High School Musical

2007-05-18T14:01:00.001+08:00

i'm crying for you

i like you umi, you're really good, really i mean it from the bottom of my heart. i hope my heartfelt message will somehow reach you

2007-05-18T13:55:00.000+08:00

i'm feeling really very sad, like hopeless.

2007-05-18T13:50:00.001+08:00

i'm feeling damn damn damn sad my maid who is my really really really good friend and who's really really caring left, she went back to indonesia waaa i'm so sad i don't want to but i just can't stop myself from crying, i'm regretting now so much i should have faced her and said bye to her before i left for school and never be able to see her again since she would be flying off during the time when i would be in school. all because i didn't want her to see me crying already, now i wished that i should have just faced her and said goodbye properly, even if i cry in front of her. i wanted to tell her too that she was really really nice and really helped me and my family a lot. she told me that if she wasn't good enough she was really sorry. i was so touched when she said that, i almost wanted to cry right in front of her, plus i'm really very bad at controlling my tears and emotion, not that i like being emo and all. i just feel very very sad that she's leaving and i can't see her off at the airport. this sucks, hope she will be able to find her own happiness there and she's going to marry the man she loves hahax, oh no i forgot to wish her well on that aspect too damnit i suck like hell, i stink

2007-04-23T15:21:00.001+08:00

wow i forgot to bring my jacket to school hahax haiz had to borrow one from shiu an for awhile today.so sad i'm partnerless for today, since rachel went for choir syf today. hope they won gold with honours!!!!!! woots!!!!!! that'll b so cool hahax nvm i can see her tomorrow, hope she rmbs to bring along my phantom of the opera soundtrack cd, hahahahx. it's so super noisy now hahax music blasting bla bla. did the ce presentation today in class for ce project, hahahax how fun:) they were waiting for me to go to the toilet then start the presentation, so paiseh ahahhx we suggested that our school can have a wider range of ccas ahahx.

oh man i forgot to bring my foolscap paper today, so super duper inconvenient hahahx haiz tomorrow got to pass up the english theme essay and reflections haiz. someone is being so weird next to me. bla bla bla trying to act cool or something, yadayadayada. How boring.

later still have to go for learning lab haiz. super boring. gwynna doesn't want to come back to my class, waa so mean now left debbie and me. but debbie always can't come for learning lab, so what's the difference haiz.

2007-04-18T22:37:00.001+08:00

Case Against New Shopping Centre Development

It has just been announced that a major developer is seeking planning permission to build a shopping centre on the edge of the town and that the town council is likly to agree to this proposal. A protest group has been formed to mount a campaign against such a development and I am very much on the side of the protesters.

For a start, we already have quite enough plpaces to purchase things in this area. We have the local shops, we have the city shops just a bus ride away and we have a shopping mall in the next town, again just a short bus ride away. We simply do not need more shopping facilities in this area.

Then there is the issue of increased traffic. The town council is always going on about the terrible traffic problems in this area. It has been urging us all to leave our cars at home and to either walk or take public transport so that we may avoid the current congested roads. Yet, now it appears to be in favour of a development which can only increase the level of congestion. Of course, there is to be a huge car park at the proposed new shopping centre.

We also have to take into consideration what effect a new shopping centre in the area would have on the viability of our own high street shops. At the moment, despite the proximity of the city, many of them have no shortages of customers and so are thriving businesses. However, there is a distinct disincentive for people wishing to make purchases from such shops.

There is a major parking problem for people wishing to shop in the centre of the town, thanks to the strict parking restrictions imposed by the council. Given the choice of shopping with their cars or shopping without them, I fear that many shoppers will opt for the former and make for the new shopping centre rather than the local shops. Such a loss of business will have extremely unfortunate consequences for local shops and some of them may go to the wall. That would be a tragedy for the community.

Another tragedy for the community would be the damage to the environment that a building development like this is likely to cause. There are very few pieces of land in this area that are not built up and the area scheduled for the shopping complex is one of these. It is not an especially pretty place, but it provides a habitat for plants and animals and it offers some relief from the crowded built-up areas around. In addition, more cars driving into that area will add significantly to the pollution of the atmosphere.

The developers are arguing that their proposed shopping complex will not only provide local people with more retail choice but that it will provide local jobs. However, the extra jobs may well be at the expense of jobs in the high street shops if they have to close. I will give as much support as possible to the protesters and hope that the shopping centre does not get planning permission.

2007-04-18T22:21:00.001+08:00

Why People Are Living Longer

In the developed countries at least, the life expectancy of people has increased quite considerably over recent decades. More and more people are living into the eighties and even their ninties and there are various reasons for this.

Medical advances have done much to prolong people's lives. Improved diagnostic techniques have made it possible for doctors to detect the signs of disease much earlier than before. This enables them to treat conditions at a much earlier stage and early intervention, particularly in the case of some cancers, can do much to save lives.

Many countries have developed screening programmes to enable doctors to identify certain diseases. An early example of this was the introduction of mass screening by chest X-ray for tuberculosis. More recently, in several countries, women over a certain age are asked to have a mammogram, an X-ray of the breasts taken every two years or so as a means of detecting breast cancer.

Some governments have introduced health education programmes. This has been done to make people more aware of their bodies and of any changes which may occur. People are thus much better informed and are more likely to visit their doctors early enough to prevent diseases from becoming fatal.

There have been major advances in medical treatment as well as in medical diagnosis in recent decades. More and more sophisticated drugs are used to treat cardiac disease, hypertension and strokes, more technically known as cerebrovascular accidents. These dugs prevent people from dying of such conditions at an early age. Meanwhile, chemotherapy and improved forms of radiotherapy are saving the lives of many cancer patients.

Advances in surgical techniques also prevent many people from dying at a relatively young age. One of the most major advances was the introduction of transplant surgery by Dr Christiaan Barnard that has saved so many lives.

There is no doubt that better medical care has done much to keep people alive longer. However, it is not the only reason for increased lifespans. Better living conditions have also played a part. More people in the developed world now live in warm, dry accommodation and are much healthier because of this.

Then there is the fact that more people are now better informed about nutrition and are more able to afford the ingredients of a healthy diet. Eating the right foods, such as fruits and vegetables can, for example, do much to prevent people from developing high levels of cholesterol, thought to be a factor in the occurrence of heart diseases and strokes. In addition, more people are also better informed about what represents a danger to their health, such as smoking, and are actively trying to avoid such dangers.

The tendency towards longer lifespans looks set to continue as medicine introduces more and more life-saving techniques. However, with people in the developed world dying nowadays from the effects of obesity instead of, as before, from malnutrition, there are signs that our modern lifestyle may, in fact, shorten some lifespans.

2007-04-18T22:03:00.001+08:00

an essay from Betty Kirkpatrick

Should Smoking In Public Places Be Banned?

Some countries, such as Singapore and the UK, have already introduced legislation which imposes a ban on smoking in workplaces and other public areas. Other countries are considering such a ban and this has given rise to much controversy among the population of these countries.

My view is that everyone has a right to work in a comfortable, clean, healthy environment and should not have to put up with other people's nicotine habit. Smoking is a very antisocial habit which, at the very least, can cause discomfort to others in the form of a smoky atmosphere and dirty surroundings caused by dropped cigarette ash on the floor, overflowing ashtrays and discarded cigarette ends.

Smokers also endanger the health of others. If people want to ignore the dangers and go on smoking, despite the known dangers, then that is their choice. However, it is now known that the inhalation of cigarette smoke by non-smokers, known as passive smoking, can lead to various health problems in the same way that smoking can. It is unjust that smokers should be allowed to have a deleterious effect on the health of their workmates.

Protesters against a smoking ban in the workplace claim that such a ban is contrary to the human rights of smokers, but smokers are, in fact, infringing the human rights of their colleagues by endangering their health and polluting their environment.

Smokers also complain that they have to go outside the building to smoke in all weather conditions. They also claim that smoking outside a building makes them look and feel like pariahs. However, this is the price they have to pay for persisting in indulging in such an antisocial habit.

The same no-smoking rule should apply to public places such as government offices, libraries, sport complexes and airports. People often have no choice but to go into such buildings and they have a right to have their health and comfort safeguarded from the habits of others. Most airlines ban smoking and smokers have to resist the temptation to light up during the course of the flight. Why should they not demonstrate the same level of self-control in public buildings?

The question of imposing a ban on smoking in public places of entertainment has caused the most controversy. Restaurant owners, publicans and brewers ae vehemently opposed to it because they say that it will affect their livelihood and smokers say that it will affect their enjoyment of an evening out. Non-smokers, they say, need not go into a smoky pub or restaurant.

However, these places of entertainment are also workplacces and the waiters, barpersons and other service personnel shouold not have to put their health at risk by being subjected to cigarette smoke. In the light of this, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York has already announced a smoking ban in restaurants and pubs and Ireland has followed suit. I hope that many other countries will follow their example and impose a no-smoking ban in all public places.

2007-04-18T21:44:00.001+08:00

The Baroque Sonata

a composition in several movements for one to eight instruments

Composers often wrote trio sonatas, so called because they had three melodic lines: two high lines and a basso continuo. Yet the word trio is misleading, because the "trio" sonata actually involves fouor instrumentalists. There are two high instruments (commonly violins, flutes, or oboes) and two instruments for the basso continuo - a keyboard instrument (organ or harpsichord) and a low instrument (cello or bassoon).
The sonata originated in Italy, but spread to Germany, England, and France during the seventeenth century. Sonatas were played in palaces, in homes, and even in churches - before, during, or after the service. Sometimes composers differentiated between the sonata da chiesa (church sonata), which had a dignified character and was suitable for sacred performance; and the sonata da camera (chamber sonata), which was more dancelike and was intended for performance at court.

Basso continuo
(1) chords: harpsichord/orga/lute
(2) low-sounding instrument: cello/double bass/bassoon

1. sonata da chiesa: church sonata
2. sonata da camera: chamber sonata

e.g. Corelli, Vivaldi, Telemann

2007-04-18T21:32:00.000+08:00

The Fugue

written for a group of instruments or voices, or for a single instrument like an organ or harpsichord. A fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme, called a subject. Throughout the fugue, different melodic lines, called voices, imitate the subject. The top melodic line - whether sung or played - is the soprano voice, and the bottom is the bass. The texture of a fugue usually includes three, four, or five voices. Though the subject remains fairly constant throughout, it takes on new meanings when shifted to different keys or combined with different melodic and rhythmic ideas.
The form of a fugue is extremely flexible; in fact, the only constant feature of fugues is how they begin - the subject is almost always presented in a single, unaccompanied voice. By thus highlighting the subject, the composer tells us what to remember and listen for. In getting to know a fugue, try to follow its subject through the different levels of texture. After its first presentation, the subject is imitated in turn by all the remaining voices.
First voice: tonic scale
Second voice: dominant scale (answer)
countersubject: different melodic idea
episodes: transitional sections between presentations of subject (offer either new material or fragments of subject/countersubject)
stretto: subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other
pedal point/organ point: single tone (usually in bass) held while the other voices produce a series of changing harmonies against it

A fugue subject can be varied in four principal ways:

1. inversion : turned upside down
2. retrograde : beginning with last note of subject and proceeding backward to the first
3. augmentation : lengthened time values
4. diminution : shortened time values

prelude: short piece introducing an independent fugue

eg. Bach, Handel

2007-04-18T21:07:00.000+08:00

hahax please ignore my posts if you don't wanna read it i'm just typing for revise sake hahx taken from Roger Kamien's textbook

The Concerto Grosso and Ritornello Form

In a concerto grosso, a small group of soloists is pitted against a larger group of players called the tutti (all). Usually two and four soloists play with anywhere from eight to twenty or more musicians for tutti. The tutti consists mainly of string instruments, with harpshichord as part of the basso continuo. A concerto grosso presents a contrast of texture between the tutti and the soloissts, who assert their individuality and appeal for attention through brilliant and fanciful melodic lines. The soloists were the best and highest-paid members of the baroque orchestra, because their parts were more difficult than those of the other players. Concerti grossi were frequently performed by private orchestras in aristocratic palaces.
A concerto grosso consists of several movements that contrast in tempo and character. Most often there are three movements: (1) fast, (2) slow, (3) fast. The opening movement is usually vigorous and determined, clearly showing the contrast between tutti and soloists. The slow movement is quieter than the first, often lyrical and intimate. The last movement is lively and carefree, sometimes dancelike.
The first and last movvements of concerti grossi are often in ritornello form, which is based on alternation between tutti and solo sections. In ritornello form the tutti opens with a theme called the ritornello (refrain). This theme, always played by the tutti, returns in different keys throughout the movement. But it usually returns in fragments, not complete. Only at the end of the movement does the entire ritornello return in the home key.

2007-04-17T14:51:00.001+08:00

wow today was quite interesting during CE lesson, we all went to the lecture theatre and lo and behold, we were going have another session of CareerQuest talk, which we had last year (that's like ancient rite hahax) so i'm an I personality:)) ahhahax that is so right man, hahahahax don't even need to take the test i think i know i'm I personality already. and i have to do a timetable for my own good, aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!! coach david was right, people with I personality hate timetables and are careless and disorganized, which is so ME!!!!!!! wa lao i hate doing timetables, a waste of time exactly, haiz. but anyway, i learnt a lot about myself today, hahax and some tactics as to how to study and learn better and know more about myself, hahax:) today was supposed to have bio rememdial after school. turned out that none of the bio teachers were free today so we didn't have to go for any bio remedials in the end, yay! hahax so cool but we still waited outside the AVA room for quite some time before someone came and told us that there was no bio rememdial today haiz. information passes so slowly rite, hahax:)

today i'm in such a math mood, dunno why suddenly love doing math, especially maxima and minima problems which involve differentiation hahax practically doing math the whole day today ahhahax (see here some tiny confession made if you read in between the lines, hahahax especially teachers should look out for this *hinthint* hahax i'm killing myself diaoz hahax)

yayy i managed to finish the whole of worksheet one on maxima and minima problems, yipee!!!!! and now i'm feeling depressed all over again. still have worksheet 2 to go, on maxima and minima problems again-_- i wonder how long my 'burning' and 'fiery'enthusiasm can last for math, haiz. once the flames go out, i won't be in the mood for doing math, and i won't want to do any math haiz, sadded.

it's so freezing cold, my fingers are like numb, it's turning purple soon, ahahx oh yesterday my hands were so cold and numb to the extent that there will be this consistent prickly feeling if i touch anything and my fingernails turned fully purple, eew gross rite hahahx how interesting this has something to do with bio yo, ahahhahax i hope i don't suddenly switch from amath-enthu to bio-enthu, ahhahax that word 'enthu' sounds like some malay or indian or punjabi word (sorry i don't know how to spell punjabi).yesterday people are like blasting some weird wacko music, so noisy, no consideration for other people like me who are FERVENTLY and FURIOUSLY doing amath trigonometry sums in the TYS, hahax (it's true i swear, i'm super hardworking hahahax) then there was this three girls sitting next to me who were doing their reflections i think for Odyssey of the Mind project, and they were complaining amongst themselves aboutr the inconsiderate person who was blaring and blasting the music. oh my god hahahahahahax someone is playing this funny video about this indian man who is trying to tell his customer that he doesn't sell pork, i think some kind of communication problem hahahax omg it sounds so funny the indian man talk until so cute hahax he keep saying he no pork, and he threatens to call the police, ahahhahax i don't know la damn funny everyone is laughing like siao ahhahahax XD

2007-04-12T16:03:00.000+08:00

haiz i'm so bored today didn't go to school yesterday haiz got stomach nerve problem or pain ahhax haiz anyway i got mc hahax why do people always think that i pon school ah, people like me so guai how can i possibly pon leh, hahahx just jokin la
my nose hurts, i scratched it and it became bloody and formed a scab and dried blood crust, now i can't 'stretch' it very pain ahhax my hand is freezing man i'm still in school wa wanted to send this electroplating document to one of my group members for chemistry but the file expired aaacks!!! now what am i supposed to do????? waaacks!!! hate it man haiz

2007-04-05T16:14:00.001+08:00

let's talk about voodooism hahax:)

Voodooism

- Haiti, West Africa

- confusion with New Orleans "hoodooism"

- nailing crude puppets with a discarded shoe on trees near the cemetery to act as messengers to the other world

- honour special deities with specific rituals

2007-04-05T16:02:00.001+08:00

another interesting fact, look on:)

Children of the Corn

- originally a short story by Stephen King

- couple set out on a cross-country road trip to California, and ran over the body of a young boy who was killed and thrown onto the road

- Gatlin(a small, isolated town):years previously the town's children murdered everyone over the age of 18 after embracing the bloody pseudo-Christian cult of an evil being that lurks in the corn fields:"He Who Walks Behind The Rows"

- the children kill the wife, while the husband escapes into the cornfields surrounding the town, where he is killed in person by the children's god

2007-04-05T15:47:00.001+08:00

hey hope you guys enjoyed the 'informative talk' on Paganism in my previous entry! hahax today's topic shall be more familiar to you i hope, hahax

Shamanism

-a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world

- its practitioners claim the ability to diagnose and cure human suffering and in some societies, the ability to cause suffering

- forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits

- shamans credited with ability to control weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds

- intermediary between the natural and spiritual world, who travels between worlds in a state of trance

- once in the spirit world, the shaman would commune with the spirits for assistance in healing, hunting or weather management

- seen as communicating with the spirits on behalf on the community, including spirits of the dead

- shaman may be initiated via a serious illness, by being struck by lightning and dreaming of thunder to become Heyoka, or by a near-death experience, or one might follow a 'calling' to become a shaman

- shaman blessed with spiritual powers

- found more widespread in less economically developed countries

2007-04-05T15:34:00.000+08:00

let's talk about paganism!!

hahax let's be enthu man hahax

ok i'm mad

here it goes..

...................

-encompasses a diverse community with some groups concentrating on specific traditions, practices or elements such as ecology, witchcraft, Celtic traditions or certain gods.

-Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Sacred Ecologists, Odinists and Heathens make up parts of the Pagan community

- strongly emphasises equality of the sexes

- may be collective or solitary worship

- ceremonies usually begin with marking out of a ritual circle, a symbol of sacred space which has neither beginning nor end, and within which all stands as equals

- at quarter-points, the four directions and the corresponding elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water will be acknowledged and bid welcome

- meditation, chanting, music, prayer, dance, the pouring of libations, recitations of poetry and/or the performance of sacred drama, sharing of food and drink

- pagan worship is mainly concerned with concern to and honouring of immanent divinity

- rituals akin to a symbolic language of communication between the human and the divine: one which speaks not to the intellect alone but also to the body, the emotions, and the depths of the unconscious mind, allowing Pagans to experience the sacred as a whole people within act of worship

- approach primarily mythopoeic, recognising that spiritual truths are better understsood by means of allusion and symbol rather than doctrine

- 3 types of Paganism: meso-paganism, neo-paganism, neo-dindruism

- Wicca: worhips Mother Goddess
5 elements = fire, air, water, earth, spirit
widely populated
"Charmed" television serial -> exaggerated version of paganism (involves witchcraft)

well that's the end of our topic of the day, Paganism! give a round of applause!!! hahahahx

2007-04-04T20:03:00.001+08:00

yoz all i haven't blog for a day since hahax ok that sounds super duper pathetic hahax haiz wushu competition coming soon i'm scared till i can just pee in my pants on the spot hahax ok i shall share with you some interesting things that i found out today:) i specially went to research on it, don't worry it's not from Reader's Digest hahax from everywhere on the internet. enjoy reading it:)

Children of the Corn

This was originally from a short story by Stephen King, then made into a horror film. A couple set out on a cross-country road trip to California, and ran over the body of a young boy who was already killed and thrown onto the road. Gatlin, which is a small and isolated town, in the years previously the town's children murdered everyone over the age of 18 after embracing the bloody pseudo-Christian cult of an evil being that lurks in the corn fields: "He Who Walks Behind The Rows". The children kill the wife, while the husband escapes into the cornfields surrounding the town, where he is killed in person by the children's god.

spooky isn't it? hahx

2007-04-03T15:36:00.001+08:00

heyys hahax shall give you all a break from the humongous amounts of newsweek and reader's digest articles, although SOMEONE commented to me that it was super boring hahax thanks a lot theophila, but it's enriching right? adds more knowledge to your brains, so don't complain ahahx i put in so much effort to type all those reports and articles out, type until my hand tired, so must at least thank me rite hahax just joking la hope that you all will continue reading stuff that i post:) hahax ok nvm i'm just crapping hahax haiz today the computer damn laggy la hahax ok nvm i'm just complaining and complaining yay later can eat nasi lemak cool eh;)

2007-03-31T13:39:00.001+08:00

aha! i love this article hahahx now you can't make me sit until super straight corrine, hahahax it's not wrong:) check it out here, taken from Reader's Digest April 2007

"Lean Back and Save Your Back"

Radiologists have confirmed what ergonomists have long suspected - that sitting upright is bad for your back. New 'positional' Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of patients sitting and standing can demonstrat how gravity acts on the spine, says Dr Waseem Bashir of Scotland, who led the study. The scans show that a 90-degree sitting position - which most people consider normal - places unnecessary strain on the lower back curvature, causing discs to become squashed. "A 135-degree body-thigh position like that of an adjustable recliner - shows the least strain," says Bashir.

For those who spend all day sitting in office chairs, Bashir says the hips need to be higher than the knees and the feet should be flat on the floor. "Opening up the angle between your body and thighs is what's important," he says.

2007-03-31T13:30:00.001+08:00

another article again from Reader's Digest Aprill 2007:

"Fewer Shocks Better for Cardiac Victims"

New thinking on cardiac arrest resuscitation is saving more lives by recommending less use of the defibrillator and longer stretches of CPR. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have found that a single shock from a defibrillator followed by two minutes of CPR improves survival rates by 13 per cent. "A shock is needed to restore heart rhythm, but CPR helps the muscular beating of the heart and pushes blood into circulation," says study author Dr Thomas Rea.

2007-03-31T13:23:00.001+08:00

i found an article in Reader's Digest April 2007 which can be of use to those who go to work, hahax

"Top Ten Fake Excuses for Work"

1. I dreamt that I had been fired, so i didn't bother to get out of bed.

2. I had to take my cat to the dentist.

3. I got all the way to the office and realised I was still in my pyjamas and had to go home to change.

4. I saw that you weren't in the office, so I went out looking for you.

5. I couldn't find the right tie, so I had to wait for the shops to open to buy one.

6. My son tried to flush our ferret down the toilet and I needed to tend to it

7. I ran over a goat. (this sounds really lame, cos Singapore has no goats roaming around the streets)

8. I stopped for a muffin, the shop was robbed and the police required everyone to stay for questioning.

9. A bee flew in my car and attacked me and I had to pull over. (ok this is really for a lousy person afraid of bees)

10. I wet my pants and went home to change.

One in five employees admit to making up fake excuses. But if they think they're putting one over on the boss, they're probably right. Only 35 per cent of employers say they don't believe the excuses.

2007-03-31T13:12:00.001+08:00

an article here from Reader's Digest April 2007, really interesting and helpful:) :

"Bye-Bye Bruises"

People who bruise easily could try eating more pineapple. It's rich in an enzyme called bromelain, which is used by some to lessen swelling after injury. Only a ripe pineapple will produce bromelain - look for one with a fresh, tropical smell. But don't eat more than half a day; too much can cause stomachache and diarrhoea.

2007-03-31T12:50:00.001+08:00

here are the 7 things that you can do now to keep your brain sharp in old age:)

1. Drink alcohol
In moderation that is. A US study of older women found that those who reportedly have one or two drinks a day had a 40%
lower risk of cognitive decline than those who claimed to drink nothing.

2. Eat apples
Fresh apples have high concentrations of quercetin, an antioxidant that, lab studies suggest, may fight the damage done by
free radicals to brain cells.

3. Broccoli
A study of men aged 50 to 85 in Boston found that those with more folate in their blood showed less decline in verbal
fluency. Folate turns up in leafy green vegetables such as spinach, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

4. Eat less
It's generally considered that obese people are at greater risk. And another mouse study found that animals who have their
food restricted by 40%, compared with mice who can eat all they want, again have a reduced level of blood plaque.

5. Try exercise
It doesn't take much: a Hawaiian study found that elderly men who walked more than 3km a day halved their risk of
dementia compared with men who walked less than a half of kilometre.

6. Look after your ticker
High LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes are all known to be risk factors for heart disease, but a
study of 9000 people found that they also raised the risk of dementia - by 46% for diabetes, 42% for high cholesterol, 26% for smoking and 24% for hypertension. These are cumulative; if you've got all four then your risk is boosted by 237%.

Hope that after reading these tips will encourage you guys to live a healthier life:) hahax start by today:)

2007-03-31T11:27:00.001+08:00

here's an article from Reader's Digest April 2007 which i found very enriching, read on:)

"Cool Off With Tea"

Drink any kind of tea to reduce stress. That's the message from researchers at University College London, who found that people who drank normal black tea destressed more quickly and had lower levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) in their blood after a harrowing event.

And a recent report in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals evidence that drinking three cups of tea a day reduces the risk of coronary heart disease because the water in the tea can help replenish fluids in the body. Dietitian Frankie Phillips says it makes no difference if you drink tea made using a bag or loose leaves. But the brewing time will have an effect. "The stronger the tea, the higher the content of polyphenols, which act as antioxidants in the body," she says.

But what could affect the health benefits is taking your tea with milk. A recent German study at the Charite Hospital in Berlin found that the protective effect that tea has on the cardiovascular system is tottally wiped out by adding milk.

2007-03-30T13:56:00.001+08:00

here's another one of the mysteries that we may have in our lives:) taken from Reader's Digest again April 2007:

"Do ducks have ears?"

According to Dr David Bird, professor of wildlifebiology and director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University in Montreal, ducks, like all vertebrates, do indeed have ears, although they don't look much like the human version.
"As can readily be seen," Bird says, "the avian ear is missing those fleshy flaps, called pinnae, that stick out on either side of the head. Instead, ducks have smallish holes just behind their eyes that are covered by small, stiff feathers."
These feathers help to minimise turbulence during flight, even enhance sound collection by forming a funnel that directs sounds.
Although structurally simple, duck's ears are also remarkably sensitive. As Bird points out:"A duck's hearing is thought to be at least as sensitive as that of mammals in terms of sharpness, frequency discrimination and sound location. And as in all birds, the semi-circular canals of the inner ear, which essentially help maintain a keen sense of balance, are very well developed."

2007-03-30T13:48:00.001+08:00

here's some facts of life that i took from Reader's Digest April 2007:

"Do the living now outnumber the dead?"

If the world's population had always grown at its present rate, the answer would be yes. But there have been long periods where there've been many deaths but virtually no increase in population.
Since 40,000BC - the dawn of modern man - an estimated 58 billion people have died, according to a study by the Netherlands-based International Statistics Institute. The current world population now stands at less than six billion, so the dead outnumber the living by about ten to one.

2007-03-29T15:47:00.000+08:00

here's another article from Newsweek:

Newsweek 26 February 2007

"Now Comes The Hard Part"

The ink was barely dry on the nuclear deal signed February 13 by North Korea and the other members of the Six Party Talks before pundits began to blast the agreement. The arrangement - under which North Korea promised to seal and then disable core parts of its nuclear-weapons programs in exchange for energy aid and gradual relief from international sanctions - has been attacked by hawks, including former Bush staffers, as a reward for bad behavior. Former Clinton asides, meanwhile, say it's nothing more than what they negotiated in the 1994 Agreed Framework - which would still be in effect had Bush stuck with the plan. As happens so often these days, the left and the right are converging to attack the president. But while the deal may not be perfect, both sides have got it wrong.

To start, the new accord goes way beyond the 1994 agreement, which promised North Korea two light-water nuclear reactors woth more than $5 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars of heavy fuel oil in exchange for its freezing and eventually dismanding its nuclear programs. There was no deadline built into the deal, and enforcement fell to Washington alone.

This time, North Korea is being offered no light-water reactors and is being given a very strict deadline - 60 days - within which it must begin sealing its nuclear facility at Yongbyon and detail all its nuclear-weapons programs. After that Pyongyang must start identifying and dismantling its nuclear programs. China and North Korea's other neighbors are now parties to the arrangement and have agreed to strict benchmarks.

The involvement of these outside parties helps explain why the deal finally came together now. China was far less co-operative in 2002, when the United States caught North Korea cheating on the Agreed Framework by running a highly enriched uranium (HEU) weapons program; Beijing refused to get involved. The Bush administration eventually managed to convince the Chinese to host the Six Party Talks, however. Beijing continued to support Pyongyang's demands for light-water reactors and avoided putting pressure on Kim Jong Il. But China now had its own reputation on the line.

When North Korea defiantly tested a nuclear device last year against Beijing's wishes, China's President Hu Jintao was reportedly furious at the loss of face. He began squeezing North Korea in ways once unimaginable, supporting U.N. sanctions and helping freeze North Korean bank accounts. It was this Chinese pressure that proved decisive this year, forcing the North Koreans to return to the table and accept a deal that fell well short of their initial demands.

All this goes to prove the critics wrong. It does not, however, mean that the deal is guaranteed to work. There are worrisome signs that North Korea is still not serious about fulfilling its obligations. The nukes are Kim Jong Il's only trump card; his decrepit nation is forced to depend on China for half its food and most of its oil supplies. In Kim's paranoid worldview, a few nuclear bombs are the only thing that preserves his rule and prevents his country's absorption by his neighbors.

It bodes ill that the North Korean media has already started describing the Six Party Talks as "arms control" negotiations among fellow nuclear-weapons states. Pyongyang has still refused to acknowledge the existence of its HEU program, which violates all previous commitments and could produce dozens of bombs once operational. If North Korea does not include the program on its list of nuclear facilities to be dismantled, the deal cannot move forward. Pyongyang could also reintroduce old demands for light-water reactors or the unconditional lifting of sanctions in order to stall the process and avoid implementing the agreement. If it does, there is a real risk Seoul and Beijing will be tempted to tolerate the delay; even Washington, preoccupied with Iraq, might go along. If they do, North Korea will continue working on its weapons programs, and possibly even stage another test to eke out still more concessions.

Fortunately, because of its built-in deadlines, the new deal makes it easy to tell if North Korea is faking it - much easier than the Agreed Framework did. The real challenge for Washington now is to avoid declaring victory and turning its attention elsewhere. Instead, it must work to keep its partners onboard and to muster the will to punish Pyongyang (by cutting energy assistance and imposing financial sanctions) if North Korea proves intransigent. The United States has never had more leverage on North Korea than it does at the moment. If it allows the international coalition to dissolve and its determination to dissipate before North Korea shows any results, Washington will then truly risk repeating history in a dangerous way.

2007-03-28T16:17:00.001+08:00

ere's another article in Newsweek :

Newsweek 26 February 2007

"The Dawn of the Next Cold War"

The 32-minute blast Vladimir Putin delivered at a recent security conference in Munich will go down as a classic. America's "uncontained" militarism, the Russian president declared, has created a world where 'no one feels safe anymore,' and where other nations feel almost forced to develop nuclear weapons in their own defense. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates tried to laugh it off, joking that 'as an old cold warrior' the speech had 'almost filled me with nostalgia for a less complex time' - and went on to tout Washington's preference for partnership and good relations.

Make no mistake, though. Putin delivered a message, and the White House heard it loud and clear. It goes something like this: in the 1990s, America pushed us around. On NATO expansion, we asked you to consider our national interests. You answered with an advance into former Soviet territory in Eastern Europe. You spoke of energy partnership yet built new pipelines to bypass our territory. Western companies took advantage of our economic troubles to buy access to our natural resources at cut-rate prices.

We asked you to respect the antiballistic-missile treaty; you destroyed it. You expect us to sit quietly while you make trouble in Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Central Asia - lands that existed within the Russian sphere before America was a nation. You ask our help in the war on terror but condemn our fight against the Chechen terrorists. Now you want to deploy missile-defense systems in Central Europe. Yes, we hope for friendship with America. But ours is a new Russia. If you treat us without respect, you will discover that we can say no.

All this built-up resentment was clear in Putin's speech. A decade or so ago, the United States didn't really have to take Russia into account. The cash-strapped Kremlin was preoccupied with rebellious provincial governors, grasping oligarchs, embittered communists and Chechen separatists. The erratic and alcoholic Boris Yeltsin inspired little confidence, the Russian economy even less so. Today, all that has changed. Putin has cowed the oligarchs and tamed all political rivals, including the once independent Duma. Oil prices tripled between 2002 and 2006, filling Russia's coffers with cash and powering growth of 7 percent annually. Putin's approval ratings hover around 75 percent.

Russia's willingness to demonstrate its newfound strength has prompted some to speculate that we're looking at a new cold war. Certainly, U.S.-Russian relations have deteriorated. BUt a new cold war? The picture is more complicated. Yes, the Soviet Union and its nuclear arsenal occupy a special place in the dark corners of the American imagination. But this time around, Russia enjoys competitive advantages the Soviet Union lacked. It has shed its sclerotic Soviet political and economic system. It has no burdensome empire to manage. And Putin, unlike Soviet leaders, has a popular mandate, not just at home but, increasingly, abroad. The Russian leader is now welcomed warmly in many places where public attitudes toward America have soured, if not turned hostile.

During his speech in Germany, Putin offered this on the cold war: "It was a fragile peace, a scary peace, but it was fairly reliable. Today, it is less reliable." In a growing number of ways, he's right - and increasingly widely recognized as right. Putin didn't bang his shoe on the podium; he didn't seek to counter America's move to set up anti-missile defenses in Eastern Europe with empty threats to install missiles in Cuba. But if the Bush administration hopes, for example, to successfully pressure Iran to renounce its nuclear ambitions, it will need Russian help. And in this, Putin signaled, the Kremlin has probably gone as far as it's going to.

In Munich, Putin alluded to an 'asymmetric' response to American hyperpower. Iran offers one clue to what that means. The logic is no longer chiefly commercial, as it once might have been. Nowadays, the Kremlin wants to carve off some of America's regional influence. It's also telling that Putin went from Munich to the gulf. To Saudi Arabia, he offered help with development of a civilian nuclear program; in Qatar he spoke about the formation of a natural-gas cartel. In Jordan he pressed for development of new political and economic ties. Days later, he dispatched Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to meet his Indian and Chinese counterparts to discuss ways of counterbalancing U.S. power in, as Putin sees it, a newly multipolar world.

Russia is entering an election cycle, and it's unclear who will replace Putin at the end of next year. But note: within the Kremlin, Putin counts among the most pro-Western Russian leaders. Others around him are viscerally anti-American. No, this isn't a new cold war. It's far more complex - and that might be worse.

2007-03-27T15:15:00.001+08:00

Here's an article on Apple in Newsweek:

Newsweek 26 February 2007

"Freedom Song"

One of the breakthroughs of Apple's iTunes music store is its relative lack of restrictions. The store's digital-rights-management(DRM)sofware, folded into each music file, protects against piracy but allows users some leeway in making copies for their own use. One aspect of Apple's system has continued to rankle, however. Its DRM program, called Fairplay, doesn't play with others. A song from the iTunes store only plays on iTunes, and songs from competitors like Napster or Rhapsody won't play on your iPod. This is a classic "lock-in" that binds a customer to the products of one company, with no benefit in return.

For years, Job's public stance was that customers were happy with the situation. But now Apple's lack of interoperability is becoming a problem. The record labels are grousing about Apple's power in the industry. More pressing is a series of legislative and regulatory challenges from Europe, specifically in France and Norway, which threaten to mandate iTunes interoperability. Job's response was a sort of blog posting from atop Olympus - an essay, posted recently on Apple's Web site, called "Thoughts on Music".

The essay explains why it is infeasible to do what his critics are asking - to fix iTunes so that when you buy something from his store it will play on other systems, and vice versa. The reason, he says, is that "a DRM system employs secrets." By refusing to share Fairplay with others, Apple can protect those secrets. If hackers manage to unlock the secrets, then Apple can fix the broken lock in the next version of iTunes. By sharing its secrets, he claims, they'd be more easily discovered. By contrast, dropping DRM altogether would open up a musical paradise in which songs would be "playable on all players" and trigger an explosion of start-ups eager to exploit the new freedom.

The idea may work in the long run. But for now, many people in the record industry see DRM as the future, and you'd have to pry it from their cold dead hands before they'd release their digital tunes without it. And some of them see Jobs as a parasite getting fat by selling iPods while the music industry itself is mired in hard times. Significantly, the Recording Industry Association of America has ignored Jobs's call to drop DRM. Instead it congratulated him for offering to license Fairplay to other technology companies - an offer issued nowhere in Jobs's statement. Who needs the Grammys when we've got a catfight like this?

2007-03-27T14:49:00.001+08:00

let me give you a nice review on Harry Potter's latest new and last book which i got from an article from Newsweek:

Newsweek 26 February 2007

"Watch Very Carefully"

Even obsessive "Harry Potter" fans have barely noticed that Hogwarts has had a makeover from the first two films. Oscar-winning art director Stuart Craig, who has designed all five "Potter" movies (including this summer's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"), agreed to share a few of those changes with NEWSWEEK:

- Hagrid's house was an octagonal one-room hut in the first film, but Craig added a bedroom in the back

- The main entrance to Hogwarts is new. The first movie used a real location, Christ Church College at Oxford. For the second film, it was replaced with a built set.

- Hogsmeade Station has been reconceived for "Phoenix". It had been an actual location in the North Yorkshire moors. For this film, Craig created a new set in the woods near Pinewood Studios.

- The trees in the Forbidden Forest are bigger. And speaking of growth, the beds in the Gryffindor dormitory have been extended - ditto the classroom desks - to keep pace with actors who've become teens.

Craig is now designing sets for the sixth film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". But he's anxious for J.K. Rowling's seventh, and final, book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", due in stores July 21. "We need to know which sets to retain for the last film," he says. Not that he'll get an early peek. "I just have to go to the bookshop" - like every other fan.

2007-03-27T14:27:00.001+08:00

hi i'm so bored now hahax in the computer lab once again haahx cos at home can't use computer since got password. need to access heymath and asknlearn, except the internet is now super duper slow cos the computer lab is CROWDED, every single computer is occupied can't believe it right hahax haiz someone's playing Phil Collins song in Tarzan, oh no it's not Tarzan it's Brother Bear hahax there's no privacy la so many people around haiz so squashed but what to do? hahax no choice sadded hahax

BACK AGAIN!!!

2007-02-13T15:14:00.001+08:00

hahax i'm back again, i changed computers, this computer is faster than the previous one hahax:)i'm playing 2 games once again while typing this thing out hahahax there's so many ppl in the computer lab everyone is rushing to do their geography project, which has sort of been extended till this thursday. it was originally wednesday, so i was rushing to do it yesterday night at home with pei luan ahhahahahax so tiring i was caught sleeping in class today during emath, not that i purposely want to agitate the teacher but i just can't help it i'm just so so super tired haiz must be due to all the crazy rehearsals for chinese new year concert, haiz.i know some teachers who are just plain bias.haiz can't help it anyway.lots of classmates also feel this way,this proves its validity hmph.hope you enjoy those videos and that tagboard in my blog!!! hahahahax and thanks YY!!!!! for your SHORT but still lovely and nice letter, hahahhahax hope you enjoy studying in america!!!! and top for everything!!!! hahahahahax

lolx

2007-02-13T15:13:00.001+08:00

hahahax yay i received YY's mail from overseas!!! hashahahax wa this computer is so slow i shall change to another computer, be right back!:)

END OF EXAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-04T11:19:00.000+08:00

OMG FINALLY THE EXAMS ARE OVER!!!

WOOOOOOPPEEEEEE!!!!!!

I CANT BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHX

THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT HAVING EXAMS EARLIER!!!!!!

YOU GET TO FINISH EARLIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES BABE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

crappy

2006-08-24T20:12:00.000+08:00

wat the hell, my mother found out that my sister took her room key today, haiz, and then now she is going to be on her guard since she know that my sister and I have plans to take the laptop from her room. oops, i hear my parents coming back now, gotta go, i don't think my mother will be happy if she knows i'm using the computer for this, haiz

wahahahaha

2006-08-22T16:28:00.000+08:00

i am so damn crappy today, jasmine and i were like laughing throughout the whole class and the whole day today, haahahahahahhahx

i deduced that she's mr teh's daughter, lolx, juz jokin juz jokin, really hahax:))

lolx, guess what i'm doing now?

hahax, of course typing this, hahax, i'm at the computer lab again, after school don't worry, lolx i very guai one, ahahx so self-egoistic hor? hahahax, someone is laughing and whooping next door, must be the non-teaching staff, hahax how ironic, hehehehee

neopets and pokemoncrater i'm playing both now, hahahax

thanx alia for lending me your Macbeth book today, lolx i dunno why i just keep FORGETTING to bring my Macbeth book to school!!! i'm so going to kill myself, haiz, not that i don't want to bring the book and make the teacher angry or anything, i seriously really forgot!!!!!

haiz, the internet is super slow, waited for 10 minutes for everything to load, hahax

cool, someone i don't really know wants to be my friend on friendster, lolx, that's what it's all about huh, being friends on FRIENDster, hahahahahaahhxx

i am SO lame

lolx, must admire me for admitting that i'm lame

hahahahhahahahx

i'm seriously self-egoistic

i think i'm typing super loudly, or at least like banging the keyboard, hahahax, not my fault my fingers are SO strong right, hahahahx juz jokin again

see, i told you i'm super crappy today

hahahahahahax

i am so bored

2006-08-18T13:28:00.000+08:00

haiz, this person so lame, put this funny textbox which can be sent to all the computers somehow in the computer lab, scared me to my grave larh, i thought some teacher suddenly find out something we're doing or wat, not that i'm doing anything wrong, hahahax:) oooo, yay, someone sent me a smile through friendster, although i don't know what's that actually, hahahahhahahx i'm such a blur sotong lolx

POKEMON rox, hahahahahahahahax

omg, that is so childish of me, lolx ok hahax i suck

i'm gonna watch something on the youtube web, hahahax, oh man, someone sent another message to all the computers again -_- the message goes: Rachel, your chinese is really very bad...=/

dotz, hahahax i pity whoever that poor Rachel is, hahahahax, since now practically maybe the whole world knows now? hahahahax, juz jokin Rachel, no offence seriously, sorry

wah, friendster made it like such a big secret that someone sent me a smile, and i'm supposed to like log on to friendster and check who that "mysterious" person is who sent me a smile, dotz, hahahax, ok maybe it's kind of exciting, ahahaahhaahahx

waaaa... later have to go for MEP, haizz i still haven't finish composing my whatever poem song thingy, i'm going to DIE

and the teacher ask me to practise writing somemore music, to FEEL the music, hahahahaahxx, i know, my music sucks, or maybe my LISTENING of music sucks like hell

HAIZZZ

so sad, today no more puppy training for my dog already, haizz...

have to wait for like another few more months, maybe until he's like 1 year old, then i can choose to send him to Agility Class, hahahax, that'll be so cool!!!!! hahahx, my hand is so tired, haizz when can i stop typing???? ;)

freezing cold

2006-08-17T16:22:00.000+08:00

hehehe, guess where i'm typing this now? hahahax, in the computer lab, lolx, after school hours larh, don't worry, hahahahahx, i just finished library cip, yay! all i have to do is just pass my red cross booklets to Ms Soh tomorrow, and i'll have my 7 hours of cip, woots!! hahax, i can't stand the excitement man, this week on Saturday got The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody with exclusive Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens acting in the show!!!!! WHOOPS!!!!!!!!!! so cool!!!!! and after that, they're going to show the High School Musical movie again on Disney Channel!!!!! i'm so going to stay home and order pizza or whatever, and watch from 6pm to 9pm, woots!!! hahahax, i'm so crazy about this kind of things, lolx sorry, hahahahax

oh yes! special thanks to Kayi!!!! for helping me burn the High School Musical dvd!!!!!!! thank you so much!!!! i didn't know you will really burn it for me, thanx so much again!!! aligatok gozaimaseh!!! (hehe, pardon me if my spelling abit the wrong, lolx)

hahax, tomorrow got MEP, haiz... dunno whether i'm looking forward to it anot, hahahax, oh ya i keep forgetting to bring a camera to class, then we can take some nice class photos, hahahahax, for memories sake, yeah, haiz..

my friendster account is so doomed, lolx no more testimonials already from anyone, haiz sad.. waaa, somebody pls write me a testimonial???? :(((( i promise i'll write you a testimonial too!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!

hahax, i sound like some despo person, lolx, eh alia don't think about any funny stuff when i say "despo" hor, hahax, i know you always associate it to SOMETHING, lolx

oh man, someone is blasting 5566 old songs in the computer lab, haiz...

FLU

2006-08-16T11:36:00.000+08:00

oh MAN, flu hit me, lolx i'm at home now, haiz actually yesterday already sick, but i HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL!!!! AMATH TEST!!!!! very important!!!!!! lolx, i call it VIT (very important test) hahahahax, instead of VIP, lolx ok i'm lame, hahahahx i hope my amath test can pull me up, or else i die, haiz the previous test i failed larh, haizzzzz so today i stay at home. got MC from the doctor, hahahx i'm not ponning school hor, i love school so much, hahahahx juz jokin, so cheesy lolx

i wonder what is going on in school today, somemore i'm supposed to go for inline skating today!!!!!! hello!!!!!!!!! i LOVE inline skating, and the doctor tell me i can't do any PE or sports stuff!!!!!!! aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!! lolx, i want to roller blade, so long never do that, especially at east coast, at the beginner corner there, hahaahahahx the floor is super smooth there, i like it, hahahaahx except that time when i was skating until so fast, out of control liaoz, then cannot stop in time, then ended up falling down backwards, hahahahax so funny, lolx laughing at myself somemore, i must be some kind of weirdo or something, lolx

haiz, i hope i don't die so soon, lolx need to complete whatever my destiny is?????

hahahahahahahahahaahahx

eh, i think this flu thingy is getting to my brain, i'm becoming madder and crazier by the seconds, hahahahahahahahx

i pity my poor table partner, hahahahax who has to tolerate me, the crazy spastic person, lolxxx except she ends up laughing along with me too!!!! hahahaahx, she's super funny too, in drama somemore, lolx! hahahaahahax

haiz

2006-08-12T21:49:00.000+08:00

i'm so damned pissed today, i got cheated!!!!! my account can considered hack i guess, watever, shall not reveal too much, later the person see my post then he or she will know that i'm talking bout he or she, hahahax i'm not that dumb lolx

waaaa, dunno why i'm such in a bad mood today, so sucky, aaarrrrggghhhhhh

mood swings?

rrrraaarrrggghhhh

sorry, haiz, paiseh, dun get pissed hor, hahahax sorry if i offended anyone, sincerely sorry!!! *kowtow* sorry!!!

lolx pls forgive me, lolx, hhahahax if i did anything wrong to anyone in the past

haiz, i'm really weird today

i din answer SMSes today

din answer pple's calls

got scolded again today in piano

haiz, i'm seriously bad at listening stuff, and feeling the music, haizzzzz i just dont know why, cant try too hard also, or else that won't be really appreciating or enjoying music, everything is just so crappy for me

haizzzz, my mother ask me to look on the bright side, lolx maybe i'm becoming more and more and more (X1000000000) pessimistic every second, i dunno why i feel so whacked out today, haiz, so frustrated so just broke down today at night, after the scoldings and lecturings during piano lesson, and the rest of the day, plus failing 3 tests all of a sudden, very bad mood, haizzzzzz my heart breaking liaoz

i have to change my bed position also, considering that the fengshui for my bed position this year is bad, so i keep falling sick for the whole year, i don't know whether it's true anot, hahax, my mother told me, but i lazy to move leh, my things are so messy, and i have to move this GIGANTIC cupboard also, haizzz, i can't take it anymore, i'm just too lazy, haizzz

i think i should seriously go for a run tomorrow, i'm going to die of some chronic disease considering how lazy i am, lolx haiz i'm looking on the bad side of life again, haizzzzzz just my habit to do that, that's why i'm so sucky, see again, looking on the bad side again, haizzzzzz

ok, shall think of Star more often, my doggy gives me more courage, lolx maybe because he can't talk or scold me, hahahax, and dogs are loyal too, they aren't called "men's best friend" for nothing, lolx, he's my best friend. i can't imagine the day if he passes away or i don't get to be with him anymore, i think i'll just sit in one corner and just let myself rot, i can't stand a day without being with Star, i think i'm seriously becoming too attached to him alrdy, haizzz, imagine what will happen to me in like 10years down the road, and Star will get older, and dogs don't have that long a lifetime, most probably i have to send him off first to like his grave or something, CHOI (touchwood!) if that ever happens, i dont know what i'm going to do, i think i'm going to....... i don't know, seriously, like maybe die too, too depressed, haizzzz

muahahahahahahahahahahax

2006-08-11T13:36:00.000+08:00

hehe,the first thing i saw when i went to my blog is this anonymous person who tagged me,hahahahahahahahax

i know it's you, alia!!!!!! And the whole world knows now!!!!!!!!!!!!! i tell you don't tell anybody, ok maybe you didn't exactly mention the person's name, ahahhaahahahahahahax

*bloob*

hahax, i'm feeling super random now, lolx, eh so bored leh, waiting to go to MEP soon, hahax i think we're gonna do some indian music today, and even sing along with the indian music.

????????????????????????????????????

i don't get it, hahahahahx

hehe, this week rocks, only need to go to school for 2 1/2 day, hahahahahax so fun, i love national day!!! i'm super patriotic, hahahx you know why? cos when i was young i still remember that i use to go out to my house porch there, and then i start singing the national anthem and saying the pledge facing my neighbour's singapore flag which is hung on a flagpole, and then when there's wind the flag will like wave in the air or something, ahhahahx, pretty cool eh, lolx, juz jokin, that was super long time ago, ages ago, ahhahahax i can't believe i still remember it, lolx

plus my sister and i will always have a PEEING COMPETITION! hahax, right in our garden. we just squat down and then compete against one another see who can pee the furthest, hahahahax, i can't believe we didn't even give a damn about neighbours which might spot us doing that, hahahahahaahahx, i think we were like just super innocent or something, lolx and silly that is, ahhahax, dun worry, i don't do that now, even if i want to my sister won't hahahahahahahahahax

LOLX

2006-08-06T08:43:00.000+08:00

wwwwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

hahax, that's what i can say lolx, hahax:) sorry so long nv post liaoz, haiz... High School Musical like super popular hor, especially that zac efron and vanessa anne hudgens, hahahhhax the craze about them lolx

haiz, so sad, can't maple anymore liaoz, my laptop got confiscated, and my this computer so lousy, cannot download maple, cos it's not windows, haiz... how i wish maple can download for mac, i'll kowtow to them, lolx

my dog's getting more adorable by the day!!! :) hahaax, ok now that i'm talking about him, he starts barking already, seriously, i don't know whether is it some weird telepathy between the computer and him or something, hahhahahax, juz jokin, lolx

i don't even think anyone will read this dumb lame blog anymore, haiz, so i dunno why i'm still posting for what, hahahx, for the ghost to see i guess, lolx, oh my god larh, hahax, now is the 7th month somemore, hehehe, better not anyhow say things, hahax, choi *touch wood* hahahhhahahx

how come the wayang stage performers never come and perform in my neighbour this year already arh??? o.O every year they always come and sing and perform, actually supposed to be for the ghosts to see, but now i mean more of human people watching the performance, hahax:) seriously a lot of audience, alive ones, hahax, mayb there are ghosts and they may be just next to us, just that we don't know???? o.O hahahahahahahahahx i seriously dont noe about that one, hahax, go ask a ghost, lolx, if you can , hahahahx

omg, i'm becoming lamer and lamer by the day, hahahax, my table partner Jasmine and I were like laughing throughout the phonetics english lesson, cos we were pronouncing all of the phonetics so lamely and funnily, hahahahahahhahahahaahhx
soooooper funny, hahahahx, and the way she laugh is like er.... i dunno sooooooooper funny too,

hahahhahahahaahahahahahahhaahahhahaahahahahahahhahahahahhaahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhhahahahahahahahax

and other people were like looking at us as if we were freaks or something, or mayb i'm a freak, not her, hahahahahahahhx

I"M A FREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHHAHHAHX

WTH

2006-07-12T16:52:00.000+08:00

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT DID I DO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I DIN DO ANYTHING WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WASN'T STUDY GEOGRAPHY IN CLASS YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION I WAS KEEPING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNDER MY DESK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THE TEXTBOOK WAS ON MY LAP TOO ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STUDY AND HIGHLIGHT AND WRITE ON MY TEXTBOOK ON MY LAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND NOW I HAVE TO CHANGE MY SEAT IN CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DON'T BLAME ME IF I LAUGH IN CLASS EVEN MORE THAN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANYWHERE I GO IT WILL BE THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND IT'S NOT OLIVIA'S OR MY FAULT THAT I CAN'T PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS RECENTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S BECAUSE I SLEPT LATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU KNOW I SLEEP AT WHAT TIME?????!!!!!!!!!!!

2-3PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO CALCULATE MATH??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'VE ONLY GOT

THREE TO FOUR HOURS OF SLEEP

ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO DON'T BLAME OLIVIA FOR INFLUENCING ME AND TEACHING ME TO BECOME A BAD PERSON OR WHATEVER, COS I
COULDN'T CONCENTRATE IN CLASS BECAUSE I LACKED SLEEP, AND PLUS!!!!!!!!!

I HAVE NOT ENOUGH BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO I'M ALWAYS GIDDY, SO NOT OLIVIA'S AND MY FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND TO THINK THAT I THOUGHT YOU WERE A NICE TEACHER INITIALLY, WHEN EVERYONE ELSE THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE LOUSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I GAVE YOU A CHANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND I DID SO MUCH TO HELP YOU, AND THIS IS WHAT YOU REPAY ME

I never knew CATS were ALCOHOLICS

2006-07-10T16:54:00.000+08:00

oh my god, lolz:) look at that cat man, what kind of a cat is that??? o.O
lo and behold, the new generation of cats, becoming like man, drinking and smoking somemore, lolz:)
i'll prefer if they drink plain water or milk, i think that wud b better, and less FREAKIER, lolz:)))

lame golf course joke :p

2006-07-09T04:59:00.000+08:00

hahax:))) the wheels become like brakes, diaoz, hahax:))) nice coloured picture:))) that's why i like this picture, hahax:))) juz jokin:))) of course it's funny too:)))

don't think that sharks are stupid!

2006-07-09T04:36:00.000+08:00

hahax:)) don't this photo look familiar to you? hahax:))) i find it sooper familiar, like i've seen it before somewhere... hhmmmm...

oh i know!!!!

i think when i was sec1 either ms phua or mrs lee showed my class this picture, hahax:))) if i'm not wrong
-_-

IRONIC

2006-07-09T04:19:00.000+08:00

hahax:) this answering machine joke thing is so ironic, and funny of course at the same time, since it's supposed to be a joke. find out what i mean by reading what i typed at the bottom.

Answering machine message

You know what I hate about answering machine messages? They go on and on, wasting your time. I mean, all they really need to say is, "We aren't in, leave a message." That's why I've decided to keep mine simple and short. I pledge to you, my caller, that you will never have to suffer through another long answering machine message when you call me...

I hope you people got the joke, hahax:)))

Top Ten Signs The Concert You're Attending is Not The Real Woodstock

2006-07-09T04:08:00.000+08:00

From "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, August 9, 1994

1. It's hosted by Ed McMahon.

2. "Amplifiers" are just enormous dixie cups.

3. Every song contains a plug for Green Giant frozen vegetables.

4. You're asked to put on a hat and sunglasses and the next thing you know, you're being introduced as Bob Dylan.

5. One word: polkas.

6. Guy sitting next to you brought a glove and has caught three foul balls.

7. "Santana" turns out to be a jolly bearded guy with a sackful of presents.

8. They're playing "May we turn the hose on you, please?" [All night Dave sprayed the crowd which gathers outside for each night's show with a hose.]

9. You spot Rush Limbaugh stage-diving.

10. The crowd is chanting, "Tito! Tito! Tito!"

SCHOOL JOKE OF THE DAY ^_^

2006-07-09T04:03:00.000+08:00

The following are only learned from college:

1. You meet the type of people you only thought

existed in the movies.

2. You learn to sleep with light, noise, extreme temps, and roommates

snoring.

3. You don't have to cover your textbooks anymore.

4. You become a juggler with the balance between school, friends, girls, activities, work, parties...

5. You live for chicken finger day at the cafeteria.

6. People that were geeks in high school seem okay now.

7. You begin to realize that college is about the ideal lifestyle, except for those pesky classes.

8. You get good at rationalizing on whether to do homework or not (usually not).

9. Procrastination becomes an art.

10. Jeans may be worn as many times as the wearer desires (for example, see # 12).

JOKE OF THE DAY ^_^

2006-07-09T04:01:00.000+08:00

A pirate at the local bar discusses his pastA seaman meets a pirate in a bar, and talk turns to their adventures on the sea. The seaman notes that the pirate has a peg-leg, a hook, and an eye patch.The seaman asks, "So, how did you end up with the peg-leg?" The pirate replies, "We were in a storm at sea, and I was swept overboard into a school of sharks. Just as my men were pulling me out, a shark bit my leg off." "Wow!" said the seaman. "What about your hook"? "Well", replied the pirate, "We were boarding an enemy ship and were battling the other sailors with swords. One of the enemy cut my hand off." "Incredible!" remarked the seaman. "How did you get the eye patch"? "A seagull dropping fell into my eye," replied the pirate."You lost your eye to a seagull dropping?," the sailor asked incredulously. "Well," said the pirate, "it was my first day with my hook"

HAHAHAHAHAHA XD

2006-07-08T02:03:00.000+08:00

hahax:)))omigod,look at the poor horse, instead of it lifting the load, the load is lifting it instead!!!

hahax:)))))

too bad horsey, hahax:)))

looks like you gotta take extra lessons with Superman:)))

hahax:)))

do you understand this joke???? o.O

2006-07-08T01:31:00.000+08:00

Are the pilots flying blind?

One day at a busy airport, the passengers on a commercial airliner are seated waiting for the pilot to show up so they can get under way.

The pilot and copilot finally appear in the rear of the plane and begin walking up to the cockpit through the center aisle. Both appear to be blind; the pilot is using a white cane, bumping into passengers right and left as he stumbles down the aisle. The copilot is using a guide dog. Both have their eyes covered with sunglasses.

At first, the passengers do not react thinking that it must be some sort of practical joke. After a few minutes though, the engines start revving, and the airplane begins moving down the runway.

The passengers look at each other with some uneasiness. They start whispering among themselves and look desperately to the stewardesses for reassurance.

Yet, the plane starts accelerating rapidly, and people begin panicking. Some passengers are praying, and as the plane gets closer and closer to the end of the runway, the voices are becoming more and more hysterical.

When the plane has less than twenty feet of runway left, there is a sudden change in the pitch of the shouts as everyone screams at once. At the very last moment, the plane lifts off and is airborne.

Up in the cockpit, the copilot breathes a sigh of relief and tells the pilot: "You know, one of these days the passengers aren't going to scream, and we aren't going to know when to take off!"

JOKES TIME!!!

2006-07-08T01:27:00.000+08:00

I bet I can bite both of my eyes

A man walks into a bar has a few drinks and asks what his tab was. The bartender replies that it is twenty dollars plus tip. The guy says, "I'll bet you my tab double or nothing that I can bite my eye." The bartender accepts the bet, and the guy pulls out his glass eye and bites it.

He has a few more drinks and asks for his bill again. The bartender reports that his bill now is thirty dollars plus tip. He bets the bartender he can bite his other eye. The bartender accepts knowing the man can't possibly have two glass eyes. The guy then proceeds by taking out his false teeth and biting his other eye.

HAHAX:)))

2006-07-07T23:51:00.000+08:00

heys! hahas:))) i added some new features to the right hand column of my blog! do go and check them out, hahax:))) and did you see another mysterious pet that i added? hahax:))) it's to accompany my adopted dog pet, Star! haahx:))) actually i alrdy have a puppy called Star in real life le, hahax:))) i say he much more cuter than the cartoon, lolz:))) hahax:))) of course:))) cartoons are so ... square??? hahax:))) whereas real life Star is hopping and happy and cute! :))) hahax:))) i love him so!:))) hahax:)))

"Star light, Star bright, you shall be my star tonight..."

2006-07-07T22:06:00.000+08:00

heyxx!!! hahax:))) add me on your friendster accounts if you have not:))) it's my email address: stressed_91@hotmail.com

hahax:)))

i'm so glad!!! i adopted a pet today, hahax:))) wanna see it??? ;)))

WOAH

2006-07-03T14:51:00.000+08:00

hahax:) WOAH. hahax:) cool:) hahax, juz jokin, hahax:)
i slept super early yesterday, like at about 9pm, cant believe it, i missed mapling at night, man! XP
sigh, too bad then, hahax:) i even forgot to brush my teeth yesterday night, cos i slept so late, haiz -.-
ooo, lynn is sending me instant msg from msn msnger. haax:)
haiz, i'm sooper bored, haiz:(
shud i go see the doctor again about my 'middle finger'???
hahax:) mayb not :(
i still rmb the TORTUROUS PAIN i went through -.-
hahax:) tomorrow got bio practical test, gotta go study liao, hahax:) i sooper guai one, hahax:)
juz jokin:) this is called egoistic man, hahax:)

HOW CAN I FORGET???

2006-07-02T03:00:00.000+08:00

hahax:) sorry, forgot to tell you guys that if you have a blog, and it's not indicated under the 'Friends' column, pls tag at the tag board your blog address and notify me:) and be rest assured i will add your link, sorry for the inconvenience caused:(

yaawwwnnn

2006-07-02T02:54:00.000+08:00

i am sooper tired -_- now is like 3am, hahax, sigh-_-
i'm going to be a panda the next morning, hahax:)
at least people can finally get to see a panda in Singapore, hahax, that's something you don't see everyday right? ;)
hahax:) i was juz jokin, hahax:) i hope i dun become a panda, hahax:) but they are sort of cute, hahax:) Sichuan, China have a lot of pandas, took like over 50 photos of pandas there -_- not my fault, hahax:) too bad singapore dun have:(
i'm listening to Avril Lavigne "Don't Tell Me".hahax:) so depressing :( haiz
my neck is aching, sigh:(
my third finger looks like it's going from bad to worse, from one blue-black spot to three blue-black spots when i took out the bandage -_- sigh
looks like i might have to go and visit the doctor again -_- like he said, haiz:(

JOKE:) Why are men happier?

2006-07-01T02:21:00.000+08:00

Men are just simply happier people, and here is why...

Your last name stays put.

The garage is all yours.

Wedding plans take care of themselves.

Chocolate is just another snack.

You can be President. You can never be pregnant.

You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park.

Car Mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal.

You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.

You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

Same work, more pay.

Wrinkles add character.

Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100.

People never stare at your chest when you are talking to them.

The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.

New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.

One mood all the time.

Phone conservations are over in 30 seconds flat.

You know stuff about tanks.

A 5 day vacation requires only one suitcase.

You can open all of your own jars.

You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.

Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.

You never have strap problems in public.

You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

Everything on your face stays its original color.

The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe even decades.

You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life.

Your belly usually hides your big hips.

One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons.

You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.

You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.

You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier!

yawwnn

2006-07-01T02:17:00.000+08:00

guess wat time i'm typing this:p

it's 2.20am now.

i muz b mad

High School Musical all geared up!!!

2006-06-30T22:01:00.000+08:00

yessss!!!!!!!!! high school musical was so nice!!!! hahax~~~ i hoped you enjoyed it too:)) hahax:) of course everyone has different opinions, hahax:) i understand:) hahax~~

my middle finger got dislocated yesterday while playing basketball, sigh-_- and that doctor went to PULL my finger OUTWARDS, and there was this loud CRACK!!! and i was like screaming, hahax:)

so dramatic hor? hahax:) i dun wanna cry, juz tat my eyes are too sensitive;) hahax:)

troy bolton in high school musical is so talented!!! he plays basketball and sings well too!!! oh man:( now i'm depressed, haiz..

HAHAX! wat am i talking about man, haha:)) captain of the team somemore, wa, UNBELIEVEABLE man!!! hahax!