January's Brush

The closing week of each month usually carry the most memorable moments. First long distance run of 15km in 2010,running the longest project marathon, completing 2 interviews that were running consecutively at 2 different locations, and ending off with a short reunion with camp mates.

The second year, is where relatively short timeframes for projects to be completed are implemented, either you're revising yur stuff, or you would be rushing to complete the last paragraph of a section in the report so that you could continue on the next section, and in turn complete and submit the project in time.

The last weekday of January, was a rather agonising day, where I noticed seconds lasting nearly as long as hours, and hours as long as a day. I had barely completed the final touches to our project, which was due for presentation that afternoon. In addition to the presentation, I was due for an important intervew, in which I was playing for extremely high stakes, with the probability of making it through being 11/20. Who wouldn't want to be part of a 2-week, heavily subsidised trip to another continent at the other side of the world? It's great thinking about the reward waiting on the other side of the pasture, but the path leading to it, is filled with countless mines and traps, threatening to stop me at my first step.

Fast forward to 3.50pm on Friday, I was about to get ready for a presentation, when a call arrived. It was my turn for the interview, when I was just about to get ready for the presentation. My mind, was filled with nothing but a white void. The walk to the Student Services Office seemed like an hour, when it took only 5 minutes. I felt as thouh I lost my voice upon arriving. 5 minutes later, I was invited into the room. For once, I felt traces of my voice return, only to realise that, I was unable to think clearly on my feet, which caused much panic. On the inside, I was calm, but on the outside, I was contanly tiking of what I should add on to my statement to make it better. Constant clashes led to a breakdown, and I simply paused. 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and I said a sentence or two to complete what I wanted to say.

In just 2 minutes(maybe more), I was touching the cold, metal handle of the doors which would return me to the comfort of my friends. I did not turn back, but kept moving forward. The same, cold, dark feeling which I felt inside me on my first driving test after commiting my first immediate failure mistake, returned once again, this time bringing with it double the agony. In your local drama, staying in the 'cell' for less than 5 minutes is akin to receiving the death sentence. For me, it meant brushing wih death and returning to life. It's just an experience like no other. If it wasn't my time yet, I would be receiving that golden ticket to board that plane. I have made the choice within those 2 minutes, to prove myself. It's now up to fate, to decide which path I should take at the crossroads in June. With no regrets, I shall now leave it aside for the timebeing, lest the ticket really did manage to find its way to me.

Back in the classroom, Yingfeng was concluding the presentation. There were only a couple of mistakes, but overall, he did really well.

Had a great evening letting the pain go with Cardus, Jaemeng and Jorge at Dhoby Ghaut that evening. If not for them, I might still be lying in bed, penning down every little regret I had, right after I left the room. After a great night(withut drinks, of course), I felt as though nothing had happened.

Just yesterday, went on a 6km run with Hongpeng at East Coast, revisiting part of the 42km route I ran back in December. I completd the run at my average time of 35minutes. Went home, slept the afternoon away, and drove my third return journey to dinner via expressway.

Today went pretty well, with lots of stuff being settled. Reached home, went for a short 4km run, with a feeling I had never felt before. With every step, I felt as though I was gliding on air. Never fel so great before. Wondering whether it was the reduced weight of my stomach(had my dinner only after the run), or it was the run I had the previous day which provided the boost. Completed the run in 22minutes.

Lately, I had been dreaming of stuff, which could happen on the same day I had the dream(which could freak me out at times), and thinking of random people at random times, and seeing them appear in front of me just a couple of seconds later.

Tomorrow, it's time to return to the books and projects.

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.

Shingaboomz 1st Outing @ Marina Barrage

I'll have to type fast. I have yet to complete one more tutorial that's due the first thing after lunch. Maybe I'll refer a little?

Woke up at 7.45am, had breakfast, changed, packed my camera, sandwiches, and left for the floating platform at Marina. The journey was alright, but I was getting worried about the worst case scenario at the Standard Chartered 8th Anniversary Race Pack Collection. Queues as long as an MRT train. However, I got there rather early, at 9.20am(even by taking my time). I was surprised. I was 7th in line. 10 minutes later, it started to drizzle a little, and we were let in for shelter. Another 10 minutes later, the counters were open. Something I wasn't expecting was the cheers of the volunteers at the counters as we were brought in. By now, the queues were getting longer, but not as bad as I had expected. The whole process for me, took FIFTEEN seconds! I passed her my IC, before she went in. In a jiffy, she was out with my race pack. Checked the number and name, confirmed it, and I went in search of the verification counter. I was congratulated by an official, who said I was the first to get my race pack. WOW! He directed me to tun to my left, where I passed my chip to a volunteer to verify it, before heading off. The rain had stopped.

I went to the bus stop, took a peek at the contents, before placing the whole pack into my bag(seems like it has gotten smaller this year compared to last year), and unpacked my DSLR. At 10am, I began on a long walk toward the Marina Bay MRT Station. If I was walking in the right direction, I would arrive at the station at 10.50am. Along the way, I stopped at the Merlion Park to help a tourist couple get a shot of them with the Fullerton Hotel in the background, before moving off. So far, so good. OK, so I'll make a left turn into Marina Boulevard. I walked on until, I came to a guard house at a T-junction. On the map, it was the shortest possible route toward the train station, and I was almost halfway there! Considering that only tipper trucks and concrete mixers were passing through, I decided to use an alternative route, which would cause me to arrive at the station, at least 40 minutes later, at 11.10am. Since it was the first outing, it might not be a good thing to be late, for I'll never know if the bunch of them would be the kind who would stick strictly to the 11am meeting time. I headed to the Raffles Place MRT Station, took a short tour of the underground shopping mall, before taking a train to the destination at 10.45am.

I arrived at 10.50am. There were less than 5 others at the station, none of whom I knew. It's alright, maybe I'm too early, as always. I went up to the ground floor, and was greeted with the best surprise! I saw the same building I was near earlier on! So, I spent about a dollar, just to complete a distance I could walk in barely 20 minutes, by taking a train? Went to take a little walk around the small concrete 'island' that was surrounded by roads and construction sites. It was 11am when I went back down to wait, and shortly after Shen Faye arrived. Just as I made a call to Jaemeng later on, Angsiang also arrived! I found out he was already there when I arrived, just that he was waiting at the platform(only that I walked too fast to have noticed him). I made a call to Lionel, only to find out that he was waiting for us at the Barrage! Oh my. Jaemeng arrived at 11.45am and Jorge came soon after at 12pm, just moments before we boarded the shuttle bus. That was when I found out he, too would be taking part in the full marathon the next weekend.

One there, we took even more photographs, not forgetting to meet Lionel who was waiting there alone for the past 1 hour! We went to the rooftop, to set up our picnic spot at a corner. It was getting really hot after awhile, so we moved into the shelter. We played Blackjack, except that the loser does a forfeit of truth and dare, while the winner asks the questions. Lionel was the only one who got out unscath, while everyone of us lost or won at least twice. Of course, there were secrets being revealed, and hopefully they wouldn't leave the place. Shen Faye left some time later. Lionel left shortly 10 minutes after Rachel arrived, by taking the long way up. More photographs were taken, before we went for a round of Frisbee, and were greeted by a passing shower.

At 4pm, Cardus was on the way from Vivocity after getting the kites. We took photographs, ate, drank, talked, lazed around and went for some Frisbee for an hour, before Cardus arrived with the main dish, desert and 3 kites. So, we celebrated Rachel's 17Th birthday (if I'm not wrong), followed by dinner, served by Cardus. I simply love the pasta he brought for us, even without the sauce, it was damn good! Flied kites till 7pm, before Rachel left for a family gathering after taking lots and lots of photographs.

Just as we were about to leave, I met the members from the Photography Club, who were having their outing there! Like Jorge who knew he had friends who were at the Barrage on the same day as it was a coincidence, mine was similar. All I knew was the club was having an outing on that same day, but I never expected them to be there too. If I had known, maybe I could have joined them for 30 minutes, before going back to join the others with the celebration and photo taking after Cardus had arrived.

We went to Frolick at Serangoon for supper, via Toa Payoh, as Lionel was back to join us! Along the way we took even more photographs, so that we would not fall asleep. Once there, the yogurt looked really tasty! The temptation was almost irresistible! We talked about exotic food and overseas trips, as well as possible plans about where and how the next outing would be held. Angsiang, Cardus, Jaemeng and I took a bus back to Ang Mo Kio, to the usual bus stop, the same way the camp ended for us. Angsiang walked to the MRT station, while Jaemeng accompanied us to wait for the bus. There we talked about the people from the camp, as well as plans for the next outing. The bus came, and we reached Bukit Batok Interchange, where I managed to catch the last bus home.

I uploaded more than a third of the 900 photographs taken that day, before having the best sleep since the term started. I went on a visit to Dreamland from 2.30am till 11.30am this morning, dreaming only 1 dream, of how that day would be like, if all 11 of us were present for the outing. A dream like that, felt too great to be true.

Tomorrow's going to be a long day, and I have completed only half of what I was supposed to have completed a week ago.

Photo albums that are up on facebook:
The morning walk from the Floating Flatform to Marina Bay MRT Station
First Outing at Marina Barrage(11am to 5pm)
First Outing at Marina Barage(5pm till 7.45pm)
First Outing at Frolick(Marina Barrage to Serangoon via Toa Payoh)

Photographs would be uploaded to Picasa over the weekend.