the world's most tactless man.

this is the first time ever in school that i'm taking a module i totally have no sound basic knowledge in and i foresee a momentous struggle to ensue in the coming weeks. it's called real estate finance.

not many people talked in the first tutorial session, and halfway through the class i remarked to jerome that "either these people totally know their stuffs so well that they don't have to question the tutor, or they are completely clueless like i am". by the end of the class i'm pretty sure it's the former. i'm not a defeatist in this sense really - to drop this module at a point where i haven't really put in much effort to determine if i can actually make something out of this would be premature. though i must do something about this, if not there is a chance i will score very lowly at the end.

for this module though i've been scanning a bit through online articles on HDB flat prices. i didn't know it's quite a hot issue now, with the high prices of resale flats especially dominating the headlines. the resurgent economy has led to a spillover effect to the property market sector, both the private and the public it seems. unsurprisingly the fact that the exorbitant prices of resale flats in the current climate, coupled with oversubscription (means supply lesser than demand) of the government's latest BTO projects, have led to disgruntlement and dissatisfaction among certain sections of the populace. it seems many are complaining about the lack of government help for low to middle income families, and young couples who cannot afford such prices. but this is juxtaposed against a select group of people who are willing to fork out up to 6-digit cash-over-valuation (COVs) premiums - thus one can use the colloquial term here 'spoil market' to describe this scenario.

personally this trend is disturbing - of course, like the economic boom and bust cycles, the property and real estate markets operate the same way too. but trends like this are a source of worry. inflation is surely set to soar. with increasing demand, influx of foreigners and new citizens, coupled with the fact that this city-state cannot continue to reclaim land forever - prices will surely rocket. i worry (maybe it's ahead of my time, i admit) that i might not be able to afford a matrimonial home by the time i am ready to get hitched. i think it's sad if i get married yet i only can manage to upkeep a matrimonial room that was once my own messy bedroom. living with the parents, honestly, is not an option i would like to consider once i get hitched. and buying a home is not the end - there is still the maintenance fees, the renovation costs, the loans to pay off etc. and we haven't even gotten started on the fact that married couples usually reproduce too. if one's finances have been spent on the home, then what is left for the kids?

some of my friends want to remain 16 or 18 forever. i would prefer staying at 21 or 23 as long as i can, i guess. but more importantly, i think many don't really want to grow up so soon and face real-world issues so fast. at least being a student at this age somewhat allows us to shirk responsibilities that grown-ups have to face, yet we are old enough not to be treated like a child. i want to grow older, but i want to grow older knowing that i can secure enough moolahs to guarantee a comfortable, stable and happy life. money talks. it certainly does, nowadays and especially in singapore.

on a less serious note the past few weeks i've seen weird stuffs and happenings all around, but i've forgotten many. last week i was walking on the pavement when i noticed this van - it was repeatedly honking intermittently for no apparent reason, even when it stopped at the junction. upon closer observation, i saw that the honk was spoilt. the driver was actually struggling to press the horn to actually prevent the honk from blaring, and at the same time try and manage the steering wheel and the gears to drive. what a bizarre situation.

on another occasion in the train there was this malay guy whom i noticed was dressed nicely, until i looked at his shoes. his shoes were black with red trimmings at the sides, but the shoes were in the shape of his feet - he could actually wriggle his toes individually (okay maybe for toes its independently, or whatever) while in those shoes. it's like those socks with separate rooms for each toe. haha pardon my poor description, but i think you get the idea. for all the uniqueness of his strange-looking shoes, it completely didn't match his attire i felt. oh well. i'm not much of a fashionista anyway haha.

a reason for all that i do - and the reason is you.

today's post will be random thoughts and reflections of the past week.

week 1 of school has been okay - although i'm abit annoyed because i cannot print all the readings and materials at one go since some of the reading lists only contain book titles and no chapters included. that would take time to trawl through all the books. and this time round i'm using more textbooks than i've ever needed in a single semester. plus the notes i'm due to print - looks like 200 bucks is going down the drain this semester alone to fulfill my educational needs. haha.

i've started school already, but not this particular friend of mine. i ran into him on friday and asked him where he's been and what modules he's taking this time round. you know, the usual catching-up questions. his reply caught me off-guard. he said he's taking a break off from school because he doesn't have the finances to support his schooling, so he needs to work to find the cash. apparently last semester's fees are still owed to the school, though he could still view his exam results. i think the school is trying to work out some plan for him to ensure that he can carry on with his studies.

after we parted ways i couldn't help but feel pitiful for him. i think it is extremely sad if one has to stop or take a break from school just because one doesn't have enough financial means. i feel even sadder actually, for many of us who have the means and the opportunity to study hard especially in university, yet we don't make full use of it. i think there are many who do not fully appreciate how fortunate they are by already having a place in university, yet they while away their days fooling around and not putting in effort in work and take things for granted. i think that's very sad. if not for being less well-off, i really believe there are many out there who, given the chance, would love to have a shot at studying in university and doing well. this encounter with my friend has suddenly given me a sort of a wake-up call - that i should work hard in my studies as an undergraduate in the absence of any sort of financial burden. i still have to push hard even if my cap will not budge that much - but i have to believe.

last friday i also paid a visit to the doctor in school for the third time in 3 weeks. the 1st two visits at the polyclinic was for the feet rash that i had (which is still persisting damn it!), but last friday i went to the doctor because my mucus contained blood now and then for the past week. so he checked whether my nasal area was painful etc, then he took a metal tweezer of sorts and pushed against the inside walls of my nostrils to get a better look. then he said i had an inflamed nose. well i don't know about him, but i know my nostrils are as hairy as they come. yet through that thick foliage of nostril hair he could determine what was the cause of the bleeding. though i must admit - it's quite shocking to see blood mixed in my mucus discharge. last week i was coughing for a few days and my phlegm was dark green, light green and black-red at times. scary as hell.

yesterday night was the muslim society nightcycling event. i rather enjoyed it very much. i was co-facilitator with izzati, and we were assigned to team apex. i think everyone had fun just cycling up and down slopes and having a good laugh at each other - like when we were trying to practice our jumpshots for the camera, or just laughing off each others' cranky comments or actions when each and everyone of us began to lose sanity. as usual the groin area ached because the bicycle seat was rock hard.

just a few moments ago i noticed a red a3 piece of vanguard under my computer table - a drawing of the eiffel tower. and at the top it wrote 'md yusri bin md supiyan, 5b'. haha. i can't believe it's still around. a drawing way back from 1997, when i was 11. this masterpiece, if i remember correctly, is the cover for my art and craft file then. i think it got torn off from the file itself, but this piece miraculously survived - it survived us shifting place from yishun to woodlands! goodness only knows how, and i don't know who placed it here. i think it's my mom. haha. anyway it was graded b. i simply cannot draw, but i know i remember where the inspiration to draw the eiffel tower came from. haha.

i've seen a few weird things this week already. you know what's the weirdest of the all? yesterday we cycled past kfc at bugis, and inside there was a topless chinese man (looked 40s or 50s to me) walking around inside kfc itself. yes inside. it was close to 3am. and i thought chickens only rise at sunrise to do that cockle doo-a-doo thing.

'cause you're the only one who can get me on my feet - and i can't even dance.

school starts once again tomorrow and the cough and flu that has plagued me since friday persists.

at least the flu has cleared up but the mucus, like the river, always flows. discharge of phlegm is still noted with almost every cough, but at least the funny colours that appear in the phlegm have sort of disappeared. i'm thankful that i wasn't down with a fever - not really because that would totally rule me out of the silat barbecue last friday night. but more importantly, i'm pathetic when i'm down with a fever. my motor skills and movement slow down greatly, and all i can do effectively is lie down in bed all day. i don't know how some people can still carry on with their daily routines even with the fever raging - when i'm down with fever the whole world seems to pass in slow motion since i can't do things as fast as i normally do.

the good thing is that i think by tomorrow i should be fine - in time to start my 6th semester in school. the repetitive and routine nature of the school system is getting to me already. what's worse is that after blowing 1000 points on bidding since the last time round i blogged, the next day i blew another 1000 points or so for another module. that's a costly 2000 points just down the drain, wasted on modules that i should try and do well given the points wasted.

at least when school starts life suddenly becomes more meaningful and full of objectives - unlike aimless holidays spent doing mindless things like playing computer games and slacking around. okay well at least this past holidays i've read 2 books, which i think is a feat for me haha. even if school is starting, it's still much better than working. studying is definitely better than working (if you discount the money factor) - i hate working. work involves even more routines, deadlines, office politics, lesser freedom, and a tightly scheduled and boxed-up environment is surely unhealthy for personal development. but can one study all his life? well, if i was paid to do just that i'll do it.

anyway this coming semester i start at 10 every schooling day. that's kinda sucky, but it beats starting work at 8 or 830am and having to brave the morning traffic jams or the rush hour crowds every single working day.

i shall probably waste the final hours of total freedom washing shoes, reading the newspaper and playing games later on. what a lazy sunday this has been.

that may be all i need, in darkness she is all i see.

i caught sherlock holmes at the movies just now.

i'm a sherlock holmes geek of sorts - i have an omnibus of the original sherlock holmes stories (19th century english, mind you) and other few books of him by arthur conan doyle. i'm quite a big fan. if you read holmes a lot then you would know how holmes is like as a person and how he goes about his detective work.

i knew the movie was going to present holmes in a different sort of way - but i think mostly it was aesthetically-related. holmes certainly didn't really dress like robert downey junior did - at least that's what i come to believe. haha. but i could connect well with what i've read of holmes and what i saw in the movie - it was typical holmes going about his work. although in the movie holmes was abit too involved in action sometimes - in the books he preferred sitting in his room and just thinking through all the facts- hardly any action sometimes.

but what i found more disappointing was the plot-it was based on the ideas of sorcery and black magic. because i knew holmes was too practical to believe in such things, so i was disappointed that the case he was working on was about sorcery and black magic. although in the end he proved that it was all a bluff and pure logic and a mastery of science was behind all the mumbo-jumbo sorcery. many people said that it was a great movie - personally i didn't like the plot entangling sorcery mumbo-jumbo with what in the end turned out to be pure logic and rational reasoning. but overall still a good movie - the acting was good i thought.

that was the first movie of the year for me. and the first since last june i think, when i watched the hangover - the funniest movie i've ever watched. haha. sadly next week school's a-starting. time flew past real fast! the holidays have been spent playing computer games, finishing 2 books, going out to do things like roller-blading and kite-flying, going for training and also to batam, visiting the museums, and of course shopping. but it is never enough is it?

on another note i cannot believe i spent 1040 points for 3 of my major modules. damn it.

just to be with you is having the best day of my life.