Nokia Bus

Today, I got on 157 to go to back home. The bus is some kind of bus sponsored by Nokia or something. Sorry if this sounds outdated, but I really haven't been on these buses. So anyway, all the seats are low and much softer than the normal bus seats. It even had 2 bar stools with a table. But best of all, it was giving out free songs! Not that the songs were good, but they were free! As Mr Krabs would say:

krabs

Basically all you had to do was switch on your Bluetooth and something would send you the song that was playing at the time. Have any of you been on these buses?

Scientists discover massive ring around Saturn

It's been about a month and a half since I last blogged. Yay. Before I say anything,I'd like to congratulate everyone who managed to become a prefect, especially Deepak, 'cause I was campaigning for him and all, that's a different story, I'll tell you later.

So anyway, my parents saw this on CNN, and I thought, Wow. How could we have missed that? Turns out the ring is actually invisible, and can only be detected by thermal imaging.

On 6 October 2009, the discovery was announced of a tenuous outer disk of material that is in the plane of Phoebe's orbit, which is tilted 27 degrees from Saturn's equatorial plane. The ring is from 128 to 207 times the radius of Saturn, and is thought to originate from micrometeoroid impacts on Phoebe, which orbits at an average distance of 215 Saturn radii. The ring material should thus share Phoebe's retrograde orbital motion, and after migrating inward would encounter Iapetus's leading face, which could explain the two-faced nature of this satellite. I took this from Wikipedia, it doesn't matter as long as you understand it. Don't understand? Basically it means that this new ring, Phoebe, is tilted about 27 degrees from its other rings. And Iapetus is one of Saturn's moons, and from Earth, Iapetus looks half black, half white, like the yin yang symbol. Phoebe orbits Saturn in the opposite direction that Iapetus orbits Saturn, so all that dust and rock in Phoebe hits one half of Iapetus, giving it a 'two-faced nature'. Here're some pics I took from CNN and Wikipedia:


This is Iapetus, you can see the dark side of the moon on the right side of the picture.











And this is Phoebe, the huge ring around Saturn, which is the tiny dot in the centre.

New blog title

I thought ‘Rags and Bones’ was getting old, so changed it to this. Nice?

New blogskin

Now that Elim isn’t using this blogskin anymore, I thought I could use it. Looks kinda nice, don’tcha think?

Teachers’ Day Henry Park GEP 2007 Reunion

Yesterday, (almost) the whole GEP 2007 Henry Park batch met up for a reunion. The plan was to… well… um… most of us had this idea that we were going to Holland V for lunch after meeting all the teachers (haha everyone looks the same), but then someone brought up Pandan Valley, saying that it had a cafe and that we could play there after eating. But then we went to Holland V anyway, saying that we could always go to Pandan Valley after lunch. After we got to Holland V, I learned something very important. Whenever you have lunch with a lot of people, never go to a place with a lot of choice. While walking along the road, some people were “Oh, look! NYDC! That place is good…” or “Sushi Tei! The food isn’t bad and it’s not too expensive.” But we finally went to Subway, while another small group went to BK. We took a bus to Pandan Valley, then watched Ken do some magic tricks with cards that let you learn Chinese at the same time (I don’t get it either). Then we played Murder/Murderer/whatever it’s called. I was supposed to be home at 2, but I saw the time only at 2. Then it started raining. So I went home late. My mum wasn’t too happy, but she was ok afterwards.

Anyway, why I posted this was that, even though you’ve known all these guys (and girls) for about 3 years, you don’t really feel that connection anymore. Even though you may be in the same school now, it still doesn’t make much of a difference. Hmmm we should meet up during the Dec hols again. And maybe at a more fun location. I like rock climbing…

Happy B’day, Jinj Yang!

Photo


Found this photo on my mum's phone. It's me on the scout structure thing I posted about a few months back. The quality's not too good, sorry.

The RI boy who hawked pancakes

Read this in the paper today… First reaction: Whoa.

It was about this boy who grew up hawking pancakes, because he was really poor. Then he secured a place at RI, which at that time would have probably been very expensive. His dad wasn’t too happy when he heard about this… Still, he went to RI. His home was kind of far away from school, and he had to take a bus every morning, which meant more expenses for his family. So he had to go home after school and sell the pancakes again. But after completing his education at RI, he was unable to afford to go to university. But today, both his daughters have Masters’ degrees. He is happily retired today. The writer met him recently at an inter-school basketball game and he asked the writer if he still remembered him. You see, he was in fact, the person who inspired the writer to go to RI. Basically, what the writer is trying to say is that today, we are much more privileged than people were back then. Now, we have a lot of children on scholarships. The Public Service Commission gave out 82 scholarships and The Defence Science & Technology Agency gave out more than 100 scholarships.

For those of you guys who want to read it, the article’s title is “The RI boy who hawked pancakes”, the writer is Koo Tsai Kee, and it’s on page A28 of The Straits Times.

2K Quarantine!

Today, SEVENTEEN people were absent from 2K! That's like about 12-13 people present! So, because of the H1N1 flu scare and all, RI got damn scared, then quarantined them. Dunno what happened exactly, they either got sent home or were sent to the Raja block. So should be for about a week.

UPDATE: If I'm not wrong, 2I is now quarantined as well.

If Today Was Your Last Day

I got this song from Aru, thot lyrics really meant a lot.

If Today Was Your Last Day
by Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?
What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

Silence

I wrote a continuation to Pain, don't think it's as good, feel free to give me suggestions on how to make it better.

Silence
Silence.
Nothingness.
I feel Nothing.
I only remember a great Pain -
It stopped as abruptly as It had come.
What is this?
Death?
No, that cannot be.
I am still conscious.
I feel Something -
Hate.
I feel Hate.
Hate for this Silence,
this Nothingness.
No, I do not Hate It -
I Love It.
Love -
for this Silence,
for this Nothingness,
for this Peace.
It is what I have always wanted.

P.S. No again, I am not turning emo.

Poem!

Last night, my back was aching a lot (fever), so I tried putting on some muscle relaxant thingy, but all it did was BURN. So while I was writhing in agony (no lah, it didn't hurt that much, it subsided after a few minutes), I thought, "What is pain, exactly?" People with bullet wounds, those who are going to die due to some severe disease, they feel nothing but pain. What are those last moments like to them? Hence this poem. No, ma, I am not turning emo.

Pain
Pain.
That's all I feel
Every pore in my body -
on fire.
Hell.
A inferno withing me.
I cannot move -
I am helpless.
I can only wait for it to consume me.
Make it go away -
somebody help me!
There is NOTHING I can do!
Everything is
out of reach,
out of control,
out of comprehension.
All I can see, feel and hear -
is Pain.
A volcano.
No, a thousand volcanoes.
That's what it is.
Tens of thousands of raging volcanoes -
all here in my chest.
I am done for.
I do not remember anything -
All I know, is Pain!
Make it go away,
please.
I'll do anything -
just make it go away.

Wadya think? I was really bored, this isn't the kind of stuff I'd usually write, but it was 2.30 in the morning, I couldn't go to sleep, so I started doing random stuff - writing, listnening to music, reading, blah blah blah.

SZ reunion!

So after about 1 year, SZ is finally together again! We went to NSRCC in Changi, then went to the arcade *koffkoffgamblingkoffkoff* and played and played and played (lol I used 20 bucks so everyone had to wiat for me...). Then we went cycling and the stupid stand on my bike kept falling down, and in the ned I got so fed up I just gave up on it. Then we sat down for a long time, watching TV, playing Rubbish, etc etc. Then DC! I have got to do some more exercise... Can't even sprint without getting stitches... And then we had dinner, parents came, talked and talked and talked and talked, then went home.

P.S. Sorry so short I'm seriously in a hurry now.

Is it me, or is Twitter just dumb?

I mean, who cares what you’re doing? And the worst part is, there are people who are actually OBSESSED with tweeting. Here’s what a typical OBSESSED Tweeter’s Twitter page looks like:

7:04 am Getting up
7:10 am Brushing teeth
7:16 am Making coffee
7:20 am Eating cereal
7:32 am Showering
7:46 am Getting dressed
8:08 am Driving to work
8:23 am Entering office
8:38 am Starting work
9:06 am Playing games Working (hard)

Wow. The guy has a waterproof laptop. Anyway, back to what I was saying. So, who really cares what you’re doing every millisecond of the day? It’s bad enough to login to Facebook and having to read through every status update, random quiz result and note of your friends. So guys, don’t join Twitter just because every person in your social circle is doing it. It’s just going to be a major waste of your time…

But I like Twitter, even though it’s dumb. Hehehe…smile_tongue

Special Boy With Freakishly Large Brain Wins Spelling Bee

Here’s a “funny” video about a gifted kid who won a spelling bee. I didn’t find it funny.

Comments greatly appreciated.

GoOgLe WaVe!

Yay! Google Wave is going to come out this year! What is it? Well, Google Wave is something like Facebook, except a LOT better. Ok, not really like Facebook. It's kind of like a mix of Facebook and Windows Live Messenger. Basically, it's social networking where you can be chatting with a person, and at the same time drag another person into the convo, share pictures. And best of all, it's Open Source! So you can add stuff to Google Wave like games, widgets, etc. Well, I don't know much about it yet, but to find out more, click on the title of this blog post.

Annual Camp Photos!

Ok, seeing as my description wasn't enough to actually create a mental image of the structrure, I decided to put up a few photos here. It doesn't look 4 metres, but IT IS.





YT 4 metres above the ground with no safety harness and only 2 poles to hold on to, with his feet and 2 flimsy-ish poles.









Me stoning up on the structure one evening. I was up there for an hour, John said.












Climbing up to tighten knots

Annual Camp!

On Monday, I went to RJ for 01 Scouts' Annual Camp 2009! This was supposed to be a 'fun' camp, so we could bring handphones, iPods, etc. So basically the idea was to set up a campsite, with a sleeping tent and kitchen tent for each patrol (Kestrel, Eagle, Hawk, Owl, Falcon and Kingfisher), and a structure made of poles in front of the tent (no photos, sorry). Overall, the camp was real nice except for the fact that I managed to get the structure to fall on my knee (I got totally owned after that. It kept hurting randomly), kept getting heartburn, etc, etc. The food was really good, considering the fact that we cooked it ourselves. We had black pepper chicken, fried rice, srambled eggs, french toast, and a lot more stuff. But what I'm really proud of is our structure, cos it was really tall (about 3-4m I think), and had a pulley system at the top which let you pull yourself across. Lotsa people said they were damn scared up there, and I have no idea why. Cmon, it's just 4 metres! Oh wait. No safety harness. Anyways, whenever I went up, I tied a rope to my waist, just to be sure. No, it's not stupid, cos I fell off almost twice. Then we had to climb up and tighten our knots. Very easy, you say? The problem is, we have only 2 hands. So with 1 hand holding on to the structure, the other doing the knot, the knot doesn't really get tightened. So I tied myself to the structure, leaving both my hands free to tie the knot. Then on Thursday, I started getting heartburn, so Mr Tan discussed with my mum and so I went home 1 day early. Ah well, nothing else to say.

RI Prejudice!

RI Boys (and Girls now, too) are seen by the public as the elite (Raffelitists, lol), the goody-two-shoes and the best of the best. So everyone has this image of RI students being nerds and academicky people. So if we make a mistake, everyone is shocked as though Rafflesians aren’t allowed to make mistakes. I remember Deep told me that during a Skatezone reunion, a security guard came after them while they were playing DC and told them something about them being Express students, being from good schools, yadayadayada. So now it’s a crime for Express students to play, is it? Seriously, to all the non-Express students out there, place yourselves in our shoes and think how you would have felt.

Happy Birthday to Me…

So, today, I’m 14 years old! After more than 1 decade of being alive, this, as always, leads me to appreciate the miracle of life. But what happens when I’ve passed? Will I be remembered by mankind? Will I have contributed what I should have contributed to the society? Or will I just be one of the 7 billion? What will I make of my life?

Arr, forget that. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated! So  today, I’m going to Rach’s house. Lol my mum got be 2 books, turned out I’d read them already!

Blog, or not to blog?

After about 2 months of not blogging, I was forced have decided to blog again after repeated nagging from my mum and Aru. Well, first of all there’s like so much to say! For starters, I’m not in India anymore, cos I totally hated it there, you know, everyone is so… dumb-ish and beating everyone at every test is so easy! So you know, there wasn’t much of a challenge. So I told my parents. Then they got  ticket back to Singapore. And they did all this without me knowing. My mum contacted my Mr Pang, who told the whole class. Then Rav told Skatezone, and HF asked me on Facebook if I really was coming back. As I didn’t know at that time, I told her something to the effect of my Leave of Absence ending, yadayadayada, you get the point. So I came back here, and now my mum is working again and Tanya is going to school again. My dad, however, will still be in India. He says that his project will be over in 6 months. So, right now, I’m really busy, but I expect the workload to get heavier as the year progresses. What do I mean by “really busy”? Well, in the 4 weeks that I’ve been in RI, I’ve been working on 2 projects, written 4 tests, and going for 01!

But still, all of the above is part of being a Rafflesian. Note that I say “Rafflesian”, not RI-er. From what I’ve heard, RGS is a lot harder. Can you believe they actually have to learn cooking!? *scoff* But anyway, back to what I was saying. Being in Raffles isn’t easy. We don’t have free time for ourselves cos we’re like so darn busy. What do I mean? Skatezone had arranged for a reunion a few weeks ago, but we couldn’t cos like EVERYONE (except Rach and Rav) was busy on every suggested date. So, to all the Primary School kids thinking about going to a Raffles School, think twice. It’s not that you’re going to regret joining a Raffles School. Contraire! You’re gonna have a hell of a time!

Medal!

On Thursday, the Academic Coordinator called me up on stage and said some stuff which was totally not true (like bringing laurels to the school, etc, etc). Then I got the medal and she made me show it to the school and all... Then they pinned another medal onto me. My teacher told me to keep it on, but I took it off anyway. Here are the medals:

DSC00057

DSC00059

Topper! again

If you look through previous posts, you will see that there is a post entitled "Topper!" Well, good news again! I just found out that I'm not just the topper for India, I'm the topper for South Asia, and most of the Arabian Peninsula!

But then again, everyone's calling me a nerd Nerd (I look nothing like that. My glasses aren't that big, my skin ain't yellow, and I don't have buckteeth that stick out) because of this. One of my teachers came to class and made an announcement. She also said that I'd be receiving a GOLD medal tomorrow, but I don't believe her. The last time I got a medal for UNSW, it was just plated gold (ask around).

Survey!

OK. I know some of you may have heard of ThinkQuest, a kind of thingy which is a competition thingy which lets you make project thingies. My group decided to do one on homemade weapons. So we wanted a survey and here's the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pRX5Th3CCm9pACAu8OqXlg_3d_3d

For those of you people out there who are related to me, fergeddaboutit.

Chikkamagalur

First of all, apologies.

Recently, I had gone on a trip to this place called Chikkamagalur which is about 7 hours away from Bangalore on a school field trip. We stayed at this place called Woodway Homestay owned by someone who owned a coffee estate of about 300 acres (about 1.2 km2). We didn't do much on the first day except that I was assigned to a dormitory and not a bedroom, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We all got double-decker beds and I got to sleep on the top, so one afternoon I was bored, so I called over a few friends and jumped from bed to bed as "The Human Mario" with one of my friends singing the theme song. We went on a tour around the owner's coffee estate the next day and guess what? You have to wait for 9 years before the coffee plant actually gives you something! And it has to be between 18 to 30 years old so that its harvest is somewhat stable. That morning, I tried a whole cup of coffee for the first time. One of my friends was like UGH but frankly, I liked it. So helped myself to bit more... and had quite a lot more at night, and then I couldn't sleepYawn. Stupid coffeeCoffee. That was it really. On the bus trip I watched movies on Saif's iPod like Blades of Glory and such. I got some coffee back from Chikkamagalur and I get a cup a week if I keep begging.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Haha I think some of you guys may be getting, your hopes up, but this is by Onion News Network, which makes fake but hilarious news reports. Here goes:


Hilarious.

Pointless!

I don't know if you guys do, but go visit if you haven't.

http://tharun.firstaspect.net/gallery.html

Biased!

Recently, a few events have started me thinking. I've forgotten all but one. Today, I forgot to bring my Math project to school (yes, I had finished itWhistling). My Math period was taken over my mistake by my History teacher. By the time she realised, it was time for the photo-shoot session for the yearbook (I think). Then during the actual History period the History teacher came in again. So I didn't have to submit my Math project today. This has happened quite a number of times. Once, when I was one of the guys with long hair, I wasn't called up. It's happened with many other stuff as well.

Why?!

I have thought of 3 possibilities:

  1. I'm small and cute and no one has the heart to scold me (I swear, some boys have said this to me).
  2. The principal has given each of my teachers a briefing not to scold me.
  3. I am a future saviour of the world. Everyone knows about this except me. People have been instructed by the Oracle who saw this in the future not to scold me (Godzilla, perhaps?)

What do you think?

Maldives planning to buy a new homeland

Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed, says that the gradual rise in sea levels caused by global warming means the Maldives islanders may eventually be forced to resettle elsewhere.

The Maldives is the lowest nation in the world. Its highest land is little more than two metres above sea level.

The United Nations estimates that sea levels may rise globally by nearly 60 centimetres this century.

Devastation fears

The Maldives comprise more than 1,000 islands and coral atolls surrounded by the clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

image

map

The white sandy beaches are a major tourist attraction bringing in billions of dollars every year.

Now Mohamed Nasheed, who will be sworn in as the country's first democratically elected president on Tuesday, has said that he will set up a fund to acquire land in other parts of the region.

Mr Nasheed's spokesman, Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, told the BBC's World Today programme that the new government had to take action.

"Global warming and environmental issues are issues of major concern to the Maldivian people. We are just about three feet (0.91 metre) above sea level," Mr Zaki said, speaking from the capital, Male.

"So any sea level rise could have a devastating effect on the people of the Maldives and their very survival".

Similar culture

Over the last century, sea levels around parts of the archipelago rose by nearly 20cm. Mr Nasheed fears that even a small rise could leave some islands inundated.

Mr Nasheed's plan is to create a "sovereign wealth fund" using tourism revenues to buy land so that future generations will have somewhere to rebuild their lives if they have to leave.

He wants somewhere within the region, where the culture is similar - possibly India or Sri Lanka.

His fears is that if he does not take action, the future descendents of the 300,000 islanders could become environmental refugees.

Source: Somewhere in BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7719501.stm, me thinks.



Me Talks:

I think this is... funny. Everyone knows that Maldives is a group of islands, so imagine if they bought a place in Bangalore. Your GPS would say stuff like "The Republic of Maldives is approaching. Please keep your passports ready." But what I find put-downing is that Nasheed speaks as though nothing can be done about global warming. It's almost as though he's already given up. Nasheed, if you're reading this (which is most unlikely to happen), please leave your reply in comments or in the tagbox. I hope you're tech-savvy.

Topper!

I can't believe it. I just went online to check the scores for the UNSW Examination results, and guess what! I was the Indian Topper for the Computer Skills exam! And no one else had as a score as I did (which itself wasn't very high either (37/40)), so I was the only topper for Grade 8. Not only that, I got High Distinctions in every subject (English, Mathematics, Science, Computer Skills (obviously lah)). So when I told my teachers, turned out that they knew about this weeks back and they just wanted to keep it as a surprise for me. But too late. The Great *coffcoff* Tharun outwitted them! Oh I can see you all Not worthying at me. Thank you very much, you may arise.

My Site!

Yay got my own site! I haven't really done up much yet, seeing as I started it sometime yesterday. I haven't got any ideas on what to put up on the "Home" page, so I'm all open for suggestions from you guys. The blog tag redirects us to this page, the gallery has a few (2, to be exact) Flash™ animations. On the "About" page you will find a very biased so called "biography" about myself. On the "Contact" page, you will find links to the other pages plus the time plus some stuff about me EXCEPT my contact details. Must protect my privacy mah! As I said earlier, I'm open to suggestions!

Oops, forgot to tell you the URL. http://tharun.firstaspect.net/

Monkeys!

Recently, I was doing a project on my laptop when Tanya came up and told me to come up to the balcony 'cause my dad was calling me. So I just went over to the balcony and whaddya know?! There were monkeys on the nearby brick (I think) factory! Right in smack in the middle of  commercial Bangalore! So we watched them for about half an hour through my dad's Bushnell binoculars and we found that 1 of the monkeys was missing an arm, 1 was pregnant (or maybe just ate too much) and 1 was... well... small (very mischievous though). Then they made their way down the fence into the lawn near the beach volleyball court and started pointlessly roaming around. So for the past week, these monkeys have been the stars of the apartments. Though it was only today that a security guard finally noticed them and then a few guys came with cameras and started snapping. The monkeys then made one of them screeching sounds, but the dumbos still didn't move away! And the monkeys didn't do anything either back, so I guess it was OK...

Well the monkeys looked scared out of their wits though. Looks like I won't be seeing them for a while...

Bird strike confirmed in US crash


It has been confirmed that a collision with a flock of birds caused a US airliner to lose power and ditch in a New York river just after take-off.
Flight data recorders show the engines of the US Airways Airbus A320 cut out simultaneously, National Transport Safety Board investigators say.
The plane had only managed to reach a top altitude of 3,200ft (975m).
All 155 passengers and crew of Flight Flight 1549 survived the landing on the Hudson, which made headlines worldwide.
They were rescued by boats from the sinking aircraft - the captain was the last to leave.
The wreckage of the plane was lifted by crane from the icy waters on to a barge moored to a lower Manhattan seawall late on Saturday and is now being moved to a marina for closer inspection.
'Sound of thumps'
Kitty Higgins of the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Sunday that ice floes in the river were slowing the search for an engine thought to have separated from the plane when it ditched on Thursday afternoon.
But she said the "black box" data confirmed pilot testimony that the plane had collided with a flock of birds.
"About 90 seconds after take-off, the captain remarks about birds," she said, quoting the data recorder.
"One second later the cockpit voice recorder recorded the sound of thumps and rapid decrease of engine sounds. The captain acknowledges that both engines have lost power and he takes control of the aircraft."
Earlier, the plane's pilot, Capt Chesley B "Sully" Sullenberger, and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, described for the Board how they had suddenly seen "big, dark-brown birds" approaching, then registered them hitting the plane.
Capt Sullenberger took the decision to ditch the plane in the river dividing Manhattan from New Jersey.
Apart from one person whose legs were both broken, none of those aboard are reported to have sustained serious injuries.
The pilot was due to give his first TV interview about the crash on Monday but that has been cancelled at the request of the US airline pilots association.
BBC graphic
1 1526 local time (2026 GMT): Flight 1549 takes off from LaGuardia airport
2 1527 (2027 GMT): Pilot Chesley Sullenberger reports birds hitting engines
3 1528 (2028 GMT): Pilot told to land at Teterboro airfield
4 1531 (2031 GMT): Pilot ditches plane in Hudson River


First of all, Wow.


This reminds me of a Hindi movie, Rang De Basanti, where the whole conflict arises because a fighter pilot dies. I forgot exactly what happened, but something happened to the plane and it was about to explode. The plane was right on top of a city. If he had ejected there, the plane would have crashed in the city. So, he steers the plane away from the city, and when he is a safe distance away from it, the plane explodes. With him in it.


I'd like to congratulate Pilot Chesley Sulenberger for his heroic act (yes, these are my own words, no plagiarizing) by saving all those... *checking article* ...ah... 155 passengers on board.

Trusting shopkeeper leaves store unattended

My mom pointed this out to me a few days back. My first reaction was WOW! Here goes:

A North Yorkshire shopkeeper left his hardware store open on Boxing Day - with an honesty box instead of staff.
Tom Algie wanted to give himself and his three staff the day off but without letting down his customers, reports the Daily Mail.
So he left a note telling shoppers to serve themselves and then leave their payment in the box he had left behind the counter.
When Mr Algie, 47, returned at 4.15pm to close up, he was delighted to find the shop in Settle, had taken £187.66 - and two euros.
The father of two said: "I didn't think twice about leaving the shop open. Settle is a lovely quiet rural town and there's never any trouble here. I put my faith in my customers and I wasn't disappointed.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just wanted to spend the holidays with my family but thought it would be quite nice to open up the shop."
The honesty box - which he dubbed his newest member of staff - was made out of a funnel and plastic cereal box, and put behind the counter at his shop Practically Everything.
His note read: "Yes, I have given everyone the day off, including me, so please choose the items you want and place the right money inside, Merry Christmas."
Customers also left notes saying what goods they had bought and this, combined with a quick check of his stock, confirmed that his trust was not abused.

Goes to show the honesty of the British!

Back to Bangalore...

Now that I've returned to Bangalore from vacation, allow me to share some of my pix with you guys:

First of all, where Mysore is in India:

Map image




DSC00205

DSC00207 DSC00208 DSC00209
Different views of the Mysore Palace

DSC00212
Look closely and you'll see ENORMOUS beehives!

DSC00213
The 'amazing' view includes a power generator, a solar heater, a coconut tree, and an apartment...

DSC00217

DSC00220 

DSC00231
The garbage lady shouting at a person from another house for dumping garbage outside the house...

P.S. Apologies if the captions aren't very visible.

December

As you may know, my mother reads my blog regularly to see how things are going on it. After her routine check, she pointed out that I had 26 posts in November but only 5 in December. Oh, I know... I can even hear all you guys shouting "Booooo!" at me! My excuses? Well, I have a number of them! 2, to be exact.

The first one - The dreaded word. Something all most of us hate. Doomsday. It is: EXAMS!!! Da-dah-daahhh! If you guys think "So what?!", you're wrong! I had 11 exams and only a week to prepare for them (OK, the procrastination bit was my fault). So, in my fervour to do well in the exams, I totally forgot about R&B.

The second one - The holy word. Something all most of us worship. The day(s) of our lives. It is: HOLIDAYS!!! Ta-da! If you guys thought that that gave me an opportunity to blog, you're wrong! The first few days, I was in Mysore, without using a computer (despite my dad having his laptop, the hotel being a Wi-fi zone, and there being a computer room downstairs XD). I was too caught up in um... having fun and didn't blog until New Year's Day.

P.S. As I write, there are 3 dead mosquitoes on the table.
P.P.S. I'm using my grandma's laptop
P.P.P.S. I'm taller than my mom (lol)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! Looking back on 2008, I see how things have flown by so fast. My first day at RI, my new friends, how Skatezone still kept in touch despite being in different schools, me leaving Singapore for India, my first day at EISB, topping the class (twice!), Obama's victory (and more importantly McCain's loss), me making new friends, and most importantly, growing taller than my mom.

It's usually at this point in time, after reminiscing about the past year, people make New Year's resolutions. Mine are the following:

  • Grow taller
  • Eat more
  • Grow taller
  • Gain weight
  • Grow taller
  • Do well in the final exams
  • Grow taller
  • Take life more easily
  • Grow taller

A Quote

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as though you'll die today"
- James Dean