Tuesday, January 30, 2007

A not-so-short story

After so many attempts to find a professor who can help us with our statistical results from the SPSS, we finally found a kind soul - the current Research Method (RM) lecturer who took over from our previous lecturer. He is the lecturer of one of my FYP mates, CW, when he took RM a sem after WJ and I.
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This professor is a South Korean (sorry, he doesn't look like the actors you see in weepy Korean soap opera). He came to give WJ and I a lecture when the previous lecturer was on leave and seriously, we did not have a good impression of him because of how he made us keep quiet during the lecture.
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And 2 sem passed. WJ and I had never seen him again after that lecture which left us feeling irritated.
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It was after two attempts to schedule for an appropriate time to visit him in the office that we finally get to see him. We won't blame him of course, we are asking him for a favour. He did not have to make time for us since we are not his FYP students. What touched us more was that he sent sms personally to CW at about 5am in early morning to reschedule the meeting. He certainly did not wait till his office hour to help students.
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Walking up to his office at the scheduled time, we heard voices behind closed door. Someone speaking in lightly-accented English and voices of 2 girls in local accent. I quipped that it was like hearing Rain speaks English. CW went to knock on his door to make our presence known and he came back to to tell us what he saw from the slightly opened door. He said Prof no longer spot black hair! While waiting for him to finish his consultation with the 2 girls, we heard familiar terms - ANOVA, t-test and blah blah... All statistical terms. I bet he must be really busy this sem as almost all groups using SPSS will seek his help since the previous lecturer had left.
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I think I am too shock to say anything after seeing him close-up in office. Er... yes, his hair is dyed a copper tone and he must have traded his ah-chek style specs for a more youthful looking one. He looked so different from what I remember of him giving us lecture more than a year ago. He was so "uncle" then (if Prof Nam ever sees this, please forgive me! you really look more up-to-date now! I mean it).
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I think he gave the most effective and efficient consultation that I have ever had. He pointed out our mistakes and told us the reasons for them in like, no time? The best part was, he knew what we are doing without prior involvement in our research. And we understood his explanation! It was so to-the-point. So effortless on his part! It is either that we are too dumb or he is too clever. We were done in less than 15 min, with all doubts cleared, at least for now.
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Because of his excellent explaining ability and utmost willingness to help his students (even those that he doesn't even know), he becomes my idol. I aspire to be like him when I teach my students. Thank you so much, Prof Inwoo Nam! You are definitely one of the few lecturers on my "this prof knows how to teach" list.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Prince playing




Prince knows exactly when his dinner time is.

At 6pm sharp (or sometimes 5 to 10 min earlier depending on whether he has a snack before that), he will play with his little blue ball to signal that it's time to give him dinner. He will take the ball around the living room while his dinner is being prepared and get very excited when he hears the sound of the spoon banging against his food bowl. When dinner is finally taken out of the kitchen, he will carry his blue ball all the way to where his bowl is and dropped it beside him.

Here's a clip of his little dance around the living room before dinner.

Friday, January 26, 2007

The most intriguing movie of 2006

Forget about Fear Factors, Survivor, Project Runways and The Apprentice etc etc. Now the most IN reality show is Mockumentary.

Watch BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN before the movie stops running in local cinemas and you won't find a DVD release because of its R21 rating.

You will find out how people learn to be politically-correct while they remain racist subconsciously.

*you may find the content on YouTube offensive, viewer's discretion required*




Tuesday, January 23, 2007

My Wishlist (if you really want to know)

Gnibis asked if I have a wishlist for that special day this year. Err... I haven't thought of that. It's not my style to go around telling everyone and making everyone remembers it. It does not even sound like me if I were to ask you for something. I believe in earning whatever I want by myself. And because of well, the practical part of me, sometimes I wish someone had given me something that I can use instead.
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So if you want to ask me the same question again I will tell you that my wish list goes like this:
1) Health, laughter and peace for my family, friends and those that I know
2) Graduate with a decent degree this July
3) Start my career, not just a job
4) Have more friends joining me for arts performances
5) Have at least an accompany for a semi-backpacking trip this year
6) Share my passion for books and Chinese language with the big and small kids I teach
7) No major disaster this year
8) World peace

Random thoughts

I guess this semester will come and go so quickly that I didn't even take notice of it.
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In 3 months time, I will be released into a larger community called SOCIETY and I am expected to perform my duties as an educated and efficient member of the workforce. To quote Ian, who is teaching Global Marketing Stategies this semester, the "unsuspecting public" thought we know everything that we need to know. Yes, EVERYTHING. But do we really do?
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3 years seem so short, let alone 3 months.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

The 4I'2001 CO Gang aka My Best Friends/Classmates

The 4I'2001 CO gang at Wisma Atria on 5th January 2007


The 4I'2001 CO gang, comprises of 4 cellists and a erhu'ist. Odd combi, right? I think this is our first photo taken together after so many years. I guess little has changed except that we all spot longer hair now and perhaps pile on more weight (I am refering to yours truly here).
This dinner is long overdue. Hence we have to celebrate 3 birthdays together in a night for Lingwei the Nov baby, Lijia the Dec baby and Liwei our 大姐大 who just had her birthday on 3rd Jan. The Ajisen ramen left us feeling so full but yet helped us save some money with no GST and service charge. We should visit this ramen restaurant more often.
I hope the 3 girls are all happy with their presents which were bought with much coordination. Think of this - the 4 of us have to buy Liwei's present without her knowing, then 4 of us must buy present for Lijia without her knowing and Lingwei must not know about her present too. Liwei and I were panicking when we were supposed to meet at an earlier time to get Lijia and Lingwei's present but Lijia suddenly messaged us to say that she was at the train station already haha.