Izzit just me, or are more ppl being sent up to heaven this yr? I just got word that a classmate’s father just passed away from liver cancer, and we are going to the wake tml. Including him, that makes 4 friends who have lost their father or mother this yr alone. Adding KB, that makes 5 wakes I have or could have attended. Didn’t go for 2 cos i was away.
The thing about growing up, graduating from uni, getting a job etc is that at our age, we are starting to see the generation before us, ie our parents’ starting to move on to a better world. Most of our parents would be in their 50s or 60s, not really old enuff to die from old age but definitely more vulnerable to illnesses, especially terminal ones.
I used to tear quite easily at funerals and reading about sad news in the papers. Like the tsunami and its victims moved me, but now i’m kind of numb. I guess you have to be in the person’s shoes, if not you would never be able to understand how he/she feels about losing a close family member, esp the parents. It is scary about how i am becoming numb to death, how i never even teared when KB passed away. All that was left is a surge of 心酸 and worries about his family.
This is a daily chronicle of my trip to Taiwan from 9th to 24th May 2006 with Ronghua and partially Boon Liang. I am trying to blog about all 15 days, so it takes time..sorry.. If you wanna read all that have been posted, pls click on Taiwan Adventure category here, or on the left sidebar.
Leaving the hostel @ 7am, we proceeded to Taipei Main Station, and the place looks freaking big.
This was the main atrium and ticketing area, upstairs are the offices of Taiwan Railways. All the tracks in and ard the station are fully underground, they dun emerge @ ground level until the outskirts of the city.
We planned to take a train to Ershui (二水) which is very near to Taichung, before changing to a small train on the Jiji small railway line to this town called Shuili (水里), where we are supposed to find transport to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). Again, the keyword is supposed, means that we never check in reality, fully trusting the lonely planet guidebook.
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This is a daily chronicle of my trip to Taiwan from 9th to 24th May 2006 with Ronghua and partially Boon Liang. I am trying to blog about all 15 days, so it takes time..sorry.. If you wanna read all that have been posted, pls click on Taiwan Adventure category here, or on the left sidebar.
And so it was the start of the Taiwan adventure..special thanks goes out to huixian, shuhua and her fren for coming from the chalet nearby to see us off. At that point of time, we have only booked the accomodation for our 1st nite in Taipei. Whatever happens after that, it’s pretty que sera sera all the way.
The flight was good and we reached Taipei on schedule. Then we took like 10 mins to raid the brochures counter for all the relevant and irrelevant maps and guides. This local mobile company, 台湾大哥大 gives out free sim cards @ the arrival hall to tourists with NT99 value inside, which is a pretty good deal i guess. You can top up as much as u like later.
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Like finally, decided to host them on yahoo! this time round… the blogging is starting as i speak..in meantime, satisfy yourself with the fotos and their pretty descriptive names i hope
And so i’m back home, on a pretty decent flight with a pilot who bothered to come out to the cabin n talk to passengers. I tell u, these australians pilots are too laidback lah.. who noes, mabbe have beer inside cockpit.. Anyway the 1st sms upon landing came from a fren who said that she can’t pick me up (damn…means must pay cabfare). 1st call came from mum, who instructed me to buy red wine for her and stout for pa..
It’s good to be back home, to look right b4 crossing street instead of looking left. To see cars drive on left side of road, and actually obeying traffic lights. It’s always good to talk cock with a chatty taxi driver who was talking about taxi policy in sg. It’s good to see my sis and my parents.
The photo sorting is still going on, i can’t put 450 shots on flickr less i get a paid acct and i’m not too inclined to do so. Will figure out somehow… I want to do a proper travelogue but of cos that depends on how much time, and intertia i have over the next few days…
For those of you who got cards from me, i hope u like them. For those who didn’t, some is because i couldnt get ur address in time..others is er…cos i not enuff cards. Huike’s special case, i forgot to post your card. So you should expect it in the next few days, dun worry it’s still posted from taiwan..heh
I tot that on day 13 of my trip, i would post something here. Just so you ppl would know that i wasn’t swept away by the typhoon
13 days and i dare say that i’ve seen 50% of taiwan? Been to Sun Moon Lake, Chiahyi, Alishan, Taipei, Tainan, Kenting, Hualien and a few other small towns. Been on a few adventures that i would have never expected to happen. Alot of pics, some videos to share with you ppl when i come back.
Gifts have been bought, postcards (which are a..erm..cheapo gift item) have been sent. Just gonna sit back and enjoy my final full day in taiwan tml… Beitou Hot Springs and National Palace Museum..heh..
Something did happen while i was away, my riding club’s staff advisor, Kian Boon passed away in a bike accident in Thailand on the 15th. This guy has been a great mentor to me, and the club would not be here w/o him today. I hope that you’re riding on strong in heaven, KB..
turned out to be not so bad after all, with the company of good frens
Lunch was supposed to be going dutch with melissa aka Prudent Bitch at Holland Village, the irony. Somehow she got wind that it’s my birthday and insisted on treating. No it’s not staged by me, seriously! I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it’s kind of a tea-themed one, with dishes that are flavoured with various teas. The food wasn’t that impressive actually, but I got a look of the environment and settings on its 2nd level. Like a pretty good place to sit down n chat over, what else but tea.
Played soccer with the physics guys and guoyong who happened to be ard, man really too long never played. 2 hrs later, whole body crying for help liaoz. How else better to be reminded of your age by playing soccer on your birthday. Dinner with teck, shujie, huike and shuwen over @ cheese prata.
I’m glad that i cancelled nite cycling. With all the sore limbs, jenny would probably have to save me instead of the other way round. In 1st place it was cancelled cos huix put a boeing 747, oops.. met her and joce for supper instead, and huix was saying about this 糖水 place over @ west coast. It turned out to be some, erm..i call it “confused restaurant”, since it sells traditional tze-char dishes, dim sum, and desserts. One stone kills dunno how many birds, though i wasn’t particularly impressed withe the desserts. The dim sum items were pretty ok i guess.
Thanks to all the pals who remembered my bdae, either from your own memory, friendster, tumkur04 yahoogrp reminders, and this blog. With friends like this, every bdae would be a good one
After 29 30 exams (incl a repeat for QM1), i’ve finally cleared my last exam as an undergrad. Looking at the papers this sem, it would be another mundane semester but no problems passing i’m pretty sure.. Such is the level that my expectations have fallen too since yr 1 sem 1 when i still got CAP 4.0, haha!
I just placed on my msn nick, that last exams is as overhyped as ORD from army. You know, it’s the day that you have been looking fwd to for the past 3-4 yrs, but when it really comes, it does so with a whimper. Saw some ppl b4 exams started videocam-ing the route into exam hall, and of cos, photowhoring.. The end of exam, moment the invigilator said “You may leave now.”, there were partypoppers and again videocam and cameras..
So what did i do? i just sat there slumped in my seat, sianz that i couldn’t get the last 12 tricky marks. But i guess the overpowering emotion then was that of, relief and emptiness.. Probably cos it started to sink in that i’m starting to strike out on my own. Probably because my last paper was taken on my own, without the physics ppl with whom i have gone thru these 3 yrs with.
Looking back at NS days, i actually looked fwd more to last official work day, as compared to ORD day. Once u start to clear leave, u start to readjust, until the day u come back for ORD clearance, you are already like, numb? Same for this exam, 1 wk break b4 this paper, somemore slack module.. I’ve been slacking for whole week…haha!
Post-exams plans
5th may: Birthday.. lunch with prudent bitch, soccer with physics ppl, rally mabbe in evening, supper with huix n company
6th may: Dinner with family, glue my eyes to tv to follow election results
7th may: Canoeing with physics ppl, dinner with who, not sure
8th may: Source for some last min items for taiwan
My birthday’s less than 24 hrs away, 5th May, 24th bdae…old man yes i am.. Was looking at some of my frens’ blogs, where they put up their birthday wishes.. so i should do the same too. In case ppl want to buy me stuff but can’t decide wat to get for me…haha!
I’ve broken up the list into 3.. Fucking Unrealistic, Are You Kidding Me?, and Ok Lah, Can Consider..
Any PDA / PDA-phone S$400-1000
I have too many dates to remember!!
Sponsorship for Class 2 lessons ~S$300
So that i can ride that big baby on top if you buy me one..heh
4-6 more shirts, and pants for work ~$400
A teacher has to look decent rite?
Sponsorship for Taiwan ~S$100-1500
For me to buy all the 槟榔 from the 槟榔妹, excess funds will be donated to NKF, haha!
OK LAH, CAN CONSIDER…
A new shirt ~S$50
Similar to top but only 1
Cash Angpow S$10-50
Nothing beats Progress Package II cold hard cash
Airfare to Phnom Penh ~S$100
For recce trip in August
Borders/Kino Voucher at least S$50
You can’t get much @ Borders/Kino for anything less than that
Anything but display stuff/soft toys
that speaks for itself..
Call or SMS
to wish me happy birthday. I know you cheapos are waiting for this..haha!
happy birthday to me..
happy birthday to me…
happy birthday to jk…
happy birthday to me..
Last chance to do this liaoz..this shall be a running list
Sat 15/04: Helped huix edit her 23 page attachment report. Being totally anal about grammar and language
Sun 16/04: Decided to take a longer way home, rode down west coast, to pandan gardens and ended up near bird park..back via AYE, jurong town hall road, PIE.
Mon 17/04: Yellow Rooftop walk from Science to Engine to Arts to Law to Biz, and back to Sci with Physics classmates
Tue 18/04: Smsed her to wish her happy 22nd birthday, spent last nite looking at the cards she gave me. No reply as of now. Is this supposed to be relaxing in 1st place?
Wed 19/04: Chatted with physics classmates about vacations, shit..wrong time for this!!
Fri 21/04: Looked at fashion parade in Cosmetics exam, and marvelled @ claudia’s hamsters.. read this post
Sat 22/04: Watched GTO anime on youtube, currently on episode 13 (out of 43)
Sun 23/04 - Wed 26/04: Sporadic watching of GTO advanced the episode count to 23
Thurs 27/07: Nomination Day, nominated Huike as class rep, and she got a walkover. 1st task, arrow her to plan post-exam activities. 4th may soccer, 7th may canoeing, 8th may physics graduation lunch
Sun 30/04: Moped ard @ home, found new episodes of 我猜 on youtube…damn youtube!
Mon 01/05: Attended SDP rally @ woodlands stadium, went into JB for a ride to 2nd Link. 1 Ramly Burger down my throat, 11 litres of Petronas Primax into my bike..
Tues 02/05: Attended WP rally @ open muddy field in tampines with carlin n her fren..stood 2.5 hrs in mud n laughed @ teochew speeches that made sense
Wed 03/05: Eve of last paper..pondered about the flipflopping minister, advanced my GTO anime episode count to 31 (out of 43). Fuck torrents and youtube…
Personally I’m damn sick about all the James Gomez bull in the papers, with all the PAP leaders latching onto this issue and attacking his credibility. Actually the only thing that is clear from this whole saga is that PAP would not hesitate to sink to the levels of gutter politics if it means that they can score cheap points against an opponent.
Of cos nobody can beat Foreign Affairs Minister, and the PAP team leader for Aljunied GRC, George Yeo, who suggested that there’s nothing in the Constitution to prevent WP from dropping Gomez and competing with 4 ppl, instead of 5 in the team…
Number of Members to be returned for each electoral division and group representation constituency
22. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), each electoral division shall return one Member to serve in Parliament.
[10/88]
(2) Each group representation constituency shall return such number of Members to serve in Parliament as designated for that constituency by the President under section 8A (1) (a).
:
:
27A. —(1) In every general election of Members and the election of Members to supply vacancies caused by death, resignation or otherwise, the Members for any group representation constituency shall be elected in accordance with this Act subject to the modifications in this section.
(2) All elections in any group representation constituency shall be held on a basis of a group of such number of candidates as designated for that constituency by the President under section 8A (1) (a).
[10/88;9/91;42/96]
(3) Subject to subsection (4), any group that desires to contest in any election in any group representation constituency shall consist of such number of candidates as designated for that constituency by the President under section 8A (1) (a), all of whom shall either be —
(a) members of the same political party standing for such election for that political party; or
(b) independent candidates standing as a group.
[10/88;9/91;42/96]
(4) Where any group representation constituency is —
(a) a constituency designated under section 8A (1) (b) (i), at least one of the candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Malay community; or
(b) a constituency designated under section 8A (1) (b) (ii), at least one of the candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities.
I think this speaks for itself, WP by withdrawing Gomez would mean that the team fails to meet criteria of 5 members.
I’m reminded of South Park, Episode 808: Douche and Turd, when they parodised the 2004 US Presidential Elections Off the wiki entry
During a pep rally at South Park Elementary School, a local PETA group protests the use of a cow as a mascot. The school agrees to pick a new mascot, and the students are told to vote for a new mascot. Embarrassed by the bland choices, the kids decide to fill in a joke candidate but disagree as to whether it should be a “giant douche” or a “turd sandwich.”
Both are thrashy, take your pick.. do u want the one who attacks the other person’s credibility, or the other candidate who noes shit and does shit…check out the clip below
Tonite, a PAP rally perhaps?
Edit [3 May 8.26pm]: Do we want a Foreign Minister like this??
Dump Gomez, field 4-man slate: Yeo to WP
SINGAPORE: Renewing the call by the People’s Action Party (PAP) for the Workers’ Party (WP) to drop Mr James Gomez from its Aljunied slate, Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo on Tuesday said that a four-man team can go on to contest a five-member GRC.
There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent that, he said.
Speaking to reporters after an evening walkabout in Hougang Mall, which falls under the Aljunied GRC boundaries, Mr Yeo said the Workers’ Party should not be afraid.
“So what if you lose one candidate in the slate? Move on.”
He added: “We have a slate of five on each side - anything can happen to a person. But you carry on, the rest will carry on. Even in Parliament, if the representatives of a GRC - if one or two are unwell - the rest of them will represent the entire GRC.”
FM George Yeo says WP can drop Gomez after polling day
SINGAPORE : Foreign Minister George Yeo has clarified that Workers’ Party candidate James Gomez cannot withdraw from the five-man slate.
Mr Yeo, who is leading the PAP team for Aljunied GRC, had earlier suggested that Mr Gomez be dropped and the WP continues to contest with four candidates.
Speaking during a morning visit to Aljunied GRC, Mr Yeo says: “You can’t pull out, it’s already in the slate, you will enter the ballot paper but the party can say, “We will, after the elections, remove him from the party” or they can do it now. Then he can’t enter Parliament and he can’t take the oath of office.
“I think it’s best if the Workers’ Party were to drop him, and for the Aljunied elections to continue. They have a slate of four, we have a slate of five but doesn’t matter, even a slate of four can cover the constituency well.”
Mr Yeo also refuted claims by the WP that the PAP was engaging in “politics of distraction” by focusing on the James Gomez affair.
Mr Yeo called for a return to issues concerning Aljunied residents. - CNA/de
Who needs a by-election when you can play with 4 men..
ABOUT jkaiser:
jkaiser is a physics graduate, and alumni of a "world class university" of NUS, which raises fees every yr, known fondly to some as aNUS. As an alumni, he get lots of letters from aNUS to ask for donations. The future for him is bright by wasting taxpayers' money working as a civil servant, and trying to screw with the minds of our future generation
He enjoys time online, and generally talking cock with his buddies, offline and online, while trying really hard not to bitch about silly ppl n not getting sued, having come somewhat close to being screwed by an asshole of a company
He is happily single now, enjoying the company of his friends, male or female. There is a target in the horizon, but right now it is still the info-gathering stage..Everything in its time and place
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