Satiated

You believe a man can change his destiny?
I believe a man does all he can until his destiny is revealed.

Earlier this evening, channel 5 replayed “The Last Samurai”. Minus off the bad interpretation of Asians with the persistently thick Japanese-accented dialogue and you’re left with a pretty good storyline.

And yes, I adore Ken Watanabe. I think he’s so MAN. THE man. The perfect face of a gentleman warrior. MY ultimate samurai hero in the movie. But I sure wouldn't want him to really be a samurai... errr.. because I read that they practiced shudo which are against my moral ethics. But that's another story!

I am an old woman. I have every right to oogle at old men.

The misinterpreted protagonists within run in little circles for what they perceive to be at the heart of their existence. We can mock them for their apparent stupidity but we should question; given the same circumstances, environment and way of life, would we end up at the same point?

Essentially, it is a poignant tale of how greed manipulates the meek weak willed. Propelled by what they believe as anomalies in appearances, the ignorant justifies the use of violence by labeling the other party as a threat.

However, when stripped of its façade; No matter what color, race, gender, age, health status or religion you possess, beneath all, red blood flows. We all experience hunger when we don’t eat, cry when sadness overwhelms and smile at the faces of the people we love.

Perhaps the only difference lies in the intensity in which we feel.

You can be bitter about the wars and the suffering that history has dealt, but when you recognize we are but pawns in this propaganda scandal, you’ll know better then to allow yourself to be embroiled in the whole debate.

People were simple minded back then.

Will you allow yourself to tread that same path?
It’s your choice.

And parallel to the storyline in the movie, adversity breeds courage. It’s ironic that we need such drastic events to stir otherwise dormant courage. And like many of life’s great lessons, we learn through defeat.

You learn to pick yourself after you fall.

A friend (Zul) once said something so miraculously clever its been burnt into memory…

"And sometimes things happen to me at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection I realized that without overcoming those obstacles I would have never realized my potential, strength, will power or heart.

Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless."

Updates

Last week proved to have an exciting spat of eye popping events. Firstly, we had ‘ang moh’ mania. Our ad hoc lecturer was this dishy Owen-lookalike who had the class erupt with enthusiasm.

(almost) anything for Mr Herd!

Who would have thought Podiatry and compression bandage could be so fun?!

Campus also held an IT fair with Ipods and other IT paraphernalia at discounted prices. The new Ipod Nano that comes with a camera and video function is so damn super cool! My neurons weighed the consequences of armed robbery versus starvation while caressing the sleek, smooth edges that encapsulated the vibrant dancing colors in the LCD screen.

dontcha' just want one too?!

It took a great deal of will power to wrench myself off that potent magnetism to return to reality.

And with fairs, food follows! So, lucky for my ravenous appetite, the school brought in Ramly burger!! Hohoho.. no need to beat down the Mats and Minahs plastered beside the burger stalls at pasar malams!

Alas, the majority of the student body was also mesmerized by the wafting smells of frying patties and I had to join the snaking queue for my dose of Ramly heaven.

See the ooze the burger made! Unfortunately, the burger looks better then it tastes. Though at $2/burger and made fresh on-the-spot, it was passable.

Our research lecture is by far the MOST boring subject in the curriculum. Having slept through and blatantly skipped lectures, I can assure you now that anything I learn, or will learn about research will probably be garnered online or vomited by the lecturer during tutorials instead. Hahaha…

The runner up to the most boring subject is taken by Counseling. With video after video of emotionless actors and a lecturer with an absolutely irritating pseudo-minnie mouse-ish voice, it becomes such a chore to sit through lectures.

the cabbage patch kid lookalike in the vid

Counseling ICA begins next week, with mine due in week 6th. I will be putting on my “Golden Horse” (the Asian equivalent to the Oscars, because I am rooted in my Chinese-Asian culture!) award winning acting chops for Stick Insect in her rendition and vice versa.

Topping off the week’s adventure must be the comical ‘dancing man’ we met on the MRT. He sang, danced and ‘interacted’ with grab poles, his own reflection and other commuters on board.

My gawd, it was hilarious!

our 'star' is the one in stripes!

To protect the anonymity of the abovementioned, alongside the possibility of a civil suite, the man’s face has been strategically obscured by way of impressive camera angling and artistic vision.

I wish all classes were like this! Haha

Drama Mama

jam session on campus

I’m into my 2nd week of the school term and I already have an assignment due 3 weeks later. Haha.. Apart from the pig shit cheap assortment of readily available (junk and non-junk) food choices littered all over campus, I don’t have much else to look forward to.

Instead, an endless stream of drama prevails.

Chicken Rice and the Yong Tau Foo! $2/each!

the insanely cheap noodles @ $1.30!
and the FRESHLY cooked, super crisp peanut butter waffle $1

Initially, I had thought that the school environment would bring a lot of excitement and joy.
Instead, school has brought an uncanny array of disturbing mix of Rambo-Korean Drama minus the good skin.

People just love to quarrel.

Of course I enjoy the process of studying. There’s Bio, which brings back wonderful YKJ and T Tan, my loopy course coordinator, amongst other interesting ‘specimens’ in the form of ad hoc lecturers.

sooooooo cute!
and super smart

Consisting of 48 students from all over the island, my class is made up of a melting pot of people from all walks of life. We have drama queens (with me at the top of the list), fashion divas, cam whores, eager beavers and those that look as though they prefer to haunt the shadows at night.

in class

Seeing Saz always alone in a corner, I invited Saz to hang out. Though sometimes she craps about her relationships from yonder years, I felt bad when she confided that she doesn’t eat during break because she doesn’t know her way around. Sad eh?

There are many more like her.

Being a mature student is not easy. I guess it’s easier when you look like a student. But when you obviously do not fit into that mould, then life gets a lot harder. People mistake you for a lecturer, or someone else's mom.

And with a large group of women (and only 2 males), you can be sure of an estrogen tsunami. Though most of my classmates don't bother each other and try to mingle, there are still people that prefer to stick within their own circle.

With repeated drama sparking a slew of never ending scream fests, its getting harder and harder to control my emotions.

Rage is extremely difficult to control.

What used to be a slow burn I can snuff out, explodes in a snap. It’s so bad I can feel myself turning violent. The best solution I can think of now is to avoid such blardy situations.

On the home front, life’s ok. Gremlin’s having his exams and revision’s underway. Hopefully he can pass. Though through time, I’ve learnt that its wise to not have undue expectations. Haha.. As long as I’ve done my part, I have the courage to say it’s alright.

I can live with it.

Right now, I'm looking forward to Sharon Lee's return in Dec. This round, Berji will also be popping by mid Dec so it'll be awfully nice to finally meet him!