A Whole New Beginning, Almost

To many, 2010 is a whole new beginning. For some, it's just a continuation of 2009(2010 is just another number on the calendar). For a few, it's a transition to the future.

2010 is the equivalent of adding one to 2009. one is the equivalent of 365. The past 365 days is the equivalent of countless happenings and memories, good or bad.

This week concludes and seals up half of the things I had been doing over the past 3 months. Learning, not mastering a skill that is useful for life, and something which could be the beginning of my 'comeback'. Over the week, it was just resettling to the school environment after a long break, results of my performance in the previous year and making plans for the next 356 days.

Monday I received the FM and SOM papers. My first 2 As for the term. It was already expected, for I answered the questions in a manner it would seem almost as though one was looking at the answer guide.

Tuesday, I went on a Re-test for my driving. I did pretty well for the warm-up, except my chaning of lanes was a bit of a problem that morning(somehow the error that I did 2 months back had returned). I expected to pass the test with a total of 10 demerit points, but was awarded with 18points. Not bad, with an improvement of 8 less points and no immediate failures compared to the first attempt which had a report which was 2 pages long(good thing no staples were found on the report), with 26 points and an immediate fail.

Wednesday, was a warm-up to Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, received my Calculus paper. Did slightly better than expected, but I'll be pushing for a jump of 3 to 4 grades if possible, in the finals.

Today, I lost my mood to study for a moment when my ED was a mark short of an A. I lost marks for calculation errors, and a missing line in 2 answers. Well, will just have to complete all outstanding tutorials and assignments hoping that should something similar happen, I might just be able to pull it off.

Next week, more stuff would unfold.

The night before, I had a dream of something similar to number 9, except that it was a different face. Before that night, I had others as well, except they're more complicated to explain in the fom of a short story. It's weird. Why am I seeing faces that I have never seen in person? What were they suppossed to mean? It's been happening ever since I had number 6. Could it mean...

Year End Break

4 days of mental drain has come to an end. In its place, a set of projects arrive. 1 I have my doubts about the outcome, 1 which I'm having dificulty executing though its easy to plan, 1 which I'll work on over the next 2 weeks, and 1 which is on-going, but I have submitted my latest information this morning.

Tuesday, Calculus. Papaer was do-able, except that even 3 weeks of revision wasn't enough, plus my weakness in time management skills has returned. Expecting at least a D grade, with marks ranging between 45 to 60.

Wednesday. The day the real thing started(even if I did not pass well for Calculus, I could still focus on Further Calculus). Fluid Mechanics. The first examination paper on which I drew a smiley. I'll be sure to take a shot of it when the papers are back. This paper was up to my expectations, and other than a 15-mark question where I was unsure of my steps, it'll definitely be an A Grade.

Thursday. Things were getting tougher with each day. Strength of Materials. This paper was easier than what I had initially expected, although, like the Applied Mechanics examination from the previous semester, there was a trick to a question. I fell victim to the order of the question, where in order to do part a well, it would be better to do part b first. I re-did the last question thrice. By then, I was definitely of out time to complete the question. I lost 10 marks from there. I'm sure of scorng at least a B+ Grade for this one.

Today, the finale, which also had me making some mistakes. Engineering Design. Extremely easy if one had studied, and extremely difficult if one brought nothing more than a die into the room. Surprisingly, I was able to complete the second part of the paper in 50 minutes. That left me with an additional 40 minutes to complete the first part. I'm not very confident of an A though I am sure every method I used in the second part was correct. Once again, I did not finish the paper.

Went to the CAD lab after the paper with Hong Peng and Yin Feng to do some parts of the CAD project. F1 modelling. Cool, but its tough. We tried to make cuts to the workpiece, but somehow we always got an error message. After an hour, we gave up. Went back, slacked till early evening before going n a 15km run. The first 8km was rather easy, though I was forced to stop at every road crossing. The next 5 was tougher. A stretch of road without a pavement, construction work and more crossings. The final 2, was the worst. The pains I felt after completing the marathon two weeks ago, returned. That was after I went to the Community Club at Bukit Timah for a short drink(water from the dispenser is free for public use, so why not use it?).

Guess it's time to head back to square 1, the 2-kilometer route, for a week, before returning to the usual 10 and 15km routes. In January, I'm considering upgrading the 15km route to a 25km one(which also means the route is totally different), which would mean I'll only be able to complete that distance on a weekend morning. Maybe I'll just keep to the usual, and cover the extra distance when I'm in the mood and when there's the time for it.

21-11-09

Finally started revising Calculus again after a long time. Less than 3 weeks to go, and I have yet to start on the actual revision. Falling behind for SOM and ED as well. Here I go. Next week till the week before Christmas, I won't be online between 7.30pm and 10pm on weekdays for revision. Weekends, well, have to see how it goes.

The morning started well, and I remembered almost everything I dreamt about, but wanted t wait till this evening before recording it in here. By now, it's a little too late, as I have forgotten most of te stuff that happened in the dream. I remember 4 things. Driving lesson(I had missed a lesson during the weekend in that dream), it took place somewhere on a weekday, I 'met' Germaise somewhere, and I 'visited' a few places I dreamt of some time ago. This morning I was able to remember almost everything, but once it was the afternoon, I had forgotten lots of it.

Went to IMM with parents to collect my brother's cake at 1.30pm, we took part in a cashback event at 2pm(and received a $50 Red Apple voucher), and reached home at 3pm to cut the cake. Set off with my cousin, parents and brother to Toa Payoh to drop off my cousin at the swimming complex before heading to Orchid Country Club to collect my brother's 2 bowlig balls, and continued on to Kallang to get his 2 'new' balls. Went to Bukit Merah for dinner, before we came home.

Took lots of pictures today. Most were blurred(as the were taken through the car window), some were ok, and a few were nice.

Tomorrow, it's back to revision, this time, re-writng my own notes for ED.

2012 'Preview'

Today was the school took in los of water. Torrential rain in school, flash floods at the Convention Centre underpass and Atrium, and a waterfall at Makan Place. It happened really fast. 12.50pm, I was making my way to class at Block 50 via Blocks 72, 51 and 53. The storm had just begun.

Before that, I had a really bd morning. Waking late, taking really long to pack my stuff. Just as I was reaching the bus stop, I remembered I had forgotten to take my Calculus book along, so I turned back, and was almost late for the test. At Block 27, I met someone, though I can't remember who it was(since I was too focused on getting to the classroom as soon as possible). The test which was really easy except for a careless mistake, during CAD. Expecting to score at least 85% for that one. Lesson went pretty well. Went to Ourspace after buying lunch. It was already 12.25pm when we started eating. It was about 2 when someone announced about a flash flood at the Atrium. Our division was the furthest in, and it's located on a hill, thus we did not notice anything unusual going on. Started feeling unwell after that. One moment was feeling cold, the next I was feeling warm. However, I was not running a fever. 3pm, class ended, and I went back to Ourspace to complete some of the assignments due tomorrow, before heading home, instead of going for cca. Wanted to take part in the friendly this evening. Hopefully, I'll be well enough to go for a run tomorrow evening.

This morning, I can't recall a single dream. Hopefully, tonight I'll be able to dream peacefully, without any alarm which would cause an abrubt end to my dreams(I'm always nearing the climax in my dreams when the alarm clock goes off), which would help me remember my dreams with more ease. Tomorrow's the last day of BCE, but it seems that tomorrow is the only day where we'll be having an actual BCE where we don't have to go to school at all.

CampTCP5 '09-Day 3(The Moment I Confessed To The World)

"Attended a camp with a friend, at a school on a Friday. Booked in at 4pm, had activities till late, and we had the best night walk ever. Pitch black environment, used torches(those used in medival times) as torchlights and the monsters and ghosts, were real. We even entered the bridge of a space ship!

The next morning had some games, before we had the prize pesentation. For some reason, the both of us were down to help with the area cleaning, and when we got back, we were dismissed.Here's the weird part. A girl and her father, came to us, asking for a friendly match. Alright. This match is something that would never happen in real life. Seen the anime Avatar? That's what happened. They controlled water, we controlled fire. Behind them, was a boy who could control air. We sneaked up to him, told him our plan, and we got down to it.

However, we were never successful. Until when we finally managed to carry out our plan, the girl suddenly ran to the washroom, and came out soon after, only to throw out. Someone threw a roll of toilet paper out as well, and out came the cleaner, angry about the mess she made.

We just let her let lose her anger and she walked away. I went over to her with her father. He asked if she was fine before bringing her home. He thanked us for the time and took her home.My friend and I stayed there for awhile to help with the cleaning, before going off. We went to the bus interchange together, before going our seperate ways. Went to wait for the bus, before, I met her again. Asked where her father was, she only said he had to rush back to work after something cropped up. Offered to accompany her home, and the dream ended when we boarded an SBS bus.

Here's the weird stuff. A camp at a school? A super realistic night walk that was out-of-this-world. A girl who I had seen in 4 dreams, including this one. The first sighting was in March this year. A bus insterchange that was fully air-conditioned.

Some traits. 160 to 165 in height, sky blue tee with some sliver lines and white shorts, shoulder-length hair tied up with a black band and, neither too thin nor plump. This might freak some out. Aged between 14 to 16(though I think it's more likely to be between 15 to 16).Weird eh?

Discussed this with Jon, and we both agreed it was weird with lots of weird stuff, though some parts might just become a reality. Honestly, I hope this dream doesn't come true in any possible way. As for that girl, I don't know if someone like that really exists in the real world, an even if someone really exists, I have nothing to say, other than, how was it even possible for me to dream of someone I have never met in real life? "

That night, the final conversation started with me poping the question,"I just remembered something. Have you guys ever dreamt of someone you have never met before in real life?"

Cardus said he did, and he had a nice experience in that one(for more, just ask him). "Well, I also did, and that dream was this camp itself! Almost everything came true." That got Dax and Gary excited. I wondered if Philip was still awake, as he was acting kind of drunk although he as damn sleepy at the time. I told them about the three scenes that happened earlier during the day, as well as the team mate I saw a total of 9 times in my dreams so far. They went on asking me if I could do an introduction the next day, before I gave in and turned in for the night.

I slept for 2 hours, before going back to pack my bags and prepared to head to Ourspace. Breakfast that morning was similar to the breakfast I had back in the Philippines, but I did not have the appetite to eat much. As expected, they called me over, and asked who she was(although they only knew her name). I told them, and was relieved they let it rest after that.

"The next morning had some games, before we had the prize pesentation."

Session 6. The Moat Game. The ultimate test of our teamwork. Apparently, in my dream, we finished it in under 15minutes. However, during the actual activity, we were at it for 185 minutes! Throughout, there was something that was missing in the game plan. Cooperation among the sections. Had a short lesson on that, before we went back to the same place we first gathered at, for lunch.

The closing ceremony was grand with all the good food at the buffet, though I liked the closing ceremony we had the night before we left the Philippines more. As expected, there was the prize presentation.

We had out final M&M session. Before that, I had wanted to use the same move I used 2 years ago during the Graduation Nite Dinner, which was to tell her in person just after everyone else had gone off. That day, I did not. That's when I disclosed the dream to them. Finally, I told them 2 things I had wanted to say the night before. The first, was a brief overview of the things I did and experienced during my 7-day trip to the Philippines. The next, was the dream, which I was hesistant to tell at first. "Seen the anime Avatar? That's what happened."

"Alright, this is going to sound very freaky, and some might get freaked out. Has anyone watched the TV programme Flashforward before? It's because I can, kind of see the future in my dreams. And there's one that came true. Ok, Since March till Friday night, I had 9 dreams of the same person. I'll tell you about the person later. The first two I saw were just shadows, but for the third, I dreamt of this camp. Almost everything in that dream came true, and on Friday when I joined the team, I was freaked out as well. I dreamt of me running from someone, the grid game, the campfire and the moat game. As for the person who I saw, is among us, is a girl, and she is..."

The girl who I had dreamt of for 9 times, was Belinda. I got the results I had anticipated. On the inside, I was cursing and swearing. 'Why? Why did I have to go around scaring people off like that? Yes, no doubt anyone would find it really cool and interesting, but, won't it cause unnecessary harm to some?'

At 4pm, Cardus, Gary, Dax, Jaemeng and I left for Ang Mo Kio Hub via SBS service 74. We went to buy tickets to My Girlfriend Is An Agent, before going to the arcade and went to meet Cardus' friends. Had western dinner, before going to watch the movie. At 10, we went to the Air conditioned bus interchange to help Cardus purchase his bus concession, before we offered to accompany Jaemeng to her place, before we went to the bus stop, since it was along the way. After boarding the bus, we had a little talk about how they were going to give Jaemeng a surprise this evening at her home(wondering how it went), and discussed about the possible reasons about of all things, I 'saw' her more than 5 times.

There you have it. The third dream I had. On a side note, although most of the events in the dream revolved about the same person, in real life, the same events took place, except each time it was a different person. There were small portions which did not occur fully in real, but were linked to some of the events that took place. Thus, this dream, to date, has one of the highest accuracy rates I had so far, with roughly 90% of the events I dreamt about happening during the camp.

Today nothing much happened in school, and apart from that, I'm not really in the mood to study, and I'm too tired to type on. Got lots and lots of catching up to do tomorrow.

Experience Drive-26

The second revision session before the actual test. Had the lesson on a Tuesday morning, as that would be during the time period of my test, so that I could simulate the traffic conditions in the circuit as well as on the road. Was expecting a different instructor, as before I managed to get the slots, there were no slots available for me to book only until 2 weeks before I managed to find slots from 9.50am to 11.30am. Went through every station in the circuit followed by another 2 test routes before the session ended. I still had problems with the parallel parking and waiting till it was safe enough to make a turn into another road. Other than that, my vehicle did not stall again.

Today, for the first time this semester, I studied. Cleared almost all the doubts that I had so far over the past 2 weeks. If only I had started earlier(just like what I did in the first semester), I might even be a chapter ahead of the class by now. During dinner, history repeated itself, once again. 9 years ago, I got a fish bone stuck in my throat. This evening, I got another stuck in the same area. The good thing was, compared to 9 years ago, this time it happened on a weekend. In the past, it was on the evening I had my dinner after coming home from school at 7pm, the day I had my SA2 Chinese paper in P3. Initially, I thoguht it would be fine to simply leave it in there since it was just a small bone, and it would cause alot of trouble if I had to get it out, until learning that if I left it there for more than a week, I could stand a chance to breathe my last breath. At least tonight we only took a minute to get it out, compared to the agonising 120 minutes we went through at NUH and lots more cash spent, compared to tonight, although we still had to leave home to extract the bone.

Since school started I havent really been able to remember my dreams as clearly as I used o during the holidays. Got a strong feeling it could be due to the amount of sleep I get each night. Perhaps I should turn in earlier each night. I want to remember my dreams. Who knows, that one dream might just help me in the future...

Experience Drive-24

Saturday afternoon. Went through the whole test process. Warm up followed by the mock test. I committed lots of careless mistakes, such as mounting the kerb and striking the pole while doing the parallel parking. He took a short break efore we went for the evaluation. Scored a total of 12 points within the circuit, and I nearly failed the parallel parking segment. On the road, I took too long to turn twice, which cost me an additional 4 points. In all, I received 16 out of the maximum of 18 demerit points allowed. That was a close one. The final one in roughly less than a month's time, would cary much higher standards than that day. From that day on, it would be another 5 weekly revision sessions(except for one), before we come to the actual traffic police practical test.

This morning had a short reunion with Edward and Darren at Clementi. We took the shuttle bus to school, before carrying on toward our own venues for classes. CAD practical was, a challenge today, and I'm glad the lecturer received the email I sent him the night before. Got to know moe about the types of lines the program could draw and the ways the lines coud be manipulated to remove material from the solids. One thing I was sure of, this program is better than the one we were trained to use a year ago. Went for lunch, before going off for Calculus. The lecture was fast paced once again, though we managed to cover all the topics for the lecture. One thing that we were told. This module carried a failure rate of 23%,while the next one, Further Calculus, carried an appalling 100% failure rate for the previous semester! Wow. Let's hope we could bring down those numbers.

Looking forward to ED tomorrow.