I got a new watch today, the one that I had since P2 finally died out. It has served it's time well though, even after losing the metal casing, which isn't important, and there are a couple of scratches on it, which would be natural since I have it with me for 90% of the time, I bring it everywhere with me, be it carrying it or wearing it. So anyway, it has been a really good timekeeper for me, I grew so reliant on it that I found the 2 days without it to be awkward. It just didn't feel right to not feel my watch in my hand or have an empty wrist. The way that it has become faulty, is that one of the buttons is being pressed in, and 2 buttons cannot be pressed simultaneously. The screen shows the stopwatch, but as I cannot press anything, I cannot switch to time mode. If it was in Time mode, I would consider it to be still functioning since that is what a watch is mainly for, but too bad, it will show 6 zeros on it's face forever in minutes, seconds and split-seconds, each value supported by 2 digits. But I am happy that it survived to date, I actually lost one which cost $104 in 2008, and that model is similar to the one that I have right now, it's still available, but my current one has a base price of $116. Due to an offer, however, the price is a wonderful bargain of just $69. After losing the watch in 2008, I had to revert to the old watch which just broke down today. This new TIMEX watch has a larger face, supports up to 3 time-zones, has 3 alarms and a nice feature to record Occassions on every date, which I can use to help me in my addictive challenge to memorize my friends' birth dates. Only certain friends get to be on this list, or if their birthdate is a really nice date, such as 11th November, which a couple of people have.
Tomorrow I'll be having my NAPFA 5 stations, and I haven't done anything to practice for it this year, but I think I'll be fine, since I never trained for my NAPFA in the previous years, I just did it on the spot and always managed to cover the requirements for Gold, although I missed C for my Sit & Reach last year, after which I offered to try again but the teacher said that he would just give that 1cm to me, so I achieved my Gold. In fact, I expect to do better this year after the more vigorous training that I have attended this year compared to last year, which would naturally improve my fitness, I hope. But good luck to Reuben, whose birthday had to be tomorrow, 9th April, so that puts him with the older age group. We were notified last week that the date of the test had been postponed due to certain important meetings, and it was really unlucky that they put it on his birthday, which means that he'll have to do the harder stuff now. I'm not there yet, but I will next year :). Until then, I won't care too much.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Random
If you ask why my blog is like a composition, the real purpose of it is because I'm trying to practise my English. Of course it tells about my life like a real blog, but it is more formal in the sense that I barely use singlish and improper English to write a post. It's also important not to use SMS or Chat language too much because if you consistently do that, you'll come to a point where you write it in your school work. Common words such as "You" and "why" will be seen as "U" and "Y" on your homework, and you'll be famous in your class when the teacher decides to show the class your amazing and daring feat to write that in your work.
The Dictionary is a good friend of mine when I'm writing my posts, because my English isn't really that superb and I do check the Thesaurus for synonyms of the word that I'm trying to say, and this widens the range of vocabulary. To a lesser extent, my spelling needs to be corrected sometimes too.
The Dictionary is a good friend of mine when I'm writing my posts, because my English isn't really that superb and I do check the Thesaurus for synonyms of the word that I'm trying to say, and this widens the range of vocabulary. To a lesser extent, my spelling needs to be corrected sometimes too.
It was quite a nice day today. Started off with Geography, which is ALWAYS fun, and I really mean always. There hasn't been a period where Mr Low has not made us laugh at least once since day 1 this year, which is quite a record. Too bad it was just a single period. Well, it was followed up by Physics, where my test was ok. You just can't be sure if it's well done or not, for Physics. Then we spent our English lesson doing homework, that's how obedient my class is when we're left alone, which is a complete contradiction of my class last year, where every period, there would be at least 1 Macbook out unless a test was presently being conducted, even when the teacher told us to put it away. English lesson was off because Ms Leng had sore throat.
Recess succeeded that period and then Chinese was the next period, which was again, quite good, and after that we had a fun time in Maths Lesson although ironically I told Kaiser just before it started that I hated it because we had to do work all the time. But, like Benedict said to me earlier this week, I will be learning the "Art of Bullshitting" this year and it will turn out to be very good by next year. True enough, it WAS a lesson of nonsense. Firstly, our 2 main rebels of the class, Apollos and Samuel, had been placed far apart from each other in the class, but it just wasn't enough. They continued to communicate by throwing their voices across the classroom, and the conversation was ridiculously funny and everyone in the class could hear it so we were all laughing. Then Mr Wu said that he should ask Ms Leng to put them further apart, at both ends on the classroom.
Anyway, they continued talking crap throughout the lesson about random stuff and when the teacher asked questions such as "Why x could not be 0", Samuel would say "Yeah lor Apollos", and sometimes it would be the other way round. Then when he drew the graph that we were doing on the whiteboard with a black marker, Samuel said that it was racist to do that. They also kept telling Mr Wu that they did not understand his explanation for the same question and he had to elucidate it repeatedly. After a while, more people joined in this unreasonable series of crap talking, all just to delay his lesson. Then when the bell ring, we told him that we had Biology Lessons after that although it had been confirmed during Morning Announcements that Mr Teo was absent and thus his session was cancelled. He was about to give homework, but then he asked us if we had our E-Maths Workbook 2, and I told him I had a book 3, which of course doesn't exist. Then Kaiser said: "Let us go home and check if we have it", and wow, Mr Wu said fine and added that he would check if he had them too, so we were released with no homework. Nice one, Kaiser :D.
Recess succeeded that period and then Chinese was the next period, which was again, quite good, and after that we had a fun time in Maths Lesson although ironically I told Kaiser just before it started that I hated it because we had to do work all the time. But, like Benedict said to me earlier this week, I will be learning the "Art of Bullshitting" this year and it will turn out to be very good by next year. True enough, it WAS a lesson of nonsense. Firstly, our 2 main rebels of the class, Apollos and Samuel, had been placed far apart from each other in the class, but it just wasn't enough. They continued to communicate by throwing their voices across the classroom, and the conversation was ridiculously funny and everyone in the class could hear it so we were all laughing. Then Mr Wu said that he should ask Ms Leng to put them further apart, at both ends on the classroom.
Anyway, they continued talking crap throughout the lesson about random stuff and when the teacher asked questions such as "Why x could not be 0", Samuel would say "Yeah lor Apollos", and sometimes it would be the other way round. Then when he drew the graph that we were doing on the whiteboard with a black marker, Samuel said that it was racist to do that. They also kept telling Mr Wu that they did not understand his explanation for the same question and he had to elucidate it repeatedly. After a while, more people joined in this unreasonable series of crap talking, all just to delay his lesson. Then when the bell ring, we told him that we had Biology Lessons after that although it had been confirmed during Morning Announcements that Mr Teo was absent and thus his session was cancelled. He was about to give homework, but then he asked us if we had our E-Maths Workbook 2, and I told him I had a book 3, which of course doesn't exist. Then Kaiser said: "Let us go home and check if we have it", and wow, Mr Wu said fine and added that he would check if he had them too, so we were released with no homework. Nice one, Kaiser :D.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Today was quite bad, for the school part at least. Firstly, I forgot to bring my Chemistry Files and Workbook as I had misread my Timetable (That's the result of a 10-day Timetable), so I was in for big trouble. Then during Chinese lesson, I made the first mark of a bad student this year as I had not handed in my homework on time. It wasn't too bad, my teacher gave me another chance, but it would certainly affect her view of my attitude. And I managed to pass off the Chemistry part by
1) Borrowing the workbook from my friend in another class who has the same Chemistry Teacher
2) Photocopy the latest notes from my classmate so that I would at least be able to fill in something when she was teaching later
3) Telling her personally that I had not brought my files,
after which she was LESS happy but not UNHAPPY. So I was quite safe. She then told us that we were fit for the 21st Century Classroom, which has cool IT Stuff, but that she would prefer another class to have that opportunity because lately, we have been upsetting her in terms of attitude towards her lessons. She felt that the other class had better reasons to be eligible for the classroom, but their timetable just didn't allow it to be so. So she had to put up with that, and we entered that special classroom, which was Air-Conditioned, for the first time and told us that we would be using this in the future for her lessons. She also informed us that we would have to learn how to use the equipment next Tuesday, and just 2 people from each group are required. So I'll be attending that session as a representative of my group.
Then for Biology, Mr Teo had a Sore Throat and he wrote on the board “失声”, which meant loss of voice, of course. He then erased the 2nd word and wrote “身” in it's place, and then my scholars were laughing at that because it was supposed to mean to lose one's virginity. Then he said that he was a lousy man who only 失身 at 56 years old. That's how epic our teachers are in MSHS. So anyway, if we are lucky, he might not be here tomorrow as he has MC and can choose not to come tomorrow, which will then cancel our afternoon Biology Lab Lesson, freeing up 3 periods for an early dismissal. He only came today because he had 3 periods with 4L, and they need their teachers more than anyone else right now.
So after Biology, I went for training to find that it only started at 4.30pm, but we could still play if we wanted to. The whole group of us were there, but Yi Kar and friends went to Toa Payoh to buy Table Tennis things, they are all freaks who change their rubber every few weeks. Kai Shiun offered to stay behind to play with me. After a while, at 3pm, I had a match with Kai Xun. From a lead of 2 - 0, the score turned to 2 - 2, then I won the last set with a lucky 13 - 11. He called for a break at the Fitness Corner before we did a rematch. So we went there supposedly to train for Pull Ups which we would be required to do next year, I can only do 3 for now. We also found that training only started at 4.30 because the Primary School had competitions and our Coach would be needed there.
In the rematch, I won again 3 - 2, and we had even better and longer rallies this time round. Then I played with Yi Kar, and when the balls became the long and fast type, I always lost them, he was too fast for me. I lost 3 - 1, but I sort of expected it so I didn't worry too much. I still resent the fact that I could trash him last year and now he's doing it back to me though. But then, I don't get Private Training like my juniors do, so I feel good to be able to learn on my own.
In the final game, it was a San Fen match between the two teams of Ee Jin, Daryl, Xin Wei and Benedict against Kai Shiun, Darren, Zheng Yan and I. I was so grateful that Dawn and Daryl weren't here to kill us like they did previously :). With increased confidence, I pulled the team up but of course had to lose in the end. Our team led 20 - 15, but we lost 22 - 20. Benedict and Zheng Yan left, then they took Timothy, which immediately told me that we had increased chances of losing. Timothy can be brutal when he gets lucky, which he does quite often. We won that game however, I can't remember the score, then we started the third set. In a spree, KS made the score 4 - 2, Darren increased it to 7 - 4, then I made brought it all the way to 19 - 4, when Daryl started his own comeback to pull up his team by a dozen points in a series of lucky hits and well played gao qiu. When he came up, he served a double tyco serve, hitting his own corner to hit my corner. Then a rally was played in which one of them hit the edge of my table, but I was ready to hit it back and I got that point. In the final rally, I lost it when he suddenly sent the ball to my backhand and I was caught off guard. At 20 - 16, I lost but Kai Shiun finished the set with 21 - 17. In the final match, we led 20 - 13. Then Ee Jin soloed it to 20 - 17, when KS finally defeated him. They were made to pick balls while I went home.
1) Borrowing the workbook from my friend in another class who has the same Chemistry Teacher
2) Photocopy the latest notes from my classmate so that I would at least be able to fill in something when she was teaching later
3) Telling her personally that I had not brought my files,
after which she was LESS happy but not UNHAPPY. So I was quite safe. She then told us that we were fit for the 21st Century Classroom, which has cool IT Stuff, but that she would prefer another class to have that opportunity because lately, we have been upsetting her in terms of attitude towards her lessons. She felt that the other class had better reasons to be eligible for the classroom, but their timetable just didn't allow it to be so. So she had to put up with that, and we entered that special classroom, which was Air-Conditioned, for the first time and told us that we would be using this in the future for her lessons. She also informed us that we would have to learn how to use the equipment next Tuesday, and just 2 people from each group are required. So I'll be attending that session as a representative of my group.
Then for Biology, Mr Teo had a Sore Throat and he wrote on the board “失声”, which meant loss of voice, of course. He then erased the 2nd word and wrote “身” in it's place, and then my scholars were laughing at that because it was supposed to mean to lose one's virginity. Then he said that he was a lousy man who only 失身 at 56 years old. That's how epic our teachers are in MSHS. So anyway, if we are lucky, he might not be here tomorrow as he has MC and can choose not to come tomorrow, which will then cancel our afternoon Biology Lab Lesson, freeing up 3 periods for an early dismissal. He only came today because he had 3 periods with 4L, and they need their teachers more than anyone else right now.
So after Biology, I went for training to find that it only started at 4.30pm, but we could still play if we wanted to. The whole group of us were there, but Yi Kar and friends went to Toa Payoh to buy Table Tennis things, they are all freaks who change their rubber every few weeks. Kai Shiun offered to stay behind to play with me. After a while, at 3pm, I had a match with Kai Xun. From a lead of 2 - 0, the score turned to 2 - 2, then I won the last set with a lucky 13 - 11. He called for a break at the Fitness Corner before we did a rematch. So we went there supposedly to train for Pull Ups which we would be required to do next year, I can only do 3 for now. We also found that training only started at 4.30 because the Primary School had competitions and our Coach would be needed there.
In the rematch, I won again 3 - 2, and we had even better and longer rallies this time round. Then I played with Yi Kar, and when the balls became the long and fast type, I always lost them, he was too fast for me. I lost 3 - 1, but I sort of expected it so I didn't worry too much. I still resent the fact that I could trash him last year and now he's doing it back to me though. But then, I don't get Private Training like my juniors do, so I feel good to be able to learn on my own.
In the final game, it was a San Fen match between the two teams of Ee Jin, Daryl, Xin Wei and Benedict against Kai Shiun, Darren, Zheng Yan and I. I was so grateful that Dawn and Daryl weren't here to kill us like they did previously :). With increased confidence, I pulled the team up but of course had to lose in the end. Our team led 20 - 15, but we lost 22 - 20. Benedict and Zheng Yan left, then they took Timothy, which immediately told me that we had increased chances of losing. Timothy can be brutal when he gets lucky, which he does quite often. We won that game however, I can't remember the score, then we started the third set. In a spree, KS made the score 4 - 2, Darren increased it to 7 - 4, then I made brought it all the way to 19 - 4, when Daryl started his own comeback to pull up his team by a dozen points in a series of lucky hits and well played gao qiu. When he came up, he served a double tyco serve, hitting his own corner to hit my corner. Then a rally was played in which one of them hit the edge of my table, but I was ready to hit it back and I got that point. In the final rally, I lost it when he suddenly sent the ball to my backhand and I was caught off guard. At 20 - 16, I lost but Kai Shiun finished the set with 21 - 17. In the final match, we led 20 - 13. Then Ee Jin soloed it to 20 - 17, when KS finally defeated him. They were made to pick balls while I went home.
Random
I find that when you're given a worksheet, the hardest and last thing that I always do is to write my Name, Index Number, Class and Date. Also, when this piece of paper is handed out, there will always be someone who asks "What's today's date?". Why can't people get a watch of their own that shows the time and date, because people also frequently ask others for the current time. I should create a group for the part about someone in the class asking for the date when a new worksheet is given out, on Facebook :D. Of course, someone can always do it first. Anyway, I always find it difficult to write my Name, Index Number, Class and Date when a new worksheet comes into my hands, and the sole reason is that I don't like to pick up my pen just to fill in that information. Of course, in the case of Exams, that is the first thing I will do, since we are very time conscious then and cannot afford to waste time. Besides, the invigilator will ask us to write it down just before we start the paper anyway. But it is usually the last thing that I write before that worksheet is handed up, because I will always get it returned with a request to write it from the person who is collecting it, after which I will write it down in front of him as though he is a servant waiting for my permission to allow him to leave with an important document.
Random
This title fits any post, which is why I use it for sort-of-unrelated-to-my-life posts.
On your birthday, if you have a meal that is undecided, fill up that free slot with a trip to Swensen's. If it's dinner, that's great, because Ice Creams are best eaten after Dinner as dessert, and Swensen's is famous for that. And what is even better, is that if you bring identification, you're entitled to a free Ice Cream in Swensen's, specifically the Firehouse, but it's still free. All you have to do is to go there on the day of your birthday, when ordering your meal, show them your identification card to prove that it is your birthday and ask them if you get a free Firehouse for that. Unless they explain why it is otherwise, it will be a yes.
On your birthday, if you have a meal that is undecided, fill up that free slot with a trip to Swensen's. If it's dinner, that's great, because Ice Creams are best eaten after Dinner as dessert, and Swensen's is famous for that. And what is even better, is that if you bring identification, you're entitled to a free Ice Cream in Swensen's, specifically the Firehouse, but it's still free. All you have to do is to go there on the day of your birthday, when ordering your meal, show them your identification card to prove that it is your birthday and ask them if you get a free Firehouse for that. Unless they explain why it is otherwise, it will be a yes.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Today, the unexpected results became true. Our C Division beat RI 3 - 0, which was a really great surprise to me as we had lost to them 4 - 1 in the first round of the Nationals previously, even with our China players. Again, I was not there, so I could not witness this unforeseen endeavor. They will meet SSS in the finals on the 13th.
As for the B Division, we had a somewhat narrow win against Cheung Cheng High as the score was 3 - 2. Of course, China players did all the work again. After what happened last year, my Ex-Coach was determined to beat us yet again, but he failed this time. It will be interesting to see, however, if they manage to defeat RI, and we will be up against St. Gabriel's once more in a contest for the 1st place in the Nationals. RI lost to them 3 - 1.
As for school, Chemistry Lab Lesson was quite fun. We were testing for the properties of Acids and Alkalis today, which proved to be interesting when the chemicals reacted. And I found out that my Physics Gradient of 7500 was completely wrong, I had plotted the graph inappropriately. I had swapped the X-Axis and Y-Axis, so my rise over run was very off.
Then for PE, I forgot to bring my PE Shorts. In the morning when I was packing my bag, I wondered if I would go for training after the competition, then when I decided I wouldn't because my bag was getting quite fat (I've got a number of files in there and my Macbook), I took out the shirt and shorts. Thus, I was made to do 20 Push-Ups. Not that it was hard, I just didn't want to sabotage the class just because of my mistakes, because they do punish the whole class just because of a couple of people sometimes, and there were 2 yesterday in my class.
As for the B Division, we had a somewhat narrow win against Cheung Cheng High as the score was 3 - 2. Of course, China players did all the work again. After what happened last year, my Ex-Coach was determined to beat us yet again, but he failed this time. It will be interesting to see, however, if they manage to defeat RI, and we will be up against St. Gabriel's once more in a contest for the 1st place in the Nationals. RI lost to them 3 - 1.
As for school, Chemistry Lab Lesson was quite fun. We were testing for the properties of Acids and Alkalis today, which proved to be interesting when the chemicals reacted. And I found out that my Physics Gradient of 7500 was completely wrong, I had plotted the graph inappropriately. I had swapped the X-Axis and Y-Axis, so my rise over run was very off.
Then for PE, I forgot to bring my PE Shorts. In the morning when I was packing my bag, I wondered if I would go for training after the competition, then when I decided I wouldn't because my bag was getting quite fat (I've got a number of files in there and my Macbook), I took out the shirt and shorts. Thus, I was made to do 20 Push-Ups. Not that it was hard, I just didn't want to sabotage the class just because of my mistakes, because they do punish the whole class just because of a couple of people sometimes, and there were 2 yesterday in my class.
Monday, 5 April 2010
I love Mondays, and for the third time I'm saying it on this blog, thank god it's Monday. There must be some link, but I kept drifting off to sleep. To commemorate Easter Monday, every student in the school received 2 chocolate eggs which tasted alright, but not quality chocolate. But they had 1500 students to give it to, so they probably can't afford it. Well I love English lessons because my teacher is very good at telling stories, and that's what she does for English lesson, be a story teller. She always seems to have something to share on every topic, which range from information that we did not know to her own experiences, that brilliant mind of hers.
Biology was a nice lecture, I was tired there though, so I think I did not pay attention to today's lesson. My ears can work with my eyes closed, but teachers don't think so, so I was sort of struggling to keep them open, which resulted in only 50% concentration, the other half of my body was spent on preventing my eyes from shutting. It isn't fun or easy. His lessons are supposed to be enjoyable anyway.
Then, of course, you have to pay full attention in a Physics Lab lesson. You just can't sleep when you're standing and carrying out the procedures of the experiment. My data was a lot more different compared to my friends though, and I ended up with a gradient of 7500, something tells me that's wrong.
And then again, because it's Monday, the day was over by then. The rest was just listening, which I enjoy. Listening is fun :D. Tomorrow is Semi-Finals, but we again are doomed.
Biology was a nice lecture, I was tired there though, so I think I did not pay attention to today's lesson. My ears can work with my eyes closed, but teachers don't think so, so I was sort of struggling to keep them open, which resulted in only 50% concentration, the other half of my body was spent on preventing my eyes from shutting. It isn't fun or easy. His lessons are supposed to be enjoyable anyway.
Then, of course, you have to pay full attention in a Physics Lab lesson. You just can't sleep when you're standing and carrying out the procedures of the experiment. My data was a lot more different compared to my friends though, and I ended up with a gradient of 7500, something tells me that's wrong.
And then again, because it's Monday, the day was over by then. The rest was just listening, which I enjoy. Listening is fun :D. Tomorrow is Semi-Finals, but we again are doomed.
Sunday, 4 April 2010
For today, training was below average. So I practiced with Julian in the morning. He fa qiang and I dang lor, as usual. Then An Qi had to fa qiang also, but she was hungry and then jiao lian told her to play 1 match with me before she could go for lunch. Won her 3 - 1, made a mistake on the 3rd set. Then I went for lunch with Julian. He suggested Macdonald's and I went "What?" because I had had it for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. So he pestered me on where else there was and in the end I said ok to Macdonald's, but too bad for him Macdonald's was full. So we brought back KFC, just 1 large box of Popcorn Chicken each. That's about the only thing worth eating from KFC beside the Mashed Potato and the big chicken wings. As a result of his pestering, I forgot to get the birthday present that I was supposed to buy.
After lunch, back at school, jiao lian told me to wait, then 30 seconds later asked me for my bat. After positioning us nicely, I was going to start, then he told me to wait again. Was out of the system for 2 rounds, then he put me at the last table, which was table 8. Climbed all the way to Table 3, met Yen Kar, lost to him 11 - 9 and 14 - 12, then I was asked to tui sia again by jiao lian. It was 3:15pm then, and for the rest of the 45 minutes I had left, I talked...
Dinner was Sensen's at West Mall. Omelette with chicken ham and cheese, I loved it. Then the Ice Cream was nice too. After that, we went to bata to buy shoes, my current pair had a small hole that could rip open any moment. After a little bit of pickiness, I finally decided that Size 9 (yes, 9, it's that big) was suitable for me. But guess what, when I unpacked it to retie the shoelaces at home, 1 of the shoes was the Size 9 and the correct design, the other was Size 8 with a different design. OK bata fail, I'll have to do with my tattered shoes tomorrow.
Sorry for this slacking mood :).
After lunch, back at school, jiao lian told me to wait, then 30 seconds later asked me for my bat. After positioning us nicely, I was going to start, then he told me to wait again. Was out of the system for 2 rounds, then he put me at the last table, which was table 8. Climbed all the way to Table 3, met Yen Kar, lost to him 11 - 9 and 14 - 12, then I was asked to tui sia again by jiao lian. It was 3:15pm then, and for the rest of the 45 minutes I had left, I talked...
Dinner was Sensen's at West Mall. Omelette with chicken ham and cheese, I loved it. Then the Ice Cream was nice too. After that, we went to bata to buy shoes, my current pair had a small hole that could rip open any moment. After a little bit of pickiness, I finally decided that Size 9 (yes, 9, it's that big) was suitable for me. But guess what, when I unpacked it to retie the shoelaces at home, 1 of the shoes was the Size 9 and the correct design, the other was Size 8 with a different design. OK bata fail, I'll have to do with my tattered shoes tomorrow.
Sorry for this slacking mood :).
Instead of going for school's training, I went for my friend's brother's training. He's in NUS High, and his training was apparently unofficial, arranged by him and a group of friends. He was the best of them all, they had competition on Monday and their coach did not train them as he was helping the better players now. So he was on the weaker side, but he was still playing because they were short of players. He coached his friends, and they were quite new to Table Tennis. At least his brother could do some nice rallies. I played with them from 9.30am to 2pm, at which time I was asked to go home, to slack for the rest of the day and that's why I am posting now...
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