Amazing~

This.....is what I call honouring your wedding vows...."...till death do us part...."

Injustice~

There is so much injustice in this world, that one can either choose to fade away and not let the troubles of this world be upon him, or stand up and fight against injustice, an action which might cause further injustice to beset upon him. So what exactly is justice? It is the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness or moral rightness and the moral principle determining just conduct. It is the shining light that protects the innocent and pierces the heart of darkness. It is the ability to stand tall and firm in the waves of chaos and unlawfulness. It is the moment when one stands before God, and be judged for all the moral and religious unrighteousness that he has commmited in this world. Where there is injustice, there shall be justice, as justice will always prevail.

God give me strength

The Vagabond~

"The best option for you is legal squatting. You probably can get a hall place in September or October..or maybe December...." So this is the story of my hall life. Because of being too trusting in people and making wrong decisions, I have been from earning my right to staying in hall, to shifting to an alien hall, to not having any hall at all. Luckily for me, I have XP, the ex-roomie who readily offered to share his single room with me next semester. Thanks dude, it really means alot to me. Perhaps there is a reason for me to wander from place to place. Perhaps God is telling me that I should not stay hall. But I want to and I have to because of IVP training, which probably is more important than IVP trainings in the past years because of the fierce competition that we would be facing to retain the IVP title for the 3rd year. There's also Asean University Games this year, which I hope I will be able to make the team and train hard for. Nevertheless, everything happens for a reason which I hope I will be able to come to terms with.

World Record~

I had my first haircut in Singapore which the hairdresser took 10 mins to cut after 6 months. I thought about my hair in the states and how I have managed to achieve to keep it the longest ever in my entire life. This picture shows you the record for longest hair Hamon ever had. WOW.

Singfest~

Well well, the "biggest" music festival is dawning upon us, with the "biggest" names in the music industry like Travis, Jason Mraz, Simple Plan, Stacie Orrico and Alicia Keys coming down to perform at the humble Fort Canning Park, it would definitely attract the "biggest" crowds, and oh did I mention the "biggest" price tag? Ok so amongst the aforementioned artistes that are performing, there is another handful of artistes that I have never heard of. So, with the hefty price tag of S$150 and S$200 (presale) for a Saturday and Sunday day pass respectively and S$300 for a 2 day weekend pass, I wonder how many people could actually afford the exorbitant price tags placed on these tickets. I know I can't. I have S$300 in my bank account, but I just don't see myself paying that amount for 20 hours a day of "entertainment" by artistes that I don't know of, and considering the fact that in the all star line up list of artistes I am only a fan of Jason Mraz, One Republic and Simple Plan, it just makes even more sense for me not to pay an average of S$100 to see these artistes perform on different days.

Kudos to the organizers for bringing in the bignames and putting Singapore somehere on the map for performing venues for big artistes. But boo to them for not allowing music fans to have a choice to pay for what they want to watch like how Mosaic Music festival does it. Biggest Music festival in Singapore? Biggest Boohoo to music fans who find the pricetag on this one just too much to bear.

This Blog Is not Dead..yet~

Finally back after 6 months in Sunny Singapore. Finally back after 3 weeks of holidaying. Finally writing a post after a very long needed break and the lack of motivation to. Unpacking kinda sucks. The things just adds to the already so many things I have at home. Time to do some spring cleaning and donate some of the overflowing items to the Salvation Army. I'm not used to my house. I kinda liked that everything is within a step or 2 in the little apartment in Seattle. I drank Winter Melon tea, ate choke and Oh Lua yesterday night. I played on the rusty strings of my takamine guitar first thing when I woke up in the morning. They so need to be changed, and I guess the ones on my electric as well. I so need to get a Taylor. I went out to say hi to Troy. I looked out the window to see the koi in the pond. I will feed them tonight. The black chevrolet is parked outside the house. I will drive it tonight. I fixed the Boeing 787 model that I bought, its now soaring on my table. My room's in a mess. I thought I unpacked everything, but it seems I unpacked nothing. Dammit. It's such a drag. Feeling kinda shack. But ultimately it feels good to be back.

The Trip Thus Far~

We began our journey on that faithful day, where goodbyes were said and parting messages were exchanged. The date was June 12^th 2008. And so the 3 of us took the 1^st step towards a 16 day adventure of the US and Canada. We took an overnight flight into Toronto Canada, transiting at Las Vegas where prominent street lamps and neon lights greeted us in the sky, and slot machines in the terminal. We met Auntie Ping and her family at Toronto. Auntie Ping was my nanny (maid) from the time when I was born till when I was 2. It was a very weird but heartwarming experience for me and I bet for her as well as this weird reunification brought much lost time and connections together. She and her husband went to a great measure to bring us around Toronto and make sure we enjoyed ourselves in this short one day stay. We visited the CN tower, apparently or rather REALLY the tallest building in the world, saw the magnificent bohemian architecture of Parliament, walked around Eaton Center, Harbourfront Center and drove past Chinatown, the University of Toronto and York University. The next day, they took us to the Niagara falls, where e experienced the ferry boat of our lives. Dubbed the Maid of the Mist, we managed to get close enough to the falls to experience the power of the falling water, which without raincoats we would be drenched from head to toe. Because of the lack of time planned in Niagara Falls, we couldn’t really walk the streets of the little town which bear resemblances of the touristy ones in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. When it was time to say goodbye, I could sense the sadness and tears of Auntie Ping which echoes in my heart because of that special and intimate connection we have with each other, as we do not know when we will see each other again, considering that we only saw each other after 21 years. As the bus slowly inched out of the terminal and as we wave and caught the last glimpse of Auntie Ping, Uncle Jojo and Eric, I am forced to think of our biggest challenge of the trip, crossing the border back into the United States.

We were told that we might face a problem when entering the US because our student visa has expired, but we know that by immigration laws we are able to enter the US under the Visa Waiver Program, a program which Singapore maybe because of its close ties with the US, entitles its citizens the privilege of touring and holidaying in the US without having to obtain a visa. All thanks be to God, we managed to clear customs smoothly and safely unlike one of our fellow passengers in the bus, who was detained by the customs for God knows what reason. Hence, we crossed over into Buffalo, NY, to catch yet another overnight ride (bus) to Boston. These overnight bus rides although they provide a cheap and time saving alternative to accommodations and traveling during the day respectively, drains one’s energy and strength with much efficiency. It was evident that all of us were tired despite it only being the 1^st 3 days of the trip, but we persevered and pulled through.

The date was June 15^th. We arrived in Boston at midday and checked into Hostelling International in Boston Fenway. The sight of a room with beds and shower proved to be a boost to our morale and energy. We freshened up ourselves quickly before heading out to visit the famous universities of MIT and Harvard. At night, we headed to Boston’s chinawtown where we had Taiwan cuisine “family style” (zhi char). We ordred Kang kong, Sweet and sour pork chops and ma poh toufu. It was a sumptuous meal that reminded me of food in Singapore and the great dishes that await our return. The next day, we took a 3 hour drive to the little and humble town of Waterbury, Vermont , where Ben & Jerry’s originated. We visited the factory where most of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream are made and managed to catch a glimpse of their ice cream making process through the factory tour.Of course, the girls were ecstatic and it proved to be a fun filled day of ice cream, memorabilia and not to mention, the horrendous roads in Boston. People say its difficult to drive in Boston because the drivers are not so polite as compared to drivers in the North West. I say it is difficult to drive in Boston because the roads are just ridiculously confusing, and it stupefies first time drivers like me which in turn leads to “rushing to work” Bostoners being impatient and impolite. In the evening, we visited Boston University and our knowledge and memories of the place is limited to the photos we took as there wasn’t really much to see so late in the day. After which, we visited Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Redsox baseball team, and the oldest baseball park and the most expensive place to play baseball in the United States. For dinner, we went to Legal Seafoods, apparently a must try for the “best Boston experience” as mentioned in the HI brochure. The food and service were pretty good but the price I would say was slightly exorbitant.

The next day, we checked out of the hostel early in the morning and just walked around downtown Boston, before catching the 1 pm bus to NY City. Till then…

MIA,

I will be. For how long, I dunno....

In 2.5 hours,

The agony will be vanquished, the shackles from freedom will be broken, and I will be free......

Now's not the best time.....

to study for 2 exams, when there are more pressing issues at hand such as the shifting out of the apartment, soaking in the last drop of seattle rain, basking in the magnificent UW architecture for a final time, worrying about summer trip and the unecessary necessary admin, and the emotional effects of saying goodbye to a city that I have called home for 6 months. Seattle isn't the most attractive place to be in the States. It is not as exciting as Los Angeles, as sinful as Las Vegas, as bustling as New York, as pristine as Washington DC, as sunny as Orlando or as intellectual as Boston. The streets aren't as clean, and the number of homeless people roaming the streets of downtown and chinatown just makes visiting these places a little apprehending at times. The weather is terribly gloomy especially for a time like summer, where we are still experiencing unbelievably low temperatures of 10 degrees celsius. Coupled with the rain, Seattlites must be pretty patient people. As a matter of fact, they are when it comes to traffic. Drivers are polite and pedestrians are king of the roads. Buses can stop for 5 minutes for bus drivers to aid a wheelchair bound passenger get snug into his seat without impatient remarks from fellow passengers or drivers waiting behind the buses.

Besides the generally polite nature of Seattlites, the city of Seattle also has much to offer. With homegrown companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Adobe, and Starbucks just to name a few, the city has a strongly rooted culture. It also has its charms in its neighborhoods such as the arty farty Fremont, and the University district, therein lies the University of Washington. I will definitely miss the times walking to school, when on a good day, the ever elusive cascade Mountains and Mount Rainier to the south will emerge from the clouds and fog, leaving behind a breathtaking scene to remember. There are the cherry blossoms, the ducks and squirrels and migratory birds and the gothic architecture of the University, they too eased the morning blues and dragginess that school brings. I will also miss the IMA, a facility that's in a class of its own and its badminton courts which helped fostered many friendships in my stay here.

But now's not the time for nostalgia too, and given the short amount of time I have left in Seattle which I would spend most of it doing all the sorts of stuff mentioned above, I don't have much time to think about these stuff. Looking ahead, when I leave Seattle, I guess I leave this place with no regrets. I came here with a purpose. A purpose to achieve, a purpose to experience. Within the boundaries of my abilities, these purposes have been fulfilled. This might not be the last time Seattle will see of me though, and it might not be the last time I will see of Seattle....

The Kakis~
A Chemistry professor, a Microsoft computer engineer, an Amazon employee, a computer science graduate student, a Chemistry graduate student, a Badminton entrepreneur, and an aeronautics major exchange student. Thanks for helping me keep in touch with the sport I've played for 15 years now, in a land so far away from home.

Wu fei - Thanks for being one of the 1st few person to play badminton with me at UW.

David - Thanks for just playing badminton with me!

CY - Thanks for restringing my rackets like 5 times and re-gripping them.

Tao - Thanks for the offering me discounts on microsoft software, the tube of birdies and
the ever so tiring singles games!

Kevin - The phiten man, thanks for the lifts to BBC and the testmonies on phiten products...haha

XiaoSong - Thanks for partnering me for doubles for Washington State Open, the lifts home after our sessions, and advice on grad school.

Thanks everyone:)

Nua~

Its the time of the year when u feel so nua, kinda burned out, just waiting for that long holiday to come, for you to recharge and rejuvenate. I wonder how people in the working world can work 5 days a week for the entire year. Exams are coming. Shit. I've been watching more movies and playing more badminton than I should be. I have been studying so much lesser than I should be. In fact, I've slacked off so much this quarter I think I'm gonna get shitty grades. So much for "...even though I'm on exchange, grades are still important cos it will be reflected on my transcript". So its only 7 more days left in Seattle before I head for the East Coast to enjoy the long awaited Summer break. I need to so pull my act together and find some motivation for studying through these 7 days, so that I don't do further damage to whatever damage that has been done throughout the quarter to the grades that doesn't really matter but actually does. Heck. So I need to nua abit more b4 I pull my act together. And crap, its a viscious cycle, procrastination........

Terminology~

Its the time when I start wondering whether I would miss Seattle and its Wastelands, or at least that's what a girl from the other side of the mountains call it. Nostalgia has yet to be in full effect, but it will soon be. Today I was this close to get a decent haircut. It turned out to be slightly less than disastrous, and could have been even worse if I didn't request to the hairdresser to use "special scissors". I realized that I've finally tuned myself to the terminology that the Americans use for haircuts as compared to the terminology Singaporeans use in Singapore where its so easy to get a cheap and good haircut.

"Slope" = "Taper"
"Jian Bao" = "Thinning"
"Comb down" = "Side Bangs"
"Layer" = "Layer"

Dear Professor Lok...

I am a 2^nd year Aerospace Engineering student going onto 3^rd year, and am currently on the Global Immersion Program in University of Washington, Seattle. Just a little background about myself, I am a member of the school’s IVP badminton team, and have represented Singapore Universities in the Asean University games in Hanoi and the World University games in Bangkok. In my freshman year, I was a proud and enthusiastic resident of Hall 2 who participated in many of its activities including representing the Hall in Inter Hall games, member of the Hall’s Jam band and publications committee and team manager of the Hall’s badminton team. In my sophomore year, after the implementation of the new Hall Allocation System, I was allocated a room in Hall 5 under the IVP scheme. I did not participate in any Hall activities because of my plan to go for exchange. In the recently concluded 1^st round of allocation, under the points scheme in which I have 13 points, I did not manage to secure a place in hall. I am writing this email not because I am desperate for a hall place and hope that in my actions I could get a place, but I am writing this email in sadness and in a hope for a better change of the constantly changing hall allocation system.

One might ask why as an IVP player I would apply for hall under the points scheme rather than the sports scheme in which case the sportsman, due to his heavy training schedule which main purpose is to bring glory to the school, would be guaranteed a place in hall? Because I believe that every individual has a choice, a choice to choose which hall he would or would not like to stay in. Personally, I was a product of the random allocation of IVP sportsmen done by a machine which uses algorithms to make decisions. Cold as it seems, the crushing moment of losing all identity that has been forged with the hall I call home for 1 year is even colder. An identity that has been lost forever and the cause even forged disbelief and hate with the new guidelines for the recommendation lists for halls this new academic year.

“Only returning residents are allowed to be on the recommendation lists for each hall”, and so I have heard. Why is it that this rule is in place? Why does the Hall Allocation system wants to put its foot into every hole it can find? Again, personally it prevents people like me on foreign exchange to be on the recommendation list. One who dislikes his previous hall’s culture is also deterred from applying to other halls, assuming that he does not make the 1^st cut off and has to try to get a spot in the recommendation lists of halls which may appreciate his ability to contribute to the hall. Furthermore, there are others who haven’t stayed in hall previously, but because of a position they chose to undertake, staying in hall seems necessary due to time commitment required to perform their duties. The JCRC has certain roles and responsibilities. Let them fulfill what they have been formed to do.

There are yet another group of people who are valuable to the culture in hall, who have contributed in so many small little ways, but have not received any recognition in their abilities and their hard work. These people are not the leaders of school, they are not the presidents of clubs, nor are they IVP sportsmen who have the option of choosing to apply under the sports scheme. They are the building blocks of NTU’s hall culture, the people who are always there when their leaders need them. They are the people who take up many small appointments to be involved in hall in many different ways, albeit not big and prestigious ways. Because of the new Hall Allocation system, people who take part in many activities are not rewarded due to the fact that campus life points are not accumulative. The system has inadvertently flushed out students working silently behind the scenes and they will eventually fade away from hall, disappointed. If Presidents of school clubs get rewarded in terms of points for their time commitment to the school, I do not see why these students in their small little ways accumulatively should not be rewarded for their time commitment, which may even surpass that of the President of a school club. As the saying goes, “Without good men, there can never be good leaders.” Without these students, the President cannot run his club.

Although Singapore is a small island city state, distance still matters with respect to time spend travelling to school. NTU is inconveniently located in the extreme west side of the island. Hence, students who live on the other side of the island have to take at least 2 hours to travel to school. The weightage of points for distance under the Hall Allocation System is half, with the maximum points being 9, the same as the maximum one could get for campus life involvement. This brings up the issue of whether the weightage for distance is actually a fair one, because it automatically puts Singaporean students at a disadvantage over foreign students. Given that this year’s cut off points for hall is 15, and making a general assumption that the points allocated for distance is 4.5 at an imaginary north south running line that is drawn cutting the island into approximately half, and also assuming that the distribution of NTU students is uniform throughout the island, that automatically makes half of NTU’s student population ineligible for a hall place. Even if they have 9 points for campus life involvement, their maximum number of points that is available to them is still less than 15. Hence, like my friend once said, “This system is ostracizing the locals.” Perhaps a system that is fairer is one where the weightage on activities is higher and that of distance is lower. Moreover, foreign students come here to experience local culture in hall, not their own. We would not want foreign students to crowd out our halls.

There is a rising demand for campus accommodation, and coupled with the fact that freshmen are guaranteed a place in hall for their 1^st year, this rising demand justifies the seemingly impossible cut off point of 15 for the normal person. Moreover, there is a possibility that double sharing rooms may make way for triple sharing ones. Putting three students in one room may solve NTU’s problems of rising demands in campus accommodation, but it will only be short term as there is only this much we can expand with a limited amount of resources. In the long term, more halls could be built, be it inside or near campus to meet this rising demand. Furthermore, the school could build their own off-campus accommodation instead of relying on individual landlords to come forward to provide a more steady supply of off campus accommodation for students who desperately need to stay near the area at a cheaper rate but are unable to secure a place in hall.

Good systems must be in place to ensure that culture develops and flourish. However a system that has a tight control does not develop culture, in fact it will stifle and ruin the present culture. The spreading out of IVP players in hall might ruin sporting culture in a hall, by not giving the players a choice to go to a hall of their choice. As students of NTU, we want to graduate and remember the days of our hall lives, and remember that Hall X was a powerhouse in a certain sport; Hall Y had the best jam band amongst all the halls, and Hall Z……

I believe I echo the voices of many students, students who as you are reading this email, are spending their time making preparations for Freshman Orientation Camp, training for competitions, but at the same time worrying about whether they can get a hall through the recommendation list or the 2^nd round. As much as I think this email will go unnoticed, just like the many cries of the students who did not get hall, I would hope to believe that there can be some compassion in the system, a system that will not destroy hall culture, but one that hall culture can actually thrive and nourish in.

Yours Sincerely,
Hamon Shen

Memorial Weekend~

Because of the long weekend and being Singaporeans who always know how to maximize our resourses, we took the drive east towards the state of Montana, to Yellowstone National Park. It was another one of those super long drive. It took us about 12 hours odd in total to get to West Yellowstone, a small little town outside the National Park itself. We set off on Friday afternoon and reached at around noon today(Saturday). Went to explore some parts of the park in the afternoon till evening, and managed to catch some glimpse of the geysers and volcanic features in the park. Of course, we had to see Old faithful (some world renowned geyser) erupt spectacularly. More spectacular than that I would say, would be the Bison crossing on the road when we were driving out of the park. They weren't exactly crossing the road from one plain to the next, they were using the road to get from one place to another, just like how we use it, causing a massive traffic haul up in process. We were like THIS close to them, cos they were practically walking next to our car. 2 of them stopped and stared blankly into the brightness of the car's headlights before moving on. It was just an amazing moment..haha..Well tomorrow we'll be doing more of Yellowstone, before making use of the entire Monday to drive back to Seattle...so...I'll post pictures soon..

Singapore in Seattle~

Firstly the weather has taken a drastic turn for the weekend. We have been hit by 25 degree celsius temperatures which called for the drastic change in fashion sense, and conducting of class?!?! I had one class today out in the open, on the grass. It seems that Seattlites really enjoy the sun, although it gives u sunburn like the one I got from the overexposure of my skin to the sun. Nevertheless, the experience was a "hot" one, and most of the time I don't think the class was paying attention to what Prof Cao was saying, rather just basking in the sun and probably thinking of what to do over the fabulous Seattle Summer weekend.

I on the other hand, had the Washington State Open badminton tournament for the weekend to worry about. I would say that I've done reasonably well for making it into the quarters for mixed doubles and doubles, and semi's for singles. On the other hand, I think I would have achieved a better result if I was in better shape and more used to the high intensity of the 3 day tournament. Playing 7 matches in one day is certainly not my cup of tea. The tournament drew several big players from the region this year, including Piotr Mazur, an ex polish national player and currently the US number 4 ranked player (apparently), ex Taiwanese, Israeli, and Indonesian national players as well. Despite the fact that fatigue has reign in all parts of my body, it was a great experience to play with these people and a great way to make new friends.

Why?

Why do people always ride on good things when they come by even when you promise them goodness in time? Whatever happened to patience, whatever happened to good company? Whatever happened to "I give you my word?" Why are people so opportunistic? Why can't we have more spirit of togetherness? Why does it seem so hard to achieve? Why do people keep sayin hurtful things to each other? Why can't we take jokes as a pinch of salt? Why am I writing this?? haha..oops

Training~

And so, I almost died doing 3 mid term examinations in 1 day, in a span of 4 hours. I even had to run from one exam venue to the other once I'm done with the previous one. By the end of it all, 1 word. SHACK. Anyway its time for some training. As I've mentioned before, I'm playing in the Washington State badminton Open going to be held next weekend. And I happily signed up for 3 events: Men's Singles, Doubles and Mixed doubles. After talking to the organizer, I realized that we might play quite alot of games in 1 day, hence the requirement for some sort of training, if not later play already peng ah. So yesterday I went down to the IMA to do some footwork (make sure I don't get cramp). Wah kau..do abit only shack out already. At least I still got 1 more week to get into some shape. Well, regardless, I'm kinda happy how I still manage to play badminton pretty regularly here, and finding some kakis to play, although not many. So this week, I'll try to sleep more, eat more, and train more.

D-day H-hour minus 9.5

3 midterm exams, 4 hours. Wish me luck

I love Fridays~

Maybe not next Friday, but today was chillaxing. I went downtown with Juanita today, went to exchange my American Eagle T shirts while she went to do some assignment for her course at Seattle Art Museum. I realized that the American Eagle store in downtown has so much more stuff compared to the store at Northgate. After that, Dan came along and we went to try the Clam chowder at Pike's place clam chowder. On the menu, they boasted that they have the nation's best clam chowder, so I tried it despite the hefty price that came along with it. I got to say its the best I've ever eaten though. Rich, creamy and full of fresh clams. After that, we walked around aimlessly for a while before deciding to watch Iron man. The truth is....I AM IRONMAN!..haha..it was an enjoyable movie I would say. We Ta Pau Thai tom for dinner after the movie to Dan's place and just chillaxed there guitaring and chatting till late at night. Today would be the last day of chillaxing. I've got 3 midterm examinations on next Friday, and I dunno how I am going to survive. But I'm sure I will, as i have always done so....