Pitch Perfect 2

Secret War Journal[14 May 2015][Spoiler Alert]
There are really a lot of movies to catch this season. Continuing down my invisible movie bucket list, we are going to catch the much anticipated Pitch Perfect 2.

To be frank, before last week, this movie was not on my list. (I am sorry to all the fans out there. It was not intentional.) I was informed of its greatness when my cousin went for its sneak preview. She gave good reviews on it. Naturally, I am all psyched to watch it. :P

Ever since then, I had been finding opportunities to watch it. Indeed, one day, the opportunity came. During a lunch catch up session with Cynthia, Jie Sheng and Wei Ting, we decided to head over to Seletar Mall for a movie. Jie Sheng, who also wanted to watch Pitch Perfect 2 too, was agreeable to the idea of watching it.

Bear with me here, I did not watch Pitch Perfect 1. (I was told I did not need to really watch the first one. I was not misled. :) As a result, I cannot say I can fully grasp the meaning behind every scenes. What I do know is that, this is definitely not a movie suitable for children. At least I would not recommend to children. There are many mature (, sexist, and racist) jokes which I felt would not be appropriate for them to watch.

(I went to check again, it is rated PG-13 for sexual reference. Wow)

That aside, the performances were really good. I mean really good. No wonder people were recommending this. As strange as it may sound, I actually felt that Das Sound Machine performed better than the Bellas. I mean, yes, I see the value of having an 'original' song among the mashup but I think most people would frown about that in A cappella (or am I wrong?). The performance by Das Sound Machine was really more solid, professional and impressive. They really felt professional while the Bellas looked like they were just performing for a CCA (which they both literally are, I guess that was meant to be the joke). Hence, I was really confused how the Bellas managed to win Das Sound Machine in the finals. *Scratches head*

But that is just me thinking too much. :P

Avengers 2: Age of Ultron

Secret War Journal[12 May 2015][Spoiler Alert]

I seldom watch a movie twice in the cinema. I would think that I would watch the movie a second time in the cinema because it was really awesome. Nay, we all know that that is unlikely. You can always wait for the DVD to starting selling to rewatch. There shouldn't be any rush right? I will get back to you on this when I find myself in this situation.

Rather, I found myself watching Avengers twice, not because it was nice but because Avengers is too popular. Hahas. The first was for Mother's Day, the second was an outing that was planned quite some time ago. Since it was planned some time ago for Avengers, it is not very appropriate to change the movie that we planned to watch, isn't it? (Obligations)

Review
I am sure that by now, you have had heard or read many reviews about Age of Ultron.

I must admit that this sequel failed to meet expectations. However, whatever its faults, it was still a decent movie. It is not a movie that deserves to be watched twice but it is definitely worth the movie ticket to watch it for entertainment.

My biggest gripe with the movie was actually the plot. (ye, I know many people complained about the huge cast but hey, this is the Avengers. That is to be expected.) Never mind the fact that they changed a big portion of the original story on the creator of Ultron and Vision but the amount of loop holes in its place. Okay, there are many loop holes in the comics too but I am comparing with past films. There was not much explained why Vision just decided to join the Avengers. The Avengers did not even so much as try to convince him to join them. It felt very convenient at that point of time for the Avengers to gain a much needed ally against Ultron.

And really, Ultron was shown to be kinda smart in the beginning. It does not seem to make sense that he did not have a plan B in mind if he should fail in its ploy. It could be something simple like placing another instance of him in some remote town or something. That way, even if all the robots were destroyed in that city, he will survive to execute his plans again. Again, very convenient.

Finally, why did Ultron not just use Loki's Scepter on the twins to prevent them from double-crossing him? Now, who's the naive one? :o

All these sounds like a good idea for how it should had ended, huh? Hahas!

Nevertheless, if you are not that concerned about the plot and just want to enjoy the action scenes, this is a fabulous movie for it!

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Aside from the movie, we did not really do much that day (for the second outing). I really should remember that Mind Cafe's happy hours end at 6pm. *scratches head* 

Summer Vocation 2015

Secret War Journal[May - August 2015][Updated 31 July 2015]
Finals are finally over. For a period of time, I thought that I was among the last of my peers to finish his examinations. Guess not.

Objectives for this holidays:

1. Clear BTT (I need to check my BTT test date before I commit this)
2. Clear IPPT
3. Find an internship / job
4. Clear Dragon Age: Origins (The game says I had only cleared 19%. What!)
5. Learn C++
6. Watch Game of Thrones Season 1 (It had been sitting there for far too long)
7. Read 3 chapters of Reaper's Gale

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill

Ben & Jerry's FCD

Secret War Journal[15 April 2015]
It is going to take some time for me to write about the NIS interview I went for today. I would probably post some time after my finals.

Coincidentally, today was also Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day. From a far, the queue really looked very long. It occupied the entire outdoor area outside the stall. Not wanting to queue in the hot sun, we decided to eat at Soup Spoon. It was around 4pm then. I was under the impression that this would be my tea break or early dinner since it was in the early evening then. As it turned out, Lai Yin skipped lunch for her interview. Consequently, that became my second lunch. :O

After our heavy lunch, we went back to take a look at the queue at Ben & Jerry's. The length was largely unchanged. There, we observed that the queue was actually moving quite fast. After some discussion, we decided to queue for free ice cream! (Hahas.)

First Free Cone Received. :)

There we go. Mission Accomplished. Time to head home.

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WHAT IS FREE CONE DAY?
It’s Ben & Jerry's way to celebrate and say thanks for another year of support, and they've kept it up every year since, spreading the peace, love & ice cream around the globe!

#FCDSG #Donated

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Be sure to catch it next year and remember to support them!

Recess Week Sem 2 AY 2014- 2015 Goals

Secret War Journal[28 February 2015][Updated 15 May 2015]
What do ya know! It is already the week that denotes the half of the semester. I do not even remember blogging much during this period of time. For that, I must apologise once more. Tsk.

Today marks the start of my recess week after countless quizzes and presentations last week. That means I finally have some time for myself and work on completing some goals for myself. (Hopefully)

Here goes...

1. Complete Dead Space 2 (Really now...)
2. Read at least 3 chapters in Reaper's Gale (I have to make some progress in this area, don't I? Speaking of which, I had to read a chapter back to get a sense of where I left off the last time)
3. Draw Combineset Logo

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Credit: Img: http://thescoutmag.com/

Kingsmen: The Secret Service

Secret War Journal[21 February 2015]


Important: The movie is rated M18 in Singapore for violence

It is day 3 of Chinese New Year! We have met up for some movie outing! Joining me are Bao Lin, Cynthia, Jie Sheng and Wei Ting.

Before you watch the movie, there is a few thing you will need to know to manage your expectations. I had realised that this is a film that some people will appreciate and people who will not. From me, it seems the factor would be the expectations on this movie.

Firstly, note the genre is action, adventure and comedy. Thus, for people expecting a serious movie like James Bond, this is not the movie to watch. Instead, think Cody Banks (but better?).

Secondly, note the violence. At times, it is borderline gore but you can tell they tone down on the gore (at the expense of making it unrealistic in situations). It feels intentional so I would not fault them for that.

Finally, back to my first point, this is a movie to enjoy on. It is a comedy film so try to relax and do not think too much!

Overall, I felt this is one of the better shows that is currently airing in the cinema. If you really have to watch a movie this week, this is your best option until a blockbuster appears. Enjoy!

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Random, but after so long, I have pepperlunch. Hahas!

Tarot Reading Q1Q2 2015

Tarot Journal[27 January 2015]
Significator - 4 of Swords - Mentally tired
Immediate Situation - 8 of Wands - Acting on something hastily
Obstacle - The Emperor - Aggression, suspected from Fatherly figure
Distant Future - 7 of Swords - Deceiving others/ keeping one's thoughts from other
Near past - 9 of Wands - Feeling isolated
Distant past - 1 of Wand - Opportunities
Near future - 5 of wands - Arguments and Conflict
Person - Down to Earth
Environment - 3 of Pentacles - Need for creativity, business meetings
Hopes and fears - Knight of Pentacles - Worldly affairs
Outcome - The Moon - Hidden things, deception. Caution is advised

Let's Talk NTU 2015

Secret War Journal[24 January 2015]
Prospective students thronged Let’s Talk NTU 2015 on Saturday to hear about NTU’s holistic programmes and diverse curriculum from professors and students.

But wait a minute, I am already a student of NTU, what am I doing there? I was one of the ambassadors along with my fellow coursemates.

I was in the afternoon shift and as it turns out, my lab supervisor for CZ1003 last semester was there too. I was really happy when he found me familiar. He's a south korean professor working in NTU and he is really friendly. After talking with him, he begun to recognise my coursemates who came with me too.

As an ambassador, our job was to answer any queries that the visitors may have on our course. Since this exhibition is largely meant for future students. Many people who attended the exhibition were polytechnic and junior college students. In addition, some were accompanied by parents. Usual questions include the eligibility to exempt certain courses and cut-off points for the course. Many should be happy to note that both Poly and JC students are eligible for exemptions in certain circumstances. (Mmm, I should probably write a post regarding this when I am free. That would useful for interested readers, no?)

This year's goodie bags are actually pretty decent. A cute little bear, notebooks, pen light, and pens were some of the goodies being given today. However, I heard that the turnout for this year was less than last year's. This can be attributed for the lack of publicity this year. (I am sorry for not mentioning this earlier, I was busy with work, evidently. Hahas)

Personally, I really enjoyed the experience today. It was really fun sharing your school experience with potential juniors. That said, I should be participating in future ambassador events. (Next one being, RNS Men Talk 2015 [COE])

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After the exhibition, my peers and I headed off to Bugis Steamboat street (as I call it) and enjoyed some great steamboat to celebrate our great work today. :)

Secret Language of Birthday

Secret War Journal[25 January 2015]
Link: http://www.thesecretlanguage.com/report/personology/

I was just being informed by Stephanie about this page and decided share with you all.

In Summary:

Traits of this day...

PERSUASIVE
PHYSICAL
SPATIALLY AWARE
UNAPPROACHABLE
INDULGENT
IMPATIENT

Meditation...

Respect those you meet on the way

Health...

Due to their physical and sensuous nature, June 17 people must guard against addictions of all sorts, whether to alcohol, unhealthy food, tobacco or anything else that brings pleasure (even relationships and sex). Those born on this day must cultivate willpower, which may be firm when commanding others or pursuing goals, but weak or non-existent when controlling personal desires. The problem is often that June 17 people don’t fully grasp how serious such addictions are for their physical and mental health, or they just don’t care. The stabilizing influences of a regular diet and moderate exercise go a long way in reducing such cravings, as many now believe addictions are not only a cause, but a result of chemical imbalances.

Personality of this day...

June 17 people take what they do seriously. No matter how relaxed or comfortable they may appear to others, they are intent on reaching their goals and being responsible family members and friends. They can give the impression of having their life pretty well figured out. Unfortunately, while the demands they place on themselves are high they are also likely to lay a heavy burden on those close to them. If they have outright followers or employees, they can be extremely moral, stern and demanding of obedience to their wishes.

June 17 people are facile in thought and action, and consequently somewhat impatient with those who work with them. Normally, those born on this day are not good teachers and lack the necessary patience and understanding to explain to the apprentice or student. It is even more difficult for June 17 people to stand idly by while a job is bungled. In the bat of an eye they have probably already done it by themselves.

Those born on this day can be extremely persuasive in their arguments. They are also adept at applying pressure, whether sensual or forceful, in getting others to do their bidding. Highly talented or successful June 17 people tend to be influential in their area of endeavor, even after they have retired from the fray.

Usually a strong physical as well as mental presence is characteristic of those born on this day; emotional and intuitive capacities can be somewhat lacking, however. June 17 people may be hard, perhaps nearly impossible to reach on a deep feeling level. Many born on this day are alternately mistrusting and impulsive. Because they can so easily exchange a mature, responsible attitude for a petulant, childish one (usually when they don’t get their way), they promote mistrust.

June 17 people make fine planners, designers, and travelers, as most have an innate sense of direction and understanding of spatial realities. In rare cases, they are so advanced in this area, their methods so unique, that they may sometimes seem to lack sense for not going the easy route. Usually their logic becomes clear to others after such methods have proven correct.

June 17 people have been known to stretch a story a bit, even to tell some mighty tall tales in order to get their way. In addition, some born on this day get a real kick out of deceiving others. This may be harmless play, but like any game must be kept light and under control. Those born on June 17 should avoid gambling: though they may be clever, highly adept players they are still vulnerable to loss and being drawn into unscrupulous activities. Indeed, less highly evolved June 17 people make excellent con-artists. Whatever their moral character, however, those born on this day seem to have no trouble attracting followers to their cause, whether public or private.

More on http://www.thesecretlanguage.com/report/personology/?r=19930617

SCE Y1 Semester 1 AY2013/2014

Secret War Journal[8 January 2014]

Semester 1 has officially ended with the passing of 2014. I would say I did pretty well for SCE modules but I could had gotten better if not for the carelessness during Finals. Dang.

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CZ0001 Engineers & Society

Lectures attended: 100%,
Tutorials attended: No tutorials. Tutorials are conducted during lecture
Textbook(s): N/A

Assessment: Finals, closed book (100%), suspected hidden class participation
Comment(s):
There is only one lecturer throughout the course. There are no tutorials though he will conduct a large scale tutorial during lectures weekly.
The lecturer himself is not bad. Sadly, the content was too dry. Many students found the content very boring and started to skip lectures. I do not blame them. This module is one of the modules that do not require much attention until the nearing the end of the semester. The reason being is that it is a very heavy content module with relative little thinking required. That said, it is an essay so you still need do some common sense. Otherwise, memorising the content a few days prior to the finals and you should be good to go.

CZ1002 Introduction to Computing System

Lectures attended: 100%,
Tutorials attended: 90%. I skipped the last tutorial. :O (Dr Graham Leedham)
Labs attended: 100%, attendance are taken.
Textbook(s): Computers Are Your Complete Future, 12/E, Catherine Laberta

Assessment: Clicker Quizzes x 4 (10%), Lab (30%), Finals, closed book (60%)
Comment(s):
With his signature eye-patch, it is hard to miss my tutor. He is quite an easy-going professor. I would say among the list of tutors available, he is not bad. You would learn more interesting things with him during tutorials. Those who are only interested in grades would be slightly disappointed but he will also cover the essential content so no loss there. It helped that he is one of lecturers and setters of the finals so feel assured that whatever he teaches are relevant. :)

Textbooks are not essential for this module. I did not buy the textbook for this module and I did not feel that I lost out in any way.

Clicker quizzes are relatively simple. It is a way of giving you free marks. Thus, be sure to be there for the clicker quizzes. They are held during lectures, you will be informed. Until they find a better way to prevent cheating, many students are just getting full marks for it.

Labs, please attend all of them. Each lab is graded. The tasks varies and may be not what you had learnt during the lectures. For example, during my semester, I was suddenly tasked to do assembly coding. Do not worry, it is just simple assembly coding so you should not have much trouble and it is not tested in the finals. Other tasks include simple research work on existing technology or hardware.

For Finals, I cannot guarantee that the lecture notes format would stay the same but I noticed that the color coding matters. Certain words colored in a certain color all turned out to be answers for the finals. Hope this helps. :)

CZ1003 Introduction to Computational Thinking

Lectures attended: 100%
Tutorials attended: 100%. (A Chinese Tutor)
Labs attended: 100%, attendance are taken.
Textbook(s): Learning Python

Assessment: Assignment x 2, Lab Quizzes, Finals, closed book
Comment(s):
Python knowledge beforehand would be extremely useful. This is especially so when it comes to assignments. Assignments ranges from simple to badly set. My second assignment requirement was very unclear. As a result, I have no idea how well I did for it.

Tutorials are pretty straight forward. Nothing much happens there except for discussion of different method in fulfilling the requirements of the tutorial questions. Pretty useful to gaining more insight on the different techniques you can apply from you had learnt in lectures.

Finals are similar to the quizzes in format, more questions asking on the expected output, possible compiling errors, etc. It is recommended to look through past years papers for insight.

CZ1004 Great Ideas in Computing

Lectures attended: 100%
Tutorials attended: 100% (Dr. Kevin Anthony Jones)
Labs attended: 100%, attendance are taken. Only 3 lab sessions
Textbook(s): N/A

Assessment: Team Project (50%), Quiz (30%), Peer Assessment (10%), Self Assessment (10%)
Comment(s):
I generally enjoyed the module. If you had read the module description, this is indeed a module that is taught very differently from how other SCE modules are taught. The content taught in this module are quite broad. Thus, studying the content could prove to be more taunting. My advice would be to understand the concepts more than memorising them. Having an interest in computing would quickly put ahead of other people. Here, passion and interest is trump.

My tutor was also one of the lecturers for this module. Attending his lessons, you would quickly realise that he is really passionate in this field too, hence the emphasis on interest and new technologies.

The bulk of the marks come from the team project, the quiz plays only a small part to it. Consistent effort into researching and development of the project would help to reduce your workload later on when other assignments from other modules kick in in full force. I would suggest being creative and aim to have your presentation generate interest as this module is suppose to allow students to have fun while learning.

Regarding the quiz, I must admit, given the breadth of this module, it can prove to be difficult to study. I myself faced some difficulty while revising for this. As long as you paid attention during the lectures, you should turn out fine. :)

MH1812 Discrete Mathematics

Lectures attended: 100%
Tutorials attended: 100% (Asoc Prof Frederique Elise Oggier)
Example Classes attended: 100%, similar to tutorials
Textbook(s): N/A
Assessment: Tests x 2 (50%), Finals (50%)
Comment(s):
Think Junior College/Secondary mathematics, just more difficult and faster pace. Junior College students will have an advantage here because much of the content taught here are similar to what was taught in junior college. Poly students would need to work extra hard for this module.

A graphic calculator is highly encouraged. It will help double-check your answers for matrix questions and complex number questions too. We would touching on matrix quite often in computing so the investment would be worthwhile.

For the tests, it might be changed but during my semester, as long as you revise for the tutorials and consistently do them, you should be fine.

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Well, that would be all.

For a full list of the modules I took, see link here. :)

NBS Y1 Semester 1 AY2013/2014

Secret War Journal[7 January 2015]
Semester 1 has officially ended with the passing of 2014. During the first semester in NBS, I took 2 business modules.

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AB1301 Business Law

Lectures attended: No Lectures. It is 100% seminars.
Seminars attended: 100% (Chew Yuen Ming, Melvyn)
Textbook(s): Singapore Business Law 6th Edition, Benny S Tabalujan & Valerie Du Toit-Low
[ISBN: 978-981-07-1709-4]

Assessment: Assignment x 1 (20%), Class Participation (20%), Finals, open book (60%)
Comment(s):
Seminars with Melvyn Chew would be interesting but I would say that his teaching style is not for everyone. You would need to prepare extensively before the seminars. Going in unprepared is not devastating but definitely would cause you to be very lost in the seminar as the basics would be briefly touched as to allow the more critical thinking questions to be addressed.
For Melvyn Chew's seminar, attendance is marked so I would not recommend skipping seminars.

In General, remembering the case laws are important. One mistake I made was not making summary sheets earlier. I think making one right after seminars for consolidation seems good. While the finals is open-book, the lack of time to refer and the amount of MCQs would be the end for you if you are too reliant on the textbook. Textbook is a must for this course, it is very hard to survive without them, the notes provided by seniors are not exactly accurate. My advice for finals would be to write out templates which you can quickly copy and paste snippets without referring to your textbook. That would help you out during the essay questions.

AD1101 Financial Accounting

Lectures attended: 100%
Tutorials attended: 100% (Adj Assoc Prof Anil Shukla)
Textbook(s): Financial Accounting: Global Edition: International Financial Reporting Standards, 9th Edition - Walter T Harrison, Charles Horngren, Bill Thomas, Themin Suwardy
[ISBN: 978-0-273-77780-9]

Assessment: Team Presentation (10%), Team Project (20%), Mid-term (10%), Class Participation (10%), Finals, closed book (50%)
Comment(s):
Adj Assoc Prof Anil Shukla's style of teaching is useful for consolidation and revision. Before attempting on the tutorial questions proper, he would summarise and highlight the key points of the topic discussed. I used the time to make summary sheets for consolidation of key concepts which I found useful.

Textbook is not essential. Most questions are taken from the textbook though you can obtain them from your peers. The textbook is, however, useful for clarity of concepts as I found the lecture notes somewhat lacking.

While we are on the topic of lecture notes, do note that the lecture notes have blanks. If you are planning to skip the lectures, either get the missing content from online lectures or from your peers. Otherwise, the blanks virtually makes the lecture notes useless, if not misleading.

One important thing to note for this course is that Team Presentation and Team Project component are separate. That means you basically have two team assignments for this module. It has a relatively heavy weightage so I would suggest dedicating effort into it.

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Well, that would be all.

For a full list of the modules I took, see link here. :)

Personal BaZi

Secret War Journal[3 January 2015][For Personal Use Only]

Courtesy of http://bazi-calculator.com/