Letter

Dear Tiong Chin,

I hope you're all right

It's starting to get more stressful in university. Mood swings are definitely going to be more frequent 

In spite of being back to where I thought I could have a better time, I feel more alone than ever 

The summer holidays was not what I envisioned it to be

The company that I cherish couldn't bring the same comfort to me and made me feel more alienated

I miss the Tiong Chin that was so ultra-focus during his A Levels

I miss the fact that he had something occupying his life that means almost everything to him

I envy those days where he could just focus on the studies

Not having to deal with family issues, bother about other things

I'm living the days trying to find something to be happy about

But nothing in my life now seems to bring real genuine happiness

I dislike talking on Skype with my family

To listen to mother talking about money issues with aunt

To bear with looking at my dad whom I did not feel love for

I envy my friends who have good results and are on exchange

I hated watching my friends enjoying life to the fullest

While I'm left feeling heart-wrenching on the things I feel I deserved

Things I believe I had worked for
But yet never came to me
I hate living life on deficit

Having to worry and concern if I have spend more than I should

I'm sorry that I am naive, stubborn and immature

I'm sorry for all the emotional outbursts that my friends endured

I just feel very lonely and unhappy

I know you, of all people, can understand this

Inconsiderate Malaysians

For some of the working class in Kuala Lumpur, public transports such as Monorail and LRT are the most convenient way of transportation as we seek to avoid the traffic congestion on the road. However, the behaviour of some Malaysians when using Monorail and LRT are, to say the least, disappointing. This is because there are many instances where our fellow Malaysians act inconsiderately when using Monorail and LRT.

The obvious example would be the passengers crowding in front of the door before boarding, thereby blocking the passengers onboard from alighting. In an understandable hustle to board a crowded train, these passengers repeatedly ignore the call by the control center or polis bantuan to give way to the alighting passengers before boarding. Surely we do not want to find ourselves being shouted at for blocking the way of the alighting passengers? That will be embarrassing.

Another example, which I personally find it irritating, is that after the passengers board the train, some refuse, or do not have the courtesy to move further inside the train to allow more room for others to board the train. This causes some passengers, who are determined not to miss the train, to squeeze themselves forcefully into the train. As a results, many passengers are sandwiched near the door of the train. I am sure that those who have experienced being sandwiched in the train do not find this comfortable. Wouldn't it be nice and comfortable for everyone if we have the courtesy to be considerate and just move further into the train? There's no reason to be afraid of not being able to get out of the train, at least for the Monorail.

To conclude this piece of writing, I'm urging fellow Malaysians to address and change these inconsiderate behaviors when using Monorail and LRT. These behaviors do not reflect a polite Malaysian society as we approach Vision 2020. It does not take a lot to be considerate and I certainly have the confidence that we are sensible enough to act the right way. 

Week in review (6/6 - 12/6)

Annyeonghaseyo modu =D

I have been back to Bolehland for more than a month now and this week is by far the most eventful one. So I thought I'd update my blog and do a week in review for this.

Tuesday
I went to watch the movie Me Before You with Yu Jun and Yan Xin 学姐 (both from 23rd batch). It was the first time I watched movie with any of my 学记 friends. Personally, I feel the plot build up is spot on leading to the ending of the movie, which is supposed to make people cry. Although I did not manage to cry, I enjoyed the movie as it is both heartwarming and funny. I was certainly touched by the storyline. Besides that, the sceneries in the movie are breathtaking, showing the gorgeous sceneries of Pembroke Castle and the surrounding areas in Northen Wales. Also, the soundtracks of the movie are wonderful with the appropriate love songs that added to the emotional journey we were on throughout the film. After watching the movie, it made me feel more interested to read the book and luckily Kar Leong is happy to lend me the book. =D

"Live boldly. Push yourself. Don't settle. Just live well. Just live." - Will Traynor


My company for the night =D

Wednesday to Friday

On Wednesday, I went to pasar malam near my house with Yu Jun and Yee Ching 学姐. Ate a bowl of spicy prawn mee and it was really spicy that I sweat profusely while eating. After that, we walked around and I bought fried turnip cake as add on before we went to my house to chit chat.

Thursday was Duanwu Festival and so I brought homemade rice dumplings as lunch to work.

I ate at the staff corner alone but was joined by other colleague after I finished my lunch. I was introduced to a new colleague (I forgot her name) by Dana and Jun, who worked as an intern in the company. After lunch, I went back to continue my data entry work but felt stomachache not long after that. It was so painful that I was sweating even though the office is cold due to the air-conditioning. I guess the stomachache was probably due to the spicy prawn mee that I ate on the previous night. Nevertheless, I did not request to go back earlier from work and 忍着痛 until I felt slightly better so that I could continue to work.

Friday was the deadline for the data entry task that Floria set to me the previous Monday. I managed to complete the data entry work about 30 mins after lunch hour. It was 3500+ of rows that I had done for the box of materials that she provided me. After I reported to her on finishing the task that she set, she passed me another 110+ rows of data entry work. So much so for reporting 'earlier' even after I slacked for close to 1.5 hours before reporting. =.=

Saturday
I woke up early in the morning to watch Game 4 of the NBA Finals 2016 between the Warriors and Cavaliers. It was the first live NBA Finals game that I was able to watch because Game 1 to 3 was scheduled during my working hours. Before the game began, I predicted the Warriors to win Game 4 and my prediction came true as the Warriors won to take a 3-1 series lead. Game 4 was really competitive that it kept me on the edge of my seat, unlike the previous 3 games (I watched the replay) which ended on blowout wins. There was one moment in the game where Lebron James and Stephen Curry exchange words in which the Internet made an meme out of it which is truly spot on:

Stephen Curry was like: What you mean I wasn't the most valuable player to my team?
HAHAHAHAHA

My eldest brother and I followed mum to Jusco to do shopping at 4p.m. While I was there, I bought a cone of cendol & vanilla ice cream which tasted awesome. Normally I would have buy a cup of Orea ice cream but because I spent quite a lot on outings this week, I decided to downgrade my usual ice-cream treat. Besides, my brother also belanja me two medium pizzas from the Jusco's bread shop which we reserved for watching Euro 2016 at midnight.

Because I have a date with my 场地组女神 and a few of my 学记 friends on Sunday afternoon, I went to sleep early after dinner so that I could watch the Euro 2016 match between England and Russia. Personally, I support England for this tournament and so I felt a little disappointed that the match ended with a draw after England failed to preserve their lead from a fantastic free-kick goal by Eric Dier. I was quite puzzled why Roy Hodgson did not take Harry Kane off and play Jamie Vardy or Marcus Rashford since Kane did not make much threat in front of goal. Hopefully, we will see more from England in the next two remaining group matches.

Sunday

The highlight of the week was going out with my 场地组女神 and a few of my 学记 friends. I was picked up by Poi Yi at Salak Selatan LRT station before she went to pick up Li Liing and Ong Tong. Then, we had pork chop for lunch at one of the food cafe at Jalan Kuchai Lama. The setting of the cafe is quite nice but I forgot to take a photo of it. No worry as the most important photo is of course the food:

After lunch, we went and pick up 依盈 at Mid Valley before we headed to Thirty Seconds to have coffee. Thirty Seconds happens to be the working place of Yun Ru, another 学记 friend. It was my intention to go a coffee shop because I was determined to order a proper cup of coffee art this time, which happen also to be my first coffee art cup. I enjoyed the coffee but enjoyed the chatting session even more before the days was concluded with Poi Yi fetching me home. 

More coffee shop outing next time please! @poiyi

Second time in a week I went out with a group of ladies. #艳福

Wonderful week to have and I'm yearning for more. That's all for this post. C ya!

Signing off,

TC

Shopping spree

Hey I'm back again with another post for the day!

So, today is a public holidays as it is the official birthday for His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong. I woke up earlier than I want because mum called people to come to our house to do some house cleaning. Initially I had no plan for the morning but then my eldest brother told me he was going down to Plaza Rakyat to do some shopping so I decided to follow along.

When we reached, my brother left me to go do his own shopping while I walked in Petaling Street market looking for the things that I want to buy. I was planning to buy a new Manchester United jersey because my latest MU jersey was quite outdated for some time and I want to buy the recently concluded season's version because MU just won the FA Cup. I went around stores and surveying the price and ultimately bought one from an auntie for RM20.

Next, I also wanted to buy a retro basketball jersey, a Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls jersey to be exact. I have the MJ's Wizards jersey as a gift from my brother but the size does not suit me. Initially, I was skeptical about buying one because I heard basketball jersey is expensive. The first stall I asked about the price, they sell one for about RM120. Then I walked around to other stall asking the price. I was tempted to buy one from a stall which sells RM60 but it did not have the version that I want. Lucky for me, I managed to find another cheaper one which sells RM45, including the jersey and the pants and so I bought from there.

Lastly, I also bought a Jordan cap. The surveying process is similar to buying the jerseys and I managed to buy the cap for RM25. So, all in all I managed to buy two jerseys, one pants and a cap for a total of RM90. It feels good to be able to shop for these because I managed to save two months of hostel expense worth 530 dollars for the holidays by keeping my belongings in juniors' room. So I don't feel too guilty to go on a modest shopping spree. =D

That's all for the night. 

Signing off,
TC

Work life ramblings IV

Hi everybody!

A week ago I've mentioned that I have accepted the offer to work as a temporary clerk in Tokio Marine Insurans Malaysia Berhad. For your information, I work in the People, Strategy and Services department aka HR department and my office was located in Menara Dion at Jalan Sultan Ismail, nearby Raja Chulan monorial station. So, if you're feeling like it, you're more than welcome to come and find me for lunch. xD

This week was my first week of work. First day my dad fetched me to the office and I was 5 mins late in reporting on my first day. Anyway, a lady called Gwyneth guided me and my colleague partner, Zurin for the boarding program. After signing the offer letter, she bought us around the building to different departments and introducing us to people. Then, we were back in our office department and my superior, Floria, briefed Zurin and I on our job. After that, we were led to our tables and she passed us a box (big one, mind you) of papers each, which contains the materials that we need for our work.

Basically the work I do is data entry work. I have to match the data in the internal system with the tax invoice or receipts for all the expenses claims by the marketing agents and key in the details like (tax invoice no, GST amount, and etc) into Excel. It's a relatively easy job except when I came across accommodation and parking expenses, where it can sometimes be hard to identify the amount in the internal system came from which invoices. Most of the time it's just dull and tedious. Imagine trying to break down the lump sum parking expenses according to the individual receipts and key in the details one receipt by one receipt. O.O

I was given two weeks to complete the task and I completed a little less than 50% of it. Somehow I was surprised that I managed only less than half because I thought I was over 50% done but when I stack up the incomplete one, it's higher than the completed one. Haha looks like I might need to do OT next week to speed up the work which I did not do so in the first week.

Work aside, I had two lunch sessions with three of my elder colleagues who are just a little older than me by the looks of them. All three of them are females (two Chinese and one Indian) and it reminds me of Ming Yang, Kar Leong and Kanesh when I sat with them for lunch. xD  I also met one very friendly Malay woman who talked to me about Singapore. Hopefully I will get to know more people in the coming weeks of work.

Besides, I feel incredulous that so many websites were denied access on the computer I used. Initially I feel okay that they block social media, news & media and sports but I was rather taken aback when I found out they also block Google and general email (like Hotmail). Goodness me, that is strict and very work-focused. The benefit on denying these accesses is that I was really able to focus on my work and the progress is good. It gets me into thinking whether I should apply this method on my studies as well. The reality is data entry work is easy and dull and I don't get bored easily by it but studies are hard and I would often get frustrated by it. Ahhhhh, procrastination is a virtue. =.=

This first week of work really open my eyes to working in a corporate world. I am beginning to be able to relate better to the things people say/tweet/complain about corporate working. All along I have been eager to gain experience on working in a corporate world. I'm not sure whether what I feel about corporate working will change at the end of my working period. It's only the first week of work and I haven't manage to experience a significant working experience (the politics, the people and etc) in a corporate world yet. Although it's not much you can learn from data entry work and the work is rather dull, I guess I'm still content and satisfied that I managed to find office work (again) for this holidays.

Well, I guess that's all for this entry of work life ramblings. Hopefully, I will be back again with more ramblings about this work in future posts.

Signing off,

Tiong Chin

Holidays and Working

大家好！

It has been one week plus since I came back home for holidays. Same as the previous academic year-end holidays, I've basically stayed at home most of the time so far at the beginning. I have yet to find a solid plan to spend my holidays up till now but things will change as we enter June. I will get to this later. In the meantime, let me do a review of how the beginning of my holiday went so far, if you're interested in my life anyway.

The most significant thing that happened so far is the passing away of my dog, Ah Wong, last Monday. I was woken by my eldest brother in the early morning and he broke the news to me. It was the second time that my university's academic year end holidays was accompanied by the passing away of my dog. It sure feels sad for my family that Ah Wong passed away. We're still not used to the absence of morning bark or the sight of Ah Wong at the front gate waiting eagerly for its dinner. I was caught a couple of times going to the front gate wanting to embrace Ah Wong but it was not there anymore. Some night, I would feel emotional remembering Ah Wong. It has been part of the family for 9 years. The memory of Ah Wong wagging its tail excitedly when I came back home this holidays is probably the most memorable thing that I will remember for this holidays. May your soul rest in peace, Ah Wong.

If not for a string of sporting events to watch, I would probably feel very rotten at home now. These sporting events really lighten up my sort-of-uneventful holidays so far. The first sporting event that I'm going to talk about, you guess it, would be the Thomas Cup. I admit I'm personally very disappointed that our national badminton men's squad failed to seize a second golden opportunity to win the Thomas Cup when China was knocked out of the competition again, this time by Korea. Squandering a 2-0 lead against Denmark (the eventual winner) in the semi-final and losing 2-3, that image of Dato Lee Chong Wei on the giant screen looking at the elusive Thomas Cup really was painful to watch for all of us Malaysians.

While trying to get over the disappointment and slight anger on Malaysia's Thomas Cup exit, there is still something worth celebrating, which is my favourite football club, Manchester United, winning the FA Cup. I watched the FA Cup final between MU and Crystal Palace with Jeff. Even though it was really boring football in the beginning 70 mins, the excitement of watching MU equalising and then netting the winner to win the FA Cup really made up for the uninspiring football and watching the match till late night. To cap the amazing football week, Liverpool lost the Europa League (sorry, I'm a MU fans) and it felt good to troll Liverpool fans while MU was able to end the season with a trophy.

Glory glory Man United!!! =D

Moving on, I also managed to have a couple of catching up session with friends. Met Jeff three times for yum cha, watching FA Cup and playing basketball. That basketball session with Jeff was an enjoyable one as I played well and showed no sign of long layoff. Play basketball once so far since I was back and I hope more frequent basketball sessions follow. Besides, I also met up with Khai Hong, my best friend in university and I treated him for a lunch in 不见不散. Lastly, I met up with two of my XJ friends, Yan Chun and Xin Yen. We had a 5 hours 吹水 session at Wong Kok One Shamelin. Meeting XJ friends makes my feel more anticipated to meet my Procrastination gang, Poi Yi and Yi Yin. It feels amazing to have these two friends with whom I can go at any length in talking any topics with them, especially the dirty talks. xD

Alright. Earlier I have mentioned that I will have a solid plan to spend my holidays when June comes. This is because I went for a job interview for the position of temporary clerk with Tokyo Marine Insurance Malaysia Berhad on Monday and I was offered the job. I was really eager on this job initially because it is my first opportunity to work in a corporate company but was put off a bit when the pay offered is rather low to my expectation. However, a little research on the salary report on JobStreet, I found out that the pay offered is the average market rate for an admin clerk position for junior executive level. Well, I guess I expect too much from a temporary clerk & data entry job, though I would argue that I expect a corporate company to pay around the same rate as my previous employer (a Sdn Bhd company).

I think I will just skip the interview part. I will update again on my holidays and working life in future posts.

Signing off,

重成

Ah Wong

Another dog of mine passed away. It's no doubt saddening for me because Ah Wong is the first dog I ever had in my life and it had been with me since 2007. 

For 9 years I had have the luxury of its greeting everytime I came home. Ah Wong had live a long life spanning more than 10 years. I'm just glad that I am able to come back and see Ah Wong one last time before it moves on. 

May your soul rest in peace.

Ah Wong
(Birthdate unknown) - 16 May 2016

JB Trip

Hello dear readers! I'm back to blogging after a near one semester hiatus. I must say the just-concluded semester is the hardest one in my university life yet, with difficult modules to study and my ECA works. I pray for the results and wish for the best.

Anyway, same like the last academic year end holidays, I stayed in Kiasuland for an extra week before going back to homeland. The reason being I took my own sweet time packing my belongings to be moved to others' room for storage. Nah, I'm just kidding. The main reason I extended my stay is I went on a one and a half day trip to JB with my OG (Cerberus) friends on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was my first time visiting JB and a short getaway before going back to M'sia is a good way to start the holidays for myself.

On the first day, Ceng Yew, Ee Wei and I went across the causeway together and waited for Pei Wen to pick us up at JB City Square. Then, we went to her house for a break and put our belongings. Wen Ling joined us there and we went to our first location, Atlas Coffee Embassy to have our brunch.

This is what I ordered. Look tasty, ain't it? xD

Next, we went to Loud Speaker (大嘴叭) Karaoke @ Mount Austin to sing K. It was my first karaoke session for close to a year. I have updated my song library since then and so I was able to sing enjoyably a lot more this time. =D

Group photo after karaoke session

From left to right: Ee Wei, me, Ceng Yew, Wen Ling & Pei Wen

Then, we went to Palladium Cafe @ Eco Spring Show Village. The cafe's design is similar to the one that appeared in one of Jay Chou's songs, 手写的从前. We took photo with the cafe shop before we went in and ordered stuffs. I ordered a beaker of espresso ice-cream, yes they use a laboratory beaker for the espresso ice-cream. I was really amused by that because I never expect the thing I ordered to turn up like that. Haha =D

Candid photo in front of the cafe and my beaker of espresso ice cream

Forgive my messy hair =X

Night view of Palladium Cafe

For dinner, we went to Dul Dul Korean BBQ Chicken. I had a very fulfilling dinner there because besides the black garlic chicken burger (the meat tasted like McSpicy Chicken) that I ordered, I also helped the two ladies to clean up their food.

The second day began with Wen Ling's mother fetching us to Toast Box to have our breakfast. I ordered chicken nasi lemak and egg mayo bread. It was a really fulfilling breakfast for me because I hardly ever have breakfast when I'm in NTU during the semester. It was really nice as well that Wen Ling's mother treated us for this one. 

After that, we went to Austin Heights Theme Park to play skating. It's not really ice (it's plastic) that we were skating on but I have my first try on skating. I was a little surprised that it did not take me long before I was able to skate amateurishly on my own. I remember the first time I played roller skating it took some time and butt pain and still I wasn't able to roll well. Aside from the skating, it was a little unfortunate we din get to try other adventure parks due to lack of time. Nevertheless, I made a mental note to come back here to try it the next time I come to JB.

Group photo after skating

After skating, we concluded this JB trip with another karaoke session at Loud Speaker (大嘴叭) Karaoke @ Mount Austin. Haha yes, we had karaoke session for two consecutive days. So much so for someone like me who's okok with going to karaoke. Lastly, we went back to Pei Wen's house to collect our bags before going back to Singapore.

To conclude this post, thank you to Pei Wen and Wen Ling for the hospitality during our short getaway to JB. My holidays began just the way I want it and hopefully I will have more enjoyable things to write about for this holidays for the next 3 months. 

That's all for this time. C ya! 

Signing off,

TC

Things you should do more during your teenage years

Teenage years are the stage in life where you have the most amount of time to do the things you want. Although teenagers in Malaysia often busy themselves with studies and tuition, efforts and time should be taken to do other things besides academics to make one's teenage years more fulfilling. Here'a a bucket list created by myself on what are the things teenagers should do more:

1. Reading
It is found that reading has been in the bottom of most Malaysian teenager's list of hobbies. This is an disturbing trend and with technologies like smartphones and computer games engulfing our teenagers' leisure, reading has almost been shunned aside from a teenager's upbringing. And this prompts me to put reading on top of this bucket list.

Teenagers should develop the habit of reading for pleasure. Put aside your smartphone and textbooks and spend some of your time reading novels like J.K Rowling, Dan Brown and etc. Delve yourself into the fictional world and experience that incredible world created by the authors. There is an immensely satisfying feeling when one finishes reading a book that is worth reading.

Besides, reading helps in improving your writing and this could not have been mentioned enough. Reading and writing goes hand in hand and without developing a reading habit, one can never produce a good quality writing because of lack of language knowledge. Having good results on your maths and science subjects but unable to put out a good writing makes your education incomplete.

Some people argue reading is an expensive leisure as books and novels are expensive. This is not entirely the case as there are book fairs such as The Big Bad Wolf in which old but good books are sold at less than RM10. It never hurts to spend a little on a couple of good reads once or twice a year to fill up your holidays' leisure.

Lastly, study done by Oxford University has shown that teenagers who read are much more likely to get a better job. Reading-as-teenager-gets-you-a-better-job . Any more doubts on why reading helps you in your future?

2. Play sports
If you have not learn to play a sports during your childhood, it's never too late to begin picking up a sports at your teenage years. Whether it's ball games (basketball, soccer n etc), racket sports (badminton, tennis), swimming or even cheerleading, being a sporty teenager does bring an extra personal charisma and it may play to your advantage in FYP (finding your partner). xD

Joke aside, the advantages of playing sports are abundant: exercise regularly to keep your body healthy, getting to know new friends in a random pick-up game, having fun with friends who share the same interest in sports, easing the stresses from school.

It's advisable to not wait until university to start learning a sports, You will certainly be a laughing stock among your sporty friends when you join them for sports session.

3. Part-time jobs
Saving money for college, buying your favourite sneaker, going for a trip with friends. Whatever reasons you might have to get a part-time job, it feels immensely satisfying to be able to earn and spend your own money. Being a cashier in book fairs, promoting at a shopping mall, serving customers in a restaurant. Go and do a part-time job and earn your own money so that you can spend on the things you want without putting too much financial pressure on your parents.

Besides, any form of work experience is invaluable in your growth and prepare you for the future. More importantly, it gives you a deeper appreciation for all the work that goes into earning your own income.

4. Participated in extra-curricular activities
Extra-curricular activities (ECA) are a part of teenagers' education in high school. Go and participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities to discover your interests. Whether it is joining an expedition, being a cadet reporter, or organising a camp, these activities serve to make one's teenage years more memorable and fulfilling in the sense that one has try and have a go at a variety of things in a self-discovering journey.

Besides, ECA helps in improving interpersonal skills and leadership development. Go ahead and take on some leadership role in high school and finds out whether being a leader fits you. These experiences gained in high school certainly helps one to ease into university life where emphasis is placed on developing skills and leadership other than studies.

5. Picking up a hobby
Let's face it, teenage years are about having fun. Go and do something which you can enjoy yourself: playing musical instrument, singing, dancing, collecting stamps, playing Rubik's cube, hiking, jogging, cycling, learning to cook, learning foreign language. The list goes on and on. #YOLO

A Visit to Singapore Botanic Gardens

Khabar baik kawanku!

I am back once again with an updated post about a visit to Singapore Botanic Gardens two weeks ago during HDE's Local Trip event. I had begin writing this post immediately after the visit but couldn't quite finish it until now. I have heard about Singapore Botanic Gardens from my history studies back in high school and this is my first visit to the garden since I came to Singapore for tertiary education.

On the day of the visit, the participants arrived at the Tanglin Gate and were divided into groups of two. We were to be guided by docent from the garden and a man called Hassan was the docent for my group.

Background information
Singapore Botanic Gardens is a 156-year-old tropical garden that was set up initially by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1822 at Fort Canning, mainly to introduce cultivation economics crops. This first garden was closed in 1829. It was only in 1859 that the current garden was developed at its present Tanglin site by an Agri-Horticultural Society and later handed over to the government in 1874. The Singapore Botanic Gardens has come a long way in evolving into a leading equatorial botanic garden, which houses major world crops and plants. In 2015, the Singapore Botanic Gardens is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the only tropical garden in the world to receive such honor.

Landmarks in the Singapore Botanic Gardens
1) Ridley Hall

The Ridley Hall is one of the oldest buildings and the earliest surviving administrative building in Singapore Botanic Garden. This building was named in honour of Henry Nicholas Ridley, the first Director of the Gardens, and was first built to house the Gardens' Herbarium and Library collections. It was later became Ridley's office when he had a separate building constructed for these collections. For those that are unfamiliar with Henry Ridley, he was an eminent botanist and is most well-known for orchestrating the birth of the rubber industry which transformed the economic and social landscape of Malaya. One note of interest is that although this hall was built as an administrative building, Ridley's Hall's architecture is characteristic of the Early Bungalow and was gazetted in 2008 as a Conservation Building.

2) Holttum Hall 
The Holttum Hall was once served as the office of and laboratory of Eric Holttum, Director of the Gardens from 19525 to 1949. It was in this hall that the first sterile culture of orchid seeds was successfully carried out in Asia by Eric Holttum. This laid the foundation for the orchid breeding industry in Singapore and ultimately led to the establishment of the National Orchid Garden as an tourist and recreation landmark in the region.

3) Prisoner-of-War (PoW) Brick Steps

In the garden, there exist several brick steps that were made by PoWs as a sign of defiance during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. On the bricks, there exists arrows imprinted to indicate that they were "detained by the authorities". In August 1995, at the 50th anniversary of the release of the POWs, 8 former Australian PoWs visited to the Singapore Botanic Gardens to observe their wartime workmanship and gleefully recounted that memory. 

The brick steps

Sign of arrow on the brick

4) Swan Lake

Formerly known as the Main Lake or First Lake, the Swan Lake is a major attraction in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is considered to be the oldest ornamental water-feature in Singapore. 

Swan Lake

Swan Lake is named for the pair of beautiful Mute Swans  (Cygnus olor) from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that glide gracefully across the lake. It is considered to be the oldest ornamental water-feature in Singapore.

Mute swan

One interesting fact about Swan Lake is that in the Gardens' annual report dated 1892, it was mentioned that a crocodile which escaped about 2 years earlier had taken up residence in the lake. It became dangerous, having seized one of the coolies while he was drawing water. Following this incident, the lake's water was drained off in order to capture the crocodile. 

List of plants or floras introduced:
1) Calophyllum inophyllum (Ironwood of the Sea or Penaga Laut)
The Penaga Laut is one of the many heritage trees found in the garden. These majestic mature trees take decades or sometimes hundred of years to mature gracefully and hence are considered the natural heritage of Singapore. The Penaga Laut is a seaside tree that produces hard timber which provide the basis for its common name. One interesting story about the tree (picture below) shared by Hassan is that older staffs of Singapore Botanic Garden have shared anecdotes that during WWII, the Japanese carried out executions below the tree.

Calophyllum inophyllum

2) VIP Orchids
We were shown one of the bio-culture laboratory (picture below) in the garden. Here, Hassan talked about plant tissues experiment being carried out here and when new hybrids of orchids are discovered, they are kept in the laboratory and remain unnamed. These plants will be named after celebrities, dignitaries and visiting head of states in Singapore's orchid diplomacy program when they visit Singapore. These VIP orchids can be found in the VIP Orchid Garden and notable VIP orchids include Dendrobium Memoria Princes Diana, Dendrobium Margaret Thatcher, Renantanda Akihito and Dendrobium Elizabeth.

3) Fagraea fragrans (Tembusu tree)

The Tembusu is an evergree tree that is native to Southeast Asia. Hassan told us that the oldest Tembusu tree found in Singapore Botanic Gardens is about 200 years-old. The trunk of this tree is used to make chopping boards and floors of homes. One interesting fact about the Tembusu tree is that it is pictured on the rear side of Singaporean five-dollar note.

Tembusu tree

Tembusu tree on the reverse side of the Singaporean five-dollar note

4) Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'
Also known as Singapore Orchid, this hybird orchid cultivar is Singapore's national flower. It was selected in 1981 as National Flower of Singapore for its resilience and year-round blooming quality. H.N Ridley named this orchid after Agnes Joaquim in whose garden the hybrid originated.

 

Vanda 'Miss Joaquim'

5) Monkey Pot/ Sapucaia-nut Tree (Lecythis pisonis)

The Monkey Pot gets its name from its unique fruit which looks like a pot with a lid. Monkeys in South America are known to put their hands into the pot to get to its rich seeds. The seeds are rich in oils which is used in Brazil for making white soap and burnt as a source of light. Its timber is hard and durable, making it valuable for house-frames, wharves and sluices. 

Monkey Pot

p.s. There are a lot more plants introduced during the visit but it's pointless to describe all of them unless you're a passionate botanist. 

Do pay a visit to the first and only (as of now) UNESCO World Heritage Site in Singapore when you visit kiasuland. =)

That's all for this post I guess. Hopefully I will be able to write something about the upcoming Chinese New Year in the next update. Jumpa lagi!!! =D

Signing off,

TC

22nd Birthday

Bonjour!

This will just be a short post as I attempt to exceed last year's number of posts. xD

So, 2 days ago it's my 22nd birthday, the second time I spent my birthday in Singapore.

Before 31st January, I had a couple advanced celebrations. I'll just let the photos do the talking for this one.

Celebrating my birthday together with my mum

Celebrating with Poi Yi during New Year's Eve

A little surprise from my OG Cerberus to me and Ai Ting

Nothing special happened during 31st January itself except that I went to NTU Korean Dancepop concert to support my coursemates, Dexter and Jing Hao as well as getting a surprise celebration from a few of my university friends.

Anyway, one thing that did make my 22nd birthday is that I received a gift from a junior that I met in NTU last semester. It was really a pleasant surprise as I did not expect a present since I haven't been receiving a proper birthday present for couple of years.

To the one that gave me this present, I just want to say thank you for the friendship and the kind words in the postcard. Really glad and appreciate knowing you. 

Thank you to those who wished me and see ya!

Signing off,

TC

First week nia, no need so chiong

Kon'nichiwa!

I guess blogging should be in my to-do-list this semester whenever I do not feel like studying/doing ECA works/sleeping. I've just ended my first Sunday back in university life with a day long recce for my ECA event and done one of my tutorials plus writing a 300-word learning journal. Instead of giving myself a treat by sleeping early (it's only 12.50a.m. as I begin writing this post), I choose blogging instead.

It's been a relatively busy first week back in university but somehow I'm still able to enjoy it (minus me falling sick) because I feel productive. I'm not someone who likes to keep myself busy but I guess I'm a little more adapted and mentally prepared to university life than previously. I just hope I will still be able to enjoy feeling busy while coping with study stress as the semester continues.

I just want to write about the two days in which I used my time for ECA work. On Friday, I was tasked with providing a campus tour of my university for the JENESYS students. The JENESYS delegation consists of Japanese university students and although I wasn't feeling well due to sickness, I enjoyed providing hospitality and interacting with them.

One thing to highlight is that after the campus tour, we had a sharing session with the JENESYS students in the Student Activities Centre. The sharing session was conducted by my club and our vice-president, Zhi Zheng is the moderator. We also invited Japanese Appreciation Club (JAC) to this sharing session. The sharing session began with one of our club's committee member, Yin Kiat, sharing his experience when he took part in the JENESYS programme to Japan. His sharing was really interesting as he talked about the activities he did in Japan and I'm quite envious of him. It feels really cool to be able to join a cultural exchange to other country and meet new friends from various countries.

Me and others listening attentively to Yin Kiat's sharing

The sharing by Yin Kiat was followed afterwards with presentation by Zhi Zheng and JAC. After that, it was the Japanese students' turn to do some presentation. The first group, consisted of girls, presented about Japanese costumes and I was impressed by the creativity of the Japanese in designing many different types of traditional costumes for various seasons and uses. The second group, consisted of guys, presented about Japanese technology. I must say it's a bit difficult to understand this group as their English wasn't really good (sorry haha xD). Lastly, the third group, consisted of both guys and girls, presented about Japanese music and dance. They even performed in front of us and also invited us to dance along. I was particularly impressed with their smile when they were dancing because it just strikes me how passionate and enjoyable they are about their dance. Anyway, after the performance, all people had refreshment and exchanged gifts before the sharing session ended.

The different Japanese traditional costumes according to seasons

This group presented a little about Japanese technology

Japanese dance

Japanese chiobus!!! =D

Managed to grab a personal photo with some of the Japanese students

By the way, I'm invited to another presentation by the Japanese students this coming Tuesday at Hotel Royals@Queens. Hopefully can take more photos with the Japanese chiobus on that day. xD

On Sunday, I went on a recce for my religious trail event with my sub comm members. I'm lazy to write the details because I'm feeling sleepy already. So, I'll just give a photo preview to some of the places we're planning to visit and save the religious trail post to after the event. Here it goes:

CHIJMES

Wat Ananda Metyarama Thai Buddhist Temple

Sri Mariamman Temple

Sultan Mosque

That's all for this time. My body and brain are screaming already. Haha

Sayonara! =D

Signing off,
TC

Enjoy while I still can

Guten Tag!

I am little surprised myself that I managed to find time to update my blog so early in the semester. Thought I would begin to get busy living my university life starting on the first day of the semester itself but I found myself unable to proceed with my ECA work without the meeting minutes yet. So, I decided to write this post before I go for my afternoon sleep.

Yesterday was my last day of the sem break and I feel rather satisfied with the way it ended. Woke up around 10am and began revising and preparing the things for my HGC division meeting in the afternoon. Got a few last minute ideas that were helpful for the meeting during the preparation and then I went for lunch with my university friend, Khai Hong. After the lunch, I was back in my room and catching up some NBA highlights while waiting for the meeting at 3pm. During the wait, I got a sudden idea and took one of my sub-comm's advice on how to bond my division. I decided to give a little personal birthday surprise to two of my sub-comms, Joey and Maybel during the meeting and bought two slices of cake.

The meeting started at 3pm when everyone has arrived. At the beginning, it was rather I-talk-and-they-listen as I gave out some information about the club's events for this semester. After that, we got into discussion about our division event this semester: the religious trail. Overall, I was very satisfied with this part of the discussion because everyone is involved in giving and sharing ideas. The meeting ended in just about 1.5 hours and I think the meeting went very well considering we managed to come out with ideas on how to carry out our event. Oh, by the way, the little birthday surprise treat by me came during the middle of the discussion, which is not ideal because I wrongly estimated the time that the meeting will end and the cake was eaten after the discussion ended. Haha xD

Happy belated birthday to Joey and Maybel

After the meeting, Khai Hong and I went to play basketball at SRC. Do a little refereeing during the time we played. By the time we stopped playing, we had missed dinner time and I elected to drink just a cup of cereal while waiting for the maggie supper session with my mother OG, Cerberus.

It felt good to see several of my closer friends in university after several weeks of break. And of course I ate a lot considering I did not have a proper dinner beforehand. Haha very unhealthy as my first two dinner back in Singapore are also maggies. During that time, we also gave a belated birthday surprise to Khai Hong as those of us present sign a basketball and gave him as a present.

The supper session ended with us playing Black Jacks and we had fun even though we did not gamble (not allow in hostel! xD). Slept at about 3.30am and the aftermath is I woke up late thinking I'm gonna be late for the 9.30am lecture but was taken by surprise that the lecture actually start at 10.30am. Damn should have sleep more and though I did not dozed off during the lecture, my body is feeling tired now. xD

It seemed like just another normal day in university life yesterday but it got me into a good mood to start this semester. Hopefully I am able to stay positive and tough during this semester which will undoubtedly be the most difficult semester yet.

Till the next time and time for my afternoon nap. Zzzz...

Tschüs! 

Signing off,
TC