Whew I've been out quite a bit these two days. Just been hanging out in the city with Alastair, which is, in itself, a rather entertaining thing to do. Met some of Alastair's friends, and we got him a man bag, Ermenegildo Zegna's Intenso (which I thought was an awesome choice) and a myriad of other random things...

Saw the movie The Darjeeling Limited, which I reckon is a pretty good one to watch. Its the sort of movie that makes me smile a little at the end, you know? Definitely worth watching. Now all I have to do is entertain myself for tonight, go out and have fun tomorrow, then I'm off for the New Year's!!! YAY!

Then, back to Auckland, where I'll be starting summer school the week after... How sad... Ah well. It was a holiday well-spent, and I'm only going into a partial holiday mode from total holiday mode anyway...

I'm So Much Cooler Online

Alright, I don't know who's seen this music video, Online by country singer Brad Paisley. Probably no one, presumably. I don't normally listen to country, but this guy's not half bad. Go check it out. Seriously. I think the video's funny as.

See, Sandra.. You're Not Weird.

This post is a reply to Sandra's post: Obsessions Of A 19 Year Old.
Here you go Sandra. Just for you... the confessional of an 18 year old regarding his many obsessions throughout the year 2007:

• Fresh Fragrances. Oh. My. God. I must have gone insane just wanting to buy as many bottles of those types of fragrances then. (Good thing I didn't). Unfortunately I didn't have enough resources on hand then, which I guess helped, otherwise all my fragrances would have a fresh smell.
• Woody/Oriental/Aromatic, ie. not fresh fragrances. Yes, this is my current phase. I think I'm going insane.
• Staring into people's eyes. And getting lost in blue, green or deep ones. Regardless of the person's gender. Yes, it disturbs people, but I always get lost in people's eyes if they've got some depth to it. Brown ones work too. Black's too reflective.
  
• Designer Goods. Alright, who hasn't had this obsession? Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Nicole Farhi, Boss, the list of brands were endless. Whew, thankfully I've toned down before I did too much damage.
• Winter Coats. Yes, I obsessed over finding the perfect coat for ages, before I found out that the one I wanted would never come to Australia, much less NZ. I was plunged into gloom for 2 weeks.
• Unadon! Yes, Sandra, I, too was guilty of this crazy addictive dish.
• Cafe lattes. Don't think I'm over this one yet. For very obvious reasons. Very very very obvious reasons. Can you resist?
  
• Reading people's blogs off Joon Hui's overseer. I still do this. Crazily enough.
• Facebook. How this thing was ever addictive I have no clue... But it seriously occupied my time. So much time...
• Downloading games. Even though I don't play them. Don't ask, I sorta hoard it for no reason.
• Drinking. Yeah, all those times I spent at the student bar, Shadows... I don't think I'm that much of a drinker now, but I still enjoy drinking and stuff. Just not to the extent that I did before. Which was... insane...
• Competing with Richard at CHEMMAT. Which ended with me tying with him. Gah.
• Talking to as many people (including getting to know them) in the Engineering Faculty. I think my count is 100 or so out of the 600 1st years... Add a smattering of second years (30), 4 3rd years, and 6 4th years...
• Helping as many people out in the Engineering Faculty. Which I got very very very very sick of after the 3985250254th time when some idiot would come up to me and ask a very stupid question, such as: "But why do we use the Thevenin voltage?" GAH!!! Even worse were the programming questions. *shudder*
• Buying clothes that fit a urban casual style. Yes, I'm still in this phase, although I think I'm currently in the phase of...
• Buying clothes for a summer style. Haha, I'm obsessed.
• Going to shop for clothes. I don't necessarily buy clothes, but I like to keep up to date with NZ fashion.
• Reading magazines along the likes of ARENA, and Esquires. Essentially, men's magazines.

There are probably way more obsessions, but I can't remember them all. I know some of them are rather mundane, but the point is, I have my many obsessions too. Right, Sandra?

I'm thinking that I made a right choice in buying this bottle of gin. This makes quite a good Gin & Tonic drink I reckon, or then again, I could be just killing it by using the non-conventional gin. I'm having Bombay Sapphire gin with Schweppes Tonic Water, and its good..... Its sort of a good way to sit down, relax, and have a wind down to the day I figure.

Anyway, Boxing Day sales I found to be a little bit of a letdown here. Sad, but true. There just wasn't as many things as I'd hoped, and it seemed well... empty in some places. Not that it really stopped me from getting 3 t-shirts, but it wasn't really like an "OMG I must have this" moment either.

Or maybe I'm expecting too much again. Haha. Yay, going to hot springs on Jan 4th, the supposed date when my summer school commences (although, I, don't get lectures till the 7th, so its all good. Besides, I would have skipped lectures to go anyway). And, added
to that, I'm going away for the New Year's! (I think. I really do need to double check) Well. I guess I'll be missing out on gym time and all, but...... gym's practically closed till the 3rd anyway. Uhm, maybe not closed, but its got irregular hours and stuff. Like I can wake up at 8 to get to gym at 9 on a holiday anyway.

P/S: I just noticed that my post count has practically doubled every year. Interesting trend huh? Well, I thought so anyway.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Alright, this is sort of a lazy post. Well, yeah, I was roused from my sleep earlier than usual, and I've been out till now... So I'm gonna catch up on precious sleep and nap for the rest of the afternoon maybe...

Merry Christmas again!

They're showing Love Actually on TV!!! What a Christmas-y movie!!! Fun fun times to be had. I just heard Norah Jones' "Turn Me On" in that movie too.

Man, this brings back memories of Norah Jones music...

Its Christmas tomorrow!!! And I nearly got run over by some kid on his bike =( Crazy little bugger.

Alright, I know I sound incredibly silly, but I like my computer to have certain aesthetic touches to it. And well, I don't exactly like the Flip 3D option that Windows Vista has (Sorry Microsoft, but I really don't). I actually like the Mac look.

Believe it or not, I actually wouldn't mind owning a Mac, were it not for the fact that a lot of software (namely games) aren't supported by Mac's OSX. I love their aesthetics though. Especially their Exposé feature. Let's just say I'm suffering a case of envy.

I got a Windows version of it, called My Exposé. Do try it out if you're as silly as me...

Hooooooooook... hook me up..

Yes, if I didn't keep hearing this song by The Veronicas, I wouldn't be stuck on it. Oh well.

Anywhere is good enough,
Hook me up.

Finally all done.

Yes, I managed to get all my enrolment details finished finally. Which means I have much less to worry about. Well, I guess I still need to sort out my choice of subject to go into a blank slot in second semester, but that has to wait, since well... I need to discuss with the lecturers for third year subjects if I can take their courses (even with a clash).

Haha, suddenly remembered something. I saw my undergraduate dean today, and she was being taught emoticons by the IT guy. Imagine that! Some relatively old lady being taught a smiley face :-) I was thoroughly amused. And she seemed so suprised when the website accepted her smiley and converted it into an emoticon.

On another random note, I've been wondering if I look Korean. People keep thinking I'm Korean. In Melbourne I had random Koreans approaching me and speaking to me in Korean. Then I tell them I can't speak a word of it, and that I'm not even Korean, and they look all suprised at me. Same here in Auckland too. I walk into some Korean restaurant (fine, I guess that's more explainable) and I get spoken to in Korean. Although, I don't see them doing that to all the other Asians that walk in. What's with that? I don't think I look Korean!!!

I'm in....

Biomedical Engineering!!! YAY!!! Finally got it back... after I got far too impatient waiting for the mailman and decided to email the Associate Dean instead. I'm in, I'm in, I'm in!!!

Alright, ciao. I can fully relax now.

Worry worry worry...

Well, not exactly worry. More like anxiety, but gah. Screw the differences.

The engineering specialisation results have been mailed out today, but its not in my mailbox yet! ARGH!!! I want it already! All sorts of unreal scenarios are actually playing out in my head, even though I know I can resolve this easily by just calling them or emailing them tomorrow. Maybe I'll get it tomorrow.

I just want it back!!! *crosses fingers* Hopefully I got into Biomedical Engineering... Although I guess Engineering Science ain't so bad either.... Conflicted. Oh no!!!!

Fox 101.9FM and MYERS

I knew that being in Melbourne would impart some random habits on me in some form or another. And here is one of its manifestations. I have started listening to The Fox, which they self-declare as the best radio channel in Melbourne. Well, I guess if they host Hamish and Andy, they must be good. Hamish and Andy appear regularly on an Australian talk show, Rove, for those who aren't familiar. Bloody entertaining show too.

Apart from that, I remembered something that happened while I was back in Melbourne. I got a job offer at MYERS, some departmental store that stocks clothes, fragrances, etc. Well, Ronald can testify for me, since he was there with me too. I think the senior staff on duty there was sort of impressed that I knew stuff about fragrances, and well, it was sorta busy round there, so I reckon they did need more people. Sadly, I had to decline, since well, I can't legally work in Australia. Oh well, its sorta flattering to know that I was so "knowledgeable" that someone wanted to hire me. If only this would occur in NZ too. Sigh.

I'm BACKKKK

Should probably have posted this yesterday, but I was completely tired from that stupid early flight which required me to wake up at like 5 in the morning.

Melbourne is an awesome place. Like seriously, I really like it. The city is sprawling with malls and good places to eat. I never even got to finish going to all the shopping places before I hit the spending limit I imposed on myself. Hell, I probably spent almost all of it going to Chapel St.

Public transport there is like heaven compared to what we have here in Auckland. Thats one thing I definitely want. And their malls and brands. Sigh, its so much cheaper there than here. All those clothes...

I would have blogged while I was there, but well... wasn't home much, and when I was home, it was difficult to get hold of the computer. Heh, oh well. Melbourne's definitely less green than Auckland is, but I reckon thats because of the water restriction rules.

Sadly, I was staying all the way at Berwick, which is basically the end of the world as Melbourne people would know it (3rd last stop on the Pakenham line, 1 hour to the city by train), so traveling time ate into a lot of my free time. I wanted to go to the beach too, but I never did find the time, and Adil and Dan were kinda late wakers. Seriously, they would wake up like 3 hours after I got up, sometimes even 5 if I didn't wake them up.

At any rate, I kinda forgot most of the things I wanted to say. Oh, Melbourne has got too many flies. Annoying little buggers, those things. I walk out and at least 6 attack my face. Bah.

Alright, I'm off then.

Morality

I just recently read this article at TIME.com about morality. Its actually quite an enlightening read. Seriously, if you've got the time, why not read it?

What Makes Us Moral?

Summer School

Well, I've decided - I'm doing summer school. Why?

Well... I guess it didn't take me much to see where Richie was coming from. He wants to do ACCTG 101 (Accounting, obviously), then carry on to do ACCTG 102, and finally a finance paper. Not that it counts for any engineering credits, but the benefits are there.

Knowledge of the economic world, including financial risk investments (and so on and so forth) will be helpful, especially in the engineering world. After all, engineering is about selling your ideas to customers, so why not?

Also, I predict that I shall be genuinely bored and not working during these holidays, so why not do something useful apart from enjoying myself the whole time?

Only 1 left...

Wow, the results must have just all come in or something. Everything is back except for Philosophy, which I don't really care about as long as I pass. My results so far are...

A+ for CHEMMAT 121 (Materials Science) and ENGGEN 131 (Software Computation)
A for ELECTENG 101 (Electronic and Digital Systems)
A- for ENGGEN 204 (Technical Communication)

A little gutted about not getting A+ for ELECTENG eh, but I guess it was expected since I made a few mistakes throughout the paper. Ah well, shame on me. Marcy got straight A+'s this time for his core subjects. Damn him, hehe. Alastair got straight B+'s I think.

Now all thats left is to wait till Dec 17th, when my specialisation gets realised. Sigh, I want it back, goddamnit.

2 down, 3 to go...

Results are partially out, and I've got........

A+ for CHEMMAT 121!!! WOOOOOOHOO! and...
A- for ENGGEN 204 ie, Technical Communication for Engineers

A+ for CHEMMAT was beyond my expectations. I thought I might have made a bit too many mistakes, but this is good! Although, for technical communication, I did expect better. I mean, I got a friggin' 86.5% for the whole thing, and I got an A-?!?! WTF? Ah well.

I hope I did alright for the other subjects. Don't care too much for Philosophy, but I want my electrical and programming ones back.

Lunch at Alastair's

Heh, yeah, went for lunch at Alastair's today. I swear this dude has this habit of switching my name round now. He called me Damian when I got into the car, then referred to me as Gabriel to his mum on the phone.

Anyway, yeah. It was rather fun I must say. He cooked up some teriyaki beef and udon noodles, and well, I guess I helped, a little. Lost my touch with flipping things like vegetables on a pan, so I kinda sucked. For something he got over the net, it wasn't too bad after all. I must say I was rather impressed, actually.

We even played some chess while he played some of his recent dabblings in electronica. It was sorta cool to chill to, I guess, while we played chess. He beat me the first time, but I got him the next time. I guess we both play kinda similarly, without a long-term plan in sight.

Then I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang again, or rather, I saw it again, and he watched it for the first time. From my viewpoint, not a bad movie this time round. Funny dialogue, interesting plot. Good. Then he sent me back, since he had to work. Not a bad way to spend the day I reckon.

Sore...

I never thought spending the day at the beach playing with the frisbee at the beach would be so tiring. Well, fine, walking in sludgy, I mean wet, sand as well.

Went for a barbeque at the beach yesterday, with like Arnold, Dan, Nithin, Allan, Laura, Carol, Paul, and I forgot the rest of their names... Oops. The weather was absolutely good, with my only complaint being that it was sometimes not sunny enough. And as usual, beaches directly in Auckland suck. Probably the only exceptions being the North Shore and Mission Bay, but meh, I doubt any of us could be bothered going there...

It was fun, regardless. We tried to go out to the rocks which proved impossible, since well, the way there was to swim across a narrow stream, and well, the mud/sand was basically some sort of sludgy quicksand, as Allan soon found himself up to his knees in mud, heh. Did I mention that the barnacles and shells are quite sharp at times? And slippery too.

I have no idea why, though, but my calves and lower torso is sorta sore. I don't remember running around that much too.... Ah well.

It'd be fun to do that again, except that the weather today is absolutely crappy. I guess we're not fully into summer yet...

Uhh... WHAT?

An honestly WTF moment when I saw this:

Man 'marries' dog to beat curse

I mean, seriously. Ok, fine, I guess people all have customs, but this is beyond bizarre to me.

to come of age...

I have learnt that sometimes it is good to call people and keep in touch with them, even when it seems like you don't know them well. Sometimes, throughout the progression of the year, you have gotten to know them well enough. Or even if you haven't, who says that you cannot get to be better friends with them?

However, I have also learnt that sometimes, you must choose who you invest your time in. A sad truth, but not every potential friend you can keep in touch with, nor can you have everyone as a close friend. Time never is on your side, and compromise is a necessity.

Ever feel like time itself rushes so quickly, so inexorably that you feel left behind? Like a tide washing you out to the ocean, leaving you stranded amongst the great blue, without the support of familiarity? Well, I guess its only fair that everyone would feel this way from time to time.

How about those moments when time itself slows to a crawl, never seeming to move? I don't think I've experienced that for years. I think I'd wish to go back to those days. The times when life was much simpler. When everything was so short, so fast. But then again, in those days, even there were days of time zipping by, too fast to be remembered.

I dislike the fact that I don't have enough time for everything, but I enjoy the rush of doing everything I can, enjoying what is new and old. I fear that it may all end too quickly for me though, and I will be left behind as the tide washes me onto the shore, stranded.

So for now, I will write this into a moment in time, one of the landmarks, one of the breadcrumbs marking my trail. At least, even if I cannot separate my experiences into discrete parts, I will have this as a reference, something concrete in a sea of abstract thought, a thread in the woven pattern. And who knows, perhaps I will remember this little place where I once chronicled my thoughts, years ago, in a world of my own that I sought to conquer.

The mind coming of age is such a hard ordeal.

And no sooner did I declare it as summer for myself, then did the weather decide to intervene and let down showers. Stupid cold showers. Which wasn't so bad since I managed to get home and evade it before it got me. Whew.

Talk about irony.

My goals for this week:
1) Go to gym actively
2) Get my blood test done and over with
3) Pick up my ticket to Melbourne
4) Listen to Jonny Lang's albums. Currently finished "Wander This World", which is thoroughly awesome as blues music. Do try it out.
5) Attempt to spend less, note LESS, not nothing, money on "unnecessary" food and snacks ><

P/S: Informal exam results should be out in 10-ish days!!! *panics and runs into a tree*. In the not so distant future, my specialisation allocations will be released on December 17th. *fingers crossed*

Summer is here, finally...

Its definitely summer. My ring got completely stuck to my finger, well, not really, more like I couldn't take it off, which was something I could always do till today. Had to resort to using cold water, yes cold water, and no, my finger does not fatten miraculously overnight.

How else do I know its summer? Well, plainly for the few reasons below other than my ring:
i) Its hot, like freakin' hot. So hot that I was almost wanting to go out and get a nice tan. Which I didn't do, but I did go to Newmarket ^^
ii) Newmarket has got hot chicks wearing shorts again. Its that time of the year once more. Bring on the summer!
iii) I'm feeling bored, as I do when summer just starts.

So, yes, summer has finally begun. Hurrah for the summer!

My Life's Constants Are...

(Blogger's note: Damn you Sandra, you made this post before I did =P. Ah well, I'll just do it anyway.)

Boredom. Alright, its not like I'm bored 24/7, but... well, I don't actually go out all the time with friends. I can be almost anti-social during the holidays sometimes, and even if I'm not, I have a tendency to be bored on any day I'm not doing anything. But hey, I guess I just can't occupy my time by myself.

Drifting. I don't mean the car boy-racer sort. I mean the sort of drifting you get when you finally look back and realise that you've wandered off, leaving another group of friends behind. Or maybe it was mutual. I guess its a bad thing for me, but sometimes I'm far too prone to letting this happen. Which leads to...

Reunions. There are always long, long periods that go by without me meeting some of my friends, purely because we belong to different social circles. So obviously, there'll be reunions. Strangely enough, farewells aren't as constant I guess. Purely because I never say goodbye. There's something too finite about farewells, and I guess I hate the tone of finality. I've never been one for goodbyes.

Coffee. This has become a ritual for me almost, to just enjoy a cup of coffee and sit down and have maybe a cake or cookie with it. Or to go to a cafe and relax by myself.

Gym. If I didn't go, I'd be bored mindless for an extra 6 to 10 hours a week. Its quite fun, heading down to campus, gym-ming, then spending time in town for a bit.

Not alcohol. Contrary to what people may think or otherwise suggest, I'm hardly an alcoholic. I don't necessarily binge-drink, neither do I constantly drink. Heh, I think my grades would slip if I tried that. Or maybe I might make myself stupid if I did it.

Horrible, horrible weather

Gah! I'm not liking the weather at the moment. Yesterday it was so hot that I got a headache and had to interrupt my gym session early due to that head pounding pain. And today it just keeps raining and raining and raining. Lovely. Absolutely lovely. Its supposed to be summer, and the weather's still so un-summery. More like blasted is what it is.

Waiting for the summer, the long long idyllic summer. Where I will just spend my days in the unending sunshine. To doze at the seaside, smell the sea breeze, and hear the waves crashing. I wanna go to the beach, damnit!

So much for responsibility

I don't think I'm a very responsible friend... Heh.

Went to watch Resident Evil 3 with Dan and Chris last night, then Chris went home after... Leaving me and Dan to go to... Shadows! Yes, I thought I'd take him there since he'd never gone there before. Bad idea. Well, okay, it was a bad idea at the end.

It started off alright. We got a jug of beer each, I downed mine pretty quick, and Dan tried to keep up. I guess that was his first mistake. My mistake was not stopping him. We got another jug almost immediately. I downed it in a moderate amount of time, and Dan still tried to keep up.

I admit that he got pretty drunk at this stage, which I couldn't really pick up on though. He only just seemed tipsy to me, which I guess I was at fault for. And I was on the way to being tipsy myself, so I kinda lost my inhibitions on restraining myself and Dan for drinking too much. My second mistake. We managed to walk around for a bit before returning to Shadz. Then it got worse. We both took yet another jug, then I got him a mixed drink - apple flavoured with hardly a taste of alcohol - and myself a martini. I think that was far too much for him to handle. He was completely smashed... I guess I was too much to an extent, since it was all in like 2 hours or less. Like severe binge drinking here...

Somehow, he managed to get on the bus, which I reckon might have been another mistake. He managed to get home and into bed. What he forgot was to spew in the toilet/sink. He did so sometime in the night, getting himself covered in vomit. Ew Ew Ew. Luckily I wasn't there, but I did get a text at 6am telling me of it, enclosed with a promise to never drink again. Oh dear. And that was his first time getting that drunk too. Ah well, he'll be back. I remember doing the same thing, the vow, not the spewing on myself, and I'm still drinking. Heh.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Now that I have your attention... ITS OVER!!!!

MY EXAMS ARE OFFICIALLY OVER!!! OVVVVVVVVERRRRRRRRRR!

That's right, I'M FREE! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!

All that's left is to wait for my results and hope and pray that I get into Biomedical Engineering. Well, there's always Engineering Science for me anyway =)

Harry Enfield

Alright, guys, if you've never heard of this guy, well neither had I. Until Alastair told me to search some stuff up. Its sooooo crack up! I mean like hey, its just fully awesome stuff. Go check out the following by Harry Enfield:

Women, Keep Your Virtue

Women, Don't Drive

Women, Know Your Limits

The Conjugal Rights Guide

Methods of Self Defence

Frightening Diseases of the Mind

Enjoy.

Just an Ethiopian joke...

I suddenly remembered a joke David told quite a few weeks back... Well, here goes:


Have you ever had Ethiopian cuisine?





No? Well, neither have they.



P/S: I got a haircut!!! It feels so nice to have short, cropped hair again. Apparently, I look almost, "almost" (which I thought was silly), like some army dude with my jacket today. Hah!

38 Things Unraveled

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.
Richard - I can't remember what about though.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Sleeping - I had to rest up for my exam in the afternoon.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Talking on the phone to Mihailo.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
Was in my self-announced last year of high school. Nothing very unusual happened.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
Damnit!

6. How many beverages have you had today?
Uhm, Powerade, FreshUp, milk tea... 3 I guess?

7. What colour is your hairbrush?
Don't own one... Don't even have a comb.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Food, which was gooood.

9. Where were you last night?
Home, chillin' and semi-studying.

10. What colour is your front door?
White, its painted wood.

11. Where do you keep your change?
In the pocket of my jeans, my wallet has no change pouch.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Cloudy, overcast with a little sun. Kind of nice and cool.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavour?
Chocolate or vanilla... Can't decide...

14. What excites you?
Lots... Concerts, food, coffee, meeting friends, going out...

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Absolutely, its getting too long for my taste (as in almost getting a mullet and its over my ears), which I find to be distasteful.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Nope, and happy to be young still.

17. Do you talk a lot?
With people I'm familiar with, yeah... Hm, not entirely true... I guess I'd say with most people I'm familiar with.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
Followed it briefly, then fell out of it. I know people who do though...

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Uhm, do I...? I don't remember, since I have a hard time with names. I'd say no though...

20. Do you make up your own words?
Nope.

21. Are you a jealous person?
Sometimes. Depends I guess.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’
Alastair - who never ceases to amuse me; and who is responsible for at least 20 people calling me alternately by Gabriel or Damien.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’
Karthik - Part of the "struggling" circle, who's going to do Civil (because he wants to -_-"). Always asks me questions regarding study.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Alastair.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
Hmm.... from Alastair: "Wer yo b chiln negro?" I think he was looking for me when I was studying with Richard.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
No...... why would anyone do that? I don't have a habit of chewing on anything that isn't food or gum.

27. Do you have curly hair?
Never did, never will. My hair stays straight.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Campus, gotta finish off my Philosophy assignment.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Uhm. Memory's hazy, so I'd go with Karthik, since he was swearing profusely, like twice per sentence.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Mmm, sushi....

31. Will you get married in the future?
Maybe, who knows?

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Don't think I've actually watched a movie for a while, eh? The last one I saw was "The Bourne Ultimatum"... too busy...

33. Is there anyone you like now?
Duh. More than one, in fact.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Uhm, err... this morning?

35. Are you currently depressed?
Nah.

36. Did you cry today?
No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
I was bored, and I read Sandra's post, and I felt compelled to post too.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I don't tag. Its unkind to compel people to do something against their own will. Except when its for the greater good, of course, which opens up a whole bunch of ethical discussions.

Looking ahead, looking ahead...

Lectures are over, all that remains are the exams. Its been one quick year, hasn't it? I still wish I could go to campus, meet up with new people, hang around with old friends whilst waiting for next lecture to begin. I wonder whether I'll stay close friends with everyone. As much as I enjoyed my first year here, I can't help but feel a little resentful that it's already ending.

Next year, everyone will go into their specialisations. Circles of friendship diminish and new ones form. We learn more and more about less and less until we know everything about nothing. What a good line.

I think that we all would stay somewhat close though. Engineering is a closely knit society after all.

And all that's left to endure are the exams. Best of luck to all, and to our choices of specialisation.

Rage

Argh, I hate the retarded first-years. Alright, I guess I'm a first year myself, so I'll amend the statement slightly. I hate first-years that are retards, which happens to be at least 1/2 of the people in Engineering.

One of the retards managed to piss me off severely today. I was explaining to this guy the reason for using the square root of a number in determining if it was a prime number. Its quite logical anyway, but some people don't get it. That I don't mind. Anyway, its like this, in case you don't know: If you wish to find the factors of a certain number n, you'll only find non-corresponding factors (eg, 2 and 4 are corresponding factors of 8) up till its square root. That's also kind of obvious. So it'll make sense in programming to only search up to its square root instead of every single number, right?

Anyway, this random retard sitting at the same table decides to open his big mouth and say: "I think I disagree. That's not what its used for?", which severely annoyed me. Bear in mind that I've been already enduring retards who think they'll try and act smart and object when they don't even understand what they're on about.

So, I snapped. A little. I challenged him to tell me what the square root value was used for and to kindly tell me. Then he was all like: "Let me look at the program, I don't know it as well as you." Retard. I had only looked at it for less than 5 minutes before explaining it. You don't need to know the program. You only have to know what it means mathematically. So I sort of told him to come over and tell me when he found an answer, and I just sat with Jack and Rupert. The bloody idiot never came back. I hope he went crawling back to the hole he came from. Hope he fails to get into Civil, because retards like to pick Civil (since they think its easy), and I hope he gets kicked out of Engineering. Idiots like that shouldn't even be in Engineering in the first place.

Raged. Raged. Raged.

Oh. In other news, I got 47/50 for my CHEMMAT test. And I did pretty shit in my Philosophy test. My preliminary mark was 49%. Which is just galling. I'm sending it back for a remark, considering I think some of my points were right.

Rumour has it...

I'm with a lot of guys apparently. So says Samin. I forgot about this, but he said it while we were waiting around on the concert floor for Linkin Park. I believe his friends were talking about Richard to me, and Samin apparently had still not met Richard. To which one of them said: "Haven't you met Richard? He's the guy Gabriel hangs around with sometimes at the study area." Samin's reply was loud and mortifying for me. "Man, Gabriel's with a lot of guys." Eek.

I didn't know I was that much of a player. And that being with the guys. Who would have thought that. Wow, gosh. And yes, I got a lot of stares from the surrounding people right after he said that. Ah well. Good thing I managed to not blush.

I've lost my voice...

I'm pretty sure its just a temporary thing. And well, I can still talk, but its completely hoarse and stuff. Too much screaming last night at Linkin Park, heh. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd have been, and well... the mosh pit that wasn't supposed to be a mosh pit became one anyway. I'm suprised I actually managed to last the whole way over there... Although I did get drenched in my own sweat, and I found someone's blood on my jumper... Ah well. It was all fun.

I wonder if they'll be coming back again.

My only problem would have been the horrible fat girls. They're evil bitches, those girls. They just push and elbow everyone, and if you give them a nasty look, they shrug it off like: "Yeah what, I'm fat, can't help pushing everyone", when they're actually actively pushing people to get to the front. Stupid idiots. The worst one was when people starting a push-o-war over at our side of the pit. I swear I got squashed so many times. And the ironic thing was it was completely tranquil over at the other side of the mosh-pit. Unfair.

Back to sleep for me then. Only 1 more week of lectures left!

Thunder rumbled, and the wind howled ominously. Rain mercilessly poured down in torrents. Like little pebbles they fell, hard and fast. Trees groaned under the unforgiving torment. The dark and oppressive clouds hid the sky and sun. Not a soul could be seen wandering the streets, save for the woman in the black dress.

Purpose and determination marked her every stride as she struggled with the storm. She was once stunning, beautiful beyond compare. Now, age had worn at her, but old remnants of the beauty could still be seen. Her dress was plain, and she had no adornments except for a silver necklace with a little jade pendant.

Finally, she reached her destination, a little cottage with a pine tree. The front door was locked, but locked doors were no impediment to her, and she let herself in with ease. The interior was dark, and had an old, musty smell to it. A voice, a man's voice came from a dark corner.

"So you did come."

"It's time you told me the truth."

Old and New Memories

How strange. I was waiting for the bus today when I suddenly remembered this one time back in Preschool at Lodge. This one dude taught me to tie my shoelaces. Or maybe he did it for me, even. Funny thing is, I can't remember his name anymore. It was probably either Stephen or Clinton. I wonder if anyone remembers who he is. Come to think of it, I wonder if he even remembers any of us. I don't remember him being in our school after like our 2nd preschool year...

I've realised that I really enjoy meeting new people. Got to know some dude called Jeff, and a whole bunch of other people. I still don't know who Angry American is. Alright, fine... I don't even know if he's American in the first place, but he looks American, and he certainly looks angry. Fine, he looks like he's brooding. There's also another angry American apparently. Well, at least Iain thinks she's angry. She's definitely American though, heh.

Finished my C Project. I couldn't do the one I wanted to do, so I just reverted to the "old" one that everyone is expected to do. Completed it in 2 hours even, it was that easy. I really wish I knew what was wrong with the one I was doing though. It's such good work too, and it took me 10 hours to write it all up. If only I could figure out why its screwing me up...

OASIS test this Friday, and I still need to start studying. Come to think of it, I need to start studying for everything, especially Electrical. I've got transistors and OPAMPs to cover, plus revision on everything (I seem to have forgotten induction already).

Somehow, Alastair calling me Damian seems to have spread. I'm getting called Damian randomly by Rupert and David.... and Sara... and.... oh dear, quite a lot of people. Luckily not everyone. Its a good thing to have several circles that I hang around in, I guess.

Good job France. Your rugby team has just sent the whole nation of New Zealand into mourning, apparently. So says the NZ news at 6pm on TV3. What an absolute pile of crock. Well, I guess people may be mourning and all, but this isn't deserving of news.

OASIS test this Friday. Linkin Park this Friday. C Project due next Monday. ><>

I hope I did well in CHEMMAT and ELECTENG. I wanna get the marks back already, dammit.

Programming Pains

I reckon I did well for the Electrical test today. So long as I didn't screw up my explanation questions, that is. Sigh, its problematic though. I've got to finish that horrible poster by Thursday, which is so very incidentally when my CHEMMAT test is. Not to mention I need to make a start on my programming project.

ARGH! Its so hard to code for a priority queue using a binary heap in C. If anyone can do it, please feel free to pass me your code / instruct me.

Heh. I can't believe Richard did the project though. Not that he did it the way I'm doing mine. He just solved his the standard way: ie, the way the class will be doing it. But still, he did it incredibly quick. One afternoon if I recall correctly. Crazy dude...

Apparently Alastair goes roly-polying with the rest of his classmates from Kings. I heard this from Jack, who mentioned seeing Alastair with a clump of grass hanging off his elbow on Friday. To which it was explained as him and his friends roly-polying around into each other at Albert Park. I must say, it is a strange pastime to be had. So that must be what Kings people are like...

Alright, I gotta get some sleep. All that waiting around for the test to start today, and getting soaked by rain wasn't pleasant at all.

My week in short: Study, sleep, study. Yes, really. I managed to do my presentation today, which was by far the SHORTEST in my peer group. Honestly, you'd think that people would learn that in a company presentation (which we were simulating), they'd learn that stuffing in everything would be too much detail, but no..... Which led to 11 repeats, other than myself, of hearing the same boring shit for 5 minutes per person. It'd probably have been longer too, if it weren't for the 5 minute restriction.

Well, that's done now, and I've only got two tests to prepare for.

Oh, the crazy Mechatronics AP students (ie: first years who do second year) were seriously considering doing a robot wars thing. You know, like the ones you see on TV and all... Of course, it'll be limited for them, due to them sourcing the cash, and well, the limited time, but... I'd like to see what they come up with. Hah. One of them was going to use a reciprocating drill. Any engineers reading this, you should attempt the same thing in your campus too. Maybe you'll have lots of fun. Just implement good rules, k?

If you haven't read "i like cheese" on Lionel's blog, read it now! Read it, read it, read it...

Putting that thought aside, I suppose life can be likened to a great many things that we see everyday. The only thing that affects you in your deciding a good representative is which example you'd prefer more. After all, life is so full of variety, and the comparisons are in abundance as well.

As for me, I like chocolates. Why? I could say its only because of the bittersweet ones. Its always good to be reminded of some things in life, and to better appreciate them this way.

Can't say that I have something I could liken life to though. I don't think there's anything I feel that strongly about to liken it to life.

Spotted on last year's CHEMMAT 121 test. This question was worth 1 mark out of 50... or a total of 0.2% out of 10% for the final mark. And here it is:

Choose ONE option from the following that you think would improve the quality of your learning experience in the CHEMMAT 121 course:

(A) Have at least one spectacular materials ‘breaking’ demonstration in each lecture.

(B) Have all lectures consist of endless materials ‘breaking’ demonstrations.

(C) Have the University purchase a 4^th castor wheel for the OHP stand in B15.

(D) Have the first lecture slot commence at 6 am rather than 8 am.

(E) Have lecture room ‘sleepovers’ to avoid early morning commuter/transport problems.

(F) Have manufacturers of OHP pens invent a pen with a tip size intermediate between the large and fine tips currently available.

(G) None of the above.

Lol.

Free! for the weekend at least...

What a relief! I managed to finish my report last night and get it printed today and submitted. I'm happy... But tired... I've been getting 6 hours of sleep max every night ever since lectures started again. I really should just go to bed early before I fall sick again. Sigh...

Heh, it was a good thing I checked my report with both Jack and Rich, who informed me that I needed more than a title for my report's cover page. Which caused me to retype my title page after CHEMMAT. Then I followed Rich over to UG4 in Electrical, whilst he did his work, and whilst I bummed around.

And oh, he got 50/50 for his CHEMMAT test. Damn him. I'll beat him next time... Sigh, I've got my Philosophy test worth 30% next Friday again. It seems there is no rest for the wicked... Study, study, study. What a pain. I'm gonna have a rest. Night to you all.

P/S: I got my MATLAB project and electrical test marks back... Full marks for MATLAB (12%/12%)!!! And... well... 36/40 (9%/10%) for electrical. =( Stupid careless mistakes...

I knew it. I got 49 for my CHEMMAT test, for a grand score of 98%. *sniff* And I almost got 100%!!! 5 people beat me!!! Noooo! Lol, fine, I'm quite stoked about it. Happy now?

Heh, I skived off doing my report for quite a few days now... Finally finished watching the Tsubasa Chronicles series. It was slow to start, and had too many fillers at the end, but otherwise, it was one great series. I guess its a matter of choice, really. I really like it for the bittersweet situations, because thats one of those things that intrigue me. I also liked the almost lazy atmosphere sometimes present throughout. Heh, I guess I am a little strange.

Sigh, I really should get going with my work. I have exactly a week to finish the report. Alright, off to do it then. Speaking of which, "The song of storm and fire" composed by Kaijura Yuki for Tsubasa Chronicle is quite a good one too. I have no certainty on what language its meant to be. It sounds like it has its roots in Latin-based language, but it could be gibberish for all I know.

Well, I'll see you round then.

the holidays

My holidays... Its all been a whirl for me. One week gone, one week left. And all I've been doing is this: sleep, eat, gym. More or less. All my interactions for this week took place in the gym, so you could literally say that my life was subsumed by the gym, of sorts. Heh.

I met another Richard, who was climbing a, uhm... I don't know what to call it, a step-ladder sorta thing, I guess. You can only reach it with your hands though, and it's at a slight incline. I do believe you try and climb it, with obviously arm strength. I managed to climb it at least 1/2 of the way without reaching out and grabbing, ie. sorta letting go and grabbing the next highest one with just hands. Richard managed the whole thing, and he started showing off even. The ass.

Oh, yeah, met Richard (uhm, yet another Richard, the one from Engineering) today at gym again. Yes, I went to gym heaps this week... Probably 5 days in this week, though Rich's been more than me, like 5 or 6... hang on, 5 would be the same. Never mind that. Apparently he's started playing Final Fantasy 8 sometime ago... Wait a minute, I'm sure he told me that before too, now that I think of it. Ah well, getting pretty forgetful myself. Heh, FF8 was quite a fun game, if memory serves. I even met another guy I'm pretty sure I know, but whose name I couldn't remember. What made matters worse was that he actually did know my name, putting me to severe shame. I should really try and make a better effort at remembering people's names.

I still need to do my holiday assignment, worth 25%. Which is... a bloody report... Can you believe that Richard's already done it? And he said it was quite an enjoyable one too. Sometimes, just sometimes, I wanna strangle him =P lol....

I'm tired. And sore. I think I'll go to bed early. Oh, the Bioshock crack is out. Hehe, its an awesome game. And the crack's working pretty well, I'll say. I'm downloading the 52 episodes to Tsubasa Chronicle. Awesome manga, though I have yet to see the anime. But I hear its awesome too. Can't wait.

Another one I was thinking of trying out is Code Geass. I hear its a pretty decent series. Alright, ciao~

Truth be told...

Truth be told, I'm sick of this. Sick of you. No matter how much I try, I see you everywhere. You're inescapable, even if you don't know it. And as sick as I am of you, I can't help but feel a little down when I don't see you. Nor can I help brightening up a little when I see you. You see, you're like an addiction to me. The embodiment of my paradoxical feelings.

When did it all begin, I wouldn't know. Perhaps it was from the first day I met you. Perhaps it was later. I stopped caring since, I'm just waiting for the day when I'll be free. Perhaps my freedom will only come when I tell you. But that I cannot do. Some things should just never be told. Especially since I wouldn't want to devastate you, or trouble you. Rather than liberating myself at your expense, I'd rather see you happy and carefree, unknowing as we pass through the seasons of life.

I once thought it was merely a shallow thing, a physical infatuation. So I waited. But then I started seeing other things to you. And I was entranced.

All things in this world are governed by the flow of time. It might be so that, with time, I'll forget. Just as you may forget that once, I was a fellow student in a little campus in a little country with you, dreaming of a future where we were someplace else.

So, because I don't know when this will end, I shall say goodbye in advance. That way, I would never have to bid you farewell. Be successful in the path you choose, a leader with great power.

Here's a slogan spotted on an Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt:

Sex Without Love Is Just Exercise.

Lol

Call me Damien...

That's right... My real name has been suppressed by Alastair, who decided that I looked more like a Damien than a Gabriel. He started calling me that since... Ah well.

My CHEMMAT test went well I think. I made one mistake out of the 50 questions, which kinda irks me, only because I could have gotten that right if I punched in the numbers into my calculator properly... Sigh... ah well, 98% is something I can live with I think. Same goes for my MATLAB test... I read the question wrong and picked the wrong answer, getting me 4.67 out of 5... Grr....

Engineering is such a small place sometimes. I met Henry, the current president of TANSA, which stands for some Taiwanese student association (I have no idea where the other A and N came from). It turns out he's in second year, doing Engineering Science. Which means he knows uhh, whats her name.... Uhm, Yun Mui's younger sister in Engineering Science.
Henry's girlfriend is in like 1st year Pharmacy, and I got to tell her a lot of random stuff about her study path. Such as... her subsequent exile to the hospital campus, Grafton from second year onwards. The joys of pharmacy workshop practice, and the pains of going through pharmacology, ethics and many more papers. Muahahaha. And of course, telling her that she should have done Optometry since optometrists earn much more than pharmacists.

You know something though... I actually didn't have to go to campus today, considering that I skipped out on my only lecture for the day, which was apparently really, really, dull and easy anyway. Ah well, that'll probably be the only time I skipped this lecture. I had fun today besides.

If any of you have free time, check out Weird Al Yankovic's Polkarama on YouTube. Its really great. Its a medley of his parodies on songs.

Dan's

Wow, what a busy night. Went to Dan's at 1:30 to meet up before heading off to mini-golf. Ended up helping him set up the spare house for the party, moving couches, the TV, the barbecue, a table and chairs, and so on. Well, Chris came along halfway so he did a fair amount of it too.

Mini-golf was actually fun. I met one of Dan's old mates Gary, who's pretty cool. Me, JiWin, Tim, Jason (Jason Michael), Alex, Chris and of course Dan played mini-golf, since the rest were catching the school rugby game and stuff at the time. It was pretty fun, I'll say. I didn't do too badly, considering it was my first time with mini-golf. We all managed to hit the ball out of the preset course several times. JiWin was superb at that... He managed to hit one that flew right past Chris, narrowly missing his face, and it got lost in some really thick bushes. All good, we found another one in some other bushes nearby... Heh, I think everyone loses their golf balls in the bushes. Alex broke his putter as well. How he did it I have no idea... But aside from that, it was all good...

Unfortunately for us, it was raining the whole time, and the rain didn't seem to be letting up either. Yes, we did play mini-golf in the rain. Still good though, even though whacking the ball around was slightly harder. Considering that no one would be insane enough to be sitting outside in raining weather, we got the barbecue fired up and started bringing cooked food into the house. It was around this time that Adil, Malcolm, Roberto, and Jason (Drake) showed up. Tim had to go back early, sadly... And we definitely had waaaaay too much beer. Aside from Dan's 40 or more beers, I bought another 15, and Gary bought 12... And we had a few people who were driving, and a few who weren't drinkers... So... well yeah, we had tons of beer, needless to say.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself though, even though I can't say I remember what I was doing. I do remember playing poker, then cards, till like 4:30 in the morning... And well yeah, I only got two hours of sleep this morning. I couldn't get back to sleep, made a bit of noise shuffling through the house and woke up Roberto. I think after that I pretty much woke up Chris, then Dan woke up too. Ah well... We were all sleepy. And we all cleaned up, the hardworking people that we are... And we still had uhm... 20 or so bottles of beer left over... So I say that was a pretty decent effort on our part, we reduced it by two-thirds. And I had a bottle of Jagermeister, which I only had a shot or two of before it mysteriously vanished. According to Dan, it was finished... I had no such recollection of it being finished... But ah well...

Considering it was Dan's 18th (well, an informal one), I would have thought people got him presents. Only me, Malcolm, Adil, and JiWin got him stuff though. I got him an Abercrombie a& Fitch shirt (which I wanted for myself, but ah well...), and Malc and JiWin gave cash, more or less. Adil gave him a hockey ball. Apparently its an inhouse joke that Dan steals hockey balls from the other schools during matches, and they always end up with more balls than they started with. Oh dear...

I'm sorta sleepy, hence the really rushed post. And well, I need to get back to studying for my CHEMMAT test, which is... tomorrow. Same goes for my MATLAB test. Wish me luck... I think I'll crash now...

palabras de elogio

Hehe, I got complimented for my coat again. It seems everyone who sees me in my coat starts complimenting it for some reason. Along with my scarf, if I do decide to wear it. Which I did today, since it was all windy and wet and cold. Not that I'm about to get a case of overblown ego from this, but it is nice to be praised once in a while.

Studying for the tests are going along nicely I guess. Dan's birthday party is coming up soon, this weekend... So I think I should really get him a gift tomorrow. And probably contribute to the alcohol stockpile =D

I need sleep... Been getting like 5-6 hours every single day for the past week. Night...

Argh!

I've got three tests next week!!! That's 3/5's of my subjects!!! *panics* Uhm, yeah... Aside from that...

I had quite a bit of fun today, ended up only going for an Electrical lecture and that was it. Short and simple, although the lecture was putting me to sleep. We were learning number systems. You know, binary, octal, hexadecimal, and decimal. The joy... It was more than enough to make me stop paying attention and nearly fall asleep. I resorted to attempt poking Alastair with my pen, which he effectively countered by snatching my pen off me. And putting it into his empty water bottle, and it got my pen slightly wet... =( Evil.

But ah well, 'twas all good. I later used him to jump the queue for sushi during lunchtime. Hehe. Then I left to go to Dan's. Oh yes, its his 18th today. I even went with him to Dressmart to find him a pair of shades. I don't remember what sort of shades we got him. I don't wear them anyway, I think I look like an idiot with them. And I even got myself another shirt from Hollister. Well, yeah, since I wanted another one of the exact long sleeve that I had, just a different colour.

We even went to Pak n' Save to get some beer for this coming Saturday. Somehow I don't think we have enough, so I might just go and get some spirits to supplement it. Wouldn't want a party where we have enough of everything but alcohol eh? I should be getting back to study.... There's just way too much to get done now. I should get sorted for iron-carbon phase diagrams tonight, hopefully...

Alone at the windowsill,

With my chin resting on my hand.

I watch the rain that doesn't stop.

I'm all alone by myself today.

Ah, its rather mysterious.

Just remembering about it,

Makes me a kind person

Its just like honey,

That spreads sweetly in warm milk.

That smile melts my heart,

Yes, its my prized honey.

"HONEY - Chihiro"

Have you heard "Painter Song" by Norah Jones? Its an awesome song. I don't know why, but I like it so much.

If I were a painter
I would paint my reverie
If that's the only way for you to be with me

We'd be there together
Just like we used to be
Underneath the swirling skies for all to see

And I'm dreaming of a place
Where I could see your face
And I think my brush would take me there
But only...

If I were a painter
And could paint a memory
I'd climb inside the swirling skies to be with you
I'd climb inside the skies to be with you

Hah, so many random things happened today, I'm actually having trouble coming up with a post name for it all. I started my day by snoozing for 30 full minutes, which resulted in me missing my shower and breakfast. Damn. Well, I did wash my hair at least so it wouldn't feel like a dead weight, but I had to rush... Then I got to campus 20 minutes early. Irony indeed. I might as well have eaten breakfast before leaving. Oh well, I decided that I'd get a latte and breakfast anyway. So off I went to POD cafe, when well, I saw this dude studying off the ELECTENG 101 coursenotes. Well, wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary, but he seemed a little older than most first years to be studying that. So well, yeah, I was waiting on coffee and breakfast, so I stared. Discreetly.

Apparently not too discreetly, since he looked up after a while, and I got caught unawares. And then he greeted me with a nod. I was kinda freaked after that, and just left for philosophy. Haha, all good though, I figured out who he was 5 minutes after when another one of my mates greeted him. Apparently, yes he's like 25 and doing Engineering, after doing a Philosophy degree. Talk about random. And oh, his name is James. We did end up talking later in the afternoon just before I left, and he apparently did a Health Science degree too. Insane...

Anyway, point aside. Philosophy was dull, dull, dull. Apart from a random clip which was used to show how the argument that was presented could be contradicted by using another example. Our argument was that the woman said she would not leave her pet behind if it was feeling peekish. Our counter-example was that a lolly monster (yes, a lolly monster) could come and take her away. And they actually did play a video clip of that. Sadly, it was just a man in some weird costume and mask dragging off the woman, but still, it was pretty hilarious. I did leave after about 1.5 hours, since well... 2 hours of PHIL back to back, well, yeah, you get the picture.

Met up with Richard, Alastair and Rupert just before CHEMMAT, and so we all sat together. David came a little later, but well, the lecture hall was really full, so he was sitting at the aisles. (Yup, we had two streams of CHEMMAT, but a lot of the people assigned to the earlier stream for 8am always come to our stream, the retards.) Not much happened, with a few exceptions:

• Alastair got his highlighter, an orange one, and made a nice fat stripe on Rupert's cheek, causing Rupert to rub his face furiously in an effort to get it off.
• Rupert took paper off Alastair and tore it into little bits, you know, confetti-like, then subtly placed them on David's hair.
• Rupert asked me for confirmation that there were no orange marks on his cheek. I couldn't tell, since his cheek was already reddish then, and he threatened to hurt me if marks were there. Alastair said he'd protect me though =P
• David figured out that a multitude of little bits of paper were nesting themselves comfortably in his hair when he tried to scratch his head. He was not pleased, I think.
• I got reminded of what the lecturer was talking about, little granules of the strengthening alloy phase being likened to little pieces of paper. Then I realised how nerdish I was.
  

I don't think much happened in the lecture after, ELECTENG. I think my brain turned off. At some point later, however, I was in the computer labs helping someone do their MATLAB project. Or rather, I got roped into it. At first, I thought it'd be a quick thing, so I sat on the desk and leaned back till I could see the monitor/type, if you get the gist of it. Eventually Richard came along, and told me to stop posing. I then told him to stop staring. Then he started talking to, uhh, I forgot his name. I then borrowed his CHEMMAT textbook of him, and nearly forgot to return it to him when he was leaving. Or rather, I completely forgot, and he was asking me for it. Whoops.

Did I mention that Bizzy, Busy, (its a nickname, so I have no idea how he wants it spelt) has this odd tendency to tell me strange things? Such as, "I love you, Gabriel". Yeah, he told me that like everytime I met him, which I found amusing. Of course, I said stuff like: "Aww, love you too." Richard looked freaked out. I think he might be a little phobic. It would be fun if he was. Phobic people are fun to freak out. Its sad, but hell yeah, its fun. Which reminds me, there's a homophobic dude in first year, and well, everyone who knows him, or nearly everyone, enjoys making fun of him; either by hitting on him, or doing things of almost homo-erotic nature near him. Suffice to say, his reaction is amusing. Maybe we're just sad.

I fell asleep on the bus, twice, on the same bus ride. And I even nearly missed my stop. That would not be cool, but I am really tired. I would sleep now, but I've got to study for my PHIL test this Friday. Gah. At least I have no exams I guess.

I bleed it out, digging deeper just to throw it away.
I bleed it out, digging deeper just to throw it away.
I bleed it out, digging deeper just to throw it away,
Just to throw it away, just to throw it away.

OASIS test

Heh, I did my OASIS test today, and.... I got full marks! Yeah! Well, it was technically an online test, so it was very very easy to cheat, but I didn't cheat, one bit. Honest, cross my fingers. Well, I did get Richard to double check my answers, but I already did it on my own by then, so even if I submitted it, I'd have gotten everything right.

Speaking of Richard, yeah, I managed to drag him along with me during the test. Well, more like Bizzy (I can never remember his full name) was begging me to come along to help him, so Bizzy dragged me, and I dragged Richard. And then as soon as we got in, people started well, flooding me with requests for help. I then started to put my wonderful brain to use, and redirected them al to Richard. Muahaha! Well, Richard only ended up helping Bizzy, since he was obviously better than me at electrical, and I just checked that Bizzy was doing it right eventually. He got full marks anyway, for the record.

Oh yes, after I pointed out Richard to Melissa, she called him exactly what I call Rich in jest: "Genius". And he looked up! HAH! A conversation then proceeded like this:

Rich: Well, thats what he calls me all the time, eh?
Melissa: Oh, I'm sorry, I really didn't know your name anyway.
Me: His name's Richard by the way, but he likes being called genius.
Rich: You're a dick, Gabriel.
Me: Come on, Rich, you know you like being called that.
Rich: Yeah, I do.

Man, someone has a huge ego eh? Lol. That was random.

Made two new friends, well three today. I met, or rather, started chatting with Angela and Margaret during my workshop for my Technical Communication paper. They're pretty interesting for Civil engineers. (Yeah, I got dumped into a Civil engineering stream, since first years generally don't do a second year paper). We managed to finish all our work within one hour, which was all sweet. I also met Alistair after that, although I technically knew him by sight already through Rupert and Jack. He was doing his MATLAB project and also his design project. Apparently he knew Jamie too, and through Miles (mutual friend from school), and he met Miles randomly at a party. What a strange coincidence. And we're all in Engineering as well, heh.

I'm still feeling a lot like crap right now, but at least I'm kinda better already. Just weak, I guess, and my nose is blocked, and I have a sore throat. But otherwise, I'm pretty much alright. I'm a little behind in my MATLAB project eh? Some people already finished theirs, and I'm feeling competitive. Its already been out since Monday. So I want to be done with it as soon as possible, preferably by Wednesday, although that'll be a bit tough. I'm off now, ciao~

sick.

Spells of weakness. A sore neck, back, and shoulders. Skin that feels hot to the touch. Inability to solve simple problems. Lethargy.

Yes, I'm sick again. This is annoying. The worse time to get sick, with a test tomorrow, another test next week, and work piling up. I guess I did have it coming to me though, with overexerting myself with less than 6 hours of sleep on weeknights.

I'm off to catch some sleep. Perhaps I can squeeze in 11 hours tonight. Can't afford to miss out on my lab. Ciao~

Silence is golden, but I think its gonna kill me now.
Everything I've seen never seems to fail me now.
No one told me that the world could fall through, yeah.

In between this am I gonna find a way,
to defeat this living inside yesterday?
I'm alive I think its time to live like I am,
am I ever gonna find it,
am I ever gonna find it,
am I ever gonna find out?

Damn, I have no idea why this Lifehouse song is stuck in my head. My favourite song for the day.: "Am I Ever Gonna Find Out".

MATLAB project for Software Computation due in 2.5 weeks. PHIL 105 test in 10 days. OASIS test for ELECTENG 101 this Friday. All hail the end of my free time. All hail the end of my social life. I hate MATLAB. And back to practice OASIS problems. I don't hate you as much OASIS.

Random side-note: Yesterday, two chicks from Engineering were walking behind me, and they told me that I smelt nice. Yes. Apparently I did. Lol.

lost moments

One must wonder how the quickly time can pass. In a blink of the eye, the years pass, and events come to be. People, too, come and go, and sometimes in our rapid motion, we do not even pause to acknowledge them. We just step forward, and it all becomes a blur.

But yet, when we look back on these moments, only then do we realise the magic contained. If only we could pull ourselves back, so we could better appreciate the lost time. But time, that inexorable pull, draws us on, and we can do nothing but gaze upon lost opportunities.

But even through the regret, one must also realise that these moments are precious. Precious enough that someday we will look back and smile. Be it that those may have been times of great tension, strife, or laughter, like the axiom "a rose is a rose is a rose", we then only see how, happy or otherwise, it was a memory nevertheless, and such memories form a part of us.

As some say, however, to see the rainbow you must first have the rain. So endure we shall, and endure we must. Let us strengthen our resolve then, that we do not put to waste such treasured moments, that we do not let opportunities pass us by. Someday we will see the rainbow just over the horizon, and it shall become another memory in our hearts.


Haec Olim Meminisse Iuvabit
-"Perhaps, we'll look back at this and smile", Virgil-

Inland Empire

I'm pretty sure most people would never have heard of this movie, much less seen it. Its David Lynch's latest movie, and its seriously, to put it, some fucking weird shit. No kidding. Its like 3 hours of completely confusing stuff. I mean, I like Arthouse type movies and all, but this, is all just too much. Too many details, too many messages, and I particularly didn't understand the point. I think I stopped caring what it was about at some point, since it threw me offtrack every time I thought it started to make sense.

But hey, all good. I guess I need to expose myself to all this once in a while, and well, it was expected, considering it was a film by David Lynch after all.

Story...

I've just came across this short story, its a fantasy story. I must say, its one of the best stories I've actually read. So good that I'd actually recommend you read it. It comes from Karina Summer-Smith, and I found it from the SFWA Net Ring (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). The story's called "An End to All Things" and the direct link to it is here.

Now, I have no idea if I'm breaking copyright laws, so if I am, just tell me, and I'll remove the link.

It has just come to my attention that I neglected to actually post up what happened at Shadows (you know, the pub where all the students hang out). Ah well, I'll try and see if I have enough time for today to post it. Actually, scratch that. I can't even remember much of it anyway, my memory's pretty hazy about it. I do know I got home in one piece, with two free T-shirts. Both of them re-orientation shirts, and one of which reads: "Someone once said that getting a degree is like brewing a great beer. We aren't sure why, but it seemed to make sense at the time." Got to get a shower and get things sorted, such as buying drinks and food to bring to a cocktail party tonight -_-".

But well, yeah. I must say I'm fully enjoying my first week, although I'm really tired. Only woke up at 1 today, for a grand total of.... 12 hours of sleep for the night. Yeah, thats like 2-3 times more than my usual during the week. I would have slept earlier but I was trying to get my tasks for next week's labs done in advance. And not to forget, I need to do the problem sheets for my other subjects. And some study has to be done. Wow, it feels crammed.

I'm pretty sure I'll be getting my MATLAB project (urghh, I hate MATLAB) sometime next week, or maybe the week after. At least I'm pretty sure it'll be easy, since I've already done MM2, and what's a first year MATLAB project in the face of a second year MATLAB project? Oh crap, I don't have my Philosophy course notes or workbook. Crap, how am I going to study for it? I'm already 2 lectures behind ><

It's going to be Richard's birthday next Wednesday. Heh, I wonder if I should get him something...

Ah crap, wasted enough time dallying already. I promise I'll blog about something more relevant when I have the time to actually post. Ciao.

Ughhhhh... I don't feel so good right now...

My head hurts. Not so much like New Year's, but I think I really flew off the handle, oops. Wrong cliche/idiom/whatever-the-hell-it-is. Uhm, yeah. I can't exactly remember how much I drank, but I estimate 3 or 4 jugs of beer and 3 Smirnoff blacks, for a total of at least 14 standard drinks last night. Ouch.

Well, I've got two free T-shirts for it. Oh god. And I'm woozy. Ah, the joys of re-orientation week in Shadows. The live band wasn't actually bad, but I think the opening band was better. Purely because I didn't like metal which degenerated completely to screaming. Maybe I'll post about it later. Got a really long day ahead of me, and I start in 1 hour's time. Gonna grab the Panadol and go.

Alright, before you start calling me a nerd. I found this extremely painful and cringe-inducing, but hey. It had its moments, especially when you understand most of these mathematical terms. Oh dear, what have I become. Its the story of "Pretty Little Polly Nomial and Curly Pi", which can be found here.

Prepare to start cringing you lot.

1st day back...

Alright, fine fine fine fine. I'm going to update the blog. Good call Lionel. I bet you're so happy now. Well, I guess its been awhile since I've last blogged.

I love going back to university and all, except for one little problem. Stupid lectures at 8am in the MORNING. YES, MORNING. (Which, really, is a damn shame.) I have to wake up at 6am in the morning just so I can take a long hot shower, because its so damn cold, and have enough time to fumble around in the dark, since its only 6AM IN THE MORNING; as well as eat some semblance of breakfast.

But, hey, I got there on time. And to start my day; was the most interesting discovery I made upon reaching my locker. MY LOCKER WAS BLOODY BROKEN INTO. Well, my padlock got completely twisted out of shape, like somebody attempted to wrench it or something (I'm guessing some pliers did the job), and someone even kindly dumped it inside my locker. And why my locker? WHY?! Its not like I have jewelry or limited edition textbooks which are worth $1000. Hell, I don't even have textbooks, since I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy them. (Don't need them anyway). Ah well, I'll just have to replace the lock I guess. This time with a really really THICK one. And here I thought everyone at Engineering was more than rich enough to afford their own lockers/books/pencils/formula book/paper.

Aside from that, lectures were actually fun, I daresay. Of course, ENGGEN 131 was a bore since they were going over multiplications in MATLAB. Which, in my humble opinion, is rather obvious. Like 5*3 is obviously 5 multiplied 3.

Oh my god, I'm thinking of actually switching my General Education (GE) paper to SPORTSCI 101: Myths & Fitness. Its so, uhm, interestingly educational? And they have heaps of lecturers, all of whom have multiple postgrads. I'm so impressed, I'm actually gushing. But I think I'll stick around and see what PHIL 105 is like... If its easy, then I'll stay. After all, free A+'s beat interesting, right?

CHEMMAT 121 was such a laugh. Our lecturer chose to take a sword (yes, a real one) as "a typical engineering specimen" for her illustrations of stress, strain and elasticity. Like: "Now, you wouldn't want this engineering specimen to bend too much when you attempt to stab someone with it" and so forth. She even brought two squash racquet's, one bent out of shape, the other snapped completely. She claimed it was due to her having issues of unhappiness with the said items during related games of squash. Oh god, she's got a good sense of humour, as well as a good sense of sarcasm, for an engineer. And our engineering lecturers are known to be lame and dull, so I think I'm in for some fun this semester.

I know this will sound really really sad, but I waited for Shadows to open at midday for 40 minutes. Yes, 40 minutes. Well, it wasn't my fault, really... There was nothing better to do for 3 hours, and Jamie suggested that we get a jug of beer (which turned out to be 3)... But hey, it was all good. I got into the ENGGEN 131 lab slightly tipsy. And I even managed to complete my lab work within half an hour!!! YAY!

Um, I think that's it for now... I'm like really tired, and grumpy because all I have tomorrow is a lecture, which wastes an hour or more of my life getting up and going to the lecture. Did I mention that I was bored? Oh... speaking of bored...

LIONEL UPDATE YOUR BLOG. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT.
FLAME HARRY POTTER SOME MORE!!!
JOIN THE FOOD FIGHT ON FACEBOOK!!!
START A WATER FIGHT! HELLS YEAH, WATER FIGHT!
200 POINTS FOR GETTING THE GUY IN THE SUIT!

Alright, ciao.

Yeah, 'twas a good day yesterday. I would normally have forgotten that my birthday was yesterday, but I got around to organising (albeit a little last minute) stuff to do with my friends, so it was, all in all, a fun day. I'm happy to spend my time with friends.

Lasertag at Ponsonby was good fun. I still suck heaps at it, but I'm getting better, I think. Or perhaps I'd like to think that, hehe. I definitely know that I did way worse the first time round... And I didn't even know half of the people I was playing with. Among the 15 of us (including myself), I only knew Mihailo, JiWin, Daniel, Chris, Allan, Carol, Laura, and Lily. Alright, fine. That's quite a few, considering its more than half of the 14. And I suppose I kinda knew Chen, since well, Carol got me and him talking to get this thing sorted. All good though, I basically ended up shooting anything that moved, even when it was my own team mate =P My bad...

Uhm, yeah. Dinner was a fun fun affair too. Gengy's is so totally worth it for like $21.95. Its all you can eat, and they cook it in front of you, Mongolian BBQ style. You even pick the seasoning, sauces and ingredients, etc. Fun, fun, fun. I definitely want to do that again. And oh, the dessert was pancakes with ice cream. Who could pass up on either pan cakes or ice cream? Gosh, and the sauces were fun to experiment with.

Strangely enough, I think Allan must have picked up something from Richard, even though I'm sure Allan's never seen Richard interact with me much. He decided to be rather mean (yes I hate you Allan =P) and called me a girl. I think it had something to do with him making a comparison between me and Laura and saying that she should shop more, etc. Considering that I do shop a lot... well, I guess it didn't help my case. Also, I guess the fact that I was the only guy who decided to wear a scarf, and well... Laura was wearing a scarf too... You get the point. And the jokes kept on rolling. Poor me, and it was my birthday even.

Oh well, I actually didn't mind. Its good to have a laugh at your own expense. And I did walk into some of the jokes. Silly me. Hehe.

I swear I must have gotten worse at bowling though. I remember playing 2 or so years ago, and I'm pretty certain I was NOT this horrible. I was awful. I got the ball into the gutter on so many occasions it became well, embarrassing. And to think the last time, I was actually not that bad, and could score well into the triple digit region by the end of every game. Ah well, I guess I've definitely showed them up when they say: "You can't completely forget how to play a game once you've learnt it". So there. I've not only forgotten it, but I've completely gone beyond forgetting to being utterly useless. They should let me play with the gutter-guards and that kiddish ramp. Hehe =P

Semester 1 Results Are OUT!!!

Yup! After a incessantly long and mundane period of time, I'm proud to say that I've finally got the results for my exam out. Well, I've been getting the results all through the week, but the last one came out today. I ended up getting an overall GPA of 6.75 (out of a maximum of 9), which is in between a B+ (6) and A- (7).

And the lowdown of the subjects:
ENGGEN 121: Mechanics A-
ENGSCI 211: Mathematical Modelling 2 A
ENGGEN 140: Biology & Chemistry A
ENGGEN 115: Design B-

Alright, I admit, I did screw up Design quite badly... at least 3 grades below my 2nd worst subject. But hey, at least I passed it within the B grade. A shame about BIOCHEM and MM2 though... I definitely know I could have gotten A+'s for both of them. And if I got one grade higher in any one subject, namely that bloody A+ for BIOCHEM... I would have gotten an overall GPA of 7... sigh.

Overall, I'd say I'm kinda happy with how things are going so far. Considering that I was too slack at the start, I think I managed to bounce back and pull through sufficiently well. All that remains is to tackle the second semester with the utmost of my ability, which should pretty much get me A-/A's, I should think. Oh wait, maybe not for ENGGEN 131: Software Computation.

The other thing that's got me confused is the ranking criteria for specialisation selection for Part II (second year). They say that they consider Part I academic results; but since I'm doing 9 subjects this year, 2 of which are from Part II itself, what then? Do they disregard them completely? I certainly hope not, since my MM2 results are partially holding up my GPA. Wouldn't want to fall behind.

Sadly though, I wouldn't be able to get anything more than an A- for my GPA for this year. Even if I get straight A+'s for next semester, my overall GPA would still be 7.8-ish... which is just a little shy of the 8 mark. Ah well.

Now I must say I'm quite impatient for the holidays to be over. I'm already bored enough with my holidays as it is. Perhaps I'll go get the course books next week and do a preemptive review of the subjects. Wow, I sound like a nerd already ><