Some Magic Fun

Today was a day when I indulged in a little fantasy fun. Being a planeswalker, able to transcend time and space. Harnessing energy from nature and using this energy to summon spells and creatures from another plane. Hurling bolts of lightning and fire at my foes are just some of my hobbies. Researching into new and improved ways of summoning creatures and equipping them with powerful artifacts of war. The stench of death and charred bodies is never a step away. Goblins, merfolks, elves and of course humans, are just some of the beings I meet along the way. They can help me or stand in my way. If it's the latter, there are just a thousand ways of decimating them. Anyway, that was how I spent my day together with like-minded friends aloy, timo and jq. Definitely a fun experience that I've not experienced for a long time and a much enjoyable one too. Brings back childhood memories yet they were not that far away. Must be feeling my age haha.

Words

Words have powerful meaning. Alliteration helps one to remember complicated theories. Words help to reinforce beliefs. They serve to reorganize haphazard thoughts into nice little compartmentalised and manageable blocks. I've found that writing down my thought is a useful way of clearing the mind. There are many times when I've read something and thought I fully understood. Unfortunately, when push came to shove, at the most crucial point, I'm unable to translate what I've read into coherent-sounding words. At these moments, I find writing the key points down an essential aid to my understanding. These applies to many things including revising for the exams. Summarizing the large chunks of the tome we call a textbook can at times be daunting. However, through practice and taking small, baby steps, It is definitely possible. The first attempt may not produce the desired result, often leading to the copying of the whole textbook. But the decisions that you have to make, whether to add this part or not, will help in your decision-making skills. It keeps you thinking and inadvertantly cementing the information into our CPU. While I wouldn't recommend trying to burn your textbook and drinking the remains (it never works as far as I'm concern), memorizing some key theorems are sometimes better than trying to understand the abstract concepts that lead to the formation of those theorems in the first place.
On a side note, I've started on my revision of the Japanese language. It's tough to restart my learning, but since I've some background on it, it's getting easier as my grey matter sought to find the keys to unlock the language puzzle. Till next time, write down your thoughts to better understand them! :-)

Time for a change

I have decided and you have probably noticed. Changes have to be made and it may very well begin with my blog. Long it has been that my blog boasted none of the qualities that will interest myself into blogging. Plain, dark and more recently bright colours were the mainstay of my blog design. In an effort to spruce up my blog (and hopefully self-induce myself to blog more), I have decided on an anime-themed blogskin. Hope everyone who bothers to visit will like the new look.

In case anyone was wondering, the anime is called D-Greyman and it's a smashing anime to watch. Contrary to popular beliefs, there are valuable lessons to be learnt from watching anime which may range from anything like friendships to love to courage.

Anyway, it took me quite a bit of time to figure out how to customize everything to my liking. Personally, I'm not too good with programming and would rather prefer everything to be done in 1 click. As such, I saw that little bit of time after my examinations as a perfect opportunity to learn some new skills. I'm sure those skilled at web design would probably laugh at me and given that the design wasn't something I came out with, the job looked simple. However, it still took me quite some time to identify which parts to edit and how to insert in my own words. After the better part of the hour, I finally figured out some of the codes. The result is as shown. It ain't perfect but at least it's something. :-)

On a side note...Kudos to Chelsea who won the Premier League in emphatic fashion. Will look forward to the transfer window and hopefully those American owners would no longer be in charge. Wouldn't mind if RB left for Juventus. While not forgetting all he has contributed, it just seems that he has already brought the Reds as far as he could possibly do.
Sayonara Rafael Benitez!

It's been a long time coming...

Time passes on a fly. The wind blows relentlessly stirring the leaves into action. The sea of red beneath out feet starts to dance, forming maple formations all around. Soon, white confetti will fall down from the sky, a gift from heaven. Environment temperature will go south. Bulky snowmen will walk around town. This is something that will never happen in Singapore. Still, I'll get to experience all this and more. Because...I'll be going to Canada next semester!!

Having applied for INSTEP which is our university's student exchange programme, I was accepted and was given my first choice - University of Western Ontario. What brings me triple, quadruple or even pentuple (if there is even such a word) is that I'll be going with lots of friends! Just imagine what fun we'll all be having! (Apologies for the incessant exclaimation marks. Can't seem to contain my enthusiasm) Now, all I need to do is get through this semester without hurting too much. Crammed 23 AUs this semester which is a record at least in my books.

Sigh...if only I had more time for my mid-terms which are just around the corner...

Till next time, buy time, sell time anytime! (TimeOrDime.com)

The Last Week

The last week of the holidays. It came and went in the blink of an eye. To be absolutely truthful, I probably could have done more during the holidays. However, we always look forward and not back. I've rested well during these holidays.

So what did I do? Well, I stayed over at WL's house and we had a blast which included a trip to sing KTV and even eating Punggol Nasi Lemak. Then I also represented Hall 7 in the IHG for carrom. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to defeat the top 2 in our group and had to settle for 3rd place in out group. It was an improvement from last year when we ended 4th but it was still just quarters. I would like to say we could have done better but I believe that everybody gave their all and that is what's most important. I'm sure we all had fun! Straight after the last day of competition, it was time to check our results. Although it's already the 3rd time that I'm checking my results, it never fails to give me the jitters. Of course it doesn't help that one click and the whole results would be displayed. Overall, I did pretty well, well above my expectations. I scored 1 A, 1 A+, 3 A- and a S, thereby maintaining my GPA in the safety zone. I'll continue to do what I did last semester and hope to keep my results in that range.

With less than 1 week left, it has made my remaining holidays even more dear to me. I'll probably hit the library tomorrow to borrow new books since I've run out of fictional nutrition. I'll blog as and when I feel like it so don't keep any hopes up that this blog will be updated regularly. Happy New Year to all! :-)

Ame - Rain

What do you think of rain? No, I'm not talking about the international Korean megastar but the liquid rain. There is a certain purity that is present in every droplet of rain. The perfect little concentric shapes it makes with the ground seem to be flowing in a particular direction yet also flowing in the opposite direction. It all depends on how you see it. Sometimes it seem to flow, other times it remains stagnant. At those times, they seem to form a great painting made up of repetitive circles which seem to tell a story. Looking straight at the rain falling down, meteorites rain down, attempting to scorch/purify the earth. In a way, they look like shooting stars, streaking across the dark sky. It makes you want to make a wish on it. The rhythmic music created by these rain drops weaves a melody so achingly familiar to us. Yes, this is the sound of nature, something which we tend to forget in this increasingly urbanized environment. It reminds us that Mother Nature is overlooking us and carefully observing what we are doing to survive. A reminder that we are alive only because she is forgiving and continuously providing us with the means of survival even as we slowly erode her. Hopenhagen - I wonder how effective it would really be with every country only looking out for their own interests. Indeed, it is too optimistic to hope that mankind will band together and avert this impending crisis which threatens our very own survival.

The contradiction that is examinations

Examinations are a contradiction to me. On one hand, I've an acute fear of it. On the other hand, I know it provides a useful way to judge how much and how well I've learned. Unfortunately, the time has come to fight the dragons. With the 1st paper being tomorrow, I can't help but feel unprepared for it even though I know I've done all I've could this past few days. The result of my semester's effort will all come down to this one and only paper. It seems funny that your school life all depends on a piece of paper and how well you answer the questions on it. It's not how you participate in CCA activities, the friends you make or even the lectures you go for. (thankfully for the last one I must add) I guess this is one of the effects of living in a paper-obsessed society. Yet, there are many things to be happy about. What we can do after the exams is a sure motivation to push through these last few days of revision and catching up. I'm looking forward to the holidays though it's a pretty short one. A short break is better than no break, yes? Hope to learn new skills this coming holidays! :-)

Good luck to all for your examinations!