Friday 29th October 2004

TGIF

Hmm, Alucius is a little brown at the edges today. Maybe I should bring him home for some TLC. But the travel may be a bit traumatic for him. Bumpity bump. *anxious* I should try to get him some stronger light.

Exam is coming. Shall dedicate the next two weeks to my one and only subject. Seeing this is most probably my last entry for this month, I shall keep it short and sweet. The sun-set view below is taken by my friend PK, when she went to Phi-Phi, Thailand for a holiday. So long, October. Hello November.

Thursday 28th October 2004

FINISHED 1st DRAFT!!!

Oh joy... Joy joy joy!!! I finished typing my report!!! (I mean, o.k., it's just the 1st draft, and the final one is due next week. but, hey, seize the moment, dude!) Time for celebration. It's shopping time!! woo-hoo!!

Learnt a Prelude and a Bouree today at guitar lesson. Did u know there are 3 types of minor key scales? Natural, Harmonic and Melodic? &, the natural A minor scales have the same keys as the C Major scales. Cool ya? It's always good to put in some educational elements inside a daily rambling *nods wisely*

In my shopping spree today, i bought a bracelet for FF's b'day gift, a blouse for my sis (also a b'day gift), a perfume for myself (I accidentally bought a cologne instead. Anyway, long story, *lol*) and some face-washing stuff. And everything is wrapped up with a nice movie (White Chick).

The bracelet is so nice, I think i'm gonna buy 3 more, 1 for KS, 1 for K and 1 for myself. *grin* Good thing it's almost pay-day.

currently reading: Darknesses (Book 2 of The Corean Chron.) by L.E. Modesitt Jr

Recently finished reading: Whit by Iain Banks

Tuesday 26th October 2004

Goody Bag!

Got myself some tools of the trade. Kawabanga cool. I've got a metal and plastic tweezers, a diamond tip pen (ain't I rich!), a few glass slides, 4 beakers, 5 small sample holders, 2 bigger sample holders, 5 petri dishes, and even a small cabinet for stowing them in. It is all free compliments of the lab. Now, if I can get my hands on some nice samples for fabricating and testing. Muah-haha...

Have been busy typing my report the past few weeks, in between redrawing the mask layouts to include tapers (boring domestic details that took 4 days), getting some free floating table space, getting the stages set-up and ordering for some smaller holders, checking out prices of some equipments, applying for research topic change, getting payment from advertisers (magazine related. Another long story), getting trained for ICP,RIE & mask aligner, etc. Phew! And yesterday, took a look at the MBE machine & an ancient PL and XRD. Isn't it great to be able to spew all these acronyms & actually know wat they are? *Happy*

Friday 22nd October 2004

my pet Alucius

Say Hi and give a little wave to Alucius, my new little pet. He is a Tillandsia (better known as an airplant). I named him after my latest hero, Alucius from The Corean Chronicles by L.E. Modesitt Jr.. Alucius is about 3 inch tall, and I adopted him yesteday from a booth in the shopping mall. Adorable and quiet, he only needs water and light to survive. Abit worried bout his life-span under my care, but *keeping fingers crossed* we'll see.

I got the idea of getting a pet plant embedded in my tiny brain a few years back when I read the book by Dean Koontz (By the Light Of the Moon) about a stand-up comedian, Jillian Jackson who has a pet plant. Nice book by the way.

Thursday 21st October 2004

Maturity=???

Bummer. Missed my guitar lesson today. Sigh! Guess I should not feel so bad, afterall, I haven't been practising. *tsk tsk*

What's with some people who like to accuse others of immaturity?! I mean, does innocence means immaturity? Or if one person stubbornly sticks to his/her opinion. Is that regarded as immature as well? How about if the person is happy all the time. Is that a sign of immaturity too?

Do mature people need always be sulky and sarcastic? Must a responsible being be all grim looking and quiet and dull? Some people seem to find it offensive that others are less troubled by the set of problems that have befallen themselves. Then, they will make some remarks like,"Oh, you haven't been through enough turmoil in life. That's why you can be so happy-go-lucky." Humph! It's almost as though these persons are always praying every night for some disaster to happen to the happier person, so that they can say "See, I told you so."

Or, it seems like they like to deem themselves the most mature being on earth. It's fine for themselves to be a bit silly, but if anyone else is that way, then it's a sign that the others have a problem. Sheesh!

It seems rather pathetic to actually strangle these idiots and say, "Look, I'm fine the way I am, so stop being such a prick!" or "You think you've been through worse than me simply because I'm nice and happy? Hello... anybody in there?"

I guess ultimately, I'm offended that these self-proclaimed mature people should go around accusing others when they don't actually know the ups-and-downs that others have gone through before. Hmmm, I guess as fellow humans, we should not be so petty. I mean, look at Paris Hilton. So many people are always saying that she's a rich, spoilt, immature brat, but the very same ones probably secretly pray at night to be in her skirts. *wicked grin*

Tuesday 19th October 2004

save Z chen

Nice? I think grayscaled pictures tend to exude a more artistic feel, albeit a bit sad. hmm... *reflect*

This Malaysian artist is pretty good. Am listening to this compilation of most of his best hits now while updating. He varies his style enough that listening to him doesn't feel tedious. A very hard to get trait. Recommend it to anyone interested in Jay Chou (Taiwan) / Eason Chan (HK) type of music.

currently reading: The Business by Iain Banks                                                                                                                      Just finished reading: Legacies (The Corean Chronicles:Book One) by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (great story. The landscape is abit too cold for my taste, but Alucius is way cool with his Talent. Already reserved Book Two, Darkness. )

Monday 18th October 2004

Staying stationary

Had a mini steamboat feast with housemates and a housemate's bf during the weekend. Friendly guy. *grin*

He was voicing his doubts on whether to extend his contract with present company or not, because after a few years of doing similar things day in day out, the brain would start to shrink and eventually disintegrate in boredom. *well, not in those exact words. But, hehe, it's somewhere along those lines.*

I guess it is quite a difficult but common situation. If one is to avoid getting monotonous and stationary, then change is needed. But to make that change, one would need to risk sacrificing a pretty comfortable way of life up until that moment. So the world is divided into 2 groups of people. One are those willing to take the risk of change, and another group are people who feel that the risks they have taken up until then is enough. No more. Stick to safety and stability.

Friday 15th October 2004

Chinese Orchestra

Man, am I getting cultured or what? Attended this performance lately, made up of all chinese intstruments. The songs were nice. They presented pieces by different tribes from China. With cellos and basses, the overall performance is definitely infused with some western touch.

In the last 3 pieces, I could not decide whether the conductor had problem keeping the timing, or whether the pieces for certain chinese music have a different kind of pace or style.

While trying to appreciate the music, yet getting the right tempo into my thick skull, i conveniently fell asleep. hehe, guess i still need to work on my music appreciation skills.

Wednesday 13th October 2004

Yoga Deprived

Miss yoga classes. Too bad the sessions offered has ended. Hope the next group of classes would begin sooner. It's really nice to give the body a good stretch at least once a week.

Finished a 2 day marathon of a Taiwan chinese series with Ambrose Hsu called Goodbye Girl. Quite nice. There are many dull moments in between. But tht is to be expected. Much better than a few others i've picked up the past few months. *shudder*

Monday 11th October 2004

Weddings in October

*grin* Beautiful month in Chinese Calendar. All marriages consummated in this month is said to be everlasting, beautiful and fruitful.

Attended a romantic Chinese Wedding yesterday. The restaurant was decorated with a touch of 'Nyonya' element, with wooden shutters above looking down onto the banquet hall, which is small enough to be comfortable, and yet not too overly stuffy. Food was great chinese cuisine. I've always loved the first dish the most. And the dessert at the end. *nyum!*

The bride was beautiful, changing her gowns thrice, each one better than before. The wedding pictures that were shown in a short slide show was really beautiful too. They took time and effort to go to some sort of swamp, and wooden jetty to capture some very sweet moments.

Going to attend another wedding the end of this month. Happy wedding festival to everyone!

Thursday 7th October 2004

I love work!

Argh! So much things to do, & all pushed back coz the first one on the list is still blocking everthing else. hmm... it's time to take some time off and relax.

Before going on, would like to spend some time wishing my sister good health. Hope her blood pressure will drop back to normal asap. so hard to believe tht such a mild mannered, laid back lady like her has problems like high blood pressure.

It's rather difficult to put up a fuss about my work, when taken into perspective, my sister is stubbornly refusing to be admitted into the hospital, and my bro-in-law is busy calling everyone to ask them to convince my sis to be admitted. haha... twisted. My sister has had a phobia of hospitals ever since dad's death. She'll only go as far as clinics. Hopefully, she can escape it this time round.

currently reading: Comics (translated) by CHAMP Comic, Korea. They have quite a lot of different stories. I think my fav. one so far is 'The Hero Realm'                                                                                                                                                                           Recently finished reading:   Stolen by Kelly Armstrong

Friday 1st October 2004

Funny Car Part II

The best action can be seen when it rains. Mack being an experienced driver cum multi-tasker, is able to steer with one hand while the other hand will manually hold and rotate the wiper of his front window.

This action is naturally done with the side window wind down. Never mind that rain will be pouring in from the sides and wetting his clothes.

The car also tends to leak at such time. So, by the end of the rainy trip, a few inches of water would have flooded the interior, taking its time to drip down to the road.

Mack have had many opportunities to change a car, his son had even bought him another car. But, faithful as ever, Mack still stuck to his MM, rain or shine. I guess he has grown attached to it. No other car would feel the same.