Life Overseas

2007-04-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hey buddies, sorry been neglecting this blog for a long long time... Isolating in Canada while pushing myself for a better change... 2007 been good to me... Last sem hit a miracle 4.3 GPA and this sem trying to do well in studies while socialising and working out.. Complexion is also much better. (Lol pic on ur left is inspired to look like one of the Spartans after watching 300 and after some intensive 6 days a week workout...)

Now its exam period... 2 weeks of examinations, and then 1.5 weeks in New York b4 heading home.... Cant wait to gobble tons of Singapore delicacies, drive the new car and play with the dog that wont recognize me yet.... So much to look forward to....

Alright... To my fellow friends taking exams... Good luck and peace out.....

By the way downloaded quite a few movies over here, so we can have a movie marathon when we get back....

2006-11-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Hey pple whats up... Sorry havent been updating... My workload seems to be never ending; before I can take a breather, the second round of midterms is approaching and here we go again... Im sacrificing an hour of sleep to blog down my miserable life here.... lol..

This yr hasnt been good at all.. Theres so much shit popping up here and there... It started off with the lost of bank draft which resulted in almost getting bump into a pathetic co-shared room and leading to my numerous number of careless mistakes that I've been making in my midterms. Not to say complexion is dying too... (Jx is losing it... Lol) Grades are definitely dropping but I guess I shdnt be crying over spilt milk... When u rise to the top in the first year, you are bound to fall during 2nd year. I guess that although grades are important, there arent the critical factor.

Its quite true that as important as a degree can be, they cant gurantee you success in life; they just basically give u a headstart in your working life. I admit Im a person who thinks way too much, truly believe that success is within one's grasp and how u formulate it to be. It is always inspiring to read those real-life success stories and admire how some people turn out to be what they are today. Bottomline is that they pondered, they knew what they wanted, they focused, they perseved when times are bad and now the enjoy their sweet victory. At the age of early twenties now, I want to head down this road and look back with no regrets in 10 yrs time. Its kinda sweet when I have my family who had things kinda planned out for me and providing with a scope to strive for something. Hopefully something big.

I kept pondering if this university is the right way to head into my career. As some of you might have known, the thought of switching Univerisity has been in my mind since last year and my family did reassure me that they will support my decision. (Why head all the way to Canada? Is the University going to be reputable? Will building the network of friends in my course prove of any help to my career? Is this course going to be of relevance and impart the knowledge I want?) Thousands of qns yet to be answered.... and answers do look doubtful...

Seriously why not just head into a 2 yrs mechanic course in some college if I were just to solely open a workshop in Singapore. The course will be more hands-on, be much more practical and I will have a 2 year headstart from the University graduates my year. Or why didnt I head into studying automotive engineering nearby (since Asia is slowly dominating the car market) and work concurrently for one of these major companies while getting my workshop up in Singapore.
2nd year in this univerisity hasnt been smooth sailing. Its only appropriate to say I am still learning and questioning this journey of life. Times are tough but I will learn to cope and pull through. Really miss the times back in Singapore and cant wait for Christmas bells to ring. Till then, I have to source out that desire for perfection and success and start my momentum going.

P.S. Pardon me for this bullshit but Im blogging my honest random thoughts and this is my blogsite. And the pics above are some of the projs Ive been working on in 3D modelling.

2006-10-31T06:33:00.000-08:00

Aint it a dream to be riding a convertible when you are done with school and cruising into your working swinging bachelor life....

Here what caught Jx's eyes and might be riding in the near future, (that is if his career peak nicely....)

The Mit Eclipse Spyder 2007
The car comes stock with nice seats (racing), sound system (600W) which I think is rather impressive. And most importantly, there isnt any on the roads of Singapore yet....

2006-10-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

Since I'm already packed with so much work and project, I might ... might as well give myself one more project when I graduate...

Which shall be -> Turbo-charging and pimping out a 2nd hand Rx-8... (inspired from Foo)

Due to the rotary engine, u save money on road tax with the 1.3L engine. However, rotary engine produces so much torque already and packing it with a custom turbo kit, it will just be sick.... I shall have the Traffic police chasing after me and the gangsters looking up to me..

Greddy has Rx-8 custom turbo kits out in the market.

Able to tune this kit to pack in at least 60 more hp and much more torque.

This was the Rx8 turbo-charged concept car that Mazda showcased but didnt eventually produce.

I love the vents on the bonnet and the white rims...

Will definitely get white rims and low profile tires for this car.

Love the center paint line of the car.

If I do get my hands on this car, I will have the line and the main body painted with a contrast of different shades of black and grey.

Top it off with metallic red off the curved edges.

Sweet....

CONs: Downside of tuning this ride will be that it is gonna be of high maintance. Rx8 (turbo) wasn't produce in the end due to its maintance problems, and this is evident in the Rx7 models. My big worry (from Parker's words on rotary) is that the rotary seal might not hold long for the forced intake of the turbo kit. And lastly, bro wont be too happy abt me tuning a Japanese/American Car when we are specializing in continental car spares.. Lol.

Anyway, if I do have the workshop, why not play around with something that is elegant and high maintance....

2006-10-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Outings

Its Greame's Bday this week...

After the chaotic, heactic week....

We headed off to Shoeless Joe for dinner...

Hoping to get wasted too....

The dark nite walk out to Shoeless Joe...

How often do you find a bunch of Canadians without their cars and actually walking out for dinner.... Yup, this was the nite...

Hmmm... It was a pretty nice walk.. Trying to throw in some jokes

but it always ended in some lame engineering jokes....

Save us...

Elliot making sure the gang sets a record high for beer.

Cheers...

Lets see who gets drunk first...

Cmon guys, cheers again...

Nobody is drunk yet....

Bday boy with his big big eyes....

with eyes wide open...

Grudge 2 opens this Friday the 13th..

2 of the main cast are out today...

Nah.... they are too cute to be that grudge...

In Shoeless Joes, you can get kicked out by doing this...

Greame testing his luck by dunking the pitcher of beer..

And he pull it off smoothly...

Smooth criminal...

not to mention his trip down to the soccer gals table...

Okay maybe you arent so smooth...

Whip cream special for bday boy...

Boy boy, u should find some gal to lick it off for you..

Hoho... The walk back...

Its definitely more wild as pple are high....

Peeing and shitting by the road is off the rules now dudes...

Greame giving "I love lamp" a whole new meaning....

2006-10-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

Be Warned...

Excessive studying can drive u nuts... and gay if u are an engineer... Trying so hard to increase your concentration span on work can backfire and cause to go bewildered by a hairband....

Here are some case examples...

Mr. Graeme Ackersviller...
(Maybe the next CEO of Toyota Motors?)

Mr. Grant Parker
(Maybe the next president of Ford?)

Mr. Alex Davidovic

(Maybe the next Managing Director of Honda?)

2006-10-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

Outings....

Its barely 2 weeks and Cafe food already started tasting horrible. The same old greasy grilled burger patties, overfried fries, etc.... To cure this cafe syndrome, we needed some real food - some Hong Kong house (authentic Chinese food).

Both Shawn and Neil had their cars and so I organise a trip to Hong Kong house on a Fri nite. (Funny aite - International student doing the organising of an outing.)

I must say Hong Kong House really live up to its reputation, great Chinese food and nice ambience till my gang of white boys hit the restaurant.

Take note! Those of you who intend to take a bunch of white teenagers to a Chinese restaurant, be prepared for a rowdy evening. First thing when they took their seat, they started spinning the turn table (Im not too sure whats it called exactly, but its the spinning thing they add on top of the table so that every1 can have easy access to the dishes) as though they were some DJs.

Next up, they started fooling around with the chopstairs and think its some ancient Asian weapon and hope to just pick up the art of using Chopsticks in a few seconds.

On the previous trip with Alex and Shawn, both of them wanted to open packets of sugar and ask for milk when chinese tea was served.

Its just hilarious (except for the sterotype asian jokes) to watch these white guys trying to adopt to another culture. I swear Parker was like shouting "Coolz" every other second. Wonder what will happen if these guys come to Singapore man.

Enjoy the photos below.

Hong Kong House...

FAVORITE PIC - Lol.. b4 this pic was taken, Dom, Alex and I were just fooling arnd. When we heard Greame counting down for a pic, all of us just took up a pose.

Awesome...

Mr. Parker drooling over his Chinese food... Neil just enjoyin the moment in the background

Alex - Da Serbz getting impatient with the wait.

Look at them - beaming of satisfaction from the great food.

And getting drunk from Chinese tea...

Hong Kong House is just great and it is the place to score points and impress any hot Asian gals. Just waiting for my opportunity....

2006-10-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

Lol... This shall be my self-advertising post...

Gals gals gals, you know you have found the right guy when other than being what he already is (charming, cash-loaded and so on), he can also cook... Well, Im not implying I'm charming and cash-loaded, but I just realise I have the talent and potential in whipping up excellent dishes...

Check this out...

The preparation....

Meal #1 - Spaghetti and beef stew

Jx Set Meal #1

Baked Salmon in Jx's own creation of creamy butter sauce

Grilled and baked chicken.

Jx Set Meal #2

Not bad eh, I'm sure mum will be proud of me. Never expected an engineer wannabe to be able to come out with such fine dishes (F.y.i - all these dishes are done without a recipe guide) . Even my roommate is surprised. Remembered him asking me if I actually done this before and know what I am doing. I just said no, and everything has its first time. But but but... when he ate my creation, he should have known not to doubt me in the very first place.

So gals out there (and when i mean gals, I meant only the pretty and nice ones), if you crave for some nice food, hop over to Jx's place and ask him to whip something nice for u...

2006-09-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

Why no Chais(babes)?? Lol... I also wan chais but I'm not exactly the coolest person here and babes are limited in a technology school. Actually they are loads of white gals here and they are actually those that will get the attention if they were in Singapore. However, when u put a whole bunch of them together - studying in the same uni, they look like replicas of one another. Its like they are manufactured some factory that does rapid prototyping. Lol, my 'bah kwai' friends, take it easy eh... Its just occupation hazard syndrome, mindset of an engineer.

Anyway life of an Asian in a Caucasian dominated area isn't that easy as it seems. So used to being surrounded with pple of my own race and after 21 years, thrown into an environment when I'm the odd one standing out. (For my Singaporean friends, pardon for my analogy but its like you are an Indian and you opt to go Chinese High for studies man.) Its totally cool and natural for a white guy to say "yo whats up, or hows it going?" to a fellow white person. An asian try that with a diff accent, first reaction he receive is that he will be stared at with that weird look.

Last week, I headed to the pub/club in the school compound. I must say it was quite an experience. Entering the pub, I could swear it seems as though there was a criteria to meet before entering - white pple/caucasian only. Lol, but I couldn't complain much as they were loads of white gals 'dressing down' to the night, so basically I was having an eyeful.

This area is huge and layback. I got loads of exploring to do before I can go on dates man. Coolest place I know so far is the Uni Library, beat that! Lol.. And I'm severely handicapped in relationship matters (compared to back home - no car, no area of knowledge, no house.) How attractive eh... Safest bet will be with the international gals I guess. Lol, eh... we can always explore together... Just have to play it in the hands of luck and fate. Bless me!

Anyway studies, cooking and laundry are more than enough to keep me occupied. Pple here are really competitive and I almost burn out this weekend trying to stay ahead with them. I guess I shd just pace myself through the sem and hope that my reliant abilities (- quick understanding of content and last min jamming in of information) will once again see me through this sem. *Fingers crossed*

B4 u leave, enjoy the clip below. It's hilarious and you can watch more of it in youtube. Search "average asian".

2006-09-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hey pple, whats up... Hope everyone is doing fine out there. It has been a real long time since i last updated my blog. Although sch workload is starting to pile up, I managed to squeeze some time(actually spent quite alot of time once I receive my laptop) to redo a new blog. Must say I am pretty amazed and satisfied with this template. You know sometimes you have the sudden inspiration of a layout in my mind and there arent any ready-made templates out there that matches it, so I went ahead to build one from scratch with my limited knowledge of html and javascript. Tada... Not bad eh, nice background scenary which I will change it once in a while with beautiful sceneries taken in Japan and maybe Canada. (This current background pic is taken in Hokkaido, Japan - Looking at it makes me miss the times in Japan)

Life in Canada... Life is okay, I guess... Not particularly exciting when u are juggling 6 heavy courses and yet to undergo many more projects, tests and exams for the next few months. Although I have spent a year here, I find myself still in the midst of adapting to the lifestyle and culture here. Still stuck with my Singaporean accent and feel very distant with the things here. Maybe 3 months break in Singapore has made me foreign to this place again, and I'm missing my comfortable life back home.

Adding to that, certain things have change from last year. I've got a new roommate, a first year student. My roommate last year, who was suppose to be my roommate this yr too, abandon me on a last minute plan to sign on a 1 year co-op program with the company he was working with during summer. (And talking abt co-op programs, the average income is 15 Cad bucks an hour man. Sure beats the hell out of working in Singapore.) This year, the residence building(dorm) I'm living at is located 10 minutes away from the one I've stayed last year. Most of my engineering friends are located in the previous building, so I'm pretty much just stuck with a new roomate and in a new environment.

Well I guess since I have already taken a huge step to travel so far away for studies, I just have to make the best out of everything. Anyway my new roommate is pretty cool, like we do grocery shopping together to stock up our food supplies. (Might sound gay but hey, sharing food and stocking up the food supplies together will make your stay with your roommate a whole lot more comfortable.) Looking ahead, there are a number of things I would like to do here in Canada and it mainly boils down to getting into the lifestyle and culture of this place. I have plans to try convert my driving liscense so it can be used here, get a car to make my grocery shopping much easier and to plan a tour round Canada. Yup a tour round Ontario province, down to Nigeria Falls, Blue mountains to ski and even to a few of my friend's place to visit them during the breaks. (Its a shame to study 4 years here and nv been to any tourist destination here rite.) And since I'm unattached now, can always hook up with some other hot international student for the tour man. (But sadly, there are none. Fucking gay school. And do you know what, Canadian Universities are suppose to be 70% Asian populated but in this uni, its 95% ang mohs dominated. I know there are lots of hot Canadian Asians out there but just not in this school man. Just my luck..)

Oh yah and I'm also planning to move out to a house next year, cause with the growing population in the university, I most probably wont be able to get a place in the residence next year. Moving out to a house seems to be pretty cool too. A house to stay during some parts of summer and there will be garage to learn how to pimp the ride from my automotive eng friends. They are so much more knowledgable than me in this area. Already installing heavy amps and sick sound systems to their cars and even tuning their engines by changing the supercharger to bi-turbo system. Maybe if I could acquire some of that skills, I'll return back and start experimenting. One day I tell you, I will have the finest car ready. Then on a packed nite (like mambo nite), I will blast those amps while roaring my engine through the small road outside Zouk entrance. I will make sure I attract the attention of those pple queuing up in line for tix and make them look in awe. Yah, I admit this is kinda showoff but you gotta have substance to be one man.. LOL..

So much for now... So many things to do, so little time... Better start heading back to books before I fall way way behind. Oh yah, b4 I forget, this school has killed my motivation to strive to the highest. They cant be bothered with an international student, even if he max the GPA score. Anyway, enjoy the pics below. Ciao and good luck with your studies...

The gang hanging out by the reflection pool in front of the library.

My new roomate, Neil at the background and Dom, my fellow asian (although Canadian bred) in the foreground.

Nice clean toilet

And my sweet bedroom...

Pics taken with the best buy of Comex Fair - Sony T10 Digital Camera.