At the depths

Why does it have to turn out this way. What you take years to build up can just crumble and dissapear like that, just in an instant. I guess nothing lasts forever, probably it's time to move on...

Reflections into 2009

Brace yourself for a wall of text. I wanted to do a last post of 2009 but was very busy and so, instead, decided to do a first post of 2010. The blog is inactive but who cares anyway. It's the new year and the air smells the same(Having a blocked nose right now). Last night at Oli's place was crazy and as usual, I paid "Tuition fees" to learn improve my mahjong. The pic above? Well, as long as it's a 2010 pic, it'd do(friends hanging around me should know where I got it from)

Aside from the ramblings, 2009 was quite shitty for me. In fact, my life starts getting better only after 2010 October.

The Bad
A barrage of arguements and fallouts with friends, tight expenses, long period of unemployment, getting pissed by random people without manners, irritated by unreasonable people, trying to act nice to people I do not like but have to socialise with, being taken for granted, screwed by an ancient P4 2.4 dinosaur PC, 7 Sins, regular and big misunderstandings and the list goes on.


The Good
My clique of friends deserve special mention here: Weixiang, Oli, Damien and Jeremy, Thanks for all the fun and games and let this year be a year full of outings and fun as well. Being able to get a job before Christmas enables me to have fun without worries(and being nagged million times over) throughout Christmas and New Year. To Yan Ping and Vincent for being there whenever I need someone, to Liling for hanging out with me, to Nicholas for the Omamori from Japan, Thanks. Mega special Thanks to Weixiang for teaching me so many things.


New Year Resolution
Seriously, these never work but might as well just because someone said that out of 10, definitely at least 1 would be achieved.

1 - Reach Level 35 on Popn' Music on Default difficulty.
2 - Swim at least twice a week
3 - Greatly reduce snacking
4 - Pass JLPT N2
5 - Try to be a better friend
6 - Stabilise my finances ASAP
7 - Become less irritable
8 - Improve in my Jap conversational skills
9 - Create a new specialty food (Last 3 years was Rice balls)

Happy 2010 and Good Luck to everyone. This blog will be left in stasis again so whoevers visiting or stalking it can check back once every 6 months or something.

Question 9 . Outline the likely consequences of inequitable relationships.

Social exchange theory, of which equity theory is a special case, proposes that the course of social interactions depends on subjective evaluation of the rewards(outcomes) and costs(inputs) involved.
Equity, which is just one interpretation of fairness, is percieved to exist between two people, A and B, when A's outcomes/A's inputs = B's outcomes/ B's inputs. Equity can be applied to a range of transactions, including relationships where the benefits would include affection, emotional support and approval and the costs would include effort, time wasted and money spent. Inequitable relationships can have unpleasant consequences for the participants and are unstable. People who feel that they have received less than they think they deserve given their inputs, will feel angry, resentful and exploited. Those who feel that they have received more than they deserve given their inputs, may experience guilt. When faced with inquity we can change what we contribute or gain from the relationship. Alternatively, we can try to modify our perceptions of our inputs and outcomes so the ratio is no longer perceived as inequitable. If neither of these strategies is successful then the relationship is likely to end.

Taken from UOL Past year Zone A 2005 Exam paper, Elements of social and applied psychology.

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The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.

• Excellence: Can We Be Equal and Excellent Too? (1961)

John W. Gardner

Nothing changes....

....the fact that i don't win contests, or lottery or generally luck related events. But well, I'm totally cool with it though i believe in the concept of luck.

Last month, I've took part in a Calbee snail mail contest, thinking i could win due to low participant rate. I was right about the low participant rate - the letters and winner names and IC were handwritten. I won 1 out of 1000 consolation prize of an eco-friendly bag tote bag. The collection venue is of course the distributor's factory in the middle of nowhere and so, I wouldn't go through all the trouble to collect it. They could have at least made those collectible at NTUCs or something. No, this is not a complaint. The top prizes are 5 x 2 Tickets to Japan.

Its high time i get a new computer. My 2.4 GHz P4 antique runs as slow as a turtle.

Lets see whats on my To-buy list now:-

A new PC
Japanese Electronic Dictionary
Brown work shoes
A Jack Frost plush
New mobile phone

Revelations from a game- CAUTION! Very Wordy

Well, who says games doesn't teach you good human triads? The recent game i completed twice in a straight row, Persona 4, taught me how to face all the different faces and facades of my other selves and to accept them. All the bad sides to me which i will not reveal all of, like my Hypocritical side and so on.
From this, I figured out that to change yourself, the very first step is to accept all your bad qualities first, which people often deny. This will let you see your own bad qualities much more clearly in a different light and put yourself slightly in a more neutral position to judge your own actions and unwanted qualities.

In a nutshell, in the game, the characters are being thrown into the TV world and their other selves are all made to manifest in the form of a doppelganger like character looking exactly like them, which they all deny being part of them when their other selves reveal their often suppressed and bad thoughts to everyone else. After the doppelganger have voiced out the characters' inner thoughts, the characters will reply with a common sentence "You are not me!" and the fight begins. After the fight, they will come to realise that that is the other parts of their own self they must learn to accept to live on.

Characters in the game and their suppressed thoughts:

Yukiko- Makes use of her friend to get popular, wants to date guys but do not have the guts to
Yosuke- Harbours some selfish thoughts (I cannot rememeber clearly)
Rise (Idol) - Wants a good figure to showoff to the public
Kanji- Cannot handle girls and would stick to guys, Feminine-ish punklike character
Naoto-Wants her body to be altered to a guys to fit her Detective image, and to grow up
Teddie-Self denial, in search of his true identity

Those above will not really be understood by people who have not played the game but its basically just saying that all of them have different parts of themselves they want to change and cannot accept at first.


On a completely different note, It is very hard to keep friendships as I came to realise. A LOT of effort is required to inquire about your friend, keep in constant contact, meet up often and various other activities I cannot think of right now. Of course everybody are very busy with their own lives but it is a simple and frequent sms or phone call from time to time that will make that big difference to sustain the friendship, and of cause, to show that you are being appreciated and remembered as a friend and that you care.

This brings me to the concept of Reciprocity Norms which I have learnt in my Psychology classes in school this afternoon. It's just like if your friend appreciates you, treat them well. If they have forgotten about you, forget about them, which is kind of like "an eye for an eye" type of concept. Nobody is stupid enough to give more than they expect to receive, at least not the Me now ( though there is still this small shred of altruism in me left)

Well, It's the start of a new Year so make your resolutions and abide by them. I wish you all the best in 2009!

Food food food

Cranberry Jelly at Liang Court. Totally delicious.

The transparent crystals look like Car perfume gels.
Vanilla torofuwa pudding from Liang court.
Okome pudding from Liang court. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I LOVE Puddings.
Dessert at MOF. The 2 Jap Fried Yam and Potato on the side is really tasty.
Katsudon from Tampopo.
My favourite dish from tampopo now - Sukiyaki set served on a bronze glittery tray!

....Maybe not

Well, ignore the last post, I just got bored suddenly.


Well, I bought these Funky Popup Xmas cards this afternoon......
...only to turn behind and see "Made in China" (No offense)

Kon peeping from behind my Crumpler bag.
10.30 SGD Mechanical pencil.

This expensive Mechanical pencil - Nu Spiral by Zebra, created by some Japanese professor is ultimate. The grip is of unparalleled comfort. My pencil lead NEVER ONCE broke when writing, not even once! Its ergonomic design makes holding it comfortable.

This pencil is of high quality and worth every single cent i paid for it.

I'm trying to mod my slippers with thumbtacks or other stuff so people who step on the back of my slippers get pierced or something. I would really want to send every single asshat that stepped on my slippers to hell for it is VERY annoying.

It's finally goodbye eh?

Yes this will be the final post. There are too much restrictions posting publicly and i shall take my rants to a private livejournal page instead. Thanks for frequenting this unhappening space and good luck.