i'll keep trying

happy holidays

Merry Christmas everyone.. also going off on a holiday to chill.. be back at the end of this weekend. enjoy these peaceful pieces.

heart

peaceful piece for such a time of the year..

social group

like i said in the previous post, i think WhatsApp group chats has its good as well. the general plus point of having WhatsApp group chats to me would be particularly relevant to introverts. such group chats allow one to actually socialise with a big group of people without worrying about meeting them in real life or what not.

you see, i think that’s the case with most of us today. we are good in social media and interaction online. such platforms allow us to mask our emotions and what not now and then. on top of that, some platforms even allow us a certain level of anonymity. these allow us express ourselves better wince we are not literally facing the target audience or person when we speak. haha one might even avoid getting beaten immediately when you chat online.

of course, group chats make organising and discussing stuff much more easier. i remember those days when i got my first handphone and all one could do is practically send SMSes and make calls. if you experienced liaising with a group of people individually in hope to make plans for a meet-up and what not, you would know the hassle. well, now all those troubles are no longer a problem. everything is made more simpler. seeking help is easier too. one message in a group chat and one gets more than one replies.

so yeah.. guess enough talk about WhatsApp groups.

group phantoms

this is a continuation from the topic on WhatsApp group chats. some groups are really really huge.. so much so more often than not someone’s input might be less impactful than the others or some might think his/her role in the group chat is not to say something new or create a new discussions. these people rarely reply and even when they reply, it is probably because they get something out of it. i call them phantom members of group chats. what would they normally do?

well, for starters they would always stay in the group chat and use it only for their own convenience. on normal times, they would simply open the group chat to rid the push notifications and probably skim through whatever is said in the chat. they would not respond to any general queries raised but another member of the group chat. they would not put their opinions and suggestions. they would not care about any outing organised. they would not bother much about whatever is said or done in the group chat so long as they do not benefit from the outcome.

so when will they pop up?

these phantoms will pop up when they have trivial and maybe lame requests such as seeking popular votes for some random online contests. these phantoms will pop up when they need you with some project survey. these phantoms will pop up when they seek someone’s help in desperate times.

well, for me personally, whenever such things arise, i would avoid. i will not contribute to your popular vote. i will not help you with you survey. i will just hope someone else will help you resolve your problem. haha hold the thought of me being a bad friend for a moment and allow me to explain before you judge. well, to me such phantom participants just use the group chats as a convenience chat. like they use you when you are needed and ignore you during any other times. if you like that or are okay with that then yeah to you i am an asshole. however, for me i dislike being treated this way and hence why i do that.

that being said, of course i am not a phantom in any group chat. i love the company and what not. well i’ve not really talk about the good stuff of such groups. i shall do one the next time.

group complications

well, this is a continuation on the previous topic on WhatsApp groups. you know, being in such groups is somewhat similar to real life social gathering in terms of the “obligations” and “etiquette” one has to uphold whenever he/she participate in the chats. such complications are probably more broad than those we actually experience in real life. i guess i cannot cover all but i sure will highlight some and input my opinions. well, like i said.. opinions. i’m neither right nor wrong. they are just opinions.

number one, the spamming of pictures. pictures here can be further broken down to memes and groups shots. let’s visit group shots first then. i guess it is somewhat a norm now.. to actually send photos through those WhatsApp groups when an outing is over. i don’t know about you all but there was a time when i waited for the “photographer” to put those pictures on Facebook and not using my phone data to download those from WhatsApp groups. nonetheless, both works well for me. as for memes, here is probably something to be careful about. it is sort of an unspoken thing that you can communicate through memes. yes.. mock and pock fun with them now and then but spamming them might not be a good idea. likewise for sharing of memes, too many a one shot is definitely not a good idea.

number two, talking about serious topics. serious topics here do not mean those serious political news or what not. i refer to those discussions about group related stuffs. well it is awkward to interrupt i guess. say someone pops up a discussion and subsequently some others put in their inputs and what not. the discussion has not really end and someone else decide to pop another discussion. soon afterwards more do the same. then suddenly the entire group chat is filled with many discussions at any one time. those who are quiet would then be stuck and conflicted.. not knowing what he/she should reply first and what not.

number three, topics involving few individuals. now and then a topic will pop up that concerns not all the participants. then we will have the same few people who are chatting among themselves. or in worse case scenario, just two talking in a group chat. by then one would not be sure if he/she should stop talking about that particular topic or just go ahead and add an additional WhatsApp group for the “special” people. well, so complicated.. haha.

number four, leaving the party early. say you want to be out of the group chat because of whatever reason, you are not sure if you should leave and what not. you see, WhatsApp will announce whoever have left the party early by displaying your number or name in the group chat, informing your departure. well, this might create wrong impressions of the person leaving on the minds of people in the group who have saw the kind reminder from WhatsApp. more often than not maybe everyone would just suck it up and just hang around. maybe standing alone in the party is nicer than leaving the party early.

well.. by far i think those mentioned complications are the common ones to me and of course there are definitely more of them out there haha.. it can be entertaining to actually pick them out now and then. cheap thrills.

group chats

ever since i entered into NUS.. the number of group WhatsApp chats have increased exponentially. yeah you read that right.. exponentially. before university life, the number of such groups i have can literally be counted with just one hand. now, there are really like millions of them. haha.. no but really too many for my own good at times i think. okay, partly because such groups can pop out for any reasons possible. OG group chat. project group chat. module buddies chat. clique chat. family chat. CCA group chat. and probably many more that i can’t exactly think of right now.

even mini events would lead to new group chats being formed. like “hey someone’s birthday is coming soon, time to organise a surprise and get a gift” then poof a new group chat is form without the birthday person in it.

well thing is there are so many group chats now that i decided to mute all of them (of course, not the family one) for couple of reasons. one, save battery. those vibrations and what not kills my iphone battery life like i kill my home chocolate ice-cream. two, distracting. those vibration and what not can be really distracting whenever one is trying to pay attention on the primary tasks he/she has at hand. all in all i rather myself muting all chats and reading all unread group messages one shot whenever i am free.

yeah, some of you might argue what if someone posted a time-urgent request and what not? well, if you are that urgent in the matter and in need of a specific someone for help just call him or private message him/her. at least for me, i know i will get back to you as soon as possible even if i missed your call or what not. come on, i mentioned before.. things i would do for a good friend. my phone isn’t on silent when i sleep in case of emergency calls from whoever. of course, my internet is off though so yeah.

i realised i have really a lot of things to talk about WhatsApp groups. so i guess i will have to split it into numerous blog posts. this is just a overview and general remarks.

my hands tied, my body bruised

classic old song that can relate to us now and then

why study

so one semester in NUS have already been over and my first holiday in NUS is about half gone. i remember at the start of my journey in NUS, i have asked myself countless times..

why study?

i guess it is pretty natural back then to actually feel this way. after more than two years of not using the brain for academic purposes, getting back into the game can be difficult. i remembered asking myself that question and trying to seek numerous motivations to study. so i shall tell you what i have figure out.

the most superficial and obvious reason would be the fact that an A levels certificate cannot bring me anywhere. let’s face it, if your highest education paper is an A levels, you cannot survive out their in the workplace for long. even one with diploma will thrive over you since with a diploma it shows you are proficient in a certain skill with a certain level. with A levels, you tell others you are studying in general and not specialising in anything in particular. getting my ass into NUS allows me to specialise in what i love.. statistics. throughout the past many years in studying, i generally study anything and everything. after all that’s what the imperfect system required of students. finally i get to have the freedom to choose what i want to learn and hopefully excel in.

next would be passion. slightly related to the previous point, the passion here obviously not the passion of mugging like a dog or being a no-life nerd. yeah, while at times mugging like crazy is inevitable. the passion i am talking about here is what i want to learn more about and see how that can apply to my future job and what not. yeah, there are always people saying what you major in might not be really linked or related to what you are going to work as. well, i would like to beg to differ. i find knowing exactly what you what to major and study in would really help you in the workforce in the future. you would know roughly what kind of line of jobs you want. you would know what you might dislike or like to do when you start working. so all in all, it isn’t completely not related or not helpful in your job hunting after graduation.

prior to the start of semester, i had to settle financial issues. knowing the financial status of my family and looking at the cost of studying in university, i realise i ought to keep in mind who are actually support at least half of the school fees. yes, my parents. raising a kid and feeding a kid to this level is never easy.. i’ve obviously never been a parent but i am not dumb to not know that raising someone like me is one hell of a job. years after years, besides birthdays and what not, how often one would show thanks to them? well, i guess studying hard and doing well now and later in life would be a way to show thanks to them too. i want to let them know those years of blood and tears and resources poured into me from them are not going to waste. i want them to feel proud of themselves for parenting right. parenting doesn’t come with a guide book, you know. 

yeah guess these are the main things that really drive me to study. honestly, if i could stop study and go out to get a stable and high-paying job, i would stop. too bad the world do not work exactly that way for everyone. hence, i have to press on with these motivations in mind. hope no matter what you all are doing, just remember to single out motivations to drive you. i think such skill is one of the useful skills i picked from NS so yeah, all the best.

miracles

yes this is an update of my life.

as you know i am a fan of Two Steps From Hell. currently i'm listening to one of their latest albums titled "Miracles". i never thought an album could have that many good tracks. anyway if you are still alien to the group.. they produced music pieces, sort of those background music you hear in movie trailers and what not.

well on to what i want to say. floorball coach is finally back to coaching us in preparation for inter-hall games happening in about a month's time. as usual, we were all getting really pressurised. the expected learning curve from us is pretty high. intensity naturally is increasing as well. really hope i can live up and play to expectations. really hope Raffles Hall can move on to at least semi-finals as well. feeling of losing is always unpleasant.

a couple of blog posts ago i also mentioned about typing out posting thoughtful blog posts. no worries, will be putting them here soon. haha.. holidays are sure good time to reflect, think, learn. self-discovery and self-exploring.

on a side note, it is about the time of holiday where i ought to pick up my guitars and play again.. both the bass and ukulele.

superstar

time for some old school chinese pop song...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

yes, this is an update of my life.

well, i'm a show addict, i admit. i love watching movies and good dramas and a couple of decent anime. however, as a show addict, i think i am super lag to actually start a famous show only now.

yeah.. just starting watching the 90s comedy last week. still on the first season but so far i find their jokes are pretty funny. similar to more modern comedy shows, there is a general storyline. one thing weird is that those young looking actors and actresses in this show are now old and experienced celebrities today. hmm.. i wonder how long i will take to finish all 10 seasons.

rewinding 2014

presenting the YouTube tradition of highlighting key events and people in YouTube over the last 12 months. watch all start to the very end. the ending is cool. haha.. especially to fans of HISHE.

thoughtful posts

yes, this is an update of my life.

despite having a new laptop, most of my personal settings stuff remain similar to my old one. one example would be my wallpaper. the person in my wallpaper is one of my football idols.. Cristiano Ronaldo or better known as CR7. here it is..

anyway, finally after almost a week since the last training, i had a good floorball training earlier today. been awhile since i had to wake up so early as well. sadly, the friendlies the captain has been trying to get keeps running into problems and what not resulting to numerous cancellations. damn.. one more month to the real inter-hall games. i want to play more friendlies. really hope we can get at least a couple more friendlies before we enter the killing field lol.

in my previous post i talked about getting shit done. guess what.. i have yet to start again. procrastination at its best. nevermind, i swear i will start tidying once i am done blogging today. i think i just have been thinking a lot lately.. about anything and everything. you know those random thoughts you get on long bus/train rides or whenever you are about to head to dreamland? yeah.. i have been having those quite often. i call it healthy thinking or reflections.. lol. it is through such times where personally i find myself understanding myself better and probably growing and learning in the process. for those who experience similar things would know exactly what i mean.

this brings me to the main point. now and then i would post posts based on such random thoughts. i think i should start collating useful ones and type them out in words and share those worth sharing here soon. especially during this holiday period when i have lots of free time, such things should come easy.

currently listening to YouTube covers. one thing that is really good about listening to such pieces is that they tend to be more peaceful. so fitted to such a peaceful and quiet night.

getting shit done

yes, this is an update of my life.

feels so different than reality. slightly more than a week ago, i had my last paper.. well thought it was longer than a week. not complaining here though.. haha. anyway, point is my home room is in a big mess now. no joke.. all the semester stuffs are all around, all the stuffs i moved out from hall are all around, somethings i know should be kept in storage or thrown away are all around. i'm sure i'm not the only one who experience the count-the-chicks-before-they-are-hatch syndrome during exam period.

what syndrome? well, you know the time when you are feeling super stress and you know that after a couple of days or weeks, you would be enjoying a deserved break from work? then you know when you start thinking of what you ought to do after the stressful period? catch up with friends.. pick up a hobby.. clean your room.. the list goes on and on. then when your break arrives, you hardly do anything planned. instead, you prefer to laze around most of the time, hooked on your bed and laptop. well that's me now. haha.. that's the syndrome i am talking about.

so back to the point of me and my messy room. i think i should start getting shit done. if i procrastinate any longer i think the next semester will start and another load of junk from the next semester will end up in my room.

that aside, think more or less i've done setting up my new Macbook Pro. downloading the necessary applications, arranging my music library, backing up my Apple products to the computer. damn.. loving the speed and what not about my new laptop. hope it will not become slow fast. even so, hope it can last as long as the previous one.. 5 years.

anyway, whenever i update about my life i tend to have a post with just words. guess it can be boring. so i shall strive to share something beside words whenever i do so from now on as well. since, i have been listening to old songs and artists lately.. here is one that i heard when i was in lower secondary school. techno, dance, trance genre but sentimental. some of you might heard of her before for there are songs by her which are pretty popular back in those years. enjoy.

punk rock

you are probably still very young now if you have never heard of this band or any of their songs. first heard their songs way back in primary school.. that's like more than 10 years ago. punk rock genre and the band is Simple Plan. those good old days when they were quite a hit.

to be honest

well, i'm going to open up to say this. to be honest, i miss you. i miss talking to you and what not but i wouldn't want to be the one disturbing you after being pushed aside. not sure if you would be reading this anyway. ohh wells.. i hope you are doing just fine.

back then

bring me back to those days where such songs were common.. so nice. damn dubstep and over-hardcore club music.

back to december

yes, this is an update of my life.

to be honest, it really feels as though couple of weeks ago i just my pink i/c and ORD. however, it is now like a year after that faithful day and many things have really happened. since, i am really in a the holiday period where no work bothers me and the fact that i did not really update for quite a while, i shall really reflect on things. anyway, i'm waiting for my hair to dry before i head to bed.. lol.

let's begin with my tutees. just in case some of you have forgotten, i have three students whom i couched that took their PSLE this year and of course have already received their results. i also mentioned that one can really see which students would actually produce decent results based on the amount of damn they put into learning, practising and listening. well, the outcome wasn't quite surprising to me. attentive and hardworking students will definitely perform better. anyone can score well, it is always down to the individual if he/she really gives a damn or not. parents and teachers can only help that much. anyway, the "smartest" kid could have done slightly better but the results were rather pleasing to know. the second "smartest" kid did not do as well as the first but his improvements are really commendable. now it boils down to the next question on my part. should i continue teaching next year? if yes, of course i cannot teach as many as three anyway. if no, i need to plan my financials a little.

moving on, let's review the first semester of my journey in NUS. well, i took quite a long time to adapt to being a student again. i have not been a student who do tutorials and assignments and take exams for like.. more than two years. nonetheless, i guess i handled it well. and by saying i handled it well does not mean i am scoring A everywhere. what i mean is that i am able to be on pace or not too far behind during any time of the semester. so i guess it is pretty alright.. considering the amount of content just a single module can really pour us with.

of course, when i talk about the studies aspect, i cannot leave out the part about examinations. finals just ended and guess what one of our module actually revealed our results. scary. anyway, in general i think the expectations of one entering an university exam is really different from any other exams one have gone through in previous stages of schooling. in university exams, half the time it is really normal to feel really hopeless in a paper, not doing almost half of the questions present. in university exams, never expect yourself to be able to do say 90% of the questions. well, these applies to a person taking statistics as his major. maybe for arts students, their experience might be different. anyway, i just hope i am on the right side of the bell curve.. haha.

studies isn't the only aspect that defines my life in NUS. or i don't want it to be the only aspect as well. social part, i am really thankful for the friends and buddies i have met in the short few months. from hall to faculty likewise. be it birthday celebrations, CCA time, supper, outings, meal times together, lectures together, tutorials together.. i appreciate them all. really glad to really meet way more awesome people than those asshole ones.. haha.

now, back to the part of holidays. really glad university holidays are not filled with work that is related to studies. of course, i know in the future there might be exchange and internship but still.. no need to worry about assignment deadlines and exams. really a good time catch up with my dear friends and spend quality time with them and my family. shall treasure every single day of my holidays.