yesterday (sunday),
went to lab in the morning, for abt 1.5 hours.
then it was one something pm i think,
went to vicmart, wanted to hv some spanish doughnuts coz i hdn't had lunch and need some sugar, so decided to get 3 before i even reach the stall.
at the doughnut stall, the guy was telling the lady in front of me she has to wait for a little while for her 7 (or 9? can't rmb) doughnuts to be ready.
then he told me to wait for 1 minute (yes he said 'one minute') straight away.
so i took out my $3 coins, waited...
10 secs later, a guy came, he got asked how many he wants, he said 2.
and so he got 2 doughnuts plus 1 for free!
the point is not that he got a free doughnut,
but there were at least 3 doughnuts sitting there but the guy didn't even ask how many i want.
so i just bushuang
walked away after thinking bushuang-ly for like 3 secs whether i should wait

went to have chocolate ice cream instead eventhough i shoudln't :S


so, am i immature, impatient, or what?!

Feel like learning ice-skating :P
anyone?

There's a new ice skating rink, Icehouse just opened few weeks ago, at Docklands

2nd time spending cny in melbourne without my family, without red packets, without mahjong and without big family meals
don't remember the first time being this miserable, tht was 3 years ago, after my 3rd year ugrad, because my honours started earlier than other departments (and normal uni semestr). can't rmb how was it like anymore.
parts of melbourne was flooding on thursday, both of my parents and my aunt called from overseas to make sure i'm alright. (yes, mum and dad called separately) T_T

adding on to my 'new years resolution':
never spend cny without my family ever again.
so either go home, or go to my brother's place!
even if it's on a weekday (which usually is i think), take leave! don't care!
i don't take xmas/new year off anyway, so i deserve this holiday.

i don't go back for cny this year is because i just came back in early dec after going back for my bro's wedding. so bro's wedding vs cny, if you are to pick one, which one to choose? of course the first one, right?!
so it's a bit too frequent to go back again, in terms of money spent on airfare, and days taken off work. i need to save up some days off for the holiday after the conference which i really really want to go in nov.

good that i'm at least going to a conference on sunday, which is the first day of cny. then i'll be surrounded by ppl, won't feel so lonely.
but i'll hv to make myself occupied at home the night before when other ppl are happily having their reunion dinner home sweet home :(
will have opening ceremony of the winter olympics on tv with me, while packing up and preparing myself for tmr's conference :)

What's bothering me...

Chern 帧 ~ said:
u know wat
i was so excited abt this conference in DC in early nov
then few days ago so happen that i read the newspaper online, saw that there MIGHT be a terrorist threat in the US in the next 6 months or so
then i panic liao
thinking whether i shoud still go to the conf or not!
see i don't read the newspaper everyday
but when i read it that day, i saw that news

My friend said:
u do know that the risk of a terrorist attack is way wayyyyyy lower then an accident on the road?

Chern 帧 ~ said:
i know
but
aiya dunno leh
but if i do go to the conference, will that increase my risk?
(talking to an actuarist ha) haha

My friend said:
lol meh it will increase by a tiny weeney amount

Chern 帧 ~ said:
aih
and i'm a paranoid person ar
u know i was even worried abt the swine flu vaccine last time!

My friend said:
exactly!
ppl should stop being paranoid

Chern 帧 ~ said:
but i can't help it!
i've always been paranoid
i think a lot

My friend said:
well relax la
need to learn to relax a bit

Chern 帧 ~ said:
but then
tht's wat a scientist need to be
think a lot

My friend said:
thinks a lot =/= paranoid

Chern 帧 ~ said:
and paranoid so taht they'll be careful abt things an be sure things were done correctly
eii i go shower first
ttyl

======================

Chern 帧 ~ said:
i think i just cannot pretend i'm very enthu when i find out abt ppl
coz i know too much
like i already know from dunno where/who
then when the person tell me 'in person' i'm like oh... but just cannot gv the reaction
:S

A friend said:
haha

Chern 帧 ~ said:
very sien de leh
dont laugh :(
sometimes i really wish i'm dumb-er
not showing off here
but really
:(
can be a boring person




eh eh don't get offended!!
when i say dumb, i don't mean everyone else is dumb.
and i don't mean that ppl who doesn't know what i knew is considered dumb.
ahh.... hope u know what i mean :$

========================

i think this blog is just another word document of mine except it's saved online.
because
noone really give me response abt what the thoughts i'm sharing here. yes SHARING without know who else is sharing with me
maybe coz what's written here is too 'heavy' to be commented on?
or maybe noone actually read it (but from the counter, i'm not the only visitor)
or maybe you think there's nothing to be commented on?
:S

========================

for the first time,
i'm hoping the CNY goes by quickly

A nice song :)

i want to go to the conference in DC!! very very badly!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH

now it's end of jan 2010...
next thing to look fwd to is perhaps the Lorne conference in mid feb. but first i have to 'get through' the family matter... >.<

then it'll be mid june, a trip to brisbane maybe? :)

then mid july, Mary Poppins!

then that's it!!!!!
nothing else to look fwd to!! :(

hopefully there's a trip to the States in oct/nov for me XP


and i want to graduate quickly!!!!!!!!!!!
was talking on the phone with my wai po...
she asked me when i'm graduating T_T
and she wants to see all of us get married T_T

dad likes my driving license number! lol
quote from mum: 'dad said the number is beautiful!!... (after a few minutes)... can play TOTO also hah! ha!'

i still couldn't believe i passed my driving test

now i understand why kids get tired after they cried a lot
but i don't rmb kids get puffy eyes after they cried a lot
:S

what a start of 2010 for me...
from the first day of the year, an un-received 'sms delivered' status msg hinted the bad news abt my supervisor,
Denise, who was diagnosed with pancreatic and ovary cancer passed away on sunday.
she's always been in good spirit since the end of 08.
things started to worsen in nov/dec last year, and went down the slope very quickly since then.
she came back to the lab from 2 year potdoc-ing overseas in april when i was doing my hons, then became one of my supervisors since i started phd, which was less than a yr before the diagnosis.
our desks are just next to each other, we shared the same computer, she's always earlier than me, saw her at work every single day. would ask her to go for tea togther (and canny) especially when Erin's not working.
she's always been a cheerful person, always being supportive. even if she might not the best person to supervise this project, i did learn from her, she's the one to go to when i'm in doubt with anything, she's always been a good listener.
i will be ok...
the fact that i won't see someone ever again is not going to slip away from my mind easily...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

another farewell (but will definitely say hi again) happens 2 days after that (which is today)...
late 08, grace went back after she graduated,
then diana in early 09,
then maybelle,
then tzechien,
then yoketheng,
then antyboy,
today shiyang.
i'm only left with abt 2/3 of my close friends in melb.

Happy New Year!!
010110 today...
didn't rmb what i did last year over the new year countdown :S did i see fireworks? or i was at karaoke like this year? confused with my xmas eve. :S
anyways....
didn't see live fireworks this time.
hope to watch syd fireworks with my bare eyes one day.
hmm... sydney... hvn't been there since... at least 3 years back?
syd is somewhere i like to go for a holiday (dont think i'll prefer to live there vs melb), close to melb, but is different enough for me to have a break from melb.

2010... as for the past 2 years, i've listed out my 'new year resolution' here...
ppl always say new year resolutions are never real, but for me, usually they're pretty close lol. perhaps that's becoz i wasn't being too ambitious abt myself.

i'm foreseeing 2010 as a year busy with my phd, 2 conferences that i want to go, something POSITIVE in my phd project MUST happen this year!!! or else i'll be x_x
well 2 small positives (from a side project) had happened just before xmas, hope that's a good sign for more to come.
still don't hv a solid plan to visit home, but i think it's still quite possible to 'shun bian' do so if i get to go to the conference in nov.

and
i should learn to be more forgetful on things i shouldn't rmb;
i should learn to look at certain things with one eye closed;
i should learn to enjoy my life more coz it can be very short;
i should learn to be more talkative to 'strangers' (well not random ppl on the street lar, but more like ppl at work for example, ppl whom i'm not close friends with).
that's pretty much what i can think of now.

only had abt 6 hours sleep before my mum woke me up with a 'happy new year' greeting.

oh and...
hope my sibilings are doing well with what they're doing. i really really sincerely hope everything goes well for them, both of them.
hope us kids won't let our parents down.

Do you know that you can watch msian 8TV online??!!
well not all shows on air will be able to stream, but programmes like 8pm chinese news which will be useful when parents come over to visit, can let them watch msian news here since my dad likes to be updated with all that.

again... i'm taking things too seriously.
i remember things that ppl said when they don't mean it. (but i don't seem to rmb things that i should rmb)
or mayb they really forgot?
or it's just because i'm too 天真? :S

i'm actually excited abt xmas, boxing day, and that long wkend :)
but i'm nervous and scared abt the new year :Z
and i'm gg to be one year older soon!!! >.<
won't be in the 18-24 category for any longer!! :(

虎年要来了！

a 2008 CNY song by myFM (msia radio station) DJ and Astro新秀
still my fav

won't be home for cny 2010 :(


2010 Astro CNY songs are out:



looking at the names of ppl who appeared in the video... i don't know most of them anymore :(


I only know KK from this one!!!

My new fav :)

this is how my beloved camera looks like at the moment :(
'critically injured'
can still take photos (lens is fine) but the LED screen is gone

my friend dropped it at the airport :(
and i don't know why i didn't insist on him replacing me one, or at least pay for the repair. so stupid of me!
was sorting out the photos i took with it during my trip last nite, the more i look at the photos, the more i'm angry and sad.

went to a few shops today after work,
a comparable Sony nowadays at Ted's is selling at 248 i think i saw at the shop just now but i'm not sure coz online it says 299, need to go back to the shop again. otherwise, another shop is selling at 278 (their online catalogue)
and it (W230) only has 4X zoom (vs 5X in my W150) and has no view-finder (that little hole that you can use to take photos instead of using the screen) eventhough it has a bigger LED screen (3' vs 2.7') and higher mpxl (12 vs 8)
there're cheaper Sonys around, $188 but the lens is not as good, and it does make a difference. if buy, will buy sony so that i can still use my leather case, spare battery and memory stick.

repairing takes effort
unless i'm willing to wait for weeks to get the shop to send for repair (from my previous experience) plus it's xmas/new year soon so it'll take longer than usual (i think?)
it's still under 2 year warranty (yes it's still quite new!) but it's not manufacturing fault, don't think it's covered.
and don't know how much it'll cost.

should i still bring it to the shop and ask properly?
or just get a new one???

Peanuts

this is the first time i've watched animated Peanuts 'commic'
i used to like snoopy when i was in high school
yea.. used to... not so much anymore, well i don't hate it, just that i don't love it as much anymore.
brought me to this youtube video when i was looking for 'Vince Guaraldi', a jazz musician, "an American jazz musician and pianist best known for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip" quote from wiki



like the ice-skating scene of this video
i grew up with a set of jigsaw puzzle (still have the vague picture in my head) of Peanuts characters on an iced lake, very similar to that in the video, which i've completed piece by piece over and over again :)

looking fwd to the one i'm not looking fwd to so that i can get to the one i'm looking fwd to next. lol!

just talked to dad.
i really wish i'm working now
so that i can earn money.

what's the best job for me?
i remember what i need to do (non-work-related things mostly),
by when i need to get them done,
and will be very happy and satisfied when i manage to get them all done on time.
i plan things ahead, (sometimes i think it's too much, should let go a bit) that's why don't like ppl make last minute changes or being late when i'm doing many other things to make sure i'm able to make it on time.
thinks i'm a control freak
able to tell unimportant things aren't done properly, eg powerpoint slides, font size, alignments
check most things carefully with my most observant eyes before i pay
...