Trip report!

INTENSIVE PICTURE WARNING!

LONG POST WARNING!

MILD VULGARITY WARNING!



CPI REFERENCE:
500ml mineral water - 1RMB
bus ticket - 1RMB
500g peach - 5RMB
taxi starting fare - 4RMB
1L 93 petrol - 4.7RMB
1Hr internet cafe - 2RMB
Exchange rate S$1 ~ 5RMB

STATISTICS:
DIST(AIR) 7000KM
DIST(RAIL) 2100KM
DIST(CAR) 1100KM
Food - 4000RMB(excluding a birthday banquet)
Cup noodles - 20
Beer - 5L
Travelling expenses - 2500RMB
Admission tickets - 400RMB
Hotel accommodation - 1000RMB




On the morning of monday 3/6, I instinctively carried out my morning routine - piss, dress, eat, tv. I came to realise that I'm not going to school like any other morning when The Simpsons ain't showing on StarWorld. 5min out my mom called. [you left you're specticles on the sofa] fuck it. The cab fare to NanYang, RIB then Airport totalled $50 because of 150% in the wee hours of the morning and partially due to the 10min wait for her majesty at RIB.

The budget serves only Tiger and Cebu Pacific with the later being practically inactive. I wonder if its still cheaper than T1/2. The terminal has nothing, an eatery on the left, 8 or so check-in counters in the center, toilets and pay phones on the right. Inside there's some shops with none open this early. No skybridge of course, had to walk out and up the stairs. The captain's white and the first officer's a bold hispanic. The airsteward(ess)'s excuse of an uniform can't be any more unprofessional. The males wore the standard white shirt and black pants. The females wore a pale yellow shirt branded Visa in front and Tiger behind. A yellow/black tiger stripped bandana around the waist and horrid makeup completes the package. No more free sitting, Lishan, Wangjue and I took seats 18ABC. I'd much rather swap my aisle seat for window. The 2 girls fell asleep soon after takeoff but I was too excited. After all, I had not flown in 10yrs(discounting the noisy, cramp and hot 4 seater plane I trained on) But soon it became monotonous. I could'nt imagine anything more cramped than my training plane's cockpit but the budget economy seat is. 3.5hrs in a 1 by 1 is not fun.

The first thing I noticed at GuangZhou was the pollution, soon I would get used to the fact that all major cities in China are equally polluted, to the extent that staring at the sun won't hurt your eyes. While waiting for the connection, the 3 of us played cards. Of course I won. Some interesting things I saw included a [Convenient Store] and [Volkswangon]. China Southern's connecting flight to WuHan was much more comfortable. English and Chinese announcements were professional as opposed to Tiger's Singlish/Broken Chinese. The seats had more leg room and I [persuaded] the other 2 to let me have the window seat. Drinks were provided as expected of any reputable airline and they did not sell S$5 cup noodles nor S$8 airline food. 10min into the ascend, Lishan half-consciously asked me if we're there yet. I replied 'almost' but she probably didn't hear it sinking back into her slumber.

WuHan is hotter than Singapore during the day but cooler at night. In the local accent we would say [how ler ah] meaning [so hot]. *In China, cousins are affectionately called sisters or brothers* At my uncle's home I slept in my dear sister's room since she's in college during the weekdays.

And no, that laptop did not have war3.
My uncle's home was the penthouse(purely by definition) of a small condominum.

Solar heater

Greenhouse

The first night I brought a mattress to the roof and thought it would be very romantic to sleep under the starry sky. Indeed, unto the mosquitos got to me.

The next 2 days were uneventful, stayed at home and watched 如来神掌(Palm of Ru Lai) and 倚天屠龙记(Tale of something and dragon slaying). My sister's laptop had a program called PPstream, its basically a free VOD software. It has hundreds of movies and channels to choose from, all of which can stream fullscreen smoothly.

Wednesday night I went to the river bank of the Yangtze river(江滩). Sweet place, there's old people line dancing, kids playing and couples making out. It stretches for several kilometers and there're electric cars to send people up and down stream for a small fee.


My dad and I, faintly in the background is the WuHan second Yangtze River Bridge.

We had seafood that night. My uncle insisted that I help choose the dishes.


In Singapore I ate in school, at coffee shops or cup noodles making me a complete peasant at such restaurants.

Before

After

And the drink of choice
This meal was 400RMB

I went out with Lishan at 江汉路(street name) which is kind of the city center. We ate breakfast at a few roadside stores, delicious.

Clockwise from the top, green bean soup, fried buns, smelly toufoo, rice cake.

We went to a mall and she shopped for clothes. My dad warned me about this when he heard where we're going.

She didn't buy it.

I wanted to get you guys something at the toy shop but everything's insanely expensive. So Xun Yong, this is for you.


This little piece of shit is 300RMB

We called out another PRC, Sunning, and went to experience chinese MacDonalds.

That's coke with ice-cream on top, Singapore had this some years ago.

We had lunch before catching Spiderman 3

We didn't finish the rice.

Sunning left us to go buy pirated VCD(not porn according to him) My student pass got me the half-price student ticket, how cool is that? Lishan had to pay full. But I being the nice me split 45-45 with her. The theatre is really nice, better than Cathay at Orchard. The male toilet urinals had 7" LCDs showing movie trailers. Speaking of toilets, the public toilets are very amusing. In front of the urinals, a plaque on the wall says (向前一小步,文明一大步) which literally means take a small step forward, a giant leap for civilization. The movie was ok, except its dubbed in chinese. Afterwards, we ate at MacDonalds.

I got a free toothpaste with this extra value meal. ???

In case you'll didn't know, WuHan is divided by the Yangtze river into 2 halves, 汉口and武昌. Lishan's dad came all the way across the river to fetch her home, the good man also put me on the right bus home.

The purchasing power of the RMB varies greatly in China, its the same as the S$ for basic necessities but drops exponentially for luxury goods, especially those made not in China. A university graduate earns 2000RMB, like his Singapore counterpart. But a movie is typically 50-60RMB compared to S$9, local brand cellphones are 500-1500RMB while international brands like Nokia and SE go up to 4000RMB. A decent computer sets you back 8000RMB, a Buick costs 500k. Private apartments range from 4000-12000RMB/m².

I went to Beijing that night by rail.



It was 0530hr

Its very comfortable to travel by train. Its twice as fast and twice as stable as MRT. Sleeping in the bunk, the gentle swaying made it feel like a massage bed. But of course I can take 7G in the airforce centrifuge so traveller's discretion is advised.

At Beijing West station I saw this

545m by foot

The station in all its grandeur

My dad and I met with his old university classmate. We had breakfast together but he had to leave for a meeting. Luckily he left us his car.

All officers above the rank of Colonel are given personal transport, a Volkswagon Passat 1.8T in this case. That's our driver in front, Cpl Zhang. The red chinese character 海 means naval - an official car from the navy. This pass allowed us to travel the highways toll-free. This is the pinnacle of communism - the property of the people for personal leisure.

We went to the great wall at 八达岭 where again my student pass got me the student ticket. On the way there I noticed 'sound barriers' put up along the road. Literally, these are meant to block out the traffic noise so as to not disturb nearby residents. I'm quite surprised that it wasn't covered in advistisment or propaganda. Government propaganda is rampant especially in rural areas. Common messages include 保护环境,为国家建设(protect the environment, for the country's development) and 听党的话,实行生育计划(listen to the party, practise birth control)

They've installed cable cars now to save us the agony of climbing 1000ft in 40ºC



We took the same day train back to WuHan, same car, same bunk. We took a drive to 东湖(eastern lake) which is several times bigger than all the Singapore reservoirs add up. The air there is significantly better than in the city though visibility is just as poor due to the thick fog. There's also a 莫山(Mo mountain) which contained many statues telling tales of some dynasty. The mountain is topped by a temple.

That's a baby sucking on a tiger's nipple. The chinese characters 虎乳子 mean 'tiger feed kid'.

This guy blocked arrows for a king's tomb.

Panzer marsch!

I also went to 归元寺(?back to origin? temple) which became a tourist attraction. Many prayed for success at work/study, children etc. I also prayed for something. It is here where the 500 Buddha reside. I counted all 500 and found several with interesting names.

天王尊者(saint king of heaven)

游戏尊者(saint game)

电光尊者(saint electrical light)

自在王尊者(saint carefree king)

坐清凉尊者(saint sit and be cool)

最无比尊者(saint most uncomparable)

Just before coming back, I went to 宜昌(a city 320km from WuHan). The highway allows 110km/hr but everyone does at least 130. The cops themselves do 150. There's this slowpoke going 90 swerving in front of us refusing to let us pass. When we finally passed him I gave him the finger, couldn't see the look on his face though. Its just like the Auto Bahn where the road stretches out to infinity and one can drive as fast as one dares. My dad went to 170 before chickening out. One of the stupider things I did in my life was sticking my head out the window at 140. The entire 2hr+ drive there I had my hand out the window feeling the wind gust by. The wind counteracted the sun so I felt nothing but my right hand is 10 shades darker than my left hand now.

It is there I went to the 3 gorges dam, biggest in the world in terms of electrical generation.


5 gates to pass the 117m water level difference.

At night I watched a play about the peoples' struggle against the flooding river and the construction of the dam. Its better than NDP I'd say.



For the return trip, Lishan, her dad and I took train to GuangZhou for the flight back. Lishan met her boarding mate at the station and went to sit with her on the train till almost lights out. That leaves me alone with the dad. We played 2 men cards, a slightly altered version. Each of us controlled 3 decks in alternate playing order. We had to remember our cards as after each turn we must lay that hand down. Long story cut short, I got pwn't. We talked politics, Taiwan especially, about how fortunate it would be to not split up given its current situation, much less talk independence. The crazy president wanted to referendum for joining UN. China will veto his arse back to the stone age. He wants Lishan to continue university in Singapore as US would be totally foreign to her, but she has different thoughts. He's a cool guy. Lishan came back and we ate cup noodles before going to bed. Here's her majesty being less than majestic.

I guess its how we'd all look waking up to a camera phone in your face.

The flight back was again uneventful, I watched [I, Robot] on her laptop while she read some book. We went to T2 to grab BurgerKing before going home. Its the only place in Singapore that sells triple whoppers. We met 2 RJ couples there both of whom pretended to not see Lishan. One of them whispered loudly to her boyfriend 'thats my ex-classmate'. Brilliant.

I cashed in on 10yrs worth of holidays on this trip, got the much needed service pack to boost my Chinalism and studied nothing. Seeing how often I go back to visit, my grandfather made me promise a great-grandson the next time I go back. (WTF?)

I hope your holiday was spent as productively as mine so that I won't feel so bad about the up-coming commen test.

Good day!

Why Nevermore Never Became A Demon

“I’m sorry, it’s not that we’ve got anything against you personally,” Balanar the Nightstalker said without a trace of apology.
“Nor your skin colour. We’re not racists,” Terrorblade added.
“But you just don’t meet the basic requirements to qualify as a demon,” Balanar finished.
“What?” Nevermore asked in disbelief, momentarily stunned by the revelation. With all the souls that he had collected, he had been so sure…
“It says so in the 6 Laws to Demoning, you know,” Balanar stated triumphantly. “Page 21, line 3. ‘All Demons required to possess wings.’ “
“And horns,” Terrorblade added. “You forgot horns.”
“It doesn’t matter if you can’t fly, though. Just a pity you don’t have wings.”
“Or horns, for that matter.”
“Horns are not compulsory, you horny elf!” Akasha, the Queen of Pain, spoke up indignantly.
Affronted, Terrorblade retorted, “Horns look cooler, only higher class demons have them.”
“Quiet, both of you!” Balanar commanded.
“But…” Nevermore protested.
“No buts,” Balanar interrupted firmly. “It’s all about upholding our image as demons, you see. It’s aesthetic appeal. Looks are what matter. Take Azgalor for one, he-“
“I bring darkness!” the Pit Lord, who had been silent up till that moment, took the cue, and roared his line, swinging his giant spade for effect.
“You see?” Terrorblade spoke quietly. “You just don’t fit the image of a demon. We’ll just have to relegate you to the rank of a Fiend.”
Nevermore turned, and gathering up the shreds of his shattered dignity, left without a word, bitterness and hate welling up deep within his black heart. Deep within his being, he could hear the souls that he had collected. They were jeering and laughing at him.
“Pitiful,” Azgalor muttered.
“Ana rajil,” Lucifer agreed.
“He just wasn’t fulfilling the quota. He will vent his frustration and anger upon our enemies, and collect more souls. It’s all for the best,” Balanar remarked.

Platform 2.33 Recurring

This post, rather belatedly, is for Pin, who won the guessing game in a previous post. As promised, here it is. HP fanatics please don't be offended. Yay three posts in a row. I'm on a posting spree.

Platform 2.33 Recurring. True to its name, the platform stretched an incredible length, hardly in accordance with the guidelines as prescribed by Phyraxia, from which the train had originated. But then, since when had the other nations ever followed the rules laid down by any one nation? On the contrary, rules that any nation attempted to impose upon others would almost certainly be broken or defied (thus resulting in an interesting argument for the use of reverse psychology to cause other nations to self-destruct).

He stood alone at the edge of the train platform, a gaunt, scarecrow figure dressed in a tattered overcoat that had seen better times. Other than his slightly threadbare appearance which hinted of cash flow problems, he was dressed impeccably. Short, cropped hair ensured that he would pass every single haircheck, and his clothing had been neatly pressed and ironed. With his rigid, ramrod straight posture, it was impossible to label him as ‘slovenly’. Slouching was unthinkable. His feet were positioned exactly shoulder-width apart, toes pointing straight forward, exactly 1cm behind the yellow line. And his shoes were a polished, shiny black.

Pynne observed him quietly from her vantage point. Though her interview with him was scheduled to take place much later on at the Academy, she was interested to get a feel of the new Defense Against Demonic Accountants teacher for herself. He seemed calm, and extraordinarily, showed no sign of impatience. He had been waiting there since 4 hours ago.

He was unlike the rest of the teachers, who were familiar with the exact location of the Academy of Magic itself, and could thus teleport there with ease, with the correct passwords. However, the new teacher, being yet unaware of the exact location of the Academy, or the passwords to the teleportation barriers, was now forced to take the train with the other students, the only other way of reaching the Academy.

The Academy’s exact location was a closely guarded secret, known only to a privileged few besides the staff. Given permission to be located somewhere within the borders of Ulutootkia, no outsider dared set foot inside the Academy grounds, and no insider dared set foot outside the Academy grounds, nor was inclined to explore in hopes of finding the exact geographical location of the Academy of Magic. There were even rumours that the Academy itself was located within a space-time rift in Ulutootkia, enabling it to exist and function perfectly well within its own mini-universe.

Pynne checked her watch, another useful invention of Phyraxia, a supposedly secret weapon which the other nations had liberally stolen with relative ease. The train was due to arrive in a few minutes. Already, the platform was starting to fill up with rowdy, boisterous students, eager to start a new term.

Pynne moved towards the new teacher swiftly and decisively. She had a few personal questions that she wanted to ask him before he boarded the train. Pynne hailed him, and introduced herself. The new teacher took no notice, staring straight ahead, as if blind and deaf to all else. Startled, Pynne reevaluated her options. Was he in a meditative trance? She wondered.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I didn’t know that you wanted to speak with me,” A voice drawled suddenly from behind Pynne. She spun round, finding herself face to face with the new teacher’s twin, who seemed…The new person looked similar to the other one standing on the platform, yet totally different. His physical features were the same, yet in terms of...being, he seemed to occupy the opposite end of the spectrum, as dissimilar as day and night.

The new figure was dressed sloppily, a seedy overcoat thrown loosely over untidy clothing. His hair was unkempt, and he slouched. He slouched like nobody’s business. He slouched like it was his business, his profession. He slouched like he had studied all the arts of slouching, practiced and honed its art for ages, and had then gotten a degree for it. In fact, he looked so untidy that it even seemed…that all of it was carefully calculated, and he had meticulously placed his coat that way, and purposely stained his shoes in that particular manner, so that even when sloppy, he was at the apex of sloppiness.

As for his eyes…they darted about restlessly, shifty and cunning, the mark of someone used to reaping benefits at the expense of others, the mark of a sly, crafty person, inclined to take advantage of others at the slightest opening. The mark of a true adept. Openly advertising that he could not be trusted ironically prompted people to believe that he was someone to be expressly trusted with their deepest, darkest secrets. He was one who had seen it all, and would not be disgusted at the darkest secrets revealed. He appealed to their inner demons. And most masterful of all, it provided the ultimate disclaimer should he ever betray them.

If not for his skill at magic, which he had amply demonstrated in earlier interviews, Pynne doubted that he would have been accepted. For all his cunning, a spell of revelation had revealed that he could be trusted. To do his job, at any rate. Nothing else guaranteed. Pynne looked deeper, probing, trying to get a feel of his true self. Deep within his eyes, she thought she saw…the mark of someone haunted by something. Was it in his past, or did that thing still haunt him still? She wondered.

He looked at her questioningly, yet the curiosity mirrored within his eyes was clearly losing out to the impatience that also danced within. Pynne glanced back uneasily. The other figure still remained in the same position, unmoving. Following her glance, he spoke arrogantly. “Oh, that? That’s just my golem. Necromancy’s my secondary profession, you know. A passing interest that I picked up ever since…I got my magical powers.”

“A golem?” Pynne echoed incredulously. She had heard of golems before, but the secret to their making had been lost centuries, and never rediscovered.

“Yup. My necromantic knowledge is foreign, just for your information. From another world. As you can see, I tend to be slightly…narcissistic,” he gestured, and Pynne understood. His golem was the embodiment of orderliness and perfection, and it was no coincidence that it perfectly resembled him.

He…what was his name again? Pynne silently concentrated, and a simple memory spell reminded her of his name, even as the train entered the station, and a disembodied voice politely requested that people give way to alighting passengers. His name…was ESC.

“ESC, I’d like to ask you something,” Pynne ventured. When he nodded his assent, she continued. “I’m given to understand that you are a foreigner to the Six Nations. I’d like to know more about why you came into this world from your original dimension in the first place, and how you acquired your magic, if you are comfortable with it. What are your origins? Why did you apply for this job?”

Suddenly, his eyes shuttered, hooding his emotions. Pynne noticed that he stood slightly straighter, more warily, as if on the alert. “Tell you frankly,” he replied. “Since you don’t look like a suitable candidate anyway. This job is just to support me financially, until I can raise enough capital to start my own business. My coming here has got something to do with getting someone to carry my baggage, to unload that burden upon someone else…but enough of that, I don’t wish to speak about the rest.”

Hefting his baggage, he bellowed, “Porter!”

His aim in this world is to relieve his baggage? Pynne thought incredulously, with a touch of skepticism. What has the porter got to do with all this? Is he another Twoflower, dumping his Luggage onto an unsuspecting Rincewind? Mystified, she could only watch, as a sulky boy with a prominently scarred forehead appeared.

“But Professor, school hasn’t even started. You can’t give me detention for what I did just now!” the boy protested.

“I don’t care who you are, boy, nor do I care about your exploits, vocal or otherwise. I did not call for you. Now, I need to ask a favour from you. Will you be so kind as to go away and leave me alone?”

“Oh, but I’m interested in what this boy is up to, Professor ESC, “ Pynne interrupted. “Now, if you will excuse me?” Smiling grimly, she led the scowling boy away.

ESC looked at the retreating figures, shrugged, and shouted, “Porter!”


PS Pin is literally interested in what the boy is up to. Right?
PPS For those unfamiliar with the reference to Twoflower, Luggage, and Rincewind, don't mind it, it's contextual. Go read Terry Pratchett.

He looked down at the river battles that raged below as the Sentinel and Scourge clashed in their eternal struggle for victory. From his vantage point atop the promontory, it seemed that the Scourge was gaining the upper hand. Waves of relentless, merciless ghouls poured down the three lanes, throwing themselves into battle with a ghoulish frenzy. The Sentinel lines held for a moment, wavered, then broke. There were simply too many necromancers. A hard smile creased his pale face.

From atop the slope deep within Sentinel territory, an illuminating wave of energy suddenly burst out and all the Scourge units died instantly. The smile turned into a frown. Yet, it was nothing he had not expected. This stalemate had lasted for years with no conclusion, and those Scourge units which had died were expendable pawns, no more.

A hint of doubt started to gnaw, deep within his frozen heart. This war had taken much out of the Scourge. It no longer possessed the formidable might that humans had come to fear; instead, the heavy toll the war exacted had greatly weakened the Scourge. The dead rising to serve the Scourge? The Scourge becoming stronger with every single unit which fell? All those were legends of the past, a glorious past which had existed when the Scourge was in its prime, and at its full strength.

Now, though the legions of undead seemed endless, the necromancers were greatly exhausted, their stores of energy greatly depleted by their constant summoning. The animated bodies of ghouls were poorly preserved, and some were literally rotting to pieces. Late game, they would not last. They would be quickly finished off by heroes. Yet the heroes themselves, with the exception of a few who fed off the death and misery, were weary of war, exhausted by the years of fighting and dying. One would have thought that a Shallow Grave would be of great benefit, but there were those who now desired a return to their eternal rest. Dirge, for one. Leoric was another. Especially Leoric.

He sighed, and shifted uncomfortably atop his mount. Being skeletal, several of the more bony parts tended to stick out, which he could feel uncomfortably, even through his saddle. A rustling behind alerted him, and Abaddon, Lord of Avernus, spun around, blade at the ready. He had given express orders to his lieutenants that he was not to be disturbed, and this was a no-man’s land, so he was always on the ready for enemies.

The Lord of Avernus was an impressive, yet terrifying sight. His long hair which swept to both sides of his face had been bleached a stark white by the harsh chills of Northrend, and his skin was pallid and stretched, an ashen gray not unlike that of the undead he commanded. A pair of intense eyes, which burned with an unholy fervour, scanned the surroundings, as he held the legendary runeblade Frostmourne at the ready. The intricately carved, half-sentient blade glowed an icy blue, as if sensing the presence of an enemy. His skeletal mount shifted uneasily as footsteps approached.

Then the Moonlight’s Shadow fell away, revealing a horny night elf, sporting a long, dark blue beard, wielding a gnarled staff, a symbol of his office, and dressed in a cloak resembling the feathers of a bird, which gave him a rather ragged appearance, the general consensus of Scourge heroes who had seen him before. Furion, the elusive leader of the Night Elf Sentinel. Abaddon’s eyes narrowed with hatred, and Frostmourne glowed a blinding blue, hungering for the soul of the Sentinel hero. “Now, Frostmourne,” the Lord of Avernus commanded, as he spurred his mount forward, blade at the ready.

The Prophet raised his staff, and a ring of trees suddenly sprouted of the ground around him, hemming him in, rendering him unable to move. “Hear what I have to say first, before you act rashly, Lord of Avernus,” Furion commanded.

Grudgingly, Abaddon lowered his sword. “What is it now?” he demanded.

“I…have a proposal to make,” Furion cleared his throat, as if suddenly embarrassed. Furion, the great leader of the Sentinels, embarrassed? Abaddon found the concept hard to fathom. “Years of warring have greatly exhausted both sides with no visible result. This war has exacted a heavy toll on all of us. The ground is soaked with the blood of our warriors. Our trees lie dying, and the bark of our treants are peeling off. You, on the other hand, are suffering much the same consequences. Ghouls are falling apart, and the bound spirits are slowly breaking free of their prisons. Resources are depleted, and hero morale is low. Some heroes are so heartily sick of the battles that they go farm neutral creeps. And all for what?”

“What do you propose then? Do you think that us, the Scourge, will so willingly surrender to you to prevent a loss of life? We delight in the loss of lives, elf!” Abaddon spoke harshly. “Or is it that you have come to surrender to us?”

“Neither, Lord of Avernus,” Furion replied. “These years of war have taught me several things, and one of them is your temperament. Yet, you, as the military commander and the biggest bigwig of the Scourge, will surely see the expediency of…a temporary truce.”

“A truce?” Abaddon laughed out loud in ridicule. “You desire a truce?” he spoke truculently. Then he reconsidered. A temporary truce had numerous benefits, including allowing them to recoup their losses, to rearm, and to regroup without the Sentinel constantly harrying at their lines. A truce would give them the time to properly plan battle strategies instead of just throwing them meaninglessly at the Sentinel towers in waves.

“A temporary one,” Furion reiterated.

“Then we can engage again, in battles more intense than ever, with all the glory and might of the old days!” Abaddon laughed again, excited and spurred by the passion of war, which had reignited within him. “I grow sick of this pathetic mockery of war, where we are like children fighting each other with sticks, both sides too weak to do any sustainable damage to the other. This war of attrition has worn down both armies. Very well then, I agree! But first, there are some issues to settle.”

A hint of a smile, which had appeared on Furion’s face, disappeared. “What is it?”

“Some of my more bloodthirsty lieutenants still find joy in this war. They will be reluctant to stop. I will require some time to persuade them to my view.” Abaddon replied.

“A few weeks then, say a month or two?”

“Probably less, we will see.”

“Till then, we continue in our war?”

“Agreed.”

Furion then took a few shots at Abaddon, before teleporting off. He howled in rage, even as he was forced to suffer the indignity of eating the trees to escape the ring of trees. However, he thought of the truce, and the things he had planned, and a hard smile creased his face again.

*Like they said, I will need some time to be persuaded to stop. But I’ll still stop, in the end. A levels very important.

A Day in the Life of

Slowly, he picked himself up. He was standing in the middle of a shallow river. Water, now dirty and sullied, slowly dripped down his front. He could feel the water slowly lap at his calves, washing away parts of his loose, decaying flesh as it did so.

Somewhere deep within the recesses of his mind, a dim flicker of thought sparked momentarily. He was dimly aware... that he vaguely resented being rudely jolted out of his deep slumber. Lethargy and apathy saturated every pore of his being, and he could not, did not, want to shake off the torpor that overwhelmed him.

It was then, that he became dimly aware of the figure standing in front of him. It was pinkish-yellowish in colour, and it was staring at him rather malevolently. It was not because the zombie (yes, for that was what the figure was, a zombie, and a rather grotesque one at that) harboured any particular feelings of hatred for him, he sensed, but more because like the twisted scowl and rotting flesh on its face, the malevolent stare was a permanent fixture.

He jerked. It was not due to reflex action, nor was it because he desired it so. A strong will gripped his mind, compelling him forward, down the river, following the zombie. It was then he realised that he was hued in shades of muted blue. The iron will gripped his mind even more strongly, propelling him forward aggressively, such that his feet dragged upon the ground, and it seemed that he was gliding...

A small skirmish was currently taking place in front of him, as the rotting, animated corpses of ghouls engaged treants. He froze suddenly, held in place by that iron grip, as smaller, warped versions of the zombie overtook him. Like him, they were bluish in colour, but there, the similarities ended, he believed. He was jerked forward again, the iron will insistently compelling him on, as he threw himself at a...largish, overgrown...tree. A living, moving (albeit, it was moving rather slowly), tree, crushing him with heavy, rootlike claws. Roots burst out of the ground beneath him, wrapping around his legs as the roots mercilessly crushed him.

His final thought, as he...what was his final thought? He couldn't remember...
He vanished in a puff of smoke.

Life is an illusion.

Physics TYS!

Hallo. Haha it seems tt everytime I post here it's about schoolwork or homework or something of that sort. Anyway, (copied wholesale from the email I sent to yahoogroups >.<)

I dunno if I've asked before, but remember the TYS things Mr Raufie used to photocopy for us last year? The one with worked solutions? I've photocopied the TYS questions and the solutions for:
- Quantum Physics 1
- Radioactivity (i suppose this includes nuclear physics)
- Magnetic Fields&Electromagnetism
- EMI
- Alternating Current.

I'm sorry that this is so late into the holidays, but if anyone wants a copy of any of these TYS-s, then MSN, call or sms me. I'll be in school everyday till CTs (cept maybe the Sunday before econs) so I can pass it to you.

AHMAGADDD HOWWWW to finish mugging by next week! tres impossible! you know, my L-key on the keyboard is maLfunctioning so everytime I type I have to disturb my rhythm to exert extra pressure on the L-key. Wahhh rubbish LA. HELLO.

13 days to CTs! Jiayou everyone we can SO do it =D =D =D

And after CTs...

HARRY POTTER. WOOHOO.

(and yet, I'm going to watch CSI after this. hohoho.)

much love,
nar.

response to ys

ok a little update on my life..


hmm ya. hols okay. quite exciting for me.. um except of course the thought of having to mug.. which seriously is quite urgh hahahah! budden.. ya i having practical driving lessons this june.. okay just started today! damn fun la!

Accomplishment no.1 : never stall driving a manual car for the first lesson! muahaha!

okay that's about it... the instructor say my stopping okie.. just that my moving off abit jerky.. so yup..heh heh! need to work on.. when sit on those jerky bus then you tell the bus driver not to press the brake so fast then the bus driver will tell you where got.. cos the driver canot feel much de.. so yup..

haha actually first lesson i din expect to drive.. more of like introduce the car specs, safety precautions like.. um move in an clock wise manner if you wan to change from passenger seat to driver seat or to any seat.. wth la. lol. but ya have to follow..

current status: trying to get the biting point. which apparently differs from every car due to wear and tear..
btw explanation of biting point can be found here: http://www.m-walters.com/l2drive/html/discipline/biting_point.php

yea.. okay some facts..

- basic theory tests costs 6 dollars
-final theory test dunno but will take soon so will post the sum soon..
- each driving practical lesson costs 58.80 for non peak ( mon to fri, 8 to 6) and 67.20 for peak (sat and sun and mon to fri after 6pm)
- each practical driving lesson is 100 mins
- average of maybe close to 20 lessons before some revision lessons then can book your practical test date.
-booking of test vehicle for practical test about 50 plus dollars.
-application of provisional driving license which costs 25 dollars

okay GRAND TOTAL... 1500+++ i think..

scary rite.. um okay..

cheapeast car on market.. hmm probably close to 40k. plus your daily expenses on fuel.. insurance policies. haha! okay quite alot..

haha okay targets: to pass my driving my end of this year! muahaha! okay had a bet with gen to pass the first shot! lolz.. c how. lolz.. i'll be driving my way to a levels..

Happy Birthday Zann.

As the title says. Happy Birthday Zann.
I'm sorry, I don't think I'm going to do a birthday post (even if I do, what I have in mind may not necessarily make you happy) as I'm too busy mugging. [Yes I spend most of time mugging in spite of certain people hint at... =P] Get Jameson to write for you, I'll willingly edit it though.

for you, yongsheng

And so, in reply to yongsheng's post. For his flippant remarks have struck an indignant chord deep within my soul. haha jkjk =p

My blog is stagnant cos there's ubercoolkia! Anything i wanna blog, i can just post here after all. No point updating that one. Sounds cruel i know, but o well hehe. Well, to answer ur qn on "wat r u guys doing?!? its the holidays!", there are pple like jameson who are muggers and study study study at home all day, and then there are pple like occ and sc who organize Class Dota Sessions every morning starting at 9am, and then there are pple like me who balances a healthy mix of these 2 =) so other than dota and studying, there isnt pretty much else to do in this boring hols. Wad's there to blog about then?

Well, maybe i dun feel like shouting out to the whole world wad's going on in my life anymore. Experiences have ah, shown me that i'm not very adept at doing that in an appropriate way. Anyway, msn achieves the same purposes in a way that's more controllable (:

But, not to let this post be simply a respond to ys' post which can be done via a tag on the tagboard, let me cast my mind for something worthwhile recently to blog about.

Ah, choir chalet on 3-4th june. Managed to convince my mom to let me go by spouting forth emo stuff with words like 'closure' and 'farewell' thrown in with liberal amounts. Dun think i shall go for the 2nd chalet next mon-wed tho. Anyway, i went for the chalet with mixed expectations. I expected myself to be bored most of the time, so i brought lots of math work to do haha. The only non-math stuff i brought was one set of change. Well, that came true at the start, with only 2 J2s present, me and weisong. I was nv close the J1 batch, and ws koped my pda to play bejewelled, so i couldnt even read fanfic. Sianz.

Then we finally arrived at the chalet, and out came the mahjong sets. That kept me occupied most of the afternoon. Went out with pple for a while to play at east coast park, but dint really have much fun there haha. I guess tt's wad happen when u dunno most of e pple there. The spider web looks so much smaller and shorter now that i've grown up hm. So it's back to e chalet for more mahjong, at least tt's smth i'm relatively familiar n secure with.

Cant say much for the bbq food, cos the only stuff that was out in e open long enuf for me to eat were half-cooked chicken wings. Meh. Stray cats started coming, but we cant feed them else they'll keep coming for more. So i patted one. But it bit me. Pfft stupid cat =\

More mahjong after dinner haha. Drank vodka (40% alc) mixed with pepsi, and got high and giggly. Promptly got restrained and force fed water. Hmph boring pple. Spent the rest of the night having rewarding and insightful conversations with select j2 frens. Then went to sleep at 8am. Pack up. Check out. Lunch. Went home. Slept the rest of the afternoon. Nooo 2 days that could have been spent studying! =\ haha sadness.

But well, i dont regret going for the chalet. At least my expectation of being bored stiff wasnt exactly fulfilled. The talks made it worthwhile. At least i know a bit more of wad's going on in their lives now. And of cos the whole vodka incident was quite funny indeed. Ah. Okay, back to math.

All the best for ur sudoku challenge, ys. Go out there and own them!

random stuff

Hello ppl,

if u guys have not realised, it's the holidays.







So why isn't anyone blogging?!? other than lu zhou and the prcs who are in china and according to lz, china banned blogger(wth, lol), the rest of the ppl still in sg shld be free. so wat r u guys doing?!?

ok so anyway, before u guys accuse me of not blogging, i shall blog now, then i go screw gerard on leaving his own blog stagnant for 3 months with 76 green bottles.

The recently concluded PC show 2007 was damn crowded. I wonder how many of u actually went, cuz i met a few frens there. but while they did not spend anything, they simply went there to check out how low prices can go(cuz they can't get wholesale prices, so they want to know how low retail prices can go), my family spent $799. try to guess wat we spent on, cuz i'm not telling yet, though 2 ppl in our class alrdy know PART of the answer. so they dunno wat all $799 went to either.

and gen is back! welcome back gen! we missed u. but it's ok, nothing much has passed while u weren't arnd. and if u think ur studies r screwed, just relax. i didn't go on a chiang mai trip, but i havn't studied anything either. so yup. dun worry so much. u'll do fine for the cts.

and since the chiang mai trip ppl r back, it's time to bombard shawn tan for photos. photos of odac's april expedition, marie's hse, and possibly chiang mai as well. hmm spamming time.

and the brand's sudoku challenge semi-final is this coming sat, wish me, wing and occ gd luck! 10 ppl out of abt 300 plus will get in, so we'll probably need it. or rather, i need it, cuz wing and occ r damn pro, and i'm not as pro. heyhey, dun get me wrong. i'm pro too, just not as pro =) (lol thick skin)

and i'm kinda happy that i played damn well in my 4 dota games on wednesday. lina, razor, sb, sand king. owns. which means i may consider stopping dota like my fren yu zhuo did. he stopped in j1 after a damn gd game. perhaps i shld as well.

lalala, noobify†™, yong sheng

yo ho ho and a pilot's life for me

today, june second two thousand and seven - a date which will live in glory - the single male heir of the lu family has been suddenly and deliberately bestowed upon the private pilot's licence by flying and ground instructors of the singapore youth flying club.

woo~ im a certified pilot now, no shit!

i've never been this neverous in n years and especially because as i'm leaving tomorrow, i won't be able to re-test and part should i *toot* up. there's so much that could go wrong from pre-flight briefings to the post-flight oral assessment, and something did go wrong. of all the things, the weather report for today was not in. the changi meteorology office screwed up - again. it's common for them to forget to send us the report especially on saturdays when only pvt lim dickson(that's his real name, as indicated on the report) is on duty i suspect. the examiner asked for my assessment of the weather(since technically i'm captain for today's test) and i thought we're good to go.

the actual flying part was trival(but of course). only problem was that there's too much cloud cover, a good 4-6octas and given the constrains of the training area, i had to constantly dodge the clouds while performing the flying exercises. it is dangerous to fly into clouds due to the unpredictable up/down drafts which can seriously upset the plane.

on the ground he quized me on the various aircraft systems such as fuel, electrical and oil. he also asked some unexpected stuff like what kind of extinguisher for use in electrical/chemical fires(powder/co2). when he asked me about the private pilot's licence privilages, i knew that i had passed. i can't show it as technically the assessment has not ended yet. one thing i can do, for example, is flying pin to thailand. what i cannot do is have her buy me a drink in return, because private pilots cannot be rewarded for flying. the rent is about $250/hr and it'll take take us 6hrs to get there, tiger costs $1.99 though... sorry prcs, the little plane can't make it to china just yet. after explaining to him what i can and can't do as a private pilot, he stood up and gave me a big handshake announcing officially that i had passed. next step: commercial pilot's licence, then i'll be entitled to squeeze my passengers dry.

all the saturdays, chem tutorials, phy lectures and pe lessons lost paid off today and i'm really glad that this chapter ended successfully.

now that most of our ccas have ended, we can all go full steam ahead for the a levels, keep struggling all!

On the Issues of Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, Suicide, and Mass Murdering

...not to mention serial rapists.

It's the night before SAT I. I should be sitting in front of my desk, feverishly studying the vocabulary terms and practising math. But nooo. I choose to be sitting in front of the computer, trying to hone my essay skills.

First. Euthanasia.
Defined: Also called mercy killing. the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die.
-Dictionary.com
I wouldn't know about mercy. Or painless death. But I do know that it's your friends or allies who do it to you. Those creeps on the front lines, those unthinking, unknown pawns, who do all the tanking, will never get more recognition than the "Second treant", and even that recognition is fleeting and transient, fading away from one's memory within a minute. What do we even care for them then? Why not just kill them when they outlive their usefulness, rather than let them be a potential hindrance by feeding the enemy? Why not just deny them?
(At this point, let us do solemnly sing a song for the Unsung Heroes of DotA – the creeps)

DotA is about the only game I know (perhaps I have a poor knowledge of games, but well) which actively encourages a player to kill his own allies (i.e. creeps. If they get a chance, heroes too) if it compromises one's own side by unwittingly helping the enemy. It encourages players to adopt that cold, calculating, unfeeling attitude, where decisions are based on Exp, hp, mana, and how much exp a creep feeds the enemy, rather than seeing life (albeit a very short one) from a creep's perspective. Mass manufactured in a factory they call 'barracks'. Helpless to control yourself, you throw yourself at the risk of your own life at the towers, at the enemy. You have no worth.

On the issue of Euthanasia for heroes. It is not commonly seen, mainly because it is impossible to do so most of the time, until a hero's health drops below a certain limit. I have no doubts that removing the prohibition to attack each other, a team, if sufficiently owning, will inevitably turn upon themselves and consume each other in a selfish race to the top. Though an extent of teamwork is required, once there is no threat nor sufficient challenge to unite the team, it commonly falls apart as the former comrades fall upon each other like hungry vultures or hyenas. That is what the essence of DotA is about: self-interest. The crux of the fun in it lies in the satisfaction of getting tower kills, hero kills, creep kills, and of course, team kills, if you can achieve it. Players are not above killstealing each other. Without the prohibition to attack each other at full hp, what is to prevent them from reverting to cannibalism should there be no external threat? Because that's what it is. Cannibalism. Attacking your teammates for your own benefit, so that they won't ks you, so that you can gain more exp, etc. Another crux of dota lies in conflict. And killing.

Which brings me to Assisted Suicide. Not so much suicide as such, but rather, assisted killing. Your own teammates. When your teammates own so much, they decide to aid in your death for the fun of it. Tiny tosses his ally in fountain (rather reminiscent of someone I know). Vs runs into the enemy, and swaps his ally in. Hook. Nightmare. Astral imprisonment. Controlling your ally's chicken and getting it killed. The list goes on. The poor victim can do little more than curse helplessly, or leave the game.

Mass Murdering. DotA, unlike other games like CS or Half-life, commonly does not let you experience the blood and gore firsthand, unless you scroll down all the way into the midst of the fighting. You are disconnected from the battlefield, all the skeletal remains look so tiny from up above, and all the gory details are hidden due to a combination of censorship, inadequate graphics, and distance. You watch dispassionately, or even delight in mass murdering, as you watch those tiny yellow numbers float up. Because it's not the pathetic corpses of ghouls you see, it's not the agonised, dying gasp of the druid you hear, but the gold that you value most. The skeletal remains fade away far too quickly for them to make a lasting impact on you. Each treant on the frontlines are completely identical. They died? They'll come back again. No difference. They are the walking firewood if you ever need some warmth.
And heroes? they leave no corpses. Their souls drift off and dissipate, and you engage them in the battlefield again a few minutes later. Deaths make no lasting impression. Not at all. You take those lives casually without the slightest tinge of remorse. That is, after all, what you are supposed to do.
(I admit: I am guilty of taking as much as 450 lives in a single game. I am a mass murderer. My teammates are thus guilty of aiding and abetting mass murderers. Who isn't? Even noobs aid murderers by feeding.)

Skeletons or corpses do not last very long in DotA. Those that actually last are heroes themselves. You kill them all the same. No difference.

Suicide. If within their means, heroes will definitely do it if there is no other choice. Reluctant as they are to end their own lives, they are willing to do so if it means spitefully denying the enemy of exp and gold. That is their self-value. How much they really mean to themselves. A hell lot more than other creeps, or heroes, but less than that of denying their enemies. Admittedly, there are those who sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Pushing barracks, or helping to kill. But if given the ability to do so, and given that there is no other way to escape, there is no other more pressing, or urgent urge should you be on the brink of getting killed by the enemy. Suicide. In fact, it is imperative that you do so. It is for the greater good. All brainwash.

There are very few heroes in DotA who can actually kill themselves. Techies is (in case you're wondering, is is grammatically correct, even though it's techies) one of them. Sacrifice yourself for the greater good. How noble a sacrifice. Of course, getting hero kills in the process is just a small bonus. Reminds me of terroristic suicide bombers.

But other than techies, pudge, and one or two others, it is very hard, almost impossible to kill yourself. At the very least, if your team is far away and cannot kill you, you go to Roshan and beg him for a small favour. Just a few whacks. It is thus so, that I propose if DotA players cannot be persuaded to change their mindset of dispassionate killing, where lives are worth nothing, measures should be taken to end their pitiful suffering and eternal frustration in being unable to kill themselves. After all, the life is yours, it is your basic right to take it (some may argue otherwise, but for the sake of argument, let us assume that this holds true for DotA). It is also vital for one to preserve one's self dignity in ending one's own life, instead of being humiliated in needing your teammates to end your life.

Hence, I propose that a new item be added. This shall be called the Dagger of Hara Kiri. When activated, you kill yourself. Simple. Not dissimilar to likeaseal mode, it will cause untold frustration and anger, together with a lot of swearing on the part of your enemies, before they buy this Dagger too. Should this Dagger be released for sale on the market, black or otherwise, it will definitely become one of the most popular goods for sale, and producers will reap vulgar amounts of profit. But not only that. It will teach DotA players to focus on pushing, rather than trying to kill, to focus on strategising and fighting a war, rather than focusing on murdering people one by one simply for the delight and joy one gets in the killing. Not to mention the mana too, if you're a Sadist like the necrolyte. Or health, if you're a bloodthirsty psychopath like the Bloodseeker. Or the maniacal Nevermore next door with a penchant for soul collection. Sado-masochists like Leshrac aren't that much better either.
Sure, it will cause an uproar and much unpopularity, as well as the possibility of riots, resulting in many people quitting DotA. But those people that quit DotA are not the strategists or team players; they are the ones who live for the joy of killing. They are the violent psychopaths like me. They are the ones who derive joy and intense pleasure from owning the enemy. They are the serial rapists. If they are addicted to DotA, it is the killing, the murdering, the killstealing that delights them. They are better off weaned from DotA, and spending their time on healthier pursuits like getting a life. Like endless, tireless, repetitive mugging. That would be a worthy hobby.

Interestingly, DotA and its lack of close up graphic violence and gore is what enables young children to relax and recreate (the benefits of which cannot be understated), to escape from their increasing pressurising lifestyle without damaging their mental psyche with all the blood and gore of death. It is what preserves their innocence, and protects us from cultivating a next generation of bloodthirsty, violent psychopaths. Because with each agonized death, they look Death straight in the face and do not recognize it. Because the concept of dying, the real death, is totally foreign to them (I daresay they do, however, know the meaning of all expletives and vulgarities uttered on Bnet). All hail Censorship.

I hope this topic comes out for SAT tomorrow.

harry potter

i've finished the 3rd book!! (ok i know i'm slow) and seriously i've noticed more things this time round. and i'm absolutely certain that this is my favourite book in the series. it was, and always will be =D too early to say though haha, there's still the 7th :) here are some things that i noticed (or wondered about) this time round.... well, non harry potter fans can stop reading at this point. i just need some opinions about some unanswered questions pertaining to the story heh.

[edit: added a number 7 :)]
1) the vanishing cupboard was mentioned in the 2nd book! it was thrown and damaged by nearly headless nick in the hopes of distracting filch from giving harry detention. (when filch caught harry 'befouling the castle' with mud splattering everywhere after his quidditch training, and when harry was brought to filch's office and saw the qwikspell letter just when filch went out of the office to check on the noise, this noise which was in fact caused by the crashing of the vanishing cupboard! then rmb in the 6th book, malfoy had to repair the vanishing cupboard, the one montague got lost in previously (was it in the 5th book?), and was travelling to and fro non stop unable to escape. the exact same cupboard that malfoy used as a means for his fellow death eaters to enter hogwarts.
(note: did i get it right? the cupboard was called vanishing cupboard, right? not too sure about this)

2) in the 3rd book, when the trio were at hagrid's just before buckbeak's execution, and they were led out of the house through the backdoor when the ministers+dumbledore+executioner were arriving, harry stepped out and felt "unreal". haha this is just one particular foretelling by jkr that i've never noticed =D the unreal feeling must have been the fact that harry felt that someone was watching him, which is in fact true, cos his future self was hiding somewhere. brilliant, isn't it!
(note: i clearly need to read more times!)

3) i'm wondering.... when lupin appeared in the shrieking shack (right after sirius brought them all into the shrieking shack by force), harry asked how did lupin know where they were, and lupin said he was studying the marauder's map, and that he saw 3 people going into Hagrid's, but bringing a fourth person out with them out of Hagrid's house, the someone else being peter pettigrew, of course. but im wondering, at that point in time, the future self of hermione and harry were hiding near Hagrid's house right before the time of the execution that should have happened, preparing to free buckbeak when the time was right. why didn't they appear on the map as well? lupin would have been shocked to note 2 harrys and 2 hermiones, right?

4) the cursed opal necklace (claimed the lives of 19 muggles up to date) and the vanishing cupboard (and the hand of glory too, but this one is obvious) was mentioned in the 2nd book when harry ended up in Borgin and Burke's by accident when he floo-ed wrongly. :) the vanishing cupboard being the twin, the one that helped death eaters enter hogwarts in book 6.

5) notice how the books always emphasize some sort of telepathic connection between filch and mrs norris? i'm really curious about that. wonder if jkr will clear that up in the 7th book. i've this suspicion that mrs norris might actually be an animagi =\

yup! that's all so far :) just wanted to share them haha.

[edit]
6) ron claimed in the 5th book that prefects can't take points. but in the 2nd book, percy threatened or really did take points from them when he saw harry and ron sneaking near myrtle's toilet thinking they were up to no good.
(well jkr cleared that up heh. in an interview she said, "Prefects can take points; Ron got it wrong in Order of the Phoenix, which makes him a pretty poor prefect, eh?")

7) in the 2nd book, nearly headless nick suffered the full blow of the murderous glare of the basilisk but he couldn't die again, but he saved justin from receiving the full blow and so justin was merely petrified, and so nearly headless nick was like this floating black mass that had to be moved by ernie (or someone else) using a large fan to fan the ghost to the infirmatory (haha i found this part really cute!) the petrified victims were then revived by giving them mandrake potions, but how does a ghost take the remedy? haha!! they didn't exactly clear that up... it's not a very important detail though :)

and here are some other things that i found on mugglenet which jkr mentioned in interviews and can't be found in the books. interesting stuff!

• Fred and George Weasley were born on April Fools' day (no joke).
• Dean Thomas's father was killed by Death Eaters when he refused to join them. Neither Dean nor his mother know.
• James Potter was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team (although the movie claimed he was a Seeker).
• The Gringotts' goblins return the Muggle money they acquire back into circulation. (note: this is so econs LOLLLLL. circular flow of money.)
  
• The approximate value of a Galleon is about five pounds ($7.30 or 8.00 Euro), though the exchange rate varies.
• A few of the Hogwarts professors have spouses, but that information is restricted for reasons we will find out about later.
• To remove the tail that Hagrid gave Dudley in the hut on the rock, the Dursleys went to a private hospital where the staff was very discreet, and said that a wart had gone out of control.
• There is more to the cats in the story (Crookshanks, Mrs. Figg's cats, Mrs. Norris, etc.) than meets the eye.
• A magical quill detects the birth of every magical child and records it in a book and Professor McGonagall sends an owl to each child when he or she turns eleven.

helium

The voice of a person who has inhaled helium temporarily sounds high-pitched. This is because the speed of sound in helium is nearly three times greater than in air. Because the fundamental frequency of a gas-filled cavity is proportional to the speed of sound in the gas, when helium is inhaled there is a corresponding increase in the resonant frequencies of the vocal tract.

Although the vocal effect of inhaling helium may be amusing, it can be dangerous if done to excess since helium is a simple asphyxiant, thus it displaces oxygen needed for normal respiration. Death by asphyxiation will result within minutes if pure helium is breathed continuously. In mammals (with the notable exceptions of seals and many burrowing animals) the breathing reflex is triggered by excess of carbon dioxide rather than lack of oxygen, so asphyxiation by helium progresses without the victim experiencing air hunger.

Inhaling helium directly from pressurized cylinders is extremely dangerous as the high flow rate can result in barotrauma, fatally rupturing lung tissue.

Saga of 6Nations Birthday Posts

Before all else first:
1) Have a safe journey and have fun Gen!
2) Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and the presents! Am happy :)
3) Thanks Mr Chong for coming down and performing with your guitar!
4) Ok Yong Sheng your description of mansion has convinced me as to the income inequality in S'pore =P
5) Happy Birthday Yiting!
6) Sorry for this rather belated birthday post, got held up due to certain restrictions on use of computer. Pardon me if it's rather low quality, I don't write well under deadlines and without inspiration.
7) This is dedicated to Yiting, and to all the teachers out there.
8) Enjoy.

A single, flickering candle flared within the darkness, bathing the chamber with its inconstant glow as wavering shadows chased each other across the walls. Buffeted as it was by the winds of magic that flowed strongly within the chamber, a small gesture steadied it immediately. Though dawn was slowly breaking over the Academy of Magic, it yet remained dark within the shrouded room.

Ms Tick dressed quickly, preparing herself for a new day. Dark, shoulder length hair swept to either side of a chiseled and well-shaped face, she cut an imposing, and somewhat daunting, figure at the height of 1.8m. She was dressed severely; drab clothing that consisted of the robes of a sorceress draped over a dress that reached all the way to the floor.

Ms Tick gathered her things with a sharp, well executed gesture that brought the threads of magic, which were attached to different objects, together. A rather worn, but lovingly polished, tome of magic. A small jade crystal, her focus of magic. Parchment, pens, and other miscellaneous objects all hovered momentarily in the air, carrying themselves, if it was even possible, with a touch of their mistress’s dignity and pride that seemed to have rubbed off on them.

Amused, she twitched her fingers ever so slightly, and the objects, without hesitation, though with a slight touch of chagrin, disappeared into her bag. Together with her bag, Ms Tick passed gracefully over the floor, flowing smoothly, almost as if her feet did not touch her floor, almost as if she was levitating. Certainly, it was well within her means to keep on a permanent levitation spell, to reach new heights and view things from a different perspective…

A softly whispered command, and Ms Tick summoned the day’s messages in her inbox, which included a well-wrapped package. It was a box, filled with shimmering, multicolored crystal star shards that contained various well-wishes from different people. She exhaled sharply, emotions roiling within her mind. She had forgotten. It was her birthday. Within the overlapping network of stars, a name glowed, and her heart leaped.

Uncontrolled, images flooded her mind, images that she had tried so long to block out. She imagined that face, those eyes…enough.

Her iron discipline kicked in, and her will clamped down on the flow of images. Ms Tick rebuked herself angrily, annoyed at her lapse of control. As Queen Goansoo had dictated when she gave her blessings as Ms Tick left her service, there would be no pairings. No fraternizing with males. No violation of the foremost law of Ulutootkia, the one strict commandment that all adhered to. But yet, those feelings…almost with a sense of wistfulness, she blocked them out, and focused on the stars from her family, from Goansoo, Treesha, all the Ulutootkians who loved her, and whom she was free to love in return. I will do my best, she promised them silently. I will not fail you.

Her birthday. Ms Tick remembered a horoscope from long ago, one she had read in passing and dismissed from her mind. It had been from some blind seer in Ubercoolkia, she remembered vaguely. Such horoscopes, especially from males, were perfunctorily dismissed as flowery nonsense in Ulutootkia. But yet…what had it said? “Those born on this day are thrice blessed indeed, for these are the people who will come to shape the future of the entire world, who will be destined for all the great things in life. Those born on this day, are beyond the shadow of a doubt, pros.”

Indeed. As the sun fully crested the horizon, bathing the entire Academy with its radiance, Ms Tick slowly passed through the door, preparing herself for the momentous event ahead of her, the great task she must complete, the one that she would use to change the world, and the fates of its people, irrevocably. She went to teach.

Teaching, the noblest profession.
---

In another decidedly remote area of the 6Nations, one unexplored, where humans had not set foot on for years, the same sun was unseen, shrouded by dark, swirling clouds that vaguely boomed of thunder. It was late afternoon here, a different time zone from where the Academy was located.

He tilted his face towards the sky, eyes closed, just in time to catch the first, refreshing drops of rain as they pattered upon the ground. The black storm clouds were not oppressive, rather, they were strangely liberating. For the first time in decades, he felt free, as if a great burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders, as if finally discovering that he possessed shoulders he never knew he had.

The drizzle intensified, and all at once, it metamorphosed into a storm of gigantic proportions, one of such magnitude that was seldom seen even within the 6Nations. The raindrops hammered down upon the leaves, and he felt, rather than saw, the lightning flash across the sky. Within seconds, everything was soaked. It was beautiful, magnificent, experiencing the storm in all its raw power and fury. The rain fell so hard and fast that it shrouded the hills with a white curtain in an instant, one that the naked eye could not penetrate.

Not that it all mattered to him anyway. The roar of the storm filled his ears as he looked within, his mind’s eye seeing that which others could not. Within the 6Nations, chaos was only starting its reign. Frantic, panicking citizens hurriedly packed their belongings and fled. Across the scarred, battle-torn land, armies continued to wage their endless wars. Families were torn apart. Politicians schemed and plotted among themselves. The 6Nations were on the brink of collapse, even as the ugly side of humanity reared its monstrous head, as the people struggled desperately in their bid for survival.

So it starts with me, he thought bitterly, a cynical smile twisting his lips. My prophecy, the harbinger of doom, which has eclipsed their sanity. They think they can escape it by fleeing to the ends of Sixan. They cannot. They think they can change it, by conquering the other nations. They cannot. In the end, everyone, including me, will be drawn back in, will all be consumed by this prophecy. In the end, the effects of the prophecy will be so far-reaching, that they will be felt even in other lands, and it will change the fate of the peoples of Sixan irrevocably.

But in the meantime, I’ve got better things to do.

He stood a moment more, and then turned, disappearing into the storm. Seeking, for once, not for the fate of others, but for his future. His destiny. For, unlike what others had come to believe, he was human too, and he shared the same human needs as they did. I'm an escapist. I don't care.

Through the roaring of the storm, he imagined that he heard the Author laughing at him. His own future? Did he presume to think that he could break free from what had been otherwise dictated? The games Fate played were complex. It would not be so easy. He told the Author to screw off.


PS Yay. I'm going to slack off in writing for now. And since Gerard intervened, I've edited some parts (or rather, one particular part).

Whatever lor, Anything lah

Went down to city hall ytd with my family. ate dinner at the place beside the esplanade. New York New York was as crowded as ever, though i dunno wat's so special bout that place. then watched some fireworks. for some reason( i dunno what), that esplanade area has a complete lack of teenage girls. any girl u see there are with their boyfriends. so i was like like qte amazed when i managed to chance upon this girl who was alone at a bus stop. The girl was looking down at her handphone and a bit of her hair was hanging down, so i cldn't see her face. But two thoughts came to my mind, one after the other.

The first was that the girl looked familiar. The second was that the girl was probably good looking =) And the combination of these 2 factors made me walk past the girl in a weird way lah. anyone who saw me at that time probably tot i was some buaya shit attempting to hook up that girl or smthing, cuz i walked past her with my gaze transfixed on her. The kind where u walk past and ur head turns as u walk so u can continue looking at the same thing.

And then she lifted up her head. but by that time i had walked to behind her alrdy, so i still cldn't see who she was and whether she was indeed good looking or not. And then i heard her voice, as she called out to her friend, and i knew who it was le. Both my thoughts have been correct(wooh i rock). She is indeed someone i know, and she is indeed chio.

And before those jameson-like ppl come and ask me who she is and that they want to see chiobu, let me first tell u that her name is kelly and she has a boyfriend called gavan who is so manly that he can do pull-ups with one finger from each hand. which means he can crush ur balls with just two fingers, so i advise u not to try. Apparently, she was there planning for some walkathon.

Anyway, though i've wrote like a hell lot, that's not what this post is supposed to be about. so as i was going home, walking along citylink, i saw two things which made me think of two things. lol. The first was a newurbanmale shop which reminded me of ellen(bobo num!). The second is what i saw inside the breadtalk shop. To Xun Yong, the Anything and Whatever drink is not some expensive joke, it's for real. Those two drinks were being sold in that breadtalk shop. yup, and so i found out that Whatever is non carbonated drink which consists of mainly water, sugar and fruit juice concentrate, and Anything is a carbonated drink that consists mainly of carbonated water, sugar and permitted flavoring and colouring. yup.

So yah, next time ppl ask u waht drink u want, it's not so advisabl to say anything or whatever anymore.

On a side note, ppl are at the airport sending gen off while i type this post, because i checked my hp for my sms too late. anyway, even though u wun see this till u're back, nevertheless, i wish u a safe journey there! take care and hav fun!

With that i conclude my triple post in less than an hour =)

Marie's house

Well, I'm sure all of us have heard of the word mansion. But have any of us seen it first hand? I havn't, not till the night of 18th may 2007. It finally gave a physical dimension to the word mansion, which till then, had simply been a word in my dictionary.


And well, for those who want a glimpse of it, u hav to wait(i'm sorry, yiting and anyone else who are curious), because the only person who i know has pictures will fly off to chiang mai with gen and many other ppl today. so we hav to wait at least 11 days before getting pics of the mansion. so well till then then.

As for now, all u need to know is that, they have chandeliers in almost every one of the bigger rooms, over 40 paintings hung around the house, over 40 sculptures placed around the house, over 50 rooms, a lift in the house, an electronic automatic mahjong table(shuffles the tiles and everything for u), a karaoke room with over 70 000 songs(smash any kbox standards anytime), a pool table, a driveway that can easily fit more than 6 buses, and the list goes on and on. one of the bigger rooms in the house is nearly as big as my whole hdb apartment. and they hav a lot of rooms pls. oh crap.

Wait for the pics then get awestruck. lol. anyway, that whole area is like mansions all over. when we were walking in, we saw 8 cars parked in one of the mansions, some had ferrari's, some had mclaren F1s. now we know what is the extent of sg's income inequality. haha.

Full circles

Handover for astro took place two days ago, 25th may, while handover for odac took place a week ago, 18th may. And the thing about coming to the end of smthing is that it always make u think of what u've done while u were involved in it, whether u hav met ur targets, ur objectives, if u hav any at all. or at least that's for me and some of the slightly more emo ppl. the more nonchalant ones will simply be like, yay, it's over, time to move on in life.

But for these ppl, i must say, just, spare a thought, just a moment or two, and think about what u've done, what you've achieved. Most of us should be nearing the end of our terms in our ccas, or like me, hav ended our terms in our ccas. so just spend a little time, and think. what hav u done? what hav u gotten out of it? what hav u achieved? It can be anything, be it a trophy, or simply additional friendships. and think about whether it had been ur target. whether there has been any shortcomings. and learn frm ur mistakes. don't ever repeat them next time.

For me, both my terms hav not been good. but they hav not been that bad either. let's start with astro. it's a cca that's too small to hav much a credibility. i took a look at the number of j2s when i first joined astro, and decided not to join the exco, despite knowing that with nearly the whole j2 exco being my friends frm ri sci club, i was virtually guaranteed of almost any position i want in astro. my point was that the j2s who turn up for astro session were all exco, not a single member. It goes to show how sad astro is. Those who did not make it to exco are simply not bothered wif it anymore. The farewell was all exco ppl, what rubbish. What's a cca wif no members?

I wanted to change that. I had hoped that by showing that members do still turn up and help out, other members will follow suit as well. I was wrong. With the new exco selected, the remaining candidates who did not get a position, who had spoken so passionately for astro during the election speeches, simply disappeared. completely. All that they had said during those speeches were all lies. just a bunch of lies. I hope they screw up in life next time. bastards.

With that, what i hoped for was all gone. dissipated, gone. and i was left wondering why i had not simply went for a place in exco and get a pretty testimonial. but having nvr ever cared abt how gd my testimonial looks, that tot was soon gone. but it still left a lingering thought. that what i had set out for, what i had hoped to accomplish in the cca, had been a failure. and come ytd, during farewell, it was the same story as last yr's farewell. to be exact, it was even worse. the total strength of the j2s numbered 5. 4 exco and 1 member. impressive.

But at least i know i tried, and i do not hav any regrets. not so much for odac though, but the regret is on a lot more personal level, which i am not abt to reveal on this blog. I may tell closer friends, but such personal stuff do not make it onto blogs generally, so yup. what i say on this blog then, will become no regrets as well. yay.

Odac, a cca viewed by many as a tough and hard one. yet, it wasn't long after i joined odac that i realised that it was nowhere near tough. The amt of pt we hav falls far behind that of other sports grps. and furthermore, most of our trainings are on mondays, which i hav h3 physics during that time. every time i rush off to odac after h3 ends, odac ends in 5 mins time or has ended as well. so i pretty much miss out a lot on odac, since i'm the only person in odac taking h3 physics. This distanced me frm most of the core odac members, since most of my best friends in odac faded off to council, while i faded away frm the remaining due to not seeing them often. yet, i can say that i've made enuff friendships during my time in odac 22. for while the core odac members are close within themselves, there's always a grp as large as the core odac members themselves who are not close to the core odac members as well. Together, this grp forms smthing of an outsiders grp, where we are a somewhat close-knitted bunch. So, my friendships are there, and it enabled me to hav a great and fun time in odac.

Where i learned many things, especially on the australia expedition, where i saw just how much our aussie guides conserved and treasured their environment. pretty much why i took up the topic of nature and animal conservation for gp topic. This, coupled with the many other things i've learned frm odac, have enriched my life, i don't have any regrets.

And with the concluding of both ccas, it has came to the end of one whole year of exciting activities. I'll miss odac very much. But the A-levels loom. and that's one more obstacle to pass. though once that is over, amidst the fun and play and all that, it just means the end of two years of jc, and while i'm sure and hope that many friendships will be preserved, it is nevertheless still sad to be parting ways with many others.

Heck though, studying for A-level is top priority and now, those emo stuff can come later.

And i still want a house that's at least 1/10 of marie's hse. A lot of hard work still needs to be put in.

Anyway, happy bday yt and sc!

sweet 18

happy birthday yiting and shuncheng! haha sc i'd write a bdae post for u, cos u deserve it after writing so many for other pple, but i dun seem to be in a creative mood now and a suitable inspiration is eluding my compository faculties. anyway, may u have a great 18th year ahead. 1 year smarter to take on the As, 1 year more cunning to play dota, 1 year more mature to handle what life throws at you. haha yay.

well, i dint take many photos during bdae celebrations on fri, seeing as i dint really feel like it, but nvm that. ya'll just have to wait for someone who did to be feeling generous enough to upload it. Anyway, Pair of the Day.

oO BDSM....haha tsk kel

and now we explore the solubility of candy floss in water at room temperature and 1atm.

conclusion: highly soluble! IP << Ksp

now for some personal updates. haha i watched the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie this morning, it totally rox la, pwnz 2nd movie hands down. i think 3rd movie would suck too =\ anyway, much <3 for plentiful fencing, witty lines, and commitment to pirate traditions, which 1st movie had. boo to commercialism.

Elizabeth: Under the terms of parley, i wish to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal.
Barbossa: ooh plenty of long words in there, miss.
Barbossa: I am discinclined to acquiesce to your request.
Barbossa: Means no.

Saga of 6Nations - The Eaglehorn featured!

Damn. Why am I writing this the night before GP common test. Someone tell me.

I've been thinking, no one character really suits that of an archer, so I just picked one character without a fixed weapon and dumped this on him.

Bow of Alacrity
The heavy doors to the arcane vault swung open ponderously, and the blind seer passed through, at home with the surroundings. Kevlin hesitated a moment, then stepped past the threshold into the dark interior.

The vault left Kevlin awestruck. Though Kevlin had seen his share of wonders before in his life, the arcane vault was by far the most breathtaking, leaving Kevlin gaping at the countless wonders like a small child, easily overwhelmed. The vault was not completely dark as he had believed, but dimly lit by glowing, intricate runes carved upon the walls.

Kevlin shifted his gaze to a darker part of the room, and as if sensing his eyes resting upon them, dormant runes, previously hidden within the darkness, now flickered to life, bathing the surroundings in a soft glow. The vault was filled with countless wonders, powerful magical artifacts that belonged to another age. Strangely carved figurines, sleek and graceful, fascinated Kevlin, and wondrous orbs drew his gaze, but what most attracted him most was the central pedestal, and the magnificent object that rested upon it. Almost unthinkingly, he reached for it.

“Pay attention!” the seer snapped, drawing Kevlin out of his momentary daze. That phrase…not unlike a certain god I know, Kevlin thought resentfully. He's not even a god, why do I even put up with him? The seer led him closer to the centre, and Kevlin saw that the object of mention was in fact a finely crafted longbow, elegantly shaped, sleek and deadly. Intricate, flowing runes wove around the bow, arcane runes that marked the bow as a powerful magical artifact.

The seer’s fingers ran lightly over the runes, stroking them almost reverently. He intoned, “You asked for a weapon to aid you in vanquishing the Minions and the six elite Minion Guards. This is…Falconstrike. The Bow of Alacrity. Crafted by the master mage Argarus from aldurswood and dragon sinew, this will serve you well in battle…”

Kevlin recognized the name of Argarus. Renowned centuries ago as a master craftsman and wizard, it was said that he only ever created magical artifacts of great power. And aldurswood…wasn’t that the rarest type of wood, famed for its superb quality, strength, and magical properties? “Imba,” he breathed in wonder.

“…that is, if you ever manage to use it properly.”

Intrigued, Kevlin asked, “How is this bow hard to use? It’s just like any longbow, right?”

Fixing Kevlin with a stern glare (as stern as those blind eyes could manage), the seer retorted, “It’s not just any longbow. It is one of the most powerful magical weapons within our possession, and as with any power, you have to first prove yourself worthy of it. And so far, no one has yet been worthy. Not a single person has ever successfully drawn it…”

“You mean it’s so beautiful that even your best artist has been unable to reproduce on paper?” Kevlin, stung by the seer’s condescending look, bit back sarcastically.

Ignoring him, the seer continued, “…in fact, it has been prophecised that the first person ever to draw this Bow of Alacrity will…” here, he paused momentarily for effect.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Kevlin asked eagerly, “What?”

“…dislocate his shoulder,” the seer finished.

PS Yiting tell me early if you want a birthday post. Or Gerard, you can request one for her.

no time

ok i wanted to blog on odac handover one, but i got no time le. i know it's early for most of u, but it's way past my bedtime. lol. n i know i dun hav time for many many days to come, all the way till next sat or sun i think. so i shall make a filler post to remind me to do so. whee.

and i just need to get smthing off my mouth, i'm like dying to say it after getting awestruck by its sheer imbaness since friday night.

After seeing marie's hse, i think rjc is small.

Enuff said =)

Zomg

Omgwtfbbq