Time Of Your Life

//Time Of Your Life//

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf of good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.
- Time Of Your Life (Green Day)

The 18 days in Taiwan is truly memorable but I really don't know where to start. There's just so many aspects of this trip that I don't want to forget and want to record it down.

My mum asked me what is the most memorable thing about this trip...and I couldn't answer her. Nothing really stood out. Every aspect of it was memorable.

This couple of days, I find myself browsing through all the photos I took there. Looking through the photos brought me back to the exact scenes they were taken and I could still clearly remember how I felt at that very instant the photo is taken.

But photographs are nothing but mere instances of our memories.


It just doesn't feel the same. Yes I could remember how I felt at that instant, but that feeling just can't be replicated. And in time to come, would I even remember the highs and lows, happy and sad times in Taiwan at all?

Kai Herng and I were chatting on MSN the other day, and he mentioned that this entire trip feels like a dream, and we just woke up from it.

I sort of agree with him, in the sense that everything here feels so familiar, it feels as though I've never left Singapore, and that the 18 days were mere figment of our imagination cause it really just whizzed past like that. And just like how you would forget a dream after you wake up from it, I'm afraid that memories of the trip will slowly fade with time.

But as of now, I am still not totally back yet. Physically I am here in Singapore, but mentally, I refuse to move on. I guess you can say I refuse to wake up from the beautiful dream. I still find myself lingering in Taiwan, thinking about the places we went and so on.

But there has to come a time to move on, and it will really be a sad thing when the time comes like Kai Herng said, but such is the nature of things, it can't be prevented.

Life has to go on.

And it's really frustrating to face the messy room that I have to clean up and the pile of untouched holiday assignment waiting for me to complete. It just shows me the harsh reality I have to face. I feel like I'm being pulled me out of the dream faster than I want.

Enough about the sad stuff, I want to remember the good things too...

The tour during the first few days before we went to our host family to stay really brought the 20 of us from Hwa Chong closer. Although we already know each other since June cause of all the dance practice and so on ...this is different.

Back then, we met up for dance practices, we met up to go out together when the Taiwanese came, but we still have our own closer friends and family in our lives that we can turn to. But in Taiwan, during the tour, we don't have our friends to rely on, we only have each other.

Of course in a group of 20, you can't be close to everyone, there'll always be some to that you can click better with...and unfortunately...there'll be some that you totally can't click with, or in some cases...repulsion.

To me, it's ok if I can't click with someone, I just minimise interaction with that person. It's not like that person is bad or I'm hard to get along with, it's just different frequency, so I reserve any judgment for this person in this kind of scenario.

But this is not always the case, somtimes interaction cannot be avoided, and certain interaction with certain individuals who did certain things tend to piss me off quite badly, though I tried very hard not to let it affect my mood.

I know a lot of what I typed above don't really make sense to you ...it's ok...I'm not talking about you..so fret not.




On the other end of the spectrum, Kai Herng, Clarence and Yuxiang really made the tour a much more enjoyable one, it's really fun exploring all the night markets of the places we went together, and keep eating like nobody's business.




And I really really want to thank Chio for making the 2 weeks in Yu Cheng so much more fun. All your weird antics really got me laughing and it's feel really good to have someone to talk to in a totally new environment like that. Seriously I would not have survived in Yu Cheng without you (other than my buddy of course).


And among the Yu Cheng HC people, I got along with Shuying (Ba!!) and Rebecca the best (other than Chio that is)...since we pretty much went out together every night after school since our buddies always go out together. You guys have been great company.

And there's Siowyi (go join the next superstar larz...love to sing so much), Hannah (stop sleeping during every lesson!!), Koon Yu (the shuai ge that everyone asks about) and Weixiang who went Yu Cheng too...thanks a lot for being part of the Yu Cheng memory...

And special thanks to....


Peck Yan... among the NJ peeps, I think I got to know you the best, since you sat in front of me during the recording of Guess^3. You must have been too crazy that day and laughed too much to trigger off a hyperventilation days later. And stop obsessing with your daughter names...


Tan Hui...my siao ding dong dance partner...really had lots of fun learning the Indian dance with you back in June and the Ares fac dance recently...it's nice to have someone to goof around with during dance practice...


Xin Wei...can't believe you're so easily spooked by ghost stories...should have told you more ghost stories that time in Hua lian when the bunch of us stayed up late and talked in the lobby...


CHUAN HAN BANG ZHU! Xin ku ni le!

More to come...the tour itself...irresistable taiwan food...the homestay...lessons in school....

Haha...sounds like some TV show or something...actually it's just a way to remind me what I wanted to blog next...

On an ending note....




BAI MA WANG ZI I AM!! MUAHAHAA!!

T.I.P: Lessons

//T.I.P: Lessons//

It's been long since my last update.

Actually I started writing this entry about a week ago...but since then I haven't really had the time to continue writing because I would reach home everyday at around 11+ (from shopping and eating and playing outside of course)...and after some dilly dallying and chatting with Kendall's parents plus packing, it would already be 1+ and I would be so tired that I would just go sleep...

So today, I finally decided to finish this entry...before I return to Singapore, which is really soon...I only have 2 more days in Kendall house and 1+ more day in hotel before going back to Singapore...

There's just so much interesting things...or rather new stuff that I experienced here...that I want to blog about and post pictures etc...

Food here is fantastic...weather is fine (except last Sunday when it dropped to 10 degrees)...most of the time it's around 15-20 degrees...on colder days it can drop below 15 or rise above 20 on the warmer days...

Though I've only been in Taiwan for almost 2 weeks...I feel very much at ease here...like I've always lived here and is very used to the lifestyle here...

Since there's so much I want to talk about, I shall break it up into smaller parts...and talked about lessons first...

Lessons here are rather interesting...they have lessons the whole day from 8 to 5...and even in High school level (which is our JC level)...they take all subjects...including history...geography etc...

It's really late now...and there's lessons tomorrow...I shan't go into details...next time maybe...

Here are some photos...





This is their classroom


They actually have Magic as a CCA...these are his classmates entertaining me with their magic tricks during breaks in between lessons.


CHINESE LESSONS! And the first 2 periods I had with his class is CHINESE! OMG! Totally cheem. And they write from right to left, up to down (even for their chinese text books)...most of their text is in wen yuan wen...as in those cheem cheem old style of writing that no one understands....


This is their English lessons...my buddy got 3/100 for his translation test yesterday!!! But it's mainly my fault though, cause he brought me out till 11+...so he had no time to study...the test today (which he studied for)...he scored 97/100...

The English teacher keep asking me read the examples (they have a English version of out ci yu shou ce, and I was asked to read the zao ju) for the class...and for once...I feel that my English is good...


But then there's this classmate of Kendall...Bo Jun...he can speak English very very very well...

I put my Issues and Ideas on the table...and he could actually read out an entire paragraph (about democracy) with very standard pronounciation (much more standard than mine...even with an American accent...cause Taiwan is learning American English)...though he don't understand what the whole paragraph is about...


On a completely unrelated note, Death Note II is out already here...for quite some time...hopefully I can catch it before returning to Singapore...

More to come...

Leaving On A Jet Plane

//Leaving On A Jet Plane//

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
- John Denver (Leaving On A Jet Plane)

In less than 12 hours time, I would be flying off to Taiwan. And I finished packing just about an hour ago. That's how efficient I am.

Am I excited?

Not really, not right now. I was 2 weeks ago, but as the date drew nearer, the excitement sort of got replaced by other emotions.

I would say I'm more worried than excited at this point of time. I am ALWAYS worried whenever I go for a camp, chalet, or overseas. I would be worried about forgetting to pack some important stuff, like how I forgot to bring camera when I went Thailand last Dec...or how I forgot to bring sandals when I went for my last St John camp in sec 4.

And I worry about homework. What would happened to the piles of untouched holiday assignments? What would happen to all the tests that is going to happen when school reopens?

Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe I hate to go
- John Denver (Leaving On A Jet Plane)

As much as I really want to go Taiwan, there's a part of me that longs to stay in Singapore. Although my life has been pretty boring so far this holidays, there are still tonnes of things I would miss when I'm in Taiwan...

I would miss all the shows I watched...all the outings with the class and squadmates...my mum's cooking (though this can be compensated by all the good food in Taiwan)...and of course MAO MAO! (mao as in hair...cause he's got lots of hair)





He is just so so so adorable. I am really really going to miss him a lot when I'm in Taiwan.

With all that being said, I'm still positive that I would have a great time over there.

I was looking at some of the photos this afternoon, photos of the Taiwanese when they came to Singapore. Then I realised I never really blogged about what happened when they came, or posted any photos for that matter. So shall post a few photos here before I leave for Taiwan.


That's me in Yu Cheng's uniform and Kai Herng in Yong Chun's uniform.


But this is what I will be wearing when I go there. Looks really... ...oriental doesn't it.


That's us goofing around at Singapore river, after they went to watch NDP.


Me and my dance partners, Siowyi and Tan Hui behind.

There are lots more photos...and every single one of them brings back memories of the times we spent together with the Taiwanese when they came...

I remembered the very first night, we (Kendall n I) went to Lau Pa Sat to have supper together with the rest of the TIP peeps, followed by a night walk along Singapore River. It was my first time in 17 years really walking along Singapore river at night too...

In just those 2 weeks, we brought them to tonnes of places in Singapore that even I wouldn't normally go...places like Little India, Singapore river, Clarke Quay...etc...

Though it was a really busy period for me at that time..with the submission of EOM, Chem SPA etc...but what I remember most is still the fun we had during that period...

For the next 23 days, I would be speaking lots and lots of Chinese...but it's ok, I still have my AQ to keep me connected to English.

I think I should be able to get internet access starting from 10th Dec (Sunday) when I start my homestay at Kendall's house, so I should be updating this blog with some photos.

See you guys on MSN!

Alphabets

//Alphabets//

A B C D E F G...I'm sure you can sing this song...but can you count how many alphabets are there altogether??

Shockingly some people can't!


I guess I know how to answer the AQ asking what should the priorities be for Singapore education system now.

AQ

//AQ//

I think I have lost my ability to do application questions.

"Using material from the article as well as your own ideas, consider what the priorities of education should be for your country and justify your reasons for choosing these priorties."

I have absolutely no idea how to start on this application question.

It feels damn weird to be holding a pen and writing something too.

I must go into mini-mugging mode soon...at least before I leave for Taiwan...don't want to come back with ALL my work not done.

The ridiculous short length of this entry proves that I have lost all ability to express myself intellectually in English.

Trouble Sleeping

//Trouble Sleeping//

It's been 15 days since my last post. That's 2 weeks. That's a new record.

Not that lots of eventful things happened in my life the past 2 weeks anyway.

However, that's not to say nothing happened at all. PW oral presentation is over, class chalet is over, watched a couple of movies, and basically lazing around at home the rest of the time. The more I laze around, the more time I get, the more I don't feel like blogging.

During the promos preparation period, there's so much I wanted to blog about, be it interesting songs I just recently downloaded, or tv shows, or just my life...but time was a scarce resource back then, thus I have to allocate them efficiently to achieve productive efficiency and allocative effiency...sadly...blogging does not take priority...

Now that I have too much time on my hand, I have no urge to blog. Maybe cause my brain has officially taken a break since promos ended...it feels a sheet of blank paper.

I have a bad sore throat now, in addition to the headache I got from sleeping too much. Yes, I will get a headache by sleeping too much. So I'm feeling pretty much horrible now. Slept at 4+ yesterday...and woke up at 3.30pm today. And anyone who knows me well will know that my ideal sleeping time is 7-8 hours, anything beyond that, I will get aches all over my body plus the splitting headache I'm having now.

Speaking of sleeping too much, I overslept on Tues too...not in the sense that I slept more than 7-8 hours, but in the sense that I was late for tkd training because of that. Training starts at 9.30am, but I was there at 10.10am.

And I was in school at 8.40am!

Brilliant isn't it?

The night before the training (Mon nite), I slept at 4+am...and woke up at 6.30, since I wanna hitch a free ride from my dad who's fetching my bro to school. But since I hate sleep deprievation as much as I hate sleeping too much, I slept in the car throughout the whole journey. When I arrived in school at 8.40, I was so happy that I got more time to sleep that I just slept at the class bench. And poof, it's already 10.10am when I woke up.

It's late and I'm feeling so tired
Having trouble sleeping
This constant compromise
Between thinking and breathing
- Trouble Sleeping (Corinne Bailey Rae)

Now I can't fall asleep cause I woke up too late.

Will probably fall asleep at 3+ later...it's like a vicious cycle that never ends. I desperately want to go to sleep, cause there's nothing much I feel like doing with my headache, and yes, I would love to go to sleep to make my headache goes away...

Class chalet was just over a few days ago...I enjoyed it...the BBQ...playing pool...exploring Bedok...rollerblading....really really thanks to yuming and lih hern for being by my side (literally) while I was rollerblading...if not for them, I would have fallen hard on the ground so so many times...

I was the noobest of the bunch...had to make everyone wait for me...haha...but it was still pretty fun...

Speaking of being noob..I just started learning/playing dota recently...I'm still at the "what items to buy" and "where to buy them" stage...slow reaction time too...I can imagine how frustrated my team mates would be...but I think I am slowly gradually picking up...

Going malaysia tomorrow again to visit my baby cousin...Julien (with a "e" not "a")..he's really adorable...







He's half Chinese, and 1/4 Indian, 1/4 Arab....

It's really amazing looking at him...I visited him when he was just a few days old...such a tiny little thing...

If you think about it...we were all once like him...a helpless little baby...and we just grow....day by day...into what we are today...and our parents have to take care of us...from a small little baby to what we are today...it's kind of amazing if you think about it...

And I made a amazing discovery about babies!

They cannot see!

Ok maybe it's not really amazing...you may already know this...but they can't see clearly. I was moving my fist towards Julien's face very quickly...and normally people would blink their eyes...it's reflex...but he didn't...

So I went online to check...and realised babies' vision takes 6-8 months to fully develop, as opposed to his hearing which takes 1 month to fully develop.

"While your newborn's eyes are physically capable of seeing just fine at birth, his brain isn't ready to process all that visual information, so things stay pretty fuzzy for a while. As his brain develops, so does his ability to see clearly, giving him the tools he needs to understand and manage his environment. Though your baby starts out life being able to see only as far as your face when you hold him, his range of clarity grows steadily, month by month."
- Source: http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babydevelopment/6508.html?adcode=KCPS:EDI:ART&refid=pstages

I really have to go to sleep now...my headache is killing me...maybe I will try counting sheeps to help me in falling asleep?

The First 3 Months

//The First 3 Months//

I was browsing through some Friendster's accounts...came across this video from wilson's account...the dunking of Zhirong during the birthday bash for mann, rebecca, zeqi & zhirong at mann's house...

now that jc1 is over...i kind of miss the first 3 months...

maria's mirthday marty (tho i still don't understand why mirthday marty) was fun, it has been long since so many people turn up for a class event...

Half the JC life is over...not sure how others felt about the year...but I did enjoy myself a lot this year...life in 06S71 is good (most of the time)...I just wished that I had make more friends in tkd and interact...cause I feel really detached from both CCA...but looking on the bright side...I still have my squadmates to count on...

Looking forward to more squad outings and class outings...

Answers

//Answers//

1. I was the top scorer for PSLE in my school with a score of 274.
Lots of people guess this as one of the false statement. It is indeed false. But there are 2 parts to this question...first part is that I am the top scorer for my school, and second part is my score is 274. I believe a lot of people guessed that it is false cause they don't think I am the top scorer. Well...first part is actually true...I was indeed the top scorer, the false part is the second part, I didn't get 274. I got 275. I guess people can get stupider over time.

2. The only English album I have (as in really own the CD) is Jamie Cullum's "Catching Tales"
True: I never really have the habit of buying CDs, I own like only around 10 albums (2 were gifts)...and most of them were Sun Yan Zi CD...I don't know what got over me that day, but I was at HMV...saw Jamie Cullum's "Catching Tales"..and just bought it..maybe I was feeling rich that day...

3. I have watched video clips from American Idol, Australian Idol, Canadian Idol, UK Pop Idol, Dutch Idol, Malaysian Idol, Singapore Idol, NZ Idol, Philippines Idol, India Idol, Indonesian Idol before.
True: Anyone who knows me well would know I watch a lot of idol shows...I did watch clips from these many shows, but I only follow American, Australian, UK, Canadian, Malaysian and Singapore Idol religiously...the rest (like India, Indonesia), I only watch a few clips here and there..

4. I love Big Brother (the reality TV show), can name you all the elimination in correct order but have never ever watch a single full episode before.
True: There is this forum call "Survivor Sucks" and there is a board for Big Brother. One fine day I just stumbled upon the Big Brother Board, and read the live feeds thread and got hooked. That is how I "watch" Big Brother. (In Big Brother, the contestants live in a house which is being filmed 24/7. Some people who buy the feeds will update on forums what is going on in the house now, the strategising etc)

5. I have acted in 2 Chinese drama production before (as in tickets were to sold to public that kind), one as the male lead the other as the supporting actor.
True: I was in Chinese drama in primary school. The teacher (from Singapore Broadway Playhouse) lacks a suitable actor for one of her plays...so she asked me and I agreed. I was primary four then. Subsquently, she asked me back in primary five too for another play.

6. I have watched all seasons of "Survivor" before.
I am a big survivor fan. But I only started watching since the ending of season 5 (Thailand). Managed to catch season 4 (Marquesas) on the reruns on Channel 5 though. I have catch all season since then...except the previous one...Survivor Exile Island...lost interest after the first few episodes. So no, I have not watch all seasons of "Survivor" before

7. The most played song on my playlist now is Jamie Cullum's "All At Sea".
True: It was true when I came up with the list, still true now. It is the most played song with 66 play counts. Second is India Arie's "Brown Skin" and third is India Arie's "Back To The Middle". Ironically, I have not listen to this 3 songs recently at all. Because not all my songs are in the registered play lists. Some songs that I listen to a lot recently were not captured cause I have not added them to my playlist.

8. My favourite reality TV contestant (on each show) never ever won before (be it on Idol, Survivor or Amazing Race).
This is kind of personal..so it's hard to guess...but one of my favourites did win before. Melissa O'Neil was the winner of Canadian Idol 3 and I was rooting for her right from the very beginning, despite being in the bottom 3 for the first 2 weeks, she persevered on and went on to win.

9. I have the experience of watching 2 movies in a row in 1 day for 2 consecutive days (meaning 4 movies in 2 days).
True: It was Dec holidays last year. I must be very rich at that time to splurge like that. I still remember the movies, I watched "Zathura" followed by "Aeon Flux" on one day, the next day I watched "Noel" and "Prime". I watched 2 movies in 1 day recently too, "World Trade Centre" followed by "Scoop".

10. I got 100 marks for all my Chinese exams in Primary 1 (CA1, SA1, CA2, SA2)
Once again, I can't blame people for thinking this is false. I don't look at smart, especially since I don't seem very proficient in Chinese. This is false. I got 100 marks for CA1, SA1, SA2, but only got 97 for CA2. Close though.

11. I thought Jaclyn Victor (winner of Malaysian Idol) would have won World Idol 2 if there was one.
True: If there ever was a World Idol 2, I think she would win...cause there's simply not much competition. Plus I think she's good.

12. I have cheated in exams (not class tests but real exams) before.
True: Remember I mentioned I got 100 marks for all Chinese exams in primary 1 except CA2. Well, at that time, I finished my paper early, was checking through. Somehow my head titled a bit...and I saw my friend's answer. I realise her answer was different from mine, so I changed my answer to hers. This is considered cheating I guess. And guess what, her answer was wrong and mine was right! So because of that, I got 97/100 instead of 100/100, and I swear never ever to cheat again.

13. I got my first handphone only in secondary 2, and I wasn't even there to choose it.
True: I forgot the model number, but it's the blue one from Nokia. I was doing project at Baohe house at that time.

14. I only change my handphone once, and both my phones are below 40 bucks.
True: Both my phones cost 36 bucks I think, it's some promotion from Singtel, cause my dad use Singtel plan, so once it's up, if he continues to sign on, he will get a free phone or will be able to purchase hp at a low price. That's how I got both my phones. My brother's first phone costs $198 and he just changed a phone a few days ago, it costs $288. Favouritism indeed.

15. Anderson Secondary School was my first choice when choosing secondary school in P6.
True. But I chose Chinese High when I got the second option form.

16. I like to listen to sad songs when I am sad to make myself more sad.
I hate to listen to happy songs when I am sad, I will get irritated by the fact that someone can sing so happily when I am so sad. So I prefer to listen to sad songs, it has a soothing effect.

17. I did not watch a single match for the last Fifa World Cup in July.
True: Yes, too lazy to get up to watch.

18. The first game I played after PSLE ended was Pokemon yellow version on my Gameboy, which happened to be the first game I played after promos ended this year.
I did play Pokemon right after my PSLE, but I did not play it right after promos. I remembered the first game I played was Bridge, followed by minesweeper and nanaca crash, before I finally played Pokemon.

19. I won the second prize in a Chinese story-telling compeitition organised by some community centre before, losing only to a PRC.
True: I was primary five then.

20. I have 1700+ music files and 800+ video files on my computer at the moment.
True: I also don't know where I got all my music files. I do have 1725 registered music files + 43 not registered ones. But lots of my music files are 1min+ cause they are mp3s from Idol shows. I also have 800+ video files, don't ask me where they are from, most are idol shows, but I have no idea that there are that many.

Scores:
3/5: Terence (1, 6, 10), Ying Cheng (1, 6, 18), Everlyn (1, 6, 18), Kai Herng (1, 8, 10)
1/5: Wilson (6), Edmund (6), Mann Ying (10), Pauline (1), Ming Wei (10)

One

//One//

One year ago on this very day, I started this blog...hoping that a blog will relieve me of the extreme boredom I experienced after EOY exams...

One year later on this very day, I am sitting in front of the very same computer, promos have ended weeks ago, results are out, but I don't have the motivation to blog anymore. I'm too engrossed with other things in my life right now..."busy" is the word I guess...

Extensive mugging has somehow effectively wiped out the part of me that likes to blog...

Nevertheless, happy one year anniversary to my blog. I still can't believe I lasted a year, thought it would not last a month when I started it...



Boringly interesting blog? How contradicting...but I will take that as a compliment...

20 Random Things

//20 Random Things//

*tagged by mann ying & wilson

One. Think of 15 short bits of interesting stuff about yourself. And they've gotta be true.
Two. Come up with 5 false statements regarding yourself, but for fun's sake keep them in the threshold of believability.
Three. Jumble them all up together and list them in any order.
Four. Post them on your blog and let people guess which the five false ones are!
Five. Get 5 others to do the same

1. I was the top scorer for PSLE in my school with a score of 274.
2. The only English album I have (as in really own the CD) is Jamie Cullum's "Catching Tales"
3. I have watched video clips from American Idol, Australian Idol, Canadian Idol, UK Pop Idol, Dutch Idol, Malaysian Idol, Singapore Idol, NZ Idol, Philippines Idol, India Idol, Indonesian Idol before.
4. I love Big Brother (the reality TV show), can name you all the elimination in correct order but have never ever watch a single full episode before.
5. I have acted in 2 Chinese drama production before (as in tickets were to sold to public that kind), one as the male lead the other as the supporting actor.
6. I have watched all seasons of "Survivor" before.
7. The most played song on my playlist now is Jamie Cullum's "All At Sea".
8. My favourite reality TV contestant (on each show) never ever won before (be it on Idol, Survivor or Amazing Race).
9. I have the experience of watching 2 movies in a row in 1 day for 2 consecutive days (meaning 4 movies in 2 days).
10. I got 100 marks for all my Chinese exams in Primary 1 (CA1, SA1, CA2, SA2)
11. I thought Jaclyn Victor (winner of Malaysian Idol) would have won World Idol 2 if there was one.
12. I have cheated in exams (not class tests but real exams) before.
13. I got my first handphone only in secondary 2, and I wasn't even there to choose it,
14. I only change my handphone once, and both my phones are below 40 bucks.
15. Anderson Secondary School was my first choice when choosing secondary school in P6.
16. I like to listen to sad songs when I am sad to make myself more sad.
17. I did not watch a single match for the last Fifa World Cup in July.
18. The first game I played after PSLE ended was Pokemon yellow version on my Gameboy, which happened to be the first game I played after promos ended this year.
19. I won the second prize in a Chinese story-telling compeitition organised by some community centre before, losing only to a PRC.
20. I have 1700+ music files and 800+ video files on my computer at the moment.

5 people: Kai Herng, Terence, Jiexun, Xinyi, Jason

One Last Shot

//One Last Shot//

It sucks when you don't see much results despite the effort you put in. I guess my best is just not enough....

One last Bio paper tomorrow...I have to make it...

Econs, Chem and Maths are pretty screwed...Maths in particular...screwed not in the sense that I will flunk totally and get a U...but screwed in the sense that despite all the effort I put in into studying...I will probably end up with a D or E...or worse come to worse...a S...

I was confident for Chemistry...and to a lesser extent Econs...but I handed up both papers feeling like I could have done so much better...

Maths is hell...and it's not even because the paper is super tough...I just don't know why I suck so bad in Maths...I couldn't even do a simple "integration find area under graph" type of qns...it's not like I don't how to do...it just didn't strike me at that time...wouldn't be shocked at a "U" again..haix...

One last shot for me to get at least a decent grade for one of my subjects for promos...and it has to be Bio...chances are slim...but I will just have to try my best...

Promos

//Promos//



Mugging for promos have its perks too...

At least I get to eat Bo Bo Cha Cha from lots of foodcourts around Singapore...

And in case you are thinking "hey! it's the eve of an exam! that's why he's here to freak out and whine!"...

YOU ARE WRONG!

It's the eve of the eve of the econs paper...and I'm freaking out in advance, cause tomorrow night at this time, I would be too busy trying to finish mugging my econs to freak out at all...so I guess I better do it in advance...

I will treat myself to lots more $2.30 bo bo cha cha if I get promoted....if I do...hopefully...

I used to aim for 100 marks in primary school...aim for A1s and A2s in secondary school...now I'm aiming for a "D" for all subjects...and I don't even think I can do it...what the fuck is wrong with me...

And it's only the promos...it's not even prelims or a levels...

I need to think of all the bo bo cha cha i will eat after the promos right now to take my mind off the possibility of getting retained....or dropping subjects....

Wonders of Mugging

//Wonders of Mugging//

Blogging has became something that I do only when I'm very free and have nothing better to do...

Of course this doesn't mean I'm very free or have nothing better to do now...it just so happens that I don't feel like doing anything else...

Promos is coming...and the pressure is definitely on...never really felt this way before...

Last time, despite not putting in 100% effort, I know I can at least get a past and get promoted...but somehow things are not as simple now...without my best effort, I ended up getting "S" and "U"..and it's really do or die considering the weightage for promos...

People keep telling me to relax...telling me that getting promoted is not that hard...I guess I took the advice to heart too much and ended up relaxing too much for block test...won't happen again this time...and it's not like I'm aiming for 4 "A"s or something...I'm just hoping for a minimum of "D" in all subjects...I would die of joy if I can pass my maths...

So I've been out mugging...or rather I should say attempting to complete all my tutorials/work/practicals or whatsoever that needed to be done since the start of Sept hols, and sad to say, after almost 2 weeks of mugging....they are still not all completed....still left with Tutorial 7B and 7C for maths...

On the first Sat of the Sept hols, I was mugging with ming wei and ying cheng...first half of the day at amk library and second half at Sumo house...

After that session...I was waiting for the bus at the interchange....and while waiting...of course my eyes will wonder about...and then I saw a someone who look vaguely familiar (couldn't see properly as the person was back facing me) standing in front..at the queue for another bus...

So after looking closely...I realised it's Qingyi...with someone else obviously...haven't seen her since May...didn't really know what happened to her after she left school...or what she has been doing...etc...

For that few moment...lots of questions were running through my mind...like what has she been doing...is she fine...and so on....I wanted to say hi to her...and asked her all those questions

Then I chickened out.

I started to wonder...what if the bus takes forever to come...what if I have nothing to say to her after she answer me with one word answers...

So I didn't even said hi to her...in fear of the awkward silence that may happened....

So I continue waiting for the bus...and occasionally glancing at her...hoping that she won't see me...then in a distance...I saw my bus coming...

Then...I just decided to called out to her...it's just not right to treat it as if I didn't see her at all..considering the fact that she left rather abruptly...she seemed very shocked...like she did not expect anyone to recognise her or something...stared at me for about 5 seconds...then said hi...but by then...I was already on my way to get up the bus...

Throughout the journey home...I keep thinking...it's only been like 4-5 months since she disappeared from school and our lives...how come she seems like such a distant memory...seriously...when I saw her...it feels like seeing a primary school classmate whom I have not met for years...

JC life has zoomed past so fast that friends that faded out of my life months ago seemed like they disappeared from my life years ago...I have not seen Zhirong for only 6-7 months...and it seems like years already to me...I'm sure the class still remembers them...I know I do...but to me...they are really slowly fading away from my life....

Same goes for the TIP ppl...it's been actually only 5-6 weeks since they went back....but it really does seems like they have left for quite some time....

It's not an issue of whether we are making effort to stay in touch with each other or not...or whether we are too busy with our own lives to keep in touch...because even with the best effort...things still happen this way....eventually...both parties will put in lesser effort...and before you know it...no more contact....

As time goes by...people just fade away from my life...some faster than others...and some....I can say have already disappeared totally from my life...I really wonder...10 years later...how many of the people I know now will I still be keeping in constant contact with...cause clearly, right now, I have lost almost all contact with people I know 10 years ago...

It's like throughout the past 10 years...some new people enter my life...some left...but what remains constant is no one stays...and anyone who knows me well would know how much I detest changes....so this is a rather saddening fact....

And the most ironic thing is I started to think about all these...in the midst of all these mugging and preparation of promos..when I'm supposed to be the busiest and most occupied with work...

Been mugging at KAP with wilson and everlyn till late at night for the past 3 days ...the good thing about mugging together is other than the fact that we can consult each other regarding concepts we were unsure about it...we can talk to each other or play dumb games when we're sick of mugging....which is a good form of recharge...cause obviously for me...I am not the type that can sit down for 6 hours straight and mug non-stop...

We talked about rather weird topics I would say...weird as in these are topics that we wouldn't talk about normally...like....cancer?? We were discussing about us getting cancers....and what we would do if we only have like a few months to live...

Then we realised it's kind of sad to know that you only have limited amt of time left...cause you may want to live those last few months to the fullest...doing things you wanted to do but haven't....but where are you going to find companions to do it with you...everyone's still got lives to live...where can you find the money...so probably you will end up living life as per normal...counting down your days...

Must be the stress from mugging that is causing us to talk about all these...

Played a really dumb game today too...PICTIONARY! And I won!! With 12 points! We took turns to draw and so on while the other 2 will guess...We all had some weird drawings..and guesses...

The most amazing guess I had...was during the round wilson drew...and the phrases are all about our class...drew a whiteboard and tables....I guessed "ee loong sleeping during lessons" and bingo! I got it!

The most atrocious drawing...or rather the most atrocious intepration of a word is of course by everlyn....she wanted us to guess "Beauty World"...so she drew Earth...which was fair enough since the word is "World"...

Then she have to draw something to let us guess "Beauty" and guess what she drew? A girl...wearing ear rings...and she keep emphasizing on the ear ring....when we couldn't guess it...she drew some castles....then she drew a dog....

Guess what?? The girl she was drawing was herself!! In other words...she was trying to imply that she exemplifies the word "Beauty"...wilson and I couldn't stop laughing when she told us...then the castles were supposed to mean Walt Disney...and the god's supposed to be the beast..."Beauty and the Beast"...ring ring!

As much as I hate mugging...it seems like I'm actually having some fun here and there...and i am actually having more proper conversations with my friends while mugging as compared to times when we're not mugging tgt....like with mw and yc...or wilson n ever....

So there's good in it afterall...

Intellectual Conversations

//Intellectual Conversations//

Ever thought about how control of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genome can be fitted into our everyday's conversation?? See HERE

Yesterday, during dinner at my house with my PW mates, wilson and ever...

wilson: i don't want to take that direct bus home...it's damn long...
ever: what's the bus number? oh wait...let me think...I think I can remember...5....5....5...
me: it's 51...
ever: oh...I thought it's 52...
wilson: there's 52 here??
me: no..but there's 53...
ever: *suddenly sits up and exclaims* p53...that gene thing...read it in cancer notes...

*all 4 of us stares at her....speechless...

Today, during lunch at Thai Noodle house with 9 other classmates....

mitch: should i eat the dessert huh??
me: well, you will have to look at the marginal benefit and the marginal cost of eating the dessert...is mb>mc...if it is then you eat lor........

*mitch stares at me in horror

I believe we have all sunk to a new low...

These Are The Days

//These Are The Days//

I used to be able to blog those really long entries, heartfelt ones, even on the eve of a exam or a test, or even when I have a million things to do, I can still heck those and come blog when I feel like it...but somehow, recently, I can't seem to be able to do it...

So it doesn't really help, when I finally have something I really want to blog about...my mind refuses to let me to....I cannot let go of the fact that I've got 101 other things to do...so I put it off...thinking that I would blog about it some other times...but I've came to realise it doesn't work that way, once the moment is gone, the feeling is not there, you can't really blog about the same thing anymore...

Lots of entries that were supposed to exist didn't materialise in the end...kind of a pity I think...

So finally after such a long term..of doing god knows what...I had a rather relaxing 3 days...

These are the days that I've been missing,
give me the taste, give me the joy of summer wine
- Jamie Cullum (These are the days)

Went out with 4 groups of different people in the last 3 days...something unusual for a person like me...

Wednesday was a good day, only because it was sort of considered the last day of school since Thursday was meant for Teachers' Day celebration and Friday's a holiday. Went back for St John training finally after so long of wanting to go back...

It always feel great to meet the squad as a whole...played basketball with them...and it's just nice, 10 people, 5 vs 5...it's been ages since i played basketball with them...I seriously think it dates all the way back to sec 1...

I seriously suck...i suck in all the sports i play...squash...table tennis...badminton...basketball...
tennis (though i only played once)...but that day...it doesn't really matter, cause i was playing with them...and it's with them that i can feel at ease with everything i do, i won't fear playing too badly and getting judged by them...

It really feels good to be able to be 100% me...cause half the time..i will be worried about how others perceive me..and sometimes being too self-consicious can be really tiring at times...that's probably why I have more fun with the squad...

After training...we TRIED to buy presents for Miss Yap and Mr Loh...but ended up in Action City...and someone just randomly suggested "let's take a neoprint and give miss yap!" then everyone just agreed without hesitating! I think we all have the "since-we-want-to-crazy-mite-as-well-crazy-together-since-it-is-the-squad" mentality...

It's a pretty hilarous sight...13 guys trying to squeeze to take neoprint...and shouting and making lots of noise cause no one knows how to operate the machine...and it doesn't help when there's a very short time limit for all the choices we have to make regarding the design etc....and it certainly didn't help when it's all in Japanese....

We made so much noise that the sales person in Action City had to come and scold us...lol...but we're acting reall sua ku....and we tried to make it as gay as possible with all the stars...glitter...hearts...and so on....and here's our PROUD PRODUCT:



Since it was pretty late and all the shops are closing...we just quickly settled on a gift for Miss Yap and Mr Loh...but the neoprint taking experience is still pretty much the highlight of the night...

Teachers' Day Celebration was pretty uneventful...but going back to visit the secondary school teacher was actually more fun than I expected...I was pretty shocked that most of the 4A people met and visited the teachers together...I thought it would be more fragmented...kind of funny and ironic that we showed slightly more class spirit and unity now that we have graduated...

We were never a very crazy class...we have lots of crazy people...nice people..but for a class as a whole...we're never that united I think...the fact that we only have one pathetic class outing (with a turnout of 30/36) says it all...

Part of the blame lies with a lousy CMC with me as a lousy chairman...part of it lies with the disgusting huge numbers...how can a class bond truely as class with so many people...you can have big groups or rather big cliques of people bonding, etc...but it's really impossible to bond 36 people and make them like each other...so it ended up being big cliques of people or in this case I would use "factions" of people against each other...mutual hatred/dislike = no class spirit.

Though we may not be that united, but like Mdm Loke, she hasn't seen one class quite like ours...we (as in around 18+ of us) went around teacher-visiting in the staff room...met Mdm Loke whom I think we all really respect...she's really an awesome English teacher...I don't think I've seen one teacher quite like her too...she's got AMAZING memory too...I think the reason why Chinese High is full of cynics and sacarstic people is cause of teachers like her...haha...no one can beat her in terms of sacarsm...Ms Sunita will be on par I guess...but not anyone else...

Ms Sunita's still the same...and I really pity her that she has to mark so many MRPs...but at least she got no EOY papers to mark...and just like last time, we don't have much to say to Mrs Ooi...except a "Happy Teachers' Day"...we did tell her our Maths grade now...she must be so proud of all the 'A's and 'B's our class produced in the block test..except for maybe me...who told her "mrs ooi! I'm still failing my maths!"

Mrs Har's been promoted...now she got a bigger cuibicle...and more space for us to squeeze inside...to talk to her....she's still owning with her project groups in Projects Day...Chen Lao Shi is still a bit nutty like she was...fortunately she didn't get us to do the "shuai shuai shou" thing...

It's really a pity that miss ng...mr lam...and miss mok are all overseas now...easily 3 of the more memorable teachers we had...

Went J8 later and ate at Cafe Cartel after that with the 4A peeps...this is second class outing we had in these 3 years...and for the first time...we played zhong ji mi ma till someone (weixin) vomitted...probably cause we added butter with wasabi with lemon and lettuce...feel kind of bad...

Left at about 4pm with Kai Herng to meet up with the Taiwan Immersion peeps at Orchard...in the end...only 5 out of 20 ppl turned up..me, kai herng, bing qian, chio and chuan han...I guess everyone's busy...so the 5 of us ended up at Food Republic Food Court at Wisma....and we talked and talked and talked....about all sorts of stuff...gossips...our siblings...our taiwan buddies...etc.. and luckily bing qian brough his guitar, which entertained us for quite a while...

We left to dinner at Cine basement at around 7...and after that we continued talking...about horror movies...ghost stories and Chinese High and River Valley...etc...which creeped chio and chuan han out a lot I think...we just kept talking till around 10...which makes 6 hours of talking time! Amazing isn't it...

I wouldn't say it's super fun....cause we didn't do much...didn't go KBox, or movies, pool or anything...but I did enjoy myself a lot truely that afternoon...afterall..how often do you get to sit down...and just chit chat with your friends non-stop...not caring about anything else in the world...

Nowadays, everyone is so busy with all the things in the world...block tests...PW...and all the crap...that even sitting down and talking to friends become a luxury....so I would consider myself really lucky to have 6 full hours of that that day...add that to the unexpected gathering with the 4a peeps...I must say I like days like this...

These are the days of endless dreaming,
troubles of life are floatin away like a bird of flight
- Jamie Cullum (These are the days)

Not an exciting day...but definitely a fulfilling one...

Friday was a different kind of outing...went Klunch with ever and wilson...I was late as usual...haha...it was supposed to be mugging day for us...as in we were supposed to mug after Klunch...but of course...being us...of course we didn't.....we simply resist the temptation to play pool...

Paradiz is a great place actually...there's KBox that is pretty much deserted so there won't be much people and you won't be face with the problem of not having enough rooms and being turned away...there's pool...there's arcade that I think is pretty cheap...there's 90 cents LAN (though I don't play LAN)...and the foodcourt there is totally quiet and deserted...which makes it an ideal place for mugging!

A good mugging place for me is a place with food..and preferably LOTS of food...which is why I don't think fastfood restaurants are the best mugging places....of course there must be stuff like aircon..it must be quiet etc...and the food court at Paradiz fits the bill totally...

So you can imagine...we went Klunch from 11 to around 2.30...played pool from 3 to 4....mugged from 4 to 8.30...with occasional chit chatting here and there...what a well-balanced and fun-packed day! There's fun! There's mugging! That's how a student should live his/her life!

All 3 of us happened to be mugging bio...and doing the virus tutorial....I came to the conclusion that viruses lead pathetic life...all they do is to reproduce..reproduce and reproduce...though I don't think I'm in the best position to comment on their life...cause it's not as if I have a much more fulfilling life than them...

The good thing about mugging at Paradiz...at least for yesterday when we were there...was that at night, from around 7.30 onwards...there's a couple of lounge/bar singer (or whatever you call them) performing outside the food court..for the people eating at the restaurant...so at around 7+ to 8+...we could go out to listen to them sing (they have really soothing voices) when we're tired to looking at the viruses...

Had our dinner at the foodcourt at 8+, the Western Food stall there has the BEST MUSHROOM SAUCE! I melted on the spot when I saw the picture of the chicken chop with the mushroom sauce...after dinner...in view of the fact that ever mugged till she had fever...we decided to packed up...go out and just sit there and listen to the performances...a great end to a great day...

These are the days that bring new meaning,
I feel the stilness of the sun...and i feel fine.
- Jamie Cullum (These are the days)

We talked quite a fair bit about Singapore Idol and other general stuff too while sitting out there...as much as I don't think Joakim deserves to be in the top 5...I really think Mediacorp has went overboard with what they did...especially during the week Nurul was eliminated...it was so discriminating...that I was so hoping he would make the final 2...and piss all the judges and producers off...

I like chatting with them...cause with them...I feel like I can speak my mind freely...about almost anything..just like how i feel at ease with my squadmates...cause most of the time, with most other people, I always make a conscious effort to make sure I know what I'm talking about, so I don't say things that I'm not supposed to say...it's generally more relaxing with them...

My friend (yes, it's you again, I just don't like to publish your name out here..unless you don't mind) and I were discussing the other day...how we both have the tendancy to behave differently with differnt groups of people (which I think is the same case for most people)...he even said that he have the ability to change his personality to suit whoever he is with....

I don't quite agree with him on that though...cause I don't see how one can change his personality just like that...unless he/she is one big hypocrite...I think it's more of like with differnet people...different sides of your personality comes through....instead of you totally changing your personality to something that you are not...

With different people, I will tend to behave differently...just take the 4 outings for example...I can be totally talkative...and do all sorts of crazy stuff with st john squadmates...but with the 4a peeps...i am generally the wallpaper...the flower pot of the group...kind of invisible in the background...not giving much input most of the time...while with the TIP peeps..we share this common experience...and that always make having conversations much easier...and with ever n wilson....there's lots of common interests so there's always lots of talk about...

Am I talkative? Yes...Am I crazy? Yes...Am I quiet? Yes..It just depends on who I'm with...cause they will bring out the different sides of me...

What a long and boring entry...I think I have officially lose my ability to write anything remotely interesting after my 2-3 weeks hiatus of non-writing...

Freak Out

//Freak Out//

I'm in a semi-freaked out mode right now.

Of course you have guessed it, it's the eve of a test. Or rather 2 tests.

Econs time trial assigment sucks so bad I don't even know where to start.

What the hell...

Who cares if monopoly is good or bad?

Argh...I wish I would care less about these 2 tests tmr...and focus my energy on other more contrustive things like...finishing my tutorials...so that I can settle down and really start revising for promos soon...

At this rate, I'm going to screw both subjects up tmr too just like what I did with block tests for maths n chemistry...

And why am i whining here when I should be preparing for the 2 tests...

History just repeats itself every time it's an eve of a test...

Reality TV

//Reality TV//

Despite the so many tests and deadlines going on right now, I still watch shows like Canadian Idol 4, Singapore Idol 2 and Big Brother All Stars.

It's been a devasting week thus far.

On Wednesday, my favourite contestant on Canadian Idol 4 got eliminated.



Although she was clearly one of the best on the show, she was the bottom three queen, getting into the bottom three every single week except Top 8 week. Yet, she survive every single time. But sadly, this week, Canada decided to send her packing for good.

She's really entertaining, and she manages to embrace every theme completely without losing herself. As one of the judges commented on one of her performance ,"that performance is sultry, it's sexy, it's sassy, it's Steffi."







But she got a big sent out on her elimination at least. The judges really like her too...



Right on the next day, on Thursday, Nurul Maiden, my fav contestant on Singapore Idol was ousted with Joakim alongside with her in the bottom 2.



Not as devasting as Steffi D's elimination, but still it's kind of saddening, cause there's really not much incentive for me to watch Singapore Idol anymore.

So just as I predicted, something bad would happen on Friday too, and I was right. Janelle lost the Head of Household competition in Big Brother All Stars.



And who did she lose to? Erika, the person who is the most likely to get Janelle out. At least Will and Boogie seemingly have a semi-alliance going on with Janelle, and George seem to really like Janelle and Danielle just made a one-week truce with Janelle as they agree not to put each other up for nominations if they win HOH. So of all people, Erika have to win.

I thought she was gone for sure this week. This is the 3rd time she's put up for nominations. How can she not be gone. But she didn't disappoint this week yet again.



SHE WON THE VETO!!

She's freakin' unbeatable! 3 HOHs and 4 Vetos thus far, it's almost impossible to get rid of her. Everytime she's nominated for eviction, she wins Veto, and takes herself off the nominations.

Finally a change of tide, for a moment, I thought she will suffer the same fate as my 2 other favourites. Fortunately, she OWNED the rest in the veto comp.

I actually couldn't concentrate on my work at all this afternoon as I was waiting for the veto comp results, despite having a lecture test and a time trial assignment tomorrow, and so much work to be done...

Back to econs time trial assigment....it sucks...

Fly Away

//Fly Away//



Admist chaos, they came.

Chaos as in I was totally busy with tutorials, EOM, PW, SPA, and the endless list of work basically. My room was in a total mess, then before I can get everything ready and in order, it's already 29th July, and in a total disorientated state, I met my buddy Kendall.

2 weeks fast forward just like in the movie "Click".

Admist chaos, they left.

Chaos as in I was feeling totally tired , feeling rather detached from my own life, yet I don't want it to end, I don't them to go back, my mind was just in a huge mess basically...

Then they flew away in the plane...and it just ended.

I did not cry at the airport. I did not cry at the farwell dinner too.

But I cried at a part in the movie "Click".

Weird isn't it?

Watching a movie, crying over a sad scene, it's very direct and straightforward, I'm just sitting there, absorbing in everything, so yes, I cried.

But at the airport, at the farewell dinner, my mind is in a total mess.

There are people crying, there are people feeling ok, but if you ask me what do I feel at that time, I couldn't answer you. I was feeling lost I guessed, I don't want it to end, I don't want them to go, but I start thinking about the work that I can complete once they are gone, how I can finally catch up with my friends, how I can finally get some sleep, it's just very very conflicting, and it just left no room in me to cry.

It's not like movie, where it's direct, it's sad hence you cry, it doesn't work this way in reality, there are a lot other emotions other than sadness that I am feeling at that point.

People are talking about staying in contact, not forgetting each other, and I would very very very much like to say that and to actually do that too. But in reality, how long can this last?

Terence mentioned in his blog before, we are afterall strangers from 2 different parts of the world who got to know each other in a short amount of time, a bond is formed, but time will break this bond eventually. Sooner or later, we would stop chatting on MSN, stop writing to each other...we have to move on eventually....

And in this case, it's even more saddening, cause it's not just a simple get-to-know-each-other in a short period of time, it's living with a person for 2 weeks, and such close bonds are formed.

Yet despite all the promise to keep in touch and so on, you know deep down in your heart that the ending would be the same - it won't last.

This hurts even more than the actual goodbye.

So on that day, I was feeling frustrated too, among all the other emotions I was feeling. A lot of frustration mixed with saddness and a tiny winy bit of relief. I don't know what word to use to describe this feeling, I can just say it's not a good feeling.

I spent my entire Friday sleeping away, partly cause I was really physically tired, but also because I wanna stop thinking about it, cause the more I think about it, the more *wadeva it is* I feel.

Ever since Friday, it was kind of like a withdrawal stage..

Saturday passed with PW meeting...and Sunday passed with a whole day of mugging at Changi Airport...

I was feeling slightly better, then suddenly this song on my playlist started playing...

You can fly so high
Keep your gaze upon the sky
I'll be prayin every step along the way
Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far apart
I love you too much to make you stay
Baby fly away
- Fly Away (Corrinne May)

This was the song that was playing at the hotel during our farewell dinner, before the dinner started, and when it ended as we left the place....

It sort of hit me a little.

I wanted to go the Taiwan so so bad, but chances are we won't be the same 20 people again since we are all attached to different school, and I really don't want to go through this whole farewell thing again...mind at conflict again...

And there's still promos in between, and PW, and god knows what else...

I thought I have sucessfully put this TIP behind me and have moved on, with PW on Sat and mugging on Sun, never was I so productive for a weekend...

I guess I was wrong...I just supress it by keeping myself busy so that I don't think about it...

The song is really bringing me down...yet I'm putting it on repeat...so ironic...I am just the kind that want to listen to sad songs when I'm sad to make myself even sadder...

I had this song in my playlist for a long long time, but it never meant much to me till now...

I really want to blog down what happenend in the past 2 weeks, don't want to forget it...but not today I guess...

.十二月的约定. [hCI]*[06A11] says:
time really flies..the whole thing came n went so quickly

.十二月的约定. [hCI]*[06A11] says:
wat's left is a pile of untouched hmwrk

So true...time just flew away like they did...

Escalator To Heaven

//Escalator To Heaven//



Eating durian at 1.23 am is so sinful.

100th Entry

//100th Entry//

The title says it all.

Initially, I wanted to blog about my long long day on Racial Harmony Day, or the interesting convo I heard on the train today. I also told yc that I will dedicate one entry to Lingky, whom we all miss dearly. (no sacarsm whatsoever)

But I realised it's the 100th entry.

So I decided to make it more special by dedicating it to 3 dear friends of mine.

meng, cheng, terence. (in no order of merit, but I think subconsciously some name just happen to appear at the end...lol)

4 years ago, 4 f us happened to join the same CCA.

Come to think of it, I can't remember how we've gotten to be such good friends, afterall it's been 4+ years.

But I do remember the 4 of us ponning recrea together that day, haha, most of the people go for training, endure the tough training just for the recrea at the end of it. But at that time, 4 of us happened to pon recrea together, cause it's a really hot day, and I guess all of us were really tired after the training, that we rather slack at the side of the basketball court than to play and get more tired.

Seng Choon didn't make it compulsory for us to play, you can't have all 21 of us in the basketball court at the same time anyway, so the 4 of us started to crap with each other.

I still remember Stefanie Sun's "Start" album just came out, and "Gan Lan Shu" was her first single, and the four of us just started singing, and terence began making all the weird weird ugly ugly "dance" movements to fit the song.

And we were crapping, chatting, and Liu Xing Hua Yuan was very popular at that time. And H4 was born.

Later on, we decided that the name is too song and disgusting, so we wanted to change it. Out of the many horrendous names we came up with, "Pi sa Dan Ta" is the only one I can remember for some weird reason.

St John training suddenly became much more bearable after that.

We would spend most of the times before Friday training discussing what would happen today. We would talk about all sorts of stuff.

Then one fine day (it's Saturday), we were having PT, we ran past this red building, SIM. One of the four of us (I think it's cheng), commented that they sell great Peach Tea or juice or something. And being extremely thirsty at that time, we decided to come back after training to try the Peach Tea.

On the way there, we met Seng Choon, who decided to join us for lunch.

That was our first time eating at SIM. And no, they don't sell very nice Peach tea, it's just the normal Peach tea.

Since then, we started to eat together after Saturday training a lot, sometimes with other squadmates too. It's a pity that there are no more Sat trainings cause of the 5 day week.

I can't remember when was the first time we went out together. I think it's a movie, I remember going to the arcade. I think it's after a Sat training. I can't remember.

But one thing I know for sure, I enjoyed it.

I won't go to the extent to say that I'm very anti-social, but the truth is, in my 4 years in Chinese High, they are the first people I went out with together, and subsequently, I only go out with either the 3 of them, or other squadmates.

I also remember the quarrel I had with anyone from school was Cheng. I never really argued with any classmates or schoolmates before in primary school.

We argued over a trivial matter, I think it's about some token being stuck in the machine of the arcade, and cause we shared the token, he wanted to ask the person in charge to help us retrieve it while I don't, so we started arguing.

At that time, I kept a lot of things to myself, I don't talk to others much about how I feel, but with them, I feel very much at ease. I felt comfortable telling them a lot of stuff that I don't tell other people. Those stuff may not be a big deal, but I'm just not comfortable talking about it to other people.

During recess, we would meet at one of our classroom most of the time and hang out together. Most of the time, we don't go down to the canteen, cause of the atrocious queue and the short time we have. We would talk about NCOs, talk about seniors, talk about Lingky, talk about anything.

They basically pulled me through my sec 1 year.

Come sec 2, I was selected to join the comp team as reserve.

I hated it.

I remembered one of the Saturday, I thought there would be comp team training after morning training, so I formulated a "Pon afternoon comp training" plan. During one of the water breaks, I stuffed all my stuff into meng's bag. And I stuffed my empty bag into cheng's bag. Right after dismissal, I would quickly run to the college side toilet and hide. They will then pass me my stuff over there. This is to prevent any NCO from stopping me if they see me carrying a bag going.

Hilarous, just thinking about it makes me laugh at myself.

I hated comp team training so much cause I had so much difficulty keeping up with the sec 3s at that time, and training just ain't the same without them, it is so much more boring, and it got to a point that I decided to just quit.

Ironically, I ended up in comp team in sec 3...but this time round, all 3 of them are in the team too, together with Jeremy. It is just so different as compared to sec 2, mainly because of the company I have during training. They make training tolerable for me I guess.

I can seriously say that I would not have survived 4 years of SJAB if not for the 3 of them and the rest of the squad.

The 3 of them really made my secondary school life so much more memorable.

They influenced me a lot too, as all 3 of them watched Survivor and Amazing Race, I sort of started watching too and got hooked. And Cheng being the reality junkie, watched American Idol at that time too, and not long after he let me listen to some clips, I got hooked onto the show too. And then American Idol doesn't seem to be enough and we started watching Idol shows from other countries.

I refused to call them my best friend. Cause I don't think there's such a thing as "best" friend, it's kind of weird to rank your friends, best friends, good friends, etc, everyone means something to me, and it's very different for everyone.

Hence, I would prefer the term "close friend"

Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend
When people can be so cold
They'll hurt you, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them
Oh, but don't you let them

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend
- Carole King (You've Got A Friend)

*p.s The entry is mushy...the lyrics is really mushy...i'll never write such an entry again I guess...it took me 4 days to write this....cause there's such too much to say...and i don't even know where to start...

Nothing In Particular

//Nothing In Particular//

Don't really feel inspired to blog this few weeks. There are stuff that I want to write about, but the mood is just not there.

Tkd grading, National Comp, Friday night eating at Newton Circle, watching Pirates on Monday night, getting back most of the Block Test papers, the TIP rehearsals and the fact that the day that the Taiwanese are coming is really approaching soon, there are actually stuff going on in my life.

Lots of things other than the usual mundane stuff happening, but nothing really that striking and memorable...I guess this will be few weeks in my life that I will totally forget 10 years down the road....

Tkd grading, nothing interesting, same as last time, except this time round, I did with a whole bunch of really young kids, like 4-6 years old. Cause we do the pattern in groups of 6, and I just so happen to end up in a group of little kids. Unlike last time, I don't think I will fail this time round. No screwups = pass! Double promos...it depends on the judge's mood in my opinion, so I doubt I would get lucky 2 times in a row.

National comp, for me, the competition itself isn't really the highlight of the day. They got 3rd and 7th, not as good as we hoped, but good effort nonetheless. Competitions are like that, you may train very very hard, but if you don't step up on the actual day, it's as good as nothing. Not everyone can do that, that's what seperates the champions from the rest cause I believe everyone trained hard, they step up when they are required too. I guess that's what happen.

The dinner at Macs after the comp is the highlight of the day for me though. To quote xin yi, "squadmates are the best". I don't think I'm the only one feeling this way, and I'm glad for that. A squad of 21...now 20 after Shengjia went Australia, really hoped that we can have some overseas trip or something at the end of this year, even it's just going to someone's house in Malaysia. The mass convo with Shengjia was hilarous, from the convo itself, it seems like he already changed a lot, much to our speculation and expectation..haha...for one, he types in PERFECT ENGLISH now. And I'm freakin' envious of him. He drove in a valley! How cool is that? And he's building his own house....

Moving from squadmates to classmates...went to Newton Circus to eat with mitch, ever and wilson last friday night. We all LOVE FOOD. Quote again..this time from everlyn "i love fridays! i can waste time away without feeling guilty" which is so true. Basically wasted time all the way from 4pm to 8pm waiting for her interact stuff to end. Maybe not really wasted, since I managed to learn how to play "Yu Jian" with one hand on piano...and since I never had any music BG and the only instrument I ever learnt was recorder in primary school, I'm pretty proud with myself...

And went to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" on Monday night. Again, wasted time from 3.30 to 6+ waiting for Yuming and Wilson's Bio Olympia talk to end. Good movie I thought, but didn't really leave a very deep impact on me, it disappeared from my mind about half hour after watching it, unlike "Cars"...movie ended around 11pm, reached home at about 11.45pm...fortunately didn't get bitched by my mum other than a "ming tian bu yong du shu huh? (tomorrow no school huh?)

Now for the not so pleasant stuff...block test results...

Bio - Unknown
Chem - U: 38/100
Maths - U: 39/100
Econs - B: 67/100
GP - B3: 67/100

Econs...16/25 for essay and 22/30 for case study...I heard it's essay 60% and case study 40%, hence 67/100, if it's 50 50, it would be 69/100...close to a "A"...the cloest I will ever get I guess..

GP is another pleasant surprise..33/50 for essay and 34/50 for compre...both are the highest grade I ever got for essay and compre. So so satisfied with my compre...thought the fact that I didn't finish my AQ will cost me lots of marks, and it did, 5/10 for AQ...but the rest...especially symmary pulled the marks up...

Chem and Maths are disappointing, and those are the first 2 content subjects I got to know my marks. Double blow. Never would I imagine my Chem to be worse than my Maths, never. But things happen.

Amount of effort put into studying the subjects is really proportionate to the marks this time round, since Econs is the only subject I fully studied all the chapters, I don't expect my Bio grades to be much better than my Maths and Chem, but I definitely hope it's better, since I did put in that little bit of extra effort.

That taiwan guy I'm hosting is coming really soon, and I can feel the excitement already. Seriously, this is the only thing that I'm really looking forward to this term. And the indian dance practice ain't that bad too, it's actually quite fun. Haha.

10 more days.

Funny how I titled this entry "Nothing in particular" and ended up blogging about a lot of stuff. I hate to just recount the events, cause it's boring to write...but I just did, oh well...

I have been thinking about it, I think I should revert back to my stone-like personality...

10 Ways To Improve The School Canteen

//10 Ways To Improve The School Canteen//

I ponned the second half of entrepreneurship day. Expected CS. But nope, Mr Pang decided to get creative this time. The punishment is to write a 500 word essay, and the title is "10 ways to improve the school canteen". Since I wrote it, I might as well post it here:

I used to love to come to the college side canteen to eat when I was studying in Chinese High because the variety of food offered by the college canteen is so much more diverse than that of the high school canteen. However, with the closure of a lot of stalls and the addition of a lot of new stalls recently, the standard of the canteen dropped significantly. Because of that, a lot of students decided to seek alternatives for the below average food in College canteen (such as High School canteen, café at SIM, Coronation, etc) Hence, I proposed these 10 ways to improve the school canteen.

#1: Decrease the rent for stall holders
One of the many reasons why students do not like to eat in the College canteen is the high price. Yes, compared to foodcourt food, it is definitely much cheaper, but compared to a lot of other schools, or even the high school canteen, it is considered quite expensive. Take “Asian Delight” for example, the price is pretty unreasonable for the shockingly small portions. The “Cai Fan” stall also charges the students higher than the high school canteen “Cai Fan” stalls do.

Hence in view of this, I strongly believe that the stalls should lower prices. It would be a win-win situation for both the students and for the stall vendors. Students can enjoy the food at a lower price, and the stall vendors can enjoy better business.

To achieve that, the school will have to lower the rent. By lowering rent, the cost of production would decrease, and this decrease in cost of production would cause the supply to increase (supply curve shifts right). Increase in supply will cause the market price to drop, and at the same time causes the quantity demanded to increase. As canteen food are very price elastic (due to the large number of substitutes), the quantity demanded will increase more than proportionately than the decrease in price, hence total revenue would increase for the stall vendors.

#2: Bring back the favourites
As I mentioned, the college canteen used to be so much of a higher standard. Hence, to improve the canteen, the easiest way would be to bring back the favourite stalls of many students and staff. The orange plate stall that sells fried carrot cake (now the Japanese Food stall) comes to mind immediately. It serves delicious yet cheap food ($1.20 per plate if my memory does not fail me). The noodle stall that sold fantastic laksa ought to be brought back too. Even the Muslim stall is better than a lot of new stalls now. The Ramily burger was one of the best finger food sold in the Hwa Chong canteen.

#3: Increase variety
If the plan to bring back previous stalls fails, then it is about time to ask the current stalls to improve. Take the Japanese food stalls for example, they only sell a few types of Japanese food, compared to RJC Japanese food stall that sells at least twice as much type of Japanese food. Hence, they should try to increase the variety of food they sell.

#4: Sell what you say you would
I also strongly believe that they should sell what they state they would. Look at the “Asian Delight” stall, exactly what “Asian” delights are they selling? Instead, what I see is western food. Look at the Western food stall now, yes they do sell Western food, but why are they selling Nasi Lemak too? Yes, I did mention that they should increase the variety of food, but when I said that I meant to increase the variety of food within the limit of what you are selling (like Jap food, western food, etc).

#5: Presentation is important
Sometimes, it is not just about the food, it is also about how you present your food. Styrofoam bowls and plates hardly do any favours to make your food more desirable. I would really appreciate it if we were served with proper plates and bowls, etc.

#6: Eliminate stalls that really cannot make it
R&B Food Hut – you do not call a bowl of noodle soup with chilli oil laksa. I wonder how this stall got the permit to sell in the canteen in the first place. I suggest that more stringent selection to take place so that such unfortunate incidents like R&B Food Hut somehow getting the permit to sell in the canteen to happen again.

#7: Improve the canteen atmosphere
Like I mentioned, it is not always about the food. The dining environment is very important too. How are we supposed to enjoy our meals when it is always so warm, there are always birds flying around, and you always can’t find a place to sit during peak hours? Hence, I propose that more fans to be installed in the canteen. Air conditioning would be better, however I understand that it would increase the overall costs, which would in turn transferred to the stall vendor through higher rent, and to us through higher price, hence more fans will do. It would be very advisable to increase the size of the canteen. The school population is increasing, and I can see this trend to continue for the next few years, hence a bigger canteen is definitely necessary.

#8: Shame the worst stalls
A vote should be carried out monthly via EMB (or any other means) to determine the worst stall of the month. If Stall A is the worst stall for January, it will NOT be eligible for the votes in February. The worst stall of the month will be labeled. This can prevent unsuspecting victims from buying from that stall (I feel so bad for the high school boys who bought from the R&B Food Hut the other day). It can also prevent patrons of that stall to buy from it. Hence, with so few costumers for that month, the stall will be spurred to increase the quality of the food and service. They may think of promotions to attract costumers too.

#9: Increase the efficiency
One of the problems of the current canteen is the lack of efficiency in many stalls. They are quite slow in serving the food and so on, and this causes long queues to occur, causing the already small canteen to be even more crowded. Hence, a time limit should be imposed to each stalls for serving the food, if they exceed the time limit, a 50% discount would have to be given.

#10: Transfer of resource
If all else fails, I highly recommend the school to shut down the canteen and use the maintenance fee of the canteen to charter buses for free to various eating places around the school, like the High School Canteen, SIM, Beauty World, Bukit Timah Plaza, Bukit Timah food centre, Adam Road food centre, etc.