.

Yes. cwl and I felt quite xin wei that our juniors could answer some of our questions without having studied before hand. But they need to do more. Going well still. Training will be damn intensive. And did they juz suggest a 3-day mugger camp? I wanted to faint. Haha their enthusiasm should be a positive drive. Looks optimistic.

posted by Alvin @ 11:24 PM |

Yuanhin's birthday today. Treated us to dinner heh thanks! Went to hu cui restaurant at level 2 taka by crystal jade. Very high class. My first time there but the rest went before. The food was good.. yum. Sliced fish in rice wine, tofu and shrimps, sea cumcumber in brown sauce, sauteed chicken with yam and 2 large meat balls. Plus a mango mousse cake. Didn't bring my camera, good thing yeebo brought his nikon. Yeah took a long time deciding over the menu, so many dishes.. then went to cine to play wc3. kaoz I haven't lanned in.. a year? haha unlike simon who was playing wc3 on his home com only a few days ago! Sheesh I suck. Orcs are actually not bad to use. Anyway we stopped at around 1120. Tired.

posted by Alvin @ 12:48 AM |

Managed to iron out the details and plan a concrete itinerary for the hk trip today. Good.. I thought that would be the hardest part =)

I juz got sacked! Yeah my first sacking =[ wat a slap in the face eh.. after juz one lesson with the indian vj girl, the father found me unsuitable. Watever.. He fired me and I'm only getting $28 for the lesson after deducting the agent's fees. Boo. Any lobangs anyone?

posted by Alvin @ 10:15 PM |

The concert was fantastic! Heh my first time to the esplanade theatres.. the acoustics were great. Had dinner with wanyi, shiqian, shunting. Talked a lot of rubbish and gossipped. kaoz I should really stop this habit of gossipping but isn't it human nature to be curious about other people? =) xiaxue aka yanyan, couples, once couples now not and so on. k can't reveal here. Haha. Jason and matt joined us. Went to esplanade, then we realised we didn't have any flowers. So they went to buy chocolates for shermin, and we bought flowers for timo! I wanted to get a sunflower but they didn't have it. Yeah, quite dumb to have to deposit flowers outside the theatre. Why can't they let us bring flowers inside? Beats me la. Yup the concert was good. All the soloists were good. Especially mingwei. His voice was damn strong and solid. Mebbe the only bad thing is the guys were slightly soft. And I liked the songs, especially Usuli! I think I was so excited before they started singing it that I was making so much noise oops.. haha it's a very nice song wat. And I was singing the bass part softly la, but sq said I was too loud. Anyway pai seh to the audience sitting around me oops.

After the concert
Star No. 1: Timo
Emerging from behind the glass door of the carpark, carrying his usual black file and 4 carriers full of flowers, to face the horde of fans waiting for him, was Timo! haha fan club 1: wm, xl, yq, ht and me. mr popular was all smiles! Hey good job on the concert and the chopsticks performance! And you will pass next time. Have faith!

Star No. 2: Shermin
Daintily making her way out and up of the mezzanine level was shermin. Fan club 2: her gang plus the 79 people. Haha. wat a relief it's all over yar? Can enjoy your europe trip now!

I really shouldn't have procrastinated too much. Now I have to rush to get everything in place by wed. More tuition to come..

And it remains. Some people are a disappointment. They think it's nothing. But the fact is, it's far from nothing. Act dumb in front of me some more. Fine.. it's juz me.

posted by Alvin @ 1:16 AM |

Shagged

Woke up too early for my own good this morning. I think I haven't rested enough and I'm having a slight sore throat now. Had tuition this morning, quick lunch, then tuition again. Met my new tutee this morning. She's this nice girl from vj. I think she's quite smart, takes 2 s papers! Why would anyone who takes 2 s need tuition? Her dad has a med degree and she wants to do med too. Seems like I have this knack for meeting prospective doctors. Now both my tutees are aspiring doctors-to-be.. eh, I suddenly feel a responsibilty to do my job well. After all, they hire me cos they trust me right? Yeah, so I'm going to read up beforehand cos I can't remember a lot of stuff le. Freak. Holidays still have to study so much.

Ennui

This feeling has been plaguing me. Disappointment. How much more can I take..

posted by Alvin @ 8:29 PM |

Went to nus this evening for a general meeting. Had to eat cup noodles for dinner. And I thought I would only have to eat such things when I go to east coast. In the end all 5 of us got a lift in wk's car. Her car is super retro! The speedometer on the dashboard is so retro man.. becos its a continental car? Where everything is on the left instead of the right. Anyway, after that I called guanhong to go for supper. It was quite late le, and that fella was riding on his bike when we saw the bus coming. Possibly the last bus, so we managed to get to the bus stop and stop the bus while he tied his bike at the bus stop. Went to this coffeeshop at hougang. Still so crowded at such a late hour. They should have more of these coffeeshops in sk and punggol. And a sports complex too. Hey ender we should meet up soon yar? =)

posted by Alvin @ 1:40 AM |

Been having tuition every day this week. Earned a tidy sum heh. So far still manageable. Got another assignment. This time she's a jc 2 girl so I have to take her through a levels. But she's ... you have to ask me =) Finally exercised for more than an hour today. i thought the weather was not bad, but when ivan and i hopped into the pool those dark clouds suddenly appeared from nowhere. Then it started to drizzle after a while. So we went gym. I think we were hogging the wt lifting machine for at least 30 min. Really worked my arms today.. even had trouble lifting the shower head when I was bathing juz now. That's good.

posted by Alvin @ 12:29 AM |

Eh.. the lady from the agency got it wrong. They have no son, only a daughter taking australian year 12 exams. She's wants to do med in melbourne or sydney u, wants to get a scholarship so that they don't have to pay the exhorbitant tuition fees. k.. that explains the australian exams, it's sort of a tertiary entrance exam. So today I went down at 1030. Had a hard time finding the place. I actually walked all the way in from the main road, then spent 20 minutes getting lost before I finally met someone who gave me directions. Then I met the father.. found out that there was a side entrance which could have saved me the long walk.. anyway he passed me 3 sets of past year papers. The subject was Applicable Maths. Quite a nice person. Gave me a ride home to let me mark them. I didn't expect him to take the trouble la.

The paper was something like ao level? Couldn't really gauge the standard cos the topics were so foreign. matrix, correlation coefficients, sets, and more matrices - not the easy type leh. Have to solve simultaneous eq in x,y,z with matrix. couldn't do all these of course. So I went back at 7 and told her father. He said its ok.. ironic that he's a chem graduate himself but couldn't recall wat he learnt 20 years ago, so he couldn't help her daughter in her chem. Yeah.. I haven't seen the chem paper but it should be more do-able than the maths one. This time I saw the girl. Spent half an hour or so going through her mistakes. That's one lesson. She needs help in physics and chem as well, and I'm going down again tomorrow evening. not bad at all. considering that they insisted on paying me in advance even though I told them to pay at the end of 4 lessons. And the father was really kind to send me home again. gotta dig out those physics notes. especially waves, my worst topic.. her worst topic too.

Went to watch Troy with michael and keith at j8. Ok.. not spectacular, but watchable. There were a lot of kids in the cinema, and everytime there was a smooching scene or a bed scene, all of them would "eeeeee" loudly and start giggling. wah lau eh.. wat a spoiler man..

Then went I got on the train naughty elvin called.. when he was juz 2 carriages away! Haha. He went to new cre today. hey mahjong dudes my fingers are itching!

posted by Alvin @ 8:10 PM |

Quirkiness

Hehe I juz realised how quirky some people can be. I was offered this tuition job courtesy of gh, via an agency. This kid's mother was looking for a medical student to tutor her son, so gh recommended me. Supposed to tutor him in a level chem, but not the s'pore-cambridge a level - the kid is taking australian a levels. Huh? k..who cares, as long as I get the job. The pay is reasonable, but frankly I'm not too keen on it becos they live in a condo in amk and I have to walk quite far in to get to their place; I'm only teaching 1 hour per lesson, for all the trouble getting to and fro their place I would prefer teaching 2 hours so I can earn more; I have forgotten most of my a level chem le.. and freak, the mother is difficult. And I haven't even met her yet! Heard from the agency that she engaged a few tutors before but she wasn't satisfied with them. So this time she only wanted a medical student cos she thinks they are better. kaoz.. really, she should find a chemistry undergrad loh.

Then a while ago the lady from the agency called me again. Said the mother may want me to tutor her daughter in o level maths as well..yeah australian o levels. But I muz meet her standard first. Supposed to go down at 1030 tomorrow to collect a test paper her daughter had done, mark it, correct her mistakes, and return it to let her see when I'm tutoring her son at 7. Then she will decide whether I get to teach her daughter as well. Eh.. I never said I wanted to take her daughter. During the hols I can, but when term starts it can get quite packed. Anyway she said she will pay me a lesson's worth of fees for marking the paper. er.. some people are juz rich eh.

posted by Alvin @ 11:17 PM |

We had HRM exam yesterday. Not too bad, in fact I quite enjoyed writing the essay, juz write down wat I wish to say without having to face the pressure of failing.. but my language was atrocious. Deplorable. Arghz. Gone were the days when I could churn out lengthy prose with impeccable grammar and descriptive vocab. I'm losing it..sheesh

Back in nus today for somanassa meeting. I wish it doesn't drag on too long. But I doubt it will be a short meeting becos nobody from first aid group is going to Myanmar. And that means we have to teach the rest all our stuff in the next 2 weeks. Yupz, going hk end of this month for 5 days. I would have preferred a longer stay, mebbe 7 days, but don't think it's possible. 5 days is quite short eh.

posted by Alvin @ 1:27 PM |

One of my friends is going through a troubling period. Not that I can help. Haiz. And so continues this series of pensive posts. Wat lies ahead of us? People say medical students face a lot of stress, study long hours, etc.. all these I'm not so concerned about, rather, wat will our remaining 4 years be like? For now, it looks daunting. 1 more year left in nus, and after that we won't be together as a faculty anymore. Reshuffle us into clinical groups and we will rotate among the hospitals. This isn't so far off in the future after all.. have to grapple with the change. CHANGE. wtf this is something which I really don't like. Throws me off.

Will there be anything that I can hold on to for the coming 4 years, something to keep me anchored? So that I don't become a piece of driftwood.. when at the end of it all, have lost all my identity and direction. And wat about my friends.

posted by Alvin @ 12:42 AM |

Today's HRM was more useful than yesterday's. At least it prompted me to explore myself. Not that I haven't done it before. Peel off the layers and peer within. Sometimes I find that I don't know wats important and wats not to me. I try to rationalise things, rank them, and enforce them into my subconsciousness, but in the end some things remain as they are.. unchanged despite my hardest efforts. I question myself all the time. I don't even know why I'm doing certain things. More accurately, I'm questioning my own reasons for doing some things.. Wat seemed to be the right thing to do at that time doesn't justify itself anymore when I think about it. I'm resigned to most things le.. some things are so elusive.. you think you have it, then it slips away quietly.

posted by Alvin @ 10:19 PM |

I'm upset, and I've made some people upset too. Yeah, I know people nan zuo ren, should have been more understanding of his predicament. my behaviour sucks lately, keep blaming people for the slightest reason. Sucks la.. wonder wats happening to me. Curse me, bish me if you want.. I juz need to sleep I guess. Watever troubles seldom last til the next day. Juz have to sleep on it. Next morning when we wake up we'll forget everything.

I feel inadequate. That day someone asked me a physics question about emf and potential difference.. Freak. It stumped me. I took s paper for wat. Can't even do a simple question. It seems that I've thrown everything back to the lecturers le. How to give tuition? How to earn money?

Supposed to have gone law bash on Saturday night but didn't go in the end. Heard that law bashes are supposed to be quite good.

This is a month of birthdays.
7 may pok
18 may simon
25 may yh
30 may elvin
HaPPy biRThdAy GUYS! Many more years to come yar.

posted by Alvin @ 8:44 PM |

Today's symposium was quite dull. The judges were like american idol judges. simon, paula, randy ahaha.

Watched Van Helsing today. It's not bad! Action packed, vampire fantasy type of movie. Guys would enjoy it I guess. Juz watch to be thrilled, don't need to use brain to think.

posted by Alvin @ 10:53 PM |

I suck. Suck thumb. Hopeless. I see history repeating itself. Try to stop the inevitable from happening. But I doubt there would be any use. Stop trying. Therefore I pray.

I still hate the weather. Rain and rain.. all the beetles keep flying into my room.

posted by Alvin @ 1:20 AM |

I hate today's weather. It's raining, yet it's sunny.

Amazing haha.. I'm staying at home today. Juz spent the entire morning finishing my FRS project. I thought I could meet sq at jp but I underestimated the time I needed to do my work. Juz as well, save up this week, spend it all this saturday evening! Oh ya. Talking about the weather, I don't like it one bit. It's raining yet sunny. The kind that puts me off and makes me want to draw the blinds to keep the sun out. The kind that I would want to avoid when I'm outside. It's unfathomable, unpredictable, unpleasant. Have to keep guessing wat's next, rain or shine. Heck. In the end I'll juz stay at home anyway cos it's such a bother trying to find the answer. Yeah.. this kind of weather juz makes me walk away. Away. Away.

I like the drizzle, without the sun of course. Mao mao yu is nice to walk in. I don't mind getting wet. In fact I enjoy getting slightly wet =)

posted by Alvin @ 3:12 PM |

I don't like my FRS mentor... Argh. He's a good researcher I'm sure, very analytical, methodical, experienced, meticulous! But he's proving to be a tough nut to crack. Someone get me a chisel please. He's a nice person, but he's juz too ONz about wat we're doing. Last Thursday he knew that most probably we would do 'Cold drinks trigger asthma attacks' but he still made everyone come up with one topic. And I think junren suggested doing 'Eating mint lowers your sperm count' and he objected to it. Not feasible, too general, not scientific enough.. and I heard that another group is doing something similar. Ah.. heck. But seriously, timo juz told me today that they did studies on mice before and loaded them with astronomical amounts of mint, and their testicles shrank. No joke lor! Muz beware of mentos mint, mint chocolate and all those in future haha. Today timo's group booked the seminar room, leaving us room-less and air con-less until he kindly brought us to this other seminar room in the cofm building. The temperature was juz right, not too cold. And there was a big projector screen too. I think I'm really slack. Ah well. I juz concentrate on doing my part well.

posted by Alvin @ 8:30 PM |

My first visit to new creation church today. Went there with yh and elvin. Very different from city harvest. Felt more comfortable today. But probably cos I was sitting with them. Their pastor was very humourous.. and their worship leader Adeline sings damn well.

Back to nus tomorrow.

posted by Alvin @ 6:35 PM |

I was quite shagged yesterday. Went to the vj funfair. Hot. Hot. Hot. So smart of me to have worn black.. ah.. next time go funfairs or carnivals that are in the day cannot wear black. It was a rather large-scale event. Everything was elaborate, even the prizes were not the run-of-the-mill type. Top prize was a mitsubishi colt! Sponsored of course. haha too bad, didn't win anything. Even the smaller prizes were not bad at all - rice cooker, microwave oven, etc.

Went to swenson's after that. Met guoan there. Took a photo. Been quite a long time since I last saw him. Then went to partyworld below crown prince hotel. The eventual turnout was good. Simon, yeebo, junlin, alan, peter, guanyu, jiaxiu, elvin. I finally managed to sing lu qiao yin's song. k-box doesn't have it! ok. shall try to stay at home more often this week and not spend any more money..

posted by Alvin @ 12:15 PM |