On Saturday, I went for the NTU talk on admissions and courses at Suntec City Convention Centre. I met eli and Shelby there. I also met many of my secondary school friends which I haven't seen in quite some time. Karin, Louisa and Michelle, WR, one girl which i forgot her name, was in drama and 4/4 i think. So happy to see Karin and WR again cos I haven't seen them in quite a long time, especially for Karin, not seen each other since Speech Day 2006.

Eli, Shelby and I missed the admissions talk which was full (you know that most students will go for that so why didn't you book a bigger room???), so we went down for lunch at the food court downstairs. The chicken rice was quite nice.

After that, we went back upstairs for the next round of talks, on the different subjects, each subject had it's own room. I went on my own for CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, and maritime studies. I'm not really interested in maritime studies (suprising some of you), because it focuses on the business aspects of it. I'm not interested in business or finance. The only time I will ever be interested in business is if i set up my own business like a cafe/bistro. [recently watched "No Reservations" on DVD. It was a sweet movie and not stupid chick flick, no sex scenes. and i filtered out the kissing bits. yuck.] [i love to eat the food i love.]

I am interested in creating these large public spaces and infrastructure and that's why civil eng appeals to me. actually, environmental eng is a subset of civil eng. By being a civil engineer, I can work with my interest, as well as contribute to society in my work, and the society would be able to benefit from it within a few years, unlike R&D which might not always yield results, and if there are any results, they would take quite some time for society to benefit from it, and the researchers do not follow the product development, they just discover and research further, the companies are the ones who develop it and market it to the people. Civil and Environmental Engineers, however, take everything from beginning to the end. (and yes, I would like to work at the airport too.)

After that, I sat in the teaching lecture. boring. and not appealing. the only thing that appeals is that the government will pay for all the fees and give a salary while studying, but nothing really appealing from the presentation. the thing finished early so i sat outside the exhibition area near the window and looked at what brochures I had gathered. Still haven't looked at them in detail. I saw the ducktours and hippo tours through the giant glass window and I remembered the Me and My Local Friend Day in JC2, where YS and I asked the hippo guide about working as a tour guide. I've yet to submit my resume, but I will wait and see because of some other circumstances that have just cropped up.

For the 3rd talk, I joined Eli and Shelby in the Biological Sciences and Biomedical reseach with Chinese Medicine. Quite boring and I'm quite sure it's not for my long-term career. At most it would be a short term stint like the YRP. By the way, Shelby got into YRP, so, Congratulations Shelby. :)

So glad when it was over, just as with the teaching one.

The last one I went for was the physics and applied physics talk. It was in a small room. The person was the head of the department and from SAJC. (wow!) The school was small so he knew all the students and staff's names (wow), and they have a large international student population and they are going to have a new building with a lot of cool stuff for the labs like a faraday cage to block off EM waves and a vibration proof room. (Wow) and they learn super cool stuff and they can do engineering (WOW). But first, the question I have in my mind, since most of the physicists end up doing R&D and business, and quite a number go into engineering due to the broad base, is that, will i be able to benefit society? I have no interest in business either.

At the end of the day, I think I'll consider applying for civil eng, and physics and environmental eng. Gotta do research on mechanical and aerospace, though I don't want to do MRO(maintainence, repair and overhaul) for aerospace, I want to do design more. (Ok lah, overhaul sounds a bit better, but maintainence and repair for me, uni graduate?)

The good thing about NTU is that most of the degrees offered are direct honours in 4 years.

After that, Mum made me attend the "sharing with parents talk", by myself. you see, the NTU person cheated on us. Told us to come back for the 4pm session, which is for parents, not students. They didn't tell us clearly, they say it's the same because of the content. Hello, it was so DIFFERENT! It felt like ABSOLUTE MAJOR PROPAGANDA. yup. rotted in there with the speaker's attitude, which sounded like shallow or cover-up fake for something. I dunno. It was packaged for parents.

On Sunday, our family, with the exception of MP, (daddy replaced her), went to the Singapore Airshow 2008. I had a very enjoyable time and do not regret going for it eventhough I got sunburnt and improper lunch.

We woke up at 7.30am (supposed to be 7am)and got changed, ate breakfast, packed food and drink, then at 8.10am (supposed to be 8am), we left home in a car for White Sands, adjacent to Pasir Ris MRT Station, and from there, took a shuttle bus to Changi Exhibition Centre, where the show was held.

The queue for the shuttle bus grew exponentially, that by the time we got on the bus, the queue snaked a bit outside the MRT station, and still, that wasn't the full capacity of the queue, for not all the barricade lanes were being used.

I didn't feel like I had a long waiting time, though it was a considerable time spent in the queue according to my father, because the queue was kept moving, and it was very quick, after they scanned the barcode of my paper e-ticket, I was on the bus in 5 minutes. Much better than the day before where the crowds were very poorly managed according to the newspapers.

The bus passed by Loyang industrial estate, Changi Village and Changi Beach. There was a long park connector trail that connected these 3 places together leading to east coast. We spotted several people cycling along them, including a family, and even a man jogging along it. (It's so long! Why jog? Cycling better.)

It was fortunate that we didn't take the car because those who did had to walk a long way in, unless they had the big green circle carpark label with the letter G on it (I don't know if there is something special about that carpark.)

Once we arrived, we cleared the security checks quite quickly because of the many lanes available (i think more than 5) and soon we were walking down the steps to the tarmac area where the SAF displayed their things. So happy was I when we finally reached the exhibition place where we could see the aeroplanes. It was around 9am or 9.30am. People had already gone to chope seats at the grandstands, sitting under their umbrellas. -_-"

MT and I had broken off from the other 3, who went straight for the Airbus A380. We took many photos with the planes, and got picture with 2 pilots too (not I initiate one. not very handsome either) haha.

The Airbus A380 wasn't as big as I thought it was from looking at the documentaries. Nevertheless it was a big plane, and like the previous day, many sought shade under the tail wings, which provided quite a lot of shadow to hide under.

After taking photos outside in the heat, we sought refuge indoors in the airconditioned exhibition areas. Such a relief from the intense sun. We didn't see all the exhibits, only the ones we were interested in, which was namely changi airport only, nothing much else. We walked around and spent most of the time trying to find the 3 of them.

When we finally reunited, we went outside to chope place for the airshow. I thought of trying the flight simulator, but the queue would take more than 1 hour, since it was 3 minutes a person and approximately 20 people or more queueing. It was about 45 minutes to the air performance.

We sat just outside the exhibition centre on visitor guides laid on the floor. Later, Daddy moved us to another spot to the side. When the show was to start in 15 minutes, the policeman then told us we were not allowed to sit there and had to move. Why didn't tell us earlier?? So all the people seated there (we were the ones who initiated other people to sit with us under the tent shade, had to move. We moved forward to where the crowd had gathered to the right of the stands (there were only 2 sets of those mobile stands used, so very little space for people who wish to sit on stands.) KM was upset because he wanted to be inside the restaurant because he could view the show in an airconditioned place. haizz. maybe he wanted to eat lunch too (but we brought food remember? we brought peach buns, the chinese birthday ones, and cocktail sausages.)

I told him that the better view was outside, not in the building. I could see many people had gathered at the glass windows of that eatery and most likely blocked the view.

So we put on our caps again and took out MT and my umbrellas. KM, Mum and Dad didn't bring caps but fortunately for them, Changi Airport pavillion was giving away caps. Singaporeans are so greedy for freebees. One man tried to take more collar pins when the lady had already given him quite a bit, and he gave the "i'm a singaporean so i'm like this" excuse. -_-" " " " Personally, I am selective of the freebees given out. If I'm not interested in the company or the info on the brochure given, I wouldn't take it.

Soon music and some commentary about the Singapore Airshow 2008 began playing on loud speakers, and after the yakking and yakking and yakking, the show was about to begin. President S R Nathan and his wife, as well as Zoe Tay were there. (Zoe Tay's husband was a Black Knight pilot for this event. Such a glamourous couple.)

Then the Black Knights flew into view and the show began. There were many flight stunts, all very impressive. I tried to capture some of them on video with the camera, but at the same time, I was trying to capture the bigger picture with my own eyes because the camera could only capture so much.

I was very impressed by all the stunts. There was one which was really sweet, makes the women wish that their husbands did it for them. I think even the men felt warm and fuzzy. I'm sure you know which flight stunt it is already. They entered with their signature delta formation (quote) and exited with their signature curtain. Their 4 plane barrel was cool, so were the mirror eagle's wings, cross over, opposing roll, etc. Looking at all the shapes and patterns and movement and all the cool things about flight stunts, I mused about being the first ever female Black Knight. Wouldn't that be so cool? But I don't think I can take the G forces cos when I dive down into the pool too fast, my head feels awful, and when I descend on the airplane in Australian dry air, my ears hurt. This interest runs along the same line as being an acrobat or cheerleading flyer.

Next were the 3 training fighter planes, demonstrating their capabilities one at a time. All three were flown by expert pilots, including a retired one. They were quite boring, since solo aerobatics give little room for something to wow. There were a few things which did wow me: once was when the plane made very steep ascents and descents, especially for one plane which shot vertically all the way so high into the sky that we couldn't see it, and two: for one of the planes that managed to stall, that is to tip it's nose up on full blast to show how slow it can go and you can hear the powerful thrust and see the pilot's control of the plane. The particular plane I am talking about moved so slowly, around 160km/h. It was so slow, gotta see it to believe it. Oh ya, and there was a plane which had such a tiny turning diameter of less than 450m, which is very very small. Oh, and the 4 angle turn by one, where the plane turned 90 degrees in steps, was quite cool too.

Then, the A380, the one on display, took its turn. It flew around gracefully and majestically. We could see how big the plane was, and all the other detail, and hear how quiet it was. It was amazing to see it in flight, and it flew close to us.

After the A380 was the last performance, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes flew past in their propeller planes. Unlike the Black Knights, which performed high speed manouveres, the Roulettes did slower ones, which were just as impressive. Their fallback routine, change in formation while going in a loop, and the heart-stopping stunt where the 2 pilots stopped their propellers and freefell tail over nose for more than 360 degrees then turned on their propellers again and swooped down. So scary and impressive.

Throughout the 1.5 hr show, we stood in the sun. As a result, we got sunburned. This is either the 1st or 2nd time I get burnt. Usually I never get burnt, but now I admit that I am. The skin across my cheekbones and nose, as well as my forearms are still reddish. My fault for not preparing sunscreen. I was made in charge of planning. -.-

After the show we immediately went to queue for the shuttle bus back. We were lucky to come and leave early because we avoided the long queues, still, though the show ended at around 1.45pm~2pm, we only reached Pasir Ris at 3pm+. fortunately the queue was constantly on the move, so I was entertained. The crowd controllers always made sure that people waited in the shade and not on the bridge in the sun. They closed off the bridge at one point for the A380 to be towed back to its exhibition lot from Changi Airport. So cool seeing it taxi close by.

We went to the toilet at White Sands, got neatened up, bought sausages and chicken wings then went home. Good thing we brought food and drink because the drinks there were sold at $2 a can and we finished nearly all the drinks save for 2 cans of coke light (yuck) and finished all the food except the apples. All the fried food and sugary drinks and the heat of the sun made me drink water very frequently.

After Church ended, which I atteded with Yeye, Mum and I went to Popo's house to fetch her and maid, then fetch Mum's friend who is also Popo's now 2nd Goddaughter (she used to have only 1 goddaughter) then went to Cathay restaurant at Cathay cineplex. MT took a cab from her lesson to there.

We had a set meal that consisted of shark cartillage soup (it tasted delicious), fried fish, abalone with tofu and veggie, noodles, very similar to the set meal we ate before, $88 for 2 people f I'm not wrong. Midway through dinner, Popo didn't feel well, so the staff kindly acceded to our request and the food was brought out very quickly, one dish was served before the one we were eating was completed, they also helped to pack the extra food quickly and even got the mini birthday peach buns served again with a candle in it (mum's friend's idea since popo didn't have a birthday cake today, for we celebrated her birthday already, remember?)

Popo's phelgm had built up and kept building up, so she had difficulty breathing. Mum got her maid to fetch the tank of oxygen she always had in the car for Popo to use. It helped her a bit but the oxygen ran out on the drive to the hospital. Apparently, her hands were cold and dark due to the lack of oxygen, but I couldn't see. We all ate quickly and left the place and was on the road to SGH. We prayed in the car for God to clear her phelgm and make her better, for we all know God loves her very much, just as He loves us all very much.

Mum telephoned Popo's oncologist first for advice, and the oncologist adviced mum to bring to hospital over going home, because at least in the hospital there would be the equipment to clear the phelgm. Mum also telephoned the A&E and her brothers, telling them to come down and prepare themselves for if it were to be her final night, just as the oncologist instructed. There were 2 hypotheses, one was that the food went down the wrong way, and the other was a throat irritation, most likely caused by the powerful chilli at the restaurant.

When we got to the A&E, there was a bed and nurse waiting for her which came out and after getting her onto the bed, she was wheeled into the no entry except to authorised personnel area. Mum had given her friend Popo's ic, which she carried in her bag all this while, and instructed her to register popo upon getting out of the car. Soon after, my uncle and auntie, and later my other uncle and family were at SGH. Daddy and MP came too.

I realised how prepared Mum was for situations such as this. She always kept oxygen in her car and Popo's IC with her so that she could alleviate the conditions nearly immediately and get her admitted ASAP, which she did while she parked the car. She probably had SGH's phone number in her phone. She did not panic and drove quickly but still safely to the hospital.

Popo was first X-ray ed to find the cause of the phelgm and hence eliminate one of the 2 hypotheses I stated above.

Mum got us all into the family room, the room usually used by doctors to counsel the family, and explained to us all what had happened to Popo. After that, the wait continued. I just sat there, dig-wiping by fingernails, showing no emotion or anxiety, for I didn't feel any. I was calm for how I operated was that we wait until someone comes out to tell us the results, and nothing else. So I looked around and observed that my auntie, cousin and sister, and many people outside too, were playing with their handphones, doing things like sms-ing during the wait. Few talked, and those who did did so in humour. That's how people deal with the anxiety of the situation. Most just sat there.

The nurse which came out explained to us that it was not a life-threatening condition, and that the phelgm was located in the throat, which meant that they could not suck out the phelgm with the equipment for it would irritate the throat to produce more mucus. Her lungs were fine. What they would do is give her a lot of physiotherapy to make her cough out the phelgm. On recommendation, Popo was warded overnight. Mum chose to bring her to SGH because her records were there. She was warded at her usual ward.

While Mum went in and followed Popo as she was being transported, the rest of us walked ahead for we thought Popo was already being transported. We got there ahead of her. I bought a drink and so did my cousin and we waited for her to show up. After she settled down, we said our goodbyes to her and left mum, maid and mum's friend behind, as well as uncles and family, and we 3 went home with Daddy. We had to go to school and work tomorrow.

Yesterday, for lunch, I had my rice with dishes leftovers plus the special soup mama made which I call and she calls the soup with many ingredients. The CNY abalone, sea cucumber, mushroom, shredded chicken etc soup. The soup I missed out on for dinner because I went out. Mama gave me so much that it filled me. In addition, boss ordered surplus polar sugar rolls for the meeting so each of us was given one. That helped fill my stomach because I didn't eat dinner until 11somethingpm.

After work I went straight to SGH to see Popo, as I promised her. She remembered my name. Sometimes she remembers, sometimes she doesn't, because of her brain tumour. She slept consciously the afternoon away for there was not much to do. MP soon arrived. Mum's friend was already there knitting a scarf for Popo and the maid was there too when I arrived. MP and I ate Popo's remaining horfun from boon tong kee, because popo now has late lunches and dinner. lunch at 4~5pm around there, and dinner between 9~10pm. As such, she misses the lunch hour and besides, she wanted to eat hor fun. Fortunately, I had a bowl and utensils with me since I bring my own lunch to work. MP and I split the horfun. nice snack.

While Popo was being attended too for her drip or was it the other matter, MP and I walked around downstairs and returned later. Had a cup of ice milo from the vending machine. Later Mum and MT came. Mum checked popo then later went down to buy popo her dinner of yong tau foo. Popo was too full to eat the dinner served so her maid ate it. I ate one of the slices of papaya for that.

Mum fed Popo while she and everyone else was enraptured by the TV. Mum's friend had already left with her friend for dinner at East Coast. After we were done, we bid bye and goodnight to Popo.

Mum went to Sheng Shiong to do shopping. There I heard an Indian man speak mandarin with one of the people working there, and that Indian man was with his Indian friends. It's quite clear he's most probably an Indian national with his friends, or could be local (which I don't think so since we were at the one at Tekka mall). I was impressed.

Then Mum went to deliver some of the shopping to someone. On the drive home (finally!) I noticed someone walking a sheepdog with a fluffy tail. Cute doggie I thought. Then I looked at the skirt of the person walking it and I knew: it was Mum's friend and our friendly dog NIKKI! So we wound down the window and stopped the car for a short while (no cars behind us) then said Hi and good night, then drove on.

11pm+, got home. Had no more appetite to eat what had been kept for me, since I knew it was similar to lunch, and I would most probably get for today's lunch again. I had a big bowl of maggi mee. NOODLES! I love noodles. Yum. maggi mee with mixed veg (i only eat soft long beans such as the ones cooked in soup like that day's and in campbell's, but not the hard rubbery ones) and poached stirred messed up egg.

When I woke up today, our maid said "wah! sleep without blanket, so good ah!" Then did I realise I was sleeping without a blanket, I was so tired that I just hugged my bolster and slept quickly, after moisturising the sunburns, forgetting to put on the blanket when it rained last night. i'm fine, except my body was colder than usual. Our maid also noted my hair was still wet. So I had to blast my hair with the hairdrier. Lunch today was suprisingly, fried rice with ham and meat. I think we're trying to finish the ham at home, counting from the fact I had scrambled egg with ham for breakfast. yum. Popo has been discharged today afternoon. :)