Now that JAE is over, I suppose my previous post is irrelevant, and thus it shan't be at the top anymore. Today, Friday the 16th, is the eve-of-the-eve-of CNY. And for RJ students that meant taking a break/ breaking a record/ i.e. TAKE 5 @ CCAB.

Thought having dad so send me there would be easier, and since his new office was at the bukit timah branch, might as well, but apparently not! The whole place was so congested, with either NUS students / lecturers on their way to work or other similar parents fetching their kids to CCAB / SCGS. I was like 20mins early, opp. side of the road, by the time i reached the right side of the road, I was just on time. Phew!

Okay, so RJC broke a record of most people eating oranges at the same place / time, whatever, typical southeast asian habit of breaking awkward records [that very likely hasn't really been set]. After the record-breaking event, Talentime was taking place, but our class decided to go and practise frisbee / soccer. It was my first time wearing the new pair of street soccer shoes, and I had to get used to it. Anyway, just for the record our class ain't very sporty at all, just like....4/7. haha. So we really signed up just to 'have fun', when boo hoo we realised other classes were dead serious about winning. So, first match, I played 3mins, then slacked off and got subbed, the other class had so many sporty people, and yet they couldn't score, so it was 0-0....and we had a penalty shootout! lol, after 4 penalties each it was 1-1, and then the other class missed one. So up stepped me with my first meaningful shot using the new shoes, and whoo, i smashed it into the top corner, and we won! lol we sort of exaggerated our celebrations, but hey, we knew we were so lucky. Of course, next rd., we got pumped 2-0 by a team which managed to beat J2 classes! but hey it was a fun experience. Oh, and the frisbee guys got thrashed too. So off we went to drown off our misery at the bouncy castle, which was so lame. We had a plan , but that plan blew up big time when we all collapsed on yong jin, and cos he wasn't standing in the middle, the whole castle collapsed, and sad to say there was a little girl down there that got crushed by us. Of course she didn't die. She didn't get hurt. Much at least, haha. yeah, but it was pretty scary.

So after that Leroy and I took 165 back to ANDss to cont. playing footy, but of course, not after the few of us ran to check out pool party. Which was $%$@. Pity, that other people ard. insisted on playing despite dressing so inappropriately. As a result, wasn't that much fun with so many bodies around. Oh and I had a bad slip and now there's a bad patch on my knee.

Rushed to NEXUS for service after that, and met Anna and Ying Ling after coming out at Somerset MRT. Such a coincidence. Felt a lil' sleepy during service, but managed to stay awake for the most part of it. Then, waited with ZiJie for awhile at the MRT, and boo hoo met Anna and Ying Ling again! This time they were going into Somerset MRT. Boy, so qiao la!

Took 162 home, and I was lucky in that the 162 was the NOKIA 5300-themed bus. It's white leather seats were so comfortable, to go with the great choice of music they choose to play. Oh, and I have to say this, I saw such a sweet couple there. They were talking about professional stuff, their likes / dislikes...and they were talking in such a mature manner, they were probably 20+ I suppose, but they seem to be very bright people. And when the woman left, the guy's eyes kept tailing her, smiling along, so sincerely. I always joke about my dream date being one watching football, but hey, that wasn't that bad too. haha. Then, there was also this CJ girl who lives in the same condo as me, another coincidence to be in the same bus! She was talking to a couple of guys la, but they alighted before my stop / her stop. It then started to rain. Really heavily. I don't know why, this kind side of me suddenly prompted me, and guess what, I lent her my umbrella, and walked in the rain for the 300m or so back into my condo. to shelter. Haha. I really don't know, I mean it wasn't like she was a good-looking girl, cause if she was then I much rather would have just let her get drenched and get to see her all WET [mind you she was in school uniform]. yeah, but I'm really thankful to James for talking to me a week ago about letting others know that I'm living a blessed life with my actions, being more helpful when I can, and showing more concern, support, and understanding to others.

It was a pity I couldn't go back to Pei Chun again. I'm really sorry Cheryl, Denise and Kennedy cause I sort of said I would go back.....and......in the end I didn't. But at least I've managed to add many contacts thanks to the mass convr, lol. And hopefully I'll have time to talk to each of them and get to know them better.

To end off, Arsenal finally ended their jinx against Bolton in a crazy match in which they spectacularly missed 2 penalties but yet keep knocking on the door and eventually got the decisive goals. As a result, they will finally get to play an early kick-off on Saturday! so i no longer have to stay up till 12 MN as has been the case recently for Home matches against united and only last week against wigan. ah, thank God that the week worked out despite me sleeping extremely late for so many days!

So we have all got our results, and for many, it is decision time. And yes, it ain't easy. The sacrifices one has to make when picking a choice, weighing up the pros and cons, opportunity cost as well. Distance, the friends that are going there, the friends that aren't whether you can fit it to their respective cultures. And more crucially whether you realistically have a chance of entering, and what you may incur by not putting something else as your first choice.

Some people like their current place so much, they can't bear to leave, even though they know that they can go to another place with a lower cut-off. Some people hate their current place so much, they want out no matter what. Really, the dilemma that many of us face is pivotal. It may only be 2 or 3 years, but it will most certainly be the most important 2 or 3 by far- we've grown so fast. And thus, I am so relieved that I am not facing such a tough decision, as I could imagine I would not be able to think level-head-dedly if I was in such a situation. I've spoken to many people unsure of where they should go, and I hope I have helped at least a couple in making their decisions, in weighing up their options, cause really it ain't easy. To all out there really, take time to think deep and hard about your future, and always keep faith in yourself, that God will guide you on your way. =)

On friday, before we got our results, word was it that we all did remarkably well, and I was still feeling normal. Time slowly passed as we caught up with old friends, chatting, swapping badges and.....taking pictures! (cam whores indeed, haha). I was quite calm until we walked up into the hall, and suddenly, I don't know why but I felt a lot more nervous. I thought back to 4years ago, when I was [very young and immature and dumb but still...] doing very well in my studies for exams and prelims, and I played computer games everyday, haha. The Red Alert days, they were. And, I still live to regret those days. Firstly, I messed up my PSLE, got a good score, but not good enough to get into RI, which was what my parents had expected of me. Secondly, my eyesight deteriorated at such a fast rate, and how I wish I had spent time more wisely then. And so, 4 years on, I was still watching football during the exams. I remember Arsenal suffering a bad loss on the night before HCL. That was against West Ham. I remember them beating Liverpool 3-0, that was before AM P1. Well, I guess this time round I was definitely more disciplined and mature, but sigh, my new-found love of football never fails to get the better of me, still. I prayed as we were sitting down and eagerly anticipating our results. And fortunately I didn't have too much time for my thoughts to drag me to further places. But well, just for the record, I got C5 for my HCL, after C6C5C6....so I guess it was pretty much expected. TBH, I thought the HCL exam was not that difficult, that HEY maybe I HAD a chance to get like.....A2! But I guess, this is really a reality check. My chinese has really sucked, I have put very little effort in improving it, and I'm just grateful to scrap a pass. And I'm sure many people have that similar feeling towards other subjects too. So really, I'm very mediocre too actually.

After we collected our results, many of us were delighted with our grades. Why, our cohort had so amazingly exceeded expectations and done even better than our ex-seniors! And, credit has to be given where credit is due. Many double science students have certainly worked very hard and put in their all for the O's. I remember making this comment to many people about how big the gulf has been last year, between trip. science and double science people. Yes, I know I've been very critical, and I will try to change that part of me. Back to the topic, the double science students have really bridged the [wide?] gap in the O's. And full credit to them. So many of them had less than 10pts, and now they can go to a 'top 5' JC. And I think they deserve much more praise than us trip. science students!

Many of our wonderful teachers were in attendance, and they deserve nothing but all the thanks we students have for them. In particular, I really want to thank Mrs Allison Lim for all her encouraging words in times when they were so needed, and of course it was a pity Mr Tan wasn't there so see JunJie and I......haha. I have been very offensive towards Ms Goh and Mdm Chan. And I must say, most of it was probably just to get that feel-good you get by bad-mouthing others behind their back. And that is so wrong me of me la. So I decided that I would at least have a proper conversation with Mdm Chan AND Ms Goh. And I did. And of course I'm not so courageous as to openly tell them all the bad things I've said of them and that I'm sorry, but I did wish them the best in teaching future batches, and, and, Ms Goh shook my hand sincerely to congratulate me! And I won't blow this by saying something bad about her now. HAHA. but seriously, I felt so much better.

Next, I'm trying my best not to boast here, but I am really flattered by all the thanks from people who I've helped in some way or another throughout the O levels period la. In particular Sherhan's message was really touching la, haha, thanks DEAR...and...it inspired me to create SMS-es for teachers and thanking them in a similar way...and Mrs Lim was so touched by it too. haha. A great way to spread the love and joy la. There are really a lot of people I want to thank, but I guess that'll make this post way too long. So I guess I'll stop here for the moment.

After missing so much football over the past couple of weeks I have finally managed to watch 2 wonderful games with come-from-behind scorelines. On Saturday, Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-1, and it was damn funny to see Liverpool's all-so-feared strikeforce miss absolutely ridiculous sitters. Well, there were more spectacular ones to come on Sunday. It was deja vu as I endured 80mins of pure frustration as Arsenal wasted a plethora of chances [yet again!] at the Emirates, Henry most guilty of them all. And to compound that frustration, after Wigan took a shock lead through a very good long-range shot, their 'keeper wasted SO MUCH TIME taking goal-kicks. This is all too similar to what Man Utd did a month ago, and boo hoo, they lost. So did Wigan, as justice prevailed with 2 late goals in the final 10mins, with Rosicky scoring a sweet winner 4mins from time. And what more sweeter was seeing our wonderful German keeper wasting time after that, giving them a very good taste of their own medicine, as Arsenal come back yet again and remain unbeaten at the Emirates. I love that word. Unbeaten. A delightful week indeed, now, I just hope.......

that this holy cough of mine would go away ASAP. =)

Silly football stuff.

"I am very tired. Yesterday, I was booed by Thai fans in Bangkok, but I still managed to hold my nerve to pull Singapore through to win the ASEAN football championship. Then, I had to run up and down the stage 3 times during the award ceremony, first to get the golden boot, then to get the player of the tournament award, and then to receive a medal with my mates. Their organisation com. so bad, make me run up 3 times. It's so obvious I was going to win the awards, can't they just give in all in one go? Then I had to fly to London to see Man U thrash Spurs 4-0, fortunately the stadium was so empty by then so I could get out easily. I had to fly back all the way to Singapore in time for flag raising. I already sang the National anthem yesterday before winning my awards, and now I have to sing it again. zzz. I am so tired, that's why I fell asleep. Sorry, sir. "

Shit excuse by someone for falling asleep in class today.lol.

So, it's been one week on [from the last entry].
And it has been a rather busy one....haven't had much sleep. sigh.

Last Saturday had a very very tough soccer training session. The warm-up was 1km more than normal, which meant it was 6km / 15rds. Then the drills were okay, although my passing went awfully astray at times, damn it la. Passing was what I prided myself on.
Then had a 30min match, on an extremely muddy pitch thanks to heavy rain the night before. Many people had already established positions, so when it came to me the coach just went 'Put him up front'. I won't forget that, and I won't remember it as a compliment either. Haha. Was so shitted, having to keep dropping back to help the midfield, and then also having to stretch my lungs to sprint upfield whenever a break was on. All in that f-ing muddy pitch. Didn't do much but pass, pass and pass, blocked a cross [painful!], and managed to get pass 1 defender and set up a powerful shot which hit the bar. Off-day la. Whatever, I was indeed feeling shitted that day. Training ended at almost 12.....and had to wash everything up, it was 1230 by then. Couldn't get to service in time, and neither did i bother to go for class outing, just spent the rest of the afternoon nursing the aches and wounds. When i went to bathe my underwear was like fully drenched. And no, it wasn't a wet dream. It was pure sweat. lol. Man it was a tiring day.

Anyway I've decided I'm dropping soccer. Perhaps it's cause it's too tiring. Perhaps it's cause I ain't good enough to be in the first XI, but I just thought I had more priorities. This opens up tues, thurs and sats, so I'll hopefully be able to sign up for other interesting ccas, and also of course more enrichment programmes and research electives. On monday they announced during chem lecture that we could start signing up for the Materials Science course, and then by the time the few of us went to the noticeboard, it was fully booked, WTH?!. haha, very fortunately i stumbled by the enrichment board again on Wed, and spotted the photonics form there. Couldn't believe my luck n signed up for it right away. Also signed my classmate and leroy up for it. Man, only on thur did they announce it during phy lecture, and sadly it's too late for most of the people interested. aha.

BACK to the chem lecture on monday. It was a crazy one. The previous [also-crazy] lecturer took an eternity to finish relatively simply parts like mol. concept and standard acid-base titrations, and as a result the relatively more difficult part of the topic, on redox titrations and half equations and stuff was just rushed through in less than an hour. Almost every typical student there was like stunned after that. And this is in RJC mind you.

Anyway, do hope I can get into debates, the last 'trial' session was on wed and i had to speak a bit on prop side for whether voluntary euthanasia should be allowed. lol.

Throughout the week I had been in a sort of 'mugger' mode, cos of the SRP aptitude test that was to take place on saturday. Mugged at the library on tues till 6, then went to watch the football match with leroy, where Hashair scored an eye-opener! Rest of the days I mugged on the internet. lol.

Well anyway the aptitude test was f-ing tough la. There was prob alot that I could have read up on with regards to chem, but the qns there were like sick la. And although MCQ has seemed like the easiest form of test to many of us [apart from T/F DUH], it was just all the more difficult when
a) many topics weren't in our scope
b) the questions on those that were IN were tough as well
c) the answer options were intelligently set to maximise difficulty
d) you lose a mark if you answer a qn wrongly
e) there were 5 options and not the usual 4. lol.

Oh I'm just ranting. So of 75qns, [25 each from PCM], i answered about 10 frm phy and chem and 20 from math. Oh well, I think my math has improved a whole lot through this week at the least.

After that headed right back to school for this HWA sports day thing. Think almost everyone in my class signed up for it but on Alicia, Yiting and I were selected. By random most likely. lol. It was quite a fun few hours there la, the wheelchair-handicapped people were like damn pro at basketball, and mind you it isn't easy to move the wheelchair on it's own, much less shoot when you're moving. haha. It was the second Saturday in a row spent outside of home not at Nexus. But I suppose that's the end of this wave.

Btw, so much so for having that record of watching consecutive Arsenal matches, I've missed 3 in a row, the 2 league cup matches against spurs and the Fa cup one against bolton. Finally managed to catch the league match, and it was yet another wasteful performance. Just hope we can get that consistency back in time for next season. I'd be quite content with the cups this season. hehe.

Time really passes so quickly. It's always the case, be it during exams when you're staring at a question you know you should be able to do yet for some reason you can't at that point of time, or when you're enjoying yourself on the phone with someone whom you haven't spoke to for a long, long time. Either way, this month has passed us all by. As much as I've enjoyed myself [and I have to a large extent], I miss many people, be it seeing them or talking to them face to face. I think of many people when I listen to those songs that are so effective in charging up that part of me. Man, it's that weird but normal feeling that everyone has occasionally that they just can't describe. There just hasn't been enough time. This must be the xxxx th time I've said that, lol. Soon, we'll get back our O lvl results and know where we are bound. All the best to all, and to our friendships!

REGRETS.

[Now before you think this is about me regretting going to RJ for the first 3months, it isn't, fortunately/unfortunately].

The first 2 hours of the week started on a high, okay and this time I shan't elaborate on it, since everyone who knows about it knows what happened, and everyone who doesn't care about it doesn't need to waste time on it. Haha.

Now this post is not on a happy note.
During the week, I have done plenty of reflecting, during the [very short] bus rides to/from school, during QT [short too.....sigh], when I'm in the toilet, be it bathing, brushing teeth, and all else. In RJC, there are so many programmes on offer for us students. And so many programmes that I'm interested in joining. There's ISLE, which is some service learning programme which allows us to get exposed to the poorer countries in the region and undertake projects there. There are so many Research Electives. In particular the materials science and photonics ones appeal to me. And then, there's Science Research Programme [SRP]. I had so much time to think, yet only recently have I realised that research is the one area that I want to pursue, for the near future at least. Yes, I know it is boring to most, but hey, what's accounting and banking then?

And so, while I check up all more info. on these programmes, I start to regret. Regret that I didn't spent my time in secondary school fruitfully. That I spent so many afternoons playing computer games. That I never signed up for much CIP programmes, that I never signed up for any research attachment programmes. That I dropped Japanese when so many people out there desperately want to learn it. That I didn't take French. That I never took the time to think hard about my future, only until I wanted to get a scholarship for a university. Now it is so difficult to sign up for research electives as so many people are interested in them. And then, SRP, is tough indeed. Apparently they are only selecting 120 students for RMMs, after which only 80 odd will be able to do the proper SRP thing [from the whole Singapore btw]. And boy would experience in research help here. Oh well, next week 'll just have to try my luck at the aptitude test.

And then there's soccer. Trainings are like 3x3hrs a week. I don't know if I can handle it.
I guess I'll fruitfully spend the next few days prioritising and thinking about my future.
At least now, there's God to guide the way.
That, is another regret. Not knowing him sooner.
So please, heed this message and let Him guide your way too!

I want to thank everyone who has spent time to talk to me about my predicament, [if it even is one, really],be it in school, on the phone or on MSN, which I have been spending too much of my time on. You've all helped me lots, my dear friends. Thank God for you guys.

I'm not sad, really. Just regretful. The week in RJC has been great. The tutorials, the lectures, hell, even sex ed. was fun. And STJ [seniors-treat-juniors] on Friday was very successful indeed, got to know alot of people from 07S06N, [my class is 08 btw], and the pizza was great. I'm definitely looking forward to more of em'!

And then, meeting the 2/4 peeps once again was great as well. Although we didn't get to talk much much [yes 2 words intended], it's still good that we are 'sticking in touch'. [sticking together + keeping in tough]. And I sure hope that Philip will come to RJC!

Haha, I don't know why but this entry is something like a Jose Mourinho interview - frank and honest, but always finding positives. Oh well, I'll end the entry by giving a big shout to all you man u fans out there [just can't resist it], that ARSENAL DID THE DOUBLE ON YOU GUYS THIS SEASON, and that they are still UNBEATEN AT THE EMIRATES STADIUM, all thanks to van Persie's and Henry's late goals which turned defeat into victory!! and mind you, doesn't Rooney's goal celebration [which looked as if he had won Mr Universe] look oh so stupid now? lol.

heh. and now for some much needed rest before training tomorrow.

Full timetable has kicked in this week.
And surprisingly, mine isn't bad at all.
1510 on Mon and Fri, and best of all 1230 on Thur. wow.
And there are friends who end at 1730....gosh, my heart goes out to you guys.

Hmmm, guess science students are all very happy as most of their lectures are in LT 1, i.e. center court. i.e. slacker LT. Only my physics is in LT2 which is the neither big nor small one and econs is in 5 which is very small, sigh.
And classrooms are weird indeed. The air cons can't be switched off. And the 23 deg. is equivalent to airport / library kind of air con. zzz. Well, at least I'm thankful that classrms are all on lvl 4 which LT1 can be entered from.

Teachers are all wonderful man. My chem teacher is soooo much better than the previous one. And apart from maths they're all friendly and approachable. that's good.

The class is good too! Fairly even gender ratio, the boys are great. girls are fab. as well. aha.
Have been feeling sleepy whenever I attend lectures after 11....man, guess my body needs time to adjust to changes.

Today's CHEM lecture was interesting indeed. Mr Lee totally reached boiling point and it was scary man. With THAT look of his and his continually blinking eyes. Either way, it sure woke me up. Before that GP was fun too, "George Bush is in deep shit". and "Western culture corrupting our Confucius values".
Okay, better be careful blogging from now too esp. when Rafflesians have such a reputation in blogging. [dawn yang? wee shu min? ].

GP turned out to be better than than standard english lessons.
Oh well, it's been a tiring week, but the weekend is one to savor. Gonna celebrate my sis's birthday, and i got her a pair of 'furry' slippers for wearing at home, lol. Congrats man, she's going the opposite way of me. And that's good for the family.

Then of course, there's the football! It's grand slam weekend the sequel, with Liverpool v Chelsea on saturday and then on sunday its Arsenal v Man United, the battle of the two teams in the EPL who play sexy football. And, I won't be pissed if Arsenal lose their first match at the Emirates to some skillful play by roon/ ronaldo, just as long as it isn't a dive again.

Okay, I'll keep it relatively short.
Lately quite a few people have been having personal problems, be it having to make a choice, finding it hard to fit in or lacking self-confidence. Know it sounds so general, and it's not just you I'm talking about, it's also you, you, you, you, and you. You could be any one of the 'you's, or anyone else. <---------zzz
Well, if only you all have the lyrics to our class of 2008 batch song You're Not Alone, then I'm sure it would help.
Most importantly, remember that we're not alone, that there's always someone walking with us, someone guiding us, be it in the form of some extremely sociable person, someone who calls you once in awhile, someone who initiates IM conversations, OR, that feeling inside you that prompts you on what to do next.

The last 3 lines of the Raffles anthem,
With one voice let us Pray,
Auspicium Melioris Aevi,
With God to guide the way.
Is meaningful indeed.

Wow, it's been yet another pretty crazy week, but I guess it's all downhill from here on, with full timetable starting next week. Surprisingly my latest day ends at 1510 hrs, which I think is not that compared to other JCs. MAYBE it's because RJ has more efficient timetable planners. =p

Oh well, lets see. Monday was the end of orientation, o nite.
Tues-wed-thur-fri had lectures only, so had plenty of free slots in between.
Oh yeah and friday had BB house party, and we, or the 8 or 9 of us at least, decided to crash HCI's o nite.

What sucked was the unrelenting rain. Which meant that we would be wet on the way. Stupid 157 either broke down or what, refused to come for like half an hour, so we settled on 156 which took a longer route. Either way, arrived slightly after 8, remarkably managed to get past security at the entrance, perhaps it was cos Sherry had a hwa chong shirt to deceive whoever it was.
But anyway, there's this interesting fact about sound systems. Apparently, HCI's is too soft, while NJ's is too loud. RJ? Course it has problems too, in fact its too much echo.
So, after successfully getting into HCI's campus, many of the students were like starring at us like for a couple of extra seconds, but we creatively invented some funny hwa chong cheers, and the Mao Zedong version of RJ's anthem. There were like so many chinese songs to sing, but we just followed along to the best that we could, and the fun part was joining the 'trains' and running through the whole hall, which, had no air con. And forget Buckle Buckley, we were cheering for our green 'counterparts' ATHENA! lol.

Was able to meet Weelic, Sher, weiting and meijun there. Also, amazingly, met Wan Qian Ling, the long-lost ***** who pinched me 347562345 times during the 5B/6B days at Pei Chun, and who kept arguing with a certain Fei Peng. lol.

After that walked 2km or so in the rain to Civics Plaza, with that same high feeling. Ended up reaching home at 12 that day.
This morning went to cca open house, and apart from the many classmates there, met teachers too. Junjie, Lin Hai and I were 'lucky' enough to witness probably the last 'Wrath of Chan' moment we'll see. Of course we had a short chat, while also chatted with Mrs Lim and Mr yong. oh, most certainly not patricia. Had to rush to service in a cab after that but thank God we made it on time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the songs albeit feeling a lil sleepy during the sermon. Man, should I resort to coffee again?

Lastly, there's this quote to describe some special moments in life where you're simply feeling so high. It's called 'better than SEX'. yes.
And in the past week, I've had this feeling twice.









Firstly, when Arsenal totally thumped Liverpool at their backyard for the 2nd time in 4days, with the youngsters, without Henry.










And of course, the finale to O' nite! In fact, can even see part of the school motto in the background on closer inspection. Okay, I know Hwa Chong had their own version called 'turbo-charged', but heck, that high feeling that night in the open air was simply stunning. So much so, it HAS to be better than sex.
DEFINITELY.

As I miss yet another service, I felt that sense of guilt within me.
That I haven't been growing much in my faith towards Him. In the past few days, where I've been exhausted after orientation, I haven't spent much time with Him, as I usually do, as I would have liked to. However, I have this testimony to further swing the battle within me that God is indeed real.

Tuesday night, I prayed that I would have a good night's sleep. Why? It's because there was Arsenal v Charlton live at 4am, and one of my new year's resolution was to lose that 'must-watch-every-match' attitude that I have regarding Arsenal's matches. Mind you, the last live EPL match I've missed was on the 26th of Nov 2005, against Blackburn, because I was at New Zealand. hahaha. Watching every live match has been exciting, but it has also most certainly made me tired. I decided that if it was a big champions league clash, of course I would watch it, but if it was just an ordinary midweek night match, then I'll just miss it. That match was one of them. It's hard to believe, but the last time i tried to miss a 4am live match, I couldn't. That was away to Juve earlier this year, where I was 90% sure we would progress to the next rd. since we'd already won the first leg 2-0. I did not set any alarm, but still woke up at 330 AM. Couldn't fall back asleep for a long time, and had 'no choice' but to watch a dull goaless draw. Of course I was still delighted that we were through to the next round en route to the Paris final. So you see, I'm indeed a slave of football. I hence prayed that I could sleep soundly and miss a live match so I would have more energy for the first day at RJC. And surprise surprise! I was able to resist going to premierleague.com to check the result in the morning, was able to watch the replay at night without knowing the score. And the experience was as good as the watching it live. Arsenal won 4-0 and AT LONG, LONG LAST king Henry is back fit and fresh, he is at his very very best, and we totally blown them away. It would have been 10-0 if not for their 'keeper in fact. Okay enough of the digressing. We'll probably still lose to Liverpool tonight.

But when I said 'God is good. Thank you for giving me this one rare night of peaceful sleep.' after waking up on Wednesday morning. I just knew things would pan out all fine for me, the orientation and all else. And if you the reader didn't know it was me who said that, you probably would think that such a statement was by a very sick person or someone on his/her deathbed. For me, this is a moment of realization I'd never forget.

L' A U D E A M U S@RJC

It's been 3 days of orientation at RJC, and it's been so much fun, rather surprisingly I have to add! Met JJ, Leroy and Lin Hai on Wed morning, and man we felt like we were living in a world of strangers [nothing against Giordano], with all the RI and RGS students roaming around. Btw, the bus ride took no more than 10mins, waiting time is max. 10mins, so it's so convenient for me. Lucky me.

Lucky too, that I got such a good house! Found out that I was in Buckle Buckley house, which is very green-ish. Would have liked the purple and black of HH, but hey, it's lucky to be in the house of the defending champions!

Lucky too, I got such a fantastic OG! As well as name, lol. I was in S''pero [read Es-pero], which although sounded weird, was def. much better than some other grps, such as L'maorofl and L'alang [yucks!], lol. The RI guys, Chester, Mark and the rest were very friendly and spastic, and the girls weren't that bad either. Ours were definitely one of the most enthusiastic OGs.

That was in part, to the wonderful OGLs as well, with Kal and Vania.

So, first day we had territorial games, which we did quite okay I thought, either way we enjoyed ourselves very much, even though I did not bring my shorts. Went for dinner at the food court...reached home pretty early.

Second day, we had mass dance which was great, lol. Also learnt cheers, the batch song, and the college anthem which sounded majestic. Our OGLs were so good [or rich] as to be able to buy us pizza for lunch. We tried planning for O'nite although it was pretty unproductive. Afternoon was station games, and we totally owned. Some games were damn fun, esp. the one having to interlock hands and then use a shoe tied in betw. to kick the freakin' small ball. As the day moved on, we became more and more active, and that winning feeling was really great. We won 4 games and drew 2, hence the lovely word, unbeaten. Sadly, whether it was some injustice or what, BB only managed top 5. [5 houses in all, so it's kinda obvious...]. haha. Went to Yoshi for dinner and crapped for a long long time after that.

Third day had outdoor, or rather out-of-college activities. We were lucky again. Other Ogs had to go to Chinatown, Little India, Holland V, and we were one of the lucky ones who only had to go to yishun. The food stations were interesting, and of course disgusting, esp. the flour ones. We had all but given up hope of reaching back first when we decided to take a bubble-tea break, but heck, at least we contributed points. And BB won for Friday, at last! Was like so on time with the party.

Well, I certainly had fun during these days of orientation, and I'm sure the criticism of Rafflesians only apply to a minority.
One more thing to add.
On thursday, I saw a bit of soccer training, and they continued training in spite of the rain!
And there was this guy that slid across the grass. Now, doing that [sliding across the grass] has been something I've always wanted to do, after Henry did it against Inter Milan I think. yeah. Hopefully if trainings aren't too tough, I might join soccer. After all, gotta improve my strength and stamina so I can be a better midfielder kind of player.

Went back to AND for campfire night, where the rain doused the flames, sadly. But anyway was nice to meet ex-classmates. Every time we part, we bid our farewells, but then we would seemingly meet pretty soon again. Well, just hope that we'll all treasure all the times we have together, as come March, things may become very different indeed.

[edited to make searching via google difficult to find this site]

2006, THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT IS, AND WILL BE 'WAS', SOON.

Well, it's been a big year for many of us.

Firstly, it's the last year of 'school', not schooling of course, but school. JC for most, Poly, or even ITE for some.
Well, there's going to be even more to study, and hopefully more fun in store.
RJC for me is the place that I've wanted to go all along, and I really hope I can get in there for real.
Yes, it is going to be stressful. Many people I've spoken to have criticised RJC, saying that the attitude of students are pathetic, being arrogant and all, or that HC is better.
I can't deny that. Through the years there have been plenty of students in RJC with overextravagant personalities.
Only recently in October there was Wee Shu Min and her elitist views.
But hey! There was Annabel Chong that 'deflected' from RGS to Hwa Chong JC and certainly she caused more headlines! Haha. Controversy is not just at Raffles. Really.
Wikipedia has plenty of info. on those two I'm sure.
Whatever it is that all the criticism of RJC is about, I guess I'll find out for myself how true indeed they are, with Leroy, Jun Jie and Lin Hai. Oh and very likely, someone's daughter.

Anyway, it's been a great 4 years in ANDERSON, and although I directed plenty of flak towards the 'lax' and 'semi-corrupted' nature of the school, and a certain class in particular which robbed our black soccer ball, the friends I've made have been great, be it those in 2/4 or 4/7. The 2/4 days were so fun, and laughter was never far away thanks to lame people like Arkar and Kang. Also in part, thanks to the people in class which we could make fun of. A tit bit offensive of me? I just can't resist.
Towards the end of sec 2 and for half a year in sec 3, perhaps I was too study-orientated, and yes I was kind of lonely at times.I was starting to think sec3 (and what would be sec 4) life was stressful, especially with me still having to take Japanese, which was now becoming a burden as I slowly lost interest in it. Man, I knew I should have took French. I also did not really like the class (3/7) then. That sort of changed during term 3, where I sat next to Jun Jie, and got to talk more in class with the rest of our 'clique' or so to speak, Sherhan Cybil Linhai and of course Weelic, haha.They certainly made my upper sec. life all the less boring. Before knowing them, I thought I was hardworking. Enter Sherhan, and I'm content. Haha.
The thing with 4/7 that makes us special is that although there are cliques, we can easily joke around with other people. Haha, and there was this deal I made with someone at the start of the year that I would act like the secret admirer of someone in class for the year. lol. There's plenty to guess on this blog.
Anyway, Junjie and I were able to sit right in front, and so we could talk with many of the teachers.Most of which, were good. Mrs Theresa Lim demonstrated how different a teacher canimpact her students' grades. Either that, or the fact that we had most of our lessons in air con. lol. Just take a look at 4/6's results for geog. Mr Tan changed so much over the course of a year, and I'm sure he'll enjoy his retirement. However, there are unpleasant teachers too. There's the one that blows hot and cold. One moment having an outburst, what i term the Wrath of C***, and making us all hate her. Next moment, she makes/buys some food and makes some think otherwise, untill the Wrath cooldown has ended and it's time for another one, lol. Then, there is the one who can't see the funny side of April Fool's Day, always thinks her papers are difficult, tries to appear very good friends with another teacher who's married and older, yet looks more attractive and younger. Oh, I feel nothing but pity for them.
About the whole school, I feel pity too. It certainly looks as if it's on the decline. Hell, even my sister didn't want to go there, lol. And I feel the reason for the decline is obvious, due to the presence of more normal (It's not even mediocre, true meaning = relegated) classes, with people who like to steal footballs from us brighter students and use their attitude to intimidate us. Sigh. Thank goodness that that's the last I'll see of them for life. Oh wait, I'll meet them again in a couple of years thanks to this government policy, or will I ? lol.
Although that's a goodbye to be happy about, another to be even happier about, for me that is, is the Chinese language (the words, chengyu, the stories behind them, and last but not least the teachers, I mean teacher. ).

In 2006, I was suprisingly able to get rid of that sleepy syndrome I have during lessons, perhaps due to sitting with Jonathan for half a year during sec 1. Perhaps being near to the teacher's table helped. Well, the truth is: Thank God.

It's been such a busy year that I haven't had much time to catch many movies. But honestly, the movies this year have mostly sucked. It's what I call the year of the movies with hugely similar plot. Think Madagascar and The Wild? yeah, and their (the directors') creativeness is so limited that the substitute for the penguins in the former is just a Koala Bear in the latter. However, MI 3 is OK, and I certainly recomend this movie called Akeelah and the Bee. It's inspirational, and the mere fact that I support it shows that I dont discriminate against other colours. lol, if u can get my drift. Very recently Jay is acting in another movie, and at least he's now not the high-profile member of the cast, cause that goes to Gong Li and her ****s. Well on my way to being a critic eh?

For one, I've started watching Grey's Anatomy and couldn't stop watching it after (watching it). As with Desperate Housewives, it's a drama thats ENGLISH and from women's point of view. Haha. It portrays sex as a 'common' thing, and yes, that's what I love about Western culture. The openess. Now don't go thinking how sick I am, cause I probably am (that sick). Hmmm, I don't quite know why my sentence structure is always so repetitive.

2006 has also been the year I started becoming really hardcore about football. About Arsenal.
Going all the way to the Champions League Final in Paris and then losing it all, well I guess there needs to be no further mention of the emotions of an avid football fan after my previous entry.

Lastly, I certainly hope this has been a breakthrough year for me in getting to know Him better. It's been difficult. My parents are buddist, and I have no problems with that, their temperament has improved, mine hasn't. Next, I've always had the occasional doubt, being so intellect and stuff, (you doubt that?), and sometimes wasn't in the right frame of mind. After reading the Case for Faith, some of them have been clarified, and thank you James, for buying me that book, and thank you God, for making him rich. I mean generous. lol. I guess some questions are best left unanswered, but the last part of the book sure helped alot in my spiritual life. Hopefully, I can build on that in the future.

For now, it's the season to be jolly. Merry CHRISTmas, and I look forward to Boxing Day Bonanza tonight.

Man, football can really spoil my weekend.
I gone through the lows and highs and lows in just one match against Portsmouth [what *&^*% team is this, you ask].

Ok, Arsenal played horribly in the first half, creating NOTHING. Portsmouth played as horribly. It was boring. As always, when this happens at the Emirates Stadium, it is the away team that scores first. Fluke goal, but crap, pissed me off.

Then 2nd half, started on the same manner, and conceded another goal, this time I have to admit, its a genuine one. ok, 0-2 now.

Brought on our target man, and he had an immediate impact, 2 goals in 2 mins. Amazing.
So it became 2-2.
After that, deja vu for the 4th time [this is the 5th match in which this has happened]. Lots of chances, only sunday football-style finishing, and yet again, it's a case of what could have been. Last season it was away defeats, this season it's away defeats AND home draws.


Alas, I keep asking myself. Why? Why did the team have to wait till going 2 goals down to get so fired up? Why did we have to encounter such a good goalkeeper?
I was so fed up after miss and miss, i started shouting wildly, [haha imagine that, but seriously...], I was really mad for a moment.

At half time, I prayed to God, saying that I know it's going to be a frustrating game, please don't make me go mad. Please allow me to stay calm. Well, I guess it just wasn't to be.
This is probably a pathetic testimony.
Life is frustrating. But the best thing to do, is to keep the faith, and not give in, and only then will I be able to curb my blowing-hot-and-cold temper.
There is still a lot to be changed.
Slowly, but surely.....

Okay, so its been a long long time since I've blog.
Suprisingly, the days have gone by so quickly, only a couple of weeks left before the New Year. Plenty of events....grad. ball, 4/7 chalet, 2/4 chalet, church camp.....yeh. It's left me way exhausted (at least for today).

Start with the 3D2N of chalet and church camp "combined", since i could not sign up for full time [need parent's consent], and also in part since i paid the deposit for the chalet already [perfect justification for the use of 'deposits']

So the chalet was at Coasta Sands resort this time, much nearer to downtown east compared to Aloha Loyang. Anyway, only went for first day, and it was a case of deja vu. We all [and not was actually not many] rented double bikes for 2hrs and it rained about 10mins later. I was cycling with James Lee, and credit to him, it was so difficult to cycle in the rain with the water and wind catching u right in the eye, but he was able to navigate pretty well. We cycled fast, slow as well, and made so many 360-deg turns which didn't work out and ended up having to take a long loop round the grass. Fortunately we were lucky not to crash after running over many branches and roots. It was cold indeed with us all wet and the wind. After that the girls took a LONG time to bathe [and it was only liike...6 of them?] and we went out for dinner. Then watched this 'girls aloud' show which had xiaxue in it, was totally stupid and NOT useful at all, haha. After that was talking and playing cards all night long, and most of the morning too. Woke at 7, headed off at 8. Very sleepy, and had to get my dose of coffee to keep alive for the rest of the day.

And so I took the mrt all the way from PR to Woodlands, changing at City Hall. The NS line going away from the city was not crowded one bit, and thus i had plenty of space to sleep, which i duly managed to, haha.

The camp at Sports School was great. The auditorium was gigantic and a very good place for all the sermons and praise/worship sessions to be held, although sitting down on the ground was a lil uncomfortable, not that i'm complaining here. Think the first sermon session right after I came was the most enlightening, about not giving in to obstacles between us and Him, and persevering on. Pity that part-timers don't get the Breakthrough shoe bag package, but I'm gonna borrow one copy of the book ASAP. Felt a little sleepy, but that was cured by the salt and vinegar chips, haha. Then after lunch which was OK, had a meeting regarding JC ministry. it's gonna be exciting I'm sure, our next 2 years at JC. But yeah, rightfully said, gotta do our best even during the first 1.5 month or so. Zero JC2s at R now, so, it will be difficult but I guess I've got to give my best next year.

Then after wash-up and rest, it was time for mismatch picnic which I didn't know of, oh well, guess at least I needn't have worried about how i looked, haha. The dinner was good, and the performances and thanks later were better, though it was kind of unusual that it wasn't the 'finale item' of the camp, with sermon still to come later! And it was another long one by David, mostly composing of testimonies. Well, guess it's a refreshing change from the usual sermons at services, yeah, although I was getting kind of sleepy.

The midnight concert was great, and really repented some of my sins recently during worship time, as well as strengthening my resolve towards Him. The songs were all good, and I enjoyed the praise part too with high spirits!

On wednesday, rather amazingly Northeast managed to win the olympics and that big trophy, lol. [heard from quite a few people that NE are pushovers and James even said many other districts wanted to thrash us at some sports, in good spirit of course, haha]. Well, it wasn't particularly 'us', cause I wasn't able to take part in it, but hopefully there'll be a next time to take part, and there'll be a next time to win again.

Well, I'll pause here for now, hopefully there'll be more promising stuff to write about after street outreaching tmr.

On top of the below-written, I'd like to thank:
-Best Western, Hilton, and Mandarin hotels,
for their supply of ball-point pens which I used for all my examinations.
[soon there'll be pen sponsors for the best students]
-Coldplay, for
(1) naming your album X and Y, cos I believe thats the correct answer for a Chem paper1 qn on oxidation which I wasn't quite sure about.
(2) the songs in that album, esp. Fix you and swallowed in the sea, i listen to them every night, and they are part of my inspiration.
-UEFA, for breaking the standard schedule of champions league every 2 weeks to 3, so it [coincidentally?] doesn't clash with any exam.
-SHE who kept saying coastal was "easy" and "worth studying"
-Myself for knowing that i shouldn't heed her advice.
-The CE for allowing us at least 5mins to plan out essay structures for SS and history, before the exam even started since we could check the paper.

And please, feel [very] sorry for
-students who banked on coastal.
-Britney Spears, for marrying K-Fed and recording a *** tape and ALLOWING him to have possession of it.
-Old people on wheelchairs, who apparently like sweets a whole lot, so much so that the candyland in vivocity incident is absolutely blown out of proportions.
-Chelsea fans, who have the best team on the planet, yet, are so unprofessional.

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

It's over.
At last.
At long, long last.
This week turned out great. Thank God for that.
It started at 12am on Monday,
Flamini, Toure and Gallas saw off sorry liverpool to seal a 3-0 win at the Emirates.
Oh, and to rub more salt, Gerrard and Riise coming into conflict, ahaha.

Then Tuesday, sigh AM. I don't quite understand why my paper 1 is always so shitty. It was 57 for preps, 50 for prelims, k la, and its careless mistakes again. Lost 6m on the matrix qn, lol. heck.

Then Wed, was physics. This was the one science i was absolutely confident about, and i didn't study it at all the night before, purely chemistry. And physics turned out ok. Geog was relatively difficult compared to our previous papers I think. But its only paper 1.

Thurs, AM p2 i was so focused, i x2-checked every qn i done, as a result only 15mins + left after finishing the whole thing. Too close for comfort, but it paid off. This should be a full mark paper to overcome any hint of shortcoming from paper 1. Then Chemistry, from a objective point of view was kinda difficult, yeah. But I am pretty sure, I ll do patricia so proud, lol.

Friday, gosh gosh. History was an absolute shocker. The essays qns were ridiculous, esp the cold war qn, goodness! And SBQ was weird too, only 3 sources, 4qns. o.O
Ai, I just said to myself 'do your best...and........' yeah, haha. Think I did as good as i could. At least the test didn't seem to end on a sour note as I had so feared. I was happy. Everyone was pretty happy. Man, finally, FIFA 07? Battle for middle earth? hahaha.

Of course, cant wait to kick soccer with the guys on monday. Ive been practising hard on step-overs [cristiano ronaldo-inspired], and I think I ll showcase them, hahaha.

Of course, finally able to thank Him for all he has done in me, not just through the Os, but throughout the year. I have certainly changed alot, and I think I ll save that for another entry this year. I must say I am a very fortunate person, not to experience much stress throughout the Os, prelims, what have you. Even so, I've faced other problems, and He has guided me through them, indeed one of them has to be the fact that my sleeping-in-class symdrome has totally went away this year, even though i CONTINUE to watch super sunday matches, as well as champions league matches, and even when i spend long hours on MSN on many occasions.

yeah, I ll spend some time to reflect of this year. For now, its another frustrating game at the Emirates. Points thrown away yet again.
Goodness, how can Thierry Henry be rested??!

Well a week down, one more to go.
Big exams are over, big ones still to come [they're all big la]
At least for me, the biggest one of em all, is done and dusted.
And here's something interesting.

I studied deforestation and part of geog, being part of natural veg and probs caused by development. And, the MAIN reason i studied that was cause bio also has a portion on it.
Well, neither paper had any qn on deforestation, sigh.
And to think, that I unleashed it in part, combined with the haze situation in SEA, on my english essay, my most important paper.

Oh well. Monday, I [and almost everyone] got off to a flyer.
EM went with the trend -- no kick whatsoever. It has to be full marks.
SS was more tricky, but thankfully, fate has it that it is our batch that get's theme ONE.
Close shave, but SS should be ok. NOW i will focus on history with more intent.

Then Thursday was the content-intensive day.
Bio was quite cool, the OAS has our name on it! lol.
Another reason why it is 458.00 and not a dollar or two less.
Oh well, I did my best, no careless mistakes, that's the best i could ask for.
Geog. in the afternoon went great. I rushed from the start, and seriously rushed this time.
3 and 6 were popped; time elapsed: 48mins.
Took awhile to DECIDE whether to do 2 human [which would mean 3 in total], or the weirdo weathering one. So i did settlements first, then hmmm, really dilemma.
Weathering was ok, xcept for 1st qn. On the other hand, development looked straightforward too. Then, a flash rang through me that I should stick to my guns. So weathering it was.
Coastal, ironically turned out to be the tough qn; understandably so, apparently something not in the syllabus came out. well, TOUGH LUCK TO ALL VICTIMS.
I am just so relieved I had resisted studying coastal since last year, despite the numerous people who have said it was 'easy' or 'easier than ----'.

Friday was totally a waste of time. Why 2pm?! And not the usual 8 start time. Oh well, didnt matter, it was no different from paper one. And to think the only 'tricky' qn that existed, the number pattern qn, only warranted 3marks of challenging qns. BOOO!

Oh well, one more week to go. History is continuously bugging me.
I can't possibly 'waste' the luck that SS gave me.

Anyway, I ll chill off Sunday night to watch the big one Arsenal v Liverpool,
at the Emirates Stadium. The first 'big' match played at that new ground.
Lets make it the fortress that Highbury so was.
The image of Steven Gerrard, of all people, making a backpass mistake of monumental proportions by playing it straight to Thierry Henry in a 1v1 with their goalie, and gifting us the match this march, is still finely etched in my head. Hopefully such incidences will continue at the Emirates. =)

[skip the italics if football bores you to the doldrums, which im sure it does for many]
Very often in life, people are made to swallow their words, and it proved to be the case during the weekend.

Aha just when I thought Arsenal were clicking into gear they came unstuck against yet another team who just park the bus in front of the goal and do nothing but defend, and everything assosiated with that [time-wasting, bad tackles...]. but what can i say? It's something the players have got to learn to deal with, and they just can't seem to scrap results like Chelsea do so well. And on the 'sexy football' theme, Liverpool finally played some beautiful stuff indeed, and hats off to them. Man Utd too, admittedly.

Oh well that's the football bulletin, haha. HCL O's and chem prac are done and dusted.
And I was worried about HCL, indeed. It was like the first year of the new syllabus [thankfully no han zi or zao ju], and fortunately it was a shadow of AND, Cres, RGS, and many other school's papers which scared the life outta me. Paper1 i did the argumentative on 'Whether parents are solely responsible for instilling the RIGHT moral values into children' haha, I'm never gna speak much chi frm now on, or pple like Meijun will keep saying I sound funny. Hey, i got distinction for chi oral last yr ok! ha!

And at last, Chinese is done. It is. I like the funny chengyus and idioms that relate to animals and objects. For example, it IS too late to fill the holes in a ship when it is halfway out at sea, but apparently there IS time for a horse to turn back when reaching the mountain cliff, haha. Mdm Chan has been a good teacher la, to be fair, she really deserves to be in some better place than our school. But looking back at this language, probably the only thing that's nice about it Jolin's voice.

Then Tues chem prac. was the easiest of the sciences. For prelims, i think i spent too much time on titration. So this time, I tried, and tried, to keep pace with candidate 0291, [and this is testament to her effiency, lol], and I was not far behind la, which was good indeed. I did it 3 times, first time 22.0, overshot la, then i started 2cc earlier than that and managed to get 20.2 quite fast, twice in a row. you know, the real comfort came when candidate 0291 also got 20.2, and when other pple like kum boon also got that, rather than when patricia announced it [proudly?] to the class. I mean, I SERIOUSLY have reservations about her as an upper sec teacher, much less one in charge of 4/7 which is the b**t class in the level. Then QA it seemed to be test after test after test, but managed to di it in time la. yeah. I even left a litmus paper in each of the 6 bench reagents to ensure that no one would screw them up, lol. towards the end, while i was wiping my test tube, suddenly about 5-7 drops of KMnO4 just came 'splat' onto my paper. And because they were fine drops, they looked pretty red, like those drops of blood you see in horror shows/ anime fighting scenes. it shocked me. Then i saw KB was cleaning her burette in front. Well I have this to say of the bottom end of the burette, "boy can it spurt uncontrollably" =p

So apparently [and i don't trust it], R was NaBr, S was NaI, and T was Na2S2O3, the compound that me, weihong and sherhan have been arguing about the proper way to pronounce it, i.e. Sodium Thiosulphate, haha.

Oh well, it signalled the end of practicals, and the last time in chem lab. Chem lab has been such a memorable place. The irritating smells of ammonia and chlorine, and the cool effects such as decolourising and litmus paper changing colours, yeah I ll remember them, as well as all the dirtied worksheets [thankfully not clothes], and also the fact that people do get hurt there, like when sherhan got her hand scalded and had to put sulphur all over it, and a whole bunch of people got "acid-burnt" when one time we had to handle conc. acids. It begs the question, why put chem labs at lvl 1 when it is [obviously] the most dangerous? Ah, after the paper ended, I just took my mind cleaning the various apparatus man. I mean, we'll probably see all those same things and much more next year, but it sure is something cool.

From a school's point of view, they must be delighted. They now have a shitload of litmus papers, filter papers, and splints to last them a couple of yrs.

Oh well, its a crunch week, having to try to make sure enough of everything stays in your head and doesn't leach away. Pray to God that it'll keep on raining!
That's my impetus for studying in the afternn.

It truly is such a boring weekend.
Stuck on a Saturday morning, can't go to Nexus, and having to read chinese model essays. It's all too late now isn't it.

Well, Monday will be my most difficult test. It IS make-or-break.

I don't know, perhaps the rain during the last few days have been a reprieve for me. It has made me able to study in the afternoon, however weird that might sound.

And it's so refreshing to see the view from my window. It's as if its in High Definition, comparative with the recent hazy days. Appreciate nature.

Been a weird o' week. It's when you see things like blood trickling down the sink [or however you describe it, and don't ask where the blood came from], that makes you reflect.

There ain't long to go. Ain't long to go till all this starts again.
I'm not depressed, neither am I stressed. Just, confounded.

And damn, ESPNSTAR isn't showing Arsenal v Everton tonight because of priority towards United and Liverpool. Hey, who's everyone saying is playing sexy football?
The way things are, I bet Liverpool fans would much rather watch Arsenal unleash their attacking game. It's less stressful as well. Back to the phrase I love to use - double standards. And i cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this is still so apparent.

Oh well, I ll just take it as a blessing in disguise and get back to work.

Hopefully, this is the last time I'm scraping for a subject I feel I'm absolutely powerless in wanting to improve.

Well for me it has been a tumultuous week indeed.
I ll start way back.
Last Saturday. I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling freaking down and sick. The previous day, I had this weird feeling in my throat whenever anything liquid ran over it. And this feeling was confirmed by Saturday. I had quite a fever, about 39.5 deg, and i had to lie in bed till 11am. Couldn't eat anything. Just drank the same old bland nutrient that is water. Then i tried eating porridge. Couldn't get 5 spoonfuls in before having the vommiting feeling. Shit it. Went back to bed till dinner. And it picked up at night. Wasn't feeling so giddy, and i ate fruits. The headache wasn't that bad, so i managed to catch the 10pm match, that was Arsenal away to Charlton. Conceded an early goal thanks [or no thanks] to sloppy defending and ball watching, and i thought, another frustrating away game. Thankfully, this is a changed team. They managed to beat Man U at Old Trafford, and they managed to come back thanks to 2 stunning goals from van Persie. Better news yet, Chelsea drew at home!

Ok, then to Monday, where i was still bothered by the fever. I was as good as a sitting duck during bio prac. What to do. But over the weekend, I sort of had mixed feelings. Of course, it sucks to be sick, but on the other hand, I also felt kind of lucky that this didn't take place during the preliminary examinations, and of course, not during the real deal.

The week seemed to sweep by. Every passing day we anticipated results. But as ANDERSON never fails to disappoint, it was delayed till Thursday. So Thursday was indeed set up as THE DAY.

On Wednesday night, I took some time during QT to reflect on the prelims [fine I'm lazy to keep continuing the proper english....], all the doubts, and whether i was over-confident for some subjects. Ok I ll admit it. I think if u sit anywhere near me, you ll know that I said many times that chem and EM were confirmed A1s. If u didn't read my past entry [shame on you!], i ll repeat. I doubted physics and bio for A1s. The biggest worry though, was failing chinese. And so, I really prayed, and prayed, for a very long time [by my standards at least, comparatively], that I could pass my chinese.

On thursday, fatefully, chinese was first. I got back the compo paper, 52/90, and i thought, ok, 48 for paper 2 will clinch it. It was OK. Then, when i got back my paper 2 and saw the 46.5/110, i was absolutely shocked. Many thoughts went through my head. At first, it was 'why now?' of all times to fail a subject, much less chinese! And i was selfishly asking people to help my find marks. Sorry CX, PK and erm, Kumby, haha. Then it started to sink in. I was really distraught. For half a day [you ll find out why later its HALF], I was not myself at all. I was making unreasonable comments, as the feeling of desperation sank in. Along the way I got back quite a few papers, and yeah, EM was indeed A1. Bio also fluked an A1. And I have to say I'm sorry, when people like PK and KB talked about my maths being 'sick' i took it as mocking my chinese, and got pissed. And Meijun said she saw me talk in such a critical way she had never seen before. yeah, after reading CX's entry, i realised half the person i was. [the other half is the half that gets equally pissed when Arsenal cannot get results, haha jk]. To top it all off, i even asked the question, 'why God?'. yes I admit it, that was how low i got, and that I've got so much to improve, as a person. Still, I ll like to give thanks to Mrs Allison Lim, who said some comforting words to me after i told her of my chinese, that a 49 will surely be moderated to 50, and yeah, it really calmed me down for awhile.

Then after recess, when i came back, someone told me Mr Tay added 3m to my paper2 chinese! Goodness me! I couldn't believe it. I have to say, I deserved the mark, but very seldom do you get luck as such. Relief suddenly flooded through me. The dream was alive. And boy was it decisive. Now, going back to the rest of results. AM was made extremely dramatic by me again. Paper 1, i got 50. In fact i was feeling quite OK, cos i was expecting to lose 35 marks. I totally wasn't ready for it on the first day. Then paper 2, was a 68, which after adding in the marks for the matrix qn which could not be done, the overall was a 78, A1. Bang it in. Geog was a foregone conclusion, at least for 4/7 students [no offence to those who fell short], but we outclassed the field la. Then chem. I was so confident about it, i expected to cruise to an A1. Turned out, i just scraped another 78 for it. Practical was horrible, and paper 2 saved me. And Weelic, all confident as ever, suprisingly fell short of an A1. That's how deceiving chemistry was. Physics, i felt, was the most difficult science. The MSG was so high la. [high = numerically high]. To get an A1 i was quite surprised, but by then it really didn't matter la, the R5 was settled liao. The day ended with combined humanities, and ooh! I went oh so close to getting back on track. SS was good with 39 but i got dragged down by history with 35 la leaving a total of 74. now gimme a break. Oh, and the most important subject, english, hopefully it gets an A2. The scenario is that i got 67, then managed to add 3 marks for compre, now you do the maths, and I hope that with mercy it will turn into an A2. But if it doesn't, its OK. I'm satisfied with my results. And it is good la. I'll give myself credit where it is due, and I think I ll take some time to work on the languages, time which is more relaxing, before its back to the rest, the sciences and maths. oh and geog.

I left Thursday feeling whether or not 8 would be enough for RJC, and then on Friday, i read CX's entry which is really a great one. And then I went to Hope on Saturday, and it was difficult to openly say my results. I mean, people were all doing so much worse off, and I really could sympathise with them. Which made me realise, hey, that I should be way satisfied with myself, even if my parents still aren't.

Back to Friday, once i got the chinese paper, i could suddenly feel sympathy for people like PK and KB and whoever, who so dearly needed marks to be pushed up a grade so their L1R5 would be ok for their desired JC. And to only have that feeling after mine were secured, i realise that's really selfish of me. So it's been really a week of reflection for me la.
I also realised, how easily i get pissed when i watch Arsenal play. Now they are firing on all cylinders, but when they go dry, I ll swear when watching again. And its not that they are playing badly, it's just now putting the ball into the net. Like 2 weeks ago when Reading drew with Man United, elaine told me that she was happy that they fought back to a draw. And me, for the first 2 Arsenal matches at the Emirates against weak teams which ended in draws, i got so fed up with watching them. What loyalty?, you might ask. And yeah, I ll try to be more accomodating in this aspect too.

At the end of the day, it just goes to show what has become of the Singapore Education System, when everything is so highly stressed on meritocracy. The field is there, but the school can't even allocate a slot for us boys to enjoy soccer, and for girls to enjoy captain's ball or what have they [haha..]. And moving on, I don't mean to be offending, but I have to say I am yet again sickened by the many people protesting about unfair marking and marking discrepancies. you know, I also used to have this feeling of unfairness, like last year when band 1 students for english for such pathetic marks compared to other people, and come to think of it, perhaps it was unfair; this year, Mdm Chan has certainly been stricter than other teachers, and it is definitely unfair. But the teachers have got it right this time round for prelims la, and hats off to them. I mean, they do sectional marking which is as good as it gets. If there is any discrepancy, it would be the marking of compositions, and that would be understandable. But to complain about chem and geog and in the process delay the finalizing of marks is unacceptable. This is probably making it very obvious, but such attitude from students is really sad. And when i saw patricia is 4/6 struggling to justify herself, i pitied her. yes. I mean, yeah, she aint a good teacher at all, Im pretty sure she ll be kicked back to teaching lower sec next yr, another 'ms ho', and to have to face 4/6 whose many claims I'm sure, have no grounds, is sad. ah, as sad as it is, it's the harsh reality of the education system nowadays. I can only imagine that more colourful exchanges will take place in JC.

Please, do something. <----------L5/ Purpose detected

Its friday again what-do-ya-know.
And I have to say, its been one hell of a forgetful Friday. lol.
In the morning James told me message some stuff by recess, and [yeah RATHER SUPRISINGLY], i forgot.
Then, during geography in the humanities room, we were doing mapwork, and i was almost about to take the whole map out when we left till i was reminded that it had to be collected and returned.
After recess was CHEM in the lab. One part of the QA involved getting a few drops of conc. HCl. And, 2 things here. First, i went there with only a test tube, no holder.Another 2 things to elaborate on this. Thankfully, I wasn't caught by patricia for not bringing a holder along, and thankfully i didn't let any of the acid be in contact with my hand when i added it to the test tube. Imagine, one drop trickling down the outside of the test tube and it would have been youch! Second thing, when i went there, i took conc. sulphuric acid, not HCl. Stupid right. And I was heating it gently and with CX were testing with moist litmus paper after moist litmus paper, and no effect. like WTH was going on. Only after awhile [and that was about 5mins!] did i realise i took the wrong acid.
That's not the end. After the whole prac session was done with, i left my pencil box in the lab. yes, i took A calculator, THE paper, and A pen[not -cil box]. Left the rest of it there. And it was so malu infront of patricia and weiting and sherhan and jj they all. man....................

On that forgetfulness theme, let us all not forget that one week has just silently passed us by. I sure didn't think I did much. yet i feel sleepy every night. yet i can't bring myself to study much during the day session. So, I think this transition time is fast running out, its time to get serious again guys.

Back to the chem lab. and the practical was quite interesting. The volumetric thing was very weird. It wasn't just the normal titrate this with that. It invloved adding this and adding that and THEN titrating this with that. And haha, its tricky, the pale yellow thing. its like the yellow keeps getting fainter and fainter, and you just don't know where to stop. Luckily i was SLOW, and this was worsened by the fact that my pipette filler was once again screwd. at LEAST patricia BOTHERED to change one for me. Also, CX was fast. so she overshot hers and i caught up. ha! And then the indicator thing was kinda redundant, but oh well. The QA was fun. The choking gas, and the highlight was the oxygen relighting glowing splints. For once, it was like pretty obvious. Haha.

This week has been kinda slack. In class its joking and all. At home I've tried reading zhitongche for one. Hai, gotta find some way to do better for chinese. Im really scared i ll fail for prelims. So I can take no risks, since from my viewpoint chi is worth 2pts, [passing it rather], and that is an impossible deficit to overcome if they aren't clinched.

On Tues night i woke up to watch champions league. Arsenal are back on form, and Henry suddenly scores 2 headers. [he still sucks at heading im sure]. More importantly, we're back on form. That's the confidence the win over Man U in front of their own fans gives.

And on that note, I believe what we're going through these days, is simply a mentality thing. About the O levels and all. Let's face it, the O levels is easy. Comparatively, there's no two ways about it. It's getting the job done, believing you can do well, that's the difficult part. People from double science classes, or pple struggling in trip. sc classes, often see it as such a challenge [not saying pple like me aren't], when, by virtue of being able to enter ANDERSON, we should all perform very well for the Os. So, its finding belief and confidence, and most importantly, peaking at the right time, I feel. I think any talk of consistency is now nonsense, since the prelims are all over already. There's one and a half months, and certainly, how the time is spent in the last 2 weeks, of that period, will be pivotal.

lastly, remember my entry before last, where the focus was on Mrs Chong and how we should lay off her?
Well, she's given us chocholates, and hey she's filthy rich, but it still takes effort and thought to buy chocholates okay!
And let's be honest, she's been able to relieve our stress with some very entertaining stories hasn't she.
Maybe that's not teaching, but we students from 4/7 are smart enough not to need teaching right..............=p

Oh yeah the prelims are over. It's been a huge relief. Ive been pretty stressed out over the past few weeks. Even that one in the holidays. Most stressful were the days before PHYSICS and BIOLOGY, in which i was struggling to finish revising the entire syllabus. I got so tired at night, and really wished to continue, but, I found its no use, so i just went to bed early. I don't know. Don't really feel that confident of an A1 for those tests. And for a realist like me, i know when I have done a good test, like AM 2, EM 1n2. Obviously im confident for those. But, when Im not, i just hope i can somehow scrap an A1 out of those subjects.

Apart from that, has been to deal with my sweaty palm problems [haha!]. I got really anxious during SS which was the first "intense-writing" paper. I had so much difficulty writing, just so wanted to end the paper ASAP. So, thankfully i brought pens with rubber for subsequent papers. And it helped.

The aircon atmosphere was just wonderful. And I think the tests were conducted very well. Mdm Wong was OK. Her jokes were, err -----
but i think she maintained discipline. That was good. And there were full attendances. Remember that flak i directed at how the preps. were handled? haha.

For the science exams, really had to hold our bladders, lol. I was almost dying after chem, thanks to a sudden [i won't say migraine] headache, just as the lightning struck. Was struggling to finish the paper, but thankfully it wasn't too difficult. lol, for physics and bio, I had to restrict myself to very little fluid during breakfast. 2h45min lei!

There has also been the funny side of the prelims. "who belongs to this?" was kind of cold. And then today, Mrs Chong stamped the ground rather heavily, well that's so typical of her. And i just wonder why she shouts so loud when pple ask her qns. Guess its the aging process. We all know that's the case with mr Chye. Then, people bringing "insurance equipment"! Wah, like Sok Mui brought not 1, not 2, not 5, but 3 protractors! my goodness! and she forgot to bring for geog MCQ. =_=
"Tonight is the night. Put a string in your pencil box", lol arkar told me this, and i mean, like WTH does having a string help in measuing curved distances! Like how to u keep it not straight?! and Jun Jie, he brought an entire ball of sewing string. boy oh boy.

I think the prelims have produced many unexpected incidents. Some exams were easier than expected, certainly. Chemistry for one. Emaths? Paper 1 was easy, but paper 2 def. was of a higher standard, so, guess its balanced. As usual, there are the toughies. None more so than English Comprehension. Man, questions were so challenging. Just hope it doesn't screw the overall that much.

But well, not that the exams are over, finally we can take some time off. For me, that's being the avid football fan again. It's been an agonising first few weeks of the season, with arsenal playing so well but lacking finishing. FINALLY, without star man Thierry Henry, they managed 2 brilliant away wins at Hamburg and, sweet as ever, at Manchester. I stayed up late on Sunday, and boy was it worth it. We played them off the park, dominated them, missed a penalty, and still won. So much for not winning our first 3 games, and so much for Manchester winning 4 on the trot. Ha, take that ManU fans, [Leroy, Kelvin...Elaine?], whoo, victory sure is sweet. Wait till we do that to Liverpool.

Now, the IMF/WB are out of our island too, apparently coinciding with the conclusion of our prelims. Haha. Thank goodness there were no violence from civil society organisations.

Have been reading the news the past few days, and it hasn't been pleasant. From the coup in Thailand to the guilt expressed by the man whose wife bled to death after donating her kidney to him. Guess it just reminds me how lucky we all are. To be able to finish our prelims smoothly. For most of us [no offence], to be in with a real shout to go to the JCs we want to go. To be with the friends we have, and I must say today's outing with 2/4 pple to Sentosa to play with sand and swim about is really a great way to spend the last day of the exams. Most importantly, for me, to know that God is guiding me through this critical period of my life. That's comforting amidst the stress and the frustration I have felt this week. Im pretty sure of it, that Ive thrown away Amaths, because of a sloppy opening day. That was a tough start. Im sure, everyone has faced similar low points during the prelims. To be able to recover from them, and most of us certainly have, I think we should all give ourselves a real pat on the back.

yeh, its 37~38 days to O levels?
I thought it was pracs. but using common sense, hell no! its the real deal in that period of time!
Well, i have this to say.
How relaxed are you?

DONE. OVER. oh well.

Man it feels great to finally get the prelim pracs. over and DONE WITH.
AND that this skin is finally up. Not that it's supposed to take that long, just that with PREPS and PRACs. i could hardly find anytime to put it up and do the editing and what have you.

But anyway, quite amazingly, its been MORE THAN A MONTH since Ive last blogged, and it feels so weird right now. Anyway, i ll still get on with this "familiarising" entry. Noticed the fonts a little tighter, but i think its sort of less messy. My thought. And, hard to believe, the many weeks [5, 6?] we had with no pressure whatsoever have just passed us by. I mean our schedule now is quite like a cyclone, with the pressure-free zones and the high pressure zones. whatever;

And I've had to have this near-impossible task of balancing football with studies now. I guess Ive studied lots during the period of time which in football terms I'll like to call, "post-world cup pre-EPL" period. But know its tough, and its tougher when MY arsenal are not getting results. Argh. Yet again its that cliche, trying to "pass the ball into the net". Its frustrating. Even more frustrating when people keep saying they are the best passing team in Europe.

Bah. Schedule is bad, bad. Man U - Arsenal and Chelsea- Liverpool are taking place on Sunday 17th September, which is, midway through prelims. After that theres champions league too. damn it sucks. zz.

But for now i ll try to make the most of the holidays, which im sure we all would. PREPS. has been OK. sadly not much progress, which is the most important thing to get through these tests that count for nothing, nothing at all. For once, i screwd up CHEM. Worse, i screwd up COMBINED HUMANITIES. This is quite a collapse la. My A1s from sec3 till now [which i am VERY proud of], suddenly become a 27+26=53/100. ya at least im still proud of it. zz.
Well, at least AM and BIO were my alternatives. Thats the good thing about R5 when u take trip. science i guess. its pick 5 from 7. these subjects were big boosts la. but the one i needed most still hasnt come to fruition. Hopefully, its hasn't YET. But time is running out fast, and english is a language. Its not easy. I think it certainly is within me but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

For the moment, its teachers day tomorrow. Mdm Chan should be delighted that we got top for chinese, i mean imagine how well we could have done if I wasnt in 4/7. [yala thats too modest of me, so also, conversely, imagine how slightly poorer we could have been if i hadn't contributed my share of A1s to the class, aha]

Today, seeing Mr Tan really made the day, i think. Man he really looks visibly skinnier. Guess stress amounts to less time for exercise and perhaps, less time for the brain to focus on digestion? I mean, thats a relatively old human brain we're talking about. lol.

I wonder, if anyone has dared tell Mr Tan about the state of our maths now, i mean under Mrs Chong's influence. I could only imagine, if TTP was around, the difficult questions we would have to do. Not just difficult, unnecessary, i should add. I mean, its frustrating doing all the freaking difficult PnC qns isnt it. After awhile, no? Doing all the integration of linear function divided by linear function-its not easy! Its difficult, perhaps a waste of time, and again revolving back to that word, STRESS. At a time like this, surely the last thing we graduating students want is to be stressed over maths questions which we cant seem to solve. I mean, even for a person like me who's not that devoted to maths, i still get pissed when i can solve a problem. And that pissed attitute sort of renders one unable to study other topics, more pressing matters. Haha thats my phrase. Regardless, TTP is STILL the best teacher ive had by far, really. If anyone needs proof of that, read the entry not long ago-its really not that long ago and already his absense is felt. Im just trying to say that Mrs Chong aint all that bad. I mean, she has a good track record, last year. Yes, past glory, students individual efforts people may say, but its something she deserves. So, i think all of us who have reservations about her should think twice about it. Quite honestly, i sometimes get sick of her apparent poor teaching methods, which was minimised for a simple topic like vectors, but then amplified for relative velocity. All in all, i think she aint THAT bad a teacher as many people apparently see her to be. Lay it off her yeah?
heh.