so yes, today was the last biology lab session for this semester. though i'm glad that this semester's lectures, labs and stuffs are coming to an end, i'm sad as i really like my bio lab session..

today was just going around lab rooms and seeing set-ups of plants- their anatomy and functions, etc.. as we were checking out the demonstrations, a 'hand-made card' (using foolscap paper and stapling them together) was passed around, with the whole idea initiated by one of us (not me). i know it was last-minute and stuff, but it's the thought that counts..
so anyway we were signing our names and leaving messages in respective pages according to each bench we were sitted in. we had to snoop and be sneaky, hoping that rajit (our lab TA) wouldn't find out about it. in the end, everyone signed it it and while rajit wasn't at his desk, the 'card' was left on his desk. i don't know what happened then.
but we are very glad we had such a GREAT lab teaching assistant. i'm hoping next semester it will be rajit too, since i'm in the same day/time slot. it's just that the lab wouldn't be the same with the other lab-mates. even thought we didn't know everyone's name, we got along well (joking, laughing, working, and rushing to leave early).

it's this bitter-sweet feeling. we spent 3 hours of each week for 10 weeks in the same lab, the longest period for anything (not counting lectures where it's just a large number of people). i had fun in this lab, and totally enjoyed it. (:

here comes a christas/winter election for canadians!

the house of commons voted for a non-confidence of the current minority liberal government. that means the main opposition parties (conservatives, new democrats, bloc quebecois) have brought down the government. looks like canadians have to brave the weather and take time off from their christmas break to go to the polls to vote.

long story. quebec, a province in canada, has been wanting to separate from canada for a long time. after a close shave 10-15 years back, the previous liberal government invested in promoting unity of canada in quebec. but turns out, funds were 'toyed' with, and thus came to light the sponsorship scandal of canada. the current liberal prime minister ordered an inquiry into the whole issue, and tried to minimise the impacts of this embarassment. only the polls can tell how successful he is.

it's kind of a mess; there are little funds for health-care, transportation, and repairs and upgrades for buildings, etc etc. so singaporeans, be thankful for a comparatively highly transparent and stable government.

tomorrow marks the start of the long election campaigning for the parties. tomorrow is just another day for me..

i had a nice day shopping today. alone, but still managed to pick up some stuffs.. got a woolen hat and a sweater from urban outiftters. i am not too sure if i really want the sweater yet, but there's the refund policy. one thing i love shopping here is that you can change your mind even after you paid for the stuffs, provided the tags are intact and you have the receipt for change within 15-30 days. the image isn't centralised on the front.. i didn't notice it till i came home, and i don't think it's supposed to be like this. it's not that obvious, but now once i discovered it, i can't stop thinking about it. so after my exams end on the 21 december, i will head on down to make my final decision (cue: da-da-da-dum!). also got a colourful scarf at H&M.

then i met up with my brother and kaleng at koreatown for dinner. lovely.. after our korean meal, we stopped by KFC so that me and my bro could get burgers. Big Crunch burger is the best KFC burger (while Mc Spicy Double in singapore is the best McDonalds burger i have eaten)! went to stock up on korean kimchi instant noodles. i guess we bought like close to 20 packs of it. hey, when it's my exam time i won't be so free to cook okay.

thinking of school tomorrow makes me sick. but this will be the last week (plus one more monday to make up for the thanksgiving holiday we had on monday some time back) before we have one reading week and then our finals and then christmas break!!!

better go prepare for school and study a little to make up for today..

NOVEMBER 19 2004 - end of the dreaded 'O's (we rejoiced and partied like there was no tomorrow at orchard road; watched the incredibles, had a nice japanese dinner, shopped for grad night stuffs)

NOVEMBER 21-23 2004 - 4/1 chalet (bowling for strikes and spares, bbq-ing, cycling by the beach, card games and mahjong-playing, stargazings and sunrise-watching, late-night chats, night-trailing in a cobweb-filled, dark maze; need i elaborate? )

NOVEMBER 26 2004 - grad night 'glamourette 2004' (stayed back late dancing the night away and for a farewell-parting with friends)

NOVEMBER 27 2004 - last day in singapore (left early that same morning and spent a month in kl before flying off to canada)

wow. time just slipped by unnoticed..

the first major snowstorm for this winter is predicted to fall on us later tonight through to tomorrow, leaving behind 5-10cm of snow. there's periodic light snow now, and the temperatures are at the zero degrees mark. looks like the path is paved for a snowy white christmas, with christmas trees and lightings and big-fat santas and stockings and mistletoes and christmas carols..

i was the last to leave biology lab today. erm.. -.-

done with my second major geography assignment?
yes. i hope..

but i still had time just now to surf chapters bookstore website to hunt for books (=goodies?). bah. off to bed. i can sleep well tonight since i 'wrote a happy conclusion' to all my major assignments (except the weekly chemistry online homework and biology lab stuffs, which should be easy-peasy). tomorrow onwards, it's mugging for my coming finals.. what a life.

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire is awesome!


harry, hermione, ron: all grown up.
before i start talking about the movie, i have to say this. i'm so sure it will be a boxoffice hit (like d'oh). no seriously. i went to paramount to get the movie tickets for my brother and another 2 friends, and the only available timeslot was 5.30pm (they had timeslots in 1-hour intervals, and even added 2 extra timeslots for 5.30pm and 10.00pm). so i hurriedly bought it, and was warned it's limited seating. and a short while after i came out of the queue, they announced that hp & the goblet of fire tickets were ALL SOLD OUT for the day. can you believe that? they had to keep announcing it as the stream of people coming into paramount theatres were there just for that show.

my brother and friends came just in time. we entered to see the cinema full, with some empty seats here and there. we contemplated on sitting on the steps at first, but decided we should just sit right at the very first front row and strain our necks to see the movie. the angle was very weird; the characters looked bloated. but it was all worth it..

let's start with the not-so-good points first. the beginning of the show was kind of brief and jumping from one scene to the next, just so that they can fit the whole long book into a 2-1/2 hour movie. i thought the movie would be a 3-hour plus one, but apparently not (they rather have cho chang have fewer lines). perhaps it was the poor seats that made us lose focus. also, there was little of the school-life of the kids at hogwarts, just all about the triwizard tournament which afterall is the deal.

now for the good points.. this 4th installment of the harry potter franchise is one of the darkest, most action-filled yet. plus, there's alot of attractions, jealousy, and growing-up from harry, ron and hermione. this is also where hermione grows into a lady, as very much seen at the sweet yule ball, and commands that respect and attention from the other 2 guys who treat her like their guy-buddy-pal. aaawwww.. oh, and funny moaning myrtle (the girl-ghost in the bathroom) is back! wee!

and you-know-who (aka Lord Voldemort, aka Tom Marvolo Riddle) is back in business (meaning: he has risen again). ugly but stronger by the end of the movie. the triwizard tournament was exciting, with the 4 people fighting it out; the battle between harry and he-who-cannot-be-named was intense, and then there was this moment of spine-tingling, fuzziness for me (it's a good thing). i nearly broke into tears when a death happened, and when they came to harry's aid in his desperate moments.

i didn't read this 4th book (and the latest 6th one, though i read the 1st-3rd and 5th. weird huh?), so i don't know how well the movie adapted the contents from the book. but based on the movie alone, there's great laughs, thrills and sadness. my brother and another friend isn't a potter fan, and hasn't read the books or watched most of the past hp movies. nevertheless, they were able to enjoy the movie. harry potter fans have got to catch this (another D-O-H statement; potter fans never miss out anything about hp).

i think i have made my point. GO WATCH IT!

this movie has got me yearning to read book 4 and 6 now. looks like i will get myself some really cool christmas presents this year. (:

nostalgia is overwhelming me now. i remember the days of sticks and balls (aka pool), water and strokes (aka swimming), tiles-and-pengs (aka mahjong), strikes and longkangs (aka bowling). plus snapshots and squeezing-into-the-booth-and-looking-nice (aka neoprints), film and popcorn (aka movies), food and drinks (aka meals).

i'm itching to play pool and dry-swim again. i miss those fun times..

once again i'm in the school library blogging AND doing research for my geography assignment. i can't seem to find anything though.. so just waiting for time to pass and then head off to my chemistry class. having biology lab later on. yea? i kind of like bio lab.

okay, i think i found something useful..

i'm over the moon as we had our last chemistry lab session for this semester. we made white crystals.. cool. but then again, i never liked chemistry labs here. i just don't seem to get the punch of it, like i do in amkss at least. the experience is okay though. whatever, it's over. buh-bye chemistry lab.. for now.

got to go read my texts. tomorrow i will infiltrate biology lecture 1 (i'm enrolled in lecture 2), as it's right after my geography lecture in the same lecture hall. so why not just sit through an hour more and save the usual 2 hours of waiting for biology after geography. which means i'm coming home early! *BIG smile*

i decided i would give a rundown of the tv shows i love to watch, and hate to not watch (-redundant) even thought i guess i should be pressed for time.

desperate housewives
just watched a new episode on tv. somehow these housewives never seem to bore me, instead they crack me up and make me feel with them. gabrielle may face miscarriage; bree faces either trouble with the creepy pharmacist; susan is sad and single; and lynetter is fretting over no free time without playmates for her sons. there's the sad and funny part to the show, which may be why it's such a hit!

lost
the show is back after 2 weeks for trying to build the suspense of a main character being killed. i don't know; personally i feel the plan backfired on them. i got lost in them trying to hype up the coming 'shocker' in lost. i'm no more getting that hypnotic grip the show had on me when i first watched it. but still, i love the show. (spoiler in these lines, so don't read behind the line if you don't want to know who got killed!!!) it's so sad that maggie grace's character, shannon rutherford, got killed by the new girl on the block, ana lucia cortez. i rather watch shannon than ana lucia. it's unfair, how shannon's half-brother, boone, died in the first season and now her??? boo...

reunion
the new, more intense the o.c. i can sort of remember the starting line of each episode after watching 5 of it.. "in 1986, they were the best of friends. 20 years later on the night of their high school reunion, one of them gets murdered (at the bang of a gun). this is the story about 6 friends told over 20 years. each chapter is a new year, each year brings us one step closer to the truth (with the police case file closing, covering the picture of the 6 friends in present day).." the show is awesome. the revelation of change, and the struggle of each characters. gripping. i finally found out who is the murdered one in the 5th episode on the year 1990. was kind of fooled into thinking it was another character. boy, are they good. now it's just down to who actually killed her..

veronica mars
private eye and high school student, veronica, is getting into alot of mess. she nearly died on a bus crash that killed other students (mainly the 'unpopular, poorer' ones, thus sparking segregation within neptune), a man washes ashore with her name on his hand, her father lost the sherrif election race, her best bud is no longer talking to her because of a little misunderstanding and has ran away with his unknown dad who popped up from nowhere, and yet veronica mars manages to steer her way with school and detective work in neptune. the show has sub-cases each episode, with a main mystery running through each episodes for the season. season 1 was about who killed her best girlfriend, and season 2 is about who the mastermind of the bus crash is and the reason of it all. i guess they are kind of linked. still the ratings are poor.

prison break
i don't really have to say much about this show. it's been hailed as the break-out show of this season. about 2 brothers, one accused of murdering the vice-president's brother and is on a death penalty, the other a very intelligent guy who robs a bank so as to enter the same prison in hopes of breaking his brother out (he is the engineer of the prison so he has the blueprints tattooed onto his body). and there's a more powerful force trying to make sure his brother is executed so the matter can die off. they are close to breaking out of the prison, but everytime there're new obstacles.

that 70s show
season 8 started this month. what can i say, the departure of topher grace and ashton kutcher (though he guest-stars in the first few episodes) is clearly obvious. the new person in the foreman basement is kind of boring. maybe it's the start, but i miss the good old crew. it is still hilarious though.. just not getting the same vibe and dynamics as previous seasons yet.

hhmm i think that should be all.. for the comedy/drama/adventure tv shows. there's still the reality-tv side, which i'm not going into it. you won't want me to. i feel so much like a tv junkie. i should try cutting down on tv and computer. like this. better wrap this up before i start to get guilty over not studying..

PS watch tv guys! lol. peer-pressure.. (:

i had a little shopping-escapade this morning. headed over to fairview mall by myself; i know, sad, lonely me. but shopping alone can be fun in a way.

i reached there 5 minutes to 11am, and so many stores were not opened yet. then at 11am, you could here metal gates cranking open, setting off this whole chain of stores opening for business. there were some stores i comtemplated on going in, since there weren't anyone and the salespeople will be focused on me alone. so i walked around a little and went from store to store, all which i had in mind to go to.

nothing really caught my eye, so i ended up spending only at american eagles. got 4 hoodies and a sweater. and no, it's not all mine. 2 hoodies are my brother's, and i guess i got one wrong size for him. not so much my fault; he wanted M or L, and there wasn't M so i got L. but turns out the cutting and material of this hoodie makes it larger than usual. so i will have to get S.


the cover.


the contents.
i really wanted to get this winter jacket at gap. but the colour i want isn't there! maybe next week when i go exchange or refund my brother's wrong-sized hoodie, will i check it out.

carried 2 large bags to buy kfc for lunch. yummy.. and now i should study, do my research for geography assignment due the following week, and watch the fire for the corn soup boiling in the pot on the stove.

so i was at the check-out counter in the grocery store today. while waiting for my turn, an english woman came up to me and smiled to my basket full of food. but that's not the point; the point is that my basket was covered with 4 packets of potato chips. and hers with 2 .

"looks like we came in for only one thing in our minds."
"yea.."
"it's honey and roasted garlic? interesting, i must try it one day."
"yes you should. i used to eat ruffles' bbq, but eversince i tried miss vickie's i've been sticking to this."
"haha, it's all about miss vickie's now, eh? i got these all dressings (ruffles' flavour) for my daughters.."

the remaining are all miscellaneous chats, like "have a nice weekend", etc. just to tempt you guys, here's some drool-icious pictures..


3 packets of honey and roasted garlic, and 1 lime and black pepper flavour.


look into the bag.....

you know days where you have thought of something to write in your blog at someplace, sometime; and when it comes to the actual sitting-in-front-of-the-computer-to-blog, your brain freezes and you don't remember what in the world you have thought in detail to crap about earlier on. well, today is one of those many days i usually have.. it's not like i have amnesia.

oh yesterday on the bus going home, i thought i saw shinye board the bus. i froze, more like a warm-freeze, only to realize it's just a shinye-lookalike from a certain angle. how cool will it be to see a familiar face, or at least some true blue singaporean the same age as me? and this just shows how i miss everyone back home. :(

i'm just slacking around. kind of did some homework- chemistry online assignment. will have labs stuff to complete and serious readings for finals in a month. guess i'm going shopping soon, like let's say sunday? heee.. :)

it was short, sweet and heart-cooling. the little white specks falling to the ground, then vanishing into a dot of water stain. today is the first day is snowed, small and lightly though.

kind of a nice and sad thing to see winter and snow again. looks like i have to dust those winter clothings, and hopefully get more soon. that means a little trip to the mall and stores! (:

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..

i left the biology lab with a weight off my shoulders (as we finally submitted our lab reports) to meet a blanket of white-nothingness. despite the nice cool temperature, the mist creeped in on us. it was so foggy/misty/hazy and gloomy. like some kind of eerie ghost town in the fog.

today's psychology class was fun. now on the topic on perception, and we had many images on reversible figures where the image looks like something at one point, and looking at it again it looks different. had this very big sense of awe, seeing how i'm studying what the brain studies while using my brain to study what it studies. (?)

i guess it will be pointless asking for a break. now it's my second major geography assignment, and after that the final exams. then finally a true needed holiday- christmas. i know i'm always procrastinating about school and assignments, and how i always need to have a break.. yes, a break..

if only i could have a audio record of the loud sound of the strong wind howling. damn, today is so windy. practically had to incline forwards to go against the wind head-on.
and with all the dried leaves falling to the ground and no one sweeping them up, the wind blew them everywhere. they twirled in circles, and one managed to sneak into my pocket. one invaded kaleng's privacy and went down inside her coat.. but it's nice at times, with the sudden gush of wind sending the many leaves flying high up.
the gloomy sky didn't help either. with the morning showers, there were muddy places covered with leaves. my brother stepped into a puddle of dirty water while trying to press the button for the traffic light.

went to robarts library at UofT downtown. nice, big place. the exterior of the library looks like a mothership spacecraft; and we tiny things were like aliens or smaller shuttles. the gazillion books can send you into a crazy mode. i found a book, and hopefully it would be of use for my geography research..

went to koreatown for dinner. this time it's korean food, not the usual japanese buffet we have. we were still hungry so went across the street to get some taco-like snack (i don't remember the name, but it's like a cheese-chicken wrap). then went to baskin robins for some dessert. i had a large strawberry cheesecake milkshake. yum, but it was hard finishing it.

made plans with kaleng for the next meeting when me and my bro head downtown again to return our books. this time we will go to the japanese buffet. it's nice and very filling. if only i lived downtown.. especially living opposite robarts library. i would be like a whiz kid, with my love-things right at a stone's throw. and there's so many nice places around there. why didn't i apply to UofT downtown??? crap.

shower, tv (desperate housewives!), work and then sleep. tata..

it's down to 2 girls- who was murdered in reunion. i just watched episode 4; revealed the fourth friend alive.. now the complications are just deepening.

i hate chemistry. quantum chemistry to be specific. the contents are written in alien language, and the new prof isn't helping much.. will read the textbook soon, and hopefully it'll help me understand a little more. i'm now working on my biology lab report due wednesday. far from done. the second RTCP is due tonight, and i guess i'm done. the articles this time are harder to comprehend than the first RTCP. so i just wrote a chunk of words.

going out later in the day. to UofT downtown's library (one of the best in north america) to do some research for my upcoming geography second major assignment. will have dinner there with my bro and kaleng.

off to work. and skive a little too. :)

i have a new must-watch tv show on my list- reunion. a story about 6 high school friends who graduate in the summer of 1986 full of hopes and dreams; only to mess up each others lives and find their way 20 years onwards with one of them murdered, making the remaining 5 suspects. with a detective finding for the murderer, there will be recounts as each gets interrogated.

the show is great as i love flashbacks (something like lost where the characters have their secret lives). top it up with a mystery-murder plot, good acting from new faces, and wa-la! you get great television. besides, something unique- each episode marks each year towards 2005. and probably by the final episode we will find out who is/are the murderer(s). it's basically the OMG-unexpecting-mystery-reunion version of the o.c.

though the show is great, it makes me sad. the truth about change.. people, beliefs, relationships. as i watch some of the characters struggle, i feel for them. one asked, "don't you wonder that a decision we make today, might possibly just change us 20 years from now?".

you have no idea how much i wonder..

got all my grades back for midterm. so here they are in order of receival, if anyone is interested (ok i myself am interested; that makes me person 1)..

BGYA01 - 78% (B+)
PSYA01 - 86% (A)
CHMA10 - 81% (A-)
STAB22 - 95% (A+)
GGRA02 - NIL (2 major essays for midterm; 1 already handed in for marking)

these are just for the midterm papers. so these marks contribute towards around 20-30% of the final mark, with additional of labs, assignments, final paper, etc. got my statistics mark today and was pleased. but the paper was really easy and i guess many people scored as well as i did.

so i guess i'm considered an above average student in utsc, which i'm extremely pleased and proud of (though i still want to do better; i know, the pressure!). but my grades spread over a range and this is only the first year's midterm, so i don't know what kind of crazy days i'm getting into the near future.. i'll see. just go with the flow i suppose.

oh, and SELAMAT HARI RAYA! soak up the holidays guys, for i really want and need one even though the next one will be a far away..

i'm using the school library's computer for the first time to blog. having an hour break before i head off to my biology lab. trying to finish my bio lab homework which i totally forgot about it.

oh well.. i will have fun at lab. =s

i don't know what spawned my sudden interest in the late Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales again. must have been from watching 'entertainment tonight' (yes that celebrity gossip show) just now, where they dished about the arrival of prince charles and the duchess of cornwall, camilla parker bowles, to the states. also, revealed images from a vanity fair photoshoot taken before her tragic car-crash, that were so candid and spine-tingling. indeed, a picture speaks a thousand words..

to think it's been 8 years, 2 months and 1 day since that fateful misfortune on august 31, 1997. i remember that day very well. my family made our way to sunway (we were still living in kl, malaysia, then) for brunch on merdeka day (malaysia's national day). we were sitting around the table and somehow came the frightful news. there was this little talk about Princess D's crumbling fairytale and her accident - chance or planned?

and remember how during that time period there were many tragedies? like after Princess D's death, came Mother Theresa's death, and then there was the silk air plane crash and the bird flu where many chickens were culled. i heard this sinister interpretation from somewhere then: Mother Theresa went to heaven to serve as the sermon for Princess D and dodi fayed's wedding, the silk air victims attended their wedding, and chicken was served for the banquet. bad and rude; but they all went to heaven.

then there was the worldwide mourning. memoirs and biographies were sold. we got one.. and the infamous 'candle in the wind' by elton john. and now, close to a decade. she's still remembered and talked about. have i now spawned an interest and you want to read more? if so, click here.

i wonder in the near future what will history books write about? it feels weird thinking about it, but imagining history books talking about present famous people, or the human population as a whole. like how we studies the english, greeks, egyptians, mayans.. how will future-people study us?

i think i steered off topic, but you know what i'm talking about.. how fast time pasts without us realising at times, with us being caught up in all the shit we usually get stuck in as we try hard to get out of. sometimes we should just lift our head to see the surroundings so as to not get too self-absorbed.

oh well. HAPPY DEEPAVALI!


PS: note how i only mainly use caps for Princess D and Mother Theresa, to show my deep respect for them. and apologies for my insensitivity, if any, to the unfortunate events of 1997. i'm merely writing what i know of and heard from a very long time ago..