A Better Title

It is a very common misconception that Indonesian Chinese are assumed to be filthy rich, with properties in the prime areas and a stash of money in the bank that can last them a few generations.

Unfortunately, I’m not one of those. I come from an average family and with my sister now in the university, finances are sometimes quite a problem.

It is sometimes tempting to do something and earn my own money.

Unfortunately, with my last semester in the university being filled with commitments such as the Final Year Project, on top of the core modules and the search for a job, it is not easy for me to add on other commitments such as a part-time job.

Giving tuition can bring in a lot of money (as compared to the time spent), but the same rule as above applies.

Robbing a bank can bring a HUGE amount of money, but I won’t do that simply because Singapore police is too smart it is illegal.

The last, and probably the best, choice that I have is to use my own blog to earn some extra pocket money. Here comes blog advertising into the picture. I’ve been doing this for a while, but I thought it wouldn’t harm to add on another one: Smorty.

By advertising on my own blog, I can earn at least USD 6 for a 15-min effort. Sounds good eh?

The money by itself is not much, but hey, money is still money, and even if it’s just enough to cover half the meals for a day, it’s still good enough.

I suppose it’s a win-win situation for both advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers get the buzz (and the links) they are aiming for, and bloggers get paid.

So if you’re looking for earning some extra pocket money, go and check out Smorty.

Phew… After an agonizing countdown (which seemed to be much more exciting than New Year countdown), I finally got my results. That was moments before hordes of NTU students flocked to the server to check their results as well, crashing the server and leaving thousands of the students in the void about their results.

The Office of Academic Services must really do something about releasing the results of all 16000* students in one go.

I’ll just say that my results this time round is satisfactory enough, with me at least passing the dreaded HRM module. The rest are within expectations, and I couldn’t have asked for more.

Here’s wishing all NTU students good results.

* An estimate based on 2005/2006 annual statistics, assuming there are 500 more students in the new courses and due to the dragon year effect, and multiplying by 7/8 to account for students on Industrial Attachment.

If you actually fell for the trick and tried the service provided by BlockDelete.com, please change your MSN password IMMEDIATELY!

I tested the service using my test MSN account two days ago. It’s the same account I used to test Blockoo a while ago. The test account has my main MSN account in the contact list.

Until now, my main account keeps on getting spammed by BlockDelete.com under the test account’s name, even when I used their service only once. This is a very clear evidence that BlockDelete.com has kept the test account’s username and password for future use (spamming or otherwise). If you used BlockDelete.com before, your data would have been kept by them too, and this is a huge security risk!

As you can see on the screenshot, initially the URL being spammed was http://www.msn-friend.com. Apparently, MSN has blocked the URL from being sent in MSN conversations (go ahead, type the URL on your conversation window. You’ll get a “message could not be delivered” message) and so, now they use http://www.kuncu.info. I’ve read that they change the URL as and when MSN blocks the currently used URL.

So, please, for your own security, change your password if you’ve ever used BlockDelete.com. And one more thing: NEVER give out your MSN username and password to anyone else other than MSN itself.

PS: You might notice that I didn’t hyperlink any of the links above. Visit at your own risk.

I think that this slow, ballad-style rendition of Black Eyed Piss’ Peas’ song My Humps by Alanis Morissette is quite hilarious.

Compare this with the original Black Eyed Peas’ version.

[via Weblog Wannabe]

Just a short post before I sleep…

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Also, Christmas eve marked the second anniversary of the relationship between Nicole and I. As I don’t think I will be blogging anything about it soon, head over to Nicole’s blog for the gory details!

Three hundred and fifty seven days ago, the year 2007 came and in a flurry, it is about to leave. It is a year of many changes for me, so much so that I’m still in shock at the changes brought upon me.

I must say that the first half a year was the most wonderful semester I’ve ever had in NTU. I had my Industrial Attachment, and I was attached to Autodesk. Although I had to wake up early everyday and stay in the office till late, it was really a great experience.

I enjoyed every single bit of it. I met wonderful people. I was exposed to the working of an MNC. I even got the chance to meet one of the vice chairpersons of the global company. I was involved in many of the company activities that I just felt like I was being part of the family there.

The saddest day of my working life was my last day in the company. As I cleared my desk and my computer, I felt as if I was being torn away from what I had just grown to love.

And then the new academic year started. From then on things have gone downhill.

Gone is the Hendri who used to think that he could do anything and everything. In place is a whining, grumbling Hendri who keeps on making mistakes after mistakes. And the thing is that I don’t even know why.

Perhaps it’s the 6 months away from studying. Perhaps it’s the realization that 95% of what I am learning right now in this university will never be used once I start working. Perhaps it’s the fact that what I’m studying for my core modules in the final year is totally different–some have totally different formats, some not as challenging–from those those I took in the first three years.

Whatever it is, I have lost so much interest in studies that I’m starting to feel like I’m suffering. I’m starting to feel as if I’m not good enough for whatever project I’m doing. This feeling and many other feelings have caused me to make major mistakes in most of my projects in this semester, so much so that one of the supervisors remarked that I have no EQ (Emotional Quotient), while another remarking that I have a weakness in my project management.

I know I have to buck up in order to get the project over and done with, in order for me to at least graduate, regardless of honours, but I have no more strength to do so and I don’t even know why.

Tomorrow marks a milestone in my personal life as well. It is the second anniversary of the relationship between Nicole and I. It would also be the first anniversary that I’m actually in Singapore to celebrate it. Last year I was away in Indonesia, as I had just returned from bringing my mum on a tour to Melbourne (actually, it was my brother who brought us around there) and Singapore.

In the span of two years, we have gone through a lot of things, and I have to say that both of us have changed so much from who we were when we started. Some changes are beneficial to the relationship. Others are harmful.

It’s amazing how time flies. When we first met, she was still in the first year, and I was in the second year. Right now, she will be going through Industrial Attachment next semester, and I will be in my final semester. I still remembered that the first time I met her sister, it was close to her O Levels, and now her sister has just finished her A Levels.

It’s no mean feat that we still managed to endure through the many trials throughout the two years. It’s a totally memorable two years that I have, and there is no doubt that in the future when I think back to my university life, these memories would be the ones that come up first. She has brought colours to my life, she has shown me how to love, she has taught me how to live. She has showed me how life is more complicated than it seems in my perfect world. She taught me how to laugh and to cry. She has changed my life, from the moment we met.

And at the same time, I have also realised that in those two years I have committed the same mistake that most people do when they are in a relationship. They tend to neglect their other friends. I too have fallen for that mistake, and I’m now admittedly finding it hard to regain the same friendship that I used to have with all my other friends. I’ve tried speaking to some, but it’s hard to find common grounds to talk about. To all my friends, if you read this: I’m truly sorry. I would really like to reestablish that friendship again, the same bonds that we used to have last time. I wish that I would be forgiven for my mistakes.

In two days, it would be Christmas again, and in a week, it would be the end of the year. I’m still reeling at the speed of which the year has passed, and no doubt the next years it would be just as fast, or maybe even faster, as I start working and earning money for myself and those I love. It’s time to repay the debts that I have.

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” - Anatole France

There are so many things that I’d like to say about my FYP, on why I’m really hating it at its stage right now…

… but noone deserves to hear it, right? And who actually cares enough to listen anyway, right?

Bad day again today… Badly wanted to go shopping for bad Christmas presents but the day started badly as I received a bad news about my bad FYP. I badly tried to solve it as best as I can, but too bad nothing is heard since then.

Whenever bad things happen at a start of a day, it will be bad for the rest of the day. I spent the day mulling over the bad news, replied bad emails, and doing pretty much bad nothings, short of taking a bad nap on my bed.

I finally did my shopping after 6. I went to JP on a bad bus ride as there was no air con. I was really bad at choosing presents. The bad me probably stayed in the store for an hour before finally deciding to get a bad Christmas tree my chosen present. Hope the person likes it.

Then had a bad meal at Subway, as apparently they ran out of much of the vegetables.

Queued for bus 242, and witnessed a bad near-fight. There was this bad family who blocked the queue, and as a result a few of us missed the bus. The boy (of a couple) queueing in front of me was badly pissed. He badly talked to the guy in the family, telling them that he “said excuse me already”. The guy took it badly, and he started to advance to the boy. Luckily the women in the family restrained him. The girl (of the couple) had to restrain the boy as well. It was badly surreal as it happened literally in front of my eyes (say, 2m away?). Bad crowd started to form.

But the older guy of the family said something to the boy, pointing to the guy and then pointing to his own temple and twirled his finger around. The couple left and all was well, and the bad crowd dispersed.

It was a bad slow ride home with a bad fire somewhere afar, as I could see the sky lighting up but couldn’t see the fire itself, and I saw the firefighter truck being held up by a bad driver on a bad intersection.

Well, that pretty much summarizes my bad day.

“Hendri?” Bear Jr said as he sat down next to me.

“Yes Bear Jr?”

“Do you remember…” he said with his typical squeaky-roary voice.

“Hmmm?”

“Do you remember two years ago… when we first met in Jurong Point’s Cards n Such?”

“Heh yeah… Funny you still remembered” My mind reeled back to the time.

“Of course I do… When I first saw you, I knew you’re going to be a good owner… I still had my two cousins with me at that time. You’ll never know how thrilled I was when you saw me and picked me up from that shelf. Did you know I was screaming ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ in my head? Do you remember I even gave you the puppy-eyed look just to make you pick me? I was so sad when you put me back on the shelf and continued walking around the store…”

“You did? Haha… It was love at first sight when I saw you… But I still had to walk around just to be sure I had the perfect present. I knew you were perfect, but I just had to be sure.”

“Yeah I understand… Do you know that I felt so lonely after that? The next day my two cousins had their own owners. I was left alone on the shelf… I had my friends, but I could never talk to them like I did to my cousins… I was so scared… I was so scared noone would want me. I was scared I’d be left on the shelf forever, ending up in the rubbish bin as the shop cleared their stock.”

“Silly… If that happened you wouldn’t be here with us.”

“That’s why I was so happy when two days later you came back into the store. You had a pretty girl with you. I didn’t know she would be part of our family too. I was frantically trying to say hi to you, but you seemed to avoid me… I felt really sad again, I thought you had totally forgotten all about me.”

“I didn’t forget you… I was merely trying to make sure she didn’t know your existence so it would be special for her.”

“Yeah… And when you came in a few days later and picked me up straight away, I was on cloud nine… I couldn’t be a happier bear ever. That was really the happiest day of my life! Do you remember we spent the night talking? You told me not to be scared. I didn’t know what you mean, since I was happy with you. But the next day you wrapped me up in that blue-green paper wrapper, and you kept on saying ‘Kreesmas present’… I didn’t even know what ‘Kreesmas’ was!”

“Hahaha… I forgot that you don’t have Christmas in Bearyland.”

“Yeah… Now I know it’s a season of joy… But I tell you for a time I was scared being trapped in that wrapper. I was frightened that you’d bring me back to the shop… I was frightened that you didn’t want me anymore. I thought ‘Kreesmas’ was where they throw unwanted bears away…”

“Silly Bear Jr… Haha…”

“Yeah, I was silly at that time… The next day when I saw light, I was being pulled out by the same girl you brought to the store. The same girl whom I got to know later to be Nicole… She’s really a lovely girl if you ask me.”

“Oh yes, she is.”

“No really… She’s a very nice girl. When I saw her, I was trying to make really good first impressions. I was holding on to my star so stiffly that come to think of it I must have looked really funny. That was when you asked her to walk together with you hand-in-hand.”

“Yeah… And I’m glad that she accepted it. :)”

“Oh, and I had a lot of fun in her place. Just like I had fun in yours too in those few days I was there. I remember you got me a real nice Bug Jr to accompany me 1.5 months later! Though she’s really huge! I almost fainted when I first saw her. I thought bears are supposed to be larger than bugs!”

“Haha yeah… How are you and Bug Jr coming along anyway?”

“We’re doing great! Except… when she gets really mad and starts kicking me out of the bed… But other than that, we really have a great time together!”

“That’s great… Do you remember when Nicole brought you to her hall?”

“Oh yeah… It was a memorable 4 months that we were there… Although the first time we moved in, Bug Jr and I were so scared that we stayed in the box for a couple of hours before venturing out. I remembered that Bug Jr and I used to play this hide-and-seek game, and I would crawl underneath Nicole’s bed, not knowing that it’s so dirty inside. Nicole had to spend the next ten minutes getting rid of all the dust off me.”

“Yeah… Those were the good old days…”

[silence]

“Hendri…”

“Yeah Bear Jr?”

“Thanks…”

“Eh? For?”

“Thanks for bringing me into your life… Thanks for introducing Nicole and Bug Jr to me… Thanks for everything…”

“No Bear Jr… Thank YOU for brightening up my life. Thank YOU for bringing Nicole and I together. Thank YOU for bringing fun and joy into our lives. :)”

“Hee… It’s my pleasure too…”

[silence]

“Hendri?”

“Yes Bear Jr?”

“Can I request something for my second birthday?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Can I have your mum’s cookies? I miss them… I remember I used to steal Nicole’s share of cookies without telling her.”

“You did and miss WHAT?!?”

“Never mind. I love you Hendri.”

“:) I love you too Bear Jr.”

For me, walking down Orchard Road is like walking down memory lane. After all, I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Orchard Road, considering the fact that the first residence I had in Singapore was only an MRT stop away, the second residence had a direct bus, and I did spend 6 months shuttling back and forth between Boon Lay and Orchard on weekdays when I was an intern at Autodesk.

After collecting my phone at the Sony Ericsson service centre (the dumb phone likes to perform a magic trick by switching off at random), I had the Scissors Cut Curry Rice at Wisma Atria’s Food Republic, which was one of my favourite food when I was still working as an intern. Then I took a slow walk inside Takashimaya with the intention of looking for Christmas presents. I haven’t really decided on what I’m gonna buy though. In the end, I spent a lot of time in Kinokuniya, thinking of picking up cooking or baking or handicrafts, just for the fun of it (or more).

The walk also reminded me that at one point of time I was exactly in the same situation, taking a slow walk from store to store in the shopping centre. The only difference was that I was single, and my only intention then was to window shop. Not that taking a walk while being attached (heh, this sentence sounds a little like a dog on a leash, but you get what I mean, don’t you?) is not nice or anything, but the feeling is just different.

I then took a nice slow stroll down half of Orchard from Ngee Ann City to Somerset, something that I have been longing to do for a long, long time. The cold, wet walkways after the rain, Christmas carols in the air, and the Christmas light-up hanging overhead set the perfect, peaceful mood for Christmas. And I must say that this year’s Christmas light-up was quite nicely done.

I witnessed a small accident when an MPV hit the back of a cab. It wasn’t so serious as I’m not sure what happened afterwards though as I wasn’t too kaypoh to actually stand and watch.

Got any necessary “chokage” meh? What’s a “chokage” BTW?