I See Love

2010-11-24T23:27:00.002+11:00

This blog started out as something for me to record my feelings and thoughts. Truth be told, I never thought it would last very long. I'm not sure when I made the decision, but I came to the conclusion that this blog would serve to record my life during university. After all, it is a big phase in life. Tomorrow will be the final day of my exam and the final day of university for me, officially.

These 4 years have taught me a lot. It has honed my skills to think critically not just in academic areas, but in a lot of social situations as well. It has taught me be independent. I look back at the entries I wrote at the start of this blog, and the entries I'm writing now, and there is a great difference. I can't quite place it, whether it be a sign of growth, wisdom or just mere restraint. Things have changed.

Thus, I've decided to conclude this blog and move on with another phase of life. Just as how I started a blog for this closing chapter, I will also begin another.

See you on the other side

2010-11-22T01:01:00.002+11:00

Relationship Prudence

"Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult." Proverbs 12:16

One thing I love about the book of Proverbs is that most of its verses can be read on its own, and a large time can be spent just pondering over a short saying. Thus, here are my thoughts over this short saying.

Beginning with the obvious, a comparison is made between the response of the fool and the prudent toward an insult. Might be best to first understand what constitutes a fool and a prudent, as trivial as that may seem. A fool is a weak-minded person who lacks judgement, an ardent enthusiast who cannot resist the opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm (dictionary.com). A prudent is wise in practical affairs, discreet, and careful in providing for the future (dictionary.com).

It appears that annoyance is a recognized natural response toward an insult. The fool lacks patience and reveals this response "at once". This doesn't come as much of a surprise as a fool doesn't resist the opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm. By implication, the prudent is annoyed, but decides to overlook it. The question that comes to mind is, "why did Solomon use prudent and not wise?" I think its because he wanted to play on the "providing for the future" bit of a prudent individual. Often used in the context of financial prudence, is it possible to have relationship prudence? An insult is between two people, and while we are annoyed at it, perhaps it might serve us well to overlook it now so as to ensure a harmonious relationship for the future.

A great insight from just 2 lines! Indeed how great is wisdom to those who have it.

2010-11-19T12:49:00.002+11:00

Critical thinking, critical?

Critical thinking is a skill that many are forced to learn, not many are successful, and hence they develop some level of thinking that falls between not thinking and critical thinking. They don't push the boundaries or challenge what is. Let's called it mechanical thinking. I don't think its very hard to argue that mechanical thinking is largely negative, so I won't go there.

But is critical thinking as critical as we are made to believe it is? Critical thinking is defined as analyzing and evaluating the information we are given to try and reach a conclusion (that's according to dictionary.com). It is therefore in the nature of critical thinking to have an answer, and thus it is of little surprise that the processes involved are tailored to achieve such an outcome. This begs the question that while we are able to accept that there are some instances when a definitive conclusion can never be reached, is it still profitable for us to critically think? This may take awhile to answer, so I'll leave it there for now.

Placing this into the context of studying the bible, is there a difference between studying the bible and critically analyzing the bible? Perhaps the two are interlinked, or even one and the same, in which case the question should be is there a difference between critically analyzing and nit-picking. Where do we draw the line?

2010-11-16T23:40:00.003+11:00

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest -- and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. " Proverbs 6:10-11 and Proverbs 23:33-34

Interesting that the verse is repeated twice word for word exactly the same, but that is a side note. More importantly, the results of laziness cannot be denied. Why are we still lazy when we have been warned?

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Luke 16:10-11

I think we should all consider what is worldly wealth. I know there are many ways to phrase what I want to say after this, but anything I say will be too personal so I shall stop here and end with this, do we impose varying degrees of trust, or is trust just trust?

2010-11-11T15:56:00.003+11:00

Educated and "Educated"

I had actually typed out a nice blog entry, but it was so long it bothered on a short essay! So I've condensed it into something I hope is a lot shorter. Game Theory exam is tomorrow, and it's not bothering me so much mainly because it's an open book exam. I read an article which said that according to a research conducted by Gallup, Singapore would not experience a brain drain, but instead experience a huge inflow of educated individuals aged between 15 and 29.

As usual, the study comes with 2 caveats: (1) it measured aspirations, not intentions and (2) Singapore's small population meant that impacts of migration are magnified. I think a third and more important caveat is that the proxy for educated individuals is at least a bachelors degree. The article is in the context of a brain drain, so what are we supposed to infer? That Singapore won't experience a brain drain because more people with bachelor degrees want to come to us? Clearly a brain drain is in reference to the outflow of skilled individuals, and not just education. Everybody who goes to university will know that in this day and age, a bachelors is increasingly easier to attain. One day everybody will have a bachelors and we will look to masters as a proxy for skills. And with enough time will we look to PhD?!

With this rant, of course, will come some caveats (: First, I do not have an answer as to what is a good proxy for skill, and it could well be that with our given level of knowledge education is the best that we can do. If that is so, I believe that a lot more could have been done to put the study into context. Second, I could just be picking out a minor flaw in Gallup and making it a big thing because they rejected my application for an analyst (who btw could have been working on a study such as the one fore mentioned!!). Personally, I think its more the former than the latter (:

2010-11-09T16:53:00.002+11:00

Smart or Wise?

Which would you rather be?

I think this is a choice which the wise consciously make because they recognise that wisdom is more than what you know and what you say, more than how you act with what you do not know and react to what is not said. Wisdom is so much more that the wise speak in riddles and parables so that we can understand.

Is wisdom a natural progression of being smart? Does it grow in proportion to knowledge? Or is wisdom a character attribute? In which case, increasing knowledge to gain wisdom can only get us so far. Can character attributes be trained? I guess you can learn patience, but how do you learn something without knowing what it looks like? What does wisdom look like? Or is seeking wisdom like the man who chases the wind? Where do we begin in our quest for wisdom?

Pro 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Job 29:28 "The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."

2010-11-07T17:05:00.002+11:00

Driving is a serious affair. Society recognizes this and that's why not everyone is permitted to drive. When learning how to drive, we're always taught safe practices and road rules. On the roads, there are signs to give us warnings and traffic police to enforce road rules. On the television are ads that go on and on about drink driving and speeding. And as though all that is not enough, we have friends and family who will constantly nag us about driving safely. Everybody knows the importance of safe driving!

But does everybody know the importance of safe speech? The power of words is often underestimated, however when probed further people usually admit that words can be very powerful, whether intentionally or not. How often do we meet people now who just let their tongue fly and not watch the true impact of their words? How often do we take for granted the company of people we're in and just say the first thing that comes to mind without considering sensitivity? How often do we just brush off another person's insensitive words with the phrase "That's just Alan." (Disclaimer: All characters are purely fictional, and any resemblance to characters living or dead is strictly coincidental.)

I'm tired of the degrading of society's level of acceptable speech.

2010-11-04T13:16:00.002+11:00

Ross: Ask Joey, nothing happened!

Chandler: You knew about this? You knew about this and you never told me?

Joey: Er... Knowledge is a tricky thing.

I think so too. Knowledge is a tricky thing, which I think many people do not fully understand. I dare say that some people go on the rampage to gain and gain more knowledge till it becomes bad for them. Just as we need a filter to watch the things that come out of our mouth, I think we too need a filter to watch the things that are going into our mind. Does the filter mean not reading or to stop gaining knowledge? I think its greater than that. I think it requires wisdom, just as it requires wisdom to watch whether the things we say are beneficial at the given time.

2010-11-01T18:20:00.003+11:00

I'm given to understand that if people think faster than they talk, then it is possible to think that you said something or produce a sentence that is incoherent, and think that you have said something sensible when that is not actually true.

If that is so, then can you imagine if you think faster than you talk and talk faster than you write! Assuming that it is trasitive, then if you write faster than you think you could have thought you have written something when that is not true.

How I wish I could write as fast as I think, then my exams will be done in half the time.

2010-10-30T23:16:00.002+11:00

I feel like I'm having a words drought. The ideas and arguments can form in my head, but the words just won't flow. Maybe I have a words quota every year, and the 10000 word thesis just pushed me past my limit. Much like how the internet plans work in Australia, which sucks by the way.

I don't even have the words to finish this post.

Oh, I just realised that I didn't mention why I need more words. I have a 5000 word research essay due ):

2010-10-29T13:36:00.002+11:00

Theory and Application. Many people argue that the two go hand in hand, and whilst I think that that is quite true, I feel that a good majority of people will always lean toward one more than the other.

Personally, I've always felt that I've had a stronger inclination towards theory. It's neat, at times simplistic, and you can assume anything. Theory can take on any situation and analyse it to get some result. And while in university, I think that leaning towards theory has served me well. But as I embark onto the next phase in life, I start to wonder whether I should abandon my support for theory and focus on application.

Application is what the world is built on because people want to know what works. Who has the time to sit and think up new theories everyday, or alter existing theories? Application is realistic, and I guess that is what matters. Putting ideas into practice.

2010-10-28T10:19:00.002+11:00

The final week of the semester is coming to its close, and as much as I look forward to days without any school, I cannot help but look back and wonder if this will mark the end of thought-provoking days. It's strange how we strive for the end, and at the end we yearn for the beginning. But coming to the end of this course I have gained invaluable insight, which I've now realised.

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

2010-10-25T16:02:00.003+11:00

Continuing on the topic of love and marriage (no idea why!!), I found this quote from Francis Schaeffer. I was going to put up a short biblio about him, but I figure you can just do that on wikipedia right?

There is no place for love in a totally closed cause and effect system. - Francis Schaeffer

Economist by training, I've come to appreciate both the benefits of assumptions and the flaws it produces. One of the key elements to being a good economist (I feel), is to know what assumptions to apply, and when to apply them. Over the years, I've noticed the change in my speech patterns as a result of my education. Good or bad, I'll let those I socialise with decide, but I think that all of us cannot deny that what we study, what we think is important and therefore worth paying so much to study, will eventually shape the way we think, and maybe even shape how we perceive the things around us.

Such is the double-edged sword of education. It can open our eyes to the things unseen, and at the same time close them to the things right in front of us.

2010-10-24T16:59:00.002+11:00

"You do not marry the one you love, but you love the one you marry"

This quote divides many people into two broad schools of thought.

When I first heard this saying I felt sadness and pity for the one who said it. Why should anyone not marry the one they love? It feels like one party is being forced to be with another without any choice. Marriage is a life long commitment, and should not be taken lightly. If you end up having to love the one you marry, then it seems to suggest that you did not give much thought to the level of commitment that is involved, and now you are living in regret.

But is such a view too impulsive? Is there more to this saying than what meets the eye? Everyone in a committed relationship will know that nobody is perfect, and everybody will have their flaws. Baggage if you will, that slowly comes to the surface with time. Nobody really knows that the full extent of the baggage is, and maybe nobody will ever be fully aware in their lifetime, but is this saying that true love is greater than any baggage? Suddenly, I feel respect for the one who said it.

Do I agree with this saying? I'm not sure. We all wish that it said you marry the one you love, and you love the one you married. Perhaps the original quote maps reality better, perhaps ideals are dreams in imagination, perhaps some find the pleasure of living a dream in reality. But what I am sure of right now is that I should stop dreaming of a reality, and start preparing for my presentation on Tuesday.

2010-10-13T00:21:00.002+11:00

It's been a long time since I've read an article in the Straits Times that has captured my interest. Now I'd like to first point out that I'm not laughing at this lady's misfortune, but exclaiming at the doctor's HUGE error. And what error did they make? They amputated the wrong leg!!! I can't imagine what the doctors were thinking after they realised their mistake, and worst still, how they broke the news to the lady! Though I think she would have realised it herself. Of course, the problem still had to be fixed, and the lady went to another hospital to get the job done. And here's the funny bit in the article. It ends with this "The elderly woman finally had the correct limb amputated in a second operation a few days later." Like the doctors could get it wrong a second time round.

2010-10-05T14:04:00.002+11:00

Commonwealth Games is here! I know I'm Singaporean, but there is some thrill in watching and supporting Australia. I can still remember my very first year in Melbourne back in 2004. It was the first time I watched Australia in action, and opened my eyes to a whole variety of other sports like rowing and cycling, one of the two which I've developed an interest in watching.

But back to the Commonwealth Games, I was watching swimming yesterday and guess who I saw in lane 8 of the men's 200m relay! SINGAPORE!!! It's sad that my first instinct was let's not get last (of course we did get last), but when you look at the timings we came in 3m30s, just 23s behind the winning team (3m13s). That doesn't sound as bad as last does it?

Sigh... When will Singapore ever excel at sports.

2010-10-04T01:18:00.002+11:00

The break is over! It was so quick. Trips were great, work could have been better, but more importantly, I think I learnt more about the importance of social skills.

I was doing some counting the other day, and I realised that in about 2 weeks I'll have to submit my thesis, and after that another 4 weeks and it's the exams! I don't know why I'm so surprised. I guess being able to finally see the end is starting to set in. But it's not setting in in a good way. I get this feeling like I want to just stop studying! I attribute it to constantly getting stuck in the writing of my thesis. I wish I had a way with words such that they would just flow. Every time I sit down to type it's only a few hundred words. How hard is it to put thoughts into words!!

Anyway, I'm done for the day. Got to drag myself to school again tomorrow ):

2010-09-26T00:43:00.003+10:00

Been taking a break from my thesis to cook and enjoy the holidays, so I decided to cook up a storm with a 2 course meal! I believe I made garlic and chilli fish on baked cabbage, and for dessert... molten lava cake with honey comb ice cream!!

2010-09-16T11:14:00.002+10:00

I did have a previous post before this, but the pictures just took too long to upload that the post wasn't posted in the end. Anyway, just to summarise that post before I begin another: Works good. Rests good. Holidays here!

When lecture ended today, my lecturer emphasised the point that the break was a Non-teaching break, not a holiday, as he has heard some students refer to it. And I guess in all honesty, students will use the break to do some catch up, but 2 weeks is really a lot of time! So why not take a holiday? This break has, interestingly been the most clear for me, in terms of what work is expected of me. I know that I have two long reports to write and that's it. Well I really shouldn't add the that's it because that downplays the effort required for the reports.

I've been taking a sudden interest in the idea of vintage. I think a concept lost on quite a few Singaporeans. There's a fine line between vintage and old, and clearly that line can afford to be more clearly defined. So what has my interest got me doing? I want a rotary dial phone! Those really old ones where you have to use your finger to dial the number.

In this day and age where technology is everywhere that you can't escape it even if you want to. It's nice to take a step back and admire how we got where we are. The era of rotary phones, dial radios, juke boxes, type writers, and glass milk bottles! We laugh at the days where we have floppy disks, beige coloured computers, bricked-size cellphones, cassette tapes and video tapes, and Windows 3.1! But one day, these will make their way into vintage and what will we think then?

2010-09-05T21:31:00.002+10:00

Made pizzas the other night (the other night was actually quite some time ago, I've just been lazy in uploading my pictures). The top is my replica of Domino's Double Bacon Cheeseburger. I didn't get the taste quite right, but it wasn't that bad.

2010-09-04T21:05:00.002+10:00

Went to Salvos today. Ended up buying $15 worth of "crap". The idea of going to salvos was because rach has been looking at very vintage wedding ideas. It's funny how many people don't seem to understand the concept of vintage. They always seem to associate vintage with old and outdated. I guess they aren't entirely wrong, but vintage is supposed to be a positive thing (and expensive too!).

Imagine a vintage wedding, what kind of wedding themes would there be? "2nd hand wedding", "recycled wedding", "one man's trash is another man's treasure wedding"!!! This is going to be fun (:

2010-09-01T00:59:00.002+10:00

Been trying to reconnect myself with Singapore lately, I think. Perhaps that could explain why I've been on the Straits Times so frequently. So many new policies (especially relating to HDB!!) and the YOG, I like the way one person in the forum put it. Why does everything have to whittle down to economics?

And I think that there is so much truth to that. As much as I like looking at the economics behind policies and behaviour, I think that its taken a lot for me to finally realise that economics isn't everything.

OK, research update now. Been getting quite good positive feedback from my advisor so that's very encouraging. I just need to start putting my thoughts and results into words to be read. Just something to read for now. It's amazing how hard it is to write what you're thinking (the irony of blogging).

2010-08-26T22:27:00.002+10:00

I like productive days. It gives me the peace of mind when I go to bed at night that the most has been done. I think the finding comes as no surprise, and should be plain common sense (and it is!). But what is interesting to me is what I define doing as being productive. Apparently the bar isn't set very high, and I think that that is the truth in most cases! I always think that a productive day is when the most work is done, and I know that I don't have to rush tomorrow, but I now realise that its so much more than just that. I wish I knew the perfect combination to a productive day, but I guess there are just endless possible combinations.

I read an article today that was quite shocking, "AMERICAN evangelical pastor Terry Jones, 58, says he plans to memorialise the Sept 11 attacks with a bonfire of Qurans. The former hotel manager insists that he has a right to burn Islam's sacred book as 'it's full of lies'. Last year the pastor of 50 members posted a sign at his church declaring 'Islam is the devil'."

It's sad to see Christians take revenge into their own hands like that.
"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Romans 12:18-20.

2010-08-23T13:18:00.002+10:00

I watched the Australia election on Saturday night, and after more than 3 long hours the conclusion was that there could be no conclusion!!!

I honestly didn't intend to watch the election. I actually wanted to watch LOTR!! The final movie of the trilogy was supposed to air on GO!, but due to the dumb election (dumb cause it was a waste of time), I had no LOTR to watch!! Despite being disappointed by GO!, the election did eventually prove to be quite captivating. There is some fun in watching politicians fight over air, and the fact that it's live and unscripted and uneditted has some weird appeal. I wonder if Singapore politics will ever be like this.

2010-08-22T18:44:00.002+10:00

Been reading up on the straits times lately. Not sure why... But I miss it. I remember I used to read it frequently in my first year. Anyway, I was reading an article about unusual marriage proposals (is it still an article if it only consists of 5 sentences?)

It was about how Singaporean men were getting "innovative" in their marriage proposals, but I particularly liked this line, "they're proving that unusual and different is a sure win way to a girls heart."

You would think that if you've reach the stage at which you're going to propose you would have already won the girl's heart! (Am I right?) Why would a guy propose if he thinks that there is a chance she will say no?

2010-08-19T10:46:00.001+10:00

I liked the idea of work life because I thought that there wasn't such a thing as "homework". Since you work 9-5 everyday, without any holidays, why would they give you homework when you don't stop working? I guess I was naive to think that "don't stop working" means working 9-5 Monday to Friday all year. I've not started working yet, but I've been doing my research and it is as good as a 9-5 job! Working on revisions to the regression and generating results, I wonder how I will survive a lifetime with this kind of schedule when 8 months or research is already so taxing!

But I'm thankful that I have patience in work. The desire to want to see the numbers "work". A talent that not many have (if it is even a talent). Anyway, I'm off to do more revisions! I want to start writing my thesis NOW!

2010-08-11T21:11:00.002+10:00

The weather has been crazy lately. It was warm and sunny early this week and I thought "Great! Spring is here!", then the rain comes and it doesn't seem to stop. It's there when I walk to school, it's there when I'm walking home, it's there when I'm going to play soccer at night, and it's there when I'm on the way home. Then I wake up the next morning and it's still there!! The weatherman also agrees with me about the freak weather!! Apparently there's some cloud thing going on and winds from some direction, and a tornado somewhere west... or maybe it's east... I should really pay more attention to the weatherman when he's speaking.

On another note, research is going well I think. That's a big I think. It's so hard to gauge just how I'm progressing as compared to others when everyone is doing something different. Some have got their intro and lit review done, but have gotten stuck at their regression, others are still trying to perfect their theoretic models. I'm still getting my regression fixed, but I think after I've done that everything else should flow quite smoothly. I'm just hoping that I'm doing the right thing now. But I guess if my advisor doesn't say otherwise I have to be doing something right.

2010-07-29T18:48:00.002+10:00

Research is such a tedious process, why would anyone put themselves through such torture!!! I'm at the stage just before I generate my results, and the pain I've been through just to reach this stage is indescribable. No words can explain the feeling you get having to truncate over 7 million observations to get 488838 observations, and that's just the beginning! How do you describe the pain of analysing 488838 observations to write up over 200 commands to create 9 variables for the first simple regression?

I'm actually asking!! When someone asks, "How's your research?" I know they are looking for a simple one liner, but how do you summarise the above? So far, I've only been able to come up with "painful".

2010-07-27T00:36:00.002+10:00

There's nothing better than "you've got an assignment due in 2 weeks" to mark the first day of school. On the bright side, I've been overcoming the hurdles in my research quite well, the only BIG hurdle is time. I don't have enough!!! I wish I could turn back time, and realize what I needed to do earlier.

On a completely different note, I won 2 passes to the Taste of Melbourne!!! Not sure what made me call into a radio show to answer a riddle, but I did and I won!! Best part was that I didn't even know what the prize was before I called, but I figured that it wasn't that important since I may not be correct, and even if I am, what are the odds that I'll beat all the other callers??

2010-07-26T10:13:00.002+10:00

Today is the first day of the last semester!! It's so exciting, because it'll be the last time I get the first day of school feeling. Last in a long time, that is until I do masters. The winter holiday has been alright, not what I had planned at the beginning, or expected, but it has had it fun moments.

I've become quite good at pulling all-nighters, which is not a good thing, but necessary for my research. Well, necessary in the sense that I get the most work done then, maybe because all possible distractions are asleep. But it can't all be perfect can it? I've discovered, while pulling all-nighters, that that is a great time to make sales on Etsy, and during the holidays we've made 4 sales! Just to give you some frame of reference, previously we'd make 1 sale every 3 to 4 months.

I've got a new camera as well! It's not a great camera, but it will do the job for now. I've been carrying it around with me, so that I can capture moments, and maybe post them here. I've been thinking about ideas for my next blog, since this one will end when I graduate. While I had a thing for adding colour to the words, I might let the pictures do more talking in my next blog.

Alright, off to school now!

2010-07-10T10:03:00.003+10:00

Paul the octopus. I'm sure that many have heard of him by now, and if you have not you really should go read up on your world cup news. I find it quite hilarious that a country would rest its world cup predictions into the many hands of an octopus. If I were the country's leader I would be rather embarrassed by this hitting the news.

The octopus has been right in all his predictions thus far, and its reported that the home fans are quite displeased that he rooted for the opposition in their recent quarter-final playoff. Statistics are in favour of the octopus, but giving it some common sense meaning, do we really expect to draw any correlation between the outcome of the game and the prediction of the octopus? I'm think causation is more likely.

Imagine this:

Head coach walks into dressing room to give his final motivations before the game.

Players wait earnestly to hear the news they've been waiting for.

Head coach: Paul has picked us to win!

2010-07-08T21:45:00.000+10:00

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

2010-07-06T12:03:00.001+10:00

It was recently pointed out to me that what I had deemed as important for the past 3 years of university isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things. First class honours: it's what everyone aims to achieve isn't it? Well almost every Singaporean student aims to achieve. Grades are so important, but 5 or even 10 years down the road who will remember that I got that 1st class honours? Who would even remember that I got honours? I guess its just like how no one bothers that I failed chinese throughout secondary 2, or I failed Chemistry in secondary 4, or that I got A1's for math.

Such thinking isn't ideal for a student, but I guess when it comes to relieving stress and thinking clear, it does help. To know that at the end of the day there are more important things in life than work and grades. I wonder how many Singaporean parents teach their kids that school isn't everything to life.

2010-06-27T16:02:00.002+10:00

I just returned to Singapore and it is HOT! So hot that I'm glad it rained cats and dogs this morning.

Also, I flew Emirates for the first time yesterday, and granted I've not had much experience with that airline, that one experience was better than many of my other experiences with SQ, so that must mean something right? Speaking of my flight, I now have new found respect for babies. How do you scream/wail/cry non-stop for 8hours!? It was the only thing that "spoilt" my flight, otherwise I would very much prefer Emirates to SQ.

Research proper starts tomorrow. Sigh... I wish my holidays could be longer.

2010-06-24T16:30:00.002+10:00

I hate waiting for an exam. It's the worst part of studying. In Singapore I never actually experienced that because I was never actually prepared prepared for any exam I sat for. I always had that feeling that I could have done better. Here, I know that as I type this out, I have done everything I can. Doing the exam today and doing it tomorrow would not change my grade by much.

Why is waiting the worst part? Because I want to play, I want to relax. Actually I just don't want the exam stress anymore, and I feel like it is justified that I can ease off because I have reached that peak, but I cannot let go but must sit here and just wait because the stupid exam is tomorrow.

Played soccer last night, and it felt ssssoooo good. After watching 2 weeks of world cup, and not playing for almost a month, my legs were getting itchy. So itchy that I slammed the net 7 times. I thought that it felt great to play FIFA and then play soccer because there is that additional kick, but not really because FIFA is a computer game and computer simulations are unrealistic. Watching a match and then playing soccer is so much better because you know that what you see on TV is humanly possible.

OK enough ranting. Time to get back to the routine exercises just so that I don't forget what to do tomorrow.

2010-06-21T22:20:00.002+10:00

There are two ways to study for an exam. Understand the content and be able to explain succinctly so that you show you comprehend the subject OR memorise the mechanics without much understanding so that you show you comprehend the subject. Ideally, it's better to do the former but desperate times call for desperate measures. I hate blind studying.

What I also hate is failing technology. But I guess if I had to choose the better of two evils I'd rather failing hardware than failing software. However, as I found out today, hardware is more expensive to replace than software! I actually had a nice economic paragraph written out trying to argue that the hardware should be cheaper so that users can replace it, but I realised halfway through my argument that what Mac is doing is actually as predicted by theory.

Sighs, I get this feeling that I'm not far from the dilemma of deciding between fixing my current lappy or getting a new lappy.

2010-06-19T17:03:00.003+10:00

Done with my notes and ready to begin the last leg of the revision process building up to the last paper. But I've stopped for now because the problems I've had to do at crazy hard! I can get the right answer, but half the time I don't understand what I'm doing, I just know what is supposed to happen. It feels... insecure not being able to explain what I'm supposed to know.

On another note, World Cup fever! Netherlands and Japan! Finally for once I'm going with the nation that is supposed to win, the Netherlands. I've been rooting for the underdogs in most matches, and last night was a great night with Serbia beating Germany, USA and England drawing their matches. I know that the underdogs probably won't win the World Cup, but my logic is that while I'm still young I'll support the underdogs because my heart can take the euphoria if they win, and the disappointment if they lose. When I get older and my energy starts to fade, I'll go for the big guns like Brazil and Spain.

2010-06-15T22:22:00.002+10:00

Another one down! This exam period is just flying by, I am amazed that I'm even prepared to any of the papers. Praise to God definitely. Looking forward to the winter break! I feel like there's so much to do in one month. Going back to Singapore, golf, soccer, world cup, research, road trips! Interesting that research came 5th to mind haha.

All that is standing between me and winter break is one econometrics paper. One very BIG econometrics paper. Not looking forward to it at all. Since I'm on the topic of exam experience, there was big drama in my exam hall today! The girl next to me couldn't figure out how to do square root on her calculator and was panicking so badly that the tables around her (unfortunately myself included) were all distracted! I miss exam drama.

2010-06-14T17:04:00.002+10:00

World cup fever! And I have exams tomorrow. World cup really couldn't have come at a worse time. Having said that, I do love world sports. There's an additional excitement surrounding the event. I guess its because it only happens once every 4 years.

Tomorrow's paper is supposedly the second hardest of my three papers. Yet right now, I feel like I've reached my limit. If there is anything that I can't answer in the paper, it will probably be the case that I won't be able to answer it right now as well. Which means that I can do no better than to get it wrong. Sigh, this is econs talk.

No more study for me after this year!

2010-06-13T00:59:00.003+10:00

One down and 2 more to go! And after Tuesday it'll be down to the final one! And its so exciting to have the world cup going on now. Need to stop getting distracted with the matches though. Not sure who I'm gunning for to win this years world cup. Many are going for Spain. It feels quite cliche, but I guess they could win.

Ok, back to Argentina and Nigeria (:

2010-06-10T10:06:00.002+10:00

Statistics is a wonderful thing. So many academics place their research on stats because numbers cannot be wrong! If an artist would rather show you a painting and let it talk for itself, than to write you an article describing an painting, then many researchers would rather show you number and let the numbers do the talking.

I was watching a documentary on sharks last night, and the recurring message? Sharks bite because their are curious, they are inquisitive, they won't eat you because you're not on their menu. You are more likely to be killed my lightning, or attacked by a dog, before you are attacked by a shark.

I do not disagree with researchers that sharks are inquisitive, but I think they are missing the point! Then problem isn't being eaten by sharks (eaten in the sense that you're actually disgested), the problem is that the shark bites, and that hurts! If you know the odds of being struck by lightning are low, then why not take a walk in an open field during a thunderstorm? And the numbers may show that dogs are more likely to attack you, but how many people can control a dog by command? And for every story on a dog attack, how many stories are there of friendly dogs?!

Statistics is a quantitative measure, not a qualitative one. When people raise concerns about quality, how can you answer them with quantitative measures? Its like going to a showroom and while you're inspecting the car trying to determine its quality, the salesman is rambling off about selling 200,000 of a particular model, or some car model being number 1 in some tests.

2010-06-09T09:45:00.002+10:00

Exams in two days! It feels so good to be near the end of formal education. Stress has taken its toil and the first sign? Laundry smells even after wash! How is that possible I hear you say? Well, if you leave damp clothes lying in a pile I guess you ask for it. So I have to rewash everything again. You would think the laundry terror stops there. Half way while rewashing I realised I placed in the dryer something that shouldn't have gone into the dryer! So what happened!! It shrunk ):

And to prove that stress isn't just setting in now, but has been here all the time. I have a dishwasher which I use every one to two weeks because I get lazy to wash dishes from time to time. Now I don't normally use a dishwasher so I'm not very used to the mechanics of it all. I place the dishes in the rack, and take the dishwasher soap which is tightly wrapped. I think to myself for an entire semester, "Wow! They take so much pride in their work that they wrap this thing so nicely its so hard to unwrap without causing all the powder inside to fall out." And for a whole semester after I open each wash I wonder, "Why are my dishes all soapy and not completely washed." Then just yesterday I had to be prompted, "Why do they wrap the powder block so tightly?" So dumb me reads the instructions on the box (YES! For the first time in like 4 months) and realise that you're NOT supposed to unwrap the powder.

Stress does wonders.

2010-06-08T16:38:00.002+10:00

It's sad when blogs come to an end. It's like closing a window in your life. I was reading a blog today and she gave a very elegant speech on why she was closing her blog. I wish I had the patience to reiterate her points here, but after reading it, I gained another perspective on the issue.

It made me think about the beginning of this blog. When I started, there was a goal in mind. To record down my University life. A big chapter in my life. Inevitably, this chapter will end come December, and I'll move onto a new chapter in my life. So in keeping with the purpose of this blog, I have set the end date for this blog as 31st of December 2010.

Not sure how many followers I have out there, but I will start a new blog for a new chapter. Working on it now actually. Trying to make it fit the circumstances that I anticipate I might encounter.

2010-06-07T15:19:00.002+10:00

My mac cable has a mind of its own. One week it chooses to work, and the next it doesn't. I guess it's all signs that the lappy is getting old. Time for a new model? Maybe I'm just looking for reasons to get a new lappy. Frankly, I'm quite surprised with the performance of my current macbook. It's not failed me once, and I've been able to run two OS concurrently. Quite like that idea.

Exams start this friday! How fast! I can still remember the introductory brunch at the beginning of the semester. So much has changed, I don't think I've had time to sit down and properly take it all in.

2010-06-02T21:34:00.002+10:00

A quarter way through into the exam week preparation and I wish I could say that I am more than on schedule, but the truth is that I'm lagging behind. It's nothing new because I've been having this feeling for a few weeks now. What's bothering me is that for the last few weeks I haven't been able to solve my problem, probably because I didn't know what the problem was. A feeling that just was not right.

Today as I was dragging my feet through my revision it hit me that what I lacked throughout the whole semester was confidence. I had no confidence in my assignments, I had no confidence in my tute work, and now I have no confidence in my exams either. I had to refer back to the solutions more than half the time, but now that I know the problem I've decided to drown myself with exercises. Practice makes perfect (: Hope it is not too late.

While I'm on the point of no confidence, I figured I might have no confidence for my research as well. Not quite sure what I can do to make that better though. But one thing at a time, right now I just need to make sure I don't do so badly that they kick me out of the course.

2010-05-26T23:52:00.002+10:00

FINALLY DONE WITH ASSIGNMENTS!

Now I feel like a HUGE burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I think that throughout the semester I never really felt stress-free because assignments were always there overshadowing life. But I guess I'll never really be stress-free because after the assignments are done, it's the exams and after the exams, it's the research essay, and when that is done, its back to assignments again, and when that is about done, the research essay will be due, and when all that is done, its the final exam! Gosh, sounds like a whole year has just passed.

On a separate note, I've always had this feeling that I was second best in class. Always struggling, always behind, always trying catch up. Today we chanced upon the formula to convert our Melb uni grades into GPA. When I typed in my Melb uni score into the calculator, my friends were shocked! Shocked in a positive way (: which is a good morale booster just before the exams I guess. As I was walking home, I started to realise that my GPA was actually quite high because I vaguely recall my friends in Singapore always saying that their GPA 2. something.

Well I'm glad I can safely prepare for my exams starting tomorrow. Thank you God (:

2010-05-26T01:41:00.001+10:00

Signs you know that its time to do your laundry:
You take clothes out of the pile of clean clothes from your last wash to wear.

2010-05-23T20:56:00.002+10:00

Long Long Long ... Long Long Long time since I blogged. So I'll just do point updates since I've been very busy lately.

Exams soon!!! So stressful cause I've got assignments until the last day of school! To top it off, I haven't gotten my head around my research yet. I think if I sit down and really put effort to try and understand what I need to do I'll feel more secure.

Lacethread has started again, and what better way to start than with a sale! We were pleasantly surprised, and it's given motivation to start sewing again. It's a great way to destress because its simple, straightforward and fast projects that require little brain power. a

2010-04-29T21:47:00.002+10:00

I hate school work. Assignments that weigh so little in percentage each, and yet I feel the urge to have to complete every question even if its worth only 1 mark! To spend late nights, and wreck my brain for that 1 mark. Or to stress myself out over presentations that are not even graded! The evilness of school work is as such. They stress you out little by little, till only the crazy survive and excel.

Hearing talks about people dropping out of the programme doesn't help either. I need to get that thought out of my head. I wish things were going smoother. I wish work wasn't so hard. I wish data would appear at the first google. And after all this, I still wish that one day I'll do a masters in economics. I told you only the crazy survive.

2010-04-21T15:37:00.002+10:00

It's interesting that after one hard moment in life, the other hard moments don't seem so hard anymore. I realised that a lot of my entries have been about honours, and how hard things are. I don't expect that to change anytime soon, so why bore you on the details again. I'll talk about honours when the pressure is back on.

It's almost mid way through the semester now, and I would have imagined that I would have been on more roadtrips than I have already been (and that's 1.) Beechworth was fun! I'm always fascinated by history (other than Singapore's because that is just boring), and it was very cool to read articles and learn more about the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. When will Singapore ever get an outlaw who makes his own armour and robs banks to distribute wealth. He was likened to a modern day robin hood! Of course he did a lot of other stuff that was not very robin hood like, and he didn't have any Maid Marian to save.

Speaking of which, I can't wait to watch the robin hood movie that is going to be released. As far as I can recall, all the robin hood movies that I've watched were either cartoons (which ended happily ever after) or comedy spoofs like robin hood men in tights (which is just dumb).

I'll end this entry with a conversation that happened today. The lecturer was giving a talk on how to give presentations, and this happened at the end of the talk.

Friend1: I want to ask him how to stop saying "umm" when giving a presentation.

Me: Umm... ??

*walks up to lecturer*

Friend1: Hi, umm... I want to ask how do you stop saying umm when giving a presentation.

Lecturer: Ummm...

2010-04-15T23:06:00.002+10:00

Honours is so demanding! The workload never stops, the expectations always increase, there is no comfort level. On top of that, where's the joy in getting 80% or 90% in class when that is the mean mark. In Bachelors I wanted to be among the smart people, so that I can pick off their thoughts, but now that I'm among them, I realise that its not very fun to pick off their thoughts because its so hard to follow to begin with.

But there is a silver lining. I got my first choice adviser, who turns out to be a rather decent fellow. And hearing the stories of the other students I think I'm quite fortunate because most of them didn't get any of their 3 preferred advisers. I was among the first wave of students who was offered a position in the programme. At least those whom I was working with earlier this week didn't get theirs till January! I feel for them. I can't imagine going through Christmas and New Year thinking that after all the hardwork and coming so close to honours, I missed by a mark or two.

Well off to the books again. When will my next break come...

2010-04-13T16:40:00.002+10:00

Finally done with the hardest assignment I've done in 3 years!! But I get this bad feeling that it's not going to be the last. Spent a good portion of Easter trying to get my head around it and getting no where was quite frustrating, but coming to uni and seeing everybody stressing together, and helping each other out was quite a relief.

But the relief won't last long, because next week I have one assignment due, a midterm and a research report due, and I've not begun anything because of the super hard assignment that I've completed. So much for using the break to get ahead.

2010-04-06T10:33:00.002+10:00

Easter break is here! Finally had time to take a short breather, but now I guess it's time to get back to work. I get so lost in my research, I feel that sometimes I'm way in over my head. Speaking of research, I was listening to s sermon and I started to think about arms races between countries. Majority of people don't like war, and arms races don't aid in preventing wars. But what does? Education? Maybe. Let's say it does. Then if we spent the money from arms races on education, then people would not feel the need for violence to resolve their problems.

I started to think about the Prisoners Dilemma. If country A bought some tanks, then country B would buy some anti tank missiles. If country B bought some airplanes, then country A would buy some anti air guns. Then reaction does not end. But I guess given human nature for insecurity it does seem quite inevitable that arms races will cease. But it does sound like an interesting research topic.

2010-03-31T16:01:00.003+11:00

I've finally completed my micro assignment, and now I have to worry about my research project, econometrics assignment and another macro assignment. Is there no end? Actually there is an end. I just hope that I'm there at the end of the day.

Work has become so... overpowering? Is that the right word? Now I view time in terms of assignments! When one is done, my first question is when is the next one due? Is that sad? But I think that every uni student would have gone through this phase, I'm just delayed and going through it now in honours. Bad thing? So many questions! And none of it is actually important but the ones my lecturers ask.

Speaking of lecturers, I just met up with my advisor and was shot down yet again because my topic was "not doable", but I guess its more of they aren't willing to supervise, which he did tell me in my face. On the bright side he offered me another topic which is similar to my original idea, and since its one of his research areas he said he could give me some help (I guess more help than an advisor would usually give). He did admit he was "using" me abit for his research, but I think that I'll probably be using him more than he is using me. I had question marks all over my head when he was talking, and now I have to read up and play catch up with the lecturer!

2010-03-28T16:10:00.002+11:00

I was introduced to a card game yesterday called Nerds. It was so addictive that we spent 7 hours playing it yesterday! So I sit here now trying to complete my micro assignment before Tuesday so that I can enjoy another day of sports, followed by Easter! Looking forward to the break, though I can foresee work starting in middle of the holidays cause I need to get cracking on my research. I have a progress report due in 3 weeks and what progress have I made? Not much... well none actually. Not very impressive, I'm not impressed myself. When did work get so hard.

2010-03-17T15:41:00.002+11:00

For 3 years I was filled with anticipation, hoping and praying that I would get into the honours programme and now that I'm in, I'm not so sure I knew back then what I was actually wishing for.

I like a challenge, and honours would definitely give me that, plus it would help with my future job prospects (but...). I don't know what it is, maybe its the pressure of having to think of a research topic all on my own (and God knows how many have gone through my mind), the one I'm most proud of is "Incorporating expectations to model consumption behaviour in an overlapping generations framework", but the math and the theory that I have to use to back all that up is just way over my head. Not that it's not honours material, but my econometrics is sadly just not up to par. So I have to settle for "Immigration and its impact on wages".

Also, when I was doing my bachelors I always felt like the people around me weren't motivated enough. They were always slacking, putting things off to the last moment. Now, everybody is motivated, and not only that, we all think the same way!! After lecture today, I decided that I would go and visit my advance macro lecturer to discuss my research topic with her, since she mentioned in class that her consultation hours were quite free, and within 5 minutes there were 8 honours students there all with the same agenda! She directed me to another lecturer for a second opinion and as I walked along the corridor, I was amazed at how many honours students were having consultations with lecturers about research topics! I guess I really shouldn't be since this is what I'm supposed to be donig anyway, so I'm more of lagging behind than shocked that everyone is keeping pace with me.

This is me ranting having a 9am start and sleeping in every lecture I had today. I think I should have started this entry with that.

2010-03-03T22:57:00.002+11:00

First day of school today! And they did not go easy on us. Clearly the expectations of honours students are a lot higher. To start, our first day is a five and a half hour stretch of lectures without any breaks! I like how the coordinator takes a personal interest in the students welfare though, I suppose it is possible with a small class size. He suggested a honours welfare night (the terminology reminded me a lot of my army days), I recall that paintball, hand-gliding, skiing were among the options, but he doubted that the dean would approve of any, so he said it's most likely that we'd be going bowling with pizza.

I've been giving my subject selection some thought over the last few days. Wasn't quite sure if I wanted to take all honours year subjects, especially since there were some third year subjects that tickled my interest. But the coordinator told us that he would highly discourage it because more is expected of us, and said he was greatly saddened when an honours student said he wanted to do a 3rd year subject because it was easier.

Now I've directed my attention to my thesis topic, and it is not easy! I thought I had it in my head, but the more I search for a source article, the more I feel naive in my initial ideas. This is going to be a long year.

2010-02-24T21:12:00.002+11:00

Would you tell a harmless lie to avoid the awkward truth? Sounds like a moral issue, but I think that the answer is more obvious than it seems. Problem is not what the lie or the truth is, but the problem is with us.

On a separate note, I had a honours morning tea session today, and I think its fair to say that I went without much expectation, and I was fairly surprised. It seems that there are only 40 students in the honours programme who have been handpicked by the dean and coordinator, and the entire economics department, and I mean entire (I met my lecturers from first year to third year in one room) was there to meet and greet you, and make an effort to know who you are and remember who you are. Feels great to be known in University, especially by the people who matter.

Also, found a golf course which is a 6 minute drive from my house! Going to give it a try tomorrow. Hope that it turns out well.

2010-02-21T01:56:00.002+11:00

I don't whether its because Singaporeans are lazy to think and innovate, or they think that they are being creative, but some of the website names that I've come across this summer have really left me dumbfounded.

hungrygowhere.com

ishootieatipost.sg

gothere.sg

catchcheatingspouse.com.sg

agirlshaven.com

Try and have a guess as to what each site does.

2010-02-06T13:56:00.004+11:00

We always complain that growing up is such a hassle, having to give up our care free school days for stressful work days. Today I've realised that growing up is actually much like a process of osmosis, slow but always moving forward. Here are some of the tell tale signs (when I say old I mean it in a good way) :

You switch from listening to 98.7 FM to 95.0 FM. If you are more drastic on the aging scale then you jump straight to 90.5FM. You're terminal when you know that the name of the station is Gold 90.5, Class 95, and... hmmm *Scratches head*. You are old old old when you know that Gold is your station, but insist on listening 98.7

You get your license and start loving to drive around. You drive to town and back, to marina bay and back, to siglap and back, to east coast park and back, to church and back, to bedok food corner and back. And then you realise, OH NO! The distances are getting shorter and shorter, but you still feel like you have to drive to your neighbour's house and back.

And while we're on the topic of transportation. You think you can still remember the train stations like you did back in your secondary school days, so you decide to make a positive change in your ways of relying too much on the car and take the train. But at the barrier you find out that your Ez-link card no longer works because the system has changed! And then when you get to the platform you scratch your head wondering where in the world is Joo Koon, and whatever happened to boon Lay? So you check the board, and get a shock to see that there's a circle smack in the middle of the network. After some thought you finally know why there's so much congestion on the road at Suntec. (Okay, this one is not really applicable to all but to most I guess).

You start to eat at places which are only accessible by car, like dempsey and saddle club. Then you wonder why do you go to such places when you could drive to pepper lunch in the city. And it hits you! You eat there because you don't get screaming school girls, or rowdy school boys. Plus, all your friends are dining at dempsey and saddle club anyway!

Your weekend finally arrives, and you ask: what shall I do this weekend? Your friends suggest The bird park, but you don't want to travel to Jurong. The science centre, but you don't want to travel to the west! The wave pool, but that is still in the west, plus you refuse to travel to far just to swim. Paint ball, but you don't want to get bruised. Singapore river, but you think it's boring. East Coast Park, but you've been there all the time it doesn't feel special anymore. Ice skating, but you don't want to fall on your bum. Sentosa, and you think that that's not a bad idea with all the new attractions there, but then you don't want to pay so much money. Fly kite at barrage, but that is not special enough for your weekend. The zoo, but you're not a kid and you reckon you'll have to go there when you have your kid anyway. Then your realise three things. You've ran out of interesting things to do, you've found a complaint for everything, and you're thinking about kids!

Finally, you decide to sit down and write a blog entry since you eliminated everything to do this weekend, but half way through you have to google what young teenage happening kids will do just so you can make the comparison apparent that you're getting old.

Credits: I'd like to thank the following people/groups of people for contributing in my composition of this entry even though some of them may not know that they have contributed. My parents for letting me drive so much, my wonderful girlfriend for getting me out of the house to notice the wonderful things in life so that you get interesting entries like this and not boring ones where I complain about staying at home all day (Oh look, another possible complaint), my OCF friends who have been dining at dempsey and saddle club recently, my girlfriend's cell group for trying very hard to think of something to do for a cell outing, and google! for whom half of this entry might not have been possible (:

2010-02-04T13:09:00.002+11:00

It's strange how we grow up, not really noticing the changes until we are able to look back.

When I was 12 I thought badminton would be the sport I'd play for life. When I was 13 my ambition to become a lawyer. When I was 14 I thought that the only books I'd ever love reading were Jeffrey Archers thriller novels. When I was 15 I thought bowling was my sport. When I was 16 I thought I'd go to college and graduate to law school in NUS.

Now I play soccer and golf, I graduated from foundation studies, and going to start honours in Melbourne University. I've found interest in reading The Undercover Economist, and I hate studying law but love studying economics.

2010-01-27T13:50:00.001+11:00

There once was a brave lad named leonard,

With a fie fie fiddle dee dee.

He faced a fearsome giant,

While Raj just wanted to pee.

2010-01-27T02:18:00.001+11:00

I've started golfing once again. The last time I picked up those clubs was about 3 years ago, but I've discovered the passion for it once again. Not quite sure why I put the clubs down 3 years ago though.

On another note, I was browsing through facebook photos and I realised that my apartment in Melbourne has been well utilised. I guess there's no need for the house warming anymore eh haha.

2010-01-14T14:47:00.002+11:00

Today is the fourth day in Brunei, and I think it isn't as bad as it was the last time. I guess knowing what to expect in advance didn't have me raise my expectations so high. Went shopping on the second day and bought 2 pairs of shoes for $89!

This shoe is nice. Do you have my size?
Hmm... this is a size 6, you try.
*Shoes fit nicely*
Do you have a new pair?
Hmm... no.
So this is the last pair?
*Nods sheepishly*

I don't like buying shoes that are the last pair because they always only leave one side of the shoes out for display and keep the other in the box. Eventually when you put the two together because you're forced to buy the last pair one would have faded more than the other. It's a valid reasoning, no?

On a completely different shoe.

This shoe is nice. Do you have my size?
Hmm... this is a size 6, you try.
*Shoes fit nicely*
Do you have a new pair?
Hmm... no.
So this is the last pair?
*Nods sheepishly*
Why am I buying the last pair of every shoe?
We only carry one size in each design.
So I'm not buying the last pair, I'm buying the only pair?
Hmm... yes.

2010-01-07T15:17:00.002+11:00

Today would be the third day in a row that I'll be going to orchard. For some reason I keep forgetting to do things when I'm there so I have to keep going back. I guess part of the reason is also because of the parking. It has become so expensive to park there, plus all those ERP gantries, I have to strategically plan my route and how long I'm going to spend in that area so that the money spent is worthwhile. How times have changed. I miss the times where we would drive to town and just park in the mall that was most convenient for us and not worry about price.

A little excerpt

So what's there to do in orchard?
Shop!

That is not expensive.

Window shop!

2009-12-29T11:33:00.003+11:00

I'm going to play golf! Long time since I've tounh my golf set that I can't even find any of my gear now. I think my dad took my clubs to brunei, or it got sold off or something. I've been thinking whether or not it is something I should pursue. After all it is a grown up/businessman thing to say you're going down to the course to meet clients to discuss some deals over 18 holes. Ah, but I never really liked the sport. Too little energy involed in the actual golfing, more time and energy is spent waiting in the sun for others and lugging that big heavy bag around. Maybe that's why its an old man sport.

I guess much can be said of bowling as well. I recall that when I was in my teenage years training, I would look at the old uncles in the weekly leagues and think how sad it was for them to bowl because they were trying too hard to be good. Their styles were weird, and their averages were low. But now that I'm out of the bowling scene for years, I find myself meandering down that path. Perhaps not the weird styles, but the low averages is a start. Maybe I should spend the summer trying to improve my bowling.

2009-12-28T22:59:00.002+11:00

I've become lazier to sit down and type out a blog entry. Not sure what has changed. But I guess its part of growing up. Maybe blogging was just a phase in life which will soon come to pass. I can't even think of anything to say after this. Well I guess I better not say anything than to force something out.

2009-12-19T03:15:00.002+11:00

Graduated! Now I feel older. It's like a ceremony to usher me into my next phase in life. Strange what one additional piece of paper can do. Been packing a lot and I think I've gotten pretty good at it. Can't wait to get back to singapore, get back to home. Though I'm not exactly sure what it is about home that I can't wait to get back to.

2009-11-14T23:34:00.002+11:00

You would think that after such a stressful period I would want to just rant and unwind, but I find strange fulfillment in writing stories, and thinking of make belief. Maybe thats my escape from this pressure-cooker world we live in.

So when we left the last time, our knight was going into his first day of battle, and the heart of young fair maiden seemed far away.

The fight was brutal, and many were slain. Mistakes were made on both sides, and delays were all around. Chaos reigned in the last few moments as soldiers struggled to fight off the enemy. He glanced up and realised that time was running out. He had to finish this battle before it was too late. He looked down into his enemies eyes and released his final blow. The enemy seemed dead enough, and that seemed to satisfy him for now. As he left the battle ground, he started to wonder if enough had been done. But the enemy was long gone now, and there was no turning back.

He had been gone for awhile now, and she was starting to get restless waiting for his arrival. She cooked up a task for herself to fill the time, hoping that when he returned from battle he would would what to say to make things right. The castle door opened, and the knights had returned from the first day of battle. He seemed tired and still lost for words. What a disappointment. When would he learn? Or is it true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Romans 12:17-21
¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. ²⁰On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Such an encouragement to read this passage. First command, peace. Second command, love. So simple and yet we can't do that.

2009-11-13T12:59:00.002+11:00

There's an epic tale to be told today. I've been thinking about it for about a day now, and I have a feeling that events will unfold that will extend this into what I hope will be a wonderful story with a beautiful ending. I know I did badly in the last time I tried to tell an online story. The code was too easy to break, the meanings too obvious, and the ending was just terrible, at least in the story, it had a happy ending in real life. But I'll try to do a little better this time round.

We begin with our knight and fair maiden, who shall not be named (doh! I think the code is broken), leaving the castle grounds to head to the training arena where preparations have been on the way for the final showdown that the knight would have to face. It's been 3 years of training and fighting for this knight, and no battle has he feared the most than the one he is about to encounter. Fair maiden of course, has no place in the battle grounds, but thats not to say she has no battles of her own, for back in the castle every night she fights to maintain her poise against the physical, academic, and domestic chores that await.

Training was tough, and the heat from the summer sun just made the ordeal worse. The knight and fair maiden were spotted taking a stroll through the gardens, but something looked amiss.

His heart is honest and true, but the words that he speak seem to fail him. He fights the anger that so easily arises, but his self control fails him. He hurts because deep inside he is truly sorry but he can think of nothing that will show it. He spends the next few hours preparing for D-day, all the while trying to think of something that will express his heart better than words.

She hurts because of his ignorance and foolish words. She wants him to be her knight, but he seems too caught up with his own issues to be any kind of knight. She wants him to understand, but does he really? His words seem so ordinary, and his anger seems to prevail. She wants to know that his actions are out of truth and not just words, but how will she know?

Will our knight ever be able to do anything to bring back the fair maiden? Will he survive his first day in battle?

2009-11-11T00:13:00.002+11:00

I'll have to admit that I've never been a big fan of online shopping, but I think ebay is that foot in the door for me. I've been ebaying quite a bit, and I got quite a bargain on a desk from Ikea. It's original price was $45 plus plus, but I got it for $12.50!

So the desk was delivered today by this very nice ang moh family. I came out to collect it from their car with a trolley, and the father placed the table on the trolley and kept asking if I could manage, and I said that I could handle it, and after it was all loaded, he said I didn't have to be shy to ask for help, of course I said I could manage, but it got me thinking, what did I do that made him think I was shy to ask for help?

Was it because there is a stereotyping that Asians are generally quiet, traditional, cultural, not-very-liberal, keep-to-yourself people? I can't blame the ang moh's for thinking that way, because I guess generally ang moh's tend to be more open about a lot of stuff. Maybe it is because I am small, a fact which I cannot run away from. If I were bigger, would he still say I didn't have to be shy to ask for help? Maybe I looked like I was struggling.

I'd like to think that even if I dropped the table once, or twice, I could pick it up myself and complete the job without having to depend on others.

Maybe I'm just paranoid. I'm sure the very nice man didn't mean anything in asking the "innocent" question.

2009-11-08T23:36:00.001+11:00

I hate the heat! It's so bad that its making me lose my concentration. I wish I had an aircon.

2009-11-07T11:40:00.002+11:00

Here's something interesting. Maybe not to most of you, but at least to me.

Demand is a persons willingness to pay for a given good. And in economics, we would love to know people's willingness to pay so that then we can form a demand curve that maps reality as close as possible. But we've come to respect that people's willingness to pay is probably something that we'll never truly find because no one would reveal their true willingness to pay, and even if they did, how would you know? So economists have nicely coined it as private information, private only to the buyer.

But what if the buyer doesn't know their true willingness to pay?

2009-11-06T17:09:00.002+11:00

The trailer for the upcoming movie 2012 has been coming on the air quite often. As far as I know its a movie about the end of the world, and I gather from the trailer that the world ends with a host of natural disasters happening at the same time... what are the chances right? But I better not speak too soon.

But I've realised that Hollywood directors are getting more realistic about how they think the world will end. First they thought it would end with aliens invading earth and so we had movies like Independence Day. Then they realised that aliens were probably quite far fetched, so then they lowered their standards and thought that the world would probably end with some meteor hitting earth. Maybe they got the idea from the evolutionists who say that a big meteor killed all the dinosaurs. Thus we had movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact. And then after awhile, that became too far fetched, and they thought it'll probably end with all the natural disasters happening around the world at one time. And now we have movies like 2012, I think there was one more before this.

Wonder what is next.

2009-11-04T17:05:00.002+11:00

I've been studying and I'm glad that its going well. The feeling for this exam is different. I can't really place what kind of difference it is, but I know that I'm aware of it everyday. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

Was looking through my honours application and I realised that I made a mistake!! I had enrolled myself for too many subjects. Now I'm left with a dilemma of choosing between health economics, behaviourial economics, or public economics. I guess it won't be much of a dilemma if I don't get honours to begin with. But what a blunder to make, now the dean must be thinking what kind of honours student is this, doesn't read instructions when applying how is he going to handle the fine print of the thesis.

I should email the dean and tell him the mistake is the result of my enthusiasm in doing honours and that he couldn't ask for a better student. Actually I should study for exams now, and not day dream about honours let alone talking to the dean, otherwise I won't get to do either.

2009-11-02T23:27:00.002+11:00

Been slogging and altering my schedule every other day to fit my studies because of random things that keep popping up to consume my time. But oddly enough, I still find that I'm on track. But that is not as settling as it sounds. I've already completed my revision for Derivatives and I'm set to complete macro tomorrow and get through as much of Industrial as I can, but I sit back and ponder, and I can't seem to recall any facts on Derivatives or Macro!!! That is scary, maybe I just need to start doing the questions to gain that confidence. I'm always like that. Lacking in confidence.

2009-10-30T09:52:00.002+11:00

Today is officially the last teaching day of University. Can't say I feel too sad, who doesn't want to stop studying right? But I think its just one of those things where you have to lose it to know what you had.

I recall my first sem, I would be at the library right about now, reserving tables for friends, using the computer to blog about news I read on the net, giving my 2 cents worth on articles in the Economist. Which by the way I thought I was going too geeky because it seemed like I was the only one reading this stuff, and so I stopped, and lo and behold my macro lecturer brings back articles from the economist and I'm filled with ???

So I've gone back to reading the economist, and I must say it's a breath of fresh air. Reading about ideas I would never have thought of. Well off to study again. I still have a lot to get through, and my crazy lecturer gave an assignment thats due the day of the exam. I guess there's a first time for everything.

2009-10-29T13:20:00.002+11:00

Exams are round the corner. One week ago I felt completely unprepared, I had not begun my revision notes, I had no exam papers prepared, I had no clue as to how to start for this exam (quite strange right seeing as how it's my 6th university exam, but it just goes to show you can never be too prepared). So this week has been a rush to get those revision notes done, and to structure my revision.

And it's been amazing. I've nearly completed the revision notes for 2 subjects, and I'm about half way through one and a quarter way through another, which I think should be done by this weekend. Also, I was calculating my results for this semester so far so that I have a gauge as to how hard I have to work in the exams, and it's been quite encouraging, so I guess I'm starting to look at this exam with a bit of a positive light, rather than the negativity I had a couple weeks back.

2009-10-25T19:21:00.006+11:00

Summer is such a double edged sword. I love it because I feel like the day never ends, but the day NEVER ends! It's now 7.22pm and it looks like its 4pm. If you check my twitter, I said the sky looked like it was 4pm an hour ago. That just goes to show that an hour has passed in real time, and the sun has barely moved.

Exam period is my frequent blogging season I think. Must be because I'm cooped up at home that my mind wanders between work and random thoughts. Today I was thinking about all my road trips in my 3 years here. I've been to Grampians, Great Ocean Road, Warrambool, Werribee Zoo, Dandenongs, Yarra Valley, Wilson Prom, Skiing at Falls Creek, and Gold Coast. Other than the time to the zoo, I've rented a car to drive to all these places. With all that money, plus the money I've gotten from tuition I could have bought a second hand car!

I guess its just one of those things where you think its always cheaper to rent, and when you sit down and do the calculations at the end of the day you realise that you could have bought a car and enjoyed life more than you did. But that's life, we always need the benefit of hindsight to see these things.

Off to more study now.

2009-10-24T14:04:00.003+11:00

Finally had the time to sit down and start my exam preparations. The latest I've started thus far I feel so I'm feeling a bit insecure, or maybe its because its my final year.

Twitter has been interesting. The idea of micro-blogging hasn't sunk in yet, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Today's tutoring was terrible. I wanted to get it done by the morning, so I arranged to meet the student at 9am so that we can end by 1030am and I can reach back to the city before 12. So I woke up at 730am!!!! Took the tram down to the train station, and caught the train. When I reached the other side, I usually take a bus to the mall to meet him, but when I got to the station today, the bus was delayed!!! Not by 5 minutes, or 10 minutes but by 45 minutes!! It was so frustrating. I contemplated taking a cab down, but I figured it's pointless because then the money I spent to get to the mall would be how much I'd get from tuition. So I had to sit there and wait. Totally screwed up my schedule, and now I have to cram my exam revision for the rest of the day. Felt so demoralising on the way back because I reached back in the city at 1.30pm!! I've effectively lost the first half of my afternoon.

2009-10-19T10:29:00.001+11:00

I blogged a few entries ago about losing steam in blogging. Something that many out there can identify with. Well, I've learnt something new. It's called micro-blogging!! Or more commonly known as twitter. When I first heard of the idea, I thought that it wouldn't be very interesting, "following" people around their day. But once I saw it in use, I found that it wasn't a very bad idea. A good alternative for those who find having to sit down and organise their thoughts to write a short blog entry about their day too tiring. I guess one could argue to the extent that twitter is a good example of how we've become more lazy.

Having said all that, I have succumb to the pressure of twitter, and have made a twitter account for myself. But I won't give up blogging... for now. I find this so much easier in terms of writing. When twitting, I sit in front of the computer, or look at my iphone and think, what am I going to twit now??!! Some how, writing one liners that have not been put into any context is just weird for me.

Anyway, uni is ending!! It's kind of exciting and sad at the same time. This could well be the end of my formal education.

2009-10-12T17:59:00.002+11:00

Exams are round the corner!!! Didn't know how close it was until the exam timetable came out. I guess its a good thing as its helped me to plan out my revision schedule. Hope it all goes well.

Went to the CraftExpo at the exhibition centre on sunday and it was quite fun. I'm not quite sure what it is about the crafts that is so appealing. Maybe it's because I've always had a desire to be able to create something, and in school the only time we were taught to create anything was in art class. Interestingly I scored an A2 for art in sec 2, what is more interesting is the response that follows after I tell people that. Do I not look like an artist???

Bought a small handheld sewing machine at the expo, and brought it home to try. Now I know I have no prior experience in using such a device, but I figured that since there weren't too many knobs and buttons on this thing, it should be simpler and more straightforward to use than the traditional one. Brought it home, and meddled around with it for an hour trying to figure out why it wasn't working (the problem was that the cloth was feeding out of the machine that other way). So after a long hour of wondering how such a small and simple looking device had managed to fool me, I decided to take everything apart to see what was wrong. The first and most obvious thing to take out was the batteries. So I flipped it over, and that was when I realised that I had put the batteries in the opposite way. Boy would I be stupid if that was the problem, but no harm giving it a try, and guess what??!! I am stupid. The batteries were in the other way, so the circuit in the machine was reversed, thats why my cloth kept feeding out of the machine the wrong way!!

2009-10-05T23:47:00.002+11:00

Summer is coming!! So many things have happened, I think this is going to be a long post. To start, I think I've become one of those people who just accumulate events and then pour it all out on the blog after a long time. But I guess its better than those who accumulate the events and then forget about blogging at all because it's become too much. I hope this isn't some progressive thing, where bloggers first start off blogging consistently, and then get weary and blog occasionally, and finally don't blog at all because weariness has become laziness.

Anyhow, on the last day of the holidays, a few of Rachelle's friends rented a lot at the Camberwell market and set up a stall to sell off their second hand stuff. The entire market builds around the idea that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Rach and I also used it as an avenue to market our online shop. We were quite excited. We made name cards, and backings for the studs, it all looked very professional, but it was quite disappointing when nothing sold (to the public at least, some friends bought), and we kept a majority of our name cards. But fret not, we learnt some very valuable lessons. We came to realise that the market didn't have our target audience, and that we need to build up on our inventory of hand embroidered pouches, somehow laying out 4 pouches on a table looks very different from listing 4 pouches online. But we will persevere and maybe you'll hear of some success stories soon! You can follow us on lacethread.wordpress.com.

On a sadder note, the semester has begun. And somehow I can feel the loss of steam in my engine. What a time to come right? The last semester of the last year, but maybe its because that its the last of the last that I've got the loss. Didn't do too well on the final mid term, and that jolted me back up, so I've begun my exam revision 2 weeks earlier than I normally would. Hopefully that helps to ease some of the stress.

Tuitioning has been very good. Progressed from 1 student to 3 students now!! And I think thats it for this semester. As exciting as that journey has been, I think anymore students now will just kill me. On the bright side, tutoring these students has helped me in my revision and also expanded my knowledge in areas of economics I probably won't be able to learn, like property economics!!

So that's my rather long post.

2009-09-28T21:43:00.002+10:00

We planned a great trip to the Gold Coast for this mid sem break, and I was especially excited as the date grew closer. I guess a tad over excited, but thats acceptable right?

Well, I don't know what to say, but what happened in this week for the Gold Coast trip is definitely going to be a very memorable one. First I get diagnosed for a suspected case of appendicitis. Such a downer. And of course I don't want to miss my flight, so I head to the A&E to see if I can get a definite answer. But guess what! It turns out that the doctors can't tell you if you definitely have an appendicitis or not. So I'm convinced by the doc that the surgery is the safest and probably the best option. So I sign the form, and get warded for surgery.

I wait for almost 36 hours. And within that I get starved for the ENTIRE period, get wheeled to the operating room, and at the end of it all get told that perhaps its not a case of appendicitis!! How crazy is that? I was so hungry at the end of it I was too tired to tell the doctor off. But you would think that after so many years in medicine, they would be able to tell you something a little more professional than to just snip off the appendix to be safe, after all if its not an appendicitis, it won't do you harm.

After that whole ordeal, I quickly get on the next flight out of Melbourne and into the Gold Coast to catch up with my long awaited holiday. But my flight gets canceled!!! So I have to wait in line and deal with very very incompetent Tiger Airways staff. To cut a very long story short, I get on the next flight to Gold Coast, and finally get to start my holiday.

But that's not all!!! On the trip, I lose my theme park tickets, and my friend loses his camera!! I have no idea what to think of this trip other than I'm very thankful that I'm back home in one piece.

2009-09-16T00:20:00.003+10:00

Holidays is coming!!! So exciting. Great plans for the Gold Coast. Really glad that it's a 2 week break, that way I can spend one week relaxing and one week working. But I guess there really isn't much to work on since I've been cramming for the mid terms before the break. But thats good as well.

Rachelle and I have been sewing and it's been rather exciting. I think it's wonderful to create something from nothing. Well not really nothing, but like useless things which people have no use for on its own. Granted that its a rather feminine "sport", I make up for it by exploiting my commerce skills. How?? By setting up an online shop! That's right, we've set up a shop to sell the things we make, and although nothing has sold just yet, I think it's a great experience. Real, and exciting lessons to learn at a cheap cost. But I will get to all those lessons in time to come.

I bet the question on your mind now is "where on earth is this shop??!!" Well if that question is not on your mind, it should be. You can find us at lacethread.etsy.com and you can follow us on this exciting journey on our blog as well! lacethread.wordpress.com

We would have chosen to host the blog on blogspot, but someone took our name =(

2009-09-03T16:26:00.002+10:00

Had a lecture on neuroeconomics today and I must say that while it is interesting, I feel sorry for the economists and neuroscientists who had to sit in labs and look at monitors and scans to study the brain so that my lecturer can conclude that nothing conclusive can be drawn from it yet. So instead of wasting my time listening to something that is for now inconclusive, I found myself wandering into another field on economics, and my conclusion?

Welfare Economics.

This field of economics aims to measure the welfare generated or loss from decisions made by firms, individuals and the government. The theory, as do most theories, aims to explain the decision making process based on welfare. So here's a thought.

Rationality of the individual is an assumption commonly made in many economic theories. If we know from welfare economics that a certain action will increase the welfare of an individual, but we observe that the individual does not take that course of action, then theory will tell us that welfare is not maximised. But the assumption of rationality is that the rational individual will seek to maximise welfare. Therefore, does this mean that the individual is no longer rational, or was he making a rational decision, but will live to regret it later.

Can the rational individual be regretful? Of course this begs the question of what is rational, but that is a thought for another day. So much for inconclusiveness right? Maybe this is how all these weird studies begin in the first place.

2009-08-28T14:53:00.002+10:00

Is there a reason to procrastination?

I've been putting off the submission for my honours programme, getting the forms for my PR application, applying for IETLS, and much recently applying for a scholarship. I guess it's not so much of laziness. I've never seen myself as a lazy person in general, I mean everyone has their lazy moments in life. I think it's been because I've been reluctant to move on. Doing all these things made things seem so... fast?grown up? I'm not sure.

But last night, as I browsed through the application for honours, I realised that the longer I procrastinated for whatever reason, the more difficult it would become in the future. I would have missed the dateline for the scholarship, I would have no time to finish my PR application, IETLS will be fully booked, and I may not get to do honours just because I was late. So I decided not to be so foolish and think about how hard life will become or by how much life will change, but to take the steps necessary now so that life will not be more hard. Does that make any sense?

I wish I could be a kid again. Parents would make the decisions, teachers would motivate me to study, tutors would help me where I can't help myself, and all of them will tell me what to do next, where to go, how to do things, what I need help in, and what I'm good at. All I need to do is be there.

2009-08-23T00:12:00.002+10:00

The sun shining and the birds chirping (well not exactly), he woke up excited about the day ahead. With gusto he got ready, and it wasn't long before he was in the kitchen whipping up a hotcake mix to start the beautiful day. Plated and ready to leave, he threw on his white shirt (hardly worn) and his blazer, and headed to her apartment.

She awoke to princess by her side. "How are you this morning she asked?"
"Fine thank you. Are you excited today?"
"Of course I am! He promised me hotcakes when I woke up. Oh no! It's 1030am! Maybe I woke up too early. Princess let's go to sleep awhile longer. I think he needs more time to cook hotcakes."
She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

*Knock Knock*

Hotcakes!! She thought. And she jumped out of bed and got ready (of course things didn't happen quite that fast. It was a good hour or so before they left the house).

They had lunch at koko, which was very very filling. And that was followed by desert at Lindt Cafe, which was very very chocolaty. Now with stomachs full and most of the day gone. He and she walked around town to buy groceries for a experimental dinner. I guess you can say that without much thinking they had both spent the day eating and eating. But I guess they didn't mind since it's a special day. So he and she came home to make homemade chee cheong fan and char siew bao.

A wonderful end to a wonderful day,
With Kate and Leopold dancing away.
And back on the couch, sitting comfortably at the rear,
Prince and Princess prepare to be future ring bearers.
Finally in the kitchen, chopping and molding and steaming,
Rachelle and Daniel, now 2 years and going.

2009-08-17T15:27:00.001+10:00

I know I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been procrastinating. So here are thoughts in my head before they are gone.

Which is more important: more love or right love. Movies like to portray that the most loving person is the one who loves you the most (duh!), suggesting that more love is the way to go. But it is possible to love too much isn't it? Hence love blinds people. But the argument can also go that the one who loves you the most (i.e. the most loving person) should be the one who loves you right. But it isn't easy to see that kind of love is it? How do you tell someone you love that what they like to do (i.e. staying to party instead of doing an assg due in 3 days) isn't "right"?

I conclude that there is no easy way to have that kind of conversation, much like there isn't a right time to tell your significant other that it's time to part ways. Suffice to say that no matter where love eventually ends up, whether the right kind or too much, it always starts off the same.

Makes any sense?

On a more dull topic. I've been bumming around school for 3 weeks always feeling like I'm learning, but I'm not learning. Like I'm out of touch. I blame the winter break for making me slow in all my assignments. I feel like the answer is right there, but it takes so much just to churn it out. And its already week 4!!! Thus the cycle begins.

2009-07-26T20:55:00.002+10:00

The new semester starts tomorrow. It's my final semester. I don't know what to feel about it. I guess it's glad to know that the end is almost here. But it's daunting to think about what will come next.

On a separate topic, I wonder if we would do things differently if we knew that it was going to be the last. Would we have a greater emphasis to make peace? Would we make that additional effort to have restraint so that we won't fight? Would we make greater sacrifices? But I guess we'll never really know when is the last would we, otherwise we wouldn't have these thoughts.

2009-07-12T23:45:00.003+10:00

Results are out!!! I guess they are up to expectations. Question is whether my expectations are high enough for honours.

Looking at my results has got me thinking about the glass being half empty and half full.

Also, I've come to understand that in University, grades are a bit of a hush hush. Unlike in secondary school or college where everybody went round broadcasting their results. It's sort of taboo. But nobody likes to be rude, so the politically right answer is always "I'm just aiming to pass", or "Yea I think my results are good, I passed."

Got me thinking that since everyone knows that no one is going to reveal their grades so willingly, and the strategy is always to just say "pass", why do people still bother? I bet there is some economics to it.

2009-07-05T00:53:00.002+10:00

I'm always fascinated that I have so many MSN contacts, but it's only a few in that long list that matters to me. I recall the days of my youth where it was a "sad" thing to have a small contact list, but now a small list is all I need. It gets tiring having to catch up with more and more people.

I think I'll make it a point to say Hi to one person on my list whom I've not said Hi to in a long long time.

2009-06-29T12:50:00.002+10:00

"Once you pop, you can't stop. Unless you're the king of pop." -- Peter Helliar

I know it's rather insensitive to make a joke of someone's death, but this was just too good to resist? To be honest I never thought I'd live to see the day MJ dies. I guess that was pretty naive of me, since many great singers die before they should.

Anyway, exams are over!! I've been catching up on little nonya, the singapore hit drama series from last year. It is such a roller coaster ride of emotions, I often find myself shouting at the TV. But I guess it's a singaporean thing right? We all grew up watching those channel 8 7pm drama serials. I miss singapore.

2009-06-23T23:28:00.003+10:00

2 more days to the end of exams!! Why haven't I been prepared for this!! But I guess its a good thing. How have the exams been? Alright. I've sat for 3 papers already, and I have a hunch that I will not be doing as well as I expected, but I'm surprisingly not as depressed as I thought I would be because as it turns out, everyone had the same problem! I was commenting to my friend after today's paper, that it's the first exam in uni, that I've left at least 1 question blank in all exams so far. I wish it was because I ran out of time, but sadly it is because I didn't know how to answer the question. Singapore mentality is screaming just write something, but you have to know where to start at least.

Also, I have a strange feeling that the dean sent a memo to all lecturers to set this years papers harder, because they have not been anything like the past years. I guess its not like the lecturers have any obligation to set similar papers, hence I'm preparing for the worse on Thursday where I'm expecting a hard paper.

Having said that, there is some therapeutic feeling I have studying economics. It just flows. I don't know how to explain it, but I would be more than happy to explain bidding strategies in auctions. It's a sad life I know, but economics is interesting!! I was looking through the economic subjects offered to third year students, and I wished I could take it all. Well, not all I guess, but definitely more than my fair share. I mean how fun would it be to study regional economics, health economics, behavioral economics, environmental economics, social economics, labour economics, history of economic thought!!! Sadly, I'll just have to be satisfied with experimental economics and industrial economics. If only I didn't do a double major, I would expend all my modules on every economic subject available.

Just a random thought, the uni should award me extra marks for my motivation toward economics. Sadly, incentive compatibility constraint will say otherwise, and that my motivation to study economics is enough, such that the lecturers need not provide any incentives to induce me to want to study economics. So by this logic, I should reveal that I have no motivation to study economics, and get the uni to pay me to study!! Ok, back to studying.

2009-06-21T00:21:00.002+10:00

One more week of exams!! I'm quite thankful that my last two papers are the subjects that I'm more comfortable with. Though I must say that after studying all that finance, I found myself a bit thrown off economics when I came back. Does that make any sense at all??

The holidays are coming! And I can't wait, there are so many things to do. Trips to plans, musicals to see, things to clean. I've been putting it all off till the holidays, and I think it'll be interesting to see just how much of it all will be done during that one month.

And for everyone who thinks that life is boring, go to swap-bot.com and you will discover this whole new world of... well I don't know how to describe it, but I think it's pretty fascinating. Just a step in the door to my understanding of how girls can spend so much time on the computer/internet and not touch a computer game at all.

2009-06-16T11:37:00.002+10:00

I was reading the Straits Times, and they were covering a story on the latest cases of Swine flu in Singapore. I feel terribly sorry for the whole family whose day activities was broad casted to the nation. I know that the flu is contagious, but I think that the family should at least have the right to contact those whom they were in contact with, rather than have it plastered across the national paper.

Having said that, I can't believe how irresponsible that family is, taking the flight after showing symptoms (Singaporean mentality speaking). Does everybody think that they are immune to Swine? Like out of the millions of people what are the odds of getting the flu?? Then again, if it were me, I would have done the same thing. After all, job and school are so important in Singapore, it's hard to imagine anything that can ever change that. Even during SARS, and the schools were closed, people were out enjoying the free day. But that was not the aim of closing schools!!! It was to keep you home.

Sigh...

2009-06-14T22:20:00.002+10:00

Random thoughts going through my head whilst studying for corporate finance. Ok, maybe not so random, since they've been provoked by several stuff.

Swine flu!!! Melbourne!!! Sometimes I think that people have a higher chance of getting the Swine in a plane on the way back from Melbourne than staying in Melbourne itself. Which is why I'm not traveling anywhere on a plane this winter. Also, I don't think the government is too smart quarantining anyone the moment they show symptoms of the Swine. I may not have the Swine but after being quarantined for a fever and muscle ache with others who have the Swine, the end result maybe that I have the Swine. Wow, that's a lot of Swine for one sentence.

Graduation!!! I've been slogging my ass off for almost 2 and a half years now trying to get ready for honours, and when the crossroad is finally round the corner, I'm starting to think if that's what I really want. Of course right now I say that if I'm offered I will definitely take it, but whose to say that will remain the status quo in 6 months time? The thought of working is strangely enticing. Or maybe its the thought of study that has now become seemingly repulsing. I think I'll make a great honours student though, so Melb uni quickly offer me that place before you lose me to the working world!!!!!!!!

These are the effects of pressure studying for exams.

2009-06-07T00:19:00.002+10:00

I hate my neighbours. They don't understand that in Australia walls are made of some kind of wood that allows you to hear what goes on in the other apartment, and they play their music so loud!! Especially those people with those 5 speaker sound systems. Just my luck for getting such irritating neighbours. Or perhaps God is trying to teach me to love my neighbours in a very literal way.

On another note, swine flu!! You can't go anywhere without hearing it now. A cough, a sneeze, and you'll be given the stares. I'm surprised it took my parents this long to call and realise how bad the situation is here. I guess news travels slower than swine flu does. And, I'm shocked that the Melbourne state officials refuse to accept the fact the Melbourne is in bad shape, and criticise other states and countries who ask people returning from Melbourne to quarantine themselves. They want to blame it on dumb luck.

What can I say? I think I better start thinking of a plan in case someone in the exam hall coughs or sneezes near me.

2009-05-31T00:42:00.003+10:00

Names have been omitted from the following recount to protect the identities of both the tutor and the student.

Tutor thoughts..."Where is he. It's almost 15 minutes late!"
*Student arrives*

Student: Sorry I'm late.
Tutor: That's alright. I didn't too long anyway.
Student: So how've you been?
Tutor: Oh..Not too bad. A bit tired.
Student: Why?
Tutor: Had a long night last night.
Student: What did you do?
Tutor: Just chilled with some of my friends.

*Awkward silence. Tutor decides to be friendly too*

Tutor: So how have you been?
Student: Oh.. I'm tired as well. Had a long night as well.
Tutor: Chilling with friends too?
Student: Nah...listening to my girlfriend break up with me.

*Awkward silence. Tutor is lost*

Tutor: So, carrying on from where we left off, we first draw the game table as follows...

2009-05-22T00:33:00.000+10:00

Monday one day,
Tuesday two day,
Wednesday, when? huh? what day?
Thursday! The third day!