SPRING BREAK 06!!!

yeeha...

why am I suddenly a cowboy? coz, i'm heading down to TEXAS... the redder than red state... the Bush County... i'm heading down to Elm Mott (A place near Waco), Texas... I'll be volunteering at the World Hunger Relief Farm... tending cows and chickens and other animals like Tremayne... and probably doing some farming too...

should i do a summary of the week as usual... well, why not??

so.. for monday... refer to the previous post.
Tuesday... work... class, nothing much other than scratching my head doing econs hw... spent quite some time on it... but still couldn't really get a hang of it... so, decided to go to GSI office hours tmr...

Wednesday... work, class, GSI OH, class, no urop, got rid of econ hw finally... did some math for tomorrow's quiz... other than that... just another boring weekday... counting down to Spring break... really need a break from the mundane routine of work and classes...

Thursday... work, meeting, classes, meeting, dinner, went Meijer(R) to get a pair of work gloves... oh yar... i got a CD at BestBuy(R) too... Evans Blue...check them out... they are pretty good... didn't get anything else because i won't be around for a week for spring break... so,
got back and did nothing much... what else? ppl in the hall were all ready for spring break... heading home and started packing... hung out at my fren's place... watching figure skating... i told them who won at the beginning of the the show... what a way to spend the night for everybody... well, i didn't know that news junky in the room, Quang, didn't know about it, so, it's not my bad... not totally... by the way... it's that time of the month again...(what are u thinking??) it's 23rd of the month again, woah.. it's been 18 months since I last saw my parents, bros, friends and my pet dog...

Friday... yeeha... the last day of the school week... work, class... damn... the first class was bad...how bad?? it took me 10 minutes to walk from my dorm to the class, but the actual class time was only 5 minutes... (we had a quiz... and it took everybody, on average, about 5 minutes to complete it)... and then, I decided to walk back to my room...(another 10 minutes)... thanks Ren Jie for borrowing me his sleeping bag... i need the sleeping bag for the trip... it's a really huge sleeping bag... damn... must be comfy and warm...!!! had lunch, went to my next class at 1pm... did nothing much... didn't quite really understand what the GSI was saying.. so, i did the next best thing..... ------> doze off... we were off at about 1.50pm... i started walking towards the Michigan Square... for the LSA Academic Advising Office to hand in my IAPA application form...:) hopefully, i can get it again this year...(for the next year... if u know what i mean)

tonight, shall i go partying?? or shall i keep myself clean... and tidy up my room, and do laundry... and pack for my trip... i shall see... :)

for the moment being... i have time to waste... so, i browse around and found this page:
http://ambigram.matic.com/ambigram.htm

where i can type in words and get the ambigram... "Ambigrams are words or phrases that can be read in more than one way or from more than a single vantage point, most commonly right-side-up and upside-down." quoted from the above webpage.

so, this is my name... Voon... (well, my name here in the states... :) it's actually part of my first name (given name)
try to turn ur head upside down... or, try flipping ur screen if u are on a laptop... or wat not... see... it still spells the same... wonderful?? amazing?? yeah....
it reads " VoonisCool"... i know... i know...

amazing isn't it... spend some time and try it...

alright... that's about it... have fun... i'll try to take some pictures at Texas... but i don't think i'll be able to access the internet there... so, i'll see you guys in slightly more than a week time...

Staying clean...

Hey guys... guess what?... i'm staying myself clean... clean from alcohol for 3 weeks...(hopefully) til my 21st birthday... why so? well... because it's against the law to drink under the age of 21 here in the states... and why again? well... because i just want to test my will and determination... and why again? well... i just need some self-reassurance that i'm not an alcoholic (yet)...

so... i didn't drink last week... a huge achievement... a great accomplishment...!!! an award-winning performance...!!!!

so, what did i do last weekend if i didn't get drunk and wasted... :)

Friday night... didn't do much... attempted to go CCRB... but overslept in my evening nap... i wanted to wake up at 9, but woke up at 10 instead... and the CCRB closes at 11pm on Friday... and 1 hour of working out is not enough... so, instead of doing what i planned, I went to watch winter olympics at my fren's place... nothing much... just hockey and then ski jumping... BORING... came back to my room, did some hw before i called it off...

Saturday... woke up this morning... at about 10am, dragged myself out of bed to go to CCRB... ran a good 5 miles... and then rowed (on the rowing machine) for 10 minutes... and then... that's about it... too tired to lift weights... afternoon... too tired from the run, physically, slept from 3 til 5 something... it was freaking cold out... in the -20 C region... slightly below zero for Fahrenheit... so, instead of going to Blue Nile Restaurant... an Ethiopian Restaurant for a buffet..(initial planned), we ordered delivery instead... Saigon Garden...(Vietnamese Food) really good food... and we ordered too often that the owner-cum-deliveryman know us from our order... :)... way to go... overstuffed ourselves... as usual, and then, we watched Star Wars IV... remastered version... then, it was still very early... did nothing much other than reading my Econ 402 notes... it's payback time... damn you Econ 402... (ooops... i can't believe i just said that...)

Sunday... woke up... did some math problems... then, went to work... and meeting... and then got back from work... did more math... and then, because of a shortage of ppl there, i worked another shift at night... (worked for a good 6+ hours that day... so much for Sunday as a day for resting...) got back about 8.30pm... watched Family Guy (R) at 9... then American Dad(R) followed... then, Grey's Anatomy... then, more studying... and some math...

Cool...???

Monday... woke up at 9+... kept myself in bed til 10+... did something... forgot wat... and then, classes, and nothing much again... and then, meeting at 9pm.... ASB... can't believe that we are heading down to Elm Mott, Texas this Saturday... really excited about the trip... why??
1) there isn't a particular person that i don't like in our group...
2) there'll be more than 40+ hours of driving for the entire trip... (and I'm not the one driving)
3) we will be working with animals... animals as in real animals... 4 legged creatures, some 2 and not from the same family as we are from...
4) it will be warm relatively in Texas...
5) in fact, we are a cheesy bunch of ppl...
6) i'll not be eating dorm food for a good week... a much welcomed change... but, i'm doubtful how our cooking would turn out to be... one thing for sure... the food will be much healthier...
7) and then, there's a 40+ hour driving... i know i said it once, but i think it's worth another honorable mention...
8) i know many ppl will be so jealous about my trip...

that's all for now... u guys take care.. and peace out... (it's been quite sometime since i last used 'peace out'... so i think it's OK for me to use it now...)

Could be better, could be worse...

So, i got back all my papers... and nothing much to talk about them, the title reflects what i've in mind... i wasn't so cool about it yesterday though... I was pretty upset and pissed about the paper i got back yesterday... but, it's all good now.... well, after some thoughts and reflections, I think it's no point for me to be upset at it anymore...

so, here goes my thoughts... I'm really impressed by a lot of my friends who can be so cool about their grades... I mean, they are happy-go-lucky with their grades, and they will be all happy just being above the mean... well, my brothers too... i can never feel the same... I just feel that I've to ace every single midterm, exam... not one less... or less, i would be upset about it... depress, maybe not, but unhappy with it, definitely. so, thinking back, i started to question why am I studying? (BEWARNED: it's one of those ramblings again... steer away, push the back button, or Alt + F4 while u still have time)

do i study because I want to learn? or because I want my grade? i want a pretty nice A on my transcript, and another item crossed out from my A-list. Is that really what I want? I've no idea. I know that learning for the sake of studying is bad... i mean, learning should be fun... gaining knowledge shouldn't be a stressful thing... but, it became one when the need to get good grades comes in... why is there such a need? well, i would say, for me, I was brought up this way... well, i don't think that's a fair statement, it's more like I've been behaving this way... I grew up this way... how? why? when it started? I've no idea. But probably because I started early, and hence had a headstart over most of my peers, I excelled in studies from pre-school, and had been the fore-runner ever since, I think it is only 'normal' for me to be this way til whenever it will be. So, I only have a seat at the A Train... no room for me in the B Train... so, to get on the A Train, I have to study harder, put in more effort, and also be disappointed more often... if only I can take a break and be on the B Train... i think, by only going to lectures, I will catch the B Train without a doubt...

so, is this still about learning or wat? Can I ever look at a course, thinking back only about what I've learned from it, giving it a fair consideration regardless of my grades?? I would say no... well, but 1 thing i learned so far is to know what you are getting out from a class, than to scoring an A in the class... it's possible to score an A without knowing much in some classes... but what's the point???

but what hurt most is that u know ur stuffs, but u are just not doing well in the exam... but wtf... shit happens... so, cool... chill... just be more careful next time... and it shouldn't be too bad...

alright... enough of being emotional...

so, Tuesday... the usual.. work, classes...
come Wednesday... the very usual, work, classes, UROP... this UROP session was the longest ever... started with my walk from my Econ class to the Alumni Center for the UROP meeting... stopped by at the Beasters, at the Michigan League for a quick bite...(i didn't know that food will be served at the UROP session), so, i had Mountain Dew...(thanks to some to0-much-time-and-trying-to-be-gain-publicity-by-acting-stupid-groups, i have to settle with Pepsi products, Mountain Dew(which is second best) to Coke... with a Chicken Quesadillas... the last one they have they... which is pretty good... trotted to the Alumni Center, like half a block away from the League... ok... so, we started with some sitting, and waiting... not so much wishing... (lame attempt of trying to be funny), and then, a preview of the show started... more like a student trying to make his professor understandable to a bunch of ignorant students... well, he was trying to tell us about the vision of the composer Louis Andriessen... try searching it up... and see what u get... so, the concert started with a piece of ringing bells, beside the bell tower... pretty special... but, those weird notes... and too "Avant-Garde" music was really hard to swallow... and digest...
it followed by 2 pieces at the Power Center... the first one was bad... i mean, really... the music was too weird for my liking... the vocalist and the violinist were really good... but the music, just the music... the 2nd one... the music was alright... but the lyrics... i don't see much meaning, and it's played with a short... the short, Not Mozart (a full 20+ minutes of nudity of 3 dancers...) grotesque... mind-boggling... disturbing... thought provoking(not really)... nightmarish...!!! traumatizing...!!!!

got back to my room at about 10pm, did the hw, and then, nothing much...

Thursday... work, classes, got back exam to know that i got screwed... pissed for the rest of the day... but pissed that i was pissed too...

Friday... well... it's always good... work, classes... the slacky gsi of my financial economics discussion was really shitty too... imagine this, he worked out a math problem before hand... which is totally wrong... and he was still able to write it down on the board... in an equation, he multiplied the Left hand side(LHS) by 3, but he kept RHS.... and no, the RHS is not zero...
and then, he solved the same equation... and got the right answer... actually, he was only trying to solve a 4 equations, 4 unknowns problem... but, it can be simplified to 2 unknowns... and he screwed that up....!!! amazing... then, the next discussion... wasn't too bad... then, followed by a meeting for my UROP...

I got back to my rooom and done with my week at 3pm... awesome... what to do next?? nothing much... since i skipped my lunch... i had an early dinner... a steak burrito... at 4... watched a couple of series... and then, walked around aimlessly... and then, napped from 8 til 10...:) wanted to go to CCRB... but overslept... will be going there tmr... well... i've been slacking on my weekly 10 miles run target...

So... my weekends....

it was Friday night... we went to this Monte Carlo night organized by the residence hall association... we were pretty dressed up... i was in dresspants and shirt, with a nice sweater over it... and then, my friends, were either in shirt, or in suits... we played some casino games - craps, roulette...(not Russian though), blackjack, texas hold'em... and some dice games... not too bad... a pretty well organized event i should say... and we had fun... and some free finger foods... all these for 2 bucks... it's worth more than the money can buy... and in the end of the event, there's raffle where expensive stuffs like Ipod Video (R) and iPod Nano (R) were up for grab... but being an unlucky raffle person that i am, i didn't win anything... as expected... i was so confident that i won't be winning anything that I gave my raffle tickets to my fren, hopefully, the curse will be broken... :) but, it wasn't...

after that, we went to my fren, Teresa's 21st Birthday Party... it was a really good party... had quite a lot to drink... and met quite a lot of my friends there too... and i was pretty done after 5 beers... because it wasn't the usual Natty Lite (R)... but something more 'potent'... i wasn't that bad... but, i was hiccuping... lol... didn't know that i'm capable of doing that in real life... thought it was some kinda a myth in cartoons... so, after the great party... we went to Pizza House to get some food to soak up the alcohol... that's wat my fren told me... that it helps to eat after drinking... so, we had a chicago stuffed pizza and cheese sticks... (it was really good) and something happened there... i won't be telling since it was kinda embarrassing...

i couldn't recall anything much after the eating part... i can remember me opening my door, and then, it was the next morning... :) i was sleeping in my dresspants and shirt and sweater... oops... and then, i checked my IM... and saw that I did messaged my friends about woot.com 's deal... and then, i thanked my fren... for dunno what... at about 3.15am...
so, does eating after drinking really help?? i wonder...

so... that's was Friday's party...

Saturday afternoon... didn't do much... nothing much to do...so, i caught up with my series... and then, read some books... not much homeworks and readings because well, i just done with 4 midterms... so, not so much new stuffs to catch up yet... so, wandered around my room and hallway doing much about nothing... and then, in the evening... went bucketing for ASB... it was snowing pretty good... and fortunately, we did not bad too... (no connection or correlation, but well, i was just trying to put things down... )

oh yar... i did laundry too... stupid washer didn't spin dry my clothes... so, i ended up putting my clothes in the dryer through 3 rounds of drying... it was my longest laundry experience.. so far...

then, at Saturday night... it was my fren, Mike's, Drunkball Competition party... well, the game is pretty simple... where a team of 2 go against another team, where 2 cans of beers were set on each side of a long table... and then, u just throw the ball to hit ur opponents' can and let it bounce as far as possible... (well, ur goal is not to let ur opponents to recover the ball as soon, so that u can chug ur beer while the ball is not returned to the table...) so, i teamed up with my fren, Zach's fren, Matt... i was going for the big shot, by shooting with a full arm swing... it wasn't too bad... but, not being a chugger... we long by atmost 2 rounds... more like 1 more chug... and our opponent went on to win the 1st runner up.... (it was a tournament of 32 teams)... so, we weren't too bad... i just need more practice... on both shooting and chugging.. :)... so, had much fun there... and went back to my room at about 1.15am... well, it's kinda early... but well, we started the night pretty early too... the party started at about 10pm....

got back to my room... jogged all the way from my fren's apartment... which wasn't too far... about .5 miles according to Google(R) maps... go back... had chips and salsa...(i'm really addicted to it)... and then, went to hang out at Putt's and Quang's room... and i dozed off there... and woke up at 5.30am, and went back to my room... :)

woke up the next morning at about 10am... went to CCRB and jogged a good 4 miles... and then... pretty much did nothing for the entire afternoon... other than watching movies.... and surfing...

Sunday night... supposedly, go to Meijer to get more chips and salsa...and Coke too... but something happened that prevented it... (that something is not to be disclosed)... read 'When Genius Failed' for my Financial Economics class... watched Simpsons and Family Guy... and that's about it... pretty slow night... but it was all good...

it's Monday again.... did nothing much, classes... then, ASB meeting at 10pm... did some Econometrics homework with Stata (R)... it kinda new to me... so, fiddle around... here and there... tried and error... and ditto... did most of my hw... need to check my answers with my friends to make sure i got the big picture right....

oh yar... just 26 more days to go.... 26 more days til wat??? u should know... something big... really big... HUGE...

Woohoo... another week has gone...

Alright... so, it was really a rough week... how rough... really rough... so rough that i couldn't really find a word to decribe how rough it is... so rough that i don't think i would like another week like this...

so, it started with last Saturday... well... actually last Friday... since my last update was posted on Friday afternoon... so, after nap, i went dinner and all... nothing out of the ordinary yet... then, at about 10, i went to The Yost Ice Arena to clean up trash for the ASB... yep... cleaning up trash... sweeping, picking, and all... really... and what else...yeah cleaning trash... lol...
so, 2 groups of us... about 20 of us, started picking sweeping the stands and seats after the hockey game... (i'm in the states, so, it's ice hockey...) and it definitely didn't help for us to lose the game... so, the lost translated into more trash... i supposed... but we won on the Saturday game... so, it's not too bad... other than the extra trash... and we finished cleaning up the mess about 1 and a half hour later... that's like more than 30 trash bags later... (maybe more...)

so... we were done at about 12midnight... i went to Big Ten Burrito to get some grub... and waited for Dane and Alex to show up... and we went to an 80s party by Brian and Andy(Markley Crew)... and the party was way... way way.. too crowded... and worse still, they ran out of cups... wtf... i managed to steal a cup from a fren of mine... and had a beer and left... boo... but then, it's my fault to be there late... reached the party at about 12.45am... normal party peaked at about 11.30pm... so, my bad...

so, we left at about 1.30am, went to Pancheros...(actually, we ended up there because of the long queue at Big Ten, no seating available at Cottage Inn)...
went back to my room later... bored... went to bed...

woke up early the next morning... not really that early... but early enough for me to go to CCRB to run a good 4 miles... and then, got back... had lunch... started studying... til about 9 or 10... of course, did a lot of crap to distract myself in between... went to Meijer at about 11.30pm... done with groceries at slightly pass midnight... and then, went to McD drive thru for dinner....
got a lot of stuffs for the SuperBowl XL (forty, for those who don't know Roman numbering)... stuffs... well... can't be more explicit than that... i'm still a minor... oops... that blows my cover... but heck care... got tostitos chips... and salsa... they are sooooooo goooooood... i'm addicted to it...

so... Sunday... worked... then, review session for the Macroeconomics class, then, Superbowl... yeah... the game started at about 7 something... we set up a Beer Pong table at my fren's room... haha... can't believe we did that... and the stuffs we had... (good stuffs...)
can't really see the stuff in the above photo... here's a zero in one...:
(Disclaimer: Drinking is bad for health...)

alright.. so we kinda watched the Superbowl... and kinda do that thing... and the game was good... Steelers won... and I rooted for them... kinda... well... i did...

MONDAY...

so... i got pretty wasted as the "GAME" lasted til about 1am... and i got back to my room... tried studying... (i have (had) a midterm the next day...)i mean the same day considering it was already 1 am... so, i tried drinking like really a lot of water... and then, tried waiting for it to go away... but, well, i failed... and fell 'asleep' at about 2.30am, woke up next morning... feeling queazy... and all... shooked it off... started studying.... and then, wasn't too bad...

went for lunch... thought that some food will make me feel better... but no... i felt worse... dunno why... felt like puking and all... poor Chia Chye was seating beside me... so, i kinda like scared the hell out of him, by faking my puking motion on him...:)
the exam wasn't too bad... considering it caught most of us pants down by having a shit load of MCQs... we were expecting more calculations... but, it's actually 2/3 MCQs, 1/3 calculation and short answer... not too bad... could be worse...for ASB... went to pick up cans... hah... not too bad... got about $100 dollars... that's like a thousand cans... and bottles... YES... we were closer to our target of $700 minimum...

so, Tuesday... worked, then classes, then, nothing much... studied for the exam on Wed and Thurs...

came Wednesday... worked, then midterm, then classes, then, UROP... seminar was about Biophotonics... awesome seminar by Dr. Marco Molinaro from UC Davis...got back pretty late... started studying..(actually just redoing those math questions and econs questions....)

D-day...Thursday... didn't work, (excused myself since last week, need my 8 hours sleep for the back-2-back midterms later in the afternoon), so, had lunch... pumped up my sugar level there, for the Math(interest theory) and Econ(Econometrics) midterms... i was so tired after(halfway thru) the 2nd midterm... my back kinda ached... damn... i'm aging... the midterms wasn't too bad... i suppose... could be worse... lol... using my favorite phrase again... learned about my Financial Econs score (the monday midterm...) not too bad... just as expected... could be better... if not because i'm semi-drunk...:) neh... just joking...

Friday!!! yes... it's Friday again... so far so good.. keke...
alright... looking forward to this weekend... welcoming it with open arms...(2 parties ahead...so, shouldn't be bad...)

ciao

Yes... TGIF...

Thank goodness is Friday again... ooh... i'm sooo tired.. exhausted... it's been a really long week... and can't believe it... another week has gone...

started out the week pretty alright...
Monday: hw, reading,... nothing much really... other than the dinner at Pizza House with the Michigan Journal of Economics board... and then, ASB meeting... it's pretty good..

Tuesday... work... I'm doomed... apparently, one supervisor, which everyone trying to avoid has changed her schedule back to breakfast... permanently!!! my joy of not working with that supervisor only lasted for 1 month... not even 1 month... almost... but well, now, i'll be working under her shifts 3 days a week... that's bad... really bad... worse than bad... but, well, knowing me, i just shrugged it off... could be worse u know... at least it's not working with her every single shift... so, cheer up... classes... not too bad...

Wednesday... work... well, that supervisor is there again.. but heck care, as long as I did my job well, she has nothing much to say... other than though totally ridiculous remarks... which can be safely ignored... classes... then, ASB... we went flyering(passing out flyers, more like putting them into residences' post box...) well, we just wanted ppl to donate their bottle & cans that are returnables to us... and we will pick them up coming Monday... then, we return them to get money as donations for our ASB trip to Texas... went to Pancheros for dinner... had a pork Quesadillas... and chips... and then, went to library to get some work done, well, i was really tired, but managed to get some Econometrics stuff figured out...

oh yar... forgot to mention, i got a phone call from home, my mom called... and she asked me about whether i'm feeling better today... (and i thought, damn, i didn't tell them i was sick, and even if i did, that was about a week ago... not yesterday...) and well, and i told her, what makes her think that I was sick... and she said, I called home yesterday, with coarse voice and all, telling her that I have a girlfriend from Singapore for 3 months...
(scandalous... i didn't even know that I have a girlfriend, and girls from Singapore??? no way.... my frens know me better about this...) ..

not to mean anything about girls in Singapore, but I don't think I want Singapore gf... just that simple... they are nice ppl... alright... and then, wat surprises me most was the followed up statement... she told me that 'I' called yesterday and wanted to talk to daddy to ask about 'SEX' with that girlfriend...

I stood there speechless... didn't know that nowadays, the level of prank calls are so amazing... and my mom should have known better... do u think i will call home, several thousands miles away to ask some advice on sex?? the internet is a much better teacher... ooops... can't believe i just said that... but well....as Malaysian slang goes: U know, I know lar....

and I told her that she was fooled by prank calls... unless, i sleep talk and walk til the level of being able to call 10 digits to my idd call, and then enter another 10 digits for my pin number, and then enter another 14 numbers to call home, and came up with that horrible story...

so, that's the most memorable thing of the week... or maybe the month...

Thursday... work again, and again, as 'promised', that supervisor was there again... class, quiz, class... then, went back to my room... well, virtually, i'm done with the week... becoz i'm done with lectures for the week... i have only discussions on Friday... so, every Thursday, I have the feeling of that I'm done with the week, even though I still have classes on Friday... weird? Not really, my frens feel the same too... it's just the feeling... maybe is because of our slacky, acuh tak acuh, GSI... i will talk more about him under Friday... so, went back to my room, had dinner... and then, started doing my UROP research project... managed to put in 5 hours...!!! yes.. 5 hours straight of work... the work: looking at Excel files... 41000 rows of them, and then determine whether the individual row of enterprise belongs to the huge franchise... my eyes went blurry after 3 hours.. but i held on... and managed to finish them... in one night... and i developed a headache at about 12.30midnight... popped some pills, and went to bed...

Friday... work... wow, this morning's shift was bad... bad as in i'm virtually doing 2 people's job... and i suffered a minor cut in the job... but, hell, shits happen... and it could be worse... (if u haven't notice, 'could be worse' is my latest 'motto'....) anyway... so, went to the discussing, that GSI... the slacky one i was talking... so, we were going to have a quiz... and then, someone asked, are u teaching anything after the quiz? meaning, can I leave after the quiz... the GSI chuckled... U can leave whenever u want to.... that's the way... man... way to go... how cool to have GSI who's that cool... later, had another class... where another class was fooled to come to our class... must be some guy trying to be funny... posted a sign at the door of the other class and said that the class will be held here... those kinda pranks...

anyway... so, that's about it.. so far... this weekend... well... let's talk about tonight... definitely... ASB Yost Ice Arena cleaning up... where I'll be cleaning up the Yost Ice Arena after the hockey game... and then, party.. most probably... the theme of the party... 80s... what the heck was 80s... i googled up yesterday... and well.. i'm just gonna wear my color frame specs, a leather jacket, a nean polo inside.... that's about it... well, my kinda torn jeans... pretty 80s?? hopefully...

that's all for now... i sacrificed 20 minutes of my napping time typing this... so, hopefully, u guys like it...