Memories

Have you ever wonder how some people remember everything that was taught to them? Be it tedious maths equations or physics theory or interactions between chemicals, they seem to have the answer. We admire these people for having a memory so wonderful that they can recall their database whenever they needed. Deep down inside, we hate to admit that they are smarter and know more than we do.

This is because we know we had acquired that knowledge before and we remember very well that we used to understand the particular theory so thoroughly that we could explain it to our fellow classmates. But now, just a few years down the road, they are no longer accessible to us. Isn’t that a depressing to realize that all the hard work put in had gone to a waste?

So true the statement which says: If we don’t use it, we’ll lose it.

The best way of retaining information is to keep revising. It won’t be too difficult recalling the theories because we have learnt them before. Besides re-visiting the information we knew, we can learn by looking at them from an angle that we have never tried before. We would realize that there are actually so much information provided to us but we’ve never treasured them.

It doesn’t matter if they are not relevant to us at present; just keep them at our finger tips, because somewhere sometime in the future, they’ll come in handy. :o)

I bought a pair of shoes yesterday. It was Adidas, white background and the ever famous 3 stripes on its side with white shoe laces ending with a silver Adidas logo plate.

I wore them today, purposely with shorts to highlight the ‘white’ness of my new shoes, even though I know it would be freezing cold. And true enough, I received quite some attention, even from somebody whom I never expected from.

I’m beginning to understand the real meaning of ‘materialism’ and why would people spend so much to indulge in it. This is the first time I actually felt it this way, because I do not usually spend money on buying stuff. (I’ll rather eat them off! :p)

For real, it felt good. The attention that most people hunger for makes you feel important. You’ll suddenly feel that people do pay attention to you and that swells your sense of confidence. You won’t initiate the conversation but secretly inside you you wish that the oher party will bring the topic up. You’ll feel that it’s his loss if someone does not notice your new sparkling shoes. You’ll spend most of your free time thinking about modifying the story about your journey of achieving your ‘glory’. You’ll realise that throughout the whole day your conversation revolves around your pair of shoes.

Just a pair of shoes. It makes your day! Like morphine and alcohol, it makes you more sociable and brightens you up. Sounds so simple. So why not?

For the young boys and girls who are still experiencing identity crisis, please wake up. Today is shoes. Tomorrow may be a new shirt. The following day a new pair of glasses. When will that ever stop?

Unless your parents print notes, forget about materialism and focus on what brings you actual happiness! Meet more people, do more stuff and make some real friends. Those who like you for what you have instead of who you are are not your friends.

Cheers!

Autumn is coming. Leaves are turning yellow and shedded of from its branch. It’s a beautiful scenery. Understandably, the weather is turning cold too. For a boy who grew up in a tropical country, the chilling winds that creep through the gaps of the windows can be quite unbearable. However, the biggest problem is the difference between day and night temperature is as high as 15C. It is warm in the day and freezing cold at night.

I’m down with a fever and sorethroat. This bug has been circulating in International House (IH) for quite a while and many people have already contracted it. I read that the most common causal agent for coryza (aka common cold) is rhinovirus. It usually invades human beings when the temperature turns cold. I used to not believe in getting a cold. I thought as long as I sleep well and eat well I can be quite invincible. Apparently, I was wrong.

Tommorow’s minimum is 9C.

Hope that all of us who are experiencing the similar changes in weather will get through this season well and healthy! Drink lots of water and have plenty of sleep!

The annual inter-college volleyball competition was held today. After a day of battle, we qualified to the semi finals. In the journey, we defeated the defending champion - Newman College. Emerging as group champion, we went on ending the losing streak against our arch-rival Trinity College in the quarters! It was pure exhilaration when the final landed on their court. People were rushing into the court hugging and congratulating each other.

I chose to close my eyes, just for a few seconds, to savour the sweet taste of victory.

My legs were trembling. I guessed I have over-exerted them for a day of matches which started since nine in the morning.

My mind was clear. I thank God for the fine team He has sent me. We are certainly not the best team (more than half of us never touched a volleyball before), but everyone was enthusiastic. Everyone was willing to learn! Everyone was positive, our target was simple - WIN.

Winning is good. But I feel that there’s more to just winning matches.

A very crucial thing that struck me was nobody showed any respect to the opponents on the court. Pride was taken in when our opponent’s main player got too psyched up, lost his patience, smashed the ball into the net and was taken off the game. And they lost the match.

Everybody on the court shouts the word ‘f***’. Even after the game when Pat gave us a lift from the stadium, the word was mentioned for at least 20 times. It was barely a five minutes journey.

I’ve played some competitions and won some matches, but I’ve never felt so uneasy after winning like what I’m feeling now. In IMU with the ever realiable M204 team, we won our matches with our superior team work and skills. We had never sought to play mental games. After the game, we would thank our opponents for the game and take photos together.

I do understand that in a competition, everyone will be tensed up and raise our voices. I am no different. I yelled, I showed faces of disappointment when a mistake was done. But in the end, we would apologise to each other. We can have this respect among our teammates, why not extend it to our opponents?

I noticed the disgusted look on our opponents’ faces when they lost a point not because we outclassed them in skills, but the words that came out from our mouth.

Words are powerful tools.
It can destroy, like a knife that stabs into your heart.
It can shape form, it determines the atmosphere of any situation.
It can create, create opportunities, friendships, trusts, everthing!
It can definitely enlarge people’s limit, to increase somebody’s confidence and challenge them to do achieve more!

"Words are not as satisfactory as we should like them to be, but, like our neighbours, we have got to live with them and must make the best and not the worst of them." — Samuel Butler 

When we are absolutely certain, we are almost impervious to fear. -William Congreve

Imagination fills the void left by certainty.

So long as we cannot tolerate the unknown, there’s a need for myth. -David Beres

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand, so we may fear less. -Marie Curie

Maturity of mind is the capacity to endure uncertainty. -John Finley

Ferraris are simply amazing. No matter in which year they were designed, be it in the sixties or seventies, they, just being themselves, are absolute head-turners. To many, the word ‘Ferrari’ is synonymous to ‘magnificient’ and the colour ‘red’ means ’style’.

The presence of a Ferrari adds class to any occasion. But imagine sixty Ferraris of different era gather on one street.. Top it up with the Formula 1 race car.

I have a clip of the F1 racecar zooming pass, but unfortunately i can’t upload it. Listening to the acceleration noice can really melt anyone’s heart away.

The first race of the season is in Melbourne on the 15-18 March.

Hail Ferrari!

Elaine is in Melbourne!! (Michelle)

Prof Paul Chen’s Grandson! Don’t they look like kuih and acuan?! (Andrew)

Reika’s cousin!! (Yvonne Lim)

Last night was a special night for us in International House (IH). We had our first commencement dinner, one of the four formal dinners we will have in a year.

Everyone dressed up in shirt and tux. That was probably the only time i’ve seen something like this since IMU ball 2006. For once Ganesh was not in his loose-collared t-shirt.. :o) And on top of the formal wear, we’ve got a cloak which was aptly named the ‘harry potter’s cloak’ by ganesh.

Ganesh, Rahul, Me, Darren, Chungyew, Wenhao

We gathered in the Junior Common Room (JCR) before proceding to the dining hall. A minor cocktail was served there. It was then we realised that our seats are allocated, which was good too. I din know anyone on my table.

Random: Reika’s cousin is in IH too!!!

Dinner started promptly at 630pm. It was quite a pleasant surprise that our dining hall was transformed into a very classy place. there’s 8 person to a table. It was draped in white table cloth with 3 candles in the middle and decorative flowers on its sides.

The ceremony started with the head of IH (Jane Munroe) and all the tutors, accompanied by reps from the student union, marching into the dining hall. Jane gave an inspiring speech on little bit of IH’s hisory and how IH wishes to play a part in integrating the whole world. We had a toast for ‘fraternitas’ which means brotherhood (she added: in our context, sisterhood too!).

It was a 3 course meal. Entree was salad prawn with olives and some vege. :o) (sounds good?) Main course was beef steak. Throughout the dinner, there were speeches going on.. by the dep head of IH and also the reps from student union. But most of us were more engrossed in our conversations and food!

The desert was served in the university, which is about 20mins walk away. Right after dinner, still in our formal wear, a whole bunch of nearly 300 of us strolled to the university and colonized the little cafe. Cakes and soft drinks were served.

After that, the congregation splitted. Most of them went on to clubbing, but we chose to drink chocolate in Kokoblack. :o) the most wonderful chocolate in the world is found there (visit wenhao’s blog for more details)!!

It was a good evening.