I'm currently in the process of selecting the critical inquiry project as partial fulfillment for graduation. I'm not sure I can rely on my own, and so I chose to take up the group project instead. surely there's another challenge there but I need that kind of 'push' from team mates to get going. anyway.. met the supervisor-to-be yesterday for initial discussion. didn't expect him to go to such details because I was only prepared to know more on the general picture. but now I'm thinking about selecting another project instead.. going to meet the supervisor-to-be again this week.

reading in progress:
(1) the power of your subconscious mind
a psychology book telling you how to work miracles using your own subconscious mind which is more often abandoned. to summarize the book: a man is what he think he is.

(2) life of pi
story about a boy who survived a tragic sinking of a ship on pacific ocean, in a boat alone with a hyena, a zebra, a female orang-utan and a tiger. I've finished half of it - the zebra and orang-utan were already eaten by hyena first, then the hyena was eaten by the tiger.. now the boy is facing the tiger. well, at least I've known that the boy was going to survive so there's an assurance that it's going to have a happy ending.. =)

gimana sih cara nge'coach' yg baik dan benar? kalo mesti ngajarin orang sesuatu, mendingan langsung kasi tau jawabannya, atau kasi tau gimana cara dapetin jawabannya?

selama ini gue masih idealis nih, gue berusaha bantuin buat dapetin jawabannya. trus kapan itu pernah, gue ga sabaran.. akhirnya gue ambil alih dan gue kerjain sendiri. lebih cepet dan praktis, but did I do anything good to the person? he might be grateful for it but it just didn't seem right.

kayak perumpamaan ngajarin mancing atau langsung kasih ikannya kali ya.. tapi kalo orangnya diajarin mancing ga bisa bisa trus gimana dong? ceburin aja ke kolam ikan?

I just 'met' my old pen-friend from brazil on the msn. We started to write to each other long time back when there's this pen-friend hype. I remembered the struggle I went through to write letters in english.. sometimes I dragged my older cousin to help me form my sentences..

I had a few pen friends back then, from hongkong, africa (can't remember the exact location), brazil and malta. this guy from africa asked me to send him an earphone and I obliged! the next item he asked me was more expensive, difficult to get and send, I didn't send what he asked and that's the end of the friendship.. =p I went to the post office regularly, had the mail weighed, purchased a stamp and sent it.. but I lost those activites upon my high school graduation. although we exchanged email addresses, it's just different. sending news and updates via email is definitely faster but there's no more fun.. no stamps to collect, no excitement in seeing the letters in the real mailbox, no gift exchange.. and email is so fast I don't know what else to write.. =) but don't ask me to write snail mail nowadays.. too lazy to do it.

btw, I've confirmed with my friend that the brazilian restaurant I just tried is an authentic one.. =)

pager gue ketemu!! *jingkrak jingkrak*

tu benda nyangkut di kursi yg gue dudukin pas pergi meeting ke cubicle salah satu user kemaren. untung aja ketinggalannya disitu jadi masih terselamatkan.. padahal gue udah ngebayangin berapa $$ bakal melayang sia sia demi ngegantiin tu pager.

the american idol finale was superb! the finalists' singing sessions with their idols were fabulous. actually I don't really care who win, since the last 2 contenders are both great. but I wanted to keep the suspense there until the time I watched the show, which was like 13 hrs after the actual show time in the US. so the whole day I refrained myself from checking the news, discussing the topic with an AI-know-it-all colleague.. till few minutes before the finale began.. I watched channel news asia and they announced the winner already. oh, well.. but the finale itself was truly entertaining.

wondering what's wrong with me today. I left my cellphone at home and I lost my pager in office. life would be peaceful without those 2 gadgets, though.. =) maybe I should try not carrying my cell for 1 whole week to find out if I could survive.

when I started my working life a few years back, I was often amazed by negative comments and remarks I heard from colleagues. I told my self back then, "surely, working life can not be THAT bad?"

this morning, seeing those newly-joined introducing themselves while singing praises, their hopes and dreams.. I was amazed on realizing how positive they are and how negative I am. I can even sit nicely in front of my boss, looking very pleasant, smiling and nodding my head, and at the same time telling myself "that's bullshit". guess I'm not that naive anymore..

have you ever felt very bored with your life so much so that you don't feel like doing anything at all?

that happened to me for a few times already, is currently happening now and I'm quite sure it will happen again in a very near future. scary.

anyway, that does not stop me from eating good food.. =) tried the brazilian churrascaria restaurant at sixth avenue for dinner today. it is definitely a place for meat lovers. they provide all-you-can-eat salad bar with variety of choices and 12 bbq items being served by the waiters right to your plate. I didn't bother to take so much food from the salad bar, knowing that eating the meat is more value-for-money.. they served sausages, different types of beef, chicken thigh, chicken with bacon, chicken heart, fish, pineapple, ham and lamb. my favourites are sausages and fish. yumm!! topped them up with mango & lemonade drink plus coconut & mango pudding as dessert.. and nobody wanted to get up from the chairs.. we're all so full.

knowing the buffet-style and the cost of the restaurant beforehand, we 'starved' ourselves a little during the day. we didn't take proper lunch but had a DIY lunch instead by making our own sandwiches.. bread with lettuce, cheese, ham and salmon paste filling.. and lots and lots of water! haha.. it was fun.

haha.. parah bgt deh. gue tadi mau bikin oatmeal raisin cookies.. udah bukain mentega sama tuang2 gula.. eh mixernya rusak coba yah.. huhuhu.. terpaksa gue aduk manually pake sendok kayu. asli gempor. tapi untungnya hasilnya memuaskan.. luarnya crispy trus dalemnya soft gitu loh, spt layaknya cookies.. =p nah abis itu gue mo goreng telor.. bahan udah dibukain.. trus nyadar kalo belon ada gas.. huhuh.. akhirnya penggorengan berisi telor ditaro didalem oven 200C.. bisa mateng juga walopun lama banget.. =)

hiyaa.. akhirnya beres juga pindahan. hari ini badan kayak abis diinjek gajah.. pegel linu lemah letih lesu loyo plus ngantuk.. mana di kantor kerjaan seabrek-abrek.. untung udah weekend.. =)

seneng nih di flat baru ada kulkas gedeeee.. bisa bikin es batu, bisa nyetok es krim.. besok rencananya mo belanja buat menuhin kulkas.. bikin juice sama ice blended drinks.. yum!! kita liat aja excitement gue bertahan brp lama, palingan bentar lagi bosen trus kulkas penuh ama bahan2 makanan expired.. =p trus kamar, lemari baju sama tv juga 'menjelma' jadi lebih gede.. =)

received a surprise phone call from a friend far far away in the middle of a super-hot afternoon.. *hi there! wave* since there are so many people tying the knot this year so I suspected he was going to tell me the good news.. =) anyway, thanks for the call, you've made my day! :)

went for 'reunion' dinner at rice table, suntec. I always think that eating there is a waste, mainly because I can only eat so little despite the various number of dishes, it is a buffet meal, and it is not worth the price. anyway, that's not the point. we were there to meet a friend who is visiting singapore on his trip home. he is thinner now compared to last time in university days, and we teased him, saying that it must be due to his own home-cooked meals.. haha.. too bad there is no time for him to prove his culinary skills by whipping us some sample dishes.. =)

it's funny how all of us here only meet once in a blue moon, and the most common occasion is a friend's visit. that happens for both my high school and university circle of friends. guess it's because we take the opportunities for granted.. thinking that we can still meet each other every other day. luckily singapore is a common place for transit, so the gathering is more frequent.

tried the famous gallery hotel g club's fondue at robertson quay. the place was not easy to locate, furthermore they have renamed it to 'zenden' instead.. I'm wondering if that stands for 'zen garden' because it sounds weird.. anyway, they have 3 different type of chocolate: dark, milk and white chocolate, and 6 different assortments: slices of strawberry, banana, apples, grapes, marshmallows and sponge cake. yum! too bad there's no ice cream cubes.. I love dipping a frozen ice cream cube into a pot of hot melted chocolate and watch it hardened.. I think I'll get my next fondue at haagen dasz instead.. =)
read the review and view the pic here.