the next big thing to look out for on the blogosphere:
Four Cities in Europe

happy birthday ping! mark the faces before some of us are flown off for exchange!

merry christmas! victims of the wearable gift exchange lol.

- photos taken using lana's new lx3 camera.

helloo wei, this post goes out to you specially :)


away from the bustling activity happening at town, into the laidback surroundings of ecp. no turkey, no crabs. just simple fare and great company!




poprings are absolute ♥!


and the bread monsters continue their adventure at hkcafe this time!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

it's half past five in the morning and i'm still wide awake! the body clock's been acting pretty insanely these days; i can't sleep till after 3 and i wake up arnd noon, contrary to the usual days where i sleep the entire afternoon away.
few days ago, i finally dropped the bomb on my father regarding the impending exchange trip. to my surprise, he did not have any violent objection and told me to go ahead if that was what i wanted. my mom, however, seemed to become more reluctant to let me go as the date draws near. sometimes i can't help but feel selfish for leaving the family behind to pursue my own interests but (the "but"s!) at the same time, i don't want to be restrained by such a responsibility and live to regret my decision later. let's just hope it's a passing phase and everyone will be happy in a while!

my review on two movies i caught recently - quarantine and twilight.

quarantine
"on march 11, 2008, the government sealed off an apartment complex in los angeles. the residents were never seen again. no details. no witnesses. no evidence. until now."
this was how the television trailer went and i thought it was going to be a pretty interesting thriller worthy of a cinema trip. five minutes into the movie, juls and i were wondering if we were in the right theatre. fifteen minutes later, you have a mad and bloody old woman pouncing onto people and ripping the throats out of them. a rat which happened to scramper across the room got violently stepped on, flat; intestines and blood bursted out onto the floor. total grosteque.
basically, this is a movie revolving around a rabies outbreak in humans. outside the quarantined apartment, you have the government assuring the oblivious public that everyone has been evacuated and necessary actions were being taken to control the situation. inside the apartment, with all networks cut off and swat snipers ready to shoot at any escapees, the trapped residents were left to fend for their own lives. lots of savagery and gore where human beings readily axed fellow beings in the race to stay alive.
a recurring theme about ethics in troubled times which has been explored many so often in movies but still leaves one with no answers. unless you're in for stomach churning (literally) blood and gore, i'd suggest you give the show a miss.

twilight
went to catch the sneak preview of the movie adaptation for the first book of the much raved about vampire trilogy - twilight with my sister yesterday after work. as some of you may know, i'm a total sucker (pun unintended lol) for vampires so i was more than happy to read the books when juls introduced me to the series earlier last sem. i even managed to convert my sister from a non-reader to a twilight fan!
in short, the twilight saga is a story of forbidden love, set in high school, which could be easily related to, as compared to conventional vampire novels about the seductive vampire and the alluring damsel. i didnt think much of the characters after reading the books as i felt that they were being overly and annoyingly reliant on each other, something which i cannot comprehend. isabella swan, the damsel in distress literally, was whining throughout the four books which irritated me a great deal. edward cullen, despite the near-perfection description given in the book, was being way too protective and loving towards bella, whom i thought dint deserve it, for my liking.
however, robert pattinson's portrayal of edward cullen really got me. he brought edward cullen alive and totally charmed me AWW. those who've watched the movie will know what i mean.
anyway, back to reality, safe for my bias towards robert pattinson, i thought the movie was average on the whole and fell a little short of expectations. the casting, for one, was not what i had expected. kirsten stewart's depiction of bella only made the character more detestable; rosalie wasn't as attractive; alice wasn't as petite and so on. watching the movie having read the book made it harder. i was trying to compare the two things the entire time it felt rather tiring. thanks to robert pattinson for the much needed distraction though! nevermind all the negative feedback; i'd strongly recommend the movie for the girls out there!

i'm working at taka toy fair from tues-sun. do drop by to visit the bored soul if you have the time!

kudos to myself for completing the half marathon race this morning in three and a half hours! mediocre results but satisfactory for me nonetheless. echoing what the emcee at the starting point said, "it's not about finishing the race, it's about having the courage to be here."
interesting happening of the race. blame it on pre-race anxiety or whatever, i wanted to go to the toilet before the race started. i guess i wasn't the only one who felt this way. five minutes into the race, guys were dashing into the bushes. it was really quite an amusing sight.
i think i managed to learn quite a bit from the race which would be useful for future marathons. for one, do empty the bladder before the starting the race lest you be subject to much inconvenience later on. more importantly, while running is very much a mental thing, sheer perseverance is not enough to tide you through the entire race. i only have my lack of discipline to blame for my current pathetic plight. am relying on salonpas to relieve the aching joints and muscles!
despite having said that, i'm almost certain i won't take part again in any more running events, not at least without some proper training which i am totally too lazy for. one experience is good enough for me :) respect goes out to those who completed the full marathon! well done, richard!

went to collect the standchart race pack ytd at the expo with richard. yes, tomorrow's the run! goodness grief i haven't trained much and was down with sore throat and flu just yesterday. i've been trying to drink lots of water and stuck to porridge diet in a last minute, desperate attempt to be in good shape for the run. thankfully, the ulcer which has been bugging me for the entire week is recovering and the sore throat is almost gone :) anyway, i've always felt that running is more of a mental than physical thing so hopefully, i can pull myself through the run tmr!

after collecting our race packs, richard and i went to have lunch at this peranakan restaurant called baba king. yup riding on the nonya wave following the channel 8 drama. i really know nothing about nonya food; the food served were not bad but i think i prefer to eat nonya kueh :)

Dear Hui Hui!
We have reserved your housing application and your deposit and we are looking forward to welcoming you in Graz in the summer semester. According to your demand we have reserved a room in the following student dormitory for you:
period of rent: 15.02.2009-30.06.2009
address in Graz:
Studentenheim GREENBOX
Eggenberger Allee 31/1/11/47
A-8020 Graz
It is a single room, fully furnished, no. 47 Top 11, 1st floor. Greenbox is built in form of apartments – 4-6 students per apartment, one common kitchen, 2 bathrooms. You have to share the bathroom and the kitchen with other students. The room is fully equipped, but you have to bring pillows and blankets, sheets, and some dishes and plates for your personal use. The student dormitory is well equipped; there are common rooms, internet connection in the rooms, washing machines, sauna etc.

just received this in the email! with the exams done (results are coming back and not looking up to my expectations; so much for trying not to hope too much), it's time to be looking forward to exchange next year! i didn't expect the dormitory to be apartment style (i confess that i haven't actually done much research and simply went with the crowd) i don't really like the idea of having people live under the same roof as me; it makes me feel that i don't have much personal space to myself. but on a positive note, there're 2 bathrooms in the apartment! i have this thing against sharing toilets (it's a girls' thing i think) two toilets shared among 4-6 people definitely sounds better than an entire level sharing one. i hope i get nice and fun housemates!

exams came to an end last saturday. i'm much thankful for that. the four papers seemed alright so we'll see when the results come back. i'm hoping to do well this sem to justify a well-deserved break for the next six months but at the same time, trying not to get my hopes up for fear of disappointment.
despite ending the exams, it's sad to say that school hasn't quite ended for me because of a pending project which has evolved from being exciting to utterly dreadful with the client's incessant demands and the miscommunication between the client, the prof and the team. well, hopefully things will change for the better after tmr.
anyway speaking of communication, after working on the client consultancy project and relating to much personal experience (i'm also currently reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"), i've come to realize that communication is something which is often understated in our lives. true enough, everyone knows that effective communication is important but if you think again, how many of us really understand the essence of it and how to achieve it? i'm still trying to figure that out in my own way but from what i gather so far, i'd say that the fundamental obstacles deterring effective communication are personality differences and information asymmetry, the latter often being the underlying cause of most conflicts. while some people may argue that this view is inherently flawed, that information can never be perfect, i feel that it is not entirely impossible, in a figurative manner, with much faith and tolerance. how many times have you jumped to conclusions quickly only to realize later that you've misjudged the situation? many times, i'd say for myself, as much as i try to make a conscious effort to consider other perspectives which could alter the situation. so my take, always give the benefit of doubt whenever possible and make the world a much happier place.