how man.

realised i have zero interest in how france/europe/sea was like in the past. don't care what the people were like, what they thought, what they did.

should have totally stuck to science instead of trying to be clever and jump the wagon.

last day):

today, 24th august 2010, marks my last day of official duty as a station host at hortpark. today is officially the last time i'm contributing to the exploration journey segment of the culture and education programme, which is almost the backbone of the inaugural youth olympic games held in singapore.

a flurry of feelings tsunami-ed in my brain and heart when we were all gathered together for our last debrief. sure, these days i've been skipping some lectures and some home-cooked dinner, but i've been in company of the awesome hortpark family. we've been working together whether rain or shine, sweating together, gossiping together, playing monopoly deal together, setting up our stations together, and the list goes on. nobody does anything alone.

this kinda feels like graduation. leaving a phase of life which i have prepared a great deal for, where i have learnt many skills, where i have made many friends, which i have made some sacrifices for, which at times i thought was absolutely troublesome, and which turned me into a better person.

like leaving school, i honestly don't know what to expect after today. my life will change, but how exactly? my life will return to normal, but do i remember what it used to be? will i spend my saturdays as meaningful as i have in weeks prior to the games? what will happen to my yog uniform? will we still remain a closely-knit family? or will we go our separate ways and leave all the memories simply as what they are?

from a more macro point of view, after yog, how different will singapore be? what happens after all the decoration has been taken down? what will singaporeans remember yog as? what will the athletes and team officials share with their family and friends when they return home? how differently will the world see singapore?

so many uncertainties, but one thing is clear-- i will miss this experience.

what dog food?

temasek review has been brainwashing singaporeans. not all volunteers are given pathetic food.

i'm a volunteer for the youth olympic games. i volunteered. i was not volunteered. i willingly put my name down since 2008, shortly after the announcement that singapore has won the bid.

i am now a station host team leader at hortpark. my venue manager and his team of syogoc staff are working very hard to ensure that volunteers are well-fed.

during every training session prior to the games, we were given both lunch and tea break. lunches were most of the time lunch boxes that could cost up to $5 each. once, we had pizza with chicken wings and bengawan solo kuehs for tea break. we also had old chang kee's fried items before. during the last combined training, we even celebrated the birthdays of volunteers with a huge birthday cake. everyone was given a slice after the cake-cutting.

below shows what i had for lunch on my 18th august duty:

rice with a chicken dish, a fish dish, vegetable, and a fried dumpline. with dessert. to be fair, fruits aren't served to us everyday, but we definitely get four items with our rice plus dessert. and free flow of coke/100plus/mineral water from the fridge. at my station, there's also a water dispenser to keep us volunteers (and athletes who come by) hydrated.

i know we're on the topic of food but i have to say this: i am really honoured to be part of the hortpark team. we're like one big family, everyone are friends with each other, we talk to the staff like we're good friends and we actually miss the people who are in the other shift.

traditions live

having a laptop makes taking notes during lectures much more convenient, but i just labelled four notebooks (little paper books) with my module codes.

but i prolly should tryout onenote. though having my notes in an intangible form still doesn't put my mind at ease.

i don't mind having my readings floating about in the world wide web though, saves my wallet. i hope using the laptop to read one page contributes less than 4.5cents to the electricity bill =X

journey of the youth olympic flame

today's relay is scheduled at around my neighbourhood, and my dad even applied for leave to witness it. and i saw the relay right in front of my eyes!

it was a long wait for a few short seconds. we stood at the junction since 9am, but didn't see police vehicles till 9.45. there was a huge parade of vehicles, including open-top buses from coca cola and samsung. then came the media truck, with the runners following behind.

a bunch of guys were doing the relay, and they ran every stretch together so there wasn't a real torch-passing moment. i've got to scrounge around for photos of the guys though, since my camera battery went flat just before they ran past. and i didn't get to replace battery in time. so i've only got photos of the front of the entourage and the aftermath.

post them when i'm back from school!

totally serves you right steph..

..for having a bbq straight after o week. for being such a food lover that carcinogens didn't matter.

now i'm down with sore throat, running nose and cough.

ndp last night. sebas was on tv wiping his face with my wet tissue. a friend called him to announce that. funny shit totally going to watch encore just for that. and honestly, ndp is better than yog cr3! hopefully they've spruced it up for the eyes of the world in FOUR days. omgomgomg 4-freaking days.

day one of school was lonely. and i couldn't find the arts club recruitment booth though i paced across the as1/6 pathway twice. shall try again tomorrow. lecture was okay. 1545 bell made me jump a little. how come no seniors warned us of that alarm!

approached dr F to say that i'll be away for a lecture cuz of YOG. i thought i'd get a "sucks to be you i'm not gonna do anything for just one student" kinda answer but no, he was nice and looked like he was genuinely searching for a way out for me! very very touched!

found people to accompany me tomorrow! day two will be lonely no more, yay me(:

need to ask: how to connect to nus wireless! and how to go print readings!

i think i wanna get subscription to today. but like that might as well get straits times right.

i'm a proud owner of

my laptop!

dad was so behind time that when my mom and i came back with the new purchase he said, "owning a laptop at under 20 years old is not easy."

maybe he meant it as not easy because not many people can survive not owning a laptop for that long? idk.

and i need to refresh my academic essay writing skills. need to start cheeming up my arguments. need to put capital letters back into my sentences.