I really wonder how you feel on these nights so alone

“life will be better in spring”

Thursday, January 28, 2010 || 9:34 PM

Right after project meeting, i saw Willy was flicking the frisbee with his friends from the 2nd storey. when i came down, he asked me to flick with them. i was so excited that i quickly took my jacket out and placed my bag on the marble pavement. somehow the adrenaline rushed through my veins.

my initial throws were terrible, but slowly i've got pretty used to my old style, well somehow similar to how i played before.

though i only flicked merely for ten minutes, i felt pretty energetic(may be because i started sweating even for ten minutes) and happy(or rather satisfied) till i reached the bus stop. suddenly felt a little blue when i realised the moment was over.

Just flicking a disc cheers me up so easily; immediate contentment.

thank you Willy :)

I really missed throwing on a large field, running under the merciless sun, getting tanned and sunburnt, wearing my football boots, blueblacks on my hands and arms, countless blisters under my feet, chasing after a disc, layouts on muddy fields, and catching the disc at the end zone.

but i know, this 2nd love of mine can only go this far. well to illustrate this point, if ultimate frisbee is my boyfriend, i cant bear to break up with him but i have to. LOL.what an illustration.

work tomorrow!

anyway MJ if u are reading this post,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MJ :DDD

you're finally a year OLDER. muahaha

|| 12:08 AM

my body is almost dying from fatigue.

yesterday i did relief teaching in the monring and went for project meeting right after that. at 3.30pm, we headed to lecture. after the lecture ends, my projectmates and i sat down a while and discussed some stuffs on our case study.

waking up at 6am and went back home at 7pm can be really exhausting. i was so tired that i slept till 8 plus.

i got a feeling that i am going to fall sick soon.

vicious cycle of projects, studies and work.

i soon realised i do not seem to have a life of my own. or may be that whats tertiary student's life is all about, or that life's getting mundane as one gets older?

Sleep becomes a luxury now.

Thursday, January 21, 2010 || 11:20 AM

Coffee of the month:

and that is Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Colombia Coffee.

No, you cant find it in Singapore. Really i wish this coffee could be imported from LA there. 100% Colombian arabica coffee; really rich and fragrant, what more can you ask for?

I fell in love with this kind of coffee when i tried it at Tim's place. Usually in Starbucks i will order my usual Caramel Macciato, because i enjoy the taste of caramel and milk, and i prefer hot beverages to cold ones. Colombian coffee are the those classified under Brew of the Day, which means you determine your own dosage of sugar and milk.

My tastes change as i get older(as proven in our Buyer Behaviour, people want/need different things as they reached different stages), in food, clothes, may be men as well. :p

since then i like coffee with richer taste, stronger aroma. let's just say i love the bitterness of Colombian coffee. Just a teaspoon of sugar and some milk, and starbucks coffee can be consumed at your convenience. Want to create that relaxed ambiance? well, just tune in some jazz, or alternative genre kind of music. There, the DIY starbucks feel, at a price of USD1 (each serving has 3 packets).

Endless cycle of lectures-projects-still projects has come once more. It seems like each semester gets harder to pass each semester progresses. Let's work hard together :)

Sunday, January 17, 2010 || 11:34 AM

sometimes i am really tired of taking roles and being responsible to others. why cant it be the other way round? just because others arent willing to be initiative and they started to take it for granted that every single task has to be done by me, and all information have to be given. i am always sandwiched between both sides, but no one seems to realise that. maybe they cant be bothered at all.

i am human afterall.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 || 11:47 PM

Business Ethics lesson gave me an inspiration for today's entry.

Micheal, our lecturer is a pretty hysterical person; he mumbles to himself sometimes and out of the blue in the middle of the lecture he would catch students who arent paying attention to his theories. on the first day he spoke as though we pressed the fast forward button x16, but thank god he gradually slowed down as days passed by. Micheal reminds me of my GP classes taken during my JC days though.

He talked about Greed. One of the discussion questions was: is a greedy person suited to be a corporate leader?

i supposed everyone would follow the norm. while he was asking everyone for opinions, i was thinking of the unconventional way. Well, a greedy person could be a leader since one has stronger desires and motive to get the things one wants. this means one's subordinates could receive perhaps the best and more benefits. because one is greedy, one would seek excessively more profits and advantages for the company. thus the chances of retrenchment is LOWER, since the company is likely to be prospering. sounds logical? or am i creating some sparks of controversy?

somehow this word seemed to be circulating in my mind after that(sorry, i wasnt listening after my break ends).

Greed = glutton = self-centred = selfish = little sense of empathy.

I started to think of some of my past actions and things that i have done. for that moment, i felt self-centred.

A simple example:

i bought branded stuffs because i wanna look good with the brand.

okay, that's a bad example. Its more like materialism, or shall i accuse the brand's marketing team?

but i think you know what i am trying to derive at.

perhaps to put myself at ease, i believe everyone has a selfish side. Afterall, who doesnt want the best for one self? some people that i have seen (and experienced some incidents myself) made use of others for their benefit. constant backstabbing and making themselves seemed more worthy helps them achieve their desires. Some do not want to create troubles for themselves, thus they refused to claim responsibilities. Some want more than they deserved, so they strive all means to acquire or possess that 'treasure'.

well, contentment is no longer in today's society's vocabulary.

if Greed is one of the deadly sins, or a bad character defined by Virtue Ethics, then what is deemed as good character?

say, will you kill a child aged 5 in exchange for your lover's life?

analysing this situation, you are certainly caught in an ethical dilemma. Greed comes in, if you pick your partner over the child. why? selfishness appears in the picture, because you pick someone who is close to you, ignoring the innocent life of a kid. Looking at Kantian Imperatives, as long as an act is MORALLY GOOD, then we do not need to care about the consequences.

if we look at Teleology, "rightness or goodness of an action is not intrinsic to that action but can only be judged by its consequences". Judging Utilitarianism (btw, business students theoretically are mild Utilitarians), if positive consequences are more than negative consequences, it is then considered a moral act.

Is it intriguing enough for you?

well then, if you still have the patience to read till here, then i welcome you to join my business ethics class which will further commence next month :D

either that, or you seriously must be really bored.

hope this wordy post sets you thinking :)

Monday, January 11, 2010 || 2:17 PM

With fantasy characters

Disneyland:

Minnie Mouse :) queued like 20 mins just to get to take a photo with her

Goofy! he gave me goodbye kiss after taking a photo with him :)

Winnie The Pooh~

Tigger! he's really nice, gave me a kiss as well before i left. muahaha

California Adventure Park(owned by Disney as well):

whats his name?

Cinderella, she's really elegant. Meanwhile Mickey left while i took a picture with her. Mickey cant u wait for a moment!

Universal Studios:

I cant remember its name, but its a pretty and smart dog :)

One of the characters in The Mummy. this guy keep tickling my ear while taking a photo with him

the Egyptian Queen; she suddenly just grabbed my scarf and i startled. ya this was a candid shot.

Mr Simpson with his beer belly

Mrs Simpson

This Frankenstein made loud 'brrrr' sounds and held me really tight and made my hair a mess after the shot was taken.

Singapore's Universal Studios is opening soon right? wonder if its as fun as the one in LA.

Thursday, January 07, 2010 || 3:39 PM

Big Bear Mountain:

we drove up to the mountains in LA. the whole journey took 5 hours.

(WARNING: image heavy!)

Jaime playing with Tim's iPhone

on the way i took from scenery shots:

and it's getting colder and colder as we spiralled up the mountains.

we rented a house there and stayed there for 2 days.

Kitchen with our messy stuffs

2nd floor bedroom

decorations

bear fur coat; dont worry, its fake.

the owner is thoughtful to fold the toilet paper into a ribbon.

while the rest were busy unpacking, raymond and i were busy competing to be THE champion(whats the game called?)

wisdom

fake fireplace; wasted our firewood

2nd day:

while the adults were gone for sightseeing, Michelle and i went for skiing lessons

my goodness, the skiing equipments were so HEAVY! my legs suddenly gained like 2 kg and it was so difficult to walk with the ski boots!

anyways, skiing was really fun and sweaty. i sweated like mad while skiing and i really wish to take my sweater off but i couldn't.

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with the snowboards. dont be deceived by my smile, it's really cold there, about 0 degrees?

after the adults picked us up, its time for BBQ!

BBQing in the snow

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Makan makan

3rd day:

just randomly took some shots before we head down:

morning wasnt very cold so can afford without a jacket for once.

Pine tree

our CRVs

christmas trees!

thats it!

Tuesday, January 05, 2010 || 5:08 PM

School has just started and i can some changes in the lecture; some new faces and some left us. Anyway, a new semester marks a new beginning for all us. kept trying to stay awake during lecture, jetlag is the main root for my sleepiness! always feel really tired during 4pm to 7pm (i called it the CRITICAL PERIOD) since it was my sleeping time in US. I have to pass this time in order to feel slightly awake. and waking up at awkward timing like 5 or 6am everyday is really weird.

let's hope my body clock could adjust back to Singapore Time Zone soon.

Malrose Street

a place for the young Americans to shop. very punky rock kind of feel; plenty of local entrepreneurs(like bugis) set up their shops there. Well, frankly speaking, i wouldnt spent any of my US dollars there when you could pay something branded at a premium outlet than a local shop in Malrose street. overall, it is a pretty cool place to groove around.

The Grove

A lovely place to spend time with your family. there's also a Farmers' market, where you can see fresh fruits and lotsa freshly baked cakes and pastries, and handmade chocolates and candies.

Farmers' market

The Grove(main)

Great place to feel the Christmas atmosphere!

Saturday, January 02, 2010 || 10:37 PM

Finally back from LA!

I am currently suffering from cough, sore throat, flu and jet lag. So dont come too near to me.

I have been uploading 1000++ photos on my computer. didnt realised the number of shots i took! but was pretty disappointing with the quality of my photo. many was taken without proper adjustments as we were constantly on the go, rushing and couldnt have the chance to stand stand and take nicely. seriously, 20 days was really short for a trip to North America. i wish i could have like 1 more month to explore further?

anyways, the trip to California was fun and fulfilling; saw beautiful sunset, beaches and other scenery, ate fast food, and USA's inspired asian cuisines, appreciating truly what mother nature is all about and experiencing friendliness and cleanliness of the Americans, the freaking cold weather and so much more. really, a true memorable holiday for me.

DAY 1:

took this picture in my cousin's friend's car; was raining heavily on the 1st day we arrived.

Shot this photo on the highway. this streak of light was made up of headlights from the cars rushing down the highway. Must haolian this photo i took. so artistic. :P

Drove to In-N-Out burger outlet to get our dinner; my cousin said it is probably the most popular burger among the Americans.

hamburgers!

i didnt suffer from jet lag when i came cos i didnt really sleep on the plane. i was really exhausted when i reached my cousin's bf place.

The next morning, my cousin's bf, Timothy, brought us to the Original Pancake House for a pancake breakfast. Typical American breakfast.

From left: Tim, me, my auntie, my cousin Michelle. Gosh i still look so chui here.

from left: Jaime(the one who is in LA right now), cousin-in-law Everyn, and cousin Raymond

The Original Pancake House

Breakfast! and their servings are like for giants! who eats 5 pancakes for breakfast?!?!

but its really yummy :). love the apple custard pancake very much.

before we travel to our next destination, we passed by Redondo Beach to enjoy the breeze(or rather the blasting wind).

Redondo Beach

Lots of Seagulls there

We rented this car to drive in LA. Raymond wasnt very used to driving American cars where drivers are seated on the left hand side of the car.

Welcome to the Beverly Hills :)

As you noticed, each of the buildings are designed exclusively; every individual buildings are so uniquely different from one and other. The way they promote and package themselves are so breath-taking compared to those typical ones in Singapore.

the only photo that i stood quite still. haha

next up would be Malrose Street and The Grove!