lisbon (5)

Last day in Lisbon. Parting shots.

"Belem Tower" - cj

"standing on the side of darkness." - cj

"ruins of a cathedral after an earthquake. left as a reminder for the inhibitants" - cj

"facade" - cj

"VIRTVTIBVS MAIORVM.
VT.SIT.OMNIBVS.DOCVMENTO.PPD." - cj

loosely tanslated as, "At Positive [as Génio in value] of the largest [before]. To serve as an example for all, [Built] with the money of the people, dedicated."

lisbon (4)

All roads lead to Rome, then all tram lines lead to Lisbon city center. There are so many tram lines above your head that you think you are sheltered.

"aerial chessboard" - cj

"tram line 12" - cj

"i'm a tree. i'm the tallest." - cj

"coastal town" -cj

"found in lisbon. and it looks like the one in Paris." -cj

"the one in Paris. a closer look.. maybe it is not so similar after all." -cj

"i like high ceilings" - cj

"grandeur concealed." - cj

"famous tiled walls of lisbon"-cj

"every alley is different."

lisbon (3)

Exactly a month ago...

"The last sunset of 2007. Tomorrow heralds a new beginning." - cj

"rendezvous of revelry. the night is still young." -cj

"a peaceful moment alone before i join the crowd." - cj

"following the Portuguese tradition, this is the cue to eat the 12 raisins and make your wishes for the new year." - cj

"first 7 new friends for the new year." - cj

"they switched easily between 3 languages, but there wasn't a word that i didn't understand."

lisbon (2)

In the wee hours of the morning, a man wandered aimlessly in the empty alleys. Absorbed in the feel good feeling derived from the therapeutic effect of the cool uneven cobbled pathway underneath his feet, he knows this was exactly how he would like to kick start his every day. Just when he decided that its time for breakfast, he chanced upon a small nameless shop along a nameless street. He walked in, following behind a old man, for a taste of the local fare. please give me this, this, and this.. whatever they are.

"it wasn't eye catching, but i spotted it." - cj

"simple fare, local delight." - cj

"first passenger of the day on lisbon's trademark vertical tram" - cj

"misguided loyalty." - cj

"stairsway to the sun." - cj

"Recently i have been disappointed by the actions of some. I realized how insignificant I was to them." - cj

lisbon (1)

I had wanted to type something about the exam which i just had. I figured it would only cause unnecessary distress and i currently i dun need sympathy votes to boost my popularity; so i did decided to bring to show you around Lisbon, Portugal. the place which i enjoyed myself the most during the Dec vacations. First up, a monument of UN Heritage site.

"The Great Explorers." - cj

"commemorating those who had served"-cj

"tribute" - cj

"horsepower - Praça do Comércio" -cj

"sea port - Praça da Figueria" -cj

"I was so mesmerized by Lisbon at night, that I only reached back to my room in the morning. "

Argh. Crap.

cute

Caught this clip when i was surfing engin club's websites. really cute and it gives me the Awww.isntitlovely feeling. Immediately after which, I left for my exam; feeling all lovely-dovey...

my fav - cj

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNEEAl9wNJM&eurl=http://engin-infatuation.blogspot.com/
(more about pon and zi)

Engin Club rulez. Give me an E!

sunday

Still lying in bed, I asked myself. So what is the game plan for today? Not a really difficult question to answer especially when exams are just round the corner. Its the same old maxim which I have been living by for the past 1week. Mug at hard as you can and eat as much as you want. Young readers do not do this at home, cos it is an extremely unhealthy lifestyle. I'm a trained professional. I have been studying professionally for 20years.

Anyway, I not sure if exams are making me more irritable or living alone has heightened my sensitivity to previously insignificant stuffs in my room. I felt a habitual (or complusive) desire to tidy up my room. It was this sudden urge which made want to clean my sink today; only to realize that I dun have a sponge! Something which I have taken granted of in Singapore. So insignificant the sponge was to me back then, I even laughed at it on Tv (spongebob) . Now its coming back to haunt me. karma.

Eventually, I managed to find a sponge and I cleaned up the sink, scrubbed my toilet bowl until it was shinning, wiped the top my the cupboards and removed all the ice from my the fridge's freezer compartment. I didn't stop until my room was spick and span. Satisfied, I sprayed the whole room with a generous dose of my air freshener. It was then I decided that noticed something wrong. That one thing did not sink in well with my Area Cleaning regime. It was something which I would not have even noticed in Singapore. I don't like the smell of lavender air freshener... Living myself for a while, I stopped questioning how aunties turned out the way they are.

lavender then lavender loh. why must hiam. not like as if it is as serious as "mee siam mai ham".

saturday

This is one of those days when the day began with you waking up early in the morning all perky and full of effervescence energy. So happy you are with your current mental state that you unknowingly lose your social inhibitions and start calling every one you meet - Hey Sunshine!

However, when the afternoon dragged on, you find yourself stuck to a boring tedious exam routine and you began to ask yourself. God what am i doing with my weekend. The heat of the afternoon (yes i'm beginning to find 23degree a little unbearable) forced your puny mind to wander and your brain happily took a time out. Pessimistic as I am, my mind decided to bring me on a tour to analyze my current pathetic social life on this Saturday afternoon. During the tour, I wandered dangerously close to the Sea of Self Pity. I didn't manage to drown inside cos my mind found me in the nick of time and guided me to safer terrain- Land of Compulsive Slacking. I followed the signs in the Land of Complusive Slacking to arrive at One Corner where I saw many like minded people. Whilst I was relaxing at One Corner, I spotted that the ferocious beast called EXAMinal. just around The Corner. Akin to a shark's sensitivity to blood, the beast could smell a slacking student from miles away.. I had unwittingly tumbled too close to its lair.

Even before I would make a decision, the beast disabled me momentarily with a thunderous bolt of Electromagnetism and struck me a heavy dose of nauseous SignalsAndSystemsOne. Drifting in and out of consciousness, I struggled to stay awake as I fought against the anesthetic effects of SignalsAndSystemOne. Before I lost consciousness, I felt myself being thrown back into reality and sailing through the air before a hard landing. Last thing I remembered was the great impact of Ignorance the moment I Hit the Books.

weekends before exams are always sooooo dreadfully long.. mug mug..

exams

Exam's next week. 4 papers in 2 days. It's really a good reason to be happy over cos it would mean that pain is only gg to be brief. But that usually doesn't apply to the postmortem grief.

wake up call

"Principal's 'wake-up call' to Sec 5 students had to be 'conveyed' " By Jane Ng
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_196894.html

Standing on 'morale' grounds, I so totally disagree with the minister.

busy. very busy.

econimics

this is dedicated to my good friend from arts. hope that this will help you gain a better understanding of economics. have a laugh as you learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY6kElOYcd8

"there is no such thing as a free lunch."

cry

Nowadays, people no longer stands on the side of logic, they stand on the side of the victim. so when you dun have logic on your side.. try crying and whining. Knowing this, some people are just able to whine and go into tantrums fits like as if they have earned the rights to do that. imbecile.

"i should give them and myself a break." - cj

oops

I have been committing grammatical crimes. Some of which are so fashionably blatant that I thought it was Singlish. Till date this is still the worst..

"she don't know anything."

personal geographic

The inspirational photos in National Geographic photographers have incited me to begin a similar personal project of a smaller scale. Thus, i begin with what will be the pioneer issue of Personal Geographic. Whilst National Geographic photographers risk their lives and limbs to bring to us captivating photos of wildlife, I risk nothing to bring you mundane, but hopefully equally captivating, photos of the birds and bees... Click on the picture to have a closer clearer look at them. I apologize for the lousy captions, but i am not able to identify the bee species. I could have dedicated more time to research on bees, but exams are just round the corner. I'm kinda bee z.

" hairy bee. wonder how the small pair of wings carries the big body.." -cj

"shiny bee" - cj

"bay bee." -cj

"I would change my captions if anyone is able to provide any positive identification."

visitor

zhanrui is here.

buddies

I'm not capable of typing out the whole 10days' experience in one sitting. Neither am I in much of a mood. I have been acting like a lunatic for the past few days. Fortress mentality doesn't keep people out, instead it keeps you in. God bless those people who have been putting up with my insolence and my2day siege. So please make do with my petite synopsis, at least until my exams are over ~ 2weeks.

"buddies." - cj

One of fav photo of the whole trip, taken in lisbon. The best photos are usually unplanned.

rant

why do people think that their time is more important than mine?

soab.

bulletin

"Latest news from the front line. Operation: X mas car D was an utter failure. The outfit of twenty was handpicked. However, the grueling journey and long distance proved to be fatal even to the finest. They fought valiantly against the treacherous Colonel French Transport Strike and Captain Foul Weather. However, till this date, there has been no known survivors. The high cost of overseas posting and the exorbitant amount of time spent on each were irrecoverable. They set off on the 12th of Dec at the specific drop point with the special mission to spread well-wishes to the world. Even though, there is now hardly any glimmer of hope. I wish that some of them who got lost along the way would be able to find their way to their objectives. If anyone has any news of survivors please inform the respective authorities without any delay. regards."

the grief.

happenstance

4th Jan 2008(Friday) 1130am. Sunny. Madrid.

I just checked out from my hostel and was on my way to the airport. He probably spotted me from afar and decided to execute his plan. An impromptu decision based on opportunity. I probably fitted his profile of a easy target - a non Spanish speaking Asian tourist who is traveling alone. He repeated his line "Japanese. Football very good." and mimicked a football player kicking a ball. He swiveled his body towards me with a clockwise swing of his left leg. I felt something brush the pockets of my jackets as he shoved me slightly against the wall. I let my hand drop towards my sides and pushed him back gently.

As I took a turn into a secluded street, he closed the distance between us and tried to build a rapport.
"¡Hola amigo! cigarette?"
"No."
"You Japanese? Football. Football very good."
I decided to save myself the trouble of explaining, gave him a curt smile and let him swim in his pool of doubt. I have a plane to catch. Determined to break my stride, he gave a second attempt.

He repeated his rehearsed sequence; kicking higher this time. As I felt his hand in the pocket of my jacket, the first thing that crossed my mind - he is trying to outrage my modesty. After which, things turned ugly. I knocked him with my backpack and tried to grab for his hand. Before he fell and got away, he managed to pull out something from my pocket.. Damn. He took my only packet of tissue paper on a day when I was having a running nose. Good thing I don't keep my money in my pockets. Afterthought: You know where they say Japanese tourists hide their money? Fortunately, that pickpocket didn't work along that idea; I don't want his hand to be grabbing at those places.

"the other side of a beautiful city" - cj

"He grew up in a rough neighbourhood."

spain

land of bull fighting.

bother

12noon. pickpockets. 1am. low temperature. strong winds. incessant rain. punishing cold. wet shoes. wrong train. smoking racists. 3am. no bus. luggages. no taxi. tired. hungry. dangerous looking drunkards. no light in forest. 40min walk in rain. 5am. no key to open door. kind of sums up my very lousy day.

good think i have a good company.