pheeeeeew back again in singapore, had a bbq dinner with the family and relatives, went out with the ex-6Sers, went out with beedict, went out with the gluttons. all this in the span of 4 days! and i must say, it feels as though i was never even gone. after the first night at home, it felt as though life just picked up from where i left it back here in singapore.

then again, there have been changes around the city, nothing mind-bogglingly drastic of course. just several buildings that have sprung up or were spruced up at the most. and i see the surroundings in a different light now, comparing things i see here with what i have in melbourne. and as i've said to several people already, even though i love my home, my family here, my friends here, the LOW retail prices and cost of living and many other aspects of singaporean living, i would say (people would cross their fingers at this point) that i PROBABLY prefer living in melbourne and the overall atmosphere of melbourne. and i would again hazard to make the statement that i would POSSIBLY prefer living in quite a lot of other cities compared to singapore.

why?

i don't know.

and before you wring your hands in agony that you have just wasted your time reading the above with no hope of coming to a satisfying conclusion for my said (or typed) statements, i shall attempt (poorly) to justify my saying that singapore does not fall into my high priority list of THE cities to live in.

1. singaporeans can be really annoyingly kiasu, rude, thoughtless, mindless, kiasi, pampered, and obviously the list goes on. but of course, it would be unfair because for every rude twat you meet here, there are several potential Mother Teresas you can find down the street. and every other country has THEIR rude twats. on average however, i believe the ratio of rude twats to Mother Teresas are much higher than in other countries such as say, Switzerland, Canada or Japan.

2. the place is so damned small and has a BERJEPEEZUS lack of things to do. honestly, no matter how anyone tries to contest this statement, i will stand by it.

3. the way of living is just so....DULL. i think people of other nationalities have a passion for living, for life, for everything in life, for.... you know. like how the italians love food, the french love love, the japanese love all things cute and techie. what do singaporeans love? money? social status?

4. singaporeans are such poseurs. we're always trying to imitate others, idolise others. we were always trying to be westernised, and then the asian wave buried us all in j-pop, androgynous looks, and dog knows what else. it's embarrassing at times, and tiring most often.

5. okay, i can't think of more reasons. plus my battery's running low. so i shall be sure to update this list if i happen to feel so strongly about it. here's a redeeming statement though, there are definitely many good points about singapore. since the battery is dominating my concerns at the moment, i shan't expound. just accept it if you don't already do. singapore is where i was born and there's nothing that can change that, nothing i would do to do so either. so there, another pointless post that ended in square one.

The Cheetah
(Acinonyx jubatus)







The typical cheetah measures 1.1m to 1.4m from head to body, and a further 0.6m to 0.8m in tail length. Males approximately weigh 43kg and females 38kg.

Cheetahs are mainly found in Africa, but there are species inhabiting India and a small number located in Iran. Their habitat is open grassy plains, bush lands, scrub and open forests.

The cheetah is THE fastest land mammal, and has a body built for bursts of tremendous speeds. Long limbs, small waist, claws that cannot be retracted hence giving it greater grip on the ground. Its long tail also provides better balance for making abrupt turns and corners when pursuing prey. It has an iconic black tear mark running from the inner corner of each eye down to the muzzle.

A cheetah hunts by observing prey from a vantage point, picking out an individual on the edge of the herd before stalking it, and finally giving chase. It can hold a whopping pace of 87km/hr for about 200 to 300 metres, before lunging for the kill.

Cheetahs have little genetic variation due to a genetic bottleneck that occured generations ago. As a result, populations might be susceptible and less able to cope with threats that can include natural defects, inherent disabilities or illnesses, environmental change, etc.




Check out ARKive at www.arkive.org for fabulous information, pics and vids on other animals!

i'm back!

and there a million and one other fabulous songs from Fuel. i am desperate to go back to singapore now to check out their albums. ohhhhhhhh man. plus the lead singer looks good in the Haemorrhage vid, heh heh.

anyways, 4 BLOOOODY long days till i reach my motherland. Onward Singapore! Majulah Singapura.

lol, and in this random and rare burst of patriotism, I LOVE SINGAPORE!!


oh weell, it's probably more true to say that i love some things in singapore rather than singapore as a whole. anyways. back to latin and chemistry. and of course, Fuel.

omg i just discovered a potential favourite band of the month! FUEL!!

who blessed the Earth with this song, Haemorrhage (In My Hands)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM6_Jlk6Reg

oh my gaaawwwddd, i nearly killed myself today. would you like to know what happened? ....

of course you do.


so here it is:

i studied till about 2am last night ok, cos i have a bio paper this morning at 9.15am. and to get to the exam venue takes about 40 minutes to walk. so i planned to leave at 8.15am with the other bio pple. SO, i set my alarm for 6am, so that i could do some cramming. BUT.....

and of course, you know what happened.


i turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.


but that's not the end of the story. and don't worry, i only tell stories with happy endings, it makes life so much better when stories have nice endings doesn't it?
but anyway, i was woken up later at 7.40am by someone who gave a GIGANOHUMONGOUS sneeze beneath my window.


oh maaaaan, i am mightily grateful to whoever experienced a reflex action to an irritation to the sinus or whaqtever at that time. it WOULD be better, of course, if the person had sneezed at around say, 6.30am maybe, which would have given me more time to throw on my warm clothes and gather my things and run down for breakfast. but that said, i might not have been woken up if the person had sneezed earlier anyway, i dunno.

but BOY am i glad i didn't miss or go late for my very first uni exam paper!!

alrightio, back to studying. physics tmr morning and i still have about 7 chapters left to study, and the entire physics module to revise. AND i have the ava interview later in the afternoon, for which i am absolutely unprepared, as i have been completely devoted to exam revision and chilling with my relatives and family the past few days.


oh well, life isn't any fun without miserable bits and torturous moments sprinkled here and there, no?

fare thee well then.

fun's over, time to mug for exams! sheesh, physics paper in 4 days' time and i've only started to study. bio paper in 3 days' time and i haven't finished studying. latin and chem papers in 8 and 9 days and i haven't even bothered to TOUCH the notes yet thanks to my inability to get bio over and done with. congrats to myself once again for giving yours truly a solid kick up the arse.

i promise i will learn my lesson and start revising earlier next time.

PROMISE! i shall even revise a bit during the hols before semester 2. here, a black and white contract is written so that anyone can wave it threateningly in my face when they see me procrastinating then.


but on to happier topics, i'll be back in sunny singapore in 11 days!!! the great countdown has begun!!! WOOHOO, i love the exams cos it means i'll be going back soon!! whoopeeeeee!!! gerrrronimooooo!!!! yipppeeee!! as you can see, i'm BLOODDY excited and eager to be back HOME! i'm also friggin stoked to have 2 days in melbourne to wander around before i go back though. can shop, poke around the place a bit before going back.


anyways, back to physics. O Wonders!