Animeniac Guy

Hey! Over Here!

2010-06-10T18:20:00.002+08:00

Hey everyone! i've been pulled over by tumblr! Click HERE

April Update!

2010-04-04T23:16:00.003+08:00

Hey everyone! In short, its been quite some time into the school year, and Im pretty much done with Jobweek! (yay) and so now its time for the 01 annual show! For our campfire, Im probably going to be emcee and also one of the Sec 1 Dance ICs! Haha its been really fun so far and hope it will continue to be this way! =D

Hope everyone had fun on April Fools' Day! I just read lots of April Fools hoaxes and laughed at them, lol. ><

School's going to merciless again after these 4 days...and I hope, no I mean, I HAVE to keep up! =) Shall do my best! And of course need some luck too! Especially with the PW groups which is going to be announced in a few days...! For now lets just enjoy this random funny comic strip i came across haha:

Really random wise quote moment!

2010-02-25T23:38:00.001+08:00

Pictures can paint a thousand words, but a few words can leave you with as much to think about.

HappyHappy! CNY and others!

2010-02-14T02:11:00.003+08:00

Hello! Here's wishing all my friends a really happy Chinese New Year, a really lovely Valentines' Day, and also a peaceful Total Defence Day!

Yesterday (12/2) was really fun, I started off with a very well-planned Take5 (except first aid, lol) in the morning, where the whole school played lots of sports on Palawan Beach in Sentosa! Even caught a glimpse of the new IR! It looks really cool, and just makes me feel proud to have this resort right here in Singapore! haha. The afternoon was spent in Vivocity having lunch and working on the GP project with Mervyn, Yi Zuo, Sandra, Dawn and Clarissa. We are group A and our presentation date is Wednesday after CNY hols! What a perfect date. lols. After the project, I met up with 4T peeps briefly before going over to Jarrod's house to meet HH09! We played Guitar Hero and then sat in the frontyard to take some photos and talk and learn the BIMBO CHEER, haha! It was so funny when Geraldine and Anthea taught all of us that! Definitely must record it down some day. =D Then we went in to have dinner, and had a really really heart-to-heart talk. We talked about so much, so deeply, it made me wonder if we really just met a month ago...some of the stuff we talked about, I've never even mentioned them to friends for years! Learnt so much, and gained new insights! As well as respect for some people. =) I started off doubting the power and rationale of the OG, but now, even though I still do not have a definite answer, I've finally been proven wrong. =)

As for today, I had lots of fun at the respective reunion dinners! At my paternal side, I met up with the few of my cousins, and they've really changed a whole lot! o.o haha, all grown up now...the yearly steamboat dinner + getai still remains, and it really does bring back memories...

On my maternal side, another tradition is continued. The one where young people like me and 10+ of my cousins would come together to put up a CNY skit for the whole family! This year's was hilarious! And many new elements were included! IT and whatnots...haha! I played a roti prata seller in a village...lol! Might post the photos up soon =) More visiting tomorrow!

It’s not faith if you use your eyes. Close your eyes and see the light.

01 Orientation!

2010-02-11T02:08:00.003+08:00

Haha today was Orientation for the new batch of 01 Scouts! So we had lots of fun today, getting to know them and playing lots of games! Haha my station during the war games was to stand in a circle and sit on each others' laps. Hehe, the super eeevil but fun game. Only 3 patrols managed to find the clues to my station...apparently a certain patrol took 3 of my clues! Selfish! Haha, jkjk. Anyway, it was hilarious looking at their expressions during the task! (And some just looked so relaxed its obvious they were cheating...haha) Oh and a patrol even sung non-stop hits throughout the time set, and I was quite impressed =) lol! And then the orientation ended with the finale! The usual egg-wrapped-in-something-dropped-from-a-height game...with a twist. With a PL underneath. Haha! Hope everyone enjoyed today as much as we do! =D

And outside of scouts, I went for my Archery interviews today, before finding out that it was a paper interview. It really dissolved any form of interview stress I had! lol. Dont think I'll get in, cos I wrote something on the piece of paper...anyway, I also hope to be able to manage whatever I have in JC properly =)

Oh and of course, RECAS! Today was the first meeting and I joined this to hopefully exercise my brain more...and also to discuss about pertinent issues around the world =D Lol, ok sounds a bit eeekish... but its fun! =)

CCA applications closed yesterday...so hope u all remembered =) And for those who need special permissions, go for it! You can do it! =D

So much to say, so litle time... Maybe later? Haha so see ya!

Phew

2010-02-07T14:54:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was a long day for me, and so was the past week. I mean, it isnt easy trying to have fun while you work, nor work while you're having fun. And that was precisely what I was doing. lol.

Dont think i can say much about what work i was doing, but just some finance work everyone does at the start of the year. =) So...yea, the past week has been really pressurising, cos there are deadlines to meet, but everyone was trying to have their fun. I dont blame anyone for this, just me for being slow on work. Fortunately everything went well yesterday, and we had everything done rather nicely.

I think I left some bad impressions, but hope that it wont be too bad, and please dont judge me based on that. I believe I have done my part. So dont put me down just because you think I didnt do a good job.

Might have seemed agitated, but this is how I really feel.

Of course, going through all these, there are friends I really have to thank. 01 peeps, you have tried your best, so thanks! =D And those friends of mine, doesnt matter whether we've known each other for years or days, thank you for being so supportive and understanding! And...so totally awesome and nice for some to be staying up late with me every night! You rock!

Anyway...

Today is my grandfather's 105TH BIRTHDAY!! =D So Im going to go celebrate his birthday soon! I just want to have real fun, after these days of splitting myself into the dumb and dull jacks...

Gotta go!

Tired...

2010-02-01T23:35:00.003+08:00

Isnt it really frustrating when you've got troubles you cant tell anyone about? Or when you get really tired doing something but no one seems to be able to truly understand? These are some of those emo questions I think about sometimes...

Today's war games were AWESOME! Like seriously, cos everyone was just letting their hair down and stuff, and really putting in their all to play and enjoy! Did get a little rough at some point, but still loved it! =D Sorry to the peeps who got injured though...

Last day of orientation tomorrow....i wanna treasure it

Stuck at GTC?!

2010-01-31T23:46:00.002+08:00

Haha hey everyone =) For the record, im not stuck at GTC, but something else is...my post about GTC. Lol! Still there in my blogger account...but dont go hacking it just to read it! (sorry, thick-skinned)

Haha, the main reason why i wanted to have a blog was to have a nice record of my life and also for interaction with friends! And since JC has been such fun, it might be a good time to attempt to start this old machine going once again! Haha =)

The first few weeks of JC life has been a breeze. Thankfully, my OG is simply an awesome bunch of people!! HH09 Grooooovy-two-shoes! Haha, hope we'll get even closer and have lots of fun! The OG outing today was indeed fun and gave all of us some time to really talk and get to know each other =) Haha, found out more about different people, and also helped me with remembering the names! Lol. Enjoyed the day out with everyone!

Tomorrow will be more learning of the batch dance! Am looking forward to that and also the WAR GAMES! Haha, to anyone who happens to read this and so happens to meet HH09 tomorrow, beware! Dont get squashed! Haha! =D

Ok, I shall keep this short in case this also ends up stuck in my blogger account =) Thanks to Darrell who reminded me of this method to keep me posting too! Haha, to end, just a quick partial belated new year resolution from me:

Believe and live it out to the fullest!

Away on GTC!

2009-11-26T22:48:00.001+08:00

I'll just be 5 days away! =)

Hope it'll turn out to be really life-changing and I'll return a stronger person!

See ya soon! =D

What to do.

2009-11-08T02:23:00.003+08:00

Haha my class just received our final GPA via email from Mr Koh, and my GPA did go up, but by a mere 0.2. =( Haha, ok Im quite happy at what I got this year, but theres another challenge up ahead. The HMT O's.

Its in 2 days time, but i have no idea how I should prepare for it. So Im just randomly reading stuff, and hoping I strike jackpot! =) Gogo Jack, dont think about anything else! Must strive for A1!!

See, this is a reasonably-lengthed short post.

Fun Day

2009-10-29T03:17:00.002+08:00

Today (yesterday) was the second day of the 'intensive chinese remedial' lessons. and although the lesson was rather boring, lunch with friends and after lunch was really fun. It was great 'window-shopping' around in J8 looking at random stuff and discussing so many things. Haha. Oh and McDonalds is really smart, doing all these monopoly stuff...our class collected quite a number but still cant seem to complete any colour! But the instant win freebies were not bad lol. =D Hope we'll win something! Haha!

2009-10-26T02:39:00.002+08:00

Im shattered on the inside. And I dont know what to do.

EOEOY

2009-10-24T23:41:00.002+08:00

Hey everyone, its been some time...ok quite some time. Yep, the end-of-year exams ended just yesterday. And I guess this signifies that i can return to blogging more frequently? Haha. But as I went blog surfing a little, I somehow feel like im so...outdated? People are twittering, and everything while Im still here. Am I really getting old and cant keep up with the times? Ok at least I facebook. So its not that bad? haha. Its been a good 3 months since I last posted something, so yea ended of the season of hibernation?

Even as I sit here, trying my best to relax after all these, somehow my mind still feels uneasy. Maybe its because of the O levels thats coming up in like 2 weeks. (Sorry to those who have to go through the whole of the o levels though, jiayou!) Yep, but then again, I really dont feel like mugging and studying. I havent had enough fun.

Still, next week is gonna be good, cos we have 'no school' from monday to thursday next week. 'no school' meaning no normal school days. But (you expected this) we will be having our intensive chinese language remedials on tuesday to thursday. Monday will really be our rest day. Ok, fine, on monday we will have our CCA. Yep, back to 01! Havent had 01 in a long long time.

Didnt really go to den much during the examination period, cos I didnt feel like its a place I could study much. And I ended up going home on most days. Sorry guys, not that I wanted us to drift apart, but I just did it for the exams. Hope the rest of the year will give us great opportunities to have fun together! (haha gtc maybe?)

As for my class, I cant help but think about how little time we have left together...3T and 4T had been a really special class, of a class of its own. (lol) Yep, there're just so many things which we did together, but I havent had enough. Haha =) I'll never forget you people.

I wanna write more.

Not Dead!

2009-08-17T01:40:00.003+08:00

No blog! You are not dead!~ haha. Yep, please dont think this blog is dead...=( Its just that there are soo many things going on, I cant seem to find time to blog...even though yes, its during this time that I want to blog more than ever. National day, sis, all the tests, school stuff, green game...so many of them. Yep, but I guess I just have to make some sacrifices for my work at school, especially when its my last, in the secondary section at least. So, yep, dont feel that I've neglected this! Haha. =)

Chiong ah!

Work work work!

2009-08-01T02:21:00.002+08:00

Hey! First random thing I must say is...omg PE today was a BLAST! Haha, didnt expect floorball to be so fun!! =D Haha thanks guys, I had so much fun! Was quite a nice switch from the tennis and other racquet sports that we have been doing recently. Team games are just different I guess...

And yes, today was the last SE-arch Party briefing before the actual thing tomorrow!! After school today, didnt eat lunch cos we had to finish our book club, then had to rush off to our venture meeting at the den, in the process, also grabbing a pau to eat...lol. But during the meeting, I actually dozed off!...that was so embarrassing. Yea. In front of the rest. Think its all the planning Ive been doing...well, wad can I say? haha. And then after the meeting, the few of us, Francis, Anurak, Joel, and I, went to Braddell Westlake to pick poles for the SE-arch party tomorrow, where we will be building some simple structures! =) Yep, and then after a while Alvin joined us and helped us! =)

After that was done, the rest went home, while I met up with Jim and we went to YMCA to meet the chairperson for a briefing on our job tomorrow, which will involve us being away for most of the day =(. Yea, we will be at Yong En Care centre tomorrow, to be in charge of the logistics at the APUY delegates visit there. So, sorry peeps! I will only see you in the morning and after my shift semi-ends at about 3.30pm...=( But hope you guys will be fine! =)

Hope tomorrow will be a success!! I should sleep now...bye.

Plan for the weekends.

2009-07-25T12:14:00.003+08:00

Yesterday night, I was doing my homework, and also busy making plans for the weekend. And here it is, but first...
Sigh...there are like 3 projects on our hands now- SS documentary, Physics magship, and the english bookclub discussion. Lots of work to do! And somehow I am receiving extensions for all of them due to various reasons- group members going for competitions, members down with flu... Yep, and that isnt a good thing, cos next week is a CCT week! (= need to mug!) Oh ignore that thing which looks like a smiley, haha. The next few weeks will be busy ones...

Today, I will be going over for the SE-arch Party briefing, so that I will be informed and can also let the rest, who are mostly at Camperama, know. Haha, it is going to be fun! And then after the briefing, I will be going over to jian wei's house to do, i mean COMPLETE, our SS documentary. Yep, we will need to submit it soon, very soon. Really much more to be done. (which explains why we are doing it even at night)

And after I get over the crazy possible stayover for ss doc, I will have to get home and work on the magship report! Hope that wont take too long, cos on that same day, I will also somehow have to re-read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and mug for Maths! haha. And then on Monday, we will have to do the actual book club discussion, take another day to edit everything, and then submit on wednesday.

Well, Im not the only busy one, so I better get over this. Haha. Thanks for reading my crap. =)

What am I doing

2009-07-20T00:06:00.002+08:00

Ok Im so not supposed to be blogging now, but whatever. Im supposed to be writing a geog essay now, but Im tired. I spend so much time on a geog essay, researching, typing, writing, printing...and in the end, I dont know what I get out of it, hm...and I really spend lots of time on it...sigh...dunno whether I should be thinking like this but, my time isnt so cheap...I have other places to spend it on, why should I be spending it on geog essays? I like geog, but essays just make me lose interest sometimes...

Or maybe its the work, been getting so much work these days. And pressure is coming at me from so many angles, even maybe from the inside? Why...I feel overloaded, as if everything is out to squash me flat. SS and physics pt...even philo...and english...shant go into the depressing details...

Oh well, maybe its time now for a small segment to give myself some confidence and hope? Lol, here goes: So what if all those nonsense are coming at me? I WILL crush them like some insect. And how do I do that, by learning more about them, and giving my best in everything I do! As the chinese say, 知己知彼白战败胜, so well I will fight to the end. I can do anything I want, cos its my life and nobody can control it. I do what I like, I condemn what I hate and I get what I want. Nothing is going to stand in my way!

Ok thats all, haha. Oh and from 2 posts ago, another thing being taken away...our slot in the yearbook for the sec 4 classes to express ourselves. Thats really sux.

NS Early Enlistment letter...

2009-07-12T01:46:00.003+08:00

Haha dont be alarmed, I just received a letter from mindef, telling about early enlistment for NS...not that I will be la, just informing that I can apply for it. Haha Im going to RJ ok... so it just serves as a reminder that Im growing old, and I will be going for NS soon...lol For the guys, did anyone else receive yours? =D

Things are being taken away...

2009-07-10T23:16:00.006+08:00

The end of the second week of school...and one phrase comes to mind...things are being taken away...

There are just so many things...one of them must be...sleep? Ok this one is rather usual, not too bad I guess...but dunno why I just sleep later everytime...must try to set a limit for myself...=)

Then there are other things like maybe teachers? Haha for some reason, my class had 3 relief teachers teaching us this week. Maths teacher gone to accompany some students at a competition, Bio teacher is mentoring a group of primary school kids for an international competition too, while our English teacher has already been MIA since the start of the year. But I mean, not all relief teachers are bad...like our relief maths teacher Mr Lai teaches well, Im quite surprised that I can do integration! It might not mean much, but for a relief teacher, I must say he has done a good job! =) But he is only staying with us for this week..

And then for English, its Mr Tan. He is quite ok, has quite a good personality, and can control the class decently haha. I mean, he is an old boy afterall...so he gets things across to us, which is good. A lot better than our fourth one... (haha so you know how many we've had) He will be leaving in a few weeks too.

And then..our relief bio teacher... Sorry but I dont think he is doing that well. Compared to Mrs Lim, he is teaching really slowly, and his explanations arent really that good...also, everything somehow seems incomplete, like the information he is teaching isnt covering everything... and I dont think he controls the class that well too. But to be fair, I've only had 1 of his lesson so far, and he looks more like the quiet type of ppl...

Oh and...Im kinda screwing up my chemistry...just got back our papers, and it was badly done. Almost failed. So sad. Dont know how ppl, can srsly do so well in chem, I find the amount of things that need to be remembered...really a lot...periodic table trends, then quantitative analysis and reactivity series...yea, and if I put in enough time to think for each question...I will have a difficult time finishing it...tell me wad to do! =)

And then after the sad and attitude chem lesson, Bennah, Teng Chuan, Douglas and I we went to have lunch together at subway! But then after buying my food, my stomach had some problems again (like in the HMT prelim...?) Yep, so didnt feel very well, but was still happy for that nice food and great company. And then after that I went to Bennah's house for geog tourisn project. Lol, to write about where we visited, the discovery centre. It was quite interesting there, cos many things were happening for them, haha so I had no trouble staying awake. =D And there was also lots of food there! Thanks! Im fat. haha

Ok so bennah and his dad kindly fetched me to the mrt, and then from there, I stared at the mrt system map, deciding how to get home. I could just take it back home the usual boring way...or I could wander around and try a new way! And, thinking that my life now just reeks of boredom, I decided to see where my instincts brings me.

I took the mrt, and alighted at kembangan, partially also because hiok yang lives nearby, so I might be able to find a fast way home. And I just walked around, looking for some directions...people who actually noticed me would have immediately identified me as a lost person, lols. But anyway, I walked around the whole mrt until Im sure there isnt a way home, then I just walked straight, following under the mrt tracks. I passed...a bus stop...then 2...then 3...until I saw a familiar road...marican road. Haha yay. And so I was pretty sure I knew the way, and just walked in, trying to find the 'landmark' lols. (orienteering skill!) Haha, and I also gave hiok a call just to tell him I was around the area, but think he was still at school...oops should I have said that? haha.

And then, from there onwards its just memory more than instincts, and im on my way home on the bus! Tried to keep awake and read my book for the english book club discussion, but haha couldnt, and fell asleep... Woke up a few stops before mine, and haha im home! =D Looks like instincts can go a long way! (i dont mean it took very long, cos i think i saved a bit of time actually...) haha! Im learning from wat Mrs Lim (principal) said last time, about taking another way to your destination, and you might make some discoveries. Haha, I might not have discovered anything, but at least, it was a journey which added some colour to my day! =)

First week of the semester...

2009-07-04T01:00:00.005+08:00

If it was a normal school term, I would have started the post like this: One word "tiring". But (thankfully?), there comes the H1N1 outbreak, which currently has infected...about 700+ people in Singapore, from what i hear. Lol, but anyway, in this time of 'danger', our school still refuses to close, but has put in place quite a number of measures to ensure our safety. And this safety, I think, includes the preventing us from dying from our workload. Yep, so thats one side of it.

The other side of the story: My first week started off on Sunday, the day before the first day of school. You could call it last minute work, or you could call it last minute fever, but our group for Greenwave, Mervyn, Dominic, Ben Chin, Teng Chuan and I, were rushing to finish our book. Everything from the writing to the formatting, printing and book binding. And so, that night, I slept at about 3 am...O_O Not exactly what I would call a decent night's sleep before the start of term.

The first day was fine, it was really nice to see all my friends back in school and catching up with them. Ok, maybe except the part where I felt like sleeping again. So, then came the Blessing/Curse in disguise...dont know which it is. So, we got an extension for the greenwave project from Dr Chionh! She criticised everything from top to bottom. And then gave us 1 more week. So, as you should have guessed by now, my first week was kinda...busy.

Im NOT blaming the greenwave project nor my fantastic group members, but just saying Im a teeny bit tired. For the next few days, I have been trying to finish up homework and catching up with stuff, also busy with some of the misc. stuff like filing for some of the subjects, and oh yea essays. So my sleeping time, from about 1+am got delayed to about 3+ every night, and there was one night I slept at about 4.30am...the time between wednesday and thursday, which was to research more and rush edit our book before we sent it for printing. (it was rejected because it was 'unprofessionally done')

On Thursday, I needed to edit the greenwave book again, and after that, go for a CIP meeting with the committee, and so it was a work-after-school kinda day. And the meeting ended at about 9+pm, so it was leaving me feeling really shagged. =( Only had 1+ hours of sleep, and then out schooling and working till 10pm...Yep, so it got kinda worse when I reached home, but I still managed to start to do sme work. Soon, Jim went to sleep, but I was still there, but the next thing I remember was waking up in the morning and realising that I fell asleep unwillingly...ang my work was still halfway done, on the com. But I didnt think so much, and just printed that out haha. Eventually maanaged to finish betfore the lesson, haha.

It wasnt really that much about how falling sleeep unknowingly disrupted my school work, but really, more about how my sleeping situation is getting worse. Its starting to freak me out... Yea so, I will try to do something about this! =)

Oh and in case you were wondering why I mentioned greenwave so many times, its probably because of all the effort the group has put in for this book, and the fun I've had in the process. Yes, ite tedious...but its fun, and we are all rather motivated to finish this and do a good job! =D Haha, so thanks so much greenwave peeps. You have been so so wonderful. Hope we continue this! And as Mr Koh says, "we only want the top!" Haha

Other than the greenwave peeps, of course there are also other friends, who are so nice! Sending smses to ask about me, and reminding me to sleep early, etc. Haha! =) Thank you so much! They are really really nice to see, esp while Im on my way home after a long day and a short night... I appreciate them! =) Just apologise if I cant seem to be fee and cant see you guys sometimes though...=(

People of all types exist in the world I guess.

Note: this is messy because Im falling asleep again...sorry ! =(

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

2009-06-22T01:42:00.004+08:00

Had a fun Fathers Day today!

Just discovered someone who left a really deep impression on me, about what he did for his dad... Frankly, Im a bit of a procrastinator. So I leave things to the last minute, even what i had prepared for my Dad...Soorry Dad! =( Haha, anyway, so I was staying up late last night, finishing up my gift, at about...3+am? (Dont tell my dad, pls) So I saw someone else, online, and asked him what he was doing. Unsurprisingly, same as me. BUT, he was actually doing a video for his dad...and in addition, he has already baked something! Wow, and he didnt sleep until like 5am!! O_O All the while, trying to come up with something for his dad...wow. I was really impressed, even felt a little guilty about myself. And I told him something like, your dad will be so proud of you. really.

Ok, so back to today, we had kind of a family gathering thing, where we celebrated all Dads together! Lots of delicious food! haha. and again lots of people! =D Well, just hope that all the Dads, especially MINE, enjoyed today (yesterday)! Think being a good Dad is not an easy job ok...so I salute all Dads! =D

Im going to the Discovery Centre tomorrow! (for a project actually...but yea still fun) Tee Hee! I wonder if anyone knows this...

VLC + sewing + 601 gathering!

2009-06-18T01:01:00.012+08:00

VLC
The last weekend was spent all the way north of Singapore, at Sembawang, in a particular campsite, the Terror Sea Scouts Camp... Haha ok, nothing to be afriad of. I found the name bad too, but when I was there, it was actually quite ok. There are bunk beds. THERE ARE BUNK BEDS! Haha. Lols, that was one of the best! =)

Yep, so I was saying I was at the Northeast Area Venture Leadership Camp, and I was allocated into ex-co 3, affectionately called Marlot! =) Haha at first glance, truthfully, I didnt really think much of the people I saw. But, we were all soon going to become better buddies through the course of the camp!

I think we all had mixed feelings about the camp. The first thing that came to mind was: All the lectures. Because it was kind of a 2-day intensive camp, they had to get as much as they could into our heads. So in one day, we pretty much had about 4 lectures, each lasting at least 1 hour, and some even for 2 hours. You must be thinking: we do that in school every day, so whats so difficult? Ok, we sat on the floor. Isnt that enough? When you sit cross-legged, your thighs hurt. When you change to a position which doesnt strain your thigh, its your butt's turn to complain. Yea, so what can I do except to switch frequently between the 2? Any other position would seem kinda rude though. Haha. Yea, and its just not my habit to be listening to lectures during camp. The word 'camp' doesnt give the sense of lectures... Haha.

Then again, camp also doesnt really give me the image of bunk beds, great cooked food and fans, haha. Im sure everyone there agrees with me that the food was simply excellent. Thanks so much to the cooks there! We all loved the food, and it definitely played its part in motivating us to stay awake during the lectures! Haha! Easily some of the best camp food I've eaten.

The camp also made me think...I mean throughout the camp, they were asking for volunteers, looking out for people with initiative and all, but then why do I get the idea that that is the main criteria which is used to assess us? Oh did I forget to mention, that this camp is also part of a standard which ventures strive to get. Yea so there is a pass and fail for this camp. In other words, its graded. Haha, yea so back to my point. I understand that having initiative is part of being a good leader, but it just doesnt seem right to me when they are the only ones who are found to be exceptional...I mean this is my observation at least. Because like it was mentioned in one of the lectures, leadership entails far more than just initiative. Although yes I agree that its one of the important ones that we must begin with. I was going to say that initiative isnt everything, although I do acknowledge its vital role. Another area which I find has been rather neglected is also whether these people are giving others a chance. But of course I do appreciate the instructors efforts in doing all that they did!

Ok, but of course, I've also gotten to know some new friends, especially those from my ex-co! Dont think I will forget you guys for quite a while! Haha, Joseph, Jun Hao, Jia Ying, Bian He, Lim Yi, hui Jie, Jasper, Chandan, and of course Tak Wei, Gabriel Kok (the tallie) and Xian Zheng! Plus also, some of the people I have met beyond my exco in the short span of just 1+ day, haha! People can get to know others in the weirdest of places, lol. Like how I first got to know Juno from queuing outside the toilet, and how I got to know more about Joseph during the night walk. Haha the guys I just mentioned, and of course 01! and some who I didnt mention, you guys are really special! Thanks so much for being a part of my VLC experience! =D This Jack person here surely wouldnt have had the same fun experience without you there! Hope we still keep in contact after this ok!

Haha I really thought I might fail this. But I passed, so yeah! =D Will heed Wolf's advice to continue to try harder! haha. The road back home.

Sewing and 601!
Yea, so I went to school on wednesday to sew many many badges onto a piece of green cloth for den renovation! We had a fun time there! Haha, talking crap and watching funkers funk while sewing. It got me a lil frustrated at some parts (eg. when the thread was too short...) haha but overall still went ok, and thanks for buying my lunch guys! =)

Yep, so after we finished everything, Kenneth Kuan and I went to Hougang Sports Hall together for the 601 gathering! (need the sirname to differentiate...both from 601 and 01..haha) Anyway, I had a great afternoon, catching up with the old mates haha, and playing badminton together! Still think that our bunch of 601-ers are the greatest! Haha. =D It was really nice to see that quite a number of us were there, 12! Are we going to get more the next time? =) It was just an afternoon of fun and games, and chatting, and a great workout too lol. oh yes, and maybe also a little of merciless killing by some people, lol! No offense, =)

Dinner was at NYNY at heartland mall, where Darren joined us! Haha we were all saying funny stuff at dinner, and laughing! Wished that dinner would last longer...haha. But well, all good things must also come to an end, so after that we went home... From the gathering, everyone still looks good to me! All still so lively and handsome and beautiful...lols. Ok, but seriously i had a wonderful time!

VJC Chem workshops

2009-06-10T02:57:00.002+08:00

This is koped from the class blog, sorry for all the pro-chem things and the excessive info provided cos thats what Mr Koh wanted. =)

Today a group of us from 4T went to VJC for some fun chemistry workshops!! We signed up voluntarily and we weren’t disappointed. (Alvin, Teng Chuan, Manfred, Jian Wei, Mervyn, Dominic, Ben Chin, Jim and Me) We went into the VJC campus, and after the registration, travel declaration and stuff, we took a walk around before entering the lab.

Our first workshop was titled: Snacks- Recipe for a Horizontally Developed Body? It was basically about what our food is made up of and what make you fat. So to get us awake he showed us some random videos…about turning water into ice and some painting video haha. But quite interesting la. He also explained how the 2008 compound of the year- melamine, increases the protein level in milk, haha. Anyway the lesson proper, first part is about the stuff we learnt in bio, like all the carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, plus trans fats. But then the second part was about reading nutritional labels on food. And like how calories are used in our body- 60% on Basal Metabolic Rate, 30% on Movement and 10% on Dietary Thermogenesis. Also how to gain weight, haha, for those underweight people! LDL (“bad”)and HDL (“good”)cholesterol, and about the only food with negative calories! The celery! Im just writing out the concepts, find out why yourself! Or ask the people who went! =D

Then we had an activity where we were all given something like this:

Regret not going right…lols. Anyway, we could choose to keep what we were given, or do a one to one swap among ourselves, where we could exchange something we don’t like for something we like. And at the end, the calorie values were given and we could actually measure how much we would have gotten. Mr Lim told us that, the amount of calories given at the start was actually what is required in a meal, about 600+ calories, but we wont feel full even after eating whats in the bag! Due to the nature of the food…hmm…think about it…Oh and yes, we got to keep the food. =P haha.

Ok so after that we sort of had an empty slot, so we went out to lunch together at Parkway Parade. It was quite fun going all the way there to eat, at least something different from the usual J8. Hm..ok maybe not, cos we still ate at a restaurant J8 has in the end… Well, after lunch some people had a change in plans…

Anyway, we* went back to VJC and had our second workshop titled: Going Bananas!- The Chemistry of Flavours. We learnt that flavor is actually a combination of taste, sensation and colour transmitted by receptors in the taste buds. And esters are a key component of the aromas of fruits (carry the bulk of the signals). Esters tend to have distinctive, generally pleasant odours, and are made from the reaction between carboxylic acids and alcohols. Flavours are usually created using a complex mixture of esters, and food manufacturers use them to make artificial flavouring.

We learnt 2 methods of synthesizing esters. Method 1 is simpler to understand: Condensation reaction of alcohol with carboxylic acid. The 2 chemicals we used are Methanol and Butanoic Acid, and we also needed to use c. sulfuric acid as catalyst, and heat it over a boiling water bath. Cant heat it over a naked flame, as alcohol is flammable. We got a smell closest to that from an apple from this experiment! Ok, fine we couldn’t really tell that well…(remember a flavor is made up of a combination of esters?) But still we had to learn how to draw the structure of the methanol and butanoic acid, and how they eventually formed the ester with the apple smell, and of course water, being a condensation reaction. The very nice teacher’s assistant taught us this! (something like Xin Yan, Yen San or Zhao Yuan…haha) So we had to know how to identify an ester. It’s a C with one single C-O bond and one double C=O bond, so it’s like O-C=O. That’s an ester.

As for Method 2, the reaction of alcohol with ethanoic anhydride, it was basically similar steps in doing it, but adding different stuff. We added alcohols such as: Octan-1-ol, Propan-1-ol or 3-methyl-1-butanol, to an acid derivative, Ethanoic Anhydride. Think its because the acid derivative is more reactive… So, from these, we got the smells of orange, pear and bananas!! (respectively) Again, these smells aren’t that obvious, except for the banana, which most of us are able to tell because it has a more distinct smell. Really nice! Haha. After that, this time, they only showed us the chemical formulas for the substances, and wanted us to draw out the structures of the esters that would form as a result. Slightly difficult to understand at the start, but simple once you get the hang of it, haha. Its quite interesting how they are able to tell the information of the substance from its name…like the prefixes: Met means 1 C, Eth means 2 Cs, Prop is 3 Cs, But is 4Cs, and Hep is 5Cs. (a lot of Singaporeans like Hep? Haha!) The teacher said that we are going to learn this in organic chemistry! And, we have to remember up to 10 Cs for our A levels…yea so learn 5 first lor… and then also if the name ends with –ol then its an alcohol, with an OH functional group…yea this sort of thing.

We were also supposed to do it in something called the reflux setup, which actually just means heating with an attached condenser which helps to condense the vapours which evaporated back into liquid form for heating, as the organic compounds are very volatile.

This second workshop has a lot more new content for us, still the level pitched was okay, not too difficult or easy, so its understandable la. We were a bit overwhelmed at first, but after a while, with some help from the assistants, we were good to go, haha. And its quite fun to get to conduct the experiment yourself, and smell the fruit flavouring you created!

Overall, I enjoyed both the workshops very much! And we had quite a fun time engaging in the activities while having learning chem! These workshops have given me a chance to get to see more of the uses and applications of chemistry! =)

Learning Journey to IRAS

2009-06-07T18:01:00.007+08:00

What can I say to my class? Told you it wouldnt be so bad. Tax is a really interesting subject...

Property Tax...

Old tax calculators! (cost $75 each lol)

Whats so interesting? =)

3% GST?? Haha

Income Tax structure

Alvin trying to act helpful, haha! But great food, lol. Thats where our tax money goes to? haha

Now for some group photos!

Turned out surprisingly good...haha =P

Venture Camp part 2!

2009-06-07T17:56:00.009+08:00

The second morning started off almost uninterestingly, haha, maybe it was because of the long night…woke up so many times, and heard Hiok Yang, Sup and Zi Heng talking, lol. Ants? Anyway, we all woke up and started to pack up/tour around other groups’ campsites. Haha, quite surprising to find that our shelter was actually quite good! Haha. We then had breakfast just beside the road, out of the forest. Oreo and bread and milo powder. Think that’s what we had. =) Took a hike over to some mrt station…Yio Chu Kang? Lols, kinda forgot… and refilled our bottles there. Think people find us a nuisance, cos we were all hogging the taps, but it was also partly becos the water flowed so slowly… Yea so after quite some time, we went on the MRT and took this long train ride to Tampines. Long but fun, haha! We were all chatting and talking about random stuff. Really a relaxing ride. Big change from the day before when we walked to get to places.

Anyway, the main point of the ride was to get to the starting point (lol) of our run. We were going to run from the Tampines MRT to Changi Point! And our VTLs so cleverly, planned our route to be the same as the Adidas Sundown Marathon route! And furthermore, it was only the day before when the Adidas Sundown Marathon took place! Guess what this means. The stations haven’t been removed. And there were still drinks along our route! Lols. During the 8kn run, at one of the stations we actually rested and took the drinks there! The 100 plus was just so refreshing and revitalizing haha. But some people, were kinda greedy and took 8 cups? So they got bloated. Haha. I took about 3 cups, and felt really good after that when running. It was quite amazing how I just didn’t feel thirsty after the drink, haha. Could run much better after that! It was quite an enjoyable run overall, again a change from the previous day. (not that it wasn’t enjoyable, but that its not the relaxing kind of thing) Mr Chan and Hiok Yang were with us the whole time we were running, but on the car instead. W! (inside joke, sorry! haha)

Next was lunch, so we had lunch there at Changi Jettty, opening up all our instant noodles and canned food! I ate Chicken Abalone noodles with braised peanuts, baked beans and curry chicken. Sort of the usual food we eat at camp. Haha, and then for dessert was Jubes NATA DE COCO! And in 3 flavours thanks to sharing between groups, haha. Sorry for that ad. So after all that running, then cooking using water for our noodles, naturally it was again time for refilling our bottles. But this time the cleaning auntie there wasn’t happy about it, and didn’t allow us to refill our bottles. So we had no choice but to look for another toilet at the changi food centre, where we were supposed to pay 10cents for every entry, but managed not to becos the guy was sleeping and we assumed he didn’t want that 10cents. That toilet was better, considering the water flow was much faster and less people used it. So we did a fast one, and escaped unscathed. We then carried the other logistics like the firewood and aluminum foil and stuff and boarded the boat to Pulau Ubin!

I was carrying the toyo box, so it was kinda heavy. Lols. But that’s not the point. We reached Pulau Ubin and then walked to the familiar beach area where we put down all our stuff. This was the place we slept at during our sec3 OBS. And of course there were the ‘friendly’ dogs which were always around there. About 5 I suppose. Once everyone was there and we rested for a while, we started to dig a hole for use as our fire pit. It was going to be a beach barbeque!! Lols, one of the best things that can ever happen in a camp?

Haha so we all got excited, and helped out the food preparation. Cracking and beating eggs, wrapping potatoes, contributing the stones we all have been carrying throughout the camp…lots to do. Andwhile we were just placing the food into the fire, we realised one problem- the water level was rising and was going to reach the fire soon! Haha, we literally underestimated the tide… So in an attempt to save our fire, we actually dug trenches in front of the fire in hope that the water will collect in the trench instead of reaching the fire. But as you should have guessed, the attempt was pretty futile and we had to relocate our fire in the end. (and some of the food got extra salt in the process, bleh..) Still, we got quite a nice dinner, with the chicken, pork, potato, fish…only the egg is ruined by the seawater. Haha, eating by the beach is just different. Feeling the breeze, while enjoying your food and chatting with friends. What a great feeling.

That night, we also set up a campfire, and roasted marshmallows! Lols, the classic kind. We simply picked up any stick we found on the ground, strung the marshmallows through, and then sat beside the campfire and talked, and sung songs, and listened to stories… oh yes and also looking at the flaming ashes from the fire flying about! Really beautiful…

There was nothing more for the night, and after sitting around the campfire for…who knows how long (we all lost track of time…), we settled our night sentry duties, and some of us just went to our bashas and slept. I got the first shift, so Leonard and I went over to Amos and Zi Heng’s groundsheet and laid there. I didn’t sleep for most of it, was just listening to music and chatting again among the 4 of us, haha. The night was special. Love it. 1.5 hours passed, and it was time for my sleep! And then I was woken again at 4am, for my second shift. This time, the rest of them were sleeping, and somehow I managed to stay awake for the whole of the 1.5 hours alone, staring at the trees, the sky, and the sea. I didn’t want to lie down, for I knew I would surely fall asleep. So I just looked at these and reflected, and thought. About everything- camp, my family, my friends, my life, the reality I would be returning to, and what I was going to change. Haha, I admit my mind wasn’t the most alert then, but I liked the ‘spiritual’ feeling I got. And then, when my shift was over, I woke everyone up, and went back into proper sleep.

The next morning, I was one o the last to awake, for when I woke up, everyone was already sitting up and watching ‘the show’. Hiok Yang, Sup and Zi Heng were ‘performing a show’ for us, with their suanning and lots of antics. Haha. We all agreed that it was much better than television, and got a really good laugh. Haha. =D So whos the fat one?

We then took down our bashas, and then had our last breakfast! Lots of food again, choc chip bread, pandan bread, oreo, instant cereal, instant milo…we all had our full, while talking about stuff again. And then for the rest of the morning, it was mostly a reflection session, talking about each other, and ourselves, helping us learn more about ourselves, strengths and things to work on. For me, I think there was one on speaking out more, and one more I shall not reveal, because it is to my disadvantage, lols. To those of you who were there with me, please do help me to improve on myself! I will try my best too! =)

And then the final part. We were all blindfolded, and told to stand in a line at the beach. You know, like those things they do in the Japanese occupation, where they shoot the people at the beach… ok, not so terrible la. We were all told to think of three things: One dream, One Fear, and One Thing We Want to Change. Not being able to see anything, while only listening to the sounds of the waves splashing against the shores, I thought of my three.

Now when I think back, personally, venture Camp has really taught me about the importance of trusting the friends I have, and relying on each other. Not a single one of us could have done what we did all alone. Whether it was the survival night, or the beach cooking…it has to be us working together! Also, I feel that the VC has really given me the opportunity to try out many new things, just as my time in Ventures has been. I believe that we all have learnt something new about ourselves, and gotten to know something new that we can do. There are many things we know we can do. But there are many more we have yet to try out.

Gues what? the camp ended on 01-06. Haha, I personally understand this as, it only ends, if we want it to. Which kinda means it will never. Lol.

I really loved it! Thanks so much to our VTLs, the GC and AC for planning it! And of course all my batchmates in 0106 who went through everything with me, especially Alvin! Without which the experience would have totally sucked. Haha! =D

My choice in sec 3 is truly worthwhile. I feel so lucky to have discovered what I've been missing out... Thanks buds!

Sorry for the long and picture-less post!! Facebook has many of them though, haha! =)

Venture Camp 2009

2009-06-02T23:14:00.002+08:00

Yay, just came back from our venture camp yesterday! It was more fun than I had expected! To tell the truth, I was actually pretty worried before the camp, cos I didn’t have a good idea of what it’ll be like, and the preparation seemed like a lot of work, especially when it was during the cct period. But thankfully, my fellow experienced 01 batchmates really helped a lot, haha in getting all the stuff needed for the camp, especially the survival kit, which in itself consisted lots of stuff.

So with all everyone’s help, I was really reassured closer to the camp that we were going to succeed and pictured us doing well! Haha, and I wasn’t wrong. (except that I of course I couldn’t imagine the activities we would be doing…)

Haha, and soon came the first day of camp. Getting there wasn’t easy, cause I just couldn’t find it on my street directory for some reason, and my parents weren’t free, so I took a cab there! The taxi driver saw me carrying the big bag, so we started on a conversation about scouting, which lead to his NS days, and jungle survival stuff, haha. It was really an interesting conversation! But the things I learnt couldn’t really be applied, unfortunately. Anyway, when I reached, thought I was early but some people were already there, like Francis, Anurak, Rong Jun. Tak Wei arrived same time as me haha. Most of us arrived early to do our sorting out of rations, and then came the GC, actually 4 of them, Zhi Xuan, Chee Yeow, Yan Wei and Hao Qin, with Mr Chan. Inspection time! Still scary as ever, but fortunately we had enough time. Still got pumped a little for latecomers though. Haha.

So after this we all left for our first activity- the close terrain navigation. First checkpoint- somewhere within the Bukit Timah Nature reserve. The walk there was quite fun, we were all chatting and trekking at the same time, so it was a bit slow, but still, good warm up! One place we passed which left an impression on we was the big flyover we walked on. Really beautiful place. People will scold me for this! But I kinda enjoyed looking at those ‘majestic’ ERP gantries, while the cars drove past them. Not because all the IUs were “di-ing” away, but because the general scene was quite impressive from where I was standing, haha.

Anyway, after we got to the checkpoint, which was rather easy to spot because Mr Chan was standing there, haha. The difficult part came. Looking for the white card to get our next clue. Only managed to find it after quite some time because, again, Mr Chan hinted us and said that he could see the card from where he was standing, haha. Thanks, sir! Haha, anyway, we were split into small patrols after this, and without Mr Chan’s hints, it was only going to get tougher.

For our patrol, Alvin, Sup, Zhong Jun, Zi Heng and I, our second checkpoint was the most difficult one, it was located far from the rest, and deep inside a forest kinda thing. On our way there, the sky just turned dark and we heard some thunder. Ok maybe it might have been the shooting range in the vicinity. The temperature dropped. So you can imagine what it seemed like. Cool, dark, cloudy, windy. In a forest. Zi Heng correctly pointed out that it reminds him of the scene from Twilight. Haha, and I couldn’t agree more. It was like something fantasy-related was going to happen at any time, haha! Especially when the sun suddenly started to light up the forest, and rays of light were beaming through some of the tree canopy…woa… So, we did spend quite a lot of time looking for it, but Chee Yeow did give us some hints, again, and we managed to find it!

Just when you start to think that we are some useless scouts who depend on hints so much…see this. Some of our checkpoints are supposed to be for OCS training! And, we did well for our next checkpoint! No hints, nothing. And we got there fast! Just pure dead reckoning, as we call it. Lols. At this point I realised I like pacing. Cos I was getting used to it and it wasn’t that difficult, except that you have to really maintain your concentration.

But, I was supposed to navigate next! Haha, so I happily took on the role, and…yea started trying it out. I have learnt these skills before, but it’s the first time im putting it to real practical use! With some advice, I managed to plot and find our way to the next checkpoint! Erm…but wait. The way we got there…heh… What we could have taken: The boardwalk at the reserve, and just by walking on it and following the one-way-only path, for 500m or so, we could have reached it easily. The way we actually took: climb up this steep steep slope, some parts at about 70 degrees…while grabbing onto tree stems, roots and avoiding those thorny plants and caterpillars, haha. It was really challenging, and we took too much time, like really, compare the 2. But having said that, this stupid mistake we made could easily have been one of the most memorable parts of the close-terrain navigation, lols. Its puzzling how things can turn into something completely unexpected.

Not sure if the order is correct, but I think we went to the next checkpoint on top of a small hill. This time there was a road, so it was easier, but less fun, and the concrete road made me feel uneasy. Prefer stepping on ground during hikes, haha. Anyway, we met Kenneth’s patrol there on the hill, and apparently they have been searching for their white card for some time already! Zhi Xuan was there with them, and now Chee Yeow joined him. We, on the other hand, joined in the search. We were really lost, okay not lost. Just couldn’t find the white card after like almost 20 minutes. The VTLs, decided to be mean and not tell us since it was our last station anyway. Haha. But in the end, I think Alvin found it just behind some bushes on the left of the place we placed our bags…we have been searching the forward so thoroughly we forgot about the sides…haha. So Alvin like really saved 2 patrols and we all went off happily! Haha.

I remember stopping off at the ranger station for a drink and refilling, and then meeting the last patrol. Took some photos, had a short rest, and then hiked to Thomson Forest where we were going to have our survival night! Lols.

Survival night was a completely new experience, unique to the ventures. And so we were all really more excited than anything about going into the forest and proving that we can survive in it by ourselves, haha. We were given food, almost too much of it: Chicken, Fish, Mushrooms, Eggs, potatoes as well. My partner was Alvin, haha! Think we worked well together. Once we got there, we surveyed the area to find out which was the best place for everything, and decided on them. And then, since the shelter was more important than the food, we started on the shelter, building the structure and then gathering and stacking leaves on it. The traditional jungle kind of shelter. Haha. We spent a little too much time on it though, and only realised when the sky began getting dark. Alvin decided to go and cook, while I continued with the building. In the end, thankfully Alvin managed to cook us both, the mushrooms, egg and the fish. The rest were just too much to cook. He did a great job! Considering the forest was wet, because of a rain earlier, all the twigs and leaves we needed for the fire was wet and less effective. Also, the forest was so dark we couldn’t see a single thing after we turned off our torches…so yea! Alvin was a great cook! Loved the mushrooms. Haha. Luckily I didn’t let Alvin down as well and also got a decent shelter after my finishing touch-ups. The night was really tiring cos we all wanted sleep after the whole day of hiking, but night sentry was a must. And in a 2-man group like ours, sentry times were crazy. So, luckily we called Chee Yeow and explained our situation. He allowed us to rest from 2-5 am without sentry, and that was really helpful for more sleep! Haha! In the night, Alvin and I talked about lots of things, from 01 stuff, to class stuff and also played some games! Like the one where each person has to say a word and create a story. But I apologise to Alvin for the countless times I fell into slumberland while we were talking. Lols. So sorry!

-End Day1/Part 1-

Venture Camp!

2009-05-29T23:12:00.004+08:00

Dont wanna think about negative stuff anymore, its the holidays, and im going to enjoy myself. The first activity being the Venture Camp! Its going to be from tomorrow morning all the way to Monday, and Im so excited about it! Survival night especially! Lols, feel like im ready! Ok, maybe not, havent finish packing. haha.

Wont be gone for long, so see you soon! and, since someone's birthday happens to fall on the second day of my camp, I shall write my wishes here in advance:

Happy Birthday Alvin Lum! Wishing you all the best in whatever you do, and remember that although we have NOT been friends for 11 years, I'll always be praying for the cleansing of your mind and heart, haha. Sorry that I wont be here to wish you on the actual day! =P

With that, I hope to go for this camp, give it my all, experience it fully, and eventually, return with much more.

WhatTheHeck.

2009-05-28T01:06:00.005+08:00

Esp. for 4T:
I've been wondering about some stuff recently. Some people's true nature are just so scary. Especially how they can hide it as well as they do, its almost despicable. Perhaps Im just able to see more? Anyone in class knows how Im treated. Do you know why it is this way? What can I say? Some things mean more to certain people.

And then, there are those, who shamelessly do whatever they want. Ok fine, you are entitled to it. Good for you. But does that mean its the right thing to do? Please, stop your selfish and thoughtless behaviour. Let me tell you one thing. I do know more than what you think. And Im not referring to the academics. Or you could go on being a puppet of yourself. and whatever which you are yearning for. I can only ask that you be careful, and not be engulfed by it.

"The arm of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."
-Martin Luther King

HCL Prelims...

2009-05-17T02:21:00.006+08:00

Last Friday, all the sec4s in school took the O'level HMT prelims...and thats all we did. We were supposed to be happy there werent any lessons, but this was an impt exam...not just because its counted for our CA, partly also because its labelled as O'level, thats what I think, haha. And also, to let us know of how the actual exam will be like...

Anyway, after a struggle to find my seat, I realised I wanted to go to the toilet. So..yea I did. Anyway, the first paper went quite well. The 应用文 was a topic that was really classic. The coffeshop cleanliness question, haha. So that was rather ok, but somehow I spent almost an hour on it. O_o Thats why I was so worried when I started on my 作文, with only 50% of the time left to secure about 75% of the marks. So that was rather rushed. The question was on: 赌场进门令. And I somehow I already had a few ideas in mind...maybe its because I read it somewhere before...Yea, so I found it quite easy too. Just dunno whether my writing would be good enough... Being a really slow writer, I only finished a few minutes before the end time...

During break time, I just felt happy that I didnt realise anything wrong with my writing, and even managed to remember to use some of the phrases we learnt in class, haha. So I ate a little, then went back in, getting ready for the next paper. But this time I wasnt so lucky. About halfway through the paper, my phone 'rang' and it was nature who called. But again, being the slow person that i was, I just couldnt afford to stop writing, and continued to think and write...until I just couldnt, at the 长文缩短...so I think I might have screwed that part up...sigh. And in addition, I ran out of the hall right after we were released... It was a nightmare. (not referring to the paper) Still hope I do well for the test! =) I can do it! And so can everyone else! Cos some people just dont believe in themselves!

Ah...Im sleeping now!

THE Campfire

2009-05-16T23:17:00.011+08:00

Haha hi! Im taking this updating a step at a time...

The 01 75th Anniversary Campfire was a really memorable one for me! Usually at campfires, what I've been seeing is only the final show and maybe a little of the other stuff like structures, but the effort that has gone into it is...kinda hard to imagine. We do get a rough idea, but we never get the whole picture. It was only through this experience that I truly understand the processes behind the show. Haha, but still, being the quartermaster means that I got only mostly the logistics work for the campfire. The good thing is that I was involved from the start to the end, but then it was really not an easy job. Its the first time Tak Wei and I were put in charge of the logistics for such a large scale event. Haha, though the work involved wasnt at all little, the weekend spent there at Sarimbun Scout Camp with the rest of the Ventures was an enjoyable one! From carrying the logistics there, building the structure, cutting holes in the banner for the wind, picketing, throwing ropes over, the 'mallet-head' incident and the IC (Injured Committee), to the food we got, the nights there, the games, the brief trip to civilisation (MRT station), the countless practices, the slippers, our performance, me losing lots of stuff and then finding them again, the bad dinner, the supper, the packing up, and the final sweep...everything was just so memorable, haha!

Here are some pics!

The photos do not show the whole process, or even the most important part! The campfire itself...cos we were all busy then...still, what a special experience this was... Hope everyone who was there enjoyed the experience as much as I did! =D

Oh yes, just found some pics I took for the termite problem is the den a while ago...but dont worry its solved now! Lols, was rather disgusting then... =(

Hmm...looks like it has gotta be after the prelims...

2009-05-07T01:47:00.003+08:00

Ah...I know I sound like a complete retard and everything, saying I will update soon, but nothing comes out here...Im so sorry...but these few days has just been lots of work...I had like what, 3 geog essays to do, and considering how much time I spend on each of them, time just isnt enough... Dunno why I always like to read so much whenever Im doing my research for the essays, but after reading Im still like...what am I supposed to write? Think its just difficult to find relevant information sometimes, especially when what i want is those academic stuff... Anyway, this Friday will be the prelims for the HMT O'level! So there's one last day tmr for me to revise everything! Wish me luck! =) And from me, best of luck to all the rest taking this too!

Oh yea and today, 4T had sort of a class gathering thing and didnt invite me, apparently because of some miscommunication...=( Yea.ok.

Note: Im still holding on to the photos from our campfire...hoping for a good time to upload them and do a proper post...

The last week + Home Creation meeting + River Valley Campfire!

2009-04-19T15:42:00.012+08:00

The last week has been...rather ok, considering that there was only a maths TA on monday which I screwed up slightly at, class deco, and nothing else for school.

As for stuff out of curriculum, on Friday we did have a Home Creation meeting at Kallang Bahru with Viriya to basically confirm the basic stuff such as committees and get to know more about the project before we even start. Yep, so basically that was what it was for. 1o of us from the steering committee went there right after school, and didnt eat lunch cos we didnt have enough time. The nice viriya people then gave us some food and drinks! Haha, really thankful for that. I was getting hungry...lol. Quite a fruitful discussion, learnt quite a lot more about the project, and what I can expect. After the meeting, Teng Chuan and I rushed back to school for class deco, but somehow we got lost and the rest of the people who needed to go back but didnt run, reached faster than us. Haha, got jaacked. Anyway, when we reached class, all we saw was a nice plan done on the board and nothing done. Lols, ok. At least we have a plan now. So just went to do some maths homework while watching people play soccer. But I started to drift off...lol, so I decided to go for a jog instead. Haha, nothing compared to those people who were at the trials for the Hillary Challenge though. They all agreed it was tough...but good luck to everyone! =)

Yep so on Saturday morning, we got to school early, some for the Raffles Fest, but some like me just for our campfire preparation. We practised our stick dance one again, and Im still trying to get closer to prefection...need to improve more. Yep so we practised the dance from 8am to about 1pm. And also had a chance to take a sneak peek at the performances of the other groups of people, like the sec 1,2 and 3 dances. Thesec 1 dance was really cute I must say, haha. I can hum the song "I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony..." lols.

So after that we had lunch at J8,and Alvin Chua, Kenneth Lam and I decided to go bowling before campfire since we had some time, but going home, then going to the campfire would take up most of it anyway. So we decided to go to Serangoon Gardens country club. And we even invited Alvin Lum and Teng Chuan to go with us. But when we reached there...it was fully booked for the whole evening. So we hang around at a playground nearby instead, lol. We even had a 'ninja warrior' competition and set up an obstacle course for ourselves. haha. Forgot to take a photo with Alvin Lum and Teng Chuan.

Haha, so after that we took a bus to AMK, and took the MRT to Redhill, where we bought dinner, then took a cab to River Valley cos we thought we were late, and were too tired to take the bus, haha. But luckily the ride was rather short, so it was ok. And after we went in, I got changed into my scout uniform and in we went.

They were all smiles there, and even had a structure visitors could climb on to find out more about their scout group. It was quite fun to climb up and down haha.

After we got seated, we met our buddy(sort of), Shao Hao. Haha he was very friendly and helpful to us. That made questions easier, haha. Anyway, the first thing we noticed was their backdrop. I personally thought it was very well done. It looks like it was printed, but Shao Hao said that it was painted and repainted many times until it looked like this. They started planning for the campfire since January. Looks like a lot of effort has been put in!

As seen, their campfire theme was 40 through the ages. And so their campfire had many elements from the last 40 years, from the 1960s to the current times. I enjoyed singing the songs with them, lol: Mama Mia, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Girlfriend, etc. And of course them dancing, haha. The buddies were also instrumental in getting us to be more involved. They were quite busy though, haha, getting on stage to dance, before rushing back to us, then going back again...
They had quite a good mixture of games and the show itself, but we found that it ended rather early, haha.

To me, I found the campfire really good. Haha, except maybe for the first part when the sound system failed a few times. But they did solve the problem and everything flowed smoothly after that. Haha, the guys behind (Francis, Amos, Bryan, Hiok Yang)were always singing songs, lol. From "Please dont stop the music, music..." when the sound system stopped, to "Its too late to apologise..." and "Jack and Jill went up the hill...and Jill threw him out of the window", lols. Haha, so fun. Heres a group photo with our buddy, Shao Hao, after the whole thing:

Haha, thanks a lot to the River Valley Eagle Scouts for the really fun campfire! Hope that we would be able to put on a good show as well in our very own 01 Campfire next week! =D

Today at school + KangXi exhibition + movie!

2009-04-10T01:12:00.003+08:00

2 days ago at school, we the ventures were practicing our dance for our campfire coming up soon! I already wrote a post there, so please feel free to go read at http://01raffles2006.blogspot.com/ if you are interested!

Yep, so technically this blogpost should be titled yesterday at school, cos its one day late. Its 1.20am now. Haha, anyway, 'today' was a really bad day at school for our class, at least. All the teachers seemed to be pissed at our class for one reason or another. I mean, its not that bad if its just one teacher, but almost all in one day is just...bad.

First period was english. Basically, we had a change of english teachers, cos our last teacher had to leave school for a term or so, and now we have a new teacher. When I say new, I really mean new. Newly graduated and inexperienced. I dont mean to be offensive, but he really should improve on his engagement with students during lesson. He's like afriad of us or something, and just yabbers away, without making sure we are even following. (Mrs Ong is much better at this..."are you with me?", haha) Anyway, back to my point, so we started getting bored and when students get bored, they start looking for something else to do, and that is to talk. But he got unhappy towards the end of the lesson and slamed his hand on the table. (that must have hurt) And told us to pay attention in a really loud voice. Speaking truthfully, Im guessing that he has a really bad impression of our school students.

Chemistry. Also the same for CLE. Mr Koh was just pissed that quite a number of us didnt go for his chemistry lesson yesterday. I went obviously, but quite a number didnt. Let me explain. It was supposed to be RE period yesterday, but now that RE has sort of stopped, teachers were free to take the lesson for themselves. Mr Koh told our class that he has taken the lesson, and we were going to have a combined lesson with 4R. The only difference was the instructions given. For them it was: "compulsory", for us it was: "compulsory, but if you are not keen, I wont force you". Yep so some people though Mr Koh wasnt serious when he said that it was compulsory, and didnt go. And only about 1/3 of our class went. Im going to see it from 2 angles.

For those who didnt go, they misunderstood what Mr Koh meant. And some people thought that it was a remedial lesson. And some think that since the school wants us to be independent learners, they should be given a choice to not go if they think they are good enough.

For Mr Koh, he gave 4R a different instruction, and that shows that he actually meant it when he said he trusted us to be self-motivated learners and go for his lesson even when he said he wont force us. Also, he had said that it wasnt a remedial lesson but a lesson. So new topics will be taught and everyone will have to be there. Also, when Mr Koh told us that he could have actually just stopped at normal lessons and not take the RE period to teach, Im sure we all agree. We all know it. It is a fact that his timetable is almost full every time. And its all for us. We all know how dedicated he is. Its just, sometimes we fail to realise that teachers put in effort to prepare and conduct lessons too. And that we arent the only stakeholders.

I shall move on.

For Geog, Dr.C was just really angry. First, even before we did anything wrong, she scolded LinJin really badly when he came back to class late after recess because he was taking a test during recess. She didnt listen to he explanation at first, but even after he explained himself, she continued to scold him, like really badly. I was feeling so stunned cause I came back with LinJin after collecting some geog worksheets, and that was what I saw. I feel very sorry for LinJin, because in this case, I can only stand on his side. He was seriously put in a difficult situation. After he gave his explanation, she shouted that it was always her lesson being taken up for other subjects. But then what could be done about it? It was also a teacher who told him to take the test during recess. Dr.C even said that next time equal amount of time shouls be taken from the periods before and after recess. Yea, ok, but if that were to be done, shouldnt it be brought up to the school instead of telling us? And anyway the current system is not as such, so can a student be blamed for that? And to Lin Jin, I hope you dont feel too bad, we all saw your face just now...

Chinese lesson...nothing much, cos it was basically just a zuowen competition which I totally failed. Couldnt think of a story at all. and just crapped something up when I got too worried, lol. its bad.

After school was the museum trip, where we went to the ACM to view the KangXi emperor exhibit. Generally speaking, it was quite interesting, but small. The place is really small, like there are less than 100 artefects there. So although the stuff are good, you can be finished with it in a short time if you dont read everything. Which was the case for some of them who rushed me to finish and go, haha. Well, ok Im sorry for making you guys wait! But I did manage to learn quite a few stuff from there!

So we went to PS, Hiok Yang, Teng Chuan, Alvin Lum, Manfred, Ben Ng, Alvin Chua, Aloysius and me. And watched Fast and Furious 4. Initially felt like watching Knowing, but since some people didnt want to leave late, we watched Fast and Furious 4. I must say that it is indeed better than I had thought, haha. And it was really action-packed. But I cant seem to be able to pinpoint what I like about it the most...

After that, Teng Chuan, Hiok Yang, Alvin Lum and I said goodbye to the rest and stayed to have dinner together. It was quite fun la, having dinner together, talking about loads of random stuff, but for some reason, I felt really cold then...

After that we went to the MRT station where we nearly got into a 'waiting fight' to see which side, Hiok Yang, or us, waits the longest for the other group/person to leave first. Lols. But we decided that it was too lame, anyway, Hiok Yang left first, haha. Had a nice talk on the train too! Felt so long since our class have really gotten together for a fun outing or something. This is close. haha. At least it brightened up the day! =D

4-4-09

2009-04-04T23:37:00.011+08:00

Today has been a tiring but eventful day... woke up at 6.10am in the morning to go to NUS for our final HSSRP symposium. So yea...thankfully my dad agreed to fetch Jim and me there...thanks a lot! or else, we would have had to take a bus there and wake up at like 4+am? So...once we got there, we met up with Shayne and tried to find our way around...using the faint idea of wat we remembered from before... And yep, after just a few circles, we reached the lt9! but yea we were still early, so we just sat around in the canteen talking lots of crap and practising our presentation too haha. Then we met Martin, who was taking part in the NUS Geog Challenge there, haha, dunno how they did, but hope they did well! After that, we got the book with our research paper! Its beautiful in bright blue this year! Haha. Now, I have like five consecutive years of the HSSRP research booklets! So if anyone needs it for anything, feel free to look for me! Haha.

The symposium started with the usual few opening speeches, then was the award presentation ceremony. And our group was so happy that we got a merit award! (except that it doesnt sound as good as it actually is, lol) Haha, lots of hard work were put into this, so obviously we were all so proud to be getting the award, haha.

(WARNING: if you do not wish to see my rather long comments on other group's presentations, skip the next paragraph!)
Ok yea so next was 3 presentations, the first one by an RGS team. They did pretty well, like their research was well thought of, and they presented well too, so since the took much things into consideration, their group was safe from the 'evil' audiences who just cant wait to put you down if you are up there. (and it can hurt especially if you cant do proper 'damage control') This was shown in the second presentation. By an RI team, Patrick and Zhuo Hao. Jia Xuan and Jun Yang werent there though becos of track stuff. Yea, so their presentation was alright, but the problem came when the QNA started. They really got 'thrashed'. It was quite sad, cos it really wasnt becos their project was bad, just the case where damage control is poor. Like someone actually asked them a question not even in their scope of research, but they didnt point it out, and tried to answer it...yea, so something for us to learn from! The third group was a NYGH group. Their presentation was one of the better ones, presenting on a movie called Dr Strangelove, very interesting indeed. But the main prob with theirs was the research and relevance part, when asked in the QNA. Their research consisted mainly of going on the net and watching the movies only, while the relevance wasnt answered well.

After the main presentations, everyone rushed out for the tea reception, and since it was so crowded, I didnt manage to get anything, except a small cup of 'chilled homemade barley', lol. Yea so Shayne, Jim and I just went around to find the room for our presentation later, and started preparing. Sherman and Wesley even came to support our presentation, haha, thanks guys. Anyway, somehow I was chosen to be emcee for this session, so yea, after everyone came in I just settled everyone down and started. First was a HCI student, then ours, then also from RI, Alasdair's, then a NYGH group. I think we did fairly ok...not too bad but not our best too...Spoke a bit too quickly i guess. But it was really our honour being able to present our project in front of an audience, and sharing our project with them! Hopefully it will also inspire some of them to take up HSSRP in the future, or even do something as meaningful as something environmental! Haha. As for my emceeing...this is my first time, and im pretty sure its the last time for some time to come, lol. But i think i did ok, except for being too soft. Ok, thats my usual mistake.

Haha thats about all for HSSRP...cos after that Jim and I just took a bus back home, with Jeson. Shayne left earlier for his badminton competition training. Good luck for the nationals! The bus ride home took about 1 and a half hours, as usual, and luckily I made good use of it by doing homework on the bus, lols. Cos there will be no time later... Some photos for the morning:

OK, so after Jim and I reached home, we had lunch, changed and everything, then hurriedly left for tuition, haha. And today was a boring lesson. Exam. Yea sp just wrote a zuowen and a yingyongwen in class. So boring. And so little time.

Then again, after the lesson, it was another rush for time. I got home quickly and bought my dinner on the way. And...gobbled everything down, changed into the cool scout u, haha. Then went to Maris Stella High School for their campfire! It was their first campfire opened to other scout groups in 10 years, cos this year is their 40th anniversary. Luckily i did manage to get there before the campfire started. After a while, Alvin, Amos, Joel, Hiok Yang, Roy, Wesley, Yan Wei, Wayne and I were there. And that pretty much made up the people who went there. The rest of them went to the St Andrew's campfire, held at the exact same time. Haha. Which explains the small group present.

It was the traditional form of a campfire, with people sitting around a fire, singing songs, lots of competitions, and having fun. We were sitting at the back of the circle, beside their alumni. Their campfire was pretty alright, except for one serious mistake: their sound system. It was far too soft. We couldnt even make out a word the people on stage were saying, and so we didnt get involved much, except when we knew what was happening like during the thousand-legged worm. So this is a lesson to be learnt, both for them and for us. This year for the 01 scouts campfire, it is going to be a more traditional kind too, as we will be inviting many of our alumni, to celebrate our 75th anniversary! Haha. So now we know what matters, and what size our props and stuff need to be. A good thing about the Maris Stella campfire will definitely have to be their food. Can see that quite a lot of effort has gone into it, as there was really a generous spread, quite a big variety, and the brownies were even made by the scouts themselves. (they tasted good too, haha) Took a nice photo before we left.

Yea so Joel and I had to go to the MRT station, so Alvin kindly agreed to bring us there. We did go to his house so that he could change out of the sweaty scout u though haha. We even said hi to his brother, Bryan! Haha. So basically we took a slow and long walk...it was really fun. Stopped briefly at the playground to try out the stuff, haha. We talked about lots of stuff...it was so relaxing. Was hoping that the walk would last longer... I was really happy I decided to walk instead of being driven home, who knows what I would have missed! It has been really cool chatting with you guys under the stars! Thank you for that! It was a really nice end to the long day I had, haha.

And...HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANJING!! Its your 16th birthday, so be happy! Lalala...happy birthday to you! =D

And I fell asleep writing this post. So it was only finished on sunday. Haha. I can sense some people wondering how I can fall asleep doing stuff. I can. As long as its not something work related. And trust me, even though I sleep on these stuff, I would prefer these stuff over work anytime. =)

2009-04-03T00:59:00.003+08:00

On Wednesday it was a confusing day, with all the April Fools jokes around...you never know when you'll get tricked, so people were rather cautious...especially the teachers! Haha, I admit, we did play afew pranks on the teachers, but they werent harmful or too bad or anything, just pure fun and no one gets hurt. We didnt get scolded. Lol. There was a certain prank...involving twins...and 'mutual learning'...if you know what I mean...and btw that wasnt referring to Jim or me. Haha, it was really hillarious. Even some people in class were tricked! Fine, I did...but who would ever think that it could actually happen? like seriously? haha. Anyway, he was a nice guy, haha. (do I have to add just like his brother?)

Ok, today, another big thing happened. During PE, we were having our inventing games module, and it was my groups turn to present. So we explained the game rules, and how to play, etc. But then...an accident occured. Two of my classmates, Ben Chin and Mervyn actually crashed head-on onto each other...its really sad. They even got sent to the hospital...

Couldnt eat after that happened, and was just thinking about why what happened did happen. I was lost. Really. Like theres a sudden realisation that all our actions have consequences, and the vulnerability of humans...Thought quite a bit about that during recess and the lessons after that... We went as a class to visit Ben Chin after that, apparently he suffered from slight memory loss, like he couldnt remember what happened these few days and is kinda blur about things...which is really worrying for us. But of course we were also glad it wasnt worse... When I visited, he kept smiling away...and although I was really sorry about what happened, he did make me feel better. Although it should have been the other way round. Just hope that we did bring him some joy as well...

Best of luck, Ben Chin! Get well soon and come back to school ok! Same to you Mervyn! 4T will miss you guys. =)

Earth Hour!

2009-03-29T11:29:00.004+08:00

Haha the highly anticipated earth hour was over so quickly. I even felt a bit sad when it was over. Im wierd. Lol. I was thinking, 1 hour of turning off your lights, what difference can that make to the world? And I think that is the same question that many people were asking. Hmm...I think that for one, Earth Hour serves to remind us of our role as global citizens through this 1 hour thing. And hopefully this reminder can go on further, and achieve many more 'earth hours' or even something even greater. =)

Secondly, I think that this event is also asking all of us to do something simple, but practical for our planet. Most of us know about the poor shape of our planet today, but how often do we actually do something about it? And that is what Earth hour is for, to send a message that its not good enough knowing about it and wanting to do something, but something has to really be done. This is meant for people like us, as well as to tell our leaders: "We care, do you?"

Think there are more, but thats all I've come up with...haha. Dont forget next year's Although it would be the best if there can be an Earth Hour every day, haha!=)

Sign up. Switch off. Make a difference.

Go For It!

2009-03-28T00:05:00.007+08:00

The last week started out with 2 tests+ 1 oral speech on Monday, and 1 more on Tuesday. Then there wasnt anything after those. So you should be able to guess how I did in those tests, especially those 3 on the first day after the hols... Was quite sad for the first 3 days becos of that, but think I recovered on Thursday and become mysteriously motivated! Haha. I started off the year okay, but kinda screwed up the next few tests. So fortunately I still had those that I did better in to save my grades for the first assessment report...sadly not all subjects have this luxury. =(

Still, whats the point of brooding over those sad stuff? haha. Im tempted to say that this week has been rather fun too, considering the fact that we could have a few relaxed days, when other are still taking their tests. And also, we are having the oral speeches this week for english, so yay just appreciate haha.

One of the most talked about issue this week: the chinese cct paper. One of the highest number of failures. The students found the paper difficult. The teachers found us weak in chinese. Haha. Who to believe? I dont know...but really, people are just talking about how difficult it is, how many failures there are in each class, the ONE class which didnt have any failures out of the 17 classes, one class with like 12 failures...yea basically...the whole level just did badly...I...was rather lucky, so...will work harder! =) Same for the other subjects! And for the sake of that I have decided on some small lifestyle changes haha. Simple things.

One of them being something which will make some people happy, I will not learn blindly and just accept what im told. I will question and get my facts right. And I will admit what I dont know. I realised that sometimes, I just didnt seem to want to learn, and take no interest in whatever is being taught, so yea, nothing much gets in. Mr Koh would call it unmotivated. I want to change that. I want to learn to be someone who is self-motivated. Yea. Thats seems to be quite a good thing to work on. =)

Earlier today, us ventures went to pathlight school, to teach the students there some of the campfire songs we are going to sing at our campfire coming up on the 25th April. We were all really excited about getting a much larger group than expected, about 40+ in total i think... It was really quite a new experience interacting with the students directly, because for the past few years working with the school, we have never done anything like this. So naturally, there was a slight fear. Not of them, but of the unknown. We went in, yes having a vague idea of what to expect, but what is a briefing compared to an actual session for interaction?

It wasnt an easy job I must say, because it is difficult to get everyone to participate actively. Some of them are really quiet and shy, while there are some who are really active and dont want to be just singing. But Im glad that I tried my best today to help them to join in the fun, and learn the songs so that they can sing along with the rest of the guests then! Hope that after today, they wont see us as strangers again! I felt really touched when some of the students came and talked to me after the session about how fun it was, and thanking us for teaching them...really didnt expect that. Wow. =) Hope that we wont make some of the mistakes that we made today again, and get them to be even more involved!

After the session, Alvin, Amos, Sup, Rong Jun, Jon Ed, Kenneth Lam and I, went back to school to practice for the inter-UG soccer. Im actually not involved, but I thought I would be useful as a dummy for target practice or something...so I joined the match. What started off as a small and simple match, became larger as more people joined, and we even had about 11 players on each team at a time. Haha, I realised that a little bit of soccer, occasionally, is actually fun haha. I enoyed the match very much, even though I was a defender for like the whole 2,3 hours. Haha, maybe soccer isnt as bad as I thought? Anyway, onward 01! Go for the medals! =D

Oh yes, tomorrow there is going to be a global election, and everyone is invited to take part. Im sure you know what Im referring to by now, haha. Its the election between Earth, and Global Warming. Your light switch is your vote. Earth Hour 2009. 28 March 2009. 8.30pm to 9.30pm. Local time. Remember to swtich OFF! Cities and countries worldwide will be doing the same, so join in and do your part for the Earth!

There is a gap in my heart, somewhere, and I want to fill it in.

601 gathering~!

2009-03-19T12:46:00.004+08:00

Haha sorry yesterday jim koped the com and I was too lazy to turn on the other, so...yea, heres it today. Most of yesterday was dedicated to a 601 gathering! Woke up late in the morning, and then had breakfast then went jogging with Jim and Wan Jing! Havent been jogging in a long time + scorching hot sun, so foam, lols. And then we went to hougang mall to have lunch, and as usual we couldnt decide on a place to eat, so just went to a random empty one. No one came to serve us, so we got an order form and filled it in ourselves, haha. The food took some time, so we had a really nice long talk about all the stuff so far in school, and about the old times...haha. And then after that we went to the hougang sports complex and met up with Kenneth and Tabitha. Joash came later, haha. And we played badminton! Havent played in a long long time too, so was quite bad at first, but after getting warmed up and stuff, got slightly better. But still far from the pros, tabitha and joash though...somehow the shuttlecock moves faster when they hit it, lol. Haha, I still like badminton as much as before! So fun, especially when its with friends! And when it just goes back and forth really fast, its quite exciting haha. And btw I have a problem with smashing. lol. Haha, I had a lot of fun there, but all of us were sweaty and tired after that, so we decided to go home first and meet up for dinner again later. Which we did. Haha, some lucky people cycled home and some others walked. lols.

I went home and just slept. Until like about 6.30pm when I woke up and ate a bit of the dinner at home before, going to pick up WJ and go for the dinner! For dinner, it was WJ, Shu Min, Kenneth, Wei Xuan, Yee Shing, Delwyn and me. Lols, looked around for places to eat again, but this time the only place which had space and had things we wanted to eat was the food court, so we went there. The atmosphere wasnt that good, and we were sitting besider the tray return area, lols, but it was still fun with so many old friends around, haha.

We all ate our stuff, and then after we ate, we decided to do some fun stuff, haha. Like playing cards there, lols. Nobody ever told me that we werent allowed to play cards there, so thats was wat we did! lols. Played a game or two of bridge, haha. And then...we er...called some people. Yea we called some people and talked to them in a weird way. Just to test them, haha...

So we sat there for a long time, do all these and discussing when and where our next gathering should be, and also...who we should invite, lol. Our hopes are high, but not sure if it will really be done, haha. Hope Darren can make it for the next one too! Oh yes...we should have taken some photos...darn.

Anyway, its really nice to have a class gathering once in a while, really helps in remembering the old times, when we were all so innocent, had more time, and had lots of fun time together. Haha. I miss being a kid, when theres really nothing much to worry about......

Note: sorry for this late post. I actually forgot that i havent published this yet and left it in my drafts, lol.

Recent stuff...Jobweek opening+job week!!

2009-03-17T20:37:00.011+08:00

Haha hey everyone, the 'compulsory' jobweek period has just ended for us! (guess that many people around singapore are really relieved at hearing this haha)And generally, I find job week to be...a really interesting experience haha. Let me start off:

So as you can see from the last post, I was really privileged to be able to go to the istana for the job week opening last tuesday, and be one of the first scouts to do the jobweek, and also meet the president himself! First we met up at the scouts hq, so I missed a few lessons...=( (hehe) And had a short briefing, on what to expect and stuff. For some reason, a cub scout and I were selected to speak to the media, so we had an additional briefing and had to think through what to say. That got me really nervous, lols.

So we did our uniform check and went on our way in the scout vans to the istana! Some standard procedures, as Mr Teo would say, with the security, and then we were in. The istana was really beautiful. All the greenery, and the grand building...gorgeous. But once we were in, we didnt have much time to relax. It was time to do work. I was assigned to polish some silverware:

Haha so we did our work, until the president came into the room. We all rushed to join the rest, who were already standing in a row to get their handshakes, haha. He is a really nice person, and talked to everyone of us.

The president then signed the first jobweek card, donating S$2000 to us! Thank you! Haha. Oh yes, right after, a group of guests from the middle east entered and came to meet us. So we shook hands, and stuff, and I was the last guy in the row. Guess what? The prince/prime minister asked me for my scarf! Wow nobody told me about this...I was stunned! But then after a short while I hurriedly took of my scarf and said "of course", haha! That was seriously unexpected! I never thought of this...wow. And my hair was really messy from the beret haha.

Haha the president talked to me after that about the incident, lols. And we had a nice little chat over tea. haha. Then was the phototaking session. Took a few group photos.

Haha also got to know some of the other scouts and scout groups through the interaction! Heard some pretty interesting stories... Overall, a really fun and once-ion-a-lifetime experience! Thanks so much to the people who gave me this opportunity! =D

Now...the actual job week. Throughout the past 3days, from saturday to monday, I have been running about some parts of singapore, looking for jobs and stuff, to raise money for the scouts association! The three days were really quite tiring, both physically and mentally. There were many challenges I faced during this whole process, but I learnt many things and found this to be a meaningful activity, haha. Like when I just started learning, there were times when I got stuck and blanked out, lols, and dint know what to say. But then luckily I still managed to get through everything, haha. The first and second days werent too bad, cos we chose safe places where people do not usually take, but would receive less earnings. I guess that was a good choice for a beginner like me haha. Dont want to be competing witht he other groups. At homes, it was quite good, cos people like to be at home and are happy. haha. But there are some things people have to take note of. One of which is about the eyeholes. Do you know how it feels, when you ring the doorbell, and see the eyehole turn from bright to darkness, and then bright again after a while, and not see anyone open the door? Note very encouraging, at least tell me a 'no' please...daoing is not very nice... And oh yea, for all 3 days, there were rain. So basically Alvin and I got wet on all 3 days, haha. but I have to say, that made the experience even more memorable and fun haha. Still remember the first day when we tried to cross a road junction together with just one umbrella becos I was just too lazy to take out my poncho. We got ALL WET! Haha so sorry to Alvin, who never should have gotten that wet, lol.

On the last day, which was a monday, we knew that less people would be at home, so we approached the shops this time. And although I thought that it was a good move, it didnt actually turn out so well. We expected something like this, but it was worse than we thought. Because of the recesssion this year, the businesses especially, gave us amounts which were comparable to those at HDB. So it was rather difficult this time...and I got scolded many times at shops...seriously. Although there were also some kind souls who smiled when they saw us and talked to us nicely. =D Thank you! And also thanks a whole lot to Alvin Chua for kindly allowing me to follow him on his routes! And for listening to my demoralising comments, haha. Thanks a lot for showing me the ropes too! Cos now I see it! haha =) And also thank you to those who were manning the hotline, your help is greatly appreciated! It got us going when we were demoralised, and the suggestions were great too! =D Hope that the amount we earned would be enough for the group this year...$$$! lol.

Now that job week is considered over (for most at least), tomorrow some of the 601 peeps will be playing badminton together! I only hope that enough people would go, and...there are enough racquets, lols. =D

Istana visit!!

2009-03-11T01:18:00.004+08:00

To start things off for this post...

Gosh. What was I doing? Not wearing my scarf in front of the president?! It was really an interesting day, haha. Check back soon! =D

Busy busy busy

2009-03-10T00:36:00.002+08:00

This is week 10. And its jam packed with tests, lol. There were supposed to be like 7 tests in total this week, which is...rather crazy. But haha luckily some guy in our batch was smart and told one of the big shots in school, and poof! Some of them were postponed! (fat hope waiting for it to vanish, haha) Now we are left with about 4. =)

Today was the chinese cct, i think i did badly, could finish the paper...and we also got our geog test back, and it wasnt well done either...dunno why this is happening...but i better work harder the next time round...

Work work work. This week is all about that. Homework, and then theres CCA work, lots of it. And tests. And assignments. But luckily tomorrow will be a really short day for me, cos Im going to the Istana for the job week opening! Im so honoured. And stressed too lol. Hope everything goes well tomorrow...

I look forward to the March holidays. Really do. Job week will be the first challenge. =)

Oh yes, Im so sorry for the lack of updates...yea the reason is obvious... but I will attempt to revive this soon! =D

MeAndSleep.MeAndPeople.

2009-03-06T00:40:00.003+08:00

Haha, sorry for not updating for quite some time...I would LOVE to write about the overnight and backwoods experience, but didnt have the photos then, haha. And then I find my school life boring sometimes, not really interesting enough to blog about, lol. Fortunately, I am able to blog about fun stuff sometimes because of scouts...=D

Shall start with something simple today. Today the class seating arrangement changed. Apparently Mr Koh suddenly wanted to have the discussion group kinda of arrangement, where we faced each other in class instead of all towards the front. The new arrangement...yea can see it work. But some side effects started to appear after just a day. It basically promotes communication...talking and chatting at the wrong times... Haha, so the perception of the new arrangement differed quite a lot from person to person...

Significance: Hmm...I cant help but start thinking about the significance of this new arrangement. You know, just before this, I was telling the people sitting beside me, how I wanted to change seats because I just couldnt learn well beside them. I still dont dispute this point though, I mean, unless you are really good at controlling yourself, who's to say that he wont be affected sitting between 2 of his good friends?

When I said that I wanted a change, they think I just hated them and couldnt stand them, like seriously. Do you really think that I care nothing about friends, and only want the grades? If that's the case, I would be an introvert and wouldnt even want to get involved in anything at all except academic stuff, not class soccer, not class deco. Then maybe I can get the 4.0 GPA everyone dreams of. But no, thats not want I want. Or maybe they think that Im just someone hard to please. Ok, thats justifiable, I do get pissed off sometimes, but dont we all come from different backgrounds, schools, classes and families? Dont you think that the actions that someone deem as alright, might not be so to another person? I know some people just cant understand why Im acting in a certain way, and that's ok, but im sure asking is an option, or if you're not interested, then just let it be. That goes the same for me, I refrain from imposing my own thinking and ideals on others. People are different. Some more than others. And that's what make you, you, and me, me.

Changing of seats doesnt have to be the end of interaction and communication. Hopefully the change of seats can allow all of us to experience how its like with other people, and maybe realise what each of us valued about each other, and form even stronger friendships in the process. That is what I really hope for.

I dont intent for this to be an attack of any form, but simply to explain where Im coming from, and how I view the issue. Hope you understand.

---------------------------

Random incident: On the bus ride home today, I was holding on the the grab pole. And as usual, I started to feel the drowsiness, and slowly drifted off to sleep. My head just started to fall forward and it crashed against the metal pole. The loud sound and the pain woke me. Lols, people who happened to notice what happened must have been thinking of what kind of school RI is... I lowered my head, and rubbed where my head was hit. Didnt dare to look at people's expressions...haha.

Got owned.

2009-02-22T11:41:00.003+08:00

Lols, on Friday in maths lesson, Mrs Lim asked us to play a maths game. We were all divided into three different categories, namely the 2 Grandmasters, Viet and Manfred, the Experts and the... normal people. Dont know how, but I was chosen to be one of the experts. And I decided to have a 2E reunion, so I chose all the 2E people who were left, haha. It was a good choice. So the normal people were supposed to answer questions, and when they answered correctly, they get another question and a bonus question they were supposed to give to the expert. Normal questions are worth 1 point, and bonuses are worth 2 points. Yep, so my group was really good, they answered everything pretty quickly, and then waited for me to solve my question...that's where we, or should I say, I screwed up. I couldnt answer any of the questions!! Thats really horrible. Sorry group! The group answered everything so well, and it just had to be me who chose them. Sigh. I have never been good at these kinda high level stuff... Hope that I can somehow get smarter...someday.

After the lessons, I went straight for Chinese remedial, which went ok, and where I get to meet old friends like WeiXuan, Kenneth Lam, and Yee Shing, haha. Quite fun actually. (except the checking of answers part, which I always get suanned at)

Then was a quick lunch and then humanities club, we are planning the welcome tea for new members now, and also some competitions we are going to take part in. Not mw though. Haha. To new members of the club, prepare for a feast! lols.

Then I went to the den to stare at Boon and Lay! Haha they are the pet hamsters that our batch 0106 has adopted. Sooo cute! And btw, they are in my house now, probably gnawing at some wood or newspaper, or gobbling some food down... Haha. Oh. I checked. They're sleeping. Here are some photos:

Haha, the fat one is Boon and the thin one is Lay. I know this is a bad way of identifying them, but I really cant find another way...they r like twins...ok they r from the same litter. (not rubbish, haha) Im hoping nothing happens to them while Im taking care of them...and haha Im taking double shifts, cos its 4days! =) More time for cuddling? lols

And before I end off...HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANCIS!! Remember to check your facebook and blog! Lols. Haha you're the next one to join us 16-year-olds! =D

Friendship Week!

2009-02-15T22:22:00.005+08:00

What is your True Fear? Your Result: Losing Someone You love affection and the people in your life more than anything. Your greatest fear is that one day someone you care about won't be there anymore. You are a very friendly and inviting person, who draws in a lot of friendships with your kind, considerate, and loyal nature. However, deep down you are slightly insecure and unsure of yourself. You couldn't deal with it if you didn't have one of your loved ones in your life anymore. You don't have too much to worry about though, because with a friend like you, no one will want to lose you either!
Being Alone
Death
Where Your life is Going
Disappointment
Looked down on
Commitment
What is your True Fear? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Thank you so much to everyone who has walked the way with me! No matter how short the time spent, no matter how we fought, no matter how I let you down, no matter how I never seemed to be satisfied, no matter how I was unreasonable, no matter...

I apologise for all the poor attitude/emo I had in the last week, some of you might not be aware, but to those who are, Im sorry. Please forget the last week. Though, I understand if you will remember those incidences for the rest of your life...its ok...I know its my bad.

To all my friends, please accept my sincere thanks for all that you've done, really, any simple actions, taking a walk with me, spending an afternoon just chatting, staying up late at night with me...things I can never repay. AND, thanks for staying as friends of a person like me.

Each of make up letters, pictures and colours in a small book like me, each playing an important part in this book of life. I would still be a book without you, but it would be a boring, meaningless book bound for the trashbin.

Valentines with the Ventures!

2009-02-15T11:10:00.010+08:00

Lols, I didnt actually expect myself to blog, until yesterday, that is. It was a quite an extraordinary Saturday I had, haha. So yesterday morning I went to school at 8am, to do what I can to help with carrying the logistics, but couldnt do much because of the interview later, so sorry! After a while, in shool, I rushed off to the Scouts HQ for the interview at 9am, for selection of people to go for the Job Week launch at the Istana in March. But it looked like I didnt have to run, cos the rooms werent booked, and there were some small problems, so it started slightly late. Anyway, Wesley was there with me to represent the Scout Unit, and me, for Ventures. There werent many people there, and we couldnt get along ok with each other, so just talked when it wasnt our turn haha. Slowly one by one, we went in for the interview with the district commissioner, Mr Lai. I went in first cos no one else wanted to go first and they cleverly decided to do it according to age. But it was ok, a rather casual interview, like just talked and gave him some particulars and stuff, so nothing too difficult. Haha, seems like my preparation went to waste, lols.

So, after we all finished, we chatted a bit and then said our goodbyes. Wesley went back to scool for the SU orientation, while I went to Braddell West lake for pioneering activity. When I reached, there was still quite some work to do, so we quickly did our stuff, and for the first time, the giant structure actually came out ok! Mr Chan and Mr Yuen were also there briefly to see our structure, haha. So after taking some photos with the unsecured structure, haha, we went to dismantle it and leave the parts at some corners, before clearng up and going back to school to keep the logistics stuff. Then we sat down to decide who to do what next next.

I was going to go to Thomson Forest to do some chopping for bamboo. Haha, so we went to eat at J8 first, before taking a bus to the forest, and doing a trek into the forest and looking for the bamboo. We had to hack and slash through the forest (parang, haha), and also stepped on an ant nest, and got cut by the thorny braches. lols. but we found the bamboo we wanted pretty soon, and began sawing it with the saws we brought. the bamboo was surprisingly good, really green... Haha, we also discovered that bamboos have hair. All those hair can really cause irritation and some pain when it get onto your skin. Kinda feels like splinters...but lots and lots of them. I got most of them on my neck...lols. Kenneth and Alvin were cutting the bamboo from the tree, while Rong Jun was trimming them after they were cut I was doing misc stuff, haha. Just couldnt bear to cut them down. Francis and Hiok Yang came back from 'looking for a way out', and we got a huge laugh. Francis stepped into very muddy mud, haha. And while he trying to get out, the other leg also went in...haha. This was how it was:

Lols, so after they came back, they helped with a bit of sawing, and then we decided to take a group photo together!

How did we include everyone in the photo? With some help from the trees, of course! And some of our skills, lols.

After that, we went on the newfound path back out of the forest. Haha, outside, we found that we were all hugging the bamboo we cut, lols so we called ourselves treehuggers. yay! At the bus stop we were contemplating on whether that's considered deforestation...hope not. And we did plant another bamboo plant back...and bamboos are fast-growing plants, so hope that's ok. =D

After we went back, we kept everything, the bamboo, the saws and everything. It was 5+ and I had to go over to my grandmother's house, so I left the rest who ate dinner together...=( Im thnking: Missing tuition today was well worth it! =)

Anyway, after dinner and some rest at grandma's place, I went back home to check my email, and I couldnt believe it! I...actually got it! Im going to the Istana!! =D Im so honoured. Yay!

And Happy Belated Valentines Day everyone!! Also Happy Birthday to Hiok Yang today! =D

Oh and some of these photos arent mine, so thank you to those who took them! =) Taken from the 0106 venture blog!

Dissection...

2009-02-02T23:47:00.003+08:00

Lols, here is a photo of our bio lesson today, where we dissected a sheep's eyeball...really quite gross. And my group's one was a failure cause we couldnt...cut it open. Sounds ridiculous, but its really difficult. Haha, better take note of this hor...make slits before cutting along them...it helps...

Ok then for scouts we had a brief pt session, quite fun as usual, running about then doing some stationary exercises...(not like completely, but just at a place...). Then it was foot drills...lols one of the few times in the year. Erm, not exactly what I'd call my favourite, but still its required. So yea, think I did okay today...nothing too bad, just hope I can do well on wednesday! =)

Happy CNY 2009!!

2009-01-27T21:05:00.008+08:00

Hey everyone! Hope that you are enjoying your wonderful Chinese New Year holidays! (or at least...have enjoyed...since tmr is school...sian) I certainly have, but am finding it severely too short.

除夕
On 除夕，I woke up late in the morning haha. Had quite a good sleep. Congrats to me for sleeping 8 hours!!! =D I didnt really sleep as much the next few days. Anyway, my whole family, Dad, Mum, Sis, Jim and me, we went to our P. Aunt's house. In the afternoon there wasnt much to do except catching up on each other, our lives and stuff. We also met our third aunt whom we have not seen for many years cos she migrated and just returned to visit us this time after giving birth. Lols,so that also means that there's a baby! =) His name is Jamie! Here's him! SO cute! haha

So yea, we had our reunion dinner at night which was like sumptuous...thanks grandma!! =) After that I went for something I never thought I would. Go for a CNY getai. lols. Possibly because of 881...I dunno, but I went for it. Yep it wasnt too bad, just lots of things I couldnt understand, haha. And I think there are more and more young people at the getai these days...nothing wrong la, but dunno why they r doing that. And another question that came to mind was: Why do people want to sacrifice their own family reunion dinner to perform...sigh.

Anyway, we didnt stay for the whole thing, and went back to rest for a while before going over to our M. grandma's house at about 11pm.

There, we prepared for our annual show, haha. Its something we have every year in our family, where all the youths will come up with a short skit to welcome the new year!! This year is the year of the ox, so naturally, it would be a story regarding an ox, haha. We all dressed up and acted, lols. Had lots of fun. Then after that we just went home and slept, getting ready for the first day of the Chinese New Year, with all the visitings and fun! =)

大年初一
The usual thing for this first day, that is, giving our parents our greetings! This year I seem to have a mindblock when I wanted to say all those nice 4-word blessings. So I didnt manage to say a lot...sad. Then we went over to our M. grandma's house to eat our traditional 初一 breakfast, haha. Took a family photo together too, then went to our godfather's house! We dont meet that much cos all of us are busy, but he hasnt changed much, still the same enthusiastic collector of many things. Lots and lots. He has already moved house so many times, each one bigger than the last, but nothing seems to be able to house all his stuff haha. Had a long and interesting talk, while sipping tea, haha. Then went over to our P. aunt's house. Where we had dinner, then went as an extended family to visit more distant relatives. After all the visiting, we went back to our M. grandma's house for dinner, and then the night was spent with our cousins playing an extremely fun but time consuming card game. Haha, so we played till really late before going home, and thats the end of 初一!

大年初二

Today, again, we woke up really late and this time we went to one of our distant relative's house again, where we met our aunt's family, so we just talked and relaxed there for the whole morning, and ate lunch! Then my sis, Jim and I went to meet the rest of the youths in the family, haha. And we did something really interesting...we went to watch a Hindi film!! Lols. Its called Chandni Chowk to China, and we were some of the only chinese watching it, haha. It was a very new experience...watching a hindi flim, cos i think their focus is quite unique, like there were a lot of songs and dances, and lots of twists in the storyline, like when theres a tradgedy, some comic thing can suddenly happen haha. Another problem is also that its rather long...worth it though. Haha. Shant reveal too much about it, cos its like really funny so dont want to spoil it if it happens that any of youwant to watch it. =) Very gl, so maybe Francis will like it haha...no offense... But fyi, its only available in a few places!

Nothing much after the movie...just went to eat a final dinner, before going home to see all the school related stuff appear. I just wish I would stop being reminded of school stuff during 初二...

Random:
I am going to get so fat.
I didnt gamble much this year, but lost more money than ever.

tmr is qm session. =)

CNY celebrations + Class gathering

2009-01-24T10:17:00.007+08:00

Yesterday was the CNY celebrations for many school, including ri, so normal students didnt have any lessons. Haha. Just went to school at the usual time, and somehow today morning there was so many things to collect. Geog worksheets, CLE essays, $$ for class fund, and I needed to take class attendence too. Monitors please come back! Lols. So after the hectic morning assembly, we proceeded to the hall gallery and watched the CNY concert. Basically its sort of the same thing every year, quizzes, inter-house performances every 2 years, CO performing, and chinese new year songs to end it off. I must say that I enjoyed some of the performances, especially the inter-house talentime, well...because those people there are my friends! Just a bit wierd how they have prizes for all teams...lol.

After the celebrations, Mrs Lim just had to have a Bio lesson then, and so being the nice class that we were, most of us went for it and at the end of the lesson, a few of us even called the ponners and handed the phone to Mrs Lim...lols, had lots of laughs lol. Then after lesson, Hiok Yang and I met up with the rest of the scouts, and we went to the HQ to buy our new VENTURE uniforms!! Red stuff now! Haha.

Met Jim at the bubble tea shop, and then went to meet up with WeiXuan and Darren. We went back to Rosyth together just like previous years, but this time we didnt stay for as long, because we went to have lunch. Congrats, new principal, you got what you wanted. Mrs Ng still hasnt changed much, so we just had a nice chat before we left...

Rushed back to J8 to meet WanJing to have lunch together, then randomly walked to Bishan Park to have a nice and peaceful stroll, while talking about lots of stuff. Haha all very random. Walked all the way to the playground, where we pretty much stayed for the whole afternoon. Climbing around the jungle gym while watching wx stumbling around the bottom haha. And also allowing some passing photographers to take photos of us. Lols. Really a lot of fun, just sitting there and chatting, in the tranquil and quiet park...

So after an afternoon of fun at the park, we all decided to go home...but since I was invited to Jian Wei's house, I went there instead. And on the way there also met Ming E, haha. So he brought me there. Haha again had a lot of fun there, singing karaoke in that comfy room. The whole time was spent there, haha. Except dinner at Jian Wei's house. Oh yes Alvin even spilled one whole jug of water meant for all of us...but its ok...forgiven. The others there were Jian Wei, Teng Chuan, Manfred, Alvin Lum, Gifford, Aloysius and Kai Lun. Haha, thanks for bearing with my horrible voice! =D So overall, had FUN today! Maybe except the plogs I was doing after all these...but THANKS to everyone for making my day! =D

Am I cRAzY?

2009-01-21T00:45:00.002+08:00

Haha, today was quite an okay day, just very tiring...started the day off with PE, not too bad. We are doing the soccer module first for PE this year, so after running for a while and doing some random exercises, we went off to play soccer. Sadly not everyone was interested...looks like this isnt as interesting as pushing people in our class to run faster for 3.2km...no offense...

Then we had chinese, oh yea havent wrote about our new chinese teacher, 张老师. She is really nice to us! And understands us quite well also, cos she's been working hard getting information about us from our past teachers, haha. We can tell. She's even sacrificing one lesson on thursday to let us celebrate chinese new year in class! We'll be bringing food, singing and everything, haha. Hope she will improve my chinese lots and make me do well for O level! haha.

Maths we had Topical Assessment, which everyone said was too easy...Well, I think so too, but Im still afraid of those careless mistakes, haha. But think Im fairly safe la, got the answers many people got. Hope I can seize this small percentage of CA!

In geog lesson today, it was quite different too. Dr Chionh asked us to discuss about environmental degradation in groups, before preparing a skit to act out to the class, haha. No speaking allowed. So many of the groups decided to take the easier route and do slash and burn, haha easy to act. And I dont want to say what action my group was doing for the effects part. But just note that our topic chosen was hole in ozone layer. sick. Oh yes, Im the geog rep again this year. =)

Assembly was a very fun PDI/Class Deco discussion session. We were all trying to recall what Mr Koh said before and recording them down, cos our theme for this year is ______, haha sorry cant tell leh...

After school just ate and handed my NYAA stuff to Jon Ed to submit, thanks!! And then it was Patrol Logs all the way! Didnt manage to write a lot, cos I was half falling asleep and half recalling what we were doing last year during scouts. Quite difficult...I wonder how they spam words... Did see some interesting things today, especially the one Ervin showed me...4T ppl check your email! Haha.

Thats about all today...Im just tired and...for the whole of today, I've been feeling like a lunatic...somehow somewhere in me theres something wrong...i might be eccentric...Kept thinking about this on the way home...

Sweet-till-its-sugary Sixteen!

2009-01-19T00:51:00.009+08:00

Hey everyone, shall start off by saying a really big THANK YOU!!! To everyone, who have made my 16th birthday so special... Cant really list all of you here, but you know who you are! =D Really, a birthday is such a special day for me, cos its when i feel appreciated just for who I am! Really, my heartfelt gratitude to all those who wrote messages on my wall on facebook, those who emailed me, those who wished me on msn, those who tagged on this exact blog, those who smsed me, and those who wished me personally!! (sorry if i forgot some other forms...lol)

This birthday isnt any normal birthday. It went like this. Went to sleep at 2am after thanking all those on msn, then woke up and went to school to sttend one lesson. Then it was leaving school for Sentosa Cove!! We visited One°15, where the Volvo Ocean Race stopover was!! Of course, the 10+ of us were all wearing our scout uniforms cos it was actually for our Singapore Scouts Day there cum an environmental exhibition. For some reason both my interests were combined into one, so I was particularly excited about this. Upon reaching there, I realised that it had those kind of high class feel, haha, but no surprise, its sentosa cove... Participated in many activites there, and had lots of fun while learning about the environment! (and also winning some fabulous prizes! Milo...haha) Here are some photos taken:

Then we went back to school, each with a new badge in hand! Now for the wierd-sounding, kiwi cup. It is an annual friendly rugby match RI has against SAS and SAJS and it's also the new sec 1s' first real opportunity in cheering for the school! Its just alittle regretful that I couldnt be with them the whole time because of ushering duties as scouts... (but its also quite fun using the walkie talkie too, lols) In the end we lost most of the game, and there r lots of room for improvement for the sec1s, but all I can say is that we will never give up!! >=)

Stayed still about 7pm before going home with Jim and celebrating at home with Jim and my family! Not the kind of big birthday celebrations, but a small one, small but warm. I feel so thankful. Although my birthday is mostly filled with school stuff, they are things I would gladly offer a part of my birthday too! Scouts, the Environment, my friends, the dear Sec 1s...

Last, but obviously not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Alvin Chua and Jim, who shares this great birthday with me!! =DDD and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Bryan from my class, on the 18th!! Oh yes, We r all 16 now!! =D

Ah...busy

2009-01-13T22:10:00.002+08:00

I know that the first few days of proper lessons should be an interesting talk, but there has just been so much going on that Im now pressed for time...proposals one after another, catching up with homework, other commitments...guess i really have to learn how to manage my time well...or else i'll end up sleeping at 2am everyday. Thats the time i have been sleeping for the past few days... ok then! Im waiting to see what will happen for the next few days...dunno what I should be feeling now...just confused

Back from Infinite- Sec 1 orientation camp 2009

2009-01-07T22:38:00.002+08:00

Soo tired...just returned home from the camp, and just by looking at the stuff i have to do im already faining. *Yawn* Yes, looking after the new students are fun, but also tiring... There's school tomorrow! I just want to sleep today. Maybe next time...=)

No grandma's dinner?

2009-01-03T20:52:00.003+08:00

Yep, today is one of the unfortunate rare days when my grandmother told us not to go over to her house, because she is going overseas. Was hoping I could get to eat her dinner and get to meet my cousins, especially after the first long saturday, which will continue on...scary...to think that every usual saturday will be like this...I even skipped lunch today. Something I will never do. And you know what? Theres homework. And I just received an email telling me to do more stuff for OIP...when the others werent even done yet. What about packing my bag for the camp? And there are also some other misc. stuff to do...

Today is only the 3rd of January, but some things are really crashing down on me... Dunno why it happened today...dont think its because of lunch...Sigh...ok...believe...breathe in...breathe out...I might not be the best student around, but I will surely try my best. Things WILL turn out right.

-Change of mood-

On another note, Happy Birthday Mervyn! Hope you get all your birthday wishes! Haha, and Im imagining how your birthday party is...lols. Have fun! =)

2009! First day of school!

2009-01-02T22:17:00.003+08:00

I didnt post on the first day this year, but the first day of school should make up for it...haha. Today we woke up really early, and reached to school at 6.30am to prepare for the arrival of the sec 1s. Finally got to meet all of them after a long wait, and spent a whole day with them, from recess to flagmaking, icebreakers to the year head assembly... Overall, I had a fun time getting to know them and watching them excited, haha. The enthusiasm really helps to lift your spirits, although it is I who have to play the role sometimes... Heard certain form teachers say that 'form teachers' should be called 'forms teachers' because all they do is collect a lot of forms...lol. Played lots of games today and had a failed flag making session, still have lots of forms to settle.

Its good to see many of my friends in school today whom I havent seen in some time, but a tiny bit of regret is not being able to be with my own sec 4 class. They must be having fun now, getting to know their teachers for the year. (although I heard many are the same, and fortunately Mr Koh stays.) Anyway, after school was a short psl debrief followed by lunch and 01 ventures meeting. Discussed lots of stuff, and took a group photo too! And after that I still had to do some orientation camp admin stuff for the sec 1s...not too difficult to do, but the looking for teachers and stuff took longer. Long day, or maybe I had too little sleep...

Luckily tomorrow will be the weekends! But being a normal school term now, classes will have to resume, and so saturday will revert to being extra lesson time, my parents insist. Haha so it'll be busy tmr...hope I can live through them after the long holidays...

Next monday will be the sec 1 orientation camp, till next wednesday...looking forward to it!

Year 2008 in brief...?!

2008-12-31T17:52:00.002+08:00

2008, a year packed full of stuff is coming to an end…now for some resolutions? And my traditional thanks…

This year, if you ask me, was a particularly exciting and interesting year. Truthfully, I enjoyed a big part of it. There was just so much for me to be happy about. This is a year of changes and firsts. Hm…Singapore’s first F1 night race? First Singaporean passed away in a terrorist attack? Happy or sad, those weren’t what I was referring to, haha, its about me! Well, the first and probably one of the biggest change this year would be my CCA.

As all of you know, my past CCA was Track and Field-throws, which unfortunately the school decided not to keep and there it went. But this shock turned out to be a blessing in surprise for me…01 Scouts is really a great CCA. I mean, I have made so many close friends in the past 6 months, and done much more than I otherwise would have…its really unbelievable. Since this is all about beginnings…well, when the bad news hit me, so I was pretty much looking for a CCA roughly in the middle of the year. And I was deciding in my mind what kind I should join. Nope, not musical groups for me (no offense, but im just not musically inclined), sports…it depends, and uniform groups…why not? Haha, some of you might know that I was in Scouts in primary school, and with a number of 01 ppl who I know, that’s where I went. Don’t ask me about 01/02, its sensitive haha. Thanks so much to those who brought me to 01, directly or indirectly, Hiok Yang, of course, Kenneth, Suphasak, Amos, and also to all of those who welcomed me so warmly with your open arms, the rest of 01 06’: Alvin, Anurak, Francis, Tak Wei, Jon Ed, Joel, Zhong Jun, Rong Jun, Marcus, Soham, Bryan. All of you made it seem almost easy to cope with all that is needed to be learnt, and all that we have to go through. =) Haha. The experience I have had in 01, indescribable. (or maybe its my weak vocab, haha, something to improve on next year) All the times we were sitting around in the den, or sitting around at night on the groundsheet…those were my most memorable haha. And I actually feel better this year in that I know I’ve contributed in some way to my CCA, unlike in the past when everything was just negligible to them or something. But for the most part, I love 01 for the family it has given me. Thanks so so much! You know how much I appreciate your patience and care! Couldn’t have pulled through without you guys!

3T…I guess you can also consider it another one of the best things that has happened to me this year. I never expected my sec 3 class to be so…wonderful. Truthfully, last year when the class allocation was just released and I was looking out for any one I might know, I couldn’t spot any more than a few other than my classmates from 2E. Never would I have imagined that these strangers to me then, plus Mr Koh, could come together and make this 3T that I love. I mean, it isn’t by chance that we got first for both the interclass decoration competition and the interclass soccer…haha, maybe its also because of Mr Koh’s constant: pushing, telling us that we have to get first at all costs, ‘I don’t care you just do it’, ‘Must win’, and ‘I don’t want to see you if you don’t win’…haha ok la, but he made it clear that he’s not kiasu, just want to pressure us to do our best…and win. haha. But anyway, I don’t think that winning those stuff is the best thing I like about 3T (although it plays a part too), it’s actually because of the people. Quite weird how we all just get along rather well together, its like you can just talk to anyone in class so easily…and of course the ever-so-important best friends in class. Thanks so much for your company! Hope our class spirit will always remain as strong! Hmm…suddenly remembered some of the best times with 3T, the first was of course during OBS…towards the end when the whole Lincoln group grew closer, and started to work more closely together and we had some laughs together…I guess I really came out of it different…and then there was a time during one of the afternoons after school when a group of us stayed back to decorate the class, especially the leaves part, all the picking, cutting and pasting, and even eating food… another was the end-of-year class party we had, where everyone brought their own food to school and we just had fun playing games and cards, watching videos eating…so memorable. Thanks to 3T for making me a better person! Haha…looking forward to another new year with 3T, or should I say 4T…

Haha, just remembered something which I guess very little people would mention in their eoy post, but Im writing about my Research Education project this year…HSSRP. Jim, Shayne and I have been a great team, working out everything nicely and rather efficiently, throughout the year. Our research topic this year has been quite interesting to research on too, on recycling, haha. Think we did well for RE this year, got some praises from our mentor, so should be ok haha. The process was actually tough, formulating our research, determining the direction we want to take, and how to go about doing it…also the public survey, which was quite a disaster for us, its difficult to get Singaporeans on the street to take surveys you know, spent lots of holiday time on that…Thanks for being a great team! =) Lets go ace the rest of the assessments next year! lols

And then there’s also the interaction with foreign students we have had this year. Lets see, the first was the Korean students from CheongShim who joined our class for a week or so, and we all had so much fun together, haha. As a student ambassador, I got Michael (a really nice guy) as my buddy, and through our interaction we really learnt a lot about each other in the days we had at school. I definitely found the time worthwhile, and I had lots of fun! Really hope that they enjoyed their time here and we have been good enough hosts to them! That’s because during my 2 weeks in Hanoi for the OIP, my hosts have been so warm and welcoming, almost making me feel embarrassed at how I didn’t treat our own visitors as well as they did…made some really good friends there, who I still keep in touch with today…haha. These student exchange programmes are truly memorable…

Maybe DMPs now, I kinda filled my timetable to the max this time, and took everything that sounded interesting. And most of them really were, haha. Ok, the exception would be the philo module, which was seriously too difficult. But others like the Geog, Maths and SS ones were great, learnt lots of interesting stuff which were out of curriculum…Hoping for more interesting ones next year! =) But maybe maxing out is not a good option haha…or is it?

EOYs were something. I really studied for it this time, but sort of chattered with Jim and had some fun in it too, while revising. So, maybe I could have done better, but this year I have done well. Some subjects were really unexpected, like Biology, which I haven’t been able to do very well in, but improved in the EOY…The rest were quite expected I guess, and many more are very lucky indeed. Got lots of low 70s or 80s. Too lucky. I better start to work harder next year…who knows how luck will be like? But please, please be nice…haha. 3T has been such a positive influence on my grades too, so now you know my secret! =)

Hm…last year’s new year resolutions were:

1. Make lots of new friends
Haha, I think I did well for this, at the end of last year I still didn’t know many people from our batch, but now I think I know more! =) The more the merrier I guess…though I still prefer close ones.

2.Do my best to keep up with friends, old and new
This…hm…don’t think I did well for this, because I’ve kinda lost the ‘connection’ with some old friends, but of course others are still well in contact- Rosyth, 2E’07 and others. I don’t like the idea of losing friends, so maybe I should try harder.

3.Maintain this blog, lol
Haha me writing a post this long, and all the reasonable updates…hmm…I guess its up to the readers la…lols.

4.Excel at school(as in academically, in CCA, etc.)(or at the very least, maintain)
This is something I did better in! But its not thanks to me, but all the people around me, 3T, 0106’, my family, friends, among others. Really, I cant do much without them.

5.Do something about my dreams!
Haha, I guess you wouldn’t know what my dreams are, but I can tell you that I on my way! All the stuff which I have been participating in, and the training…I just hope I can do more next year…

6.Get some new stuff
This is very vague. But I can sense a new me…yet still the same me. Confusing huh?

7.ALWAYS stay happy and remain the same me (in terms of happiness)
Haha, this is something Im not too sure about, but I would like to think Ive succeeded in this. Somehow I’ve changed a lot in this aspect from young…when I was a stubborn little kid, so easily agitated and got angry easily…now I just wish to be able to keep that smile of mine. =) It’s a great thing you know…a small action that means so much. That’s how I would describe it.

New Resolutions for the New Year 2009:
1. Form stronger friendships
2. Make something of my years in RI(SS) (haha, afterall the next would be my last) No regrets!
3. Excel at School!! and maintain my GPA…
4. ALWAYS stay happy, in the face of difficulties or whatever
5. Improve as a person
More can be added as we go along, haha.

Actually Im kinda in a rush now to go over to my cousins’ house for some fun and games and a small countdown party!! Similar to last year’s. And haha school starts in 2 days…but Im looking forward to being a class-based PSL with the new students, going through the experience again from a different perspective.

2009 awaits…

Note: Hope it wasnt too long and unbearable...

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T20:25:00.004+08:00

Hey everyone! Firstly, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!! (happy new year will be in a few days time...) Haha, I know I've been lazy recently...sorry Santa!! But for Christmas, dont expect much of content...=( For Christmas eve, I went to Yi Fan's house, together with LinJin and Daniel to do up our OIP media stuff...which to my horror hasnt been done, my fault. Sorry again Santa! But we had a fun time there, since we got the 'all clear' to like clear his fridge, haha. Chocolates, milk, ice cream...hm...haha. They were practising their band stuff first, blasting around the house, lols. And then we went to do work, like sharing around photos, then somehow it became games. They started to lan....lols dunno how, but I got into it too, and...then time was up and I went home. Yay! Not sure what was done. Haha, at least I went straight for dinner with my family (ok, not really, missing my sis who is returning home soon). Ate at a Japanese restaurant, haha, decided to eat on Christmas Eve to avoid the crowds... Anyway, LOVE the tempura and stuff. Well, what I would say is quality family time...coincidentally in stark contrast to the last...ok nevermind. Thanks Mum and Dad for the Christmas treat during this time of economic downturn! Oops somehow I manage to have bad stuff included everytime... ok lets try again...Thanks! Love you all!! =)

Now for Christmas...hm...first we went to our paternal grandmother's house to have lunch (not that i skipped breakfast, just the first thing to say) There we met up with our relatives...and we all had a great talk while we ate and just watched tv... Then time slowly trickled away, and before we knew it, it was already the evening... So we got home and just ate at home. Simple, Christmas dinner. =) Then for some reason I started to worry about work, so here I am, blogging after reviewing a few more newspaper articles...my christmas night...

Thank you so much to everyone for the presents! Love them all!! My heartfelt gratitude. =D

Im leaving one particular disappointment to the last...the unorderly and rowdy Singaporeans at the soccer match against Vietnam last week...saw it in the newspapers...I might not know much about soccer, and I regret our loss, but I do know that this kind of behaviour is rude, and is unacceptable...what would people think of us? What does this show? Sorry, but I never thought that I would be saying this to Singapore fans...

Winter Solstice

2008-12-22T17:11:00.010+08:00

冬至 was yesterday, i think, but well my family celebrated it 2 days ago, on Saturday, the usual time we met up. I found it, sadly, even worse than normal family gatherings, in many ways, whether its the food (so sorry...) or the whole atmosphere... Truthfully, its the first time I have been back at my grandmother's house in a while, and that should have made it even better for me, but... Ok, it isnt any one person's fault in particular, just that the whole family doesnt seem as close now? Im sure it doesnt come as a surprise to some of you whom I've told about my unusually large family size. Its something I have been pondering about on and off for a long time, whether a family like this is, well, good. Not that I have a choice, but just out of curiosity. I mean, Im always thinking that such a big family has made all of us even more distant than we should be. There will always be faces I dont recognise at these family gatherings, is it someone really distant whom I've just never met? or is it some newcomer into the family? who is he/she married to? Things like this. I dont even know what to address them by, much less talk to them... For the past years, I could at least feel being included or that family spirit, but now, not so. I could remember while we were all rolling the 汤圆 (glutinous rice balls), I was standing like outside the circle, not being able to reach in to get my hands on the dough and stuff...doesnt feel good. Ironically, 冬至 for the chinese is supposed to be a festival where the whole family gets together and celebrates the reunion... would have preferred to celebrate it with the smaller family from my paternal side, where physical size is smaller, but emotional bonds are much stronger. Trust me, the full story is much more complicated.

At the end of the day, I asked my parents why. I told them how I felt. And they said its because Im looking at this from a different perspective now, I have grown. Dont quite get it, but I hope thats not a consequence of growing.

Sec 1 09' Registration Day

2008-12-19T22:39:00.002+08:00

Lols, today was...okay...woke up at like 5.15am to go to school for a short briefing before the actual thing started and the new sec 1s with their parents flood into the school... Was assigned to the road junction between the porch and the junior block, where there were less cars compared to the main gate. I must say it was tiring to just stand there and be a road marshall, like signalling...but talking to parents and students really made it easier for me, something interesting at least. Haha talking or even just greeting is fun, would have preferred to be an usher instead, haha, but its ok. Found out that smiling does come in useful, haha. Ok so much for the first part of the registration day...now for the second, which is after the briefing, the purchasing, which left some people rather unhappy, i must say. The organisation wasnt exactly the best we could have done it...so to all there, sorry about that! Still hoped that the first impression given was positive? Now for my first impression...they all looked capable, haha, of course, but saw some really big guys and smaller ones...haha.

Anyway, lucky us, we got released at noon and went as a big group to eat lunch, and then Jim, Shaun and I went to his house to have some quality anime time! Lols, really animes all the time, even when we were actually supposed to be showing him some physics stuff...we were watching naruto then. Lols, but I fell asleep halfway during appleseed because I slept like 4 hours last night. lols. Apologise. Anyway thanks so much for hosting this 'quality anime time' session, haha it has been very enjoyable...=) Got to know more about some animes too! Nice catching up on animes...

QM session+Twilight!

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

Haha Sunday today is kinda different...morning was ok, woke up late and had breakfast, then ate an early lunch which I couldnt really finish haha. Then I was getting ready to go to school when my mother forced me to go to the doctor's because of my cough. It seriously isnt that bad, but well, no choice. So ok went to the doctor, got my medicine and then rushed to school, to move stuff and count stuff again, lols. Today it was Ram and me, plus Gabriel and Jim, haha. My mum got him to come help, hopefully to cover me since im 'sick'. Lols, maybe we did till a bit too late again, so we had to rush to the cinema this time.

Haha, the two of us went to watch Twilight! The series Im currently reading, lol. Shaun is probably going to suan me tomorrow telling me he has already finished the series...but haha the movie...it was okay, to me at least, maybe not too new because I already knew how it would go, haha, but still liked it. The actors/actresses fitted in with their characters pretty well, cos both of the 2 main characters were supposed to be wierdos, and they did look like the wierdos they were supposed to be haha. Its quite interesting to learn about vampires too haha. So I would say...it isnt too bad haha. =) However, as my first movie in the holidays, haha, love it! =) Im in a good mood today! =D Work tomorrow...

QM work...

2008-12-13T22:37:00.002+08:00

Ok I admit it im starting to worry about things, like finishing the homework which I havent started on, like getting all the files and things ready for next year, like being able to fill the increasing orders for the hampers for christmas, like getting the Hanoi OIP media stuff ready before school reopens, like being able to be a good PSL...woa.

Anyway, today was my first actual QM stocktaking... So we started work at 8am in the morning...and then just took everything out, count, clean a bit, check for things that need to be replaced and stuff...lols doesnt sound that tiring...but wait. How about all the things, from the 'Living' Den to the storage...lols, so ended up doing all the stuff like the tents, pythons, posterboards, gas canisters, gas stoves, and all the crockery! Lols, quite horrible actually...haha. (Ok, maybe I forgive sarimbun a little more now, haha) So sorry that I couldnt make it for the batch outing...heard that some of you 01 people played pool and watched movie...while I was in the storage...=( But dont worry la, Im happy for you too! Just hope that you enjoyed yourselves. =D Im simply tired, nothing else, cause it stretched longer than expected...until 8pm...and tomorrow there will be another session of this...meaning that I wont be getting any full rest days before work again on Monday...actually wanted to watch a movie too...maybe I'll try to squeeze it in at night tomorrow?

WEP Day 3

2008-12-11T23:25:00.005+08:00

Hey! So today is the very very tiring, but yet still fun day at work! We arrived at the usual 9am, and changed and everything before going to wrap the hampers again, until we realised that we are missing quite a lot of things such as: Stickers, 1 kind of cookie (1 more kind ran out during the packing), stickers, ribbons, etc. Haha it was quite funny trying to fill the orders with so many things missing, lols. So after a while we were sent for lunch, then hung around at the CDEC office before being redeployed to somewhere else again! Haha its actually quite fun being redeployed cos there is a sense of mystery and you get to experience new things! So for today we went off to the banquet section. Lols, and for some reason, on our first day there, we were sent to set up a ballroom for a company's huge dinner/christmas meeting. Lols, even our friends there couldnt believe we skipped all the small meetings and stuff to this big thing haha. Well, it was really tiring there, and there was a lot to do, such as wiping the utensils, laying the tables and chairs, putting on the chair covers, helping the guests with their gifts, setting up the food table, and stuff...but the people there were generally very friendly, and I realised that some of them were also students, but were having their internship for their diplomas there. Haha, so much to do, and we worked slightly overtime, until about 5.20pm. So the manager quickly let us off, and while we were having our dinner at tiffins, we quickly had a discussion on what we wanted to do next. We could either: Go home and hope that everything will be ready tomorrow, or , Work into the night today and less for the next few days. Haha, obviously we chose the first one... Shaun should know one of the reasons...hes not coming tomorrow...haha. Well, so we returned to the christmas hamper packing, getting all the required items from all over the hotel, from the pastry kitchen to the really freezing freezer (where we had a short briefing in, lols), to the chef office...haha. So we worked another four hours past our standard time, until about 9pm, when our manager, also coincidentally well-named, Jack, thanked us and told us to go home haha. As we were preparing, we were calculating how much we 'donated' by working FOC haha. It amounted to about $80 just for today, for each person, haha. So do the rest of the maths yourself. Lols, although this was meant to give us experience in work, I feel that through work, it has also bonded the few of us more closely together...=) Or should I say us colleagues! Haha. Here are a few more photos lol. So tired, so wont have OIP update for today. =( And so sorry I will be missing out the stuff like OIP gathering and 3T soccer session...so sorry, but I have to show some commitment to my first job! Haha. Please enjoy without me!

Jim arranging the table.

Christollens waiting to be packed by us!

Sorry for wrong side up, but see our lunch, haha, pretty good, lols.

WEP Day 2+OIP Hanoi NTT 2008- Day 4

2008-12-10T21:43:00.005+08:00

Today was work again, but with a difference...in the morning we did the same thing, which was wrapping the christmas hampers again, but just after our early lunch, we were all transferred over to the F and B department, haha, and so I was joining the Cherry Garden this time, which was the Chinese cuisine restaurant in the hotel. And, only after I got there, did I realise why we were there. They were going to have a wedding lunch there! Lols, a bit scary, not just because its an important occasion for the couple, but because I attended a wedding dinner a few days ago, and one of the waitresses was scolded quite badly by one of my uncles because she did some things wrongly... And somehow, I was going to have to experience serving at a wedding...lols. Scared myself half to death before the actual thing began, with the manager going through everything with us again, and also reminding us that the couple is a close friend of one of the hotel's big chef, and its important we dont get any complaints... Wow, stressed...haha looks like I really got what I asked for yesterday...for more challenges. Well, think I did pretty well today, managed to do everything required without any errors...and also made some friends in the kitchen haha. It was really tiring today compared to yesterday, because we were all rushing around in the kitchen...never realised that a simple wedding could be this much work, haha, at least today's work gave me an idea... Well, I also kinda shared the happiness that the couple is feeling after the whole thing...haha so thats good. Shall show you a few photos of us at work! And maybe a small ad. =)

Ok, now for OIP update! haha
Day 4- Preparation Day
Its supposed to be our free day today, but we decided to spend it on preparing all our programmes for our hosts. Like in the morning was TLC (The Leadership Challenge) preparation, to teach them some of the aspects of exemplary leadership and stuff. The main problem was to make all the concepts easier to understand for the Vietnamese, like trying to show it through games or activities... then we also practised the songs and dances we wanted to do for them, and even learnt a vietnamese song from Ms Goh! Haha, it was really challenging for us, even after the whole session, we still needed the lyrics to sing the vietnamese song...Haha, today's one is a short one, because there wasnt any actual programmes... =(

WEP+OIP Hanoi NTT 2008- Day 3

2008-12-09T21:54:00.006+08:00

Today I went for the first day of the Work Exposure Programme after these 3 days of rest, haha. Im being attached to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel beside Marina Square! It really looks much better inside compared to on the outside. It looks very luxurious and comfortable, haha. Other than myself, Jim, Sean, Shaun, Martin, Matthew, were also working there today, haha. First thing we did was a short briefing then fitting into our uniforms! Lols, quite fun cos the uniforms are really cool... The 4 of us working with the festive desk got all black uniforms while the other 2 with the international buffet got red shirts, which also look good, but ahem...less than ours la. haha. Then we got started with our work, which is mostly wrapping of the hampers and gifts for sale. It was difficult for us at first, cos there is quite a lot to learn and we havent really done this kind of things before, but think we did well today la...haha, i wont say i had a lot of fun, cos its afterall work...but it is an enriching experience, haha. Will be looking forward to more challenges in the days to come...=) Now for OIP...

Day 3- Trip to Temple of Literature and Sword Lake
Today was a really interesting day cos its our first day really going out to visit a place outside school, and it also gave us a chance to interact with our student hosts in a more stress-free environment, haha. We first went to the Temple of Literature, where I followed Hien's group and we went around the temple together. In there, there were turtles, whose heads, if touched, was said to bring you wisdom and intelligence and helped you in your studies, so naturally all of us were like crowding over to touch all of them haha. Then we went to the Sword Lake, or Hoan Kiem Lake, which was really beautiful, because it was a large and green lake with a white pagoda in a small island in the centre...imagine that haha. Really a beautiful place... Then after the visit, and some dangerous roading crossing...haha we went to eat some vietnamese ice cream! haha it was already slightly cold, but no harm...haha. Zhu Jie was also doing some other thing there...was it locking arms with a girl and eating ice cream? Haha, anyway thanks for treating us to ice-cream! Oh yes, and also all the other food, like the egg pudding, the sweets and chewing gum haha.

Next was lesson observation, and ahmad and I played badminton with the vietnamese! It was really fun, especially since I havent gotten a chance to really sweat since I reached, haha. And I also couldnt believe that we were from different countries and couldnt even communicate to each other properly! haha. I guess friendship can transcend over space...lols. We even switched sides to play together with someone from another country, haha, really a good way to make friends. =) So thats about all for today, photos will be up soon! =D And here they are!

Amos and YiFan touching the turtle's head, haha, though they dont really need it...so smart

Us mimicking some kindergarden kids we saw over there haha.=)

Haha everyone is smiling! (in the temple of literature, haha)

Love this photo...most of the good friends I made there are here! Beside Sword Lake...

Twilight+OIP Hanoi NTT 2008- Day 2

2008-12-08T17:22:00.004+08:00

Update: Just finished reading the book, Twilight, after reading crazily yesterday from morning till night, up to like 3.30am...haha. It was Ting Wei from the Hanoi OIP who encouraged me to read it, lols. He was reading it during one of the nights when we were playing taiti, as usual, haha. Some of you might have read it before or heard of it, cause the movie adaptation is about to be released in Singapore soon, on 18 December! Haha, well its about the love between a normal human girl (Bella) and a vampire (Edward)... I must say that for most of the book, it was about how they got to know each other, and got closer, with just the last part being with more action and more things happening, but I enjoyed the part about them together, because, well, their love is forbidden, in the sense that Bella might lose her life anytime to Edward if he even gives in to the temptation of not drinking Bella's blood for one second, among other issues. Haha, I also like how they speak to each other, really realistic. Haha, never realised I could enjoy love stories... Now, back to where I left off about OIP!

Day 2- Intro to NTT
Today's breakfast was Pho Ga, which is a kind of vietnamese noodles with chicken in it. Its the first time all of us have tasted this dish, and I have to say that I never knew food could be this different haha. It was mostly the taste of lemongrass? in the noodles, and it was just different, so I couldnt really make out whether its good or not, haha.

After our breakfast, we walked to NTT, where we got a small welcome and then a tour of the school. The school compounds were, a little old and also smaller than ours, but it was really filled with life, haha. When we walked in, students from all levels (referring to both the physical floors and the education kind) were so excited and staring at all of us. Really, everywhere we turned there would be people smiling and welcoming us. This hospitality was again shown during the first interaction session we had with the students at NTT. Our hosts danced, taught us some basic Vietnamese, sang, and also played some icebreakers with us. All so enthusiastic and friendly. My buddy for the session was Hoa, the first person I actually got to know over there. And then I also got to know of Linh, from 10A6. I added that because Linh is a very common name there...haha. Today was a lot of fun playing games with our hosts, but the language barrier and unfamiliarity still kept some of us from really immersing in these activities. But still, their overwhelming welcome was enough to make us feel so so ashamed of ourselves, where we in Singapore do nothing to make them feel welcomed in the past when visitors join us for lessons. The least we could do is to talk to them, but did we? Or did we leave them at one side of the classroom alone? Really...

OIP Hanoi NTT 2008- Days 0-1

2008-12-06T16:39:00.006+08:00

After the long period of 'procrastination', I have decided to start writing on my OIP experience! This trip has been really fun and memorable, so I just have to write on it some time haha. Throughout this whole 'series' I will also be taking some photos from everywhere haha so thanks to the owners as well!

Day 0- Before the actual trip
Well before the trip all we had were practice sessions to get to know each other, planning of the programmes (songs and dances) we want to bring to them, and the gifts we want to give them. Since I was the Documentation IC, I was tasked to do up the phototaking for the photo album we want to give them, haha. Basically it was just taking random shots around the school to show them, haha. Heres one:

Anyway, after all that preparation...the day came for us to leave for Hanoi!

Day 1
Haha on this day, it was basically just me and my dad at the airport cos the rest of the family are all already overseas. Jim's flight was in the early morning, my Mum was already in Egypt, and my sis was still in Shanghai studying. Haha so I was at the airport and just looking out for people, and before I knew it most of us were there. Then was the meeting, giving out of our tags, then the usual collection of passports, check-in and ticket collection. Even Mr Mac was there to wish us a pleasant journey, haha and gave a short speech and stuff.

Then some of us had our lunch at burger king before boarding the plane...lols when it was time to check my luggage...the person asked my to open up my bag and...they found a swiss army knife in my bag! Lols, that was really shocking because I actually forgot to take that 01 merchandise out of the bag I bring to school sometimes for CCA... I was like at a loss and the person just brought me to one of the air stewardess and she told me that I cant bring that on to the plane...so she will keep it for now and I will have to get it from them after I arrive there... Then she helped me to pack it in a box, and I was on my way...wow.
The Vietnam Airlines flight wasnt as bad as I thought, but the first thing I saw happened did indeed leave a bad impression on me haha. Ms Goh was sitting in front of me and she just received a call so she stood up to answer it. Then one of the air stewardess walked over and scolded her! Like just said, "Miss! Please! Sit down!..." Ms Goh surely got a shock too, haha. Then throughout the flight she was like telling us that the air stewardess hates her because everyone got their drinks but her, haha. Spent the time on the plane just eating, talking or sleeping...it was quite a short flight anyway...
Once we reached there, the usual checkouts and then time for luggage collection. Yes, I got the luggage I checked in, but I just couldnt find my swiss army knife... and I didnt want to give it up...it was one of my first 01 stuff... so I just waited for it at the belt...but still didnt get anything after a long wait. Everyone was waiting for me already, but.... So I went over to one of the air stewardess there, and tried to ask her for my item, but before I did, I spotted the box behind her...ok so it was there all along. Then we went to the guesthouse to stay for the night. Giang ly guesthouse...hm...it wasnt too bad, but could do with someimprovements! My roommates were Stephen (also my buddy), Wang Kwan (Tracker) , and ChangCheng (Jim's classmate). All of whom are nice people in their own ways, haha. Ok the first thing I noticed today in Vietnam was the air. Not exactly what you will call good, so thats something that needs improvement! and theres a reason why I joined the humanities club! Hahaa.

Many misleading things happened today, but looking forward to Day 2!

Back from GTC!!

2008-12-05T21:05:00.007+08:00

Hey...Im back from the Group Training Camp! My body is aching...ouch. Anyway, i had my fill of ice cream, fries and burgers and other unhealthy food after the camp haha, so now im sort of back to normal, except maybe the aches and the insect bites from Ubin! Lols, and of course the memories...not just from the GTC, but also OIP and NPC (more pics added for NPC courtesy of Alvin)...they are just so beautiful...all of them, just regret that I do not have much time to reflect upon each of them....Before I go into details about each of them/ my parents force me to do my homework...the next holiday programme on my plan is the Work Exposure Programme(WEP), which will take place right next week! That officially means that I have 2 days to rest after the camp before I start 'work'! Haha, looks like my holidays are really really...well made use of? ok or just packed... Seriously wish I have more time to do whatever i want to do...like all these and chatting with our Vietnamese friends, doing homework, or just sleeping....

More pics from NPC 2008:

What I have been and will be doing

2008-12-01T23:26:00.004+08:00

Haha, I just returned from the National Patrol Camp 2008 (NPC)for scouts!! It was a really fun and interesting experience for me, getting to know people from other schools more, discovering new ways to use camp equipment and the magnificent camp gadgets and structures... Really an eye-opener for me. I didnt expect to say that our own standards actually need improving...I also got a small souvenir from NUS High School's 23 Eagles scout group(Best Newcomer)! Haha one of their shirts. In the end, we got a Silver award in the end...anyway here is a picture of our campsite and my patrol members! (sadly excluding Wesley)

And so tomorrow I will be getting a day off (fortunately!) and the day after will be another camp, this time the Group Training Camp 2008 (GTC), from Wednesday to Friday. As you can see, time is not really something I get to have much of at this moment, so please do wait for me! Haha =)

NPC 2008

2008-11-26T22:37:00.002+08:00

Leaving for NPC 2008 tomorrow... Today was Day 0, all the loading and unloading and then the rain, with all our stuff there, and no covering at all...until we managed to get a tarp...haha. All I want to say is, please wish me good luck, and that I really like this 'patrol' that we're in! Aiming to win back a Gold! =) Maybe even a swiss knife too! lols. It will be tiring, but we will do it!! =D Will definitely miss all my friends, Singapore, Vietnam and else where, but good luck to you all too. I will be back on the 5th December! Wait for me!

Back from Hanoi!

2008-11-24T21:03:00.001+08:00

Me <3 Hanoi and NTT! Just returned this afternoon from Hanoi, and even now I missing them! Such friendly people! We really forged strong friendships among ourselves and the NTT students...hopw this will last forever! Anyway, tomorrow I will be preparing for the National Patrol Camp coming up soon (in a few days). So Im not sure if I cant write everything fully before the camp and Im sorry if i cant! So tired today...maybe tomorrow night! =) And yes I bought souvenirs.

Hanoi!!

2008-11-17T10:47:00.002+08:00

Hey everyone! Im blogging from Hanoi now! Its been a week or so since I left, and so its time to blog some stuff! Hanoi so far has been a really nice place to stay in, if you discount the language barrier and maybe the environment, then you will find this place really fun to visit, especially interacting with the people. Ms Goh, one of the teachers bring me on the trip, the other being Mr Sarkunan, told us before the trip that Vietnamese hospitality is very special. I thought nothing about it, but now that I've experienced it for myself, I really agree with Ms Goh on this. The people there, are very fun-loving and have less of those 'mental contraints' that we in Singapore have. Like they play around with any and everyone, boys or girls, very casually, and they do actually start a conversation with people on the streets/in school they dont know. Wow. I myself have seen and experienced it. People asking me to take photos of them while I was walking in school (haha), people asking for me to take some photos with them, people asking me how I am, what I like, etc. haha. I feel so welcomed here and sometimes I feel kinda ashamed that we in Singapore do not treat others as well as they do here, haha. Like I didnt even bother to say hi to the foreigners who visit our school when I saw them last time, so maybe I should try to say hi next time? haha.

Well this isnt the content of the trip, but just a general idea of how its like, haha. Will write more next time! =) Miss all of you so much!

A very special class outing...

2008-11-09T20:40:00.006+08:00

Sorry I havent been blogging...its just has been busy the past few days, but since Im leaving for Hanoi tomorrow, and Im feeling slightly more free now, heres it...

The last week has been a really fulfilling one for me, cos I have been doing so much and they just make me feel like I have completed some of the things I needed to do and really it has made me feel better! Last Monday and Tuesday, was of course the last day of school, and Tuesday was also the preparation day of the Clean and Green Singapore Schools' Carnival 2008! So I left early, sadly missing out on the fantastic year head assembly, and took a cab to suntec (sponsored by the club), to decorate our booth. To tell the truth, we really didnt have much of a preparation, so most of the work was impromptu...and so it looked...a little kiddy. Haha.

But the next day was better than I thought, we all just got down to work, and as usual I like doing the explaining to the visitors to our booth. So yeah, showed many people around the small booth and gave them an idea on all the environmental projects we did...Quite fun actually. The Green Game was another fun one, cos we had all the stages in the competition, and so we all had something to do! I did the marking of the primary school section, and some of the answers given were pretty funny too, lol. Maybe this year's carnival wasnt as good the last year's, but it was still quite a success! But who am I to say that, I did go the last day of the carnival...

Ok back to Wednesday, I left early, right after the hectic 'game time', and rushed back to school for a scouts interview...not as formal as I thought it would be and they really asked some wierd and no link questions haha. Or at least I thought so... But it was okay la, actually enjoyed myself in some parts of the interview, haha

Thursday was dedicated to OIP training, cos I have been missing some of the past trainings due to all these other stuff...so I met up with the rest in the early morning and watched them do the dance we are ALL supposed to do...sad that I didnt know the formation and some of the dance steps...could only watch...(ever felt so bad when you couldnt join in what your friends are doing?) So I did what I could, take pictures! Im in the Documentation committee afterall...=)

Friday morning was also OIP training...learnt some Vietnamese from Ms Goh, haha, really fun lesson. And then went back to learning the dance and helping the freestylers to perfect some of their moves. Haha think I caught up with the dance moves already, lols. Then at 11 I had to leave again and ate lunch with Leonard, JunYang and Patrick at S11 before going over to NTU for our HSSRP project presentation... We reached there slightly later then expected...from Bishan all the way to Boon Lay...(missed the taxi ride to suntec haha) and poor Jim waited there for so long...sorry! We also met the other HSSRP people there and we all went to take the bus...and then there something funny happened, cos we werent sure which bus, 179 or 199 to take to NTU, we just decided to take whichever that came first, but they both came together! Lols, and we were just there, divided into two groups of people, one in front of 179 and the other 199, lols. Even the bus drivers got a bit angry with us, but in the end we decided 179 haha. Jim and I are working with Shayne in the project, and he was kinda...LATE! And we only met him just as the presentations were starting...close shave...But fortunately we did rather well and got into the second round of selections. Only 5 groups were chosen for this round, 2 from RI, 1 from RGS, 1 from NYGH and 1 from NUSH. Think we did better for the second round...but the competition was naturally stronger this time, I think the RGS group did particularly good, cos they spoke so clearly and kept eye contact and also know their stuff... NYGH wasnt bad, but really lack eye contact sometimes...NUSH was content heavy...while JunYang's group was extremely clear for guys but a bit slow, and I also realised later that they missed out something, but its un-noticeable, so dont worry! =)

Then yesterday, it got really really fun, as if it was a reward for me lols. It was our class outing! Apart from lunch with my family before we are all going our separate ways for a while, I went to Mervyn's house, which was...how should I put it...really godly. Something about it felt different even at the gate. There were soldier statues there! It was so big and magnificent! As if I steped into a hotel! I just couldnt believe my eyes and couldnt say anything while I got a tour around the house...and then the others arrived in three cars, courtesy of the kind grandparents and friends. So from there we just had a wild party! I was singing karaoke with Teng Chuan, Jian Wei, Justin, Parry and Mr Koh with visits by Shaun, while others were crazily spamming com games at the games room while some were playing mahjong or pool (the table one) and some at the pool (this time the water one) playing water polo. Really really didnt expect this kind of luxury. Its out of the world! (ok my world)Sorry Mervyn, but just one picture to prove my point...

Ok now it was really crazy and after we had dinner, we some of us, especially Ming Chan, who got over-excited and threw some impt person into the pool, lols. And many of us just got dunked or jumped in...lols. Haha were all insane. We just started playing water polo again, but so many of us couldnt see well at night and without specs, its became a luck game. If you threw to a right person u stand a chance to win, and if u threw to someone of the opposite team u lose...haha. The whole class was so much fun... But we all knew what this meant, it would most likely be the last time we would do something as a class for this year...but if so, it had to be something crazy! Lols. This is the truth: I absolutely love 3T!! =D

Ok, now back to reality. I am going to face reality, the reality of the world tomorrow, when I travel to Hanoi and see for myself what the flood has done. The next two weeks will really be another eye-opener for me, Im sure of that. I want to see so many things. But my only hope is that we will not be imposing on them when we are there, or we would be doing the exact opposite of what we intended to do, which was to help them and learn from them at the same time. Heard that the people there are very warm and welcoming, but because of the flood, the food prices have gone up by 5-10 times...which means that just to feed us it would require 5-10 times more budget...thats what I meant. And so thats my wish, and also that we would all be safe and sound there, not catch diseases or anything... Dont you see the vast change between the last paragraph and this? I really hope we do something for them there...at the very least, bring them some happiness and joy. Just cheering them up will do! =)

To all friends, whether in Singapore, or also travelling elsewhere, I will definitely be missing you people! Thank you so much for all the well wishes! Will see if there are any ways to connect to the net there and update! Or else, will tell u more when Im back on 24 Nov! See you! I'll try not to worry too much about whats coming after this OIP...=)

Class Photo this year!

2008-11-03T23:28:00.002+08:00

lols. nice.

cLAsS PaRtY!

2008-11-03T21:04:00.011+08:00

Today at school was quite fun, because we didnt really have much to do, so the whole day was pretty much just having fun. The morning was spent at a so-called 'movie marathon' which consisted of just one movie. I mean the name is misleading haha. But the movie itself was quite good, we watched '10 promises with my dog', a japanese movie about a lonely girl with a dog and how the dog helped her and change her life. The story is pretty normal, but it is presented in a way that makes it fresh and also able to reach out to people's hearts. Haha, the dog is really cute too! (esp when it was young) Oh yes, and for those who watched 'L: Change The World', you should recognise the young girl acting! The difference is that in L, shes carrying a teddy bear while here she has a dog haha. And also some observant ppl realised that the grocery store which appeared in this movie, where the girl bought candles from, also appeared in the recent movie, 20th Century Boys. Dunno if its true... Anyway, I heard that some people were crying after the movie...including a teacher, haha. After the movie was recess and then class cleanup.

So...class cleanup, the time when you pay for what you have done throughout the year... It was a lot of scrubbing and wiping, then apply gif/cif and scrub again... We got lots of nice coloured water, haha. Like black, nice white, green, blue and even yellow haha. Some things are more fun when done together! =) You can see that most of the people in the photos are happy...haha

When we got the shiny classroom look, we were allowed to rest while Ming Chan mopped the floor and Mr Koh, Ervin, Yen San and I went to get the food in the staffroom for the class. I carried the curry that Mr Koh's mother made! haha, it was a bit the heavy, but it was well worth it...when everyone was ready, we opened up all the foodand got the paty started! Lols, I just dealt with the IT stuff at first, so I was setting up and selecting some songs, haha. But after I left, some people started to BLAST music and also change the songs to HSM songs...lols imagine that.

The food were all really nice, all of them/their mothers must have put in so much effort to prepare to food...now that's what Mr Koh was talking about...the class spirit...we could have easily catered food for the whole class, fuss-free and no risk of food poisoning. But will that really let us know more about each other and allow us to show the bonds among each and every one of us which we formed through the year together?

Haha I simply have to describe what was going on in the class...there were people playing cards, bridge and taidi! Some playing really random videos on youtube on the projector, like just any parody, spoof they can find. They even tried to make Ms Quah our English teacher feel guilty by playing Happy Tree Friends when she was there, haha. If you cant picture that, see the pictures below...lols. Some were just listening to music while some were running around and bullying each other. Some were just sitting there and eating from time to time. While some just admired the rest. The video group suddenly decided to change to the game group, and played Halo on the projector. Haha it was quite entertaining to see Halo being played on such a big screen, but even more fun seeing your classmates, even those who dont seem to be the type, play these games and actually be quite good at them. Haha. But there must also be an ending to the party, and people started to leave and it just started to die down a little. Now those who r left started playing volley-balloon and i think they enjoyed it, lols. But people like Yen San and I didnt, lols, we were helping with the cleaning up. Ok that aside, the party was pretty much a successful one, and I even managed to get quite a number of photos for a class album we promised to create at the end of the two years...we decided this at the start of this year...remember? =)

All that rubbish...

Mr Koh helps out!

Teamwork makes the job easier!

Win again next year 3T! =D I got one too...

Oops...

Flood...now in Vietnam too, wonder how it will be like when Im there...

Nice...(haha not Bennah) =P

Me eating a pizza...

Ooops again...look closely!

Woa classroom arcade, haha

Delicious food, thanks to everyone!

Samuel showing his Yoyo skills

A very happy Mervyn, haha

A final class photo!! Together with all the food...=D

Thanks so much to everyone! The class party has been very enjoyable! Thank you to Mr Koh too, for helping us with the cleanup, bringing the tasty curry chicken, being so nice to us this whole year! The truth is, we all want you as our form teacher again next year... =)

*this post took 4+ hours to complete

One at a time...

2008-11-02T11:12:00.002+08:00

Haha firstly thanks so much to all those who gave me advice and words of encouragement, they really helped. =) Thanks so much. I realised, that sometimes it might not be actually the words that help, but just knowing that someone else understands what you are going through and actually cares enough to help you...

Yesterday morning I was at school working on the NPC designs for pioneering and the gadgets. Well, things went quite ok, we managed to complete quite a number of them and their dimensions too. Haha nothing much to write about it, but that it was quite fun to have so many of 0106 to be in the den and all doing stuff together, haha.

And then, we decided to give ourselves a break and so we went to LAN and played dota. Haha to some of you lanning might not be something interesting enough to write about, but it is for me, lols. Anyway, I thought it would be a good time to chill out...RE can be left for tomorrow (today). So yea I had to go, and played two games, then had to leave for tuition, although I dont see why people go for tuition after the exams...but nevermind, the thing that made it worse was that when I reached, my teacher told me that he was going out cos he didnt think we would be coming...And so we went home with nothing learnt, haha. But even two games helped.

Then went home and rested...and then went to my grandma's house as usual. Haha, for the past few weeks, because of the new okto channel, there have been animes airing during the saturday night timeslot, haha so its quite nice watching with my cousins. The 2 airing are D.gray-man and a very funny but lame anime which i cant identify...

Haha, got to go back to doing work now...*forces out a smile* =S

Call it mixed feelings?

2008-10-31T21:06:00.002+08:00

RANT WARNING
The results have come, and I think Im happy with my results this time round, with maybe just a slight disappointment in a certain subject... Yea I should be happy...but why am I not feeling it? =( Exams are over, what is ahead of me are the fun holidays, and supposedly results that call for joy, just what gives me the right to be sad? No, not me...

Well, I just had to write this somewhere, and nowhere better to write it then here...I feel so...miserable, guilty, sad, stressful, regretful, with just a small trace of that happiness somewhere inside. Im not blaming anyone for this, cos its just my problem. I think Im tking everything too seriously, or maybe its just that I brought this upon myself... Its just that everything came popping out somehow after the exams...and now my post-EOY period does not seem like what I had imagined it to be...not the kind of nothing to do but slack thing, but now its just meetings, trainings, preparations almost every day. How do I tolerate such a difference between expectations and reality? OIP dance trainings and preparations, the Humanities Club Annual 'big thing' the Green Game+booth, RE presentation polishing up and actual thing on the Friday just before the Monday im leaving, NPC Prep, GTC prep...its like...bomb.

Its ok, dont misunderstand, my mind isnt in some state of confusion or anything, it just needs time to sort things out and I'll be ok. =) But in the meantime, I really sincerely apologise if I have given anyone any impression that im not putting in effort...please do give me a chance and trust that I will do my very best. Im sorry if I've let anyone down, but at the very least, Im not sorry to myself and Im determined to make this 'holiday' of mine so very worthwhile. =)

Just some words of encouragement...吃得苦中苦方为人上人！

Hmm...

2008-10-30T00:27:00.002+08:00

The last 2 days have been the returning of our exam papers! And it has been...interesting, i guess. But no time to write now, maybe tomorrow, haha. I know this is procrastinating, but Im also wondering why Im still doing RE at this time of the year at this time of the day. Haha.

Treasures, not just resources

2008-10-26T00:57:00.005+08:00

Haha, this morning was spent at school meeting the old 01 scouts from past batches. They are all really nice like I expected them to be, and all about 40+ haha. We broke the ice by playing ice breakers first, and so we played games like pass the parcel, find the lie and frozen shirt! Lols. really fun, and learn a lot about the 01 in the past as well. It was rather different, but there are also similar points...

Well, the part which I learn most about them was probably the sharing session with them, where each of them will go to the front and just tell us about their experiences. What rugby captain, softball captain, colonel, general, psychiatrist, record-breaker, all kinds of things they did. The stories they shared, were so inspiring. I cant imagine...a group of young scouts thinking of, training for and eventually breaking a record set by an army! Im so sorry, but I really cant right now. But I guess thats what 01 would teach me, haha. I've always thought myself to be a dreamer, but now it looks like Im still not dreaming big enough and creating reality from them.

Another point they spoke about is the friendships and strong bonds that are built in 01. Haha, well I couldnt agree more, it has been such a great platform to form and strengthen our friendships with each other. From strangers about 5 months ago, to close friends now, it really works wonders. I have always been thinking, what is it about 01 that makes it so special, but I cant seem to find an answer each time, I still cant answer it today, but at least I've gotten some ideas of what they are today...the experiences? the spirit? the scouting history?

I realised an interesting thing in today's sharing, about most of us, that our most memorable mooments are usually our first. During the small group sharing session, I talked about my experience when I was 'invited' to watch the 01 annual show this year, and how I was really amazed at the scouting spirit that everyone was showing, and how it really changed my perspective on scouts. All the fun and enthusiasm shown was simply such an eye-opener, like I was reliving my memories when I was just a cub scout in primary school... Oh yes, back to examples, first GTC, first AC...yea... The first time is always special.

This afternoon and night was spent playing bridge and daidi haha. Was playing after the act, and continued to play when I went to my grandmother's house...my cousin gave me a tip on how to play better...=P haha. But dont think it will work everytime though.

I will continue to reflect on today later, before I need to reflect on the EOY results next week, haha. And thank you so much to those old boys who were with us today! Learn a whole lot and got a new scouts song under my favourites list! Its Home on the Ranch! So nice.

Yaska! Yaska! Yaska! haha

2nd Day of OIP training

2008-10-24T19:42:00.004+08:00

Today was the second day of OIP 'training', but its more of team building and preparing for the trip la. Today's session lasted from 10.30am (thankfully) to supposedly 5pm (my group ended at 3pm lol). So today morning we all went to our respective groups and sat together again, doing random stuff, lol. First was stoning and waiting, then we listened to a presentation by the last batch of Hanoi OIP participants/prefects (lol), comprising Shan Zhi, Jun Sean and Justin. So after listening to them talk lots of funny stuff and some 'interesting' pictures(one of a vietnamese girl almost kissing a certain someone), we went back and did our group goals setting, like all the cliche stuff, lols, the prefects were quite good at this though.

By then we were about 45 minutes ahead of time, so we went for lunch which was really quite nice, except that it was cold. Otherwise, the food was tasty and very suitable for us haha. The only other negative thing I can pick out is maybe the small amount of rice they gave compared to the actual dishes.(chicken, fish, vegetables and those kind of fried veggie and shrimp thing, lol) Not bad for a school lunch.

Next was team-building games, haha. Which we totally owned other groups at. It was the tangled arms game where every hand had to hold another random hand and everyone has to untangle themselves. Yea quite fun and we were pro at it, because of some secret 'techniques'...

Then we went back to the classroom and did committee assigning. And Im so glad Im in the Documentation Committee, haha. Documentation has always been something important to me (see this blog?), and now Im doing it for the whole group, what could be more suitable, haha. Just need to take pictures and videos of the trip, create videos and photo slide shows...And ours is a small committee of 4 people, also making it easier to decide and do pretty much whatever we want. Haha.

Then we created our own group rules, quite lame but still had to do it, and again, the prefects were good at this, so we finished this fast. Lols, then we were released. It was 3pm. So it was 2hours earlier, and I had to wait for Jim, and so I had nothing to do and guess where I went. The Library. There was almost no one there but I still went it and borrow a laptop to surf the net. I was feeling so bored that I signed up for some NLB membership in the school library and did my RE...lols. While some people were playing High School Musical 3 songs behind me! Lols, think they got scolded for playing too loudly, haha. Everyone was laughing.

So I sat there for 2.5 hours until Jim was released and we went home. End of training day. Looks like my Hanoi NTT group isnt too bad at all. Haha.

And I think Im suffering from some exam syndrome which makes me a no life, or DEAD.
De
Examination
Activity
Disease
This means that I still visit the library for hours at ends, surf the internet looking for research papers and journals for my RE, and look for schoolwork-related books. Im feeling so...wierd?

And I probably forgot to write this somewhere, but I will be a PSL next year, taking class 1K'09! Lols, excited! Students who took PSLE welcomed! =)

A day off after eoy

2008-10-21T21:36:00.002+08:00

Today was rather slack and yea I guess that is the point of giving us a day off, haha. Woke up in the morning and slacked around a bit then went to the clinic to get my immunisations for the OIP. Haha felt a bit wierd to have 3 injectsions in a day, but its ok, except for the pain when I try to use some arm strength, haha. Anyway, after that Jim, my Mum and I went to have lunch together, and before I went off and thats how I missed the movie with Alvin, Hiok Yang, Zi Heng, Manfred and Ming Chan. Feel so bad, they actually bought my tickets for me! And I missed it. Sorry guys, will pay you back someday... Anyway, guess how I spent that 4 hours or so. For the first2 plus hours Jim and I were looking through CDs and all kinds of games at AMK Hub. Then he decided to go home while I waited for them. So I walked around somemore until I thought that I;ve had enough of walking around and wasting my time.

(the library paragraph)
And so I went to the library, lols. Amk library, so familiar to me, lol. Went there and looked at some books randomly, then found an interesting book to read and so I just sat there and read. Lols, while reading I was thinking whether theres a problem with me. I mean, who reads books after the exams? Haha, ok, maybe someone whos bored and needs something to do while he waits. And then the time came. The time when the movie ended, but the rain didnt stop. Haha, so yeah, I was stuck there in a library. (For those who dont know the place, its a single building on its own, and theres no sheltered linkway or anything) Lols, was thinking to myself whether I should count myself lucky for getting stuck in a library...so I waited for a while for the rain to get smaller, and went out of the library. Still raining. Couldnt make myself go out there, lols, so I stood in the shelter. I think I was sort of semi-conscious after reading the book, and just stood there staring at the rain and watching ppl with umbrellas walking. I wasnt thinking. Only after a few minutes did I realise that I should be walking and took out that umbrella in my bag(?!) and walked.

On the way back to AMK Hub, I saw them walking, so I went to say hi. And Alvin was acting like I surprised him. Lols, ok... So, they had no plan of what to do and where to go. And so we stood around, walked around and ended up in Macs. Hiok Yang, Alvin and Manfred got something to eat, while I was still in the "errr...." mood. So i sat there and didnt do anything except talk. And I told a funny joke, together with Alvin. Lols, didnt plan anything, but it was funny. Sort of. Maybe lame. Haha. It goes something like this:
Alvin: Out!
Me: Why?
Alvin: Out!
Me: Why? (starting to sound like the allswell ad, lol)
Alvin: You are not welcomed here. (giving me the pissed look, haha)
Me: Huh no what, I saw the 'welcome' sign at the door...

I think you get it. Haha, we all bursted out laughing. Would like to say that it's these times that are memorable, but someone would say im lame, so nevermind. Then I went home and did all the usual stuff, turn on com, check email!...

Checked email and I got a shock. Cos i got reminded of all the stuff I still need to do and will be doing during the hols. Some are fun, some not so. But all together is...busy? First, its the RE that we have all been working on for so long. Next step will be the presentation to the panel of judges...something like Darren's project haha. So thats something we need to work on.
Then theres the annual Clean and Green Schools' Carnival, which is when the Humanities Club organises the Green Game. This year im in charge of the booth Deco and exhibition part with Weng Hong. Jim is lucky cos he got the primary school green game planning, but its ok. Will make sure it is a success! Haha.
OIP will be the first two weeks of the holidays. From 10-24 November. And there will be 'training' at school this thursday and friday, lols, training? Wonder what they will do...prepare us for mountain climbing? Haha.
A few days after OIP will be the National Patrol Camp for scouts. Haha, I nearly got a shock when Yi Ming said it starts on the 25th. Haha. It actually starts on the 27th November, so I will have a few days to rest and prepare for the 5-day camp.
Then after the camp will be a splitted path, cos Im not sure of when these will be happening. Theres either another camp for scouts, or I will be participating in the Work Exposure Programme in our school and naturally, working! (for little or no pay, haha, that's why its called 'exposure')
And after that i will be left with the last 2-3 weeks, which I will spend completing homework, which I just heard from Jim that there is...he mentioned Chinese.
In addition, the last few weeks will also be PSL training...

So this is my current holiday plan, to make full use of it. Wish me good luck! And hope all goes well! (and that I dont get too tired) =)

EOEOYs!!

2008-10-20T21:37:00.004+08:00

Yes, you are at Jack's blog and you do see a new post here. Read on.

Haha, yea so it has been 20+ days since I've last posted anything, cos of the EOYS. So I thought, why not give my blog the revamp that I have been planning for since the June holidaysas well? (if you do remember) Haha. And so i spent the whole afternoon today looking through the different ideas and i got this. Quite meaningful if you ask me, not only do I like the picture (lols, of course thats one of my favourite characters from bleach), I also like what it depicts...the hopes and dreams. And the wind that is blowing...use it and let your dreams take flight! Haha that has become a phrase that I use more and more, lols. Do give me your comments on it!

So back to this morning, it was Biology and it was tough. I barely had time to finish the paper and simply wrote something I could think of for the bonus question. At least there was hope...haha. I think I did put in effort this time round (not that I havent been, but this time I think I did) so I will be expecting something...haha. Haha enough with people calling me 'crazy mugger', cos it was just the mood I was in. Yeah, sort of crazy and unsound. Anyway, after the paper was waitng for Alvin, Hiok Yang and Manfred to finish their basketball match. I didnt play cos I forgot to bring my PE attire. Sad. And so i went to the library to return the bio book which I used to mug last friday before I went to Hiok Yang's house haha. Quite useful... And borrowed 2 more books I wanted to read while waiting for them. But then I remembered that I had to go collect the issurance claim...lols. And I did. Ming Chan was also there waiting for them, so chatted with Ming Chan, complained a bit, lols, just a bit.

And then we went to J8 for Pizza Hut! Four of us shared a meal, while Ming Chan ate the baked rice. Surprisingly, we got a further discount off the bill, cos someone's someone is a staff at Pizza Hut...lols need to protect his identity. Haha, but still thanks so much! Then we went to buy tickets for a movie, but couldnt decide on one. I said 20th Century Boys, but someone said Max Payne. Lols, so fine, nvm, we went to watch it. But the thing is that it kinda isnt that nice. You can tell when I went off to the toilet halfway during the movie. Lols. Its a lot of violence, shoot here and there, and not much of a story, or maybe not much of a logical story. I think the main attraction is the killing and shooting and maybe the devil-like animated thing flying around. Surprised to see Wesley and his friends there too, sitting directly behind me haha.

After the movie I wasnt in the mood of celebration anymore, lols, so I went home while the others went back to school to play soccer and Ming Chan was already in school for his softball training. Im starting to sound like Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time...hope I get back to normal soon!

Cemetry visit and Mama Mia!

2008-09-28T22:55:00.003+08:00

Yesterday we went to visit the Bukit Brown Cemetry in the morning, guided by the Asia Paranormal Investigators, lol. We didnt actually do anything paranormal la, just had a tour around the cemetry, looking at the tombstones and epitaphs, and trying to make out what is written and understanding them. Found out that many of Singapore's famous people are burried there, expecially those philantrophists, dunno why all there, haha like Gan Eng Seng, Chew Boon Lay and there's even an area for OCBC director's wives lols. Rather than a walk, some parts were more like hiking, cos we were going through trees and walking along tombstones, some times even tripping over some... But well, did really learn more about the traditions, and also about Singapore history, like the past kampongs that were all around Singapore, and the change of Singapore's land use over time... Overall, I would say that this module, "The Space of The Living and The Dead" is quite an interesting and unique way of learning more about some cultural and human geography...haha. Just a random example here from the trip to the columbarium (cos i promised): I realised that, yeah we are actually imposing our way of organising on the dead...if you take note of how the urns are placed in the columbarium, you would find that, they are actually organised by letters and numbers, and there are also a lot of floors, all the way up. Thought of something similar? Haha, they are just like our HDB flats! To save space and to be organised...do you think the dead might want it? I dunno...

Anyway, today my mum did something I never even thought she would do, haha. She brought us to go watch a the Mama Mia movie! I guess it is partly becos she saw Jim and I studying 'so much' and because of her love for Abba, haha! Lols, I was looking forward to it for the same two reasons, haha. We even went with our aunt so that my mum would have somebody to discuss with about abba, haha. The movie was really nice, the songs...still hits to me! The movie was about this girl living with her mother on an island, which was said to belong to the greek god of love, Aphrodite. So, she grew up not knowing who her father is, and now shes getting married and thinking that she will know who her father is when she just invited 3 possible men to her wedding after looking through her mother's diary. They came, but she couldnt tell. Lols. Thats roughly the beginnging...

Haha some parts of the movie was really quite funny, some parts were suggestive, and some touching too, but overall I felt that the movie was just full of energy, some great acting, and again the songs, haha, still cant get them out of my head...in fact, my mum wanted to go buy the soundtrack immediately after we went out of the cinema! lols, looks like the songs really evoked a lot of memories...haha. Think she wants to say/sing: "Thank you for the music, for giving it to me..." Haha, mama mia here i go again...only its to SCHOOL tomorrow...2 more days of DMP...

Haha I think im a mini-Abba fan now. =D

OIP allocation + Visit to Khong Guan Biscuit factory

2008-09-25T16:56:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was an interesting day...Jim and I were walking up to class and went past the notice board at the bottom of the Rajaratnam block. We saw a list of names and the OIP logo, but thought nothing about it, until after morning assembly when Mr Tan announced that the list of people who have been selected and where they were going were up on the notice board. Lols, lots of people were crowding around the notice board when I got back there. So I waited till recess, and still there were people there, but less. So I looked at mine. And saw that I will be going to Vietnam, haha. Im going to a school called Nguyen Tat Thanh High School in Hanoi for about 14 days. Jim's one is different, he's going to Chiangrai in Thailand... Yes, though it looks like I wont be able to see my Korean friends during this OIP, but still, I will definitely be looking forward to the trip!

I just returned home from a trip to the Khong Guan Biscuit factory, as part of the DMP module, Food Through the Geographical Lens. It was quite interesting, to see how biscuits are made, especially a local food company, which is rather rare these days... We were first briefed on the basics of their production process, like the mixing, baking, cutting and packaging. And then spammed the person with lots and lots of questions, haha. Then we watched an old corporate video made before 1994 on the company, before taking pictures with the 'haircaps' on...oops. Haha luckily I dont have it, lols. Then we went in to look at the production process...the real thing, like how the machines work, what the biscuit goes through before it becomes what we see in the supermarkets, lols. He told us lots of interesting things about their biscuits while we were walking through and still asking almost too many questions, haha. One thing I noticed about the company was that they tend to depend on tradition, like the packaging, which hasnt beened changed for more than 10 years, the machines there. and their target customers too i guess. After finishing a tour of the factory, we went to have a short break and drank some lemon tea haha. Then of course was the sales shop, where we bought a lot of the biscuits haha. I think the most popular was the army kind of hard biscuits, lol. Tried it, not that hard la, and tastes not bad, lols. Tak Wei, Rong Jun and I also bought a tin for 01, lols, since it was supposed to be cheaper there. Oh and Adi was a good guide, lols.

After this visit, I thought that maybe it had some NE effect on us, like it made me understand how Singapore at least does wat it can to ensure food security for us, and it made me feel...like Singapore can actually do something different from what we always see...white-collared workers everywhere, haha. We can produce our own biscuits! lols, I know that might have sounded dumb...but I learn something!

Will write about the columbarium trip today and the virtual cemetry trip tomorrow with the Bt Brown trip on Saturday most probably...haha

And about the story I wrote...I didnt want to write any thing more after the end so that I dont spoil it, haha. Anyway it wasnt very important la...just wanted to say that it was written for everyone who I know! Strive on! Jiayou! =D

The shining skies

2008-09-23T17:20:00.002+08:00

A have a little story to tell.

Once upon a time, there was a boy called Little Timmy. He lived in a world where we can only imagine, a world where there were countless shooting stars every night. Everyone has seen them, and wants to get hold of them, to touch, to feel, to smell and perhaps even taste, the stars they can only see every night.

It was finally his turn, the annual traditional ceremony where all the boys who have reached maturity are given the mark of their adulthood. The rope javelins- which will allow them to support their tribe and families. But Little Timmy was more interested and excited about another thing. He could finally try his luck and attempt to shoot the shooting stars down! Those stars he would stare at until he fell into his dreamland every night, those stars which not only guided him and his tribe, but also gave them hope for the future.

Nighttime finally arrived, and together with his friends, Little Timmy went out into the wild. He could see the shooting stars...and they never seemed closer, afterall it was the one night in the year when the stars were closest to the ground... But, there have also been stories about how some people in the past ended their own lives, when their javelins missed the targets and instead struck back down on them, like a bolt of lightning...but it wasnt going to happen, he had observed how the older men aimed and shot their javelins.

The night went on, javelins were being shot up into the sky, just like how the shooting stars were also racing across the sky. It wasnt easy, and every shot took courage and much-needed skills. The stars slowly got less...and eventually, they were gone. Little Timmy looked at his javelin, he wasnt even sure that was his, but there was nothing. He didnt manage to get any.

Looking around, he realised many ended up like him. But for the special few, they were still out there following the stars which they managed to hit, clinging as tightly as they could onto the rope and trying to pull them down. He knew that upon their successful return, they would be highly honoured, praised and decorated. Only the best of the best.

But Little Timmy and friends didnt stop either, they hurried after those who managed to hit a star, and did whatever they could to help, even if they were only on the ground. He knew that the rest of the tribe were desperately awaiting the stars, and no one wanted to disappoint them. Running non-stop, Little Timmy looked up into the sky, and deep in his heart, he knew that he didnt let anyone down, as long as he has done his best, and continues to do his best.

"Maybe, just maybe, the shooting star I'm running after...is heading to where all the other shooting stars are?"

AHHH!!!

2008-09-22T21:56:00.004+08:00

THE BLOGSKIN GOT DESTROYED JUST BEFORE EOY PERIOD! AND NOW IT LOOKS REALLY UGLY...JUST NOW ON MY COM...ONLY...OK...phew.

And on a side note, Happy Birthday, Chloe! =) Hope you are happy where you are!

I wouldnt want a serving of cold turkey...

2008-09-21T16:54:00.004+08:00

Yesterday I went with some of the other DMP people taking the "Understanding Social Deviants" module to the highpoint halfway house in geylang. (mistakenly called 'highway' a few times haha) It was a basically a christian place for drug-addicts and criminals to go after they were released from prison, to help them reintegrate into society. I really learnt quite a lot, not on those academic stuff, but a lot into the minds of these 'social deviants'.

Through the past few lessons, we all understood that there is usually a set of norms that we all have to comply with in a society, without which the society would become disorderly and even fall into chaos. And so with this, there will be a group of people who do not follow these norms. These people will then be punished by the negative sanctions and so on. But what is it that made them the way they are? Is it the rest of the society? or are they born like this?

Returning to the trip, we got some presentations about what the halfway house does, like they actually go to the prisons and help the people inside through conducting church services and advising them to come to the halfway house on their release to help them enter society again, as it is easy for them, who on their release has lost their loved ones- family and proper friends, to go back into their old ways. When they are in the house itself, they help by putting them on a course, which includes a lot of counselling, teaching them how to lead a healthy lifestyle, new work skills, social skills, monitoring them, and even citizen responsibility and helping them to regain the trust of their loved ones and return to their families.

We also watched some videos by the Central Nacotics Bureau, I would say not the usual that we watch cause one was quite wierd as it was animated, and then the other one was acted out, but really quite real and slightly scary? They were both just telling you that drugs are bad and that you have a choice- whether you want to lead a good life, or lose your life to drugs. Then was the touching part, where the people share their stories with us. I could tell that they really lost a huge part of their lifes...most of them were in prison for about 20+years...thats even more than how much I have lived... Yea and they started sharing with us their feelings and what they went through...Like how they mixed with the wrong people and how they fell into the trap, which really costed them. Some thought that it was macho? and that they could stop anytime they wanted to. They were wrong. And it was just one mistake. Even after the prison stay, like what I mentioned, without anyone to 'anchor' them, it was easy for them to find the old gang again and the same thing happened. Many of them went in and out of prison like this, each sentence being harsher than the past. Until they found this halfway house, where their lives were changed. They said that being there gave them some form of hope, that they can someday return to society and stand proud again. Which those that shared eventually did and made some use of their life, by achieving something for themselves.

Then I finally understood, that the halfway house is called a halfway house because it is halfway into re-entering the society. And on our way back, Ms Goh highlighted something interesting to us, that we have actually helped those people who have shared with us, because them sharing their stories with us, will have a therapeutic effect on them, allowing them to realise that their experiences are of some use to the society, to educate, to share, and to warn.

Note: I think Cold turkey is to describe the effects someone will experience when the person gives up drugs, like the withdrawal effects. The person will be placed in an air-con room and left there for a while to cool down, reflect and to think. It kind of makes the person more comfortable and soothes the person.

Quiz!

2008-09-19T20:35:00.005+08:00

Today was fun. Haha, especially the Mathematical Logics class. I dont believe im saying this, but really it was fun to think about some logical stuff haha.

This sort of like a semi-private quiz thing, dunno how it came about, but I wanna try it. And to respect it, I shall do it the 'traditional' way. If you would like to know the descriptors, feel free to email me or ask me on msn! haha.

1. Sup
2. Jim
3. Myself. Maybe god?
4. Shaun Chang
5. Ming Chan
6. Anurak
7. Shayne
8. 'The Group'- 5 of us. you should know haha
9. Mr Koh
10. Yee Shing
11. Zi Heng
12. Abstract
13. Justin
14. Hiok Yang
15. Alvin Lum
16. Benjamin Ng
17. Brandon Peh
18. Manfred
19. Alvin Chua
20. Francis
21. Zhong Jun
22. Wan Jing
23. Kenneth Kuan
24. Alvin Chua
25. Hiok Yang
26. The One
27. Jian Wei
28. Bryan Lim
29. An empty mind
30. Dont worry if u r not named!

Will talk about SDs next time...

This is a short post, but mind you, i took quite some time to finish this...haha

DMPs!!

2008-09-18T16:15:00.002+08:00

Haha, for some time I havent dared to even visit my tagboard or other ppl's blogs, for fear of seeing something like: "Update leh!" Haha...Im getting lazier... yes, even though its DMP period. I think its becos things work opposite sometimes, when it was the really hectic period, I needed something to get my mind off all the stressful stuff...so naturally...blog, haha. But now, when its the more relaxing time, I feel so good that...I dont need to get my mind off things? haha.

Another reason why...I have become(okay partially?)a slave of sleep. Dunno how I should explain this, but again, because of the lack of work, no i mean lack of work to be handed in, there doesnt seem to be anything stopping me from sleeping nowadays lol. And whenever this happens, I go and sleep. Lols. The EOYs arent powerful enough to move me yet. So, someone please buy me over! lol (think i use too much friends for sale)

Now about DMPs...I simply love it, hahaha. Its so relaxing, to be learning something almost purely based on your own interest. And something NOT going to be tested in the exams. And a break from the usual schoolwork. Maybe that's how education is like in some other place...I wonder. Okay, I mean both systems have their merit but Im quite sure that students studying in the other system are happier students. lols. Now at least I've gotten a taste of what its like haha.

Lols i really like most of wat I have chosen for myself. Thats why I feel slightly happier these days, lol, even though my timetable is still like usual...and I didnt choose any science modules at all...lols, ok that was actually becos those that i wanted were full when I tried to register, but again, the humanities DMPs just seem so fun. Lols, took 3 Geog, 2 SS, 2 maths and 1 philo module, lols. Looking forward to the rest of the 2+ weeks of DMP!

Really, learning about social deviants, the Singaporean identity, finance, spaces, fashion, logic, food and metaethics is not really all that bad!

Meteorological Station and Observation Station Visit

2008-09-05T22:16:00.009+08:00

Today was quite fun, I went to school at about 1pm with Zhao Yuan, then waited for the rest to arrive. Some went for their DMP trip, some went for fun, some went for the National Weather Studies Project next year, while some like me went for the Humanities Club trip, haha. So we went to Changi Airport Terminal 2 first, lols still as high class. Went to the NEA office there, which acts as the meteorological station for the flights... Learnt a whole lot there...some too chim haha, but still interesting...

Nice Equipment...

Those black lines are pencil-drawn! wow...

Then after a few lectures there and a fun tour, we went off and headed to Paya Lebar where the release of the weather balloon was going to take place. It is something which is done twice daily for the radiosonde to be lifted into the air by a helium-filled balloon and then sending weather information back to the station, which is then shared with stations all over the world. So I got a rare chance to see the whole process, very complicated...but I guess its important. Here are some pics of the rather run-down and ulu place...kinda like those places u see in tv shows where the gangster hideouts are found...haha. Spam pics to make up for lack of them at Changi Airport.

Get what I mean by run-down and ulu?

The balloon we r going to use...

See the helium at work? haha

The conventional kind of rain gauge

Lols, new kind...

Preparing for the release...

Off it goes!

Data coming in...

Sophisticated instruments...

Me!! haha.

The end. Wonder why its protected.

CIP@Pathlight

2008-09-03T20:26:00.002+08:00

Lols, so today woke up early and went to Pathlight for CIP. I went there very very carefully this time, cos I dont want to get lost again....always liddat on bus 55. Haha so it went well this time...luckily for me, cos I saw Zi Wei while I was on the bus and he was at the bus stop, if not I would have continued on with the ride, lols... (note to self: must improve on travelling skills or...I wont be able to go overseas myself, lols)

The first thing we did was ahem...(the worst) to scrape the paint/masking tape off the ground. There were many tools for us haha, like the teppanyaki thing...(yummy), chisels, 'metal combs' (lols, NOT suitable for your head), sandpaper (very effective but NOISY!) and more which we found, haha. Scrapping was tiring, cos the chisel was so small but there was so much to remove and it was so difficult to remove them, haha. Okay, I admit I was thinking about how scrapping would help the kids, but then I thought that maybe helping them with this can help save money which then can be spent on them. Haha that was what I was scraping so hardly for, lols.

Then we had a seemingly vegetarian-like lunch, ok im not sure if it really is... Well, to be fair to them, it wasnt bad la, just thought that maybe they should give us some meat cos we are doing like manual labour...haha. But its ok, cos what we did after lunch was easier, just putting up notice boards and checking the classrooms for stuff.(why do the clocks need to be so exact?) Then we just went into the com room again and played hangman while resting. Hangman can be really fun, lols. And then we had more food! We all got hotdog buns and shared some random food like beehoon, bao and lomaikai, haha. We also got one poncho each cos it was raining and then...home!

Tomorrow will be meeting our RE mentor at NUS, so work to be done tonight...

First class Calefare and NSPT

2008-09-02T22:22:00.002+08:00

Haha today morning woke up quite early to meet Teng Chuan and Alvin Lum at Hougang Mall for our SS project on NS. Since it was rather last minute, we couldnt actually do much and just planned some of the questions and did a little research before the interview. Then we went to eat lunch with Jim and then decided to go bowling, lols. Thanks to Jim for helping me carry my stuff haha. Bowling was quite fun la, Alvin claimed that he hasnt bowled in a long time, but he owned us in one of the games. Teng Chuan on the other hand was trying out his new technique, where the ball will go really close to the gutter before turning in another direction back to the centre of the lane and hit the pins down. When he does that and gets a strike, it looks like its hitting a glass panes or something. just beautiful. but difficult. only for pros. I just did my normal ones, spinning it a little then whack. but very inaccurate sometimes la...Haha they were all making jokes and saying funny stuff during the whole thing... I even said some good ones myself, haha. Like..."Teng Chuan got guts" haha. After bowling we went to the arcade for a while cos there was like almost nobody there so we could do whatever we want, like walking around in circles not knowing wat to play. But i did play just one in the end, its a music one so just press the buttons lor...actually wanted to play the drums one but suddenly some dam pro people started playing and just didnt go off haha. But its still nice to watch them la...haha

Then after I got home, went to rest then ate dinner and watched the 2 'must-see-tuesday' shows on channel 5, haha. Dunno why since I heard about this 2 shows during NDP then started watching until now, cos they are just so funny. I watch them every tuesday except last tuesday cos too busy...haha. Well thats about the only 2 shows i follow on tv, other than animes of course...speaking of animes, I just finished one anime movie yesterday. Im sure you would have heard of 'The Girl who Leapt Through Time' cos it was once in the cinemas, even in Singapore. Very nice. I mean, the animation was just alright la, not exactly fabulous but ok. Its the character, story and humour that I enjoyed. There is also a touch of the touching feeling towards the end (haha), and it really makes you think. What are the things you do that can affect others, and how. Also, how 'Time waits for no one' Haha that was a recurring theme throughout the movie. And it applies to us too haha. Ok, I should sleep earlier. lols, good luck to all those having their OIP now! Have fun and learn lots!

I was just thinking...about how laughing...happiness...humour are playing a part in my life...how important they are and how much I like them...haha. =D

Teachers Day + Scout Lore Quest =D

2008-08-30T23:46:00.007+08:00

So yesterday was Teachers Day and sorry to say this teachers but I kinda wrote your cards on that day itself...until 2.30am? Lols cos I took a lot of time thinking...(until I fell asleep) Had quite little sleep, but school was quite okay, at least the performances were decent and Teachers Day usually have like the funniest performances, haha. Though I was disappointed at the video this year, expected it to be longer and more hillarious... The theme this year was Heroes, which meant the teachers, so they had this competition called Heroes vs Zeroes and students had to compete with teachers for some events. Men had to do a three-legged race, which the teachers had no problem winning- with Mr Joseph Chong...and then for the ladies they had a chair race, the one which a group of 3 people had four chairs and they have to stand on them and move the last chair to the front then walk onto the first chair and so on...the students team were quite fast, but then...the heroes used their abilities and some 'scolded' the group of students and blocked their way while some directly sat on their chairs lols. So the students were stuck, guess the winner. Lols. There was also another funny one, which was the quiz which pitted students' IQ against HODs' lol. And the students even released their secret weapon...Nigel Fong- 'With Fong, things can never go wrong...' but they still lost haha, dam lame, asked questions like wats the square of 185...haha then maths HOD answer.

Anyway, after the celebrations I went around to find my teachers and gave them my cards. Lols quite a scene, everyone was crowding at the staffroom and stuff. Then went with the Rosyth people to watch movies at the library and I watched Stormbreaker, the Alex Rider movie. It was quite nice, cos it follows the book faithfully and some of the scenes were cool haha. I particularly liked the scene where Alex tried out the stormbreaker haha, cool. Then after watching we went to J8 to have lunch and then to Rosyth. Saw lots of people standing outside the school when we got there. Reminded me of the school's unreasonable policy. Then we could finally get in and I went around looking for Mrs Ng, Mr Lee and Mrs Wong, the usual teachers I would meet whenever I return, haha. They still look the same to me, haha good to see them doing well and its always nice to hear what they have to say, haha. My P5 buddy, Isaac, needs to relax more... Mrs Wong needs to take care of herself, cos everytime I go back i hear her voice getting worse... After the visit, Darren, Sher Yin, Jim, Yee Shing and I went to the void deck nearby and just chatted lols. Its fun catching up with old frens, really. Was quite happy to see some at school too haha. Then went home to nap and then mug the whole night away.

Today morning was the Scout Lore Quest! participated in the quiz section and went to school early...or so I thought. Didnt expect so many of them to be already there...but its ok, cos Im prepared haha. Then did some final revision and went to visit out static display booth while waiting for the quiz to start. Ventures quiz was first. It was only between 01 and 02 lols. We didnt do as well in the first round but caught up in the second and third round, haha and got 1st! =D Exciting to watch... haha. Then was ours...the Scouts section quiz. Dont understand why the number of questions for us were less than the Venture's one, cos they had 2 teams in the final while we had 3, but they had more questions than us...

Ours was really exciting...we ended the first individual round leading, with 8-4-2 (01-02-Beatty) then second group round was well-done, haha so roughly 28-9-7. (we got 4 correct!) Then the last one was group-buzzer round, worth 100 points, so was the most important...you can see that we were kinda stagnating for many questions, so much that 02 actually caught up after the fourth last question- one just one point more. With three more to go, Beatty answered one correct. Two more to go, nobody could answer. The absolute last one. We told ourselves that we have to snatch this oquestion no matter wat...correct-move back up to 1st place, wrong- maintain 2nd. Thats why. And so we got it, and its...easy. lol. Which side should the tent opening face when you camp near the sea at night? - It should face the sea. And we got that correct! So we all thought we had won, but no...the judges gave us another extra question to replace one question earlier which they accidently released answers for. What was Baden Powell's favourtie hobby? - Flyfishing. 02 was in the same situation as us, so they did wat we did too. Snatch the question, but they answered it wrongly. And so thats how we got 1st! =D Haha. What a relief...

Overall, I must say we did quite well, 1st for both sections of the quiz, and a silver for the static display! =D Good Job to all who have participated! Both for the scouts and venture section and quiz and static display categories! But especially those from my team! lols, Alvin, Anurak (not Glenn), Raga and Yi Ming. We all did well! Haha, luckily didnt let the absence from night hike go to waste...

A few photos from the recent past...

2008-08-24T11:45:00.010+08:00

Just found some pics from my camera...

A few from Hwa Chong's youth environmental conference- Project Eco...

People at the conference, lols

BCA Greenmark assessment criteria

RGS green club

Us doing up our project proposal.

Wow.

One from class...

My Class. See how it's like.

Two from patrol in town (at least the time I was there...)

cool.

What are they talking about? haha.

Two from the Beatty Sec Campfire!

quite neat haha, the back was nice

Campfires burning, campfires burning... lols.

Thats all...oh yea my tooth is fixed. =)

PTM2 2008

2008-08-23T21:35:00.002+08:00

lols, Im supposed to be doing my ERP now, but watteheck, haha. So, today I was at school at about 7.30am in the morning with Jim for the Parent-Teacher meeting. I was the form teacher helper so did the usual stuff, took the signs, drinks and buns and went to class. Ben Ng and Teng Chuan were also there with me, and none of us are the actual CEC members! Lols. Cos our CEC is made up of all Red Cross people, and they had something on... Well, so it was generally a fun thing, follow the schedule, let the parents in as planned, solve problems, smile. Haha, really, it was fun talking to your friends' parents sometimes. Parents do care...

Mr Koh takes too long sometimes till the point that there was once 6 parents waiting for him together...lols. And there was once when I accidently left the manga I was reading on the table outside the classroom, and a parent asked me if that was something important for them to read. Lols, then I was like so embarrassed and just said that thats mine, sorry...(but you shouldnt be touching it) (lols, jk la) But luckily everything went well, and most of us went home happily lols. And I missed my tuition.

Ironman? I feel like...

2008-08-21T16:34:00.002+08:00

a gingerbread man with a broken tooth. lols. Was mugging bio yesterday night so couldnt blog. Shall write a quick one, cos Im falling asleep... Yesterday was a day with no ccts, so yay. A day of rest. But after school, it was Ironman...but at the start I felt like a jelly man. Havent been running for some time now, becos of all the exams...so didnt do too well for the vertical challenge where we had to run up a block of flat all the way to the 24th floor. It was ok, shorter than I had imagined, but still tiring haha. Then went back to RI, where all the patrols were splitted up and went to our respective stations. Falcon's first was the phantom chair. Lols, I was like so noob I dropped quite early...that was sad. Tak Wei and Kenneth lasted the longest, and Tak Wei was like singing to distract himself, lols. Then was the pushup station. Erm that one we did quite well, haha, completed the whole thing. All together as a patrol. None of us dropped. =) Cos we told each other to push our limits. lols. It was like we had to form a tunnel in pushup position then the first person in the row just crawled through and then all do one pushup and just continued lols. After that was the 'mysterious' station which was actually just situps, lols. Just do as many as possible in 2 minutes then the score was the average of all the members'. Next was the rest station for us, so we just sat around talking lols. Chinup station. 1st part was to just do as many chinups or inclined pullups as you can in 5 minutes. Then 2nd part was to hang on the bar. Lols, this time we told each other to hang in there haha, so funny. This one also did not bad. Then was the last station, the piggyback race. I thought it would be a fun one, so I was like so excited in running lols, I wasnt wrong, it is indeed fun. So much that I fell while running and chipped my tooth, haha. It isnt anyone's fault, just mine. Should have taken better care of myself. It would be unreasonable for me to blame anyone else, whether it is those ppl watching, or ZiWei behind me. Im just so sorry something had to happen to me and we wasted one attempt in the race. And I lost the part of my tooth that chipped off. Somewhere at the front porch of the school, haha. It was ok la, no pain, no blood, no nothing. Just maybe no part-of-tooth too, lols.

I am a gingerbread man. Bio today was just alright.

When everything comes tumbling down...

2008-08-18T22:33:00.002+08:00

I mugged. I really did. I dont know why I couldnt do circles. and now I dont care anymore.

Cos its Geography tomorrow. And it would have helped if I knew exactly what to study.

I guess in times like this, optimism will be the best policy huh? I should be thinking of the happy times...like the campfire last Saturday was rather good...liked the 80's theme they had for some of the songs and dances lols. And the drills with dancing was memorable too haha. Oh yes and the person telling the story with the song...haha.

I want to smile. I want to laugh. But its kinda difficult in times like this, when almost everything fails you. =) I still have a long way to go. I cant stop smiling. I cant stop moving. I just cant stop.

omg...

2008-08-15T23:48:00.003+08:00

Luckily this week is coming to a close soon, after the scout lore quest tomorrow, where we will be tested on related topics such as the history of scouting, life of our founders, scouting in singapore, scouting skills and stuff. Lots to study and only the last 2 days to do it. Crazy. ah. Cos the hq suddenly brought the date forward, so we were like all dying trying to remember the stuff...

And next week...ERP is due. Yet to finish reading my second book. Maths CCT and interview on Monday, Geog CCT on Tuesday, Bio CCT on Thursday, Physics Practical, Being a Good Listener Presentation...siao.

Wish me luck...Im going to need all I can get...the next 2 weeks will be crazy...but hope I can get a break or something during the September hols...(even though we are already getting many projects cleverly due T4W1, such as the SS project and the CLE one...

About tomorrow, its going to be scout lore quest in the morning, and then Patrol-in-town activity, then home, and Beatty Scouts Campfire at night... Hope it will be better than the last, haha.

I need time.

Phew...

2008-08-12T23:57:00.003+08:00

Im making use of this little time I have to write this post...so yay it means i have some free time at least...

Today at school...screwed up chem cct. Dont wanna talk about it cos now my max is 80%...sad. So for the whole day I was quite depressed and not usual and just feel like...going home and sleep. Until the last period of the day when something was kinda unexpected. We got our APRs back, and I was rather satisfied with the grades I got, except for a particular subject which is the most impt but I just suck at it. Still, I improved on my GPA, and so yay. Hope to maintain it...(although I know its difficult, with all the >80 but <85... I shant say it without the brackets...) People were like suanning Manfred for his brilliant, outstanding score, haha.

Then after school I felt slightly better and decided to go for the PT session. Haha we all quite lala, so also didnt do too much, which is a good thing, but also partly bad, ok.

What was worse was the Slurpee from 7-11!!! I trusted you...and you disappointed me. The apple slurpee tasted of gas+water+grass. Yes, thats how it was. No taste of sweetness at all just sour and bitter. There wasnt even ice. Ask anyone who tried my slurpee. Im going to boycott that 7-11 for a short while...lol.

Today I just found an old friend back from Rosyth...haha. Interesting.

iwillmug

2008-08-11T22:05:00.003+08:00

iwillmugiwillmugiwillmugiwillmugiwillmugiwillmugiwillmugiwillmug

and do the crime prevention course thing, and other homework and nothing else. Not even blog.

Sorry for spamming crap. But iwillmug.

*suffering in silence* i think.

08.08.08

2008-08-09T11:16:00.004+08:00

Haha its just so nice to put that, even though its yesterday...anyway it was both the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, and the eve of Singapore's National Day! We still had to go to school for celebration, started at the same time but ended at 9.30am, haha so early. So we were in the hall watching a series of random performances. Erm...dont think theres a lot to talk about for the performances...i mean it isnt bad...its better than most other celebrations, but just not good enough yet haha. Then after we finished Mr Koh asked all of us to go to the LT2, turned out that we were supposed to take a 10-minute test on bonding for NIE. I did badly, but luckily it wont be counted for my GPA, lols, i havent mugged this topic yet. Chem CCT next Tuesday... Then was an extra chem lesson, lasted for slightly more than an hour, going through the test we just did haha.

Now out of school! Rushed to Plaza Singapura to meet Wan Jing and Darren. Sad that some ppl couldnt make it. Lols, we went to eat Japanese Ramen at Ajisen, haha, all time favourite for Jim and I... Then we went up to try and buy movie tickets, didnt buy before eating becos simply said, we didnt think of watching a movie, haha. So what we saw on the top floor was...crowds of ppl stuck at the box office. Lols, so we went to one of those GV express machines and bought tickets at J8. Lols, yea J8, so that means we were going back to J8 to watch a Money No Enough 2, lols. Actually wanted to watch The Dark Knight cos everyone was saying how good it is...but it was all full, haha. So we went back to J8 just in time to buy popcorn and enter, haha.

The movie started really funny, lols. I was laughing throughout the start of the movie cos the start was just showing all the 'ERP bots' transforming into ERP gantries everywhere, lols, like on all the roads, HDB lifts and MRT doors. (lols, apparently similar to the Mr Brown one). There was even talk about ERP gantries for aeroplanes and shipping passing through Singapore, haha. And 'ERP-take' and 'ERP-give' lols, dam funny, guess wat it is yourself or go watch it! haha. Oh yes their model of Singapore's CBD was really nice too, haha. The movie just talks about how three brothers were initially rich (to different extent) and then all became poor together. But when they were poor, they were also 'rich' in different ways. So watch the movie to find out! Funny scenes are scattered throughout the story, so dont worry about the humour, lols.

Then Jim and I went home and I just read a book called 'Holes' by Louis Sachar for my English ERP.(this time its Extensive Reading Programme, lols) And fell asleep reading it. Its a great book. I fell aseep becos I was too tired. Finished reading the book at night, before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Very good book, haha, some things have to be deduced...

Then I watched the opening ceremony...and I could only say wow. I just loved the show they put up, showing the 5000 years of Chinese history. It was on such a large scale...and the performances were just...so magnificent. Haha, I must say this has made me feel kinda proud to be a descendant...haha. Then came the athletes walking into the stadium, of all 204 countries...lols. Wanted to see Singapore so I waited...and waited...and waited. Feel quite cheated when the Singapore team finally entered. They were within the last 20 teams. 1 plus hours, waiting for them! They must feel proud. haha. I pity the women clapping their hands and dancing around the circle in the centre cos they had to smile and do that for so long...close to the end, they were all like so tired haha, I bet if I was there my face would have been spasming...lols. Though they suddenly got a burst of energy again when the last team, from China, entered. Cant blame them, it works the same way in us. i waited more than an hour for the Singapore team. Oh yes, and I feel sorry for those who entered early too, cos they had to stand there for so long...while I could lie on the sofa watching them, lols. But, i dont think its too tough for them la, they are athletes... The most rewarding thing watching them enter the stadium, is really seeing their BIG smiles. You feel their happiness, and feel happy for them. =D

I must also talk about the last part, about the last leg of the olympic torch relay. Someone 'flew up' carrying the torch and lighted the gi-normous torch, by lighting a small part of the 'scroll' and then the fire travelled up, turning one round on the scroll before reaching the top part of the scrool torch and exploded into a huge flame. And then I understood why the person didnt light the flame directly, haha.

I loved how they spammed fireworks too. And the funny thing is that our family was all making fun of the fireworks and a newspaper article yesterday in one of the Chinese papers I think, talking about one of the president scholars this year saying that every firework used in the NPD is depriving some ppl of a chance to go to university. Lols, we were like counting how many ppl in China would be deprived of a place in uni.

Oh yes, and one more thing im thinking of. After watching the super-zai olympics opening ceremony, would the NDP today seem...ahem...not as good?

Still, I wont forget to wish Singapore a HAPPY BIRTHDAY or to all Singaporeans, a HAPPY NATIONAL DAY! =D

881--->Papaya

2008-08-07T23:20:00.003+08:00

Today was quite fun, everyone is still discussing about DMP, to check if they are going for the same timeslots for the modules, discussing about how the system is really bad, and how they made good/bad decisions haha. Had physics quiz first thing in the morning. Thanks to Sheng Wei for running down to print a copy of the physics quiz for the five of us when there were missing ones. The quiz was...difficult, when I wasnt really thinking, but could do it when i thought a bit harder haha. But sad that I have no common sense...ok just not exam-smart. (I learnt that lines=no working=answer 0) During PE we played volleyball again cos Mr Chng said Java dont need to take the NAPFA retest already...I started off like my usual self...clumsy and everything, but when I got warmed up then slightly better, at least could hit the ball la, lols. Volleyball is fun when you can actually hit the ball. Recess we went to eat, then went back to class to see Mrs Lim already in class...got shocked but found out we werent late, she was early. Scary. English was the same again, played a lot of games and talked a lot of cock, just not a lot of discussing the actual stuff for our debates, lol. We played a game with the softball, where u can only hit the ball with the tip of a pen and try to hit off the table at someone else's side. And to make the 'meeting' more productive, we decided that anyone who loses a round must add in a point for our debates. That idea was actually good, but who cares.

After school, Xin Yan, Bennah and I went for the translation competition for the mother toungue week and we...didnt get through lols. Then Bennah and I went to watch 881 at LT1. Watched before, but still enjoyed some of it. I mean, some parts are funny la...they spoke in many different languages...and since there werent any subtitles, I couldnt really understand them, if not for Bennah. Lols, hes really good at languages. (especially more vulgar ones...) Took 55 and went home with Alvin Lum and Teng Chuan, DIDNT fall asleep or go in the wrong direction this time!

I lost my notebook. =(

Btw, the title means...I watched 881 and went for the translation competition today. haha.