countdown... 3 days...

it had been a frantic 72 hours since i received news of the approval of my visa... within 4 hours, i managed to booked my ticket to portugal as well as air tickets to bangkok where the embassy is based in...

while in bangkok, i was told by mr marcos (that embassy guy whom i had been bugging non-stop) that i was the first ever person who actually flew into bangkok to settle the visa issue... wow... i'm the first! =p

on a more fun note, i did managed to explore bangkok in the limited time i had there... never had the chance to spend so much time with my dad, well, besides the occasional disagreements, it was one great bonding session...

3 days from now, i should be struggling to sleep in the BA plane... hope that each individual seat is equipped with personal entertainment system. one thing i hated about travelling is the long hours on the plane, coupled with a full capacity where everyone will be packed closely... further more, i'm alone this time round...

ok people, here are the flight details:

date: 2 oct 2006 monday
time: 10.40pm
venue: changi airport terminal 1

the jetstar asia experience

air steward: welcome to the jetstar experience!!

let me see... left for thailand on wed morning and back on thurs evening, and the equation below summaries all the "experiences"

THE jetstar experience = reasonably friendly attendents + absolutely nothing to do onboard + delay of 3 whole hours on the return flight without any apologies + absolutely nothing to do onboard again....

nice!

visa!!

back from bangkok...

....with MY visa issued!!

Just an interesting advert i saw....

answers to my prayers

i should have started praying much earlier... -_-"

i got my visa!!

(flying to bangkok on wed morning to get it)

pray...

to the dear people who are in charge of approving my study visa to portugal.....

i pray that:

-if you are a guy, your wife will never discover your secret slash of porn videos, your mistress will never get pregnant, your children will never ask you for money, and your boss will never discover that you are the one peeing on his car tyres...

-if you are a lady, your husband will always satisfy your materials needs, your toy-boy will always satisfy your "other" needs, your children will always eat their vegetables, and your boss will always give you time off for your shopping

so why don't you just buck up and settle my application promptly?!

time to start taking the task of packing seriously... haven't bought my suitcase (besides bringing my backpack) and i have to bring only 23kg of luggage... wonder what i will need to do in order to persuade the airport personnel to allow me to bring more without imposing any penalty on me... hope it's a she~~ i mean i hope that an auntie will be doing the check-in for me on that day~~

feeling kinda lost now... nervous and excited... nervous because i will have to get my flight ticket with the uncertainty of not knowing exactly when the visa will be approved, or whether i'll receive it in time.... excited because the time is finally approaching for me to leave the comfort and security of home, and look forward to a brand new world ahead of me...

i'm leaving on a jet plannneeeeeeeee, don't know when i'll be back again...

wonderful times

had a wonderful few days... starting from the gathering at bee's place... fun, heart-warming... made me realise how much i will just miss them...=(

madhavi (former boss): "there will be a certain period of anxious waiting, how everything will work out fine..." she was referring to the waiting period before going abroad for studies...

fears and uncertanities are creeping in... why are there still no news of my study visa?? why are there no replies from university of aveiro?? accommodation how?? my flight to bangkok and subsequently portugal how??

waiting.... waiting.... waiting.... how and what else can i do?? it's a tough period for me...

farewell emails?

spent the entire afternoon sending out farewell emails (if that's what you call them) to people that i have known over the last 4 years in NTU... err... hmmm... lets me see to whom have i sent out the emails to:

kum wai (IA company's cell leader),
johnson (IA colleague),
and also to my fyp supervisor A/P tan yong jun (not too sure whether the email address will work)

well... besides them, emails were sent out to the usual suspects...
embassy of portugal in bangkok (why are you not replying to my email!!!!) for my visa,
dear ms sonia and mr niall power of university of aveiro (thanks to the former helping me with some enquiries and the latter totally avoiding my emails i suspect....)

looks like the fact that me going to europe for 2 years is starting to sink in... really fast...

had a funnie dream last night....... me and a few closer friends (i only remembered alan) are studying in portugal together, having so much fun and doing all kinds of funnie stuff... err.... don't remember doing any studying though =P

months of inactivity + ippt = aching body the following morning...

ouch... hungry... i need food... i will marry anyone who turns up at my door with a packet of chicken rice (from that food centre near queensway mrt)....

update...

went to clear my ippt earlier in the evening... breezed through the static stations, but did badly for my running =( felt so miserable, let 100bucks slipped through my fingers... arggghhhhhhh!!!!!

well, looking at the good side, i did cleared my ippt for the current window... so its no ippt for me for the next 2 years, since i already applied for my exit permit... =)

went for flu jab and bought the most basic medicine from my family doctor... with that, it seems like most of my pre-trip preparations are done, now it's left with:
i) study visa and the pending trip to bangkok ~~hope i won't get killed by some stray bullets~~
ii) air ticket!!! i need to settle this fast...
iii) continue my gatherings with everyone.... anyone is fine too... who wants to go out with me??
iv) my continuing obsession with that timberland jacket... i need to either blow a hole in my pocket or to dump that image of me wearing the jacket out of my mind
v) what else what else what else?!

i need advice, people... lots of it!!!

drinking session

wahhhh.... a gathering where everyone will drink lots and ends up looking wasted? i can't wait for this coming friday's drinking session at bee's place ^^"

military coup in thailand

prime minister thaksin:"bangkok under emergency rule!!"

general sonthi:"bangkok under martial law!!"

oh man, whatever misunderstandings you guys have, can you please put it aside until i get my student visa from the portugal embassy in bangkok....??????

i wanna have a baby!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

i wanna have a baby!!

baby nephew

spent the entire afternoon with my new baby nephew.... he is so..... huge!! well... never expected a 2-day old baby to look that big... (he is like 3.6kg heavy... wow.... the 2nd 3.6kg baby i've known)

had an indescribable feeling when i was looking closely at the little thing... sooooooooo cuteeeeeee........

i wanna have a baby too!!!!

uncle chua... that's me =)

wow....wah...hmmm... what would one do when you wake up one morning and find a message on your phone telling you that you are now an uncle, when you don't even know that she (my cousin) was even pregnant in the first place...!!?

saw that msg, was so surprised that i can't get back to sleep... i love babies!!! as long as they are not mine =)

my dad and me

looking through my photo album, i realised that i had never taken photos with my dad alone before... maybe except for this...

hated this!!

"wah! go to school and do nothing and still get paid! good life huh..."

that's the last statement i want to hear, especially from my group of closer friends. i know that they are joking, but hearing this so often hurts =(

i understand that people may find it unjustifiable that i am still "working" in ntu and still get paid for not producing anything concrete. but heys, before i resigned from ntu, i did worked my ass off, be it my own stuff or just helping out the rest of my colleagues...

P.S: so if anyone wants my help during the last 2 weeks in school, feel free to approach me **though i can't assured you that you will find me** =p

cold weather

showed symptoms of frostbite during the bus ride... how is it possible that i will feel the same way in singapore as that time in cologne, germany!? that time i almost collapse in the streets of cologne at night despite wearing 4 tops...

true to what my dad always said, i am more likely to succumb to the cold weather and die than any other causes, be it natural or man-made (though he didn't put that across to me that crudely)

winter time...

ah huh... weather seems funny these few days... raining and cold... blurrr.... it's so cold...

i guess only the frogs in the field below my house are coming out and having fun...

dinner date with the gals

venue: OUB atm machine @ united square

those 2 guys sitting there must be wondering why 4 gals are like giving me money... from the way they stared at me, they must had thought i am (a) a pimp, (b) a gigolo, or (c) their toy boy...

on a happier note, besides the super expensive dinner, it was so fun, especially with the unexpected appearance of miss cynthia chua =)

feeling sick....

haven been feeling too good for the last couple of days... pinpoint this to either one or a combination of the following factors:

i) been taking too many chest x-rays these 3 months(in total 3 but the last 2 came in a matter of a few days) ~~a case of too much radiation -_-" ~~
ii) medication for my broken back??
iii) too stressed over my visa application

results: perpetual blocked nose and a shortness of breath... any doctors out there reading this???

i'm fat =(

looking at myself in the bathroom mirror, only to realize how fat i have become over the last few months... (err...no... i am not some pervert who likes to admire myself naked)

wow, food in NTU must be really good, either this or that the past 3 months must have been spent eating, sitting in front of the computer, eating again and sleeping (in this exact sequence) every single day... oh, this was before i quit NTU 2 weeks back...

anyway, i am going to have a tough time passing my coming IPPT (my first CAT Y!!!) and for the next 2 years, i am exempted (so says the exit permit which i had already applied)

and lastly, who says fat men can't wear CK briefs? i am going to buy myself a pair and i am sure i will look good in it ~~pardon my little tummy~~ it's just me going into the uncle phase of my life...

i'm old....

i'm old, truly old...

you know that you are old when:

i) your younger friends have not even heard of your favourite songs during a regular K-songing session

ii) you are out of a job, and you try calling friends out for coffee, only to find that everyone else is working their butts off trying to pay for some expensive cars or watches or their soon-to-be-born kid's milk powder (getting someone out for coffee was never that difficult when we were still students in school)

iii) your friends are scattered all over the world, be it working or on holidays...

iv) your FYP student calls you uncle

v) the toddler next door starts calling you uncle

vi) you have a broken back

vii) your grandparents start nagging at you to start a family... especially more after the marriage of one cousin

conclusion: i'm old...

frightening thought...

a possible scenario 3 weeks from now...

armed with a map and looking extremely lost, i wander aimlessly through the city centre of aveiro (portugal)... looking for the things that i need to buy in order to turn my little hostel room into something more respectable, or rather something more like the little home to the one i have in singapore...

browsing through the list of "must-buys", i narrow my search to a little department store that sells cheap cookware... hmmm.... namely a small pot, maybe a pan too... not forgetting some utensils too... making my way to the cashier with a full shopping cart, i am stumped by the nice auntie at the counter (typical stereotyping) when she starts to speak portuguese to me... and we will spend the next 20min trying to interpret and understand each other...

-_-" sigh... this is so scary...

the doctor touched my....?!?!

yesterday at one of the govt hospital...

i was touched or fondled or caressed (whichever way you like it to be) by the doctor who examined me... you know? the doctor is a she (!??!) ... and she asked me to take my pants off... and touch my b***s....^^'' damn....

disclaimer: take this with a pinch of salt =p

quote of the day

i'm nobody, hence i have nothing to lose...

age of girlfriends

for all the guys out there... here's the equation to follow in the event of choosing a girlfriend...

[age of potential mate = your age divided by 2 and then add 7]

so if you are 24 years old, your mate should be (24/2 + 7) = 19 years old...

ponder over this... =)

P.S: this equation does not apply if you are less than 20 years old... otherwise you will be staring at jail-bait (if you know what i mean)

lots of problems

4 frantic hours + lots of taxi rides + 170 bucks worth of services = 1 broken back

just when i thought that my visa application is settled, i received an email from the embassy of portugal asking me to verify some documents... spent the entire day shuttling between TTHS, AIG headquarters and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs... hope this time everything will be fine...

"what's the point of leaving an impression on others when it leaves a depression on your wallet?"

bought a laptop for $2100...

oops! i did it again =(

expensive?

QUESTION: how do you know something is REALLY expensive??

ANS: when you walk into a store and the staff there comment to themselves: huh?! one top so expensive meh?!

went to timberlands (alright, i have to admit that stuff there is really expensive in the first place), saw this jacket that i like a lot... enquired about the price and was horrified that it cost like 300 bucks for just a jacket...
initially the staff specifically told me that the jacket will include another inner piece (so it's 2 tops for 299), so after lots of deliberation i finally decided to splurge on that top; who knows? another staff (pitied the initial guy; poor thing, he was so embarrassed) later informed me that he made a mistake and the truth was that 2 tops = 299bucks x 2...!!

that's when i heard the "huh!? one top so expensive meh!?"

-_-"

shopping for necessities

things that i probably need:
i) a new laptop (mine is 3 years old, if it decides to die on me then i am dead)
ii) travel insurance (settled)
iii) air ticket (dependent on my visa application, think me settling for a normal price instead of student fare as it is cheaper by 400bucks, but my luggage limit is 23kg instead of 30kg for student)
iv) winter wear (ok, not exactly winter cos it won't snow in portugal, but i will go germany in feb 2007 so i need to at least get something warm)
v) daily necessities (in case i don't understand the language- i don't want to mistake a face-whitening lotion for moisturizer)

wow... these stuff will at least set me back by a cool 5000bucks

shoots =(

credits cards

got the 2 credit cards i applied for... wow... pretty nice **pardon the low credit limits though** made me wanna use them for all my purchases... sat around reading about which mercharts offer a higher discount and stuff like that... it's just soo troublesome...

conclusion: it does not matter how many credit cards one has, been ultimately you can only use one at a go... so what's the point of holding so many? it's nothing but a headache...

venue: orchard mrt station

i was approached by some model agency!? think they must be pretty desperate since i looked like crap and probably smelt like one too (didnt sleep well last night + frantically running all over singapore to settle my paperwork for my visa since morning)... turned them down straight away...eewwwwwwwww......

on a happier note, i posted my documents to the embassy of portugal (finally!!) and hope that everything will turn out well... oh, yet another person asked me this again: "huh?! go portugal to study?!" =(

quote of the day

desire makes everything blossom; possession makes everything wither and fade

venue: crystal jade at causeway point

gossiping gossiping gossiping... this gathering is so fun... makes me wonder why the 4 of us are such good friends? despite the fact that our ties do not go beyond 3 years (actually with kit, it's just 1 year, since year 4 in uni), we seem to gel together so well...

it's a wonder how come we are not working together in the same company, since most of the recent mse graduates are rounded up by the few semiconductor firms.... kit (ST Micro), liting (chartered), bee (chemist at Rohm & Haas - wow, my first chemist friend) and myself (absolutely nowhere at the current moment)... man, (or rather gals), i am sure going to miss them when i am in europe... **they are planning to go for a spa session together!!! without me!!**

pondering...

"sometimes as a human being, you try too hard... once you get a big one, you want more and once you try harder, you get less..." Michael Campbell (US Open winner 2005)

gave up the opportunity to even try, when things could have worked out eventually... coward...

consider this...

the commencement of human life is an unhappy one. when a man begins his existence, he is not given any choice. even before he understands the meaning of life and the exercise of choice, life is thrust upon him...

complex equation

overseas scholarship = no income in singapore = need to spend future money = less money for travelling

sigh... i hate doing this...

sticky times

"pop!" followed by the realization that i was covered in glue... hair, top, pants...everywhere... go figure out what you can do with a bottle of glue...

Interesting quote

read this somewhere: a bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather, only to ask it back when it starts raining...

how true... everyone of us is paying back the study loan through our noses =(

suddenly it dawns on me that i am someone who craves companionship...

Night out with the boys

eeeeeewww..... you should have seen what we ate last night... who would have thought that squid ink (yes, the black stuff from the squid) was edible... only visible thing we saw in the pan was the egg, simply because it was white in color... the rest? we just couldn't make out what it was...

just a thought

it's true when people says that your group of best friends usually comes from your secondary / JC times... friends who remain close even after so many years, started joking and chatting as if we've just known one another and the occasional meeting often brings back the years...

one difference though....used to discuss about girls and comic books and homework (rarely the case =P )... but now? the latest cars, who is getting engaged or becoming parents, career paths... what irony... guess even boys have to grow up at some point in their lives....

"Best" times in NTU

wow... just realised that my best times in NTU these couple of months are:

i) having lunch
ii) chatting with Loreen (business manager), Madhavi (former supervisor) and Yanling (Madhavi's crazy student...)

so much for my last few months in the campus... =(

Flight ticket

that's it... will be going for a one-way ticket to Portugal. don't know when, or even whether i will be coming back to singapore at all during the 2 years....

Visa application

pride and dignity count for nothing if i can shorten my processing time for my certificate of no-conviction (CNCC)... managed to reduce the processing time by half... just don't ask me how i did it... =(