before i go on any further abt my grad trip, just like to add tt i won't be uploading e pics here on e blog.. discussions on e grad trip would be in reference to e photos tt i've uploaded on facebook..

Day 1
Time: 1413h
Place: On board flight EK433 to Dubai International Airport
Weather: Fine

currently slacking in my seat 41G, some 20 seats from cw and gang.. just finished watching slumdog millionaire.. anyway the flight info just popped up and we crossed the west coast of india and are now flying over open seas again.. back to the movie, it was ok.. what i'll like to call a honest and decent film.. on another note, my first Emirates flight thus far have been good.. from service standards to in-flight entertainment.. the latter is probably one of the best of its kind i've encountered thus far, and i would even say it's better than KrisWorld (think SIA).. some down sides however included the apparent lack of Straits Times newspaper and a similar lack in the number of chinese songs available.. anyway i think i'll stop here for now..

a very simple paragraph indeed.. and tt's e only post tt i wrote during my trip.. the following are the after thoughts for day 1..

perhaps before i forget, i'll just like to post e amount tt i've spent in all for this grad trip.. this costs include every cost imaginable (paid or payable, from pre-trip to post-trip).. SGD 4,209.05.. quite a reasonable sum.. and very within the pre-trip budget tt we came up with.. major expenses tt make it up include the following (all in SGD):

1.Tour package (and insurance) --> 2,487
2.Optional tour packages (a.Mount Titlis + Kleine Scheidegg round trip with lunch inclusive, b.Palace of Versailles) --> 360.50
3.Swatch watch and Swarovski necklace --> 383.08
4.Budget air ticket from Paris CDG to UK Luton --> 108.93
5.London Generator Hostel (2 nights) --> 107.54

a more detailed breakdown of e expenses is available upon request.. lol..

back to e topic for day 1, i had earlier left my house at 0720h for Changi Airport.. and not to forget, we had 4 crappy guys gathering around the free computer terminals at e airport to catch some mice on fb and look at someone's fb profile.. haha.. geez.. flight was at Gate C20, on a Boeing 777-300ER..

some 6,000km and 6h 44min later, we were at Dubai International Airport (DXB) Terminal 3, which seemed to us to be located in the middle of a desert tt is only sparsely dotted with low lying shrubs.. the weather was a freaking 35 degrees, but thank goodness we were in e air conditioned building.. as u can see from e photos, DXB T3 is generally made up of a clean and long hallway.. a Mac meal costs 22 AED (currency of dubai), which is ~40% more ex than e prices in SG.. e transit was a 3h process and luckily enough, nothing of e mess tt i read abt in my pre-trip research..

e 2nd leg of the flight to Zurich was on a Airbus A340-500, seat 24B, taken from gate 218.. flight number was EK0085..

so it has been like slightly more den a month since exams ended.. went to play sports with e kakis a couple of times.. watched angels and demons and also terminator salvation.. angels and demons was an ok movie.. pretty much action packed throughout, but otherwise perhaps sort of predictable and routine.. watched the da vinci code before, but i forgot wat it was like.. so i shall not comment on tt..

terminator salvation was quite disappointing i guess.. or maybe it could have been due to e cinema facilities (though i dun think so).. didn't like e fact tt light was shining in my eyes every so often.. and equally irritating was e overly loud booming stereo sound of e helicopters.. it felt as if my heart could also boom out any time.. plot wise, it was just ok..

i personally haven't been a fan of hollywood films of late.. and maybe it's time.. e usual mix of big explosion scenes, most-of-e-time meaningless sexual scenes and lame one-liners are just not getting to me.. instead, i've come to like watching those arty farty shows (read: oscar winning foreign laguage film, or e likes of it).. of course having said tt, i still quite like watching film series such as Harry Potter.. esp since i feel mythical stuff r always interesting.. not to mention, useful for experimental purposes in my dreams.. haha..

some other stuff tt i was occupied with during this time after e exams included finishing my reading of Ichigo 100%, planning for grad trip, editing my blog layout and completing e uploading of pics for e hokkaido trip last year..

1st up is ichigo 100%.. it's a manga tt i last read during my days in e army.. easily one which is labeled as an ecchi filled manga to e onlooker.. however, as i came close to finishing e manga, i thought tt e handling of e characters and storyline in e last 40+ chapters was quite good.. and i thought tt e illustrations were not bad too.. and just in case u were wondering, it's a teenage romance kind of manga.. i had actually thought tt, as with e other mangas i have read before, tt e manga would start degenerating into some ridiculous storyline tt shows a lack of idea on e mangaka's part as e manga series progresses.. but as it turned out, i liked e ending for ichigo 100%..

next up is grad trip.. going off this fri to germany, switzerland, paris and london.. 12 days in all.. 10 days of following e tour package and 2 days of self extension in london.. planning for e trip took place rather late and in e end, also because of differing views and money issues, sw and qq went on their own tent pitching marathon in europe.. haha.. most prob will be able to meet up with them over in london.. anyway, marc somehow managed to squeeze out time-off to join us on e trip..

although it's like only 2 days of free and easy in london, there was quite some bit of planning to do.. from e budget air tix from paris to london, to e hostel accomodation, to e london attractions and transport issues..

blog wise, i've modified e right column to make it more neat.. hopefully tt is.. although it's still a little headache cos e column is simply too long.. so i've been playing around with this text cloud thing and trying to get it to work.. just came up with an idea.. i think i would change e archives into a drop down box instead.. on another note, i've changed e label for lyrics to lyrics_main.. it's a new post tt i've created tt encompasses all e lyrics i've written so far..

talking abt lyrics, i'm afraid i have to disappoint some ppl in tt, once again, i won't be able to complete e filling in of lyrics for e music express competition in time.. figuring out e theme tt was most suitable for e melody has not been easy.. and given my lack of musical talent, it just makes things a little more complicated.. progress on e lyrics filling however, was better den e attempt for last year's competition, albeit still quite a miserable attempt.. and despite e fact tt i won't be able to finish e piece in time for e competition, i think i will do it as part of my own training.. i think after all, tt's wat e lyricist's job is all abt..

if u have noticed, there's this new category of links in e right column called google maps.. stumbled upon it one day and found it to be very useful.. clicking on e grad trip link would show u e places tt i'll be visiting for my grad trip.. spent a considerable amt of time trying to mark e locations for both e grad trip and japan maps.. esp so for e jap one.. quite frequently, e user created markings were not accurate and i had to scour e surrounding area for e correct landmark.. e jap map was particular challenging, since e user created markings were in jap.. markings for e hokkaido trip last year are completed, but markings for previous trips to japan have not been finished..

talking abt e hokkaido trip, i had only managed to find time to complete e uploading of pics.. and before i go on, u can find out more by clicking e may 2008 archive link.. once again, i had to spend some effort in trying to get e correct jap names of e attractions tt i went to and this took up some time..

exam results were out not too long ago.. and thankfully, i managed to pass my modules without much hiccups.. convocation is set on 27 july at 6pm.. kind of a werid timing if u think abt e usual photo taking tt follows along with convo.. e sky will be dark by 6pm and i wonder wat kind of pics we can take.. of course there is always this option of taking e pics b4 convo iteself.. but to get sweaty and all tt b4 e ceremony even starts? hmmm..

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真是的。。 刚才冲凉时竟然错误地把肥皂液与洗头液给混淆了。。 结果整身凉凉的。。 那洗头液的薄荷叶冰凉效果还不赖。。 嗨。。 有可能是因为今天一整天在外，弄到身体与精神都累了。。 今早难得有个武林大会，众多高手云集。。 结果打了个三小时的篮球战。。 真是太久没运动了。。 打了一会儿便不行了，自行告退，到旁歇会儿。。 过后吃了饱饭便到QQ家讨论我们的专题作业。。

之前所提到的苹果论得到了些许的回响。。 有一两人对文中所提到的苹果采集者有着一定的兴趣。。 对于是否应该公开苹果采集者的身份，我认为就让它顺其自然吧。。 有时无知也不一定是件不好的事。。 二月二十五日隔日之言： 无意中与一些朋友讨论了与苹果论相关的话题。。 结果间接透露了一位苹果采集者的身份。。 不出意料，他们对采集者的身份感到意外。。 可是当时并没有讲到前文说讨论的苹果故事。。 最后他们不多问，我也不多讲，就这样含含糊糊的带了过去。。

近日来正忙着做专题作业与准备毕业旅行的事项。。 就这样匆匆忙忙的度过了大半的半学期假期。。 说到毕业旅行，旅行的行程大部分已敲定了。。 我们会将去德国，瑞士与法国。。 六月五日出发，为期十天，并有望延长在法国逗留的时期，独自遨游巴黎与周边城市的景点。。 价钱两千三百十八，加上选择性的附加配套、小费与个人消费，总计应该有三千五。。

写着写着突然觉得字体在部落格上显得有些渺小。。 密密麻麻似的。。 今天下午在网上游览时发现有一名年轻的女歌手唱得不错，名叫卓依婷。。 听着她唱男生的歌，并且是张宇与伍佰类型的歌曲，别有一般风味。。 她翻唱邓丽君的歌也不错，能带出歌词与旋律中的柔情。。 有时间的话我推荐你去看她的音乐录像。。