Monday, 28 February 2005

直した作文...

Juan is to avoid doing 作文 late at night when half-asleep.... There really is a correlation between the time I do them and the coherence of the essay.... Well, here they are, after corrections...

『私の好きなアニメの登場人物』
私の一番好きなアニメ キャラクタ-は、「十二国記」の楽俊です。声優は鈴村健一さnです。楽俊は、半獣です。大抵大きいグレイの色の毛がある鼠が現れていますが、若い人間の男に変わることもできます。楽俊は、頭がよくて、優しいです。鼠のときは、とてもかわいいです!



『私の昼ごはん』
私は大抵大学の食堂で友達と話しながら昼ごはんを食べます。でも、時間がないとき、勉強しながら食事します。いつも科学部の食堂で食べています。いろいろな食べ物があるし、食べ物も安いし、それでにぎやかです。少し不便ですが、しかたがありません。


『本屋で友達になりました』
先学期、ポ-プラ-本屋で買い物していたとき、知らない人に会いました。二人の女の人は本を探していましたから、私たちは話を始めました。それから、みんなは同じ趣味だと分かりました。それで、電話番号を交換して、友達になりました。今尚、時々連絡しています。


『50年後...』
50年後、私は緑が多い国に住もうと思っています。広いし、静かな所はすばらしいと思います。でも、未来の世界はもっと汚染されているになっていすと思いますから、この夢は、多分無理です。それで、今から地球の大自然を守りたいと思っています。
Click for the rambling...

Sunday, 27 February 2005

3-in-1 update...

Disclaimer: The following is probably the longest single entry I have ever made on the blog....

[Thursday-Howl's Moving Castle]
Yay!!! Finally managed to catch the movie with Kemin and Mingxian ^^ Plus when we came out, we met Weiwen and his friend who were going to catch the next one! Think it is a pretty neat animation adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' book of the same title... Had taken her story and transformed it into a Ghibli version of it ^^ Tho' one would probably fully enjoy it only if one had read the book before hand. I like the Howl in the anime much better than the wuss (yes, he really is one!) that is protrayed in the book... heehee... No more details from me since I don't want to spoil it for those who have yet to catch it! (I do recommend reading the book first....

I like Jones' style of storytelling, tho' she REALLY likes convoluted plots... Especially when her targeted audience are "older readers" (whatever that means...) The first book or hers that I read was Hexwood, and boy was that storyline mindboggling!! But that in itself was an appeal, and everything just suddenly fell into place in the last few chapters ^^ It's like trying to puzzle out a jigsaw puzzle when all you had were the most obscure bits, then you suddenly uncovered all the corners and edges.... Wants to look for the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air to read.....


[Friday-Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve]
To start of with, silly Juan forgot to bring the digicam that Juan borrowed from Watson, so no photos to show... Gomen ne... Anyway, the afternoon was really hot and humid *perspired the afternoon away* The recent dry spell didn't do the mangrove swamp any good... We went around high tide but the areas nearer the visitor centre were all pretty much dried out... Poor mangrove... Seems like the light rain on Thursday didn't help much... We saw lotsa plants *duh* Quite a few episesarmine crabs at the Kranji broadwalk area, some herons plus another species of bird we could not identify, and a couple of monitor lizards... Poor Leonard got ticked off by our TA, Sean, for being such a photography enthusiast... Time was really limited, so we didn't walk around much, and honestly speaking, saw REALLY little of SBWR *hefty sigh* Took our quiz (Yay!! No report dued!!) and were soon on our way back to NUS... Compared to the last fieldtrip to Labrador, this was rather dull... Anyway, next on the schedule is Pulau Tioman in 2 weeks' time!! (Just after *most* of my CAs...)


[Satuday-Gen12ii Mass Training @ Foochow Methodist Church]
Mom talked to Dad about the trip.... He didn't outright oppose (which is really very good!) tho' he did comment on crime rates in Tokyo... Am still keeping fingers crossed....

Really rainy day... Been such a long time since we had such wet weather! Met most of my team-mates for the very 1st time since we kinda had a team meeting before the mass training.... Quite a number of us are taking/took Japanese ^^ Zhizhen is doing Japanese 6 now! So amazing.... Well, we definitely would find out more about each other over the next few months as we prepare for the trip, as well as go for the trip itself ^^ Altogether, there are 13 of us going to Tokyo... Victor is the staff for our team, while Bixia is with the Nagoya team. Oh yeah, Victor started a team blog (yes, there is gonna be a link on the right) on the Gen12ii webbie, so there would be more general web updates for the team there, as well as my own personal updates here.

There's gonna be another team meeting after the support raising session next Saturday, and we would be assigning roles. By then, we should also have prepared our personal objectives for the trip (after prayer and waiting upon the Lord). Oh boy oh boy oh boy.... Support raising.... Sounds (and feels) very daunting to me.... This is probably a pretty large step of faith for me.... Shan't worry about where the money is gonna come from... Jehovah Jireh, He will provide....

p/s. If anyone is interested in either prayer or financial support, do drop me a note! Thank you!
Click for the rambling...

Saturday, 26 February 2005

Quiz: Anime eye color....



Purple! You have purple eyes! You're a dreamer,
artist, poet, whatever. You enjoy all forms of
art and literature, and tend to be quite good
at creating them as well.


What Color Are Your Anime Eyes?
brought to you by Quizilla
Click for the rambling...

Wednesday, 23 February 2005

James 4:1-10

From where do wars and fightings among you come? Is it not from this, from your lusts which war in your members? You desire, and do not have. You murder, and are jealous, and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts.

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever desires to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us yearns to envy? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones. Be afflicted, and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Be humbled before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
[MKJV, e-Sword]

I think the Lord really wants me to understand and remember these verses well.... I just did them while preparing for this week's PCGM, and then I turn to today's devotion for Soul Journey, and what do i see? The devotion for the day is James 4:7-10!! LOL... But it does serve as a timely reminder to be constantly onguard against temptations, and to continuously draw near to God. To trust in Him and to just give everything unto him, and to rely on Him. Even more so when we consider the world today, and what is allowed and tolerated....

In light of this, I was also updating my copy of e-Sword, and discovered all the little add-ons that are available (thanks Rick Meyer, and your supporting team!) that include commentaries and dictionaries, on top of the various versions of the Bible that are available ^^ I got the traditional chinese Bible as well, but there wasn't one for japanese... Oh well... guess I have to make do with the one I got off Bible Gateway... except that it has no furigana, so I need to have my kanji dictionary on hand when I read it...

Things to look forward to:
(1) Howl's Moving Castle opens in Singapore tmr!! Gonna catch it with a couple of friends from Japanese language class ^^
(2) LSM3251 fieldtrip to Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve on Friday
(3) 1st Gen12ii mass training and meeting of team-mates on Saturday
Click for the rambling...

Monday, 21 February 2005

Adventures with Microfilm II

疲れた!! Just spent the whole day looking at more microfilms..... *sigh* starting to hate the essay..... being in a dimly lit room for hours in a row just does things to u, ok? anyway, *think* i managed to squeeze out enough stuff for me essay... *keeps fingers crossed* since the microfilm room was just filled w fellow desperados (for singaporean perceptions... not anything else), did manage to make 4 new frens ^^ LOL, desperation just brings pple together, doesn't it?

as i already mentioned, old newspapers are really a lot of fun to read, but definitely (oi~ fansubs, when can u get the spelling of "definitely" correct?!?) not when u have a couple of other projects, tonnes of stuff to study for mid-terms, and have the essay dued in a week's time..... real interesting reading the news as if it is a textbook, and the adverts of companies that are still ard today (HMV, mitsubishi, klim....) is just as amusing (tho' the novelty does wear off after a while)

the microfilm photocopier is pretty nifty! tho' kinda costly at 40 cents per piece.... i now have 12 plus bucks worth of soon-to-be rough paper.... whoppee~~

nvmind me.... just tired, hungry and frustrated... guess that means it is time to go home since anything else i try to do wld be counter-productive....
Click for the rambling...

作文 - 『わたしは好きなアニメのどう場人物』

わたしの一番好きなアニメ カラクタは、『十二国記』の楽俊です。声優は鈴村健一さんです。楽俊は、半獣です。大抵、大きグレイの色の毛がある鼠は現れ出りますが、若い人間の男も化せます。楽俊は、頭がよくて、優しいです。鼠ときは、とてもかわいいです!


Click for the rambling...

Friday, 18 February 2005

Eye can see ^^

Pun in title is INTENDED!

My eye infection is clearing up pretty nicely ^^ 今、左のは痛くないの。 よかった! すぐ元気になります。 Seems like all the various medications are working nicely. The swelling is going away and now I am no longer irritated with my eye (except that it itches once in a while). Good thing too, since I need to be viewing microfilms in a dimly lit room....

Term break just round the weekend, and I so much catching up to do... Oh no!! *takes deep breath* Would be meeting Mun to do our 2 physio projects, need to finish up SS essay, prepare stats "cheat-sheets" for mid-terms, mug for mid-terms.... Guess catching STUDIO GHIBLI's Howl's Moving Castle wld be the only leisure activity I can plan for.... Walling and changing blog layout needs to wait....

BTW, I have been assigned to the Tokyo team for Gen12ii.... (Japan here I come!!!) Do keep me in prayer, as I haven't told my dad about this and I really don't know how he would take it.... My mom has been convinced but may or may not change her mind....
Click for the rambling...

Thursday, 17 February 2005

Adventures with Microfilm I

1st time using microfilms since after Sec 1 or 2... I can't remember how to use the machine so I had to enlist the help of the pple who were already happily viewing their articles.... Also need to learn how to operate the one with the photocopier attached しかたがないの。。。Need to look at Singapore newspapers from the 1930s for me SS essay...

LOL... Only had time to go thru part of the Singapore Nippo, a weekly newspaper that ran from 1938-1939 before I had to go for Japanese lecture (Hey! I skipped my GEM lecture to do this!!) The only catch about that shinbun was that it was generally about Japan related news... I guess it was to keep the Japanese in Singapore updated with the happenings of their home countries (but then why is it in english?!?) It has quite a bit [of propaganda] on Sino-Nippon relations and happenings, such as the good deeds that the Japanese were doing in various parts of China etc. Pretty much filled with pro-Japanese stuff (as expected) Pretty interesting and useful if I am a JS major (that I am NOT) but otherwise quite irrelevant to my assignment qns... There were a whole bunch of interesting adverts tho', like the one about Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd as the sole importer of condensed milk (Is this the same Mitsubishi company that is so widespread today?)

I only managed to scan thru' Jan-Mar 1939... Will go thru' the rest of the microfilm tmr after TC I guess.... Then will try my hand at some of the other ones available... Hopefully I can get enough data to at least get started on the essay....

Guess I would be having a running commentary on me using microfilms so do bear with me ^^ This whole thing abt microfilms is getting me frazzled, and I think I have a little over a wk to finish this....
Click for the rambling...

2nd trip down to UHWC

Oh well, after all that bugging from me mom, I finally made a trip down to YIH to see the doctor.... 20 min waiting time, 5 min consultation by Dr Chua (the nice doctor who saw to my ankle the last time), another 20 min wait for medication.... Guess that's pretty short when you compare that with non-emergency cases in the polyclinics.... What is it about medical care and waiting times? There forever seems to be a shortage of doctors (or at least GPs) wherever you go.... I generally don't like seeing doctors.... No particular reason. I just don't like it. However, it seems like this 2nd year in NUS is plagued by health/medical problems... *sigh* But it is a good thing that consultation and the common medications are FOC for undergrads ^^

Speaking of which, I have to take THREE kinds of medications for me eye infection!! Oral antibiotics (tetracycline) in the form of capsules, chloramphenicol eye drops, as well as chloramphenicol eye ointment (that keeps coming out of the tube non-stop, just like UHU glue)... Boy, can just one eye be such a troublesome handful! BTW, pls don;t self medicate based on the stuff I got, do see a doctor if you ever get an eye infection!!

*hefty sigh* NOT looking fwd to the long day ahead of me..... but at least my eye is not as painful any more ^^
Click for the rambling...

Tuesday, 15 February 2005

CNY blues....

the chinese new year celebrations are still *kinda* going on.... and of course there wld be the usual visiting of friends and relatives, and the munching of goodies ^^ i managed to keep my voice but think i still didn't drink enough water. got too heaty and now i have a swollen left eye kinda started swealling on sun afternoon... and now it is bloated.... doesn't help that it hurts when i blink, and makes my eye super dry.... *grumbles* need to drink more water... do hope this clears up before thursday, or else i need to take measures to survive the day...

actually missed the ss lecture this morning since i felt (and still feeling) grumpy... really dun feel like going for any lessons at all but have another 2 tutorials later... and since attendance counts as part of my grading..... guess i shld start on learning jap vocab for the quiz later (wat is it abt the ~て おきます thing in L30?!?) all the public hols this sem are really messing up the studying tempo....

need to go on a printing spree soon.....
Click for the rambling...

Monday, 7 February 2005

Black Jack TV

Just found out about this anime, and I think it is pretty nifty. ^^ It's the ongoing remake of the 1993 (i think) series, and is based on the manga by Tezuka Osamu (think he was also known for the creation of astroboy, and boy does the art look similar!) Not watching it because of the brilliant art or CG, but the very human themes that are brought out. Black Jack is a reknowned unlicensed surgeon (dun ask me how he has NOT been arrested in spite of being so prominent), and a kinda Robin Hood of the medical world. Since it IS a fictitious world, the medical scenarios that are featured are well, outrageous at times. Curing tuberculosis by operating?!? An IV needle tip (at least 2-3cm in length) circulating round the veins, heart and lungs without puncturing anything?!? Come on! The perseverance of the human spirit is what makes this anime warm my heart. Black Jack does do things in a rather gruff manner but ultimately, he still tries to remind others what it is to be human. Plus, whenever he changes into his surgical attire with such flourish, I can't help but snigger at how cheesy it is ^^ Oh well, at least this is quite a change from the usual run-of-the-mill shoujo/shounen animes....

Click for the rambling...

Friday, 4 February 2005

Choice...

Just read this in my email, it was fwded by Joyce.... I really think it is a really useful food for thot ^^
==========================================

Now I fully understand God's love. The Love He has cannot even be measured with eternity. I hope you all understand what this story/play is about. I pray that understanding dawns within you as well. Be really thankful for what is done for you. May God find your heart. God bless.


Narrator:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. One by one, starting from day and night to water and earth, to plants and animals, God made them all and said they were good. On the day God created man........

(God was busy making Adam from the dust of the ground. Seeing one of His angels aproaching, He looks up and seemed pleased)

GOD:
Look at all the creatures I have created. Are they not good? And the universe,the stars and the skies. Are they not beautiful?

ANGEL:
Yes, they are. Truly Magnificent.

GOD:
Look at this creature. (pointing at Adam/man He is creating) He will be different. All the universe will obey me and love me. They will reflect My glory because that is how they are created to do. But this one will be like me. He will have this.

(God reached within Himself and remove something unseen)

GOD:
This is called CHOICE.

ANGEL:
Choice?? (sounding afraid) But.... but what if he choose not to love?

GOD:
Come, I will show you. The fruit of choice is bitter and sweet.

(God makes a sweeping motion and what the angel saw amazed and impressed him)

GOD:
What do you see?

ANGEL:
I see spontaneous love, voluntary devotion, chosen tenderness. There is laughter everywhere and people are so joyful!! Heaven has never seen such beauty. Truly this is Your greatest creation.

GOD:
Yes, but this is only the sweet part of choice. This is the other side.

(God makes another sweeping motion. What the angel saw shocked and disgust him)

ANGEL:
Lord, I see wars and, suffering, and rotten hearts!!!! Is this the result of choice also?

GOD:
Yes.

ANGEL:
They will forget you?

GOD:
Yes.

ANGEL:
They will reject you??

GOD:
Yes.

ANGEL:
They will never come back?

GOD:
Some will. Most won't.

ANGEL:
What will make them listen???

(God looks at the angel and was silent. Understanding dawns and the angel was horrified)

ANGEL:
NO!! It cannot be!! How can you send Jesus down there, to die a horrible,painful and humiliating death?!? To be beaten up and then crucified, and hung on the cross. So much pain and suffering!! Is there no other way,Lord??

GOD:
No.

ANGEL:
There has to be another way!!! What if You don't plant the seed of choice?? Wouldn't that be easier?? Please tell me there is another way!!

GOD:
There is no other way. I cannot take away choice. Take away choice, and you take away Love. Robots cannot love. Even if they do, it will because they have to. Not because they want to. That is not real love. It will be less painful, but it wouldn't love.


Narrator:
The angel leaves, feeling sadness. God looks at His clay creation. Love swells up within Him and He bends over the clay form, and breathes into it.

God had a choice to put the seed of choice in man. And He chose to. He knew that He will lose us and yet created us. The most beautiful of all is that He gave us a choice to love Him back, because He first loved us.

That choice cost Him a lot. It cost Him His Son.

Man had chosen to sin and was separated from God. And God knew from the beginning, that the only way to bring us back to Him was to send His ONLY Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us.

The choice is ours. Have there been times where you doubt God's power? Surely, if He was the God who made the heavens and the earth, how could He allow my friend to die? How could He allow millions to starve every night? Isn't God supposed to be the Almighty?

Let's stop blaming God and blame ourselves. He spared not even himself to save us.
Click for the rambling...