Monday, February 26, 2007
Because I know that I'd rather be puzzling over an insurance probability distribution/von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function/mean-variance utility problem than spending an ENTIRE FRICKIN SUNDAY (and getting nowhere) writing just a 2 page paper on
"Is the deterministic universe incompatible with free will and/or the existence of a God?"
The only good thing I derived out of it was that I now know that I will never, ever, ever take a philosophy class.
I mean, seriously. I borrowed 3 books on this topic and I didnt understand a single word I read. It was definitely in English, it just didnt make any bloody sense. And these authors could use a lesson or two from my writing seminar: "brevity is the soul of wit." Really, beating about the bush does NOT make a piece of writing sound more intelligent.
Yes, I know a liberal arts education is supposed to make me a more critical thinker, but I'm sorry, my learning is sadly compromised when I dont have all the time in the world to comprehend passages like the following:
"If we accept this compatibilist interpretation, then human beings cannot consciously, through an agent caused act of the will, just choose to adopt a skeptical attitude toward propositions which, until that time, they had believed."
(ok fine, maybe that wasnt so hard, but try reading a whole bunch of 3-lined sentences with a whole bunch of commas in a page.)
On another note:
Heard during my astronomy class today -
Professor (explaining relativity theory): Some people find that this changes their worldview entirely. And so by now, I should expect some of you to go "Oh my goodness, I dont believe this!" but no one has said it just yet...
Someone from the back: OH MY GOODNESS, I DONT BELIEVE THIS!!!!!
he rocked the party at 3:29 PM |
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Haiyuh, forget it. If there's not even a HINT of reciprocation, I'm probably trying too hard.
Next time, i'll let girls chase me instead. Humph. (haha)
On another note: OVERFLOW is performing tonight at GCC Praise Night, featuring, among others, a cutsy schoolboy/girl dance choreographed by yours truly!
he rocked the party at 9:21 AM |
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
You know you're smitten when you're attracted even in the face of an egocentric eye-candy.
We shall see, we shall see.
he rocked the party at 11:00 PM |
Sunday, February 18, 2007
More brainless 'i-did-this-i-did-that', this time in pictorial form.
What's a Chinese New Year without a big happy Asian gathering at a chinatown restaurant?
Club Singapore, Hong Kong Students' Association and Penn Taiwense Society joined forces to throw the biggest 'tuan yuan fan' ever. hahah. We had so many people that we didnt have enough seats. Hmm.
Pictures!
Singaporean Freshmen
Jersey Girls: Christine and Edith haha.
Gong xi gong xi gong xi ni-ing with Wei Han
I-banking hotshots Melvyn and Kendrew
(oogly)Aunty-killer and Aunty Michelle!
With Haresh - Fellow scholar also bonded to "unnamed airline company"
The Gabagillion Singaporeans @ Penn
Wei Han decided on a whim to sing "Lemon Tree" in front of 150+++ people. Goodness.
And the reaction?
Happy Year of the Pig!
he rocked the party at 1:00 AM |
Saturday, February 17, 2007
I've discovered a new exciting site to procrastinate my time away!
Presenting the funniest parody of Wikipedia ever... Uncyclopedia!
Just check out this gem about UPenn
I mean, c'mon... they (accurately) portrayed Huntsman Hall (the Wharton School building) like this:
Original plan of Huntsman Hall.. to include the Eye of Sauron. Image courtesy of http://uncyclopedia.org
And I quote, "The Wharton School is Penn’s most well known undergraduate school but despite its name it isn’t actually a school at all. Instead, Wharton is the product of many multinational banks and investment houses pooling their resources to create a single, monstrously-evil human resources department. You may have thought your company’s human resources department was evil but Wharton makes it look like an adorable baby panda. Every year Wharton accepts hundreds of bright-eyed youths hoping to make their mark in the business world. At the end of four years a Whartonite is stripped of their humanity, forced to wear a degrading number of suits and ties, and coerced into adopting Jon Huntsman as their lord and savior. While most religions believe that no one can rob a person of their soul, it is generally accepted that Wharton is the only exception to this rule."
And how about this gem about the College of Arts and Sciences?
"The School of Arts and Sciences is Penn’s largest school with roughly 100,000 (± 3.14) students. Abbreviated SAS, it is often simply referred to as “The College” as simple courtesy so that SAS students do not entirely feel like the worthless scum of the Earth that they really are. By its nature SAS offers the widest range of courses to study in, ranging from Sandal Etiquette to Idle Time Management. As such SAS is known for its extreme difficulty; students must learn to effectively manage a permanent 0.5 blood alcohol concentration level, several severe onsets of STD infections, unwanted pregnancies, and troubling contemplations of their future lives after bullshitting for four years."
Hehhehheh.
Want more? Try going to the site and searching for our, ahem, little island country.
(disclaimer: this blogger does not agree with nor support any content on the website which may appear offensive to any groups)
he rocked the party at 12:54 AM |
I had only 2 reasons why I went for Freshman Winter Formal and not Paul van Dyke in New York: 1) To save money. and 2) to take lots of pictures. So lar dee dah, here they are.
Floormates!
Singaporeans and Yexiang's date
Squeezing Xiao's balls (haha)
Grace and I acting cute
Acting cute with Audrey
More acting cute
Christine, Grace and Juliana acting cute.
Honestly Lionel, what exactly is the point of this post? So that I'd do something else other than wasting time YouTube-ing Magnetic North songs? Oh wait...
(Oh.. Hui! Cynthia! Dewi! Im wearing the tie you gave me! Its my favourite. Haha)
he rocked the party at 12:37 AM |
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
It's Valentine's Day, and I have a Chinese midterm in 13 hours. Gosh.
This V-Day, I shan't lament about not having a date again, because honestly, V-Day has become so cynical, so jaded, and more synonymous with singles than with couples, that even the old Lament About Being Dateless On V-Day has become one big cliche. Come to think of it, I dont know a single person who's going out tomorrow night. Or maybe its just a characteristic of an overachieving, cynical Ivy League school. We're all dateless, its no big deal, and we've accepted the fact. Let's move on to something more interesting.
Something i DO wish i was doing tonight though:
Hanging out with Nolan, Ervin, Eugene and Kuansian (Iskandar will be, as usual, hanging out at the Esplanade again after pang seh-ing us), going to semi-expensive restaurants with horrible food and laughing at couples trying to be romantic. Then trawling Orchard Road trying to work out inane logic puzzles (Feb 16th entry) and chilling with an ice cold beer. Ahh.
I miss my bruddas.
On the same V-Day note, I believe my Very Exciting Love Life involving my pursuit of the Very Mysterious Girl has attracted more attention than I bargained for. As usual, I am amazed at the variety of unexpected people who follow this blog. Oh well, I have nothing to hide. That said, I believe this love interest is very likely to be one-sided, though I occasionally like to delude myself that I'm making progress, just to make life a little more fun sometimes.
Persistence is not my strong point. Still, looking out at the warm smiles and red noses of friends hurrying to class amidst the wintry, snow covered, velvety landscape, one does feel a strange sense of "love", if you could call it that, in the air. Love of God? Of life? Of my school? I dont know. But here's wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day all the same.
he rocked the party at 11:15 PM |
Friday, February 09, 2007
Because Syd requested so, and because I'm sitting home at 2am on Saturday night after a fantastic performance of Vagina Monologues and dont feel like sleeping, here are some random videos/pics we took since our trip to Mexico and stuff we did this semester:
Mambo madness in our hotel room. Yes, I know the moves are wrong, but when you're starving after a dinner of only instant noodles and dont want to go out cause its too cold, this is what you do.
(illegal) picture of Dan Flavin's Monuments to Tatlin, taken at Dia Beacon. Its a fantastic piece of work, but I dont know how I'm going to write a 10-page paper on this for my art history class.
With Singaporeans enjoying Restaurant Week at Paradigm!
With floormates from EH2 at Vagina Monologues @ Penn! Honestly, I didnt realize women think about it so much. Goodness. And I can safely say that I've never heard "vagina" so many times in one night, as well as many colorful variations of the word. Was an enlightening, moving performance though.
Christine, whose writing seminar professor was one of the women who gave a monologue about "vagina workshops." Now how cool is that? 
Ed, Chuku and I are... er, showing a new "peace" sign.
I got pussy tonight.And... to end it off with another bout of lameness on the shores of Lago Atitlan together with Faith. You know how you talk to someone wearing shades and you realize you can see your reflection? Something like that.
he rocked the party at 11:37 PM |
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Well, i AM responsible for external communications/publicity for this event, so I figure I might as well start with the best advertising avenue I have, reaching over 100 happy readers each day: my humble blog. If you want to find out more, or if you just dont want to listen to me rattle on about it, check out our website. But if you insist on reading on anyway, here goes:
Club Singapore at the University of Pennsylvania cordially invites you to DiaS’pura 2007, a day bringing together Singaporean students, artists and dignitaries from across the United States for a day of events addressing issues pertinent to Overseas Singaporeans in America. It will comprise of 2 events:
The Speaker Series
The day will begin with the inaugural Singapore Speaker Series, featuring notable Singaporeans like Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States, Professor Chan Heng Chee, political activist Francis Seow, and renowned filmmakers like Colin Goh and Djinn. How has social expression in Singapore changed with the advent of New Media? Why is it that an increasing number of young Singaporean professionals have been willing to pursue alternative careers in the arts? What is Singapore’s role within the global economy, and what does this mean for the Singaporean Diaspora? The Speaker Series will seek to address these questions and contemporary issues to Singapore’s political, business and cultural scenes.
The Musical
In the evening, Club Singapore will proudly host its first-ever original Singaporean musical production, written and directed by Penn's very own dynamic duo - the Yap brothers, Joshua and Caleb. Featuring a full cast and musical ensemble of Penn Singaporeans as well as a multitude of guests stars from Penn's diverse student population, this is a vehicle of global talent, with a pair of prodigious Singaporeans in the driver's seat.
Venue:
The University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania's scenic campus is situated in the heart of the historic city of Philadelphia, a major commercial, educational and cultural center for the United States. Established by Benjamin Franklin in 1740, Penn is home to the Wharton School, the top business school in the world, and host to some of the brightest students in the Ivy League and in the world. It is therefore a fitting locale for this unprecedented coming-together of Singaporean thought leaders.
To find out more and to RSVP, visit our
website
he rocked the party at 12:54 PM |
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The sandwich was horrible (spinach and provolone? my goodness), but the company was... sweet. No mindblowing chemistry and witty banter, but sweet nonetheless.
I must say though, manoeuvring my way into lunch with her took a combination of smoothness/stupidity I would never have had a year back. But I suppose social norms are different in this place.
I am intrigued at where this could go.
Like how a song in our upcoming Singaporean musical goes, Chemistry in a "random school facility"? Maybe. We'll see.
he rocked the party at 12:28 PM |
Monday, February 05, 2007
So against better judgement, I went SNOWBOARDING this weekend with the Singaporeans at the Blue Mountain ski resort. (it was against better judgement because I had a midterm on monday -today- which resulted in a very stressful yesterday studying for it. But that's for another time.)
Anyway, snowboarding sort of looks like surfing, except that well, its on SNOW for one, and you're going downhill all the frickin way. I was told that it was harder than skiiing (which I've never tried, btw), but I thought, "how hard could it be? Your feet are firmly strapped to the board, all you have to do is keep your balance and enjoy the ride." Well, I was soon proved wrong.
The ride starts when I, at the top of the (easy) slope, try to strap the board to my feet. Its easier said than done because there's hardly any friction between the board and the snow, and it doesnt help when I've got one leg strapped in and the board starts sliding downhill, and me with it. Once strapped in, I shuffle towards the edge of the slope and peer downhill. Suddenly the slope doesnt look so easy after all. So in true Commando-just-whack spirit, I shift my weight forward.
Let's just say it was a good idea to sacrifice taking pictures by NOT bringing a camera, since it would probably be busted by now. I gather speed and reach approximately how fast one would go when one is rollerblading downhill. Its not so bad at this point, since I can still see people far ahead and avoid crashing into them. I whizz over little bumps in the snow. Just when I think "hey, this is fun!" the board suddenly accelerates for some reason, and I -try- to slow down by doing left and right turns like what the instructor taught us. But apparently, the laws of physics dont apply to me at such high speeds and my board hurtles straight ahead, all the while gathering even more speed. Objects become a blur. And I'm barely 1/4 of the way down.
This continues until I think "oh crap, if I ever need to stop/avoid someone in my path, there's no way its gonna be a soft landing." So when I think I cant take not having control over my speed, I do the only sane thing to stop: I fall. I make a last-ditch attempt to stop like how the instructor told us by shifting my weight and leaning forward, which of course doesnt work, and I fall.
My body hits the snow, initally a soft impact, before my legs, moving at 100km/h, slam into it with the force of a train and carry on moving. I do a 180-degree flip while being dragged by my legs through the snow. My butt/tailbone, initally airborne, smash into the ground, sending huge waves of pain greater than any school caning could ever give. My wrists, still recovering from the impact of the fall of my upper body, are pulverized by the force of a sudden stop. A cloud of snow descends on me. So I just lie there, wincing in pain and groaning "awww...F***." Before I eventually get up, join my friends on the ski lift and do it again. (all this stuff really did happen btw, I am not exaggerating like how I always do)
Oh c'mon, it was $50 bucks, I wasnt about to let it go to waste. I gave up hope of ever learning how to snowboard properly and just did it for the sake of feeling the rush, and bracing myself for the impact. But oh heck, it was a helluva fun. I'll probably not be able to breakdance for a couple of months now though: any load on my wrists would probably shatter them.
So well, that's one extreme sport I can say I've tried but will never succeed in, I think I'm too humchee. Skiing, anyone?
he rocked the party at 10:39 PM |
Thursday, February 01, 2007
"because,
I can see us holding hands
walking on the beach our toes in the sand"
Amidst partial derivatives of Lagrangian equations, and min{x1,x2} curves... finally, some hope on the horizon! And to think I'd never see the day when I'd quote a Justin Timberlake song. Oh well.
Oh and allow me to add another reason to the Why I Love Penn list: because Art History professors take you to museums to look at contemporary art, and Psychology professors take you to dinner at a Burmese restaurant to explain the psychology of food!
I have made it a resolution to go for all these random activities to get the most out of the tuition I'm paying. (or not paying)
he rocked the party at 5:53 PM |
