Materials Science and Art Exhibition

Phew... it was very tiring... I just got home...

Yesterday (note the date-line above) I did my materials science paper. It comprised only one part, all by Prof. Philip Cheang. I didn't know how to describe it; was it a battle? Or was it a turmoil of mind?

The questions were supposed not to be difficult. Almost every points in the paper were covered in the lecture notes. Yet... since the lecture notes themselves weren't very lucid, I got trouble studying. I decided to study from the textbook... and found that it was way easier and more comprehensible. Well, since I skipped ALL lectures about phase diagram, and the notes from that part couldn't be anymore convoluted than they already were, I got no choice but to self-study from the book. And hey, it wasn't that hard.

BUT... there were unexpected questions. One, describe—with sketch—the mechanism of propagation of microscopic striations. Two, discuss the change of the profile on solidus line if a metal alloy is to be cooled from the liquidus line to the solidus line. Just what on earth were those questions? The former was still ok, but the latter... Maria said that if you hadn't attended the lecture on phase diagram, you wouldn't be able to answer it. I guess it held true.

Anyway... after the exam, I ate ayam penyet, just to kill some time, at Broadway Foodcourt. It was nice... one serving of it only costs $3, and also quite satiating. I must say, it's a good alternative if you can't go out to Bukit Batok, Orchard, whatever. And what's more, it can save you a considerable amount of money... hahaha...

Afterwards, responding to Cumi's (Dennice's) invitation the day before to enjoy an art exhibition and have dinner, I went down to ADM (school of art, design, and media), his school.

I was a bit late, but the dinner hadn't started yet, so I was given a small tour by Cumi to observe the magnificent exhibits. Not long, Tommy and Charlie came to join. We took wine. It was delicious, but... Tommy couldn't stand it, so he gave me ALL his wine (he still got half a glass of it), which made me very dizzy. I had to dump it, darn... it was ok though, after all they gave the wine for free... =P

We then watched a movie screening boasting the skills of animation students. The screening itself was splendid, but took too long. Tommy repeatedly complained and said how he longs for food. So, to keep him (and me) contented, we rushed for food as soon as the screening was over.

There were all sorts of food, ranging from sushi to pasta. Too bad for us, the sushi had been swept clean when we were still watching the animation screening! Aaaahh... so we had to try something else. Didn't matter though; there was abundant food.

And so... we finished eating. Tommy and Charlie went back, while Cumi and I stayed. We went around to see more exhibits. Cumi showed me the studios of ADM; they are used for painting class. He said that there's always a model for the painting session, either a man or a woman... and sometimes, if you are lucky enough to have a woman model, there are some chance that she would be nude... huaaa... *pining mode on*

After seeing all exhibits, we took a rest on the student lounge, went to the pond, and played with a Swiss ball taken from the pond. We even took a photo of ourselves... so twisted.

Cumi, playing Swiss ball. Posted without his permission =P

All of these were done just to wait for Astrini's birthday party, which dragged for almost 1 hour.

After a period of waiting, finally the party took place. It was so amusing; Astrini and Jimot performed a duet. They sang Fixing a Broken Heart, just like when they were auditioned for T-Spray musical. It's not common to see such things here, you know... so moments like those have to be enjoyed... =)

And so here I am, lethargic. I could have written more if I didn't have exam on Monday. Aaaahhh... organic chemistry sucks...

See you next post, hopefully on Monday. Lest I can't, I'll be sure to post after anatomy & physiology exam.

Engineering Physics

The battle was unexpectedly hard...

Again, the paper comprised 2 parts. Number 1 and 2 were the manifestation of Prof. Lee Kijoon's mind, while number 3 and 4 Prof. Björn Neu's.

Prof. Lee's part was conceptual, with a few calculation-type problems. Most of them are of a-little-bit-hard difficulty level (yet he assigned equal marks, 5 points, for each question), and I was really clueless at the beginning, "What should I do with this?" Well, at least I managed to answer all the questions, albeit some of them might have been only garbled scribblings. Only heaven knows. What's worse, I fell victim to a simple, stupid mistake... ok, I have written Xc = Xl, and derived 1/2πfC = 2πfL from there. I stupidly CANCEL the 2πf out... and I didn't realize it, not until the very last second... I managed to correct the value of capacitance by setting C = 1/[L(2πf)^2], but still didn't have enough time to calculate the capacitor reactance needed for impedance... so careless and stupid...

Prof. Neu's part was pretty much the focus of this paper. His mark-assignment was more brutal (e.g. there was one that weighed 10 marks) than that of Prof. Lee's; consequently there were far fewer questions. Although not as convoluted as the first part, of course, the problems were still difficult and, in fact, able to provoke bafflement. The questions themselves were not easy to perceive, and again, I was left partially perplexed. Again, I managed to answer all questions, but still... chances are what I wrote on the answer book was more of refuse. Aaahh...

Pretty frustrated, I left the exam hall. Although I knew that it was over and we couldn't seem to make any difference despite our reaction, I was still a little bit more than down.

We could only pray and wait for the results to be released, not forgetting to hope for the best...

Mathematics for Engineers B

A big battle for my first exam in semester 2...

The maths paper comprised 2 parts. The first 4 numbers were Prof. Wang Xin's crafts of art, while the last 4 numbers Prof. Xu Rong's.

Prof. Wang's part, albeit not very easy, was humane. The problem set was very similar to that of last year's. The most irritating fact was that his part was more of a game of plus / minus signs; that is, a small mistake in sign could be outright fatal. As for myself, I nearly calculated -∂F/∂y (note the minus sign) where F = 3x^2 - 8y^2 as -16y, while it should have been 16y. Sigh... I was lucky I spotted that sick little mistake before the time was up...

Prof. Xu's part... this was the nightmare of all candidates. She--a brainy, beautiful beast--is infamous for "unleashing" notorious, near-impossible-to-solve problems on the previous quiz (hence the nickname "beast"), and on this exam, that was no exception. She was made even more infamous for her dastardly Laplacian. The equation seemed so much to be lacking necessary boundary conditions... many couldn't solve the problem. I've heard some students complained how Prof. Xu ruthlessly attacked them with her upper-half plane Laplacian. I myself could only cover 2 of 4 from her part.

Yet... now it's no use to mourn on our mistakes. It's become a sunk cost. What we can do now is to expect yet another battle. Knowing that, we should prepare ourselves hard to confront the remaining exams.

At least, from now on, SCBE freshies can speak about maths in past tense.

Good luck everyone on your exam! GBU! ^.^

P.S.: For those taking Physics exam and wasn't sure about the outcome, cheer up! Many said that the paper was hellish, so chances are the standard will not be very high as well. You can still score an A+! =)

I Hate Fogging!

The title itself is self-explanatory.

I do hate fogging. The smoke inevitably seeps in my room through small gaps above and under the door and windows. My room smells horrendous. My blanket, pillow, bolster, and bedcover do too. My saucepan, bowl, mug, spoon, and fork are contaminated. Even worse, my clothes--which are being dried--are literally SMOKED! Arghhh...

Wait... they always fog when my clothes are being dried! Oh, shit... I hate this...

I know... I know it's done as a precaution against dengue fever, malaria, or many other nasty maladies... but still... T_T

I guess it can't be helped after all... it's better to wear a horribly dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane-smelling clothes rather than having myself troubled with dengue fever, despite DDT possessing its own danger...

He Saves

I found this humor in the November 2007 issue of the Canticle, NTUCSA's bulletin. I think I can share it with you. I edited it though to add more spices onto it.

Oh, it's slightly religious in nature, so please bear with it.

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly, God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough."

"I am going to give you a test that will run for two hours. From the results, I will judge who does the better job!"

So, Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They faxed. They emailed. They emailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They created labels and cards. They created charts and graphs. They did some genealogy reports. They did every job known to man. Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off. Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan searched frantically, screaming, "IT'S ALL GONE!!! I lost everything when the power went out!!!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed, "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any!?"

Seeing that Satan could not accept his loss, God said, "It is simple... he does something you do not."

Satan asked, "What? What's that supposed to be?"

God just shrugged and said again, "Jesus SAVES..."

Vocation

Hi there. I don't know why, but lately I've been slightly more insightful to these things commonly referred to as "values of life". If you see my recent posts, chances are you recognized their reflective and spiritual nature, also as indicated by the tags "Spiritual", "Life", and "Friendship".

Now, to the main course of this post...

Yesterday (and this morning) I attended the Mass of the 4th Sunday of Easter. Fr. Michal Gitner, one of my favorite priests, elaborated on the homily the importance of this special work--or should I say in more appropriate word, commitment--called vocation.

What is this vocation? What makes it singular, or distinctive, relative to that usual work?

According to the Encarta Dictionary, vocation can be comprehended in two senses:

1. somebody's work, job, or profession, especially a type of job demanding special commitment

2. a strong feeling of being destined or called to undertake a specific type of work, especially a sense of being chosen by God for religious work or a religious life

What the dictionary says is of no difference from what Fr. Michal opined during both Masses. From how he elucidated his views, one could observe that he is outright serious in taking his vocation. He also told us how his family deeply influenced his spiritual life... that made each and every attendant--who, at the moment, was able to visualize or take a glimpse on his family--believe that he came from a faith-affluent family. This holds true, after all.

Fr. Michal seemed to be very proud of his family. He described them as being "down-to-earth faithful", and how they ignited sparks of religious life within him. He recalled, "... I remember every 4.05 in the evening, my family would kneel and pray. They are not fanatical, no; they simply practice Catholic faith..." That's what vocation is, the nearly 50-years-old priest said: to immerse yourself in commitment and to take what you do seriously. "To be a priest... that's also a vocation. So is to live a married life... and to be single," he said. As a trivia, he also expressed how he revels in spending his holiday with his parents and sister.

Now, we should refer back to the fundamental sense of vocation: to be extremely committed to carry out our activities. When we put it that way, we can associate almost everything with vocation. Take our responsibility as students, for instance. Most probably, only a handful of us realize that this particular case can actually be considered a vocation. Many fail to understand the very basic meaning of the process of learning itself, since they have shifted orientation into "taking education for granted". Some are committed, but it is not as an endeavor to seek for the paramount. And if one is claimed by others to be steadfast to be able to sprout the best flower, not for failing to see their true significance... glad are they.

Why is it that this process can be considered a vocation? Well, simply because it requires a fervent commitment, continuously from time to time. You may ask, "Big deal. What happens if we do have that commitment?" It is rhetorical, isn't it? Let us instead elaborate on what does not happen with that commitment; or maybe, for sake of common sense, what happens if we do not have that commitment. All of us must have heard various cases of people dropping out their education, deviating from their purposes of studying, or even getting themselves reeled in a string of educational concerns. These three horrendous cases are but a tiny wee bit of all plausible consequences of not having the aforementioned commitment. Take this process of learning seriously and selflessly, and chances are we have the right to thrive and blossom. As we immerse ourselves in the progress, we gradually pick up all those cognizance offered by the spring of wisdom itself, which, in turn, aids us in developing our acumen and broadening our horizon.

The instance of learning above was just one of the many cases we can consider a vocation. Now, why don't we try to reflect on our own commitment, and find out if it is apt enough to be taken into account as our own present vocation.

God bless all of us =)

Wheel of Life

Hari ini aku melewati quiz anatomy & physiology.

Dalam mengerjakan soalnya, aku salah antara 15 - 20 soal dari 50 soal. Sementara aku berpikir, "Itu karena aku kurang belajar." Kemudian aku berpikir. Mereka yang biasanya mendapat nilai yang bagus. Mereka yang jauh superior di atasku. Beban yang mereka pikul sangat berat. Beban psikologis. Beban emosional. Pikiran-pikiran yang mengganggu, "Mau ke mana kamu jika nilaimu jatuh? Di mana akan kamu sembunyikan mukamu?"

Aku memang bukan tipe orang yang terlalu peduli akan nilai. Terus terang, aku termasuk orang yang puas dengan hasil yang termasuk pas-pasan. Aku tahu bahwa itu tidak baik untukku. Namun, dari sini, aku melihat sisi lain dari sebuah perjuangan... bagaimana seseorang (katakanlah, orang itu adalah kamu) harus menyokong nilainya yang sudah bagus itu? Kamu harus berjuang dengan segenap tenaga, bukan? Sebab, dengan nilai yang bagus itu, kemungkinan untuk menjadi lebih baik jauh lebih kecil dibandingkan dengan kemungkinan untuk tergusur ke tempat yang menurutmu lebih tidak layak, atau dengan sangat kasar kita bisa mengatakan bahwa "orang-orang yang nilainya bagus tidak bisa ke mana-mana lagi selain turun". Dan itulah akibatnya jika mereka tidak berjuang untuk mempertahankan nilainya.

Namun, seperti seorang teman katakan kepadaku, sebagaimana roda terus berputar, kehidupan pun berputar. Ada kalanya kita menikmati angin segar di atas roda, ada kalanya kita terhimpit di bawah roda. Hidup adalah kumpulan dari berbagai macam siklus. Dengan merasakan bagaimana sakitnya terhimpit roda tersebut, kita berusaha untuk menjadi lebih baik lagi. Sebagaimana pensil harus selalu diraut agar tetap runcing dan besi harus ditempa agar keras, sesekali manusia pun harus dipaparkan kepada pengalaman pahit untuk mencapai pengalaman baik. "No pain, no gain," ujar sebuah pepatah. Positif dan negatif yang bagaikan antimateri satu sama lain itu sangat penting; sebagai contoh, jika tidak ada "kesalahan", maka kita tidak akan pernah mengetahui "kebenaran".

Appreciativeness

Thanks to them, I have the opportunity to...

Be acquainted to many people,
Join many commitments,
Be motivated to study,
Express my problems,
Correct my mistakes,
Recognize my weaknesses,
Learn about life,
Elaborate my thoughts,
Share laughters and tears.

I wonder, if they would...

Console me when I'm woeful?
Rejoice with me when I'm cheerful?
Be proud of me when I get to the top?
Uplift me when I flop?
Support me when I'm veracious?
Forgive me when I'm erroneous?
Play with me when I'm well?
Visit me when I'm ill?
Cheer at my living?
Weep over my passing?

Later today,
In the silence of the dusk,
In the shadow of the dark,
In the depth of the night,
In the absence of the light,
Let me use some time to pray,
So that our friendship may never stray.

Especially dedicated to them:
A*****o (7 letters), "brother"
Y*****a (7 letters), "sister"
M****a (6 letters)
Y******n (8 letters)
M***a (5 letters)
D*****e (7 letters)
S*****n (7 letters)
K***n (5 letters)
R***y (5 letters)

A Morning Reflection

Hmm... mau sedikit berbagi pengalaman unik aja...

Semalem, gw tidur antara jam 1.05 - 1.14, soalnya post terakhir gw di milis GL itu jam 1.05, dan pas bangun terus ngecek milis, post berikutnya itu time stampnya jam 1.14, dari Eddyman. Di dalem doa tidur gw, gw bilang ke Tuhan, kalo besok (hari ini) gw mau belajar di library dan gw minta tolong dibangunin jam 7 ato sebelum jam 7. Di dalem doa gw juga ada format doa seperti biasa: makasih atas berkat, minta perlindungan sepanjang malem, doa untuk keluarga, doa untuk sahabat-sahabat, dan minta supaya persahabatan gw ama orang yang gw lagi ada masalah itu diperbaiki lagi.

Nah... yang menarik di sini, adalah ternyata gw bangun dengan seger jam setengah 6 pagi. Waaahhh... ga pernah ya seumur-umur, di Singapur, gw tidur cuma 5 jam dan bangun dengan seger... tanpa alarm... gw pasang alarm jam setengah 7 pagi untuk bantuin gw bangun ternyata malah bangun lebih pagi... kali ini gw bangun sebelum alarm bunyi, bukan alarm bunyi sebelum gw tidur (baca: gw baru tidur setelah alarm bunyi gara-gara malemnya begadang) =P

*paragraf berikutnya bakalan void kalo dicoba dimengerti pake science... jadi tolong semua pikiran tentang science--terutama psikologi ama fisiologi--mengenai tidur, mimpi, dan bangun dikesampingkan dulu... karena beberapa hal lebih baik dibiarkan tidak diketahui (gw suka kata-kata itu) =)*

Gw jadi berefleksi... kalo kita minta sesuatu ke Tuhan dalam doa, Dia ternyata pasti mendengar kita. Dan permintaan itu bakalan dikabulkan, bahkan terkadang jawaban dari permintaan kita itu bakalan dateng IN ABUNDANCE, tapi ternyata kita gagal untuk menyadari. Dan pagi ini... gw menganggap gw sendiri cukup beruntung untuk bisa mengalami sendiri bahwa Tuhan ternyata bersedia ngasih kita lebih dari yang kita harapkan dari Dia... dalam hal ini, gw diperbolehin bangun jam setengah 6 pagi. Wowww... dan ternyata setelah gw pikir-pikir, ada banyak hal lagi yang ga kita sadari, misalkan: [1) Kita cuma perlu oksigen untuk napas (bernapas di lingkungan pure oxygen itu ga masalah), dan Tuhan udah ngasih kita udara yang mengandung nitrogen, oksigen, dan gas-gas laen untuk dihirup... oleh semua makhluk: kita, binatang, tumbuhan, bakteri, dan microscopics laennya. 2) Kita perlu lingkungan untuk hidup, dan Tuhan udah ngasih kita alam di sekitar kita ini untuk kita olah. 3) Kita cuma perlu sekedar api untuk menerangi kegelapan, berlindung dari dinginnya malem, ama sumber energi, dan Tuhan udah ngasih kita Matahari untuk melakukan lebih dari itu.] 3 contoh ini cuma sebagian kecil dari kebutuhan kita yang dijawab in abundance... dan gw jadi inget lirik lagunya Marty Haugen, Canticle of the Sun, yang dibuat berdasarkan puisinya St. Francis of Assisi (St. Fransiskus Assisi)... terutama bagian versenya.

Refrain:

The heavens are telling the glory of God
And all creation is shouting for joy
Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field
And sing, sing to the glory of the Lord

Verses:

1. Praise for the Sun, the bringer of day
He carries the light of the Lord in his rays
The moon and the stars, who light up the way unto Your throne

2. Praise for the wind that blows through the trees
The seas' mighty storms, the gentlest breeze
...

3. Praise for the rain that waters our fields ...

4/5/6. Praise for the fire / earth / death ...

Intinya, lagu ini berisi ungkapan terima kasih seorang St. Francis of Assisi pada semua ciptaan Tuhan, meskipun ga selengkap puisi yang dia bikin. Kalo di puisinya, dia menganggap bahwa semua ciptaan itu sebagai sodara-sodaranya... bahkan, yang paling menarik, dia menganggap kematian itu sebagai "Sister Death". Kadang-kadang ini bikin gw merinding, bukan karena ngeri, tapi karena takjub... gimana bahkan St. Francis bener-bener memuji dan bersyukur atas the very Death herself... di mana orang laen pada takut dengan kehadirannya. Tapi gw ga akan bahas itu di sini; mungkin laen kali aja kalo kita punya waktu untuk song reflection laennya =)

Back to topic... dan begitu gw bangun, gw berdoa lagi untuk berterima kasih... bahwa gw udah dibangunin lebih pagi dari yang gw harapkan... dan gw juga minta berkat untuk gw, keluarga, ama sahabat-sahabat untuk melakukan aktivitas di hari ini... ga lupa gw berdoa juga untuk masalah yang lagi gw alami (sejak Minggu kemaren, gw selalu menyertakan masalah itu di dalem doa).

Jadi... yah, cobalah untuk ngeliat apa yang udah Dia berikan untuk kita... siapa tahu, Dia ternyata udah mengirim jawaban untuk permasalahan kita di sekitar kita dengan jumlah yang banyak... tapi kitanya aja yang ga nyadar... semoga pengalaman ini bikin gw lebih aware dengan keadaan sekitar kita dan apa yang ada di dalemnya.

Selamat pagi dunia! Sambutlah sinar emas Matahari dengan senyum! God bless you all! ^.^

A Quote

"In friendship one cannot expect everything to be filled with laughter; sometimes it is the tears that strengthen the bond itself."

~ Randy Williams Hidayat

Thank you Randy for telling me these words...

Lazily Busy Day

Aaaahhh...

Ga tau kenapa, akhir-akhir ini gw agak males nulis pake bahasa Inggris. Mungkin gara-gara gw terlalu stres belajar sampe-sampe ga bisa mikir untuk terjemahin dari bahasa Indo ke Inggris dengan grammar yang bener. Too much trouble =P

Hari ini gw rasanya males banget. Padahal pas pagi udah bangun jam 8, udah ada niat untuk belajar anatomy-physiology yang bakalan di-quiz-in hari Kamis besok... tapi malah ga belajar sama sekali. Akhirnya gw malah ngedesign tiket buat acara prom night. Hahaha...

Ehh... ternyata gw baru inget ga beberapa lama kemudian, kalo lab report gw belum gw kerjain SAMA SEKALI. Padahal dikumpulnya hari ini juga. Aduuuhhh... akhirnya ya gw cuma bergantung seadanya dari hasil ngelab minggu lalu... itu tentang baja dipanasin sampe 880 centigrade, habis itu langsung dicelupin ke air, didinginin. Habis itu kekuatan bajanya dites pake Charpy impact test. Caranya agak menarik. Jadi batang baja itu dibentangin di tengah-tengah lintasan bandul super gede, terus alatnya dinyalain. Bandulnya bakalan ngayun... terus, tebak. Batang bajanya bakalan kepukul sama bandulnya dan patah jadi dua. Kereeeen! *lagi sadis*

Anyway... setelah gw ngerjain lab report (yang hasilnya juga cuma seadanya), gw lanjut bikin design tiket, dikasih advice dari Louise, Wenty, sama Clement... designnya gw bikin berdasarkan angan-angannya Cia... pake kupu-kupu yang melintas pelangi... hahaha... sayangnya gw ga bisa pajang di sini, takut aja ada yang ngeprint terus dipake jadi tiket palsu deh... huhuhu... parno gini... nanti kalo acaranya udah selesai, gw post di sini deh.

Design tiket akhirnya selesai. Rencana gw selanjutnya, ngumpulin lab report ke gedung BIE (bioengineering). Gw udh siap untuk jalan keluar... ah, tapi gw baru inget. Gw belum mandi dari pagi... hehehe... secara gw belum sempet keluar-keluar kamar sejak bangun tadi, yah jadi gini deh (emang pada dasarnya udah males sih =P)... ya udah, akhirnya gw mandi juga, biarpun udah jam setengah 4 sore... =)

Gw berangkat. Gw jalan ke shuttle bus stop ADM (art, design, media), nunggu di sana agak lama sambil ngeliatin hasil lab report gw yang kacau tapi tetep gw kerjain serapi mungkin. Akhirnya bus dateng, dan gw udah keringetan gara-gara panas (tambah lagi gw pake jaket SCBE [school of chemical and biomedical engineering] yang super tebel itu karena nantinya gw bakalan ke freezing hell: library). Apesnya, bus itu udah bobrok dan ga ada belnya. Orang-orang yang mau turun di kantin A sih ga perlu panik, karena di sana pasti busnya berhenti. Di kantin A kan banyak banget orang yang mau naik bus. Nah, masalahnya, bus stop paling deket sama gedung BIE itu ada di depan gedung CBE (chemical and biochemical engineering), itu sepi banget. Ga ada orang sama sekali di bus stopnya. Gw berdiri, ambil ancang-ancang untuk turun, tapiiiii... supirnya ngelewatin bus stopnya. Yah, sial, pikir gw. Alhasil, gw harus turun di stop berikutnya, di SBS (school of biological sciences) dan jalan agak jauh. Nasib, nasib.

Habis ngumpulin lab report, gw ngeprint tiket prom nite di library, bareng Clement. Lancar-lancar aja sih, ga ada sesuatu yang terlalu noteworthy. Jadi, habis selese ngeprint dan gunting-gunting tiketnya, gw berencana makan di kantin A yang baru, tapi... gilaaaaa, ramenya... mau ngantri Subway, udah kayak ular naga panjangnya bukan kepalang. Mau McD juga sama aja. Mau The Palette (western food gitu), rame bener. Aduuuhhh... ga jadi makan deh. Ya udah, pada akhirnya gw pulang. Sedih... niat makan di sana ga kesampean...

Gw sampe di kamar jam 7. Di jalan, gw ketemu ama Surya (yang jurusan ADM). Dia nanya hari ini ada novena ato ga, dan gw jawab ga ada. Kita ngobrol sampe depan ADM, terus misah; dia ke ADM, gw ke arah hall 9. Pas gw sampe kamar, Maria sms gw, nanyain hari ini ada novena ato ga. Gw udah mau jawab "ga ada" aja, tapi kok tiba-tiba gw jadi mikir, beneran ga ada ato malah ada ya? Akhirnya gw sampe nanya Stefi, Tonton, ama Fitri, dan tiga-tiganya jawab ada. Mati dah... gw udh bersaksi palsu sama Surya, hahaha... gw langsung minta nomernya dia dari si Cumi dan bilang kalo ternyata hari ini ada novena... konyol banget... =P

Sekitar jam setengah 9, Chankoi dateng ke kamar gw. Katanya dia mau ngungsi, habis berenang. Cape banget. Keliatan sih dari mukanya kalo dia worn-out banget. Tapi toh di kamar gw dia cuma baca-baca sedikit novel Stardust ama Tunnels gw, terus habis itu ke bawah. Kayaknya sih mau nyari minum di vending machine. Ga berapa lama, dia balik ke kamar gw sambil ngos-ngosan (maklum, kamar gw di lantai 5). Terus dia bilang, dia mau nungguin novena di lounge aja, sambil baca koran. Lanjutlah gw chatting ama Yossy.

Novena udah mau tiba. Gw jalan ke lounge, di sana udah ada Chankoi ama Stefi. Makin lama makin banyak orang yang dateng... ada Fitri, Jelly, Maria, Tommy, Monci, Wahyu, Gunce, Yossy, Surya, Tonton, Wilson, Wira, ama Dion. Totalnya sama gw ada 16 orang. Wow... baru sekarang gw sadar, rame juga ya... kayaknya tadi ga serame itu deh... dan akhirnya kelompok doa bunga matahari (nama kelompok doa anak-anak hall 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, ama ADM) memulai novenanya... =)

Habis novena, gw nemenin Tonton di lounge, sementara yang laen udah pada balik. Kasian aja ditinggal sendirian gitu, habis Yossy katanya mau ngambil exam wishes yang ketinggalan di kamarnya buat dibagi-bagiin di hallnya Tonton. Ya udah, gw tungguin dia ampe Yossy balik lagi. Pas udah balik, gw ke kamar Gunce buat ngambil titipan daging saos tiram ama spaghetti alfredo yang dikirimin nyokap. Masih enak... jadi gw angetin dan gw makan, sambil ngobrol ama Maria tentang masalah yang lagi gw alamin (liat post gw sebelum ini) dan ngebales-balesin email junk yang SUPER GA PENTING (tapi gw juga seneng ngejunk)... mumpung masih bisa bersenang-senang sebelum exam; ntar pas exam udah ga bisa lagi... hahaha... =P

Sekarang gw ngantuk banget deh jadinya. Ga sempet tidur siang sih tadi... sibuk banget... huhuhu... padahal hari ini niatnya belajar anatomy-physiology, eh malah ga kesentuh sama sekali lecture notesnya... wah, jadi ngerasa bersalah... dan gw malah makin menyulitkan posisi gw yang emang dari awalnya udah sulit... huhuhu... gini nih jadi orang males yang kebanyakan komitmen (jadi panitia macem-macem)... tapi gw yakin kok gw masih bisa keep up sama urusan sekolah... hahaha... soalnya gw emang suka sih gabung-gabung di kepanitiaan gitu... bisa ketemu temen, bisa jadi pengalaman untuk kerja, bisa juga untuk ngelatih leadership... ^.^

Gw bakalan tidur dulu deh... ngantuk banget nih... kalo tidur jam segini, mungkin ga ya besok pagi gw bangun jam 6 gitu? Soalnya belakangan ini gw tidur jam 2-3 gitu bangunnya jam 8... udah kebawa kali ya sama hari Kamis dan Sabtu lalu... ada quiz pagi-pagi, jadi harus bangun pagi juga... huhuhu... tapi belakangan gw belajar untuk ga melawan kebutuhan biologis, eh gw jadi bisa bangun lebih seger dan tanpa alarm lho... =)

Trivia nih, Minggu kemaren gw maen bowling. Frame 1 gw dapet strike langsung. Wah, seneng. Frame 2 ampe 4 juga gw spare terus, frame 5 strike lagi. Wahhhh, tambah seneng deh gw. Ehhhh... frame 6 ampe 8 malah mengacau parah... jadi kecil-kecil banget deh nilainya. Frame 9 gw spare. Frame 10-1 gw strike. Seneng bangetttt! Eh, frame 10-2 strike lagi! Gw bilang ke Edo ama Randy, ini exam gw bisa hancur lebur hokinya gw pake di bowling semua. Frame 10-3-nya... bolanya kena paha gw, terus langsung melenceng ke got kanan. Diketawain. Siake banget! Tapi untung aja skor gw masih bisa 118... meskipun kalo frame 10-3 itu kena bisa 130 lebih... hahaha... antiklimaks banget, di frame 10 tulisannya XX-... ga graceful dan ga glorious... hihihi... =P

Yuk ah, ngantuuuukkk... ciao!

A Letter to the Lord

Tuhan,

Aku sudah berbuat kesalahan yang sangat parah... aku sudah meruntuhkan persahabatanku dengan seorang teman baik. Apa yang sudah aku perbuat...?

Betapa sekarang aku bersedih dalam kesendirian... hanya dapat menunggu hingga Sang Waktu menjahit kembali benang-benang yang terlepas dari persahabatan kami... tapi benang-benang itu sekarang sudah tersebar di mana-mana, dan aku tahu pasti, semuanya akan memerlukan waktu yang sangat lama bahkan untuk mengumpulkan mereka kembali. Dan sebagaimana pastinya ada benang yang luput dari pandangan Sang Waktu, akan ada pula kenangan dan momen yang terlupakan dari persahabatan kami akibat perbuatanku ini...

Sungguh, Tuhan, aku tidak bermaksud untuk berbuat seperti itu. Bahkan aku tidak menduga bahwa aku akan berbuat seperti itu. Namun, setelah mengetahui bahwa aku benar-benar melakukannya... aku seperti tidak dapat memaafkan diriku sendiri. Hingga sekarang pun aku masih bingung... apa yang harus aku lakukan? Hilanglah sudah semuanya. Aku tidak pantas lagi ia percaya.

Sekarang, yang bisa kulakukan adalah membuktikan bahwa aku benar-benar tidak bermaksud untuk melakukannya. Bantulah aku, Tuhan... semoga aku bisa berbuat baik untuknya... untuk semua orang... sebagai permintaan maafku padanya... siapa yang tahu jika aku tidak akan mendapat kesempatan lain untuk meminta maaf? Siapa yang tahu jika esok hari napasku sudah Engkau tarik kembali? Hanya Engkau yang tahu... dan jikalau aku memang tidak bisa menunjukkan bahwa aku menyesal atau ia tetap melihatku sebagai orang yang jauh dari perkiraannya... mungkin aku tidak akan pernah bisa memaafkan diriku sendiri.

Tuhan... meskipun aku tahu bahwa ini tidak mungkin, aku ingin kembali ke hari itu... untuk memperbaiki apa yang telah kuperbuat saat itu... dan menjalani hari-hari kami seperti sebelum semua masalah ini terjadi. Aku tidak ingin kehilangan siapa pun yang menjadi temanku, apalagi teman baik... aku sudah berkali-kali melewati masa kesepian, dan tahu bahwa perasaan sepi itu terus menusuk jiwaku... aku tidak mau hal ini terjadi dalam personifikasi yang lebih buruk lagi...

Aku percaya bahwa Engkau akan datang kepada siapa pun yang memanggil-Mu dalam masa kesulitan, dan akan membantunya... maka, terinspirasi oleh lirik dari sebuah lagu, aku berdoa kepada-Mu,

Ajarilah aku untuk menggunakan waktu yang kumiliki...
Ajarilah aku untuk tetap sabar meskipun berada dalam penantian...
Ajarilah aku untuk menerima semua kesenangan dan kepedihan...
Ajarilah aku untuk tidur dengan tenang dan bangun dengan bersemangat...
Sebab Engkaulah tempat bernaung dan harapanku sepanjang masa...

In every age, You have been our refuge... you have been our hope.

Anakmu,
Abhyasa Naradhipa

A Small Banquet, Full of Motherly Love

Materials science and physics quiz are removed from to-do list! I'm not going to talk about the results. A big no... T_T

Today I received a packet from my mom. Inside, there were a serving of tuna spaghetti alfredo and oyster sauce beef! Yay! They were very sumptuous and superbly delicious! I love my mother's cooking! ^_^

But... the spaghetti and meat is way too much. I can't take it out by myself... hehe... so tomorrow I'm going to eat them with Yessica. She was very excited when I offered the savors to her, and said "Your mother is the best" (of course, it made me proud of my mother, having her acknowledged =P)... hahaha...

There were also LOADS of Chitato. They're primarily for Edo, as he once told me how he longed for one. Now he's getting his pining in abundance... I wonder if he can withstand all of them without sore throat? =)

Just as trivia, a few days ago I chatted with Yessica about the meaning of the word "alfredo", referring to Edo (whose nickname is derived from his first name, Alfredo). To my surprise, my mother sent me spaghetti alfredo! Coincidence? Hahaha... Edo should be glad of this...

The math quiz is today! I hope I can do well... I wish to exercise on more problems, but now I'm so sleepy. Maybe I'll take a little good-night sleep to revitalize myself...

See you then! ^_^

A Message

Why are you so secretive over a thing that's not supposed to be a secret?

Do you know that it made me feel excluded?

Think over it again.

Refreshment

Still studying for materials science... aaaaahhh...

For those preparing for upcoming quizzes and exam, I have a cute and interesting flash game to play. It's about engineering-planning. Try it! Here's the link:

http://shingakunet.com/special/16608701/0285/index.html

I must thank Wawan for giving us, GLs, this link. It's so captivating, yet pretty realistic. Enjoy! ^_^

They Misuse Their Need of Knowledge!

WARNING: The following paragraph is a disclaimer. Read before you proceed. If you do not understand what the disclaimer says, or you cannot comply or accept the disclaimer, do not proceed to read the post. Otherwise, you may read, but at your own risk.

Sebelum gw nulis inti dari postingan ini, gw harus kasih tau para pembaca dulu bahwa postingan yg ini harus gw tulis pake bahasa Indo. Gw takut kalo postingan ini dibaca ama orang-orang yang gw maksud (mereka bukan orang Indo). Yah, mungkin bisa dibilang kalo gw ga berbicara secara open dan netral (in fact, hampir semua postingan gw ga netral), tapi postingan yang ini emang agak-agak offensive bagi mereka yang bakalan gw tulis di sini. Udah gitu, postingan ini bener-bener mencela satu pihak (tapi tanpa bermaksud untuk rasis ato gimana, karena yang gw tulis ini generally bener). Makanya gw ga berani tulis pake bahasa Inggris; semua orang kan pingin safeguard nama mereka =P

*** END OF DISCLAIMER ***
Yah, jadi, gw udah hampir satu tahun tinggal di Singapore, dan gw udah menemukan banyak banget jenis (bukan spesies =P) orang; dari yang bener-bener carefree ampe yang super kiasu (ga mau kalah; misalkan karena peer pressure, mereka juga ikut-ikutan belajar mati-matian karena ga mau kalah sama orang laennya yang pada belajar). Saking kiasunya mereka jadi ga sopan. Dan ini terjadi kemaren, pas gw ikut tutor mathematics.

Jadi ceritanya gw, Glenn, Itin, ama Cia lagi berusaha keras untuk ngerti apa yang lagi dijelasin sama tutornya, eh terus tiba-tiba di tengah-tengah dia lagi jelasin, ada OC (orang C***, maksudnya di sini yang C*** totok; orang yang dateng langsung dari negeri tirai bambu) yang keluar dari ruangan, bawa tas. Satu ruangan udah sampe ngeliatin dia gitu kayaknya. Si tutor sih tenang-tenang aja, tapi gw tau pasti di dalem hatinya dia ngerasa insulted banget dan ga dihargai. Pasti itu sakit banget. Si Glenn sampe bilang, "Itu orang ga sopan banget sih?"

Parahnya lagi, dia kayaknya nungguin di luar sampe tutor mathnya selese. Kok gw bisa bilang gitu? Soalnya pas tutor setelahnya (kimia) di ruangan yang sama, dia muncul lagi! Bahkan, sebelumnya, gw sempet keluar ruangan karena dingin, eh gw ngeliat dia dengan santainya ngobrol sama Kheng Kiong (tutor materials science). Parah banget deh. Dia sengaja keluar gitu ternyata pas math. Super gege.

Gw jadi mempertanyakan di dalem hati, apa sih maksudnya dia keluar tadi? Apa cuma untuk draw attention? Pamer ke orang-orang kalo dia udah bisa, jadi ga perlu ikut tutor lagi? Kalo emang gitu, kenapa dia masih aja ikut tutor? Keluar di tengah-tengah itu sama aja kaya ga menghargai tutornya, apalagi dia udah susah-susah jelasin soal nomer 1 ampe satu papan tulis aja ga cukup (solutionnya emang panjang banget)... gw rasa kalo dia emang udah ngerti, mendingan dari awal dia ga ikut aja, daripada ikut tapi terus nyakitin hati tutornya. Ok, gw tau dia bisa ngitung hasil dari akar 13.820984 tanpa kalkulator, tapi tetep aja kelakuan itu tuh ga sopan. Kalo emang mau keluar, kan bisa tunggu sampe tutorialnya selese? Najis.

Kiasu itu salah. Bener-bener salah. Meskipun dalam arti belajar, tetep aja salah. Kenapa? Soalnya driving force-nya bukan keinginan diri sendiri untuk belajar, tapi karena ga mau kalah sama orang laen. Orang-orang yang kiasu pada akhirnya cuma belajar only for granted. Mereka ga bisa ngeliat nilai belajar itu sendiri. Beda sama orang yang belajar karena emang mereka pingin pursue education. Makanya itu gw bener-bener ga suka kalo ada yang bilang gw kiasu. Gw ga kiasu. In fact, gw ini males banget. Jadi, ga ada alesan untuk bilang gw kiasu. Meskipun emang ada instance di mana gw melakukan suatu hal karena jealous sama orang laen yang bisa, gw berusaha untuk ngebuang jauh-jauh pikiran bahwa gw mau melakukan ini karena jealous. Kadang-kadang malah gw memilih untuk ga melakukan hal itu kalo alesannya cuma karena pikiran bahwa "kenapa dia bisa sementara gw ga bisa".

*paragraf tadi bener-bener opini gw, ga ada intensi untuk mencela ato bermaksud offensive terhadap orang laen; kalo ada yang merasa tersinggung, gw bener-bener minta maaf*

Tapi dari sini gw bisa ngeliat "dunia yang sebenernya". Gimana kelakuan orang lain bisa menjadi tantangan bagi kita sendiri, physically ataupun emotionally. Dan dunia ini kejam. Mereka yang ga bisa bertahan, bakalan menghilang...

Gw rasa gw harus bisa undergo kejadian-kejadian macem begini, dan itu artinya gw bakalan ngeliat banyak occurrence laen yang bisa jadi lebih parah.

I'll write again soon.

When Two or Three Are Gathered

... it results in my insanity.

What I meant here isn't His words, "When two or three are gathered in My name, there I will always be"; instead, it about "two assignments and three quizzes" gathered together. Wow... I can barely cope with them...

I'm going to go through them, one by one, briefly.

The first enemy: BS802 (biology in business) assignment. Wednesday, 2/4/08. Not too hard. The lecturer asked to summarize a presentation. The slides weren't uploaded, but I have the photographs, hehe... that's about it.

The second enemy: BS802 (biology in business, again) project. Wednesday, 2/4/08. This one was very hard. I needed to compare the strengths and weaknesses of three different electroporators. It was one hell of business... but I've done it moments ago, so that's it. It's dead.

The third enemy / the first boss: BG1005 (materials science) quiz. Thursday, 3/4/08. Now this is really something. I'm fed up with all those crystals, impact, fracture, whatever! Progress? Don't ever ask. I will never be ready for quizzes =P

The fourth enemy / the second boss: BG1001 (engineering physics) quiz. Friday, 4/4/08. Two quizzes in two consecutive days. Great. The format is MCQ, and is carried out in 3 separate computer labs for 3 groups (an e-quiz).

The fifth enemy / the third boss: BG1007 (mathematics for engineers B) quiz. SATURDAY, 5/4/08. This is the climax. Not to mention the very fact that this makes three quizzes in three consecutive days, it's done on Saturday, of all days... this is going to be damn nasty. Fortunately, I can just plug in the numbers to certain formulae, but memorizing them is another big issue. What's more, the formulae can't be memorized by mnemonics >_<

There's still one quiz left for next week (i.e. 10/4/08), the BG1009 (anatomy and physiology) quiz, but it's a later business. I'll have to dedicate the remaining 4 days from next Sunday to Wednesday to scoop all those cells, tissues, organs, and systems to my cognizance. Aahhh... so tedious.

That's it. I'm hungry... I'll be eating at canteen 9 and back in a while. See you!