Race for Time

It’s 8 at night, Sunday, and I’m in school.

Rushed a lab report due tomorrow, and yet to study for my RVI quiz.

Waiting for 8:30pm, when the bus leaves PGP and comes to pick me up from Comp Centre.

Guess what? The ventilation at the corridor outside the Comp Centre ‘Thinklab’ is howling. As though it’s trying to put the building into deep freeze in 10 minutes. In fact, I feel so cold, I bet I’ll freeze before the building turns into an ice palace.

bleah! Boring ~

Turns out that I blog when I’m stressed (and finds the time).

Jogged yesterday. The 3rd for the week. Ran to Haw Par Villa, turned out to West Coast Highway (cos there was road diversion due to CCL after Haw Par Villa, with no pavements and vicarous turns dangerous for a runner).

The road from Haw Par Villa to the junction near Fong Seng was one long, straight road. Nothing like the Pasir Panjang Road, so filled with in-roads into condos and semi-Ds. It was one, smooth road. I just ran continuously on it (3 bus-stops in all, but I observed the distances between the bus stops were longer than those along PP Road) for 10 minutes without realizing.

In all, after one month, I ran continuously for 16 minutes, until I reached the bus stop near the afore-mentioned junction out of fatigue. Then it was the walk-run routine.

I was secretly hoping that the WCH route was 2.4km (as opposed to PPR of 1.6m), partly cos it felt longer, and partly cos I think I should go and die if I still took 16 minutes to complete 2.4km.

haiz… It takes a proper run round the track for me to gauge my improvements.

Anyways, I wanna go run again later. Leisure run.

Though not the WCH again. I must really say that particular stretch of road is terribly scary to run on.

Only heavy trucks rumble every now and then. On my right was the stretch of vegetation those private property owners use to partition their houses from the public, on the left, across the road, was the night-empty vastness of the wholesale centre and West Coast Park.

It was so peaceful, I felt I was like running along the edge of the world.

So forlorn.

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Update: I didn’t go for run in the end. Decided that I should leave some time for mugging for the quiz (and hence more time to sleep) despite the cool, windy weather.

Dying to Be Something

Today’s (17 Feb 2008) Straits Times only rang up one word in my mind consistently: Dying.

1st, there was this article on how to choose the best CPF Annuity Plan. The author said one way to predict our expected lifespan will be to look at how relatives, like grandparents and do an informal inference. From there, choose an annuity that will ensure the best payout and refund for dependants.

hmmm… I think I should just choose Refund 90. This ensures my dependants get the most payout. For one, I believe I can earn enough, save enough, invest enough for a comfortable life without a need for annuity payouts. Secondly, and the most important one, is the fact that my dad and his dad both died at 60 years old.

Even if I chose to receive monthly payouts at 65, I have a 50% chance (considering my healthier lifestyle as compared to my daddies, cos I don’t even smoke) of not being able to spend the money. Some more, that plan has the least payout for dependants.

And then, there was an article on job satisfaction in mid-life. It was mentioned that some study showed that the happiness of people showed a U-shape trend: Happy at start of work, trough reached at 44, and becoming happier after 50.

I like a particular remark by the author: It isn’t altogether clear why we get cheerier as death draws closer.

But she adds: I suspect it is mainly because the burden of ambition and expectation slips away.

This is the truest in Singapore ba.

Then, this guy talks about how he wanted to be reborn as Edison Chen’s PC when he dies.

eh… By the time he dies, it will be too late to be his PC ba.

Actually, despite all the shame surrounding the scandal, I suppose most guys would want to be Edison ba, considering how easily he got gals. And accordingly, gals will be dying to be one of the ‘7 hotties’ (w/o having their photos exposed lah). Ok, not dying, but having the secret desire to be so.

But if I die right now, I won’t want to be Edison too. After all, his sexcapades were committed years ago (he may still be doing it now, but that’s not of concern). And it was reported that he was wanted dead by the mafia.

haha… If I die to become Edison, I will die a second time round, most prob in a very unglam way. Better stick to my boring life.

And speaking of scandalous photos, I read somewhere that there was also a scandalous photos incident during the latest Manhunt Singapore. Yes, in Singapore. HK has paparazzi and all the secret, dark (mafia) forces that will result in some of the absurd stuff unheard of in squeaky clean sg, so the idea of someone taking scandalous photos in sg (and being leaked out) is rather new.

Long long time ago, Tammy became popular cos it was a video of near-porn contents (how do we define porn, anyways? She was only doing what normal people will do, that is to have sex); it appeals to the voyeuristic nature of people. But this time round, pictures of a guy without clothes? Except for trying to defame the guy (and thus getting him kicked out of the contest), I don’t know why else someone will be spreading the photos. The best, logical reason I could think of was that it was a marketing tactic. But still, such a tactic is risky and comes at a big price.

I mean, come on lah. Sg is a very small place; you do something naughty enough and everyone will know. Now, (at least) I know (and everybody reading this) that that guy was ‘conned’ into taking pictures with him in suggestive acts (I hope I am subtle enough in phrasing this) while he was 18 (18, I was sweating for my A Levels, and my Newton was my best friend), thinking he was going to have a big break (I was waiting to break under the stress of exams).

A little surfing around at a certain popular forum (which of cos will be most interested to talk about this incident) was that a lot of people think he wasn’t as naive as he claimed to be. But… considering how sg-eans lead a sheltered life, I am willing to give him the benefit of doubt. Still, my reason for not believing him was: Taking nude pictures should be ‘ok’, if they were of artistic contents. But surely he would have suspected something when the poses he made weren’t anything like those we see publicly ba? I mean, how many publicly-displayed artwork have you seen with the guy in an ‘understanding’ pose?

David; he’s standing, yes, but he’s not understanding…

However, I must consider the fact that I am thinking with my brain in that guy’s shoes. I’m not trying to say I’m wildy intelligent, but me and my social circle tend to have a more worldly view on various aspects of life, even at the age of 18.

lol

Lastly, I must comment that he does have a big tool that most guys will die to have (I overheard from conversations that gals hate big tools cos it hurts big time too, so size does seem to be only an infatuation of the guys).

But again, I won’t die just to have a big tool. haha… In these times, mini is cool