Happy holidays!

I am too bloody lazy to write stuff. Happy holidays.

I'm a genius

OMG it took me just over 5 hours! I figured it out. Hahahah. I'm not emo anymore. Genius.

Stressed up

The tense atmosphere is in the air once again. Finals coming. Personally, I feel that I'm lacking in stats horribly I don't even know whats a hypothesis test. I'm gonna diediediediediediediedie....

LA and calculus are also tough. Really can't afford to play much in uni. Sucks.

I'm afraid for cass. Read : stop wasting your time on useless events!

Kaythxbye.

TIRED!!!

Woah its been a freaking long time since I updated this space...

Just completed the mid term exams, all really easy. No shit compared to the A levels.

Feel sick recently from all the studying and emoness. Got two lymph nodes under my neck now. Doctors says the blood tests are all normal and the nodules are small, and to observe and see what happens. If they grow bigger => my cancer is back lol.

But its okay. I'm not really afraid of it anymore. They can bring me to hell again and I will fight to live again because life is worth it.

Besides, I have more people with me now than in Sec4.

On a happier note, I woke up one day and realised maybe I don't really like her. But all this talk about like/not like makes me sound like the master Tian in Sec2. I wonder why I didn't go crazy for anyone in JC. Maybe the standard just really...

Maths is as fun as always, though linear algebra is starting to be a pain. Levels of complex computation and definitions. Supspaces, bases, and other mind blowing objects when actually all that we're dealing with are vectors. Theres no beauty in that for now.

Having a car is awesome. Get to fetch people(read girls) around and go wherever I want. But it makes everything a lot more tiring too. One moment you're in school watching lecture, the next you're playing pool halfway across singapore,then the next you're eating dinner with your parents. Crazy frantic!!!

Skip this if you are a girl:

Best tactic to ask for girl's phone number and know where she lives.

Requires: Car x1

Hey where you stay ah? I see if its on the way I give you a lift.

Eh gimme your phone number also in case I can't make it or got jam.

Two steps QED.\

End of skip.

I'm really tired and down with cough. Sick right after mid terms. Lol. I think I'll do well though. Nitez everyone. Yes you Fendy.

151 YET AGAIN

Okay I have deleted the last post. Today was a fairytale. Awesome. Got to see Fendy and sing K, Eat mooncake see moon with crush. And gave 10 bucks to charity.

I promise not to be emo again.

University.

Yes, I know, I haven't blogged for more than a month. Been busy lately with uni events. Seriously, university students have infinite energy and enthusiasm. There are events like every single day, OG outings, rag and flag, and 111001001 camps.

It is time to give a short summary on what I've been doing.

SOW : science orientation week '11
Really crazy and fun and tiring. Part I of the camp lasted for 4 days and 3 nights. Did many crazy things like getting ourselves wet and dirty, and running around Singapore with our face painted, and even going on "blind" dates. Last part of the camp ended at Sentosa where we played crazy games the whole day. Came down with a blistering sunburn after that X.x. Thereafter we had a break of about a few days then part II began, lasting for 3D2N. Unfortunately, I came down with a flu on the second day and had to leave early morning.

Flag
Running around Katong area collecting donations. Really tough work. Sometimes, we would run into the same people who were working there who would give us dirty looks. One guy even said "Dammit, you guys are damm persistent" , before reluctantly dropping a dollar into my can. However, we also met generous and rich people who donated like 10 bucks at a time and didn't mind donating repeatedly. Whole experience can be summarised as, "Hi sir/maam would you like to make a donation? Proceeds will go to HCA hospice and others."

I'm too tired right now to mention the numerous OG outings, family gatherings and pool sessions. Photos are all on facebook. Go see. BB.

Hi!

Once again you have clicked that most improbable button in your internet browser that links you this to site, expecting a detailed voyeuristic essay of my life which unfortunately Facebook is not suited well for. Gladly, I provide.

It is with a Cassandra-type exhibitionist mindset that i write these reports, hoping secretly to dominate the world through my charms and spread the ideas of autolatry. There is also something about recording down your precious moments, whether it is watching your level 50 Lapras perform a recumbentibus on the opponent's Zapdos, or the many acts of sphallolalia with teenage girls online. Of course, viewers who know me would know that I do not do any of these.

Okay, enough with all the moonshining and long words, the only reason why i wrote this essay is cause some people apparently read regularly all the crap that i come up with and they have requested for more crap to read.

Nah the real real reason is cause I think that its important to keep track of your life in periodic episodes so that as my memory which is already deteriorating deteriorates, I will still remember who I was, or at least have an indication of what I was feeling at this point in my life. It is scary to forget who you were, it feels like you have lost yourself.

I've come to the realisation that I've been exposed to a large variety of media recently. I shall give a list of reviews.

Transformers : DSOFTM
Okay lor. Girl not hot enough.

Green lanturn
Okay lor. Girl not hot enough.

La Noire
Okay lor. (Dead)Girl not hot enough.

Pokemon Black
Okay lor. (Pokemon that looks like a)Girl not hot enough.

Aiya, you get the idea.

Okay but seriously, Transformers is freaking awesome and I'm waiting for people to watch Imax 3d with. Its a MUST WATCH. Like [Avatar] and [P̄hī tāh̄wān kạb xācāry̒ tā bǒ].

Green lanturn is okay but feels like power rangers, and La Noire is not my type of game (I don't wanna be a goody shoes detective! I just wanna blow things up!).

So recently, I have been working on a mathematical problem called the Collatz Conjecture, and i know I risk turning people off but this is really really interesting. Its like a game.

Games states,
Start with any number,
1)if its even divide it by 2, if its odd times 3 to it and add one.
Repeat (1)

For the number 28, this leads to the following,
28->14->7->22->11->34->17->52->26->13->40->20->10->5->16->8->4->2->1

The Collatz conjecture states that no matter which number you start out with, you'll eventually get to 1.

The trick is to prove it for all numbers and its been almost a hundred years but up to now, no one can. I know I probably can't, just playing around with it for fun. Its my pastime.

Ok next news, I've went out with Gabriel Elmo and Fendy today. Nice to just hang out and ogle at girls. The author is a little ashamed at getting to evade NS and not suffer hell like they do, but what methinks is that they would rather go through hell than lose their hair.

Also, I've been working on the Battle subway thing with Kenneth and we are using hacked Pokemon. (OMFGWTFAYD!!) But seriously, there's no other way of beating it.

And by the way, bought Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time 3ds. Gonna try it out soon. By almost all accounts flawless, I'll see if the remake lives up to its fame.

And if you love the author, support his cause by liking this facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/OperationRainfall

A tribute to my pool table

Today marks a significant day in my pool life. From tomorrow onwards, the pool table that I have owned from Secondary school will no longer be mine. This is a tribute to the best pool table in the world, and a dear friend.

It is hard to put my emotions into words right now, I feel like I have lost a part of my soul, for the pool table was not only a game or toy, but a soulmate.

I remember the first day I came home after secondary school, seeing the pool table in all its glory as I walked across the maisonette from the door. I remember it being beside the window, and the lights were gleaming onto it. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling, like the beauty of a fresh morning sunrise by the sea and the gentleness of a demure teenage girl.


As I stroked my bridging palm across the table face, the blue baize felt smooth and inviting. I immediately picked up a house cue, which came with the table, and began hitting a few balls. At that time, I was still using the taiwanese variety. The feeling was simply magical as I watched and heard the balls bounce into the pocket and roll to the front. I remember the first game that I played was against my dad, and I remember running out from the break in that very first game, which only made me love the table more.

Of course, as with any love story, the infatuation slowly changes, and you start to realise that the table is not as perfect as you thought it to be. I realised that the table was made from a wood core and not a slate one, which produced more noise and made jump shots near impossible. Also, the pockets were not really well designed, and the balls would many a times spin out of the pockets easily even after being potted. The return system is also not perfect, as many balls often got stuck at the back corner pockets. The lackluster cloth meant that it was harder to execute draw shots, as any spin applied would be lost to the cloth after a few revolutions.

These imperfections however, did not stop me from having loads of fun with the table. How could I forget the times where I trained for hours on end even as the O and A levels were approaching? When my math tutor in secondary two, who was also a pool fanatic had a game with me in the middle of math tution during a break? I remember too teaching Royce and Loic and Tzeyong how to play pool on that very table.

But perhaps the greatest memories that I have on that table would be TWOT. The days were Royce and Loic or my maid would hold that lousy video camera for hours, recording my attempts to recreate those amazing trickshots. I would often rush down from the computer room upstairs when i find some new trickshot concept online, and try it out on that table. One particular trickshot took 100+ tries.

Then of course there was the TPA cups, and numerous house parties, christmas... etc. And slowly over time I began to accept and come to love the many quirks that only the table possess, such as the fact that drainage, throw and squirt were so much more amplified on my table. I have even come to love the unique sound that it produces, balls go bouncing into the return system instead of a smooth descent. Theres really nothing like watching a target ball slam hard into Hq pockets and spinning upwards and flying airborne for a few inches before descending into the pocket. And how else would I have mastered the formidable Tian's screw without the fact that the tables cloth absorbed so much spin?

Recently, during the cancer stretch of my life, the pool table to provided a haven for me to get not only entertainment, but also as a means to get some physical activity done, instead of always lying in bed. Often, the first thing that I would do after recovering from chemotherapy was to go and shoot some pool.

The table provided similar support when I was doing my O and A levels, whenever I felt stressed out studying, the table would me with minutes of therapy to get my mind focused again.

Over time, it became not only a toy but a close friend, where I could go to to express all my troubles. Somehow, the table would understand, and take it in, and I always felt better after shooting some balls, whether I was feeling sick or feeling emo or just being bored. And when you're playing pool, things somehow become simple, when things fuck up, its your fault alone, and when you clear, you can have all the glory. Not true in real life.

Right now, I just can't believe that it would be gone tomorrow. How could I sleep, knowing that when I awaken tomorrow my soulmate would be gone? Sure, these days it is rusting away at a small corner in my house, too cramped to show its real glory, but even so, every now and then, I would pick up my viking and have a shot or two for old times sake.

Before typing this blog, I wiped the rails for one last time and hit the cueball one last time, and muttered, "goodbye old friend."

Chilling out.

Been busy with alot of things lately, trying to complete every good game on the nds before school starts is no mean feat, FF tactics A2 alone is a time black hole.

Each week passes really fast, before I know it Saturday is here. But its kinda nice just hanging out and doing nothing. Like mediatation really, take a break from all that pointless success chasing. Just zone out and zen mode.

That said, I've been working on a secret project lately (its true!) and I currently need someone to give me legal advice. Also, anyone who has experience in photoshop should contact me. I am willing to give a small tip in return for basic advice.

Just sent my Samsung i8910(aka Omnia HD) for repair, and was really impressed with the service! Philipino girl was really friendly and repair time takes only 2-3 days, and after that they'll send the repaired stuff to your house, all for free!

I think Wang Leehom is really cute in his movie, Love In Disguise, really likeable and expressive. Compared to Jay Chou who IMHO only knows how to act cool(its quite disgusting actually), I think Leehom has more talent. Jay just knows how to market it better. Seriously, it has been so long since Jay came up with a good song, let alone an album. I really think since Secret, Jay's productivity seems to have gone downhill. Investing his time in pointless talkshows and Hollywood movies rather than his music.

Screenshot from Love in Disguise. Know it looks and sounds like a drama but its a movie. Of course, Liu Yifei is lovely as usual. Actually I think she's like spot-on bullseye Fendy's type :)

Alright thats all, realised that I hadn't blogged in over a month! And one day, I'll write the matrix part II. One day...

Believe the matrix.

To show people that I have been doing some work at home, and since I dun really have anything else to blog about these days except my new R4 and level 100 lapras, I'll do some math.

The topic today is on Matrices, which I felt was severly glossed over by the SRJC math department. (Read:They suck)

As a recap, I'll use the example;

2x + 6y = 5
3x + 3y = 10

To put that into matrix form, it becomes

(2 6 5 )
(3 3 10)

Subtracting two times of row 2 from three times of row 1, or 3R1-2R2->

(0 12 -5)
(3 3 10)

Switiching,

(3 3 10)
(0 12 -5)

This gives,

y = -5/12 and
3x + 3y = 10
x = 1/3[10-3(-5/12)]= whatever this is.

Of course there is another method using inverse matrices,

(2 6)(x) = (5 )
(3 3)(y) = (10)

First we find the inverse of (2 6),(3 3)

Which is 1/24 of the matrix (-6 12),(6 -4)

Multiplying that to the equation at the top gives
(1 0)(x) = 1/ (-6 12)(5 )
(0 1)(y) = 24 (6 -4)(10)

of course (1 0),(0 1) is just the identity matrix which acts like 1, so,

(x) = 1/ (-6 12)(5 )
(y) = 24 (6 -4)(10)

And we have the same answer as before. Or we should.
Of course all this is just simple secondary school stuff, more on matrices next time LOL.
In particular, I'll do inverse matrices and the rotation matrix, which again is elementary stuff but largely left out unwisely by the A level syllabus.

Dissidia is cool.

My god its been one month since i blogged. Not my fault, nothing much to write about these days. Everyone is in the army or working.

Me? I've been playing video games. There seems to always be an endless supply of video games to play. I can never ever finish them all. Just like homework. Just to give you list, theres-

Dissidia 012
Parasite Eve: The Third Birthday
Golden Sun
999
All the Kingdom Hearts games, of which there are at least 3.
Metroid Prime
Mario Galaxy
Grand Theft Auto IV ........

The first two of which are AAA titles for the PSP. I'll bet there're more, I just can't remember.

Oh I've been studying partial differentiation too. Really hard to visualize everything in 3D.

And nope, I'm not gonna find work.

Best results ever!!!

OMG I DID DAMM WELL FOR A LEVELS!

On Wednesday morning, I got a call from the Mrs Teng, saying that the "media" wanted me for an interview cause of my illness. Of course, that would have to depend on the results that i gotten. If they were good, she would call me again on Friday to ask me to go to school earlier.

Of course on Friday morning, I was anxiously awaiting for the call from Mrs Teng, knowing that if she did, my results were probably going to be good.

AND I FUCKING GOT THE CALL.

Not only from Mrs Teng, but also from the school, who wanted to give me an interview as I've done "reasonably well".

So i went down to school at 1030am, still feeling apprehensive about my results and still wondering if they truely wanted me for my grades or if it was just because of the illness. Once I reached, I met up with Mrs Teng, who gave me a short prep up on how to do the interview, of course then I learnt that it was going to be in Chinese.

Unfortunately, the interviewer couldn't come and instead had to do it over the phone, I was quite annoyed as I could tell that he was not very interested and seemed merely wanting to get it over with. Fuck him for wasting my time and precious sleep.

I met Mrs Pah, who seemed serious and questioned me sternly on what I wrote about in my GP essay. And she also asked me, "what grade did you expect?" I told her I expected a B. Then her expression indicated that I didn't get a B.

Then, I had to take some photos for the newspaper and the school. At that point, I still didn't know what my results were, for they said I had to recieve it in the hall with everyone else, so you could imagine my doubts when I posed witht he schools top students for a group shot. Did I really do well or did the school merely wanted me as a "special mention" case? After all, there was no way I could be among the top students right??? Everyday play pool and pokemon one!

Of course then we had a long long wait for the anouncement in the hall, longest two hours of my life.

Then as they announced the results, SRJC did better than last year, many more students were going to the university and bla bla bla... Yeah...

THEN IT WAS IT, top students in SR, people who got more than 80 points.. At first I saw some familiar names like gabriel (81) and cassandra (81), and then the score was climbing, 82..... 83....... And then I thought that was it. There was no way I was going to be this good. Hell I failed two subjects for Prelims! And I thought I was doomed, I was really a special mentions case.

And then the score climbed to 84... Still my name didn't appear... Then the next slide, At the bottom of the screen, I saw : TIAN WEI ZHOU 84 BOWLING.

And everything inside of me went hysterical after that. I wondered if it was a dream, and I was going to wake up. Pinched myself. Nope. Not a dream. I opened my mouthed wide in disbelief. It was really me, I was among the top 15 students of SR.

After that I immediately called my parents to tell them, all the other people who were interested.

However, in the midst of exhilaration and relief, I despaired and was heartbroken for many of my friends who didn't even do well enough to secure a place anywhere. I want them to know that there is always a way out, like in pool, and like in life.

Of course I got an A for GP, the only A that I'm really proud of, cause A for Maths was expected. And Mrs Pah revealed that the reason she asked me all that cause she saw a talk by cambridge markers which showed a script doing the same question as mine, and sounded a hell lot like mine. And that If it was, I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN 50/50 FOR THAT ESSAY.

In all honesty though, I don't think my sub par language would have gotten a perfect score of 20/20 from cambridge.

Okay, here are my results

GP - A
CHEM -B
PHYSICS -B
ECONS -B
MATH -A
Project Work -A

THIS IS WHAT MASTERFULLNESS IS ABOUT.

Of course getting a B for chemistry and econs was a joke. I didn't even practice nearly as hard as the others. The only slight disappointment was physics, I thought I had a chance of scoring an A, but clearly I messed up the SPA component of paper 2. Or was the SPA part in paper 3? Anyway it doesn't matter now.

According to yihui, these grades are equivalent to an AAA/B, which will warrant me pretty much a place in any course that I want, except the straight A courses like med and law. But my guess is that they'll give priority to students with more H2 A's.

Anway, this pretty much secures the mathematics course that I'm thinking of. However, I would really like to think it through, and to hear more of your opinions. Tagbox everyone!

Chinese new year!

Holidays been really great! Just passed my driving test today. Went to fetch mum at night right after that from work at marina square. Didn't really check when coming out from a give way lane. Really dangerous cause it was a high speed road. Could have died. Luckily there were no cars. Got scolded badly. But well, it was a good experience.

Really didn't expect myself to pass, but i guess i was kinda lucky, driving was pretty much perfect. Aside form that, been having a lot of fun lately, picked up playing LAN from my classmates. I am know well versed in flying a helicopter in battlefield 2 haha.

Recently hustled a chinaman at kpool at AMK 15 bucks.

So thats pretty much it. Holidays are fun. Never trust anyone who tells you that staying at home and having nothing to do sucks, because they don't know how to enjoy life.

I wish the A level results would never come, cause i know i will definitely not do well.

2011 (prime number) !!!

Welcome to the first prime number year after 2003!

Anyway just wanted to sum up some of the things I've done last year.

Completed A levels.

Went to the World Shanghai Expo in June.

Completed:

God of War III
Final Fantasy XIII

Pokemon Heartgold

Uncharted 2

Won my first official pool competition.

Thats all... Yeah I know its pretty boring. It is the A level year after all. A level sucks!!!!

Funneh!

Omg Christmas is coming!!! I'm so excited for nothing lol.

Btw, these are damm funny.

Physicists
http://xkcd.com/793/

Dimensional analysis
http://xkcd.com/687/

Thanks Ray XD..

best mother

look at what my mum sent me.

(0,0)

Somehow after two years in school. I feel like I have returned to square one. Still the directionless mathematician. Been reading alot recently, completed a proof on the fundamental theorem of algebra.

Gosh its been so long since I did any Maths here.

The fundamental theorem of algebra states that any polynomial in complex coeeficients has at least one complex root.

Its a simple collorary then that a polynomial of degree n will have n complex roots, since we can divide the original polynomial by the factor x-r, where r is the root, to get another polynomial of degree n-1, which will itself have at least one root.

The proof sketch hinges on the fact that a general polynomial, hereafter refered to as f(z), where f(z) = az^n + bz^(n-1) + ... + k , where a,b,...,k are complex;

1) is smooth, which means that as z changes gradually, so does f(z).
2) can be approximated by az^n for large z (meaning that the modulus of z is large)
3) is close to the constant term k for small z (meaning that the modulus of z is small)

First we consider the image of f(z) in the complex plane when modulus of z is large. It will trace a large circle about the origin of radius az^n as all the other terms in the polynomial become relatively small.

Then we consider the image when the modulus of z is small, it will trace a small circle about the constant term k, as all the other terms in the polynomial become small. We can also, assume without loss of generality that k is not zero.

Hence as the value of z shifts throughout the complex plane, decreasing in magnitude, the image of z will deform from the large circle about the origin, to the small cicle about the constant term k smoothly. In doing so, it must cross the origin at least once. Hence there must be a value of z which the image is zero, meaning that f(z) must be zero for at least one value of z, which completes the proof sketch.

I think this one is due to Gauss, one of the many proofs of this that he supplied during his lifetime.

It is regretful to think that even Euler couldn't figure this one out.

Rapunzel

Todays gonna be the third time i watch Rapunzel (Tangled in US). Must-watch for all Disney fans.

Its the first Disney fairy tale to break gender stereotype. Although the film feels modern in both its script and art direction, there is an unmistakable quality of Disney magic to it. Very heartwarming. 9/10.

Ok going to watch now. And please if you're gonna watch it, watch in 3D. I've watch both and the 3D one is much better.

Holidayzzzz pom pom po pom.

Okay actually the title is a lyrics from the song "Holiday" by Boa. Really gives you the holiday moood hahahaha. Ok at least I think so. Was feeling quite emo about being lost during the holidays but cheered up after talking to someone.

For all the emo lovers out there, dun worry there is always someone more emo than you. His name is............

Jacky Cheung!!!!!


Okay this is my most emo song of all time. There was once after a heartbreak i rode home on a cab hearing this song at midnight. Most empty feeling ever...

Actually why am I even posting this. I'm far from being emo.



This is more like it. Cute girls are everywhere.

Emo time.

A level is finally finished!!! Actually, I'm supposed to feel alot happier but i'm kinda blank now.

Actually, not working means more time for emoing.

Whats next? 9 months of nothingless while all my friends go to the army.

At least school meant that I could see her.

I wanted to learn driving so eagerly just so that I could drive her around.

Looking at now, I shatter.

pretty singers

Omg there are pretty and talented singers everywhere! And I can't believe Andrea Ross replied me X.x!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Vixa3KqVA&feature=related

New idol

閻奕格 is the most beautiful female singer.



Sorry cass you're not my favourite female youth singer anymore XD

Good luck!

Good luck to everyone taking the A levels in two weeks time.

Study hard, but still must take some time off.

Okay actually I'm just trying to convince you to watch this...



Btw that song by 田馥甄 is very nice. And thats not just cause she has the same surname as me. The best songs are those you relate to.

Pre-A's

Yes for once in my life, i passed chemistry! Even though its only a D.

Anyway I didn;t really study that much. The miracle was scoring a B for my paper 3, which I strongly attribute it to the steely eyes that was given to me this morning. I think it has magical powers.

Like Dark/Evil kind of magic.

Damm scary...

Mathematics suck

I'll say that I'm not a smart person, no matter what others might think. My adequacy in Mathematics comes only from the fact that I've been lucky enough to get interested in it. I used to believe that Mathematics, being the supreme form of knowledge and truth, can answer all problems, but now i know that is not true. As i dwelve deeper into Mathematical insanity, I discover that this is not a garden of eden with the nightingale and flowers, but the land of the blind, where the one-eyed-man is king.

I did not used to be like this, thinking, calculating before I did anything. But was led onto this path in part by logical reasoning, and in part by the game of billiards. It has ruined my life, making me the lifeless person that I am now. Sacrifices must always be made, to learn such an arcane and sacred skill requires you to give up some of your humanity.

Is it true that Mathematicians always die young? Or that they seldom get attached? I write this post to remind myself to separate from the erroneous belief that Mathematics will be all I need, because unlike the Pythagorean motto, not "everything is number".