Life is Such

New Blog

2006-10-22T21:16:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, I have a new blog. I will only be updating that blog, hence, please re-link me!

FOS

2006-10-19T16:49:00.000+08:00

I'm fine.

After SSG went out of his way to talk to me over the phone, I did lots of reflections. Lots. I mean it. I didn't sleep until past midnight. Not only because I injured my back due to a fall, but because I reflected over what SSG said.

***********

For today's Festival Of Sports, I signed up for tennis with 6 other classmates:

1. Han Shen -- Great potential in tennis, plays well and not arrogant. Laudable.

2. Kang Le -- I nearly mistook him for Marat Safin. Tall, BIG server, aggressive forehand but not bad-tempered. ^-^

3. Lucas -- Too STRONG. He looks murderous with a tennis ball and racket and gearing up for huge groundstroke. Sometimes, he hits too hard and the ball travels out of the court.

4. Wah Jiang -- Loves to blame everything due to topspin/sidespin. (i.e. I lobbed the ball, which landed in the court and he said he couldn't reach for the ball due to "spin")

5. Ervin -- Quick and agile. As a badminton school team player, he has a slight advantage; he volleys the tennis ball just as he would net the shuttle.

6. Marcus -- "Pro basketballer". Reminds me of Troy (in High School Musical)...

Anyway, after a day of tennis, my already injured back feels like tearing apart. In fact, I couldn't even chase after a tennis ball! My mobility has been severely reduced. I wonder how I'm going to survive tomorrow's training...

NcC SuX

2006-10-16T13:07:00.000+08:00

I regret walking that way.

I regret walking pass the staff-room.

I regret going to school today.

After collecting the Chinese Exam papers from Miss Teyc, I saw Staff Sergeant. He beckoned me to follow him to the MSCP, where the rest of the Part A cadets are. Then, after long time, he indirectly forced me to promise to attend training.

Forced? NCC has become a CCA where the pitiful and pathetic cadets render their body to the miserable cruelty of the Sergeants etc. NCC is supposed to discipline cadets physically and mentally. But my memory of NCC is doing push-ups while shouting "1! Sergeant!... 2! Sergeant!... 3!..."

I vividly remember Staff Sergeant saying "You (the cadets) can hate us, but during training, I want to see you put in 100% effort! Is that clear?" Something like that. Therefore, I WILL hate Staff Sgt. and Sergeants and I SHALL hate them and I SHOULD hate them, since I CAN hate them.

I regret not quitting NCC after the first training. If I can "Ctrl-Z"(undo) my life, I will Crtl-Z to the first day of training. After training, I will IMMEDIATELY quit, when Sir Paul Ho asks who wants to quit. Then i will carry on with life from there. I may not get MSG 1.0 in Term 3, but I don't mind. All I want is to get the hell out of that infernal CCA.

But since I can't turn back time, I may as well just die off or something. Come to think of it, I understand why teenagers commit suicide. Death liberates people from the surplus of problems that they face. If I vanish from the face of the Earth, I will never have to attend NCC for the rest of my life. And won't have to compete academically.

Futhermore, there are so many ways to die! I can stick a knife in my body, jump down from my class at Level 4, stand in the middle of Bukit Timah Road, drown in the swimming pool or stand in front of an MRT train travelling at 80km/h. Either ways, I can come back to haunt NCOs. I can burn their Chemistry notes, tear their Physics worksheets, shred their Biology tutorials, throw away their Maths textbook, smear cow dung on their Humanities files etc. Then we shall see their MSG. It would be either 9.0, 8.0 or 7.0. Sweet Revenge.

Now that I have vented my frustrations on my blog, which I will change soon, I feel better. At least I have something to take pride in:

1. I managed an A1 in Geography Exams.
2. I am one of the few bloggers who openly blog about death.

I prefer to take pride in the latter.

Yesterday

2006-10-01T10:55:00.000+08:00

Is flair for sports hereditary?

My sisters and I were pondering over that question last night.

Yesterday, my sister and I played volleyball to get a break from studying. As it was my first attempt at volleyball, my sister – an avid volleyball player – taught me the fundamentals. She demonstrated how to set, spike and hit the ball. Afterwards, we started hitting the ball to each other.

As I shall reiterate, it was my first time playing volleyball, so my arm – the point in contact with the ball – turned red and felt sore. Just when I thought I was dying, my sister told me that that happens all the time when we play volleyball. But my sister complimented that I am a fast learner because I could retrieve, set, spike and hit the ball well – given that it was my first attempt.

Back home, my father told us that both him and my mother played volleyball when they were about my age. I was stunned! Could it be that their skills were hereditary and my sister and I happened to get some of the genes?

My father plays a lot of sports, although he has stopped playing some of them. The sports he engages/engaged in are: golf, tennis, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, squash and soccer. My mother plays/played: golf, tennis, badminton, volleyball, netball and basketball.

Coincidentally, the sports that I play are: tennis, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, basketball and soccer. I am better at racket sports such as tennis and badminton, but I am a noob at soccer and basketball. Coincidentally, my father won a lot of trophies in badminton and my mother had tennis training before.

The link is creepy. Maybe you would like to list down your best sports and compare them with those of your parents. Maybe… there is a link…

Exam Friday

2006-09-29T19:10:00.000+08:00

I need help.

I think the blues are hitting me hard -- literally.

These days, I feel very... tense... I just don't know how to describe it.

It's like, yeah, my friends are telling me that I am lucky as I don't have to take certain exams. Ironically, it's these "exemptions" that put pressure on me. People will be expecting me to do even better in IH and Mathematics. It's the pressure...

Laugh at me for all you want, but I did a very stupid thing today. I wrote "3 A1s" on my left palm. It's supposed to motivate me to MUG. If you epitomise the spirit of "k-p-o-ness", you can ask Li Chung or Jia Xun to find out more about the "3 A1s" on my left palm.

Last issue to address: Sets. To represent a union of Set M and Set G, the set would be (M u G)...

MUG!

Exams

2006-09-26T17:30:00.000+08:00

I decided to blog today because I want to keep my blog alive, if not SOMEONE will criticise my blog by saying that it is dead. (Clue: the SOMEONE is a proud peacock)

The first lesson today was MUSIC. I love and appreciate MUSIC lessons because it is the only non-stressful lesson in this period. Although I don't like the songs we sang today, at least, we don’t have to sit for an exam for it.

Now, I must start venting my anger.

Firstly, I did not bring my file today! My worksheets and foolscap paper -- are at home!

Secondly, I did NOT get a High Distinction for the New South Wales Competition (English)! It's not that I need it as a testimonial to my intelligence (I am not smart, to begin with), but because it can garner me more ACE points! To make things more maddening, I realize that I missed High Distinction by a few marks only! What the…

Thirdly, I am NOT exempted from the Integrated Humanities End-of-Year Exam. This is so sickening! If you average out the scores, I have scored an A1 for all my tests and maxed out my ACE points! Even my Geography teacher told me that she was surprised I am NOT exempted from IH. Ironically, it turned out that Jun Rong was exempted from IH. Grrh…

Wierd Test

2006-09-14T20:05:00.000+08:00

I am so dead. I have a Flash website due next week and I have not even started. Screwed up.

Like many other people, I will not be blogging frequently these days -- exams in 22 dreadfully long days. So I will only be blogging about two issues.

Today, Tze Hao exemplified the pride/lazy factor extremely well. Clap. During lesson, my Chinese teacher found a piece of paper residing centimeters away from Tze Hao's chair and asked him to pick it up and walk a few meters to fling it into the dustbin. Tze Hao bend down to pick up the paper and later, when the teacher was not looking, he conveniently stuffed it under John's table. Then, when the Chinese teacher asked where the paper is, Tze Hao ACTED as if he has no idea where it is, and looked around as if he is looking for it. Then, he quickly removed it from under John's table and the rest is history. Doesn't this simply goes to show his attitude?

Second issue, the MOE survey. HCI students were randomly picked to take a test that lasts 2 hours. The students took either the Mathematics or the English paper, both of Primary Six standard and format. I took the English paper, which consists of 43 MCQ questions (vocabulary, grammer, comprehension, cloze etc included) and a composition. The paper is EASY. It was A BREEZE. For the first time, none of my brain cells were massacred in a test. I completed 43 MCQ questions in 15 minutes. A career record.

Then came the composition. With like 1 hour and 45 minutes, I wrote my composition at snail's pace, writing neatly, even drawing pictures before erasing them off. In fact, the most difficult question in the paper was "Choose the topic for your essay:________". I pondered for minutes on that. In fact, even after I finished my essay, I STILL had time to change papers with Hong Kee's to read his essay.

Term 4

2006-09-12T19:13:00.000+08:00

The holidays are over and Term 4 has commenced. Welcome to school life, guys.

It was a nerve-wrecking moment today, because my group would be having our Music test! Sure, we have Wen Hao, the best singer in Secondary 1, but what about the rest of the 3 members including me? Our song was the "Start Of Something New". When we began, our Music teacher Mrs Chan praised the group (mainly Wen Hao) for our ability to remain on tune. We ended up with a score of 39/50, all thanks to Wen Hao.

My class also had our Science Test(4) this term. Before the test, I have this feeling that my class would do well, because throughout the whole day, my classmates were busy revising and regurgitating facts! Ha!

Oh yes, my subject teachers talked about our coming exams. Apparantly, 7 exams will be crammed into 5 days! Well done. So I really hope that I can be exempted from the exams. Haiz...

September Holidays

2006-09-05T09:40:00.000+08:00

This September Holidays has got to be the most overloaded one.

I realise that by comparing the rate of homework per Holiday days, this Holiday is the most "stressful". There are 8 Geography tutorials, 3 sets of Science past years exam papers, 3 Chinese assignments (eww...), 2 Maths worksheets and many more. The list stretches on as if it can rival the River Nile. And to make things worse, I have only completed 2 Geography tutorials! Well Done.

Anyway, I just watched the US Open 2006 4th Round between Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo, with Mauresmo eventually emerging victorious. Personally, I don't think that Mauresmo deserves to win, because she is too masculine. Besides, since Mauresmo has already won 2 Grand Slams, I think Mauresmo should let Serena Williams win...

Malacca

2006-09-02T21:20:00.000+08:00

Phew! I have just came back from a short vacation in A'Famosa, Malacca with my family and I am extremely exhausted.

My father had the pleasure of driving the family to A'Famosa, a reknowned holiday resort in Malaysia. Sleeping in a car travelling at 140km/h, the trip there was quick. Upon arrival, we had our lunch settled in the clubhouse where the service was disappointedly miserable and the food was disgusting and expensive.

However, the condominium unit that my father booked was spacious, well-ventilated and very clean (below)! I was very impressed.

Although the weather was hot, my family came prepared -- we stocked up the refrigerator with cans of my favourite drink, Aloe Vera with grape pulps.

I toured around the apartment and nearly fell off the balcony laughing at the hilarious use of the English Language.

Can you spot the mistake? In fact, the resort has lots of embarrassing misusages of the English Languages as I eventually found out. For example, on a vehicle pass: "Failure to produce this PASS could result in your departure being delayed and your personal particular being record". There are 2 mistakes in the sentence.

Firstly, the word "could" suggests possibility. So my sarcastic sister Siobhan Lau, made a gibe, "Dad, let's purposely lose the pass, because there is a chance that nothing may happen at all!" Secondly, the last word should have been "recorded".

Now when I reflect, I find it ironic that a widely-advertised resort like A'Famosa can afford to have so many mistakes in its linguistic usage. Forget "Little Ironies of Singapore", let's have "Little Ironies of Malaysia".

In the afternoon, my family and I went to the Water World. We tried a total of 8 slides -- 3 "Family Raft" slides, 2 "Body Slide" slides and 3 "Inner Tube" slides. We also took a round of the "Lazy River" and went to the "Big Wave Pool". However, we could not take ANY pictures of the fun we had at the Water World because the CAMERA BATTERIES WENT FLAT! Sorry. But to salvage some loss, I managed to take a picture of the slides from our condominium unit.

In the night, we went to the "Cowbot Town". At the entrance, we were greeted by a group of "cowboys" dancing to some tunes to attract customers, I guess.

In the "Cowboy Town", we had our dinner at a place called "Huang Di Chinese Restaurant" where the food tasted fabulously and reasonably priced. The service there is superb too.

The day concluded at 10pm, when my family and I went back to the condominium to relax in the comforts of snacks, cold beverages and air-conditions.

The next day, we went to this particular street in Malacca City where all the Chinese and Nonya stores are located. We had our lunch of Laksa and a desert Chendol there and I think that the food is heavenly! We then walked down the stretch of road that resembles Chinatown and bought some of the kuehs and tidbits along the way.

I feel that the people in Malacca are generally very polite, friendly and approachable. For example, when we left A'Famosa, the security guard said "Thank you sir, thank you madam" to my parents and made some sort of a salute. Then at the store where we had our sumptuous lunch, my father asked some of the local folks about the history of the buildings there and they reciprocated without a grudge and even smiled at us as if they enjoyed chatting with us!

Teachers Day

2006-08-31T21:05:00.000+08:00

Happy Teachers Day!

Today, Hwa Chong Institution, like other schools nation-wide, celebrated Teachers Day in a "grand" fashion to show appreciation for the teachers' hard work.

The students and teachers were entertained by performances from some Secondary 4 classes, a Year 2 student, a skit by a team of teachers and a singing performance by teachers. Let me just do a quick re-cap of the nicer performances:

1. The Year 2 student from class 2E dazzled the school with his marvellous yo-yo skills. The student is Singapore's best in executing yo-yo tricks and World No.11. It came as no surprise then, that his performance left us awe-struck most of the time.

2. The skit performed by a team of teachers had every student laughing out loud (lol). It is a story revolving around Loh Me Ho (Romeo) and Zhu Zhu Lie (Juliet). They met by chance at a bus-stop at K.A.P and since then, love blossomed between both of them as they met a few times and SMS-ed each other frequently. However, Zhu Zhu Lie's parents refuse to let her date Loh Me Ho! In a bid to escape, Loh Me Ho was knocked down by 3 cars but miraculously survived! That accident made the protagonists fall deeply in love...

3. High School Musical performance by class 4E and 4G! 2 guys attempted to sing "Breaking Free" and the guy singing Gabriella's lyrics ended up going off-pitch on a few occasions. However, my favourite was the performance by class 4G -- they danced to the song "We're All In This Together"! My blog song! Although I don't like their dance, it was the song played from the CD that interested me. I practically sang to the song!

After the celebration which ended at about 10am, I left for my primary school to meet my teachers and friends. Few of my classmates have changed personalities, most have not. I can't really comment on friends like Noel, Xiao Xi, Charmaine, Xu Ying etc because I see them quite frequently.

Valerie Seah Hui Wen, Head Prefect of Yuhua Primary in 2005. Pretty, cheerful and still commands an aura of "class" that is worth demystifying .

Pearlyn Tan a.k.a. Queen of Sarcasm, is still the same old self when I saw her -- snappy, sarcastic and insane.

Wang Kun Wei a.k.a Polar Bear, has not changed much, still dark-skinned, big-sized and always in laughter.

Sim Ming Yeow a.k.a. Rambutan Head, remains pretty much the same -- slim and tall, talkative and humorous.

It was my relief when some teachers were able to recall my name.

Mdm Nina, teacher-in-charge of P6 prefects last year, called my name and I turned around to see her. I have to thank Mdm Nina. Although she did not teach me any academic subjects, she had helped me become a better leader by guiding me as I grew from an inconfident mere student to a leader able to emcee a grand prize-giving ceremony with my friend.

Mrs Neo, the teacher-in-charge of badminton. During the tournament last year, she motivated and encouraged the school team and we did rather well in the West-zone tournament. Sometimes during training, she would see us play and give us tips etc.

Ms Esther Tan, my English teacher last year and a "second mother" to most of my friends. Everytime my friends and I go back to Yuhua Primary School, we make an effort to find her. Ms Tan's relationship with my friends and I transcends the academic area. During our past 2 chalets, she took charge of most of the work and this year, even though we are longer her students, she still invited us to her house for a steamboat dinner. I still remember that my friends and I left her house at 11pm that night. Ms Tan's teaching method has a right combination of fun, wit, humour, sarcasm, seriousness and intensity -- my definition of a good teacher.

Ms Adeline Tan, currently known as Mrs Ng (she has married), but my friends and I prefer calling her Ms Tan. She is THE teacher to most students once taught by her. Once, in P4 when Ms Tan was my teacher, I was down in the blues due to some problems. None of my friends noticed my plight but Ms Tan noted me and called my parents to find out why and even "counselled" me. In that same year, I (along with Valerie) won a gold medal in the New South Wales English Language Competition. It was Ms Tan who accompanied us to Shenton Way to recieve the prize along with us. In the conference hall, she shared some of her funny experiences when recieving prizes. Hence, it is no surprise that every Teachers Day, Ms Adeline Tan recieves the most number of presents from students.

A Happy/Miserable Day

2006-08-30T20:09:00.000+08:00

Today should have been a good day, but it did not turn out to be so.

Let me just skip to the end of the school day. After my class completed our class-cleaning, our form teacher came into the class to notify us of our results. Much to my pleasure, I scored 7 straight A1s, culminating in a "much-coveted" MSG of 1. It it useless to talk about my scores now, since the tests are over. But I think it serves as a source of motivation for me to replicate the miraculous achievement. Agree?

So after school, I went to Mayflower Primary School for CIP. However, it is boring, so I shall talk about the lunch. At around 4.30pm, my friends and I followed our Geography teacher to lunch. 4.30pm. Lunch? Yes. I had lunch at 4.30pm. While having lunch with her, I noticed that she is actually a very caring teacher who shows concern to all her students. She shared one or two tips on what we should do to excel in exams and encouraged us to buck up.

Back at home, when I told my mother about my results, she was happy for me. Then I asked a question that I have been asking for 2 years: Can I have a camera-phone?

BOOM!

My mother began lecturing me, saying, "do you know how many people lose their handphones everyday just because they possess the latest model?" Before I could reply that I do not want the latest model, she had already walked away. That dropped the bomb on me. Later at night, while my family ate dinner heartily, I lied that I've already had dinner with my friends and don't feel hungry. Fact is, I have no appetite.

Somehow, I feel that my efforts have NEVER been appreciated. Why can't my father give me a little materialistic comforts that I need? My father bought this house at $910 000, has just recently upgraded his car to a Nissan Cefiro 2.3, has a 3G phone and another camera-phone and is the member of 2 country-clubs. Ironically, when I have a minute request like a camera-phone, he will start lecturing me and make me seem like an idiot. Hellooo, I think my father has the poorest financial management in the world.

So to answer Wei Chuan, I have something sad to say: I can only change my handphone when I grow up and earn my own money because my father thinks that a $500 handphone is more expensive than the $910 000 house.

Monday Blue

2006-08-28T20:28:00.000+08:00

Call it "Monday Blues" if you want, but today was rather unpleasant albeit some surprises.

Even when we had our flag-raising ceremony, the gloomy sky complemented the listless and soft singing of the Hwa Chongians, as though the students didn't sleep at all.

The first lesson of the day: Literature. We got back our test in a painfully long time. As my teacher gave out the papers, she habitually commented a line or two about the student's performance in the test. When she called my name, I froze and clutched the table tightly like an idiot! I must have looked very stupid doing that! Anyway, when she said," You need to improve on your second question ah...", I thought it was over.

My A1.

Gone.

But when I saw the numbers 19/25, I was shocked! So I got A1 afterall!

The whole Secondary One cohort also had a PCME Quiz today. But I did NOT study for it! I feel that the quiz has an extremity of easy questions and mentally-straining questions. One question was something like: "...someone being bullied... what would you do?" I laughed at the question. (I laughed at some of the stupid questions and options). Who doesn't know that when you are asked such a question, you can just give a "politically-correct" answer like: "I would approach the teacher and inform her of the problem." ? That question seemed like it was set to undermine our intelligence.

Character Analysis

2006-08-24T15:45:00.000+08:00

I watched another debate yesterday -- the semi-final debate between Nanyang Girls High and a team from China. It was a rather mediocre performance from the 2 schools. In fact, when I got seated in the auditorium and looked at the debate topic displayed via the visualiser, I was puzzled. The topic was a lame topic with -- honestly -- nothing to talk about. No Offense. The Nanyang Girls High students almost humiliated themselves with their mundane articulation and perspicuity compared to the razor-sharp China nationals. Needless to say, the China team won. The other semi-final between Hwa Chong and a taiwanese team saw the HCI team emerge victorious. **Li Chung, don't cry**

Meandering fom the topic of debate, let me introduce to you people my classmate -- Zhun Song.

Zhun Song learns Japanese, so if you find him familiar it may be because you have seen him in Japanese class. Zhun Song is quite a reticent boy who is easily bullied. For example, if you ask him to throw away your bottle, he will most probably nod his head and execute his "task". But the bad habit that he has is acting blur and innocent. When scolded by a teacher, he will give a very innocent look and escape being scolded!

Sabbatical Day one of Maths

2006-08-21T21:22:00.000+08:00

Sabbatical Day One: Survived.

Discovery and Rediscovery Of Maths. That's my sabatical. So today was the first day and I got a few nightmares.

Firstly, Sergeant Karlton is one of my co-trainers! I almost fainted when I saw him! The reason? (I'm not gay and I have no infatuation on him). ALL my Sergeants (Training Team) have grumpy and emotionless expressions perpetually etched on their faces! It's like as if they are ready to kill you with a fatal blow any moment! Even my friend Wei Chuan concurs with my opinions.

Secondly, Benny from 1K, has superb mental calculations, as if he hid a powerful calculator in his puny brain. When the co-trainer gave us addition sums and wanted us to evaluate the sums mentally, Benny was ALWAYS the first to answer the sums and his answer is correct 90% of the time! It's like, when the co-trainer said, "1197+2948", before I can VISUALISE the figures, Benny has already raised his hands and rattling off the answers! Wow!

Anyway, after the sabbatical, my friends and I went back to the class to wait for our Maths teacher to return us our test papers. Thud Thud. My heart stopped for a few seconds (compromising the amount of blood flowing in my body) as I shuffled my feet towards the teacher. When I took the paper from Mr Fong's hand, I looked at my score: 35/40. Phew. A1. Relief. Joy.

After another short round of (music-test) rehearsal with Wenhao, my friends and I went to the Drama Centre to watch the preliminary round of a prestigious Chinese debating competition where students from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, CHINA etc participate. The particular debate I saw was the debate between a Taiwanese team and a China Team. Whoosh. The students were RAPPING their arguments at about 300 words/min! I am thoroughly impressed by their command of the Chinese Language and their verbal expression. What really got my attention was the time they took to think of their rebuttal -- 1 nanosecond. The moment a representative from the proposition has finished his point, a representative from the opposition would stand up and rebuke. So for one and a half hours, the audience was treated to a debate of sheer impressive quality. Eventually, the taiwanese team won.

Friday

2006-08-19T09:48:00.000+08:00

Hi blog, Hi human beings reading my blog...

Yesterday there was no training, so I was very free and had lots of time to burn. I ended up using my 2 hours of time playing soundtracks from "High School Musical". I think I'm crazy about it. For 4 days, I have listened to none other songs besides "High School Musical" songs! Insane!

Anyway, I got back my History test paper yesterday too. Just got a humble A1. Phew. Relief.

My friend, Joel Tan, is really laudable. He scored a staggering 19/20! For a History test, 19/20 is celestial. But Joel's results do not occur once in a lifetime. Most of the time, when we get back our Literature and History test papers, Joel's essay is picked as the model essay. Bravo. Applaud. Cheer.

Then in the evening, my father came to the school to attend a talk about controlling blogging and gaming addiction of teenagers. With virtually nothing to do, I tagged along. The only issue I want to comment is about blogging. During the talk, the speaker seems to condemn blogging in an oppressive manner. Felt like walking up front to punch him.

So yesterday was a rather acceptable day. Yeah. That's it. Bye.

A Boring Day

2006-08-14T17:56:00.000+08:00

My Chinese teacher is a b***h. Virtually everyone in my class concurs with that. Once, I did nothing wrong by lending my friend my homework and she lectured my friends and I and wanted us to write a "letter of remorse". Then, today, she told us that she will be testing us on idioms tomorrow. When we gasped in shock, she nonchalantly said,"Didn't you learn it last week? I told you about it last week!" Yeah. As if. She NEVER told us about it beforehand. Well Done, Teyc, you are currently the b***hiest teacher I know.

Anyway, I stayed back in school today to discuss about the Music Project. My group plan to sing "Start of Something New" from the High School Musical. It sounds nice, but when we sang it... erm... But my friend, Wen Hao, has a very good voice! He controls his pitch very well and to put it simply, he has a very very good voice.

National Day Celebration

2006-08-09T13:11:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the National Day Celebrations and it was fun!

It started with a parade which included a march-in by the 4 uniform groups and the 3 soporific speeches. I have no idea of the gist of the National Day Message as I was not listening at all. I waited for silence then clapped along with the rest of the school.

Anyway, the parade was followed by a "carnival", where Secondary 4 classes and Secondary 1 classes set up stalls selling food, beverages or organising games. Students have to utilise coupons, which can be purchased in booklets worth $10, to participate in games or buy food. The money earned from each stall was donated to Pertapis, a charity organisation.

It was a crowded scene everywhere, as the stallholders were shouting to attracting students etc. My class was selling fried vegetarian food such as fried bee hoon, fried rice, spring roll etc.

The stall with the best business has to be the stall set up by the ProEd Parent Support Group. It sold food like rice, noodles, brownies and bubble tea. It was a smart idea, as given Singapore's hot weather, the bubble tea was a sold-out. It was also humiliation, as that particular stall was located right beside our stall!

Another activity that captivated the attention of all, was the "Dunking Booth" set up by the ProEd Council. A teacher will be sitting on a wooden plank, directly on top of a big barrel of water. Participants have to throw a basketball to push the extension of the plank, breaking the support of the plank. As a result, the plank will drop, and the teacher will fall into the water! As the game proceeds, some people will throw waterbombs at unsuspecting students, making sure that most people are wet!

My Maths teacher was a "victim" of the "Dunking booth". He fell into the water 5 time! When it was his turn to sit on the plank, the DJ made an announcement and said,"If you have sat for his Maths test paper, you would like to dunk him." HaHa. I have sat for 4 of his papers, but I did not dunk him.

Another interesting idea was the DJ Booth. Similar to Singapore's radio stations, students are allowed to dedicate songs and messages by writing them down in a piece of paper. The DJ then reads out the message and plays the song. I dedicated a song, but did not manage to hear it being broadcasted though...

HAPPENING Day

2006-08-04T22:30:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since I blogged... due to "depression" and "stress"...

My last blog entry was on July 22 and it's now August 4. For most bloggers, I suppose it is a long period of "non-blogging". Anyway, let me just try to explain my long MC...

As usual, my term tests are imminent and needless to say, I have to study! So I don't think I need to elaborate futher. But at the same time, I have many projects to handle! A variety of projects from various subjects and the mountain of homework that rivals the height of Mount Everest (nice metaphor ;-)) culminate in my "depression". Initially, I thought that if I put up an optimistic and happy appearance, no one would notice my troubles. But once, when I was taking the bus home with my best friend, he saw me looking out of the window and said,"Wah, Sherwin, you look depressed leh..." Spot-on.

Finally, on an overcast day when the sky looked ready to unleash a fatally spectacular lightning show, I broke down. At that time, I was walking towards the bus-stop outside the school. Then, I just walked to the tables in the ground floor of Block A (besides the Tower Block), sat down, buried my face in my hands and broke down. It was the first time in my life I was so pressurised. At that moment I was just feeling very confused, unable to grapple schoolwork, projects and etcetera. I wanted to shout out loud, but then people would mistake me for a caveman. So I washed my face and went home. I didn't tell anyone, until now. I didn't want anyone to worry about me.

Back to the present. Today was a HAPPENING day, as I experienced many things. First, today was "Dress-Down Day", when students wear casual clothes to school, but are encouraged to be attired in either red, orange, or yellow. Today was also my the day for my History test. I think I flunked it. I didn't have time to complete my essay question! Today was also the day of the Raffles-Hwa Chong Friendly Soccer Match. It ended with Hwa Chong winning 4-3 on penalty.

But most importantly, I played tennis today! It has been a long time since I played tennis and I did it today! Tennis is my favourite sport and that's why I am so excited about it. So anyway, I played with two of my classmates who are both in the school's tennis CCA. We played some sort of a match, where you have to win 3 points or with a margin of 2 points to emerge victorious. I won both of them at least once! Wow! Once, Han Shen came to the net to volley but I produced a lob that crossed over his head inside the court to become a forehand winner! Another occasion, Wah Jiang approached the net to volley. However, I was lucky enough to produce another lob that flew across his 1.75m frame to become another forehand winner! Then, there was this exciting rally I had with a Secondary 2 senior. At one point, he lobbed to the baseline and I was anxious to return the shot. Then I heard Han Shen shout "Sherwin, relax". I relaxed and hit a miraculous forehand winner down the service line!

Today has been a wonderful day and I really love it.

ORD

2006-07-22T19:33:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a very fun day... a day which I will never forget...

It began with the celebration of Racial Harmony Day, with the students and teachers brightly dressed in either ethnic costumes or orange or red or yellow clothes. After the Reading Programme, the Secondary 1s went to the Kah Kee Hall to watch or participate in traditional games. Thereafter, they proceeded to the concourse, the venue for the "Ethnic Market". Then, the students were treated to a variety of performances in the auditorium. After another break at the Ethnic Market, the students were whisked off to the Drama Centre for a BORING documentary screening.

But the highlight of yesterday was during my NCC-training-cum-NCOs-ORD. First, we went to the area outside the EP3 Shed to conduct the Muster Parade for the passing out of the NCOs. Then we were given a briefing conducted by our new NCOs to discuss our expectations, introduce ourselves etc. Next, we were given time to rehearse for our performance during the "ORD concert" before we had our dinner.

During the concert, we, the Part As had to perform first. We sang two songs, "Bad Day" and "Catch Your Wave", both which had its lyrics re-written by us. We also performed a skit re-enacting one particular horrible training session. But the drama was saved for the last. Towards the end of the game conducted by the Part Bs, the surreptitious Part Cs who had all the while been on the second floor, literally bombarded us with water bombs. All "hell" broke loose.

The NCOs joined in the fun and used pails of water to splash the Part Cs in "reciprocation". Not wanting to be left out, the rest of the cadets joined in the fun by snatching pails from the NCOs or Part Cs, filling it with water, and splashing the water at other people. The "fluid war" ceased when the CLT shouted for us to stop. Oh Oh. (When a CLT has to shout, you know they are going to "tekan" you).

Anyway, being responsible cadets of the HCINCC, we cleared up the mess before proceeding. We were split into our Parts for a final debrief conducted by our retired NCOs. My NCOs, Master Yu Han, Staff Andrew, Staff Ding Jie and Staff Shu Liang told us about their past experiences and gave us tips for the rest of the trainings. That was the last time they would be debriefing us, hence, everyone was a bit emotional. Then, Staff Ding Jie said he wanted to give us one more drill before we parted. We obliged:

Ding Jie: "Part A watch your front, Part A sedia!"
Part A: [Bang]
Ding Jie: "Ke-Blakan-Pusing!" (turn backwards)
Timer: "Turn... Check!"
Part A: [Turn and Bang]
Ding Jie: [Splashes the whole platoon with a pail of water!]

Very Funny. We immediately turned around after being splashed with water, wanting to take revenge on Ding Jie. But then Master Yu Han stepped in and announced that that was just a joke. He then gave each cadet a different postcard, with messages written by the 4 NCOs (Yu Han, Andrew, Ding Jie and Shu Liang) on the back. When I opened up my envelope and looked at the messages on my postcard, I was very touched. The messages were very true, not those kind of messages downloaded from the internet.

Anyway, we then proceeded to LT2, for the final part of the ORD(Official Retirement Day). We gave out gifts for the NCOs and watched a video made by the Part Cs. The gifts from the us, the Part As, were quite offensive. For example, for our Sergeant Major, who is very short,
we gave him a skipping rope.

When the ORD ended, it was already 10.45pm. Taking my bag from the bunk, I trudged towards the bus-stop outside the school. After 45 minutes, I finally reached home. At home, I took a quick shower and looked at my postcard again. Suddenly, I felt a pang of sadness.
Suddenly, I miss Yu Han. I miss Andrew, Ding Jie and Shu Liang. But most of all, I miss experiencing all the hardship and fun under the 4 of them. To the NCOs of Part [A]'06, I thank you for grooming us and I will remember you guys forever. Never forget.

Judo Finals

2006-07-19T21:04:00.000+08:00

Today is THE Day, when HCI will defend its title as the National Track-and-Field CHAMPION. HCI will also be competiting in the Judo Finals for the "A", "B" and "C" Divisions. Much to my disappointment, my class, along with other classes, were chosen to support the Judo Finals.

I know next to nothing about Judo and I have zero interest in Judo. Worse of all, as a student Councilor-In-Training (CIT), I have to lead the students in cheers and hence, my enthusiasm has to be there. But as you know, I have NO interest in Judo! Anyway, a senior councilor spotted me looking quite bored and told me to be more enthusiastic. To that, I replied sarcastically," Oh! I love Judo!" No Offense.

Anyway, the competition was mainly between Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Institution, as both schools had managed to enter the Finals for many divisions. Eventually, my school emerged triple-champions! We won the Finals for all the "A", "B" and "C" Divisions! Being good sportsmen, when the competition ended and after we had done our victory cheer, we gave Raffles Institution and other participating schools encouraging cheers like:

"3 cheers for Raffles [clap x5]
3 cheers for Raffles [clap x5]
3 cheers for Raffles [clap x11]"

心韵新韵

2006-07-15T21:08:00.000+08:00

Today I had another lecture at the Sciece Centre. The lecture was called "Adventures With Pressure", where we learnt about the SI Unit for pressure, atmospheric pressure and etc. After the lecture, my friends and I walked to the Jurong Regional Library where we changed into our "home clothes" before heading towards King Albert Park for lunch.

At about 3pm, we then went to Nanyang Girls High for a performance collaboration between Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang Girls High. The performance lasted about 2 hours and it consists of 3 different stories.

The first story was "guang3 dong1 jie1". It is about 3 boys who played truant and wandered into "guang3 dong1 jie1", a long stretch of road that is lined with stalls. From there, the boys did not know how to go home! Then, one boy had an idea to violate the law so that they can enter a rehabilitation centre where free food and shelter is provided. However, after 3 failed attempts, the boys were still unable to get into a rehabilitation centre.

The second story was a rather boring performance which has a morale at the end. In fact, I can summarise the aim of the performance in two words: be environmental-friendly.

The third and last performance was my favourite. It is basically a "mood piece", where conversations were brief but able to trigger emotions. It talks about a boy who was forced to get straight A1s for his year-end O'levels. He has a domineering mother who holds high expectations for him. However, the boy has a passion and talent for drama, and was selected to be the male protagonist for a major year-end drama. Having the difficult task of balancing between his schoolwork and his life-passion, the boy chose to end his life on a note of suicide, after fighting with tumultous feelings. I feel that this is a poignant piece, as it deals with the present-day stress from school (and home) through the life of a troubled boy.

Last Training

2006-07-14T23:06:00.000+08:00

I have decided to bring a video camera to school whenever there are Geography lessons. Mrs Ann's powerpoint presentation was SO FAST that I didn't see any words appear on the projector screen! With a video camera, I can replay her lesson whenever I want to revise for a test.

My science teacher is really very sarcastic. At one point during her lesson, she said," Yu Hao, i don't see a need for you to look around when I'm talking. And for heaven's sake, why are you flipping through your science practical file for God-Knows-What reason? Attention Deficiency Disorder, ADD lah!" Funny, right?

Today was also the last training session conducted by the current batch of NCOs for the Part A cadets. Naturally, the drills and Physical Training (PT) were vigorous.

We spent about 1.75 hours practising our drills in the school's Multi-storey Carpark! Anyway, the PT was demanding, but rewarding. First, we did 115 consecutive standard push-ups. Then, we ran/jogged from the school to King Albert Park, where our Staff Yu Han treated us to ice-cream and drinks at MacDonalds. From there, we walked back to school.

Today's training session was tiring (including 155 push-ups in all) but memorable, as it was the last training with our NCOs. I wonder what the next trainings conducted by the Part C seniors will be like.

Busy Wednesday

2006-07-12T21:28:00.000+08:00

Another day, another "express-speed" Geography lesson. My Geography teacher Mrs Ann went quite fast today, just 15% slower than the last lesson. When the lesson, Mrs Ann ZOOMED OFF, leaving my classmates and I NO time to bombard her with questions.

Today was also the day of the New South Wales English Language Competition. Tough. Some parts of the paper were easy, while the rest would suffice for you to grow grey hair.

After the test, I met up with my platoon mates to plan the details of our presentation when our NCOs ORD. After much discussion, we finally decided on a jersey for everyone, and a scrapbook specially for our staff. The idea is this: we buy an ordinary see-through container, fill it up with M&Ms, and hide a note (written by us) into the box of M&Ms. Hence, when staff eats the M&Ms, he will suddenly see the note, read it, and get emotionally, and probably tear, as he misses us. HOPEFULLY :-)

I have a Maths test tomorrow and to my horror, I realised that my maths file is kept in class!

Projects Day Semi-Finals

2006-07-11T20:22:00.000+08:00

There was no lessons today, as the Projects Day Semi-Finals took place. My group members and I were very nervous as it was our first time reaching the semi-final round and we had put in lots of effort for this semi-final round. Another matter is that, of the 12 groups in the semi-final round, only 2 groups were Secondary one groups (Gordon's group and my group). Hence, competition is stiff and we all know it.

My group's category is "Qualitative Research" and the objective of our project is to find out the impact of Japanese popular culture on the consumer patterns of Singaporeans. One of the judges, Mr Melvin Chng, commented a lot on our project, which I am not sure if it's for better or worse. Anyway, please wish my group good luck, so that we can enter the Finals.

Today was also the commencement of the "CIP at Mayflower Primary School". Ortus Secondary One boys who volunteered, went to Mayflower Primary School to teach the "academically-less-fortunate" Primary 5 students. I had volunteered to help out and I realised something. No offence, but my "tutee" Danny, seriously cannot make it. Sorry I have to say this. On a particular question, I had to reiterate my words THRICE so that he can understand! Out of the first 6 question, Danny only knew how to figure 2 questions! To calculate "17 x 4" mentally, he needed 30 seconds!

Well, today is a more relaxed day, as there is no homework!

Open House

2006-07-09T10:10:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the Hwa Chong Open House and the atmosphere was electrifying.

I had volunteered to be a tour guide (to lead students/parents around the huge school campus). The tour works like this: for every 20 students, 2 tour guides (one Secondary 1 and one Secondary 2 student) will take them on a compund tour for about an hour. My partner Christopher and I were Group 14, so we had lots of time to kill while waiting for our turn to conduct the tour. Hence, my friends (who were also tour guides) and I walked around the school to look at the numerous exhibitions and performances.

The numerous EP3s displayed their exhibitions in the Kah Kee Hall. The HCINCC actually hung banners all around the hall and performed PDS! Our school band played many tunes that attracted the attention of many. They performed Tong Hua and the ridiculous "Ma-yi-ah-hi" tune.

Eventually, Christopher and I conducted a tour for parents. My group of about 15 parents were very friendly, as we cracked jokes along the tour. They were also very inquisitive as they literally bombarded Christopher and I with questions. Once, a parent asked, "Is school life tough? How do you manage?" I replied instantly,"If your son has the ability to come to this school, he will have the ability to cope". The parent who posted the question smiled and said, "Very good, that was positive thinking" I was stunned by my "good answer".

Anyway, after the open house, Li Chung and I went to the Best Denki in IMM to interview some people. I won't go into details about the whole story, but just to let you know, we were chased out by one of the staff.

Conclusion: Best Denki = No Affinity with Sherwin Lau

Strange Day

2006-07-06T20:32:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a very strange day.

In school, my Geography teacher continued on her lesson on "Weathering". However, her lecture was fast! It was the fastest-paced lesson I've ever had in my whole life! She asked us to take out foolscap paper as we had to do copy down notes and draw diagrams. But she was going so fast, I only managed to copy her notes, but I was unable to listen to what she said! After her lesson, ALL my friends and I were looking at one another, obviously stunned by the "high-speed" lesson. One of my friend even joked "If I can get a B3 for this topic, I will be very happy already".

On my way home on the bus, I decided to read my Geography notes to self-study. (There is a lot of notes and the journey home takes an hour). However, as I was reading my notes, I fell asleep! I woke up when the person beside me gave me a nudge (I think I bumped into the person when I was sleeping). Then I carried on reading my notes until I got a headache. When I alighted from the bus, I suddenly felt giddy and staggered out of the bus like an inebriated person.

In the evening, my sister got a scolding from my mother. Typical of a rebellious teenager, my sister argued with my mother and got lectured by my parents eventually. Until now, they are still giving each other the cold shoulder. I really hope they will patch up soon, as I miss the warmth of a united family. I really do.

My Frustrations

2006-07-03T09:40:00.000+08:00

I really think I am going crazy soon. Call me mad, insane, mentally-unstable... any adjective you can think of, but it's true.

I am starting to get flustered easily. Whenever, someone calls to ask me about homework, I will snap at the person over the phone. Or when my friend talks to me about Projects Day, i will probably turn my body and evacuate. It's like my personality has become truculent and irritable.

Last term, the top position in class is shared by 3 other friends (let's just name them Friends A, B and C) and I. I was very disappointed, as I had studied freaking hard for the tests and according to the MSGs, my grade is equal to Friends A, B and C! It's so unfair, considering that Friend A played MapleStory, while I sacrificed my time to watch television to study.

Anyway, according to the report book, I had failed one of my Chinese compositions horribly (24/100). Excuse me, I have no memories of failing any compositions and I don't understand how my teacher came up with a miraculous 24/100 for my composition.

Now, whenever Friends A and B ask me questions about homework, I feel like turning cynical and reply, "A supposedly top student failing to answer such a question. What a joke." I know that I am acting as if I have attitude problem, but aren't we in a meritocractic society?

Anyway, the latest issue of Reader's Digest contained an article about doodles. I like doodling hearts and "tic-tac-toes". According to the article, it means I am a sentimentalist and I have a competitive personality. True.

Nowadays, I enter a trance-like state easily and frequently. Once, during an English lesson, for no reason, I stared at my pen and entered a reverie. I snapped back to reality only when my English teacher suddenly called my name to answer a question. Another time, while doing my Maths homework at home, I slept! I woke up 2 hours later to realise that it was already dinner time.

Sometimes, I get too engrossed in work, that I totally lose track of time. Once, I was so busy doing my homework that when I finally put down my pen, I realised it was 3am! It has since been a habit for me to sleep at (earliest) 2am during the weekends and 11.30pm during weekdays. To make sure my parents won't know about my havoc-like sleeping time, I wake up at the same time as my parents and if I am tired (always the case), I will splash cold water on my face. Funny, huh?

I feel like I have metamorphosed into a different person, but just can't seem to pin-point my problem. Sorry to all for having to read this totally irrelevant entry. I just needed a medium to vent out my frustrations.

Parent Teacher Gathering

2006-06-30T23:00:00.000+08:00

I am so exhausted today, after the parent teacher gathering. I was also feeling thirsty, as I spoke a lot when helping the parents. You know, the usual "Good evening, how may I help you? ... This is the program booklet for today..." sounds rather boring, considering that I have spoken that sentence millions of times. Somehow, it reminiscence the time when I was raising funds for the Singapore Cancer Society. I was going around asking people "Good afternoon, we are raising funds for the S'pore Cancer Society, please donate...".

Anyway, today's "work" was fine, as I get to clock CIP hours and I had past experiences in ushering. In Primary School, I used to usher the parents and guests in any events the school organised. I knew the "mandatories" in ushering parents. For example, the basic thing is to strike up a conversation with the guest while ushering.

You don't have to say something like "So the latest Nasdaq stock dropped by 1.3% and I have lost a million dollars..." or "Yeah, the hydrolysis of potassium hydroxide solution...". Just maintain a conversation that you are comfortable with.

But all in all, I must say I enjoyed myself today as I had done well in my job. Hooray for me.

A Busy Day

2006-06-30T15:54:00.000+08:00

Today is NCC Day and it felt... cool! But I am feeling very tired now, as I woke up at 5am. I was expected to fall in at the school flagpoles at 6.30am, with my bags in class, so including the walking time and the travelling time, I had to wake up at 5am to be punctual.

Anyway, I felt surly today as I had to wear the uniform throughout the whole day during lessons! The hot and humid Singapore weather "helped" me in perspiring a lot.

And right now, I am in school, using the computer in the school library to blog. Later I will be involved in the parent-teacher gathering. I will only be helping out by ushering the parents, serving food etc. After the event, I will return home to blog about the happenings. Time is short and I got to go... See you later!

An Ordinary Wednesday

2006-06-28T22:40:00.000+08:00

Yeah... I decided to blog now because I have lots of homework to do later...

Today was an ordinary Wednesday, except for the scolding from my teacher. My Projects Day Competition Teacher-Mentor (also my Literature teacher) scolded my group after Literature lesson. She said she was disappointed and angry at our attitude towards the project. During the June Holidays, we had arranged to meet up on MSN Chat at least once a week so our project can go on smoothly. But in most meetings, at least one member was missing and our progress was SLOW! This incurred the wrath (exaggerating) of my mentor.

But honestly, I can't be blamed right? I missed a meeting due to NCC Camp. If I don't go for camp, I will not be promoted. I also missed a second meeting due to NCC Chalet. It's not my fault that I can't surf the internet from the chalet right?

Anyway, today I attended my first CMC Meeting. It was very funny as the teacher-in-charge was very humorous and witty. Her remarks always leaves us laughing and I really think it must be fun to have her as a teacher.

My NCC Company and I also rehearsed the procedures, the pledge, the drills etc for the upcoming NCC Day. I hope I will not "screw up" during NCC Day, as in the drills etc. And the bad news is, I will have to wear the uniform throughout the whole day during lessons in this surly weather! ;-(

First Day Of School

2006-06-26T17:45:00.000+08:00

School re-opened today and what a shock I got...

Customarily, not much homework was given today as our respective subject teachers filed us in on our schedule for Term 3. "Administrative work" was done as well, as the collection of HOLIDAY HOMEWORK, progress reports and forms was done.

When my teachers told us about our schedule, I was thinking "The school is smart, let us "enjoy" ourselves in the holidays, then freak us out by scaring us with the hectic Term 3 schedule." I have Projects Day Competition, ACE, and 5 effective weeks to study before the tests arrive. Which is scary, as ACE takes a whole lot of time, and 5 weeks of study is seriously not enough. My Maths teacher said that the teachers have already set the exam papers AND HE SAID THE EXAMS ARE GOING TO BE HARD.

A tough exam in HCI context is creepy. I remember that time when most of my classmates got B4 for a Maths test. Some of my friends even got single digit scores! (The test was upon 40) Only some geniuses got A1s.

Today during assembly, we had a "Puberty lecture" by Mr Bala. He talked about the growth of... okay, I shall not go into details the disgusting lecture due to the female audience of my blog.

Anyway, today was a GOOD way to start school, by getting heart attacks from the realisation of the schedule. THANKS, teachers.

Happy Day + Sad Day

2006-06-23T18:30:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I feel so guilty... guilty of bloating myself...

My Mum decided to meet up with her best friend for lunch yesterday and brought my sisters and I along as well. We went to "Sakura", a buffet-style restaurant at Clementi Woods. The price is $20 per person, which I think is CHEAP! It's not that I'm filthy rich or what, but the food there is delicious and variated. There is staple food like rice and noodles, as well as stuff like salmon, beef, sushi, sashimi, prawns etc. And the concept is this, you pay $20 when you enter, and for 2.5 hours, you can eat as much as you want! So you just literally grab everything AND anything and eat!

In a food heaven like this, how can a glutton like me resist the temptation? So my sisters and I went on a crazy binge, piling virtually everything that we see, on our plates. Needless to say, we went home that day with upset stomachs and sore mouths.

********

Today was another day of NCC training. However, it was a very disappointing training. My platoon committed MANY mistakes and only HALF of the whole platoon came. My NCOs were disappointed and frustrated as us. Needless to say, we were "pumped" many times, but I did not as my left foot was injured, hampering my movement.

Then just after more than an hour of training, our Staff told us to pack our things and scram (leave the training). When my Staff said that, he wasn't looking at us. His back was facing us and he was looking away into the distance. But some of my friends and I saw that our Staff's eyes were puffy and red. He must have been utterly disappointed in us, as my Staff is not a person who expresses his emotion openly.

My friends and I did scram, but we did not leave the school. We went to the area outside the school gym and practised our own drills, with our IC giving the commands. Then we had this discussion, where we pointed out the mistakes of every cadet, so that we can understand our mistakes and learn from it.

But my platoon was very disappointed and sad after we were told to scram. It had never happened before. But it happened on us.

Sorry Staff.

NCC Chalet

2006-06-15T17:46:00.000+08:00

I just came back from my NCC Chalet today and I have enjoyed myself tremendously. Soccer, swimming, LAN Gaming, a day at Escape Theme Park, cycling, barbeque were some of the things that we did during the chalet. A picture paints a thousand words, so I shall show some pictures that I took during the chalet.

The Barbeque

Kenji and Wei Cher, both soaked.

Watching the World Cup match

From left: Part B senior (who "thick-skinly" wanted to be in the picture),

Wong Yang Cheng (my Part A IC) and Joash (Best-Cadet Award Recipient)

Back from Camp...

2006-06-11T20:56:00.000+08:00

Hi! I have come back from camp! I came back yesterday but I was too tired to use the computer, so I decided to blog a whole chunk today...

Anyway, I went for the "Leadership Induction Camp" on the first day. One word. Boring. My friends and I attended 7 lectures! So we were like trying to keep awake throughout 6 of 7 soporific lectures. Anyway, at night, things got interesting. The last lecture was conducted by a former Hwa-Chong student, who sweared a lot and he was the first adult I know who said the "F" word in a lecture to future leaders. However, I have to admit, his lecture was the only one that I was listening attentively to, as he was very very motivating. I mean it.

At 11pm, we watched a movie called "The Panic Room". I think the movie can be rated NC16 as there a reasonable amount of violence and the "F" word appeared at least 20 times in the first half of the movie. After that, we went for our "Solonite". In case you are unaware, Solonite is an activity where you are placed alone in a part of the school during the wee hours of the morning ( normally from 12am to 3am), when the Yin is the strongest. It is scary to do Solonite in HCI as the school as known to be "dirty". Like what my senior said, "Things have happened before and they will happen again."

My Solonite was on the 2nd floor of the school gym, a relatively supposedly haunted area. I was very nervous and kept shivering. My 1 hour of Solonite seemed to stretch on for eons. Sometimes, I hear creaking sounds echoing from the gym, as if the facilities are being used.

The next 3 days of my camp was for NCC camp. One Word. Fatigue. The camp was extremely tough, mentally and physically, but I endured through it all with my other friends. When we commit mistakes, we have to do push-ups etc. Although there is a lot of physical training, I ate little, as I did not have any appetite albeit a lot of food was provided. Sometimes I eat only 2 spoonfuls of rice and a piece of meat. But supper was the best, as cold Milo and biscuits were provided.

Everytime before a meal, we have to do pull-ups. I ended up with an over-stretched arm muscle instead and had to recieve treatment. In fact, my injury has not healed till now. As a result, when we are punished or have to push-ups for training and I can no longer endure due to the injury, I have to do 2-for-1 sit-ups or crunches. That means, for every push-up, I have to do 2 sit-ups. Easy, you may think. But during the Bunk Check, my tribe was punished 60 push-ups, so I had to do 120 sit-ups. Come to think of it, I think I've done 500 sit-ups during the camp.

The highlight of the camp was the "Amazing Race". In a time span of 6 hours, we have to travel all around Singapore to complete tasks and accumulate points in the mean time. It was very fun as it was the few times during the camp when we were able to have fun. The Race required lots of public courage and running. At one station, my tribe's task was to take pictures with people of certain criterias. An example, we have to take a picture with a virgin! It's rude to walk up to someone and ask "are you a virgin?", right? So I came up with a brilliant idea. Take a picture with a child! Every child is a virgin! Even my tribe was impressed by my intelligence. At Paya Lebar, one of our tasks was to attract public attention for 15 seconds. Hence, my tribe and I did a cheer and a drill in the rain.

All good things must come to an end right? On the last day of the camp, we had our NCC Solonite. Another Solonite! I am so unlucky to have 2 Solonite within 4 days! But this time, my Solonite lasted 3 hours! I was positioned at the Science block, facing the Forbidden Garden and EP3 shed. For your information, both the Forbidden Garden and EP3 shed are some of the creepiest part of the school. Anyway, I hallucinated a lot during the 3 hour. I heard sounds. I see things. I saw a Japanese soldier standing at the staircase staring at me. I saw a man holding a rifle rolling in between bushes. I saw people dancing. I tried my best to keep awake although I had slept very little during the camp. (I slept 3 hours on the first day, 4 on the second and 3 on the third.)

When the camp concluded with a Graduation Ceremony, I experienced tumultous emotions. I felt ecstatic that I had been promoted to Private. I was relieved that the physical training was over. I was elated that I can go home to rest. But my heart was hollow. All of a sudden, I miss enduring punishments with my tribe. I miss shouting with my tribe. I miss cleaning the bunk with my tribe. I miss running around during "Amazing Race". I miss joking and laughing with my tribe. I miss the motivation I was showered with by the tribe.

Before we packed our stuff to leave camp, my Sergeant Major showed the company (Part A, B, C) a powerpoint slideshow that displays images taken throughout the course of the camp, as sentimental songs were played in the background. In the dark of the Lecture Theatre, I teared. I really miss camp and most importantly, my tribe. My tears silently escaped the grasp of my eye, as I looked at the images, savouring the enjoyable moments of the camp. I miss my tribe -- Joon Kiat, Winston, Shyh Horng, Yong Rui, Nicholas, Kah Loke, Kia Hwa, Daniel, Yang Chen, Yi Sheng and all the wonderful people who have made my camp unforgettable, memorable... cherishable...

Bye!

2006-06-06T16:49:00.000+08:00

Beret... Check! Jockey Cap... Check! Toiletries... Check! I have packed all my stuff for the camp and... I will be leaving for 4 days 3 nights... *sob sob* Just kidding, I won't sob, its just that I really have no idea how the camp will be like. And no, I can't blog during the camp, as I will have total abstinence from computers during that period.

Anyway, a lighter moment to share with all my classmates (1J)...

You know on the MRT, there are some over-voices that you hear, reminding you to mind the platform gaps, mind your belongings, stand behind the yellow line etc right? Here are the possible sentences you may hear if SHE is the speaker...

Normal: "Passengers .... please mind the platform gaps..."
SHE: "Passengers, please mind the platform gaps. It is stupid and ridiculous to trip and fall into the railway because, given the velocity of the train, you will die. And do not litter the area, because they can cause tripping hazards and increases the chances of you falling."

Normal: "Dear passengers, please do not leave your belongings behind..."
SHE: "For heaven's sake! Don't you know that if you leave your things behind, people will just come and take it away? Hayah, forget it lah, I have done my part by reminding you. But if you refuse to co-operate with me, I will expel you and you can only take the bus!"

Normal: "Next Stop: Bishan..."
SHE: "Oh! So you are telling me that you don't know what is the next stop? My goodness! So what is the point of taking the MRT if you don't even know the next stop? It's not that you are an idiot, but you like to act like one."

Dear 1J classmates, can you guess who is the "SHE"?

None -- NIL -- N/A --

2006-06-05T22:42:00.000+08:00

I'm back! It seems like a billion years since I last blogged right? Haha...

I went out today again, after "nursing" a sniffle. I went to John's house to do our competition blog. It was crazy, leaving my house at 8.30am, returning home at 7pm and I now think the flu bug is in love with me again.

At John's house, we posted the first few entries of our blog and did video editing and image uploading. I feel like a fish out of water, as the other team members are SO GOOD in IT stuff. They kept talking about IT stuff and although I understand some of the conversation, I was amazed by their knowledge. To make things worse, I realise that John writes a C++ program to DE-STRESS! Scary!

Anyway, when I got home after getting horrified by my friends' IT knowledge, I went to "Green Adventure" in West Mall with my mother to buy some stuff for my NCC Camp, which will commence in 2 days time. 2 days. 2 days?! Oh gosh! I am not prepared for the camp yet! The physical training, the mental preparation, the stuff etc! Well, I may as well await death right? Just kidding, but please, pray for me, for those who have read this entry...

SCDF

2006-05-31T20:59:00.000+08:00

As I woke up early this morning at 6am (again!), I was not prepared for the fun and drama that was to be unfurled soon...

I greeted the morning with grumbles when I woke up. I mean, which eccentric person enjoys waking up at 6am for 4 consecutive days during the HOLIDAYS? Anyway, I was to attend a few modules regarding life-saving conducted by the SCDF and my staff had arranged for the Part A NCC Platoon to attend. Life-saving? I was rather reluctant to go for the course as you know, I am not interested in this at all. But today's course changed my opinions.

First, we learnt the basics. We were told the procedures to be executed when we see a person being injured. For example, when there is a cut on the arm, we have to wash the wound under running water and cover it with an adhesive plaster. However, if there isn't any clean water around, we can apply pressure on the wound (using clean hands) or the area before the wound. This minimises the loss of blood. We were also taught the basic bandaging, of the arm, palm, knees etc.

We then proceeded on to CPR, which my friends nickname "The Kissing Game". As the instuctors brought dummies, they were able to demonstrate the whole CPR procedure. The demonstration was helpful as I was superbly confused by the complicated procedures involved in CPR. After the lecture-cum-demonstration by the instructors, we were allowed to practise. There were some blunders of course, as the students were still not familiar with CPR.

Another highlight of the course was when we took turns to extinguish fire. In this part, the instructors demonstrated, then one by one, we went forward to extinguish the fire. We were given 2 choices, to extinguish the fire using either water (in the red cylinder) or carbon dioxide (in the black cylinder). I chose the black cylinder as it is lighter (CO2 is less dense than H2O) as it is more effective in extinguishing the fire. It was really cool, to extinguish the fire in one blast of the extinguisher.

I have learnt a lot through today's course. Life-saving may seem negligable, but on the contrary, it is vital to know the basics. Accidents resulting in injuries can occur anywhere, anytime on anyone. As the saying goes "Better be safe than sorry", I have really benefited from today's course and I will never forget the knowledge that the instructors have given us today.

Wallet -> Missing -> Replaced

2006-05-29T17:09:00.000+08:00

Heaven is playing a joke on me today, and it proves costly -- literally. As I reluctantly woke up early in the morning today to attend a geography lesson, I had this nagging feeling of impending doom... (this part is exaggerated and fake)

After the lesson, my friends and I went to Boon Lay Interchange to take bus 182 to the Singapore Discovery Centre. My friends and I are going to be involved in a competition which will take place at the Singapore Discovery Centre, so we decided to go there before the competition to familiarise ourselves with the area. Then, when we spent an hour to travel there from school, a signboard says "Closed on Mondays". I couldn't believe it! I was like... so disappointed! But I couldn't waltz in and punch the officers right? So I bottled my frustrations and had to take the bus back to Boon Lay Interchange, where my friend and I decided to head for the library beside it.

I had found 4 nice books and stuffed my hand in my pocket to take out my wallet, which contains my library card. Horrors of horrors! It was not in my pocket! Frantic, I turned my bag upside down, to empty out its content. Books, files, a pencil box, a water bottle... no wallet! I traced back my steps and with the help of my friends, searched the library for my wallet. Nothing. My emotions? Disappointment. Flustered. Frustrated.

My wallet contains a lot of stuff! $25++ in cash, $17++ in cashcard, $20++ in Ez-link card, a library card, a phone card, neoprints that I had planned to upload on my blog... all gone. But no use crying over spilt milk right? I can't pray to God and hope for the recovery of my wallet right? So, with a shattered heart, I went home.

Luckily, my mother was co-operative and soon, a new wallet was bought, another cashcard was given, a new library card was made, a new Ez-link card was done. However, the neoprints could not be recovered!!! I have to wait till the next time when I meet up with my friends before I can take another neoprint... ;-(

Dad = Back from Pakistan

2006-05-28T15:54:00.000+08:00

My trustworthy handphone sounded sonorously at 6.30 in the morning punctually, rendering me awaken. You may think, why on Earth would I wake up so early during the holidays? Simple, I just wanted to fetch my dad home from the airport, with my sister and mother.

But why such a need? Simple, I want to see my father's 3G phone, show him my results and know that he is fine! And also, I can get out of home (I shall elaborate on this later). I really envy my father as thanks to work, he has traveled to virtually every country in the world, except Africa. China, Japan, America, Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, France, Australia, Austria are just some of the countries that he has been to. Hence, everything I look at his passport and see all the different stamps from different countries, I get envious...

Ok, back to the part about getting out of home. Last night, my eldest sister invited 5 of her friends to our house for a sleepover. 6 teenagers from the reputable Hwachong JC. Innocent. No trouble. RUBBISH! I could only sleep past midnight as my sister and her friends chatted so loudly I suspected they had microphones with them. Then, at an unearthly time of 12am, they left the house to... guess what? Find a place nearby to play basketball etc! Gosh! Where are they going to find a basketball court with lights on at that time?

I think "my sister and gang" came home in the wee hours of the morning as I was rudely woken up at 3 in the morning. I heard the door being pushed open, followed by the murmurs of theirs. I was so annoyed that I had a hard time sleeping later on.

From this sleepover, I have learnt that when a bunch of teenagers come together, peace is driven off and chaos is generated with no loss of energy.

Last Day Of School

2006-05-27T09:52:00.000+08:00

(This may seem weird as I did not post this yesterday)

Yesterday was the last day of school! A relief! A month long of break! A breather! A period of relaxation! A holiday! Time seems to zoom pass like a rocket and the much-awaited holidays have come!

Fret not though, I will not waste my whole holiday playing. I will try to fulfil my ACE requirements for all subjects (my ACE points for some subjects are simply pathetic). Even now, I am doing ACE, as my English teacher has kindly agreed to give me ACE points for my blog.

Anyway, yesterday was a day of fun and joy. Instead of studying, my consortium, like other consortiums, was engaged in consortium bonding activities. We had "Games-Day", where the classes will send representatives to compete with one another in various events such as soccer, basketball, chinese chess etc. The competition was intense, as we knew one another's tactics. In the end, class 1I emerged champions, beating my class 1J by only 1 point!

After having a whale of a time in the "Games Day", we proceeded back to our class to get back our results slips. I had thought "What a bad idea, letting us get horrified by our results after we've immersed ourselves in fun." Contrary to my thought, my results were a dream! I, along with 3 other friends, had topped the class, with an MSG of 1.57! I had also topped the class in Intergrated Humanities and English! Miracle! I was shocked! I thought I would never do well as the test was tougher than I had expected. My surprising results lifted my spirits for the rest of the day.

3G Phone

2006-05-23T17:44:00.000+08:00

{Sorry I did not post this yesterday as my sister was hogging the computer}

Yesterday, my father left for Pakistan and will be back this Sunday. But this is not important. Before he left, he and my mother went to "Hello! Singtel", the largerst handphone shop in Singapore, located in ComCenter but formerly located along Orchard Road. There, they bought this beautiful Sony-Ericsson 3G-phone K608i (below). Naturally, I, a "handphone maniac" was very interested in this.

It has an FM radio feature and can double up as an MP3 Player. It possesses a powerful 1.3 megapixel camera that can capture both still images and videos. As it is a candybar, you need not worry about flipping or swirling the phone to SMS etc, which is a very convenient feature. Seemingly centered around convenience using high technology, the phone has shortcut keys along its side, giving immediate access to key functions. The phone also comes with a cable, allowing one to transfer files from the phone to a PC and vice versa. Cool huh? As nice as I have made this phone seem, I can't see this phone until SUNDAY! I can't wait that long! I am too excited about seeing the phone!

And I may stand to gain. I have asked my mother if I could use the phone when I go out (so that I can snap pictures and listen to music) and she said that it depends on my father. But nothing beats the pleasure of having a nice phone of your own right? My favourite phone is the Sony Ericsson W810i (below). Again, I wonder, when will I possess it?

NCC Fun

2006-05-20T09:28:00.000+08:00

[Sorry I did not post this message yesterday as my sister was hogging the computer.]

Anyway, yesterday's NCC training was the best this year! As our staff and sergeants were away in camp, our CLTs (sirs) came to help out. Previously, when the CLTs came to our training, they drilled us, the Part A platoon (Sec 1) like hell. They belted out punishments as often as you would drink water. They gave us time only enough to fall down to fall in. Then, they enjoy speaking in alien language, making us confused, so that they can scold us again.

On the contrary, yesterday's training with the CLTs was wonderful! We had a short Uniform check, followed by a break. Then, we went to the school's multi-storey carpark for our drill session. This is usually part of our routine. However, our drill session was short! We practiced our stationary drills and marching. Then, the CLT said that if we execute 5 consecutive good drills, we would carry on with a game. For your information, a good drill means only one bang should be heard and the dressing should be neat and tidy. Needless to say, with the motivation of an imminent game, my platoon mates and I executed the requirement a.s.a.p.

The game took up the rest of the training until 6.30pm. It was a game of "Terrorists and Counter-terrorists". We were split into 2 groups: Delta and Echo, where each group took turns to be the terrorists (T) and counter-terrorists (CT). Both groups have to "kill" each other by tearing a piece of paper stuck to the back of the person's back. The game ends when one group has been totally eliminated or when half an hour has passed since the commencement of the game. In the end, my group emerged as the champions! In the second round, when my group (Echo) was the T, we thrashed Delta with a margin of 174 points!

Throughout the game, one CLT had a camera in his hand, so he could take videos of people being "captured" or "killed". I didn't know my CLT was such a humourous person -- when a person was "captured", he would take a video of him and act like a CNA reporter, asking questions like "So how do you feel being captured?" and asking the capturer "Any comments on your capture?"

At the end of the game, the CLT connected the camera to a computer and showed us the "glorious moments of the game when people were killed or captured". The videos were very funny, so I suggested that my CLT upload the videos to YouTube. But of course, he did not want to.

?Injustice?

2006-05-18T16:33:00.000+08:00

Please read this:

As my mother drove me home today, she said that my second sister has a flair for golf. (As my sister did not attend school yesterday and today due to "Marking Day", she accompanied my parents to play golf at the country club near our house this morning. )Then, my mother started nagging at me, saying that I should play golf so that I can accompany my father next time.

In fact, I had an "argument" with my parents because they want me to join the Golf Sabbatical. I have zero interest in golf! For heaven's sake! Then when I told that to my parents, they said that I should give it a try instead of saying that I have no interest in it at all. Sabbaticals are for enjoyment, not to be submissive and be domineered by parents! Look, why don't they just buy me a camera-phone instead of just labeling me as "too young and irresponsible"? "Give it a try" what. Right?

Then my parents say that golf can help me keep healthy. Look, my CCA is NCC, I exercise more than my sisters and I have gotten Gold for NAPFA tests for 4 consecutive years since Primary 4! I get a feeling that my parents are being too unreasonable.

When I worked hard to top the class in P5 and P6, they just said "Ok". No rewards. Nothing. Then when I get A1s for tests this year, they just ask me "why can't you get full marks?" For god's sake! This is Hwa Chong Institution! The tests are no chicken-pie! Don't choke: when I topped the consortium by scoring FULL MARKS in Geography this term, they just said "wow.good". Again, no rewards, nothing. My days of studying hard to do well have come to nought! Sure, they don't want me to be too smug, but how about at least one reward?

By the way, I can play tennis and badminton well and I have interest in them, so I don't really want to lose concentration by getting engrossed in golf. And yes, before I leave, I have to say this:

My duty on Earth is NOT to play golf

Sabbatical: Day 2

2006-05-16T19:57:00.000+08:00

Today was "Carolina I" of Science Eureka, my Sabbatical.
Although it was not as fun as yesterday's Photonics, it was rather enjoyable, as the session wrapped up earlier and the instructor was very kind and patient. The session began with the instructor letting us taste 3 kinds of cheese: Emmental, Cream Cheese with spices, Camembert. Then, we recorded our observations in a table. Next, the instructor explained, in detail, to us (the students) about cheese production, enzyme activity, and the fcators that affect enzyme activity. When we understood all those, we began with our hands-on experiment! (I love practical sessions and experiments)

We were split into groups to produce cheese. Each group had to produce cheese using milk of different temperatures. For example, my group used milk 40 degree celsius while another group used milk 60 degree celsius. In the end, my group produced the most amount of cheese! (Although the instructor said it was due to optimum conditions, I think it was because my friend added eraser dust into the mixture before it solidified into cheese.)

Then, we had our recess before we carried on with our session, this time about Vitamin C. As usual, we had a lecture on Vitamin C before another hands-on session. We had to conduct an experiment to find out which of the 3 liquids has the most amount of Vitamin C by using it to decolourise iodine starch solution. The more drops of the liquid required to decolourise the iodine starch solution, the lesser the amount of Vitamin C there is in the liquid.

Tomorrow, my course will be "Carolina II", a continuation of today's course. However, I will be learning: Biometrics, Anthropometry, Craniometry and Gene. Although I don't like any of the above topics, I hope that I will enjoy myself tomorrrow.

Sabbatical Day 1

2006-05-15T17:54:00.000+08:00

Its been a long long time since I've posted a message on my blog, so here I am again! As you would probably have seen from the title, you may get a rough idea. I think it is perfectly cool that Hwa Chong has a "Sabbatical Week" that allows students to take up any course available. The courses range from soccer to golf and science to music. So for one whole week in the last few weeks of each term, the students will go to school as normal but they will study the course they have chosen. However, those who did not fare well in the tests earlier in the term will go for remedials and have to sacrifice their sabbaticals. I think that the Sabbaticals is a very good idea because it helps the students relax after their exams. ;-)

Anyway, my Sabbatical is "Science Eureka" and it is total fun! There are four parts to this course, so the 150 students in this Sabbatical are split into 4 groups. My group is Group D, so we did "Photonics" today. It is about lasers and we listened attentivelt while our seniors lectured us on the basic of lasers: their properties, types, classification etc. However, the fun part was the hands-on session!

We were split into groups of 6. Then, we entered a room where we were each supposed to create an emulsion plate.

The image you see is an emulsion plate. You cannot see any 3D object on the emulsion in the photo, but if you place the plate under bright light and slant it at an angle, you will see a 3D image. It is created by shining a laser beam at the transparent emulsion plate which is in front of an object for 20 seconds. Then, place the emulsion plate in a tub of developing solution (which dyes the plate) for 15 minutes before placing it in water for 1 minute. Finally, use a hair-dryer to blow the plate dry. The whole procedure of creating the plate was extremely exciting, a feeling I can't describe.

* My friends said that my emulsion plate was the best!!!

Day 2 Of Revision

2006-05-01T11:24:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I am here again. I have just completed my revision on History and Maths ;-) and after lunch, I will be "embarking" on my Geography revision. Honestly, on the surface, it seems that the way to excel in examinations is to MEMORISE all the facts that are available.
Think, when did you not memorise for your History test? An example:" Raffles came to Singapore on 29th January 1819 and..." Get what i mean now? I seems that there are endless things to memorise!!! No wonder students are growing white hair rapidly nowadays and the schools don't allow them to dye their hair! Ok, back to serious work. I just hope that I will do well for my tests and score A1s... For those who have read this message, please, pray for me that I will pass my tests with flying colours... Thanks alot...

Tests...

2006-04-30T16:36:00.000+08:00

I can't believe it... next week is "test week"... there is a test on each day! So now, I am cramming all that is supposed to be learned, in my puny brain. Ok, let me recall the test dates:

Monday: Holiday
Tuesday: Geography // A whole lot to study
Wednesday: Maths // Tough one...
Thursday: History // Memorising...
Friday: C++ // I don't have any interest in this at all!

See, I am in deep trouble! I have to be like an expert in C++ by Friday, which is impossible! I mean, hello, how can i be pin-point accurate all the time? And Geography, there is seriously a whole bunch to study: volcanoes, plate tectonics, rocks, folding and faulting etc. Regards to Maths, I am still not sure of "indices"... Well, I guess that's why "Life is such"...