Guess the times that I post really long posts are, more often than not, rants... and this entry is gonna be abt the past 2 days, kinda in chronological order...
-St John's Island-Went to collect the week06 batch of blocks with Wai yesterday. Met Danwei at the lab as well, so the 3 of us went to catch the ferry in Danwei's mom's car ^^ Other than the fact that Juan here only got 2.5 hours of sleep, going to NUS early in the morning was nice and peaceful... The ferry ride was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that I had my dose of seaspray and some sun after 2 weeks of being nicely bundled up, and the wonderful sight of Singapore's rather crowded seas again... The morning started out pretty nicely... Great sun, great breeze... However, Wai forgot to take weights from the dive store, so we kinda wasted a little time waiting for Danwei to come down some... This meant that we missed the 12nn TMSI ferry back, so had to catch the 14.45h Sentosa-Kusu-St John's ferry... This wasn't too bad, esp since we were also helping Danwei move his clams out onto the reef just off the breakwaters... Being the only diver, was scampering up and down the breakwater carrying giant clams of varying sizes (and weights), all the while feeling more like a mountain goat than a human... Definitely did my fair share or exercise yesterday... Had lunch, swabbed my samples, went to the jetty and slept for like 30 min on the benches since we were abt an hour early for the ferry... Boy, I really could get used to some regular island living... if not for the fact that I am still a student... Then we caught the ferry...
Here's when the day started turning crummy... The ferry ride was really long... an hour plus, since we had to stop at Kusu for a while, plus the seats weren't very comfy, making sleeping really awkward... Then there was the part that we were kinda heading 'into' the rain... Meaning that it was raining pretty badly in Singapore... Reached Sentosa, thankfully the ticket prices were still 9 bucks per person, and not the 11 bucks that Wai thought they were... With all the stuff that we were carrying, catching a cab from the ferry terminal was the best choice, so off to the taxi pickup point we went... Were overjoyed when we saw a can already there... It was a limousine one and the cabbie said he didn't wanna take us... prob the sight of us w all our 'barang' and looking very un-tourist-like in tee and shorts (snobbish bugger) Neither of us took down the can number, so no official complaint... Anyways, it being an official taxi stand, there was a location code to call when we dialed a cab, did that and cab 7408U was to arrive in 5-8 min.... 3 min later, our cabbie called saying he was at the taxi stand and he couldn't find us... On the other hand, the two of us couldn't see him at all, and he wasn't being helpful at all by going on and on and on about how cars CANNOT drive in... Aargh... we were at the taxi-pickup point next to the ferry terminal bus stop so vehicles CAN come in... Tried to tell him that, and told him to follow the signs over but he still didn't appear after another 10 min or so, thus we tried our luck again... And Wai realises that her hp is wonky... No sound at all, so she calls on my phone, this time using the operator instead of the areacode thing, and we got another cab... Same thing kinda happened since he also called... But at least this time around he had enough sense to figure out that he might be on the wrong side of the ferry terminal and he actually came over to look for us, instead of looping ard that same wrong side of the terminal (which is what I suspect the first cabbie of doing) WAsted quite a bit of time with thie cab escapade of ours, and we were both feeling kinda cranky...
Reached NUS ard 17.30h (I think)... Unloaded stuff, washed down gear etc. Went to check mail and CORS, and suddenly realised that we couldn't bid for our LSM42xxs since we are technically still in Year 3, so off go 2 emails to LSOC... Which leads on to today...
-CORS woes-Went to NUS to hand in my form for payment as a junior mentor, as well as to check up on the appeals situation... Doesn't help that the LSOC pple send short replies that do not directly answer concerns clearly... Meaning a series of frustrating emails and a quick visit downstairs when Wai arrived... Seems like the ruling makes it impossible for me to "swap" my Year 3 Semester 2 and Year 4 Semester 1 around since I need to finish ALL my LSM32xxs BEFORE I can start on my honours project, and in order to graduate with honours, I need to graduate within 8 semesters... Kinda meaning that I 'die die' have to take a Biology concentration Level 3000 this semester... Doesn't help that almost all of them are exclusively available in Semester 1... Good thing was that my UROPS can cover 4MCs, meaning I had to squeeze one more module out, thus Comparative Animal Physiology HAS to be in my timetable... This sudden change in planning just meant that taking Marine Biology and Tropical Conservation Biology are out of the picture due to timetable clashes... Taking Japanese 5, Behavioural Biology and Comparative Animal Physiology, as well as Medical Microbiology messes my timetable up pretty badly... Not only am I totally unable to go for any TC classes, I also cannot do my collections on Thursdays... So the idea of taking Medical Microbiology is out of the window... Think it would be a rather interesting module to take but since I got a B- for Microbiology, it prob would turn out to be another CAP-puller-downer... With such, out of the other LSM42xxs that I could take, Tumour Biology turns out tobe the best choice... Catch is, it sounds really overwhelming, tho' on the bright side, I alreadyhave the textbook, meaning that wouldn't need to buy a text that I may not ever use again, plus Desmond is probably taking it as well, so I would still have company during class... However, them being classified as honours modules and me being a Year 3 who is not starting on honours yet, I can only appeal to have the in Round 2, meaning I may just be squeezed out of the class... Need to keep my fingers crossed til like Wednesday, and must remember to hand in the form to LSOC on Tuesday morning so that they can process my stuff and add the modules...
Whole thing was really frustrating, and Ifty and Linus were seeing how stressed I was getting re-working everything out... Sorry guys... Was a little intense for a while... Think I tear a little too easily; when I get real frustrated with how helpless I am in a situation I just tear real quickly... turn from pissed to teary pretty fast... Oh well, good thing the next thing I had was Narnia ^^ Made me feel so much better afterwards!
-Narnia-Alreay met Linus in NUS, so we headed over to Lot 1 together... Am on bus pass, so we took bus... Linus wasn't, but he still gamely led the way there. 'Old friends' are still the nicest ones to have around... But then again, the twins are always some of the nicest friends to have around ^^ Met up Harti and Joseph, and the 4 of us went to catch 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' after failing to watch it on Tues, making it my 2nd movie this week... Good seeing Joseph again after all this time, and he was nice enough to give me a Cornell shot glass ^^ Haven't seen Harti for years, tho' I wonder if she really remembers me from RJ... Other than being a truly decent adaptation of the book written by C.S. Lewis, it also gave me a number of reminders regarding my own life, as well as walk with God. Not a fab adaptation but nicely done, and it did help that the actor for Peter was rather cute ^^ Know the story more than inside out and it still strikes a chord... However, one thing I didn't really like was that the wolves and white tigers and polar bears were all on the witch's side... They are such nice animals that I like!! Hmph... Tho' the use of a phoenix to create a firewall against the witch's army was ingenious ^^ Nice person touch to this version of the book. Tho' why did the witch have to do her hair and dress/fluff in such a way that really resembles a lion's mane?!? Wait a min, or was that all from Aslan when she had him shaved?
The part about the witch's claim on all traitors, and hence Edmund, really struck a chord... Sinners that comeback are loved just as much, Jesus died in our stead... How on earth did I manage to stray so far from Him?!? Cried when Aslan went to the stone table... Knew what was gonna happen but the tears just came trickling down as images of Christ's crucifixion in 'The Passion of Christ' just appeared in my mind.... He died for us. For me. In my place for all the crap that I have ever done and might do...
-getting back on track-Backsliding is not fun at all.... Just like on any hill/slope, going down is easy but heading back up is a crapload of work... Been kinda slipping/sliding/skidding down my own slippery road the past 6 months or so, and I feel like I need a road to help pull me up again.... Found a link to this useful online version of a RBC Discovery Series booklet "
The Way Back"
from today's OBD entry. Really thankful for finding it since I don't quite know where to start (other than admitting this weakness of mine to God) in the hard climb back again. ^^ Must remember the 3 Rs that I have learnt... Remember, Repent, Renew.... Really need to get back in shape... both spiritually, as well as physically. Finally gonna go back to church on New Year's Day ^^ Really must make an effort to wake up early enough... Lord, this little lostsheep is coming home~~ 
