Happy 44th National Day

This year's celebration was unique. On Friday, woke up at 4.45am. Somehow I managed it as I slept at 2am the night before. Had just recovered from mild fever and alost fully recovered from flu the day before, and hopefully, I won't get chased out by the secuity when we enter the school later on. I took the 6.45am bus with my brother to Clementi, and after 2 years, it was just the same. That morning, half the bus was dressed in the patriotic red. Decided not to wear red this year. I had wanted to wear red at first, but, on second thought, let's try giving this year a miss.

Reached Lakeside at 7.20am, andthey were nowhere in sight. Weirdly, anything tht hasgot to do with meeting friends from secondary school, I'm always early. But when it came to activities with friends from polytechnic,I'm usually either very early, or I as very late. Classes included. 7.35am, Randall and Jin Tian arrived, and as we were way too early, we went for breakfast instead. Went back to the coffeeshop behind the school, and stayed there for over an hour before we went back to school. Like the year before, I skipped clases before lunch time, which meant I skipped the EM3B lecture hat morning from 9 to 11am.

We waited at the foyer after signing in, listened to his usual long speeh, listened to and sang along to the songs, and watched the performance by the students involved in the actual parade on Sunday. The performance was in fact a nice, close-up preview of what's going to happen on the big day. That short morning sure broguht back memories. One again, they had a carnival this year. We were soon joined by others(I can't remember everyone). As I woud be running around a few places the whole day, I decided not to ring along my camera. Thus, there were no pictures taken. Met up and caught up wih lots of familiar friends and teachers while we were there. There were also inter-class games for netball and table tennis.

At 11, the alumni formed a team to play against the current students(mostly players of the school team). I took part as well, just for fun. As expected, I had not fully recovered, and after just 5 minutes, I started walking. It was a nice match, although e lost very badly(which is a good thing). Good thing I informed the club that I would not be turning up for the friendly match in advance that night, as after the friendly match ended at 11.30, I went straight to the toilet to make myself feel better. The match lasted only 10 minutes. At 11.45, Alicia and I shared a cab to school, for I was late for a test, and she had classes at 12.

A cab arrived just in time, and it was a nice coincidence, as, the driver who brought us to school used to fetch our vice principal to school in the past. What a small word! We had a nice chat with him during the journey. Very memorable morning. In the taxi, I felt unwell again. Damn. Let's hope it would be gone by the time I arrived in school. During the journey, he asked if we both knew which school we were in. coincidentally, we only knew that our courses were both from the Mechanical Engineering Division, just minutes before we boarded the taxi(while we were walking to the school's main gate).

Rushed straight to the classroom(still perspiring very badly after the game). How nice, just after I got off I felt like fainting. Bought a drink, and once I sat down, I felt better. In a minute, the test began. Nice timing.For th rest of the day, I was back to normal, except for the flu that was still there. My mind went blank in the first five minutes as I was changing my mindset of the holiday mood to that of the studying mood. Completed the test for Thermodynamics without much difficulty although it was just 5 questions. Went for IA after that, got back my draft for the case study, and we started with the lessons. Toward the end, I became very restless and my mind just switched off.

3.50pm, I took 154 and headed for Toa Payoh Hub to meet Bernice and some others from Joy 5, class of 2002. Maybe I would consider it to be luck that the Meals on Wheels service was cancelled at the last minute, which gave me the chance to catch up with my long lost friends.I was the last to arrive. Everyone had changed so much, although I could still recognise everyone. But, like in the past, the nicknames had not changed very much, although we did not use them as often. We had a nice walk to Mr Peck's home. Drank some drinks, sat around, chatted a little and took a couple of photos before we went for dinner at 6.15. He brought up the old jokes we once shared, and we still remembered the essay where the "buglar ran to the bicycle and ran home", among many others. Sadly,when I said I had to rush off at 7, that was when the gathering ended. Mr Peck walked me to the bus stop and everyone offered to come along. Bernice went off to met her boyfriend, Yong Jie rushed off to get ready for a wedding at pm, Eugene and Andy most probably went home. Took 88 with Wei Yang to Bishan before we parted ways once again.

The part I liked about the evening. Travelling. I took the Circle Line,operated by SMRT, for the first time that evening. The train ride was pretty nice, especially at the front, where unlike the train operated by SBS Transit, the emergency exit had a window. I got off and transferred at Serangoon. The walk was really long. Did not walk very fast, for fear I might become unwell once again. Got onto the train just in time and headed straight for Harborfront Station. I was to meet my lecturer and some friends for a nigh of German Cuisine at Brotzeit, #01-149 Vivocity. I arrived on the dot at 8pm, and the queue was really long. Perhaps it was Friday night. We got a table for 4, and we learnt the pronunciation of some of the German food on the menu. We did not really order food in German(which I was looking forward to nervously), but we did learn that some of the ingredients were flown in from Germany! Wow. I ordered the German style of fish and chips. Instead of the coleslaw and mashed potato, it came with mushrooms and a unique sauce. The fish was really tender and nice, though, like other dishes, the price was high, but still affordable. We had desert, and it was really good! Definitely value for money! We chatted about a possible future educational trip to Germany which would last 2 weeks. I would very much like to go on that trip as well, but sadly it clashes with the schedule of the California Challenge in June. 2 great trips, but only 1 me. I definitely want o take on the California Challenge, but at the same time, I wanted to go on the educational trip to Germany. At 10.15pm, we went off. Not only did she offer t pay our bills, she also offered to give us a lift home! Wow thanks lots!

Saturday was the first day of the long holidays. my holidays were going to be slightly longer than most students this year. For me, I return to school only on Wednesday. Anyways, Saturday was spent more on resting, gaming, and a little on studying as well.

Sunday morning. Happy 44Th Birthday Singapore! I woke extremely early that morning, before falling asleep again till 10am. Studied in the morning, before going out for lunch with parents at Chinatown. We went to Chinatown square as they were looking for a Chinese stall to have lunch at, but as we had to walk a long way to get there, we decided to return to the hawker centre instead. At Chinatown square, there were many stalls selling all kinds of toys. They ranged from as early as the 80s to as recent as this year. Great place to get old stuff at low prices which look as good as new too.

After lunch, we bought dinner and supper before heading back home at 3pm. Slacked around till 6.15 when the parade was telecast 'live' on television. Did not go head down to take photographs, as I would be alone for the whole event, and my brother was already going there with the camera to take some shots with his friends. This year's parade was definitely better than last year. The displays, decorations, plot were a lot better. The aerial displays, theme song and fireworks were not as good as last year. The fireworks were better to look at, however, it did not last as long. Wondering how much better it could have been if it lasted a couple of minutes longer.

Today, I was gearing up for the examinations arriving in less than 2 weeks. Slack in the morning, did some Math again in the afternoon, and took a nap after that. I cried out a name again this time, though it wasn't as loud and clear as the first time a few years back, where I woke my dad, who came to check on me. Went to study a little more, before I continued slacking for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow, I don't think I'll be doing as much math as I did today. Tomorrow, I'll be doing and completing my IA case study so that I could submit it for checks on Wednesday, in case I had to make some changes to the mistakes.

Hey, I enjoyed this afternoon lots. Didn't really expect you to be there when I only had thoughts in my mind. So much I wanted to say, but I couldn't. Longing for the day where I could meet you once again. Always dreaming of that one day I could finally see the real you. Would you grant me this one wish?? Oh and by the way, sorry if the post was long and boring as usual.