Saturday, June 26, 2010
26/6/2010
I have this dream of taking a photo of the sky from my window at a certain time everyday of a year.I got this goal in mind when i first created my sky albums. But never did i have the time to have every day of a year free to do so. Maybe when this tumultuous period in my life is over, I shall complete a third sky album.
It's a personal secret, but let me tell you this, I have a certain fascination with the sky and wide open spaces. Ok, it's no longer a secret! But keep this between me and you :)
It's hard to describe the feeling, it's somewhat "amazement & awe" as well as a certain "exhilaration", "enjoyment", "sereneness" and "comfort", it somehow touches the soul.
When I space out, it just means that I'm feeling at ease. I still remember that i keep spacing out in high school! Sometimes i just stare out of the window and space out, or stare trance-like at the whiteboard.
I've got another secret to reveal,yeah, well, i feel in the mood to reveal something now and then, if I don't mind sharing...
My dream job is to be a pilot.
I think you know why, haha!
It has been a childhood dream. But my first kite-flying experience, at 16, just last year, made me feel that this dream may be possible. But I'm still doubtful. Can I still be a pilot without perfect eyesight? Will I ever have the opportunity to be one. How can I be one?
It's a high flying dream, literally.
But for now, maybe i shall stay down to earth. Focus on some short term important goals first before I aim for the long term ones.
Because for a dream to take flight, the dream has to be built from scratch first, just like a plane.
I'll start from the ground and aim for the sky!
When the gust of opportunity arises, I'll be a kite to catch it.
well, keep this between you and I, ok?
signing off.
Call Of The Wild at 4:46 PM
Thursday, June 24, 2010
I had this dream last night where I was back in HIHS.Me and YX were queueing up at our favourite chicken rice stall and for some reason, the stall vendor was Kayyin. lmao.. We ordered some sort of soya sauce chicken drumstick but Kayyin kept refusing to give us what we wanted! for some reason he even prepared a plate of soya sauce chicken rice for himself! Then YX got annoyed and argued with Kayyin in his squeaky voice.. Then he climbed over the countertop and chaos ensued in the stall. Then both went out of the stall, I (again for no apparent reason... dreams are like that) teleported into the stall behind the counter, I was stoning at a plate of chicken rice...WTH~
reminds me of my days in HIHS... hahahaha
what a weird but comical dream.
im awake now, stuck on reading Yozakura Quartet because I heard it's main opening song on Youtube.
At the same time, mugging for Math.... & for some reason, my school's questions are tough, so tough. im going to take a longer time than expected to complete revision.... sigh
JC life is tough... I'm still trying to survive without my fave chicken rice stall. even though NYJC has a really good one too, i like HIHS's better...
Chicken soup for the soul, Chicken rice for my memories.
signing off
Call Of The Wild at 7:21 AM
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Do you get the irritated & disappointed feeling when a friend ignores or cuts your conversation midway most of the time? I emphasize on irritated & disappointed. I just feel this way when that happens. Irritated because the person does not have the courtesy to at least let me finish what i'm saying and disappointment because i feel that the person treats you as if you're someone you can just brush off/ insignificant. It makes me feel that the person is both arrogant and...and....i don't know what to say. I mean, do you have something so important that shaving a few seconds off a speech is of such high priority. Conversations are meant to be enjoyed.
Never mind that, let's change the mood.
Just thought that I'll mention that Michelle has also started attending the same Maths tuition as me! Yes! Now I'll have another friend to accompany me :DLife is always interesting with someone like her around haha XD
just wonder why she doesn't like so much stuff in her school, or why she said that i was so easily contented. lol... contented with what ? :X
With her around, maybe I'll be more attentive during lessons, or get distracted by her. haha
anyway, last week of holidays.
i even cancelled bike training for this week because i felt that we all should have the time to study.
i mean, i don't think there are people as crazy as to mug as soon as holidays start?.... or are there....(shrugs shoulders)
anyway, last training was held in school. unfortunately, there was a great downpour, so great that Orchard Road flooded that day.
Backup plan kicked into action and i devised a last minute road markings game to teach Odacians on road markings/ hand signals & blind spots. although Melvin says its kind of like.... boring, haha, i'm afraid i have to agree. But for some reason it turned into a chasing/catching game. so everyone got to workout and be a little happy & excited.
Life is so unpredictable, that day, i learnt that i must have a backup plan, for whatever situations ready. Not that i learnt that i must have a backup plan on that day, but that day's weather condition causing this to happen reinforces the fact that a backup must always be ready.
Luckily, i thought of that the night before...
So the past week, i ate 2 lunch buffets. Seemingly gained 4kg, so i'll guess i'm doing a little dieting from now on. i know looks does not make a person, personality does, but looks does help to raise confidence, in turn improving self esteem and eventually changing some outward personality.
I heard this from a friend that smart people do not reveal everything, true... true, but that makes us all smart people! i mean come'on we all have secrets!
I don't believe that friends should divulge all their secrets to their closest friends, i mean, we should all have that shred of dignity and preserve that little piece of privacy for ourselves, that's my penny's worth of thoughts.
It's some feeling of personal security to me.
Ok, i veered away from the weight gain topic. As I said, i gained 4kg, but i know it's temporary. yes, i'm weight conscious, but that's not a bad thing: I use it to gauge how much i can eat. I also add in factors like gain of muscle mass and stuff like that or water retention or water loss.
Mostly, my gain of weight is either water gain or muscle gain. i can't possibly gain 4kg worth of fats in a week. taking into account the metabolism rate of a healthy teenager and how much i exercise, it's not even possible i gain 4kg worth of fats.
rant rant rant...
haha, did that bore you? Stop! No need to finish what you're thinking, i just ignored your thoughts.
Just kidding XD
signing off.
Call Of The Wild at 4:22 PM
Saturday, June 19, 2010
NooOOoo...its the last week of holidays.
sigh....
i have no choice but to confine myself within the house and mug till exams...
1 week till school reopens...
ergh......
Call Of The Wild at 10:25 AM
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Yayness (quoted from Myla)all major events in my holidays are over ^^
Yayness(Y)
particularly yesterday.
i delivered the cake in one piece for Odac investiture
i got my Odac badge ^^
i conducted my first bike training activity,
i attended and completed my first ever night cycling activity,
Saturday12/6/2010:
arrived in school.
passed bike and cake to Chawin. we found out that the icing flowers on the cake have melted...oops. otherwise, it looks erm... presentable.
went to help my group with pw survey at j8 after that. i distributed survey forms to anyone willing to do them. happened that some students from secondary schools are there for flag day. so we gave them survey forms to do and we donated some money to their coin tins. lol its like paying them to do our survey.
went back to school after about 1 hour.
rehearsal for Odac investiture.
then we gathered and conducted investiture in one of the school's LTs
a farewell video made by me and melissa was shown first, then followed by speeches from the 7th batch president and Vp, then the current batch president.
after investiture, we played games.
there were about 4 taupoks, the 7th batch president first kenna. lol, taupok till his whole face red. there was some cake fight too XD
following that was bike training. i set up the course, waited for almost an hour because the rest are still playing games. only the j1s attend this training. so i used the time to test out the bikes,one was from the storeroom, another was mine and another was Christabelle's.
rode bike down the parade square steps. that was exhilarating, there was a tinge of danger to it, but you felt real good overcoming the fear of falling.
training went well, haha, it was fun too, for all of us. especially going down those steps XD, it was the first for everyone.
then a bunch of us went to Manhattan fish market to eat dinner after the training.
night:
woodlands cc.
NIGHT CYCLING!
this was awesome....
shall not describe it.
you EXPERIENCE IT yourself.
signing off.
Call Of The Wild at 9:54 PM
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Just back from attending Huixin Korkor and Julie Jiejie's wedding banquet :DI want to wish them a lifetime of happiness and bliss.
Just felt so happy for them, there was once where they posed for photos and i felt like crying, but no tears came out, probably because i've conditioned myself to stop crying since donkey ages ago.
anyway, congrats to them.
Huixin Korkor is my cousin but he is so much older than me, haha.
then sis reminded me that i was next in the family to get married...lol, that'll be a long time away.
signing off.
Call Of The Wild at 1:00 AM
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Pre U Seminar 2010 One People - Living The Pledge
Day 1before 1.30pm
i remembered packing stuff and doing final check on my stuff. got a ride on car to school. it seemed as though that i was the first from my school group to reach. well, in fact a few have already put their bags in the SC room and went out for Mac.
2.00pm-4.00pm
registration and check in.
boarded bus to PGPR. (Prince George's Park residences)
i was feeling quite enthusiastic, a bit bored from the bus journey and i was staring in awe at the large campus. my school group gathered at entrance, which i felt looked quite grand. teacher in charge Mr Ducro explained procedures, provided us with our tags.
the tag came with a transponder which is a device quite alike a remote control, only smaller, round and with one button. we had to aim that at a panel in the lift, then only can we press our floor buttons. the gate to our dorms also had to be opened by this transponder.
i was met by a SLO (student liaison officer) when i stepped out of the lift. well, i feel bad to have forgotten his name...
i was met by a SLO (student liaison officer) when i stepped out of the lift. well, i feel bad to have forgotten his name...he taught me to open my room door with the transponder. i was dripping wet with seat, carrying my luggage in one hand and my school blazer in the other and this photographer came into my room and took pics of the room and me... lol, i must've looked real exhausted.
had to fill up a check in form too. i no longer felt uncertain once i ventured out of my room and explored the common kitchen and bathroom.
it was a guys only bunk. reason: raging hormones. haha
met some guys on my floor, chatted and found out only guys from group 9 & 10 stay on floor 7 which im staying on. before i forget, my room is B. (see im so detailed XD)
4.00pm-4.30pm
tea
yup tea, not the drink but a meal. met my group 9. a few new faces i've never met before. and yes, i felt shy... at first.
4.30pm-5.30pm
team building activities
sat around in a circle and introduced ourselves once again
GROUP 9
Natalie(tall girl!)
Vaishnavi
Wanda
Wen Cong
Clifford(frodo)
Hui Ling(HL)
Jamie
Liying(ah ma)
Nicholas(muscle addict)
Jing Wen(squirrel)
Ivan
Hariz( The Mat)
Wei Kiat(the weirdest guy who can make you laugh, because of the weirdness)
Ye Shen(smeagol/ET/gollum)
Chishty
Amanda
Judy
YA(me)
played team bonding games... although i forgot what games were played, haha.
5.30pm-7.00pm
wash up & dinner
dinner was in an air-conditioned "hawker centre" called the Foodgle. used food coupons to buy food.
discussed our team's video project, which was to create 2 videos based on alphabets I & V. we had to base it on a theme too.
Wei Kiat, first impression of him was that he was the weirdest guy( next to the weirdest guy i know, Val) i have ever encountered. should intro the 2 of them to each other one day, both do weird hand actions.
7.00pm-9.30pm
briefing for Singapore ID
went to Multi Purpose Hall. was briefed on the video project. sat there later as a group and discussed further, submitted our draft.
9.30pm-10.00pm
washup & supper
was given raisin bun? and a Spritzer Pop drink. and we will receive something similar for the rest of the suppers too.
we were briefed on what to do to prepare for tomorrow and stuff pertaining to the guest of honour, behaviour, attire...etc.
10.30pm
lights out, but of course....
i did not go to sleep.
we went back to hostel rooms and I was busy connecting to internet. and... i had access! haha... the user id and pass that Nic provided was helpful :D
busy surfing web. a total of 4 guys from my group stayed on my floor. Ivan, Nic, Hariz & me. bed was hard, there was only one pillow. tossed and tumbled and itched most of the night.
Day 2
woke up at 5.50am
looked at Nic's room window... no lights.
i went to wash up wear formal attire. thanks to Melvin,i still remember how to make a proper tie X)
6.30am
lol... Nic's room still has no lights... went to his room, door was unlocked, he was still sleeping. i switched the lights on and woke him. that's the start of me being his alarm clock for the rest of our stay at PGP.
7.00am-7.30am
breakfast
7.30-8.30am
all took bus from PGP to UCC
8.30-9.30am
took lots of photos, instead of looking at the exhibitions...lol.
i didn't even know there were exhibitions.
i didn't even know there were exhibitions.9.30-10.30am
seated in the hall. was bored, read through info booklet. chatted with jamie & liying. took more pics...
watched performances by choir, dance groups and guzheng. squirrel fell alseep very often.. XD
10.30-11.45am
arrival of guest of honour. PM Mr Lee Hsien Loong, followed by keynote address. i felt that his speech was quite interesting and engaging. i will like to make speeches in that manner too. Pm Lee was humorous. his speech was followed by a Q&A session where members of the floor could direct questions to him. i must say that some of his answers were quite witty.
11.45-12pm
after the Q&A, we had to leave the hall and board the bus to LT26. lol some of us got lost including me. this 15mins was spent finding the rest of our group.
12-1pm
boarded coach to LT26, awfully crowded.
1-3pm
the 1st parallel presentation. teams from institutions showcased their months of hard work.
3.00-4.00pm
the showcase/presentation finally ended. took coach back to PGP. was awfully crowded too.
4.00-5pm
went back to dorm and it was quite stuffy. changed into PE attire then went down to Foodgle for tea. let me tell you what tea is: fried mifen and some fried spice roll. and milo... ultra sweet milo...
5pm-6.30pm
Games a la mode:
we played traditional games together :)
we found the gym after playing the games and worked out.
6.30-7.30pm
washed up, went down to Foodgle for dinner, USING COUPONS woohoo! we bought food.
7.30-9.30pm
this was time for us to do our video shoots.
9.30-10pm
went to mph for supper. guess what... Spritzer pops and bread again XD. the spritzer pop was a different flavour :)
10-10.30pm
briefing for the next day, was given goodie bag for learning journey the next day.
10.30pm
lights out,but i facebooked for 1 hour before sleeping.
Day 3
5.50am
woke up. thank you ...phone alarm
6.00am
prepared stuff, packed stuff, carried stuff.
6.00-6.30am
LOL... Nic overslept again. woke him up.
reached Foodgle at 6.45am
ate breakfast. bread
7.00-8.00am
squeezed into coach to get to LT 26
8.00-10.30am
parallel presentations II, tried to listen attentively, some presentations were quite interesting.
learnt that a speaker has to engage an audiences' attention in order to make a presentation successful.
learnt that a speaker has to engage an audiences' attention in order to make a presentation successful.the Q&A session also requires the team representative to answer with tact and confidence. of course one must know howto answer the question. some representatives, in a bid to answer the question, spew incoherent, draggy, repetitive answers. that made me sleepy.
while most answered confidently, stressed their main points and inject humour and politeness into their answers.
10.30-11.00am
tea! reception style again. long queue for food... -.-
11.00-12.30pm
panel discussion by important guests, followed by Q&A
12.30-1.00pm
Finally! got to have a seat in the coach. ate lunch(mainly Uncle Toby breakfast bars) and some Twisties that Natalie bought.
1.00-4.30pm
alighted at a bus stop. took a bus to Buona Vista MRT, then travelled via MRT to City Hall.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>walked to National Archives of Singapore, our venue of visit for the Learning Journey!
4.30-6.30pm
returned to PGP the same way we travelled there. we gathered at Foodgle, ate some tea, then did our reflection. with haste, we went back to dorms to wash up.
6.30-9.00pm
instead of doing the video making, which we almost finished, most of the guys went gym...mwahaha muscle addict converts... all because of Nic leong lar! anyway, worked out.
then went basketball court to taupok ppl, guys only of course.
then ate dinner together. later we gathered at meeting room to do I video.
dinner at the Golden Spoon, a non-air conditioned food centre.
9.30-10.00pm
wash up & supper
went hall, haven't wash up though... smelly~
10.30pm
tried to watch movie together as a group in meeting room, but teacher chased us out. watched half of How To Train Your Dragon on laptop in my own dorm.
then went to sleep.
Day 4
5.50am
woke up... felt really tired because of the gym workouts.
i need more rest!
as usual, Nic has not woken up. so i went to his room and turned the lights on. then i went to wash up.
6.30am-7.00am
breakfast at Foodgle, ate bread... too bad we could only take one each.
chatted with cliff.
7.00-8.00am
boarded coach(this has become routine), reached Lt 26... we, the guys tried to squeeze ourselves into one seating aisle XD
8.00-10.30am
parallel presentation III, Ivan busy taking pics of girls:
10.30-11am
tea..... :)
11-12.30pm
Panel Discussion II, liked this one. topic was a Happy Youth.
12.30pm-1.30pm
went back to dorms, changed out of stuffy sweaty clothes. i am ashamed to say that i have reused my uniform more than once.
thank god for body powder :)
1.30pm-2pm
lunch at Golden Spoon.
2pm-7pm
group 9 gathered at cafe. disaster, Jamie's laptop kaput! with all the vids inside, almost all.
could not resurrect her laptop, all efforts futile... so we pieced our vids taken from the camcorder
again. i ordered fries, took a nap there.
woke up, video almost done. lol
its a miracle... managed create video again. a lot of us slacked there. must thank HL really much, she's really hardworking! took laptop to play there for a while.
went to gym to workout after that, did some planks, somehow we guys bonded together doing gym workouts. guys and girls really, are from 2 different worlds. taupok ppl again!
went basketball court to play basketball, even though i suck at it. the only thing i did was to intercept the passes. got a really bad abrasion on the elbow because i slipped and fell while dribbling the ball. i was like one moment dribbling then next i felt this rough sensation on my elbow... and i was like %&$#, this is going to hurt.
and yes, it hurt a while later. i sat on the stone steps and took care of the valuables. opened laptop and found that HL had used my laptop till 20% battery left. noo.... then i facebooked till 8% battery left.
washed wound, went hall.
7.30pm-10pm
briefing for submission of vids.
and a showcase of the games created by groups 14 to 28.
followed by a voting session to vote for the best 3 games.
Wei kiat chee ko pek made my laptop run out of juice.
then the news came that our vid was not the right format and have to convert. and... my laptop just ran out of battery & i did not have a charger with me.... nice one.
The vice-principal then let loose a few spooky rumours.... wth... why did he have to do that -.-
that scared so many people, so many that almost everyone took this opportunity to sleep with someone(no kinky stuff)
10.30pm
after debrief, went up to get charger, then met at meeting room. sweating like.... something that sweats a lot.
anyway, managed to convert the vids into the right format.
packed up, went back to dorms. felt uncomfortable... stupid rumour!!!!
so i went down, met Ivan and cliff on the way. Ivan went to wash his clothes.
11pm+
then we went to the function room to sleep, a bunch of guys were there too(around 20). see how effective the rumour was?
we did not bring pillows or blankets... nice one..
we slept on the cold hard dirty floor while the 20 or so guys slept in padded sleeping bags with their soft fluffy pillows.
Ivan could not stand it and went out.
me and cliff endured the worse night of our stay at PGP.
for some reason, the lights were switched on, apparently someone too scared to turn it off. and i was too fatigued to wake myself up. AND This particular guy snored so loudly!!! even though we snored, our roars dulled in comparison with this one. the floor was the kind of floors you could find in libraries. i could only rest my head on my arms, don't forget this, i had a nasty wound on my elbow.
Day 5
4.30am-5.00am
someone set this alarm.... this *%#$&*$& annoying alarm. it did not switch off until half an hour later.
morning came, but i was suffering, with aches all over the body from my plank-like sleeping position.
6.00am
went back to dorms. felt stupid sleeping in that function room when there was a softer(but still hard) bed in my dorm. want to face-palm myself for not bringing the pillow along.
6.30am-7.30am
met for breakfast, was too sleepy to chat lively. found out that Ivan went to join the bunch of ppl from my group and sneaked around PGP, avoiding detection by teachers and having a ball of a time. now i want to face-palm myself for not joining.
went back to dorms.... i haven't brushed my teeth yet >.<
7.30-8am
pack up belongings.
8am-9am
briefing for participants, so we gathered in hall.
9am-10am
Closing Ceremony
presentation of top 3 games
as well as the videos group 1 to13 have made. all the videos were great, but our video made me feel a sense of satisfaction.
presentation of token of appreciation
10am-11am
took photos, camwhored,
did taupok on cliff.
bid goodbye to some people.... sigh..
ate some tea, then went back to dorms. the 4 of us from our group staying on that level met in Nic's room. then we checked out. went down to level 5, camwhored and took pics with our group.
11.30am
went to PGP entrance, met up with fellow schoolmates.
lol, my eyes were closed again... they are not too small to be seen, they are just closed!
12.00pm
final farewells to those leaving
1pm
depart
this is probably the longest post I've ever posted in my blog. took a lot of time to collate the photos too. but the memories and joy, friendship and everlasting bonds built, will be stored in my heart & this blog.
although it spanned a tiny period of 4 days, out of the many years of my life, it was life changing. its significance cannot be written in words or spoken with language but only expressed through feelings.
you can sail the seven seas and never encounter the same experience twice, that, i think, is very true.
signing off
~YA~
Call Of The Wild at 5:41 PM