Monday, December 07, 2009
1 month break!
After a month of sleepless nights.....EXAMS ARE OVER!!! Now it's the time to think about what to do during this break....
1. Planning of next semester's timetable is daunting. There are modules you want to take but can't and those you need to take out of no choice. Don't understand why do we need to study defense science and entrepreneurship as core electives. It's not like we want to establish many other DSTA-look-alike private companies on our own.
Up till now, I still can't accept the school's stand and rebuttal on the notion of S/U options before the release of exam results. It's not a decision based on right or wrong, but basing their reason on letting undergraduates to broaden their disciplines and not wanting them to use it as a tool to manipulate their GPAs.
True enough, students will be able to take other modules out of their regular modules from their majors. Students will be able to get better basic insights on other disciplines like humanities, business and science.
However, they just can't accept the problem which may arise from this side of the story, whereby students will just take a module having in mind to S/U that module already. These students will not be even interested to know more about the course but just take it and pass it so as to get a 'S'.
Having S/U options after the release of exams results has its advantage. Students will study well for that module to get the best results they can get. If there's a 'freak' result (something less than a B+), students can then choose 'S' instead of a lettered grade, which might affect the GPA.
The latter scenario is much better choice to broaden a student's perspective in other disciplines as they'll try to study as hard as any other modules and try not to use up S/U options. Even if they were to use S/U after they knew their results, at least they have put their heart and mind in studying and get interested with that module.
Critics may say that students may have settled to S/U a module even before exams and not study it well even though the options is after the release of exam results. Isn't this the problem which may also arise from the side of the story the school is leaning on?
So which choice is more sound? The choice where students will choose to S/U a module which they can't be bothered about and probably even get a poor grade in order to maintain their GPA, or the choice where students will study hard for all modules but still need to S/U a module to maintain their GPA?
2. O4S3A movie outing, steamboat gathering and x'mas gathering. Don't know what are we watching, don't know what are we getting for steamboat and not sure whether x'mas gathering is going to be possible...as of now. lolx
3. '77' gang almost 1 year long-awaited gathering. Probably this week?
Fact about my blogs:
People from Singapore, USA, Germany, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Lithuania, Malaysia, Indonesia, Slovenia, Brazil, Ireland, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, Taiwan, Egypt and India read or came to my blog before! hahaha =)
DSZeng scribbled this at 7:13 PM
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
long awaited break
This new semester is getting too fast!! Who doesn't agree with this statement?! That's why I took such a long time for this latest entry. lol....1 month 3 weeks to be exact...
Let's see what happened during these period...
-received Ms Jazilah's treat on the 21st Aug at olive & fig at vivo after I got my TA
-Suffered alot during lab this semester. Some of the Teaching Assistants treat us like how NSFs are treated during NS. We ought to know what to do during lab even though we do not know much of the procedures/administrative stuffs. After learning the ropes for the pass 5 sessions, I think most of us are getting the hang of getting out of trouble by acting busy, 'siam' those CSM-like TAs when we see one coming, no eye-contact with TAs, learn to hide our flaws, extend our lab network with those doing the same experiment etc...
-Had 2 mid-term tests and done 1 report on a concert. CBC213 was crap after making a stupid mistake, but I have confidence to score well for HS814. To think that I will score better for 'Social Inequalities' than 'Organic Chemistry'! The concert report was kind of tedious as most of the time is spent on translating English to Chinese. What's worst is translating music jargons! =x
-'77' gang's suggested gatherings was an anticipated flop even before semester. Will we ever meet this coming Sunday? No replies yet...lolx
Back to slacking...
DSZeng scribbled this at 7:25 PM
Sunday, August 09, 2009
MOE TSPC 2009
It was at the MOE Teaching Scholarship Presentation Ceremony that I found out there were even more ex-NYJCians who applied for the TA. lol Also saw a circle of CBC peers.
Nothing much at the rehearsals; just need to know where to sit, where to stand and how to walk. But I felt most of the time we were practicing how to be an audience. lol
Taken after the rehearsal before lunch...so of the NYJCians I didn't know of...haha
me, ms chiew, shane and yong xiang
Will I be posted to zhong hua sec/yang zheng pri/maris for attachment next year?
The holidays are holding on to its final day...=(
DSZeng scribbled this at 4:44 PM
Saturday, August 01, 2009
events for the past fortnight
20/7:
I was feeling like I'm one of the working class group who rushes not to work but to board squeeze through in the public transport in the early morning. The MOE TA induction course was enriching and philosophically inspiring but not totally necessary as certain episodes of the program could have been either done during out meet-up session previously or just forgo it. lol But the idea of having free tea-break and lunch wasn't that bad afterall~ =p
Saw a few familiar faces of NYJC...
24/7:
It was a day of museum-hopping with leslie, lim, zhen cong and zheng yu. First-off was Da Vinci Exhibition at SSC. The exhibits wasn't that spectacular but the secrets found, or rather the assumptions made, was quite an eye-opener. (Especially the one on the history of Mona Lisa and The Last Supper)
Mint the museum of toys was next. If you're born in the 80s and beyond, you might not find much to reminisce about, really. 'Cause there were no sight of POWER RANGERS! lol I think it's more suitable for those born in the 50s to 70s era. =)
Due to being free admission, we went to SAM to enrich ourselves in the realm of arts in many aspects. The photography section was more appealing; the rest was totally disengaged. Science students are advised to get pretty bored at most of the galleries.
Dinner was vegetarian as john wasn't with us. LOLx Nah, it was because the auntie was so hard-selling that we over-ordered and can't order other food from other stalls to share. In the end, we accompanied zheng yu to be a vegetarian for that night.
29/7:
Mt phone rang at 07 00 hours. It has been approximately 2 months since my phone rang at such a timing. Opportunity knocks at the most unpredictable moment. Maris (sec) actually called me for the first time (to be more specific Mrs Tan-Chin =) ) for relief teaching and I've no reason to object!
To my second surprise, eric was also called but it only came to my knowledge when he sms-ed me. lol We went macs for lunch at around 14 00 and talk cock until 15 minutes before 18 00! (which was the time I was suppose to meet 04S3A for some boardgames =x)
I wasn't that late afterall! lol Ho kong (+gf), johnny, leslie, lim, zhen cong and zheng yu (+random character) went to minds cafe for some fun although the ending came with a mind-boggling inquiry for the cheapest receipt! xD
30/7:
Declined to both relief teaching offered to me on this day to go for the treetop trail with leslie, lim and zhen cong at 09 00 at MacRitchie reservoir. By the time we walked out of our mini-expedition, it was already about 14 00! It was great going back to nature but the nature didn't seem to be what it is. Nothing much to see other than the repeated memory of the almost exact trail-track and a dozen of monkeys lurking around. I even suspect that those sounds made from insects/birds were coming from some faraway speakers! hahaha
Evening was 'suppose' to go to SCH for the SYF closing ceremony for CO but it turned out to be at the esplanade instead! Fortunately julian called me, if not ken and I would have gone to SCH stupidly.
DSZeng scribbled this at 5:33 PM
Sunday, July 19, 2009
when guitar meets 中阮...
Before Earth meet a full lunar eclipse on the 22nd this month, guitar met 中阮 just this evening. lol
The most anticipated concert for having played all the 3 movements of 《云南回忆》！
Being old and out of touch with 中阮，刘星 had a hard time during rehearsals and even on the actual concert for 《云南回忆》。Although he's technically inapt, his rendition of this self-composed song was actually great! Anyway, credit should still be given to him even though he made some glitches in the concert as it ain't an easy feat to complete this concerto even for a young adult! lol
Manuel Barrueco's guitar performance was rather safe...at least comparing with 刘星. However, his 基本功 in guitar can be clearly 'seen' through his performance. lol
All in all, both the soloists performance was rather sterile in their tones. Maybe it's the age of the piece, but anyway it's a once in a lifetime to hear 《云南回忆》complete and a guitar+中阮 concerto all in a night! lol
DSZeng scribbled this at 12:12 AM
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
funny advert on singapore
Japan's ANA created an advert on spending your weekends abroad...to singapore! lol
DSZeng scribbled this at 2:40 PM
Sunday, July 05, 2009
XXII again!
The cake was fantastic. Any cake with crispy waffle biscuits or crisps is super-licious! It's from Rive Gauche (sounds like some geometric isomer...) - グアナジャ (Guanaja). "A french top quality bitter sweet chocolate mousse and ganache, with two layers of chocolate sponges. Comes with a bottom layer of crispy biscuit." Great!
Didn't expect to have a basketball as a present! With a personalised bball, there's no need to borrow from people anymore! Double Great!!
This was the first BBQ I've been to with all the food consumed...well almost...if you cover 1 eye for a couple of prawns + chicken wings + fish. lol
Anyway, thanks for the surprise celebration well executed~ =)
DSZeng scribbled this at 12:17 PM
Friday, July 03, 2009
22nd birthday
Thanks for all those well-wishes from you guys out there! =) Really appreciate it. Like what Eric blogged, a birthday is merely a normal day but families and friends made it a special day. =)
For those who sent pass midnight... ....SLEEP EARLY LAH! lolx
Credit still goes out to leslie, lim, low, xiao hui and zhen cong for celebrating with me and treating me to dinner and dessert! =)
We dined at the Japanese Gourmet Town at Vivocity. Ordered a curry pork katsu and potatoes+cheese. The potatoes+cheese is quite good, with a thick wedge+melted chesse+corn, but only when it's piping hot. The curry is abit too salty and not that spicy. However, the pork fillet has the honorary mention for being crispy and soft. The outdoor tables ought to be changed as the condensed water from the cups dripped through the holes of the table, and they feel sticky to...6.5/10.
Dessert was at Haagen Dazs. Chocolate explosion doesn't looks like it. From the chemistry point of view, it's like what you get while testing for hydrogen gas in a small test tube...a surprising 'pop' sound which flattens out in a second. The brownie need to enter the sauna; a tad too hard. The service was quite unexpected as they still remembered our orders. 7/10.
We gave a 25% off voucher we got after our billing to a big family nearby. Their reaction was quick to grab the voucher and pass it to the cashier before everything was too late. They must be from Singapore. lolx
And the pages continued to be scribbled with words of friendship... ...
DSZeng scribbled this at 1:17 PM
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
first night cycling
Just had a last minute decision to go for NYCO chalet at ECP coasta island and an impromptu night cycling event yesterday.
It was a day full of events. Early in the morning had to return to raffles medical for my blood + urine tests and had to wake up at 06 45! Thought that the hospital will open it registration the same time as its operating hours. But I was 45 minutes earlier! Registration starts at 08 30 and there wasn't any form of queueing system prior to registration, giving those who came early, and could be in time to rush in line once the registration opens, a disadvantage. They should improve their customer service...private hospital leh!
Anyway, went back home thinking that I could sleep alittle but didn't! lol Went for a quick bath and then met jon jr., julian and siu hon + other current nyco people at parkway parade at 16 30. Took a taxi to the chalet. The classic joke of the day is one of them waved for a taxi and told the taxi uncle "I want to go chalet!". LOL! Isn't it like telling him "Uncle! I want to go home!" Screwdriver! haha (private joke)
Only had a plate full of beehoon, 1 crab stick and 1/3 of bbq peppered dory fish. The bbq production line was too slow for so many people! lol
We had a talk-cock session in the upper room and it was really training our abs while laughing so much! hahaha All the gossips, arrowing, blame pushing etc...
It lasted till about 23 30 before we prepare for our night cycling journey with casper, estelli, eugene, jon jr., loba, siu hon, yu cheng and zhi wen. Firstly, we headed to geylang in search for the 豆浆油条. We went round and round before we asked for directions from afew stall holders. Finally we found the 永和 shop! The 烧饼油条 was quite a creative idea, but the 油条 lost it crispiness (maybe they used the less fresh ones =x). After which, we rode all the way to the singapore flyer (stopping at the starting line of the F1 racing site). Took a few lame photos and even tried to race! Esplanade was the final pit-stop and we rested awhile there. Looking at the powerful spotlights from the construction site of IR was magnificent. It was my first experience and it was quite shiok! With the entire stretch of road to ourselves, we can ride on whatever lanes we want! Especially the stretch along esplanade.
Fun-ny things didn't stop to happen the this morning when we were at macs having our breakfast. A random character purposely sat next to us at the long table and that auntie started to talk about "what are we doing?" and also about singapore culture and history. Suddenly a change of topic to energy in our body system and other philosophical albeit surreal stuffs.
Indeed a random encounter.
Well, it all depends! lol
DSZeng scribbled this at 11:33 PM
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy
Just came back from the concert and it simply FANTASTIC TTM!!!
Able to see Nobuo-san in person...in his simple, traditional Japanese costume, long socks and slippers. haha...but he didn't talk much though.
The stipulated time was about 105 minutes (inclusive of 20 minutes interval), but it was delayed to about 2.5 hours!! Nobuo-san even went to sing with the choral for One Winged Angel! lol It was a great finale!
Back to playing FFX...
Can't wait to play FFXIII!! =)
DSZeng scribbled this at 6:48 PM
Friday, May 22, 2009
results are out!
Semester 2 results were better than the first! It didn't meet up to my expectation of 4.1, but at least I've improved. =)
I've survived Human Resource Management!!!
Time for fun! =D
DSZeng scribbled this at 9:20 AM
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
teaching it is
My MOE TA was approved! Woohoo! Double celebration~ .... Must I take maths minor? =x
DSZeng scribbled this at 8:37 PM
Friday, May 08, 2009
南洋初院华乐 ： 荣誉金！
今年的《新加坡青年节华乐比赛》，南洋初院终于获得了他们应得的荣誉金！而这个荣耀得来不易。有了负责老师的支持，指挥（丁老师）的指导与训导，以及学生们的努力拼搏与团队精神，今日才有那么辉煌的成绩。
因为这是第一次得到这个荣誉，我们都疯狂地喝彩！有的尖叫，有的喜极而泣。大家都为自己骄傲，为学校骄傲。
“昨日我以华乐为荣，今日华乐以我为荣！”
DSZeng scribbled this at 12:15 PM
flawed system
In light of the recent H1N1 virus attack around the world, the DORSCON Alert status have risen to ORANGE. It means that everyone have to take their temperature prior to entrance of some public places like government buildings, hospitals, theatres etc... Students have to take their temperature twice in schools during curriculum time.
However, there are a couple of loopholes with the current system. First, visitors were lining-up in groups without any protective equipment on. This would have resulted in cross-contamination even before you take your temperature if there was a virus-carrier in the line.
Second, students were asked to take their temperature in the classroom before the first lesson. Shouldn't it be taken before they step into the school premise? Another example is during the SYF at SCH on Wednesday. The audiences were crowding around the area to have our temperature taken, and it's inside the building! Is precaution really taken into consideration or protocols were carried out purely based on personnel's convenience?
Also, hospitals were grouping all patients together in one assembly area to have their temperature taken before any consultations or visitings. Shouldn't they separate those with flu and fever from those of other illness other than those of the symptoms of the flu virus?
Apart from the risk of cross-contamination, some places weren't environmentally-friendly. Large plastics were used to cover the thermometer's tip while taking temperature from the ear; and facemasks were thrown away unnecessarily. Isn't it better to use infra-red or use smaller pieces of plastics?
If we are to take these precautions, we might as well go back to the GREEN status.
DSZeng scribbled this at 11:57 AM
Friday, May 01, 2009
First year is over!
It's the end of exams and end of first year! Time seems to pass-by so fast in uni. Hope I can maintain my GPA this semester. lol
Holidays are here. Went to watch X-men Origins : Wolverine yesterday with ho kong, leslie, marcus and zheng yu. It's not a bad show. A mix of thriller/action/horror? haha However, I think they should have done this as the first sequel of the X-men quad-logy?
With the swine flu on the rise, planning to go overseas at this period of time seemed to be more tedious. Shall be spending the holidays locally.
MOE TA interview next week! =x
DSZeng scribbled this at 6:10 PM
Sunday, April 19, 2009
working as planned
Exams had already started last Thursday with calculus. Took my time elaborating the first few questions, so I'm left with the last question half-done. =(
Don't know how will I fair for my human resource management. Hope that the correlation is there, since I did well for my combine humanities. lol
Revision is going on as scheduled. The peculiarity of the questions Dr. Sumod might set is the most important factor to surmount. What's he up to this semester?
Must get 100% for biochemistry to compensate for the lost of marks for mid-term III. Can't stop thinking that the final exam is going to be easier than the mid-terms!
9 more days...
DSZeng scribbled this at 12:18 AM
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Distant Worlds
DSZeng scribbled this at 1:32 PM
Friday, March 13, 2009
Distant Worlds not so distant
Yeah! Finally got my hands on the shit hot Distant Worlds concert tickets! There are still available vacancies even up till now. To think I sacrificed my physics and modern chemistry lectures just to buy it... *roll eyes*
Didn't get enough sleep as the preparation for the biochemistry test and communication skills presentation kept me busy this whole week! Shall have ample rest this weekend. =) ...then back to more studying...=(
Yesterday, a student was conducting a survey about the stress university students are suffering as their final project. Got an inspiration from that unfortunate event?
Axiom of the day: Living in Hall 2 is like wasting your money away.
DSZeng scribbled this at 8:52 PM
Thursday, February 26, 2009
passed TP!!
Finally, after 2 attempts, I passed my TP with 8 demerit points!! =)
DSZeng scribbled this at 4:48 PM
Saturday, February 21, 2009
time to relax
It's RECESS!!! But, no, we're not going down the canteen to buy food nor are we going to the field and playing catching. It's time to take a breather and await for the fun events coming soon next week!
But before that, I have to rush to finish my essay for the MOE - TA...=( back to drawing some inspirations... ...
DSZeng scribbled this at 12:48 PM
