What I want to do most on my trip back to Singapore

I can and have survived the food in america, lousy cinemas that do not pre-allocate seats and the lack of good public transport (which hinders me from going out on dates), but the one thing that is hitting my breaking point is the lack of karaoke. Hehe... when I am back in Singapore, the thing that I want to do the most is to go karaoke!!!

Haha... anyone interested to shout your lungs out?

Post exam condition

I finished my exams yesterday... Yipeee....

For some reason, I am feeling very tired (haha... probably because I cannot sleep at night because of the crazy ideas in my head). Came to school looking like a mess today (i.e. wore specs and untidy hair) thinking that I wouldn't see anyone I know, but bumped into a friend at the food court. Luckily it was a guy friend. No damage done.

Ok... need to somehow find the energy to go through the changes that my supervisor has made to our paper. We really should try and get the paper submitted before I leave for Singapore.

Another night with problem sleeping

Last night I was having problems sleeping again, and as usual, it was because I was thinking about something again. The past few weeks have been torturous. Because of my upcoming exams, I have tried to suppress any new ideas (or refinements to some of my existing problems) since I tend to be easily distracted once I start thinking about them.

However, the weird thing is that the more I try to suppress these thoughts, the more I seem to gain ground on them. Over the past week, I have gained quite a lot of ground on 3 ideas that had been in my head for a while. Every time it happens, I try to suppress it, but then something good just pops up and then I just quickly draft down some thoughts of it.

The feeling is really akin to how I suppress my feelings for some girl when I was leaving Berkeley and Singapore (haha... i do have crushes quite easily, but sadly there is no one here in Florida that made me feel the need to suppress any feelings). Anyway, it made sense to suppress those feelings because I knew that I am not a long-distance-relationship type of person. But right now, I am really having doubts if it makes sense to suppress thinking about things that excite me. I use to think that I really advocate the belief that one should pursue one's dreams (and of course be thankful for the fact that we live in an environment that we can do that, I mean a lot of people can't just follow their dreams because they need to consider the other people who depend on them), however I think I am not really practising it.

Bukom Video!!

Haha... ok I know that most of you are probably not interested in the following video... But haha... wah... it sure brings back memories for me. Haha... Even my boss and his boss are in the video. So many new faces.... wah... Bukom has really changed quite a bit.

Haha... the funniest thing is that I accidentally stumble across the video while googling for my research... weird huh....

Happy job seekers

There's an article about how the SMU students of the 2007 cohort are not having too much problems finding jobs. That's great! The thing is that I do believe that 2007 was a great year to be looking for a job, both in terms of opportunities and salary. I would have thought that the article should at least give some information regarding the job market for that year so that we can have a better idea on how sigificant a factor SMU played.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/347114/1/.html

Expelled - No intelligence allowed

Haha... this is definitely one show that I will catch. Love the title, especially the no intelligence allowed part.



Here are some other related videos

Did some soul searching

Every friday, I will attend Bible study in church. However today, we decided to celebrate Mother's day and not have Bible study. One of the sisters reminded us to give our parents a call (since most of our parents are not in the US).

Something struck me after her sharing. I will remember to sms my first crush every year on her birthday. That has become an annual routine for me. However, I don't really call/sms my parents when I am like staying at the other side of the globe from my parents. Btw I still sms my first crush on her birthday even when I am overseas.

The thing is this. I am not someone who calls a lot. The thing is that if my dad ask me to call, I will immediately call him, regardless of what I am doing (maybe with the expectation of being in the presence of Evelyn Tan). But if there is nothing, then I think calling will be weird. If you are a guy who grew up in a typical traditional Chinese family, you will know what I mean.

But anyway, I figured that I will do the following two things. 1) Sms my mother tomorrow to wish her a happy mother's day 2) From now on, drop my dad a sms once a week, just to update him on my life over here. Personally, the smsing my dad thingy does seem like just kinda of a routine but I am thinking that it'll let them know that I really appreciate them. Haha... I guess I'll stop it if my dad starts to get weird on me :p

What I caught on TV over dinner

On 20/20 tonite, there were 2 interesting stories.

There is one on a woman who cannot forget and she tells us that is both a blessing and a curse. The former is more so for society (she really help to correct publishing mistakes and can potentially help improve science) and the latter more so for herself (it's painful to leave with sad memories which you cannot get rid off).
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4813052&page=1

The second story is about how the forecast/opinon of the masses is more accurate than the forecast/opinon of the experts.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Stossel/story?id=4813558&page=1

20/20 clashed with Sex and the City and I was constantly switching between the two for that half hour. I remembered that the first time I saw Sex and the City, I didn't really get it. That was like quite a few years back. However after strong recommedations from a friend recently, and a chance encounter when channel surfing, I chanced upon the show and for some reason, I totally get it now. And seriously, if you get it, the show is simply out of this world!

I can no longer drill

For the past 2 weeks (and the coming one as well), I have been preparing hard for my exams. I realize that my approach to problem solving has changed quite a bit. In the past, I tend to classify problems into categories and then have different approaches for different classes of problems.

These days, I just kinda go with the flow, approach a problem based on my intuition or feeling and then see what works out. Honestly, I feel that drilling sample exam questions is a waste of my time (in terms of developing problem solving skills or gaining knowledge), but at the same time it is an important "training" to help me handle the exam questions.

Haha... the problem is that my mind seems to refuse to do these drilling exercises anymore. Sigh... Maybe the PBL bug has really infected me. I think I'll just go home and pick up my guitar to do something that my mind is more willing to participate in.

Can't wait for the exams to be over. Tons of stuff, both academic and personal, that I have put on hold because of the exams.

I hope that my car doesn't feel neglected

I got my car yesterday. It's currently sitting at the parking lot and is going to be sitting there for quite a while because I dunno how to drive and I am a bit pre-occupied with preparing for my exams these 2 weeks. Poor Nissan....

Another short note

Yesterday, during our fellowship meeting, I was reminded that wherever we are, whatever we do, God has placed us there, and so we should do our best to glorify Him wherever He places us. That said, I am still wondering where the Lord will lead me, haha... but i am sure that His purpose and blessings will be a lot clearer when I look back in retrospect (as always).

The body is willing, but the mind is not

I am not a very disciplined person when it comes to my cognitive processes. My thoughts tend to jump between different topics quite haphazardly. However, if I am constantly distracted by unrelated problems (which are very interesting to me) while studying for my exams, does it mean that I am in the wrong department? Haha... or perhaps it just means that I am easily distracted.