River Torrens

If you haven't already know, it's spring right now in Adelaide and what can be better than to have the green grass under your feet with

the sun beaming on your face and a slight teasing breeze that carries with it the sent of blooming flowers? I'm sure there are many places in the city where you can experience those of what I've mentioned but River Torrens is one of the best. (Especially so because it is extremely near my school)















There are plenty of ducks and swans around. My ex-housemate used to bring whatever that was left of her expired loaf of bread and feed the ducks here.











Me being silly.

Mr Low of Crescent Girls'! I found your white crow! Well, it's half white at least. Not all crows are black!













I'll show you more of Adelaide another time.

Blackout (We are servants to the big T)

Yesterday at about 1150 pm, we experienced a blackout. It was a nightmare! And first I thought it was just The Village, the name of my accommodation, having a power failure. But no! It was the whole street. So the backup generator didn't work as well. We sat in total darkness for nearly one hour before we decided that no more could be done and went off to sleep.

This got me thinking. The human race have always thought themselves to be the highest of all. We rule the land, sea and air. We pride ourselves as the controllers of beasts, regardless of size and strength. We can predict the winds of Mother Nature and ride the storm of the Sea Gods. We are the rulers of all but one. We are all servants to technology.

Indeed, the indisputable fact that humans made machines could easily render everything I have said earlier nonsense but just think about it, if you will. Are we ALL capable of getting modern machinery to do our bidding? I guess the crucial word is "all" and it also depends on the extend of complexity of the technology that you wish to command. For instance, I am certain most of you would know how to fix a blackout caused by a circuit breaker trip. But what happens if is due to a power failure from the main power source in the region? Or the country? Or the world? Would you be able to fix that?

Yes, I'm sure you will if you're a highly educated electrician armed with a pocket fitting tool box equipped with solar and battery operated screw drivers, tiny tweezers which might be used to disarm a bomb and other what-have-you-nots. But for a normal person like me, as like any other normal person in the universe, it is just not possible. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and common-sensically impossible. So I am a servant of technology. But who are we kidding? So are you.

Did that happen, really?

There are many times in the course of my life when I felt confused. I cannot tell if a past event really did occur or it was just a fragment of my imagination. (And I am not referring to the state of mind when one is under the influence of alcohol) This is especially frustrating because you can never reach a proper conclusion as to if it did or did not happen, unless you have the ability to turn back time and see for yourself.

I sometimes wonder if I suffer from multiple personality syndrome.

I'm not sure if any of you are diagnosed with this unfortunate neurological disorder but if you are, there are some things which you can do to help you identify if an event indeed occurred.

1. Try to recall if there was anyone at the "same place" with you. If there was, ask him/her if it really occurred. But this might not be reliable cos people, just like you and me, tend to forget.

2. If there wasn't anyone around, ask the people who might know if the event you believed happened can actually happen in a practical sense. Again, this is not foolproof cos there isn't any concrete evidence to show.

3. Get hard evidence! If you believe you've been to a place before, look for photographs to back you up.

I can think of at least 3 events right not which occurrance I cannot establish initially.

Number 1: My uncle and an auntie brought me and my cousin out to play when I was really young. This really happened. I've got a picture to prove.

Number 2: My JC tutor telling the class that she went to a chocolate factory and tasted the chocolate from a chocolate fountain. This did not happen. I've confirmed this with my classmates and the tutor herself.

Number 3: I witnessed the passing on of an elderly women in her rocking chair when I was barely 3. I cannot be sure about this one. When I relate this incident to my mum a few years back, she could identify the similarities between my story and the actual event. Which made it quite scary for me.

I hate to end with a morbid story so let me tell you a joke.

Q: What did the lions say before they hunt?
A: Let us prey.

Hope it helps.

Because

I've just looked through the latest post and noted the number of times I've used the word "because" to explain myself.

Why do we use "because"?
(a) Because it is the word used to signaL to the reader that you're about to give reasons to the topic in question.
(b) Because it's just that.
(c) Stop saying because!

It seems to me that if you try to overly explain yourself, it will look as if you're lying and just trying to use excuses to cover up. So I highly suggest not to put too many "because(s)" in your sentences. And YES I do realise the risk of discrediting my previous post by posting this one but NO I will not go back to edit that one. What's done is done. You either take it, or....... not.

dear sire

Pass this on or die a horrible death

"The message : The world is coming to an end!

Dear reader,

You will receive the best gift today and the love of your life will confess at exactly 10:23 am if you forward this to 20 of your friends in 5 minutes. But if you delete this, you will be curse with bad luck and your life will be miserable from now on."

I never knew what to do with mails of this such. I am in a dilemma not because I believe that bad luck will follow if I do not forward the mail(I am a student scientist remember?), but because I'm not sure if the person whom I intended the message for will think that I've sent this to him/her because I am superstitious. Because I am not. The only reason I send emails is because there is something informative/funny/interesting in the mail. But my friends might not know that. Plus my friends who received the email with the warning message at the end might feel obliged to forward it.

I write with good intentions. I refuse to burden my friends with the task of message forwarding hence have made it a point not to forward any chain letters, no matter how interesting they might be (and some really are)

If you really want to say something nice to a friend, do it in a way that the other party can choose if he/she wants to pass the message on (and they will if its really good). This is easy. Just remove that threatening cliché at the end of your mail.

And to those who dedicate their lives to making those of others miserable, my existence will ensure the extinction of the chain letters you've spent hours generating. It stops at me.





(Or until one of your letters take me)

Assume we do not possess the ability to assume

This is the second time someone came up to me and starts speaking in Chinese. But unlike the first, the old auntie who attempted to talk me into attending her church is an australian. (My first encounter was with a chinese auntie who wanted olive oil)

I'll excuse the first (allowing the benefit of the doubt that maybe she can't speak english) but how do you explain the second?
Why do people assume that just because you're chinese, you speak chinese?

Don't get me wrong. I am not offended. I'm just wondering how people can easily make assumptions based on their evidently wisdom deprived brain? Because I think if you're truely wise, you'll be wise enough to know that you can never be wise enough. OMG! I cant believe I've just typed that! That's an oxymoron right?

Alright back to the topic on assumptions. I can go to church but that doesn't necessarily mean that I am a believer of Christ. Just like I can be chinese but not know a word of chinese.

And there are some people who can tap on this innate assumption instinct, as I called it, of ours to their advantage. Magicians, for instance, rely greatly on this tendency of the human mind to make assumptions. To show you what I mean,check this out and see if you too can identify how this trick works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUNfbNchK3Y&feature=related

To those who cannot appreciate the video, or are simply too lazy to click on it, I onli have one thing to say - It's your lost.

So the take home message is, stop assuming.

My family, my everything

I love my family.

My dad is a nag. He seldom lectures but he is extremely long-winded. He's like the energizer battery and "never say die" when it comes to getting us to go to bed at 10. " Go and sleep la. Why won't you feel tired? Children need to sleep at 10 you know?" Haha we are forever children in his eyes. But without him, there won't be anyone to buy food for me when im hungry. No one will wash my clothes for me, or my bag or remind me to drink more water everytime I show signs of sickness. He's a nag but Im not used to it when he stops being around me. I love my dad loads loads.

My mum's the opposite. She spoils us terribly. But in her own special way. She is always the last to eat so as to make sure that we're full first. That's my mother. Always giving the best for her children. That's why I am here. And that's why I am grateful. I owe my life to her and I owe any achievements, if I do have any, to her. Thank you mama. To you, I will always be grateful. I love you too.

My sista is weird and a little crazy sometimes. When she speaks in her language, she might not make sense to the world but I understand her perfectly. She's the one who can make me laugh till my legs go weak. I am laughing as I am thinking about her right now. She is my best friend, my talking companion on nights that I cant sleep, the bug in my life who always ask me for food, the one person in this world I cannot live without. The one I miss most.

My lil bro is a quiet person. You can say that he is a bit boring. But he is super smart. Super duper. I like to teach him cos he picks things up really fast especially when it comes to numbers. So I get a great sense of satisfaction whenever I teach him a new trick or method in maths. Mummy thinks that it's because of me that's why he's good in maths. But let me tell you, its not. He is better in maths than me and I am only "better" because Im older. That's a fact I cannot dispute. My brother also listens to me a lot. This makes me feel good but at the same time, responsible for him. I miss you, boy.

The last few photos I took with my family before coming here.

The girls

The guys








I miss you all.