin =) the other huge bug was encountered on my curtain..someone identify that bug please?...
ubintrip!
we were sitting at the beach waiting for everyone to come. mich and i were there waiting for everyone to come.. since morning.. until lunchtime..
er dun ask me what exactly was I taking.. this picture no focus de lols. we're at the chek jawa house.
i was trying to take the periwinkles but i guess i estimated my distance badly..
from some rock near the house
heres where we walked into the sea
can you spot the school of fish?
that school of fish is swimming parallel to the shore now... sigh my cam is quite lousy..
that lone tree.. that only looks blur on my phone after zooming..
someone said these are fiddler crabs, they have one big pincer and one small one. and they make a lot of holes. the sun was so hot. i'd be underground if i were one of them
the nipah fruit. right in the middle.
the avicennia roots..
we were told to stop to look at this view haha..there were ducks in there.. but the tree right in the foreground here blocked them..
my phone really aint that good. from up here, the quarry waters were cerulean blue. it was damn chio.. which off course u cant quite see in this picture..
encouragement to do better for econs
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