Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wrapping Up

And once again, the end of the year has come around, and the new year is staring me in the face, rushing along to collide into me. I think I bring this up often, but I feel it ever more increasingly: Do you ever get that feeling that time just seems to speed up?

I'm serious. The days, months and years are just blurring by so quickly for me it's like I'm 16 one day and 19 the next. Scary, too.

And I still have all these things that I haven't done yet either. But hey, anyway.

2008 was hmm, not a bad year I guess. Probably better than the previous years of my life. It's always great when you can say that, you know, when every year gets better and better. It's almost as if your life is like a bottle of fine wine or something. I definitely had fun, that I can say. And hey, a whole year coming to terms with an insanely hard-to-quash crush can be kinda refreshing on your viewpoints of life ah? I feel rather liberated actually.

I think I kept my drinking under wraps, mostly... Some people I know would beg to differ though, but seriously, with all honesty, I definitely think I kept it under control. I mean, I only had one real slip-up when I drank far too much, started chucking my guts all over the place and had the mother of all hangovers the next day. And it was just that one time too.

So, what am I looking for in 2009? I don't really know to be honest. I think my journey of self-discovery is far from over though. I feel sometimes like I never understand myself in the way I do things, so maybe I should figure it out. Hm, might shop a little less next year too, since I'm finally starting to be happy with my wardrobe. Well, a few more additions can't hurt, but shopping heaps is definitely going to go away, and be replaced by just shopping.

And no, I'm never going to make a resolution to drink less, that never works. But I will think I will be trying to stick to my gym routine this time round, maybe working harder to overcoming that ever-so-dreaded plateau I keep getting to around 5 weeks into training. It's annoying.

But yeah, I think I won't expect much from the new year, and maybe that way it'll suprise me. Besides, it's more fun this way too.

So anyway, I'm off to town. I'll be going to dinner later, and then who knows? The beach? Town? The night is young, and so am I.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Broken Strings

I was listening to James Morrison's recent album Songs For You, Truths For Me. I really do like James Morrison as a singer. His songs are rather soothing. Anyway, give this song, "Broken Strings" a try if you feel inclined.

You can't play on broken strings
You can't feel anything
That your heart don't want to feel
I can't tell you something that ain't real

The truth hurts
A lie is worse
I can't like it anymore
And I love you a little less than before

Beautiful lyrics. I don't know why, but I like it.


Thursday, December 25, 2008

I'm Dreaming of...

A white Christmas. Yep. But it's summer over here, so I guess I don't really mind either. My god, I spent quite a fair bit yesterday on food items. Sigh.

Wow, and boy did I have a helluva busy session cooking the Christmas Eve dinner last night. I ended up finishing late, so I pushed dinner back by a good hour to 8, haha. Oh well. And I probably consumed half the bottle of wine, as well a decent amount of gin and tonics too. Paying for it with my slight hangover this morning, but hey, it's all good. Not like I drank tons anyway, just forgot the water.

Christmas day for me tends to be a little dreary, mainly because stores are closed and I have nothing to do. My guess it this is why they have Christmas dinners, but I've personally always favoured Christmas Eve dinners anyway, since it's a lot easier to do. In the very least, I have a bottle of wine should I feel like having some tonight.

In some odd, bizarre way, as soon as I have a public holiday, I normally feel like going back to work, or university, or something. I reckon the main reason is just because I don't like public holidays all that much. I like to just be able to take a break and observe people (in a sense), when I'm pretty much the only one on a break doing a shopping thing, or being at a cafe, and so on. Whereas on a public holiday, it's sorta different. I can't, for example, go shopping. Neither can I really go for a coffee with friends at the cafe. I suppose I chafe at the implied restrictions that arise from these sort of things.

Anyway, my rant for the day is done, I guess. I'm gonna do some post-dinner cleaning, as well as maybe some TV watching and calling of friends, you know, the proprietary Christmas things. Ciao.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Bugger... Got Tagged

Got tagged by Chris on his blog, so here goes...

1. What’s your ambition?
To succeed and be prominent in what I enjoy and have an interest in. To somehow be in more control of things, but maybe from the shadows rather than directly.

2. Who is more important to you? Friends or boy/girlfriend?
Friends. Although there would be situations when I'd go with the latter.

3. How often do you think of committing suicide?
Its been a long long time since I've done that, although I've had disturbing dreams lately of being overwhelmed by some enemies, or rather being hunted, and then dispatched.

4. Do you think you have enough confidence?
Yeah. Mostly.

5. How many babies you want?
If I can have twins, twin boys and 1 daughter. Otherwise, just 1 of each.

6. Favorite perfume/fragrance?
Currently, lots. Hmm, Infusion d'Homme by Prada and Fahrenheit by Christian Dior are my two most favoured at the moment.

7. What do you think will be your greatest downfall?
My lack of ethics for some things.

8. Do you believe in eternal love?
Eternal... Its too long lasting for me to believe in. Long-lived love? Yeah, definitely. Eternal? Hm, I'm not so sure.

9. What's a perfect girlfriend/boyfriend like to you?
Perfect in that they have little imperfections that I don't care about; that they have some mannerisms that make me love them more; that they make me feel secure and cherished.

10. What are your bad habits?
I have a weakness to spending money on food and clothes.

11. Is there anything you wanna tell the people who hate you?
"I don't really understand why you'd hate me, but really, the only person its affecting is you, not me. So why not get along with me? I'll even buy you a drink."

12. Do you cherish every single friendship of yours?
Yeah, sure.

13. What do you hate most in others?
Lack of initiative and courage/confidence to do things.

14. What do you crave for the most currently?
Money to go on a shopping spree.

15. What features/quirks do you find totally sexy on a guy/girl?
Uhm, hot bod? Eyes, hands, hair. Pretty much, if I find you sexy, I find you sexy. Why ask?

16. Describe the person who tagged you in 7 words.
Asian, amusing, fun, teetotaller, lighter than me!

17.What have you done to yourself to make yourself happy?
Improved my sense of fashion, went to the gym, and get myself noticed.

18. What will you become in another 10 years to come?
Hm, I don't know. With enough luck, rich, successful, and happy? Like a fairy tale?

19. Whats your guilty pleasure? (something you usually wouldn't admit out loud)
I admit to most of my guilty pleasures anyway, so I wouldn't know off the top of my head what guilty pleasures I do not admit out loud.

20. I tag:
No one. Because, unlike Chris here, I have no wish to impose the joys of answering 20 questions on anyone. But... that being said, I tag you if you wish to be tagged.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Beer, beach, and pranks

Well, today was the Bioengineering Institute Christmas function, and boy was it fun! First off we had the Biomimetics Lab Secret Santa (which was efficiently organised courtesy of me). God I chafe under the imposed limitation of a $5 budget for the gifts, but I think I managed to pull through. My recipient was Alex, and I got him two pottles of rather nice jam. He was pretty happy about it too, so I think I did a good job there. Yeah, so if you're ever stuck with a Secret Santa that's on a low budget, and your recipient is a flatting guy or whatever, get him jam. It does well.

Alex's gift was probably one of the more amusing ones. He bought biscuits, and wrapped them up in the morning using not wrapping paper, but rather, rubber nitryl gloves. Yes. It was all too amusing especially when I saw him doing so. 

All in all, I'll say I had tons of fun. Forgot to bring my cam, so no pics sadly (really bad habit of mine with this actually). Played touch for a good hour or so, then helped myself to a good amount of beers, sat in the sun for ages, you know... That kinda stuff. It's summer, and summer's good. I'm now sitting in my chair feeling slightly warm. Not sunburnt though, just very very warm. 

Oh yeah, naturally, it being a Christmas function and all, my Head of Department dressed up as Santa with a slight twist, this one being a gorilla suited Santa. And he gave presents to the little kids! I wanna be a kid too! 

Forgot to mention this, but Tom got one of those trick pens for his Secret Santa gift. You know, the one that shocks you if you hold down the top? Yeah, it was kinda fun. I took it and shocked Alex (him being a most unwilling participant) in the crook of his elbow. Then I took some paper, and went to the HoD and asked him for his email address, proffering him the trick pen. Naturally, he got a nice shock from it, and I kinda kept my distance after that. I tried it on Mike O'Sulivan Jr. (another of the lecturers) as well. Oddly enough, he never seemed to figure out that it was shocking him for the first two tries. He did eventually figure it out though, and that was awesome too. Haha great times.

Oh, Todd got this awesome kids' bow and arrow set! We had a blast shooting people with that too! And I probably drank too much then as well, but then again, I wasn't the only one, so hey, all good =)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Of Names That Don't Matter

You could say I'm really bored. Alright, I am actually really bored. So bored that I was thinking of a pseudo alter-ego for myself. Well, since I feel like Damian as my alter ego is kinda odd. Almost as if I've outgrown it ever since I have no idea what Alastair calls me now.

That aside, I decided that I might as well keep my original name in this alter ego, well, at least in its initials, just changing everything around. Hmm, here goes...

G. W. C. L.

Right. Unfortunately, Gabriel is the only name I could settle for with a G. I'm sorry, but I feel weird taking others. Hmm... 

W's tricky. Walker. Warren. Whitlaw (kinda weird, I know, but I like it). Wyatt. 

C's just as bad. Chase. Christian. Corey. Cyril. Cyrus. Gah. 

Maybe this wasn't so good an idea...

L... hmm... meh. Since it's a last name... Logan! Why ever not? It brings to mind Gabe Logan. Hahaha. I actually could live with that. 

Actually, come to think of it... I've already been called Gabe Logan quite a few times anyway. So maybe not so random after all. Apparently Loh sounds somewhat like Logan (owing to it being pronounced as low with a bit of an 'h')

Friday, December 12, 2008

Paid!

I have been paid! YUSSS!!! Uhm, that aside.... Casey's back in town (finally), so we got off to a productive day at work today, which was a great change.

I got complimented once again for my clothes. Maybe I should drop engineering and just offer my services as a personal shopper (fashion-wise). And I got chucked on the "fashion committee" for the Biomimetics Lab. Apparently they're making some T-shirts for this convention they would be attending, and they seem to think I have good taste in clothes, so.... yeah.

I'm also in charge of the Secret Santa we'd be having. Oddly enough, the rest of the Bioengineering Institute aren't included, but I'm sorta glad for it, since it gets kinda large to organise after. So yeah, next week looks fun. Secret Santa, LaserStrike, Christmas dinner (Biomimetics) and Christmas lunch (Bioengineering). Awesome!

Mm, also, I got Marc Jacobs (the lecturer) to get me a bottle of scotch duty-free when he gets back from his trip to San Francisco. YAY! It's cheaper than getting a 700ml bottle of Laphroaig for $57 I guess. Hm, time to head off for now. Cya later!

P/S: I'm getting alot better at using the espresso machine now. Still making flat whites though, mostly.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

An Encounter with Bell Gully Initiates

I was picking up my suit today at Working Style when I saw trouble. Yup, trouble. You can always spot trouble in High St when you see a group of 5 guys, and a chick with a videocam, and especially when the guys are in suit pants and wifebeaters. Definitely not standard High St dress code. And suprisingly, they were right behind me when I walked into the store.

Turns out these fine young gentlemen were from Bell Gully, one of the biggest law firms in NZ, probably the top I believe, and freshly recruited too, from the sounds of it. They were making a video skit as part of their initiation rites for the Christmas presentation or something, and it involved them replacing some Backstreet Boys melody with their own lyrics and video. 

So this one guy took off his wifebeater and got one of the girls at the shop to take measurements. All the while they had the other guys crowding around him, and doing borderline homoerotic stuff, like one guy touching his belly or something. Let's just say the people manning the store were amused, the other customer with me was profoundly disturbed, and I was veering between both. Naturally, I felt the urge to stir up the pot a little, so I threw a suggestion their way to make the video more homoerotic by having more hands and sensous movements on the poor dude in question. Which of course brought more laughter his way. Ah well. Glad to see that I don't really have to do that in Engineering, since we get all that sort of stuff out of the way during our study years. Not to mention there's alcohol involved, making all of it more forgettable and fun, of course. Haha.

So yeah, that was my brief experience with the boys from Bell Gully, future solicitors and defenders of justice. I shudder a little to think of it.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Strange Dreams

I've been having odd dreams lately. They always involve me being a survivor of some sort by freak chance of some apocalyptic event, like an ice age, nuclear fallout, rapture, etc. And the world is always in ruins of some sort, and really dystopian (as one would thus expect). Society has broken down to basic banditry, and violence is rather common. Somehow people manage to cling on to certain oddities of society, such as currency. 

Last night was no different. Every night I have different companions in this dreamworld, and this time it was Richie. I suppose I "entered" the dream at the same time I awoke in it in a groggy state from having been near a patch of some weird gas being emitted from some cracks in the ground. I think it registered in my head at the time that it was carbon dioxide and some other miscellaneous gases, and that they somehow caused nausea and/or extreme drowsiness.

Iain was fashioning some sort of device to let the gas build up around the area, since it's a rather dense gas, into a sort of pseudo-fence about some wider area. I think it was the area we lived in, or maybe it was some sort of place we wanted to protect. It seemed to make sense at the time, but I wouldn't know for the life of me now what would have been in it. Obviously it was important.

So anyway, me and Richie were going down to the nearest settlement to buy food. I don't remember how long we were walking along, or where we were. I do remember that looking at the bush and shrubs about the place, it could have been any temperate country, no jungle stuff. Although it was a little warmer than one would expect for a temperate country. And the earth looked a little baked. I remember things being rather yellowed somehow.

So anyway, along the way are all these decrepit buildings, some of which are in obvious states of disrepair. Somehow there was a carpark which was rather intact, but I'll get back to that later. We get to the settlement which looks a little like some old town center. Here's the one oddity I remember from the dream. Somehow, Burger King and MacDonald's were operating. No idea what they were serving, but I remember regarding it with disdain, although I regard it with some disgust in real life anyway, so maybe that wasn't relevant aye?

We get to some place which behaved like a supermarket I guess. Not that it was anything close to it, kinda weird and stuff. Hm, I guess it was about now I realised that the sun was a little hotter than normal. Me and Richie buy some food, and somehow (I have absolutely no idea why) decided that a good form of protection would be to get some sort of syringes with very strong tranquilisers in them. Sorta like darts I guess. I think it had something to do with us not being to afford guns, or maybe guns were rare. I don't remember why, but I knew it wasn't possible for us to get any. Although now that I wonder about it, why not knives? I guess we must have had knives.

We begin the long trek home, and back through the carpark. Along the way, we realise that we're being followed. Its kind of obvious really, I guess, since he wasn't making any effort about it. Big hulking fellow. Scary in the way that he's just tall and huge. And he had this grin on his face, as if he knew he was going to catch up to us somehow. And he walked fast too. Us hurrying along didn't help much either, since he somehow closed the gap by the time we reached the second flight of stairs.

Here comes the second part which didn't make sense. Richie suddenly said something like... "Hey Gabe,...." followed by a string of numbers. Well, this string of numbers was something in the logic of the kind of numbers that you input into a calculator and turn upside down, and it forms a word? Like how 01134 makes hello? Anyway, no idea what the numbers were, but the gist of it was something along the lines of "We're in trouble". And that we were too.

He had definitely caught up to us, and there was no knowing what he wanted. I guess he wanted our money and food and whatnot, but like we'd want to get robbed, knowing we'd probably die as well. Thing was though, he was kind of big, and there would be no way we could take him down. Unless those tranquilisers would work. And they're pretty obvious, you know. 

We got them out anyway, since you know, might as well try. And he charged. 

I then woke up, feeling utterly confused.

Yeah, no idea where these dreams are coming from, but they're pretty weird. Not weird enough to spook me, but just somewhat disquieting. The strangest thing I found is not that I wake up just as something is about to happen to me, but its more of the fact that I kind of wake up as if I told myself to wake up. I don't really know how to explain it, but it just felt like I had to wake up, and I did. Not that it was a vivid dream, since it didn't feel completely real, and I hear in vivid dreams you can control things around you, but it certainly somehow seemed real, and yet surreal somehow.

Yeah, so that was my weird dream today. Thought I'd share, since well, I got rather bothered this morning over it.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Breakfast Bars Galore

Haha, that went well.. I now have 16 breakfast bars! Yay! I'm quite pleased with the way they all held up, so yeah. Looks great. Hm, work early tomorrow, better sleep now. Cya later!

Baking

Making myself breakfast bars at the moment. If my oven works the way I intend it to, and if I didn't fuck up the thing, I should end up with 16 breakfast bars. I could have flattened the mixture a little more, but I was feeling a little lazy, plus those bits kept sticking to my spatula!

I'll update on my breakfast bars in a while.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Okay... Work... Definitely.

Perhaps I spoke too soon. I had barely walked in to see my supervisor for 10 minutes today, when I got plonked down with Tom to "re-design" the experimental rig for the project. Turns out Tom already has a solution he thought up, and so did my supervisor, so I was supposed to create working prototypes of them (first with a drawing, then SolidWorks, then print it onto perspex using the laser cutter). 

Problem was, the ideas were far from completed, hence the "design" aspect. And I had no clue on how to approach this problem either initially, considering that it was a problem from the aspect of mechanical engineering. Let's just say, I get the feeling Tom already knew what he was expecting, or rather, was thinking of the solution as I continuously bugged him with daft questions. More like, I was learning to think of mechanical solutions and then seeing if my ideas were sound. I'll just say that most of it wasn't sound, and I came up with a lot of solutions that didn't make sense. On the other hand, I learnt a tiny smidgen more about the materials we're using for the linear force actuators. They're made from DEAs (Dielectric Elastomeric Actuators), a material that's apparently been around for some time now. Problem was, these actuators generally transmit compressive strains if you hook them up the way we planned for it, so some very ingenious solution was required to make them into tensile forces. Naturally, I floundered for the longest time before Tom rescued me, yet again by suggesting that I use a piece of Perspex as a sort of level to transmit tension. I feel retarded.

So yeah, I'm getting used to having a espresso machine at work now, although my coffee making skills are lacking somewhat. Still can't froth the milk to the state I want it to be. Pointers anyone? All I can remember is that you froth until it's just too hot to touch, but I can't remember how much to froth/which depth to froth at, and so on. Oh well.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Work... or maybe not

I'm pretty beat ah. And it's all from gym really, probably because I went early this morning. Yes I know, not the smartest thing I could've done but hey, it fits into my schedule. I just have to get used to it.

Work today was kind of... placid? For one, Casey was out of town, and Iain (my supervisor) was out in meetings for the day, so I was pretty much left to my own devices. I spent the better part of 4 hours getting well acquainted with Casey's reading materials ie. the journals he was looking at, as well as his logbook, which he seemed to have left lying around on his desk for some reason (I'm not sure if it was deliberate or him being careless). I also spent 10 minutes trying to work the coffee machine, since it looked kind of different, and also since I'm a bit of an idiot sometimes. Hehe.

Did I ever mention that we have a laser cutter at work as well? I had to learn to use it too, although that only took about 10 or so minutes, especially if you already know how to use some sort of CAD software (like SolidWorks, which was used here). I'm pretty bored too, since there was nothing else I had to do, so I took an extended 1 hour lunch break, and left work early at 3. Not to mention the fact that I only started work at about 9.30... so... I only spent 4.5 hours working really. Real productive day, I can tell.

I shouldn't gripe so much, personally. I guess its good that I'm quite free, although I sorta wish I had some contribution to make to the project, which I find rather fascinating. Problematically, I have no idea what I have to do still. There's so much to do, that I sort of need some direction in this. Maybe I have no initiative of my own to begin work, but I reckon I just need to be pointed in a direction to begin with first before I start finding my way.

Oh well, I'm pretty sleepy already anyway, so I reckon I'll just head off to bed for the moment. By the way, did you hear "Spaceman" by The Killers yet? I think its a great song. Anyway, good night.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

The Joys of Welding

Oh yes, it's joyous indeed. You can barely see anything, so your first weld will probably miss the edge and hit the side of the table before you realise you completely missed the mark and start again. But then you can't find the edge again, so you try and start in the middle of the piece instead, so you backtrack-weld and eventually cause the steel plate to melt because you spent too long trying to weld it. Oh yes, its just so much fun. I could just about kill someone from the sheer enjoyment I derive from it...

Anyway. It's the last day of workshop practice tomorrow, so I'd be rid of this cursed course and can hopefully have more free time (to work) and go to gym. Hm, Smith & Caughey's having a 25% discount sale tomorrow. I must admit I'm quite intrigued by the prospect. Although it'll be undoubtedly pricey, which breaks my heart so. And I want are preppy clothes, which I've never seen anyone but Ralph Lauren, Junya Watanabe, GAP, Gant, et al (there's a few more, but I notice these more) makes. Which basically means no New Zealand label does the look. Sad... since I do like it so... Ah well. =(

Hm, on another note, it'll be Apple's Black Friday event as well tomorrow. So I might take a look tomorrow and see what I want more. At the moment, it'll probably be a toss between this really nice sports jacket by Hugo Boss that I saw at Smith & Caughey's (which will also inadvertently make me broke) or maybe some really nifty Apple thing, like the iPod touch or maybe even, the MacBook Pro (sigh, I wish). Hm. Or maybe I'll get nothing at all. It all depends on the prices of things really, and I'm none too keen to spend what looks like $500 (even after a discount) on the sports jacket since... well... I have my doubts sometimes about things like these. I love it, and will wear it heaps, but can I justify spending at least $500 on it? It'll probably be cheaper if I was in the States or the UK too =(. How sad that prices get inflated to ridiculous amounts when they get here.

Anyways, I'm off. Ciao!

Edit: I was just reading Casey's notes (the Masters student whose project I'm doing some work on for the summer) and I found a sentence that finally describes the kind of work I expect to be doing over the summer with some clarity (stolen from his thesis notes): 
This study hopes to gain understanding of how mechanical forces affect gene expression, cytoskeleton arrangement, and cell to cell signalling in physiology.

Monday, November 24, 2008

A movie marathon - maybe a jog

I watched 4 movies over 2 nights, and most of them would be considered festival type films: Juno; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Atonement; and La Vie en Rose. It only occurred to me after watching all four that I like movies that are somewhat sad. The ones that I liked best of the two? The Assassination of Jesse James, and Atonement. Only because they were so... sad... touching in a way. And so cinematographically beautiful.

I know its a bit late to be watching either of the 4 movies, but I've been rather busy this year, so I haven't had as much time to watch movies as I'd like. I'm entirely happy I saw those movies, and I absolutely love it. As much as I liked 3:10 to Yuma in fact. It was somehow sad as well, which brings me back to the theory that I like sad stories. 

I made a drill gauge in workshop practice today. Yay! It's utterly useless except for looking somewhat pretty in all its polished steelness (I filed at it and sandpapered it to give it a finished look, I'm so proud of myself). I think it'll make a wonderful paperweight.

Off to bed, I have gym and workshop practice again, for pretty much the rest of the week. Then after that it'll be work and gym. Ciao!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

My brief holiday... is ending!

Its sad, but my summer holidays are over. Tomorrow I begin workshop practice, the prelude into my summer job. Then summer work begins, and my holidays at the beach will rapidly drop to nil. My tan might fade because I don't have enough time to wander around and lie in the sun.

It's sad, I know. But oh well, c'est la vie.

Going out for dinner tonight with some mates at the Canton Cafe. Sounds pretty good actually.

I bought Nigella Express (yes, I love Nigella Lawson, though she is no professional chef), but I was honest-to-God debating buying the French Cafe Cookbook instead. The French Cafe is one of the top restaurants in Auckland. And the food looks exquisite, plus you have to book it weeks, if not months in advance. And the hefty price tag associated with it makes it impossible for me to sample its culinary brilliance anytime soon. I did skim through the pages of the cookbook though, and it looks gorgeous. I was literally drooling over the recipes in the book.

I'm still very satisfied with Nigella Express though. It has a lot of great quick dishes to cook on the go, although I've noticed that Nigella is a woman who doesn't seem to mind deriving some of her cooking ingredients from specialist stores and markets, as compared to said professional chefs who prefer making their lovely sauces from scratch. Oh well, differences I suppose. And speed is always sometimes useful. Maybe I'll look through some more books on fast cooking and absorb their little spiel on fast cooking before I form any prejudices on how quick cooking should be done. Although, like I said before, Nigella Express is a treasure trove of a book. I almost wish there were more recipes to be included on it, but I'm being greedy here.

Ooh, I had best get ready to go. I wouldn't want to be late would I?

Friday, November 21, 2008

Tent on a Van

Here lies Iain's tent, on the 19th November around 3:00 PM, shortly after Tony yanked out the pegs and tied it down to the Jesus van, which belongs to the church Iain's mum works for. It was soooo hilarious at the time. Iain was none too impressed however. I wish I could find a picture that showed his reaction to it.

Hmm...

I noticed this on Scotty's album, so I thought I'd upload it here too. The background to this picture is rather simple. I think it started off with Adrian giving Ange a head massage, then Kane (not pictured) wanted one, but Adrian said it would be weird or something. 

Then Adrian proceeded to give Tony one, making Kane annoyed/jealous. Yeah, whatever. Then I got one from Ange with Tony lying next to me on Ange's lap who was lying in Adrian's lap. So here it is...

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Back

I was going to write earlier, but I got very sleepy and fell asleep for the last 7 hours. I think I'm coming down with a cold, which kinda sucks.

Camping was fun, although I wish it was warmer than it would be and that the sun would be out more. I also found out that I was very very good at 500, at least when I was playing with Charlie, Darien, Ethan, and so on. And, shockingly I didn't finish my bottle of Bacardi I brought, but I blame my developing cold for that.

All in all, it was an awesome trip, I had heaps of fun at the beach, except for two instances yesterday, one when I decided (rather stupidly) to take a morning shower. The water was FREEZING!!! In fact, I didn't feel so good after that one. The stupidity then continued at midday when I went for a swim in the ocean. The sun was mostly hiden, problematically, which only made the water colder. I probably got hypothermic shock from that as a result. No idea... although I was feeling rather feverish today.

We lit bonfires at the beach every night, and drank to celebrate... well, I don't know what we were celebrating really. The end of exams, life, youth? Whatever it was, it was a damn good celebration. And the sand was really nice and clean. I have a little bit of a tan from the trip too, so that's good. Could do with more I guess, but there wasn't enough sun anyway, and we didn't stay long enough. Another day would probably have covered me, tan-wise, although I would have been down with the cold then, so I'm not sure how that'd work.

My god, Cathy was up at 5:30 yesterday morning cleaning up the general campsite, and woke me up. And me being a light sleeper didn't make it any easier either, considering that I barely caught a wink of sleep the night before. I have no idea how much sleep I got over the two nights, but I'll bet you it's less than 10 hours in total.

My nature of hangovers appear to be shifting. This morning I was rather suprised to discover that I didn't have my normal hangovers (the seasick vertigo types). I instead had the mother of all headaches for my hangover instead. Its definitely a slightly more welcome change, since I don't feel like puking my guts out with this type of hangover, although slightly worrying in that I appear to be changing. I mean, I discovered that I had a huge gap in my memory from the night before as well, which was extremely disconcerting. 

I woke up early in the morning suddenly to find myself in bed with my sleeping bag draped over me, when my last conscious memory was standing up at the beach and talking to uhm... Timmy and Iain and whoever else? Apparently I was actually still alright, very drunk, but still conscious and moving and talking. Whatever it was, I actually don't remember any of it. Which was very very worrying too. 

Nothing much happened from what I could gather anyway, in my regards. I apparently traded my usual jibes with Drake, ran around trying to find my bottle of Barcardi and the bottle of red wine I had. More interestingly, I learnt that I missed out of the bit where Iain was running around and Timmy, thinking that Tom was Iain, tackled him. Then they started wrestling, and apparently Tom was humping Tim, or something like that. And later Tony came up to Drake completely nude and uhh, made disturbing passes at him. Haha, that would have been gold. According to Mihailo, I actually was there and apparently made some comment, but I really do not remember any of that anyway.

Oh, we actually got Iain to streak anyway! That was kinda funny, me, Kane (Timmy's brother), Tony, and Charlie sorta peer-pressured Iain to do it with us, and we went streaking all across the bonfire site at the beach. Oh yeah, it's a nudist beach anyway, so nothing illegal, although most of us were apprehensive about going in the nude, so it made streaking all the more fun. Hehe. It was quite a while since I did that last anyway, and when I commented on it to Iain, he was like: "It actually sounds like something you'd do anyway". WHATTT? I give off streaker, fratboy vibes? I doubt I embody those stereotypes. Do I? Hmm.

Pretty tired, and that was a massive rant on my part. More sleep..... Night

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Open Survey (of sorts)

Alright, out of general curiosity, I'll just leave this one open indefinitely, so reply whenever. I've noticed that engineering students in New Zealand tend to dress badly, or at least poorly when compared to Science majors, Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, etc. How true is this over wherever you are? Bear in mind that I mean most, not all =)

I have a feeling Singapore's exempt from the rule, since it's a little too hot. And how do I define poorly dressed? Hm, that's a hard one. I dunno, I guess they just look sloppy in a way? Or a general refusal to wear anything but t-shirts? I can't define it because it's based on what I see. Plus I'm bad at explaining stuff (as I've already established in my interactions with fellow students during lessons). Anyway, gotta get back to last minute packing. Ciao!

Monday, November 17, 2008

God the weather sucks now. I wish it were all sunny again, but it was pouring, then drizzling all day today. I honestly hope that it doesn't stay like this over the next 2 days on the camping trip.

Today was a relatively uneventful day... I went gymming as usual, then bought myself a nice pair of black lace-ups. Hm, what else...?

Oh right, I met up with Richie later as well, but instead of watching a movie, he kinda dragged me - well, he didn't really need to, since I didn't mind - to a netcafe where we played some Warcraft 3. Yeah, sad, I know. Okay, fine, not very sad at all. I got thrashed, since Richie plays more than I do. Suprising, huh? He's actually quite geeky. It amuses me somewhat. 

I even got to use the "You dress like an engineer" insult on him, since he didn't bother bringing a change of shorts (and was hence wearing his gym shorts), although he at least changed his shirt, or I would have dragged him to the department store and blitzed him with fragrance.

Oh, dinner time. See y'all later, maybe when I get back from camping... Ciao!

Friday, November 14, 2008

FREEDOM!!

...to the shores of freedom ... where no one lives

Alright, I guess quoting "Honey and the Moon" wasn't particularly relevant to me finishing my exams, but I still really like the song, so what can I say?

Yeah, it's all over, the exams are all finished for this year, and I can rest. And boy was it ever a terrible exam. I didn't want to have to do a "Regurgitate a summary of your 20-page report". Which I didn't manage to finish anyway, but ah well. Did most of the rest of the exam, so I hope I'd be fine.

Gym and Danny's tomorrow, movie with Richie on Sunday, and gym on Monday, then camping on Tuesday!!! Wow, my schedule's packed. Workshop practice in two weeks though =( I don't wanna do workshop practice. Gotta suck it up I guess.

Golly, I do seriously have cravings for a martini... Too bad I'm out of olives and vermouth. And I'm not going to just drink gin. I'm not that much of an alcoholic yet, heh. 

Me and Rhys have developed an interesting relationship, it seems. We'd good-naturedly bicker and I'll continuously diss him and put him down. And sometimes he does the same, but I probably have dished out more insults at him than he has at me. One of my worse ones being: "You dress like an engineer". Oooh, ouch, if anyone understands the stereotype. I suppose it was fitting though, since he IS an engineer after all, but then again, I apparently don't dress like one, or whatever. Too much thinking into this topic confuses me. And as Tim likes to say "Gabby's always confused". Thanks, Tim. You sure are helping my cause here.

And so I end with a particular set of lines from Joseph Arthur's song still stuck in my head... Ciao!

but right now... everything is turning blue...
and right now... the sun is trying to kill the moon...
and right now... I wish I could follow you...
to the shores of freedom... where no one lives...

Monday, November 10, 2008

Inspiration

Sometimes, it can be really difficult to keep pressing on. I'm not just referring to my exam studies right now of course, which is - pressingly urgent - yes, but there's always more things this could be applied to as well. In times like these, I find that it's great to find your source of inspiration to forge ahead. Some of my mates are my inspiration to get me through these particularly tough times.

Everyone has their own source from which they derive this inspiration. What's yours?

P/S: Paid off the deposit for the suit today. $1200 for now, $1150 when it's done. Ouch! =(

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Reform

The election results are out: National has won over Labour. Capitalists over Socialists. Whatever you want to call it, the government is changing once more for the first time in quite a few years. About time too. Although I still personally don't agree with some National's policies. But hey, change is good.

Last exam on Friday, I just can't wait. I went down to Working Style to make myself a suit, which would cost me about $2300 I think. I suppose it's not too bad a price to pay for a made to measure though, and it's in a lovely shade of charcoal gray. Yay!

I happened to see this on the headlines of CNN. An 8-year-old has been charged with premeditated murder. Insane huh? I never thought that would ever be possible.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

EXAM EXAM EXAM

ARGHHHH!!!!! MEDSCI TOMORROW!!! So panicked, so panicked, so panicked. I just want the holidays and the pleasant summer to begin already....

Peace out

Saturday, October 25, 2008

End of Daze

It certainly has been a very long time since I posted last. Truthfully though, I've been rather busy with the projects, assignments and tests that have suddenly cropped up of late. It's all over now though, and I've got to study for my first exam this Thursday. Darn.

Yesterday was a pretty fun day, apart from the test of course. After that was such a great time. We went to Shadz, then left since it got packed. Then hung around and watched the indoor soccer. (Me and the EngSci crew, that is). Then off to the EngSci/BME BBQ, which was great as well. 

The barbeque ended at about 7, when we decided to go to a nearby pub where Stein 2 was held. Coincidentally, we met up with the mechanical engineering crew, so that was pretty fun too.

I think I spent about at least 2 hours dancing nonstop. My calf muscles hurt. Like, actually hurt.

Some pretty hot chick was dancing with me for quite some time. Pretty fun too, since she seemed interested, and came up to me asking for my name and whatnot. Problematically, I was very much in the happy drunk zone at the time, and it never occured to me to ask for her number =( until about an hour after she left. Hehe, ah well. There's always more fish in the sea. Hm, she was older too. I'm thinking mid 20's. Sigh, gotta study now. Exam is far too soon, and I'm feeling far too underprepared.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Gaps in my memories

It appears that I may not remember Thursday night as fully as I thought I had. I was pretty sure that my memory was, on the whole, intact until Tim had to get me to a cab. I was talking to James today, and it turns out I left the bar briefly with him to go to Burger King to get food. Of course it would have been closed at the time, but I really don't remember that. Freaky... What else did I forget? 

It looks as though this is the advent of my forgetfulness. I used to be able to pride myself on not forgetting much even when I got wasted, the exception being when I was unconscious. Now it looks like I can no longer claim that. I'm slightly perturbed as to what else I may have done that I wasn't aware about on Thursday night now...

Friday, October 03, 2008

Ughhh.....

Wow, today was... a long day. I suppose I should start from yesterday though. Last night was Stein 4. Awesome, but I may have had too much to drink. I ended up chucking my guts badly at the end, but  with the exception of that last unpleasantness, the night was awesome. I must thank Tim for saving me at the end and making sure I got to the cab. Thanks Tim. You are a great guy.

I didn't chuck anymore that night though, thank goodness for that. But morning came, and with it the inevitable hangover. Let's just say it didn't end till 1pm. I had to flag all my lectures.

But anyway, went for dinner and Malcolm and Gayle tonight. That was pretty fun. We decided that we'd do ice-cream next time as well. And oh, I saw someone on the way to the bus stop who was wearing EXACTLY the same jacket I was wearing. It was sooo amusing too, since we noticed at the same time. Random, I know.

Gotta get some sleep. Need some rest

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Update

I figured I hadn't made a post in quite some time, so I might as well touch base.

I've finally done away with the Instrumentation and Mechanics assignment, although I finished the Mechanics one with only 15 minutes to go before it was due. Whew! Dodged the bullet there. Now all I have to worry about is the programming assignment, which is more like an assignment in theory than anything else. And additionally, which makes it more boring and annoying.

I got myself a summer internship with the university just this morning. I'm extremely stoked about that, and it was extremely fortuituous as well considering that I was just talking to one of my lecturers when he mentioned one of the projects his Masters student was doing. Well, anyway, I've signed myself on that project after he offered it to me, so it's all sweet.

I'm not exactly sure how much scope is being covered, but from what I understand, the project is to develop a working device to deliver controlled physical strains to a thin sheet of a living bone cell culture, thus allowing people with interests in that field to understand how bone remodels itself to varying strains. I personally think it's great. I would have offered to help the Masters student, Casey, with it in my spare time, but unfortunately I still have all this crap loaded on me, and I wouldn't want to commit to helping so early especially with exams coming up. Wouldn't want to leave him all high and dry, you know.

That said, I should probably get to finishing off my programming assignment so I can go to the Stein with a free mind. Peace out.

P/S: Having withdrawal symptoms for martinis. Help!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Oooh, the drama...

...that is Gossip Girl. What else did you expect? Yeah, I finally found the time to watch it today. Makes me wanna see the next episode. Random, huh? Whoever thought I'd be one to watch Gossip Girl?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The rest of my test results are out... 79% for Programming, 85% for Mechanics. I guess it's not too bad now, is it?

Stein #4 is not this Thursday, but next Thursday! Yeah! Now I know I have something to look forward to next week when I'm drowning in my MedSci labs and my other miscellaneous labs.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Oh my god, this seriously takes the cake. Or maybe I find insensitivity amusing.

The Cycle Begins Anew

Yes it does. Monday bloody Monday. A few new breaks to the cycle though...

I skipped MEDSCI lectures today and went to gym instead. Hurrah! That was fun, although I am one lecture short in knowledge of the lungs. Or something. Meh.

I hear there will be a Stein this Thursday. KEEN! So keen to go. Omg omg omg omg I need a break already.

I had to waste money calling this guy's cellphone because he's the Sales Manager for this online company I'm buying a new phone off, and they didn't send me ANY updates whatsoever. That really pisses me off. I mean, seriously, I'm pretty used to buying stuff online now, and I get a response pretty much instantly when they ship my orders over, or if they're out of stock like those fools were. Jeez. I mean, gosh, its not hard to check and tell me if my order is going to be backordered is it? And go ahead and waste a week of my time being slow about it, and only inform me when I check with you, especially when you require my feedback. Gah.

Going for steak this Friday! YAY! And I got 85.7% for MEDSCI! YAY! I'm quite happy.

P/S: I just noticed a slightly excessive use of capitalisation. Oh well. I guess I can live with it.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

DIE MOUSEY DIE

Really, I do hate my research project. I have to (me and 4 others actually) research the feasibility of creating an ECG device to be implanted in a mouse and write a report. Sounds simple, fun, and easy, I know. Then you get into it, with little background in electronics, and you realise that some things cannot be done that easily. You hit a giant brick wall which requires you to spend hours and hours of fruitless research because the easiest solution is not viable: Steal another company's working ECG device and backengineer it. Damn.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

it's been hectic

I've just finished my last test for quite a while. I've had two, in case you were wondering. MEDSCI 142 (Organ Systems), worth 28% and COMPSYS 202 (Object Oriented Programming), worth 15%. 

I haven't had much time to rest or do anything since the end of the holidays till now. So I mark my moment of freedom with a blog post. 

Summer studentship applications have just begun to open up over here for BME/EngSci. I intend to submit my application once I talk to a few staff members about the viability of a project in tissue engineering. I reckon it'd be great to do a project in that anyway, seeing as that's the field I'm most interested in at the moment. There might be other fields, but I'm not too aware of them. Considering that our lecturers here focus on modelling, instrumentation, and to some extent, neo-metallic materials (or other materials for use in prostheses), I don't really know what else is done in BME.

Pretty tired to be honest. It's been a very long day.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Food and drink?

The holidays are ending... I've still got tons of work, and my study devoted to MEDSCI 142 (test next Wednesday) amounts to just 2 hours. I'm fucked... On the other hand, I guess I've been de-stressing a little. It does help quite a bit, I must say. I've been pretty tired recently.

Although, recently, I've been having sufficiently strong cravings for a nice steak and maybe a bottle of Sam Adams to have with. And additionally, I'm also wanting to have a nice glass of single malt scotch, like Macallan's Fine Oak range or Talisker, or even  Aberlour. Whatever, you know. I just want a good scotch I can appreciate. I'll have to add getting one to my list, after all the other things first though. Like a new cellphone. Hmm, what to get, what to get...

I just read Sandra's post, and even though I had dinner two hours back, I'm getting hungry again looking at the Big Breakfast picture she posted there. ARGH! I'm craving foods.

I think I might probably take Malcolm out for dinner one of these days since he's been so nice recently, and well, I feel like taking him out for a treat. Hmm, the steakhouse down at the Harbour sounds like a good place, ah?

P/S: Off-topic, but recently one of the ladies at the department store downtown gave me a tester for a relatively recent Guerlain fragrance, Guerlain Homme. I must say I quite like it, its got green tea, lime, rum, bergamot, and a few other things. Pretty bland, but still not bad. I still like Mitsuoko and Vetiver by Guerlain more though. Or even Fahrenheit by Christian Dior.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

I hate retards

Really, I do. Why does the Engineering Faculty see fit to let idiots in? WHY? 

I was marking the first year projects for programming, and its HORRIBLE. I can forgive bad commenting, but nonsensical code? Attempts at humour? NO! OH GOD, for the last time, references to the Matrix are not even funny any more.

And don't any of them ever learn that continuously plugging numbers back at the user would only frustrate them? No one really wants to know what they typed into the keyboard when it's still plain visible. And no one wants to see what variables the program is working with either, unless they asked for it! IDIOTS!

The worst one by far was this random chick's one who somehow managed to screw up her output file, and it kept spitting out 2MB files at me, which seemed to grow at a double rate every time I ran it. Seriously. It was at 16MB before I decided I couldn't make head or tail of what she did. At least it's over. I don't even want to think about it anymore.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

I've been thinking... *Whoa!* I really have? *World implodes on a massive scale due to paradox*

No, actually, I have been thinking, well, since I was having a conversation with someone I knew about Shadz and stuff last Friday. Turns out they didn't like to hang around some of the first year guys from Engineering because they're "arrogant jocks". Which I got a little offended by. No idea why though.

I'm quite far away to be classified a jock, although I suppose the reason why I fit in so well with them as well as others is because to some extent, I do think like them. I have yet to test this theory of mine, but it does make sense. More sense than me fitting in well with everyone, since I've already picked that theory full of holes, especially after I noted myself omitting certain persons, as well as being almost racist at times. So I'll now go with the "I have the jock mentality" theory. 

Wow, I'm a sad soul. I can't believe I'm thinking about stuff like this.

I better go to gym. Then maybe get down to doing more work. Have fun yeah?

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

YEAH!

FIELD TRIP 2 IS GONNA HAPPEN!!! 

Haha, for the masses who wouldn't know what I'm talking about, Field Trip 2 is the (un)official continuation of Field Trip 1 for ENGSCI/BME (Engineering Science & Biomedical Engineering). Like the first field trip, it will involve all of ENGSCI/BME from Year 2, and probably (in itself being an absolute certainty) involve copious amounts of alcohol. Unlike the previous field trip, it will NOT involve visits to job sites, thus freeing up more time to play on the beach, and get drunk. 

The only sad thing this time round is the fact that we're not funded by the Department, since its unofficial and all. But hey, Field Trip 1 was awesome, and Field Trip 2 will be too. And it'll be a fitting end to the exams too. I'm stoked. =)

Strange Things...

It appears that in Japan, anything is possible. Including paid seducers and relationship counselors who help to either break a couple up or reconcile them... Yeah, odd huh? I found this article when I was trawling through the web, over here. I guess its a bit of an interesting read.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Found this on Wondermark.com... Its called #291: In which Notability in determined:

Saturday, August 30, 2008

I intentionally wrote it out to be an illegible mess.
You wanted me to write you letters, but I'd rather lose your address
and forget that we'd ever met and what did or did not occur.
Sitting in the station, its all a blur
of dance hall hips, pretentious quips,
a boxer's bob and weave.

I never thought...

... that I'd be called a party animal. By my friends that is. The ones I knew from school, the high school in Auckland where I was already pretty social. Yeah, I found it remarkably odd. I thought all of us, as a group were pretty social and party-going. I guess I was wrong. I don't really know my group after all, huh?

I spent pretty much the night at Shadz (Shadows, the student bar) tonight. Met up with like all the first year engineering students whom I kinda knew prior, but hey, now I know all of em! I think. I've kinda forgotten their names. Also met some random chicks from uhhh.... crap. I forgot who they were and where they were from. Only that one of them was kinda nice.

I got ditched by my group pretty early in the night, so I, yeah, pretty much just socialised with the first year engineering guys, and the others from Biomedical Sciences (pre-meds and all). Including Gayle, whom I met through Malcolm. Never knew she'd be such a social party-goer too. She really suprised me there. I danced with everyone tonight it seems. That was fun.

Fun, fun, fun. And EngSci's dinner is later tonight too! YEAH!!! And we be going to town again! That's twice in a row! I love it when there's a break. Thank god for the midsemester break.

Alright, gym tomorrow before pre-pre-drinks at Tessa's, so I better sleep now and get enough rest for gym and the long night ahead. Ciao peeps.

P/S: I just decided to re-read it (on a whim, like 2 minutes after) and I realise I sound pretty drunk and rant-y. Well, too bad, I am still tipsy, you know, the one where you were drunk, but are sobering up pretty rapidly? Yeah, that one.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Eddie's at the Mexican Cafe

Yeah, hardly an original post title, but I haven't the time to inspire myself creatively and think of a more original awe-inspiring post title for myself. Blame it on assignments and stress.

Eddie's birthday was this Friday, but for some magically odd reason he decided to have it tonight. So I had to ditch the Wine & Cheese Careers Evening (WINE AND CHEESE!!! NOOOOO!!!) to go to the Mexican Cafe. Which was alright, since I'm now as bloated as a mother in her third trimester of pregnancy. You get the idea. And the Margaritas were awesome too.

For starters, most of the people there were Eddie and Faith's (Eddie's longtime girlfriend of uhm, maybe a year or two? I lost track) work mates from Village Skycity (the movies). I was definitely suprised to find that I knew like... at least 3 people there. First off, Chris Holdaway, my mate from school who I kept bumping into this semester. He kept scaring the shit outta me 'cos I never expected to see him. Turns out he works there too. Then there's Emily (Biomedical Engineer in second year with me). Turns out her boyfriend works there too. Then there's Alban, whom I know through Lucy, who was Alastair's girlfriend. Turns out he used to work there. Small world huh?

I even met a fellow Malaysian, who was from Kuching even. If anyone knows/knew a girl who went to both St. Theresa's and St. Mary's and who hangs out with Lodgians from time to time from the class of '89 (she left before she finished though, Form 2 maybe?) and knows Andrew Bong (oops, who doesn't?) called Serena Pang, also cousins with a Noel Pang? That's her. And she knows some of my second year mates from Lynfield College to boot. Wow. Very small world.

Dinner was awesome. I was kinda full before the mains even came, which was uhm... weird, considering me. Maybe it was just tonight or something. But boy, when those mains came, I was like soooo full once I was halfway done. Managed to stuff it down, but wow. Full full full. I stood up at some point and my belly hurt. Hurt from fullness. And all for $30 too. Not bad huh, considering the cake, appetisers and mains.

I forgot what I had, well I can't remember its name. All I know is its Mexican styled meat (like beef or chicken) wrapped in like a tortilla skin, and then deep fried, served with a side of Mexican rice, salad and beans. Pretty good, but I don't remember what it's called anymore. So so bloated though, I'll have to work doubly hard at gym tomorrow to make up for that. And now for sleep...

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Time and time again

Well, this is sort of a double entendre for me, even though in truth it isn't. Yeah, my thinking logic is a little wild, but hey, what gives? I kinda get this feeling that I'm running out of time, but I don't know what I'm meant to be doing. Okay, not exactly that way either, but its just an odd feeling. If someone has an alternate explanation for what I'm going through, I'd thoroughly welcome it.

Also, I'm always feeling bored these days. Call it a sense of repetition or deja vu or whatever it is, but I feel like I'm doing the same things all the time, even if I've never done it before, or if its something relatively new.

Hm, maybe I'm just sick of winter, and the rain in snow-proof Auckland. When will summer come and let me spend my days in idyllic bliss and warmth?

Monday, August 11, 2008

Time to start working hard again

Yup, it looks like my cruise-y days are ending once more with the handing out of Project 1 for Object Oriented Programming and a project-like "lab" for BioInstrumentation. Which really has nothing to do with BioInstrumentation. Well, I guess the theory behind it is, but practically, if you could come up with a link between being able to sort blue and white marbles using an inductor, a LDR and an LED into separately coloured piles, be my guess. And oh yes, the inductor has a pin that allows you to push the marbles around.

Does sound kinda fun though, since Instrumentation has been boring as hell these few days. Although I don't like the sound of LabView as much, but oh well, I'll live.

Still a little sick, but hey, should be fine by the end of this week I hope. Nose still runny as hell, which has got to the most annoying thing, apart from the coughing. Well, I'm off.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Sick... again

Yeah, I had a relapse. Going to the Stein yesterday may not have been the best idea since I'm now sick as a dog. On the other hand, that stein was totally fun. I met up with a whole group of first years, as well as second years. Somehow, unsurprisingly, Jack and his mates were there too (I kinda expected it though, seeing as they were at the commerce stein too).

I went as a drug tester to the Olympic-themed stein. Well, I was feeling lazy and unoriginal, so I just chucked on my lab coat (I had finished my lab just a few hours ago, so I kept it on pretty much), and changed into track pants. Amazingly, some people managed to guess what I was, although most couldn't. I got random things too, like Drug Doper from this first year dude, who referred to me as that when I bumped into him today. I think he's called Matt. Meh, never good with names.

And there were random chicks who kept giving me hugs and kisses. Claiming that I knew them forever. I was like "Yeah, sure" at that point, since I had no idea who the fuck they were. Besides, who's going turn down attention? Hehe. I can't remember their names anyway. I swear every time I turned around there would be some other chick I never met before (although I made that mistake to Ange and Sara, whoops). At some point I stole this chick's wig which was some sort of bright ginger coloured DragonBall-Z like thing (she was meant to be the flame, torch, whatever). Uhm, like the Super Saiyan. I put it on and did some cheap poses. It was pretty amusing.

Not to mention the cheap beer does wonders, $1 Tui's sure make a light dent on your wallet. At some point in the night I stopped buying drinks 'cause I kept getting some from mates who would buy stashes of 5 or so beers and give them away. (Who's gonna hold on to 5 beers anyway? 2 at most I reckon). There were lots of chicks dressed at tennis players too. Not that I'm complaining, some of them were pretty hot in white, and those short skirts... Wow.

On other news, the last few days have been real dull anyway. I studied the human brain and got to play with an actual one too (although plasticized). It was kinda icky and weird. I stopped thinking of it as a real brain at some point. Plus, I was feeling sick on the day, so I got impatient with the TA's and was contemplating throwing the brain at them to get them to hurry up. Hehe, you know me.

I sometimes feel like I'm becoming more distanced from my peerage (former) from high school. You know, the ones in my year, before I left school a year early. I saw them only for like 10 minutes every single time, before I would bugger off and socialise with my other mates. Then again, I suppose I've always been a bit of a drifter in that sense, but ahh, you know, just that feeling that I'm not as close to them as I used to be. Then there's the fact that few of them drink, or that most are unwilling to go to Steins and student-related functions. (Not that I'm saying that you have to drink copious amounts, its a social thing anyway).

I've also noticed that Biomedical Engineering & Engineering Science (since we're pretty small, 25 in BME and 50 in ES; and we share quite a few classes in common sometimes) are starting to separate into two distinct cliques: The drinkers (primarily composed of whites, maybe with the exception of two Asians, me and I think JP, maybe one or two other Asians), and the non-drinkers (primarily composed of Asians, with the exception of a few whites). Then again, you could kind of tell that the clique was settling nicely into place anyway, from the onset of the EngSci/BME fieldtrip; when the drinkers partied and went to town and the non-drinkers just played cards.

Haha, I better get to bed. This cold/flu/whatever is really doing a number on me. I'm like really tired, my voice sounds funny, and I'm coughing heaps. Yay for sickness. Anyway, cya for now.

P/S: Jack pointed out this amusing video that Paris Hilton uploaded in retaliation to being mocked by McCain in his ad against Obama. Its pure gold. You just HAVE to watch it.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Rule No. 108

Rule number 108: The road to hell is not paved with good intentions. The road to hell is paved with smooth-jazz CDs, herbal teas, John Tesh specials, and low-fat cheese.

I found this off a book from Esquire Magazines, The Rules.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Rough Sums

I was doing some basic calculations the other day... And I have a new target GPA: 8.25 /9.00.

Its not impossible, but my current GPA's sitting on 7.45. So I have to get quite a lot of A+'s to drive it up. 5 more semesters too, or 20 more subjects.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I find that I like this quote a lot. It comes from Match Point (2005):

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't and you lose.

Not suprised to find that a lot of my friends from high school don't like it. But then again, I've never really expected them to like anything which wasn't really action-related, and the title also brings to mind a cheesy movie with Wimbledon themes.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Sick

I'm ill, if you didn't gather from the post title. *Hack* *Wheeze* *Hack*. That sorta sick. Going to bed after dinner. Thank God its my off day tomorrow.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Steins Galore!

BSA (Biology Student Asc) Re-Orientation party a.k.a. Stein this Thursday, and our very own Engineering Stein 3 next Thursday! Sweet. No clashes between two, so I don't have to pick. Beijing Olympics theme for the Engineering one though... What to wear... Biking lycra perhaps?

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Dark Knight

That.. was awesome. I loved that movie. And the Lamborghini. Oh my god. Supremely divine. I want. I want I want I want.

Hell, to be in the R&D for that movie would be awesome too. Or to be well, an industrial billionaire like Bruce Wayne. *jealous*

P/S: On a side note, I've just realised that I.. uh... know Richie's PIN number... And he knows both my PINs to my credit card and my bank account. Damn. Good thing he doesn't remember numbers well anyway. Considering his inability to remember birthdays. Haha.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Issues of Citizenship

I've been thinking more and more recently of giving up my Malaysian citizenship in favour of a New Zealand one. Well, why now? Because:
a) Its more useful for me if I intend to travel to the States/UK for postgrad studies.
b) I need time to "acclimatise" myself to NZ
c) I'm really starting to question the necessity of being a Malaysian. Or in other words, I've grown disenchanted with Malaysia.

Hm. What to do, what to do.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Commerce Stein

Pretty fun stein tonight. And all I needed was a white t-shirt ($6 from the warehouse) and $5 for the entrance fee (paid for by my fourth year engineering mate, awesome!!!)

I'm uhh... pretty wasted right now. So typing this will take ages. And hungry, so I'm cooking noodles at the same time.

Met like everyone there. All the commerce people, and all the engineering people I know and love. Hung out at Shadz beforehand too, so that was awesome.

And yeah, fun thing about this Stein is your white t-shirt gets scribbled on in highlighter, so mine got scribbled all over now. I even have crap written on my forehead, I think. And pink highlighter ink in my hair. I apparently look very very very Asian (in a bleached way). Hahaha.

Alright, gotta wake up in 6 hours, have a long day ahead. And Shadz with Tiki (awesome NZ guitarist) tomorrow too! YEAH!!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

First Day Back

And I'm exhausted. Didn't get enough sleep, and I went to gym to boot, just because I couldn't wake up. Haha, good excuse huh?

Although here's a few things from today:
  • I hate the COMPSYS 202 (Object Oriented Programming) lecturer. Well, the woman anyway. She treats us like children. "What are the 4 P's of Programming?" Gah, if I cared, would I be in COMPSYS 202 and not COMPSCI 101: How To Type on the Keyboard?
  • My BIOMENG 241 (Bioinstrumentation) lecturer mumbles. Far too much. He talks really soft to boot, too. If I can hear him I'd be amazed.
  • Having only oats and 2 protein shakes from 7 AM till 2 PM (with a gym session in between) really does a number of your stomach. I was sooo hungry that it hurt. Like real bad. It hurt like I've never hurt before. My poor stomach wasn't made for this kind of abuse. =(
  • I learnt to do deadlifts properly!!! Hurrah!
  • Pre-med students are terrible. Well, insane. I went to collect my course guide for MEDSCI 142 (unfortunately a pre-med paper), and the queue was insanely long. Crazy pre-meds should be less eager.
  • I have 3 lectures today. 2 in the same room, but in between both, I have to run almost 500 metres down the road to get to my other one. And back up again. This sucks.
  • Chris is really good at scaring me when I'm running around.
  • ECON 151G, some general elective, is really really really dull according to both Richie and Chris. Fun! Glad I didn't do it.
Interestingly, I also have discovered that Lionel amazingly knows Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie. Well, I just never expected anyone to know anything from them, thats all. Apart from me, Richie, or JP. Well, that and that he's a good resource for chillout music. We even had a 10 minute session on messenger exchanging bands and stuff. Awesome!

Chris is also good for indie. No suprise there though.

I have these artists to check out. Well, I intend to check them out anyway:
  • Sufjan Stevens
  • The New Pornographers
  • Modest Mouse
  • Of Montreal
  • Arcade Fire
  • The Postal Service
  • The Decemberists
  • Pinback
  • Imogen Heap NOT!!!! Sorry Lionel =P I don't mind her sometimes, but that much of her would be bad.
Ah well, I should sleep I guess.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

End of Hols

Yeah, tonight is the last night before I go back to classes. Sigh, soooo not looking forward to it, but ah well. Hard luck, toughen up mate, that sorta shit. And to top it off, its raining like a bitch too. Gotta love the weather round this time of the year ah? I need a mackintosh. Seriously. Maybe I'll go to St Lukes and get me one.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

P/S: I just realised it... again, and rather belatedly. I forgot to get myself a new pencil case. ARGH!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

I want a new cellphone, I've decided. But I don't know what to get. The iPhone isn't a worthwhile investment in NZ, the main problem being Vodafone offering it at a less-than-useful plan cost. Compared to Optus across the divide, their plans make for rather unsavoury meals.

So, I'm left here sitting and pondering about what mobile I should get. Obviously something nice to look at, something that plays music well would be good too (lessens the iPod + phone load), and a camera's nice. Or maybe I can wait longer and just get myself some clothes. At least they don't come with subscription fees and telco monopolies.

But yeah, seriously. I'm clueless about the cellphone thing. Anybody?

Edit: Just randomly, but, man, wooden hangers are hard to find. Especially cedar ones.
Edit 2: Oh, found them on trademe. I suppose this has its uses sometimes over ebay.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Yay, JP also has similar music tastes to me! Well, he listens to Death Cab for Cutie too, and he recommended other artists whom I know. And here I was thinking no one listened to that sort of music either.

Mm, actually, his facebook profile says much. He's got quite a few artists that I planned to check out from the OC Mix. Yeah, I know it sounds silly, but the OC Mix is suprisingly good. With the exception of some artists that I don't fancy as much, like Imogen Heap. Ah well.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Haha, I decided on a whim to see what the temperature at Kuching was... 25 degrees! My god, its a sweltering hothouse there ain't it? Well, maybe I say that because its only 8 degrees here...

Its good that I'm not sleepy today. It'll be a great day for an outing too. Nice and sunny. So long as it stays this way, that is.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

I'm sleepy... And tired. But mainly sleepy. Came back from town at about 3am this morning... Should really have drunk insane amounts of water. Ah well, back to resting some more...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Almost a stalker...

Why, yes... I've just realised after a brief conversation with Richie that I'm almost a stalker...

richard says:
easier to get it sorted out with all the stuff here
richard says:
its ----------------------- (Address goes here)
Damian says:
you're -------------- (Address goes here) ah?
Damian says:
lol
richard says:
yea :S, howd you know that lol
[Me explaining how I can remember his address]
richard says:
ah fair enough
richard says:
sweet as
Damian says:
haha, I bet you're thinking I'm a stalker now =\
richard says:
nah, all good ah
richard says:
dont really care
Damian says:
lol sweet then. would hate for people to think I'm a stalker because I have a penchant for remembering birthdays, cellphone numbers, emails and addresses
richard says:
lol
richard says:
well they are the characteristics of a stalker :P
richard says:
but hey
richard says:
....
Damian says:
damn
Damian says:
I didn't notice that before
Damian says:
should pick up more traits
Damian says:
although I suppose with a little practice I could be a good stalker
richard says:
lol
richard says:
I wouldn't practice though ah, its not that cool
Damian says:
no, neither. I was just postulating
richard says:
yeeeaaas.


Hm, didn't notice that before... Darn. Better pick up more non-stalkerish traits...
crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction?
screaming, drunk, disorderly; I'll tell you mine:
you were the one, but I can't spit it out when the date's been set.

Nice lyrics ah?

I'm on a roll...

A+ for BIOSCI 107. Woot! 2 more to go, although 1 of them I have little hopes for...

P/S: Uhh, yeah, just read in the news... There's a rabbit killer loose in some part of Germany. Haha

Edit: All of them are now out... I got A for Computation, and B+ for management. Bummer... B+ for management... Ah well. My total GPA is now 7.75, 0.25 short of an A... Damn.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

A for math... A for math

I got A for Math, alright. Fucking A!

Well, I was hoping for an A+, but A is good too =) Oh yeah, I got an A. Alright...

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

iphone in NZ

Not really cheap, from the looks of it. Or maybe I'm used to comparing plans to those in the UK, Canada, and the US... But even so, I'm certain that the Aussie plans are more affordable as well. Hmm, I might think a little before buying the iphone.

$80 a month gives you: 120 anytime minutes, 250 MB of data, and 600 texts. You still have to pay $549 for the 8GB model and $699 for the 16GB model.

$130 a month gives you: 250 anytime minutes, 500 MB of data, and 600 texts. You still have to pay $449 for the 8GB model and $599 for the 16GB model.

$250 a month (which is just insane) gives you: 600 anytime minutes, 1 GB of data, and 600 texts. You still have to pay $199 for the 8GB and $349 for the 16GB.

Goddamn, but those plans cost quite a lot. At this rate I might not even get one, and just settle for a nice Nokia N95, or maybe one of the new mobile phones due to hit the market sometime. Sigh. If only I was living somewhere else.

Monday, July 07, 2008

NZ Telcos annoy me

About time that they released word on their upcoming iPhone release. Well, Vodafone that is. But, guess what? They're not releasing their plans till... tomorrow at 10am. Gah.

I can only add at this stage that I hope they emulate the plans Australia, or other overseas countries (like the States, or perhaps the UK?) have. Vodafone NZ is ridiculously overpriced.

P/S: I still haven't got my results yet!!! Now I'm impatient and panicky...

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Cold, cold night.

Okay, fine, its not like bloody cold like some countries can be, but its relatively cold for Auckland. Considering that its like 7 degrees, and wind chill makes it feel like 3 degrees out...

Yesterday was quite an amusing day. For truckers, at least. They were protesting against some sort of increase in the road user charges that came into effect regarding diesel users. Yeah, so they all decided to crowd the CBD by coming in through all the entry points from the highway. And apparently, they got stuck in their own jam. Most of them didn't even reach the CBD, haha. And they managed to delay everyone's work schedule too, since it was on at like 8 or so. People had to go in late, go in earlier (like very early), or not go at all. Fun times indeed.

I hear there was sleet in Auckland. Haven't seen any proof of it so far though. Apparently the whole of New Zealand's going through this cold phase (yes I know there is one called winter, I meant a colder than usual winter phase). Ah well, I guess it makes up for the really mild winter last year, the one which was over before it started, haha.

Edit: Actually, its freezing out there. I'm absolutely certain the wind chill would make it feel like 0 degrees in this weather.

Monday, June 30, 2008

No Pain, No Gain.

Or as electrical engineers love to have it, No Pain, No Vout/Vin. Lol.

Point aside, I'm gonna ignore the bloody pain in my knee and go to gym. Its suprisingly bothersome for such a superficial wound, but I think its mainly because the knee would be some sort of point of contact. Or something similar.

So yeah, I'm gonna go to the gym and do me some deadlifts. Still need to get the technique right for that one first. =\

Edit: Apparently Anwar's seeking refuge in the Turkish embassy. I'm actually amused. I never did think anyone would do that.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

BBC told me...

...that Anwar's facing charges for sex offense. I think sodomy or something. I must say, I wasn't suprised to see allegations of that sort resurface again. Its almost as if some people were trying to curb the rise in popularity of someone they managed to bring low before. Although, if it were so, I'd have to say I don't condone it. Its a rather cheap shot to take at someone. But then again, politics is dirty business anyway.

In other news, I recently discovered to my amazement that they're releasing Diablo III. Cool huh? Alright, I'm off. My knee hurts like a bitch still. Paracetemol seems to be keeping that at bay though. I took my bandage off and now its oozing... Ew...

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Tired

God, I'm sleepy as hell... Probably shouldn't have woken up and gone to gym. Ah well, whatever.

Scraped my knee early this morning on the pavement. I tried to do a running headlock-grip thingy on Danny. Obviously something silly happened (as if I can remember anyway). All I have to show for it though is a nice sort of skinned knee. Must have been traveling pretty quick for my knee to get skinned as badly as it did. Oddly enough, my pants sustained no damage... Weird huh?

Ah well, gotta get some rest.

Sigh, my gym instructor told me too late that she was at town too. And she was keen for dancing as well. Damn. Danny and the lot were so averse to it... Asses. If only I knew Ailsa was gonna be in town earlier, then I could have gone dancing with her. Meh. Sleep time.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Hoo rah.

Its over over over, over-over-over... Math today was a lot better than I expected. Certainly better than Management.

And now, my 3 week holiday begins. Margie's tomorrow, people?

Edit: Oh wait, none of the college people read this blog.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

So not cool.

I got rained on just then when I was 5 minutes away from home. At first, it was a light drizzle. Then it got heavier, then heavier, then finally, I got hailed on. Gah! Now I'm soaked. My jeans are wet, my coat is wet, my shoes are wet. I'm a soaking mess.

Last exam tomorrow, just had terrible terrible Management for Engineers today. It was ghastly. They came up with an evil question (there are only 5) to trick the mind and confuse us all. Hopefully everyone did worse than me, then I would be able to get something decent. Ah well =\
It's almost over anyway... Just have Math left to go...

Patience Gabe patience...

P/S: It's been really rainy lately. Thunderstorms and hail seem to be the norm for this week.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Time for bed

But I still don't wanna sleep yet, even though I have an exam tomorrow morning =( .Yes, on a Saturday of all things too. Sucks aye?

Sick of studying. Wish me luck.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

I love it when the leaves turn golden and red... They're simply beautiful.

Though short-lived, it gives me great joy to see them.

1 more week exactly...

...till my exams begin, of course. And problematically, I'm already over these exams before they've even begun. Ah well, guess I might as well begin. It feels kinda weird, being in second year and all sometimes. Almost as if I can't believe I'm here. You know, I sometimes feel like I should be somewhere else, doing something else. Younger, older, I just don't feel like my age, or myself.

But hey, I guess thats what we all go through sometime. We'll keep remaking ourselves and forging our own identities. And once every so often, we stop and think about how odd it all is.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Idling away

Yes, instead of doing work (my Stats assignment), which I now duly hate since I can't get to the next part without knowing if I'm doing it right or wrong, I'm listening to Keane. And now I've got one of their songs stuck in my head: This Is The Last Time.

The last time
You fall on me for anything you like
Your one last line
You fall on me for anything you like
And years make everything alright
You fall on me for anything you like
And I know I don't mind

Yeah, I should probably do work or study, really. Exams are only 12 days away after all...
I really need to dredge up the effort for it this year. So tired of it all. Gah. I want a break.

P/S: Come to think of it, I actually have Keane stuck in my head. Should probably listen to it till I get out of that phase. At least its better than having "American Boy" stuck in my head.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

I've got Keane's Bedshaped stuck in my head.

You'll knock on my door
And up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know?
What do I know?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

YUS!!! BIO'S OVERRR!

Well, the Biology labs are over at least. I'm so glad. Haha, I'm not the only one either. All the Biomedical Engineering students were pretty sick of it too. Not to mention that today's lab was absolutely crap. We had to separate out individual muscle fibres from a group of them. Seriously, not easily done. Imagine a piece of raw meat, and then start shredding it into one tiny thread. Without breaking it into smaller pieces. And in a petri dish, with a pair of forceps. IN A SOLUTION!! ARGH!!!

It was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Chris managed to rip his muscle sample into shreds. Malcolm cooked his muscle sample under the dissection microscope because he left it there for too long. I gave up halfway through because I couldn't get the muscle fibre to stick to a copper wire. Really, really annoying. It was rage-inducing, so I gave up and started talking to Chris. Fun times =)

I'm sick of this semester. I want it to end, and the holidays to begin. 13 weeks of lectures suck, even if its only the 12th week.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Management is stupid

I don't understand this. A management textbook lists the disadvantages of companies, when everything underlying it is down to cost. Why not just say: "Cost is the major disadvantages, there are many aspects to it?" What a long-winded way to make a statement by going on for 4 paragraphs.

Sigh. I really don't like this subject. Wish I did the first year paper for commerce. Wouldn't have to waste time doing this.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Ah crap. Hate it when I can't remember which Wednesday I don't have Math... Is it this Wednesday or next? My stupid memory... ARGH