Whither the Weather

Some of you may have heard me complain ad libitum about the (imho) overly-warm and humid weather in S'pore and my penchant for cooler climes (which is one reason why i like to holiday in faraway atas places where possible, as well as partly why global climate change vexes me so much and hence why i'm quite environmentally conscious, but that's another story). Anyways last year around this time i was on the last leg of my time in the States - over the holidays after exams i went to places like Boston and St. Louis. And it so happened that in all these places they were experiencing above-average temperatures - fair enough. So i didn't get to experience snow and what not, hardly the end of the world.

Now that i've cable though, and hence watch CNN/Headline News in lieu of Channelnewsasia (cos imho, the latter sucks and i really could not care any less for mediacrap), i've been observing the weather patterns in North America quite a fair bit - and lo and behold, places which i'd visited last year in the Midwest and New England have already experienced crippling snowstorms, stuff strikingly absent when i was there. Not that i'd have liked to be there during such frigid conditions, but it still seems to reinforce the conclusion that i've arrived at, which is that the mercury always seems to head upwards whenever i'm in town. Apart from this prime example, i also recall last year when there was quite a bit of snow in Chicago just the week before i arrived there, which of course had all disappeared by the time i got there, and which reappeared just after i flew back to Chapel Hill. Even when i went back to the Philippines earlier this year, my cousin-in-law told me that there was hail the morning of the day i arrived (of course, i only arrived at night). And there are more examples where those came from... Sigh - how to ever do stuff like skiing like that (and i don't count snow city as a legitimate example)?

CORS bidding is just around the corner, and i'm as indecisive as ever. Experience obviously doesn't breed ease of action in this case... It doesn't help that i never got around to doing the pre-allocation this time round cos i was occupied with other stuff, and so it totally slipped my mind. I'm as fussy as ever when it comes to choosing classes, even though i've only three to choose in total, and i've already decided on one of them... Anyone else is shopping around for a good s/u-able (and hopefully non-examinable) breadth class?

Managed to go down to Esplanade to watch ACJC Choir caroling the other day - got to meet some of the people from my batch as well which was good... Miss those days quite a bit (well ok, maybe only parts of it) - i could still remember a good deal of my parts from the songs, especially since they've by and large remained the same even after seven years.

Yesterday's PRC camp, by God's grace went well - i think that was the only truly sunny day we've had in the whole of this month (and to that end i now have a painful reminder that i musn't forget to apply sunscreen on the back of my neck...), and thankfully no one got injured or anything like that. Once again, just like the prc camp i was at three years ago, i'm pretty sure that i spoke more Mandarin the whole of yesterday than i have in the rest of the year put together. And i was reminded why i'm so reticent about ever taking a holiday in China/HK/Taiwan etc - language frustrations would just drive me bonkers...

I totally concur with what mr brown posted about taxi drivers. Government affiliations aside, i think that it's just not right that basically no matter how bad the situation gets for the drivers, the cab companies basically are hardly the worse for wear, since regardless of how much (or how little) the drivers earn in a day, they still have to pay a fixed rental to the company. Talk about being out of touch. This latest fare increase basically affects the demand for taxi rides, at the expense of the drivers, whereas the companies themselves definitely feel less pain. It's situations like this that make me more sympathetic towards a proper labor movement in terms of unions and what not (and please NTUC so doesn't count). Of course, this has many messy drawbacks, but still nevertheless the drivers deserve to have it better than they do now (and yup, i'm speaking up for them even though they have caused me many an angry moment when i'm cycling).

happy (hectic) holidays

Well the holidays this time have not exactly been the most relaxing of moments for me as there have been a lot of things going on over the past month or so - allow me to randomly recall and recap...

AnnTIC this time round was a bit of a change from previous ones i've been to - with stuff like exco time and all that, plus the fact that i came a day late and was rather disoriented at first. Thankfully the message of the theme talks especially was something that i hold rather close to my heart, and so those at least really rang a bell with me. I guess i'm the sort who may not be complacent in terms of knowledge, but rather complacent in terms of action, if you catch my drift; so the message was definitely a timely and relevant one. Glad to have gotten to know quite a few new people too. And if time, inspiration, and creative energy permits, i'll get cracking on that song sooner or later. One regret though is that i never managed to get down to playing any games at all, after having looked so forward to that initially...

Have also had to get started on prep for ht, and to that end i felt like i had accomplished so much when i went down to school on at least three separate occasions for consultation and book-borrowing. That however has proven to be the more-than-easy part. The actual reading of all of these resources is another matter altogether, and i've barely begun with anything where that is concerned. Can't seem to get out of the lazy, holiday mood and get down to actual work (schoolwork of this nature during holiday time is a rather alien concept to me). Hmm, but come to think of it, there's a big load of stuff to read. So think i shall have to find my way back to school and do my research there - at least the environment there is somewhat more conducive (i hope).

Christmas this year was the first in three years i've spent here - there was MEET camp two years ago and then was at my cousin's place in MD last year. Nothing special though - went for the Christmas Eve midnight service, first time in donkey years that i've been for the service at SAC. And i never realized that having the right family connections could secure one a reserved seat in the front row (all the better to fall asleep in front of the preacher in). So i was seated right in front of the lectern, and in the middle of methinks Joy to the World i looked down and lo and behold i spotted a little gray mouse peeking its head out from its base (and let me clarify, it was a little cute gray mouse, kinda like the kind people keep as pets, not a vile gigantic brown rat). Yup so that was the highlight of my Christmas i guess. Fun, eh?

I was admittedly rather anxious about this past sem's results, particularly because i've been straddling the fine line between classes of hons. And well, after this sem, basically nothing has changed, which i'm thankful for, that at least things have more or less maintained rather than regressed. What intrigued me a bit was the specific grades for some of the classes - i trust our dear friend Mr Bell Curve had a rather heady role to play in that one...

Yesterday was floorball time - something that i've missed over the past one and a half years or so - was good - finally got some exercise this month (and coming right after all the Christmas pigging-out, the timing could not have been any better). And as proof of the exercise i now have the expected body aches and orh cehs (sp?) on both knees, the latter thanks to my unintended expertise at sliding all over the floor while lunging for the ball. Ah well, it was fun, so all these are worth it.

Parents are away now at some clergy retreat thingy (it's supposed to be a family retreat, but almost all the children who go are like primary school age and under, and the last thing i want to do is to babysit annoying children), so i've had to do my part in bringing Bingo down to answer nature's call - i must say, it's hardly the most fun thing in the world to scoop up his waste matter from under him and pop it into the bin. Ah heck, it's only for two days... On a related note, it's sad to see how he's aged exponentially ever since we moved over here (he's 14 btw) - now he hobbles about as if he had just gotten neutered, and can't pee the usual male dog way of lifting one leg anymore (cos think he'd lose his balance), and constantly slips on our marble floor, and has to prop himself on his snout before lying down or else risk bashing his head on the floor. Poor thing.

(temporarily) paved paradise

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till its gone

These words, albeit taken completely out of context, sum up pretty much my thoughts regarding what's been going on over the past month. As much as the little idiosyncrasies and recurring questions and what not may have caused distancing on my part over the past, i don't know, ten or more years, the swift and sudden progression of events culminating in early this morning bring about a strange sense of longing for just a quick fresh experience of being at the receiving end of some of these actions that would otherwise draw me further away. I'm glad for the minimal suffering though, and trust that all that was expressed during the past couple of days especially was heard - after all, hearing and touch are the last to go they say... There's an endless succession of brighter days in a better place ahead, and the prayer now is that one day in that place there will be a joyous reunion - if it is in God's will, then for everyone, bar none. And until then, while there will always be regrets and struggling to know what to feel and all, the important thing is i guess to keep looking ahead, and more importantly looking upwards...

Wednesday in the Park with the Birds

Exams ended for me yesterday (or technically, the day before yesterday) - not much to say about it really save for that there appeared to be some kind of consensus among the class that the compulsory question was quite one kind, for anything else we'll just wait for the boxing day present from nus...

I'm still in pgp though, at least up till friday, cos i've amassed quite a bit of stuff over here over the past two months or so and i'll need transport to bring it all back, and the folks have been away as of late - which has complicated overall happenings at home but anyways...

Yup so to that end i was looking forward to today, cos, armed with my zoo card that costs a bomb but i've not used ever, i was sorta intending to take a random trip up to Mandai and perhaps cover both the zoo and the night safari at one shot.

As they always say, however, the best laid plans of man can go wrong, and to that end it just had to be today when the rain came and lasted practically throughout the day up till early evening. I wouldn't actually have minded still going there, just that i think the animals would probably be less keen on the constant rainfall than i am.

So instead, and so as not to totally waste the day just lounging in my room, i decided to take a looong walk over to Kent Ridge Park, just cos i've not been there in a while - and so off i went on a methinks 45 minute trek in the pouring rain (i made an exception to my general lack of enthusiasm for umbrellas even in the pouring rain simply cos it was such a long walk) and then got there and just soaked it all in (the scenery, as well as the water into my sandals and berms). One thing that cracked me up was some of the anti-poaching/fishing signs that i encountered there:



While there, i chanced upon an info board that listed some of the bird species that one might encounter in the park - but as it was pouring unceasingly at the time i didn't think that i'd actually be able to spot any of them. One bird listed though, did catch my attention, the White-crested Laughingthrush, which inspite of my semi-familiarity with local bird species, i'd not paid much attention to before.

So then on my way back i decided to use the science park route, and just as i was going down the steps towards there, i heard this noisy group of birds in the trees above me (they must have been unsettled by my sudden appearance cos i was like one of ten or less people in the whole park, as far as i could count) - it was a call unfamiliar to me - and it sounded strangely like laughter. Then i looked up and after a couple of seconds, i spotted them - a group of at least six or seven White-crested Laughingthrushes =) Unfotunately i did not get a shot of them, but i must say, as geeky as it sounds, that spotting them made my whole rain-soaked trek to the park more than worth it.

I dunno if these were clouds but if they were, they sure were low...

From north to south, they're as blonde as they come

good to see that she knows when to laugh at herself though haha...

(at least now that exams are over i can waste time over at youtube et al without feeling guilty)

Score one for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse

My downstairs neighbor is an intriguing fella - i've never met him before but i've heard his music very frequently (throughout the day and night) and at very loud volumes to boot - it's an eclectic mix of repeated mandarin pop (kinda brings me back to my army days when my ears were constantly at the mercy of my bunk mates, for one particular CD each from Jay Chou and Stefanie Sun were all that they ever would play for two and a half months - no surprise there as to why i can sing to you at least the choruses of virtually every song on those two albums) and tacky Disney showtunes. The chao mugger in me is inclined to stick my head outside and yell at him to turn the volume down, but oh well, the chao mugger in me is miniscule to say the least. Oh, and did i mention he sings/whistles along to the songs as well?

Ah but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, eh? This is the perfect opportunity for more random ramblings...

I was doing my usual morning browse through the internet news, when i came across this report on endengered species rulings in the US. Apparently there was this official in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (and surprise surprise, she's a Bush appointee) who was using her influence to unduly pressure scientists into altering their findings that would have otherwise given certain species protection under the Endangered Species Act. Earlier on, she also had used her position to influence the delisting of a species of fish from the Act - and it so happens that the fish was endemic to the area where she so happened to have an 80-acre farm. Disgusting, if you ask me. Well, she has since resigned, thankfully. I especially like what this environmentalist was quoted as saying in the wake of that: "Julie MacDonald's reign of terror over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is finally over." And also what a congressman said about her actions being an example of "this administration's penchant for torpedoing science." Haha... Hopefully once Bush finally leaves someone will take over who will get down to signing and ratifying Kyoto once and for all.

And while we're on the subject of Kyoto, another reason i'm glad that Labour has won in Australia is that unlike Howard, Rudd's firmly committed to the need to be a good steward of the environment and to that end is going to ratify Kyoto as well - not a moment too soon either, given the latest report that puts the Aussies as the worst carbon emitters per capita. It's nice also that his cabinet features a specific ministry, apart from environment, dedicated to water and climate change - he's obviously sending a message that he's serious about it.

And speaking of the Aussie PM i was doing more random wiki-ing and found out that his annual salary is $330,000 (i presume it's Aussie dollars, but anyway nowsaday they're almost on par =p). The American President's salary is justifiably somewhat higher: US$471,000 (enough for peanuts, i suppose)... Fair enough. S$3.1 million? You gotta be kidding me man...

i was thinking back again about the latest happenings in the Philippine political scene again, and then i remembered that i did in fact get stranded there once beforehand due to a coup attempt - it was quite a serious one too - lasted for about a week, and the Presidential Palace itself was hit. But then even then (1989), it was really nothing to get overly worried about. Or at least that's what i perceived from how people were reacting to it over there (but then again, i was all of six years old at the time). Maybe it's some of that been there, done that feeling that has been passed on to me, such that i don't really see all the nonsense that's going on there as much more than just that - annoying nonsense...

eh, and i guess i should make the disclaimer that any views expressed here are strictly my own personal views =p

Hmm should try and do some work eh...