tagalong bugs!

of recent i have been bitten hard by the photography bug but today, the bloody flu bug rode shotgun. damn! the nose drips like a bloody tap!

bitten hard by the photography bug

i was developing the photos i had taken at the asian aerospace oday at the lab. when i saw the negatives turn out fine, i felt a sense of accomplishment. maybe the picture composition were not fantastic but it sure meant something to me. i am starting to be addicted to photography. oh dear! the conventional slr cameras are so expensive. arggg. but things are starting to get more and more intresting. on top of that, i have been shooting anyone and anything to get a feel of some shots for entry into the commonwealth photo competition. hahaha.

recovering from the roasting

arggg. i was so "burnt out" yesterday that i did not wake up till 1pm today. my face feels like scales, especially around the forehead. itchy ouchy. need to get some of my negatives rescanned tomorrow. they were out of position and i have difficulties in getting the individual photos. also, i'm going to go develop the photos i took yesterday. i hope they come out good. hahaha.

cooked by the sun

just returned from asian aerospace. man i feel cooked. my skin is red and my face is dry. armed with a canon eos 20d (digital slr) and a nikon fm3a (conventional slr), i woke up early and headed off for the airshow. the displays were ok but i felt the aerial display was somewhat lacking. the highlight was not the f15 but the airbus a380. when it came out, the oohs and ahhhs plus a few "segouei neh". hahaha. i fired off multiple rapid shots with the eos 20d and filled up the 1gb cf card really fast. thankfully i brought along my powershot a85 (compact digital camera) and i quickly unloaded my own 1gb cf card and placed it into the eos 20d for more shots. when viewed in succession, it looks as if the plane is in motion. hahaha.

at the large aircraft static displays, many were waiting at the apron for the return of the a380. some stayed under the hot sun for up to 3 hours waiting for its return after the airshow. when it appeared on the taxiway, cheers went off and suddenly nobody was grumbling anymore. hahaha. me? i stayed only for 30 mins and i became a bloody lobster. oww!

photography bug strikes hard

last week, i was given an assignment to take day & night shots, playing with depth of field and apperture and shutter speeds. one of my masterpiece, i feel, hahaha, is the shot sbove i took of malcolm. indra was another of my subjects. these guys are great pals. a couple of my other night shots are below. i am still experimenting, so feel free to comment.

foreign cheques take forever

i banked in a u.s. bank cheque last month on the 27th of january and it is only today that the amount has been credited to me. argggg. it took forever to clear and whatsmore, the u.s. dollar has been slipping resulting in me making a loss of 20 singapore dollars. it was 1.67 buying rate when i banked the cheque but based on my calculations, i am now getting it at 1.62. hrumph! on top of that i was charged by the bank a service charge of 20 singapore dollars. all in what was already very little became even less. next time i amd going with telegraphic transfer. they only charge 10 singapore dollars there. and at least i would not suffer from any drop in currency exchange rates that is as substantial as this.

finally some movement

the machine was finally repaired this moring. yes! at last some progress has been made. spent 3 hours in the clean room taking nano-level shots. man, i'm going nuts in there. hahaha!

another stagnant day

the machine was still down for calibration today. haiz. at this rate, my fyp is in grave danger of not meeting the completion dateline.

stop-start fyp

i'm beginning to round down my fyp lab experiments but the sem machine is down again! argggg! the filament got burnt out and nothing got done today. damn. really really frustrated. hrumph!

xphysique-tanning

spent the day doing my lifeguard duty at the school's xphysique event at kallang. basically my duty was to be the lifeguard based on the speed boat. for the entire afternoon, i was just in the powerboat, bumping around, enjoying the breeze and keeping a lookout for the kayaking event competitors. nothing happened, which for me, is a good thing. the cool breeze sure was enjoyable. one of the kayaks we came up to was leaking so we helped them out. it sure look like they were going to sink. phew. however due to some miscommunication errors, a couple of kayaks stilllaunched off from clarke quay at 5.30pm. there was great danger as they were launching without the powerboat around for safety and if they were caught by the maritime port authrority to still be kayaking in the open sea area off marina promenade after 6pm, they would have been fined. thankfully everybody came in safely. phew!

dream

i dreamt of her today. i had dozed off and dreamt of her. we sat down to talk. she actually was very concerned. then i got awoken by malcolm's message on msn. damn! this was like the first dream in which i and her sat down to talk. all the others, she either ignored me or we argued. this time we talked. it was such a wondeful dream.

after being grudgingly awoken by malcolm, i packed my stuff and began my cycling trip up to his place in punggol. we had arranged to go to his place to watch the liverpool vs man united fa cup match. took me only about 70mins to reach his place. took a wrong turn and i totally missed compass point where i was supposed to pick up kfc. in the end we settled for canadian pizza. ah well. the match was a good one and liverpool won in the end. yeah!

on my return journey home, my inactivity these past couple of weeks got to me. my quads started to ache. it was really annoying. so to put my mind at ease, i purposely returned home via orchard road, especially takashimaya, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. however, not everyday sunday. i hope part 2 of the earlier dream comes up later in my sleep. heez!

last day of the term

my second last term has come to an end. without much fanfare, i embark into my one week term break without so much of a break. i'll be bogged down trying to get my fyp completed and my report done up. in between, i got to get my product management module's project done up. ahhh. so much work, so little time.

film development is a messy and pungent

developed the night roll & day roll shots, that i was doing for the past week, today. the film developing process is still very much pungent. photography is great fun but alas, it is very costly. i would highly recomend the photography elective to all ntu students. only thing is they must like photography very much and be willing to spend. to date, i have spent $60 already on getting film and printing papers. ouch! but when i look at my results, it is all worth it!

down & up

this morning's quiz was a total bummer. i mixed up the formulas and left out some parts of a solution. argggg! i will be lucky to pass it at all. however, moments after the quiz, things picked up. isaw her. yeah! seeing her just makes my day. it has been two years and even now whenever i see her, my heart still races and my breath seems to be caught. she was very well dressed too. she is getting prettier as the days goes by while i am turning into a slob.

quiz is coming

my first quiz of this semester is coming! heat trasfer. have to study again. argggg!

oh woe is the machine

grumble brumble mutter mutter. the sem machine is down again. arggg. i need to take my sample photos for my report and the nachine is down again. all thanks to a certain professor usage on friday. haiz. us student always suffer at the whims and whams of our gradekeepers.

sbs also in the mood

when i went downstairs to day, i was amused by what i saw on the front of the sbs air-conditioned superbus. they placed a heart at the front of the bus, right at where the volvo or alexandria logo is. sbs in the mood for love too. what an amusing sight.

midnight photography

i could not sleep last night, do not know why. around 1.30am i went out armed with a nikon fm3a, a tripod, my handphone, my keys and my bicycle. no, the camera ain't mine, it belngs to the school, if it gets damaged or lost, i will have great difficulties in repaying it. i went around taking photos for my photography assignments. expressways, unlighted buildings, railway tracks, huts next to railway tracks, railway houses, singapore river, bridges, clubs. i even wanted to try the graveyard on fort canning but decided against it. even at 2.30am, the central business district is not really deserted, people are still strolling around at the padang, lovers are still hanging out at the esplanade.

this photography course is getting intresting but damn it's very expensive too. it is draining into my post-graduation trip fund and i am still working on a very tight budget for it. i dug around and managed to crop out a shot i took with a plastic camera a couple of weeks ago. it is no masterpiece but it was my best shot. i could have other better shots but the batteries came loose and the shots were blocked.

more money for the dental centre

another session, another $90. this is getting more and more expensive. where do i go to find the money? 3 more months and reality. arggg. reality bites. seriously.

how accurate are online IQ tests?

been doing online IQ tests for fun since my poly days. never knew how accurate the online versions are but my results are always in the range of 131-145. even though different websites, they all claim i am good with numbers and am a concrete thinker. hmmm......i wonder how accurate it is.

an exerpt from my latest online IQ test report:
Your test results indicate that the way you process information makes you a Concrete Thinker.

You have unusually strong verbal and numerical skills. This dynamic combination gives you an exceptional aptitude for solving equations and then communicating those solutions to others in lay terms. Your intelligence is grounded and based on a very clear interpretation of what is happening around you. Because you are so realistic, most things are crystal clear to you, while others may get confused by this or that.

Your objective is to make things real and clear. People count on you to find and give the sober, cold-hard facts. You learn most easily when things are explained in numbers and words and so you enjoy the education you get through books and lectures. Unlike others, you do not have to experience something first-hand to understand it, nor do you have a lot of interest in how things work mechanically. On the other hand, if you find the information in your books or lectures too abstract, you might tend toward first-hand experience as you'll get nothing but the facts that way.

non-conformist

i look around everywhere and what do i see? i see everyone trying to confrom to a norm. heck, even i am guilty of being so once. i wanted to be slim. not so much for health sake but rather to win the heart of one or two fair maidens. this is so wrong. i have never conformed. i never liked to conform. if i did, i would have a much larger group of friends. it is hard work being a non-conformist. the constant barrage, the jibes, the insults. been there, live through that. some would just label non-conformist as plain lazy but i feel that it is the conformist who are afraid because if you are a non-conformist, you are not one of them. you are one of yourself. unique. who cares about what people think. if the gal of my dreams can not accept me for the way i am, then obviously i am not suited for her.

exxonmobil......seems a great place

attended the career talk by exxonmobil today. the work enviroment sounds really intresting. i have worked on temporary basis at a statutory board, an american company, a local company and a japanese company. of my previous experience, i enjoyed myself most working for the american company. the environment painted by the presentors and the 2 staff that i spoke with later on, gave me a very good feel of the workplace. even the career path looks good. you are always kept on your toes. in this company, there is definately no room for stagnation, which is good as you will never get bored. i sure hope i get shortlisted for an interview.

a brand new ......

finally i've got some progress for my fyp. after the shock of last week, things are starting to move along. running some wafer preparation processes now. surprisingly, my lab work is finishing soon. it is so obvious that my fyp is not the 70% lab work that it claimed to be.

help, i've put on too much weight during this festive season. got to get back on my cycling routine again. diet plus exercise. if my dream job interview comes about, i got to look like the 73kg that i claim i am. now, i think i'm leaning very close to 80kg. argggg!

cool night

the past week or so hasn't been really warm but a dash of rain this evening sure helped to make thing a little cozy. it would be great if i could just lie on my mattress with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book to read. that would be the life. if i had a girlfriend, we could take a stoll after the rain, just to enjoy the cool breeze and maybe sit down somewhere and just enjoy the moment. i know it doesn't sounds much but i am no romantic.

happy birthday everyone!

today is 人日. according to chinese folk lore, this is the day we all are born. on this day, as we toss our favourtie 鱼生, let's not forget those less fortunate ones who are not able to share in the festivities with us. happy birthday everyone!

some thunder & lightning, then the skies were not so gloomy

went to school early in the morning at 8am to meet my supervisor. after some badly needed dressing down, he gave me an option of finishing up my project but it will be shrunk. also he says this will affect my final grade. as long as he does not fail me for it, i am grateful. although the skies are still grey, at least the silver lining can be seen.

fyp dead end or rather murdered

i was removed by my mentor from my fyp project today. i am so upset and angry. yes, i was at fault for dragging out the research portion but i should not have been denied the possibility of beginning my fyp while i was in the midst of research. now that i am fed up with research and insist on starting lab work, i have been removed. arggggg!

back at school, tired still

after 5 days of festivities, i finally returned to school today. nothing much ahppened. well, maybe a couple of kilos put on due to the snacks and forr all around. got to work hard to get back into shape. gals dun like guys who are too fat.

today we had booked 3 courts, came down with 6 rackets but only 3 guys turned up to play badminton. the rest were no-shows. malcolm was not feeling well, so he is considered excusable but the rest were really letdowns. and to think i had to ask 2 of my friends to help us secure the extra courts. sigh.