The Brand New Glamourous Nerd

What attributes constitute a nerd?

Nerd always brings to mind a guy wearing thick black-rimmed specs, with hair parted neatly to one side, with shirt always tucked inside his shorts, always sitting in front of a computer or have a dry book at hand. Just like the picture above.

Someone for some 'don't remember why' reason called me a nerd sometime ago. I'm quite mortified coz I don't think I'm a nerd at all. And after going to wikipedia and search up a definition of the word, I'm doubly confident I'm not a nerd.

Here's what wikipedia says about being a nerd:

"Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who passionately pursues intellectual or esoteric knowledge or pastimes rather than engaging in social life, participating in organized sports, or other mainstream activities. The Merriam-Webster definition is an "unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits."

Here's a checklist about being a nerd:

Nerds show a pronounced interest in:

1. Subjects which others tend to find dull or complex and difficult to comprehend, especially topics related to science, mathematics and technology,
2. Comic books and anime,
3. Complicated board games (such as Risk or Stratego),
4. role-playing games (some of which would be MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft or Maplestory), strategy games,
5. science fiction, horror and fantasy literature,
6. competitive debate.
7. They also generally maintain encyclopedic knowledge of their chosen subject, easily recalling obscure or archival details.

I don't really like the subjects in (1), I seldom read (2), I hate to think while playing games (cross-off 3), I only play WoW occasionally and the literature mentioned in (5) are definitely not my cup of tea.

And I'm very happy by this point that I'm not a nerd.

However, after reading the first few chapters of 'The World is Flat', a 2006 must read bestseller book by Thomas Friedman, I kind of start hoping that I'm a nerd in some ways.

Why? Coz the world can't do without nerds. They are definitely the unsung heroes of our society. Noticed how we can't live without the Internet nowadays? If the world is devoid of nerd but full of sociable, happy go lucky hard drinking kinda hedonistic people, we still would be searching books for all sorts of info.

Another thing is nerd = rich. Bill Gates is a nerd, and he is the richest man on earth. No matter what you say about money isn't everything, I still want to be rich. Heard this quote before?

"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one." — Charles J. Sykes

So I guess everyone should start acting like a nerd coz being a nerd is the 'cool and rich' guy of the future. Who cares about the tall, dark handsome muscular guy. Hey, no one can live without you, since you know you belong to the same group of people who invented the Internet, Netscape, iPod, handphones, google... definitely cool.

How to do it? simple. I have a fail-safe way: Wear a black rimmed spec, bring a computer magazine with you and read it in a social event full of people. I'm sure by the end of the night everyone while say "the nerd over there..." when they refer to you. And you can flashed them a geeky smile showing a hint of your teeth in braces. You will feel proud that they called you a nerd.

I'm positively sure you want to be a nerd now. And instead of standing in front of the mirror debating "am I, am I not", just visit this website who make things so easy:

Nerd test: http://www.nerdtests.com/ft_nq.php


My not-so-bad nerd score

And yeah, if you are thinking of a new name for your new-found nerdy image, there's a nerd name generator for you:
http://www.xach.com/nerd-name/

Mine's pretty cool. It's Cletus, the Fantasy Figurine Aficionado!

Happy nerding!

「小孩不笨2』

昨晚和威伦与道光看了梁智强的「小孩不笨2』。

真是一部感人、有意义的电影。

在电影许多很有意义的对话中， 给我最深刻的印象是 「你爸爸很爱你，但是他不会爱你』这一句。 真的，表达爱是一门很多人不会的学问。不管你多爱一个人，表达不出来和没有爱没什么两样，因为结果都是一样的：对方都感觉不到你的爱。

世界上三句最难说出口的话：
1。 我爱你
2。谢谢
3。对不起
都是每个人最喜欢听的话。

把这三句话说出口是免费的，也不消费多力量与精神。

但是就是说不出口。

这个世界真是奇妙。

A Rough English Translation:

Last night, I watched the critically acclaimed Jack Neo's movie [ I am not stupid 2] with Wee Loon and Thow Kong.

It was a very touching and meaningful story.

Amongst the various meaningful sentences uttered during the movie, the one I like best is "your dad loves you very much, only that he doesn't know how to love you." In retrospect, displaying love is something a lot of people are not good at. Eventhough we loved someone, be it our parents, siblings or friends, sometimes we just never got the courage to say "I love you". We just assume they know.

The 3 words in the world that poeple loves to hear best:
1. I love you
2. Thank you
3. I'm sorry
are amongst the hardest word to say.

Even though deep inside our heart we loved someone or we are eternally grateful for their support or we felt that we had hurt them.. we sometimes just can't bring ourselves to say those magical words.

We resort to other ways that are usually more expensive, more time or energy consuming to potray our love etc, eventhough we know articulating the words out is the simpliest and most impactful way to do it.

The world is indeed a funny place.

That sums up my feelings for the week.

That the world is indeed a funny place.

P/s: been busy these few days juggling time between studying, commitments in uni and trying to improve my knowledge via reading. I'm reading 3 books concurrently: 'The world is flat' by Thomas Friedman, 'The right word at the right time' by Marlo Thomas and 'Maximum influence' by Kurt Mortensen. All are highly enlightening and hence highly recommended by me. Hence I apologise for the relative lack of posts.

First Pub Experience

In my 2 plus years in Melbourne, I had never stepped into a pub. Until today.

Drinking on a Friday nite is much of an Austrilian cultural thing. However, due to a lack of oppportunity, I never had a chance to join in the fun. Until today.

For my first pub eperience, my friend bought me to Young & Jackson, argubly the most famous pub in Melbourne.

The atmosphere there is very nice: the walls are graced with beautiful pictures, the tables bathed in warm candle light and there are soft chattering and clattering as background music.

First off we have beer. Some of the beers are funnily named: I have one named Mountain Goat and my friend have the Little Creature.

Then we have a shot of tequila. My friend taught me a very unique way of enjoying them:

Firstly, shake some salt on the back of your hand.



Secondly, drink your tequila in one shot.



Thirdly, suck the salt,



Lastly, and (quickly) took a bite of the lemon.



The sensation in your mouth is amazing.

To top it off, we ordered some nice food to go with our drinks. These are our chorizo (Spanish Sausage) on toast and chips with dipping sauce. They really augment the whole eperience.



Surprisingly enough, it was a pretty relaxing experience being in Young & Jackson. You can just sit there chatting and enjoying the soothing atmosphere while letting your body and mind unwind after a week of stress. There is none the usual brawdy, noisy, smoky crowd usually associated with pubs.

It was indeed a satisfying and pleasant experience.

P/s: I took the photos in sepia mode to capture the 'feeling' of the place. Hopefully you can feel it. =)

Virginia Tech: what can we learn from it?

Virginia Tech. 16 March 2007. 32 innocent (plus 1 not-so-innocent) lives lost. What can we learn from it?

The Herald Sun today compiled a moving snapshot of the lives of the people ended so abruptly by the senseless event. It was a simple yet compelling article, of which the first few paragraph I plagiarised shamelessly here:

THEY were the future. Thirty-two young adults and their Virginia Tech teachers studying languages, engineering, biology, political science -- the building blocks of a better world.

They came from all over the US and from abroad -- Peru, Indonesia, India.

A sullen loner not only killed them, he destroyed families, friendships and networks across the globe.

If you are interested to read more, click here.

In fact, you can feel more about the senselessness of this mass massacre after you read the myspace profiles of these people. Most of them are like me and you: happy, innocent, carefree peple at the peak of their lives. There's a link to their MySpace via MyDeathSpace.

It is all so sad...

School is supposed to be a santuary...

But what can we all learn from this?

That the US is stupid and should have gun control laws passed long ago?
That if you are an Asian student you are potentially a mass killer?
That the university should act more urgently after the first killing?
That the killer's teacher and friends should pick up the warning signs earlier?
Perhaps we should care more about people around us?

I hope everyone will learn something from this event, however senseless it may be or inconsequential it may seems.
Take a moment to reflect, to think.
They will die in vain if we do not learn something from their death.
It can be as simple as cherish life.
Or live life to the fullest.

May them rest in peace...

Mornington PeninsulaTrip

On Saturday my friends and I embarked on another trip, this time to Mornington Peninsula.

There are 15 of us on this trip, and we hire 3 cars to get everyone in.

First stop is the Enchanted Maze/Garden. There seems to be a lot of mazes in Australia, and this particular one is quite fun. I took a lot of pictures and I'll let a selected few to do the talking for me. =)


The enchanted maze.


A statue of a lady reading in the park.


This feels like Garden of Eden or Shangri-La.


I loved this tree. Reminds me of Autumn in my Heart.

Next we stopped at a mountainside scenic spot for a picnic. The view is magnificient but due to my poor photography skills, there's no good photos to show. So you juz have to trust me that the view is nice.

After that we proceed to a strawberry farm.


Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm.

The trip to the strawberry farm left me a little disappointed bcoz it's the end season and the strawberries doesn't look as pretty as it should be. For those of you who never seen a strawberry tree before, I took a picture to satisfy your thirst:


This is how a strawberry fern looks like.

After tasting various fruit wines and sample their famous strawberry ice-cream, we proceed to Rye Beach to view some sand sculptures.


One of the numerous breath-taking sculptures.

After that we went to the beach, and it started raining.

Nevertheless, the weather creates some awesome photographing chances.


Rye Beach sunset

I was feeling a little Song Hae Gyo-ish after viewing the Autumn tree so I ask someone to take this picture. Should had brought my yellow umbrella instead..


There should be a rainbow in the back..

For those in the dark, Song Hae Gyo is one of my fav Korean actress and Autumn in my Heart is the drama in which she acted and which kick-start my love affair with everything Korean. I wrote a post on this before.

I like this pier a lot. I took this photo without looking into the viewfinder of my camera. Even though it looks a little bit crooked, it reminds me of a stairway to heaven.


Fishing pier on Rye Beach

After touring the beach, we went searching for more beaches and beach houses and pay the sea-side town of Sorrento a visit. To culminate our eventful and satisfying trip, we went to Springvale for a Chinese feast.

By the time I reached home, I am nearly dead of exhaustion. On Sunday, I think I am only awake for 6 hours.

Anyway, this trip will not be possible without the initiative and hard work of Wee Loon. He conjures an impressive one-man-show, dealing with everything concerning the trip from rounding up the people, booking the cars and preparing the itinerary. So I would wish to say: "Thank you very much!" to him. I'm sure he will talk about this in his blog soon. =)

Leadership Program

I just spent two full days of my already too-short holidays attending a Future Leaders Program in Uni.

Luckily the program is very inspiring, full of fun activities and interesting concepts on the topic of Leadership, or else I will scream blue murder.

Fourteen of us took part in the program, and it was fourteen very different people with fourteen different backgrouds.

Everyone have different charactieristics and different things to offer but in the end we all learn from each other and have our experiences enriched.

For me, I had learnt a lot on changing and challenging my mindset. It was true what the facilitators had said: leadership starts from a person leading himself. Actually, everyone is a leader- you do not have to be a leader in a club to be a leader- you can be a leader by leading yourself, your younger siblings, friends etc.

There are some fun games too, like this one:
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .

Instruction: Without lifting your pen from the paper, draw 6 lines that will cover all 16 dots.

The facilitators are so excellent that they even got me to learn how to juggle with three balls within those two days! I couldn't believe that their self-talk model actually work so brilliantly.

Hopefully the things I learnt from the program will be able to assist me in becoming a better leader.

A dedication

Today, my cousin in Singapore is going to put on her 'four-sided hat'.

My cousin and me in front of my cow. =)

She will graduate with a Honours degree in Information Management and Systems.

As I am far away and can't be in Singapore to attend the ceremony, I wish to present her the 'customary' graduation bear

and flowers in my blog.

And say with heartfelt sincerity: Congratulations!

For me, putting on a 'four-sided hat' is of great significance. It is the culmination of all the hard work and tears for over the last 10 odd years. It signifies the end of sleepless nites doing projects, the never-ending exams, the search for numerous answers, the endless sacrifice of 'fun time'. All the years through kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and university is just to be able to wear the hat. It also signifies that at long last after much preparation, you are ready to face the world, ready to contribute and be a useful part of society.

The fact is that less than 1% of the world population ever have the chance to pursue a university degree. Being able to get one is a privilege and something to be proud and thankful of.

I hope she felt the same.

Congratulations once again!

Can't wait for the day I graduate too...

山水画

假期了。

去游山


One Tree Hill National Park, Dandenong

玩水。


Frankston Beach

不同的地方。

不同的朋友。

不同的活动。

同样快乐，幸福的感觉。



谢谢大家！

A rough English translation:

It's the hols.
To the mountains I travelled;
To the sea I journeyed.

Two different places;
two different sets of friends;
two different kinds of activites;
but the same afterthought:
I'm so blessed with good friends.

Just wanna say thank you very much for the good time.

Tags

Since it's the hols and I have no mood to do the things I'm supposed to do, I had decided to reply the tags that were a 'bequest' of the friendly ghost a few weeks ago.

So here goes:

Tag 1
Q1: Who is the most wanted blogger you want to meet?
- dunno... maybe kenny sia. Coz he's a kuching guy and ppl says he looks funny goin around with a big camera trying to be funny. But his posts are getting lamer and not-so-funny anymore nowadays.

Q2: Who is the group of blogger you most wanted to meet?
- ppl who wrote political blogs. Wanna pick their brains to visualise how they think.

Q3: Who is the “I can meet, want to meet but somehow never get to meet blogger’?
- Kenny Sia again? Don't think its difficult to accidentally 'meet' him..

Tag 2
Each one starts out by telling 6 weird things about themselves etc etc...

Okay some weird things about it. But I dont really knmow how to define weird..but here goes.

1. I like to read romantic stories, doesn't really matter whether it is English or Chinese. You know, stories about talk, dark, handsome guys meeting beautiful young ladies.

2. As I had said before, I would like to have a girl 'chase' after me. It is by far the toughest of my new year resolutions coz I have least amount of control on it. But since a lot of my resolutions had already been achieved this year, this may just happen. Who knows...

3. I hate to be late and will try to arrive early even though I know others will be late. I know its stupid but t's a matter of principle.

4. I am a little bit girli-yish. I care a lot about my appearance, I look through fashion magazines, I speak softly and can really act like a girl. If you wanna me teach you how to hold a cup, strut down the street or apply make-up like a girl, I seriously can help you.

5. Like See Hua, I always liked Lego sets. I even bought some here. I especially like those with lotz of Lego people in it. The more Lego people the set has, the more I like it.

6. I always believe that I can be the Prime Minister of Malaysia one day.

Tag 3
GETTING TO KNOW HIM

LAYER 1: ON THE OUTSIDE.
Name: Kho Boon Phiaw
Birth Date: 31 May 1985
Current Status: Single
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Hair Colour: Black
Righty or Lefty: Lefty (thats why I'm clever)

LAYER 2: ON THE INSIDE.
My Heritage : Malaysian Chinese
My Fears : Dying young
My Perfect Pizza : thin crust, with cheese that is difficult to break up.

LAYER 3: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW.
My Thoughts First Waking Up : What's the time now?
My Bedtime : From 12am to 2am
My Most Missed Memory: Time in INTEC

LAYER 4: MY PICK.
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald's or Burger King: McD
Single or Group Dates: Group (I like watch ppl)
Adidas or Nike: Nike
Tea or Nestea: Both
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee: Cappuccino with two sugars

LAYER 5: DO YOU...
Smoke: No. But want to try once before dead.
Curse: Most of the time (trying to cut down).
Take a Shower: Sure, at least once a day.
Have a Crush: Sure la. I'm not gay.
Think You've Been In Love: Hard question.
Go To School: Yes
Want To Get Married: Not sure
Believe In Yourself: Not 100% yet. Trying to get there..
Think You're A Health Freak: A little.

LAYER 6: IN THE PAST.
Drank Alcohol: Sure
Gone To The Mall : Always
Been On Stage: Yeah. But not for a long time now
Eaten Sushi: Only started after being in Melbourne
Dyed Your Hair: Nope.Wil do it sometime in the near future

LAYER 7: HAVE YOU EVER...
Played A Stripping Game: Nope
Changed Who You Were To Fit In: A little

LAYER 8: AGE YOU'RE HOPING...
To Be Married: Around 30

LAYER 9: IN A GIRL...
Best Eye Colour: whatever, as long as it looks lively and sparkles
Best Hair Colour: Shades of black/brown
Short Hair or Long Hair: Long

LAYER 10: WHAT WERE YOU DOING...
A Minute Ago: replying to these tags
An Hour Ago: watch a movie with Thow Kong and Wee Loon
4.5 Hours Ago: Resting
1 Month Ago: Busy with uni life
1 Year Ago: Still busy with uni life

LAYER 11: FINISH THE SENTENCES...
I love: to have happy people all around me
I hate: people having trouble with their love lives. Love should be simple
I hide: a lot of things from people
I miss: Kuching food?
I need: a lot of confidence

If any of you really read this, thx a lot for your patience....gee I never thought you would. Either you are bored or you cared for me very much. I hope it is the latter. Thx so much! =P

By the way, I'm not tagging anyone else coz its Easter and I want to spread a little goodwill. =)

现代的小红鸡

有一天，小红鸡想吃滑蛋面。因此它招聚了所有农场里的朋友。

「小黄狗！我想煮滑蛋面。你可以帮我去买面吗？」

小黄狗回答说 「我懒得出去。你自己去买吧！」

「小金猪！我想煮滑蛋面。你可以帮我洗菜吗？」

小金猪回答说 「我想睡懒觉。你自己洗吧！」

「小白鸭！我想煮滑蛋面。你可以帮我切肉吗？」

小白鸭回答说 「我想去河边和小黑鸭约会。你自己切吧！」

虽然被三位好友拒绝了，但是小红鸡不因此而感到心灰意冷。它便自己去买面，洗菜，切肉，然后煮了一盘香喷喷的滑蛋面。

当小红鸡要吃滑蛋面时，小黄狗，小金猪与小白鸭都跑来了。它们说「我要吃滑蛋面!」

「你们都不帮我煮滑蛋面。我不让你们吃！」

小黄狗，小金猪与小白鸭感到不服气，便和小红鸡吵了起来。农夫听见了，便来听个究竟。当这群禽兽把事情的经过一五一十告诉农夫后，农夫说「小红鸡，你这样做是错的。你应该懂得和朋友们分享好吃的东西，不可这么自私，知道吗？」

因此它们便一起高高兴兴地吃小红鸡煮的滑蛋面。

从此以后，小红鸡再也不煮滑蛋面了。

A happy day

Today was such a happy day. I got selected as a student ambassador! Totally unexpected coz I dun feel that I did well in the interview. Even worse, I'm s'posed to receive a call concerning my application sometime this afteroon but I didn't. It was like so suspenseful... and I only knew about it like 5 mins before the induction coz I happened to bum into the programme coordinator in uni. Damn B digital.. gonna change my phone service provider.

Well, guess a lot of ppl dun understand why I'm so happy about getting something that really don't pay me a single cent and will take up a significant proportion of my time. But it was something I wanted so badly due to its exclusivity: in a year, only around 15 ppl are selected; and it is also the very last piece of the puzzle in my uni life and I got it!

Now I hold an executive position in a club in Uni.
And I am also an official event-organising volunteer in Uni.
And had also received the Vacation scholarship from Uni.
And now this Student Ambassador contract.
My CV is complete. I have every aspect covered. I fulfilled another criteria of my dream.
That's why I'm happy. Happy that another of my dreams have been fulfilled.

Anyway, for those of you who is interest in knowing what the ambassador program is about, basically it is a program where you are expected to represent and promote the uni to prospective students and also the uni's alumni and sponsors. In return, they find a mentor to guide you and also sponsor you to leadership and character-building events. Sounds intimidating but I guess gonna be fun as well.

Future updates about this later. =)

Okay.. updates about the Run-for-the-kids. The official results are out yesterday, and I got placed 5097 amongst the male runners. The top time is around 43 mins, which is a long way better than my time of 1.22.22. On the last two days I was limping in uni coz my foot hurts a lot and tons of ppl don't believe that I actually managed to finish the run (nevermind the excellent time). They were like 'it's 15.2 kms man... are you sure you finish the race?' I was like thinking.. do I look that fat and unfit? =P

Guess 15.2km is intimidating when you first hear about it, but it is actually not that difficult to finish the course. Remind me of the "Yakin Boleh" song that I sing annually in my secondary school.. "jika kau fikirkan kau boleh, kau boleh melakukannya..." My advice is, you can do it if you think you can. =)

Anyway, yesterday I tried to cook the pumpkin soup that was taught in the cooking class in uni last week. I reckon I did a good job coz it looks appetizing and tastes better than the one demonstrated. Too bad my housemate dunno how to appreciate it... hmm.. wan look for someone who knows how to appreciate me.

Guess I wanna sign off now. Easter Break is up next week! Looking forward to the one week hols.

Run-for-the-kids!

My feet ache. My muscles hurt. I walk with a limp today. But I am damn happy. I managed to finish the 15.2km Run-for-the-kids in the unbeliable time of 1:22:20! Even I am astonished at my ability.

Well, if that doesn't sound impressive to you:

That means I took an average of 5 mins 42 sec to finish a kilometre.

Which is also equivalent to 11.1 km/hr.

Well, if you are still not impressed, go grab a threadmill and set the speed at 11 km/hr. And try to run on it for 1 hr. You will see how difficult it is. =)

What's more, it is well below my target of 1:30:00. I don't really think I can do it coz I usually run around 10.5 km/hr at the gym for 20 mins. But yesterday morning, just got the extra reserve to run. I reached the 11km stage in 1 hour, and basically finished the last 4.2 kms in 22mins. It was so exhilirating. I felt so proud of myself after passing the finishing line. It's like reaching a milestone in life.

At last I proved to myself than there is no barrier I can't break, and I had came a lot way physical and fitness wise since my primary school days, where I can't even finish 100m without huffing and puffing. It feels so nice to be fit and healthy.

Okay, back to yesterday's Run For The Kids. There are a approx 26000 person joining the race, with 18000 in the 15.2km race and the rest in the 3.4km run. The weather was pretty nice, no wind with a hint of sun. The view along the journey was breathtaking, as we travel through tunnels and bridges that are normally only accessible to cars.


Happy faces after the race

10 of us JPA students took part in the race, and all of us managed to conquer it in respectable time. So if you think that JPA students are bookworms, think again. We are really all-rounded students who have a big heart, coz besides torturing ourselves, we even need to shell out AUS$35 juz to take part!

Anyway, for different versions and perspectives of the race, feel free to browse the blogs of Wee Loon and Chang Yang. And yeah, special praise had to be given to Wee Loon for managing to finish the race even while suffering from common cold and Thow Kong for running whilst recovering from a badly gashed knee. Commendable spirits.