1st 3 weeks in NTU + My mini b'day celebration :D

My first 3 weeks in NTU have been awesome! :D Thanks to my awesome friends Chor Seng, Sam, Kai Sen and Yong Jian :)

Without them my social and academic life would've been less rich. Haha.

So yup, after my previous dedicated blog post about my new room-mate, Tian Wei, here's a picture of myself and Mr. Liang :D

Tian Wei & Me :D

Yup, he's a really nice, tenor-ranged, polite and boomer-ish guy :D Haha. One night we chatted until 2am!! We talked about the differences between China & Singapore...in terms of our armies, education, lifestyle, living conditions, etc...

And yes, we conversed in CHINESE!! Chor Seng & Kai Sen kept asking me "In English or Chinese??" There are some instances where I could not understand his statement because of his speaking speed, coupled with his china slurs and slang. But overall, communication was coherent. Haha!

Yup, a lil' look into my room...

Me & my bed :D

Don't I look like in BMT? My admin attire makes it feel so bunk-ish. Haha. Ignore my white specs and long hair...Lols.

Ta-da! I brought a stand fan there! Hahaha!

If you're wondering who took photo of us...It was my parents. Haha. Thank God for my awesome parents who drove me to school and dropped off the fan and a truckload of other stuffs. I also brought the vacuum cleaner there to clean up the massively dusty room. Haha.

Anyway, I don't really study at my desk at night...because at night, there are tons of those flying ants! That's because my windows are facing the football / rugby / ultimate-frisbee field and my door is facing the pond... -__-"

Each hall has certain facilities such as a TV room, reading room, games room, etc...I will be seen at the reading room studying for hours. Compared to my room, the reading room is air-conditioned, has wireless connection and is free of FLYING ANTS!!! Haha!

Yup, I've studied there daily and Shi Jun has joined me twice while his roommate, Andy has joined me once. They're both from Heart of God church :)

Talking about them, they stay just ONE FLOOR above me! Haha! We didn't know that until 2nd week I think, when we chatted. Haha.

The first time I went to their room was last week. I went to meet them at their room before proceeding down for Hall Dinner.

Upon entry, the first thing I noticed is that Shi Jun and Andy both brought their own stand fans!! Haha! That is what inspired me to bring mine!! HAHA!

The 2nd thing I noticed was Shi Jun's crazy collection of books!! It was shelved neatly across his work-space, fully occupying it! It was a mini library!!

3rd thing I noticed was Andy's guitar. Haha. That also inspired me to bring mine. Lols!

Yup, now a little look into our lunch time and lecture time :)

Sabrina & Kai Sen bonding over a game of Air Hockey on my iPad. :D :D

Yup, Sabrina has met us and we have met Sabrina twice for lunch :) Once in Canteen A - all the way in North Spine - and another in Canteen B - At our territory, South Spine :D

We've also lunched with the Heart of God members and bumped into them several times as well. Haha.

Mr Smarty Pants taking a nap because the lecture was too fundamental for him...Haha! :P

This is just one picture, there's another of Chor Seng sleeping as well. You can go find on facebook...taken and uploaded by Sam. Chor Seng slept the most la basically...then after he wake up, he'll teach us how to solve the tutorial problems...Hahaha.

Talking about Sam...I had an interesting conversation with him recently :) Before that, I have to let you know the back-drop of the whole story. Haha.

If you didn't know...You definitely wouldn't know unless you've spoken to me in NTU...I went for an AUDITION! :D Haha. There's a jamming CCA in NTU...it's called "Jazz and Blues".

The audition requirements are:
1) You present your own item.
2) You perform one song from their setlist of 3 songs which they sent 1 week before the auditions.

The audition was held in a relative big jamming studio with their band. Their band will play and you'll have to blend in with them.

I was kinda nervous so I only displayed like 70 - 75% of my musical prowess. Haha!

The first thing I did was sing "Autumn Leaves" solo. I chose that song from their set list of 3 songs. When they said "sing solo without music", I was like "Whoa! Stressed sia!" HAHAHA! The drummer was like "Ya, come here very stressed hor?" in a joking and friendly way. Haha.

You can go hear that song on Youtube...I sang the Nat King Cole version. That song was full of vibrato at the end of every phrase and that was exactly what I did. Haha. I did a few rehearsals and sang it to Shi Jun, Chor, Kai Sen and Sam briefly. Haha.

While I was singing, the Indian girl was smiling encouragingly and swaying as I sang...Haha. The guys were more tao...listening intently. Haha.

Next up, I presented my personal item. I told them I'm doing a song by "Jason Mraz" and they were like "Don't tell me it's I'm Yours again..." Haha. I was like "Of course not, I'm not so predictable..." with a smirk. HAHA!

I performed the song "Prettiest Friend" by Jason Mraz :D It's an awesome song! Super sweet, acoustic love song.

Finally, they wanted to know if I'm good at my instrument. I took their guitar and started playing autumn leaves with the band. I basically played lead all the way and did a little rhythms and arpeggios here and there to fill in the gaps.

After everything, the administrator, a chinese girl, who was looking intently at my guitar fingering and scales, asked "So Jonavan, are you interested in joining sub-committee?" I was like "Sure! :) What appointments are there?"

After rattling off all the standard appointments...I told her I just like to organize events and see it happen. So she was like "So anything la?" I went "Err...yup." HAHA!

Before I left, of course we exchanged pleasantries and the drummer told me "Hey, see you soon bro!"

That was a statement of hope :D HAHA! "See you" means a lot. Haha. The other hopeful question was posed by that girl "So do you want to join sub-comm?" HAHAHA!

Now, back to my conversation with Sam! HAHA! Sam was asking me "Eh, so how's your audition" I related everything to him in the above paragraphs. Haha.

I was telling him...whoa...I nervous sia...only showcased 70 - 75% of my skill nia. Haha.

Then he remarked "Aiya, don't worry la...You sure get in one...You always so lucky."
I was like "Huh? Lucky? What makes you say that?"

Sam then went on..."Aiya, you always very lucky what. In army get admin spec, 8-5 post, last minute appeal to NTU also can get in...Luck is on your side. Haha!"

Then came my standard, philosophical reply "That's not luck bro. That's called divine engineering. Haha. That's called the favour of God. You come church with me this Sunday you also can have." HAHA!

But that brought up and interesting point. People are observing your lives. The way you live and conduct yourself. Yup, this made me realize that when you walk in favour with God, God'll bless you and people will be able to see it evidently.

I heard and read about such stuffs whereby people will see God's hand in His children's lives and here I am experiencing it firsthand on a smaller scale. Haha.

Thank God. All that I am today is really not my merit. I am but an ordinary person doing my best and God is paving the way, opening doors and putting people into my life to enrich my life. I recognize God's hand in my life and am eternally grateful. :)

Yup, where were we? Oh yes...my NTU life...And oh, just yesterday on Thursday, Hong Hwee dropped by NTU to come and see us! :D Haha. I went over to Chor Seng & Kai Sen's hall in Hall 9.

We were initially studying at Hall 15 when suddenly Hong Hwee SMSed Chor Seng "Hey, I'm coming over tonight with Chi Wen" Haha.

So Hong Hwee fetched us in his family's car from Hall 15 to Chor Seng & Kai Sen's Hall - Hall 9. Upon arrival, Hong Hwee took out 3 huge plastic bags of powdered iced-milo, Oreo, Hello Pandas, sweets, apples and all sorts of goodies and gave it to us! Hallelujah! :) Haha!

In their room, they turned on their air-con for the first time! HAHA! In NTU, only the newer halls are fitted with air-con. And to use the air-con, you have to purchase the air-con card...It is a stored-value card. When you insert the card into the slot, you can turn on the aircon. It costs 20cents per hour. Haha.

Yup, we are super thankful to Hong Hwee for dropping by and making us feel loved and giving us good stuff. Thanks Hong Hwee! :) Haha. Sadly, we were so busy chit-chatting that we forgot to take a picture. Haha. Oh well, there's always next time :D

I was browsing through my picture album on my computer and found out that I didn't blog about this!

It was my mini-birthday celebration with my grandmother (mum's side) :D

Poh-poh, Jeravan, me, Jerina & Mummy :D

Take 2 :D

Take 3 with Daddy :D

Yup, had an awesome meal at Bedok point and hearing Grandmother stories...literally. Haha. But my grandma's stories are interesting and somewhat inspiring and lesson-learning as she shares her stories with my mum's sisters, with her church members and leaders last time, etc...

All these stories give me insight to know what people look out for and how small things can greatly affect relationships.

Yup, life's good thus far. :) There's only a huge burden in my heart toward certain stuffs in Heart of God recently. I've spoken to my leaders about it...halfway...Haha. Awaiting our next meeting and hopefully things'll work out...not to the way I want it and not the way the church wants it, but to the way God wants it.

Hallelujah! Till next time :)

Liang Tian Wei

If you think that I'm into some chinese manga or reading some chinese kung-fu comic, think again. I do not possess such idiosyncrasies. Haha.

He's not some handsome, charming, strong, full-of-valour-kung-fu-master, but he's a nice, chubby, white, be-spectacled, boomer-ish, tenor-ranged, small-eyed china national.

Mr. Liang Tian Wei is my new NTU room-mate! He is a year 2 student in NTU with a GPA of 4.2/5!! WHOA! I aim to get around that GPA for my 1st year too man! Heavenly Father help me!!! :)

I kept praying for God to give me an awesome roommate and at the same time, every time I apprehensively talk about my future hall roomy with others, I keep cracking jokes with them like "I scared when I open my hall room door, the first greeting I hear is "Ni hao-r! Wo-r shi liang tian wei-r! :)" kinda jokes...Hahaha!

I can vividly remember 2 occasions I cracked this joke...With Daniel & Hong Hwee during my follow up session with Daniel and with Chor Seng & Kai Sen...Haha. I used this joke widely with countless number of other people who ask me about my roommate in NTU. Haha.

And now, this is what I get...HAHAHA! Rabak!! Haha! But he's a really nice guy la...For now...haha...ok, from what I've observed thus far.

2 interesting encounters with him thus far...

1) The first night...I was still on the computer when he wanted to sleep already. So he proceeded to the light switch, placed his finger on it and asked "Wo-r yao shui-jiao le-r, wo-r ge yi guan-deng ma-r?" If you don't understand han yu pin yin or if you get confused with the added pronunciation-aids, he meant "I wanna sleep already, can I turn off the lights?"

Of course I said yes...His finger was already on the light switch. HAHA! Cute la he...Lols.

2) I came back to my room and just outside our room door was a dead lizard on the corridor. And it wasn't just some carcass...it was a huge, bloody carcass of a lizard!! Smeared around it was its innards splashed with some black and yellowish-green liquid!! HU-LEE-YA!!

So I was like "Ni sha de ah? Hen er xin lei!" (You kill one ar? Very disgusting lei!)...He was like "Bu shi wo sha de! Wo bu tong shui sha de ah!)

I then took my toiletries and proceeded to bathe. When I returned, the carcass was cleared and the floor was clean! I then asked him "Ni ba na-ei ge bi hu diu diao le ah?" (You disposed of the dead lizard already ah?) He went "Dui". I was so thankful. Haha.

I would've left it there by the corridor and a huge company of ants would've gathered around it by next morning but he cleared it! Haha.

Thank God for him. Lols!

We've chatted quite a bit here and there...shared with him about my army life and about how every guy has to go through army. Little did I know that they all really respect us Singaporean guys because we go army! Haha.

He also told me that every year, around 300 students from China will enroll in NTU!! Mother nature!! 7 months before they start their curriculum here, they will have an induction programme organised by NTU.

In their 7 months here, they are housed in some dormitory in Bedok and they will report to NTU to learn English and learn about Singapore culture. He even went to the Singapore Discovery Centre and learnt about our army man. Haha. No wonder he knew quite a bit about our army here. Lols.

The scary thing is...300 PRCs enroll yearly!!! DUA LAO SAI!!! We have yet to take into consideration other nationalities like the Indonesians, Malaysians, Vietnamese and Burmese! I've seen those 4 nationalities in my tutorial groups already. Haha.

Yup, so those locals reading this post, STUDY HARD! Don't get pawned and owned by these foreigners!! LOLS!

Yup, will blog more about my academic and extra-curricular life in NTU in another post...hopefully soon...Haha.

Lastly, Thank you Jesus for everything! :)

My Braces Journey: Boxed Mouth

My doctor introduced me a new way of wearing my rubber bands...Instead of wearing them from my lower second molar to to my upper canine, I'm now wearing them across my upper lateral incisors and lower canine.

Ok, let me help you to understand...

Before that, my rubber bands were like this:

Upper canines pulled to the back...

Now, they're like this...

Upper lateral incisors pulled downwards to my lower canines :(

On top of giving me a new super painful, uncomfortable and hideous way of wearing my rubber bands, the doctor removed the metal bar across the top of my mouth! :) Haha.

Now, that's a good move...Because food always get stuck at the top metal bar across the roof of my mouth -_-" Haha.

Once again, my mouth is aching like mad after the visit. Every bite I make sends a chilling, painful signal to my nervous system... :(

Oh well, that's the price to pay for beauty right? Haha.

Yup, only like 1 year+ to go? Ya, around there... :)

Xiao Hua's Departure :( + Boon's

One of my good friends whom I knew since my childhood days in Bethel is leaving for USA to study! He's going to study in the University of Illinois...which is situated in Illinois...haha...it's location is quite self-telling eh? Lols.

Yup, before he left, we hung out for one last time...

We watched Captain America...a really apt show because Joshua's flying to America...Haha! The show wasn't that awesome. Very hackneyed plot and fake fighting scenes...Especially the part where he throws his shield...It somehow always flies back to his hands...Haha!

And with all the laser shots and bullets flying around, Captain America somehow always manages to put his shield right at where the azimuth of the bullet or shot is flying at, at that precise point in time.

So much for believablity...Haha.

After our show, we went for a hearty meal at Arab Street. We ordered a massive plate of some sort of briyani...it's middle eastern food. Inside the awesome mixture of flavoured rice was chicken, beef, mutton and some middle eastern hotdog. Haha.

Marc was telling us the size of the serving is about the size of Captain America's shield. HAHA! Indeed it was...Haha. Should've taken a photo with that huge serving man. Haha.

Marc & Xiao Hua also smoked the shisha there...Strawberry flavour...Haha. Shisha's some sorta thing you breathe in (like cigarettes) and leaves a sweet residue in your windpipes and lungs. It comes in some huge tube or bottle with an aluminum cover and charcoal on top of it. It's output is a tube where you suck from.

I took like 3 breaths only. Haha.  When you breathe the sweet smoke in, you can taste the sweetness or rather smell it in your lungs...Haha. And when you breathe out, white smoke comes out! Haha.

We spent a few minutes trying to scientifically explain this phenomenon but to no avail..Haha.

Here's the only photo I took with Xiao Hua there.

Joshua & Jonavan :) Haha.

The next picture with him is at the airport already... :(

Me & Xiao Hua :)

The guys :)

Everyone :)

Take care Xiao Hua! Time to become Da Hua already! HAHA! :P

Oh, and I found this picture which I didn't upload. This is a picture of us in Boon's jamming studio :) Haha. We've jammed there for like 6 x 2hour sessions for our Marina Bay Sands Gig man...Haha.

Me, Marc & Daryl :)

Greetings from NTU

This is my first post I'm writing right here in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Hall of Residence 6.

My hall is super rabak...compared to my friend's in Hall 8 and Hall 1. Hall 1 is supposed to be oldest hall in NTU...but upon entering my army friend's - Murphy - hall, it's like 2 times better than mine!

Their hall is much more nicely painted, better furnished and more brightly-lit than my pathetic bunk 6...oh, I mean hall 6. Haha.

His room has a toilet...shared with the neighbouring room and his room is slightly bigger but with much more cupboards than mine! And guess what? We both pay the same rate of $180 per month... -___-"

The crazy thing about Murphy is...he brought his electronic piano into his hall and his DESKTOP!! WHOA PIANG OEI! Haha. Hard core...He's making his hall his no.2 home.

To me, hall is just like army bunk. Haha. It's a place to sleep...a place to temporarily keep your daily necessities such as clothes, shampoo, etc...and do those household chores of washing clothes, drying them, etc...

Anyway, I also went to Chor Seng & Kai Sen's hall...Hall 9. Their hall looks super new...Ok, it is new! Went in their room...WHOA. I think their room is slightly smaller than mine though. Haha.

I should go visit the other halls soon...Like halls 4 and 7 which I heard are worse than my hall. Oh well.

Apart from complaining about all these...there are also a bunch of things to thank God for!

1) No roommate! :)
I'm paying the rates of a double room and am supposed to have a roommate...But, guess what? I have the WHOLE ROOM TO MYSELF! :D

My initial roommate was a year 4 student sporty-looking Singaporean guy who applied for single room. However, due to no single room available, they placed him temporarily in my room before there is a single room available.

So the day I shifted all my stuff in, he was shifting all his stuff out! HAHA!

Now, I have the entire room to myself! Whoo hoo! Super peaceful!

Studying has never been so effective! Haha. No distractions here...unlike at home...my brother & sister's computer games and talking on the phone, on skype, etc...will distract me...There's no one watching TV with its sounds and lights tempting to step out into the living room.

I hope no one comes in to room with me for the rest of my stay here man. Better fast and pray. Haha!

Thank you God for your awesome arrangement! I prayed for a good roommate...But what You gave me was even better! NO roommate! haha! Hallelujah! :)

2) Accessibility :)
Even though my hall is like a army bunk, it is highly accessible. The bus stop, which is like 2minutes walk from my room has all the bus services passing by it. Because it is at the entrance. Haha.

The NTU > Pioneer MRT bus is the most frequent and it gets me to my lecture halls and tutorial rooms in only 2 stops! Awesome!

Chor Seng & Kai Sen - who are my church mates and course mates here in NTU - either take a 10minute walk to the nearest bus stop which goes to our block or they have to take a 20minute+ walk to our EEE (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) block...Haha.

On top of that, 2 canteens are just a 5 minute walk away :D The hall 1 and hall 2 canteen :D

Yup, thank you God for providing me with such a convenient and accessible bunk! :)

3) Friends :)
NTU is like some shopping centre...Every lecture and every canteen I go to, I'll bump into at least one person I know. Haha!

There was once I got lost at the North Spine because I took the wrong bus...Haha! As I was walking around trying to find my way, suddenly someone called my name "Jonavan!" I thought I had wandered to the right place! Haha!

It was my army friend, Rafiuddin. Haha. He then introduced me to his friends and all before I set off on my way back. Haha.


I also bumped into Eric Wong, one of my army friends while walking back to hall...haha. Small world.

At canteens also, I bumped into Kenneth, my secondary school friend, Syahir, my army friend, Yong Hui, my Heart of God church friend who's from SMU but is in NTU for fun...Haha. Bumped into Jin Zhuang, my army friend...Tons more...Forgot who else I bumped into during meal times.

During lectures, I bumped into my secondary school friends on several different occasions - Jerome Yip, Gerry Ong, Jeremy Ong...army friends like Kelvin - my SISPEC friend, Dennis - my BMT section mate, Kenneth Liew - my secondary school/poly friend..etc...

Best of all, my closest friends in my poly days till now are also here in the same course as I am...Chor Seng & Sam. Now Kai Sen has also joined our gang and he also brought his friend -who coincidentally also is my army friend - Yong Jian. The electronics gang from TP is also in my course now. Haha.

Yup, thank God for all of them and for providing them and introducing them into my life, enriching it.

All in all, life here in NTU has been good. All that the lecturers are teaching I've mostly learnt before...Just needa thank that 2 years in army that made us all forget whatever we learnt.

As the lecturers lecture, those formulas and theorems all came back to me! Thank God! There were like bursts of flashbacks back to my poly and secondary school days as the lecturers addressed concepts that were taught then.

Their lecturing pace is SUPER FAST. That's because we're year 2 students from Poly and we should know all those stuff already. We do! We just had that stupid time lapse of 2 years in army that made all those knowledge lie dormant in our brains.

Well, those dormant volcanoes in my brain are erupting again as I once again turn on the mugging mode of my brain.

Lord, I commit my entire study in NTU into your hands, I will do my utmost because I recognize that I am where I am not because of what I've done, but because of how you've divinely engineered everything for me to be where I am today.

Thank you Jesus. Bless my stay here in NTU. Help me to find favour with everyone I come into contact with and help me to bring them to the saving and most revelational knowledge in Christ Jesus :)

NTU, here I come! :D

Gig @ MBS!

Marc & Ron's Law school, Stansfield college organised a fund-raising event for their school. Their plan was booking a bistro bar with free flow liquor, drinks and a band.

We were the band! We consists of Marc, Ron, Daryl, Felicia, Melody, Sam and myself :)

Marc & I were the guitarists and main singers. Ron was the bassist and singer too. Felicia & Melody are our best singers for that evening. Sam sang one item "The Man Who Can't Be Moved."

Our jam sessions were all sponsored by them and we had a total of like 8 jam sessions of 2 hour each.

The last jam session was a cock-up. The uncle of Boon's jamming studio cocked-up our booking and Marc got real angry. I remember his worst outburst at him was "What the hell la uncle! You stupid or what?!" I was coiling my mono-jack halfway when that vociferation stopped me in my tracks. Haha!

Anyway, the actual event was a super impromptu one with us getting complaints from the store beside us saying we were too loud and all...So Marc decided to re-arrange our song list...but in the end, we whacked all the loud songs too...Haha!

Yup, on with the pictures...

Matthaeus, Hong Hwee & Myself :)

Matthaeus and Hong Hwee came down to support me! Haha. I was so touched :) Haha. Anyway, we started late...so they sat there and waited for like 30 minutes before we actually started our first song...which was kinda cui...Haha.

They left after our 2nd or 3rd song...Haha. Understandable la...I would've left too...Haha!

Ron, Xiao Hua, Daryl & Myself :)

Ron, Xiao Hua, Daryl & Marc :)

+ Flash...haha.

Yup, xiao hua was the only one "on" enough to pay $50 and come down to enjoy the music & free flow :) Haha.

Melody, Felicia & Myself :)

Take 2...

Both of them were great singers...they had superb tones. I think they were kinda left out most of the time while we were busy trying to put our music parts together...Haha. But yeah, they're really nice people.

Some shots taken by a red-faced Xiao Hua. HAHAHA!

Kickin' up the volume...haha

Me, Marc & Ron...You can see Daryl's head popping a lil' on top of Marc's right shoulder...HAHA!

Take 2 :D

Daryl on the drums :)

Unglam shot 1. Haha!

You can see my effects lighted up...haha.

After the 1st set of songs, we took a break...We didn't eat dinner! Ok, we includes, Daryl, Ron, me & Xiao Hua. Haha. Marc came prepared with his subway...haha.

Xiao Hua & Daryl :)

Daryl, Me & Ron :)

Now you can see where we are...Bazin! Haha.

Xiao Hua, Daryl & Myself :)

Xiao Hua & I :D

Me & Ron :)

Daryl & Myself :)

Xiao Hua & Marc :D

Ron learning the JBs from his brother...Hahaha!

Standard ah Marc...haha.

The best JB of the day award goes to...ME! HAHA!

The band...without Melody & Felicia...

Take 2 with flash :D

Overall, we had tons of fun doing all the impromptu stuff there...The crowd was all rocking on for more. Haha.

I must say that our rehearsals were much better sounding than the real thing. HAHA!

As we were walking to the location - Me & Daryl - we also admitted that we didn't put our all into the songs. Haha. I didn't memorize the lyrics, Daryl didn't memorize some songs, etc...Haha. Marc & Ron? Sama la...Organizer like that we also la...All impromptu kings. Hahaha!

So yup, that was a nice event to remember :)

My NTU Saga

My entry into NTU is really divinely engineered. Why?

My arduous journey can be broken down into the 6 steps below. Each and every step was waxed and covered with much prayer from my family and from the horse's mouth. Haha.

1) They rejected me - my GPA of 3.38 too lousy.
2) I appealed.
3) They accepted my appeal!
4) Disrupt NS
5) Last minute matriculation
6) NTU boy

Let me elaborate:

1) My lousy CGPA of 3.38 was rejected by NTU TWICE. I applied the first time 1 year back and this year, same answer. This time...we were more persistent.

2) I actually had given up hope on trying for full time because I already have a part-time place in NUS. However, my mum kept telling me to appeal. So I finally listened to her advice and did it prayerfully.

3) My appeal was accepted! One of the professors called me up to do a phone interview with me! You can get the details from my other blog post - http://historymakers-jonavanlee.blogspot.com/2011/07/ntu-cs-tp.html

4) Now, this is the hardest part. All appeals for disruption of NS is to be submitted 3 months before the commencement of your course.

Mine was only 1 month away. I submitted, asking them to expedite. But, to no avail.

I called my unit's manpower GA IC several times and on each occasion she told me she had submitted my request already...she was just awating HRSC's approval.

I then called HRSC several times too, 3 times to be exact and on each occasion, she told me to check back with my unit's manpower GA IC as she was too busy.

Having went through the proper chain of command, I drafted an email for my mum to sign and send in to MINDEF Feedback Unit.

My mum sent the email to COMD 3Div, BG Perry Lim. Within 2 hours, his colleague, some Colonel called my mum up and called me to clarify details.

Next thing I knew, within the next 2 hours, my unit's manpower branch called me and told me to come down to settle everything as they had everything ready.

All it took was one email and within 4 hours, everything was settled. Talk about organizational excellence...Haha. Oh well, it's hard to infuse that blood into all your staff when you have about a 100,000 of them.

Yup, ORD lo! Temporarily...haha.

5) By the time all these was settled. I had 1 week left before my classes start. That was all the time I had to matriculate into NTU.

Well, that wasn't much of a problem. That's because I already did the medical test thanks to my mum who went to source out the medical forms and brought me to the clinics...Haha.

The rest was just payments and signatures and whoa-la...I got my timetable and am geared up to go! :)

6) I am now a NTU student...collecting my matriculation card on Monday :) And gonna collect my hall 6 keys :D

Yup, all these may sound like nothing, but I was simply fighting against systems, datelines and people holding office appointments.

I have my God and my parents to thank. I was merely the co-ordinator of all their efforts and resources. Haha. Love you Jesus, daddy & mummy! :)

Outing w/ Lebbu & Yang

Lebbillie & Myself :D

I didn't forget to blog this post...by the time the pictures reached my dropbox, it was already one week later. Haha. And I was also kinda busy with all the admin stuff I had to settle for my last minute matriculation into NTU thus I'm only blogging this now...haha.

Anyway, we went out on 23rd July 2011. I needed to clear my CapitaLand Mall vouchers as it was gonna expire in 2 weeks time. Haha.

As such, I arranged for us to meet at Ion Orchard so that I can shop for my leather jacket :) Haha!

Why leather jacket? When I told Abigail, Meryl & Jeremy, this was their reaction...

Meryl in her neutral niceness said "Whoa, you becoming like one of them ar..."

Jeremy's insightful remark was "Whoa, you really kena influence by the Heart of God culture alr man..."

Abigail's candid remark went "Jonavan! Don't get influenced by them! It's not your style!"

The latter part of Abigail's statement hit me harder than all their remarks combined. HAHA! But I agree, it's really not my style. But o well, time to expand my wardrobe selections :)

Yup...went shopping with Lebbu & Yang...and we met for lunch at Ion's Food Court. The food there all looked really good. And the prices were really good too...Good for the proprietors that is...Haha.

Upon Lebbillie's recommendation, I also bought the Bak Chor Mee which was really good. But the $5 bowl of noodles fetched a meagre amount of noodles and ingredients. Expected that. But the texture of the noodles was really good...and so was the chilli. Awesome.

After abating our hunger, we proceeded. Dropped by Zara. They have a few nice leather jackets but the prices were like $150++ to $200 plus...Kinda expected la huh. Way off my budget...But then I found a whole rack of discounted leather jackets sitting there! All discounted to around $70!

WHOO HOO! I eagerly proceeded to try them on...I barely squeezed into the one I really liked. They only had S size left. -__-"

We then hopped around few other stores and Lebbu did her own fair share of shopping, buying slippers la, accessories, etc...

We took a break at Starbucks...that's where all the photo taking took place. Haha.

Take 2, without specs...I hung mine on my shirt...AHAHA!

The no-spectacles shot...Haha.

Yang, Lebbu & I under some supposedly cool camera effect from her camera...Haha.

This shot's taken by the Starbucks staff... -.-" So much headroom...Diaos...Maybe she was trying to advertise for Starbucks? Hmmm...

Haha...spoilt their shot...Lols.

This shot isn't the same as the one earlier...Haha. & look! Regina's right behind us in the background! AHAHAHA!

Anyway, my Starbucks card still had a un-redeemed free cake! I ordered the chocolate, caramel cake or something like that. IT WAS SIMPLY RAPTUROUS! Hahaha!

You can ask Lebbillie to elaborate on Yang Cheng's ceaseless "Whoa!!!" and my savour-ous expressions of "Wow!!" with each bite...LOLS.


The creamy, rich caramel texture fused together with their smooth, milky chocolate fudge combined with the crispy chocolate biscuit crust at the bottom inter-layered with the chocolate sponge cake simply made a perfect dessert for chocolate lovers. It was really heaty though. Haha. Having 2 slices could give you a bad sore throat.

Anyway, we resumed our shopping spree...and Lebbillie was still fidgeting with her camera when she took a superb candid shot of me...

This is one of the nicest candid shot I have man. Haha.

Lebbillie recommended me a leather jacket she saw before at Bershka...And we were still arguing about how to pronounce the shop's name when we entered...Haha!

We finally settled our dispute by asking one of the salesgirl "How do you pronounce your shop's name?

"Bur-shh-car" was her reply. I was correct! Lebbillie insisted it was pronounced "Bur-sha" with a silent "K". Haha.

Anyway, we all fell in love with the leather jacket...but I didn't buy it immediately because I was afraid I could get a better buy. The jacket costs $130. Not very expensive for the smart, stylo look it'll give you.

My leather jacket saga ended 2 days ago when I finally bought a nice and cheap one at Bugis Junction at a shop called "Messy". Their brown leather jacket was really good too and the price was awesome! $70! Yup, I shall take picture of me in it soon :D Haha.

Yup, that was about it...Lebbu couldn't bear to leave so she snapped a few more pictures at the MRT...Haha!

Self-portrait 1.

Take 2...haha.

Anyway, we met up again later at around 2am to do the one thing we'll do anytime...L4D!!! HAHAHA!

Immediately after our orchard trip, I went to Joel's place to celebrate Anna's return from Mexico! Haha. How ironic, right after spending time with someone who's about to leave, I go on to spend time with someone who just returned. Lols.

So yup, the "Anna Misses You BBQ" has its own post...you can go see it. Right after that, I drove Joel's car to pick Lebbillie, Yang & Ding Zhou to LAN....Haha!

The thing is, it's only 2 days since I passed my driving test and Joel allowed me drive his car! HAHA! Friends like these sure make your day. Hahaha.

Yup, awaiting your return in December Lebbu, for good. Haha. Jia you as you finish the last lap of your university education in Australia! :)