rey's ramblings

Absolute Freedom.

YES. so begins the 2 and a half months break, which will probably be the longest
break i ever have in my whole polytechnic life because the break after second year
is used for Industrial Training Programme, otherwise known as our attachment
phase and well, technically after year 3 its graduation! probably also holidays then
but it'll be leading up to national service. oh man. which i don't even really want to
think about for now. its a looong way from here.

anyway, what to do for this extended break? i've already got a guideline of things
to-do because i really do not want to waste the time away this holidays. it's too much
to waste!

Start training rockclimbing more often, since i've so much time
Practise parkour! (otherwise known as free running to the uninitiated)
but be careful not to break any bones though...
catch up on whatever movies, tv shows i haven't caught yet!
and just to sidetrack a bit here, these are the tv series im following now--
battlestar galactica season 1
alias season 4
heroes season 2, at ep 7
prison break, season 2
grey's anatomy season 3
and really a lot lot more... i'm still thinking on whether to continue on lost season 3
cos i heard a lot of people and reviews claiming that season 4's way better.
i'm also thinking of embarking on 24 but that would be almost 7 seasons ahead of me.
like wow. seriously, thank God for american tv programming. it's ridiculously good man.

movies-wise, probably some stuff from previous years i havent caught yet and some of
this year's oscars stuff.. can't wait to catch sweeney todd and no country for old men cos
i heard they are really really good and which brings me to another point.

great news! im turning 18 real soon! which means i can catch the abovementioned flicks
without having to think twice. plus i'm still planning what to do for my 18th birthday... it's
definitely got to be bigger and more exciting than previous years though!

last of all, i've just got this great offer from a marketing agency offering $16.50 for an hour.
yeah, it dropped my jaw as much. im still checking up on it but i heard you can even work
part-time as well although they dont pay by the hour but more like the hours you work
per assignment. anyone from poly interested, just stay tuned! cos i heard they're expanding
as well.

as an afterthought, i may want to start learning how to drive. still, i'm not so sure after all
the government seems really REALLY intent on making private transport just annoyingly
expensive for all of us. just like burning a hole in your wallet with all the taxes etc etc.
so i may reconsider for now, probably not so soon. any opinions on whether i should take
up motorcycle though? i know there isn't a really good image to it and it's very accident-prone
but the latter's really largely to do with reckless or drunk-driving, which God forbid i'll
never ever do if i ever take it up. because bike expenses have pretty much held stable
and i just think taking up a car is really not a smart thing to do for now considering one's
financial status + everyday morning/evening gridlock + taxes + i haven't even considered
how i'm going to get a car, excluding my dad's of course. so really, it's probably either a bike
or nothing til my 20s for now.

anyway, went for dinner with bharathi after the exam today at ajisen ramen ps. haha,
well i met thrishna also because they went for tuition after that at novena. not to forget
that thrishna's soya milk leaked all over the train floor before they got off, haha.

anyway, time to get some sleep first!

reynard!

I crossed the bridge at 9:48 PM

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

That spark!

Simply had to blog about how amazing today was!

Had my econs paper today at 2 and although i was pretty confident before
going to bed the night before, in the few hours leading up to the exam this
morning, i guess i got what is commonly referred to as a mental block and
i was suddenly struggling to remember even some basic concepts. so i kinda
panicked for a moment and furthermore getting on the train there i knew i would
be late, probably missing the reading time of 10 minutes.

so with stress level at a certain peak, i decided to do something which i, ashamedly
enough, hardly do before going for an exam. i prayed. yup and as i rushed into the
exam hall and sat down, i really felt relieved because the concepts started coming
back simply by reading the questions. even the final question, which was based on
the final chapter - int'l finance, which i hardly studied for (to give you a rough idea
about it, i was looking through the chapter on the train) was doable. at first, i
just stared at the question reading it over and over again then suddenly the answer
just came to me like a spark of inspiration. and although later checking with others
i dont think i'd gotten the full marks for that question but my inspired answer which
i really don't know where it came from since i didn't study the balance of payments
concept had at least the basic fundamental answer correct.

i guess it's also probably partly to do with the fact that macroeconomics concepts are
somewhat interlinked all over but i really believe that God gave me that spark and
also, a paper which was really a great relief than the disaster i'd initially expected!

yep, God is really tangible in ways most unexpected. and i believe there's still a lot
more room for faith to be had in our everyday lives man!

anyway, was at acer service center after the exam to collect back my laptop and its
ever-faulty display. i was quite bored while waiting, so guess what i tried and managed
to do? i did some sort of free running by leaping over the railing at the wheelchair ramp
outside. wooo! too bad there wasn't anyone to take a video. haha. anyway, one more paper!

reinvention.

reynard(:

I crossed the bridge at 11:13 PM

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Today felt very global.

yup. somehow i don't really know why. from the international speaker at
expo to lunch at changi airport. haha i guess its just me. somehow i really like
that indescribable 'overseas' feeling i guess its not uncommon especially when
living in singapore, you go to the same places and see the same things all the time
so often that its difficult for nostalgia to set in unless you go away for a long while.

anyway, went to city harvest exclusively for the guest speaker a.r. bernard who
had a really inspirational sermon. despite being the foremost religious leader in
new york and one of the most influential people there, with multiple committee
roles in their economic and social development board, being a religious advisor to
various political leaders like the clintons, fortune 500 ceos whilst also being the
senior pastor of the biggest church there, he hardly came across as distant and
his message was easily relatable to.

he started off with an introduction to how human civilization was already developed
early on in Genesis from cain's descendants having built some of the basic blocks of
society but due to adam's sin, that whatever we develop can never be of a truly divine nature.but that for each and every one of us God has a plan that he'll work through
someone else to bring you closer to Him, so that you can be redeemed and shine in your respective vocation in the world whether it be in politics, economics, entertainment,
education, the arts etc. so that in turn, you can bring others to him. and the devil
will always try to break this cycle by attempting to isolate us from others both spiritually
and physically.so we should never be complacent when it comes to things like fellowship,
bonding, forming new friendships or simply your relationship with others and to bring
friends to Christ.the devil is always on the lookout to plant thoughts to isolate us from
experiences with other people and hence with God.by constantly walking with God and
having fellowship with others, we'll continue that cycle that God has formed by showing
his unconditional love for us by having his only Son to die for us on the Cross. and in so
doing, he gave each and every one of us the equal chance to be redeemed no matter the
sins we've committed.

i'll very clearly remember this anecdote he used. "why do people create junkyards? so
that even rubbish can be kept in one place in order for junk collectors who see another
use for those pieces of junk to purchase it. similarly, the Earth is like one big junkyard and
God is the junk collector who is even willing to make a purchase for us no matter how
insignificant or useless we're in other people's eyes because he sees the redemptive
value in each and every one of us."

and thus we should continue to strengthen our connection with God and our fellow
brothers and sisters so that we'll make it increasingly difficult for the devil to make a
breakthrough.because the devil is always looking for ways to encourage us to forgo
fellowship in favour of even the most simplest of distractions sometimes especially
when we've risen to or are in pursuit of positions of power, success and wealth.

yup. it was really inspirational. to the point that I could actually recall all this.
admittedly, i hardly remember most sermons in such detail, haha. of course this
is still a summarized version, haha.

[edit] i was doing my one-year bible today and this verse came across to me
Matthew 18:3 - Then he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins
and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven"
it suddenly reminded me of the sermon earlier and when a.r. bernard recalled
when he was still a jew and working as a banker. his hardworking secretary at
that time would place a bible reading every morning without fail on his desk, which
at that time he found very annoying. but the thing was that he could never get over
her simple child-like faith in her God, which eventually prompted him to find out more
about Christ and hence converted him. it's amazing how God has all these message for
us if we look carefully enough!

anyway, met with bharathi, rina and saran for lunch at changi airport burger king
after the service because they were doing some chingay fund raising thing nearby. for
cip hours of course, lol.still haven't taken a step into T3 yet! planning to do so during
my holidays.any takers?hahaha.we didn't have the time to cos they had to rush off
to return the donation bags!yup.anyway, i've been trying to study econs.a bit
of distractions here and there though.but felt like blogging.anyway, i'll be back
after exams!=)

reynard!

P.S. forgot to mention how funny it was when bharathi commented on my name being
derived from raymond and bernard.loll.first time i've heard that x)

i'll still be waiting man, until who knows when.
maybe even until the end.
giving up other chances. probably. but hey, it could be worth the leap of faith.

I crossed the bridge at 11:18 PM

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Study, study, study, study...

In an effort to keep things not so boring around here, I've decided to update
on the situation of my exams. Yes! A somewhat boring and mundane issue
but nevertheless...

So far, the Management and Organizational Behavior test and critical reasoning
skills essay (a cheaper version of GP) are over. yay. so really all i have left are
huge 40% weightage statistics, (macro)economics and accounting exams that
i'm trying to study for now. accounting is quite a nightmare because out of a one
year syllabus, we don't really have a clear idea of which topics will be tested.
somewhat similar to the MOB nightmare in which only 10 MCQ and 1 structured
essay question was tested out of the whole syllabus, although that was only half a
year and the content was very understandable. so what to study in poa?! no idea.
oh no.

but i'm sure i'll somehow get through that. econs is somewhat relatively easier and
well, so is stats but i should really learn to speed up in the stats exams because that's
a major weakpoint for me! argh.

okay, but anyway i'll just do the studying and leave the rest to God! (:

oscar nominations are out! yeah, i do somehow always like these awards ceremonies
because they feature some really really good movies, most of them being arthouse,
that the majority of audiences nowadays don't watch. not that i find anything wrong with blockbusters. some are definitely still excellent stuff, although that being said, some are
pretty much crap. well, there's really a reason why some of these awards season movies
are a lot more inaccessible than blockbusters but you've got to take that some of these
films really have either amazing stories and ideas relevant to everyday life or modern
culture that make you think and reflect or just top-notch acting and filming sometimes.
which i hope more of us can start to appreciate man. haha well it does take some effort
to drag ourselves to watch the kind of films we usually don't but yeah i think it's always important to have a more active mind and being globally aware is quite important nowadays
as our world keeps shrinking eh? and besides some of these movies are actually a lot
easier to understand or appreciate than most people would think. i do find it hard to slot in
time for them though, but i've got a pretty big term break coming up (:

so somehow i really really hope that stupid writers strike (which has stalled like most of
our favorite tv shows and movies!) will end soon so that they can actually get on with
the 80th academy awards on feb 24. which for once i can actually, probably, watch the live, unedited telecast in the morning. something i've never been able to do recently because i
always have school around that time? yeah. which reminds me:
2 and a half months holiday beginning on feb 1! =D

and for once, i dont have school on my 18th! birthday too (:

woohoo. yeahhh i simply cannot wait man (:

this was taken uh 3 years ago? and i was trying to wink. lol.

[edit]
oh man, heath ledger just found dead in his nyc apartment.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22788914/?GT1=7701
that's pretty darn sad alright, he's only 28.
the guy's a talented actor in my opinion. and probably a lot of other people's opinions too,
fellow stars and other normal human beings alike. i guess everyone will probably want to
catch his 'final' performance as the psychopath villian The Joker in The Dark Knight this summer now, probably the most anticipated movie this year if i'm not wrong??
(not that everyone wasn't gonna watch it already anyway huh!)

nice poster! it looks rather freaky though.

reynard(:

I crossed the bridge at 1:15 PM

Monday, January 07, 2008

Say you'll wait for me.

Sorry guys! I've been mostly busy although sometimes procrastinating about actually
getting down to blog. I know it isn't an excuse though! Partially, I've been experiencing
a brain drain in terms of anything literary. I kind of don't really know what to write or
say although my brain is very much alive still and I do have many thoughts about all
things personal, public and global! It's just that i can't really think of how to say it.
Anyway look, my blog's starting to grow mold around the edges already!

Oh wells, in the meantime a very Happy New Year to all and enjoy 2008 yeah? Loads
of good stuff coming up soon!

Stay tuned after my exams (which are like OH CRAP near) that end on Feb 1st! =)

~rrrrey

I crossed the bridge at 5:35 PM

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