My block caught fire yesterday. And I was the hero who reported it. Ok, to be more precise, when I reached my block I saw smoke, so I went to check where the smoke came from, while my mother called the neighbourhood police post. The guy who received the call couldn't speak mandarin, so she gave me the phone instead.

And 15 minutes later, people from the civil defence force came with hoses and extinguished the fire. 15 minutes! That's really quite fast.

However, according to my mother, the smoke started appearing 30 minutes before I reached home, so someone else probably reported it already.

This brings us to the question: Did I cause the SCDF to come? Whatever the case, there is an apparant correlation between the arrival of the SCDF and my report, so I'm still a hero.

Oh, and when I reported, The conversation went like this:

"There is smoke coming out of the rubbish chute in my block."
"Okay, so it's a case of fire ah... where is your block?"
" *my address* "
"Okay can I have your name and contact number please?"
" *my name*"
"Contact number?"
"Oh just my home number would do."
"ok. *pause* what's your home number?"
"Oh. *home number*"
"Ok, we'll report it to the relevent avenue. Thank you."

2 things:

1. I didn't say there was a fire! I only said got smoke... Later if no fire then they come and find me how?

2. When I was young my mother told me not to dial prank calls to 999 or 995 (not that I did). She said that once I dial they can track my call down and the police can find out my number and where I live. I thought this was true, as in, maybe at least I supposed the police would have caller ID...

But should have what! Scarly like someone call
"Hello, Police? There is someone who AAAAAAAAAAARRGH *hangs up*"
Then the police would feel so helpless lor. At least should have caller ID.

Or maybe it's just the NPP that is not as advanced. Or maybe like if I don't dare to give my name and contact number then they'll treat it as a prank call case or something. That sounds plausible. But that may not be true. It may forever remain a mystery as to why they needed to ask for my home number.

Sorry for not updating for so long... if you are still here. Was preparing for SPhO. Frankly speaking I wouldn't have studied so hard if not for constant reminders from Eesin and the sight of Yangtong doing every question in 1/10 of the time it takes for me to do. Which is a good thing. I needed to study.

Still, got badly owned by the paper. One ought to see the paper for him/herself to see how hard it is. If you ask me, I'll say its DAMN FRIGGING HARD EVEN FOR SPHO.

Enough ranting about SPhO. Almost everyone is complaining about its anomalous difficulty. Anomalous as in, this year's paper is harder than the 2003, 2004 and 2005 paper.

Anyway training for SPhO was fun. Yang Tong's thick-skinned comments are seriously rofl.

"It can't be wrong. It's my working."
"I can't do this question. This question is too difficult. It will not come out."

When asked who would get champion, he said someone else would get it. When asked why, he said "Because I am humble."

Ok. That's about it this time.

Wheeeeeeeee

Earth, fire, wind, water, heart, go Megazord, I choose you! Captain planet, he's the hero, does whatever a planet can. I shall punish you on behalf of the Moon! Each pokemon is to understand, the power that is yours! I am cow, bayley rules, I am not a kangaroo. I am your father. Show me. Move fast! Stop trying to hit me and hit me! Do or do not, there is no try. Do not hesitate, show no mercy. You mean, I can dodge bullets? To catch them is my real test; to train them is my cause. No, that's impossible! Impossible is nothing. We will live in prosperity.

Random thoughts:

If you consider someone to be a success, would that mean his mother is a failure?

The coolest first name for your kid would be Doctor. That would save him 6 years of medical school to be called Doctor whatever.

If two people look the same, sound the same, and respond the same way whatever you do to them, are they the same? Consider the definition of identical functions. What if you are one of them?

What does your cornea look like?

Maybe a better term for nuclear weapons would be "Weapons of Mass conversion"

Ahh and I went to the same popiah stall again! This time I went with my father and we sat at the same spot which was quite far away from her stall.(Not on purpose) And this time, she brought 2 pairs of chopsticks! I looked carefully, and saw that indeed, she brought with her two and only two pairs of chopsticks!

So it's not true that she brings extra chopsticks around with her. Well of course you can propose that she brings a random number of chopsticks with her, and that the number of people corresponded to her number only by luck... but seriously lah.

Oh and I think there is a rationale in bringing the same number of chopsticks as people! Not just for the reason of good service, leaving a good impression of her stall, but also subconsciously more people at the table would eat her popiah.

For example, if I buy 1 popiah and at first I didn't intend to share with someone else I'm with (but I wouldn't say it out), then she brings 2 pairs of chopsticks. Out of courtesy I MUST offer to share with that person rite? Otherwise it would be just weird. The other person would also find it harder to reject.

Also, if I originally intended to share with the person but I didn't say so, having the correct number of chopsticks would facilitate sharing too, because sometimes people reject the offer to share because they don't want to share chopsticks, and the other person doesn't feel like grabbing an additional pair. In effect, having the correct number of chopsticks results in more people getting to try her popiah.

Which is a good thing too! Her popiah is nice...

While most of us would probably try to find the smoothest road to take, the route most desirable to us, most of these people don't actually get to take it, as they make mistakes and fail in some aspects sometime in their lives. These mistakes prevent them from taking the easiest possible route. In the meantime, when they make mistakes, they learn. Afterall, how one goes about achieving his goals depends on his existing beliefs about how the system works. When one fails to achieve his goal, it signals a misunderstanding about the system.

But when one tries harder to find an easier road, and does manage to find an easier road, he makes less mistakes. He is less able find out what is wrong with his understanding of the system.

By luck, or by diligence, he might just stumble upon a picture of the system as accurate as one who have made more mistakes. Thus, he would try to achieve his goals the same way as the other person might. In many aspects, he is similar to the other person.

A person who has made more mistakes is more likely to be able to understand the workings of the system better, but it is not a guarantee. It is possible to gain understanding of the system and avoid mistakes at the same time. An analogy would be that one who has lost more chess games is not neccessarily better.

While making mistakes can be helpful, people try to avoid mistakes. While unlikely, it does seem possible to avoid mistakes and gain a good understanding of the system. Perhaps, there is still the danger where one does not know what is wrong with his understanding of the system.

So should people make mistakes on purpose? In my opinion, no. Enforcing his understanding about what does not work doesn't teach one about what does. When one makes a mistake on purpose, he already has an idea of what doesn't work. Even without making this mistake, he would have avoided this route anyway. By making this mistake on purpose, he does not learn anything. He only makes his life harder, while trying to make his life easier by learning about the system.

If one think carefully before one acts, he is more likely to achieve what he wants. Life is not long enough to make enough mistakes to learn everything there is about the system. Making mistakes is a waste of time if one does not learn anything from it. That time is probably better spent playing. At least you enjoy yourself, and you wouldn't be under the impression that you know more than other people.

Random note: When I hear the word "penetrate", especially in some manly british or australian accent, excites me somewhat. I mean, not excite in that way. I assure you I'm not gay.

Quite some time ago there was this documentary on Discovery channel called "The Ultimate Tank". Here are some quotes from the show:

"As we can see, for the piece of steel armor sloped at 30 degrees, the bullet was embedded in the armour. *pauses a while* But no penetration."

"However, the military has invented something that can even penetrate through sloping armour: the shaped charge." (The way he said "the shaped charge" was like how cool lah! Man I want a shaped charge.)

"He realised he was on his way to something big. The explosive reactive armour."

"The shaped charge has completely penetrated through all the layers of steel plates, whereas for the one with the explosive reactive armour, the last three plates are left intact. *pauses a while* No penetration." (Nvm I still want a shaped charge... explosive reactive armour is not exactly good for the health of infantry... even when used properly)

I think that episode used the word "penetrate" more than 10 times lah!

That word is one of a kind.

And I want a shaped charge.