It feels ironic that I am supposed to be more open minded than I used to be. To be able to listen to what others say with a more open mind and accept ideas that are different but may be useful. However I still feel uneasy because I always have this visualisation of how people react to that word.

I don’t know why, but personally I will be very impressed when someone is a dean’s lister. However, there is this “fear” of people having the negative perception of dean’s lister. As if people will think dean’s list students are weirdos who keep studying, say weird things like geek stuff all the time, and don’t really do anything else much. Stereotypical, yes, but it’s inside.

I think I think too much.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Yesterday was the 2nd time I did something I wouldn’t have done if it was the old me. I went out with Yap Heng’s friends. Meaning people I don’t really know or haven’t met before. It was the second time that I went to the Minds Cafe, but I think the second time was much more fun. There were more people and they are all fun to be with.

For this week I made many new friends, all from chem engine in my year. I met Bee Hui and Amanda for badminton on Monday (together with Yap Heng) and then yesterday at Minds Cafe, I met Wendy, Melissa and Lydia. Amanda came too and she couldn’t recognise me. Said I look kiddish on Monday, which I agree. Gel is such a wonderful thing to have when you cut your hair short.

Minds was really fun. It’s a good time to bond, although there wouldn’t have been much conversation other than occasional poking fun at each other and laughing out loud. How we all got forgetful after needing to memorise more than 7 actions; sleazy Amanda (super unforgettable); Lydia who seemed to be a miner at times and a saboteur at other times; Wendy and Amanda the 3 times saboteur (in the same team) out of 4 times we played that game.

It feels good, like one is young again (like 23 is that old..lol) when we go out with friends or make new friends and laugh and have fun. I’m really glad Yap Heng tried to widen my social circle. My social circle in uni is really too small, and everyone seemed to not really bother. It feels like you’re in the middle of separation. lol.

I think I would like to go out with them again. The bunch of chem engineers seemed more fun than EE people. Haha.

Popularity: 1% [?]

It’s 5.07pm. My lesson is at 6.30pm. I know it’s early, but I happen to have nothing much to do around Orchard, so I’m sitting inside one of the empty classrooms using the wireless@sg that they have. I have been quite “productive” for the past few days, spending most of my time working on the new site, as well as continuing to read up on books regarding finance.

I just have a little bit more to go before all the links in the site will work, and then I can just continue to add information to make the site rich in content. My holidays does indeed seem fruitful. By the end of the holidays, I hope to be more knowledgeable than most of my peers in investments and insurance.

There is a quote that I saw yesterday which I liked very much. It goes like this:

The best time to plant your tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

So if there’s anything you want to do, do it now. Don’t wait because the next best time is now.

Popularity: 1% [?]

It isn’t everyday that you hear stories like this. A young girl that got cancer, and needs the funds to go for treatment. The amount is jaw dropping. A whole USD$350,000. That’s a huge sum of money. It is about half a million dollars. Tell me, whoever has that much cash stored to meet up with this sort of crisis?

Now I’m sure you all know that I’ve been learning about insurance for the past few months. And after learning and thinking about my ownself, I have only thought about getting $200,000 for such critical illnesses. And I’m sure that most Singaporeans who have the standard mentality that insurance is a scam, or that agents are cheaters will have less than that amount. It is almost definite that when such an event happens, very few people in Singapore would be covered enough to absorb such fees.

Hence what I am trying to say that this is a very big sum of money, above what I would expect to pay if I had critical illnesses myself. I am really stunned by the amount. Nobody would be able to cope with such fees unless you happen to be rich already. Furthermore, it seems that USD$350,000 is only a deposit. The horrors!

Anyway, I think that we could all afford to not spend a little money this month, and help to contribute to the fund raising. You can donate money or you can help in other means. For the homepage: click.

Sometimes when one gives, one receives more. Let’s start today.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I had a long awaited outing with my JC friends today. Some of them had been thinking about going for the New York New York challenge, which involves finishing up an 8 inch burger surrounded by large sized fries. If you manage to finish the challenge, the dish is free. It costs $32.90 if my memory did not fail me. We had been postponing this outing for ages because some friends are busy with their own stuff, and it was really very hard to get all of them to commit to a single timing.

Thankfully we did manage to settle on a timing just a few days before, and so after “work” today at noon, I went down to City Hall to meet them. We settled down in New York New York, and I had a prime location. I was facing the traffic flow out of the restaurant, and I can see who walked past. Needless to say the scenery was pleasant.

The New York New York challenge came with conditions, though. There was a time limit of 1 hour, and nobody is allowed to help eat (DUH). But if one manages to finish the challenge, an extra free drink of his choice is thrown in.

Jiahao decided to take up the challenge whilst Dominic and I opted for a normal main course. Zong Yao and Waikit decided to wait and see how large the portions are before they commit themselves. When Jiahao’s large dish appeared, it looked very sick. Sick as in it’s HUGE. In the end the both of them decided not to take the challenge, and changed their dish to a meat platter for 2.

Even Jiahao, who is the biggest and fastest eater in our clique, didn’t finish the meal within the time stipulated. In fact, we left a huge wad of fries there when we left. The fries had became stale after the long duration, and the whole dish was so oily that Jiahao grew sick of eating it. Therefore our challenge had failed.

It was fun though, and enjoyable. It was good to meet up with them after so long, even though we talk everyday on MSN.

Popularity: 1% [?]