Justin Teo

At last, a month in Singapore. 3 September 2009

Life’s been really great during my first month in Singapore. Meeting old friends and enjoying all the food that I’ve missed. I still remember when I first breathed Singapore’s air when I left Changi Airport… the air felt so thick. Not a very pleasant breath but everything else about Singapore just felt so good. When I was on the car leaving the airport, I remember how I felt when I saw a SBS transit bus… wow it was beautiful. Deprived.. I remembered the terrible experiences of taking the subway in the United States, and I always imagined myself taking Singapore’s MRT. So when I finally took an MRT, it felt like a dream come true.

I think many times we take things for granted. I have always been quite a patriotic Singaporean, and my one year stay at US only made me even more so. I told MAS that I am a Singaporean and that is how I will serve the society. I told my programme chair at SMA that as one of the very few Singaporeans in the course, I will do well to do the country proud.

Friends tell me that life is really tough in Singapore. Some of them grew up here, some of them came from neighbouring countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. I agree, though my life has always been very smooth. Too smooth sailing, sometimes I felt like I’m in a computer game or in a controlled greenhouse where someone has very precisely planned and paved the way for me. Might not be a good thing, many times it didn’t feel real. It’s like, how is it possible that only good things happen to me? When life has always been perfect for 30 years, it just doesn’t seem real isn’t it? I have everything I need, so there’s nothing I should ask for. For the things that I want, I have them in excess.

Or it’s a matter of perception and contentment. Though I can objectively conclude that life has been kind to me.

Short Trip to Pennsylvania 19 February 2009

We had a short weekend 3 day trip to Pennsylvania. We saw the famous LOVE, University of Pennsylvania, the liberty bell, and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Had philly cheesesteak for 3 consecutive meals!! Must try them from where it originated from.

LOVE

This was taken on 15th February. Yeah, you must be thinking, why not take on Valentine’s Day? Yup… everybody wants to take picture with this on Valentine’s Day… whole bunch of people queuing up for it. So we went there early next morning to take the picture… nobody compete with us, haha.

The Liberty Bell

There is one whole museum dedicated to this liberty bell. What is the significance of this important bell of Pennsylvania? Visit the museum to find out. (because I don’t know).

University of Pennsylvania

This is the University of Pennsylvania.

Singapore Flag

There is a street with 2 rows of flags. I believe the flags of every country is represented.. cos it is really a very long stretch of road. Haven’t seen the Singapore flag for a long time? It was not too long ago when I have to sing the national anthemn every weekday morning..

Enjoy it on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge

Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Very windy… nice breeze. Haha. Let me just enjoy the moment..

See the other photos of Philadelphia on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67481&id=569158105&l=0da53

Weekend Trip to Rhode Island 19 January 2009

We visited another state in the United States, the Rhode Island. It’s the smallest state in US, with a population of slightly above a million. But it seems that we saw less than 100 people during our trip there.. it was really very empty! I guess most of the people were hiding in their homes due to the extreme cold temperature of negative 10 to -20 degrees. It started to snow on the 1st night, and in the morning when we were out, the snow is beautiful. Slow falling, which large visible flakes. Thick layers of snow on the ground and any land structures, soft and gentle.

A frozen fountatin near Kennedy Plaza

There were a few speciality of Rhode Island. The Johnny Cakes, that started since the colonial times. It is made with corn meal and water, and fried like a pan cake. We also tried the State Drink, the coffee milk. It is mild and comforting, with a hint of coffee and caffeine.  Clams are removed from their shells, mixed with potatoes, celery and other stuffings, and finally baked in its shell to create the stuffies.

Breakfast at The Aspire: Johnny Cakes

We saw the first baptist church in America, called the First Baptist Church. The State House, where houses the Rhode Island Charter of 1663 and other treasures. The dome of the state capitol building is the world’s 4th largest self-supported marble dome. 

Rhode Island State House

Rhode Island is very quiet, so quiet there is hardly anyone on the streets. A relaxing getaway, to enjoy the nature and the snow. Other photos are on facebook.

Into December 19 December 2008

There was a dinner at Royal East which I had with some of my classmates and thought was quite good. I especially like the roasted duck.

Dinner at Royal East

My Fujitsu has been good for 4 years, but it’s time for it to go… so I have to buy a new laptop!

My new laptop!

Sony Laptop

Large screen… cos I need to watch movies on it

Reese at Prudential Tower

Hibachi Steak

Some asian food.. not good...

Peanut cake.. nice!

This is our dinner. The hibachi steak is nice… japanese style. Even the mash potatoes are wasabi flavoured.

3 bears.. cute.

Bought some gift cards from Cheesecake Factory… and it comes with a free bear!! We bought all 3 designs…

Reese at Hyatt

Me at Hyatt

Beef Short Ribs

Espresso Steak

Our Dinner

Desserts. Very nice!

We went for a dinner at Hyatt. It’s our 3rd anniversary so thought we go somewhere safe where the food has been tested to be nice. Turns out Reese’s Espresso steak was really bad.. my short ribs is ok but tastes very asian. The desserts is the best.

My tidied table..

And this is how my table looks like after the exams! Great… beautiful… neat… oh no. This was taken on the night before the optimization exam… I realised it cos I see the textbook there.

CDO Classmates

…with Laura

Dinner at Royal East

This is our SMA Christmas dinner. I love crispy chicken… haha.

Black Friday 30 November 2008

After thanksgiving, what’s most important is Black Friday. It’s shopping day, named like Black Monday when the stock market crashed. So why would retailers name such an important shopping day after a stock market catastrophe? It is said that retailers were typically in the red, incurring losses and sales on Black Friday are so good that it is the time that they first go into black, starting to make profits for the year.

At Boston, black friday is over hyped. Things are not really much cheaper.

MIT

 Before we start our journey….

Penang

 We filled our stomachs in between shopping…

Newbury Street

Newbury Street.. me.

A very nice street to shop where Zara here is 3 storey high.

Very cheap DVDs.

And came back with only these. I bought a lot of dvds cos they are really cheap…. ranges from US$5 to US$10… It’s scary that I already have about 40 original DVDs here now… dunno how to bring back to Singapore… haha.

Galleria, Quincy Market, Downtown Crossing, Newbury Street, Shabu Zen 28 November 2008

We have more feasting and shoppings! You see the trend.. everything I blog about is shopping and eating. Haha.

Out to Galleria

On the way out..

Reese

Me...

Beef Ribs.. the 3rd time we having this..

This shows u proportion

This plate is for one person, but you can see that we really have to share it..

Snickers Cake

Shopping and Feasting with Classmates

Were out shopping with Chen Si, Zhang Hui, Wang Jie, Yuwei, Yu Qian and Qinwen today. Started the day with lunch at Quincy Market.

Bread Bowl and Lobster Roll

Christmas is Coming!!

Christmas Tree!

Reese and Me

Vegetable Plates

Raw Meat to be cooked..

Almost done!

Life seems good for me? Haha. Some people asked why are all my pictures are showing me having fun. And did I ever study? Haha, nobody takes pictures of themselves suffering or studying right?

But I am quite enjoying myself

In everything, with Thanksgiving 27 November 2008

Today is Thanksgiving.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6.

Origins of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving originated in the 1600s when God delivered the Pilgrims from England to America.

In 1534, the Act of Supremacy made the king the leader of the Church of England. However, Bible believing Christians wanted to be loyal to God and true to the Bible. They called themselves Pilgrims, as they began leaving England for Leydan, Holland in 1607. In Holland, they were penniless and being foreigners, they qualified for only the lowest paying jobs. And to preserve their worship practices in their native language (English), they are convinced that God wanted them to sail to America and begin all over with.

102 men and women set sail across the Atlantic. They met with a storm, and on 9th November realised that the storm had blown them to Cape Cod, 100 miles north of their planned destination at Virginia. The storm had been providential, because at Cape Cod, they are free from obligations to the New England Company, which had business dealings in Virginia. So they believed that God wanted them to be at Cape Cod, and they settled there and form a new kind of government.

In three months from December 1620 to March 1621, 45% of the men and women died from diseases, but they were thankful because it is half the death toll at Jamestown. Good and bad things happened during that time, but the Christians were full of thanksgiving to God for His mercies.

Governor Bradford proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving to God to be held. As pilgrims to a foreign land, they invited their neighbours to 3 days of feasting – Fat turkeys, many types of vegetables, cornmeal pudding, fruit pies, maple syrup, popcorn.

Thanksgiving celebration spread throughout the regions of America. George Washington, declared in 1789, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour… I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, Who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country….”

in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a national holiday, when family became the focus of the holiday. In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s adminstration declared Thanksgiving to be on the fourth Thursday of November.

(Paraphrased from Bill Perry’s American Holidays, Multi-Language Media, 1995.)

The Pilgrims had 3 days of feasting in Thanksgiving. Me too, I went for 3 separate thanksgiving dinner. One hosted by the Boston churches, one by SMA, and one by Westgate.

Thanksgiving with Boston Churches

Reese and Me at Thanksgiving

Table decorations

Our Food

Thanksgiving with SMA

SMA CE. Classmates from China, India, Singapore.

Food

Really good apple pies

My Food

Thanksgiving with Westgate

Buffet Table

Our Food

Reese and her food

 And this concludes our 3 days of Thanksgiving feasting

Two Weeks in November 16 November 2008

15th November 2008: Burlington Coat Factory, Shabu Zen

We went to Burlington Coat Factory today. It was a very long journey! Things are cheap there but not really that nice. What’s worth mentioning about this day is…

Dinner at Shabu Zen! With Chen Si, Yuwei, Nirjhar, Chin Soon, Yu Qian and Reese.

Before eating...

Many types of soup to choose from. We have the regular, and the “spicy chinese” (which I suppose is what we call 麻辣. It’s great, though we didn’t make it spicy enough.

Surf and Turf, Meat Platter

The meat is great… thin and tender. We’ve been to several Chinese restaurants here in these 3 months. This place is clearly the best… highly recommended. Fantastic.. very satisfying meal. Even Nirjhar enjoyed it, haha. His first time trying steamboat, haha induction into Chinese culture.

10th November 2008: Dinner at Legal Seafoods

Dinner at Legal Seafoods

Boston Clam Chowder. It was said that this is the best chowder you can get over here. Not great… pretty average. The best is at Hyatt.

Fisherman

Tastes… alright..

Fish and Chips

Tastes bad. Won’t recommend this place to anyone.

8th November 2008: Cambridgeside Galleria

Outside Student Centre..

This was at MIT. Many leaves were falling from the trees at that moment.. but didn’t manage to capture it.

Nice red tree

Nice red tree outside the medical centre. This is really pretty…

Dinner..

Dinner.. enough to feed a cow again, haha.

2nd November 2008

Outside Stata Centre

1st November 2008: Cambridgeside Galleria too

Memorial Drive

Nice row of trees along the street that I always walk along the way to school. Oh not actually, I seldom walk to school these days, have been taking the shuttle.

Beef Ribs

Beef Ribs. Is good! Used angus beef. Angus beef seems pretty common here.

Strawberry Shortcake

Dessert.. I like.

Other Random Photos

Yellow Tree

A tree near Westgate..

Can you spot the same tree?

The same tree looks like this 2 weeks later. Haha. All the leaves dropped to the floor.

Selfmade Lunch

I packed my own lunch to school today (5th November). Nice looking sandwich right!!

Reese Made Dinner

Reese prepared dinner on most nights. This dinner was on 7th November. 麻油鸡，肉骨茶, vegetables, kimchi radish, and white rice.

Dinner on 9th November

Reese prepared dinner. Black pepper beef, green lettuce and crabstick salad.

Views from My Room… 30 October 2008

… During different times.

Sunset on 2nd September

7th September, Day

View on a Sunday afternoon

25th September, Night

25th September, Night

18th October, Night, Moon.

18 October, Night

29 October, Fall

29th October, Fall

29 October, Fall

31st October, Fall

31st October 2008

31st October 2008

5th November 2008, Cloudy

5th November 2008

9th November 2008, Sun about to set at 4pm

See the moon?

It is 3:35pm when I took this photo. The length of the shadows of the building shows how low is the sun.. and look at the moon at the upper right corner.. Yu Qian wrote: “下午四点，月亮与太阳同在”.

Burning building?

Is building looks like it’s burning. Or is the window’s reflection of the sunset?

5:11pm. Dark.

It’s 5:11pm. It’s already dark.

12th November 2008, Clear

12th November 2008

12th November 2008

Very nice weather.. clear blue sky, makes the river blue too.

Night scene. Beautiful.

Very beautiful night scene taken at 8:48pm.

I’ll constantly update this to see how it looks like during Winter, Spring and Summer.

Maine 26 October 2008

We were in Maine from Friday to Sunday!

This tree was found behind the Mountain View House. Dead leaves on the floor, yellow leaves on the trees.

Wildflower Room

This is our room. It’s called the Wildflower Room. My classmates commented that it looked really like a honeymoon room. Haha. Ok, it’s small but cosy.

Christopher Lake

This lake is just behind The Maine House. There’re lots of trees on the mountains there. It was supposed to be very colourful but a lot of leaves have already fallen.

Reese and Me

The weather is supposed to be colder in Maine than in Boston. I think so, at least at night it’s quite cold. But I like it..

Another Yellow Tree

The house you see there is where we stayed. It can accomodate 33 people in many different rooms.

My classmates

These are my classmates. The 5 girls are from China, the 2 guys are from India, Reese and me from Singapore of course

Start of Hiking!

We went for a hike! Reese was so fresh at the start.

We climbed over rocks..

About 10 minutes into the hike, Reese wanted to give up and go back. Luckily she didn’t. This is her trying to conquer the rocks…

Me going strong

Haha. No lah, I had went for a run about a week before this, so I was ok.

Me and Nirjhar taking a rest

Actually I quite enjoy hiking. Actually it’s my first time. Actually I think I want to go hiking again. Haha.

We made it to the top

Yes we made it to the top. It was cold up there! I brought my windbreaker and carried it all the way during the hike just to wear it at the top. But I forgot to wear it.. but it was ok.. I enjoyed the wind at the top.

Reese and Me

A nice photo at the top of the mountain.

SMA-CE Classmates

We’re on the way down.. and I dunno what I was looking at..

The mountains

This is where we hiked.. some mountains. Everyone in the background is having the same pose. A big “Y”. Why?

Haha.

Luckily we didn’t stop halfway. I think the climb up was worth the effort. I knew I wanted to go all the way but Reese was really so serious on going back shortly before we started. I remembered I read a book by 几米，he wrote something like, 我们终于到了山顶，彩云列队向我们欢呼。然后呢？

Enjoying it

然后 we just enjoyed it. Haha. Ok I tried to do that big “Y” pose too. But I think I look like a “T”.

Bethel Town

Bethel is a small town in Maine. It’s a very beautiful town but it’s too quiet. I say that it is too quiet to mean that it is too boring. Haha. But yes it is very quiet. Very peaceful.

A pavillion

This looks like a nice place to hold a wedding. During winter, it will all be covered with snow and it’s really beautiful. Now there’s no snow, but we’re inside, which makes it beautiful. Haha.

Kicking the leaves.

Kicking the leaves. It’s very shiok…

A church

This is a church in this small town.

A beautiful house

A beautiful house. Yah I either use the word ‘nice’, or ‘beautiful’. I have limited vocab… You can look at the pictures, the house or the whatever and help me think of another word to describe them. They say this is the best place to retire, but I think I’ll die fast due to boredom. Other than kicking leaves, I don’t know what else I can do there.

Leaving

Going back to MIT…

The signboard

This is where we stayed!

The journey back

Very colourful trees on the way back. Everybody was sleeping but I was full awake throughout the journey. I was just looking at all the trees and listening to 稻香. Nice journey back.

It was a very nice and relaxing trip. It was also extremely high playing cards with friends. I fell into the lake but it’s also fun. So, it’s a mixture of peace, relax, fun, excitement and high. And good way to get in touch in nature and look at trees. Yes Fall is the best time to look at trees, cos by winter you only see branches.

At night, the sky is full of stars. When I look at the stars, it reminds me of the 15 year old song 星光依旧灿烂。And in the song, it says “青春是一条无悔的路”. I am not so 青春 but I am still walking on a 无悔的路. Life’s great.

My student wrote me a poem a few months back. In one of the verses she wrote:

“用幽深的明眸去读无垠的青春的天

用轻盈的脚步去趟绿美丽生活的芳草园

用辟浪的英姿去搏击人生路上的烦恼

用深沉的爱去温馨父母夕阳般的暮年”

Nice. My students are talented. I can’t write so I post more photos

Today is Lobster Day 19 October 2008

Today is Lobster Day. We went to satisfy our craving for lobster rolls today. It was really windy and cold!! Very cold. The average temperature in the day has dropped to below 10 degrees. With the wind, it’s really very cold. But it’s quite shiok.

Blow wind blow!!

Haha it was really cold. Can’t see from here but the wind is very strong. It never stopped blowing the whole day.. I had to keep my hands in my pockets all the time.

Lobster Roll?

Oh. We went all the way there to satisfy our craving with this piece of miserable thing. Lobster “roll”. Cheated of US$17 for this sad piece of thing.

Not shiok! We went to another store to buy a more decent one.

This is the one!

This set costs US$20 but this is how a lobster roll is suppose to be!! Big and huge and jumbo. The soup there is lobster bisque. Lobster bisque is average but lobster roll is nice.

Satisfied

Reese is very satisfied. But I eventually became “too satisfied”. Had to stuff all these lobsters down even though I was very full already. I imagined my stomach filled to the brim with lobsters…

Boston Lobsters.. Dont play play..

The lobster roll was huge. The real lobster is even more huger.  Don’t play play..

Oh I said today is “Lobster Day”. This is just a day which I call Lobster Day, in case you believed it, the americans don’t celebrate it.

But there’s going to be a day which I will call “Prime Ribs Day” soon.

The Two Weeks Passed By 19 October 2008

So glad that both my tests are finally over. Don’t think that they’ll be well done but I am very happy that I can finally relax now!!

18th October 2008

We went to Boston for some light shopping today. Oh yah. Correct observation.. we shopped a lot.

The same tree from: This is Fall

Recall how the tree looked like on 28th September… refer to earlier post on 28 Sep.

Trees are becoming botak. It was getting windy lately too, and it became very cold whenever the wind blows. And whenever I see the leaves, I think of the song that goes… 落叶随风都飘起.. haha. 一千零一夜.

Memorial Drive

This is the road that I’ve to walk for my lectures (if I walk).

Macys at Downtown Crossing

Shoe Car? Car Shoe.

The plastic bag that I’m holding is from FYE. Will be my favourite hangout after Gramaphone. Ah, all the DVDs there.. Code 1s and cheap. I pre-ordered the latest Hulk Special Edition DVD for only US$13.

Evangelistic Dance

They were dancing.. with banners showing Hallelujah, Jesus, etc.

Quiny Market

Reese new coat

 She bought it and wore it immediately. Cos it was so cold!!

3 storey high Abercrombie and Fitch

Yah! It’s huge. But there’s nothing I like inside.

Spongebob Balloonman

 This man was there making balloons. I saw him made 2 for the kids of an american. And he received $20 for them! WOW that was like good money.. imagine how much he can make in a day.

Dinner at Silvertone

We finally had our dinner at Silvertone. Queue was already forming even before they opened. The food is cheap and good.

Burger and Onion Rings

Reese’s Dinner. $11.

17th October 2008

Something appeared in the night sky today. Tornado?

Two streams of mist?

And it shifts. From above the moon, to below the moon within a few minutes. Shortly after, we spotted another one pointing in a different direction.

Two streams of mist?

If you look closely (or click on the picture to get the full resolution), the previous one has gone way below the moon. It’s still there. Two streams of mist appearing in the sky!

11th October 2008

Shopping day again. Saw this in the sky.. nice.

The sky

Nice sign

Had a rest at Cheesecake Factory

After all the shopping, we had our dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Woo finally can take a break.

Fish and Chips

Winter Preview

This is how we will look like for winter? Haha. Reese bought her CK winter coat from Macy’s today.

10th October 2008

We went to the circus!

Ringling Bros Circus

It was organised by Westgate, and it costs only $5 per ticket.

Reese and some performers

We entered the stadium 1 hour before the show starts, and we get to go up close to see them do some pre-show performance.

Me and the clowns

These red noses are free!

Elephant!

The elephant is painting a picture…

Our seats

So far. And yah I think I said it was $5… now we know why. Haha.

Tigers

 These tigers have been completely tamed by the animal trainers.

Circus Party

Very happening? Yah it’s like a party. But I think circuses are quite cruel and sadistic. You’re amazed by their skills, but I don’t think it’s fun to see people risking their lives just to entertain us. And the animals have lost their basic nature. Though I respect the performers for their skills and sacrifices, I wouldn’t support going to a circus again.

We were at Wrentham Factory Outlet again, and we had our lunch at Friendly’s!

Reese and Me

We had lunch with Jiawei and we ordered these!!

Lunch at Friendly

Very nice. The waffle fries is good.

The trip at Wrentham, I didn’t buy much. Bought a jacket from Kenneth Cole and a suit from Calvin Klein.

Kenneth Cole

Suit from CK

This suit from CK came in very handy immediately after. Cos MAS emailed to say that they have interview me at Boston.. so shortly after I wore this to the interview. On the actual day I wore this with a black tie I bought from Japan some time back. Haha. But the sleeves is too long.. I’ll have to bring back to ask my mum to shorten it..

Reese bought some stuffs too, and she changed her image!!

Reese new image

Not bad! It’s good.. after this day she started having all kinds of interesting new image when we go out. Haha it’s a good change.

Fall: 4th October to 18th October

Tree on 4th October

The tree has dropped many leaves by 4th October.. but within one week, almost all the leaves are gone!

Tree on 11th October

Tree on 18th October

Dinner @ Home

This is our homecooked dinner. All prepared by Reese.

Homecooked Dinner

Homecooked Dinner II

Beef with two types of mushrooms, omelette, bacons, brocolli, honey glazed drumstcks, carrots, asparagus with shrimps, portabello mushrooms with ham and cheese, lor bah! The lor bah is the best!

We have a water cooler!! 7 October 2008

We have a water cooler! I think this is the coolest thing I’ve ever had.

Water Cooler!

This is power. Super power!! They deliver 4 x 5 gallons (4 big bottles of what you see up there) every month. So I have a year’s supply of Poland Spring water!

This is good cos the left tap dispense HOT WATER!! So I can make hot milo with it. It would be milo + poland spring. Or hot tea + poland spring. Or hot coffee + poland spring. Hahaha. Winter will be warm…

Chin Soon composed a song, “My fren got a poland spring la la la, my fren got a poland spring la la la la…”.

Hahaha.

Two days of shopping 28 September 2008

Weather for the past few days haven’t been good. It was always raining. So I went to buy.. a raincoat. Or trenchcoat. Something that will cover my legs and block the wind during winter. And protect me from the elements.

New coat

It’ll come in handy during winter. I’ve experienced walking at 6am in the morning with the wind blowing.. no matter how many layers I wear for the top, the wind goes thru the jeans and it’s really cold.

I like it.

So this coat will help to keep my legs warm.. it’s long. Actually, I bought the shortest version of this.. there are “S” for short, “R” for regular, and “L” for long. I bought S…. hahaha.

Oh. Look at this tree.

This is Fall

This is a tree in front of Westgate, where we’re living in. It was green.. and full. Now it is red and bare. This is fall.

We went to Cambridge Side Galleria yesterday for a full day of shopping. Had Cosi for lunch, then shopped at Galleria till we missed the last shuttle. So went to Bambara at Hotel Marlowe for dinner before heading back. No camera to take photos!! The food is quite good.. I had hanger steak. Reese had some tuna. It’s quite good.. too bad no photos.. will go again one day.

And oh, Old Navy here is just soooo cheap. It’s really very cheap. There were already discounts in the store. And if your purchase is above $100, you get additional 40% off. That makes it really cheap.. I bought some polo shirts for $6, fleece pants for $9. Reese bought jeans for $15. My friend bought her blouse for $3 and 3 pairs of socks for $3. It’s like cheaper than pasar malam? When Gap is like so ex in Singapore..

Which is why this morning I wanted to go back there again! I asked Yu Qian along, and she ased Zhang Hui along.. and we managed to clock $100 again to get 40% off, haha.

After that we went for more shopping at Boston and finally stopped for dinner at Penang at Chinatown! The food is good!

Nasi Lemak in Boston

This they call it nasi lemak. The rice is really that lemak but it is really very fragrant. The curry is very good. Thick and good. I was so excited to see all the different dishes on the menu, and really happy to eat this when it finally came.

Singapore/Malaysian Food

All the dishes we ordered. Char Kway Teow. Baby oyster omelette. And my nasi lemak. I think this is the best Chinese restaurant we’ve visited since we’re here. Will come back often!

Received my NUS Results 26 September 2008

Michael has just informed me about my results in the 3 NUS modules I took before I flew over here.

I got an A+ for Computational Linear Algebra, A for Cluster and Grid Computing Technologies, and A+ for Computing Tools and Technology. There’s an ‘A’ without a ‘+’ but fortunately it’s still CAP 5.0. And that A is for the module which I didn’t manage to finish the final project. Haha. So yah it’s the best that I can hope for, especially since I wasn’t comfortable with all the heavy programming that we had to do. MPI made me very frustrated and demoralised many times, and… no I wouldn’t say that it’s worth it. Haha. I shall just say that I’m glad it is over, haha.

I know that I have not been replying to wall posts, emails and comments. I will do so tomorrow night! Friday nights and weekends are my rest days.

Niagara Falls 22 September 2008

We reached Niagara Falls at 9:30pm at night. Imagine we started travelling at 7am, and only reached Niagara Falls at 930pm. We only stopped by for a 1 hour boat ride at 1000 Islands, so can imagine all the travelling we had. But the journey is worth it.. to see Niagara.

When we were close, we saw the start of the Falls. The river was gushing really very heavily and we were already shocked and were like “WOW” even before seeing the Falls. Oh and I think my type-written English is really bad but is ok as long as you understand what I’m saying..

And… let me present to you the American Falls at night.

The American Falls at night

Tada! Beautiful isn’t it? The falls at night, illuminated by some lightings from Canada. The buildings you see in the background belongs to Canada, while I was standing on US grounds while taking this picture.

The gushing river

The river.. rushing forward to fall from the Niagara Falls.

After 45 mins viewing the Falls at night, we checked into the worst hotel that I’ve ever stayed at, The Fallside Hotel. It will fall soon if it don’t improve. Toilet is faulty, lights is faulty, and the restaurant where we had our breakfast has the worst service I’ve ever encountered.. But it’s ok! We woke up to see the Falls in the daytime.

See the mist?

See the mist? It was from the Horseshoe Falls. The mist from rises all the way to the clouds. It’s amazing.

Another shot

Yeah, we were on our way down to see the horseshoe Falls. The mist is not smoke but water due to the force of the Falls.

The size of the falls..

The Falls is really huge..

A view of the Horseshoe Fall

It’s big. Our view is from the side.. later we get to take the boat to right into the basin you see there..

Us again

This is still at the Horseshoe Fall. I am posting more pictures cos we took a long journey to and back from this place.. better make the trip worth so post more pictures, haha.

Nice photo I took

This photo looks good right? Yeah I captured it, haha. See the mist rising from the Falls.

The size of the Horseshoe Fall

See the Falls! And look how small we are..

The American Falls

Just now was all the pictures of the Horseshoe Falls. Now this is the American Falls! It’s the same Falls as the one I posted at night, but this time from another angle and is during the day.

Another view

This is on top of the river leading to the Falls. The bridge you see in the background leads to Canada. Nice place right? I like it.. it’s peaceful. Oh no it’s not really peaceful. The waters are loud and roaring. The whole place is really crowded with people and animals. But I find peace in this place here. It’s nature..

The Bridal Viel Fall

This is the Bridal Viel Fall. It used to be called the Luna Fall, but it seems that many honeymooners come here. So they changed the name to Bridal Viel Fall.. it is said that the waters create a lot of negative ions, and makes people feel in love.

The American Falls

The American Falls..

The power of the water

Powerful isn’t it?

Queuing up for the Maid of the Mist

While queuing up for the Maid of the Mist. All of us are supposed to wear that blue raincoat you see in the background..

Set sail!

And we set sail! This is the view of the American Falls from the river.

View of both American Fall and Bridal Veil

This is the view the Falls. The big one on the left is the American Falls. The tiny one one on the right, the very tiny one, is the Bridal Veil. Earlier on I spelt it as Bridal Viel, and I believe one of the spelling is correct.

Us in our blue raincoats

Nice right! Exciting. See the birds flying… I don’t mind staying here.

The Horseshoe Falls

This is the left half of the Horseshoe Falls..

Exciting

It’s exciting when we are near to the basin! The man in the speaker says “Ladies and Gentleman.. this is Niagara Falls!!” And people starting screaming. I didn’t scream of course. I smiled. And looked at the birds flying all over the place.

The right side of the Horseshoe Fall

This is taken while we’re leaving the basin. We stopped there for about 5-10mins but can’t get good shots as it’s too close. You get water splashing on you so it’s quite cool. Yes it’s really cool in both sense of the word.

We are like refuges..

As we are leaving. You see the ship.. full of us in blue raincoats. We are like illegal immigrants or refugees..

A good view of the Falls!

It’s nice right!!

Before we leave the place..

Before we leave the place… there are a lot of people coming in and out of the place to take the photos, so it’s really hard to take the photos without some other people appearing in the photos. Ok lah, just imagine you didn’t see them. We are the couple in the middle.

OK!! Nice right? I think so. I like it cos there are a lot of birds flying around. So it’s a place really conducive for life. It feels good to be there.. you feel so small. There are a lot of beautiful places in this world, but the most beautiful places are still the natural ones. It’s true.. cos no human can create anything more beautiful than what God created right? I always remember the birds flying.. and I think it will be so beautiful if heaven looks like this, with doves flying all over.

Actually I don’t mind going there again. To Canada and have an even better view of the Falls!

Thousand Islands 22 September 2008

The journey to 1000 Islands took us 7 hours from 7am to 2pm. To take a 1hr boat ride.. to view the islands.

To board this ship

This is the ship. The whole journey to this place takes 7 hours, but we took the boat only for 1 hour. Not that worth it right. Given a choice, I’ll give this 1000 island a miss and go straight to Niagara Falls.

Me and Reese on the ship

Yeah we were on the ship to view the 1000 islands. There are actually 1864 islands. The islands are very small and there are houses on them. And people actually live in the houses.

An Island

This is one of the islands. Some islands are so small that there’s only a house standing there and it fills up the whole space. Some islands are so small that there is only one tree on the island, which is smaller than the tree.

The Castle

There is a castle on the island. It’s one of the highlights of this place, but we were not allowed to go to the castle due to time constraints of the tour. Actually, if we go to the castle, we will be back 30mins later. But it’s only 30mins, but the tour didn’t allow time for this. It’s really not good to follow tours.

My classmates Zhang Hui and Yu Qian

They are my classmates Zhang Hui and Yu Qian.. the 4 of us went on this trip together. Needed a break from school haha.

On the way to Niagara Falls

And we’re on our way to Niagara Falls.. this is taken along the way when the bus stop for breaks..

Research: Dynamic Networks and Spread of Diseases 19 September 2008

Just to note down some points before I forget.

Remark: I won’t be doing this research, I just found it sufficiently interesting for me to think about it. Just got excited as I thought of a possibility to analyse this problem theoretically, noted at the end. But this will just stop after the end of next week, after which I will be thinking of possible problems in business operations. Probably competition in energy markets. Price of anarchy? Or pricing and revenue management.

Dynamic Networks and Spread of Diseases

Motivation for research: Classical use of static networks fail to address how diseases spread in a community. Old results are based on assumption that network relationships are constant, which is too big an assumption.

Measure of spread: Number of secondary infections from t=0 to t=T (say t=200).

Context: Vertices represents people, edges represents affiliation between people that can cause a successful transmission of disease.

Centrality measures: popularity, betweeness and closeness. Popularity: vertices prefer to affiliate themselves with vertices that are popular (higher degree). Betweeness: a vertex that is important in the sense it is central to some flow of information and communication. Closeness: being affiliated to the vertex brings them closer to other vertices. These are only 3 of the many centrality measures used by social scientists, but they are the most fundamental and were one of the first few to be used to model social chocies.

Dynamic nature: Vertices modify their set of neighbours based on the 3 centrality measures defined above. The network structure constantly changes at each time t. Equilibrium can be reached when the graph approaches a certain structure. However, edges are still constantly changing, though the changes are within a certain predictable structure that classifies it as having reached an equilibrium.

A more macro view of such model: Vertex can represent households or towns. That town councils affiliate with other towns based on popularity, betweeness and closeness. When two towns affiliate with each other, there are increases in communication and infrastructure such as roads, which facilitates transmission of diseases.

Work done by Dr Ng K. L. and N. H. Fefferman: Use of computer simulation to study the structure of such networks and measure of spread.

Further research: Need for analytical analysis of the model, to explain the results that had been obtained through simulation. To put an algebraic framework into a evolving graph and hopefully it will allow us to explain the results when we use the disease model. The largest eigenvalue of a special matrix has been shown to be closely related to the basic reproduction ratio of a disease model – a parameter that tells us whether the disease will eventually “wipe” out the entire population. It is also possible to think of it in the “game theoretic” sense – different players (vertices) are changing their affiliations with a set of rules – how and why does this set of rules result in the converging structures of the graph?

Sources: The above are obtained from conversations with Dr Ng Kah Loon, NUS Dept of Mathematics.

A possible starting point for theoretical analysis: We can consider a complete graph, with dynamically changing weights of edges. If two vertices are affiliated, we assign a small weight to the edges connecting them. For vertices not affiliated, we assign an arbitrary large weight, say M.

The advantage of such is that we can increase or decrease the weights based on the inherent chances of infection (eg, someone who has recovered from such a disease has a higher chance of contradicting it again).

The weight of the edges can be negatively correlated to the susceptibility of the vertex to the disease. For a particular case, if someone is immune to the disease, the associated vertex will then have an arbitrary large weight M on all edges incident to it.

The weight of the edges will change according to the three centrality measures of social choice. A vertex that chooses to affiliate itself with another vertex (due to popularity, closeness, betweeness), will then result in a decrease in the weight of the edges connecting them. A loss in affiliation will result in an increase, to possibly the value of M.

Georgia Perakis has some papers on dynamic networks with changes to the weight of the graphs (she talks about it in terms of changes in traffic condition, that drivers slows down etc). It is modeled using fluid dynamics, that on a macroscopic level, transportation (spread of diseases) behaves like fluids. What follows are some difficult problems on differential equations. We may be able to borrow concepts from such a model to analyse the dynamic network based on social choices.

References: Papers from Dr Ng Kah Loon, Assoc Prof Georgia Perakis, M. G. Roberts, J. A. P. Heesterbeek, N. H. Fefferman.

If you’re interested, I can pass you these papers for reading pleasure.

A week gone by? 17 September 2008

Haha, long time didn’t update my blog right.

Life during weekdays is quite standard. Wake up at around 9am, go for lessons till about 5pm. Then at night do assignments. In between lessons or when feeling bored during lectures, think about whether to do thesis with Prof Perakis or Prof Gilbert Strang. Haha.

But quite happy now cos I have finished all my assignments for next week in advanced!! And I am going to see the Niagara Falls this weekend. Can enjoy myself completely without worrying about work.

Yah, this week I tried to cook. It was fine I guess, except the mushrooms stems weren’t cooked. And that the mushrooms is too oily. And the vegetables aren’t cooked too. Plus I set off the smoke detector and the whole house became very oily. Ok so it wasn’t that fine, haha. Actually it’s disastrous. Ok I decided not to cook anymore..

Shopping Again! 15 September 2008

Yeah I truly enjoy shopping. We went back to Wrentham again…

Spoils of War

Very happy.. I bought a warm cap for winter too, that can cover my ears. Also one scarf. The winter here is -20 degrees… it really sounds really bad.

After that, we went for bbq as part of a MIT Singapore Student Society gathering. Ah.. I went there hungry and came back hungry cos the food is too slow, and there is too many people waiting to eat. My other friends stayed till 10pm, and they said there were many food left after I left!

I am hungry now again.

Harvard Square Part I 13 September 2008

Today we went over to Harvard Square. I named this “Part I” cos I will be back again.. somehow I was very tired today so only walked a small part of it today.

We started off by having our brunch at “Bartley’s Gourmet Burger”. It’s the “best burger voted by people in New York” and has many recommendations.

Look at the queue!

There is a very long queue! Look at that.. and you can smell the burgers from a few stores away. It’s amazing.

Reese Burger

Reese ordered this burger. $9.

My burger

I ordered this burger. $11. The onion rings are very good!! Though very oily. I didn’t like the burger at all… both sides of the patty is so charred. It’s totally black on both sides. I scrapped off both sides and I’m left with only some minced meat.. You should just come here for the onion rings. This is recommended if you like good tasting burgers, but definitely not recommended if you don’t want to die young.

Starbucks

I thought this Starbucks outlet looks cute.

Interesting buildings here..

The buildings here are quite nice.

Nice building too

Nice.

Nice Church

Wow this is one of my favourite building I saw. It’s a really very nice church.

Another view of the church

Nice view from the back of the building.

Nice right.

This place looks very nice right. They have so much space.. lots of greenery. The air is fresh.

Look at the leaves..

Look at the leaves.. I think Fall is starting to prepare for winter.

Canons

We were at some historic site.. there were plagues all over the place telling the history of some wars and the story of these canons. No I didn’t read them…

Washington?

This is a George Washington (I think..)

Oldest Church in Cambridge

This is the oldest church in Cambridge. Built in 1760. Occupied by.. (I just typed what you can see up there).

Nice building again

This building is really nice! Right?

Ok, then the rest of the story goes that we walked a super long distance trying to find a famous ice cream, toscanini(?), and found it next to Pu Pu Steamboat. We ate the ice cream, nice. Drank some iced mocha, not nice. Then went to Shaw’s supermarket to buy groceries again.. Then went downstairs for a BBQ organised by Westgate.

There goes a Saturday! Oh and I finished 2 assignments during the night, haha. I don’t mind attending lectures and doing assignments.. I find them very manageable. Glad that my training was in Maths back in NUS..

It’s Friday 13 September 2008

Since I am quite bored now on a chilly Friday night (not that I have nothing to do, but it’s not right to work on Friday night), let me post some pictures!!!

Me in my new shirt!

This is taken at about 5pm after lessons. Yeah I bought this at factory outlet… It’s Polo Ralph Lauren but only $32. Cheap right…

Salad at Hyatt

Then we went Hyatt for buffet. Oh very disappointing. $94 for two person (about S$140) but nothing much to eat. But we had free flow of clam chowders. The oysters, though very fresh, had a funny taste of seawater. The steam crab is the best! Plain but very sweet and juicy!

Steamed Lobster

Reese had steamed lobster. It’s sweet.. you dip the flesh into melted butter. The corn is surprising too.

Disappointing scallops

Aiyo these scallops are disappointing and I should have ordered prime ribs instead. Four miserable pieces of tough and tasteless scallops.. I should have ordered prime ribs instead. And I kept thinking that I should have ordered prime ribs instead.

So it’s a dinner not worth the money.. but ok it’s a Friday night.. supposed to have some decent food after eating own cooked food for the whole week.

Yah, I should have ordered prime ribs instead.

Weekdays over here.. 11 September 2008

The weather here has turned a little cold, but I like it with this temperature. It is colder than with an aircon, but not as uncomfortable as being in an air-conditioned room for too long.

Life during the weekdays is quite plain.. going for lessons, tutorials, recitations, and coming back to read up random (no, not totally random) research papers, Prof Perakis papers, Prof Strang papers, Prof Edelman’s papers. And my assignments are piling up and left undone, haha.

Before leaving dorm for school

Yah.. before leaving for school. Weather is getting cold lately.

Groceries..

This is from Shaw’s supermarket for our grocery shopping. We have to walk a long distance to buy all these stuffs every two or three days. And the two of us had to carry all these back. I felt that I use my brawns more than my brains here.. when everyday is about lugging groceries back. See the carpet? We carried back back too. The other day we just carried 10 x 3+ litres of water back.. by foot. Wow that was really tough. And the water will probably just last us 1-2 weeks.

Wendy

Oh this burger is so good. Wendy’s burger. The beef is so tender.. it is stated that they use fresh beef instead of frozen ones. Wow it’s really good. It makes me hungry now.

Dinner

Dinner.. done by Reese. One of the few dishes that succeeded.

Wonderful view at night

My room has a wonderful view right? It’s beautiful.. In the day time, you see the beautiful green field. At night, you see the beautiful lights from the city.