Thursday, June 08, 2006

The Conclusion - Academic Roundup

And yes, The final chapter, The last goodbye, adios.. memories that will be unforgettable. To me, it was an escape, a release from the stresses of Sillypore and NUS life.. An escape boat away from the boat.. and a semester of ultimate slackness and playtime.. one which u will nvr ever enjoy in your life ever again. Right now, I meet people, I catch up with friends n family, and they ask a simple question, "How's Finland? How's the SEP experience?" and i am unable to come up with a concise answer which sums up everything.. I mean "5 mths of travel and play and msn and gossip and chat and dota and soccer and movies and dramas" .. you do notice that study isnt in any of the above sentence..

Comparing study.. DEfinitely as what my finland seniors said.. the syllabus is only like 1/3 of what is covered in a typical NUS sem.. which is pretty true considering i only studied like 2 wks out of 5 mths? and despite the harrowing near misses and retaking of tests and last minute cramming, i still came out unscathed.. and totally undeserving.. i din even study a single bit of DSP or did i touch 2001 after the 1st reading.. Let me recount our modules and the memories that came with it..

Comm Networks - I only made it for like 3 lectures out of 20? and always tio suan by Javier who makes it a pt to come to class yet he still has to copy for exams.. duhz.. Other than the 2 projects wif xz.. and our collabaration wif the 2 mexicans Roberto and also bob.. we met otto for lunch a few times.. and tats all.. exam wise.. super strict marker.. they were commenting on how only a few 2 or 3 pple got grade 5.. and abt 30 to 40% failed? then the 2nd retest was the killer blow.. wif only 3 days to study and not to mention 3 other modules tat wk.. all 5 retestees failed except me.. i bet his feedback is going to be a furore indeed! Overall, i was pretty shocked that they followed the marking guide so strictly cos i really thought i passed 1st time round.. i guess finland doesnt look at crap and general idea..

EE Project - Dr J*** Karvo : he was simply too nice a prof.. such that we climb over his head.. ee2001 spore pple chk this out.. 6 meetings with prof and 2001 we got a grade 4.. for merely copy n pasting the 2 books he gave us to read about electric vehicles.. we juz paraphrase the books the go meeting and pretend to listen to him lecture.. notable moments were the vulgar note on the washing machine that he translated for me, jinfu sleeping right under his nose after lunch, we going to his meeting late every time and always going back wif not much improvement after our 1st draft.. ultimately, we still managed to smoke him and even tho' i think he knew, he juz bochap.. since we are exchange students..

Finnish 1A - Selja .. She was such a nice teacher.. her only fault was that she put her lessons in the morning which i confirm wun go la.. in the end, i din wanna map this module cos i was piahing dsp and comms that night n decided to give up n hopefully pass wif minimum effort but alas the class room not conducive for copying and also to copy finnish is soooo hard...language paper lei.. but after the hooha over hrm and comms, i lan lan have to map this so i went to retake and have to study finnish all over again.. some pple still take pic of my grade 0... haizz.. of cos the other sg pple were hao lianing their grade 4s and 5 and kj even got grade 5 for 1b despite complaining like mad... he REALLY is typical tchs boy..

DSP - i din study, i lucky, i hamtam the mcq and the minimum requirements for passing are really minimum .. such that the 2nd common test i only needed 3 marks out of 25 to pass.. but muz thank xz n kj for doing the course assignment.. heh.. i only used my contacts to get abishek's report as reference for our report.. so dun say i din contribute...

HRM - happening siah .. my idol kwang kai chun was supposed to print out the project after both of us finished it.. then he lent jinfu to copy our cover page and when the file was returned to him, the names on the cover page was hong jinfu and kkc.. which means i din do the project at all.. and my credibility was in doubt when i go n beg for leniency for the exam.. and i cant believe how strict and unbendy they are.. only one mark and they refuse to give.. and my essay marks alr can let me pass liao.. in the end.. i lan lan last wk hafta study all over again and take a special exam TOGETHER with my DC paper.. well this was supposed to be a breeze.. 3 lec diaries, one project and 200 pgs of readings.. grade 3 in the end..

Meeting and Negotiations - pASS, fail module based on attendance.. attend 14 out of 18 lessons n u pass! i attended abt 10 only but thru meeting the lecturer and negotiating wif him.. i passed! heh.. aint tat the aim of the course? easy module.. no prep.. juz tat the lesson hours were long.. mon to wed .. 2 hr 15 min each.. learn how to chair meetings.. role playing etc.. din help tat i was only sg person in class.. so i kinda stood out when i was travelling and wasnt present.. and it was kinda basic english elementary stuff.. more suited for those non english speaking pple.. the spaniards, finnish n china pple sure did benefit from the classes.. for me, i merely needed the credits..

Digital Control - i did most of asssignments but in the end i juz gave this up cos' i had to make a choice between hrm and this.. kinda wasted cos i was doing some assignments consistently.. but oh wellz.. sacrifices have to be made.. jinfu is king in this module.. he really master tactician..

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Copenhagen, Lyndby, Denmark 26th to 30th April

Many people say it's the company that matter when you are travelling, not the place itself.. and it was in denmark where there were so many lovely companions!! The final instalment of my trips before i can finally sum up my finland thoughts..

Actually i came back from dublin and spent one night in denmark and then after spending one day in helsinki, i flew back to copenhagen AGAIN just so that i could attend my 2 classes and wouldnt fail my meeting and negotiations course which is attendance based. And hence, i was a frequent flier that week.. but i was well received by my uncle patrick who treated us to a superb chinese meal and DROVE us around copenhagen..
Dinner at Chinese restaurant, Posing at the FAMED LITTLE mermaid ( it is juz a LITTLE statue at the rocks), In Tivoli Garden, the amusement park, In Nvhavn , the boat quay, pub area of cph where we bought coffee instd of beer and was subject to many stares and there was this drunk danish fat gal who 搭讪 jenny


Hans Andersen which is the icon of denmark along wif the little mermaid , tivoli rides , and cph at night ..

Just a little something abt Tivoli Gardens.. it is very chinese based theme.. u can see chinese words around and pavilions and ponds giving u an unauthentic chinese feel.. we took the famous drop, forgot how many metres liao but damn shiok.. heart jump, and of cos all the dizzy rollercoaster rides.. but basically very limited variety of scary, heart thumping rides and the famous one was closed then.. the one high high up 40 storey and throw u round n round one.. if sl or xz or alvin or zm go, pls try tat one for me n tell me wad it is like..





The Fred****** castle and the royal palace square


KSY, the apple of my auntie eye... he came to tivoli for 10 mins and left such a huge impression wif his witty lines.. he just said one line cos he walked thru the gantry w/o paying (fyi entry w/o rides cost abt 20 sgd and we bought the all rides pass for 40sgd.. anyway my auntie being gold member of tivoli had free entry for us and a discounted all rides pass for us too :) ).. and my yi po ask him how he come in then he made the action "走进来" lor.. and my aunt say he is a very Confident man and 很可爱,又会讲话,不像我,那么静。。 i spend one whole day wif them cannot make impression, ksy come 10 mins and leave such an imprint.. 不愧是 mr funny guy.. this is him feeling "used" cos we ask him come to bring our pressie for auntie.. the cognac.. and he thought he was coming to eat free abalone and free chinese dinner cos my uncle treated us the previous day! look at him acting 可怜 ..
and presenting the denmark trains which are so high tech.. will show distance to destination by using dots.. and 2) the bear i won which has a unique name.. i won my auntie in the carnival games by hitting animal that come out of hole in fastest time and finally BACK to lyndby and the famous red containers that all of them stay in.. machiam construction worker..


This is where i spent most of my time in denmark.. thrashing ksy in puzzle fighter, going for their classes, cooking, nuaing, sleeping, watching champions league, slamming the loud container door.. ksy shouting across t to U, washig clothes, walking to storecenter and back.. i became a denmark pro.. amy n jenny came i went to fetch.. i arrive in cph i go myself to lyndby independantly.. the best was me n ksy going to databar 341 in the wee hours of the night juz to dota.. hahahah then come back the time alr morning liao.. interesting stories to note were how 7 bananas cost more than 8 bananas, how i had to take queue number to buy bread, the interesting saga over whether to go LEGOLAND, how to make pasta from 1st principle, n of cos how we concocted plots to surprise the pple on my earlier visit to denmark.. and so this sums up denmark i think... the food was ex but we cooked most of the time.. the poor guest had to cook instant mee for them while they piah their project, and had to "marinate" the imba chicken for andrugrace.. and had to prepare the lemon chicken.. while yh anihow whack one nice sauce wif onions n soya sauce.. another nua trip where i realli din get out much... but it was realli FUN! living in containers was satisfying for me!

Friday, May 26, 2006

Marching Bands of Manhattan - death cab for cutie

Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
but while you debate half empty or half full
it slowly rises your love is gonna drown

Sunday, May 21, 2006

After a long night of choosing FYP, i happened to glance at my MSN and saw a war of poems going on. Being the much deprived literature freak, i joined in.. pls look at http://abelindenmark.blogspot.com/2006/05/copycats.html and also linked to grace's blog to see our war of words.. its damn funny la..

Anyway i m back in Spore.. and look at my food foraging!

Things i ate on the 1st night when i came back!! FS teh tarik, prata, Ramly burger, taiwan sausage, famous chicken chop fried rice from my fave stall! summore got pasar malam in clementi!

And cos' i brought forward my flight due to my passport and my lingering hope of VIP, it seems that I was to be rewarded wif an ongoing renovation of the kitchens and toilet in my house.. damn sian la.. dusty, slping wif cement, lucky i wasnt ard when there was only a hose to bathe wif.. but it explains why i m still in finland time.. cos mi parents slp in mi room in the night while i m online and i slp in the day til 5 pm..






And so it began, the civilian sg conversion course.. no more room 301 to nua in.. the memories of finland will come soon.. when i stop procrastinating..

http://copenheng.blogspot.com/2006/05/malmo-dublin-tivoli.html has done a short little writeup on the dublin and the denmark trip which i have yet to get down to doing.. anyway, the quote of the day in dublin went to andru the man.. in the lovely gardens in dublin, where we were all siestaing n slping.. and andru BENT over to take a close up pic of a lovely little flower which contrasted greatly with What he showed us.. ie his butt crack was in full view of the 5 of us including nordic queen who was gazingintently.. as such, we suaned him.. but andru tot he was being teased for being too sentimental n retorted.. Eh it is a picture postcard view what... Indeed it was, this postcard of the crack would liken those of the picturesque Grand Canyon..

Well Dublin would basically be the Trinity College and sadly we were unable to make it for the Wild Wicklow tours despite getting onto the tour bus already.. dammit.. so close yet so far.. but we were satisfied wif our trip to Dalkey.. the rich man's area, people can literally build castles in that area.. a lotta fir poses


pics @ dublinia which we din go in, at st gogarty pub and at this crepe place we ate.. i guess that's all for dublin.. pub pics and others in my comp!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

London Revisited!!

I just watched V for Vendetta at Prikala Airport(Tampere) while waiting for my flight to London(how apt!) and bollocks, be damned to those who do not like it! haha i cant believe jiali n mun had to wait for 1 wk before watching part b of this show which i sent them! General overview is that it is a smashing good show, the language and dialogue are simply titillating, with references to macbeth and olden english plays.. I'm sure those who know me will know how bombastic words simply make me orgase.. and when they are stringed in as sentence.. Vicissitudes, voracious, vociferous.. in any case, natalie portman is simply ravishing(brains n beauty n guts!) The ending was kinda expected esp since i alr read some chio gal blog that big ben was going to be blown up.. will ya conform to society or r u willing to discover who u realli are.. mmmmz

oh remember remember the 19th of May.. the day i will leave finland for sg, its going to be really sad.. but before tat, i m yet to update on my trip to dublin and to denmark and also spring in helsinki(exam time and sports!).. But here i m in london.. and boy am i being extravagant on my last trip in europe! Just look at the meals i have been having the past 2 days!

Me in wenbin n zhenhao house for the night! Woon kwong was visiting london for his one mth stint of vip on tat day too!

And then us in this japanese restaurant mitako in chinatown for a HUGE portion of katsu don in curry/teriyaki sauce (6.50P)


And then the meal at Nandos! wif joo cindy sara n swep

and we went to harrods which was SUPER big and went toy section to look at cute cute toys and harrods tea n biscuits..
And not forgetting our 14P dim sum lunch @ China experience which grace recommended. Realli good! ate the ja jian mian or dunno wat mian tat jen say nice..then she keep making fun of my poor knowledge in chinese culture.. all the different kinds of chinese tea she so pro.. n the mian also..

As ya can see, we ordered siew mai, peking ravioli in chilli sauce which tasted like chee chong fun, la mian, and crispy seafood and egg rolls.. we both simultaneously said this roll no egg and i said this roll no seafood.. diaoz.. so we concluded that one roll is crispy egg and one roll is crispy seafood..somehow eva will be better at jiao ing dim sum.. cos i dunno all the chinese names.. i forgot to order har gao lor. (after tat, she still laff at my 安平泰国 cos i pronouced it the wrong way on the china town sign.. argh) but it was pretty dumb indeed .. cos must read right from left..

Dinner was THE FAMOUS BAYSWATER ROAST DUCK... IT IS SUPER NICE LA.. really delicious.. go london have to try.. the sauce is realli imba.. but a bit salty tho', and we also ordered lamb briskets.. Four Seasons duck realli live up to its name.. but 23.20 P la.. sob sob

. and the photo whoring at starbucks wif our coffee n creme while waiting for cindy n the rest to arrive.. fyi cindy's flight was delayed one day cos British airways had overwhelming demand.. so to compensate, she was given one nite stay in Hilton wif meals plus 25o P .. damn good la.. 750 sgd to spend for one day of inconvenience.. altho poor joo had to wait like a fool in the airport ..




And at night, the much hyped about phantom of the opera held at the her majesty theatre! The set changes were fantastic, voices were great, actresses were ugly.. carlotta was this fat and ugly woman but her soprano voice was very good! at least christine daae had the cutesy voice .. but the songs were so familiar.. but then we realli paid too much ifeel, cos we were sitting in the stall seats.. Price withheld... too sad to say le.. nvr watching any more musicals this year liao..

In short, places covered during this 2nd trip: British library, BT tower, THE GLORIOUS FOOD, POTO, Oxford Street, Harrods, Hyde Park, Covent Garden(which is the uk version of lau pa sat n they had a malaysia week theme there when we went there too! so qiao!), probably gg camden and cambridge later on today.. later also got champ league final.. woots .. gg wif wb n zh n de whole dota gang to british pub to watch probably

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

SPRING!! and the chance to make

In the midst of this damn xiong exam week( i had a paper last fri, one this morning, 2 coming on thurs and one on fri), i shall not pass up the chance to make money. After "damn lucky"赌神kaijun sold his bonus ticket which all of us got for participating in the overnite soccer tourney, to this guy for 15 euros AND subsequently lost 30 euros on blackjack later that night in the club , i decided to post online the offer to my esn grp and my laestc grp. And Walaa.. this morning i went for my exam and when i got back at 930 am.. i had 3 missed calls.. this guy was calling desperately to get the ticket.. then during lunch at main b, this spanish gal set an appt to meet me to get the ticket

She was quite pretty and then this guy was her chaperon to make sure that me dun cheat her.. so everything went well until the payment part.. the gal was abt to pay me already when this guy suddenly chu the oldest trick in the book...

"Hey, i only have 10 E in my wallet now, i need to go ATM and withdraw"
"Ok, i wait here." Silently thinking u think i dumb ah.. 2 of u dun have 15 euros meh, wanna bluff me come up wif better line.. u trying to fool master trickster lei..
"actually is 10 euroes enuff? after all, i think you got the ticket free of charge right?"
"well, if you dun want it, i have other offers for it and my price is still 15 euro as quoted. its a gd deal alr cos a normal cabin is 100 over euros"
" blah blah, calculating how much it is for a viking line member to get a cabin blah blah"

obviously my deal is still much cheaper, so i told him that he can buy from viking line member then.. hiaz.. if the guy not tat guai lan, i would have given pretty spanish gal for free.. n ask if i can be in the cabin too.. Zm n kj also say chio lor..

But saga not over yet.. in the library while studying, i received 3 calls abt the ticket.. so i think i gg to sell jf n zm ones too.. and then when i checked my email after tat.. i had 7 emails asking for it..

"hi,It is illegal to sell or buy bonuskorti, otherwise i have dozen of them aswell.Mika "

Hi Mervyn,I am interested in those tickets since my family is going totake a visit at me in the next few days. So, how much are4 tickets alltogether? Does this cheap-ticket opportunity stillexist?Cheers,Tamás

Hi Zhenya,>>Luismi has received this email this morning, maybe it is interesting.>>Maybe you can phone and ask this person about the tickets, you know my>fucking english... The thing would be to ask if the tickets have been>just sold or not, because a lot of people have received this>email...So please if you can phone as soon as possible to ask...


you can imagine pple forwarding to pple and me receiving more emails.. i shd have asked for more money.. maybe 30 euro.. and also got sore pple like mika.. dunno how to take initiative to sell then dun kaobei..

anyway, i meeting another buyer tmrw afternoon and let me present SPRING IN HELSINKI... DAMN hot.. damn nice weather.. like sg like tat.. no more wintry gloom.. and people even study outside in the sun n suntan n study at the same time.. we wanted to do the same today too.. so cool! check out the tents, and pple picnicking in the grass!


and the field is GREEN.. later going tapiola to play field soccer on artificial turf!!! damn shuang.. hope it turns out well .. cos the field not confirmed.. then i jio roberto n his frens le.. and also got ask the spanish rayco.. prayz .. later all cannot play i kena.. will be interesting to see sg wif spanish wif mexicans and chowyang's chinese frens!!