Floating frogs and mexican waves

I had a blast today. Well, of course last Friday was pretty boss too. Went to Marina Barrage to skip class and have fun learn about the reservoirs and water technology. Though after that we had a programming test which was just pfff.. let's just say time was of the essence.

Anyway. 10 ES scholars plus Lehwoon and I (we were invited) got to have a luncheon and Q&A session with Prof Barry Marshall, Prof Tim St Pierre, Prof Carmen Lawrence, Prof Tony O'Donnell and Prof Kadambot Siddique in conjunction with the Science For Our Future Festival.

*Who who who who and who?*

Professors from UWA (University of Western Australia). All of whom are great scientists. Like REAL scientists. Scientist scientists. One-drop-of-this-another-drop-of-that-then-BOOM-smoke-everywhere scientists. Not like that but yea they are the real deal. Won prestigious science awards and the most talked about one, which was also half the awesomeness today was based on, is the Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine won by Prof Barry Marshall.

*Go ahead, google him*

Long story short. He proved that Peptic Ulcer was not caused by stress and stuff but the Helicobacter Pylori bacteria by drinking a petri dish of the bacteria himself. Sick huh. Yea sick, and yes he was literally sick with gastritis after 5 days. But again, brave and impressive. His discovery pretty much owned decades of scientists and doctors. It was deemed as important as the discovery of polio in vaccines.

*Go google 'Ig Nobel' too, strange things by great people *

The Q&A at the luncheon and the talk afterwards was quite inspiring. For them to share their thoughts on world issues such as food security, climate change, development in science and technology, even politics. Basically multidisciplinary professionals are needed to solve any problem or threat the world is facing. Scientists, engineers, psychologists, doctors, politicians. Everyone. Of course they were great speakers as well, especially Prof Marshall. Very humourous and interesting speeches from him. Needless to say we all took pictures with him afterwards. Biomedical Science students even asked for his signature on their petri dishes.

*Props to Ms Sarah Lau for hosting the talk*

Yeap. It'd be awesome to meet more great people. Meeting them made me feel small, but also made me realise that I could one day be as big as they are.

Whenever doctors say your illness is caused by stress, it means they don't actually know what's wrong with you.

- Professor Barry Marshall

* Performing magic to cancer patients this Saturday, so ready to get inspired even more. =) *

Squeeeeeze

Mahalo =)

I've been occupied with quite a lot of stuff. I've come to realise that life is starting to pick up velocity, with probably an increasing acceleration. No single day is totally free and easy. Everyday there's assignments to be completed, work to be done, notes to be read and of course, fun to be had.

Can't do much about it can we. Roll with it.

Past few weeks had been pretty enjoyable. Um ES collabed with EBM (Engineering with Business Management) for the Sports Carnival. My team and three other represented ES for captain's ball! Haha. I call it, the minimum-skill-maximum-wit-game. We played a total of 6 matches, won 3 lost 3. Had a really great time competing among ourselves as well as the EBM people. Though it's kinda annoying how they outnumber us and taunted the other ES team members during the game. Sportsmanship... *Poof*.We did not win anything. Nonetheless, we showed respect.

Dance classes. Fun as always. The steps are starting to get really technical. Must. Unnoob. Myself. Met a few new friends. Zipeng, Serene, Elias, Joseph etc. Oh oh and the Magic Arena inducted a new member! He's called Kae (As in K). Pretty cool huh. He's been into magic for about 4 years and is currently semi professional. Specialises on stage and street. Not really into card sleights though. Anyway definitely gonna learn something from him. Ban ban ban!

Then um. For the ES family. Eugene got a new name. Edmund Alixe Calibre. Other than his obsession about his laptop cleanliness, I really take my hat off to this guy when it comes to programming. He could probably speak C, Java, C# and all better than chinese. By the way did I mention the Powerpuff Girls here before? Weilin (aka Bubbles as she's um.. petite) Huifang (Blossom because of her long hair I guess) and Ruiqi (Buttercup because only one left). And uhhh. Eltech LCL with Ekko and Ben. That went well. Currently working on Compro Mini Project Stage 2 with Keith. Should be done in no time. Soon we'll be all busy and fed up over physics LCL. This just never ends. As Calibre would phrase declare it, an infinite loop.

Oh the fun of inside jokes.

Haha. Just for fun. Let me summarise the few words and slangs widely used by my friends. Or pretty much all Singaporeans.

1. Sia (Something like 语气助词, can be used in literally ANY context at all)
- I feel bored sia.
- Nothing to eat sia.
- Anything also can sia.

2. Imba (Meaning very, or exceptionally)
- His card skills damn imba!
- This guy's magic imba pro!

3. Zai (Meaning pro)
- Oh my god those dancers so zai.
- Woah you so zai ah break my highscore.

4. Sien (Not our sien as in bored, it means.. I don't know how to explain)
- *Calculator drops on floor* Sien ahhh.
- Wah sien, forgot to bring notebook.

Combo : Wah damn zai ! Eh you so imba make me feel very sien sia.

Assimilation shall be rejected. Hee. Gah. Haven't watched both Transformers and Harry Potter. Life will not be taken out of me! Will update as soon as I have the time. And the mood. Ciao ciao.

* 697[43 w58oo j6 rqf974853 t84o, dy3h53o 5yqm!!! *

Sickmoid curve

• Dancesport presentation (Done)
  
• Close up magic performance (Passed)
  
• Eltech LCL (90% done)
  
• Compro mini project stage 2
• Compro written test
• Physics LCL (coming soon)

Yeap. Just got over and done with my magic performance for the poly experience at Makan Place. Actually I'm now still at Makan Place. With Yiyong and Kerin.

Anyway. Poly Experience is like a programme where the secondary school people come to poly to see how's our everyday school life is like. Pretty fun. I represented The Entertainer's Club and I was to perform close up magic to the secondary school students.

In fact, I just got back to NP from NTU for my R&D research before I rushed to Makan Place. Which was quite interesting. My groupmate, Zhe Hao and I, met up with my professor supervisor. Prof Chen Shun Shou. He's a nice guy. Though I have to say. He's a nerd. Downright geekish nerd. He showed us his latest camera sensor bla bla bla. Then we got a short lecture from Prof Liter on some electronics stuff, diode, transistor and all that. Just realised I totally forgotten about doping. Damn damn damn.

Back to NP. * Jump skip! *Zoey Kahmeng Sue Daryl JM were already there. I left my bag aside, picked up a deck, got on with it. They're quite friendly. At least they were not weirded out by my sudden appearance. Hoped I did not established the tadda-I'm-a-magician-let-me-fool-you-with-kiddy-kiddy tricks image.

Self reminder : You're not some wizard who's above the audience. You want to be a normal person who's able to bend logic and reality in the spectators' mind.

I did my sandwich routine, have yet to name it, two card monte, umm... and a few others. Couldn't remember much. It wasn't a lot though. Just a warm up. Haven't been performing in the public in a long long time. Then I saw Jasper. Not performing, with his girlfriend. Then I met up with Yiyong and Kerin to have dinner.

Then I'm here. Meh-nyway, it was fun. Tomorrow. Round two. Time to really amp it up. I shall attempt the invisible palm perhaps!

The fun is just beginning. Let's see how long I can last.

*Hard work alone can never make the cut.*

185 days

Here's a long long post for not posting a long long post for a long long while.

Life is good. Course is fine. Chess is good. Dance is great. Magic is AWESOME.

The first common test was just a few weeks ago. I'd say I did okay. Fairly well but I know I could do better. And I shall. My coursemates did great too. It's a lot of fun bonding with them.

Chess trainings on Tuesdays are by no means a relaxing CCA. After the sessions my brain is totally fried. If you do not play chess. You would have three things on your mind right now.

1. Chess is boring.
2. Chess is for nerds.
3. I'm going to skip this paragraph.

Anyway. I have seniors there who play really good chess. Might sound retarded but it's fun losing to them. Last week went well. I lost only a game and won the rest. Nowhere near their level though. I'm decent yes, but not good enough.

Dance class is awesome. The instructors are really great and friendly. Though I'm probably like the only person there who has no dance background whatsoever. My friends have their own crews and stuff and I'm just. Me. Meh gotta start somewhere. Why not here why not now right. I suck but hopefully not for long.

Magic is probably the most fun. Of course I am still very much in love with the art of card magic. Few of my seniors there are experienced card handlers and performers. I have so much to learn from them. And there are also beginners. I had a great time sharing my ideas and effects with them. How I wish I had someone to coach me when I was starting out. Still I'm proud of myself today for what I have achieved with my bare hands. And decks and decks of cards. Nonetheless, gotta improve on my sleights, patter, performance, and define my style. I'm not quite there but I will be!

I guess my attitude is what kept me going on and on in my entire life. That good-not-great-could-do better-thinking of mine. I truly believe that if you're think you're good, you can never be better. That's why I am never satisfied with myself. No I'm not really a perfectionist. But if it's possible to achieve perfection then there's no reason not to. I do not aim to be perfect, I aim to be the best that I can.

Psycho shit right.

Alright. Enough of that nonsensical self indulgence. I am still, essentially, ME. Still very talkative, still very random, still very SARCASTIC. Like the other day I talked to Ekko. Actually just yesterday.

Clara : Ekko you permed your hair?
Ekko : Yea.
Me : You did? Kinda looks like you forgot to comb your hair after waking up from bed.
Ekko : Are you tired of living?
Me : Be thankful. True friends don't lie.

Ah. Sarcasm is pure artistic. I love my life. Uh as a summary of everything I wrote of course, not just the sarcastic part.

Last but most, y leyjj jyhq rut k jue. T'b ku fkiir eu fkxq rut yv br jysq. =)

* The hardest part is always to convince yourself to strive for perfection knowing that you will never get there *