Amazing jellyfish!

Photo courtesy of National Geographic website (that's box jellyfish)

Primitive animal, with no bones and no brain.
BUT a jellyfish has 24 eyes! Strategically allocated at 4 corners of its bell.

It visually responds to different colours.

THE VISUAL EXPERIMENT

When white pipes were placed standing in a tank, jellyfish just swim directly into it, just like some blinded creature.

However, when it was changed to black pipes, it swam around it in some figure of eight motion.

It responded even more drastically with red pipes, swimming really far away from the pipes. It was apparent that the jellyfish was avoiding the red pipes.

Really amazing, something which the scientists has been trying to answer.

IT STINGS!
AND they really kill!

[No wonder mr crocodile man was fatally killed by it. =S] Muahahaha... Just realised I mistaken a stingray for a jellyfish =S Thx KS for highlighting it=P

Similar to snakes and scorpions, jellyfishes release powerful venom. Each venom specifically targets a particular area. For snakes, it attacks the skin cells while for the scorpions, it attacks the nervous system.

Astonishingly, for the jellyfishes, the venom does it all! =S No wonder it is the deadliest venom in the animal kingdom!

While most of them are generally not deadly, the box jellyfish and the Irukandji jellyfish are considered fatal.

Interestingly, sea turtles are unaffected by box jellyfish and eat them regularly.

A mature Irukandji jellyfish is only approximately around the size of an adult's thumb.

Irukandji syndrome hits victims with severe headaches, uncontrollable muscular movements, nausea, hypertension, chest and muscle pains.

Apparently, the National Geographic programme on Jellyfish Invasion is highlighting the issue on the blooming population and the increasing presence in the seas and oceans.

Hopefully we can coexist with them. Otherwise, dramatic ecological imbalance in the marine ecosystem may arise.

Let's love the nature more and not over exploit it. I believe we are part of the ecosystem, what we do will eventually impact us still.

Long weekends!

Sun

Went Msia for Grandfather's death anniversary.

Spent the rest of the day shopping at Jusco. It's the must for my mummy, sis and I!=D

As usual bought many affordable clothes=)

Took lots of photos on the car due to the jam.

I think this looks really funny, very me. Muahahahaha...

Mon Vesak Day holiday

Ahhhhhh~~~~ I love nature!=)

Whee~~~ Went ECP for cycling! It was a very last minute plan due to special reason=P

It turned out really relaxing=)

Nice weather, sea breeze and scenery=)

My second cycling since end of exams, following the JMG night cycling. Other than that, I havnt been exercising YET. *Luckily, I managed to go for a jog just now! FINALLY~*

Cycled leisurely with KS. It's really different to cycle in the day, really crowded on a PH. *I still prefer night cycling, can enjoy the breeze and the calmness.*

The only thing good is that we got to take really nice photos under the nice sun and beautiful scenery. =)

Then went to KS's grandmother's house for a visit. She is already 80 plus yet she still can differentiate between KS's sister and me. Impressive!

Went AMK for dinner and then rushed to PS for movie.

Awww~~ Made of Honor is reallyX3 nice and touching!=D It is really important not to take your loved ones for granted=)

Holiday-ing~~~

Sculpture carving
Alright... Last time it was cancelled due to rain. Yesterday when we went there we couldnt do anything also. There's no water supply so we cant use the diamond cutter. The pro wasnt there to update us about the latest design. Apparently, design has evolved so we blurX2 tried to figure out what the pro was trying to achieve as the end product. We failed to do so *not artistic enough*=S

In the end, only discussed about the progress and mainly had a great talk with Adrian. He is our school's new marketing personnel (he has an even more pro and longer title to his position actually). Really glad to know the plans he have in mind to increase the awareness of SDE and he is also very interested in what DE club and the student body are doing.

Impromtu miniX3 JMG dinner
On the way to take MRT to Pasir Ris to attend Derek's 21st bday party, Wai Kei called as he saw my sister at Raffles Place mrt station. So I ended up meeting him and Mervyn at City Hall.

Great! They were comfortably sitting at Ink Club Bar at Swissotel while I had to navigate around to find it. Grrrr....
Then we headed to Cafe Cartel for dinner and Mervyn spotted Jun Han! Haha... In the end, the 4 of us had our super impromtu dinner!=D They were all dressed so smartly in their formal wear! Really nice!
Derek's 21st!
Then headed to Pasir Ris and luckily Dawn and Xu Wen were going down! So I had my free ride! Otherwise, I might not be able to find the super ulu Aloha Loyang by walking, late in the night somemore!

NiceX2 Derek saved Awfully Chocolate cake! Super duperX3 nice! =D

Hope he will enjoy the book me and Dawn bought for him. It's a book by John C. Maxwell, a Christian too. His collection is generally more of leadership, not just in terms of career but also in terms of personal life and for this particular book, spiritual path. So hope he will find this book useful.=)
Bye Bye Xiu Hao!
Oh~~~~ Xiu Hao is already on her way to her work and study trip! 3 months! We will miss her very much!
She is so sweet and thoughtful that she msg almost everyone to apologize for her absence for any birthday parties during her trip! Luckily, she will be back before my bday! Whee~~~=)

Take great care and have fun!=)

[Impromtu] Kbox with my mummy and sister!
Actually thought it was cancelled yesterday night as my parents need to extend the validity period of my brother's passport early in the morning today. In the end, my mum woke me and my sis up to go kbox! *Dont know who yesterday night still say not going loh!*

We had great fun! Muahahahaha... FIRST time singing kbox with them! We always have our own singing sessions at home=P

And now, Im starting to have sore throat=S Not due to excessive singing, think it's overdose of my new found favourite chocolate Cadbury's Boost! Super duper nice! *Think I ate more than half a packet!*

It's the rare long weekends! Hope everyone is resting well! I know many have started internship and it is tiring! JiayouZx2!=)

Superman!

Vesak@Orchard Sun 11th may In front of Ngee Ann City

Attended a dharma talk 1st thing in the morning before I started to tend NUSBS booth. *Nice!*

Topic: How to identify Buddhist youth?

Actually the main the venerable was trying to bring across to the audience was very simple.

Buddhist youth is no different from normal youth.

We still study, play, shop, blog, msn, sms etc... Whatever that youth does=)

Buddhist youth only stands out when there's a crisis.

When we are met with obstacles and our enemies, we can overcome them better.

In Buddhism context, our enemies can be categorized into 3 main types, namely greed, anger and delusion.

We deal with greed by not giving in to our unnecessary desires, we are contented with what we have.

We deal with anger by recognizing them, not getting attached to the feeling and letting it go. Being angry with someone else's faults is equivalent to torturing ourselves with other's wrongdoings. Totally not worth it and unfruitful.

We are thus not controlled by the factors that make us angry, but we are in control of how we deal with them. To me, the main aim should be to focus on the things we can control and deal with them to solve the problem. Getting emotional will not get us anywhere right?

We deal with delusion with understanding. By having a full understanding of the matter we are dealing with, we can then make better decisions without misconceptions, biasness and ignorance.

The venerable gave a very good example to explain the misconception regarding whether Buddhist should aim to achieve goals. Some may argue that if we can overcome greed and delusion, then Buddhists should not aim for anything. Doesnt that lead to desires?

She explained that it is not wrong to have desires IF we have a full understanding of what we are striving for. And most importantly, if what we are aiming for will only results in good and no harm, then we should strive for it.

Hence, she described a Buddhist youth as a Superman.

In normal circumstances, Superman is just an ordinary guy working as a reporter. However, whenever there's crisis, he will transform into Superman to solve it. That makes the difference between ordinary people and him.

Similarly, a Buddhist youth is leading an ordinary life just like our peers. But when faced with challenges and obstacles, we are less likely to succumb to them.

Initially, I thought the venerable was attempting to use Superman to encourage more youths to become Buddhist.

However, at the end of it, she just wanted to let us understand that being a Buddhist doesnt mean that we can no longer enjoy what other youths are enjoying. As simple as that. I think it is really true. Guess that may be why not many Buddhist youths are actively involved in Buddhism related activities.

On the other hand, I am also happy to know from other highly active Buddhist youths that there have been an increasing number of youth participation. *Im one of them! Still learning...*

Hope more youths can learn more about Buddhism instead of merely being a Buddhist by name. There are many organizations with lots of interesting talks, sessions and camps for youths! *NUS Buddhist Society is also a wonderful place to learn about it!* =)

On a side note....
The Buddha statue is there not because his "spirit" is there. It is there so as to remind us of his teachings and for us to carried out puja.

Puja is simply an act to show respect to the Buddha and his teachings (Dharma). When we do puja, the simplest form is to be on our knees, palms together and give 3 bows. This is to acknowledge our smallness and humility. Simply to be humble and hence showing willingness to learn.

Hence, seeing the Buddha's statue to me is a form of reminder that I should continue to learn the teachings of the Buddha and to see the Buddha as my role model. =)

Happie 21st!

Tsz Ching!
YippieX2 celebrated our beloved Tsz Ching 21st on Sat at her condominium=) It was well-decorated with purple and green balloons.

Xiao Qian, Joyce and Joel they all must have put in alot of effort in blowing up the balloons! Joel's masterpiece came in the form of bunches of grapes! *equivalent to blowing small balloons* Haha... But it was rather creative too!

Played interesting games and had a mini catwalk by the nominees for best dressed awards.

SDE got 3rd (urmm.. yah there's only 3 groups=P)! Xiao Qian won the best dressed for female with her super creative and impromtu song item=) *ClapsX3!*=D

Each of us got a pretty medal with Tsz Ching photo on it!=) Really thoughtful!

Hope Tsz Ching likes the bag from Wai Kei, Wei Juan, Chin Khiang, Jun Han, Fei Fei and me!=D

Yen Soon!
Hey! My primary school partner during P5! And also one of the actor for "City Beat" skit during P6 performance=D

Went to his party at Costa Sands with a group of primary school friends! The key phrase was "10 years". YesX3, we have already known each other for 10 long years, and it is still counting! Really seems like very long ago since we first know each other~~ 10 years!

Had a great time catching up with them! The guys are exceptionally lame today, especially Jason and Darren! We just kept laughing! There's never a dull moment! Initially I thought we would ran out of topics to talk about but it turned out great!=D

Yen Soon has been a great host! He shook hands with us for at least 2 times!

Thanks Malcolm for driving us home! It's good that we are living so near each other!=)

Looking forward to our next 21st bdays - Kai Wei (May), Xue Yan and Darren (June)!

Not forgetting our 10th anniversary event!=D

May our friendship be like the ferris wheel that goes on and on=)

JMG Night Cycling!

A super great activity to burn my calories *in a rather scary way=S*

All thanks to Wai Kei hor! Led us through some bumpy bike trail *me and chin khiang felt as though we were cycling in Pulau Ubin and Mac Ritchie*

It was super tedious for me! Poor Chin Khiang could not speed up as Im in front of him. Wai Kei, you better come for JMG's roller blading session!

Finally done with that so called "warm up" and we headed to Pasir Ris park. *The path became SO~~ much smoother*

Waited for Mervyn to join us. Happened to see cute horses with super cute hairstyle too! *Like Rainie Yang Chen Ling*

Ok Mervyn was really late. But I wasnt complaining as I got to rest my poor legs=D So we headed straight to eat by the sea at some nice place with good ambience=D Had good food, refreshing cranberry drink and of course desserts=D Thanks Chin Khiang for "sponsoring" $50! Muahahaha... The xtra $50 came with a pleasant surprise.

I only realised that I have forgotten to withdraw money before heading to Wai Kei's house AFTER me and Chin Khiang crossed the traffic light. So we had to wait again. I was super apologetic to Chin Khiang lah! Made him walk here and there. BUT... when we reached the other side, Chin Khiang spotted this $50 note! *I was like "oh my goodness!" it was right in front of us and I didnt see it AT ALL! I start to wonder how many dollar notes I may have blindly walked past=S*

So we decided to use it for the dinner! YippieX3! Come to think of it, maybe it's because me and Chin Khiang found $50 and kept it, so our kharma comes in the form of the cycling "torture". HehX3=P

Jun Han then joined us to watch "The Terminal" at Wai Kei's house. It was a really interesting and touching movie I would say=) Surprisingly, even though it was not action packed with super cool animations and stuffs, it was still able to hold my attention=) Good choice of movie!

Thanks for letting me have the best sleeping place=D Muahahaha... At least they didnt bully me. But next time please make it a full JMG event yea? *Roller blading, kboxing~~~~=P*

Anyway, Wai Kei's sisters are really interesting. Thanks Wai Kei for helping me take the rap=P His elder sister is abit like me in the way we treat our younger brother I think. HehX2..

Now looking forward to kboxing! =)

Holidays are here!=)

CandyX3!

Immediately after my last paper on wed I headed straight to Candy Empire at Vivo!

Bought the special Cadbury Peppermint chocolate for one of my tuition kid who is so in love in chocolate! Promise her to treat her after her exams.

Definitely bought some MORE chocolate to indulge in!=D

During exams tried:
Cadbury peppermint

Cadbury white chocolate with sprinkles

Nestle white chocolate with Smarties

All I like!=D Love the Cadbury peppermint the most!=D

Double Js!

Watched Forbidden Kingdom with KS wed night=)

Putting the transition of languages and the direct translations issues aside, the show is really nice! The fighting scenes and I somewhat feel the atmosphere of the scenes=)

*KS owes me nachos!*

Kboxing with POX!

Went KLunch with Poh Ling and Olivia thurs morning=D Whoo~~ Super fun!=D ReallyX3 very enjoyable! Sang so many songs!

Highlight of the session: Energy's songs! Songs that we sang during secondary school still made us so excited and hyped up! Muahahahahaha...

Like what PohX2 said in her blog, I really hope we can continue to have such kboxing sessions and continue to have fun and share wonderful memories!=D *Go POX! muahahahaha I know they are so not going to admit they are part of POX because of the name=P But this name is meaningful!*

Oh! We even spent like around half an hour in IP Zone to try out clothes! And each of us came out with a set of newly purchased top and bottom=D *SatisfiedX2!*

Sing, shop, have fun! What more can I ask!=) Hope POX has more meet-ups!

Mother's Day!

After Kboxing, went Orchard Far East with my mummy to buy her present=)

Brought her to the shop where we bought LengX2's bday present. Think she will find a bag that she likes=)

Indeed! She found a super practical, nicely-coloured and soft bag frm korea=)

*Happie Mother's Day!*

After one whole day of shopping, I returned with these!

More shopping to come!=D

Night cycling with JMG later! Whee~~=)

Final paper!

Tmr is Quality & Productivity Management's paper.

Personally I really like the module=) Particularly the many useful concepts learnt frm it.

Many originated from manufacturing industry and the potential of being implemented into construction industry is being explored in this module.

Our lecturer Prof Low Sui Peng is a great teacher. He told us that it shouldnt be a module which we take for the sake of taking exams, we should apply what we learn from it into our daily life too!=)

The popular 3D's that keep popping up in his lect regarding construction industry - Dirty, Dangerous and Demanding.

The 3D's which he imparts to us - Details determine destiny=)

Other things which I think are interesting and useful.

SMARTER

We all know SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely).

On top of that, with SMARTER we have Expectation management and Review.

PLACE SG

Pride, Lust, Anger, Courteousness, Envy, Sloth, Greed.

The 7 Deadly Sins

5-S Principles that leads to a total quality environment. It applies as effectively in our daily life too!

Structurize - organize

Systemize - neatness

Sanitize - cleanliness

Standardize

Self discipline

Vesak@Orchard2552

義安城广场 Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza

星期六 2008年5月10日 / Sat 10 May, 10am to 8pm
星期日 2008年5月11日 / Sun 11 May, 10am to 5pm

10 May, Sat 星期六 10am – 11am Opening Ceremony
开幕典礼GUEST-OF-HONOUR Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance
开幕典礼由财政部长尚达曼先生主持

Vegetarian Food fair, Games corner, Buddhist Cultural Exhibition, Bathing of Prince Siddhartha, Circumambulate the Guan Yin Statue and Offering of flowers. Contemplation corner for youths, Hymns Singing and more..
美味素食义卖会、 游戏、佛教文化展、浴佛、供花、诚绕观音菩萨圣像, 青少年活动等..

Buddhism ~ A Way of Life ~
Discover the Timeless Path to True Happiness

http://vesakcelebrations.sg/2008/03/26/harmony-in-action/

Whee~~ My 1st year helping out this event! I will be there on Sun to help out at NUS Buddhist Society's booth. Think we are supposed to go up on stage to perform a song too.. Haha... Interesting~~ Guess it will be yet another enriching experience=) Interested friends do come down to find out more!=)

Quick facts:

Vesak is the birthday of Buddha.

It celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha in a single day.
Birth of Buddha
His attaining of Enlightenment
His passing away into Nirvana

The number 2552 represents the 2552th year since this important day.

It's coming~~~

Done with:
Measurements
M&E engineering
Research methods
Cost estimating

Left with:
Construction technology
Quality and Productivity Management

Holiday officially starts on Wed 7th May 11am onwards~~~

My to-do list! Muahahaha... It is being compiled throughout the exam period whenever I feel unmotivated and need a break=) It helps alot!

• Tsz Ching bday
• Mother's day
• Buddhism@Orchard
• SDE D&D
• De Club forward planning
• Meditation Retreat
• Ehi Passiko Camp
• Sentosa
• Roller blading
• Kboxing
• Jogging
• Meditate
• Spring cleaning
• Shopping
• Read Buddhism bks
• New haircut
• Swimming
• Build Lego with KS
• Start of my 21st bday planning *a 3mth ad hoc muahahaha*

Lots of gatherings awaits! Whee~~~ Meet-upsX3!

Internship at MOE starts 26th May=) *Meaning I still have around 2weeks to enjoy 100%*=D

Cant wait for FOC and Rag too!

Very soon its the start of Year 3 sem 1 alrd! *fastX3!*

So live in the present and cherish every moments!=D

For now, its back to preparation for Con tech=)