Deep in thoughts...

More scanning...

2008-12-27T18:23:00.003+08:00

Well... after we bought the scanner, my mom, my bro and I scanned through all the photos collected since 1987... Then we digitized them on the computer. It was really really tiring. Not physically, but mentally tiring. Doing repetitive jobs most certainly contribute to the deadening of the brain.

Mmm... This morning, we went out as a family and met up with Ying Hao for a post Christmas lunch at Suan Thai restaurant and yet again, the food was as good as last time round. Loved the curry especially. We ate too full though and until now, I still have no appetite.

When we got back, we realised that my mom's new Mac Book Air was ready for collection but we weren't in to collect it. So we had to call up the deliverer and it turns out we have to wait for another 2 days to get hold of it. Oh well, tough luck!

Now that diploma's over, I'm setting my sights for learning more challenging and difficult pieces to learn. I really hope I can become a concert pianist one day...

Well I said this blog would be dead soon, but I'm trying to update no matter how lazy I am. I must get into the habit of writing or by the time I go into JC, I wouldn't know how to write a simple essay. Ciao!

Badminton and Dreadful office-like work

2008-12-26T16:26:00.003+08:00

Today played badminton. It was fun! I was no match for my brother of course, cause I hadn't touched a badminton racket in ages, but it was good exercise :P

I love the time we have together, it was pretty nice.

But in the afternoon, I had to do some filing and cataloging of family data. Oh gosh, so tiring.

Then we went out to Sim Lim to get a scanner and hard disk to store all the family photos online. Hmmm... After the whole thing, I registered the products and I guess it went well. Lunch was so full I didn't really eat much dinner. >.>

I'm tired. Though I revived this blog, I think it is going to be dead soon. =.= Au Revoir...

Blog entry

2008-11-28T21:41:00.002+08:00

My life is becoming a little routine.

In the morning, I do the housework.

In the afternoon, I exercise and go out.

In the evening, I go on the computer and maybe search for job applications.

Then that's it.

Hmmm...

Today, I went out to the Animal Farm at Pasir Ris with Mom and Aunty Amy(It was her idea). We went by the puppy farm and we looked at the puppies there. My gosh, there were many breeds of dogs about. I managed to sneak one photo of an extremely cute golden retriever before the salesman says: "No photography allowed". Dang it. They looked gorgeous.

Then after that, we looked around and we arrived at a dog adoption centre not far from where we started off. I tell you, the conditions were horrible. Horr-i-ble. I couldn't imagine dogs living there, let alone people helping out. The stench was terrible. Dog poo was all over the place. The urine looked acrid and yellowish. It was depressing. The dogs kept on trying to get near us, as if trying to tell us something. I just wonder... Looks like dogs are like humans in a sense that they have the upper class and the lower class.

Right now, I am trying to find a job but its so hard because of my mere O level qualifications. I tried to look at the classified's for part-time jobs but most of them require A level students awaiting results. Some allowed for O level students but I guess I fall back on the pecking order. I went for an interview on Wednesday and it was the weirdest one ever. They didn't ask me anything about why I was interested in the job, or whatever. All they asked was why I had such a weird surname. So weird. I showed the interviewer all my documents and he just put it in a huge pile next to him, then NEXT. what was that about?

After that, well, Jun wei, Alvin, Joel and me went to Plaza Sing to have lunch and then wandered about. Jun wei said he wanted to play with those *bang bang* things which turned out to be okay. Right after that we saw this man (or boy?) playing one arcade game. It was those kind of like drumming games except that he was pressing buttons instead of using sticks. He was FAST and FURIOUS. It was like. WHAT THE HELL. It was like he was having those spasms or seizures. It was hilarious and fascinating to watch. =) Well I left my file at the arcade and then went back to retrieve it. So embarrassing. =.=

Oh well... As I recount, it is almost time for me to sleep. My concert is in 2 day's time and I wonder what lies ahead tomorrow...

Chalet Check List

2008-11-17T22:14:00.002+08:00

T-shirt x 4 (check)

Shorts x 4 (Check)

Underwear x 4 (Check)

Sleeping Bag (Check)

Jeans x 1 (Check)

Shampoo (Check)

Soap (Check)

Toothbrush/paste (Check)

Pair of Spare Spectacles (Check)

Pencil Case (Check)

Shoes (Check)

Slippers (Check)

Phone charger (Check)

Playing Cards x 2 (Check)

Hmm.... Is that all??? I think that's good.

Oh wait. $30 of cash just in case.

Okay. I'm all set for chalet!!!

O levels are OVER

2008-11-14T17:21:00.003+08:00

YESSS.... The torture of O levels are finally over. No more studying. But....

I found life after Os to be rather hmmm... sedate?

There's nothing to drive me on, I feel rather slack and unmotivated. Suddenly, I feel a strange emptiness that I have never felt in a long long time. Perhaps work has indeed been integrated into my life so much.

Growing up physically is easy. Nature takes care of all of that.

Growing up mentally is tough. Nature does not take care of all of that. I've tried to enjoy myself after Os but enjoying turns out to be more difficult than I thought. My mom doesn't allow me to go out, and I fully understand why. Prioritizing is easy, but to ensure this prioritizing does not affect the people around you is very tough. Like...

I want to go bowling, or playing pool, as it is an enjoyment after Os, but I know this decision will upset my mom, who wants me to do some more clearing up. Its just gets me torn up and being responsible is something that I'll have to get used to.

I want to be an obedient child and ease the burden of mom, but its rather difficult isn't it? In the process, I'm trying to be as independent as possible, trying to lessen my reliance on my mom, but still its difficult. There are a lot of difficult things in life isn't it? I want to cook lunch or dinner on my own, but still in the end my mom does it. I do lack that self discipline eh?

Still the end of O levels have lifted off a huge burden off my shoulders. However, another challenge approaches and that is my diploma for piano next month.

My diploma cost me $918. Yes. $918 - A deterrence to anyone who wants to take diploma in a musical instrument. It is enormous pressure to do well, particularly because such a huge amount of money is at stake. I want to succeed. Currently, I'm not practising as much as I would have liked. Again, a lack of self-discipline. I have this peel on my thumb that prevents me from playing the fast pieces. It pains whenever I press a note using my thumb. What do I do? And my lesson is this sunday. Monday is class chalet, and I don't know whether I should stay for the full 3 day 2 nights. Shall I use some of the time to practice? Part of me says yes, part of me says no. Again, prioritizing. This prioritizing is going to drive me crazy. I think I'll come to a decision soon.

The class chalet is something I really look forward to. After the much vaunted graduation night, which turned out to be not as impressive as I thought it would be, I'm really looking foward to this one. I've never been to a chalet and I'm really wondering what it would be like.

Talking about graduation night, graduation night was a little disorganised. I think it was because of the seating arrangements. The seating arrangements, in my opinion, should have been fixed such that everyone is ensured a seat. The buffet was a little chaotic with people cutting queues and a never-ending long line. Luckily the festive mood wasn't destroyed. I loved the singers - They were GREAT, I loved how it all panned out - the games, the mass participations... Essentially, I salute the efforts of the student council to arrange an event of such a large scale. There are still more improvements to be made, but I don't regret coming for grad night at all. Thanks for the experience!!! =)

As I'm typing this, I'm still self-reflecting on my mixed-up priorities and my inability to put the interests of others ahead of me. I keep thinking: It'll come, It'll come. I do hope it does come.

Moving!!!

2008-11-10T14:00:00.004+08:00

Yay! Officially MOVED.

ADDRESS:

Bishan St. 12 Blk 131 #12-215

I love the house. It's nearby everywhere and everything's so convenient. =)

I'm finding it a little hard to concentrate on MCQs cause its like TWO PAPERS MORE!!!!! AHHH.. I just can't believe it.

And I'm facing another dilemma. Should I turn up for chalet? I'm like... ARGH. Diploma is on the 15th of December and I don't know whether I can finish all the pieces in time. >.<

After all the packing, I feel like I am in dreamland: A strong sense of accomplishment =)

Tonight, I am going to have a good swim. Release all my troubles and burn those fats around my trunks. ARGH. Its really uncomfortable having those pagodas when I sit down. >.<

Now I'm going to shower and practice piano and do some chem tys. Hopefully I can finish them by today! =)

Dead Blog revived

2008-11-05T18:15:00.002+08:00

This blog was dead for 1 month and now I am reviving it.

O levels were a little crazy in a sense I was studying every day, something I hadn't done for a long long time. Of COURSE I took breaks, like an occassional 2 hour tv show or 2 hour show on youtube or something. But it took a toll on me. I became fat. Fat. Fat. Fat fat fat fat fat.

Now I am still fat. Great.

My diploma is in one month's time. Great.

And.... I'm moving house this Saturday! To Bishan!

I love Bishan...

But I just spent 1 full hour cleaning up my room. Its tiring. Really really tiring.

Great.

Now I need to clear up some more cause mom's shouting at me.

Hari Raya

2008-10-01T19:32:00.002+08:00

I don't celebrate hari raya, but even if it was a chinese new year, it would be a very very boring holiday. Today was like all day mugging and I am really worn out now. But Mr Heng's motto of
背水一战 keeps on ringing in my head, spurring me forward. I need to focus now... 20 days to O levels...

Prelims, Paralympics and Pigs

2008-09-17T22:06:00.002+08:00

Ironic that my blog title should start with 3 Ps, but those were the three things that came to mind today.

Prelims.

Oh my gosh... That was like almost suicidal. I never felt so bad. Okay. A2 for SS is okay, but so many people got A1 now I feel so mediocre. And I was just told I didn't do too well for Chem. So... Hope for the best. I need to work doubly hard for my Prelims for Music, so that I can at least be confident of getting my humanities right.

Paralympics.

Today was the closing ceremony. Let me tell you, after watching several days of it. Oscar Pistorius was undoubtedly the star of the show. Breaking a world record and coming behind from last place to pip the 2nd place guy by 0.12 seconds. Amazing.

I didn't expect a Singaporean to win an Paralympic Medal, but it was spectacular. Today at News 5 Tonight I saw Yip Pin Xiu's valiant effort to win gold at the 50m backstroke. Muscular dystrophy is a debilitating disease that would soon be potentially fatal. Yet the inspiration that she gives all of us. It makes me feel ashamed of myself.

Yet again, what's the point of feeling ashamed of myself and doing nothing about it? I must do something. Like maybe working extra hard for O levels. That's all I can do now.

Okay. Pigs.

What I saw on the news was horrifying. People inhumanely beating up pigs and torturing them. It reminds me of the KFC incident, where footage was revealed on chickens being brutally killed by being stamped on. I just can't fathom why these kind of things could happen.

Well... Maybe it could be because of the lack of patience we all have. To meet deadlines, we would do anything to meet that deadline. Animals can get a little uncooperative, and these pose a problem for these staff. So, if you're not patient, forget about handling animals, cause they need patience.

Upon saying that, I am reminded that patience is what I'll need tomorrow, when I get my results that is. Oh and there's comprehension at 7am. How brilliant. Better sleep now

F1 RACING SIMULATION

2008-09-14T21:23:00.002+08:00

Today... was amazing. I tried the...

F1 RACING SIMULATON!!!!!!!

That was simply amazing. Everything was so like the F1 experience. I actually went into the car, they custom made my car. A Ferrari of course and I was off. Well they gave me 2 laps to try. I blew the first one as I had to get used to the car, but the second one was awesome. I managed to do some drifts and omg.

IT WAS AWESOME.

I don't think I'll ever get to relive that kind of experience. Oh well... it was a good break from all the studying. =)

I got some pics actually but I can't find my phone cable.

OKay. Better sleep. Early sleep so that tomorrow I'll be able to study. O levels in 36 days... if I am not wrong.

Ginseng

2008-09-11T21:04:00.002+08:00

Dam... trying to tolerate ginseng drink. Cmon... its

GINSENG!!!!!!!!!!!

*bleah*

well the whole point about it is. To boost my qi so I am rejuvenated for the double math paper tomorrow. Yeah. E math, then A math. What a horror.

4 1/2 hours of MATH.

That's the worst that could ever happen.

Then after that, Math tuition. Gosh. I think I'm gonna puke at the sight of math.

But at least after that, its sort of free from prelims. But O levels are like 37 days away, according to Ronald.

Oh... and I got A2 for my HCL!!!! That was a major breakthrough. I never ever ever ever got more than 65 for HCL, let alone 70. Even though I was one mark away from A1, that's still remarkable!

Simply wonderful

Brain Dead

2008-09-10T16:57:00.000+08:00

2 1/2 hours of maths = brain degeneration

Disappointed but Optimistic

2008-09-08T15:47:00.002+08:00

Well I missed out on my 2nd competition and back down to earth.

PRELIM 3 IS HERE!!!!! >.<

I guess I never expected to get through, but today's prelims were like tough. Maybe cause I didn't exactly study due to the competition and it was all last minute.

I just hope I can get over with this...

But its okay. I'll pick myself up.

Today's paper was chem. It was a little tough, especially at Section C, where I got all bamboozled and confused by the tricky question phrasing. Thanks a lot Mr Thomas... (He was the setter for section C)

Then there was history. Man. I don't even know whether I did well. Its like that empty feeling. People ask how was it, and I don't know how to answer. I just say something like, "yeah its a little tough" and when they say "DAM ITS TOUGH", I'll just agree with them. But you know, I don't really have an opinion whether its tough or not cause I just don't know.

Great. I am rambling now. But that's the point of blogs right? Ramble on and on and on without making any head or tail of what you are saying.

Well in the morning, Jun wei and I got like a scolding from Mr Heng for our music programme notes. Not up to scratch I suppose. I really want to do well, but I feel that I don't have enough guidance. Maybe the route to being a musician is a long and lonely one...

Oh and by the time we filled up all the documents, we were late for chemistry exam, not too late luckily.

Now its time to go for physics tuition. Get all my questions answered. Aim for an A1. Then revise A maths. What a bore

Competition

2008-09-05T17:42:00.003+08:00

Today, I am totally lacking in confidence.

My piano competition is tomorrow, and I'm not playing as well as I should be. I don't want it to be a case of $100 wasted...

During lessons today, I was floundering, making mistakes like flowing water. What's wrong with me? I spent so much time on the pieces and this is what I get. Argh. And I sacrificed so much of my revision for prelim 3.

I am so dead.

However, I must look on the bright side. At least I did 1 physics, 1 bio, 1 A math, 1 E math and 1 Chem paper as well as 1 Revision kit for History.

So basically, one of each subject. I still feel a little rusty though. I must go back to practising piano, though I've been doing like 2 hours everyday. Maybe that's not enough?

I feel so crapped out. I think I need a rest perhaps.

Swimming

2008-09-03T11:36:00.001+08:00

Yay! Today was the first day of my swimming lessons. And...

I CONQUERED THE DEEP END!

Well it was more of the case I conquered my fear of the deep end, but the thrill was amazing. It seems rather awkward that I should be saying this when I am already like 16, but well, it doesn't take anything away from the satisfaction I gained from this.

Basically, I had my strokes more or less down already, as I guess once you learn the strokes for swimming, you don't really forget it. All I needed was a few tips from the instructor and I brought it home. Well of course at first I was a little nervous, as we all are when we face our fears, but I guess my height sort of steadied me abit. Knowing that you are 1.75m and trying it out in the pool that is 2.7m deep makes you think that its not so terrifying after all.

So I swam for 1 hour, doing around 10 laps. A nice workout after all.

Now I am in school, trying to study. I need to buck up on my studying or I'll fall behind. Let's go!

Revision?

2008-08-30T19:00:00.004+08:00

I want to do revision. But I don't have the mood for it.

Competition's coming up in 1 week's time. And there is no time.

Got loads of work in front of me. But I can't seem to get around it.

Want to aim for a top JC. Yet I am not putting in the effort.

How? How? How?

And I need a soprano for my composition. How?

I am at a loss. How now?

These days, my life has been rather routine. Study, piano, school, sleep. I can't seem to do anything else. I am a bore isn't it? I want to get my life back. Thus, I am starting to embark on new activities.

First, with swimming. I haven't been swimming in 10 years. That's a long time. Today I just bought swimming apparel and I hope I'll be able to conquer my fear of deep waters this time. I also bought some shorts at queensway shopping center. Its far, but there was no choice. That's the only place I knew which had prescription goggles. Yeah. The burden of having bad eyesight. 800 degrees. Terrible.

Secondly, playing table tennis. I love playing table tennis. I learn all my techniques from the Olympics, though I still suck at it. I was playing in St. Andrews yesterday with Aaron and Eugene, Rio and the other RI and VS guys. I was not too bad, considering I had not played it in ages. Well...

Talking about St. Andrews, when I went back yesterday, I didn't bring anything at all for the teachers. I felt so bad. At least I should have gotten something, but I didn't. In the end, I just ended up talking and talking, maybe in an attempt to talk off my guilt inside. Haha...

After that, I went for tuition. While everybody gave presents, I gave food. More guilt inside me. But its okay, at least I gave something.

So... REVISION TIME. NO MORE SLACKING. WAKE UP. ITS O LEVELS. NO MORE TV. NO MORE COMPUTER. well maybe computer. NO MORE 8 HOURS OF SLEEP. NO MORE DILLY DALLYING.

TIME TO... hmmm... STUDY!!!!

Blogging

2008-08-04T21:43:00.002+08:00

This is like one of the few times I am blogging. It has been really really busy these days. O levels coming up, Prelims coming, so many events coming up. Oh yeah... Piano competition and composition every week. Am I going to burn out? Maybe so. But I shall take things in my stride.

Everyday has been pretty much the same routine. Go to school. Study on the bus to school. Reach school and do more homework. After doing homework comes lessons, then after lessons study at the study area for 2 hours or so. Go home, eat dinner, practise piano, go onto the computer for 10 minutes and finally go to sleep.

What a boring routine isn't it? But I like routines. I like things being orderly. I can accept change, but its always nice to have something to depend on.

Some things frustrate me these days. Like my mom's friend calling over so often that I can't practise piano. But I shall "tahan", I shall endure, and persevere all the way to the end.

Today, I was studying in the library with Dennis, then Johnny and Bryan. Lol. Yeah. I was studying history, a really really really interesting but really really really troublesome subject to study. There is so much content, and it takes some time for the facts to sink in. I took like 2 hours to absorb the whole Stalin chapter. So time-consuming. Then when the library closed, we went to the study area, where we just forked down some fries and did our studying. I was coaching Eugene on English Oral, but it was sorta weird. Peer teaching peer. I ain't used to that. Haha... Luckily I did my chinese today. yeah. Chinese. What a bummer. I have to hand in a comprehension tomorrow and luckily I rushed through it today.

The worst comes at night. When I planned to go home and practice piano for at least 2 hours, my mom asks, "Where do you want to eat tonight?"

She's in a good mood, and I don't want to spoil it. Seeing that she just came back from work, I just said, "Anywhere"

"Okay, let's go Sushi Tei".

!@#$%^&*

Sushi Tei? Oh... my... gosh... Yeah. That was my first reaction. I just kept quiet throughout the whole journey.

We took so long to eat, and time monster was eating up my time, slowly biting away at the free time I have. Then we went to buy some groceries. AhHHhh... Another wastage of time.

By the time we arrived home, it was already 8.30pm. I showered. 9pm. I started practicing, and then 30 minutes later....

"Ring Ring! Ring Ring!"

Oh no. My mom's friend. Calling. Yet AGAIN.

I stop practicing piano. I just stare pointedly at my mom. She just gives a shrug and answers the call. Great. My practice time disrupted. More time wasted.

So now I am blogging just to vent my pent up frustration. Even now, my mom's still talking.

!@#$%^&*

Great.

Happy Happy

2008-07-02T21:41:00.002+08:00

These few days have been rather good. Results good, but I guess I'm moving house soon.

Prelim 3 in week 10. Stressful weeks ahead. Best to take things easy I guess.

I really pitied the Geography people. Failing isn't an easy thing to cope with. I guess I'll have to face it soon when I receive my music paper tomorrow. It was really terrible. Ahhh.

Well I shall be content with my performance this term. Nothing much to complain about. So I'll just continue what I do nowadays, ... , studying.

Studying. Studying and studying. Sometimes I study and I don't know why I study for, but I keep on studying.

Sometimes I stop to reflect, and look back, thinking about how life just passes by. Then I become happy and content. I seem to like going to school more now. Not because of lessons, more for the company. Okay. Must go to sleep, be energized and refreshed for tomorrow!

Fun

2008-06-25T22:41:00.002+08:00

Today was really really fun.

Well, at least not the 1st part of the day. I just woke up, washed the car, cleaned up the house.

Was supposed to play badminton with li zhong and ji ren and people but in the end somehow nobody could make it. So... never mind

Then leonard came by for help in E maths. Well we did do some work, but after 1 hour, it became sort of unbearable as concentrating for 1 hour is terrible especially after prelim 2 is just over. So we went to play some arcade, pool and table tennis for a while.

Overall it was not bad, then we went to have dinner, pasta and salads. Lol. Leonard hated veggies, not surprising.

Then we went back home.

What an eventful day ahead huh?

Tomorrow is the Scrabble training. Hope the guys do the things they're supposed to do.

Competition is this Sunday. Haiz. And in my opinion, they are not prepared at all for the competition. I think they somehow lack the drive to go all the way. After all, its just Scrabble right?

I am trying to totally de-stress but it somehow seems impossible. Well.. in a pressure cooker society like this, how could you de-stress?

I am so nervous for prelim 2, I really hope I do well. =X

Break time

2008-06-22T17:05:00.002+08:00

Today has been rather stagnant. I needed a break from all the work and got it. Apart from 2 hours of piano. I basically just wasted my time off watching tv, movies especially.

I also played a little computer.

I feel much better.

I'll come back a stronger person.

I need to.

I'll come back better than ever.

Watch me.

Disappointment

2008-06-21T22:50:00.002+08:00

Today was a day of disappointment.

I didn't get through to the finals of the piano competition.

But I guess that's all right. Its a learning experience.

I was moody after the results came out. Didn't feel like doing anything else so I just played computer.

As I ponder about what I'm going to do in the future, I really wonder how my life is going to turn out. Disastrous? Successful? I have absolutely no idea.

Prelims and sorrow

2008-06-20T18:32:00.002+08:00

Prelims have been pretty much my main priority so far. but now...

ITS OVER...!!!!!!

Mugging all day is certainly not fun and I was super tired everyday.

Losing someone is not exactly an optimistic thing to happen during my exams. Luckily I could focus. Focus was important.

I found that the exams were okay, perhaps that's cause I studied but there were always sections that I got stumped at. Usual Me I guess.

Tomorrow is my piano competition. Hope to get through to the next round. Really want to do well.

I feel like going out to play and such. But what should I do?

Sze Chuan Earthquake

2008-05-28T20:09:00.003+08:00

This I guess, everyone knows about it by now. If you don't, then I guess you are one country bumpkin. For the past few days or so, reports keep on coming in about the updates on the earthquake that had killed over hundreds of thousands of people. People all over the world sympathize with the situation and try to give their very best to provide a better life for the Sze Chuan victims right now.

2 days ago, I was watching this charity show on Channel 8, and the actors and actresses were singing in a bid to raise money for the earthquake victims. Usually, I would donate freely, but like the idiom goes, "Once bitten, Twice shy". I guess that's how I was feeling right now. When I think of donations, I think of NKF. How many people have wasted their money into donating for a better cause? How many innocent and gullible people have been tricked and bewitched into opening up their pockets to pool out money for the unfortunate? This is what I'm skeptical about these kinds of charity organisation.

Then my mom pointed out something that made sense. As long as we give with a kind heart, our actions shall be repaid. So it seems, it is this simple philosophy that drives so many people to donate. Hence, the next day, when the lines were still open, I donated $30. Seems like a drop of water into an ocean, but small drops would accumulate to form an ocean right? Well, even before the charity show, Bei Er went on about the Sze Chuan victims and how they needed help. The school also persuaded us to donate. They showed us pictures, and not just any pictures, really disturbing images of the earthquake. Such is the suffering in China.

Just today, Jun Wei told me about this guy who seemed to take glee from these series of disastrous events. He scolded them that they deserved it and all the bad things one could say. Now I really think this is immaturity at its highest level. I was totally totally disgusted.

Even now as the tremors go on, all I can say is: When fate decrees, there is really nothing one can do.

Practical

2008-05-21T21:03:00.003+08:00

Now that practical is over, I can pretty much take a breather.

It was pretty much screwed up cause I hit quite a few wrong notes and sort of underwent self-destruction. Apart from that, it was quite bad. Coordination was not there, notes not good, sensitivity not there, confidence totally lacking, it wasn't the epitome of my hard work that I had put in these few days. I'm a little disappointed, but at least I managed to finish the songs in time. That's a bright spot. At least I can work on the songs with Daren in future.

Today was also the AGM, I went to the library after the practical exam. Here, I witnessed the crowning of the new president of the library, Jun Bin and vice-president Alistair. Here, I dug into some pizza and pepsi as well as getting the new library t-shirts. They look great to be honest. Though the "library" may not invoke pride in many others, I felt that I should be proud of the library for whatever it had done to me. It had made me a better and more wholesome person, and has given me the chance to express who I really am.

Now being at home, I am just idling away, toasting my efforts for the practical and just trying to get a nice long break/hiatus from work. Cheers!

Jubilation followed by stress

2008-05-20T22:23:00.003+08:00

As my MSN nick sorta suggested. The past week ended on a high note. I won the Inter-school Scrabble essay writing and recital competition but though I don't know the prize, which will be presented on the finals of the Scrabble competition, the satisfaction that came along with it was amazing. That was particularly because I had skipped Chinese remedial last Saturday. Brilliant! =)

Here was the only pic I took and its kind of blurrish, but this was where I was speaking.

Yeah.. During the essay writing portion of it, we were asked to write a max. 450 words essay on any topic that we want, utilizing as many words on the word list provided. I was a little stunned, as I thought words would restrict your imagination. On the contrary, I managed to come up with a feasible story that somehow managed to convince the judges.

Then, came the waiting portion. We had to wait 2 and a half hours just to wait for the judges to finish marking the scripts. It was really really boring and lucky I brought some homework along or I'd have really been bored to death. Furthermore, the room was freezing. I was chattering like mad, (or was it just the nervousness?) and I had to go to the toilet several times just to keep myself warm.

This was followed up by the recital competition. There was this primary school girl from Casuarina Primary ( I think?) who wrote an essay so spectacular she could put most of the Sec 4 students in my school to shame. Dammit. Well she won 2nd prize for the primary school category. All the stories were original and interesting, refreshing in particular. No cliched plots but just that their recital was boring, like Mrs Yap said: "All singaporeans speak in a monotone manner, including myself that is." Oh well. I was almost put to sleep, save for the interesting plots that were presented. Then when it was my turn to present, I sort of got nervous, so I walked around the stage when presenting, and it sort of fell together nicely. It was a pleasant experience, and I was pleasantly surprised when the MC (Who was so badly prepared) announced me as the winner. I don't like my name being announced, it makes me embarrassed, even though it is a good thing.

Later, I had to practice like 3 hours of piano for the piano practical that is going to take place tomorrow. Ahhh... I have 7 songs to practice for piano. 2 for my piano teacher. 2 for practical exam and 3 for piano accompaniment. How tiresome and cacophonous my life is...

Now I'm like taking a break from all the work. Seriously, I am going to lose my sanity anytime soon. *LOL* Its time I took a day off. Tomorrow is practical and I am sort of adequately prepared. There is the composition to hand in tomorrow as well, and luckily I took time off today to do most of it. Thank goodness.

Cheers to all! Happy holidays and happy schooling for all cat high mates!

Update

2008-05-07T18:49:00.003+08:00

Today marks the day that I blog for the 1st time in a long long time. Its been quite dead sometime I must say... Yet, this is also one of the rarest times I get to breathe, not to mention blog.

These few days has really been busy to the wire. While I still can relax a bit, talk off my frustration, its been pretty much hectic. All I've been doing is work, work and work and it has really been draining my energy.

There is music composition to do, music practical, music accompaniment.

Then there is also A Math, History test, countless number of chemistry, physics and Biology tests... Shall I just crumble under the pressure? =.=

However, I think I am learning to take it easy and that's great, but what's not great, is how boring and monotonous my life becomes. I really look forward to the end of O levels, which is going to be in like 5 months time.

So as I continue my race to the finish line, I shall just keep on going.

Recital

2008-04-16T22:13:00.003+08:00

Today, was the day of the recital.

It was not a big event, but it was fairly significant to me, as it showed how I was faring with my pieces. It also served as a fairly large confidence boost.

Well... I skipped Chem test and went off to prepare for the recital. I lined up 15 chairs, thinking there would be at least 10 who would come. Instead, only Mrs Goh and a few other students turned up. I was a tad bit disappointed but well... at least the other music students made up for the empty spaces as well.

First came up Daniel then me, then Enzon, then Justin and the list went on. A few didn't turn up but well... I thought quite a few of us did quite well... I screwed up bits and parts of the song, but well many others did okay. quite okay. But I shall not criticize for I only play the piano. Yup. Overall, it was an okay experience (Note I used the word 'okay' three times already) and I hope Chee Hang didn't mark my song down too strictly... >.<

Now am watching American Idol. I agree with Simon mann... The men owned the night. The girls were just okay. (4th time)

What an okay (5th time) day.

Scrabble Competition

2008-04-13T18:07:00.002+08:00

Just yesterday, I led my team to the preliminary rounds of the Scrabble Competition. Yes, my team, but I did not play yesterday, cause I was sort of ineligible.

Here's why. I had participated in a non-TSC sanctioned competition and participated in a higher-rung competition. As I had won that particular competition, I was deemed to be of a higher rank than my counter-parts in other secondary schools. I found this rather ridiculous and I appealed like crazy but I still could not get in.

So I just followed the team and gave them moral support. I went along with Damian as well, who was deemed ineligible too. Before and after every game, we followed them to the table and gave encouraging speeches. However, credit must go to them, for both teams of Cat High made it to the finals! Yup, both, against all odds.

Truth to be told, I had expected only 1 team to go through. For the second team, it was rather a makeshift team as we had chosen the members like only a week before and hardly had any training. I guess the last minute briefing and notes paid off...

Oh well, during the games, Reginald (yes he followed too), Damian and I just sat at one side doing homework and playing Scrabble by ourselves on Dannel's Travel Scrabble, eating chips and talking. Nice thing I bingo-ed 4 times in total, but somehow I think my standard dipped a little.. Too much piano?

In the end, the final results were as follows:

Cat High Team 1:

Win 4-1 St. Joseph's Institution
Win 4-1 Nanyang Girls High
Win 4-1 (Some school we don't know)

Cat High Team 2:

Win 5-0 Jun Yuan Secondary
Win 3-2 Kent Ridge Secondary
Win 5-0 Serangoon Gardens Secondary

Great result in my opinion.

Oh during the competition I met mel, zachary foo and zachary yeo as well as ahmed! Nice to see them.

After the games, we went as a group and went home, on the way buying some drinks and food from Mr. Bean, but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Once I had reached home, I had absolutely no mood to do any work. How could you after a day like this? So I just watched youtube, watched TV, practised piano and oh yeah... collaborated with mel and Damian about the Library competition that we would be co-organising. Did so for quite some time before did a phone conference for like 2 hours until I just fell asleep. Bleah. Woke up at 10 am today but I was quite refreshed.

Now I just finished an English essay and now I'm gonna tackle Bio, Chem and Math! GAH.

NAPFA and NAFA

2008-04-10T20:55:00.005+08:00

Yesterday had been a day full of events.

First.

NAPFA.

I failed.
It was akin to swallowing a bitter pill. Every year I had gotten at least a gold. Now, a big fat FAIL in my report book. Perhaps it was due to the lack of exercise, but at least I should have gotten a bronze at least. I attribute this all to CHIN UPS. I shall curse that. I did 2 really, but they were all not counted as my chin was just below the bar, perhaps I'm too heavy.

Well my other stations were okay. A 230, which is a B for standing broad jump, A 51 for sit and reach which was pretty good you know. (Joel did a 56, highest in class, really shocked everyone.. Lol.) A 39 for sit-ups, a B and 12:36 for 2.4km which was really really terrible. Shan't complain too much then. Oh yeah and shuttle run was 10.6 seconds, like 0.5 seconds slower than last year. What's happening to me? =.=

Second.

NAFA.

Well, after school I got caught up with some HCL revision, then it was too late to eat with the rest, so I ate with Johnny, Eugene and Wai Yinn, then waited at City Hall for Jun wei and Co. for about half and hour, then they told me it was at Raffles Place. I was absolutely gobsmacked. So I made my way onto Raffles Place where I happened to meet Daniel there, so, went on our way to VCH. Man.. he really seemed on the go all the time. He had to eat like a few pieces of bread from bread talk after he settled some band matters. Really puts my busy-ness into perspective.

As we approached VCH, I heard the ever annoying gamelan ensemble, who was playing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Choral" at the bottom floor. They were somehow like in a trance, how weird. Here's a picture of them:

Well it wasn't exactly the clearest photo, but just notice their expressions...

As we entered the hall, I was pretty surprised to see the Chinese Ensemble there. Then the performance started.

I thought the Chinese orchestral performance was quite dry and boring, but I'm not a CO person, so I shan't say much, but I thought the actual rendition of the Choral Symphony was quite good. The first movement, was quite impressive, with the second movement being the best of all. However, what Daniel said did make sense. The conductor failed to exploit the instruments, especially the strings, making the sound not as impressive as it was intended to be. It was a good performance overall.

I came back at 11.30pm. Slept at 12.30pm. Woke up at 5.30 am the next day. Today I'm bloody tired and I am certainly too lazy to type anymore. Time to get back to work.

Who am I?

2008-04-08T21:36:00.003+08:00

I don't know whether you all feel this, its just that whenever I go online, sometimes I can talk a lot. Yet, when I talk to people in real life, there are times where there is simply nothing to say. Maybe I'm an anti-social, but that's not true... I do go out with my friends. Yet you can't call me social, cause I don't really go out with friends often. I'm like in between.

Try to classify me in any cliques in class and I don't fit into any of them.

Try to talk to me on msn and sometimes I just won't reply.

Am I weird? I think I am. As I continually try to explore who I really am, I think my bro said it right, there WILL be inconsistencies and there WILL be a lot of self-doubt. At this age, I guess I can't be too clear of who I really am. I am a confused soul. You know, sometimes this stresses me out. I don't know what I want to be, what I want to become, how I want my life to be.

I say I want to be a pianist, yet at times I look for excuses not to practice the piano.

I say I want to do well in Scrabble, yet I am unwilling to memorize beyond 3 letter word lists.

I say I want to be a sportsman, yet I cannot take the gruelling training.

Who am I?

I really really wonder.

What kind of soul am I?

2008-04-08T21:29:00.001+08:00

This is a cool test I did from by bro... I seem to be taking a tad too many tests these days, but there seems to be too little homework. I hope teachers don't see this :P

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world

So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time

You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all...

But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult

You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you.

Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses.

Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others.

Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life.

Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Is being busy always good?

2008-04-07T23:24:00.003+08:00

How contradictory I can be. Just over the December holidays, I was lamenting the fact that time passed by too slowly and there were too little things to do.

I guess its time to eat my words.

Today was the epitome of how busy a life can be. After school, rushed my music composition, added a few dynamics here and there and voila! However, it was really really slipshod and I just pray I don't flunk it. Then I hardly had time to breathe. Time to finish Social Studies source-based, which I had owed for like 1 month. Somehow, I wonder whether clandestine operations do happen in school. Though it is commonly applied to government coverts, I think this word is very applicable. Teachers secretly doing their "operations" and finding ways to squeeze us dry. I'm not trying to take a dig at the teachers; I commend their effort in fact, but I do feel the pressure is wringing us dry.

Immediately after that SS homework was the differentiation test I had missed due to the IMCB trip. Terrible in my opinion. It was so tedious that I practically wanted to cry. Perhaps I was too tired.

More disappointment followed. I was disallowed to join the Scrabble Competition this Saturday. You know, when those words came out of Mrs Tan's mouth, my heart sank like the Titanic. 3 years straight I missed that competition and that was supposed to be one of the most prestigious ones, albeit an easier one to win. Now I pray that I can enter the essay writing competition. Man...

Later I accompanied mom to office to help her out with some work, at 9 pm. While she did some of her work, I worked on my Chem at the same time. In the end, I managed to finish rate of reactions but it was already 11 pm. Dammit... Another day without practising piano.. my hands are already feeling very restless. Mahjong syndrome, except change the Mahjong to pianist's... so its pianist's syndrome. You see... One whole day... Gone just like that

Now its 11.37pm. What am I still doing online? Good question. Now concluding... Being busy is good, but being TOO busy will pummel you and your body. Time to sleep. Mom's nagging me now. Hope for a brand new day tomorrow! =)

Personality Test

2008-04-04T23:47:00.002+08:00

Thanks to Ji ren, I found this test and it was quite accurate. Some of it wasn't so accurate but it was quite good!

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?

Your views on education

You may not like to study but you have many practical ideas. You listen to your own instincts and tend to follow your heart, so you will probably end up with an unusual job.

The right job for you:

You have many goals and want to achieve as much as you can. The jobs you enjoy are those that let you burn off your considerable excess energy.

How do you view success:

You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of things that you cannot control. Sometimes you show your anger to cover up how you feel.

Who is your true self:

You are full of energy and confidence. You are unpredictable, with moods changing as quickly as an ocean. You might occasionally be calm and still, but never for long.

Yeah.. so this is who I am. hmmm... Quite interesting I must say.

Got it from this link... so maybe you all can try?

http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Busy

2008-04-01T20:14:00.002+08:00

How busy it's been... That's all I can seem to say 2 weeks after the IMCB trip. After IMCB, work piled on like an avalanche. Its been pretty terrible. With 3 days missed, homework became a never-ending task. It almost seemed as though I've become a slave of homework. Music's demanding. 2 hours of piano a day. Corrections for set work, which I have JUST got around doing. Reading up on Gamelan Music, which sounded horrendous... HCL was the worst of the bunch. Spelling to learn every lesson. Essays to write. English reading practices, essays, situational writings, comprehensions, Physics worksheets, Chemistry worksheets... These are just homework. There is still the task of revising, which I have absolutely not been able to do. The amount of work is astronomical. It is like the plate of sandwiches Ron and Harry ate in Harry Potter Book 2, which kept on refilling once it was finished. Ain't that terrible?

However, complaining is hardly a solution. I've been trying to keep myself in check, making sure I don't get too tired, but is that even possible? With stress sources coming from SOME people in class, who keeps begging me to sit with him and starts bugging me, stress sources coming from the International Friendship Day quiz coming up tomorrow, I'm on breaking point. That's why I'm blogging, taking time off to release steam.

Yeah.. As I said, IFD (International Friendship Day) is coming tomorrow. Good thing I've Damian helping me, or else the job would've been terrible. Setting questions aren't as easy as I thought them out to be I guess. Well, tomorrow me and Damian are MCs and this is going to be an excellent opportunity to publicize library. It's smash-and-grab, so I've got to do well. Nervous man...

Scrabble Competitions are also coming up. Its just too much on my hands! I was supposed to notify this Sec 1 he is up for the competition but I just cannot contact him! Well its an excuse, as I had used my recess to eat, but I do need my fuel to get working right? So far we have 9 people and they all have potential. Potential, but they need to work harder, which applies to me as well. I have hardly touched Scrabble since I came to Sec 4 and opportunities have been at a minimal. Guess what? The competition is in 3 weeks time and we haven't had a single Scrabble game together. So we're having 2 last minute trainings. Okay.

So we've gotta pull up our socks if we're going to win this competition.

Let's abandon the word "laziness" from our dictionaries and keep pressing forward!!! =)

IMCB

2008-03-19T21:20:00.002+08:00

Today, was the 2nd day of the trip to IMCB. Quite good in my opinion.

1st day:

Met the group at Buona Vista. Navigated our way towards IMCB building (Proteos). A pretty long walk, as we took the long way. Filled with anticipation, I waited at the lobby, while chatting with the rest. At first, I expected it to be like, 1 school... Then, we saw HCI, RI, RJ, SCGS, RGS and ACSI people there. I felt inferior. My school was like... Not quite up there... you know. Oh well... we were greeted by this guy, Ron, who seemed really really impatient, as though time didn't go fast enough, he tried to rush things here and there. Man... RELAX!!! That was the first thought that came to my mind. We collected our tags and we went up for a safety briefing.

I thought the safety briefing was gonna be something like... Laboratory safety briefing. And.... it was precisely that. The guy Mr Toh was dry, boring, though I could see he tried, his jokes were very much... erm, 'funny'. OK, then we went up to level 4 to check out the labs. I wasn't exactly overawed, but it was quite nice. Yeah. Nice. You know, when you have nothing else to say about a place, 'nice' is a good substitute.

Then we arrived at the lab. The lab smelt weird. Plain weird. What was emitting that smell, I do not know, all I know was that something was quite awkward about it. Here we put our stuff at the workstations and then set off to do our tasks.

First, pairing up. I was paired up with Delia, from RGS. You see, the inferiority complex comes in AGAIN. Oh well... Then, we got familiar with the micro pipette. Briefed by Ron, and then off we went to do our first formal assignment. Nothing much to say here, for I really did not understand were we were going and what was the purpose of the whole thing. I didn't even know what was microbial quorum sensing. Mann.....

Lunch time arrived. 2 hours break. Went to the foodcourt at commonwealth, then off to work. Or was it work? We didn't do any work actually... Waited around the work stations for at least 2 hours, while waiting for the bacteria culture to be ready. Then, 1 short experiment and time to go home.

I'm lazy to update somemore... But maybe tomorrow.

Hope the last day of IMCB goes well. Missed lessons to come here you know... and missing 1 day of lessons can make one fall back so much. Imagine 3....

Library Camp

2008-03-17T22:04:00.002+08:00

Just to let all you juniors in library know,

1) I thoroughly appreciate the effort you all put into the camp. It was wonderful that you all enjoyed it.

2) I do believe that there are more good things in library to come!

And to all cynics who think Library is really an anonymous club. I tell you, its not going to be.

1) We have a great leader in Damian Wong

2) We are working as a team... Better than ever.

Hmmm... I do think that library is starting to become more and more meaningful. I have learned alot in my 4 years there.

Oh well... I thought everything in the library camp went extremely well... albeit a few hitches here and there. Good to know that my juniors appreciated it.

Btw: Me, Damian and Guang Wen slept a grand total of 1 hour, with me sleeping for 1 hour. Mann... Are they superheroes? O_o Then at 4.30am, we went out for a jog for 1 round to freshen ourselves up. We wanted to go see the sunset, but pity. lol. Before that we were playing "ghost" with the juniors. Turned out they were freaked out, as they revealed later on. But... was it really that scary?

Well... anyway... let's strive on for the next few months!
(Alistair and Jun Bin, ARE YOU LOOKING AT THIS?)

Holidays are here!

2008-03-10T22:26:00.002+08:00

When the holidays come, one would think: Play time.

When the holidays come, Sec 4s will think: Oh my gosh, all the homework we have!

Perhaps I've regained my mugging tendencies. I am starting to work hard, play hard.

Just today, I was up and going at 8.30 am and went off to school to do some work. Managed to do my Maths TYS and a physics paper. Hmm.. did an English essay too.

Actually at 12pm I was supposed to go for Mr Thomas' gathering, (his birthday) but there was SMO, no chance to go, missed the food and the cake. Yet, that's not important. Most important was that I was still able to go down and give him my best wishes. Later, we were playing soccer at the basketball court nearby. Quite a fun game. Managed to pull off a few chances. Then, I played chess with Wai Yinn while the others were watching Grudge. I don't like horror movies, just scares the hell out of me. How sad. But it was still a fun day.

But... I didn't get to practice piano... argh. I need to practise, will be giving a performance in Term 2 Week 4. Need to practise.........!!!

Blinding pain

2008-02-07T17:53:00.000+08:00

It would be pretty bold to say that I was going to die, but that reality soon hit me.

Fever.

That's what I had gotten. However common this ailment may be, this time it was catastrophic.

A fever of 40 degrees for 1 whole day is not exactly what I wanted and I was lucky to escape permanent brain damage. Well, I'm not so sure bout that. Perhaps in the future I would be able to tell.

My mom tells me that its common and nothing bad will happen. I just had nothing to say to that.

I'm becoming increasingly irritated with everything now, especially when I saw the state I was in. Purple lips, Purple fingernails, Purple toenails, and a raging internal body temperature.

Now my temperature is 38 degrees but its still a cause for concern. The doctor's clinics are all closed and well... I guess there was nothing else I could do.

Thanks Wai Yinn for the advice and thanks to daren for his support.

Sorry guys for not replying your CNY messages, I was really too beat to do anything.

So....

A HAPPY CNY TO ALL! =)

Piano

2008-02-02T15:48:00.000+08:00

Today was piano day, the day I start mugging for my lesson tomorrow.

Yes, he upped the ante now. A competition in June. Diploma in June. Prelim 2 in June, this is gonna be crazy! ahahaha... lol.

Somehow I just like piano. I don't know why either. The allure of the many challenges that face? The different textures that can be produced from the piano? I just like it.

Oh well. Time to study for English. Yeah. STUDY FOR ENGLISH. for the first time in 3 years.

Study = practise comprehensions. Incredible eh.

Okay. Off the computer.

Exams

2008-02-01T22:16:00.000+08:00

Today I lay on my bed, tired from all these studying for prelims.

Each night, I just stoned in front of the com, ticking off the days that pass. How 'interesting'.

There was this weird thing though that had been happening, I feel so relaxed and calm. All I just do is pick up a book and just read and then at night, slack. Too much slacking I think. Argh.

Seems as though, my motive in life is to:
1) Play piano
2) Study for exams
3) Do absolutely nothing else.

Argh.

I don't know, maybe its cause of my moodswings that are affecting me now. that I am being so contradictory. Argh.

I don't feel like blogging anymore. Too moody.

With reading and time, comes maturity

2007-12-24T01:49:00.000+08:00

I am 15, yet I yearn to behave like an adult. Somehow this feeling of being young brings about a certain aversion in my mind. This yearning is my driving force behind me doing so much reading during the holidays. It is a bit interesting, how the holidays can transform you.

These days, I have been spending my time doing routine things, yet it seems like the routine work is a subset of unpredictability. My timetable has been absolutely rocked, yet I still manage to get things done. How interesting.

On Wednesday, I went for Mr Heng's concert. Seriously, I thought it was great. I would never have been able to play the piano like that. Even though I must say the songs were slightly on the old-fashioned side for me, it was still pleasant to listen to. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance to be honest. Now after the concert was the time where my decision-making skills came into view. I was with Jun Wei, Il Shan and Zhen Sheng and Johnny. We went by the grocery store and I was pretty tempted to buy the sushi, but well... luckily I didn't, or I'll have someone to answer to. Oh... by the way, I jumped onto the train, leaving the rest behind.... ahhh I feel so bad. Sorries to you all k? >.<

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, came and went. Nothing particularly interesting happened. But well.. I just got hooked onto some Korean drama, called Witch Amusement, or Witch Yoo Hee in Korean. Hmm... A typical love story, and typical teenage viewing material. So I guess I'm still a teenager at heart eh... Oh yeah... there was also CIP. What a total mess the library was in. Books all over the place, there was absolutely no way I was able to finish my job. So far I've clocked in 9 1/2 hours. Not too bad I guess.

Even now... I'm watching Inter Milan and AC Milan. 2-1 to Inter and it has simply been a pulsating match between these 2 gifted sides. Kaka isn't at his personal best, but yet again, he isn't really my favorite player. Terrible mistake by Dida, but credit to Cambiasso, who took his opportunity well. Its 2 am now and my mind seems to be warped. What am I doing online so late!!! Ahhhh.... I guess its a way of letting my hair down eh. Signing off... and I pray to God for a blessed week ahead.

Au revoir....

Dogs and Me and My Sacrifices

2007-12-10T12:45:00.001+08:00

I just got a dog, well temporarily, baby sitting it for a few days.

Before this, I was carefree, free to do whatever I wanted. I thought dogs were easy to take care of, you know, like feed them, clear up their poop, that's it.

However, when the dogs came (sorry, its dogS), the amount of effort needed to take care of these dogs are simply way out of hand. Their breed is shih tzu and they sorta look kind of like a lion and a dog crossed together. Funny combination eh? But they are SO cute! They are so adorable. However, they demand attention, and when they don't get it, they make life tough for you. For one instant, after playing with them and clearing up their stinky faeces as well as feeding them, they demanded attention. When I wanted to practise piano, they would cry and squeal, sometimes it can be quite mentally taxing you know...

Yet again, when they go into your arms, it can be so comforting and heartwarming, such a feeling I will savour it for a long time to come.

Well, with new items comes new responsibility

Changed Blog Skin

2007-12-08T21:40:00.000+08:00

Hey Guys, I just formatted my blog. Didn't like the original one. Thought it was too messy. So I thought I'd just revert back to the old one. Simple and Effective. =)

Confucius and me

2007-12-08T19:08:00.000+08:00

I have a relationship that my mom doesn't know. But its not a relationship with any girl or whatsoever. Its with... Confucius. Okay. Maybe not the person himself, but maybe his theories about life. These few days since I had arrived in Singapore had been one that was pretty fruitful.

In Canada I had learned many things. Many things about life. Experiencing another family's life and actually witnessing their shortcomings and short really enlightened me on my family. When I went back to Singapore. I took the following lessons home with me:

1) Be patient with those close to you.
2) Do all your duties properly without being told.
3) Be a good boy to mum.
4) Be discerning.

Okay. Now comes the real challenge. As I inclined towards building my good boy image, I stumbled upon this set of books my brother used to own. "The Analects of Confucius". His teachings made me a better person. Through reading his theories about life and hardships, it dawned upon me that there are three things in life we must achieve:

1) Trust between friends
2) Care and concern towards the elders
3) Love for the young.

These 3 are the principles which I lay my foundation on. Of course, there were other aspects of life that were to be covered, for example:

"Observe everything around you, but take in those principles that are good for you and for those bad habits that people have, use it as a mirror to see whether you have those bad points as well."

His teachings enlightened me, coupled with Christian and Buddhist teachings, it made me a more complete person. Talking about Christianity...

I have accepted God into my life. That's a bold statement I know, but its true. I've accepted God. Maybe there's something happening in my mouth. A wisdom tooth growing? Maybe that's why I've become wiser. Nah... that's lame and stupid. I guess its the growing up phase. The phase of teenagers, becoming adolescents. The phase where all of us are curious. I am a curious person, and I want to know why things are happening around me. Maybe it is because of the environment. The people around me. Maybe, Maybe, Maybe!!!!!!!! There are a lot of "maybe" that we can say, but for something as unexplainable as this, maybe its God's will, maybe I had good karma in my past life for me to have such excellent company.

Now I put my trust in God. However, I will still find other means of obtaining the truth. The truth about life. As all of us submerge in pointless foraging for notes and marks, as well as comparing valuables and talents, let us stop for a while and ponder about why we are here. Suddenly the whole world doesn't make sense. Everything that we do seems surreal. But yet again, that's why we put our faith in God.

Today, just called up Mr Thong, (not christopher...) for tuition lessons. Do I really need it? I really really wonder. I need to take time off to think.

Oh well... To those music guys out there. I am forming a music study group in a bid to lift ourselves from the deep abyss that we are trapped in, in a bid to help stimulate the music within us. Do give me a call or a message from msn if you're interested!

Thanks guys...

Let's make everyday a masterpiece (yeah... now I'm taking stuff from Mr Lee...)

Canada trip so far

2007-11-30T14:24:00.001+08:00

It has been a while since my last post. Been overseas to Canada and I couldn't log on for a long time. These few days I was off the computer could be said as a revelation. Well, its not on such a grand scale, but it still has been a freshening experience.

Well, in Vancouver, there was comfort. Computer, Piano (yeah I call that comfort), a nice comfortable bed to lie in, it felt like a second home to me. Hmm... Let's say my days there were pretty much routine. However, I realised that there was much more to this visit. I saw my brother there and we caught up quite a bit and that's where I suddenly found my brother so mature and organised. Of course there were bits of him that still displayed his youthfulness and probably shortcomings but still the change had been both dramatic in both the good and bad sense. The weather here was spectacular (you don't get nice cool weather in Singapore anyways) and the air was so refreshing, it was like a standing by a sea and letting the wind wash over you. Splendid!

Something just seemed to hit me. Everything around me struck me as surreal. It was happening all in a blur. The food, the comfort, the relaxation. It seemed too unreal. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to BE challenged. So I tasked myself with my own composition project to perk things up. Oh well...

After a few days in Vancouver, I moved to Victoria to stay with a former neighbour's house. Oh my gosh.. I tell you. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. The picturesque background of the seas and the mountains, the tall mahogany trees towering over with golden-brown like leaves rustling in the calm breeze. As I stepped out of the car, I could feel the wind caressing my cheeks... Oh my my.... heaven-like. Oh yeah... this neighbour of mine, is an old lady, and her cooking is absolutely fantastic. No need to go to a restaurant perhaps :P She bakes the best muffins and bread!!! Well that's in my opinion. Of course it was not all free boarding, we did our part, we swept the floor, kept the house clean and went about some of our errands.

In this stint in Victoria, my mom brought me down to some various tertiary institutes to aid me in my decision-making after my O levels. I went to St. Michael's and U Vic. They were cool, except I did not really get to see much of them. Besides that, we went to Beacon Hill Park. Oh my gosh, the scenery was soooo captivating. When I get back to Singapore, I am definitely going to upload some of the pictures on to photobucket and maybe friendster. The pattern of the clouds seemed to tell a tale. It was like streaks of jets zooming through the clouds, leaving behind a trail. The sun was almost setting and the reflection of the sun loomed outwards towards us. Then I played with the birds there, mainly seagulls and pigeons. It was an exhilirating experience.

With all the fun that I had, I also had time to do some self-reflection. This break gave me the opportunity to freshen up my mind, open up my thinking, make myself a better person. Maybe this was a break that was worth the time.

Even now as I'm back in Vancouver and just back from my brother's house, there is this indescribable feeling inside me, trying to make itself known, yet its trapped in that mazy interlocking of neurones in my brain, unable to get itself out of the deep abyss of the many different feelings I am feeling right now. Argh. Now I think this paragraph doesn't make sense. What a bummer.

Gonna be back in Singapore in just a few days time. Hope to be back soon and I really enjoyed my time here very much!

An unearthly calm

2007-10-29T22:15:00.000+08:00

They say a man gets wiser when he's past his late forties after going through the arduous mid-life crisis.

Yes. I'll agree with that, but let me add another point. I feel I'm becoming wiser.

I know. This statement would come upon as a shock to many. How could I actually be a wise guy? No way man... people would say. This is certainly a weird experience.

I woke up this morning and suddenly felt that everything slowed down. An unearthly calm settled within me. I didn't feel that urge to do anything. I just took things by its stride. Is that a bad thing? Weird ain't it. I even started to walk slower... Slow to the point my mom says I walk like a turtle. I decided that the life was not worth the rush. Take things slowly. Enjoy each and every moment. Maybe that's me in delusion; Me thinking that I've become wiser. Probably puberty and growth had me thinking all like this. Probably it is the Buddhism scriptures I've been reading. I don't know. I'm sort of in a contemplative mood right now.

As my chinese O level approaches, I begin to slow things down to calm my mind. So that its not too busy. So that I feel calm. So that I can approach the test with a cool mind. I guess that's why I'm thinking like this. Oh boy... its now like 10:27pm and I've gotta sleep. Tomorrow gonna do some exercise and keep myself in good shape for Chinese O levels.

2 more days to Chinese O levels!!!

O levels coming up!

2007-10-28T20:51:00.000+08:00

Higher Chinese O levels are coming up and you can bet my feelings rite now. Nervous, quavering under the pressure. Man. An A1 or A2 or I'll have to drop. This is getting to my nerves. Seriously. So now I'm sorta like taking a big break today.

Went to play pool. Saw levine there. Shut his cocky mouth up at last :P Beat him quite a few games! Woot! Two games in a row I pulled out marvellous shots at the black. One a three rail side kick and the other a cool bank. Haha... his face was like... *SHIT*! hahaha.... had fun.

Later got off to some studying and did some prep for chinese O levels. But somehow I find it hard to concentrate. Made notes on good phrases to use in chinese compo. Did some close passages. That's about it. Did it for about 1 1/2 hours. I just hate all the studying. Oh boy...

In the nighttime went to watch pink panther on DVD. Dam funny. Closeau... or whatever he's called. Dam funny... hahaha.... Loved the movie. I just liked the way how he outwitted the more 'brilliant' inspector with his dam stupid antics.

Oh well... Now im chatting and mel gave me this cool idea. "How to lose a guy in 10 ways" she says. SO I'll just change the guy to girl and maybe I'll add some fresh ideas. Hmm... Here we go!

1. Dump her. Literally. Maybe ride on a bike and just hmm accidentally lose control and drive off XD. For an actual visualisation of that I recommend this video on metacafe.

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1217

2. Hmm.. Next up I would recommend... Tell her that she's not pretty to you anymore and tell her straight in the face that she's bitchy and she's not worth the garbage boy's attention.
3. Well. When you talk to your girl, make it a point to munch on onions. She'll revolt and probably try to avoid you as much as possible.
4. Invite her best friend along and keep on talking to her best friend. She'll get darn irritated, indefinitely. :D
5. Pretend you have a crotch infection and keep on scratching it rite there... haha.
6. Dress as horrendously as you can. Maybe try out gay combinations like. Fluorescent orange with bright pink perhaps? XD
7. Act gay. Act absolutely gay. Make it a point that you are not interested in girls. At least not in her. XD

Oh well... its getting darn difficult from here. >.< Oh well... I'll just post it like that and I might add some more lest I get some inspiration XD

Hmm. This is the longest post I've ever written. Not bad for a start I guess. Time to sleep and rise and shine tomorrow morning! There's still quite a bit of things to do tomorrow.

Hmm..... Holidays ever nearing

2007-10-24T19:41:00.000+08:00

LOL. I just realised I hadn't uploaded this entry for some reason. SO Im posting this rite now. I think I typed it like 2 days ago. lol.

OK... I haven't blogged a long time cause I've sorta been bogged down by so many things. Ack. Piano mainly. Have been trying to rush things a bit and I screwed up eugene's practical accompaniment. Got a bit of a hiding from Mr Heng... and perhaps that's about it. In the end, I didn't do too badly for my pieces. But I WAS very surprised by the main paper results. I got pretty high!!! and I thought I screwed it up. How funny can things be eh.

Just yesterday went to have some fun with Johnny. (Oh that sounded so darn wrong >.>) But well... we did have quite a bit of fun. We played pool, arcade, air hockey. mmm.. He was quite impressed with some of the pool players I usually play with. Naturally. Hahaha... Overall not bad... Later went to have some western meal and went back home

I don't know why in all my blog entries I always include my piano pieces but I think they're just so nice!!!! I love the one I just finished learning. Its called Toccata and it is really a vibrant piece! I just LOVE IT! So brilliant. XD

Exams finally over!

2007-10-09T23:15:00.000+08:00

Yes.... Ah yes! Exams are finally over. At last! But yet again... I thought exams passed quite quickly... perhaps im a bit too preoccupied. haha. the past week bin going to macs to study. Meet up with Jonathan to mug at times. Play basketball almost every other day. Uhm. Well... pretty uneventful.

I thought that........

English was OKAY. nothing much. Summary was difficult.

Chinese was a KILLER. Darn tough overall. Well... just died for that yeah... wait. who doesn't? :P

SS was OKAY. Source-based tough. Essay qns came out as predicted XD

Chem was NOT BAD. Perhaps made some careless mistakes here and there. But im not bothered =)

History was DEAD. I am so totally gonna be screwed. Spotted wrong essay. now im gonna be put to the abbatoir and wait to be slaughtered by the executioner in my wake. :S

Bio was a HAND-BREAKER. My hands ached like mad trying to write the essay questions in time. :S din like them AT ALL.

Math was pretty tough. Made quite a few careless mistakes. As I always do XD

Physics was pretty difficult too... Maybe cos I concentrated too much of my efforts onto music.

Ah yes... talking about music. i think im dead AS WELL. oh well... cause the music paper asked so many weird questions that I didn't even know how to answer.

Hmm... that sums up my EOYs this year. Which = OKAY! As I always say... but the harsh truth is... I always do badly when I say its okay... =/ Oh my gosh....

Oh well... Now Im being a total slacker rite now... Watching youtube movies one after the other. Practising for music practical exam. oh and Im learning Chopin Waltz Op 64 no. 2 in C# minor. This is all so significant cos an extract of this song was used in Jay Chou's movie "secret"!!! Oh my my... im being such a bore here. OK. Better go back to sleep and then be fresh for tomorrow. Still have to accompany daniel Lim for his music exam... haha

Signing off....

*a period of slacking and relaxation* XD

EXAM BLUES

2007-09-30T10:29:00.000+08:00

Exams exams and exams.

Exams are here.
Exams are here to kill us all.
Exams are here for extermination.

lolz. oh well.

Engaging
eXtreme
Arduous
Mortifying

Yeah... these are characteristics of exams. Sad case

Ok. Yesterday was quite a fun day u noe... In the morning went for physics lesson, queried Ms wong like crazy. Cleared some doubts. Went back home, thinking there was tuition. In the end it was cancelled. Then went to Jonathan's house to revise. Saw richie there. Did some math. then a lil' chem, then went out for basketball! It was quite fun la... but poor jonathan. I think he seemed a little bored out. Oh well. Richie owned the court. sorta. But he complained of some problem with his legs. Tired out easily he says. Then there was this group of basketballers. To me they were dam zai, but richie said they were like... leisurely playing. Im like OMG. haiz. Im too inadequate I guess.. hahaa. In the end went back to Jonathan's house again. Did some revision on history. managed to complete one essay =) Went back home. Got nagging from mom. Did more math revision. Then too tired liaoz. Knocked off. Now doing some history essays. Hope I can memorize them in time :P

Time to get back to work!

*intense mugging period*

What a day...

2007-09-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Today was really really weird. WEIRD I say.

In the morning, there were some indonesian delegates who came over to our school for some exchange programs. well they were not really delegates, but the students from the top 15 schools in indonesia. They sorta looked like primary school kids to me (no offence) :O. But well. I was really really irked out when I saw this "brilliant" camera man. He was taking videos of us when we were singing (not me) the NATIONAL ANTHEM. and that guy was like filming us upclose. Making funny gestures at us, TRYING to make us sing. ack. He even went up onto the "stage" and started filming us from there. He was walking around the prefect and being such a nosey-parker. *Bleargh* The Weirdest thing was. That he actually took a video of Mr Teo pumping some classes for not keeping their class clean. The point is. Just look how insensitive people can be. Sad case here.

Afternoon, lessons passed without much event. I got pretty high for chem! Something to cheer about. =) A nice confidence boost before the final year exams. XD. After school went for rejuvenation lessons. Just realised how much I didn't know :S. After that went back home and just died. Lol. Did some homework, multi-tasked. Was watching Jay Chou's secret on computer and doing english and physics homework at the same time. Just finished watching the movie and now i just done a history conclusion. Oh well... not bad revision? O.o Chatted a while. And now im blogging.

Hmm... 2 more weeks! 2 more weeks to freedom! 2 more weeks to an untroubled life! 2 more weeks till I can finally let my hair down! Cmon... I can do it.

~Tense~

Euphoria...

2007-09-16T17:45:00.000+08:00

hmmm... just yesterday, participated in this yamaha piano competition. I tell you... it was TIRING. Had to go there at 11.45pm and it ended at like 5 pm. Oh well.. here's how it went.

At 12pm. They sorta briefed us on how we should go up, bow and all the rehearsal stuff thingy. As I went in. The scene was sorta awkward. I was like the oldest and the tallest and it was soooooo weird. >.< but well. Those people were treating us like little kids. (well most of them were.) and then we just sat, waited, chatted. I met a few guys by the name of clarence, Timothy Teo (not lim), Nicholas and that's about it. We sorta talked for a long time. Omg. Then the competition began. I was like "omfg". Kids of 8 years old played with the sorta standard that could easily thrash us. oh well. I was really really really nervous. By the time it was my turn, I thought I would just give it a shot. so I went up and performed.

One was the Nocturne Op Posthumous. Soundtrack of the Pianist and the other one was a debussy prelude. Thought I did ok. and so it turned out to be OK. Got third prize and went home happy. =)

After that went for dinner with mom and sherman, then went home with them and watched sherman play maple and help him with some of his assignments. Then. I was tired. ack. did absolutely no work at all that day. So that sums up a perfect day for me! =)

I just hope that I have enough time to study. I think I better buck up. NOW.

Yep... Today is the day...

2007-09-14T06:01:00.000+08:00

Haiz... had to reformat my com... so haven't blogged for a long time.

Nothing really special happened over the past few days. Just getting punished for late work and people disturbing each other. Tomorrow. Competition. Finals. What are my feelings? Anxious. Nervous. Poleaxed. (right word?) Oh well... Pray for the best. =) Just hope I dun break down on the spot.

Blogging really early, cause yesterday had to chiong some library stuff and homework. Oh yeah... Homework. A real bother. >.< Can't study. Can't play. Just doing homework. argh =.=

oh well... sick and bored.

signing off.........

~archangelzx~
"A sick and bored and tired and emo person at work"

what a day....

2007-09-09T19:47:00.000+08:00

Today woke up at 7.30 am... got refreshed then off to piano's teacher's house for lessons....... ack. The day of the competition. and ask me to correct so many things! >.<>.< But never mind that again. I told myself. Yet again. lol. went up there. tried my best. it was OK. nothing spectacular. nothing bad. so... I don't think I will get in. They said they will notify me if I get in. But so far... no call. Oh well... I expect the worst. Never mind that. AGAIN. Lol. It was a nice experience though. Good preparation for my grade 8. oh well... It was nice. Met my ex-tuition mate De zhong... was completely shocked to see him (no offence) and met some new friends too!=) Met a schoolmate in Sec 1 who was competing too. Hmm... Overall a cool experience. Later had lunch with mum, and fell sick. Awwww.... Fever. Terrible. Absolutely piss me off.. Had to nap for 2 hours. Now feel better. School reopens tomorrow. and I haven't done most of my homework. Im dead. ack. Haiz......... Just try to chiong tomorrow!!!! ahhhhhhhh....... OK. I must get back to work. Or I'll be hacked, slaughtered, disemboweled, mutilated and flogged by my ever sadomasochistic teachers. LOL... what an exaggeration. but well, yeah. so sian.... AGM in term 3. I think I'll get sacked from my vice-president post, but I look on the bright side. At least I can focus on my Scrabble Club! Oh well... time to get down to work!

Chop chop! (so copyright eh?)

Mmmm.... Vegetarianism

2007-09-08T14:13:00.000+08:00

Oh Boy..... Yesterday was quite uneventful. In the morning, bored to my wits. Ended up playing random songs on the piano for like 2 hours.... Did some chemistry revision, then after that went to Jon Cheung's house for fun. lolz... At first we all went to play basketball. The sun was so bright and it was like an iron furnace. lol... exaggeration. But then I got sunburnt and now I am really really tanned. >.<>.>

Today, so far, was great! Went off in the morning to a Buddhism class. Yeah yeah.... many of you may think. Buddhism. WAHHHHHH. But actually its not that bad you know. Really inspires you to think in different perspectives. OK. Now that sounds soooooo.... mmmm *undescribable* fine.... But well it was an inspiring experience. After that, went with mum to eat at a vegetarian restaurant and it was exceptionallly, fabulously, incredulously and unbelievably DELICIOUS. Never had I tasted such good food for a long long long long time............ I simply loved it. Now I am back home typing this entry and going to prepare for tuition in half an hours time. Hmm... Today there's more to come! =)

Hmm...

2007-09-03T20:42:00.000+08:00

Today was quite a hectic/boring one. Lol... what irony

In the morning, that Joel Tan ask me come at 7.30 am for piano practical. Then when I arrived in school, he was still... IN BED... !!! I dun believe it. He rushed to school, then we practised for like what..... 1/2 an hour. Then he sorta gave up and wanted to practise tomorrow. Haiz...

9 am. Late for Chinese lesson. "Turned out that *fish scales* was talking a whole bunch of crap" but I didn't really think so. It was quite a good lesson aside from the fact that she spent soooooo long scolding ppl. I thought it was quite hilarious when she was using all different types of profound chinese to scold. Hmmm.... scolding in a refined way. Not bad... But overall, I thought it really refreshed my memory on writing chinese essays (had forgotten all about it... >.<) Then after that, we had to write a chinese essay. omg... 2 1/2 pages. I almost freaked out. Took like 1 1/2 hours to do it... cause joel tan and zhen sheng kept on taking my paper to copy.... and the environment was totally unsuitable to write essays. (lol... excuses) So well... we were dismissed at 11.30am.

After that was supposed to meet with Daren Sin/Joel Tan to do practical sessions for ABRSM.... but.... BAND PRACTICES. Had to wait at canteen and stone. Did some math questions with Joseph Ang and physics questions with Joseph Lim. Talked a bit with Reginald. Gave Justin some advice for his chinese essay. :/ talked cock until physics "lesson" started. One funny thing was... when I wanted to play basketball with Dannel and Enzon... it started raining. =.= yeah... and ppl started suaning me. Oh well.. heck with that.

2.00pm. Mock Test. Did a 2 hour paper with Leonard. Talked rubbish and shared some chocolate. Yeah... The mock paper was like..... average. But I just toook my own sweet time and did it casually, as though i was strolling lol.... Leonard sorta gave up halfway and we started pestering each other. gawd.... oh yeah. and he left his pencil box behind as he left the lecture theater. Oh well... free stationary till the end of hols? hahaha.......

After that, well... went home. Played maple. Practised piano. Laming around. nothing extraordinary. Ate dinner with mum. Now I am typing this entry. Gonna do some hardcore mugging on history after this. 14 essays to memorize... wait... maybe more. But nvm. its ok. 1 everyday will do the trick... haha. =)

Hope tomorrow will be just as eventful... =)
Signing off......

Some weird test I took... O.o

2007-09-01T22:54:00.001+08:00

Here is a lame test I took. Saw it from Bryan's blog... so well here it is.

YOUR REPORT CARD:
Category	Grade
Love	C
Friends and Family	A
Body	A
Mind	B
Finance / Career	B
Your Life's Average Grade: B
'What is your Life Grade?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Teachers Day & Ratatouille

2007-09-01T22:16:00.000+08:00

As they always say, life is full of ups and downs. I truly agree with that.

Hmm.. just yesterday, I was back in primary school, and performing. I was pretty nervous throughout, cause I never really performed in front of my primary school teachers before and also, there was no rehearsal. I was asked to accompany a singer on my first try and I was like... OMG. But it still went well... after some "improvisations". I think they like the jazz performance. I played Willie Wagglestick's walkabout. Nice song, nice reception. Not bad. But I still wished I was able to talk to more of my other teachers. After that, met up with my ex-classmates from SAJS and went to Mac's. Sat there and talked on and on and on... How people change. Sadly. Oh well... shall not ramble too much on that. It was still a pleasant experience. =)

Hmm... Now today.
Did some accompaniment with Daren Sin and Justin. Not bad either... but tired after playing for 2 hours straight >.<. Rested awhile, then off to catch Ratatouille!!! A show I had been anticipating for WEEKS!!!!! Finally I get to catch it. Brilliant show. Loved the catch-lines, loved the cuteness of remy and emile the two rats. sooooooooo cute! =) Oh well... I went with 6 other ppl, Ji ren, christopher, hong zhi, eugene sim, li zhong and leon. Then we wandered around, peeked inside arcades nearby. Hmm.... here was where I saw Ji ren play paraparadise!!!!! Looking at him dance is sooooooo cooooooooooool. Nonono... cool is an understatement. HILARIOUS is the word. =)
Then after that got scolded by mom, who for "I dunno whatever reason", started picking on me and scolding me in front of others. I was not really that pissed off at first, but because it was in front of others, I really got mad. Maybe that was the first time I blew up in a long long time. I shan't talk about it too much. Its good to release frustration and I did so by banging the piano. Literally. Now as Im typing this blog entry, my mom is fuming inside and doing her things. So am I too... Just typing this makes me pissed off... Sorry Christopher for implicating you... >.<

It has certainly been a day full of ups and downs. Certainly one that I would not want to forget. Certainly not just yet.

YEAH!

2007-08-22T18:40:00.000+08:00

Im happy today... I've just entered the Yamaha competition!!! But that's just the beginning. Have to control my nerves. Its just 2 weeks away... Just 2 weeks... Buck up boy!!!!! :S so nervous... Oh yeah... Today, it was quite... ummm lets just say.... GOOD. No other words to describe it. Today accompaniment with Daren.... went quite well I must say. Making progress. Jun wei and Joel... WHERE WERE YOU ALL?!!! call and call and call... but welll.... maybe can practise some other day. Jia you!!! ok. Just went out for dinner wif mom...

AND...

POST EOY EXAMS. mmm who wanna go out for badminton? do msn me. I also feel like watching a movie. Do message me as well. =) I feel like enjoying my self and letting my hair down. My mugging mechanisms are on... yet i still find the time to blog, play piano, do homework, mmm.... but I am sleeping later. :S oh well.... after EOYs.... LET's RELAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)=)=)=)

mmm.... mugging mechanisms on

2007-08-21T21:53:00.000+08:00

These few weeks have been hectic.

ACCOMPANIMENT FOR MUSIC EXAM. what can I say? "..." let's see... 6 pieces, 4 ppl. and that is just for ABRSM. There is still internal exam. So that is like. 3 more. Therefore 9 pieces. Gonna die due to overwork. I also have to play my own pieces too... where's my life? =(. Nvm bout that... at least I've reached an agreement and... yeah

LIBRARY. mmm... Let's just say MOE is coming, and so many things to handle. millionaire. questions to be prepared.

HOMEWORK. welll.... homework hasn't been alot so that's GOOD!!! =)

END OF YEAR. the biggest headache in the world and that is coming along bad. Having trouble studying. but yet again. Can that be a good thing? :S

EV INTERVIEW. In case u all are wondering. This is actually an interview with MOE officials, where we are supposed to answer questions regarding our school's systems. Well... I just hope I have enough time to finish all these questions. My life is without enough troubles, don't need to add this on to my list of burdens. =)

well... at least I've got some things to cheer about.

MUSIC. I've finally completed with fantaisie impromptu!!! what a struggle with that piece. Finally I can concentrate on accompaniment. wait... isn't that bad? O.o

A NEW FOUND OPTIMISM. Well... I've found that life isn't so dull after all. optimism and happiness is created. not given to you. as I've just realised. so that's another good thing!

What a week. I'll treasure it

The feeling of depression is lifted!

2007-08-05T23:16:00.000+08:00

After a week of immense disappointment, I decided that it was time to pick up the pieces. Brooding over the past is something that'll kill me more than getting bad marks for CA.

I need to concentrate on Scrabble, my to-be CCA. I haven't been putting enough effort in it. Full stop. I seriously need to buck up, or I would become a serious dud, like Kieran Richardson, the useless and ineffective former Man United player. That is my main source of motivation. NOT to be like Richardson. haha..... (lol.. so cold :S)

Just needed a major cool down and it came. Thank goodness.

Right now, I am letting my hair down. Following the commentary on the Man United and Chelsea match. 1-1 is the score and there seems to be no change at all.. :( Hope that Man United wins! :) Forever UNITED!...!!!

Chem test next tuesday. Two more days. Done quite a bit of preparation. But still need to do more preparation if I'm gonna do well for this test.

Reverted back to playing a bit of maple story for 1/2 an hour, not too long. Just leveled up today. Lvl 39. Well. Not so high. But still some progress.

Mmm... Time for me to go back to do some mugging for bio. Then back to see the scores of man united and chelsea :)

Signing off...

Everyday is so screwed up

2007-08-03T21:34:00.000+08:00

This week has been absolutely down for me. Tired, pissed off, feeling crappy... I just can't be bothered anymore. I need a good rest.

Firstly, Exam marks. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. 55/100 for history. I wanna cry... :( 22/35 for chemistry... 43/70 for HCL 24/30 for math... (may seem good, but so many people got so high). The only marks that could cast some brightness over my gloom is perhaps bio and physics. I did quite well for those tests. So maybe that would be good. Also, music. average of the class was 80+. I got 72. Really really sad now.....

Secondly, Project. Physics project presentation. So crappy, our product. but the result was OK. 22/30. At least better than the other group. :)

Lastly, Some personal reasons that kept me nice and pissed off for the whole week. Been trying to contain my temper, but it released out just today. Thank god I didn't release it at home or I could imagine what could happen.

This is the life of a troubled soul in a troubled week. So crapppppppppppppp

A week to look back on...

2007-07-18T19:43:00.000+08:00

So far from the last post, much had happened.

There was the watching of Harry Potter last week. Nothing special, nothing bad, just an OK movie, cause the movie was a bit disjointed here and there, disorganized. However, the graphics were really cool! So I guess it balances out! Went with li zhong, ji ren and he xiang (lemon king!!) It was a good day. XD

Monday was O level Chinese listening comprehension. Totally screwed it. 4 mistakes and a total goner. =.= But that's history. Now its time to get down to work, or so I thought.

Tuesday, was disappointing for me. I wanted to get down to common test revision, but all I did was play Fifa 07 for 2 hours and maple story and then.... by the time I wanted to do revision, it was like 10pm. So.... forget it.

Now today... Coming back home from school, I slacked. Again. I was frustrated. So, I slacked even more, playing Fifa 07... AGAIN. Then I made up my mind. At 7.45pm, I would stop and write this blog entry, which I am doing so right now... I guess by 8.00pm, I'll get down to doing my history revision.

Few days lay ahead to the common test week and all I have to do is be a super MUGGER for the oncoming days. However, I DO anticipate the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! 21st July, 3 more days, 3 more days, 3 more days.... and then a day after..... Scrabble Competition. This is gonna be a hectic week ahead!

Signing off....
Archangelzx

18 July 2007: Finished at 7.51pm

CIP

2007-06-13T22:01:00.000+08:00

Today was CIP. Fun? Nah... not fun. VERY FUN. Well, we apparently met the quota in like 2 hours and then... it was... hmm hehehe. MAHJONG TIME! well you may say "eeee" but wait. Its not the aunty type of game. Its TOTALLY COOL. Now don't get me wrong. I am not old-fashioned. Go try it out yourself! Today went with ji ren, jun wei and dong zhen sheng. We went to Jun wei's house where we played how many rounds? Not sure. Quite a lot... But I won only once. Haiz... but never mind. Losing is part of the game XD Oh well.. Had lots of fun. then came back home dead tired. Awww man

What a week........

2007-05-12T15:02:00.002+08:00

hmmm... this week was really a roller coaster ride.

Monday, Music exam. Tough, thought I will fail (in the end I didn't). slacked the rest of the day.

Tuesday - Wednesday: Nothing special. School. Except for P.E. Loved P.E. Even though our team didn't win. Oh yeah. there WAS something special. Mr yong's farewell. A great teacher with a great heart for teaching. Inspirational. We had pizza as a part of a treat he gave us and it was delicious. Pity he could not join in. (had a sore throat) Hmm... besides that... nothing much.

Thursday, got back our results. Script checking. No offence guys, but I thought I didn't do too well. English 30.5/50... I guess that was OK. Math 83/100 overall, erm... could do better. Social Studies 21/25. Ok.. I admit that was pretty good. Music 51/75 (after deducting 2 marks for marking error =X) still Ok.....

... then FRYday... the real killer time. Chinese. First paper. Died like crazy. Barely passed, clinging on to my life. 37.5/70. that was utterly humiliating. I didn't want to look at anyone. Anyone at all. Then Chemistry brightened up my soul. 86/100!!!!!! I was totally shocked. I guess that gave me a much needed boost. Then History with 76/100. Oh well...

After those two gruelling days of script checking, I just slacked slacked and slacked. I went to vivo to watch Spiderman 3, like many others did I guess, and I thought it was fabulous. Then went with my mom for some window shopping and then wnet back home. Spent about 2 hours on the piano. Then exhausted, slacked at the computer and TV until nighttime then went to sleep.

Now its saturday. In less than 5 minutes, I will be out for some workout at the gym (not telling you where) and then going for a meal with the neighbours. I feel bored, aimless and I really don't know what to do... Perhaps you could tell me?

At last at last at last

2007-05-04T22:00:00.000+08:00

Hmmm.... a long time since I even entered into my dashboard. Gruelling weeks of non-stop hardcore studying. Really really mentally draining. At last! Its over. Well at least the memorization part. Still have my last paper music to go. Nothing much to study for now. Time to relax!!!

After school Daniel and I went for practical and sorta practiced there for like 1 1/2 hours just trying to be in sync. Really felt drained after that, but it did give sort of some satisfaction. Then me and my mom went with our neighbours to eat COCA!!! steamboat... mmmm..... loved it. Totally. Then to ruin it all, I had a stomachache =X ok... so here I am, typing for the 1st time in a month? lolz....

Music listening exam on Monday, Practical exam on Friday. Hope showers of blessing rain down on me....

Tired again....

2007-04-10T22:58:00.000+08:00

This was such a tiring week. library, school work, scrabble. Die die die... now it is 11 pm. I am exhausted, weakened and want to go to sleep. nitez... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Getting more and more tired...

2007-03-24T14:03:00.000+08:00

As the week comes to an end, I just hope that there would never be a more hectic week. Inter-House Scrabble Competition, Sports Night, more homework piling up, more and more MASTERY REVIEWS, *puke*, I hope next week would be slightly, if not more, relaxed. I guess this is Sec 3. -.-"

Piano practices are becoming somewhat a rarity even though I am going OK with my Scherzo, but the rest of the sections are suffering. I am TIRED and I can't practice properly. I need some rest. Seriously.

Library Camp

2007-03-11T20:48:00.000+08:00

A success, a success and almost a failure... lolz. I guess I contradicted myself on that one, but it IS true. The first part of the camp:

W A T E R B O M B!!!!!!!!

ok... everyone said that was fun, but I did not really get to experience the fun as I had to nurse an injured ankle......but oh well, I played monopoly during that time and nonetheless it was a nice experience getting to know my juniors :P

Now the second part of the camp:

B A S K E T B A L L!!!!!

I LOVED it. We were all so engrossed in our playing that we didn't even realise it was time to go back! Well until damian and co. started to "scold us" XD.

The last part of the camp, which I said was almost a failure.........

A M A Z I N G R A C E!!!!!!!!!

This one took us AGES (actually only 1 week) to plan. Preparation was tedious and we had to make sure the other librarians could not see the clues.... -.-"

The format was pretty much the same as the actual amazing race except that it was all in 2 hours. it involved A LOT of running up and down (thanks to damian... XD No offence arh?) but the prize was pretty much satisfying :D. Our team got first place, then damian, then ruo lin. Now here is where things get complicated. During the race, Guang Wen's team went to hide the clues, then we could not find the clues, so his team got disqualified. Kah koon was so darn pissed off and just forfeited.... sianz. But anywayz the camp went on smoothly :D.

After the whole race, we were tired, exhausted, but I thought the time spent was worthwhile.

Holidays.... Do you even call it "holiday"?

2007-03-08T19:45:00.000+08:00

Hmm... As the term draws to an end, the holidays approach. wait.... "holiday" is the better term. English Video project, Make-up lessons, Chinese oral exam, homework piling up like a stack of bricks on our chests... This is getting tiring for me. With Library Camp in 2 days time, and Scrabble just 2 weeks later, the going is getting rough for me.

I dunno about you guys out there, but I do feel that the pressure is tremendous.

I am a piece of paper on a cardboard, and somebody is pressing a hot iron on me, stinging me with pain. *Ouch* GO AWAY! i want the pain to stop.... zzzzz I guess it is no use complaining. Take things step by step. Get used to the pressurizing environment, akin to that of Jupiter's =.=". I feel so lost now. My life so disorganised, not doing my best in exams, and still waiting for the results of the SL interview. For once, I hope that I do not pass... If I do pass....... the pressure would be immense. Its too late to back out now and I just have to pray that it does happen. I wait in anticipation... waiting and waiting, like a wounded antelope lying half-dead on the floor waiting for a miracle to happen. SOMEONE RELEASE ME FROM THIS HELL!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

E-learning Week

2007-03-07T22:58:00.000+08:00

E-learning week is finally over. I would deem it as a rousing success, but I felt that it was not so effective as going to school as there is no one to patiently explain to us how things actually work out. Like I was so puzzled about box and whiskers diagram and stem-leaf diagram that I had to take like 20 minutes just to figure it out... =.=" Oh well... it has been yet another hectic week. Homework and more homework.

Library Camp is coming up. Nerve racking... One whole day. From 8 am to 4 pm. I anticipate it to be quite fun. *I hope* ...

I sprained my ankle AGAIN. >.< and this time it took a lot longer to heal. Can't do anything at all. Bedridden for 1 day. Now I am up and going, with a slight twist.

Term's results are out. I didn't do too badly. Average. Still can do.

I lost my retainers. Bad. Bad. Bad. $400 to replace. $$$. All hongbao money gone. T_T

11.00pm now. Better sleep. Or mom *yak yak yak*...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Argh....

2007-03-01T20:51:00.000+08:00

Drats... As if the week could not get any worse. I couldn't manage all my work, sprained my ankle, computer going haywire, terrible!!!!!!!! Oh man... I just hope I get better soon!

Reflections after a week

2007-02-27T22:22:00.000+08:00

Somehow it is awkward, when one has to go to school for half a week and ends up only having 4 lessons. Truly, no one could have anticipated how little homework was actually distributed out. The festive mood of Chinese New Year carried on and at this moment, Mr Lee decided to call for a half day on Thursday!

To add to our joy, cross country was just the day after. Speaking about cross-country, it was a fairly eventful day, even though Joseph house finished 4th and last place =.=". It was a nice workout and certainly pretty enjoyable.

Right now I am learning Chopin's Scherzo No. 2 and Nocturne in F minor. Both are really beautiful, brilliant. However, things are starting to eat into my free time. Inter-House Scrabble Competition, Library Camp... I guess that is enough on my mind. Luckily there is no homework, or else... *die*

Oh well... It's 10.30pm now and I think I better go to sleep... Nitez!

In Jakarta, Singapore

2007-02-19T15:24:00.000+08:00

Jakarta has been ok, boring as usual... nothing to do... except for computer, piano, computer, piano, more computer and more piano... -_- Oh yeah. I also ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and did some yoga as well. BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Singapore,

Computer crashed, no internet, no sharepoint, no homework, no tests, no projects... DIE!!!!!!

Music Practical: I thought my pieces were ok, a few minor blips and that's about it. Hope I did well.
Overall, it has been a bad week. I just pray that things will be better in the near future. >.<

Common test over!

2007-02-10T18:00:00.000+08:00

Finally, the dreaded common test is over. Can relax at last! :D

Ahhh YES! Scrabble Club established

2007-01-17T20:23:00.000+08:00

Finally and finally and finally.... The Scrabble Club that I had been painstakingly working for is finally approved of by Mr Goh Kee Yong... Haiz... Took so long to draft up proposals, timetable for training schedule for the year... At last! Oh and I will be the trainer <.< Oh well, I guess it is part of my obligation to spread Scrabble throughout the school.

Also, I guess the school is catching on to the "Ahhhh YES!" phrase. It is so popular it has spread throughout the school in a week! Hard to believe how fast it spreads and how fast it had caught on. -_- It is a bit lame, but I guess I'll have to live with it.

More and More homework

2007-01-09T19:08:00.000+08:00

These days have been even more hectic than before. With the need to study before and after the lesson arising, the mood in class as hardly been far from relaxing. All of us are trying to keep up with the lessons, handling CCAs, doing homework and there is hardly time to do anything we like. Even as I type this entry, I am printing out my music scores for the song analysis. Haiz... This is really getting on my nerves. Today I was almost late for school as I was so tired. Imagine... This is only Sec 3... Sec 4 will be CRAZY! But I shall take things step by step. Hopefully things will turn out for the better.

What a week...

2007-01-05T16:05:00.000+08:00

Oh my my... What a week. That is all i can say after 3 days of school. Library, Scrabble, Volleyball... Back to business. However, I am officially quitting volleyball, even though Mr Goh Kee Yong hasn't approved of it. It is too crazy for me. I am setting up my own Scrabble Club and with so much homework... it is too much!

I have just been selected for student council AGAIN, and I am really surprised. The top 2 of each CCA HAS to become a student leader, oh well, it may be a good experience, who knows?

Mmm... I finally found a teacher who has the same passion as me for Scrabble, Mr Thomas! He says he played competitive Scrabble nationally, so I must pit myself against him some day. :P

Library had me skipping a few classes (to my dismay) due to orientation. Luckily there would not be anymore of these days. XD. As the week comes to a close, I can finally go on the computer and do the stuff I like, (for a while) but still no games. Too much homework and research to do. What a year this is going to be for me!

Also, a funny incident happened to me. I actually FORGOT which locker I was using! Or more like I didn't really pay attention to the number. When Higher Chinese lesson arrived, I suddenly realised that I didn't know which locker I was using! I spent time searching and searching until I found that I had been keying in the wrong combination... -_- How stupid I can get eh? But in the end it was all ok and oh well... back to work.

Next week I have to give a CCA speech. OOh... so nervous... I guess I just have to control my emotions and give a good speech by then. >.<

Well, one thing for sure, this IS really a hectic week.

A brand new year

2007-01-01T11:59:00.000+08:00

As the year of 2007 begins, many thoughts come across my mind. How do I want 2007 to be? A fruitful one? A hectic one? A meaningful one? 2007 also sparks the beginning of a journey full of ups and downs and it is up to us to decide what lies ahead. I think as a New Year resolution, I feel that we should all be better people all round. In terms of character, aptitude... we should all change. The holidays had been the ultimate time to reflect on what we had done for the year and use the knowledge and lessons we have acquired for the coming year. That is what holidays are for. Not games, not pleasure, but it is simply a time to take a break from work and reflect on what happened. After a time of reflection myself, I realised I had failed. In terms of character wise, attitude, I thought I was TERRIBLE. Now 2007 is a glorious opportunity to renew my soul and my spirit and I think all of you should do so too. Good luck for the coming year!

One fleeting moment of disgust

2006-12-03T01:31:00.000+08:00

Just yesterday as I read the newspaper, I found out something that really pissed me off, but it was not really surprising. If you all read the newspapers, you will all know that North Korea is facing a poverty crisis. However, if you go to the head of the roost, or Mr Kim, the president of North Korea, you will find that the situation is totally different. As quoted from the straits times: "Each grain of rice is carefully inspected and only the top class food from different countries are imported over. Most of the time he would end his meal with a glass of Cognac." How outrageous! Where is this world coming to? Luckily the U.S. came to its senses and banned any exports to Korea. Hope Mr. President of North Korea wakes up from his dreamland... I mean, he is wasting away the money of the people and using it for his own luxury! Well, one thing we can learn from this is to stay simple. Don't indulge in pleasures like branded goods. This may help in managing our lives better.

Addiction solved

2006-11-26T09:52:00.000+08:00

Recently, I have been addicted to computer games... and it is becoming serious. Neglecting school work, family... I need to stop! So yesterday, I deleted all my games on the computer and blocked the websites leading to them. I hope it quells the addiction. Also, I have started to do my work today! What a relief. I finally can concentrate on next year without too many distractions. ^_^

Hmm... I really wonder

2006-11-23T14:07:00.000+08:00

Holidays are times for self-reflection and thinking purposefully. It is also a time to let our hair down and enjoy ourselves. Just today, as I stop and think about the stuff I am going to do today...

One part of me says: "Cmon! Play some games, forget about next year, care about today only! There is still a month ahead to the end of holidays!"

Another part of me says: "You must start preparing for the coming year or you might struggle."

However, the motivation is simply not there.

What am I to do? Should I start mugging for next year? Or should I simply follow most people and just play all day till the last few weeks of the holidays? I really wonder...