Back in.... (February only lah)

Somewhere along the line, I got too melancholy and began filling this blog with pensive muses and nonsensical quizzes. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with those. They do provide a break from the mundane nature of reading about what goes on in my daily life. But wait a minute, hold it right there. Wasn't that the purpose (or at least one of the main reasons, I still retain the rights to rant whenever I want, however I feel like XP) of this blog to begin with? So that my dear ones, no matter how near or far they are, can get a glimpse of how life is for me. What follow are pictures taken in York. It was sort of a daytrip for Ling and me. Just to get away from it away and spend some quality time together. You won't believe how popular that girl is. :P (Felt a sudden twinge of pain in my side there...premonition of something to come? hehe) Oh, here's something for you to gnaw on: In recent times, it has come to pass in our society that it's a bad thing to reminisce about the past. Popular culture deems it as holding onto the past and not looking towards the future. I, for one, am very fond of the nostalgia I feel while thinking of events past. Sitting here in my room, at 0440hrs, it's an excellent way to relax and unwind after a hectic day pounding at the laptop. (do NOT ask me about courseworks just about now. Very bad way to start a conversation.) Thinking back like this helps me re-enforce feelings I have for individuals in my life. It brings back good memories. What so wrong about thinking on them? The fact that I have had good times only spurs me to go on creating more memorable moments.

Alright alright, before I bore you all to sleep, here are the photos as promised :P


Back in feb... it was so cold compared to now! What to do while on the train to York? Sleep of couse! :P Such a pig...

Dreamy eyes ...

All recharged to take on York!



Every little town in UK has a War Memorial. Poppy flowers are traditionally laid out in memory of those who have fallen. It really states how much the War was a real facet of their lives and is still remembered till today. How many can say the same in Singapore? It's a cliche, but do we dare to take our peace for granted?

She: "So cute~~!!" Me:"I wonder how it tastes..." I so deserve to be smacked :P



Choot Choot!!!





3 guesses to which building this Minister Building reminds me of. Clue: It's in a neighbouring country





York was very nice to just walk about and take in the sights. One of the best things about it would be the old fashioned shophouses you see here. You just hop from shop to shop, gazing in the quaint windows till something catches your eye. Window shopping at its enjoyable best. :)

One of the many interesting shops we saw in York.

Another selling point of York: The various tea houses just sort of sprinkled hapazardly around the city centre. Here at The Earl Grey we settled down for lunch. Pity we didn't try the scones, but the tea was fabulous (sorry for the lack of a photo) and the fare good too!

Welsh Rarebit. (For Pete's sake, no I didn't eat a rabbit!)

Ling had some Banger' n Mash. Notice how she's eating so quickly that the camera couldn't keep up? :P

Why so perturbed? Read on...



Up next, Clifford's Tower!











Scaling the steps of Clifford's Tower

The Windy Summit

Viewing the sunset from uptop

York also has some of the best maintained stone walls along the edge of the city. I think they date from medevial times where castles, fords, forts were used.







That's all! Now get your bum on that train.

I forsee...

That these 3 fruit are going to be the staples for my meals this week. For some reason, none of us felt the imeptus to do any grocery shopping this week. (Financial pits can do that to you too) So, dear plum is going to plump up my lunches. Tangy orange will spruce up my snacks and give me that zing to last the day. Sandy apple is a dear to fill up the spaces left over.

On a different note. Pray for me and wish me the best. I will be having my University Basketball League Finals tomorrow night, 9pm UK time. This will be the match that decides if our team, the young and upstart Rojak, gets to dethrone 3 times defending champions Medics (obviously they are all medcine students). Like one of my friend says, it's there for the taking.

Call me Takumi!!!

My japanese name is:

井上 Inoue (upon a well) 拓海 Takumi (open sea).

Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

I kind of think this name is so me. As with all things, even my name is contradictory and a testament to oxymorons. :)

Spider Web

mood: calm before the storm
music: Black Eyed Peas - Shut Up

For someone who was recently witness to a friend's car going into a major skid and spin on UK's motorway, this video somehow struck a chord with me. I am not normally a fan of Simple Plan, but the circumstances and feelings involved managed to contrive a sense of understanding and connection. Being one who drives very regularly back in Singapore might be another factor. You all know what I mean (ESPECIALLY ROGER LOW) don't drink and drive!

the video

The video brought a very valid point to mind. Are our lives really just our own to live? Everything and everyone is interconnected somehow. Each little action or non-action on our part has a cause and effect on some other external situation or person. Sort of like something along the scale of a mental or emotional earthquake occurring when you make a monumental decision and the effects of those decisions are felt more keenly the more someone else is closer to the epic centre (namely you). As with all things in life, I believe that the "best in moderation" policy applies here as well. The balance between being apathetic to those around you and overly-sensitive is a tight rope we all learn to walk in the lives we lead. It's just a case of how proficient you are at maintaining that balance. :)

So, how close are you to the core of my web do you think you are/should be? Are our lives as inter-related as you think they are? Do you have a pull over me and vice versa? Questions, I have a few. Answers, I await from you...

I don't know

Is it just me.. or does it seem like she's drifting away?

Been getting mixed comments. That I have lost weight as well as put on weight within the last week. What do you think? You be the judge

 

Drones

Ever felt like you're the one on the chair above?

Prone to freezing.

With this kind of weather, is it any wonder I would feel miserably cold here in my room?

Silly SAM

just something silly and amusing that came up while chatting with Alec on msn.


"i am sam
like the ham
i don't like spam
they make my mailbox a real jam

i am sam
like the dam
i really like taking the tram
they go much faster than a pram"

I Walk Alone, I Walk Alone

mood: Pensive
music: Greenday - Boulevard of Broken Dreams


Fluttering snowflakes, deafening silence. Solitary footprints of mine in the snow. The midnight hour creeps up as I trek home - a lone figure cutting through the icy lanes.

I look back and see the steps I've taken to reach where I am now. Slips I've had a few. Mis-steps aplenty. Chargrin at my old self is what I feel. Footsteps begin anew with firmness. It's good to be able to walk on with surety. Feels good to move forward.

"Where the city sleeps
 And I'm the only one and I walk alone"

Hoover my Hover!

For those of you who have me on msn, you would have know how it's EBL week just ended for me. Here are some pics from the process of building this hovercraft and all. Quite a fulfilling week as we managed to finish everything in time and as lady luck would have it, we managed to clear ALL the obstacles (only 2 out of 10 teams managed that) and even came in first for time taken to navigate the race course! I will be trying to upload some videos too of race-cum-testing day, but they aren't of very good quality. Anyway, here's the mess!

at first.. everything looked nice and tidy... just a fan and its wires on the foam board we've cut out


Happily testing the fan for its power input to thrust ratio...

along with the circuit board we would be using for radio control of the hovercraft

THEN... we began building the dreaded SKIRT

argh..

taping everything down...

naming it..

TADA!!!

these two obstacles - a ramp and a series of bumps - will be the killers of the race course. I expect (correctly) that the bumps will separate the winners from the rest.

View of the racecourse

some other team must really love their hover craft....

Gentlemen.... start your engines!



Alright.. here are the videos that I've mentioned. Let me know if the links work for you guys :)

Video 1 (test drive)
Video 2 (race run 1)
Video 3 (race run 2)

Caught in the act!

The only people awake would be Milla beside me and the one taking this pic.

From "Prozac Nation"

"There's nothing I hate more

than nothing

Nothing keeps me up at night
I toss and turn over nothing
Nothing could cause a great

big fight "

EDDIE BRICKELL
"Nothing"

Insomnia

in·som·ni·a (n-smn-)
n.

Chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.


It's 0402hrs now.

So many random thoughts. So much to ponder about.

Fingers frozen at keyboard. Eyeballs fried by screen. Brain liquified by information cramming. Senses dulled by fatigue. Nerves frayed by stress. Temples throbbing to incessant pulse of heartbeat.

Yet one thought dashes them all aside make things all bearable again: "you're strange and you're beautiful"

I wonder, do you realise how much you have come to mean to me?

DO IT!!!

Quick!!! Go to this interesting link and contribute to building up a grid of my personality! Please leave your name...

http://kevan.org/johari?name=Sam%20Png

Arena (known to self and others) accepting, caring, giving, independent, mature	Blind Spot (known only to others) able, adaptable, bold, calm, cheerful, complex, confident, dependable, energetic, friendly, helpful, idealistic, intelligent, kind, knowledgable, logical, loving, modest, observant, organised, quiet, reflective, relaxed, religious, responsive, searching, self-assertive, self-conscious, sensible, sentimental, shy, spontaneous, trustworthy, warm, wise
Façade (known only to self) witty	Unknown (known to nobody) brave, clever, dignified, extroverted, happy, ingenious, introverted, nervous, patient, powerful, proud, silly, sympathetic, tense

All Percentages

able (17%) accepting (4%) adaptable (4%) bold (4%) brave (0%) calm (30%) caring (8%) cheerful (13%) clever (0%) complex (4%) confident (21%) dependable (39%) dignified (0%) energetic (4%) extroverted (0%) friendly (26%) giving (4%) happy (0%) helpful (4%) idealistic (4%) independent (30%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (13%) introverted (0%) kind (8%) knowledgable (17%) logical (13%) loving (4%) mature (39%) modest (13%) nervous (0%) observant (13%) organised (21%) patient (0%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (4%) reflective (13%) relaxed (4%) religious (4%) responsive (4%) searching (4%) self-assertive (4%) self-conscious (4%) sensible (34%) sentimental (39%) shy (4%) silly (0%) spontaneous (8%) sympathetic (0%) tense (0%) trustworthy (47%) warm (21%) wise (8%) witty (0%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 17.2.2006, using data from 23 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view Sam Png's full data.

Fly

" I was an astronaut who was going to fly so, so far beyond the moon, so far beyond the whole wide world.
But then I never had to worry about a crash landing because I never even took off. "