ridiculous price

accompanied my father to look at potential houses. there are 2 houses of the same design that has a price of $2.88 million. looking at them, this value is definitely unreal. after asking, we guess there are no proper valuations done. my father has asked several banks for the valuations of these houses and they gave a price of $2.2 million. well, the numbers seem similar, but thinking in money terms, they definitely differ alot.

the owner of these 2 newly built houses, is really a scrooge. he refuses to engage a real estate agent to make the sale of these 2 houses more proper. as a result, no proper blueprint of the houses, no proper valuations of the houses, no proper introductions made to potential buyers. we can only see his sons, wife there standing around, trying to act like agents. worse still, his sons' girlfriends (very obvious) try to insist that they are real estate agents. i could only sense their stupidity, trying to deceive themselves and potential buyers.

well, what to do? the 2 houses are really nicely built. kind of like them, but the price is not likeable. think if they engage a real estate agent, things wouldn't be so messed up. too stingy for their own good.

ok, found a logical bug in my program late yesterday night, but managed to solve it today morning. didn't really have a chance to do some rigorous checks, partly becuz of laziness. maybe after rigorous checks, i can upgrade to a more flexible version. well, it shouldn't be quite difficult lah, since the main portion of the program is done.

well, only ran 2.4km this morning. felt rather tired, so decided to stop after 1 round. maybe it's because i ran on an empty stomach. i have already got used to running 2 hours after my dinner. so maybe that's why my body is not responding well during the run. nvm, at least i bothered to do a "make-up" run.

downloaded JJ's "西界". well, it's a very nice album. i like the overall feel, very unique. many nice songs, regardless slow or up-tempo ones. "杀手", "西界", "无聊", "不流泪的机场", "Baby Baby"... all very 对味. i am going to buy this album, before flying off to Japan next week.

also downloaded 杨宗纬's 2 songs in a compilation that was released yesterday. "人质" and "背叛". i really like this guy's singing. a lot of 感动度, technique wise also very pro, a lot of his 味道 too. a brief intro: he is part of Taiwan's recent craze over the show "超级星光大道", which is essentially a singing competition. he's hot because of his singing, and also because of the contrast betweem his voice and his looks. not saying he's very ugly, but he's sort of below average in looks. however, his voice really makes him more 顺眼, just like 曹格.

about Japan, well, my mum kept asking me to revise useful phrases that can be useful when we are there. well, i think it's too troublesome, though i think it may come out useful. besides, i have learnt Jap for 4 yrs. but the last time i really got in touch with this language was like 5 years ago. forgotten most of them liao, and i bet i cannot catch what those Japanese say, as they speak really quickly. well, 顺其自然, maybe i can do a little bit of 恶补 the night before i fly.

it's raining

ah it's raining, cannot run for today...but i will run tomorrow morning to make up for tonight's run. luckily, this rain falls on a friday, if otherwise, i wouldn't be able to make up for the run. haha, can't expect myself to run twice in a day, morning and nite...too tiring on my body i suppose

yeah, i think i have completed my program that can seive out possible timetables for a given set of modules. haven't done deep checks. but i have done a few very simple checks, and so far no errors. feeling very good, after a demoralising crash of the program that i encountered yesterday.

this time, i used a more modularised approach to the problem. though it may not be the fastest way, it should be the easiest way to code. used a recursive function to make the coding simpler, since the characteristic of the problem is somehow recursive.

just watched the debut of the drama "男人之苦" on ch55. well, quite a funny show, with quite a realistic feel. well i think i will keep watching on. hmm, but i think i will miss some parts of it next week, cuz my father last minute decided to bring me and my mum along to Japan on his company's business trip. well, it would only be a short trip of around 5 days, though we can extend it. well, not particularly excited about it, but since i have nothing to do, it would be an experience to go there again after 10 years.

awful feeling

wrote a very long but tedious with lots of redundancy for the main part, as a result, i got a fatal error in the program that forces my comp to stop it before the whole comp crashes. a bit 绝望, but i know it can be done. just have to think of a clear and nice way to do it. haiz.

today ran the "2.2km" route within 10:55. sort of an improvement from the run on tuesday. pushed myself a little bit more, although my breathing wasn't very good towards the end.

have to keep exercising, yeah! somehow, i like the feeling of sweating after a long run. i used to dread runs, probably due to my poor fitness. now i feel better about my body, and i kind of like to run. but of course, with a choice, i wun choose to run. haha.

but in life, you are often left with no choice. exercising is not a choice; it is compulsory if u want to have a healthy life, especially after your 40's. i really dun want to be burdened with illnesses, especially those i can prevent. such as high blood pressure, high cholestrol...these are the so-called 富贵病. so i want to lead a 富贵 yet healthy lifestyle.

in short, i will see exercising as a undeniable part of life. continue to run, yoohoo!

headache ah

really headache man, dunno how to implement an efficient algorithm to seive out the possible timetables for my program. all the other stuff is done, 万事俱备，只欠东风. need to think harder, brain not working liao...

yesterday again i clocked 11:05 for the "2.2km" run. no improvement from last week. have to 加把劲! but i think my weight has been cut to near 55kg already. that's the only consolation.

downloaded 柯有纶 and 张栋梁's latest albums. don't really like 柯有纶's album except for the song "Welcome to my World". like some of the songs in 张栋梁's album, such as "王子", "错了再错", "陌路", and "晚安，宝贝". but i dun think i gonna buy this album. dun really like the overall feel of the album. i think i shall just keep the songs i like and delete the others.

also downloaded 林俊杰's latest EP, "杀手". like the musical arrangement and the melody. the chorus sounds familiar, dunno adapted from where. looking forward to the official release of the full album. think is gonna be nice, and if so i would buy it. 王力宏's album is gonna be out too, but i dun really like the song that is being broadcasted on air now. gonna wait and see.

today went to junction 8 for lunch with weiliang. quite long nv go there liao. last time i went there frequently during jc time, cuz the bus that i and my friends took home passed by there. haha but that's before junction 8 was expanded. now it is quite big liao. though it was expanded for quite a long time liao, but i didn't really spend time walking around until today. cuz weiliang was a bit late, i did manage to walk almost the whole junction 8. and i got my bag, finally! also did some shopping to replenish my wash-up products. hmm, this place was quite a place of memories. some happiness, some funny things, some emotions...

writing a program

yeah, i am writing a program to help me sieve out possible timetables for the next semester. got this idea when i was going to sleep. it would list out all possible timetables without clashes for a fixed number of modules. hope to finish it by this week. very long never write code liao, a bit 生疏, but the overall feel is still there lah.

yeah, finished watching 康熙帝国, although missing out on episodes 39 and 40, due to the stupid stoppage of signal on saturday. well the end 康熙's life was a bit different from that was depicted in 雍正王朝. well, it was ultimately a controversy over how 雍正 succeeded 康熙.

well, rather disappointed at my "weight loss scheme"... maintained it at 56kg for the past week. have to make more effort to lose weight. but i really dunno how to do this. have been running for 5 days a week. but actually i feel better physically, though i think my running can be better. well, at least i think my situps and arm strength have sort of regained to the level during army days. well, nvm i shall continue to run and exercise.

stupid Starhub

kaoz, had a 4 hr starhub cable breakdown from 12pm to 4pm just now. as a result i missed 2 episodes of 康熙帝国, and i have to wait 10 more days to catch these 2 episodes!

besides the internet, the cable tv was also down. damn irritated. called the starhub operator and they said that they are trying to solve the interruption of signal as soon as possible. suay suay tio my area.

a small gap in the show, 康熙帝国, is very sianz one lor. dunno why 李光地 was punished. dunno how the war against the mongolians started. haiz... bo bian, too bad that is online tv and i suay suay miss 2 telecasts of the 2 episodes...

went to TTSH

accompanied my bro and mum to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for a checkup. my bro has trembling hands and it is quite serious to his teacher, though i think it still wun affect his ability to do well in the 'O' levels science practicals. but it would be good if he gets a letter to prove his "disability".

as the open carpark is fully parked, i proceeded to the basement carpark. the channel down to the basement is very narrow, the narrowest i have ever seen. and i was driving my father's mercedes! luckily there are 2 side signals which warned me twice while i was carefully manouvering the car down to the basement carpark. it was a nice but scary experience. at least i am more confident about my judgement haha, especially driving my father's big car.

today i ran "2.4km" for the 2nd time of the week. on tues, i timed 11:05, today the same. seems like no improvement. but i improved from 11:20 last week. also considering i have run 3 consecutive days before today. well, i think the distance i run is only like 2.2km. i dun think i am running at a silver timing, since the last timing i had recently in ICT was a 12:42.

ok got to go on with my statics. crunches, push-ups, alternate leg thrusts, bird-piss...and also 康熙帝国 at 2350.

chilled crabs and dumplings

wow, yesterday we had chilled crabs for dinner. that was the first time i ate chilled crabs. the crab meat was really fresh. the meat was more 结实 than those black pepper ones or chilli ones. but i think it takes a lot of effort to get rid of any 腥味.

tomorrow would be 端午节 according to my mum. i dunno. she spent the whole day making all those dumplings. think she made around 90 pieces. that's a lot. giving away around 70 pieces; to my father's company for prayers, to my aunt, to my neighbour, to my grandma... i haven't eaten a whole piece yet, only got to pinch a little from a sample dumpling. well, i think i am going to eat one tomorrow, but i have to work out a little bit more after that...

Fathers' Day

hmm today is Fathers' Day. as usual, we would go out for dinner though today's dinner would be more expensive than what we normally have. however, it doesn't feel like Fathers' Day, probably due to the lack of promotions and advertisements. somehow, fathers are not appreciated. to me, i think fathers are more important than mothers, especially in the later stages of our lives. other than providing for us, i think they play a more important role in shaping our minds and values. well, probably not many pple appreciate this lecturing.

after a week of training, i think i have lost at least 1 kg of weight. that's good enough. have to continue my 5 times a week runs. forgot to do my statics yesterday, and worse, i had quite a oily dinner of satays, stingray...going to do some statics later on, especially crunches.

yesterday also forgot to watch "米可, Go!". i was watching "康熙帝国" online, and i didn't realise that there is an overlap in these shows' broadcast timing. sianz. today i must remember to watch "米可, Go!". shall watch the repeat online broadcast of "康熙帝国" tomorrow.

the Spurs won their 4th

the Cavs had a chance to prevent a sweep, but they didn't hold on. Tony Parker won the MVP, while he led his team to their 4th championship. Although Tim Duncun had an off night, his team mates were superb, especially Tony Parker.

however, another important factor that leads to Spurs' win was Cavs' struggling offense. the Cavs at first looked good in the first quarter, but returned back to their poor shooting performance later on. James was still struggling with his jump shots, though not as bad as the 1st 3 games. Gibson too. This team was as good as Spurs in defense, but failed terribly to remain on par with Spurs in offense.

well, too bad. at least James had a taste of what Finals is all about, and this would be a good negative experience for him for the rest of his career.

This NBA playoffs has quite a few disappointments. Dallas Mavericks didn't even make it into the 2nd round. Suns had a rough game when Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for a lame rule. Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade was ineffective due to a shoulder injury. Wizards' Arenas and Caron Butler sidelined with injuries.

Hope next year would be a better year, with fairer competition, better officiating, and most importantly, with teams coming into the playoffs healthy.

ok, it's time to do some housekeeping. throw away those unused items and spoilt items. the idea of a neater room makes me feel good! yeah!

the Cavs lost again

the Cavs lost again, this time digging into a 0-3 hole. seems like their championship dream is going to be dashed with a sweep by the Spurs. they almost won game 3, but their offense is really sucky. James again can't hit his jumpers for some reason. the Spurs was playing quite badly, so it was supposed to be a good chance for them to make the series 1-2. but they didn't.

tomorrow morning would be game 4, and it probably would be the last game of the NBA Finals. hope the Cavs can avoid a sweep and at least win this game. well, it can be done. they almost did it with their stifling defense on Parker. Parker was rather limited in game 3. if they continue to do so in game 4, and have their offense going, i believe they can win game 4. James has to come out big, otherwise, this series would end in an ugly way.

by the way, seems like my frequency of blogging is getting lower. the 热忱 for it has gone down, maybe it is 三分钟热度吧. well, actually blogging need not be an everyday affair. maybe i would at least blog at least once, especially when school term starts.

i have run for 3 consecutive days liao. 5km runs on mon and wed. 2.4km run on tue at my fastest speed. tonight would be the 2.4km run, while fri would be a 5km run. on days when i am running only 2.4km, i would do more static to build my muscles back. sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, alternate leg thrusts... hope i can regain my fitness soon.

what a loss

the Cavs were down as many as 28 in the 3rd quarter. i was then simply disgusted with how the Cavs played. their defense sux. their offence sux more. nobody is scoring, not even Lebron James. well u can say Spurs defense is damn good, well i agree, but at least Lebron James should get his jumpers going. but he didn't!

finally in the 4th quarter, i saw some hope, as suddenly the Cavs cut the lead to below 20. then it was cut to 8. it would have been cut to 6, if not for Lebron James' mistake. if it was cut to 6, i think the Cavs might win. in the end, they didn't, and Ginobili tricked Gibson into fouling him, while he drained in a 3-pointer! a 4-point play! well, experience counts especially in this series.

series now back to Cleveland, for at least 2 games. hope the Cav can win 3 straight on their homecourt, just like the Miami Heat in last year's finals. then they might have the chance to win the championship. but the odds are really against them, cuz the Spurs are really superb at both ends of the floor.

i must lose weight!

just now, i got a shock. my weight has become 57 kg. i believe before ICT it was still 56 kg, though still well above my ideal weight of 53 kg to hit a BMI of around 20. oops, my height! haha nvm, though that is my biggest "weakness"...:p

seems like my running 3 times a week isn't enough. i must do something more. i decide to run 5 days a week, leaving the weekend to rest my body. also, not to eat as much as before.

mon, wed, fri, 5km runs. tue and thurs, 2.4km runs. after each run, do push-ups and crunches. i think i better run at night, so that i won't have the tendency to eat after my runs. eating after runs is wrong, i suppose.

Lebron James is not Lebron James

well, the Cavs lost the 1st game as expected. but i didnt expect Lebron James to play so badly. alrite, the defence on him is tough, but he should have at least hit more jumpers. maybe he was frustrated, maybe he was a bit nervous. but i dun think there is any excuse for him to stop pulling up for jumpers, especially when he got open. hope he would adjust well for game 2.

Daniel Gibson was not given enough playing time. he was shooting so well. he should be given more chances. at least he should get to shoot more 3's than today. Larry Hughes should be given more rest, as he was already bothered by his sore ankle. he was not able to guard the speedy Tony Parker. maybe Gibson can go a better job, cuz both are very quick.

well, although James was not effective, his other teammates are doing quite well, especially Gibson, Sasha, and Gooden. Keep up the good shooting. hope the Cavs can steal one game in game 2 from the Spurs.

finished watching "东方茱丽叶". well, not very satisfied with the ending. many loose ends are not accounted for. didn't say how 褚形 felt after "losing", didnt talk about 林濑穗's relationship with her mother. as i have said, i think the plot is not very realistic. the plot is over-focusing on 林濑穗's relationship with 纪风亮. out of a rating of 5, i would probably give it a score of 3. the extra 0.5 mark above the passing mark is due to 林依晨. if you do not like 吴尊 or 林依晨, i think you would not want to watch this drama, unless u are very free like me...

夜未央

in the end, i didnt go to work this week. cuz of pure laziness and apprehension. well maybe, laziness is the main factor. but i think i am also afraid of what would happen when i "report to work". next wk? maybe. not sure. everything must have a good start. i think i can follow my father to work early in the morning, so that i wun be that lost if i had gone alone.

tomorrow is the 1st game of the NBA Finals between the Cavs and the Spurs. the Spurs would most likely win but it would be boring. instead, if the Cavs win, the series would be more interesting. i am hoping for the Cavs to win actually, though i really feel that this team is just not good enough.

finishing "东方茱丽叶". left with 2 discs. didn't really have a 共鸣 with this show, as this show revolves around fashion design, which i have never really 接触 before. the plot is quite common, abt someone who stole one's design, then the victim trying to take revenge on that guy... but i think the actors and actresses acted well; i really hate 褚形, who is the villain. maybe is becuz i 入戏 too easily.

lastly, the title "夜未央" actually means 三更半夜. i got it from some magazine or newspaper, which recommends 方文山's blog which has an entry that quizzes pple on his lyrics. take a look here

going to work?

just had a short 2.4 km run, quite shioked. not very tired. probably, i didn't give my best. actually wanted a 5 km run, but as i didn't want to run the same route one more time, i stopped short at 2.4 km.

my father asked me to go to his company to look at how things work in the company. well, i want to, but i am quite lost as what i have to do there. nvm, just call him in the morning before going down to Jurong where the factory is located at. must be more active liao, cannot be too passive liao. passivity will only harm me, but somehow that's my character. aiyah, think go down there, everything will come smoothly, it's not as if i am going to a stranger's company.

still have 8 discs of "东方茱丽叶". actually the show isn't very nice as expected, but i think 林依晨 is worth watching lah haha. looking forward to the release of "恶作剧之吻 2", should be quite interesting ba.

have watched 4 episodes of "米可, go!" on ch 54. well, the plot is quite nice, though without those kind of very pretty actresses to look at. quite touching at times, esp when 黄少宣 realises she has become blind. hope this show isn't too long, so that it will end before school starts.

oh ya, also asked jiacheng just now to help me ask whether the engin orientation has vacancy for me or not. well, i am not carrying too much hope about it. if really have, then i will join since there got accompaniment and there should be much fun ba.

Cavs heading into Finals

wow, Lebron James and the Cavs won 4 in a row to beat the favourites for Eastern Conference Finals, Detroit Pistons, and they are heading into the NBA finals since very long ago.

i didn't quite expect this result, and i thought the Pistons would at least win this game 6 to send the series back to their homecourt. i think they focussed too much on defending James, as a result allowing Daniel Gibson to have a show in this game. however, who would have expected someone else from the Cavaliers other than James to play big in the game, especially when the other Cavaliers have been having poor performances in the 1st 5 games of the series?

too bad that Pistons lost this game, as well as the series. they had the correct strategy but things just dun go well for them.

the NBA Finals between the Spurs and the Cavaliers shouldn't be a very tight one. i think that the Cavs are still not there yet. they are still relying on James alone usually. only in some games, the other Cavs players may come out big, but they are not reliable. unlike the Cavs, the Spurs have reliable contributions from Duncun, Parker, Ginobili. Finley, Barry, Oberto may give this team some extra spurts, and they have all shown that they can hit big shots as well. whereas, the Cavs do not have other players who can hit big shots.

predicting a 4-1 or 4-2 win by the Spurs for the NBA Finals. but things may turn around for the Cavs, especially when this is the 1st Finals for the Cavs for at least 10 yrs i think. and the audience as well as the players are all thirsty for the trophy. emotions is really a big thing in such a crucial series.

1st ICT

finally, my 1st ICT is over. overall, it was more siong than what i had expected. the training wasn't siong, i suppose, but the management ie the bloody officers made it siong.

Mon:
taking over of vehicles, easy and quite relac. later in the afternoon, we went out for orientation driving, which was also quite relac. the officer in charge was a retired captain, and i think the efficiency of the orientation driving was hence much higher than what a soldier like can expect from SAF.

Tues:
AGTS in the morning, super relaxed, "blow" aircon until cannot take it. haha. sleep and slack in the afternoon. slack to the max liao.

Wed:
IPPT in the morning. i almost passed it. i managed to have like 5 jumps before getting a pass of 221cm. i was really thrilled when i saw the 221cm shown on the screen of the machine. my sit-ups was 31 but i stopped at this passing mark despite having 14 seconds more, cuz i was scared of abdominal cramps the next day. (in the end, my abs still ached.) i failed my 2.4km run at 12:42 min, failing by 23 seconds. didn't manage to maintain my pace for the 3rd, 4th, 5th round. so, have to train more lor.

Section battle course in the afternoon. quite siong for me, cuz the vehicle i drove had a spoilt driver fan, and i had to drive closed hatched. i was sweating like hell, and i think i drank more than 2 litres of water for the afternoon stint. hmm, and i did something that made our "dear" OC lin jialiang pissed off. haha. i wanted to light up a mosquito coil, and when he saw it, he asked me not to, but i continued to light up the coil. in the end, he had that pissed look and walked off. felt sort of shoiked to defy his "order". later he gave us a "scolding" on discipline, but he didn't manage to give me any eye contact. just felt that he was just childish and petty. haha. i dun understand that why he and his fellow smokers could have a smoking point in the training shed, but i couldn't light up a mosquito coil, which was useful unlike smoking. nvm, treat it that he's plain stupid and childish.

we watched bronco book out at around 9pm, while our guys were still cleaning weapons. after most of our guys were back in the bunk, we waited and waited but we were still in the camp. some said that the armskote key was lost...but i dun believe it, most prob is the fatty 2IC Alex keeping it, to "teach us a lesson" for our "poor" discipline. then finally we were told that we could book out only at 12am. everyone was already pissed off, but our "dear" OC and 2IC gave some senseless explanation. this just showed their poor leadership and stupid brains.

we booked out only at around 0030. Ken, Chen En, Jackson, Kelvin, got a lift from me to Serangoon. Chen En, who was a bit sick, went home. the other, Han, and me, went to have some food along Yio Chu Kang Rd. we talked about the rubbish we had in camp, and sorted vented our anger. i reached home at around 4am, and washed up a bit before i collapsed onto my bed.

Fri:
washed the vehicles and checked the OVM stuff. handed over to the pple there at around 4pm. quite fast liao haha, cuz we were waiting here and there instead of doing things fast.

Sat:
cleared the drains of the washing bay. the soil and mud in the drains were at least 15cm deep. they must have been accumulated for at least 5 ICTs. so suay, we had to do the shit. but nvm. this is part and parcel of sai gang from NS. though i think this kind of shit should be done by the NSFs. but too bad, we had to do it due to the f---ed up management.

out-pro at around 3pm. was the last company to do so again, but nvm, better than booking out at midnight.

Overall:
fun to meet the old friends. talking cock and playing with them. do the saigang together.

i think our treatment was like NSF, although it was still a bit better than what we had in 46 SAR.

next ICT would be a high-key one, as claimed by our "dear" OC. can't expect anything slack, but hope the management can be better, no more delay in our book-out timing, no more keh zua saigang to do. but i dun expect them to come easy, especially when our 2 officers in charge are so f---ed up. they dun really command my respect.