Here's My Story

I was back in Malaysia from Christmas Eve night till Sunday, 28 Dec. First damage was on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It was terrible. I just hope things can only get better. Just received news that points towards improvement. Except for Christmas Eve night, I've stayed over at my sister's place in KL. We were at One U on Boxing Day and I was looking for a casual belt. Saw one but thought should look further because wasn't sure it was too broad or not for some of my pants. She helped me to get a short-sleeved shirt, a pair of cargo pants and a pair of jeans. I more or less chose a few pairs of casual and office socks myself. Typical conversation during the shopping process is as follows: Sis: Kor, try this. Me: Ok (later...) Sis: Wah, looks nice wor Me: Ok, buy! People who know me know that I'm lazy at shopping but I'm happy to let someone else to shop for me and I just pay for the goods hehe. On Saturday night, I met up with Mr Skanky and 6 of his frie...

It was simply one of those days. There was something to do with respect virtually all aspects of my life today. Thankfully, only 1 posed serious problem. Health I had my initial consultation with a gastroenterologist at SGH in the morning, after being refered by my GP. From previous experience at that hospital, waiting time i.e. waiting to be called to the specialist's room after registered usually takes about 2 freaking hours. So, as per previous practice, besides the referral letter, I was armed with a bottle of water, newspapers and a book "History of the World", which I have already started reading (usually in transit between home and office). Surprisingly, it took about only 40 mins before I was called. By then, I've already read the newspapers (but to be fair, I've already read some of it before I got there) and continued reading my book. The consultation was less than 10 mins. The specialist decided have me take blood test (full blood count, a liver te...

Actually I'm not even sure why I started this but somehow I thought it may be interesting to see how different Christmas tress are decorated here in Singapore. This is outside Suntec Mall. And no, that seemingly white piece of blot is not inserted by me to censor anything. It is in fact a metal plate engraved with some words. My gimpy camphone couldn't capture that and likely due to position of the sun or something (fengshui? ;-)) This is inside the Suntec Convention Centre, right at the entrance of the Food Republic foodcourt. It's a small tree and seems sparsely decorated. Incidentally, there is a Japanese restaurant on the left named Hamoru that serves delicious value-for-money set meals. Their ala cartes are equally yummy too, especially the salmon belly sashimi. *drool* I hope I got this right. I believed this is in City Link, the underground mall connecting Raffles City and Suntec/Esplanade/Raffles Link. It's huge and it's underground! I quite like...

...the modem/router is still working well! Woohoo! The problem has been solved last night. Before that, as I've said in my earlier post, I've tried connecting my housemate's laptop directly to the modem via LAN cable. I've also tried the following without success: (1) Connect the modem directly to the phone socket, instead via microfilter. (2) Scanned housemate's laptop for virus. (3) Scanned housemate's laptop for spyware. (4) Installed a internet connection keeper in my laptop. (5) Used another phone line. (6) Used another LAN cable (for my laptop). Mr Skanky labeled my case as an X-File case :-) There were only 3 suspects I had: modem, ISP or housemate's laptop. So next, I e-mailed the modem vendor techincal support. First reply was to ask me to scan housemate's laptop for virus and spyware. Yup, done that already. Next reply was to ask me to bring the modem and my housemate's laptop to the service centre. Now, that's a bit t...

On Friday, while on the way to work, I experienced difficulty breathing, whether through mouth and nose, especially the latter. In addition, the lower half of my eye sockets near my nose bridge are tight/aching. I had to occassionally take in huge gulp of air. It was rather scary and so I went to see my regular doctor. The nose part is easy: it's blocked nose. Would have just concluded it's onset of flu if not because of the difficulty breathing through my mouth too. Doctor said that I'm probably suffering from stress. I was disappointed. If it's any other ailments, it can be cured easily. Stress? That's difficult. Yes, it's been a stressful week but I do not think it warrants such bodily reaction. My boss, who I believed is under the same, if not more, level of stress is fine. He rarely fall ill in general. At times like this I feel like a weakling. I exercise regularly, eat healthier than most people and yet this happens. Haiz.

This is the modem integrated router that I'm using. Since goodness knows when (but certainly after the warranty period), it has been going bonkers. It will either suddenly restart itself or just loses internet connection. It does this regularly each day. The frequency per day is sort of random though. The downtime period can range from merely 1 minute to 5 minutes at which point I would manually restart it. My housemate was away for a few days last week including the weekend. Then a miracle occured: it was sane throughout the entire period! Every single minute for a few days it never once disconnected. As to how I can be sure to the exact minute, I may just elaborate another day. I also realised that after my Australia trip, during the next one week before my housemate came back from his vacation, the modem also did not disconnect (although I couldn't be sure it was every minute though). So what do I conclude? I thought perhaps for some odd reasons, the problem exists w...

1st shop of coffee prince , originally uploaded by marj04 . I love this drama series. "I'll say this just once so listen up. I like you, whether you're a man...or an alien. I just don't care anymore." - Han-gyeol (main actor) to Eun-chan (main actress), whom he still thinks is a boy, in the Korean drama series Coffee Prince

Yes, at 1am I'm still awake. Went to bed before 11pm. Didn't exactly have deep sleep but definitely woken up by gastric yet again. Took antacids and an omeprazole. Seems to work...for 15 mins and the rumbling began. Ate half slice of bread and now drinking warm milk. Earlier yesterday, went to work super early. At about 5.30am, I was fed up trying to sleep and decided to prepare to go to office. Plan was to work until boss came in and asked his permission to work from home. He agreed. Packed up my laptop (so damn heavy!) and went to see doctor. For the medicine geeks (hehe), he prescribed me omeprazole, librax (apo-chlorax) and domperidone. Upon clarfiying with me that my previous gastroscope was 9 years ago already, he advised that I go for another. I readily agreed since that was what I intended to do anyway. There were many people at his clinic past 10am. I usually go there just when it opens at 9am. So by the time I checked out, it was already 11.30am. Bought lunch an...

Yeah, it strikes again but slightly different from then . This time, it isn't hunger. It's pure acid flowing for no other reasons than to deter me from sleeping well. What made it even worse is that it is still there although I tried sleeping recline. Hence, it's not merely an acid reflux issue. Eating bread didn't help, neither did antacid nor omeprazole. It is only the second time I've had this. The first time, I visited my regular doctor (who is aware of my GERD problem) who then prescribed antacid, omeprazole and some stomach medicine thingy. Perhaps was the 3rd one that solved it then or likely it was all 3 of them. Gah, I better see doctor tomorrow. There seem to be a spike in such visits during the last month or so but probably due to different reasons. I'm nervous because years ago, I used to take sick leave (not due to GERD though) so often that my boss spoke to me about it. It was then I made a huge effort to eat and live healthier e.g. fruit and...

...I've submitted my answers to the exam, which I've posted about here . Nervous about this as the quality of the answers are probably borderline in my opinion. Oh please let me pass. If I don't, I'll blame it on Nick and Llyod who introduced me to Trickster hehe. I've already forwarned Nick :-)

How much red packet do you give for a wedding dinner? I understand the convention is to give enough to cover your share of the cost of the dinner i.e. cost per table divided by the number of people at the table. The logic behind this is to help the newly weds in covering the cost of the dinner. Yes, that is definitely a good way to help them, especially if they are your loved ones but only if you can afford to do so. Unfortunately, due to society’s convention, it’s better to decline attending such dinner, even if it’s in the honour of your loved ones, than to turn up with meager red packet. I recounted to my colleague during lunch that during my younger days, my family has to avoid going to wedding dinners simply because we cannot afford the red packets. Or at least minimise the number of members attending. We were rather poor back then. My colleague (who thought that anyone giving anything lesser than conventional amount are misers) suggested that we just don’t attend. I responded...

Last Saturday, I was supposed to attend a friend's function. However, due to some unexpected circumstances, I ended at VivoCity with nothing on my agenda. Now, I dislike going out without having some sort of objective. Even objective as simple as "Dinner at xxx" is good enough for me to venture out. Window shopping is a borderline objective for me since I usually don't want to do that. So I tried to think of meeting up with some friends. Problem is that I've met a bunch of them the night before (movie, dinner and coffee) and I don't want to bore them ;-) Tried SMSing and calling another friend whom I haven't met for a while but as expected, he's still sleeping (it was just past noon). So I just walked around VivoCity. It is a mall I rarely go to and so there are plenty of new stuff to see. It's a good thing too because I stumbled upon Daiso: a $2 Japanese store. Got a few stuff from there and most importantly I bought something to cover the l...

Lol sorry for this sudden lingering nostalgic songs. I love these songs but seems they are not popular enough to be played on radio. This particular song is so cheerful. Gives a warm glow in my heart...especially if I daydream haha. Lea: Be still my heart Lately its mind is on it's own It would go far and wide Just to be near you Brad: Even the stars Shine a bit bright I've noticed When you're close to me Lea: Still it remains a mystery Chorus (Both): Anyone who seen us Knows what's going on between us It doesn't take a genius To read between the lines Brad: ohh And it's not just wishful thinking Or only me who's dreaming I know what these are symptoms of We could be in love Lea: I ask myself why I sleep like a baby through the night Maybe it helps to know you'll be there tomorrow Brad: Lea: Don't open my eyes Ohhh I'll wake from the spell I'm under Makes me wonder how Tell me how I could live without y...

Any chance anyone know where to get hold of Jose Mari Chan's album that has this song and Beautiful Girl? Boy, the music video looks so old. But I love this song. Hope I get to sing it with someone special in future ;-) If you love me like you tell me please be careful with my heart you can take it just don't break it or my world will fall apart you are my first romance and i'm willing to take a chance that 'til life is through i'll still be loving you I will be true to you just a promise from you will do from the very start please be careful with my heart I love you and you know I do there'll be no one else for me promise i'll be always true for the world and all to see Love has heard some lies softly spoken and I have had my heart badly broken i've been burned and i've been hurt before So I know just how you feel trust my love is real for you i'll be gentle with your heart i'll caress it like the morning dew i'll be...

... I'm taking exam again. I've switched to Society of Actuaries after having failed the Instituted of Actuaries of Australia for, oh only gazilliion times. As what I've achieved previously is not completely converted, I have to take a step back and do this particular course: Fundamental Actuarial Principles. I'm doing its Interim Assessment. I have to pass this for the sake of my self-esteem and to arrest the continuous demoralisation for past years. Gambate!

Magpie. The bad bird. During early part of spring, countless of people have been and, I bet, will be attacked by these birds, especially those wearing caps. In more serious cases, people lose their eyes. Toddlers are not spared either. And the dumbest thing is that since magpies are protected species, it's illegal to hurt them. Sheesh. I theorise that they attack people wearing caps because they look like huge birds with beaks and the magpies are trying to protect their young chicks. This is just across from Bruce Hall, on the way to the university's Union Court. These ducks are quite common, and they are adorable with their ducklings. My friend thought I was going bonkers when I said that I've even spotted a duck on a tree. Really, I did. Ducks on the lawn, where students sometimes sit around and chat, especially in late spring, during summer and early autumn when the weather is warmer in general. The paths to and from the Union Court. Lined by trees. It...

Just across the parking lot from Burton & Garran Hall ("B&G") is Bruce Hall, where I stayed during my first 2 years of university. It started of as a fully catered hall i.e. 3 meals per day everyday except for weekends where, if I recall correctly only breakfast and dinner were served on Saturday and none on Sunday. Later it switched to partially catered hall where only breakfast and dinner were served during weekdays but meals for other times were available on pay-as-you-want basis. I did not choose Bruce Hall. In fact, I was already late arriving at ANU (missed first week of lectures I believed) because I was waiting for my A Level results in Singapore to assess my options. So when I decided to go to ANU, only Bruce Hall still has vacancy. It was my idea, supported by my parents and my grandfather, that the first year I stay at a fully-catered hall so as to minimise the impact of the challenges I'm about to face e.g. foreign country, university, actuarial st...

This is where I stayed during my 3rd and 4th years at ANU (specifically, one of the blocks in the photo). It is a fully self-catered hall i.e. food is not provided. What's provided is kitchen and dining facility that unofficially doubles up as social meeting place i.e. it's where you meet and chat with friends and take shelter from the bitter winter cold lol. You see, although there is heater in each room, the heat is centrally made available (geez, I sure hope I'm not mixing up with my previous hall lol), which in turn is connected to the university itself. Apparently, it will only be turned on after the maximum (or is it average?) temperature of the day hit below a certain degree for 3 consecutive days. Meanwhile, we all get warmed up in the kitchen hehe. Unlike in Singapore, you can save tonnes of money by cooking your own food rather than buying. The amount you need to spend, even if you shop around, on eating out or even getting take-away is easily at least twice t...

Just when I thought there was nothing else I want to accomplish during this trip, suddenly I was inspired to take a walk on my university's campus. It was unfortunate that it was not a good day to take photos. Oh well. The Australian National University. It was where I spent the last 4 non-working years of my life. It was quite an emotional journey and at least one of my major ailments arose during my tenure here. I had the most free time ever during my entire academic life e.g. during my third year, I had only about 10-11 hours of classes per week, including both lectures and tutorials. It was my first real taste of internet too...yum ;-) Coombs Theatre. It's where I went, often with friends and my sis, to watch movies screened by the ANU Film Group. With movie tickets in cinema obscenely high, the Film Group's membership fee was dirt cheap. At the start of each semester, they have already lined up what movies they were going to screen during the semester and hen...