Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Monday, 4 June 2012
God is good!
I've been feeling so blessed to be in NYJC since day 1. But May has been such an important month for me. It's been a really great return to the spiritual life of Christianity. First, I just want to recall some blessings I've received from God recently.
1. There was this Monday where I was supposed to have 2 tests, GP and Physics, both of which I had not studied for. And of course, both were going to be graded. I was reading GP in a last minute rush when a classmate came up to me and told me that Ms Raj was ill and she was going home, so the Research Essay was to be done on Thursday instead. I still failed the Physics test, but cancelling the GP test was a blessing indeed.
2. On the 12th May, Crimson asked the Interact Exco out for Ice Cream. It was NYJC Sports Carnival, which was supposed to be until 12pm. Crimson requested that we left at 10am instead because she had something at 2pm, so Jessica and I did since we were in peer classes and we had no roles in the Sports Day. We were the only ones who turned up. We met Olivia and Li Ting at Somerset and while eating Ice Cream, I found out that the 2pm appointment they had was Church Service. Crimson asked me if I wanted to join them. When Jessica said yes, so did I. I really thank God that only Jessica and I went with Crimson that day, because honestly, if the other Excos had been there, more of them would have declined the invitation and I would have followed the majority. This day was a really key day in bringing me back to Church. Thank God.
3. I attended the Supernatural Conference on the 20th May. Danica arranged for us to meet at Serangoon for breakfast at 7:15am, and so I did, setting my alarm for 6am. Or I thought I did, because I woke up at exactly 7:15am. Got a shock, called and informed Danica while dressing quickly and rushing down to Stadium. I was quite upset with myself throughout the journey because my reputation as a punctual person seemed to have been ruined. I reached Stadium at 8:30, already late, only to find out that I was the first one there besides Danica. Li Ting and Wei Xiang were both late too. I think that this was a blessing because I was not the only problem.
4. Tuesday B PE Sessions are in the morning. I usually bring a towel so that I can shower after PE because it doesn't feel good to dress back into uniform for a lecture after PE. On the 22nd, I forgot to do so. I was considering skipping PE because I really didn't want to get back into uniform without feeling fresh. I eventually decided to go for PE with a sigh as not doing so could result in severe consequences. To my delight, it was Height and Weight taking. No physical exertion required, which meant no showering needed either. +1 to God's blessings for me.
5. 23rd May: Yi Min and Ei Leen invited me to watch Avengers with them at Bishan, 3:30pm. Later on, Marcus scheduled an Exco Meeting at 2:45pm, Mrs Roy wanted to see me about the Chen Su Lan June Holiday Lifeskills Workshop Proposal and Crimson wished to do a follow-up session at about 6pm. Totally sounded like I wouldn't make it for the movie. At 2:30, I rushed down to the Staff Room, met Mrs Roy for 5 minutes, rushed to Exco meeting and left at 3:10. Ran all the way to the Golden Village at Bishan and arrived in time for the movie. Crimson also had a slight fever and could not meet me at 6pm for the follow-up session. Yet another of God's blessings. Of course, I didn't want Crimson to have a slight fever.
6. I need to expand on this so I'll beat about the bush here. While rushing to Bishan for the movie, I ran down the escalator at Lorong Chuan and jumped the last few steps. And missed. I crushed my right leg and when I stood up, started limping as my right leg failed to support my weight. From looking like an athlete several seconds earlier, I was now moving at the speed of a crippled person. Only one person was there to see my fall. I tapped in earlier than him, limped to a seat and sat there massaging my leg for the 2 minutes while the train came. When it did, I stood up like nothing had happened (it really didn't hurt as much as initially) and the guy who had witnessed my fall was just coming down the escalator. At Bishan, I was still able to run up the stairs 3 at a time. After the movie, I could walk back home no problem. The next day, Thursday 24th May, my right leg hurt so badly I could barely stand. Thank God it was Study Leave day or I wouldn't have been able to go to school. Worrying about Friday didn't help, because it had healed by then. I was able to go to school for the GP Paper and walk back home no problem. Thank God for the really timely recovery.
7. I am now in charge of the Chen Su Lan Core Project for the NYJC Interact Club. This was originally a project comprised of 10 students where 5 of us would head down to the Chen Su Lan Methodist Home for Children to attend to the children there on the first two Saturdays of each month from 9am - 12pm. Then, it became 12 volunteers, everyone had to go for both weeks. I only went once, on the 14th April. The 5th May and 12th May were taken by Vesak Day Holiday and NYJC Sports Carnival respectively. Then, I was told that it was changed to a weekly Saturday service, 2pm - 4pm starting in June. On the 15th May, the Kidsread Project was also disbanded and 7 members from there were transferred to CSL, bringing the total number of volunteers to 19. Another one joined on the 26th. This would allow much more flexibility for the team as I could rotate members to go for each session. Since the Home did not know that we now had 20 people in my team, I decided not to send everyone down on the 2nd June. So I gave my team a choice on whether they wanted to go for the 2nd June session. Only 6 of them were willing to accept the invite and so the 7 of us went down on the 2nd June. 2 of them, Wanling and Eileen were newcomers and did not know how to go to the Home, so I had to wait for them. And they were very late. I received a blow when they finally came and I headed over to the Home, only to find out that we had not been scheduled for the day. Nancy told me that NYJC had no dates, in fact. She told me that if I wanted to organize volunteering service, I would have to give her the list of dates and wait for her confirmation to book those dates for us. I was also informed that the next available date would be in August. So, this was a blessing because only 7 of us wasted our time. Giving my members a choice also showed me how enthusiastic my team was in participating in this project. I now know who I can count on.
1. There was this Monday where I was supposed to have 2 tests, GP and Physics, both of which I had not studied for. And of course, both were going to be graded. I was reading GP in a last minute rush when a classmate came up to me and told me that Ms Raj was ill and she was going home, so the Research Essay was to be done on Thursday instead. I still failed the Physics test, but cancelling the GP test was a blessing indeed.
2. On the 12th May, Crimson asked the Interact Exco out for Ice Cream. It was NYJC Sports Carnival, which was supposed to be until 12pm. Crimson requested that we left at 10am instead because she had something at 2pm, so Jessica and I did since we were in peer classes and we had no roles in the Sports Day. We were the only ones who turned up. We met Olivia and Li Ting at Somerset and while eating Ice Cream, I found out that the 2pm appointment they had was Church Service. Crimson asked me if I wanted to join them. When Jessica said yes, so did I. I really thank God that only Jessica and I went with Crimson that day, because honestly, if the other Excos had been there, more of them would have declined the invitation and I would have followed the majority. This day was a really key day in bringing me back to Church. Thank God.
3. I attended the Supernatural Conference on the 20th May. Danica arranged for us to meet at Serangoon for breakfast at 7:15am, and so I did, setting my alarm for 6am. Or I thought I did, because I woke up at exactly 7:15am. Got a shock, called and informed Danica while dressing quickly and rushing down to Stadium. I was quite upset with myself throughout the journey because my reputation as a punctual person seemed to have been ruined. I reached Stadium at 8:30, already late, only to find out that I was the first one there besides Danica. Li Ting and Wei Xiang were both late too. I think that this was a blessing because I was not the only problem.
4. Tuesday B PE Sessions are in the morning. I usually bring a towel so that I can shower after PE because it doesn't feel good to dress back into uniform for a lecture after PE. On the 22nd, I forgot to do so. I was considering skipping PE because I really didn't want to get back into uniform without feeling fresh. I eventually decided to go for PE with a sigh as not doing so could result in severe consequences. To my delight, it was Height and Weight taking. No physical exertion required, which meant no showering needed either. +1 to God's blessings for me.
5. 23rd May: Yi Min and Ei Leen invited me to watch Avengers with them at Bishan, 3:30pm. Later on, Marcus scheduled an Exco Meeting at 2:45pm, Mrs Roy wanted to see me about the Chen Su Lan June Holiday Lifeskills Workshop Proposal and Crimson wished to do a follow-up session at about 6pm. Totally sounded like I wouldn't make it for the movie. At 2:30, I rushed down to the Staff Room, met Mrs Roy for 5 minutes, rushed to Exco meeting and left at 3:10. Ran all the way to the Golden Village at Bishan and arrived in time for the movie. Crimson also had a slight fever and could not meet me at 6pm for the follow-up session. Yet another of God's blessings. Of course, I didn't want Crimson to have a slight fever.
6. I need to expand on this so I'll beat about the bush here. While rushing to Bishan for the movie, I ran down the escalator at Lorong Chuan and jumped the last few steps. And missed. I crushed my right leg and when I stood up, started limping as my right leg failed to support my weight. From looking like an athlete several seconds earlier, I was now moving at the speed of a crippled person. Only one person was there to see my fall. I tapped in earlier than him, limped to a seat and sat there massaging my leg for the 2 minutes while the train came. When it did, I stood up like nothing had happened (it really didn't hurt as much as initially) and the guy who had witnessed my fall was just coming down the escalator. At Bishan, I was still able to run up the stairs 3 at a time. After the movie, I could walk back home no problem. The next day, Thursday 24th May, my right leg hurt so badly I could barely stand. Thank God it was Study Leave day or I wouldn't have been able to go to school. Worrying about Friday didn't help, because it had healed by then. I was able to go to school for the GP Paper and walk back home no problem. Thank God for the really timely recovery.
7. I am now in charge of the Chen Su Lan Core Project for the NYJC Interact Club. This was originally a project comprised of 10 students where 5 of us would head down to the Chen Su Lan Methodist Home for Children to attend to the children there on the first two Saturdays of each month from 9am - 12pm. Then, it became 12 volunteers, everyone had to go for both weeks. I only went once, on the 14th April. The 5th May and 12th May were taken by Vesak Day Holiday and NYJC Sports Carnival respectively. Then, I was told that it was changed to a weekly Saturday service, 2pm - 4pm starting in June. On the 15th May, the Kidsread Project was also disbanded and 7 members from there were transferred to CSL, bringing the total number of volunteers to 19. Another one joined on the 26th. This would allow much more flexibility for the team as I could rotate members to go for each session. Since the Home did not know that we now had 20 people in my team, I decided not to send everyone down on the 2nd June. So I gave my team a choice on whether they wanted to go for the 2nd June session. Only 6 of them were willing to accept the invite and so the 7 of us went down on the 2nd June. 2 of them, Wanling and Eileen were newcomers and did not know how to go to the Home, so I had to wait for them. And they were very late. I received a blow when they finally came and I headed over to the Home, only to find out that we had not been scheduled for the day. Nancy told me that NYJC had no dates, in fact. She told me that if I wanted to organize volunteering service, I would have to give her the list of dates and wait for her confirmation to book those dates for us. I was also informed that the next available date would be in August. So, this was a blessing because only 7 of us wasted our time. Giving my members a choice also showed me how enthusiastic my team was in participating in this project. I now know who I can count on.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Interact Camp
I feel so blessed to be in NYJC. I'm having such a good time in my JC life, I look forward to school everyday. I don't like lectures, but they are bearable for now. I changed to Interact Club for my CCA. I didn't want Table Tennis anymore, my standards were too low. Been wanting to make a post for the past month, but didn't manage to get round doing so. However, I felt that I absolutely had to do it tonight, before it got too late.
I had my Interact Camp for the past weekend. Arrived at 8am, first of my group. Went straight up to AVA Room, was asked what my Group Facilitator was. I told them I was in 'Opal'. The girl present then said "That's me, I'm Crimson!". And she knew my name. It suddenly came to me that yes, she had mentioned her name before. I felt really stupid then, for I had looked at the sms she sent, to find out her name. Totally overlooked it like a fool. So I went in, then after a short chat with her, she got called out and I found out that she was actually the President of the Interact Club. Woahhh, felt even worse after that, to not know who the President of my CCA was. At the same time, it was really really cool that I had the President for my Group Facilitator. Waited, and a guy named Eddie turned up. Did a short introduction of ourselves, then Ei Leen walked into the room! Asked me what my group was, I replied "Opal", came back "Shit". I thought she was in a different group, but turned out that she was with me again! Third coincidental meeting. Dance Partner, Law Talk and now this. We waited some more for the other members of our group. Crimson thought Louis was a girl, while Eddie and Ei Leen had thought that Crimson was a guy, and I thought that Ernestine was a guy. Haha, names can be so misleading. 4 guys 4 girls, 2 more girls were to join us sometime later. Of the 90 members in Interact Club, 69 were girls, 21 guys, so my group had a really high concentration of guys.
I cannot remember which came first, Ice Breaking or Lecture, but I think games were before lecture. We put our bags in our room (guys had 1 room, girls had 3), then went down to the Parade Square, where we engaged in Ice Breaking Games. One round of introduction, followed by Whacko (which was really ridiculous because the cirlce was so small with only 8 of us), then Human Bingo. I liked this one but it was not a good way of Interacting with others as everyone just wanted to get their papers signed. There were ridiculous statements such as "I have three or more siblings" and "I have done Bungee Jumping before". In our generation, 3 or more siblings is very rare and Bungee Jumping is not available in Singapore. That was a real gamble to put on the list. 2 Truths 1 Lie came afterwards, some really interesting facts about others, such as Eddie who had never eaten McChicken and could speak Russian. Louis's "I'm gay, I'm straight and I'm Bi" was mind-blowing for a while as we tried to piece together the possibilities. Eventually we concluded that "I'm gay" was a lie. Then the VP, who can change from an Interactor to a Military Commander in a flash, gave us one minute to run up from the Parade Square to the 5th floor, back to the AVA room.
Lecture. We were all given an exercise book, which was supposed to be our Interact journal, to record everything that we did in Interact Club for the next two years, from reflections to detailed accounts of events. We copied slides for about 45 minutes. I felt sleepy after all of that. At about 12pm, we were released for our first activity, "Do A Good Deed". We were to complete a good deed either as a group or in pairs, with evidence in the form of photographs taken by handphone cameras. We decided to do it as a group, but I didn't think that was a really good idea, since going round as a group of 9 offering to help would seem more intimidating than comforting. We first went to the Guard House, and supposedly brightened his day by singing him a song (which I don't know). Outside the MRT station, we presented a Wang Wang to a family with a child. Yes, 9 people needed to pass a present of blessing, that was very amusing. And the child was obviously frightened. Taking a stroll through the HDB block, we were first rejected by a Provision Shop who repeatedly declined our offer to sing (which I was happy for). Dejected, we found ourselves at the Prata Shop next, where other Interactors were running around, looking for Good Deeds to complete. We were rejected once more by a man who was moving goods from a van when we offered to lend a hand. Walking further away from the school, we met with a mother and child. The child was clearly terrified as he tried to hide from us and hesitated to take the Wang Wang, but the mother coaxed him to accept it and we sang him "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (feeling like a fool). Olivia and I, we then decided to split up and look for someone else as a pair. After a failed attempt with an elderly woman carrying some bags (she worked in NYJC), we regrouped and found out that the rest had not much success either. Making another round around the Hawker Centre, our last "Good Deed" was a father and daughter pair, which we blessed once more with Wang Wang. That concluded our "Do a Good Deed" activity, where we failed to achieve our goal of "meeting the people's needs" since no one really needed our help.
Once back at the AVA Room at 12:50, we did our Facilitation, or Reflection, in more common terms. I don't know how time passed, but I know we had lunch at around 1:45, until 2:25. I forgot what happened next, more lecture, I think. The next major activity I remember was "Together we Build". Our 8 groups were split into 4 and 4. The first 4 had a briefing, then our set had ours. We were NYJCians going to Tibet to help the Shigatse Tribe build a Community Hall. Neither side could speak the other's language, save for a translator and sign language. There was a teacher present while the rest of us took the role of students. We were given until 4:10 to collect materials needed to construct the Community Hall, but what we did was a miniature version of the hall, represented by a table and several other small objects. When the time started, we found out that the first 4 groups were the Shigatsens and they too, had been given a task. There was a twist. Our translator had contracted a sore throat and hence could not speak. It was now a test of our sign and body language. The Village Head told our Translator to follow the actions of the tribe.
The Shigatsens formed a circle round a rubbish bin (representing a god). Soon after, they started a bizarre dance round the bin, waving their hands to and fro, while producing monkey noises (hahahaha). Bewildered but left with no choice, We NYJCians had to follow their "ritual", with the Village Head flicking "holy water" in our faces. The Village Head pulled one of the Shigatsens out of the circle and placed him next to the bin, then picked Ei Leen out as well. We watched in amazement as he tied the shoelaces of both people together so that they were now linked. Then they started to walk round the Drum. We followed, still confused. Halfway through, the Shigatsens made a sudden sharp turn on us. Taking that as a sign of hostility, the NYJCians ran all the way back to the original location, closely followed by the Shigatsens. It was now our turn to present. We set up our mini representation of the hall. A table, a towel underneath meant to represent a carpet for the tribe to kneel. Tissue paper packets represented rows of chairs for the elderly of the tribe whose backs were less able to handle the stress. A stack of Wang Wang denoted a podium and the god of the Tribe. Seh Hian took a chair to represent the podium, and stood on top of it like a god. The rest of us NYJCians kneeled in front of him, while Louis represented the elderly with a bent back and cough. The Village head thought that our wang wang was a gift and proceeded to take one. We all laughed at that action as Seh Hian frantically tried to stop him. After a couple of minutes of bowing to Seh Hian, and him repeatedly signaling to Louis to act like an elderly, we still could not get our point across that we wanted to build a community hall for the Shigatsens.
During facilitation, the true ideas were exposed. The Shigatsens's bin was the goddess of birth, by performing that dance, the village head would know which girl from the visitors. to pick to be wed to one of their people. We guessed it similarly too, though Ei Leen went a step further and suggested that it was to form ties and show that they were willing to work with us. They thought that our presentation was a Temple instead of a Hall. Couldn't blame them for that, it was close enough. This activity was meant to show us that communication was very important and disasters could happen when there was a language barrier and we should be prepared to face similar challenges in Interact Club. Wan Ling joined our group after the activity, warmly welcomed :). Yi Xin had a fever and was hence unable to turn up, so I still don't know what she is like.
The 3rd Activity was the Marshmallow Challenge, where we were given 18 minutes to build the tallest free-standing structure made up of spaghetti sticks, masking tape and a piece of string. This structure had to support a marshmallow. Ei Leen and I had similar ideas, a triangle base. However, building that was harder than we thought, given the fragility of the Spaghetti sticks. For the first 10 minutes, we were on our own, trying our own methods. After that, Seh Hian can managed a base of some sort and we worked on it from there with our remaining time. At the final minute, in the last 30 seconds, our structure snapped, causing the potential height of our marshmallow to be halved. When we returned to the AVA room, we saw the work of other groups and felt inferior. The winning team was Emerald with a height of 28 inches, or 60+ cm above the ground. This activity taught us that we all needed to work towards a common goal, everyone in the group had to know what the end product would look like in order to achieve success as a team.
After that, we had a proposal project. We were to design a booth for the Amitie Carnival on the 18th April. I'll be short on this. We suggested building a wheel of fortune. In order to spin the wheel, participants had to play 1 of 2 games, "Price is Right" and some throwing game which involved tossing of ping pong balls into the pockets of an Egg Carton. That one was not fully developed, but "Price is Right" was an absolute scam. People had to go through 3 levels, guessing the correct prices of each object. To spin the wheel, they had to get through all 3 levels consecutively, which is plain insane. Initial price to start is $2, to play again, $0.50. To continue from the last level, $1.50. Most of this came from our scamming manager, Ei Leen. To add insult to injury, the Wheel of Fortune would be tweaked such that the chances of winning the big prize was so small it was near impossible. Our proposal was eventually selected but the teachers requested that it be more attractive by being less scheming. Other groups ideas were interesting too, Foosball, Beat the Sludge and Luminous CS, Draw Something (real life edition) among some others.
After our proposal, was dinner, Dine in the Dark, so it's called. This was where our blindfolds came in. Everyone had to blindfold themselves, and we were going to eat dinner without seeing our food. I had done this before in Dialogue in the Dark, but it felt much cooler with friends. We were guided into a classroom, with obstacles along the way. At one point, I was leading the group. The VP told me to walk forward and that there were no more obstacles in front, then deliberately tapped my nose. The meal was Nasi Lemak. I had a hard time cutting up the fish cake and I never knew if it was on the spoon, but I really liked the experience. My Otah didn't seem to be long, however, it felt more rectangular.
With dinner finished, we moved on to the final activity at about 9:15pm. The Elderly Experience. We were to be in pairs, if our group was odd, then there would be a triplet. Using a string, tie one leg from each person together. I paired with Ei Leen, the other three guys formed the triplet, leaving the girls to form 2 more pairs. When we were told to walk to the Fitness corner, we started the slow and painful (for Ei Leen because she was not wearing socks) journey. Ben and Shi Yong found an awesome way to get around, single leg hopping. They sped past everyone like a boss with great coordination. I found it harder to work with Ei Leen as my foot was really big and I was trying really hard not to make it difficult for her but I think I worsened it in the process. Despite this, I pitied the Triplet more. Louis in the middle with Seh Hian and Eddie at his side like bodyguards. They coordinated by chanting "Left, Right" in Russian, taught by Eddie obviously. It was cool and funny. Ben and Shi Yong did pullups together on one bar. The Triplet tried, when they eventually arrived, but Louis jumped a little too late and erm... yeah.
So what we did here was Charades. Ei Leen was a real genius, she got most of them before the rest. From "Tiger Woods" to "USA" to "Pikachu I choose you", I was amazed by how she could interpret all of the actions. I only managed to get one, "Victoria's Secret" which led to questions about how I knew that. But really, it was because of Junn Wei and Joel who had mentioned to me before that the top Victoria's Secret models had wings. Trug Camp was on as well, and the girls were scaring each other at the top of their voices, at 9:40pm.
Second part of the challenge was a chopstick challenge. Using our non master-hand to pick up red beans or peanuts with our chopsticks, we were to bring the red beans or peanuts from one table to the other. If we dropped any along the way, restart. Red beans were worth 3 points and peanuts, 1. Only one pair was allowed to move at any time. The boys were eating the peanuts before the game started. This was a challenge alright, as I have trouble using chopsticks with my left hand alone, how was I supposed to do it with my right? I caused some trouble as I dropped quite a few of the red beans, so our pair could not contribute to the team. Ben and Shi Yong, with their ninja hop forwards and backwards technique, could deliver 2 beans within 5 seconds which was insanely quick. As a result, I think our loss was not too bad, considering that they were able to do that, and our triplet was handicapped. as one of them was terrible with chopsticks too. We lost 196 - 217, but a very interesting challenge nonetheless.
The final part of this Elderly Experience was the worst. It was about 10:20pm. We were supposed to search the stadium and the field for 5 objects, a newspaper, tennis ball, chopsticks, water bottle and lollipop. The catch was, in the dark, with no light whatsoever, since the group facilitators had conveniently forgotten to tell us to bring our torchlights earlier in the day. Ei Leen and I, we literally took a 400m stroll round the inner track without finding anything. In the end, the group facilitator in charge also forgot where he had placed the chopsticks. Crimson was so tired, she slept while we were doing this activity. It would have been a romantic walk round the field, but not under current circumstances. Ei Leen fell and scratched herself on the way back to the AVA room, for the umpteenth time today. Thank god it was the last. The whole Elderly Experience was to educate us that we needed patience when dealing with the disadvantaged, we also had to be understanding and put ourselves in their shoes.
We were given.... 40 minutes to bathe. VP said that we all had to be back in the room by 12am, causing us to scrap our plan to run 2.4km before showering. Louis and Seh Hian decided not to shower, while the rest of us still returned late. And if we boys returned late, I can't imagine what happened to the girls. But well, only the VP could transition into a military commander, so I guess the girls did not have any problems. I was unable to find the Saline solution needed to rinse my lenses, so I just wore it without cleaning. Shi Yong was all "Don't wear it in front of me!" while another guy was like "Woah, I take 20 to 30 minutes to wear it for one eye and you took 1 minute to put both in!" I only found out back at home that the bottle I had was multipurpose and could be used both ways. When I passed the classrooms with Ben on the third floor, we decided that we would have to call an envoy if we wanted to visit the toilet in the middle of the night, it was so dark and scary.
Snugging into my sleeping bag, I proceeded to sleep at 12:30. The lights flashed on at 12:48, just when I was about to enter my time traveling session. It was the Group Facilitators, checking if we had followed instructions. Yeah, the inspection was 48 minutes late. Finally managed to doze off after that.
Woke up at 5:30, stayed up till about 6:20, then my eye started to hurt and I hurried to the toilet to remove my lenses. Got back at about 6:40, then slacked until about 6:50, where we made our way down to the Parade Square. We were supposed to meet at 7:00am. After strength report by each group, it was found that 2 boys were still missing and it was already 7:03. So we were all thrown into pushup position by the VP as punishment. Shortly after, we had to do Physical training. The usual warm up stretches, followed by a 2 really really slow rounds of the track, not that I minded. With that done, Bee Hoon breakfast came next. Then, to do a service to our school, we all helped to empty the garbage bins around the school and take the garbage bags to the garbage dumps, to help ease the workload of the garbage collector of our school. I felt that it was a good service to call for and I thought that it should be done more often.
Next was.... I don't know what it's called, I think Genevieve said Circle of Life? What happened was, the 8 groups made 2 circles. We walked anti clockwise, then the Group Facilitators handed us objects that we were supposed to pass back while continuing our revolution. It started off small, a newspaper. Then more items came into the mix, books, water bottles, boxes and even a chair! We were only allowed to hold one item at a time but we had to continuously pass them to the person behind. We were told to treat each object as a piece of workload. Slowly, people were pulled out of the ring, causing the circle to become smaller and the workload tighter. I was eventually pulled out as well, told to go behind a wall and squat facing the wall, along with the other people who had been pulled out. Shortly after, we were led back to the Parade Square. We were posed with questions: Why were we pulled out? Did anyone wonder where we went to? Did anyone care about the people who were pulled out of the ring? One answer to the last question was "No, because we know they are in good hands." Creative, haha. The true message however, was that in life, people are going to be so busy, they lack the time to care about their loved ones, friends, family, the less fortunate, anyone. Therefore, at times, people can be insensitive and forget about each other. But, deal with it, know that it is human nature to forget when there are too many things. If we can, try to devote some time to everyone, no matter how busy we are.
The final game for the camp, was Capture the Flag. I personally felt that this was the most fun. Each team had 3 defenders and the rest were attackers. 4 teams were in the game at any time. Attackers carried sashes that they had to protect. If they lost the sash, they would lose a life. Each team was given 11 sashes, 5 tennis balls and 3 flag poles. When all the sashes were used up, they were out of the game. The tennis balls and flag poles were the objectives to capture, worth 10 and 20 points respectively. Attackers could attack other attackers by taking their sashes while defenders were only allowed to move within their territory. When my group was in, we were able to work together well and watch each others' back, making sure that no one got killed. Eddie and Seh Hian lost 3 lives unluckily, due to a really aggressive and strategic girl on the green team. She even managed to run in and grab one of our flags while our defenders were not watching. I met one particular girl who refused to back down even as I walked away from her. She seemed bent on killing me but never really succeeded. Throughout the game, the group facilitators also tried to steal our sashes, so we really had to beware of everyone. By the end of the game, my team had the most number of attackers remaining, with all of us still alive. No award for that, but we were pleased with ourselves.
To signify the end of the camp, we were given a feedback form which included a request to join the Exco. I applied for Treasurer or VP. My group was also branded with the title of "Most United" :). Every group got something, so it's not really that special, but I like the word "United", a lot. Therefore, I am happy that I met Opal and that I joined Interact for my CCA. Our proposal was also selected in the top 3, though it was requested that we be less scheming (we all looked at Ei Leen at this point).
Dismissed at about 12:15pm, Seh Hian, Vivien, Olivia and I, we went to NEX to have lunch at Burger King together. We exchanged some nonsense (mostly about BGR) and got to know each other a little bit better, pity we couldn't have the whole Opal there but I'm sure we will have a gathering some other time, and I will certainly look forward to that. :)
I had my Interact Camp for the past weekend. Arrived at 8am, first of my group. Went straight up to AVA Room, was asked what my Group Facilitator was. I told them I was in 'Opal'. The girl present then said "That's me, I'm Crimson!". And she knew my name. It suddenly came to me that yes, she had mentioned her name before. I felt really stupid then, for I had looked at the sms she sent, to find out her name. Totally overlooked it like a fool. So I went in, then after a short chat with her, she got called out and I found out that she was actually the President of the Interact Club. Woahhh, felt even worse after that, to not know who the President of my CCA was. At the same time, it was really really cool that I had the President for my Group Facilitator. Waited, and a guy named Eddie turned up. Did a short introduction of ourselves, then Ei Leen walked into the room! Asked me what my group was, I replied "Opal", came back "Shit". I thought she was in a different group, but turned out that she was with me again! Third coincidental meeting. Dance Partner, Law Talk and now this. We waited some more for the other members of our group. Crimson thought Louis was a girl, while Eddie and Ei Leen had thought that Crimson was a guy, and I thought that Ernestine was a guy. Haha, names can be so misleading. 4 guys 4 girls, 2 more girls were to join us sometime later. Of the 90 members in Interact Club, 69 were girls, 21 guys, so my group had a really high concentration of guys.
I cannot remember which came first, Ice Breaking or Lecture, but I think games were before lecture. We put our bags in our room (guys had 1 room, girls had 3), then went down to the Parade Square, where we engaged in Ice Breaking Games. One round of introduction, followed by Whacko (which was really ridiculous because the cirlce was so small with only 8 of us), then Human Bingo. I liked this one but it was not a good way of Interacting with others as everyone just wanted to get their papers signed. There were ridiculous statements such as "I have three or more siblings" and "I have done Bungee Jumping before". In our generation, 3 or more siblings is very rare and Bungee Jumping is not available in Singapore. That was a real gamble to put on the list. 2 Truths 1 Lie came afterwards, some really interesting facts about others, such as Eddie who had never eaten McChicken and could speak Russian. Louis's "I'm gay, I'm straight and I'm Bi" was mind-blowing for a while as we tried to piece together the possibilities. Eventually we concluded that "I'm gay" was a lie. Then the VP, who can change from an Interactor to a Military Commander in a flash, gave us one minute to run up from the Parade Square to the 5th floor, back to the AVA room.
Lecture. We were all given an exercise book, which was supposed to be our Interact journal, to record everything that we did in Interact Club for the next two years, from reflections to detailed accounts of events. We copied slides for about 45 minutes. I felt sleepy after all of that. At about 12pm, we were released for our first activity, "Do A Good Deed". We were to complete a good deed either as a group or in pairs, with evidence in the form of photographs taken by handphone cameras. We decided to do it as a group, but I didn't think that was a really good idea, since going round as a group of 9 offering to help would seem more intimidating than comforting. We first went to the Guard House, and supposedly brightened his day by singing him a song (which I don't know). Outside the MRT station, we presented a Wang Wang to a family with a child. Yes, 9 people needed to pass a present of blessing, that was very amusing. And the child was obviously frightened. Taking a stroll through the HDB block, we were first rejected by a Provision Shop who repeatedly declined our offer to sing (which I was happy for). Dejected, we found ourselves at the Prata Shop next, where other Interactors were running around, looking for Good Deeds to complete. We were rejected once more by a man who was moving goods from a van when we offered to lend a hand. Walking further away from the school, we met with a mother and child. The child was clearly terrified as he tried to hide from us and hesitated to take the Wang Wang, but the mother coaxed him to accept it and we sang him "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (feeling like a fool). Olivia and I, we then decided to split up and look for someone else as a pair. After a failed attempt with an elderly woman carrying some bags (she worked in NYJC), we regrouped and found out that the rest had not much success either. Making another round around the Hawker Centre, our last "Good Deed" was a father and daughter pair, which we blessed once more with Wang Wang. That concluded our "Do a Good Deed" activity, where we failed to achieve our goal of "meeting the people's needs" since no one really needed our help.
Once back at the AVA Room at 12:50, we did our Facilitation, or Reflection, in more common terms. I don't know how time passed, but I know we had lunch at around 1:45, until 2:25. I forgot what happened next, more lecture, I think. The next major activity I remember was "Together we Build". Our 8 groups were split into 4 and 4. The first 4 had a briefing, then our set had ours. We were NYJCians going to Tibet to help the Shigatse Tribe build a Community Hall. Neither side could speak the other's language, save for a translator and sign language. There was a teacher present while the rest of us took the role of students. We were given until 4:10 to collect materials needed to construct the Community Hall, but what we did was a miniature version of the hall, represented by a table and several other small objects. When the time started, we found out that the first 4 groups were the Shigatsens and they too, had been given a task. There was a twist. Our translator had contracted a sore throat and hence could not speak. It was now a test of our sign and body language. The Village Head told our Translator to follow the actions of the tribe.
The Shigatsens formed a circle round a rubbish bin (representing a god). Soon after, they started a bizarre dance round the bin, waving their hands to and fro, while producing monkey noises (hahahaha). Bewildered but left with no choice, We NYJCians had to follow their "ritual", with the Village Head flicking "holy water" in our faces. The Village Head pulled one of the Shigatsens out of the circle and placed him next to the bin, then picked Ei Leen out as well. We watched in amazement as he tied the shoelaces of both people together so that they were now linked. Then they started to walk round the Drum. We followed, still confused. Halfway through, the Shigatsens made a sudden sharp turn on us. Taking that as a sign of hostility, the NYJCians ran all the way back to the original location, closely followed by the Shigatsens. It was now our turn to present. We set up our mini representation of the hall. A table, a towel underneath meant to represent a carpet for the tribe to kneel. Tissue paper packets represented rows of chairs for the elderly of the tribe whose backs were less able to handle the stress. A stack of Wang Wang denoted a podium and the god of the Tribe. Seh Hian took a chair to represent the podium, and stood on top of it like a god. The rest of us NYJCians kneeled in front of him, while Louis represented the elderly with a bent back and cough. The Village head thought that our wang wang was a gift and proceeded to take one. We all laughed at that action as Seh Hian frantically tried to stop him. After a couple of minutes of bowing to Seh Hian, and him repeatedly signaling to Louis to act like an elderly, we still could not get our point across that we wanted to build a community hall for the Shigatsens.
During facilitation, the true ideas were exposed. The Shigatsens's bin was the goddess of birth, by performing that dance, the village head would know which girl from the visitors. to pick to be wed to one of their people. We guessed it similarly too, though Ei Leen went a step further and suggested that it was to form ties and show that they were willing to work with us. They thought that our presentation was a Temple instead of a Hall. Couldn't blame them for that, it was close enough. This activity was meant to show us that communication was very important and disasters could happen when there was a language barrier and we should be prepared to face similar challenges in Interact Club. Wan Ling joined our group after the activity, warmly welcomed :). Yi Xin had a fever and was hence unable to turn up, so I still don't know what she is like.
The 3rd Activity was the Marshmallow Challenge, where we were given 18 minutes to build the tallest free-standing structure made up of spaghetti sticks, masking tape and a piece of string. This structure had to support a marshmallow. Ei Leen and I had similar ideas, a triangle base. However, building that was harder than we thought, given the fragility of the Spaghetti sticks. For the first 10 minutes, we were on our own, trying our own methods. After that, Seh Hian can managed a base of some sort and we worked on it from there with our remaining time. At the final minute, in the last 30 seconds, our structure snapped, causing the potential height of our marshmallow to be halved. When we returned to the AVA room, we saw the work of other groups and felt inferior. The winning team was Emerald with a height of 28 inches, or 60+ cm above the ground. This activity taught us that we all needed to work towards a common goal, everyone in the group had to know what the end product would look like in order to achieve success as a team.
After that, we had a proposal project. We were to design a booth for the Amitie Carnival on the 18th April. I'll be short on this. We suggested building a wheel of fortune. In order to spin the wheel, participants had to play 1 of 2 games, "Price is Right" and some throwing game which involved tossing of ping pong balls into the pockets of an Egg Carton. That one was not fully developed, but "Price is Right" was an absolute scam. People had to go through 3 levels, guessing the correct prices of each object. To spin the wheel, they had to get through all 3 levels consecutively, which is plain insane. Initial price to start is $2, to play again, $0.50. To continue from the last level, $1.50. Most of this came from our scamming manager, Ei Leen. To add insult to injury, the Wheel of Fortune would be tweaked such that the chances of winning the big prize was so small it was near impossible. Our proposal was eventually selected but the teachers requested that it be more attractive by being less scheming. Other groups ideas were interesting too, Foosball, Beat the Sludge and Luminous CS, Draw Something (real life edition) among some others.
After our proposal, was dinner, Dine in the Dark, so it's called. This was where our blindfolds came in. Everyone had to blindfold themselves, and we were going to eat dinner without seeing our food. I had done this before in Dialogue in the Dark, but it felt much cooler with friends. We were guided into a classroom, with obstacles along the way. At one point, I was leading the group. The VP told me to walk forward and that there were no more obstacles in front, then deliberately tapped my nose. The meal was Nasi Lemak. I had a hard time cutting up the fish cake and I never knew if it was on the spoon, but I really liked the experience. My Otah didn't seem to be long, however, it felt more rectangular.
With dinner finished, we moved on to the final activity at about 9:15pm. The Elderly Experience. We were to be in pairs, if our group was odd, then there would be a triplet. Using a string, tie one leg from each person together. I paired with Ei Leen, the other three guys formed the triplet, leaving the girls to form 2 more pairs. When we were told to walk to the Fitness corner, we started the slow and painful (for Ei Leen because she was not wearing socks) journey. Ben and Shi Yong found an awesome way to get around, single leg hopping. They sped past everyone like a boss with great coordination. I found it harder to work with Ei Leen as my foot was really big and I was trying really hard not to make it difficult for her but I think I worsened it in the process. Despite this, I pitied the Triplet more. Louis in the middle with Seh Hian and Eddie at his side like bodyguards. They coordinated by chanting "Left, Right" in Russian, taught by Eddie obviously. It was cool and funny. Ben and Shi Yong did pullups together on one bar. The Triplet tried, when they eventually arrived, but Louis jumped a little too late and erm... yeah.
So what we did here was Charades. Ei Leen was a real genius, she got most of them before the rest. From "Tiger Woods" to "USA" to "Pikachu I choose you", I was amazed by how she could interpret all of the actions. I only managed to get one, "Victoria's Secret" which led to questions about how I knew that. But really, it was because of Junn Wei and Joel who had mentioned to me before that the top Victoria's Secret models had wings. Trug Camp was on as well, and the girls were scaring each other at the top of their voices, at 9:40pm.
Second part of the challenge was a chopstick challenge. Using our non master-hand to pick up red beans or peanuts with our chopsticks, we were to bring the red beans or peanuts from one table to the other. If we dropped any along the way, restart. Red beans were worth 3 points and peanuts, 1. Only one pair was allowed to move at any time. The boys were eating the peanuts before the game started. This was a challenge alright, as I have trouble using chopsticks with my left hand alone, how was I supposed to do it with my right? I caused some trouble as I dropped quite a few of the red beans, so our pair could not contribute to the team. Ben and Shi Yong, with their ninja hop forwards and backwards technique, could deliver 2 beans within 5 seconds which was insanely quick. As a result, I think our loss was not too bad, considering that they were able to do that, and our triplet was handicapped. as one of them was terrible with chopsticks too. We lost 196 - 217, but a very interesting challenge nonetheless.
The final part of this Elderly Experience was the worst. It was about 10:20pm. We were supposed to search the stadium and the field for 5 objects, a newspaper, tennis ball, chopsticks, water bottle and lollipop. The catch was, in the dark, with no light whatsoever, since the group facilitators had conveniently forgotten to tell us to bring our torchlights earlier in the day. Ei Leen and I, we literally took a 400m stroll round the inner track without finding anything. In the end, the group facilitator in charge also forgot where he had placed the chopsticks. Crimson was so tired, she slept while we were doing this activity. It would have been a romantic walk round the field, but not under current circumstances. Ei Leen fell and scratched herself on the way back to the AVA room, for the umpteenth time today. Thank god it was the last. The whole Elderly Experience was to educate us that we needed patience when dealing with the disadvantaged, we also had to be understanding and put ourselves in their shoes.
We were given.... 40 minutes to bathe. VP said that we all had to be back in the room by 12am, causing us to scrap our plan to run 2.4km before showering. Louis and Seh Hian decided not to shower, while the rest of us still returned late. And if we boys returned late, I can't imagine what happened to the girls. But well, only the VP could transition into a military commander, so I guess the girls did not have any problems. I was unable to find the Saline solution needed to rinse my lenses, so I just wore it without cleaning. Shi Yong was all "Don't wear it in front of me!" while another guy was like "Woah, I take 20 to 30 minutes to wear it for one eye and you took 1 minute to put both in!" I only found out back at home that the bottle I had was multipurpose and could be used both ways. When I passed the classrooms with Ben on the third floor, we decided that we would have to call an envoy if we wanted to visit the toilet in the middle of the night, it was so dark and scary.
Snugging into my sleeping bag, I proceeded to sleep at 12:30. The lights flashed on at 12:48, just when I was about to enter my time traveling session. It was the Group Facilitators, checking if we had followed instructions. Yeah, the inspection was 48 minutes late. Finally managed to doze off after that.
Woke up at 5:30, stayed up till about 6:20, then my eye started to hurt and I hurried to the toilet to remove my lenses. Got back at about 6:40, then slacked until about 6:50, where we made our way down to the Parade Square. We were supposed to meet at 7:00am. After strength report by each group, it was found that 2 boys were still missing and it was already 7:03. So we were all thrown into pushup position by the VP as punishment. Shortly after, we had to do Physical training. The usual warm up stretches, followed by a 2 really really slow rounds of the track, not that I minded. With that done, Bee Hoon breakfast came next. Then, to do a service to our school, we all helped to empty the garbage bins around the school and take the garbage bags to the garbage dumps, to help ease the workload of the garbage collector of our school. I felt that it was a good service to call for and I thought that it should be done more often.
Next was.... I don't know what it's called, I think Genevieve said Circle of Life? What happened was, the 8 groups made 2 circles. We walked anti clockwise, then the Group Facilitators handed us objects that we were supposed to pass back while continuing our revolution. It started off small, a newspaper. Then more items came into the mix, books, water bottles, boxes and even a chair! We were only allowed to hold one item at a time but we had to continuously pass them to the person behind. We were told to treat each object as a piece of workload. Slowly, people were pulled out of the ring, causing the circle to become smaller and the workload tighter. I was eventually pulled out as well, told to go behind a wall and squat facing the wall, along with the other people who had been pulled out. Shortly after, we were led back to the Parade Square. We were posed with questions: Why were we pulled out? Did anyone wonder where we went to? Did anyone care about the people who were pulled out of the ring? One answer to the last question was "No, because we know they are in good hands." Creative, haha. The true message however, was that in life, people are going to be so busy, they lack the time to care about their loved ones, friends, family, the less fortunate, anyone. Therefore, at times, people can be insensitive and forget about each other. But, deal with it, know that it is human nature to forget when there are too many things. If we can, try to devote some time to everyone, no matter how busy we are.
The final game for the camp, was Capture the Flag. I personally felt that this was the most fun. Each team had 3 defenders and the rest were attackers. 4 teams were in the game at any time. Attackers carried sashes that they had to protect. If they lost the sash, they would lose a life. Each team was given 11 sashes, 5 tennis balls and 3 flag poles. When all the sashes were used up, they were out of the game. The tennis balls and flag poles were the objectives to capture, worth 10 and 20 points respectively. Attackers could attack other attackers by taking their sashes while defenders were only allowed to move within their territory. When my group was in, we were able to work together well and watch each others' back, making sure that no one got killed. Eddie and Seh Hian lost 3 lives unluckily, due to a really aggressive and strategic girl on the green team. She even managed to run in and grab one of our flags while our defenders were not watching. I met one particular girl who refused to back down even as I walked away from her. She seemed bent on killing me but never really succeeded. Throughout the game, the group facilitators also tried to steal our sashes, so we really had to beware of everyone. By the end of the game, my team had the most number of attackers remaining, with all of us still alive. No award for that, but we were pleased with ourselves.
To signify the end of the camp, we were given a feedback form which included a request to join the Exco. I applied for Treasurer or VP. My group was also branded with the title of "Most United" :). Every group got something, so it's not really that special, but I like the word "United", a lot. Therefore, I am happy that I met Opal and that I joined Interact for my CCA. Our proposal was also selected in the top 3, though it was requested that we be less scheming (we all looked at Ei Leen at this point).
Dismissed at about 12:15pm, Seh Hian, Vivien, Olivia and I, we went to NEX to have lunch at Burger King together. We exchanged some nonsense (mostly about BGR) and got to know each other a little bit better, pity we couldn't have the whole Opal there but I'm sure we will have a gathering some other time, and I will certainly look forward to that. :)
Friday, 16 December 2011
Back after so long, the big exam is over, but I did not quite get the feeling I thought I would have. I imagined myself being immensely excited about not having to look at books at all for 2 months and be at my liberty to do whatever I liked. However, that did not appear to happen and all I felt was a mere "It's over" in my head. I am happy, but not any happier than the same period in the previous years. Maybe it's because only after the exams did I realize that I actually had a shorter holiday period than usual. Whatever the case, I am glad that I get to play at all. I owe my parents so much.
A couple of days ago, 29 November, my class had 1 night Chalet, so I'll just go through it in order. I arrived at Pasir Ris Station at 1.40pm. Having never been there before, I assumed that Pasir Ris and Downtown East were just about the same thing. So while we were told to meet at Macdonalds in Downtown East, I stupidly headed for Pasir Ris Macdonalds. That didn't matter though, because no one kept their word and met at Downtown East. We were to head straight to the Chalet. In the unfamiliar region, I was absolutely unsure of where to go. Ming Xuan told me to take bus 354 and drop off one stop later, which I did. Then I checked Google Maps and went in the direction the map plotted. I walked on and on until I passed another bus stop which 354 would have gone to, but the Chalet was nowhere in sight. At that point, I was very annoyed because there was not a single classmate around. Ming Xuan called me again and requested that I head back to the first bus stop, at Downtown East Macdonalds, after which I got frustrated. It was already 2.10pm, I had been there walking for a whole half hour. I headed back, saw a Macdonalds sign in the middle of the car park labelled "24-hours". Making a 360˚ turn, I saw NO Macdonalds at all. Then I picked a random direction and walked ahead. After a while, it came to me that Macdonalds could not be that way. Disheartened and angered, I stopped to ask a cleaner if he knew where Macdonalds was. He pointed me in the opposite direction. I went into the building, walked on a bit more, still NO MACDONALDS AT ALL. Ming Xuan called me once more, and after that, finally found me. He led me to the Chalet. Aggravated, I asked him where the hell Macdonalds was and when I finally saw it, I thought in my head "Which stupid person put the Macdonalds sign outside but hid the actual restaurant deep within?" A 5 minute walk to the Chalet brought me to the rest of my class, about 12 people crammed into a small room with 2 beds, at long last.
Shortly after, Nicholas, Samuel, Apollos, Waise, Zhi Ming, Xu Kai, Darrin and I made our way to Wild Wild Wet. And then.... we waited. For Samuel's father, who had some way to get a discount for the tickets which would bring down the price from $16 to just $9. Quite a bargain, worth a 20 minute wait. I told Ming Xuan to take my camera and start spamming photos in my absence. Once we got past the entrance barrier, we went to deposit all our stuff in the locker. Everyone else was wearing slippers, only I wore shoes because I don't have slippers to begin with. To be honest, Wild Wild Wet isn't fun. 4 rides and only one which could scare me enough, but not long enough. The Lazy River was ok, and the waves took too long to wait for. So I'll just skip the Wild Wild Wet part. Only interesting incidents were Waise and Apollos losing their glasses in the Lazy River. We left the pools at 5.15 and showered quickly. Then we left and headed back to the Chalet. Along the way, we met Dingsen who told us that Ms Tan had arrived. So we went to "ambush" Ms Tan outside Mcdonalds and brought her back to the Chalet, where the barbecue team had started on their job.
The Barbecue took a really long time to start, there were 3 other groups of people near us who were also barbecuing and I believe they all did a better job than us. Apollos, Alex, Gerard and some others were watching the Mama awards in the Chalet. I think that K-Pop is stupid because the singers all rely on looking good which their fans are only interested in. They don't even understand what the K-Pop bands are singing. So anyway, I joined the lazers and just went to watch 神探狄仁杰. I was so immersed in it that I didn't notice Mr Wu's arrival. First thing to be cooked was a lot of Fried Rice, and Satay. When Zhi Ming took the role of fanning the barbecue pit, he accidentally flipped over several satay sticks when the styrofoam piece used to fan hit the grill. And we had plastic spoons with no big ladle or something to scoop large amounts of rice, so instead of scooping one spoonful onto a plate and then eating one spoonful from the plate, I took spoonfuls of rice directly. Just 10 mouthfuls of rice made my dinner.
At about 7.50pm, the bike gang went to rent the bicycles. A 20 minute walk, at night. We were planning to do midnight cycling. When we got there, I paid for everyone first. 10 bikes, for a total of $120. Then Gerard and Dingsen were added to the gang and added another couple of bikes. Darrin and Samuel dragged two bikes each back while the rest of us returned to the Chalet swiftly. We then locked up the bikes outside the room to be used later. I was entrusted with one of the keys tied to 3 bikes, Nicholas had one and so did Zhi Ming and Waise. Ms Leng had arrived and so had Ms Yeo. Mr Wu and Ms Yeo were both helping out with the barbecuing of what seemed like 50 Chicken Drumsticks which were being piled faster than they were being drained, there were just so many! Satay sticks had increased in numbers considerably while we were gone but they were quickly taken. I wanted coke but the two litres that had been brought to the chalet were already gone, so I went to the back and got one can from the vending machine conveniently placed there.
Nothing much happened until all the teachers left at 10.30pm. Hong Fu, Ming Yao, Ashley, Kaiser and Brendan had left as they were not staying overnight, leaving 14 of us in the Chalet. I checked my phone to receive an sms. That was when I realized that the key in my possession had gone missing. I did a quick search by myself before telling Nicholas that it had been misplaced. Soon after, all who remained for the night conducted a search for the lost key. They got me to tell them all the locations I had been in the past couple of hours. Fortunately, I had been in the barbecue pit for most of the time. The only other areas I went to were the vending machine and the corridor. I flipped my bag and pockets inside out at least 5 times each. We checked the beds that Kai Xun and Alex were sleeping on, bed sheets and mattress. No success in finding the key. I also said that there was no way the key could drop out of my pocket without my phone dropping out first since the phone was larger and heavier. Given the shallow pockets of my pants, things could drop when I crouched, which I did only once, when Waise was putting a plaster on his foot. And who wouldn't notice a dropped phone straightaway? I was feeling like an idiot for losing the key as the whole class excluding Alex and Kai Xun helped me search for the key. Even jokers like Apollos, Samuel and Gerard, whom I had never thought would take things seriously, participated in the hunt. They used phone torches to check the drains and the grass around the areas I had been in. Ming Xuan and Waise kept telling me not to worry and that we would definitely be able to find the key. After a 15 minute search, while I was still at the lower floor recollecting possible areas in which I could have lost the key, I heard a shout from upstairs saying that the key had been found. My heart lifted immediately as I rushed upstairs. Samuel had found out under his bag. Till now, I have no clue how it ended up there, but what mattered was that it had been found. I had long concluded that the key could not be up in the room because Nicholas and I had been counting money there when the key was last seen. I had taken it and if I hadn't, Nicholas would have definitely seen it. It was funny because Samuel had suggested that everyone checked their bags and pockets several times, and in the end it was found under HIS bag. After receiving the key back from Waise, I blamed myself for being such a careless person and told them that I could not be trusted with the key, but Waise said that everyone made mistakes and not to worry too much. He also said that it had given them something to do. 11pm, as my classmates played cards on the floor, I sat thinking about the incident.
While the search was ongoing, I saw how everyone was putting in their best effort to recover the missing key, even people whom I thought would never help me. That was when I felt that I belonged to my class. After finding the key and knowing that the class did not blame me for it at all, I felt even more touched. I felt so fortunate, so blessed by God that I had been placed in this class. I will never regret attending this chalet. Thank you Lord.
So after playing cards until about midnight, our dozen bikers, namely Nicholas, Samuel, Dingsen, Gerard, Waise, Darrin, Xu Kai, Apollos, Zhi Ming, Kai Xun, Keefe and myself, readied up for our midnight ride. Ming Xuan could not cycle and was to be left behind with our sleeping Alex. I lent Ming Xuan my phone to entertain him while we were gone. I teased him to go and look for the girls opposite if he was scared. So then we left for our first trip.
Nicholas suggested that each of us found a partner to pair with, whose safety we would be responsible for. It was an excellent idea, I must say. I chose... Dingsen. Starting with a round about Pasir Ris park, we warmed up and got used to the bicycles. I called for regular head counts while Nicholas led the group. After a while, Waise said that he would take the back cyclist and watch out for any missing souls or if they were lagging too far behind, so I need not worry about getting separated. Waise reported that Apollos took 5 seconds to get started cycling after he got up from a crash, which I later found to be really true and incredible.
We headed out of Pasir Ris Park onto the road, Pasir Ris Drive. We cycled into HDB Blocks, weaving in and out of close gaps. I didn't know where we eneded up but Nicholas somehow knew the way and managed to guide us back. We made a whole big round, ending up back outside Wild Wild Wet. We stopped by McDonalds to ask for water, something I didn't know they provided. Once back at Pasir Ris Park, we could not decide whether we wanted to go to East Coast Park or to Tampines, loitering in the area like a group of gangsters. We finally decided that we would return to the Chalet and decide on where to go next, since no matter what we chose, we would have to go past the Chalet. Before heading back, the whole lot of us stormed into Cheers at 2am to get drinks. I just took Dingsen's wallet and pulled out a $10 note from there to pay for both our drinks, because I had left my wallet with Ming Xuan. I still owe him $5.70 as of now, I forgot to pay him back.
Returning at 2am, I set foot back onto the floor of the Chalet and found Ming Xuan working out.... at 2am in the morning! Nothing better to do huh. With one member missing because Nicholas went out somewhere to visit his friend or something, the rest of us decided to play with poker cards until he came back. I didn't join in, because the forfeit involved eating 1 of the 30+ Chicken Wings and Drumsticks, which I don't like because I hate getting my hands oily. But it was a good way of cleaning up the immense pile of Chicken food on the aluminium foil, courtesy of Mr Wu's and Ms Yeo's cooking. Nothing much else happened, except that we were all tired and Waise said that now we were comfortable back at the chalet, he was ready to bet that we would not go out again. I went against that.
At 3am, or rather, 2.50, Nicholas finally returned, so I immediately called for another run at the bicycle, arguing with everyone's point that to make the overnight renting worth, we needed to ride at least 4 hours. And so, at 3am, I won the bet with Waise and we headed out again. It was painful to get back up though since we had exercised earlier and lost all momentum then. Buttocks and legs aching, we all revived our spirits and headed out once more. I do not remember exactly where we went, but we had to go to Pasir Ris park again and take another exit, through an overhead bridge. The bridge had a sign specifically targeted at Cyclists, that bicycles were not to be ridden on the overpass. Most of us ignored that until we were at the top, over the main road where we could be seen. Dingsen saw the $1000 fine and hastily got off. Once we were able to go downhill at the other side of the bridge, we let the bikes roll us down. I got to see Apollos crash during this trip and yes, he was terrible. He was moving at walking speed and he successfully hit a lamppost! It was incredible that something so thin could actually be of great threat to him. Anyway, we had to cross some wooden bridge where a couple stood. It was 3.30 then. When we came back at 4.30, they were still there. There was also this part where I almost crashed into a group of black people because I did not see them. That was not racist but for the first time in my life, the joke that black people could not be seen in the dark became reality.
Nicholas led the group to Sunway Park in Tampines, which we swept past and headed to the interchange for Macdonalds, cycling freely on the main road because there were barely any cars around. We cycled into the mall, and got caught by a guard who told us that we were not allowed to do that. It was funny because when Nicholas saw him, he got off quickly and started acting like he had been pushing his bike all along. The guard was an old man, and riding a bike himself. Most rules have exceptions, I guess. Mcdonalds was closed at the mall, so we went round the interchange to find another one which was open. And once again, we headed in as a whole group, asking for water. They must have been delighted that they were going to get 14 customers at 4am, then became upset when they found out that they were not going to do any business at all after hearing our requests. After the short break, we agreed that we had made the bikes worth overnight and started our return journey. Gerard and Darrin decided to race along this long stretch of road on the way back, so I joined in. I was utterly bewildered when Gerard overtook me so swiftly after I rode past him 10 seconds earlier. He continued forward until both him and Darrin were out of sight. I was shocked because Gerard has a small physique and he still had so much energy in his legs after all the cycling we had done. He would definitely have gotten a fine if speed limits were imposed on cyclists.
We rode back the same way we came, or somewhat the same. Back at Pasir Ris Park, I did another head count. After 11 including myself, I turned my head back and saw nothing. I started to get worried but I was sure they would be ok because Waise was behind. I was more worried about who the third guy was because I knew Waise and Zhi Ming were at the back. And I was certain that I had made no mistakes in my counting, 14 isn't that big a number. So after a 1 minute wait which is really long considering the speed of bicycles, three silhouettes showed up at the back. The mystery figure was Keefe, who was tired out. I was relieved once more and we headed back.
5am in the morning, I decided that I wanted to take MacDonald's breakfast. No one wanted to accompany me, so alone, I went down to MacDonald's and got myself an Egg McMuffin and Hashbrown. It was the best breakfast yet, because the McMuffin had been freshly made with hot cheese and the Hashbrown was so crisp and crunchy. I originally ordered coke, then I wondered why I would drink coke in the morning. I thought back to last year when I used to eat McDonald's on Sundays before trainings, and I remembered that I had Orange Juice back then. So I had to change the order to Orange Juice. The lady told me that I had to "add forty" but I heard "$8.40", from $5+ with coke so I was really surprised but didn't say anything. McDonalds had always raised their prices without warning. So I forked out another 3 dollars and she repeated to "add forty cents". Really, can't they speak properly and not in shortcuts? Well, I was happy that I didn't have to add 3 bucks for an Orange Juice, so I wasn't that annoyed.
Once back at the Chalet, I started to feel tired myself, but having made it to 5am, sleeping again only to wake up at 8 or 9 wouldn't get me sufficient rest. The double bed provided by the Chalet now contained 6 people, with Alex still sleeping since the day before. The rest of us continued to play cards and do random stuff. We all took turns to bathe in the single bathroom. The chalet was small because it was made for a family of 4. I myself laid on one of the steps of the staircase and watched them. At 7am, I somehow managed to get 15 minutes of peace, alone, and I dozed off. Just 15 minutes, but it felt really good. 7.30, people were talking about wanting to see the Sun rise, so they did. Gerard and I lost sight of them and we thought they would go to the beach since that was the most likely place. But the beach faced North. We then realized that they had been at the Swimming Pool at the Chalet, which I did not know existed. Well, they didn't managed to see it come up over the horizon either, from that angle. So we took the sunbathing chairs for our own use and took a short nap there, about 10 minutes.
At about 8am or so, we woke everyone up because we needed to start clearing up the Barbecue Pit and start cleaning up the place. With people like Apollos and Gerard around, litter in the Chalet was inevitable. Together, we all cleaned up the place. Bees and flies swarmed the rubbish bin outside, where about 8 bags of rubbish by people in the adjacent chalets were placed. All 4 chalets had done Barbecue the night before, so naturally, there would be large amounts of disposables. I left at about 8.50, before the rest of my class, because I was so tired. I wanted to get home and sleep as soon as possible, after 20+ hours awake. I got a ride home, reaching at 10.30, the time that we were supposed to check out of the chalet at. That concludes my 2-day Class Chalet 2011, and I will say it was really fun. I would like to do it again in the future if possible, but that will be decided by fate.
A couple of days ago, 29 November, my class had 1 night Chalet, so I'll just go through it in order. I arrived at Pasir Ris Station at 1.40pm. Having never been there before, I assumed that Pasir Ris and Downtown East were just about the same thing. So while we were told to meet at Macdonalds in Downtown East, I stupidly headed for Pasir Ris Macdonalds. That didn't matter though, because no one kept their word and met at Downtown East. We were to head straight to the Chalet. In the unfamiliar region, I was absolutely unsure of where to go. Ming Xuan told me to take bus 354 and drop off one stop later, which I did. Then I checked Google Maps and went in the direction the map plotted. I walked on and on until I passed another bus stop which 354 would have gone to, but the Chalet was nowhere in sight. At that point, I was very annoyed because there was not a single classmate around. Ming Xuan called me again and requested that I head back to the first bus stop, at Downtown East Macdonalds, after which I got frustrated. It was already 2.10pm, I had been there walking for a whole half hour. I headed back, saw a Macdonalds sign in the middle of the car park labelled "24-hours". Making a 360˚ turn, I saw NO Macdonalds at all. Then I picked a random direction and walked ahead. After a while, it came to me that Macdonalds could not be that way. Disheartened and angered, I stopped to ask a cleaner if he knew where Macdonalds was. He pointed me in the opposite direction. I went into the building, walked on a bit more, still NO MACDONALDS AT ALL. Ming Xuan called me once more, and after that, finally found me. He led me to the Chalet. Aggravated, I asked him where the hell Macdonalds was and when I finally saw it, I thought in my head "Which stupid person put the Macdonalds sign outside but hid the actual restaurant deep within?" A 5 minute walk to the Chalet brought me to the rest of my class, about 12 people crammed into a small room with 2 beds, at long last.
Shortly after, Nicholas, Samuel, Apollos, Waise, Zhi Ming, Xu Kai, Darrin and I made our way to Wild Wild Wet. And then.... we waited. For Samuel's father, who had some way to get a discount for the tickets which would bring down the price from $16 to just $9. Quite a bargain, worth a 20 minute wait. I told Ming Xuan to take my camera and start spamming photos in my absence. Once we got past the entrance barrier, we went to deposit all our stuff in the locker. Everyone else was wearing slippers, only I wore shoes because I don't have slippers to begin with. To be honest, Wild Wild Wet isn't fun. 4 rides and only one which could scare me enough, but not long enough. The Lazy River was ok, and the waves took too long to wait for. So I'll just skip the Wild Wild Wet part. Only interesting incidents were Waise and Apollos losing their glasses in the Lazy River. We left the pools at 5.15 and showered quickly. Then we left and headed back to the Chalet. Along the way, we met Dingsen who told us that Ms Tan had arrived. So we went to "ambush" Ms Tan outside Mcdonalds and brought her back to the Chalet, where the barbecue team had started on their job.
The Barbecue took a really long time to start, there were 3 other groups of people near us who were also barbecuing and I believe they all did a better job than us. Apollos, Alex, Gerard and some others were watching the Mama awards in the Chalet. I think that K-Pop is stupid because the singers all rely on looking good which their fans are only interested in. They don't even understand what the K-Pop bands are singing. So anyway, I joined the lazers and just went to watch 神探狄仁杰. I was so immersed in it that I didn't notice Mr Wu's arrival. First thing to be cooked was a lot of Fried Rice, and Satay. When Zhi Ming took the role of fanning the barbecue pit, he accidentally flipped over several satay sticks when the styrofoam piece used to fan hit the grill. And we had plastic spoons with no big ladle or something to scoop large amounts of rice, so instead of scooping one spoonful onto a plate and then eating one spoonful from the plate, I took spoonfuls of rice directly. Just 10 mouthfuls of rice made my dinner.
At about 7.50pm, the bike gang went to rent the bicycles. A 20 minute walk, at night. We were planning to do midnight cycling. When we got there, I paid for everyone first. 10 bikes, for a total of $120. Then Gerard and Dingsen were added to the gang and added another couple of bikes. Darrin and Samuel dragged two bikes each back while the rest of us returned to the Chalet swiftly. We then locked up the bikes outside the room to be used later. I was entrusted with one of the keys tied to 3 bikes, Nicholas had one and so did Zhi Ming and Waise. Ms Leng had arrived and so had Ms Yeo. Mr Wu and Ms Yeo were both helping out with the barbecuing of what seemed like 50 Chicken Drumsticks which were being piled faster than they were being drained, there were just so many! Satay sticks had increased in numbers considerably while we were gone but they were quickly taken. I wanted coke but the two litres that had been brought to the chalet were already gone, so I went to the back and got one can from the vending machine conveniently placed there.
Nothing much happened until all the teachers left at 10.30pm. Hong Fu, Ming Yao, Ashley, Kaiser and Brendan had left as they were not staying overnight, leaving 14 of us in the Chalet. I checked my phone to receive an sms. That was when I realized that the key in my possession had gone missing. I did a quick search by myself before telling Nicholas that it had been misplaced. Soon after, all who remained for the night conducted a search for the lost key. They got me to tell them all the locations I had been in the past couple of hours. Fortunately, I had been in the barbecue pit for most of the time. The only other areas I went to were the vending machine and the corridor. I flipped my bag and pockets inside out at least 5 times each. We checked the beds that Kai Xun and Alex were sleeping on, bed sheets and mattress. No success in finding the key. I also said that there was no way the key could drop out of my pocket without my phone dropping out first since the phone was larger and heavier. Given the shallow pockets of my pants, things could drop when I crouched, which I did only once, when Waise was putting a plaster on his foot. And who wouldn't notice a dropped phone straightaway? I was feeling like an idiot for losing the key as the whole class excluding Alex and Kai Xun helped me search for the key. Even jokers like Apollos, Samuel and Gerard, whom I had never thought would take things seriously, participated in the hunt. They used phone torches to check the drains and the grass around the areas I had been in. Ming Xuan and Waise kept telling me not to worry and that we would definitely be able to find the key. After a 15 minute search, while I was still at the lower floor recollecting possible areas in which I could have lost the key, I heard a shout from upstairs saying that the key had been found. My heart lifted immediately as I rushed upstairs. Samuel had found out under his bag. Till now, I have no clue how it ended up there, but what mattered was that it had been found. I had long concluded that the key could not be up in the room because Nicholas and I had been counting money there when the key was last seen. I had taken it and if I hadn't, Nicholas would have definitely seen it. It was funny because Samuel had suggested that everyone checked their bags and pockets several times, and in the end it was found under HIS bag. After receiving the key back from Waise, I blamed myself for being such a careless person and told them that I could not be trusted with the key, but Waise said that everyone made mistakes and not to worry too much. He also said that it had given them something to do. 11pm, as my classmates played cards on the floor, I sat thinking about the incident.
While the search was ongoing, I saw how everyone was putting in their best effort to recover the missing key, even people whom I thought would never help me. That was when I felt that I belonged to my class. After finding the key and knowing that the class did not blame me for it at all, I felt even more touched. I felt so fortunate, so blessed by God that I had been placed in this class. I will never regret attending this chalet. Thank you Lord.
So after playing cards until about midnight, our dozen bikers, namely Nicholas, Samuel, Dingsen, Gerard, Waise, Darrin, Xu Kai, Apollos, Zhi Ming, Kai Xun, Keefe and myself, readied up for our midnight ride. Ming Xuan could not cycle and was to be left behind with our sleeping Alex. I lent Ming Xuan my phone to entertain him while we were gone. I teased him to go and look for the girls opposite if he was scared. So then we left for our first trip.
Nicholas suggested that each of us found a partner to pair with, whose safety we would be responsible for. It was an excellent idea, I must say. I chose... Dingsen. Starting with a round about Pasir Ris park, we warmed up and got used to the bicycles. I called for regular head counts while Nicholas led the group. After a while, Waise said that he would take the back cyclist and watch out for any missing souls or if they were lagging too far behind, so I need not worry about getting separated. Waise reported that Apollos took 5 seconds to get started cycling after he got up from a crash, which I later found to be really true and incredible.
We headed out of Pasir Ris Park onto the road, Pasir Ris Drive. We cycled into HDB Blocks, weaving in and out of close gaps. I didn't know where we eneded up but Nicholas somehow knew the way and managed to guide us back. We made a whole big round, ending up back outside Wild Wild Wet. We stopped by McDonalds to ask for water, something I didn't know they provided. Once back at Pasir Ris Park, we could not decide whether we wanted to go to East Coast Park or to Tampines, loitering in the area like a group of gangsters. We finally decided that we would return to the Chalet and decide on where to go next, since no matter what we chose, we would have to go past the Chalet. Before heading back, the whole lot of us stormed into Cheers at 2am to get drinks. I just took Dingsen's wallet and pulled out a $10 note from there to pay for both our drinks, because I had left my wallet with Ming Xuan. I still owe him $5.70 as of now, I forgot to pay him back.
Returning at 2am, I set foot back onto the floor of the Chalet and found Ming Xuan working out.... at 2am in the morning! Nothing better to do huh. With one member missing because Nicholas went out somewhere to visit his friend or something, the rest of us decided to play with poker cards until he came back. I didn't join in, because the forfeit involved eating 1 of the 30+ Chicken Wings and Drumsticks, which I don't like because I hate getting my hands oily. But it was a good way of cleaning up the immense pile of Chicken food on the aluminium foil, courtesy of Mr Wu's and Ms Yeo's cooking. Nothing much else happened, except that we were all tired and Waise said that now we were comfortable back at the chalet, he was ready to bet that we would not go out again. I went against that.
At 3am, or rather, 2.50, Nicholas finally returned, so I immediately called for another run at the bicycle, arguing with everyone's point that to make the overnight renting worth, we needed to ride at least 4 hours. And so, at 3am, I won the bet with Waise and we headed out again. It was painful to get back up though since we had exercised earlier and lost all momentum then. Buttocks and legs aching, we all revived our spirits and headed out once more. I do not remember exactly where we went, but we had to go to Pasir Ris park again and take another exit, through an overhead bridge. The bridge had a sign specifically targeted at Cyclists, that bicycles were not to be ridden on the overpass. Most of us ignored that until we were at the top, over the main road where we could be seen. Dingsen saw the $1000 fine and hastily got off. Once we were able to go downhill at the other side of the bridge, we let the bikes roll us down. I got to see Apollos crash during this trip and yes, he was terrible. He was moving at walking speed and he successfully hit a lamppost! It was incredible that something so thin could actually be of great threat to him. Anyway, we had to cross some wooden bridge where a couple stood. It was 3.30 then. When we came back at 4.30, they were still there. There was also this part where I almost crashed into a group of black people because I did not see them. That was not racist but for the first time in my life, the joke that black people could not be seen in the dark became reality.
Nicholas led the group to Sunway Park in Tampines, which we swept past and headed to the interchange for Macdonalds, cycling freely on the main road because there were barely any cars around. We cycled into the mall, and got caught by a guard who told us that we were not allowed to do that. It was funny because when Nicholas saw him, he got off quickly and started acting like he had been pushing his bike all along. The guard was an old man, and riding a bike himself. Most rules have exceptions, I guess. Mcdonalds was closed at the mall, so we went round the interchange to find another one which was open. And once again, we headed in as a whole group, asking for water. They must have been delighted that they were going to get 14 customers at 4am, then became upset when they found out that they were not going to do any business at all after hearing our requests. After the short break, we agreed that we had made the bikes worth overnight and started our return journey. Gerard and Darrin decided to race along this long stretch of road on the way back, so I joined in. I was utterly bewildered when Gerard overtook me so swiftly after I rode past him 10 seconds earlier. He continued forward until both him and Darrin were out of sight. I was shocked because Gerard has a small physique and he still had so much energy in his legs after all the cycling we had done. He would definitely have gotten a fine if speed limits were imposed on cyclists.
We rode back the same way we came, or somewhat the same. Back at Pasir Ris Park, I did another head count. After 11 including myself, I turned my head back and saw nothing. I started to get worried but I was sure they would be ok because Waise was behind. I was more worried about who the third guy was because I knew Waise and Zhi Ming were at the back. And I was certain that I had made no mistakes in my counting, 14 isn't that big a number. So after a 1 minute wait which is really long considering the speed of bicycles, three silhouettes showed up at the back. The mystery figure was Keefe, who was tired out. I was relieved once more and we headed back.
5am in the morning, I decided that I wanted to take MacDonald's breakfast. No one wanted to accompany me, so alone, I went down to MacDonald's and got myself an Egg McMuffin and Hashbrown. It was the best breakfast yet, because the McMuffin had been freshly made with hot cheese and the Hashbrown was so crisp and crunchy. I originally ordered coke, then I wondered why I would drink coke in the morning. I thought back to last year when I used to eat McDonald's on Sundays before trainings, and I remembered that I had Orange Juice back then. So I had to change the order to Orange Juice. The lady told me that I had to "add forty" but I heard "$8.40", from $5+ with coke so I was really surprised but didn't say anything. McDonalds had always raised their prices without warning. So I forked out another 3 dollars and she repeated to "add forty cents". Really, can't they speak properly and not in shortcuts? Well, I was happy that I didn't have to add 3 bucks for an Orange Juice, so I wasn't that annoyed.
Once back at the Chalet, I started to feel tired myself, but having made it to 5am, sleeping again only to wake up at 8 or 9 wouldn't get me sufficient rest. The double bed provided by the Chalet now contained 6 people, with Alex still sleeping since the day before. The rest of us continued to play cards and do random stuff. We all took turns to bathe in the single bathroom. The chalet was small because it was made for a family of 4. I myself laid on one of the steps of the staircase and watched them. At 7am, I somehow managed to get 15 minutes of peace, alone, and I dozed off. Just 15 minutes, but it felt really good. 7.30, people were talking about wanting to see the Sun rise, so they did. Gerard and I lost sight of them and we thought they would go to the beach since that was the most likely place. But the beach faced North. We then realized that they had been at the Swimming Pool at the Chalet, which I did not know existed. Well, they didn't managed to see it come up over the horizon either, from that angle. So we took the sunbathing chairs for our own use and took a short nap there, about 10 minutes.
At about 8am or so, we woke everyone up because we needed to start clearing up the Barbecue Pit and start cleaning up the place. With people like Apollos and Gerard around, litter in the Chalet was inevitable. Together, we all cleaned up the place. Bees and flies swarmed the rubbish bin outside, where about 8 bags of rubbish by people in the adjacent chalets were placed. All 4 chalets had done Barbecue the night before, so naturally, there would be large amounts of disposables. I left at about 8.50, before the rest of my class, because I was so tired. I wanted to get home and sleep as soon as possible, after 20+ hours awake. I got a ride home, reaching at 10.30, the time that we were supposed to check out of the chalet at. That concludes my 2-day Class Chalet 2011, and I will say it was really fun. I would like to do it again in the future if possible, but that will be decided by fate.
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
It's been 3 months already without a post? I did want to come back like about 500 times but always got too lazy or forgot about it. I've decided to do it today because well, I am bored and I don't want to sleep although I'm tired.
Prelim 2 ended today, so I took a really really good break, thanks to Jia Hui. I have to say I definitely did better than Prelim 1, but I am still frustrated that I just can't get some things right even after repetitive encounters with the same questions. As the final month draws closer, I hope that God will take care of everything. Somehow I just don't trust that everything will be fine. I definitely believe that God has everything planned for me, whatever happens, it is all meant to be. But then again, I can't just sit here and wait, so it feels like I have to do something but I feel that I can't make it. As late as it is, there is always time to put in just that bit of effort even if it won't produce the result I want.
Since June, things have been going downhill from tests to just plain work. I mess up little things and keep forgetting things, recently I've been wondering what I am actually good for and I have come up with the answer: Unnecessary stuff. Life is beautiful, even more so with each day that passes, but I really wonder why I am in it. Maybe God just gave me an opportunity to appreciate life. Maybe I'm supposed to teach others how to appreciate life. Maybe that's the reason I'm so terrible at school, grades are not needed for my future. After 3 months, with sufficient motivation, I have decided that I just want to be part of the people who try to fix poverty in the future. Reading the Geography textbook motivated this, the recent interview also showed me that what I really want to do is just to help others. I trust that God will provide the funds for my well-being, my job is just to take action and lend a helping hand to those who are suffering. That is probably what God has been trying to tell me all along, I am just going through education because it's part of life, but if my future is really about providing aid to the less fortunate, I should not worry too much about grades. I just hope that my theory is true. If I am not one to eliminate poverty, maybe I am supposed to encourage others to look on the bright side like I used to, to tell them why living is so great. I am probably meant to remind others that they are very fortunate people compared to those who fight for a grain of rice. If that is the job that I should take, I hope that God will tell me soon.
I'll just end here for now, too much to think about. God, Please let the next month pass quickly, but before that, help me as much as possible.
Prelim 2 ended today, so I took a really really good break, thanks to Jia Hui. I have to say I definitely did better than Prelim 1, but I am still frustrated that I just can't get some things right even after repetitive encounters with the same questions. As the final month draws closer, I hope that God will take care of everything. Somehow I just don't trust that everything will be fine. I definitely believe that God has everything planned for me, whatever happens, it is all meant to be. But then again, I can't just sit here and wait, so it feels like I have to do something but I feel that I can't make it. As late as it is, there is always time to put in just that bit of effort even if it won't produce the result I want.
Since June, things have been going downhill from tests to just plain work. I mess up little things and keep forgetting things, recently I've been wondering what I am actually good for and I have come up with the answer: Unnecessary stuff. Life is beautiful, even more so with each day that passes, but I really wonder why I am in it. Maybe God just gave me an opportunity to appreciate life. Maybe I'm supposed to teach others how to appreciate life. Maybe that's the reason I'm so terrible at school, grades are not needed for my future. After 3 months, with sufficient motivation, I have decided that I just want to be part of the people who try to fix poverty in the future. Reading the Geography textbook motivated this, the recent interview also showed me that what I really want to do is just to help others. I trust that God will provide the funds for my well-being, my job is just to take action and lend a helping hand to those who are suffering. That is probably what God has been trying to tell me all along, I am just going through education because it's part of life, but if my future is really about providing aid to the less fortunate, I should not worry too much about grades. I just hope that my theory is true. If I am not one to eliminate poverty, maybe I am supposed to encourage others to look on the bright side like I used to, to tell them why living is so great. I am probably meant to remind others that they are very fortunate people compared to those who fight for a grain of rice. If that is the job that I should take, I hope that God will tell me soon.
I'll just end here for now, too much to think about. God, Please let the next month pass quickly, but before that, help me as much as possible.
Friday, 17 June 2011
Dialogue in the Dark
Visited Dialogue in the Dark yesterday. It was really really cool. When I heard that it was going to be pitch dark in there, I didn't believe it because I thought my eyes were pro and could handle the dark, surely I'd still be able to see something. I could not have been more mistaken. But I wasn't that afraid though, I trusted my professional visually impaired guide with all my heart. But it was quite scary that it could be this dark and I wouldn't know if someone was next to me, as it was when the guide's voice came out suddenly. I've learnt to be grateful of my eyes, though I think it is great to have the ability to navigate without vision. It was really fun feeling like a blind although I staggered quite a little, being so unsure of my surroundings.
We were led through stones, sand and grass for the first part, hugging the left wall to feel plants and a tree's bark. Then we had to cross a wooden bridge, to a waterfall. After the waterfall was a sign that read "Sir Stanford Raffles", which we had to feel for. There was also a statue of Raffles on top, although we couldn't be sure if it was a real statue of him. After Raffles, we had to feel for a Car and a Bicycle. Following that, a walk to a jetty, still hugging the left wall. We boarded a River Taxi in the dark, supposedly headed for town. Crossed a traffic light like a blind person, then through a market, identifying certain food items. Felt for doors, a telephone and an ATM. Then we were led to a coffeeshop, where I ate a Cookie and drank Sugar Cane in the dark. We were also told how the Blind knew if they were receiving the correct change to avoid getting cheated. My guide was a 24-year old, diagnosed with night blindness at the age of 4, when her aunt spotted her having to bend down first and feel for an object that she dropped instead of just picking it up straight away. Partial blindness meant that she could still see a little, though it must be in very bright light. We were told that the Blind preferred to use iPhones for its Blind-friendly system. They had special watches which could voice out the current time, or have braille dots on them. The Blind had to rely on their stick to watch for staircases. As to how Blind people ate meals in restaurants, they could be told the location of the food items such as "The chicken is at your 12 O'Clock, and rice at 3 O'Clock", which was pretty interesting. As to how they boarded MRTs and Buses, they had to rely on public assistance for that.
Overall, it was a very cool experience and I would certainly like to be there again. Pity the blind, be grateful for our eyes. I still think that being able to guide oneself without eyes is very cool though.
We were led through stones, sand and grass for the first part, hugging the left wall to feel plants and a tree's bark. Then we had to cross a wooden bridge, to a waterfall. After the waterfall was a sign that read "Sir Stanford Raffles", which we had to feel for. There was also a statue of Raffles on top, although we couldn't be sure if it was a real statue of him. After Raffles, we had to feel for a Car and a Bicycle. Following that, a walk to a jetty, still hugging the left wall. We boarded a River Taxi in the dark, supposedly headed for town. Crossed a traffic light like a blind person, then through a market, identifying certain food items. Felt for doors, a telephone and an ATM. Then we were led to a coffeeshop, where I ate a Cookie and drank Sugar Cane in the dark. We were also told how the Blind knew if they were receiving the correct change to avoid getting cheated. My guide was a 24-year old, diagnosed with night blindness at the age of 4, when her aunt spotted her having to bend down first and feel for an object that she dropped instead of just picking it up straight away. Partial blindness meant that she could still see a little, though it must be in very bright light. We were told that the Blind preferred to use iPhones for its Blind-friendly system. They had special watches which could voice out the current time, or have braille dots on them. The Blind had to rely on their stick to watch for staircases. As to how Blind people ate meals in restaurants, they could be told the location of the food items such as "The chicken is at your 12 O'Clock, and rice at 3 O'Clock", which was pretty interesting. As to how they boarded MRTs and Buses, they had to rely on public assistance for that.
Overall, it was a very cool experience and I would certainly like to be there again. Pity the blind, be grateful for our eyes. I still think that being able to guide oneself without eyes is very cool though.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Almost 2 months away now. A lot has happened. Of course, Prelim 1 was terrible, worst results of my life yet. Not going to talk about it. It was a really really good wake up call though, one that I've never had before.
NJC DSA Trials were disappointing, absolutely disappointing. Out of 7 matches, I won none. Well, I hoped that was a sign that I wasn't meant for NJC after that. Maybe it meant something better. We'll see.
June Holidays Lessons weren't too bad, it was quite relaxing actually. Bio SPA was ok, I hope. Chinese Oral Practice was a joke. Sean had really ridiculous presentations, using english words and absurd actions to accompany his speech. In a negative topic, 这个现象有好处也有坏处. I'm more impressed with his fast correction after he realized that. 好处太少所以我不要说. That became a standard opening to 影响 after that though.
In these 2 weeks that have passed, I found out who my true friends were, really. People whom I didn't expect before to care at all, surprised me by being more concerned that I had ever felt before. I feel so grateful to my friends now. I wish I had more time to treasure them, but perhaps its better this way, so that I'll cherish them even more from now on.
Yesterday, went out with Daryl Dawn Deirdre Hanzhi Kai Zhong for the last time before the rush. I overestimated the ride time by 40 minutes, so I reached Vivo City really early and spent my time scouting my way around the messy place. Felt like the place was so poorly designed. First to meet up with was Deirdre, who recognized me first, on the escalator next to me. I was so blind. Then we found Daryl and Kai Zhong at what, National Geographic? Dawn and Hanzhi came shortly after.
Laddaland at 3.20, went to have lunch first, at Burger King. Well, the rest did, at least, I just needed water. Spent $5 on bottles of Water in all. Talked about some nonsense, mean and disgusting topics. Left burger king at about 2.40 and went to the area facing Sentosa, where Deirdre blew our minds with Mary died last night, Coffee Tea, Back to the Future. Deirdre was so annoying, kept telling us to listen clearly for Mary's death. Coffee Tea was not as bad but still bad. Back to the Future, dropped it after 2 tries.
So then, Laddaland. I can't take horror because of its video content and it's creepy audio, but I had to live through it for 2 hours, since Dawn had suggested it when she herself was afraid, crazy much. Kept whispering to Hanzhi my... fears, haha. I was somewhat fine with it until near the end. That was the worst part. Best thing to do, "Sleep" through it.
After Laddaland, it was already 5.30. I don't know how we managed to walk around until 6.15 before settling atop Vivo City to play Cards. Oh right, we wandered into Giant. Kai Zhong went to buy some Beef Noodle first because he was so hungry. The girls introduced some other Card Games to us. Indian Poker was cool, except that I was helping everyone and sort of took the fun out of it. I lost snap jack, of course. Brain lag too much. We played until about 8.30 (2 hours of cards??? Insane) before going down to the Food Court for Dinner.
Had Egg Bee Hoon, first and final meal of the day, I'm sure I could have lasted all the way though. After the meal, Truth or Dare, at the table. Poor Kai Zhong got it 3 times in the row, with Deirdre's killer questions directed at him.
If you were a gay, who would you gay with?
What is a pickup line you would use if you wanted to get a girl to date you?
Can't remember the last one. And he actually got it for the 4th time in a row, but we spared him, how could he have been so unlucky? Pitied Dawn the most haha, Deirdre's question totally embarrassed her. I won't be forgetting that anytime soon. Hanzhi found a way out of her "Why did you like your first crush?" and Daryl's answer to his question was really unexpected. "To what extent would you go to impress a girl?" My question was really easy, and I had 2 to choose from. Deirdre ended it with her possible "Boyfriend Material" since she had never crushed on anyone in her life.
Took the same way back, MRT was still so crowded at 9.30pm. And I sabotaged Kai Zhong again, shall not talk about it.
NJC DSA Trials were disappointing, absolutely disappointing. Out of 7 matches, I won none. Well, I hoped that was a sign that I wasn't meant for NJC after that. Maybe it meant something better. We'll see.
June Holidays Lessons weren't too bad, it was quite relaxing actually. Bio SPA was ok, I hope. Chinese Oral Practice was a joke. Sean had really ridiculous presentations, using english words and absurd actions to accompany his speech. In a negative topic, 这个现象有好处也有坏处. I'm more impressed with his fast correction after he realized that. 好处太少所以我不要说. That became a standard opening to 影响 after that though.
In these 2 weeks that have passed, I found out who my true friends were, really. People whom I didn't expect before to care at all, surprised me by being more concerned that I had ever felt before. I feel so grateful to my friends now. I wish I had more time to treasure them, but perhaps its better this way, so that I'll cherish them even more from now on.
Yesterday, went out with Daryl Dawn Deirdre Hanzhi Kai Zhong for the last time before the rush. I overestimated the ride time by 40 minutes, so I reached Vivo City really early and spent my time scouting my way around the messy place. Felt like the place was so poorly designed. First to meet up with was Deirdre, who recognized me first, on the escalator next to me. I was so blind. Then we found Daryl and Kai Zhong at what, National Geographic? Dawn and Hanzhi came shortly after.
Laddaland at 3.20, went to have lunch first, at Burger King. Well, the rest did, at least, I just needed water. Spent $5 on bottles of Water in all. Talked about some nonsense, mean and disgusting topics. Left burger king at about 2.40 and went to the area facing Sentosa, where Deirdre blew our minds with Mary died last night, Coffee Tea, Back to the Future. Deirdre was so annoying, kept telling us to listen clearly for Mary's death. Coffee Tea was not as bad but still bad. Back to the Future, dropped it after 2 tries.
So then, Laddaland. I can't take horror because of its video content and it's creepy audio, but I had to live through it for 2 hours, since Dawn had suggested it when she herself was afraid, crazy much. Kept whispering to Hanzhi my... fears, haha. I was somewhat fine with it until near the end. That was the worst part. Best thing to do, "Sleep" through it.
After Laddaland, it was already 5.30. I don't know how we managed to walk around until 6.15 before settling atop Vivo City to play Cards. Oh right, we wandered into Giant. Kai Zhong went to buy some Beef Noodle first because he was so hungry. The girls introduced some other Card Games to us. Indian Poker was cool, except that I was helping everyone and sort of took the fun out of it. I lost snap jack, of course. Brain lag too much. We played until about 8.30 (2 hours of cards??? Insane) before going down to the Food Court for Dinner.
Had Egg Bee Hoon, first and final meal of the day, I'm sure I could have lasted all the way though. After the meal, Truth or Dare, at the table. Poor Kai Zhong got it 3 times in the row, with Deirdre's killer questions directed at him.
If you were a gay, who would you gay with?
What is a pickup line you would use if you wanted to get a girl to date you?
Can't remember the last one. And he actually got it for the 4th time in a row, but we spared him, how could he have been so unlucky? Pitied Dawn the most haha, Deirdre's question totally embarrassed her. I won't be forgetting that anytime soon. Hanzhi found a way out of her "Why did you like your first crush?" and Daryl's answer to his question was really unexpected. "To what extent would you go to impress a girl?" My question was really easy, and I had 2 to choose from. Deirdre ended it with her possible "Boyfriend Material" since she had never crushed on anyone in her life.
Took the same way back, MRT was still so crowded at 9.30pm. And I sabotaged Kai Zhong again, shall not talk about it.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Another year passes, here's a 2-in-1 post.
I had NAPFA test last Wednesday, which I enjoy a lot. It spoilt my plans for the Sports Day Performance, but after seeing what it was like, I felt it was better that I had been unable to attend. NAPFA test was, great. 24 of our 37 students were missing for valid reasons, only 13 were present. Of these 13, we were allowed to choose who we wanted to group with. I joined Boxin because he was just so awesome.
First station, Sit and Reach. 42cm, 43 for a B. Standing Broad Jump was a failure on my part, given that I had been doing that for 3 years now. I still could not hit an A let alone a B. 225 was my max, MAX, out of 20+ tries. I suggested Pull Ups before Sit-Ups, for stomach muscle was needed for Pull Ups. As I watched the rest get improved scores compared to usual, I feared myself not managing an A, which eventually did happen. I missed the A by 1 at 7, which was a de-provement. No matter, I was determined to try again later on, I had hung there, 2cm beneath the bar, for about 6 seconds attempting for the 8th after all, I believe I could do it.
Since I had not done hardcore Sit-Ups for months and during warm ups for PE had proved to be a problem recently, I thought that I would fail last year's 65, but I exceeded my expectations and did achieve that. But it resulted in a rather tired stomach after that, of course. Kevin was all for Shuttle Run immediately after that while the rest of us were still suffering the aftermath of the Sit Ups. We took a 30 second break and then started. The teacher randomed me since no one wanted to go first. 9.96 seconds on first attempt, thought it looked good until I found out that I was the slowest of the group. I went for an improvement run, which I did, by 0.01 seconds, still far slower than the rest. Well, I should be happy with the A.
Following that, we went back for another attempt at Sit and Reach and Standing Broad Jump. I could not improve my SBJ, 215. The first teacher also did not allow us to do Sit and Reach again.
Most of the group left, but I really wanted that B. 3rd time in the hall for Sit and Reach, I found an Indian Teacher who allowed me to do it again, 44cm, and I was happy before I realized it was just 46 for an A :(. When I heard that shoes could be taken off (when he tested Ming Xuan again), I almost facepalmed myself for not doing so, but it was already too late.
Boxin and I, we went to the Pull Ups Station once more. I managed the same streak again, 7 and counting. Mr Seow said that I was about there so he gave it to me. Happy much.
When I entered the hall for the 4th time, it was to help Ming Xuan for Standing Broad Jump. I myself did not believe the 225 was the furthest I could go, but as proven by the 20+ jumps that followed, 225 had been a very lucky max. The closest I got to that was 223.
With that, we gave up the improvement run. Got to thank Boxin for staying with me through all this, he could have left about 45 minutes earlier but he decided to wait for me.
Friday was Sports Day. I was really looking forward to it, but at the venue itself, I finally realized that the joy of Sports Day was not the event, but the time I got to spend with my friends due to early dismissal.
Ming Xuan and I, both being loners, decided to pair up for once, but had no idea where to go. I asked Boxin to join us, then San Zeng came in too. At the MRT station, Wang Lei Ashley and Ming Yao tagged along with us. We chose our random destination on the train, Singpost.
Unable to have a full agreement between Pastamania or Macdonalds, we split. Mushroom baked rice for me again, met Ee Jin and Xin Wei while ordering. They finished their food much earlier than us too, for we talked and laughed instead of eating, that's the usual thing to do nowadays anyway. Really enjoyed the company of Ashley Boxin and San Zeng.
So then we left for Hougang Stadium. Ming Xuan was still taking his time walking the 150m down when there were only 2 minutes left to the next train and we were running late. He still caught it somehow. Chose to drop at Kovan MRT and take a bus. Ming Xuan and Ming Yao were betting about where the bus would stop. Ming Yao lost, obviously. Haha jk, but erm yeah oversight and misunderstanding on his part.
We were a little late but so were many others. I then realized the horrible disadvantage of coming late, there was no comfortable place for us, let alone any sitting place. We were nomads thrice. Kai Xun helped me to move my bag to the reds but I completely forgot about Jia Hui's bag which had been left with me while he went for his 100m event. At Champagnat side, I found out the selfishness of the reds. They alone took up more than 1/3 of the stands, there were large gaps between them. Moving around this sparse area was much easier than maneuvring through one way traffic which caused inconvenience for an overwhelming number of people as their legs and bags were constantly kicked by the people walking down the one lane route. Eventually we arrived at the corner of the stadium, where my class was. No one cared about the house arrangement, my class was Champagnat dominated anyway. A ring of them were playing Monopoly Deal.
Sports Day started off with a March Pass by house members and CCA teams. Then banner competition. Lame as usual. I didn't really pay much attention to the 100m, but I know that I spent more than half the time in the tent waiting for my event. I had not known that I was down for it until Ming Xuan told me the night before. 4 x 100 relay. Given my failure in the heats, I thought I would not make it for the house, but I did. With that, I was set to wait in the tent for a long period of time without my phone. I really wanted to spam photos as it is my last year here. Darren and Darrel (slacking in the tent when they were not supposed to be there) could have looked after it for me when I went for the run, but I didn't bring it down.
The time spent down there was not wasted, though it almost was. My 'teammates' were trying to replace me with people not even on the list. They let me back in right at the very end. The run was a disappointment. We placed last after 2 baton fails. Our first guy managed to drop his baton while I did not manage to pass it to the final runner successfully on the first try. Well, I didn't care anymore after that, I was happy to return to my class.
Sports Day ended at 4.30pm, much earlier than before. I then went with Boxin to the mall, to get some ice cream. Really appreciate him for accompanying me till I left for home. We got to talk and laugh some more. When I started my way home, he embarked on his hour run, where he just ran aimlessly around SG for an hour, then find an MRT Station to head back to his hostel.
I had NAPFA test last Wednesday, which I enjoy a lot. It spoilt my plans for the Sports Day Performance, but after seeing what it was like, I felt it was better that I had been unable to attend. NAPFA test was, great. 24 of our 37 students were missing for valid reasons, only 13 were present. Of these 13, we were allowed to choose who we wanted to group with. I joined Boxin because he was just so awesome.
First station, Sit and Reach. 42cm, 43 for a B. Standing Broad Jump was a failure on my part, given that I had been doing that for 3 years now. I still could not hit an A let alone a B. 225 was my max, MAX, out of 20+ tries. I suggested Pull Ups before Sit-Ups, for stomach muscle was needed for Pull Ups. As I watched the rest get improved scores compared to usual, I feared myself not managing an A, which eventually did happen. I missed the A by 1 at 7, which was a de-provement. No matter, I was determined to try again later on, I had hung there, 2cm beneath the bar, for about 6 seconds attempting for the 8th after all, I believe I could do it.
Since I had not done hardcore Sit-Ups for months and during warm ups for PE had proved to be a problem recently, I thought that I would fail last year's 65, but I exceeded my expectations and did achieve that. But it resulted in a rather tired stomach after that, of course. Kevin was all for Shuttle Run immediately after that while the rest of us were still suffering the aftermath of the Sit Ups. We took a 30 second break and then started. The teacher randomed me since no one wanted to go first. 9.96 seconds on first attempt, thought it looked good until I found out that I was the slowest of the group. I went for an improvement run, which I did, by 0.01 seconds, still far slower than the rest. Well, I should be happy with the A.
Following that, we went back for another attempt at Sit and Reach and Standing Broad Jump. I could not improve my SBJ, 215. The first teacher also did not allow us to do Sit and Reach again.
Most of the group left, but I really wanted that B. 3rd time in the hall for Sit and Reach, I found an Indian Teacher who allowed me to do it again, 44cm, and I was happy before I realized it was just 46 for an A :(. When I heard that shoes could be taken off (when he tested Ming Xuan again), I almost facepalmed myself for not doing so, but it was already too late.
Boxin and I, we went to the Pull Ups Station once more. I managed the same streak again, 7 and counting. Mr Seow said that I was about there so he gave it to me. Happy much.
When I entered the hall for the 4th time, it was to help Ming Xuan for Standing Broad Jump. I myself did not believe the 225 was the furthest I could go, but as proven by the 20+ jumps that followed, 225 had been a very lucky max. The closest I got to that was 223.
With that, we gave up the improvement run. Got to thank Boxin for staying with me through all this, he could have left about 45 minutes earlier but he decided to wait for me.
Friday was Sports Day. I was really looking forward to it, but at the venue itself, I finally realized that the joy of Sports Day was not the event, but the time I got to spend with my friends due to early dismissal.
Ming Xuan and I, both being loners, decided to pair up for once, but had no idea where to go. I asked Boxin to join us, then San Zeng came in too. At the MRT station, Wang Lei Ashley and Ming Yao tagged along with us. We chose our random destination on the train, Singpost.
Unable to have a full agreement between Pastamania or Macdonalds, we split. Mushroom baked rice for me again, met Ee Jin and Xin Wei while ordering. They finished their food much earlier than us too, for we talked and laughed instead of eating, that's the usual thing to do nowadays anyway. Really enjoyed the company of Ashley Boxin and San Zeng.
So then we left for Hougang Stadium. Ming Xuan was still taking his time walking the 150m down when there were only 2 minutes left to the next train and we were running late. He still caught it somehow. Chose to drop at Kovan MRT and take a bus. Ming Xuan and Ming Yao were betting about where the bus would stop. Ming Yao lost, obviously. Haha jk, but erm yeah oversight and misunderstanding on his part.
We were a little late but so were many others. I then realized the horrible disadvantage of coming late, there was no comfortable place for us, let alone any sitting place. We were nomads thrice. Kai Xun helped me to move my bag to the reds but I completely forgot about Jia Hui's bag which had been left with me while he went for his 100m event. At Champagnat side, I found out the selfishness of the reds. They alone took up more than 1/3 of the stands, there were large gaps between them. Moving around this sparse area was much easier than maneuvring through one way traffic which caused inconvenience for an overwhelming number of people as their legs and bags were constantly kicked by the people walking down the one lane route. Eventually we arrived at the corner of the stadium, where my class was. No one cared about the house arrangement, my class was Champagnat dominated anyway. A ring of them were playing Monopoly Deal.
Sports Day started off with a March Pass by house members and CCA teams. Then banner competition. Lame as usual. I didn't really pay much attention to the 100m, but I know that I spent more than half the time in the tent waiting for my event. I had not known that I was down for it until Ming Xuan told me the night before. 4 x 100 relay. Given my failure in the heats, I thought I would not make it for the house, but I did. With that, I was set to wait in the tent for a long period of time without my phone. I really wanted to spam photos as it is my last year here. Darren and Darrel (slacking in the tent when they were not supposed to be there) could have looked after it for me when I went for the run, but I didn't bring it down.
The time spent down there was not wasted, though it almost was. My 'teammates' were trying to replace me with people not even on the list. They let me back in right at the very end. The run was a disappointment. We placed last after 2 baton fails. Our first guy managed to drop his baton while I did not manage to pass it to the final runner successfully on the first try. Well, I didn't care anymore after that, I was happy to return to my class.
Sports Day ended at 4.30pm, much earlier than before. I then went with Boxin to the mall, to get some ice cream. Really appreciate him for accompanying me till I left for home. We got to talk and laugh some more. When I started my way home, he embarked on his hour run, where he just ran aimlessly around SG for an hour, then find an MRT Station to head back to his hostel.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
School day was more eventful than usual today. First off, Ms Wong thought it was day 2 today and so turned up late for class. She left us to guess what she said when she found out it was day 7. Kevin set a good example by going to look for her when she was still absent after 10 minutes, and staff tried to call her phone which was on silent, so naturally that didn't work out.
During chem, Ms Yeo was writing on the board when this rather big green insect appeared in front of her and she jumped back in surprise. Gerrard said: punch it. Ms Yeo invited him forward to do so, which of course did not happen. Instead, the insect flew towards him. Gerrard retreated hastily from it by ducking. Everyone was in fits of laughter. The bug came round hovering over my side and San Zeng was prepared to hit it but I just acted like I wasn't afraid of it when I really was because I feared it might be a disease spreading mosquito. Ms Yeo then called for Samuel who was being punished outside the class, to use a file and wave it out of the window but not kill it. After a slight chase round half the lab, he managed to get the insect to a closed window. He pushed the window open with the file and within split seconds, it was gone.
Maths was stupid, I forgot to bring my notes. And there were some usual rebellious remarks. The current chapter of notes was prepared by Mr Wu, and he had always said that mistakes were present in other teacher's notes because they were not prepared by him, jokingly of course. Ironically, there were at least 5 errors in his notes, though they were really trivial. An example was the mispelling of Dhoby Ghaut. Another was a distance covered of 400m in 4 hours. Ridiculously slow, but he found an excuse for it, that it was perfectly logical, a snail could do that. So we changed it to km, then the speed became too great for normal cars on an expressway, at 200km/h. Either too fast or too slow, haha.
During chem, Ms Yeo was writing on the board when this rather big green insect appeared in front of her and she jumped back in surprise. Gerrard said: punch it. Ms Yeo invited him forward to do so, which of course did not happen. Instead, the insect flew towards him. Gerrard retreated hastily from it by ducking. Everyone was in fits of laughter. The bug came round hovering over my side and San Zeng was prepared to hit it but I just acted like I wasn't afraid of it when I really was because I feared it might be a disease spreading mosquito. Ms Yeo then called for Samuel who was being punished outside the class, to use a file and wave it out of the window but not kill it. After a slight chase round half the lab, he managed to get the insect to a closed window. He pushed the window open with the file and within split seconds, it was gone.
Maths was stupid, I forgot to bring my notes. And there were some usual rebellious remarks. The current chapter of notes was prepared by Mr Wu, and he had always said that mistakes were present in other teacher's notes because they were not prepared by him, jokingly of course. Ironically, there were at least 5 errors in his notes, though they were really trivial. An example was the mispelling of Dhoby Ghaut. Another was a distance covered of 400m in 4 hours. Ridiculously slow, but he found an excuse for it, that it was perfectly logical, a snail could do that. So we changed it to km, then the speed became too great for normal cars on an expressway, at 200km/h. Either too fast or too slow, haha.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
So its 4 bad trainings in a row now. Lost to Marcus twice, Dawn twice, Jerilyn once and a girl whose name I don't know, pathetic loss either way. It's making me want to give up on TT and now I just can't wait for end April to come.
I was actually looking forward to today, bad idea now. PE was a fail. I took up the goalkeeper's role today since Ming Xuan had been previously and suffered unfairly. We finally picked up our first win in 4 or 5 weeks? Happy much, then the next opponent, started off with a straight shot for the goal. At waist level, I was unable to meet the ball and it just flew straight into the net. Worst, win, ever. Fastest goal of all time, really.
There were some impressive plays by the other teams, as usual. Its exciting to watch. When we had our second chance, Kai Xun had the post of goalkeeper. We defeated a second opponent, and out came the next one. My other three teammates blocked the middle this time while I feared a shot from the right so I was on guard over there. The ball was played by the opposing team, THROUGH the legs of my three teammates and into the corner of the net as Kai Xun brainlagged and missed the save. Second embarrassing loss in one day, 2 fastest games of all time. Epic.
Physics test, lol went bad but I know where I went wrong. I had 2 minutes left and my last page was blank, one question had 4/20 marks. Most people were in the same situation. But I then found out that we were given 5 lines for a 1 mark question. The 4 mark question was merely a table to fill in, easy enough. Wow that page really scared everyone. Majority of the time was spent on a calculation question though, where I haven't found anyone with the same answer.
The day passed rather slowly, I was doing my manual countdown to the end of the day with my calculator again. 1500 seconds. Bell rang at 17.
Went for Track and Field heats. I signed up for 100m 200m and 4 X 100m but I only ran the 100m because I wanted to go back for training, so I just dropped the 200m. I wasn't eligible for the relay anyway, finished 4th or 5th during my run.
Made my way back to school, played Darren a bit, beat Marcus in the dark, when the lights came on, lost to him. End of day. Saw this guy do 13 pull ups in like 30 seconds, might have had more before that. Motivated me so hard that I set a new record for myself today.
I was actually looking forward to today, bad idea now. PE was a fail. I took up the goalkeeper's role today since Ming Xuan had been previously and suffered unfairly. We finally picked up our first win in 4 or 5 weeks? Happy much, then the next opponent, started off with a straight shot for the goal. At waist level, I was unable to meet the ball and it just flew straight into the net. Worst, win, ever. Fastest goal of all time, really.
There were some impressive plays by the other teams, as usual. Its exciting to watch. When we had our second chance, Kai Xun had the post of goalkeeper. We defeated a second opponent, and out came the next one. My other three teammates blocked the middle this time while I feared a shot from the right so I was on guard over there. The ball was played by the opposing team, THROUGH the legs of my three teammates and into the corner of the net as Kai Xun brainlagged and missed the save. Second embarrassing loss in one day, 2 fastest games of all time. Epic.
Physics test, lol went bad but I know where I went wrong. I had 2 minutes left and my last page was blank, one question had 4/20 marks. Most people were in the same situation. But I then found out that we were given 5 lines for a 1 mark question. The 4 mark question was merely a table to fill in, easy enough. Wow that page really scared everyone. Majority of the time was spent on a calculation question though, where I haven't found anyone with the same answer.
The day passed rather slowly, I was doing my manual countdown to the end of the day with my calculator again. 1500 seconds. Bell rang at 17.
Went for Track and Field heats. I signed up for 100m 200m and 4 X 100m but I only ran the 100m because I wanted to go back for training, so I just dropped the 200m. I wasn't eligible for the relay anyway, finished 4th or 5th during my run.
Made my way back to school, played Darren a bit, beat Marcus in the dark, when the lights came on, lost to him. End of day. Saw this guy do 13 pull ups in like 30 seconds, might have had more before that. Motivated me so hard that I set a new record for myself today.
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