Tolerance is a virtue

Am I too fair?

2011-10-18T00:03:00.002+08:00

Is my skin tone really *that* much fairer than most others?

Cos I'm getting it a lot these few days. Hmm..

The other day in my General Surgery posting, my tutor was saying that I looked pretty nerdy cos of my hairstyle and (you guessed it), my skin tone, which he attributed -- rather sweepingly -- to a lack of sun-exposure on my part, which then indicated a sedentary lifestyle spent merely on books alone. That's not true.. I jog.. sometimes. At night.

Today, my new tutor (Orthopedics at KTPH) mentioned that I look pretty jiak-kantang. Reason? Skin colour!! I swear, the adage of not judging a book by it's cover is wasted on these people.

Anyway, I had a random encounter at the MRT station on the way back home today. I was just walking to the bus interchange peacefully, when all of a sudden:

Singtel Salesgirl (SS): Hey, let me guess, you use Singtel, don't you?

Me: HELL NO, StarHub rules. /walks off/

Well, I wished I did that, but no. Y'see, the mind thinks of many a good comeback for these kinds of conversations that practically deserve sarcasm only AFTER the encounter has past. Can you imagine if the world paused for a few seconds while you came up with a decent comeback? Sigh.. But anyway, the girl had a really strange approach didn't she? You don't normally start one of those promotion thingys by demanding if the stranger you have before you already uses your services, do you?

In any case, here's what really happened:

SS: Hey, let me guess, you use Singtel, don't you?

Me: Yeah (Okay I admit I lied -- wanted her off my back fast)

SS: Oh, okay. How old are you?

Me: (Is this really necessary?) 21.

SS: Oh, I see.. Anyway, you're really white you know.

See what just happened there? Strike three baby. Right now I'm just sitting here worried that I really am the fairest of them all -.-

Cya around!

quick visit

2011-10-04T22:52:00.002+08:00

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

-- Muhammad Ali

Came across this pretty nice quote and decided to post it.

In other news, I'm at the tail-end portion of my Surgery posting, and I must admit it is far more fun than I thought. Surgery is pretty methodical, so it's pretty easy to get the hang of:

The patient is getting intestinal obstruction? Decompress him.

Is he jaundiced? Find out if he's making too much bilirubin, if he has a liver problem, or if his biliary tract is obstructed.

Road traffic accident? Assess vitals, fluid resuscitation, antibiotics, ...

Not to say that it is anywhere near simplistic of course. You'd be dead wrong to think of surgeons as mere barbarians chopping out things from people the moment they feel that it might help. Even before picking up the knife, a lot of thought, investigations and management are put in place, etc, etc.

But today, I was reminded of why I probably would think twice about going into Surgery. Shima and I stood around in the OT watching op after op, and it got pretty boring after awhile.. Maybe I simply don't know enough to appreciate what's going on, but for now I really don't think I would enjoy picking away and slicing at someone's insides. Not that it's gory or anything -- it is, but that isn't the push-factor. It's more that it's..... monotonous?

Hmm... But I still have quite a few years ahead of me to make my choice, so for now I'll just keep my glasses un-tinted.

ciao

2010-12-02T00:16:00.003+08:00

Sometimes, the content I need to study is really too much, seriously. Cardiovascular pathology covered in two days? Just the day after CA1? Whyohwhy -.- and that was about 3 weeks ago. Since then, we covered Respi, Gastrointestinal, Liver and biliary tract pathology. And drugs, where relevant. Thursday, we're covering yet another body system. In 4 hours of lectures, plus tutorial and practical? zzzzz....

I was really stoning today (need I say why?)... And then i came across a video I watched quite awhile back... Think this is from the show "1 Litre of Tears"..

It's another one of those sad sad medical stories (yes, I have absolutely no life). Well, I watched it again. And still had the same reaction that I had back then.

Sometimes things like these just make you wonder why they fight on. What meaning is there in fighting to see the next day when you know you cant walk without falling? Or when you know you're dead if they take you off the ventilator? What is out there waiting for them that's so great that they want to live on despite losing an arm, a leg, a lung?

I guess for me, the message is fight on. Fight on and know as much as you can. Because somewhere out there, someone wants to fight on, but doesnt have the strength anymore. And somehow if I know enough, I may be able to help them fulfill their dreams. To be cured and lead a normal life? To live on? Maybe somehow, if i finally get skilled enough, I can give hope to those who have none. It is, of course, extremely naive of me to think this way. So many of the diseases today are still incurable, and I'm no researcher so nope, no novel treatments are coming from me.

But you see, patients who fight on make me wanna fight harder too. I know it's supposed to be the other way round, but their hope brings me hope.

2010-12-02T00:16:00.002+08:00

I was really stoning today (need I say why?)... And then i came across a video I watched quite awhile back...

It's another one of those sad sad medical stories (yes, I have absolutely no life). Well, I watched it again. And still had the same reaction that I had back then.

But you see, patients who fight on make me wanna fight harder too. I know it's supposed to be the other way round, but their hope brings me hope.

Sometimes it just tears you apart

2010-09-09T23:55:00.002+08:00

We started lessons in Cancer this week -- its biology, the drugs we can use, the pathogenesis, how it looks like on a person, how it looks under a microscopic slide...

It always seems so scientific and detatched when you're in the classroom, learning how this drug will bind to this oncogene (excessive-cell-division-causing gene, for the uninitiated), and how that will stop the cancer from progressing. Yeah, if its bioavailability is high enough when it reaches the damned thing.

I think we've always thought Ethics was the least useful part of the course (i mean, the sciencey bit is the bit that we're gonna save ppl with right? its not like we're unethical to begin with, and even if some of us were, lessons aren't gonna change that). But fr this particular segment of our course, I really think Ethics shone out the most for me.

After all those endless lectures about wad cancer does, and how to treat it, we finally had to imagine ourselves being the ones treating the patient. I cant share any real examples, but anyway there're far too many stories out there as is, so I won't have to even if I could.

Cancer can happen in anyone. A kid, a grandpa, a young mom with a kid going to to K2 next year.

Can you imagine telling a 40 yr old father that with his Stage 4 lung cancer, his likelihood of living beyond the year is 25% (not real statistics, sry) ? In other words, can you imagine telling him that he'll never see his 2 yr old son getting into pri sch, much less seeing him get married and start his own family some day?

What can you do for a kid who's gonna die from leukaemia, but keeps blaming himself for being sick all the time and making Mommy and Daddy cry?

What can you possibly expect a mother to do when she's taking care of 3 kids aged 4, 7 and 12, and just diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer?

Chances are, she's gonna want to live. She KNOWS treatment cant kill off the cancers anymore, only slow them down. But she'll wanna live as long as she damned well can. Thats another problem.. You see, cancer drugs are expensive. And most of them target cell proliferation (this happens even in normal people. It's just excessive in cancers), so they're pretty toxic to norm cells too. Net effect, the family's gonna lose a lot of money, the drugs will only slow down the disease, and even then, there are adverse effects. Horrible, unimaginable pain -- and that's just the treatment.

Some of these drugs can buy you 10 years -- those are the beautiful moments. You're technically cured. Other times, in the aggressive ones, it could be a month, or a few weeks. That's astoundingly little fr the 6-figure price-tag for those drugs.

But when you're that mom, 1 more month is plenty. Afterall, you need to get the will in order. You need to meet your family and friends. You need to try all that food you've loved. You may wanna go with hubby to Paris, just like he promised for that 20th anniversary you're not gonna live to see. And most pressing to a mother: kids. You need to tell them what's important in life. To eat right. To sleep early. Don't talk to strangers. Brush your teeth. Listen to Daddy. Explain why you're going away for a long time and they can't come with you, but they'll understand when they get older.

Yes, any price, any pain, to get things in order as best as you can.

Our tutor offered us 4 simple steps we can use to advise patients and help them say goodbye:
1. Say thank you -- to everyone who meant sth to you in your life
2. Say sorry -- to everyone who you've offended, intentionally or otherwise
3. Say "I forgive you" -- to your loved ones, in case they think you still blame them for that little something in the past that's now soso dwarved by Death

And lastly,
4. Say "I love you" and that it's forever and ever, even when they cant hear you say it anymore -- because they'll never get to hear it from you ever again.

So here's to the first time I cried while taking notes in a lecture theatre.

Bring it on

2010-08-06T23:13:00.003+08:00

The holidays are, as all good things must, coming to an end.

It is a running joke -- oft a cruel, and painfully realistic one -- that Med students' holiday duration are inversely proportional to how hard they work (it gets tougher as we go along).

It's almost like reaching the top of the tracks of a roller coaster circuit, knowing naught of how the tracks below will twist and turn, but only with the faintest clue that it's gonna be one hell of a ride.

I have reason to be a little worried -- seniors I've talked to have given me recounts of their Med Yr2 experience, and they essentially can be summarized as such:

Everything you've heard about Med School being tough and stressful, and how your head's gonna explode with all that info? It's true. It's just that M1's essentially the honeymoon period. So, welcome to starting to understand what it really is to be in Med Sch =)

But it isnt fear that I approach this year with. Afterall, it is that very same course I was fighting so hard to get into, just a little more than a year ago. And we're finally dealing with disease states and how to cure them (drug-wise, at least)! There'll be lots more clinically releveant stuff too! haha..

In fact, I think -- though I cant be sure it's purely this -- I'm really excited about this year..! Bring on the challenges, the sleepless nights, the weekends so packed with mugging that I wont have time to visit chu or watch tv. Because if triumphing over all that will make me even stronger, to be the best doctor/son/husband/father I can be in the years to come, I'm willing to face it.

(Oh, and God please help me not die from this coming year's workload..... I'm only human for crying out loud)

LOOOONNNGGG overdue post

2010-06-25T19:04:00.001+08:00

I'm not one who especially loves poems & such, but I came across one that's pretty good today!

Introducing "If" by Rudyard Kipling!

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Shall leave you to interpret the stanzas (if you're really that bored! Haha.. that's to you army dudes out there!), but I guess you could google for some explanation if you're really burning for answers..

Anyway, chu's just gone overseas again! Sniffsniff.. So now I'm here on my fav lil island (Singapore), all by myself with nothing but my medicine books to call friend......... Oh wait. Tht just might be a gd thing! =P Finally! Peace at last! Haha...

But seriously, I think I'll be pretty lonely fr the next few days......

Anyway! Today I sent chu off to the airport. But cos I din want my parents to nag and worry abt how I was gonna be late for the BTT ltr, I told them that her flight was even earlier than it acty was (oops). So there I was, at 8am, standing at White Sands, thinking of how to get past the heavy rain to get to chu's place.

Best of all (funny how "best of all" tends to really mean "worst of all"), I was in slippers. And slippers are so named for a reason -- and no, I don't just mean that they're easy to slip on to your feet.

After a good 10 min of the "Walk-Step on especially slippery part of floor-Steady myself-Swear to wear footwear that was designed with the notion of "grip" in mind in the future-Repeat" repertoire, I (finally) find myself facing chu's door. Then came the trip to the airport, and (too soon), time to dash off to Ubi.

The trip to the driving centre wouldve been rather simple, had it not been for a series of unexpected events. Like how the rain didnt seem to stop, how my train just stayed put on the tracks for over 5 min waiting for another train to pass. Worst was tt I, being unsure of which stop to alight at, got off one stop ahead of the driving centre, and had to jog thru the rain (I had 10 min to get to the test venue) to get there -.- oh, I also met this girl on the way to the driving sch. She didnt bring an umbrella, so I shared mine with her. Nice of me right! I know.. Haha

Anyway, I passed! =D I was so worried I'll fail, and I'd haf to wait forever just to retake the stupid test. The parents're celebrating with me by cooking curry fishhead! haha...

chuchu, if you were here right now, I'd have been spending my time asking you to join us for dinner after your work, cos u'll prolly like this dish..

Be safe over there hon..

Weekend =)

2010-01-25T22:34:00.002+08:00

Wow this weekend was.. awesome!!! haha

went out with chu (and roy and his gf) for dinner at Bedok marketplace. The food was o-okay I guess (i din get to eat till I was full, but mb tt's cos I've got an insatiable gut).. then again, I got to eat my oyster omelette without oyster (cool how both of us like it that way =D), so it's all good.. haha

But after that we went to the nearby pasar malam.. Mengting (Roy's gf) went to look at some mole-removal guy's stall.

First thing that struck me was the fact that he was doing some kinda surgery in THAT kinda place. His form of antiseptic at the end of the procedure? Aloe Vera gel (bought at your friendly local pharmacy)

But that's kinda besides the point. The guy turned out to be able to read fortunes from your moles or from your face shape!! The people who know me would know me as the skeptical type when it comes to this kinda mojo-jojo, so I stood behind as the guy told our fortunes. But anyway, he still decided to tell me mine =.=

Mole-dude: Your face tells me you can study very well.
Me: Uh huh. Yep. /disinterested/
Mole-dude: Judging by your facial features, you're gonna be a doctor
Us (collectively): Wow! O.o [omgwtfbbq!!]

HAha.. Yep.. somehow he could get all that from my face. Well, if you wanna argue it, (and believe me, skeptical me does), you could say that "being a doctor" is actually associated with studying veryvery hard, to most people. So in that sense, it makes sense that he said I would be a doctor, considering his 1st comment abt me.

Anyway, he kept going about some other stuff before he pointed to chu and went:

Mole-dude (to me): You should marry her. She brings you good fortune..
Me: /Laughs!!/ seriously?
Chu: You mean I'll bring fortune to anyone who marries me, or just him?
Mole-dude: Not bad wad, you two look quite pei what... no? Got fu1 qi1 xiang4
Me: Aiya! /Facepalm/
Chu: /THE look/ why? dowan ah?

Hahaha...

Anyway, Sunday, I tell you, was awesom-er-est! =D

Chu made pancakes for me when I came over! As a surprise! For ME! =D

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! /bliss/

and I tell you, it was awesome =) Oh? I mentioned it alr? Well, yeah, it was SO awesome =D

Pancakes, with banana bits, and lots of love.. Hoho.. /intoxicated/

Thx honey! =D

School's starting soon!

2010-01-08T13:37:00.002+08:00

Wow, it's been a little over a month since school ended!

And once again, we're starting again! I'm not really dreading it la.. Afterall, this is what I signed up for right? Haha.. Learning more stuff so someday I might just be able to snatch ppl from the claws of mortality and morbidity =)

(Wonder if I'm gonna keep this enthusiastic in the years to come =.=)

I wont deny that I've been reading up over the sem break (it's really too interesting to put down for long AND i'm afraid I'll lose the stuff I currently know). But I've taken care to take LOTS of rest so I dont start sch burnt out X_x

For one, I got to finish watching Full Metal Alchemist!! Hohoho... Old anime, yes, but still pretty fun to watch! Haha..

Well, the next sem's gonna be much harder, but I've decided to really try to make time for those ppl that still bother to ask me out for stuff (e.g. Bucky and Yingwah). You guys deserve a medal or something for persistence =)

... I might try, but like I said, the next sem's gonna be really tough =/ No promises! Haha..

2009-12-19T20:20:00.000+08:00

Wow.. Nice story tt I randomly came across.. haha

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A battle is raging inside me ... it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The old man fixed the children with a firm stare. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee replied: "The one you feed."

2009-12-15T17:51:00.000+08:00

"A man can't be too careful in his choice of enemies"
--Oscar Wilde

Well, exams are over! For now.. Actually they've been over since 7th Dec, but for those who know me well enough, you'd know that I procrastinated to update my blog.. hehe..

Despite the holidays, I still forced myself to finish off a MEGA summary of renal physiology. Think of a paper 1.5 times a normal drawing block. Then imagine a giant nephron drawn onto it. Now imagine this nephron covered in tiny little words describing the absorptive capabilities of each segment of the nephron on the relevant regions, the concentrations of filtered substances in each segment, which hormones act on which segments, what said hormones do, cell tyoes in the various regions... Yep, I am mighty proud of myself right now =D

Still, I'm no expert =.= I'm starting to think there's no end to what you need to know about the human body. It's ENDLESS!! I mean, I dont think I really can rmb all the stuff I learnt in the first few weeks of Med school anymore!! Really pei fu those ancient doctors who seemed to be well-versed in all things medical O_o

Well, then again:
1) I'm only in Year 1, and I only finished 4 months of Med School.
2) Those were just stories of those imba medical dudes. Who knows? Mb it's just glorification..
3) Maybe they knew so little back then that it was easy to get everything in their heads..

Ah well... Maybe I should spend some time revisiting the stuff we went thru in the 1st Semester..

Acty, it's pretty hard to believe that one sem has just flown by.. I've poked through ex-men (and women) to look at how their muscles and tendons attached to the corresponding bones. I've seen someone with scleral jaundice. I've stuck ECG leads on my classmate (I arrowed him to be the subject, so there'd be no chance I'd kena! Hehe..). I've seen a heart that's 2.5 times the size of a fist! (normal hearts are only slightly larger than a fist)

Fun fun... haha..

Anyway, it's the holidays, so I decided to kick back a little while, and try to finish off the Wii game that I gave up on months ago: "The Prince of Persia: Rival Swords". I did AMAZINGLY better than I did previously! Taking control of the Prince (and his evil counterpart, the Dark Prince), I soared across the walls of the Persian city, eliminated sand-demons that would've made a grown man cry (if they were real), and escaped razor lined dungeons... All in pursuit of the evil Vizier who destroyed the Prince's homeland.

At last, I reached the final stages of the game, after spending hours beating the various bosses and the many traps that stood in my way.. NOTHING would stand in my way of beating the game and watching that final, satisfying cinematic.

Nothing, except for screwed motion detection on my Wii remote!!! Grrr.... You see, to kill the final boss, I had to initiate a Speed Kill. But this involves swinging the Wii remote at a very spcific timing. And try as I might, the DAMNED Wii remote REFUSED to register my swing at the appropriate time!!! Thus, my endeavour to defeat one of the easiest boss fights I have ever seen had degenerated into the most IMPOSSIBLE (and I mean physically imposssible) boss fights ever!

Do you know how freaking *GAH* it is to be stuck at the final boss not because you dont know how to beat him, or even that you skills suck, but simply because the controller refuses to function properly?!?!?!?! CURSE YOU, NINTENDO WII!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm like 5 properly timed-swings from the ending, and now I stand here, beaten, and denied.. By what? my remote controller =/ it's that distinct sense of betrayal reserved for when your very own tools, those meant to be on your side simply refuse to work with you, such that you're foiled in your greatest hour =(

I mean, really, what kind of Wii remote stops functioning properly when you're just 5 swings from beating the Vizier.

May the pain of a thousand screams befall you, stupid Wii remote.

Bah.

You see that quote at the top, Wii remote? well that's for you. And you have made an injudicious choice of enemy in choosing to deny me.

Anw, in other news, chu's coming back real soon! So from then on, I guess I'm pretty much off-limits to everyone else. Not that anyone was realy asking me out.. haha -.-

ok, I'm off!

To THE lady, when she next visits my blog =)

2009-09-01T00:11:00.004+08:00

I'm going to sleep soon, but today I heard a really nice song at school. This one's for you honey, cos I really want it to turn out this way, no matter how busy we'll be in the days to come =)

Built to Last by Melee

I've looked for love in stranger places,
but never found someone like you.
Someone whose smile makes me feel I've been holding back,
and now there's nothing I can't do.

'Cause this is real, and this is good.
It warms the inside just like it should,
but most of all it's built to last.

All of our friends saw from the start.
So why didn't we believe it too?
Whoa yeah, now look where you are.
You're in my heart now.
And there's no escaping it for you.

'Cause this is real, and this is good.
It warms the inside just like it should,
but most of all it's built to last.

Walking on the hills that night with those fireworks and candlelight
You and I were made to get love right

'Cause this is real, and this is good.
It warms the inside just like it should,
but most of all it's built to last.

'Cause you are the sun in my universe,
considered the best when we've felt the worst
and most of all it's built to last.

It's your bday month =) And i wanna be thr with you, surprising you each year at this time with embarassingly mushy stuff both online and in real life, for the many years to come <3

(Not so) typical monday...

2009-08-31T22:15:00.003+08:00

Got up at 5.30 a.m., and got prepped for sch.. I pulled on my VJ uniform shirt, pinned up the VJ sch badge, CTC badge and CT nametag. Slipping on the (now REALLY baggy -.-) school pants, i slid the signature red-with-2-parallel-white stripes-on-it belt, and put on my Asics running shoes. Leaving the house, the last thing I did was to throw my signature over-sized Zinc backpack on me -- of course only slung over my left shoulder -- before hopping onto the car.

Only difference was that I ended up at NUS Lt 28, instead of in V45 in VJC =.=

Yep, today we went to commemorate Teacher's Day in advance! (cos tml's Anatomy Lab Prac, so somehow they din want us to wear our old sch uniform there) Which reminds me: tml we're gonna cut up some upper limb of some ex-person!!! =/ but somehow when the cadaver's w/o the skin, i dont think it's as hard to cut him up. I suppose with the skin on, you can still imagine he's alive and mb on some general anaethetics..

Anyway! Happy belated bday WT!! I know you totally dont check out my blog, but anywho, Happy 19th dude! =)

Oh, and i think the Armoured dudes have gone off for overseas training.. Classified location, time, duration and manpower. Ha. (I'm SO NOT letting Mindef screw me for releasinng info they deemed to be restricted) Anyway, be safe guys! Though I spent the shortest time with yall, i think I bonded with yall the most (along with the Sispec dudes). And besides, your stuff is the most dangerous.. seriously. The same amour that protects us from enemy fire can at the same time cause various forms of blunt force trauma, asphyxiation, crush injuries and whatever other bad stuff that you would expect a 10 million tonne vehicle to do to your fragile human body.

So take care guys.. We'll go out for an Armoured outing when you're back!! =D

... An armoured outing sounds cooler than it really is, actually =.= but anyway! god bless you guys.. I've got a feeling it'll be really dangerous =/

Okay, back to my study of how the humerus articulates with the glenoid cavity, and that it's stabilized and moved by the 4 rotator cuff muscles: Supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis. And that the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor are attached to the superior, middle and inferior facet of the greater tubercle, while the subscapularis is attached to the lesser tubercle.

... for the layperson, I just described muscles stabilizing the shoulder joint. Somebody help me X_x haha..

An update on life

2009-08-22T19:17:00.003+08:00

2 weeks of med school...

I havent touched anything like anatomy or physiology yet (okay maybe a little, but that's self study right now).. Not really what I expected for the first two weeks of med school but ah well... In fact, it's still pretty JC-ish in terms of the subjects (predominantly biochem and histology and med ethics for now). The lesson structure kinda gives me the impression that Im stuck in JC with only Cell bio, proteins and lipids and KI (morality) to study =.=

Really becoming a no-lifer sia. No CCAs, no outings.. grrr... Oh well, med sch students arent really known for having a life anyway =.= But still it's a lil too early to just be mugging, no? Okay, I promise myself tt if i get a hostel placing (results coming out in a week or so!!!) I'm SO gonna join a CCA. LIke maybe rockclimbing, Squash or Aikido.. heck maybe even Ballroom dancing if I feel like it at the time. haha.

And I SWEAR. In the next two med sch activities tt're coming up, Im gonna sign up. Seriously.. Shldnt be mugging all the time. Not healthy. I alr missed Rag and Flag, Ride for Hope, Public Health Screening at AMK Hub and Dinner & Dance. Okay la, I'll only sign up if they're applicable to me la.. Cos one of the events coming up is some Med sch play, and I cant act, so yep..

Cya nxt time!

2009-08-02T00:31:00.002+08:00

well! it's been an interesting month, I must say.. Didnt really turn out exactly the way i intended, but ah well, I'm alr not in army, no? who can really complain about that. Haha.. And besides, all things considered, the one month break wasnt TOO bad.. =)

NUS makes us do SO much paperwork for registration, but i guess it's from all the loans and bonds stuff la.. A bit of a hassle though =/ and! i din get my hostel placing! Grr.. guess it's mrt travelling from now on. from pasir ris to dover =(

Din manage to go for the Medicine orientation camp cos of registration. Then cldnt go for the Rag preparation stuff cos my grandma was in hospital.. Critical condition O_o we were all really prepared for her to go anytime. But, miraculously, she pulled through! More miraculous is that this is the 2nd time she's pulled out of a near-death situation... amazing huh? Haha.. my grandma, the survivor.. aie, but she's not out of the woods yet la. Still in hospital

Oh, Ive alr applied for my laptop =) cant wait to get it!! a delicious 2.8GHz processor and (allegedly) one of the best graphic cards around.. nice.. I cant believe it's spd is faster than my PC lah... technology these days..

Havent been ard in NUS much yet (esp mssing out on the Rag preparations), but Jolie's (med senior) still really nice about helping me select wad books i shld get to start off on for the course. Thx! Haha.. If not, i'd really be lost, what with not going back to sch and hearing lil snippets of advice from seniors during the Rag prep...

Anw, now that her work's finally over, and the SMU camps are history (at least till i start school), and with her Bangkok trip behind her, I CAN FINALLY SPEND SOME REAL TIME WITH MS. OUYANG =)

Yeah, she fell sick for awhile, but even then, i still managed to spend the whole day with her, even though I was mainly just looking after her. Grr.. it's cos she's had so many camps and the holiday to bangkok all lumped tgt la..

yknow wad's the funniest thing about the whole being-a-nice-guy-looking-after-my-sick-gf? I was giving her medicine and doing the cool wet towel thing to bring down her fever. Budden quite boring to juz attend to a sleeping person all day long. So i ended up climbing onto the bed to snooze as well =.= wl.. look after patient until join them in slping. Hehe.. guess thr's only one patient i'm allowed to do tt for, huh =P

We went to Sakura (with her family) a few days back for dinner. OMGdness.. the. food. is. GOOD.. haha.. okay, it wasnt spectacular fare, but still, i got to eat my unagi & various Jap food, so im happy =) We went to this photography shop also.. pretty fun thinking about taking tt kinda photo tgt.

...though it's just thinking about it la. Haha.. you ppl out there who know me wld know I dont have the ka-ching to pay a professional to take a couple of *those* pics.. heck, your's truly even used to hesitate at taking Neoprints back in the day cos of the cost, so why shld this be that much different? Haha.. Though, this'll all change when I start work!! Muahahaha..!!!

...which will be years from now, actually =.=

tml we're going to the Marina Barrage!!! Woohoo!! funfun =) cya ard!

Food Quest cum Shopping

2009-07-11T09:42:00.004+08:00

Ytd i went to pick up c from work and she took an hour off (which turned out to be much needed.. haha)

Went to bugis -- heard of that new "illuma" building near bugis junction? Yep, we went to that one for dinner, which was... Benten! (no, dear readers, not ben10. It's a japanese restaurant). We've been wanting to go there ever since we passed by it to watch Wolverine.

Anw, the food thr is NICE.. ok, it's a bit pricey for my standards (I spent about $10+, i think?), so I wouldnt just go lunching there randomly, but there was a discount! Spend $30 and you get 25% off.

So c bought some grilled platter thingy -- grilled chicken with deep fried prawn and some fries -- while I got Cheese baked rice with salmon. And for some weird reason, I got th smaller portion (again!).. damn suay la.. haha =.= well, I guess mine was cheaper, so they put less in it. Anw, we topped it off with some green tea parfait, which is DA BOMB.. hohoho..

But th amount of salmon was more than I thought la.. I was half afraid they'd be a bit stingy, cos the other cheese baked rices (chicken & seafood) all cost th same price, so if th meat was more expensive, mb they'd skimp on the quantity. Well, im glad to say, they didnt =)

...at least not noticably.. mb I was too distracted to care =P jkjk..!

Anw, after that, we went to bugis street! bought me some new clothes again. c got me a whole new set (shirt & berms) for my bday present, and I got me a shirt. Then we looked through bugis street, dorothy perkins & topshop for c's uni clothes.. The thing that really struck me was how she could be half-limping from a muscle ache that's been following her from her SMU camp till now AND have cuts on her knees from a fall, AND still be able to keep walking and shopping O_o The wonders of the human mind working around the body's physical constraints. Just needed a little retail therapy as an incentive =) hehe

alrighty, I'm signing off here.. Going to c's hse for an early bday celebration =) gotta take th bus again cos th parents're out =.=

ciao!

of this and that

2009-07-06T22:04:00.004+08:00

bucky: hey, did you hear about NUS's rule about hostels? if a member of the opposite sex is alone with you in the room, you'll have to keep the door wide open. wth? O.o
me: What? now they wanna watch too??!

haha.. was hoping I'd get a hostel room too, but things arent looking too good on that front. I mean, they've probably settled these things long before I was officially disrupted =.= ah well, these things cant be helped huh? Shld be juz glad I got to disrupt =) afterall, apparently not all Med sch dudes serving NS get to do so O.o

gah.. anw, chu's at her SMU orientation camp now.. She muz be having loads of fun! I mean, it's held at OBS grounds! woot! imagine, rockclimbing, high elements, i heard they even have rafting!! jealous...! haha.. That's another thing about this disruption. I got disrupted after registration for the MedCamp closed!! omg.. it wldve started today as well, so i'd be camping while chu camped (hey, at least tt's fair, right? both of us shld get to go camping lo. haha). zhangfan was tryna help me get in ytd night by calling her NUS frens in Medicine when she heard i'd be missing out on it. So nice right?? Haha.. Pity it was to no avail, cos they needed to print the T-shirt for me and they didnt have time t do that -- acty i wldve been fine without the shirt la =.= but they also said they cldnt cater extra food for me, and I think accomodation might pose a prob, since the venue of the camp was a chalet thingy, so they might not have had enuff space. Ah well..

Well! two up-sides to this =) firstly, i'll be rid of c for 3D2N!!! muahahaha!! >=) secondly, and more importantly, my Med camp is 4D3N, while hers is 3D2N, so if I went ahead with mine, i"d see her for one day less, so not going for the camp is one extra day earned to spend with her! =D

...the first and second point seem to contradict a bit =.= oops. haha

But seriously, now I can totally focus on making her bday prezzie! oh, and I got to settle lots of my matriculation stuff =) today in fact I alr finished the medical checkup & submission of some matriculation docs.. Hehe.. Now juz waiting for NUS's (hopefully) favourable response to my appeal for a hostel room!

oh, speaking of bday prezzie, we went for audrey's bday party on sat (4th july). She's celebrating well in advance for some reason or other.. haha.. but happy birthday anyway =) put in quite a bit of effort making the icing for the cupcakes and in making a choco cake! -- in the process I successfully destroyed one of chu's plastic tubs, one of her metal spoon, and almost killed my family's beloved electric mixer =/ dont ask. sry hon! /sheepish laugh/

yesterday was roy's bday.. We're gonna get him something *soon*.. haha.. for now, juz be content with the imba cake we made for you! dont worry, your present'll be nicer than the cake (it cant possibly be worse =.=)

Ytd I also helped chu pack for her *cough* damned *cough cough* SMU camp.. tsktsk.. i'm too nice la. cant help it.. haha

ok, im off now! updates real *soon*.. In a classical christen's-speed-of-updating sense

Tooth extraction

2009-06-26T14:55:00.002+08:00

Yeah, I'm outta camp for awhile cos i needed to pluck out my wisdom tooth before Med School starts.. The procedure didnt really hurt -- the only thing I really felt was the 4 jabs of anaesthetics (for the pain) and steriods (prevents swelling of th wound area).. After that I went for 40 min of surgery -- apparently a super short amount of time according to c.. Hehe.. The numbness was quite imba! even my ear felt a little tingly from the anaesthetic =.=

Now just sitting around at home, wishing i had more to do than just doing chores, watching TV, playing computer games (my gosh, when did I start finding computer games boring?!) and wondering my my wound's starting to hurt more =/

Att C (Some army-status thing you get when you're sick) is something that loads of people in NS wish for -- you get to stay home, and just slack =) wake up late, bum around, do whatever you want. Somehow I'm not enjoying it very much.. haha.. mb cos I don't get to eat what I'd want (having to chew really sucks right now)? or mb cos it's a little lonely around here la..

Hehe.. so i guess the Att C's wasted on me. oops

Anw! WT's come to Armour as well! ...well, just as I'm about to leave the place. juz sad that I'm disrupting so soon that I don't really get to hang out with him.. Oh well, guess it's not fated huh? I'm sure you'll like it there anyway with or without me =)

Lots to do when I finally disrupt on 1st July! Matriculation, various paperwork, medical checkups, etcetc.. For now all I can do is tidy up my room as a wait for the matriculation letter to come in from NUS.. What's keeping them? Haha..

Ooh, can meet up with ol' Bucky when he comes to Singapore too.. cya soon dude!

2009-05-22T11:50:00.002+08:00

2nd block leave! =) dont we all love block leaves? Well, i know I do.

Only drawback is I eat more and exercise less, but oh well, i'll be back in camp soon enuff, so it doesnt bother me that much.. hmm..

Anyway, YES, the comments on my tagboard seem to have preceded my official announcement, but here goes: I'm Hep B free!! =) Meaning it's confirmed I can get into Med School!!! =D really, they should leave this kinda small print-ish, the-results-are-inevitable-and-thr's-nth-you-can-do-to-change-it things at the start of application. I mean it would be really sad to be turned away after your application was successful, just cos of surface antigens on your blood cells.

Now the question is WHEN i'll get into Med sch.. Will I disrupt this year? or serve out my 2yr NS liability.....? Decision up to Mindef, so let's just hope for the best, ya?

This week was pretty good, overall. How bad can it get when it's spent in civillian singapore, where the afternoons are relaxing, and the evenings... interesting >=P

okay, the bit of the evening was a joke, but yeah, love it when c finally knocks off from work!! Muahahaha...

Saturday we went shopping at bugis, sunday she came over (like finally!) and we went swimming at night. Monday we went shopping for her fren's presents, Tuesday I went to Curry Favour for lunch with my SISPEC section, jogged with chu in the evening. The remainder of the evenings -- even including today's! -- , we spent debating on which of her Uni offers should she ultimately decide on. Spending so much time deciding is fine to me, cos there's a HUGE difference between indecisiveness and pondering which option would support her best. OH, and saturday we're meeting with the merged clique (the 4 musketeers + chickenman, along with the 4 girls) for lunch at Thaipan! Hoho... thaipan here i come!

so yes, things have been pretty good this week. Been taking it nice and slowly -- exceptionally slowly while c's at work.

Omgdness, I sould like a bum waiting at home for my girl to knock of from work =.= fail sia.. haha!

Looking forward to Uni life!! (whenever it comes) Haha..

Replies to tags:

Jingru: Haha! yeah, thanks! final year for you right? you jiayou too =)

Bucky: Hell yes, i do hope i get disrupted.. If I do, every morning we have to meet up to do ironman training! like jogging, etc

choops: Uh-huh! =D Hep B (-) /Does a little victory dance/

Soongteng: Thanks soong! =)

2009-05-10T11:22:00.002+08:00

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

2 words:

NUS medicine =)

Yep, I just got the letter of acceptance 2 days ago (well, as of 9th May at least. I havent touched this blog since) !! Thot it would never come.. haha.. well, that's a sigh of relief..

It's been a long journey. Working hard for the A's, prepping the personal statement, prepping for the oft-talked about killer NUS Med interview, and now.. We're done! =)

Acty not quite. There's still the Hep B status to worry about. If I dont get Hep B -somethingsomething- negative, I wont get to enter the course anyway =S Plsplspls let it be okay...

ANYWAY.... chu got her smu biz letter of acceptance! Well, that was her top choice, so it's great news =) pretty amazing, no? she got into all her 1st choices for all 3 local unis. Congrats! Haha.. *sometimes* she's kinda imba la.. Hehe =P

Oh, I juz POP-ed from SISPEC and got into Armour!! WOOHOO!! It'll be really cool if I got to be a tank commander. (Unless I disrupt NS to go to Med Sch 1st, which would be a gazillion times cooler la.. haha)

Okay. Blood test for Hep b status coming out soon. Pray for me, people!!! let it be good so i can go to NUS med...!! CYA!!

4th week of Sispec BSLC...

2009-04-19T10:53:00.005+08:00

4th week of Sispec BSLC has just passed... Cant believe it's already been a month

Well, that was the easy part.. Now comes the multiple outfield trips that'll last a total of.. 2 weeks? Sian la, rly... hate going outfield.. Oh well. Cant fight it so... too bad.. hehe

I am getting REALLY fast 0_o 2.4km run timing is dwindling like crazy, which im really proud of.. Hehe..Currently my best time's below 9.45min. Din really go check la.. just heard from my buddy when he went t go check his results

Oh, and the Med sch interview and essay test is finally over! NOw all that's left to do is pray la.. -.- Haha..

Crap.. now getting quite scary cos havent heard from them. But anw, im supp to hear from them only in May, so I shldnt really be concerning myself with it right now

Last week I went with chu to SIngapore Flyer to eat Popeyes! Yeah, I know we cldve gone to e Airport (it's closer) but we went to meet Meiyee and Yiting at Cityhall, so yeah.. Haha.. Then we went to the Rooftop Terrace at Esplanade again.. Cool huh.. usually we wldnt do stuff like tt, so in a way it was a treat la.. hehe

ok, im off! cya in... well, when i cya again

Block leave

2009-03-22T18:58:00.003+08:00

Alas! Block leave is coming to a close.. It's finally Sunday, and my days at Sispec are finally upon me.

C's over in Bali (like finally, huh? =P), doing her water sports, relaxing at a spa, having her girl talk with Audrey, stuffing herself with (hopefully really mouth-watering) Balinese cuisine, taking lots of pics. Etcetcetc.. You get the point. Haha..

It's been a pretty great block leave (my only block leave ever, so I hear).

The leave didnt start off all that well.. A little friction with the parents, but all that sorted itself out eventually. Went with c and roy to the NTU openhouse, and then alone with c for the NUS one. Watched SOMEONE doze off during the talks =.= Well, I admit I dozed off at one point too.. Haha..

The Malaysia day trip with c, roy and mt was called off, unfortunately, in view of the NUS openhouse, but we made up for it (if only a little) with a pigout session at Bedok Market. This also doubled as a send-off for Roy, as he's finally going to his diving unit, and MUCH more importantly: shaving his head like the rest of us! Muahahaha! Welcome roy.. =P

wt and xz also joined us -- and weren't all too happy that our first gathering in months was spent in a eating place that "lacked a little... /gets accidentally pushed by a passer-by carrying a plate of chicken rice/ ...class".. Haha!

We went to roy's place after that, bringing shuiling along, so she could see roy's dog, Furry (real original name, roy =.=)

Anyway, the rest of the week was pretty fun too, finding c after work, picking her up from work once, joining her for lunch for another shortly before joining Bucky and the guys for a s31 hangout! (which i covered two posts ago, so go back there and look it up).

After that, not much happened. Basically sorted out my referal letter bit, and now im just working on my personal statement. Spent a little time helping chu with the packing up for her Bali trip.

Then sent her off on Saturday morning. Funny how it seems much longer than just yesterday...

Oh well! Tml i'll be off to my new home in Sispec! Which is FREAKING OVER AT JOO KOON!! The closest mrt station I live near is Pasir Ris, dammit!! =X Other side of the green line =.= Yeah, for those hermits out there who dont know yet, Joo Koon is the new and improved (i.e. even more distant) Boon Lay.

Crap.

Haha.. Maybe my parents'll be REAL sweet and send me there if they're free. Though that's not really nice to ask for, since the journey's THAT long..

2009-03-18T17:20:00.002+08:00

today i went to c's place to give tuition to shuiling again. Was half afraid the cough medicine would get to my head and send me out of the study room and reeling straight into lalaland. Thankfully, nth like that happened.

i think.

Anyway, I learnt how to make shuijiao from c's parents! Meiyee also came over to learn.. Haha.. Acty i wasnt doing too badly in terms of the making of the actual shuijiao (putting the stuffing in the dumpling, and closing it up). However, that seems to be the only part that c knows how to do as well, so I gotta learn some other part if we're gg to make shuijiao on our own.

earlier today I walked her to the mrt to send her off to work. Starting to feel like a bum, sending her off to earn bags of money in the Great Big CBD, while I stay home (her home, for that matter), and make dumplings. But then again, it's my block leave, so surely im authorised to bum around as much as I want, no? haha..

need to get to chua soon regarding that referal letter. He's got tons of them to do, so i feel a little bad for asking him to do yet another, but hey, i dont think any other JC teacher knows me quite as well as he does, so heh.. Sry dude!

went to the library to borrow some fiction books. The target audience looks like it was meant for a 15 year old, but oh well.. that'll do. It's not that im really bored or anything. But I noticed that my vocab hasnt been as... extended... of late, so im guessing army may have done a number on my vocab skills.. in that i havent really been using very much of it. Never really needed it much once I got in there, so I suppose that could be one reason.

c's going to bali in 3 days time! she's really excited about it, though I cant really see why, since ive never really gone overseas, nor really wanted to.

But! At least im finally rid of her, if at least only for awhile.. sigh..

Haha.. just kidding =)

okay! im off.. cya ard folks

2009-03-17T10:42:00.002+08:00

Quick post here.. gtg out soon

it's been abt 5 days since I POP-ed.. 2 days were spent at UNi Open hses (zzzzz in my opinion), and 3 days were spent slacking!

cant help but rant a little.. why must the uni talks be almost completely preoccupied with what they've achieved, how they trump other Unis, etcetc..? Surely they cldve spent less thime on what they did and their rankings, and more on what they can do for us. Granted, they HAVE to play to their strengths to let people know theirs is a pretty damn good institute for higher learning, but they shouldnt be skimpy on the student life either -- and by student life, i'd prefer to know about that inside the classroom. I mean student life outside the classroom would be pretty standard, no? Active lifestyles to offer with tons of CCAs for your picking, friendy lecturers, blahblahblah.. You'd hear that everywhere.

But no... very little details given on what the course actually does. If I rmb correctly, one of the faculties devoted 1 out of 30~40 slides just on its courses =.= and they didnt really talk about what they'd be doing for those courses.

Ah well, to be fair, some talks were pretty well structured la.. like the NIE talk, for one.

Anyway! Ytd I was really nice, i daresay.. c was lazy to go eat so I went down to her office to pei her fr lunch (albeit a bit late in the day, but lets ignore that.. haha). Anw I din really have much to do at home la, so left e hse immediately aft lunch.

Aft tt I went Vivo with the s31 dudes -- Bucky, hari, jiahao, sufiyan --at 4 (literally dudes only.. rachel only came at 7 plus). At first they wanted to watch watchmen. Wanted to in the sense that thr wasnt anything else nice to watch that wasnt already watched. so i kinda talked them out of blowing $8 like that.. Acty I feel a lil bad, cos yeah, mb someone wanted to watch it but wasnt as vocal. Ah well.. So we hung out at Starbucks instead. c reminded me only aft we bought drinks tt coffeebean had cakes at 1/2 price aft 5. Wasted.. haha.. Just chatted about the stuff we'd been doing, Uni admissions, etcetcetec.. Quite a helpful talk, I must say =) Thanks guys!

Had to leave soon aft rach and jinghui came over tho, cos sth cropped up.. haha.. oh well, cya guys ard again soon!

2009-03-13T19:58:00.002+08:00

Hey guys!!

I finally POP-ed! Not really pop as in explode, as SOME people seem to interpret it as. It means passing out parade, which means... I graduated from BMT!!

...which allows me to now go on to other parts of NS. Yay. Okay la, I dont really know what's all the fuss about graduating from a 9 week course in the army when you have more than a hundred more weeks to go before you get to ORD. Maybe cos to me my BMT exp wasnt all that spectacular, but yeah. In fact it's kinda sad.. I was getting some pretty gd frens. frens that I knew I could depend on (if only a little), frens that were alright with depending on me, and stuff like that. ya.

ok bye/ dont miss me!

3%

2009-03-08T01:04:00.003+08:00

The results are out...

it was pretty tense over at VJ juz before we were getting our results, and I was pretty sure I flunked it. But! Thank God (and no, Im not being blasphemous when I say thank god) I did pretty okay! as in seriously okay.

Under normal circumstances, I would say they're excellent results! But the people who know the course im intending to apply to would also know that my Chem B is kind of a bummer X_x

...tho, that being said, I cant help allowing myself a short flight over the moon, esp since the folks and c are all so glad for me.. Hehe..

and on a random note, this has been the longest break Ive had out of camp since I enlisted -- Friday morning book out, Sunday night book in (Woohooo!!)

Went with c to SMU today for the open hse, which really got me thinking -- what if I dont get into the course I want? I dont really have any contingencies eh.. crap.. mb shld spend the time thinking about that too...

But for mow, I'll juz focus on POP-ing, and my upcoming... BLOCK LEAVE!!! Which I'll use to the fullest extent to spoil myself (and mb c, if I'm feeling nice)

Oh, one last thing.. I have this rly stupid cough which everyone thinks sounds pretty serious -- to be fair, I think so too. But it's rly okay la.. thx. Im juz amazed shrimp understood me thruout the whole 2 hour tuition session I gave her.. Mb she was juz being nice la.. Haha -.- crap..

Okay! Up next is Sunday! here I come =)

2009-02-21T17:38:00.002+08:00

...

okay, most people should know me well enough to know that last post wasnt by me.

The people that know me even better can probably hazard a guess at who wrote the previous post. Hehe...

Anyway, yep, I'm enjoying yet another one of my bookout weekends.. You never really appreciate the people around you (family, friends, and what-not) -- and mainland Singapore in general -- until you get yourself stuck on "Survivor Tekong" and never seem to get voted out by the rest of the tribe

Hmm.. I cant really talk much about army life around here, since apparently it's against the law to blog about it..

But what I can say is that life there's pretty routine.. One thing to definitely look forward to is ADMIN TIME!!! =) Cos then I get to call back to my "loved ones" (as they put it). Another thing which I look forward to even more would be booking out (of course), cos then I dont have to bother calling said loved ones. Seriously, I dont think Ive ever appreciated seeing people face to face as much as when Im stuck in camp and have kilometers of water between me and them.

And! Ive decided that playing computer games is an absolute waste of time.. Haha.. Such conclusions do not come easily to someone who loves console games like myself, but yep, that "5 days (or more) of military life followed by 2 (or less) days of civillian life" repetoire really does things to people..

Also, to answer the people on my tagboard, nope, im not closing this blog.. Sure, I havent blogged since Christmas, but since when have I blogged regularly anyway? =P

Anyway, I heard that the A level results are coming out soon, which seems to be dreadednews to most of us....... Good luck guys! All the very best!

2009-02-21T14:17:00.001+08:00

hi its been so long since ive last updated.

miss me? hehe jk jk..

okay bye.

be back again. HEEHEE.

Christmas!

2008-12-25T17:41:00.002+08:00

Oh man.. I am stuffed!

Cooked xmas lunch with my parents. They did the 3 main dishes (turkey, roast pork and mushroom soup), while i covered the salad, potato salad (yes there were 2 salads), mashed potato, and boiled brocolli and carrots. Yeah, as you can see, i was in charge of all the side dishes =.=

My uncle and grandma joined us for the lunch as well. Which was just as well, considering the sheer amount of food we had..

Anyway, yesterday, fs joined us to go for Xmas mass! I was kinda worried tt she'd find it boring, but apparently that wasnt the case after all =) phew.. hope you enjoyed yourself there..

Before we left for the church, i received the sweetest present! =D thanks!

Yeah.. I hung out with the guys (WT, Roy, XZ) at Century Square on Xmas eve as well, before the christmas mass. First off, we got owned at Time Crisis 4. If it really interests you, yes, I played for the shortest amount of time before running out of lives =.= Tokens are a waste of money on me, unless spent on playing air hockey, which i seem to be at the very least "below average" at [as opposed to being a total walkover when it comes to pretty much any other arcade game].

We drank a little bit of (cheap) wine over lunch, and then went for a movie! It was Yesman, which, contrary to my expectations, was a pretty good film overall.. I thought it would be one of those run-of-the-mill hollywood shows, but this one got quite a few more laughs out of me than i expected. Either that, or the wine did get to my head afterall. Hehe..

To finish off, thanks to everyone for their xmas greetings, and Merry Christmas everyone! =)

2008-12-14T23:48:00.002+08:00

the guys (XZ and WT) came over 2 days ago to play on the Wii. I guess this is really the 1st time the Wii is used for it's original purpose.. Designers of the Wii intended the game console to be used for gaming between people (Hence the name Wii, which sounds like "we"), so for the very 1st time -- strictly speaking of course -- the Wii was being used as it was intended.. Haha.. Well, since im an only child, and with my place being decidedly inaccessible to most people, there's not a lot of "we" when it comes to gaming over here.

Anyway, the other drawback about being an only child was that I only had one Multiplayer game, and even then, it came free with the rest of the console =.= Oops.. But it was good while it lasted: played Wii Boxing and Bowling, and even a little of Wii Tennis. Also played Prince of Persia for awhile.

There wasnt even a second Wii remote X_x Yes, we just shared one remote.. Aie.. sry guys. Was really hoping I could get it by then, but obviously I didnt get to. Now im evaluating the cost effectiveness of getting another remote.. It's a pretty big decision, since it costs close to $90 to get another set. And I'm enlisting soon, which means I won't really be using the Wii much anymore. There's less than 30 days before I go into camp, and im not really expecting THAT many people to come over and try out the Wii.. so.. is it really worth it? Hmmm.. I MIGHT still use it next time, but how long will it be till i actually sit myself down with someone else to play the Wii tgt?

Eventually we just shifted back to the Playstation, which DID have multiplayer games. Specifically, we went for Digimon Rumble Arena! The problem was that there was SO much dust on the playstation controllers that they refused to respond. It was thanks to XZ and WT that the remotes finally came to life (after quite a bit of dusting and cleaning).

I have no idea how we were kept occupied with it for so long, but somehow the time just flew.. Definitely it was the company, rather than the game la. I wouldve quit it a long time ago if I were just playing alone..

Okay, today we went for a shuijiao party at chu's place. To my non-chinese readers (E.g. Bucky), Shuijiao = little dumplings with meat in it (to put it very simply). We were really swamped with food, which eventually we didnt finish, tho WT and I were trying our best to polish it off.. It was really nice, tho, which was probably why I didnt really stop eating till the rest just decided to play the games.. Haha..

The games were.. i dunno how to say la.. haha! But anw, I didnt kena forfeit at all.. which was kinda weird, cos everyone else had to do forfeit at least once. Didnt really matter, cos 3 of the forfeits involved me anyway X_x might as well have kena-ed the forfeits in the 1st place.

Yep, but anyway, it was fun catching up with the rest (or at least catching up as much as we could within that amount of time)! =) It's gd to get back together once in awhile, tho our paths are supposedly split.. Keep in contact, guys!

Hello again!

2008-12-07T00:40:00.008+08:00

Hey guys, once again, lots of stuff has happened since the last time I posted.

I guess I really should post more frequently so I dont have the task of typing extremely long posts to cover everything.. Hmm..

29th Nov
Today I helped my Dad sell some of his products at some function. Earned $50 just like that! Haha.. Helped to promote the products to a few people, but in the end, Dad secured all the deals anyway (ok la, i was quite noob). Forgot the earnings, but I know that even if I were paid commission for my work, I definitely wouldnt get that $50. So actually that $50 is more of a "son rate" la, so don't bother trying to offer your service as a salesgirl/salesman to him.. Haha!

But that being said, maybe I SHOULD mention his products here.. This is clearly not a commercial blog, so I'm not going to hardsell or anything. I personally think the deep heat cream is pretty good -- esp during the squash season, when I got injured. Anyways! you can go check it out for yourself if you like la.. There's MUCH more than just deep heat cream. you can check it out here

Uh huh.. then after that I went to sit ard at the airport awhile. Dunno why.. just felt like it, i think. Haha.. Then i went home for dinner. Ard 11 sth, i received an sms from chuchu that she came back! =)

30th Nov
Monsoon Camp EXCO meeting. Met up with most of the EXCO to discuss the games needed. Chuchu came along as well though she wasn't suppposed to =.= haha.. Made a boo-boo which I eventually corrected a few hours later. 'nuff said.. haha

Then chionged to roy's place to discuss the camp, when he started calling me. It got to a stage where we just decided it's best if I just stayed over. Worked on games proposals till 4.30am. Tried to get some sleep after that, but my body refused to let me sleep past 8 am, when the sun shone in thru the window and woke me up =/

1st Dec
Took a bath, got changed, and waited for Roy to get up (ard 11 am). Aft that, I went to tamp mrt station via MRT (duh..), to meet WT for recee.. We ended up discussing the water games at Mac nearby, which is where I succumbed to hunger and got myself a Big Mac.

I wasnt very tired, tho I slept really little. But WT asked me to go home rest anyway, so yep.. I kind of did, I guess.. Forgot what I did in the evening, but i think it involved going to someone's house..

2nd Dec
Held the first and only camp meeting with my EXCO and team leaders. It ended much earlier than expected.. I'd estimated it would end in the afternoon, but I dont think it went past 12.

After that, I went for prom. Apparently yingwah wasnt too impressed by how I dressed.. But oh well.. Im just glad I didnt go for my 1st choice (long sleeved pink striped shirt), cos that's what some weird dude wore, i wouldnt like to be a splitting image of him =.=

Anyway, I listened to someone and did have fun at the prom. Lots of picture taking, chatting, joking, "catching up for the last time"-ing and hoping that I might win some lucky draw thing. Which, sadly, I didnt.. Tho that probably wouldve saved me some trouble: Imagine how hard it'd be to find someone willing to go with me on a trip for 2 to (insert holiday destination here).. Hmm.. that'd be a really tough call now, wouldnt it? =P Hehe..

Met Wynne halfway during prom, who talked to me about her games segment (yeah, she's an EXCO member too). By the end of the conversation, I was convinced the camp was in a dire situation, unless I could coordinate everything before the camp started. Which meant i only had 3rd Dec to do my thing, since the camp was on the 4th.

Didnt go for post prom -- talking with Wynne revealed so many loose ends in the camp planning that I simply couldnt risk having a hangover (or staying out to ungodly hours for that matter).

So I took a cab back with Cephia.. shared the cost. The ride still wasnt cheap tho.. Well, wad else could I expect? Midnight surcharge =.=

Dec 3rd
All in all, this was the day that my role of coordinator (being the OIC of the children's camp) really shone la.

Finished off the Egg drop games, delegated the treasure map drawing to shawn, did up clues and locations for treasure hunt, checked and updated logistics with ZF (I think I called her more than 7 times that day.. oops..), went out in search of gunnysacks (which failed), did up a letter to the parents of the children who were gonna participate in the camp, confirmed some points system with XZ.. And finished with time to spare to go out in the evening! Damn, im gd..

Went to chu's house to watch some drama, then went with her to zhuofei's place to do some camp logistics stuff. Apparently I had overworked the poor kid.. Oops. Got a lift home by chu's dad (thanks!)

Dec 4
Start of the children's camp. Things went pretty ok..

I reached a bit late, which was rly embarrassing, since most of the team had arrived. It got embarrassing again cos I had overestimated the briefing time needed for the games and skit (hey, better to have too much time than too little, right?), so for the most part, the team leaders and EXCO were sitting ard doing nth.

But anyway, the kids came out at 10, and so we played icebreakers, eggdrop, treasure map hunt and watergames.

At icebreakers, is was immediately apparent that 2 teams had pretty good kids, and the other two teams had kids who were slightly uncooperative (aka naughty la.. haha). There was this one kid who just seemed to love to climb (yes guys, the problem kid). He apparently had some sob story (which i shall not reveal here, due to confidentiality issues), but either way, I just called on the team leaders to continue to be firm with him anyway. Karthikk and Pearlyn were the team leaders, and they were doing pretty well with him -- in fact, I was beginnning to suspect Karthikk was doing TOO good a job being firm with him.. hmm.. haha. No la, there wasnt any child abuse..

Next was eggdrop, which was for the most part, the game I played the biggest part in planning, so I was really proud of it! =) The game concept was taken from AHS Sec 3 camp. I came up with TWO whole games on my own! Of the other two, 1 was planned by roy, and I had an assist from WT for another.

.. So much for eggdrop being my pride and joy =.= Ah well! That's why I'm the OIC right? My job's coordination, not game planning.

but anyway, it was pretty good, I think. The games were ok overall, and apparently all the stations took equal amounts of time to play! So there wasnt much congestion (if any).

Treasure map hunt.. I cannot, for the life of me, rmb what happened here.. Oh well.. skip! If i rmb, i'll just edit this bit. All I rmb is that torrential rain hit us (after I started doing the rain dance, which was kinda dumb.. haha). And that sort of cut short our games. Oh! I rmb one part: WT and XZ were doing lao ying zhuo xiao ji for one game.. They both played as the eagle till they almost died la! Lol! E best part was when XZ asked me to help him time, then i extended his segment from 2 min to 2 min 40 sec =P

Anyway.. water games! WT planned this section, along with some of wynne's input (i think?) The kids loved this part the most! Well, it's kinda obvious that they would la, but still! WT explained e games pretty well to the kids.. i think this was one of the few times that the kids were really obedient for a games segment -- of course it wasnt a walk in the park even for WT la, but he controlled it v well.

That was e end of day 1 of the camp. After that, i chiong-ed to changi airport to send off Bucky.. it was really sad, acty.. I mean, i know he'll be back, budden.. ya la. Bade him a fond fond fond farewell.. Take care dude! Met yingwah, rachel and fahjin thr also, btw..

Aft tt, I rushed home, cleaned up e place as best i could before XZ came over. Then we discussed the games awhile, and played marble run!! Then chu and ZF came over, where we started wrapping e gift hampers for the kids. XZ and I were failures at it, so thankfully the girls could do it. Then we played MORE marble run (in the process getting ZF hooked to the game). For some weird reason we kept losing -- I later found out that little miss chuchu CHEATED! tsktsk..

they left a little later (after i retold the story of Asstro-boy to ZF.. chuchu even came up with her own version of the story! Muahahaha!). Unfortunately for me, XZ told them about my episode with the chinese dctionary.. Touche, dude, touche.

Ard 12 plus, Roy came over from MJ prom. We planned the camp and stuff a bit more, and played on the Wii a little. We slept at ard 4.30 (Yes, an extremely injudicious move considering there was one more day of camp)

Dec 5
This day was worse than Day 1 of the camp. The programmes werent that well executed, and we had manpower leakages to the extent that even I had to become a station master (by right, im supposed to be free for troubleshootoing).

We gave up on doing the skit (though I really loved the storyline) because most of the kids werent following. There were a few wondering what happened to the king and the witch and yada yada, but overall, most didnt care much =.=

The mass game was pretty awful, and since that was the 1st game of the day, that kinda killed the mood. Shucks.. After that, it was a logistical/programme nightmare.. But of course, as all OICs have to be, I wasnt that worried. Just prepared contingency after contingency..

The worst was when lunchtime came.. The CSI game was totally abolished (Sry again, XZ.. srysrysry..), and it's games were merged with Amazing Race. Then we started WAY later than scheduled, and so the kids were getting bored.. It was crumbling, and fast X_x

I'd like to say I somehow thot a way out of it, but I really didnt. We just hung on till the whole camp was over. It ended on a not so pleasant note, overall, cos even the prize presentation wasnt too upbeat =.= The kids didnt even wanna take pictures this year la! lol.. damn sadded.

But, after that, I went with Shawn to treat the rest of the team (at least those who could come) to Swensons Earthquake! There goes my $26.80++.. haha.. The waiters didnt give us the bill even after I asked twice, so I got a bit annoyed with them..

Anw, Roy, XZ and I went back to my place to get their stuff, which they left behind when they slept over.

I think I just went to sleep after that, glad the camp was over.. Hehehe..

Dec 6
Today I went for a scholarship talk. Met Soongteng and Phamelia there.. There was this segment about medicine.. Looks pretty tough to get in tho.. But i'll try anw.. Who knows?

Oh, before i left the place (it was at NUH), I met Hoyan, and her fren, who later asked if I could give them a lift. In case youre wondering, I said yes, of course.

After that, I went to find this little girl who ate fries and greentea icecream and drank coconut juice for tea. She was feeling so guilty about eating all that that she didnt wanna eat dinner, but eventually we went for fried fish soup and ice kachang.. Haha..

Dec 7
Went to continue that taiwan drama.. Some parts were really funny, cos their actions were super comical la.. Haha.. Went to stone at the multi-storey carpark aft that.. Chatted a little bit also la.. Haha

Dec 8
Couldnt sleep. Seriously. Slept at 2 plus, woke up at 6.30. And just tossed and turned and tossed and turned. Hate that feeling.. Haha..

Went to popular to look at primary sch books, and got a few quizzical looks from the staff when I asked for P3 and 4 textbooks.. Hey! I could have a kid bro or sis wad, no?

Hung ard for awhile, before deciding to go to AHS, to drop off some scouts material. Prolly wont be needing that anymore =/ Saw some scouts there, and learnt that the Scouts got Silver Merit for NPC.. aie..

It was raining the whole day, so I kinda regretted my choice of wearing slippers -- as WT would say, the slippers live up to their name. Went to bedok to buy a groundsheet, before going back to pasir ris. Visited chuchu again, and looked thru her sis's school work.. Ok, I was quite sadistic in that I was looking for stuff that was wrong. The process wasnt all that gratifying, cos shrimp wasnt v careless.. Continued watching dramas after that

Dec 9
Went to rachel's hse for a movie marathon, with some of the other 07s31ers.. Yingwah, Jinghui, Sarah, Sufiyan, Maryam, Ruiqi, and rachel (obviously). We played guitar hero!! it was SO cool.. I actually hit 95% of the notes on a particularly easy song, but still! Now I wanna play guitar hero more, but i guess it's too expensive to get the gear.. Xbox360 eh.. Anw, it's not a very effective use of money, considering Im enlisting soon.. Hmm..

Watched shutter.. i dno why it freaks me out a little, but it does. I mean it's not that scary, but the images just flash in my head anyway. Next, we watched some chickflick, which I didnt really enjoy.. Nth against chickflicks, some really are quite good (i think?). But this one just wasnt la.. Haha.. Anyway, I made a quick exit 45 min (?) into the show. Thanks for inviting me over Rachel! Had fun.. except for the chick flick part.. Haha..

Chu went for a job interview at Serangoon. Alone. At 730 plus at night. So since I was kind of in the area, I went to send her back la.. Pls lo. Tt place has Hotel 81 opposite it, so of course I din think she shld work there.

Dec 10
Talked chu's mum into not allowing her to go for yesterday's job. I guess that was the highest offer thus far, but, e work env didnt seem too decent. Considering there's a nightshift eh.. But I appeased her by helping her out with her resume, and setting up the christmas tree! I'm SO nice.. hehe..

Okay! Finally we've caught up with Dec 11! What events shall unfold?? Find out.. when i next decide to blog..!

Cya everyone! =)

A week after the A Levels

2008-11-28T01:11:00.000+08:00

Ok, I had NO idea it's been so long since ive last posted.

Well, actually, i had, just that I never really got round to actually typing anything.

The hardest part of blogging (for me, at least) seems to be typing in "blogger" into the search engine,a nd actually typing in the username and everything. Somehow I'm too lazy to do that, but not too lazy to type hellishly long posts that will have your eyes going wonky by the end of it.

Aie.. lots of things are happening now. Much has happened as well. So much, i don't think it's feasible for me to finish typing in everything within my 20 min time limit (yes, i impose a time limit on myself so my post lengths are regulated).

Hmmm.. If I were to be extremely frank, I'd say the after A's celebration started on 18th Nov. Which in fact was 2 days before our last paper, Bio Paper 1. In fact, I think so far, that has been my most laid back day, even till today.

There was bucky, yingwah, rachel, jiahao, sufiyan, jed (yingwah's boyfriend, not the J1 squasher), and myself. We went to play badminton and go swimming, though it was annoying when i got that leg cramp while swimming =.=

then we had waffles with icecream, and the pizza my mom bought for all of us.. hehe.. Just like that, my mom won over everyone's hearts, and suddenly I'm less cool than my mom X_x thx ah bucky. Haha..

Yeah, anyway, overall, I felt this year's A's werent as easy as previous years. Apparently, almost everyone else is saying that it really wasn't all that difficult, but oh well, that's how I felt anyway.. I just hope for the best for everyone when the results are released.

OH yeah, There was something weird about the A's. In AHS, when we had any exams (especially during the O levels), we EXHANGED wishes of "good luck", "all the best", etc. But this time round, I noticed that when I wished someone good luck before entering the exam hall, s/he'd give me a little smile, and look elsewhere.

Maybe it's just my imagination la, i dno.. I'm definitely not superstitious, believing that having people wish you good luck would really add to your fortunes and stuff. I also don't think that me wishing someone good luck (but not having such a wish reciprocated) would seriously affect my performance in the paper. But I think it's courtesy to return such well-wishes. Well, all i can really say is "D'ah well.."

Good luck to everyone anyway! haha..

I think it'd be pointless to talk about what Ive done on a daily basis since the A's have ended. Basically it's just a few things.

Children's camp (MAJOR!!!)
Prom shopping
Going out with people for food (PW lunch, Bucky-Jiahao-Yingwah dinner)
Bringing my cousin out to shop
Cleaning up my house (and no, im not done yet, despite being at it for 4 days now)
Training (it's not working... =/)

However, still feel a bit no-life la.. haha.. It's like how things are really hectic, yet, I'm still bored.. Ok la, not bored. It sort of feels like boredom, but yet I know it's sth else. Just don't know how to phrase it.. hmm..

Oh, anyway, I've heard from at least 3 people so far that I havent changed at all! That's weird.. I'd say I've at least changed slightly? Among these people are Roy, and 2 of my scout juniors.

But it kinda got me thinking. What kind of change would people be expecting anyway?Getting slimmer? New haircut? (even) deeper voice? Getting taller? More cynnical personality? I dunno.. I remember my grand-seniors also told me before (when I was sec 3) that I havent really changed since Sec 1 or 2 (!!!)

Well, if you add that all up (cos I interacted with those juniors mostly during Sec 3 and 4), apparently I haven't changed much from Sec 1 or 2 till.. now O_o That's a rather disturbing thought, really..

Let's assume they're right, and that I havent really changed noticably. Is that neccesarily a bad thing? Is all change really welcome?

I would say one shouldn't have to embrace change all the time. Afterall, if something works, why would you want to change it? If it's good, wouldn't changing technically be something bad? Put simply, why change a good thing?

Ok, you are all saved from an argumentative piece by the very fact that I've exceeded my time limit. (haha)

By the way, please don't immediately classify my arguments/debates as KI or philo stuff straight away. Intellectual endeavours through arguments are achievable by any lay-person, and basically by anybody who would care to think things through at a deeper level.

I feel it's a form of self-depreciation or even an unwillingness to think (laziness), when people stop any debate by going "Ah, you KI la, good la". KI is strictly an inquiry into knowledge construction and related stuff. A KI student is not a philo student, either.

Arguments are arguments. Ending one merely by saying the person you're debating with is a KI student is to just say "ok, I'm lazy. I feel like talking about other stuff". That, unless of course some mad KI dude really is showing off his prowess at KI stuff to some untrained person. That would be plain bullying -- like a Physics student comparing his prowess at Harmonics with an Arts student, i would say (though other KI students may accuse me of commiting a Strawman fallacy.. haha!)

Ok, I'm going to sleep, for real this time. Cya everyone!

Happy birthday Chuchu!

2008-09-20T23:39:00.000+08:00

Woohoo!! As of friday, prelims ended!!

But more importantly was Saturday -- SOMEONE's birthday! Wonder who, hmmm..? haha.. I'm glad you liked everything =)

Ok! gotta go now! Enjoy the shortest post I've ever written this year!

2008-07-28T22:09:00.003+08:00

Aww man..

Biology (H2) Revision
Chemistry (H2) Revision
Mathematics (H2) Revision
Economics (H1) Revision
Knowledge and Inquiry Revision
KI independent study

Ever get the feeling that the moment you cover one topic substantially, another 3 or older topic flies right out of your mind?

Yep, i'm feeling that right now. Hmmm...

You know, thinking about how difficult it is to handle five subjects with confidence, it amazes me how we each managed NINE different subjects back in our Secondary School days. Yes, it's pretty phenomenal, huh? English, Higher Chinese, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Elementary Maths, Additional Maths, Social Studies, Human Geography.. Oh man, if we were to take all those for A levels, i think we'd be cooked, no?

Ah well, anyway, now i've gotta really try and balance all the revision to hopefully retain everything in my mind. It's all about understanding, not memory work, really. Ok, maybe a little, like when we've got to make assumptions and stuff, or remember reaction conditions. But that aside, it should be all about understanding.

That's where a problem comes in: most of the exams require us to insert particular keywords into our answer, failing which we'd be denied the mark. So the exam approach seems a little inconsistent with what I'd define as learning (i.e. understanding the topic at hand). Rather, it seems to glorify those with stronger memorization abilities.

Then again, there's those thinking questions that are being introduced, so that may limit rote learning a little.

Anyway, after the A levels, i think life'll be pretty different. For many reasons, actually.

One, our schedules'll be less fixed and all. So we'll need to be more disciplined in doing what we're doing. Also, at Uni level, most of us'll be studying directly for the stuff we're going to do for our careers, which is vastly different from what we're currently learning. Of course, there're other reasons, but im not writing an essay here, so i wont continue. haha..

Gah, ok, study mode's finally been fully activated. But just before that, I really had quite a few chances to unwind, so I'm pretty happy =)

Went to catch Batman and the Mummy 3, which basically decimated my personal usable savings. But, i guess the company made up for it... just barely. Haha! jkjk.. thx for watching with me! =)

Also, we celebrated Mr Chua's birthday (on 8th August)! This was really great, cos we gave him the following:
1. A hat -- composed of a traffic cone and some elastic band
2. A card -- composed of two plastic cardboard thingys with messages from everyone (Awww..)
3. An inflatable tube (with a duck's head designed onto it)
4. A brownie cake and some vanilla icecream

There were plans to get a bottle for him initially (cos he just lost his), but THANK GOODNESS we didnt! 0_0 Apparently someone got him a replacement bottle, and it was exactly the same type of bottle we were planning to get for him.

Yeah, then thr was a small meeting at bugis that same day. The turnout was quite bad (at the end only 5 people turned up), but I had a gd time catching up with old weitheng. But I was pretty tired from preparing from all the preparation for Mr chua's birthday (I slept near 2 pm), so sorry guys if i didnt talk much. Haha..

Oh, and there was the Beijing Olmypics Opening, which was super spectacular. Wont really describe it, cos i may not do justice to it. But anyway, I was really impressed by all the effort put into the whole thing. Seriously. On a side note, it was kind of a pity that the NDP was just the day after the Opening, so I guess many of us just couldnt help comparing... haha

Hmmm.. I also got to catch up a little bit with Xian Zheng yesterday, cos we took bus 31 back together. You know, it's kind of weird that it's only this one time that we took the bus together, considering we've been together in VJ the past 1.6 years.. Haha.. Oh well, now I know I dont always have to take the bus back alone if my parents aren't in the area to give me a lift!

OH, and i've finally submitted my KI Indepedent Study! Finally, after so long, I can almost conclude the whole IS business. Though, there's still a chance that there's major corrections needed for the whole IS, but that's after the teacher's comments. For now, im pretty satisfied with my current argument =) Let's keep our fingers crossed that the IS is pretty well constructed, and so no major overhauls are needed.

well, that's it for now. I wont be going on hiatus like many other blogs have done in recent times. That being said, you'll definitely be seeing a lower frequency of updates in the days culminating to the A levels.

And once A levels are over...

... well, let's leave that till A levels are over, shall we? =)

Take care everyone!

Happy birthday to me! (and Audrey too!)

2008-07-13T13:07:00.003+08:00

Hey guys! Many of you may know this already, but yeah, yesterday was my birthday! And by extension, it's audrey's birthday today.. So if you know her, rmb to wish her! yeah..

I wouldve posted this much earlier, but somehow my internet totally refused to work the whole of yesterday and the day before.. =/

That's the calendar i was talking about the other day, along with my alarm clock (which seldom works), Squidie, and (i think) Mian Bao Chao Ren.. haha

So, yesterday we went to tampines mall with Weitheng, Roy, Quan Heng, Chuchu, MeiYee and Yiting. A bit funny cos I was supposed to meet them at pastamania, but when i finally reached thr, they told me to go to e arcade in century square.. AND, when i finally found them, we set off to pastamania in tamp mall.. X-x such gd frens ah..

Anyway, as you by now wouldve guessed, lunch was pastamania (I seem to be going thr a lot this year... this is the 3rd time so far.. X-x) -- Spicy Chicken Sausage, with garlic bread! haha.. Was supposed to share a pizza with SOMEONE, but she ate the whole thing =.= actually, im glad she did, or id have been bloated.. haha

I opened the present I got from the guys (WT, Roy, Xian Zheng and Shawn). Thx guys for the $80 hair straightener! =.= Im sure it'll come in handy someday when i no longer want people to recognise me. Geez.. haha.. jkjk. Thx a lot for the present! If your allowance were anywhere near mine, each of you wouldve had to starve for 2 weeks to afford the gift.. haha..

I also got a mega cookie from famous amos, which tasted really good! haha.. well, they ARE famous amos.. havent taken those cookies in a LONG time.. haha.. except the one in the vending machine

After tt, we went to the arcade. OMGdness, from now on, im gonna keep out of the arcade.. X-x Not that i didnt have fun, but i felt like a total bum after 2 hours in thr -- in e sense tt i din feel like doing anything else with my life.. -- the feeling wore off eventually, but yeah.. freaky..

I think the worst was the para para la.. =.= i cant believe i actually got dragged into it.. I got myself totally owned at the shooting games as well.. In fact, i think even yiting survived slightly longer than me.. Tho, i really liked the sliding hockey puck thingy. y'know? the one played on the big table? ya, that one..

Anyway, since this is the 100th post, I'll have to make it special, like i said.. And since so far i;ve only got one suggestion, i suppose i'll have to go along with it =.=

Here goes!

This is when i was.. erm.. really young. Well, i cldnt really see any indication of what age i was at that time.. haha.. Ah well..

And.. this is me on this day about 14-15 years back! For those who cant really tell, that's my mom.. yep..

Somehow i just get the feeling that i dont look anything like in the past, but not many people agree with me.. ah well..

Yeah, so anyway, happy 100th post anniversary, and happy 18th birthday to me! haha.. cya guys around..

Roy's 18th Birthday

2008-07-05T22:52:00.003+08:00

"You look like Superman...=.="
-- practically all my friends and both my parents, after seeing me wear my new birthday present, a blue shirt

Hey, i think it's a pretty nice shirt lor.. tho i dun think ive got any nice pants to go with it yet.. hmm.. Maybe grey jeans..

..wait.. 0_0

am i talking about fashion here?! OMGdness!!! okok.. i'll stop. Oh crap.. i think it rubbed off onto me cos i stuck around Roy (aka fashion junkie) too much, even tho it was juz this evening. And it is this evening in particular that this post is addressing:

Today's 5th July. Roy's Birthday.

Now, preparations started earlier this week, when Mengteng (Roy's Girlfriend, for the uninitiated) called Chuchu regarding the surprise party, but we only knew what to do on Thursday nite (cos mt only gave the details then), i.e. Buying the cake, which Fanshu did on Friday, with her SAJC friend.

It was some really expensive cake, so i hope you liked it roy!

Anw, preparations started moving properly today. After dropping off my KI book at white sands library (happens to be titled "What is this thing called knowledge?"), i met Chu at the Pasir Ris MRT station.

Then we took e MRT to Tampines, where we got this uber 2kg cake. Oh, we met MeiYee there too! haha.. I had to carry e cake, and incidentally, there was no proper carrier bag for it. And there was a big crowd.

e situation basically reminded me and Chu of Nabi (the Cat) in "There She is! Step 2: Cake Dance".. haha.. tho e person receiving it was so definitely not my Doki (the Rabbit).. =.=

Anw, we took e MRT to tanah merah (i got my directions a little messed up =.= a bit embarrassing). There we met Jingru, Joanna, and Joycelyn -- yep, the 3 "J"s of 4H -- and we went to Roy's place!

Reaching thr, we went to hide all our stuff so Roy wldnt suspect anything when we reached home. Then we played with Furry, Roy's dog (imaginative name, huh.. =.=) But now Furry's not furry, cos he juz went for grooming.. haha

Yeah, then when Roy was getting near, we all gathered and hid in his bedroom!! hahahah!!!

But before tt, Roy called Mengteng to see when they were going out (She'd arranged for a "date" earlier). But she basically cancelled on him, to lure him back home. But WL!! e way she put it ahh.. even my heart broke sia.. "i cant meet you cos ive got sth on. Cant tell you now, cya soon" or sth liddat.. OWWCHIE!!!

Haha.. tt girl cant lie.. =.= Anw, we hid in Roy's room. We were debating on wad we shld do when Roy came in thru tt door..

1. Stand up, scream HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROY!!!!
2. Act like nothing's wrong with 10 of us being stuffed in his bedroom, and juz say "Yo dude! Nice room you got."

We ended up doing option 1, but i thot option 2 wldve been SO much funnier.. haha.. =) But it din really matter. When Roy came in, he was totally speechless.. haha! i wondered if he wanted to cry. I mean, put in perspective, his GF juz cancelled their date, and suddenly he has a surprise party!! haha.. So cool..

Felt really gd for him, cos, well.. i guess it's pretty touching. Haha.. then we left e room, leaving roy and mt have some alone time in e room for awhile. I'll spare you guys e details.. haha! No, dun think TOO sick..

Anw, lots of ppl turned up for e party! AHS ppl included Chu, Audrey, Mei Yee, Joanna, Joycelyn, Jingru, Mr X, Quan Heng, and Jeremy (Or was it Jeremiah? Or Jonah, Joe, Jack, Joel, or sth..? Starts with J lah.. haha). I also met some MJ ppl like Jezer and Khartikk (hope i got your names right!), and of course Mengting. There were a lot of other ppl that i din noe.. haha..

Oh! Marcus has grown so MUCH!!! haha.. looks really mature now.. hehe.. and he wants to go to VJC!! pshaw... haha.. I wanted to help out, but he asked me to go socialize and take e chance to know more girls... =.= omg..

and Roy's little sister's grown so much too!! haha.. E last time i saw her, she was a wee lil squirt! haha.. it's actually quite cool watching e young ones grow so much and so fast!! lol..

Anw, when Audrey arrived, i recieved my birthday present!! which as mentioned earlier was a blue t-shirt from Topman! haha.. This'll be my 1st Topman product, actually.. i cant believe everyone doubted tt i'd fit into it!!! I mean, it's L wad.. you people of little faith.. X-x Call yourselves friends.. Haha.. but truth be told, i was doubtful myself.. =P It's so small la! i cant believe my body fit into it.. haha!

But the other thing was tt everyone was saying how e colour reminded me of Superman =.= Thanks ah.. now all i need is red underwear.. (To those looking for bday ideas, NO! i dont want red underwear. period.)

Haha.. but anyway, Roy was super super xing fu and touched!!! Tho i wonder if he appreciated it when we splattered birthday cake on his face! =)

Well, anw, i finally left at about 2115hrs, wishing Roy one more gdbye and happy bday.

I think Roy wont forget this in a pretty long time.. haha.. Once again, happy birthday!!

Anw, when i reached home, i was super tired!! Gosh... e party was somehow super draining.. X-x

So, now, i'll go get some sleep...!

Oh, i have this sudden interest in kendo.. haha.. the concept behind it is really cool.. the merging of mind-body-spirit. Wanna have a taste of it! hahaha.. Maybe in University la.. It's nice to see tt for this art, one must free his/her mind of distracting emotions like anger, hate, surprise, doubt and fear, so it's not just all out brute force and violence.

but the armour and equipment looks expensive.. =/ haha!

Ok, i really gotta sleep now..! if not i'll oversleep again.. cya guys ard!

Next up: 100th post anniversary!!! =D

Entry 98

2008-07-03T21:44:00.002+08:00

Here's another post to save my blog from becoming stagnant once again!! =)

hmmm.. sch's started again.. my dear fren juz got his bubble burst, tho he seems to be coping quite well. Hang in there buddy..!

Well, monday (30th June) was really cool, cos after sch, i went on a food quest!! haha.. my 1st, so ya.. The target: BBQ stingray.

okay, KI WAS SUPPOSED TO END QUICKLY =.= accursed lecturer kept repeating his points and dragging his sentences. Tho, all things considered, he was saying all tt for our benefit, so i shld be grateful. Mr Wong & Ms Wu were ok tho.. pretty fast.. so i shall not rant against them, for they have done no wrong.. haha.

Anw, e food quest was more of a quest than i'd expected.. =.= started off at Marine Parade library. And walked. and walked. and walked.. Luckily we found an underpass quickly.. someone was worried tt e plan was to cross e expressway to e ECP.. haha! Im not so mad, k?

I think we were at e end of e ECP beachline when we reached e other side.. haha..

then i said "ok, let's go this way..". But, really, wad i was thinking was "oh crap, I am so dead.. I have no idea where we are.." haha.. so much for scout training in orienteering.. oops..

Anw, we walked for REALLY long.. before we reached e place close to VJ. Which made me wonder why we didnt take e bus to VJ and walk from there.. =.= once again, my bad..

Then we walked somemore! (-.-) past e place tt sold e chilli crabs and stuff.. Come to think of it, i havent eaten there in quite awhile.. THEN we saw a waterskiing facility nearby (Never been this far before.. haha..), which signalled tt e destination was really nearby.

Anw, we finally got there, got ourselves a BBQ chilli stingray and some BBQ rojak (which was totally diff from normal rojak).

Ok, lemme try and summarize e rest real quick.
- i received a wooden calendar thingy (it's really cool. If you guys ever come to my place, u've gotta see it..)
-we left, and waited for bus 401 to take us back to Bedok.
-Bus 401 din come, prompting me to check e timings of Bus 401, only to find that 401 only works on weekends.. =.= Yeah, i felt really stupid
-walked to e main road outside Mandarin Gardens
-took e bus from there back to Bedok (by now it was 7 plus.. oops!)

Anway, on reaching bedok, i was supposed to return this pink bottle to SOMEONE.. =.= but forgot, till i got on Bus 2, which so happened to come just as i reached e bus stop.. Lucky! If only tt happened more often.. hmmm...

Yeah, anw, overall it was kinda fun! Thanks.. =) tho next time i'll try to minimize the "getting lost" part of the food quest.. haha!

Oh, and to WT.. haiz.. how cld you not rmb my bday?! Tsktsk...

And thanks to a certain cadbury person, i had to visit ECP the day after, juz for a "committee meeting".. =.= curse you..

ah well.. i'll cya guys really soon! Byebye!

97th post...!

2008-06-27T22:28:00.003+08:00

"Okay guys, now you'll need to clear your GC's memory. Press the ON, 2 and 8 buttons simultaneously. To achieve this, you will require at least 3 fingers." -- Mr Foo See Boon, at Math Common Test 2

ok, in a little of a bad mood.. dunno why. One of those random occurences, where suddenly even the good things dont seem so good anymore, and nth seems as rosy, and yada yada.. you'd know the feeling, and yeah, it'll probably wear off soon in the next few hours or so, but till then...!

Haha.. anw, there's really little reason why i should be feeling this way! The Common Tests are over, I have a Quest with someone really soon, and im probably gonna play badminton with my mom tml or sunday, and sch is starting soon, and i din have classes today (and went to Vivo instead)! Moreover, there's gonna be a 4(or maybe 3)-musketeers + Chicken + The Girls outing soon..

...ANYWAY...

Common Test 2 is over! haha.. well, i know im supposed to be studying for the next test (Prelims.. 0_0), yet, all i wanna do is kick back right now. So you can imagine my frustration when i heard this week still got tuition.. -.- Juz a teensy weensy lil break for that pls?

KI was, as it usually is, sth that was challenging.. haha.. In a way, it was kinda fun, but not the type of fun where you're sure of getting a good grade. The Critical Thinking qn was a little strange, so i dont think i'll score high for that. and i left quite a lot of openings for the markers to rip my argument apart for the essay.. =( Then again, it's not easy to conceive a water-tight argument, right?

H1 Econs (yes, to the dear ppl who were so shocked tt i was offering 13 units at some point in time, i DID drop Econs to H1 finally) was not very different from a H2 paper, except i wrote one essay less! haha.. yeah! But it was kinda tough, cos they were asking me to write 25 marks worth of essay on BOP.. which was SUPER weird, cos thus far ive only seen growth, inflation and unemployment related macroecons qns! Ah well..

H2 Bio.. surprisingly well done! I think i really enjoyed the paper, even if it turns out that im gonna get screwed by the markers for this and that.. but still, overall i think i tried pretty hard, and did pretty ok.

H2 Maths.. well.. the winning streak with Bio had to end sometime.. and so it ended with maths! Silly me went to forget to revise stats, so i basically juz lost 33% of the paper to Poisson, Binomial and Normal Distribution. It was so bad tt i forgot most of e keystroke for binomcdf and binompdf etc, and i had to relearn them on the spot.. =.= I need to avoid such stupid mistakes from now on.. the rest of the paper was slightly more doable, but by no means a walkover.

and finally, H2 Chem.. well, let's juz say im totally screwed for that. I really hope i pass.. =( Not for the sake of passing, but at least to see tt my standard is like above passing rate at least...

So, overall CT2 wasnt that easy a set of papers, but that being said, it came and went pretty quickly...! Haha.. 5 papers in 4 days..!

After that, i went to play squash with bucky. Which din turn out as fun as i'd hoped, cos i din wanna exert too much, so i juz served high lobs to kill him before he had a chance. A strategy that, thinking back, was quite mean of me to do la... oops.. sry bucky. But hey, i emerged totally uninjured, so tt's gd! =)

m'yes... about the squash combined dinner.. well, it was really far back now.. =.= This'll teach me to put off blogging abt sth till a lot later..

Anw, it was juz aft e VJC vs. SAJC Hockey Girls Finals (Which VJ won, of course). Taking e MRT back to City Hall from there, i left ouyang (who went back to pasir ris), then took e MRT to Chinatown.

Then i got pretty lost, i was supposed to meet the guys at a mac outside e mrt station. e only prob was that there were 3 exits, and each one had a macdonalds nearby.. =.= curses on mac, who wanna have so many outlets.. X-x

Eventually finding them, i realised i probably shldve taken e MRT home with chu instead.. =.= probably wldve been much more enjoyable.. Cos e guys were talking abt soccer, and i dun watch, so... juz stoned there for i think an hour plus..

Anyway! after that, we went to find e girls, who were at the mrt station, before going to Yum Cha.. Hmm.. then mr chan came. And by Mr Chan, i mean e Squash teacher in-charge, not our Principal..

Dinner was a little strange. I din really talk too much cos i din really know e girl's team. So all e more i wished i'd gone home.. =.=

...well, actually tt's not e whole truth. I know Chuncheng, Shanti, Steffi, Pauline, and in a really roundabout way, Camille. In fact, e only one i dont know is.. well.. i dont know her name, for that matter.. oops! But at any rate, i din really talk much..

Niam sat next to me, and Jed (the squash junior who lost his ball in a tragic misplacement) din come. So yeah.. tt's mainly it.

Oh, but aft tt, Mr Chan brought us ard Chinatown a bit, and we went to some hawker centre to eat tang yuan! his treat (if i rmbed correctly).. which was strange, cos e outing was to treat him for training us for the squash season. But oh well.. it was a pretty nice place.

I had durian tang yuan for e 1st time of my life.. =.= and yes, i din especially enjoy it... I'll stick to peanut or seasame from now on.. haha! But Mr Chan was really nice..

Besides.. this is probably e 1st time i really talked to him. Usually in training, he'd juz be instructing me wad to do, or (more frequently) shaking his head.. X-x Oops..

After tt, we left, and yeah.. tt's about tt.. the end!

So yeah, cya guys ard!

4 more posts to go...

2008-06-20T01:20:00.000+08:00

OMG.. so many ppl getting Pes A.. 0_0 ah well.. it's supposed to show your level of fitness anyway, so if it really considers me unfit, then perhaps that's what's good for me.

Hmm.. if you're wondering, or didnt know in the 1st place, i got Pes D for e NS checkup. It's a temporary grading, apparently, till the medical staff decide to grade me as either Pes A (not possible, cos im overweight =.=), Pes B (rather likely), Pes C (also a possibility), or Pes E (idk wad this one means, so cant comment).

Ah well..

Oh, anw, there are 4 more posts to go, till e 100th anniversary! I've got 2 suggestions so far one of which is not a suggestion, anw.. so, to Jingru, yep, im free to collect my b'day present anytime! haha.. i think my b'day lands quite conveniently on Saturday, so i'd probably be free to claim my gift, which should have a value of above S$50.. =) jkjk.. it's e thot tt counts, right?

as for e other suggestion... well... i'll keep it secret for now.. u'll probably find out soon, anw.. yep..=)

Anw, i'll talk abt e 4 things i wanted to e other time (for those not interested in a long story, you shld flee while you still can, cos it's quite lengthy, rather boring stuff, so ya!)

Special note: this is pretty late at nite, so i'll probably sound a tad diff from normal.. haha

1. Tom Yam Noodles!!
Oh my, this was really a long time ago! was during e econs symposium thingy. Well, aft tt, jh and i were really hungry, so we went to e canteen, but all e stalls were closed! so, jh went to buy sth at the vending machine. the food fell down, but the door was stuck!!

Anw, knowing jh, he forced the door open aft a few tries (typical brute.. =.= haha.. jkjk). Guess wad we found!!

Ritz cheese biscuits (jh bought these)
some other weird biscuit
And... 2 cup noodles!! Tomyam and laksa flavoured...

and jh gave me e laksa one =.= for e record, it din taste very gd, but hey, i din haf to pass for my lunch! so im not complaining..

Haha.. so lucky.. got free food. But I still din get my tom yam noodles, so a few days ltr, i went with bucky & yingwana to 7 eleven to stuff myself..

Had some random chat, which comprised.. well.. kinda forgot.. haha..! X-x but if im not wrong, it was sth impt.. Funny how the impt stuff nvr gets remembered..

2.a) Tennis Girls vs. RJC tennis
Well, yes, it's really old news too.. we (they) beat them! booya!

It was kinda sad, cos ShaoFang (is tt even how you spell her name?) had this HUGE crowd cheering for her, while the others were, well, playing pretty much on their own. Personally, i thot everyone of them were playing pretty hard (except one of the matches which was quite obviously a walkover for VJ), so it's kinda unfair tt only one of their players was getting the attn..

But tt being said, i think she was playing the deciding match, so probably tt's why.. ah well..

oh ya! i met Lucy (some Chingay Group I/C). She's GI/C for TM1, while im GI/C for TM2! haha.. quite fun catching up, tho we din really know each other tt well..

b)Soccer Boys vs. MJC soccer
yes, it's old news too tt we lost... =.= i wasnt there cos i went for tennis match support, and had to go for tuition aft tt (hey, i tried to cancel it, but couldnt.. haha)

i heard e match was pretty heart breaking, esp tt freak goal by MJC within, i dunno.. e 1st 5min or sth? I also heard abt their players causing one of our guys to get fractured, which is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!! well, im not so much on about our players getting pwned by MJC physically, but after all tt's said & done, it's still a game, and a fracture is sth that you'll carry for life, so it's kinda sad..

Haha.. i must sound like some kinda safety freak, but i guess tt would explain why i always wear my goggles during squash games, even tho no one else does.. well, i only have a pair of eyes right? what's my family gonna do if I cant see? All cos of a game? No thx..

Ah, anw, moving on...

3. Hockey Girls vs. SAJC hockers
Well, this was an interesting match! Yes, we won, which was cool, but the thing that really intrigued me was tt even when i cheered for VJ when i sat at e SAJC side of e grandstand, i managed to emerge alive!! haha..

Honestly, ive always wanted to try it out, for some reason.. y'know? cheering behind enemy lines? It's always interesting how others would react. Would they even know how to react?

haha.. more importantly, i got to meet WT and Chu2 again! haha.. this time wt and i had more time to talk, as compared to the SAJC band concert, and so we did! =) Ahh.. good memories..

For that matter, i met him again when i went to visit YZ's house the other day... in a few words, it was a day of digitized gnomes, N game, Ragdoll masters, some movie about guys kissing [dun ask me why.. disturbing], Blades of Glory, Campbell SOUP!!!, and a very wee bit abt studying..

After e match, i went off with Chu2, cos WT wanted to see e Hockey guys play as well.. Almost went the wrong way, cos i thot we had to cross e bridge.. =.= lucky chu insisted we juz walk along e tracks..

We talked abt some doctor stuff tt she happened to hear abt, but e discussion had to be cut short cos i was going for a combined squash dinner.. After i left, kinda regretted my decision, cos I predicted tt it wld be pretty awkward (since i almost totally dun talk to e girl's team)..

Aiya.. but sad la. Cos i already told my capt i'd be going so ya lor.. haha..

WELL!! it's too late for me to talk abt the dinner as well, so i'll end off here.. gd nite!

2008-06-14T18:34:00.003+08:00

OMGdness! this is SUCH a cool pickup move... 0_0

One of these days im gonna use it, juz to see if ppl'll really fall for it..! =)

Anw, this is the 95th post! Let's do sth special for the 100th post..

Hmmm.. i'll answer ONE question that you leave on my tagboard (i get to choose which one)! Yep. So from now till the 100th post, you can ask any question under the sun (though, if you make it too personal, i'll probably ignore your question and answer someone else's.. haha)

Or... maybe u guys suggest what we shld do to celebrate the 100th post! dun put "change the font" or "change the photo", cos tt's already in the pipeline.. Uh-huh..

Bascially it's just to make tt post special, so gimme any ideas you've got =)

2008-06-09T21:42:00.002+08:00

lol.. ok, im gonna put off posting about the few events i was gonna talk about the other time, i.e. the following:
1. Tom Yam Instant Noodles
2. Tennis Girls (vs. RJC) & Soccer boys (vs. MJC)
3. Hockey Girls (vs. once again.. SAJC)
4. Squash Team Combined dinner!!

Haha.. anyway, this is me 1 day after UNR poverty camp 2008.

I myself am pretty amazed tt i learnt quite a bit after the camp. Quite honestly, i was kinda thinking that it would be a pretty standard camp, with a standard moral behind the whole story.

..Like.. those guys are a ton worse off than you, and stuff liddat.

But somehow, after being a facil, I had to actually having to force my brain to find meaing in the stuff we did, so i could do the reflections with my group members. So in that way, i think i benefitted a whole lot more than them, who just went along with the camp, and didnt take a trip down that mental road.

Well, actually i hope they did the do some reflection, but the guys probably didnt =.= tho, thr's a possibility the girls did.

anw, the gist is that we spent (or tried to spend) a day in the shoes of a person living in poverty. I think the part that emulated this the best was the sleeping part, cos i felt REALLY cold, and totally din feel like doing anth. Also felt super hungry, and really yearned for a bath.

But at least, even then, i knew exactly when i would finally get some proper sleep, in a proper bed, after a proper bath, and having a proper dinner.

Imagine e disaster victims over there, who would have to wait an indefinite amount of time to be restored to a proper standard of living. Not only did they have a sense of loss, confusion, total disorientation and discomfort, they would definitely have a sense of hopelessness.

Would they get aid? how long would it last? how long would they have to search for their family and friends? were they even alive? what would they do now? how would they support their family members and themselves?

Really think about it and imagine yourself there. Yep, that's how i felt during the camp..

Only thing tt i din really think was useful to the participants was e fact that e majority of the camp was held near VivoCity, which kept prommising them that they would soon be restored to their original standard of living, and out of that impoverished situation. Real quake victims would be greeted with a collapsed form of their version of VivoCity.

Anyway, reflections aside, they had this really nice theme song! here's the vid, about rebuilding -- about the need to pick themselves up and carry on with life -- one brick at a time:

Yi Zhuan, Yi Wa (One Brick, One Tile)

tho, there was one part tt i was pretty turned off by.. the building of the houses from paper bricks.

Cos they wanted to grade e houses on stability and creativity, but if we're given the same materials, and a set method to build it, how could there be much difference? haha..

Anw besides tt, e way we built it (with a wire mesh roofing), it would be way safer for quake victims as temp shelter, cos it would protect them from aftershocks, rather than a brick roof, which may smash its inhabitants in e event of an aftershock. Only bad thing was tt we ran out of material, or we'd have build a slanted roofing as well, to protect against rain.

And we built e bricks into the pvc pipe skeleton, instead of around it (though it looked much uglier) cos from an engineering point of view, it would support e structure. Cos if you built around it, the bricks wouldnt be able to give support to e skeleton, and that would be pretty dangerous too =.= think "spontaneously collapsing house".

Also, the judges didnt like e idea that our house had two doors. E female judge laughed tt it was "such an open house". Which personally i find to be a very simple-minded comment. If you're a quake victim at risk of aftershocks, you'd want a house that would potect you from the elements, which ours should have done farly well (if it had slightly smaller windows), while letting you evac real quick if needed, rather than having a small door.

But apparently, e judges only saw e aesthetic bit, so it's kinda funny. Esp since the winners of e comp would be sent to China to help rebuild. You'd think they'd want a practical team, not an aethetic, but dangerously thinking team.

But oh well.. Liked jh's idea of wiring the bricks to the pvc skeleton.. totally save dthe wall from collapsing.

ok, moving on! WT told me recently that.. drumroll.. THERE SHE IS: STEP 3 IS OUT!!! the third installment of the Sambakza-born sensation has finally hit the Internet!

So here it is:

Gdness... so cute right? Haha.. poor girl's 1st date was almost spoiled by tt guy's attitude.. But then again, as WT pointed out, e guy was being plagued by her.. haha.. and throw in e fact that it was a social taboo for rabbits and cats to be tgt, and u'd probably understand e cat better.. haha

Ya, anw, here's a final comment as i end off for today: OMGdness, the girls in my group (the poverty camp one) were damn pervy la!!

In e day time it was still ok la, but when they were supposed to sleep in e slums ah.. Gdness.. think intertwinning appendages. I know it was cold, but duuude.. =.= very les..

Throw in the fact that there was no guy-girl seperation that you'd usually see in most camps, and you see that my guy participants werent having a very peaceful nite. JH and I were sleeping a dist away -- thank gdness -- cos we later heard from our male participants that they were doing some sick-talk among themselves..

Haha.. but one dude was happy to be sleeping there X-x

But seriously, you wouldnt be able to tell if you saw them normally. Anw, JH and I think they probably did that to freak e guys out la. Just hope they werent really horny =.=

Lol.. anw, this section is to reply to tags, since there are so many! Thanks guys!

JR: "stop rubbing salt onto poly students". No, i wasnt rubbing salt onto poly students. But do note that if i didnt add in that disclaimer, i'd be totally ignoring the fact that i do have poly readers, and i think i'd be rude to ignore them. Besides, there's nth to rub salt on. the comment was basically that this portion of our tertiary education is ending, and obviously the poly track is one year longer. Yep.. no hard feelings ah..

WeiTheng: "it aint us we ans to man..for what are we but the children of He?" Yes, dude, of course.. know wad you mean. I admit it did miss that out, sry. It's very saddening that I (or can i extend it to "we all") dont always remember or see his place in our lives. The Faith is not always a thing that's easy to keep, besides superficially, and it's not hard to lose track of it at critical (or even non-critical) times. But that doesnt mean we shldnt try to keep to it, even tho we're taught that He is always thr waiting for us. Yep..

JR: Yes, it's quite improbable that you wont get hypertension from having salt rubbed from you. But can you say with all certainty that this is true? (Eh, WT, if you're reading this part, this is a little bit like the qns we deal with in KI, as you were asking that day)

Chuchuu: Haha! ya! Now we know QH's choice of a gd partner! >=)

Chuchuu: Oh really? Oops.. shall go change it..

JR: Haha.. budden e pic so old and mouldy alr, so muz change..

Jed: WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE?! Damned J1.. Haha.. no, seriously, how'd you get to this blog? didnt know i was so linked in the blogosphere.. Haha.. Did you watch the 2nd vid in this post? Tt's where i got the Happy Rabbit Zone idea from.. haha.. Useful training tip, no? =) How's squash for you now? Training hard?

JR: songhan forgives you. Or more likely he didnt see the spelling mistake at all, since he probably doesnt visit.

Okay, that's it for me! Cya guys ard!!

2008-05-30T00:05:00.002+08:00

He gazed down on the dusty battlefield, surveying the ruins that lay before him. The edge of night grew closer, encroaching the cluttered landscape.

A slight rustle caught his ear, carrying wretchedly across the stagnant air. He tightened his grip on his weapon, hefting it with the slightest of effort.

Inching closer, he allowed himself a quick, silent, breath of air.

"One more," he muttered. "Just one more, and I'll have cleansed this land."

The words seemed to lend him strength.

Strength that he now used to tighten the muscles in his legs. With every last ounce of strength, he soared through the air, and delivered a quick punch to his advesary.

It fell heavily, lifeless.

And that was how I finally finished filing my chem and math notes! Thankyou thank you!! =)

Quote of the day:
"Quote of the Day™!![see the trademark christen??]" -- WeiTheng, on the origins of "Quote of the Day"

Yeah, yeah, fine, it's yours.. happy? haha..

Hmmm... anyway, i know i was supposed to type about some things in the post. I'll that next post (mainly cos i dont really have sufficient time right now.. haha)

Well, firstly, some of you may have noticed the tagboard is empty!

For others that have just realised this blog does in fact come equipped with a tagboard, well... i dont really have anything witty or snide to say to you right now, but i'll think of something! Just know that it's gonna be demeaning and slightly unkind, cos it's really hard to miss!

Naw.. i'm just messing with you... but you really should have your eyes checked if this really is the case.

Anyway, if youre interested to know, poor mr tagboard was hit by loads of spam msgs.. actually they werent real messages, unless you consider jumbled up words and letters and numbers to be actual messages. Well, at least the guy/girl/it didnt leave his URL (that probably wouldnt have been a wise decision).

So, ya, took the opportunity to clear out all the old messages, at the same time (actually, it's just cos i was lazy to see where the spam stopped, heh..=.=)

Well, jc life's been a little rough huh? Kinda hectic (we all sort of predicted that), and *sometimes* loads of fun. Other times, it was downright depressing. Those times, i'd probably miss WT.. haha.. not in the un-straight way some of you folks are thinking right now =.= sickos. you should be ashamed of yourselves.

..besides, he's already taken! haha..=) it's a little late, but yeah, congrats, man! NOT BAD AH! /nice guy punch/

Hmmm... but either way, JC life is drawing to a close. Whether we enjoyed it or not.

Like it or not, we've already walked 3/4 of the way (to my poly frens, that would be 1/2way for you guys), and yep, the curtains will once again be drawn upon this episode.

As we used to joke in AHS, "life's a stage, and we are all but actors." or "life's a game, and the world is your stage. Play Hard >=)"

So have you played the person you wanted to be in this chapter? Have you played hard enough?

Well, i cant say ive done very well so far. Ive tried pretty hard in some areas, but slacked off/mishandled the situation quite badly in others, resulting in very unsavoury outcomes.. =X The idea really is to answerable to yourself, cos that's the last person you've gotta face at the end of the day, everyday.

Yep, so this is pretty much a reminder to myself (and perhaps to everyone reading this) to.. well.. know that im buidling my own destiny. yes, im assuming there's no such thing as determinism

[Determinism: in layman's terms, the belief that the outcome of any situation is independent of your choice in doing something. For that matter, it probably was already predestined that you would make such a choice in the first place]

Anyway, i'd like to end off with a hymn. Yes, i know it's very unchracteristic of me, but i assure you, it has nth to do with the fact that i sat among the Saints (the SAJC ones, not the canonised ones) at the hockey game. It's pretty catchy, and i like the words in it a lot. Here goes:

Prayer of St Francis
Verse 1:
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love.
Where there is injury, Your pardon, Lord.
And when there's doubt, true faith in You.

[Chorus]
Oh Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love, with all my soul.

Verse 2:
Make me a channel of Your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, only light;
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

[Chorus]

Verse 3:
Make me a channel of Your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all mean, that we recieve,
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

[Chorus]

It's basically a song of service, and giving to others. To reassure, give comfort, heal, etc.

Yep..

If you want, i could teach you the tune (though as you know, my singing isnt anywhere near average, so do this at your own risk)

Cya guys around! =)

8 more posts to 100th post anniversary!!

2008-05-22T21:48:00.001+08:00

well, it's been a really long time since i last posted!

Many things have happened, so let's key them in!

Soccer Girls Finals (vs. SAJC)
Well, as we all know by now, VJC clinched the Gold! Apparently this is e 1st year that Girls soccer is recognised by Singapore Sports Council (or sth.. im not too sure). So that means, by the records, VJC's the first sch to hold the Soccer Girl's Gold! Congrats..

SAJC was the first to score a goal, so the VJ camp was super worried tt we wldnt fight back in time. So you may be able to imagine how psyched we were when we got the equaliser in the 2nd half of the match!!

With 1-1, they went into penalties, of which we watched as goal after goal was scored by both teams! It was really nerve-wracking, still our goalie finally managed to catch a ball! aft that, we won!

however, SA shld still be very proud, cos they're the only sch to have scored against our girls! Besides, they did (admittedly) fight very hard as well. Their Number 5 was exceptionally unrelenting, foiling quite a number of charges =.=

Anyway, after that, i had a lengthy trip with bucky to get him his squash racquet (which he has yet to name). It was long, basically cos we din wanna ask for directions, and juz hopped on a random bus.. =.= yes, i'll take note not to do that anymore.. haha..

Ok! Next Up!

Final Squash Game (vs. NJC)
Well, this was a pretty bad match for me, overall, even tho it was my last match. Mainly cos the last proper match i played leading up to this one was about 1 month beforehand.

I'm not blaming anyone, but juz tt i was super unprepared for it.

The worst part was wearing the goggles, which i was no longer used to (cos of the month-long break). This really messed up my depth perception, and resulted in like 7 totally impossible misses (the shots were wide open for me to hit!) ...Seriously irritating!

So, yes, obviously this was a walk-over match for the opponent i faced -- nevermind the fact that he's their captain and all..

My first 2 sets were 9-0, 9-0, most of which were aces by the opponent. 3rd set, i finally got used to my goggles again (and i was pissed at not getting a single point!), so i finally won back the service, and got 5 points out of him, which, admittedly, is the most number of points ive gotten out of any captain, so that's pretty reassuring.. =)

Obviously, I've got a really long way to go, but for now im gonna take a break from squash, and finally allow my shoulder injury to heal. Apparently, i was supposed to let it rest since Nov last year =.=

But this match was different cos we played at Methodist Girl's School -- which was.. erm.. really far away, basically -- rather than at Katong Squash Complex. So we had to take a cab. Ever saw once of those white cabs that are actually minibuses/vans? Yeah, that one.

Well, we were talking abt random stuff (dont ask abt the contents =.=), when suddenly this adult cockroach crawls out along the door next to Jed's head! Not cool.. 0.o I wouldve thot Jed would freak, but even if he did, his reaction was eclipsed by Niam's: he screamed, and jumped to the other side of the bus!

Haha.. that was a pretty unorthodox way to end the season for our team, but yeah, definitely funny =) Anw, we got rid of it by sliding open the door, and tapping it out onto the road. Thank gdness it wasnt the flying type (i think) or it might've flown back in.

Owing to the fact tt we dropped the roach along a pretty busy stretch of road, we then began commenting abt how tt cockroach wld get owned by all the tires rolling by. That wld've been a seriously bad way to go..! haha..

SAJC band concert!!!
Saints E Muzica: Once Upon A Time.

Yep, that was the name of the concert Ouyang and I went to. Roy and XZ nice la.. nvr reply msg de.. =.=

Haha.. anw, 1st, i wasnt supposed to bring a bag, so i went to deliver the testimonials (the lutheran student care camp de) to her house. Then, we went to zhuofei's house to pass her her testimonial. (Small note to roy: she looks a bit more tanned.. haha.. jkjk dude!)

then we went to white sands to get some flowers for wt -- i chose the wrapping paper! pink, with hearts all over it, juz the way he likes it.. m'yes... muahahaha!!! We went for a sunflower, along with some other flowers to compliment. Weitheng, these are the 1st flowers ive ever bought for anyone, so you'd better have appreciated it.. Chu ended up holding the flowers cos apparently i was holding it like a weapon..

..which i definitely was NOT doing! =.=

After tt, we went to get 2 doughnuts (one for each of her frens, whom she was supporting as well). K, by this time, it was about 5 plus? Nt sure..

then we took e MRT to City Hall and went up to Raffles City for dinner, before we walked to Victoria Concert Hall.

Reaching there, we had to leave the donuts in some box, cos we couldnt bring in food. I rmbed thinking tt by the end of the concert, someone wldve taken them donuts (thankfully, no, tt didnt happen).

Then the show began.

As usual, their performance was VERY good. Only pity is tt WT now plays the Bass clarinet rather than the clarinet, so he no longer ways around while playing. which in a way makes the stage seem a whole lot more.. stationary..

The individual pieces were good, but the parts that really stuck in my brain (up till now) would be the musical, which was pretty funny + e music was pretty fitting.. In fact, i can name quite a number of pieces:

Indiana Jones Theme
Can you Feel the love tonight -- The Lion King
Go the distance -- Hercules
Scar face's Theme -- The Lion King
Pride Rock (i think) -- The Lion King
Provincial Town -- Beauty and the Beast

and that's just a few.. I know cos i was competing with ouyang over who knew the most number of songs being played (.. i won!)

Oh, and there was the Babayaga (some monster there), which was totally random, but cool anw. And the genie loves murtabak, which always is a sure indicator of coolness. Aiya, there're a lot of things there la (oh ya! the video was hilarious).. so if you missed it.. aie.. sad for you la.. haha

Anw, once the concert was over, we went to catch up a little with the bandman. Haha.. always gd to see you're alive and well.. Classmate W =)

Then we couldnt pass the donuts to chu's 2 frens cos e band had to leave =.= so now the donuts belonged to us.. haha.. felt a bit sry tt she cldnt go see her frens.. oops.. sry!

aft tt, we walked along the s'pore river, and decided to eat the donuts there.. haha! poor donuts.. thot they survived since they cldnt be eaten by the original recipients! Anw, Chu2 almost got lost there, but thx to my amazing sense of direction, we made it back to the mrt..

But not before i was treated to... /gasp/ wheatgrass drink!!! haha.. jkjk..

Then we took MRT home.

The End.

Gosh! It must've been a really long read! Actually still got more things to write about, but i'll end off here.. tired le. gd nite!!

Coming soon...
1. Tom Yam Instant Noodles
2. Tennis Girls (vs. RJC) & Soccer boys (vs. MJC)
3. Hockey Girls (vs. once again.. SAJC)
4. Squash Team Combined dinner!!

random stuff

2008-05-09T22:30:00.003+08:00

Well then! it's been a really long time since my last post..

Erm.. recently not much has happened..

Did i mention that our Bio SPA skill B and C is over? (i.e. there's no more SPA to worry about!!!)

Yeah, i probably did.. But anw, that's still good news, cos i really dont fancy anymore impractical memorisation of scientific protocol when the concept isnt really all that applicable in the real world to begin with..

Quite apparently, i dont really like SPA much, cos it bascially for the people who can memorise exact wordings and write quickly. Both of which are things that i am NOT good at.

Oh well, anyway, I juz rmbed a few things that happened!

For one, the guys of 07s31 went out after Sports Day to watch Iron Man, on the first day of it's release!!! Tony Stark owns as Iron Man!! lol...

The trip from VJ to Suntec (where we then watched e movie at Eng Wah Cinemas) was pretty hectic, and we reached there only just in time even tho we cabbed.. that was a close one. Oh, and that was where Bucky lost the bet by drinking Coke to go with the movie (the bet is a result of some in-class joke about how Bucky cant last long without his Coke).

Anyway, the movie is so meant for guys la! haha.. so much cool technology!! Really awesome!! Wonder if girls wld get bored watching it.. dunno.. But it's pretty action packed! Heard the 2nd installment will be out in 2010.. cant wait!

Oh! by then i *should* be out of the army, right? Sweet!!!!

Oh, besides that, another recent major thing would be the 16th CTC handing-over to the 17th.. I thot that it would be pretty standard, and i wldnt really feel much about the handover. But it turns out the whole affair was pretty.. you know.. made me think a lot. Haha..

There are many things that we did tgt as a Council tt i seem to have forgotten amidst all the things that have taken place the past few months.. and im really surprised that i dont rmb them till lately..

Stuff like the Northlight Camp, Sea Regatta, normal traffic management for concerts, and (hell yeah) locker busting.. Other fun stuff like the two March Camps (both as seniors and as juniors), being part of the Investiture Adhoc, normal Igloo duty.. stuff like that.

And to see ourselves handing over to the next batch was actually pretty cool, even tho i initially had much to criticise about. Oh well, hope they do well.. yeah.. all the best, 17th!

Ya, then i also got my Napfa Silver, which means delayed admission into NS! that's always a good thing, so there. Somehow, im getting out of shape, so it was pretty difficult trying to earn that Silver.. better go train more..

oh ya, one last thing: today was the house comm nominees speech. Cant say i was very impressed by any of them.. But one thing that struck me was the vid done by one of them, to the following song:

Bravely bold Sir Robin
Rode forth from Camelot.
He was not afraid to die,
Oh brave Sir Robin.
He was not at all afraid
To be killed in nasty ways.
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin.

He was not in the least bit scared
To be mashed into a pulp.
Or to have his eyes gouged out,
And his elbows broken.
To have his kneecaps split
And his body burned away,
And his limbs all hacked and mangled
Brave Sir Robin.

His head smashed in
And his heart cut out
And his liver removed
And his bowls unplugged
And his nostrils raped
And his bottom burnt off
And his pen--

"That's... that's enough music for now lads,
*** there's dirty work afoot*** ???."

Brave Sir Robin ran away.
("No!")
Bravely ran away away.
("I didn't!")
When danger reared it's ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
("no!")
Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
("I didn't!")
And gallantly he chickened out.

****Bravely**** taking ("I never did!") to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat.
("all lies!")
Bravest of the braaaave, Sir Robin!
("I never!")

ok, gotta go now! cya next time! =)

90th post..!

2008-04-27T00:30:00.002+08:00

wow.. im another 10 posts away from my blog's 100th post anniversary!!

..yay.

anyway, just found this really funny vid on youtube!!

found it while looking for the legend of zelda: twilight princess OST.

In case you din figure it out (assuming you watched the vid), it's an advertisement! ...the things ppl did in the past.. shocking.. =.= but hilarious, nonetheless!! lol..

Anyway, things are going okay for me, overall.

In terms of squash, well... yeah.. =.=

vs. AJC (vice capt): lost 9-3, 9-4, 9-1
vs. ACS(I) (normal member): lost 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 (yes, i know: "Dude, wth?!")
vs. TJC (graded player): lost 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
vs. SRJC (capt): lost 9-4, 9-2, 9-1
vs. ACJC (normal member): lost 9-0, 9-0, 9-0

but all things considered, i learnt quite a lot from the matches, so i dun feel ocmpletely heartbroken.

our match with NJC (our final match this season) has been postphoned till further notice.

Which is good news, cos ive just completely lost all my skill!! and the feeling is really terrible, considering that i was just getting the hang of it..!!!

moving ard the court was starting to become a breeze, and let's not mention those sweet wall-hugging shots that i could suddenly do back there.. =.=

='( where has it all gone?!?!?! Ahhh...! im totally freaked right now..

Im not saying im skilled or anything, but all those practices have gotta count for sth! and somehow im totally performing below par.. X-x

It's like i can hardly move anymore to even reach the ball, much less hit it back properly -.-

oh man... im in so much trouble..

anw, it's late now.. cya nxt time!

Summer Sunshine

2008-04-12T11:50:00.003+08:00

Everyone's changing, I stay the same
I’m a solo cello outside a chorus
I’ve got a secret,
It’s time for me to tell that you’ve been keeping me warm

Just sweet beginnings and bitter endings
In coffee city, we borrowed heaven
Don’t give it back, I’ve never felt so wanted
Are you taking me home?

You tell me you have to go

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody needs to know

Now that you’ve left me, there’s no returning
I keep comparing, you’re always winning
I try to be strong but you’ll never be more wanted
Will you make me at home?

Don't tell me you have to go...

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody needs to know

Ya da... ya da... ya da

To sweet beginnings and bitter endings
In coffee city, we borrowed heaven
Don’t give it back
Winter is coming and I need to stay warm

The heat.....

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody knows

In the heat of summer sunshine
I miss you like nobody else
In the heat of summer sunshine
I kiss you, and nobody needs to know

Once again, another really old song.. "Summer Sunshine". It's really nice!! check it out on youtube!

Both the tune and the lyrics are great, so ya..

Anw, as a quick update, VJC Squash guys lost to TJC 5-0.. No need to say anth abt our match against ACS(I).

But i really think im gonna win at least one of the remaining matches. I hope.

And, we got back our PW results yesterday. Wont say too much abt it, juz tt it was all pretty bad.. Everyone's dejected at the high B rate, and how the system is pretty messed up..

haiz..

So many disappointments. Hang in there evryone!!!

haha.. hanging in there.. that's really all we can do, isnt it?

i'd talk more abt this, but there's thunder in the distance and so tt means my com cls be shutdown by a sudden burst of lightning.. so i'll end here.. cya!

Post 88

2008-04-07T23:30:00.002+08:00

it's been awhile since i last posted.

within that time, we had our match against AJC, winning 1 out of 5 games (ie losing 4 out of 5 games). This wasnt an expected result, what with the fact that we felt we cldve won.

this wed, we'll be playing against ACS(I), the so-called boss fight of the season, and we'll face TJC on friday. I cant say i expect this to be a good week.

In other news, certain events have taken a very expected but still unfortunate turn. I expect a 12.3% chance of turning the tables and making things turn out alright (this already is a pretty optimistic outlook on things). This factoring in the last stupid thing i did, which was, as a whole, extremely stupid. oh well, we cant change the past, but we can try to do sth abt the future, which will probably be harder than ever thus far.

In fact, i dont see how i can sway the current situation in my favour, really. But i guess im gonna kick myself if i dont try till the very last second, so yeah. Even if it's stupid, im still gotta work on it.

Cos somehow, i juz believe sth juz might come out of it, no matter how insignificant it may seem to others, or how futile the effort.

Now, all i gotta do is find out what exactly i CAN do right about it... =.=

Anw, moving on... I kinda like the story the Econs lecturer (the Money Sector one) gave us before he started the lecture series.

/clears throat/
There was once a construction worker who was always diligent in his work. One day, he decided to retire.

The End.

(Nah... just kidding) However, his superior was sad to see such a rare talent go, so he implored the worker to build just one more house under his charge.

On the account that they were close buddies, the worker agreed.

However, he just couldnt focus, and his work became slip-shod, as he really wanted to retire. The workmanship was terrible, and the house, unstable.

A few weeks later, the house was done. (yes, i know real houses take years, but give the man a break... It's tough enough being a fictional character)

On that day, the boss came over personally to thank his longtime friend and colleague.

The boss came with a gift..

The keys to that house.

T'was then that the worker wished that he had spent more effort building the house properly, but as you know, the cement was hardened, the bolts set, and the man too old to work.

So! What's the moral of the story? Everyday, we build our destinies, adding a brick, whether diligently or in a slipshod manner.

And what we get at the end of the day... well, we can all figure that out ourselves, eh?

ok, story time over... gd night!!!

3 days to launch

2008-03-30T00:10:00.000+08:00

Yes, it's finally coming. 3 days to launch.

Do-or-die time, so to speak.

To the uninitiated, the A Div Boys Squash Tournaments are coming up, and im swamped with feelings again.

I mean, it's the time where i guess we get to see what approximately 1 year and 3 months of training (that's including the amatuer training before i got on the team in July last year) has done. 15 months of pain, frustration, dejection, fun, laughs, fatigue, and some times, ownage.

So dont even think for a second that im not taking this seriously.

But, either way, my performance has recently taken a total nose-dive, and it's worrying, considering this is our last week of training. Cant seem to take those corner shots anymore, and suddenly even Bucky can score 6 points from me before i finish the set (considering he usually cant even take my service).

I like to think it's cos i dont have Eva right now, since ive sent her for restringing, and so even tho ive been training on everyday of the week (less Monday) so far, it's not an a Raquet i can "communicate" with. Yeah, i know it's a stupid thing, having a bond with your racquet, but somehow, it's kinda true, cos other racquet grips feel so... different, and so everything i try to do with them, they dont really respond well. That's just me, tho. Everyone else seems to do perfectly fine with any racquet.

But that's probably not the case, cos some racquets ive borrowed feel similar to Eva, but just dont allow me to perform anyway. And besides, Ripper didnt respond well either. So, no, it's not likely to be a racquet problem.

Then i tried to reason that it's probably cos i was sick these past few days, so my performance dipped, but im fine now, and besides, not having your voice doesnt lower your ability to take corner shots. So, no, not sickness, either.

I guess it's cos i havent done sth that i need to do. Or at least needed to since 9 to 10 weeks ago. (Pls dont jump to conclusions as to what this thing is, cos... well, im sure you guys dunno what it is la. Haha..)

Yeah, that realisation maybe got me even more flustered. And i guess it didnt help trying to ignore or kill that nagging feeling, cos it kept coming back.

And so i'd get more flustered, and my game would worsen, and causing an increase in induced flustered-ness (Yes, at least my Econs is still in order!)

So, i think i know what to do now.

Replies to the ppl that tagged:

Roy:
Thx..! FanShu and MeiYee did this skin. and the pic was uploaded by chu, not me. Why would i have Songhan there instead of Evapo-WeiTheng and Mr. X? Haha.. That reminds me of our heroic adventures!!! The Chronicles of Pigginez, PolarBeast, Evapo-Weitheng, and Mr. X!!! Muahahahaha!!

Jingru:
Kena Pwned = Kena Owned = lose terribly/pathetically to someone/something. Pretty much like putting me in a proper A level Economics Exam without me studying or revising anymore. Yeah.

See you guys around!!

End of Lent

2008-03-23T00:20:00.002+08:00

Wow... surprised to see a post on religion?

well, i guess that's natural, since i dont really talk abt it that often. save for KI debates, maybe.

No, im not gonna talk abt any KI/philo stuff here today. Juz a plain old, normal human being typing here.

Anw, tonight marks the end of the Easter vigil, which started about 5 hours ago, at 8pm.

The thing is that the mass itself was 3.5 hours long!!! X-x

But what surprised me was that i didnt feel drowsy like i usually do in Mass (yes, i admit it, it does get a little somniferous, esp when it's the droning priest. sry, but yeah, truth.)

Mayhaps it's cos today's sermon was led by Father Gregoire! he's my fav, out of the 3, mainly cos he's funny, while being earnest, and drives home a very practical message -- ie. something that really is doable in everyday life, rather than, say, turning the other cheek when someone slaps you (hey, come on, it really is tough to live that kinda life). I suppose pragmatic messages that, in the grand scheme of things leads to a pretty moral lifestyle anyway is much better recieved than the tall orders that the more traditional ones talk about? I mean, if they lead to the same thing anyway, id choose the bite-sized callings to the tall orders.

Anyway, he was addressing a question of whether Jesus reappeared on Earth after his death (his answer being yes, obviously). So he went on to talk abt the ppl who he appeared in front of.

"Who was the first person he appeared in front of?"

No answer.

"Ok, those that are gonna be baptised, if you dont know the answer, im not gonna baptise you."

Haha.. so after that he finally got his answer (for those that din know the answer, it's "Mary of Magdalene". Yep.)

"So why did he appear in front of this woman first, instead of his disciples? Anyone knows? Why?"

Ok, this question made the whole church go quiet, save for a few guesses here and there.

So he continued: "Is it because, since she's a woman, appearing in front of her will cause the news of his rising from the dead to be spread very very fast?"

anw, after that comment, the whole church was really filled with laughter! funny guy...

Yeah, so anw, aft tt, we had the Litany of Saints, used during the baptism. It's a really nice song, very calming. I guess it's one of my favs, aside from the Gregorian Hymn.

Im not really gonna post the lyrics for either, since i cant find them.. and besides, no one wld read them except myself, since they're quite boring w/o music.

yeah, so aft the 3.5 hr long sermon, i reached home, and turned on the computer and started blogging about the easter celebration. yeah.

that's all from me. cya ard!

1st day of school

2008-03-17T17:31:00.002+08:00

well today's been an absolutely FABULOUS day!

..not.

yes, im gonna complain abt my life in general again, so if that kinda thing is not your cup of tea, probably this isnt the post for you.

my bright and sun-shiny day did in fact start off bright and shiny.

well that's basically cos i kinda missed going to sch and all to begin with, so i guess my wish was granted, seeing as it is that today was the first day of sch.

also, my chem CTs did pretty well. Unexpectedly well, to be honest. Such that i got 2nd in class, even tho i didnt study (ok, maybe an 4 or 5 hours). The bulk of the studying came from the e-assessment thingy, really.

ok, as a disclaimer, i totally did NOT write that to show off or make any of you guys out there hate me. seriously. that's probably the furthest thing from my mind. But the thing is that i didnt get to study.

The point im trying to make is that we as a class REALLY need to buck up! We've all been saying this pretty often recently, but it's time to try really hard now! Im really sure all of us can do this.. so... yeah.

Of course, i didnt get super inspirational results for Math. 64 marks, tho i know they missed out one mark. maybe i'll ask mr chia tml for my additional mark. But i guess im pretty ok abt it.

The paper im really worried abt is Econs. I know Larry has been saying it's super difficult to fail, and almost everyone is kinda sure i wont fail, im still not very confident.

..put it this way.. if your grades are about to determine your subject combination (im to drop to H1 if i fail, no qns asked), that's something to get a little worried about. Exaggerating it a little bit, it's practically a battle for the right to exist.

anw, from Econs tutorial, things got a whole lot darker, and fast!

Suddenly half the Econs class was angry at me for walking out the back door aft class tho they were calling me. to be fair, i din really hear anth, so ya.

then ltr guohui and yw agreed tt i was acting out of character, which was kinda weird, considering i didnt do anth differently today (or at i think i didnt do ath differently..)

Sometimes it's kinda hard to tell if ppl are joking or really saying sth, so i guess i'll assume they're saying sth for real.

..But how do you try harder at acting normal?

Ah well..

I dunno.. from my perspective, everyone else was acting weird today. So, considering how similar casres often turn out, that would probably mean that i was e one tt was weird, and everyone was normal, juz tt i percieved things from a completely diff point of view..

hmmm.. i dunno la.. juz hope that things will turn out ok

The last day of March Holidays

2008-03-16T19:26:00.003+08:00

Thinking about it... isnt this the last March holiday im ever gonna have?

I mean seriously, im a J2 now.

next up is army -- where i wont even get to think of the word "holiday".

are there march holidays in the Uni? Hmm... I somehow dont think so..

all things considered, ive decided i havent spent my last March holiday (assuming there's such a thing) very well..

immediately after the CTs, i spent all my time on CTC march camp and on my great grandma's funeral rites.

Then on thurs, i went to visit the library (which didnt turn out to be a very fruitful visit).

On friday, i went for squash in the morning at VJ (im starting to get a tad better at this!). Then i went for probably the worst class outing ever, cos i kinda realised it wasnt much of a class thing. In fact, it wasnt much of a anyone thing, put strictly. There were like.. 5 people?
But one thing abt friday is that ive totally decided that i dont wanna be like those guys that were shooting hoops at the arcade there. Like absolutely wanna avoid ever getting near to that way of living.
I suppose seeing that kinda made me panic and rush things a bit, but aft wad yw and buck told me today, i guess i'd better calm down.. haha

So ya, maybe friday was pretty useful, in that sense.

Saturday was kinda cool, cos of the bible study lesson (we call it RCIY, but i bet most of you dunno this term, so yeah). Usually, we'd sit in and the teacher would yak on and on abt how prayer is gd -- to a point that i almost totally disagreed with her, cos of how deviated she was from the main idea of prayer. But yeah, i restrained the critical thinking part of me.

But anw, this lesson, the room was dark. We were led in and given blindfolds, and made to sit down on a mat. This was supposed to give us a sense of insecurity and stuff, but i kinda juz sat there and let my mind wonder.. I mean, how often are you really given a chance to juz sit there and do nth? It actually quite relaxing, which i knew obviously wasnt the emotion the tecaher wanted us to have.. but oh well.

And then a short while later, we were given stuff to drink and given a warm towel and stuff. All quite relaxing.

One part i didnt like was that at the end, they asked us to take off the blindfold, and the teacher gave us all a "peace hug". i didnt return it, so it kinda was like a one-sided hug.

I know it's kinda not nice, but i dont anyhow give out hugs liddat =.= it so devalues the whole concept of a hug.

Then after that, we were basically asked to pen down our thots of the whole experience. weird that someone felt like she was being kidnapped.. haha.. oh well, we all approach things differently.

and then sunday.. ie today.

basically, it's been a really hectic day.. math tuition in the morning, NUS open house (i was hoping more s31ers would attend, but oh well..), and finally, squash training in the evening..

i think im really getting the hang of squash, and i no longer use the "damaging energy". some of you know wad that kind of energy is.. u know? (ok, if you dont,then whatever i write here will seem a little silly) the kind where the more you use, the more pain you feel the next morning. recently, ive got quite a bit of the so-called "good" energy, so no more injuries!! haha.. dun really know how to explain this energy thingy. BUt basically, with the "damaging" one, the body feels like it's all burning up, whereas with normal one, you feel.. well.. normal! haha

but gd la.. at least wun get injured so easily.

OKAY! dinner's here! i'll see you all soon!

Sunday!

2008-03-09T09:50:00.002+08:00

yeah, bucky.. sry abt e songlist... forgot.. i thot i added them in.

System of a Down:
Chop Suey (i dont like some of the lyrics inside cos of e biblical references, tho.. so this song overall ranks pretty poorly. i really like the intro tho)
Attack (HATE the part where they go crazy screaming "Attack!!!" but as a general package i like the song. The presentation is gd, i'd say)
Sad Statue (first SOAD song ive heard, and i think my fav from them. Yep.. nice rhythm)

Oh, here's a new song (or since ive finally heard it, it's probably classified as an old song alrdy.. by bucky's standards): Won go home without you.

Like the chorus!

(oh pls tell me that..)
it's not over tonight
juz gimme one more chance to make it right
i may not make it through the night
i wont go home without you

yeah.. haha

And im a little frustrated over a certain issue, cos it's really draining the enrgy out of me, and i cant seem to do much. Perhaps im supposed to find some ingenius way to cross this one, but i dont see it.

Or maybe ive come to expect too much.. haha.. i dunno..

i juz can hope..

cya!

Update

2008-03-06T23:29:00.002+08:00

So yeah, anyway, like i mentioned in the previous post, there have been a number of large "ups" with a few "downs" thrown into the mix..

One thing gd is that CT1, Chem SPA, and the majority of Bio SPA is over! and i think that's worth celebrating for now. another thing is that my H3 NAV is over, so therefore i can return to the ranks of "normal average school dude"! So i guess that means i can start doing normal average school dude stuff normally without some voice at the back of my head telling me i have to do un-"normal average school dude" stuff.

Well, i hope that KINDA made sense.. =.=

And erm.. i failed NAPFA, cos of my dear standing broad jump.. honestly, you'd think getting slightly lighter wouldve helped.. oh well..

OH, can you believe one thing? today's the last day of Term 1!!! omgdness!! time REALLY flies.. it's been like 10 weeks? (k la, slightly less than that) It kinda puts things in perspective..

Anw, yeah, the worst thing that happened recently was that yesterday at 1.30 am my great grandma passed away.

Luckily i decided to go with my parents to go visit her the night before. Haha.. cos it was like at 9-ish liddat, my Dad heard that my great grandma was having some kinda probs, and to expect her to go very soon. so at abt 10 sth, my parents decided to go see her, and wanted me to go see her the next day (after Maths CTs)

Budden i sort of din really think she'd make it, so i joined my parents lo.. Luckily i went, cos the next day wldve been too late.

Well, she was in a coma, so she din get to see me (or my parents for that matter), but i guess it shouldve been impt to her that we went? cos i rmb e last time i saw her (during CNY), she was like super happy to see me.. Haha.. it kind of leaves me a bit puzzled, sometimes.

Cos we're not that bonded, as we dont really talk (well, i dont, at least.. she does all e talking... in Hokkein, which, as you should know, im not in the least bit proficient at), and i dont get to visit very often (think "once a year"). But anyway, when she sees me, it's like she's really happy, so i guess it's only right that i go in.

Kinda sad to see her go, y'know, despite not knowing her that well. I rmb e last thing she said to me (this was in English.. yeah.. i din know she spoke English so fluently till then =.=).. this was also during this CNY.

"If im still alive next year, I'll make you those love letters."

Haha.. very cute. To those that dunno wad love letters are, theyre a type of biscuit that's curled into a tube. Yeah, sth liddat

Well, that was at age 102.

So yeah, here's to the REALLY old lady who can still stand on two feet, back straight and everything, all e way to e end. We'll miss you.

Oh, i heard a number of cool stories abt her.. turns out she was quite the survivor! haha.. really cool stuff. Maybe i'll write abt them sometime.

well, that's that.. i gotta go sleep now.. need energy for the last day of term 1..

Fav Song List

2008-03-06T22:58:00.003+08:00

hello readers!

im here to update once again..! once again, id say while things have taken an overall turn towards the positive region, there still have been a few little things that add a little grey to the totally platinum lining.. d'ah well, tis the ups and downs of life..

Hmm.. before i begin, juz like to make a little note here abt e music im listening to, cos ive juz cleared my internet history (MQ told me back in e PW days this'll make it work faster).

Yeah.. the note is so i can check back next time, in case i change my youtube "playlist" again (yes, i do check back to my old posts sometimes)

Anw, here goes!

Ateens:
Halfway round the world
Bouncing off the ceiling

Led Zeppelin:
Stairway to Heaven

The Fray:
How to save a life (woooot!!!)

Lee Hom:
Gai Bian Zi Ji
Ni Shi Wo Xin Nei De Yi Shou Ge
(been listening to these two songs ever since IMCB days, cos i heard this there everyday, so kena influenced)

Lin Jun Jie:
Fa Xian Ai (ok, i know it's a pretty lame song, but it's kinda cute.. haha)
Dong Jie (Really like this song)
Dou Jiang You Tiao (waddaya know? ANOTHER love song about... FOOD! haha..)

Foo Fighters:
The Pretender

Tenacious D:
Tribute

Zelda Series:
Twilight Princess OST Ending Credits (OMGdness!! If you guys love musicals, this IS IT! I promise it's totally not boring.. combines a lot of instrumentals. Go for the 12:12 long one.. it's seriously gd music)
Kingdom Hearts Fairy Fountain (okay, this may not be appreciated by most, but i think it's not bad!)

Fall Out Boy (aka Fall Down Boy):
Dance Dance
Thks fr th mmrs (yes, it's spelt that way, apparently... dunno why..)
The Take Over, The Breaks over

MCR and the Used:
Under Pressure

S Club 7:
Never had a dream come true

Queen:
Somebody to love (damn, that boy can sing!)
Dont stop me now
Bohemian Rhapsody

Pirates of the Carribean OST:
The Kraken
Wheel of Fortune (Never really stopped listening to it ever since WT first intro-ed it to me.. Thx dude!)

Yeah, i mainly listen to these songs, maybe with a few others thrown into the mix..

Oh well, this post has become unexpectedly long, so i'll end here, i guess..

2008-02-26T15:43:00.002+08:00

Me: "Should i worry anymore about what i did today?"
Book of Answers: "Deal with it later."
Me: "you sure?"
Book of Answers: "Unquestionably."

Well, yeah.. today marks the last Chem SPA i EVER have to do, so tt's sth worth celebrating! I finished e Bio SPA ytd. the only Bio SPA skill A i ever have to do, so it's gd too =)

budden aft tt, sth stupid happened, so it's not all gd =.=

Anyway, i had two really weird dreams, and both were pretty real, so i hope neither are the "close-to-what's-gonna-happen-in-reality-shortly" type of dreams. Cos both arent THAT gd. One involves endless searching to no avail, while the other is more morbid =( So if either took place in reality, it wld be really.. sucky. as in seriously sucky.

Oh, the H3 oral presentation in 3 days (coming this friday)... haiz.. well, this is what it all comes down to..

Funny how recently, so many things happen on fridays.. like it's "Milestone" day or sth.. H3, Chingay, Squash, etc.

now debating if i shld go eat.. haha. Maybe i should..

cya!

progress report

2008-02-20T20:06:00.003+08:00

hey guys,

i realised i havent been posting in a long time, so here goes..

well, V'day came and went.. i baked a cake to celebrate with 07s31, but yeah.. seems e only who really enjoyed it was chua =.= oh well...

anyway, that would be my 1st attempt at baking completely unassisted (ok, i got a little help from my dad cos i forgot to measure out a few ingredients beforehand and started mixing e stuff, so he help me do e mixing for a while..)

But as for e rest, i insisted on doing it myself (tho i needed to do a lot of other stuff aside from e regular sch work!) so got sacrifice de ok?! haha...

oh, and chingay ended, so that's good too! now i dont have to waste time on that anymore, so one more thing off my list. Not much to say here, except Brian's a realy nice deputy I/C, and my team was much better than jinghui and yingwah's teams. tho, our SIC's really repulsive. oh, and i nearly got killed by fireworks, if anyone considers that noteworthy.

and, squash training restarted. I havemt touched my racquet in 2 weeks or so, so e "connection" was sort of partially broken. which made it easy for some evil ppl to try and steal it from me /stares at someone/ Of course, said person didnt manage to steal Eva for long, and i burst in heroically to save her. Yay

Budden later during training, i din manage to do things right till about 2 hours after i started. which was 5.30 liddat.. so i had only 1 hour of proper training time.. my warmup time's really too long.. much to the irritation of everyone training with me =.= nvm, i'll still work towards my goal of.. well.. not getting owned. that's pretty high on my list of priorities right now.

oh, and in e cross-country, i got 240 in ranking. which isnt too bad, considering i didnt train? dunno... yep, i couldve done much better, but still..

anyway, today in particular, someone commented on my confidence. X-x worrying about not performing as well as you should is not equal to lack of confidence!!! so yes, i hope ive addressed that issue.

..and today wasnt that good a day.. cos ive been falling asleep in all classes (yes, even CT session, when no one's teaching anything =.= but to be fair, i only fell asleep for a second or so during e CT session)

i did pretty ok for KI.. did a "IN YOUR FACE -- WONG STYLE!!!" to ms wu on some point, thus marking the first time ive totally beaten a KI teacher in a discussion, nevermind it was only a minor point. but fell asleep after zhangliang entered some petty-sounding debate which lasted well over 10 min.. or was it 20? X-x so i slept then too..

but killer was econs.. =.= i DID prepare sth, but my points were either invalid, or snapped up by a rather quick-witted dev. So today i din really earn any points. only consolation was that mr lim has suggested a way out of my H1/H2 dilemma. tho e prob is that if i fail my CTs, he's gonna kick me out anyway.. X-x

so, today marks e 1st sub-norm day ive had since "sun-shine day".. which incidentally has been a really long time ago..! meaning ive been relatively happy for a rather extended period!!! that's good news, too.. this means e mkt is strong. kind of, anyway..

hopefully, tml e share prices will rise again, despite today's slum, to show strong growth in all business sectors.

ok, shall stop trying to act like i know what im saying in macroecons terms.. =.=

cya!

Hedgehog's Dilemma

2008-02-10T19:24:00.000+08:00

happy chinese new year everyone!!

WELL, it's been a pretty fun 4 days! ok, maybe fun wasnt the word. I didnt come ard to do the thing i was looking forward to doing (think along the lines of completing a really hard game), cos really no time.. =/ Kinda sucks when you have sth you really plan on doing, but cant, cos your hands are tied by the circumstances.

But, there is an upside to this chinese new year break, of course! I managed to catch up a little on my homework! Yes, the homework heap is no longer 3 miles high!!! oh yeah...

and i managed to do some filing. a LOT, actually.. pretty proud of it, cos if anyone was noticing, i started this term with a saturated (in every sense of the word) folder, while everyone's was thin and ready to take in more documents. Which was kinda frustrating!! cos in e end, i couldnt file any notes tt came my way into said folder, and i didnt have time to sit down and sort it out!

Well, now that's solved, too, so school, here i come!!! I'm like super anxious to get back to sch with my "liposuction-ed" file.. dunno why.. it's a pretty lame reason, but still! And seriously, if you saw the change in the file size, you wouldnt consider that word too drastic

Anyway, i put off blogging abt tuesday (VJ's chinese new year celebration) till now, so here i go..

Well, firstly, i kinda skipped assembly with ruiqi (sorry to all law enforcers!! Wont happen again, i PROMISE). Now, dont think crookedly ah. We skipped e assembly cos we had to prepare the angbao for e class! yes, they dont make themselves, you know..

I really like that tradition...! one of my few creative moments.. haha.. I hope you guys like it!! I DO mean what i say in those letters (duh, or i wldnt be writing them). Besides, for some of you, i wrote thing i probably wldnt say out loud, so yeah, treasure those.. Right, Qian qian?? Nehehehehe...

Anw, RQ and i hung out in t18 until the coast was clear. We were actually assembling the angbaos at the stone table outside t19, budden a lot of teachers cld see us from the other side of the garden, so we decided to hide in a classroom before some teacher got curious.

Anw, it was pretty cool ponning assembly. Dunno.. quite thrilling. esp when someone came by and we thot it was a teacher. then another time, RQ thot she heard someone, so we ran out thru the other side of e classroom, but it turned out to be performers.. haha.. Quite fun la..

Aft tt was kinda uneventful.. we walked nonchalantly across e campus, and into the hall. and sat down on e side of e hall.

aft tt, CT coucillors were called out to give e mandarin oranges to e teachers. Pity chua wasnt there.. i wanted to disturb him somemore.. haha.. slacker went back to m'sia early this year.

Aft tt, assembly ended, and we gave out our angbaos! And, i took attendence as well.. hehehe... those who nvr collected their angbaos basically din come to sch. Tsk tsk.. naughty..

aft tt was some kinda walkabout thingy. I think the chinese drumming performance thingy was really cool! haha.. and then there was another chinese orchestra performance. this time we saw wangxuan and cephia perform. hate to say it, but it was not bad la.. haha.. kiddin

then was the dancers. budden i didnt get to watch!! dammit.. cos e CTC ppl pulled me out to go move the speakers for the mass dance =.= aie.. wasted.. haha.. was it nice??

aft tt, our gang din watch anymore performances.

then we went back to e alleyway, i got some $$$ from zhenya (what on earth is it for?! blood money? 0.o)

then bucky and i went up to squash a bit..

then we met rach (who watched me practise a bit).. bucky din get to play in e end, cos all e racquets were locked up. so yeah, e 2 of them watched me/minded their own business, while i practised for a short while.

then rach, bucky and i went to KFC to discuss impt matters... actually it was juz some musicfest thingy la.. but hey, impt nonetheless!

then bucky and i went to meet jinghui at orchard to catch a movie. some weird-named movie. and guess wad? we din get to watch it, cos it's M18.. =.= so we watched a chick flick instead.

...nah, juz kiddin. we went to Mac, and juz chilled and talked abt musicfest again. still got nth... =.= but there were some pretty funny ideas!

Oh, anw, back there at cineleisure, i saw this poster that was publicising the release of another "Neon Genesis Evangelion" Movie!!! I wanna watch!! haha... did you know this series was e main inspiration behind my racquet's name? now you know. It does contain scenes with nudity, as jinghui pointed (juz to pour cold water on my initial enthusiasm. thx man). But i promise i'll look away! ...mostly.. nehehehehe!! jkjk

anw, speaking of evangelion, did you know it makes quite a number of references to religious and psychological terms and phenomenons and stuff? Eg. one episode was titled "hedgehog's dilemma", a title which ive decided to put as this post's title (for no real reason. juz felt like it)

I think the hedgehog's dilemma thing is pretty cool -- i read up on it at wikipedia (your source for completely accurate and rock solid knowledge!). the gist is that when hedgehogs wanna get near to each other, they risk hurting each other; whereas if they choose to remain separate forever, they suffer the pain of lonliness and stuff! this model is used to represent the psychology of relationships, really, and i think it's kind of insightful. Nevermind the fact that hedgehogs dont really hurt themselves if they get too close to one of their own kind.

so yes, you've learnt sth new at my blog! congrats to you. Like i periodically say (when the script dictates it), you learn sth new everyday!

Anw, if it interests you, i did in fact get quite a number of angbaos this year. along the lines of 12. which is rather large, considering the size of my family. And, no, i didnt really get to eat an exceptional amount, because the bai nian-ing was limited to the 1st day of chinese new year only. how sad.

At least i got to work on my poster!

Anw, ive really gotta go now.. Science research poster's not done yet.. =.= Grrr... i'll be oh-so-glad when this is over..

now that's a good day =)

2008-02-04T23:14:00.000+08:00

Yes! finally i get to blog about a good day! omg.. so happy (that i get to blog about said good day) =D

Ok, today started out on a really funny note: The Q and A session for Ursa Student Council nominees. e qns were very run-of-the-mill, and the answers even more so. I've finally decided to vote "for" for dimple boy cos he's the only dude who dared to stand up to a particularly hard qn. forgot what it was.. sth about personal philosophy?? I wont reveal what i'll vote for the rest, cos youre not really supposed to? haha.

Anw, despite his looks and demeanour, ive decided he's one of the better ones, i guess..

But what really got my attn during the Q&A session was our favourite qn which also, very fittingly, happened to be the last qn:

If you had to eliminate someone, who would it be?

Now, there were 4 nominees, so let's call them A, B,C, and D.

This is where i began to lose hope in the juniors overall.. =.=

A wanted to eliminate B
B wanted to eliminate C
C wanted to eliminate D

and guess what D wanted to do...?

yep, you guessed it.

D wanted to eliminate A.

talk about circularity... X-x But it was a really good laugh, so it started out my day pretty well.

But one thing i found weird was when they said they wanted to eliminate someone, their reasons were like "cos he's a strong competitor","gd leadership", etc. But isnt that what they shld be looking for? isnt that a trait you'd want to KEEP on your team? by right, they shld be trying to eliminate e weakest link, not the strongest.. it isnt "Survivor", you know.. X-x

oh, did i mention i got the new bag i said i was gonna get? well, i brought it to sch today!

oh, did i mention also that it probably has a volume 3 times that of my previous one? haha... =.= major overkill.. but hey, at least now i dont have to worry so much when i go camping, so it's cool.. I also no longer have to bring a shoe bag, unless im REALLY bringing shoes, which i seldom do. the shoe bag usually contains my clothes which i couldnt stuff into the previous one without bursting the zip.

Then we had lessons.. pretty uneventful till econs. We went into the econs room for the very first time!

i think (mr) larry lim really doesnt think i do my homework!! wl.. he ah... Totally din believe when i said i did the tutorial.. =.=

But tt's not the worst bit la.. haha.. When he was explaining his special AD-AS curve, he used pandora as an example of an avg worker (or sth liddat). Now, that wld've be all fine and dandy. Except he introduced me as another worker in the same industry with half the efficiency.. -.-

now, that wld normally have sat quite well with me (im a pretty easy-going guy). But, when someone says you have half pandora's efficiency... now THAT's pushing it! haha..

i scored a few more times with excellent answers during the econs tutorial (ok, not excellent, but getting there). Budden nobody clapped =.= only clapped when bucky, hari, pan, or someone else gave a gd answer.. haiz.. sometimes ppl just dont appreciate true talent...

Anyway, after that was break, and then came -- BIO MOCK SPA SKILL A 0.o

i know i din do too well. or well at all. forgot to attribute rate of CO2 produced to rate of reaction. Din even imply it =.= worse still, i used the inverted burette method thingy to collect the CO2 produced. aft that, yw reminded me tt CO2 dissolves in water. /slaps forehead/

maybe if i drank more Coke id remember this a lot better! hmm...

then we had KI lecture.. uneventful..

aft tt, we (jh, pearly, yw and myself) chilled out in the... igloo (get it? chill.. igloo...? ok, nvm..)

played foosball. got pwned by the jinghui-kogi team, pwned the yw-pearly team, etc..

What really made my day was the random battle we had with these two nooby (-insert derogatory epithet-)s. Suddenly walk up to us halfway during our game and challenged us! Just so you know, i was beating jinghui in that particular game..

So jinghui came to my team. And, we basically won 9-1. I rmb commenting to jinghui after our 5th goal: "let's get this over with quickly, i wanna play against you." in fact, i feel pretty embarassed letting them score one goal.. =.= given the way they talk, they probably are IPs.. i cant be sure. but if they're any older than IP1s, id consider them WAY too juvenile and dont-know-their-place-ish. i know it's kinda biased.. but you shldve been there!

But, kicking their butts at foosball was pretty enjoyable too! >=) so there

Almost forgot to mention! i challenged bucky to jump from the walkway to the pullup bar. Easy, right? bucky jumped and missed, and it was SOOO funny, i cldve laughed for ages, and i wish i got it on video!!! haha

d'ah well, time to go now! cya!!

oh my! tml's the last day of sch till next week! i'm totally looking forward to it, but i guess i'll miss the class..

.. or maybe i'll just forget everything over reunion dinner! hahaha!

76th post

2008-02-02T23:47:00.000+08:00

Did any of you see the tv ad on channel 5? Final destination 2 is showing tml at 10pm!!

Zomg.. im so scared la!! Yes, i know youre juz gonna ask me not to watch it since im so freaked by it, but i guess im partially drawn to it, in a way..

Basically, everyone dies in the end (final destination 2 doesnt have any survivors, right? Nvm, i'll find out soon enough). But what attracts me isnt the blood and gore and screaming -- really, that's what's dissuading me from watching it.

What's really interesting/scary is the inevitability of life. Or, rather, in this show, death. No matter how many times you try to cheat death, it still will catch up, eventually. Does this devalue life? Or, conversely, make us appreciate it more?

like, once you're "marked for death", do you just accept it, or just keep running and be paranoid for what's left of your life. in fact, does living in constant paranoia constitute "life"?

Btw, these arent really KI qns, for the uninitiated. these are philospohical qns, so there.

Anyway, the one component that scared me most was when the people who died get premonitions of their own deaths. At some times, it's obvious. At others, it's very vague foreshadowing (Eg. when this girl and her friend was incinerated in a sunbathing suite, there was a photo shown earlier in the film her and the friend. The photo, under the trick of the background light or sth, looked as if the girls in the photo were on fire or sth. Cant rmb exactly.)

it's SOOO freaky...!

let's totally watch it... >=)

Anw, today there was chingay training. We got our chingay t-shirts.. Like ive been saying the whole day, the design this year really brings out the "gay' in chingay. i mean.. hot pink for the floral pattern?! geez!!! it's really girly, imho. And i dont dare to wash it, in case it shrinks.. oh well..

well, i'll see ya guys soon! on monday...! sort of eager to, cos i havent prepared ath for the H3 poster design, so i'll need to ask chua a LOT of qns. Budden, there's the skill A to dampen the mood.. =.=

oh yeah, now tt KIIS is completed, i have less excuses to not do stuff "cos im too busy"... haish.. now got less things to hide behind.. which may be a gd thing, overall =) juz gotta work super hard from now on.

And, im getting a new bag soon!! finally! the zip of the old one was screwed, and there's a slightly sharp part in the bag that's slowly fraying my clothes.. =.= Also, the strap has been spolit for 2 years now, but after i fixed it, it's wrks so well i hardly noticed!! im good...

oh well, gtg now. cya soon!

The triumph over the IS proposal demon!!!

2008-02-01T22:59:00.000+08:00

Quote of the day:
[random cedarian]: I have a degree!
[random dude behind me talking to her]: Really?
[random cedarian]: Yep! it's right here! (points at specs)
[me, to yw]: zomg... =.= i wonder what their interpretation of a Masters..

well the title says it all, pretty much! =)

we, the KI students of 07s31 have finally bested the KI IS (pronounced "keeess") thingy. and we did it all tgt! =) it was pretty cool, like doing some communal thinking exercise, where we looked at each other's proposals and commented and suggested amendments and gave diff perspectives and shot down each other's ideas, etc..!

In a way, it was pretty cool. Felt so self-impt when yingwah and hari were asking me to go thru their IS proposals.. well, not really la. haha.. juz felt great tt it was within my power to actually suggest sth useful (i hope!). Pearly and Jinghui were more independent, tho. oh well, not everyone appreciates talent. jkjk!

Anw, to the end, i became like super familiar with their proposals la! even more than my own at one point in time =.= Anw, today at abt 4.48pm, we were putting in the final touchups and everything! so it was pretty fun. Submitted it soon after. Oh, and to those that did look at my lit review, i changed "Tan Ai-Girl" to "Tan, A. G." at least tt sounds more professional... =.=

Oh, aft tt, i walked yingwah out of sch (yes, in the rain, which she ended up calling "fat rain", thank you very much.. =.=). and for doing that act, i have been promoted from "unbelievably immoral" to "slightly less immoral"! Yay!

If any of you dunno abt e "immoral" thing, it's juz cos i accidentally stole yingwah's IS idea exactly 4 days before submission day of the IS. thus the title "immoral".

Anw, i think if i can work my way up the morality scale to "Saint", i'll probably unlock a mini-game as well as an in-game "easter egg" (i.e. hidden secret thingy)!! Maybe i'll get some power-ups, too.. like +35 def, +47 attack, +47 int, +50 spd, etc.. tho, i think the last one is largely unlikely.

Aft tt, i went for squash.. really late, too. today i was pretty bad in the beginning, but i did manage to get the hang of it rather quickly, so it was fine.

TODAY I TRAINED THE JUNIORS!!! wow!! i feel like a senior!! yes, i know im a senior, but it's different to actually get to function like one..! Tho i didnt do that spectacularly, im starting to get the hang of it..

oh yeah, i heard from mr chua that he may actually be reading my blog =.= omg.. how did he find this place X-x.. and, dude, at least have the guts to tag!! haha!! cool.. how many of you have such nosy form teachers?! jealous? hahaha!!

gd, so now if i insult him online, it'll actually be worth it! hehehehehe... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! here's three names for starters: "Duck Vader", "Duck Man" and "Quacken"

but yeah, anw, i know ive been slacking in my duties as a CT rep, so sry all you ppl out there! once im out of this mess (im left with the H3 science research stuff) i'll resume my duties 110% But, at least for now, i'll have to trouble ruiqi..! haha. Actually, chances are not many of you have noticed it, and speaking of this here, ive pretty much blown my cover, but yeah, feel kinda guilty.

d'ah well!

Thank gdness it's fri (there's actally an acronym for that! it's TGIF.. and you probably figured that out yourself the moment i said it had an acronym, but yeah..) Now all that's left is me and my H3 science research stuff, tution hmwk, tutorials, chingay stuff! Bring it on!!!! Hahaha..!

and yes, despite my more or less dead-before-it-started weekend, im in pretty high spirits! which is gd, cos i'll need that to survive the weekend.

anw, since ive survived the week, i'll give myself a small treat, and sleep relatively early tonite!

see all of you soon! for the majority of you, it'll be anywhere between tml or monday

Oh wait! our class signed up for music fest! Boo yeah!!

...

..just what have we gotten ourselves into this time... =.= i sure hope someone has a plan... cos i dont, really.. haha. well, we'll come up with sth.. we always do, in the end

Thanks ah, bucky, for volunteering to come up with the whole script/storyline thingy! =)

im not cooked yet!!! woot!!!

2008-01-31T21:13:00.000+08:00

ok, i noe ive gotta work on my IS right now, and there's chem mock SPA skill C and D, and i really shldnt be here.. but.. juz 5 min!!

today started off pretty badly, cos of what i thot i heard earlier. so yeah, it weighed down on me like crazy. Even for PE, i juz cldnt run along with the others, like no... u know.. fighting spirit? i dunno.. maybe it was liddat. aft tt, we had floorball training (sort of training). I managed to flick the ball pretty well! like some pro.. as if. then at one point, bucky sent the ball flying really high, and i used my squash volley thing to hit it down. bad move, cos tt was a foul.

anw, aft tt was lessons. nth too eventful. I sang with gretchen again..! haha.. the usual "Everyday" from HSM2, as well as "you are the music in me" from HSM2 and "wannabe" by spice girls. really, i realy rather sing with a number of people rather than just one other person. liddat can drown out my imperfections more!! haha.. =.= besides, kraken's a way better singer. with him ard... it's like ban men zuo fu (it's spelt liddat, right?).

after that, we had KI consultation (albeit REALLY late, cos i made us miss the queue..! oops!!! din mean for it to turn out tt way!!)

aft tt, guohui, maldivian, cavey and i went up to the treehouse to discuss some stuff. Actually, it cleared up a lot of stuff, and i felt much better afterwards. MUCH better. It's like u play a game, and halfway you get killed, and then you think it's game over. then you realise that wasnt your last credit =)

It's kind of weird in a way la.. i have an IS proposal to do right now, along with more poster preparation for my science research thing. and tml, im gonna get scolded by e teachers (or at least go on a guilt trip) for not doing e tutorials. and i have chem mock spa skill c and d to study for. and tml, im probably gonna get scolded by e captain, vice captain, and top #3 squash dude, and very possibly the teacher i/c. but still, im feeling great! =D

Boo yeah... >=)

anw, today i started my training "proper". 10 suicides, 2 min, 2 sets, situps, pushups, wadever.. yep.. i realised im currently pretty weak.

but now, i know that's gonna change.

but first, i gotta survive tml!! cya!!!

dejection... X-x

2008-01-30T20:58:00.000+08:00

well, life's pretty messed up, once again. Sometimes im pretty envious of those guys tt can juz breeze thru life like it's a.. well.. breeze.

Finally settled my IS idea this week, and i know this shldve come as a great relief and make everything seem a LOT better. But then i find out it's yingwah's idea as well, and then things juz get more screwed up, what with all the guilt and everything. Tho, if youre reading this, yw, i hope you really believe me when i say i really came up with the thing on my own (with a bit of help from my ex-teacher Mom).

Squash hasnt been much better, either. Ive been losing games like no one's business, and top #3 vj squasher guy tells me with the current standards i have, e new J1 intake may juz stand a chance against me. The most saddening thing is, he may be right =.= but, after hearing that, i did start hitting the ball at more than normal strength, which is gd, considering how i havent been doing well at all lately. Maybe Eva's pissed with him for saying that. I know i am. And i wont forget what he said.

Then comes the prob with 25th jan. I know ive been saying im against it all, but i guess deep down inside i sort of wanted it to work. ok, make that really wanted. but hey, we cant win all the time, right?

i guess i juz wanna put the whole incident behind me la.. i juz dun haf the energy to handle it.

oh well, a few yrs from now, none of this will matter. but ive been telling myself that for years, so.. /sigh../ I guess ive hit a slightly rougher patch than usual.

now, ive gtg do my science research stuff. like i mentioned 2 posts ago, nothing's gonna wait for me to pick myself up, so i better go chiong somemore..

i SERIOUSLY wanna blog abt sth gd for the next post.

oh wait, one last thing to note today. Cockroaches raided the angel mortal bag tt was left in the range by SOMEONE, and ate one of the bags of gummy bears in it. They then went on to shit on the letters and other treats meant for the juniors/seniors. Yep. I didnt know cockroaches excreted. Ok, i did, but nvr really realised it. who thinks of cockroach defaecation anyway??

a good day =)

2008-01-25T22:52:00.000+08:00

Well, today i woke up feeling wonderful -- no real reason for that, but i just felt happy, like all the confidence ive lost the past few days has come back in a mega tidal wave

today was nth special. I had absolutely no tutorials done for any of the lessons, so i felt pretty guilty, but that didnt dampen my mood at all, somehow.. (i know guilt is supposed to make you feel bad, but well, in light of all these irrational events, this ranks pretty low on the irrationality meter.. haha)

I still dont see what i can do about friday, tho. Oh well..

So i saw ms wu again for KI consultation today. This one might just work!! let's keep our fingers crossed!

I went for squash after that -- really, i think everyone else on the team is wondering why i still bother to go for trainings. But i guess im liddat la.. even if i totally suck at sth, i'll still try my utmost. Except for certain stuff.

But i guess i can say im getting better at squashing. At one point i achieved >60% synchronisation with eva!

..ok, for those that dont understand wad i juz typed, it juz means that i translate wad i want to do (eg. hitting the ball to a certain dist, at a certain speed) into actual results (ie. actually hitting the ball at that certain speed, at that certain dist) more than 60% of the time. This is, i feel, a pretty good result.

Pity this only took place when everyone else went for a break, so no one can testify to it actually happening, so im still bottomfeeder material in their eyes =.= Din help that i couldnt perform as well when they came back.

Kenneth Niam helped me quite a bit with my technique, which i was really grateful for. Besides the part where he was groaning when i did sth wrong, and going "what the f___ do you think you're doing?!". But i learnt quite a bit from him.

I also worked on my service today, which is like my weakest shot EVER. this makes it really hard to win any game, cos services usually decide winner from loser pretty quickly, unless both happen to be really skilled, like in captain vs. captain fights. Also, you can only win a round if you've pwned the opponent during YOUR service. so if you keep losing your service 2/3 of the time, it means you have to work dbly hard to make sure your opponent doesnt rack up their score faster than you.

Anw, i think my service has improved quite a bit, thanks to Niam, and of course, my captain!

Oh, and rmb that post where i resolved never to have a score worse than 9-4 per set (if the opponent wins)? It's working pretty well! i havent performed any worse than that! =D If this keeps up, im gonna shift the standard up to losing 9-5 at worst (or winning, if possible. But that's not feasible just yet)

Anw, i trained from 2.30 to 6.15 today, caught a ride from my dad, had dinner, and sat thru 2 hours of econs tuition X.x

I really admire those ppl that can stand more than 2 hours of tuition, really. 2 hours is more than sufficient to make me SO sleepy!!

which reminds me... im really sleepy.. gd nite..! ZzZzZz... wl.. tml still got chingay =.= how did i let myself get dragged into this?!

random post again

2008-01-24T21:25:00.000+08:00

Today PE was kinda killer. Had to run 5 rounds in 10 min (ok, it wasn’t that bad, but I haven’t done that in awhile, so it did get pretty tiring). Passed the majority of the girls twice, which shows (at least by relative standards) we were not tooo bad.. =D

But that wasn’t the worst part.. it was the chin ups.. Wow.. THOSE were bad… e doc asked me to stay off pull-ups cos of e partial tear at my shoulder, but I figured I could finally carry on. But wow… din come even close to the usual 6~9. Din feel much better when I was told tt I was lousy cos I cant even do as much as phamelia =.= Tho it’s true, but still, I wasn’t exactly allowed to train tt grp of muscles. Haha.. So anw, I ended up needing assistance for all three sets of 5. Nvm, can work from there!

Aft that, we had floorball. The guys in s31 were split into two teams, one with 5, the other with 3 (two s30 guys joined this team). I was on the team without the extra s30 guys – Had bucky, jinghui, hari and wangxuan.

Boy, was it tiring! Sufiyan and the two s30 guys really attacked a LOT, and our own attack wasn’t as well coordinated cos we were juz whacking the ball -.- Tho we lost 5-1, it was a pretty gd workout. Basically, my job as defender was to pick up the ball from any attackers, and launch it straight back across the court. I think I did that pretty well (apart from the times the opponents got to score). Unfortunately, I hit quite a number of ppl in the scuffle =.= sorry! Haha.. I rmbed got one part where the ball was slightly too far away for normal hitting, so I used the backhand I learnt in squash. Pretty effective! Haha

The girls in s31 also lost to the s30 team. Oh well, the other side did have some ppl tt look skilled in floorball, so I guess it’s not all that fair. S30 bunch was cheering a LOT. And, more surprisingly, we had a cheer too! Haha.. first time in a long time I heard the class cheering. Pan was leading the cheer, but everyone nearly pangseh-ed her. I think it’s cos no one expected to cheer.. haha.. Luckily everyone ended up joining in. If not id feel pretty sad for e class oso.. =.=

Aft tt we were 15 min late for math tutorial cos we had to recover and eat. Surprised that woman didn’t scold us.. Oh well.. I still think she’s weird.

The rest of sch was pretty uneventful. Except I got my math notes pwned by yingwah and pearly. Immoral things.

Aft sch, I took about 1 hour + to inform bucky and yingwah abt friday. Bucky screamed like a girl when he first heard abt it, so I had to wrap my hand ard his mouth. Im glad yingwah din scream or get shocked or anth. Wldnt wanna have to do the same for her. In fact, she was a little calm – if not a little peeved at me beating ard the bush.. oops! Haha..

Yw said I shldnt run away so much, but… haha.. I guess it’s a whole lot easier to. And a lot safer.

Anyway, after the little discussion we had, I went to find ms wu regarding IS. Things aren’t looking fantastic.. =.= nvm.. juz pia a little more.. it was a jolly little chat (to bucky, NO, I don’t think of my teachers that way), and she did help me a lot with the IS thingy..

I'll finish off here. cya!

another post that ive made when i should be studying

2008-01-23T20:35:00.000+08:00

This feeling's like no other,
I want you to know
I've never had someone that knows me like you do
the way you do
I've never had somone as good for me as you
no one like you so lonely before i finally found
what i've been looking for <---- song that's been playing in my head since this morning.. haha =)

well, today i can finally live with myself properly, aft abt a week or so of self-directed frustration. Dont ask me why, everything just feels alright now.

Didnt really settle that thing that i mentioned in the last post, but hey, i feel much better, so i guess it's all good.

Sucks when you dont feel 100%, cos then you cant work well/work at all. Well, i guess many of you can cope with it pretty well, but hey, that's you =.= Anyway, impt thing is it's gone now!

Which i regard as a very good thing given the circumstances:

Now showing
Unfinished tutorials piling up, a as-yet-undiscovered Independent Study topic for KI, Chingay stuff, Bio mindmap, H3/SSEF prparation, NYAA report writing, getting my head in the game for squash, and planning stuff for the as-yet hypothetical EOY camp.

Coming Soon!
CT Council stuff!! (eg. March Camp), Common tests, and (unless the captain finally decides to kick me off the team which, tho i think he shld, i hope he wont -- im still working on it!! gimme a bit more time!!)The squash season!!

and, of course, not forgetting our all-important "A" levels! yay!!

Well, anyway, im hoping the junior class ppl will get gd results, and, tho i have no idea who they are (yes, even my mortal.. not really my fault but yeah.. haha), i hope they'll do well and get to stay in VJ..! yep

This kinda reminds me of last year, when we were sort of thinking that after that dinner at fish and co, it wld be the last time we'd see zhenya and guohui. Sort of felt sad tt they were leaving.

..until they came back the next day (in pan's case), and the day after (in jinghui's case). I rmb for both days, i was really relieved to see them come back.. hahaha.. oh well, so much has happened.

so much more is gonna happen.. =.= aie.. sort of gets tiring, but d'ah well!

Bring it!! >=D

entry 68

2008-01-20T18:22:00.000+08:00

wow, it's been a long time since my last post!

i noe ive promised to change the layout to help you guys view the content better, but i havent really gotten down to that. sry. if the work clears up just a teensy bit more, ill be glad to do it! for now, be content with just this post..

the past few days have been killer. For those who know/semi-know, it's clearing up a tad, but im guessing its far from over.

this thing that's affecting me is pretty much screwing up the life im familiar with (and im not just talking about the headaches and appetite changes..)

For one, im being forced to.. (erm.. how should i put it?) .. see things in ways im totally not accustomed to, unconsciously and uncontrollably. And this change isnt a comfortable way of viewing things.

..ok, to those that dont know wad im talking abt, u probably'll think im on alcohol. that's fine, cos my head does feel like its been thru a hangover. and that's considering ive never been thru a hangover.

Anyway, the emotions are like totally foreign as well. And at times it's like a fight to act normal, despite everything. cos it's gonna be really weird if i start acting the way i feel right now.

...along with the fact that i'd probably regret it later. But then again, who knows?

I feel terrible for other reasons, too. One would be the most recent squash training, where, despite all the good factors like standing in the right position, applying the right amount of force, knowing where i wanted the ball to go (what i call the direction-will-drive cycle), i just couldnt get the ball to go where i wanted it to. Which was pretty bad, cos all i wanted the ball to do was reach the middle of the court from the front wall.

The worst part came when i was to practise alone in the court. 100 forehand, 100 back. By right, that shldnt have taken too long -- but it did. I spent like 30 min before i got it down properly.

It was SOO frustrating. Almost felt like giving up.

Actually, to be precise, i DID feel like giving up (saying almost would be inaccurate). I suppose that would be my first time for squash. So, i decided to leave early. ie, after i completed the forehand and backhand drives. By that time, it was around 5.40, so i guess that was 4 hours of really terrible training.

But i saw my captain the next day (yesterday), during chingay training, and he didnt seem pissed at me, so maybe it's alright.

Aie.. i dont really understand how im feeling. One moment, i'll be fine, then suddenly, the world feels like it's gone all grey, dragging me with it. Then, no matter how many ppl i have ard me, it feels kinda cold anw.

But, one thing i find pretty cool is how my consciousness is sort of detatched from the emotions. So it's kind of like watching yourself feel weird, and being uninfluenced (?) by them?

It's all confusing business, really.

Ok, no time to talk about it anymore. Gotta prepare my Independent Study for KI. Yes, even if your world is upside down, time isnt gonna stop just to let you take your own sweet time and pick yourself up.

cheerios! =)

New blogskin, New Year Party

2007-12-31T23:03:00.000+08:00

Well, im here again.. Like the new blogskin? Well, you can thank fanshu and meiyee for it..! yeah. I dont really apporve of the pic on the top right hand corner (The pic with a "wanted" sign below it) cos i dont really want a polar butt. But besides tt, i think it's definitely an improvement.

At least it's not vulgar, eh? Haha.. save for the polar butt, of course -- somehow it's alright for animals to show certain body parts where it's unacceptable for the lay-human. Im gonna change another pic, tho.. and that's the one of songhan =.= chuchu, wth is he doing on my blogskin?? Roy, i can understand, but ah han?! wth?

Anw, can you believe this is the last day of the holidays? freaky. How quickly time flies, even when youre not exactly having a heck-load of fun. My holidays werent exactly fun-filled, but id be lying if i said i didnt enjoy it at all.

OKay, on to recent events..

Which isnt really a lot. Let's see..

Christmas party, check.
Christmas Cake baked by me (and Mom), check. (And dont give me that look, i DO produce edible food if i concentrate hard enuff on the cooking of the food instead of the fact that the stuff im preparing is edible.)
Gargantuan turkey, check.
Uncle and Grandma coming over, check (somehow, i didnt really like this part. Not that im mean to them or anth, but.. It's juz tt kind of feeling. Like youre being disturbed. Oh well..)
Research work, definitely check that (i mean, if you wanted me to use two words to describe my holidays this year, it would be "research work".)
Children's Camp, check (and double check, and check again, until it really sinks in that ive done this kinda camp 2 years in a row!! =D).
07s31 Class chalet, check! (i wouldnt consider it life changing, but i guess it sort of set me thinking about stuff again. Like National Geography. "think again".)

...

yeah, i noe.. "Hardy Har Har" to the last comment.

Anyway, im here to post about a new year celebration thingy we had yesterday. Cos fanshu pestered me (ok, it was only in one msg, but that counts as pestering). If not, u'd probably see this post next year. Which, incidentally, is only a couple of hours away! =)

So, yes, we had the party at chu's place. Tho it's e 3rd time ive been there, i still havent been able to convince (in other words bluff) myself tt my place is superior in terms of tidiness or orderliness. That being said, i dont think my place is that high up on the tidiest-place-to-live-in leader board to begin with. Omgdness, i digressed so quickly =.= I really do have to stay on topic.

Ahem! /clears throat/ Ok, so we went to chu's place. I went late (yeah, WT, i know.. "LAAAATE!"), at about 6 plus. Cos of e rain. chuchu, if youre reading this and wondering why i couldnt teleport even tho it's raining, it's cos i was carrying otah. that's one thing tt blocks my teleporting-during-the-rain ability. Anw, okay, there was a heavy rain, but i eventually got there. First thing i saw was that e guys were sitting down at one side, and e girls were preparing stuff. Now, this set up ould have been all well and gd, if it were some other group of girls. But with those particular girls, it meant e guys would have to clear up afterwards. Something which i wouldnt stand for! So i dropped off the otah on the dining table and rallied the guys to fight for their rights.

To prepare the meal instead of cleaning up afterwards.

.. you know, that cause seemed a whole lot more worth fighting for BEFORE i actually typed it out.

oh, i juz realised that i havent mentioned who attended the party. Let's see...

chuchu (of course, it's HER house), meiyee, xinhui (pls dun hurt us!), yiting (the rabbit one), roy, xz, qh, wt, and of course, me!

Some eyewitness accounts have alleged the appearance of one zhuofei, but accounts vary, and there has yet to be any physical evidence of her presence at the scene. /nudges someone/ k la.. jkjk

ok, anw, we finally sat down to eat (e parents of the house left soon after). There was quite a spread.. Meiyee's Mom's Rendang chicken, Chu's fried rice and salad, weitheng's tidbits and drinks (i cant believe you only bought three 1.5s.. seriously dude..), qh's chiken wings and drumlets (ironic, considering he's a chicken himself.. haha), my otah.. (i dunno who bought wad besides tt.. sry), sweet&sour pork, tofu, potatoes.. yeah. and fruits, which i assume are all from chu's fridge anyway.

but, i personally din eat a lot. Im guessing e rest din, either.. mainly cos i was too busy luffing! Lame jokes after terrible jokes were being passed ard e table (and you know im a sucker for those... haha). I guess it was kinda fun having a get tgt, after almost a year apart.

After that, we gathered ard on e floor and played an alternative version of truth or dare, using cards. The person tt got the joker would set a truth/dare, and get someone to do it. That someone wld be decided by e number on the card they were holding. So if the joker dude called out a number, e person holding tt card wld kena. haha..

I think it's cos of e position i sat in, i always got joker. (Muz be fengshui la..) So in e end, we reshuffled e cards until someone else got joker =.= Another thing was tt i din get to do any forfeits. This may be a gd thing for short games. But if it lasts for hours, you'd like to have to do smth. Yes, boredom makes you go a little nuts.

The forfeits were kinda funny..

1. XZ had to confess abt e most romantic thing he did for a girl. Which was to run around the field 10 times, singing love songs to his love interest the whole time. In between songs, he would (screaming) profess his love to her. Amazingly, he completed the 10 laps in an amazing 10 min 25 sec, with energy to spare to scoop her up in his arms and carry her all the way home, wedding style.
Ok, i made that up. But if he really did that, he should... apply for the Olympics. Or for permanent membership in Woodbridge Hosp.

2. XZ and Roy had to tango. With the flower-in-the-mouth thing. I still cant believe Roy din noe he had to put his hand on the girl's (XZ's) waist.. =.= ignorant..

3. XZ and WT did tt really obscene pumping-on-top-of-each-other-and-bread-in-mouth thing. I dont wanna elaborate.

4. XZ and meiyee had to take a very embarassing looking photo.

5. XZ got his nails painted. And got nailed down by the rest of the guys till his nails dried!! Damn, he put up a fight. Almost worse than ruiyong when he's excited. Wah.. e part when weitheng asked how long we had to hold him down for till his nails dried.. we almost gave up when we heard "10 min" hahaha!!
(As you may have noticed, XZ got forfeits quite a number of times..)

6. WT and YT did a pole dance. Naturally, WT was the pole.

7. WT and YT again had to pose for some really weird looking pic. WT ended up looking constipated.

8. Roy and Qh took a wedding photo (with XinHui and Meiyee being the flowers at the side).

9. Chuchu and Yiting also had to call random ppl and engage them in conversation for 3 min. I think they failed. Chu, were u supposed to hook up meiyee's fren?? lol.. Tt guy was damn confused lo..

10. Xinhui and Chuchu also posed for some random photo which was supposed to look sick, but failed terribly.

After tt, we played "I never". Which got sensitive. As it was supposed to. Haha.. SOME ppl even admitted to things they din do, by accident.
I kena bullied at this game lor.. "I nvr had a pet goose", "I was never an only child for 17 years", etc..

But mainly, it was a guys vs. girls "I never" session.

Aft tt, close to 10.30, i had to go off. Roughly at tt time everyone had to leave too, so we helped to clear up, sort out the monetary issues, and turned down Mrs Ouyang's offers of tangyuan. haha.. Actually, it's quite misleading to say we cleared up, cos we din do a very gd job. But oh well.. haha.

So, that concluded the day at chu's place for a random party.

And with that, i'll return to trying to churn out that research plan and research paper =.= someone save me from all this.. X.x

Monsoon camp, the second

2007-12-12T23:09:00.000+08:00

i would have typed this out sooner but...

SHACK LEH!!!

the 2 day overnight camp has ended about 5 days ago. So simple calculation would tell you it took place on 10th and 11th Dec.

okay, basically, e kids were cute.

these were kids from lutheran childcare centre, age range: P1 to P6, gd mix of boys and girls.

it's a 2 day camp, so i guess it's only right to divide it into 2 days. (For those of you that dont like long posts, a warning here: it's gonna be pretty long).

Day One

Well, well.. Day one.. what can i say..? we started early, meeting at 7.50 (supposed to be at 7.30, but SOME people had to be late.. haha)

The weather started out fine, as Shawn and I unloaded the logistics for the whole camp from his dad's car (which, among other things, included sign boards looking like we were going for some kind of save-the-park protest). Another thing we brought, which i was quite proud of was a trident (for Tryton), a ice staff for Glacius, and fireballs for Leiress. Kima's mask was later brought by Toutou.

I made the trident out of a broomstick (trade secrets, sorry, i cant divulge more), the ice staff out of a bamboo pole and some tinsel, and fireballs out of plastic bags and tennis balls. still quite proud of my creativity, considering i finished all of them in a total of 2 hours.

It's a pity all weapons (except Kima's mask) were lost in the tempest that befell our camp soon after.

Anyway, by 9 am, the monsters approached. i gathered my men, and began my peptalk:

There may come a time when men shall fall. But it is not this day! TODAY.. WE
FIGHT!!!!

Sure, that drew a few looks, But hey, i had to say it. It was in the script. Really!

Anyway, we managed to hold "Pass the fruit" and "Quidditch" before it started raining. Quickly, we moved the kids under shelter. Then the rain stopped, we started the games again. and then it rained again.

This continued a few more times till we started to get a hint.

By then, the kids were soaking wet, and i was running around in the rain looking for my scattered EXCO-cum-station masters. Some of the EXCO did the same, like Shawn, Weitheng, Chuchu, and xianzheng. I was looking for missing EXCO members (that turned out to be just roy.. haha)

Sometime in the middle of the camp (and also in the middle of the rain), Shawn slipped and fell. Personally, it looked funny, but i guess i was more worried than amused, so i din luff. He's fine now.

i think.

anyway, we arranged for the kids to go back to the centre, get a nice bath, and everything, while we too made our own way back.

The kids got a chartered bus. We werent so lucky. Walking out of pasir ris park, the rain started pelting down on us again, unrelenting.

some of us with more precious items made a dash for the shelter (about 100m from where we were when the rain started.) I was one of them. but i dropped someting, so in the end i just walked back with everything, using myself to try and block the rain. This proved to be rather unsuccessful, cos my clothes were dripping wet from the very rain i was trying to protect the stuff from.

in the end, reaching white sands, we got cabs and went home for a bath.

The driver wasnt extremely amused seeing four wet kids (the four musketeers -- Roy, XZ, Weitheng, and myself) in his cabin. But somehow, he just drove off with us in it. Man, business must be harsh.

Reaching back home, i realised something that will not be stated here. This is mainly for us 4 musketeers to know and no one else. so there.

Anyway, after our dynamic entry, during which we wet the floor (it's hard not to when you've been soaked in the rain for the past couple of hours), Xian Zheng lined up newspapers along my whole hall, thinking that i wanted him to prepare some kind of red carpet thingy. We scolded him.

When the papers were PROPERLY positioned to soak up the rain water in our bags, we moved on to the bathing thing. Roy and Xian Zheng bathed together in my bathroom (i really dont wanna elaborate), while Weitheng waited (smart one). I bathed in my parent's bathroom.

After that, we all had a short lie down in my car bed.

And then we had warm noodles and soup to warm ourselves up.

And then we were out again, to face the kids for the remainder of the camp for Day One -- the BBQ. This we did indoors, which was wise, considering the rain came soon after we got the fire going.

This part was kind of okay. after that shawn and i had a short debrief with everyone in our panic room, and then we had a short discussion with the principal, Mrs Wong.

By 9.50, we left the place (slightly before this time, Silin sprained her right ankle, which Chin Hian treated). This contributed slightly to our slowness, and so we reached my place (where the EXCO would then have our midnight-madness).

Alighting from bus number 29, we reached my place quickly (by then it should have been close to 11). I regard this as one of my favourite times of the whole camp, not cos it was fun (quite the opposite). Rather, i enjoyed it cos we all worked together, almost like clockwork.

After delegating work to the various people, Xian Zheng and i went to sawing the bamboo poles to the desired length for Day Two's activities. Meanwhile, Toutou and Silin were balancing the accounts; Weitheng and Wynne were preparing that superb schedule; Shawn and Eunice were doing up the station games prep; Chin Hian, Chuchu, and Roy were doing up the presents...

Eventually, we got everything done in aboout 2 hours (or less? i wasnt checking the time). Everyone did great, and i was thinking to myself how could this camp possibly be done without such a great team. I know everyone was stressed out la, but hey, to see everyone band together, and fight the fight as one, i cldnt help but feel really safe, and.. well.. i guess words cant describe it la.

Shawn and gang left for his place soon after, leaving us to get a gd night's sleep (or what was left of the night). We did just that. After coming up with an all new mass game!

Day Two

This was, really, a cool day. First, we did something really desperate -- calling a cab, and asking if he minded us tying bamboo poles to his window to transport it to Sun plaza park. He did mind, cos we "cant do this with public transport".

So the next plan of action (in fact, the only remaining plan of action) was to bring the poles to the bus stop. Amazingly, the driver allowed us on with the bamboo poles. So much for not being able to do this with public transport.

We met the Shawn gang one stop down (his house is closer to the next stop), and together, we made our way to Sun Plaza Park.

Then things got weird. Initially, everyone was supposed to reach, and start setting up the stations. but most of them disappeared, to buy logistics. So i guess this sort of lengthened the amt of time required to set up.

And, yes (as weitheng predicted), the kids came earlier than expected, cos they woke up sooner than planned.

So there was an immediate change of plans to stall, which i guess worked pretty well. Rather than play Mass games immediately, we had Egg Drop.

I shall skip ALL other team's creations, but i shall award special mention to dear Glacius. Mainly because its design is so revolutionary to the world of Egg drop, even i, a veteran, was impressed. It probably should be copyrighted, so before then, i'll just not talk about the design. Only that it's.. really good. And amazingly, neither quirky quan heng nor (not so quirky) zhuo fei came up with the idea. It was their very own P5 camper. Man, that kid can think out of the box.

Meanwhile, shawn and i (with the help of Toutou and chin hian, who collected water), went to set up the paperman mass games station. This was slightly worrying, cos it was still early in the morning, so it would be difficult to find a place with dry-enough terrain. But, we did it, eventually. Then we did the scout thing with the paperman (tying down like a flagpole).

Water turned out to be a very major issue here, with me lying to one aunty to fill up our three pails once, and qh stealing water from unknown sources.

If you really want me to comment on the water shortage thing we had for e camp, it's this: WHY would anyone lock a tap? seriously. it's not as if water's like super expensive cos we've gotta import it from somewhere. Sheesh. some people just dont think when they go lock things up. /shakes head sadly/ and even if we DID have to pay for it, no big deal. I mean, money does grow on trees after all. just a quick trip up a changi tree or smth'll solve the prob.

Haha.. i dont know which do i have less grasp in: logic or economy =.=

anyway, after mass games, the clouds looked heavy (once again), threatening to rain. but no matter, cos we had station games under the void decks! so no rain would stand in our way!! muahahahaha!!!

Not much comments on this ba.. perhaps that all groups cheated at my station, but due to time constraints, i din wanna let them redo. Oh, and that Glacius was seriously lost for the first half of the game. WL.. they almost walked out of the park, can? =.= dunno who lead them de X_x tsk tsk... walking ard aimlessly like a /coughs/ beheaded chicken.

actually leiress oso la. but not as bad as quan heng.. oops! i meant Glacius.

The idea of riddles for each station was pretty good, so good on you, Eunice, Chuchu, and edna (and whoever else helped come up with it).

after that, we realised Leiress and Tryton were tied. i kinda wanted Tryton to win, compared to Leiress but anyway, we settled it thru a final cheering comp. tryton was gd, not e best, but yeah.. Aie.. i wanted Glacius to win, actually. Oh well.

With Zhuo Fei leading still can, but QH... aie... /shakes head slowly/ haha =) kiddin, dude!

Shall skip the rest.. Just know that Tryton won (Congrats to BK and XH!), and that Shawn and i missed the prize presentation, and that there was a small celebration dinner with most of the AHS ppl. Pity we couldnt ALL eat tgt, but yeah, i guess if we did, the shop wld lose a lot of customers for SOME reason. haha.. too many of us concentrated at one spot oso not so gd la.. if you can guess wad i mean =)

So.. that's it for the programme... But what really makes me remember this camp would be my team -- both EXCO and teamleaders

Team Leaders
the team leaders were broken into 4 teams, Glacius and Tryton from the Water tribe, and Kima and Leiress from the Fire tribe. And here are my camp's heros!

[Glacius]
Quan heng
Zhuo Fei (see, i finally got the name right!)

[Tryton]
Boon Kai
Xin Hui (Girl, you sure can cheerlead)

[Kima]
Jenna
Li Ling (aka Jenna's friend)

[Leiress]
Shanti
Hui Bin (aka Shanti's friend)

basically, these are my frontliners, dealing with the kids for almost the whole duration of the camp -- something for which i really have to hand it to them. i mean, at least for me, an EXCO member, i get a breather everytime i go help with preparations. For them, hehehe.. it's entertaining the kids all the way, or at least sticking with them, like it or not. i respect them especially for e times they actually had to stick with the kids for long stretches on end, with no word from e EXCO about the next plan of action (this was essentially my fault, so yeah.. oops =.=) Next year i'll improve on that.

Their ability to just handle them with very little (actually, no) training is actually very commendable. and then to raise their enthusiasm level up again during the games is also a feat. One very gd example wld be xin hui.. wah.. e cheering was excellent. can beat my scouts!

actually, no la.. but it was very gd for kids la.

Another would be how quan heng got all softie over this really smart kid's idea to win the egg drop game. I was gonna think of some evil rule to thwart that kid's plan (he was gonna use a pulley system). Then our dear quan heng was like begging "please, he's just a kid la." and giving me that face.. pshaw..!! that was touching >=)

also impressive was zhuo fei.. considering she's younger than the rest of the team by 1 year, and looks like she can be blown away by e wind. quite level headed. in fact, glacius was pretty well managed overall by both of them (her and qh). i say this cos they're e team with the lowest avg age, but still willing to fight. so i guess that's where it's gd.. congrats to both of you. Pity you guys din win. i bet 20cents on you two.

Kima was run quite well too, considering there's a vulgar kid there. I din bet on Kima winning, so i din pay a lot of attn to them.. oops.. But i do know the Kima team had quite a bit of fight in them, too.

Leiress, too, was pretty okay, with that hyperactive benjamin! oh, Shanti's in squash, so i hope she doesnt challenge me or anth (probably wont ba...). But anyway, i think this group's team leaders managed to keep things together despite looking soft-spoken. Tho, they did have a few discipline cases (i noe cos their team has the largest count of cheating cases.. haha.. =.=) Leiress as the "Slytherin" house? No la, not that bad.. haha.

Anyway, all i have to say is, good job all my team leaders, thanks for coming to help out for the camp, and for not losing a life or a limb in the process. That would have been extremely inconvenient.

oh and speaking of injuries, haha.. Im glad that this year there werent any major first aid cases. Or Chin Hian (our first aider) would have quite a bit on his hands

/Thinks about last year/ haha.. last year, some kid ran towards the next the station during the amazing race. He tripped, broke his sandal, and a tooth. Obviously the case itself wasnt funny. What i found humourous was how i could recall it so vividly, and how trivial i put it when talking about it this year. So, no, in case you were wondering, i wasnt being a sadist when i started luffing at that incident.

Much.. (Muahahahaha!!!)

Okay, so ive talked about the team leaders. But there's a group of people i've saved the remainder of this post for. You see, i love saving the best for last. Whether it's the best parts of my lunch, or favourite songs, or things like thanking..

THE EXCO!!

I really have to admit, this year, my EXCO was BRILLIANT! (of course not saying the last one was bad. esp since the majority of this year's EXCO was from last year! Thanks for coming back, guys!)

So, let's bring out the honour roll!

[A I/C] Shawn

The guy with whom i started this thing to begin with. Also the guy responsible for our stellar cast below. Also the guy who endured the brunt of my naggings, helped me think thru stuff, and supported me on those important decision thingies even before we even decided to do the camp in the first place. And of course for giving me your free time despite your own stuff. Sry to impose on you, but thanks!

[Games] Roy, Eunice, Xian Zheng, Chuchu, Edna and Donson

Without these guys, I could forget about doing anything this year. Maybe play hide and seek for both days or something, cos no way i couldve come up with THAT many games in such a short amount of time. I apologize for squeezing you guys dry the last 14 days before the camp, but it's amazing how you guys work with such efficiency and quality within that time. You guys are truly amazing.

Special thanks goes out to Roy and Eunice. Roy, for slicing out bits of his own time, while planning his own 2 day camp to help me with mine, and even participating on Day One of my Camp (even staying over to help), tho my camp's Day Two would be your own camp's Day One. I dont think finding such friends is very easy, and i know im blessed for your help.

Eunice, too. i know youre the more fluster-able type. But to remain calm (esp on Day Two. Could tell you were under a heck-load of pressure) and deliver such a great programme. Thanks a billion! And helping me to co-ordinate your games team despite your own stuff. I quote especially, the day before the camp, where you so willingly helped out with camp preaparations even tho your very own 17th birthday celebrations were underway.

Im not too clear about Edna and Donson's sacrifices. Im sure there were, too. Considering Donson had to balance the preparation with his own schoolwork (esp since the camp clashed with your school term). I dont know how you did it, but hey, you, too, delivered.

Chu, thanks for coming down, even on such short notice. Im sure it's quite frustrating at times how i give out last min instructions! sry! thanks for pointing out un-fun portions of the games proposal, even tho we'd all given it the stamp of approval.

Xian Zheng, thanks for enduring the astro-boy jokes, and helping to check thru the games as well. Also, i know youre a busy man (like me), so thanks for helping out despite that.

[Procedure I/Cs] Wei Theng and Wynne

I've always questioned the importance of procedure I/Cs. I mean, how hard can planning a 2D1N camp be? I did it last year, didnt i?

But when their work popped into my email, i realised i really ought to leave this kinda thing to the professionals. I mean, buffer time? bah! how wrong i was to think of leaving large amts of buffer time after ever activity, on a camp that was supposed to be fun-filled! If i'd listened to myself on that one, id have a really broing camp on my hands. For opposing me on that, thank you weitheng.

And wynne, thanks for sticking by the whole thing, along with weitheng. Of course, i definitely have to thank you for helping me find a pair of team leaders. That saved us from severe manpower shortage!

But the day that i realised the true usefulness of Procedure I/Cs had to be on Day One evening, when everything was screwing up big time. In less than 20 min, i got a whole new schedule for Day Two, which even covered wet weather (which did in fact come). The amazing thing was how it accounted for wet weather at various portions of the day, which was excellent.

I feel this group was like super-essential to the camp as well.

Thank you

[First Aider] Chin Hian

DESPITE everything...! haha.. you're a great guy, really easy to make friends with! (despite your looks! hahahaha..!) Just kidding.. You too were super. From helping to jaga the bags, to applying the first aid, to that funny waist pouch thing that turned out to be a first aid kit. Even in coming up with ideas for the presents. It was great. Thank you too!

[Treasurer] Silin
The smallest girl in the team. But also the one that dealt with the most sensitive of issues. Thanks for balancing the accounts. I know it must've felt like you were defusing a bomb at times while trying to balance the money spent according to the reciepts i passed to you (you know, i just found one more reciept i didnt give you. It's for $10.50. were we missing that much?). Thanks all the same, for delivering. Im extremely bad at money (as ive just demonstarted with the reciept thing), so im always grateful for someone who watches the pursestrings for me.

[Logistics] Tou Jun Jie
It seems almost sinful to talk about you last. You, being the guy who i called the most with all my logistical concerns. From bamboo poles, to paper plates. You're the guy i turned to. Super dependable. And fun to make fun of, to boot!

Just kidding. Thanks, too, for coming down a second year to help out, even tho i know all those trips you took from the West just to attend our meetings must have taken a toll on you.

Really appreciate your help.

So yes, that's it for my team, once again, thanks one and all, and do send me the photos you guys took with your handphones/cameras, cos im collecting them..! cya next year!

Oh yeah, speaking of next year, preparation should begin early.. haha. hopefully.

once again, untitled

2007-11-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

"Dont seek the right partner. Seek to be the right partner." -- The best man at Ms meta's wedding

THAT, my dear friends, is really wise. And really cool. i dont think i'll forget this line in a long time.

And if i do, i'll come back here, and rmb it all over again.

Like you care.

Haha.. but anw, i really should be reporting the happenings at ms meta's wedding. It's a pity i missed the Groom's surname (which should now be ms meta's surname, too). That would be mainly due to the fact that i was more anxious on getting to the grub. Kidding. but yeah, i missed it anw.

yes, yes, i KNOW it's an important detail, but hey, they din bother writing it out, either.

then again, gretchen, who went with me, did note it down, so i guess it's ok. sort of. I think she said "Mrs Lee", which she read from somewhere. But, no, dont go up to her and call her that yet. I'm not in the mood to get any dirty looks from ms meta anytime soon. i'll probably post it up here somewhere when i find out who she really is. haha

anyway, the chocolate was excellent, and the red wine (which i think i wasnt suppoed to be drinking, but d'ah well) burnt my throat. Mainly because i realised i wasnt supposed to guzzle it down like kickapoo only AFTER i guzzled it down like kickapoo. By right, my face shouldve been red after that unintended suicide attempt, but rach din say anth about my face, so i guess i wasnt too bad off.

The food was.. well.. good. As good as any meal can get when butter squid isnt on the menu, that is.. /small sigh/ haha..just kidding. it was okay.

As for the people that shared our table, i knew only one person. Rachel.

The rest of the seats belonged to a number of strangers. two were VJ ppl as well (dunno them), and the rest, presumably adults. One of the adults left after the sharksfin soup was served (i didnt think it was THAT unappetising. in fact, it was pretty good. But hey, to each his own, i guess).

The only other guy that i rmbed quite well was this &*^#!$(!@ who wanted to make sure the whole world knew that
(1) Facebook is the most frequented website now. Most hits, and everything. Surprisingly more than our well-loved Google. [Yes, i said it. More than Google. Amazing, when you realise how bored you can get tweaking with facebook.]
(2) Some crap about shares that i didnt care about
(3) More crap that i didnt care about. Like how some clothes just wont sell.
(4) Even more crap about sushi (i think)
(5) Finally, as a comment on how Heng Rui (Ms Meta's hubby) read Men's health magazines to keep fit, he practically shouted "yeah right!". I was sure the whole hall heard him. Naturally, i was thinking exactly what he said, but hey, it's a wedding, there are some things you just dont do.

I wouldnt have paid any attn to the moron. But his volume.. too high la. He's the kind of guy who thinks he's being a pimp masta (he was trying to charm this lady next to him, i think), but ending up looking like an idiot. And, on my watch, only bucky gets to do that =)

The "being an idiot" part, of course.

oh, i realised i havent really talked much about ms meta and her hubby. Well, they sure looked happy together -- I'd be a tad worried if they looked ready to rip out each other's oesophagus.

The groom, Heng Rui, looks a right gentleman. He'd better be. I'd worry for HIS life if he ever hurt ms meta and let any of her secret admirers catch wind of it. haha. He seems to be a really nice guy (but hey, i think most people are nice. with exception the idiot i shared the table with).

The bride, meta (yes, down there, for some reason, all of them just called her meta. Which sounded pretty weird. How would you like to call me Lim? Then again, "meta" isnt her surname, so i guess it's fine), looked great. Tho, a little thin. Okay, very thin. I havent seen her this thin since.. well, wadaya know? she's always been thin. haha.. but yep, she looked really happy, which mean even more happy than normal, which means.. okay, i dunno wad it means. but yeah, it was bliss upon bliss for her.

hmmm.. let's see.. when the couple entered the hall, the entrance music wasnt what we (rach and i) expected. it was the "L is for the way you look at me" song, in Spanish (according to rach), instead of the "Imperial March", which i felt would have been more fitting. But that's just me.

now, what else havent i talked about..? oh right, the present. erm.. 6 wine glasses. Yep, ms meta smsed the next day (29th nov, for those who didnt know the wedding was on the 28th) to say it's pretty. But hey, one day after the wedding, probably everything's pretty.

oh, and Mr Really Tightbutt sang a song for Ms meta and her Mister. It was kind of a nice, quiet song, but somehow, listening to it, it felt a bit... longing? I dunno.. i AM quite the overthinker, but who's to know? And then when he sat down after the song, he seemed a bit.. red eyed? the red eyed one rachel doesnt agree, but regarding the song, i think we agree on it being.. you know.. haha. Oh well, i shant speculate anymore. The deal is sealed with a kiss, and i guess none of us will ver know what Mr Really really feels, unless some day he runs down the canteen hallway screaming his head off about his undying devotion to her. if that ever happened, i think we may just have a clue to how he feels abt her. hmm..

what did we wear? let's just say Rachel's probably gonna be okay for Senior Dinner and Dance next year. Sad thing is, when i asked her if what i wore would be okay for SDD, i had to struggle to stop her from flipping.

funny thing is, it's exactly what i wore to our AHS prom night.. haha.. Actually, i was supposed to wear a blue shirt there. but due to a series of unfortunate events, i was left with the pink one.

Oh well.. time to make more fashionable friends in the next year. i'll need all the help i can get.

Well, im done for today.. cya!

Dammit

2007-11-25T17:29:00.000+08:00

Hey ppl,

today ive got only 10 min to type, so here goes!

today was a really crappy day, even tho i din do very much -- in fact, that's partly the reason why today was pretty crappy.

But the main factor that gives rise to my current sentiments would be squash training today. Erm, yes, for those who still dunno -- which would be virtually all my readers here, i have started taking proper lessons from this dude.

Anw, today was the 3rd session. so as usual, i slipped on my squash shoes and walk up to the courts. training starts at 3, but i reached at 2.40. I noticed something diff -- the usually empty court was occupied by my coach and this little girl (obviously one of his students).

But nvm that.. I went on to stretching (yeah, for 20 min, i know)

When it reached 3, i was asked to enter the court, and started squashing. Budden i noticed Eva still wasnt very willing to synch with me -- probably still angry since the last time i accidentally dropped her. So basically, ALL my shots were bad.

Forward stroke, backwards, volleys, boasts.. everything sorta was out of tune. Not sure why.

And becos i couldnt synch properly with Eva (ie i wasnt holding/using her right), my forearm started to ache with the flames of the 9 dragons. So that kinda added on to the lack of synchronisation, since my grip obviously worsened with the pain. Heck, i almost dropped her again.. -.-

But the worst part was 50 min into the training. The coach said i would spar with someone. "For experience," he said. I knew things were gonna get ugly.

But nothing prepared me for.. well, my coach's daughter =.=

Yes, apparently, that girl i talked about earlier was his daughter. Some things i heard about her/gathered from her shirt was that she was from SCGS, Sec 2.

And, as you may have expected from the tone ive been using in this post, yes, i lost again.

to a little Sec 2 girl, with a really girly name: Valentina. Or so i gathered.

the final score: 9-0, 9-2, 9-5 (i finally began to read her movements at e last set, but alas)

Yeah, its screwy to keep losing. And more imptly, keep losing to squash girls =.=

Well, actually, no, it's not really her fault for totally pwning me la, so i dun haf any intention to pwn her back next time. Tho i really hope there's no next time, but still, if i dun fight her... well.. let's say some of us still rmb her senior's (Camille) challenge. Which, if she doesnt rmb, is all fine and gd.

Tho, id probably feel better if i lost to squash guys la.. oh well..

...

crap la!! it's really screwed up to continually lose to girls sia.. =.= [one reason is that no guys challenge me, and those that do (bucky and jinghui) are.. well.. challenged]

I mean (back to the losing-to-girls thing) damn...
losing to a senior squash girl (an eg would be rachel, one yr our senior) is fine, cos she has more exp in the game.
losing to a peer is fine too (like chun cheng), cos well.. at the time i wasnt in the team yet.
losing to a girl 3 years your junior, who has only 7 months experiential advantage over me (and with a really girly name, at that), well, if tt isnt the last straw, ive gotta be kidding myself.

It really has to end la, this. And so, well.. im gonna train REALLY hard from now on, and im seriously gonna stop losing to ppl without at least a strong fight. Like at least get a 9-4 in each set. No more 9-Love and 9-1s. Ever again.

Sometimes some things come back to me like wad my gd fren Roy once said like: "squash? i really dunno if youre agile enuff for that."

he meant well, tt's certain. but from now on, im really gonna challenge tt definition of me.

And the only reason why im posting this here is.. well.. i somehow think telling other ppl abt wad youre planning to do makes you kinda obliged to accomplish it (or at least try your VERY best). So at least now i wont be able to go too easy on myself, now that im sorta held accountable for wad i said.

I'm never going down w/o a fight again.

And dammit la.. =.= this wun happen ever again

Cya ard guys!

i have no title for this post

2007-11-24T17:46:00.000+08:00

well, i did say id reply the people who tagged, so here goes:

to weitheng: err.. yeah.. typo. 2. And no, im not whitish pale. Juz not coloured the way i should be (if i were still active in scouts).

to jingru: haha, i do know some other non-JC ppl. non-JC doesnt = poly wad.. there's Jun Yi (i dont think you know him) Wess and Leanne (both of whom u shld know), my juniors, my grand-seniors, etc. Yep

to aurelia: erm.. no, whitish boy is no longer possible la. but im currently in btw that and wad i looked like when active in scouts.

to bucky: shut up, i dont care how to correctly spell your name, since i hardly use that one anw. haha =)

to jinghui: im sure that i wont want a slap from you, mainly bacause your version of a slap is probably to lash out with you arm and rip my head off, thus incapacitating/killing me for a very long time (think forever). So, no, you are barred from slapping me. And, it'll be fun watching the two of you squash it out, mainly cos it'll be a competition of who loses 1st =)

to rachel: no, i will not "go and get muddy", as you so put it. That kinda stuff is done by people like wu chean. it's just not in me (or the script, for that matter).
And, like i may have mentioned in the past, other sports are simply too dangerous for me to play. Take normal squashing for example: i have had one head shot so far, and have accidentally hit the ball onto other parts of my opponent's body (by accident) quite a number of times. In these cases, i was quite quickly forgiven. But, i think id be less likely to be forgiven if i were taking part in other sports -- i doubt the person on the recieveing end of a head shot would be very forgiving if it were me using an air rifle.
So yeah, i'll stick to squashing =) besides, it's WAY cooler than sports like football (which is so cliched).

to bucky: again, shut up. I dont like soccer, and neither should you. Mainly cos the only job im given is goal keeper. Everytime. Cos tt's mainly all i can do with a more or less acceptable level of success.

to cephia: nope, i have a very strong feeling i deleted those. by accident, i think.

to bucky: err.. no, im not gonna ask you to shut up for the 3rd time, cos i realised it's quite rude. besides, this also means you're one of my most frequent taggers!! Thanks! =)

to jinghui and bucky (regarding the phone thing): err... yeah, ok. i can see you have very few things to be supportive of, seeing that you're such ardent fans of (of all things) a phone producing company. =.= But i guess it's all good... im still a bit unfamiliar with the features. Somehow i find it less user-frenly than sony ericsson, but hey, im still in the process of acclimatisation, so i'll reserve my comments for now.

to soongteng: err.. i touched the dial once by accident, not "anyhow touch touch". it's slightly different (i think), depending on what you meant. And i didnt sleep thru the whole safety briefing, as what you may have heard. im quite sure i got all the points about the EtBr, phenol and UV dangers, inter alia. Besides, you'd fall asleep too, if you were made to sit thru 2 hours of presentation on safety alone, when you had just come back from a 4 day camp the day before. haha..
And, UV can cause mutations, true. but i think the greater danger of that comes from everyone's favourite mutagen, EtBr.

Yep, so ive replied everyone, i think.

Oh, did i mention how i realised my lab lacks guys?? It's like female-ville. And, no, it's not as heavenly as you people out there may think it is, cos mainly all i get to hear -- besides the guidance of my mentor, huihui -- is girl-talk, and i bet every guy out there knows exactly how painful it is to sit thru hours of it everyday.

But still, im starting to get used to the place more and more. and wearing a lab coat and walking down the halls, pulling on your gloves with that snap sound, on the way to find out how to fight the dengue virus and hence save scores of people from the next onset of dengue haemorragic fever (DHF) does feel cool (hey, im 17, gimme a break).

The people there are getting quite frenly as well. At least now there's hi-bye exchanges with people other than my mentor. And i feel less like a kid stuck in a high level lab with a whole legion of adults, esp since i get to do quite a bit of the stuff on my own (actually im forced to at times, but, meh, same difference).

The people there seem really shocked when they realised that im only 17. this could mean of 2 things:
(1) It's surprising how such a young person could enter those labs! he muz be really smart! (thank you thank you...)
(2) He looks so old, and he's only 17?! wth.. =.=

im hoping it's (1). haha..

Then the females in the lab spent the next 10 min talking about "that someone who was born in 1990", and how they were young once. Which was rather weird, cos they're not old wad.. oh well =.= girl talk, as i said.

Bt hey, my real mentor is coming back on Monday! hope he's not boring, tho, if not id rather have his assistant mentor me. haha.. tho, there's quite little risk of that la. i think

So anw, i'll end off here today, cya!

IMCB madness

2007-11-21T23:41:00.000+08:00

"How many of you think that you will be happy after you find 'the one'? Quite a number of ppl would say they do. But since when did we start entrusting other people with our happiness?" --Some lady on TV, from the drama serial "Men in trees"

Unlike what the quote suggests, no, im not really gonna talk about affection today. At least not in the romantic/passionate way.

What im gonna talk about is my place at the IMBC (Institue of Molecular Biology).

I 'work' on Level 5, in the group "LDX". The name of my lab is, admittedly, pretty cool: Virology and Viral Pathogenesis. But, dont let the name scare you, we dont have any ebola, SARS, HIV, or any necrotising virus.

..To my knowledge, that is.. haha

To complement the sometimes pretty high level of danger, we have a rather extensive number of safety measures, which i wont bore you with. The point is they usually border along the lines of paranoia.

To be sure, that's a pretty good thing, mainly because of people like me, who seem to lack any sense of the inivisible, but oh-so-present danger.. Haha.. Today i almost killed myself (in a slow and painful fashion) by touching a lab desk without gloves. by right, the people at that particular place would be in contact with Ethidium Bromide (a strong mutagen), and so they would be very likely to leave some miniscule traces of that freaky stuff on the table. Im still wondering if im screwed or not.

It seems, everytime i go back home from that lab, i seem to worry if im down with something -- aft e first day, i came back aching all over. 2nd day, i came back with my hands itchy. On e 3rd, i came back with my knees itching (dont ask me why, i din exactly pour anth on my knees).

Oh well...

Anyway, LDX labs is a pretty nice place. Only sad thing is that im like a child among a whole room of adults that seem to (and most definitely do) have much more impt things to do than i do. /Recalls the last time i had a family gathering with the rest of my extended family/ Ah well.. that much hasnt changed!

Yes, it's sometimes a little sad to not have peers -- at least those that understand you -- but i get used to it pretty quick. Mainly cos i grew up with that.. haha! =) I still want a kid sister/brother. Just unfortunate that my parents dont share those sentiments.. haha.

Ahhh! Digressed..! OK, the people there are pretty nice. Esp nice is of course my substitute mentor, Hui Hui. She's an ex-VJC student, so tt explains why she's at A*star (ok, kidding, im not biased against other JC/Polys!).

Anw, she's a very helpful person, tho sometimes leaves me while im doing some procedure, so i have to DIY, and hope i dont kill any cells.

Well, actually, that sentence was a bit misleading. She has to teach me stuff that's probably child's play to her, comment on wad im doing, make sure i dont poison myself or blow myself up while doing something, etc etc etc. And she has to do her own research. Few people would be able to stick around for the whole thing, so i guess it's fine tt she leaves me, since she does make sure she runs thru the whole thing with me at least once.

She's also kinda cool la. i say this mainly because:
today she showed me how to prepare DECP water (something needed to maintain the RNA samples i need). It's a simple process really. Add DECP to water. Only for two things:
1. DECP is corrosive. Inhaling it will veryliterally burn my lungs.
2. Adding DECP into water and not stirring it almost immediately will cause the whole thing to explode.
She did tt kinda freaky explanation while demonstrating the procedure to me =.=

Then i had to prepare one myself. So when i began adding the DECP in she commented: "Dont be too worried la, it's not that dangerous."

"Too worried? Not dangerous?!" i replied, " how can i not be nervous when im standing next to 2 bottles, one of which can burn up my lungs, while the other is a timebomb?!"

When i was done adding the DECP inside the water, she held up the bottle to her face to check if i did anth wrong. Before it was stirred 0.o Yes, i think she deserves to be termed "cool", for daring to hold a timebomb up to her face. Either that, or "crazy" would be a gd word as well.

But enuff about Hui2.

My original mentor, who's currently overseas on holiday is pretty wise himself -- hey, he prepared an additional stash of mosquito cells infected with dengue, knowing that i'd probably screw up the ones he put me in charge of (yes, i killed 4 out of 6 of the flasks with the mozzie cells) -- either that, or he's dealt with my kind a lot =.=

The other people, who i havent really worked with much, are a nice bunch of people!

There's Yamada-san, who, while huihui was taking a break saw me faltering at the PCR machine. Then he.. well.. helped me lo. very kind to teach me which buttons to press and all.

He's also the guy who gently reminded me i wasnt wearing gloves while touching a probably super contaminated table top. He was also the guy who watched me freaking out at the sink 2 seconds after that, turning on the tap to full blast and probably using up all the soap.

The rest i know even less. There's Rong hua, who taught me RNA extraction while huihui was busy with her research.

There's also an Indian Hari (Not the indonesian one we all know and love). He reminded me that my hands only go into the fume cabinet-like thing only AFTER i turn off the UV light. Yeah. i almost forgot that. errr.. yeah.

i think if anyone forced me to work in e labs completely alone, id probably get myself killed in a few minutes la.

So yes, it's nice to know there are people around to promptly remind me not to kill myself.

So that wraps up my stint at IMCB today.

After that, i attended a talk by Datik Marina Mahathir (yes, Mahathir's daughter). I was invited to attend by gd old scout teacher mr tan. It was on youth, internet and democracy. Funnily enuff, i learnt something from it, which mr tan had expected.

I cant really put my finger on it, but yes, i learnt something.

...i think.

And, YES!! i get a new phone all over again! it's a nokia phone, so i gotta learn to revert to e old style of doing things. We returned the sony ericcson phone before e warranty was up, so it's all gd.

Oh well, gotta run! cya!

(Next post, i'll post my replies to those who have tagged. I realise ive been dao-ing you all. Sry!)

after the camp

2007-11-20T01:03:00.000+08:00

Hello again!

My camp just ended yesterday. Current status (dunno if resulting from e camp or not) is a bit bad:

Movement: 50%
Knee: bad
Arm: Below average
Spirits: Not bad
General Pain level: Dull, continuous

Anw, the camp was rather slack. The knee prob acted up almost immediately aft the camp started, even tho I wasn’t a participant – I was helping out in the camp as a staff member. Cool term, but yeah.

It’s probably cos I had to walk ard a lot (I suddenly remembered it has a lot of stairs.. =.=), cos I was the guy that bought all the stuff, and carried it back, on my own, mainly due to lack of manpower.

That aside, the scouts were rather bad at their skills – not that my expectations were very high, considering I haven’t been scouting for quite some time now. Nonetheless, their pacing and bearing was pitiful, their outdoor cooking (backwoodsman cooking) wasn’t fantastic – tho im not much of a cook myself. I even learnt they haven’t ever built anything higher than 2 storeys!!! Tt was freaky, cos our pioneering is the bread and butter of the Falcon Scouts, imho.

Things that were pretty ok, tho, were their physical fitness (maybe we were easy on them), and that they were mostly bonded – far more than my batch, at least.

I think i learnt quite a bit about the camp, more about myself, and about understanding people better. And i think i grew (dare i say it?) more mature. So, yes, i think this camp was really helpful in my development..

For some reason, i suddenly miss AHS, tho, despite the Boon still being in power.. somehow, AHS in the morning, in the canteen, along the corridor, in the parade square, and the field, even in the toilet.. it all means smth to me, smth i cant quite put in a word to describe it, but nonetheless, i miss it. And heck, i sure miss the frens and the experiences.

And, i guess, thanks for the memories.. to some ppl in particular.

I wont talk much more abt the camp, cos it’s mostly insider stuff, which would bore u guys to death, and probably reveal unwanted stuff. But one funny thing was that the two main instructors for the whole camp were 2 of the 3 most feared seniors in AHS Falcon Socuts – Alaric, and Lin Pei.

Tho, they were real nice to them this camp, I dunno why, but yeah, they din whack them hard or anth. Probably give face to them cos they’re already e commanding batch (oh yeah, forgot to mention this camp is only for Sec 3s)

Anw, besides that, life hasn’t been much slacker aft the camp. Today, I went to IMCB (Institute of Molecular Cell Biology) for another day of attachment there – mostly it was the safety briefing which was, quite typically, boring.

I also rushed home to discuss some matters of the children’s camp with shawn.

So yeah, that’s about it.

Oh, im quite glad I now have a more healthy looking skin colour, after soaking in the sun. Still could look a bit more.. well.. normal, bit it’ll have to do.

Gotta go off now.. tml I have to go down to VJ for squash (with Eva), and also to IMCB again, for briefing on the main process in my whole research! (im quite thrilled abt that, for some reason)

Cya ard!

They say

2007-11-15T01:03:00.000+08:00

“They say ‘Good guys finish last’. But hey, at least they finish.” – Bucky. (yes, Bucky. Mohammed Hussian. No kidding. And yes, that’s wisdom that I juz quoted from him.)

Hey ppl..

Ive got very little time to type right now, mainly cos im going for my scout camp in less than 24hrs (in fact, it’s starting at 12.30 tml).

This is generally good news for you readers, for my having very little time to write means that this post wont be those humongous feature length posts that I usually treat u guys to.

Anw, THERE’S SO MUCH I WANNA talk abt!!!

Ok, 1st, there’s the scout camp, which starts tml. It’s really for NYAA, but I realize there’s smth else to it that I din notice till now.. It’s my 1st scout camp in almost a year! Yes, I suddenly realize how long away from scouts ive been. No wonder my skin has turned white-ish pale (original colour).

Oh man.. it’s been so long.. How long more till I finally slip on my scouts PT kit again? About 13 hours, but yeah, I cant wait anw. Ooooh.. thinking abt e PT kit brings back memories as well.. U noe I shldnt be alive? Most of u guys dunno tt. So, now.. short story time!

When I was younger (sec 2), we were building a 4 legged tower, composed of 20 long poles, 12 to make e two main frames e remaining 8 to form the linkages between them. It’s a simple structure really.

But it’s tt simplicity tt nearly pwned me real bad. After we took e linkages apart, we had e 2 main frames standing on their own (we supported them manually). Think of it as putting one of those CD covers on its edge. Yeah, tt wld be a miniature main frame.

Now, sth happened, I forgot what, but both supports for both frames slipped simultaneously. And I think I wanted to push someone out, and so was kind of in e way of both frames falling on me, cos I was in between both frames, and e thing was caving in.

What happened next? Well, im still alive and walking properly, aren’t i? So anw, I did what anyone with a brain wld do: duck, and pray for help. So forming my body into a ball, and pushing myself as close to e ground as possible, I juz closed my eyes and waited.

Then I heard a snap, and felt a soft tap on my back.

Turns out that one particular pole on one frame got in e way of e 2nd frame, and e force of that falling snapped that pole, and so e force was cushioned, and I didn’t die.

Considering each long pole was about 5~10kg, and I had almost 12 long poles falling at me… yeah, im pretty glad to be alive =)

Heck, I even have the fragments of the pole that snapped while rescuing me.

Ah… gd days…

Oh, crap.. 15 mins left.

What else significant happened while I was away… ok, 3 things: bucky’s trip to Maldives, and the Class chalet

A short one for bucky. Basically, come back soon, have a nice trip, and no, this time I didn’t cry when you entered the departure hall. Bring back some Maldivian stuff for me.

Ok, next… class chalet!! Hmm.. for this one, what can I say?

Of course, if anyone was listening close to me, u’d noe I expected it to flop real badly. In that regard, I’d have to say that it wasn’t a complete flop. From my perspective of course. But seeing as it is that im innately over-optimistic at times, I may just be wrong.

Oh well… That would be my first time at organizing a chalet – no doubt, with the help of mr chua, and with special mention to ms koo ruiqi and ms koh chinyee, for their additional help in coordinating and not letting me mess things up too much. The rest of you get a “thanks” as well for the other things. The girls for not letting me screw up e food by trying to cook. The guys for being such sports and playing Jenga with me tho I noe u were all really bored anw. And of course everyone who went there for, well.. being there! =) of course, thanks to yingwah and bucky for the special talk – no, not everything I said was a joke.

I do realize that the chalet was very boring, and im kinda sry abt tt. And the beetles! Heck, if I were left alone with them, id probably freak too, so I guess its alright to freak.. I mean… Damn… Those things din look like normal beetles. Budden got ppl mah.. so muz put on brave front X-x yes.. e secret’s out!!! Haha.. kiddin abt e last part.

Anw, I dunno if it’s a gd or bad thing that ive gotta do another one next year. But I hope everyone still turns up.. Was thinking of downtown east there.. there really not bad. But oh well.. it’s another year away.

AHHH!!! The end of our JC life is only another year away!!! 07S31, if u guys ever catch me emo-ing again, pls slap me out of it!! I have only one more year with u guys, and I wanna luff it all e way thru, if possible. WL… 1 yr behind us.. 1 yr left…

Ok, moment of epiphany over.

I’ll talk abt e rest of my life another day. For now, ive gotta catch some shut eye before tml! CYA!! =)

Another day

2007-10-26T10:05:00.000+08:00

Hello again, ppl!

I suppose everyone's down with PW fever, eh? (at least my JC readers..)

Anw, today, i went to sch with Eva. Main purpose was to go for the H3 NAV Science Research briefing at 10.30, but i went early (9.30) so i could spend more time with Eva.

At the start, she was a little stubborn, and din feel like hitting e ball [im not exaggerating (i think), the ball was right there, and i hit it right, but instead of flying straight like it should, it flew all over the court]. Anw, after a good number of forehand strokes, we started to communicate better. Then we moved on to the backhand stroke.

To the uninitiated, Eva is Ripper's sister (a graphite squash racquet), and we (my family) bought her at Queenstown -- some monopolistically competitive shop there -- for $119. She's a new model (called Liquidmetal Heat.. i think Eva sounds slightly better, but that's juz me) in the market, under the brand "Head". I think we got her at quite a good price, since she weighs in at about 140g (give or take 5g).

Why is she a girl? well, i guess it's pretty obvious you cant sex a racquet (vetinary term, not a slang), since they seem to have no need/ability to copulate (at least i dont think they do...). Anyway, i guess i judged based on her temperament and physical appearance.

Temperament wise, she's a bit more petty than Ripper, only performing uber well when
(1) coaxed into it
(2) we're losing, or at risk of it

Physically, she's obviously more fragile than Ripper, cos she's made of more graphite and less titanium. (although with humans, it's not so easy to see the distinction based on this factor anymore.. haha.. well, it is true..)

So yeah, female. And, the best thing is, there's no way to disprove this notion =)

Anyway, by the end of our "bonding session", my right forearm -- playing arm -- was pretty swollen. Think ive gotta loosen my grip a bit, or else, when the time comes, my game is history.

After that, i went for the Science Research briefing, after a short talk with mr chua about how i din understand half the things we had to do for the research thing cos it's all higher lvl stuff (he ended up admitting he din noe all of it either -- which was all i wanted him to say, actually.. haha).

In the SR briefing, i recieved pretty grim news -- There were 2 SR briefings i would have to attend, one on 7th and the other on 9th Nov, which, incidentally, are on the chalet days. Perfect aim.. so apparently, i cant really help with checking in, and i most defintely cant help with checking out.

Oh, did i mention the chalet in my previous posts? Dun recall, but e crux is, we nearly din find a (relatively) gd and cheap chalet, but thanks to e efforts of chuachua, jean koh, and of course yours truly, we more or less found smth cheap (and imo, quite nice). All at a cost of $0.80 for a pop-up lollipop thingy (gee.. nvr eaten one of those things before... but now at this age, i think id probably never be caught dead consuming that. well, childhood comes only once, doesnt it?)

Anw, yeah, bad news for my chalet plans.. oh well.

Oh, gtg for PW meeting le.. cya guys

After the Promos

2007-09-30T23:29:00.000+08:00

Hey guys

The long awaited promos have come and gone.

In spite of the fact that ive sat for more papers before, id haf to say these promos feel like the most long-drawn exam period ever.

Aside from the O levels of course. haha.. who cld ever forget that..

But hey, why wld i, after working so hard to put the promos behind me, want to spend an entire post talking abt it? Heh! Absurd

What better than to talk about... u guessed it: AFTER the promos.

Looking at the week ahead, i cant help but feel kind of too free. I cant say im studying for promos anymore, since that's now behind me; but i cant say im studying for A lvls either, cos.. well, i juz dun wanna.. haha.. Logically, now's not too bad a time to start but...

Heh.. wad the heck.. =)

But actually, there is a lot to do.. ive really been neglecting life in general all cos of e promos.. so yeah.. now there's much to handle, look forward to and look out for:
1. Children's Camp (Im really worried abt this one.. no positive response even till this stage... it may not even happen -gasps!- hope not tho)
2. Sea Regatta Planning (Yep, im part of e adhoc committee, so yeah)
3. H3 NAV Science Research Proposal (there's 2 weeks left till e due date and i still dunno wad to do.. =.=)
4. Class chalet (still pretty scared tt we might not be in time to book e one tt we want exactly... Oh pls let it turn out ok.. plsplsplsplspls...)

Ah well.. tt's e main gist of wad's controlling my life right now.. this shall be a short post, after which u guys are released.. Here goes:

Haha.. promos finally over, shall kick back and relax.. the jingrah and rachamin combos are still going strong (and hope to e heavens they remain strong! haha).

As for myself, things haf changed.. haha.. for better or for worse, i dunno. but well, it's different now..

well, tt's all for me for now (told u it'd be short)

shall upload some pics of my bed (clearly some ppl are dying to noe wad it looks like for some reason =.=) soon.

And if i ever find the time amidst my frantic effort to clear the Major Four Trials and Tribulations (as listed above), u might see a new blogskin!

Tho, dun get ur hopes up.. this skin was supposed to have been changed 10 months ago.. haha

Ciao!

Roller-Coaster Ride!

2007-09-06T21:19:00.000+08:00

"Tragedy love songs have to change their style a bit -- too predictable, what with the 'I like girl, girl doesnt like me, i feel damn sian diao' storyline and all" -- 93.3 guest speaker (i sort of translated it, except for the "i like girl, girl dun like me, i damn sian" part -- it was hilarious when he said it)

Yes, i do realise tt i said in my last post tt i wldnt post anymore before the promos.

Oh well.

Anyways... Today was, well.. different.

For a start, i woke up to find no one else at home. I dunno.. it felt kinda cool, having the house all to yourself -- not tt my parents are always home. Juz tt they seldom leave e house before i wake up. On tt note, i dont wake up REALLY late like some ppl -- i woke up at 8.30, so yeah.

Anyway, the milo was prepared already -- juz at e right temperature, too! Breakfast.. erm.. skipped it. oops.. dunno why oso. juz din feel like eating -- if u guys know me quite well, u'll noe i regard this as a bad sign.

Obviously, i ignored tt la.. sheesh.. great day -- gd sun, nice breeze, a squash game scheduled to be as-soon-as-Dad-gets-back.. >=)

Went to pack up my stuff before then. Dad called back to say he'd be a bit late. He reached at 9.40 (supposed to be 9) but yeah, tt's ok.

I wore e squash t-shirt (for e 1st time!) and we went for a game. But he got injured quite soon (actually, it was an old injury we all thot had healed. oh well. I din let him play aft tt).

So Ripper and i had e whole court to ourselves. I finally got how to "boast" -- the technique, not blatant overstatement of one's abilities or anth. And formulated one attack method -- assuming e opponent returns e ball in a manner i expected, and tt i dont mess up on either the "set up" move or the "finishing" move.. THEN i can almost 75% guarantee an instant kill >=) yeah, e odds sound pretty bad, but still, its a shot.

Then i had a bath in the gym shower. Their heaters were IMBA.. a bit too imba =.= nearly scalded myself at 1st. but i finally decided e cold water was better.

We went for lunch after tt -- Nasi Lemak at... Changi Village!!! yeah, tt's where u can find one of e best Nasi Lemak. Not THE best, but close.

Halfway thru lunch, i suddenly had a VERY bad feeling -- like when u suspect someone's gonna get very badly hurt or smth. I was quite thankful tt such visions never come true when i experience them. Usually only e gd things happen -- eg. e jinghui and ____ thing [assuming tt's a gd thing. jkjk ;)]. But yeah, someone was going to be in a large amount of pain/sorrow [or as Bucky wld put it "somebody's a-gonna getta hurtin'.. REAL bad.."] in 3 weeks. Ok, on hindsight, e 3 weeks thing is stupid for two reasons.
(1)It's SO dumb, can? where got so zun 21 days de?
(2)LOTS of things'll happen in 3 weeks. Sooner or later, somewhere, somehow, someone or other will definitely experience some sorrow -- and then id be right! and be incepted into the Clairvoyant Council for my great psychic powers. Yeah.. THAT'S how those self-acclaimed fortune-tellers get their $$$ "Oh, in 5 years time, you're gonna get sick." Yeah, great.
But, anyway, that popped into my head, so let's see how dumb it can be.. haha

After that, Dad drove me back to Changi Beach club so i cld go study. It's a GREAT place to study. e clouds were nice and white -- the little white dollops playing across e sky and all. E sea was giving tt very nice "crash upon the shoreline" effect, too.

Dad left to go do his work, and so i was left there to mug chem. actually, i more of did e Chem Midyr 2006 paper. Yes, u heard it -- Midyr... =.= screw la.. i only found out after checking for e answers that e promo paper was stapled at e back. X_X

Anyway, i did e MCQ for the 2006 promo paper as well -- however reluctantly. Finally satisfied (by then it was 5 plus), i headed home, on my own again. As those of u who have been to Changi Beach Club wld noe, the pathway from The clubhouse to the nearest bus stop is lined with those really nice trees (yes, i noe, the same ones u find on the expressways, along the National Parks, etc, etc), but yeah, still nice.

It was really quiet, save for the whisper of the tree branches in that teasing little breeze (oh, im getting overly descriptive, arent i?) -- now i know wad i wanna do after the promos and all -- juz take a stroll on my own in some quiet place. I contemplated having the class chalet here: the nice quiet place. I soon perished the thought, tho. I *think* im one of the few ppl tt likes to walk alone on a quiet road and can appreciate the trees and stuff.

Then again, it's rather daft to have a chalet where all u do is sit there quietly and think.

and think.
and think..

Oh.. one more gd thing is the whole concept of there being no cars on the road.. very --/coughs as a diesel-powered bus spews its exhaust into the surroundings as it rolls past/ -- very agreeable. yeah..

I alighted near my place, and continued on foot. the road here was different from the one at the club -- it was much warmer, probably due to the lack of trees, since, in place, there's a lot more housing estates.

Finally reaching my place, i was glad to get out of reach of the relentless thermals (columns of hot air rising from the sun-baked ground).. And, out of the pan and into the fire, cos: i got scolded for leaving the butter out on the table, and letting it adopt into liquid state.. =.=

And THAT's why u shld always eat breakfast! or else u wont even realise they left the butter on the table for you.. X_X

Then i got scolded for so much more stuff tt i wont bother to mention. Honestly, what i did doesnt even have significantly negative entailments, and u haf ONE upset lady screaming at u.

I cldnt really do work aft tt.. haha. Even if i shld forget things, it juz plays back again and again in my mind.. in this case, it was the screaming (of which the frequency was in the same neighbourhood as that of a jet aircraft), which gave me a headache. I went into my room and closed the door, so i removed any real noises.

But e mental noise!! My gdness... X_X There was suddenly a constricting band on my forehead, as my brain replayed everything again and again and again, telling my ears they SHOULD hurt from all the noise i WAS hearing.

It amused me only very slightly to note the pain was from the volume, and not the content of the scolding. I even found myself thinking that, perhaps, hitting my head wld make it feel better -- thank gdness i didnt, tho.. At least the reasoning part of me prevented that.

I woke up abt an hour later on the floor. No, silly, i didnt faint =.= juz i tried to get some sleep to alleviate the pain. The screaming was much softer now, but still present. so now im blogging to remove the rest of the pain -- i find "talking" (even to an inanimate screen =.=) helps ease thing up a bit.

Usually, there's rachel. But i din wanna disturb her -- and i din feel like going online --, so yeah. Here i am, instead.

So anyway, yeah. wadever i juz mentioned explains why today's post's title is "Roller-Coaster Ride!" -- i noe u guys cant see it due to this skin's coding, so yeah.

Cya ard!

Reminiscence II

2007-08-31T23:21:00.000+08:00

"If every boy likes some girl, and every girl likes some boy, does it follow that some boys like someone who likes them back? -- Logic Made Easy [Yeah... easy... =.=]

I dont really know the answer to that anymore... i think e answer's no. Why? because logically, "some" = "some, or possibly all". If you said yes, you're ignoring the remote possiblity that every guy likes a girl who so happens to like some other guy (who so happens to like some other.. u get the picture).

Anyway... hey guys!

I think this'll be the last post before promos... Only a few weeks stand between us and the inevitable... /BIG sigh/

Well, today was the celebration for teacher's day.

Let's begin from the beginning, shall we?

I woke up at 4.50am cos i din wanna be late for the preparation at VJ at 6.30am. This was harder than u might think, as my whole body was wracked with pain cos of a certain circuit training the day before.. Sure, some of u might say it's not that hard or challenging -- but i dont think any of u haf the right to say that except sufiyan (who kept on running e whole way). Juz think of it.. 800m - 20 pushups - 800m - 20 crunches - 400m - 20 dips - 400m - 20 stepups (per leg!) - 400m -20 pushups - 400m - 20 crunches - 400m - 20 dips - 400m

Im glad i even survived that... haha.. Like SUPER proud tt i finished 2nd out of e guys -- tho i do noe everyone else din really put everything into it. Oh well.. glad that im still able to push myself anyway.

...i digressed... =.= after the breakfast and bathing and stuff, i went to sch. reached at 6.40 (ok, i was still fighting off e urge to sleep while eating breakfast, thus the lateness)

Anw, as part of my duty as a CT councilor, i was given e role of BACKSTAGE CREW!!! oh yeah... 2nd time these past few months (first one was during Gan Jia Hao's Butterfly Project Concert). Pity tt we werent asked to wear black.. tt wld make e job cooler.

Anw, we did preparations for the teacher's day concert. the preparations wld haf been more extensive, had it not been for some stupid rock band that was using the stage for last minute performances and additional air-time. Bloody nuisance. Ok.. their sins wldnt be all that great if it were a normal day. But my whole team woke up super early to prepare things on stage properly. With them using the damned stage for over 20 minutes playing songs they've rehearsed for the 46th time already, we cldnt do our job. We might as well haf come at e normal time la (for me, that wldve been.. say.. 7.30).. so yeah. Strike one.

Of course, the backstage duties din end there. With almost every performance, we had to move smth out. for me, it was the mikes. and thanks to some (more) last minute mess ups, i was always the last one back in the shelter of the backstage -- why the stage curtains din work, i'll nvr know... -- but yeah, tt juz meant e whole sch cld see me for a really long time.

Oh? wad do i mean by last minute screwups? i mean stuff like how the emcees took the mike backstage after use when they were supposed to leave it on the stage so we cld set up more quickly. Thus making me have to spend 20 odd seconds searching for the mike on stage. In full view of that charming VJ audience. Another 10 odd seconds as i set up the thing after finally finding the mike. Brilliant. Stupid emcees... X-X Strike two. X-X lucky no strike three.

Then suddenly, some CTC girl who was supposed to read out the thank you notes to the audience had a sore throat. Convenient.. And, as luck would have it, guess who got the job? X-X This wasnt helped when the teachers did getai.. and Mr Seet and Mr Chow dressed up in... in a manner i dont think their mums wldve been very proud of. Seeing them (and standing inches from them) backstage with two cloth tubes wraped around the less decent parts of their body did a number on my stomach. And i dare say, this wasnt a figure of speech. I seriously wanted to puke.

So, obviously, when i went up on stage to thank the people i was supposed to thank on the list, i wasnt exactly in the frame of mind to be grateful in the first place.. Thus leading to my more-monotone-than-usual voice. As an additional point -- if any of u rmb me pausing halfway while reading the note on stage -- yes, that was cos i nearly did puke right there and then.

With that out of the way, we cleared up (while listening to the school's mass dances being played over the PA system) -- the mass dance thing, as a side note, was pretty much a flop. At first, at "whiney whiney", abt half of the audience was there, barring the teachers. I went out to settle some other things aft tt -- ie, writing Mr chua's teacher's day card -- When i got back, ("I want you" was playing by then) the mass dance had turned into strictly a SC affair.

Anyway, after shifting back the drum set to the band room, i excused myself to go hand Mr chua and the other teachers the teacher's day stuff. Mr Chua got a (finally) presentable slingbag from chinyee and gang (sry, i dunno who exactly bought it). I handed him the card. And my personal present -- an NTUC recyable shopping bag. Now, to the common reader, this wld be seen as incredibly stingy (seeing that it costs only a dollar). But, to a teacher who probably receives 2kg worth of gifts and cant bring it home easily, its really a godsend! So yeah, im kinda practical.. haha. Same present to ms meta and ms wu. Cldnt find ms Lee, so no present for her. Saw mr chia, but he was in a rush, so yeah, no shopping bag for him either. And no sign of mr ho or Mr Wong either, so they din get the great gift either! oh well.. (actually, on second thot, not getting it isnt that much of a loss to them, huh? -.-)

Aft tt, yue yang told me he was busy, but still had to move the projector and the fan back to the admin office ASAP, so i went to help. Got myself a trolley thing from the admin office (noisy thing.. i felt stupid wheeling it empty to the hall). Loading the projector on the trolley, i realised i missed out smth impt.. the fan, which wldnt fit onto the trolley due to the law that solids are incompressible (esp if u want the fan to work next time u plug it in and press the button). which is how my maldivian counterpart came into the picture. Thanks bucky!

Xianglin walked into the hall juz as we were about to leave, asking if i needed any help with the moving. I looked at the too-heavy-for-her-to-carry projector (yeah, i cldve let her push that to the Admin Office, but after i pushed the empty trolley all the way to the hall alone? no way! haha.. "finish wad u started"). I looked at the too-heavy-for-her-to-pick-up-without-hurting-herself fan (Bucky's different... he could do with a few more injuries, so i let HIM carry it..). Then i graciously declined. So we (me and bucky) left for the admin office. Amazing how bucky din say anth abt it. Kind of him =)

Aft tt, i watched the VJC/AHS ppl leave for.. well.. AHS. I decided to wait for jinghui 1st. And got mildly annoyed when he said he wanted to wait for some other guy 1st -- meaning an alone trip.

Kids, this is wad happens when u decide to not call the person u're waiting for, and ask whether or not u shld be waiting for him.

Anyway, bucky went with me to the bus stop. I was (for a rare moment) lucky to get my bus first (Bus 31), so i din haf to wait alone. Well, sad for bucky, but hey, i guess it's fair since i get this outcome like only 12% of the time im in such a situation.

Well, i alighted one stop before Tanah merah mrt station, at the HDB housing estate. Then, the memories came flooding back into my mind. Naturally, the first thing i noted about this neighbourhood was the significantly larger population of cats -- those cute/social little life forms.. -- an adolescent one came up to me mewwing. I wanted to pick him/her up, but... 1) i might get scratched -- to me, there's nvr a gd day for rabies treatment.. it's a painful, and long drawn process.. juz wiki it! 2) Since it's adolescent, it might be dependent on its mother (however remotely possible), who identifies it by scent. Touching it wld mask this scent and confuse the mother with my own scent, and the mother may turn on it. which is why u shld NEVER touch the young, no matter how cute or social.

Crap.. digressed again. Anyway, i walked up to the sidegate of the sch (nearest the field and street soccer court). Only to find it locked. No matter -- i was starting to enjoy the walk. I remembered how we scouts practically lived at the field on fridays, saturdays, and during the sch holidays.. So much better than the current Venture Scouts life..

I walked past the portion outside the sch that was near the woodshed, where the scouts kept all their poles.. How many years it had been with me pulling out poles from there under the pressure of the fast diminishing time limit to bring the required poles to the field for our next structure. Further on were the class rooms, where we'd spent so much to tgt, as 3H and 4Hers. I rmbed how we scouts played night raid in that block as well. And how i liked to walk thru the sch alone at night sometimes when we stayed overnight as seniors.

I walked past a field outside the school that hadnt been there 2 years ago -- a HDB apartment block had been pulled down for it. To me, (in a contradicting way) it seemed half as a retrograde step, and half as a step forward. Oh well.. Reaching the chang cheng, i started to climb it.

Ah.. the Chang cheng...

As a Sec 1 student councilor, i rmb almost beating up a guy who was trying to scare me during the night games on the chang cheng. As a Sec 2 scout, i rmb having to frog-jump/duck-walk up its 119 steps during PT. As a Sec 3 scout, i rmb having to run down it to buy things at mkt 85to prepare for some thing or other. As a Sec 4, i went down it countless times after some test or exam to chill with Roy, XZ and weitheng. Maybe some others.

Anyway, i realised that the gate there (at the top) was locked as well -- "Visitors please use the main gate". So i made my way down... =.=

I made my way around the back of the school. By this time, i had made almost half a round around the school compound. I passed by another family of cats along a grass patch -- hey, how often to you find cats in the grass? they're usually snoozing under a parked car or under some void deck..

I ambled along the pathway. Actually, lumbering would be a more apt word, owing to the fact that my thigh was still in pain from the abovementioned PT.. oh well.. ahh.. more memories of the scout night raids as i walked past anothe rsection of the school, and saw this large drain.. haha.. found a sec 3 scout there once.. his shirt was all dirty from trying to hide in that drain.. An admittedly stupid move.

Finally, i reached the school main gate. Funny how different it felt to walk in with a different outfit (VJ uniform).

I suddenly remembered this song.. Shan hu hai. This was so called the theme song for me during the course of my Sec 4 education, cos i rmb singing it quite often with Roy, as well as many reasons.. Scouts, class, everything. Part of it inspired one of my highest scoring chinese compositions in the whole year -- VERY big deal, mainly cos my chinese isnt really smth to shout abt. Haha.. it was SO gd, mdm tham thot i copied it from somewhere. Obviously, it was a love story.. got a little help from my ex-classmate with the phrasing/proof-reading, but i rmb tt e main gist was mine if im not wrong..

Im very grateful to haf e teachers i had for Sec 4.. every last one of them, cos their combined effort got me into where i am to today.. 07s31, in VJC -- tho sometimes i feel "well, a load of good THAT did me..", but i do know i probably wldnt have it any other way. Special mention goes to my abovementioned chinese teacher, Mdm Tham, who brought my most probable E8 grade into C5... Miracle worker, really.. (Of course, this wldnt haf as much effect as it did if not for chu2 encouraging me to read more chinese books.. by no mean feat, my avg # of chinese books read spiked from 1~2 a year to 11 books in that year alone. Thanks!)

Anyway, i met 4H ppl along the way (based on sequence of appearances) -- Songhan, Hanhui (i forgot her name till about 2 hours later, when some one called her and she responded -- luckily i didnt haf to call her name.. haha), Chu2, Gao Yan, Mei Yee, Serene, WeiTheng, Hui Yi, Roy.. I met Jinghui and Ben as well.. ben apparently suspects somethings thanks to a certain Gretchen.. And Jinghui seemed a little too happy... gdness.. wad had he been up to in my absence? i wonder... haha..

So yeah, when Roy and Weitheng reached AHS, the group went to find the teachers, thanked them for getting us where we were, yada yada.. The teachers looked happy, albeit a little drained from wad obviously muz be the preparations for the Sec 4s prelims..

I caught myself telling.. well, myself.. tt was saddening yet heartening that life seemed to go on regardless of whether we were there or not.

We trooped to the highest level of the Sec 1 and Sec 2 block.. My my.. memories galore there.. from the basketball we accidentally threw into the ceiling fan to the splinter that got in my right eye when the said fan tore into the ceiling; from our scottish history teacher to me being to Senior Patrol Leader of the AHS Falcon Scouts from 2006 to 2007.

Ah.. memories sure are fun, arent they?

After that, we (Joanna, jingru, songhan, roy and myself) went to Roy's new house to rest awhile, before going to my house to catch a film (i myself didnt know wad to watch.. but oh well). At roy's place, Roy went to bathe, i caught some shut eye on the floor next to Roy's bed while Songhan and the girls messed with Roy's stuff.

One thing they messed with was his digital weighing machine, the one that measures weight AND fat content. Eh, u cant blame me for trying it, can u? Sounded cool.. but my spirits fell when i saw e thing result. 2.0% fat was fine (issit supposed to be healthy or not???) the thing that was troubling was the weight... it FELL from 86 to 79!!! for some of u, u might be thinking im being sarcastic, that it's all a gd thing.. but truthfully, no. fats are one thing -- better not to have too much of that. But weight.. tt's different. Being heavy has its many uses, like being able to channel ur weight into additional force, etc, etc. it allows u to do things e lighter ppl can only dream of doing. Gah.. my 7 kg... =( exercise is probably e solution.. but.. too.. lazy... unless it's squash, of course.. tt's different.. haha!

Anyway, by the time we reached my place, it was 4 something.. We watched harry potter and the goblet of fire. Haha.. my dad juz bought the (original!) DVD, so even i didnt know. It was funny when Roy suggested we watch it and i told him we didnt have it and he wanted to scold me for lying..! (It was on the dining table and i didnt see it)

I realised i missed a LOT of gd flicks this year and last year. One would be this edition of the Harry Potter saga. Others would be Shrek 3, Spiderman 3, Transformers, DeathNote 2, among others.. I have officially failed as a properly functioning teenager.. =(

Haiz.. my one redemption would be (tho the only movie i caught this year).. The Simpsons! Gd show.. haha.. Oh well..

After the movie, i had to shoo the guys off, cos i had tuition at 7, and i hadnt had dinner yet. Tuition was killer.. after it, my mind didnt function right anymore. (yes, yes, i know.. "who said it did in the first place?" wadever la u guys..)

I finally reached Shawn's house at 9.45.. (ok, to fill u in, Shawn's my kindergarten best fren, who i met by chance only last year -- 10 whole years of separation!) They were playing mahjong at tt point, they being: Roy, WeiTheng, Khartikk, and yingzhou. Shawn was watching. After that round, Weitheng asked me to take over.

There are two very strong reasons why i lost:
1) Im totally useless at mahjong. I was taught how to play before by Shawn, but i suacked at it anyway.
2) My brain wasnt functioning.

After that me and Weitheng sparred. Or sparred as well as you can on a king sized bed (forgot why.. i think he insulted me or smth) tt was fun, except he nearly elbowed my nose.

Yeah, then we left for home at about 11. Shawn stayed there. Mainly cos that was his house in the first place.

I walked home alone, but again, i always felt there was something behind me. Gd or bad, i dunno.. but it juz felt that way. Tho i felt better as a ginger cat walked up to me and mewwed. Cats are nice.. i told u so.

then i reached home, and.. yeah.. started typing this.

Oh well, i think u guys muz be super bored aft reading this long post -- it was a pretty long day, i'll admit, so yeah...

fun while it lasted, but not something id do anytime soon again, cos of e promos and stuff.

Tho, i havent really had the time to have that nice long talk with you yet, weitheng...

Haha.. There's still time for that.. Stay healthy, man!

Gd nite to everyone!!

hello again

2007-08-20T21:09:00.000+08:00

isnt this surprising! dear old me has finally decided to post again! ..not to mention at the least expected of times, what with the imminent/ impending promotional exams and the like.

i really shouldnt be here, but i guess there's no stopping now, since ive finally come around to type again after so long..!

Today/tonight's post shall be more of a recount type rather than those "monolouge discussion" types i usually type. Why? because, as bucky (my maldivian counterpart from 07s31) made a *little* sense e other time -- that i should be posting, in lieu of all the stuff taht's happening around -- albeit not always to -- me

Hmmm.. what HAS happened to my life last time i checked..

well, i got into VJ -- 1st choice! oh yeah... (yes, i do realise im 8months late in announcing this)

then i went to 07s31.. hehe.. same class as jinghui and hari (for all you ahs ppl reading). Kena sabo-ed by everyone into becoming e CT rep.. haiz.. =.= oh well.. e job's no fun. but then again, its not so bad..

i din really enjoy orientation. prefered my class way over that, so there.. at least tt's wad i rmb thinking. now, i cant say i rmb..

Wow.. ive typed for quite awhile, and i realise havent really talked abt 07s31 at any significant length at all..! oh well, here goes..

My class
We have a subject combi of Bio, chem, math, econs/geog, and KI/GP. so yeah.

Broadly speaking, the class can be clearly subdivided into two (mostly) clearcut groups -- guys and girls!

Hmm.. ladies 1st

Girls
CaveWoman (Econs/KI)
GangLeader (Econs/KI)
Rach (Econs/KI)
Koay (Econs/GP)
Pan (Econs/GP)
Shuff (Econs/GP)
Rikishi (Geog/GP)
Liyuan (Geog/GP)
Maryam (Geog/GP)
ChinYee (Geog/GP)
Hui Ling (Geog/GP)
Phamelia (Geog/GP)
SoongTeng (Geog/GP)

and then there were... Guys!
Me! (Econs/KI)
StickInsect/Dementor/Pain (Econs/KI)
Darmy (Econs/KI)
Over-Achiever (Econs/GP)
Bucky -- the man w/o the plan (Econs/GP)
Sufniyan (Econs/GP)
GanJiaHao (Geog/GP)
Mao^2 (Geog/GP)
JingWei!!! ..lol.. (Geog/GP)
Ah Xuan (Geog/GP)
Fahjin (Geog/GP)

so.. yes.. we have 24 ppl in all -- 11 guys, 13 girls. Very well balanced.. From exp, girl numbers usually pwn guy numbers, so its a nice change =) Especially convenient in e event tt -- for some odd reason -- they start playing the friendship dance while we're having class.

dah well.. anw, as most of u readers would know by now, im the CT rep of this motley crew.. Wld haf to say im sort of lucky to haf e ppl i mentioned above in our class. At least can talk to anyone of them without tt kinda do-i-know-you kinda facial expression (im sort of exaggerating, but yeah.. it's not bad la)

We're not exactly the most tight-knit group, so yeah, i sometimes juz stare in amazement everytime i hear abt this class outing, or that class BBQ by some other class.. How DO they manage it?? Haiz.. sometimes i juz think tt s31 wld've done better with someone who actually was involved in class matters during his sec, or even pri, sch life.. someone liddat wld probably be able to ie things up much better -- glue e class tgt or smth. Oh well.. i guess u guys are stuck with me for 3 more months or so...

muahahah.

CCAs
Well, there's ventures scouts. Cant say anth's going on, cept library duty and an upcoming overnight survival camp. Really hope this involves pioneering structures.. been awhile since ive built any towers or the like. Doubt anyone in s31 (other than jh and hari, cos they'd probably haf seen it in sch sometime or other) wld believe ive built stuff (with e rest of my team of course!) >3 storeys high! =) Bah.. u guys seldom believe i can do anth right anw.

im also in CT council. This is my main CCA, cos we get to organise stuff and all -- i feel this skill is kinda useful, so its gd to keep it sharp and keep on practising. Lots of frens there too! So we get to chill and all.. Moreover, there're a lot of fun things to do.. eg. mannning e Igloo, and doing traffic duty! Hmmm.. actually, i had another big reason to regard this as my main CCA, but i guess on tt note, im more than unsure.. so yeah. oh well.

Last but not least, im in Squash! it's especially cool, cos i was told i was finally accepted into e team right on my b'day! This came aft i failed to enter Squash during e 1st round of trials.. At e time, i moved much slower, and besides, they were looking for competition ready players. Which i wasnt. Then again, technically, im still not quite there yet! =.= much to learn.. e damn sad thing is tt to "play properly", i'll need to invest in a proper racquet -- a graphite composite material thingy compared to my current titanium one (he's called "Ripper") =( all this beacuse it's lighter, and vibrates less during hits, so the player recovers faster after each hit. But this really makes me wonder.. wad abt e squash champs in e past, where only wooden racquets existed? those babies weigh a tonne compared to e graphite racquet, and vibrate a whole lot more after each hit.. Aie.. i dunno.. juz wish i din have to rely on excessive use of technology for a simple game -- mainly because such a racquet would be in the neighbourhood of $200..which is 5 times that of Ripper.
At any rate, the game is pretty gd.. im moving faster in e court, and reacting faster.. e tai-chou is pretty gd.. so yeah.

Life in VJ as i noe it
Ive pretty much summed it up back there.. large chunks of my life spent on CCAs.. and another large chunk spent on not falling asleep during lectures and tutorials.

I sort of like my class, i guess. I regard it as a second family -- currently not so clear of my standing in this family anymore, but yeah.. haha -- the usual antics back in the class include teasing, stupid remarks, joking, chatting, and doing homework (which sometimes involves cross-referencing with other ppl's work). I do get pretty pissed sometimes when certain members of the said community get left out, or smth along e lines of un-bondedness. It's not the blind hatred of a why-cant-we-be-friends advocate. It's the frustration of a steward watching his charge spoil and decay, and juz helplessly standing there, unsure of what can be done to protect the Eden he was sort of entrusted with. Yes, somedays -- so often these days, it feels like it's everyday --, i feel SO SO guilty that "the CT rep isnt doing his job". i cant blame anyone.. this blame is no one's to carry. yet, again, it's everyone's, thus meaning i too play a part in this.

Somedays, things juz get so tiresome, and i juz wanna forget everything. In reality, im not really doing anything taxing -- meet at e back of e hall for some CT rep announcement; take attendance; fill up some form for e class (this is rare);announce stuff to the class; buy b'day stuff. but i guess e frustration of how everything doesnt stay in harmony for very long (or ever at all) eats into me everytime.

And, yes, haha.. im wld be juz joking when i remarked "i haf no frens!" everytime i kena teasing or wadever..

..Till e day i realised frens = ppl u count on to be on your side when it matters, when e going goes all wrong, who u can share stuff with, who knows wad to do at e right time, and who knows when to juz freaking LAY-OFF when it's not e right time. More now then ever, i wished there still were someone who understood me enuff -- which is why i do miss e old times and esp, e old frens..

not tt e class is all bad to me. For one, e bday celebration u guys threw for me was really sweet, and i do appreciate tt. and e times when u guys are concerned abt each other (me included!) are pretty ok too. in tt sense, this is one of e more bonded classes ive been in.

I wonder how many ppl wld already classify this as an emo post already... =.= tt wld juz prove my point of the lack of understanding.

i'll concede that life in VJ is pretty ok. but having to haf people/chains of events/circumstances whitling away at my ego (or wadever it is) everyday is juz plain tiring la.. somedays i juz wished it wld all juz stop. seriously..

My class had a be-nice day for Friday last week. It was a half-success, mainly due to e novelty of e thing. this week, today actually, we tried it again, but (as expected) it fell flat on its face, due to the lack of ppl willing to play according to e rules -- shows so much abt us, huh?

I'm still the idealist i was a year ago (and the year before that). i REALLY wish for a true be-nice day.. no one can even think something bad, much less imply it. juz one day.. Today i tried being nice (not because it was be-nice day).. more than do-able. Even pleasant to do. I think i'll stick with it.. but i really wished i wasnt e only one.

which person likes to be lonely, really?

perhaps when smth's mostly all u've got, u tend to expect too much from it. but oh well..

Aie, i've bored u guys to death la... =.= supposed to do recount, now ended up doing a "reflection type" post..

I'll blog again soon! next time, abt e springtime of youth tt seems to haf hit 07s31! =) stay tuned!

.:Life's a play, and we are the actors:.

Long time no see!

2007-05-29T20:51:00.000+08:00

Quote of the day!

Do it well, or dont do it at all -- Some random quote by someone's pri sch teacher

yes, it's been a long time, and im pretty sure most of u guys got mighty bored juz waiting indefinitely for my to post something

Well, im pleased to announce that today -- yes, TODAY -- is the day your wait ends! (juz tt ur wait will resume after u finish reading this post, cos i've absolutely no idea when the next post shall come in... therefore, my advice is for u to appreciate wad u haf.. ie this new post)

Disclaimers aside, im thinking of getting a new blogskin. cos much has changed, i intend to use something else to represent myself (rather than pics with broken links, which, admittedly, is a rather despondent spectacle)

So yeah, that's one thing to change.

Anw, i was really shocked tt 07S31ers haf actually seen my blog! or issit juz u, rach? i dunno.

or rather, i dont really want to noe.

But that's really not the point...
...In fact, oh gdness me, this post HAS NO POINT!!!

wad kinda title is "long time no see"?! tt's SO not stimulus for a nice, long, oh-my-eyes-are-gonna-burn-out-before-i-finish-reading-this-post kind of post.. Rather, it sounds more like a hey-im-juz-here-to-type-something-so-all-you-readers-out-there-can-stop-bugging-me-to-blog kind of post.

It's so meaningless, isnt it? to not have a point in typing a post.. like not having a goal to life? it's so depressing..

I mean, we all have goals in life, dont we? "i wanna be a business man, earn lots of money, raise a fine set of kids, hope to go to heaven, if im gd enuff" stuff like that

A mighty fine goal in life, whichever way you look at it.. But are those goals all that significant, afterall?

In the grand play of life, every character plays the most important role, doesnt he? To the dentist, he IS the main chracter. Same for the gardener. Ditto for that stuck up kid next door, who thinks the world revolves around feeding him, and giving him new video games to play. Yes, to every single person, he himself is the main character of his life.

Ok, this discussion really has to bar ppl who take pleasure in disproving stuff for the fun of it. Ppl that go "Ha! IN YOUR FACE, brainiac!" and then proceed to hop in a little mud pool like a 5 year old.

[ok.. back to topic..]
So, yes, u, to you, are the main character of your story. And rightfully so. Your life revolves around u, and you alone. Everything you do in your life changes your life. Elementary, really.

Im now gonna describe to you the most successful life i can think of...

You, the enterprising young businessman (my apologies to the ladies, but yes, this discussion will take on a more masculine nature. It juz does. no reasons, and no offense) go to work each day, and each month gets a sizable salary of, oh, what the hell, $7000. In exchange, you give 12 or so hours of your attention and intellectual time daily, and maybe forfeit the blackness of your hair. All in a day's work, really

And then what?

You, the brave young suitor, catch hold of the heart of ur love interest.

And then what?

You, a sucker for the high life, get a really cool house, a nice ride, some really cool gadgets (eg. a universal remote), you noe what im talking abt

And then what?

You, the family man, get 3 kids (somehow, i think tt's a pretty gd number, but yeah).

And then what?

They grow to teenagers, play really cool sports with you (eg... SQUASH!!!), and u guys spend a heckload of time bonding and stuff like that.

And then what?

You finally see your kids through their education, they grow up, get a good deskjob, earn $7000 a month, meet nice girls, get married, and have three kids, maybe a car with a really cool house with cool gadgets.

And then what?

Each of those clauses i wrote out seem to be a HUGE step in the right direction.
To what?
Having a stable income, a happy family, a worthwhile life.
Which leads to...?

Yes, we have come down to the fundamental truth. That life, other in internally (in your mind) has absolutely no significance to the external (the rest of the world) -- ie the grand picture -- ie yuor life is insignificant

Take a nice long walk down a shopping mall. Dont bring your friends this time -- go alone, or u might miss it.

Take a look at the dude shopping for a new handphone. DONT STARE.. [cos u'll freak him out x)] Does his buying a new handphone affect you in any way? To him, he's redefining himself. "Finally! a camera phone! now i can take snapshots of me and the others.. maybe even take snapshots of my Civics tutor in all his unglam poses!" it IS a big deal. but not to you.

U argue: but it doesnt affect me in anyway! wad abt the shop aunty? Yeah, she gets $48, plus a traded in phone that's beat up like an abused squirrel... whoppe-doo. And she brings home that commision so that she can... do stuff with it.. i dunno.. buy a fish. great stuff.

gd on you lady..! you've changed... the relative hunger of your family for one night.

yes, so isnt ur life, other than to urself, pretty much insignificant?

Haish... finally got all tt crap off me..

Anw, i'll post some other day... now gtg watch news!

CYA!

I'm finally back!

2006-12-08T00:12:00.000+08:00

"I've got two words for you.."
"What are they?"
"I Love You"
"...What? That's three words..."
"It's two words, because You and I are one..." --Prom King and Queen candidates

Haha.. another Pickup line for you guys and girls out there..! Dunno why some ppl thot it's lame and corny.. -.- I personally felt it was kinda poetic.. Well, then again, i guess it all has to do with who hears it, and when she (or he) hears it.

Sry to e ppl who were expecting me to blog abt smth immediately aft e O lvls.. (That would mean im three weeks late!)

Im late cos i really had no idea what blogskin to use.. I settled with this one eventually, but i gotta change it soon, anyway.. Cos some of e pickup lines're vulgar and all, and since e blogskin's supposed to represent u, it doesnt show me off very well, does it?

But at least it's a change right? And change is always gd. Unless it's bad. Yeah..

Anyway, many things haf happened in these past two weeks after the much feared O lvl examinations... 4H chalet, prom, doing admin work for e day camp with e student care centre... Where shld i begin?! (Expect a long post)

But 1st of all... (To Weitheng, Roy, and Xian Zheng): When are we ever gonna start making e exam paper?!?! If u guys dun start, im gonna start first!

4H Chalet
Some expressed indifference, while others, disappointment. I, on the other hand, was left still wondering wad to expect from the chalet, even aft e whole thing ended...
e only thing tt i really knew was tt most of it din proceed as planned...

Many left it feeling tt it was like a camp tt didnt fulfill its objective. But, then again, isnt tt e best thing abt e whole chalet? Rather than always wanting to do smth to fulfill some kind of grand plan or objective, why not juz do smth, juz for e sake of doing it, juz this once? Hehe..

Some felt it was a flop, some felt it was forgettable. I felt.. tired (cos i slept quite little throughout e thing... >.<)

Ok guys, seriously, was it THAT bad..? I found it ok mah.. (Maybe cos this is e 1st time i've gone through e whole thing, so i've got nothing proper to compare it with) Sure, it may not have been e best, and it may not haf been e Mother of all Chalets, but it most definitely wasnt Disappointment-ville. Disagree with me if you wish, but i din find it a complete waste of time (at least it's a bit more productive than wad i sometimes do at home) /mental flashbacks: Sleeping, watching TV, lazing ard.../

Or some ppl might've been expecting too much from it? Haha.. Probably. It IS natural to expect e last chalet u share with a particular grp of ppl to be superlatively wholesome. Often expecting it to be two times more wholesome than physically possible.

"It's the last chalet we're spending together," one might whine, "Cant we for once not do smth within our pathetic little cliques, and instead enjoy things tgt as a whole??" No, we cant. Basic rule: Nth changes for no reason. We didnt mix like NaCl to water in the 3H classroom. We most certainly didnt dissolve readily in the 4H classroom. Not in the Lee Kuo Chuan Stadium. Nope, not in e field either.

Why should YET ANOTHER change in venue change this basic nature of our lively band of ppl formerly known as 4H?

In fact, i WAS rather impressed at e degree of openess among the different groups that we had gathered beneath that cosy roof we booked for 3 Days 2 Nights.. Insignificant, you scoff.

Still present, I retort. One muz not mistake small change for no change. It WAS, afterall, this observation that led to the development of the calculus.

And no, im not defending e chalet or anth. My only wish was tt e whole class might've come. But, as Roy, WeiTheng or Mr Tan might reply, "That's idealistic.."

Oh, i also was kinda lookin forward to e games on Day 2. Pity e Xbox came at e wrong time and eroded away my attention towards e games! -.- (curse u and ur confounded Xbox, WT!!) A bit of a let down.. Afterall, i (and a few, and i emphasize a few, others) did spend a while on those water balloons, only to see them flung against a lamp-post (we took care not to aim at the lamp itself). /sighs/ the water balloons didnt get to do what they were born to do...

Anyway, speaking of e Xbox, I totally loved tt machine. Our time tgt may have been short, but it was definitely fulfilling...! (Pls forget tt i was cursing e Xbox a paragraph earlier) Oh, Halo, you beautiful game! honestly, this is e 1st game tt i played by feeling rather than by thinking. Most games at least give me a while to think b4 i act. Did i mention tt i was up playing e game from 12 midnight (or later than that, i think) to 6.15.. By 6.15am, i very nearly fell asleep, catching myself juz in time to wake WT to go TJC for smth.

Aft tt, i went to haf a nice long nap.. Then i woke up e rest at abt 7~8 smth (when WT entered e boy's room to take his stuff and leave. by 8 smth, [almost] everyone left in e chalet was up and ready to pack up e area and book out. (Nice long nap... Sure... =P) One thing i love abt myself when i sleep overnight is tt i tend regain consciousness faster than most... haha... So nearly no one has ever seen my hair in its true form... Except, again.. Ringo-head (tho i bet u've forgotten wad it looks like by now.. hehe)

Another pity was cos ppl got sick there.. XZ, Roy and Jingru (ok, these are e few tt i noe..) But XZ's one was e worst ba.. haha.. followed by Jingru. Roy.. looked more like he juz needed way more sleep, but didnt wanna sleep.. (haha.. no offense, dude!) I mean, grouchiness, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech... More tired than anth else.. =P Of course there was e stomach pains, tho..

Oh yeah, another impt event was us going to catch a movie! It was "Step Up", btw.

This is one of e better parts of e movie.

Well, on e whole, e movie was great la.. haha.. loved both e dance, and e music accompanying it. Ah.. Feel good movies with a gd ending.. smth we all shld pay more attn to. Enuff of those conspiracy stories with warped endings.

Hey, isnt it ironic? Stories with a twist at e end are losing their flavour, while stories with clear cut Good vs Evil storylines begin to wrest back the limelight. At least tt's how it works for me.. A little breather from the complications and intricacies of life.

Did i mention this is e 1st movie i went to watch twice on e big screen? haha.. And at e end i still din feel cheated...! Their moves seriously rocked.

Yep.. Then we made our way back to e chalet. roy and XZ left 1st (to bring jo to e chalet), so i was "left in-charge".. So obviously i kena shocked when i did a head count and realised 2 ppl were missing as we were walking back to the chalet. Relax guys, they took e taxi back there instead. I think. /shudders/

Oh yeah, last point before i stop talking abt e chalet.. Why e heck was i e only guy ard available to squash cockroaches?! It's not exactly my most fav thing in e world!! (Somemore i had to do not 1, but 2 in.. -.-)

K, tt's my 2-cents worth on e issue.. Yep.

Prom
i kinda din really like this.

Went only cos i already paid for e thing (stupid me)

Only point tt was interesting was e difference in e girls. E guys were easy.. One look and u'd recognise them. But e girls were a diff ball game altogether. Seriously, i couldnt recognise a quite few at e 1st glance.. Aye..

But, aft a while, and i got used to it. So, i started recognising all those tt i knew.

Shortly aft tt, i realised tt e reason why i din recognise quite a number of girls was cos i din noe tt many to begin with. -.-

Costumes, Cosmetics, Cash... The curse of the "C"s were back again, and packed into that little ballroom we were gathered in.

And they seemed to echo, "Go, run, and dun come back!!!" Everyone dressed quite well (except maybe urs truly)

I wun say i din put in an effort this time, tho. Much thanks must be given in the direction of our 4H's very own Joanna and Jingru! haha... thx, guys... Probably wouldnt even be allowed to step into e hotel in e 1st place without ur help.

The entire affair revolved predominantly ard e prom king and queen candidates (so predominant, tt i think they must've been quite embarrassed... I would be, as weitheng bluntly pointed out to me juz when i was commenting on smth... thx a lot)

E food was gd, but not insanely so.

E performances and games werent exactly mundane, but i wouldnt say i was entertained. Maybe a little tickled by some parts, tho...

Like how xiaoyu was picked on twice to go onstage as a volunteer. (Hey, that's two times more than the general crowd there, so it IS significant)

And how i guessed, rightly so, that someone of high position in sch would win the 1st prize of e lucky draw -- My bet was actually on Dr Boon or one of e teachers -- but it turned out to be Sok Shin, our ex-SC president (Hehe.. close enuff, yeah?)

THE LUCKY DRAW IS RIGGED!!! RIGGED, I TELL YOU!!! /jealous/ Oh, my PSP, my duffel bag, and my mp3 player... how ill-fated u were to fall into those unworthy hands... ='( They can keep the electronic dictionary tho... It had dorothy written all over it (no insult intended, but the pun was, so luff!)

Anw, as predicted, i din win any of the prizes... Oh well... It WAS in the script.. Not..

Moving on, we took a lot of pictures there. As usual i din bring my camera, so i asked e ppl who took a pic with me to send a copy to me. Im still waiting for them.

Maybe they forgot. Or, /cringes/ they din send it to me to protect my emotional well-being. Did i really look THAT weird? =S Maybe it's best if tt qn goes unanswered.. Hehe.. =.=

And aft tt, e moment i was waiting for, after those gruelling hours in that oh-so-fashionably dressed purgatory..! A time to throw self-consciousness to the wind, and self-reservation into another dark corner -- A time to go...

...Home.

I nvr missed home tt much. Not when i was stuck in Sarimbun campsite for 5 days and 4 nights, not when i was having a 60km overnight hike. Nay.. None can compare... /solemn voice/

One might think i was actually bored to tears, and then to death. Truth be told, that person wouldnt be far from the truth.. haha..

Sent two girls home (joy and yuan ling).. hehe.. dbl whammy.. thot i'd only be sending one home, juz like in e movies.. ^.^

But then again, in e American movies, e guy (not his dad) actually drives e car.. And e girl is supposedly his princess.. so yeah.. Singaporean-16-year-old version.. (talk abt cultural differences!) Dah well...

Anw, i reached home at abt 12 plus... Only to wake up to go for a meeting concerning...

Metta Student Care Centre EOY Camp
Hehe... Why did i wanna do this?

Well.. being so dark and evil for e entire year (and pretty much e whole year before that) I just HAD to do smth gd for once.

Ok, exaggerating. Hmmm.. i have no idea why i wanted to do this...

Maybe it was e urge to do smth for e kids? Perhaps...

E urge to do smth for e community? Not exactly...

E need to hold smth overnight? Yeah, i guess.. but e camp is no longer an overnight affair...

Haiz.. e fact i tt i juz suddenly came up with e idea, and felt it might be gd to do smth impt.. Maybe juz do smth tt i wun be rewarded for (why i want tt, i'll nvr noe... -.-)

Kinda like.. doing smth without expecting another grade, CIP points, or blue forms. For once, juz doing smth big, cos i felt like it. And, maybe mix ard with and impress e opposite gender with my community spirit... Haha.. kiddin abt e last part.. >.<

Anw, this time, it feels kinda weird.. cos it looks like it'll work. On paper. Yet it feels wrong... E same feeling when i went for e astrophysics competition (and learnt what it felt like to completely lose).. Yet, it's e same feeling tt carried me thru NPC last year. E year our sch got GOLD for e 1st time EVER(ooh yeah~!)

So, it's kinda as unpredictable as the halflife of a newly discovered radioisotope.

/Shrugs/ As long as i've thrown my best shot at it, it doesnt matter whether it's a hit or miss (esp since it's not graded! =P)

A camp up to 6 months in e making (altho e real work only came in abt 4 months ago), much thot, preparations and negotiations have gone underway.. Rejection, rising hopes, and then dashed hopes, arising time and again. When will it end? 28th Dec.

Will it all be worth it? I already find it worth it, so there's not much to dispute.

A selfish venture, turned into a commendable initiative.. Man, this world is warped, aint it? (most of u out there wun understand wad im saying, so nvm.. haha)

One thing tt this event has done for me is to get me 3 more frens..! Shawn, Jun Jie, and Eunice! Haha.. all from the CCH (Main) clan..

Oh yeah, an answer to a much asked qn.. Why did i involve e CCH ppl? One calculated reason, one innocent reason.

Innocent reason:
I had decided to do e camp, finally, one bright September afternoon. The same aftnoon tt jingru happened to be at e bus stop, so i decided to take e bus with her (rather than taking e bus home alone yet again... -.-)

On e bus, i met my kindergarten fren, Shawn Ng Jing Jie. The end.

Calculated reason:
I knew abt half of e ppl i was hoping would join us (on our side) would drop out, or be rendered unavailable by various commitments. So i needed a fresh pool of ppl. Hence and therefore, My decision to call upon him for help in terms of manpower.

Yeah, so that's e answer for you. A perk of this partnership is tt we've been able to catch up a bit... Hehe.. (who'd have thot he still lives a stone's throw away from me?)

Hehe.. so the chance meeting him in March on Bus No. 2 was a sign of more to come.. E script does work in mysterious ways... (ok, =.= yet another load of crap for the poor readers out there..)

Well, that kinda ties things up over here.. I'm gonna do a bit more blogging in the days leading to reopening of sch.. and the opening to a new chapter...!

JC...

In the play of life, we are but actors and actresses -- performers basking in the glory of the stagelights. Ours is a play watched by no one, yet watched by everyone..

The curtains close, and reopen for the ballad that will follow.. be it melancholic, or animated, it will take your breath away

I read tt somewhere before (i think.. either tt, or it was in my dreams, somewhere..)

Ciao, adieu, tata, sayonara, Bye, See you, zai jian, later, gao ci!

Oyasuminasai~!

Happy Birthday to the September dudes and dudettes!

2006-09-23T12:34:00.000+08:00

Well, once again, it's time to congratulate the few ppl who were propelled into this earth through some muscular contractions and relaxations this month, a few years ago!

Sry la.. juz finished bio revision mah... haha..

Anyway, happy birthday to.. *drumroll...*

Ok, wait.. take a deep breath...

Jia yu (1/9), Shi Yun (3/9), Qiu Jun (4/9), Mei Yee (5/9), Adelina (12/9), Fan Shu and Xin Hui (20/9), Dione (21/9), and Jie Ying (22/9)

did u manage to say all tt in one breath?? haha..

Oh man, i really shld change e title to "happy b'day to the september dudettes".. There's not a single guy there! lol.. Pity my 2A contact list was... erm.. decimated. Or there *might've* been a chance of having a boy here..

Once again, happy b'day to u guys..! er.. girls.. yeah, wadever =P
Hope u guys liked ur presents

Speaking of presents, i got one here for Miss Chng Yiting

Finally, huh? haha.. FYI, the person in e pic is not me holding Rui Yong. It's my dad. Cos i VERY VERY RARELY wear brown T-shirts, or red singlets. Yep

And this, is Rui Yong luffing like some kinda weirdo. Jkjk..

haha.. Oh well, gd luck for "o"s, everyone! sayonara!

Day 5 of the Prelim Exams

2006-09-15T16:02:00.000+08:00

"I like clouds a lot.. Really beautiful.. I mean, there are so many types: Cirrus, nimbus, stratus.. They're always so ostentatious, whatever form they choose to take, whatever colour they choose to adopt. They're so carefree, so detached..."

Today i walked to the bus stop again. This time it was drizzling. But one thing that didnt change was that i was walking with Roy again, across that stretch of road to the bus stop.

Today i noticed the clouds again. Tho it was raining, the clouds didnt take on the form (and colour) of a typical storm cloud.. They seemed normal enough, up high in the sky, chilling beneath the celetial bodies, as always.

Today i walked in the rain, again, thx to roy. Wad if i get sick, huh? Lol.. Polar Bears getting colds.. Wad would the world come to?

Anyway, today's e 5th day of e prelims. From a statistical point of view, we're half-done with the exam, in terms of days. Bah.. Today's papers looked easy enuff, but the going was, for some apparent reason, tough.. I cant say i was distracted cos i was thinking of other things again today, cos it din happen today.

It juz happens tt i juz din seem to do the qns fast enuff -- No time for e-maths, barely enuff for chem.

Speaking of chem, did anyone NOT see e qn abt Xian Zheng, Song Leng and Zi Qi? for the benefit of those who were too blur, it was in the 2nd last qn in Section B. I din haf time to see wad predicament befell those three, but i heard from outraged classmates that Xian Zheng was portrayed as the smart student. Apparently, the only thing that prevented a level-wide riot regarding the matter was that Song Leng was (rightly-so) portrayed as e worst of the three, from what i heard, making the worst possible choice in choosing reactants (i think it was silver, right?)

Ok, before anyone thinks im making defamatory staements against Song Leng, it's NOT true. Such is not the policy of this blog.

If u want, u can visit my anti-Song Leng blog, at...
http://thisblogdoesntexist.blogspot.com

Ok, tell me u din try going there... if u did, i have nth to say.. =.=

And now, it's time for a Health Moment!

Repulsed by anything calcium? U're in for trouble, cos this results in... osteoporosis! u guessed it!

Oh, so u knew that already? Well, do u know how it happens?

All people who dare call themselves bio students of the great Fizz-sama (Mr Fizz, to the layman) would know that calcium plays a crucial role in the functioning of the muscle (if u forgot, it's in e chapter on nutrition). It has been noted that when the body suffers a deficit of calcium -- ie the muscles run low on calcium -- the muscle cells may begin to try to sntach any available calcium around.

None left in the blood? Well, that leaves.. The biggest deposit of calcium in the body -- that's right.. your bones.

So now u guys know wad to do! drink milk (which, personally, i dislike, so i try having cheese sometimes.)

This has been a Health Moment, brought to u by... transcendence! (always wanted to say tt.. not =P)

Well, amidst all this recent talk over the newest korean drama to hit local screens ("My Lovely Samsoon", or rather "Wo ai jin san shun"), i noticed even Roy watches korean dramas now.. And i wonder who was e (only) guy tt kept criticizing me abt it =.=

tt's one thing i dun like.. haha.. cos if u choose to criticize someone of smth, u better not end up doing it as well (unless it's for comic effect). But, since he's my friend, i shall be magnanimous, be the bigger man, be generous, kind, forgiving, forgetful (hey, this can be a gd thing too, ok?), benevolent.. wadever, and close one eye to the matter. Did i mention im very humble, too? mmm.. yeah..

Anyway, the purpose of bringing up the point abt Jin San Shun is that i feel people (like Roy for example) dunno wad's a REALLY good drama. Either that or im juz biased. But even my parents agree the drama im abt to present to u guys juz makes Jin San Shun look like a home video in terms of plot, song.. wadever makes a true love story come alive. And, it's hilarious! And that show is... Lang4 man4 man3 wu1 (Full House)

I muz admit, this show falls more under comedy, but it also demands that it be placed under the genre of romance as well. I guess tt's why i feel it's such a waste tt it hasnt appeared in S'pore, whereas they let that *other* show come in.

This show is based mainly on 4 main characters. They are Li Yingzai (played by Korean cum international singer, Rain), Han Zhi En (ok, those two were e main characters). e other two are not really e main, but they play a big part in e show: Xu Ming He and Jiang Hui Yuan

Basically, u gotta watch this show urself. it's vv gd, even tho it has e standard plot, the way it's done up is very well-thought through, where the various point-plots are playfully subtle at times, while at others, amusingly blatant.

K la, i'll go so far as to intro e characters to u. Really, im amazingly kind today.. =) A parade in my honour will suffice, dun worry too much.

Li Ying zai is everyone's favourite jerk. He's an actor, and is very used to being pampered. He's insensitive, lacks e ability to communicate his true feelings well, very harsh with his words and his taunts never-fail to infuriate his intended audience (mainly his wife). His saving grace is that deep (deep deep deep)^10000 down inside lies a heart that truely loves his wife.. who is...

Han Zhi En. Her nicknames range from niao lei (bird brain) to fan tong -- 99% of these epithets coming from her husband. Initially, their marriage is a contract one, with terms and conditions applied to it. The crux is that their marriage would expire in a year, where they would part their seperate ways.

They got into this maritial mess becuz Yingzai wanted to spite his true love, Hui Yuan, who din have any feelings for him, tho they were childhood frens. He ends up kissing Zhi En (as u saw in e MV) infront of everyone and is forced to marry her to save his name.

However, dispite their many conflicts, differences as well as the fact that they totally seemed to live in different dimensions,a relationship grew between them and that's wad e story is abt.

The other thing is tt e story surrounds Zhi En's House, Full House, which was built by her father. Her frens sell her house to raise funds to start their business, which they promise to return (they tricked her overseas to do this). The buyer is... Li Yingzai.. yeah, so that's how they got stuck together. So the story develops from there

Ming He is Ying zai and Hui yuan's childhood fren. He's everything e guy could wanna be (or wad a dream guy would be).. Intelligent, a conversationalist, rich, humourous.. e list goes so long i wanna kill him right now x) But end up oso nvr get e girl of his dreams, which happens to be Han Zhi En. Dun get him wrong, he's not a home-wrecker. He juz likes her, and tries to win her heart, cos she revealed to him that her marriage was a farce. But ultimately, when love truly blossomed between Ying zai and Zhi En, nothing was a match for it. Oh well, he's still a really nice guy. But, personally, he was a bit boring. I still find him quite ok, tho.

And then there's Hui Yuan. She's e typical girl-next-door tt everyone longs for, according to e website. Attractive, smart, from a good family (actually we dunno this, cos it's not shown at all), and in Ying zai's league, unlike Zhi En, who seems absolutely no match for Hui Yuan.

Her biggest flaw, which makes her a really ugly person is how she cherishes Ying Zai only when he no longer likes her, and then she ventures to try and tear the couple apart. Initially, (and in the end) she likes Ming he

Yeah, so as u can see, this story is VERY typical. And like i said, it's e way everything was done up that made this show something that i bet i wun ever forget.

Actually ah, typing this reminds me of e 3H chalet last year.. I was wearing my orange scout shirt and FBT pants. There wasnt anyone in [except chu (who opened e door for me) and i dunno who else. E rest were asleep, i guess]

Tt time i juz finished watching e whole series. So i summarized it for a person who was really shocked tt i watch korean dramas. Eh, u rmb a not? U, the person who i suspect suffers from amnesia.

Ha.. it was at e beach..

Then we went for barbeque. Then we did up e instant noodles for audrey who had a sore throat and couldnt eat barbeque.

Haha.. type until here.. totally no link with e title.. oh, wad e heck..

Looking forward to e class chalet. Yet, hoping it'll nvr come. Becuz e moment it does, it will signal one of e last times we'll meet again (unless we end up in e same JC)

ugh... why does this kinda thing seem to hurt now, when i've been immune to it since, like, forever?

I rmb when i said bye to my pri sch frens all i said was really juz "bye".. now, i cant really even bear to think abt it (tho i think abt it quite often)

Let's use a phrase we shld always use when we cant control stuff..

D'ah well...

Thinking again.. a lil' too much, as usal..

2006-09-14T10:57:00.000+08:00

Honestly, im gonna get myself into trouble soon if my brain wun stop thinking so much abt random stuff.. I mean, i caught myself zoning out during bio paper la.. -.-

I was thinking abt smth for abt a minute or so (i think), and then somewhere in my mind there came a voice, saying, "erm.. dun u haf a paper to do?"

"oh! oh yeah.. -.- crap.."

Then today a-maths exam, e same thing again.. I have GOT to focus!! x_x

Oh, and the thing abt life being a stage, and us being e actors?

Said by Shakespear.. =.= great, now im a philospher.. wow wee.

"Life is a stage, and everyone's an actor" (or smth liddat)-- Shakespear

At least tt would explain why i keep musing abt random things!

Anyway, today when walking home with roy, i thought abt stuff again. I realised we're sec 4 this year! I mean, i KNOW we're sec 4, but i din REALISE we're sec 4.. anyone can understand?? =S

And then i rmbed we're leaving e sch soon.. Our 2nd home of 4 long years

And then i thot, damn.. there'll be no more 4H? There wun be anymore "truce" games btw Roy and XZ, where i get to look mature juz cos im sitting next to them. No more of tt mindless smacking of each other's stomachs. No more of those really lame jokes shared among us (well, maybe we'll hear all new lame jokes soon). No more morning assembly where e whole school drags its feet to e sound of the "march". No more "eh, u going down for recess? help me buy ____ up, k?"

No more of those "get in my way and im stepping on you" days from Mr Chai. No more of those "Good morning 4H!" from e teachers [for mdm tham it would be "tong xue men zao shang hao!"; for Mrs Ganesan, it's "oh, nvm. Juz sit"]. And there wun be any "can i have the IT reps up here?" anymore. And there wun be any "eh, you going down to e pidgeon hole ltr a not?". And, there probably wun be any more of those "rituals".

The little things of a class-based education.. Will be no more. Are no more, actually. I cant say im overjoyed.. Im a little disappointed actually, that it had to end so soon. No more "But classmate C, dun u think that.. (asks abt some sci qn)" from WT..

Wad if i had chosen not to think so much, and juz enjoy e ride? Wad if i watched e drama unfold on its own, beholding it in its raw form, rather than study every part of the script as the story played before my eyes? Wad if i hadnt paid so much attn to study in-depth the dispostitions of the main characters, rather juz enjoy wadever life handed me?

Wad if, wad if, wad if...?

Wad if i totally avoided all the negative emotions i felt, rather, juz accept things as they came? Impossible, yea, i know. But if it did happen, would it make things any different now?

True, i probably have seen the full beauty of life (the life that we've lived so far, that is), as it is. But, then again, it would make things even more hard to let go of.

On the bus back home (yea, i thot up all tt while walking to e bus stop, and yes, welcome to wad goes on in my mind. This is an exclusive post!). Anyway, on the bus back home, i thot up smth.. Why does everyone play up the notion of "letting go" so much? bidding goodbbye is as much a part of life as saying hello is, isnt it?

I guess tt's me. The side of me tt can release things very, very easily, that is. The other side of me is the main reason why i almost always solve tough maths qns.

And then i think, in opposition to wad i said earlier, life's not all about meeting-forming-norming-storming-mourning. As in, you dun juz get into things juz so u can bid a heart-rending farewell to it. So, opposing WT's statement tt "life is a prelude to death" (which he very nicely told roy on his bday -_-"), "Death is an aftermath of life".

No, that's not it.. Anyway, the point is tt u dun do things so u will end up stopping it. Ahh.. its coming out wrong.. -.- Aye.. dun how to phrase it, k? sry!

Oh, look, i've completely digressed again! Hehe.. tt's wad i tend to do too!

Okay, this is getting so stupid.. -.-

I wonder wad'll happen in JC? Who and what will i meet? Wad could possibly (not) go wrong? I wonder.

I wonder so much abt e future, sometimes i wonder whether i even exist in e present.

I think so much, i wonder if i only exist in my mind, which incidentally, wouldnt exist, if i were only my own imagination. Wow

Ok, so i exist. yay.. =)

Maybe, aft e prelims, we'll have to go back to sch to go thru e test papers. Everyone remind me to cherish those days where we assemble back in class, meet e faces of e people whose faces we've come to take for granted; whose faces we will soon miss and long for (i surmise); and whose faces will eventually fade from our memory, no matter how tightly u hold on to it. Such is life. Im 16, yet i act like i've seen it all.. moronic. But sometimes, it's not always how old e person is tt predominates wad he knows, or seems to know.

Ok, i'll admit, i was listening to "Never meant to belong", a sad instrumental. Funny how songs can totally change e mood, and how e mood, in turn, can affect one's writing.

The dusk of our AHS life is nigh. Wad will become of us aft tt? Wad paths will each of us take on the road of life? This qn is so abstract -- u see it in almost every story -- its amazing to see how real it really is.

There are so many paths to pick. But sometimes it's not so much of picking a path as it is being pulled into one, like a massive undercurrent pulling a canoe down a waterfall, rather than into the safety of a nearby tributary.

Ok, why did i type tt last paragraph? =.= then again, it makes sense. Everyone's on about how u're free to pick ur own destiny, wad path u're to take -- they dun seem to realise somethings are out of your own control.

Let's quote an example. When my parents brought rui yong home, do u think he had a choice? Wad might've went thru his mind was: "Oh, why cant we stop at XX Toh Crescent? That dog is so chio la.." or smth liddat." That thot din change anything much, did it?

Society lifts non-conformists on their shoulders. Those that dare to be different. Those that challenge the status quo. Those that have the guts to go out there and be different.

I watched this drama once, a local production. There were two kids.. frens. One was everything everyone wants to be (i think) -- friendly, warm, handsome, daring, well-recieved. People just gravitated to him like bees to honey. And then there was someone tt society scorns. A geek. You know the stereotype so well, you might wanna skip my description. Studious, bespectacled, introverted, usually deep in thot, and doesnt really talk much. Oh, did i mention he din really like to take risks?

Well, there comes the climax in e show where the success of something dangerous lay in the geek's hands. At first the geek din wanna do it. Then Mr Right said some really inspirational things, finally swaying his stand.

So the geek did it, making him stand out, and he became popular, as well, and he got the girl. The end.

As the green goblin put very aptly, in Spider-man: "Everyone loves a hero."

Society seems to have little awe for the average joe. The one that goes to work/school each morning, works/studies hard, and comes back home to a good night's rest. Or, Maybe im being too harsh..

But the ones that play and die by the rules, the goody-two-shoes, the stickler for rules dun seem to command as much respect as the blue-eyed kid from heaven blessed from brains, brawn and beauty.

Lol.. digress again.. =.=

wad was e main topic? Oh wait, this post is about random thots! so i havent digressed! =P

Ok, i've juz reached the bus seat (yeah, thinking is way faster than writing).

Do you think so much too?

There's no script?!

2006-09-01T23:44:00.000+08:00

"Failure is not a valid excuse for giving up"
--some dude... honestly, ppl who think up something so true ought to leave their name, so they can get eulogized or smth..

Im typing this in reflection over smth WT told me last thurs..

Can u believe it? There's no script to follow.

All this while.. the rehearsals, the "take-two"s, the "Cut! NG!"s.. That they never existed. Ok, so im exaggerating [juz a little].. But im sure im not e only tt wished there were a script to follow.. A little more order to this chaos that surrounds us -- a turmoil called life.

They say life's a stage [or was it me tt said tt? -.-], but darn... Not knowing e ending.. E suspense is liquefying.

Sometimes i wonder, maybe there IS a script. In most ppl's terms, it's called a daily routine. U know.. e modus operandi: Wake up, brush your teeth, sink your incisors into a cinnamon bun, go 1st for Double Dare all e time, excuse urself from Double Dare sessions henceforth... yada yada

Take today. I woke up [entirely on my own! u wun believe how long i've waited for a day like this! =)], ambled to the teak dining table, had breakfast (it was toast today.. i toasted it myself! well duh.. my parents were working already.. It's not really reasonable if i juz interrupted them juz so they cld toss a piece of bread into the toaster). Then i started on my bio revision. Stopped for lunch. Continued. Paused to thrash some com game. Continued.. and so on and so forth.

Then i recieved a call from WT. It was on binomial theroem. I showed him (aft an hour or so) why i should not be labelled "dead last". Then i continued marking my bio revision paper. By then it was 6 plus. [yes, gosh.. i spent nearly one whole day on ONE infinitisimal Bio Paper]

And so on and so forth..

And then comes the characters' dispostions:

Some ppl are juz born able to do stuff right.. (curse them!!!xP)

And some are juz born unable to stop luffing once they start.. leaving their supposed audience speechless (and not luffing).. =
And then some are juz able to handle anything that comes their way. Able to solve their probs in a flash. The "Problem? What problem? Oh, u mean that 'challenge'? hehe..=P" kind..

And then there are some that feel no one understands them except themselves.

And there are some tt know no one understands them other than themselves.

Well, diff ppl think differently, i guess, but there has to be some (perhaps remote) common ground, somewhere along the line.

And if not for a script, u'd be shocked by some sudden instances. With the script, u can see it all coming.. =)

U see, ppl who dun follow e script would nvr have guessed Animal Planet Superstar Steve Irwin's time was due. It's thanks to WT tt i din see it coming either, since he told me e script din exist and all. I'm not pointing fingers or anything, but it really is WT's fault.

Anyway, the Australian-born wildlife enthusiast was filming a video for another one of his award-winnnig documentaries [this one was titled "the ocean's deadliest"], one bright afternoon [i surmise], when he encountered smth he din really realise WAS the ocean's deadliest.

A 12 foot wide bull stingray.

"Crikey!" might probably have been his final words, as the stingray's barbed tail pierced clean through his heart. No poison needed for this one. -.-

Ok, im not showing a lot of respect here. =.= Yes, i am on e sadistic side. Ok, perhaps bordering a little on morbidity.

I've always been his fan, ever since his debut on my family's favourite channel: Animal Planet, on the series Crocodile Hunter, where he did so much more than crocodile hunting. Within his first 15 minutes in our lives, we were hooked. In about 2 more episodes, we realised his show was e only real reason why we turned on e good ol' telly.

Yes, we were that impressed. Serious. Him, his dog, his wife, Terry. I think he showed off one of his kids as well, if i rmb correctly. Steve Irwin in his trusty treehouse, armed with all the neccessary tools for taking a dive into e great outdoors.

And that catchphrase.. Smth tt still captivates: "Crikey!"

But, unfortunately, e best things in life seldom last long enuff (Haish).. Our relationship soured ever since he embarked on his next endeavour: Croc Files. Initially, my family, us ardent fans, gave him support. But e taste went all bland, soon after. He had lost his appeal, in becoming over-commercialised. I really miss his "frantic antics", and will miss them.

Gd bye, old dude.. Of 44 years. I guess this wasnt in e script, was it?

Somethings juz cant be given a "take-two". But i believe, anything else that hasnt gone to such a stage is always worth that chance. Be it "take-two", "-four", "-six"..

Believing in fate is one thing. Believing in urself, and others is smth else.

One doesnt exist.

Oh, here i go again, digressing, typing stuff tt doesnt make sense to anyone but myself.. -.- (sometimes i dun even undertsand wad im typing.. =P)

Sometimes, i wish i had e script. Then i'd do smth i nvr do with anything else tt i read.

I'll start from e 1st two chapters (so i can get a feel of things..), and then zoom to e conclusion. Then i can see if following e script is smth i wanna do! (jian-ed)

But in "Life -- a musical", we exist because we signed on already, in e contract. A black and white (yet invisible) contract. If u wanna see e terms and conditions, ask e actors who're supposed to act as ur parents.

And i do believe tt e script exists. Cos it's written by... Your's truly! (not miss chan!) U write urs, i write mine, he writes his, she writes hers.

Change subtopic..
Do u ever think tt ur life is a play, where u're e main character, and everyone is e co-actor?
Do you sometimes think tt life might juz be a play where u're juz one of e supporting actors, while someone else might juz be e main character, and u're juz there to contrast with the main character?

Nvr thot of life tt way? Hehe.. Was juz thinking abt this whole "script of life" thingy..

Well, script or no script..

Get ready, cos...

Lights, camera...

Action! =D

Happy birthday to someone

2006-08-30T16:50:00.000+08:00

Classmate W: "Tell me what you see in this picture."
Classmate C: "In this picture i can s--"
Classmate W: "What do you think the man on the left of the picture may be thinking?"
Classmate C: "Well, he appears to--"
Classmate W: "And what about the middle-aged man at the--"
Classmate C: "Would you let me talk?!"
Classmate W: "Ok. Let's move on to the conversation now.."

Ah.. happy memories.. It didnt really go like that, but i assure u, it's just as dramatised.

Someone once asked wad was happiness. He was told that happiness is but a facade to protect one from a harsh, unforgiving world.

Another asked me for the time. I told her it was 5.47pm.

But that's not the point.

Is happiness a true event, or is it nature's way of running away from reality, without pumping your feet against the hard road surface? Will Super Dude manage to escape from the evil grasp the Milkman? All this and more... now (for once! haha)

Let's begin with Super Dude's story.. he's currently trapped in a vat of goat milk. Low fat, i promise.

"I now have you, Super Dude!" maniacal laughter erupted from above, "This time you cannot escape!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"(how cliche...)" muttered Super Dude.

"What?!"

"I said: 'oh no! how did you ever work out that my one weakness was milk...?'" Super Dude shouted back, while sweeping his appendages out, feebly treading the abnormally viscous white liquid. "What do you want from me?"

A guffaw echoed down from the metal catwalk, fifty feet above the gargantuan metal vat our hero was entrapped in. "Why, your medical report states that you're lactose intolerant! Fool! Did you ever expect every single one of your nemeses to overlook such an obvious flaw?!"

"well, actually, yes," a fey reply danced upwards, riding a thermal that stretched forth from the vile concoction. "And dammit, ur answer gets a 'NAQ'!! I asked what you wanted from me!"

"I so did not get a 'NAQ'! u asked me: 'how did you ever work out that my one weakness was milk?'!!! but your brain obviously lacks the capacity to house THAT much information! Of course i would answer your questions in the set order!" the Milkman replied hastily, "if only you had the ettiquette to let me finish, we could quickly move on to the part where i add in caramel into your little metal vat."

"(Oh damn.. this better work...I've got to buy time..)Right.. you get a 'NAQ', 'Exp Ev', 'No stand', 'LAL' and everything else!" a leer met the Milkman's ears.

"Don't you patronise me! I do my SS paper just fine, thank you very much!"

"Uh huh... 3/5... squared!" the same condescending voice called back, "(please hurry dammit...) You couldnt weigh based on the criterion of impact if your life depended on it!"

"WHAT?!" Then his voice mellowed to a purr, "Say all you like... your time is nigh.. nehehehe..."

A crisp beep beckoned Super Dude's attention to his Gadget Watch Thingy. A Milky Gadget Watch Thingy, at that. He smiled.. "Thanks Dr Dude.. hehe.."

He felt his energy returning to him. The mental acuity of a predatory bird. The speed of a cheeta. The wit of a science genius. And the strength of a 10-year-old girl. It all came back to him in a flash.

The Milkman's attention was summoned away from his taunting session by the red/yellow flash of the computer.."Hmmm? what's this?" his eyes gazed casually at the Milk chemical composition readings. His eyes widened. It no longer read 100% lactose...

50% glactose, 50% glucose...

"Life get's a lot peachier with a small dose of lactase..." a voice boomed behind the Milkman's lanky figure..

K la, e characters arent exactly original. But e storyline is, so yeah.. thx for reading! haha.. (yes, i know milk isnt made up of lactase alone!)

And yes, i know it's super lame.

Happiness.. i really wanted to type abt this a month ago, aft reading wt's tagboard [which is much more populated than mine.. :'(] I guess tt's how e world is ba.. as mdm tham said, even e fingers on our hand arent of equal length. Thankfully.

But, then again, i dun have e authority to analyse such a thing, so i wun..! haha.. sry =P

But i can give u some tidbits on happiness:

1. Happiness in e brain is (mainly, i think) triggered in e brain by a hormone called Dopamine. It's a chemical reaction!! Smth as magical as tt can be explained.. wow.. cool huh?

And can u see e name of e hormone? Yeah, Dopamine.. Wonder why it was named tt way... =.= it makes ppl into dopes, i guess..

2.Happiness has been known to have pain-numbing, even painkilling, effects! Bet u already knew that, anyway...

But did u know tt e brain secretes yet another hormone (i dunno e name of this one) everytime u keep urself occupied with smth else? It's this hormone tt diverts one's attn from smth tt shld be causing u pain. So, actually, it's not certain whether dopamine has pain-killing properties. =.=

Okay, that's all for The Medical Moment!

And now to wish someone a very happy birthday!!!

u all know who he is... Mr Sng! yeah.. happy birthday..

And to e other two whose birthday also occurred in August...

Happy Birthday Jia Xin and Daryl!

Errata

2006-08-13T19:08:00.000+08:00

yeah, sry.. juz noticed tt i input e URL instead of e MV code {for Breaking Free)..

whoops! =)

this is for e benefit of those too lazy to copy e URL into their address bar to go watch it.

Personally i think e song was WAY more touching after watching e entire show..

It's like rushing to e oh-so-sweet ice cream immediately, instead of going thru e flow of the appetisers, main course, soup of the day, etc 1st..

At any rate, e show, although critisized as a "Grease" spin-off, has one of it's strengths in e fact tt its based on modern-day sch life, so it's kinda more applicable, in a way. (although e lives of e main characters are lives tt most of us wldnt really get to experience, but hey, e msg can apply to everyone, so wad the heck.. haha)

Anyway, u shld definitely catch this show, shld u chance across it. It's, unfortunately, not exactly Block-buster material, though, as it's way too "feel good" and "princess-and-her-pony"ish (in some ways). e plot is quite simple as well (owing to e fact tt i only saw e movie abt 20 min aft it started (darn...))

However, in abt 6 weeks (i think) this DVD made it to triple-platinum standard (meaning it sold a kajillion-and-one (or more) copies). Wad im trying to say is tt a kajillion-and-one (or more) ppl cldnt be wrong, cld they?

I mean, at one point in time, everyone believed e earth was a sphere! (before tt, they thot it was flat -.-)