The holidays and CCA quirks

First of all, I would like to apologise. I mean, I broken that promise again- of posting a post once every two day. Secondly I would like to assert the fact that I had no choice, with the Project Work and Pre-University Seminar PPT preparation running concurrently. This also means I will be duty-bound (and guilt ridden) to type one exceptionally long post to make up for the last 3 days. (Stretches fingers)

The highlight of three day ago was the Pre-U seminar presentation. Two days, it was the Maths test and yesterday, Project Work, debates and the seeNTU programme. And I got a really horrendous haircut. So quite the eventful week. Or so it was to me.

First off, our Pre-U sem presentation was a fiasco. We, the smallest group of three members had much more work to complete the powerpoints with equivalent contents to those groups with five members. Secondly, we met really rarely, or if we did so, it was online. And online meetings pose a new limitations. Suffice to say I am not one of the four presenters. The fact that our competition was tough (5 debaters and orators) consoled me a little. To say they would good would be an understatement. Our team could have gave them a good run for money but it was clear we had far less preparations compared to the other groups.

Bleah. But I learn new skills in multimedia presentations from every single presentation there. Well, I guess one live to learn.

Moving to the next point of substantive(debate lingo), my maths test. It pretty easy so I am feeling really good about it. The only thing I will be griping about was that there was a bonus question. Yes. As in a question that allows one to score 110 over a 100. I am really sorry but I simply did not notice it. I finished the test fast and I didnt notice the extra printing. Reason being I knew I have done 15 marks of question and the top portion of the paper did state the test was upon 15.

Really. I dont know what to say. At least I can take joy in the fact I (think I have) done pretty well.

And the project work. First of all, I do my presentation using OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Word- Macbook and all that. So I screwed up a little- I couldnt open our ODP format document. Secondly, I spoke too fast. And someone said, hey, slow down, it's like you are a debater.

Well, technically, I am a debater. o.0 Another said I was too intense. One did say my presentation was awesome (but that could have just as easily been sarcasm).

At least we managed to pull off the presentation without any major problems so I AM feeling kinda relieved.

Moving on, we had our second debate outing comprising of Carrissa, Ding Yan, Amanda and me. And we reached the place late...again. For me, I have always lived in the East so I have no idea how to get to Chung Cheng (Yishun) for the Julie Gabriel Secondary School national debates. And when we finally got onto the bus, we got off the wrong stop.

Me: Uncle, 我们到了Chung Cheng 了吗？
Driver: 过了。

*All four of us scrambled down the bus*

Thus, we checked the directory and hey, we still have not reach Chung Cheng. Perhaps I might have misheard the driver but the other three debaters with me all heard "过了".

Checking the directory

Pepper hotplate for dinner

That Carrissa's hands and Amanda next to her.

We managed to watch a debate. I stayed to watch Victoria School. I am not too sure whether I typed the first motion correctly.

First debate: St. Anthony Canossian VS Nan Hua High
Motion: THBT the advancement of science and technology is at a rate too fast.

Second debate: NUS High vs Victoria School
Motion: THBT companies selling alcohols and tobacco should not be allowed to advertise their products.

St. Anthony won and Victoria School won. :D

Reached home at 10.30pm and took a shower. Then my mum started recommending me some Japanese cookies and they were good. (Finished in minutes) I need to remember that brand so I can ask my aunt to stock up when she goes Japan again.

MMMMMmmmm

YUUmmmmm

I really do love chocolate chips cookie. I would say this cookies would beat the Famous Amos one in terms of taste. I find the cookie crumbles more easily in my mouth compared to Famous Amos, where their cookies get a little dry after you eat a few.

And a video, once again, hilarious and recommended by my ex-classmate.

Anyone supporting corporeal punishments on children?

Signing off to take a nap. I am dead beat. Oh- that reminds me. This is the first blog post I did in the afternoon and not at night.

Reversi and THE presentation and polygamy

I sleep at one or two in the morning every night and I am forced to drink coffee. While others view coffee as something to be enjoyed, coffee is just caffeine to me. I drink for the caffeine. I still like coffee but in the end, I just need that caffeine. I would love to sleep earlier, but all the revision drains me. I think it is proving to be more detrimental than if I sleep at an earlier midnight. My night is filled with projects, homework, revision of stuffs taught that day, blogging and reading the daily papers. I reach home at seven and finish my dinner and my bath at 8pm.

Time flies. I remember my O levels like it was yesterday and an hour pass like a second. I guess our life is really just like a candle. I hope I am burning to my fullest.

In my JC life, I try to take part in as many stuffs as I can. Pre University Seminar, trying for the NTU research program and putting my name within the upcoming inter-class reversi competition. And I realised I am hooked on Reversi/Othello. I am aiming for that gold in napfa too. Technically that would make me 文武双全, which just means excelling in both academia and sports. And that would be my "long-term goal" (Student Development Program, anyone?).

I dont have any photographs for today because frankly, it slipped my mind to get photographs for my blog. It...just...slipped...my...mind. Not a good excuse but hey, everyone got those kinda days. So this post will seem really boring (I hope not, actually)

And anyway, the only stuff I could think of to write is my new addiction to Reversi or Othello. I played 8 games yesterday and 6 games today. I love the game, just like how I love Chinese Chess or international chess. The game is just so versatile. I love board games, especially strategical ones such as Othello. And it is the only game where if A is given 3 moves to B's 1 move,  A would lose. Mind-breaking,

The second is Pre-U Sem. Tomorrow is the presentation. THE presentation. The moment we have all been waiting for. Actually, tomorrow's presentation is to select four person out of the twenty to present to the Guest of Honours  and many more. So, truth be told, it is an honour above that honour given to that twenty. That sounded confusing. >.<

Creme la de creme, to be precise. Which is french for top of the top. Nerve-wracking I am sure, as everyone would love to have the chance to represent the school even further.

My days are busy but quite monotonous. A highlight of the day was the GP lesson. As it goes, it is the only subject without a given syllabus. Thus it can be said to be a refresher to the day in comparison with all those content-driven lectures. My favourite two subjects now would be Mathematics and General Paper. I have always like maths and GP is well, really fun. Take for example today and yesterday General Paper.

"Should polygamy be allowed?" I wrote no, since it should open a whole new can of worms. But many factors might lead us to think otherwise. Could it solve Singapore's declining birth rate? And at what price? Still it is interesting to know two of my classmate (one male and one female, no names) wrote "yes". And hey, it is not necessary wrong. Questions like these make one thoughtful. To agree or not to agree.  

I guess I should just stop here. time constraint and all that. In return, I would just like to post a gem of a youtube video I found.

Warning: it is kinda vulgar. In a sense. No vulgarities, I promise (urrgh, oxymoronic me). It is just you and your assumptions. :D

The singer just sorta pause and you assume...stuffs. I love the wit of the whole thing. I mean, who the heck created this song? My friend showed this to me.

The creator of the lyrics have my due respect. I hope it didnt offend anyone. :)

Hate speeches and mugging

"A handicapped person is a human being with the same heart as anyone else. It's not a misfortune if you can't hear-it's just an inconvenience." ---Aya Kito.

If you can, watch the video and listen to the song. If you are free, watch the anime- there are lessons in it. It brings to my mind "Tuesday with Morrie". And so, I am rereading that tear-jerker. I am one of those people easily touched- so yes, I am a guy but I cry.

I saw someone playing the song for this opening to Angel Beats on Friday. I was in a state of rapture while the song was played. There is something so poignant about this song. And I love it being recreated on the piano. And everyone loves it when someone share the same interest as you.

Actually, I would rather sleep or do some other work. But I swore to upload a post every 48 hours. *Panda-eyes* JC life is so hard. But rest assure to the fact that I am enjoying it. Perhaps everyone is a workaholic at heart. There is just something so wonderful when you have so much work and you finished them all. How rewarding it is if you ever top the class/cohort/country (latter not likely) due to your hard work.

I might actually cry when my school life officially ends and my work life begin. Never knew a day would come where I would feel sad about leaving school. Might be why everyone wants to be a doctor so much- 7 years degree compared to a normal 4 years degree. Also just cut out the article of the two RJC twins who scored 7 distinctions in the A levels. I want to paste it on my wall to remind myself of my final objective in two years.

Until the day come, I shall strive to make as many friends as possible and enjoy this kinda life to the fullest.

Enough of the philosophical rambling and moving on to events of the past two days. Yesterday was Friday (duh) and it was my debate session. Needless it say it rocks as usual- I mean 8 people arguing with innuendos and puns. And hidden insults. What more could you ask for in an evening? And what better company could one find?

The debate motion was "This house believes that hate speeches should be allowed on campuses." I saw it and I started hoping I ended up on the opposition. As hard as I could try, I couldnt see a single way how hate speech would be beneficial.

Thanks goodness our team got preposition. It was really amusing to watch the other team came up with good, solid and iron-clad point against us. Really, it was. They talked about freedom of speech and our team pointed out hate speech actually would contradict the purpose of freedom of speech. They talked about monitoring hate speeches thus to control any violence that might be incited and we retorted that monitoring was a fickle thing- where and when do they cross the line?

Then they actually stated that our definition was from Wikipedia. And we were like "So? Wikipedia is not always wrong." 

Debates has started to affect my thought processes nowadays, namely because it makes one become, oh so cynical. And we had another pre-university seminar discussion and had a small confilicting viewpoint in our proposal. And hey, my team and I saw the cat again. All the seniors knew about it. Kinda like the mascot of CJC. :)

At the self-study area beside the quadrangle

And I was offered a cookie made by my classmate. Which tasted really nice (I love cookies anyway). I love the small coloured sphere. The whole ball just comprised of colored sugar I think.

Loved it. Size would be half of a ping-pong ball.

That reminds me: I need to try Amy's chocolate muffins one day.

My marker all ran out so I got new refills. My blog post for the two days are really about mundane affairs. Debates would be the highlight of it all. Another highlight (to me) would be that I signed up for the Nanyang Research Program. They require a certain L1R5 (which I forgot) but I know I dont make the mark. But still, I can try. The mathematics module about Euler's sequence sounds really interesting. *grin*

Testing out of my new markers

I sound so muggly sometimes. Or maybe it could be that I am finishing up this post at 2am in the morning. Yeah- that could be it.

Signing off as I need to finish reading up some physics topics. And to satisfy that sudden night craving for chocolate.

*walk off to get some tiramisu from the refrigerator*

*Too tired to think of a title today*

I am knackered. Really tired and exhausted. Mentally and physically. Inside and outside. Metaphorically and literally.

Today was the 4.2 km run. Which I took part in the competitive- lotsa running. And more running. Basically it's just close to twice of a 2.4 km. Dont get me wrong, I love running, but it is the aftermath that I dislike. Why do we need to feel the exhaustion for the whole day? As I type this whole lot of bollocks on my Macbook, I am reclining in the laziest posture on my chair.

 Actually, in truth, I shouldnt be blogging because I have a Pre-U Seminar proposal to rush out and a 200 words abstract for Project Work. But I also know that if I stop blogging today (and therefore not follow the schedule I set for myself), I will never do another blog post again.

 I shall keep this blog short and concise. I am mentally exhausted because of the discussion I had with my Pre-U buddies. I listen and I store what they say in my mind. Then I think it through, carrying a mini discussion within my own head. I always maintain different personalities and characters holding mini debate and discussion session in my mind. Keeps my brain active. Might be why I am lacking in the concentration department- I can never keep my thoughts in a single line.


Additionally, my hopes of showing off and topping my class in Chinese (Still quite proud of that A1) is crumbling. I have been assigned to a different class from all my classmates and they ALL scored distinctions. All scored A1s and A2s. I am now one of the many "Cheena" people.

我也不知道该说些什么。

All I know is that Chinese in JC is really different from my Secondary school. We dont have group works, we dont have in-class discussions, heck, we havent even introduced ourself...the teacher just dived straight into the lesson.  Which made me disgruntled all day. I might just have lost what little love I had for the language. Chinese lesson in JC, for lack of a better word is boring. Seems more rote-learning than anything else. Perhaps it might be because of the lack of time, or the fact we are the best Chinese class.

Also envied Amy and my HTC, who volunteered to manage the drink stall. The one offering free 100plus after the run. Grr.

I ended the day with dinner at Carl's Junior with my classmates. This makes it the first official outing I had with 1T17. The burger at Carl's was...huge. Seemed to surprise my classmates to hear that I was a Carl's Junior virgin.

Guess I am not a fast food junkie because I rarely eat at Macdonald's or BK or Subway. I have a more Asian palate.

"Tired and I wanna go home" face

Unsteady hand = failed group shot

Onion Ring lover

Angus Beef- 2.5 times the size of a Mac burger

"Whatcha looking at?"

Signing off as I head resignedly towards that pile of projects.

Singapore Food Trail and Blogger's Breakfast and Free Mouse

Since I would love to start in chronological order, lemme start with the free mouse incident. 3 weeks ago, I sent in a short essay under my mum's name to Digital Life in the hope of winning a 100 dollars mouse. I won a prize being the 6th position out of 15 chosen. And they said they will send us an email- which they didnt. >.< 3 weeks later, still no email. I wonder whether I wrote my contact details wrong. But shouldnt my mum receive a phone call or something?

I want that mouse for my Macbook. :s

Moving on. Since my blog is updated once every two days, I have to start with the happenings yesterday (though I would love to start with the Blogger's Breakfast). I am sure everyone has been to the Singapore's Flyer at some point in time. Everyone probably been on the Flyer at least once, if only for the experience (because the half hour ride dont come cheap).

I love taking photographs with my phone :)

Poor lighting and exposure (Hey, I used my phone)

Above were the pictures taken after breakfast. Breakfast was taken (with my grandma, as always) beside the flyer, at a replica 1970s kopitiam, called The Singapore Trail. The food there is significantly more expensive than standard hawker fare AND I wouldnt give a good rating for the food either. Only the fried oyster with eggs was nice. And that is quite pathetic, seeing many of the stores are supposed to be "in the business for 30 to over 50 years".

Where is the lime that is always there? >.<

5 bucks and I can finish it in 3 mouthful- seriously.

Some kinda desert China emperors always used to eat

The new Singapore Food Trail (Air-conditioned)

I got to give it marks for the decor though, since the area was certainly spruced up pretty well. There are old bicycles in corners and old sewing machines. The drink stall also sell "Ice ball", some desert from the past which made my father quite excited to tell us about his childhood. The drink stall also sell coke, sprite...the works in cute glass bottles.

Now, about today. Amy, Cailing and me messaged each other in Facebook to meet up today for breakfast at 8am. I was there at 7.30am; Cailing came at 8.05am and Amy...Amy came at 8.15am. Grrr, Amy. Turns out her bus was really late. :I And while Cailing and I munched on Japanese meals, Amy whipped out her Starbucks breakfast. And Ken came along too, though he declined the group photo. Ken, you shy boy. :D

:I Nah seriously speaking, I prefered my Katsu-don over that scrawny piece of bread from SB, Amy. :D

Cailing gave us two a highlighter- many thanks, Cailing. I got a blue one and Amy got a pink one. Whatever made Cailing thought of a highlighter as a gift? o.0

Ken and Amy watching a movie

Cailing putting on her contact lens

The three of us (Inaugural First Blogger's Meeting)

Coming down to less important stuffs, somebody spilled alkali over the desk which had the Electronic mass balance in the chemistry lab. And didnt wipe it up. So unlucky me had my hand on the table and boy, what concentration was that alkali?

It itched for the next one hour. Am I pissed at that person. >.<

Signing off because I need to research on why neon lights change colour for my chemistry tutorial.

*Yawn*