16th Slam for the Champion

That was the result for the Australian Open Final 2010. Roger Federer is back. And Andy Murray disappoints again (much like US Open, being Great Britain's hope and everything) and he remains the only top 5 players who hasn't won a Grand Slam. Better luck next time, Murray.

Federer after the match [credit]

Jude Law

This is my first sketch in god knows how long. I wanted to use Djoko as a subject but then I found this picture of Jude Law that is just so breathtaking. But the effect is lost once I put him down on my paper. Sigh. I need more practice~

Lunch Break

Australian Open: I am currently watching the livescore of the match between Andy Murray and Marin Cilic. I really hope that Cilic makes it to the final. UK fans would disagree. But really, Murray has never won a Grand Slam before and he came so close at the US Open in 2008, but Cilic is different. He’s fresh. He’s climbing the ranking and is reaching the Top 10. Murray has since fallen to 4^th from 2^nd. So there are my reasons. But now they are each down by one set so it’s a tight game.

*Update: And it looks like Murray is controlling the game now! Go Cilic!

Our final semester is organized pretty well because we have classes from Monday to Thursday and has the whole weekend free. That gives us time to do our project or just relax during the weekend. Today I brought my cam along to class and naturally we snapped away so here I want to share some pictures from today’s lunch time with the girls.

The pic below is the faulty chair that Kenneth sat on and fell backwards last year. It was such a memorable moment for us ;) Nina decided to try sitting on it…and it didn’t fall!

Life-more-or-less

Dad’s roasted chicken.

That’s actually all I want to say about the chicken. You can rest assured that it did not go to waste.

I have set my mind to focus on the project and only the project, at least for the week. I have a feeling I am the only one who hasn’t progressed since the last exam. I have a lot to catch up on before the meeting so I have to focus. And that’s my word of the week.

How’s my hostel life? Actually, there’s not much life at the hostel. My nearest neighbour is 5 rooms away and I got nobody to fight over the shower in the morning. It is near isolation here at my floor. Well, at least I got wi-fi, however crappy it is. Here are some views of the hostel.

Happy Australia Day to all Australians. Speaking of which, the Australian Open is now in the quarterfinals with today's match featuring the winnings of Murray over Nadal, and Cilic over Roddick. I might add that it's the first time Cilic goes to a semis in a Grand Slam. Great achievement for the world number 14, especially after playing three 5-setters games in this tournament itself.

Also, up tomorrow is the much awaited Federer vs. Davydenko and also Djokovic vs. Tsonga. It's a dangerous game for Nole since Tsonga is a really tough player to beat. I hope to see both Federer and Djokovic in the semis.

Hooke on it

I was a bit distracted by the tv earlier but now that American Idol is over, I can sit down and write a proper post.

Prof Hosking left yesterday and we actually cancelled two classes just so we could go to the airport to bid him farewell. You can read about it in Nina's blog as well. And here are the photos courtesy of Fakhriah.

The classes today were rather uninteresting (I hope my lecturers don't read this) so I grabbed Nina's post-it and start doodling a shape. I passed it back to her and she added another shape. So back and forth we passed the paper until the shapes took form of a man holding an ice cream (something like that). Then we filled it in with colors from whatever we had; highlighters, color pens and mechanical pencils with color leads. This is the end result:

Dr Hooke would kill us if he saw what we were doing!

A Day with the Heavenly Gift

Rain. Need I say more? The thing I like about the rain is my room is somehow cozier and colder. I can walk outside without thinking about the heat. But alas, when I actually walked outside yesterday, I was soaked knee down even with an umbrella. Walking becomes uncomfortable and as I let my feet dry in the air conditioned room, they feel frozen.

My dad is seriously thinking about wearing a pair of rubber boots and walking around Gadong in it. He said it’s more comfortable and with the raining pouring for the rest of the month, why not? Nobody is going to notice. Yeah, right. I told him that if he ever wears one, I’m going to pretend I don’t know him.

We went to a restaurant yesterday. Besides the slight drizzle, the weather pretty much held up. But as we start eating, the drizzle quickly transformed into a moderate downpour. I wasn’t worried because I know I have my trusty umbrella in my bag. I always carry it around with me. When we are done eating, my dad asked for my umbrella and confidently, I reached out into my bag. “Eh? Where is it?” I suddenly remembered that earlier I placed it in a bag, the other bag. Looking up at my dad, I smiled guiltily.

I don’t know if you call it fate or fortune, but we happened to be right across the multi-accessorized shop, Happy Star. For once the shop is a life saver. But of course the umbrella dad got costs $1.80. His account of the experience using the umbrella was, “A whip of the wind will break the damn thing” He managed to get to the car and come back to get us so all was saved no thanks to me, but thanks to the $1.80 store.

Like I said, I love the rain but sometimes, it can be unreliable just like the sun.

Frantic Days

Guess who this is?

Yes, if you are the up-to-date type of person always watching the entertainment news it would’ve been old news for you. He is Emma Watson’s brother Alex. I heard he is only 16 and already he is posing for the Burberry Ad with his sister. He actually acted in the latest Harry Potter film as one of the background guys. I’m sure he’s gonna find himself in more major roles in the future.

So here I am in my first week of the semester. There are already many notes to read and it’s only the third day. Fortunately, the class on Saturday is moved so I’m free. But the timetable might change a bit more before I can really say I have my weekend free. We’ll see whether we can squeeze some more classes in between others during the cramped weekdays. And look who’s spotted wearing a pair of glasses…

He’s so animated when he lecture and he owe us 8 minutes in just two lecture classes. Somehow, I have a feeling we’re never getting back our 8 minutes from him, not that we mind since we’re time-wasters ourselves.

The days are rainy and the nights are cold. Maybe the January heavy downpour to the point of flood is coming. Brace yourself for another episode of the great flood!

Fries

I've seen the timetable already and it's not as heavy as I've expected. But then again, the tutorials aren't added in yet so I might have to wait and see how full my schedule is gonna be. I also took my key today and that can only mean moving - yet again.

I had lunch with my friends at Express earlier today. We wanted to see a lecturer but he wasn't around so we'll have to wait until next week. I'm actually watching Ugly Betty now and I wanna finish it before Monday. Go Betty!

There's a band you guys should really check out on YouTube which I think deserves much attention. The band's called A Cue Stic[k] and I've been listening to their music for sometime now. They actually look like this lecturer. The resemblance is uncanny!

Last but not least, I want to wish a very happy birthday to a dearest friend of ours, Siti Aden Nabilah. May you have a wonderful year. Have fun on your birthday!

Unprepared

Less than a week to go before I have to move again. I’ve got my results for last semester’s exam but I still don’t know the practical attachment’s result. We had a group chat yesterday trying to figure out whether we’re being neglected again...but we’re gonna ask the coordinator soon.

My results are okay, but not what I wanted of course. It could’ve been much worse so I guess I shouldn’t complain. You reap what you sow. I guess I didn’t study the past-year paper hard enough. Yes, sadly, that’s the only way to get a good score these days. The lecturers are so damn lazy!

Another few months of this and we’re good to go!

I don't know whether I want the holiday to end or not. But whatever will be will be right? I guess I'll have to look forward to lectures next week. Yay?!

I was trying to measure the distance between two places so I used Google Earth. Here's a simple method if you're interested.

After drawing the path, the path name will appear in the Places tab. Copy the KML path name as shown below.

Then use any KML measurement application. Try this application which I would recommend since it's easy to install and use. This is the application when you run it:

Then, paste the KML as shown below. Press "Calculate".

There you have it, the distance between a route that I wanted to know was 5.906 km. It's pretty useful if you wanna know how far is one place from another. Go ahead and try.

First Day

Hello 2010! New Year is a great feeling as you feel fresh (even though you’re not) and you make new goals (even though you never seem to follow them). I have to admit that I am dreading the coming semester but I will make it work and that’s a promise. I hope this year is a great year for me since it’s a year of change. It’s a year where I move from one bus stop to the next. I still haven’t reached my destination yet but this is my routine. LOL What an ugly description!

Anyway, blabbers aside, I celebrated my new year at home barbeque style with a humble group of people. Without further ado, I present you some snapshots.

Sharon posing for a photo

Dad and his chopsticks skill

Okay, that wasn’t suppose to happen

I grilled those beautiful sausages ;)

Stephen and his torn fan

Vance and me

The result of eating lamb chop. Poor fork.

Nice burning charcoal in the grill

We finished early though and missed the countdown. But I had a sleepover and woke up pretty late. But it was quite good, I'm talking about the food of course. hah.

Now, I'm awaiting my results. Bring it!