more than words

sundown marathon completed! yesla =D

2008-06-02T17:45:00.005+08:00

ran my first ever marathon on 31st may =) first ever night marathon and ultramarathon in singapore too. its a night of many firsts. hee.

din really prepare for the marathon..cos i believed that since staff marc could clock a timing of 7h plus running 21k and walking the rest without any preparation, i could definitely perform better. lol. so the longest distance i ever ran before the marathon was 20k, from my current house to my old house in clementi and back again. almost died already lol. grandma cooked potatoes on the day before marathon.how timely haha. and dinner on sat was french crusine..with lots of vege n bread with chicken toppings! so healthy! hiaks hiaks.

met dino, dianyang and zi jian and we went to changi village together. deposited our bags and waited till 11 plus to begin our warm up. saw quite a few familiar faces - sheen mao, chong sheng, qibo, a hwachong pe teacher and a hwachong physics teacher. the 场面 very 热闹..what with so many people and tentages around. seeing the volunteers reminds me of doing cip with the canoe team for standard chartered marathon back in 2005.

race started at 0000. very hard to run cos it is so damn crowded and i am stuck inside e walking participants. weaved here and there and after a while i lost sight of dino and dian yang and decided to just run by myself. sweated very profusely..which i think its cos of the power bar i ate (courtesy of a 好心人 =p ) managed to get past the first 12k without panting much..but after that my pace started to slow cos my legs were beginning to ache. at 20k i ate the power gel and started to walk..5 mins later i tried to run again, but my legs couldnt get pass 10 plus steps without cramping..maybe i shouldnt have stopped running then. haha. but that was how the 20 km to 30 km stretch went..lots of walking. kept using deep heat but not much use either. kind of demoralizing stretch..cos i kept wanting to run..but my legs 不争气. sometimes they even give way and i lose balance!

things started picking up at 29k though. i decided to run speed training style after a bit of experimenting hee. realised that when i started running my thigh or calf muscle will start throbbing or give sudden jerks. i can endure till the forth jerk..but after that my legs would ache like mad..but if i started resting from the second jerk..the aches were quite mild. so i finished the rest of the 13k running intermittently. met chong sheng at 35k..and patrick at about 37k..caught up with patrick again at 40k..but he said he wanted to beat me so he ran away!! lol.

the last 2k was intense cos really wanted to reach the end pt as soon as possible. but my legs were cramping more and more often too. finally i reached the last marshaller who kept saying last 100 metres to every runner who past by. down a winding path..across a mini bridge..and the gate with the big words "FINISH" and a digital clock was just right in front. i was losing balance le but din wanna lao kui in front of the cameras so ran all the way =) so happy when i crossed the gate..celebrating my completion and knowing i have proven to myself that i can do it. 42km is no longer something that i admire others for finishing. i myself have done it too! yay.

it started raining right after i crossed the gate. met up with dino..then i went to collect my medal and finisher's tee. both of them are nice!! haha. then we waited for the rest to come back. one of the 42km finisher proposed to his girlfriend after completing the marathon. haha. oh by the way i finished half a tube of deep heat for this marathon. lol.

took quite a few photos..then dawn started to break. kind of a pretty sight..like a little circus with tentages and balloons around, and the rain has stopped too.

went to white sands and had a fish fillet for breakfast..followed by a long ride on mrt back to home sweet home. zzz..

jus for the record (preliminary race timing):

9999

6282

Sing Nan

Tan

05:37:43.20

02:09:54

03:54:47

to cut a long story short

2008-04-12T17:13:00.003+08:00

I have MIA-ed for quite a long time now. decided to give this a little revisit since i feel like ranting now.

after my taiwan trip and POP, i was posted to 40 SAR C company to be a vehicle commander. Time kind of flew by there. There had been numerous outfields and live firings..even more than what i been through myself back in ATI..doing things beyond our knowledge from ATI. we received a shocking announcement the week before that the majority of my batch will be reposted to the company recruited later, meaning we have to go through the same training, only with a different group of people. Naturally it pissed most of us off because it would mean giving up our current position in Cougar (which surprisingly many of us have grown an attachment to, like it or not) and relinquishing the prospect of a long break from outfield from May till ORD. Honestly speaking, I am damn sian of all the outfields already, the way we always have to slowly advance through the various stages of section, platoon, tact team, combat team, company and battalion, amounting to many outfields and preparation. I hope i can stay in Cougar, but i guess my past 1.5 yr in NS has seasoned me to twists of fate. Been reflecting on my term in Cougar, and i thought being a commander to a section is almost like raising a person, having to take care of their needs, punish them when they fault, motivate them when they are down. I feel happy when my men call me when they meet me outside, not dao me as though i am a pest that hankers on them all the time. i feel touched when they order food for me when there's no dinner after outfields, or offer a can of a drink when i am busy preparing vehicle. Sounds odd isnt it..its almost a parent enjoying the sweet rewards of raising a child. If we get posted to Archer, would we pick up all these pieces and start anew to raise even better men? foresee the problems and trouble men could create, deal with them better and learn from our past mistakes? now the thought of me possibly getting a less responsible/capable driver than Kelvin puts me off already. haha. i can always trust him to do a proper (and quick) servicing.

saw an advertisement in the papers yesterday about a toys warehouse sale at Leisure Park, Kallang. went with Dianyang after book out. felt quite thrilled about it (i wanted to see if there is captain planet and ninja turtles =p) but the sale turned out to be a let down. it was everything short of a warehouse. it only occupied the size of a netball court =( but all its not lost la. the one and only worthwhile buy was a wolverine figurine collectible (limited to 1000 pieces). Dian yang didnt have money to pay so i did. wont collect my money back though since i have been trying to get him a birthday present since february. great!

somehow during the trip to kallang we chanced upon the topic of death. i wondered if the place we go to after death (if we really do go somewhere as most of us believe) have visual records of all the things we did throughout our lifetime. Then we could all click play and watch our entire lifetime from a third person's point of view..remember the mischievous things we have done when we were young..the mistakes we have made..relive the happiest moments of our lives..and reflect and repent before we get reincarnated for the next. lol..what a random imagination right..it would really be our lives on film. like God with a itunes loaded with videos carrying all the names in the world.

God: "Hand me your ipod. I will load your record."
A: "Here you go."

(God's data transfer cable will gotta be uber fast though. Large file Lol)

Will blog about Taiwan R&R when i feel like it..ciao.

cos i am still in it for the fight

2007-08-29T17:53:00.000+08:00

everyone seems to be flying. tracie flew 2 weeks ago, bro flew last fri, jie-jie flew yesterday, and now i am leaving tonight.

i not really sure what lies ahead in the coming month or so. maybe it is this uncertainty that makes me feel insecure about how strenuous life will become. it is still too early to treat it as a blessing in disguise, but i should be glad i am still in it for the fight. had been receiving nothing but good news about hwachongians lately. marcus, yanlong for getting c2 first, yun le c1 2nd, kaixiong safos, guan how sword of honour. i want to be like you all too.

i wont be able to attend maf. wonder if 7e will go back this yr?

hopefully at the end of it all, i would become a better person.

more than excerpts

2007-06-22T21:20:00.001+08:00

Suddenly, I was upon the house. I pushed the brakes, spilling coffee in my lap. As the car stopped, I caught a glimpse of a large Japanese maple tree and three figures sitting near it in the driveway, a young man and a middle-aged woman flanking a small old man in a wheelchair.

Morrie.

At the sight of my old professor, I froze.

“Hello?” the producer said in my ear. “Did I lose you? . . ."

I had not seen him in sixteen years. His hair was thinner, nearly white, and his face was gaunt. I suddenly felt unprepared for this reunion – for one thing, I was stuck on the phone – and I hoped he hadn’t noticed my arrival, so that I could drive around the block a few more times, finish my business, get mentally ready. But Morrie, this new, withered version of a man I had once known so well, was smiling at the car, hands folded in his lap, waiting for me to emerge.

“Hey?” the producer said again. “Are you there?”

For all the time we’d spent together, for all the kindness and patience Morrie had shown me when I was young, I should have dropped the phone and jumped from the car, run and held him and kissed him hello.

Instead, I killed the engine and sunk down off the seat, as if I were looking for something.

"Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” I whispered, and continued my conversation with the TV producer until we were finished.

I did what I had become best at doing; I tended to my work, even while my dying professor waited on his front lawn. I am not proud of this, but that is what I did.

I cannot tell you why he received me so warmly. I was hardly the promising student who had left him sixteen years earlier. Had it not been for “Nightline,” Morrie might have died without ever seeing me again. I had no good excuse for this, except the one that everyone these days seems to have. I had become too wrapped up in the siren song of my own life. I was busy.

What happened to me? I asked myself. Morrie’s high, smoky voice took me back to my university years, when I thought rich people were evil, a shirt and tie were prison clothes, and life without freedom to get up and go – motorcycle beneath you, breeze in your face, down the streets of Paris, into the mountains of Tibet – was not a good life at all. What happened to me?

The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even realized I was doing it.

Yet here was Morrie talking with the wonder of our college years, as if I’d simply been on a long vacation.

“Have you found someone to share your heath with?” he asked.

“Are you giving to your community?

“Are you at peace with yourself?

“Are you trying to be as human as you can be?”

locked up within

2007-06-09T21:51:00.000+08:00

tough luck. one disappointment after another.

i failed to get into medicine or dentistry; failed to cross over to ocs; got into the shittiest course of all: armour infantry.

have no choice but to accept chemical engineering with business. will have to mug like mad once university starts cos of the double degree. most probably i wont be joining any cca, which really sucks. canoeing, though tiring, had brought a lot of joy to my jc life, even helped me to destress and cope with my studies more happily.

i guess not having a section commander compared to section 1, 3 and 4 was a major demerit. haiz. i really wanted to go to ocs so much..sometimes i keep asking myself whether my efforts are recognised. life really sucks now in armour infantry. having to go through extra 7 weeks of training compared to normal infantry..staying up overnight to wash tanks and stores..risking 2 weeks of confinement for not marching properly or not paying compliments..having commanders who book out at 5 while course warrant takes his time to delay our book out till 10 cos his home address is sungei gedong camp..and whose ro last hit a record 3 hour the previous batch. come to think of it, the barracks resembles fox river prison in prison break, what with the central staircase (where the bulls walk down) and our cells on either side.

i remembered telling ignatius that maybe after i quit my armskote ic role in bslc, i would graduate to a tank ic and sign out tanks in armour. well mark my foul mouth cos it came true. now i am platoon vehicle ic. though i have no tanks directly belonging to me, i have to be in charge of the 12 ICS for 12 tanks. gotta pressurize them for statements, engine hours, mileages and vehicle faults.

2 days into armour and i had my fill of it already. haha. what happened to my positive attitude when i first enlist? telling myself to take army as a learning experience and know people, grow stronger mentally. but now i cant tell myself that anymore. this aint the same as canoeing. i dun like where or what i am doing now at all. cant motivate myself without purpose or commitment. thats me.

since i got no more scholarship interviews or university applications to bother about, i have decided to more or less play off the rest of my 1.5 year. just have fun when i book out while i can before university. went to vivo and esplanade on tues, and bugis today. watched pirates with hong bin and chin swee. action packed but confusing haha. oh ya went to The Sweet Stone Parad'Ice at golden mile complex today. the waffles are really nice! not like the typical waffles at gelare. smaller, thicker, and very sweet and crispy. hopefully they will franchise! =)

a little update

2007-05-13T17:32:00.000+08:00

haven been here for quite a while now.

been pondering lately..about ns, scholarships and university courses, reflecting about how this year has progressed so far.

2007 to me is a year full of self-discovery and decision making. critical decisions that will impact me a long way from now.

NS was a disappointment. not qualifying for ocs was quite a hit to me. after all the invitations to spfos and airforce recruitment that eventually amount to nothing. well..going into command schools to me feels somewhat like streaming. thats why even in sispec i continue fighting..getting commando gold and piaing for the fastest soc timing, and scoring the highest for knowledge tests. but as the weeks pass i begin to wonder why is it that i fought so hard for. and i knew that it was to experience tough training in ocs, to be trained as a gentleman, and do my family proud at the commissioning parade. but even with these reasons in mind, keeping it up is difficult, especially when a certain idiotic commander keep singling me out for scolding during field camp, almost kenaing weekend cdt as punishment for following pc's item list (which was in fact correct) because the other ics did not. right..my fault? and the fact that i coudlnt hardly see the relevance between jungle warfare and modern life doesnt help at all.

during co's address in first week, i felt it was ironic that people who wanted to cross over to ocs did not dare to go aslc, because ocs training is even tougher. nowadays i find myself thinking of OOCing too. lol. sheng jun was right..all that hype about ocs, eventually you will just forget it because army aint that fun and you will lose your enthusiasm. i hate the lack of life in NS, not being able to rest as and when you like..even simple things like heading to the emart to resupply requires permission. seeing Henry who OOCed about 5 weeks ago read comics, waking up at 7 and going to canteen whenever he wants isnt all that motivational lol. if not for NS, I would still be leading a happy civi life..possibly giving tuition, learning guitar, playing basketball, reading. cant help feeling old and envious whenever i see students..esp the occasional hwachong juniors.

and then i start wondering..what if i do well enough to go aslc but not to cross over? then it would be another 11 weeks of tough training. in the end when i finally get my rank, pride will be all i have. though sect coms are the lowest down in the chain of command, they are by far the most important, setting the foundations for the pc and ps. and thats why when things screw up, things snowball to the sect com.

why am i trying so hard? and if i really ends up in aslc, will i still be able to keep it up? cos by that time, there wont be ocs to motivate me anymore.

scholarships now. dsta nv gotten back to me, probably because i told them i prefer psc scholarship to theirs. sembcorp didnt reply too. only psc did, which was pretty stunning. honestly i was hoping that the ground would just swallow me up during that interview, cos it was so darn pressurizing. just went to Ministry of Home Affairs 2 days ago. not as tough an interview as the first, because it seems that they were quite keen on offering me the scholarship..but i went ahead and be honest with them that dentistry would be my first choice. i know it is stupid, as if i have not learnt a lesson from dsta, but i decided it was the best way to go. well..it was good in a sense, because they questioned me my preference between their overseas scholarship and dentistry thrice and my reply was consistent every time, and one of the police officer smiled and said "it is good to be honest." well the last question was "when would you know the outcome of your nus application?" and i really hope i am still in the running.

on to university courses. i finally realized why it is that i considered dentistry, architecture and cooking as my ambitions. it was because i enjoy doing hands-on work that will come to be admired by people, work that will be of service to others and bring them happiness. i get happy when i see people with perfect smiles and confidence, i get happy when i watch home decor shows and see beautiful houses, i get happy when i eat delicious food and the satisfied grins on my fellow diners' faces. i never knew i would want to enroll into dentistry and medicine so much.
results will be out either this coming week or the next..dentistry interview had a very serious atmosphere about it..what with the professor asking my opinion regarding the addition of fluoride into drinking water without public consent..and the prospects of dentistry in a world when everyone has healthy gums and teeth (which till date has left me pondering, cos i would be in quite a terrible financial crisis if it became reality.) considering engineering..honestly i am willing to accept the police scholarship. i know it sucks to be unable to apply engineering knowledge after studying so hard for 4 gruelling years..but i see more meaning in the life of a police officer than an engineer. i want the experience that policing offers..to overcome my mental limits and become a firmer and more confident person, with wisdom to guide people..

medicine..i have been wondering..what if i qualified for dentistry and medicine? though i myself gawks at this possibility (it is harder than getting 4As), but i guess that would mean i have to take dentistry cos it is my first choice on my application list right. well..the reason for not placing medicine first because of the immense amount of studying and memorizing i have to do..i really dun want to handle the kind of stress i faced back in chs again.

aerospace engineering at NTU will be my last resort.

oh yes..thank you to all who turned up to give me an impromptu birthday celebration..even though i almost didn't turn up cos i had a family dinner. yanling, steph, huixiang, philip, sharon, amanda lee, shuhan. thanks a lot. although we only met for a brief one hour i am happy enough already haha.

anw..did i mention my medicine interview was on my birthday? haha.

to yong kang: i wonder if i would really work with you in the future =) really hope my scholarship is still available.

f***ed up

2007-03-14T21:10:00.000+08:00

i think sgt's comment about not knowing my style of work until i became platoon ic week cos i was very quiet is totally undeserved. i have always given my all in everything i do, be it for ifc, weapon test or simple things like uniform. i dare say my uniform is the neatest in the platoon. who else bothered to iron their uniform. it is damn selfish just to make a comment that you dun noe me and neglect all my efforts. or have you simple just forgotten. if you really wanted to know me that much then you shouldnt have bothered to just stick to your same clique of recruits and neglect the less talkative ones. what? you mean i need to be popular and your friend to be considered suitable for command schools? in the first place i am a recruit and you are a sgt. you should know the limit better than i do. what is the use in telling me that i am quiet on the day before my pop, when you have chances to in the previous nine weeks?

screw it man. my posting is probably screwed ald. it is one thing to have initiative and sociability, and another to have responsibility and a will to learn.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

2007-02-11T15:44:00.000+08:00

back from field camp. leaving again in another 1.5h time.

ns has been ok so far. think i have it easier compared to matthew. quite horrible watching his platoon filling and refilling sandbags as punishment. till now i still dun know if i am in a white horse company. whatever the case, staying in camp for 12 days seems like eternity sometimes..especially when i am in the forest idling around, looking around me, examining my surroundings, and thinking how starkingly different where the rest are now. the things we do the lives we lead have changed. it isnt something bad, just that i havent really found my purpose in ns yet. haha. sit test is up this week. just give my best and stick to my principles.

time does fly in ns afterall. i thought the pace of my life will slow down, but nope. been serving for 1 month already. now that o lvls release is out of the way, a lvls is looming near. only realised this when i read my watch on feb 1st. gotta stop telling myself i still got time to rest or ponder about my future. hearing steph and yanling discuss their preferred courses sort of reminded me about university and careers. bleh. headache sia.

and all i wanna hear is the message beep..

2007-01-27T23:58:00.000+08:00

signs that i haven been home for a while:

1. i am getting at least 3 new neighbours (cos of HDB release) and i dun know.
2. the water heater has been changed and i dun know.
3. mum permed hair and i dun know.
4. inbox is full of mail.
5. more mail on table.
6. clothes are piling up in the wardrobe.
7. bed looks different (took me a few seconds to recognize)

haha..2 weeks of adjustment period has ended, with grand finale of live firing on thurs. quite fun. section mates are very lame. esp our power rangers spoof. "IT IS MORPHING TIME! GO GO PLATOON SERGEANTS!" haha. but feels a bit out of touch with the outside world..even though newspapers are provided cos most of the time i am just using them to wipe windows hahaha.

navy came down for an intro talk. i am going for the navy interview somewhen in feb. have to sign on though which i cant decide on yet. afterall i interested in police too. but worth a shot, esp since navy ships got air con! heh! and dun need to wear helmets or go field camps heh.

going to be confined for another 12 days soon cos of field camp next week..gotta start training pull ups at home too so that we can be the section with the greatest pull up tally! yay!

hope to see class pple soon. take care.

it ends tonight

2007-01-11T10:41:00.000+08:00

guess this shall be my last post before my drafting.

been busying myself with michigan, psc and interview preparation, to get it all done with b4 going in. talking to yong kang and listening to police talks has finally confirmed the scholarship i want the most: spfos. i dun like being a passer-by in people's lives, esp so for people i were once close to. more often than not i find myself wondering who i would say hi to 10 years down the road when we meet on the street, and who would i choose to ignore..and even after i say hi, will a conversation then follow, like the way it used to be. already i could feel gaps here and there, yet i dun seem to trying to repair them, although i always tell myself to make the most of everything. hearing yong kang's job scope and the speaker's experience of dealing with fatal accidents has woken me up to the character that police demands. definitely its a career where i would meet lots of people from different walks of lives, make a difference to their lives, and thus hold a lot of responsibility. it doesn't matter if they forget me or not. for all i know, my effect on them maybe life-changing, just like how some friends have forever left their marks on me.

remember weiye once told me this: even if people treat me with their 50%, i will always reciprocate with my 100%, or at least 80%. haha..what a noble idea. i guess i cant do that for everybody, esp people who force others to do stuff, people who are unreasonable, and people who don't give others chances to explain. the kind of people whom i hate the most. asking me to be nice to them is just impossible. think i am more likely to glare at them instead. yet there are also others who you will tolerate no matter what they do, cos you have already accepted them for who they are.

on a more lighthearted note, went out with yong kang last sat. legends is really a cosy place. yong kang is receiving the sword of honour today! so happy for him. gg to watch his parade with teh and probably ys. motivate myself just before i enlist haha. already wrote a little list of ns advice for myself and left it in my wallet. hmm..ns is going to be very vulgar..i wonder if i will persevere? still remember the funny rehearsal wenjie and yong kang had before asking for the bill.

dsta interview was over in a flash. guess i din gave them the "MUST GIVE THIS GUY" impression, especially since i told them i prefer the spfos when they asked me to rank dsta and psc. i am just being honest haha. hope they saw that as my merit. of cos if i dun get psc i will take dsta rite..so give me chance la hahaha.

that's all. take care.

guess who's back!

2006-12-24T17:07:00.000+08:00

if i cant even rmb what my previous post was about..

then i haven't been here for a very long time.

but no fret i am back again! hee.

guess shall update what about the significant events that happen over the past 1 mth.

24th nov 06
last day of a levels! super long drawn "war". i never felt so irritated with an exams before. running low on stamina after 4 weeks. haha. so basically was hopping around b4 physics s paper cos the bloody exam was 20 mins late. FASTER FINISH LA! surprising physics s was easier than i thought it would be, but that does not mean i getting distinction la.

after the paper it was rather rainy..tho everyone just went about doing their own stuff after paper ie. no group outing, i wasn't really bothered la. went down to orchard by myself..walk along the street alone..and kept thinking how nice it was..as if i have the whole world to myself..i can go anywhere i want, its ok. there is no time limit no restrictions no obligations towards studies anymore. quite nostalgic cos once in a while the thought that that was the last time i was wearing the sch u will enter my mind.

went to sim lims after that cos i wanted to collect the free photo printer..turned out i mixed up sims lims and funan..went to 03-25 in sims lims, showed the uncle the voucher. "this is sims lims, not funan. you suppose to go 03-25 funan. at city hall."

super malu!

but its ok. i got all the time in the world now.

26th nov 06

got pre prom blues. discussed with weiye online and we actually arrived at the conclusion that its more worth it to pon prom all together. save ourselves 300 to 500 bucks. and quarreled with mum today. cant exactly rmb when it exactly occurred..but was sad for the most of this week cos she said i am being a good boy cleaning up my room only cos i wanna get money from her..damn pissed. which only added to pre prom financial blues. and started thinking a lot of rubbish that i couldnt type here, and thankfully isn't applicable anymore =)

27th nov 06

went to emmett's house to watch ah wang. emmett cooks fantastic jap pancake. no joke. i ate a lot =D self ground myself for next 2 days to appease mum.

30th nov 06

ys and i accompanied philip to do his prom shopping. quite shocked initially when philip say he wanted to enter the shop (which i to this day cant pronounce and cant spell.) and started trying on the suits despite the hefty price tags. but well, its philip. haha. ys and i just sit and watch can. dun even wanna try. just give advice to dear philip.

joined amanda yining meifang shuhan tracie for casino royale. quite complicated la and LONG. nothing much else for this day.

2nd dec 06

bought my blazer finally at manmaster for 165 bucks b4 heading to cip at lavender with yanling. singapore rock 06. supposed to be a retro party for the elderly living in the area, and yanling and i are chaperons. the elderly i was assigned to was no. 44, but dear no. 44 doesnt wanna wear the heart tag, so i have the freedom to choose any ah gong ah ma to attach to.

looking back now i still think it was very chaotic and difficult experience. cos the elderlies dun really welcome our company. cant blame them actually. afterall we are new faces, strangers to them, and maybe they cant feel our sincerity (hey i wasnt there for cip hours!). but yanling and i tried our best. at first the elderlies were complaining about the distribution of goody bags, why it is that some of them got it, and others dont. so we took out the sweets the tidbits.

and the chaos started. there is no end to their thirst for these free gifts. i was very surprised by their response. the tidbits are unhealthy and jsut some cheap skate brands from m'sia, yet they were like gold to the elderlies. rmb a lot of them taking up to 20 plus packets, and one of them snatched my empty plastic bag away to keep her tidbits. i was at a loss la..keep giving them tidbits (till everything ran out), or..sit down and pei them (and get daoed and continue to be a loss of what to do?) after a while elderlies started entering the hq on their own to take tidbits. heard that one even stole a sack of rice..

i noe that what they did was wrong la..but they must be in quite a pityful plight to behave like that. well..i had a redeeming experience with my ah gong tho. he went into the street soc court where they were having the dance party. i went with him and sat with him at a bench by the side..we din talk much la..but he did smile at me. haha.

then i left early to go canoe outing, which was neither half as "exciting" nor enlightening. but still worth my while.

4th dec 06

ENCHANTE. prom prom prom.

mr body beautiful too. OMG.

turned up early at RITZ CARLTON with yixue and yong xian. shared a cab. i was silly enough to wear my blazer right out of the house instead of just holding it in my hand. was sweating like mad by the time i reach boon lay mrt.

couldnt recognise the girls when they come down the stairs one after another la. like. haha. shuhan can be standing next to me, and i dun realise until after a few seconds (and a little pondering). guess everyone was pretty in their own way haha.

sat at the table with steph yanling amanda lee philip and ys! =) we did rubbish b4 dinner la. steph keeps wanting to put her sparkling gel on philips head. but she din spread it out so it looks like a chunk on his head. thankfully yanling and steph did a much better job to my hair and right ear, so much so that a lot of pple thot i was wearing earring that nite.

body beautiful was damn maluating la. only knew about what was in for us just before our turn. there were 3 stations in total.

PRE-comp: go up runway, POSE. FLEX.
1st station: free weights. 1.5 kg and 7.5 kg. 5 times. your choice. show off "gek" face and biceps.
2nd station: push ups. 5. own time own style.
3rd station: DANCE. Groove to the music.
POST-comp: do a sexy pose.

and guess what. the students council was kind enough to provide us with free perforated small singlets for our tasks. thanks ah.

my heart was thumping like mad la. eugene was first. i was the last to go (turn decided based on alphatic order of names). wah lau. haha. the whole school watching me la..and almost the whole class and canoe team (meng. contributed 3 sexy guys out of 5) was in front. ANG WEE HIONG ALSO LA. and lim ai hua. i did my pose and all. copied a few poses based on what i saw zhiqi did last yr. omg omg omg. armpit hair showing and all. we were all cursing and swearing and laughing at the backstage after the ordeal. pulling off the singlets and commenting that we were lucky that this is the time the sch is together. otherwise we will be suaned to no end forever on hwachong compounds haha.

haha lim ai hua may have started having bad impressions of me ald. lol.

looking back now tho it was very embarrassing, i really had nothing to lose actually. think it took a lot of confidence to do all those, and tho my heart was thumping throughout, i guessed everyone on stage and on the floor appreciated what we did la. having done this kind of thing in in front of whole sch, what more do i have to fear for future presentations? hahaha. eugene won, and the rest of us got consolation prize: ROYCE choc. oh btw, send me photos if you have any k! =)

colin and mavis won prom king and prom queen respectively. three cheers to softball haha.

went into a photo taking frenzy after the dinner ended. 4i, canoe team, random acquaintances, class. sharon was there also haha. after the concert. surprised to see her standing at the door halfway thru dinner.

went to makan sutra with yining sharon meifang tracie amanda lee philip weiye yanling and steph, but only meifang philip yanling steph amanda lee and i went over to tracie's house for the nite. only slept at 5 am..woke up at 7 plus to go ikea for breakfast. talk a lot of rubbish there again. and photo taking. meifang and steph were like sot diao le. keep referring to themselves as tramps hahaa..wearing tracie's clothes and walking around with their belongings in super marts plastic bags. and i was their escort/"gong nei guan" cos i was still in formal wear. haha.

6th to 8th dec 06

chalet. haha not very eventful. can only recall playing murderer and ps2 ( smackdown with huixiang was super gory dirty and above all violent.) went to sharon's concert on the first nite with yanling! haha. good job sharon! jerry came on second nite but only for a while. thanks steph and whoever who saved food for us on the first nite! hee hee. greedy me. oh ya oh ya! we watched the triump in the skies together on all nites. hahaha.

10th dec 06 to 13th dec 06

sick.

14th dec 06

went to meet arthur with tim haotian and philip cos he going taiwan. we went to minds cafe! haha. damn fun. one of these days must go with 7e. must play I AM THE BOSS! i won k! hahaha.

had farewell dinner at swensens with philip. helped to buy the stars bottle before giving it to philip. steph says only philip will get a present. the rest of the guys wont. so biased! haha.

15h dec 06

qibo's bday. MINDS CAFE again. I AM THE BOSS AGAIN. but i din win this time round haha.

16th dec 06

went to orchard with mum and dad. omg can. i think this is the first time my mum is going orhard in 10 or 11 yrs. and we werent even there for long la. just collect robinsons voucher and free x'mas cake from marriott.

oh ya. got contact lens today. had a hard time learning how to wear them at the shop haha.

17th dec 06

went to celebrate shuhan's bday..and I LOST MY PHONE. i am not so much upset cos it is the best phone i ever had..but becos of the memories the phone has given me, and the memories that are inside the phone. photos and smses from times with seniors, my bday, fort minor concert, canoeing finals, mooncake fest at taka were all inside. devastated can. contacts all lost too..but i told myself not to let my emotions spoil shuhan's bday mood la..and thankfully i din.

19th dec 06

went for interview and i got my job. haha. but it is not an easy job i would say. shant talk here cos it might be confidential, but do tell me if you are interested. =)

2oth dec 06

had a tough time getting to the gym today..the first time i went i realised i forgot to wear shoes..so i went home to change.

hurray so i am out to gym again!

10 metres from the sports complex..my bag strap got trapped in my bicycle gears..wheeled it back home to unwind the strap. super oily.

on my third time out of the house i was telling myself maybe an accident (free weights drop on my toes) is gonna happen thats why something is forbidding from gg gym. hahaha. but heng ah nothing much happened other than struggling with the weights..sucks. ns in three weeks and i am feeling weak.

went out with my bro and umm family friend (i dun noe his name but we have known him ever since i was born). he (note: my family friend, not my bro) wanted to bring me out to buy army stuff. turned out that the shop he wanted to bring me to was closed. he treated bro and i to jap dinner and even gave me a zai casio watch la..omg. pleasant surprise. tho i had a hard time with the sushi and wasabi..guess i am not used to eating raw fish.

21st dec 06 thurs

first day of job training. then after that had dinner with sharon. visited amanda but she was too busy to cater to us. haha and wenjing also. quite amusing to watch sharon and wenjing "argue". paid ritz carlton a little visit too! and koped some candy cane on the way haha.

23rd dec 06

job training ends. i am officially a healthwise graduate and agent.

went to buy christmas presents too =) was a mad rush..but very fulfilling and enjoyable.

24th dec 06

finally caught up..after 1 hour 35 mins of blogging. phew. i cant blog about what happened today yet. another time haha. stay tuned. if you managed to read every thing so far in one go, i hereby
present you the "Loyal Fan of Sing Nan" award! hahaha.

my tin o' memories

2006-11-25T13:40:00.000+08:00

just unpacked my drawer. saw lots of stuff that i have collected from the past two years. memories from orientation, angel and mortal, v' day and canoeing came back one after another. saw lots of receipts too..and even my primary school bus pass, prefect badge and the old farecards.. receipts for clothes, movie tics and even claypot from i dunnoe when. so rubbishy. ended up with quite some stuff to clean out, as well as priceless things to keep in my chocolate tin. my own time capsule =)

saw the pen that my parents bought me after O level results release last yr, which i have totally forgotten about and never used..

2006-11-18T10:32:00.000+08:00

had a lot of weird dreams last nite. the first one was the weirdest of all..gg to visit my ex-tuition teacher to ask her to tutor me again (why would i want tuition??), only to find out that she has become bankrupt and lives in poverty. second one was related to princess hours...sth about a memorial service for the xiao lie wang tai zi., during which huizheng gong poured sake and ignited his tomb??!

the third was about a confession..in quite an amusing way, dun noe why james and wong lilin was involved. hm..i am fascinated by my dreams.

run

2006-11-15T12:45:00.000+08:00

finally. physics be gone.

sigh

2006-11-02T22:54:00.000+08:00

felt very gloomy for the most part of today. first day of a lvls, and i din sleep a wink (totally not at all) last nite. jsut lay from 1030 to 0545..i dun noe if it is stress or what..but somehow i just cant get myself to fall asleep even though my mind was blank. really super irritating and traumatising. thankfully i wasnt too tired despite not sleeping. but gp was still quite disappointing. thought i pretty much screwed the summary and aq. (keep fingers crossed.)

come to think of it..today really quite "sway"..what with spending 7 sleepless hours..missing the bus twice and receiving a lousy SAT score. damn well flunked SAT la. 2010..shouldnt even have taken at all. and now i just found out manchester u has offered conditional offer, but the rest has yet to reply.

stupid SAT. waste my time and money. away with that stupid lousy score. CONCENTRATE on As.

give it a little try

2006-10-28T23:28:00.000+08:00

steph told me yl and her are going to buy lots of good food for bendan, me (and maybe more pple i dun noe) next yr on visitors' day free of charge! but the letter specifically mentioned that there will be no parents' visits during BMT with effect from dec 04. does that mean there is no such thing as visitors' day?

dun care steph you swim! ben dan and i shall wait at the shore haha.

saw dad on the way home yest. he din noticed me so i just called him. was quite surprised by his reply though. along the lines of "what?" umm..surely he din expect me to dao him right. just an acknowledgement.

learning to breathe

2006-10-25T18:55:00.000+08:00

was so relieved when i saw the psi of 26 on tv mobile this morning. enjoyed the run! the air was really fresh and cool, i didnt get stitch at all, and the best part: my timing improved! haha..just a little morale boost. getting sick of rotting at home loading my brain with info. went to sch today just to settle some stuff, ask some qns etc..to get out of the house a bit and see people..

one more month. go go go.

and when i wasnt around..

2006-10-22T23:40:00.000+08:00

II yanling.II what a ride says:
then after we put down the phone we didnt feel like going to the bridge
then were thinking whether we shld waste the cake on him
then we were thinking since sharon and amanda lee will want to eat the cake also
but we didnt want to lug the cake around
then ys suggested we wrap the cake up
then bluff weiye it was his present

II yanling.II what a ride says:
must tell you the part where we sneakily took the brochures from safra counter
like ys took first
then philip and i
we only had 5 mins to wrap lehj
at first we thought we shld use stapler to stick the pieces of paper
in the end i went to counter to ask for scotch tape
and we finished the whole roll!
when we were done then you all came
at first we thought weiye was not blinded
so we tried to make ourselves inconsicuous
that's why i tried blcoking my face with time magazine
yah lah
then the rest you know alr!

at your side

2006-10-22T22:58:00.000+08:00

a bird flew into my house today! gave a horrible crack whenever it smashed into the windows. quite fascinating to have a bird flying around my living room haha.

celebrated weiye's bday yest! ys asked me the plan, and i ended up smsing weiye instead. so dumb. lucky i didnt mention about bcm in the sms. went all the way to toa payoh to buy bcm, then hurried down to yishun. super screwed up day. direct bus to weiye's house isnt available on public holidays..and i was there happily in the queue (ALONE) until a nice ah ma tell me "jin tian mei you!"

i even got lost and alighted at the wrong stop with bus 804. had to ask weiye and a little girl for directions (>_<) watched tv with wy, told him about how i decided to postpone his celebration since he found out our plans (bcm was to appease him), how philip sent me a hate-sms cos i forgot to tell him the cancellation..and he bought it all. to top it all off i asked him to see me to the bus stop cos i didnt know the way. guessed he was totally convinced when he saw me boarding the bus, only to see me alighting immediately (and threading on a few toes oops) tho i "tapped".

"what are you doing?"
"umm..haha. aiya. my ez-link not inside my wallet."
(heh thats why can bluff bus uncle. no sound when i tapped!)
"HUH?"
"they are in yishun la!!"
"eh...ya right."
"really la. where do you think they are now?"
"I NEVER BEEN BLUFFED LIKE THAT BEFORE YOU KNOW!"

"your acting damn good leh..even my high eq didnt detect anything!"

brought him to yishun park. kept misleading him that the rest were at the playground. wy even checked the toilets lol. got him to safra at the end..tho not after making him walk down the flight of stairs and a couple of slopes with his eyes closed. but yanling ys and philip werent at the bridge as arranged.. thot we screwed up again. turned out that they decided to wait at the reception instead. haha. they made weiye carried his "fragile present" all the way from yishun to chomp chomp! 20 cent coin spirit level and all.

sharon and amanda met us there. weiye was still in the "i am still being bluffed" mode. he guessed that the box contained mooncakes hahaha. opened the present finally at sharon's club. ate the cake, played arcade and watched tv! =)

all's well that ends well. um. almost. cos amanda and i ended up with no bus/train to take! philip's father gave her a lift back to tampines! haha. poor me took a taxi. had a nice chat with the driver tho.

have a nice day ;)

when it comes

2006-10-18T18:38:00.000+08:00

received a record number of letters today.

1 from ntu (advice on preparing for a levels..)
building and construction authority
health science authority (ask me to collect calender for donating blood last yr..)

and..drum roll.

MINDEF ENLISTMENT NOTICE.

i am swopping ic on 13th january 2007, saturday. 8am. along with

Di Kai
Yong Liang
Jia Qi
Wee Loon
Kai Siong
Low Wen Xi
Jeffrey Ng
Zhen Hao
Calvin Chiew
Yin Chu
Lin Min
Kiat Tat
Pak Ming
Jin Rui
Gabriel Choy
Alfred Seng
Dickson Lee

haha..come and see me if you can hor. YA RIGHT.

Lets get it started!

2006-10-16T17:54:00.000+08:00

cooked maggi mee secretly when grandma was out today! heh heh so happy. she took over when she saw me cooking the previous time. got a bit excited and added too much seasoning, but otherwise it was fine! =) plus i added abalone sauce heh heh. thought it tasted nicer than mum's! hahaha!

threw the noodle packaging into my own bin. shen bu zi gui bu jue. hee. sneaky me =p

Friends of mine

2006-10-14T21:39:00.000+08:00

officially graduated from hwachong yesterday. realised during assembly that it was probably the last ever flag raising i am attending in my life.

last day of school ended quite delightfully i would say. there were balloons above central plaza, milo truck, venezia stall..well of course it was openhouse afterall, but these sure brightened up the mood remarkably. took many photos during ct session and break. titanic theme, project runway theme, royal lineage and what not. exhausted after the "photo shoot". haha.

ys and philip talked about encouraging their sisters to choose rj instead of hc cos their teachers and facilities are better. i disagreed on the grounds that pple in rj are more competitive and selfish than in hc. tho they finally asserted that character can take us anywhere, i know that i do not regret coming to hc at all. given the choice i will choose hc again. over these two years i know that i have managed to get rid of the tinge that chs has left on me. the rigorous testing back then had definitely bred a competitive and selfish atmosphere back in sec 3 and 4. though i wouldnt say that everyone from chs is like that, on hindsight i have to agree with mr png that our class lacked class spirit. i am not sure if anyone has noticed, but i think i have become more cheerful after these 2 years in 7e. i had my doubts about the class initially, and kept comparing 7e to other classes where i could have found familiar company. now there are no regrets nor any hard feelings. i may not be able to do the same had i been in rj. well i would never know actually, but.. haha.

kind of glad to have gotten to know a couple of pple better during the last two terms. its surprising how pple i thought i knew can become so unfamiliar sometimes, while pple whom i thought i would never have the chance to know end up being my closer friends. but that's how it has become.

took my SATs today. very enlightening experience. american sch is well, quite vastly different from ours, in terms of environment and people factor. i felt like i had just been thrown into a place with pple much more mature than i am. was standing by myself along the corridors before the test. there were the occasional hugs, casual pinches..random conversations like "i love you" (between 2 girls, but i guess it is a form of well-wishing) and "twenty four hundred, right here!" ironically i felt foreign in their midst. i didnt even feel like talking, lest i reveal my singlish and childish demeanour. they probably felt the same though, seeing me clad in ares fac shirt nike shorts and track shoes..while they were wearing trendy casual clothes.

and there was the toilet graffiti as well.

this is the environment i am gamed for if i were to study in uk and us. am i ready yet? no. definitely this examination has given me an unexpected insight into the foreign education experience.

oh ya. saw a truck unloading lots of pumpkins for halloween as well ;) kind of amusing.

pinch me

2006-10-11T22:22:00.000+08:00

feeling so horribly irritated now. just spent 2 hours on gp compre. haven even begun on the aq. just feel so inadequate having to phrase everything in my own words the whole time.

arrgh. so stressed!

mooncakes mooncakes mooncakes =)

2006-10-08T00:15:00.002+08:00

went to buy mooncakes with sharon yest! met huixang and yifang at wisma atria. quite funny poking fun at them =p

the top mooncake for the hunt was supposed to be cranberry. but that shop business too good start slacking ald. NO MORE CRANBERRY MOONCAKES. sharon and i were so exasperated can. fortunately there is still bakerz inn, where we met another of sharon's senior haha. she very friendly and nice!

settled for green tea and whisky in the end. hilarious watching sharon struggle to catch wenjing's attention.

"what is the fastest way to national library ah?"
"orh..dian ti (escalator) lor."

lol. can tell that wenjing quite teng sharon =) so good got so many nice seniors haha.

went dsta scholarship in the morning..not very impressive so shant comment.

maf in the evening. i was apprehensive about turning up, since more than half the class is not gonna be there, and there is da chang jing tonight. but still went down in the end. guess maf is really quite nice when you get to meet one whole gang of friends. maybe we wont appreciate it now, but hope we would in the coming years.

sat at the terrace for most of the time. air was really horrible with psi hitting 150 at 9pm. yanling brought a bottle of sparkling grape juice. we did open it..minus the "pop" sound. haha. actually nothing much happened tonight la..talking alone sufficed. plus there was a guy lighting up a happy bday msg for his gf at the terrace. the girl was very touched haha, and the two lovebirds were stuck there for the rest of the night.

philip amanda yanling weiye and i each made a wish at the wishing fountain. i wonder if our wishes are the same? haha.

All The Same

2006-10-04T18:34:00.001+08:00

GP lessons have been exceptionally "lively" of late. why the sudden decision to matchmake me? i dun even know her well in the first place..i wonder if i really should keep saying "no no no!", 'cos maybe it is a bit rude on my part? shrugs. maybe keeping quiet is safer haha..but that would be like daoing yueling and samuel.

went bcm with sharon amanda yanling philip, huixiang and weiye yesterday. quite silly..we transferred buses to avoid the rain, when we could have just ran across the road in like less than a minute? but sharon wanted to drop by toa payoh central to buy yam pie so guess it wasnt a totally wasted trip afterall. especially since she bought yam pie for me hahaha. hmm..it was nice eating piping hot bcm on a rainy day!

got back bio as well. quite a pleasant surprise =)

now that all the results have been revealed, it is about time to start spending more time on work once again. think as a whole most of us arent very happy with our results. coming online has become mundane. missed those carefree days immediately after prelims, going mooncake sampling, monopoly, isketch, pigging..zz.

bounding

2006-09-29T18:53:00.000+08:00

Boundin
Narrator
Here's a story on how strange is life with its changes and it happened not long ago.
On a high mountain plain where the sagebrush arranges a playground south of the snow, lived a lamb with a coat of remarkable sheen.
It would glint in the sunlight all sparkly and clean, such a source of great pride that it caused him to preen.
And he'd break out in high-steppin' dance.
He would dance for his neighbors across the way.
I must say that they found his dancin' enhancin', for they'd also join in the play.
PAUSE
Then one day...
PAUSE
Then a-boundin' up the slope, came a great American Jackalope,
This sage of the sage, this rare hare of hope,
caused to pause and check out the lamb.
Jackalope
Hey, kid, why the mope?
Lamb
I used to be something, all covered with fluff, and I'd dance in the sunlight and show off my stuff. Then they hauled me away in a manner quite rough and sheared me and dumped me back here in the buff.
And if that's not enough, now my friends all laugh at me ‘cause they think I look ridiculous, funny and pink.
Narrator
Pink? Pink? Well, what's wrong with Pink? Seems you've got a pink kink in your think.
Does it matter what color? Well, that gets a nope, be it pick , purple or heliotrope.
Now sometimes you're up and sometimes you're down. When you find that you're down , well, just look around, you still got a body, good legs and fine feet, get your head in the right place and, hey, you're complete. Now as for the dancin', you can do more.
You can reach great heights in fact you can soar.
You just get a leg up and you slap it on down, and you'll find you're up in what's called "a bound." Bound, bound and rebound.
Bound and you're up right next to the sky.
And I think you can do it if you give it a try.
First, get a leg up, slap it on down.
PAUSE
So, every year, along about May, they'd load him up and haul him away.
And they'd shave him and dump him all naked and bare.
He learned to live with it, he didn't care.
He'd just bound, bound, bound and rebound.
Now in this world of ups and downs...
...so nice to know there are Jackalopes around.

wake me up when september ends

2006-09-28T22:11:00.000+08:00

went sharon's club for pool and bowling with amanda, yanling, weiye and philip. philip was 40 mins late! sharon very smart though. she booked the pool at 3pm and told us to meet at 130 hahaha. she even brought socks for yanling and amanda! the pool room was quite cosy..got sofa haha..where philip performed a seductive dance subconsciously (and the manager was just directly across the room).

bowling was rather hilarious. we went on a chips frenzy, buying one packet after another. hot & spicy calbee is the most popular! bought that twice lor. not to mention the tons of long kangs and tyco shots here and there hahaha. scandalous photos too =)

think chomp chomp is the highlight of today's outing though. maybe cos during pool and bowling we were seldom all doing the same activity simultaneously, while eating isnt turn-based! haha. the hokkien mee was very smooth and juicy, the satay beehoon has a really nutty taste, the stingray was very tender and has a sour-sweet spicy taste! yum yum yum. din like the oyster omelette that much though cos i dont like omelettes in the first place. but the rest enjoyed it la haha. really envy those lucky peeps who live near chomp chomp! spent quite a lot of money this week ald leh. hmm kind of pangsehed my SAT preparation today haha. tml tml!!

desperado

2006-09-28T12:35:00.001+08:00

all my bro's shirts make me look damn gay! so tightfitting! arrgh i need to get a decent polo shirt of my own soon. gotta make do with this short sleeve nike for now.

make it better again

2006-09-27T20:48:00.000+08:00

gave it some thought already and concluded that i shouldnt have made certain comments today. unnecessary and unbecoming. got to make a mental note lest i forget again..though those comments were harmless..but still they make me feel unpleasant and complacent.

hah. felt better after getting this off my chest. i must never never make this mistake again 'cos i really really hate it. i have always been very cautious about the whole issue of pride..be it in academics or canoeing for that matter.

went for bcm yesterday with sharon amanda and weiye yesterday. haha i think i am catching on the bcm fever, for better or for worse. dropped by weiye's place later on where we had 2 hours of monopoly. i owned the most expensive property [Queen Astrid Hill] and some other place i cant rmb..aiya i am the owner of the distinugished purple zone la. but it failed to turn out as a lucrative investment partly because of the high maintenance rate and the low visiting frequency. weiye tryed to take advantage of me when i was in the lowdowns. what a disappointment! heh. kidding la. you showed my a great deal of mercy over the 12k debt =)

went to kap today. i knew where cards are sold in cold storage!! we played rounds after rounds of bridge while waiting for 11am. apparently weiye wants his own variety show. zong yi xiao ***** ** (censored for viewing pleasure), which got amanda on a laughing streak.

come to think of it we have been together quite a lot lately. just the four of us. sort of feels more private? easier to communciate with everyone too, unlike whole group outings when mixing around is more tricky. well both have its merits la. saw yining watching tracie's bday clip on her ipod today, and she was smiling the entire time. guess that has really left sweet memories for everyone who was present back then. yup..like what i said previously that it is the memories we share that give us places in each other's hearts.

sch's out tml. time to get back on track and tackle my SAT. and i shall finish watching forrest gump too! though it was released 12 years ago..it can easily passed off as a film shot in 2001. no kidding. hell of a good show.

"Stupid is as stupid does."

"I am not a smart man, but I know what love is"

stalker

2006-09-24T12:07:00.000+08:00

went seoul graden for lunch with sharon, weiye and amanda on fri. had lots and lots of chicken cos there wasnt any fish haha. weiye ate very unhealthily and whipped up a "storm" at the end when nobody wanted anymore of the soup. well maybe i did but they din noe cos i was at the toilet haha. weiye's soup got chao ta smell one. heh.

yanling joined us for pool later on. quite hilarious laughing at amanda whenever she just anyhow wave the cue and "YAY!" left later on to sim lims to buy my long awaited earphones! like finally. my mp3 player has been rotting for quite long already.

went to buy shoes yesterday too. got to say it is one of the most efficient shoe shopping trip ever. saw a pair i like within ten mintues into the complex. my size was a stunning 12 lor. according to the description on the box, my foot is as long as a wine bottle. @_@ heh! here it is!

so chio! haha.

yanling gave me a shock this morning.

"hey! sorry didnt tell u that im moving permanently to bangkok nxt wk. dunno how long i'm staying there. will give you my no, add and new email when i get there. hope to see you before i leave? pass you sth. sorry for short notice. no choice. they have chosen me as the"

i though the sms was cut off right there, like there is one more sms coming. but after a while i realised that's all i received and my inbox isnt full. felt very very surprised and AHEM (yanling you better see this) SAD. was about to sms her about her prelims and a levels when i saw some empty space below the last sentence.

*scroll down*

"Next Prime Minister of Thailand..=p"

...

kill you ah!!

mooncake frenzy

2006-09-20T21:19:00.000+08:00

last paper of the core syllabus! like finally haha. couldnt help thinking about end of prelims since the weekend.

went to taka for a little class outing. but everyone was quite tired. the highlight was going mooncake testing and shopping towards the end haha. walked through the exhibition with sharon, yanling and weiye and bought a few. especially like the one from bakers' inn. got champaign and whisky =)

very tired actually. shall i watch project runway with yanling and steph later? haha. physics s tml man. sit and stone.

rain rain =)

2006-09-15T12:59:00.000+08:00

it is nice to be happy, sha la la la.

rain rain rain! haha. i can feel december in the air already =)

by the way

2006-09-05T23:34:00.000+08:00

steve irwin died from a stingray attack. kind of unbelievable, watching croc hunter and knowing that he isnt alive anymore. feels different? but i noe this will wear off sooner or later.

the oprah winfrey's show is quite enlightening actually. watched it during breakfast today. made me feel so fortunate (but i know this will wear off in deal time too.) bleh. we are always wishing for a better life isnt it. it is just so instinctive. the higher our expectations, the less satisfied we feel too.

World Happiness Ranking (by country)
1 Vanuatu
2 Colombia
3 Costa Rica
...
131 Singapore

did you just smile knowingly? =)

i think i have gotten better at analysing market strategies too! recently starhub sent us a letter regarding subscription renewal and a one year contract.

"Save $100 subscription and Football Bean Bag Promotion
- a minimum subcription of $28 (non inclusive of set-top box rental) is required to be entitled to the free beanbag."

why $28 specifically? a regular subcription would cost $21. the beanbag serves as a bait, to lure customers into signing an additional group of channels to top up their subscription ie. earn them more money.

a subscriber subscribing to the barest minimum currenly has to pay $25.20 monthly. If he were to accept the one year contract and bean bag offer, he would have to pay $25.40. but he were to stick to his current subscription for 1 year, he only has to pay $17.20.

i am not going to get cheated again. the $28 minium was obviously set on purpose. plus the beanbag is lousy in the first place. starhub claims it is worth $49. i would rather save up and buy the one from crumpler instead. still rmb how starhub cheated us of $30 the previous time for the digital setup box activation just because i live in a new estate. wth. so scheming.

on a lighter note, i found a nice picture! chipmunks chipmunks chipmunks.

rain outside my window

2006-08-31T16:49:00.000+08:00

listening to creed-one last breath and glancing out of the window once in a while. the weather has been great today: cooling, fresh and not too chilly. perfect.

the long waited study leave has come. no school. no annoying alarm clocks. no monotonous tutorials. just started thinking how it would be like if we could just leave studying to the confines of home, and have all-out fun in school.

may be in the future people would be deciding the topics they want to study and ordering the notes directly through mail. like a magazine subsciption. permanent study leave haha. life will be totally in our own hands, getting to pursue what we are interested in, not having to wake up early in the morning. (speaking about morning calls, i almost oversnooze today, if not for haotian's call.)

but no school = no friends too. another classic example that nothing is flawless in this world.

we didnt prepare anything for the teachers this year. still rmb last yr when we were scrambling around emmett's house, painting boxes in his room; playing mahjong and the piano in his living room; and baking cookies in his kitchen. hmm. there is a 180 degrees change in the atmosphere this year, but i guess it is because of our prelims rather than a lack of appreciation.

back to mugging! but not before listening to one last breath one more time :)

new found glory

2006-08-30T23:46:00.000+08:00

changed my blogskin! like finally haha.

went for a little dim sum pigging out session today..tho pigging is an exaggeration. not very filling i would say, but tasteful nonetheless. the prata was really really good! heh. much better than jalan kayu's in my opinion. how i wish there is a decent prata place in boon lay too.

kind of relieved that gp is over. one subject down oosh!

time of our lives

2006-08-27T22:25:00.002+08:00

had a class outing to celebrate tracie's bday in advance yest! so much happened in one nite, and i dun think i would ever look upon marina square the same way again :)

we had dinner at nydc first. i like the menu alot..tho the spaghetti wasnt really impressive. the mudpie was great tho. but that more or less sums up our dinner. the fun only started (well at least for me) when huixiang, ys, philip, hum and i staged an early departure. hee.

we left for gelare first..but the cake was too expensive, so we entasked yanling and steph with the cake buying instead. we took a little walk to carrefour, where we spent some time grappling with the choice of materials: colour paper with silver markers, or drawing block with crayons. of cos on hindsight you know we settled for the latter :)

huixiang's navigation skills in suntec is superb la. guess it all comes with training (hint hint*). brought us to this children's section where we sat on undersized stools and began our cute little assigment haha. it was quite fun as we compared and laughed at our works of art (hx's horrible B). i love my letter Y hee!! we separated the cards according to height - ys, weiye, philip, me and hx. guess what? philip took my enitre collection! so qiao. the rest of us each had a set comprising works from different "artists"!

next, we took a little rehearsal! it was hilarious la. parents and kids were watching, steph was taping, while amanda, yanling and yan chen lent us their support haha. once the rehearsal concluded, we were all set and ready to go, though we had several "pit stops" along the way.

we hid behind the bushes at marina square, and awaited tracie's arrival. ys was to go first. haha. soon we were all running out from our hiding places and lining up at the little semicircle in front. ys, weiye, philip, me and hx, one by one we started running in circles as we spelt out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACIE". didnt really see her expression tho, just kept running and making sure the cards were displayed in the right sequence..tho we all noe she was very touched and all. the cake was shared, and many wonderful photos taken. felt quite nostalgic after a while as the painful thought that we are all going separate ways in a few months' time crept into my mind. i never had a class like that before, and i am really thankful to have friends like you all. really made my life so much merrier and meaningful.

haha..words alone cant sum up my feelings. let the photos do the talking k! it is the memories we share that make us unique to one another. wo ai da jia ^_^

ba bop bop bop la la la la

2006-08-24T21:56:00.000+08:00

The All-American Rejects: My Paper Heart

Please just don't play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won't do
Be with me, please, I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can

Tears fall, down your face
The taste, is something new
Something that I know
Moving on is easiest when I'm around you

So bottle up old love, and throw it out to sea
Watch it away as you cry
Now a year has passed
The seasons go

Please just don't play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won't do
Be with me, please, I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can

Waiting, day to day it goes through
My lips are sealed for her
My tongue is tied to a dream of being with you
To settle for less is not what I prefer

So bottle up old love, and throw it out to sea
Watch it away as you cry
Now a year has passed
The seasons go

Please just don't play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won't do
Be with me, please, I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can

(ba bop bop bop la la la la...)

Summertime, the nights are so long
The leaves fall down, and so do I into the arms of a friend
Winter nights
My bedside is cold, for I am gone
And spring blossoms you to me

Summertime, the nights are so long
The leaves fall down, and so do I into the arms of a friend
Winter nights
My bedside is cold, for I am gone
And spring blossoms you...
To me

i am so addicted to this song!!

had a end-of-all-s-papers dinner at CURRY WOK tonight! yay!! i haven eaten the kang kong there for such a long time. and the curry and lor bak hahaha. actually nothing much to say these days. sch has been boring..with absentees everyday. oh ya. today marks the last PE in my entire life too. great frisbee game! drawed till the very end (: we were so enthu and happy.

shall save whatever i have left to say till tml.

angel in disguise *

2006-08-20T15:08:00.000+08:00

was kind of quiet on friday. sorry steph yanling and weiye for making you all worried, but i am fine now. you pple are truly angels in disguise. i noe myself better now.

unhappy things aside, i have found myself a goal for the time being. now i shall study hard for prelims, SAT and the A levels to fight for the chance to go overseas to study. it will be an once in a lifetime opportunity to grow up and see the world. absence will make the heart grow fonder afterall. i will definitely miss the people, the food, ah ma's cooking whatever, but it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. we only got one life, and to me, life is about making the best out of what we have. since i know this is what i want, and this is the path i want to take, then chances are i wont regret. i will have to become a friendlier person first though if i want to establish a comfort zone overseas.

once a levels are over i shall start pursuing my areas of interests. in a way ns is like a "life-extension", a chance to isolate myself from studies for 2 years. i want to learn to play the guitar, i want to learn cooking from my mum, and use my salary to buy home decor magazines. and to learn to make a difference and touch people's lives just like how some nice pple have touched mine.

sounds very noble right. i am not sure if i will really get down to it as well, since there are bound to be other priorities that i am currently unaware of popping up along the way. just like how i temporarily let go of my goal to break my pull ups pb. haha.

thats why i included an * in this post! impt! must refer back later on after a levels! :)

haha..well back to the present. there is still so much hw to do. esp bio. i cant even clear my hw to start on my revision proper. how i wish we could just go on a holiday from now till prelims and do our own self-study. seriously i think we can manage better on our own rather than wasting time going to sch trying to clear mountains of hw. even if we dun understand anything we can just ask each other..rather than staying through entire lessons.

jovial but not tactless
composed yet not stony
making the best out of everything

i will keep that in mind :)

the view from the afternoon

2006-08-15T18:10:00.000+08:00

played together during pe today! it seems ages since i last played with everybody. ultimate frisbee is quite xiong haha. dashing here and there across the field (and colliding once in a while). i almost threw the frisbee into miss lam lol. it landed right behind her. oops.

samuel tan is rather light-hearted today. he told us alot about his illness and dust mites and all that were totally not related to physics at all. in fact i believe i haven heard so much rubbish from him in a single lesson before. guess we should all be happy for him. arent we all like that sometimes? especially when you want to know someone better, and when you suddenly have so much to tell him/her, you just get so excited and babble it all out. though his teaching really sucks, i got to admit that if i were him and always failed to receive affirmation in eveything i do (even though i have made an effort to do so), i would probably feel demoralised and upset. on hind sight he did deserve our clapping, since i guess wei ye and i weren't totally sincere about it back during lesson.

smuggling hotdogs into lesson was quite hilarious too! i rmb the nuclear tutorials at the class bench and used them to smuggle our lunch into class. samuel tan found out in the end tho cos my silly file collapsed while i was still munching on the last bite.

"are you eating in class?"

"MMM!"

"that's the most truthful ans i have ever received!"

wow. that coming from samuel tan. haha.

i can sing a rainbow!

2006-08-09T23:10:00.000+08:00

went to kbox for the first time yesterday! i thought i would just be a freeloader and busk in everybody else's voice..but i actually sang! li qia was so enthu and his rendition of nan ru ku pa bu shi zui was so zai! had an hilarious experience singing zi yue with him too. i couldnt read as fast as i has to sing, while li qia was steady like a choo choo train. i sounded like i was reading! hahaha. silly li qia still told me that he was disappointed that we sang so lousily! bleh. hmm all in all it was quite an eye or should i say "ear" opener.

then we had class bbq at tracie's house. i have concluded that tracie's dog loves me! she keeps looking at me and guai guai de let me ruffle her head or tummy haha. tracie's dog is very clean too, which is also partly why i dun mind touching it. it was nice chatting to each other on the swing, though i did get giddy after a while haha.

steph hurry and send me the photos! heh.

i ask my mother what would i be..

2006-08-07T21:34:00.000+08:00

watched rough trades yesterday. sperm bank doctor is quite a fun job leh! the doctor in the show is based in europe. the donations will be examined under a microscope before being classified into good/lousy sperms. good sperms should swim fast in straight lines! semen containing 4 million or more of such sperms is of ultra-high quality (and more pricey too). so amazing rite. then the donations will be frozen and kept.

hmm actually it is quite a nice occupation leh. gets to meet people and help both donors and recipients. the donors will get to know if his sperm count is normal, whether he has healthy sperms, while the recipients will get a chance to conceive. flexible working hours too! haha can exercise once the bank closes for the day. not as hectic as the hospital environment.

paediatrician/gynaelogist also not bad! can play with little kids haha.

if only i can get into medicine..then i dont have to care about this scholarship crap or overseas education anymore. overseas eduation does present me with exciting new opportunities..but there are also a lot of uncertainties, like whether i will fit in and whether i can adapt. i will miss everyone here for sure.

actually my passion does not lie in medicine at all..nor science or whatever chim chim stuff. rather i wanna be an architect or a chef. i think being a chef is very fulfilling, getting to cook nice good food and satisfy pple's stomachs. and i have always been fascinated by designs and especially home decor. i like to see the products of my work i guess. but i cant possibly enter these jobs since i lack the fundamental background.

"prince sing nan sing nan whatever will be will be" isnt assuring at all. haha.

get happy :)

2006-08-06T23:19:00.000+08:00

i realised i have acquired quite a few interesting quotes from watching xi guan da shao. here you go!

from Ci Guan:

I would prefer a girl who has a screw loose. a screw loose in the sense that she retains a little childish charm that makes her michievous and fun to be with. i wouldnt like a girl who is full of negative thoughts and keeps imagining things!

From Shuang xi:

Kind people are unhappy people, because they feel for both themselves and the people they know.

From the doctor:

There are several different kinds of happiness in this world, and they are ranked differently. Clinching first place is family love. coming up second is friendship. at number 3 is zhi zu! community service/helping others takes number 4! what about romance? romance is out of top 10.

i wonder what the other 6 kinds of happiness that made it into top 10 is though. maybe i will come up with my own list one day!

yining showed me the nomination form for me as mr body beautiful last monday..but i snatched it from her and the paper tore. lol..but they still going to nominate me all the same. believe me by dec i wont have the "beautiful body" that i am perceived to have anymore! haha..and regarding being nominated as mr congenality, hahaa..pls la i so shy :P but i will play along la k. tearing up the nomination form for mr body beautiful may well be a blessing in a disguise. i get to keep the paper! haha. next time when i grow old and fat i can look upon it and take pride that i was once nominated as mr body beautiful! hahaha. bleh.

off to bed!

live like you are dying

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

i watched naked science: super volcanoes when i was ill. kind of painted a gloomy doom's day scenario in my head.

Beneath the yellowstone national park, USA, a super volcano lies asleep. well, only for now. it errupts approx every 75 000 years, and when it does, it going to wipe out 3/4 of usa.

whatever usa has achieved and built so far will mostly be destroyed in a eruption 1000 times the destructive power of the hiroshima bomb. forget whatever luxury resorts "ticket to indulgence" introduced today. The Boulders, Vegas Lake..almost everything in northeastern usa will be left as dust and ashes. the water will be polluted. thousands of pple will die from lung diseases. the billions of cubic metres of ash will choke up the engines of airplanes, leaving no escape route out of the country.

the finest ash will be carried by the wind, spreading to the other continents. the aftermath of the explosion will be felt by all earthlings. after 2 years, a major famine will be likely, as sunlight fails to penetrate the atmosphere, resulting in drastic climate changes and crop failures. scientists believe that the previous eruption brought the human race close to extinction, and much of humanity today can be traced to ancestors in AFRICA.

the super volcano is bound to erupt. only that we do not know exactly when it will happen. evacuation procedures have already been drawn up though. on a brighter note it is unlikely to happen in our lifelife , as the current silica level in the magma is only 10%. the volcano needs 50% to erupt.

but even if it doesnt occur during our generation, our descendants are sitll going to suffer isnt it.

how is that as food for thought?

of cos there is the ultimate armageddon as well: the death of the sun. i already read about it back in primary school, and still i am appalled by it.

maybe the earth will grow steadily colder as that fateful date draws near. maybe the US president will make an international speech that goes "Today is the day that all life shall come to an end. Treasure your loved ones and bless us all. May God be with you."

and if that days comes, how will everyone react? hug each other closely as we all get suck into the sun's darkhole, together with all the other planets in the milky way?

finally, will life begin all over again. a second go at life?

such scary thoughts.

how to deal

2006-08-02T18:39:00.000+08:00

i am sick and tired of falling ill.

this is the 5th time i have subcumbed to upper respiratory tract infection in 1 year. it has been responsible for every single fever this year. i am all too familiar with the symptoms ald.

sore throat
runny nose
tired eyes
fever

and the fever just keep recurring and recurring i run out of panadol/ponstan/sunflu whatever shit every single time. i have changed antibiotics halfway through courses b4 simply becos my fever wont subside. lying on the bed with a sizzling forehead sucks big time..feels giddy, as though all my brain cells are burning out.

every single spurt of URTI will last me 3 or 4 days, even 5. feel so crippled and weak.

i dun wanna be known as mr ill. i really had enough. it is almost as if falling ill has become a cyclic event.

approximate dates
24/1 first time
28/3 second time
25/4 third time
13/6 fourth time
31/7 fifth time

feel like screaming now. someone tell me pls. what have i done to deserve this? i have never fallen sick so many times in a year before.

the boys of summer

2006-07-30T18:20:00.000+08:00

a lot has happened over the past few days! shall start with the latest happenings.

went to the Scholars' Choice Preview yest. An yi was there too. the refreshments were great! there were apple strudel, tempura prawns, teriyaki chicken and a cake containing pecans :P yum yum yum. the talk titled "The 7ups to making personal choices" was noteworthy. the charismatic professor left us with a burning question: "what is your purpose in life?'" hmm..i haven't exactly found my calling yet.

ran to the botanical gardens for the first time after nationals on friday morning! finally fulfilled my longing. i was given the green light to continue running since my x-ray revealed nothing problematic. so happy back then when i received the report. thought my joint has cracked or something since the sore hasnt gone away haha. yay i am fine!

in the evening we had canoe jts! it was a night of fun and laughter. jia qi was drunk even before dinner began. after just 2 shots of 40% vodka. totally hilarious. when i stepped into the pool, he went: "HAHAHAHAHA!" his face was all red. soon we started slamming/throwing each other, WWE style. jia qi broke into laughter when we approached him, and laughed even harder when we threw him into the air. he would even laugh hysterically when we simply wave/point at him!

there was a karaoke room, but no cds. whenever someone enters the room, yong xian would go: "WELCOME TO THE JAAAACKY SHOOWWWOAAAH!" hong bin and yong xian started reading off the subtitles in gay accents during zero degrees c, turning the flirting scene into a laughing stock. then we watched ghost whisperer together, when we were rather serious cos it was quite touching. heh. canoeists are hao ren!

oh ya..we did receive several complaints. ^_^

on thurs amanda bought yam curry puff for me! very sweet and crispy haha. thanks amanda!

on wed ms lim asked us to pass around individual sheets so that we could give adjectives describing one another. felt that it was quite fun, especially the after-effect when I finally got the paper back and read what everyone else feels about me! :) and in case you din noe, weiye drew those hearts, not me. haha.

later on we had canoe elections. quite entertaining cos shihong nick wayne bought food and drinks for us. open bribery. bobby was the best, asking everyone to vote him as vice-captain when he was making the speech for captaincy.

"I am here not to run for captain. I am here to ask you to vote me as vice-captain."

the entire room exploded in laughter.

go hcanoe 06/07!

sincerely, me

2006-07-25T18:28:00.000+08:00

GP and hum's speech yest made me realise something that i have been neglecting for a long time. i have been aware of it all along, yet somehow i forget it every now and then. think i have been rather demanding and unappreciative sometimes. they have definitely tried to give me the best they could, even at the expense of their own well-being.

the 16pf was right too. i am not an assertive person, largely because of the convenience of status quo, as well as the fear of hurting other people's feelings by voicing out my displeasure. so much so that i willingly let others take advantage of me. but i cant let stay wimpy my entire life. would i rather be a bold, confident, amicable person, or a condescending one, letting others lead me by my nose half the time?

i wonder how many of us actually realised that half of term 3 has already passed. i need some organisation in my life before study leave kicks in. tues shall be bio day, wed physics day and fri chem day! haha. and i shall strive to do more than 30 pull ups so that i wont nua! putting on fats ald la! boo :(

when it comes

2006-07-20T23:27:00.000+08:00

been listening to Yi ge xiang xia tian yi ge xiang qiu tian a lot lately. truthful, meaningful lyrics.

there is only a fine line between those who are there for me all the time, and those who are there once in a while cos they realise that they need me.

and i really dun understand people who think they are nu qiang ren. on one hand you think you can do fine without men, yet on the other you think it is shameful and ungentlemanly when guys dun look out for you.

we are not here for you to trample on as and when you feel that you are on the greener side.

uniquely Hwachong

2006-07-19T22:10:00.000+08:00

the follow-up was rather uncalled for, but it was quite a delightful experience! haha.

when i stepped into the consultation room the doctor immediately enquired about my school. he was from Hwachong, but he couldnt recognise the school badge. he even leaned forward and grabbed my collar (well gently of course haha) to get a closer look. he realised my condition was more or less ok and soon our conversation revolved around Hwachong instead. he went into a state of disbelief when i told him i am in 05s7e. like "E? EE??" "We only have up to 75 back then!" reminds me of the other Hwachong senior who stitched up my wound last year. still rmb how i felt so exhausted at 1230am in the mini operation theatre, chatting with him so that i wont freak out as he meddled with his "stitch kit".

haha the doctor even asked me what s papers i am taking and whether it is xiong haha. also asked me if i wanted to be a doctor and egged me on, giving me a cheerful "JIA YOU AH!" right before i left!

have to return 2 months later for another follow-up. cant arrange a date now cos i dont know the prelims time table yet. the receptionist wished me all the best! haha. so nice.

hope i will see that nice senior again :) guess i just had a uniquely Hwachong experience today!

creeps

2006-07-18T22:43:00.000+08:00

kind of worried about my ankle now. i can feel a slight throbbing at the joint, especially when i run. it has already been more than a month since i sprained my ankle, yet the pain hasnt totally gone away. and there is the problem of my shaky hands as well. though i have just checked the web and most medical websites say that its not a cause for concern (well unless it really hinders my movement), i am still apprehensive. how am i going to aim properly during ns?? sucks. i dun want my goal of becoming an officer to crash and burn.

tml i will be back at the ENT for the follow up. most likely it will be another big waste of money. what i need most now is an x-ray of my foot, not a poke through my nostrils.

haiz.

and i need to get more sleep too arrgh.

saving me

2006-07-16T22:25:00.000+08:00

been trying to get some work done after the previous entry, but half of my mind, if not more, seems to be thinking of canoeing all the time.

canoeing has always been the balance in my life. the alternative to studying. it has given me life, friendship and purpose. now that it has ended, an emptyness seem to have resided within me. feel quite lost now. what am i gonna do with all the free time now?

if not for canoeing, i would probably have mugged myself to death by now.

since i still have so much thoughts about canoeing..i shall get started once again haha..

back in april, my C1 timing was 6 min 17s. it was a slow and steady race, and i received a standing ovation at the end. Yong Liang was at the shore to grab my hand and lift my tired self out from the boat. i will never forget that hard-earned applause.

during the nationals race, back at the start line, the MJC boat beside me in lane 4 capsized. i know it isnt nice..but i was kind of happy then..cos that leave 3 boats for 3 spots in the finals. but the starter decided to let him be rescued.

the race started..soon i was lagging behind. not as much as i did back in april tho. i paddled as hard as i could, while seeing the MJC boat zigzagging across his lane, hoping that he would cut lanes and be disqualified. soon i was the only boat left on the race course. it was obvious i had lost..and i thought:

whoever is up there, please let me complete this race. it is very important to me.

but luck was unfortunately not on my side. i planted my blade wrongly and i capsized, with only around 50 metres left to the finish line.

i was devastated. my last ever c1 race ended with a capsize..

i felt like crying then..but i couldn't.

my entire mind was focused on the silence at the shore..and the ringing in my head. no timing. no fucking timing at all.

soon after i reached the hc tent, weiye and steph came to console me. i was still angry then. so i told them that i will find them later...it was later on that night that steph told me she had to drag weiye along cos both of them have nv seen me so agitated before, and were afraid to approach me.

yet you two still approached me..

THANKS STEPH, WEIYE, YANLING AND AMANDA, for being there when i was down and out.
Thanks 7e too for the card. really appreciate all of your well wishes!

Jason, my ex-C1 coach told me that it's all right, i still have other races in my life to go for. those words really made me feel a lot calmer, and more willing to accept my defeat. ya. no timing. but i did the best i could right? since it is my best, i must have GONE THE FURTHEST I COULD.

as my training programme was different from the rest, i din really get to foster close ties with most of my team mates. but this is not the end.

a new race has started. this time, its my race to become a better person.

so far, canoeing has taught me that one only go far by enjoying the journey. canoeing has taught me to be less selfish, and to be happy for others' achievements. i have become more cheerful. i have recalled how to smile for photos..

but i haven really learnt to love myself.

thats why now i want to become more self-assured, more independent. i am going to work hard and play hard, to lead a fulfiling life, and be enthusiastic towards photographs once more.

mum has scolded me yesterday, saying that i she me dou bu hui. i know she is taking the opportunity to reprimand me now that my cca has ended. it is always like that. nothing that i do other than studies seems to please her. she has been against canoeing right from the start and i know she still is. i know i owe her an apology..and i have been working hard to change myself but always return to square one. its time to do something about myself.

"to succeed, you have gotta enjoy the ride."

watch me fly.

Wherever You'd Go

2006-07-16T14:40:00.000+08:00

finally, it has all come to a close.

it has been a long journey with several ups and downs. i did not arrive at the destination that i yearned the most, but still what a wonderful ride it has been.

I remember facing discouragement from my family when i first mentioned that i wanted to join canoeing at the beginning of '05. that i wont be able to cope with my studies, that the training is xiong. honestly, i did doubt my ability to cope as well, thats why i made a bet with myself:

if i get 10 A1s, i will join canoeing.

sounds silly right haha..'cos the odds of me joining canoeing at that time was rather low. perfect score (which i thought was improbable as well) seemed a fair exchange.

yet after joining in March, i had to face the threat of qutting canoeing once again, due to the stupid cut during the last training at Kallang. got me into so much trouble with my mum that i never thought i will ever get to train again.

haha..guessed everyone was surprised to have me back in the team after nationals '05. thankfully, i never had to face early retirement again. my morale was low at the start, as i was 8 months behind everyone in training. my stamina and endurance suck and i had a cramp during the very first training just 100m into the run. it is definitely not true that you are damn fit if you can join canoeing haha :) i am one perfect example.

i have to say i am lucky to have friends like Sheen Mao, who ran so many rounds with me during the promos period during the evening. every single circuit that i completed pushed me on to grow fitter and stronger. i could hardly imagine myself being able to complete a 10km run by October.

Things started to take a downhill slide after my decision to try C1. i blamed myself for being a slow learner. i blamed C1 for robbing me of the chance to row on the water with the rest of the team, for robbing me of the chance to train with the rest on land while i had to do extra water trainings, for making me hold the capsize record in Macritchie, for making me prone to upper respiratory tract infection due to my incessant cappings and the numerous fevers that left me weak, pouring all my past efforts down the drain.

i started to lower my expectations from getting a medal..to simply training hard and giving my all for the nationals. in the end thats all i did. and THATS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS.

i have grown so much in this past 1 year. a medal would definitely top off the experience, but i guess its just a bonus? a medal to look upon and smile is nothing compared to the lifelong impact canoe has had on my character and friendship.

Through all the cock talking, kbing and rigorous trainings, i have learnt to embrace friendship much more than i ever did before. it is hard to put all of it down in words. although C1 has potentially ruined my canoe experience, i have to say it has turned me into a much stronger person. after all the cappings, i now know that strength comes not just from the muscles, but from the heart as well. i have become more patient. definitely there were times when i feel like giving up, and sleepless nights spent visualising the proper strokes. but that also meant that every race set i completed left me contented and satisfied with my effort.

i have seen true friendship..teammates who would stop their race set (even though that means jeopardising their own training) to save me, and others who don't. Thanks a lot for everything man. i will always remember Chong Sheng for kbing the ACSI guy for asking me to give way when i wasnt even in the race course.

"SIAO, K1 JIAO C1 ZOU KAI."

haha..

now everything has ended.

no more waking up early in the morning, sweating it out in shirts doing matrix.
no more rushing to the toilet after school to change and leave for mac.
no more "re-election".
no more $1000 dollars weights.
no more bathing at the taps (cheering with Yong Xian and niaoing Shi Hong haha).
no more "1, 2, 3!" "HWACHONG CANOEING OOSH!"

but i will remember the times we had forever.

C1: Yun Le, Sing Nan, Zhen Hao
T2: Nick, Eugene, Yixue, Hong Bin, Sheen Mao, Timothy, Zhen Rong, Chin Swee
K1: Samuel, Shi Hong, Boon Gan, Qibo
K2: Yong Xian, Yueling, Yong Liang, Andy, Bobby, Chris, Shaun, Di Kai
T1: Kiat Tat, Chong Sheng

and of course, Yuzhong, Jia Qi.

Hwachong Canoeing '05/'06, we will go WHEREVER YOU'D GO. :)

towards a windless tomorrow!

2006-07-11T21:04:00.000+08:00

got a shock when i took out my wallet today. saw a piece of the jigsaw puzzle stuck within the flaps! the picture is gonna have a hole in the sky if i were to lose that precious piece. haha.

no one did pull ups today. for the first time ever we sat at the pull up bar and laze around. tomorrow. after all the countless trainings, the time has finally arrived for us to perform. joseph gave us a post-comp briefing yesterday, saying that our opponents are ourselves. we have to conquer ourselves and make the best out of what we have.

"you don't have to feel any pressure or stress. if you have any, give it all to me! you are the ones at the startline, i heart attack nevermind!"

fight it out.
give it my best shot. my all.
and complete the race with no regrets.

last saturday!

2006-07-08T22:11:00.000+08:00

had the third last canoeing training today, which makes this training the last sat training ever. a t1 clashed his paddle with mine during my 500m race set and i crashed into the water. was damn pissed cos i thought that it had been a rather good set, and there was only around 75 m left to go. whats more the t1 just carried on with his race set and only "dropped by" later to say sorry and offered help. thanks a lot man, i can swim faster than that.

the 250m set was ok though, no such crap. haha.

joseph gave us our last team run today. kiat tat asked whether he had really been a bastard during his term and got niaoed. haha. and he kept saying "last run liao leh..nostalgic nostalgic" but somehow i wasnt really emotional. kind of looking forward to future snoozing saturdays. bleh.

saw that old man again today while drinking water. i was so sick of the sight of him that i spitted the water out of my mouth into the grass. a guy walking towards me saw my gross act. oops.

scarred

2006-07-07T15:47:00.000+08:00

guess who i saw when i was walking home today.

THE STUPID OLD MAN FROM YESTERDAY.

i swear he looked away when his eyes met mine. what did you tell me yesterday? dun tell me your friend brings you all the way from HOUGANG to boon lay to sit at the void deck and rot your worthless life away. i got such a shock la. thinking back now i am surprised that i din confront him. so much for my sympathy. i am even glad that i had spent my dollar notes on Jack and Jill so that i had only coins to give you then.

it is because of cheaters like you that people who are genuinely in need of a helping hand end up not getting any. screw you man. i hope i dun ever see you again. come to think of it, you might even forget my face and walk right into me one of these days asking me for money again.

maybe the lack of a class outing today was a blessing in disguise, to give me a chance to discover how scheming some pple can be.

if i have a similar encounter in the future, should i help again? i dun noe, but this quote is kind of assuring:

"At least you walk away from the incident with a clear conscience."

thanks man weiye.

a simple life :)

2006-07-06T21:32:00.000+08:00

i had a wonderful dream last nite. dreamt that my brother miraculously completed the entire jigsaw puzzle in just one night! (but the puzzle in my dream was different from the one that we have bought in reality haha) it was a picture of the sea with penguins and dolphins "flying" out from the surface and back into the water again. there was a waterfall at the horizon too. the sky was a rich intermediate between red and pink, so it must be the evening! haha. the amazing thing about the dream was that the scene somehow materialise and i was drawn into it. i saw myself running down a sheltered pathway (with blue pillars) just beside the sparkling ocean! huge penguins (they seem to have short yellow streaks along their chubby necks) were swimming and surfacing just beside me! whats more there was some sort of iceland on the opposite shore, where a beautiful ice castle sits. the penguins live there in luxury! it is a really pretty castle, cos everything was made of ice, giving it a transparent effect! i was elated (in the dream) to see such a beautiful, peaceful and natural scene, and just kept running and running as the scene unfolds before my eyes. cant exactly rmb what happened when i reached the end of the sheltered walkway. that was when i probably woke up with a smile! haha.

haha, i woke up at 730 am too!! and it was raining. so lucky la! i told weiye to tell ms lim that my alarm clock batt went dead, but it turned out to be unnecessary since assembly was cancelled! wahaha. the actual reason was that i wanted to snooze after watching soccer haha. woke up to a wonderful chilly rainy morning too. fresh cool air aah..

on the way home after training i met an old man (OM).

om: boy, can you speak english?
me: ya.
om: pls dun be scared of me k. (ya i was like thinking what did he want with me)
my friend brought me here. i want to go to the mrt. i lived in hougang but i do not have
enough money to buy the ticket. can you give me 2 or 3 dollars?

at that time i was thinking about the uncanny likeness between weiye's encounter with the old man, and my current encounter. the old man appeared very sincere too, esp since he assured me that he is not out to harm me. so i reached into my pocket, checked my wallet and there was only a fifty dollars note. i have spent the rest on the Jack n Jill potato chips (of which one packet is faulty and do not contain any jersey!!! aRRgh).

me: i only got coins leh. is that ok?
om: sure sure. thanks alot!

then i poured all my coins into his cupped hands.

somehow i felt very happy after that. i started wondering why the old man chose to ask me, and not the other adults who were walking along the same path. is it becos we are younger and more innocent, and we are kinder towards people like them in need. adults tend to think that these people are just putting on an act and would just walk away without listening to them? if that is the case i WONT ever wanna lose this precious innocence. really hoped that the old man can get more money from other people to go home.

ah mah cooked chicken nuggets today!! yay. asked mummy to prepare cheng teng on sunday too!

Note to myself: was looking at a squirrel at macritchie yesterday, and i suddenly remembered how much i love koala bears, chipmunks and squirrels. started missing the koala bear soft toy i used to lug around when i was small again haha. i was holding it in my aunt's wedding photo back in 1990. haha. i was her xiao tong zi! haha.

Dance With My Father

2006-07-04T22:39:00.000+08:00

Block tests officially concluded today with a silly Physics paper 3. Physics dept is the most extra man.

thought that the class would go out together after blocks! but poof..almost everyone was gone. soon only me steph weiye ys philip and huixiang were left at the class bench. i got so sian that i went straight home, where i can spend my time trying to complete my 2000 pieces jigsaw puzzle instead. weiye said that this is probably how the rest of this term is gonne be like. MUGGING term.

speaking about my jigsaw puzzle, i gotta admit that this the hardest one my brother and i have ever attempted. previously the 1000 pc was completed in four or five days, and the 2000 pc was completed in four. This is already the fourth day into our latest project and there is more than 3/4 left to be done. haha. why? cos we chose a picture of a sea of sunflowers. dun forget there is still the blue sky to finish. bleh. but the end product is gonna be beautiful for sure :) and its gonna be in my room!! la la la.

weiye sent me a wonderful and meaning song. it is the highlight of today's post.

"Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father"

Back when I was a child
Before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high
And dance with my mother and me and then

Spin me around till I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure
I was loved

If I could get another chance
Another walk, another dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end
How I’d love, love, love to dance with my father again

Ooh, ooh

When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way I would run from her to him
He’d make me laugh just to comfort me, yeah, yeah
Then finally make me do just what my mama said

Later that night when I was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he
Would be gone from me

If I could steal one final glance
One final step, one final dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end
‘Cause I’d love, love, love to dance with my father
again

Sometimes I’d listen outside her door
And I’d hear her, mama cryin’ for him
I pray for her even more than me
I pray for her even more than me

I know I’m prayin’ for much too much
But could You send back the only man she loved
I know You don’t do it usually
But Lord, she’s dyin’ to dance with my father again
Every night I fall asleep
And this is all I ever dream

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

If i was his father i would probably cry tears of joy listening to this song. I must strive to achieve this too, if you know what i mean. haha.

` CATCH MY WAVE ` ;)

2006-06-29T23:44:00.000+08:00

MINASAN!

BLOCK TESTS OVER!!

I am like totally freed of all my anxieties. it is just blocks..but i am just so happy!

FIRST there is WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY!

"WELCOME TO WHOSE LIINNE IS IT ANYWAY~ the show where everything is made up and the points don't matter." i happened to watch the episode containing colin's TAPIOCA (that cracked ryan beyond words!). truly amusing and entertaining..

Colin: "I am BALD, but I am ADORABLE :)"

HAHA!

SECONDLY THERE IS HARD GAY! yes i agree he behaves like a moron, but he is truly amazing with his moves i must say. and i think most of us would applaud him for his bravery (his relentless approach, and the way he dismisses failures with just a simple hilarious WOO~). like one of the audience puts it "he is a moron with good intentions." haha..with his social improvement series, it is not that hard to realise this isnt it? ;)

THIRDLY i finally found the solution to making the bed softer and fluffy! FEATHERBEDS! I am going to Courts or Seiyu one of these days to try and get one!

FOURTH: MY DIGITAL CABLE TV! it is one of the greatest present i can ever have. i simply couldnt imagine that WORLD CUP actually ended up bringing this brilliant invention into my home! love it love it love it. i always wanted cable tv cos of the numerous documentaries i can watch. then i can see so many parts of the world that i probably wouldnt have a chance of going in my life. Travel and Living, Jeff Corwin. rocks totally. i am even willing to save up to pay for the subscription if my parents dun wanna keep it after these three months!

FIFTH: OF COS! BTs are over!

Bet you can tell i am damn high now cant you? haha.

train eat study sleep

2006-06-24T22:58:00.000+08:00

woah..june hols is over already. cant believe that i was cycling near the esplanade this time four weeks ago. bike hike isnt really that long ago isnt it. time really flies.

block tests are up and coming next week, and somehow i dont really wanna study. sometimes i just plonk down onto the bed after training and snooze. changed my mattress to a softer one last week. falling asleep is so much easier hahaha. what's more now that i have cable tv i seem to have the nagging urge to watch tv! addicted to american chopper, jeff corwin, unsolved history, how do they do it and more more more!!

what the heck. the only bio chapters i have studied so far are kidney part 1 and 2. i am all ready to write the letter explaining my looming F grade. AND STILL I DONT SEEM TO CARE. weird. somehow i have been telling myself that it doesnt really matter since the bio blocks are going to be damn hard and i will prob only manage a D or E if i study anyway. most of the canoeists didnt touch bio either.

haha..but this attitude is quite infectious and unhealthy isnt it? bleah..

heck man nothing much i can do to save my skin now.. the F is mine for sure. shall continue watching Hard Gay.

get well get well!!

2006-06-13T22:27:00.000+08:00

got heat exhaustion. i already felt weird halfway through training yesterday. felt as though a huge amount of heat is trapped within me and my eyes felt very hot. so tired that i found it hard even to keep my eyes open. my temperature finally dropped when i took a cold shower..only to rise again when i stepped out into the sweltering heat.

for the rest of the day my temp just kept fluctuating.

woke up today without fever. thought i was ok. began studying my notes and my temp started rising once more. what the heck. even studying is strenous now?? heck care and went out to see the sinseh with my dad about my foot. i have to get it treated as soon as possible afterall so that i can start running during trainings.

dad was talking about subscribing to cable tv so that my bro dun have to keep cycling to my cousin house in the middle of the night. so i went with him today to subscribe. honestly i cant believe this is happening la haha. mum and dad have always been against subscribing since we hardly have time to watch..waste of money and all. finally i can get to watch national geographic and travel and living!! what a joy.

however..i was already running a temperature by then. but i just beared with it and went to raffles place with dad to get the subscription done. by the time i reached home my temp was 38.5 throbbing headache too. i realised that my dad and i had something in common: once we set our eyes on something we do not mind going through troubles to get it over and done with. (just like today, when we came back from west mall to jurong point, and have to make a u turn back to raffles place cos jurong point has run out of digital setup boxes.)

dad usually doesnt talk much to me and my bro most of the time. he is more of the type who see to our material wants? dun noe how exactly to describe it..bro was complaining about wasting money subcribing and umm..actually sounded quite pissed? mum said something along the lines of "hao xin mai gei ni hai lian chou chou. pa pa teng ni ma." and sth like "do you noe dad and ah di went all the way to raffles place to get this done?"

and my bro went "zhen de meh".

whatever it is..right now my temp has subsided, after sweating like mad, popping vit c pills, panadol and drinking lin yang sui. hopefully it is just a case of overheat and i can get back into action soon...been missing trainings every week since holidays started. missed 2 trainings in week 1 becos of my ankle, miss last wed becos of medical appointment [but i did make up for this! (: ] and now this wed becos of heat exhaustion. at this rate joseph might just think that i have an attitude prob, missing trainings liddat in this all impt period.

arrgh. get well get well!

messed up

2006-06-11T21:55:00.000+08:00

we are already training for dboat. shouldnt we go there and give it out best shot? what kind of coach will say things like "3 min 20 ah? are you sure you all wanna compete?" so encouraging huh. at the very least maybe we can be given a break on friday before our competition? who the hell enters a competition with a tired form?

since we are going for it, we should be giving our fullest potential, shouldnt we?

the little wonders of life

2006-06-08T22:34:00.000+08:00

went to NUH for my appointment. quite dumb actually. the appointment was made 2 weeks ago, so by the time i finally got to see the specialist yetserday, i have already recovered from my flu. maybe it is thanks to the vitamin c tablets i have been taken rigorously lately haha.

well what was i to tell the doc? i didnt have any symptoms of flu yesterday, so i just babbled about getting blocked nose after trainings, and having flu on and off for the past 6 months. the specialist couldnt really figure it out the problem (i am not surprised) so he decided to poke sth into my nose to check the insides. nasalscope or sth.

that poke cost me 50 bucks la! so ex. come on it is just a machine and you only have to poke it through my nostrils for a few minutes? suddenly my brother's bioskin expenditure doesnt seem all that unreasonable.

anw..went for dragonboat today. we decided to row into the sewage hole. din make it pass any more than 20 metres hahaaa. cos we got scared and realised that there wasnt any space to turn the boat around.

"OK EVERYBODY!! Turn and face the other way and row out!!"

(and we did it amidst curses and swears >_<)

on the way home on the mrt, there was a toddler crying in his pram. the mother of cos tried to stop him from crying la..and her method kind of impressed me. she held on to a sandal and tried to get him to count the no of straps and bands on it. then she started singing twinkle twinkle little star (quite loudly too) and the toddler just "sang" along though he still couldnt really pronounce the words. sort of made me wonder if i could actually do that if i were the mum, putting aside the shyness of singing in public, not caring what others think of me and whether my singing is good. guess these are the little things that make parents special and wei da. just like a mother going through the pains of pregancy cos she has found someone who makes it all worthwhile.

hmm..guess one shouldnt always think of the worst, and imagine it to be the way others are thinking of him/her. have more confidence and dun worry unduly about what others think of you.

how i wish i can turn back time

2006-06-03T23:14:00.000+08:00

i want to turn back time..back to MAF, when everything was ok.

looks like i just have to accept things as it is now.

You Don't Miss Your Water (Till The Well Runs Dry)

2006-06-02T23:30:00.000+08:00

As I sail with you across the finest oceans
On our way to find the key to our emotions
Together will me move the clouds to brighter days
Some people question what I say
Try to break up you and me

But I know this love between us is growing stronger
You can call me whenever, from wherever just remember that
I'll be there through all the stormy weather
Us break up never, no, we'll be together forever

You dont miss your water till the well runs dry
But I believe so strongly with you and I
Can somebody answer me the question why?
You dont miss your water till the well runs dry

As I close my eyes, sit back while reminiscing
Of when we used to fuss and fight but end up kissing
There may be sad and painful times along the way
But in my heart you'll always be everything and more to me

For I know this love between us is growing stronger
You can call me wheneer, from wherever just remember that
I'll be there throught all the stormy weather
Us break up never, no, we'll be together forever

You dont miss your water till the well runs dry
But i believe so strongly with you and i
Can somebody answer me the question why?
You dont miss your water till the well runs dry

For you are always on my mind

You are always on my mind
You are always on my mind
You are always on my mind

You dont miss your water till the well runs dry
But I believe so strongly with you and I
Can somebody answer me the question why?
You dont miss your water till the well runs dry

You dont miss your water till the well runs dry
But I believe so strongly with you and I
Can somebody answer me the question why?
You dont miss your water till the well runs dry

Listen, If you ever get the feeling
You when playin start cheatin me
But you dont miss your water until the well runs dry

the awful chain reaction theory

2006-05-29T22:52:00.000+08:00

he might not be one of the better canoeists in the team. he might not be that tactful with his words and actions. . but i know for sure, without a doubt, that he does everything with the interests of the team in mind, even if it is the dumbest thing to do.

do we have to be that mean with our remarks? does all that awful backstabbing makes us any less misguided than he is? do some soulsearching. he had never ponned any training without a valid reason. he gives his all for all our trainings. it is unfortunate that he probably cant contribute to the team, but at least he is true to his conscience.

how about you?

all this time in c1 has made me realise something: it is either make or break. make, and you shall be rewarded with honour, pride, glory, admiration; break, and anguish, pity will soon be on your heels. there is only one month left. i am losing patience too.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

you may have won the race, but you haven't won my respect.

bike hike '06 :)

2006-05-28T23:25:00.000+08:00

slept for 3 hours after training yesterday before going bike hike in the evening. haha met yuzhong at mrt interchange. i asked him where the washroom was and just headed right in the drection he pointed without even checking the sign on the door. entered the female one by mistake. so maluating! fortunately they didnt pursue the matter haha.

was in the same group as amanda, christine and an yi. kiat tat was in my group too. there were several checkpoints along the way and the pace was quite relaxed for most of the journey. amanda and christine were quite excited and nostalgic when we passed by kallang river. passed by glass house too..where we will most probably be having post com dinner in 6 or 7 weeks time...yanling gave me hello panda haha, and not to forget an yi's OLD CHANG KEE squid fritters even before the journey began! :P

our first "long" checkpoint was the esplanade, where we just sat and admired the skyline. the second long checkpoint was at newton hawker centre where i finally had a proper meal for the night: cha kuay with stingray! yay. second time eating stingray in my life haa. so suaku.

the last 15km was the most memorable of all. we cycled down from changi village back to kitrunners. we cycled through a 6km straight stretch of road beside the airport runway. quite exhilarating since i was pedaling fast all the way, admiring the SIA planes land and getting reminded of my perth trip again. no stopping, just constant pedalling. the sky was yellow by the time we completed that portion of the route. was with weiye, his friends, christine and amanda most of the time for the remaining journey :)

mum made dumplings today. every year i get special dumplings with no mushrooms. this yr mum added sth extra: HEI BEE HIAM!! (the spicy fried shrimps) yum yum. ate four before retreating to my bed for my long awaited slumber..

lets cycle again after As!

the last lap

2006-05-26T21:59:00.000+08:00

samuel was sick on wednesday, he volunteered to stay on the shore and teach me how to row C1. damn nice la. I have to keep these pointers in mind!!!

1. dont lean right too much. can prevent this by swinging in more during recovery.
2. twist my thumb earlier.
3. force myself to make the exit fast and natural.
4. cross
5. skim my paddle on the surface before my next stroke.
6. make adjustments early. feel the boat. when it is starts turning right it is too late already.
7. FIGHT TO STAY ON THE BOAT!!

an experienced canoeist will know when he is going to capsize or stray. AND take action. DONT LOSE YOUR DIRECTION, DONT LOSE YOUR BALANCE.

whats going through my mind

2006-05-25T23:06:00.001+08:00

so much to do, so little time.

term 2 is ending. there are so many things on my mind right now.

the past one and a half year in hc has been really wonderful. of cos there are the ocassional set backs, but besides that, all that has happened so far is more than what i could have asked for.

thanks to 7e.

i remember worrying about life in hc at the start of 2005, wondering if hc is just like chs. tests after tests after tests. the competition in the class was fierce, and over the past 4 years it seemed to have corroded my life away. i lost my idea of fun, sometimes even friendship. i dun rmb liking chs at all, apart from the friends i have made in ncc. maybe it was partly my fault for treating my work/studies so seriously, but whatever the case, i was afraid all this was going to continue for the next 2 years.

i am glad that it didn't.

the friends i have made in 7e have even partly restored my back to my former cheerful self..the closest i have ever gotten to being like the person i was back in p5. there are a couple of impt friends in this current class that makes it ever so special and precious to me. esp wei ye. i am glad that we can get along so well. it has been a long time since i had such a close friend. somehow there seems to be several similarities between us..like topping the level back in our primary schools..being unfit (well maybe that doesnt really apply as much to me now..hope you are not offended while reading this :p)..treasuring grandmas, writing lame stories (your version of enid blyton) etc.

i was wondering about our friendship some days back on the bus. i thought that probably i saw myself in you. you said before that you were like me back in primary school, someone who takes his studies very seriously and copies down everything the teacher says. maybe you are what i would become if i had gone cat high instead. another version of me. and you are here in hc today, to teach me to become a cheerful person again, to smile more and stop frowning so much hahaa.

i am glad to have known you. quit asking me silly questions like whether i regret knowing you, BECAUSE I DONT. i signed your "if you are my friend, sign here" thingy too didnt I? haha. the biggest signature too.

now that term 2 is ending..time seems to be flying by. term 3 will soon come..and soon this year will end. now i truly understand what yong kang meant when he said JC is like the last stop in our education..when we can get together as a class to learn and get to know each other really well compared to university. i dont want to forget the times that i have spent with this innocent class of mine, the class i have been looking for ever since i entered chs. days in 7e are filled with laughter. though the days back in chs cant be all that unhappy everyday, but all i can rmb of it now is mostly mugging mugging and more mugging.

my o level results didnt matter that much after all. my life now is pretty much the same as everyone else's too isnt it, though i would say my results has given me more opportunities in one way or another. still, i am going to study hard. and i hope as our engines heat up..our days left together as a class are still as carefree and happy.

sweet memories.