Wings Of Steel, Hearts Of Fire

the week is getting even shittier, would you believe? nearly flipped out last night when i was studying and Jo mentioned her desire to go to Wild Wild Wet. got to be wound quite tight for that to happen... at home now which is unusually early for me. i went to the library after class and just fell asleep for one and a half hours with my immuno notes in my lap. kinda echoes back to the discussion i had with Tien during dinner yesterday about why i suck at school. guess i really do have issues with performing under pressure at bulk adsorption of information. i dont believe in adsorption as a learning method. cos yeah, its adsorption. it just all falls out after the test. but thats the way they want to work in this country. looks like i have to suck it up and work as best as possible under the circumstances.

had the quietest RP session ever. hardly talking in the cluster at all. freaky... sure it was still somewhat more animated than other lab sessions, but i think the strain of school is already showing. even Dr Thean looked really wiped during the lesson, and started off with a minor blowup over Nijam's phone firing off. Shafiq suspects bipolar personality...

tomorrow's a holiday which i shall proceed to spend with my texts. so for tonight i shall soothe my sadness with DotA. so much for stopping during term. got to go hammer some people now.

You Make Me Want To Fall In Love - F.I.R.

Grinder

missed out on doing a monday update because i was too wiped! the 5 day week looks pretty killer, and the friday holiday and consequent rescheduling of classes to the remaining days is not helping at all...

still not quite into the clinic. thankfully all the old stuff is signed, even the scraping and tapping. viva la big-ass round bur! have a very ambitious plan of 4 sessions to get all the work done. in actual fact, 5 or so looks more realistic. see if i can get those 5 restos done in a day as planned, the rest of the schedule shouldnt be too mad.

Operation Phantom 2 is in progress. date set for Wednesday the 5th... and i really dont care too much whos going. if its just Shafiq and me, or a whole buncha random people, i still wanna watch the movie. whether the reviews are fantastic or ambivalous i'll still watch it. musicals herald back to my Band days in ACS(I) and ACJC, when i could still play decently. i really miss those days...

Endo looks a bit killer. wonder why the schedule is so rushed this time round... best suspect is probably our dear 5 day week again. and for the life of me why cant certain individuals figure out that Dr Chng has a soft voice and gets drowned if they engage in idle chatter in SM1B?

Your Eyes Open - Keane

The Birthday Of A King

2 days blogging in one entry again! looks like my holidays are slowly melting into oblivion even as i type. the mood surely mirrors that in Diana's 25th Dec blog entry...

to those who asked... the musical went okay from my personal opinion. the film bit turned out much stronger cos of good camera angles and some Jin Ma Jiang-level work from Mum and Dad. the live bit was, however let down slightly due to some rather loose tone work from the choir. haiz... really need to start earlier. 2 months is a recipe for disaster.

got to watch Kung Fu Hustle on Christmas Day. and by empirical testing i can now state with confidence that first row seats in Cine are okay, you wont get a neckache. this show is a must-see. sure, its not cerebral, but thats the beauty of it. the comedy is actually not very in-your-face, a departure from the usual Stephen Chow style. good fight choreo, interesting characterisation, and an okay plot.

had a pretty good outing today with Amanda, Samm and Changshuo. havent talked to Samm for ages, always good to catch up and see how people are doing. had mucho fun window-shopping, and i somehow ended up giving advice about orthodontics. no rest for the dental...

started work on my christmas present, a Macross Super Valkyrie model kit, fully articulated even. got to say that im none too impressed with the plastic work. some of the joint lines are screwy. and they decided to make this one a 15th Anniversary Metallic Coat Special Edition. its fugly as helll, being a metallic silver and green colour. and when you cut the sprues the plain plastic color shows at the incisions. dont get me started on what it looks like when you file the joints even... she's got a lot of work ahead, and im planning to paint it up like Skull One with some proper acrylics to cover the gay metallics.

back to school tomorrow, havent packed yet. hope i dont forget anything, esp PJ's christmas presents...

This Love - Maroon 5

How Much Of This Can He Take?

its past midnight in Geng's place. and im a little bit booored! think this party this year was a bit quieter. just beat the stuffing out of Nijam in straight sets in a wierd wrestling game that Kenny brought. all girl high-res wrestling action, the naughty boy! sure made pwning Nijam a little more interesting...

looks like Operation Phantom was a flop. to tell you the truth... i think i kinda didnt follow it up due to the expectation of mucho kite being flow. what with late comers and people falling sick... whats happening to our people?

had the object lesson today that tactile investigation in a game of Polar Bear is muchly over-rated. quite amazing how much noise the class girls can make in a simple RPG setting. and in my class, dead men still tell tales!

Streamers In The Wind

today was a slow day... windsurfing din materialise due to Lego being overseas. like... damn! and i hate the concept of having to haul my board without a buddy. of course coulda called Cheryl out but then heck lah.

instead had to meet up with Nijam to do the verdammte fluoride project. i swear... who the heck does holiday homework at the age of 22? we do! sadness indeed. planning to compile the data tomorrow morning... which means i have to haul my fat ass out of bed and do work. think im a really hard-to-motivate person. if i think something is stupid i'll have trouble working with it.

still in the process of ramming the script for Christmas into my head. i think its actually easier working with Shakespeare. they have a rhyme scheme, and the internal rhythm of the verse makes it stick. damn... next musical shall be worded in iambic pentameter. yeah, right...

Inuyasha gets better and better! we now see the re-entry of Kagome into the scene, and Naraku shows a bit of power. and the closing credits are not being played to the second closing theme, Fukai Mori by Do As Infinity! w00tz!

for all the guys watching The Amazing Race, i'll state for the record that Jonathan of Jon and Victoria fame is a jerk. he needs professional, institutionalised care. and the missus should get a freaking medal for not slapping him and quitting. like that taxi driver did. hes da man!

Neverland - Love Psychedelico

Cheap Deals, Big Steals

had the most amazing lunch today due to an accident at the fast food counter. considering that KFC 2-piece meals were going for disgustingly cheap, i thought i'd get 2 for myself. and i thought my brother was thinking the same thing. and here's why the meal was amazing... i was wrong. he only wanted one. and i hence managed to eat 5 pieces of KFC for lunch. had to skip dinner tho. urrk..

watched Kaena in Cine. its some animated artsy filmy thing whereby the biggest sell point was that Kirsten Dunst of the adorable rotated laterals voiced over the lead character. it was ok lah... nothing to scream about. plot a bit jumpy even for Jon and his leaps of logic. and still uncomfortable from surfeit of fried chicken.

song of the day:

__________________________________

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Have yourself a merry little christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on all troubles will be out of site

.

Have yourself a merry little christmas

Make the yuletide gay

From now on all troubles will be miles away

.

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden of yours

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

.

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bow

And have yourself a merry little christmas now

.

Hang a shining star upon the highest bow

And have yourself a merry little christmas now

__________________________________

who's coming for my church musical thingy? response over the class mailing list has been not so forthcoming, so sms me if you need details on how to go!

By Breaking Free, Will I Be Broken Hearted?

listening to some very nice Do As Infinity as i try and recall 2 days worth of events. was totally wiped after getting home after a bloody long ride from Tanah Merah MRT Station last night so i couldnt blog due to my brain feeling like it was full of cotton wool.

soccer yesterday morning was another reminder of encroaching age and flagging fitness. dammit, 10 minutes and i get tired? that blows! did however run into an old school friend from JC. Esmundo is now doing aeronautical in the US. lucky cow. now on holiday back home eating local food with abandon and playing mucho tennis. was great catching up with him, was talking a lot of materials science to him too. the consequence of too much DM i guess. but its true that our dental stuff broadens our base a lot more than what the MBBS guys are getting. after that went to look for the rest who were playing on without me, and found them on a very muddy pitch playing against people with proper boots! failing skill rolls and falling into mud while trying to change direction or brake is not kewl.

the ex's birthday party was, believe it or not, a drag. almost all 21sts are lah. lets face it, cramming 40 guests together from diverse backgrounds and trying to entertain them for the night is a bitch. i should know, i had 70ish! haiz... but aniwei, it was also a big reminder about how things change, how people change. dont know if its me still having hangups, but i suspect that i had met her for the first time with her in this phase in life and me in this phase, i might not have fallen for her. she's lost a lot of her old innocent charm, grown pseudo-sophisticated without the accompanying depth. she had 4 shoe boxes of photos for the guests to peruse (which saved me and her council from death by boredom) and it just showed all the changes. her as a 6-year-old missing her anteriors, when the braces went on (wtf the ortho yanked her upper 3s? got to check that!), her totally retro glasses in primary school, her MGS uniform, council camp, her hair as it grew out to tail length in J1, her in Council No 1s, her in Seniors Night gear, her uni friends. her with bf number 2... it was kinda like a big grin and bear it session. and now, she's so unfamiliar to me, my present to her was a bottle of scent. and even that was hazarding her tastes, i dont know what she listens to or wears now. or even if her sizes have changed. and since i figured i wouldnt be able to talk to her much i just wrote her some stuff on a Zo-Card. thankfully had my ass hauled out of there by Lincoln and his little A-class Merc. damn the kid is a maniac at the wheel... suffice to say after the first road junction i saw fit to remind him about the A-class and its stability issues on moose tests. die in Tanah Merah = not cool.

also had the opportunity to listen to Vocaluptuous in Heeren while killing time to go down to Tanah Merah. some of their members look gayer than a lamb in spring, but they sound damn good! people should listen to this kinda thing more. its good harmony without being deep and inaccessible. and it can disillusion people who think their singing is fantastic when it isnt.

Quando - Vocaluptuous

But If I Turn Away From What I've Started

watched Ocean's 12 yesterday! and woulda blogged about it too if i wasnt feeling rather sluglike. never got to watch Ocean's 11 in either of its incarnations, so i have no basis for comparison, but in the context of a stand-alone movie its good stuff! it really does look somewhat like all the actors clowning around for the camera, but in a nice way that allows you to see the character interaction. and yeah... Julia Roberts got the short end of the glamour stick in this show. Catherine Zeta-Jones = hot stuff.

this outing was the classic definition of a sausage party. no girls came out simply cos Soh figured that the probability of them coming would be so low, he didnt bother to ask them in any detail. and so... in the heady testosterone-laden air we had a wonderful guy outing. of course it was a bit dental-centric but good lah. the pre-movie sit-down was pretty funny too cos Mao was around and we did our usual babe-spotting thing. Lido is prime ground on any movie opening day! and after that we proceeded to Haagend-Dazs to have icecream with Stan's amazing coupon. busted Weisong with Kaili, sore throat my ass! and got presents for mum and Jo after that.

SF was pretty good. Uncle Jason discoursed on the work of God in the Salvation process. without going into details, it was clarifying.

DotA sesion after Inuyasha was a teensy bit lonely... only game i completed without leavers PinkDolphin happened to be around. and it was quite funny cos while in the ready room waiting for 10 players a discussion started about Ocean's 12. have settled on a good build for Banehallow. happiness!

When All The Tears Have Dried - Dick Lee

Where The Wild Things Are

another excellent windsurfing session! good winds, and i managed to get back without being towed. the jibes and tacking are still a bit shite though. looks like next week will be the last session for a while though. sad...

seems like i keep running into bazillions of juniors in orchard and wherever, and theyre all going for my ex's birthday thingy. should be like some great big reunion! these things arent always the best time to catch up with the birthday girl though, cos she will doubtless be busy. considering writing a long letter to talk about life.

ran into Taby and her sister Joanne in the Heeren. the resemblence is uncanny, she looks like a younger version of her sister. same jaw line, incisal relations, forehead, cheekbones, and they even sound the same. she just has slightly chubbier cheeks. but cute too!

cref yesterday's blog, i think it might really be dead. frequent readers hang in there, im sure i'll be posting a confirmation some time in the next month or so.

Run - Snow Patrol

Theres Gotta Be More To Life Than This

windsurfing tomorrow! now i can re-burn the bits that have been happily peeling away. looks like i'll have been averaging something like 1 session a week... but i'll surely forget it all once term starts. no sentosa time this holiday... but at least i'll have had some fun in the sun.

went to orchard road and got a new pair of glasses due to mum's insistent complaints. after 30min of aches in the right eye, the world is so much clearer! i think im so dazzled by the clarity that i lose my ability to pick up babes in my peripheral vision... damn! also got the christmas party gift and the birthday present for my ex. hope she likes it... hard to tell if her tastes have changed, just going by instincts. also ran into Farhana, one of my council juniors (the nice type). reminds me of days of yore...

yesterday i woke up and realised that something inside me had died. i searched my insides and couldnt find the usual warm pulse that it brought me... i went through the day trying to evoke it and it wouldnt respond. i think maybe it really might be gone, since its Day 2 and there are no stirrings. but ther is no way to test until i meet up with the source of what i have lost... if that does not revive it, i am a liberated man. empty, but happy.

Everything's Changing - Keane

How Do They Rise Up, Rise Up High?

life's been taking a few twists and turns lately. still somewhat in windwalk mode... Jo gave me a little talk yesterday while at the icecream place at Serene. yeah... i cant hide forever but i guess im having trouble admitting that im a pig-headed person who has a tendency to pick fights based on his mis-guided sense of chivalry.

Debra the Violin Girl gave me lots of amazing happy-happy J-Rock CDs! currently burning them all to my hard drive! muahahahahahahahaha!

read Night Watch by Terry Pratchett, once for the feel and another time for filling in all the bits where i read fast cos it was exciting! this one makes the highly recommended list. one of my achievable wants in life is to collect all of Terry Pratchett's books. cos they're worth it.

Cheap Delights

went to watch National Treasure with Jo! this one gets mucho kudos for pseudo-intellectual fun. okay plot, fast pacing, lots of action! and Nicholas Cage's character keeps using one of my signature lines...

NYDC binge before the movie, stuffed myself with spaghetti and meatballs. as most people would know, the NYDC incarnation has mega-balls, which are great for a filling meal! and as per tradition, helped Jo with the mushroom pizza. am still stuffed even as i typed, enough to inhibit any post-movie Gelare.

Picked up a copy of Night Watch. havent read Terry Pratchett for like ages, and ive always liked his style and sense of offbeat humour. still need to snaffle a copy of all of Dan Brown's stuff. its so controversial, i kinda wanna read it just to form my own opinions.

life's weird sometimes. lets say you have a friend who calls you at 9.45 in the morning on a holiday to ask your advice, and youre willing to go out of your way to haul ass out of bed and help as best as you can. and when you ask said friend if the friend wants to go out and do stuff cos youre gathering fungus at home, and the reply is say 3 hours late, is it natural to feel used?

Hao Xin Fen Shou - Candy Lo feat. Wang Lee-Hom

Don't Speak

finally, a day worthy of my holidays! fun from morning to night!

had a windsurfing session, created ad-hoc last night by Lego... hauled ass out of bed at 6.45am, got on the mrt and was rather miffed to discover that Lego couldn get his ass out of bed as my mrt was passing Queenstown. snarfed breakfast and halued ass to the Seasports Centre, and had to wait another 30min for Kokyang. as sessions go, it wasnt too bad. din go out too far cos the wind was wimpy even for a 5.0m2 sail. got to turn and tack and jibe and all that jazz just out of the breakwater. and when the wind got shitty, i'd just lie on the board and stone. not too much time spent falling in due to gusts of wind yanking the mast out of my wimpish hands.

ended on time and went to meet Shafiq. movie session was planned for 4pm. apparently PJ wanted to watch The Incredibles, and Shafiq was bored shitless, and out of all the usual suspects canvassed, he only got me. Mao had to paint the windows, and other assorted people were too busy and too lazy. and as we were queueing in line to buy tickets at 3.30 for the 4.00 show, we discovered to our horror that PJ was still at home packing for a sleepover. needless to say, the proverbial kites of ours had been flown way high, so we turned the day into a mega window-shopping cum bitchin' session. Pringle had it right, bitching is very therapeutic. topics covered in the discussion of the brotherhood included behaviour of girls, the state of our class brotherhood, why kites fly so high, and a really weird guy with tattoos and straggly greyish hair done up in a bun, who was showing baby photos to a well-dressed woman in the Coffee Club in Kino at Taka. Shafiq said he looked like a baby smuggler... intercepted PJ with Siew Ping at Taka, and after a few jibes at my un-glam gear (yeah, after windsurfing mah) and PJ's choice of bracket colours, we let her go to eat, drink and be merry, in that order. dinner at BK Lane Crawford with more bitching, and then went home to watch anime.

Inuyasha was amazing! even more plot development as we see how the death of Kikyo and enchantment of Inuyasha are intertwined... and the relationships of the characters are developed as well. damn this anime rocks!

Hope DotA session will be Beyond Godlike! hey now, you're an Allstar, get yer game on, go, play...

My Will - Dream

*fits the emotional content of this episode so well*

Waiting In The Wings

think my holidays are turning boring. didnt bother blogging monday because i basically spent the whole day trying to clean my room. this trend seems to be continuing for today, since christmas item practice precludes my going to JB with the rest of the class. damn.

the book i've been reading lately has been making me analyse my own weaknesses and flaws. its not self-help, the great premise of Christianity is that we are all humanly beyond help. wicked, deceitful, hopeless. the stock term is Total Depravity. though we try to do good, its hopeless cos we're just congenitally sinful. and life as a Christian, once possessing the renewed nature and being placed on the path to heaven, is a walk to perfection in God's standard through his cleansing, and doing his will.

jon's major flaws:

1) im an incredibly lazy guy. damned if im having a heck of a time cleaning up the stacks of notes in my room now. old occlusion stuff, microbe notes, dust bunnies...

2) wrath. friends and frequent blog patrons should no doubt have a little insight to jon's nasty temper.

hope that as i go through my life with God these get ironed out, and not just cos of all the trouble it gets me into (cref sunday's entry)...

quite an amazing DotA session last night. had 2 okay sessions as AM, then got sick of the AM training and randomed. got the Slayer! w00tz! i can conclude, after that game, that my heavy-caster play is much stronger than my melee play. 8-1 kill-death ratio! amazing escapes! humiliating tower kill! unexpected slaying! yeah! shall never live down the embarassment of missing a Laguna Blade kill... tagged a creep instead. and the victim noticed. damn.

____________________

Dirty Stunner Trick Of The Day:

Reversal Of Fortune!

scenario: Slayer being chased by NS. its night, NS is at half-health. Slayer is at 1/3 health after letting rip with a Laguna and Dragon Slave. Slayer runs for tower. NS gets cocky and hammers away at Slayer, making use of faster run speed and attack speed. at 1/4 health, just into tower range, Slayer lets rip with a Light Strike! NS stunned in range of tower, Slayer runs for fountain laughing. tower pwns NS.

____________________

recapping a conversation with Wanyi during the biking session after windsurfing, about the ways of man and woman. seems like our accepted practice of a man chasing a woman is the open-tender style. a man tenders his proposition, be it for life-long companionship (will you marry me) or a night of fun (hey you doing anything tonight, heard the new movie is good) or whatever, and it is the woman's perogative to accept or reject. in a sense, she said she pities us for having to face rejection in our path to happiness. and in a sense that's true. rejection isnt a pleasant thing. but it makes the journey memorable. we would be much weaker, poorer people if all we tasted of in life was success. failures, accidents, misfortunes, unrequited crushes, loss, these all shape, mould and teach us in different ways. they teach us to know when to persevere, and the warning signs that perseverance should give way to inevitability. but it doesnt take away the pain of every rejection...

Out Of My Head, Out Of My Mind - Fastball

These Are The People That I Came To Save

dont you hate it when a day is so blah that theres nothing worth blogging? saturday was such a day...

sunday, on the other hand, was a totally different matter. haiz... getting into controversy at orchestra. me and my big mouth need to work out a peace treaty. a certain uptight individual was complaining that the violin girls werent following his lead when he was conducting while songleading. thought this wasnt a fair go so i saw fit to defend them by pointing out that said song-leader's conducting was lagging behind his singing, thus making it actually impossible to follow his lead in any coherent matter. and yes, it's been bugging me for months. just dont think its right that the violins eat flame when it isnt entirely their fault. and then after church i had to windwalk out cos the leadership, as expected, wanted to have a word with me. just love my l33t n1nj4 sk1llz! muahahahahaha! they'll never take me alive!

and dear Debra The Violin Girl brought me an empty jewel case in exchange for my generously-proffered CD collection. but she's so funny about it... like when we heard that she voted for both Taufik and Sylvester. yes, i kid you not. one for his singing, one for his image. and it was so funny seeing her redden when Jo pointed out that that was effectively spending money on null votes. remember kids... Nulls are only cool in DotA.

why do people keep repeating the same mistakes? is it their fault for being unobservant to disasters? or are we at fault when we dont tell them? what if we tell them but they take no heed to our advice because after weighing up our word against their instincts they make the wrong decisions? is the blame discharged from us? do we have to push harder? or should we become docile and peaceable and watch things go all pear-shaped because the leadership is pig-headed and slow of wit? should we leave or should we stay? is it a trial laid upon us to strengthen and teach us, or an indicator that we are in the wrong place?

tried setting up a pool session with the Brotherhood but response seems to be crap. dunno if i should try again, ask more guys, more girls, heck it...

Fill My Heart With Song And Let Me Sing Forevermore...

looks like this blog entry is gonna be a short one. only thing of note today was Dental Idol!

woke up late today, 1.13pm to be exact. panicked cos i was supposed to be in school at 2, so ended up rushing out of the house and getting fruit from Kopitiam for lunch. and as usual i shouldn have rushed so much, cos everyone was late. esp since i forgot to wear a belt and it was my S&K jeans. had to offload my pockets into my bag.

singing was of variable quality. some sucked, including me. it basically came down to a showdown between Wanyi and Tammy, but Tammy was on form and out-powered Wanyi. and yeah, Wanyi should sing more. a voice like that shouldnt be hidden. theres nothing embarassing about it, its only embarassing when you suck like me.

ad-libbing session after the competition proper, looks like i should have taken Fly Me To The Moon rather than Eternal Flame. goddam eternal lyric loop... haiz. not funny when u end up reiterating the stanza like 5 times over cos the karaoke doesnt realise its getting boring...

still in pain from yesterday's sunburn. hope it subsides soon, its damn irritating!

Kai Shi Dong Le - Lin Wanyi

A Bicycle Built For One

an amazing day! windsurfing, cycling, talking nonsense... how much better can it get? gotta lovw the holidays!

as per normal, the guys cant be trusted to turn up on time... we ended up like almost an hour late at the seasports centre. total of YH, me, Diana, Wanyi, Stan, Kok Yang and Mr Mohamad. the wind was a bit perverse today... strong enough to blow us out but just the right direction to stop us noobish surfers from coming back. so there i am stranded in the water, with Wanyi sitting pretty 600m away. took me like, what, 10min to drag the damn board all the way in the classic chin-grip sidestroke to get to her. spent the next hour talking while waiting for the boat. just before we got rescued we also found out that we were in the middle of a national sailing competition, and only when they came rushing in. nearly got headcapped by some boorish chap who was leaning over the side to brace himself against the sail. heng i ducked in time, i would never live down the shame of getting headcapped by some guy's ass at high speed.

cycling session after the windsurfing. it was actually like a real big conversation on wheels. we talked about the effect of the rumour mill in class, the eligibility of various guys, crazed sylvester fans, everything! and im not gonna say anymore, thats all the details yer getting... its always good to know how people think about certain issues. especially in the light of the microcosm that is our class.

dental idol karaoke session tomorrow. im seriously not prepared. see how that goes...

Love Psychedelico is t3h R0x0rz! nothing like a new CD to boost the morale...

All Over Love -Love Psychedelico

I'm Not Strong Enough

finally finally got to watch The Incredibles! muchos gracias to roach-sama for getting me along to watch, even if its to keep his brother company while he's out with XX *koffkoff* but hey, i'd say that this show is a strong contender for movie of the year.

it was touching, it was human, it was incredible. there simply wasnt anything there not to like. the characters were well-thought out and could be seen developing through the film. the animation was of course top-notch, and flowed beautifully. and i'm damn glad i watched it. to whoever i tried to ask out to watch it and turned me down, hurry up and go watch it! makes it feel like im really having a holiday!

spent the whole freaking day earlier in the lab. i got my teeth made up all pretty, my RPD masters are remounted. i am at peace with the world. and i even washed my clinical sorting tray and packed my hand instruments and oiled my handpieces, even the straight one. i feel so domesticated!

windsurfing tomorrow! time to get a tan and all that jazz. its great to get the holiday activities started, only complaint is that no-glasses activities seriously curtail my babe-spotting capabilities.

got a new CD! just have to find the time to listen to it. hooray for Jpop!

Musical Interlude

this post is dedicated to my friend who got bitten by her dog... pls try not to kick the dog every time this happens. im sure it aint good for the animal's mental health, no matter how much better you feel after that. good training and handling should be able to remove the dog's undesirable habits lah, not sure what kicking it will do tho. maybe make it bite more? haiz...

----------

My Favourite Things

.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with string,

These are a few of my favorite things.
Cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudel,

Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

.
Girls in white dresses and blue satin sashes,

Snow-flakes that stay on my nose and eye-lashes,

Silver white win-ters that melt into spring,

These are a few of my favorite things,

.
When the dog bites,

When the bee stings,

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don't feel,

so bad.

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My Favourite Things - Julie Andrews

The Value Of A Millimetre

sometimes, to be just a bit off is not enough to achieve what you want. an extra millimetre in your isthmus reduction may doom your restoration. half a second in a sprint may lose you the gold. a low powder/water ratio will doom the meat sauce for the meatballs you bought from ikea. know the value of a millimetre by heart, and what it means to you.

teeth sitting in the moulds now, hope they didnt drift during the mounting! spent the better part of the morning getting them arranged. my anteriors are ugly as hell, forsee having a hell of a time making them look pretty. and starting to get my RP remounted. damn happy that Dr Thean declared my bite to be okay with the lower try-in denture at least... once i get the upper and lowers related i can get on with cementation and all that jazz.

its been like 2 and a half days since the hols started. am i the only one who hasnt done anything happening? arrrgh! wanna watch The Incredibles but cant find anyone. feel like a fricking leper...

I'm A Dreamer - Amber

*sure i dont know what she's singing, but i like the tune and the voice*

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

just had a mega-nap! wow... should get these more often! the holidays have just kicked in, now have to find a way to gainfully waste my time with the maximum possible fun factor! or get some kinda cash.

was pleasantly surprised when i found out that Debra The Violin Girl listens to Do As Infinity! never got to talk to her a lot, so it was pretty funny when we were ragging her backstage during the testimony time. gonna swap CDs with her nex sunday. mmm... new audio obtundency...

damned if i dont feel like a fool again for trying to test the Katzung conjecture. tomoro after the lab session seemed like a perfect time... then ran headlong into a herd mentality barrier.

still havent gotten to fix the cheesy script. its the best application of the term deus ex machina i've eve, ever, ever seen. and why am i like the only one i know who knows the term?

in two minds as to whether i should buy the Sixpence None The Richer compilation CD... any advice people?

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Happy Birthday Monkey!

It Aint Just A Difference Between White And Yellow

the jury have come to a decision: yellow stone is indeed better than plain plaster for undercut blocking. its neater, better behaved and is harder upon set. pity i had to waste time with the plaster cos i didnt know of the whole drum of the yellow stuff on the top shelf.

after a really crap orchestra session, i am now contemplating quitting. its been going on long enough... the point is, where does one differentiate determination and stupid self-torture? God's will and self-delusion? when do you cast the lifeboats and flee the sinking ship? and just when i needed movie therapy no-one was free. damn

ran into some juniors while random shopping. it seems like forever since i saw them, they can remember doing funny things that i dont and i think im getting old and losing my memory. and i swear that Eileen looks like Mrs Aw! omg the resemblance is uncanny! i also realise that the more i learn in school, the more i can spot. sometimes its so bad i want to give OHI on the spot. lucky im more tactful than i used to be...

Anqi's probably in Jie Lun Heaven now, even as i speak. it was quite cute seeing her eyes get starrier and starrier as the minutes ticked by. can't say she hasnt earned the right to have fun tho. lucky girl!

got my song requests to Tien. see if she can rustle up Fly Me To The Moon or Eternal Flame for the karaoke thingy. no hidden meanings, im just familiar with the words.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Wonderwall

.

Today is gonna be the day

That they're gonna throw it back to you

By now you should've somehow

Realized what you gotta do

I don't believe that anybody

Feels the way I do about you now

.

Backbeat the word was on the street

That the fire in your heart is out

I'm sure you've heard it all before

But you never really had a doubt

I don't believe that anybody feels

The way I do about you now

.

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding

There are many things that I would

Like to say to you

I don't know how

.

Because maybe

You're gonna be the one who saves me?

And after all

You're my wonderwall

.

Today was gonna be the day

But they'll never throw it back to you

By now you should've somehow

Realized what you're not to do

I don't believe that anybody

Feels the way I do

About you now

.

And all the roads that lead to you were winding

And all the lights that light the way are blinding

There are many things that I would

Like to say to you

I don't know how

.

I said maybe

You're gonna be the one who saves me?

And after allYou're my wonderwall

I said maybe

You're gonna be the one who saves me?

And after all

You're my wonderwall

.

Said maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me

You're gonna be the one that saves me

You're gonna be the one that saves me

----------------------------------------------------------------

Wonderwall - Oasis

*sparked by a spontaneous singalong in B cluster...*

Scars Are Made Up Of Fibroblasts That Got Too Close

radio went down the drain. coulda sworn my mid-saggital was bang-on for my DPT, but its a moot point now. hate this empty, drained feeling. i want to feel happy for PJ, who just needs news on whether she cleared her bitewing (which we always get Grade 1s for), but inside i feel all dull. and feeling sad does nothing for my failure. just have to hang tight until next term so that i can go for round 2. and not cock up my alignment. really need a hug. damn this.

Wan Wah got her birthday present from us, looks good as when we tested it! she says she'll be wearing it for class on saturday. now Shafiq and me just have to figure out how to tell her about some other critical outfitting adjustments *coughcough*. and also chase the shareholders for money...

did some preliminary reading for optec in the library. damned if i never realised ive been manipulating my stupid TBR wrong all the time! see if i can get something done about that after the optec test tomorrow.

It's My Life - Bon Jovi

*in the mood for a howl-at-the-sky kinda song now*

Backfired Gambit

bwaah... the DM test was a rape, cos of the negative marking. looks like i fluffed a lot of the mcq. and even after my essay was, in my opinion, a fricking masterpiece! such is life... perverse!

catapulted yet another 24 onlay provi! it had a long and checquered history today.... it fell down the sink and Lulin and Siwen helped me drain the filter cascade to find it. and just as i was adjusting occlusion for show-up... it decided to bolt for freedom. damn.

totally excellent DotA session! 3 come from behind games, and a little experience with a character ive nevr tried before. the Naga Siren has crit-strike that kicks in at a 45% chance per hit at x1.5. is that kewl or what? love floaty red numbers! the mirror image still needs a bit or work, and also ways of pwning blinkers.

radio tomoro! feeling like dressing to impress, need the psychological edge. must pass on first attempt with flying colours!

attempts at formulating an experiment to test the Katzung Conjecture have failed again. sadness... makes me wonder why i try!

Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra

Stille Nacht

6.30pm in the library the night before the DM test and i cant find the willpower not to fall asleep every alternate page i study. looks like this one is gonna be ugly...

got 2 provis signed today! woots! and the last 2 are just that close to completion. labtech introed a straight handpiece bur that i never noticed... its t3h l33tz0r! great for margin work and i dont have to fool araound with discs.

mass ponning for patho. a grand total of 12 survivors in the audi listening to the lectures. not very good... i'd say the usual 17k thing but you've all heard it before.

--------------------

a lunchtime conversation, accurate in spirit although not verbatim:

jon: waah, taby, you're going for patho? so good girl arr?

taby: yeash. so many people not going, so i should go. wait the lecturer get demoralised.

*20 min goes by*

[enter nijam]

*nijam makes steering wheel motion to taby*

taby: nijam! you're going home? hey, can you send me back! peijun! lets go home!

pj: wait for me! jon, you want my milo?

[exeunt nijam, taby, pj]

*jon's facial expression: o__O;*

--------------------

but yeah, the milo was pretty nice. AQ sez its another reminder that people can be fickle. and a little inconsistent? such is life!

Eternal Flame - The Bangles

*Atomic Kitten spoiled this song. screw them, i like the original*

Racing Through My Brain, And I Just Can't Contain It

mmm... really cute girl sitting nearby in the library. not say the chioest girl within five miles, but she's got a really cute smile!

overstuffed myself at dinner. hokkien mee and chicken rice makes for happy overkill! seems like my weigh keeps fluctuating across the course of the week according to the weighing scale in the NUH loading bay. wierd...

microbe was severely underattended today. makes me wonder... why do i bother? it seems like i try to do the right thing, and people will run off from class, and still outscore me. and deep down inside i think its silly that i should skip class when my father and mother are paying, what 17k a year? and im damned if i cant score for fricking pharmaco. 3rd lowest in class! arrrrrgh!

too full to study effectively now. i could do with a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. or a bubblebath and some tom yam noodles.

the latest song for Lee Hwa's tv ads is There She Goes by Sixpence None The Richer. reminds me of that time when i was still in JC, and their hot song was Kiss Me. which is, to date, the only song i can fully strum on a guitar. Dui Mian De Nu Hai does not count. damn i miss those days, when life wasnt complicated, when honour and duty meant marshalling traffic in the rain on a tuesday morning, when friends meant impromptu harmonising sessions with the girls between tutorials, when birthdays meant heaving the celebrant into the pool after cutting the cake. now honour and duty means sucking things up and going the right path even as friends around you succumb to the dark side, friends means being unable to find people in class willing to go down when you play in the easter musical, and birthdays mean a rushed sing-song session at lunch and one guy buying a present and canvassing for funds from the rest of the class. screw this.

There She Goes -Sixpence None The Richer

God Made Wonderful Things Called Tadpoles

had a pretty interesting sermon today about childraising. even though its like not even on the horizon for me, i've always been sorta fascinated by childraising. how you do it, and how it can go wrong, and what effects it has on a child's makeup.

children should see more tadpoles when theyre young and impressionable. before people tell them that frogs are slimy and icky. that the praying mantis is gross. that crickets are dirty. that the tree lizards might have funky viral diseases. so that they can just soak up how amazing the little things in life are. so they can wonder in how perfect the tadpoles in God's green earth are. they dont have to know about the complexities of the mating ritual, the mucous skin as an oxygen exchange surface, the control of the apoptosis that allows the tail to be resorbed. they just have to see it and be amazed. and not freak out and run away. this will prepare them for life. because the ability to be amazed, to absorb, to learn without worrying about getting dirty and being silly is what we need today. to think out of the box, to expand horizons, to understand and manipulate beyond the printed page. this is true life as a scholar. not the musty pages in the library, or the hypnotic drone in the lecture hall.

and on a related note, i am more man than the sum total of my test and exam results would imply. so there.

Bear, Stephen and Tracey were at my church this week, temporary refugees from PPCC. just their luck to be there on the week when it was the Children's Ministry Awareness Week! got to talk a little bit to Tracey cos she was bored while Bear was bouncing around in his usual hyperkinetic way doing the hi-hi rounds. she said she never knew i was full of crap. which makes me wonder... did i change quite a bit since i left PPCC in J2? or was i just restrained, since she never saw me much except with my ex?

I Believe - Tata Young

*sure, its a bimbo song. i just like the tune*

Mother, What Is A Half-Demon?

just got back from Shafiq's little Hari Raya cookie binge. what an afternoon! think i overdid the cookies tho, since surprisingly PJ, Taby and Mao were all going light on the food. also had a long conversation of the brotherhood on the way back from Bedok. its amazing what you miss when you arent seeing things clearly...

destroyed my stupid master cast for RPD in a moment of inspired clumsiness. so once i get my c-clasps bent up, i'll be surveying and blocking all over again. somewhat pissed about it... but life has its ups and downs. its not the ups and downs that matter, but how we respond to them. this differentiates the victim from the survivor.

next week is DM. and the content is so much i just hope i can absorb it all. looks damn near impossible... and im still out of my groove. at least it isnt as abstract as pharmaco.

am i too aggressive sometimes? in school? out of school? in conversation? in practice? is it desirable? is it counterproductive? its me! vindicated, i am selfish, i am wrong, i am right, i am right, and i knew it all along! muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Whup-ass Comes Canned In 3 Different Flavours! Buy Now To Avoid Disappointment!

another amazingly long day with its fair share of ups and downs. took these shades i found at the enclave bus stop to school for appraisal under the semi-expert eyes of Mao and Shafiq. the conclusion: an excellent pirate version of Oakley Minute frames. for me to wear when the sun shines in my eyes. obviously not very often these days...

radio was okay, but i didnt get to practice bisecting-angle cone placement. that means i have zero practice with this technique, and competency is next week. nothing like a challenge! *rawr* was rather embarrassed during radio when i was trying to talk about extraction of 8s. wanted to mention Wanyi but Anqi's name popped out twice. dammit.... and now pple will think the slip is Freudian.

Group 6 got raped during the fluorides presentation. i'll be damned... the group before us got off real light, but when it came to q&a for us we got seriously raped by Prof Hsu. and if Daysleeper is reading this... dont worry. we seriously arent pissed at you. the group isnt upset at your questions per se, its upset at our bad performance in general. and the smooth-brain shit-stirring questions did not come from you. its a lousy feeling when you get caught underperforming. and i have got to say that i havent been in my groove lately. no mood, no energy, no retention...

the water treatment plant was hot! a chance to deploy my Fakeleys. its amazing how... gross reservoir water is. i feel somewhat more at peace with the footrot the dear darling SAF gave me after scheduling 2 dips into 2 separate reservoirs in the space of 3 days. but that doesnt stop the irritation that i get from the peeling skin on my right foot and the fluid-filled blister type early fungal lesions i get after wearing shoes the whole day. dammit...

had a nice chat with PJ on the way home. seems like i hardly get deep conversations with anyone these days... its just so rushed in school and noone is online any more. its quite sad really... i do believe its important to forge the relationships in this class, at least make a few good friends, because i want to know who i can count on when we go into the jianghu.and who will be worth teaming up with, and who i can help.

had another sidetracked SF session. Uncle Jason went into the significance of Yom Kippur as a mutli-faceted reminder of sin and the role of Christ. ran off after prayer to go home. anime was cool! major character developments in 12 Kingdoms and Inuyasha. Yoko is finally getting some balance, and isnt either a soppy wuss or a psychopath any more. and Inuyasha now has the Tetsutaiga sword... abeit in its crappy un-potentiated form.

if i were a cartoon or comic or anime character, i really wouldnt mind being Inuyasha. hes got all the character rough edges, likes pwning stuff, and has kewl hair and a swooshy magic sword! and it would only get better if she could accompany me as Kagome...

Change The World - V6

Just Two Can Solve Its Mystery, Why Should It Make A Fool Of Me?

i think i truly do have a talent for catapulting provis. another 24 onlay provi lost to the outer darkness. and it truly wasnt too bad a piece of work, tried Dr Wong's preload idea and the proximal boxes came out real pretty. damn... also catapulted PJ's 13 provi while trying to show her the buffer. spent 15min hunting for it, including feeling in the sedimentation cascade under the sink and stripping the buffer filter. and in the end it was discovered in a plastic-lined bin under the buffer. PJ now owes Stan lunch.

and for the record, at 1525 on 171104, PJ said that if desperate she would even stick her hand in a toilet bowl, much less the sedimentation cascade.

last pbl w Dr Thean. sadness... pbl is much more educational than so many of the other classes. the integration of knowledge is handy, as well as the insights provided by clinicians. and after the pbl we got to see Dr Thean reline a denture.

AQ had to run off at lunch to go get her ear attended to. quite amazes me how many health issues there are related to the female form... in this case metal allergies. but as she confessed, she cant keep away from cheap earrings. nice earrings for christmas? mmmm...

looks like my stupid 18 is finally coming out. i can feel the dp cusp through the mucosa. dammit hurry up and come out and stop shifting my MI around! its damn distressing when you realise one day that your contact points have shifted. it was bad enough when my upper arch got so crowded that i now have a hell of a time flossing.

what do you know that you think you know and i suspect i know but dont know if i know specifically? and why are you playing mind games with me? do you even read this stuff?

One Of Those Things - Cole Porter

Sun-tanned, Wind-blown...

would you believe the fricking blogger website ate my entry and i have to retype it? nooooooooooo! swine!

pharmaco is finally over. thereapeutic DotA session, and then down to business for the DM test. and i'd like to state for the record that i truly hate negative marking.

catapulted my stravag provi into the outer darkness for the 2nd time. mucho wailing and gnashing of teeth over the forced redo, esp since i was like that close to showing up with it. damned if i aint gonna find a way for that not to happen before i go to the clinic. and polycarb crowns are stupid and ugly and badly contoured. teeth never come in standard sizes aniwei.

one day i will be a prostho deity like HH and PY. wax will flow at my command. TBR will bend to my will. IRM will sit where its told. one day, just one day...

Blow, Gabriel, Blow - Cole Porter

The Trouble Is, You're Not Having Any Fun

one day until the pharmaco test. and i have absolutely no willpower to get anything done! rather blog or random-surf or play DotA. dammit.

quite amazed that there are still people hanging around at the library today, although it seems like theyre mostly foreign students. stupid pharmaco test... making me feel like a loser being in the library on a public holiday.

wonder how many people actually read my blog? lets conduct an experiment: when you read this entry, click on the 'post comment' option under the entry, and write your name/nick and date and time that youre reading. just to satisfy my bored curiosity.

heres a siggie i stunned from neko_bijin of cbt.com cos i thought it was pretty cute!

See how the Fates their gifts allot,

For A is happy--B is not.

Yet B is worthy, I dare say,

Of more prosperity than A!

Is B more worthy? I should say

He's worth a great deal more than A.

If I were Fortune --which I'm not--

B should enjoy A's happy lot,

And A should die in misery--

That is, assuming I am B.

But condemned to die is he,

Wretched meritorious B!

Guardian Angel

2 days of blogging in one entry again.

saturday was pretty hectic. school was ok lah... the class seems to be falling sick one by one. pj was stricken with a bad case of the flu, and was making wierd rhinoceros noises all through the lab session in an attempt to stem the flow of mucus. go everything bent up except for the roach. damned if i aint indicating chromium as much as i can when i go to the clinic! and yeehau found out the hard way that mrs au can spot a difference of 0.1mm diameter in an SS wire.

orchestra was the usual drag. but after that we got down to filming the christmas stuff! should be interesting what comes out of all the time spent filming. mucho NG footage.

also have yet to find out what in the world pj was ho-ho-hoing about in the plaster room...

today was pretty slow. got the remaining bit of filming done, and then went home to slack. me and my brother managed to complete the whole of Halo 2! the lighting in some stages is absolutely atrocious... makes a few levels more labyrinthine than they should be.

and me ex found my long-missing miss saigon cd when her mum went to audit her cd collection! its been missing for like 2 years in her house... now i can finally get it back!

and here's the song thats been on my mind...

------------------------------------

Night And Day

Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom
When the jungle shadows fall
Like the tick tick tock of the stately clock
As it stands against the wall
Like the drip drip drip of the raindrops
When the summer shower is through
So a voice within me keeps repeating

you, you, you

Night and day, you are the one
Only you beneath the moon or under the sun
Whether near to me, or far
It's no matter darling where you are
I think of you

Day and night, night and day, why is it so
That this longing for you follows wherever I go
In the roaring traffic's boom
In the silence of my lonely room
I think of you

Day and night, night and day
Under the hide of me
There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me
And this torment won't be through
Until you let me spend my life making love to you

Day and night, night and day

Night And Day - Cole Porter
------------------------------------

Down For The Count

was laid low by a bout of weird nausea yesterday so i couldnt blog. which was a pity because as days go it wasnt too bad.

strange absence of my pple at the prayer meeting, so lunch ended up as just me, uncle jason and auntie winnie. went to this japanese fried food place in taka. good shite, but at a combined cost of 70+ for 3 people i was pretty happy tt they decided to belanja.

spent the afternoon in the heeren spinelli's. cute girls many many, study lousy lousy. just wasnt in any mood to do the pharmaco, so i ploughed slowly through everything. doubt that a lot of it got retained. and at 5.30 i gave up and went shopping. got a number of things: CDs and Halo 2 being the most pertinent.

Halo 2 is kewl! how could anyone not like a game where stuff blows up? cept of course i was already pretty nauseous by the time i got home, so i was just watching my brother play. pwn aliens! buy halo!

today itself was ok. Prof Yap said my canine provi was really nice, even with the 2 pits on the facial surface caused by an aerated mix. apart from that its t3h shiny! *bling-bling* poor pj is still dying with her canine though, while the stupid onlay provi is just killing me. its so small and irritating! and as a side note, it was pretty damn funny seeing Prof Yap sing 'Deep And Wide' sunday-school style to explain the indications for cuspal protection.

felt really gross again during lunch, but this was rectified by prompt administration of Yu Pian Mi Fen Tang. but nonetheless i dont intend to stick around too long tonite. also because i want to watch the taped anime from last night which i missed watching while in a headachey stupour lying on my bed.

one day i will test the Katzung Conjecture and show that it is bullshit. one day...

Wings (Strong Mix) - Do As Infinity

On The Bridge To Avignon

had a disgusting mega-dinner, outeating the apetite on on legs, CE himself. think i overdid it though, feel like im going into my second trimester or something.

conversation of the brotherhood during dinner at one point mirrored the lunchtime conversation. why in the world do the class girls buy bikinis and then wear them under t-shirts where they cant be seen?

had an amazing behavioral science lecture. the shrink taking the class will be remembered not just for his weird surname (Fones) but also for his ability to make me not fall asleep. he had a loud voice and the ability to connect, and amazing synchronity with his slides. and he thinks well on his feet.

pbl was good. 3 questions and it was almost over... until we ended up designing RPDs. the hazard of being under a prostho goddess for pbl i suppose... but interesting nonetheless cos now i know how to design an rpd around very separated solitary abutments.

Lothar's Edge

lab today was so bad im amazed i didnt chicken wing myself to oblivion. i have awful IRM skills. its slowing me down to the point of distraction... and i find myself getting more angry at the labwork when it isnt cooperating. at least i didnt flip out when pj accidentally spilled water onto my crotch. haiz... getting splashed does not count as grounds for an yi shen xiang xu... except that suggesting it does make the suggester liable to getting double-teamed. cb AL...

americans call salbutamol albuterol. i call it a life-saver.

sometimes when the stress builds up i remember a time when i had a person i could turn to for a ready shoulder. and amidst the stress of dental school i really miss that. the shared times, the encouragement, the knowledge that whatever i did someone was looking out for me, ready to catch me if i should fall. just as i would catch her if she fell...

i could do with a whole day with a close friend just mucking around, shopping, eating, watching a movie, doing whatever!

What Does The Shadow Will?

F.I.R. fest in the library now. on to aspirin and the NSAIDs!

for 2 days in a row i've been getting hungry for dinner a full 45 minutes earlier than usual. weird! think im gonna go chicken rice myself after this...

had the chance to go to clementi for lunch today. had a bowl of Thaksin Beef Noodles, which have to be tried to be believed! they have like 4 branches now, although ive only tried the clementi one. good value for money. and went to get a pair of slippers and a pirated game after lunch. w00tz! need to find the time to install it though...

good patho session. the nasal prof was doing the practical session today, excellent pots-ing session. why cant pharmaco be like patho? the pills are just an abstract concept to me... little round things in different colours which ive never seen. not like lesions. necrosis, inflammatory cells, haemosiderin, candidiasis, signet ring cells, these i can see and grapple with!

and i still havent figured what in the world PJ was laughing about before lunch... whenever she says nothing it usually means something about the enquirer. ergo Lim Peh. haiz...

Ni De Wei Xiao - F.I.R.

Under My Bed Is A Layer Of Expired Dreams

majorly stuffed! got hungry at 6pm and went to pwn the following:

1 fish and chips set
2 chicken wings
1 cheng tng (cold)

d-d-d-domination!

and on the way back from my joyous gluttony, i ran into the stunning Ms Shen at the bus stop, applying lipstick with a brush and mirror while waiting for the bus, dressed to the nines. her look of surprise when i said hi was the textbook definition of adorable!

pharmaco is a drag as usual. it worries me that this subject may well be turning into a subject of death, because its just vital in so many ways.

since i cant get out of the country this break, think i'll see if i can help out at Auntie Wai Pek's clinic. not sure if i can be the sole help, cos of the female DA thing, but i think the experience will be good. sure beats rotting, since everyone else is like going everywhere and nothing major is shaking during that time period. with perhaps the sole exception of my ex's 21st birthday chalet party.

Music Gets The Best Of Me - Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Happiness is...

happiness is: a tray of chipsmore, 2 glasses of cold milk and someone to share the afore-mentioned with... looks like i aint happy then!

finnaly got my dad the replacement power drill, now i just have to give the bill to the lovely Ms Lee, and claim my 129 Yusof Ishaks. my dad was telling me the history of the lost drill, how it was the first power tool he ever bought while he was still a poor student in australia, when i was a young boy. the old drill had a lot of sentimental attachment apparently. so, to the @#$%^* who stunned the drill, a murrain upon ye scurvy hide, i say!

i am so in the deep end for christmas. clan ee (dover branch) is taking all the acting roles in the presentation, and theres no script or anything! we need at least a rough plan to work, right? i want something i can invite my classmates to with the peace of mind that i dont get maluated on stage.. or at least not maluated through un-l33t acting skillz.

Lydia - F.I.R.

And Now That I'm Here...

wasnt able to post last night due to login problems... think i really am a posting junkie!

The Katzung Conjecture:

whereby jon going for a hot solo library date with Mr Bertram G. Katzung is more interesting than going out with a particular girl that i like.

this conjecture was postulated to me last evening at the water cooler by aforementioned girl. and i think its bullshit. would love to conduct a study into its veracity! but no chance lah... tried asking her out today after school but she din seem too keen. whats wrong with a little platonic movie-watching anyhow?

DotA 5.80 is out! seems a little buggy, especially with reference to the new play modes. stan convinced me to leave the library early last night to play but it was not to be... his mum started to scold him. din have the mood to haul my fat ass off to study, so the night wasnt too productive. damn.

philosopical thought of the week:

The surgeon does not heal. He merely creates an environment, through his surgical intervention, that allows the body to heal itself.

Am I Just Paranoid Or Am I Stoned?

grade 1 radiograph! w00ts! at least the bitewings seem reasonably easy to do. spent the morning with Group 1 and my dear smooth-brained lab partner pj irradiating each other. her shot turned out good too, and there was something on my #16m marginal ridge that i need to check up on... also explained to above-mentioned smooth-brained madamoiselle via the Socratic Method why you cant leave exposed film in the room when taking X-Rays.

a rough reconstruction:

jon: oi! you never take your film out arr?
pj: cannot leave inside meh?
jon:it will expose lah...
pj: but i thought its outside the beam?
jon:you do realise that when we expose we all get out of the room right?
pj:*ponders* oh!

sometimes life is like that... you know it but you dont know that you know it. thats why i use the Socratic Method of questioning to teach rather than getting straight to it. its much more satisfying to come to a conclusion via synthesis and integration of prior knowledge than to be spoonfed. and i think it retains better too.

was supposed to have dinner with Jo today but she was feeling under the weather, so i ended up reading comics at Borders. not studying for sure, but fun. much more fun! and the time earlier at the esplanade library was utilised in reading journal articles on singing. the most thorough article on tone-deafness and its different manifestations ive ever read. good stuff!

here's my recommendation to everyone. watch Inuyasha. its on wednesdays to fridays at 11.30pm. great anime! start now before the plot advances! great fight sequences relieved by light comic scenes. 12 kingdoms at 11pm is of a more serious nature, and the plot is a bit slower but im sure it will pick up the pace. aah heck, watch it aniwei!

Fukai Mori

pharmaco in the library is making me bored and hungry. going home a little earlier tonite, cos theres the arts central anime thingy tonite if memory serves me correctly. 12 kingdoms and inuyasha!

onlay passed with 30 seconds of work as desired! now its just the issue of getting my provi work done. indirect-direct seems pretty okay frankly, cos of the large amount of pre-clinical work done at lab stage. but for the life of me i cant get the provi shell material to mix exactly the way i want it to! still have to bead-brush the margin and fix up a negative on the fitting surface of the shell, but this should be nice and quick.

pbl was a teensy bit disastrous cos preparations werent too good. but still a learning experience. its not so much in the tangible things, but the off-topic stuff like Dr Thean explaining about how to convince a patient that the bleeding he's experiencing after scaling is his fault. and how to explain OHI without big words. all the stuff we really need to know but have to pick up ourselves.

Deep Forest - Do As Infinity

The Funniest Thing In The World

today in patho we learned that hyperplastic prostate has nothing to do with metaplasia. somehow it was also the funniest thing in the world. and im sure shenhua now knows the difference between me pointing to my nads and me pointing to my innards...

had the most horrible DotA session ever! well, suppose that ya cant dominate every time. need to work on the Banehallow.

looks like trouble brewing for christmas. hate it when this happens...

What Is It They're Singing?

another kiroro-fest in the library! the juniors have anat tomorrow, and im trying to work on my pharmaco.

today went okay. killed 2 of my #24, and i was 150 seconds away from a signature for the blasted onlay prep. damn! also gave a straw star to a classmate...

cref earlier posts, sometimes i do question my motives. i know intellectually that i shouldnt chase, but theres this part of me that just wants to do nice things for no other reason than i like her. sure i get the warm fuzzy glow and all, but theres also this part of me that has alarm bells ringing.

damn i hope she doesnt read this.

looks like the Dental DotA gang will be on hiatus for a while. for the best i suppose. bloody pharmaco...

A City Changes Who You Are, It Creeps Beneath Your Skin

long day in school. pharmaco not as well-exercised as DotA!

have been thinking lately about goin somewhere over the holidays. last year i was frankly quite reluctant to shift my ass out of singapore during the break, but even then i went to the Chiang Rai area and did dental work in the hill-tribe villages. this year, no medical/dental missions, and it looks like 4 weeks with nothing to do. and i dont think theres anything here that would make me wanna stay.

anyone wanna donate to jon's desert island fund?

tests are up on the horizon again. have to start off on the pharmaco, and try to score respectably this time. also have DM and optec. looks like more reconstruction work ahead of me, cos of mucho lecture-napping.

why in the world is it so hard to find what i want for PBL?

Domination isnt about a favourite character per se, its a state of mind.

Compulsive Whistling Explained By Rogers And Hammerstein

When you walk through a storm,
Hold your head up high,
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm,
There's a golden sky,
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown..
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone...
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone...
You'll never walk alone.

--------------------------------------------

i'd like to clarify that im not a Liverpool fan. but these lyric are from a Rogers & Hammerstein song which i happen to really like. just spent the last 2 hours watchin a documentary on central about their movie music. amazing stuff! always had this little fantasy about what life would be like if i wasnt doing what i do... but instead working in music or on the stage. the undeveloped facet of me, if you will.

bought Tenchu II for the XBox. now i know why the 'eck the SA is called Rikimaru. he gets mucho easier kills than in DotA, for sure! and im also horribly stuck on the first level! just cant find where to go, and with a panicky screaming geisha girl (read: civilian and hence not legitimate target) blocking my way to boot...

Christmas needs a major Fixing. a veritable miracle. and some pple need a good smiting, as per the definition given in The Ladykillers.

Bend It Like Beckham?

saturdays can be at the same time amazingly boring and amazingly fun. it depends what time of the day you catch me at. today however had a much higher proportion of fun. orchestra cancelled due to wedding, and so i spent the afternoon flat on my back sleeping off the effects of the early-morning stygian desolation. and then... movie!

shark's tale has made it onto my recommended list. although a teensy bit short, the animation is good and the script is well-written with nice little intelligent portions that make it more than just a kiddy show that will leave mums and dads fidgeting. casting was well done, and artwork somehow matches the character of the voiceovers very well.

also reflecting on how the first movie i ever saw with Jo was a fish movie, Finding Nemo to be exact. seems like so long ago... before i even entered uni. and it still mystifies me as to why the hell an 8-year old girl had a huge orthodontic appliance on!

naptime was interrupted mid-way by a distraught sms. pj killed a tape that i had lent her of the 9pm channel 8 show that we all missed due to the Marche binge last night. ah well, whats a tape between friends?

what is it exactly that attracts guys to girls? why am i always attracted to the ones i cant chase? and not the ones that i can, even though theyre nice, caring, intelligent, elligible people? theres a foot space and a logical gulf between the heart and head...

She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5

It Just Flies

am stuffed to the gills with Marche food. overpriced but not too bad flavourwise. the end result of a class outing whereby we were subsidised 10 bucks as overflow from FOC canvassing. it was quite well attended, say 2/3 of the pple? had some semi-wild semi-jane austen spin the bottle truth-or-truth session after dinner... it woulda been truth or dare cept lim peh seemed to be too daring. whats so wrong about going up to some random guy and singing him a song?

its quite annoying when you want to blog just about everything, but due to tiredness you skip a day. yesterday was full of interesting stuff... but somehow it all gets lost in the great boil-out that is a nite's sleep.

im just glad that chris is out of singapore idol. the poor boy... slaughtering a Cole Porter song. looks like his fans grew ears. and i like the song Orange Coloured Sky! unfortunately daphne's delivery was a little bit sub-par...

Smash And Grab

is it a bad sign if im dreading the preventive classes? radio lessons are so fun, but after that... was having a bitchin' session with the guys during lunch and the preventive class came up. i think that a class fully driven by presentations is a very risky experment for any teacher to undertake, because of the lack of control in exactly what we learn. at the end of the day, i still want a base of knowledge that is at least complete enough for me to inform my patients and make decisions. and the preventive classes seem to be, frankly, going nowhere. now what makes this different from our normal PBL? PBL is in small groups. the facilitating doctor can still rein in the group if it goes out of whack. and we at least have the basic knowledge to rationalise with before we get down to investigation. what do we know about fluorides? balls-all! zip! nada!

am back to cutting preps again. damned if i havent lost my touch since doing all the waxwork! looks like my kill-bill is gonna rise and rise. but as with all things, i got to start somewhere.

gold bill came back. $171? whoa momma!

wanna watch movie again! any takers?

And The Greatest Miracle Of All

in between DotA games again... the wonders of a stable school net connection!

school was great... got the molar wax-up progressing well, interesting patho practical. almost made up for the mega-nap of a patho lecture. some are not born to didactics i guess...

she likes the earrings! w00ts!

saw the juniors in the library, and it brought back memories of the last year. has it been so fast? time sure flies... to Xiao Mian Yang et al, good luck for the anat test!

Showers In The Spring

what a day! just had one of my worst DotA thrashings ever. did we suck or was the other team good? at least i had a positive kill ratio. just have to love those remote mines! excellent for blowing an arrogant meat shield and his retinue of creeps to kingdom come. or respawn as the case may be. i have to confess to an adrenaline rush every time i get a remote mine kill, because of the sheer delicacy of timing the detonation. Ka-Booooooom! muahahahahahahahaha!

managed to evade sleep in microbe lecture through the sheer amusement power of 0.7 SS wire. in the space of 2 lectures i managed to bend out a matching pair of dangly heart earrings, and gave them to a classmate after school. really hope she likes them. and i also really hope i managed to smooth out the rough ends, cos without a lathe i had to file them with the diamond grit on the surfaces of the universal pliers. hate working without the proper tools.

popped by to see the juniors. Kanglun was using super-direct vision! i proceeded to smack him and correct his posture. children these days... at least reach special term before developing bad habits lah!

Longer - Dan Fogelberg

Tian Xia Wu Shuang

just watched the cutest, dumbest romantic chinese comedy movie ever. yeah, believe it or not jon does indeed have a soft spot for mushy movies. it was the usual princess meets commoner thing, but they managed to ask all the pertinent questions. like when tony leung's character meets his ex, and sees how she's gotten on in life... once i thought i had met the under-heaven-no-double girl in my life. that dream left me one and a half years ago. and i still wonder who the real one is. is she hanging around right under my nose waiting to show her true destiny? does she know that i am seeking her?

and the good Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways. cref yesterday's rant, hymn 288 was indeed cut from service last-minute in a manner i never expected. a prayer answered in an unconventional manner!

jon has decided to have titles for his posts!

Full Orchestra Panic

church was rather more active than usual today. during the pastoral prayer i suddenly realised tt i hadnt worn my tie, and it was sitting rolled-up rather reduntdantly in my shirt pocket! then during the sermon, i decided to sit backstage instead of going into the auditorium as usual. about 15min into pastor's msg, Auntie Jasmine came in looking flustered and asking where my Dad was sitting. initial suspicions proved correct, Grandma wasnt feeling well. suspected CVA, sent to NUH.

just had a mega-nap for the last 3 hours! amazing how much u can sleep on a sunday afternoon... but i feel good!

De-Lovely

birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it! lets do it, lets fall in love!

what a day! think i shoulda passed my rpd test, judging by Dr Thean's paper review. and all my teeth are set up! gum waxing and the co-commitant flaming has however caused loss of contacts, so looks like i'll be grinding the teeth again.

i have also come to the conclusion that it is probably easier to go out and catch a movie with Mother Theresa than it is to do the same with one of the class girls. thankfully i didnt end up going out with Mother Theresa tonight. instead i caught De-Lovely with Jo! got to say that it is one of the most unconventional love stories i have ever seen. Mrs Porter had the patience of a saint, and the nicotine consumption of the devil. and the music and orchestration for the movie was absolutely fantastic! an absolute must to watch! without Mother Theresa for reasons best not revealed so as not to spoilerise the movie.

orchestra provided the usual heartaches. but Ah Pooi had a short feedback session with Jo, me and another person. i just hope that what i said will be acted upon, because i'm using this as a test to see just how seriously they take advice. tomorrow will tell...

Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love! -Sheryl Crow

Two Faces, One Name

lunch break! had an excellent lab session, got my canine done up and am currently cutting back the wax to make space for porcelain. saw Prof Yap demonstrate his amazing no-stirring powder-into-liquid technique. one day i will be as powerful as him...

called AL's name in front of Prof Yap so tt he could stop waxing and come for demo, and prof yap turned his head! dammit lah... heng i never scold AL.

think my old disease might be relapsing from chronic phase into acute phase. this is really just the thing i dont need, but how does one resist these elemental forces? *sigh*

wanna go out again! moviemoviemoviemovie! hafta make use of the no-test period.

Wasting My Time, I've Got Nothing To Do...

the only thing thats good about the pharmaco computer lab is the computers!

finally, finally, finally got to watch Sky Captain! b-grade plot coupled with excellent graphics, requiring the viewer to STFU and watch the show with child-like wonder, ignoring the massive logical leaps.

the Brotherhood was also lamenting the reticence of the womenfolk in class to go watch movies with us. seems as if theres an unusually high concentration of reserved, shy girls in our class. boggles the mind....

another amazing PBL session. Dr Thean explained to us the concept of the minimally-invasive Toothbrush Santa-Claus. when i grow up, i wanna be worth 100 bucks for a class 4 CR!

Heigh Ho!

PubMed is an evil, fickle, complex system. for the life of me, searching it is a pain in the ass. either that or no-one does in-vitro studies on actual release of fluoride ions from composite resins.

today i made an investment! an investment is what happens when you entrust your hard-made assets into a the hands of another, where unseen by you, magical transformations will be made and hopefully in a while you will have substantial returns. yes indeedy... with a bit of luck i'll be burning out and casting tomorrow. got to go buy gold...

ran into the divine Ms Belle in the library today. looks like the medicos have been having it bad... 4 tests in a week, and the pharmaco isnt absorbing for her. which makes me shudder to think of what will happen when i get my results back.

The Gift Of Love

the lyrics to a hymn i've been hunting for for a while.

----------------------------------------

The Gift Of Love:

Though I may speak with bravest fire,
And have the gift to all inspire,
And have not love, my words are vain,
As sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess,
And striving so my love profess,
But not be given by love within,
The profit soon turns strangely thin.

Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control,
Our spirits long to be made whole.
Let inward love guide every deed;
By this we worship, and are freed.

-----------------------------------------

is this the right time to start a rant on alternate tunes to hymns? muahahahahaha....

sometimes people get so caught up with switching tunes and lyrics around that we lose the original feel and applications of the words or tune. when it comes to the point that i cant even remember what the original sounds like, it makes me stop and think... have we lost out composer's original intent?

Probe Me Baby One More Time!

believe it or not, im here in the student lounge at 8 on a monday nite. had to leave the house to escape pearl harbour so i can do my bloody pbl. seems to be quite a hassle, although the lessons themselves are pretty ok. and dr thean is sooo nice! hopefully we can get sth up for her.

never thought trying to get movie company would turn me into a pseudo-despo...

and how long does it take for food dyes to fade from human tissue? the corner of my mouth is still a bit pink. dammit... my turn to get probed by pj today. an experience not to be forgotten... learning issues being, try not to cut the patient in the gums with the mouth mirror, and the distal of the 7 or 8 is a plaque trap! and highly characterised teeth just have a massive tendency to pick up stains and whatnot... like mine. damn. hengfully my plaque score is low.

Cataphract My Ass!

another weekend in my life has flown by. played another round of CBT, and got horribly whipped.

lessons learnt:
1) somehow, inferno must be carried
2)focus fire pertains not only to an enemy target, but its facing aspect. especially for bloody vees
3)the dice are fickle, evil bitches
4)slow 4/6 heavies must avoid intervening hills which slow you down on the way to your intended target

got home in time to catch part of pearl harbour. kate beckinsale is HOT! enough for me to hardly notice jennifer garner at any rate...

and i still want to watch sky captain and the world of tomorrow!

www.pwned.nl

what a game! havent been smacked around that bad since... like... well... actually never! decided to skip orchestra.. think they'll be fine w/o me lah. and i'll actually say the time spent elsewhere was more fun. *sigh* which will be continued in about 10min as the Dental DotA clan prepare to ride again!

sadly, did not get to go and watch Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow. was talking to pj about watching it tonite, but in the end she ended up goin out with her family. cant begrudge her the time since her sis is bk from the UK with a spanking new Masters in Econs. looks like the charms of Jude Law lose to family ties.

lesson of the day: never say GG until your creeps are pounding the other guy's FT/tree to bits.

have decided to wear my pink Zara shirt and tie tmr. no better time to make a statement than when mum and dad arent ard. muahahahahahaha!

Magic Fingers

DotA session about to begin! had an amazing RPD session, wherein Dr Thean explained to us the importance of playing the violin. yes, indeed, violin playing strengthens the fingers of the left hand so that you can apply ungodly pressure against your 0.9 gauge SS wire or whatever. and by some twist of fate, D2 has no serious string players.

Mrs Au also referred to TC as a flat surface much to her chagrin and our amusement *evil giggles*.

one day i will be able to bend a little 0.7 SS bicycle at will...

I Cracked My Crown Wax Pattern, A-Top The Ole Kent Ridge

another day is passing...

optec was teh suxorz! spent it all whacking my stravag wax pattern into shape, and just as i was marginating and getting ready to have it signed so i could go sprue and invest, i found a whacking great big crack running across the top! so farewell to my carefully, lovingly crafted tripods as i melted the occlusal into nothingness repairing the wax...

was also reminded of how neglected my poor lil Kiroro cds have been since i got my FIR and Maroon 5, when AQ started humming away while waxing. and so they have been restored to a place of honour in my CD-ROM drive.

Track 2 (unpronounceable)-Kiroro: Four Leaf Clover

At The Beginning With You

mum and dad just left for mat-land to have fun without me and the bro. so, we will reciprocate in kind! amidst the mayhem of temporary orphan-hood i'll be trying to get this bloody blog to look like something resembling a blog. the layout is, frankly, shite at the moment. mebbe i should bribe diana *evil glee*

and why oh why does the yong siew toh free concert at VCH have to be the day before the RPD test? fat hope i'll be able to find pple to go...