A Limited Existence.

The alarm went off at 9am. She hit the snooze button – she did not really need the extra 10mins of sleep but she just enjoys lying on the bed for a while before getting up. 10mins later, she gets out of bed and steps into the shower. The steady stream of warm water washes over her and slowly melts away the sleep. Feeling fresh and energetic from the shower, she proceeds to pick out a black top and her favourite pair of jeans. After getting dressed, she stands at the mirror to comb her hair. She smiles at her reflection, pleased with what she sees – the new hairstyle really suits her...

A loud alarm sounds and jolts him awake. He opens one sleepy eye and sees that the sky is still dark outside. His brothers are already getting up so he forces himself up as well and shuffles across the corridor to get into the shower, grabbing a set of clothes along the way. Screwing up his face in anticipation, he turns on the shower and is greeted with a blast of cold water – shocking, but never fails to wake him up instantly. Fully awake now, he quickly dries off and puts on his clothes. As he leaves the bathroom, he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror - the hairstyle really does not suit him...

Cereal with milk? Maybe a sandwich? She finally settles on a breakfast of toast with jam and coffee. At 11am, she leaves her house to meet up with her friends for a relaxing Saturday afternoon at the beach. This outing was planned last week and she had been looking forward to it since then. Having been caught up with school and a flurry of different activities, the week had flown by and now it’s finally time to unwind...

He sits at the table eating his breakfast – bread with jam and coffee. It’s not his ideal breakfast but that’s all there was and after exercising for half an hour, he’s really hungry so he eats quickly and silently. An hour later, he steps into the office and starts work. They have been given a contract assignment and today, the photocopying, sorting and binding must be finished so that the documents can be delivered back to the client after the weekend. It’s Saturday but it is work as usual for him and his co-workers. His routine, comprising of a limited repertoire of activities, rarely varies. The days simply blend into each other, one hardly differing from another...

How quickly time has passed! Before they realized, it was dusk and time to pack up and go for dinner – one of them had a craving for pasta so they were going to this new Italian restaurant in town. During the afternoon, they had gone for a swim in the sea and then spent the rest of the time catching up with the things that were happening in each others’ lives. They had also spent some time discussing their plans for the future as they were all about to graduate and start working… It was an exciting time for all of them. Who knows what the future holds!

At this point, time holds no meaning for him. Minute by minute, hour by hour, time seems to drag on forever. Today, the passing of it is punctuated mainly by the whine of the photocopying machines and the sounds of paper being flipped and sorted. Occasionally, one of his colleagues would start a conversation but it was hard to keep these conversations going. Or someone would start singing a song and others would join in but again, the end of the song meant the beginning of silence once more. In those moments of silence, he wondered if he had a future at all... and if indeed he was lucky enough to have a future, he wondered what it held for him. Finally, the job was finished and the documents packed into boxes. Good timing too! Time for dinner!

She lay on her bed, smiling at the ceiling. It had been a really enjoyable day and she wished it hadn’t gone by so quickly. She spent the next few minutes thinking about the next day. Sundays were days of rest and completely flexible – getting up late and doing whatever she felt like doing; she could go shopping, to the movies, for a walk in the park or simply potter around the house the entire day. With those thoughts, she closed her eyes and started drifting off to sleep...

He lay on his thin mattress, staring at the ceiling. The days were so long and he wished time passed more quickly. He spent some moments thinking about the next day. Sundays were still structured – nothing here is unstructured – but at least Sundays were slightly different. It was a day of rest – no work, an extra hour of sleep in the morning, basketball games in the afternoon, and they were allowed to watch television in the evening before returning to their cells. With those thoughts, he closed his eyes and started drifting off to sleep...

Unfocused...

This post has naaah-thing to do with RENU contact lens solution

Although yes, you may be "unfocused" if you're a user of above-mentioned product.

------------------------------

I'm unfocused because...

so many things to say...

don't know where to start.

------------------------------

I have a book to recommend.

Yes, AGAIN.

I go through so many books that I don't really remember all that I read.

A lot of them are forgettable.

But "Tales from a Borrowed Childhood"

by Miles Kington is an absolute gem.

It's supposedly a biography.

But it's not.

The book is made up of anecdotes from his childhood

and I love it because it's so rolling-on-the-floor funny!

Excerpts:

"Spilt milk is spilt yoghurt in the morning"

"You can take a horse to water, but it's easier to take a bucket to the stable"

"Beware of old ladies in queues, for they start out behind you and end up in front of you"

"There is no point offending an enemy. He is offended already. You would be better off offending a friend"

If you enjoy British humour (witty, caustic)

you absolutely have to read this!!!

*Not very good idea to read this on public transport. You'll just end up looking a bit cranky when you start laughing loudly suddenly.*

------------------------------

The last 4 movies I watched (in 3 days!) are:

L'Âge d'or (1930) - "Age of Gold" (French)

Swimming Pool (2003)

Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) - "Wings of Desire" (German)

*Don't look at the title and think it's pornography! It's not! It's about an angel that falls in love with a mortal.*

1900 (1976)

From watching these movies, I realised a trend.

Language does not affect my understanding of the films.

Colour, however, apparently does.

I have difficulty understanding films that are black and white.

It's even worse if a film is black and white with only music in the background.

NO DIALOGUE.

THAT is completely beyond me.

I can only understand films that have COLOUR

and where the characters actually TALK TO EACH OTHER.

------------------------------

Got the grades back for my assignments last semester!

2 assignments that make up a grade for 1 module.

Bonus: It's a "double" module which means the same grade counts TWICE into the classification of the degree (first class, 2nd upper etc etc).

So if you get a good grade, that's great! Because it means you actually get TWO good grades.

And if you get a bad grade, you're scr*wed. Twice.

=) =) =)

12 Hours of My Life.

10pm (21 Feb): Made my way upstairs to the common room to watch a DVD with Mac. He wanted to watch this movie called "1900" and I have nothing planned for tonight anyway. I'm thinking that a movie is normally 1.5-2hrs and at the end of it (midnight), it would be a great time for me to go to bed so I can get up for 9am class tomorrow.

12midnight (22 Feb): Movie has not ended. Witty conversation in the movie keeps me interested. Plus it features lots of children and the amazing things they get up to in their innocence and naivity is quite funny. Plot is errm.... huh? Ok, it's a movie about war-time Italy in 1900 (how did you guess?) between the fascists and communists. If you're into that kindda thing, yeah, good show. Value for money.

3:30am (22 Feb): The show finally ends. FIVE AND A HALF HOURS! What did I say about value for money?

4:00am (22 Feb): Zzz...

8:00am (22 Feb): Crawled out of bed. Washed up. Had breakfast.

8:45am (22 Feb): Put on shoes! And still have got 15mins before class starts (it takes 8mins from my room to my lecture hall in case you're wondering). Decided to check my university e-mail.

8:50am (22 Feb): %^&$#! Lecture has been postphoned to another day! That means there's NO class today. One thing I really hate is getting up for absolutely no reason. I can get up at 7am if I have an early class. I can sleep till 2pm if there's nothing on for that day. The point is: there's gotta be SOMETHING to do right? There has to be a point in getting up, a purpose for crawling out of the warm cocoon under the blankets to step into this permanently air-conditioned-ish external environment. Feel cheated of sleep. Feel cheated into getting up early.

9:00am (22 Feb): Went online to complain to anybody else that was online about how I have not had classes since Monday. That's 3 days of complete self-study. I mean, how much can you possibly study about yourself right? Everybody thinks their character and personality has depth. Ah. Ok. Fine. But go over a certain point and it becomes narcissistic. And 3 days of self-study is kindda pushing that boundary.

9:50am (22 Feb): Talking to my mum. Very lively and animated discussion we were having. Suddenly, there is a black-out. Room becomes dark. Lap-top that's running on power gleefully dies while I'm staring in shock. Eh, why like that?! Turns out that the electricians are here to install motion-detecting spotlights for our safety. Much appreciated but hurry up can? I'm in the middle of the conversation with my mother. And my chicken in the freezer is defrosting.

The "NYP" Scandal...

*I don't think she's been identified so I can't say for sure she's from NYP*

I don't normally comment on scandals..

but this "video" got me thinking.

See, it actually begs lots of questions.

Questions like...

Why on earth did she agree to the video?

*and it's not even artistically made. "S" describes it as "animal-like".

I think it's simply pornographic.*

Why is the video not tucked away somewhere but on her handphone?

A handphone is so easy to lose.

Someone with fiddly fingers might play with it.

Your handphone might breakdown and need servicing

in which the technician will have access to all information on the phone...

Point is:

Information on handphones are so NOT secure!

Of course, then you have the harder to answer questions, like

How is she going to face the world?

How is she going to explain it to her parents?

*Hopefully her parents would not have seen the video.*

And finally, there are the larger questions, like

Have we gone from being conservative to super liberal

in the short span of 1 generation?

Or are we misled by a few high-profile examples?

If not, why is the West gradually moving towards being more conservative

while the East is speeding towards being more liberal?

1 Week Later...

It's been a week since I updated my blog.

And I didn't even realise it till now...

That's how busy I was.

So this is just gonna be a summary of the week.

------------------------------

Monday

No class today.

Stayed home and did "work"

Can't really define work.

It's a mish-mash of writing essay, cooking meals,

lying on the bed, walking around the house aimlessly,

sitting in the common room and talking.

Something like that.

------------------------------

Tuesday

No classes today.

Stayed home and did "work"

This time serious WORK.

Trying to string together 700+ words for the introduction to my essay.

I've been doing it all weekend so much so that I forgot to go online

to chat with my friends and family.

It absolutely has to be completed by today.

Because I say so.

It's a goal I set for myself.

------------------------------

Wednesday

Classes from 9-11am then 12-1pm.

Woke up really early for class.

Discovered a sms had come in the night while I was sleeping.

Bad news: Her dad passed away.

Sent her a reply to convey my condolences.

She seems to be coping.

Submitted my draft introduction - turned out to be 1200 words.

Had dinner in a Thai restaurant with friends - late Valentine's Day meal.

Not a great restaurant.

Got our orders wrong - twice.

Had to ask 6 times before we got water.

Made a complaint and got the service charge waived.

Proceeded onto the pubs.

Stayed on at a pub till it closed.

Went back home and continue chatting with friends.

Slept at... in the morning.

When the sun was shining brightly.

------------------------------

Thursday

Stayed at home to recuperate.

All of us had some kindda "illness".

Either a cold or some stomach discomfort.

Not a very romantic V-day afterall.

Had a "confession" session with 2 good friends - both in Australia.

They understand the feeling of being away from home.

The freedom as well as the guilt that comes with it.

------------------------------

Friday

Went back for classes.

Supposed to be 10am-12pm then 2-4pm.

But the morning lecturer didn't appear (?!!)

so the afternoon lecture was brought forward.

Lecturer was not prepared for class yet.

Her slides were incomplete.

So we finished real early - 11am.

Done for the day.

10-11am.

------------------------------

Saturday

All 5 of us in the flat woke up and made a decision in 5 minutes.

Went to pack and left the house 10 minutes later.

Towel, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel,

comb, slippers, hairdryers.

It felt like we were going swimming.

But no.

We were going to the gym to use the shower.

Because the boiler in the building had broken down the night before!

No heating system = cold rooms.

No heating system = cold water.

------------------------------

So that's the summary of my week.

Apologies that I have been "missing"

I've actually been doing work.

And that's kindda the reason that I'm here yah?

So be happy for me that I'm productive.

But I promise to be back.

Within the next few days...

Till then, take care.

And be good! =)

Rabbits

During one of our increasingly frequent indulgence of our favourite pastime – just sitting around and talking, Elli read us a short article from a magazine about the “World’s Largest Bunny”, Herman.

Herman is a humongous rabbit that weighs 7.7kg and is almost 1 metre tall.

Cuddly Herman

Herman doesn't look very happy here.

Maybe he's not used to being lifted into the air...

...especially by another male.

Rudi, another rabbit like Herman, is a German Giant (I'm not being politically incorrect. They belong to a breed of rabbits that's really called German Giant). Rudi weighs 8.7kg and was destined for the cook pot. However, after Rudi was crowned "Berlin Champion" in a competition and became somewhat famous, his owner suddenly decided that he couldn't bear to cook Rudi because he was "too fond" of him. So it's true that fame cultivates "fondness", eh?

Anyway, I'm not interested in which rabbit is the largest, the heaviest, the most delicious or whatever...

I'm interested in how many rabbits you know.

Rabbits are really quite cute things, aren’t they? Furry, good-tempered, sociable creatures… No wonder they appear so often in popular media. Think for a moment about all the bunnies you’ve seen in the media. How many did you come up with?

MissyMinz Rabbit Hall of Fame

Peter Rabbit

White Rabbit (Alice in Wonderland)

Roger Rabbit

Miffy

(She must be the world's saddest rabbit. She's got a "X" for a mouth lor...)

Rabbit (Winnie the Pooh)

The bunny that keeps going and going... and going...

Thumper (Bambi)

Were-rabbit (Wallace and Gromit)

No chance of forgetting this guy. Ever.

And lastly...

PLAYBOY

Why Night Owls Shine Brightest

Daily Mail Article:

It appears the 18th century scientist Benjamin Franklin got it wrong – early to bed and early to rise does not make you healthy, wealthy or wise.

In fact, the teenager who burns the midnight oil and lounges in bed until lunchtime may have found the best way forward, according to psychologists.

A new studying linking human intelligence and the 24-hour rhythm of light and dark shows that night owls are definitely cleverer than early larks.

Researchers have found that people who get up later in the day and start work later have quicker minds and a better memory. Vindicating geniuses such as Mozart, who was vilified for lying in bed all day, the study has shown that early birds are mentally slower and prone to forgetfulness.

The joint project by the University of Sydney and the U.S. Air Force involved more than 400 recruits who completed questionnaires to establish their sleeping and waking patterns.

Each was then put through mental agility and memory tests.

The scientists discovered that those who favoured a late start to the day typically had a significantly better mental speed and memory.

Richard Roberts, of the University of Sydney, said: “The results indicate that, contrary to conventional folk wisdom, evening types are more likely to have higher intelligent scores.”

‘Early to bed, early to rise, will make you anything but wise.’

The researchers are not sure why that is the case, but it may be a hangover from prehistoric times.

They suggest there may be a link to our ancestors who had a better chance of survival if they remained bright and alert after dark to ward off nocturnal predators. Dr Roberts said: ‘It would not seem too fanciful to argue that those able to adapt to evening schedules were among the fittest of the emerging Homo sapiens.’

A similar study of sleep patterns carried out by the University and General Hospital in Southampton last year also showed that the Franklin theory was flawed.

Scientists examined the lifestyles of 1,300 people and assessed their health, wealth, and – with the help of mental tests – their wisdom.

Although they did not conclude that night owls were more intelligent than early risers, their research showed there was little or no difference between the two groups.

------------------------------

I have no idea how old this newspaper article is but I found the above-mentioned research article by the University and General Hospital in Southampton published in a very reputable journal - the British Medical Journal (Click here for the full article, or here for just the key results of the study).

No doubt the research is flawed (there is no perfect research, so by default, every research is flawed) and some interesting discussions (including one that considers the lack of electricity during Franklin's time and another that mentions India's rapid rate of reproduction) have been generated. So I guess we can decide to:

a) acknowledge that the research is flawed to some extent, but generally sound and either continue to be/become an owl (being "evidence-based" is fashionable nowadays).

b) vehemently deny the results. How can all the most parents in the world be wrong?

c) take it with a pinch of salt and recognize it as a "teaser" as the authors intended it to be.

------------------------------

Disclaimer:

MissyMinz will not entertain any e-mails from teenagers asking her to convince their parents that people who stay up late and get up at lunch time are more mentally agile and have better memories.

MissyMinz has personally been through this battle and going through it once is enough. She has no intention of fighting this battle for anyone else.

Request

A friend has requested for me to put up

these lyrics from a song called "Tears"

by a group called X-Japan.

Unusual request.

But I shall oblige.

I think he got tired of waiting for me to put this up.

I've been delaying this post for 2 days.

And in that time, he has set up his own blog!

=_=

------------------------------

LONELINESS YOUR SILENT WHISPER
FILLS A RIVER OF TEARS
THROUGH THE NIGHT
MEMORY YOU NEVER LET ME CRY
AND YOU, YOU NEVER SAID GOOD-BYE
SOMETIMES OUR TEARS BLINDED THE LOVE
WE LOST OUR DREAMS ALONG THE WAY
BUT I NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D TRADE YOUR SOUL TO THE FATES
NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D LEAVE ME ALONE

TIME THROUGH THE RAIN HAS SET ME FREE
SANDS OF TIME WILL KEEP YOUR MEMORY
LOVE EVERLASTING FADES AWAY
ALIVE WITHIN YOUR BEATLESS HEART
DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE
DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE

------------------------------

That's actually only part of the song.

The other half of the song is in Japanese

and you can see the full song lyrics,

the English translation of the lyrics,

and listen to the song

HERE.

------------------------------

I've never heard of the song / the group before

but from listening to the first 15secs of the sound clip

from the above website,

(obviously recorded "live")

I would think they are quite popular

(in Japan, I would logically assume).

The first 15secs features their fans

screaming their lungs out

and throughout the song,

you can hear the fans singing along,

taking breaks for intermittent screaming

and then

more screaming at the end.

------------------------------

When I first listened to it,

I was not impressed.

The melody didn't have enough variety.

It was quite linear: high, higher and higher still.

The chorus does not make a strong enough impact.

In fact, WHEN exactly is the chorus?!!

And I'm not convinced the singers really knew the meanings

of the words they were singing in English.

(Personally, I liked the parts of the songthat are in Japanese better than the parts
that are in English. There was more "feeling" in the singing.)

But I listened to it 17 times back to back and

there is a redeeming factor.

It's the instrument that plays the main melody.

Can you hear it?

=)

------------------------------

Note to self: Since when did you become a music critic?

EXPLOSION!

The fire alarm went off last Monday.

Yes, again.

But this time it was for real.

There was an EXPLOSION!

In my flat, no less...

Turns out that Steph was charging her camera batteries

while she took a nap

when the batteries just exploded.

Scary not???

Julia, who was cooking her dinner at that time: "I thought it was my cooking that set off the alarm."

Nicola, who lives in the room directly above Steph: "I heard a very loud bang and I thought somebody dropped something. The next thing I heard was 'SH*T!' "

Steph: "I heard a loud bang and woke up to see a fireball shoot across the room. It was like special effects from the movies."

The damage?

Soot on the walls and ceiling where the "fireball" hit.

Carpet burns where bits of the battery landed.

This one is where the main part landed and made a real clear imprint on the carpet.

Burnt chair

Steph's bed.. where she was taking her nap at that time.

Good thing Steph was unhurt

except for a tiny blister on her finger.

------------------------------

I think I need less exciting friends.

Dark Room.

Spent some time with Steph in the

DARK ROOM

Takes some taking used to obviously...

This is how it looks like with the lights on.

And here's the machine that

shines a controlled amount and type of light

onto the film negative and photo paper.

After exposing the photo paper to light,

it needs to be dipped into chemicals

to be developed and fixed.

No flash allowed at this stage...

End product?

That's the test strip showing the whole spectrum.

From right: exposed for 3s, 6s, 9s blah blah...

=)