A dearth of freedom in the air.

As far as I can make it, the supposition of a free wireless at many places of transit seems to be a blatant lie. It seems as if every possible service provider is falling over themselves to provide a way to siphon more money from the undiscerning public.

Of which I am unashamedly one. From personal observation (and the critical comments of others, I must add) I realise that I have two weaknesses on the move - A severe coke addiction and a craving for the surrounding banality of the internet.

The first is a simple physical need - As I have explained to many, coke is the ultimate travelling tool. It's sugar, caffeine, and water all rolled into one package. Staves off hunger, depression, thirst, and it doesn't taste half bad, even when warm. It's hell for your teeth, but on the road, some things have to go. (Apologies to Ed, you will have a bitch of a time with my teeth.)

The second stems from the inherent call of the world - the need for information saturation, and the craving for the ease of having the knowledge of the planet at your beck and call, to answer to your every whim. Feel like checking out whats up with Michael Jackson's estate? Wondering about the new H1N1 count in Singapore? Have a sudden urge to watch Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train? The internet is the perfect complement to the ADD-led minds of today's generation. I've recently re-discovered the power of youtube - It's a visual google. There are a hundred and one explanations on how things are done, in thousands of messageboards and websites on the net. But as with many other things, some people learn better visually, and who better to teach than the hundreds of attention seeking demonstrators on youtube? I've found everything from how to change a floyd rose tremolo system, to dancing basic tango, to learning how to drop kick like William Shatner. Well, effectiveness could be debated. But it is entertaining, and some of the demonstrators are rather amusing.

Debating the extent of my addiction is difficult. I think i've paid a total of abt 50 sgd for 24 hours of internet access over 2 different airports in less than 12 hours. I know, i'm terrible. But as of now, I've got 7 hours more of dead time waiting to check in for my final flight out of London to Singapore, and I'm rather determined to keep my mind active and my wits about, all for the better to crash on the plane on the way back. It's 3am here, but about 9am in SG. All the better to shock my body clock back into sync with local time. As most of you know, I'm hitting the ground running, not much time to spare. Even the quarantine for those coming back from H1N1 countries was lifted, so there goes my 7 days of relaxation.

Well, the end of my exchange stint is rapidly approaching. I know I've been lacking in updates for the blog, but I'd developed a writing system over my exchange months. I've actually filled a small notebook cover to cover (single sided), and am currently happily writing on the back of the other side. It's actually quite rewarding to see it fill up with random observations, recording of travelling sights and events. I'll probably flesh it out with photos and some post-travelling comments when I get back (and if I have enough time.) Would I bother mass-producing it to give/sell to others? I don't know. I'll see how it goes.

The hardest words are the seven letter ones.

It felt different, this time I stepped out of my room. Looking back, it was bare, stripped of its essence. The remnants of my past life these 5 months lay about in dribs and drabs, trailing a path of frantic packing over a night of musicals, whiskey and conversations.

I was leaving a hall, but yet it was different. In NUS (I'm not ashamed to say it) I was happy to leave. While I was rather active in hall, the activities were forced, and the people there I didn't quite clique with. Nevertheless, I made a few friends in my stay, although much more acquaintance. And besides, visiting Temasek was always a stone's throw away. Maybe that's why I never really went back?

I was leaving my room for a trip, but yet it was different. I stepped out of that little room in Pollock many times over the last few months, letting a few day's worth of dust settle before returning to its musty, homely splendour. It became so easy, I would barely start packing until hours before I was scheduled to leave. But each time I left, I knew it was only temporarily. A temporal distortion, taking me away for the moment, but only to return.

I was leaving my life in Edinburgh behind. A short life, but a very eventful one. In the last 5 months, I have made friends that I know I may not see again for the rest of my life. And that really sucks. When you're out there half a world away (or even 2 nations away) from home, every human contact and friendship counts. And you hold on a lot harder to people than you normally do. That's just the way of things.

And in this short life, I was reborn. I left the cares of a "second-lower-striving-for-second-upper" behind, left my eternal worries about studying, my grades, my projects... It was a good feeling. A feeling of release, of ease, of relaxedness. Life became meaningful in the passing of a breeze. The feel of the wind against your cheek. The softness of the grass you lie on to enjoy the sun. The ephemeral taste of a Guinness as it slides down the throat. The sudden ringing of the phone when a friend calls to ask what you're doing. Suddenly there was more meaning in life, and more life in meaning for me.

But all good things come to an end, and it was time to part. I will always feel that my departure from Edinburgh was a rushed affair, a ceasarian rip that tore me from the womb that nurtured me the last 5 months.

Barely 24 hours after my last paper, I left the city.

Knowing that the next time I come back, I won't call this home.

Knowing that the next time I come back, my friends will all haved moved on and gone.

Goodbye Edinburgh. Goodbye.

I've got my pride and i know how to hide all my sorrow and pain.

And too soon shall we all part.

People are the same everywhere.

It was hilarious.

I was just in one of my chemical engineering classes (polymer science and engineering, to be exact.) The lecturer was saying that for this module, it will be a self-study guided lecture style, so he expects us to go and read up on the subject matter ourselves, and gather back the week after to discuss the answers to some preset questions he had for us. So he gave us the list of books that we were likely to use, and the call numbers in the library, and ended the lecture early.

And JUST LIKE WHAT I WOULD EXPECT IN SINGAPORE, every single scheming struggling chemical engineer in the bunch made a beeline STRAIGHT to the library, barely after he finished his last sentence. I was lucky to be ahead of the pack, and secured myself a copy of one of the books. Some others weren't as lucky. I think the librarian was shocked at the sudden impulse input of chemical engineers popping in.

Score one for kiasu-ism! When it comes to being kiasu, SINGAPOREANS ROCK.

SNOWFIGHT

I know its another entry about snow, but i can't help it. :)

I received a call from Kit, my HKU friend, telling me everyone's having a huge snowfight at the other end of Pollock Halls. So I gave the 2 girls a quick call, and quickly ran out. Keyword being quick, as it turns out i was desperate for some snowy fun.

Having being cloistered in my room the past 2 hours with the windows drawn, i was pleasantly suprised to see the ground outside coated with a thick (to me. its about 3cm or  4cm) layer of snow. Sensing imminent joy, i quickly ran (as fast as i could on snow, that is) over to Chancellors court. To my suprise, it wasn't just Kit, but the entire group of year 1 Singaporeans and HK people were there!

Heh. I was running like a sissy and screaming like a girl for over an hour. Halfway through I took off my jacket and was throwing snowballs with glee, in my t-shirt and track pants. NO GUTS NO GLORY. I don't think I could feel my fingers after the first 5 minutes, that was lucky. I might have sprained one of them dodging a snowball in bullet-time matrix style motion. As I type now, the feeling is returning to my fingers...... Ouch. really good thing that I couldn't feel my fingers earlier.

Alright, next objective - Cavorting around in the snow in sexy army shorts, and taking pictures to prove my EXTREEEEME nature to the guys. TAKE THAT YOU PUSSIES.

Oh and so sorry I haven't been updating the blog recently. A lot of time goes to updating facebook with my pictures. And blogger is inherently ill equipped to handle mass photo uploading, and facilitating a photostory style layout. Nasty stuff. Will try again when I have more time.

Highlights - A week in Edinburgh

Where do I begin?

Let's start with an amazingly beautiful campus, sprawling over the southern end of the old town, providing education for the masses for the last 200 years.

New friends, new acquaintances, new bonds.

An amazing city with well preserved Georgian architecture. (Pictures is Calton Hill at 6pm in the evening. Walking there tomorrow!)

Beautiful monuments to the figures that have shaped the city's history. (The prickly thing on the right is the Scott Monument, taken against sunset, with the outline of Edinburgh Castle on the bottom left. (Visiting on sunday!)

A night at Bannerman's with some lovely friends.

A historical tour, spanning the odds and ends of Edinburgh's history, and a visit to a very famous dog's gravesite. (For the unintiated, that's Greyfriar's Bobby, the dog that sat at his masters gravestone and wailed until he died.)

A walk up Exorcist stairs... (not the real one, just reminds me of it.)

Which is nicely rewarded by presenting us with the entrance to the castle (Revisiting on sunday!)

Edinburgh is a beautiful city, I cannot stress that enough. The beauty of the place alone was worth all that trouble coming over here.

Classes? What classes? :) Well, class ranges from interesting to boring... but as usual, being engineering, its more of the latter than the former, and being engineering, the girls are..... well, nuff said. Taking Polymer Science and Engineering, Environmental Issues in Chemical Engineering, Nanotechnology, Fouling in Process Industries, and hopefully Human Resource Management. See how it goes. :)

It's a pleasant 25min walk to class everyday. I feel the pain and stiffness in my calves when I reach my destination. At this rate, I might actually be healthy by the time i leave here!

And i found the most value for money thing here... Rittersport Block - 95 pence. TAN DIO. When crap cafe coffee costs 1.10 pounds, and a sandwich at lunch is 3 pounds...... Rittersport for 95 pence? TAN DIO. TAN DIO, TAN DIO, TAN DIO. heh.

Well, that's it for now. Update if and when i have time yeah?

And on the 5th day, God Gave me a Rainbow.

The biggest, fattest, most well defined rainbow I have ever seen in my life. If there was a Ms Rainbow Universe 2009, this clinches the top prize.

I love studying in a foreign country. If there's one thing I can say now, is that everyday brings a new and unique experience.  The morning was dark and gloomy as I made my way down to the King's Buildings, where the science and engineering students work. But as I left my first class of the semester, I was pleasantly suprised to see a shiny day, chasing the clouds away.

Now isn't it a lovely day to be out?

Taking a Backyard Stroll: Arthur's Seat

Brilliant, I was, to take a nice morning stroll. I headed out this morning while the sky was purple (at about 8am), and went to get me some hearty breakfast. (Enough for 2 people or a cow.) 

The sky is beautiful at that time of the day. The purple highlight transforms the most mundane scenes into panoramas of beauty, sweeping across the breaking dawn like a wave of a royal hand.

When the light got brighter, I walked back past Pollock Halls, making my way down to Holyrood Park. 

This area has been a park for over 400 years, and is well tended by paid and volunteer woodsmen. I took the long way about, skirting the Salisbury Crags, which gives walkers a beautiful vista of the city falling below it's heights.

 Going round the back, I approached the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where people were bustling about getting ready for some mass run in the park. Luckily i went early enough to avoid the crowd. 

Cutting across the centre of the park grounds, i made a beeline for the peak of the park, Arthur's Seat. Legend has it that this is where King Arthur was buried. I wish. Apparently it might have just been a bastardisation of "Archer's Seat", which makes more sense as an band of archers holding the location as high ground would prove nearly impenetrable.

Well, whats a climb to the top without a view from the top?

I'm gonna get back up there again. Going solo wasn't really such a good idea - The wind nearly blew me off the top of the hill. (yes all *** kg of me). Will get and post more pictures soon.

Till then, I'll just have to walk more and buildup my stamina!

The Eagle has Landed

I was toying with the idea of sending a mass email to all the interested participants, but the idea of collecting the email addresses is... well, daunting.

Meanwhile, first impressions:

This... is not my hostel room. :(

Wish it was though! It's a graduate hostel room I think.

Here's to more good first impressions. :)

This Shit is so totally Weasel

For those who didn't realise... I'm back!

None the worse for wear, at about the same weight (you bastards), and with over 1000 photos and memories of good times (and bad times) gone by in the land of loving long time.

I wouldn't do justice to my trip if i haemorraghed the entire trip in a single post, and even if i did, my photos aren't quite done yet. So this will just have to do as a marker post, while the main body comes along later.

And for those who saw me last night, i was probably having much more fun than i was letting on, if you know what i mean. :)

Decadence.

Blissful, sweet, release.

I had never felt so relieved that my papers are over. For some reason, this semester seemed to hold a lot more intensity for me than usual. Perhaps I felt that I had put in much more effort this semester? Hopefully the results show it.

Following the anticlimatic ending of my last paper, the past few days have been a total rush. It's as if all the pent up energy from studying too hard had suddenly found a release. Wednesday I went zapping to Golden Mile with LeeLi, helping the two of them find backpacks. Didn't get anything in the end, but had a good idea of what they were looking for. That was followed by a bout of palatory orgasmic debauchery, butchering a platter of Sup Tulang, licking the flesh off it's bones and sucking every single dribble of the salacious marrow, filling me with its spongy osteoform goodness. Washing it down with a glass of refreshing sugar cane, we then proceeded to embark on a mission to conquer new bowls of Ah Balling....... which we devoured with relish. And then came the classic grass jelly in the classic bowl (which turned out to be plastic since they were going to close for the day.) But still, tasty herbal goodness. Aaaaah. Satiated, I returned to another bout of tossing people around in SWTFU, but ended up getting sidetracked on my brother's bed, watching him and Jerry go EXTREEEEEME in Gears of War 2. I need to learn to ass-kick like that. Khai and Ivan was asking me out, but lethargy got the better of my, and I succumbed to sweet slumber soon after.

Thursday went by a little more frenetically. Woke up at just past the crack of dawn (adjusting back to normal life), and decided that lying in bed was too sinful for a day such as this, so i went on to Operation Nuclear Disarmanent - Or How i Learned that A Clean Table is Actually Possible. It's still in progress, hopefully it'll be done before North Korea is. (ka-ching) Leaving the job halfway, I headed down to town, armed with some vouchers to pick up certain apparel for next year. Saw Cheryl on a lift, but couldn't drop by to say hi (and she looked rather occupied), and had to rush off for the Chemgineers Meeting. It ended up being not too bad, it seemed like most of us were having fun (including Pam, suprisingly.) Ivan was rather stoned from the night before, though. And I found myself with a vicious hunger for a new game, Zombies!!! (yes, three exclamation marks.) Leaving the cafe, we headed down for a few drinks, where Herman and Joshua provided ample topics for conversation. (They are seriously noisy bastards.) Had a Leffe Blonde, which didn't disappoint. Too bad none of my SMUgger friends were around (GLARE.) Left when we realised that suddenly it was dark and about 7.30. It was rather suprising to find out I still enjoyed talking to a certain someone. Got home and.... went for supper with my bro, Keong and Jerry. Dropped them off at Keong's place for more EXTREEEEME action, and me and my bro headed back. Crashed and burned.

Friday was zomfgwtfbbq. Woke up, continued with Operation Nuclear Disarmanent - Then got distracted and bullied brudder to come with me to Paradigm Infinitum - aka Geekhaven. There, i was...... disturbed. The call of the Geek side was strong... but the horror... the horror... I confess, I gave in. I came in with intention to get Zombies!!!, which i did. But i also... got a membership. :( crap. Now I'm one of THEM. And a nice Battle for Black Reach set which I'm gonna share with Jon the Orky Bastard (who better pay me half... you ass.) Headed back to YCK to pickup Leeli and Rich, and left on an EPIC SHOPPING SPREE...... which spanned the breadth of Singapore and 3 different warehouse sales. Needless to say, I ended the day damn broke. But i guess i got what i needed. Picked up the other half of RichanMeiyan and headed for AMK Astons... which was satisfying too. Left them all to go home and went home to rest a while, before picking up brudder and KH. Came back for Zombie Night - Drinking Graveyards, Playing Zombies!!!, and watching Evil Dead II. Insane. I ended the night at 4am buzzed and high and convinced that Zombies!!! was the game to take the edge of a 30 hour train ride.

Woke the next morning to send my mom to dialysis, then returned to crash and burn on my bed... before kicking the other two buggers awake and going for EXTREEEEME breakfast.

Yeah man. Like 8 pratas a head extreme. More to be found on TSFT.

And thats enough decadence for a lifetime of debauchery for me. My god.

The Green Mile

3 papers down, 1 more to go...

It's always at the final step that my willpower seems to falter. Let's hope that this time it gets a little better.

The end of the year seems a little uncertain now. Bangkok doesn't look rather happening right now... unless you're the kind that likes to wade through a crowd of yellow shirted people trying to walk from the airport back to the city.

Ah well. Politics has always been a messy business. The impact of the December events on Thailand will be very strong.

But for me, I've got a lot of process modelling and numerical simulation left to do.

" but oh God, sometimes the Green Mile seems so long..."

Pleasant Sundays

I must say a highlight of every weekend is giving tuition.

It's actually quite fun to teach, especially when you have students like these:

Hint - The one on the right is actually more attentive and hardworking.

And who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?

Awesome lunches. Hah.

Timbre Music Fest on Campus

Was awesome.

Had a good workout with my new 18-200 lens. Some actually turned out quite nicely!

And the music was better than expected. I should go to Timbre more often. I liked the Soulfellas rendition of "Let's Groove Tonight" and 53A's rocking cover of "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)". Kept walking around to take pictures though. But with a big lens and a big camera somehow everyone thinks you're professional. LMAO.

Tainted Love

Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night

(chorus)
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh...tainted love
Tainted love

Now I know I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
You don't really want IT any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you'LL think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way

(chorus...)

Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love (x2)
Touch me baby, tainted love (x2)
Tainted love (x3)

Fire Water Burn

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn,
Burn motherfucker burn.

Ah Ma, please wake up.

Last night my grandmother passed away peacefully at around 10pm.

It's a mercy really. She was bedridden for the past 10 years, and struck with both stroke and alzheimers in her later years of life.

She could barely talk, barely move, and had to be helped in everything she had to do.

Godspeed Ah Ma, into the light.

My mom commented - It's the seventh month, and when the gates of hell are open, perhaps my grandfather came back and told my grandmother - "stop suffering. Come with me and be free from the pain and suffering."

Poetic, really. He has been waiting for her for more than 20 years.

The sad part is watching my aunties and uncles, her children cope with the loss.
It's really terrible to see them breakdown, and let it all out.
But therapeutic I guess?
People cope with loss in different ways.

The wake is on from today until friday. If you guys cant seem to contact me, i'll be busy cementing the solidarity of a family united in grief.

Plus its a nice and quiet time to sit and read some stuff.

And a good time to take notes. Someday, I might have to do this for my parents. Hopefully that day is far far into the future.

I must be like the most depressing person to talk to these few days lah. Haha.

Revelations

I wonder how it feels like to watch the "Ringu" video.

You know its nasty, but sometimes you have to see it through to the end.

What starts off as something simple and mild warps to a nightmare dragged from the deepest recesses of your imagination.

Genesis to Revelations, it's all part and parcel of life.

I really can't help but look. Each time it hardens me a little bit more.

Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. But now am found. Was blind but now I see.

Friends will be friends. I should listen to mine more.

Chapter closed. Life moves on.

Still searching. One false lead down, but the hunt moves on.

Am I fine?

Does it matter? :)

Bangkok Dreaming

Heading overseas to Bangkok tomorrow.

The most wretched hive of scum and villainy in this corner of Southeast Asia.

Where 1 out of every 5 girls you walk across is damn &*(#$%*$# hot.

Where beer is $1.50 sing per bottle.

Ooh i cant wait.....

Up yours Courts!

For the past three days, I tossed and turned at night. My mind's eye was filled with surges of information, flowing rapidly across the firing neurons in my cerebral matter, keeping the imagination alive, in a constant state of semi-awakeness.

I couldn't take it.

Something had to break.

I rushed down, taking care to note what I was doing. I touched it gingerly, afraid I was going to break it. Thoughts rushed across my mind - Would i regret it? Is this a rash decision? What will people say?

I braced myself.


I took out my wallet, and placed it on the table.

"You know what you have to do."

It just laid there, quietly mocking me.

I solemnly took out a lighter, and flicked it on.

"I don't like to do this."

It just laid there, in a stoic silence.

I reverently carried it, and hoisted it above the flame... Watching as the ashes flew.

Pleased by the sacrifice, the Lady smiled.

I wondered to myself - What have I done?

And i knew the sacrifice was worth it.

Up yours Courts! $888 for a D40 my ass.

D40 with 18-55mm kit lens + 2 GB SD card + Tamrac bag = $700

More pictures when i learn how to use this bugger properly.