Late for Morning Classes

Being late for morning classes is becoming more of a habit for me lately. Just on Tuesday, I woke up at 8am to rush for an 8.30am class. I did not think much of the reasons until this thought struck me as I was trying to wake up this morning.

Phone Alarm went, "We have all the time in the world... Time enough for life...To unfold.. All the precious things love has in store.. "

Maybe that was why I always snoozed my alarm for at least 1/2 hour. It is an incredible and beautiful song (We Have All The Time In The World) by Louis Armstrong. I set it as my alarm ring tone since last December. I think it's the psychological effect of listening to the same first phrase every morning which caused me to develop my tardiness for morning classes. Enough of excuses said.

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Last lesson of the week ended today and I welcome yet another break - the Mid-term recess. Kind of a misnomer as this is, as usual, more of a period to catch up with project work instead of taking a real break.

Days after the Chinese New Year break weren't as hectic and stressful as previous semesters. The difference could be attributed to the relatively much lighter workload that came with only 4.5 modules, and no more band practices. 'Highlights' of my life in the previous weeks include:

Week 7 (starting 18 Feb)
- Wed: Finished my case study write up on Zara Fashion + journal for PH module.
- Tues: Watched a few presentations by Steve Jobs. Once again, moved by his speech given at Stanford's Commencement 2005 where he talked about seeking for the things you love to do, and possessing the faith in your life events that they will someday lead you to where you are happy to be.
- Tues: Learnt parallel parking for the first time, when I had only learnt normal parking one week ago! Not that I was good at that. Think I'm beginning to develop serious doubts and losing confidence in my driving instructor's ability to guide my through my pass on my first try.
- Mon: Gave a presentation which obtained good reviews from the prof (Yay!). Grades ka-ching! Oh yah. One group member forgot totally about the presentation and wore casual. Wth.. *See below*

Week 6 (starting 11 Feb)
- No project meetings this week. Wow! Quite rare.. Wahaha.
- Finished case study write up on Apple Inc. Which was why I was inspired to view Steve Jobs presentation. He and his team from Apple are really brilliant innovators.
- Finished FI assignment
- Tues: Learnt parking for driving for the first time.
- Mon: Presentation postponed. Just as well. A miscommunication with my group members left me the only one wearing casual attire. The rest wore business attire. Wth..

Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year to all~!

Been slacking too much over the Chinese New Year break.
Think I need to find a very compelling reason to motivate or to push me into shifting into higher gears.

And I think I slept too much too. To the extent that I can actually remember the 3 different dreams I have in one day. My last nap today wasn't intentional though. Read a fixed income text which sent me swiftly to ZzzLand.

Now, I'm working on a stupid part for my BP presentation on the coming Monday. It taught me a lesson not to be late for meetings again. Arrived just in time to hear the next meeting's agenda and receive my assigned question which turned the toughest in the case studies. "Make a brief comparison between ISO certification and Singapore Quality Class certification". WTF. There's no text for it. Have to slog through the ISO website and SPRING Singapore website and to make sense of the massive amount of information presented to me. Learnt quite a fair bit of interesting stuff which is useful for business management in the future. However, the fact that I have already spent 3 hours on something which I have yet to complete is depressing. Not to mention I have already come across information which can easily answer the other questions.

Ay Caramba~!

And it was over in a flash.

Come to think of it. The concert time is even shorter than our usual rehearsals, which could go on for up to 3 hours.

This is the view from my seat.



Well, it did look kind of intimidating. In fact, I should feel a bit intimidated, considering that this is my first formal performance playing an euphonium. Surprisingly (and fortunately), I didn't.

Maybe because this was what I actually saw all the time.



This was also the first when I didn't get the chance to look at the audience. As a percussionist, you would definitely, at some point of time, have the luxury of time to scan through the audience slowly, and observed your fellow band members. As a wind player, I found myself looking at the score + conductor almost the entire time.

It also helped when I couldn't really notice the audience's presence once the lights were dimmed. In some concert halls, it would seem almost entirely dark in front. It felt exactly like a rehearsal, where you played to an empty room, except that you had the pressure to play everything right.

More importantly, all the hard work placed during the intensive practices made sure I do not feel nervous for the performance. Tmd. Practised until so hard, averaging 12 hours each week. Just want to heck care, and play to get it over and done with. Just kidding.

I did feel confident that we (and I) would pull this concert off. And we did - with a bang. Maybe there were a few glitches but no human is perfect. Encore cries sounded a bit like 'planted' ones. In any case, I felt good and proud after the performance. Personally enjoyed the extended applauses we received after our major works and the more entertaining pieces. Hurray!

Darn. Forgot to take one of myself with my instrument. Oh well.
More (selected) photos coming right up, once I get hold of the ones taken by others. Should be plenty to get hold of, considering the extended photo-whoring sessions we had after the concert.

Concert's tomorrow

I believe this concert will turn out to be the best in my university band life, for many reasons. For one, I was so moved by what we played for Malaguena and El Camino Real during our rehearsal. Goose pimples quality (It only occurs when I hear something really good).

More importantly, it feels great to see how the band has grown since I first joined it in Sept 2005. To see how people from my batch remain passionate about music and the development of the band. And to see how we manage to attract and bond with more people within our Symphonia family.

Concert is tomorrow. For some weird reasons, it feels just like any normal school days to me. There is no stress or anxiety in me over what is going to happen tomorrow. And yah, I have not even checked if I have the attire for the occasion. Heck care. I'm just going there to enjoy myself, and hopefully, as a band, we can draw the audience into our mood.

Would this be my last concert? I don't really know. But right now, I'm enjoying myself too much to say no to that question. Ay Caramba!

Argh.. Need an Outlet

Think I should blog about happy things.
Well, there are half-completed drafts for two long entries which I can't seem to find the time to complete. They are happy stuff. However,I just want an FA1 XIE4 outlet now.

ARGH!

Don't worry. It's not really the I-want-to-kill-myself type of sianz. Just a it-is-irritating-yet-I-am-forced-to-confront-the-problem-at-home sianz. It's about something that has already happened for some time, and I'm forced to confront it now. Wish I never have to confront such issue in life. Definitely never again in the future.

__________


On a happier note, our symphonic band concert is approaching. I'm playing euphonium for the first time in a formal concert. Previous ones were public performances. All my hard work into practising it is finally paying off. Getting a nice tone and playing more musically nowadays. Music is pretty exciting. Love the latin theme for this concert. Playing pretty hot stuff in our repertoire. Believe it will be one of the concerts which I enjoy most and feel most accomplished.

Btw, tickets are on sale! Lai ah! Lai ah!

Results are Out

My last result was released minutes after my last blog post.

Positive Surprise x 1

I actually fared a lot better for a module which I thought was doomed, considering the lack of attention given to it. Must be that one lucky essay question (see blog post below) which gave me that boost.

Major Disappointment + Dulan-ness x 1

Wasted all my efforts and majority time spent on AFA, which turned out to be a negative outlier among my grades. @#%$#@%$#. Should have spent those time on other modules which would definitely provide more 'yields' for my time.

Coincidence

Minutes after I posted my comment "+ cake, filled with sinfully delicious chocolate" on 4O blog, I got a slice of sinfully delicious chocolate log cake.

Apparently, my office is sharing this log cake. Coincidence? Who cares, as long as I get something great to eat. Or perhaps it is something to do with the Law of Attraction? If it is so, I should think more about grades, money and girls up, and post something related to them soon. Whose birthday is up next?

Psychomotor Skills to the Max

These few weeks during the holidays will test my psychomotor skills to the max.

First up, driving. I realised a couple of days ago that my practical test for driving is held in March. Well, it's something that I should have remembered. On hindsight, it didn't seem bad at all that I could only book my test 6 months in advance, and no earlier. Till now, I have only attended two driving lessons. That means at least 25 more lessons to go before I take my test in 3 months time. If that didn't stress me, it didn't. It just means that I need to pick up my pace in learning driving and depend on the good old FLAIR.

Attended my first driving lesson in weeks on Sun morning. Not exactly a great idea to put a beginner driver, who hasn't been familiar with the clutch and gear coordination, on the road on a rainy day, on his third lesson. Lesson three involved driving around Bukit Gombak, through a road with a 70km/h limit, hence allowing me to experience 4th gear for the first time, driving through countless traffic lights and junctions, making right & left turns at T-junctions, and overtaking vehicles (mainly buses and illegally parked cars). But that's the nature of things for lessons under a private instructor. However, I believe I must have broken enough traffic rules to condemn me to a life-long ban on driving.

Amongst the mistakes I committed, both major and minor ones:
1) Not stopping at the T-junction with a stop sign before making my left turn.
2) Stalling my engine in the middle of a traffic junction because I release the clutch too early.
3) Not changing gear often enough. I was quite comfortable sticking to gear 2 and its speed most of the time, though I was told that I must change to higher gears when I reach certain speed.
4) Not changing to gear 2 when making turns.
5) Stepping on clutch first before brakes. Realised for the first time that car does slow down when you step on the break without stepping on the clutch. Always thought clutch must come first.
6) Not stepping on brakes when I switch to lower gear.
7) Stopping in the middle of the lane while I'm supposed to make a left turn. Told that I should keep left, with the wheels steered left.
8) Not switching off my right signal after overtaking a vehicle.
9) Stopping on a zebra crossing, which I'm told would earn me 10 points or immediate failure, can't remember.
10) Failing to slow down before zebra crossing.
11) Not checking my rear mirror at all, only for the first time 15 min before the lesson was over. Oh, I was supposed to check that and not my left side mirror while going into the left lane.
12) And the list goes on...

Well, at least I haven't been into an accident. And I think I finally getting my gear switching coordination right. My initial drive-off and gear switching became smoother towards the later part of the lesson. Only hoping that my fourth lesson, which is to be held at Thurs night, will go smoothly. Drivers at Bukit Gombak beware.

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My other involvement which tests my psychomotor skills is my basic salsa lesson. One-Two-Three-pause, Four-Five-Six-pause. Finally get my body to be less tense. Hopefully I can at least be as good as these dancers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ913L-ABeQ

Maybe not. Wonder how much time and effort must go into getting these complex moves right. Can't even get my basics right. Think I'll aim to be at least as comfortable as these dancers, and not to step on my partner's toes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js0IZi6L_uw

And this is plain inspirational. Kudos to the male dancer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnsz8Uc3enE&feature=related

For now, I shall simply try to master the 5 basic steps of salsa. Left-Right-Left, Right-Left-Right.

__________

On an academic note, I've just gotten my results for two of my modules. A bit disappointed, as they did fall short of my initial expectations. Considering that I only spent 6 hours in all (over week 13-week 15) to prepare for one of them, it's a rather satisfactory grade. The other, I blame it on the excessive time spent on AFA and the 5 papers in a week, which restricted my ability to do more preparations. Well, not many people are comfortable entering an exam hall without practising any questions at all, relying just on your understanding of concepts. I'm one of them. Now, I'm just bemoaning over my falling GPA.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

I think my brain got problem. This tune "Raindrops keep falling on my head.." keeps repeating itself in my head as I walked through the heavy downpour in the evening.

Then again, the weather was shiok. The temperature was just nice. Cool, though a bit too wet. Anyway, try doing this. Open up your palm and let the raindrops fall onto it. Feel the raindrops falling at random spots on your palm. Personally enjoy this sensation. It creates a sense of anticipation and yearning, for your palm to feel the raindrops at every spot, and only then your sense of touch will become satisfied. Hmm.. Only works when the rain isn't a downpour.

The Bright Side of Examinations

Examinations is such a bleak period. I'm thankful for moments like these that keep me going and sane during this period.

1) Friendly spams


Haha. Like what one of my friend said. It's the only spam you love to have.

2) Facebook

A bit of a distraction though.

3) Meals with friends

A welcome break from the studies.

4) Words of encouragements from friends

A big thanks! Nice to know that you are remembered.

Holidays are here again!

Exams are finally over!!

Though I have totally screwed up my AFA and to a lesser extent, my AIS paper, I'm just glad everything is over.

I left the examination hall feeling disappointed though. I knew, for certain, that my results for all my modules are going to be less than desirable. Yet, I believe these are modules which I could have done well. For instance, I can understand the concepts for AFA well. Yet, I failed miserably when my understanding is put to a test under examination conditions. Perhaps, I should have devoted a lot more time towards practising the questions. Same goes for other subjects. There are other factors, which I shall not dwell on. More importantly. I have come to realise (or should have realised long ago) that taking 5 examinations in one week is suicidal.

Oh well. I hope I can get over this bitter feeling I felt. Somehow, my efforts into my modules do not translate into my desired grades. And I have to console myself that grades aren't that important. Whatever. Hopefully, my actual results are not as bad as I predicted. For now, I shall concentrate on recharging myself over this short break.

__________

I noticed this cupid's flower growing on the ledge outside my room's window. Couldn't resist to take a shot of it.


This was taken at 8.54am.



It bloomed while I was away. This was taken at 10.07am.

Haha. Now, it's just bald. It reminds me of my primary 3 school days when I would look around for this flower having being newly introduced to it during Science class. There were always plenty of them at my school field and drains. My friend and I would seek the ripe ones and watch the wind blow the seeds away. Such simple, yet fascinating treat.

It's 3am in the Morning

Enjoying the cool morning breeze as I slugged through my AFA questions.
Haven't been able to balance any of my consolidation figures (independently at first try) before. Makes me wonder how I'm able to do so in 6.5 hrs time for the examination for the first time in my academic life. Oh well. Once again, I have to depend on the good-old 'FLAIR'. A point of consolidation.. Oops.. I meant consolation.. At least my strong background in my finance modules and my "Buy-Low, Sell-High" mantra will help me deal with financial instruments accounting from FRS39.

Red Bull's effect running off. Think I shall call it a day and pray that all goes well later.

__________

Oh. And I discovered that I'm not the saddest person around in SMU. Haha. Just realised that Alvin is also taking the same combination (AFA + AIS)as me. That makes us the TWO SADDEST PEOPLE in SMU right at this moment.

On This Coming Sunday

On this coming Sunday morning, I'm going for a nice jog around my neighbourhood. It shall be the start of my back-to-fitness programme during the holidays.

After that, I shall be reading the latest chapter of One Piece and Naruto.

In the afternoon, I'm going to visit Sitex, and maybe do some window-shopping (and maybe real one).

In the evening, I'm going to be facebooking and doing research on possible plans for a Malaysian trip.

And finally, I'm going to stay up into the wee hours of the night, to watch any random stuff I can find online.

For someone with two papers the next day, I'm dreaming too much.

I Believe in Karma

I think the academic gods must be smiling on me today. Must be all the good karma that I have accumulated over the past year.

I make my way to school today, dreading my international econs paper. As described in the previous post, I think my results is gone for this module. Perhaps more aptly put by CSQ, gone-f**ked. Think only 7 hours of revision to cover over 500 pages of international economics concepts, out of which 100 pages are totally new to me, portends my first C in SMU.

Until I saw the questions.

Essay question no 2: Is trade surplus worse off than trade deficit?

*WOOHOO* If this weren't an examination hall, I would probably respond to my urge to jump with joy. My IE project research topic came out. Kio! Well, it's only one of the two questions that I have to do, but at least the situation will not be as bleak as it can be. And the MCQs included quite a number of qns related to my FIIM project. Kio!

On another note:

I think I'm officially the saddest person around in SMU as pointed out by my friend who has finished all his exams. I don't think there is anyone else in the school who has two more papers left tmr. I think of no other accounting students taking AFA and AIS together. Sianz. Argh!!!

What Does it Mean When..

Red Bull drinks are sold out on all vending machines I went to around school.

WT*..

Had to settle for my next best alternative - Traditional Coca-Cola

And as I made back to the library, I started noticing Red Bull cans everywhere. In the dustbins and on others' desks.

Two Down / Three More To Go

I feel less ethical after my business ethics exam / course.

I've only learnt to use ethical theories to justify my decision.
All my stands for the cases are similar.

The first and foremost agenda of organisations is profits. I should put the interests of my company before anything else. Different ethical theoritical frameworks suggest blah blah blah. BUT, as a CEO I must ensure the long term sustainability of my company.
- Hence I should sell my video games which promotes violence
- Hence I should intrude on my employee's privacy to protect my own interests.

Sianz.. My personal ethics are being compromised by business ethics.
I justify decisions which serve to protect my (company's) own interests.

__________


Three more papers to go. Gogogo.

Nicknames

Different nicknames I have bring back fond (and maybe some not-so-fond) memories of different phases of my life. I had at least 2 during my primary school days, 2 during my secondary school days (from band.. though I can't recall if i have any within 4O), and surprisingly none during my JC days. NS, there were a couple, one of which was from my primary school days. Here are the recent ones:

- LaW:
This is most commonly used, especially after I started using it as my msn nick and signing off with it. Originally used only in emails and sms, people have recently start to call me with that. "Hey Law", "Law, can u..." And I actually responded to them.

- Lawley:
This is a variation from LaW, which originated from my roommate during my Perth trip. Nowadays, there's a new variation - Lawleypops - which thankfully is used only by some of my female friends. I promise to beat up any guy who calls me that.

- Lo-my-guy
This is a pun on my surname, created after inspiration hit my friend as he was eating 'lo mai gai' - the glutinous rice with chicken, usually sold together with 'paos'. Sounds a bit gay-ish.

On my papers..

Once again, the FIIM paper raise my (already high) respect for prof who set open book papers and mcqs for final exams. These questions are never easy. Having the book + laptops + notes did not help me at all for this paper. Given the time contraints, it boils down to how well you understand and apply the concepts. Luckily, it doesn't seem that bad for me for this paper.

I seriously hate MCQs that goes sth like (a) I&II are true (b) I,II & III are true (c) Only II is true (d) None of the above. Even more so when each option is already so difficult to evaluate. Argh..

Back to mugging for another open-book paper tmr. Dread.

And So It Starts Tmr..

And so my (yet another) hell week starts tmr.

Financial Institutions, Instruments & Markets:
Think should be able to achieve above average results.

Ethics on Wed
Think one night of preparations is enough? How I wish I possess Bert's philosophical mind then.

Internation Econs on Fri
Gone.

Advanced Financial Accounting on Sat morning
*Still cursing* Most time spent, yet least rewarding. IFUL!

Accounting Infomation System on Sat afternoon
Hope my A-lvl's computing knowledge + my audit experience will help me beat this paper.

ROAR! I shall beat all these exams.. Think lowering my expectations helps a lot to reduce stress. Even with so much left to cover, and the insufficient time spent on preparations, I'm still in an easy-going mood. Typing a blog entry now is a testimony to that.

Hopefully, I don't screw up this semester that badly.



To those who read this blog, All the Best for Your Papers.
=)

Cursing

I cursed and swore more than I have spoken today.

I have only spoken in these mostly-very-brief conversations today.
1) With my mum before she left for church
2) Saying goodbye to my bro before I left home
3) Ordering my plate of duck rice for lunch
4) With my family over dinner

Over Advanced Financial Accounting (AFA)..
Cr Gain on Options,.. #@$%$#@%$#%!!
How to calculate the effective portion of the fair value change..
Goodwill figure.. @#%@#%$#@%^@#%!!
Teacher's answer for question is (confirmed) wrong..
Question on tax computation.. #@$%@$#%$#@!!
Since when she set such questions..
And it went on for the whole afternoon..
AFA.. IFUL..

K.. Maybe I need to socialise more.. #@%$#@%$#% with the exams..
Think I shall stop studying alone in the library..
Or should I ask someone out to study with me?


On another unrelated issue:

Who are those strangers petting on my (fluff)friend on facebook!?

Graduating..

I woke up this morning and all of the sudden, it came to me that I'm going to graduate in 1.5 years time. When my brother underwent matriculation last sat, it brought back memories of those sense of excitement and anticipation I felt towards uni-life 2 years ago. (School) life is too short. Argh, and there's still so much to be done (in order of priority):

- Yet to find a companion (female)
- Yet to accumulate enough happy memories
- Yet to pick up my driving license
- Yet to decide what I want to do in life
- Yet to be ready to face the relentless and impersonal working life
- Yet to score straight A's for a semester (k.. this is not impt)
- ... and the list goes on..

I'll miss the carefree interactions with the people around me. I'll miss (probably) mugging. I'll miss school life.