ISO 200/24°

Boom shakalaka!

Hello!

Okay, it's the weekends! Yay!

So it's Friday, the week has passed by so fast.

Spent so much monies today, yesterday's post on resistance to consumerism seemed non existent. So what did I buy today?

Before that, the grad night 'presentation' was a total waste of time. Seriously lah, I think everyone thought there would be like a powerpoint presentation. In the end, what happened was that one of the newer teachers removed her windbreaker to reveal her prom dress. Then she started reminiscing her graduation night and after that, we all left. Hah! But I got my ticket, lah, I'm gonna sit with 04S31. Hurray for 04S30.5! Oh, I'm at table D11, if you're wondering.

Then I went Daiso to get my sis a few things. On the way out, I couldn't help noticing a Kodak roll of film. I have not seen a Japanese worded roll of film before and so what happened? That's right, I bought two rolls. I hope it's of inferior quality, then it'd look great when I process them. I hope.

Then I got home and bidded successfully for the Nikon Bag I have been talking about. Got it for the same price as a graduation night ticket. Weirdly enough, the feeling of satisfaction from getting the bag is much more than that of the ticket. Hehe. Speaking of BOTH, even though I've got a ticket, I'll still try to be at least a backup photographer for that day. Winson wants to be the backup-backup as well. But if he really wants, I'll let him be the backup, while I go on to be the unofficial one, since I've got a ticket. :D

Okay, getting the bag tomorrow, I should be bringing it to school on Monday. If it's large enough, I might even bring my camera to finish up my existing roll. :)

Okay, that's mostly what happened in my life today. What happened in yours?

PS: I suddenly have an inordinate craving for Old Chang Kee's squid head. :(

Buy and Sell.

Hello.

Argh! My prelims are like so, screwed. Okay, study study study. The panacea to all education problems.

I guess the most talked about topic around school (or campus, if you're grammatically inclined) is about graduation night. Yes, it's our turn. So fast, lar. I thought orientation was just last week.

Okay. No time to slack already (even though I always say that, I still do otherwise).

Tempted to buy SO many things, but yeah, trying to resist that temptation. Lens hood, reversal rings, another photo bag, more glasses, grad night tickets. Hahaha, I think the only thing I actually need now is the lens hood. Okay. Save save save.

Don't think my class guys are going to grad night, so 04S31 has graciously invited me to join their table. I've an alternate al-cheapo plan- be an official photographer for the event. Haha! I'm killing two birds with one stone. After all, I'd be covering the event as an UNofficial one when I'm there in the first place, so why not concentrate on one task only? But I'm severely lacking in experience. Yes yes yes, and of course equipment wise as well. But most prolly not lah, I don't have a portfolio or anything. Unless I go 24/7/365 shooting after A levels.

Okay, I better slack for awhile more then study. Or at least try to.

Please study!

Dum dum dum dee ga dum dum.

Hello!

Yes, today marks the official end of prelims. That means ONE more FINAL hurdle to cross, and that's that!

Yes, Physics was hard today. Many people complained that they didn't have enough time to finish. I finished my Paper 1 on time, but left a couple of parts in paper 2 blank, mainly because I couldn't do it!

Okay. So after the paper I rushed home and went straight to the Camera Hospital. Yes! Camera is fixed! Hurray! And he charged me $160 for everything. He cleaned the entire body and lens, checked and fixed. Now it's good as new. Yay! Service was excellent. Camera Hospital recommended! It's at Princep Street, near the Selegie Arts Centre aka. Photographic Society of Singapore. :D I'm so happy. Was kind of worried about my camera and the repair cost.

Then I met classmates at Funan and walked around. Ate @ Pastamania. I did alot of no brainer stuff today. Like for instance, the waitress came over to our table and asked me "who's drinks does these belong to". I misunderstood her question and though she was asking whether the drinks belonged to us. I thought that was a pretty dumb question considering the entire place was empty but I replied "Ours". What a mistake. She actually meant who the Coke and Sprite was for, so she can put it at the respective places. Dadada! Humourous to the max. Oh, and believe it or not, I got lost at Raffles Place MRT Station. Haha! I was looking all over the place for the right platform, I think I was walking around for almost 10 minutes. Man. I am SO not street smart. Why? Because I couldn't find a formula to calculate the correct platform number.

Okay, really happy my camera is back. Hehe. :D

School's out for me tomorrow, J1s: Prelims in 7 days! Ha ha ha.

Cheers,
Tim.

So, how'd you get here?

YES!

Barely a few days after charging the 17 year old, the government has proposed a new legislation to help make Singapore a better place.

What's the news? We could be in Changi for not paying our fares if we take the public transport, or to quote the article, this legislation "is aimed at protecting bus firms and cabbies against cheats." How apt.

Sure, the companies lost an estimated $9 million, but how much do they earn? I'm sure they earn much more than they lose.

I mean, this legislation protects the companies from cheats, but what protects us, the consumers?

How one "cheats" is subjective. If this law is passed, under what circumstances would one be seen as "cheating"? Under the issue of not tapping their EZ-link cards and not paying cab fares, there is also the big branch of certain events which suggests that one is cheating, even though he is unintentional of doing so. Accidental tapping of the card on an overcrowded bus; tapping of a card with the intention of alighting, but forgetting to press the bell; or even worse, pressing the bell and bus drivers ignore the stop (yes, I'm a victim of many instances). Yes, in these instances, I'm sure action would be taken against you for cheating. Worst still, for the third case, I'm sure he has the right to charge you. And yes, Singaporeans are very "helpful" in these situations - not providing defending statements but yet stand around and look. Speaking of mad moods, I was spewed obscenities by the driver for no particular reason when I boarded a bus on last year. Luckily I was listening to my music when I boarded and I removed my earphones just in time to listen to the last few parts of the lashing. Stupid arse.

But I disgress. On to the cabbies. I've a friend whose friend, a foreigner, came a visiting recently. Wanting to go to Ang Mo Kio from Eunos, he took a cab. The cabbie, taking advantage of him being a foreigner, took the chance to drive all the way to Changi Airport. That's right folks, he could see the control tower. What happens then? Obviously the foreigner didn't pay, but hello! If this law gets passed, the foreigner would be in slammer by now.

And please read. A 12 year old girl left stranded after she didn't have another 30cents to pay for her bus ride home? How blasphemous! The service industry hasn't improved after the National Day Rally. The issue of having no money and getting no treatment also brings another example to my mine. I read in the papers recently that the owner of a kitten which was suffering from an illness did NOT receive treatment (i mean the cat) when she told the clinic she did not have enough money. The feline died. I question the purpose of clinics: Are they there to help treat, and earn money at the same time; or are they there to earn money, and help treat at the same time? It's really a case of no money no talk. Indeed, money makes the world go round.

Yep, the Yellow Ribbon project will experience a higher number of inmates next year if this gets passed.

Fear, my friends, is the solution to all problems.

See you, and please pay for your public transports.

Focus! Focus!

HELLO!

I just came back from the Camera Hospital.

Why?

Because my camera died on me last night!

I was snapping away at lanterns and stuff then I realised the shutter dial (a dial which allows you to select the shutter speed) was broken. So I went to the Camera Hospital @ Sunshine Plaza after my computing paper and I just got back. I'm so sad now. Originally I thought the guy would fix the shutter dial, then he was checking the other parts and saw that my LENS and my film winder was ALSO sort of spoiled. My god, my lens has focusing problems! It's gonna be terrible man. If he can't fix the lens, that lens would be a very heavy paperweight indeed. How sad! Then I would have to fork out one or two hundred bucks for another lens. No money already lah! :(

I think he took pity on me knowing that my current lens had problems and I only have ONE lens. So he took out a zoom lens from his dry cabinet and let me play around with it. He quoted it at $250. Yes expensive, but it's a zoom plus macro (allows you to take very very very close up shots), how much do you expect? It's already a good price, considering these two factors.

Okay, damn sad now. Not at my camera, but at the guy who sold them to me. How dishonest people would be just to earn money. Sheesh! Fancy selling me a lens which has problems and now I have to spend on repair costs. Oh well, maybe it's a blessing in disguise, I get a good deal on a lens and I learnt a very good lesson : no more bidding on ebay and yahoo auctions! Don't say I didn't warn you ah! At least after this saga, my camera (and hopefully lens) would be alright. I hope.

Maybe it's just Monday.

Okay, good bye!

Half Time.

Hello.

Just an hour ago, ANOTHER blogger got charged for sedition. That's the third case in Singapore already. And guess what, this fella is only 17 years old! Sheesh, makes me think twice before I post my stuff online. I've always thought the internet was a solution to the question of free speech, but I retract my words.

Not that I'm racist of course, please do not misunderstand that fact. What I'm saying is, yes, the government should crack down people like them and fine them. After all, whatever rights one have, there are also moral values(more to be touched upon) to uphold. Racism is bad. And we all know that.

But free speech ain't that free anymore. It never was. If I recall correctly, in 1994, a local ISP called TechNet conducted a search within accounts for GIF extensions, and out of 80,000 files, 5 were deemed pornographic. That is how much control authorities have. And it's scary.

Is society getting more apprehensive about touchy issues? Sure, we've got a speaker's corner, and opinions on sensitive topics like religion are not supposed to be voiced out. But the question is: Are we doing the right thing by avoiding this problem? Does circumventing over the issue really solve everything? Are we really opening a can of worms?

Personally, without any basis at all, I feel that the answer is a definite 'no'. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Yes, curiosity did kill the cat, but without curiosity, the cat would have thought it was a chicken. It might have even crossed the road. But bad jokes aside, I think that by averting the topic, we are only delaying the problem. Sooner or later, the issue of racism must be tackled, and this is evident now. Why the sudden 'arrests' of two, and now three bloggers? I don't know. The last time the Sedition Act was invoked was over 10 years ago.

Of course, the solution to this problem is simple, but to get the government to implement it would be useless. Primarily because it cannot be implemented at all. It is already existing, and it varies from household to household. What's the method? It's called upbringing. By having the right moral values, bad things will still happen, but it could be at a lower rate.

Speaking of morals, if everyone has the 'right' upbringing(and it's subjective), Singapore would be a much better place. No more spitting, masticating with mouths open, and so on. It all goes down to the mind. Tolerance? Maybe.

But now that this has happened, I really am not sure what one is allowed/not allowed to say online. Was what I have just written criminal?

So now that the score is 3-0, who's next?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Have a nice weekend.

DISCLAIMER: What you have just read is purely based on my personal views. No hard feelings eh?

Fourth Edition.

Heyho!

Hello! Okay, I shouldn't be updating now, but heh. :) No paper tomorrow. Yippie!

Prelims so far are still considered alright. No major hookups, albeit some careless mistakes. :(

Since there is no paper tomorrow, I went to find a CD with classmates. Walked all over Jurong East area but couldn't find it. Too bad! So I went home and slacked. Till now.

Well, I'm thinking of getting this Holga 120GCFN camera. Don't know what that is? Click here. It's a cheap plastic camera (including the lens) and everything is fixed, from shutter speed to aperture. But I'm thinking of getting one. Why? Because it's interesting. But it costs a whopping $83. This model caught my attention because there's interchangeable colour gel flashes, meaning the flash not only emits the standard 'white' colour, but also blue, red, and the likes. Which reminds me of lomography, but isn't. I think it's a great camera to just carry around, aimlessly shooting at stuff. The pictures will most likely turn out not the way I want it to, but that's what special about Holgas. :) Hmm, not sure if it's cost justified though. Pretty heavy on the moolah side. Well, we'll see. Most likely I'll get one, prelims are here and since I've got only one paper a day (hurray!), that means saved allowance. So I should be able to get something out of 2 weeks. Hehe.

Okay, PC is emitting some cranky sounds I've never heard before. Better switch it off soon. And for once, I'll start studying for a paper 2 days before I take it! Yay! Is that cool or what?

Good luck to those taking prelims, and to the minority (if any) of the juniors reading this: good luck for promos!

2 months before freedom!

PS: I saw my handsome best friend yesterday. I wanted to ask for his autograph but he was shielded by a security guard. So I couldn't. :(

Goodbye!

Why should anyone care?

Hello.

Prelims in 3 days! Hurray!

Like what they always say for enlistment, the faster you go, the faster you come out. Which is good, lah.

Anyhow, I hope most (if not all) have somewhat finished their revisions. But knowing JJ students, :). I shall not comment.

Yes, it's GP and Math Paper 1 on the opening day. How nice, eh? So I guess most would be 'pia-ing' math now. Then Physics. Hehehe. Okay. Fast update + a change of song which is badly overdue. This is one of my favourite songs, from the WOW 2005 album.

Enjoy.

And don't forget to study!

Freedom is about 2 months away! Yay!

EDIT: Now it's 4.53pm. I know this, because I looked at the PC clock. Not because I studied so hard. Anyway, this edit is to voice out my feelings at this moment.

You know, I looked out the window a few seconds ago, and the sky and weather is so goddamn beautiful. It's late afternoon cum early evening now, and I have the feeling of just running around Singapore now. Imagining all the stuff I could find/buy/eat/shoot/[insert] now. How I wish A's were over. Imagine walking down Orchard Road or Esplanade (don't ask why) at this time of the day without any worries, without a clue where you will take yourself. You might end up in a shopping centre, or to an exhibition somewhere, heck, even to some ulu part of Singapore, but the feeling, according to my vocabulary, is so goddamn shiok. Can't wait. Invites to shooting/going anywhere please :). It's 2 months more. I don't usually get this sort of feeling until the end of school term, before a major exam. Yes, I got this feeling during O's also. It's like, so near yet so far. Argh! Can't wait to go out man. I've been avoiding the sun. :) Okay, back to food and study. I haven't been studying all day. And I read people's blog saying they're studying like through the night. Scary stuff. Thanks for listening. Okay, goodbye. ;)

PS: A little Battlefield2 humour to what I'm doing now.

Characters:
-Lor Mai Kai (fondly called LMK by Computing students)
-Timothy (it's me, you idiot!)

LMK: Need orders, sir!
Timothy: Move out to this position! (Plants waypoint to my mouth)
LMK: Good deal, thanks!


Okay, maybe not that funny. ;| (unless you play BF2)

:)

1, 2, do the kung fu.

Hi.

Prelims in less than a week!

Study lor.

Well, slacked abit during the weekends. Went to Comex twice with classmates to check out the prices and went again on Sunday to get what we wanted(not needed). I got myself the Stealth Reporter 100AW on Friday as *promised*. Dad asked me to get a flash as well. Many deals, but expensive. Anyway, I promised him not to touch the camera again until after exams, but he's like asking me to get-this-get-that. Haha.

Sucks to have exams this year! So many things happening (including WCG).I bet my dad would have asked me to join WCG if there wasn't any exams. How I wish the A's are over already. ARRGH!

Okay. Study time.

Actually I'm hungry, so it's time to eat!

HUBBA HUBBA.

Beep beep beep, boom.

Hallo.

Sooooo Teachers' Day was fun eh?

Started Wednesday contemplating whether or not I should go school. Haha. Well, I did in the end. Concert wasn't too bad, apart from the fact that the emcees' mics were too loud. And they screamed at ear piercing pitches.

Haha, then I went home and slacked. Then went to the NLB wanting to see Michael Yamashita's exhibition. But no! They removed the billboards even though it was the last day. Argh! So I made a wasted trip. The library looked empty too.

So I made my way down to Cathay (as usual) to check out the bags. I think I'm getting a 2nd hand Stealth Reporter 100 AW tomorrow. Why second hand? Because I have no $$! I still need more to buy a 2nd hand lens. Hohoho.

Okay. So we (the family) went to Hong Lim Complex today to have lunch. Good food. Cheap too. And good place for shooting. Lots of old people. I like to shoot old people.

Okay, back to school tomorrow. Goodbye!