... 31 May 07 ...

Today is the last day of May. It's been a long long month. Probably it's made worse because we didn't do any travelling during the weekends in May. Time ticks slowly without play. Ha.. Anyhow, with the passing of May as the clock ticks 12am in a few hours time, I'm more or less done with the outstanding coursework for my SEP here. What's left is the last assignment of my Applied Fluid Mechanics. Sian, it's that level 4 module again. I'm so not going to take anymore fluids stuff.. Fluids sucks.

Well, this time is an assignment on the selection of a windturbine for a family in the rural area. Interesting I know. Where in the heck can you set up a windfarm in Singapore. I have seen one single windturbine in SP though. But wind energy generation is big business in NZ, especially on the South Island. A significant portion of their power is generated from their offshore windfarms. But then again, isn't this what SEP is about? To be able to do something you cannot find in Sin. Ha, frankly, though this seem to be a 'don't know can pass or not' course, I admit it's interesting. Hands-on Solar car model competition on windtunnel. I don't even know where's NUS's windtunnel lor. I only know DSO has one beside SRC. Then windturbine... Well, I just pray everything goes smoothly and I get my credits..

Next week is the last week of classes. Monday is a public holiday, to celebrate Queen E's birthday. So I have a long weekend to work on my stuff. And I'll be going to Greymouth on the TranzApline Railway ride on 9 Jun. I think it's one of the most scenic railway rides in the world. And we'll be off for a glacier hike at Franz Josef. Take a 3 days break before whacking full steam during reading week manz..

Finally, today is Vesak Day. Not around in Sin to celebrate. May Light and Wisdom be passed on.. Happy Vesak Day! Happy Queens Birthday!~ Ha!~

1 week to Reading Week
4 Weeks to end of Exams
& End of Sem Tour
I'll be home soon

... Pirates of the Carribean 3 ..

Yesterday evening, I caught this show with Veron at Riccarton after going to the Christchurch I-site to settle our stuff for our West Coast Tour from 9 -11 Jun. Good show, much better than the 2nd episode, which I was lost most of the time. At least this time, it made some sense to me. I shan't comment much on the male actors, since it is my policy not to take too much notice of shuai ge.. But Elizabeth Swann... Weet Weet!~ Need I say more? Wahahahaha.... Sorry, I can't remember who was the actress.. Pai seh.. Hahaha....

And after getting back to my room after the show, I was so damn sleepy and tired. Dunno why oso, but woke up this morning, and made some kopitiam style breakfast for myself... Wahahaa... Somebody pls dun scold me, I'll leave enough for you when you get here... Wahahaha....

Showcasing: Half-boiled Egg, Kopi & Kaya Toast!~ Weet Weet!~ Yum Yum!~

... Pizzas for lunch ...

Boring title eh? So what's up with a few slices of pizzas for lunch.. Ha, nah.. Just that my American lecturer for the Materials course is returning back home at the end of this week, so he treated us to pizzas during lecture today.. And hell, it was that many pizzas to feed the whole lecture group of 100 plus people. Imagined how many pizzas if some lecturer in NUS does that.. 3 times that amount manz... Wahahaha...

How many pizzas are there?

Then the lecturer had a little chat with some of the students on his experiences in his research career at the Naval Research Lab in the US....

... And then I saw this tag stuck on his back.... Fwahahaha.....

He's a Nerd!!! HA!!!!

Then as I was looking out of the conference room window on the 5th floor, I saw the low clouds on the mountain ranges in a distance.. I wonder, how come there isn't any high-rise apartments in this part of Christchurch. I would probably wanna live there manz. Good view. I can probably just stand at the window, looking out, and staring at the scenery. Ha, I miss living on the 7th floor..

Not too clear on my HP photo, but the picture was nice..

... Icey Dragons ...

This was supposed to be quite an old stuff, it was before my haircut. But I've only put it up now.. Anyway, the usual 3 of us were out that night having dinner with Veron's cute guy, Atsushi, and when we were waiting for our bus to get back to our hall, we did all of the following. 3 Icey Dragons.. Blowing out vapour and having hell of a time... Wahahaha...

3 Icey Dragons in action!~

Smoke Out!~

Vapour Communication?

In Front of The Central Cathedral, Christchurch
L-R: Veron, Hannah (From Germany, also met her at Dolphin's Lodge, Kaikoura), Atsushi, SAYA
[Moses was taking the photo for us.. Keke...]

... International Food Fair ...

It was International Food Fair today at UC. Not many stalls were set up, mostly from the SEA region, with participation from the Singapore, Malaysian and Indonesian Club. Then there's also the Russians and the Samoans. Ha, well, there was bak kut teh, muah chee, orh bi beh (burbur hitam) from the Singapore stall. Not bad eh. So is the Roti Canai from the Malaysians. Ha, but their satay gravy was not to my liking though, ha. Still prefer those found in Singapore. No worries eh, first thing on the list when I land back in Singapore:- Out for supper on my Altis!~ Wahahaha!~ Who wanna join me in this quest? Fwahahaha......

Hmm, just take a look at the photo, so many people there.. Can you spot the hungry Ms Veron? Wahahaha....

More photos up @ http://hongkai83.multiply.com/photos/album/30

Nicole with her muah chee

How about some mouth watering Roti Canai?

Veron & Ken: Thumbs up for Roti Canai

... Thanks Guys!~ ...

Ha, well, these people from NUS LD recorded this (poorly taken) video during their annual CNY dinner at Merchant Court Hotel a couple of months back, but I only managed to view it a few days back. Thanks manz, I hope you people are enjoying your holidays back home, and practising hard for you know what. July is coming loh. Ha... And that means that I'm coming back real soon... Ha!~

Part 1


Part 2

... Hair Long liao ah ...

When hair grows long, cut it. Ha, and after much nagging, I finally went to get it cut this morning at this Korean hairdresser salon at Church Corner. It cost me $15, which I think is ok, cos I cut it really short, so that it can last me till I out-pro. Ha..

Now my hair looks like when I was an NSF!~ Ha.. All ready to in-pro manz... But I'm thinking, I might call up 08 and see if I could get him to allow me to in-pro on the 13 July instead. I'll probably be damn tired after the flight, and the jet lag, probably I'll be waking up at 5am every morning when I get back to Singapore. And also, I might really melt when I return.. Ha...

My head feels cold now when I'm out on the streets.. Ha..

Side Profile...

... 19 May 07 ...

Today is the 19th of May, 2007. Exactly 3 months ago, I flew off from CIA towards Aotearoa, for my SEP. Today, I have gotten used to the weather here, and also the day to day lifestyle. But then again, I still miss home a lot. People say that the moon overseas are rounder. Well indeed, I think the physical moon indeed seems rounder, and more stars to see too, but there's nowhere like home. I miss my flat, my room, my bed, my Altis, and the fact that I just need to press on the lift to get to the void deck, and I could get myself dinner. How convenient is that? I was at an Asian grocery store this morning, and I overheard 2 Singaporeans chatting about food and hawker centre. Damn, the smell and image of orh luak just came into my mind manz.. Argh.. Ha!~

As I look back, it has been rather enriching over the past 3 months. Stress, fun, excitement, emotions of all kinds and fun nonsense from friends around you. I also realized how inept I am in certain areas of engineering, particularly the practical hands on. The kiwis here really showed me NUS engineering courses can do better manz.. And that's how much of my stress comes from.. But through these stumbles and falls, you learn and grow. Although I still really pray I can scrap through and pass my modules. The S/U is one thing I cannot tumble.. *Fingers crossed* I must get all S.

... ENSOC BBQ #2 ...

Yesterday was ENSOC's 2nd BBQ, and so Moses and I went to take a look again. This time round, the crowd is significantly smaller because it costs $2 per entry, and $1 per drink. Ha. And so, there seem to be less crazy people around at the event. It was definitely not as good as the first one.

The theme was 'Anything But Clothes' and so you see the ang mohs all dressed up in funny ways. How about wrapping yourself up in transparent plastics, without any bra on? Or having nothing but just a plastic cup over your d**k? Or having a washing machine over as your outfit? Wth.. Ha.. They are really good man, but I din take photos of them though. Ha..

Oh, my materials lecturer also asked me over to his office for a chat too. It was more like a PCCG session. Ha, he was trying to get me to go into graduate school after I finish my Bachelors. This guy is a smart ass. A guest lecturer from the US Naval Research Lab, and did his Bachelors at Carnegie Mellon. Spent all his life doing materials research, looking at microscopic images. Ha.. Well, I don't really know if graduate school is really for me, but I guess it's also about time to start thinking eh? Ha..

... Thursdays ...

Ok, this is the 2nd consecutive Thursday that things aren't going right for me.. The solar car model that we were working on was kinda destroyed just before we went for our windtunnel test. We sanded it before the paint was totally dried and the whole surface finish was gone. We didn't have enough time to remedy and for that, the car experienced a higher drag force than the 1st test itself. What the hell... Haiz...

And it is this level 4 module. Time and again, I am hoping that something good in this module will eventually come up for me. The car model was done in a groups, so I thought maybe I could get some decent marks to boost abit of my morale in this course. But no, something just have to go against me.. Was it me? The result of being 24 years old... 犯太岁的年份里，难道果真要如此对我？

Will I be able to just scrap through this course? I'm demoralised...

... 11 May 07 ...

There was another test this morning. But this time round, things seem abit better than yesterday. Partly because it's the level 2 materials module, and the test is MCQ, so it's so so stressful eh. Their distinction in terms of expectations and the work between different modular levels is quite big I find. I don't really feel the difference in terms of expectations when you move on to do higher level work back in NUS. Hmm...

The afternoon, was filled with nothing to do.. Ha, not exactly, but we had to put our solar car model in the windtunnel for drag testing. We haven't really painted and polished the surface yet, so the drag was quite high. Well, we still have till Tuesday to get the remaining stuff up, and be ready for the competition. Hee..

1st pic: The model last week; Rest: Current State

It was a pretty fast test, and after which, I went back to my flat and snacked on chips and wine while watching tv. Ha, I think I drank too quickly I became abit tipsy after that... Wahahaha... But nonetheless, I WASN'T DRUNK...

Dinner was not bad.. Went over to buy a piece of fish from Capt Ben's and stir fried some broccoli with mushrooms plus onion egg. Ha, quite a wide spread eh? Well, decided to spend abit of time today cooking, so yea, although I know, it's not anything big and fanciful, but by my standards, it's not too bad le la... FWahaha....

Today is 11 May 07. That means that we will only be left with another 2 months here in NZ. I don't know if I'm all wanting to return, but I'm definitely looking forward to the end of sem tour though... Ha!~ I guess it'll be another round of mixed feelings in 2 months time... Ha!~

Counting down:

4 Weeks to Reading Week
7 Weeks to end of Exams
8 Weeks to my flight back

... Cuiz ...

I just screwed my test this morning... There were so much careless mistakes.. I just wasn't concentrating hard enough when I was studying I suppose.. And just what was I doing during the test too?!?!!? I should have gotten them.. This time I think really gone... REally Cuiz... I just hope I can pass this test... Praying hard... Cuiz... Haiz....

... Solar Car Model ...

The first week after my mid term break is coming to an end soon. Well, assignments, tests and online tutorials are charging at me once again, and at the same time, I also got back some of those which I did before the break. Some are very well done, others, well.... STill praying hard that I can pass that module... Haiz...

And for that module, I was busy building a solar car model too... Not a very big one, but we'll be putting it in for a test in the windtunnel on its drag forces and drag coefficients. Ha.. Well, the first way in which we tried to fabricate it didn't seem to turn out fine. It was rather sucky, and so we are also trying out entirely from scratch concurrently with the original model. Oooh well, I just hope everything for this module runs smoothly. Interesting and exciting, but the grades didn't look too much so though..

The sucky 1st prototype.. We had prob sticking the individual parts back..

Trying to redo using a diff method.. Car Skeleton clamped..

.... School is opening ...

Today is Friday, and in traditional me, I don't really study in Fridays except it's during exam time. But then, I've been finding hard to get back the study mood over the last few days. I'm still very much stuck in my holidays mood and this is bad. Term 2 seems tougher with more assignments and reports coming up. Tests and then the final exams. I need to pass. I really hope I can pick up again manz... 3 weeks of term break, seemed like a inter-semestral break. Wahaha... Now I've gotta get my engine up and running fast.

Anyway, I was back in school a couple of days back to work on my solar car model, and I found that the trees in the school have mostly turned red, and shedding leaves like nobody's business. It was so different from the case before I left for Easter break 3 weeks back. It's turning cold manz.. Been raining and cloudy over the past few days already...

And another pic of a poster put up in one of the engineering rooms: Bob the Builder. Wahaha... We've been talking quite abit about Bob during our Easter Trip too eh... Wahaha...

... 1st Movie & Bowling ...

Veron and I went to watch a movie at Riccarton together this afternoon. It was our first movie here in Christchurch, and thanks to Veron, we had a buy one get one free ticket offer, so off we went to watch. Ha.. And we watched TMNT... Keke.. Brings back childhood memories sia.. The new April O'Neil is so beautiful lor... It's so different from the one I knew more than a decade back. WAhaha.... But the graphics were great manz... Haha....

It was bowling later at night. It was organized by the SG Society and it had been a couple of years since I last bowled. Quite long though. And well, I did pretty well eh. Won a prize for being the the highest scorer in a game that night!~ Not bad for someone who hasn't bowled for a long time huh...

But I also realized they don't really practise alternate lane play here. I still remembered the first time I bowled, my friend was telling me not to move out and bowl at the same time with the person in the adjacent lane. It was impolite, he says. This is lane eitquette. Ha.. But here, everybody boh chup la.. Just go out and bowl, and it can be quite distracting though... Keke... But it was fun playing with them... Had a fun night... Keke....

Receiving my prize for being the top scorer

... Easter Break Tour [6-20 Apr 07] ...

We are all now back in Christchurch and frantically blogging on our holidays. There were alot small stuff which I didn't write, but I'll remember with the photos, so if I ever get to meet up with you, my friends, remember to ask me to bring my photos out, and to tell you stories... The stories of 5 crazy NUS Exchangers, travelling through the North Island. Ha!~

It'll be 2 more months before we, the Exchangers, will embark on another journey. Binjuan will most probably come down to the South Island by then and we will be going to Queenstown, Milford Sounds and Lake Wanaka. In the meantime, maybe there'll be a weekend trip through the TranzAlpine Railway.

A quick summary of our journey:-

• Dates: 6 - 20 Apr 07
• People Involved: Veron, Liling, Binjuan, Moses & Hong Kai
• Cars Involved: 2.4l Toyota Camry (BRJ326, from 6 - 16 Apr 07)
  1.6l Toyota Corolla (AJL147, from 16 -20 Apr 07)
• Distance Travelled: ~2200km
• Places visited: Auckland, Coromandel, Whitianga, Waitomo, Rotorua, Taupo, Turangi, Palmerston North, Wellington, Picton, Nelson, Motueka, Abel Tasman, Takaka, Kaikoura, Blenheim
• Highlight: TANDEM SKYDIVING!!!!!

... Day15: Kaikoura [20 Apr 07] ...

We spent a night at the Dolphin's Lodge at Kaikoura on 19 Apr 07, where our dear Veron met a cute Jap guy. Ha!~ She was like so happy after that can, and took a photo with this cute guy. Hee... He's one big female magnet manz... Argh!!! Muhaha....

20 Apr 07 was a very fine day and our Moses was going out into the seas to watch at whales. As for the rest of us, Veron decided not to go cause she's low on budget after the last minute decision to skydive, while I'm not really keen at looking at whale. Ha..

So we decided to visit the Lavendar and Animal Farm. There wasn't much to see at the Lavendar Farm as the season for lavendars has long passed and all we could see are 1 or 2 lavendars here and there and not very pretty ones too...

Lavendar Farm

The Animal Farm was better. The owner was shifting so we had a discount on admission. $5 (UP $7) plus a cup of feed. So we went around playing with the animals. There were llamas, sheep, pigs, chokes, ponies and wallabies. Oh, rabbits and guinea pigs too. The sheeps were fierce and desperate when it comes to food, and the rabbits and guinea pigs were too shy to come out and meet us. Ha.. And I was attacked on my chest by the little pony la. Haha... But I also got to have a ride on a cart pulled by the pony. Keke. Haha..

Animal Farm

And finally after the farm visits, we picked Moses up from his whale watching and were on our way back to Christchurch. 15 days of travelling, 15 days since we left.

... Day 13 & 14: Abel Tasman & Takaka [18 - 19 Apr 07] ...

Veron and I were abit high the next morning after our skydive, and Ha, yea, think Moses was abit complaining about it. Ha.

We decided to take a coastal walk at the Abel Tasman National Park. We took a water taxi to Torrent Bay, where we started our walk back to Marahau. The walk was supposed to take 4 hours, but we ended up walking for 5 hours. And we became so tired after that. And along the journey, we became very bored too, cos we were looking at the same things again and again for the whole 5 hours. Ha.. So we started to be crazy again, at some points in the walk. Ha...

Coastal Trek @ Abel Tasman National Park

Not letting down on the engine that we've started, we went for another tramp at the Takaka Hill Walkway. This was the idea of our good Geography teacher to-be, Ms Veron Kho. She had wanted to look at the Kaarst Landscape and the Tomos (sinkholes) that are found around the area. So Moses and I had to accompany lor. Haha... But then again, this trip is really called tramping la. It's more interesting, although shorter (2hrs walk only), as the tracks weren't as developed as those at Abel Tasman, and we also had to bash through forests, taking care not to slip, trip or get stung by some thorny bushes in the forests. It really required some brains and attention doing this tramp man.. Not too bad, I'd say... Ha!~

Takaka Hill Walkway

... Day 12: Motueka / SKYDIVING [17 Apr 07] ...

It was a quick drive to Motueka from Nelson and we reached that at about 11+, just before lunch. We made a quick visit to I-site and enquired about the weather to skydive, and it seems everything's all set to go, though there were a few big clouds in the sky. Everything looks fine and we were all getting ready to be picked up for our SKYDIVE!!!!

And so it was, Veron and I were picked up at 1245pm and were all geared up for another of our attempt at Skydiving. This time round, everything looks better and we boarded the place successfully, which would bring up to an altitude of about 13000 ft for the jump. The would be near to 4000m above the ground. Haha... Together in our load was another old uncle, and we were quite surprised he took the jump as well. To those who didn't dare take the leap, take cue from this grandpa manz... Muhaha....

I was the 1st to jump, and my jumpmaster's this handsome guy called James, and I had also another cameraman called Simon who would be taking photos and a video of my jump. I was nervous when we all hooked up our final gear and move towards the exit point. Haha... Took a few exit photos and out I went into the sky... Very fast, so said Veron... Ha...

In the plane before exit

The feeling was the best I've had... You just fall through and enjoy everything, air and clouds, passing u by at a speed of 200km/h at terminal velocity. I did all sorts of funny faces in midair during the freefall, and it seems that once you open your mouth, it's not easy to close it back. And in the end, I ended up eating lots of air manz. So much of jiak hong!~ Haha... I had contact with the cameraman for quite a bit of time and he snapped alot of photos of me in midair, in all sorts of funny faces, to the extent that he ran out of memory in his memory card to take my landing shots!!! Disappointing!!! ARghh!!!! Haiz....

In freefall conditions ~200km/h

And so, you freefall for about 45 seconds, losing an altitude of about 7000ft and then the canopy opens. Thereafter, you see Simon fall fast beneath you and it's time for me to enjoy the scenery. Well done man.. And that's not all! James actually made 2 spiralling moves with that parachute. It was spiralling so fast that I complained "dizzy eh" after he finished his 2nd spiral. Ha, but it was super duper fun!~ Wahaha!~

In 5 minutes, you finish your slow descent to ground and I've completed my first ever freefall. Ha, machiam the Red Lions during NDP eh?Fwahaha...

Exit photos & Cert of Achievement!

I've posted all the photos taken in mid-air and my freefall video on my multiply site. Just click on the "My Photo Album" link on the left on this blog to go take a look!~ Whee!~

Finally, everyone who ever has the chance to do this, pls go tandem. Even our dear Veron had no regrets skydiving!

After Dive photos.

... Day 11: Wellington / Picton / Nelson [16 Apr 07] ...

We wanted to wake up early that morning to go taking photos around the city centre again, but we took great effort before we could all get up. Ha... Darn funny, when i awoke, some1 else is sleeping, and when she wakes up, i dozed back off.. Haha....

As I said, Wellington has got very nice buildings and facades, but they also had a fair share of vandalism too. Ha.. But nonetheless, it was a good walk around the city centre, and BJ, Veron and I ended the walk with breakfast at MacDonalds. As usual, I find the serving @ MacDoc too small for its price. BK is better. Ha, it BK wasn't opened yet. Keke...

Wellington at Daytime


Wellington Misc Shots

Very quickly, it was time to check out of the hostel and that means that we had to split ways with BJ. She's going back to Auckland as term restarts next Monday, while we still have another week of break. I think I had a rather heavy heart at that. Afterall, she's part of the crazy gang and we fought and played hard over the 1 week plus together. It'll be for another 2 months before we have the chance to meet up again in South Island, and I await its arrival. And we'll fight and play hard again, after the exams!~ And of course, your skydive! Ha!~

It was then to the Wellington Ferry Terminal to catch the Inter-Islander Ferry which would send us across the Cook Straits back to Picton on South Island. The sights pass the Queen Charlotte's Sounds was fabulous. Another wonderful scenery NZ has to offer. Take a look!~

Inter-Islander Ferry & Picton

Lunch as pizza at Picton and then a drive to Nelson to spend the night. That's a dead dead city, I tell you. We reached there at 6pm, and we had serious difficulty trying to find some food-selling restaurants. They were nearly all closed. WTH!!! Argh!!!! *shakes head*