Second Training Session

As expected, bad things did happen, but I don't think I'll be describing it here, for there are too many long stories to tell, but I might consider telling you if you asked. As expected, today there were three main things that happened as well, the project discussion, the 2 hour lesson and CCA.

The lesson was fun today, especially for the last part of the lesson where we had to come up with a paragraph within 20 minutes. The question itself was enough to kill to shy people like me. However, there was no time to be conservative, so I just wrote down what came to mind. In case you're dying to know, the title for the day was: How to Win a Guy's/ Girl's Heart in Ten Days. Here's the paragraph that I wrote(this passage might be different as we had submitted the original and I don't usually make efforts to remember my works by heart unless it's necessary):

Winning a girl's heart is something that is easier said than done. However, with the right mindset, it can be done. Firstly, one must be sincere to a girl all the time. One good way would be to prepare a five course meal for her, with each dish being one of her favourite food. You might take time off everyday just to do the things she likes with her, and while at it, have conversations to get to know her better. Over the weekend, make a visit to her family's place. You might want to help prepare the meals and do the dishes, as well as get to know her family members, or better, know them from the inside out. On the last day, take her to a place where it is peaceful and quiet and tell her your true feelings.

Although the lecturer said that I was an "expert", I don't think I could really agree with that. Even my teammates who have little experience of that are already attached, while I'm still single. The furthest I got in all my previous relationships were to confess my feelings. Further than that, you could say that I'm a green. That, was the best part of today.

As for taekwondo training today, managed to train my techniques a little, although I could feel the injury from last Monday returning again. Just hope that the pain would not be as intense as what felt last week, for I have a wedding dinner to attend on Sunday.

Oh, yes. Tonight, there would be hourly updates from 12 midnight all the way till 3 or 4am in the morning, so stay tuned!!! Exactly what's going on, well, you'll just have to wait and see.


Hey there.. right now it's 1am on a Friday morning, and it's te second time this week that I'm doing some revision at this time. So far, some of us are already online to do the assignments for the BCE, which is the main reason why we're all online so early this Friday morning. BCE is short for Business Continuity Exercise, which was put in action some years back due to the SARS crisis, so that students are able to continue to study wihtout any disruption from home. So, today, we're simulating something like that, without the health threat of course, so that we'll be ready fo something similar in future(hope that day does not come, though it's great to study from home with lots of freedom). Right now, I'm just getting started, not so sure about the others though, but they would be online soon I guess?

Alrighty. It's already 2am, and finally 4 of us, Jian Hui, Jenere, Jun Jie and I have just started skyping. I had just finished the EG2 assignment for BCE. The rest are also making good progress on the BCE assignment. As for our module for Engineering Drawing and Computer Aided Design, there has been some problems with the submission site for our assignment, but maybe that would be up in the morning at 9am? The asignment for Engineering Materials was completed on Wednesday, so all we have to do is to submit it in the morning at 9am. So, anyway, see you again at 3am, where I will go on to do the 2 exercises for this module.

It's finally 3am! One more hour and I might lose my concentration anytime for late night mugging. jenere left at 2.28am, after he found out that he forgot to borrow the license for his AutoCAD program. Right now, we're just about to commence on our AutoCAD drawing. There are two parts to the assignment, so, we're expecting it to take quite a while before we're done with it. Just moments ago, Janna joined us for just 5 minutes. WOW. She made a ghostly entrance with her sleepy voice when she came online at 2.45am, and at 2.50am, she left to continue sleeping for the rest of the night. Anyway, I'm back to start on my drawing, so see you later at 4am, by which our assignments should have been completed.

We're finally at 4am, and my drive for the 4 hour night mugging window. I had just finished both sections of the Computer Aided Design assignment for the BCE. I was expecting to complete it at 5am later, but somehow I managed to complete it quickly. So, with all assignments completed, there is only the submission left to be done, and that would be accomplished at 1pm later in the afternoon. After that, I would be spending he remaining time on relaxation as well as revision to reduce my study load for Saturday morning.

So, as for later today, guess there is not very much to talk about, other than the German lesson, and my muscles that ache so much, I might look like a crab when I walk around as Godwin puts it in one of his blog posts sometime last month.

From hurriedly to slacked

The day started with me rushing out of bed, getting changed, going to school and off for lessons. Not so bad, as I managed to take a short nap on the bus. Jian Hui was probably in a state worse than me as he was woken up by a simple phone call the night ago.

Today I managed to overshoot my maximum writing speed during the Engineering Materials lecture and that caused my fingers to go numb while my wrist hurt badly. At least I can say that my handwriting at that speed has improved a little as well, which might be what caused that to happen. Going to revise that during the 3 to 4 hour window after midnight on Saturday as well, for that seems to be the time when my concentration is at the optimum level for the longest period of time. Other days are fine, just that I have only two windows, 7.30pm to 10pm and 12am to 4am on weekdays. The second window is a little late for me, especially since there is school the next morning. Once I start revision during a window, I would be fully awake, and I would not feel tired or sleepy until the last 30 minutes or so.

After that, was lunch, and man, you should have seen the number of empty tables there were at Canteen 3 during the 11am lunch break! That was the first time we all went to a canteen that was so empty during our afternoon breaks. Even the queues were short, I was spoilt for choice of what to have for lunch(I usually go for the stalls with the shortest queues). Went for Math lecture after that, and I ended up helping my friends again, even though I brought the wrong book to class. Always had the misconception that as long as the book was the thickest, it has to be for Math. This semester, the thickest book that I have is my lecture notes for the module on computer aided design. So, that was the book I brought into class today. Following that was 3 hours of tutorials, and we went home after that.

Wednesdays sure are the easiest days to pass this semester. it's like a standard day in school, where we just go for lectures and tutorials and are dismissed for the day after that. Thursdays should be the most easy going ones, but for tomorrow, somehow I have got a gut feeling that something bad might happen tomorrow. Exactly what, I have got no idea, but I'm prepared for the worst for everything tomorrow. 2 hour lesson on Communication Toolkit, Movie and CCA.

Losing Drive

My drive today decreased greatly, but for some unknown reason. Anyway, today there was almost an information overload during the economics lesson. Good thing I was trained to write fast for my Combined Humanities O Level paper. Anyway, managed to absorb most of the lecture today, but will do all the revision on Saturday morning, so I guess I'll be forgoing sleep for 3 to 4 hours after midnight on Saturday then. Today, nearly lost vision due to carelessness, as I rushed for time, but anyway, that would not happen again if I work both safely and quickly. That's all for today, and for tomorrow, wonder how things would go, from 9am to 4pm.

After a 5 Month Hiatus

Today we all met up again, after five months. Pathetic ain't it? Well, can't do much about it as the polytechnic and jc academic calendars are arranged in such a way that it's nearly impossible to organise gatherings on weekdays during the school term, especially if it's during the second semester.

I had to rush to a couple of places before going to the place we were supposed to meet. Stepped out of home at 11am to take the bus to the Esplanade. It was sort of a good thing when Weiwen messaged me that she could not get the group gift for Joycelyn's birthday, for I was just a bus stop away from the shopping centre that she had planned to go to get the gift from. So, I got down, and walked all the way to Far East Plaza, walked around the whole shopping centre once, called her 5 to 6 times before she picked up the phone, only to tell me that the stall was in the basement when I was about to leave for the bus stop. So, went back in, and finally, I found the stall. Close call. Got the present, and left in a hurry for the Esplanade. Time check, 12.15pm. Wow. I spent 15 minutes just to get a gift. So, I walked to the bus stop, and took a bus to the Esplanade. It was 12.50 when I reached Raffle's City, and walked to the Esplanade to get a box of chocolates as a personal gift. I reached the shop at 1.00pm, and since I did not have the time to choose the flavours as I only had 15 minutes left, I decided to make do with the pre-packed one first(sorry if the flavours were not to your liking), and come back another time to select the chocolates for her when we meet again. 1.05pm, I boarded the same bus I took to Raffle's City earlier, back to Orchard MRT Station. 1.13pm, I reached the meeting place. I could finally take a breather.

There were only 7 of us today, Sean, Cherie, Limther, Fiona, Weiwen, Joycelyn, and of course, me. Like Sean said, she wasn't as tanned as how she looked in her blog(hope the chocolates won't worsen her condition).We went for Pepper Lunch at Taka 1.50pm and left at 3pm, as Weiwen and Joycelyn both had to leave early. So while the other two couples went on with their dates, I went home, sadly, but true. I walked all the way to Raffle's City again, just to take the bus back home and enjoy sleeping in the nice weather on the way back home. Although it was only a partial success this time round, at least, I know that the next gathering, there will not only be more people who would be able to make it, but also more things to do as there would be more people present.

Tomorrow's back to school for practicals again, economics lesson, and back home to sleep and mug(yes, I did type "mug"). It's rare for a student in a polytechnic to mug, but, still I have to, or I won't get my 4.0, which I failed to get the previous semester.

Pauses

Today was hectic, I slept for less than 5 hours during the night as I was doing some revision and other things, and ended up sleeping at 5.30am, and woke at 10.30am. Had lunch, slacked a bit by watching television, before sleeping for another 2 hours. Went to Vivocity in the evening, and finally found a suitable blazer, but will get them next week when my borther comes along to check his size.

That's all for today though, so for tonight, I doubt I will be staying through the night again, and I'll just sleep early, for there's going to be a gathering with friends from the PAE period! I can't wait for tomorrow, though it's just for lunch. It's been 5 months since we last sat together and had a good chat. Oh, and I have removed a portion of the previous post as I don't think there's any relevance to keep that portion.

Closing in

Today went out in the evening to get some clothes for a wedding dinner next Sunday and for the following Friday.That was all, for the rest of the day was spent on slacking, or doing other things. I did not post anything yesterday as I did not have the mood nor inspiration to post anything. As for today, I felt that I just had to type something in here or I would not feel that the day's complete.


Two more days to the public holidays and next gathering with my PAE friends. I'm still unsure about the outcome of that day though. It's been a long time since we last met up.

Oh, and before I end off for the day, even though it's a day late(sorry about that),
HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY Joycelyn!

Slow Recovery

Today nothing happened much in school, except that there was a project meeting for Communication Toolkit Information Paper. That was followed by lunch at 12pm, and the 2 hour lecture at 1pm. Went for CCA at 5pm, and went home after that in the evening.

It's been the third day since I went for my first Taekwondo training on Monday. So far, my left leg has also started to ache, while the pain on my right has gotten more intense. Thus, I decided to give today's training a miss, and go for the monthly Toastmasters meeting. One thing very special about this meeting was that, the Staff Toastmasters Club was going to be revived this month, and the Students Toastmasters members were invited along as well! Really enjoyed it, but felt guilty I skipped the Taekwondo training without informing any of the members, as I did not want to take the trouble of walking up and down a flight of stairs in paing just to get the message across to the leaders at the sports complex. After the meeting, I went straight home.

Many things had happened since the start of the year. Since January 2nd, February, April, and today it's finally October. Got a feeling that many things are going to happen next week, and those are relatively drastic to what the future would be like. Good? Bad? I have got no idea, but, as what a lecturer said this evening, 10% of what happens to us in life is what is being done to us by others. However, the other 90% is contributed by how we pick ourselves up from there.

So, I guess if that attempt fails once again, I shall just pick myself up from there, and continue walking forth, and do my best to strive for the gold medal. However, if it's the other way round(a situation which I would least expect), I shall do my best!

Back to the Drawing Board

Today it was back to the drawing board again, and I reverted to using the "old fashioned" way of studying during lectures. Yes, note taking. It's very rare in schools such as polytechnic, but, that method sure is more effective than just to lug a large booklet to school and end up falling asleep after flipping a couple of pages after a lecture has started. It ensures that one does not end up sleeping at any time during the lecture, and it also enables the mind to remember information more effectively than just by listening alone. Let's say that, you threw a short glance at a particular page on your very own fresh set of notes taken during the previous lecture. Immediately, subconsciously, you would remember almost everything that was taught during the time at which you wrote the first and last word on that page of the notes. That, was exactly what happened during the first lecture of the day at 9am. We had a 2 hour long Engineering Materials lecture, and in less than 30 minutes into the lecture, many people were already asleep, which was quite expected as there was nothing to help them absorb the knowledge.

After that, we went for lunch, while some went to the library to print the first set of notes. It's so that we could prevent a situation like what happened earlier in the morning. After that was our Engineering Math Lecture from 12pm to 1pm, and it was a great time to relax, and help friends who were weaker at the same time. After that, we had tutorials from 1pm to 4pm, for 2 different modules. At 4pm, we were free to go.

Tomorrow I'm going to have a busy day again, projects, class, and CCA. I have 2 CCAs clashing with one another tomorrow evening, Taekwondo and Toastmasters. Obviously I would go for the Toastmasters meeting, as it's held only once a month, and it's held together with the staff meeting. On the other hand, I would also have to go for the Taekwondo training, but since I still can't fully use my right leg after Monday's intensive training, I guess I would have to give tomorrow's training a miss, even if there was no Toastmasters meeting. Still, I have to show myself before the training starts to submit the forms and settle the administrative stuff, and explain my absence from tomorrow's training before going for the Toastmasters meeting.

Oh, and I think I have told almost everyone closest to me already(except for one, for I'm not sure if the piece of news would make him feel worse, and, by the way, no offence meant. if I missed you out, I'm so sorry), so, I guess I would announce it tonight? This would be the very first time I would be receiving such an award since I started schooling 10 years ago. Normally, I would only top the class in a subject or two, but this time, things have gotten a little different. No one, not even myself, knew that I would eventually making it to that position, for during the past semester, I never really did my studying and revision seriously. I actually topped the LEVEL. That's my first step to the gold medal! YEAH! From the next week on, I will not be as relaxed as I was during the past semester and during these two wees of school. Got to focus more on friends, play time, CCAs and study.

Do hope you've gotten better after yesterday, although I have got no idea what made you feel so down. Wished I could share it with you, even if it was just for 5 minutes over the phone. I look forward to seeing the brighter, cheerful and lively YOU when we meet again next week, and lunch shall be my TREAT!

Greed

This post sort of covers for 2 days of activities, so, do expect it to be a little long.

On Monday, that's yesterday, there was only one lesson in the morning, and for three hours, we did nothing more than computer drawings and orthographic drawings. I could feel my knowledge from 3 years back enter me again. That moment sure felt great! we met Mr Lek, our former adviser at the lift landing. Felt so good to see him again after the long break! We had a nice chat with him, before he suddenly asked me if I was the top student. That, stunned the whole class for a moment. I did not believe I was the one to be the top student, for I heard that there was someone else in the course with a GPA of 4.0. After that, went to canteen one with An Yan, Janna and Yin Feng for lunch, before we went home. Slept for a while and went back to school again at 5.30pm. I found a faster, and better route to school, though it involved much walking. I was going to join my 4Th CCA, the Taekwondo Club. It's been 6 years since I first learnt the art, and I stopped exactly a year ago due to the O Levels. A year later, I'm back again, but still, I'm not sure if I really want to make it my second main CCA. Went home feeling fine, but I woke up this morning feeling aches on all 4 limbs.

Today was the first time in school that we had a chance to operate the machines in the workshops. The TSO sure was a nice guy to work under! No matter what kind of silly questions we asked, no matter what we were unsure of, he would always without fail come over to our bench to assist us, and also tell us the respective steps to take when handling the machines. His patience is truly remarkable! I'm so looking forward to the next session! There was lunch after that, and we went to KAP. I left early as I went back to canteen 4 at 1pm to help with the ticketing for the school's 45Th birthday celebration. There was economics at 2pm, and it went on to 3pm. I can't really say that I have gotten the hang of studying the social science as yet, as I am still unable to get used to the lecturer's style of teaching, although her examples really got me going, making me want to know what was next to learn. The title for today's post is "Greed". Not only is it an O Level English Language question in paper 1 for this year, it is also something related to the things I learnt during today's economics lecture about how the Wall Street incident started out. Anyway, I'm no going into the details as it might make some people fall asleep. After the lesson, I painstakingly took a bus back home and walked back home. It's been a long time since I experienced such aches.

Tomorrow's going to be a long day, from 9am to 4pm. Wonder how I'm going to get through the hours again tomorrow, and also, just moments ago, I received a pleasant surprise! Will share it once I have shared it with my closest friends and classmates!

Right now, is he feeling alright? He was never that way before, and the tone alone was appalling. It was the very first time, I heard his voice in that tone. Please, I really don't wish to have the dream I had that night become a reality. For if it does, there might be more to come, and it's not a good thing to hope for either. I really want everything to just return to normal, so we could all be happy once again, just like the old times.

Triple Celebration

This post covers the span of two days. It started yesterday. The four of us went over to Payar Labar to attend the birthday celebration of a friend's BBQ cum triple birthday celebrations. Might have been possible for the previous class outingas well, but it was not possible as it was during the examination period. Anyway, made some new friends, which made us feel great after a night of relaxation.

As it was too late to catch the last bus home from Clementi, I decided to just stay a night at a friend's place. Enjoyed it, though I was not suposed to be there at all.

Today, I went home, and it rained in waves. That alone was not a good sign. Sure enough, many things that should not be happening, occured one after another. Anyway, glad that I was able to get all that under control in less than 24 hours. Now, other than feeling a fear of which I do not really know the exact cause of, everything else seems fine for now. Hope everything turns out fine after I wake in the morning.

Infactuation. Why must that always happen? Is it good? Is it bad? Turns out that, it's like a double-edged sword. If you're still alone, one would think that there's no harm taking it a step further. However, when the other party is related to you somehow, other than just a normal friend, depending on the situations, it's better not to pursue it any further; in fact, it's best to get it over with before it gets the better of you. It's happened twice, and each time, it gets harder to control and eliminate it completely. I really do hope there will not be a third time, for by then, things might really start to get ugly.

1.2 Day 5

Today's finally the last day of the first week of the term. Usually the best day is the last day of the week, but I don't think today would be a good example. Today was a mixed bag of both good and bad events. But, they sure made today exciting!

Today I left home quite late as I underestimated the approximate travelling time to school, and almost ended up being late in the process. Anyway, I was just in time for the CAD lesson, and managed to get the hang of it after some assists. We had an hour's break after that, from 11am to 12pm. During the lesson, was chatting with WM, who had no school today, and he went on a tour to a school to pass off some time.

After lunch, we went for a lab lesson for a short 30 minute briefing, before having another 1 hour and 30-minute break before going for the Math lecture. I did revision for economics again, this time I did a mind map to compile all the information. Finally, after 6 hours of revision, I can finally get the information into my mind. Guess I'll revise it again in the morning just to make sure. Math lecture was slacked again, and I completed the notes without paying attention to the lecturer. 2 hours passed quickly, and we were dismissed or the week.

Some of us went to grab a bite at the atrium, and we left after that. I arrived at West Mall at 5pm to look for gifts and construction paper, before leaving at 5.20pm for school again. I'm taking a foreign language lesson again this semester, and have gone up by a level. The lecturer has changed, and I guess times are also going to get more exciting as well! Looking forward to the next lesson!After the lesson ended, went to the atrium to have a more decent dinner of 2 sandwiches before heading home.

Now, I'm back home, and I'm still stuck with the planning phase. This time I really did put off a few friends, and I can understand their reasons for being so as well. It's been a week since we set off doing what we had been hoping to do, and now, it's as though we've made very minute progress. Alright. Tomorrow, I will definitely inform those whom I know about the upcoming gathering and ask if they can make it. By the way, it's going to be lunch, as it's extremely dangerously close to the A level Chinese Language paper that demands lots of concentration.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting Sean, Jon and WM again to celebrate 2 birthdays. How would the day progress, really hope it will be a great day out for us! And I'm also looking forward to the coming week, for there would be lots of exciting things going on as the week progresses! I can't wait, for time just passes so fast now that school has begun.

1.2 day 4

Today was the fourth day of the first week of the second school semester. Today, I went to school for only 1 lesson. And the spoiler of the day was, just less than a minute after arriving in school, I saw half of the class going home. Well, I guess that's just the tip of the iceberg of what most students who have to repeat a module experience, though in my case, it's a case of the timetabling where some go for their lessons early, while some go for the same lessons later. The next best thing was that I finally found someone who was in the same class as me! I had thought that I was going to be the only one from my class going to attend that module during that time slot.

The module is Communication Toolkit, an English-natured module that covers speech and writing. Basically, it's just the toning up of our communication skills to be at the professional level, so as to help most of us kill the fear of public speaking. Over a period of 13 weeks, I would be doing assignment after assignment of writing. That's my favourite part of the module, as the more I write, the more excited I get. There are also research skills and public speaking skills involved, so with writing skills implemented into the module, that's what makes the module package complete.

After 2 hours, I went home, slept for an hour, before leaving for school again. Today, I made the next step to joining a fourth CCA in school. I'm still unsure about whether I should join as an official member, or have a 3 month trial first, to ensure that I can cope with my studies before I take on the additional burden. Oh, the fourth CCA I intend to join is Taekwondo. It's under the Singapore Federation, so I guess I would be learning the art again as a white belt, as I was from a different Federation all along since 2003 when I first started.

At 9pm, when it ended, I headed home. The next one hour, though it seemed like a normal routine, it was the toughest hou of the day. The first, was whether I should give myself a chance and continue to pursue something that I left alone months ago. Well, it sure took a couple, an email and coincidence to get it going once again. Next up, was whether I should seriously join a fourth CCA, as up to now, I have no problem with just 3. And apart from that, my CCA point bank is doing well so far with 8 points to date. Even my parents are encouraging me to join the CCA, but I'm not sure if I should join as the opportunity cost is greater this time round, for I'm going to give up 2 days a week for the next 5 semesters. Holidays might even be included and added to the time it's going to take. Maybe I'll talk to some of my friends in another CCA to get their advice on whether I should take up a fourth CCA and then make my choice on Monday. Currently, I'm going to say Yes, I am going to join a fourth CCA, for the main reasons are to make more friends and at the same time, maintain my fitness and bring it to a greater level.

Anyway, here's the preview to the last day for the first week of the new semester. All the core modules have been revealed, but have all the tutorials and lectures for each module been experienced for the first time? There's going t be 3 breaks for me tomorrow. How am I going to deal with all that spare time? The last part of the five day series, do visit again tomorrow night to know more!

Once again, I took a gamble. If I saw you for 2 consecutive days, I would continue from where I stopped, and make the move real soon. Whether or not it's going to be successful, it sure would be a good experience, just like the previous times.
Whether I should really join a fourth CCA, I always thought that it's going to be a good thing, until today, when I saw for myself that it might not be easy after all, to juggle between a CCA that takes up 2 days a week, two other CCAs that each occupy a day a month and my studies, which have become relatively more difficult this semester. If I maintain my first semester's pace, might end up seeing more Cs than Bs, or worse, not a single A grade at all this semester. I really do hope I can make up my mind before Saturday for both thoughts.

1.2 Day 3

Today has made me feel something different about this semester. Not only is there going to be a considerable shortage of time compared to the previous semester, the lecturers have also become more stringent with a couple of discipline regulations, especially punctuality. Today I heard the same story again about why punctuality is real important when one's out in the working society. I never knew that something so minor could become so serious, even though I'm not the type to be late for almost anything.

Going on, today we had Engineering Materials, a whole new module for us, or maybe not. The lecturer for the module is also our adviser for the semester(things are going to get serious this semester I think?), which is kind of a good thing in a way, though in the meantime, I doubt most of my friends would think the same way, but perhaps, in the long run, they would too. Today's topic was revision for my limited Design and Technology knowledge that I picked up 3 years ago. There was also some Chemistry knowledge involved as well, so that sure helped a little. For now, I don't think that the module is going to be a tough one, though the structure of the tutorial questions are structured questions, I just have to put in a little more effort into it. Some of us went to buy our books, notes and stationery later on, and I sure bought a hell lot of things. I spent close to 50 bucks today, which would leave me with almost no savings(accumulated since the holidays) by the end of this week.

After that we went to canteen 3 for lunch, and I think I saw someone familiar there, though I wasn't sure myself, for she seemed a little too tall for me to belief(no offence though, if you're happening to be reading this). For the record, we stayed there for only 15 minutes before leaving for class at 12.40pm. To our surprise, we were among the last to arrive before 12.50pm. The lecturer(who arrived at 1pm) was the latest I think? Oh, yes, the module that we had for the next hour was Engineering Mathematics 2. Finally a module that proves that I had progressed a level higher! There was a tutorial session for Engineering Materials after that, and it was very relaxed. The questions were actually very simple, however, as I wasn't very attentive during the lecture, I missed out on a couple of points. This weekend would be spent on hardcore revision, unless someone invites me out(which is relatively rare, cause it's almost always the other way round). We went for Math tutorial after that at 2pm, and it was a time of fun. So far, I think that Math is the most enjoyable lesson, for I can sleep for a while, and yet be able to catch up later on.

After school, I went straight home at 4pm, and reached home at 5pm. Went for a run again today at 5.30pm, which only made me more tired. I did 2 straight hours of Economics, before calling it a day and started to relax till now.

Alright, here's the preview for tomorrow. I have got only one lesson tomorrow afternoon, which starts at 1pm and ends at 3pm. And, best of all, it's my favourite module of all time, and it's also my best O Level subject! It's English language, yes, but right here, it's known as Communication Toolkit, as it deals with more than just writing essays and letters. Well, let's not spoil tomorrow too much shall we? After that, I'm going to make an attempt to practice Taekwondo again after stopping for almost a year for the O Levels. That's one of the reasons why I had been running so frequently during the holidays. Anything else? Well, Let's just wait till tomorrow when the next post's up. Good night and see you again tomorrow!

1.2 Day 2

Today was a day with some unexpected events. I arrived in school at 7.20am again today. At 8.15am, there was a briefing on the workshops and equipment,followed by a video screening, before we were split into 8 different groups, where everyone was grouped by name in alphabetical order. We were free to go at 10am after touring the facilities. We decided to go to West Mall to watch the House Bunny, before going for lunch at Burger King at 12.45pm.

Went back to school again at 1.20pm. We split up at 1.50pm to go to our respective classes to attend our elective modules. The class was broken into 4 groups; Workplace Safety, Project Management, Advanced Engineering Mathematics and Economics. I'm the only one in the class taking Economics. Anyways, I did not fall asleep during the lesson, but the lesson sure wasn't easy. At 4.30pm, we were dismissed, and I went straight home after that. Back home later this evening, I had a hard time trying to revise the things learnt today for the module. In fact, I had to put in 3 times the usual amount of effort I used for revision during the exam period, just to fully comprehend the introduction chapter alone. It almost seems like an accomplishment, but I have yet to go into the second chapter.

Since there was a lot of time after reaching home, I decided to go for a run later on at 5.20pm. Today I did not train so much on speed, but more on stamina, thus it took me 25 minutes to complete the run itself. Tomorrow, if there's time, I would be going for another run again, this time training a little more on speed.

It took me some time to realise that Deepavali falls on Monday, the 27Th of this month. I thought it was on a Tuesday all the while. The thing is, I'm planning for a celebration together with a few friends, however, there is hardly a day where everyone, or most of us might be able to meet. I'm finding myself walking into dead ends almost every time I make a turn into a corner. There should be a day where most of us can make it right?? It feels as though we're so close to making it, but there's still more things to get done before we're there. I dislike the idea of abandoning plans that have been prepared to thoroughly. Anyway, like always, if we can't settle on a final decision soon enough, the same thing's going to happen again, and it's going to be another wasted effort. Damn. I just hope that December could come soon, so that we can be sure that there would be a gathering.

Preview for tomorrow, I finally get to meet my Adviser for this semester, have the first joint lecture with the other class we were with last semester, and also, Engineering Math 2 and perhaps some Chemistry again, after 8 months.

1.2 Day 1

Today was a great start to the new semester. I barely managed to wake at 6.15am this morning, and that was something I could not achieve during the holidays. Well, just have to make sure that I can wake at that time again tomorrow. I left for school at 6.45am, the same time I left for school during PAE. The bus was not as crowded as expected, and I arrived at 7.20am.

There was only 1 lesson today, a perfect start to the new school semester. The lesson started at 8am. Today's module was about technical drawing and Computer Aided Design(CAD). Pretty interesting module, but the lecturer was strict. Anyways, I had to quickly recall the drawing skills I picked up in secondary 1 and 2 to help me complete the drawings in time, although the lecturer has explained the standard way to do it. It has been more than 3 years since I last touched the isometric paper used in technical or engineering drawing! Well, I managed to finish it in time, but the same problem I had during those days surfaced again; I forgot to complete the minor details and my drawing of arcs and circles is still very bad. It was 10.50am when the class ended, and we were dismissed for the day. Didn't really do much other than drawing, which is quite a good start for a new term, and it really helped me recover from the holiday mood.

After that, as it was raining heavily, some of us went to have lunch before heading home. The moment I reached home, I fell asleep and, something really bad happened. Remember that I had to meet up with a few friends today? Yes, I woke up 5 minutes before the speculated meeting time at 3.25pm! I had only 5 minutes to get ready and head down to Orchard MRT station! Damn! I was in such a hurry that I kept messaging the wrong person till she thought that I missed her so much(quote from Jon "Oh my tian")! It took me some time to get myself at least half awake and left the house at 3.30pm. I reached there 45 minutes later at 4.15pm. Sean and Cherie arrived soon after that, and my "big sis" Weiwen arrived at 4.45pm. We stalked her for 2 minutes before she took out her phone and called me(good thing my phone was still on silent mode) and found out we were behind her the whole time. We went to search for a birthday present, but after an hour of searching, we gave up. Weiwen went to Far East to search for something, while Sean and Cherie, with me, went to Subway for dinner. There, we discussed about the up-coming gathering, and something that I least expected happened (and I did something no one close to me would think me capable of doing). not going to go on about that, and so far, we have planned very little for the gathering. Hope it will be a successful one after so many failures.

Preview for tomorrow's post coming right up. 4 hours of practical tomorrow, followed by 2 hours of break(wonder where we're going for lunch this time) and finally, 3 hours of Economics. Had been looking forward to the day I can learn Economics either as a subject or a module since PAE ended, and finally tomorrow's the day it's happening! I can't wait! Let's no get too high and lose myself for now, otherwise I won't have a nice post up here.

On Vacation'08-Part 7

Hey there! Here we are, at the seventh and final part of series, which means that the holidays are about to come to an end, signalling the start of another semester. I must say, that, this week was definitely one of the most exciting weeks during the seven week break. So, without any more delays, here's the week's happenings. Oh, and I decided to throw in today as well, since I wanted a nice, long finish to this post.

Monday wasn't really an exciting day to begin with, and I was still waking after 10am in the morning! How exactly am I going to wake at 6am this coming Monday for the first lesson of the semester, which starts at 8am? In the afternoon, I went for my third-last evening run for he holidays. I clocked 20 minutes, which was not too bad, as it was a few days since I ran the route, and I usually have relatively low average speeds on Mondays.

Tuesday, the day progressed as though I was climbing a mountain. I woke at 10am today, a slight improvement in my waking time. The afternoon was spent on rushing through the first 40 episodes of Naruto Shippuden, sequel to the 220- episode anime series of Naruto. There was without a doubt more action in the new series, and the music collection (knowing some of the music helps one to estimate how good a series is) is also better. I won't add any spoilers in here, for it might kill the excitement of fans who just started watching the series. In the evening, I went for a run again, and I managed to hit 19 minutes, a minute off the normal 20 minutes. At 7.40pm, I set off to meet Ling(did I get your name right?) at Bukit Gombak to collect an order. Wanted to go to Eunos to collect it as I usually want to spend some time out before going back home. So, bought some bread, before walking all the way home. Surprisingly, it took less than 30 minutes to walk home from there, even though I got lost halfway through!

Wednesday was the second time during the holidays that I met up with my sps friends. We went to Bugis for lunch, talked quite a lot to catch up on some lost time and I gained some insight about a module I'll be taking next semester. The knowledge contained that module was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to a JC, but it sure was reassuring to know that it was offered as an elective. Nice. We went to Sim Lim to get some accessories for our phones, before going to Marina Square to watch a movie. It was pretty late by then, so we went for dinner before heading home.

Thursday saw me going to the National Dental Centre for an appointment again. If I remember correctly, that day was one of the few days that I was early by at least 5 minutes. After a while, the things to be done for the appointment were done and I took the bus home after making a call to Sean. Here's a little fast fact: For every 1 in 2 calls made to Sean, there would be a long wait before he answers his phone, and there would also be someone beside him answering the call as well. Anyways, It's good to hear that they're doing really well together, but, I seriously hope I did not call them when they were doing something else, like what usually happens in most drama serials. Sean, if that did happen, please do let me know(in private of course)! I will do my best to make it up to the both of you! I went to West Mall to search for a present for my brother who's turning 15 in less than a day's time, but did not manage to find a suitable gift. So, I decided to leave for home, empty-handed. However, something lit up my spirits when I saw someone familiar, in a brown uniform and black bag. Coincidentally, I met Chong Siang! It's been a long time since we were together. Turns out that he had just come from Jurong Point after being dismissed from school, and was searching for a sports towel. So, I accompanied him to Queensway. Thought I might find something good there as well, so I decided to take him there. It was 6.20pm when we left on bus 61. We reached about an hour later, and within 15 minutes, we got our things and went to the hawker centre across the road for dinner. By the way, I got a dozen shuttle cocks, but it took me a while to notice that after making the purchase that it would make a really bad birthday gift, as he does not play badminton. So, I turned to plan B, to give him the blue lanyard for his phone I bought the day before. I reached home at 9pm, just in time, I guess, for I was expected to be home after 7pm. At 11pm, there was a group conversation held, to organise the joint birthdays of three 4E1 classmates, Wei Xiang, Wei Fan and Weng Ling. Not exactly sure which days their birthdays fall on, but I'm positive it's during these 2 weeks, so Happy Birthday to them! After the conversation, which got nowhere after a while had ended, I thought of something nice.

Let's head back to the 2007 Graduation Nite, held shortly after the last O Level paper had ended. A really great night to remember, me making the second confession(most memorable one in fact). Bonds were remembered and strengthened, before everyone left the premises. 4 years of secondary school life had ended. After that was a month of rest and recuperation from the examinations, before going to MI for the first one month during the PAE period. I was reluctant at first, but, that decision sure was the right one to make, for the strongest bonds that I have made so far(and want to have for the rest of my life), were from class 08S6. Well, it wasn't really academic strength that made us worried, but more of the separation after 1 month, that made me stressed during those times. Having friends from around the country is damn rare, and it's even more rare to have close friends from around the country. A month later, I spent time in preparation for Polytechnic life, as to me, it did no seem fair for the friends in the JCs to be studying and under much stress, while I, was at home, slacking and doing nothing. That head-start proved to be extremely helpful during the course of the first semester, where I made many new bonds during the course of study in ME. Right now, it's going to be the start of a new semester real soon, and there's only so little time left to relax, before I get back to seriousness again.

Friday was such a slacked day for me, though I woke up relatively earlier at 9am. It's still nowhere close to my 6am target, though I know that I'm getting close to it. I spent the day watching Naruto Shippuden again, this time I'm left with 11 episodes before I catch up with the rest of the main group who are currently at episode 79. Sadly, episode 80 would only be released next Thursday. I went for the last 5kilometre run during the holidays. That run was the mos eventful. I saw myself clocking extremely totally new and faster times, especially in the nature park, where I clocked 9 minutes instead of the usual 13 minutes. However, on the return part of the run, I stopped to help two boys whose ball had rolled to the side of the ride I was on. It's rare to have me say this, but, one of them sure was cute when he took the ball, thanks me and ran off. It sue was heart warming to see them running off safely to return to their game too! I sprinted 400 metres to make up for the lost time while waiting to cross the road earlier on. I sure was surprised I could sprint that distance, as after all that running, I did not expect to have that kind of a stamina. Guess the holiday's training sure worked some wonders. I ended up clocking 18 minutes for the run that day. My cousins came at 10pm to celebrate my brother's 15Th birthday, and there was lots of fun! I was surprised when I, too received a present! Thanks a lot!

Saturday, and that's today! Today, I wok up extremely early at 7.11am! Yes! I'm almost near my target! I sent an email to the taekwondo club this morning at 10.20am, hoping to join it so that I can train up my strength and fitness. Having speed ans stamina alone would not help much. I hope I can get a reply soon so that I can start training once again after stopping for a year. At 11am, I left for the City Hall MRT by bus as I wanted to catch up on sleep during the journey there. I was late as expected, but by 5 minutes, and was second t arrive. Sean was the last to arrive today, as the gathering today was not a date. Maybe he reached home pretty late from his date the previous day, that's why he ended up being late, so I guess I can't really blame him for that. We went for lunch at Pasta mania, talked quite a lot about education again, before we went off to Toys R' Us to look at the toys vehicle models, before going to take a look at some Samsung phones. WM sure freaked me out when he went in to grab all the brochures for Sumsung models in such a short time. Sean, seriously, I wonder how freaky he was when you said that he took the brochures for every phone model which the shop sold. After that, we went to a coffee shop in the basement for desert, and slacked there till 3.30pm before going off. I went back to the esplanade to take a bus home after accompanying them to the MRT station. The tyre marks left by the cars were gone, but still, the condition of the road felt just the same as it was before the race. Perhaps the difference could only be felt when one was driving a vehicle on the road?

Just a moment ago, a short discussion was held. Guess there's really going to be a class outing for the PAE class that I was once a part of, and it's round the corner!Can't really say much here till it's confirmed though.

Well, there you go, the last weekly review for the last week of the October Vacation. The new school semester is going to start soon, and it's also time for me to do some warming up to get ready for the challenges ahead, for I have a gut feeling that this semester's not going to be as easy as the previous one. Here's a preview for the next post. On Monday after the first lesson of the semester, I would be meeting up with some friends in the afternoon again, after we sort of lost contact for 5 months.

Week Out

Here's a bonus post for the week, for both Tuesday and yesterday.





Here's a little something to complete the outing with Jon and WM at the Motor Show. My apologies for the error in which the photographs can't be seen without any clicking, as those were direct copies from the blog of papa of mashimaro. Anyways, I still have two photographs(shot with a K770):








And, here's three videos WM shot with his camera during the show(for more, please do visit his blog):















The highlight of the show was the part where they drove on one side, with passengers on board. Of course, the passengers paid a sum of at least 50 dollars during the aution before they had the chance to be in there!

Yesterday was the 4E1 class outing to Sentosa, with a turnout which was pretty much expected, since either school was starting for some of us, some had to work or go for their CCAs or the examinations were still going on. In all, there were 9 of us; Gabriel, Jun Jie, Steven, Auggie, Chi Kai, Yong An, Wei Ling, Wei Fan and I. We spent the whole afternoon on volley ball, soccer and cards. While the others were playing cards, I joined Chi Kai, Wei Ling and Steven in their chat about things in the past, present and future. For dinner, we went to Pasta Mania at Harbour Front Centre, as it was 8.30pm and there was not enough time for us to head down to Marina Bay for a buffet dinner which would set everyone back by another 20 bucks. Auggie, Yong An, Gabriel and I chatted about dreams and supernatural things which sent shivers down our spines.
It was that day, that I first spoke about me being able to dream of the future occassionally in public. Auggie said that it was an exciting ability, as I could sometimes predict what could happen. I still feel that it could be used to help others in future. Anyway, there were no photos for this trip as there were only 9 of us, as it's easy to remember almost everything we did there on that day. Finally, there's going to be another outing in the last 2 months of this year(hopefully so)!! If it's on, I'm definitely looking forward to it, as most of us should be able to make it.

On Vacation'08-Part 6

It's the sixth week of the seven week long term break! Just two one more week and it's back to school. Welcome to the sixth part o the seven part series. This week was definitely one exciting week, with the extreme F1 weekend mood reducing as the days pass this week.

Monday was a pretty bad day for me, I overslept badly,waking pass 11, and for the rest of the day, I was either sleeping, eating or staring at the computer screen. I did went for a run at 5.45pm, but ended up having to walk the remaining 1km on the way back, owing to the partially healed blister.

Tuesday was a great day. After some months, I finally met up with Jon and WM again. We were supposed to meet at the City Hall MRT station at 1pm, but due t the diversion, I decided to save time by taking a train from Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, arriving at the venue at 1.15pm. We went to Marina Square for lunch at Carl's Jr, before going to Peninsular Plaza to get Jon's clothes, but it turned out there were few stores that sold clothes. We went to Funan IT Mall to get my headphones to replace my dead 30 buck ear phones which lasted only 5 months and 3 weeks. We went back to Suntec to visit the Motor Show. Not as grand as wm and Jon have expected it to be, and there were not as many vehicles and companies there as well. One thing that made the 8 bucks worth paying was the stunt show that was on at 4.30pm. There was also a charity auction for seats in the cars to get up close and personal with the drivers and be part of the show at the same time! The prices started off at SGD40, but as expected all the prices were at least $50.

At 5pm, we went to help Jon with his shopping. After we gave up searching in Marina Square and Suntec City, we went to Vivocity to shop. It was 7.40 when we were done and went to the food court in the basement for dinner. I got scalded when I accidentally tipped the bowl of porridge I had ordered slightly. At 8.30pm, we went off.

Here are the photographs that WM aka papa of mashimaro took:

(for more photographs and a more elaborate review do visit his blog!

SPOILER alert: please click on the photographs if you're unable to see them. I had some problems uploading the photographs. Sincerest apologies for any inconveniences caused.)

Wednesday was a public holiday, so, Happy Childrens' Day and Selamat Hari Raya to all! I woke after 11am again and I did almost the same things I did on Monday. At 5.45pm, I went for the run again, and was on top form as well. Sadly, I ended up walking the last 1km or so back when my blister started bleeding. DAMN. I was on the way to set a new personal best!I clocked 20 minutes at the finish point. If only I had remembered to put on a plaster before going for the run, things would have been better.

Thursday, which was yesterday, I did the same thing as what I dd on Monday.Again. However, just so that my blister could heal in time for Saturday's outing to Sentosa, I decided not to run.

Friday, and that was today, I went for the Toast Masters' meeting in school. I ended up being late despite leaving early. Can't really blame the timing of the buses though. Anyway, I was given an official role today, the Time Keeper. The job was somewhat simple, though there were moments where I forgot to stop the stopwatch for a couple of seconds. We went for Dinner after that at 9.15pm. We stayed there for an hour before heading home.

Anyway, this is the review for the month of September. This month was truly a month of extremes. There were extremely high moments, as well as deeply low moments. The results was definitely something exceptional, the first time I achieved the best possible results with little parental help along the way. On September 18Th, I commemorate my fourth year of blogging. I started my first blog, coupled with my first ever post on Sunday, 18Th September 2005 at 6.05pm. In 24 days' time i will be celebrating the second anniversary of this current blog. Till then, do expect more posts and pictures, as well as videos as time passes!

Moving on, for the low moments, there was, of course the dawn of a financial crisis in America. Well, it doesn't really affect me that much, but it was the amount of money involved, the figures, that were shocking. it was one of the times that you would hear the mega words in financial terms being used, which aloe, is enough to send chills down the spines of some working adults. There was also the many days where I did only 4 things, eat, sleep, use the computer and run. In fact, I did all that for many hours on end. It's as though I did not have a life worth living for, just doing any thing that came to mind, just so that I could kill time.I would rather be spending time doing something useful instead of lazing around. And I lost my momentum that was supposed to kick start my engine for the up-coming semester. It's gotten quite cold and dusty since the exams ended way back in August. If I'm not wrong, it took me 4 or 5 weeks just to warm up for the first semester this year. Maybe for now, I should just concentrate on relaxing as much as I possibly can, before the holidays end, so that I can go at full speed for the first month of the next semester, allowing me to gain some ground in my progress as I take aim at 4.0 again. The last semester, I missed the target by a mere 0.06 points.

On the whole, I guess I would be expecting much more similar ups and downs from this point on, be able to face them as they come, and remember the lessons learnt as they go as well.

[Blog Update]

Added 2 new links:

Ze Yi(YC)

Khalis(NP)

Updated link:

Hon Xuen(YC)