TAMRON LENSES ROCKS!

50mm. That's the power! Muahahahaha! Photos are raw and not editted or cropped. =D

Fun Fact!

The wild deers in Nara bow to you before allowing you to feed them. OMG! Even wild animals have manners down here. Humans are indeed worst than animals.

I miss home, though there is no one to miss... LOL!

SIGOE!

All is white.

The colour of the entire city is pure white.

My first snow man made.

In the small town of Obuse,

known for producing chestnut related products,

lies nothing special but chestnuts.

Populated mostly by farmers, everything is simplistic here. Down to the very retro charcoal heater for warming our room.

In a corner of the town hangs a sign that makes no sense to foreigners. But the kanji written word can easily be recognised as a native chinese's handwriting.

The restaurant only have 2 tables and 8 chairs in total with gleeful Christmas decorations and a pot that is over boiled, producing steam that humidify the air.

Cold and Shivering we walked entered the cosy restaurant. There were only 3 food on the menu, all of which are Chinese cuisine " 玛保豆腐", "猪肉片" and "肉卷包".

The shop was attended by a young girl which was my age, all of us were impressed by how fluent she could speak Chinese, especially in this native land. What was more impressive was that she tended the shop alone.

We came to realize that her grand parents were migrants from China, just like most present Singaporeans which includes me, she was born and grew up in Japan though. She don't look like a chinese at all.

Although her pronunciation was accurate but her grammar used were completely that of the Japanese language. Like for example, where we say that every shop is different, in chinese we would say "每间店都不同". Instead she said it as "店店不同".

She wrote "顺坂" on a piece of paper which was a name of a city that she intro us to spent Christmas at. That hand writing looked as if it was written by a preschooler, with the "顺" drawn half the palm size and the "坂" so small. She was went to study in China for a year after graduating from high school in Fu Zhou.

For someone of the same age, she was already opening her own restaurant, managing her own life and earning her own living. Don't you feel useless?

I hope young adults in Singapore knows how fortunate they are..

She really inspires me.

The gigantic green tea MOCHI!

Golden yellow leaves staggers down,

like a swindler which lands at places which the wind hales it to.

Leaving golden rays of light,

shining star bring on these naked life.

Tiny flurries sprinkling down,

confetti that showers it

with white washing pure water

cleaning away all dirt of life.

The blend of white and brown,

this is what human call..

"winter"

It started snowing today..

Konichi-wa!!!

Orgenkideska? How are you kawaii people? This is a fantastic place filled kawaii boys and girls. It also explains why Japan's cosmetic industry is so prosperous. All of them put on thick eye-liner, nail paints and their hair all blown up. I think this place really suits you DOM! (^_^) The weather provides free gel for your hard, the water literally hardens and becomes a strong holding natural hair gel. Now I know why all of them leaves such long hair. It's because of the freezing weather. My ears feel like dropping off these few days...

All the Tokyo people are so facepaced. Walking amongst them made me felt like a turtle. Laying back in a restaurant to relax is definitely not a typical triad amongst them. Most of them have 2 to 4 jobs which explains why they're known as the most stressful country in the world. If you ever had the chance to observe their facial expressions in a subway, none of them smiles and instead all of them look as if they are overworked. But if you approach them to ask for directions, it's hard not to be amazed by the beauty of their smiles, like one that could bring a million of problems away.

One interesting fact that Japan's trains are different from Singapore's, they allow eating and drinking on trains but talking on mobile phones are prohibited.

That just reflects how packed their schedules and how hectic their lifestyles, grabbing every opportunity for resting and feeding.

Lifestyle aside, we all know how morally groomed Japanese are. They are very honest people. When I paid at 10,000 Yen bill for a 1,000 Yen service, the service staff actually chased 400m (approx?) for me, like a sprinting race where he was panting after he found me. When I left my bag on the highway bus today, the driver actually left the bag (unopened with belongings completely intact) at the ticketing counter. It's something I truly respects! Unlike back in Singapore where I'm still having a fuss on who found my GC without returning to the GO.

The transport here are extremely EX!! On average by far, we spent $30 daily per person on transportation alone and we didn't even touched any taxi. It's all trains only and it cost about $3 for a 2 station trip which is only 5 minutes. Ex eh?

Disneyland was nothing like anything I've every seen. I must come back one day again with friends or spouse when I grow up. Anything is fun with friends around =).

It'll be -7 degrees tmr. I hope I can still keep my nose!

Hello Diary,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas don't be late - alvin and the chipmunks

Before I leave, here's the greatest festive holiday of this year! Rejoice and celebrate the birth of Christ, showering all the other with love and peace. Merry X'mas everyone!

Change
With this long get away, I am going to change myself. I need this total change to be back to who I once was. Not this cocky, strong headed and stubborn guy I'm seeing now. Promise to change when I return.

I've been a good boy this year. So if Santa can grant me a list of wishes this Christmas, here's what I would wish for-

• auntie Irene to be healthy once again
• for sis and boy boy to get married (soon) - so i can receive ang bao during new year.
• for enemies that I've made to be friends
• no politics in this world (I know it's impossible)
• decent A level results
• For me to get over this enduring crush

The adult world

I felt a little office politics on my first temp job since the start of the holidays. I once heard that whenever there's people, there are bound to be politics. They are really ugly and nasty. If I had a choice, I would never want to work in an organization that have so much politics again. They scrutinized your dignity and generates fear within you to let you engulf in a slow pain that kills your confidence and self-esteem.

The adult world is indeed scary and full of unexpected scenarios. Politics, please stay further away from me.

Till then, have a great Christmas people.

I'll be back as a changed person. I need time to collect all my thoughts for now.

Sayonara!

I've been constantly haunt by what happened that day.

I feel empty without my classmates and I really need them.

Sometimes, probably you can't have the best of both world.

Sometimes, things just happen and it can't be clearly comprehended.

Sometimes, people just chose to hold on to those grudges and a single sentence you clearly did not intend to say.

Maybe it's because I over reacted then but that's what happens when a person completely lost the trust of another. Isn't it?

People are not born perfect and instead they are broken in certain ways,

they aren't simple problems that can be solved within a day or two.

If they can be fixed with a few words, then there won't be having so many wars and conflicts in this world we lived in today.

Everything have turned really complicated and I felt kept in the dark. As if everyone is against me. No one really bothers updating me. Probably afraid of getting themselves into a deeper trouble.

I'm really missing my class but guess it couldn't be help. I should learn to be independent of them and take all these things that have happened with a pinch of salt.

I don't see things resolving and it may stay like this forever. Good bye 08S401. =(

PROM.

VLG. Live the glamorous life.

I'm seeing lots of pretty girls and handsome dude last night. Sufficient to pop my eyes out of their place. Everyone looked different in their own unique ways and this night is definitely the suitable night for those eyes to get diabetes. (Over dose of candies.)

It turn didn't turned out as I would expect it to be- dull boring and probably being ostracised by my class. They were like they were on drugs and was absolutely HIGH. So happy for Ric, Jere and Myself. Come on, at least let me indulge in that happiness for the last time even if it was only a photo. ^_^ *Awwww*. We were on wings later that morning, it's like dreams coming true! But yeah, ironically, it was the end. Hehe.

ZY was a the nominee for the KING also known as P.King reject. HAHA! But it was fun when you've a friend up on that stage. He looked like a korean superstar, don't you agree? For those who knew, all of us went "OH NO!" when he had to strip something, cause obviously he will have to exposed those well hidden singlets. Anyway, not trying to be gay here but he was very handsome that night.

Photos are at Facebook. You can email me if you want the original copies cause the uploaded photos are usually reduced resolution.

Will be away in 3 days and returning on Jan. No Christmas in SG again. Sian.

Still in the heavenly mood.. This music brings it further. *BLEH*

梁山伯与茱丽叶

我爱你 你是我的茱丽叶 我愿意变成你的梁山伯
幸福的每一天 浪漫的每一夜
把爱 永远 不放开 I LOVE YOU
我爱你 你是我的罗蜜欧 我愿意变成你的祝英台
幸福的每一天 浪漫的每一夜
美丽的爱情祝福著未来

The class.

I don't know why am I in this mess. May be it's because of my busy bodiness trying to sound out to people their problems. Should have just kept quite and not be bother by other people's problems.

Cramp and 25 degree sun burn are all over my body! Training is sure fun, especially when the long awaited paddling with CY finally comes. It's been a year since we last paddled together and I know every time I feel like giving up then, the memories of paddling with him pushed me on.

I managed to find myself back at those training, it's like this lost feeling that detached from me many months ago. By finding that self, I can finally go into a deep sleep without waking up in the middle of the night. The fatigue makes me sleep better and I won't mind if every night I had fatigue, it feels like an addictive drug. It was lovely to see mac ritchie, coach, teammates and everyone else there again. Even the facilities were much much much more luxurious than what we had for 2 years.

Anyway, I've been watch LOTS and LOTS of drama lately, all of them are Japanese ones of course. Can you spot a similarity in the dramas that I've watched? Bet you can't. Haha.

BOSS

Ryusei no Kizuna

Liar Game

Code Blue

Hello people!

Sorry about the previous post, my friend was playing a prank as I left my account un-logged off at his com.

A levels

So, the best news is A levels is finally over yet does anyone you leave any ouch of regret? I do. Doesn't that fear of not getting an A grade haunt you? I'm uncertain about getting A for maths and physics. Neither am I confident of passing Econs nor GP. The only subject which I'm sure of is .. CHEM which is only a H1 subject. Put it all aside and will cope with it again come next February. I've done my best in all subjects and there's not regrets left. At the very least, I know all the mistakes made are all out of my ability to salvage.

The Friends

We celebrated the long passed jun an and jere's birthday today. Although that stupid jere pang seh us despite numerous calls and all the planning, the morning was really a hilarious one. It's like childhood to me. Monkey, water polo and CROCODILE (bet you never heard that before). Left4Dead2 is awesome man, nothing beats this teamwork game. Zy lost his voice after the game and you could imagine that excitement that we had. Training tomorrow. ^_^. FINALLY.

The Class

It's the last day of school and everyone should be looking happy and chirpy, isn't it? But I was feeling this gloomy atmosphere over my class. It's this dumb conflict that's happening. It is definitely tearing the whole class apart, ironically, on the last day of school. Is there a sin that is so hard to be forgiven? Even terrorist are being prayed for in a church, what's so detrimental that everyone have to put up this facade against one another? Well, I may not have the complete picture of what's going around here but please please please forgive one another, no matter how hard it is to. It's only better for both you and people around you.

I can't bare to see everyone so torn apart. Brought a camera for cam whoring with you guys but everyone just head home or split into their groups after Physics paper.Just to let you know, no matter how apart you guys are. All of you are still one within me. I love the 08S401 that I am in for the past 2 years and it will always remain that way. You guys have my love forever.

Others

I'm going to work real soon!

Blog closed.

OMG. Look at my horrible GP! It really gives me a fright. Hopefully the A level marker will be more kind and gracious. I would just like to have a E for Gp pls... =(

This blog officially do not belongs to alvin quek anymore. It's Sook Ching blogging here.

It was a terrible morning for me.

I was asking if I could go on a trip with the canoeist at Genting next week.

Well, they could have just said no or something. But instead they utter something nasty which made me real mad.

They said we are all gays, same bags, stick to each another like glues and each don't even have any girlfriend. My parents even asked if I was still straight. What's their problem? I don't really care how others look at the way we behave and there isn't anything wrong about being so close, though being guys. There's nothing wrong about buying a team bag, there's nothing wrong about going out everyday or study everyday together isn't it? I like it that way and if they have a problem, so be it.

They hit the jackpot of my vital points that's why I was darn mad. They were rubbing salt on those wound. I'm not going to talk to them for a long long time. >=(

Status quo or not. To regret or not to.

A strong feeling towards something or someone, how would you deal with it?

Sometimes destiny seemed to be so coincidental that it questions if you would regret not trying.

Stories of falling out. Hearing them, we had learnt never to fall in too fast or too deep, to take a step back and wonder if things were the way they really are.

An open wound that was cut or hurt takes time to heal. It also inject a kind of fear in the patient which has a lasting effect.

Today's talk made me think a lot =). How all of us fell out of it. But we'll always continue to love, that heart we all have is strong and ready to give out love whenever it is needed. Being rejected or dejected just means our love is not needed and there's always other people who need it elsewhere. I found similarity about the love we gave others. <3

Time together isn't ever quite enough
When you and I are alone, I’ve never felt so at home
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
We need time, only time
When we’re apart whatever are you thinking of?
If this is what I call home, why does it feel so alone?
So tell me darling, do you wish we’d fall in love?
All the time, all the time

This what I call life! Movie, soccer and buffet in one day C=
I was excited of going out for the first time in 2 months or so. I frantically ran in and out of house with a soccer ball. Cant contain the excitement!! More to come tomorrow. Hehe.

ECONOMICS.

I decided to dedicate this post to the 2 years of terrible economics experience I had. Posting all of it here will officially mark the end of this terrible journey of learning Econs.

It started with the first ever econs test I had in Mj. Out of 25, I scored 3. The lowest in my class and probably the whole of mj. That marked the very beginning of my poor devastating life I had because of taking econs. From then on all the grades I received were Us, Ss and Es. None of them exceeded an E while majority of them are Us. Wow? So I was desperate at the start of J2 and took on tuition; constantly ask around for good econs tuition. A major schedule of my study plans are dedicated to econs. But unfortunately, it still remains my weakest subject that is always in the "liquidity trap" of scoring Us.

Econs had totally sucked the soul out of me. When the examiner said "pens down" during paper 2, I was shocked and jumped out of my seat. My heart stopped for that moment and it was really embarrassing cause the examiners and the candidate around me noticed it. The jump made my chair and table shake violently +_+. Good thing that I was seated at the last row of the hall that not many people took notice. The paper was that scary for me.

I woke up 3 am last night with a nightmare that I was seeing 4 grade on my A level cert (1 of them was the missing U from Econs), with sweat and the feverish feeling.

But it'll be one of the subjects that I will be most proud of (together with GP) when I received my cert, even if it's only a U. I know the amount of soul I've sold in exchange for econ's knowledge is tremendous.

Econs had officially shorten my life by 10 years.

Good bye and I'll never see you again. Even if I did well, good bye. We will never see each another again even if it is the worst case scenario, I will ignore you forever econs.

Fairy tales don't exist. Get over it, just walk on and everything will be fine, great and happy beginning ahead. People should move on and not lament in the stubbornness they possess. High school life is coming to an end and all those believes of destiny, fate should just ends here. Taking it further might just be pointless.

How sure are you that the crush is the person that you're looking for? Sometimes, people just don't appear to be whom they really are, it's all illusionary. Fake and imposed onto your mind in the form of a temporary sensation. Just have to imagine that person with low voice, ugly looks, smelly odour, bad habits (dig nose), unhygienic (dont bath) and surprisingly, the feeling will just go with the wind.

Happy memories are a page of the diary where we all laugh and smirk because of all the tiny bits of reminiscence, or rather.. the dumb characters we possess. So yup. ARMORY! Let's move on together.

(I know you will read this soon).

I'm being less dreamy these days liao, come to our senses! This is reality! The truth that we should not be bluffing ourselves of. Haha.

It's all coming to end... soon.

Finally, econs had ended and it felt like a total relief for A levels. The worst has finally ended.

But there's more to expect ahead. Those 3 last paper will define the A grade.

Does this mean that we are going to be adults real soon? The real world, the adult stuffs? Good bye college, uniforms and classrooms? I can't wait for that. But at the same time.. all of you will be missed X). I really appreciate all the friends I know in the school, although we may have not met eye to eye or talked, all of you are already adding colours to my life in MJ. Thank you so so much! I really do love college life, apart from the mugging involved.

Before everything ends, please tag a farewell message in this blog! Add me on F.Book, even if you are some random dude, it'll accept as long as your from mj =P. I dont want to regret for not knowing more friends. =D

I'm just feeling so high after the end of econs, it spells complete liberty for me. Freedom for ETERNITY! Wahahaha!

2 down and 3 more to go.

One heavy load of GP is off my mind now but the biggest problem has yet to come. ECONS.

The creepy thing is that I have only passed econs once in my entire life at Mj.

It's amazing..

Though how much practise that a person had, though how much papers that were done and how much repeated revisions a person had. It's still down to that few careless mistakes and same few mistakes that are so fatal.

May be a perfectionist isn't something I should call myself. I get over demoralised when I could not attain full marks or commit a stupid mistake over something trivial. Much have been done and all I need is that tiny confidence.

Although I'm still failing Econs. Although there are still persistent carelessness for Maths. Although my AQs are still not up to standards. I'm going into that exam hall and NOTHING is going to stop me!

NOTHING!

Oh man, I know I really shouldn't be blogging now as blogging language deteriorates my language, which will be needed for GP. But yeah, for the sake of sharing this, which I am really am eager to share, it would be worth it.

I just watched 500 days of Summer over dinner on my laptop, sort of a quick chill out session for myself and to slack for the day- tempted by my sister who gave me 5 star recommendation.

This movie goes out to anyone and everyone who thought so much about destiny and love. Trusting fate to the fullest that one day your destined will come. Obsessed whenever you caught a glimpse of your 'legendary' crush, a person whom you have waiting for ages or someone whom you think fits you best. In reality, that may just be a sensational feeling that a person feels while looking him/her and may not necessarily be the best partners to be. (I guess). Got to admit that I once held on to a crush for 5 dumb years and it ain't worth it =).

Every time a broken heart comes into picture, the phrase "there are many other fishes out in the sea" comes shortly. For the heart broken or the person being dump, indeed, this phrase is POWERFUL. Don't underestimate it!

=D.

18 DAYS

Hi!

I'm here for a quick post, sort of a shout out before I give in the last burst.

There are many instances when people don't trust in their own ability that restricted themselves from becoming who they really are. Much of what you could have done had already been done. These few months have been a torture and it also conformed all of us into living the same lifestyle - the mugging lifestyle. Much as I am hating it, it have a tremendous influence on my life as well as people around me. Families are compromising to sleeping time, the number of tuitions are beginning to increase and there are almost no time for any form of entertainment.

So much have been done while many sacrifices have been made, the last of which is to believe in yourself and have faith.

Believing in yourself is important!

PIA to the end!

When I returned from school, I dropped at the bus stop and stoned " What happened to my house?!"

At the very end, half of the entire roof was ripped by the flames and the flames were as tall as the building itself.

50m away from where I stay lies a wild flame, what could have been more thrilling?

This is so cool!

Pray that no one was injured..

Read More

I was reading this book and this page is particularly meaningful to me.

Can we ever find the perfect woman? The truth is..

The pretty one cannot cook

The good cook is not gentle

The gentle has no personal view

The opined is not feminine

The feminine spends too much

The thrifty is not fashionable

The fashionable is not reliable

The reliable is not pretty,

and the pretty one..

Can we ever find the perfect man? The truth is..

The clever one is ugly

The handsome is poor

The rich is irresponsible

The responsible is useless

The useful is not romantic

The romantic is not reliable

The reliable is stupid

and the clever one..

Accept one another's imperfections and there will be love.

Written by Dr Henry Siew.

Going to be away for a long time.

My languages have been really atrocious, that's probably the limit to my ability. Writing more, reading more or blogging makes no difference to it. May be I shouldn't "infuriate" the readers any more, just like what the marker commented on my essay.

I know I always wanted to stop blogging but my itchy fingers just wanted to type out something while I'm online. This time, it's for real. I going to learn the proper English and hopefully get a minimum D for GP. It's quite a challenge for the mandarin speaking me, although my Chinese didnt score really well either. I'm sure not to choose any language related subject if I do get into a decent U.

To round it all up, the year of 2009 have great with knowing many new friends on competition as well in classrooms. The head start was smooth but the ending is rather rough, especially when the number of days down to 'A's are numbered. Finally, I am able to settle down to realize that I have been in my own wonderland in the past months. Not knowing how important A levels are and consistently try to keep myself away from stress just keeps me in the status quo mode. I do not chant for luck, instead my glimmer of hope will come from the hardwork that I will be putting in.

Good luck to all. Till then =).

38 days.

A BIG FAT U for GP.

How bad can that be? The first time that I failed GP and it have to happen during prelims. I need to overcome this weakness in language quick!

There are often a meaning hidden behind every move, an objective that needs to be accomplished. Just like how economics resolves war by fostering bilateral dependecy between country and probably only a small majority would be the likes of mother theresa - loving without expecting.

Have you loved something so much yet neglected the true meaning of that love?

I always played sports because I'm obliged to, ran for the sake of running, paddle for the sake of winning for the team, but only until today that I realized that sports.. is more than that.

That speech by the guest of honour was really interesting and realistic at the same time - is factual a better word used? Yeah, I didn't knew the purpose of sports was erected on the principles of building/revealing characters, resolving wars, celebrating humanity and promoting mutual respect between each another. No wonder why sometimes i find sporty guys and girls more attractive, haha (a little bias here). Like a religion, just without a god, that creates better lives for everyone. It successfully prevented war and relieved many human disaster from taking part, since the very first hitlar days.

Was quite awed that something I really loved was actually much more than what it always appears to be.

I'm only going to love it even more.

Celebrate humanity =).

My teacher wrote this and i thought it sounds cool.

"Light travels faster than sound, that's why some students appear to be bright until they start to speak".

and that appears to be.. __. (T_T)

PES B.

=(

God is fair.

Confidence and courage.

I'm addicted to maths and allergic to econs.

Once I started on maths, i can spend 6 continuous hours on it and while i couldnt even settle on a 6 minute case study question.

Because little becomes much when you place it on the master's hand.

I havent been myself lately and losing focus isn't going to be an option.

It's finally here =)

Hello new blog! I just shifted from http://itquacks.blogspot.com/. Sounds weird but this is rather not weird. HAHA.