the obligatory it's-my-birthday-today post.

okay actually it was yesterday. just spent an hour typing personalised replies to facebook birthday well-wishes. phew.
singapore day was good fun (: highight was talking to Mr KF Seetoh (of makansutra fame) about all the food. all those happy afternoons spent with my dad drooling over episodes of makansutra!
oh but i have to add. even the best hawkers cant really work their magic with the limited ingredients here in london. the other highlight of the day was having people tell me that my hokkien mee was nicer than the one there. haha made my day la you people!

how not to fall asleep while mugging

HEY KIDS. due to the overwhelming response to HOW TO SURVIVE A BROKEN FINGER, I now bring you the thrilling sequel on how to survive something else, something a hundred times more painful. I bring you

HOW NOT TO FALL ASLEEP WHILE MUGGING

MUSIC
By music I mean of the heavy metal variety. You don't want to be listening to smooth jazz and hope not to fall asleep. What you need is a nonstop auditory assault of bone crunching drums and distorted riffage. Whether you can concentrate is another matter altogether, but that's not really the point of this guide.

EXERCISE
Drop 20 whenever you feel the Zs coming. But effects are very temporary. The moment your heart rate goes back to normal so does your tendency to fall asleep

CAFFEINE
A very popular option is caffeine. But caffeine they say impairs hippocampus-centred learning and long-term memory loss and I'm pretty sure it even causes cancer, though research hasn't been done on that as yet (it's only a matter of time) so a good alternative would be Berocca, which is sort of like a vitamin-based Red Bull. The only problem is it makes your pee a rather disturbing shade of yellow. (due to body excreting excess vitamins)

LOCATION
Don't even think about mugging in your room. Too many distractions. Here's what you do: get a seven-foot tall ladder and sit on top. (courtesy: Wai Yee) If you nod off, you fall off. If that doesn't work, try the window ledge - that'd definitely make you appreciate the gravity of the situation.

MASOCHISM
The moment you feel yourself drifting away, punch/pinch/slap/lynch yourself. If inflicting bodily harm to yourself is against your religion, employ a suitably sadistic friend.

AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS..
..give in.

..or get a good night's rest. But if you were already doing that then you wouldn't need this guide anyways would you?

So for the past few days conversations with my dad have gone along the lines of
dad: "..the market buys on rumours and sells on news"
me: "..."
Nothing like a good ol economic crisis to keep the family conversations going.

I was just shading in some random diagram for Heat & Mass the other day..and realised how much I missed drawing. Haven't drawn seriously in 3 years. I don't even doodle on lecture notes anymore.

I feel light-headed.

No more irritating 13cm long hair!

Just discovered a neat little study room in the hall basement. It's like a dungeon I swear..but I actually like it better than the library!

Parents coming to visit for a week! I have mixed feelings about it, but it's mostly good I guess. While they're here I don't expect to get much revision done. And it's partly cos they were coming that I had to cancel the Italy trip.*

But on the other hand..well firstly it's going to be quality family time, of course! And while they're here I'll probably be distracted from everything else that's been going on in my life, which I need.
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Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.

I like this quote. Read somewhere before that unrequited love is never romantic. Maybe not to the observer, but to the person involved I think once you get past the disappointment, it's still every bit as sweet. Like Alex said, all love hurts a little - but it's always good for you.

*edit: it's very bizarre how a tube line can be supended due to "person under the train at Earl's Court." How to get to heathrow now I ask you.

When I composed Night Prowl I never thought I'd be listening to it while walking home at night in London. It reminded me of the night I did prowler duty with Clinton at field camp, of wild boar encounters and of hugging our precious rifles to sleep for fear that the sergeants would come round to unscrew the barrels away.

Music has this power to transport you through space and time, even if for a while.

to be alone with you

Always happens. When I'm trying to study I get inspired to pick up the guitar and record something. Happened for the O-levels, happened during the A's and it's happening now.

This time it's not an original but a cover of Sufjan Steven's "To be Alone with You":

LISTEN: (=D)
http://wongkangwen.googlepages.com/tobealonewithyou.mp3