just started and finished econs today. n got "commended" as the muggertoot by Lin Xin. thanks a million ar. how horrendous pple r now of those. they shuld think of themselves 1st, mugging for 2 weeks liao... then call pple who mugged one day as muggertoot? bah! muggertootiest u r! lol, just kiddin :D
No doubt this BT won't be too gd a one. confidence is not exactly at the highest, but still some decent grades can come out, if dedication n determination is grinded into the last few precious days.

the days now seem to be of less distraction. i even found distaste of most of the entertain readily available to me, save the pleasure of going online n chatting while listening to nice music. but mostly important, the availability of a clear unshrouded mind has been the most important link in making me able to study. things are always meant to learn along the way. and i'm glad to say at this critical junction, clearance of the mind has been mostly achieved, except for a minute portion which i believe to be unclearable.

so completes the transformation to a muggertoot

Sculpted@12:59 am

as i was slacking my day away today, my mum handed me a letter from the airforce. i didn't really had any connection wif them, so it beats me on wat was being sent. upon opening the contents, it indeed was quite a shock for me. pilot potential apparently ;) i rmb in j1, when my gp teacher asked me to talked abt my ambition for some ice-breaker thingy, i mentioned being a pilot. but then, i thot it was just a gd dream, now i seem to be able to transform that into a reality. despite being warned about the traps of SAF n MINDEF, this seems too gd a chance to miss out on. though they r many perks, such as the pay (damm high), scholarship, maybe some pride n glam, BUT there r the downsides to it. like it's a high risk job (this reminds me of labour econs), limited "careerspan", workplace would be in a military-dominant environment and a Out of course rate of 96%. also, there could be the problem of finding hard another job once my "careerspan" is done. nevertheless, shall just go sit for the 5 hour test and see what bores out of it.
besides, pilots need gd grades. something which i won't get unless i start muggin

Sculpted@11:04 pm

bah.. just when i wanted to slp, i decided to snack.
but it turned out to be gd, for i found my old cat high graduation cd. within it contained lots of videos, n a ppt. i must say looking at the photo, it does bring out laughs looking at how small n innocent i once were. and looking back at the delightful times i had in there, i cant help but feel for it. though now, i don't feel much for the current administration there... even though it's so close to my house, it's alien to me now... but the old cat high, that was different. there was the delicious canteen food, the crapping in class, the daily enjoyment of soccer. all these sorely missed... wat was most memorable was the trips n excursions out of singapore, out of school... so many of them... and all seems so nice n gd. yet, there's no doubt of a few bad memories here n there, but looking bad at it, those were just tiny spites of anger n pettiness. easily forgotten.
so now, though i rarely come into contact wif any of my sec. school frens, coz of jc n subj. combi choice... it was sadly true i nvr forged a strong n concrete bond wif most of my sec. school mates, but whenever we met on the streets or wat.. there would be always something to talk abt and joke abt. this is something not achievable wif anyone, even those that i know well in jc, it's kinda not possible.
pple say, sec school is where u find ur best frens. to this i have my doubts, but certainly, i enjoyed a great of my time in there... contrasting to now, on a holisitic n group lvl, cat. high was indeed much more exciting n grand. only on the individual, personal level, then can i feel beta for, in my jc.
sadly, the current on-goings now in the cat. high coporate has put me off totally.. from a school to a coroporation... as of my current enrolment, forms of such a metamorphsis is on it's way.
nevertheless, people defines the school. frens i would make out of the people. frens that last.

Sculpted@3:00 am

DISCLAIMER: SERIOUSLY LONG ENTRY
Online Photo albums : http://community.webshots.com/user/zstrome

Finally, I've gotten down to write abt my e.Europe trip. It's been exactly one week since I've touched down... and I simply lost count of the times that I was reminiscing my time in germany or Czech. Be it wif the dense club, or was it shopping, taking photos or concentrating for the late night games, the memory would be strongly instilled in my heart and mind. Okay... here's a rough run through of the activities of the days.

Day 1
Nothing much actually... just to be on board the Thai Airways Planes... from s'pore to Bangkok then off to Frankfurt. So mostly, was slping, eating, and resting. Was sitting for both flights beside Mr. Teh, one of the teachers chaperoning us there... was quite fun, for he taught german bridge and found out that he's an avid Newcastle fan. Don't worry; the magpies would be joining Leeds in the championship soon :).But at changi airport b4 I left, I was having a horrendous feeling that it was a mistake to come on such a trip. Coz I barely know anyone there, and the idea of isolation n boredom did wonders to unsettle me. Thankfully, I could not be more wrong. The trip was wonderful and frens and company were aplenty. I was wondering why m I the only j2 guy n non-historian person on the trip... and till now I have no answer to that question, but I'm jolly well glad that I've went. But must thank the people for welcoming and talking to me, if nt, the trip would not been so enjoyable.

Day 2
Stepped off the plane at Frankfurt, and took the cigarette machine there at the airport. Little would I know that second hand smoke would be a constant companion throughout the trip.

Smoking, a culture

Riding the coach to Weimar was the 1st stop. Walked around n Snapped a few posing photos and of the streets, nothing especially worthy of mention. Had authentic European food in a nice resturant, one of our only few there. Realised one major cultural difference. Europeans don't use plastic bags, even at supermarkets, for they pack them into their own bags. Environment friendly, I must say I was deeply impressed by such a high level of thot for the world... and looking back at Singapore, can't say the same, for Singapore has one of the world useage of dispoable plastic bags... shall learn to conserve more of such precious resources.
Another thing that stuck me was the countryside... hills after hills, fields after fields... it was simply green n beautiful... though I gt used to it after awhile, but still it was a very much welcomed change from concrete and bricks. Oso, saw cool wind powered generators.
Then after that was continuing journey to Berlin. I must say sitting in close proximity to teachers of history is indeed an enriching experience. Learned much throughout the trip from Mr. Teh, about the various sights and scenes of West n East Berlin... the museums and exhibitions oso provided a wealth of information that I found interesting.It was in Weimar/Berlin, where I got most of my choc, drinks and my premium lemon candies :) yes, the pillows in germany are real fluffy n big. The only plus side abt their hotels...

Day 3
Berlin Hotel's breakfast is the best of the entire trip... so enjoyed it while I was there... the rest were not really worth mentioning. Then met our guide for the day, this tall guy with a few funny quotes and antics. The ultimate one when some of the girls of the group rushed and wanted to take photos wif him, he flashed a smirk and grin to me. It said "ha! See my popularity wif girls!"

The smirking n grining guide

That aside, was brought to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. It was indeed an eye-opener as well as a solemn sight.

Motto of the Nazi camps

Which Triangle r u?

Nothing could really describe the scene I saw that... best I can is to say that though it was cheery, sunny and windy that day, within the compound, I sense nothing but a silent and heavy solemn feeling throughout. No many a joke was made in there... and learned abt the Jews "putting stones on a rock when visiting graves" custom. Lunch was self paid, so I opt to try Nordsee, authentic german fast food. Some of the girls I went with tried dunkin dounts.

Gd lunch!

Next stop was at Wannsee Conference Memorial. Learned abt the final resolution, where Hitler planned n executed the systematic killing of Jews. Kinda adhered to way my Gp teacher mentioned abt the 7 steps of genocide... I always thot it was nothing but a theory, yet there I could see it manifesting in reality... it just simply chilling. Then stopped by at the Allied Museum, learned a fair bit of the cold war. The clashing of ideology and thots vividly displayed and seen. Then visited the Reichstag wif its interesting dome.

Reichstag dome's spine

Nothing much except a few photos here.

L for Losers!

Somehow the mixture of modern and ancient buildings didn't really seem to make Berlin Skyline any pretty...

Day 4
Woke up wif an insane act. Jogging in shorts n t-shirt in the morning... doing that in 10 degrees Celsius isn't too smart an idea... But it was indeed refreshing. Managed to sweat a bit but hands were frozen over, thanks to ben for his gloves, which made me still able to feel my hands.
Checkpoint Charlie and the topography of terror simply topped off the historical learning part of the trip.
Human Terrors

More information provided. Then the visits of the castles began. 1st up was the Prussian castle in Potsdam.

Prussian Palace

Rich pple the Prussians are... spend so much to build such structures... but then again, they infused many meanings and ideas into their constructions, which made it a pleasure to witness. Just some random trivia. Prussians didn't use water for washing... for they feared that water carried diseases. It was even certified about by their doctors. No camera within palace grounds and had to wear slippers over our shoes to protect n preserve the palace. Brandenburg gate was up next. Icon of berlin, thus was a must see. Took the official ONE EURO "debut album" picture there.

ONE EURO!

“ONE EURO” is the rap group consisting of the four guys on the trip, wif yichao the main artist. Coz Mr. Teh once saw yichao dressed like a rapper, and thus coined the name ONE EURO, derived from the real rap group, 50 cents.
Now, must mention the Berlin Hotel and it wonderful facilities. The whirlpool and the sauna!! So soothing and fun. Was the only guy from the tour that was ard there... and was in company of the ladies. Not exactly that type of fun and enjoyable as u all would think, but I liked more of the water n heat n sweat. The thot of being alone n silent for awhile, oso sat quite well with me. So I enjoyed myself there for 2 nights, even "worked out" at the gym once. The ladies whom went there had a culture shock, according to them, of see-ing naked men in the sauna... while they were busy being embarrassed and shying away, I couldn't help it but laugh silently to myself. But after awhile, to quote my fren, they "got used to the sight of naked men."

Day 5
Travelling from Berlin to Prague, the city of a hundred spires. Stopped by at Dresden for 4 hours to walk and stretch. Shopped a bit, brought some nice stuff and ate ice creams again. Throughout the whole trip, it was seriously at least an ice cream per day, except for days on the plane. First insight of Czech didn't turn up to well... seems like a place full of vices... from the border to the city center, there was like at least 10 prostitution houses with live models "on display". Quite a shocking sight to behold to say the least. Seems the touch of communism that tainted Czech has still a strong effect... even the development of capitalism within does not have much effect on the revitalization of the country.

Day 6
Prague castle visit... not too impressive... but I liked the stained glass and gold design of the cathedral. Was very very squeezy. Zzz... shopping at Charles Bridge vicinity was much better. Had some free time to shop n roam about, including time for lunch. Went wif my "shopping partners". Somehow when it comes to shopping, I end up wif the same old few pple... maybe of conflicting interest wif others over things to look at. Anyway, had the best lunch in Europe there in Prague. Mixed grill, with fries, nice herbs, and an ice cream!!!! Was very full and happy after that, was very worthwhile, for we searched quite some time to find a place to eat. Then after that peak of happiness, Czech discrimination set in. When looking in a chess shop, the shopkeeper came over and questioned our understanding of the English sign displayed there and warned us not to touch but to see only in an extremely condescending tone. Jolly well wished that I had something nice in Czech to shoot him back, but unlike my English, I had 0 capability wif the Czech language. Faced a few instances of other minor discrimination here and there, but nothing was comparable to the Czech waiter whom chased out 7 of the tour grp out of the resturant, coz they didn't order a pizza each. Though the European culture of not sharing food is evident but it was pushing it a bit fair, that Czech waiter... gd thing I wasn't there, for it would have spoilt my mood... but to hear is oso sickening enough. Seems that upon the downfall of communism, it has resulted in an overly capitalist ideal where cash talks only. Enough of ranting on discrimination brought many a few nice things in Prague as well. Mostly nice hand made stuff, which was reasonably priced. Oso caught sight of European hindus there.

European Hindus


Day 7
Zoomed away from Czech to Munich. Mood was quite gd on the bus. As always, there was the slping during these long journeys, but there was the idle chatter and playing of cards. Reached Munich rather early, ate a 4pm lunch, 6.30pm dinner. Amazingly, I was able to eat n felt hungry even after all that... Treated my "shopping partners" to Hagan Das Ice cream... same price as the local stores. Anyway, was cajoled to do, coz they demanded STJ... n I was the only j2 there... wth... and sadly, I don't see JTS in sight :(
Also, had an "amazing" run in with authentic German weather... while alighting off the bus, which drove off to find parking after that, the rain POURED down on us, soaking us totally... we couldn't find any shelter and just stood there finding cover from trees, soaking all the water for like 10 mins... then suddenly, someone spotted a bus stop, and most of us dashed there with the speed of the wind. And the moment, we reached the shelter of the bus stop, the rain STOPPED. It's was simply wtf. And it's all true, no exaggerating on my part. The time frame of each event is simply accurate and precisely orchestrated... all to make a fool out of the whole lot of us.

Day 8
It was clearly by now that the formation of the dense club™ was cemented. It consists of ben, yichao, mr. Teh, me, Lin Xin and Jessie, in descending order of density. From D1 (ben) to Jessie (D6).

Dense Club™

A bit of history, the word dense was introduced by me as a unkind remark on some of my tour members after some nite card playing round... so I feel rather bad abt it...then Mr. Teh caught on the word and used it once to explain the eccentric behavior of Ben n YC. Ben did extreme dumb things and poses, while YC goes around fortune telling for everyone. Then Jessie n LX heard it and used it to describe everything that Ben n YC did after that. So was the founding of the dense club with ben n YC. Then after awhile, their denseity spreaded to Mr. Teh n me. I did many idiotic things... and had gd laughs abt it, so we became members of the dense club. What cemented Jessie and LX position in the club, was them locking themselves out of their hotel room, by going out w/o their keys. So there, the 6 members of the club. Jessie n LX even drew on each of our hands wif specific nicknames n numbers to signify official membership into the dense club. Lol @ dense club. But it was great fun and enjoyment throughout :).
Most noteworthy event of day 8 was Schloss Neuschwanstein, Castle Neuschwanstein.

neushwanstein, the fairytale castle

Built by king Ludwig II, declared mad. But to me, he was a genius though he depleted his entire treasury to build only one third of the castle. It's simply beautiful. For aesthetic sake, the trip to the castle would be sufficed to meet all my expectation of the trip. Built within the mountains, by the lake, overlooking a town.
From the marien bridge

The lake

Peaceful and tranquil, yet gentle and majestic. How I wished I lived in the castle for a day or 2 like a real royalty...... Words cant describe fully the effect of the castle... What makes it even more memorable was I took many of a precious photo on the bridge wif the castle as the background.
Then had a true German dinner. Filled wif meat n beer.

generous dinner

last beers

Think I drank a whole large mug of beer, playing all the beer games. Was rather high throughout. The sausage was fabulous, still can remember the feeling and taste coursing through my tongue then... salivating now, I am.For the last night in a hotel room, we played the lame guessing games, like Black magic, Coffee and Tea, bang bang bang, who die, Johnny whoosh n many many more... had an enjoyable time. YC face of horror and angst at guessing the pattern could only be rivaled by Mr. Teh holding his head in despair at guessing. Guessed everyone enjoyed themselves that nite, for we played till 3am, where everyone then dragged themselves wearily back to their rooms. Tired but sastified.

Day 9 & day 10
Decided to rope both days together, cause nothing much to say. Mainly shopping, going to the Olympic grounds (where we sat a simulator ride, filled wif faked screms), Lindenburg palace, airport, boarding the homebound plane and arriving back in the humid and hot weather of Singapore.

Olympic Venue

Swan Lake

And oso to suffer from jet lag as well. And to get playing Dota again... more importantly to get started for mugging. Was a relatively empty flight back, so was able to choose and swap seats w/o much issues. Was glad of it.

Trip was great, to put it simply. How I wish that I was still there... but practicalities are once again overriding. The mugging season is in. I've uninstalled Dota, arranged my stuff, finished Narnia. All points to studying.

Sculpted@12:15 am

Just finished reading the narnia series. it's been wat i call an exciting read, to say the least. a world beyond worlds cannot simply be pen down, but i just read evidence of such a feat. even the infusion of some philosophy and character into the series simply stand to enhance the value of the time spent reading. this is wat life shuld be able.. reading books of value, savouring every letter of it. not spent studying for things which would eventaully cause one to wrapped in a rat race and lose direction n sense.
C.S Lewis has painted almost every aspect of the world richly and filled with colours. from within to the north, south, east n west. truthfully, he left out some juciy bits which is best left to imagination as well.. though it's a bit off age for me to read, but things in life occur for reasons and i believe such my childhood lost has been made back up to me at this rather interesting junction of my life.
oh well, somehow i just wish Aslan the lion would take me to inner Narnia.

Sculpted@2:13 am

zzz.. was supposed to blog about my e.europe trip in recent times.. but i dont really have the mood to do so..
mind is swirling about a few certain things.. wat choice to make and that the things that has always been occuring to me.. how to handle them. whether to expunge them or to accept it or to find a way around it. can't really concentrate.. been finding modes of distraction just to give myself peace n quiet... be it some random book or computer game.. i just dont want to lapse back into thinking of all the stuff n the myraid of possibilities. the ever rising and ebbing of hope interchanging wif despair. yet, practicalities of the world are catching up on me.. 2 wks to school start.. work needs to be done.
i had hope the e.europe trip would help me exorcise some thots n feelings. true that some hauntings have been nicely purged, yet a new angel has found her way to once again filled my daydreams. of wat i hope was that there would be no more remnants, so i would be able to rest my floating heart, but it seems that i unless i find another anchor, then will it stop being a vagabond.

Sculpted@9:06 pm

okay.. am wanting to blog abt my histoey east europe trip.. but i realise it's kinda lengthy and will take a few days. will type out in word 1st, b4 transferring. then will have to figure out how to picture blog as well for the matter. so will take some time. only hope that i wont forget the feeling n excitement by the time i'm done. meanwhile, shall compile fully all my photos first.

Sculpted@7:07 pm