The storms gone, but still, there's nothing to feel great aboutas yet, though the holidays have arrived.I'm still in a prety bad mood for some reason. Nothing much has been happening these few days, except on Friday. Had a bad start to the first and last paper of the examination, when we entered the room just on time, I sat at the wrong table, and nearly got a confirmed B grade for Math. Finished the paper in an hour and 50 minutes, and managed to solve all but 3 questions. The best I can get for the paper is 85 marks, if the marker is lenient. Anyways, as usualy, went to Orchard to celebrate before going home. Went back to school later on to collect the gear a week in advance. That's all for now, I guess?
What's in, what's not
Who's it, who's not
When's time, when's not
Why, is it that, one finds it so hard
To avoid becoming a total tard?
Things don't evolve, people do
Time doesn't speed up or slow down, people do
Why, is it that, one still bothers to look back
And swear 'what the heck'?
Times change, People change
Why, is it that, one can adjust
so that things can be just?
Things, Times, People
Included, or not
Changed, or not
One shall always change,
as surroundings continue to age.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
4 Days to the End of Year One
It's just 4 days away. Time really went by like a rocket. Just for more days to the final examination of the first year, but so far, I haven't really done much to prepare for it. Definitely a pass even if I do not study, but the best I could get without hitting the books for Engineering Mathematics this time round would only be a B+ grade. No A, no hope for a 4.0, no placing on the Director's List of Students. Simple as that, end of story.
Alright. I'll start on it tomorrow afternoon, 2pm. End at 5pm, try out the new route again if there's time and if I still have the energy for it. If all goes well, I might start running the combined route (old + new) this coming March, after I have gotten used to the new route. The combined route would provide an estimated distance of between 5 to 10 kilometers(I don't have the proper equipment to calculate the exact disance, so I'm depending on my speed and time to do the math).
Saturday, was Valentines' Day. So, here's wishing everyone a belated Happy Valentines' Day! Compared to last year, which was the best so far, that day was slightly more than just normal. Nope, I did not become emotional. Woke up at 9am, used the laptop for awhile, and left for Boon Lay MRT station at 10am. Seems like the MRT system really became more efficient. In the past, it took me between 30 to 45minutes to get to school by bus and train from Clementi MRT station to Lakeside MRT station.That day, it took me only 20 minutes in all, from home to Clementi MRT station by bus, and by train from Clementi to Boon Lay. That's the second time I went to the new Jurong Point shopping complex. I spent a little more time walking around this time, and it took roughly 20 minutes to go round the entire place once. At 10.40, went to meet up with the group, before we all left for NTU's Sports Complex at 11.30am. From 12pm, the whole process took only 50 minutes, and we were free to go. Went to Jurong Point again for lunch, before leaving for City Hall later on at 2.45pm. Went to Funan to get myself a Hard disk drive as my laptop was running danreously low on memory. About close to a hundred gigabytes of a maximum of 250Gb of memory left. Sunday was a whole day out with family. Today, I practically did nothing at all, just slacking around, doing whatever came to mind.
Alright. I'll start on it tomorrow afternoon, 2pm. End at 5pm, try out the new route again if there's time and if I still have the energy for it. If all goes well, I might start running the combined route (old + new) this coming March, after I have gotten used to the new route. The combined route would provide an estimated distance of between 5 to 10 kilometers(I don't have the proper equipment to calculate the exact disance, so I'm depending on my speed and time to do the math).
Saturday, was Valentines' Day. So, here's wishing everyone a belated Happy Valentines' Day! Compared to last year, which was the best so far, that day was slightly more than just normal. Nope, I did not become emotional. Woke up at 9am, used the laptop for awhile, and left for Boon Lay MRT station at 10am. Seems like the MRT system really became more efficient. In the past, it took me between 30 to 45minutes to get to school by bus and train from Clementi MRT station to Lakeside MRT station.That day, it took me only 20 minutes in all, from home to Clementi MRT station by bus, and by train from Clementi to Boon Lay. That's the second time I went to the new Jurong Point shopping complex. I spent a little more time walking around this time, and it took roughly 20 minutes to go round the entire place once. At 10.40, went to meet up with the group, before we all left for NTU's Sports Complex at 11.30am. From 12pm, the whole process took only 50 minutes, and we were free to go. Went to Jurong Point again for lunch, before leaving for City Hall later on at 2.45pm. Went to Funan to get myself a Hard disk drive as my laptop was running danreously low on memory. About close to a hundred gigabytes of a maximum of 250Gb of memory left. Sunday was a whole day out with family. Today, I practically did nothing at all, just slacking around, doing whatever came to mind.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Storm's Subside
It's been 2 weeks since the storm hit, and finally, it's beginning to make its exit. Just a few more days or weeks and it will be gone for the academic year.Just 7 more days. After that, I can bid farewell to Level 1, and welcome Level 2 in April.
Let's see.. seven pojects assigned in January 2009, all seven completed before February 13th. Sadly, as I had forgotten the dates of submission, I'll just go on to the 7 projects. The first is the Engineering Drawing Project, which was really challenging. Managed to complete it just in time.
Second, I had my Communication Toolkit 2-minute impromtu speech, of which I had a high B grade.
A week later, we had our IAC group Presentation in the morning. Wegot an overall B grade for the presentation.
5th in line is the German Culture Presentation, which saw Eugene and I presenting on some food found in Germany. This project took us 2 days to preapare though. We did decently for that, but it was definitely not the most well prepared presentation of all my projects.
In sixth place we have my Economics assignment. This was the only assignment that interest me the most, probably due to the amount of content that I was able to come up with. I wrote a total of 1380 words outof the maximum of 2000 words. This assignment was submitted on Tuesday.
Finally, last but not least, was the Engineering Materials E-learning assignment. Jian Hui, Jenere and I decided to work on the Exhuast Pipe of a car. Well, this projct certaily won the 'extremely-last-minute-work' prize. We completed this project in 3 hours.I'm just expecting a boderline pass for this. If we received an A grade, it would certaily be a miracle. This project was submitted on Wednesday.
Next up, I have finally uploaded the pictures of the apartment we stayed in during the trainng camp last week. The pictures are aranged in order, from the moment one enters the main door, till the last room, which is also the largest of the apartment(Oh, and for the last two pictures, try to see if you can identify which is my former Primary school, and which is the schoo that I am currently studying in. Should nto be too hard or anyone I guess?):
Finally, a short re-cap for the week. On Monday, went to school solely for CCA, and we did basic self-defence techniques as well as basic fall-breaking techniques, before we were dismissed at 8.30pm(the earliest dismissal time so far this semester).
On Tuesday, went to school for the computeried practical test(I got killed instantly when I submitted the answers). I scored a pathetic 8 out of a possible 25 points. This was the first test which I totally did not study for due to the lack of time. Completed my last practical lesson fr th semester. Had lunch, went to take a look at the German Day exhibition at the library till 2.50pm before going for the Economis Final Test. A pass is definite, but I'm not confient of a good score.
On Wednesday, went to school only for our Engineering Mathematics E-learnin assignment submission, had lunch, took sme photographs, and slacked a little before heading home. Went back to school latr in the afternoon for trip briefing, collect some frms, made new friends, and headed home.
On Thursday, left home at 2.30pm for Marina Square to buy some guards for the up-coming competition. Spent more than 100 bucks on everything. Reached school at 5pm to submit the paperwork for the trip in March(What trip? Details coming your way soon!). Bought snacks at the Cheers! kiosk before heading to the sports complex for CCA. Training that day sure was tough. Finallyback to the expectations of most of us who were down for training, but guess I was not on top form that day.
Today, went out at 9.45am with my mum to SGH for her check-up, and we came back at 1.30pm. Slept from 2 till 5, befoe I went to try out a new route for running. In all, I sent 25 minutes, passed 9 road crossings, of which 6 had traffic lights. Total distance and average speed would be calculated on the next trail run somewhere next week when I replace the batteries on my pedometer(Got a feeling that by this point, some might think that I'm pretty organised huh).
Tomorrow I'll be at NTU for the weigh-in for the competition in 2 weeks' time. In the afternoon, maybe after lunch, I'll head down to Funan to get a 500 or 620 GB External Hardisk Drive. It's going to be stationed at home, so I wouldn't other gtting one with all the less important high-tech data protection features. If time permits in the evening, might be going to get a new pair of sandals as well.
That's all for the week, and next week, I'm only looking forward to Wednesday and Friday.
Let's see.. seven pojects assigned in January 2009, all seven completed before February 13th. Sadly, as I had forgotten the dates of submission, I'll just go on to the 7 projects. The first is the Engineering Drawing Project, which was really challenging. Managed to complete it just in time.
Second, I had my Communication Toolkit 2-minute impromtu speech, of which I had a high B grade.
A week later, we had our IAC group Presentation in the morning. Wegot an overall B grade for the presentation.
5th in line is the German Culture Presentation, which saw Eugene and I presenting on some food found in Germany. This project took us 2 days to preapare though. We did decently for that, but it was definitely not the most well prepared presentation of all my projects.
In sixth place we have my Economics assignment. This was the only assignment that interest me the most, probably due to the amount of content that I was able to come up with. I wrote a total of 1380 words outof the maximum of 2000 words. This assignment was submitted on Tuesday.
Finally, last but not least, was the Engineering Materials E-learning assignment. Jian Hui, Jenere and I decided to work on the Exhuast Pipe of a car. Well, this projct certaily won the 'extremely-last-minute-work' prize. We completed this project in 3 hours.I'm just expecting a boderline pass for this. If we received an A grade, it would certaily be a miracle. This project was submitted on Wednesday.
Next up, I have finally uploaded the pictures of the apartment we stayed in during the trainng camp last week. The pictures are aranged in order, from the moment one enters the main door, till the last room, which is also the largest of the apartment(Oh, and for the last two pictures, try to see if you can identify which is my former Primary school, and which is the schoo that I am currently studying in. Should nto be too hard or anyone I guess?):
Finally, a short re-cap for the week. On Monday, went to school solely for CCA, and we did basic self-defence techniques as well as basic fall-breaking techniques, before we were dismissed at 8.30pm(the earliest dismissal time so far this semester).
On Tuesday, went to school for the computeried practical test(I got killed instantly when I submitted the answers). I scored a pathetic 8 out of a possible 25 points. This was the first test which I totally did not study for due to the lack of time. Completed my last practical lesson fr th semester. Had lunch, went to take a look at the German Day exhibition at the library till 2.50pm before going for the Economis Final Test. A pass is definite, but I'm not confient of a good score.
On Wednesday, went to school only for our Engineering Mathematics E-learnin assignment submission, had lunch, took sme photographs, and slacked a little before heading home. Went back to school latr in the afternoon for trip briefing, collect some frms, made new friends, and headed home.
On Thursday, left home at 2.30pm for Marina Square to buy some guards for the up-coming competition. Spent more than 100 bucks on everything. Reached school at 5pm to submit the paperwork for the trip in March(What trip? Details coming your way soon!). Bought snacks at the Cheers! kiosk before heading to the sports complex for CCA. Training that day sure was tough. Finallyback to the expectations of most of us who were down for training, but guess I was not on top form that day.
Today, went out at 9.45am with my mum to SGH for her check-up, and we came back at 1.30pm. Slept from 2 till 5, befoe I went to try out a new route for running. In all, I sent 25 minutes, passed 9 road crossings, of which 6 had traffic lights. Total distance and average speed would be calculated on the next trail run somewhere next week when I replace the batteries on my pedometer(Got a feeling that by this point, some might think that I'm pretty organised huh).
Tomorrow I'll be at NTU for the weigh-in for the competition in 2 weeks' time. In the afternoon, maybe after lunch, I'll head down to Funan to get a 500 or 620 GB External Hardisk Drive. It's going to be stationed at home, so I wouldn't other gtting one with all the less important high-tech data protection features. If time permits in the evening, might be going to get a new pair of sandals as well.
That's all for the week, and next week, I'm only looking forward to Wednesday and Friday.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Start of the End of Level One
After today, it's going to be 2 final tests, followed by the submission of 2 final assignments, followed by one final examination, and then, I can declare that I have done my best for the semester. I'm not expecting a GPA which is said to be beyond 'godlike', which was like my previous semester where I missed the bulls-eye by a mere 0.06 points. This semester did make me feel the crunch of last minute studying which has always been a habit that I had been trying to kick. At least there is some progress.I'm expecting a GPA as low as 3.5 for this semester.
Last week I had a 2-day and 2-night training camp in school. It was suppossed to be a training camp. Yes, but I guess only the second day can truly be considered to be the most intense day of training, which left all, if not most of us, instructors and coaches included, with muscle aches(if anyone did not have any muscle ache during those trainings, something might not have been right). The lodging was great. I was expecting to be bunking at a stuffy hostel room, lined with double-decked beds and overhead fans. The rooms that we were allocated to, was an exact opposite of what I expected all along. Our dormatory was comparable to an executive suite in a 4-star hotel!Wow. Thinking of what it's like to stay in there over the night? Pictures would be up soon enough, of course, if no one stops me from putting them up. On the first day(night, i mean), we had stretching sessions. Full splits, side splits, you name it. We even had practice sessions for a couple of kicking stunts from movies! That night, was the first time I managed to hit the target with such force that the sound produced by the impact was able to echo around the corridor. Went for supper together before heading back to our rooms.
Second day we experienced a physical training session more intense than what most of my friends at the JCs are experiencing. Lots of stretching, running about, and yes, that's only half of the explaination to how all of us went home with muscle aches. We went for our campus run after that. The distance covered was definitely more than the 2.4km run, but I felt little strain from my legs. Perhaps all that stretching has made my legs so much lighter that I no longer felt much pain, at least during the half hour run. Had breakfast, then we had the highlight of the camp's training. We went training for stamina, strength and endurance. Had the best training, though it was also the toughest. After lunch, went to take a nap till 2.30pm. That was where danger set in. I dscovered I was coming down with fever later on at 3pm, when I suddenly felt I was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. Drank lots and lots of water before perspiring lots and lots during the training later on. Time really flew during that part of the training. In the evening, we went for a video session after a great dinner, probably the most exciting of all the camps I had attended. I also had the first MST(Mental Skills Training) session. It's basically about boosting self confidence and being mentally prepared before taking on a major challenge. Learnt lots during the session, but won't elaborate here though.
Went out again in the evening, before sleeping through the night. In the morning, I was back to normal again. The temperature's gone down. Had full contact sparring later on, and that was the second time I put on a headgear for sparring. Here's what happened. Went up, put on the head gear, and got into position, nothing different. Perhaps, what caught the attention of many friends was the loudest shout I gave since the first day I stepped into the club? Anyways, all I did was simply recalling as many things learnt as possible back during the days of training after the incident at TP. Footwork, taking risks, waiting for the perfect chance, making full use of the time window. I still don't know whether I had improved alot, though I know that I did improve on my footwork. Still have much work to be done on perfecting my evasive techniques and counters though.
Today's training was extremely relaxed. Learnt some self defence techniques and fall-breaking techniques, before heading for dinner with the committee. Now, I'm back home, stomach feeling queasy from drinking too much water, and I have lost the mood to study for the computerised practical test tomorrow. Only one word is in my mind. Bed. Tomorrow's going to be one long day, so hopefully I can return to sleep at 1am.
Last week I had a 2-day and 2-night training camp in school. It was suppossed to be a training camp. Yes, but I guess only the second day can truly be considered to be the most intense day of training, which left all, if not most of us, instructors and coaches included, with muscle aches(if anyone did not have any muscle ache during those trainings, something might not have been right). The lodging was great. I was expecting to be bunking at a stuffy hostel room, lined with double-decked beds and overhead fans. The rooms that we were allocated to, was an exact opposite of what I expected all along. Our dormatory was comparable to an executive suite in a 4-star hotel!Wow. Thinking of what it's like to stay in there over the night? Pictures would be up soon enough, of course, if no one stops me from putting them up. On the first day(night, i mean), we had stretching sessions. Full splits, side splits, you name it. We even had practice sessions for a couple of kicking stunts from movies! That night, was the first time I managed to hit the target with such force that the sound produced by the impact was able to echo around the corridor. Went for supper together before heading back to our rooms.
Second day we experienced a physical training session more intense than what most of my friends at the JCs are experiencing. Lots of stretching, running about, and yes, that's only half of the explaination to how all of us went home with muscle aches. We went for our campus run after that. The distance covered was definitely more than the 2.4km run, but I felt little strain from my legs. Perhaps all that stretching has made my legs so much lighter that I no longer felt much pain, at least during the half hour run. Had breakfast, then we had the highlight of the camp's training. We went training for stamina, strength and endurance. Had the best training, though it was also the toughest. After lunch, went to take a nap till 2.30pm. That was where danger set in. I dscovered I was coming down with fever later on at 3pm, when I suddenly felt I was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. Drank lots and lots of water before perspiring lots and lots during the training later on. Time really flew during that part of the training. In the evening, we went for a video session after a great dinner, probably the most exciting of all the camps I had attended. I also had the first MST(Mental Skills Training) session. It's basically about boosting self confidence and being mentally prepared before taking on a major challenge. Learnt lots during the session, but won't elaborate here though.
Went out again in the evening, before sleeping through the night. In the morning, I was back to normal again. The temperature's gone down. Had full contact sparring later on, and that was the second time I put on a headgear for sparring. Here's what happened. Went up, put on the head gear, and got into position, nothing different. Perhaps, what caught the attention of many friends was the loudest shout I gave since the first day I stepped into the club? Anyways, all I did was simply recalling as many things learnt as possible back during the days of training after the incident at TP. Footwork, taking risks, waiting for the perfect chance, making full use of the time window. I still don't know whether I had improved alot, though I know that I did improve on my footwork. Still have much work to be done on perfecting my evasive techniques and counters though.
Today's training was extremely relaxed. Learnt some self defence techniques and fall-breaking techniques, before heading for dinner with the committee. Now, I'm back home, stomach feeling queasy from drinking too much water, and I have lost the mood to study for the computerised practical test tomorrow. Only one word is in my mind. Bed. Tomorrow's going to be one long day, so hopefully I can return to sleep at 1am.
Monday, February 02, 2009
First Final Test for 1.2
Today's paper was another killer. It did not kill me, but it denied me the chance of getting an A grade for the module. It's pretty much expected since the day I joined the school. I will definitely pass every module in the main academics career, but the only question I would be asking myself is "What are the chances of me getting an 'A' grade for the module?"
Nonetheless, fate's almost already sealed. This semester, my grades would be plunging by as much as 0.9 points. If everything goes well, it would be a dip of about 0.3 points at the best. I'm really on the verge of giving up hope. Good thing, it's just 3 more weeks, and it will all be over for this semester and my first year. Almost time to hit the next level.
Reached home, got down to rest, ended up oversleeping, and started revision only from 5pm. I did not do much today, and tomorrow, I'll be up all night, at least till 2 or 3 in the morning. And, I'll be sacrificing posting time as well, so that I can have 6 to 7 hours of continuous memorisation, perhaps, with some time to chat as well, if things go well tomorrow. Tomorrow night would see me covering 3 quarters of what's going to be covered for the test on Friday. Thursday I'll go through everything once more, and start on the first part of my Economics assignment. Friday evening till Sunday, I would be away, so most likely I would not be doing much updating, and might even spend time on my economics assignment on the second night of the camp.
The storm has finally arrived once again, hitting home real hard this time round.
Many complicated thoughts run through this complicated mind of mine.
I find that I have gotten more selfish,
I find that I have become worse than the seas' fish.
Wanting freedom, yet not seeking for it.
Striving to to well,but still trying to get started.
Regret, agony, sorrow?
Those emotions would soon be a thing of the past.
It's time to wake up from that dream,
And start working towards it.
It's still not too late, there is still time.
I'm still wondering if what I did two months back was the right thing. To return to something that I had left alone for months. Come to think of it, maybe I am experiencing a story, one that never ends. Anyway, what meant to be, will be. I'll just leave it to time to do the telling. I'll just sit back, and listen. I just can't find the focus that I used to have since two years back. After nurturing it for so long, it's gone for now. I'll just have to depend on myself, till the day I can regain it. Patience and hope is the key.
Nonetheless, fate's almost already sealed. This semester, my grades would be plunging by as much as 0.9 points. If everything goes well, it would be a dip of about 0.3 points at the best. I'm really on the verge of giving up hope. Good thing, it's just 3 more weeks, and it will all be over for this semester and my first year. Almost time to hit the next level.
Reached home, got down to rest, ended up oversleeping, and started revision only from 5pm. I did not do much today, and tomorrow, I'll be up all night, at least till 2 or 3 in the morning. And, I'll be sacrificing posting time as well, so that I can have 6 to 7 hours of continuous memorisation, perhaps, with some time to chat as well, if things go well tomorrow. Tomorrow night would see me covering 3 quarters of what's going to be covered for the test on Friday. Thursday I'll go through everything once more, and start on the first part of my Economics assignment. Friday evening till Sunday, I would be away, so most likely I would not be doing much updating, and might even spend time on my economics assignment on the second night of the camp.
The storm has finally arrived once again, hitting home real hard this time round.
Many complicated thoughts run through this complicated mind of mine.
I find that I have gotten more selfish,
I find that I have become worse than the seas' fish.
Wanting freedom, yet not seeking for it.
Striving to to well,but still trying to get started.
Regret, agony, sorrow?
Those emotions would soon be a thing of the past.
It's time to wake up from that dream,
And start working towards it.
It's still not too late, there is still time.
I'm still wondering if what I did two months back was the right thing. To return to something that I had left alone for months. Come to think of it, maybe I am experiencing a story, one that never ends. Anyway, what meant to be, will be. I'll just leave it to time to do the telling. I'll just sit back, and listen. I just can't find the focus that I used to have since two years back. After nurturing it for so long, it's gone for now. I'll just have to depend on myself, till the day I can regain it. Patience and hope is the key.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
CNY Round-up'09
Although it's only the seventh day of the new year, it feels almost as though it's already the end. Yesterday was the last day of visiting for me, when relatives came to visit in the afternoon. In the evening, went over to the residence of my father's friend for dinner, had a great time listening to opinions, before heading home to finish up on the backbone of the Economics assignment. If not for the email, I might have ended up burning oil up till as late as 4 or 5am after midnight. So, unfortunately, I would be skipping training for two Mondays straight to complete the assignment, and also to prepare for 3 tests, each with a weightage of not less than 30% of the final mark. I seriously need those 'A's.
That's yesterday. And so, for today, I spent the whole afternoon on revision after lunch at 1pm. I was only able to increase my focus on revision from 20% to 80% after 3pm today. I did some revision as well in the morning, mainly the final online quiz for the practical and some background research for the Economics final assignment. In the afternoon, gamed and revised for the final Engineering Drawing test and Engineering Materials Final Test. Both carry a weightage of 30% each. I must get at least 25% for each test in order to greatly increase my chances of clinching the 'A' grade for both modules. Later in the evening, it was back to revision for the Engineering Drawing Final Test after dinner till now.
There's going to be a raging storm over the next two weeks, starting tomorrow, and subsiding as early as next Friday. The week after that, would see the storm's end on 20Th February, when I'll have the Final Examination for the Engineering Mathematics 2 module.
[Blog Update]
-Added new link:
Amanda[restricted access??](NP)
This week, I have changed the play list once again. This song was recommended and introduced to me by someone of whom I have never met before(intriguing eh?). River Flows in You, by Yiruma, was picked as a candidate for the thriller-romance movie Twilight(This I did not know until she told me about it), though I don't really know what's the story behind how they went about selecting the piece to be played as Bella's Lullaby.
That's yesterday. And so, for today, I spent the whole afternoon on revision after lunch at 1pm. I was only able to increase my focus on revision from 20% to 80% after 3pm today. I did some revision as well in the morning, mainly the final online quiz for the practical and some background research for the Economics final assignment. In the afternoon, gamed and revised for the final Engineering Drawing test and Engineering Materials Final Test. Both carry a weightage of 30% each. I must get at least 25% for each test in order to greatly increase my chances of clinching the 'A' grade for both modules. Later in the evening, it was back to revision for the Engineering Drawing Final Test after dinner till now.
There's going to be a raging storm over the next two weeks, starting tomorrow, and subsiding as early as next Friday. The week after that, would see the storm's end on 20Th February, when I'll have the Final Examination for the Engineering Mathematics 2 module.
[Blog Update]
-Added new link:
Amanda[restricted access??](NP)
This week, I have changed the play list once again. This song was recommended and introduced to me by someone of whom I have never met before(intriguing eh?). River Flows in You, by Yiruma, was picked as a candidate for the thriller-romance movie Twilight(This I did not know until she told me about it), though I don't really know what's the story behind how they went about selecting the piece to be played as Bella's Lullaby.