Can't Breathe Now That I Can Breathe

I am sick.

I have been sick since the Saturday before. Actually it may have started on Friday but in any case, that's more than a week now. BOTH my ears are now blocked and yesterday I developed a cough for some reason. I was still coughing this morning, although it seems to have disappeared right now.

I blame the weather most of all. If it wasn't cold and damp all the time now, I probably would have recovered by now, without any of this irritating deafness.

But what brought it on was a combination of stress and inactivity. Yes, I haven't actually done very much exercise for about a month. I have grown fat and soft once again. The stress part was the start of the Design Week that all Level 3 engineering students have to go through. That started 2 weeks ago on the 19th. The point of the exercise was that we were all assigned a topic relating to engineering design and a group to work with. For an entire week, we would have no scheduled classes, but instead would meet up in various labs in FN to work on the design of whatever it is we got. What made it worse for my group is that at first we were told our report was due in on the Friday that week, with a presentation by the MEng students (me included (T.T)). 1 week to design and write a report on the preliminary design of a hydropower scheme is pretty fierce, let me tell you that. So as we all stressed and stayed in the engineering building til late at night to produce individual reports, we suddenly got word from our supervisor that she was extending the deadline to the following Friday.

On Thursday evening.

And there was no e-mail. No, no. She only told people she happened to bump into, and asked us to pass the word around.

$*#&^&*#*^$!!! Don't get me wrong. It WAS a good thing that she extended the deadline. BUT, the last minute notification and the mode of communication was just... lame, for a lack of better words. Plus, we learnt that the later Friday was supposed to have been the deadline in the first place, just that she got it wrong. Of all the #*$&#*%*.

Sigh.

The result was a horrendous onset of the flu. Of course, it didn't help that we had yet ANOTHER piece of work due in the same Friday. 1 formal report and 2 written logbooks. All due in the same day, at the same time. For 2 whole weeks, I was sleeping at 3am and waking up at 9am to be in for 10am. On the last Thursday I slept at 4.30am tidying up my work before submission.

But, at least everything's done now. I only have one last report due in 2 weeks. So I can breathe easier now. Except that I can't actually breathe without a tonne of drugs and nasal decongestants... (-_-''')

Yes, I know. I'm a terrible blogger. I have all these blogs, and I just never update them. I never update my friendster, facebook or bebo either. And omg, let's not even mention my flickr.


But here I am in the engineering building, in one of the tutorial rooms. Supposed to be here doing my Matlab assignments but I just can't figure out how to properly define the trapezium rule for approximation in Matlab. The solution I'm getting is about 13 times more than the actual answer (supposed to be 1).


I do apologise for never updating my blog, or my photos. The thing is that I have now accumulated such a huge backlog of photos, that I just don't know where to start (read: I am too lazy to properly organize my files and folders. That is why my 30GB IBM is now only left with 4GB of space left).

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And now I am back in my flat. For the first time this year since I came back, I have the whole flat to myself. N decided on a whim to go home on Thursday, D is off to Liverpool for a sailing competition and R is somewhere climbing a mountain. So I have set up camp in the kitchen. Pulled out the sofa bed and have just been living in the kitchen since yesterday. Everything's here!! Food, the tv, radio/cd player; I'm even surrounded by 4 electrical sockets that allow me to plug in my laptop and a reading lamp! The kitchen's coffee table has just become my "bedside" table.

I love having the flat to myself. (^_^) It's such a cheap thrill.

Chinese = Don't Know Anything About Other Races/Religions?

After this morning's lecture, I decided to make an effort to speak with SF, since I more or less avoided her the whole of last year, although she was one of the first people I met in Aberdeen.

Me: Heya!
SF: Hi.
Me: How long more does your fast last?
SF: (funny look) 12 more days.
Me: 12! Not too long more then.
SF: Yeah, it lasts for 30 days.
Me: Yeah, I know.
SF: How come you know about..?
Me: Well, we have it in Singapore too.
SF: (Still the funny look)
Me: Well... you'd have it anywhere you have a Muslim community right?
SF: Yeah but you're not Muslim so I didn't think you would know about it.
Me: ...

I really had nothing to say after that. Is there any surprise I slowly stopped talking to her altogether after first year?? So, since I'm not Muslim or from Dubai, I wouldn't know about Eid Il Fitri (otherwise known as Hari Raya Puasa in Malaysia and Singapore)?? Maybe I'm overreacting, but I do hate being treated like an idiot. One time in first year she asked me if Singapore had "a/c". I didn't hear her clearly at first and asked her to repeat herself so she decided to clearly and slowly explain that "a/c" meant air-conditioning.

I really, really don't want to come off as racist or anything, because I'm not. I have nothing against different races or religions but this girl is just... ARGH! Eff it. I'm just not going to bother with her anymore.

Back in Aberdeen: The First Week

Yes yes, I am now back in "Sunny" Aberdeen! Although, to be fair, it actually has been quite sunny. Well, for the last 2 days anyway. Landed last Saturday morning, and that evening immediately headed off to the gym with N and R. It was mad, I know. I was absolutely destroyed that night. Was dead to the world by 10pm. Sunday was POURING RAIN!! I do believe that was the heaviest rainfall I'd ever seen in Aberdeen in my 2 years here. It was almost like the monsoon rains back home! It was amazing!!!

Anyhooo... Things have been good so far, this first week. Went and met my advisor, got my courses for this year settled. I have to do 2 more courses than normal engineering students this year because of my Management option, but hopefully I'll be able to get through them.

Other than that, there hasn't really been very much going on, it is just only registration week. We'll see what happens once my classes get going. At the moment, my days are filled with short runs, gym visits, society issues to deal with and catching up with people. And then there are long periods of absolute nothingness, like now, where I just hang out in the kitchen, tv on, flatmates walking in and out, waiting for my evening appointment to happen. Now, if you're asking "gym visits? What gym visits?", then yes, so far I've managed to keep up my gym regime. Although I don't know how long more it's going to last, especially once the term really gets going. But we'll see. I was actually overjoyed when I managed to slip easily into the jeans I left here. Before summer they were such a tight fit, I could barely walk up the stairs in them. I going to try to keep it that way.

My official Shape Run timing is out!! Check out the sidebar!
The next 10km run will be the Baxter's Loch Ness Run. Train tickets up to Inverness and accomodation, all booked and ready! Go Siew Mai Go!!

What's Next?

Ok. Basically this is a translation (not a very strict one) of the blog entry I posted yesterday on my new Japanese blog. Yes, I started a Japanese blog. No, I'm not going to reveal the URL at the moment. 1) There's no point. How many of my friends can actually read Japanese right? In any case, no point coz no one even reads this blog. Lalala! ♪ 2) For some reason, I thought I'd keep it as separate as possible at the moment. Although some more tech savvy people may be able to find it and of course, those who 日本語もわかってる already know how to find it.

That said, I'm going to post an English version of that one entry simply because I have neglected this blog for a while. So... Here it is.
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Well, well~ Got various updates here... (-_-''')

First off, I finished 12km!! Took part in the Sheares Bridge Run on Sunday, 26th August. Finishing that distance was amazing (even though it's just 2km more than my usual)!! My usual 10km timing is about 1hr 30min, so I thought I'd take about 1hr 50min this time around. And I actually did some serious preparation for this run!! Practiced running 10km (taking about 1hr 20-25min each time) at least once a week. Alas!! Just when I thought I was all prepared to go for the 12km, tragedy struck 2 days before the actual run...

Yup. Fell sick again. On Friday night, I was having the runs and vomitting all night. Must've been bad food... And there was a slight fever as well. The next day I was just flat out on my bed (think I got up a total of 2 or 3 times). I was absolutely out of it. Whether or not I was going to be able to even make the start line was doubtful. Even my mum changed her tagline from "You should run more" to "Take it slowly, if you can't make it tomorrow, just rest"...

NO!! I was determined to make this 12km happen. Afterall I had been looking forward to it!! Nevermind if it was going to be a really slow 12km, I was going to finish it!! So, with this mindset, I was off to the run.

In the end, I took about 2hrs (according to my own timing) to finish. It was a bit slow but I was quite happy with the timing. I mean, I finished it didn't I? And that's the entire point!!! After the race, my mum and I went wakeboarding with friends. IT WAS SUPER FUN!!! I actually managed to STAND UP!!! WOOHOO!! SUCCESS!! Think I can do tricks the next time I go?? Hehehehe...

AND ALSO!! Today I went to the hair salon!!! OHHHOHOHO!! Yes, got an entirely NEW hairdo!! Waaaa~ Haven't had a proper fringe in YEARS! It's puh-reeety exciting!!!!!

2007/08/29 00:15

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And that was this week's update. Although the official race times for the SBR are now out and apparently I finished in 1:46:30:30 (chip time). That means I actually met my target despite being off-form!!! OMG!~

BUGGER!!

I can't remember the song that I sang to Isaac for the "Dating Game" in first year, and it's seriously bugging me. I can sort of remember the first line and the corresponding tune, but afterwards it's a complete void. I can't remember the rest of the tune. The only other thing I remember is the ending line. At least I think it's the end line. I remember writing it down in my orientation booklet but even that's nowhere to be found now.

I don't even know why I'm suddenly so desperate to remember it. It doesn't particularly mean anything. It was just a silly song that a hallmate and I wrote for a silly game in halls.

ザ少年倶楽部！

Yay!!! I finally get to watch The Shounen Club on my own tv!!! And these two weeks it's The Shounen Club in OSAKA!!! Kanjani8!! 関ジャニ∞の皆さん見えるわ！！超うれしい！！村上信五！ヒナァァ～～！！(☆_☆) (I can only put stars coz I cannot find a heart...) This in addition to 風林火山(Fuurin Kazan) - which is getting more exciting each episode by the way - is just BRILLIANT!!!

I love NHK. I love being back in Singapore and having access to NHK. *rabu rabu*

I get to see this guy

and this guy

all in the same night! Is a veritable drool-fest. HAHAHAHAH!!! (All fangirl tendencies are out.)

And of course, on Friday YOSHIKI and Gackt's new band debuted in California. Apparently it was a big hit, but there were never any doubts about that. Shall wait patiently for their first single/album to appear.

Exam Results!! Year 2 Term 2

Yes ok. It's a rather belated report. The results came out about 2 weeks ago and I haven't actually done very much updating on this blog or any of my other me-sites. I think the most pitiful site I own is my drawing site. It hasn't been updated since before last summer. Anyhow, here's my report for the second half-term of 2006/2007 (remember that the CAS scale my uni uses is over 20):

Siew Mai's Report Card
EG2510
Engineering Mathematics 3 - CAS 20
Was expecting either 19 or 20 so this is ehm... expected? *ducks to avoid projectiles of rotten tomotoes and raw eggs*

EG2539
Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics - CAS 15
EEK!! JUST hit minimum expectation for myself. *sweats* I promise to do better next year when I choose my specific course of engineering. No points for guessing which branch that will be

EG2559
Electrical and Mechanical Systems - CAS 13
Ok. I know it's not that fantastic a mark. It's the bottom of the 2.1 class. But I really was having a lot of trouble with this topic. I just couldn't grasp it strongly enough. I actually gave myself a minimum of 10 to meet, so this is actually better than expected for me.

EG2579
Engineering Design and Practice 2 - CAS 18
Improvement by 1 point per term for this practical lab course... And - I regretfully admit - I didn't even put very much effort into it this term...

LOL!!

超かわいい～！



Yassu-chan cries coz Subaru stole his strawberry!! At first everyone thought he was just so moved by the food. Poor thing!

Incomprehensible World of Competitive Pricing

At Gramaphone (Takashimaya):
L'Arc~en~Ciel 4-in-1 China press box set -- SGD$22
L'Arc~en~Ciel 15th Anniversary Edition ray & ark -- Slightly less than SGD$25

In terms of general J-Rock (or J-music in general) availability, they have some of the latest stuff to come out but the range is definitely limited. How could B'z be missing from the range??

At Sembawang Music (Junction 8):
L'Arc~en~Ciel 4-in-1 China press box set -- About SGD$24
L'Arc~en~Ciel 15th Anniversary Edition ark -- Slightly less than SGD$21

Range is slightly wider than Gramaphone. BUT. It's mostly the old (really. old.) stuff, and mainly pop or trance. Not very well catalogued either. Took me about 10 minutes to find out where the Japanese section was and the J8 branch is a small branch.

Wonder how the other branches for either will fare... Next stop: HMV

NOTE: I'm hoping I can transfer this post at some point to a separate blog, so that people who aren't interested in my East Asian obsessions don't have to read about them if they don't want to. First though, I have to figure out a name for the new blog and plan it out. I already know that I want the title to include the word "VENEER", but it feels incomplete by itself...

Rings In My Mug

I've just realized something about my drinking (of hot drinks) habits. I'll make my desired hot beverage, then I'll put it aside for a while and do something else while I wait for it to cool a bit. HOWEVER! I'll get so engrossed in this side activity that I tend to completely forget about the existance of said beverage. When I finally remember it, the drink would've cooled enough such that its volume is reduced, and there is a ring around the mug marking the original level. Sometimes, there'll be two rings. (-_-''') I'll take a big swig then, while it's still relatively hot, then leave it and forget all about it again until a little later. By which time, yet another ring will have appeared.

What's that old children's rhyme/game we used to play/sing? "Round a ring of roses..."?? Well... Howzabout "Round a ring of coffee" instead?

S.K.I.N.始動！

http://www.yoshiki.net/jp/flv/skin.html

First live in California later this month. It's going to be HOT!!

Maybe I should just start a new blog to post about happenings in the J-entertainment world that interest me, or even just Japan in general. Not that anyone else would read it, but hey! Clogging up the world wide web with yet another useless blog? Hell! Why not?? Besides, it irritates me the way Singaporeans seem to just swallow fads with no real interest in them other than the fact that said fads are "in" now.

A while back when I was in JC, it was 哈日. Anything Japanese was IN, and therefore the thing to be seen buying and consuming. Now the tide has turned and it's 哈韩. Everything's suddenly Korean now. Not that I have anything against Korea or it's culture, but now it's SO difficult to find Japanese material, not to mention expensive. Thank God for Kinokuniya. Poh Kim? Oh yeah, they're great, except that their originals still aren't quite originals. I guess they could be legal, but when you can still see the earthquake warnings and TV programme announcements in the middle of an episode, you know it's been taped from a cable or satellite tv somewhere.

Geez... One of these days the tide will turn again and fad junkies will find themselves embracing... Oh, I don't know.. The latest Mongolian fashions, or the latest pop idol from Luxemburg, or suddenly there will be a spiked interest in Malagasy (language of Madagascar, which is actually related to Malay! Bet you didn't know that).

Pah!

Not My Best Blog Post. Don't Read This.

Yeah. Believe the title. So why the hell am I even posting when I know it's not going to be a remotely interesting post? Coz I'm jet-lagged, dazed and still trying to sort out the fuzz in my brain. Thought this might help. Verbal diarrhea.

Anyway. On to the boring blog. Don't read it.
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Arrgh! Was in Takashimaya's Gramaphone yesterday when I saw the special 15th Anniversary Extended Editions of "ray" and "ark" by L'Arc~en~Ciel... I was SOOOO tempted to buy them!!! In the end I caved to cheaper prices and just bought the cheap China press of a 4-in-1 box set that included the albums Best Clicked Singles 13, REAL, ray and ark (normal editions). It was a good price. $22 for 4 of them... The two special editions were going for about $24.80 each. *bangs head* Generally I'm glad that I'm not an extreme fanatic when it comes to these things (already am bad enough, I think), but sometimes it would be convenient to be. Coz then, sensible thoughts wouldn't factor too much in purchases such as these...

Sigh. Somebody buy me a 雅-miyavi- cd. I like how he calls Gackt "Gaku-nii" on his blog. Hey. That was random. Nono.. get me the latest MUCC ones. No, spitz. No wait... *continues mumbling as the people in the white coats come to collect her*

FINALLY!!! No more exams!!

Siew Mai's 2nd Year, 2nd Sem Exams
Monday 21 May, 3pm
EG2539 Fluids & Thermodynamics DONE

Thursday 24 May, 9am
EG2559 Electrical & Mechanical Systems MURDERED. MASSACRED. UTTERLY AND THOROUGHLY DEAD.

Tuesday 29 May, 9am
EG2510 Engineering Mathematics 3 DONE

SKIN

来た！！
THE BAND is called SKIN.
The official line-up is now:
YOSHIKI (drums)
Gackt (vocal)
SUGIZO (guitar)
雅-miyavi- (guitar)

And they'll be performing at the Anime Expo 2007!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Somebody send me to the US NOW!!

I think if I become any more fan-girly I will actually have a stroke.

[edit: 28 May 2007] More info:
Yahoo!Japan News
Oricon Career
Sponichi Annex

Yes I realize the new links are all Japanese articles. Maybe after the exams I might be inspired to try translating them. But at the moment...

Seriously Shit

I hate it when I try to speak about something seriously, and no one takes me seriously. They tease and they joke and they just flat out refuse to realize how bothered or how concerned I may actually be. Most times, I guess I can see their side of it - the funny side or ridiculous side of the matter. Those times, frustrated as I may feel about not being taken seriously, I can still laugh it off. Sometimes, the issue bothers me too much. Sure. I'll may laugh it off with them at the moment, but afterwards I still just feel like shit about it.

Or have I actually become so much of an over-achiever that people around me can no longer believe me when I tell them that I'm worried that I've failed. Again. I doubt it though. I'm still the lazy-ass person I've always been. Maybe I'm just hardworking compared to the people here. In which case, then they are all just stupid little shits. Well. They always have been stupid little shits. I guess this just makes them even more stupid, and more shitty.


I failed once. Big time. I don't want to fail again.

SO SWEET!!

Hot Chocolate~!!
ヨシキ様優しい～！！かわいくて、格好いい！！

ヨシキ様くれてココアがほしいなぁぁぁ～～！(*_*)
行きたいな～Jロック革命コンサート。

Shot In The Head

o.
m.
g.

Resits here I come... (T_T)

J-ロック革命

行きたい！！すごく行きたい！

この事です。

Do you think if I wish hard enough, yoshiki will be inspired to organize something similar in the UK? Or Singapore for that matter?

I mean, just look at the line-up!!! *spurting nose-bleeds*

girugamesh and DespairsRay are actually PREEETTY GOOD bands to look out for! kagrra and MUCC are possibly a bit too metal for my taste although some of the stuff I've heard on Last.fm is pretty good. Don't know much about the other bands though.

AND MIYAVI?!?!?!? *faints from excessive blood loss* OMG! I was a convert when I saw this video. Go watch it NOW!

PLUS!!! Yoshiki has said on his MySpace blog that he'll announce the 4th member of his new (SUPER) band during the show. Gackt and Sugizo are already involved, and he just needs a second guitarist and a bassist!! The rumour mill has it that miyavi is that second guitarist. I'm going NUTS here!!!

Damn this post turned out longer than I intended it to be.

Avoiding Electrical Circuits

In a desperate attempt to once again avoid studying, here is yet another random post...
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I think I'm actually more stressed than I think I am. There was a revision lecture scheduled today at the usual time, to be held in the usual lecture theatre. So, desperate as I was for any kind of help and possibly exam hints, I trooped down to the University and up to the assigned room.

There was no one there.

So I called my classmate, NM...

NM: Hello, Su Mei!
Me: Hallo. Uhm... Where is the alleged lecture supposed to be?
NM: The usual place.
Me: But... There's no one there.
NM: Er... Maybe because it's at 4pm?
Me: Yes, but... Wait, what time is it now?
NM: A little after 2?
Me: ... (-_-")

And the crazy thing was... I was actually aware of the times on some level. I know that Electrical on Mondays is always at 4pm. But for some reason when I looked at my watch at 1.40pm, I also just knew that I had to get moving if I wanted to make the lecture in time... (-.-''') Something is wrong with me.
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Made a new friend yesterday! Yay!! Yes, I know I could've mentioned it in yesterday's posts but I was busy talking about AFJ ok? (AFJラブラブ!) Anyhow, yes! New friend! Met him in church and we invited him out for lunch with us. Pity he's only going to be here for a couple more weeks.
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From The Amazing Death Predictor:
Van Su Mei: At age 52 you will die from an equipment malfunction in an exciting, fear based reality game show. Your death will receive the highest ratings of any episode of any reality show, ever.