updates

while agonising over the stupid cors system, i'll blog a bit.

1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (caution, spoilers ahead)

i've read the book. and frankly, i didn't like it much. it even got boring at times. i don't get why rowling named the book like that. there's practically nothing about any half blood prince except that text book thing. and that part of the book is totally irrevelent to the rest of the plot. i mean, the story works even if you remove the part about harry and the book. there's not that much humour in it even. the only parts i laughed about were so isolated. eg, the part about fred and george's spelling quill. prof flitwick getting the guy to write lines. (i am a wizard, not a babboon waving a stick). the romance part of the book is so cheesy and frankly, as unromantic as unromantic gets. the flashbacks into voldemort's past are pretty much useless, boring and taking up space. i got the feeling that rowling just hasn't got anything else to write about. killing off dumbledore in the end was a bold move. but what's the point? she's killing off an important character. he's not sirius black where his presence/absence doesn't matter much. this is dumbledore we're talking about. of course, there's the speculation that he'll rise again in the next book. but i think what's really unsatisfactory about his death is that he died because of his trust. i mean, he died just as his trust in snape proved useless, he died because he trusted too much. then, there's snape. i think snape is the most interesting character in the book. his double agent role and all. which side is he really on? after he killed dumbledore, there seems to be no doubt that he's gone bad, but there's his past to consider. something had made dumbledore trust him before. and snape had to consider the unbreakable vow he made, presumably to help malfoy to kill dumbledore. so did he really have a choice when he killed dumbledore? anyway, on the whole, the book was a bit/a lot of a let down. weak plot, crazy storyline, too many sub plots inside. it's just different from the other harry potter books. but disappointed in it.

2. NUS

i'm officially an undergraduate. now doing bidding for the modules i have to take. it's so inconvenient. why don't they just let us sign up for whatever major we're going to do and be done with it? now i need 5 modules for this semester and i only managed to secure 3 cos people have outbid me in the other 2. fyi, i'm doing linear algebra 1 (mathematics), the nature of language (english language), literary appreciation and criticism (english literature). these 3 are confirmed. so now have to bid for general education modules (GEMs). hope i get them so i can just concentrate on the modules now and stop worrying about whether or not i can fulfil the requirements. fyi, the gems i signed up for, genes and society (i can finally fulfil my dream of doing genetics), introduction to cultural studies. the GEM results only come out tonight, so fingers crossed till then. what i don't like about the cors bidding is that it's kinda confusing. i still haven't gotten the hang of it. i know it's supposed to ensure that we get maximum exposure and a good all rounded education and all. but is it really necessary? i mean, it's fine and good that we can get exposure, i can do my genetics. sigh. i just don't like to have to bid to get the modules. it's not even confirmed that we'll get what we bidded for. and if we don't get it, then what? poh lin doesn't know how lucky she is that she is already majoring in econs and doesn't have to bid for it. and did i mention, for most of my modules, i'm all alone. the rest of them are not taking the same modules as me. sigh.

i've been going down to nus everyday now. taking a look around the place, putting orders for notebook. it's an ok place. quite run down actually. it looks old. i don't know what the tutorial rooms look like tho. but the outside of the buildings... i'm comparing with ntu and smu. nus is definately the most run down. ideal place to lose weight though. yesterday i was jalaning around the science fac cos i wanted to see where my maths n genes lectures would be. and i got lost. i ended up walking all the way from LT 32 to LT 25. in other words, practically one end of the science fac to the other. sc fac is actually quite an interesting place. passed by the research labs and all. cool. arts fac, well, nothing to say lah. so much construction/renovation work going on there. and it's at the other end of the nus campus. thank god i don't have any lecture as yet that i have to rush from the sc fac to the arts fac within the hour. even with the shuttle bus, i'd probably die.

and now i'm getting scolding from mother just because i can't access the cors system. fuck lah. it's not my fault. it's 3pm. the bidding's closed already. it's not MY fault what. blame the system. and even if i manage to get in, there's nothing i can do cos i can't see the bids anymore. to me, my bids are perfectly fine. there's nothing there to monitor. can't get then too bad lah. what's there to over react about?! scold me for nothing. it's not my freaking problem that the system is crashing. and it's not as if i haven't even started bidding. i was already one of the first to start my gem bids. wish she'd get off my back. leave me alone. quit blaming me for something that i can't control. fuck. so angry.

latest 9pm update: i got the 2 gems. yay? at least i got all 5 mods now.

3. Jukebox tour

reading the clay board. there's the new tour on. sounds really interesting. wish i could attend. but i have to content myself with watching videos. interesting videos i saw, clay trying to do 'livin la vida loca'. *rolls eyes* it was hilarious. ricky martin songs require dancing. he was just standing there, posing with the mic. it was weirder than william hung. the vocals were great tho but the performance... rofl. it was bizarre. clay did elvis songs too. he did 'love me tender' with the piano. oh god! got so excited when i saw him playing the piano and singing love me tender. gosh. and to think that he actually dropped piano lessons after a couple of months as a kid. no i am not suddenly inspired to take up piano lessons again. (sadly). heard also about this thing called cellcerts. from what i gather, someone at the concert will call someone not at the concert, and so they listen through the phone. cool! i also heard that the JBT, they have this technology thing where the audience can send sms and beam it up on to a screen on stage. woah. don't i wish i was in america now. there's some new songs he's singing also. apparently he's testing them for the new cd. can't wait for it to come out.

4. Festival of praise

i wanna go for the upcoming FOP. but i don't know if i can. mother may not let me out of the house. reason1: it's a christian thing. reason2: it's at night where all the evil mosquitoes are roaming. *rolls eyes* sigh. how? i've been looking forward to this since i went last year. i'm supposed to go with that theo. but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. cla's encouraging me to bring sumi and poh lin. sorta evangelising them thing. whatever. if i bring them, it's to let them enjoy the music and the atmospheare, not to evangelise. jac's not going apparently. why??!! miss her. don't know about feng cai. theo's supposed to arrange. i think in the end, i'll go with LC. or maybe with sumi, duan hui. hopefully can grab poh lin but i doubt she wants to come down all the way from ntu. but then, i don't even know if i'll be allowed out of the house on saturday night to go. sigh. hope lah and see how lor.

5. President's star charity

watched it the other day. not bad can get 3 million. it means a lot that singaporeans are still willing to donate despite the nkf scandal. me donated $5. cos i wanna support scas. i know i don't have much experience with the place. but i think it's worth it. used to see those kids going to and from school and using the mj track. they're normal kids, just bogged down with cerebral palsy or whatever. the performances on that night were interesting. the 'dancing queen' number was hilarious. seriously. they reminded me of miss congeniality. those 3 were singing horribly. they should just pose and let abba or ateens sing it. and what the heck were they wearing?! looked like mardi gras. the performance by marion raven and quidam were good. wish i could go and watch quidam live. fei xiang was ok. i didn't like him until he started singing in english. gosh. he's the type that cannot sing chinese lah. it sounded so fake. but the english song...:D the 'men in black' thing at the end had me lol again. it started out ok. but later on, the dance steps got weirder and weirder. to me. so start admiring their nice black suits. hmm...the andrea de cruz and zoe tay thing was all right. zoe's singing was so cheena but it was brave of her to do that. bit cheesy tho.

6. in memory
mr quah died one year ago, 2 august. saw his obit in the paper. feels weird thinking that it's been one year. so fast. hope he's at peace, playing tennis with the angels.

right. all for now. going to go and cross my fingers over the stupid bidding.