THOUSAND OF APOLOGIES

Man I'm SO SORRY SORRY SORRY for all the hulla ballu my previous entry has caused! Ppl have read the post and misinterpreted it as something else that I nv have in mind!!! I sincerely apologized to the ppl I unintentionally offended, and thousands of apologies to the ppl who were trying to kill me for that post too. SORRY!!!

On the side note, I would like to tell this to a friend of mine:

I started this blog for the very reason to express my honest opinion on certain things that I've observed or experienced. I'm really sorry if this offended anyone, and I swear to this: that is never my intention.

BUT...

Juz as u enjoyed calling me idiot and degrading me in all sorts of imaginable ways, I still have my right to express my personal opinion on wateva I want to for the entire internet community. There were a lot of things that u've said that have offended me too, but I respect ur freedom and shut my mouth. And so, I sincerely hope u will shut urs too, and not go about dictating others wat one should or should not blog about.

Thank you.

P.S.: To prevent more misunderstandings in the future due to my posts, I will do my best to refrain from mentioning names unless it's purely of a positive statement.

Once again, really sorry for all the mess I've caused. Believe me, I'm really filled with guilt with all that. So guys, pls do tell me ASAP if u think that certain posts of mine are very sensitive and potentially offending to ppl.

Thanks!

1ST CG IN SEM 2

It's about time I blog something on our very 1st CG in sem 2 last Friday (not counting the 2 months planning meeting)... I was a bit excited (& nervous) for the entire week then, since all of us have no idea wat it's about except for the word Sharing. There wasn't even a specific topic, or a scope! I was a bit worried at first on wat I can testify about, but I eventually leave all of my worries and anxiety to God's hand and juz attend the CG full of expectation.

The CG dun fit my expectation though... it went way beyond! For the first time since we've joined the CG, many of us actually open up and share on how God has changed our lives. Many unknown secrets about our past were revealed, and I'm really glad that many of us are willing to be transparent to one another now. This is something that I have longed for so long: As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be totally honest with one another, share our struggles with one another, and encouraging one another, purely out of love for one another. I was amazed, saddened, and encouraged from all the testimonies by my friends, and I would like to say a very warm THANK YOU to Ben Shyen for his attendance and testimony that brought about the momentum. Without his unshakable faith and passion for God, this CG may not be as powerful as it was! Although not all the sharing have happy endings, I am really thankful to God that we can really share secrets that many of us kept it buried for a long, long time! Praise God!

After the CG has ended, I have this strong feeling that I dun comprehend at first... It took me awhile before I finally realized that it was (and still is) LOVE. Love for my fellow brothers and sisters who were there that day. Love for my fellow brothers and sisters who went through much struggles as I did. Love for my fellow brothers and sisters who find peace and hope and salvation in the Lord. Pure, simple love, that trancends all differences we have between us.

I sincerely hope that the future CGs we'll have will be as sincere as the very 1st CG we have. It's a big difference from the ones we have last sem, for although we have learned much, there seems to be a lack of... love. I really can't think of any other word that can describe it. But since we're kinda out of ideas wat to have in CGs now, I guess we really need to pray hard and rely completely on God to come out with more stuff for our future CGs... The next CGs falls on the day after tomorrow, and yet we still dun have a single idea wat we will be doing on that day!

THE PINK GIRL

Wow, wat a day! Starts off at 12am with me hanging around at EV's place. No mood to study, so we (me, Bryan, Christabel and Lee Hong - EV was at her coach's birthday party then) chat at the balcony for more than 2 hour or so. Lee Hong and EV (after she returned) went to sleep around 1am, but the 3 of us continue to chat on till about 2 sumthing, and it was then that we started sharing ghost stories...

All of a sudden, around 2.45am, Bryan alerted us about a girl standing still on the road towards Vista A. Me and CB dun believe him at 1st, since we thought that he's trying to scare us or sumthing. That's when I let out a "boo!" to counter-scare Bryan... But he really looked serious then. I look around and omigosh I really saw her!!! She was all in pink, wearing a hairband and carrying a handbag... and she's waving slowly at us in an almost graceful, eerie way! We were so freaked out we ran back to the hall.

But it didn't take us long b4 we returned to the balcony... The curiosity was juz too strong (except for CB... She really seemed to be chickening out! Lol) And this time, Bryan was actually laughing! That girl was rubbing her back against a tree!!! That was one of the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life! Then the girl continue her walk around the street, and waving at us from time to time. Bryan actually waved back at her despite our vehement protest! He really seemed to be turned on by her! Both me and CB were worried that the girl may know where we stay by observing which balcony we're on and come to our place! And so we hurriedly locked the main door while Bryan continued to be fascinated with the girl...

The girl kept wondering around the streets, and she sometimes dissappear from our sight as he walked passed blobk B2 juz to come back again some time later. I remembered that CB has a pair of binoculars and asked her to get it for us, but the vision wasn't very clear... Can't really get to see the girl's face or anything... After a few hours, we started to lost interest at the girl after she didn't appear for 30 minutes or so, and so we went back to the hall and talked about movies and music, and also played a little game... till 5am in the morning! Lol... Only get 2 hours of sleep later at EV's place, on the dining table, b4 I went for a rather boring lecture by Dr. Radha Krishnan later!

The cell group meeting after lunch was very interesting too, but I guess I'll save it for another post la... Tired now! >=)

MIND-BLOWING TEST

Rip this off from Friendster bulletin. I'm so puzzled and amazed by it that I decided it should be posted here too... Read on, but don't cheat!!!

*****

Dear peoples,

Quick Eye Exam...

This will blow your mind...!

Just do it - don't cheat!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try this its actually quite good.

But don't cheat!

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Count the number of F's in the following text:

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FINISHED FILES ARE THE

RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC

STUDY COMBINED WITH THE

EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

*

Managed it?

*

Scroll down only after you have counted them!

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OK?

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How many?

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

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Three?

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Wrong, there are six - no joke! Read again!

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FINISHED FILES ARE THE

RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC

STUDY COMBINED WITH THE

EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

*

The reasoning is further down...

The brain cannot process the word "OF".

Incredible or what?

*

Anyone who counts all six F's on the first go

is a genius.

Three is normal.

*****

Amazing huh? If any of u counted 6 at the 1st go, pls let me know!!! Genius wei... Lol

PARADOX OF OUR TIME

I received a rather interesting mail from a good friend of mine:

* * * * * * * * * *

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window, and nothing in the stockroom.

* * * * * * * * * *

Interestingly, Radiohead managed to cover all the anguish, paranoia and lament on how technology has dehumanize humanity in one album, arguably their very best: OK COMPUTER.

Guys, u really need to listen to this album. Truly it's one of the best album in the last decade, and one that will last the test of time, much like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The more I listen to it, the more I loves it!

fitter, healthier and more productive

a pig in a cage on antibiotics.

Fitter Happier - Radiohead

PAIN!!!

After Tai Chi class yesterday, I went to EV's place with a pair of rather weak legs... When I returned to my apartment, a stabbing pain appeared on my proximal part of my right thigh... After CF meeting today, the very same pain started to appear on the left side... Argh, the agony!!! And there's cheerleading practices everyday summore!!! Can't even hold a girl up for more than one minute today!!! Guess I seriously need some exercise already... But I juz couldn't find the time somehow! Let's hope future tai chi warm-up exercises will not be as torturous anymore... (Dream on Thom!)

Went to Pyramid with some of the SOS today, have a buffet lunch at the Chicken Hut (or sumthing like that, can't remember exactly). The crispy chicken was really good, and so was the coleslaw. King asked if I wanna check out Studio R for a sword (I have yet to buy a sword for my tai chi class!), and so I followed his lead there. I'm really surprised to find that they DID sell a tai chi sword and other weapons there, but unfortunately the price is way too high (RM 250!!!), and the quality doesn't seem to be THAT good either... King mentioned that there may be more choices in the Studio R at 1U... If only I know the way there... Have to check there out someday too.

Also, it seems that the Christian lecturers who have been praying for us have suggested that we combine our prayer meetings with theirs starting next week. Wow, that's a great idea! But I wonder how will it be like, praying along with lecturers together... We did pray together with our teachers during secondary school, but I dun really know many lecturers personally in IMU la... Well, we'll see how it goes next week! ;)

1st WEEK

Came back home from IMU yesterday to realize that my mum has been quite sick for several days already... She have been resting at home since then, rarely rise up to do anything. She has chills, fever, and also, her urine is very warm. I asked her about the doctor's diagnosis, and she told me it's urinary tract infection or something. Juz check out my Medical Advisor book and try my luck out on Bladder Infection. Yup, the symptoms fits. Seems that the E. coli from her intestine has somehow infected her bladder and urinary tract. How the bacteria got there... use ur imagination! >=)

Well, 1st week of sem 2 has been quite ok... so far. My 1st CSU session was awful, since I dunno wat to expect at all on the interview with the simulated patient... It's really hard not to act when u're so aware that the person u're interviewing is acting himself. But well, I'm hopeful I'll get familiarize with this soon. The 1st PBL session we have on sem 2 was also probably the best I've been thru. I kinda like my new PBL group, since it's much more discussion than the one I have last sem. Having Bryan and Thaven in my PBL group is pretty cool too!

Alright, gotta study now. Not much heavy lectures so far, but I can foresee that next week's patho lectures will be quite heavy... So better finish up this week's lecture notes 1st! Still can't decide whether should I buy the 7th edition of Papa Patho though...

SLANDERS!!!

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 20:16

A few weeks ago, I read a particular article (I think it's in a newspaper) that sort of resembles the forwarded e-mail message below:

Subject: FWD: Tommy Hilfiger hates us...

Did you see the recent Oprah Winfrey show on
which Tommy Hilfiger was a guest? Oprah asked
Hilfiger if his alleged statements about people of
color were true - he's been accused of saying
things such as "If I had known that African-
Americans, Hispanics and Asians would buy my
clothes, I would not have made them so nice,"
and "I wish those people would not buy my
clothes - they were made for upper-class whites."
What did he say when Oprah asked him if he said
these things? He said "Yes." Oprah immediately
asked Hilfiger to leave her show.

Now, let's give Hilfiger what he's asked for - let's
not buy his clothes. Boycott! Please - pass this
message along.

Well, some of u guys probably read about this too, but the rumour is UNTRUE. Here's Tommy Hilfiger's statement:

I am deeply upset that a malicious and completely false rumor continues to
circulate about me. I create my clothing for all different types of people
regardless of their race, religious or cultural background. I want you to know
the facts so that you are not the victim of a classic "urban myth" that
perpetuates untruths and has no basis in reality. Please read further to learn
the truth.

And here's Oprah Winfrey's statement:

So I want to just set the record straight once and for all. The rumor claims
that clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger came on this show and made racist remarks,
and that I then kicked him out. I just want to say that is not true because it
just never happened. Tommy Hilfiger has never appeared on this show. READ MY
LIPS, TOMMY HILFIGER HAS NEVER APPEARED ON THIS SHOW. And all of [the] people who claim that they saw it, they heard it -- it never happened. I've never even met Tommy Hilfiger.

And here's a link to a letter from the Anti-Defamation League to Tommy Hilfiger.

And so my friends, it's very clear that the rumours are completely baseless. If any of u received an e-mail message like the italicized one above, pls delete it at once and don't forward it. It's nothing but a hurtful, outrageous and scandalous lie!

In addition, I want to remind all readers not to believe in all the forwarded e-mail messages without doing a little research about it first. These are few of the false rumours/ stories I've received from e-mails:

• A protest against a movie called "Corpus Christi" which portrays Jesus and his disciples as gays from showing to the public. The truth is, no such movie exists. The movie project was authentic, but never got off the ground.
• The "Bonsai Kitten". I was really shocked when I first received this message, and I stupidly forwarded it before I've done any research on it. It's only a week after I forwarded the bullshit did I realized that it was all a hoax. It's about this company who came up with a new idea for pets: Inserting a kitten into bottles of different shapes in order to let them grow into that particular shape as time passes. They even have a website to strengthen that hoax, but I think the website is down now. Good riddance! It sparked a huge outcry from animal lovers all over the world!
• The "Missing Day", a favourite among Christian churches bulletin. Here's a link to the message. Well, eventhough some may view this article as inspiring, it is not founded in truth, and therefore should not be circulated.

There are probably more false e-mails out there that I've read, but the above mentioned are the ones that I still remembered clearly now. Well, there's also the many variation of pls-forward-this-message-so-that-this-little-girl-can-receive-donations-from-some-big-company-to-help-her-out-in-her-surgery message, but I'm still a bit stupefied by how brainless some people can be by believing all those lies... Then again, they forwarded them out of sympathy, so I can't really blame them right?

But anyway, click here for a funny (but beware of FOUL languages!!!) post on that particular type of forwarded mail... I really love it! Lol...

Remember guys! Do some research before you forwarded e-mails, espeacially those that seems illogical or slanderous! >=)

HOLIDAY'S END

So it finally ends... Yay! Can't wait for sem 2 to begin!!! Man I'm SO excited... Alright now, really need to pack my stuff and leave for vista already... It's 9.30pm already and I still need to take a bath b4 I go back to Bukit Jalil! Lol...

PARTY AT MATT'S PLACE

Man... The last 12 hours at Matt's place (11am to 11pm) is awesome! The food is excellent (thx a lot to Matt's parents and uncle!), and we're having fun whole day long! It does get a bit tiring by the end of the day, but it was cool! Too bad not all SOS members were there though... that would have been so much fun! But I'm really glad that Iona did make it in the end... So my optimism yesterday wasn't unfounded at all!

Tried to introduce the people there to the Cluedo boardgame... Wasn't very successful though, due to a blunder by Boon Hui and an all-too-impossible lucky guess by me in the 2nd game: I got all 3 murderer, murder weapon and scene of murder at my very 1st suggestion! I mean, wat are the odds man?! Tim, Boon Hui and Lilian are fed up with the game... Man... Nvm, I'll try it again another time!

Also, imagine my surprise when I actually receive a present during my friend's birthday! Seems that the guys have bought the gift a long time ago but have yet to pass it to me until now! I was really thrilled when I opened the present after I returned home. The 1st item that I've taken out was Akira!!! Man I've longed to watch that anime! Many ppl called it the best anime ever made! But there's more! There's another dvd in the present paper, and after much struggle, I finally succeeded in removing it... Ghost in the Shell!

It was then that I go... "ooops..." I called Matt up right away, thanking him (along with Iona, King and Lilian) for the present, and asked him when they bought it. They told me it was b4 my birthday, which makes sense... Bcuz I've told Matt and Iona that I've downloaded Ghost in the Shell a couple of weeks ago! Hahahaha... They should have told me or hint me or something la... But since the downloaded version is dubbed, I guess I can now watch the subbed version, which is good too! Lol. Thanks Iona, Lilian, King and Matt!!! This is one of the best birthday presents I've ever received! >=)

After I came home, got some pretty good news along with the sad ones... Well, some of my batchmates have passed their resits, while others didn't... Sigh, really dunno wat to feel... Well, all the best to them in deciding wat to do next! And for those that passed, congrats!!! Will be seeing u guys next Monday!

SMILE!

^___^ you're the only one who's really made me smile so far

thank you ^___^

Yay! I've made a person smile! Woohoo!!! These kinda things happen so rarely in my life that I really enjoy every single one of them!

Now let's juz hope things turn out as smoothly as I hope it will... Gotta pray hard tonight! >=)

Oh and check out Azzedin's blog! The layout is really cool man! Well, at least for a Xanga blog! Lol... I wonder if he made the layout by himself or edited it from a template... Hmmmm...

花樣年華 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

Having read lots of movie reviews on Zhang Yimou's Hero lately, I can't help but noticed that a lot of the critics mentioned Christopher Doyle and Wong Kar-wai in their reviews (along with Roshamon by the late Akira Kurosawa): Christopher Doyle is in charged of the photography of both movies, and Wong Kar-wai always showcases Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in his movies (both stars are couples in Hero). Curious, I started checking out the reviews on In the Mood For Love by Leong Kar-wai, since I really like the on-screen chemistry of Tony and Maggie, and many critics have acclaimed In The Mood For Love to be one of Wong's best movie to date. Caught up with all the rave reviews by the critics (click here), I finally decided to bought the DVD at RM 19.90.

At first, I was really not used to the director's filming technic... The movie begins with fragments and pieces of scenes with the lead characters doing seemingly trivial things, like moving into their new home, buying noodles late at night at a dark dilapidated stall, going to work and talking to their boss etc. Nothing much seemed to happen in the 1st 30 minutes, and the soundtrack Yumeji's Theme kept on repeating throughout the movie gets a bit tiresome and annoying to me after awhile...

But after the 30 minutes mark, things begin to make sense. Both lead characters are new neighbours whose spouse have an affair with each other. In the wake of their discovery, both lead characters sought comfort among one another, when gradually their feelings for each other begin to blossom. But here's the twist. Both lead characters are ppl with a high moral standard, and both vowed that they won't be like their cheating spouses. And thus as much as they both feel for one another, they both restrained themselves so much that u can almost feel the electric sparked between them whenever they meet...

I love the movie for its concept of restrained love and the "could-have-beens"... The movie is really sad and tragic, and it's wonderful to see how much emotions can be conveyed eventhough there's so much restaints from both characters. However, many ppl will have probably been turned off by the movie for it slow pacing. Also, to different people, it may seemed that nothing happen much during the entire length of the movie, or so much has happened that one can't help but feel smoldered by the loneliness and longing of the lead characters for one another. The lead characters also role-played each others cheating spouses as well, and it's really interesting (albeit slighly confusing) to watch how they "rehearse" the scenes where they confronted their own spouse of having an affair. Of cuz, both are too bottled up to do so in real life!

Another thing worth mentioning is the look of the whole movie, which really brings out the mood of being lonely and the longing to be love at a 60's Hong Kong. I'll let the gorgeous movie stills do the talking for this part. Pay attention to the colours and textures! Not to mention the elegant cheongsams!

The soundtrack is good too, although many may not like its repetitiveness. I started off getting annoyed by Yumeji's Theme, but by the end of the movie, I fell in love with it. The song brings out all the unsaid feelings of both lead characters, and Nat King Cole's songs really works in bringing about the atmosphere too. I really really like the ending, although it is definitely not ur typical romance film ending. It's almost... philosophical.

It's sad that although Wong Kar-wai is famous in the international arena, he's not very well known among Asians... The same goes for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by Ang Lee. I'm a big fan of the movie, and the Westerners are crazy about it... And here? Many ppl actually sez it's boring and awful... I'm really perplexed by it... That said, In The Mood For Love is the most beautiful film I've ever seen. I'm going to look for the other films by Wong Kar-wai, and also looking forward to his much-talked-about new sci-fi movie, 2046!

And guys, check out Yumeji's Theme! A lovely sad piece!

FRANK THOUGHTS

Juz posted a LONG comment on Yee Pei's blog on the overall impression of Orientation M2/04. Since I've spend so much time writing down the comment, I figured I might as well post it in my blog as well. Here goes:

I dun think Treasure Hunt is "moderately" messed up. Eventhough I'm not an OO or SM, I was always with Group 9 when they go from station to station. The group was unhappy and frustrated over all the mistakes that forced us to run around the same places over and over again. Thaven's group was also very frustrated over the unfairness of the go-back-to-IMU-bcuz-it's-raining thing. Some of the groups continue on, and that gave them an unfair advantage.

Also, on Variety Night, the IMCCs ARE perverted man. IMHO, I think it's actually MORE perverted than the ones in our batch. I'm most disappointed at the questions for the IMCC. They're so explicit that the only answers they can give have to be sexual ones, and not to mention all the "show-us-how" stuff after they answered the questions... Damn sick. One of the juniors in group 9 sez it an eyesore and avoided watching the performances altogether!

Oh and another thing, I really really HATED that flying newspaper thing. Although some of their performances really suck, but do u guys think of their feelings when they've done their best preparing so much juz to get boo by the crowd? And I will personally like to strangle the one who shout to group 9 about walking faster in their South Park sketch. I can see that the idiot has no idea at all wat South Park is, and so do most of the crowd. Oh and someone pls shut that idiot LT up! He's an embarassment to us all!

And for Telematch, it's a good thing that u guys have made a trip back to IMU to check if all the juniors have arrived. But still, I think it's a big mistake to not have at least a committee member at IMU to direct or guide the juniors to reach the field, since most of them are a bit lost there, waiting. In the end, it was Chik Ian and another guy that helped us out!

As for Ice Breaker and BBQ Nite, I can't say much bcuz I'm not present then. The dresscode was quite impressive, and I really like the crativity of the new batch. But I really think the guys in cheongsams are cool la... Seriously, and that's not juz from me... Eerily, some guys actually look right in cheongsams! >=)

Whoa, soree for the long comment ya. Oh soree if I sound critical, but these are my honest thoughts about the orientation. Hope u dun get offended!

CATAN 1ST VICTORY!

I finally got my 1st victory of Catan after about 30 or so games of it! Well, wasn't really satisfied with my 1st victory yesterday, since I actually continue playing 2 rounds AFTER I've won, eventhough Matt has been trying to hint me by constantly reminding me how super BLUR I am... So, instead of:

And for my last move, I'll trade 3 ore and 2 grain for an upgrade of my settlement to a city. I'll now reveal my D-cards, and I got 2 victory points for having the largest army. Ladies and gentleman, I win this game!

This is how I won the game:

Hold on a second, let me count my victory points. Let's see: I have the largest army, which is 2 points, 3 cities, which is 2 points each, and 2 settlements... Huh?! I got 10 victory points already! Guys, I've won the game since 2 rounds ago!!! (Matt's endless hurling of insults continues in the background)

Man that was embarassing... So I vow to make my next victory an impressive 1... And guess wat? I win again today! Yay! Finally I know how I can stand a better chance of winning - try not to listen to Matt's "expert advice"!!! He kinda despices me for my lack of logic when I make my moves, but in my opinion, he's too blinded by his logic thinking to see the other equally important factor in the game: Chance. Granted, the probability of getting a 6 with two dices is theoretically higher than getting a 2, but in reality, things dun juz work as perfectly as the theory dictates. I actually seen much more 2's thrown than 6's in one of the games!

I'm not saying that the rules of probability makes no sense at all, juz that it is impossible to predict a pattern when randomness is involved. Therefore, Matt's strategy of productivity 1st, diversity 2nd is not the ONLY right and logical strategy for the game. I go for diversity 1st and productivity 2nd, so that I can control as many different numbers as possible, instead of getting the numbers with the highest probabilities. Which explains why I got tons of resources in my 2nd game, since no matter wat number is rolled by the dices, I almost always get something!

Matt did get something right though... I am really BLUR at times!!! Well, make that most of the time... Lol!

DULL NITE...

Variety Night M2/04 was... horribly dull... Man, I used to think that's impossible... But that's exactly it, dull and boring. Wat went wrong I wonder? The lack of creativity in the junior's part? Or perhaps the sketch selection by the seniors were juz too hard to make them funny? Or izzit due to the time constraint due to the 1 day holiday during August 31st? I have no idea... The only decent performance for the whole night was Thundercats, which I really enjoyed. The IMCCs were... awful... and damn sick and perverted. Personally, I really dislike the questions prepared for the IMCC. They're juz too... explicit. There's only so much vulgarity and obscenity that 1 could take for 1 night! Argh... Hopefully things will be better next sem!

On the other hand, Telematch was ok. There were a few mishaps, such as no committee members were present in IMU at least direct the juniors to the field, and that the competing teams in different stations seems to be the same ones. It's a waste that the groups can't compete with all other groups in all the different stations, but have to compete with the same group again and again. Must have been some technical problem I guess. The attendance of seniors this time was unusually few too. But it is good to see the juniors have loosen up a lot since the 1st day of orientation! They seemed to have lots of fun too!

It's sad that I can't attend the BBQ Nite that officially ends the orientation, but I'm glad that I've throughoutly enjoyed myself for the whole orientation event. The one thing that seriously need improvement is the coordination within the commitees, which was really awful for the orientation this time around. And I would prefer if the orientation is more fun and less ragging. There's 1 game in the telematch that was actually really fun!!! Till the next orientation! ;)

BACK... TIRED...

Juz came back from IMU. Seriously exhausted now. The ragging during Treasure Hunt was surprisingly constraint, but it was seriously messed up too. The order of the entire treasure hunt was all mixed up, and there's a particular station that we have walked pass for 4 times without stopping by to complete it! Argh... but can't really blame the committee la, since it's only bad luck that their respi exam is during Orientation Week itself... Let's hope everything goes well with Variety Night, Telematch and BBQ Nite!

THERE SHE BLOWS...

Bad things always seems to happen whenever I returned from my dad's factory...

Case #1: Driving back from dad's factory in the afternoon. Hit the butt of a Satria when it braked all of a sudden while I was driving too fast to stop in time. No injuries, but lost quite a lot of $$...

Case #2: Left my Marieb on top of my dad's car's bunk and went playing with the dog. Got a bit carried away and dad drove his car to pick us up at the corner of the factory where the dog is chained. It wasn't till we're out of the factory that I realized I haven't took in the textbook... So guys, whenever u see a certain 6th edition Marieb that is in a rather bad condition in the library at IMU... Go figure...

Case #3: Wat that juz happened...

Supposed to follow behind my mum's car back home, when I suddenly feel like playing with the dog (yea, the same one). Drove to the corner of the factory and play with it for awhile, when I noticed behind me that my mum is driving out of the factory. Knowing that she must have thought that I've disobeyed her and left all by myself, I hurriedly reversed my car to catch up with her. Then bang! my car hit something, but I juz can't figured out wat izzit since I can't see wat I've hit from the side mirrors. It wasn't until when I'm close to the gate till I noticed there are a few flat pieces of metal on the ground... Dang!

Anyway, I drove on... till I heard a weird sound coming from the back of my car. Fearing the worst (the bumper has dropped off or something), I stopped my car at the roadside to take a look... The tyre at the rear left of my car was totally flattened!!! It even came off partially from the steel ring! Argh... How am I going to drive to IMU tomorrow to watch the Treasure Hunt?! Man...

Called my mum, got a bad scolding from her. Called my dad (since I'm pretty close to the factory) to see wat we can do. Can't really fixed up the spare tyre since there's no suitable spanner in my car, and so we decided to drive back to the factory, leave the car there, and returned home in my dad's car together. Get a mechanic to fixed the tyre tomorrow. Sigh... Well, hope I still can make it for Treasure Hunt tomorrow...

THE PERSISTENT STRAIN

Everything seems fine in the first day of orientation. No extreme ragging, no humiliation, nothing. From wat I've seen today, many juniors have started to loosen up a bit, which is a good thing. Then there's this bunch of my batchmates who have juz finished their resit, who's well equiped with water guns to shoot at the juniors. Everything looks fine... Tim's group went to the table tennis room to have a discussion on the costumes they'll be wearing tomorrow... And THAT'S when I first notice it: A nightmare from the past.

Few of my batchmates kept on entering that place to ask for the IMCC, and even the whole group, to follow them out, without giving them any reasons. At 1st, Eve told asked them nicely to excuse them, since they're in a discussion now. They left peacefully. Fine. But things dun juz stop there. They kept coming in to ask for the IMCC to follow them out, using different ppl this time, though all of them are in the same gang. Eve can't tahan them and kena them badly... There's when I started to feel a bit uneasy...

Then, I joined Matt and Elena for a game of Settlers at the student lounge, and Jody was there to watch. A group of juniors approached Jody later for their signature hunt, and Jody kindly agreed to sign for them juz by listening to their cheer. And that's when that gang came in. After they got the signature, the gang ordered them to stand in a row in front of them, and I dun paid much attention to wat happened next, for I was really angry by then. I really hated their tone when they talked to the juniors, as if they are their superiors or something. I thought that this kinf of behavior has extinct, but I guess I'm wrong... A whole new generation of them has sprouted out of nowhere...

And all this while I thought that this orientation is gonna be fun and free of those horrors I experienced during my orientation... Thing are gonna get worse tomorrow during the treasure hunt tomorrow, that I'm sure of... I'll see wat I can do to help those poor juniors...

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

Finally got to watch Edward Scissorhands after years of searching. I Know that it was aired quite a lot of time in tht TV b4, but somehow I always missed it. Until I bought the DVD today!

Well, now that I've finished watching it, here's the conclusion: I'm very impressed, yet very disappointed of it at the same time. Johnny Depp's performance is superb. I have lots of respect towards him as an actor, but now, I'm officially his fan!!! His character dun talk much in the movie, and when he did, it is mostly juz a few sylables. Yet, the emotion he conveyed thru how he moves his scissor hands and facial expression is juz marvellous. Oh and kudos to Tim Burton for coming up with such an interesting character as Edward Scissorhands! The "feel" of the movie is quite decent too, kinda like a modern fairy tale. The inhabitants of the small town are quite interesting too, with all their manipulation and hypocrisy.

I really enjoyed the first two third of the movie... but when the climax is approaching, a sense of deja vu engulfed me. Edward, after he is wrongly accused and chased for injuring a few of the inhabitants, escaped to his inventor's mansion on the hill. The townpeople then chased him all the way to the mansion, while his love and the villain entered the mansion 1st. A confrontation occured, and the villain is killed as he is pierced by Edward's scissors and fell out of the window... Sounds familiar? Think Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, when Gaston lead the townfolks to "kill the Beast!". And well, the violent nature in the last part of the movie felt so wrong too, as compared to the earlier funny and charming (and later on, tragic) part... The conclusion is very unsatisfactory too, as there isn't any resolution to the story. The villain is awfully 2-dimensional too...

But 1 thing I noticed about the movie is how the crowd tends to villainize people bcuz of their oddity. For example, Michael Jackson. OK, I admit, he is one WEIRD guy, but I'm stupefied at how easily ppl believe all the "news" about him being a pedophile. Right... So many years have passed and no one mention anything about that, and now that his face is falling apart and he's facing bankcruptcy, bang! Pedophile! Child Abuse! Lawsuits! and all kinds of headlines start to appear. I sincerely doubted if any of the claims are real, and I think that wat these "victims" are trying to do is juz to squeeze money out of poor MJ. And ppl believe the "news" so easily eventhough there's no concrete proof at all for all the lawsuits! People these days... Sigh... I guess there aren't many ppl who sympathise Wacko Jacko, but I for one really pity him for all the slanders that are thrown against him...

Anyway, I wanna thank all my friends that have recommended me this movie. Though I agree with Christabel's comment that it's not worth buying the DVD, I'm still glad I've finally get to watch this much-talked-about movie. Not to mention that I'm really looking forward to more Johnny Depp movie in the future! >=)