And they live happily ever after..

Too many things to backdate.. This time, the backdating continues with my cousin's wedding, where I was the Best Man.. With a guest list of over 700 people, the preparation and the execution really had to be spot on for the entire event to proceed smoothly without any glitch.. And as far as everyone is concerned, the wedding couldn't have been better.

Spot me if you can..

Change

It's been so long since I last posted an entry that I can hardly decide upon what should I blog about. Well, in terms of chronological order, my results this term has been, well, satisfactory..... taking into consideration the circumstances surrounding my exam preparations. Ideally, I would say this sort of results just makes the transcript look average... but nonetheless I'm glad that my consistency throughout the semester has reaped some dividends. I'm already looking forward to next semester to put things right once again, to get the kind of transcript that would be the envy of a lot of people. We shall see.....

Anyway, Saerom's visit to Singapore allowed me to travel to a lot of places that I normally wouldn't have gone to. Sentosa's Images of Singapore.. The new Sentosa Express.. Jurong Bird Park.. and perhaps most significant of them all, M.O.S...Yeah, it's been 3 years since I last stepped into a Club. The last of which was at the now-defunct ChinaBlack, supposedly a NTU NBS Bash. Not much has changed since. I still didn't go to the dancefloor. I still feel the same way about Clubbing as I did 3 years ago. Boring I may be, but that's just that. I was especially startled at how much Sentosa has changed. The once-iconic Clock tower has now given way to the I.R. and Universal Studios and the previously free Musical fountain now costs something like $6 or $4.. Speaking of the Musical fountain, despite the new setting by the beach, the show was largely disappointing.

Change. Much has Changed in Singapore. The ones mentioned in Sentosa somewhat pale in comparison with what has been going on around the island. I'm sure all of you would have noticed the changes Singapore has experienced of late. These changes would certainly appear much more extensive and widespread to me due to my extended absence. Just walk down Orchard Road.. "The Ion".. The new development at Specialist Shopping Centre.. The Singapore Flyer.. and the list goes on and on. And these are just the 'hardware' The Government is certainly leaving no stones unturned in transforming Singapore into the vibrant city that everyone is talking about. Perhaps more significantly is the 'software' issues.. Of course, most recently, there's the hotly-contested topic of increased taxi fares.. but what has caught my eye the most is how prices in general have increased. If my memory serves me right, and correct me if I'm wrong, inflation this year is at a 16 year high. As an Economics student myself, I'll be the first to say that, trust economic data with a pinch of salt. The flexibility in defining what's in what results in data being highly skewed and meaningless. However, New notices displayed at bus-stops informing of "Revised fares" just reaffirms the fact that the cost of living is certainly creeping upwards. Bus services. Despite the increased fares and newer buses which are wheel-chair accessible, having to wait 20mins at City Hall for Service 14 just before 8pm on a weekday is certainly not good enough by my standards at least.

With the Singapore economy surging ahead, I suppose it is inevitable that there will be upward pressure on prices. The challenge will be to ensure that the underprivileged is not left behind as the rest of the country enjoy a higher standard of living..

No visit to Singapore is complete without trying out the local delights. Hokkien Mee, Stingrays.. Satay.. Made me realise that I actually haven't eaten a lot of those food before. -_-

At Jurong Bird Park. "Dimbulah, Australia's finest coffee". Well, none of us have ever heard of Dimbulah in Aussie....

That's Terry from 2C/1999 and his Girlfriend, Esperanza in the middle.

Post-Exams

It certainly was a huge relief that the clock struck 5:30pm on Nov 8, signalling the end of my Exams and in turn, my tumultuous semester. As I remained on the seat as others packed and left the examination hall, my mind raced through all the emotions and the ups and downs throughout the past few months. It was by far the most difficult semester that I have had to go through, in every sense. All those midnight oils burnt rushing assignments.. Countless sachets of Nescafe 3-in-1..Finally I could take a well-deserved break and sleep soundly without having to worry about waking up early to finish school work.

Couldn't resist a quick snapshot of the examination hall before I was chased out.

The accountants couldn't be more relieved...

You can't get more unhealthy than a meal like this. But, it's time to pamper ourselves..

A rare bowling outing in Melbourne. Just when you thought S$4-5 per game in Singapore is expensive, rates here are A$19.90 for 2 games. Cool...

The Accountants, + Saerom's twin sister

3 Accountants, coincidentally using 3 different banks.

[If only real life Fairytales can come true like the one in "Enchanted"]

A Great Way to Fly

I had awaited this moment for a long time. It was with great anticipation and excitement that I boarded the new B777-300ER for my return flight back to Singapore from Melbourne. It turned out to be my best flight, EVER. I managed to tour the aircraft after landing and even made it to the flight deck. What more could I ask for..

Prior to my flight, I had went to the SQ Roadshow in Melbourne in the afternoon to have a look at the new Cabin products. Coincidentally, the SQ girls at the roadshow were also scheduled to leave Melbourne later that night on the same flight as me, albeit as passengers.

Singapore Airlines Melbourne A380 Roadshow

9V-SWI, the 8th 777-300ER delivered to SQ, waiting at the parking bay
A very simplified D.I.Y. Log sheet for the flight. Note the Captain's mistake in the distance travelled. Should be 3,480miles instead of "km". I hope to add in more details for my next flight!

The new Economy seat with the Massive personal TV and the new reading lights.Catherine Zeta-Jones in "No Reservations"Speaking of Massive, check out the First Class screens.

Goodbye...

Goodbye Grandma.. You have fought bravely against illnesses over the past few years.. Time and again, the doctors have ask us to be prepared for the worst. Yet, you defied all odds and made full recoveries. However, the time has now come for you to take a rest.. and may you rest in peace.. I'll always miss you..

Crash Landing

Oh Man. Who would have thought I would be in Singapore right now.. just days before the start of my first paper.. I'm going to need all the strength and enlightenment to pull through this..

1 Year, and Counting...

I had to do this entry, no matter how short it is. It's my FIRST anniversary here at down under. How time -f.l.i.e.s-.. It didn't feel that long ago since I left Singapore for Melbourne..yet on the other hand, so much seemed to have happened between then and now.

Fight on -z.w-, less than a month to go....

Melbourne Marathon 2007

It was a strange feeling heading into the Big Day on Oct 7. I haven't trained for 2 weeks prior to the event due to the weather and having to rush assignments, and my sub-48min target appears to be just a dream. Moreover, with the upcoming exams at the back of my mind, I just wanted to get this run over and done with.

With almost 5000 people taking part in the 10km run, it wasn't easy to navigate through the 'traffic', especially when I started the run from the back of the crowd. But -f.l.y- I did. Net Time of 46:27.. New Personal Best and top 17%..

My 'Gun Time' of 49:10, which starts upon commencement of race, rather than the moment runner passes the gantry at the start.

With my cousin and Alex

With Chris Ng after the race

The Accountants!

望月怀远

It's Mid-Autumn Festival. Or rather, a couple of days ago. My first one in foreign land. Somehow you do miss the atmosphere and the celebrations back home. Admittedly, I never really did celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival in a big way but my family does make a point to eat some quality mooncakes (i.e. 荣华 or 奇华, and not the 冰皮s!) together with some tea from my Dad's collection. Something's obviously lacking this year. While the asian grocery shops do stock up mooncakes, there's hardly anything else to indicate the festival. I wanted to buy some 荣华 mooncakes but it costs a whopping AUD$38, which is about SGD$50-odd..

It's only at times like these that you can fully appreciate poems like "望月怀远" and "水调歌头".. The only time I managed to have a good look at the full moon was during my 10km practice run. Looking at the moon and racing through memories was indeed an interesting way to keep myself occupied during the 50-min run. Many of us here are already feeling the fatigue and can't wait to board the flight back already.. Recent chats circling around flight confirmations and bookings just goes to show how eager we are to return already, although perhaps I'm top of the list for that. I was disappointed to have been waitlisted on the 2 earlier dates which I would have preferred and some people do ask what's the hurry in going back. But seriously, I don't see any what's there for me to do here either.

Just 9 days to go to the Melbourne Marathon and the erratic Melbourne weather is certainly giving me good reasons to be lazy. Was due to run today as well but blistering winds and pouring rain meant that it was wiser to stay indoors. My last timed run was 50:27 for 10.5km, not sure how does that measure up actually but I'm looking to hit the 47:00s for the 10km run on the day itself. It's my first competitive run since the good ol' army days and the first "Long Distance" runnings since my JC soccer trainings when I'll never ever forget how I completed 20km, 50 laps around the running track, started with the sun still shining brightly and by the time we ended, the moon was almost visible already. I wanted to do the Standard Chartered one in Singapore as well but unfortunately, I haven't found anyone interested at all.. Kudos to Stan the Man for doing the Full Marathon... Melbourne Marathon 2008, 21km perhaps? In the meantime, Watch me -f.l.y-....

My jersey for the Melbourne Marathon 2007

Random

Not sure what to update actually. Quite a few things which I could have blogged about. Not quite in the mood though. Rather deflated by Financial Accounting. Consolidation is making Company Law look like Child's Play, and my lecturer/tutor isn't exactly helping to ease the situation either. -_- Am I going to see a 2nd Credit in my Monash Academic Transcript? 2 Credits amongst 12 units. Not exactly bad but no doubt has tainted my transcripts somewhat.

Mid-Sem Break is here. But yet signals the countdown to the Exams.. 5 weeks....

End of the Monash Hell Week..

What a week. 2 tests, 1 assignment due, 1 interview. I skipped almost all lectures and tutorials this week to prepare for the tests and assignment. I don't think it was a case of last-minute preparation 'cos if everything had gone according to plan, I would have had more than enough time to complete the tasks.

The main issue was Financial Accounting, Consolidations took up far more time than allocated... I could never have imagined prior to the semester that there would be a unit with such an intensive curriculum. It's just over half-way through the semester and we've had 2 extra lectures already. Apparently they actually added an additional chapter into the course this year without removing any. The Company law assignment... "Discuss and assess the regulations currently governing executive remuneration. Explain if reforms are needed. Why/Why not" -_-|| Finance test. In the end, I only managed to spend ONE day studying for it, and it's on the actual day of the test itself.

It remains to be seen how well I've come through this week. Cautiously pleased but things are certainly looking bleak at the moment... Lofty ambitions set seem to be fading into the distance.

Now that the Hell weeks are over, what does the future hold for us?

New Audi A4

The eagerly-anticipated new Audi A4 has finally been revealed and is due for its official launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Doesn't look too bad actually but design is a little conservative in my view. It looks more like a facelift from the current model and is way too similar to it recently-launched "elder Brother" Audi A5 Coupe. Maybe this is precisely Audi's signature style. Understated yet bold. Bring on the Mercedes C-Class and the BMW 3 Series.. Pictures courtesy of www.worldcarfans.com

Deja-vu? Presenting to you, Audi A5 Coupe.

As a comparison, the current A4.

How are ya doing?

Blog getting a little stale... Just a brief update from down under..

A pretty busy period for me personally.. Apart from the usual piling up of school work, I'm also in the process of applying for Committee posts in AIESEC and SG Assoc. of Monash. Endless forms and mini-essays to fill in.. As if that isn't enough, the next few weeks mark the start of an intensive scouting mission for an internship in Singapore. Initially my plan was to do one in Australia and another in Singapore but this was hampered by the fact that Australian regulations do not permit international students from doing internships with local firms. This despite the fact that we are can apply for a permit to work for a maximum of 20hrs during school term and no restrictions during vacation.

I've always believed that as overseas students in Australia, especially from Monash and not our arch rival University of Melbourne, we are probably at a slight disadvantage as compared to our compatriots in the Big 3 in SG. I know there will be many who disagree but then again, just my own personal view anyway. Not to mention the fact that we do not have structured placement programmes in place for us and that some of the internship programs in the finance industry are specially catered to the SG term breaks, which is in the middle of the year as compared to ours which is from Nov - late Feb.

As usual, some pictures for entertainment..

A full-page advertisement in "The Age" by Telstra, equivalent of SingTel of Australia. It's always interesting to see such 'provocative' ads here in Oz. You certainly don't get these in Straits Times. =)

Took this shot while waiting for my morning Cafe Latte at Coffee HQ at Flinders Street station.

Monash University Menzies Building at 7am.. -_-

Falls Creek

My 3rd and last Ski Trip for 2007 at Falls Creek, a Whopping 6hr+ journey from Melbourne.. Almost twice as far as my 2 previous ski trips at Mount Buller with zY and the Babes. Prior to departure, the President for Singapore Assoc. of Monash (S.A.M) said, "Comparing Buller & Falls Creek, Buller is like a slope, Falls Creek a Mountain" Then again, 3 ski trips. 3 unique experiences...

Indeed, Falls Creek didn't disappoint with their diverse terrain and runs. Heavy snow on our 2nd day ensured there's constantly a fresh layer of snow, providing superb skiing conditions. On the flip side, it also meant skiing in freezing conditions, -5c to be precise.... We are already looking forward to Falls Creek 2008.......

All set to move after the long overnight trip..

Some hot chocolate + marshmellow.....Taking a tumble....

Our Snowman!

Supposed to look sad for the end of the ski trip.....

-j.i.a-y.o.u-