Population 7 billion

I've been counting down to this day, clicking on the world population clock at least 5 times a day just for the fun of it, for weeks now and it's finally here! 31 October 2011 - the day the world's population hits 7 billion (see yourself among the 7 billion on 7BillionWorld.com).

According to BBC, I was the 5,353,869,981st person alive on Earth and the 80,449,529,270th person to have lived since history began (see what number you were on BBC.co.uk ). 

Since the day I was born (31 January 1991), an additional 1.7 billion people have populated the Earth and today, I am now 1 among 7,000,000,000. SEVEN BILLION! It's amazing just thinking about the shear number of people out there when I'm sitting here alone in my room, in front of my laptop, typing up this post. I don't think I personally know 1000 people. Maybe I do but any more past 2000 would be a very long stretch. 7,000,000,000 - that's a whole lot of people I don't know, I've never met, will probably never meet. 

It is predicted that we will reach population 10 billion in 2083 (when I'm 92 years old). I wonder where in the evolution of technology will the human race be then. Will we perhaps already be inhabiting a distant planet or have a star ship that roams the universe with a population of several hundred thousand in it or perhaps have built cities underwater like Otoh Gunga (Star Wars reference) or will we still be here, where we've always been, getting squeezed closer together with the limited amount of land space we have left? If I'm still alive when I'm 92 and this blog still lives on with me, I'll try to remember how I've imagined the world to be like all those years ago and perhaps do a quick jot down on the blog and say, "World, I'm now 92, you've reached the 10 billionth mark and by heavens, you weren't one bit how I imagined you to be like - you're even more amazing." I really would like to think that I'll get to say that one day. 

7 billion people. 7 billion stories. And mine is one of them.

Tarot cards

Went to a Girls' Night In event tonight in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The organizers had set up all sorts of "fun activities" for us (all the proceeds benefit breast cancer research). Throughout the night I had a facial, feet pamper, back massage, and a colour consultation (I was previously not aware that there exists such a thing where people actually do consultations on what colours "suit you best"  but if there exists stylists, why not colour consultants though when I shop I just buy whatever that looks nice).

Highlight of the evening would have to be the tarot card reading as I've always been extremely intrigued about tarot card readers (and all the likes that tells you about your past, present, future). Having never had a tarot card reading session before, I was very curious as to what she had to say. 

Despite what I perhaps always had in mind, my tarot card reader wasn't a gypsy, nor did she have a bandanna tied around her hair. 

*This was not her. 

When my turn came, I went into the room to get my tarot cards read by the tarot card reader lady (TR) who has 18 years experience under her belt (or so it says on the door). I saw that her tarot cards were aged and worn (gives a better illusion than a shiny brand new deck I would think).

For the first reading, I was asked to shuffle the cards and separate them into 3 piles. For the second, to choose 10 cards which she then laid out into a Celtic cross formation (jumping onto Google the moment I got home told me this).

*In case you were wondering, this was not my actual reading.

Throughout the 15 minutes reading, she made 3 "great predictions", foresaw 3 rather major events that will happen in the future (major as opposed to what I'll be having for lunch tomorrow). 

The thought that I've always had about knowing one's future is now that you know, will that knowledge of "knowing" the exact reason said event happened in the first place or will that knowledge of "knowing" cause you to alter the events?
For example:
Case 1

If you knew that you were going to get hit by a bus tomorrow morning while you're crossing the road at the zebra crossing, will knowing that make you stop at the junction (even though pedestrians have first priority at the crossing) and because you stopped, the person running behind you accidentally crashes into you making you sprawl on all fours on the road and the bus hits you then, not seeing you at all.
Was it that knowledge of knowing the future the reason you got hit by the bus?
Case 2

If some future telling device told you that you were going to get 100% in your final exam, is that knowledge that you will get 100% make you slack off that crucial final stretch that will eventually rob away your perfect marks?
If you had not known, was there perhaps that one tiny thing that you would have done that would have made a difference between an A+ and an A?
Case 3

Suppose you got on a time machine, went into the future, and saw yourself married to Z. Coming back to the present, will having that knowledge make you not meet X and Y who broke your heart that eventually led you to Z, having searched for Z till you found him and not giving X and Y a second thought when you first met them and hence in the end not meeting Z after all?

Paradox is making my head spin.

Coming back to the "3 great predictions", here they are:
1. I will be getting on an aeroplane (flying somewhere over water) within the next 12 months.
2. I will be getting a choice of two new jobs in which I'll finally settle with one.
3. A "new" boyfriend is on the horizon.

FIRST PREDICTION
"I will be getting on an aeroplane (flying somewhere over water) within the next 12 months."

I have no idea where I might possibly be going within the next 12 months. That's sometime between now and October 2012. I wonder where destination x may be. If I do get on a plane sometime between now and then, I can imagine myself looking back to today and saying, "Hey, her prediction came true after all."
Knowing that I will supposedly be flying somewhere, will that knowledge make me pack my bags and get on a plane? OR out of joyful spite, will I stubbornly not get on a plane within the next 12 months just so I can say that her prediction was "way off base"?

SECOND PREDICTION
"I will be getting a choice of two new jobs in which I'll finally settle with one."

I should only hope that she's foreseeing me getting offers for vacation work (as required by my Engineering degree). That would make this an awesome prediction.

THIRD PREDICTION
"A "new" boyfriend is on the horizon."

When she first said this, my heart skipped several beats. After all these months, the mention of anything related to you still makes me feel like I've had the wind knocked out of me. I didn't know whether to laugh or not at this proclamation of "a new boyfriend". Conversation went something like this:
TR: You have a boyfriend, don't you?
Me: No.
TR: I see that there will be one soon.
Me: I just broke up with my boyfriend. I don't want a "new" one.
TR: I see love coming back to you.
She went on to talk about my previous relationship and all the things she saw about that (some/most were pretty spot on) though I rather not put any of that conversation down.

So, 3 great predictions. Bunch of baloney? Maybe. In the off chance that any one or all of the predictions come true, I'll remember what she said and will probably wonder again then if it was indeed a pile of hokum.

Gotta love 'em Canadians

This is an actual radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.

The radio conversation was released by the chief of naval operations on 10/10/95.

Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: This is the Aircraft Carrier US LINCOLN, the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied with three Destroyers, three Cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I DEMAND that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that's one-five degrees north, or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

My first light bulb

As a student, I don't think there's anything one would treasure more than having one of those light bulb moments when everything finally falls into place and the world makes perfect sense yet again.

Even though I must've had previous light bulbs (like when I first remember the sequence of numbers up to 10 or all 26 alphabets), the memory of this particular light bulb from "The Orange Problem" always comes back to me, even after more than a decade. Perhaps it's because it was the first time when I consciously heard my brain go, "Ting!"

The Orange Problem

I was in year 3. At the end of the year, I was to sit for an exam that would enable me to skip year 4 and go straight into year 5, should I ace it*.

Dad helped me prepare for the exam, going through practice exam papers and example problems. One popular repeated question in the mathematical section was one where they would ask something along the line of, "If 3 oranges cost $21, how much will 29 oranges cost?" (Oh my. I may have overpriced the oranges a tad bit.)

Ah, I know it's a simple question but I didn't think so then. Especially not when they would put it a lengthy word problem and I would have to extract all the information from it. Practice after practice I would get the answer wrong to that particular question and dad would go on to teach me, yet again, how to solve it. 

Until finally one afternoon (yes, I remember it was in the afternoon and I remember exactly where I was and who I was with), I was attempting another practice paper when I got to this dreaded lengthy word problem. I remember looking at it and thought, "Hey, what if for once I try EXACTLY what dad was saying instead of attempting my usual mumbo jumbo?" That resulted in me finally getting the answer right for the very first time. I was so excited with my new found knowledge that I squealed to my sister, who was beside me, "Look! I got it right!"

It was then I felt a row of light bulbs lit and though I didn't know it then, it will always be a point in my life that I will always remember.

*I did go on to ace the exam and went straight into year 5 the year after.

The reason

My sister had her last ever lecture as an undergraduate pharmacist today (will be graduating early next year). After dinner, she told me a story about how she was asked a question of wonderment by a customer at her pharmacy when she was in first year at uni. It wasn't until 3 years later, in her final year did she stumble across the answer. 

Sister: Don't you think that's interesting?

Me: What is?

Sister: That sometimes the answers don't immediately come to you but then eventually it does.

Me: Mmmmm...you should write about it on you blog!

Sister: But I don't have a blog.

Me: I'll write it in mine then :D

Indeed. Sometimes the answers don't immediately come to us when we want/need them most. It's the same with reasons.

Y'know how people say,

When the hardest hits, it's hard to think about the possible "reason(s)", the "good" that might come out of it at the end of the day, in the long run.

Most of the time, things do work out for the best or we hope so that it does but at that moment in time when tragedy hits you, when something terrible, the unspeakable happens, we don't see it. We don't, we can't see what that reason may be. You start to wonder if there's a grander plan out there for you, "pre-destined" in your future. You wonder if you'll survive through the day, the week, the month, the year. Your mind then comes up with a long list of all the possible reasons of "why", not making any sense at all - no rhyme and no reason behind it that you could possibly see.

But then again, you never know. Maybe just like "the answer", you''ll stumble across "the reason" 3 years later.

.....

"It was you who put the clouds around me.

It was you who made the tears fall down.

It was you who broke my heart in pieces.

It was you, it was you who made my blue eyes blue."

- Blue Eyes Blue (Eric Clapton)

I found a reason for me to change who I used to be, a reason to start over new and the reason is you.

In the span of 3 years

Yet another oddity of mine would have to be that I like to write the date when I first open something new (eg. new shampoo, new lip balm, new highlighter, etc) as I like to see how long they last before they run out. 

Today (yesterday really seeing it's past midnight now), I used up the last sheet of my Clean & Clear oil control film. Behind the pack, written by me: 30/8/08 (Sat). 

While I was using up the last sheet, I pondered away (as I do). What marveled me most was not that it took me 3 years, 1 month, and 12 days to use up the 60 sheets (which I cut in half 3 years back making it 120 sheets - I think they make the sheets too big anyway), it was this: 3 years, 1 month, and 12 days ago, I couldn't have possibly imagined precisely where I would be right this exact moment and here I am now!

Funny thing is, I still remember the moment in time when this precious (and I do mean precious seeing that 3 years later I'm writing about what would have otherwise be a seemingly mundane object) Clean & Clear oil control film was first brought into my possession. Since then, it's been with me, travelling where I've traveled until the end of it's time.

Then [30/8/08 (Sat)]: 

I'm was in my 1st semester of college, doing my Cambridge A-Level. I've only been here (in college) for 2 months. It still feels like a long way before I would finish.

Since then till now [12/10/11 (Wed)]. Top 5 happenings:

1. I got accepted into the fast-track program and finished my A-Level in 18 months (instead of 24 months), at the end of 2009. I'll always treasure my time in college.

2. I got my A-Level results at the end of January 2010 and met the requirements of the scholarship body that will allow me to continue my tertiary education overseas.

3. Arrived in Perth, Western Australia on 16 February 2010 and enrolled in The University of Western Australia (Bachelor of Chemical and Process Engineering, class of 2013).

4. Being at UWA for 4 semesters so far, I dare say I've pretty much uncovered most of the mysteries of the previously mysterious (to me at least) alpha institution of education.

5. Had my first heartbreak that was certainly a lesson learned.

I've only listed the top 5 from the top of my head (the more major events I would say although there were certainly a lot more that happened in between). 

A few years ago, there were things that I didn't know/didn't know for certain would happen although I would've possibly imagined some of them. The others happened as they may as the years past. 3 years later, here I am writing about what was once a full pack of 60 sheets of Clean & Clear oil control film.

A lot can happen in a day, a week, a month, a year. A lot more happens in the span of 3 years. All this while, although I didn't think much of it when I had it, my Clean & Clear oil control film pack was always there, lurking in the background. Not that I get overly attached to objects (well, sometimes I do) but now that I'm about to throw the empty pack into the trash, I find myself filled with a rather odd wave of...sadness? Perhaps a better phrase would be "wave of nostalgia". Nostalgic! Yes, that's it. I'm filled with a nostalgic feeling that has been brought by this now empty pack. 

Farewell empty pack. You may not have thought that you'd be of any significant importance (I didn't think so then anyway) but in the end, you really were. You've inspired these train of thoughts and that alone is more than I could have ever ask for from a 2.5x3.5" object.

Significantly important empty Clean & Clear oil control film pack, you are hence forth forever (or more precisely, for as long this blog lives on) immortalized.

*Authors note: In case you were wondering (judging by the amount of times I've mentioned "Clean & Clear oil control film pack", no, I wasn't paid by Clean & Clear or Johnson & Johnson to advertise their product. *laughs*

Small town lawyer

Joe grew up in a small town. He then moved away to attend college and law school. Upon finishing, he decided to come back to the small town because he could be a big man in this small town. He really wanted to impress everyone. 

He opened his new law office but business was very slow at first. One day, he saw a man coming up the sidewalk. He decided to make a big impression on this new client when he arrived. As the man came to the door, Joe picked up the phone. He motioned the man in, all the while talking.

"No, absolutely not! You tell those clowns in New York that I won't settle this case for less than one million."

"Yes. The Appeals Court has agreed to hear that case next week. I'll be handling the primary argument and the other members of my team will provide support."

"Okay. Tell the DA that I'll meet with him next week to discuss the details."

This sort of thing went on for almost 5 minutes. All the while the man sat patiently as Joe rattled instructions. Finally, Joe put down the phone and turned to the man. 

"I'm sorry for the delay but as you can see, I'm very busy. What can I do for you?"

The man replied, "I'm from the phone company. I came to hook up your phone."

Moral of the story: Before going ahead in a scheme to deceive, make sure you have all the details down pat - like making sure the phone has a dial tone before proceeding to pretend to have a conversation with a non-existing person.

Year 6 lesson on % discount

Today, I got news that my year 6 math teacher (who was also my class teacher) has died a year ago. I haven't seen her for 9 years and I have to admit in that 9 years I haven't thought much about my math teacher from year 6 but hearing the news today, memories came rushing back to me. 

One memory in particular sticks out: our lesson on percentage discount.

I remember her telling us at the start of the lesson not to make the mistake (as some of her previous students have done) of thinking that if we get a 20% discount on 1 pair of shoes, we'll get a 100% discount when we buy 5 pairs (multiplying 5 with 20%), making our purchase free. All of us laughed then. Who would be silly enough to make that mistake?! You'd be surprise.

I wonder now if she remembered me. Did I do anything remotely notable in that 1 year I was in her class or was I another face in the sea of thousands of students that passed through her life? Nevertheless, I'll always remember her to be one of the two most notable teachers in my primary school (the other is my year 3 class teacher but I'll save that story for another post). 

Mdm Ooi, R.I.P. Your students will always remember you to be a great teacher. You have touched my life when I was 11 and the hearts of thousands others, I am sure. You'll live on forever in our memories.

3 apples that changed the world

"3 apples changed the world. 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton and 3rd was offered to the world half bitten by Steve Jobs." - BBC

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve has lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple." - Apple.com

Tribute to Steve Jobs on Apple.com homepage

Unlike so many of my friends and those around me, I don't own a single Apple product. Not that I have anything against Apple, only that the opportunity to get myself an iPod/iPhone/iPad/MacBook has yet to present itself. I was still extremely shocked by the passing of the face of Apple, hearing the news on the radio on my way back from uni today. My thoughts are with his family. 

Needless to say, he will be missed by millions. R.I.P.

"Your time on this earth is limited. Don't live someone else's life, live by your vision." - Steve Jobs, 1995-2011

The realest dream

Dreams are such funny things. The ones you have while you're asleep, that is.

"Well dreams, they feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up that we realize how things are actually strange. Let me ask you a question. You never really remember the beginning of a dream do you? You always wind up right in the middle of what's going on." - Cobb (Inception, 2010)

Have you ever had a dream so real you thought it really was? Have you ever had a dream where not a single thing was out of place; the people, the location, the surroundings were just as they should/could be? Have you ever had a dream that was so ordinary, so possible that when you woke up, you can't properly remember whether you've actually lived through it or not?

I had such a dream last night and when I woke up, I could almost be sure that it has happened and it wasn't merely a dream but possibly, a memory. Just as quickly as my puzzling mind puzzled me by trying to remember the possible occurrences, all my memories came crashing back and I knew then that it hasn't occurred and will never will. That one realization alone of "never will" hit me like a tonne of bricks and for a fraction of a moment, I felt the wind get knocked right out of me. Needless to say, my day went downhill from there.

The only strange thing about my dream I suppose (and perhaps I should have realized then that it was indeed a dream) was that it took place with me sitting on a bench on Mounts Bay Road overlooking the river and I had no inkling of how I got there.

"No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true." - A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella) 

Cynical me says, "I ain't a princess and this ain't a fairy tale."