Back as Promised

2 weeks have passed. A week of examinations and a week of intensive preparation.

Won't be expecting good grades for the examinations this time, as I planned and did things in such a way that most things happened at the right place, at the wrong time. On Friday, went with the team for their immunisation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, before leaving with Marcus and Shen Faye at 3.15pm.

The week after was fully occupied. Monday to Wednesday, I attended a standard first aid course, which was kind of like a refresher course, as my certification had expired 5 years ago. Tuesday night was spent totally on packing my bags for a camp the next day, and for the up-coming overseas trip the coming Monday, so I did not study for the first aid test. On Wednesday, found out that I was not going to be part of the orientation camp in April. On that same day, met Koon Teck to collect the First Aid kits and some stuff that would help us during the 14-day trip to Dumaguete City in the Philippines. Passed the course with 28 out of 30 for the theory, and cleared the practical and CPR test. Attended a pre-trip camp after that. THat's the first time I attended a camp for the purpose of bonding with team mates, getting to know the stuff we're going to do there better, all in preparation for an overseas youth expedition programme. Went to play pool with Danial, Iqbal, Mel and Hui Yin that night, before buying supper for some of the others back at the apartments.

On Thursday, ran 10 rounds at the stadium, before heading back to join the rest in preparing for the Cultural Nite performance. Had lunch with the team, and left for our pre-trip community service, which seemed like what a team would do in the I&E in Action Module, under the Community Pathway. Had a strong sense of deja vu once again during the briefing by Melinda at the centre, when I remembered the scene where we were all standing round her as she gave the briefing. Can't really remember when I dreamt of it, and what happenedin that dream, except for that briefing scene.

Today went to get some stuff to pack for the trip. In the morning went to Yio Chu Kang to meet Jacy to collect her package for her kids, before heading ome for lunch. Went out to change money and purchase some stuff to use over there for the 14 days, and went home for dinner. Joined some friends for dinner at Brewerkz till 9.30pm before heading home.

Shall complete the packing and final baggage checks later in the morning, before returning to sleep the afternoon away till 4pm. Tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to do a short post before heading off for 14 weeks. Would only be able to post again after that.

I'll be on my way back soon. Please wait a little longer...

And A New Decade Begins

Leagues later, 2009 has become yet another completed chapter in the history book. 10.10pm on Friday, on 1st January 2010. A quick look back at 2009.

First 'adventurous' journey home from Merlion Park on 1st January 2009, on foot, which lasted 5 hours. First camp and sparring competition. My first overseas trip with the school. Started on my driving lessons in March. Formation of a new CCA. CCA orientation camp. Went on neighbourhood photo-taking tour in Bukit Panjang, Chua Chu Kang, Taman Jurong, Rivervale, Sengkang, Tampines, Kembangan, Siglap, Pasir Ris, Loyang and Changi. Downfall of a great friendship with friends whose faces I have never seen before. Got my third phone on Saturday,5 September. My second, and very likely, my last sparring competition. One star kayaking course at Pasir Ris Beach. First leadership camp in school. First Marathon, completed in 6 hours 50 minutes due to unexpected circumstances. Night cycling around the Eastern Park Connector Network on Sunday, 27th December.

2009 has been a year where countless lessons were learnt, and many fond memories forged. Met many great friends, learnt ways of finding out who was true, and who was not.

The past year was filled with more hardship and sorrow than happiness. Pressed badly for time due to many commitments and the lack of proper time management. Lost many things I held closely to compared to the bonds and memories I gained.

The last week of December 2009 has been a great one. Saturday,26th December, went to my Primary school teacher's home for a primary 5,6 class gathering after our last gathering 2 years ago. It was difficult indentifying some of us, as everyone of us had changed. Spent a day gaming, taking photographs and having dinner and supper together.

A day later, went out for night cycling and photograph taking tour of sights seen along the Eastern Park Connector Network with three friends(after the first attempt in September failed due to torrential rain and time constraints). With that, I have become more aquianted with the Eastern part of the country, though some areas are not the safest places to be after midnight. Monday, reached home, packed, headed back to school for a last minute meeting.

Tuesday, had my driving instructor on his last day at the school. Wednesday, rushed to complete part of a project in school before going to the bus stop to meet some friends, beore heading off to Toa Payoh. That day, was the first time we had more than 10 volunteers helping out, delivering food to the senior citizens in the town. The night before, I had a dream of myself with a friend, helping two girls in finding their direction. It did not dawn upon me unil later that afternoon at 4.45pm, that I would be meeting them, though their looks were slightly different from the images I 'saw' in the dream the previous night. Met 2 new friends, and a former room mate at the previous camp. we completed our area in 45 minutes, before heading off to the HDB hub for dinner.

Thursday, went for my last driving lesson before the new year. Did not have much major problems, except for the minor mistakes that I never found out. In the evening, went for a 9 kilometre run that lasted 55 minutes, before watching a disappointing countdown party on television, and keeping watch of a blue moon from 1 till 4am.

Today, rushed part of my project, before continuing to Orchard Cineleisure with family to catch Avatar 3D at 1.50pm. It was a great movie, currently the best movie I have ever caught at a cinema. The graphics, cinematics and plots were espeially stunning. I had two dreams of the plot over a span of three days, which kind of gave me a short preview of the movie. Went shopping, before heading over to Jurong East for dinner after going home.

2010 began with a bang like the previous years, however, I have a gut feeling, that this year, things would be unimaginably great. Miracles would unfold. I don't know how, but I just know it, that 2010 would be a year that is filled with more pleasant memories compared to previous years.

2010, I see you. Top 3 resoultions(I'm still thinking of more to fill in). Finding you, because I just haven't met you yet. Finding my first GPA of 4.0. A chance to travel to places I have never been to.

We Came, We Ran, We Conquered

Sunday, December 6. The first time I completed 42.195km in one shot. Wasn't that bad, though there were moments.

We woke at 3, and left 40minutes later. The lights weren't on, so I wasn't able to notice the colour of his bag. Took a cab down to the baggage deposit point at the War Memorial Park. Just after we were on our way, we were at the 37km mark of the race. It was kind of like a preview of what things would be like hour later. We were rather early, so we put our stuff down, deposited our bags, and he left his phone there in his bag. First thought. What's the best way to keep in contact should the worst case scenario occur(separation)?

The first 13km was breeze. We completed the first 10km in 47minutes! That's my new personal best. At 14km, I started to feel a minor symptom of heat exhaustion. I felt some numbness in my body. Immediately, I told him we had better stop at the next water point. We did, though that caused problems for him and myself later on. I took a mint to consume. It helped a great deal! Within minutes I was ready to go, but sadly, he started having cramps. 15km, the first runner was on his way out of East Coast Park. We were barely 100 meters into the park. That was the worst part of the run. The East Coast stretch covered 15kilometers alone,with lots of slopes, bends and turns. We started running again after that water point, but since he was pushing me on, I decided to just keep up with him. But, after we passed the 16km mark, it was his turn.

For us, the real challenge came prematurely. At the 22km mark, it was the start of the mental war. It was fine, until he felt really unwell at the 29km mark. Since there were 2 medics, 2 officials, and another 5 volunteers at the water point at Station 16. Dropped him off there, more than an hour after our walk. I continued running, and met a friend along the way, joined him for another 5 minutes, before carrying on the race against my own time. I was aiming to complete the run in under 6 hours, with the expected time to be between 4 hours 30 minutes and 6 hours.

Since my engines were rather cold after that long break, I started feeling pain in the chest after running 2km after the 30km mark. I stopped, walked a little, and carried on at the 35km mark.
This time, the stitch arrived. I walked another 2 kilometers, before I was back on form. The 37-kilometer mark. It was fine until after the 38km mark, when my left calf had a mild cramp that lasted for less than a second. It felt like a rubberband that hit me lightly. I started walking a little, before running again. Turning into the F1 Pit area, I started walking again as I felt the second warning sign of a cramp. This time, I felt two rubberbad-like hits on my left calf. Fearing the worst, I walked the next 2kilometers. Walking along the building, I had a sense of deja vu. Some time ago, I had a dream of being part of a tour group I was with, at some building where there were lots of shutters with numbers on top of them. One of the shutters was halfway down, similar to what I saw in the dream, along with some music. The atmosphere there was similar, minus the marathon event. I came back to the flier. It's the 41-kilometer mark! I made 2 calls, one to my dad, which happened to be diverted back home(and I found out my brother had just gotten his new bike), and one to my mum, who was already waiting at the finish line since an hour ago. Alright, the last 1.195, I'll give it a sprint. I saw the timer counting away, with the time being 6 hours, 50minutes and 15seconds. I increased my speed, completing the run in 6hours, 50minutes and 28seconds. Physicaly, I felt really bad after that, but mentally, it felt I was at some grand celebration.

Anyways, today was a really bad day. I had 3 near accidents owing to my slow reaction(I wanted very much to cancel the training, but as it was less than 48 hours prior to the training time when I logged into the system, I decided to just go ahead with it. $60 for a session. If they would refund me the cash on the spot, I wouldn't mind cancelling it), all similar to one another. Other vehicles were wanting to enter my lane, but I kept going at constant speed, not noticing them, forcing them to make dangerous moves that could cause a fatal accident. But it was a good experience, although it would be best I did not repeat it again.

School, was a nightmare, when we were informed last minute that part of our plans could not be approved owing to some communication breakdown. Today, my team and I found a class that had the exact opposite gender distribution of one of the classes in our course!

I just hope tomorrow could be a better day. And I still think, the guy who won himself a place in the finals, would be doing the country a great deed by giving it to the girl who was more deserving of the position, but was eliminated for the wrong reasons, though it proves that miracles do happen.

I had yet another weird dream the night before, but it's a little personal to be posted up here. One thing, if that could happen in real life, it would be a miracle.

24 as the 25th

I mistook today as yesterday. Must have been due to the fact that I was trying to plan out an essay, capped at 500 words for the application of a nearly all-expenses paid trip the night before. Till now, I haven't got that many ideas to write on, but hopeully tomorrow I could get some inspiration. Just need to come up with 2 more points to write about, and I'll be done typing it all out in 40 minutes. Maybe less.

Yesterday went for my driving lesson once again, but he did not seem surprised at me failing. In fact, I was surprised by him about the number of failers, and that I had won the first prize! How cool was that?

School was fine, just that we were there to settle some adminstrative matters, and we were off to do other stuff.

Lots of stuff happened today. In school, I fell asleep during the practical lesson, which was why I lost 7 marks in the quiz. At least the codes for the milling machine is easier to understand than the turning machine. The practical lessons for CAD and CAM never fails to give us lots of surprises. The tool change for the HAAS CNC milling machine is damn cool! Maybe I should start recording clips of how the machines work and post them online? Went to do the CAD assignment due tomorrow, and practice a little for the test, before rushing home.

This morning I had a dream, of which I could only remember the last part. My family ad e in a car travelling towards the city, but there was a jam as soon as we left the estate. At the first traffic light after turning out, there was a serious accident, where no one was hurt. The accident occupied the left and middle lane. There was a blue Honda City, a red car and a black Mitsubishi piled up on the left lane. An olive green SUV was on the middle lane, with its badly damaged bonnet sandwiched in between the red car and the black car.

The following paragraph is not suitable for the faint-hearted. Reader discretion is advised.

Yesterday, I had an extremely weird dream. I was on board an MRT train of the future that was heading toward City Hall from Boon Lay, with my family, some friends and 5 others of whom I do not know.I alighted at Jurong East, leaving everyone behind, and boarded the train at the middle platform. As usual, I walked toward the first car, from the second. There were 2 sets surgical curtains, each at one side of the car, stretching from the first door to the emergency exit. There were 3 nurses, and 2 doctors manning the corner? I went up to them, and soon, I was thrown into a weird place with a doctor. The surroundings were white(and I couldn't see any walls). There he told me some stuff about AIDS and HIV, before showing me a bottle made of steel encased by a layer of plastic, that had 2 red openings on each side. I was told that inside the bottle, was samples of sperm?

A mixture of HIV infected and non-HIV infected samples. If one was not infected, a volunteer would do some stuff at the right end, and see if he would get infected with the virus. If a volunteer was infected with the virus, he would do the same thing at the left end, to increase the probability of a non-infected volunteer getting infected with the virus. I was thinking, after waking, why would someone be so silly as to gamble with his own life by doing something like that? A gamble with money is bad enough, so why is a gamble with life any better?

I don't belive something like that would ever come true, if at all.

17-11-09

It was scary, to come to know that our plans might have come to a dead end. Before I truly understood the problem, I had already jumped into conclusion, that it was because of the fact that I took my time to reply a simple email, that the organisation had taken it that my team was no longer interested, and they too, did not have the need to reply us after I sent in a soft copy of our proposal.

Sometimes, a solution, or a road, is revealed with a simple phone call. Till today, I still do not have the courage to make a phone call to someone I do not know. After the call, we were back on track, coming up with the more specific details of the plan, which was starting to take form.

I'm definitely not the best leader out there, but I feel privileged to say that, I have a supportive team. They might not be the easiest people to work with, but I have the faith and trust in them to always get the job done. No body's perfect. Like them, I'm here to learn. Personally, in our team, no one's the definite leader. There's just the four of us, a mentor who loves providing us with challenges and thought-provoking advice, and an organisation we want to help.

6 months. 4 members. 1 shot. That's all we got.
Once again, I did not manage to remember my dreams of last nght, except for a scene where I and 2 others were trapped in a place where the water was contaminated with radioactive material.

CampTCP5 '09-Day 1(Let's Start Over, Shall We?)

Returned from a 3day 2 night camp from school on Sunday night, but since I was so tired, I decided to post it up today instead. This camp, was one I was looking forward to, yet nervous and afraid to attend due to various reasons(well, we'll see). This camp was one of 5 camps held and organised jointly by ROHEI(I still haven't got any idea what it stands for) and SDAR. Named the Leadership and Empowerment Camp, it was going to be a fabulously excellent camp, although the name stated otherwise.

Friday morning, I woke late, at 6.45, however, it seemed as though I was way too early when the doors to the Alumni Club House were locked! Before that, I saw two other campers(who would soon become my team mates if I'm not wrong) head for SIM. A guy, who I later came to know as Philip, found an oen door at 8, and together with 3 others, we went up to the function room on the second floor. We sat down, broke some ice and went back down to direct the others who might get stuck on the outside due to the locked front doors which could only be opened at 9.30. At 8.25, we went back up to find our teams, as by then, most of the 75 or so of us had already arrived.

As far as I knew, I had only one other camp mate(who I had never met) who was also my course mate. I was assigned to team 5. I went to the table right in front of me, and sat down silently. I sat down, and without taking a glance, I looked down. Less than a second later, a voice welcomed me to the team, and introduced himself. We introduced ourseles to each other, before I felt a little comfortable and took a quick glance around. Since I was loud on the inside and silent on the outside, I went into deep thought.

'No way! Are you sure? It can't be right?'

'Alright, I'll look somewhere else for 5 seconds, and after that, please tell me it was just me feeling sleepy.'

'Alright. So it was really true, or maybe not. You have seen, but you havent heard. So just sit back and relax.'

After a few more members arrived and sat down, we had a round of introduction. 'Ok, so it's more or less settled.' That, was the first camp I mentioned about myself being quiet. No idea why I said it, but inside, there was something, that said,'Don't waste it. This is the one where you will notice a great change in your life. Don't worry about anything else. Go with it.'

So, our team had a mentor, and 10 of us. Jorge, Jaemeng, Jalyn, Jessica, Rachel, Belinda, Faye, Angsiang, Lionel, Cardus, and I. We had our first game, and Rachel and I were picked by our first leader, Cardus. Oh my! It's only the first activity of the camp, and I'm already forced to open my mouth! It's just sooner or later, right? At first, I took a minute to prepare myself for the worst, before starting to let everything else fade away. Now, it's just the team, Rachel and I. I understood almost every single action they made, except for the one where Cardus pointed at his tag. 'What has his name got to do with the activity?' It was only after I saw the task that I finally knew what he meant.

So, the next activity. We had to come up with a team name, motto and a symbol. Afterward, we would put all that onto a cloak. In most camps, we would have flags and banners. However, in this one, we would be making a cloak. We came up with the team name which has an essence of irony. Shing-a-boomz! As for the motto and symbol, we derived those from the rad(ioactive) red rat. Live high, Play hard, I'mPossible. You'll see.

Camp's too boring? That might be the last time one would find the camp boring. After that, we had our first lunch together. The usual. Afterwhich, we began on the first session. Direct, Interactive, Supportive, Careful(DISC). That's a profiling based on our behaviours in a certain environment. Similar to the quizzes I take on facebook, I fall under the S category. That session, perhaps it was to accelerate the rate we got to know our team members while at the same time helping us to understand ourselves?

We went for a buffet dinner(it's nice), before going on to Session 2, Overcoming Adversities. This was one activity that I have never done in any camp before, since this activity carried a relatively high level of sensitivity and confidentiality. 'Ok, if it's your turn, share it with them. It will help you a great deal in your next 2 days. Trust me.' I did. To date, less than 15 others I know in this lifetime know about it. It was a great experience, to learn something about one another. Some teams had touching stories to share at the end, which gave lots of meaning to the Session we had that evening. There was also an interview with a cancer survivor, which was an excellent eye-opener! As long as we were alive, no adversity is too great for us to handle. I started to wonder how boring things would be, if I had attended the lectures and tutorials and head home only to enjoy my weekend in front of the computer screen.

M&M Session was the activity we had before closing off the day. Yes, you could say the M&M chocolates were involved as well, but it stands for Mentor and Mentee Session. I did not really share that much that night(which I felt was ok), although deep inside, I was dying to tell the world how great I felt on just the first day alone. I'm one who's loud and hyper on the inside, but lacked the courage to show it on the outside. Imagine a nuclear bomb exploding 10,000 feet underground.

Slept at the earliest time since school started, at 12am. 6am, I woke, and went back to sleep again. I remembered I dreamt about something, but I just could not recall what it was. Just before I woke, I 'saw' her again, for the ninth time. Why? Why was it that, the only thing I could remember is a short dream that lasts less than a minute, and it's always the same character? Was there some kind of meaning to it? Alright. It's been 9 times, and I might have found her. If it really is her, prove it to me. Today.

This morning, I had a dream, of which I could only remember one line."Look, at the rate you're going, you might fail the test." Once again, I laughed it off, though I kept thinking about how I was going to fail. 7.30, I woke, packed my stuff, got changed and went down to the driving centre for my test. I did pathetically badly for the warm-up, and even more so for the actual test. I went wide at 2 left turns, used the wrong gear twice and I even failed to slow down just before a turn! Best incident of the day? I nearly made a taxi kiss my ass! How great was that? Just what exactly was wrong with my form this morning? Those were the mistakes that I had never ever committed since I started my first driving lesson(except for the part on the usage of wrong gear). The verdict? With 28 demerit points(my new highscore) and 1 immediate failure, I failed the test, and won the right to drive with the red "L" plates in front of and behind the car for another 2 months. That's more than SGD2000 down the drain. Went home, had lunch, went back to school. At least things were slightly better, when we became the first team to receive our lecturer's stamp of approval for I&E. Good thing the stuff I learnt at the recent camp came in handy. It felt like a really bad heartbreak, but thanks to the quotes and stuff I learnt, I recovered in 2 hours. As long as I was up and breathing, no failure or adversity was too great to overcome.

I don't know what to say. It's been 9 times. Why can't we just let the 'sightings' end there? Alright, today's going to be the second day. If the 3rd carried an accuracy of 50%, I shall tell the guys in my team. But, if it carried an accuracy of 80%, I shall tell the whole team, and some other guys I'm close to.

Experience Drive-29

The last lesson before the actual test in 7 days. 10TH November 2009, 10.15am. Slightly less than a week to go. Today I did the circuit with nearly no mistakes at all during he first 30 minutes before we went out on the road. Stalled the vehicle once on the slope due to carelessness(crap). The car was shaking badly each time I moved off on the slope(different car again I guess?). Was attached to car 19 this morning. This car is able to accelerate and move off faster, though I had some problems with the clutch at times. On the road, I did relatively fine, except for 2 mistakes. I forgot to turn on the signal at the merging lanes and changed lanes at a traffic junction. The rest of that route went smoothly.

We went back for a mock test, starting with the road first. At the second turn into Bukit Batok Road, I forgot to check my blindspot. I made the same mistake later while making a right turn into the road beside Hong Kah North Community Club. I delayed traffic there as well while waiting to make the turn. In a hurry I drove off without checking. The rest of the route was fine, until we came to the traffic junction before the right turn. I went wide at the turn when I accelerated too much(as a result of changing to the second gear while turning at high speed). At the final turn, I delayed traffic once again, just to wait for a van that was travelling slowly to pass. It did not end there. Back in the circuit, I failed to give way to 2 motorcycles at the entrance after moving up from the slope. I did fine in the circuit, and this time, I did much better at the parallel parking. In all, I received a total of 14 demerit points.

Andy was waiting to enter the classroom to sit for his final theory test when I left for school. Although he did not pass on the first attempt, I'm sure he'll comeback with a vengence. Once bitten, 1/4 as shy. As usual, took a 20-minute nap on board 985 to Trellis Towers, before transferring to 154 back to school. Had a quick lunch and went for class.Before 2pm, I was at a total loss as to what we should do for I&E. We began sourcing, and finally found one. Have got to come up with a proposal fast. For now, we're safe, but there are still issues to overcome.

Would what I saw really come true this weekend?

Experience Drive-22

The second last lesson. Probably the last lesson in the course. Had a different instructor that Tuesday. I was attached to car 20 for that session. That lesson was pretty much like a revision session. He guided me through some of the stuff regarding techniques for the directional change and moving off on a slope. Apparently, that day I did not have any problems with the parallel parking, but I have forgotten exactly how I was able to do it. Had problems with the clutch as well, though I caused the car to stall on a slope. Finally, that was the first time, I was able to experience for myself how little I had to turn the wheel to make a simple lane change. I was also able to regulate the vehicle speed more efficiently and quickly. With that, I would have no problems with the evaluation on Saturday morning.

Today was tiring. School from 1 to 5. Overcame the fear of the module at least. Came up with lots of ideas, but none reflected on the route we were taking, community. We had a great idea, which was a combination of Events Management and Entrepreneurship, but nothing about Community. Asked him for hints after the lesson, and he gave me a couple of sites to check out. That saved quite a lot of time on trying to find the right route to take to bring us back on the right track. Alright. With less dreams to remember, I do feel at ease most of the time, and with less things to worry about, I could concentrate more on the stuff that require lots of attention. Now, I just have got to let go of the dreams that have happened and are not likely to repeat itself again. Hopefully, I could lose the ability to "see". That way, I could simply live on without worrying of what to do or not to do to avoid an event. Anyways, at the end of the day, if you're destined to go today, then it shall be today, vice versa.

Experience Drive-15

Halfway through the whole practical course. Did rather simple stuff that day. Touched up on the reversing technique, before going on to the first 2 items that would be tested in the circuit. The crank course and the S-course.

Main things are to ensure the car moves at low speed, and "feel" the wheel track of the car. With these two things in mind, nothing should go wrong, unless you forget to ensure safety around the vehicle, or turn the wheel slowly.

Today's the second day of school. Went to the driving centre for revision before heading to school. Fell asleep and forgot to press the bell when I woke. Missed the stop, and went to the bus stop outside CJC once again to take a bus back to school. Maybe for the next 2 or 3 weeks, i'll do the same, or maybe head further down on the expressway before crossing over to take a bus back to school, as even though I missed the stop, I arrived in school 40 minutes early. Today was rather, stressful. Went to class, formed a team after the briefing, and, it's come to one of the stuff I'm afraid of. There's some level of commitment involved(and I don't really like the idea of commitment), there's goig to be paper work being done to get people from outside the school involved, to help carry out a plan aimed at getting something done. One thing that was more of an encouragement, was, for the module, it is OK if the plan fails, as long as, something can be learnt from the experience so that the mistake does not happen again. Of course, that doesn't mean I should screw up the whole plan so that it fails!

And tonight, I realised my advisor would be different from the rest of the class, for this semester. Perhaps, I'll go meet him next week or the week after, most likely on a Wednesday? Anyone under him, who wants to go meet him with me?