Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Rain... Rain... Rain...

Oh my, the joys and horrors of rain. And what a way to end the day by going to Tower Beach in the midst of a pouring rain for a Biology lab.

I hereby conclude that I have a love-hate relationship with rain. Essential, yet detestable.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Study and Music

Ahh... the joys of study party with Charles, Joey and Cindy, and music with James and Tatsua.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

How suggestive can things get?

(Disclaimer: for the sake of drama, some parts have been added and deleted. Please use discretion, even though the entire study party night itself was quite dramatic.)


[Curtains open]

[Eric walks into Charles' room. Karen, Cindy and Josephine are inside, in addition to Charles.]

Eric: Charles, how's things man?
Charles: Not bad.
Eric: Do you mind if we share the bed, since the girls are on the floor?
[the girls]: uhhhh.....??
Charles: Yeah, why not?
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Charles: So what will we be doing tonight?
Eric: We'll be exploring forces and motion. Very fascinating subjects.
Charles: Ah, yes. Rotation ya?
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[Eric and Charles are on the bed, engrossed in physics.]
Cindy: Hey look at the two of them - they're getting so chummy on the bed.
*laughter from everyone*
*laughter persists*
[Eric and Charles suggestively cover their mouths in close proximity of each other]
Josephine: Hey, where's your camera, Charles? Where's your camera? Oh there it is! Quick, snap a shot!
Josephine: 3, 2, 1. (pause) Eeeeewwww!!!!
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{It's day 2, and we're in the Chem lab, finding lab benches:}
Eric: Charles, where's bench 5?
Charles: Right there... Oh, we're next to each other. High five man! Hahahaha...
*Eric and Charles laugh and laugh...*
Eric: Hey Josephine, Charles and I are next to each other.
Josephine: What? No!! Now I have to endure the sight of you two together...
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Mark: Which bench are you at, Eric?
Eric: Bench 5. Charles is at 6.
Mark: Oh! I'm jealous...
Eric: Cindy, Mark is jealous that I'm at the same bench as Charles is and he isn't.
Cindy, Kaylen and Breanne: Uhhh....
Breanne: And it's like there's no girls involved in it...
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Oh man, this is going to be one of the biggest classic internal jokes going around. I still can't remember my brilliant puns from the study party at Charles' room, though... hahahahahahahahahahaha....

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Productivity

Ah... the joys of physics. Charles is damn good man; I think he and I make for a great study pair.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Music

Oh, I can't believe it. It was just so fun, singing to James' pop-style music. It was the most fun 2 hours of the day yesterday, all taking place from 10.30 to 12.30 at night.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Discovery

"The scoreboard says I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn't say is what it is I have found. Over the last 21 years I have found loyalty; you have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I have found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed, sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I have found generosity. You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams; dreams I could never have reached without you. Over the the last 21 years I have found you and I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life." - Andre Agassi

Life's a journey. One must humbly learn what one can from it, the way Andre Agassi did.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

O Canada

Today was Imagine. Orientation for the UBC class of 2010. I went through it like any other ordinary UBC student would do, but there was only one part I'll remember clearly.

'O Canada'.

We had just finished the campus tour, the student success workshop, plus lunch. And now it was time for the pep rally. Frankly, nothing really inspiring was spoken. I'm very used to the usual hush-hush of cheering and "follow your passion" speeches, because frankly, I'm already cheering myself on and I am following a passion. But I still enjoyed it nonetheless. There were my new Science One classmates, whom most of them are younger than me by one year, and the tremendous atmosphere of gathering the entire class of 2010, the class that will graduate to the Vancouver Winter Olympics (given that they don't do co-ops or screw up any years) in the War Memorial Gym, with flashing strobe lights, colorful faculty shirts, and roaring cheering from Science and rivals Arts, plus the smaller faculties of Business, Engineering, Forestry, Land and Food Systems, Music and Human Kinetics. All through that, I kept my spirit up, I cheered with the crowd, and I basically had fun.

That one part, which still sticks in my head, is the part when one student, obviously a music student, came up to lead the entire class to sing the national anthem. When I heard it, my voice box suddenly became stuck. Tears came to my eyes, and I simply couldn't squeak a sound. I had to mouth the first few lines of the song before my voice came back to me, and I sang it with real pride, trembling still, tears still coming to my eyes as I sang it. It was then, that I made a massive realization.

"Our home and native land"

I realized the true extent to which I yearned to come back home, after spending all those years in Singapore. How else could one be moved to speechlessness when their homeland's national anthem is sung? For 10 years on that island, I sang (at first), and then simply stood through (later) the "Majulah Singapura", knowing fully what the song meant. yet not experiencing one bit of it. Canada's my true homeland, the true place of opportunity for me to jumpstart my life.

"True patriot love, in all thy sons command"

My critics will tell me, I escaped Singapore to escape the mandatory NS. And I won't deny that. I'm a pacifist, which means I'm anti-war in general. But then I always have this prepared mindset ingrained in me, something that I learned while in Chinese High - 没有国家就没有家,没有家就没有我. Indeed, without Victoria, BC, Canada, there's absolutely no way I'd be here. And there'd be no way that I'd be born into the family I've got. I owe my existence not only to my parents, but also to Canada, for without this place, there'd be no me. Hence, I'm always prepared to serve my nation first, and not a foreign one in which I was but a 10-year-transit passenger. If there's a war and Canada's territorial integrity is at stake, I'd grab a gun and join military training. Medic, engineer, machine gunner, signals, whatever it is, bring it on, I'll be there.

-----

Whatever it is, the yearning to come back to Canada, and my longing for this land, culminated in that one moment during the pep rally. There's no way I'll ever forget that moment when I was entirely moved to speechlessness.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Provocation?

'I did not provoke him, I responded verbally to a provocation,' Materazzi told the daily Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday.
'We both spoke and I wasn't the first. I held his shirt but don't you think it is a provocation to say that 'if you want my shirt I will give it you afterwards'?
'I replied to Zidane that I would prefer his sister, that is true. I brought up his sister and that wasn't a nice thing, that is true,' said Materazzi.

------

Nah, not one bit. How could it be provocation in the first place? Shirt-grabbing was always outlawed in soccer...

Sunday, September 03, 2006

No more restaurant eating

I learned a very important lesson about culture shock this evening.

Rather than go back to Totem for dinner, I decided to eat out with Richard after work. We went to the Japanese restaurant upstairs, and for me, having been at restaurants very, very infrequently, I forgot all about tips and service charges. Turns out, I was totally shocked when the waitress asked me if I wanted my change, because I had paid $10.13 for my dish which was $6.63 after taxes, so I naturally was expecting some change back. I didn't realize that she obviously thought I was some extremely generous customer... -_-"... Anyways, I asked for my change back, but after Richard reminded me about tips, I decided to forgo half of the change, and accepted $2 back. After all, they had given me some band-aids for my cut on my thumb, which I foolishly got when unpacking my stuff.

Anyways, the big things is this: No more restaurant eating.

Hmm... but then again, that dinner with Richard, and having eaten at that restaurant, really lifted my mood. It wasn't a drab day after all. Hmm... food for thought... the effects of restaurants... (that's me thinking aloud...)

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Exodus

I'm feeling that sense of happening inside me. Turmoil, wandering, having to be in search. I'm embarking on a new stage of this journey through life, and I've no idea what's up for me next. All I know is that my room smells of apple (scent), and I've yet to get things off my bed. Everything else is a blur to me. I've met new people, new acquaintances, but none I'm ready to commit to as a friend. I'll wait and see.

It's like the Jewish Exodus. Some would rather go back and be slaves under the Egyptians, while others eagerly hoped for a new start. Part of me wants to go back to 2875 Osoyoos Crescent, to the familiar washroom, kitchen, and living room. The other part of me desires a new start. It's a struggle.

By the way, Totem Park's dining hall food is expensive. Just to eat something filling costs $7.80. I figure I'll probably want to pop by the Village more often...

Totem Park Residence

I'm typing from my residence at Totem Park. The move was easy, the packing was easy, the unpacking was easy. I stunned myself by seeing that I needed around 6 boxes to fit all the stuff that I had. And that's when I assumed that just two would do. Hahaha....

Well, I'm feeling random right now...