Well it’s the first day of school today and I finally gotten my last module. Why so late? Because to get the sixth module, we have to bid from round 3 onwards, and round 3 starts today. It’s due to a new NUS policy where they try to make it easier for people to get all 5 modules first before allowing the rest of us who want a sixth module to try.

I’m not being a sick mugger when I took this sixth module, but I absolutely have to clear it for my minor requirements. Since the department of ECE decides that we have to take 2 business modules, it has lead me to need to overload 3 semesters so that I can do my IA and clear my minor altogether within 8 normal semesters.

Hence here is the breakdown:
EE2004 - 1 point
EE2005 - 1 point
EE2011 - 1 point
All these three above are preallocated.
MKT1003 - 1 point
GEK1520 - 600 point from G account
MA2216 - 1 point

There you go. 605 points spent this semester.

Tutorial balloting also starts today. I managed to get my desired tutorial slots for GEK1520, EE2004 and EE2011. EE2005 I didn’t get because everyone chose the same slots. Why? Because the other EE2005 tutorial slots clash with the other preallocated module’s lectures. Totally stupid. No one from the same group as me would be able to attend the other tutorials. Dumb right?

So I shall do something tomorrow, maybe appeal. Then I will wait till round two before I ballot for my MKT1003 and MA2216 tutorials, of which both I hope to get my desired slots.

Got to pray then!

Friends are an integral part of your lives, and they accompany you through life. Some friends stick with you as you change schools, some don’t. Some friends are closer, some are not. Some remember your birthdays and will wish you happy birthday, either through an sms, or by writing on your wall in Facebook, or even saying it on MSN.

Some friends celebrate your birthday together, some don’t. Some will make a party all just for you, some will just have a simple meal. Who is to say what is right? For as long as they remember, we’re all happy about it. A simple meal has its pleasures, a party has its advantages.

Having friends is a happy thing. They talk to you when you are alone, accompany you on that long train ride home. They laugh at your jokes even when it is not exactly funny, and the best thing is, they are there when you need them to be, or at least I hope I can do that.

Sometimes having a large group of friends is fine, sometimes it is not. A smaller close knit group is great when everyone is as close to each other, but let’s not deceive ourselves because it’s not true. Most likely, even within a small group of friends, you have friends that are closer to some people, and that is a universal concept that is not to be changed.

What we can just do for all of our friends is to make them enjoy being with everyone of us. Keep them in the loop of what’s happening, get them out for outings. Each other’s birthdays. Make a point to eat lunch or dinner together occasionally. Study together when you have the time even when the modules are different. Take the same modules together and have fun.

I guess that’s what friends are about. Just spending occasional time together. Because I’m an electrical engineer, I like it when charges stick to electrically charged plates. I’m the plate, and friends are the charges. Talk to me and I promise I’ll be the best friend I could ever be. After all, what matters to me in university is to have friends to finish the 4 years together with me. Isn’t it?

Actually sometimes you just feel that you’re totally lousy. I don’t know why but I just dislike and find it difficult to approach people I don’t know well. In a sense it’s not very healthy. It’s like sometimes it’s just a simple thing to do, but you delay doing it and even hope you need not do it because you are just simply too shy or embarrassed to say something?

Today my friend asked me to help do something but I didn’t. After a while I felt a little guilty because I didn’t help because of my lousy character where I just don’t like approaching people I don’t know, even when it’s just something simple.

I should really change, but how do you change something that’s fundamentally part of yourself for the past twenty two years? Sometimes I just think I am just lousy.

Well I don’t believe in making only new year resolutions, anyway I believe if I have to wait to make a resolution, it’s going to be too late. Hence, I have a new mid year resolution, and that is not to get involved in any flame wars going on the internet.

Flame wars are really getting insane lately, and if you want to find one, its at you-know-where. In fact, I feel that there are not many mature people around the blogosphere who wants to discuss things in a more mature way, of which I feel we should accord everyone the basic respect. Everyone’s views are not wrong, because they have their reasons for feeling that way. It is up to a good discussion to filter out what is the crux of an issue, tackle it, and solve it. However, I’ve been pretty disappointed because most discussions end up with really childish people.

What’s up with name calling? What’s up with trying to flame and not really doing anything? What’s up with posting “Ex-****sters trying to ruin ****” when the author himself is the one who seems to be racking up the flame war? I had a discussion which ended sour because the other party was too childish to respect opinion. I understood his point and respected his opinion, but he called me names, so that’s it.

My mid year solution is to not participate in flame wars. When things go out of hand from discussion to flame, I will not comment any further. From now on, I will only day “Thank you and have a nice day”, and things will end that way. Any name calling just further demeans the author of that comment, and does not really hurt me in any sense. After all, it makes no sense to argue back and destroy my very own reputation, no matter how little that is, isn’t it? After all, winning a debate is not just having the last word, it’s about having everyone’s else’s recognition of your views as most appropriate.

I don’t believe in name calling and I don’t believe in making derogatory statements like your mom is a blablabla, which happened in one of the comments in my blog. Luckily, its from somebody to another person, and not to me, else I would have probably cursed that guy and hopes that his mouth grow thousands of little ulcers and that he will sleep and have a whole bowl full of salt filled in his mouth and when he is in unbearable agony I will pluck his nails out one by one and then I will blablabla.

So, if you believe in what I believe, repeat after me: “I will not argue with kids”.

Well Nelson came back today from Indonesia and so a few of us went down to the airport to welcome him back for another semester of studying! Hawhawhaw! Actually there was supposed to be four of us, but Michelle’s aunt suddenly came from Australia and she had to eat lunch with her aunt so… But nonetheless, I’m the first to arrive at 12.30pm. We’re supposed to meet at 1pm.

The airport is a pretty nice and interesting place to me. I really love the airport. I don’t know why actually but maybe it’s because most of the time when I go to the airport I’m going off on a holiday, and that feels really shiok actually. I want to go Japan, but my friends seem to prefer Europe. Different frequency lah, need to find some common interests people to go with me. But that is after my university, when I’ve achieved at least a certain proficiency in Jap!

Cheng Ying and Yida came late lah, and I met them at 1.30pm instead. The funny thing is that Cheng Ying the organizer thought it was Terminal 2, but I went to check and the only possible flight coming from Jakarta at a scheduled time of 1355 was in Terminal 1, and luckily I was right.

But the flight got delayed and the plane only landed in 1452, about an hour later. We only managed to fetch Nelson back at 3.30pm, when we were supposed to do so an hour earlier. Eventually we took a cab back to Nelson’s house and just see him unpack. He has a whole luggage full of food! For his needs for the semester actually.

In the end we left at 5pm and it was a nice outing because the clique didn’t manage to go out at all in June.

* I want to fly!*