actually supposed to have already plopped on the bed and sleep. coz i have to be at pasir ris by 7.50am tmr. but youzhi's dad sent us home so not that exhausted plus mood quite good now, so shall blog!
in fact i blogged abit yest evening, but i fell asleep at 7pm even before i saved/posted it.. aiyo... i think it really drained me out. cant believe i slept so early all the way till 5am when mom woke me up and i even asked what day it is. this never happened, at least in the past year. usually i would know what awaits me once i wake up.
k, back to band. i think moving band prac to nie (national institute of education) really has more advantages than disadvantages. =) we get to interact with one another much more, have lots of fun, get exposed to the pros (nie members), get to look about ntu, get to practise in a new environment, get to eat outside school - at jurong point - with them.
only con: have to spend time travelling all the way from school to nie. (but that's only for the 1st few pracs, after that, we'll be going from home so its about the same as going to sch).
hmm, so i think future pracs will be just as enjoyable. yay! =D
jurena, jiayun, boyang, addy, n i met in band room at 5+pm to go to boon lay together. addy had nothing on since 3 and played badminton with a few bandmates for like 2 hours continously in sch u. whoa. i wonder if this is an nj thing - playing sports in sch u (the guys always do that, coucillors too).
this time we took 156, a shorter route via clementi mrt. haha, along the whole journey, boyang was being super lame n suaning people in the indirect way as usual, n everyone else was shooting back him. on the mrt, when addy was talking about some lame comments thomas made about their classmate who was in chem o, something like studying about 'molecules in athens'. then boyang didnt immediately catch what it meant (in case u dont either, 'molecules' is linked to chem n 'athens' is linked to olympics which is linked to olympiad), so i suaned him, saying something like he is super lame by himself (since he could come up with super lame comments but dont uds lame comments made by others.) i forgot my exact words. anyway, jurena burst out laughing n recalled the other time when i also commented about lameness. coz that time (the thurs when we were painting banners to be more specific), qisheng was telling me some really 'cold' jokes (as in leng xiao hua) n i said that his leng xiao hua dou bu hao xiao de. in fact leng xiao hua are not supposed to be really funny, that's why they are called "leng" xiao hua. somehow jurena burst out laughing.
anyway, narrating such scenarios dont sound funny, it must be seen in real-life.
i suppose people who join the same cca think at the same frequency and that's why cca mates have more fun together. though sometimes when boyang asks me questions, i got onto a different frequency n answer to what he didnt mean the qn to be. i guess that's the only exception.
k, so we had dinner at kfc at jurong point. oh ya, addy n i came up with a new nickname for boyang - "lao bo". hahaha. now we use it, 'threatening' to tell esther (friendliest person in band, hence easily spreads anything), whenever he suans us, which he still does by nature but immediately turns to suan himself. lol. quite poor thing actually. suan others end up having to suan himself. but its all done in a friendly manner so we have fun.
sweeping came to join us n we met zhiyong along the way to take 179 to nie. addy got boyang to carry my clarinet coz i had a heavy plastic bag (with all the 'it' things) n he left his at nie the previous time. he kept complaining about it n jiayun 'scolded' him for being ungentlemanly. haha. he's more of a 'jie mei'. lol.
we were alittle early n most of the others werent there yet so we warmed-up outside n i saw a living snail! took a pic of it with my phone. haha, quite boliao.
anyway, the saxs, trumpets, basses, n i forgot who, all came together n were late. which is actually quite rare.
oh ya, sth funny happened yest during greenlink. cheng yang, a chi scholar, whom i dont know, asked me (in english) if i were a chinese. then i asked in chinese: ni shi zai jiang hua ren hai shi zhong guo ren? (coz i was wondering how come some1 wld think that i was from china. lolz) and i found out that he thought i was a malay.
ok, to counter those 2 super negative posts, i shall make a happier one
my new hp rox! yay, wo zhen you yan guang, everyone says its nice =) haha, ego..
ah, my parents are back. mom didnt enjoy the trip. had discouraged them from going taiwan coz of the poor impression it left on me, esp with political leaders who speak of other countries without consideration. at that time, mom said she wldnt know if i am right if she didnt go. now she does.
just spent the entire afternoon till night looking thru the newspapers from the past two weeks n reading n cutting selected articles, some for pw. tiring.
a truly meaningful website (its in traditional chi, not easy to read) -
btw, if u got a 'where's waldo' mail from lc, dont look at it. its a scary thing. luckily i rmbed seeing a similar thing before hence i switch windows before the screaming which indicates the appearance of some scary thing (actually i didnt see but i think it is according to past experience n the scream). ok, this is quite confusing. anyway, just dont look at the webpage.
believe me.
warning: also do not read this post unless u want to be unhappy. its pure complaining.
i seem to be in the wrong for initiating pw meetings. i have done the most for the group, i always do most of the things i could do on my own on my own, i have definitely put in more effort into pw than into promos. y? y? y m i still wrong for asking them to do their part for this group work which will take up 10% of each of our 'a' level grade? y are they still unwilling to believe me that we do not have the time to finish the oral presentation - powerpoint and practice (and skit which will help to liven the presentation and which we can do if we are willing to.) of course there won't be any time to do if we refuse to do it at all. like for the editing of written report. of course there was no time to do since supposedly they have more commitments than me. but i managed to fork out the time to do it (but i overslept and caused much panic...)
i m not saying that we cannot enjoy but as matured human beings, we have to know what is important. when it come to studies, you know you have to sacrifice fun and play. y cant that be the case for pw??? furthermore promos does not even directly constitute to your most precious 'a' lvl grade, while pw does.yes, the physics tutors say we have to be humane, life can't be all about studies. yea, then what was the reason given for refusing to do pw before promos? have to prepare for promos. how non-studies can preparing for promos be? even the physics tutors are self-contradictory. mr michael tay gave his class such much tips for promos, how righteous can such a teacher be to educate us about life philosophy. mr yong once said that if we have to sacrifice sleep to prepare for promos, we have to. how non-studies can such a life be? (though i still agree with much of his philosophy)
can you all suggest solutions whenever we meet a problems instead of simply asking and waiting for help. yes, you can ask to see if someone else has a good solution but can you try to give a solution too?
nic is seriously a self-person. before promos, he often stuck to tianen during tutorials. i said it was because of studies. pam said they are good friends, they have common likes - training. ok, true. now, the difference is so obvious. he doesnt sit with tianen anymore. how good are such friends?
warning: do not read this post unless u want to be unhappy. its alot of complaining.
the band is at nie now. y m i at home? coz i had chem o (for olympiad - shortened by veena) till 7.15pm n missed the chartered bus to nie at 6.30pm so youzhi said it ok. had chem for the wholeeee day from 8am till 7.15pm... expect for 1h of math, break spent on pw (individual), hurried lunch followed by final attempt to change ne trip (class going today but it clashes with chem o), break btw 2nd n 3rd session of chem o spent on pw again...
we said its worst than before promos... at least then, i could afford to read the papers
was complaining to my chem o mates about my pw group today... glad that they understood coz we all know the importance of pw and the necessity to get things done no matter how much we hate it. i told them my group didnt want to meet up for pw anymore this week. all their groups would be meeting up.
was talking to veena, same pw group as adeline. their group rox la - 4 who work hard, though thomas slacked usually, he was the one who added the 'x' factor to their wr! the kind of talented slackers people are jealous of.
she thought that my group was very hardworking coz i seemed to be then when i told her i m in the same group as joyce, she was quite surprised coz joyce had been telling her that her group was otherwise. how ironic.
then she mentioned people who seem to be not paying attention but the truth is otherwise while sometimes though her mind is away, she tried to pay attention hence looking as if she was. n she would be thinking that its ok to slack abit since the others are slacking. yet their slack appearance was all a facade. totally agreed coz i m in the same shoes.
hmm... i survived one of the most hectic weeks in my life without parents at home. suppose i have become even more independent..
let me list the commitments i have now - chem o, chi 'ao' exam, pw, band, greenlink. not forgetting how much i m lagging for schoolwork considering that i have missed all math, phy and chi tutorials...
private things to do -nearly 2 weeks of newspapers to read (n cut out pw related articles for the grp coz no one else takes the initiative to do so n i cant tell them to coz supposedly, i have already been too hard on them), packing of notes for all subjects which was supposed to be done before promos..., neaten my desk which has been in a mess most of the time, arrange my comp files and do backup in case a virus attacks again and screw me up, read my self-help books n novels n chi bks etc etc
suddenly this morn amanda msg me reminding me to book chalet for her. apparently i had agreed to help but i couldnt remember that i had.. mom's overseas so cant get her to contact her frien who has been helping to book aranda for my class chalets for the past 3 yrs.. n i just checked the website... its nearly full...
this week was not just spent on more pw, the additional heavy commitment of chem o does not just mean the abosolute time spent on it. it also means more time i have to spend on catching up with the things i missed, esp zuo wen..
uh. i havent blogged about open house. it was successful! the sch actually managed to get m1 to sponsor the goodie bags which even include a portable radio! they said the 2000+ were given out by noon. though we know that many of those who came wont put nj as 1st choice.
got to sch at 9am to put up more band signs. then i had to report for an hour of greenlink duty. learnt to make grasshopper with leaves! took like 20min.. so slow.. janice was real patient in teaching me. supposed to attract people to join greenlink but i went to take a photo of shuen posing (for drama club). haha. so funny. coz they had 1-hour duties when they have to stay in the same pose. but sometimes shuen change after awhile.
went right back for to play for the sec4s in band room. siao la. they took out the never-played-b4 piece. so we played rather lousily. performance was at noon and 2.30. lunch in between. then i was real tired coz i stayed up for pw wr yet again(i wasted some time bloggin though). coz the softcopy we handled up on the thur b4 open hse was simply physically putting the different parts together. they werent well-linked or well-arranged. we have to read though the whole thing to make sure it flows. as usual, they didnt bother to take the initiative to.. so i had to. luckily i did coz later when mr yeo gave feedback, he found the softcopy one disjoined..
anyway, after the final performance, addy n i watched the hse reps doing our mass dance (which actually enthused many yr1s who starting dancing as well - amazing) b4 helping greenlink clear-up and leaving at 3+.
i recorded part of the mass dance! haha
had zhi cha and crabs for dinner! with mom, dad, ah ma, zihui, ruilin. looonnnngggg time since i last went out for zhi cha. i need a break. that nite, i slept early for once.
had pw meeting at my home again on sunday. it was last minute arranged. originally, on fri i had proposed to meet but jus n joy objected so i didnt dare to mention it again. fortunately, tianen asked on sat so i got him to ask them but till sun, none replied. so it was back to me to arrange again. i think tianen's msging made them not object coz somehow, everyone listens to him.
this time, i didnt have to arrange for my parents to be out like i did last week since they are already out, and away on a one week holiday to taiwan. discussed till 6 before i started trying make the whole report flow. the attempt on fri nite wasnt thorough enough. then i had to leave for dinner with ah ma. mom had arranged for that knowing that i would be too lazy to get dinner if i were left on my own at home.
actually its gd, i cant kept sticking to the comp doing wr. though i got stuck again that nite. i didnt intent to but somehow, seeing that all wasnt right, i was simply compelled by an unknown force (haha) to get it right. tried to improve the presentation, adding more sub-headings and list numberings for better clarity.
i dont know why i am so 'addicted' to editing the report (though the comp was one of the contributing factor). whenever i did homework at nite, i definitely fell asleep or would allow myself to sleep without finishing what i have to. for eg if i stayed up till 1+ on sun, my body would just send me to jian zhou gong before 1+ on tues if it doesnt on mon. but when doing the report, somehow i can just continue till i have to go to sch. i m mental. this is already the third time in less than a week.
normal lessons continued for this week. (18-22/10) oh, i forgot to mention, i received the call from ms koh abt being selected for chem o at 10+am on sun. actually i already though i didnt get in coz she said she would inform us by the end of the week, ie sat. but i dont think i sounded surprised. i dont know if its a blessing or a curse. let me list out the pros and cons. pros - get a headstart to learn about things that we will be learned next yr so it will be easier then, get to learn more than 'a' levels syllabus making 'a' levels syllabus seem easier (its like when you are in sec, u think sec is difficult but when u are in jc, u think sec is easier), get a rare chance to take part in chem o.
cons - as mentioned above, additional heavy commitment, missing lessons, the extremely high opportunity cost of preparing for chi 'ao', getting too overwhelmed by new things that even uni yr 2 students take 5 times as much time to learn, over-saturation of topics i cant understand, seemingly smart and taken for granted that i understand all chem things, etc etc.
mon..
gp/2nd half of phy/after sch -- all pw. got home n fell asleep by 8+. i dont think i ever slept this early. luckily i self-awoke at 4 otherwise i would be late w/o mom at home.
tues..
break n free period - pw. 2nd half of chem n after sch - pw. the diff? the former had arguments. i tensed up things again. was real glad i managed to keep my tone calm during the 2nd session. sand n i stayed till 9 to check n edit the footnotes. i firmly believe doing things in twos/threes is the most efficient combination. me doing alone is real slow though i get things done. me doing with the whole group is real tense. i often fall out with them. and nothing much is done.
eg when editing the footnotes, sometimes either of us would forgot something but the other would rmb. or when one stones off, the other moves on so the stone also rolls on.
then sand, xin (her grp was also doing last min) and i took taxi to toapayoh.
back home i was addicted to editing wr again. (originally, the wr was supposed to be already done. i just had to do the cover page and send to sand for printing but i found errors and it wasnt my nature to ignore them.)
again, nobody took the initiative to proofread it and even after i proposed we proofread, they objected (as usual), complaining there was no time and i was too fussy. in the end i stayed up till 4+am n found so many mistakes (a few serious ones), typo and grammatical errors. yes, our content is there. but do you really want to let the typo and grammatical errors that could easily be corrected just by spending the effort be our stumbling stones?
there was still 1 hour before i had to get ready for sch so i was contemplating between catching a nap or staying up for the fourth time after last tues, and fri, sun. i chose the former which proved to a wrong decision. i only woke up at 8+ when the noisy alarm of my old hp (which the guy still hasnt come to get it back - had been complaining about his inefficiency but now he is my 'saviour') rang. i opened my eyes, saw daylight and knew something was wrong. frantically looking for the time, it hit me that i was real screwed. the wr is due in two hours. within these two hours, i have to dress up, get to sch (these usually take me 1 and a half hour), get the conclusion redone, print out another copy of the wr, bind the 2 copies of wr.
[haha, a true part of my life, and i am feeling like i was typing a story. how ironic.]
right after that, i answered a call from sand. she was panicking coz i was missing. although she already has a copy of the wr which was supposed to be final one, i am the one who has the edited copy of that one. and none of the rest of the group has any copies of any of that.
so i had a quick bath, snatched my bag and pw carrier and was waiting for a taxi within 20minutes. further to my distress, there were no taxis at the stand and a few people waiting (usually it was the exact opposite). then 3 taxis came along but the 2nd person in queue, who was before me, seemed to be in his own world hence i didnt bother about him and dashed straight for the 3rd taxi. i was rather chatty, telling all about why i was late so as to demonstrate to him the important of him getting me to school asap, before i was busy trying to getting tianen to do the conclusion by looking at the sample reports as reference since he is the only one with the capability to do it. originally, i asked sand to get the rest of the group to but she said there was no time and they had to do the survey coz they forgot to do it at 8am. she was panicky enough hence i didnt insist and solved the problem myself.
he said he didnt have the sample reports and joyce who had it was still at the survey and it was chi lesson and they were doing zuo wen. hence after explaining the importance of a good conclusion, i had to rush to the classroom upon arrival in sch to pass the stuff to him, before rushing to meet sand to get the 2nd copy printed. the library was packed so we had to rush to the comp lab. then when tianen was done, i had to rush back to the classroom to get the conclusion, rush to outside the lib to get the diskette to save the softcopy, and rush back to the comp lab to let sand get the conclusion typed out and edited and printed before we rushed to the photocopying shop to queue for binding.
amazingly, all was done in less than an hour, and mr yeo pushed back to deadline for submission to 12+ instead of 10.20. things can be done if only people are willing to do it. supposedly i am the one with the least time since i only got to sch at 9+ yet i was also the one who put everything together, skipping chi lesson hence having to do the zuo wen on my own (even though i was allow to miss lessons, that was to prepare for chem o).
after sch, our class had op workshop, where we were supposed to do a short part of our real op.
we were waiting outside for half an hour then i tried to arrange for another meeting since real op and submission of gpf are less than 2 weeks away. but they said no more pw for this week coz supposedly we have been having too many pw meetings for the past 1 and a half week and their parents are unhappy. whoa. that's a great reason for not doing pw. yea, my parents are happy that i am not sleeping to do pw. yea, i havent had trouble with my mom because i am spending too much time doing pw on my own other than the group meetings. yea, what about the pre-promos days that i spent typing the 12-page transcript of the vcs interview, arranging the gpf (which mr yeo didnt mark at all), trying to add new things to the gpf so that it wouldnt look that much similar to that during the previous submission except for addition of interview transcripts, cutting newspaper articles regarding pw. yea, i was the one who pushed everything to after promos saying that all the time after promos can be spent on pw. they think since next week is entirely for pw and chi, we will have alot of time to do pw. do we really have alot of time? according to past experience, and the most recent one being that of written report, i am sure that there is a need for us to start early and start doing it well early. like for wr, initially they said just a rough one will do, its not the final one yet, so any grammatical/typo errors dont matter and i shouldnt be so particular about them. but in the end? i was left to do the last min editing on my own coz it was then that the grp finished the content part so it was then that i could do the editing. if they had listened to me and be particular about the grammar and everything right from the start, nothing has to be done so last minute that it leaves us panicky. they are still unwilling to learn from this lesson. they still want to push it till next week to do it. i dont understand why. i dont.
what can i do?
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then it was time to enter the lt. all of us werent well-prepared. i didnt even know what i was saying, didnt even follow the powerpoint we prepared. the external trainer commented that my pitch was too high. so i have to speak at a lower pitch. i admit my pitch was higher than the usual high due to nervousness but how low can i go without sounding weird?
she praised most of the guys for having a nice voice.. yea, most of them were much more comfortable at presenting. terrence was real serious and convincing. lionel made his presentation very interesting ("sensor me" with some slick action - this captured attention. i suggested to my grp that we can come up with an interesting title but they didnt believe me as usual, coz they didnt know the level of formality). russell spoke seriously for once which was totally never seen before.
thur..
lessons ended at at 1220 coz gp teachers let us off and they change econs. so most of them went out after that. i still had chem o and greenlink so i lingered around.
fri..
in the morn, ms koh say ms sharon phua (sp) says i have to go for the ne trip unless i something something which i didnt understand what she meant. so nvm. then during lunch, i decided to try ask mrs peter thia (pt), remembering that she was a nice teacher. she said that since sp has given the order that i must find another ne journey to go to before i can dont go for this one, i must go for it since there are no more ne trips this year. but i promised that i will go for an ne trip and said that it was troublesome for me to go for the trip while missing a chem o lect and have to come back for another chem o lect. it was just illogical to do so. a better way would be to go for the ne trip with another class since chem o cant have any make-up while ne trip, i can go with another class.
anyway, so i accepted that i have to go for the trip.
then after chem tutorial, i was already about to leave for supreme court with the rest of the class when pt said that actually i can go for the ne trip another time. but she said ms koh shouldnt have approached sp. pt herself could settle it. so i volunteered promising sp myself that i would go for another ne trip since students ponning stuff is obviously the thing she is concerned about. i asked for sp's number so that i could promise her right away but pt didnt give it to me.
then after that, she said that i shouldnt have said that its "troublesome" for me to come back. that offended her. although she didnt scold me, it made me cry. i was really depressed and frustrated. as if all the frustration over the commitments i have wasnt enough, she had to be offended by my usage of the word troublesome. i had used it due to my limited vocabulary bank and in that split second could not find a word to express myself. yet she took offence of that word. did i really not want to go for the trip today simply because of the trouble it takes to come back? it was just that i didnt want to miss the lecture since anyway i can go for the trip another time. i m just trying to be committed to something that i chose to do. is that wrong? maybe its wrong that i didnt explain what i truly felt to her. i should hv stuck to my original logical self instead of the new mutated complaining person...
i should have been more careful with my choice of words
she told me to weigh the pros and cons instead of just saying its troublesome coz by not making it troublesome for myself, i am creating trouble for her and its not easy for her to find another class tutor to bring me along with his/her class coz i would be another kid to look after. sigh, 1 wrong word, troublesome and it created more trouble for myself. now i have offended her. i offered to save her the trouble by doing anything - look for classes that have ne trips next year and arrange with a class tutor to be attached to the class. i will be responsible for myself and make sure that i dont get this class tutor into any trouble by getting myself into trouble. why, why did she have to be pin me down?
it still makes me cry thinking of it
i m becoming more emotionally unstable than is manageable
k... i sent like more than 60 messages today... n received more than 60 too...
what's the pathetic thing?
all of them are because of pw..
ok, i just got 3 ppl - weiqi, nic, pam - to help go for the stupid survey.. (haiz, n i had liked helping do surveys in the past n thought ppl who arent willing to help are selfish, now i m scolding surveys..) since the first solution - getting people from other classes taking the survey at another time slot to go - didnt work
seems like our class isnt that bad after all.
thx to everyone who replied (including those from other classes) even if u could help
Shit la… I finally managed to get mr yeo to grant us a time slot but end up everyone has that bloody survey at the rare time slot that mr yeo is free… I m damn frustrated man!!!
Most of the time I have to initiate meetings, initiate to do stuff, arrange meetings with mr yeo, pass things to mr yeo, check for minor errors in wr that they don’t feel are important but the markers will pick on, solve problems regarding pw that crack up on my own (eg this stupid clash with survey), answer everyone’s questions regarding pw coz they weren’t around at some meeting either among the group or with mr yeo or didn’t take down notes during pw talks hence not knowing how things have to be done …
Ok, i m complaining too much again…
Argh!!! I don’t want to go through another totally sleepless night three times in a week because of pw stuff… i never not sleep to prepare for any exams...
For the past hour, i've been messaging like a dozen people of diff classes hoping to change time slot and finally joanne says wanxuan's involved but end up her time slot is same as ours... hell... *bangs head* now i m thinking maybe there's no diff time slots... why am i so cursed...........
ok... another solution... see if can get people not down for the survey to help go for it... more msgs to be sent...
haha, i'm blogging like everyday. anyway, i just burned like 11 cds! for band souvenior for open day. yay, band rox! where do u get such a free gift from a cca during open day.
came back from swimming at civil service club. havent swum at all this year.. so my stamina was like ... couldnt even do half a lap without a rest, though in all i managed 4 laps with more than a dozen breaks. could have drowned.. totally weak.. and i didnt even bring goggles.. swam with my eyes closed. haha. so it was very troublesome as i kept going sideways and had to pause and check making myself even more tired. didnt bring so many things - shampoo n bath, slippers to change.. ended up squeezing into mom's which is like 1/2 sizes smaller..
before that i helped clean up the bandroom. so many band members are so committed, though only the guys were assigned to do the cleaning up, girls were assigned to do the noticeboard and signs/posters/banners, most of us helped each other out though nothing was compulsory. love the attitude. (of course a minority didnt really help)
found out that band room has even more weird stuff. haha. other than dozens of pencils, pens, a few hole punchers, the big sharpeners, etc etc, there's also a pencil look-alike thing made of solid metal which jiayun said is a screwdriver, mad magazine and risk game sets, etc etc.
then we were putting up the signs when we ended up in the out of bounds area and got scolded by this irritating bio lab tech who, according to joanne, even bosses around the bio teacher during bio prac.
also stuck the posters on the staircases. dont know why there wasnt any other such posters yet. we were about to stick to the stairs leading up to canteen but councillors said those were reserved for some nj stuff... like hello... since they came into nj, of course they know its nj liaoz rite... so had to do on the smaller flight of stairs.. which were too short for the poster which was custom made... had to stick so much tape so that rowdy people wouldnt kick them off..
put up this huge banner the seniors painted last year. haha, seemed really familar. some other ccas also like that. actually banners are really wasteful if we just use them once..
then after 3 hours of dust and dirt, the band room's now much cleaner and neater! and most of the posters/signs/banners are up! had dessert with joanne and janina to reward ourselves. haha
hmm, listening to etude concert now. didnt know we sounded that nice! oh ya, the free cds contain nostradamus, jap tune, puszta, carioca and last year's syf piece, vesuvius. cool rite. haha.. all lovely pieces, expect jap tune which most of us didnt really like. dont know why they put in.
oh my gosh! the swimming actually works! lost half a kg sia. haha..
monday..
"essence of leadership". everyone thought it would be another boring talk but our $20 (actually $45) was quite worth it. (though its still very ex) the presenter, jo, was very experienced (but "young", haha), funny, lame, animated and grinning most of the time. (i thought her grin looks like junxian, haha). most of the time, she was observing us and making analysis. really rare to have someone who talks alot yet sees everything at the same time. could even remember russell from like a single meeting a year ago.
i seriously hope people will learn from it. there's actually a whole lot to learn.
there was english games in the afternoon. only 9 people went for the whole thing - cher, xin, rard, jieyu, terrence, lionel, tianen, yanlin and me - but we got 2nd! yay! most of the credit goes to terrence. there was the win, lose or draw game and we got entertainment as the catergory and everything terrence drew, the rest could guess it within seconds. pro man. thought of suitable things to draw real fast. we even went on to do another category - njc - and his drawing for mr menon was "classic". haha. it was a man with pe on the shirt and a shaded face. got everyone laughing.
for taboo, we did sports so it was purely the guys' world. terrence did it again and wow-ed everyone. rard did charades. it was real difficult since he could only use actions. but he was just as pro.
stayed back in sch to prepare for chem olympiad selection test. felt quite pathetic coz exams are over and everyone except for those taking ao chinese and other fellow "olympiadians" arent studying anymore. then while studying adeline asked me for nic's no. for her friend. so i gave. then after that, nic suddenly msg me knowing what going on yet he said he was at home. so i thought there was sth wrong going on. end up yuxian n him were on the other side of the library doing pw..
tuesday..
had pw interview with police.. missed games fest.. actually i wanted to play.. jiayun got to do rock-climbing! though she ended up with a blister.. its really fun!
then i continued studying for the test before going for band prac at 2 then i left for the test half-way. found out only a few minutes before the test from guo yu that her chem tutor told her the test would be on what they taught... whatever la.. i had been looking at chem tbs coz she said during the last lecture for us to look at the whole list of olympiad topics...
there were 6 structured qns, 1 hour 20 mins. quite difficult.. esp, the organ chem - i still havent learned the reaction conditions yet..
then i had to get the wr from mr yeo but he hadnt got time to look at it so the grp met him online at nite. he's really given too many duties - math tutor, council advisor, pw tutor, nj website administrator. then he still talk to us till 2am.. actually we only started when he was done with jieyu and council stuff and was about to log off. found out that we had to change our aspect yet a third time and that our report was totally not flowing - result of everyone doing separate parts. so tian en n i stay up till wed morn to redo our aspect...
by the time i saved all the files and print the conversation so that when the rest would get to know what went on, i had to take taxi to sch. luckily joanne said the band sign could be done after band on thu, otherwise i would be way late for meeting with jiayun supposedly at 6.40am.
wed
did pw again from 8-10am. luckily the sch left this time slot blank. the irritating librarian said yr1s werent allowed in lib coz its civics period but i insisted and even wanted to let her call lao shi since lao shi said we cld do pw. haha, in the end, we won.
tianen n i couldnt think well due to lack of sleep so the discussion didnt amount to much, esp when i was trying to argue my point. joyce and jus managed to clarify their doubts with mr yeo though.
there was s-cube seminar from 10 to 11.30 but my mind was totally on pw. they werent willing to discuss pw.. then i was on the verge of crying twice. i think they feel i make things too tensed up. if only they would feel the urgency. we have only soo little time left.
went down to safti, some cadet training place. the beginning was quite boring, just looking at the buildings. when we got there, i thought it looked like kranji war memorial. haha. most of the time i was moving around alone. like a "walking zombie" in xin's words. haha. i really looked dead. then boyang was trying to be funny but i was too tired and didnt really appreciate it.
we got to see a demonstration of the obstacle courses which was quite interesting. though the ground was muddy and insects were flying all around. there was also some demonstration of "fighting" that they do as part of training. the food, military equipment like look-in-the-dark stuff and weapons were interesting too since girls dont get to see them.
i was supposed to have an early rest (immediately after my only favourite must-watch 'charmed') since i didnt sleep the night before but pw cropped up again.. then sand send me to bed after an hour.
thur was spent entirely on pw.
there was a oral presentation (op) lecture by a professional, generally on how to present, how to make our op better. then the entire jc 1 which was split into 2 grps had to switch lts which was totally stupid coz cant the few adults move instead of getting the 800 over students to? so illogical.
the nxt lecture was on technical stuff and proceedings for op.
then we had to rush to put together and finish up our wr. did all the way till 4+pm though it was due at 2+. luckily tianen stayed to help with the content. brought his sec4 frien along. if he also left, i dont know what time i have to stay till. the other girls had to go for their open house rehearsal coz otherwise their cca leaders wld kill them. i was late for band but nothing happened to me. anyway the open hse organisers were going thru the entire performance - tech prac cum full rehearsal - so it was real slow n hadnt reach band. when i got there, they were already done with self-rehearsal (i was late for one over hours la) and some were playing badminton coz had to wait for our turn. haha, quite relaxed.
when it was over, some of us stayed to finish up the mega direction sign. we decided to put footprints on it since there was a line 'right under your feet' (sign to put outside hall to direct them to band rm). so i used mine! huge red footprints. haha. actually only jiayun and i were in-charge of that sign. the others voluntarily helped/ gave ideas.
when it was time to wash my foot, it was real silly. tried hopping all the way to the toilet and hanjie even volunteered to piggyback but i didnt know how to be piggybacked. then when i finally hopped half the way, jiayun suddenly realised that we could just stick a piece of scrap paper to my foot and i could walk as normal!
left at like 7+
oh ya, forgot to mention, friday was back to normal lessons for half-day followed by an hour of use-ur-hands, ie cleaning classrm..
yup, that's what just happened! yet in excitement, i accidentally deleted the 20 sec video i took of it!!!!!!!!! argh!!!!!
it was very frightening! it flew in then it rested on the kitchen cabinet. so i started to take the video. then suddenly, it starting flying again so mom n i screamed off our head rushing a safer area n i continued capturing the bat with the digi cam. then it got hit by the ceiling fan and land on the sofa and dad caught it between newspapers brought it to the balcony and it flew away. so i tried to view the video but in all anxiety, i pressed the wrong button and erased the video! haiz.... can send to the america animal video or something like that and get a prize or what la... even if no prize, its still a priceless home video!!! i bet its like a one in a million kind of thing! and i deleted it all within a simple push of the button!!!!! technology.
and actually its really fate that i got to witness such a rare incident. its like less than a few minutes after i reached home.
anyway, i got a new handphone! yay! but must adapt to nokia from motorola... quite pek chek coz all the buttons are reversed...
its nokia 3220! have been wanting it since the ads first appeared on straits times. mom finally decided to buy it after i broken down yest coz the "retarded" motorola e365 was driving me crazy when i was already so tired and trying to send a msg yet it was so slllooooowwww....
yay! the phone's quite fun. can change a part of the cover and design my own! how interesting! =)
yay! successfully put a photo on my blog for the first time! how useful! looking back at 1st 3mths photos, it doesn't seem as bad as i had remembered it to be. kinda miss it too. (our present class seriously need more photos for me to get the feeling of missing it when i see the photos in the future!) miss the time when we were still young in our sec sch u. haha. i really wish everyone's back in sec sch u.
just looked through the old photos. saw those taken during nycb concert '03. brings back wonderful memories :) all the hyperactive funny juniors and their exaggerated expressions. here's one in front of band board outside band room. that's our band-u. kinda miss it. i'm wearing our section tee! haha
i just realised that not only has my behaviour changed, my character has also changed. or has it? but my "style" has definitely changed. was doing a behavioural inventory thingy from this book that yuxian found while we in lib@orchard. result was that i am now a "driver", instead of the "analytical" that i was according to personality tests done during end of sec 4. am much more vocal now.
the quotes below are off jasper's blog. all so well-expressed. can't agree less.
"Everyone has a right to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege."
"i'd rather b lonely,then b badly accompanied." well-phrased. totally suits me.
an interesting chem poem, off amanda's blog:
I am attracted to you
Like an electron to a proton
Together we form an ionic bond
Though we are opposite charged ions
I am drawn towards you
Our love is unique as an orbital
For only two electrons can fill this space
As my love for you increases
My energy level rises
I am in this excited state
Increasing the tendency to form a chemical bond
I was an element
It took you to make me a compound substance
Falling in love with you is a chemical reaction
Which cause my love for you to grow
Ours is an exothermic love
Each giving of love not just absorbing it
Sometimes you do something especially nice
Which speeds up the chemical process
Like a catalyst in my increasing love for you
I realise we have our inhibition periods
And sometimes I am selfish enough
To be an endothermic reaction
Only absorbing your love
The feeling i have for you is so intense
It cannot be measured in kilojoules
Often I have to make a qualitative elementary analysis
To understand and love you more
But i don't expect to know your empirical formula
You are too complex a person for that
WHEN YOU ARE GONE
I AM A NOBLE GAS
AN INERT SUBSTANCE
WHEN I AM WITHOUT YOU
THE WORLD SEEMS STILL
AND I AM AT EQUILIBRIUM...
finally had band prac again after the few weeks break. but we were only told like less than 24 hours before that. njcsb is always doing things last minute.
was so breathless after playing less than an hour. cant believe i lost my stamina so soon. anyway, we were playing japanese grafiiti 4 so it wasnt that bad coz i like it! its so nice! i think everyone likes it =) hope we will play it for next year's concert
anyway, adeline was super observant! though i changed my glasses on day of gp exam, we havent hang out since the day before gp. then in less than 5 minutes, she noted that i changed my specs. that's real fast.
we went to coro for lunch since nj canteen wasnt open. i think its the 1st time the section ever went out for lunch, always stayed in canteen. unlike at ny, we went out like every time there was lunch break during band.
boyang was behaving so girlish today. kept biting his lips while conducting la. but he's quite comical, kept making everyone laugh. something that puzzled me was that some of them couldnt understand which bar he's referring to when he says something like "4 bars before d" for example. we've been playing for more than 4 years so shouldnt we be very familiar with such terms?
went woodlands lib after band. thought most of the exams were over but there were still as many people as before. had to look for chem notes. so troublesome... dont know which book to refer to. couldnt find most of the recommended texts. in the end after 4 hours only managed to get less than 5% of the topics i need to learn... how to prepare for the test like that...
when i was leaving, i met xiebo! havent seen her since 'o's results day. that girl, never go for any of the class gatherings. finding see her she's studying for promos. super hardworking.
then had late dinner (9pm..) at sakae. this waiter gave us the buay song face, then mom kept complaining about it. oso complain eat until so sian liao. i think we are eating jap food too often.
also went woodlands lib on thurs to study for econs. got there a bit before noon (the time it opens). was quite surprised by the dozens of people already there. managed to find a good spot. but didnt utilise it fully. kept dozing off... until i strayed away to look at this yearbook on world competitiveness and browsed thru econs books (trying not to stray too far off) for more than an hour. also took a little walk. then i quickly rushed back for fear of losing my stuff.
at the start it was like i have 7 hours to spend which seemed alot. then in the end i still had alot unread... was still enjoying myself at the listening post before the lib closed. tried the cafe galilee sandwich for the first time. its warm! haha. nice and warm.
econs mcq and data-response cum case study hybrid on fri. tried to do fast for the mcq. sort of succeeded but the difficulty of quite a few questions caused me to be unable to utilise the time i tried to save. paper 2 was as expected. how to finish 30marks in 1 pathetic hour which includes reading of the sources? we thought the hint was airlines but the teacher had actually been referring to pie chart, which wasnt of much use.
anyway, promos was finally over so six of us girls, yuxian, cher, jus, sand and pam went orchard swensens! i was supposed to go back to paint greenlink banner but luckily they were already done in less than 1 and a half hours. though it would be quite fun painting, journeying back wasnt. was quite surprised that yuxian and cher, the two who usually ate the least, actually managed to finish a set meal. then pam and jus went for dental while the rest of us went shopping till dinner time. in between, we went lib@orchard and cher left then. the three of us began analysing our styles with the book yuxian found. it was quite true for sand, very true for me, but yuxian's one wasnt distinct. i got quite interested in the book so i borrowed it despite carrying a heavy bag and a pw file (which sand helped to carry too).
we went from hereen to taka to far east and i had sore feet and aching back and arms by the time we parted. i tried to be healthy and join mom for badminton but there wasnt enough courts so i ended up reading.
wah... this entry super sian... all narrative... buai..
Ah.. finally a proper break from continuous intensive mugging
our poor brains and bodies.
had physics paper today. the relative standard of the sections was similar to common test. section a and c more difficult than b. couldnt finish the two as before. but it was more manageable with the tips that serjing shared with the class. he's totally so bighearted, photocopying the tips he got from his friend for everyone yesterday. it truly helped alot. THANKS!
pam zhen you yan guang. haha. everyone suans her. think it a reflective thing. as in 'mirror reflection'.
went j8 yoshinoya with estelle, singying and pam after that. long time since we last had a chance to sit down and take our time to eat. tried the beef bowl and there was so much fat! and no veg. shan't eat it again. though the taste was good. i liked the jelly.
then we sat and chat for awhile. singying's quite funny, though you must be able to catch it.
we started talking about bfs. singying said that njcians talk about people who are attached like its not okay because we mug too much, coz over at hc, its very normal to be attached. but they too mug alot! just that they can handle both well.
estelle was rolling over laughing because of her own imagination as usual. and such laughter is contagious. she was laughing at a piece of carrot on her tray (i forgot for what reason). then she transferred it into her bowl containing leftover rice and started laughing again coz it looked like an egg/ japanese flag.
then we went shopping. we were thinking of catching a movie but there was nothing worth watching now so we changed plans. luckily we didnt watch. otherwise i would want to eat popcorn which is bad.
j8 renovated again. or maybe its just another part of its mega over-a-few-years make-over. more and more extensions and new shops.
found out that singying easily likes things that she sees, esp ex ones. and she actually buys them. rich sia. pink lover too. loves bags. typical girl.
affirmed that pam's taste is totally different from mine. like singying, she also easily likes stuff but most of those she found cute were things that i won't consider buying. hm.
i remembered that i needed a new wallet so they helped me looked. saw some that had attractive external design, others with suitable compartments, but none that had both and werent over budget. at least according to my standards. realised that i am simply toooo picky. though its good that i dont waste money, its bad that i can't decide fast!
then they wanted to go coffee bean to study econs but i didnt bring my notes since i didnt intend to study today so i left. went sun plaza lib! read self-help books, borrowed two. i need to improve myself. though one of them says people who trying to improve themselves "self-hate". totally such an irony. you write a self-help book for people to improve themselves yet you say that they are "self-hating" and should love themselves more. isnt that telling them to improve themselves?! borrowed it anyway. found that i am guilty of most of the behaviours of "self-hating"... in fact, according to the book, almost everyone is because of the way we are brought up.
the other book's about successful negotiation. i need that. always fail and argue with people.
then i looked for novels and found a few that i wanted. so irritating. either can't find books that interest me or find many at one go. had to choose one only since i read so slowly.
also read magazines. teenage problems column.. sooo many girls fret over boys they like but dont get... interesting but silly
yay! ah ma's maid just brought dinner over. more than a week since i last ate home-cooked food. had been eating unhealthy dinners at school. to think i used to find eating home-cooked food everyday boring. humans are such ungrateful creatures. only learn to treasure things when you don't have them.
spent my entire sunday revising equilibria stuff. yet nothing much came out. grrr...
monday..
math. didnt find the supposed tips of great help. as usual, couldnt do a few questions.
stayed back in the lib. the seniors got so noisy i felt like shouting at them if they understood the meaning of "library". selfish bunch of people.
spent a few hours studying elasticity for nothing. how helpful were mdm low's "focused" revision. cheat me. i even prepared for the evaluation part. or mayb i caught the wrong hints... everyone else studied the last 3 chapters - production and cost, mkt structures, theory of wages. all of which came out. next time must ask the others what to study, my spotting skills dont work anymore.. last time spotted for social studies surprisingly got a1 for 'o's, now...
so i ended up using my last minute 1 and a half hours worth of preparation just before the paper and what i could recall from lessons. i m sooo dead. left the last part 13 marks blank because of poor time management. one hour on first question. and i knew what i wanted to write for that trade unions thingy. worst than dont know how to do...
tues...
chem in classroom. though it would be better than in hall but i was wrong. maybe too used to hall conditions, felt a little 'contained'. and the door slammed halfway during the exam.. gave me a huge shock. poor ms sim's baby. she was invigilating us.
i totally didnt know how to do chemical energetics. what's lattice energy? dead man. skip alot of questions. they tested more on 2nd half of the year stuff while most of my revision was on 1st half of the year stuff and i couldnt do those questions either.
can they change the weightage of common test and promos? please?
econs essay in the afternoon. as mentioned above. and i got a shock when i saw the context of the first question. i seem to get into the writing essay mode 1 hour after the commencement. which leaves me with little time to writing properly...
had to stay in the lib again after that. i actually fell into deep sleep for more than 20 minutes. then when i started studying again, i felt really uneasy and weird. intensively mugging one/two subjects until i sit for the paper, then immediately going on to the next subject after that, and having to forgot everything about the previous ones. of course after saying "shit. die. heck." dont feel normal at all. like a machine along a production line manufacturing goods. after making one item, it moves on the conveyor belt, even if there were any errors made on that item, it moves on and the machine has the continue making the next item.
so disgusting.
some quotes from the negotiation book (by Lee E. Miller and Jessica Miller)
"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try." -- Beverly Sills
"If I am not for myself, who will be? But if I am only for myself what am I?" -- Ethics of the Father
"Be willing to say no, but don't be too willing to accept no for an answer." -- subheading in the book
may be i should apply that when collecting class funds. haha
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed." -- Chamfort
i finally managed to go beyond the 1st few pages of revision for chem. and this is less than 3 days before chem promos. i m so dead. still havent touch econs. phy only studied those topics that were tested in the topical quizzes and 2 more chapters... math is probably the most done one...
i have actually been much more hardworking than for the exams of the past few years. yet i have only prepared so little. sigh. remember that i was still playing neopets for hours during sec 2 exams. and during normal sch days, on the rare days when i had to stay up till 3/4am to do last minute work (due to tv watching and neopets playing), i had already thought it was horrible. sec 3 and 4 was bad too, though i was relieved of literature which tortured me during lower sec. i like the subject, but i cant do the essays.
these days i've been staying in school till 8+/9pm, yet i havent managed to accomplish as much as i wished. considering that other than those 3 hours per day, i dont really do any work.
monday, singapore management university advance placement. after the talk, i got to learn alot more about smu. it gave me a good impression of them. lessons in seminar room. not huge lecture theatres. class of max 70 (or 60?). chance for us to interact with the teacher during lesson. its not to accomodate alot of people (like thousands in nus n ntu) but to provide specialisation for 870. exams take a maximum of 50% of total score, the rest goes to lesson participation, tests, projects. there's compulsory overseas attachment of min a half-year period, so we get double-sided benefits - study in singapore and have chance to immerse in culture of other countries. job attachments with real projects and not just there to be free labour. etc etc.
got me really quite interested in signing up for the advance placement. but have to commit 9 hours per week for 15 weeks, and there's still selection and interview before that. gave up in the end..
tues. lc had fits during mr yeo's math lecture. it really frightened everyone. some guys and ex st johners came forward to help. some other guys who stayed at their places shouted advice. hmm, guys are much better at handling emergency situation.
then our class guys were saying they should stop treating him so badly.
wed. gp exam. didnt finish both papers as usual. for the essay, i didnt know whether it was argumentative or expository. quite scared i write wrongly... i think i did the aq wrongly too... didnt answer to the qn... summary was like probably just a few dozen words.. scribbled in the last 5 minutes...
chinese was worse. all my tian xie han zi are wrong..... so diu lian... all the non-hcl people got at least a few correct... dont know what's wrong with me... decided to read the chi bks that i got for free on tues as consolation for bk review. shall also read chi news. hopefully.
after that, pam n i stayed supposedly to study. ended up laughing till my mouth cramped coz i was trying to talk while laughing/grinning and controlling the volume of my voice and laughter at the same time. (we were in the lib). never had such an experience before, and its worse than laughing till stomache.
eg of one of the not that extreme ones:
pam: i wish i were a ball, so that i can roll out of school.
me: that's lame la...
pam: no. .. . a ball cant be lame. it has no legs.
thu. 1st time we were released at 12.20pm on a normal school day. coz gp was over, econs was brought forward as math ms sim was on mc, and pe was brought forward to tues. to think of it, its really a rare coincidence.
fri. i seem to be able to think much better during mr yong's lesson than during any other time (phy quizzes, common test, doing tut.. ) i spent 2 hours on thurs cracking my head on 4 diffraction grating qns, trying to understand and figure out. yet during the lesson, everything seemed like common sense... if only lesson participated was counted as part of promos.
yea, mr yong's getting extremely lame. he was asking jasper about gg to his house after promos then there was this never-seen-before super wide grin on his face.
when i was going home on 171 at about 9+, a fierce argument erupted between 1/2 middle-aged english speaking chinese women (who was with a elderly and another woman with her kid) and a bunch of inidian youths, as a result of loud conversation amongst the latter. though it would turn into a racial conflict. serious.
i was 'analysing' both sides of the argument and both seemed valid. woman's: (coz the youths were really noisy) show concern for others, have respect for elders. youths: (coz woman kept telling them just shut up their mouths), who are you to tell us to shut-up, we have the freedom to speak, this is not a lib, you dont even show respect to us, telling us to shut up, cant you say in a more polite manner, you can just say keep quiet...
then later on, after they stopped arguing, the main speaker on the youths' side was on his phone and the conversation was like another person, totally polite, like a matured adult.
people.
sat. phy spa. much better than the previous one. though i still didnt finish. hope i didnt define wrongly. it was test-tube oscillating. but the concepts i used had spring constant in them...
stay in sch till the lib closed before gg to toapayoh till tt lib oso closed. then i had to shop for pam's bdae present. last min me as usual. then after spending an hour (we have totally different tastes so it was difficult choosing + i'm a lousy friend who doesnt know much about what my friends like) and finally finding something, i found that i didnt have enough money. even after borrowing from class fund. felt so ...
When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? -- eleanor roosevelt
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