The hand of God extended loftily and with regal cavalier, almost as if waiting to be kissed.

The hand of Man reaching tentatively, the extended index finger more a sign of apprehension than accusation, his other fingers relaxed, submissive.

The two hands almost touch, but they don't.

I love my poster :D

Happy Australia Day

Posters

S.H.E banner in the Modern Languages building in University of Waterloo

Starry Starry Night poster on the wall above my bed :D newly purchased.

Michelangelo's um, hand of God and Man. Nice, eh?

Monthary

Today marks our first month anniversary. Gosh, it has been such a long, long time since such a term applied to me.

Anyhow, Happy First Month, Gwen :)

Balm

In an attempt to preserve my girlfriend's sanity, I've taken the previous post down. I don't mind being villianized, but doing so and putting someone on moral high ground at the same time isn't very clever.

Let the scum wallow in his shit hole. Ah, there I go again. I'm not very clever. Haha.

But nope, not even pity from this corner. Like I said, I don't sympathize with terrorists just because the only way they know how to express themselves is through acts of life-claiming violence. Neither then, will I even pretend to empathize with self-absorbed characters who hurt others because they have, or claim to have, no control over their emotions.

On second thought, the previous post remains. Think of me what you will.

Venom

What does it mean to love a person? Or at least to claim that you love a person. Obviously you want to possess the person, to make the person yours. Cause love usually comes coupled with lust and the only way you're going to get to satisfy that lust is to make the person of your affection or desire yours.

Of course not everybody thinks that way. I, for one, don't. But looking at the extent some people go to win a girl's heart just makes me sick. Love has nothing to do with it. Genuine concern for the person's well being goes out the window and nothing else but winning matters.

No freaking idea what I am talking about? Ok listen to this, then decide if you agree with me.

We have our guy, let's call him Scumbag and two girls, Mary and Jane. Scumbag likes Mary. He doesn't really know her, has only superficial conversations with her, but he loves her. Or he thinks he loves her. His heart skips a beat when he sees her in school, and so addicted he is to that fluttering of his heart that he stalked the places she frequents, like the central library and forum, hoping only to catch a glimpse of his true love whom he doesn't really know. He does things for her in secret, not revealing his identity cause that doesn't matter, all that matters is that she's happy.

Mary and Jane are friends. So are Scumbag and Jane. Scumbag had been confiding in Jane about his infatuation-related misery. Oh, no wait, it's the misery of love. Poor guy had been trampled upon, abused, ill-treated by the girls he love because, as he put it himself, he's dumb, stubborn, and committed. Wouldn't you want a guy like this, girls? Warms your heart doesn't it.

Back to our story. Scumbag whines to Jane, and Jane comforts Scumbag. And then Mary got attached. Naturally, our dear Scumbag was devastated, and Jane was there to catch him. To be a friend. Ah hah. What do you think happens at this juncture? Watchers of the world will be able to guess. The Scumbag fell for Jane!

So begins the campaign for Jane's heart. They work together, so proximity is not a problem. In fact, it's an advantage. The onslaught of sweet gestures coupled with choice lines of flirtation and innuendo caught Jane by surprise, especially since she was still under the impression that Scumbag was in Love with Mary. Good cover, eh?

Jane's discomfort grew over time, and eventually she broke. Asked Scumbag, more or less, to stop flirting with her. To stop screwing with her mind. Scumbag, our dear friend, was furious. What's wrong with being nice? Is that a crime? He's nice to everybody, he says. Yeah, I'm sure.

Ok I'm getting bored of our story, so let me summarize. First, Scumbag denied being interested in Jane. She was just, in his words, someone very important to him. Then, he said, oh no, he did fall for Jane. But he didn't know it! Only when his friends told him did he know. Poor, poor, undergrad. Next, he said he was fine, and realised after all that Jane is nothing more than a very important friend. And lo and behold, he STILL likes Mary! Exciting, eh.

He asked Jane out for dinners and got upset when she turned him down. I find that mildly ridiculous, but let's go on. Anyway, he continued doing sweet gestures for Jane, like buying chicken rice for everybody and announcing that he bought a special for Jane - Botak Jones. Great friend.

And then. Jane got attached. Poor Scumbag. Again, he sank, or seemingly sank, into depression. Whined about how he's too nice, that he got deceived and cheated. Beneath Jane's innocent facade was a cheat who toyed with his poor unsuspecting heart.

Does Scumbag give up now? No, he merely changes tactics. Some of you might know this tactic. Be extremely sweet, then suddenly withdraw. So your mark feels empty and hopefully realises that she can't live without you. Something like that. Scumbag takes it a step further. He not only withdraws, he turns mean. When once he used to uplift, now he demeans. He takes it so far, he reduces Jane to tears. And then he shows concern for a while, lulling Jane into the false belief that all is over. They can finally resume their platonic friendship.

Boy, was she wrong. Scumbag was incensed that his tactics failed, and re-doubled his efforts. Bah. Just typing about this disgusts me. When you love a person, you don't intentionally hurt the person, for crying out loud. If you're trying to trick the person into bed, maybe, but not when you LOVE the person. Talking about Love like that makes me feel like fourteen. But that's what Scumbag is, childish. It's like going to a pet shop, liking a puppy, then finding out that shit, he can't afford the puppy. So, he sneaks into the pet shop at night, and burns the puppy alive.

Disgusting, and twisted. Be mean, and hurt the poor girl. Then go, "Why are you upset? I am always here for you. You can talk to me! :)" Don't you realise that YOU are hurting her and that she's just too nice. So nice that she's afraid she'll hurt you. Scum.

Lucky for her, she's Christian. And there's comfort in knowing that God wouldn't test her beyond her abilities. One can't be expected to keep turning the other cheek till one gets beaten to death.

But if I have my way, Scumbag, I'll spit into your twisted face. And yes I know you'll read this.

Wisdom

Dad says: "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy!"

Step-dad says: "Shaun, make sure you try EVERYTHING in Canada yeah?"

Mum says: "Make sure you don't flirt around okay, son. Looking is enough."

Look who came to visit!

Hello Jeryd =)

Gwen

It's finally snowing again :)

This is sad

Interviewer: "What would like most for an Asian guy to have?"
Girl: "Smartness?"
Interviewer: "We're in Berkeley!

Google is your friend

I came across this in University of Waterloo(UW)'s version of IVLE.

The resources section for this particular module was blank except for a nice link to Google, complete with Google's logo. Totally cracked me up.

In this Google era, Ignorance is not an excuse. There is no I-don't-know, only I'll-google-it. =)

Mr Angry gets around =)

In the waterloo city centre

On the GRT's I-Express

Wish you're here, darling.

Oktoberfest Heritage Timeteller

Oops, no space folks. Snow got here first.

Accidentally taken. Photographer couldn't wait for me to get out of the photo before snapping. Click for full view!

"Barley" is supposed to be on top of "works"

Adult shop selling everything from sex toys, bongs, marijuana-replacement("gives you the same buzz, but legal!")

Old Goat. How bookstores should be like. Wooden shelves, carpeted flooring, warm, dusty smell of books, and a keeper who looks like a hippie. It sells good quality second hand books. Nice.

Discounts from the above-mentioned Adult Shop. UW students have discount! I am one! Haha.

No idea why I had this photo taken. Didn't even enter the place. Haha. Tourist.

Happily free-riding on a GRT bus, courtesy of our UW watcard.

There's something wrong with this picture. It's just wrong. But nice isn't it. Haha, Japheth took it without my knowledge.

This is how it's supposed to be. Slightly better right :D

Misc shots in Uptown Waterloo

The full shots are much more beautiful. See them here

First Contact with Canadian Beer

Waterloo Dark and Stonehammer =)

Canada Canada

My international student card and Watcard, the matric card equivalent here in UW that also stores meal credit points to be used anywhere on campus. Amazingly, it also gives unlimited free rides on any city bus! That's CAD$2.50 saved each time I take the bus. Cool, eh?

UW's "Team NUS"

In the MathSoc lounge.

Snow-covered bicycles. I suppose no one rides in winter. It'll be suicide.

More Canada photos

Picasa only allows uploads of 4 photos at once, and since I'm too lazy to manually upload photos from Blogger, here're multiple posts. One more post coming up!

Click to see the full-sized photo! Beautiful.

More of the snow-covered campus.

More..

The Math and Computing faculty where Japheth and I would be studying. Everybody says it's ugly. I asked a passing student for directions to the Student Life Centre and he went "it's beside the ugly building that's the faculty of math."

Canada :)

Check out the size of the pepperoni pizza in relation to the laptop. HUGE!

The inside of Conestoga Mall, the mall nearest to our hotel.

Read the poster. Bizzare.

Snow covered tree in University of Waterloo. The snow makes the place beautiful, much more than it actually is. Drab brown buildings, dull architectual designs.

AVP R

Don't watch AVP. Don't. The first one was bad, this one is far far worse. Unless you like Days of Our Lives crossed with some brainless, plot-less action flick taken with Blair-witch-project style camera angles, stay far, far, away from this piece of shit.

And to think it cost me CAD$9.95 to watch it. Canada has "amusement tax"; you pay the government for the privilege of amusing yourself. Maybe the profits from this tax goes to social welfare to feed those who can't afford to feed, let alone amuse themselves.

It's 8pm now and I'm tired. Japheth's already sleeping. Jet lag?

Christmas gifts

What I got for christmas :) Thanks Gwen. I'm still wearing the smurf shirt. Haha, didn't perspire at all, so, er, no need to change. Makes a good undershirt here =)

HELLO from Canada :)

I'm sitting in my hotel room in waterloo, Canada. Yes guys, I'm finally here. A big thank you for the people who sent me off in the airport, and for the very happening days before my departure. Check out facebook for all the pics :)

And Gwen darling, I miss you =)

Here're some pics!

transit at heathrow london, and our first night in destination inn, waterloo

the send off at airport :)

last sunday in herald :)

today. new year day with EVERYTHING closed.