A Ferocious Quandary

First of all, why ferocious? Simply because it's so intense.

Let me just get this straight and over with. My family will visit Singapore again on August 8th, and I really want and need to see them. Yet, from 7th until 10th, GTD is taking place. These two events are concurrent.

This is really something. Both are really important for me, and I can't just leave either one be. I wish I could find some vacant space of time within the overwhelmingly packed GTD, be it only 2 hours, to visit my family at Holiday Inn.

This is a moment where I have to choose one of two alternatives with at least one unsatisfactory consequence, although hardly nobody says that something like this spices up life. Hmm... needless to say, I have to utilize my very best judgment and sense of priority to cope with this dilemma. Sacrifice of time and energy is a must.

Help me choose.

Week of Endless Pursuit

Hmm, it's been a week since I last wrote...

Well, as most of you already know, I couldn't write as frequently as before because of my activities. They took a hell lot of time.

One of them was CSA FOC (Catholic Students' Apostolate Freshmen Orientation Camp), and I took part as a welfare main committee. As the name suggests, my job was to ensure the well-being of the participants, be it providing food or first aid.

The whole camp took 4 days, with the last 2 days spent at Aloha Loyang (near Pasir Ris Park, all the way across Singapore from NTU). Of course, tiring was it. One thing for sure, though: it was damn fun. I got to know the freshies and fellow seniors. The games were outright enjoyable. The chalet was awfully nice. At the end of the day, it was so heavenly a camp.

On the last day of the camp, everybody went out to East Coast Park to play beach games. (Randy and) I didn't go though, because we had a convocation to be present. It was Kelsen's. With that in mind, we went straight from Pasir Ris to NTU, took some rest, and attended the convocation. After congratulating some friends, I went back to join the GTD senior camp (which took 2 days, but I can't talk about it now).

Okay, so after the senior camp had finished, I was free from this morning onwards. I went to the church with the usual friends and some more (not unusual) friends and... freshies! There were pretty many of them; 7 or 8 people, I guess. I reckon that it was their first Mass in Singapore (so what?). After the Mass, we did our weekly chores: eat and shop at Jurong Point, but this time plus getting the freshies to know their way around JP. We ate at Kopitiam (as usual), shopped at Fair Price, and visited Popular.

Maybe that's all there is to say. Other than playing bridge and winning at least 4 out of 5 matches, there's no so significant a story to tell. Since I'm getting a little tired now, I'm going to use some rest... my feet are still killing me due to outdoor games yesterday.

See you next post, and I hope it will be posted soon ^.^

Moving: BIE Style vs ADM Style

Hari ini gw mengalami pindahan lagi. Bukan, bukan gw, tapi gw bantuin Dennice pindahan. Dan gw menemukan beberapa persamaan dan perbedaan antara 2 jenis pindahan yang udah gw alami ini. Penting banget ya =P

Persamaannya:

1. Melibatkan 3 orang. BIE style melibatkan gw, Yossy, Tere. ADM style melibatkan gw, Dennice, kokonya.

2. Jarak yang jauh. BIE style ditempuh dari hall 9 ke hall 12. ADM style ditempuh dari hall 5 ke hall 8.

3. Tanjakan terjal. BIE style melewati tanjakan di depan Nanyang Heights. ADM style melewati tanjakan di depan block 44.

4. Trolley yang dipakai. Kedua style menggunakan trolley yang sama, dipinjam dari orang yang sama.

Perbedaannya:

1. Jumlah barang. BIE style mengangkut banyak barang. ADM style mengangkut sangat banyak barang.

2. Berat barang. BIE style mengangkut barang-barang berat. ADM style mengangkut barang-barang sangat berat.

3. Jumlah ronde. BIE style melalui 2 ronde. ADM style melalui 3 ronde.

4. Tingkat kesulitan. BIE style: hard. ADM style: very hard.

5. Jumlah anak tangga yang dilalui dengan trolley. BIE style tidak menuntun trolley melalui tangga. ADM style menuntun trolley melalui banyak anak tangga.

6. Indikasi alergi debu gw. BIE style membuat gw batuk dan bersin ga berhenti selama 1 hari. ADM style hanya membuat gw bersin-bersin sampai 1 jam.

Yah, jadi gitu deh kira-kira perbandingan antara prosedur pindahan gw sama Dennice... tau sendiri yang mana yang lebih repot, secara anak ADM punya banyak barang berupa kertas berlembar-lembar, hahaha...

Sumpah, penting banget gw bikin post ini... ga ada kerjaan sih... XD

Celebration of My Return: Torment by Moving

Gw udah balik lagi ke Singapore nih... sebenernya gw baliknya kemaren sih, tapi gw belum bisa segera posting karena sesampainya di kamar (bukan kamar gw juga sih, secara kunci gw hilang dan gw ga bisa balik ke kamar gw), bawaannya udah langsung pingin tidur... =P

Anyway, inti pembicaraan gw kali ini bukan mengenai gw pulang jam berapa, naek apa, sampenya di negara mana, makan apa, dan pake Counterpain gara-gara apa (makin ga nyambung), tapi tentang siksaan yang gw alami hari ini.

Gw pindahan.

Darn. Proses pindahannya bener-bener makan waktu dan tenaga. Terus terang gw agak-agak meremehkan the overall process, dan gw shock saat tau bahwa semuanya makan waktu sekitar 2 setengah jam. Untung aja gw ga harus melakukan semuanya all by myself. Kalo sampe iya sih gw mendingan pilih bayar lebih dari $215.

Prosesnya melibatkan 3 orang (gw, Yossy, Tere) dan 2 ronde. Ronde pertama gw pindahin printer, koper baju, dan kardus-kardus laennya. Itu berat. Ternyata ronde kedua lebih berat lagi; isinya koper laen, kantong-kantong berisi macem-macem, ember, textbook, tas. Dan pindahannya ga nanggung-nanggung: dari kamar gw di hall 9 lantai 5 (harus diturunin ke lantai 1) ke kamar Tonton di hall 12 lantai 5 (masuknya dari lantai 4). Jarak dari hall 9 ke hall 12 mungkin sekitar 300 sampe 400 meter, mungkin lebih. Ga jauh? Mungkin juga, tapi yang jelas ga gampang, karena kami harus melalui either one of these: tanjakan yang cukup terjal di depan apartemen Nanyang Heights, atau jalan seribu tangga di hall 8. Akhirnya, setelah berpikir matang-matang, dipilihlah jalan muter lewat Nanyang Heights karena gw ga mau ngangkat-ngangkatin macem-macem barang lewat tangga.

Kata Yossy, pindahan merupakan bukti kalo kita udah jadi senior. Meskipun belum tentu juga karena mungkin ada freshie yang retain kamar, at least untuk tahun ini pernyataannya semi-valid, karena smua freshie (kecuali Dennice, tapi dia juga ga retain) yang naek ke 2nd year pada ga dapet kamar dan harus pindahan. Swt deh... -_-"

Selesainya pindahan, gw mandi lanjut makan. Puas banget rasanya, apalagi beberapa saat setelah makan itu gw tidur. Rasanya ga pingin bangun aja sampe besok pagi... sayangnya gw punya satu janji yang ga mungkin gw ingkari: ngabisin makanan yang dibawa Jimot. Hahaha. Kalo urusannya udah makan-memakan orang (makanan, maksud gw), ayo deh... =P

Malemnya, bosen deh... sampe menjelang jam 12 ini gw ga menemukan sesuatu untuk dikerjakan... palingan maen DS... diajakin Cia maen capsa sih, tapi masih kurang orang... sampe terkumpul at least 4 orang, bakalan cengo nih, hahaha...

Master of Exams

Apakah Anda termasuk orang yang khawatir tentang exam? Jika Anda menjawab "ya", maka post ini merupakan post yang cocok untuk Anda!

Berikut ini beberapa kiat jitu yang dapat membantu Anda untuk mendapatkan nilai bagus di dalam exam. Harap diperhatikan bahwa tidak semua yang Anda baca adalah benar =P

1. Belajar. Tentu saja ini adalah kiat yang sudah terbukti, dari tahun ke tahun, generasi ke generasi. Dengan belajar, kita dapat memberi "makanan" berupa wawasan baru untuk dikonsumsi oleh otak. Jika dengan belajar sedikit saja Anda sudah dapat mengerti semua poin dalam topik yang Anda pelajari, maka Anda merupakan orang yang sangat pintar. Jika Anda masih belum mengerti apa yang Anda pelajari bahkan setelah 512 kali mencoba untuk mengerti, tenang saja, ada jutaan orang di dunia ini yang bernasib sama seperti Anda.

2. Makan ikan. Anda tahu, bahwa asupan polimer asam amino (yang juga disebut dengan protein) secara berkecukupan dapat membantu kita untuk berpikir jernih? Ikan merupakan salah satu bahan pangan yang kaya akan protein, hampir setara dengan daging. Namun, karena kadar lemaknya yang lebih rendah, ikan lebih disarankan untuk dikonsumsi. Fakta bahwa ikan dapat berkontribusi dalam mencegah kegilaan dan hilang kewarasan ini juga dapat digunakan untuk mengalahkan true vegetarian (vegetarian yang benar-benar hanya mengonsumsi sayur-sayuran) dan mereka yang membenci sushi.

3. Istirahat yang cukup. Kita sering mendengar kasus di mana menjelang exam orang-orang belajar mati-matian sampai mengorbankan jam tidur mereka. Sebenarnya hal ini sangat tidak dianjurkan. Mengapa? Sebab dengan demikian, kita memaksa otak untuk bekerja keras. Apa yang akan terjadi jika otak kita dipaksa untuk bekerja sangat keras? Bayangkan saja sebuah komputer yang menyimpan memori di dalam drive C mereka hingga 90%. Mereka akan bekerja dengan sangat lambat dan tidak dapat mengeksekusi perintah-perintah yang kita berikan. Demikian pula dengan otak; kita akan terus merasa penat, seolah-olah tidak dapat menerima lagi apa yang kita pelajari. Untuk mencegah agar hal ini tidak sampai terjadi, kita perlu istirahat, terutama malam menjelang exam. Dengan demikian, pikiran dapat menjadi segar kembali. Namun, jika Anda malah oversleep dan bangun 1 menit sebelum exam (seperti salah seorang teman saya yang sekarang sudah lulus), tanggung sendiri risikonya.

4. Bersikaplah percaya diri. Metode ini berlaku paling baik pada universitas yang menggunakan normal distribution dalam menentukan skor akhir (seperti NTU). Dengan menunjukkan rasa percaya diri yang agak berlebih, Anda dapat mengintimidasi lawan exam Anda dan membuat mereka sedikit gugup, meskipun Anda tahu bahwa Anda tidak akan mendapatkan skor atau nilai yang lebih tinggi daripada mereka. Jangan tunjukkan bahwa Anda takut akan exam, melainkan pasanglah suatu attitude yang siap dan relaxed. Tunjukkan bahwa Anda tidak terlalu tense dalam persiapan exam ini. Pasang juga muka yakin saat memasuki exam hall. Jika Anda merasa bahwa tidak ada orang yang terintimidasi, berarti tampang Anda kurang mendukung.

5. Berusaha menjadi orang pertama yang keluar dari exam hall. Metode ini berlaku paling baik pada universitas yang menggunakan normal distribution. Lagi-lagi psikologi memainkan peran penting dalam metode ini. Dengan keluar terlebih dahulu, Anda dapat mengintimidasi lawan exam Anda lebih lanjut lagi. Pikiran mereka akan teralihkan dari kertas exam. Bonus yang Anda dapatkan: semua perhatian akan tertuju kepada Anda dan decakan-decakan kagum berkumandang bagaikan sangkakala di dalam exam hall. Perlu Anda ketahui juga bahwa metode ini sering digunakan oleh mereka yang benar-benar tidak mengerti harus menulis apa di lembar jawaban, sehingga mereka berpikir untuk menggambar abstrak di kertas jawaban dan segera meninggalkan exam hall.

6. Singkirkan orang yang lebih pintar dari Anda. Metode ini berlaku paling baik pada universitas yang menggunakan normal distribution. Cukup self-explanatory, metode ini memerlukan sedikit keberanian untuk berbuat dosa. Jika Anda tahu orang-orang yang sudah pasti mendapat hasil yang lebih baik dari Anda, cobalah untuk mencegah mereka mengambil exam. Anda dapat merusak jam weker mereka, mengikat mereka di tempat tidur, memasukkan obat tidur dalam minuman mereka, meracuni mereka, dan lain-lain. Dengan menyingkirkan mereka yang berpotensi mendapat nilai lebih bagus, nilai Anda akan menjadi salah satu dari beberapa nilai tertinggi di kelas, dan Anda dapat dengan mudah mendapatkan di atas B+. Sekali lagi, metode ini bukan untuk orang yang berhati baik, karena penyalahgunaannya dapat menjadikan Anda seorang pembunuh.

7. Menyontek. Metode ini seolah-olah merupakan nemesis dari metode nomor 1, belajar. Namun, sama seperti belajar, metode ini sudah teruji dari masa ke masa. Bedanya hanyalah metode ini lebih mengandalkan keberuntungan dan keahlian mencontek Anda, dan tentu saja melibatkan ketidakjujuran. Tanpa perlu dijelaskan, saya tahu bahwa kita semua tahu cara menyontek. Namun, jika Anda ketahuan menyontek dan dikeluarkan dari universitas, berarti Anda harus memperbaiki keahlian Anda dan melatih kekurangannya. Hal itu juga dapat disebabkan oleh kekurangberuntungan Anda karena pada saat itu pengawas kebetulan memergoki Anda, atau memang karena Anda cukup bodoh sekaligus berani untuk menyontek secara frontal di depan pengawas.

Masih banyak lagi metode yang dapat Anda gunakan untuk mendapatkan nilai bagus dalam exam, tetapi untuk sementara akan saya hentikan di sini dulu karena belum tentu Anda dapat menjalani semua metode yang saya berikan tadi, entah karena Anda adalah seorang true vegetarian, terlalu kiasu sampai lupa tidur, orang yang jujur, atau apa pun.

Selamat mencoba dan semoga berhasil!

Please Help Me Kill This Boredom!

Haduh, special semester itu ternyata ngebosenin banget ya.

Gw ada kelas tiap hari Selasa sampe Kamis, masing-masing dari jam setengah 2 sampe jam 4. Sisanya? Gw free. Palingan setiap malem ada rosario. Tapi tetep aja, waktu senggang gw masih jauh lebih banyak daripada waktu yang kepake.

Gw pingin ngisi kekosongan waktu ini nih. Minggu lalu, gw beli woodworks (pramodel 3D yang dari kayu) kecil bentuk tupai, tapi selesainya cepet banget. Gw pingin beli yang agak gedean, tapi harganya mahal. Gw pingin maen bowling, tapi kalo keseringan, tabungan bisa bocor. Aduuhhh... serba salah.

Mungkin yang paling ideal buat gw itu jalan-jalan. Atau maen badminton. Atau berenang. Atau jogging. Atau fotografi. Masalahnya, gw males kalo ngerjain itu semuanya SENDIRI. Gw pingin ada yg nemenin. Sama aja kalo sendiri doang sih, bakalan bosen juga. Gw perlu seseorang untuk nemenin jalan-jalan. Atau maen badminton. Atau berenang. Atau jogging. Atau motret-motret. Dan orang yang cukup seneng sama SEMUA yang gw sebut tadi... Dennice sama Maria. Sayangnya, Dennice punya banyak banget kerjaan (visual arts society, T-Spray, student assistant HSS [school of humanities and social sciences] library), sementara Maria sore ini udah pulang ke Indo (hari Senin dia bakalan balik ke Singapore). Arrggghhhh!

Yah, jadi kerjaan gw cuma: [pagi] baca-baca lecture notes astronomy, maen Pokemon, maen Call of Duty, [siang] kalo ada lecture astronomy ya gw ikut kelas, kalo ga ada, lanjut maen Pokemon atau Call of Duty, [sore] maen Pokemon, maen Call of Duty, chatting, nungguin rosario, [malem] rosario, kongko-kongko sama anak-anak bunga matahari habis rosario. Udah, gitu doang. Gilaaaa... gimana gw ga lumutan di kamar? Saban hari, aktivitas gw bener-bener ga punya diversity! I need to do something!

Kalo udah gini (kayak sekarang nih), gw cuma bisa nunggu sampe hari Minggu dateng. Kenapa? Karena itu berarti ke gereja dan ketemu sama temen-temen! Duh, tapi gereja Minggu besok kayaknya ga akan terlalu rame. Maria pulang. Tommy pulang. Riandy pulang. Yang sisa cuma gw, Dennice, sama Surya. Apa gw minta ke mereka supaya kita jangan langsung pulang habis dari gereja ya? Apa harus jalan-jalan dulu ke mana gitu biar ga bosen di kamar? Apa mendingan kita gereja di St. Mary yang agak jauhan dikit ya? Haduh, pusing.

Gw sih udah bikin janji, hari Jumat pagi mau jogging bareng Dennice sama Adi. Terakhir kali, joggingnya keputus di tengah-tengah gara-gara angin kenceng nan dingin. Berhentilah kita di kantin NIE, kongko-kongko di sana dari jam 8 sampe jam 11. Lumayan juga sih buat ngisi waktu, tapi bukan berarti gw pingin ada angin kenceng pas jogging (yang berarti joggingnya batal).

Somebody, help me!!! Awwww... T.T

Hustle and Bustle

Woo-hoo! Akhirnya nulis post lagi! Setelah sekitar setengah bulan ga nulis-nulis... hehe...

Pertama gw harus minta maaf dulu, gw ga nulis karena ga ada waktu... rencananya kan pertama mau nulis setelah selese exam organic chemistry, tapi udah kecapean duluan... terus gw juga harus belajar untuk exam anatomy & physiology besok lusanya... hueeee... stress... setelah exam anatomy & physiology, gw disibukkan dengan kerjaan prom night yang hampir bisa dibilang brutal (sori ya Wenty), nganterin tiket, bikin dekorasi prom, rapat T-Spray (acara budaya Indo di NTU), pasang-pasang dekor prom di venue, acara promnya sendiri, misa Pentekosta, outing kelompok rosario Bunga Matahari, sama ngurusin acara ulang tahunnya Cumi (Dennice). See? Minimal, gw punya 9 aktivitas dalam 7 hari. Haduh... tambah lagi, gw ada kelas astronomy setiap Selasa ampe Kamis, jam 13.30 ampe 16.30. Wow!

Anyway, toh gw udah terbebas dari sebagian besar aktivitas yang gw sebut tadi.

*karena gw males nulis dalam bracket untuk ngebedain Cumi Dennice sama Cumi Laurent, mulai dari sini gw bakalan nulis nama aslinya aja deh*

Terus terang, acara prom itu makan waktu gw banyak banget seminggu kemarin. Mungkin gara-gara gw harus ngumpulin foto-foto dari temen-temen final year, terus harus gw jadiin flashback video. Aaaahhh! Gw ga bisa apa-apa waktu itu. Untung, untung aja, Dennice bersedia bantuin gw. Karena gw udah nentuin supaya by Rabu videonya udah harus selese (gw ga mau ngundur-ngundur lagi karena gw tau tugas seminggu itu bakalan banyak banget), gw squatting di kamar Dennice, bikin video dari malem ampe siang, dibantuin sama Sidharta (temennya yang kebetulan lagi maen ke NTU)... aduh, gw ngerasa ga enak banget udah ngerepotin mereka. Gw bahkan hampir skip lecture astronomy LAGI... kemarennya aja gw udah skip gara-gara harus jagain kamar yang lagi dibersihin sama orang dari hall. Untuk bales budi, gw kasih Dennice sama Sidharta snack, masing-masing 2 bungkus nori Tao Kae Noi plus Cheezels atau potato chips. Thanks a lot, guys! Not even a thousand words of thanks are barely enough for you! ^.^

Aktivitas berat berikutnya itu bikin dekorasi untuk prom. Karena para komite bikin dekornya ga di venuenya, yang ada kita sempet berdebat tentang ukuran sama bentuk pelangi dekorasi. Gw ampe stress mikirin harus diapaen ini karton-karton sama styrofoam yang bertebaran di lounge 3B... ampe pada akhirnya Edo, Laurent, Wenty, Louise dateng. Yeah, back-up artillery dateng (duh geje, gara-gara tadi maen Call of Duty, masih kebawa gini)... akhirnya, meskipun perlu waktu yang ga sedikit, bikin dekor selesai! Ehhh... waktu jalan pulang ke hall 9, diculik sama anak-anak bunga matahari. Diajakin makan ke kantin A. Ya udah, gw sih ikut-ikut aja. Toh gw juga belum makan waktu itu. Jadilah kita makan McD di sana, terus pulangnya ke pesta ulang tahun Meri di ADM (school of art, design, and media).

Perhentian berikutnya itu acara prom night sendiri, yang dikasih nama Cheerio Night 2008. Rasa-rasanya, acara ini paling bikin cape, fisik dan mental... pertama, panitia harus keluar kamar jam 10.30 untuk makan bareng, dan ga pulang-pulang lagi sampe minimal jam 11. Kedua, video yang udah dibikin sempet ga jalan menjelang diputer, jadi harus dirender ulang. Ketiga, setelah dirender, videonya lupa dicompress, jadi makan memory sampe 19.5 GB dan laptop gw malah crash. Keempat, ternyata dekor yang paling susah dibuat malah terkesan ga kepake. Haduh... pukulan bertubi-tubi. Untung pada akhirnya acara berjalan lancar, thanks to kerja sama antar portfolio, terutama programmer (Edo, Cia) sama logistik (Laurent, Kris, Irving)... sedap deh! Setelah acaranya selesai, gw, Edo, Cia, Clement, Oliv, sama Louise karaoke bareng. Gratis lho, hehe. Cuma 1 jam sih, tapi lumayanlah untuk refreshing setelah segala macem cape-capean sebelumnya. Pulangnya, suara pada habis semua XD

Foto main committee Cheerio Night 2008

Besoknya, setelah misa Pentekosta, kelompok rosario gw (yang dinamain "Bunga Matahari" sama Yossy) bikin outing, makan steamboat di Bugis. Wahhh... seru banget deh, biarpun yang ikut juga cuma sebagian (gw, Maria, Dennice, Riandy, Surya, Tommy, Tonton, Yossy, Fitri, Gunce). Restorannya kecil, sampe-sampe setengah dari restoran itu keisi sama bunga matahari. Ribut banget pokoknya. Mumpung steamboatnya buffet, kita pesen, pesen, pesen, pesen terus, sampe katanya sih yang punya restoran udah KO sama kita... hahahaha... meja udah sampe berantakan, kuah di mana-mana, kaki kepiting keluar dari stove, udah kayak setting film horor aja. Selesai makan, kita bikin surprise untuk Dennice, birthday boy! Kue yang dari awal udah disiapin, dikeluarin dari persembunyiannya. Katanya sih si Dennice ga nyadar kalo kita bawa kue. Baguslah, berarti surprisenya berhasil =)

Setelah misa Pentekosta di Church of St. Francis of Assisi

Outing kelompok rosario Bunga Matahari sekaligus surprise untuk Dennice

Malemnya, lagi-lagi ultah Dennice dirayain, kali ini yang skala besar. Pertama sempet bingung juga, gimana caranya ngajakin si birthday boy untuk ke hall 16 (blok 16E), karena dia tinggalnya di hall 5. Jauh banget. Kalo gw tiba-tiba ngajakin ke hall 16 kan pasti dia curiga bakalan ada sesuatu. Jadi, gw bilangnya... setelah rosario bakalan ada rapat internal T-Spray antara hall IC, finance manager, sama publicity & publication untuk ngebahas masalah Indosupper. Eh, pas kita (gw, Dennice, Cia, Surya) udah nyampe di sana, ternyata belum siap. Akhirnya kita maen-maen dulu ke music room di blok 16B, sampe dikasih tau kalo acaranya udah siap. Surprise, surprise. Si Dennice bener-bener ga nyangka, katanya, kalo ulang tahunnya bakalan dirayain lagi pas malem. So, kita bersenang-senang deh di sana... pulangnya, gw minta Dennice untuk mampir ke kamar dulu, ngambil hadiah (puzzle Piplup) titipan dari Sidharta.

Ulang tahun Dennice yang skala besar

Dan itu menandakan akhir dari weekend yang amat sangat menyenangkan. Meskipun hectic, tapi gw ngerasa kalo weekend kemaren itu bener-bener enjoyable. Mungkin karena banyak melibatkan temen-temen deket. Mungkin karena penyertaan mereka. Hmmm... gw harap setiap weekend gw bisa diisi dengan kegiatan-kegiatan yang menyenangkan barengan temen-temen. Maybe that will add more shades of hue into my life ^.^

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.

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!

A Thank-You Letter

Thanks for the exam wishes, guys! Love you all... and I hope you can do your best in your exam as well!

Hm? What's an exam wish?

Well... this 'ere students in NTU, especially the active PINTU (Pelajar Indonesia NTU - Indonesian Students of NTU), ran a program called Exam Wishes. Here, you can give your friends a packet of food, stationaries, or bookmark (this one comes with 3 candies). It is to encourage one another for facing the upcoming exam.

As for me, I got a packet of food, 3 packets of stationaries, and 4 packets of bookmark/sweets... meaning I have 12 caramel and chocolate candies here! Glucose could be fattening, you know... -.-a

Once again I thank my dear friends, especially "kakak" Edo "yg baik", Tozzy, Yessica, Wenty, Maria, Cia, Itin, There, chief GL, and Clement. May your good deed and endeavor be fruitful in their time =)

God bless you all ^_^

Chorus Angelorum

Yesterday was very tiring, but I was a bit amused.

The NTU CAC (Cultural Activities Club - or whatever the name) Choir performed a concert on the day indicating the leap year, February 29 (which happened to be yesterday, as said in the beginning), called Viva Voce.

But, I wonder why?

I could only enjoy the first half of the show... really; I don't intend to offend the choir guys, but it was true. It might be due to the genre... I guess I was more interested in choral songs they presented at the beginning.

Anyway... it was quite an amusement to watch them sing; I really have to go out and watch more choral concerts =)

Fortunate Feat

This is something!

I was accepted as a GL! Wow, I was not less than surprised when I got the confirmation SMS! This is the time to show "what I am made of"... and this acceptance is a test of my capability as a group leader.

From what I've heard, all girls applying for GL are also accepted. It's quite evident because there would be 10 groups, while there were 10 girl applicants. Since one group can only have 2 GLs (a boy and a girl), well... no wonder the girls were all accepted. But, I tell you, the girls were not holding back at the audition! One of them cursed the chief GL with some "gue kutuk lo jadi bulu ketek" words (literally means... ahem, "I'll curse you to be armpit hair"), another sang Jablai and danced, and yet another broke a wooden spoon by smashing it hard to a frying pan! Too bad there were no (simulated) striptease performance... they said one of the previous girl GLs actually did that last year ^_^

Anyways... I am so glad and relieved. I hope I can do my best with my partner.

Btw, happy birthday Tere! Good luck for your endeavor here in NTU and God bless you always! Do not ever wake up late again, for the alarm clock we have given you "shrieks" very horrendously loudly. Hope it can help you.

Craziness of Plenty

Haaa... so tired... but the subcomm recruitment drive was one hell of fun!

Well, as I said before, I had to expose some craziness out of me in GL audition... but everybody seemed to say I wasn't performing optimally... huh, it's because this damned sore throat! >_<

I acted as if I had been pregnant (it was better that striptease, but later I found many friends of mine removing their shirts and shorts). I shouted loud, loud, loud, but I couldn't maintain the amplitude. My voice "died out"... ah, so sad! Why did it have to be defective at such a significant moment? Fortunately Stefanie, the chief GL, said that I had entertained them with excellent fervor.

Now I am pretty nervous. I had been willing to be a GL, but couldn't perform very well. My fate is in their hands; I can only wait for the result... it feels as though I were waiting for exam results... hahaha... ^_^

But overall the drive was very enjoyable. I also helped Gun and Cia in interviewing hall IC subcomm applicants. There were Tozzy and Edo as well, so I could have some interesting natter with them.

I'll be at canteen A again for the next stage of recruitment to observe more hilarity. See you all there! ^_^

Lights, Camera, Action!

I can't sleep! The images of GL audition keep haunting me.

I've tried to comfort myself, but to no avail. The main concern is that I would fail to entertain people, thus getting into a disadvantageous disposition and be rejected. Aaaa...

Well, I guess the only thing I gotta do now is to wait peacefully until the audition itself takes place. Hmm... who would have thought that acting with abnormal craze gives the actor himself stagefright? ^_^

P.S.: for you willing to take hall IC, yes, Cia and I (with Gun) will interview you. The recruitment will be together with GTD-X and T-Spray subcomm recruitment. See you there!

Not a Pseudo-Maincomm Anymore

Last Thursday I had an interview to apply as chief hall IC for T-Spray. It's my first time being a "real" maincomm (i.e. by having a subcomm help me), so I was kinda nervous.

It's like, well, when I was interviewed, there were all kinds of thoughts haunting me; I didn't like to be rejected, but on the other hand, a very heavy responsibility awaits me if I were to be accepted.

And, uhm, I was accepted. So now I am working with Cia to have these hall IC-related things done. I hope I can do my best without neglecting academic matters and the fact that I also take part in FOC and prom night as "pseudo-maincomm".

So! If you are interested in joining us in T-Spray, please come to can A, at water cooler, from 8 pm onwards for subcomm recruitment. You can also apply for GTD subcomm there, but you have to fill the online form prior to interview.

See you all, then. We want you!!! ^_^

P.S.: if you wanna apply for hall IC, you have to wait for 2 weeks from now, and the interview won't be done by Cia and I.