Reminiscence

//Reminiscence//

For some unknown reason, I decided to look through my Taiwan immersion photos again...and it brought back so much memories...

I think it's the whole prelim thing...that made me kind of nutty nowadays...random thoughts keep popping into my head, which is very very irritating especially when I try to mug...it's like my brain have this "immune" system against mugging, everytime I try to mug, my brain will trigger off this mechanism and all the random things will start popping out to distract me to prevent me from mugging...

Even what I just typed was random...but back to the topic...I realised I never really posted about what happened during the trip...so I finally decided to post some interesting photos...they are in chronological order by the way...I guess this photo entry made up for it...at least when I look back at my archives in the future...I will be thoroughly reminded of TIP 2006.

And please scroll down to read the entry before this...about the songwriting competition and vote if you haven't! Thanks!


It was their election at that when we went...look at all the flags...


007!


The st john in me couldn't resist taking this photo


Fabulous barbequed mushroom!


Ice-cream + peanut


小笼包 + 锅贴 from one of the 便利商店, can't remember which one.


It's during times of mugging like now that I really really miss those times in Taiwan. That's us eating outside the 便利商店 at 2 a.m in the morning, after we kena ostracised by the person inside...haha


I love 背影 photos...


Interesting stone found by Koonyu at 七星潭


Hilarous translation...


Isn't this so cute??!!


The bus services there are very messy...from colours to numbers...I even took a bus called 小S before...


成品书店！张惠妹 shoot part of her "我要快乐" MV in front of this building.


Funny quote I saw in one of the cuibicles in the toilet of the bookshop.


And this is written by ME! Though it's not like super nice, it's still quite unbelievable given it's me...


And of course, how can you not eat 臭豆腐 when you are in Taiwan?


Another MV was shot here, 孙燕姿's "我要的幸福". (This is 莺歌by the way)


Interesting concept isn't it, I still have the cup with me.


Everywhere you go, you see students! They are either loitering around after school (which ends at 5pm), or they are rushing home after tuition at 10pm.


The recording of 我猜我猜我猜猜猜


Snorlex! Reminds me of mitchell...



多喝水！


六福村！


Another funny translation...


This also needs parking?


Long John Silver!


Singapore Food! Which of course I didn't eat.


English lessons.


One of their two 福利社，something like our welfare room I guess.


And they sell all sorts of 奶茶！


Someone came up with this crazy theory that as long as we imagine we are holding on to a pole, we would not fall, and we tested it out in a crowded train...ji malu...


The lengendary 士林夜市！


The REAL 大鸡排！


FRIED Ice cream...


BIG BIG sausages...


棺材板！Which is super nice...


Crispy on the outside and creamy inside...


A sausage inside a sausage? Actually not, it's actually sausage wrapped in glutinous rice.


This is for you 大炳哥！


Ice cream again...


Sleeping during lessons...


And this is called sleeping right under the teacher's nose.


A water cooler in every class....


Sleeping during PE lesson...


And sleep again during Maths...and OMG...I am so tramautised by maths...


Cooking lessons!


Fried 汤圆! It looks ugly, but it actually taste quite nice...

The process of frying...

Organic Chemistry lesson...IN CHINESE!

Mister Donut!

With such a wide variety of donuts...there are actually much more..that my cam didn't manage to capture...

Home sweet home!

The living room...

The stairs leading upstairs, and down to the basement...

The guest room...which is for me...

Ooh...and it was 马英九's last day as 台北市长...

满载而归！I went with 2 bags (1 luggage and 1 handcarry) and came back with 6!

Song Writing

//Song Writing//

This is an advert for my sis.

Apparently she participated in this song writing competition recently...which requires voting. Or rather, there's this award for the most popular/best rated song, apart from all the professionally judged awards.

Her song title is: 幸福是

You have to log in to vote though. For more information, click here. Just a note, the recording of the song is quite noob, so just get over that part and try to listen to the song itself and lyrics, + you are not judging her singing too.

Even if you don't want to vote, or don't feel like listening to her song, you can still visit the site, and maybe submit some lyrics (and wait for others to compose the melody for you) or even a song if you want, the procedure seems quite simple.

Customer Service

//Customer Service//

I know it's partially my fault too, but this does not take away my right to be pissed.

I'm appalled by the attitude of that salesperson.

But I'm even more disgusted by her lack of integrity.

I shall try to control my anger, and not let it spill all over this entry. Here are some tips for people who want to go exchange defective goods from a shop:

1) Forget the fact that it's partially your fault for not checking well enough before buying. Keep telling yourself "It's their fault. It's not my fault." Because if you go in feeling like it's partially your fault, chances are you will give up the moment they say no.

2) Be firm and polite. You are not there to pick a fight, nor are you there to beg them to change it for you. Settle it as peacefully as possible.

3) Do not get defensive. Remember it is not your fault, you do not need to defend yourself.

4) Go in at a time where they are a lot of customers, so as to add on to their pressure.

5) If they tried to get defensive and get loud, be louder than them. Here is the perfect opportunity for you to gain the upper hand. You have nothing to lose, they have everything to lose, they will not risk quarelling with you in the public. So the louder you are, the more pressurised it will be for them, espeically when there are a lot of customers. (note: remember do not get loud unless they started it)

6) If they insist on not changing for you, INSIST that they change for you, the longer you drag it, the higher the possibility that they will do something about it.

7) Strength in numbers. Go with as many people as possible. The sheer number of people will be enough of a pressure.

8) If the manager/staff don't speak English very well, use cheem language to confuse them.

9) If it still don't work, act very pissed. Question the integrity of the staff. Question the quality of the products. Question the quality of their service.

10) If all else fails, thank them politely, and before leaving, say something like "Thanks for your superb service and your wonderful product, I'm sure the company will prosper with quality staff like you. You've been VERY GREATLY helpful." or you can say something like "Can I know your name please, I just want to send a letter of commendation to your boss for being so helpful and to comment on the superb products of your company."

Childhood Memories

//Childhood Memories//

There's kind of a "autograph-book" thing going on in the class right now...with like a few more months with each other...

And while writing everlyn's autograph book...I was suddenly remembered that I kept one myself in primary school too! So I went to dig for it...and I got more than I asked for.

I found the autograph book I kept in P6, the one I kept in P3, and a personal diary I kept in 1998 (primary 3).

It's like taking a trip down memory lane reading all these TOTALLY. I mean some of these are written almost 10 years ago. It's surreal.

So I started with the P3 one, I look at all the entries, and I cannot remember almost all of them. All the names look so foreign and I even feel weird pronouncing them. That was my life almost 10 years ago, and I couldn't remember most of the people in my life at that time already.

Atrocious handwriting aside, there's all these atrocious poems inside! Eg:

Girls are rotten
Made of cotton
Taste like mutton
Act like chicken

Birds fly high, hard to catch.
Don't be stupid use a net.

笑口常开，笑死活该。

These aside, it's interesting to see how almost everyone will have a friendship corner, ranking or grouping all their friends into "Best friends", "Good friends" and so on...and the most important thing is most people actually have a enemy list too. I guess being kids, we couldn't care less that the people we hated knew we hated them...it's just written there for all to see.

Then I moved on to the P6 one, fortunately this time round I still remember everyone that wrote inside.

No more corny poems, but the friendship corner stays. No more enemy list though. It's kind of telling isn't it, as we move on and mature from 9 years old to 12 years old, we are no longer comfortable with laying it all out for all to see: "These are the people I hate". We start to get more...diplomatic to put it in a nice way. More guarded with our feelings. Part and parcel of growing up I guess.

Another thing that really caught my attention is how almost everyone ended with "Let's keep in contact!" kind of statements. Obviously we can all see how things turned out. No one's fault that we didn't keep in contact. It just made me very particular and careful about using those words. I didn't be one of the many that write that but don't even make an effort to do it. Which is why I think I've been rather honest and open with my thoughts in writing the auto graph books now. No more "let's keep in touch!" or "let's hope we remember each other after 10 years" crap, unless I really feel like I want to do it.

Then I went to look at my diary, which I kept in 1998 when I was primary 3. If I'm not wrong, that little book was a gift from a teacher or something, and I didn't know what to do with it, so I decided to use it as a diary, and I did write in it every single day from 26th May 1998 to 18th September 1998.

I couldn't stop laughing reading it.

Apparently, halfway through, I grew tired of writing diaries, and regretted starting it in the first place, but me being me, didn't want to 半途而废, so I continued, reluctantly. I had that much determination then. I'm impressed with myself.

And what really kept me laughing is my level of "maturity" then, and more importantly, my "profiency" in both languages, that apparently I'm still damn zai in now. Example:

"Today, I had go to received my report book. I felt very happy when I saw that my total marks was 285. I also got first in class. I will work harder so that I can get a higher total marks next year."

"今天，我有一个好消息。我最喜欢的老师Miss Kong绝定留下来了。"

It's just hilarous. Period.

Looking at the writing, it's like a totally different person lived that life 10 years ago. I actually feel old. It made me wonder how did the process of growing up change me and shape me into who I am now.

For the better or for the worse? I don't know.

That's just growing up.

10 years later I will look back at this entry, and wonder the same thing too I guess.

The only constant is change. How true. (oh, and my "powerful" language skills never change too)

Nothing

//Nothing//

Nothing unsual
Nothing strange
Close to nothing at all
-Damien Rice (Amie)

Did I use that title before? I think I did.

It's 8.24 am now. And no, I did not pon shcool. I'm writing this in the Bio lab, while with the word "recombinant DNA technology" constantly being mentioned in the background. I am just not in a Bio mood now, and I actually have one of those rare impulses to pen down my thoughts, so I better grab it before I lose it, so here I am, writing on a piece of foolscape.

You know after a year or so of blogging, I came to realise that I really do enjoy writing a lot, not in a literature short story kind of way though. There are always lots of random thoughts running through my mind, the only problem is, I just don't write very well at all. It always gets very frustrating when I'm blogging, because more often than not, I find myself sitting in front of the computer staring at the screen, stucked, not knowing how to continue from what I started. I just can't put my thoughts down in words properly. Lack of talent in writing I guess, just like my lack of talen t in a lot of areas, like jumping for instance.

Speaking of which, I am extremely frustrated. And yes, I am very much affected and bothered by it. It's always somewhere lurking at the back of my mind, and to be honest, I actually wished it's over already. No more second, third chances, I am perfectly fine to take it as it is. Not that I'm happy or satisfied with it, I'm just at this stage where I'm tired of being constantly reminded of it and bugged by the very thought of it, so much so that I'm willing to accept the fact that I just can't do it.

Mentally, I have already given up to a certain extent, and it makes me feel happier actually. It's like you would feel much happier if you walk into a test, fully expected and prepared to fail and to face the subsequent consquences. Afterall, it's just 4 more weeks, I will just complain about it when the times comes. Yea, that's so typical of me. But regardless of how I feel, I don't really have a choice, and I will have to give it a try again in 2 weeks time. So...oh well.

Lately, I have been feeling like a zombie in school, today in particular. A total lack of any sleep is not really helping either. I feel like a bunch of nothingness floating around sometimes, and I'm pretty sure it's not from the stress of the impending doom a.k.a prelims or any like that.

It's just the daily mundane routine of everyday life that is eating away at me. I can't stand the fact that I'm going home everyday at 1+ or 2+, yet I don't feel like there's anything keeping me in school either.

For some reason, and maybe lots of different factors, I feel kind of distant from most people in the class, and I just feel like isolating myself more, like I close my heart or something (hmm..I think that sounds too melodramatic..) Yet at the same time, I crave for solitude even more than I do usually. It's almost like I am getting used to the feeling of being alone that I'm starting to enjoy it. Oh well, it's just one of those feelings that I just can't put down in words though I wished I could.

The same old scenario
The same old rain
And there's no explosion here

- Damien Rice (Amie)

What I can say though, is I'm not depressed, I'm not upset, I'm not pissed, it's just nothing. Like really nothing. Nothing major happened, no strong emotions, indifferent to things happening around me, and it's actually quite scary. Can you imagine like there's a void in your mind, or your soul, like you are there, but not there?

Maybe that's why I had a "Brothers & Sisters" marathon last night. 9 episodes in a row, resulting in no sleep at all, and a really crappy day in school. But watching shows like this that is so full of emotion, sort of fills the gap in me. I feel happy when they are happy, and really agitated when they argue, they take me on this emotional roller coaster ride with them. It's a great feeling actually, to be able to feel.

It became like an addiction for me this past week, watching a couple of episodes every night, and 9 in a row last night, because for that 40 minutes or so for each episode, I don't need to think at all, I just sit there and feel. No wonder they say media serves as an outlet of escapism. It's a damn good one.

That's why after the 6+ hour marathon, it's hard to withdraw from it, cause I'm so drawn in. I find myself thinking about it even now, even though it's DNA DNA now at the moment.

I wonder how I'm going to live without it tonight.

I wanna get away from here. To some far far nice nice place.

Who wouldn't?

Anniversary

//Anniversary//

1 year ago on this day, we first met our buddies at RELC for Taiwan Immersion Programme. I remember the anticipation, the excitement and of course I remember I was late for the event (as usual).


This is the only photo I can find with both me and my buddy on this very day 1 year ago. That was when we went Lau Pa Sat after the xiang jian huan.

2 years ago, also on this day, we passed on the duties of a NCO to our juniors in St John. I remember I felt relief and sad at the same time, and I also remember the first stayover we had at jiexun's house, which I fell asleep at 10pm watching the movie minghao brought.


I think this is the exco. Hmm..notice who is standing in the middle.


Mingwei is flying.


And so am I. Haha.

Happy 1 year and 2 year anniversary people.

Brothers & Sisters

//Brothers & Sisters//

Been watching this show "Brothers & Sisters" recently...4 episodes only actually...

It's actually kind of entertaining, and quite different from the shows I usually watch...

I was looking at the list of shows I watch...I enjoyed watching "Charmed" because of all the magic elements in it and "Heroes" because of all the superhero powers and stuff. "Stargate Atlantis" got this cool science fic vibe to it, which I really enjoyed thought the storyline itself gets pretty weak sometimes.

I was absolutely hooked to "Lost" because of the overlying mystery that the writers laid out since season 1...and it's just intriguing to watch, with all the character connections and stuff, it's really a well-thought out show, and it's always exciting to see the mystery unfolds slowly.

"Ugly Betty" and "Desperate Housewives" are kind of there to balance out the rest of the show, cause of the humour, and "Desperate Housewives" actually had a cool overarching mystery throughout season 1, which unfortunately failed to carry over to the subsequent seasons.

Granted most of these shows have amazing character development for the cast (Lost in particular)...the thing that gets me really hooked to the shows isn't the storylines that revolve around the character, it's always something else, like the mystery and so on...

But "Brothers & Sisters" is different I realised. For me, it's truly a series about the characters. The characters are really 3 dimensional, and definitely more real than most of the characters in other shows.

What's cool is I actually find the characters irritating and unbearable at some point or another. I guess that's what makes them real. And it's funny watching the siblings fighting with each other, cause it kind of reminds me of my relationship with my bro and sis. Kind of a love-hate relationship.

They may be literally at each other's necks at one point in the episode, but when something happens later on, they will be there for each other. The tension from the fight and so on are still there, but it transceds that.

It's like I can be waging war with my brother over cabinet spaces, but it doesn't mean I am overjoyed by his crap results or that I would wish that the comp that he organised would fail...actually my relationship with my brother is very much like Tommy and Justin's relationship in the show, and my relationship with my sis is like Kevin and Sarah's.

Haha, shan't elaborate too much, I know they are reading.

Ridiculous

//Ridiculous//

Sometimes some things can get so ridiculous that I wonder if I should feel pissed or if I should just laugh at it.

From rat to mario to holy, things can be that ridiculous.

World class instituition?

World class joke maybe.

我期待

//我期待//

Barium carbonate was in the test tube.

The test tube was being heated by the bunsen burner.
I was talking.

I felt like tears were welling up in my eyes. Was it the heat from the bunsen flame?

The test tube was still being heated by the bunsen burner.

I continued talking.

And the test tube cracked.

"My squad really deserves the BEST squad of the century award! Bonded as we are, somehow after these 2 years we haven't really passed out as sjab officers. Jeremy & Wenxuan are still the dedicated trainers in SJAB, & really can see the effort put into grooming the jnrs, esp jeremy! Really love the times our squad could sit and talk abt anything under the sun. Every SJAB camp was a gathering time for us, & the memories just kinda return back whenever I visit the juniors along with my squadmates. Maybe we've outlived our stay, as all the juniors in our NCO days gradually pass out from SJAB... but we'd forever the the one & only 2005 batch of ZAI NCOS!!!" - aaron chua

Put the test tube in the fire for too long and this is what happened. I shall not become the test tube. After what happened during the june hols...I realised it's really time to move on...

"People in the corps come and leave, it keeps changing, but your squadmates never change, they are always there for you." - pauline a.k.a my sai gung chem lab partner

thanks for doing almost everything today in the chem lab while i emo...haha...i shld feel depressed more...then don't need do prac liaoz...

Say goodbye
Say goodbye
昂首阔步
不留一丝遗憾
- 张雨生 (我期待)

Best CPR

//Best CPR//

I remember 3 years ago, after nat comp, jeremy was complaining to me that he missed the best leader by 2 marks. The best leader (from zone 8) got 31 marks, and he got 29. Just as a number 1 would look at his leader score, I would naturally look at the CPR score, since number 3 is usually in charge of CPR.

The person with best CPR (from zone 8 too) got 44. 2 person tied for second place with a score of 40. I got 39.5, coming in third (or fourth, depending on how you look at it).

Even though my score wasn't really fantastic, I was actually quite proud of it at that time, cause I never really think I am good in CPR at all...it was just something I had to do since I was the number 3, so being 0.5 marks away from being 2nd was a great deal for me.

Best CPR wasn't something I was actively trying to get when preparing for competition, I was more concerned with overall performance, trying to get at least a top 3 position and best footdrill, which was a huge thing for us at that time, considering we haven't done well in Nat comp at all since I joined st john in sec 1.

But after looking at the scores of the CPR and I remember looking at the trophies in St John room and I saw this Best CPR trophy, I was determined to make sure that we will win that best CPR the following year, just like how jeremy really wanted the next batch to win the best leader.

To a very large extent, I wanted to help the juniors win something that I couldn't win it myself. It's kind of a mentality that even though I am not good enough to win it, at least I trained someone good enough to win it.

Unfortunately it didn't happen.

They made up for it by winning lots of other stuff though.

The batch after that (last year), which wasn't trained by me didn't manage to get the best CPR too.

Come this year, I wasn't really expecting much anymore, afterall, it's like a long lost dream for me..haha. But still, when they are announcing the results for CPR, I am still very much hoping for the emcee to announce "Zone 7".

Thank you yufan and whoever it is that trained the teams CPR, for finally making this a dream a reality.

Just heard that Wei Sheng did really well for CPR too! He got third! :) And he wasn't even the one supposed to do CPR...really proud of him.

Even though I didn't train the teams for CPR, it still ROCKS to see that Hwachong finally won that best CPR. Its marks probably didn't have a very very big impact on the overall results, but it's kind of a pride thing for me.

Being the person to do CPR for my team, and being forced by jer to judge CPR for all mock comps, I kind of grew to like it I guess. I still suck at CPR, I probably can't give a very positive demo of a good CPR, but I am still very critical of people doing CPR, I still want my juniors to do well in CPR.

I am just so glad that I get to see this trophy before I graduated from Hwa Chong.

I am not taking anything away from any other stuff that they won, cause it's equally hard too, but it's just this shuang dao lan feeling...woots!

Anyway...congrats to AC and AA! The trainers did a fantastic job too...

AC:
2nd in Footdrill
2nd in Long Case
2nd in Short Case
Overall 2nd!

AA:
Best Leader
Best Long Case
Best CPR
2nd in TOC
Overall CHAMPION!

to jeremy: you can finally sleep without having nightmares about nat comp anymore...haha..

End

//End//

This Sunday shall be the last time.

Last time I ever go for a tkd grading...unless I ever find the motivation in me to pick it up in the future...though I doubt so. Kind of relieved that it's the last grading for me actually, kind of regretted going for this grading in the first place, but I guess it's a bit too late to regret now, shall do my best on Sun anyway...probably to compensate for my performance during comp...

Last time I ever go down to support National Comp...I think it's about time I move on...st john gave me lots and lots of fond memories...but I can't keep clinging on the the past..clinging on the things like comp team trainings and stuff...MOVE ON!

I probably wouldn't get the chance to go next year to support anyway cause of NS...and a few years down the road...I guess I wouldn't even be able to recognise the juniors...

i would cling on tight to my squadmates tho. haha. esp yc...for the sake of durians. haha.

平淡

//平淡//

BT 完了。

Literally and figuratively.

这三个星期来，我的生活只可以用平淡来形容。

但其实平淡也没什么不好啦。平淡中的精彩反而更精彩。

Watched a movie called "Zodiac" during the holidays. Although I wasn't exactly thrilled or super excited about it, I wasn't hating it like my friends were. In fact, I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by it.

It's based on a true story, about a series of murders conducted by a guy who called himself "Zodiac" in US in the 1960s and 70s.

Reading the synopsis, I was expecting a thriller, with a clever plot that is full of twists and turns (like The Prestige). And it turned out quite the oppsite.

The narration was quite "one note", or like what our Chinese teacher used to say, 流水帐. There wasn't much twists and turns to the story like I thought there would be. And most importantly, there was no resolution in the end. The murderer was not found.

And usually I would feel very let down by a movie like that, but surprisely, I didn't felt that way. I actually felt that the simple narration, and lack of contrived twists and turns helped to make the story much more believable and real. Instead of feeling like I'm watching a movie, I actually felt like I was a bystander, witnessing the whole event unfold in front of me.

The narration may not be very exciting, but I think the story itself, for me, is intriguing enough. He allowed the story to be told in the most direct and honest manner, and I appreciate that because it prevented the movie from becoming one of the many Hollywood thrillers.

I may not be kept at the edge of my seat throughout the movie, but like I mentioned, I actually felt like I was living in that time, watching this drama unfold (that spanned over 4 decades) in just 2+ hours, and the movie showed a lot of real aspects of real life investigaton, like how inefficient the US police can be, especially since this case span over a few states.

The lack of a definite resolution in the end was kind of disappointing at first, but since the fact is the real murderer was never really truly found, I can understand why the director end the movie on that note. However, watching the process of how the police and that cartoonist try to crack the case is interesting enough for me already, as cheesy and cliche as it sounds, it's not always the end that counts, it's the process.

So the movie is just like what I said, 平淡也可以很精彩。

最近迷上了陈绮贞和Jack Johnson 的歌。

他们的歌曲都有一个共同点，就是都很简单，很舒服。

特别喜欢陈绮贞声音。虽然她没有很华丽的外表或是很绚丽的歌声，但她就是简单，很诚恳地把每一首歌唱好，听起来有一种 "我只唱给你听" 的感觉，就是会让人感动。她也不用复杂的编曲，不卖弄技巧，就是一把吉他，一份诚恳，让我们陶醉在她的歌曲中。

这里的景色像你变幻莫测
这样的午后我坐在九份的马路边
这里的空气很新鲜
这里的感觉很特别
- 陈绮贞 (九份的咖啡店）

其中，我对这首“九份的咖啡店”特别有感觉，可能是它让我想起去年去台湾的点点滴滴吧，特别是让我回味起在九份那短短的半天。

望着朦胧的海岸线
是否还能回到从前
- 陈绮贞 (九份的咖啡店）



It's kind of sad listening to those 2 lines, and looking at this picture at the same time, it's taken in 九份 by the way.

我的心是一杯调和过的咖啡
怀念着往日淡薄的青草味
- 陈绮贞 (九份的咖啡店）

最喜欢歌曲里这两句歌词，也没什么特别的原因，可能就让我感同身受吧，用两句简单的歌词，就能把我心中的感受很直接易懂地表达出来。

Jack Jackson is similar in the sense that his lyrics are simple, yet it's so true, and sometimes it really reflects what I feel perfectly...it's not really fanciful, and it may even appear blatently obvious and retarded to some...but its simpleness just hits me...

And there has always been laughing, crying, birth, and dying
Boys and girls with hearts that take and give and break
And heal and grow and recreate and raise and nurture
But then hurt from time to time like these
And times like those
And what will be will be
And so it goes
And it always goes on and on...
On and on it goes
- Jack Johnson (Times Like These)

What will be will be, and so it goes...my facourite lines...I know it sounds a bit like fatalism that we studied last time, fate decides our life, etc...but you know there are always moments and times in life that we would feel like everything is beyond our control...what will be will just be...

I think that's largely how I see life in general...not that I feel like I have no control over my life or whatsoever, but just that I just like to take it easy...I don't like to live in the present frantically trying to plan for my future...like what I wanna be in the future...I know it's bad but that's just me...when the time comes...i will just deal with it...

And there's a part of me that really craves this certain "平淡"ness in my life...i don't need like exciting stuff to happen, just a good book or a good movie, or even chatting with friends, having a good lunch will make my day, just find me something simple to pass time, and I'll be happy...

Like today...spent an hour plus at this CD shop at Taka B2...listening to lots of different songs...I really love that feeling..putting on those headphones, and immersing myself in the music, it's almost like I don't really notice what's going on around me anymore....

A good lucnch with classmates followed by spending some time at Kino looking at random books, was a nice feeling too...it's like we don't need to always go out to watch movie and stuff...I enjoy this kind of moments as much as anything else too...

Milkrun...well..it's just running...but still I enjoyed it...these times spent with classmates...especially when I know there's not much time left for us as a class...

Ok...离题了...I think this entry is rather fragmented...and incoherent...but oh well..that's me...full of incoherent and random thoughts in my mind...shall end here...

I hope this old train breaks down
Then I could take a walk around
And, see what there is to see
And time is just a melody
-Jack Johnson (Breakdown)

The Effects Of Block Test

//The Effects Of Block Test//



If this is what block test can do, imagine what my high score will be during A lvl period.

Maths

//Maths//

I need help!

Ken had $20 more than Mingli at first. After Ken had given 1/5 of his money to Mingli, Mingli had $64. How much did Mingli have at first?

Three girls shared a sum of money. Cathy received $180 more than Betty. The total amount Betty and Cathy received was 3 times the amount Alice received. The amount Alice and Cathy received was 5 times the amount Betty received. What was the sum of money shared by the 3 girls?

Someone help me! I am able to solve both questions, but in both, I used simultaneous equation! Anyone who knows how to solve these 2 questions in such a way that a P5 students can understand, tell me!

十八岁的第二天

//十八岁的第二天//

Remember I mentioned that my buddy said that he will be sending a gift over from Taiwan?? He even mentioned in the message on the jigsaw puzzle that "我要送给你你最爱的生日礼物"...and I received it yesterday!


My brother got the package while I was bathing...look at the stamps!


Filled with anticipation...I brought the package to my room, it's not very heavy by the way...0.9kg....


And I ripped open the packaging and saw this box!! I ripped the box open too... and when I open the box...I saw....

MY FAVOURITE TIDBITS FROM TAIWAN!

I took out those first 2 packets and saw 2 other types...

And I saw 3 more packets!!! Haha...I was so so so so excited! Cause I actually bought 1 packet from Taiwan myself when I went in Dec last year, but I still haven't eaten it yet cause I can't bear to open it...now I got like 5 packets!

So I lined them up with my bear (which is still yet to be named! BB? Last time my blue BB is baby bear..maybe this BB is BIG bear! ahahha) and took a photograph! The bear looks so 幸福 right??

Another birthday gift that I got...from mann ying...

AND THIS! I can't believe terence, meng and cheng (well, technically meng and terence chose it) bought me this! UNBELIEVABLE! And it doesn't even have a compactment for me to put coins!

What were they thinking! I can't say I love it...but I shall use it since it's from them...fortunately..they bought me a shirt too...haha..may be to offset my disappointment???

Not a very productive week for me in terms of mugging...too lazy and unmotivated...Shall TRY to work harder!

十八岁的第一天

//十八岁的第一天//

I was just thinking about what the title of this entry should be when my sister said this.

First day of being 18. Actually it feels the same.

17. 18. 17 sounds young, 18 sounds old. Therein lies the difference I guess. I wonder how ancient I will feel by the time I hit 20 or 21.

I am legally 18, legally able to do a lot more things, but at the same time, I feel like being 18 means that I am no longer entitled to a lot of things to some extent.

It's a weird feeling, to know that I not realy a teenager anymore, not a kid, yet I'm not really adult too. Haha, I feel like this entry is going no where.

It's been a really really nice birthday this year. Not as in just today itself, but over the last couple of days as well.

It's really a nice feeling when people just do something out of a sudden, something that you weren't expecting at all, something really sweet and nice, or to sum it up, a pleasant surprise.

I got a pleasant surprise when I went out with TIP-pers on Monday when they suddenly sang me a birthday song, or rather they dian-ed this ultra long birthday song in KBox. Haha, it really made my day, cause I was totally not expecting it. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside..haha..I guess it's simple yet sweet gestures like this that really made me feel blessed.

Got another pleasant surprise that night when jer wished me happy birthday in advance. Maybe cause I wasn't really expecting birthday greetings this early. It really put a smile on my face, espeically at that time when I'm having a really bad night trying to do Series and Sequence.

Got yet another surprise on Tue when I received the jigsaw puzzle from my buddy from Taiwan. He bought this small jigsaw puzzle thing which he wrote on, and sent it all the way from Taiwan to me, and I have to fix the jigsaw puzzle to write his birthday greeting, and supposedly he will be sending a gift over soon...haha. It's really sweeeeet...

Got the big big teddy bear (yet to be named) from the class and a small little bear hp holder from mann ying on Wed. It's kind of funny to be receiving the first teddy bear of my life for my 18th birthday when I am supposed to grow out of the "cuddle-teddy-bear" phase of my life. It looks really very cuddly though...oooh..and I got this ultra lame CD..haha..I shan't mention much about it here..haha...but it's really funny...really sweet...thanks to all those who "participated" in the production of this CD, especially the act cute "te bie lai bin" and everlyn who compiled it...

It was H4 outing today, nice company for a day like this...watched Zodiac (which I am so going to write a review for)...it's just a simple nice happy day for me...

When I got home, the first thing I checked was the fridge, and lo and behold, the cake was there! Haha...every year I would tell my mum to stop buying cake for next year but every year she will still go ahead and buy it...but it's much better this year, at least no more birthday songs or birthday wishes...but still I really appreciate it, like I mentioned the umpteen times, it's really sweet...

Thanks to everyone who sent me greetings, be it on msn, through sms, friendster or in person.

And just as I post this, my birthday is over.

it's a sweet sweet birthday, happy and contented i am.