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Here are all the entries of this blog arranged in chronological order. Don't be surprised if nothing turns up - Blogspot isn't really stable.

As an alternative, try to get to the day you want to read through the monthly archives.

October 2005

Day 1 – Arriving in Karlsruhe
Day 2 – Joining a German class without taking the placement test
Day 3 – Informing the Stadt and enrolling into the Universität
Day 4 – Administration and waiting
Day 5 – Ausflug to Trifels
Day 6 – The first Sunday in Karlsruhe
Day 7 – Changing classes
Day 8 – Grocery shopping
Day 9 – Some pictures of Karlsruhe
Day 10 – More waiting

Day 11 – Party at HaDiKo
Day 12 – Baden baden and steaming a chicken
Day 13 – What’s in Karlsruhe?
Day 14 – Meeting more people
Day 15 – Sergio
Day 16 – Of Referat and computer accounts
Day 17 – Overestimation of one’s language ability
Day 18 – Last day of German class and some other problems
Day 19 – Flohmarkt and Karlsruhe
Day 20 – Still searching for modules

Day 21 – Einstufung Test
Day 22 – First lecture auf Deutsch
Day 23 – Flurversammlung
Day 24 – Some differences
Day 25 – Where is the lecture held? And what is this letter for?
Day 26 – Excursion to Wissembourg, France
Day 27 – Daylight Saving Time

November 2005

Day 28 – Hausfest for Halloween
Day 29 – A failed trip but an enjoyable Stammtisch
Day 30 – Connecting to internet

Day 31 – A false sense of security
Day 32 – Karlsruhe’s pasar malam
Day 33 – Visiting Familie Smith
Day 34 – Klettern at Felsenmeer
Day 35 – Watching internet programs
Day 36 – Buying a German grammar book
Day 37 – Pay up!
Day 38 – Dry skin
Day 39 – Do you know where that is?
Day 40 – Ettlingen

Day 41 – Keinen Strom und keine Kartoffeln
Day 42 – Krankenkasse
Day 43 – I have a choice
Day 44 – Letter from the Bürgerbüro
Day 45 – Washing clothes with a washing machine
Day 46 – Meeting up with fellow Singaporeans
Day 47 – Köln
Day 48 – Interview and free lunch
Day 49 – What they discuss for Flurversammlung
Day 50 – Light bulbs

Day 51 – Changing bed sheets
Day 52 – 25€ for a mistake
Day 53 – Twins
Day 54 – Strasbourg
Day 55 – Area cleaning
Day 56 – Negotiation with a professor and Fluressen
Day 57 – Problem with counting
Day 58 – Learning things slowly

December 2005

Day 59 – Haircut
Day 60 – Slight improvement

Day 61 – Bruchsal
Day 62 – Feuerzangebowle
Day 63 – Salvaging the situation
Day 64 – Some tuning required
Day 65 – Cleaning up the floor
Day 66 – Dangerously optimistic
Day 67 – Skipped a lecture
Day 68 – It is amazing
Day 69 – Konstanz- Ulm- Stuttgart
Day 70 – ICT

Day 71 – Vivek and elephants
Day 72 – What’s that on the screen?
Day 73 – A record time
Day 74 – How to wash utensils the German way
Day 75 – Basel
Day 76 – Another bulb blew
Day 77 – Brainwashed
Day 78 – Not very bright
Day 79 – 101 ways to get to Dresden
Day 80 – Dresden Day 1

Day 81 – Dresden Day 2
Day 82 – Christmas eve
Day 83 – No updates for a while

January 2006

Day 84 – Back in Karlsruhe again
Day 85 – Excuses
Day 86 – 4,0 ist genug
Day 87 – Understand-German-lecture-notes-immediately
Day 88 – Karlsruhe Appreciation Day
Day 89 – Shoe polish
Day 90 – Translating everything doesn’t work

Day 91 – Harvesting Blu-Tacks
Day 92 – The power of assumption
Day 93 – Waiting for the sale
Day 94 – Registering for exams
Day 95 – Nest for homeless birds
Day 96 – Streets filled with people
Day 97 – Crazy weather report
Day 98 – The hypothesis was correct
Day 99 – Scheduling exams
Day 100 – How to be a decent burglar

Day 101 – Pfennigbasar
Day 102 – Snow can be quite beautiful
Day 103 – Celebrating Chinese New Year Eve
Day 104 – First day of Chinese New Year
Day 105 – Unlocking the Speak-German-With-Relative-Ease mode
Day 106 – The days are getting longer

February 2006

Day 107 – Self test
Day 108 – The package arrived
Day 109 – Deciphering what I wrote
Day 110 – Enzyme activity is lower at lower temperature

Day 111 – The difference is in the water
Day 112 – Dentist appointment
Day 113 – Studying in Germany
Day 114 – What I learn during Phonetik lessons
Day 115 – The Winter semester is ending soon
Day 116 – A Beisitzer
Day 117 – Deutsch ist nicht meine Muttersprache
Day 118 – Differences between 2 universities
Day 119 – Dentist appointment number 2
Day 120 – Panic strikes

Day 121 – How an exchange student is graded
Day 122 – The premier institute of education
Day 123 – Because I’m an exchange student
Day 124 – Rate of consumption of various items
Day 125 – 40 days left
Day 126 – Generalisation and Dentist appointment number 3
Day 127 – Distracted
Day 128 – What is the focus of the lecture notes?
Day 129 – Chemical Engineering student don’t know basic Maths!
Day 130 – Visiting a plant-building company

Day 131 – Carol’s birthday party
Day 132 – Student life in Germany
Day 133 – Another dentist appointment?
Day 134 – Fasching

March 2006

Day 135 – Calculating the area under a curve
Day 136 – Why is it still snowing?
Day 137 – Uncertainty and waiting to be exploited
Day 138 – Reasons for not visiting Schwarzwald
Day 139 – Recovering from flu with the 3-2-1 Method
Day 140 – The Betreuer threatens

Day 141 – The Teilnahmeschein will be sent
Day 142 – My last mündliche Prüfung
Day 143 – A bad record stays forever
Day 144 – Not all Betreuer are mean
Day 145 – Speyer, IMAX theatre and Fluressen
Day 146 – Erotikmesse
Day 147 – Dizzy dizzy
Day 148 – My last Flurversammlung
Day 149 – Making travel plans
Day 150 – Mayonnaise production

Day 151 – Octane number and my lab group
Day 152 – Re-appreciating Karlsruhe and the coming of Spring
Day 153 – Visiting Familie Smith again
Day 154 – A new member
Day 155 – Bathing at Baden baden
Day 156 – Start of the Austria and Switzerland trip
Day 157 – Wien Day 1
Day 158 – Wien Day 2
Day 159 – Wien Day 3
Day 160 – Salzburg Day 1

Day 161 – Salzburg Day 2
Day 162 – Innsbruck
Day 163 – Zürich Day 1
Day 164 – Zürich Day 2
Day 165 – Last day in Germany
Day 166 – Reflections

1st April 2006 - Day 166

For in-flight entertainment, I have 3 babies wailing in front of me.

As I write this, I think about what happened 180 days ago when I first reached Karlsruhe, Germany for my Student Exchange Program (SEP) as part of an enrichment program under the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The main building of Universität Karlsruhe

I didn't count wrongly. I cheated and took a 14 days break back home over New Year. There were no entries between 26th December 2005 and 8th January 2006.

The familiar aisle in Aldi-Sud

The 4 semesters of German Preperation Classes at the Centre of Language Studies (CLS) have undoubtedly helped me navigate through the puzzling German administrative system, be it in the Universität, the Bürgerburo or the Bank. It would not be easy if I did not know any German and was thrown straight into this situation.

A piece of Stadt Karlsruhe in my memory

But, I didn't really improve in terms of language ability even though all my modules were conducted in German.

Generally speaking, SEP is an administrative nightmare which should be avoided at all cost, especially for one in which the language of instruction will not be English.

However, if you do manage to get pass the hurdles that stop you initially, the experience will stay with you for life.

Certainly, there are times when one feels lost and quite helpless in a new environment. Carry on doing what you are doing anyway. It beats staying at a spot.

Unquestionably, I do think certain personality types are more suitable for SEP. But whoever you are, it will definitely benefit you in some ways.

Students have different reasons for going on SEP. Some want fun, some want exposure to an international stage, and some just want to get away from NUS and S/U all their core modules. But whatever it is that you want, keep it clear in your mind and be sure that you get it at the end of your program.

I tried to document every day of my life during SEP so that I could recall what happened. As time passes by and with exposure to new experiences, only fragments of memories of my SEP will be left. But that's just me. I trust that others have better memory storage capacity.

In fact, I feel like as if I have never went for SEP.

A SEP cannot be simply classified as "fun" or "not fun". At least it would be difficult for me to answer the question. It is an experience. And everyone's experience living in a different country or town will definitely be different.

It was wonderful to have you, my friends, as readers of this blog. I shall post up a content page listed in chronological order for ease of reading and navigation at a later time.

So, I hereby declare the end of this journey.

31st March 2006 – Day 165

What a joke. A few days into Daylight Saving Time, I still set the wrong time on my alarm clock.

I wasted no time at all doing all the last minute packing and cleaning up the room. The fact that I'm leaving this place struck me when I finally packed everything into the suitcase. The room looks so empty. Just like the first day when I reached here.

I finished cleaning up all the furniture at around 1040. After which, I placed my luggage in the common room and the trash was taken out.

The Hausmeister was a few minutes late. Understandable, since today is the last day of the month. Many other people would be moving out too.

He did a quick check on the room and soon, I was on my way to collect back my Kaution. I didn't thought it would be so reibungslos.

I went down to the Krankenkasse to return them the insurance card. It was there that they revealed to me that they had not booked my account for the fees this month even though they said they would do so earlier.

Thoughts of not paying flashed past my mind. But it's better to settle all bills here rather than having them chase me when I'm back. The transaction cost would be even higher.

At the bank, I was informed that I would have to pay 6€ more for the Überweisung. Unnecessary cost incurred due to not checking properly before closing my bank account.

And the man at the counter still joked about the Interpol coming after me if I don't pay up.

That aside, all the administrative work were done quite painlessly.

I met Nan for lunch at the Mensa. I met Felix there too while having lunch. Felix is still doing his Studienarbeit. He's a pleasant guy to hang out with. Especially during IBWL tutorials when he explained the jokes to me.

After lunch, Nan and I went to have some cappucino. Then we started talking as if we were some old men, like what he said. Maybe we'll meet up again some time in 2008 in China, and continue talking like old men.

I followed him to the library as I had to write something for the "H5 Hall of Fame".

If you guys are interested to know whether my German has improved over my stay here in Karlsruhe, here's the proof. I wrote the following paragraphs in about 25 minutes without any help.

Liebe Leute von H5,

Hah! Ich bin der erste in diesem Buch zu schreiben! Es war ganz toll hier mit euch am H5 zu wohnen und euch kennen zu lernen. Ihr habt mein Aufenthalt in Karlsruhe unvergesslich gemacht.

Das Fluressen, die Feuerzangebowle, die Flurversammlungen und die "Ausländerfeindlichkeit" machten viel Spaß (Ja. Fährt nicht nach Singapur. Es gibt dort keine Kartoffeln und Strom! =P).

Weil ich zeitlicheweise schlecht geplant habe, hätte ich keine Zeit für ein Abscheidsparty. Das ist doch keine Ausreden. Trotzdem möchte ich mich für die wunderbare Zeit hier bedanken.

Seid nicht enttauscht! Hier findet ihr Schokoladen, die ich von Österreich und der Schweiz mitgebraucht habe. Das ist aber eine kleine Danke von mir.

Viel Erfolg noch in der Zukunft. Bis wenn wir uns wiedertreffen!

As you can see, anyone with 2 semesters of German at CLS could have written this. I'm sure a lot of mistakes can be found. Have fun finding them! But do tell me too where I've gone wrong.

As I still had 0,23€ left, I tried to spend it on something. No use bringing coins back. I passed by a breadshop and bought a Brötchen for 0,20€. Good enough.

I went back to hostel and started reading the magazines while waiting for time to pass by. Out of nowhere, a Chinese appeared.

It seems that he would be the next in my old room. But he's not allowed to move in as the Hausmeister claims that the ex-tenant (which is me) has not returned the room.

As he could only speak Chinese and English, he asked me to help him talk to the Hausmeister.

Well, just give it a try. It's not my problem too if negotiation fails.

I tried to ask the Hausmeister if he could move in today. But the Hausmeister now claims that there are some renovation to be done in the room.

"Könnten Sie bitte vielleicht eine Ausnahme machen?"

Probably because the Hausmeister was surprised to see me still here, he agreed to let the China man move in today and do the actual hand over on Monday at 0800.

"Das ist aber sehr nett von Ihnen!", I said to the Hausmeister, who is now extremely pleased with the compliment.

Oh well, everyone is happy now.

The time has finally arrived and I made my way down to the bus stop and subsequently the Straßenbahnhaltestelle. What a coincidence! I actually met Leo there. Leo has just finished his exams and decided to help me with my luggage to the Hauptbahnhof. I was more than grateful for his help.

Here comes the final test of the German administrative hurdle: Cancellation of my Bahncard 50. The lady at the counter said that the cancellation has to be done schriftlich. She handed me a piece of blank paper and I just started writing. Corrections from readers are welcomed.

Kündigen

Ich möchte meine Bahncard 50 kündigen, weil ich nach Hause fliege und nicht wiederkommen werde. Meine Daten läuft wie folgt:

Name: **** ***, ***
Bahncard Nr.: **** **** **** ****

Karlsruhe, den 31.03.06

Even if the letter doesn't get to them, they will find that the bank account does not exist anymore too.

I saved a grand total of 22€ with the Bahncard 50! Simply amazing!

At the airport, there were some problems too. My check-in luggage weighs 36 kilograms. The lady asked me to weight my backpack as well. 15 kilograms! And I 'm still holding on to another 2 kg on a paper bag.

She told me to repack my stuffs as they cannot allow such heavy stuffs in the cabin. Fair enough. I took out my laptop and some other electrical appliances and threw them into a plastic bag which I had prepared earlier.

She consulted another lady regarding my excess baggage. I was supposed to have only 20 kilograms. The other lady was much nicer. I told her my situation and she just smiled and told the lady, "Kein Problem!".

Lady number one then tried to explain that she had nothing against me.

"Sie brauchen nicht erklären," I replied. She didn't look very happy after that.

Which is true. Why do you need to explain yourself if you do not feel that way in the first place?

Even on the plane, there were some problems. My seat was allocated to another person. But that was easily solved.

So, farewell to Deutschland!

30th March 2006 – Day 164

Although I set my alarm clock at 0800, I only woke up at 1000. I immediately took a shower, changed my clothes and headed for the secretaries' office. they will be closed by 1130.

The Teilnahmeschein was not ready yet. I kind of expected it with the irresponsible professor in charge. I have up till August to recieve my transcript and get the modules accredited. That should be more than enough time.

I headed back to hostel to find the Hausmeister in order to confirm with him my Auszugstermin. I must be really lucky today. He was right there sitting in his office. Normally, he's quite an elusive character. Sometimes, he can't even be found during his Sprechstunden!

It was confirmed. He will come at 1100 tomorrow morning to take over the room from me. I just have to pack up everything and wait for him to come. One thing I like about him is that once he says he'll do something, it will be done.

I decided to have lunch at one of the Kebap shop a friend recommended. It was really good. I got to drink a free flow of turkish tea while eating my Yufka.

I strolled down Kaiserstraße and bought an Eis for 1,40€. The serving was surprisingly big. I had Whisky cream and Melone. Not bad. But I've yet to see another ice cream parlour selling champagne flavoured ice cream besides the one in München.

I went further down to Mühlberger Tor to visit the Bürgerburo in order to announce my leaving of Karlsruhe tomorrow. I took a number with 16 people before me and went off to the toilet thinking it would take some time. When I returned, the number has already been called. I took another number.

There were now 54 people before me.

As soon as I was done with the informing, I went down to Postbank to close my account. Relatively painless. In a moment, I was receiving whatever pennies and cents I had left.

I walked around town and found myself attracted to C&A's spring sale. 20% auf alles. It might have been cheaper during the Winterschlussverkauf, but I still bought a belt to replace the old one I have. I'm leaving tomorrow anyway.

Some books would have been purchased, if not for the fact that I already have lots to drag back.

I started my packing shortly after 2100. Although I only had to stuff everything in the room into the suitcase, it was still not easy trying to do so. I was about 85% complete at 0315 when I finally decided to take a rest.

So, have to wake up early tomorrow to throw in the rest of the stuffs.

29th March 2006 – Day 163

I woke up late and had to ask Qicong to leave first since he has to attend his lessons. He handed me his keys and left for the train station.

I took the time to think about where to go this morning. I decided that the Lindt chocolate factory would be worth a visit. But to visit the place, it would mean that I have to buy a ticket for 3 zones.

The problem was easy to get around.

The factory would only open at 1000, so I had some time to pack up all my stuffs into my backpack.

Lindt chocolate factory is no property of Willy Wonka, but the production lines were closed to the public as well. There was nothing interesting except for the strong whiff of chocolate in the air. In fact, there was nothing else I could do there except for buying chocolates.

Buy chocolate I did. Lots. Since they were for personal consumption, I did not mind buying the leicht beschädigt chocolate which were cheaper.

I was late for lunch since I went back to the hostel to put all the chocolate down. Qicong was worried that I disappeared with his keys.

The Landesmuseum here was also quite interesting. I could spend the whole afternoon in the museum looking at all the exhibit. On each display, there is a corresponding explanation with 4 languages, namely German, French, Italian and English. Understanding the exhibit is not a problem.

I couldn’t finish the museum on time. I made another arrangement to meet Qicong again outside 15 to 20 minutes later.

I rushed through the rest of the exhibits and when I was outside 20 minutes later. Mr Tan wasn’t there.

I waited until 1700 before I decided that he will not be there. I told him earlier that my train leaves at 1907 and should leave Dietikon by 1815. I presume he might have gone back first, and I made my way back too.

It turns out that he had to settle some billing problem before the post office closes, or else he would have to pay a fine. He was relieved that he did not have to pay the fine. I was too because my 40 CHF train ticket need not be wasted.

I took the 1830 train back to Zürich Hauptbahnhof and bidded him farewell from Dietikon.

It was not until 5.5 hours later that I reached Karlsruhe since I was taking the slower train from Pforzheim.

Back in the hostel, Stefan asked me again if there would be a Abschiedsparty since I would still be here for Thursday night. Well, I would be in Karlsruhe, but that doesn’t mean that my remaining time here would be spent partying away!

So, I have to start packing up the mess here.

28th March 2006 - Day 162

Both of us were operating only on a few hours of sleep as too much nonsense was sprouted yesterday night.

Plans have been made to crash Qicong’s German lesson in the morning. But it’ll depend on whether the teacher in charge would agree to it or not.

We left the place at around 0835 and caught the 0845 train back to Zürich city. The Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) is located right smack in the center of the city. It’s recognized as the top notch technical university in Switzerland.

We took the Polybahn up the slopes of ETH. The Polybahn is a fully automated cog wheel train that ferries people up every 3 minutes. Not unlike shuttle bus services.

On the Polybahn, we met the teacher in charge of the class. Since the opportunity presents itself, I asked her if I could join her class as a Gasthörer after the usual Q&A session.

Not surprisingly, she agreed. The next 1.5 hours was spent revising some foundation and deciphering some newspaper.

During the break, we went to a museum in the ETH which was similar to the
Raffles Biodiversity Museum, only that it was much more diverse in the amount of specimen on display.

Commonly seen: little children on ETH campus

Qicong had to go back to classes. I wandered for another half an hour inside the museum before going to the Hauptbahnhof for some tourist information. After which, I roamed the city streets in search of some cheap Swiss pastries.

Well, not exactly cheap. But reasonably priced. 2 strawberry tarts for 3,90 CHF at the local supermarket chain store Coop.

Soon, it was lunch time. Being a miser and wanting to save some CHF, the registered student at ETH had to go round the Mensa queue twice so that I could get a proper meal at student price. If not, it’ll cost twice as much. It seems like they are very strict about this regulation according to Qicong who had an unpleasant experience with them.

After lunch, I went around to some of the more prominent churches in town. The weather these days doesn’t seem very good. It was raining as I walk through the city. Taking a proper photo in this weather is not easy. But I have no such problem since I was using a single use camera. No review of the photos taken and hence saving myself the trouble of taking the same shot again.

If it works, good. If not, too bad.

Once classes was over, we went to Altstetten where the Chemical Engineering Department of ETH is. The buildings look quite cool. There were display cases showing various instruments and apparatus. It’s always quite interesting to try to figure out how they work.

We went to a farm nearby where a horse was. We walked all the way in the rain to see a horse! What’s wrong with us? We don’t see a horse in a farm often in the vast land we come from. That’s why.

The horse in question

We fell prey to false advertising in a supermarket after the farm visit. No excuse for me. I could have read more carefully.

Qicong’s floormates are an international bunch coming from all of Europe. I think it is can be quite fun, learning about other culture. Possibly one of the disadvantages is that it’ll be difficult to practise German since English is used more often instead.

So, have to sleep earlier tonight after the sleep deprivation yesterday.

27th March 2006 - Day 161

The weather today was wonderfully sunny.

Refusing to leave Salzburg with only shots taken in the lousy weather yesterday, I climbed up the Kapuzinerberg again in order to take a better photo of the Festung. After all, it’ll be some time before I come back here again, if that ever happens.

Salzburg looks better when it's sunny

On my way down, I met the Korean guy Young with all his photographic equipment. He was also on the night tour yesterday. I guess he wanted to take a good picture too.

This house used to sell horse-shoes

I decided to take the train at 0953 to Innsbruck, 1 hour later than planned. This will give me enough time to get some groceries from the supermarket after being deprived of cheap food and drinks for the weekend.

I went to Konditorei Fürst to try their Mozartkugel. Although it costs 0,90€ per piece, it’s really good compared even to the 0,70€ Mozartkugel from Holzermayr.

After which, I went back to the youth hostel and bidded farewell to Yoshio who was having his breakfast.

The train from Salzburg to Innsbruck took about 2 hours. There were no stops in between these 2 stations. The scenery along the way was quite enjoyable, especially so because the weather was really good.

Once I reached Innsbruck, I went to buy a train ticket for Zürich in the evening. Since the last train leaves at 1638, I had effectively about 4 hours to explore Innsbruck. I deposited my backpack at one of the lockers at the train station. A heavy bag will only impede my movement.

Snow-capped mountains surrounding Innsbruck

Innsbruck appears to be more of a ski resort town that’s surrounded by snow capped mountains. Even so, there were other things to do. I wanted to visit one of the museums under the goldenes Dach, but it’s closed on Mondays.

The goldenes Dach in the background

Next stop – Cathedral St. Jakob somewhere behind the goldenes Dach. But as it was too big to fit inside the camera aperture, I only took the upper half of the church.

I almost paid more tribute to a long gone dynasty by visiting the Hofburg. But I changed my mind at the last moment just as I was about to pay. I had seen too many examples of how lavish the chambers of the Hapsburg were.

It’s time to take a look at how the common people lived at the Tirol Landesmuseum. I thought the place was quite interesting. It showed the various building styles through the times, furniture from different periods, and tools which the people used for various purposes.

Particularly of interest was that I realized that the firelighters look like pistols. Probably the pistols followed the design of firelighters.

I took a walk in the imperial garden nearby the museum. Not that imperial anymore these days as it’s free entry to everyone.

I noticed that the people here are all sitting on benches facing the sun. From where I come from, finding a shade is a second instinct to many. But it’s understandable. It’s nice to see the sun again after bad weather.

Reading in the garden

A sunny day means that an ice cream is in order (though it’s better to eat ice cream in cold weather. It keeps you warm.). But I don’t like the flavors offered.

Lunch was a sandwich and peach tea from an Austrian supermarket. I was making my way back to the Hauptbahnhof even though there was more than an hour left. I was quite convinced that nothing else would interest me here, assuming that the guidebook is correct.

The train came late and there was a 25 minutes delay due to some damaged parts. I was quite sure I would miss the connecting train and started to plan what could be done instead.

But that did not happen. The connecting train waited 25 minutes for us. Many passengers heaved a sigh of relief on hearing the Durchsagen.

In total, this stretch of journey took about 4 hours. I did some re-reading on the city with the highest standard of living in the World. I was quite glad that a classmate on SEP agreed to let me bunk with him. That definitely helps to cut travel costs.

Zürich Hauptbahnhof is a surprising simple place to navigate and figure out even though there are at least 54 platforms for both long and short distance trains. I managed to get my tickets to Dietikon quite effortlessly.

I really should not be so confident of myself when I’m at a foreign place and when it’s raining. I got lost the first time and walked a train station back!

The second try was better as I read the invaluable item called map. The place is actually quite easy to find if one follows a map properly.

So, some Singaporean nonsense to be sprouted.