Night Cycling~ 280909 8pm- 290909 10am

Night Cycling~

Immediately after meeting, I eturned to hostel to pack some stuff for Night Cycling with my coursemates - Lynn, Chee Wah, Chee Peng and Alvin (half coursemate, haha..). Lynn, CW and CP were already at JP buying some snacks while I went with Alvin. I totally relied on him to bring me to East Coast Park (ECP) where we were to meet the rest to get our rented bicycles;) Alvin doesn't know how to use the shorter way, so we took MRT, Bus and reached there at 10pm. Haha..

Then, our night cycling began!! Actually, we have no planning wan.. Haha.. Lynn is a PR, in Sg for 3 yrs and Alvin in Sg for 4 yrs already. CW seems to know know aso I think coz he visits his cousin every weekend. Even CP also know know. But not me! So again, I rely on the four of them.

It was fun eventhough we dunno the directions. C'mon, Sg is so freaking small, even if got lost, no prob! Hehe.. And another thing, it's safe for cyclist coz we don't cycle on the road, we cycle on the pathway and use the zebra crossing. Unlike Malaysia, it is much safer.

Me me me and me!~

I can't remember or rather dunno where we really went. Haha.. Sorry sorry..
But we were starving, so searched for food in Geylang. Went to a Mamak stall. Had mee goreng, milo, teh ice, milo ice, roti prata, and boom. Haha.. Along the way, saw ahem hem.. "chickens".. But it's safe again coz we were on the main road. Just that, have to be careful not to be mistaken for one of them. But evil Alvin says we won't be.. =_+..

Then, of coz we took pics wherever we went but sadly no camera, so only have cam phone.. But ok la at least better than none;)

We wanted to have the famous egg tarts in Geylang but sadly finished d! Then, just had some drinks and continued..^^

Went to Marina Bay, so beautiful! My dream of being a civil engineer returned abit bit.. Sobs..
Took many pics and guess what? F1 in Sg just finished the the night before. So, the chequered flags were still there, we suspect the podium was there in Marina Bay! Roads were closed with police everywhere. Haha.. We had the roads all to oursleves;)

Then, they lay down in the open space, used Alvin's sleeping bag while I learnt ultraman dance from CP. Haha, its really a stupid dance, but just for fun. Haha..

Then, it rained! Argh! We quickly ran for shelter nearby and played cards. Haha.. Then, some of them were sleepy, so they "slept" awhile while CW, Alvin and I continued playing cards. We played "fishing". Hehe, then, rain stopped and we got onto our bikes and headed to Bugis.
Aiyo, sien lo, everywhere no food stalls. And crap, my bicycle started making weird weird noises and restict my cycling. Hard for me to cycle especially when going up the slope! Luckily sometimes, Alvin would accompany me at the back. Good la, the guys would try to be the last to "protect" girls.

At Bugis (or maybe not, I don't know. Ehehe..) we finally found a stop to have desserts and carrot cake. We shared and rested awhile. Coz riding the bicycles are really killing our asses and inner thighs.. Pain arr...

We took a lot of funny and nice pics;) One of the many many pics we took.. For more, visit my facebook, got video too;)

Then, we decided to cycle back to ECP coz we weren't sure how to go back. It was around 4plus I think. Then, we slowly found our way back and took some pics of our tired faces.. Haha..
Poor CW like dead fish, so sleepy and tired. Alvin and I were the most alert ones. I have no idea why was I so alert also, considering the many late nights I had.. Maybe the enthusiasm of night cycling just kept me awake;)

We managed to reach ECP around 5.30am and bought McD Breakfast sets, then ate in the park with the wind hitting hard on our faces. Haha.. Hard to eat ler..
Then, waited for sunrise. All 5 of us lay on the grass and watched the sunrise.

CW cannot stand, fell asleep, followed by CP and Lynn at last also slept after snapping our pics and asking us to do funny funny weird poses with our feet dangling in the air.



Haha.. Lynn and CW shared the sleeping bag, to CP's dissapointment. He lazily don't wana take, so at last, CW took it. Haha.. And CW was lying under a coconut tree and Alvin scared him by saying the coconut seems like will fall on his head. Haha.. Very funny as CW keep feeling scared that he'll be hit by the coconut.

Alvin couldn't sleep. Me too. The rest sudah tidor. Hais.. So we explored the beach and went on a huge rock which seems a perfect substitute for a cliff to commit suicide. Haha.. Then only I saw that there were many ships out there. We chatted till the rest called us after finally waking up.

Then, we returned the bicycle keys and went on a bus. Each of us fell asleep on the bus till we overshot our station. Gee.. Then, quickly got down and we parted ways with Alvin who's heading home while the 4 of us going back to NTU via MRT. Lynn, CW and I managed to get into the packed MRT but CP didn't! Haha..

We went back to "collect" CP and this time we all managed to get into the train. It was around 9am that time- peak hour.. Stopped at Pioneer, got onto the bus and reached NTU. I immediately hit the floor and slept till 1plus. Did laundry, cleaning the whole day. Checked my mail after so many days and kinda wasting time, not really in a study mood which is bad!!

And here I am blogging when I'm suppose to utilise my 3days in NTU before heading to Klang to meet my parents on 2nd Oct (Fri). Study, Erin! You have 3 mid terms next week! No rest~

Busy busy September...

The title of my blog simply explains it all.
Upon being elected as the Event Director on the 4th of September, my life has been busy and busier.. Don't get me wrong, it's not only NTU Buddhist Society (NTUBS) that kept me so busy.

Investiture for BS falls on the 17th and Mid Autumn Festival (MAF) for MSA (Malaysian Society which I volunteered for.. hais..) is on the 20th. With such limited time to prepare 2 events, you can only imagine how hectic was it. And to top it off, I was fully in charge of the Investiture.

Investiture

1st meeting with subcomms, preparation ranging from ideas to slides to preparing hats/crowns for the handover session has been a roller coaster ride. I didn't even have the time to know my subcomms and we have to get right down to work. Prior to that, I was busy running here and there approaching previous director and my coordinator to ensure I'm doing things the right way. It wasn't easy coz I was entirely new to BS, I don't know a single thing. Have to start from scratch. Neilson, the previous director was a very helpful and approachable person, making me comfortable to approach him for advice. Min Ruey, my coordinator on the other hand was scary to me in the beginning. But I find him very nice now that I know him better.

But to him, work means work, so don't mess with him!
He asks every little bit of details from objectives to reasons of why I'm doing each and everything. In the beginning, it was really hard and scary but I understand his intentions.
This is because BS organise every single event with objectives to benefit members and not just for the sake of organising. He guided me and helped me through the way and I'm very grateful for that. Communicating with my subcomms was not smooth sailing for each and everyone of us has different personalities, but we managed to overcome all odds and time constraint to make the Investiture a success! We were showered with praises and more motivation, especially the hats/crowns we made. Ya, we were very creative. Ehehehe.. I'm so proud of myself and my subcomms and will continue to work hard to not disappoint those who elected us for they had faith in us! Gambateh!

Nice anot the hats my team did? Hehe, nice leh..

Fell sick..

Oh ya, I fell ill on the 6th till 10th. Quite jia lat actually. Fever reached 38.1 celcius. Freaked me out and I walked to the clinic in NTU, paid SGD7 for all sorts of medicine for I had everything, from sorethroat to flu to slight cough. Even got 2 days MC from the doc but I didn't use it. Coz I will suffer if I skip my lectures. So, just beared with it and maybe that's why it took me quite long to recover. Imagine falling sick at such a bad time, I managed to sleep for one day but had to get back to the Investiture and MAF preparation immediately. Studies? Really no time for that.. But I had a quiz on 11th Sep (Fri) for stupid MAS111. Mati betul. Somehow had to cramp in some time to study coz it accounts for 30 marks! (Actually at that time, I thought it was 15%) So, ya no joke coz I wasn't clear about certain proofs so I had no choice but to memerise and drill the rest into my tired brain. End up, the quiz was by far easier than what all of us expected. Ceh.. Haha.. Thank god.. Oh ya, I just found out today I got 29/30 ;)

MAF

So, fast forward abit, right after Investiture, have to concentrate back to MAF. Waliao, tired man.. Immediately after the event itself, had to rush to help do the dedications (we did cd dedications). The guys all can't help coz of their clumsiness and not careful enough, so girls power! Went back at 2am.. Actually, in this month, I always reach my hostel at 2-3am. Very tiring, I've never been so busy ever ever ever..

We had many things other than dedications and not to mention the amount of work to get the dedications done. Spray the cd's, draw, stick moon (mooncake festival bah..) and write the dedication msgs. Oh ya, we even had to fold the "cd cover" which is very nice actually. So creative of Lynn and Sin Ying.. Then, have to distribute and collect money.. zzZzzz....
And we have a whole lot of programs. Chee Wah la, our chief, so "on" want to do this and that. Have games, sketch, dance. So lotsa lotsa practices the 2 week before MAF, which coincides with my preparations for Investiture. Hard to balance...

Fast forward again.. The sketch was actually very funny. Haha.. Here's the link..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVSXx2_lUco
Hehe, I was the narator. Poor me have to change voices.. Lol.. Nevertheless, it was fun...

2 Midterms and 1 Quiz!

Immediately after these 2 events ended, after all the huge amount of stress and constantly deprived of sleep and time.. there was a Dharma Talk in BS on the 21st (Mon) and after that, had to continue collecting money and distributing the MAF Dedications. My work never ends! And guess what? I have 2 midterms on Wed and a quiz on Fri! And I have yet to start studying.. Really dead meat..

On Mon itself, I managed to do some studying in the afternoon before the Dharma Talk. I skipped a free lunch by MSA as a reward for our hard effort in the MAF. I skipped the FREE steamboat to STUDY!! Seriously very sakit hati.. But I had no choice and fortunately for me, my determination was strong enough to fight of my desire.. But still!! Haisssssssss.......
Then, I studied in the study room from 10.30pm to 1am. Quite scary when I turned around, ahh, so few people left in the room only! But it's Singapore, no prob, SAFE~
The previous night (20th, right after MAF), I forced myself to study too coz I was afraid I don't have enough time to cover all. So, I returned to hostel at almost 1am and studied till 3plus.. *Panda...

Anyway, Tues I thought I had more time to study but I forgot I had MathLab! Stup Week7, I have MathLab! I could only study at night. That night, I felt so stressed. Coz I was only studying for MAS801 (a Math module which has ALOT to remember and have to practise, not just study) and I haven't started on the other Midterm for HS814 (a humanities module which I actually need to read only, no need to practise like math..). Talked abit to my roomie and felt better after expressing and releasing the stress..

Studied till 4.30am, woke up to attend 2 tutorials at 10.30-12.30am, then midterm at 1.30-7.30pm.. =_+

I personally felt MAS801 was okay although I know I would get wrong for quite a few questions. At least I could do, and wasn't idleing there. But HS814 was pure silly! Hais, duwana mention it.. Sadness..

After that, had to study for MacroEcons. Quiz on Fri! My coursemates all have begun their revison the previous week. So, you see, I was really at a disadvantage. Wed night mugged till 4.30am again. I couldn't wake up that Thurs morning for lectures at 8.30am. It was raining!! So, I slept back but woke up at 9.05am. Decided I must not skip lecture, so rushed for the remaining 1 hour. Haha, left my bag outside and walked in with notes only, trying to avoid being spotted the late commer.. Luckily I went, it was a new lecturer, a Chinese national! Argh! But surprisingly, find her good. And the lecture was very important. I would certainly don't understand if I totally skipped the whole lecture..
And to top it off, I had to prepare for a meeting with BS subcomms on Thurs evening. Have lots to prepare for the meeting. So again have to squeeze into my hectic schedule. Reached hostel at almost 10pm on Thurs night, mugged (it means study in Sg, no idea why..) till 4plus again.

The quiz was okay la.. I know I have 2 wrong out of 10 already.. Abit sad coz one was due to my carelessness and I think 2 of my tutorial mates got full marks! But actually I'm quite satisfied also. ;)

Woohoo~

Yeah, midterms and quiz are over! Though I copied Programming blindly in the lecture, I was looking forward to the night! Went for Chinese Cultural Society+Amcisa's MAF (much grander coz much bigger scale), made own mooncake and ate it! Then, got a "Har har chim" (extremely bad prophecy), argh, threw it away, totally stupid wan.. Haha.. Then, went supper with OG and drank soup for the 1st time! Yummy~

Pretended to go back to hostel but actually we planned a birthday celebration for Alvin! Haha.. We pretended to say bye bye to him but came out again to surprise him! Wanted to blindfold him but haha, not very practical. Went to ADM (the beautiful building with a grass rooftop~), we set his bday cake and mini mooncakes with candles, sat in a circle, had 2 guitarist, 1 singer to create an even greater atmosphere..

It was an awesome night! So touching and romantic atmosphere though no romance la. Haha.. We sang songs and Jun Lum was so high that night. Something very rare but very happy to see that. He and Choon Siong kept singing so hyperly on their feet. We had 2 very awesome amazing musicians! Zhong Zheng and Justin. Fuyoh, just name the song, they can play for us.. So syiok... And of coz Bae Huey, our great singer with an awesome voice!

Later on, we even composed our own songs. Haha, so fun and funny! It was very very nice! Hera is super duper awesome!
Then, we waited for sunrise (thou we couldnt see it from that angle, haha). We lay there trying to get some sleep. I went back at 4.30am to bathe and pack my things for my Management Retreat for BS Main Committee which is on Sat, the very next day! Omg, I really cari susah wan.. Returned to ADM at 5.30am and prepared my meeting stuff there. Brought water, biscuits for my fellow OG coz they were hungry and I'm sure thirsty. Surely enough, they were!

BS Management Retreat

It was a great night which has to come to an end. 6.30am returned to hostel, immediately fall flat and slept till 8am. Then, meeting meeting till 2.30pm. Gosh, I almost died there. Slept only 1 hour plus, I really fell asleep a few times in the meeting. I hope noone noticed. Then, went to Little Bodhi Centre, the venue for our retreat.

It was an intense retreat whereby we practised Noble Silence during meals (no talking prohibited while eating) and many challenging activities which brings stress too. But I'm kinda used to it already. Slept at 11.30pm that night, again sacrifising my supper for I was desperate for SLEEP!! Woke up slightly late, scary! Returned to NTU on the 27th Sep night (Sun), slept at 12am till 9am. Mon morn 9am meeting againg till 5.30pm, then went for dinner.

I benefited alot from the retreat, be it dharma knowledge, leadership skills or even getting to know the other Main Comm better. ;)

Time to Step Up

I passed my toughest challenge thus far and earned myself a post in the main committee in a 2nd tier club in NTU.
I secured the post of Event Director in NTU Buddhist Society (NTUBS). Hurrah!
I was so nervous on the day itself, not forgetting how this has been affecting me the whole week actually. Had many extremely late nights coz I was finding more information to support my future plans, which turned out to be not necessary for the rally (but essential in my upcoming days as ED).

Brainstormed for ideas and my speech..
Brainstormed for aspirations to go in accordance to the objectives of NTUBS.
Brainstormed, brainstormed..

Asked around for opinions, asked Jackson (thanks so much for your help, thou I noe u wont be reading this, ekeke..)
Asked Neilson (past ED), he was very helpful, willing to share his experience and knowledge with me.
Rehearsed with Neilson and 7 other candidates in Hall 5 TV room (very nice place with aircond^^) on Thurs night, the night before the rally day..
That's half of the candidates running for the main comm actually. But me being the only 1st year to be selected to run for main comm. So, ya, it's a big thing.. Actually, I was taken aback too..
Learnt alot from the rehearsal, identified many missing crucial components such as aspirations and future plans.
So, went back and did my homework, googled for more information. Came across some interesting information but not enough.
It was already 4am, have to sleep.. Have to rest myself..

Survived in Macro tutorial, but failed to do so in Programming lectures. Was unable to concentrate, not going in, so I decided to take off during the break..
Ya, my 1st time playing truant in NTU. I feel awful!! But instead of unable to concentrate, I thought it'd be better for me to google more info in Lee Wee Nam library.
So, I did. Then, met up with Neilson. He told me some of my ideas isn't so practical due to the restrictions set by NTU on NTUBS. Helpful piece of info.
Then, he showed me a nice study place in South Spine. Neh, I'm not revealing.. Neh neh neh neh neh.. Haha..
I stayed there as he took off to his class.
Then, Jackson came and we "chui sui".. Yes, wasting time but it was very good to distract me from the tension. Calmed me down a whole lot.

Then, went to MAS111. I intentionally did not print the notes coz felt it was redundant. Plus, my cashcard is low on credit..
Yup, I was right coz he didn't fin the previous lecture. Erm, actually I didn't listen to him, not even one bit. But this time is not due to the lack of concentration. It's plainly bcoz it's "him", the lecturer..
Asked the CNYang scholars when I didn't understand certain part as I went through the solutions on my own. It was ok. MAS111 isn't that bad after all.. Or maybe it isn't that bad, YET..

Anyway, fast forward to the rally. Very nervous, cold. Just before my turn when David was giving his speech, I suddenly shiver in cold or it was probably due to the anxiety - I don't know.
Thank god I didn't go blank when it was my turn. I think I did pretty well.
Speech was ok, didn't forget the speech I prepared.
Q&A.. Probably you can say I was saved by the last year's committee coz alumni didn't get the chance to shoot me with difficult questions.
But the first question, my heart sank..
He asked me about Investiture - the upcoming event to be organised by me in less than 2 weeks time. I was asked what activities I could organise to benefit the members.
Oh, gosh.. Thank god I prepared, read about Investiture, so my answer was Dharma talk by the Venerable..
2nd ques: What difference are the events organised by the Event Team from those organised by the Dharma and Metta Team.
My answer was not much difference bcoz our activities are carried in accordance to NTUBS objectives. But Event Team has more flexibility in the events to be carried out. I also touched on the formal activities I will be organising - Investiture, NTUBS anniversary and Wesak Day.

I thought I did pretty well and I was told I prepared well and did well. Hehe, and of course, I passed^^
Relieved....................

For 2 reasons.
1st, I got the post..
2nd, I'm guarenteed a hostel next year! I was searching for 5 points so pitifully and now I have 7points^^ More than what is needed and I don't have to share with Singaporean;)

Actually, on Wed, I put my hostel on the line. I withdrew from another rally - Logistics for Visual Arts Society (VAS).
I would have automatically secured 5 points if I rallied. No Q&A session and impossible to lose.

Why did I withdraw? Coz I prefer NTUBS to VAS and if I got 2 main comm posts in these two clubs, I'm really concerned on my time management skills.
And I really don't like the idea of having to choose between NTUBS and VAS. It is too unfair for both clubs who chose me for they believed in me.
So, I decided to withdraw from VAS.
Fortunately I made it in NTUBS or else I'm back to square one, no points!
So, it was a gamble worth all the risk and anxiety.
Through this rally, I learnt alot. And I noe the journey has only just begun.

Now, I have 2 events coming up in 2 weeks.
1st: Investiture in NTUBS, led by me. I hope I won't disappoint, I hope I'll do a good job and establish myself as a worthy Event Director.
2nd: Mid Autumn Festival in MSA. I'm not the leader, but one of the comm, so I hope I can juggle these two well.

Wish me luck as I'm stepping one up in my life!
Choosing NTU as my destination was not plainly for the high quality of education but to enrich my experience in leadership.
Given such a golden opportunity, I really don't want to waste it and disappoint those who chose me, had faith in me.
I will have more faith and confidence in myself and work harder!

Brainstorming..

Brainstorming is all I could say.. This is certainly the toughest obstacle thus far in NTU..
NTU Buddhist Society AGM is tomorrow..