Internship!

Yay! Awesomeness!

Although having the internship requires 'huge' sacrifices like
1) not being able to crash NTU/NUS lectures
2) not having as much free time to meet up with friends
3) the insufficient time to relax..

However, pros for this include much more..

1) I'm working!
= i get paid (though it'll be much much less than if i worked casual jobs)
= i gain practical experience about my actual course
= i get to meet new people!

2) It looks good on the resume

3) It doesn't feel like I'm wasting my time this holiday. (aka I feel satisfied and challenged with the amount of leisure time i get

Alright, i'm too lazy to think of more reasons/ excuses. =p

eat play sleep

Bravo, bravo! It's the time of holidays!

Eat play sleep pretty much summarises what my holidays have been like. It's about a week to convention and in the meantime, BBQs and Sports and Games are surrounding my life.

Had a dessert party last night =) no dinner, the cookies (of different varieties) were more than enough. Started out slow with a movie, "are we there yet?" and gradually followed by the ever popular and in demand in our group, the WII console available thx to the host's brother who was not ard =D

The "electric" guitar was new and exciting to me.. I guess i'm always the gamer amongst this group =D Aced the first time i played, 90+% of the notes hit =) most lost due to the beginning of figuring how to play. Some sections even had 100% hit so that was pretty cool. Hee. Loved the middle level stage as the songs would then require 4 notes on the LHS. Easy mode was for 3. Hard was 5 and reminded me of barring with a normal guitar, having to move from one frat to another.

On a side note, i realised what's making me so unpredictable to some of my not-so-close friends who try to understand me. It's my 'unwillingness' to 'reveal' my plans, my schemes and perhaps even thoughts. Remember my earlier entry on knowledge is power, i guess on top of that, i enjoy watching people's surprised faces when they realised something that i already know. I tend to like spontaneous things and not planned things. Sometimes i wonder if it's more for the sake of repuatation, of me being always unorganised. perhaps 'wanting' to maintaint that 'face', i conceal the fact that i at times do think, i do organise, i do plan. Hmmm.

Bundoora campus

Currently at RMIT bundoora using their computers.

The holidays have finally started and even though i know there's much to be done, i just don't feel like doing them.

Things I'm supposed to do, yet have postponed them in my mind
- find people and meet up with them before i leave
- check out the requirements for PR or rather, whether i'm allowed to renew my visa in Australia.
- decide therefore if i should get a 1 -way or 2 way ticket next year.
- prepare songs for next week's sunday school
- pack my room
- pack my things for convention
- pack my bag to go back
- buy stuff to bring back (my sis demands flake to be brought back)


Some interesting things that i can recall (aside from the dreadful exam time)
- i got 6 FREE krispy kremes yesterday! (plus lots of other offers with more FREE krispy kremes available with more purchase - which is good given that my family wants them too)
- found out each original krispy kreme contained up to 800+ kj! Love the overwhelming amounts of sugar available =D
- each flavoured krispy kreme's sugar content varied from 900 + to 1400 kj! (right, my bro LOVES those - but whatever, he's skinny)

Some rather unfortunate events
- i misplaced my keys the day after my exam and wasted at least 40 mins searching for it and turned up late for the skit practice!
- slept over at a friend's place as a result of the lack of keys and when i went home, i buzzed the wrong unit! (malu man, good thing there wasn't anyone staying at that unit i think)

Happiness
- i actually played basketball with the other OCFers on sunday! =D after a very filling lunch at noodle kingdom
- basketball was quite alright, managed to shoot one nice shot in! =) whee! told myself won't get it though. Haha.
- Got a few injuries once again.. what's a game without injuries? Got elbowed on my left eye and the impact caused me to bite my tongue as well. I accidentally sent Wai yen's brother flying past me when he dribbled and i tried to 'scare' him.. Being the excitable me, my knee came up as well.. didn't expect him to 'bump' into me. As a result of 'karma' - which i don't believe in, haha, shuzi bumped into me within the next 5 mins, throwing me to the ground. =p

regrets. on to a new chap

no, my exams are STILL not over! =x rar.

but today's paper.. was really really terrible.

I regret not doing more practice despite having time to do so.
I regret staying at home all day stuck to computer facebook and manga reading.
I regret (partially only) playing the guitar non stop. i regret complaining non stop about the heat wave that has been covering melbourne for the past few days yet not doing anything (like going to the library to study) about it.
i regret saying that i would do work yet not do work.

Melbourne has unofficially moved on from the cooling spring to the tortuously hot and dry weather. This suffocating weather has incentively pushed me to study in the library (sad to say, only after my HUGE failure with Statistics- the only other paper that i COULD have gotten exemption for if i studied harder [no use crying over untouched spilled milk is there?])

Just read this weather forecast in the lift in my friend's building (figures are rough estimates from memory):
sunrise: 5.54am
sunset: 8:15pm
no. of hours of sunlight = 14 hours!
moon rise: 4.16pm
moon set: 3.10am
no. of hours of moonlight?(ok, cant remember exact phrase for this) = 10 hours.

this has totally ruined my sleeping pattern! having to wake about 6 - 7am nowadays (not just coz my exams today started at 9am) but also because of the heat received.

librarians nowadays are so punctual in shooing people home. =x

dream dream dream

ok, i think i took my own comment too seriously..

remember that i dreamt about C&S earlier? well, i thought perhaps it'll be a good way to revise, to dream more often. Unfortunately it just ended up increasing my ability to procrastinate! haha. a few more naps were taken before the start of exam, to no avail! oh well, that was worth a shot wasn't it..

anyway, there goes my dream of getting my first H1 as well! there were quite abit of tricky questions, and i failed to spot them. Furthermore, there was one question which i read wrongly! find the PRICE not the quantity! Perhaps my mind was rejecting that idea because

a) it was worth 15 marks
b) finding the price was just P = MC (unless i extended my working and showed why, which i didn't!)
c) the earlier question asked to find the equilibrium quantity!

haha, amazing how my mind can come up with so many excuses but not so many answers during exam conditions.

My ability to spot questions have been proven, yet my willingness to study that spotted question has been the same, zero. Haha, guessed that monopoly and the coase conjecture would appear, but i didn't really know what to study on it because

a) there was no textbook reading on it
b) he mentioned slightly on durable goods monopoly in lectures only

oh, i'm getting lesser excuses aren't I?

haha, i guess it's a good thing i went for consultation because this other student pointed it out. Otherwise i probably won't have guessed it at all! There was just this small portion in his exam review lecture where he touched on durable good monopoly. =D

anyway, what's done is done. On to Macro! (though i probably can say i'm quite dead for FM as i'm seriously taking these one subject at a time)

Here's the 'fun' bit about macro, you make assumptions and write your essay based on that. Assuming i'm a H1 student, ...

games of strategy

reviewing lecture notes and tutorial questions seem to be the way to go for economics subjects. I wonder if there's such a thing as reviewing too much..

Just a short note before returning to attempts to study..

I had a nap earlier on. It was just so hot! guess what..

i ended up sort of dreaming about C&S! (my exam tomorrow) dreamt about looking through lecture notes and even flipping the page in my head! gosh!

i must be dreaming..

lonely in OCF carlton? look to God

His last words in ocf carlton before he leaves.

I believe many can identify with his words. I know i can.

It's amazing how these people persists in pointing all things to God. What i count gain are but losses to God indeed.

It's time to turn back to God and repent.

God, grant me strength and the wisdom and concentration to focus on studying!

what am i doing in front of the computer now..

Happy 7 - 11 day!

Say that (refer to title) to the malay/indian guy behind the counter in any 7-11 store and you get a free small size slurpie worth A$1.70 on 7th November 2007 from 7am to 11pm!

Imagine that the guy in charge just stares at you like you are out of your mind.

These were the commments found on facebook within this group formed.

I told myself to try it but given the absentminded nature i had developed (more to elaborate to come) i forgot. But apparently my housemate did not.

She came home BANGING on my door (i closed it coz i was afraid she'll catch me watching movies and not studying =p) claiming that the 7-11 gimmick was actually real! and in her hands stood a small cup of slurpie!! How interesting! that time was about 9pm and I was thinking if i should go out to get one too (there was one less than a street away anyway). Overheard their conversation (her BF was there too) and apparently they wanted to try another 7-11 store! So i decided to head out and get some 'fresh air' (after all that sitting in front of the computer watching "night listener")

After getting my first slurpie (my housemate's 2nd and her bf's 3rd?) further down in north melbourne, we headed to the one a street away from my place. Apparently, they had just gone there before dinner to get theirs so they kinda just stood around. The one i took turned out sloppy and wet and i just stood there, not knowing what to do! good thing the attendent came out and helped me out =D whee. and here's the funny bit..

"hey, do you want one too?"

he addressed my housemate and her bf! haha.. so they got another one! they were claiming earlier that they were full and didn't wanna ask for another one.. LOL. boy were they pleasantly surprised =D

later found out that my tongue turned super duper red!



haha.

oh regarding that elaboration on my absentmindedness.. the story goes like this..

I remembered feeling super excited.. about something i didn't really know much about and would like to find out more.. i clicked open a new tab.. typed in google.com .. arranged my hands in the usual typing position when...
















i started turning around and ... wondering what was it i was going to type!!!

OH MY GOSH! it takes only a split second for the new tab to open, for me to type google.com (trust me, i know my speed).. I simply can't believe that i forgot what it was! i could feel myself all ready to type.. the excitement building up and..!! super anticlimax-ly empty!

bah

back to my studies which i've successfully neglected for the past 2 - 3 days by distracting myself with manga, movies and msn.

BEE!

Ok. more like fly invasion.

It gets irritating when the flies get larger during summer and come invade our houses.

It reminds me of how i used to hide when i hear mosquitoes buzz by my ear.

i still clinge when that happens (with the flies this time)

Attempted to make a phone call to enquiry about internship opportunities in Singapore earlier on. Called this side branch because that was the number listed in the ad about the internship. This woman who picked up the phone was scary man.

a) she claimed she couldn't hear me, though i could.
b) she sounded like my mum! maybe all aunties sound the same! lol. for a moment i thought i called the wrong number
c) she was kinda rude. like those 'haiyo, you call here for what? i cant help you la, go disturb others' kinda attitude.

guess what? she wasted '1cent' of my calling card credit. LOL! that's how fast it was man.

but at least she gave me the main branch's number who linked me to a nicer person, sandra. Unfortunately, she couldn't give me much information and i had to leave my number with her. Thus begins this fearful period of time where i have to wait for the call and i don't think i can focus on my studies! (oh wait, thats just an excuse not to study..)

rar. FM is so boring. yet there's the whole chunk on time series modelling which i cant seem to figure out fully yet.

eggplant! eek

despite my repeated words of rants regarding my distaste towards egg plant, the person who served me the food i ordered DELIBERATELY scooped some egg plant for me!!! My gosh! told her a million times that i DIDN'T want that! Gross. guess what she said?!

"just try la"

SIAN man! don't like means don't like woah!

haiyo. make me act so childish. Different people have different preferences man. Learn to appreciate that!

Makes me think of variances in data analysis. Was just reading the prologue and stuff, well, not really, more towards this page in between chapters that speak of how and why we switch from probability to statistical analysis and the sort. It speaks of how important variability is in life. talks about how freshmen can get great average but do worse in the 2nd year .. haha. so random. sounds like me, if only i got a great average in 1st year. somehow, it ended up speaking of stuff that AJohan would like. Management =x well, it is interesting, when u can apply to life. but i don't think i would take out a calculator and start counting the probability and make hypothesis test and figuring out the sample size to use to ensure accuracy encouraged through the use of aggressive regression series unless i really need to. or my boss tells me to.

entrepreneur finance. it clashes with actuarial modelling 1 but i'm hoping i still can take it. If my cards are played right, i might even get a 3 day week next sem! (keeps fingers crossed)

im bored of just staring at my lecture notes and textbook and copying every detail. but still, it makes me appreciate the work sometimes. Never realised until this point of time the amount of work we were supposed to have learnt.

I don't think my study pattern is right.

Here should be a new resolution. to REALLY review my work and to QUESTION every single detail. Seems like i'm just browsing through my lectures and accepting every thing they say without memorising too much. I assumed earlier that my 'studying' for a subject was done. Unfortunately, i was proven wrong when my friend asked me a question. and what cuts the cake (is the phrase like this) is that my other coursemates are able to understand the question and seem to answer the way the lecturer would! proness. doomness to me.

*on a separate note. i realised i don't have the resources to stay in melbourne after i grad next year. unless i work here, which i need PR for, which i need to work for 2 years to obtain. Thus the vicious cycle. Ultimately, Singapore here I come. I don't think i'm going to adjust well back into the super competitive system there. i got to start making the most of what i can do here. apologies for being super duper 'slow' in learning and understanding and adapting for the past 3 years here. Yes, i don't act like i've been here 3 years. still dependent. still not grown up. imagine me working in 2 years time. Unimaginable. what has the past 3 years done to shape me? =x that's another story to be shared another time.