WHEN THE WIND CAME BY IT STOLE YOU AWAY...

Vulcan Salute

2011-12-13T23:31:00.005+08:00

I honestly can't remember a time I couldn't do that. Ever since I tried it it's been as easy for me as breathing.

If you're feeling kind of lost right now, the Vulcan Salute is a hand sign originating from an alien species, "Vulcan", in a series called "Star Trek".

It's pretty simple to do in theory. Simply hold out your hand as if to indicate "stop", press your pinky to your ring finger and your index finger to your middle finger without compromising the space between your ring and middle fingers. Try it if you're feeling particularly smug about the dexterity in your hand. Heck, try it with your feet even (I can't do that, by the way, but then again my toes can barely separate from each other).

...it seems that I am a pretty rare type of human. Some people can do it after intense practice, others find it impossible for them if they try anything short of tying the appropriate fingers together. I think the general consensus is that it is not impossible, but highly improbable that anyone should be able to successfully demonstrate the Vulcan Salute on their first try.

Well, I live to defy.

Anyway, this was brought up by my recently renewed interest in Star Trek. I loved (and still love) the series, although I must admit that the special effects when the series was first aired in the 1960s were that close to making me tear my eyes out from their...lack of sophistication. I can't really imagine how that particular season managed to win "best effects" at some awards ceremony.

Then again, 1960s. The people then probably had rather...ah, low expectations of their special effects specialists. I'd imagine that technology advancements gave our modern TV films their much deserved advantage in "wow" and realism factor.

As odd as it is for me to open my first post in half a year with my opinions about the Vulcan Salute, I find it oddly suitable. At least, suitable when I'm trying to convince myself that I'm indeed set apart -- in some marginally enviable way. I can't fathom anybody getting jealous over my eyebrows.

I am human, after all, I like to have something that is (even just minutely) sought after. Like my ability to do the Vulcan Salute first time trying. I didn't actually realise that it could be so hard for others to do it. I just did it, went on my merry way, and forgot all about it until I read up in a Star Trek article on-line that the Vulcan Salute was so difficult to do on the spot that many actors had to arrange their hands before being filmed. I...thought it was funny.

What? Can't I find something like that funny to boost my ego? It's pretty bruised right now, you know. I've been reading quite a number of fantastically written fan fictions and I'm wondering if I'll ever reach that level of skill in my writing. I mean, I'm fairly certain that I am above average but I am not completely certain. It would be nice to have proof.

And now you must be wondering why I'm being envious of writing skills instead of artistic prowess. I must admit that I enter a lull stage during the holidays. I don't tend to draw quite as much when I'm sitting in front of a computer and have an entire world (of fan fictions) to explore out there via the Internet. I'm just a little fickle-minded about my interests like that. I haven't painted anything digitally in months. I'm kinda itching to do something, but I don't know what, and I don't know if my abilities will be able to help me carry it through to completion. I tend to abandon projects halfway if I do not have adequate motivation to sustain my interest.

No, wanting to paint for the sake of painting is not interest enough. I should probably have something like...a project to finish to make me rush to finish something. I need a healthy dose of urgency to get anything done, I guess. I don't like pressure, but sometimes I think I need it.

Well, I do have a book cover to paint, but I'm not quite sure when my commissioner needs it done by...

If anyone wishes for an update about my trip to the US (specifically the states of California and Nevada), you'll have to ask me personally. I haven't typed a ridiculously long blog post in ages and my fingers need time to break in to the habit again. Ugh, my knuckles are kind of punishing me right now.

You'll have to pardon me if I come across as easy to set off when we next meet. I've been experiencing a series of unfortunate events lately, the least of which include a cut that had me freaked out because it caused the flesh within one centimetre of it to swell for half an hour before subsiding. The cut is only about .3 centimetres long, for goodness' sake! You know what else? I got it while changing bedsheets. I don't know how I accomplished that, and honestly, I don't want to know. I must be the first person to get what looks like a paper cut while pulling sheets over beds. Fantastic.

Besides, my flesh has never really swelled around any cuts before so this one had me really afraid. I thought it was infected with some fast-acting bacteria. For those thirty minutes I contemplated that I might die.

Oh, I also contemplated my own death on an aeroplane on the way to the States. There was this one point during the flight when the turbulence managed to upset my cup and in-flight meal. It also managed to upset my heart rhythm, which was admittedly much more terrifying that overturned food. I really couldn't find the mind to think about food when I was facing the very real possibility of dying before my holiday began (the "before my holiday began" part wasn't what was bothering me, just for the record -- it was the dying part).

There, you have my mind in a nutshell. My day is so boring I can't even begin to express how...utterly uneventful it is.

Perhaps I should blog more often about my internal monologues. Seems fun, somehow, and it will mean the promise of more frequent updates. I don't tend to feel like updating about my day because, now that I think about it, it's pretty personal, and I devolve into hideously long rants without further prompt whenever I recount anything. The last thing we all need is a ten-mile long blog post.

General Elections 2011: The Shrinking Minority

2011-05-02T16:05:00.005+08:00

I am part of a shrinking minority - the minority of youths who will vote for the People's Action Party (PAP).

I am 16 this year, still studying in school, and for some reason, finding myself to be unexpectedly more than simply aggitated by the growing number of youths who are blindly voting for the opposition parties.

I have two minds about this trend. I want to pay PAP back and have them win this election so that they can strengthen their hold over Singapore to show what they can do and sway future votes to them, but at the same time I want the opposition to win, and then do a horrendous job of governing the nation so that PAP will be voted back into power, unanimously, unopposedly.

Singaporeans need to know what PAP can and will do for them. I confess to be biased, because I have been benefitting under this PAP umbrella. I live a fulfilling life, I have a family, friends, loved ones. I have probably lived in cotton candy for the entire of my life. I have enjoyed benefits of PAP's policies, and there will be some policies that will never affect me, such as the mandatory National Service (NS) for all (fit) Singaporean men.

I confess to be in love with the PAP, partly due to brainwashing by the "newly" introduced Social Studies lessons in school, and partly due to my own discretion. I am, however, a little unnerved by the high-and-mighty attitude that they give off, especially good old Harry Lee Kuan Yew (LKY, as we affectionately call him). There was one comment he made which made it to the Saturday Straits Times which really annoyed me, PAP supporter or not.

I am surprised by just how obsessed I am with this party. I have never known myself to be so involved with such political issues. I have never known myself to be such a staunch supporter of the PAP. I just thought I was someone who would be objective about things like these. I...don't know what to say about this new revelation. However, now that I know this, I am not going to try to change it.

I have read extensively on this year's General Elections, and I am very fearful for Singapore's future. As far as I know, 50% of all voters this year will be first time voters, with a large number of them youths who are opposition fanatics. I have tried, believe me, to see what is so good in the opposition that garnered the empathy of people like me (or even people older, and supposedly wiser, than me). I didn't succeed, apparently. I would like to believe that this is because there isn't anything in them that would prosper Singapore, but their tongues.

I love Singapore. This, I have always known, and will never regret. I am shamelessly patriotic, this I will admit. Singapore loved me back and gave me the bed of roses (sans thorns) that I sleep on. Singapore is more than just another country to me. She is my home. Nothing will ever be like her. Everything that I love is with her. I am hopelessly, undeniably, in love with my homeland, and therefore I want the best for her (and by selfish extension, myself). I don't want to see Singapore fall into the hands of undeserving government, to be destroyed after having been built up by sweat, blood, and tears. I cannot just stand by and watch while her fate may just spiral down into no return. I am frustrated at my inability to vote. Why can't I vote? I resent myself for not being 21. I want to be able to shape her future. I detest myself for being helpless.

These are my reasons for supporting the PAP, none of them baseless, I assure you, but still bias, as you can see.

1) They have served us for so many years, and they have served us well. When Singapore was nothing more than a newly orphaned child, discarded and unwanted by Malaysia, PAP cried with her. But they did not stop there. They gathered the broken nation in their hands and nurtured it. In every sense, Singapore became theirs. They, as her parent, educated her. They clothed her. They groomed her. They prospered her. She became beautiful. She became loved. They, on the other hand, stood by, proud parents, watching their child, guiding her. If given the choice, will you discard your parents like Malaysia did Singapore?

Let us give them what they deserve. Let us give them a resounding applause. Bring them back again, and acknowledge them.

2) Their proposals are by far the most sound of the rest. I have a few here with me, taken from 28 April 2011's special GE report, and I will thus compare. I find it ridiculous, so stupidly ridiculous, that the youths of today who profess to be educated, can still vote for the opposition after they have read these absurd proposals. Or maybe they're too blinded they don't bother reading. I will be comparing some of PAP's proposals with that of their (supposedly) strongest opposition, Worker's Party (WP). I think most of the WP's proposals are rather workable, and can sometimes be better than the PAP's. When you compare the rest of the opposition to the WP...I have absolutely no idea what the rest of them are doing. The WP is a much better competition than them...

I have, obviously chosen to omit some categories to compare because of a few reasons, mainly that the WP is better than the PAP there, I have no idea what they're talking about, or that I simply have no idea how to judge them. As you can see, I'm not a very objective person.

GST "PAP: No raise in GST for the next 5 years, GST to help fund Workfare, bursaries and subsidies; poor get more than what they pay for GST" "WP: ...I'm not sure what their plans are, but there's a picture of 3 rice bowls in that box in place of any text at all..."

Is one to assume that the WP has no idea what they are to do with the GST? Well, that's very "far-sighted" of them. What do they intend to do if they become the government? Store the GST away in locked vaults? Add it to our national reserves? Swindle it away? They're not promising us anything. And so, on my part, I am not promising them any votes.

As for the PAP, they have a goal, something to adhere to. Isn't it right to spread money equally amongst the rich and the poor? Well, more evenly spread, anyway. If anything, I'd say that this plan is still a little sketchy, but it means well, to narrow the income gap, and I say it is better by far than the rice bowls in WP's box. What on earth do they mean anyway? A space filler?

Transport "PAP: Invest $60 billion to double MRT network to shorten commuting times and reduce crowding while keeping fares affordable" "WP: Nationalise public transport - should be provided as a public good and not for profit. A National Transport Corporation will provide services on basis of cost and depreciation recovery. Public buses should be exempted from taxes like electronic road pricing (ERP). Buses can conver to clean fuel"

Hmm, clean fuel, huh? They're actually already trying to do that for the public transport, not just buses. How much do you think it will cost to do so? That's a neat idea when the eco-friendliness is brought to the discussion table, but do you think that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) isn't already working on that? I believe they're already looking into clean fuel, and MRTs are more or less beginning to "reuse" the energy that they tend to lose due to friction during stopping. And public transport is already being promoted as the choice mode of transport. While it is a good idea to adjust prices to complement the rate of depreciation and whatnot, don't you think it will get a little messy? What about those who pay via coins? What, do they have to pay till the 1 cent? I would also like to add that, if the system isn't going to profit, it is entirely likely that it will crash and close one day. It needs to be able to support itself and upgrade itself. It can't always rely on the government to fund everything it needs, because funds might run out one day (especially since the WP seems to have no idea of what to do with the GST...).

The PAP's proposal, I will admit, is still a sketchy idea. Broadening the MRT network will indeed shorten commuting times, but only for certain routes. And I honestly don't see how this will help keep fares affordable, unless, because of shortening of routes, the "pay by distance" charges are being reduced. This investment will hopefully pay off in the long run if and only if the system continues to run.

Political System "PAP: Keep evolving and improving democracy. New election rules to encourage greater competition and give alternative coices larger representation in Parliament" " WP: Send ammendments to the Constitution to select committee of MPs from various parties. Cut voting age from 21 to 18. End GRC, Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) and Nominated MP (NMP) systems. Abolish elected presidency. Benchmark ministerial pay against political office of developed nations"

Oh, I will definitely support that ammendment to select committee of MPs from various parties, especially if some other party but PAP is in power. I somehow don't trust other parties. It is a definite NO to the lowering of voting age. Singaporeans now are already too myopic to see what is good for them. I don't think we want to involve even younger voters in the voting process. The screw-up, I'm afraid, will be too large to handle. I am not fond of the GRC idea either. I don't want an overwhelming population drowning out my voice which screams for the PAP. I actually think that it's quite mean of PAP to introduce GRCs to manipulate the votes, but...if it helps them stay in power, keep it. I have no idea what NCMPs and NMPs are, so I shall refrain from commenting. Abolish elected presidency? Hang on a moment, the president is the people's FACE. Can't we choose who to elect as our president? I'm not too sure about benchmarking the pay, because if so, corruption...can happen. Singapore is known for it's lack of corruption, so I don't want to risk losing the trust of MNCs and other foreign investors.

...I have no idea what to say to the PAP. On one hand, I want them to stay in power, but to do that they must at least put on a facade of democracy, so they will have to introduce competition, but on the other hand, I don't even want to let them a chance to slip from power, because knowing Singaporeans, at the sight of opposition, they will clamour for it, and PAP...will be left in the dirt. They, who have served us well, will be discarded. The PAP is being "delightfully" vague about evolving and improving democracy. It will have to elaborate a tonne more than that to convince me, despite my pro-PAP-ness.

Education "PAP: Deploy wuality teachers in all schools, provide outstanding facilities for all schools, open more pathways for children of diverse abilities, give more support to children with learning difficulties, widen range of university, polytechnic and ITE programmes, have more and higher-quality childcare centres and kindergartens" "WP: Ideal learning begins with an inspired teacher in a small class size of 20 pupils, consider a primary-secondary integrated scheme instead of stressful PSLE, best that children cultivate love for learning rather than being groomed for high-stakes exams, increase tuition grants for local undergraduates instead of giving the same for all nationalities"

The WP seems keen on reducing studying stress. I heard from my tuition teacher that during one of their rallies, they cited one case of PSLE stress-induced suicide as a reason for abolishing the PSLE. Hmm, one? Has anyone ever diagnosed the kid with depression? Did anyone know if he or she was suffering from something that caused the stress to build up? Or is it just ordinary stress that killed him or her? Which one? We need more information. Also, with the inherent "kiasu-ness" of Singaporean parents, don't you think it's rather impossible that they'll support this "no PSLE" kind of education? Interestingly enough, it is because of the stringent and stressful education system that we have here in Singapore which allows Singaporeans studying in overseas colleges to keep up with the stress in their new school. There have been a couple of dropouts in those Ivy League colleges because the students are unable to keep up with the stress. I believe close to none of them have been Singaporeans, and I also believe that Singaporeans studying in those colleges find themselves thankful to have experienced the stress in Singapore. I find it rather funny that the WP wants to reduce class size. That would mean something close to a doubling of teaching staff. How many Singaporeans here wish to be teachers, raise your hands. None? Well, now that's a dilemma. Many Singaporeans have dreams and aspirations NOT related to teaching. It's not so easy to double teaching force. Well, then another solution will be to bring in teachers, you say. Let's see, oh, Singapore isn't already crowded enough with foreign talents. You want to bring more in? Well, we might be able to squeeze in one or two more without inciting the anger of our people...so, how will the WP deal with this? I believe that the PAP is already working on cultivating interest in children, and that they've already abolished examinations in Primary 1 and focussing on interest-based learning instead. But please don't abolish all examinations...

I believe that quality teaching instead of quantity teaching is a more viable option in Singapore. While WP focuses on small teacher to student ratios, PAP probably acknowledges that it will be difficult to have this accomplished so quickly, and has turned to quality teaching. Singaporeans are rather notoriously well-known to be rather good at quality control, so this shouldn't be an issue. Quality teaching may also overcome the issue of having too many students to a class, which hence negates the need for too many teachers (and possibly by extension, more "much disliked" foreigners teaching our children). It is nice to note that PAP is looking to cater to more diverse needs of the children, which WP is not, and will try to help students of different needs. I sincerely hope that they get an art college here, though...a reputed art college...I'm not sure if they already have one, actually, but never mind. Comparing this "suited to various needs" approach to the "less stress, more fun" approach by the WP, I can safely say that the PAP's seems to be more practical. Reducing stress in the education system might also cause students to slack (I have been experiencing this phenomenon, actually, due to the fact that I am not required to sit for GCE "O" Levels), which is most definitely not a good sign.

3) The opposition don't show me that they have enough experience. By rallying the people using incorrect methods (see above in my comment about WP's education), I believe that they are appealing to the wrong desires of Singaporeans. We are looking to better Singapore, not to build a fantasy bubble around ourselves and live in self-created utopia. They make you feel good, and don't you dare deny you don't that you can now oppose authority without being accosted for trying to launch a coup d'etat on the government. I wonder, is this what drugs feels like? I haven't personally been to any rally, so I can't say a thing, but I'm sure, PAP is fighting in their own way, we are just too blind to see it.

Be practical. Vote for long-term security, not spur-of-the-moment satisfaction.

Because of all these things, I support PAP.

I live in Aljunied, where the fiercest battle between PAP and WP is probably going to take place, and in all likelihood, if Singaporeans still continue to get attracted to WP, PAP is going to lose, and I am going to feel like the world has ended. I don't feel safe with the WP. I don't feel safe with any party. The only party I can safely say will bring Singapore security is the PAP, because they have a track record.

Some may argue that I'm not giving the opposition a chance, and I say, yes, I am not. I play safe. Unless PAP suddenly takes a turn for the worse, I am a PAP fanatic through and through. Because of this, my two minds about the election outcome are at war with each other.

My first mind, the one that wants it to be PAP forever without them ever stepping down, really desires that PAP wins this elections again. However, logically speaking, even if they do win this one, I am very fearful that they may not win the next one.

My other mind says this, that Singaporeans need to go through a period of suffering under another party's rule to see how good PAP has been for us. On one hand, I am really hoping that the opposition that goes into power doesn't screw it up too badly, because whatever you say, Singapore is still Singapore, my homeland, my love. I cannot bear to watch her lose the status which she has spent so many years painstakingly building. I can't stand to see PAP's hard work go to ruins like that. On the other hand, I hope they screw it up so bad that the people no longer consider them, and bring PAP back. Singaporeans need a rude awakening, else they won't see the light. We are just...so incredibly, annoying thick-headed like that. Mm, durians.

Honestly speaking, I have no idea what to think about my second mind. I really wish PAP to come into power for a while to come due to fear of letting Singapore crumble to ruin again under the governance of another party, but I just can't help but fear for Singapore's future if this actually comes true. I am worried. I am afraid. I want safety. I want PAP. But Singaporeans need to see for themselves. They need to go through. But I am afraid that after they do, when PAP goes back into power, Singapore will lose her affluence should some irreversible damage occur to her economy, her society, her reputation. I don't want to take that risk.

I am torn. To ensure PAP's "reign" would mean to give Singaporeans a rude awakening, which would mean that Singapore may end up in the depths of no return. To ensure Singapore's prosperity, the people will have to vote PAP in, but then they would never get to experience "terror" under another party's reign, and there will always remain the fear of losing Singapore to the opposition. Of course, I seem to be avoiding the possibility that the opposition might do a good job, but in all honesty, I don't believe that they will. Their ideas are lofty, way too lofty.

I want Singapore. I want PAP. Somehow, along the way, I have already equated PAP to Singapore's prosperity, and I won't be undoing that anytime soon, so it seems.

I acknowledge that PAP may be a little too controlling, a little too proud, but hey, which parent isn't unbearably overbearing? If they aren't, they aren't parents. They don't want the nasty influences to be upon their children. They desire the best, and you can say that the best education is, sometimes, very strict. I would rather they control everything, than have people running around in the streets in a free for all, with riots every day and bodies strewn over the streets. Well, I'll try to believe in Singaporeans, that they won't run wild, but who's to say?

Vote PAP.

I certainly will, once I reach 21, unless PAP suddenly declines in efficiency till another party actually becomes better than them. However, who is to say that I still won't be hopelessly in love with PAP that I will want to give them another chance despite what they have failed to do? I still support PAP after the Mas Selamat incident. I still support PAP. I probably will for the rest of my life.

I vote for stability.

I've heard that other parties wish to abolish the death sentence. Go ahead. I'd like to see what kind of a mess the crime scene in Singapore ends up like after that happens.

I've heard that other parties wish to abolish the GST. Go ahead. I'd like to see what kind of services the government can provide with so little funding.

I've heard that other parties wish to shorten NS training time. Go ahead. I'd like to see how Singapore can cope with war in this new age with this shrinking population.

I've heard that other parties wish to withdraw millions from our national reserve. Go ahead. I'd like to see how we can cope in times of economic crisis.

Go ahead. IF YOU DARE. If you keep your children's safety and future in mind, I believe you will vote for PAP.

Once again, with all my heart, I wish for this:

Vote PAP.

Disclaimer here: I am a die-hard PAP fanatic, so you may not want to take every word that I say to be some sort of absolute truth. I twist facts. I'm afraid I can't separate my love for PAP from being objective, so this I apologise. Well, let's just say that I'm practising for some persuasive speech essay.

Haha, I sound like a propaganda-ist...

Efficient Corruption

2011-02-11T21:58:00.006+08:00

This post began 'construction' on 11 February 2011, and was edited and posted on 12 February 2011.

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YES!

I got my first set of Copic markers today!

Well, but before I elaborate on anything else, I might as well just (not-so) lightly cover my day's journey.

Ah, I remember it just as it was this morning...which it was...but WHATEVER. ;D

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

This morning I woke up with sleep still clinging onto me like water riding up the edges of a test tube. I was decidedly not a happy camper. However, knowing the serious consequences of being late to school would include a much dreaded booking as well as a most uncomfortable ride by public bus to school, I safely settled for getting my lazy bum out of the welcoming tendrils of warmth emanating from the bed, sandwiched under a soft layer of comforter.

Dragging my 10 tonne legs to the toilet I brushed my teeth almost lethargically while trying to stay awake, nevermind keeping my eyes open. My arm felt like some sort of lead contraption designed to make locomotion the most horrible thing you'll ever experience. Blearily, I rinsed my mouth with Listerine and stumbled "gracefully" back to my room to change.

Cold assaulted me as I slowly pulled my large night shirt over my head to toss into the laundry basket. Goosebumps were a definite presence on my overly-thermal-sensitive skin. Fumbling slightly, I rushed to get my blouse on before the goosebumps become a permanent fixture on my epidermis. My eyelids drooped yet again for the nth time when I put on the pinafore. Grabbing my freshly washed maroon jacket I stumbled down the stairs.

Blearily I pinned on my school badge and name tag to avoid any strange looks from peers and unwanted attention from suddenly flocking prefects. I tied my hair into its usual low tail and blinked tiredly for a few seconds to clear the fog from my eyes. Why does everything seem so unclear even though I have my glasses on?

We ran out of Soya Milk so I asked for a cup of water instead. It was the most bland thing you've ever tasted, but some liquid down my slightly parched throat was better than none. I tucked my lunch box into my bag before once again returning to a state of the living dead. I sat listlessly like a rather odd-looking doll until the national anthem played over the radio, signalling that it's 06:00, and also time I left home to board the school bus.

My school bag was its usual weight, which comforted me a little for queer reasons I am not going to bother to figure out. Ambling to the school bus, I gazed up at the lightening navy blue sky to look for signs of a secret moon before getting clumsily into the school bus. As the bus drove off I managed to settle myself down without colliding into the roof and causing a spectacular bruise to develop on my large forehead.

Like usual, I dozed off after a few minutes due to a great desire to catch up on sleep that had deserted me when they decided amongst themselves that I needed to wake up just 15 minutes prior. Unlike usual, however, I woke up a few times during the ride. As the first person to board the bus, I could spend about 50 minutes sleeping, but strangely enough, my brain gained consciousness at odd times without any apparent triggers.

I alighted from the school bus in the school car park, walking slowly and heavily to class. There was CES today, which meant that there would be an extra Mathematics lesson awaiting me to face my doom early in the morning which, after morning assembly, would be followed by another Math lesson 55 minutes long.

It turned out, however, that Ms Fan considered the fact that some students were unable to make it for the CES session, and so she turned it into a consultation period. Ah, what a waste. Today would be the first time I'm attending the PEP (Philosophy Enrichment Programme) which is held in the library as informed by an e-mail received 1-2 days ago. I am moderately pleased that I had the foresight to inform Mr. Lorenzo that I wouldn't be coming due to the scheduled CES, but what a disappointment CES turned out to be.

Before the CES lesson I turned on the computer to do a little research on Copic markers. I did a similar research before, but that was mostly out of curiosity. This time, however, I was planning to buy a set of markers for my own use, since my birthday would be coming up in 2 days and I've expressed to my mother my desire to own some of these markers. We decided to go to Bras Basah today, right after Art Club is dismissed from an exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).

XinYu, who was supposed to do her English class presentation today, approached me and asked if I knew how to access her thumbdrive on the class computer, because she couldn't. I showed her a nifty solution to the problem as I've been faced with this before with one of my thumbdrives. I actually do wonder if she approached me with any expectations or simply out of convenience. I don't think I've cultivated an image of extreme IT knowledge in class or anywhere else.

I've also realised, as I was unpacking my back onto my table to prepare for CES, that I had forgotten my pencil case altogether. Before that, I had a sudden epiphany which led to me remembering that while Mr. Angullia had mentioned that we would need foolscap for today's lesson, I had clean forgotten about that and brought not a single sheet. Thankfully, I managed to secure a pen from ShuYing and a pencil and a foolscap from Jaslin.

When the minute hand neared the 30 minutes mark to indicate 08:30 at 08:20, I proceeded to the parade square, not donning my maroon jacket. I have come to realise that if I do not wear it in the school bus I would not likely wear it to morning assembly. As it was, I only draped my jacket around me during the bus ride this morning.

Finding ChuNing whom I know to be from the PEP since I looked through the e-mail receipients who were informed of PEP's location earlier yesterday, I asked her about what she did today at PEP. It seems that the first session was mightily unproductive, mostly introductions, so I was relieved.

Since it was a Friday the Lower Secondary students assemble in the hall in preparation for assembly which is their first block. This left the entire parade square to the Upper Secondary. Needless to say, most of the student body were too dense to realise this and still gathered in their usual positions, and it wasn't until 5 minutes before morning assembly began that they finally realised they were standing in a spot far different from where they were supposed to be.

Singing voices were barely heard over the booming instrumental of the national anthem. If I could wager a little I would say that little under than a fifth of the students actually bothered to sing. I was not one of them. I used to be, though, but after an entire week of intermittent bursts of sore throat I didn't feel it safe to use my voice, as it would probably come out as some husky, undetermined sound.

Little announcements were made, and we were dismissed without fuss. Weaving through the dense crowd I nimbly manoeuvred my way back to class, lightness in my steps starkly contrasting with their sluggish movements just earlier that morning. Fast-paced but not quite delicately, I was the first back in class and pressed the switches for the lights.

Mathematics, as the first lesson, was a decidedly disgusting move on the timetable department's part. To begin the day, a FRIDAY nonetheless, with a mind-blowing lesson was just too much. I did manage to survive the lesson, and prepared for assembly by readying my tie. With a expert tug here and a wrap there I neatly formed the tie's shape and then secured it to my collar with a flourish, making it look like I had my uppermost button buttoned when it was not.

Before I move on I must mention this little experiment I did on 1 February this year right before the Chinese New Year break. I wore my tie properly, but instead of showing it, I pulled on my maroon jacket like I always do, and this time zipped it all the way up so that no part of my tie shows through. I don't usually do this when going for assembly, but I was doing an experiment that day. I pushed up my sleeves and then brazenly walked out of class and to the hall.

I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't accosted to show proof of my tie when I walked past the hall's entrance doors, but it vanished when a prefect ran up to me after I had walked pretty much half the length of the hall to ask if I brought my tie, a pretty euphemism for, "I KNOW you didn't bring your tie. Now let me catch you in the act and book you." The prefect probably didn't have this conscious intention, but her inner justice was probably roaring this anyway.

So, nonchalantly, I unzipped my jacket. I imagine she was looking a little tinged when she left, but I was too flustered with success from the experiment to notice anything. So, if one wants to enter the hall but does not have a tie, one should not zip the jacket up full and roll up the sleeves. That would make you look like you're warm, but somehow or another unwilling to remove your jacket. Reason? Well, the prefects (and all other students, for the matter) probably think you didn't bring your tie.

Today's assembly was going to be a similar but different experiment. This time I zipped up full but did not pull up my sleeves. In addition, to complete the image, I tucked my fists into my jacket's pockets as if to keep them warm. I was filtered into the hall without much fuss. Huh, so this is what you should do if you want to enter without a tie. Now we all know what to do, don't we?

Assembly was radically unlike every other assembly. While it began with the singing of the school song with an innocent quality comparable to heaven's choir accompanied by a pure tune of gentle, piano notes distinctly rendering a graceful, lady-like quality to the song, its main agenda was to signal the end of Friendship Appreciation Week (FAW) and start the Student Congress discussions.

With a short clip depicting students thanking various Executive Administrative Staff (EAS) and a spoken testimony presented via the video of the EAS showing appreciation for their work in RGSS, it was an effective conclusion to the week. While each department's representative ascended the steps to receive a token of appreciation from our new vice-principal, I could not help but notice that the green men were awarded a resounding applause no other staff departments had. Well, I guess appreciation for green men have been successfully inculcated into us. Shouldn't we begin to appreciate the other EAS now?

Immediately after the proclaimed end of FAW'11, Student Congress stepped up and headed a discussion about Timetables and School Infrastructure. Without much doubt, there were some complaints brought up which were irrelevant to the topic. It was clearly stated by the Congress Speakers that applause are to be held until the end, but the student body clearly didn't have ears, or else their ingenius minds were smashed into goo the moment a moderately 'cool' issue was brought up.

The discussion first started out very slowly, but once the ball started rolling, stopping it was an issue. There were many times when the Congress Speakers suggest the same solution of speaking to relevant teachers, which we all know to do but somehow have no mind to think of it as a REAL solution. In fact, it wouldn't be too far a stretch to say that it got annoying how the Speakers kept dodging issues like that after a while.

We were dismissed for recess soon enough. Snatching up my lunchbox I flew with the swiftness of an eagle cutting through the blue skies to the canteen. All my preferred round tables were already taken up, so I made do with a round table on the side of the canteen closer to J-Block. Rachael Sim joined me not long after, and we chatted a bit before going back up to imitate lifeless sculptures in our chairs. At least, I did.

Then entire of English block was used for an FA on documentary review writing, so XinYu didn't present to the class today. The video was about surrogate mothers in India, and while I have no idea what the documentary was supposed to be conveying, I decided against writing a draft and started on my essay immediately. I noticed, much to my chagrin, that Jaslin, who was my desk mate to my right, was actually doing a draft. I felt horribly unprepared then.

The word limit was 300-350, but I overshot it by 10 words. Jaslin and Celine (especially Celine) wrote so much excess that their words sprawled over 1 or more pages while mine was confined to half a page. Well, the fact that I had forgotten to insert paragraphing probably had something to do with its apparent lack in length.

Social Studies went by without a hitch, other than the fact that I wans't particularly interested in how to write the essay, but more on reading the articles for leisure instead. I have interests that do not help my academics, but I am sure this form of enjoyment might make life much more tolerable than others. While Mr. Azahar went to photocopy 31 copies of an article for the class, I forgot that it was still Social Studies period and went to the toilet, coming back and getting mildly surprised that Mr. Azahar was still in class. During this extra time I played around with my hair, and gave it an insociant-ish apperance, which I kept until the end of the day.

Physics was a mess of cluttered information. There was so much to absorb in so little time, even if I actually found out the answers to the questions which I got wrong for before Mr. Thio went through them. There were new ideas brought up and old ones revised. I found I needed that extra reinforcement as my knowledge of Physics is severely limited.

Physics ended early enough for me to get a round table as well as food within 5 minutes. Grace who, like me, was from Art Club, joined me at my table in a while after PanYu, also another person from Art Club, did, and with Grace was one of her friends whom I assume is from Red Cross Youth (RCY). Grace mentioned that she had to do a worksheet when she visited SAM yesterday with half of Art Club. She also brought up the fact that only 2 Sec4 Art Club members were amongst the other Art Club and SAP pupils at the exhibition yesterday. Poor girl. Grace commented that she liked my new hair, though. =) I have to admit, I like it too. It looks professionally messy.

Grace accompanied me all the way to my class where I packed up belongings. Before leaving for the foyer where the half of Art Club (and SAP) who haven't been to the exhibitions yet are assembling, I made a quick detour to the toilet once more. I simply cannot help but want to be on the safe side.

At the foyer I saw AnYan (AY) playing the piano, so I walked up to her with Grace in tow and set down my bag at the foot of the piano. I soaked up the music she played with much gratification. Grace also played a song or two before I reminded her that she wanted to take a picture of my awesome hair. She took 2 photos, and I asked her to send them to me because I thought my hair was awesome too. I spied Mr. Wong beyond the yellow Singa and passed up my consent form, and also refilled my waterbottle at the cooler adjacent to the foyer.

AY and I stuck together like some sort of honey. We weren't as close as glue, although we did think of that since we didn't know much of the other Sec4s very well anyway, but close enough. I feel a little guilty for leaving ShuYing out of my fun, but I think she was close enough to PanYu to enjoy herself.

When we boarded a bus, it didn't move for over 15 minutes. We were then told to transfer to another bus. What a weird thing. Can't they simply transfer drivers?

We first went to a warehouse in Tanjong Pagar where art pieces were displayed in large, warehouse halls. There were some rather controversial images, such as one of the Japanese emperors with a pregnant woman's nude body and holding a shovel to signify the desire of the emperor to make up for horrible labour treatments by giving birth to the labourers again. It was pretty vague, but I could completely appreciate the technique that went into the painting.

An interesting thing to note is that we got lost both getting to and from the exhibition hall. Firstly, we took the wrong elevator up. It was a cargo elevator, so even though we arrived at the correct floor the entrance to the floor was sealed. Then, when we boarded a broad passenger elevator, we finally found our way. The doors of the elevators looked like thick metal, and slid down with a sort of slow, groaning movement. There were doors on both sides of the elevators, and they opened depending on the level. Mr. Wong told us that if we got our bodies stuck in between the door and the floor, we'd be crushed immediately. We found out later that that was an empty scare, for sensors at the doors would immediately force the doors to retreat should something be in the way.

The exhibitions there were creepy. Firstly, right in front of the elevator, was a ginormous installment of large clay pots punched in while the clay was still semi-wet in places to specifically form a likeless of humans singing. There was another memorable installment which was many dogs arranged in rows and collumns with 3 LED displays on the ground showing, in sliding movement, a testimony of a girl who survived the bombing at Hiroshima. The words used were simple yet hauntingly despairing. In a room in a seemingly unknown wall of the hall was a silent video screening, inspired by the life of two people so trapped in their own ideals that they work in a dreamlike state without interaction with the outside world.

As we took the passenger lift down again to level 1, the door on the other side opened. We found ourselves rather lost when faced with the unfamiliar sight. There were workers looking at us from the landing. I suppose they were the ones who pressed for the lift. We were facing the other side of the building! It would be a VERY long walk back to the side which we had been on. We tried looking for exit doors but they were emergency ones. As a last minute attempt, we gathered back inside the elevator and closed the doors, then opened them again. Thank goodness the door to the other side opened!

We visited the second hall at the warehouse without getting all that lost because we've been to that hall before, but not after the changed the exhibits. These exhibits are the controversial ones.

Next, we boarded the same bus to SAM. This meant that we left our bags on the bus while we were at Tanjong Pagar. Taking our bags with us when we alighted at SAM because we weren't going to take the bus again, we ran across the small distance from the bus to shelter because it was raining slightly. Within the lobby of SAM, we were each given a saturated blue-green circular sticker which read in white: I AM MADE FOR SAM which I later dropped on the bus home. Hmm. "Who's SAM? Someone's boyfriend?" was what was running through all our minds, sarcastically. Funnily enough, my mother later brought up that I had a cousin called 'Samuel'...

While we set aside our bags in a cage-like huge locker, AY and I decided to try and impersonate any one of our original characters (OCs) for the length of the visit at SAM. I chose Lucille Trinity, one of my latest OCs, as his personality was pretty much fixed, and I wouldn't feel TOO embarrassed imitating him since he, like me, has a lot of pride and wouldn't do anything silly that would stain my face a permanent red.

SAM's galleries were good, as expected. Heck, it was interesting! Especially the exhibition where this woman sewed velvet over her father's bones and made it so that they look like art exhibitions. It was amazingly beautiful yet creepy at the same time. There was also a small (claustrophobia-inducing, which might have been the desired outcome) room where everything was red, and shelves were lined evenly with bottles which contained "blood". Their labels even have instructions on how to consume them!

We were dismissed surprisingly early at 17:45, a very different time from what Grace said. She told us her group was released at roughly 18:30. Hmm, perhaps it's because Mr. Wong has already been to the exhibitions that he can gauge how much time is needed for each and herd us along appropriately. On our way out we picked up a free magazine near the counter called Muse.

Others left for home immediately after dismissal, while I stayed back and waited for my mother who said she'd be coming at 18:15 to go with me to Bras Basah to buy Copics. I was incredibly excited, but when I called her she said she'd take a while, so I read Muse while trying to pass the time. When I called her at 18:15 because she still wasn't there, she said she was still waiting for a bus, but she shouldn't take long, so I continued reading. It was probably the largest coincidence ever that just as I finished reading the magazine my mother called me at around 18:35.

It didn't really register that it was my phone that was ringing since I don't usually turn my phone off silent mode, so the ringtone sounded incredibly foreign to me. When I picked it up my mother told me that she was already nearby and gave me directions to a building which was probably some office of NTUC. I followed it, and stopped at a small road crossing even though there wasn't any traffic. Well, all I cared about was that I shouldn't cross when the red man is on.

Under the NTUC building my mother and I reunited and went on our merry way to Bras Basah. I was surprised at how close it was to SAM. My mother did show me the map yesterday but I didn't actually think it'd be THAT close. Excitement rising within me, I happily accepted my mother's offer of soggy fries from her lunch, picking them with much care with a serviet???????????? so as to not contaminate the fries with whatever strange germs I have on my hands.

At Bras Basah we checked the directory. I read online earlier that morning about a shop called ArtMark which sold Copics as well as Art Friend. Well, we all know that Art Friend sells just about anything, so it wasn't much of a surprise. The directory told us that Art Friend was on the 3rd floor while ArtMark was on the 4th, so we decided to go to Art Friend first to check the price, as the thread I read said that ArtMark offered better Copics discount.

I was overwhelmed by the selection of Copic there, and was torn between Copics, Copic Sketch, and Copic Ciao. Well, I wasn't actually all that interested in Ciao since I read a feedback somewhere that was pretty negative. Even though the subsequent comments all had testimonies which denied the truthfulness of the negative feedback, I didn't want to risk anything. Copics were a little hard, so I decided to get Copic Sketch.

The sets were not present at the shelves but at the counter, and my mother helped me ask if they could show us the sets since I have no idea which colours to buy as it's my first time buying Copics. I was really torn. The choices within each set were good, but while one of the sets had colours for skin which I absolutely adore, the other one had another shade which was perfect as well. In the end I temporarily picked a set that looked most suited for skin, something I would likely be colouring most. One of the sets was a box of saturated colours, and I wasn't too pleased with that as it didn't offer me much choices for skin colours, if any at all.

Then, my mother suggested that instead of getting the sets we get the holder for the markers and then pick the colours I wanted. I wasn't really confident of getting nice colours, though, since I have no idea what I want and need. However, I accepted her proposition. It was a little tough to make this decision since the box would cost more separate from the set.

Before choosing colours we went up to ArtMark to check out the prices there. Turns out there wasn't a difference, and in fact, ArtMark didn't sell sets of 12 but of 36 and 72, which were way too expensive to afford. So we went back to Art Friend.

I spent a really long time selecting the colours. By the time Art Friend decided to close shop I had only picked 9 colours. The boxes were a little hard to tell whether they were for Copic Sketch or Copic Ciao or Copics, since all the markers had different shapes and sizes, and each box was custom made to fit their specific markers. In the end, my mother got a box which could fit 36 Copic Sketch markers. She told me that I could add more to my collection like this if I got a large box. I was pleased, very much so.

We decided to go to to ArtMark to get a few more colours. I picked another 9 colours, and clean forgot to get a normal red and green marker. I was too engrossed in choosing aesthetically pleasing colours that I totally ignored saturated colours. Well, that's a lesson for you to learn: Never EVER get too carried away that you forget your basics.

I realised that I left the Muse magazine in ArtMark when we had gone down by a level, so I returned to get it while my mother decided that nature was calling. I made my way up the steps alone, feeling incredibly creeped out by the acute lack of people in the area and also by the fact that the architecture was old. It felt like a horror movie, and frankly, I was afraid that some creep would come out and kidnap me. I held my bundle of precious (and EXPENSIVE) Copics close to me because I really didn't want to ruin them before I even have a chance to try them out.

Luckily, ArtMark was just nearly closing and hadn't closed yet, so I got the magazine without issues. Come to think of it, I was standing at the glass door and motioning at the magazine which was lying on the counter looking severely out of place, and the cashier lady seemed to understand what I was trying to say. Well, her face was a little scary although she was pretty so it was kind of freaky, but when I voiced my thanks she smiled and I was filled with some sort of, "Oh, so she can smile so nicely too." feeling.

The rest of Bras Basah still looked incredibly like a horror movie set.

I went to meed my mother in the toilet since she hadn't come to our designated meeting place yet, and walked with her down and to the bus stop opposite to get onto a direct bus, 133, home. The bus ride was remotely uneventful, except for when 4 teenagers came in, 2 Chinese girls, 1 Indian girl and 1 Indian boy. The bus became a little noisy for a while. Before they came in my mother and I sat in different rows since not many seats were available, but when the seats opened up, we sat in the second last row on the right, since there were no other adjacent seats.

The teengaers came in after we changed seats. One of the Chinese girls got the Indian girl to help her put on her earring, while the other Chinese girl commented that her ear hole was bleeding so they couldn't see the hole itself. It must be noted that they were attempting to insert the earring at the TOP of the ear shell, which likely means that the piercing is at the top. Strange, I've rarely seen these, and in most cases, in mangas. I actually like piercing my OCs' ears in odd places, though. =)

Halfway through the teenagers compacted into 2 sets of adjacent seats, one in front of the other, while my mother and I sat behind them. My mother suggested putting the Copics into the box we bought, and I thought it was a good idea to pass time. When we unwrapped the box from its multi-layered plastic wrapping, we found that it was cracked, though. I didn't really mind the crack, but my mother lamented about how expensive the box was (S$7.00+) and that it was such a pity. We couldn't really have noticed the crack, though, since so many layers of plastic was wrapping it that it marred out vision.

While I rearranged the markers, I also tried to arrange their caps to face the right direction. While doing so I accidentally dropped the cap of an orange Copic Sketch, which led me to squat and look about for it. I must have looked a littlel like a pervert... When I was unsuccessful and now feeling a little depressed, my mother told me to hold the box while she took it. She found it near her seat. I didn't actually expect it there, since the bus lurched forward and I thought the cap might have flew forward as well. My mother then told me not to do anything else, and I completely agree with her. I don't want to lose a cap (or a marker!) for good. They were so EXPENSIVE! ><

We arrived home at around 20:20, and had dinner immediately. The bus ride was approximately 30 minutes long. Yes. If you do the Math, we spent a LONG time at Bras Basah. Oddly enough, my father was getting some stuff out of the car boot when we arrived home. I assume he just arrived as well. My mother asked him why he was so early (I was all, "EARLY?!") and she added if my brother had CCA (Astronomy) today. My father replied negative, which made everything make a lot of sense.

My brother's Astronomy CCA is held at night on Fridays, and ends at around 22:00, see.

At home I consumed dinner and a very odd looking gummy bear which was actually 4 gummy bears melted into each other to look like a piece of shapeless gummy. The interesting thing about it is that out of all the many possible colours, red and yellow were the make-up, and in equal amounts as well! Even more queer is that it is arranged in such a way that it almost forms a square, with the top right gummy being yellow, the bottom right red, the bottom left yellow and the top right red. Interesting, isn't it?

When I thought that the box didn't come with a cover after opening it on the bus, I just didn't notice that the cover was tucked OVER the base. I found that out right at the end of the day when I discovered to a dent in each narrow side of the box. I held the box up by those dents, mildly interested in their purpose, when the cover fell off...well, colour me surprised.

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

FAST FORWARD to 12/02/2011

My mother decided that she wanted to exchange the broken box for a new one, since there was a 3 day warranty/exchange limit at Art Friend. So we took the bus to Bras Basah after lunch. There, I picked up another 3 colours, red, green and blue, and bought a Sakura Micron pen as well. My mother and I spent a long time browsing through other shelves just to take a look at what they sold. Art Friend really did sell a lot, but I don't get the feeling of a friendly air in the store...I wonder why.

I bumped into one of my cousins, YuXuan, at Art Friend. Because he was MALE, I felt completely weirded out. It's not like I hate him or anything. Actually, looking back, I didn't even recognise him. When he called out, "Er4 Jiu4 Ma1" from behind us my mother turned around to look, and exclaimed my cousin's name. When I myself turned to look, I didn't recognise him at all, and thought there was some strange mistake, until my mother insisted that the tall boy behind me whom I didn't recognise was YuXuan. Oh dear. I guess he just changed too much over the course of the 1 year I haven't seen him. It's not much of an excuse, though, since I do see him every year during Chinese New Year, and IT HAS JUST PASSED. O.o

We took the bus back, and at home, right now at my computer, I remembered that some of my favourite characters' hairs are blond, and I HAVE NO YELLOW COPICS. Wow. Epic. I don't want to go all the way there again to get one...I have an orange-ish colour which could double as a very dark shade of yellow, though, but most of my characterse have very light blond hair. Perhaps one of the very light brown shade I got would do...but it doesn't look very yellow!

So, I shall present a complete list of the marker colours I bought, if anyone wants a reference. There are 21 markers in total.

V01, V06, RV42, R02, R17, R59, YR00, Y38, G14, G21, G99 BG49, B000, B28, B3, E29, E30, E57, C1, 0, 100

V likely refers to violet, R red, Y yellow, G green and B black. I have absolutely no idea what E represents, but the colours of Es are brown-ish. C=Cool, a set of gray colours. 0 is a colourless blender, and 100 is black. There's a 110 called 'Special Black', but I honestly can't tell the difference...

I feel quite unique, you know, because most people start off with a set of colours pre-picked for them, while I selected my own colours. I hope to get more, but I think I can do a lot with what I currently have. =) I will try not to let the money go to waste! Each marker costs S$5.85!

The Flower that was Mute

2011-01-13T21:19:00.006+08:00

It's been a LONG time since I last posted something. I'd be surprise if anyone is still reading this.

I've gotten back from the holidays and dropped right back into school head first. Needless to say I didn't quite like it when how I use my time was no longer that much under my control. I had to wake up at 05:45 again, and I have only just gotten used to it once more. I was really lethargic on the first day of school because I was so...anxious about school that I couldn't sleep on the bus.

The Secondary 1s look so tiny and innocent, looking up at us from where they were down there in the amphi. I could still vividly remember when I myself was a Sec 1, fresh out of Primary School and all bright-eyed. I was looking up around me in awe at all the seniors, wondering when I can finally be like them, veterans of the school, and so much wiser. I also remember trying to look cool. XP

Now that I'm in Sec 4...I don't really feel all that much wiser. I just gain a sense of superiority since most of the school's student population is younger than me. I'm born in February, if you must know. Looking back on the students I can actually tell who is from what year.

Year 1: The make-a-good-first-impression stage. Very neat hair, crisp blue uniform that isn't artistically splashed with acids, bases, and salts, and also cover their knees modestly. They're also rather short and have an acute lack of pimples. Some have been caught trying to look 'cool' as they probably have been in Primary School.

Year 2: The experimental stage. Hair starts to hang over their faces like curtains, and belts are pushed to an all time low a little too unnaturally. They have yet to master the art of breaking school rules beautifully. Skirts are riding up their thighs rather unpleasantly. Entering the 'sexy' and 'rebellious' stage, overly confident of themselves, and it annoys me.

Years 3: The senior stage. More or less rule-abiding, but now with an air of proportional self-confidence they didn't have in Year 2. Hair is so-so, a little mussed up here and there but over all satisfactorily neat. Those with short skirts are mostly those who can't be bothered to buy new pinafores. Perhaps their beginning to see themselves as role models for the younger ones?

Year 4: The OMG-I'M-GOING-TO-GRADUATE stage. Each person has their own distinct style now. We don't have to try and look cool, we already are. School uniforms are old and worn, and appear to have shrunk in the wash since Year 1. Hair is neatly and casually styled, so it doesn't look like we put in too much effort. We know we are the seniors, and proudly display our yellow name tags. We don't need to try to get our respect. ;)

I'm adjusting to senior life quite well, thank you. I've just gotten used to being called a 'Year 4'. The only complain I quite have this year is that my classroom door doesn't close very well even if you slam it. I have such a headache trying to control myself from running from my seat to close the doors. My new seat (effective since yesterday) is smack in the middle of class, where the air-con blows the strongest, and where my jacket becomes useless.

Our class computer epic fails as well. Today, during Biology, 1st block, Mr. De Souza spent 15 minutes of the block trying to get the project to show SOMETHING that's not a default image. We called in the computer dudes. 2nd block was PE followed by recess (as the new school timetable is supposed to follow PE then recess rule), we shall skip that first. Then during Physics we had tonnes of trouble getting the powerpoint slide on the projector. I'm not sure if we called in the computer dudes. 4th block Math also met the same trouble, but we gave up on the computer and just started on lesson. 5th block English needed the projector, so we called in the computer dude again. Our computer EPIC FAILS.

PE, and we started on floor ball. I'd actually say I'm rather decent at it, if not good. Even though I may not know to hold the stick (or whatever it's called) at the end by my dominant hand, I was able to play smoothly and apply the right amount of force. You wouldn't believe how many people had their hollow, holey balls flying because they whacked them. Gosh, common sense, people.

When Mr. Desmond Ng, our PE teacher, told us about the proper way of handling the stick (see previous paragraph), I was all, 'NO WAY. I'm not comfortable at all with that position.' So I just went back to using one hand. We were supposed to use 2, but I think I have more control with just one hand, as well as more freedom. My left hand is so clumsy.

Well, after school there was an Art Club-SAP combined trip to Stage Arts exhibition at...I don't really know where. It's close to the Esplanade. There, Grace, Lou Shan and I huddled in a group and wandered about. The SAP students were supposed to stick together, so us, the 3 poor Art Club souls pranced about ourselves.

We stopped by a model of a bulldozer made up of frames of Gothic Cathedral themed pieces (approximately 1:4 size), and we were immediately enthralled by it. Grace and I were, that is. Lou Shan wasn't all too impressed. I took out 2 pieces of paper, a pencil and an eraser and started drawing the designs I particularly liked. Grace brought it up first, so I thought I'd just follow her example since it was a great idea.

While we were happily copying a Straits Times reporter/journalist walked up to us and asked for an on-the-spot interview. We were all stunned, to say the least. It's nice to know that my first commercial interview occured in an art exhibition, but by gum I'm totally not prepared for it! I think I saw her snapping photos of the bulldozer thing, but then again she might have been snapping us who were right beside it. Her angle was slightly off.

She asked for our school, then our names, if we were there for a club activity, and what kind of art we did. Grace answered most of them perfectly well, with fantastic impromptu answers. Then, somehow, the conversation strayed to our preferences (or rather, why we were copying the designs). Grace to the rescue once again, and she mentioned how she and I were both fantasy genre fans, as well as manga fans.

Then I, having the most 'ingenious' brain, butted in and rambled about how we were entranced by the Gothic design of the bulldozer, how it would deeply inspire us in our character, clothes, and other random fantasy designs, when I have absolutely no idea where the words 'Gothic themed' came from. I'm just glad that I used them correctly. I just checked up Gothic designs, see, and it seems I didn't say the wrong thing. Phew, I though I'd told her something wrong...and give her the impression that RGSS girls like to talk about things they don't know about.

The interview ended with her asking for one of our numbers. Grace gave hers, mostly because I held my hand out to her to indicate, 'You do it.' Then the reporter thought that she'd rather be on the safe side so she asked for another number. Lou Shan gave hers. I imagine I must have been shaking my head rather badly then. I don't mind giving my number to a Straits Times reporter, but I'm afraid of what nonsense I'll tell her, so it's better not to give any opportunities to tell her anything at all.

We continued on our way, and somewhere somehow, we lost Lou Shan. The exhibitions were wonderful, and I became the unofficial time keep for both Grace and I, because we could always be too captured by the wonderful art to remember the time. We had to assemble back outside by 17:30, see. We pranced about, noted a few artists, and were awed by the last exhibition we deemed we had enough time left to visit. It was a large cylindrical thing, and we had to climb up a very steep set of steps to see the art in it.

I was wondering what kind of art could possibly be inside the cylinder, but when I looked in...wow. I was blown away. It's the kind of rotating thingum where lights blink so very quickly to give us the illusion of watching 3D figures climbing up a ladder and into a hole. Well, the 3D part was real, but those figures weren't actually climbing. More like stuck in a position, with the next one advancing a little, or something. The light coordination had to be incredible. I saw this technique applied in one of Disney's exhibitions from last year at Science Centre as well.

I think the trip to the galleries from school stole 30 minutes of our time, but those 30 minutes were well spent. I flipped through a ton of Grace's drawings, which, by the way, have improved tremendously over the holidays. Her style changed quite a bit too. It was odd looking at the things she draw and trying to connect them with her older style. I say her style is beginning to mellow, but her skills have definitely improved. I believe I remained stagnant, though...

When we left I thought I'd take the bus with everyone to an MRT station and get home from there, but when I found out (at the last minute too...) that 133, one of the services which could get us near City Hall MRT station, could give me a direct lift home, I boarded it, bid those people who were alighting in a few stops (which was everybody) goodbye, and proceeded to the top bunk of the bus. Ooh! I love double deckers. I rarely get to ride on one.

The ride home was uninteresting, very uneventful, unless you count having a guy reeking of cigarette smoke sit in front of you eventful. Gosh, I tried to breath through my blouse the entire time he was there... On the way home I called home to ask my sister to make the rice for dinner (since I'll probably be home after 18:30 as I boarded at 18:00, and I was). She said, 'No' without any hesitation, and I was annoyed. Very annoyed. I emphasised that I would be home late again, but she denied me again like I was some pest she wanted to get off her. Needless to say I said a quick goodbye and hung up. She's so annoying, no matter how much I love her as a sister.

I arrived home at 19:00, and immediately set about to make rice. Ugh. The bag was running out of it rather quickly. After I started the rice cooker I went up and the rest of the day proceeded as usual. Not much to talk about there since my daily routine is rather boring.

Well, so long for now. I actually wanted to talk about the very interesting conversation my brother, my father and I had about how we should say, "Jesus is our saviour" instead of, "We believe Jesus is our saviour" that was held on Saturday, 8th January, but I'll leav it to a later time. It was a conversation where I felt I couldn't find the right words to express myself with, so it kind of ended really disappointingly in their favour...

When the Sanguine Smell FOUL

2010-11-23T17:32:00.005+08:00

...I will be there to catch you as you fall
With a brilliant smile on my face
I will say, "I'll miss you darling"
With no pain in my eyes

When the sanguine feel foul
I will forget you I promise
With the rising of tomorrow's sun
I will lick the filth off your face
With the tongue you loved to restrain

When the sanguine is foul
I will walk toward the horizon
With barely contained shivers
I will laugh at your wide open eyes
With no remorse that I stole your life

When the sanguine coat my body
I will abandon humanity
With death drenching my soul
I will walk this road alone
With bodies littering the trail

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

Oh gosh, that sounded really morbid...ah well. I just thought the title looked like a really nice starting line for a poem so I wrote a continuation in the post. It somehow expanded to include 4 verses...

I have nothing much to write/type about, but maybe I should share with you guys my incredible success with my new tablet? Okay, so I'm ego-ing a bit, but hey, how many people can say they learnt how to paint digitally in...around a month? I'm not saying my painting is WONDERFUL, full of sunshine and rainbows, but I am good for an amateur. Okay, tooting my own horn...

Let me just share with you some of the things I have done with my tablet. They're not the best digital works there are around, but they're precious to me, because I painted them while I was learning (still am, though) the ropes of digital painting. Goodness, the tablet was so difficult to use when I first tried it...

These are in chornological order, but I skipped some pieces cuz' they weren't particularly beautiful (or were simply sketches). All of them are linked back to the original page on deviantART which hosts them (click on the images, not the titles). If you'd like to find me on deviantART I'm here: Ferrero13

Elements: Keryiall (an additional character from my element story)

Er...she is not a confirmed character in the element story, but she might be included.

Hetalia: Independence (a Hetalia fan art, obviously)

This is not shounen-ai (boy love). These are my 2 favourite characters from Hetalia, and they share a rather complex relationship, and I think the monochrome suits this depressing piece just fine.

Cake (er, the name's kinda complex, so I'll just leave it at this)

This is part of a birthday commission for Zann, but well, you can see it's kinda late for a birthday present...

Apple (Part 1 of the Fruit Faes series)

Part 2 is already complete. It's somewhere down, just scroll, but I don't think you'll get a very good look at it cuz' it's pretty...small? This image is good as a wallpaper.

Mango (Part 2 of the Fruit Faes series)

Yeah, the image proportions are a little extreme, but they work for the concept I had in mind for Mango.

Elements: Snowy Sentiment (Boron from the element story)

Unlike Keryiall, he IS a confirmed character. I mean, of course he is! He has an element name. This is my most recent piece, and the one I'm most proud of. Fur coat!

I'm working on another piece, which I expect won't be too nice. For one, this next one has line art, and the lines are a little too thick to be considered nice. Ugh, should have gone with a one pixel line or something like that. But the background should be rather interesting, though, because for the first time in digital painting history, I'm going to paint a proper background, not a haphazard abstract one. This next one is going to be a sky, although I'm not expecting much out of it since it is my first time painting proper backgrounds after all.

I think it'd be rather interesting to note that in the next piece I will most probably be including a poem...in CHINESE. Oh, the world is going to end. Gosh, my Chinese is so bad I had to check up almost every word of the poem, which, by the way, I should have known since...dunno, 2 or 3 years back or more. I seem to be forgetting how to write a lot of those characters...

There isn't much I'd like to contemplate about. My days at home during the school holidays mostly consist of reading manga online, downloading manga, playing some facebook games (I'm only playing 1 this holiday though, since playing more would be an epic waste of time), updating my element story, cementing characters from the element story, randomly browsing the internet, drawing, and now I'm adding digital painting to the list.

I want to paint something for my parents for Christmas since well, I wouldn't be painting anything digitally if not for them, but I can't find a suitable image to paint! I can't paint real people without references (not that I've ever tried painting them before), so yeah.

Hm, I'm not very talkative in this post...mostly, probably, because I don't have anything in mind to talk about. I just thought, if I don't update it sometime soon people are going to think I got killed or something. It's not too farfetched of an idea since I'm pretty sure my annoying personality and sour (not to mention scary!) face makes many people hate me easily.

Ugh. I really need to learn how to socialise, especially with the people whose personalities I find the most annoying...although, truly, I am infinitely, indefinitely, impossibly irritated by superficial people whose mouth spout one thing while their hearts give off a feeling of rot...or maybe my senses are off and they're actually giving off some flowery fragrance...

Meh, I'm not here to discuss about people I dislike, which most people may find it easy to relate to. Perhaps I should start a post listing the kind of people that make me want to smash their faces into walls. Well, let us begin, shall we?

1) Those who act like they're sexy/beautiful/pretty when in fact they aren't
2) Those who smile like an idiot but at the same time give off an incredibly nefarious and uneasy feeling
3) Those who take things without asking for permission (or indeed, just take without restraint
4) Those who ask questions when the answer was just stated ONE SECOND AGO (gosh, you have a brain, use it!)
5) Those who think that just because they are are sexy/beautiful/pretty they deserve ultimate respect in all areas such as academics, which has nothing to do with beauty pagents
6) Those who take others' things and expect others not to even touch theirs, in short, hypocrites
7) Those who spout vulgarities as if they are talking about the weather
8) Those who demand for unreasonable things continuously even after being denied
9) Those who can't tell when their logic has been proven false and persist in their stand
10) Those who are inconsiderate pests who do not spare even a gram of their brain to think about others, in other words, those who are selfish

These are the top ten kinds of people I find most annoying. Feel free to make up your own list.

Now I do not mean to say I don't commit any of these things which I really detest, because I do from day to day, in small amounts, or as revenge, which, by the way, is very ungodly so I shall try to refrain from it. I don't particularly mind if people have their moments of 'annoying-ness' once in a while but doing these things on a daily basis really makes me feel like strangling them.

Meh. I think today's post is a little strange, very not like me, but that's probably because I'm trying to squeeze out a post when I have nothing to write about.

So long.

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

...when the sanguine smell foul

Purple Porcupine Pickles Pepper

2010-09-24T22:05:00.003+08:00

(I started typing this yesterday. Internet went down so I uploaded it today.)

I will start off my first post in about a gazillion years with about a gazillion (or a fraction of that) words about how completely narcissistic and impossibly materialistic American shows are in MTV. Seriously, what goes on in those producers' heads? Why on earth are they promoting this insidious over-reliance on all things tangible and the 'importance' of I, Me, Myself?

I caught the last few minutes of an episode of 'My Sweet Sixteen' or something along these lines just tonight when I went down for dinner. My sister was watching it, of course, since I would never, for the life of me (or so I think), willingly tune in to such a sickeningly sickening show. I'm not saying that all American girls act like this one I saw and that all American girls are materialistic and self-centred, but to show this kind of behaviour and deem in as 'COOL' and 'IN' is really over-doing it.

I'm not sure of the name of the person who was hosting the 'Sweet Sixteen' in the episode, but I do know that she is one of the first real life examples I've come across of the rather popular stereotype of 'blonds are bimbos and have none or one brain cell'. I don't really believe this so-called generalisation of the blond population because hair colour in no way decides how bimbotic a person will be, but by gum, this girl is challenging my very belief!

Her 'Sweet Sixteen' was a grand party in Las Vegas, complete with some gambling machines inside the hall area where her party is held. Before the birthday bash started she and her 'VIP's were already waiting for the guests in a back room which she will appear from later (escorted by a dude wearing nothing but black trousers and a bow tie, no shirt). I don't dislike her for wanting her birthday to be 'special' but what really got to me was the statement she made about her 'VIP's, the people who will be emerging with her from the back room later (like brides maids to a bride).

"They should be hono[u]red that they're here. It's a special privilege. They better not screw this up or else. I want my Sweet Sixteen to be perfect. It's all about me, I want all eyes on me." (Not accurate, of course, but just summarising the gist. No, I'm not twisting the meaning...)

I mean, what? Honoured to be at her birthday party? What kind of friend says this of her friends? Or does it mean that they aren't actually her friends? I don't really know the context of this situation but all I know is that people aren't dispensible like that. My goodness, if you want someone to honour you that badly, don't sound so high and mighty! Isn't it common sense that someone to be honoured should be someone who is respectable? As far as I know I'm not going to be respecting anyone like that soon.

For goodness sake, the world doesn't revolve around you! So what if it's your Sweet Sixteen? Congratulations, you're a second older than you were before, but so is everyone else! What I'm saying is, everyone is the same. There's no, "Oh, I'm more special than you since it's my birthday today." The world doesn't work like that! I couldn't be bothered who the heck you are or when your birthday is, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't matter to the guests or the 'VIP's either.

I'm almost certain that what they'll remember from this party is:
1) Oh yeah, I had a great time.
2) This is the best Sweet Sixteen ever, but mine will be better.
3) Whose party was it again?
4) We really went crazy with the entertainment!
5) She's HOT, and so, so SEXY, but what's her name again?

And the list goes on and on. Point is, there is nothing more superficial than trying to please a crowd of people who likely don't know anything about at all other than your name and birthday, and are sucking up to you because you have great assets under your name and on your body.

I remember there was this once in the episode when the crowd was going wild over the (rather famous, I assume) band she invited to 'liven up' the party. Needless to say they livened the crowd up well. A little too well. She tried to call for the end of the little concert but the lead singer simply ignored her and said, "Your host thinks you guys should stop the party. But you know what I think? I think this party needs to rock on!" The crowd cheers, and the birthday girl stomps off mutter a string of censored curses.

You can see how much everybody cares for her here.

Earlier on her mother brought her to get a belly piercing, which she thought looked 'COOL' and commented on it, "Now I really feel sixteen!"

Yes, I can totally see how 'sixteen' you are just by looking at the belly piercing on your belly button. Oh wait, I can't even see it. *rolls eyes*

What does it mean to be 'sixteen' anyway? A large birthday bash? A sleek, beautiful Mercedes to drive around in and show off to your friends, having them clamour all over you and sucking up to you just so they can hitch a ride? A belly piercing? A sparkly, skimpy dress to prance around in and show off your wonderfully voluptuous figure? A boy in tight black trousers and a bow tie (no shirt, remember?) holding the hand which paid him to do so while walking toward a crowd of screaming teenagers who are either lusting after your flesh or the boy's well-toned abbs?

How about some maturity? How about some common sense? How about some LASTING friendships?

What's wrong with the pop culture these days? Can't they advertise the value of friendship instead of expensive celebrations and fragile relationships built on flimsy dollar bills and credit cards?

I can't help but compare what I'm seeing on the television with what I see around me daily. On the television I see raging hormones and glamarous expenditures, in Singapore I don't see any of this. Maybe being in a rather academically-focussed school has locked me out of some of the wilder sides of today's teenagers, but you don't see the local media adveritising that kind of selfish, money-minded and pleasure seeking lifestyle to our youngsters. The media, even with all its faults and opacity with issues like censorship, advocates lasting commitments and the value of emotional support and encouragement.

When I look at my sister in retrospect, I figure that hey, maybe she isn't so bad after all. Maybe, if I try, I can bring her back to the emotionally sensitive girl she was once before. Maybe, if I try hard enough, she will care less about the materialistic demands of her 'friends' and instead try to make real friends that don't need a S$30+ dress for her birthday present. Maybe, just maybe, if I try, I can make her see that she doesn't money so much after all.

I don't really know what is going to happen to the society if the media continues broadcasting these kinds of shows. I don't WANT to know what will happen. I hope that MTV will either stop airing these kinds of frivolous shows and start screening something of VALUE, or that Singapore will censor MTV's programs, like it does everything else.

I for one and glad for Singapore's strict censorship, because I cannot fathom what kind of future generation of leaders we will be nurturing if being a party heiress is something that is on their 'Top 10 Jobs I Desire' list. I simply cannot (and refuse to) imagine the future that lies ahead of Singapore should such wild behaviour be encouraged through the media.

I will not say I am a strong individual and am forever resistant to the increasing influential power of the media, so let me ask this favour of you. If you ever see me doing something as crazy as what MTV is promoting, let me know. Show me this blog post, and hope that I have enough sense left in me to figure out that what I'm doing is not what I want.

I want to live a fulfilling life knowing the value of friends, family, and the God up there who loved me enough to sacrifice his son for my redemption. I don't want a life of spirally disrepair knowing only of money and how to please myself.

I want to LIVE.

I don't want to blow up a picture of my pretty face and hang it in the entrance hall to welcome my guests and feel a burst of happiness when they say that the girl in the picture is sexy and beautiful. I don't want to show cleavage and smile like a thousand suns when someone tells me that they're jealous of me. That's not living. That's just plain degrading.

Of course, I neither have a pretty face nor some incredible cleavage, but I'm sure you get what I mean.

I want to LIVE.

And when I die, I want people to remember my NAME, not the party I hosted 50 years ago. I want them to remember that I'm the girl who lent them an eraser when they had none. I want them to remember me as the stranger that picked up a wallet and returned it when they dropped it. I want them to remember the sincere desire to help them, or just to let them know that I care, whoever they are.

I want to LIVE.

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

I also watched an episode of ‘Teens Cribs’ or something where this 13 year old American boy was showing the TV crew around his magnificent home. I cannot deny its magnificence, but I also cannot deny that I thought, 'If you have money to build a basketball court, a pool larger than my home, at least 5 bedrooms twice the size of mine, 2 gyms, a movie theatre, a bowling alley, a golf course, a sauna and so much more, buy a normal house, spend time with your family, and donate the unnecessary money away to charity!'

The parents were commenting on how they want their children to have the best facilities, so that when their friends come over they will always have something to do. I don't understand their way of thinking. I really don't.

Shouldn't they be encouraging friendship built on emotional bonds? What are they doing about those friendships built on material wealth that is being accumulated?

I don't enjoy the way the boy goes, "Now that I've showed you my awesome room and awesome gym I'm going to show you XXX because I think it will amaze you." "This is where we play table tennis. I always win of course." "Oh, we play tic-tac-toe here too. Of course, I'm the best."

WHAT?

Did I also mention that each of the 5 children have a ride each, either a scooter or a motorcycle, and the dad has 2 rides, a very large jeep-like thing that seats the entire family and a rather cool looking bike that is huge beyond what should be allowed of something that's called a 'bike'?

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

Today wasn’t spectacular, but it certainly started off rather interestingly. My father overslept today (didn’t hear the digital alarm clock go off) and since he was my alarm clock, I overslept too. I ended up waking at 06:15, a whole half hour later than when I usually do wake up. I missed the school bus, quite obviously.

Because of this my father decided that he would send me to school directly by the car, which I was elated to hear because I hardly ever take the car. In fact, I don’t take it unless it’s a weekend or a special day because I don’t need the car to get to and from school. Being very new to waking up at 06:15, I didn’t really know what to do. Well, yes, I knew I had to brush my teeth and tie my hair, but I was rather lost outside of that.

My father dropped my mother off at Toa Payoh MRT station before sending my sister to her school. To be honest, her school looked like it was located in the middle of nowhere. Traffic was almost non-existent, something very odd for a school with that kind of prestige (St. Nick’s). Perhaps we were early, because my dad was rushing to get me to school on time.

I arrived at school at around 07:05, 15 minutes later than I usually do. Morning assembly went on as usual, and classes bored me, same as ever. The first period was PE. We all went down to the field and those who weren’t helping Amanda take her PE assessment were made to run 2 rounds around the track.

ShuYing and I did run the first one until she got a stitch under the area where her heart is supposed to be, so we stopped running and walked for a while. Mr. Ho saw us walking and yelled at us to continue running. I was rather amused at how he didn’t bother checking the situation before demanding something from us. But we ran though, because Mr. Ho can be scary when he wants to be and we dare not take risks.

We completed the first round, and were completely horrified to find out that we were ‘ordered’, so to speak, to run twice. Being horrified and mortified by the prolonged running period did not stop us from running, though, because it was teacher’s orders, and we are good students after all.

However, due to the ‘chronic’ fatigue caused by the first round around the track, we walked half the entire stretch of the track before continuing to run, and ended up as the last to return back to the finishing point, wheezing and panting like we had ran a marathon. For a person as unfit as me, yes, I do believe this can be considered a kind of physically taxing race.

After some stretching led by Thao (it was her, right?) we proceeded to the car park area which doubled as a parade square to play some very ruthless Captain’s Ball. Well, not ‘we’, more like ‘they’. ShuYing and I stood off to a corner of the court where our Captain was and waited like soldiers on guard duty for a ball to come our way.

It’s rare for the ball to head our way, that’s for sure, because neither of us really have a history of being fantastic at sports, so people find it much harder to trust us than those physically active people like Annabel. I completely understand, and since I myself didn’t really want to get my hands all funny smelling and dirty by touching the ball, I was satisfied.

Then the moment when the ball flew our way came. I am inclined to believe that this ball was a stray ball, because I can’t think of any reason why anyone would pass the ball to this ‘hopeless at sports with zero motivation and spirit’ person, especially when it was so close to the goal.

Being the nice team mate I was I scored ‘beautifully’, and it was nice having people say, “Nice one” to me for a change, although it did feel a bit awkward and I turned away immediately after confirming we had scored successfully. It was nice knowing that for a few moments people relied and depended on me, but I shouldn’t get caught up in this feeling because people don’t naturally gravitate towards me. I have to do something to get people to do so, and I am not willing to try and take my place among the ‘athletic’ group of people. I was never really athletic in the first place, just a little more physically fit than others.

The ball came my way many times afterwards, and I believe I heard ‘Pass to (insert my name here)’ a couple of times. Wow, didn’t know my ‘trustworthiness’ at handling balls and scoring shot up by so much with just one goal. This kind of feels a little superficial, like what I was ranting about earlier, except this does not deal with material wealth but ability to score (which, by the way, is a completely useless ability unless I decide to delve into a sporting career, which I will not).

I missed a goal and the ball never came after that.

Huh, talk about fickle-minded.

The game ended with Celine being carried off quite literally by all fours because she injured herself trying to defend her side. I found out later that she was injured so badly she needed a wheelchair to move about. No bone was broken whatsoever but her ankle swelled up really badly so she couldn’t wear her shoes without further aggravating the injury (hence the wheelchair).

I was told to carry one of the chairs used to the PE room, which I had no idea where it was. As I was making my way there after some nice soul told me it was down the slope and far away (and apparently very smelly too, I reminded myself, since that’s where all the PE equipments came from and the equipments stink), Mr. Ho turned to ShuYing and I and accused us of not playing, to which I retorted with a, “I got touch the ball lor!” Well, excuse my horrible English. I’m usually like that unless writing or trying to speak in a formal setting (like the English orals which I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked).

The chair didn’t stink as bad as the ball, so I was okay with carrying it. I just didn’t really like that I had to walk that far with this blue thing in my hands (and above my head, because I like carrying things that way). Thankfully I was told to leave the chair outside the PE room, which was a win-win situation for both me and the teacher. No smelly rooms, and someone brought the chair back.

Makes me wonder, why couldn’t the teacher bring it back himself?

Recess was next, and a horrible recess it was too since, among the rush in the morning due to the late awaking, I did not bring my usual triple-decker sandwich and had to purchase some really expensive buns and still not be full. I had a papaya later to try and fill my stomach. Didn’t work.

Chinese lesson was rather okay. I drew a bit, but nothing much, because we were going through a practice paper we did the earlier lesson and I needed to copy down the answers. I learnt quite a bit, although I’m not sure it will make much of a difference in my Chinese grades.

Assembly consisted of a talk by Mrs. Hoo which overshot the time limit and ended up eating into Social Studies. Mr. Lim came late anyway so I guess it didn’t change anything. I don’t remember much from the talk, all I did recall was ‘Not all that can be counted counts’. Heh, I thought it sounded cool, so maybe that was why I remembered it.

Social Studies went on as usual, with a bit of revision here and there and everywhere. The entire lesson was a revision one. I drew during this lesson, filling up the sheet of paper I drew on in Chinese class with the same character and his ‘foster’ daughter who is only three years younger than him.

Math lesson after that was quite a bore. I did get quite some things done, but not a lot. There was a bunch of new worksheets to be done that was given out today and which I dread doing (a lot). But I really do need to work on my radians and geometrical properties of a circle because I just stink at those topics, so the revision material was good, I guess.

I ate lunch with AY and a few of her friends which gathered around the table like salt crystals growing from a seed suspended in a solution of dissolved salt.

Math remedial was okay, but I was a little late since I couldn’t find the classroom. I finished worksheet 4 for geometrical properties of a circle and did some questions about angle properties. I like angle properties. I like angles. The sad thing is, I can’t memorise the names of the proofs.

The bus ride home was uneventful as usual. The walk home, however, is a different thing altogether. I quite enjoyed it, in fact.

It started raining while I was on the bus, so when I got off I whipped out my trusty umbrella, put it over my head and walked out of the bus stop and into the pouring torrent. At first I was bent on keeping my entire body dry, but I soon came to learn that it was a rather futile attempt since the winds were as unpredictable as my grades.

So I focussed on keeping my bag dry and calculator from fizzing out in a beautiful display of bright red sparks. The rain soaked my entire pinafore from the tip to the top. Even my glasses weren’t spared the splatter of tiny raindrops on them. MY GLASSES. They sit right at the top of my nose, not at my feet. If my glasses can get wet, anything can get wet. No, I’m not walking on my hands, if that’s what you’re wondering.

The rain was incredibly heavy, and the gushing waves that curled and hurled in the drains threatened to engulf it entirely. You could see the power and raw force spurring the rolling waves forward, sending them crashing into the stone sides of the drain and trying to break free. The sound was music to my ears, and the sight a feast for the eyes. I adore these things.

The cars that rolled by me splashed water all the way up to my waist. The water felt dirty, but I couldn’t really tell because the pinafore had already turned into a very dark shade of blue by then after soaking up so much rain water.

I was really tempted to throw my umbrella off my head and dance about in the rain since I love this kind of weather, but what held me back was the fact that I had important worksheets in my bag that cannot, ABSOLUTELY CANNOT, get wet. Oh, I would be doomed if I had to photocopy every single one of those…

It was also rather cold, and I got goose bumps and shivered like an intelligent chicken in a slaughter house. I still love the rain. Thank God that the heavy rain was on Friday, if not I wouldn’t know what shoe to wear tomorrow since it probably wouldn’t have dried yet.

Wednesday’s rain was moderately heavy, so my shoes got kind of wet. They weren’t dry by the next day but I still wore them anyway since they weren’t that wet. Thursday’s rain was fairly light in comparison. My shoes didn’t get as wet, so they had dried when this morning rolled by. Today’s rain was on a completely different level.

My shoes turned into sponge on overload mode and with every step I could feel water being squished out of the cloths of the shoe, and my feet could practically swim in them. It was an odd experience, but I have come by it before a few times.

Ah, monsoon periods are beautiful.

Now all I need is a pair of back-up shoes.

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Oh, I don’t think I mentioned this yet.

I PASSED MY PIANO EXAM! So yeah, maybe it was only Grade 5, maybe it was a bare pass (and by bare I really mean it), but that is still a pass, and that still means that after my EYAs are over I can immediately unwrap that tablet waiting for me downstairs and use it right away! Isn’t that exciting! I can’t wait to try it out! How will my art change after that?

Heh, the fine string on which the tablet was hanging from has been cut! The tablet now sits a few laps away; all I need to do now is run to it. The race will end when EYAs end. I wish it was sooner.

Throwing Light

2010-07-30T22:47:00.003+08:00

(This post is around one and a half months late. I did write it earlier on the 30th but the internet got cut off so I kind of forgot about it...until now.)

*YELLS*

*SCREAMS*

*YELLS SOME MORE*

*SINGS GAILY*

*PRANCES ABOUT*

*YELLS AGAIN*

*SCREAMS*

.
.
.
.
.
.

*takes deep breath of air*

MY FATHER GOT ME A TABLET! OH! THIS IS WONDERFUL!

*sings and prances off*

-brief moment of absolute silence-

*comes back with silly deranged smile on face, but much saner than earlier*

It was actually rather anti-climatic, the way my mother told me, but whatever. I GOT A TABLET~!

...which I can technically only start using after I pass my piano exam. Oh horror.

Ah well, one more motivation to actually try an pass the exam. Oh, wait, it's actually the only reason I'm trying to pass the exam. I'm not exactly sure if you can count "I don't want to do another exam because my mother will make me retake it if I fail" as a reason...

Anyway, it was a rather unusual day today. The morning was rather cold, and so was the rest of the day because the rain just wouldn't stop. I know I love the rain and the cold weather it brings, but seriously, this is getting kind of extreme. On the really hot days I feel like melting, and on the colder days I just want to shrivel (yes, shrivel) up in my nice, thick comforter and snore the day away.

I am really sensitive to the cold, see. Well, I technically am just sensitive to temperature. Period. I can function within a very small range of temperature, anything other than that I tend to kind of go haywire, if you get what I mean, not that I'm functioning very well at my optimum anyway.

Because of the seriously freakish cold weather today, my jacket became my best friend of the day. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DO WITHOUT THAT RELIABLE MAROON THING BY MY SIDE.

Yup.

So I went home, debating about seedlings and whether the term is of any use at all with ShuYing on the way home on bus 105. Needless to say, the conversation got cut short rather abruptly when ShuYing had to alight to transfer to the MRT. I spent the rest of the bus ride in relative silence, but there were these people sitting in the row behind me talking about...something.

I first gained an interest in the conversation when a male voice asked the person next to him, "So was RGS your first choice?" I was all...'WHAT IS AN RGS GIRL DOING WITH A MAN???'

Yeah, and then the conversation continued, and I found out the man had gone through NS, and I was rapidly going through possibilities of the relationship between the two. 1) Counsellor. 2) Boyfriend. 3) Stalker. 4) Friends who met on the bus. etc. etc.

Yup. In the end the conversation led to me figuring out that the man was a teacher at RGS and it kind of made me wonder, 'Is this some sort of forbidden teacher/student relationship?' Yes, I know I've been reading too much manga. So sue me.

I'm not really sure what their exact relationship was (so I settled for a normal teacher/student relationship who just so happened to be taking the same bus) and also kind of figured out that the student was giving directions to the teacher, because when she alighted (2 stops before mine) she told him that Lorong Chuan should be 1 or 2 stops away.

Before I alighted the teacher asked me if the stop I was alighting at was near Lorong Chuan (I was in the midst of getting off my seat, see, so he noticed), then I kind of froze for a moment and then spoke really awkwardly an affirmation. I hate talking to guys. D< I'm not sure what he was going to do at Lorong Chuan, though. All I know is that if I were the student he was conversing with earlier, I'd have decided to take the next bus instead after giving him directions...

So yeah. My tuition teacher arrived at around 15:30, and we had our tuition until 17:30. 2 hours long, and also quite boring, but we started talking about movies towards the end (the conversation began with me telling the teacher that was watched 'Ip Man' at school today) so yes, the tuition did end on a high note...well, kind of.

I made rice at about 18:38, and then continued using my computer. I bathed at around 21:05 because I was reading something online and didn't want to be cut off in the middle. It was rather weird though since neither my parents nor my siblings have returned home even though it's already so late. I entertained thoughts of them getting caught up in a road accident but brushed it aside quickly. I don’t want them to die so early…

I went down for dinner after my shower, during which my mother returned home and asked me why I hadn't eaten yet. Look who's talking (...yes, I do know she has work so she can't eat, shut it). I replied by saying I'd eat once I finish showering, and true to my word, I did eat after showering.

I went back up after dinner at about 21:45 and continued using the computer (you can see how much I LOVE my computer...). My father came back with my sister and brother during this time, and nothing much happened.

Then, at around 22:40, my mother suddenly raised her voice and said to me from the first floor (I was on the third) about how my father got a tablet or something. My first reaction was 'you're kidding, right?' because I'm pretty sure they said they wouldn't get me one until I had finished my piano exam.

My next reaction was 'OMG, if this is real, I really want to see it'. At that time I was still reading something online, but then all thoughts fled and all I could think of was 'if this isn't real, someone just wake me up from this beautiful dream, hopefully I'll really find a tablet when I wake up'. So I pranced all the way downstairs with anticipation (and bracing myself for disappointment, because I know my mother is capable of deception when she wants to…).

I saw my mother, who didn't look like she was joking at all and I asked her where the tablet was. She just pointed to the bunch of bags at the side and I rushed over to them. I spotted this big box inside one of the reusable bags and took it out, marvelling at the entire piece of equipment (okay, so maybe I wasn't admiring the equipment but what was supposed to be inside the box which was supposed to contain the equipment) and staring at it with wonderment and awe (see, Habit of Mind).

Everything felt so surreal, you know. Because I kind of resigned myself to begging for a tablet for Christmas and so totally didn't expect one to just appear right before me in the middle of the week out of freaking nowhere. I'm not sure why my father got the tablet today, or why he even got it in the first place, but for what it's worth, I'm entirely grateful, although the fact that the tablet came with really thick strings attached kind of scares me.

WHAT IF I FAIL MY PIANO EXAM? O.O

I believe I will kind of 'die' if I do. I mean, the tablet it just there. It's just THERE. I don't even have to source for it. My dad got it for me. For ME. Because I wanted it. This is so unbelievable. I would so totally be devastated if my piano results came back and told me I didn't pass. THE TABLET IS JUST RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME BUT I CAN'T TAKE IT AND USE IT.

Okay, yeah, I do know that I kind of decided that I wouldn't touch the tablet until all my exams (that means the EoYs too) are over because I'm pretty sure they'd be a great distraction to my studies. <--Look, I'm actually concerned about school for once...all hail me...

Yes, so even though I won't be touching the tablet until end of exams, I will still be disappointed if I fail my piano exam. That's because if I fail I'm gonna have to wait until I pass it, which would mean about at least another half a year of torturous piano lessons and going through another nerve-wrecking piano exam...

I DON'T WANT THAT.

If I had to do that, I'd rather wait till university (if I ever decide to pursue university education, that is) to get a tablet. I don't want to have a tablet dangle in front of me on a thin strand of thread but be unable to just grab it, only able to graze it. I don't want this kind of desire. It will probably drive me crazy.

And you know how much I love my sanity. (Oh, the irony...when was I ever sane?)

Grey Sting of Metal

2010-07-26T17:50:00.004+08:00

This is a this cat,
This is a is cat,
This is a how cat,
This is a to cat,
This is a keep cat,
This is a an cat,
This is a idiot cat,
This is a busy cat,
This is a for cat,
This is a 40 cat,
This is a seconds cat,
Now read every 4th word.

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

Uh, yeah, I didn't mean to waste your time or anything, but I saw this and I just had to put it up somewhere. Just for the record, I am not an idiot, and I figured this out at 'This is a keep cat'. Yes, just so you know and don't use this against me. I found it hilarious, and I was completely GLAD that I figured it out before the last line...hopefully I'm not insulting anyone who couldn't figure it out, because I know just how easily I can unintentionally hurt someone with something I said in the passing.

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

Yesterday I witnessed the glorious aftermath of a car accident. Of course, I wasn't involved in the crash at all, but it was the closest I've gotten to a real accident (other than the very, very soft bump against my familys car's back bumper). It made car accidents so much more real to me, since I've always thought they were something that happened, say, 20 miles from home.

One of the cars had its hood crushed beautifully. I don't think it'd work even after heavy servicing, but hey, with modern technology many things are possible. The other car, alas, was so much more unlucky. It was on its side with the back windshield smashed completely. I could see the underside of the car. The people whom I assumed were involved in the crash were circling the overturned car. I remember there was an old man (who looked quite spritely), a middle-aged man and a young boy. The old man was holding the boy, who didn't look traumatised at all, close.

I stared at the car until my father drove round a bend and behind a large expressway support pillar. I remember there was this policeman (quite young) with one leg propped up on the kerb standing over the shattered mess of glass. He looked kind of out of place.

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

...oddly enough I saw Darren again yesterday at church, so that makes it before witnessing the accident. It was...odd. I was minding my own business in church during service when WHAM. The pastor said to a person sitting to the extreme right of the room, "Darren Lee, you're Darren Lee, right? Tell me, what do you do when you like a girl?"

I was all 'O.o'. 'ARE YOU FREAKING TELLING ME HE'S COMING TO SUNDAY SERVICE FOR GOOD???' *smacks face*

I really want to crawl into a corner, curl up and just emo for a few hours, but of course I didn't do that. I just felt like doing that for that one moment. I mean, I do forget things quite easily. I'm not quite sure why I wanted to emo. Maybe it's the prospect of facing some GUY I know? I fail at socialising. I fail at socialising with males more. I FAIL. *pulls long face*

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

BREAKTHROUGH NEWS! URGENT NEWS! NEWS FLASH!:

Announcing that this dunce, this idiotic girl who cannot remember anything to save her life, has remembered when her Mathematics Unit Summary is due and has submitted it on time! This astounding piece of news is a phenomenon many scientists would never predict be possible, and even if it could be accomplished, would never be for it the possibility is so slim the prediction when it occurs exceeds her life expectancy. I repeat, THIS IDIOT HAS SUBMITTED HER UNIT SUMMARY ON TIME!

Whether or not she passes (with flying colours) is another thing altogether. It will be another miracle is she passes.

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

I have recently gotten into Axis Powers Hetalia, a crack web manga which got published and turned into an anime. It was fantastic. I'm not really sure how to explain what it is, but the basic idea (and unique trait) is that it personifies each nation, so China is this 4000 year old immortal man who wears a red traditional garment and looks like a seme and an uke at the same time (when you view fan art, that is). America is this hamburger loving blond with glasses over his blue eyes and wears a bomber jacket. U.K. is a short blond with really, really thick eyebrows and is a complete tsundere. And there are many, many more countries. I think South Korea is just there for the lolz.

U.K. is my favourite character. I'm not really sure why, but maybe it's just because his really thick and fuzzy eyebrows make my own rather thick and fuzzy eyebrows feel not quite as thick and fuzzy as it really is. His tsundereness is just another plus point, as well as the fact that he can't cook. Oh, did I mention that he believes in fairies, unicorns and all sorts of magic? He can actually do magic, although...most of the time something goes wrong.

His relationship with Alfred (that is, America's human name) is really, really interesting. Arthur (U.K.'s human name) brought Alfred up, but Alfred ends up 'betraying' him to gain his independence, and in the process hurts Arthur terribly. Their relationship is much better now, although Arthur tends to show a lot of displeasure at whatever Alfred does, which I attribute to his tsundereness. Lol, you know you still love him, Arthur, don't deny it! I mean, how can anyone forget the affection they've nurtured towards someone whom they've brought up since young? Whatever kind of affection it is, that is.

Hetalia kind of makes History fun. For whoever who takes History, go read. It's interesting, you'll love it. Now everytime I see the words 'U.S.A.' or 'America', I keep thinking of Alfred, and it is kind of funny. Same goes for 'Italy' and 'Germany', and, of course, not to forget my favourite character, 'U.K.' or 'England' or 'Great Britain'. It makes life so much more fun, don't you agree? Now if only that could happen for elements...

YAY FOR IGGY!

...oh, Iggy is England's nickname. England in Japanese (as I assume from the subbed anime) is 'Igirisu', so the nickname 'Iggy' is derived from it. Really, England does have a lot of names, doesn't he. Let us count...

1) U.K.
2) United Kingdoms
3) The United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northen Ireland (that technically counts as 2 countries...they've kind of merged or something)
4) England
5) Great Britain
6) Britain
7) Arthur Kirkland (England's human name in Hetalia as he requires an alias since he is human in physical form...)
8) Igirisu (England in Japanese, as I assume)
9) Iggy (England's nickname, derived from assumed Japanese name)
10) Igiko (England's fan name whenever he appears in his female form, which doesn't look like him at all due to the missing thick eye brows)

That makes 10...and I might still find more as I read more about it...

I am officially mad about Hetalia. And England. I like China too (Wang Yao). And Hong Kong. And America (Alfred F. Jones). And Austria (Roderich Edelstein). And Canada (Matthew Williams). Wait. I'm noticing a pattern. THEY'RE ALL MALE (even though I get super awkward around them, it apparently doesn't affect my manga preference...I draw a lot more guys than girls too...). Well, I don't really like Russia (Ivan Braginsky) though. I'm not sure why he's so popular...he's too weird. I mean, I know I like weird people but he...is weird in a way I don't like.

And I here end my rant on my life and Hetalia.

HETALIA!

(Yes, I know I lie, but doesn't everyone love liars? I think the world will be in much more pain if we don't lie diplomatically, or out of politeness.)

TAG! You're 'It'.

2010-07-12T22:53:00.005+08:00

MY TYPE OF (MANGA) GUY [or manga girl]

Which is to say, describes my preference for characters in mangas. No, seriously. I don't exactly go 'goo goo gaa gaa' about any character in particular, so these are just characteristics I'd like in the characters who do appear. Because if the characters are persistently annoying...I'll drop the manga and pick up another one.

AnYan tagged me on facebook, by the way, but I'm posting it here.

The 'quiz' (meme?) starts NOW.

Now, here's what you're supposed to do, and please do not spoil the fun. Copy and paste this into your notes, delete my answers, type in your answers and tag 20 of your friends here in facebook to answer this. Then see what happens.

if you're a guy - post this as my kind of girl..
if you're a girl - post it as my kind of guy..

1. Do you need him/her to be good looking?

Yes. As in, the manga kind of good looking. Any kind of good looking. If he looks too bad it turns me off as well. Mangas with horrible looking characters don't hold my attention for long because manga is all about the art, no?

If it's a girl, all the more. I get annoyed by girls much more easily than boys so, yeah.

2. Smart?

Yes. This is much preferred over brawns. Look, currently, even main characters of sports manga use their heads a lot.

Girls need to be smart. Or else they're going to appear really air-headed, and air-headed characters (especially females) can go drown in a pool of boiling acid.

3. Preferred age?

Late teens, I guess, although early 20s is fine too. They tend to be more interesting around this time of their lives. Too young = CHILDISH. Too old = TOO WISE (they don't make any mistakes, so it's not exactly very interesting).

4. Preferred height?

...165cm and taller. Short males are fine, as long as they fulfill most other criteria. I mean, it's not as if you can actually tell their relative heights to you in manga anyway...

Females have got to be 155cm and above if they're already in their teens. Short females are just crying out for me to disrespect them...

5. How about sense of humor?

Does not have to be present. It's perfectly alright for him to be unable to make jokes but as long as his attitude, reactions and behaviours are funny (whether he realises it or not) it will be

5. How about sense of humor?

Does not have to be present. It's perfectly alright for him to be unable to make jokes but as long as his attitude, reactions and behaviours are funny (whether he realises it or not) it will be satisfying.

I like female characters who are either sporty or serious, so go figure.

6. How about piercings?

Yes please! Only on the ears, though. Maybe exceptions in some places but definitely NOT on the tongue or any parts of the face. You can pierce as many holes as you want on his ears, so long as the lobe does not detach from the head. Of course, it depends entirely on his personality and status...

Females...I'd say it doesn't really matter. I mean, if I said yes, I'd be hating myself, which I don't exactly. Earrings for the more glamorous ones, sporty ones don't need to have them.

7. Accepts you for who you are?

Breaking the fourth wall much?

8. Pink hair?

...possibly. =) Wacky is good, too, although pink does fit Euphemia quite a lot even if she's not strange in that many ways.

9. Mushy or no?

Uh...maybe? Well it completely depends on their characters. I like the two extremes as well as the tsundere kind of characters. They're interesting to play around with.

(Tsundere: Used to describe a person who does not show his/her affection openly and expresses feelings like dislike instead, doesn’t want to show his/her soft side, wants to appear strong)

10. Thin or fat?

Thin. Not anorexic, of course, but Lelouch is acceptable because all the characters in Code Geass are stick thin anyway. I guess he is rather normal by Code Geass universe standards. Females have got to not have too much body fat.

11. Skin colour?

Exotic is good (dark skin + super pale hair!). Of course, pale is fine too. Yellowish Asian skin should be the best, though, since it is manga after all.

12. Long hair or short hair?

Both are fine. It really depends on the personality, type of hair, hair colour and such random stuff. I generally prefer male characters with hair that are long, though, but I tend to favour drawing males with semi-long hair. Females preferably should have long hair (lol, stereotype much?).

13. Plastic or metal?

It would help if I understand what this question was going on about...but metal, thank you. It's shinier.

14. Smells good?

OF COURSE. Unless he's a hobo or something. That's forgivable.

15. Smoker?

NO. But the act of sticking a twig between the index and middle finger and holding one end of the twig to his mouth does appeal quite a bit. Hands would be quite empty otherwise. If he was a real dude who stepped out of a manga or something, definite no. NO SMOKING OR YOU PAY THE FINE! Also, I am sensitive to air pollution, so yeah.

16. Drinker?

No thanks. Unless it's vital to the plot or something. Have you ever seen a 17 year old manga character downing beer like there's no tomorrow because his girlfriend broke up with him or he flunked a ridiculously hard Math test?

17. Girl/Boy-next-door type?

What? What does that mean?

18. Muscular?

Well-defined, please, but no overwhelming muscle definition. That'll be hideous. Gosh, imagine... I like male characters slightly on the thin side, as mentioned above. Or they can have no muscle definition at all. Females should NOT have too much muscle definition...definitely not.

19. Plays piano?

Yes. That'll be a nice bonus. He should have an appreciation for the arts. I like class (no, not class as in lessons, class as in elegance).

20. Plays bass and/or acoustic guitar?

Bass! I like the type of characters who are important but also rather background characters. Meaning that no one notices their importance, so when they die everyone's world crumbles apart and they finally realise their dependency on this character, but all is too late...MUAHAHAHAHA!

21. Plays violin?

Violins are nice additions to portraits. They look good. They sound good too, very soulful, so if the character is one who is more in touch with his/her spiritual self, I say go for it.

22. Sings very well?

YES. I also like characters who stand out. A lot. You know the way lead singers are always the ones being crushed on? Yes, same concept (minus the crush).

23. Vain?

Haha. Maybe. *laughs* I wouldn't mind if he/she has quality to back up their claims. I also like characters who have lots of self-confidence, though not so much that their heads could lift them into the air. This vain-ness, of course, should last only up till something serious occurs, then he/she should completely forget about it and focus on the task at hand. Show your serious side!

24. With glasses?

Ooh. Nice. Guys would be nice with them. Girl...not quite. I'm not exactly sure why glasses look good, but maybe they do cover up flaws in facial proportions after all...huh. I'm gonna draw much more glasses from now on, although my glasses suck.

25. With braces?

Are you asking if I mind them or if I like them? I think braces are quite nice. They make a character easier to remember and define them better. It makes the character unique, and they also have one more thing to complain about!

26. Shy type?

Oh, I like both extremes. The flamboyant and the shy, both appeal greatly as characters. They have their own quirks and personality definition that makes them SO fun to manipulate... *insert evil cackle*

27. Rebel or good boy/girl?

Both. Extreme again. Rebels are...cool. The nerds are...I dunno. But they are cool too in a much less outgoing sense. They're kinda docile, I guess, but there's nothing wrong. Oh! I get it, the nerds wear glasses more. So...I side with the nerds, maybe.

28. Active or passive?

Both, and neither. Don't make me decide! They're all great in their own way! The active make mangas much more dynamic and faster moving, the passive tend to focus on character development and the people in the middle are...a fine balance of both. I like action, psychological and school life manga just fine, thank you, provided the art proves to be satisfactory.

29. Tight or bomb?

Uh...both, again. Uptight people are fun. Their reactions are really great to make fun of. What's a bomb kind of person?

30. Singer or dancer?

Both? I think mangas about singers tend to revolve around spiritual aspects, like soul in the song and meaning of its words being conveyed through the tone of voice and everything. Dance is more of a physical thing, and the bodyline can be quite beautiful sometimes.

31. Stunner?

Yes, but hopefully not too much. It'll totally take the attention away from the plot (assuming the plot is good in the first place).

...or do you mean that gun in Star Trek where they use to momentarily render someone numb and immobile?

32. Hiphop?

Um, sure? This technically does fall under dance, right?

33. Earrings?

Oh, YES. Refer to whatever I said about piercings somewhere up, up above. I think earrings look great on certain kind of guys, and they're very nice things to add if you find your female character too plain or something.

34. Mr/Ms. count-my-ex-girlfriends-until-you-drop?

Uh...that would be an interesting character. Kind of like a gigolo or some play-boy, right? They'll be very fun and interesting to portray and/or read about. In a sense that they provide lots of comic relief, but on the other hand, there can also be a deeper, psychological meaning where they are not secure enough and yada yada, and the plot can thicken and so on. I like both.

35. Dimples?

Does that matter?

36. Bookworm?

Ooh, yes. Smart characters are good, remember? Of course, natural smarts is important as well, but we cannot deny the power of rummaging through thick volumes of Encyclopaedias and gaining fresh new insights to this rapidly changing world around us, no? Bookworms are good.

37. Mr/Ms. love letter?

Uh...if the love letter moves me, why not? I like manga that pull on my heartstrings. I seem to be reading a lot of these nowadays, and I'm loving it. I like that feeling of...oh, I don't know, of some sort of pang in your chest or something. It feels like I'm human, not that I don't know that I'm human, but well. Everyone likes some assurance.

38. Playful?

The kind that don't study for exams and still get good grades? Sure. The kind that likes to tie little ponytails out of some serious dude's nice blond hair? Go ahead. The kind that goes through girls like, I don't know, everyday? Well, I guess they're okay if they have some psychological trauma that's making them do that.

39. Flirt?

Uh, okay? I'm not particular about this or anything. You can be a gay for all I care, just don't rub your gayness off onto me. I'm Christian, 100% Christian. I do not want to be stained by yaoi or yuri. Oh, NO. *shudders*

40. Poem writer?

Ha, YES! Okay, I'm really into moving the heart and these kind of things recently. Everything about passive shows of affection to affection that is completely hidden (see Lelouch during the execution of the Zero Requiem, gosh, he's so...tsundere? Not really, but I just like the way he tries his best for those he loves). I like nice, enchanting, delicate (wow, so unlike me), meaningful, floaty kind of poetry. Flowery language, maybe? Of course, dark poems with a touch of class are great too.

41. Serious?

Oh, that, and those who completely lack serotonin

42. Campus crush?

Hey, who am I to dictate what goes on in their love lives? If it kinda gives them trauma or makes their personality interesting, way to go.

43. Painter?

Ooh! Nice! I'd like to learn from him, if I can, but seeing as the characters are in mangas...well, if they have deep meanings in their paintings, I say leave them be.

44. Religious?

That'll be nice, if the religion was Christianity.

45. Someone who likes to tease people?

Yes, yes, YES! Oh, those characters really are interesting!

46. Computer games geek? Or internet freak?

I don't really see the difference, but I suppose that would be cool. Think 'The World God Only Knows'. That guy is anti-social to the maximum because of gaming, but I think it's cool.

47. Speaks 20 languages?

Oh, great!

48. Loyal or faithful?

This is a prized characteristic. Characters who are unable to feel attached to something tend to be a little sad. Of course, I think that those kinds of characters have their own merits too, like being able to write sad poetry (oh, what's with me and poetry). Well, it would be nice to have a really faithful and loyal character though.

49. Good kisser?

That would matter how?

50. Loves children??

Haha, doesn't matter. Depends on if he's intending to have kids in the future, but preferably yes, I guess, although I won't hate him if he doesn't.

Erm...I tag...Kimberly (Art Club), Zann, and whoever else wants to do it. I mean...how many exactly can I tag?

Purple Dewdrops

2010-06-13T13:18:00.006+08:00

...church was traumatising.

The service part was great and all, really, but after the service...

*goes into corner and summons dark clouds*

I ran into Darren. I thought the conversation would be the 'Hi', 'Bye' kind but it was WEIRD.

Darren goes to the same church as I do. Well, technically it should be that I go to the same church as he does, since he was there first. We bumped into each other once about...3 years ago? It was during the end of P6. Anyway, I've hardly seen him and I think he went to Saturday service when one service became two, so I haven't seen him, until a few weeks ago when I had the shock of my life and saw him right after Sunday service. It was like, WOAH, awkward. That was a genuine 'Hi', 'Bye' conversation, and then I didn't see him until today...SINCE WHEN DID HE START ATTENDING SUNDAY SERVICE??? Or is he attending Saturday service and coming to Sunday service on a whim (so much free time...)?

Being a person who is going to an all girls' school and who has limited interaction with males, I feel extremely awkward when forced to interact with one (which Darren is). I mean, yeah, my brother is male, my dad is male, some of my cousins are male, but really, I'm only comfortable around my brother and dad and I still feel awkward around my male cousins...so can you imagine this dude from Primary school suddenly striking up a conversation?

The conversation went a bit like such:

D: Hello.

R: *looks at Darren, turns away and continues walking* Hi. *notices how much taller he is than I am* You're damn tall.

D: *follows* Thanks. You're in RG right? How are the Rosyth people?

R: *continues walking without looking back* Okay lah. *walking becomes brisk walking*

D: Eh, why you dao me? You don't like me ar?

R: *still not looking back and walking speed increases* No. It's just...it's just...YOU'RE A GUY. *hurried rushes over to father who asks who Darren is*

END OF STORY.

(If you can't figure out who 'R' and 'D' are, you're seriously an idiot)

Seriously, I don't hate Darren or anything, but...he's a GUY. I mean, I could probably act semi-naturally around a guy who looks and acts like a girl but Darren is 100% a GUY. He's tall, for one. Well, not exactly tall for a guy but tall enough to dwarf me, which doesn't exactly require you to be very tall.

*shudders*

Crap. How am I going to adapt to JC life??? Ugh. I'm so going to DIE. Whenever I'm around another guy I'm all: Woah woah, it's a guy. TENSE. AWKWARD. Try to act cool (for what I know not). TENSE. Become insulting. DAO HIM. Be rude. IT'S A GUY. *alarm bells go off in head*

I, unlike most of my peers, am extra-sensitive to guys, so if I act extremely weird and tense, it's not my fault, okay? Most of my classmates probably meet up with their guy friends every now and then but I on the other hand prefer to stay at home and type on my computer, read manga, watch anime, draw, etc. You could actually say I'm a slight otaku for staying at home. Heck, I don't have any friends who are guys. I'm also not very close to the female friends I have now, so whatever. I'm kinda leading my life alone until Art Club time comes...

*wails* BUT IT'S ONLY ONCE A WEEK! *wails*

Okay, now to the boring part.

Title: ABOUT MY DAY
Date: 13 June 2010

Our church didn't have FUEL (that is, carecells) today so I only had to attend service which starts at about 10:00. As usual, my brother woke up late and we arrived at church at about 10:15, and by then service had already started. I found my carecell members, put my stuff on the chair next to them and started praising the Lord.

PRAISE BE TO GOD! I didn't have to sit alone today.

When I heard that Sister Kasie (pardon, I don't know how to spell her name) was going to preach today I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't that I disliked her or anything but well, I didn't really like the way she spoke. Did you know, today when she said 'witness' it sounded more like 'weakness' and she used the word in this sentence: You are God's witnesses.

Yup, you can imagine how weird it sounds, and to those who are not familiar with the verse that says: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and all of Samaria (or something like that, I can't remember names well), they will probably be all: Huh huh what?

But the story she shared with us about the sudden WHAM BAM of reality of how short life is really touched me, and I was tearing by the end. Goodness knows why. But I'm still not motivated to evangelise actively. I guess I'm just stubborn this way. Even though I do my TAWG (Time Alone With God) daily I still find it hard to actively preach the gospel and make 'disciples of all nations'.

After service I headed for the washroom and when I finished whatever business I had walked down the narrow corridor to find my parents. Along the narrow corridor was where the ultra strange incident with Darren occurred. I'm not repeating it. *shudder*

We went to this small Indian shop and had prata for lunch. I had my usual 2 egg pratas, which cost S$2.60 in total. Quite expensive, but whatever. Service was a bit slow and as we were waiting for our prata this strange Chinese woman kept yelling things like 'American Boy', 'Chinese Boy', 'American Girl', 'zhong1 guo2 zhu1' (Chinese Pig) etc. etc. to some person behind the counter. I never figured out what race and gender the person she was yelling to was.

It was extremely weird so I laughed and laughed and laughed. Discretely, of course...*sarcastic*

Then we had bubble tea, one cup of strawberry ice-blended with no pearls which my sister requested and one cup of honey dew ice-blended with pearls on my request. Of course, the honey dew tasted much better (to me), since it was much sweeter compared to the slightly sour strawberry taste. Ugh. Strawberries. How does anybody stand them?

The ice was really well crushed and it was so fine I felt like I was just drinking a really thick milk shake (the guy added some powdered milk thing to mine). Yum.

THE END OF MY DAY.

THANK YOU FOR READING.

HAVE A NICE DAY (or what is left of it).

I have to start on my Social Studies PT now...>_<...darn, I hate PTs.

Anyway, I think I forgot to add my name to my Individual Chemistry PT Report...I'm so gonna die...

T_T

Mud-Filled Heart

2010-05-22T22:47:00.002+08:00

I won't be posting a profile about my characters this post. I promise I'll fill another post up with character profiles.

Psychological Test.

Write the first answer that came to your mind. Fill it out first before scrolling down!

1. In front of you, you see a number of insects. How many are there?
One, and it's freaking me out. It's a really large beetle staring back at me from the floor.

2. You were walking through the jungle when you saw something move past you. What (animal) is it?
Something really, really fast that's gonna eat me up if I so move a toe.

3. You're sitting on a chair about to cross your legs. Which side of your leg do you cross over? Left or Right?
Right, duh. Most people do.

4. You're on a safari jeep driving through the Safari ranch, and you see a lion feeding on the dead animal carcass. How do you feel?
Very grossed out and suddenly unbelievably afraid.

5. When you usually pour a drink, up to what percentage of the cup do you pour?
Nearly full. I like to take big gulps.

6. There are candles burning in front of you. How many candles are there?
Many large white ones, like in Professor Lupin's room in Hogwarts. All on the stands and lighted with a flick of my wrist. Ahh, fantasy. =)

7. A ship ready to take off by the harbour, makes a blasting horn sound. How long does it go on for
One very, very long one that tries to call out for attention.

8. You went into a room and it's all white, how do you feel?
Really freaked out, lost and afraid. It feels like I'm gonna be experimented on.

9. You're walking through a desert, how many pairs of shoes would you take with you?
I don't wear shoes. I don't walk through deserts. But if I must, I'd take one pair and ride a jeep.

10. You feel like drinking hot chocolate, and you open the cupboard. How many cups are there?
None. My cups are all on the counter.

11. A baby is crying, the doorbell's ringing and water is boiling on the stove. In what order would you resolve the situation?
The baby belongs to my neighbours. The doorbell will be answered by my mother. The water can boil until time ends, I don't really care.

12. You see an abandoned property (house). Is the door open or closed?
Closed. Very much closed. There are, of course, holes in the rickety wooden door but that's about it.

13. You get on a plane for the first time. How do you feel during takeoff?
Excited. Completely and absolutely excited.

14. You design your own house and draw a house plan. In the living room, is the ceiling considerably high or low?
Somewhere in the middle. Too high makes me feel lost, too low makes me claustrophobic.

15. You see an angel of death. He said that he'll give you a one day to do whatever you want before he takes you to the afterlife. How would you spend the one last day on earth?
With my family and neglecting homework. I mean, what's the point? I won't live to hand them up.

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

1. The number of people that pisses you off right now.
One. Now who could it be?

2. How people see you.
Very, very fast. Yeah right (well, maybe for short-distance, but I FAIL at long-distance). But I do look like I'll eat them up, what with those angry-looking eyebrows I possess.

3. What you see in people : Right leg- personality Left leg- Appearance/looks
Personality. What a load of crap. Majority of people put their right legs over their left due to genetic dictation.

4. The feeling after watching porn for the first time.
Very grossed out and suddenly very afraid...as I should rightfully be since I'm not supposed to watch porn. I also won't be watching porn anytime soon (not that I'd do it at all).

5. The level of your self-esteem.
Woah. Almost full. Now this certainly is something that's ABSOLUTELY WRONG.

6. The number of people you can love at the same time.
Many. Well, it is true that I find people I know well quite...likeable, I guess. Most strangers are annoying.

7. Average time you spend kissing.
One very, very long one. O.o. WTH? What kiss?

8. Feeling right before your death.
Really freaked out, lost and afraid, like I'm gonna be experimented on. Ah, quite true, but there's always anticipation that I'll be meeting God soon. =)

9. The number of relationships you will have before marriage.
One. That's odd. I seem to have a few relationships going on right now. Like my sister-sister/brother relationship with my siblings and I have a number of friendships too...

10. The number of your TRUE friends
None. Darn. That sounds rather pathetic.

11. What you value the most in opposite sex: Baby- virtue, Doorbell- appearance, Water- wealth.
Lol. No baby, no doorbell, no water. Ah well, I guess there's nothing I look for (or perhaps I don't value the opposite gender at all?)

12. The door represents your heart. (i.e. determines how open your heart is)
Close (with leaks). That's...quite true, I guess.

13. Feeling after 'first kiss'.
Excited. Completely and absolutely excited. That makes me sound like a romantic...which I am NOT.

14. The level of your pride.
I'm not so proud, I guess. I always thought my pride was quite average.

15. What you want to do right now.
Spend time with my family (and neglect homework). Well, yeah, I do want to do that, but I keep thinking: 'I have time, it's okay to wait a few more days/months/years.' Of course, moral of the story always is 'There is no such thing as having time'.

Boron Ashton, Bohrium Ashton

2010-05-17T17:25:00.004+08:00

I will make up for the lack of a new character last post with the introduction of 2 characters!

BORON ASHTON

Boron Ashton, 19, fairly forgetful and careless inventor, doctor, marksman and swordsman who not only has good looks (read: slightly feminine appearance) but also brains and slight proficiency in art (as most inventors usually do). He has a younger brother, Bohrium, 10 (whom I will introduce later in the post) and is ambidextrous. He is Argon's official bodyguard and physician who performed his first operation at the age of 15 and is hailed as a medical prodigy. While being absent-minded and rather detached from reality usually, he is able to focus with unnerving concentration when the time calls for it.

He is the kind of person who is unable to come up with an idea if told to ponder and meditate on it for long periods of time. Often, he does much better when situations require spontaneous problem solving instead. Due to his marked unawareness he misplaces all of his blueprints, although none of the blueprints are actually of much use since they have all been planned and he only creates useful inventions with 'spur of the moment' kind of ideas. His blueprint of a 'gun' was 'stolen' by one of the nation's ally who adapted it to make it work, although Boron did have a completed specimen somewhere in his room (if only he could find it) which was made the moment the idea came to him so it never had a real blueprint.

At age 12 he came a proficient marksman and swordsman (his eyesight being sharper than the average person's) who designed his (and many others') weapons as well and hence proved to be a talented inventor too. He was the object of much jealousy and envy when he was assigned the position of official bodyguard of the king at the tender age of 12. At the age of 13 he attained his medical degree and 2 years after performed his first operation successfully though he had been spacing out during operations he had been made to watch from the sidelines to gain experience from. It is often rumoured that Boron bribed his way into his high standing but the gossipers never failed to be shut up should the rare opportunity for Boron to showcase his abilities arise. Even with all these achievements under his belt and feathers in his cap Boron never shows off, or perhaps he just couldn't be bothered to or was too lost in his own world to.

Boron is decended from a long line of aristocrats who have been stripped of their titles as Earls when a family head 3 generations before Boron refused to comply to the king's orders. It was during a time of war when enemies infiltrated the palace that the king pleaded with Earl Ashton (Sion Ashton) to kill him before the enemies could drug him and force him to disseminate high-security information about the country. Earl Ashton, being the king's closest friend, refused to do so and when the enemies retreated was removed from the title of 'Earl' by the king (who did so very regretfully). All subsequent generations have been close to the reigning kings but more times of trials and testings (all of which uncannily similar to that mentioned above) found the family degraded to the status of servants. Boron's family serves the royal family in the palace, and like all his ancestors, Boron has a close bond with the reigning king, Argon.

Argon first met him when they were five and Argon had fallen off his horse. While Argon's usual bodyguards are busy running around trying to find a nurse or maid to treat Argon's wound, Boron emerged from a nearby cluster of trees and bushes and edged toward Argon slowly. Upon reaching the young king Boron immediately began treatment of the wound using herbs and plants with healing properties. Being the child of a maid he has seen his mother use such medicinal herbs frequently and with the prompting of his brother approached Argon to treat his wound. Boron was, from henceforth, Argon's official physician (although he did go through intensive training in which he usually displayed knowledge superior to his teachers) and at the age of 12, Argon's official bodyguard when he attained sufficient prowess in shooting to defend the king.

Although he doesn't show it, Boron cares for his brother just about as much as his brother cares about him (which is quite a lot). It is due to his brother's inability to aim and desire to be like him that Boron took up swordfighting, something he was sure his brother would be able to do even without any coordination whatsoever, as it pleased him to know that his brother was glad to have something in common with him. The blade Boron made for his brother is single-edged as he feared that his brother's carelessness may land him in the hospital. Boron finds it difficult to express affection to others and hence has a very hard time convincing his brother that he does love him no matter how nonchalant he may seem toward his brother's affairs.

His hair is a glossy black, reaches to his calves and covers his left eye. It is neatly (and loosely) tied at his shoulder blades in a low tail with a small braid beside his right cheek. His eyes are black as well and tend to have a faraway and misty look most of the time. His attire is typically a long white cloak (more fantasy than laboratory, though) over a button-up tee and pair of loose black pants that reach his shoes. He is always standing by Argon's right (though quite unnoticeable as he hardly moves) with a set of hand-guns under his cloak and two sniper's rifles hung on his shoulders. He also has a sword on his hip but it is only used in the most dire of situations when the target does not stop advancing on the king even after firing many rounds.

Just an extra note, Boron is far-sighted and hence has some problems reading so he requires the aid of glasses whenever he does want to read (or aim at really near targets). His descended (Boriah Ashton) was the man who invented the machine that caused the Christmas Massacre when Boron was 5. The people from the future of another nation went back in time to conspire with the people of the past to kill off Argon and hence end the royal line as the king in the future proved too much of a threat to enemy nations. Somehow, the machine malfunctioned on the day of the massacre and all those sent back in time had their minds tampered with, causing personality changes, amnesia or even false memories. This made the future men lose their 'focus' and turn their weapons on innocents. At the same time, many people from both the past and future were transported to the other time unwillingly due to the malfunction.

BOHRIUM ASHTON

Bohrium Ashton, 10, brother of the highly respected Boron Ashton. He is, in all aspects save EQ and appearance (although in a different sense), much less capable than his brother whom everybody regards as a genius. He for one wants to be much like his brother but also wants his brother to smile, something that he is proud to say the he has succeeded once or twice. He is a typical happy go lucky kid whose main concern is his brother and animals, and while he is by law too young to work he sometimes helps his mother out in the kitchens and infirmary whenever the servants are shorthanded.

His 'information network' is very very large owing to his pleasant personality and face. The older maids just can't help but fawn over him and everything he wants to know about the palace he can get through them. Because his brother hardly ever tells him anything about his job (and is usually away from the servants' quarters and areas where servants work because he is a guard) Bohrium really tries to squeeze every single bit of information about his brother out of the maids as he has a 'brother-complex'.

The 'brother-complex' that Bohrium has is rather interesting. He not only loves his brother to the extent of being obsessed over his lifestyle but also has a certain desire to be just like his brother. He is by birth left-handed but has become almost as proficient with his right arm with just about any action due to constant training with his brother who is ambidextrous as his goal. However, Bohrium is not blessed with super intelligence or great eyesight like his brother is, and the greatest deterrence to become as good a marksman as his brother is the fact that he has absolutely no aim at all. While his mental endurance knows no bounds his physical body is fairly weak in terms of stamina and is hardly ideal for long battles, therefore he tends to try and master the skills his brother has that requires little physical activities.

He is not as forgetful or distant as his brother but he is very careless. While his brother's carelessness stems from his general lack of awareness of his surroundings Bohrium's is caused by his tad inability to coordinate his body well enough and walking can sometimes cause a bit of a problem to him as it is fairly easy for him to lose balance, slip and fall. That being said, Bohrium is aware that his brother only uses swords for his sake as he wanted to be as similar to his brother as humanly possible without undergoing a body change and really treasures his sword, a single-edged blade customised by Boron himself. Bohrium has, over the years, began to understand his brother better and can now tell the difference between when his brother is attempting to show concern and when his brother is just spacing out, something that no one else apart from Argon can say that they can do.

Bohrium is often much better company than Boron at social events as he is more open to strangers (not that his brother opens up to anybody) and is a much more interesting character to hold conversations with as his speech is animated and enthusiastic. He is also an avid animal lover and during his free time spends it in the forest calling various animals to him. He has mastered several animal languages (not much to learn, really, just basic calling noises) and made acquaintances with almost the entire population of animals within with palace grounds and most flying creatures in the entire country.

Bohrium's hair is a glossy black as well and cropped short at his shoulders. He has a perpetual twinkle in his black eyes and a broad smile on his lips always. Like his brother, a small bit of his hair is braided, but this time at the left of his face instead. His hair is also parted toward the left but unlike his brother has a fringe. He is usually seen in his brother's old clothes - a white cloak with black finishings over a button-up tee and a pair of long black pants. The sword customised for him by his brother hangs proudly on his right hip for easy reach.

Midnight Serum

2010-05-14T21:20:00.004+08:00

Yeah, whatever, the title's random again.

You'd be glad to know that I have once again updated this dead blog (oh, the sarcasm...).

Anyway.

I had my 2.4km run today, and I'm pretty satisfied with my results, to say the least.

Yes, I know what I got is a fail at male standards. I mean, why the hell are their standards for Standing Board Jump and 2.4km Run so damned high anyway? I really have to give it to the guys who actually survived their NAPFA tests...

2.4km Run
15:15 (mm:ss)
Female Standard (15): C [15:11-16:10]
Male Standard (15): FAIL. [<14:40]

Man. I can't believe it. 5 seconds less and I would have gotten a B...darn. That aside, I shall chronicle my time along the track while 'running' the 2.4km run (which was not much of a run at all) and maybe some Ihours beforeI (modulus this, which would mean I might talk about my entire day. =)).

It was a bright and sunny day and the birds were chirping happily. The blue ones were huge and round and had small yellow beaks which produced high pitch tweets while the red ones were nice and slim with long black hooked beaks and their voices were shrill. Their piercing eyes were the first thing I noticed when I woke up, and they were also the last thing I noticed before I fell into a swirling abyss of ooblack and lightblubs...

NOOOOOOOOO! NOT THAT ONE! DON'T LOOK! THAT'S MY ESSAY FROM TWENTY YEARS BACK!

Wait...was I even alive 20 years ago? *sigh* This talk is confusing me so I shall just tell that what you just saw was highly classified and should not be redistributed/released in any form. Thank you a whole bunch. Of course, I'm not even entertaining the idea that anyone would like to redistribute this piece of...crap.

So my day begins here.

I woke up in bed at 05:45 with a cramp in the muscle on my left leg opposite of the calf (forgive my apparently lack of knowledge of human anatomy) and thought that I was going to DIE and FAIL my 2.4, which I obviously didn't but when you wake up you tend to let your thoughts run wild, though I never made it a point to reign them all in in the afternoons or evenings anyway.

The cramp was still present when I boarded the school bus where I fell asleep for an hour hoping very badly that the cramp will disappear by the time the 1 hour bus ride to school (and on the way picking up other students) was over. Turns out it was gone when I got off the bus.

Praise the Lord!

Okay, back to the story. Since PE was first block I was horrified and terrified and scared stiff that I would be half awake during the 2.4, which, of course, is as unlikely as clouds would turn into cotton candy and lemon gumdrops would fall like the monsoon rain from the sudden green sky, but yes, being quite sleepy does this to you.

Oh, I do need to mention something. On the supposed day of the 2.4km run it rained halfway through the run (of the first half of the class, of which I am not part of since I'm register 30 so yippee for me) hence the run was cancelled and we were all told to go home. Needless to say we were very, very happy. Well, I was, anyway. I'm pretty sure that the people who had ran halfway were rather pissed.

The 2.4km run was therefore postponed. We got intelligence (yes, you didn't read wrongly, it's intelligence, not information, since RGSS is secretly a spy school and all students are required to put to use basic spy vocabulary) that our 2.4km run (which is supposed to test our ability to keep up with the strict regime of the spy course) will be conducted during the next PE lesson.

Of course, being the secret spy school of the century that only the most elite assassins and stealth personels may gain entrance to, PE is just a code for 'Physical Endurance' which all students of the school have to take part in so the trainers (in layman's terms, teachers, or as we amateur spies say, spartan instructors) can decide who to kick out of the school should there be another economic downturn and the need to retrench recruits arises.

That being said, the juniors (year 3s) and seniors (year 4s) are less likely to be forced to leave due to the fact that the school doesn't want us disseminating valuable intelligence that we've accumulated in our time in the school due to personal grudges and such.

I have decided that, for the better good of the world, I have to tell others about what we learn in school.

Mathematics is a cover up for lessons teaching us how to document classified information, write in code and organise files in a way that makes no sense to outsiders. This seems rather pointless until your home gets raided for being connected to the school.

Language classes include sign language and lip-reading and learning of foreign languages. Useful things to learn, especially when spying on trainers to find out more about their personal lives (in other words, stalking, or, more nicely stated, practicing our stealth)

Physics teaches us how to accurately shoot projectiles and how to use illusions to fool our enemies. The trainers are being unfair by not letting us test our our newfound knowledge on them. They always seem to fool us first.

Chemistry brings us closer to the mechanics of various bombs and also poisons such as Arsenic which we find very useful in eliminating adversaries (especially really annoying trainers).

Biology is spent memorising the human anatomy and which parts are more prone to damage and hurt more (useful tip for women: a man's downstairs tends to hurt really badly if you kick it)

History lessons are filled with the history of spy techniques and also where we indulge in rusted shurikens and darts. We like to try to kill the trainer when he/she says: All shurikens to me. The trainer, of course, never dies. The most severe case was comatose but he'll probably recover...

Geography gives us basic information of enemy grounds and also helps us train our perception and observational skills in planning escape routes. Rather boring class but comes in handy when emergency escape needs to be employed.

Literature isn't of much use but it does come in handy when trying to forge letters with a convincing tone of voice...

Area Studies is exactly what it implies, study of the area and places where we can exploit (like jungles can be used as natural cover).

Philosophy deals not so much with useless ponderings but more with psychology so we can predict our enemy's movements, launch counter attacks and become the next L (from Death Note). Trainers are all Lights which we must eliminate without haste.

Research Studies is just an excuse for the trainers to slack off a little and make us look up on the target (areas) ourselves. Certain students use this time to test their 'research results' on the trainers. Those who get caught tend to end up being sent into unknown territories to test the waters.

Aesthetics translates into designing our own clothes that best fit our body type and allow greater flexibility, learning to fake artworks, trying out various combinations to see what would produce deadly foods etc. Everybody loves this class because we like to put these deadly concoctions into our trainer's food.

Our principle was an ex-student of the school, likely threatened by the previous principle into taking up the job because nobody wanted to due to the inevitable death threats and attempts on their lives.

HOLD YOUR HORSES. Let me make something clear. RGSS is NOT a spy school and lessons are normal, if not on the slightly advanced side. I don't know what strange spirit took over me but I shall continue from where I left off...now come to think of it, where did I leave off?

Ah well. Let's just start anywhere.

So because the 2.4km run was postponed to the next PE lesson (which, by the way, stands for Physical Education, not Physical Endurance) and that 'next PE lesson' was the first block today, I was scared quite stiff, which really isn't all that stiff but compared to my usual blob-of-jelly posture I'd say yeah, I was very stiff.

Then came PE. We each got partners to watch our for. I 'choped' ShuYing and Rachel (Sim) got Jana. Both ShuYing and Jana ran first while Rachel and I sat one a small plot of the track that was...how would you say...tangent to the running area? Ah whatever. It was the little strip of straight track bits that extened from the straight part of the track and totally 'sidetracked' from the curving track. It was the one near the Squash courts (or haunted toilets, if you prefer).

So I got really pumped up watching the first group run, and was utterly in awe of Celeste who, even after running a few rounds (we were supposed to run 5 2/3 rounds since the track had a weird length...) still had more than enough energy to give us, the 'bystanders', a smile and a wave effortlessly. How the hell does she do that? She completed the race in 11+ minutes and just walked off the track like she had been doing stretches instead of running 2.4km...

Anyway, ShuYing was quite a good runner. She also got C. =) I couldn't see the fatigue in her though when she passed. I'm thinking she must have quite good endurance.

Then, when everybody from the first group had finished running, it was my (well, our) turn to run. I could feel my legs trembling beneath me...><

First Round: 01:30+
It was quite okay, I felt like I was sprinting more than jogging and I wasn't that much out of breath. I was supposed to be running (read pacing) with Rachel but I somehow just got ahead of her. If I should hazard a guess it would probably be somewhere near the downward slope, and at the downward slope I kind of let myself fall as always and that's usually where I'm faster than usual. I like that part. It always (well, usuallly) makes me feel like I'm flying whenever I 'fall' down the slope. Nice feeling when I don't have to really propel myself forward or anything. I was rather glad with my timing. It wasn't too bad, I guess, for someone with stamina like mine and who completely hates running long distance. I love 10x4 Shuttle Run, see. I get very nice timings for that, completely surpassing A by what, almost a second?

Second Round: 03:40+
Getting out of breath, even though I know I can make it to 7 minutes of jogging non-stop without dying. Since I was wearing the nice sports shoes I got end of last year and wore it now for the 2.4 (since my usual school shoe's sole is kinda flat now) I think I was quite a bit brisker than I would be if I was just running normally without the shoes with tapered toes. I just checked it out though, if we're running long distance the taper shouldn't be too much...ah well. Nevermind. 308 was at the basketball courts and my frieds from there cheered me on. =) They kinda kept talking about useless things like everyday stuff but even so it made my heart lighter to know that there is someone (or somemany) there by my side to cheer for me as I go through hard times (but they aren't, though).

Third Round: 05:50+ (I think)
Dying. Don't know why even though I've only ran for 5+ minutes. Anyway, this was when I started entertaining thoughts of walking or slowly down a whole lot until I'm almost walking. I didn't, in the end, because I was thinking: If I slow down now, I can't slow down later! And since I know I just have to slow down at the end since my stamina drains really quickly, I ran the whole round. =) I'm really glad that the 308 people (mainly AnYan, Moira, Melissa, ChunHui, and perhaps some others whom I cannot rememeber) at the basketball court cheered me on 'cuz I really needed it to keep going and not break down like an unoiled machinery a few hundred years old.

Fourth Round: 08:10+ (I think)
I walked about the first third of the round. I tired myself out by running instead of jogging, see. I am just silly that way, and also silly now for chronicling such insignificant details. I started walking right after I completed the round so I was in full view of my classmates who were trying to get me to run instead of walk. I remember I only wanted to walk for a little bit before I ran again but I somehow only re-ran once I've almost gotten to the sheltered 'bridge' between J block and H block (or something). I only noticed the blue markers on the ground and started running again. Oh yeah, when I started running again I couldn't feel my legs, until a few seconds later when the pain comes back again. I apparently strained myself too much.

Fifth Round: 11:...something
This time I walked almost half the round (re-ran where the track bends round the corner around J block and enters the basketball court area). What can I say? An exhausted person is a person who needs to rest unless he/she would rather crumple to the floor in a little lump of lipids, carbohydrates, proteins etcetera. I was rather tempted to continue walking for a little more but I guess my desire to get at least a C was quite strong afterall, even through I tried to convince myself the getting a Gold this year isn't important as long as I survive (and as you can see, I failed to convince myself). It was about this round and the previous one that Moira reminded me about mo4 xie3, and I think it was this round that she recited 'lao3 ren2 yao2 le yao2 tou2...'...

Sixth Round: 15:15 END
Walked for almost two thirds of the round. Too fatigued to do much but walk in what I felt was a rather brisk manner. When you're exhausted, any manner of movement feels like its too much for your strained body to handle...I walked even until the basketball court, where 308 resided (playing basketball?). ChunHui tried to get me to run but I kinda felt like falling over when she pushed me behind my back because my legs are almost too weak to support me. Then Moira approached me and urged me on to run, reminding me that my glasses were falling off my nose (an insignificant detail unless you consider my eyesight's badness) and AY was telling me that I've always wanted an A so I should push myself (even though I never wanted an A for 2.4 but for 1.6...). With all those people trying to get me to run, how could I not? So I sprinted. Really sprinted. I surpassed Evangeline (resident Netball player) and her partner and 'fell' down the slope, running like hell to the finishing point where I heard my timing and was filled with joy and gladness that I had gotten my Gold.

Praise be to God.

Ah. The joys of being Christian. Everything just seems to turn out right. I got a nice grade for Biology, 33/39 (I think) when only a few people got 30+. I also got a rather nice grade for Social Studies A.A. (yesterday) with 13.5/16, though where the hell that 0.5 came from I don't know. You know, I'm actually really really pleased with myself for the SS AA because I made the most significant contribution to the entire powerpoint! MUAHAHAHAHA! DROWN IN MY EGO! Okay, I must also acknowledge ShuYing who did just about as much as me. Phoebe didn't contribute at all and I think she was not included as part of the group...if only she had just sent something she could have gotten the grade! Why didn't she do anything????

I actually feel that God is being a little too nice to me. My deskmate studied very hard for all her exams but she didn't do as well as I did in some. I didn't study much for my exams at all, so I'm really quite baffled as to why I got better grades. I mean, God isn't supposed to be biased like this, right? Well, that's the perks of being Christian for you. Though maybe, I'm just a natural genius! *literally sees readers going: 'Yeah, right' sarcastically*

Anyway, after PE was recess, in which I sweated all throughout and I imagine I have a very nice shiny sheen on my skin all over my body as I fell gratefully onto the canteen seat, trying to gulp as much water as possible in one go. After a very long (15min) rest on the seat I finally decided to get something to eat. Since I didn't have money with me I asked Jana for some to buy a banana. I've heard it replenishes energy quickly.

On the way to the store to buy the banana I felt dizzy and uncomfortable, like there was something wrong with my stomach. While standing in line to buy the banana there were many times I felt like keeling over and puking. What was worse was that the people in front of me took a very long time to purchase their food and get their change so by the time I got to the counter I probably looked like death reincarnate. I picked up a banana (tried to get the biggest one that didn't seem too rotten) and paid the nice lady, who returned me 10 cents so now I know that a banana costs 30 cents. Hm, I thought it cost 40 cents...

Anyway, on wobbly feet and hunched back, I made my way very tediously back to my seat and collapsed onto it, returning Jana the 10 cents, peeling open my banana and eyeing it like a stalker would its victim. I finished the banana in a few seconds and was still covered in a nice sheen of shiny sweat. After sitting and moping around for another few more minutes I went back up to class, where I fell onto my seat and sat like a statue, talking being the only exercise done.

I conversed a little with Rachel, who told me that after I left her in my 'dust' she followed what I did, so she stopped when I stopped and she ran when I ran. In the end she got a C too. She was always a certain distance away from me, not much more nor much less. I guess in a way I did help her pace...O.o

Before recess ended I changed into my blouse in the toilet and then sat in my seat again to try to dry off my sweat. Only when recess neared its end did I pull my pinafore (very painstakingly since my arms were sore as well) over my head, gathered my Chinese stuff and left the class for Express Chinese, walking very unsteadily and with a very light head.

I recovered most of my strength in Chinese class (oddly enough...) and I had great fun talking to AY and Moira during Chinese...even though I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to do that. Ah wall, rules are made to be broken...so says the person who follows school rules (other than hair) like I would a manga I love a lot, which is to say, quite closely.

Following Chinese was assembly, where there was a fairly interesting 'skit' by the Science RA students (year 4) which incorporated a few Sciences and concepts. Quite intersting, really, if only they didn't make King Argon look so ugly. King Argon was mine first before it was theirs! Argon should only wear simple cloaks and not ones with golden edges and looking like they were made of spun white gold! King Argon has red hair, not black! King Argon is cool, not lame!

They really ruined Argon this time...

After assembly was Social Studies where the rest of the groups who haven't presented their AAs presented their AAs. The AA has a time limit of 5 minutes, even though Mr. Lim (that is, my SS teacher) doesn't really know why since the groups will be graded on content not presentation and even if the group exceeded the time he would take a look at the slides which have yet to be shown and then grade accordingly.

Math was rather okay, but I felt that Ms. Tan was too fast. I could barely catch up, not that I could usually catch up anyway.

Then ShuYing and I had lunch. Well, ShuYing had a packet of Iced Lemon Tea while I ate the sandwhiches I was supposed to have eaten for recess but was too tired to go up, get them and come back down again to consume them as eating them in class would be 'illegal', so to speak.

We then boarded 105 and went home. ShuYing got off at Toa Payoh Station while I remained on the bus, doing my Math homework...

Lots of PTs this time and quite a bit of homework too. Cross your fingers and hope I don't stress myself out, unless you want me dead.

This has got to be the longest post in a really long time, but I hope it doesn't put you off. *"sweet" smile*

And so into the dark abyss he fell, losing all sense of direction and feeling a disturbing drowsiness overtake his consciousness. There was nothing to grab on to for comfort, just an unending darkness swirling, swirling.

Argon Silas Raidon Thaladore

2010-05-05T14:41:00.003+08:00

Let me introduce you to the king of my kingdom (well, duh, else it wouldn't be called a kingdom), Argon S.R. Thaladore, 19. His name is too long so I shortened it. =) His red, shoulder length hair is slightly wavy and stylishly messy (insouciant, was it? I came across the word in a handout during English lesson and the teacher explained it). He has a beauty mark under his left eye and a very, very strict looking face.

On the inside he is rather kind, unlike the seeming scary expression he wears all the time. He grew up an orphan because his parents (were assumed to have) died during the Christmas Massacre when he was 5, leaving him in the hands of his (very) creepy guardian, Arsenic (to be discussed in later posts). Because of this he pays particular attention to the orphans in his kingdom, although he is supposed to be paying equal attention to everybody.

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

Labour Day (01 May) I went with my family to East Coast Park (ECP) to cycle. We didn't cycle much, just 1 hour when we came back to the qiosk. The ride back was TIRING. It was apparently upslope, that or I'm just getting old. It was quite calming, but there were times when a bunch of slow people are in front of me and I have to cut through them, and I'm not too confident in my bike maneuvering skills, though I enjoy taking sharp turns.

My sister went off to who knows where so my father and to go look for her. When he got her to our rendezvous, my mother suggested my father go get the food from the car boot, so he did. He came back a while later, and I finished a packet of green tea in 10 seconds. New record. =) I kept complaining that my family's hands weren't clean when they picked up the food, so I took it upon myself to give them the food (since my hands were definitely clean). They told me I was a lot like the 2nd daughter from the 19:00 channel 8 show. lol. I guess I am. =)

What's wrong with being hygienic anyway?

We then cycled to McDonalds and my mum and I went to get the originally-50-cents-but-now-70-cents ice cream. Got 3, but then my sister suddenly said that she didn't want it. My parents were rather displeased, but they ate the 3rd ice cream themselves, in the end. My brother and I had one each, and I was the slowest eater. Lol.

We turned the bikes in (wow, sounds like we handed them over to the police) and had dinner in some place near AMK Hub that sold Penang food. Food took really long to come, though. My father got so annoyed he cancelled his order. The cendol was fantastic (lol, random).

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

You know, when you are very stressed, it seems as if you have a damn lot of time? That's what I'm feeling now.

I have:
1) Social Studies AA
2) Physics PT (due T2 Wk09)
3) Chemistry PT (to be given out soon, due T2Wk10)

Although I don't feel like doing any now...so I found something on AY's blog to have some 'fun' with...well, we shall begin.

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, mp3 player, etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

5. Tag 15 friends

6. Everyone tagged have to do same thing

7. Have Fun!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

Petrified by Fort Minor
Oh...wow. I'm mortified... Gee, I feel great.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

And One by Linkin Park
...WHAT? Honestly, this makes absolutely no sense. I don't even look for a guy/girl, what's the point?

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Center, Exercise 6: Soute (Girls)
Soute = Jumps. I feel jumpy? Lol. But seriously, I really hate exercises...

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

Assessment, Exercise 2: Foot Exercise
Ah hah, assessments...right, my foot.

...

That wasn't meant to be a pun...

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Diry Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
Wouldn't you like to know? =)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Exercise 11: Grand Battement en Cloche
If I remember correctly, battement = to beat, cloche = bell...aaaaaaaaand, I have no idea what this means. Anyway, this might actually give me an idea for Physics PT...

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

Macy's Day Parade by Green Day
O.o My parents aren't gonna die anytime soon...I hope. Anyway, song's about wanting different things from when you were young, I guess it's true. When I was a kid (not that I'm not still) what I wanted was lots and lots of toys. Now I'd be really, really happy if I got a confirmation that my parents won't be dying anytime soon...

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Once by Nightwish
Um...once? I do think a lot about things that keep going round and round it circles. Like on the bus I'll be thinking "Hm, why do I keep thinking about what I am thinking?" then it leads to "I realise I do think about these kind of things a lot" then going on to "Why do I keep thinking about what I am thinking?". Yup. It's a vicious cycle, but nothing to do with 'once'.

WHAT IS 2+2?

Reborn! Shinu ki Time by...some KHR person
This would first require me to know what 'Shinu ki Time' means, but I'll just go with 'dying will time', I guess. Um...requires my dying will to answer? Dang, that makes me sound stupid...

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Center, Exercise: Reverence
Well, good day to you. In ballet terms (French, I think), reverence = closing, I think, but I went to check the net on what it means in English, it turns out reverence = respect. Well, I currently don't really have a best friend to respect, but I have many good friends! Take AY, who I guess I would be promoting to best friend any time soon due to 1) lack of competition (ex-best friend is rare to come by now, hardly see her) 2) we just click! 3) we have overcome adversities together! ...well, technically, it was alone, actually, but whatever.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

She by Green Day
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'M NOT A LESBIAN! I'M A CHRISTIAN, REMEMBER??? Not that I have any body in particular that I like in that way currently...although I suppose I do quite prefer effeminate male designs in MANGA than the tough men...somehow they're just cooler...with a few exceptions (like Argon, my own original element character, who is decidedly NOT girly in any fashion except for hairstyle)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Exercise 10: Petit Retire and Glisse
Gee, I'm getting tired of all these ballet exercises. Maybe I should just delete the tracks from my library... anyway, petit = small, retire (rer-tee-ray) = a postion where the toes of the working leg are under the knee of the supporting leg, and where the knee of the working leg is turned out, glisse = ...well, I don't know how to explain this one. Go ask someone who learns French.

...

Soooo, my life story is small, not too high either, and...moving? That's weird. Does small = short? Does not too high refer to my height? Does...moving refer to the emotional touchingness (lol) of my life story?

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Assessment, Exercise 6: Plies
Plies (plee-ace) = bends. Ugh. Another exercise...I don't want to be a bend when I grow up, you know...whatever that means.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE

Broken Vow by Josh Groban
The first proper song in so long! Well, if I so happen to have a person I like somewhere in the not so near future, I'll remember this... and never get attached at all! MUAHAHAHAHA! Of course, this kind of divining that seems to hint at a very lousy marriage may actually be false, but why not heed the advice? I could do without men (no, I will not do with a woman either, I'm straight...wait, actually, I have no preference, I don't wish to be involved with ANYBODY except GOD).

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

How He Loves by Josh Mark McMillan
Before you say anything, this is a Christian song. I guess my parents think I'm being blessed by God's love. Whoopee for me! Let's cross our fingers and hope this is true, and not just a figment of their thinking, though I'm not sure crossing fingers help any.

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

QWERTY by Linkin Park
Lol, this will be a very strange dance to dance to if you're not doing Hip Hop or something similar...well, whatever, it is unlikely that I will be having a wedding in the first place, although QWERTY will be something really cool to dance to, that is if I haven't become too stiff...

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

I Can Wait Forever by Simple Plan
I feel really touched. =) Well then, die sooner, you'll be able to see me sooner (from a soul's own perspective) if you do so, since I guess you will feel as if no time is passing between the time you die and the time Jesus comes to retrieve the souls for judgement. This song is about longing, about how being apart from someone you love pains you so much your heart feels like it could stop beating. =) I am touched.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Time Is Running Out by Muse
It certainly is, isn't it? Especially when you spend 3 hrs on one piece of work and it is still incomplete, not to mention it is only the line art. Also, I "won't let you murder" my passion for drawing, no matter how many art teachers tell me that Manga is NOT art. "I tried to give it up/ But I'm addicted". Well, what can I say? I really do love drawing Manga, which, by the way, has gotten much better over the 2 1/2 years since I graduated from Rosyth.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
Lol. They're just sucking me up and pulling me into their crazy world. That I agree. =) Can't help but want to know more about the crazy lives they lead.

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

If I Ain't Got You by...dunno who. It's from some collection.
Unless this applies to my family, my close friends and God, it is really unlikely that this would be the worst thing that could happen to me. Of course, none of them would be reading this right now so I'll just say straight out to readers: Not having you is not going to be much of a problem. My blog was never popular in the first place.

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

Face Down (acoustic) by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
That'll be...rather dramatic... I prefer the face to be seen in Mangas, though. I love this song. I don't know why, but I get this image of a red and black, gothic scene where it is really creepy and lonely. I don't know why I like this song because I prefer not to be in a creepy place all alone but...well, that's just me, you know. A hypocrite.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

Exercise 11: Battement Fondu (Boys)
Ah well. I never did this exercise anyway (it says 'boys', see). Nothing to regret, nothing to regret...just perhaps that I should have enjoyed my trip to Europe better...aren't you in awe that I'm still mulling over my trip to Europe 4-5 months ago?

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Track 17 by dunno who, track title unknown as well
Well, that certainly cracks me up that the song has no title. It also cracks me up that the song sounds like something that could come from Hawaii and from some blond guy's mouth in the 1960s-1980s...

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

Romance by My Chemical Romance
Whoopee, another lonely sounding song that I love but can't figure out why. It does sound sad, thought, lots of regret. I see a person crying in the rain with some hollow music playing in the background as tears fall on rusted iron grounds. I can see a person walking though a narrow passage in an empty city, where the passing wind sends shivers down your spine and chills you all over. The stones are hard and hot, the place is deserted and flying sand bits sting every patch of exposed skin, walls are made of crumbling clay and remnants of a civilisation, abandoned clothes in tatters hang on rotting wooden poles flapping desolantly in the crimson red skyline. The world is now a patch of nothing, and you are the only survivor left. A sad hymm you play fills your ears as you try to imitate the sounds of festivity, but you fail terribly, memories of disasters and heatwaves, lava streams and screaming people, ideas of watching vultures attack your mind, and you collapse on the ground, weeping, sobbing, and dying.

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

Exercise 5: Rond de Jambe Atere
Another exercise...darn. Nothing interesting. Makes no sense whatsoever.

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

Track 7 by unknown person from unknown album
Wow, I'm so afraid. Bully for me. FEAR ME! MUAHAHAHAHA!

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

Center, Exercise 6: Petit Allegro
Small, quick lively movements. Nope, doesn't answer the question at all, not that I'm hoping to get an answer in the first place...ugh.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

Track 4 by unknown person from unknown album.
I give up. I'm getting a new song....
Adia by unknown artist
Well, Adia is a nice name. Maybe I'll change Argon's middle name. =)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

Concierto de Aranjeuz by Rodrigo
Ouch. Can a concert hurt? Wait, that's not exactly a concert, is it? Some sort of performance? I know it's not English...and that's helping me a whole lot (I can practically see sarcasm dripping from my lips).

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Thank You for the Venom by My Chemical Romance
Ooh, good idea. A dark song. I love dark songs!

Hydrogen Mecchasser

2010-04-30T18:17:00.006+08:00

Some art club friends and I gathered together to put a face to each and every one of the elements (we did this weeks ago...), and, dividing them almost equally among us four, I ended up with 23 elements. I never thought I'd finish designing them, but because I am an awesome (*cough* ego *cough*) person, I finished all 23 characters by yesterday. All that is left to do is write their detailed profiles! =)

Each of the characters are unique. Hydrogen, 19, is a rather...blunt guy, you could say. He is thin and has orange hair and brown eyes, although his left one is covered by a mass of hair. Hair on his right has been pinned up with, well, pins. He is hot-tempered and often gets so excited by fighting he kind of loses himself. Oh, have I mentioned that his right eye is outlined really, really heavily?

Oh, Mecchasser is the surname I gave to Hydrogen, just so you know, and Hydrogen is one of my characters, if you haven't yet got that. Hydrogen = {H: H є Element, H є Mine} I wonder if this makes any sense whatsoever...

Anyway.

NAPFA 5 stations was today.

My results may seem VERY lousy to any male who happens to be passing by (especially SBJ), but I think they would find my shuttle run and sit-ups (especially sit-ups) rather acceptable. =)

Sit-Ups
43
Female Standard (15): A [>30]
Male Standard (15): A [>42] Barely made it
Last Year's Raw Score and Grade (14): 36, A [>30]

My glasses were falling off in the middle (about 20+) so I grabbed them and pulled them off. Not exactly very nice to my glasses but I couldn't help it. They were preventing me from doing my best because if I wore them and they were dangling from the tip of my nose, I would do my sit-ups slower to stop them from flying off my face...my glasses are straight, see, they do not curve aroud the ear at all (I wonder, did you read it that my glasses were heterosexual? Lol.).

Standing Board Jump
178cm
Female Standard (15): B ([174cm-182cm] I would have gotten an 'A' if I were 14...damn.
Male Standard (15): F [<198cm]
Last Year's Raw Score and Grade (14): 175cm, B [169cm-177cm] I'm pissed at this. 3cm more...

Inclined Pull-Ups
18
Female Standard (15): A [>16] Barely made this one as well...
Male Standard (15): NA (but it would be a 'C' for 14 year olds)
Last Year's Raw Score and Grade (14): 18, A [>16] =)

Sit and Reach
45cm
Female Standard (15): B [43cm-45cm] Just 1cm more! ><
Male Standard (15): B [43cm-45cm] Standards are the same
Last Year's Raw Score and Grad (14): 45, A [>43cm]

Shuttle Run
10.43sec
Female Standard (15): A [<11.3sec] Waaaaaaaay past 'A' (*smug smile*).
Male Standard (15): C [10.4sec-10.5sec]
Last Year's Raw Score and Grade (14): 10.7sec, A [<11.5sec]

I initially scored 11.7sec because I could not grab the wooden block (aim was off, see), so I was allowed to try again. I wasted so much of my time floundering about trying to grab the blocks I felt like an idiot! I contemplated taking my glasses off as well because they kept falling down as I ran, but decided against it because, if I did, how much worse would my aim be??? (hint: my eyesight is about 900+ degrees in each eye)

You know what? I think I could pass off as a guy quite well during NAPFA tests. =) Except for my SBJ, which would have made me FAIL, and man would I fail terribly. Their pass is 198cm! Maybe it's just because they're taller. Dang, stupid men. Why are they so tall? I'm short for a female! My SBJ distance is greater than my height by...21cm (assuming I haven't grown since the start of the year, which is a VERY sound assumption)!

Of course, knowing some people from my Primary school class, the guys probably jumped more than 40cm their height. I seem to remember Alex, whom I remember to be rather short, actually hit 200cm for SBJ in Primary school...hmm...

Ah, well, now my GOLD rests on my 2.4, which is, frankly speaking, going to be a killer. I barely made 'C' last year, and so I think I'm probably going to get a 'D' this year, which gives me a SILVER no matter how many lousy 'A's I got...darn it.

NAPFA should be tested according to height and weight, not age! Look, Rachel is taller than me, but because she is younger (birthday August) she gets to do the NAPFA test according to 14 year old standards! Damn it, why do things never go my way? I'm also below average height! This is NOT fair! If I could do it to 14 year old standards I would have gotten straight 'A's!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Darn it. What's with Singapore and her NAPFA tests?

I suppose the boys should be complaining more since their standards are WAAAY higher, but that's not quite a valid reason. I think the only thing they should complain about is the SBJ (but the guys are so tall!), or the pull-ups. 2.4km run should be rather acceptable for a healthy guy...I think. I could get above 'C' for half of their stations and I'm a girl below average height (with excess nutrition which translates into excess weight which means I can't jump as far, run as fast, sit-up as frequently, or pull-up as easily)! If I can do it, so can the guys, right?

Good luck to those who have yet to do their NAPFA 5 stations, and wish me the bestest luck in the world when it is time for my 2.4km run (10 May 2010, 15:30 @ RGS track [which is more than 400m long and of irregular shape]).

...I really need to pray for this and hope God allows me to complete my run with at least a 'C' (16:10) without wheezing like a pig in space after I have finished the run...if I ever finish the run, that is.

Argh, for once,being in Art Club isn't really paying off...spending that much time in an air-conditioned room sitting about and exercising nothing save our mouths, minds, arms and hands can't be too good for physical health, especially stamina...

IIIIIIIII
T_T (read: currently in room of gloom, do not disturb)

If you dare to suicide, I'll kill you

2010-04-24T23:28:00.004+08:00

Good morning starshine, the earth says, "Hello!"

...

...

...

...

*shivers* (think Sebastian in episode 06 of Kuroshitsuji when Greil said he wanted to have Sebastian's babies, or think Sebastian again in episode 05 when Greil sent a flying kiss his way)

Okay, that was pure nonsense. That didn't sound anything like me, not that I sound like anything. Do I even have a sound???

Speaking of sounds...

On Thursday my class did a practical for Physics and we used this wave monitoring thing to check how high (how many Hz) our voices were. My Physics teacher also told us to try making our voices as low as possible.

Know what, know what? My lowest was about 6.397 Hz and my highest about 2142.857 Hz. Those were EXTREME. I mean, my male teacher's voice is about 140 Hz and my normal voice is about 244 Hz.

Oh, if you didn't know, the lower the Hz the lower your voice/pitch, the higher the Hz the higher your voice/pitch. Apparently the lowest voice my classmates could make was about 180 Hz. Ha! I beat her by...173.603 Hz! Beat that! Well, what I did technically wasn't speaking, but who cares. I manged to produce the lowest sound by using nothing but myself, although maybe there was an error in calculation...

I think there definitely was, since the lowest sound human ears can pick up is about 20 Hz, and that's for old men and women (since they can pick up lowers sounds and can't hear really high ones, that's why there are ring tones that adults can't hear =)). I can most definitely hear the sound I am making, so...whatever. It was probably above a hundred Hz, then.

I also got a damn high 2142.857 Hz, beating most people who got 1000+ Hz, and also setting a new record for myself since the other time I tried I got 1304.348 Hz. =)

I RULE!

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! UFUFUFUFU~! KUKUKUKUKU~! YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!

You must be going: 'Whatever. What has that got to do with me? Why am I even wasting my time here?'

Well I don't blame you. You're free to go wherever to please. Which reminds me, what exactly is a 'free country' which the USA is apparently one of?

I realise that this post is very different from my other posts seeing as this one has little detail about my surroundings, what I did etc. but focuses more on bragging about achieving EXTREMEs...well, please do savour this moment as I don't think another post about nothing significant will come by soon. Heck, I don't think I'll be posting soon either, unlike AY who does...so many a month.

Anyway, I got my ballet Intermediate Foundation (Grade 6 + pointe work) results back. I got a whopping 76/100, which is great considering how lousy my pirouettes were, and how bad my stamina is. I wasn't exactly my best that day. I could have done better if I just had the balance for my pirouettes!

I am happy to say that if I had gotten as great as my other classmates did in pointe work I would probably have beaten at least one of them. *sinister laugh* but the fact still remains that my battery ran out and my performance got really horrible at the end. My barre work for exercises not en pointe were great, though, lots of As. Center without pointes weren't too bad either. It was only when we got to pointe work that I FAILED terribly. Well, that and pirouettes.

60-79 is a merit, 80-100 is a distinction, 40-59 is a pass, and <39 is a fail. Go figure.

The first thing I noticed when I received the exam marks sheet was a '76' staring back at me, the next was: "That's a pass" and the next was likely: "That's a 3.6 GPA."

I think I've gone crazy from the exams. To think that I would equate my ballet grades to GPAs...darn. I must be crazy, definitely crazy...

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! UFUFUFUFUFU~! KUKUKUKUKU~!

Yup. Crazy.

You're gonna have a hard time convincing me otherwise.

Good luck dealing with me when you next see me.

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! UFUFUFUFUFU~! KUKUKUKUKU~!

Hi.

BYE.

HI.

Bye.

Oh whatever. I'm gonna sleep.

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! UFUFUFUFUFU~! KUKUKUKUKU~!

Abolition of a Federation

2010-03-16T09:16:00.002+08:00

AAARRRGGGHHH!

*tries to catch breath*

Okay, I know it's not very nice to start the first post in a long long time with a blood curdling scream (oh the cliched term...).

Anyway, yesterday will be the last time I put on contacts for 2 years. At least, I hope it will be. Contacts aren't exactly the best because it feels REALLY weird to have something in your eye but not feel it there. It's also very uncomfortable to look up and not see things blurrily as they usually are when you wear spectacles (and looking up means looking at things without the help of your glasses).

Oh, you must be wondering WHY on EARTH am I wearing contacts. Right.

This may sound unbelievable, but...I just took my ballet exam yesterday.

DON'T LAUGH. DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH.

If you do I'll rip your head apart and dislocate your shoulders. I'd gouge out your eyeballs and pluck out your tongue. I'll put you in a frilly pink dress (regardless of gender) and apply heavy pink make-up on you.

DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH.

Okay, now that I'm done threatening you, I'll proceed to 'documenting' my experience.

*sweet smile* (shiver at my sadism! MUAHAHAHA!)

So yeah. DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH.

The examiner (Mrs. Derby) was very nice. Too nice. She made the exam seem like not an exam at all. She corrected our mistakes and allowed us another chance to do the exercise again, properly this time, and she also made small talk with us! That was just weird.

Also, before the exam officially started, she asked if she could take a photo with us to put in the magazine BBO (British Ballet Organisation) published since she thought it'd be nice to have a photo of Singaporean ballet dancers. So...okay...

I'm pretty sure my pirouettes were HORRIBLY done. Pirouette = turns, go figure. My balance yesterday was fantastic! Fantastically horrendous, that is. *runs to room of gloom* I stumbled on EVERY turn en diagonal. Which was half the pirouette exercises. My left side would have been better but NOOOO, she made us do only on the right side...AAARRRGGGHHH!

Now you know why I screamed that 'blood curdling' scream.

I think my presentation was okay, but I forgot to smile. I remember one exercise where I did it close to perfection (or what my idea is of perfection) and I smiled at the examiner (Mrs. Derby) who smiled back at me. I was like: SHE ENJOYED THIS EXERCISE! YES~! I"M GONNA GET A HIGH SCORE FOR THIS ONE!

Of course, point is, the exercise probably didn't have a very large weightage...

NOOOOOOO!

This year's exam was horribly done, and my breathing was so loud I'm sure Mrs. Derby heard it all the way from the front of the room. I can't help it! I was really out of breath. Funny thing is, I never felt out of breath during an exercise but am ALWAYS out of breath when NOT doing an exercise. I'm so strange. I think I came from planet XE1957356. The people there all have my face and body type. What's to say I don't belong there?

Okay...冷笑话...

But honestly, I think I'm really strange.

My pointe work was okay, but a little unsteady during echappe to second...or whatever that was called. I know it's an echappe something but I'm not sure what. My emboittes weren't too nice either, but I like my paccouru, whatever it's spelt.

Of course, my morale dropped really low when Mrs. Derby pointed out that it should be the front edge of our pointe shoes that are worn out, not our back, which made me really O.o because my back edge was the REALLY worn out part.

-.-"

Honestly, after the exam, I felt as if my grade would be a bare pass or low merit... *wails*

Okay...enough of self-pity.

I'm sure some people already know I lost my camera on Thursday and my bag strap broke (not so much broke as 'detached from bag') on Friday. I was really having a terrible Learning Journey week.

The camera cost about S$400, and my father said that if I couldn't find it he'd deduct this sum from my pocket money. However, the most devastating thing was that the camera held ALL the photos I'd taken from Dairy Farm Quarry, Singapore Quarry AND the ACM, all of which I need for Geography and English AAs!

NOOOOOO!

Luckily, I found it on Saturday morning. I had thought it was lost forever! I thought I hadn't even brought it home! I was really pissed on Thursday night when I searched for it high and low and couldn't find it.

Finding the camera on Saturday was, really, nothing more than a fluke. I woke up late, as usual, and tossed around in bed for a while, enjoying the last few minutes of in bed time, when I rolled to near the edge of my bed and opened my eyes to the things around me. There, in front of me, was my camera, buried under a small cushion I left beside my bed.

I was all: WHAT??? YOU MEAN I WASTED SO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY 2 DAYS AGO TO FIND THE CAMERA AND NOW I FOUND IT JUST BY WAKING UP?!?!?

But of course, you can imagine that I was rather pleased with myself for finding it. Well, I was pleased with God, that is, but I was also a little angry at Him. I mean, He made me expend so much energy searching for the camera only to give it to me as I wake up one bright and sunny Saturday morning.

Can somebody say 'WHAT?!?'

Honestly, the nerve of Him to play around like this... *pulls a long face and sticks tongue out at God*

I was so worried too!

A Bloody Trident

2010-02-16T22:10:00.003+08:00

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is an AWESOME movie!

If anyone likes Greek Mythology carried over into the modern world, this is the show to watch. I've yet to see a fantasy movie with as much reference to the modern world as this one! Of course, this may be due to the fact that I DON"T watch movies often. The whole moderness actually makes it stand out from the other fantasy shows I've watched (eg. Harry Potter).

I liked the whole concept although since it was a movie it had to be presented in brief which made the movie a bit to fast for my taste as there wasn't enough time for character and skill development before the whole action begins (which makes people wonder 'Is Percy Jackson a natural fighter with a sword?').

Maybe if this were a series there'd be more chances for development and everything won't be too rushed.

The computer graphics are fantastic, other than the ones that make humans seem as if they've been grabbed by horribly large monsters (those scenes looked particularly fake). The monsters looked, real enough and the mixed breeds? The best! I especially liked the effects of rushing water swirling to the command of Percy Jackson, but I kept wondering if the actor's ever felt stupid doing the grand gestures without any effects. I know I will.

The romance was...extremely unnecessary. It didn't play any particularly important role in the plot which meant that it was, frankly, a bit redundant. If they wanted to include romance, make it important, if not leave it out completely. Look, people actually do get tired when the protagonist falls in love with his beautiful comrade and they hook up in the end without any rhyme or reason.

Also, what's with making the African American kid a side-kick who seems to be there just for the kicks? Of course, he actually does make some significant contribution, but nothing that can't be done by someone else (eg. the protagonist's comrade whom he later hooks up with). Gee, can't they just break this whole thing? I mean, Danny Phantom's like that, American Dragon: Jake Long's also like that (but the protagonist DIDN"T fall in love with his female comrade). I think many people can name shows with this kind of trio.

That aside, I can't complain about the whole 'son of Poseidon' concept because that actually appeals to me since I've always dreamed of having some weird elemental powers (or really, any kind of super power will do, just not something like superstrength which isn't very cool at all).

Overall, this show's quite like Harry Potter (well duh, it's directed by the guy who did 'Philosopher's Stone') but with a Greek mythological twist to it which I thoroughly enjoy. Though concepts like 'half-blood' are similar they actually have a slightly different implication, so that's alright.

You should definitely watch this show.

I watched it today at 16:10 with my family. It ended at 18:20, and I just love that very Medusa ending. ;)

I JUST GOT WATER BAPTISED!

2010-01-31T21:07:00.004+08:00

I have just been water baptised, and it feels great! Well, a very mild great. I suppose the magnitude of what I had gone through has not yet sank it.

It was about 14:30 or something that I got baptised. The water was freaking hot! It was full immersion, by the way, not just some sprinkling of water which some churches practise.

The baptism included a public sharing of testimony so I was REALLY terrified. I am VERY afraid of standing before a bunch of people and speaking to them (doesn't matter if they're not listening to me anyway).

Yeah, so I was really anxious and nervous and I could feel my heart thumping against my ribcage really quickly. I was very tense as well and as well aware as I was of that fact I couldn't relax at all. It was a VERY important point of my life and I couldn't even enjoy it!

So when my name was called (pronounced wrongly too, I might add) I walked up to the podium at the front of the stage, literally clutching my printed testimony in my hands. I laid it on the stand and picked up the mike (I'M ACTUALLY HOLDING A MIKE! [I feel so deprived...]). I started by introducing myself:

I'm Rachelle (pronounced CORRECTLY) and I'm from Upper Sec.

And then I launched into my testimony very nervously, although I suppose my voice sounded too calm to be true. I wasn't even thinking then. I was just reading off the paper like a robot with perfect pronounciation (ego...).

Anyway, when I was finished (and very relieved) I turned to Pastor Andy (who was calling our names) and either put the mike down or gave it to him (I can't remember). Pastor Andy started speaking and I thought I had to remain for a while, but he gestured for me to go, I didn't get the message, so I left only after a very noticable hesitation.

I was SO embarrassed.

When I walked toward the baptism pool in the middle of the stage (when did that get there?) this guy signalled for me to hand him my spectacles. As all of you know I'm very much blind without my glasses (900 degrees each eye, which means I can only see vague shapes), so when the guy gestured as someone else when I passed him my printed testimony (you can't be expecting me to bring it into the pool...) I was pretty much lost, until a few seconds later (which must look very stupid to everyone since they don't know about my terrible eyesight).

I entered the pool, very shocked at the high temperature (even though one of my church friend who has already been baptised last year told me that the pool was warm [warm my foot...it was freaking hot!]), and looked to Pastor Darrick for further instructions. He told me to face the other way, so I did and he ended up on my left. He then told me to pinch my nose and place my free hand on my other elbow.

He prayed for me, and in the middle of it I felt like crying (it is a sign of the touch of the holy spirit, not one of absolute terror and cowardice). I actually did, but it wasn't very obvious. Before it did become obvious I was asked if I would...something. I forgot. I think it was 'covenant' something or something else along those lines.

I answered 'yes' in a very hushed voice (I was crying, remember?) and the pastor said something else and let me fall backward into the pool before pulling me back up. I felt like falling (well duh, that's what it was). I don't remember much, but when I came back up I wiped my face with my hands and Pastor Darrick told me to look into the camera.

Seeing as I was really blind I stared at the wrong camera until the pastor told me to look elsewhere. I couldn't see the camera, but I could make out a vaguely human shape so I looked there (although it took me a while to identify it as human/the camerawoman). I smiled really big (or what I think is really big) and the camera flashed.

Then I got out of the pool and someone handed me the big green IKEA towel I passed to one of the people earlier. Gee, I'm not sure how to explain all this to you guys. I expected to be really cold out of the water but I remained fairly warm. It was quite surprising, considering how cold the temperature was inside the L4 Chapel.

I went to change immediately. You can't expect me to be wandering around like a walking rain cloud, can you? After changing I met my mother outside the toilet. My mother was carrying a camera pouch (there was a camera inside, of course). She said to go home.

I was panicking, somehow, because I think there'll be a reception later where the water baptism candidates will pick up their certificates, so I told her that the people told us to stay until the end, which they did. So we stayed till the end. Oh, before we returned to the Chapel somebody came up to us to ask if we had a spare towel since one girl didn't bring hers. My mother passed the dry towel.

The towel was returned via the same person with a message of thanks mid-way through the rest of the baptism service. Once every water baptism candidate has been baptised, Pastor Andy informed the congregation to go to the reception at L4 Summit. My mother said that she'd buy me something from Funky B (a Christian bookshop at L1) to commemorate my baptism.

My mother and I were the first few people to arrive at the Summit so we ate first. Gosh, the cream puff was fantastic (even though it was kinda small)! There was so much powered sugar on the surface and the cream inside was DELICIOUS! What a sweet treat!

Since was came first we also decided to leave first (in case Funky B closed). On our way out I saw Pastor Darrick (District pastor) passing a water baptism candidate his certificate, so I waited until the candidate received his to ask for mine from Pastor Darrick. I was carrying a ton of stuff so when he offered so shake my hand after passing me my certificate I couldn't do anything! So he grabbed the hand that was carrying one huge plastic bag (of wet clothes and towels) and one metal bottle and shook it.

Lol. =D

We went down to Funky B and to our great happiness, it was open. We entered and looked around. Funky B sold shirts, you see, and when I saw one of the designs I immediately knew it was what I wanted. It was SO COOL!

We didn't see any of the design on the rack so my mother suggested we ask the counter guy. We didn't do that until a while later though, when we had browsed through the fairly small shop. The guy said that there was stock (THANK GOD!) and brough out a size S which was supposed to be able to fit women. We bought that one.

I'm not going to disclose the design. It's a SECRET.

The shirt is the first shirt I own that declares that I'm a Christian, so if you see me wearing a shirt that just screams "CHRISTIAN!" you know that's the one I bought. =)

Now looking back I suppose I could have used a different testimony, since the one I had wasn't exactly spectacular (but what I felt was most appropriate in addressing the hesitance of people in applying for water baptism). Many of the other candidates talked about their exams...

The one I used was how God gave me the courage (that I had lost since graduating Primary school) to be brave enough to apply for baptism even though I know I have to share a testimony to a crowd. As I stated before at the beginning, I ABSOLUTELY FEAR speaking to crowds.

I have 2 other ideas for testimonies though, but one of them is pretty spontaneous.

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

1. During the 2009 December holidays my family went on a trip to Europe. Nearing the end of the trip Eurostar, the major transport between European countries, broke down. We were in Paris and needed to get to London to catch our flight from London to Singapore in 2 days. We had a fairly blur tour guide so I was quite worried that we might be unable to get home before Christmas.

I prayed to God the night when we had to stay back in Paris for another day, and God answered my prayers by giving us an alternative route: the sea. Our very blur tour guide got a refund for our Eurostar tickets and bought us cruise tickets to London instead.

There was also another problem. It snowed a lot in Europe and some airports had to close down and many flights cancelled or delayed. I was afraid that OUR flight might get cancelled/delayed, but that didn't happen. We were right on schedule and returned home safe and sound with me vowing never to complain about the heat of Singapore ever again.

2. Today my father has to leave for a meeting which begins at 15:00 (3 p.m.) and since my name began with the letter 'R' I was worried that he might have to leave before my turn since the service begins and 14:00 (2 p.m.) and 'R' was fairly near the end of the alphabet. I wanted him to be there to witness this important point in my life.

I was very relieved, however, when I found out that I would be the 5th to be baptised which would mean it was highly likely that I would be baptised before he had to leave at around 14:30 (2.30 p.m.). It turned out that he was able to, and right now he's over there *points to father and smiles*.

----------

How were they?

I guess God has done a lot of wonders in my life recently, and to God be all the glory for giving me the courage to overcome this fear of mine.

Praise the Lord!

Would you like a brief summary of my Saturday?

I woke up at about 07:15 and my mother sent me to AMK MRT station where I took the MRT (duh) to Woodlands MRT Station where I met up with Chun Hui. The rest of the SL group came later. We're taking over Project Grease, by the way.

Moira was really late so we headed for wherever we're supposed to head to first. There was nobody. The Masiling Sec students were a little late, but I guess that was okay since they had a lot of people and had to bring a lot of things (not to mention more than half of them were guys...*shiver*...I haven't been in the same room with so many guys in close proximity in...2-3 years...).

So we officially started knocking on doors and asking for participants at 09:15. Mel and I were with a Malay guy called 'Iskandar' or something and another Chinese girl (Iskandar's such a cool name! It sounds like something from Lord of the Rings!). We were supposed to be observing them, but I took some stats about who agreed to participate in Project Grease as active contributors of used cooking oil.

You know, when Mel and the Chinese girl from Marsiling spoke in Chinese addressing the issue of used cooking oil, they used the cheem words for it so no one understood. I butted in saying '用过的油' which the people understood and Mel turned to me and said, "Wah, your Chinese very good ar!"

I was like..."-.- "It's not good, it's just very simple. Every one understands simple language, and only knowing how to speak simple language isn't actually very good..." Every chuckled a bit, even the guy (who was the poor thing carrying the oil collection container which became very heavy later on when one household filled it to the brim when adding their oil to the previous collections which totalled half a bottle).

Lol.

After the whole collection was over and done with we took a group photo with the Marsiling students and then a group photo of our SL group (which includes Chun Hui, Moira, Mel, 2 Rachels, and 1 me). We headed for Causeway Point since some people wanted to have lunch there and for others it was near the MRT station. For me...well, I just wanted to shop for AY's birthday present.

I found the Comics Connection (or something) that Rachel 1 told me about earlier. I spent 15-30 min just searching for a Gokudera something! I mean, there must have been about 50 Hibari items and only 2 Gokudera ones! Talk about imbalance!

After finding her gift I left for home, although I must have looked a bit weird, wearing a the RGS130 shirt into a comic shop...lol.

I had lunch at home, then a few hours of rest before leaving for...something I can't tell you about.

I left early from that event I can't tell you about and returned home to prepare for ballet (I can practically feel your skeptical gazes...) and then left for ballet class which ended at 21:30.

What a day...

I didn't get to sleep in a single day in...2 weeks!

But the water baptism made up for that... =D

Reality vs. Real

2009-11-28T15:13:00.002+08:00

You know what I just realised? I figured before I watch the MV of a Japanese song I might like it, but after the MV I most probably wouldn't. Somehow it doesn't really look very appealing to have more than 3 guys stand on a stage (anything would do, like the ledge of a railing) and sing in unision (or even sing at all). It's kind of detering...

Yeah, so maybe they have flawless skin or perfectly sculptured features, but I guess having so many guys just singing makes them seem a little redundant. It's becoming more like a choir instead of a band/group. It's messy AND boring. They're all just standing around swaying to the music or staring up at the sky with some sort of morose expression that tells you that they've just lost the love of their lives (in the MV, of course).

How typical.

Hey, I actually find it fun to think about why I dislike boy bands that don't seem to know how to play a single instrument. It's quite entertaining and helps me improve my critical analysis skills. Maybe I should be a band critic when I grow up, not that I'd be any good at it but it's fun.

Lead singers generally are the popular ones in a band, but when you have 5 or more of them and no one sitting behind a drum set making cool gestures with the drumsticks or jamming on the guitar while in a cool stance it makes the whole MV look dull.

I've seen a few Japanese MVs and a number of them just show the band members aimlessly wandering the busy streets, reading a score sheet and strumming a guitar casually (not according to the song), trying (and sometimes failing hilariously) to get a sock or some other garment on, studying so hard for a test they end up exhausted etc. It's boring the way they focus on meaningless actions or do not tell a story.

たいくつ。(Can't convert this to kanji on blogger.)

Can you believe people actually spit good money to buy those MVs? You can find them anywhere!

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about that.

Wait.

Actually I am, but that's not the main reason I started this post.

Hang on a moment while I get my message ready.

Here goes.

I GOT MY H1N1 JAB TODAY (because I'm going to Europe in 2 weeks).

Ouch.

My mother delayed the jabs twice already. Once was because the doctor said that the H1N1 jabs for children might be given the green light soon. Twice was because my father didn't get home early enough.

It's a bit annoying, really.

You know when my family entered the doctor's room to get the jab I was afraid. Really afraid. I have a phobia (a serious phobia) for anything that might cause physical pain, so I feared the jab greatly. I saw the doctor open a mini refrigerator and take out 5 boxes which I assumed to be the vaccines (1 dose per box).

My parents wanted me to go first and I was: "NO WAY."

So my father did. He sat in the chair and placed his arm on the table. The doctor took out a dose from the box and stuck it into my father's left arm. When it was done, the doctor pressed a compact piece of cotton wool to my father's arm and he got up and walked to beside me to lean against a bed. He said it didn't hurt. I was skeptical about it.

My mother then asked me to go next, which elicited a "NO THANKS" expression from me.

So my mother did. She sat on the chair and let the doctor give her the vaccine. When the needle pierced her skin (at least, when I thought it did) my mother made this slightly sour face and my father asked, "Pain meh?" to which my mother nodded.

Then being the brave person I was, I sat on the chair of doom next.

While dreading the pain, I looked away. I felt the needle alright. I felt its coldness enter my skin and the digging its way down. I felt the sudden influx of matter (vaccine) into my arm which felt a little like rapid swelling and feared that my skin would explode (of course it didn't, but you know, in these kinds of situations you tend to think of the worst case scenarios). All the time I wasn't relaxing my muscles at all. So much for the doctor telling me to relax...

I was given the small wad of cotton wool and my brother was next. He didn't look the least perturbed by the fact that he was going to have a foreign object stuck into his arm! I am in awe of him. His poker face was PERFECT. Anyway, so he got up and my sister was the last one.

She had this 'I am extremely afraid and horrified and want to shrink back into the walls' expression on her face, but she got the jab anyway. Then when everything was done the doctor gave us the 'H1N1 Vaccinated' cards so that we can show people we have been vaccinated if we are suspected to be carriers of the virus.

I threw the wad away in the end, and all that was on it was a small pin prick of yellow substance (pus, I think). I was freaked out.

We were all a little lightheaded when we left the room (not sure if it was a side effect or just some psychological thing) so we rested for a while then headed to breakfast (my brother, sister and I) while my parents went to the ATM machine to withdraw the fee.

Breakfast was great. I had 1 chicken bao and 1 cup of iced milo, my sister had some nasi lemak looking thing and a cup of iced milo too while my brother went for economic noodles and coffee. My parents both had black carrot cake but my father had an additional black coffee.

Then we looked around some places for pants (I seem to be lacking some) and went home.

Tada.

You have my day in the palm of your hands.

I mean.

Neurons in your heads.

Grain of the Cross

2009-11-22T23:04:00.004+08:00

I BOUGHT 17 MORE PRINCE OF TENNIS MANGA!

So yeah, it cost a lot, but it's my Christmas AND birthday presents added together.

I'm still missing 9 books, but I'm happy enough right now.

Anyway, my days are pretty boring. I mean, what can you do at home during the holidays except sleep, use the computer, eat, use the computer again, read, use the computer, bathe, sleep etc.?

So yeah.

Recently I picked up watching drama online, the latest series being 'Gokusen'. You might know that if you've read my previous post.

It all started on Tuesday (the day after I bought the 17 tankouban) when I decided to do my homework on 'Prince of Tennis' and find out more about the series. I came across this bit in Wikipedia that informed me that there was something called 'The Prince After School', so I went to check it out on Google.

I found Rycolaa, a scanlation site where I downloaded 'The Prince After School' and also browsed for some interesting things to download, and I came across 'Godhand Teru'. I could only find the later chapters on Rycolaa so I went to search Google for the rest.

The results I got were disappointing, to say the least, but then I came across a link to a drama called 'Godhand Teru'. Being the naturally inquisitive (...alright, nosy) person I am, I clicked on the link.

It led to the website www.animecrazy.net where it hosted the drama. I watched the first quarter of the first episode, then the second quarter, the third quarter, the last quarter, the next episode...and you can guess how it ended.

HOWEVER (bet you didn't see that coming).

There was an error in episode 2 so I searched Google to find an alternative website that hosted episode 2, and guess what I found? www.dramacrazy.net! From there I looked into the length of Japanese drama and found 'Boss', a fantastic detective drama that focused on an odd group of police men and women struggling for recognition (in a sense). I can't believe I forgot to recommend this! ARGH.

Also from this website I found Gokusen, and here I am, quite mad about the series. You can say I quite like Sawada Shin's personality. It kinda screams: "I MAY LOOK LIKE A TOTAL ASS BUT I CARE FOR MY FRIENDS, CAN FIGHT, AND ACTUALLY DO WELL IN EXAMS" or something. I've always had a thing for this kind of contradicting personalities...

That aside, I found out the Sawada Shin's actor was Matsumoto Jun, a member of the boy band Arashi that Fish (HuiXian) and Nikki (I think) (and perhaps many more) were nuts about. I went to check out the band on YouTube to see if Matsumoto was as cool as Sawada was and perhaps as cool a singer as he looks, but guess what I found?

Arashi is...pretty bad, I should say. Perhaps I just found the wrong videos to watch, but their voices were flat. Ma, I was expecting so much better from Sawada's actor. Matsumoto didn't even look cool! Okay, so maybe it's wrong of me to expect an actor to be EXACTLY identical to his character, but it just looked so odd...

I mean, if you first watched Gokusen THEN watched the music videos (or whatnot), it's a bit...weird, I guess. The band gets boring after a few watches, though the music video of 'Love So Sweet' is just hilarious! Well, I think it's hilarious anyway... I was just browsing the more popular songs so I get a rough idea of what Arashi is all about, but I'll see to it that I'll never become their fan. They're fairly static.

I'm guessing the band is targeting the teenage female audience? Because frankly, I think they're the kind who are picked because they have a pretty face and, uh, talent to dance hip hop. The dance steps are so similar from music video to music video, and dancing as a group of boys is just plain...gay.

...I'm using the word gay a lot lately. Must break the habit...(I'm being reprimanded on my tagbox for using 'gay' and such derogatory terms on Mr. Toh...yikes...)

I think I've spent enough time evaluating the band, but just one piece of advice to people in bands: Please, PLEASE try to make some variation in voice qualities. All of Arashi's songs have pretty straight voices, no thick or thin, loud or soft, harsh or tender. It sounds like all the band members are either yelling or singing with the mike at 10 meters away...so strained...

Drama Recommendation (II)

2009-11-22T22:41:00.006+08:00

Title: Gokusen (Shortened form of 'Gangster Teacher' in Japanese)
Genre: Comedy, School
Length: 12 Episodes + 1 Special Episode

Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) is the 4th generation heir of the Oeda family, a prominant Yakuza (gangster) group. Her dream is to be a teacher and she lands the job at the age of 23. Her view of a teacher-student relationship is idealistic, until she meets the class she is in charge of: 3-D of Shirokin Gakuen.

Sawada Shin (Matsumoto Jun) is the lazy leader of the delinquent class 3-D of Shirokin Gakuen. His grades are well above average and the reason he is enrolled in the 'hopeless and troublesome class of 3-D' is the fact that he punched a teacher from his previous school.

Class 3-D is a class of 'rotten apples' filled with students who have dyed hair and sloppy uniforms, but Yamaguchi Kumiko believes she can make a change in them. The students of class 3-D, most prominantly Sawada Shin, Uchiyama Haruhiko (Oguri Shun), Kumai Teruo (Waki Tomohiro), Noda Takeshi (Narimiya Hiroki) and Minami Yoichi (Ishigaki Yuma), gain respect for the quirky teacher because of her devotion to them and even gave her a nickname: Yankumi.

Drama Recommendation (I)

2009-11-18T12:16:00.007+08:00

Title: Godhand Teru
Genre: Medicinal
Length: 6 Episodes

An adaptation of 'Godhand Teru'.

Mahigashi Teru lost his father in a plane crash 18 years ago. His father was Mahigashi Kousuke, a world renowned doctor. As his father tried desperately to resuscitate Teru he died when a flying shard hit him in the back.

Teru's life was saved, but a red imprint of his father's palm was left on his chest.

18 years later Mahigashi Teru begins his internship with Yasuda Memorial Hospital, affectionately dubbed 'Valhalla', a mythological residence of gods, signifying that the hospital employs doctors of high quality.

On the first day of work, Teru arrives late due to an unexpected delay, and not only was he slow in his assistance during surgeries his skills appear insufficient to provide medical treatment. Everyone begins to call him 'Clumsy Teru'.

His instructor, Kitami, has great doubts about Teru's employment in Valhalla but the director of the hospital, Yasuda Jyunji, believes that within Teru dwells an ability that awakens in the most dire of situations - the Godhand, passed from Kousuke to his son.

Water on the Moon

2009-11-14T13:47:00.003+08:00

Look, if you think I'm lying, go to Google and click on its logo (which should be 'Google' with a moon for one of the 'o's) and check out the first result.

Or you can just click here or here.

THERE IS WATER ON THE MOON!

I mean, I haven't really thought about this all since it was general consensus the moon was bone dry but there is water on the moon, and gallons of it!

Wow.

It's like life has been given to the fantastically grey satellite that orbits the Earth. Fascinating.

This was discovered yesterday and it shook the whole world! Well, the part of it that heard the news about the existence of water on the moon anyway.

It's almost as if mankind has reached the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. What an unbelievable breakthrough for science (astronomy)!

Great. It's Friday the 13th. AGAIN!

2009-11-13T22:17:00.002+08:00

Yup, just a short post to emphasise on the day and date today.

I won't be writing about my day, but you should know that it didn't register that today was Friday the 13th until Rani's Jazz Performance thing when Miss Rani mentioned it. I was like O.o: "Since when?!"

Anyway, just another short thing about the Rani Jazz Performance: I would bet so much that a great number of students were staring at the double bass player. Can't blame them, cuz I was too! I mean, look at his obviously anime hair! Okay, madness about anime comes into play...but did you see the way he plucked the strings so often? Ouch. That's gotta hurt.

The drummer was pretty good, though I would like them to have a much larger drum set (I mean, they only had one drum, 1 cymbal, and 1 set of...clanging things that look like cymbals pressed together) which in turn would produce a much more interesting beat than just a few taps at different areas of the drum.

Ooh, I like the guitar, but the guitarist just looked plain disheveled and shabby. Vomit coloured t-shirt with jeans. That just screams: "I LIVE ON THE STREETS!" I'm sure he doesn't, but he looks the part. If you put him beside his bandmates he'd just look like a rose among thorns...wait, wrong simile...I mean thorn amongst roses. I wonder what kind of guitar he used. It sounded much more muted than the normal. His name is Andrew, and there's a Joe somewhere but I can't remember who or the last guy's name...

Miss Rani was FANTASTIC! So she didn't appear that good at first, but it turned out great in the end, though I find the Jazz remix version of our school song a bit weird. Did you hear how out of beat 'Life lies before us/Here's luck to the start' sounded? Other than that, it was great, but I suppose we could have put in more enthusiasm, since, afterall, she is our senior...sort of.

Look at the difference in screaming and yelling between the Jazz Performance and the surprise performance (especially when Mr. Joseph Toh is around)! Okay, I'd admit that most of the screaming was due to students fangirling about Mr. Toh and you shouldn't be doing that to Miss Rani since that would be really, really wrong, but still! Mr. Toh sings quite well, but the other singer (well, 1 of 3) was pretty good too, though I heard he's pretty shy. He even wore a cap to rehearsals (so I heard from Mel Tham).

While Mr. Toh wriggles (that's what it looks like from the back of the hall) shamelessly on stage, the other teacher just stands there quietly singing his part. Perhaps, if the other teacher was just as 'handsome' or 'charismatic' as Mr. Toh, he might have been much more popular, since his voice is just wonderful.

You know, one can't help but compare Mr. Toh with Adam Lambert (1st runner-up [I think] of The American Idol 2009), but I gave up making the list since there were so many similarities. It'd be much easier collating their differences...

If I were to make a list of how they're similar:
1. Screams high notes
2. Acts unbelievably gay
3. Has at least on fan club (official or non-official)
4. Is not Chinese (at least, not a full one)
etc.

See? You can continue the list if you want to, but I believe most of their similarities revolve around the fact that they are NOT normal.

...I think I digressed. I wasn't supposed to talk about my day. Oh well, here's a summary since I've already started.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! *screams in background with joyful music playing*

I stole 5 marshmallows, 2 cookies and 3 garlic breads from 211. *licks lips*

OUR CLASS WON THE BEST CONCEPT SEC 2 CLASS (technically another class also got the same prize but let's forget about this fact, okay?)! *holds up prize (eye mask) proudly*
Best Concept = Decorations and miscellaneous stuff fit snugly with the decided theme (210: Willy Wonka's Winter Wonderland)

I got tricked into waiting for Miss Tay to come and dismiss us after she has seen our classroom and deemed its state of clealiness 'passable'. She never came. I dismissed myself at 13:00. *yells angrily at the sky hoping Miss Tay would receive my fury via satellite*

MY SORE THROAT IS ALMOST GONE! *screams until sore throat relapses abruptly*

I have developed a runny nose instead. It's likely it's my body's way of getting rid of the bacteria via mucus flood but it's still uncomfortable. *sniff*

...

Aw shucks. I'm ranting again. About my day. Aren't I such a delightful hypocrite? Sue me.

Bye then.

I'm Lying.

2009-10-16T22:45:00.011+08:00

It's been...how long...since I've last posted.

I'll admit blogging is losing its appeal currently. Perhaps I'll use it as a way to pass time during the holidays...

Anyway, I'm here to list down a few nice tid-bits about my life for the past month or so.

1) 03 October 2009

I celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with most of my extended family from my father's side. I think it began just before I returned from my ballet lessons (oh, go on, laugh at the fact that I actually do learn BALLET). When I arrived home there was food spread all over the shoe shelf. Actually the shoe shelf itself was not so much as shelf as a cupboard about waist (don't you guys ever find it funny that people can actually mix up 'waist' with 'waste'?) high.

After a hearty dinner (with lots and lots of Singapore curry which my mother made NOT spicy just because I couldn't stand it. Don't I just feel special?) we had games that spanned for at least an hour...or two. I can't really remember, but I do know that I left mid-way to bathe. It was a game that took turns.

*GAME*

There was a board and a white board. The board listed categories and question numbers, while the white board recorded scores (using stickers...). Anyway, the 'hosts' of the game were my father's youngest brother and his wife. They held the answers in their palms (papers, I mean). So we picked a question, then they would read to us the question, and if we answer correctly, 2 points. Answer wrongly, 0. If it's the rebound, then 1 point for being correct and -1 for being wrong...

*GAME*

The prize was 10 tickets to the movies, and my family won *grins*. Oh, did I mention we were playing by immediate families? E.g. My father, mother, me and my siblings on one team, my aunt and her husband and their kids in another etc.

2) EXAMS

I myself am not exactly sure when they began...or ended. All I know is that I probably failed my Chinese again (damn, my parents will be so pissed. They had even hired a tutor!) and my English is a very likely fail. So's my English Literature, if I should grade myself. I just hope my PT didn't get too low, it's my only hope. Math...well, if I get a 60% I'm fine already. I mean, I can't expect too much. I failed 1st term and got about 25/40 for term 2 and 3.

I don't think I want to ponder on such depressing issues any more.

3) 15 October 2009

The night before I received a call from someone called Bernice (I have no idea who that is but she called herself House-Captain or something) that I have shot-put and javelin the next day at about 14:30. I was so...annoyed. I thought they were on the 14th. Thing is, I didn't check the schedule earlier so when I did at about 17:00 on the 14th I thought that both shot-put and javelin events were over (blame the really weird division thingums. I don't know which one I am in!). So I very moodily went to school on the 15th.

Oh, have I yet mentioned that 14th-16th was marking day so there was no school?

Yeah, so anyway, before I left home I did my usual 'workout' or whatever you call it. 55 sit-ups, 65 female standard press-ups and 40 laps around my living room (which, trust me, isn't too large to begin with. About 15m per round). I did that in preparation for the shot-put event. I mean, you need muscle strength for that, right? So I thought I'd just get my arm muscles working!

I arrived very early. It's not like I had much to do at home anyway. So I waited at the mini-amphi until, what, 15:00. They told us to assemble at 14:30! I was way earlier than 14:30 (okay, so maybe 10 minutes wasn't 'way earlier', but still)!

After a very hectic attendence taking when I learnt that C2 (I also learnt that I belonged to C2) javelin event was yesterday, we trudged down to the shot-put area to...well, do shot-put. We had 10 participants so we had to do a preliminary round to eliminate participants to simply 8. Just before my trial run (which I ended up DQing) the lightning alert started blaring. I was glad, until Sophia informed me that we had to return on another day if it was cancelled today. I pulled a long face. Black face. Ugly face. Whatever.

Didja know that Kimberly from 202 was doing shot-put too?

Anyway, we returned to the mini-amphi to await further instructions, where Sophia, Kimberly, I and some friend of Kimberly's (whose name I didn't ask for) tried to 'cheer' ourselves up and entertain ourselves with 'Your Mama' jokes. I remember the one that went 'Your mama so fat the photo I took of her 20 years ago is still printing'. I liked that one. XD

The teachers said that if we didn't get the green light before 16:30 we would be sent home, so I hoped, and hoped hard. I wanted to pray, but things just got in my way. We were finally able to go out at 15:00.

We decided on a 3 shots at one go basis. Oh, by the way, now there were only 8 participants left, so we didn't do a preliminary round. I think 2 of the participants had Arts Fest practice to attend to. It went pretty quickly, and Sophia was one of the first to go because she had discus later.

I really couldn't be bothered to listen to my scores. All I know is that I got all above 5m, which is a great achievement for me. =D I'm not sure what I got last year, but this should be better...if it isn't...well, go look for me in the corner of despair.

I ended up talking to Kimberly for the rest of the 'competition', and only looked up when the teacher (Mrs. Wee) said she was going to relesase the results. Kimberly was moaning about getting last position, but that went to someone else and we all heaved a sigh of relief (what a P1 phrase...). Anyway, following, she announced another name that wasn't 'Kimberly' and we cheered again. Sadly, this was found to be an error in calculation which resulted in Kimberly being 7th ranked.

I really couldn't be bothered to listen to the rest of the rankings, but I was expecting myself pretty soon, and by soon I meant REALLY soon. I continued listening and found out that Sophia clinched 5th position (and she got that too for discus as I found out after an hour or two of waiting). Sophia tried to copy the champion's method of throwing (which when properly done could end up 8.89m away) but I yelled my disapproval, earning many pointed glares for 'discouraging' a fellow competitor. I then justified myself by telling her to used her own method. Things never really work as well for one person as it does for another.

Mentally whooping for joy that I had beaten Sophia, the girl with incredible muscle mass, I waited for my name to be announced next. Imagine my (and Kimberly's) utter surprise when it didn't, and I learnt I came in 3rd! I mean, 5.47m (I can't really remember, so take this for the time being) can't really be 3rd, can it? The RGS standard must be awfully low.

Before announcing the top 3 placings the teacher (Mrs. Wee) said that there were prizes. They were nothing more than ribbons of appropriate colour (gold, silver, bronze) with tags at the back indicating name, sport and placing, though they didn't write my name...

After this I left immediately to watch Sophia embarrass herself on the discus field. It was a boring wait for her turn so we tried to come up with more 'Yo Mama' jokes (albeit failing terribly). Her first trial was good with an entirely steady discus throw.

We had to wait some more after her trials. She was placed 8th, so she got to enter the finals. Oh, did I mention that I asked Sophia to hang on to my name tag before shot-put? Yeah, so I had to wait for her (though I could just sneak it from her bag, not that she'd ever know...) to return it to me. Her finals throws for discus was TERRIBLE. The discus kept wobbling and had a really lousy trajectory. She got 5th place, as I mentioned before, and we left for home happily ever after.

THE END.

WAIT!!!! Wait a moment. There's something I need to share with you (whoever you may be). I just had a visions...no, many visions!

*Enter Vision Land*

On the 20th October I will receive my Geography, Chinese, Mathematics and Philosophy papers with the following results:

Geography
16.5/20
4.0 GPA
NOTE: There will be an error in calculation which, if I am smart, will not be told to the teachers and retain my stellar 17.5/20.

Chinese
Paper 1: 25/70
Paper 2: 30.5/63
1.6 GPA
NOTE: This will be the most depressing moment ever, especially after so many tuitions... And I could actually have passed Paper 2 if they just gave me 5 more seconds! Argh.

Mathematics
Paper: 46/60
AA: 13/16 (At least this is what I think it is upon)
3.6 GPA
NOTE: I will have improved by leaps and bounds. Please do not look down on me just because I did not attain a wonderful, beautiful 4.0 GPA.

Philosophy
Paper: 5/8
COI: 8/12
Proficient Grade
NOTE: I am absolutely horrible at Philosophy, and please, don't make lame jokes like 'You will be wise because you have Sophia on your side!' I've heard enough of this from said person *cough* Sophia *cough*.

On the 21st October I will receive my Science, History, English Language and Literature papers with the following results:

Science
41/50
4.0 GPA
NOTE: Would you expect any less from me? Nah, just kidding. I will be a nervous wreck, 'cause this would determine whether I have 1 4.0 on my report card or none.

History
19/25
3.6 GPA
NOTE: I'm actually not sure about my score, please feel free to inform me if you are certain that this ISN'T my marks. Thank you.

English Language
Paper 1: 22/30
Paper 2:
-Comprehension: 11/25
-Summary: 14/20
2.8 GPA
NOTE: I have absolutely no idea how I fared better on my Chinese paper in the comprehension section than on my English paper. Anyway, we will be given our Comprehension, followed by Summary, then Paper 1. After receiving the failing grade of the Comprehension I will remain unnervingly calm and unperturbed, like I know I won't fail...

English Literature
9/15
2.8 GPA
NOTE: DON'T stare. Just because I have a slightly less than healthy obsession with MoV doesn't make me a superwoman (or girl) with answering Literature questions.

I will also receive a black comb like thing that keeps hair up from my mother.

In addition, I will be notified by Yan Han that my Quote Recitation file is unable to be opened and I will spend hours trying to get it to Miss Tay who is sick. I will be able to do so by 23:50.

On the 22nd October I will receive my Literature and English PT and Quote Recitation scores. I will rejoice for my grades are as follow:

Literature/English PT
30/32
4.0 GPA
NOTE: Please do not ask for my product. It is the most embarrassing and ultimately gross thing I have ever written. I will sound like an illiterate lovesick girl who just started learning English.

Quote Recitation
12/12
4.0 GPA
NOTE: I love PT and random projects. I never get below a 3.6 GPA for any of them and I usually get a 4.0 GPA. Cheers.

I will be reprimanded (along with the rest of the class) by HanJun and gang who will preach to us about not putting enough effort into the ACP preparations.

We will all be startled when we learn that while it felt as if 10 minutes has passed only 2 minutes had while Mrs. Shirley Tan was talking (Principal's Speech or something...wait, principal?). We will be shown 2 videos by said vice-principal who will then proceed to lecture us about knowing ourselves and the right from the wrong. We will be released almost 15 minutes late.

I will dash out of the KS Chee Theatre the moment 'Class 210' is dismissed and will go with all convenient speed (recognize this phrase, people? It's from MoV, Act 3 Scene 4 Line 56) to meet my mother outside the school. While expecting her to be at the bus stop (which I really shouldn't be doing since I know all this already) I will meet up with her at half the distance and bumble clumsily into the car.

My mother will take a seemingly wrong road only to have me assure her that this road does lead to home. My brother will continue his nap in the passenger seat until we arrive at...I don't know where. We will register with a machine at the nearby clinic (where I will drop my bottle and go to the ladies to wash its nozzle) and proceed to lunch which will be fast and at a nearby coffee shop.

We will wait long for our turn to register at a counter with the numbers 2548 and 2549. We will then proceed to level 2 and wait before Consultation Room 25 until we are inform at least an hour later that we will be seen in room 21. I will head for the washroom where one toilet bowl is unflushable. As I wash my hands after leaving the cubicle my mother will enter the washroom. While my mother is using the toilet I will exit and settle next to my brother. Our number will be called before my mother returns, and we will inch slowly to room 21 until we see our mother rushing toward us (apparently having finished with her business transactions).

The doctor will be a female and will see to my brother first. She will diagnose his feet as flat feet and will tell us that it is not a serious condition and will, in fact, not affect his growth or anything. She will refer him to a specialist at SGH (Singapore General Hospital) to see if it can be fixed. I will then be checked and be assured that the white lines running the length of my upper thigh are stretch marks (which is really weird as I have not had any exponential weight gain or loss recently, unless I will have them within 2oth-22nd October...) and are not harmful to my health nor is it an indicator of ill health unless, of course, I have Cushings (an imbalance of hormones) which I do not appear to have.

We will all leave the clinic happy. My brother and I will leave the clinic first with the car keys while my mother settles the fees. We will turn on the engines and enjoy the air-con while my mother is at the clinic still.

Once she has started driving, my mother will ask me to call my sister, which I will do, and find out that she is 'out' doing 'something' and having 'lunch' at almost 16:00. I will deduce she is out shopping, being so ambiguous and all. All this will happen and we will pass by an 'Ang Mo Kio' sigh with a big red tomato.

My mother will then park the car near AMK Hub and leave with my brother to update his student pass (he will be turning 17 next year). My mother will turn off the engine. My brother will return way before my mother and we will have a slight 'fight' while he tries to turn on the engine for the air-con while I disagree. I will resign in the end when I am unable to reach it before he does.

My mother will return with tooth brushes and another set of those black comb things but with a different design that is much better. This set will cost S$1.50 while the previous set, one of which will be given to my sister, will cost S$1.20. The newer set is larger, and will seem to do a better job of holding hair in place.

We will then return home and the day continues and usual (with piano lessons at 17:30).

JUST KIDDING!

But seriously, the events are real, I just didn't have a vision. You know that Blogger tends to date a post with the day it is created, not published? Yeah? I started this post on the 16th, didn't post it because it was half-baked, left it alone for 7 days (today is the 22nd of October) and returned to it to finish it.

Wouldn't it be cool if I had a vision, and one as detailed as that?

By the way, this is the longest post in...oh, months, I guess. I don't think I'm that mad about blogging anymore, not that I ever was in the first place...

MERCHANT of VENICE the movie

2009-08-30T16:14:00.008+08:00

MERCHANT OF VENICE (the movie)

PART 1/12

PART 2/12

WARNING: Contains a kiss involving those of similar genders. (YAOI fans scream)

PART 3/12

PART 4/12

PART 5/12

PART 6/12

PART 7/12

PART 8/12

PART 9/12

PART 10/12

PART 11/12

PART 12/12

WARNING: Contains a kiss of those of similar genders. (YURI fans scream)

From Parade to Concert

2009-08-07T11:59:00.000+08:00

National Day celebrations, certainly an event that occurs every year almost everywhere.

The day began as usual, but I startle at the fact that the bus has arrived at school a whole 20 minutes earlier than the norm. I was glad, nonetheless, for it gave me time to dream a little dream while the clock hands move to read 07:15 when I would test for my temperature.

Soon after, I leave the classroom with my belongings, making my way to the parade square where I finally assemble at the left wing with my right to the flag poles. For the whole time I was there, I couldn't notice a thing. The crowd was too thick and the marching contingents too short (in my opinion). The national and school song were sung, then the pledge followed in four languages, only 2 of which I vaguely recall some of.

As the marching contingents take their leave, I and my fellow batch mates padded to before a stage set up in the middle of the parade square. Facing it, we were greeted with a fashion show of sorts depicting various costumes which were supposedly a materialized form of an amalgamation of what makes Singapore who she is. It is followed by a short prize awarding ceremony, and then a singing session of past national day songs. I found out (the hard way) that RGS girls tend to disregard the speed and tempo of songs completely when they get excited (indicated by rowdy leaps).

The means I know not but I found myself staring at a group of men with instruments either in their hands or before them. I remember the man who oversaw our last RS session and whom I think European blood runs through his veins handling a bass guitar, and I recall a man who wears a cloak with a famous symbol from 'Full Metal Alchemist' on the back sitting at the drums. A little before the drums was a man grasping a red and white electric guitar whom I took note of last. He was, very possibly, the person in charge of IT happenings around the school. A song struck up, the new national day song which many didn't like, though I was sure I was fond of it, but I think it was, perhaps, not an appropriately tuned song for national day (not at all patriotic).

A voice silenced the crowd, and I saw a man heavily built but not chubby mouthing the lyrics. The voice abruptly changed to one of a person whose name I remember (Mr. Toh, I think, and I believe he was sporting a pair of sunglasses) whose voice was noticeably higher than the other singer's. The crowd went wild somewhere and in my honest opinion, the school has successfully transformed the dull and much dreaded parade square to an impromptu concert arena. The atmosphere which greatly resembled one from a professional concert was real, and to say I didn't feel excited would be a lie. It was as if I was standing in the middle of a concert by a professional band, and a smile tugged at my lips.

It was unreal, so surreal. I had never once thought that I would be able to witness a concert much like this in my life but I have been proven wrong, and by the very teachers that reside in the school I attend! The exhilaration of being part of a crowd was enchanting, and the only thing keeping me from hollaring my head off was the fact that my friends were there and it wouldn't look very good to look like a raving lunatic then. I say those performing could form a band immediately. RGS' very own. Of all the people to perform, the teachers! I do enjoy songs by male bands, which may be a reason pertaining as to why I felt so giddy when the song started. The teachers left their teaching professionalism behind and took on the identities of rockstars, and that riled the crowd up.

Chants of 'encore' could be heard throughout, and the group performed the song again. I hope someone caught it on film, I will want a copy.

'Invisibility' Cloak

2009-07-28T17:51:00.000+08:00

I was just wondering, we are able to see objects because they reflect light. But the things is, the light we see being reflected (the colour, so to speak) is within the visible light spectrum.

So what happens if scientists develop a kind of cloth that can reflect non-visible light? Something like ultra-violet would be cool, since we can't see it anyway, and it will make us 'invisible'! Actually, we'd look like blobs of darkness because no visible light can be reflected.

If that's the case and we wear the clothes at night, it'll look like our head is floating in the middle of nowhere!

COOL!

A World where Beggers are Kings

2009-06-07T20:32:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, after the usual Saturday lunch (this time of macaroni in fish soup with chicken shreds), my sister and I were ushered out of the house to get a hair cut. Well, my sister was totally willing, anyway.

Since my mother complained about not knowing how long the hair dresser would take trimming and cutting our hair, she decided that we should take the bus instead (in case our car got booked for putting out coupons of too little a value).

We got served almost immediately, so much for taking hours to get our hair done...

My sister went first, me, and then my mother who had her hair shortened by about 2 inches and had her fringe trimmed. I just wanted my hair a short as possible yet is able to be tied, and I wanted the hair straight cut (I've had enough of V-shapes). My mother wanted to get me fringe too, so I did, which didn't really look like a fring until today. It was straight cut too.

The guy who cut my hair said that my fringe wouldn't look too good short since I had this swirl thing that would make short hair stand up like I had been on an electric chair...

Did you know my mother found a S$50 bill outside my house yesterday before we went to AMK Hub? She said she used that $50 to pay for the hair cuts (that totalled exactly $50 [$18+$16+$16]).

After returning home and using the computer for a few 10s of minutes, my whole family headed off for the Tree Top Walk at who knows where. Pretty near our home, actually.

We marched our way through the 'paved' path, then a road, then a partial path, and to a building. The 'paved' path was really cool. There were many stones of different sizes and textures that all came together to crunch under my feet when I walked. There were some really fine ones, some really coarse ones, but I think it was pretty fun.

At the first part of the trail there was a kind of river (that flowed REALLY slowly) where about 2 or 3 visible species of fishes reside. There were some water insects too, though, that used surface tension of water to walk on it.

We passed by a durian tree (I was so afraid one of those heavily armed fruits would fall on my head) and I spotted 2 squirrels, the only animal I ever seem to spot, though my sister, mother and brother all spotted monkeys and no squirrels...what's up with me?

On the way we met a guy who was singing pretty loudly (and quite good too, in fact). He was pretty young, and when we stopped to check the map (the kind that was propped up and stuck into the ground along the trails) on where we were he said in the passing, "Jia you" or something.

My sister needed the toilet so we stopped, which then gave me the opportunity to wander over to the water coolers and peer at the sign which read 'The Tree Top Walk will be closed at 5pm sharp.' and something else about not going there starting 16:45. The time then was already 16:50, as I realized with a shock.

Disappointed, we headed back. I wasn't really enthusiastic about this whole trip but as a daughter, it is my duty to make sure my parents are happy and satisfied and are able to do what they want and know that someone doesn't hate or resent them for it (which my sister especially seems to be doing, albeit a little toned down). So I put up a happy front and groaned a little. I want them to be happy, not disappointed, so I felt a little bad inside too.

Dinner was next on the intinary and we had it in KFC. We ordered the Family Feast, which surprisingly filled me up like a balloon, and then we headed home, all happy.

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

Today after church we had a buzz group outing. On our To-Go list was Miranda's house and the movies. Miranda's house was first and we took the bus, then the MRT (I topped-up my sister's card at the station). A short walk later found us lounging in her living room feasting on chocolate cookies (probably the cause of my sore throat now) and orange+pineapple juice thingum that was carbonated.

Sister Jen came after us as she had something to do in church. Not long after she came (and we started 'Night at the Museum' on Miranda's TV) the Pizza guy rang the bell and delivered our lunch. I grabbed 2 slices of pizza plus a packet of cheese, then after consuming a slice took a drumstick (I had another 2 more after...).

I was completely stuffed when Miranda's parents returned with her brother. They got chips! I stuffed myself silly again with them while the movie rolled out on the screens, only to stop when Miranda demanded us to get ready to leave her house for the movies.

We arrived fairly late at the theatres (blame the crowd in the shopping center) and queued up for both some beverages and the tickets. I got a bottle of mineral water that cost a mind blowing sum of S$2.70. Somebody kill me. My father had given me S$16 to spend on tickets and lunch and my bottle cost me the whole of my lunch? No way!

The movie was Monsters VS. Aliens in 3D which I watched on Friday but couldn't turn down. I mean, 3D! It's a waste of money, I know, but still. I was ranting on about how we'd miss the 3D advertisements if we didn't go in fast enough but it appears that was time, after all.

We put on the 3D glasses duly (there was a notice on screen) and paid great attention to the advertisements, then the real movie started. Can't say I wasn't impressed by the 3D effects of Saturn's rings. The angle of the 'shot' was perfect! I would smack my lips if I could (and if I didn't have any reputation to keep up).

When the movie ended we went for the toilets, a place of refuge for many. After a refreshing relief we left for Tampines MRT Station. Miranda and Jasmine left the train at Tana Merah (or something) to go to Miranda's house, ... (oh! I forgot her name! Silly me...) left at another stop and the rest stayed until City Hall where we changed trains to the Red Line.

Sister Jen and Pei Ting got off 2 stops before me, ... (another name I forgot) got off the stop before me and then my sister and I made the trip home (thank goodness).

The Thing About Science Fiction

2009-06-05T20:36:00.002+08:00

The thing about Science Fiction is, if it is part of a series and something doesn't quite fit, then you can claim it happened due to time travel.

That's what I learnt when I watched Star Trek last Saturday, 2nd last day of May.

It was great, I tell you. Even though I haven't watched Star Trek in about 4 years or so, I still love it. The effects were great, though the younger version of James T. Kirk didn't really look like him...and Spock was actually cool, if you minus the part where he openly kissed a girl...

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

Today, because my sister and brother weren't home for most of the day, my parents decided to take me out to do something about my bank account, shop for new spectacles (for me), take lunch and watch Monsters VS. Aliens in 3D. I felt really guilty about the 3D part since they brought me to watch it due to the fact that I really wanted to watch it in 3D and they thought the buzz group outing I was going to was going to watch it in 2D...

That was what I told them about a week back. I received news that we were going to watch it in 3D yesterday and thought it wouldn't affect anything. I didn't think my parents were serious about letting me watch it in 3D if I wasn't already going to! You have no idea how guilty I felt watching the movie in 3D! I didn't tell them until just now. The movie was at 13:55 and ended at about 16:45 thereabout...

G. U. I. L. T. Y.

I feel so bad about wasting their money!

...

The start of the day began with me waking up at 09:30 (or was it 11+...or 08+?), then used the computer for a while. My parents came back from my fathers appointment with the dentist and they tried to get me into that pair of 3 quarter pants I never wear except to church. Of course, I rebelled a bit, then gave in because I really wanted to spend a day with them (hey, I didn't even experience withdrawal symptoms when I left my computer for the whole day!).

We first headed to AMK Hub where there was a POSB branch nearby. We diddled in there for over an hour standing in line and waiting for our turn. My mother wanted to create a personal account for me so I can top-up my EZ-link card without cash, but it turns out I already have a personal account! So we just joined the queue to get my father's passbook (that's what he calls it, I have no idea what it's really called) updated and my account some tweaks so I can use it to top-up my EZ-link card.

My mother tried to top-up my EZ-link card at the ATM machines outside but turns out she couldn't. She asked one of the staff (the one whose counter we were at) and she said she didn't know the reason why she couldn't.

Then when we were done (and my stomach needed refilling) we trooped down to the nearest spectacle shop to see what they have to offer. After dwelling in the shop for, oh, an hour or so we left it when my parents deemed the prices to high. Was $280 too high for a pair of glasses with extra thin lenses? I mean, my eyesight was at 900 degrees!

We looked around and made a mess of the shop looking for appropriate glasses. The glasses my parents wanted to get me were white! Shock! My father actually wanted me in one that was bright yellow and white! Eww... Other pairs were either too thick, pink, ugly, had stupid designs, flimsy, etc. I couldn't be satisfied until they decided on a pair of blue, rimless glasses which frame plus lenses amounted to $280 (as mentioned in above paragraph). So, dissatisfied with the prices, they left.

After leaving we did a quick stop at some sort of shop where they sold soaps, pads, etc. Lots of female stuff I don't even think are necessary (and I'm suspecting are poisonous). We bought a few stuff and headed off for Tampines.

The GV which showed Monsters VS. Aliens in 3D was in Tampines, but we didn't know which building. The screwed up map told us it was at Century Square. When I heard that name, I keep getting the image of a run down shopping complex...the name sounds so old fashion! I mean, Century?

I didn't tell my parents about the fact that I was going to watch it in 3D anyway because I thought if I did they would just turn back and go home, which I really didn't want to happen because then I know they'll say I'm wasting their time (well, they might think that, and also get very frustrated). Turns out the feeling of guilt got even worse after I watched it because it was the economic down turn and we're still watching movies, 3D one at that! All for me!

We got the tickets, then proceeded to consume lunch (really filling) and rushed off to the movie theatres. The 3D was a great experience. Awesome, really. I especially like it when the people are depicted as so small (in comparison with Ginormica, that is) that they look like those models in...well, models.

The movie was over and we deposited the 3D glasses in a box (or 2, actually) and exited the cinema area. We walked past McDonalds and I commented in the passing that I would really like one of those vanilla cones. When my father really went to get it, I told him that it was okay and I really didn't need it (and I didn't, really) and that it was expensive but he still bought them anyway. My parents love me so much, and I'm not saying this to make people jealous. I can't believe they'd buy me an ice-cream just like that! If I were them, I'd say no because it's a waste of money...

We wandered down a whole isle of shops, stopping at a random watch shop to see if there were any replacements for my watch strap (which so happened to cause me a lot of problems but I still love it) but the replacements were too...eww. We also paused at a few optical shops but didn't buy anything since my mother felt prices were too high.

At the watch shop, my father found the display/performance relating to the Singapore Arts Festival intriguing so he went to take a video footage of it. It was quite cool, really, when I went out to watch it (it was held in a field). There was a man dancing with something that looked like a bulldozer, the vehicles you find very often at construction sites that dig sand out of a pit and dump them in a truck.

It was really cool. I mean, even if I didn't know the story behind it (and I really didn't) I could still tell it was some sort of love story. Really cool for a love story. At one point, the man attempted to push the bulldozer away (he pushed the bucket looking thing at the end of, for the lack fo a better word, nose) and the bulldozer swung around in circles. When the man tried to call it back, it would just turn away from him. Real, effective, really. It added more to the effect when the screen of the drivers seat and all was covered in some material that allowed a person to look from inside out but not outside in.

When we decided we were done with the performance we went back to the car and drove elsewhere, which turned out to be the parking lot of my first before-and-after school care. Getting out, we made our way to the whole complex of shops. We decided to head left first to buy some...uh...you don't need to know.

Following our purchase we turned back and visited a spectacle shop, which we spended what seemed like more than an hour at. We picked out the first few frames I might like quite quickly, about 5 minutes or so, then went in to look at more. My parents kept wanting me to get a pair that was white...or pink...

We settled on one that was puke colour (I really like that one!) but after getting my eyesight checked, found my degrees too high to create a nice pair of THIN lenses for the wide frame of the glasses. And the frames plus lenses were so expensive...$300-$400... So we spent a long time deciding, again. You know, my degrees didn't really go up from the last half a year. When I last had my eye check up my degrees were 50 more than the right eye lens and 25 more than the left eye lens. Then, I had my glasses for a year already, so it was great. What is greater is that even now, the degrees haven't changed at all! YES!

A long argument about which frames to get seemed to end almost immediately when the kind lady brought out a pair of glasses with a model exactly the same as mine but in white. We settled for that. It was comfortable, so why not? Of course, I tried to see if there was any in puke colour, but there wasn't, so we reached a compromise. We got the frames free and so the whole package cost about $280 (that's the same price as just now, what makes this pair so much better?).

My parents had their way, they had got me a pair of white glasses, and I had my way, I got a pair of glasses that I could actually wear COMFORTABLY.

We left the shop in partially high spirits and while my father went to buy our dinner my mother and I headed off to find another watch shop. Turns out that shop had a strap for mine, but I didn't like it, though we got it anyway. I miss my old strap, silly, I know, but I am just that sentimental...the mere thought of it sitting alone...NOOO! Sorry, but my heart really twinges when I lose something close to me...even if it was a watch strap...I should have asked for it back! Is this how heartbreak feels like?

The new strap sucks, but perhaps that's just my own biased view. It's too fat at a point so it couldn't really flip properly (you probably won't know what I mean) and the buckle is metal. METAL. Ugh. I MISS MY OLD STRAP! At least I still have my watch face, I don't know what I'd do without it...die?

Home came next, and after dinner which I spent talking to Kimberly on the phone, I went to bathe and then felt the guilt from watching Monsters VS. Aliens in 3D swell up so much I just had to tell my parents that I would be watching it on Sunday. My mother then proposed I offer my ticket to someone who hadn't yet gotten the chance to watch it. I'll try my brother.

A Memorable Quote is One that is So Annoying it Plays Tag with Your Head

2009-05-29T22:10:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was friggin' awesome.

Nothing much really happened but you should see the faces of the people on the 105 that the 105 I was on passed by!

It was overall a pretty normal day. Got to school, did horrible '公函', officially screwed it up (like I do all tests/assignments of mine), waited for many 105s to pass before I got onto one.

Yup, it was pretty much a very normal day.

Unless you count 3 105s arriving within 5 minutes.

Now THAT is NOT normal.

105 doesn't even come for half an hour sometimes!

Hm, yeah, so, I was sitting and waiting for 105. Actually, I wasn't only waiting for the bus to arrive. I was waiting for it to arrive AND leave. That would mean that the next one would come soon and would, hopefully, be more empty.

The first 105 that came was moderately empty and I regretted not getting on that one. It took about...25-30 minutes before the next 105 came. That bus was packed full. I didn't dare move from my seat. About only half the people who rushed toward the bus with intentions to board it actually boarded it. The rest just moped about dejectedly.

The next 105 came really soon. They all rushed up. I'd say the bus wasn't too full, but it wasn't empty either. Quite a number of the people who boarded were left standing.

I sat back to wait a little longer.

To my surprise (and delight), the following 105 came almost after the previous 105 left. I was so shocked I barely had any time to pick up my stuff. I flagged the bus down and was perfectly happy when no one else moved to board this bus.

It was the new one. The one with the LED screen.

I got a seat right at the back to the right (I simply love that place though I don't know why). I took out a few of my drawing papers out of my file and started doodling some random characters (that I have officially made mine). There wasn't really anybody to pick up at the bus stops so the bus ride was really smooth.

As the bus moved on, we passed by the previous 105. I caught sight of an Indian RGS student who gaped open mouthed when she saw the bus pass. I couldn't help but let out a silent laughter which I covered with my hand. It was hilarious! The look on their (I'm assuming that not only one person was 'horrified') faces was absolutely hilarious!

The bus ride was great, for the most part.

Today was great too. I woke up at 11:15. I had a weird dream and I don't want to talk about it. I kind of remember it, and I have a feeling that in the dream, I was a bit too domestic for my tastes...yuck.

15 Fangs on a Baby

2009-05-23T14:00:00.001+08:00

Open House wasn't that bad.

I was supposed to lead some random people around the Art Club booth (if you can call it a booth) but I slacked off for the first 15 minutes of my shift doing something naughty.

...

No, I did not do it. I simply skivved off duty by attempting to make a 'shinking plastic keychain' which I later gave to Zann.

Yeah, so I was just wandering round the booth and getting myself used to the artworks. I followed Kimberly around as she introduced the artworks to parents and potential juniors and grasped a rough concept of how to explain the artworks and what the artworks are about and their medium. Of course, most of it was pretty easy.

So I just stood at one of the 'entrances' to the booth and then Tessa came along. After a while an Indian man came with his daughter (who was about 5 and wearing pink...). Tessa asked him if he would like a guided tour and he said yes.

It took a while before I went up to him and told him about the artworks. He was a great audience. He commented that he liked art a lot but said he had to beg his teacher for a passing grade in art. I told him art is all about the perspective. He just laughed and we then went on to the next exhibit.

When the tour ended I told him about the 'shrinking plastic keychain' and some 3-D paperwork and said that he could bring his daughter to try out some of the stuff there. He said thank you and I felt really, really pleased with myself.

Then came a Chinese man in a white shirt and pale khaki shorts. He had glasses and I think his hair was flat on his head. Anyway, we (Tessa and I) asked him if he wanted a guided tour and he said no. He was just waiting for the Guides' guided tour (lol) his daughter was taking part in.

So we just explained the first board or two of artworks.

It felt great to actually be able to impart my 'wisdom' to someone else.

On my way out of school (to bus stop gate) I met a woman and her daughter and the woman asked me if I knew where the Deborah Tan library was. I said I could guide her. She asked if I was a Sec 1, I said no, I'm a Sec 2. Then she asked if I liked RGS (or something). I said yes, the seniors are all very friendly. We discussed something about seniors (something about me being a senior too...) and then I 'dropped' her off at the foot of the stairs that lead to the library.

It was a pleasant talk and I was glad to have helped someone. Perhaps she'd call in to say RGS girls are very helpful and friendly?

I made my way back to the bus stop gate in time to see 105 pull in. My goodness was I lucky. I got up the bus (which was so awesomely empty) and got a seat at the (extreme) back of the bus. Maybe God was being nice to me because I was nice to other people. XD

Slimey Cake

2009-05-20T16:38:00.006+08:00

YES!!!

4.0 for BIOLOGY!

WOOHOO!

Hey! That means I've got a chance to take advanced Biology next year! Now if only I can get through and interview and obtain some random Bio teacher's recommendation...that's gonna be hard...

Anyway, so now I've got 3.6 for Physics (of all things...), 4.0 for Chemistry and 4.0 for Biology.

Isn't that great?

I only need another 2 things for my day to be perfect. 1. Pass all exams. 2. MUST. PASS. CHINESE. (this technically falls under the broad category of 'all exams', but still)

Now, adjourn with me into my trusty time machine and off to 15 May '09...

------------------------time machine groaning------------------------

Ah, now, where was I?

Oh yes, it is 15 May '09 and I am on the school bus on my way to school. Now, I am complaining to myself (yes, useless, I know) that it I am caught in a most untimely situation. I have anemia. Well, that should be over in a couple of days but that's not the issue here. The thing is, I have my 2.4km run that very day too.

So you can imagine me sitting in my seat, one elbow on the window sill with my head resting on the back of my hand (the one with the elbow on the window sill). Being the outrageously religious person I am, I believe that I have done something wrong (or would do something wrong) and that God is pissed so he punished me that way.

All the way to school (and through school) I am getting myself moping about the situation. This is what young punks would like to call 'emo-ing'. Yes, so I am emo-ing and voicing my displeasure to my friends who I'd like to thank for listening to this batty person yattering away selfishly.

Extreme reluctance follows as I sit in dread at the prospect of the upcoming physically taxing (and not to mention utterly horrible) test. The muscles on my arm begin to tense and I am feeling as if I have been doing pull-ups for the past...oh, 10 minutes straight, perhaps. Minus the pain. It feels sour and seriously contracted.

So there, I am running scenarios with myself in a variety of possible situations (take for example, me being dragged off the track due to my excessively huge width blocking a whole width of the track [that didn't happen, just sarcasm]) and the teacher calls everybody to gather around. I sit through a brief briefing (yes, doesn't it sound cool?) and then wait again for the test.

Then I feel something fall on my arm. Then another. Then another. More pelting occurs and we are told to sit under the shelter of the walkway. Then it starts raining in light sprinkles, just heavy enough to render the 2.4km run unrunnable.

The rain doesn't stop falling for a long time. We are then told to go to the canteen to sit it out. More waiting ensues. It is announced that 2.4km run will be postponed to Tuesday.

The only thing that is running through my mind is 'Thank God'.

------------------------time machine groaning------------------------

God works wonders. Maybe he just made rain fall because he wants to show me he knows what he's doing, that he can turn any situation around. I was being an idiot. I thought that God was against me because I was anemic on that day and I didn't consider what the weather might do to the possibility of the run.

God is just awesome the way he is, no?

Then there is the Biology test. After it I was so sure I had missed 4.0 by a bit. I was so sure. I finished the paper a little too early.

Alright. I'm lying. I finished it much earlier than the intended time. I finished it with 45min to spare, that or 1 hour. When the paper was discussed with other people and they inputted their views I figured I simply screwed up the whole thing.

Over the next few days (all the way until today, before the test results were revealed) I kept brooding about Biology. I then figured that I really wanted to do Bio RA if not simply attain Biology as one of the subjects in my subject combo. I figured I really like Bio and don't want to give up on it. Every time I think that I may not get 4.0 for Bio (really high expectations, yes, I know) and thus be unable to get into Bio RA I get really depressed and my heart has that sinking feeling like I've just suffered a huge blow.

I really like Bio.

------------------------time machine groaning------------------------

When they went through all the answers the feeling that I haven't done well started growing. I start to doubt myself so much because I had spotted so many differences between the model answers and what I wrote. I feel like I had simply screwed up the test.

Then I got the results back.

'50' is the first thing that registers. I have yet processed that I've gotten a 4.0. My math is bad. I'd only gotten a 25/40.

'Well Done!' is next. I started doing mental math.

'I GOT 4.0!' is the final thought that races through my mind before it goes on a complete shut down. I have acheived my goal. You can't say that after all the stress from before I don't deserve the right to completely ignore my surroundings for a bit and enjoy the bliss of it all.

I. Am. So. Freaking. Happy.

I can't really explain how it feels (I'll never be an author...) but it is simply awesome. It feels like I have perched Mount Everest and am the first to do so. There is a sense of relief (as if you're glad you survived the climb) and extreme joy.

One thing that will register in your mind after few seconds of numbness is:

'Praise God. Praise be to him on high.'

------------------------time machine groaning------------------------

You must have noticed the common factor between those two stories, 'God'.

Then there's another story. One about Philosophy and how it just seems to challenge my religion.

------------------------time machine groaning------------------------

I am being given an article about Euthanasia and arguements about legalizing this drug. I stare at it and the first thing I think of is 'No, they should not legalize it. It is simply not right to kill yourself.' Then I rest my case because I am not sure whether I want to think about the non-Christian side to the issue.

I am then forced to sit through a discussion that would start me on processing ideas against my religion and challenging my beliefs. I do not allow any of the strange and unholy thoughts to penetrate past the line of 'listening' and into 'acceptance'. I pay attention to the discussion but find nothing to say. I do not think that my religious views will be very readily accepted in the discussion.

I am upright and I will not allow any of those ideas to influence my religious beliefs so I am unable to perform my 'Philosophical evaluation' of the situation well. I am deeply regretful that I am unable to do so but further discussion digressing into issues of unholy nature will only cause me to tune out to the entire discussion.

Throughout the discussion I only give my input a few times, and only when clarification is needed. There is an exception but I do not remember (Sophia recorded that there is but I cannot recall any). I refrain from saying anything. The whole discussion makes me dizzy and sleepy. Nothing really gets comprehended in my mind. I think it is some sort of a defense mechanism when something against my religion is being discussed.

I do not find the need to discus the issue because I know my stand and I will not allow any space for the 'acceptance of others' ideas'. I do not care whether it is going to dictate my failure to be promoted from Sec2 to Sec3 but I will not, I repeat, will NOT stay to let any ideas cloud my vision of my Father in heaven.

If they do not want any religious ideas in the discussion then I have nothing to say. Human rights (as defined by the world) states that an individual is allowed to do whatsoever he or she wishes to do to himself or herself. So saying, there is nothing except for my religion that makes me go against legalizing Euthanasia. It is as if anyone who wants to control their lives is playing God. I don't like that. I do not want to consider that.

I think the Philosophy curriculum of RGS should be more accumulating and considerate to the different kinds of pupils in the school. It is utterly unfair if I am forced to be detained for a year (or the consequent ones too if Sec2 Philosophy continues as it is) due to my religious beliefs. If they want to consider something absolutely unrelated to the ways of my religion then by all means go ahead.

Actually, I think RGS shouldn't have Philosophy at all. It simply ruins our lives.

------------------------time machine groaning------------------------

See? People might think I'm delusional, that I should get my head out of all that 'God' business, but I won't. I stand firm by what I think and what I am influenced to think through my religious beliefs. I will not conform to the ways of the school just to attain certain academic qualifications. None of this Earthly qualifications will be of any value in heaven. I wish to concentrate on God.

If need be I may complain to the school board and request to change the topic of Philosophy discussions as it is interfering with my (and others like me) beliefs.

I am human, so shouldn't I have the right to decide whether or not I wish to take part in such discussions? Philosophy is all about thinking. If I do think well and am able to view ideas from other point of views but simply do not wish to accept arguements going against my religion and belief, will I not be allowed to be promoted if I do not fulfill the criteria of what is expected of Sec2 Philosophy course?

I think this part of the Philosophy course is challenging the wrong thing.

It challenges my religion instead of my ability to think. This may not affect students who are not of the same mental processes as I and are thus less likely to be affected by religious beliefs but I will not be swayed by the requirements of society.

I will only do what is right and pleasing to God (if it is within my control) and I will ask for forgiveness, beg, actually, if I do displease him because upsetting God is worse than upsetting the whole of humanity.

God is probably the only being that is a constant in everyone's life. His role never changes. It just depends on whether you want to believe he is there or not.

Shattered Glass Bead

2009-05-07T21:13:00.003+08:00

NAPFA. PFT. Whatever.

I just survived it with 4As and 1B. Which is really good but I feel all bad and cranky inside because I was just 3cm away from A for Standing Board Jump. You know how bad that feels? 3cm from your goal? Damn was I pissed. I got 178cm last year! I just felt either Cs or As would look nicer because it'd be more uniform on my report card, yes? I mean, hello, 2.4km is impossible for me to get a B so I'd just stay satisfied with a C, so it would be nice if my SBJ got a C too to match. =D

Anyway, I'm most satisfied with my shuttle run results.

Inclined Pull-Ups
18
A

Shuttle Run
10.7sec
A

Sit-Ups
36
A

Standing Board Jump
175
B

Sit and Reach
45
A

Nice, eh?

Damn, and even though Rachel got lower scores than me for all except IPU and Sit and Reach she ended up with 5As! Not fair! Why was I born in February? Or rather, why is NAPFA mid-year and not start of year?

...

Lol, I'm talking as if the world revolves around me...

www.greenman.com

2009-05-03T15:02:00.003+08:00

You know, I just realized I dated my test papers on Friday 30 Apr '09. It was 1 May '09. I'm so screwed.

(Sorry. Just realised the exams were on Thursday and not Friday. It was, indeed, 30 Apr '09. Friday's Labour Day...)

And another screwed thing is that I forgot (and this is really silly) to circle the genre for English Narrative Writing thingum. Dead, right?

Yesterday I was pondering over quadratic equations and I came up with theories that can help me find the x-intercept and the line of symmetry, something two things I've always struggled with. Now that I can find them without the graph (and trust me, now I don't need the graph to find almost ANYTHING [I still can't do minimum and maximum value, but I'm gonna find out) I feel a little more confident, but due to my acute lack of memory space I fear I may forget everything...oops.

Ooh. I found how to find the maximum/minimum value already. I feel so awesome! That aside, I am currently accumulating House episodes via a deal I made with my father. For every 5/6 pages of Chinese text (中华文化之族) I read, I get 2 House episodes. How awesome is that? Even if I run out of 中华文化之族 text I still have 少年文摘 which is given monthly so I needn't worry about having lesser episodes. Cool, huh?

I need to revise Geog. Really, I can't stand why we need to learn stupid impacts and the likes. I'd have much preferred if the whole paper was about the formation and all Science-y stuff. I can't stand human Geog. Anywhere humans appear on the page I'm gonna fling my head into the wall.
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Anybody wants the theories? If you do, grovel at my feet and I shall bestow this great knowledge unto you!

Kidding. But seriously, anyone wants these theories? I've tested all of them with Graphmatica. They've worked so far. It's kind of a great accomplishment for someone who failed Math last term like me...

2 Hairpins and 1 Muffin

2009-04-20T20:42:00.002+08:00

It is possible to walk along a pavement with less than 1/10 of the usual sight.

T/F?

True.

And I just proved it.

I did the very thing while walking home from the bus stop because I was feeling drowsy and didn't really want to open my eyes much.

Aren't I awesome?

Okay, ego.

Comment Moderation

2009-04-18T22:40:00.003+08:00

Hort Park: Not bad a place for a nature freak but a horrendous rendezvous point for anyone with loathing for the sun (or someone like Eddy Cull [I think that's what his name has become on the class blackboard]). Lacking creativity - e.g. the lawn is named 'HortLawn'.

Art: Hella fun.

Art Competitions: Totally sucky and utter waste of money and time.

Beautex: ?

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

Today wasn't bad but the fact that I had to wake up at freaking 06:45 kind of killed the mood. Of course, I started stirring an hour before that (blame my physical memory for remembering the time I usually wake up at to get to school), fell asleep again, woke up, decided I still had time, fell asleep, woke up, grumble about stupid 'wake up spells', fell asleep, hears mother yelling at us (my bro and I) to wake up, woke up, wanted to sleep in another 5 minutes, fell asleep, woke up exactly 5 minutes later.

Lol. That pretty much summarizes my waking up today.

My mum drove me to school and I got there really early, by, like, 07:20 or something. I spotted Kimberly getting off the piano and going off with Awa (introductions came a little later) to the Art Room. She was a little unsure of who I was, but then welcomed me with a broad smile (like always). We marched down to the Art Room (well, I kind of ran, but still) to grab Kimberly's stuff for the art competition we were heading to Hort Park for. Some kind of design-the-tissue-box competition. Grace walked in a little while later.

We ended up bringing with us a box full of art materials (that somehow was only shared among Kimberly, Grace, Awa and I) and some boards for drawing on. Registration took many, many minutes. We just stood around until it was our turn to flash out EZlink cards to confirm identification and pay S$5 for registration fee and then collect our drawing paper, a briefing sheet and a goodie bag. The goodie bag was awesome, but a little overflowing with tissue related contents. There was like 5 kinds of drinks, 2 maggie mee packets, 2 lollipops, 1 huge tissue box, 3 packets of tissue, 1 packet of mosquito repellant wipes, 1 packet of milo cereal and 2 mini packets of biscuits.

Briefing started long after we registered and found comfortable seats in the multi-purpose hall. While we were waiting, there was a short slide show of tissue products by Beautex. I noticed they really liked flowers. There was one design that caught my eye so I decided to imitate it to an extent. Briefing was really brief and we were let off soon. We didn't wander off far when we came across a really favourable spot. We initially wanted to sit at an area a little left to where we ended up but there were too many ants so we scrammed to the huge open concrete platform in the middle of freaking nowhere. Wonder what it was there for. Kimberly went to get the water and Awa went away doing something. I know Grace and I were the only ones not doing anything during preparation.

_BEWARE_BORINGNESS_

I couldn't think of anything really original to draw so I 'imitated' the design I saw before the briefing. Everybody was using pencil to sketch out their artworks but I just started with painting immediately. Since I wanted a straight edge, I was so smart (EGO!) to use the briefing sheet handed to us during registration and used it as a ruler as I painted the blue. So I kind of screwed it up, but so what? Anyway, I originally wanted to drip paint over the blue are (you know, like 'pop-up' strings of acrylic all over) but figured I couldn't without proper equipment and resorted to forming them with brushes of various thickness. They were all of strange colours. I mean, yellow and green?

When I was done with the stuff in the blue area I picked up some green and made some leaf shape thingums along the only line that got out of the blue (that was intentional). I then figured it looked a bit empty so I added 5 red dots spaced close together to form a flower (Beautex IS obviously obsessed with flowers, I mean, Hort Park?). A few more here and there and it looked better. I thought the blue area looked boring, so I picked up the brust I painted red with and drew a red line in the blue area. Then I inspected the whole image and still found it's composition ugly. I picked up my brust and painted 4 purple hibiscus of various sizes at the top right. I was pretty happy with it and then slacked off for the rest of the 45 minutes left of 2 hours.

_END_OF_BORINGNESS_

Grace's was turning out very nicely in a style I greatly admire. Awa's was...wow. If not for the fact that the deers became black at the end. I liked them better white. She'd probably have won something if not for the seemingly inappropriate air about it. I mean, it looked really emo and the theme was 'Life is Beautiful'. Kimberly's was good too, if not a bit hasty during painting (damn their short time limit). We turned them in with 10 minutes to spare then set about washing our stuff in the drain right beside the platform. I think we stained it sky blue and purple permanently.

It got really hot out there so we quickly gathered our stuff and trudged off under the shade (which many people were taking refuge under too). We just sat around and talked about Bleach and stuff. I read the Chinese book we were supposed to read for Chinese PT but I think I left it at the bus stop before I boarded the bus home (that happens at 13:45 or something, much later than the point I'm narrating).

Mrs. Lai found our hide-out at the edge of the empty koi pond (seriously, no water, no koi) and brought us over to the rest of the RGS people. So we sat around and talked more. When it was time to go in we did, bathing in the cool air-con. Kimberly and I couldn't find seats so we took to sitting most unRGS-like at the back of the room on the floor. We were both going on about how we wouldn't win. Kimberly and Grace seemed to have some sort of confidence in mine because it was 'very tissue box-like'. I had to admit it WAS very tissue box. I mean, it looked like the typical design except 100 times uglier.

That aside, prize presentation began and they started with Junior category and went on to Tweens (what the hell is that?) which Kimberly mistook for Teens until I told her. Teens consolation prizes started to be handed out and I was feeling really nervous. I mean, I was shortlisted, but so were at least 19 others. So I just sat there not doing anything. I had a feeling that consolation would have felt like a loss to me. The first consolation went to Grace, and we clap for her. I mean, hello, our school, our club-mate, our friend. Consolation prizes went on and at the 5th and final consolation prize, Victoria (Sec3 from SAP) got the prize.

So I didn't get into consolation. I thought mine would have at most merited that, so imagine the utter shock and numbness when I found out I got 3rd. Okay, third's really just the 2nd loser, but still, to win something above consolation? I was really close to consolation but I scraped past it. I think I would be in the consolations if Awa made it. What a close shave, not that I was really glad she couldn't because her painting technique is really, really good.

I took my place beside Victoria with a proud smile on my face, well, as proud as you can get when you are wary that there are many people staring at you. Then 2nd prize went to another RGS student, Sec1 SAP (yes, I know I suck, losing to Sec1, but hey, you can't blame me, it's probably only the fifth time I've picked up a paintbrush in RGS). Victoria said it'll be cool if first prize were also an RGS girl, so we held our breaths and YES! RGS too (Sec1 also, help me, I'm feeling a bit depressed). Okay, a bit elitist here, but yes, we were all glad that we dominated the Teen's category. Oh yeah, they handed us envelopes when we went up stage. We took a few group photos with prize winners of all categories. We were later told to collect our prizes. I was like, Isn't it the envelope? I mean, it does say 1st, 2nd, 3rd or consolation prize...

Then we opened them and found they were empty. The table clearly stated that all of us were supposed to have some resort stay voucher or something. So we came to the conclusion that it was all a hoax and scam and waited in a long long queue to get our stuff. While waiting we took a few RGS people photos, then got interviewed by some Beautex people. I think we badmouthed a bit too much about Mr. Wong.

The collection took so long we finally decided to leave before we collected it first hand and they said they would mail it to us.

*shrugs*

We then took the mini bus back to school. Kimberly was emo-ing something about not getting a prize and her parents killing her for both that and losing to her mortal (the one who got 2nd). So I locked my happiness away and emo-ed with her.

EMO.

Unceasing Tears - Tearful Anguish

2009-04-05T16:36:00.007+08:00

I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything for him. Useless. I was useless. I couldn't even protest a little. I couldn't move. I had simply frozen to the spot while the very reason for my existence was being whipped by crooked hooks repeatedly on the back. My eyes threatened to snap shut, to block out the traumatizing image of the man of my life having his robes unjustly ripped to shreds, his back cruelly scarred streaks of red.

I wanted to scream, shout, tell him somehow I'm there for him when others demand his death, but my lips wouldn't move. They remained cracked and parched, tears that have ever touched them as rain long gone, depleted. The earth I was standing on suddenly felt so inviting, it was suddenly so tempting to simply give in to lethargy and heartache and crumble into a heap to rest on the uneven ground regardless of the hygiene of the act.

Eyes exhausted, I stumbled blindly as they dragged him crudely off the post. Every step I took toward him only served to increase our distance, every unheard cry muffled through the crowd. I saw him take one last look at me then turn his head away in shame, unwilling for me to see him in that vulnerable a state. It wasn't something fit for someone his stature.

My heart ached with longing and the knowledge that this may very well be the last time I would ever lay eyes upon him ever again. A hoarse whisper escaped my lips. I wanted so badly to reach out to him, to cradle his head and tell him everything is okay, to hush his gasps of pain with my words, to forever be in his loving embrace. I wanted so badly I pushed the crowd apart, denying my body the rest it longed for after the forlorn verdict had been passed.

Deformed as he may be now, still a magnificent young man he will forever remain in my mind, a smile so gallant it could melt the hardest hearts of even man, a love so sacrificial it could grant forgiveness to those who did nothing to protect him their king. A word from his mouth could sooth even the most troubled of minds, a touch from his hands enough to send one off into the most sedated state of calm. Those very hands picked up a long wooden pike and he painstakingly lifted it.

What had I done for him to earn his love? Nothing. Yet he gave it freely and willingly. What had I done for him to make him love me as he did? Nothing. Yet he loved me all the same, understanding my silent wishes even I wasn't conscious of. What had I done for him to make him die in my place? Nothing. Yet he walked along the path of hatred and endured jealous spites to relieve me of the taking the same route.

He slowly inched his way to his death, hauling behind him a wooden stake almost twice his height. I could almost hear his torn and aching body crying for help, but no one offered any, only hateful spits. I let out a strangled outcry and leapt forward with my arms stretched out in front of me ready to receive him into my embrace. Just a little more, please. Give me a second, a fraction of it, that is all I require. I have yet to say something. I have yet to tell him my deepest longings. I have yet to express to him what he was to me. I pray for just this second, please grant it to me.

My fingers brushed his sweat glazed skin and I wasted no time to grasp it tight. My king and my lord, how did you end up like this? Your royal birth has decided your death. What have you done to deserve this? Your smile could light my days for years to come, your kindness overflows abundant into the lives of many and bringing them out of poverty, yet why have you been condemned to such a death fit for a criminal? What is it that makes you take the rap?

I pulled myself to him and brought up a hand to push his load up slightly and relieve his burden, and for that he repaid me with a smile more dazzling than the sun even in the state he was in, battered and all. My eyes once more found tears to spare and let them all out. I sobbed silently into his broad shoulder, whispering the words I have longed to say the moment I met him and his eyes, mine. Shaking my head at my own procrastination, I finally relieved myself, "My lord, I love you. I love you so much. Why? Why'd you have to go?"

"Because I love you too. Because I have to. Because my kingdom needs it. Because I am king," he stated so simply and with so much conviction that it left no place for doubt, smiling genuinely for all he was worth even in the predicament I had placed him in. I was so lost for words I couldn't do anything but try to further lighten his load intuitively when my mind left its stumped state. As I moved to carry it with him, I was roughly pushed back by a roman senator who growled, "Out of his way, missy. No acquaintance of him is to come close." and spat in my face.

But I hadn't time to pay attention to his words. All I could see was him, he was the only one in the world. No matter how many times his people betray him, no matter how many times I have turned away, he still came back with a determined pride and welcomed us in with open arms. No matter how many times his people despise him, no matter how many times I have ignored him, he still returned with a gentle smile to indicate he loved us despite.

How could one man be so loving? So selfless? So flawless?

"I'm not an acquaintance! I love him!" I yelled to the soldier. He dismissed me disinterestedly with a well toned arm. I tried desperately to push against it and rejoin him but the arm wouldn't budge even a centimeter.

I shouted a final request, "My king! Don't forget me! Don't forget me! I love you so, so please don't forget me!"

All he responded me with was another simple smile, innocent and full of holy passion. I did not know whether to rejoice or to cry.

The current of the crowd steered me to a low hill overgrown with grass and weeds. They flipped him over with the weight still on his back, pulled him up, stripped his garments off him and threw him back down. I stifled a yelp. Why? Why was the world so cruel to judge this man guilty of something even the most blinded of persons could tell was right and just? Why was the world so prejudice to the ways of this one king? Why was the world so blind to his righteous intentions?

Mourning had never wrenched my heart as it did now. I watched with lungs constricted and eyes fearful as he lay down tensely. I could see the apprehension in his eyes of being pierced but he remained down with all his strength. His life course and destiny had been laid out for him and he was to follow it. He was to follow it to death.

A rusted nail dug into his wrist and his blood curdling cry pierced the tension filled air. My head turned away instinctively and my eyes squeezed shut. How could I bear to stand and look on as a spectator when he was there bleeding? How could I bear to remain as I was and watch him fight the urge to thrash due to the pain? How could I bear to be still and see him arch his back in agony and his breathing turn to raspy gasps?

It took all I had to return my gaze to him. I felt the trickle of a tear race down my cheek as the second nail punctured his other wrist. Who was I that he needed to suffer such humiliation and pain for me? Who was I that he needed to throw all his pride as a king for me? My heart twisted as a third nail was driven through the arch of his feet. He may be a king, he may be of royal linage, but his body was still human and human flesh could experience physical pain. His mind has already had enough distress throughout his years as an adult, yet why must his physical body be inflicted by pain too? Why?

My knees gradually gave in. If I could just be by his side to comfort him and ease his pain, if I could just be there to mop the sweat off his tangled hair, I would be, but my legs did not seem to agree. Perhaps they had learnt their lesson from the roman soldier, perhaps they were just weak from exhaustion, but the fact remained that they would not move. I cried out for him amidst the crowd roaring their approval of his death. My sisters beside me sang a different tune, a symphony orchestrated by their pained sobs and agonized weepings.

It was time. They levered the stake till it stood upright on the ground and he was breathing raggedly while hanging off it. The only piece of clothing left was a linen cloth wrapped limply around his waist, and perhaps that thorny bracket on his crown. His eyes screwed shut to refrain himself from groaning at the sudden stress on his limbs, his lips grimacing in silent prayer.

This was it. I may never get to see him alive again.

With all I had, I let go of a name. His name.

"JESUS!"

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I was given feedback to cut it off here, so I am. I'm keeping the part after this still for more closure. I'm ending at "JESUS!" for more impact, so says Kimberly.

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A man came up from behind me and scowled before knocking me unconscious. My blurry vision met his eyes again, this time barely open in a squint. He shouted something to the sky and a clap of thunder fell, followed by a heavy torrent of pelting rain. With what was left of my ability to observe, I read aloud the sign hung above his head right at the apex of the cross.

"The King of the Jews"

I smiled into darkness.

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CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST

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Lol. Bet you guys thought I was writing some mushy romance story.

It's not very accurate, there's quite a number of other things that happened, but I was trying to narrate dramatically from a woman's point of view. 'He' refers to Jesus, Kings of the Jews, King of the World, God etc. 'Sisters' refer to sisters in Christ, any daughter who believes and trusts in him.

Don't you think this was a pretty good attempt?

What is a senator exactly? Oh wait, it's a member of some high coucil. Crap. I used it wrongly. I thought a senator was some kind of soldier. Oh well, who cares.

This was wholly inspired by today's church service where Sister Gwen preached about the meaning of the symbol of the cross. She showed us this video with short clips taken out of Passion of Christ (or something). It wasn't as if it was voluntary but I cried anyway. I don't know why, probably I love him so much I can't bear to see him in that much pain and agony.

I mean, they literally whipped him until his back bled, pressed a crown of thorns on his head, made him carry his own cross on his broken back to his 'deathbed' and then impaled nails in his hands/wrists (depends on which you believe in, personally, I'll take wrists) and feet and then brought the cross perpendicular to the ground and left him there to die.

What had he done to deserve all that? All he did was try to save the people, heal them, preach about the coming of his kingdom and perform miracles. All he did was with the intention of giving them a chance at a better life, yet look what they did to him!

He was king, yet treated like a common criminal.

He was God, yet treated like a begger.

He was the creator, yet they proclaimed death upon him.

He created them, yet they killed him.

Now I ask you again, what had he done to deserve all that humiliation and pain? All that suffering and torture of knowing he was to die on the cross for everyone's sins?

Then I started asking myself.

Did I deserve such a great sacrifice for my sins? I mean, he was son of God, for goodness sake! He was God himself too! Why had he to go through so much pain for me and for this world which had forsaken him?

...you probably won't understand until you truly cry simply because of the pain he had went through, until you cry from the bottom of your heart when you hear his outcry of agony and it hurts you so much to know it was for you that he went through it all.

That I did.

I'm becoming such a softie...

But hey, if it's for God, I'll cry even in school in front of everyone for him. =D

Braided Pencils

2009-04-04T16:12:00.004+08:00

...Chinese is so going to die.

Anyway, I just went online to onemanga.com and guess what I saw? There's a series continuing Prince of Tennis! Isn't that awesome? Well, for me, yes, but I think not for everyone else...that aside, it's just as cool as it was before! The drawings are great, the plot...not much I can gather yet from just 2 chapters, but I think it'll be good.

Ballet is starting again today. I hope I don't get any more trachea constrictions like that time during PE on Thursday. I thought I could die. No, actually, I didn't. It was not that bad, I could still breathe but it was more like wheezing, not a very good experience, really.

That very day I witnessed first hand the 'wheelchair friendly' SBS bus in action. It was really boring, actually. The only modification was that the level of the bus was low and that there were pull out trap door like flaps that unfolded into a ramp to ease the wheelchairs out of the bus. The old man (who didn't look Chinese at all...) took so long to get out of the bus (he hobbled, really) the bus behind the one I was in beeped its horn.

Lol.

There's nothing much else to say except that I got forced to 死读 my Chinese because I epic failed it. Gee, and my internet connection wasn't blocked by my dad, so I realized. The network cable was just unplugged...ugh. I've been a moron for a while...

Let's end with a few words.

Have you ever wondered
If the sky was a whole new world?
If the sparkles of the stars
Was a life to unfold?

Have you ever wondered
If another village stood up there?
If another darkness of the alleys
Was a life fading bare?

Have you ever wondered
If vampires and werewolves exist?
If mermaids of the foam
Was a life turned to mist?

Have you ever wondered
If there was a fixed path to follow?
If there was a choice of ways
Was it your intention not to go?

Patchwork death of happiness

2009-03-31T21:12:00.006+08:00

We did Photoshop for Aesthetics today. It was so fun (why do I keep repeating this line everytime I find something interesting?!).

Mr. Wong split the class into 2 halves, so my half went to the Shaw Lab first. Many of the computers were screwed. We weren't allowed to use the Macs so we got stuck with the PCs, though PCs are not bad, but they still lagged a lot.

Anyway, he made us look for Q:/ where he stored all our 'artworks'. Only about 3-7 computers have that drive, and I so happened to be one of the many unlucky ones that ended up with a computer lacking that essential component.

I attempted to copy the whole file off Mel's computer but it failed terribly. Even copying 7 images took over 5 minutes. Mel gave up on me because the computer started taking lightyears to load one image so we took my thumbdrive out of the computer.

Since my computer didn't have a Q:/ and the pictures that were copied so far into my thumbdrive sucked big time (sorry for those who did them...) I tuned out of Mr. Wong's lesson and played around with the many brush styles I found in the system.

The first piece I did with the brushes was called 'FLYaway Dreams'. Black toned coloured butterflies and roses found on cliched advertisements for women's perfume. The following two were also in grey-scale but they had different designs -- their focus and background composition were different and I liked them a lot.

I only had time to do three because it was my first time on Photoshop and it was a little hard trying to get the hang of it. When we returned to the Art Room to 'complete' our posters, I did more. Six more, in fact.

The settings for colour when I first used the computer I snagged was pink, pale pink, pastel pink, whatever pink, so I was pretty surprised (serious understatement) when it turned out quite nice (another grave understatement) with a mix of rounded and maple leaves. I called it 'SIMPLICITY'.

'REACH out for the STARS' came after that, then 'CHANGE', next was 'ELEGANCE' which was basically the same as 'CHANGE' except for the wording. The last two were 'the WIND' and 'TRAUMA' (which is featured above). I had white backgrounds for all of them so I thought 'TRAUMA' was pretty unique and special. It was the only one with text for a background.

Sorry the layout is pretty screwed. Everytime I add an image it always takes away all the carriage return (what the hell is that? I found it on answers.com) I put in place so I gotta add the '.' or it will be so taxing on your eyes to read.

Sizzling Snowdrops in a Bubbling Concoction

2009-03-28T21:54:00.002+08:00

60 Earth hour was so fun!

I 'celebrated' it with my whole family, and if I remember correctly, this is probably the first time in so long that we've gotten together to spend some quality time with each other that didn't include the unsociable watching TV or eating dinner.

We played Cluedo.

Well, the small set, the one about the size of an average A4 size paper with its length shortened to 2/3 of its usual. Anyway, my mother keeps breathing onto the candles we use to light the night (ooh! Rhymes!) and the candles kept going out. Lol. =D

It was so fun trying to teach them to play. I remember my brother was a pro at Cluedo when he was about 8 to 11, but somehow, he forgot how to play, so today, he revealed the cards that weren't supposed to be revealed and it was so funny!

Anyway, yeah, we all enjoyed playing it (with the boring exception of my sister who kept complaining about the dark). My father tried to use the program on his phone to roll the dice, but we found it a little irritating so we gave up and used the manual ones.

My sister was so annoying. She kept running away to the kitchen to get food and water and while we were all trying to concentrate on the game started whining and proclaiming loudly that there wasn't any Ribena and some what-not nonsense that I couldn't comprehend. Something about the syrup. That was so...frustrating. I felt like pulling on her hair at that moment... It disrupted the whole game!

Well, not exactly disrupt. It just shook my thoughts and concentration. Ugh. She pisses me off.

That aside, it was fun. It was the best family time I've ever had. My parents looked happy, so I was too. It's not wrong to put up an original fake facade to put them at peace then pull the mask off when I really start to get happy when they're all smiling because of the quality time we had, right?

Yeah, so I enjoyed Earth hour even though I got shunned by my siblings (no details included. All you have to know is that they both shut doors in my face...well, my sister had the right to do it then, but my brother didn't have to add 'I don't want to see you'!) at first. That sucked. I started to watch the clouds from my bedroom then began to have a slight desire to rollerblade in the streets but my parents said no because I had just bathed and that's how we ended up playing games which my mother brought out. =D

CHAOS is a product of too much PEACE

2009-03-20T21:53:00.012+08:00

Hi. Here's three questions for you to solve. The first would be a Mathematical problem where the answer will be provided at the end, the second and third would be common sense questions where if you wrack (sp?) your brains a little you will most definitely get the answer. I am sorely tempted to insert a random Go question in too...lol.

But seriously. You want a Go question? I could go find a super easy 30-kyu one for you guys to solve. Like trying to atari stones. Or capture them. Something like that. Do you even understand what I'm saying?

Here goes.

Q1. Mathematical Problem.
There are two glasses of identical volume. Glass A is half-filled with liquid A and Glass B is half-filled with liquid B. A tenth of liquid B from Glass B is poured into Glass A and mixed thoroughly into liquid A so it is evenly distributed. A tenth of the solution in Glass A is then poured back into Glass B. Is the amount of liquid A in Glass B the same as the amount of liquid B in Glass A?

Q2. Common Sense Question (taken from the Brands Essence advertisement)
Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain on Earth?

Q3. Common Sense Question (taken from the Brands Essence advertisement)
Most months have 31 days. How many have 28?

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Answers are further down. I suggest you think through the questions thoroughly first before proceding. Before they come, I'm gonna insert my day's account/recount here.

You know, the mathematical problem has been stuck in my head for years, I'm sure. It's nothing great and I don't even remember where I saw it from but it was from a long long time ago. It's an amazing feat that I have to be congratulated for that I even remember it. I don't have a great mind for these kind of stuff.

Perhaps I found the answer interesting and wanted to remember the question to double check the answer, perhaps it was simply...for odd reasons...engraved in my memory. I don't know. There isn't really much of a logical reasoning to answer this question I am posing to myself right now on why I remember this problem. Anyway, let me take some time to double check my anser...

*turns away to shut herself in and calculate mentally*

Yup. It should be the correct answer. I mean, I know the answer already but I just have to figure how to derive it myself.

I saw question 2 in the Squash toilets before so I know the answer. I've seen question 3 somewhere else too, but not the Squash toilet.

Anyway, answers. Yup yup. Coming soon.

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Answers:

Q1. The same.

If you want explanantions, fine, but I'm going to change the fractions so they're easier to work with, so instead of taking a tenth (1/10) of liquid B, I'm going to take a quarter (1/4 a.k.a. 25%). Please do remember that each glass is only half full. Pretend there is an object used in transferring the liquids and that it has the exact same volume of the transferred liquids.

After trasferring liquid B:
Glass A: 5/8 or 25/40 filled - 5/40 of liquid B & 20/40 of liquid A (ratio of B:A = 1:4)
Glass B: 3/8 or 15/40 filled - 3/8 of liquid B

During transfer:
Object Used to Transfer: 1/8 or 5/40 of Glass - 1/40 of liquid B & 4/40 of liquid A
Glass A: 4/8 or 20/40 filled - 4/40 of liquid B & 16/40 of liquid A
Glass B: 3/8 or 15/40 filled - 15/40 of liquid B

After transfer:
Glass A: 4/8 or 20/40 filled - 4/40 of liquid B & 16/40 of liquid A
Glass B: 4/8 or 20/40 filled - 16/40 of liquid B & 4/40 of liquid A

See?

Q2. Everest.

No matter whether it has been recognized by man as the highest mountain or not, it is still there, it still exists, and even if man hadn't discovered it yet, it is still the highest in existance on Earth.

Q3. 12 months.

All of the have at least 28 days.

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Fooled ya, didn't I? All those tricky common sense questions... I'm terrible with eplanations so if the walk-through Mathematical solution didn't make sense I'm to blame, okay? If your minds can't comprehend it, it's probably because I've twisted it into some strange incomprehensible hunk of words. It's not your fault. XP

Now you must be wondering why the hell I'm giving you these questions to do. I honestly don't know the answer either. XP Anyway, I hope you had fun getting your brains in a twist!

Here's a bonus for those who know Go (and find 30-kyu questions challenging...). I'm supposed to be 17-kyu to 18-kyu but I seem to find 18-kyu problems challenging...(by the way, 30-kyu is lowest rank. 1-kyu is the highest kyu, the followed by the higher amateur 1-dan until 6-dan. After that would be the professional 1-dan to 9-dan):

Freakishly easy 30-kyu problems-

1. Black to move and live. Average time taken for 30-kyu: 6 sec. 2. Black to move and live. Average time taken for 30-kyu: 8 sec.

3. White to move and kill black. Average time taken for 30-kyu: 11 sec.

4. Black to move and kill marked white stone. Average time taken for 30-kyu: 13 sec. (I honestly don't understand this. This problem is freaking easy even when I started out and that was while I still had problems with the first question I posted!)

Now some 25-kyu questions to keep your brain going (that is if you know the basics and can do all the 30-kyu posted XD):

1. Black to play and kill white. Average time taken for 25-kyu: 11 sec.

2. White to prevent black from connecting and saving all stones. Average time taken for 25-kyu: 25 sec.

That's all for today. I wanna put more, but...

Anyway, if you don't know how to play, go to these websites. They'll teach you. Go is fun! It's also kown as WeiQi, by the way. Go is fun, but playing it seriously is gonna make me die. I like solving the problems because there's no way you can lose, you just don't get it, that's all. I hate losing...:

http://gobase.org/studying/rules/?id=0&ln=uk

If you feel lost, don't worry. The next page is only a click away at the low hanging horizontal bar that says 'next'. There are problems to test yourself too. Just click home (it should be somewhere on the page) and search the right bar (or something). You should be able to find something like 'problems' or the likes.

http://www.goproblems.com/

This is where I found the problems I've posted. Kinda fun. XD

http://www.gokgs.com/tutorial/

I reinforced my knowledge here. Found out I actually knew everything they were talking about. Probably because I've read (and re-read) Hikaru no Go so many times and watched the anime of it where moves and the likes were explained at the end of the episodes. I recommend this site. It's interactive and fun. XD It's my personal favourite.

Each Generation Has to Ask the Same Number of Questions as the Next if Not They'll Never be Able to Answer Them and the World Will Get More Stupid

2009-03-18T15:43:00.002+08:00

THE TAGGED AND THE STOLEN:

Write the names of 21 friends you can think off the top of your head, and then answer the questions. Say you’re guessing if you don’t know, but at least guess on all of them. After doing this, tag your 21 friends to do the same.

1. AY (...she tagged me first...)
2. Kimberly (Art Club, and a new brace face)
3. Rachel
4. Aisyah (fangirl...)
5. Jesus! (He's a friend, right? Also a consultant, father, savior etc.)
6. Moira
7. Anabelle
8. Zann
9. Miss Siow (okay, that's random...oh, it says friends) *changes name* Miranda (church)
10. Sophia
11. Melissa
12. Chun Hui
13. Grace (ballet)
14. Xin Hui (also ballet)
15. (CAN"T THINK OF ANYBODY! I don't hang out with very many people...)...Isaac? (we're friends when it comes to blogging...tag a lot, sometimes)
16. Hui Xian
17. Jasmine
18. Rachel2
19. Cassandra (can't believe I forgot about her...argh)
20. Samuel (friend? We were more of acquaintances, but for the sake of question 3... *cackles madly*)
21. Gina (long time no see...how long has it been? Four years?)

-How did you meet 7? (Anabelle)
Through the sickeningly sadistic school called RGSS...

-What would you do if you and 15 had never met? (Isaac)
Uh...my Net life would be boring by a small fraction of 0.001%?

-What would you do if 20 and 1 dated? (AY and Samuel)
...Howl with laughter and scream,"AND I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU DIDN"T LIKE HIM!". XD

-Have you ever seen 17 cry? (Jasmine)
No. I only see her 4 hours out of the 168 a week...what are the chances I get to see her bawl like a baby? Well, unless the holy spirit came and touch her, I don't see how I'll get to see her cry...

-Would 4 and 16 make a good couple? (Aisyah and Hui Xian)
Er...do they know each other?

-Do you want to be 13's friend forever? (Grace)
I guess. I probably won't see much of her after I finish Intermediate or something. I'm not considering ballet as a profession so I need not do Advance 1 and 2.

-Do you think 11 is attractive? (Melissa)
In her own way. I'm a girl so I have absolutely no right to judge her (who is a girl too...).

-What’s 5’s favorite color? (Jesus)
Does He even have a preference?

-When was the last time you talked to 9? (Miranda)
Last Sunday.

-What language does 8 speak? (Zann)
English, Chinese, Malay, and a bit of slip shot Japanese from anime.

-Who is 13 going out with? (Grace)
...I'm not in a position to demand an answer for this one. Heck I'm not even interested...

-What grade is 16 in? (Hui Xian)
Sec 2.

-Would you ever date 17? (Jasmine)
*spews out what little of lunch she has in her stomach* WHAT THE HECK? NO WAY! She's Christian, I'm Christian, and lesbianism is against Christianity, so there.

-Where does 18 live? (Rachel2)
Er...let's narrow down our options...Universe>Milky Way>Solar System>Earth>Singapore?

-What is the best thing about 4? (Aisyah)
The fact that she doesn't mind me going on and on about Manga and Anime...

-What would you like to tell 10 right now? (Sophia)I
19 is good, yes? Don't suicide just because we wasted S$91 on that 19th position...

-What is the best thing about 20? (Samuel)
Um...he's funny? I don't know much about him except that he's the class clown 2 years ago...

-Have you ever kissed 2? (Kimberly)
*GAG*. Hello, Christians.

-What’s the best memory you have of 5? (Jesus)
Church camp when I got baptized by the holy spirit...

-When's the next time you're going to see 4? (Aisyah)
Who knows...

-How is 7 different from 6? (Anabelle and Moira)
Anabelle has booking power, Moira doesn't. Anabelle has straight hair, Moira's looks like a nest. Anabelle is a hard working nerd, Moira most certainly isn't. Anabelle sits in front of me, Moira goes right next to me. Anabelle is a perfectionist, Moira just wants to get her work done and over with. Anabelle is shorter than me, Moira is taller than me. Anabelle is the polar opposite of me, Moira and I are...quite similar, I should say.

-Is 2 pretty? (Kimberly)
Everyone is beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. Pretty sounds fairly superficial...so Kimberly is definitely NOT pretty. She's better, a diamond because she trusts in God. *smiles*

-What was your first impression of 15! (Isaac)
Who are you? Are you seriously 10 years old?

-How did you meet 3? (Rachel)
Rosyth GEP.

-Is 15 your best friend? (Isaac)
Er...no? For goodness sake, he's a GUY! Yes, Isaac is a HE, though I AM sorely tempted to circle 'F' under gender...

-Do you hate 12? (Chun Hui)
Why would I do that after the whole SAFMC thing?

-Have you seen 18 in the last month? (Rachel2)
Classmates.

-When was the last time you saw 16? (Hui Xian)
Yesterday. SAFMC.

-Have you been to 5’s house? (Jesus)
I would after I die. *grins, singing: In my father's house are, many mansions, many mansions in my father's house. In my father's house are, many mansions, many mansions in my father's house*

-When’s the next time you’ll see 10? (Sophia)
Probably Saturday.

-Are you close to 11? (Melissa)
Yup, sorta.

-Have you been to the movies with 4? (Aisyah)
No. If we did, we'd probably end up watching some movie adaptation of a favourite Manga or something. There'd be a great dispute as she'd most probably flock to the 'Shoujo' screenings while I, the 'Shounen'...

-Have you gotten in trouble with 8? (Zann)
*raises eyebrow* Everyday, and more than you'll eve know...

-Would you hug 19? (Cassandra)
No, but close. I don't hug, remember? And I'll miss her a lot but our friendship kind of wavered and is pretty much on the brink of breaking off...

-When have you lied to 3? (Rachel)
Friendly lies. XD

-Is 11 good at socializing? (Melissa)
When it comes to fan fiction and Manga and Anime? Yes.

-Do you know a secret about 8? (Zann)
Nope.

-Describe the relationship between 12 and 18. (Chun Hui and Rachel2)
Classmates.

-What’s the best thing about your friendship with 9? (Miranda)
She helped assimilate me into my new church!

-What’s the worst thing about 6? (Moira)
She's a baby. Either that or an old granny.

-Have you ever had a crush on 12? (Chun Hui)
*narrows eyes* HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU I"M A CHRISTIAN AND I DO NOT PARTAKE IN LESBIANISM?!?!

-How long have you known 2? (Kimberly)
Since we started at Art Club, but we never would have delved into the unknown depths of friendship had it not been for the 'I am Cow' song.

-Have you ever been in a fight with 13? (Grace)
Fight? I don't know her well enough to fight with her...

-Does 11 have a bf/gf? (Melissa)
How should I know?

-Have you ever wanted to punch 1 in the face? (AY)
No. Even though I do not exercise much thus am not provided with much endorphin leading to the fact that I am happy and will not shoot, I am fairly pleased with our friendship so I do not want to punch.

-Has 21 met your mother? (Gina)
I honestly have no idea, but they should have met a few times...

-How did you meet 11? (Melissa)
Classmates. This year and the previous.

-Did you ever accidentally physically hurt 3? (Rachel)
I don't know. Minor accident? Like maybe squish a toe or two? Seriously, I don't have a great memory chip in my head for anything.

-Do you live close to 7? (Anabelle)
Doubt that. Where does she live in the first place?

-What is 8’s favorite food? (Zann)
Dunno, but I don't think she lives on drawings like I do (as in I can't go a day without drawing), so it's safe to say no, she does not live, eat and breath drawing. As for others...I dunno.

-What kind of car does 1 have? (AY)
Is she even allowed to own one? Wait, she is, but not a driving license.

-Have you traveled anywhere with 9? (Miranda)
Cell group outing?

-If you gave 14 $100, what would she spend it on? (Xin Hui)
...who knows?

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

MY BOY SIDE

[x] you love hoodies
[ ] you love jeans
[ ] dogs are better than cats (no, they both suck)
[ ] it's hilarious when people get hurt (sadistic!)
[x] you've played with boys on a team
[x] shopping is torture (with the exception of Manga XD)
[x] sad movies suck
[ ] you own a XBOX (I don't care much for one as long as I have a computer...)
[ ] you played with Hot Wheels as a little kid
[ ] at some point in your life you wanted to be a firefighter
[ ] you own a DS PS2 or SEGA
[ ] you used to be obsessed with Power Rangers (like real!)
[x] you watch sports on TV (GO SOCCER! I have no favourite team though.)
[x] gory movies are cool (I watche Saw II and I kinda like the plot, though it was a little borin...)
[ ] sometimes you go to your dad for advice (I don't ask my parents for advice...)
[ ] you own like a trillion baseball hats
[x] you used to/do collect pokemon (I liked them as a kid and was obsessed with them at the age of 6, but upon learning that pokemon is not Godly, I stopped and now I can't see why I ever liked it...)
[x] baggy sweat pants are nice to wear (YEAH!)
[ ] its kind of weird to have sleepovers with a bunch of people
[x] green, black, red, blue or silver are one of your favourite colours (black...I used to like red from P1-P6, though. I think I may like green now...)
[x] sports are fun (badminton, tennis may be fun, and I like basketball)
[x] you sometimes talk with food in your mouth (does anyone NOT do that?)
[ ] you sleep at night with your socks on (I might in the cold...)
[x] you have fished at least once (at the local mini fishing pond where you scramble for guppies?)
TOTAL= 12

MY GIRL SIDE (someone kill me...)
[ ] you like to shop (someone kill me again...)
[ ] you wear eyeliner
[ ] you wear the color pink (...*barfs*)
[ ] sometimes you go to your mum for advice (I don't ask my parents for advice, remember?)
[ ] you consider cheerleading a sport (no, it's a recreation and more of a performance, like ballet!)
[ ] you hate wearing all black (I LIKE wearing all black. Feels good. Figuring out which colours go together is...not my forte)
[ ] you like going to the mall
[ ] you like getting manicures and/or pedicures (NO MY CUTICLES!)
[ ] you like wearing jewelery (if a black watch and black rubberbands on my wrists count, then it should be a yes...)
[ ] you cried watching The Notebook (what's that?)
[ ] skirts are a big part of your wardrobe (I don't have a single skirt in my cupboard [no, I'm NOT going to call it wardrobe])
[ ] shopping is one of your favourite hobbies
[ ] you've seen Star Wars and don''t like some of it (I have not seen Star Wars...)
[ ] you do/did gymnastics
[ ] it takes you around one hour to shower and get dressed (nah. I spend twenty minutes in the bath just soaking up the hot water cuz it feels nice.)
[x] you smile a lot more than you should (do I?)
[ ] you have more than 10 pairs of shoes (those who tick this must have at least five pairs of feet...I don't see why people need so many...)
[ ] you care about what you look like majority of the time
[ ] you like wearing dresses whenever you can (I don't have a dress.)
[x] you like dancing/do dancing (BALLET! Dancing is all about body control, nothing too bimbotic about it. I'm not afraid to say I do like dancing.)
[ ] you like high heel shoes (...I don't even have a pair...)
[x] you used to play with dolls as a kid (I ruined Barbie's hair *grins*)
[ ] you like putting makeup on others
[ ] you like being the star of almost everything (attention stinks, especially the kind where people stare at you because you grew a metephorical second head...)
[ ] pink is one of your favourite colours (YUCK.)

TOTAL= 3 (NO KIDDING?!)

now multiply by 4 to get your percentage
48% boy, 12% girl

Erm...was I born the wrong gender?

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

90. First off, what is your name?
RL, or you could just call me Ferrero.

89. What did you do last night?
Read Manga online, typed a few words on the computer...I can't remember. Those stated are the routine stuff so it's not hard to forget...

88. Do you have a best friend that you can talk to 24/7?
I hate using the phone. It's horrifyingly boring and ridiculously inconvenient.

87. Do you have any siblings?
2, apparently. One elder brother who owns 2 computers and keep them running at the same time and a younger sister who owns one computer and forgets to switch off the lights. Both require my assistance to fill their stomachs for lunch.

86. How many years apart is your mom and dad?
Almost half a year.

85. Do you like someone?
No. I love my friends and family and God, but I do not like them.

84. What does the 7th message in your text inbox say?
[Kimberly Ho: No, duh. But the torture of adjusting it...] I'll leave the subject of our conversation to your wandering mind.

83. Who sits beside you in maths?
People. Living, breathing people.

82. Where is your dad right now?
Uh...in Australia.

81. Do you burn incense?
Incense stinks. Why would I burn it? Christianity does not require it, neither does liking Manga.

80. Do you have a problem?
*growls*Are you trying to pick a fight?

79. Who is the 5th person you got a missed call from?
...Dunno the name. Only the person's number was recorded.

78. Closest purple object?
Lol. Rachel's BF. Just kidding. It's a square piece of felt from the birthday present Zann gave me.

79. Closest silver object?
The inner mechanisms of the cube shaped musical box my mother got when she went to a wedding dinner. Wait, it could just be that nail clipper over there, or the 'DELL' words on my keyboard, or perhaps the things INSIDE the keyboard itself...argh. Confused.

Wait, it should be the metal plating or screws attaching it on my watch. Or perhaps the metal wires on my ear plugs that are stuck into my ears right now...

GAH! I give up.

76. Closest yellow object?
My skin.

75. Do you sing in the shower?
I used to fairly often, but now it's quite rare, though I still do about Christian songs.

74. What is bugging you right now?
The ache in my back.

73. How does your hair look right now?
Er...black? There's not much light shining on it.

72. Do you know all the words to the Star Spangled Banner?
What the heck is that?

71. When is the last time you said the pledge of allegiance?
...I'm no American.

70. If you could kill someone, who would it be?
I currently do not hold the same urge to execute cold blood murder as I had yesterday...(read yesterday's post for reference)

69. Do you have any fears?
The dark, though ironically, my favourite colour now is black. Yes, if it's the dark, I do fear going blind and that's why I'm still wondering why I spend so much time on the computer when it would alleviate my chances of going blind faster.

68. What do you hear right now?
Some neighbour yelling something incoherent...

67. Do you like kangaroos?
Dunno.

66. Can you roll your tongue?
Yes, but not till a few years back when I finally figured the basics of tongue manipulation that does not include the basic function of consumption.

65. What are you wearing?
A shirt many sizes too huge, watch, 2 rubberbands on my wrists, FBT shorts (that are so short I think people would scream if they knew I even OWNED a pair, let alone 6...), undergarments. All's black except for the last 2.

64. Who was the last person to message you?
Miss Siow. Telling the SAFMC teams that one of us won (should be Ash's team for presentation, though I really wouldn't mind the teamspirit one XD)

63. Do you like emo kids?
I like emo kids when they're in Mangas. They look really fun to draw. XP

62. Screamo or Country?
Er...whatta?

61. Rock or Rap?
Rock. I'm not a great fan of raps.

60. Polka or Disco?
Is this a question of preference of patterns or night clubs? Wait, or dance styles?

59. Flying or Driving?
Flying, duh. You don't need a license for that and there aren't any traffic lights up there either.

58. Who last called you?
Call as in phone call or just yelling?

57. Was your Valentine’s day nice?
...when was Valentine's?

56. What are you doing now?
Filling in this quiz...AND I"M NOT EVEN HALF WAY THROUGH YET!

55. Who was the last person you said I love you to?
Dunno. God, highly likely. I will never admit love into any mortal's face.

54. Would you die for someone?
Not someone, but someGod. Okay, I know that's lame. But actually, I don't know if I have the courage to actually die for God even...*wails*

53. Would you date anyone from your work?
...Work? I thought I was still underage...

52. Do long distance relationships work?
No idea. Not intending to find out. But if it's parent child relationship, then yes.

51. Do you have any pet peeves?
A peeve is something that annoys you, right? If yes, then there are a few things:
1. My sister
2. When the Internet crashes
3. Waking up
4. Losing (I'm a terrible loser though I cover it up quite well)
5. A certain someone from the previous post

50. Do you have to pee right now?
Nah.

49. When did you last talk to one of your siblings?
About 4 and a half hours ago to yell at my brother to come down for lunch.

48. What are you doing tomorrow?
Computer?

47. Do you worry about getting older?
Yes. I think it would affect both my eyesight and drawing skills...

46. Have you ever had an ingrown toenail?
No, and I hope I never. I've seen one, looked a bit scary.

45. Do you pick your scabs?
All the time. I just can't help it.

44. Ever drink your blood?
Yes. After a dental appointment.

43. Do your bandaids have cartoons on them?
I do hope not.

42. Do you bite your nails?
Used to until I decided to shake the habit in P4 to keep my nails long. Now I don't see why I couldn't go a day without doing that in the past.

41. Do you wax your eyebrows?
What's that?

39. Do you check CelebPox.com for celebrity gossip?
What's that? Sounds like a chicken pox specially engineered to affect celebrities...

38. Do you have a jar where you keep your loose change?
No. My wallet can suffer alone in silence.

37. Do you own a pogo stick?
Is that a stick you bounce on?

36. Ever gone a whole day without eating?
No. I can't stand to miss even lunch. I felt like dying just yesterday at just 11:00...

35. Do you own ripped jeans?
No, but I'd like them. I think they're pretty aesthetically pleasing.

34. What makes you mad?
A certain someone from the previous post. Nothing could rate the 'pissed level' then. Unconstructive criticisms about my drawings offerred by people who can't even hold a pencil right (I do meet a lot of those who aspire to draw awesome Mangas which turn out like crap but still insist that mine doesn't look good...like theirs is anywhere as close to 'good' as mine...).

33. What would you do if you found out that you were adopted?
Dress more conservatively at home.

32. Are you jealous a lot of the time?
No. I just get depressed by how far more I have to go to reach the other party's standard of drawing.

31. Do you use a calendar or day planner to schedule everything on?
I tried, but I never remember to check them.

30. Are you OCD?
What's that?

29. Do you have ADD?
Once again, I demand what ADD means.

28. Do you have low self esteem?
Sometimes, but at others (usually when drawing comes into context) my ego blows up like a giant hot air balloon.

27. Who can make you laugh during the hardest time?
Dunno, my own idiocy, I guess, but the laughter will be a bit bitter...

26. What was the last thing you watched on TV?
Yesterday's Channel 8 7 o' clock show. I think it's called Fire Butterfly or something. Huo3 Hu2 Die2.

25. When was the last time you had professional pictures taken?
No idea.

24. Have you done a whitening treatment on your teeth?
What's that?

23. What is your favorite movie?
Wall.E. Realistic, funny, touching, and great graphics.

22. Who do you love?
Many.

21. What is playing on your MP3 player right now?
I can't even remember the last time I had an MP3...

20. What holiday is your birthday closest to?
Valentines, though it's not really a holiday, just an event to remember.

19. What’s your favorite drink?
Iced Green Tea. Root Beer (shaken till all the gas disappears). Yakult Apple Flavour (though I wouldn't miss grape for it would be a treat. The grape is usually gone by the time I search the fridge...).

18. Do you own any big sunglasses?
Yuck. They're horrendous. Only people like...she who shall not be named...wears them.

17. Bed sheet color?
Red and white.

16. Ever encountered a shark?
Young one. About 50-70cm long. We went on a trip to Kukup last week and I saw it.

15. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally?
Yes. Kimberly. She played her compositions over and over again at my request just cuz' they were so nice.

14. Have you ever bungee jumped?
No. I'll get a heart attack if I even try.

13. Where was the last place you went besides your house?
Science Center. Yesterday.

12. What’s the first thing you notice about the same sex?
'Oh. It's a girl.' If I can't figure out the gender by the face, then I'll go to the chest, though I'd rather not...

11. Is it hard to express your feelings to someone?
Always. Lack of words. Lack of willingness. Lack of feeling.

10. Why are people such self-centered beings?
Because they're all like my brother.

9. Are you sad?
Not right now.

8Are you happy?
Not right now.

7. Favorite day of the year?
My birthday. Or the day I get to buy a single Tankouban of Hikaru no Go. I couldn't find it in the bookshop at Jurong East MRT Station! NOO! It's the place with the biggest collection of Manga I ever know...

6. Have you ever licked someones cheek?
No.

5. Watched all Spiderman movies?
I watched one or two but I don't remember which.

4. What are you looking forward to?
More Manga. Heaven.

3. Favorite Lucky Charms Marshmallow?
Er...what?

2. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
Dunno.

1. Do you want to get married?
Sa...

Top 50 percentile = Bottom 51 percentile

2009-03-17T19:15:00.005+08:00

2 posts ago was Post no. 210.

1 day ago I played music for the ballet exam. I forgot to mention, but there was an exercise (something and pivots) that the examiner offerred the candidates of Grade 4 to give a miss (which means they'll get the full 5 marks for the exercise) because she thinks the exercise is too hard for their standard.

All of them backed out in the end except for number 3. I felt number 3 was doing the right thing and I can't help but wonder what the examiner's motive behind it was. Maybe to test their honesty? I was wondering that all the way till the end until the examiner actually spoke to my teacher about the exercise and said number 3 was really foolish for passing up the chance.

I told her I felt what number 3 did was right because of the honesty factor. I mean, the people of the Organization chucked the exercise in so that they can do it. So why not? It's not very correct to get grades that do not reflect your true prowess (even though the exercise might be hard).

Today was the SAFMC practical round...er...actual flying date. Our first try landed us in the 16th spot with a distance covered of 9.72 meters. We then cheered for the rest of the teams and the judge (whom we originally thought was a cold-hearted b****** [starts with 'b' ends with 'd', you guess) let us into the arena to cheer for them instead of just standing outside. So we did. We did 'Say Ra', then the North South East West one, followed by 'Bring 'em Down'. We had 3 other teams from RGS other than us participating so we had to have so many...

Anyway, theirs wasn't too great, but still, much better than some of the NUS High ones which kinda either stalled superbly or nosedived notoriously. I think there was a bit too much air resistance against their wings on the wrong surface...

There was a primary school participating too. The school was great, I tell you (they had a plane that flew over 15m [I think] and many others over 10m during the second launching), but they probably had lots of teachers to help them and guide them along the way while we simply did ours on our own with...misleading guidance, sometimes. There were other times when the improvements suggested were so obvious we didn't need anyone to tell us but someone did...

Oh, during lunch break when we were given time to modify our glider, someone snatched the glider out of my hands (or was it Rachel's? Or Sophia's? Or Chun Hui's? Or Mel's?) and decided to throw it to test it out. The someone flicked his/her wrists in an attempt to launch the plane and expectedly (I mean, who flicks wrist trying to launch straight?) crash landed not a meter away at Mel's feet.

The wing broke. Earlier on, we were testing a little and we moved the adapter back. We launched it with our hands and it flew quite awesomely, if I should add a touch of ego to my speech. The flight path was almost straight and it wasn't jerky. It sort of rode on the air, so to speak (well, it IS meant to do that...).

Then Rachel decided to try throwing the plane. She somehow lost her touch today (she did throw the planes quite well last time...) so the plane nosedived about three meters into the flight. The wings got a little screwed and cracked. We fixed it but it was never as good as it was. But still far better than...(shall not say...read below)

Back to where we were. The front of the wing almost chipped off completely (well, a part did, but fairly small) and we had to tape it back but even then, it wasn't too good. The wings were thrown forward a bit too much and that caused the tape to be brutally peel off into a mass of yellow paper and sticky bits. Then someone stated the 'obvious', "Your plane doesn't have enough lift."

BE WARNED OF PETTY CURSES AND SPATS FROM THIS POINT ON.

I was so freaking pissed! Not enough lift my foot! Who was it that broke our plane, huh? Who was it that FLICKED his/her wrist and ended up killing what work we had done to patch up Rachel's mistake? How could anyone not know that would totally destroy the plane's nose? Who was to blame for having it nosedive so unglamorously? Who was it that made it have not enough lift? I mean, what the heck!

My mood remained black until I decided to go along with it. I just couldn't blow up at the person who caused the mishap. I didn't have enough authority. I'll get killed if I tried that. And that was the first time I ever felt such a burning hatred and urge to break a neck. It's the closest I've ever been to getting into deep shit... (BEWARE OF NACISSISM) My self control rocks. (END OF NARCISSISM, CONTINUATION OF RANTING)

It's making me wonder and reconsider my statement that I didn't exactly like the SAFMC... Seeing the way I almost lost my temper probably meant that I DID care about the SAFMC, I did think that it was important, well, at least valuable to me. I mean, I spent so long on the plane! Technically, I didn't, but I did a lot of the modifications and patching up! And it was all ruined in a single split second of dread! ARGH!

I know now I seriously treasure this plane (if not the competition). The only time I ever got near to being as pissed was when my parents refused to let me go to the Linkin Park concert 2 years ago... and perhaps when my sister didn't bathe and simply fell on the bed, crossing the invisible line separating my side and hers without a single care in the world...

END OF PISSED OFF RANT

Anyway, I had to seriously work on suppressing my fury (for there would be dire consequences if I yelled at the someone) and listened to Miss Siow's advice (-_-") on how to better patch up the plane. She suggested using duct tape which had terrible sticking ability but was 'smooth and had less air resistance'. So we decided to use it to cover up the uneven ends of the duct tape instead of using it to secure the positions. Worked MARVELOUSLY...

The second time we launched it recorded a distance of 10.68m which placed us 19th out of 59, which is very good, the top 33.33 percentile...damn, the other schools also improved, but by such a huge margin...aw shucks...

We stayed back to cheer for the teams, but in between, some RI guys decided to punch through our launching slots so we decided to cheer for them anyway (not like we had much of a choice, the MC was asking the 'girls' to cheer for the 'boys'...seriously). But it was still great. Rachel reported that one RI group landed 7th place...ARGH! So irritating...why are guys always better?

I think we did great for teamspirit. We cheered on our school mates. Our seniors looked so lonely so we stayed behind for them too. After cheering and all, we went to take a group photo at the back. Some man helped us the 3rd time round, I think.

It wasn't bad overall, seeing that even though it was only 19th, our team still did get into the top 20, so Miss Siow decided to tell us her husbands surname. I was like: 'DOES SHE EVEN HAVE A HUSBAND?!?!?' When did she even make the deal in the first place? There came some joke with her surnames but I'll decide to leave it aside. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose it...

Anyway, lunch was MacDonalds. I ordered 2 cheese burgers instead of the Fillet-O-Fish almost everyone else ordered. Kinda figured out that 1 burger would fill my stomach... We originally thought we were supposed to pay for it, but then Miss Siow told us that it was free, so we were all very happy (especially me. I mean, FREE lunch, FREE).

After the competition, we all decided to doodle on our plane as autographing memories down and leaving them behind (AS A LEGACY! [RGS130, remember?]). We started signing and randomly drawing stuff on the plane's wings. A little while later, Sophia added our 'motivating statement' (It's not flying...YET) at the back of the plane as it represented it pushing us on from behind. Others came along to autograph too. We kinda forced our seniors to put down their signatures too. XD

We had Miss Siow and Mrs Teo sign also, wouldn't want to miss out on the teachers, would we? (side note: -_-")

I went back by MRT with Rachel on the red line. One the way (I think it was somwhere before Kranji), I noticed a river (canal?) that looked really nice in the sun so I told Rachel to look, before commenting as the thought came to mind that the river was SPARKLING. I then made the connection to Edward Cullen. There was a lot of 'sparkling in the sun' jokes around our class after all...

Then Rachel mused on what it would be like if Cullen (Edward, I mean) sang the song Sophia and I caught over a television that was on display when we walked back from the Science Center on the 13th. It went:

Woke up in Singapore City
In a funky cheap hotel
She took my heart
She took my money
...

We didn't catch the rest so it stopped at there. Both Sophia and I found it pretty hilarious, especially when the subtitles flashed line after line at the 'heart' and 'money' part...lolz.

Anyway, I pointed out that Cullen wouldn't come to Singapore because he'd be SPARKLING all the time (every fangirl goes 'ooh!'). It was followed by a question if I knew anyone who fell in love with a fictional character. I said I didn't, Rachel said she did. Anabelle, apparently. She likes Cullen.

Er...

The conversation somehow led to cheesy pick-up lines where we tried to remember all the pick up lines we've ever heard. Here goes some I remember even now:

1.
Guy: Are you tired?
Girl: No, why?
Guy: You've been running through my mind all day long.

2.
Guy: I wouldn't want a raisin but I would like a date.

3.
Guy: I have two words to say to you.
Girl: What?
Guy: I love you.
Girl: That's three words.
Guy: I know, but then again, I and you are one.

4.
Guy: If I could rearrange the letters of the alphabet, I would put 'I' and 'U' together.

Er...how cheesy can that get? Rachel's mother said she would be fetching her dad so she could give me a lift therefore I went with Rachel and exited at Sembawang station. We sat at the bus stop and waited and that was where most of the cheesy pick up lines sprang up.

This has no relation to whatever I was talking about but I'm putting it down anyway. I arrived at the Science Center super early and there were only NUS High guys so I decided to plonk my stuff on that sturdy hand rail at the extreme ends of the walkway and sat on it. I think Sophia came next, followed by Rachel. Then Chun Hui and Mel came along. We sat around for a while until someone from another team (I think) suggested we waited at the Anex for Miss Siow.

So we did.

We entered the Anex not knowing we had to register first to gain legal entrance so we were ushered out to get our team registered and attain a small slip each. Wrist bands (more like patients' identification tags) came after we explored the tables/cubicles (IT"S MY FIRST TIME NEAR ONE! [other than the ones in my mother's office] I"VE NEVER BEEN ALLOWED TO ACTUALLY USE IT BEFORE!) and were told to move tables because the seatings were wrong.

Anyway, the flying arena had nets hanging all the way from the ceiling downward and the nets were so fine Sophia said she couldn't see them when she was sitting in the middle during debriefing. Lol.

GO SHUFTI!

The Perfect Contradiction

2009-03-16T18:33:00.003+08:00

I got my first paycheck today!

Well, it was only a meager amount of $8.75, but it's still money. How much can one expect others to pay a teen who just turned 14? I was only the music player too... I'm paid $3 for every hour, you do the math.

Let's see, I got my first paycheck at the age of 14 years, 1 month, 3 days, 3 hours and 58 minutes. So exact. XD

Life Does Not Have a U-Turn Sign or Restart Button. Once You've Screwed Up, You've Screwed Up.

2009-03-13T21:56:00.002+08:00

We had 2 SAFMC meetings in a row! That was terrible. The one yesterday found the launcher broken. The one today found the launcher in patches. Our plane flew perfectly well when thrown manually but totally nose dived when the launcher was utilized. Damn.

Anyway, I stayed at school from 09:12-17:49 around there. Wasn't very eventful, if you ask me, but the best part was around 09:20. Awesome, I tell you.

Rachel and I crossed paths at the stairwell outside the hall and decided to return to class since Rachel had checked the hall and all but couldn't find Sophia or anybody from SAFMC. The freezing air that hit our faces when we walked through the doors of our classroom told us the air-con was turned on. We left it on anyway. Who wouldn't when they felt warm?

At about 09:20 (oh yes, this is where I'm gonna hurl with laughter), Rachel and I decided to check out Anderson Staff Room to see if the results of the RS teacher initiated proposals had been officially posted. Rachel swung the back door open, still chatting away, and when her mind registered that Chun Hui was behind the door, she screamed. Followed by Chun Hui. Then Sophia who was behind Chun Hui. And there I was clutching my stomach and howling with laughter, right fist curled tightly and hitting the nearest desk as fast as I could.

*grins* It's never interesting retold, but still, at least I made an effort.

We hopped down to Far East for lunch at the usual KFC (I'm so sick and tired of fast food, don't show me another for two weeks minimum). I was pondering on whether to buy the Extra Value Meal or the Cheesy BBQ Melts or the Zinger Burger. Couldn't decide, but Sophia made the decision for me when she ordered the Extra Value Meal and reminded me that it wasn't worth the S$5.50 I would be paying for it, so I ordered the Cheesy BBQ Melts.

Oh, when I last ordered the Extra Value Meal (with the drink changed to Ice Lemon Tea and therefore cost S$5.95), I was shortchanged S$3. I noticed it at first but was afraid of them hounding me for wasting their time for a mere S$3. Kimberly finally urged me enough to get me straight before the counter to 'demand' my money back.

It was successful, but extremely time consuming. They had to look through all their receipts and see if the money tallies, then check with me to see if they had indeed shortchanged me (which they did but simply refused to admit due to their idiotic pride).

Back, the melts turned out awesome. I kept complimenting it, Rachel kept begging for bits, and Mel kept telling me not to continue for fear of Sophia's jealousy...lol. I didn't even notice she was jealous...

We were mighty late for the trials, but no one cares, right?

You know the rest. Stupid plane only flies when handled by Homo sapiens.

Oh! Before the launcher trials, we were trying to design our planes, which I don't really care much about. They tried to get me to design, but I gave up. When I saw the image of a plane on the blackboard (yes, BLACK) with triangular designs on it, I pointed it out and said it would have been a great design.

Rachel acted all high and mighty and claimed that she was a genius, to which her unclear words were twisted into 'genus' by Sophia, and I did the finest tuning and churned out the word 'Homo'. It's a genus, correct? I made no error. Rachel's a Homo. Watch out, girls. Rachel preys on people of the same gender. Eww...

Devastated Lullaby

2009-03-04T18:01:00.002+08:00

Oh sweet lullaby of mine,
Arced with twisted gold,
Kissed by blades of old,
Carved from diamond mold.

Oh sweet lullaby of mine,
Seen through bloody battles,
Heard with desperate rattles,
Wrung above ashen metals.

Oh sweet lullaby of mine,
Walked along the injured lanes,
Sung till the twilight wanes,
Mixed among the scarring pains.

Single melody, calls forth calamity.
Lonely melody, bring dead back to me.
Discrete melody, draw me back to thee.
Sweet melody, lost forever in the bright, red sea.

Sweet, devastated, lullaby.

War cry.

Die.

I'm feeling strangely poetic today, though poems were never my strong points...

Anyway, gotta talk about yesterday, forgot to blog. I did indeed have an interesting day yesterday, but I...um...kind of forgot a lot of things. Do be kind if I've missed out on any juicy details.

-3 March 2009-

Let it be forbidden that Aesthetics are allowed to drag on till lunch! I missed almost the whole lunch period so I could finish attaching the walls of the (immensely heavy) box together. I wouldn't be surprised if no one would buy it. Reason 1: Terrible designs/terrible technical details. Reason 2: It's freaking HEAVY.

There is no way anyone would spend S$10 for the cookies. I mean, they want the cookies, not the freaking box. The box can sit and collect dust and bird poop for all I care...

During Aesthetics, Min Chih and Ning Xin were chatting, and from the chatter was born the most memorable phrase ever: See your face everyday, don't emo cai2 guai4.

You wouldn't believe how we howled with laughter...

After a hasty lunch of fried rice (which I lapped up half of seeing I dropped my spoon even before I started but kind Regina brought me a spoon half-way through), I rushed back up to class for CLE, which was a totally slack subject, reason 1 why I love it so.

Miss Tay decided to chit chat with the second half of the class (which was register no. 17 and up) so we sat around, but most of the time was dedicated to deciding whether Sofia and Moira could consume their food because they had missed lunch due to Aesthetics and Hong Lao Shi wouldn't let them. They looked pretty suggestive when they stood in the corner hunched over their lunches trying to finish them before their allocated 5 minutes was up, something that tickled most of those in the room if not all.

RS was pretty awesome due to the fact that we were allowed to stay in class and not do anything for there was no other teacher who would be 'selling' their RS topic anymore. They said we could work on our proposals, but the problem is, we were supposed to submit them by last Friday... -.-"

Art club as usual disregarding the fact that all the Sec 2s were compressed into 3 tables meant to sit at most 3 people each. Problem was, there was about 12 of us. So to solve the problem, Mr. Wong so intelligently got out a single solitary desk for me to do my claywork at while the model I was supposed to recreate was sitting before Kimberly. How smart can he get?

Ooh, very. He pronounces 'yellow' as 'yallow'. No offense, but it was pretty hilarious. >.<

I made my very first completely-encased form that took shape of a wedge (you know, potato wedge, but it wasn't that long). It was a sphere double-cut. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to figure out the shapes required, but of course, I could waste 10 minutes for that, couldn't I? Especially when the end result was so awesome (it was hollow, H-O-L-L-O-W. No, it's not a monster out of Bleach).

I went on to make a circular platform with a slanting surface, which turned out worse than the wedgie did. I made a few more slabs but decided not to finish the form (as there was about 15 minutes left to the session) and went over to Kimberly's table. I think the reason as to why the convex suface of her wedgie was concave was due to the ultra fat slabs she made (all thanks to Mr. Wong who said it was the right thickness...).

I made a wedgie for her! It was nicer than my first wedgie, but I wouldn't exchange it for nuts. Nuh uh. It was my first, so there was sort of a sentimental value since I actually spent time to FIGURE out how to make it. Put great time and effort into it.

I had to beg Kimberly to use it. She said she didn't want to include something that wasn't what she made in her artwork, which I plainly rebutted with a point that she most definitely did not make the clay and that earned me a 'good one' from Grace, I think.

I'm awesome, yeah...

-4 March 2009-

Drawn from darkness into light,
The soul searches for relief,
It grazes the rays and flinches,
It has never seen such things.

A chance of salvation being bestowed,
By the blood shed by the savior,
Noble lives of endless riches meant nothing,
For the poor were priceless.

Poking guilt and shameless nights,
Wandering aimless and foreign sights,
Sinking depth and endless dispair,
Blindness surrounds and senses bare.

The dawn break sudden,
The reaching rays hasty,
The fire spark abrupt,
The new day arising.

A cloak of pride discarded,
Exchanged for shield and sword,
Conferred upon the truth,
Price was sin of course.

T'was the spell was broken,
By will and sacrifice and crown of thorns,
Forever lives the name of He,
Who dwelt in the highest of courts.

Of course, those Christians would have already guessed what this was about since, like, the second stanza...this one doesn't rhyme at all. It wasn't meant to anyway. I was originally thinking of having this creature of the dark that was suddenly brought into light, but it kind of went askew though that doesn't mean I don't like how it turned out.

Of all subjects to write about, God! I didn't know how it got there, but it's still awesome.

Anyway, just to say, Kimberly and I met up after school today to do some quiet time together. We flipped to Pslams first, read chapter 5 and prayed a little reflection that was followed by some more scripture reading of 1 Timothy, Acts, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Luke, and maybe some random others that I decided to flip to. The concluding prayer ended with me feeling like I was going to fall asleep anytime...probably cause God sedated me too much?

Kimberly and I then plunked ourselves before some computers (we were in the Shaw Lab) and did the Kukup thing. Not sure what we were supposed to do, but we did it anyway. It was only after we had completed it that Kimberly found out we were supposed to read a huge chunk of text and watch a lengthy (and awfully slow-loading) video before we answered. Aw man. But we got full marks anyway. It was only 3 questions and the answers were freaking obvious...

We then had some irresponsible fun on the Mac when we played a few random games like Flugo (or something, it was a type of reversi), some game that looke a lot like that Bubble Breaker (or something) from my father's phone, and had tons of fun typing things into the post-its.

Ominous voice sings:
Ring a ring of posies,
A pocket full of posies,
Achoo, achoo,
We all fall down...

(It's not just a superficial nursery rhyme, you know...)

Flashing Gravestone

2009-02-28T23:03:00.003+08:00

Met up extremely reluctantly at school for Bio PT discussion because we really needed it. Haven't even started even though it's been almost a month...oh goodness...

Spent hours finalizing the details of our creatures figuring out the relationships etc. Wait, it was only one hour. Hm, time seemed to drag on while we sat at a non-sticky, non-bird shit infested, and non-warm table. Anabelle's criteria, my choice.

We then trooped down to Bras Basah (sp?) and scrambled all over the place, finally patronizing Art Friend for an hour searching for suitable materials and sorting out what styrofoam thingy is better for each creature after looking around Popular and reserving 2 styrofoam sheets which we thought were expensive but turned out extremely cheap in comparison to the others sold in the area.

I'm pretty happy with my purchase, but I spent the most at S$10.55...yikes.