today is the first day i start work as cme rep since i was appointed at the beginning of the yr. wang laoshi even said wenhui zhong1 yu2 kai1 gong1 le4. i was given 3 pieces of hao3 ren2 hao3 shi4 to help those who needed it photocopy. i also had to collect the cme bklet. that's all for my assigned tasks so far this year (haha, so cheapo...)
i'm eating mc shaker fries now, quite nice, yummy
guess what mich told me after assembly this morning? nycb is going overseas! either thailand, japan or australia!!! we were so excited!!! but its going to be b4 our concert which is probably on 12/12 so it may clash with our grad nite... boohoo... pray that it won't clash!!! so sec4s can go too! isn't that great? but mich said that sec4s have to pay on our own (during reccess i found out from mich low that everyone have to pay on their own) , but we were also part of nycb that got the gold, so why do we have to pay on our own?! wenyi just (as in just the few seconds after i typed "pay on our own") called to ask me about my budget. i answered: how wld i know wat budget? i'll just pay what the others can pay. (i'm not the type who would be stingy abt such stuff) i'm excited again! so fun!!! lalala
firstly, i shall thank blogger.com for allowing ppl to create blogs. THANKS. 26/7/03 is the day of creation of my blog : Just a blog.
Ok... this is my 1st entry...
for these few weeks, i have been having alot of things to do (i think its the most in my life so far). i shall start from term3wk2 (i'm referring to my diary to help me remember what happened)
monday (7/7) was youth day so i was rushing homewk the whole day coz as usual, i slacked on sat and sun (usually sun is rush hw day but there was mon holiday so i slacked on sun)
tues, there was arts fest rehearsal and we were supposed to reported at 2.15pm but i was late coz i had to finish up my chi essay (i was slow as usual), so i had to rush to bandrm only to find other people of my section taking their own sweet time; i even reached audi b4 them though i reached bandrm after them. they lack the sense of urgency, so irritating. after 1h of rehearsal, we had band prac back in bandrm as usual so i reached home abt 7pm (i think). there was ss test on merger & separation tml but i was too tired to study (but i still can remember some points)
wed, there was bio extra lesson fr 2.30 to 3.30pm and phy. remedial fr. 3.30-4.30pm (i didn't want to go coz i had a bit headache due to my tiredness coz by lack of sleep since mon night but my friends encourage me to go and i also didn't want to miss out on the extra things i cld learn so i still went thus ending up reaching home at abt 6pm) hist test tml so lack of sleep again
thurs, i had NE quiz after sch which clashed with maths lesson but it ended early coz it was actually the survey i had also done in sec2 or 3 (cant remember is which). so me and other NE quiz ppl had to go back for maths lesson at abt 3pm only to find that Mrs Wong was not here and we were supposed to do some math questions, so instead of benefiting (miss the usual math quiz) from going for the NE quiz, we had to do the questions while others were already finishing and doing their own stuff. then there was band prac so again, i reached home at abt 7pm
fri, we had to do a zuo4 wen2 on stress but i cldn't finish it during lesson (slow as usual) so i did it after sch resulting in myself being late for band (abt 3pm then reach). i knew that i wld be punished but i rather finish my zuo4 wen2 than to push it back till after band. again... reached home abt 7pm
sat, there was phy extra lesson fr 8-9am but band prac was changed to 1-4pm bcoz of the sec3 prac exams so i wasted a bit of time but at least i had jap food *yummy* for lunch (met mum at novena) we had band prac at the atrium behind the flagpole. the band was only informed abt it a little after 1pm so after carrying the chairs, stands, instruments and everything down, we only started playing at almost 2pm. we had to rehearse for monday where we had to go in front of the rest of the sch to take a bow after playing Cantabile for Winds but on the 2nd try, it started raining so we had to run back into the classrm blk.
so i ended up reaching home late every day this wk (i think its the first this i reached home late every day for one whole week)
sun, i don't really understand why i took so much time to do my math assignments : i spent almost all of the rest of the weekend doing them (other then some of the usual sat nite slackin like wat i'm doing now). i only started studying for monday's chi. test at 11pm and after 3 ke4s, i decided to go to bed otherwise i won't be able to survive wk3.
term2wk3
mon, i had to reach sch by 6.45am in band u for the arts fest opening (eversince i stopped taking Jocelyn's father's car, i never reached sch so early). i was perspiring all over by the time we settled at the atrium behind the flag poles. We played national anthem and sch song (1st time while sitting in front of the rest of the school. Later on, we also played a fanfare while balloons were dropped from the 4th level. I was so distracted coz almost all of the rest of the sch were playing with the balloons and I kept looking at them (also when playing Cantabile for Winds) instead of concentrating on my playing (i shall apologise to the band here). The entire opening ceremony ended at abt 8.05am which was totally surprising coz i thought that it would take up much more time when the band was briefed on what was going to happen for the whole opening ceremony.
After keeping my instrument, i changed into the arts fest shirt and i think i was the first band member to dash away for lessons (most of the others took their time bcoz they wanted to miss lesson but i cldn't afford to miss math). but bcoz the LT was used as holding area for SYF, the venue for math lecture was change to the new conference rm but the math teachers were late for don't-know-what reason and when they finally came, they met which technical problems resulting in the lesson beginning only at 8.30am. I was quite unhappy coz i had rushed so much and ended up wasting time waiting for them.
After sch, me, michelle and lynette had physic study group session till 5pm. It was very beneficial as it made me do some phy papers which i would not on my own. We also talked alot of crap and i laughed till i had 'mouthache'. i think this is the 1st time such a thing happened to me.
tues, it was the first time i did late punishment (bcoz of last fri).
everyone who had nothing else to do were supposed to support the national track and field finals tml so i got caught in a dilemma as i had to choose between supporting the team for the last time in my 4yrs (it was the responsiblity of being a student in the sch and i had been irritated by ppl who didn't want to support them) and using the time to do some of my tonnes of hw. I knew that from past experiences, if i went to support them, i wld be so tired when i get home that i wld not be able to do anything else but fall asleep when i get home and thus be unable to do anything hw or study for the hist test. i felt so bad and in such a difficult position that i broke down while asking mum for her opinions. in the end, i decided that i shall for once think more for myself instead for the whole school and how others will think of me.
but on wed, after a poor, weak cheering session, Qui Jun talked to the whole sch abt sch spirit and stuff and i was put into the same dilemma yet again. Tears swarmed up to my eyes once again and i kept blinking to stop them from flowing down my face. The first period was pure humanities so the free period grp gathered at the benches as usual. I had already regained composure but Qui Jun started talking abt it again (she had just cried over the low sch spirit) and caused the same process (tears up and stopped) to repeat itself. Then, the nxt period back in class, i asked michelle if she was going and she said her father didn't allow to so that convinced me to settle my mind upon the decision of not going.
so, i stayed in sch to do hw till abt 5pm.
thurs, so much hw was assigned for the weekend that i was totally irritated. the teachers definitely knew that many of us had to rehearsal for arts fest on the whole of fri and do the performance on the whole of sat and would be reaching home only after 11pm and we wld only have sunday left to do the hw. Yet we were assigned to do 3 sets of bio paper 2, vocab test, journal entries, english summaries, compre and compo, physics mcq and 8 wsss, more than 10 hist. qns points.
another matter was that the vice-principal informed our class that we were not allowed to support the basketball finals only 1 and a half hours before the time of departure after giving us the consent forms on wed. Their reason was that we cld not miss math lesson (math teachers had given their consents for us to go) but all the councillors had already missed one entire day of lessonsss just to reserve seats for the school at the stadium on wed. A VP even said that the sec3s who had math lessons did not volunteer to support showing that they were more mature than us but the fact was that most of the basketballers were sec4s, our friends, so of course we wld want to support them since it was their final match and the sec 3s not volunteering was due to the obvious reason that they were not sec4s. Furthermore, another math lesson cld be arranged if necessary.
in the end, the losses of us not going to support was greater than us going and missing the math lesson. We could not concentrate on the lesson and our basketballers lost the match by a mere margin of 2pts. (i remember that when we went to support the finals 2yrs ago, our basketballers won) in addition, the HOD of CCA had just said a few days ago that our sports teams need the rest of the schools support to boost their confidence to win.
fri, arts fest performers had to rehearse from 8am to 5pm with only chance to join the funfair to settle our lunch. for band, since we were the first item, our break was only from 11.30 to 12.30pm as we had to be ready in the audi for the 2nd round of rehearsal at 1pm. We were already seated and ready for the first round of rehearsal at about 8+am but we had to wait till 9am due to problems not caused by us. (later, Laura told me that her cca mates thought that the delay was caused by the band which irritated me as it was totally not our fault. although mr tang mentioned the cause to all the other performers during the debrief, he did not clearly state it). The delay resulted in them being able to run only the 1st half of the show.
After we finished our item, we had to stay in the bandrm. It was already quite meaningless for us to do so since we were already done (although i know that they just want to have the conditions the same as during the real thing), but the sec1s who were only involved in carrying chairs also had to stay in the bandrm and they didn't even anything much to do. I tried to do some hw but it was too noisy so i cldn't concentrate.
After the 2nd rehearsal, we had band prac till 4pm then ms chong made us take band photos.
sat, i really wasted alot of time. although most band ppl felt that our playing in the evening was better than the afternn one, ms chong said tt it was worse, only good enough for a bronze (i already knew it during the performance when i saw her expressions).
mr tang told us that we cld go to the 2nd level of the audi to watch the rest of the 1st half of the show but after 5minutes of watching the chinese opera, we were made to go back to bandrm and some councilors even got scolded for letting us in. the baby brass band (esp. Xinyi and Yanru) then did their el camino umbrella dance and and dances for jubilee overture and pops in the spots. it was really amusing. those who missed it really missed alot of fun.
awhile after the interval (which was way after the scheduled time), we were told to pack up and gather at the audi lobby. we waited aimlessly in the warm conditions for more than half an hour for our turn to go for the finale of singing the school song.
Have Read
'04 year-end holidays (highest number of books read in a long time)
-The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (gd read)
-Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky by Meg Cabot (fun read)
-Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (must read - inspirational)
-Slab Rat by Ted Heller (full of office politics and R21 stuff - not for kids)
-The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (makes u want to finish it)
-A walk to remember by Nicholas Sparks (simple but meaningful)
-The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (can identify with)
-The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (romantic love story with too much R21 stuff)
-Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks (even more R21. ugh)
-The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
-Unstrung Heroes by Franz Lidz (autobiography about his four uncles and father)
-The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (very unique POV of an autistic boy)
-The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux (love the breadth of the plot, one of my favourites)
-Wild Orchids by Jude Deveraux (alternating between two first persons' view - unique, but don't like e plot)
-Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (philosophy tb in a story; gets abit dry though plot saved)
-forgot what i read...-
-Working Wonders by Jenny Colgan (story of an urban planner)
-Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (impressive intelligence with bits of great humour)
-Just between Us by Cathy Kelly (thickest bk i've ever read-600+pg, too long for me but not bad)
ha, started a few bks but didn't enjoy them enough to read more.
'06
-Life of Pi by Yann Martel (novel based on true story; a lot to learn from the book - animals, religions,
survival, appreciation of simplicity; marvelous descriptions of both the tangible and the intangible,
such that I could feel their realness; bits of very enjoyable humour; a must read)
-The Complete Analects of Confucius, Volume 1 - Asiapac Comic Series (some good teachings.
didn't read everything though)
-The Parable of the Pipeline by Burke Hedges (lent to me by Shujun; like she said, its a short version
of Rich Dad Poor Dad - good financial tips)
-The Alchemist by Paul Coelho (simple story with deep meaning)
-Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
(hai, doesn't seem to be working for me - cos im not applying..)
-haven't been updating from Jun'06 to Jul'07-
'07
-Take a Chance by Sarah Webb (very interesting twist towards the end)
'08
-A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (very saddening. made me realise how significant family is in how a child behaves)
-Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite by Paul Arden (refreshing book with many pics)
-The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Rui Zafon (amazing how people can think of so much plot to pack into one book, wld b a gd tv series)
-The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (the story is interesting but i think the ending cld hv been better written)
-This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes (a bit thought-provoking on relationships but i didnt like e abrupt ending)
-Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (gd knowledge but partly qte repetitive)
-For One More Day by Mitch Albom
-The C Words by Mark Mason (made me keep wanting to read on. light & funny)
'09
-Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux (another good read from Deveraux)
-The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (gosh such vivid descriptions! very well written book. i liked d theme of friendship and the realness of the story)
'10
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (a must-read!! i love the expressed thoughts of the protagonist, esp those about friendships, and the writing style - it seems like she's telling me her story specifically to me)
How to Save Your Own Life by Michael Gates Gill (an inspiring read, for emotional liberation and greater joy in life)
Reading
on hold
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
Waiting for chance to get hold of
The Little White Car by Danuta de Rhodes
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon or The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
My Left Foot by Christy Brown
Gotai Fumanzoku or An Unsatisfactory Body (Translated into English as No One's Perfect) by Hirotada Otatake
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Other Recommended Readings by Marc
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin – Few books have had as significant an impact on the way society views the natural world and the genesis of humankind.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell – Gladwell looks at how a small idea, or product concept, can spread like a virus and spark global sociological changes. Specifically, he analyzes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – This is a tale that lingers on the topic of attaining and maintaining a disciplined heart as it relates to one’s emotional and moral life. Dickens states that we must learn to go against “the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart.”
Lolita – This is the kind of book that blows your mind wide open to conflicting feelings of life, love and corruption… and at times makes you deeply question your own perceptions of each. The story is as devious as it is beautiful.
Getting Things Done by David Allen – The quintessential guide to organizing your life and getting things done. Nuff said.
How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman – 900 pages of simple instructions on how to cook everything you could ever dream of eating. Pretty much the greatest cookbook ever written. Get through a few recipes each week, and you’ll be a master chef by the time you’re 30.
Honeymoon with My Brother by Franz Wisner – Franz Wisner had it all… a great job and a beautiful fiancée. Life was good. But then his fiancée dumped him days before their wedding, and his boss basically fired him. So he dragged his younger brother to Costa Rica for his already-scheduled honeymoon and they never turned back… around the world they went for two full years. This is a fun, heartfelt adventure story about life, relationships, and self discovery.
Self-note: Tip for my future business =D
give employees reasonably high pay to keep them- otherwise they are unlikely to stay loyal.
treat employees not according to how well they treat me but how conscientious they are at work
(of course, musn't expect them to only do work throughout the entire working hours -
give some breathing space too, we are humans, not machines) Movies watched(listing started on 6jan08)
in cinema from VCD/DVD
1Sep07: "Hairspray" w TK, GH & SH
14Sep07: "Ratatouille" w mom & extended family
28Dec07: "The Pianist" w Jus & Pam (heartbreaking but good lessons; i recommend!)
2Jan08: "I Am Legend" w Sherm (scary! but good acting; thought provoking; i recommend!)
5-6Jan08: "A Good Year" alone (excellent show! i like the acting; funny; good lessons; touches my heart; i recommend!)
11Jan08: "Le Grand Chef" w WLing, JT & Irene (good! funny, very touching, :) nice; watch if like humour+meaning+food)
7Feb08 (CNY 初一): "Ah Long Pte Ltd" w parents (pretty hilarious - but u gotta understand dialects, some teary parts. wells typical of jack neo movies but with diff content)
11Mar08: "The Leap Year" w Sherm (so sweet! :) and apart from couple relationship it touches the theme of mother-daughter and best friends too)
6Jun08: "P.S. I Love You" w Sherm (don't know if its coz we watched it on laptop, coz it didn't impress me as much as it did for him in cinema)
8Jun08: "The Forbidden Kingdom" w Lisa, Karen & Sandy (ums..guess i'm really not into kungfu)
8Jun08: "What Happens in Vegas" w Lisa, Karen & Sandy (simple,relaxing show)
7Jul08: "我和狗狗的10个约定" w Sherm, his ma & sisters (very simple,touching but actually not my type of show)
10Jul08: "Before Sunrise" w Sherm (hmm maybe watchg on laptop really affects appreciatn of movies..)
30Sep08: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" w Sherm (i didn't like it as much as i thought i wld when i saw the ads)
31Dec08: "Yes Man" w Mom (inspiring and funny)
11Feb08: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" w Mom (not as impressive as i thought it wld be)
1Jul09: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" w Yumei, YY & Matt (the best thing was the soundtrack. heh.)
14Aug09: "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra" w Joyce (it was awesome! best action movie i've ever watched)
17Aug09: "Food, Inc." w SYL & RuiQ (learnt some stuff abt the American food industry but it was a bit boring and not worth the $10)
22Sep09: "The Time Traveller's Wife" w WB, VanD, WLing, CHL, Irene, VanQ, Mf, Pg (i liked it. having read the book really helps w udsg)
21Nov09: "Gokusen" w Mf, Eva, Tony, Sarah (funny inspirational movie)
24Dec09: "十月围城" w Tony, WLing, VanQ (action action and a bit funny? tony criticised the plot. my fav scene was the running n jumping through the crowd along the five-foot ways w/o cuts)
30Dec09: "Sherlock Holmes" w Irene, Tony, Sweetee (my favourite genre of books made into a movie - what else can be more cool? acting effects humour excitement suspense all in)
12Jan10: "Avatar 3D" w Mom (didn't appreciate the digital effects which everyone wowed about. content etc was so-so. cathay's 3D glasses were too heavy for me)
8Feb10: "The Truman Show" w Ky n sis n Yuhshin (a must-watch. very thought-provoking, funny. reminder to be spontaneous and create your life the way you want, instead of falling into a typical routine
14Feb10: "New York, I Love You" w Mom (I loved it! a good couple movie with meaningful pointers to keep it going. but i think some stories could be more developed)
16Feb10: rewatched "The Pianist" (still find it good, tho i still feel first viewings are the best)
17Feb10: "Valentine's Day" w CHL n WB (laughed throughout - a feel-good movie; liked the fact that the various stories binded tog so well with the little surprises here and there, vs NY ILU in which each story was separate)
20Feb10: "赤壁二" w Addy, Karen, Sharon, SJ (should have watched the first one first cos i ended up not knowing who's who and what's happening and had to keep asking :/ and couldn't pay attn.. if not i think it should be a pretty good movie..)
4Mar10: "Alice in Wonderland 3D" w Mf (i found the 3D effects of this @ CCK Shaw SO much better than Avatar @ The Cathay =/ and the movie was much more enjoyable too! - cheered a sad me up :)) favourite quote - the Mad Hatter: “You used to be much muchier before. ... You have lost your muchness.”)
18Mar10: "Nodame Cantabile" w Irene, Mf (i thoroughly enjoyed some of the orchestra pieces - SO impressive! the expressions of the actors were really amusing :D)
23Apr10: "Ice Kacang Puppy Love" w Mom (funny, touching and meaningful - about love between friends and family. i cried 3 tissues! cos some touching parts i could really understand the feelings of the characters involved)
Inception
Letters to God (very simple Christian movie)
22Nov10: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" w Ame, Irene (they loved it. pretty good, i guess the main problem i had was that im not familiar with HP :X)
13Dec10: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" w Sj (not bad, could follow the story unlike HP. like the meaningful teachings, too long - in a post)
2Mar11: "The King's Speech" w Ame (hilarious, inspirational, tho it doesn't impress me that much to understand why it's the Oscar winner)
Mar11: "10 Things I Hate About You" very funny. silly sweet high school romance. just right for having breaks in between doing homework
23May11: "Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides" w Wb Yl Ame Pg (pretty good - scenery, freakish parts, fighting scenes, dressing, humour, bits of Christianity like when the Spanish said "only God gives life")
6Jun11: "Xmen First Class" w Wb Ame Pg (i was very keen on watching it and it was really good! intellectual, makes sense, cool action, some humour)
9Jun11: "Legally Blonde 2" w Irene (seems like some dumb blonde movie but kind of meaningful too - speaking up for yourself and what you stand for)
17Jun11: "Something Borrowed" w Sandy Lisa (quite funny, somewhat meaningful wrt friendships. they didn't like the lack of sense for one part tho)
16Jul11: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" w Irene, Sweetee, Kw (not bad. i didn't understand some parts again but the humour and effects were pretty good)
Aug11 "Horrible Bosses" w Ma (she fell asleep! gosh. the movie was very crude i must say but there was the humour)
25Oct11: "The Three Musketeers" w H (i would rate it 3.5 for humour/intellectual language and 4 for action. it's by the same producer or director as Sherlock! but a bit less awesome albeit a good chill out movie)
5Nov11: "Real Steel" w Hl (action packed but not too hardcore for me. i liked that there was the father and son element and how the father eventually softened his heart and especially the part when charlie was having trouble telling max sth and max was so understanding saying "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." touching and demonstrates true fighting spirit)
12Dec11: "50/50" w L (adopting her words - a heavy topic put across in a lighthearted way, but not taking away d meaning. most of it was rather hollywood-ish trashiness but there were a couple of punch lines "u can't change ur parents, but u can change d way u respond to them.")
25Dec11: "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" w KY (ultimate action packed! super tense almost throughout the movie, and interesting Tom Cruise made it such that not everything happened smoothly - he would jump and misland and get all sorts of injuries..it's really the courage to jump without hesitation even though you are not sure you'll be alive after that. KY loved d movie and said she would watch it again!)
3Jan12: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" w KY (i love mystery (: and the witty sarcastic dialogues. good level of excitement with the action. didn't understand some parts as usual. i like Holmes and Watson they depict such a true pair of buddies ;D)
23Jan12: "You are the Apple of My Eye" w mom (now i understand why guys like this movie so much - the anxiety of chasing after a girl and the acts schoolboys do to get the girl's attention and hopefully affection. the initial fluttering and the subsequent quarrelling)
22Mar12: "The Iron Lady" w KY (really love Thatcher's sharp words. inspiring and thought-provoking, tho i was still left uncertain of what to do with my life, the movie is definitely an encouraging one)
29Mar12: "Barney's Version" w SJ (a funny movie of a screwed up life of a man who had 3 wives, smoked and drank but very heartwarming at the same time, the relationships with the dad and the 3th wife - quotable quotes!)
27Apr12: "The Hunger Games" w Mom
4May12" "Avengers" w MF n PS (funny, action-packed)
7Jul12: "The Amazing Spiderman"
21Jul12: "The Dark Knight Rises" (fantastic depth, loved the twists)
20Aug12: "ParaNorman" w Mom (simple funny animated movie, heartwarming support)
Performances watched (listing started on 25Apr10)
20Jan10: Patrick Marber's Closer by outoftheBLUE, NUS Science w Pam (
13Mar10: The Rain Came Down Like Pearls the Night I Died... The New Musical - Sing & Tell by Mark Chan w Addy & Jy
21Mar10: Quintessence by NUSCO w CHL